This Armor is the second studio album recorded by Japanese singer-songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka, released in March 2002. It features two lead singles "infection", "Ryūseigun", and remake versions of "Arrow of Pain" (B-Side of a single "Gekko" in 2000) and "Little Beat Rifle" (double A-Side to "infection").
Onitsuka described the album as "a sequel to Insomnia", her chart-topping debut which came out in 2001. Like its predecessor, the title of the album was named by the artist, simply because she liked the sound of the phrase. Cover art was taken by photographer Mika Ninagawa in Miyako-jima, Okinawa prefecture.
This Armor debuted and peaked at the number-three on the Japanese Oricon albums chart and remained the top-300 for 25 weeks, with estimated sales of over half a million copies. The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan upon its release, for shipments of over 400,000 units.
Track listing All songs arranged and produced by Takefumi Haketa.
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes of the album
Session musicians Chihiro Onitsuka – vocals, composer, lyricist Takefumi Haketa – acoustic piano, keyboards, drum programming, pad, tubular bells, background vocals; sound producer, composer (not credited on the sleeve notes) Hiroshi Sato – wurlitzer, Hammond B-3 Takashi Nishiumi – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dobro guitar, background vocals Nobuyasu Horikoshi – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Kiyotsugu Amano – gut guitar Hitoshi Watanabe – bass guitar, contra bass Tatsuo Hayashi – drums Hideo Yamaki – drums Yuichi Togashiki – drums Ikuo Kakehashi – percussion, udu, talking drum, bell, tambourine, triangle, djembe Marie Ohishi – timpani, suspended cymbals Naoto – violin Osamu Iyoku – violin Takuya Mori – violin Kouta Nagahara – violin Machiya Saito – violin Ado Matsumoto – violin Etsuko Hara – violin Ikuko Nakaya – violin Jun Tajiri – violin Koji Ohtake – violin Hitoshi Konno – violin Shizuka Kawaguchi – violin Marisa Kosugi – violin Hiroki Mutoh – violin Yu Sugino – violin Mariko Aikawa – violin Yu Manabe – violin Shoko Miki – viola Kaori Banba – viola Gentaro Sakaguchi – viola Masami Horisawa – cello Toshihiko Tsuchida – cello Hajime Mizoguchi – cello Akio Ueki – cello Hiroki Kashiwagi – cello Tomoyuki Asakawa – harp Mari Yasui – tin whistle Toshiko Ezaki – background vocals Melody Little Bears – background vocals
Production Nozomu Tsuchiya – producer Toshihiro Hachisuka musicians coordinate Yuya Suzuki – engineer Shinichi Naitoh – engineer Kanako Fukuda – engineer Satoshi Konno – engineer Atsuhiro Murakami – drum technician on track 2 Jiro Yamazaki – visual producer Naomi Terakawa – visual coordinator Miyuki Hentona – art director Mika Ninagawa – photographer Daisuke Iga – stylist Eri Akamatsu – hair, make-up Satoru Iijima – A&R manager Kenichi Tanaka – artist manager Kenichi Nomura – A&R director Kosei Sasaki – A&R executive Kumiko Himeno – A&R executive Masaaki Saito – super executive Junya Nakasone – super executive Makoto Shioya – super executive Masao Yoshida – super executive Takaichi Motegi – super executive Mikio Tao – artist PR Kotaro Suzuki – artist PR Mayu kobayashi – artist PR Toshiba EMI Virgin Tokyo Marketing Group – media PR Toshiba EMI Sales Promotion – sales PR
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2002)PositionJapanese Oricon Albums Chart3
Year-end charts Chart (2002)PositionJapanese Albums Chart34
Certifications
External links Official music videos
References