Step You/Is This Love? Explained

Step You/Is This Love?
Cover:Stepyou3.PNG
Type:single
Artist:Ayumi Hamasaki
Album:(Miss)understood
Released:April 20, 2005
Length:18:27
Label:Avex Trax
Lyricist:Ayumi Hamasaki
Composer:
  • Kazuhiro Hara
  • Miki Watanabe
Producer:Max Matsuura
Prev Title:Carols
Prev Year:2004
Next Title:Fairyland
Next Year:2005

"Step You"/"Is This Love?" is the 35th single released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was a double a-side single released on April 20, 2005. "Step You"/"Is This Love?" was the first single released by Ayumi Hamasaki in 2005. "Step you"/"is this Love?" was the best-selling solo single of 2005 by a female artist until September 2005, when Mika Nakashima's "Glamorous Sky" outsold it. The DVD featured 3 PVs, including one for "Step You", "Is This Love?", and also for "My Name's Women" from Hamasaki's 2004 album, My Story. Chiharu and Etsu from TRF were featured alongside Ayu in the PV. The "My Name's Women" PV is currently the second most expensive music video by a Japanese artist, behind Hamasaki's "Fairyland" PV. To date, the single has sold over 345,000 copies, making it her best-selling single of 2005.

Music videos

The PV for Step You begins with a man walking up to a music box-like contraption. As he activates the levers (shown as I, II, III, and IV) four miniature versions of Ayumi appear. Each of the four wears a different colour and displays a different personality. The blue sings in a cute manner, the black cold, the white shy and the red seductive. As the man activates the last lever, the contraption begins to short-circuit, and the four Ayumis turn into one who sings in the rain wearing yellow.

The PV for Is This Love? features Ayumi singing emotionally in an apartment. It is implied that she possesses some sort of psychokinetic power and can destroy objects around her and restore them back to the original state at will. As she passes by, objects begin to explode (i.e. a mirror, a bowl of fruit, a fish tank, walls, lights etc.). But later these objects appear to be completely intact again. As she looks down the window, she sees a child about to be hit by a car. She comes to his rescue by blowing up the car. As the child is out of danger, the car is seen unscathed and drives off the scene. In the end Ayumi looks back at the apartment and in one piece it looks as if no destruction has ever happened.

Track listing

CD

  1. "Step You" – 4:24
  2. "Is This Love?" – 4:51
  3. "Step You" (Instrumental) – 4:24
  4. "Is This Love?" (Instrumental) – 4:51

DVD

  1. "Step You" (PV)
  2. "Is This Love?" (PV)
  3. "My Name's Women" (PV)

Live performances

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

ReleaseChartPeak PositionFirst Week SalesSales TotalChart Run
April 20, 2005Oricon Daily Singles Chart1
Oricon Weekly Singles Chart1164,008385,00019
Oricon Monthly Singles Chart1
Oricon Yearly Singles Chart19

See also

External links