"Butterfly" is Japanesepop musician Kumi Koda's sixteenth domestic single. The single came in CD and CD+DVD, with the latter editions containing a foldout poster. Because her previous single "Hot Stuff feat. KM-MARKIT" was re-cut to become the final single for secret, "Butterfly" became the first single for Best ~first things~. The single became very successful for Kumi, causing Kumi's ero-kawaii style to become popular among the high school and young adult communities in Japan. The single would go on to win several awards, including "Best Video of the Year" and "Best Female Video".
Information
"Butterfly" is Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda's sixteenth single under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone. The single was her first to debut at #1 on the Oricon charts and remained on the charts for twenty-two weeks. Although the single debuted at #1, it dropped to #2 for the weekly ranking. The single also became the first to be released for her compilation album, although "Hot Stuff feat. KM-MARKIT" was released after her secret album's initial release. However, "Hot Stuff" was put onsecretspecial edition, which was released two months later. "Butterfly" won the forty-seventh position at the Japan Record Award and placed fifty-sixth at NHK Red & White Singing Contest for the year. The song was also used as the theme song for the Japanese dramaKosume no Mahou 2. The B-side, "Taisetsu na kimi e", was certified gold in full-length cellphone downloads. The other B-side, "Your Sunshine", while gaining no certifications, was used for Nivea's UV Body Whitening. Because of the single's success, it made Kumi's ero-kawaii style spread across the high school community. The song had the overall concept of "all women will always be beautiful". It also became very popular among the karaoke community, even being parodied by many Japanese comedians.
Promotional advertisements
"Butterfly" was the theme of TBS's drama Kosume no Mahou 2. "Your Sunshine" was used in a televised advertisement for Nivea's Medicated Body Whitening UV.
Packaging
"Butterfly" was released in both CD and CD+DVD formats:
CD: contains six musical tracks.
CD+DVD: contains six musical tracks, one music video, one making video and a foldout poster.
Both the CD and CD+DVD editions contained different cover art, with Kumi being intimate with an unknown man. The CD+DVD versions included a foldout poster.
Music video
The music video for "Butterfly" carried a theme of empowerment, with the overall message of not being nervous to take control of any situation and that "all women are beautiful". The song and video's popularity caused Kumi's ero-kawaii style to become popular among the female high school and young adult community in Japan. This may have been due in part to the dance segment of the video, which was performed in a school hallway with Kumi dressed as an instructor. In the scene, both men and women dance provocatively alone and together. Other scenes in the video included Kumi on a stage as blue morpho butterfly wings protruded from her back and a scene in which she and two others perform a wash for motorcycles.
