Ai Inutsuka One on One Collaboration

Officially referred to as a remake album,^[1] this work is the culmination of a project in which Otsuka released remade versions of her own songs on digital platforms, starting from August 2020, collaborating with a variety of music producers from Japan's electronic music scene.^[2]

The album title features a word play, which is something Otsuka tends to do particularly when naming her concert tours. In this particular case, an additional stroke was added to the kanji "Ō" [大] in Ōtsuka's surname, turning it into the kanji of “dog” [犬]. By this addition to her name, Otsuka wanted to represent a fresh twist to her original material through an "ippitsu" (literally “a single brushstroke”), using Japanese calligraphy terms.^[2] The “One on One” part of the title is meant to emphasize the collaborative nature of the project, with each producer engaging directly with one of Otsuka's original songs in a one-to-one creative exchange. Furthermore, the homophonic play on One (wan) on One (wan) (with “wan” being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a dog's bark) reinforces the canine motif.^[2] Aligned with this concept, the album's cover features Otsuka's pet dog.^[2]

Ai Inutsuka One on One Collaboration was preceded by the remixes of "Peach", "Kingyo Hanabi", "Chime", and "Kuroge Wagyu Joshio Tanyaki 680-en", which were previously released as digital singles on a monthly basis from August through November 2020.

The album was released simultaneously with Otsuka's anniversary concert Love Is Born: 17th Anniversary 2020 on DVD/Blu-ray and CD formats.