Yumemiru Wakusei (The Dreaming Planet)

**Yumemiru Wakusei (The Dreaming Planet)** (夢 (ゆめ)みる惑 (わく)星 (せい), *The Planet that Dreams*) is Sayonara Ponytail's fourth major album. It is the first album to be released after Chiitan's departure from the group.

It is the beginning of a series of albums without a dedicated god and is the first and so far only album to use photography rather than illustrations.

The album consists of 12 tracks and was released on June 7, 2017.

## Concept and Background

The concept of the album is short sci-fi stories which share the theme of a looping world. The title is an homage to the Wong Kar-wai-directed Hong King film *Chungking Express*, which was called *Koisuru Wakusei* (恋する惑星) in Japan.

## Personnel

* Nacchan - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Ayumin (second generation) - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Shuka - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Yuyu - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Fukkun - recording; mixing; acoustic guitar; etc.
* Maumau - recording; bass; guitar; synthesizer; programming; etc.
* 324P - recording; mixing; guitar; synthesizer; programming; etc.
* Megu - recording; mixing; synthesizer; guitar; programming; chorus; etc.
* Megane-kun - cheering (and so on)
* Kuroneko - total production

**Sayopony Family**
* Chiitan (second-generation god)
* Yuritan (first-generation god)
* Ayumin (first-generation)

**Ongaku to Mahou Staff (音楽と魔法スタッフ)**
* Hayashi-sensei (林先生)
* S-chan

**Guest Musicians**
* Terry Waters - Chorus Arrange & Additional Recording (M-1,3,5,10,12)
* Keiko Miyazawa - Strings Arrange (M-5)
* Hiromi Miyazawa - Violins, Cello (M-5)
* Neko-HA - Synthesizer (M-10)
* Neko-UT - Drums (M-10)
* Neko-YA - Bass (M-10)
* Neko-ME - Guitar (M-10)

**Additional Recording & Mix**
* Keiichi Morinaga (Knockout Recording Studio)
* Tomohito Nomura (MOTHERSHIP STUDIO)
* Hiroya Takayama (Sony Music Studios Tokyo)
* Mastering: Kentaro kimura (KIMKEN STUDIO)

**Tower Records Staff**
* Tatsuya Yuki - Label Producer
* Noriko Karlu - Label Promotion

**Special Thanks**
* Takaaki Taguchi
* Takumi Terao
* sayopony\_bot

## Promotion

On December 26, 2016, the album was teased with the vocalists depicted in a photograph for the first time. The image's caption stated that Sayonara Ponytail was entering its 3rd season, titled *Yumemiru Wakusei*.

On May 11, 2017, the album was officially revealed. On the same day, T-Palette Records posted an album digest on their YouTube channel.

From March 2017 until the album's announcement, several track previews were uploaded to the Sayopony Twitter account, including a clip of *Koisuru AI*, *Enban Utopia*, and *Isshun to Eien to*. Two previews of World 2 were also posted: one with Megu on vocals, and another with Yuyu only.

## Packaging and Design

The album shipped in a standard jewel case with a slipcase cover. The album features monochrome photography with models posing as the vocalists. The slipcase cover depicts, from left to right, Yuyu, Shuka, Miina, Nacchan, and Ayumin
standing on a shore. At the center, Miina stands next to a flag pole while holding out a globe in one hand. Some of the inspirations of the design include: the Japanese film *Ten Dark Women*, directed by Kon Ichikawa; Japanese rock band Sunny Day Service's self-titled 4th album; Japanese rock band UNICORN's 4th album *Kedamono no Arashi* (ケダモノの嵐); and the music video for English rock band Joy Division's *Atmosphere*.

## Bonuses

Tower Records Japan distributed a limited-quantity bonus disc to those who purchased *Yumemiru Wakusei* from their in-person stores and online shop.

A short clip of the bonus track, *Saigo no Yasashisa (Maumau Mellow Arrange)* was uploaded to Youtube.

## Post-release

The album peaked at 57 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

## Music Videos

Niji (Lyric Video)

Houkago Teleport (the video features 360° camerawork)

Enban Utopia (Lyric Video)

## External Links

* Streaming
	+ Apple Music: Romanized | Japanese
	+ OTOTOY
	+ Spotify: Romanized | Japanese
	+ YouTube
	+ YouTube Music

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Natalie article (May 11, 2017)
2. ↑ https://www.billboard-japan.com/d\_news/detail/50870/2
3. ↑ Kuroneko's tweet discussing the album's design inspirations
4. ↑ Sayonara Ponytail. Booklet. *Yumemiru Wakusei (The Dreaming Planet)*, T-Pallete Records, 2017.
5. ↑ etc. was originally「など]
6. ↑ originally「とか」
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/813382929518772224
8. ↑ https://www.billboard-japan.com/d\_news/detail/50870/2
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/837279221906980865
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/844825651232161792?s=20
11. ↑ Kuroneko's tweet discussing the album's design inspirations
12. ↑ The Oricon data is no longer public but has been retained on Japanese Wikipedia