Song Review:: LIGHTSUM: メリキス (Merry Kiss) {Japanese}

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  • Release date: 2026 November 06
  • Album tracklist: メリキス (Merry Kiss)
  • Album runtime: 3 minutes

 Look, I literally do not care that this is both a Japanese release and the first holiday song of the season. They need attention. It's been two years since they last released anything, and if it is going to be in Japanese and not Korean, then it's in Japanese and not Korean. The other songs they've released as a full group this year have also been Japanese releases. Am I sure why? No. Do I care? No. If I'd noticed LIGHTSUM back in September, I would have done that one as well.

It's starts off all soft and gentle. Don't believe it because that is a trick and it launches into a Christmas rock instrumental shortly after the start. The bells throughout are an excellent touch. Very Christmassy. There's a good range here in what we're actually hearing, and I'm very much enjoying how much fun this instrumental is.

This is the most J-Pop melody I've heard in a bit. This is a Yena melody. This is also a wildly fun song that I deeply appreciate. We're starting off the Christmas songs with something big and bright and not sad and depressing. And we've got some fun ad-libs and harmonies going on at the end. This is fun. I appreciate it.

No music video, but that's slightly fine for a digital single. This song would have been so very fun with a music video, so I'm deeply annoyed with CUBE for that. But whatever.

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