This already hard-to-find single from J-pop star Mayumi Iizuka features two songs. The first, "Pure" (with that confounded heart symbol after it), is a peppy song written and arranged by Tore Johansson, and has nothing to do with any videogame. It's just a happy little J-pop tune that runs for three and a half minutes. Oddly catchy, but not the best song in the world.

"STAGE" is the "image song" for Atelier Viorate, hence why you're reading this review. The song is nearly five minutes long, and it has lyrics and composition attributed to Iizuka herself. The song is a decent slow song, with an instrumental solo section that could impress most amateur guitar players. Iizuka's voice lends well to the idea of a VGM image song; you get the feeling that this sort of über-cute tribute to a videogame is how the almost-famous stars try to promote themselves to different crowds in Japan.

That said, I would never have heard of Iizuka if it weren't for the game Atelier Viorate, so she succeeded in getting at least one more person to hear her music. Unfortunately for her, I'm not impressed. I'm not particularly keen on J-pop anyway, but I do have a number of favorite songs that do fall under said category. Pure and STAGE don't make the cut. Maybe you'll like it though; listen to the samples and decide for yourself.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann