#don't forget to check the koukari and mimato version!

[earlgreymon]

sunkissed love; a taiora playlist for lovers who love each other like the sun radiates the earth. (youtube / spotify)

01. wonder - shawn mendes i wonder what it's like to be loved by you 02. used to you - mxmtoon say your feelings to me so i won't overthink mine 03. you're the best thing about me - u2 i'm the kind of the trouble that you enjoy 04. beautiful to me - olly murs you're so amazing, don't you know? 05. thunder - boys like girls your voice was the soundtrack of my summer; so bring on the rain and bring on the thunder 06. she is love (full band version) - parachute i've been beaten down, i've been kicked around, but she takes it all for me 07. built to last - mêlée 'cause you are the sun in my universe 08. best friend - rex orange county i still wanna be your favorite boy 09. give me a try - the wombats we could be gigantic, this could be worth the risk bonus track: i love you - billie eilish you didn't mean to say "i love you"; i don't want to, but i love you...

part 3 of lovers in japan series track-by-track commentaries;

IT'S TAIORA TIMEEEEE!!

honestly i want to keep this on my draft a little longer (*cough* maybe i can save it for taiora week *cough*), but @dutchforstrangers gave me some encouragement to let this out a bit faster... so here it is.

remember when i said on my koukari mixtape that my playlists are gonna be messy in terms of the storyline? well, this is the messiest. i think i kind of overthink this playlist because i want it to be perfect. it's my ultimate otp after all. i really hope this turns good.

two of the songs are already included in @patamonn's mixtape post, which you should all check it because bree's works are awesome. aside lynn, i want to dedicate this playlist to my sora sister @sorasfishing! i hope you keep thriving in anything you do and don't forget to get some rest :D (although this playlist is more up to beat and not really suitable for leisure time lmao) (well, taiora's the kind of couple who's full of spirit anyway)

01. wonder - shawn mendes

i was struggling to find a way to start this playlist. most songs i had gathered somehow would sound better if i put them in the middle. this song suddenly appeared on my suggestions and i remembered the first time this was released, i... didn't really like it lmao.

but now i love it so much. the music is majestic and very... taichi-like, if i can put it that way. the last beat of the drums sounds adventurous and seems like a good prologue for a journey ahead.

and yeah, what better way to start other than our main guy wondering what it's like to be loved by the beautiful lady who owns the sky?

02. used to you - mxmtoons

i was thinking of two mxmtoons songs for the playlist: either this song, or falling for u. although falling for u sounds more fitted to the theme of "realising you have feelings for your best friend but too afraid to tell him" (you should totally listen and check the lyrics here), i settled on used to you because of two reasons. first, the music of falling for u is too cozy for this rather rock playlist.

second, for me, used to you has a more... personal touch? i mean i can put falling for u for a takari playlist and it'll still be a good fit, but used to you is more of a taiora song. in the official commentary, the song is told to be about the turbulence of a new relationship. but in my point of view, this could be about how sora became too used to taichi's presence.

the first verse is somewhat a description of sora's insecurity. as she grew up, she wanted to become a better part of society (that was why she turned to tennis, dressing more femininely...). this kind of thought is a bit overwhelming, and knowing sora, of course she would overthink them. since 02 did taiora very dirty we never knew how taichi really felt about these changes and i am pretty sure that sora actually wanted to know his opinion because he knew her the best.

move on to the chorus: "i've been spending all my time, sitting by the phone just waiting for a call. i used to wanna be alone 'til your name was in my phone, now i'm getting kinda used to you." look, i still believe that sora's an introvert. but if taichi called her, she'd be there in a heart beat. (also, think about that scene in tri where she got so stressed with taichi informing his soccer game a little too late. bet she'd been waiting for him to invite her from the very beginning.)

03. you're the best thing about me - u2

this is just a general love song, but the line "i'm the kind of trouble that you enjoy" is very cheeky i can imagine taichi saying it to sora with so much confidence.

04. beautiful to me - olly murs

if you're listening to this playlist on spotify, i will kindly suggest you to switch momentarily to youtube because for this specific song, you have to watch the music video so you can get a more taiora vibe.

the video is about two childhood friends that always there for each other but never really talks about the feeling until one of them is almost getting married. get it? (although yeah, the girl is more of a badass than sora and the boy is too aloof as taichi's counterpart.)

the song itself is just the singer trying to convince the girl that she is beautiful no matter what. i always feel like sora has a lack of confidence about herself, so this is taichi pulling her into a realisation.

05. thunder - boys like girls

this is a tribute to our war game (a.k.a. THE PEAK OF TAIORA CINEMATIC UNIVERSE), especially the dub version with that "you say you love thunderstorm." i think when you look at the chorus of this song, you'll get it why i put the song here.

06. she is love - parachute

i have to choose the full band version because the og version is too slow. the title seems to be... a description of sora? i mean she IS love, right? :p but yeah, i think this song is an illustration on how sora will still take taichi despite his recklessness.

spoiler alert: one of my digiweek submission will be taiora with this song :p

07. built to last - mêlée

i was in doubt whether i had to put this song on this playlist, but the line "you are the sun in my universe" convinced me. also, "all of our friends saw from the start, so why didn't we believe it too?"!? gee. everyone saw it, you two. you are meant to last indeed.

08. best friend - rex orange county

okay, this is the part where everything gets a bit... bittersweet.

picture this: sora gets a boyfriend. idc who the boyfriend is, but it's definitely not taichi. this is the perfect song because taichi will surely regret why he didn't confess to sora earlier. still, he wants to be her favourite boy no matter what. even the part when the singer says "but i still wanna break your heart and make you cry" is just taichi's way of joking.

09. give me a try - the wombats

this is actually my favourite song on the playlist and funnily, i found this song accidentally when i first built this mixtape. we can ignore a rather "miserable side" of this song and just take this song as taichi's way of convincing sora that they could be such a fantastic pair together.

also, on a separate note, there's a long distance relationship theme implied in this song. i never really explore this theme, but i always wonder how married!taiora will make their marriage work because taichi will surely travel a lot with his job as diplomat.

bonus tracks: i love you - billie eilish

it took a long time for me to finally decide to put this song. i want the closure to be very slow and solemn, because most of the songs in this playlist have been very upbeat. i realised that most songs are in taichi's pov, so i thought about searching a song from sora's pov.

i was thinking about gabrielle aplin's please don't say you love me. however, the tempo was still too fast somehow, and i got the impression that the girl in the song wouldn't let the relationship between her and this particular man to be more than just friends. and there's no way i let this playlist to end like that. enough with taiora not being canon.

this billie eilish song should be listen as a company to two other songs, and if you listen to all of them together, it's actually a pretty depressing storyline (maybe triggering, so i suggest not to google if you don't feel comfortable). however, if you listen to i love you as a stand-alone song, i think it can still be a good fit.

quoting from one source, this is a song about "something that happened near the beginning of a romantic relationship, but a little bit after a friendship." i think this song can be interpreted as sora's reaction when taichi finally CAME TO HIS SENSE confessed to her. her first thought would be he was joking ("maybe won't you take it back? say you were tryna make me laugh"). sora's the type who concealed her emotion, so to hear the words as blatant as "i love you" would make her very vulnerable.

yet the song ends with a realisation that she also loved him. and that is why i put an ellipsis on the lyrics above: i want to leave my playlist for an open ending!

(but if it were up to me, i'll surely put a happy ending for them ;>)