Kumi Koda / Best (Second Session) : 4 of 5

I love buying greatest hits compilations to get familiar with an artist, so I thought I would buy this set since I really enjoyed Kumi Koda's CD single of Butterfly. But truthfully, the main reason I had to buy this CD is that it came with two DVDs - the first one contains 12 music videos, and the second is a complete two hour live concert (I'm totally amazed by the entertainment value of this set)! The videos are great - provocative, to be sure, since Kumi seems to like wearing outlandish costumes and make-up, but it's so much fun seeing what she'll wear next. There's a series of videos that involve three guys sitting around telling girl stories, which are then acted out in the song, and it makes a nice progression. The video for Birthday Eve is hilarious, with Kumi baking a cake for her sweetie, but actually he's a masked wrestler, so it doesn't quite work out. The concert is amazing - Kumi is super-comfortable and full of energy (I actually have no idea how she can keep it going), dancing through each number and sounding great. At the end she even cries after being moved by the audience response! The CD is full of hit songs (of course), and there are plenty of them that I've been listening to a lot lately. The bonus track of her singing A Whole New World from Aladdin is interesting (being a Disney freak), but the tempo is so slow! I think this set is fantastic, and I've already ordered the First Session set, which has even more videos.