"4 Hot Wave" is Japanese singer Koda Kumi's 32nd single on the Rhythm Zone label. It charted at #2 on Oricon and stayed on the charts for seventeen weeks. The sales for the single became her highest selling single, even surpassing the total sales of real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba in less than three weeks. It became her highest debut single and reclaimed the title of Highest Debut Sales Female Artists, previously held by Ayumi Hamasaki's Blue Bird.
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4 hot wave is singer-songwriter Koda Kumi's thirty-second single and is her first quadruple a-side, with each song containing a corresponding music video. It hit #2 on the Oricon Singles Charts and remained on the charts for seventeen consecutive weeks. The sales for 4 hot wave made it her highest selling single, even surpassing the total sales of real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba in less than three weeks. Within its first week, the single sold 207,484 copies, with 489,000 in total. Despite losing the number-one spot to KinKi Kids' Natu Moyou,4 hot wave outsold them by over 80,000 copies. At the end of the year, the single ranked #2 on Highest Selling Single Female Artist, losing out to Naoru Amane's Taiyou no Uta, which was used in her filmMidnight Sun. Due to the single's success, it reclaimed the title of Highest Debut Sales Female Artists, from Ayumi Hamasaki's Blue Bird, which had originally taken the title from Koda Kumi's previous single, Koi no Tsubomi. The single was Kumi's first quadruple a-side, with each song's music video tying together into one story. The single's artwork was shot in Morocco while Kumi was in the country shooting for her new photo-bookMaroc. The videos for "With your smile" and "I'll be there" were shot in Australia, with "I'll be there" shot on Fraser Island. "Ningyo-hime" was certified gold for full-length cellphone downloads.
Television advertisements
Each song from the single was utilized for a promotional campaign during the single's release. "I'll be there" was featured in a television advertisement for Sea Breeze, a sun-tan lotion company. "Juicy" was featured as a television advertisement for jewelry company GemCerey's Binary Face necklace, which was designed by Koda Kumi. "With Your Smile" was the image song for NTV's Pride & Spirit 2006 Nippon Professional Baseball and featured in a Dwango commercial. "Ningyo-hime" was featured in a Vodafone 705T television advertisement.
Music videos
The music videos tie-in together to show a story about rival treasure hunters attempting to gain a triad treasure.
"Juicy" is the first video in the story, showing Kumi with her crew seducing a group of men in a bar, who have a treasure map. In the end of the video, the men realize the women stole the map.
"With your smile" is the second video, in which Kumi is shown trying to outrun the men. The music video shows a race through the desert.
"I'll be there" is the video showing where the map led. In the video, Kumi is seen on a beach in Morocco, relaxing while enjoying the weather. The video ends with her finding the treasure.
"Ningyo-hime" shows what the treasure led to. Its theme is of Kumi being controlled by a doctor, who is notorious for fusing parts of dolls together. While "ningyo hime" can translate to "mermaid princess," it can also translate to "doll princess," which is what the music video depicts.
While "Ningyo-hime" was shown to be a doll in the music video, she would perform it as a mermaid princess in her for the corresponding album, Black Cherry. This was most likely due to the term "ningyo hime" being able to be translated as either "doll princess" or "mermaid princess".
Live performances
During the single's promotion, Koda Kumi performed the songs at several events, including:
