Well. I guess I can't say I'm surprised BiS would collaborate with a group like Dempagumi.inc. It's less of a curve ball than the Dorothy Little Happy collaboration was anyways. It makes sense because like BiS, Dempagumi.inc has a reputation for being one of those idol groups that marches to the beat of a different drummer. An off-key drummer that's probably snorted some coke but still, a different drummer. Now I'm a blogger that has stated in several posts that what I tend to look for in an idol group is an aspect that distinguishes the group from all the other groups vying for attention in the juggernaut that is the J-pop idol industry. Dempagumi.inc fits this profile; so why haven't I reviewed anything by them? They're not on my Blacklist so I'm clearly not adamant toward reviewing any of their material. I can honestly say I like a lot of aspects of Dempagumi.inc. I think visually, they're one of the most interesting groups on the market right now. I mean, just look at the above picture! How colorful and expressive does that look? All the PVs I've seen from this group have looked amazing, with very clear themes and ideas that transition well to the screen. And their concepts are so interesting, or the ones I've seen at least. It almost makes me wish I more actively reviewed their PVs because there's a lot talk about in each one. In terms of styling, they get some of the most distinctive and attractive costumes I've ever seen. Hell, I want some of the clothes these girls get to wear. I also like that the girls of this group are wotas themselves, and I think that really allows them to connect with their fans. From the few clips and interviews I've seen of them, they show an enthusiasm for what they do, which is always a trait I can admire in idol groups that I don't even like that much. So why haven't I reviewed anything by Dempagumi.inc? Well, what's one aspect of an idol group that I hold above everything else? Don't think too hard about it. What do I always seem to have a criticisms about with anything I review? It starts with an "m" and ends in a "c." Figured it out yet?

I can't stand any of Dempagumi.inc's music. And believe me, I've tried to like it. I've really tried. Dempagumi.inc is about on par with Momoiro Clover Z with their production levels. In fact, the idol group that they most remind me of is Momoiro Clover Z. The only difference I've been able to see is slightly different marketing personas and visuals. But what both groups have with their music is an air of quirkiness. Like MomoClo, Dempagumi.inc's music is very zany and very original, but brimming with poor vocals. From what I've heard of their music, the girls of Dempagumi.inc aren't exactly the strongest singers. In fact, some of their voices sound pretty awful. Like I didn't think any idol group could top MomoClo in shrill, ear-splitting vocals, but voila, Dempagumi.inc has now stolen that title! Gosh, MomoClo, you're gonna have to work hard to reclaim your title as most off-key idol group! For me, I have to have a balance of good vocals and personality in any idol group I follow. This is why I can tolerate a group like Momoiro Clover Z despite them having weak vocals. In terms of visuals and style, I think they're an idol group that tries to be original. This reasoning is also why I can't get into a group like Fairies. Despite its members being talented, there's nothing about the group that stands out personality-wise. And unfortunately for Dempagumi.inc, what I've found with them is that their vocals are just too grating and high-pitched on my ears. That's another thing I noticed about their music actually: it's really high-pitched. For a Japanese idol group, it's exceptionally high-pitched. As a result, the songs I've heard from them sound kind of annoying. Look, I'm a singer, and I admit I can be a little nitpicky when it comes to vocals in idol groups but... good lord, I have legitimately wondered why Dempagumi.inc's vocals are so poor. So much that I tried to find more about them on Wikipedia. While they had no page on Wikipedia, their name did redirect me to the Wikipedia page about Dempa song. So now I could figure out why Dempagumi.inc's singing was so bad!!


Oh. So that's why.

Well, that explains so much. Regardless, I still feel like I should at least look at Dempagumi.inc's latest single, W.W.D. II. Not W.W.D., although I probably should at least listen to that song too... Whatever, I'm only taking on one Dempagumi.inc song at a time. So a good question to start with is what in the hell does W.W.D. stand for anyways? Through much grueling and time-consuming research, I found that it stands for World Wide Dempa! So I guess W.W.D. II is meant to be a sequel of sorts to World Wide Dempa? The PV for W.W.D. II is a sequel to W.W.D. so I just assumed both song were connected as well. Anyways, how does W.W.D. II sound? Are the vocals as bad as the few other Dempagumi.inc songs I've listened to? Actually, they're not terrible. It's just when the girls chant and/or scream anything in the song that they start grating on me. I will say there's this one chick in the group and I don't know which one but she actually has a pretty decent voice. Everyone else though ranges from subpar to nigh-intolerable. Other than that, I think this song is all right. I can't deny it's energetic which is always a plus in my book. What I noticed most about W.W.D. II is that the arrangement was very complex, for an idol group at least. It reminded me again of Momoiro Clover Z's musical production with a huge variety of verses and bits. Although it did get to be a little too much at times. W.W.D. II isn't a short song, and there are parts where I can definitely feel its longness. I think maybe with the right editing, this could be a song that I might even enjoy listening to. However, in its original form, W.W.D. II is an all right song. Not unbearable, but it probably won't make any of my Best-of lists this year. Still, since I went in expecting the worst from this song, I'm rather pleasantly surprised that W.W.D. II wasn't absolutely terrible. I makes me wonder if I'll ever review anything else from Dempagumi.inc again. I'll probably review the collaboration single they did with BiS if I could ever get my hands on it, but who knows? Maybe Dempagumi.inc will grow on me in the same way Momoiro Clover Z did. Only time will tell.

For now, I would very much like to look at the PV for W.W.D. II since that's the ones aspect of Dempagumi.inc that I find highly appealing. Besides, what's more fun than than screencapping the glorious Brand-new Idol Society butting heads with another idol group?


Well, I'm getting nostalgia tones from this opening shot.


And these most be the lovely cheerleaders- I mean idols of Dempagumi.inc!


Is that an M&M?


Wow, seven years have sure made the members... different!


Nah, it was all just a dream from poor Pinky, clearly longing for the glory days of Dempagumi.inc!


It looks like Mirin joined one of the most painful careers of all... BUSINESS!


At least she's proactive! Mogantanpe just spends her days languishing in a dump!


I have absolutely no idea what this chick does. Ancient rituals? Theatre? Ancient rituals in theatre?


Well, Risachi does kids' shows now that she's out of Dempagumi.inc!


Despite the kids clearly not taking much interest in her.


And Nemu opened a bar that's probably the least hopping bar in Japan. I guess you could really call it a... One Room Disco. Huehuehue.


I know Pinky's not very happy in her new group but if these guys can sing, I'm a happy camper!


Alas, all the Dempagumi.inc members experience a fervent longing for the olden days.


Wow, even the camera guy notices something's up.


At least everyone can be re-united in the dance shot!


In the shadows of the concert, lurks trouble though... trouble in the form of... BiS.


Aw how sweet, Pinky kept the MacGuffin candy dispenser from the glory days!


But delicious candy won't stop the arrival BiS! And gonna fuck. Shit. UP!


Ah, nothing brings people together like kidnappings!


At least they were nice enough to leave a clue behind!


I have to admit, I'm surprised it took BiS this long to kidnap another idol...


Meanwhile, our heroines are reminded of their old, off-key days as a group.


Bottom line is they get back together to save Pinky and reunite Dempagumi.inc!


And now it's time for the ultimate idol smackdown.


Dempagumi.inc vs. the batshit-crazy but awesome Brand-new Idol Society! YEAH!


They all look so cool. So intimidating. So wonderful.


It's a shame they don't get to used their spiked baseball bats for this smackdown though!


And Dempagumi.inc charges forward, beginning the smackdown!!!


And BiS runs towards Dempagumi.inc, bent for blood... well, maybe not but still! VIOLENCE!


So the final confrontation is set with idol group against another when... the PV ends.

Yeah, it ends on that note. Talk about anticlimactic, huh? Someone described the PV and hyped me up to believe that the entire PV revolved around this fight between BiS and Dempagumi.inc when really the major storyline was completely different. So hey, let's go over the general storyline for W.W.D. II! As said before W.W.D. II is a sequel to W.W.D. This PV technically takes place in the year 2020, despite the fact that none of the members have aged at all. By this point the only original member left in Dempagumi.inc is Pinky who longs for the days with her old members. Meanwhile, Mirin has taken up a job as a businesswoman, Mogantanpe is jobless, Nemu has opened a bar, Risachi has joined a kids' show, and Eitaso... well, I'm not sure what Eitaso's doing but it has nothing to do with Dempagumi.inc! So yeah, the whole group is apart and everyone has gone their separate ways. And naturally, everyone is angsting about it. Anyways, Pinky is performing at another concert with the replacement members of Dempagumi.inc when trouble strikes. A mysterious group of "anti-idols" (which spoiler alert is BiS) emerge from the crowd, storm onto the stage, and kidnap Pinky! Luckily, all the other former members were conveniently watching the concert and saw the entire abduction. Naturally they all rush to the hall only to find Pinky long gone and a scratched and vandalized CD of W.W.D. in her place. With all the members back together, the girls realize that they all miss each other and the crowd encourages them to reunite and save Pinky. They do so because friendship is magic and whatnot and go confront BiS who are all sitting menacingly in a giant warehouse. The anti-idol group stares down Dempagumi.inc before the latter charges and the former gets up and starts charging also. So both sides are running and they finally meet, ready to battle it out and see just which idol group comes out on top. And then... that's it. I have no idea if this was meant to be the cliffhanger for another PV, but knowing idol continuity, we're never going to see a glorious fight scene between these two groups.

I guess I shouldn't be so hung up on one little aspect of the PV, but I was expecting a fight between BiS and Dempagumi.inc. You can't just play with my expectations and not deliver on them! I think a fight scene would have been really cool, especially since there's such a contrast between BiS and Dempagumi.inc. It's kind of why I found Get You to be such an interesting collaboration between BiS and Dorothy Little Happy. All right, I've done enough bitching and moaning about an idol group that isn't even the main focus of this PV. Other than that, how does the PV for W.W.D. II hold up? Well, I think the PV has a very strong storyline to start with. You've got a lot of conflict, and the setup leading to said conflict was done really well. It showed the viewers through visuals just what each member of Dempagumi.inc was feeling, even viewers who can't understand the language. I always have to at least give props for an idol group attempting a story in a PV, especially a cohesive one. W.W.D. II's storyline is very clear and actually somewhat compelling. I admit, I only watched the PV because I wanted to see BiS in it, but I did get a little wrapped up in what was going to happen to Dempagumi.inc. Even then, the inclusion of another idol group in a PV was still a very interesting idea. I personally like it when idols "cross over" with other idol groups through collaborations and such. And when the idol group crossing over is BiS you can have them just standing around with pom poms and I'd still probably find that at least somewhat entertaining. Yeah, I think the confrontation between the two groups could have been utilized more, but I have to at least acknowledge that it was a creative idea. It does make me wonder what the collaboration between the two groups sound like. I wish that the DenDen Passion Idol single wasn't just sold at concert events but oh well, I guess at some point or another it'll make its way to the web. I'd wager that it's going to be awhile though. For now, BiS' cameo in W.W.D. II is for the most part satisfying, and who knows? Maybe Dempagumi.inc will cameo in one of their PVs!

On the technical side, W.W.D. II was pretty good. There was a really great variety of sets, and they all contributed to the atmosphere of the PV. This PV was supposed to take place in the future, and the settings helped the viewer realize just what kind of future it was for Dempagumi.inc. What I noticed about all the scenes is that they're very dark. Not macabre and creepy kind of dark but literally dark. Dim, actually. It's like there's a big black cloud over every scene, save for the dream sequence Pinky has in the beginning of the PV. I don't know if that was intentional, but it set a very nice mood for the PV. Like the world has turned dark without Dempagumi.inc! I almost want to say the settings felt gritty, but I think that's a little drastic of a term. What I also liked about this PV was that there were a lot of people in it, besides BiS. You've got the people at the concert, the new members of Dempagumi.inc, the businessmen, and that's just to name a few! They added a sense of legitimacy to the world created in this PV, and I think with a storyline like this, you need a lot of people to properly convey it. The PV for W.W.D. II wasn't as bright or colorful as the few other Dempagumi.inc PVs I've watched, but I think a flashy type of PV would have just killed the mood and the storyline. So visually it might not be the most interesting PV I've watched, but the storyline still kept me interested. All I want is a conclusion to that confrontation between BiS and Dempagumi.inc. Did Dempagumi.inc win? Did they rescue Pinky? We'll probably never know considering idol PVs have the same continuity as the Evil Dead movies... Overall though, I liked the PV for W.W.D. II! It had a very distinct and easy-to-understand storyline along with a lot of memorable side characters, particularly BiS. Visually it was dark but appropriately dark, and each scene blended well with all the other scenes. So... yeah. That was Dempagumi.inc. For my first look at anything by them, W.W.D. II was... pretty decent! I really liked the PV for it at least; the song was all right.


I will collectively give W.W.D. II four out of five apples. The song isn't as terrible as I was expecting it to be, but it's not the best thing I've ever heard ever. The PV was pretty good and it had a compelling storyline and nice visuals, even if it failed to deliver on a few aspects. I have to admit, I never thought I'd review something from Dempagumi.inc. I might keep and eye out for what they do in the future. Who knows? Something else they release might grab my attention!

♪It's lame! It's lame! It's lame lame lame!♫

I will run through the streets singing that if that's what I need to do to properly convey just how lame I think Sweet Refrain is. And you know what's even lamer? The fact that it's a single! This lame song of lameness is going to be the first single after Level3! Isn't that hilarious? Ha. Ha ha. Maybe this isn't as hilarious as I originally thought.


Normally when I announce Perfume news, I think I'm pretty perky about it. After all, they're my favorite group to review! Any news of releases or concerts from them is always happy news, right? Well... not always. Like when a song you're not a huge fan of turns out to be the next A-side. Or when they announce a tie-in with a children's franchise. One or the other! I of course am referring to Sweet Refrain, the next... single for Perfume. The song has actually been known for awhile now, even before Level3 was released. That's because Sweet Refrain was announced as the ending song for a J-drama called Toshidensetsu no Onna. And naturally before I'd even heard what the song sounded like, the prospect of new Perfume music only added to the ecstatic buzz I had for the release of Level3. But then everything changed when... I heard the song. Or the short version at least. In that moment, I realized that Sweet Refrain was a very, very lame song. Like... holy crap, is it lame. I don't even think it's a bad song, it's just lame. It sounds like a reject from the JPN era mixed with some gratuitous dubstep and a beat that's all over the place. And upon realizing just how lame Sweet Refrain sounded, I grew a lot less excited about its release. So when I heard it was going to be an A-side? I laughed. And cried. But mostly laughed. I'm sorry, I just don't think this is a very strong song. Even after I've heard the full version on Perfume Locks! I still don't like Sweet Refrain very much. I don't want to say I hate it as much as I did Spending all my time and it's a whole lot better than Mirai no Museum but for an A-side? It's pretty weak. I think my biggest problem with the song is that structure wise, it's really messy. None of the verses match and the chorus sounds like the chorus from Kokoro no Sports. I swear to god, even the tempo is the same as the chorus in Kokoro no Sports. Now Kokoro no Sports is a fine and dandy song and all but I only need one Kokoro no Sports.


Sweet Refrain just feels like a poorly blended mix of the sound from JPN and the sound of Level3. Look, if Nakata wants to go all cutesy technopop for Perfume's next single, I'm cool with that. If we he wants to go EDM, I'm cool with that too. But this is like some kind of botched attempt at combining the two styles. And the end result is a messy pile of lameness. Even after seeing the covers and outfits for Sweet Refrain, I'm still not that hyped for it. It's weird because Perfume releasing something new so soon after Level3 is something to get excited about! I had to wait eight months between the release of ⊿ and Fushizen na Girl/Natural ni Koishite. Yet even that doesn't get me excited about Sweet Refrain. Even when the covers and outfits were revealed for the single, I'm still not getting the hype. That might be because I don't even really like the outfits that much for this single. I know everyone's been fawning over how mature the girls look in them, and I admit they do. But they look old and washed out. It's like they've aged 20 years. I think what would help is having the outfits be a little more colorful. The black and gray color scheme is depressing to look at. I don't know, maybe the outfits look better when they dance in them? I guess it is a refreshing change from the monotonous styling they've been getting lately with all their outfits. And then there are the covers, which look okay I guess. Like the outfits, they're very mature looking with the black and white color scheme. I do kind of like the little splash of pink font. And having the clocks they hold display each member's birth date is pretty clever. But I'm not jumping up and down either. I'm even having a hard time trying to write about my impressions of Sweet Refrain so far, because how many times can I say it's lame before my readers start to get bored? Hell, I'm getting bored just talking about this song! I don't know, Spice was also used for a drama and that song grew on me a lot. Who knows? Maybe Sweet Refrain will do the same. But the PV better be pretty freaking awesome, along with the B-side.

So yeah. Sweet Refrain exists. And it's an A-side. And it's lame. Come to think of it, there are a lot of lame songs coming out like Heart Electric, Chiisana Kiseki, that Weather Girls song I can remember the name to... maybe November's just shaping up to be the month of absolute lameness!

So... I'm really happy I'm not the only one who thinks that Berryz Koubou is on a downward spiral.

A few other blogs share my sentiment thus reassuring me that I haven't completely lost it yet! Okay, so maybe the term "downward spiral" is a little melodramatic to describe what Berryz Koubou is going through right now. Still, I think the context is the same: Berryz Koubou is at a period in which they are at a rather low point. I hadn't really taken that into consideration until I was going over my review plans for November and out of the blue thought "When was the last time I reviewed something from Berryz Koubou?" March. That was the last month I'd reviewed any Berryz Koubou material. March. And from there I realized something else: I didn't even care that much. I didn't feel like I'd missed reviewing anything substantially important from Berryz. I accepted this revelation surprisingly quickly and apathetically; I was probably distracted by Perfume. From there, I continued reviewing stuff I actually felt motivated to review. I didn't think too hard on Berryz again save for a few chats with Chiima about where Berryz was going as a group. She had very strong opinions about where Berryz stood as a group, opinions that were not exactly greeted with warm reception. Despite some backlash, I couldn't help but agree with her sentiments that Berryz was very slowly turning into an awkward, stagnant group. But what compelled me to hope on the bandwagon and write about it too? C-ute, actually. Or... C-ute's latest single to be more exact. I was watching the PVs for Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin and thinking to myself about how H!P has really outdone itself in making PVs that actually look really good. I think the PVs for both A-sides of C-ute's latest single look really good. That thought led to me once again reflecting on how much C-ute has grown and improved since they became a five-member group all the way back in early 2010. They've gone from being my least favorite group in Hello! Project to probably my favorite group, even above Morning Musume! They've just developed a really good group dynamic and Tsunku's handled their singles really well.

And like a pointlessly complicated cycle, all these thought process naturally led me to backpedal and reflect on Berryz Koubou and how they've changed since I got into them all the way back in 2011. Doing that has led me to beg the question: is C-ute getting better as Berryz is getting worse?

Well, here they all are as one big, happy unit!

DON'T SHOOT ME. At least let me explain my own reasons and opinions first. I think one thing that everyone can agree on is that the Hello! Project Kids have definitely changed a great deal from their early days in Hello! Project. They're the Hello! Project Women now (well not officially, but that's what we're all thinking!) and both H!P Kids groups have lost a few members along the way. If I were to travel back in time and tell H!P fans of 2004 that the Hello! Project Kid would grow up to dress up as Playboy bunnies or become the sexiest dancers in all of Hello! Project, I'd probably get more than a few odd looks (and maybe even some gleeful ones). All right, why do I think that Berryz has progressively gotten worse as C-ute as progressively gotten better? After all the word "better" is a highly subjective term that revolves around a person's own opinions. In someone else's mind the reverse could be happening and Berryz could be getting better than C-ute. So yes, if I want to compare the quality of each group's singles, I'd have to be a little subjective. Hey, I run a blog; the only thing more subjective than that is the American government. But I don't want to corrupt my little Wonderland with politics so back to C-ute and Berryz! What I'm getting at is I have my own opinions that have probably pissed a few people off, but those opinions are going to be running pretty rampant because this post especially is seated in subjectivity. For the moment though, I'd like to put the more subjective points about my argument aside for later and focus on the more objective argument. Objectively speaking is C-ute doing better than Berryz? For objectivity, I have to look at the sales of each group. So guys, I hope you like math! We're about to do some arithmetic! Or I am at least. I calculated the average singles sales of C-ute and Berryz since 2011, the year that I started actively following both groups. Keep in mind, it's only single sales, and doesn't take into consideration albums, concerts, or other miscellaneous events. According to my calculations, the average sales of each group's singles since 2011 are:

Berryz Koubou: 27,561
C-ute: 37,885

That's about a 10K difference in sales. Something else to note is that both groups have experienced an increase in sales with each single. In 2011, C-ute's lowest-selling single was Sekaiichi Happy na Onna no ko with 19,830 physical copies sold. Now they sell around 40-60K. Another interesting observation is that both Berryz and C-ute's highest-selling singles are both their most recent singles. Of course, C-ute's next single, Tokai no Hitorigurashi/Aitte Motto Zanshin, has yet to be released so I don't know if C-ute's sales will continue the trend of increase. While each group may be selling more, Berryz is still behind on C-ute in terms of sales. So if I was to objectively go off only the numbers, technically C-ute is doing better than Berryz. However, according to these same numbers, Berryz isn't getting worse. Their sales are growing, just at a much slower rate than C-ute's are. But where's the fun in just going off a bunch of numbers to reach a conclusion? This is Japanese pop music, not economics! And my conclusion about Berryz and C-ute lies not solely in the numbers. Sure, they play a very, very small part in it, but this is mostly based on my own personal feelings towards Berryz and C-ute. And personally, I think Berryz has slowly been getting worse and worse while C-ute has been getting better and better. I think C-ute's been getting better songs, better PVs, better marketing, better... everything. Berryz has slowly turned into that awkward, Melon Kinenbi-type group and I personally don't think Tsunku really knows what image to use with them anymore. So they've been getting this odd hodgepodge of different songs with no clear direction in sound or style. In terms of their music, Berryz Koubou has slowly turned into a hit-or-miss group, getting a lot more misses than hits in the past two years. All the singles they've released this year have been really underwhelming. So why? Is it just me going crazy? Or is Berryz really deteriorating when it comes to their music and overall style? I think the only way to find out is to go back in to both the history of Berryz and C-ute.

Left: C-ute (2006) Right: C-ute (2013)

Sometimes I forget that C-ute started out as the rejects that didn't get picked for Berryz Koubou. Yeah, apparently Airi just didn't make the cut. So C-ute was filled with a mishmash of girls from the H!P Kids and one H!P Egg who probably had little to do with the H!P Kids until C-ute was formed. Before C-ute got their debut, they had a few indie singles. Looking back, you can definitely tell C-ute was just starting out. Everyone looks either really young or really awkward or a combination of both. With the ages ranging from fourteen to ten everyone in C-ute looked a dorky kind of adorable. And that's what their music sounded like too! C-ute's first several singles were... cute! They sounded appropriate to their age range, even if a few songs were just a little too sugary sweet. The songs after their major debut ranged from the annoyingly happy to surprisingly edgy for such a young group. While I may not have liked every early C-ute single, I do think they had some pretty decent songs. The problem I've always had with early C-ute is the same problem that I will forever have with Morning Musume: the line distribution. C-ute had some really bad line distribution. Each song usually consisted of Maimi and Airi taking the lead with anyone else getting a teeny smidgen of a line lucky. The first A-side to feature solos from everyone in C-ute as their eleventh single. Then members of C-ute start dropping out like flies, finally leaving C-ute the five-member group we know and love today at the start of 2010. And we all know what single kicked off 2010 for C-ute: Shock! And everyone loves that single so much, especially for its amazing line distribution. I think the turning point for C-ute was early 2011, when they released Kiss Me Aishiteru. Before, that point, C-ute had always been my least favorite H!P group; to me, they were just so iffy. From 2011 though, C-ute slowly started to get a more cohesive sound and image. The songs got better, the line distribution got better, and C-ute really began to look like one of the most put-together groups in Hello! Project.

Left: Berryz Koubou (2004) Right: Berryz Koubou (2013)

Now what was Berryz doing around the time C-ute was formed? Well, they'd already released several singles! Berryz Koubou debuted in 2004, without even going through the indies phase that every other regular H!P group seems to go through. I imagine there must have been quite the pressure for them to succeed, especially in the shadow of Morning Musume despite not really having a lot of performing experience as a group. And so Berryz Koubou's first single was Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai was released in March of 2004. I have to admit, I think it's a pretty decent song, and it's pretty entertaining seeing the tiny, adorable members of Berryz trying to act gangster in the PV. From there, Berryz had some really nice variety in their music. They always seemed to be the group that got the fun songs that were just a little bit quirkier than other H!P groups' music. But it worked for them. In their younger days, Berryz always seemed like a very vivacious group, and their music reflected the energy and enthusiasm they had. But as they got older it's like their music just got... awkward-er. It's kind of like they were going through the musical equivalent of puberty. They still had some good songs, but around late 2010 and early 2011, something was just... off. The last song that I really liked by Berryz Koubou was Heroine ni Narou! ka, released in early 2011. Well... I liked Cha Cha Sing a lot too. But that's not what I'm trying to get at! After Berryz wrapped up their Inazuma tie-ins, their music was all-over-the-place. Sometimes, they'd try to be sexy, and achieve hilariously awkward results. Sometimes they'd try to go back to their more fun, playful style only to get mixed reception about how successful that was. The Berryz singles of 2011 and 2012 were quite the hodgepodge, and none of the songs save for Heroine ni Narou ka! and Cha Cha Sing really worked. And of all the singles Berryz has released this year, I honestly don't really care for any of them. Rock Erotic may be the only half-decent song, but that's not exactly amazing either.

So... what up with Berryz? C-ute in my opinion has been getting progressively better in both image and music and Berryz has been going the opposite direction. Does Tsunku just not know what to do with them? That could very well be the case; he is only one man spreading himself thin amongst five groups. Maybe Berryz is just one of those groups he has little to no creativity for anymore. Kind of like what happened with S/mileage after Yuuka left. Is it because Berryz has lost their chemistry? I don't think it has to do with the group's chemistry; they've been around for 10 years, if you're gonna last for 10 years, you've got to have at least some chemistry. What I think is happening is that chemistry isn't translating to the screen. Take the PV for Rock Erotic for example. The song was fine but the dance used in the song was awkward. The costumes and the cross-dressing concept were also poorly handled. This could have been a decent PV similar to Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~ but instead we got just another awkward PV. Whereas C-ute's been getting diverse sets and interesting editing, Berryz has been getting the same lame sets and formulaic music videos. I don't know why, but I wish I did. Whatever the explanation, I've grown bored with Berryz. Do I think that Berryz Koubou is beyond salvaging and that Tsunku should just pull the plug on them? I... honestly don't know. I mean, on one hand they are approaching their ten-year anniversary. In idol years, that's a lot of time. The girls are getting older too; they can't stay idols forever. But on the other hand, I don't want to completely shut down on them and give up all hope that they'll look like a cohesive group again. I just don't know what to make of Berryz anymore. All I know is that I have no desire to review any of their current material. I won't blacklist them, but unless they release something truly eye-catching, I don't know when I'm going to review them again. Right now, I'm much more interested in what C-ute is doing; maybe UFP will get a clue and start promoting Berryz with the same effort they put into C-ute.

Until then, I have nothing else to say on this subject. Berryz Koubou has floundered into an awkward group while C-ute has blossomed into the most skilled group in Hello! Project. The end. I think the only thing I can do now is turn this subject over to you guys. Do you guys think that Berryz is losing their spark? Or am I just part of a small minority of delusional people grasping at straws? What are your opinions on the current states of C-ute and Berryz Koubou?

Surprisingly, I really liked Koisuru Fortune Cookie. I know I didn't review the PV for it (well I did an Idol Smackdown featuring it so I guess I kind of did...?) but were I to review it, I'd have given the song three-and-half apples out of five. And I'd probably have given the PV three, but that's a subject for an entirely different blog post. What I'm trying to get at is for most of 2013, I've kept my hopes and expectations pretty low for AKB48. Their first two singles of the year sucked, but the release of KFC gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, they were finally starting to get not-sucky music again! That anticipation was only fueled by the prospective release of their fall single. Anyone who follows the group know that the fall single tends to be a little bit different, usually more serious sounding, but also deviating from the typical song styles and sounds that a lot of AKB48 A-sides fall into. Beginner, one of these fall singles, is one of my favorite AKB48 songs! UZA on the other hand, is my least favorite of the fall songs. I don't think it's a bad song, but it was still pretty lifeless-sounding. So obviously a fall single doesn't guarantee 100% awesomeness. Still I crossed my fingers and hoped for a half-decent sounding song. And Aki-P answered me with Heart Electric. Or Heart Ereki. I prefer the English romanization. The first interesting tidbit about Heart Electric that I found was the center for the song was going to be Kojima Haruna. Since Aki-P has a tendency to write songs based on the centers for each one, I couldn't deny I was curious to hear how Heart Electric would sound, especially since Harunyan's other singles where she centered were Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka? and Romance, Irane. I got my first listen of Heart Electric during the Janken concert, but as always, I like to reserve my final judgement for a clear-quality version of the song. And now that I have that, I can finally give my verdict on where Heart Electric stands as a fall single! Does it suck as bad as UZA? Is it so amazing that it tops Beginner? Or is it somewhere in the middle along side Kaze wa Fuiteiru?

Honestly... there's not much I can say about this song.

I mean, Heart Electric is not a bad song. In fact, compared to some of AKB48's recent music, it's pretty good. I'd take it over So Long! or Eien Pressure. Heart Electric is more-or-less a pop-rock song. Not Scandal levels of pop-rock, more of a pop song that happens to include a lot of guitar. I said before the it sounds like a no3b song, and I still stand by that comparison. And that does make sense; Harunyan is after all a member of no3b. But is it a good no3b song that it sounds like? Eh... I guess so? I don't know, I'm getting any strong negative reactions from Heart Electric so that's a plus. But I'm also not getting any strong positive reactions. It's just one of those AKB48 songs that... exists. It's listenable and all, but I'm probably not going to remember it by next year, let alone listen to it that much. I don't know, I think the more I listen to Heart Electric, the more it grates on me. There's something about the vocal arrangement that sounds... I don't want to say whiny but something similar to that. The chorus in particular just sounds way too grating after the second or third time. It's almost like the girls are shouting instead of singing in the song. I will say that Harunyan's voice sounds fine, which is good since she has a decent number of solos. Better than Paruru would have... Gee, I'm sorry guys, normally I try to give as much of a fleshed out opinion as possible of any of the songs I review, but I've got nothing for Heart Electric. I can't even really rant about this song, because it's not that bad or unoriginal. I guess I can say that it's the least serious of all the AKB48 fall singles they've released. Not as melancholic as Kaze wa Fuiteiru, edgy as Beginner, or hardcore dance-able as UZA. The song it actually reminds me the most of is Romance, Irane. Something about the tone of each strong strikes me as a very similar. So yeah. That's Heart Electric. A decent song by all means but not decent enough for me to generate a solid opinion of the actual song. I don't know, I guess at the end of the day it's a pretty all right song. Besides, at least Harunyan finally got to center a song!

The real reason I want to review Heart Electric is because anything I review by AKB48 always gets a boatload of views because I want to talk about the PV! Because if there's one thing I can expect from the fall single, it's a creative and interesting PV that often becomes one of my favorite PVs each year! Right? Right!?


Oh joy, the "band" is back. Because it worked so well in Give Me Five!


Yet they still haven't utilized the fact that Sayanee can play the effing guitar.


...is their band really called the G. Fingers?


I'm sorry, the G. Fingers? It sounds like a double entendre from a 1960s porn movie!


Good to see the band looks just as awkward as the last time! At least the outfits are snazzy though!


And I can always count on Paruru's facial expressions to be unintentionally entertaining!


I was kind of hoping Sasshi would center this song...


But look! MIICHAN'S BACK IN SENBATSU! And she's ADORABLE!


Does the "G" in G. Fingers stand for Gratuitous pointing?


I will say Yukirin does all right on drums. She's nowhere near as good as say, Rina from Scandal, but she still at least looks into it.


Oh, look! Now they're doing The Airplane! NYOOM!


Man, think of how unintentionally hilarious it would be if they pointed with their middle fingers.


I guess the dance is supposed to emulate 60s go-go dancers? I don't know, it's kinda awkward.


You gotta love that Windows Movie Maker editing!


Sassy Miichan is sassy.


The whole set does give off a very retro 60s vibe...


...but this dance set looks really cheap, especially considering AKB48 isn't exactly strapped for cash.


And this is the part where Haruna... I mean Michelle introduces everyone else.


Yeah, I don't get the English names but I don't think the members of AKB48 do either!


I have to admit, Michelle... Haruna... she makes a very nice center!


Oh hey, clips from the Drama Version of the PV!


I'm sure it's utterly captivating and has the best storyline ever. All the AKS Dramas do.


Enough of that compelling drama! It's time for more finger pointing!


Jurina got bangs? Holy crap. I didn't even notice until now...


Okay, the dancing in this PV ranges from awkward but groovy to just awkward.


Something tells me the "G. Fingers" they're wearing are going to catch on.


Whatever, the PV's over!


Well, first Haruna's dramatically got to strike a final pose.


Annnnnd I gained absolutely nothing from watching this. Good to know!

So I feel the need to point out something about AKB48's PVs from last year. You guys remember 2012, right? Acchan graduated, the world ended, all that jazz! Yeah yeah yeah, what I'm getting at is even though I may have dislike a majority of the A-sides AKB48 released last year, I can't deny that at least the PVs accompanying said A-sides were interesting. The three highlights of that year were most definitely the PVs for Manatsu no Sounds good!, Gingham Check, and UZA. Manatsu was a little choppy with its tone and mood, but overall the PV had a very shocking and attention-grabbing story, combining guts and gore with beaches and sunshine. Gingham Check was a clever homage to several popular figures from Japanese film, with each girl of the Senbatsu playing her own quirky character in the PV. And UZA was a glorious display of Halloween themes, along with a powerful dance, together making up for the underwhelming quality of the actual song. And while Eien Pressure had cheesy special effects and a hokey storyline, even that was charming in its own weird, low-budget way. The only subpar PV from 2012 was Give Me Five! and that was mainly because the members of AKB48 were constrained to playing as a band, with many of the members being unfamiliar with their instruments. So what's the lesson to be learned from Give Me Five! If you said don't force idols into doing things they don't know how to do... you're wrong! Oh no, clearly the formula was just off when they did Give Me Five! Instead, all we need to do is switch out some of the Senbatsu members, add some backup dancers, switch Acchan with Haruna, and change the band name from "Baby Blossom" to "The G. Fingers." Duh! Or at least that's the conclusion AKS must have come to when they got the brilliant idea to re-use the band gimmick fro another AKB48 single. Gosh, the sheer innovation of such a decisions makes my heart beat faster... or maybe that's just the sheer stupidity of  reusing a poorly executed gimmick from a single released over a year ago!

Yeah, I was not enthusiastic when I saw the the band gimmick was going to be used for Heart Electric's PV. I didn't like it the first time, and I don't like it now. I admit, it's slightly better in this PV because there's a little less emphasis on it but do I have to write in big glowing purple letters than making people play instruments they don't know how to play is AWKWARD. It's like watching a first-year piano student try to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano! You can tell they're trying their darnedest but if they don't have the skill to play that wonderful and ethereal sonata, it's only going to end in disaster! The same can be applied to AKB48. They're idols. Dancing idols. Marketable idols. If I want to see idols play instruments, I will go watch Scandal or Silent Siren. AKB48 can stick to singing and dancing and still make a boatload of money. That is completely fine with me. And what the hell kind of band name is The G. Fingers!? Like I said it sounds like some dirty sex position... or maybe that's my desensitized, depraved mind latching onto a sexual mindset because of my own subconscious. Who cares? The name SUCKS! Okay... I need to calm down. I don't mean to be flipping my shit over a silly little PV but I just really have problems with this PV, and the band just happens to be one of the biggest. Don't get me wrong, there are other problems with this PV. Like how completely and utterly dull it is. For an AKB48 PV this looked... cheap. The set where the band played looked all right but the dance set? My god, I expect that from Morning Musume not the most financially successful idol group on the market right now. This is the kind of set I could understand if they were still unpopular but... come on. Is this really the best you can get? I mean, what's been up with all the AKB48 PVs this year? Other than Sayonara Crawl, all the other ones have just been... not that good. They're not creative, interesting, at least when all the A-sides from last year sucked, the PVs made for them were good enough that they at least distracted me from each song's suckiness!

What's my solution to this problem? We'll get Joseph Kahn to direct EVERYTHING!

I mean, the guy's not doing that much, right? Just directing things! We'll just somehow convince him that he should direct more AKB48 PVs and there! Problem solved! To say I am underwhelmed by the PV for Heart Electric is an understatement. Like I thought Koisuru Fortune Cookie was a pretty underwhelming but compared to this PV, it's a fucking fiesta. The only thing I think Heart Electric did well was making Haruna the center. I don't know why Aki-P just up and decided to make Harunyan center for a PV, but she basks in the limelight like a pro. And I guess the outfits for this song were all right, but they looked a little too much like marching band uniforms. Something else I don't get: why the English nicknames for everyone? What point did they have being used for only this song? Because I watched the drama version; still no valid reason to give all the girls English nicknames. Speaking of which, the drama version adds absolutely nothing to this PV. It's just another cliched drama PV with little to no plot that even I can make out without the help of subtitles. In a nutshell: the girls need to do something together! But one girl doesn't want to do it! Then through the power of friendship, everyone convinces the girl to do the thing with them! Then they perform their song and finito. You can literally apply that plot to every "drama version" or at least all the ones I've watched. But yeah, the drama version bores me almost as much as the regular version. What the hell happened with this PV? Usually for every fall PV, I can always look forward to it having a distinct and interesting theme or storyline but this? It's a lame attempt at being retro that's too lacking in charm to have any sort of lasting appeal. And to think I was actually kind of excited for this release. The PV for Heart Electric is a huge disappointment; it's so uninspired. The sets are dull and cheap-looking, the revival of the band was a poor decision, and there's nothing that stands out in this entire PV. Man, you'd think I'd have learned by now to stop making any expectations for AKB48.


Two and half apples. That's my overall rating for Heart Electric. The song is all right, not the greatest song but listenable. The PV however is a huge disappointment, especially for AKB48. I found it to be completely boring, and should I be forced to watch it again, I'd still probably find it to be completely boring. Man, there goes my last expectation that AKB48 will get a really good single this year. The Janken PV's gonna suck.

It's like their music and image have just gone... flat. Like a can of Coke that's been in the fridge way too long. They're barely using the gimmick that they started with now, and the music they've released this year has been... well, let's just say I've heard better from Passpo. Like Sakura Komachi was a decent single, but their next three singles have been... not as great as the ones from last year. Step & Go/Candy Room was pretty good, especially the latter of the two A-sides. Truly however, was really dull, and Mousou no Hawaii didn't exactly blow me away as either a summer song or a regular song. So what the hell is going on? Has the light just died from Passpo at some point or another or is this just a fluke? I don't know, but maybe, just maybe, we can explore this theory further by reviewing their most current single, Growing Up! From the looks of it, Growing Up is going to be the last single Passpo release before their album in December. I may or may not review the album, depending on my schedule in December, but I would at least like to take a look at Passpo's final single of 2013. Will this single prove that Passpo's growing up as a group or simply validate my theory that they're slowly fizzling out? We'll see.

Covers/Outfits

Well... I guess the covers and outfits of Growing Up don't have much an impact on the overall quality of the single. But I still like to look at them anyways! As per formula, Passpo has their First Class, Business Class, and Economy editions for Growing Up. Did I ever mention I always like the way each single was structured? It's a nice deviation from the usual Limited A/B/C and Regular naming formula. Each cover has Passpo posing in a different way. In the First Class cover, they're sitting on suitcases. In the Business Class cover, they're kneeling. And in the Economy cover, they're standing! I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional but I still found it to be kind of amusing. The girls take up most of the cover in each edition, so you can't really see the area they're posing in. It looks like in the First Class edition, they're sitting outside in a garden area. I think this cover's the nicest looking of the three since the foliage looks good against the outfits they're wearing. The other two settings just wash the girls out. The Business Class edition has them posing inside, in front of a staircase. It's all right, not much you can really say about that. Same goes for the Regular edition; now they're just standing on stairs and you can see their lovely legs up close. Passpo's never exactly gotten the most creative covers, so the covers for Growing Up are about what you'd expect from them. They look nice, but they're clearly not meant to be a spectacle. Now what's interesting about the outfits for this single are that Masui Mio, an adorable member of Passpo, designed them! She also designed the outfits for Step & Go but that was way back in way back in May! And I love Mio but I have to admit... I don't really like the outfits for Growing Up that much. The fabric used on the dresses doesn't look very flattering; in fact, it looks kind of cheap. And the way the stripes are designed make the girls look like walking candy canes. And they're really simplistic and could stand to have a little more stuff going on with them. I know design is a difficult process and I commend Mio for doing it, but these outfits just aren't my taste.

Growing Up

I read that Growing Up was supposed to be the continuation/after song to Pretty Lie, one of Passpo's indie singles. Now I hadn't listened to Pretty Lie save for once, and that was a very long time ago. Obviously, it didn't leave much of an impression on me since I listened to it only once. Of course, since Growing Up is connected to Pretty Lie, I gave the song a listen again. And... it still doesn't rock my socks. I guess it's not a terrible song, but it's kind of boring. It's really slow and definitely drags at parts. I guess Pretty Lie is kind of a pretty song. Still, knowing that Growing Up was going to be an "after song" to Pretty Lie didn't leave me with a lot of enthusiasm for how it would sound. Like I don't think we need another Pretty Lie. Still, maybe Growing Up would be good! And it turns out this song is... all right. Much like Pretty Lie, it doesn't generate much of any strong reaction from me. Like... last year, I went crazy for Next flight. Same reaction for Wing. They generated such a strong opinion from me that I felt compelled to write about them. But with Growing Up? Honestly, I feel more obligated to review this song than write about it because I truly want to. And the thing is it's not even a bad song. It's kind of pretty and has a very relaxed, calming beat. Growing Up is a more serious-sounding song from Passpo, so I guess why. I can't help but wonder if Growing Up is literally what the song is about. Is it meant to be a representation of Passpo evolving and growing as a group? Their singles-trilogy this year did revolve around that concept. I wouldn't be surprised if Growing Up was meant to follow that main trend. But if this is the kind of music they're going to put out from now on... I don't now how much longer I'll keep reviewing this group. Growing Up is a pleasant-sounding song, and I can see where the heart is. I think the emotions were in the right place in terms of vocals for this song, because a very sweet vibe is projected. It's just not enough for me to really invest an opinion for Growing Up. Overall, like most of Passpo's musical output this year, Growing Up is an all right song, but by no means a great song.

Well, maybe the PV for Growing Up leaves a better impression! Honestly, the PV for Growing Up reminds me a lot of the PV for Perfume's Macaroni. I've noticed a lot of idol PVs have reminded me of Macaroni actually... I guess the concept of that PV can be applied to a lot of idol PVs? Macaroni and Growing Up are both PVs that feature heavy filtering that make them look "vintage" and both PVs also consist of the members of each group wandering around the city. Of course, Growing Up has a little more of a storyline. But then again, that's compared to Macaroni, a PV with absolutely no plotline. I think the basic plot of Growing Up is all the girls of Passpo are getting nostalgic and they all meet at the stage where they perform and... friendship happens? I'm gonna assume friendship. That always seems to be the go-to theme for idol PVs. Yeah, most of the PV is focused on individual shots of each member of Passpo wandering around the city being all nostalgic and reflective. I will admit, the scenery is very nice to look at, but I always enjoy looking at PVs that are shot outdoors. The PV for Growing Up isn't as creative as the PVs for Step & Go, Candy Room, and Mousou no Hawaii were but it matches with the laid-back tone of the song. And the end of the PV was kind of heartwarming, though for apparent reason. I guess it just felt like the girls' emotions were very genuine and honest. Maybe a little glossed over but still genuine. Much like the song, I don't feel like there's a lot I can say about the PV for Growing Up. I think the sentiment put into the PV is nice, but this really isn't my favorite PV in the world. It's not as poor as the PV for Truly was, but I like it better when Passpo does quirkier PVs. Still, if you want to see all the members of Passpo get equal screen time, Growing Up does a pretty good job of doing that! I think this was the first time I was able to see each member of the group individually and clearly. If you're a longtime fan of Passpo, the PV for Growing up might strike more of a chord with you, but for me it was simply an average idol PV.



I'll give Growing Up three out of five apples. It's an okay song, but nothing that special. It doesn't exactly break the streak of underwhelming singles that Passpo's been on lately. I was just about ready to give up on the group... but luckily I listened to the B-side of Growing Up.

Cosmic You

I'm really glad I decided to listen to the entire Growing Up single, otherwise I probably never would have known that Cosmic You existed! Funny, the last song I listened to was called Cosmic Love by Mizuki Nana... Okay, that's off topic! Anything with the word "cosmic" in it always brings to my mind images of the cosmos and deep space travel. So naturally, the title of this B-side intrigued me. I was personally hoping for an ethereal, sci-fi song that explored concepts of space and time travel. Then I realized this was an idol song and lowered my expectations from space opera to nice-sounding song with a sci-fi edge. And it turns out Cosmic You is an electropop song! So that's kind of science fiction-y... if you squint. Well... technically this B-side is more of pop-rock song with electropop sprinkled around in various parts. Mainly the instrumental. And a few of the vocal bits are Autotuned. On my first listen, the opening vocals were a little jarring, but after that Cosmic You became a much more fun song. In fact, I like this song better than the A-side! It's much more fun and quite the breath of life after listening to Growing Up. Cosmic You brings out the more energetic, fun side of Passpo that I think has kind of been lacking in a lot of their recent singles. What I really like about this song is the blending of the guitar and the electronic edits mixed into it. You'd think the results wouldn't be very listenable, but it works very well! And it just adds to the fun-ness of the song! Cosmic You is such a happy, cheerful song, and it has such energy. It's like Passpo was injected with a shot of adrenaline and all the sudden became a lively group again! Cosmic You gives me hope that Passpo hasn't entirely fizzled out yet. It's such a solid B-side, with a very distinct sound that still fits the style of Passpo's music. It's a fun, rocking song that I personally wouldn't have minded to see as the A-side. If there's more music at the same quality level of Cosmic You on Passpo's upcoming album, I won't be complaining one bit! In fact... that would be pretty awesome.



Cosmic You gets four-and-half out of five apples from me. It really is a good B-side that not only contrasts with Growing Up but also exceeds the A-side's quality. With electropop meeting rock and producing glorious results, Cosmic You gives me hope for Passpo!

The Verdict

So. Growing Up as an overall single was kind of a mixed bag. I will say that neither of the two songs on this single were bad. Compared to some of the stuff I've listened to this year, this is absolutely fine. But that's kind of how I've been feeling about most of Passpo's singles this year. The only A-side I've really liked was Candy Room, and I think that's partially because of the awesome PV. Everything else ranges from good to forgettable. Growing Up falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. The A-side is definitely a more mature turn for Passpo, with a much more serious, almost nostalgic melody. I find it kind of amusing that Growing Up was actually composed three years ago, and the song was just reworked for a 2013 release. It makes me wonder if the producers just found the file lying in some obscure folder in their computer, thinking it had been lost a long a time ago! In the end, I don't care when Growing Up was composed; I care about whether or not it's a good song. Like I said before, I think Growing Up does sound very heartfelt and meaningful. Other than that? Not much too it. In my opinion, Growing Up is an okay song, but that's it. It doesn't make me jump and down or make me want to tear down a building and start a riot. It's just a pleasant song to listen to. Cosmic You, the B-side brings a little more zest to the table. It's got an electronic sound to it that works very well and gives it a very distinct sound combining electric guitars with synthesizers and bleeps and bloops. Honestly, I would have preferred Cosmic You to be the A-side; it's much more interesting. But there are things that cannot be, and Growing Up cannot be a solid single. The A-side is sweet but forgettable, and the B-side is much more interesting but still a B-side. In the end, this single doesn't make me want to stop reviewing Passpo, but it doesn't make me that excited for their upcoming album. Still, I'll at least give Jet!Jet!Jet! a listen, even if I end up not reviewing the album. I think Jet!Jet!Jet! will be the true test of whether or not Passpo has lost its luster.


For now, I'll just rank Growing up with three and half apples out of five. This single reeks of average-ness with average covers, an average A-side, an average PV, and an above-average B-side that should have been the A-side.

Well, the passing of October is both a sad and happy time. Sad because Halloween's over. Happy because Christmas and Christmas vacation are a-coming! Not to mention that November is a very special month for the Wonderland. Why? Because this is the month I posted my first post ever written ever on the Wonderland! Naturally, I'll be having metaphorical cake to celebrate such an event. Aside from that, the passing of October is also a relief; this was a rather stressful month for me. I'll give you a hint why: college. However, now I've finished all my college applications! So I'm just waiting now. January's either going to be the most wonderful or depressing month for me; that's when I'll get replies back from most of the colleges I've applied to. Other than that, things are going better for me in school; I dropped a very hard science class so I'm a lot less stressed than before! Rehearsals from the play I'm in are going well; we open in two weeks! And in the J-pop world, there are a lot of releases coming out this month and a bunch of PVs I need to review! Seriously, this State of the Wonderland mostly has PV reviews listed under it. I may not get to all of them, but I do hope I'll be able to write at least most of them! And with the end of 2013 approaching (can you guys believe it already?), I'm also working on putting together my Year-End Megapost! You know, sorting categories, picking possible contenders, the usual stuff! Anyways, here's my tentative list of posts for November!

2-Year Cake Day Celebration
- That's right, the Wonderland is turning two! Can you guys believe it? I still can't! Yes, in just twelve days my little Wonderland will have reached its second year! And like last year, I think that calls for a celebration of sorts! What I'm hoping is that this will coincide with another big landmark for the Wonderland, but I'm keeping this one a secret until it actually happens. Then what I want to do is make a double-celebration out of both accomplishments! All the details will come to light when the day comes though. For now, I'm just trying to focus on all the other stuff I need to review!

Barrette PV Review
- Surprise! I'm reviewing another Nogizaka46 A-side! Okay, I guess it's not much of a surprise since I very strongly implied I'd review whatever NG46 released next in my review of Girl's Rule. But the fact that I am going to review does at least imply that I'm motivated to review the PV for their latest single, Barrette. Sure, I'm a little miffed that they just have to release this single on the same day as Perfume's Sweet Refrain but that's beside the point. I've watched the PV for Barrette and emerged from it with opinions. Lots and lots of opinions. And whether you like it or not, you get to read them! If you want to. Your choice!

Chiisana Kiseki PV Review
- I'm really surprised that Tokyo Girls' Style is releasing a single so soon after Get the Star/Last Forever. Okay... technically, there's a two-month gap between Get the Star/Last Forever and Road to Budokan 2013 ~Chiisana Kiseki~ but that's still pretty brief in idol time. But hey, I can't complain too much; I'm a fan of Tokyo Girls' Style after all! So the full PV for Chiisana Kiseki is already out and it is saved on my computer. However, I probably won't get around reviewing it until mid-to-late November, since the single itself is being released on November 22.

Gounn PV Review
- It's about time Momoiro Clover Z released something new! It's been what, seven months? Eight months? What have they been doing, roaming the galaxy as space pirates!? I figure that I can always expect an entertaining PV from the batshit-crazy idol group that is MomoClo, even if the song accompanying that PV isn't quite as good. Naturally, this is one of the reviews at the top of my list, and I have to say, I'm immensely looking forward to screencapping this PV! And what do I think of the actual song? Well, you will have to wait and see! Not for too long I hope either!

Hey Boy ~Weishenme?~ PV Review
- Let me go ahead and say that if I end up getting to overwhelmed with PVs I need to review this month, this is one of the PVs that I might not get to reviewing. I like Weather Girls and I try to review each of their releases, but I'm not really feeling Hey Boy ~Weishenme?~ It's not that I hate the song or the PV, I just don't know if I can substantiate an entire review out of either one. Maybe a single review, but even then, I'm still iffy about that. I don't know, it really all depends on my load this month and how much writing gets done. Come December and it's still not written, I'll probably skip this review.

The Perks of Being a Blogger
- So I figured since my blog is turning two years old, it would be appropriate to write about some of the best aspects of being an idol blogger! I don't think I've really gone into how much I enjoy idol blogging, especially compared to other forms of media sharing that I've dabbled in. And I really want other readers to be able to see that love and passion too, and maybe even start up idol blogging themselves! Even if it doesn't spark a desire to idol blog, I still want to properly break down just why I do what I do on this blog, and why I've kept doing it for nearly two years. (The short version is because I love it though!)

Re: PV Review
- Eh, what the hell? I'll review something else by 9nine! You guys remember 9nine, right? I reviewed their Evolution No. 9 single back in... May? June? Some time around then! And their next single looked promising, so I thought I might as well review the PV for Re: And yeah, that's how the A-side is punctuated. Kind of awkward typing it out... But if there's anything I've learned, it's never to judge a song by its title! Like seriously, don't. It's lead to so many disappointments... Anyways,

Sweet Refrain PV/Single Review
- Oh yes, you guys all saw this coming. Even if I find this song to be lame, that isn't going to stop me from reviewing the PV and single for it! Besides, I'll probably want to talk about how the B-side sounds! I'm thinking the PV for Sweet Refrain will come out in the next two or three weeks, most definitely before the end of November. And obviously I'll just review the single on one of the last days of November. You guys know the drill with my Perfume reviews by now. And although I still think Sweet Refrain is a weak A-side, I am interested to see how the PV will look. Hopefully it'll turn out well!

Suteki na Takaramono PV Review
- For those of you who are cocking your head at this unfamiliar song title, this a new group I'm reviewing! One of my lovely commentators directed me to the PV for Suteki na Takaramono, and I knew after watching it that I just had to review this PV, or at least the song! Suteki na Takarmono is by a new group on the idol market named Kus Kus, and despite the fact that their name reminds me of a food condiment, I still feel inclined to thoroughly review their debut song! I'll elaborate into why in the full review but some of you who've already listened to the song can probably figure out why!

Tokai wo Hitorigurashi/Aitte Motto Zanshin Double PV Review
- I'm gonna regret this, aren't I? That seems to happen with every double PV review I take on! I wasn't even able to get through my double PV review of Morning Musume's last single out of sheer exhaustion! But there's still something strangely gratifying about reviewing two PVs in one review. And I guess accomplishing that kind of makes up for all the stamina I put into writing such an extensive review! So I would very much like to look at the PVs for C-ute's newest single, especially since I neglected to review their last single. As I implied in my C-ute and Berryz editorial, I can talk about a lot with both PVs...

Oh hey, the lips from Rocky Horror Picture Show got a makeover!


I do wonder just what kind of wild and psychedelic dreams Kyary is capable of dreaming of...


Is she dancing with one of Princess Bubblegum's Candy Kingdom inhabitants?


Spoooooooooky!!! -waves arms-


Seriously though, I really do like the backup dancers' costumes in this PV.


Yikes! Not gonna lie, those arms are little creepy. Just a little bit.


Lalala, just gathering an army of animated candles, another normal day for Kyary!


I imagine this is how Nakata and Kyary write her songs.


I do like the green screen for this PV; it's better than some of her recent green screens.


Ooh, we get to go inside the mind of Kyarypamyupamyu!!


As I suspected, the inner workings of her mind remain an enigma.


I think if I were asked to sum up Kyarypamyupamyu in one picture, I'd use this one!


Yeah, Kyary, you're not the only one who gets weirded out by floating skeleton heads.


Can the Apple of Foreshadowing save Kyary from the spooooky skeletons?


No, but it can turn her into an anime character!


Now it's up to anime!Kyary to save the world from the Ultimate Skeleton Monster!!!


KABOOM!


I'm not sure what she's dressed up as but it's adorable!


Does that spell out INU or LNU or... what does that mean???


That's the cutest piece of shit I've ever seen O_O


A boat... suspended by hot air balloons... flying across a mountain range... makes perfect sense...


But hark! A wild UFO appears!


What will our heroine do!?


I guess she's falling down the rabbit hole... or just a hole in general...


I'm so glad the laws of cartoon physics apply in this PV!


Okay, the floor dance is really cute.


Gosh, giant multicolored strawberries. So boring.


Oh look, it's the Candy Kingdom guy again!


Uh... did my video player glitch and start playing a different PV?


...

What am I... even supposed to say about this... MOVING ON!


So this is what a Mottai Night Land looks like. It's pretty! (not very wasteful though)


SPARKLES! Nia likes sparkles...


Uh oh, looks like the tables have been turned!


And the PV wraps up with what I can say is a dazzling finish-


Oh wait, now it's over! And I still have no idea what to make of those two backup dancers!

So you know how I was saying that Kyary's PVs haven't exactly been spectacular this year? Like Furisodation was a really clever PV that was both hilarious and meaningful, but the PV for Ninjari Bang Bang was kind of cheap and I don't really like the PV for Invader Invader that much. What I noticed about all three PVs is that they weren't that... weird. I'm speaking obviously in perspective because Kyary's got some weird PVs but compared to like Fashion Monster and PonPonPon, there was nothing in any of those PVs that made me go, "What in the hell is that?" Not to mention that they all seemed kind of low-budget. Luckily, Mottai Night Land does not fall prey to either one of those characteristics. It is a weird PV, and entertaining weird PV, with so many different weird moments you could make a scrapbook out of them. What I liked most about Mottai Night Land's PV was the pacing. This was a PV that was constantly throwing new images, new scenes, new people/creatures at you, but not too quickly either. It was just long enough for you to take in what you were seeing. And then right after you processed that, poof! Along comes another weird scene! And then at the very end of the PV all these quirky creatures bouncing around the PV all comes together for one final dance in the titular Night Land. It's such a fun, eye-catching PV that's not only weird but cohesive and kind of pretty at some parts. I feel like whoever produced this really put a lot effort into making a really creative, memorable PV that would perfectly capture the cute and creepy sides of Kyary's image. Because while this PV has a lot of cute imagery, what I like is that there's some really offbeat, weird imagery mixed into it. Like those bikini-clad skeleton-head creatures. What are they even supposed to mean!? What am I asking myself, this is a Kyarypamyupamyu PV, they probably don't have any meaning! But I think that's where the appeal of Mottai Night Land lies. Like PonPonPon, it's a nonsensical PV in the most enjoyable and appealing way possible.

On the visual/technical side, I also like that the PV for Mottai Night Land has such a wide array of colors and brightness. I thought the PV for Invader Invader was way too dark, but Mottai Night Land is bright and colorful. Even in the Night Land, the colorfulness was still present, just in darker tones and hues. By the way, I really love how the titular Night Land looks in this PV. I didn't really have an idea of what it should look like other than a vague picture in my head, but this is pretty much how I picture a "Wasteful Night Land" to look. Strange, colorful, and like something out of a little kid's imagination. Or something from the mind of Kyarypamyupamyu. What's the difference really? My only small complaint is that I wish more time had been spent in the Night Land. It only really shows up at the end of the PV, and the PV only lingers on it for a short amount of time. Still, that's merely a nitpick, and doesn't take away any enjoyment of the PV. Besides, all the other scenery in this PV is really interesting to look at too! For a PV that's mostly green screens, I'm really happy that it was handled so well. I feel like in a lot of idol PVs, the green screen is used as a cheap cop-out to create a very-unbelievable replacement for real scenery (see: Morning Musume's Help me!! PV). But what works in the PV for Mottai Night Land is that there are so many different colors and patterns used on the green screens. Add that they look nice behind Kyary and her backup dancers, and this is one of the happy cases showing that when you use green screen correctly, it can look really good. And then there are the parts that aren't even live-action: the animated scene! It's really short, but I still loved it. I always like seeing different mediums in PVs, especially when the singers are portrayed by their animated counterparts! I'm not exactly an expert in animation, but for such a quick shot, I think the animated bit in Mottai Night Land had nice pacing, great facial expressions from anime!Kyary, and ended in a (literally) explosive finish. And then Kyary transformed into some kind of fluffy animal. I don't know!

And how can I forget the quirky backup dancers that always add charm to Kyary PVs? I really like the outfits for the backup dancers in Mottai Night Land. From what I can tell, they had cartoonish skeleton-heads. The shape of the heads kind of reminded me of the Pac Man ghosts. Did anyone else get those vibes? Either way, I thought they made a fun edition to the PV, and the dance they did was really adorable. Especially when they danced on the floor with Kyary. I also like that there was kind of this antagonistic relationship between Kyary and the Skeleton Heads (gee, that sounds like a band name). Like at one part they're chasing her around in a UFO then in another part she's controlling one of them through puppet strings. And then there was that weird scene with the bikini-clad Skeleton Heads. I'm not sure what that was supposed to represent, but I can't deny that it was one of the standout moments of the PV. And I can forget the tuxedo-wearing Candy Head that dances with Kyary. Again, one of those strange but fun moments in the PV. In the end, what else is there to say about Mottai Night Land? Overall, I think it is a really strong PV from Kyarypamyupamyu, the one that's come the closest to recapturing the feel of PonPonPon. Of course, nothing can really top PonPonPon because it's one-of-a-kind, but Mottai Night Land still reaches that same balance of weirdness and fun. It has a host of weird and quirky characters, along with Kyary being engaging as always. There were a fun parts in Mottai Night Land, and I had a ball watching and screencapping this PV. In the future, I really hope that this is the kind of PV that Kyary keeps on doing. Well... I guess that's kind of tricky since what makes Mottai Night Land such a great PV is how distinctively weird it is. Still, does anyone get what I'm saying? I want more Kyary PVs that are as entertaining as Mottai Night Land and have as much variety. Until then, I'll be content with the PV for Mottai Night Land. Believe me, the song isn't anything amazing, but I would highly recommend watching the PV is you're like me and enjoy Kyary's PVs.


Overall, the song and PV for Mottai Night Land get 3.5 apples. As I stated before, I'm really not a huge fan of the song; I think it's only a rehash of the default style of music Kyary falls into. It's also too repetitive for my liking. Fortunately, I think the PV for Mottai Night Land is her best since Fashion Monster. It's a Kyary PV in every sense of the phrase, and makes up for the lackluster sound of the actual song. If you like the PV for PonPonPon, I'd watch Mottai Night Land; if there's any PV that comes close to the craziness of that PV, it's Mottai Night Land.

Covers/Outfits

I will go ahead and say that the covers and outfits are the weakest part about this single. Honestly, if I'd not heard the song first and just seen the covers for Suteki na Takaramono, I probably would have passed over this single. I mean, what comes to mind when you see the three covers for Suteki na Takaramono? With the girlish and childlike pink font, the adorable outfits, the simplistic but cliche idol poses, you'd think that the songs contained on this single are the cutest, bubbliest idol songs on the market. And probably bland too. It's one of the prime examples where you can never judge a book by its cover... or in this case, a song by its CD cases. Suteki na Takaramono comes in three editions: Type A, B, and C. None of the editions contain DVDs or different songs, and the only real distinction is each edition comes with a randomly selected photo of one of the members of Kus Kus. There's not much of a distinction between the covers themselves; the font is the same on all them, and all three covers are pretty blase. The Type A has them all posing closely together wearing white dresses and gloves against a white backdrop with pink cursive showing the title and the group's name. It is a positively boring single cover, and really lacking in color. The Type B (pictured at the top of this review) fares a little better with the color scheme and has the girls wearing polka-dot dresses against a slightly more textured backdrop. It's far from spectacular, but it's better than the Type A cover. And then there's the Type C, but it's basically a copy of the Type A only the girls are wearing yellow dresses now and are posed closer together. Really there's not much to talk about with that one. Of course, you can say with the other two covers as also; all three of these covers are incredibly generic-looking. How can UMJ expect to draw in a fanbase for Kus Kus with such unassuming and unoriginal single covers? I wouldn't have such a gripe with them, but they really undermine the quality of the songs themselves. Speaking of which, how about those songs? Are they any better than these covers?

Suteki na Takaramono

YES. Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes! And to think I wouldn't have even found this group had it not been for a lovely passerby on the Wonderland who directed me towards it. Suteki na Takaramono is a technopop song, and everyone who reads this blog knows my soft spot for technopop, especially when idols are involved. If there's one thing I wish this blog had more of it's idol technopop groups to review. Unfortunately, the idol market is a little short on that... unless you count Kyarypamyupamyu. So it's really refreshing to see an idol group singing technopop! And good technopop too. I love the sound of Suteki na Takaramono; I think it perfectly balances both the pop and techno sides of it. You can tell it's an idol song, and a really happy one at that, but it utilizes technopop well! Honestly, Suteki na Takaramono reminds me very much of an indies Perfume song, when they were more of an idol group than a performance group. However, this song is not a carbon copy of Perfume music; the vocals are arranged differently, and the voices in Suteki na Takaramono sound a little more human than Perfume did. Like I can distinguish each girl's voice in Kus Kus whereas doing that with Perfume was a little more challenging. Both vocals still have robotic qualities, but Perfume sounds much more artificial, even in their indies. I think that's because Nakata used vocoders more than whoever produced Suteki na Takaramono. Do you what song Suteki na Takaramono reminds me of most though? Science Girl▽Silence Boy by that Sakura Gakuin sub-unit. Both songs have really similar tones, even if Suteki na Takaramono is a little more on the techno side than Science Girl▽Silence Boy. Point is I love both songs. I love that Suteki na Takaramono is a technopop song, and a good one at that. I think this song is such a sweet little A-side that has such charm and heart to it, and it brings me back to Perfume's indie days when they were just starting out. Who knows? Maybe one day Kus Kus will reach the same level of fame and recognition that Perfume has achieved!

Like the covers for Suteki na Takaramono, the PV is cheap. But at least it's not tacky and tries to be a little interesting. Still, it suffers from a lack of proper budget. The ideas presented in the PV could be kind of cute for an idol PV, but none of them are explored that much. Like there's a scene where the girls are communicating with cups and strings that's nice. Mainly the scenes where the girls are sitting down were nice, but they could have been better if there was a little more going on in them. Instead, the PV is mostly saved for the varying dance shots and close-ups though, all encompassed in one set. And I literally mean that this PV all takes place on one set. The set itself is all right; it's got that vaguely-futuristic-but-not-really look to it. If anything, it kind of reminds me of the PV for Perfume's Laser Beam. Speaking of Perfume, watching the PV for Suteki na Takaramono is where Kus Kus gets the strongest Perfume vibes. The dance is pretty idol-y, but some of the visual techniques in it are very reminiscent of Perfume videos. Like you know the visual effect in Magic of Love and love the world where a series of shots are filmed within each other like a reverse Matryoshka doll? Well, that same technique is used in this PV, and naturally, I immediately noticed it. Do I think this is a blatant ripoff of Perfume's style. Eh, it's kind of hard to tell because the PV is just so cheap. Perfume has a tendency to get much more creative PVs, and unfortunately the PV for Suteki na Takaramono is very lacking in that regard. Not to mention the little visuals used in the PV aren't exclusive to just Perfume PVs, so it's very hard to give a verdict on how similar Kus Kus is to Perfume. Personally, I think Suteki na Takaramono deserved a better PV. It's such a lovely song; a truly fun and creative PV could have really highlighted just how good the song is. Don't get me wrong, this PV isn't terrible, but it's pretty cheap. Thankfully not UFP levels of cheap, but still pretty close. Who knows? Maybe Kus Kus will get better PVs in the future! I can only hope so!



Suteki na Takaramono gets a very enthusiastic five apples from me! You heard me, five apples. That's how much I like this song. Suteki na Takaramono is lovely, and it reminds me so much of indies Perfume without being a direct ripoff of Perfume's sound. If you're into Perfume as much as I am, I highly recommend listening to this song.

Suki Kiss

And I can say the same thing about the B-side! I wondered whether or not Suki Kiss would be a technopop song like Suteki na Takaramono or a more traditional sounding idol song. I mean, that is one of the most cutesy, cliche titles I've seen in idol music. Would my fears be confirmed that Kus Kus was just another generic idol group who happened to get a technopop song? Thankfully, no! Suki Kiss is also a technopop song! Nice to have that consistency in this single! Suki Kiss reminds me a lot of Perfume's Computer Driving, especially the opening instrumental. The rest of the song sounds more Vocaloid-esque though. I think it's the repetition and all the bleeps and bloops in the song. Regardless, I like it! I don't like it quite as much as Suteki na Takaramono, but I think this B-side still nicely compliments the A-side! Suki Kiss is a bit cuter sounding than Suteki na Takaramono, but with a title like Suki Kiss, what else should you expect? I do like that Suki Kiss has a little more vocal manipulation than Suteki na Takaramono did. Mainly just some echoing and repetition in the chorus, but it's the little touches that add to music! I forgot to touch on this, but I really like the vocals in Kus Kus. I don't think any of the girls are Tokyo Girls' Style level singers, but they all sound very nice! It probably helps that their vocal editing is handled well. You know those aren't their real voices, but the editing is still very smooth and doesn't sound like a desperate attempt to cover up weak vocals. Unlike some groups that I review whose names will not be mentioned. Overall, Suki Kiss is a pleasant surprise of a B-side. I really had no idea going in what it would sound like, so I'm happy that it's a technopop song. It makes me think that Kus Kus is going to continue rolling with a technopop sound, which I would be more than okay with. Together, I think Suteki na Takaramono and Suki Kiss work well together. Both are happy, one's just slightly cuter than the other. Suki Kiss lives up to its name and is a very adorable, so if you're into the cuter side of technopop, I'd give this B-side a listen.



I'll give Suki Kiss four and half out of five apples. Again, not quite as good as the A-side, but still a pretty strong B-side. Suki Kiss is a pretty cute song, but it's a technopop song, which only adds to its charm.

The Verdict

I'm excited to see what this group does beyond Suteki na Takaramono! I hope they keep the technopop style of music they're riding on with Suteki na Takaramono, because I think it works really well for them! I will admit, on the surface, Kus Kus looks like a rather unassuming group. Not even their debut PV is that amazing. But if you can look past the bland outfits and cheap PVs, the songs on Suteki na Takaramono are absolutely wonderful, and I'm so happy to find an idol group that sings technopop. I hope that Kus Kus continues to release technopop music, because I think their style is not only adorable but sets them apart from a lot of other idol groups on the market right now. Suteki na Takaramono is a song that I can listen to a lot and not get tired of, simply because it's such a likable song. It's got a sweet melody, and not a bad technopop song either. Suki Kiss is almost as good as Suteki na Takaramono and matches the sound of Suteki na Takaramono perfectly. I think both songs are really great, but it probably helps that they remind me very much of Perfume's aesthetic. However, do I think Kus Kus is a cheap copy of Perfume? No, actually! Look, don't go into this single expecting the second coming of Perfume, because that's not what Kus Kus is. Although with the member count, the technopop style, and even the outfits, they might be reminiscent of Perfume they are not a direct reflection of Perfume, especially current Perfume. If anything, they're more similar to indies Perfume, and even both groups' styles still have differences. Even if they are alike, I see absolutely nothing wrong with another Perfume-type group, as long as it's handled well. And I think so far, Kus Kus is being handled very well! I love the sound of their debut single, and I hope that in the future, Kus Kus will continue to go in this route for their music. And maybe when Perfume disbands, Kus Kus can be kind of a spiritual successor to them. I also hope that more people find out about Kus Kus; I feel like Suteki na Takaramono is kind of a hidden gem.

I was torn between giving Suteki na Takaramono four and half apples or five, but I ended up going with the former. Only because visually, this single is kind of lacking, and could really have used some fine-tuning. But the songs on Suteki na Takaramono are top-notch, and really lovely technopop for an idol group! This was a great debut single for Kus Kus, and I eagerly look forward to seeing where this idol trio goes next!

This song exists. That's important to note. Other than that, there's not much else I can say about this song. I guess it's all right sounding? In my opinion, Weather Report is the most forgettable song on Standard though. It's a soft-rock song, which is probably why I don't care for it that much. The energy levels are just so low and even in the chorus, there's no punch to this song. It's one of those songs that I have a hard time writing about, because there's only so much I can say before I start repeating myself. Eh... Haruna's vocals sound fine? She carries the song nicely and tries to add some life to it. Other than that, I feel like I've heard this instrumental in like twenty other Scandal songs. It's kind of like that Zone-type sound they always default back to at some point or another in each album. On the up side, Weather Report isn't a god-awful song like Playboy or Scandal in the House so I guess that's a good thing?

My Rating:


7. 8-gatsu

It annoys me just a teensy bit that 8-gatsu isn't track 8. I mean, come on, how perfect would that be!? Then again, that's nitpicky. The song itself sounds like it could fit on Queens are trumps -Kirifuda wa Queen-. I say that because it's one of Scandal's softer, nostalgic-sounding rock songs. Think Harukaze, Rising Star or hell, most of Zone's discography. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I like Zone, and I like the general sound of 8-gatsu! It kind of sounds melancholic, but in a very upbeat manner. I will say though it brings absolutely nothing new to the table for Scandal. I've heard this sound a lot from them. This song style seems to be Scandal's default sound to go to when they need a B-side or another album song. While I do like it, if 8-gatsu was a song that was never created, I can't say I'd be sad about it. Still, it's a pretty-sounding song. I'm saying that as someone who likes that Zone-type sound though.

My Rating:


8. Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne

Look here, the first A-side to start the Standard era! Wasn't Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne used in an anime? Or was it a movie? I think it was either the opening or ending to a movie. Either way, it sounds like an anime song. I'm wouldn't be too surprised since Scandal's done a lot of theme songs for animes. For some reason, I really like writing to this song. I guess because it's easy to tune out? I'm not sure what that says about the quality of the song, but it makes for a lot of very productive writing. In fact, I'm listening to it right now! But that's mainly just to review this album. What can I really say about Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne that I didn't say in my single review of it? I think it's a pretty decent song but by no means the best Scandal song I've ever heard. I think there's a decent amount of sentiment in the song though, and hey, I'm always looking for music that helps me write!

My Rating:


9. Kagen no Tsuki

And here's my least favorite A-side of the Standard era. Admittedly, it's not a horrible song, but the flaws in it are still prominent enough. My biggest nitpick with Kagen no Tsuki that I went over in great detail is the arrangement. I feel like I'm listening to two different songs every time I play Kagen no Tsuki. First of all, the verses have this very cool, kind of edgy sound reminiscent of the Shoujo S verses along with a pretty awesome riff. Then the chorus comes in. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the chorus of Kagen no Tsuki completely drags the song down. It's way too happy and doesn't match with the feel initially portrayed in the verses. Not to mention, this chorus is downright bland for Scandal, like something I'd hear off their Baby Action album. It's totally lame, and when the chorus is the weakest part of a song... that kind of drags everything down. Needless to say, I'm not a huge fan of Kagen no Tsuki.

My Rating:


10. Koi no Gestault Hokai

This is my second favorite new song on Standard! It's such a breath of life after Kagen no Tsuki too! Koi no Gestault Hokai is thankfully a more rock-oriented song, and by god, does Standard need more of those! After all these easy-listening tracks, Koi no Gestault Hokai brings some energy to the table. Seriously, this song is so energetic and fast-paced; I love it. And the instrumental's are so loud and prevalent in this song; I'll bet it'll sound great at Scandal's live concerts! I really wish more of the songs on Standard sounded like Koi no Gestault Hokai: catchy, fun, and memorable! I think this will be one of the few tracks that I keep listening to after I'm finished reviewing Standard. I really wish this was the sound that Scandal gravitated more towards to with their music, but oh well, I'm not some puppetmaster who can control their every move. For now, I will content myself with Koi no Gestault Hokai.

My Rating:


11. Kimi to Mirai to Kanzen Douki

And here's the one B-side that made it to the album! I honestly wouldn't have minded 24 Jikan Plus no Yoake Me being on Standard either. I'm happy that the hot mess that is Scandal in the House didn't make the cut though! I said in my single review of Kagen no Tsuki that Kimi to Mirai to Kanzen Douki is a better song than the A-side, and I still stand by that claim. So I am happy that this song was included on the album; it kind of makes up for Kagen no Tsuki being on there. Kimi to Mirai to Kanzen Douki reminds me very much of the kind of song I'd hear on one of Scandal's earlier albums like Best Scandal or even Temptation Box. It reminds me a bit of Shoujo M from Temptation Box, although not quite as raw. Overall, I think Kimi to Mirai to Kanzen Douki a pretty good song. It doesn't really offer any new sound for Scandal or musical evolution, but it's still a strong song. I can still jam to it!

My Rating:


12. Namida yo Hikare

This song is kind of like a faster paced Uchiage Hanabi. My criticism of Uchiage Hanabi was how energetic it was so if Namida yo Hikare improved in that, surely that means this is a better song, right? Eh... not exactly. I think the chorus for Namida yo Hikare is absolutely unforgettable. I do like the instrumental for it, but everything else in the chorus doesn't grab me at all. I guess the end part is kind of catchy but everything else just doesn't grab me for some reason. I'm not sure about Namida yo Hikare; for some reason, I just can't get into this song. I don't think it's a horrid song, but there's nothing about it that makes me want to listen to it again. Maybe the problem with Namida yo Hikare is that there isn't really a hook? It's just a constant assault of sound that probably could have used a clearer arrangement. I don't know, it's still a pretty decent song, and I like that it's more rock-sounding.

My Rating:


13. Standard

Bring Standard to an end is... the title track! Kind of cool having it at the end of the album. But if I had to pick any of the songs to close this album, I'd keep Standard. Why? Because I think Standard is the best song on this album. Nothing like saving the best for last! Standard is in my opinion the most interesting and different song for Scandal. It's kind of like a more serious Scandal in the House but only a thousand times better than that heinous B-side from Over Drive. You could also compare it to some of Scandal's more serious songs like Nanka no Buttobase and maybe even Love Survive. Standard features a lot of talk-singing but it works in this really weird way. The call-and-response parts in the song help. And the guitar riff in this is awesome, very hardcore and intense. Standard is a short song, clocking in at a little over three minutes, but they're an explosive three minutes bringing this album to a close.

My Rating:


The Verdict

There were no horrible tracks on Standard. That isn't always the case with Scandal albums. The weakest tracks were Weather Report and Kagen no Tsuki, and even then those aren't bad. However, there aren't any truly excellent tracks on Standard either. The title track comes the closest to being something really interesting. Everything else ranges from easy listening to somewhat decent. Honestly, I would only bother replaying about half of the songs on this album. The biggest problem I had with Standard was that the general sound wasn't energetic enough. Sure, tracks like Orange Note, Metronome and Standard are really energetic, but they're drowned out by 8-gatsu, Brand new wave, Weather Report, and Kagen no Tsuki. There are just so many songs on this album that you can tune out really easily. For some situations that's great, but if I want to listen to an album solely for listening, Standard isn't going to hold my attention. The A-sides from this era ranged from lackluster to pretty solid. Kagen no Tsuki is obviously the weakest with its clumsy arrangement and lame chorus. Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne falls in the middle being a decent song, albeit offering nothing new for Scandal. And Over Drive was my personal favorite due to its sheer happiness and the little bit of musical manipulation from Nakata. My favorite new tracks were Metronome, Koi no Gestault Hokai, and Standard. Even then, none of those songs draw really passionate opinions from me. Everything else on Standard is okay. If you're a fan of Scandal and enjoy their more Zone-type music, then you'll probably like Standard. I'm a fan of Zone, but I have to admit, I wasn't that impressed by Standard. I never seem to like every single track on any Scandal album, but this is the first time that I've gotten such a neutral opinion of one of their albums. Standard doesn't offer much new material of growth from Scandal as a band. If you're just looking for some generic Scandal music though, this album has that in spades! As for me, this album didn't impress me but it didn't disappoint me either.


Hence Standard rests at a middling three apples. I thought Queens are trumps -Kirifuda wa Queen- was a stronger album, even if that had its pitfalls. Standard is a very safe release for Scandal musically, with songs that don't deviate very far from their song formula. Still, there are a few decent tracks on the album, and there's nothing outright terrible. I'll wait for their next album though and hope that offers something with a little more substance.

I always cringe a little every time I hear someone utter the phase "X isn't as good as they used to be," or "X's older music was so much better than their newer music." I think that's mainly because it's such a common criticism that's in my opinion very carelessly thrown around. It's one of those statements with very flimsy justification behind it. I've heard it with Perfume, Morning Musume, AKB48, any idol group that has been around for more than two years has probably had this criticism thrown at them. You can also apply this to television shows, novelists, just about any long-standing artist will receive this criticism at some point or another. That or their career can be tragically cut short and everyone can wax poetic about how the little amount of work they produced was a god-given gift to the world. All I'm trying to say is that although this criticism is inevitable, I die a little inside every time I hear it. However, that does not mean that this cannot be a valid criticism. There are lots of artists in general whose current work isn't as good as their older work. And I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't mention that even I have slipped up and used this criticism before, although I try my best to explain my reasoning behind it. And so that brings me back to Momoiro Clover Z. I've noticed that a lot of reviewers have been lamenting MomoClo's toned down current music that apparently isn't as wacky or spontaneous as their earlier work. Is this a valid observation or jaded ramblings? I wasn't sure, especially when I still hadn't listened to a lot of their older music. Like I'd listened to none of their Battle and Romance material, let alone any of their Momoiro Clover songs. However, now I have listened to Battle and Romance, which I had not done when I reviewed 5th Dimension and Saraba, Itoshiki Kamitachi-yo. And listening to it (which by the way it's an amazing album), I can kind of see where the criticisms about MomoClo's more recent music are coming from. There's something very... exuberantly youthful about the Battle and Romance-era music, like a little kid coked up on pixie sticks.

I still think the sound of their 5th Dimension work still has a lot of quirkiness, but it does feel a little more subdued and mature. That doesn't mean they've turned into Tokyo Girls' Style 2.0 though! Although wouldn't it be crazy if MomoClo got a TGS-style song and in turn TGS got a MomoClo-style song? Actually, that'd probably be the idol equivalent of crossing the streams... And still, hasn't MomoClo gotten some pretty well-regarded songs post-Battle and Romance? Like Mouretsu Uchuu no... eh.. Mugen no Ai! I've yet to meet a MomoClo fan who dislikes that song! And it's not like 5th Dimension was a horrible album either! Sure, songs like Roudou Sanka and Otome Sensou are kind of divisive, but I still think MomoClo retains a lot of energy and spontaneity! They've just kind of mellowed out since Battle and Romance. Besides, is it better for them to perpetually stick to one general sound than attempt to grow or evolve? It's kind of a double-edged sword. If they go the Perfume route and barely have significant changes to their sound, MomoClo will get criticism for not having enough variety to their music. If they change too much, they'll have a constantly divisive fanbase who will constantly bemoan their kaleidoscopic changes in musical direction. Really there has to be a balance. That brings me to Gounn, their first single after 5th Dimension. Not only has Gounn been released seven months after their last album, it's also their first single in nearly a year! Being the first new material in several months from the group kind of sets the bar high, along with the fact that it's the single that will kick off whatever their next album era is! Although I'm not the hugest follower of Momoiro Clover Z, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was at least a little intrigued to see what direction their next single would take. What was interesting about Gounn in terms of promotion is that we didn't even hear the song until a week before the release date when the PV was finally unveiled. I don't know if that's what MomoClo's always done for their material, but the abruptness was kind of jarring!

Still, how does Gounn sound? When the promotional pictures were revealed, I deduced that the the song would have an Indian feel to it. What do you know, I was right! I know, I'm just the Sherlock Holmes of the idolsphere, aren't I? Yes, I can definitely hear the Indian influences in the song, and I do like when songs take inspiration from the sounds of other countries. Why else do you think Berryz Koubou's Cha Cha Sing was such a great song? Gounn oddly enough reminds me of Perfume's Handy Man despite the fact that the two songs are in two different genres of music. Both have the same general sound though. Of course, I like Handy Man better because... it's flipping Handy Man! That was like the best B-side off Level3... Okay, okay, we're focusing on MomoClo, not Perfume! Despite the fact that I do like that Indian sound in Gounn, I'm actually not super enthusiastic about the song. I don't think this is a bad song or anything, I'm just not really feeling it that much. I think part of the reason is because Gounn is a little too calm than it needs to be. There are parts in this song (like the build-up after the verses) where it sounds like this songs is going to get a little bit more hectic, then go back to a more subdued sound. I would have been all for that, I think the spastic dips in energy would have made for a really call, quirky-sounding song. But Gounn is much more melodic, and Momoiro Clover Z has never been a group that excelled in melodic songs, even when they didn't have the Z. I'm not saying they can't pull off melodic songs, but it's never been one of their strong suits. Just like vocals aren't one of their strongest aspects either! There are several parts in Gounn (mainly Kanako's solos) that needed to sound stronger than they really did. I think the girls tried, but there's only so much they can do. The long notes were particularly weak, but again, that's not just not one of MomoClo's stronger points. Gounn is a very pretty song, but it doesn't leave much of an impact. Maybe with the right tweaking it could have, but in its current state, it is simply an all right song.

But that doesn't mean the PV is! Gounn is a single that was inspired by Buddhism, and that influence really shows in the PV for Gounn. The problem is I'm don't practice Buddhism. So I could have either gone into this PV ignoring the Buddhism side of it or attempting to research the symbols used in this PV. Being the studious little blogger that I am, I opted for the latter. And that required much use of Google to essentially take a bunch of shots in the dark and hope I hit something!


Seriously, this is what my browser looked like while I was trying to figure out what the PV for Gounn meant. I wanted to at least try and do justice to the religious imagery behind this PV, even if my findings are a little jumbled and I may be completely wrong. Nonetheless, let us approach this screencap with caution.


The PV opens with the Dharmacakra, which represents the Noble Eightfold Path in Buddhism.


And I don't think this next part has any symbols. It's just whisking us away to the mystical world of Momoiro Clover Z!


Kanako is sitting in what looks like a pool of blood in the same way the Maitreya is.


Okay, so I think this is the Akashic records? I'm going off this image.


That looks... uh... symbolic! Very symbolic and full of symbolism. Yes. Much symbolism.


Momoka sits on a tree wrapped in fabric holding a spool of thread herself.


Aarin is in what looks like a mouth (see the teeth?) holding what else? A toothbrush!


So these parts of the PV show a variety of designs spiraling outward very much like a wheel.


I think they're supposed to mirror the designs found on Buddhist mandalas.


Here's one for comparison. Something to note is there are a lot of different mandala designs! And each one is supposed to be a representation of the universe!


Shiori sits in a hand that positions in one of the Mudrâs of Buddhism (the flowing-holding one).


On closer inspection, Reni is sitting around hair which explains the hairbrush she has.


I think the spiraling mandala-esque designs are my favorite part of the PV.


There's something very... entrancing about how smooth and fluid the transitions are.


Have I mentioned the costumes yet? Because they're absolutely beautiful.



If I had the time, I'd love to through and cap every different spiral design I see!


Sure, it might take awhile but they're really pretty. And colorful too!


Shiori is holding what appears to be a gravy boat. Trust me, I'm Southern, I know these things.


It took me forever to realize Kanako is holding a syringe and not a pen! The syringe makes much more sense!


I like that MomoClo's trademark member colors are incorporated into the PV!


I don't ever think I've seen so much blood in an idol PV look so very pretty...


Aarin's twirling her giant golden toothbrush! Because honestly, how can she brush her teeth with that?


I noticed a lot of emphasis on Kanako in this PV. I guess because she's the leader?


More spiraling. It's quite relaxing to watch, I highly recommend!


More lovely editing. That's another technical thing about this PV that's good!


There are some parts where I forget this PV is mostly green screen...


A nice upward shot showing the Akashic records.


This is probably my favorite mandala-inspired design in the PV!


I'm not sure how many times I can "This is sooooo pretty," before it becomes repetitive...


And with one final pose, the PV comes to an end and I can stop wracking my brain over the religious imagery. Phew!

Oh man, that has got to be the most nerve-wracking screencap I've ever done! Seriously, I know little to nothing about Buddhism, beyond a few basic ideas about it. But because the PV for Gounn is heavily influenced by Buddhism, I felt I'd be cheating my readers if I at least try to look into those influences. How much I succeeded is probably debatable but I can at least get an E for Effort, right? I've got give credit where it's due though because I'm honestly just parroting the research gathered from other websites from people who are much more informed in Buddhism than I probably am. Main thanks goes to the Momoiro Clover Z international forum particularly users Saint, Momomofu, Grey Face, and Monkey Pop. Those are the people that deserve the real credit for all the information I gathered in this review, and without their input, I don't think I'd know quite near as much about the PV for Gounn! Still, I'm happy I'm not getting graded on this review! I'd get major downgrades for my lack of proper MLA-format citations! Even if reviewing this PV required a little more effort than usual, I'm still glad I did it! I learned a lot more about Buddhism than I did before; the American school system is exactly keen on teaching religion pre-college so this was quite the eye-opening experience! Like I didn't know how intricate Buddhist designs are, especially the mandalas. I think it's really amazing how these representations of the universe are so exquisitely designed, and the sheer number of different mandalas! One of my favorite parts of the PV was the incorporation of the mandala-concept. Honestly, I'm  overall very impressed with the details incorporated into the PV for Gounn, especially regarding the Buddhist imagery. I think whoever directed this PV put a lot of effort into the concept, and it shows. Gounn is probably one of the most artistic PVs I've ever reviewed. Say what you want about Momoiro Clover Z's music, you can't deny that they get some pretty cool PVs, and part of the fun of reviewing MomoClo's material is watching the PV!

So let's talk about the religious imagery in Gounn. Or let's at least make an attempt to. Because so much of this PV is tied in with Buddhism, there are a few things in the PV that I need to elaborate on. Mainly the individual shots where the girls are wearing white robes and holding miscellaneous objects. When I first watched this PV, a lot of the symbolism went right over my head. It probably didn't help that the sheer lavishness of the PV was overwhelming, and I thought those shots were really pretty to look at, even if I wasn't sure what to make of them. Doing the screencap and trying to figure out what everything meant was an arduous task that I probably couldn't have accomplished without looking to external sources. In particular, I just couldn't figure out how a syringe, a gravy boat, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and thread tied to Buddhism. However, there is an explanation behind the seeming randomness of these objects. And crazily enough, that explanation is conveniently linked to the member colors of Momoiro Clover Z! So the five members of Momoiro Clover Z each have their own signature color: Kanako is red, Shiori is yellow, Aarin is pink, Momoka is green, and Reni is purple. These also happen to make up the five colors of Goshiki. Well, it's a bit of stretch since pink is not one of those five colors. However, the Goshiki consists of red (Kanako), yellow (Shiori), green/blue (Momoka), purple/black (Reni), and white/crimson (Aarin). The fact that there are five "main" colors in this PV is also important; the number five in Buddhism is extremely significant and appears in a lot of other concepts. One of those concepts is Tathagata, the ultimate state of enlightenment in Buddhism. Each object in the PV for Gounn relates back to Tathagata: the syringe represents Tathagata's blood, the gravy boat represents Tathagata's body color (a gravy boat is also used to serve curry in Japan, and curry symbolizes yellow and gold), the toothbrush represents Tathagata's teeth, the spool and thread represents Tathagata's robe, and the comb represents Tathagata's hair.

I'm sure there's more Buddhist symbolism that I didn't catch, but I will allow someone who is more well-informed in Buddhism than I am to decipher it. That's the best I can do regarding the imagery in the PV for Gounn. As you can see, Gounn is a PV that is very rich in symbolism, surprisingly so for an idol PV. I always enjoy an idol PV that I can pick apart, even if this one was really challenging. On the technical side, the PV for Gounn has top-notch production. Like I said, I'm blown away at how much detail was put into this PV. Every shot looks so beautiful, and it all flows so smoothly together. The song actually sounds faster when I listen to it in the PV, which is good because Gounn is a song that needs to be faster. By far my favorite parts are the spiraling designs. I love how different they all look, and watching it is very mesmerizing. The individual shots too all look very nice as well, even if you don't take the symbolism into consideration. The PV for Gounn overall had this very elegant aesthetic. I think part of that comes from the Buddhism inspiration. I don't know if this is a superficial statement to make about a religion, but visually Buddhism has some beautiful imagery. Everything looks so intricate and colorful. The Buddhism-inspired concepts translate so well into this PV. Honestly, this really isn't a weird PV from Momoiro Clover Z. Crazy, huh? The weekend space pirates have a PV that's actually sane! There really isn't anything quirky or audacious about the PV for Gounn, and if you're a fan looking for that in MomoClo, I would skip this PV. However, the lack of weirdness isn't a bad thing at all, especially when Gounn is such a beautiful PV to look at. Overall, I am very pleased with the PV for Gounn. It's probably one of my favorite Momoiro Clover Z PVs, and makes up for the rather lackluster song. It's a PV steeped in themes and imagery from a very interesting religion, and the execution is wonderful. I love the outfits, the sets, the special effects, there isn't a single thing I would do to try and improve this PV. Because why on earth should you try to improve something perfect?


Gounn may not be the best MomoClo song in the world, but the PV is absolutely beautiful. So I'll collectively give both four out of five apples (three and half for the song and five for the PV!). I really liked the overall concept of this single. As for the Buddhism part of it, I sincerely apologize if I've mixed up or flat-out skewed any of the concepts. If I have please tell me and I will fix it right away!

You want to know what I did two days ago? I went to my Wednesday classes, came home, and made cupcakes! Why? Because the celebration of the Wonderland's second Cake Day deserves cupcakes! Too bad I couldn't actually write about it on the actual Cake Day because I was so busy! I had a short story to finish, a bunch of stuff in my classes was going on, and I was at the theatre all evening for dress rehearsal! When I came home, I practically fell into my bed! So I guess you could consider this a belated Cake Day celebration post... but look! Cupcakes!

Really, Arama? Fucking really? I know you're a gossip site but are really that desperate for traffic you had to re-publish a misinformed, biased article to spin a ridiculous, frivolous debate about social justice?

Oh well, I guess that's journalism!


I hate talking about social justice. Especially on the Internet. I think the concept is great but is so horribly skewed and misconstrued online that I feel like it does more damage than good. My biggest problem with online social justice is that most of it is done through scolding rather than educating. Generally speaking, on the Internet, people tend to take offense with either unintentional or intentional homophobia/transphobia but instead of trying to educate someone on the matter and helpfully explain to them why what they said was wrong, they'll rail on about how what that person said was offensive, without taking the time to at least try and explain why. Doing this only furthers rifts and leads to heated and often misinformed debates about social justice. The subject alone is a touchy one, with no clear black and white angles, which is why I don't like talking about it. Along with sometimes poor or inaccurate knowledge, generally speaking online social justice is a field that I am uncomfortable in, despite being supportive of its ideals. Hence the only thing I like to do regarding social justice is trying to be accepting of others beliefs, orientations, and societal values in my own life. I'm not going to attempt to teach social justice or debate about it because I have neither the proper knowledge nor the ability to do so. If you have strong feelings about social justice, then by all means that is okay with me, as long as you're not being an asshat about it. The point is I do not like talking about it. I just want to run a fun and happy little J-pop blog that talks about idols and where the most controversial thing I write about is foreign teenage girls trying to become idols in Japan. If I'm going to write about debatable topics, I'd rather it be the no-dating rule than something social-justice related. But then, one thing came up. One thing that's turned me into a sealed pressure cooker filled with boiling water. And slowly and slowly the temperature has been turned up, until my lid exploded off. Metaphorically.

I am, of course, talking about the "homophobic" comments said by A-chan in an interview and the repost onto popular Japanese news/gossip site Arama They Didn't.

I use quotations because there's been debate about just how "homophobic" A-chan's words were. A week ago, a news website called Blouin Artinfino posted a translated interview of Perfume talking about their music, concerts, and other various topics. A-chan in one part of the interview talked briefly about their international fanbase, particularly a gay couple. She said, "'Overseas, there were more men than women, and also people who were neither!' says A-Chan. 'A gay couple came to our singing session and one of the guys introduced to us his 'girlfriend.' But the guy gave me a huge rose saying, 'I love you so much! ­– I also love him (a guy), which means I like guys, but because I love you so much he doesn't believe I like guys! Tell him something to convince him that I like guys!' and I was like, 'what in the world am I supposed to say to that!' A lot of extraordinary things happened.'" The statement was short, but international fans were abuzz about, first on Tumblr. Then came the repost on Arama with the new title of "Perfume makes shocking homophobic comments in new interview." and you would have thought a bomb had exploded in the idolsphere. As I'm typing this, the repost has 229 comments featuring all fifty shades of opinions. There are even people who are so pissed off they claimed that they'll stop listening to Perfume. I had more-or-less brushed this off by the time it was reposted onto Arama. Before the repost on Arama, the article with the "homophobic" statements had already been circulating around Tumblr. And if any of you go on Tumblr, you know how social justice-y that website can get. And while there were some miffed Perfume fans about the comments A-chan made, a lot of people, myself included, took it pretty maturely. General consensus with Perfume fans on Tumblr was that there wasn't enough context or solid evidence to support the "homophobia" of A-chan's statement. And then we all moved on. And just when I'd finally dropped this, I see that repost, that fucking repost on Arama They Didn't. I am livid. I am absolutely livid.

I don't even know where to start with why I'm angry about this. Furthermore, I'm not sure if I'm so pissed off about this because I'm a fan of Perfume or not. Maybe this is all just a subconscious defensive reaction triggered by my love for Perfume and disbelief that A-chan could make homophobic comments. And if you took offense with what A-chan said, go ahead and dismiss me as a pathetic fan jumping to the aid of a group that I'm clearly biased to. Maybe I am. But either way, that doesn't alleviate my anger at both the repost and the original article. I will get to my personal opinions about A-chan's "homophobic" comments in a moment. There are 50 opinions about that as it is. Wading through all these overblown reactions about said comments is really what has been digging into my side. However, people's individual reactions are not what irk me about this entire incident. Not completely at least. If you are gay or transgender and took offense in A-chan's remark, I can respect that. It's your opinion, and as someone who is asexual and cisgender, I can't exactly relate to the sentiment of someone of homosexual, bisexual, or pansexual orientation or someone who doesn't identify with their biological gender. Where I take issue is the source of all those reactions: I have more of a problem with the journalism of both the original article and the repost. Had the repost not happened, I'd like to think that this article would be remembered by only Perfume fans as an awkward, poorly worded interview. However, that was not the case and if everyone's going to start bitching about social justice, I might as well join in. Unlike social justice though, I can bitch about poor journalism and not feel completely uneducated. Both the original article and the repost on Arama have problems, with one having more noticeable ones than the other.

First of all, there's something about the interview itself that comes off as a little biased against Perfume. Like phrases such as, "the trio seem ironically behind the times when it comes to female empowerment, choosing to present themselves like most Japanese female pop groups — as submissive, docile, doll-like women." The article also covers a lot of weighty interview topics, and without the right communication skills, answers to those questions can make someone come off in a negative light. It's a very manipulative method of communication. And then there's the lack of the original Japanese answers from Perfume. There is not an original transcript of the article, just the translation. As I have stated before, Japanese is a fucking complicated language and English is a fucking complicated language. Grammatically and phonetically both are incredibly different. There are phrases in the English language that don't exist in the Japanese language and vice versa. So who knows what kind of phrases got lost in the translated article? A-chan's wording and connotations in the translation could be completely different from what she originally said. The thing is, unless someone has a copy of the original interview, we don't know. Yet people are automatically assuming that what she said in the translated article is verbatim to what she meant in her original language. Another big issue a lot of people have taken with A-chan's comments about gender, particular the parts where she says people of "neither" gender were overseas fans and identifies one man in the gay couple as the other man's "girlfriend." The fact that the word "girlfriend" is in quotation marks implies that was the word the man himself used to identify his partner, not A-chan's own words. And I know a gay couple who sees themselves in the man and wife roles, so it's not impossible. The next part is basically him asking A-chan to convince his partner that he still likes guys despite loving Perfume as well. In the interview, she said "What in the world am I supposed to say to that!" as though she were surprised. And maybe she was. It's a perfectly normal reaction.

As for the "neither" bit in Perfume concerts, the girls have a call-and-response system where they shout out "Boys! Girls! Neither!" and the fans cheer with each one they identify with. This is probably why she said that there were fans that were men, women, and neither. Because that's what they did in the concert. The interview overall felt very poorly handled and clunky, tackling a bunch of difficult topics. Even worse is that the bit about gay fans is highlighted as a major point of the article. The thing is the controversial blurb is one paragraph of twenty-three and what's the title of the article? "Perfume on Expressionless Pop and Gay Fans." You'd think going off just the title that the latter part is heavily delved into much more than it really is. I know an article's title is supposed to be attention-grabbing, but the title seems to be trying really hard to grab attention. To me, it comes off as yellow journalism. You know, when an article uses tactics such as scandal-mongering and sensationalism with the objective of not so much presenting true information, but attracting attention, both negative and positive. And if the original article came off as that, then the repost the repost on Arama is even worse. That one practically reeks of yellow journalism. Then again, any gossip site is dripping with yellow journalism, but I feel like this article made an extra effort to be yellow journalism. The "homophobic" statements were bolded; the reposter added this at the bottom:

"Vile. (protip for all the str8s of arama: insinuating gay people are neither man or woman, and calling a gay man's partner his 'girlfriend' = not cool). Boycott Perfume. Buy Shiina Ringo's smash hit new song "熱愛発覚中" on itunes now."

Although I agree that Shiina Ringo's Netsuai Hakkakuchuu is a freaking awesome song and you should all listen to it that's the thing I least take offense with. Whoever reposted this has a legitimate point somewhere in all that passive-aggressive spite. No, you should not assume someone's gender based on stereotypes. And if you do by accident, then the best you can do is apologize and try not to make the same mistake again. But whoever reposted this presented it in such a negative, mean-spirited and biased light. The title is negative, their comments at the end are negative and insulting, and calling for boycott of a group is such an immature maneuver. It's kind of thing I'd expect from a 10-year old who just discovered the Internet. Then there's the practically shameless plug-in of another artist this person is clearly much more biased towards. If you go through the comments section of the repost, you can also see that the person who published the repost has taken generous time to reply to every single comment that disagrees or contradicts their opinion, usually in a very condescending and childish way. I guess I shouldn't expect any different from a site like Arama, but even I didn't think they'd stoop so low to allow someone to post something with such flimsy justification behind such negative bias. And what really gets me is that people are falling for it. The repost on Arama is a blatant, pandering grab for attention, presented in a way that's meant to attract negative attention and spread hateful thoughts. The original article looks objective compared to the repost. I don't like seeing drama in the idolsphere, and for the most part, Perfume has been spared from anything truly outrageous. To have a scandal like this happen to them is ridiculous, and the unprofessionalism of the reposter only adds to it. In fact, I think most of my rage is directed towards them rather than the people reacting to the article. Because that person was the one who insinuated the negativity; everyone else is merely responding to it.

The real question about this entire controversy is this: are the negative bias and reactions justified? Was what A-chan said truly homophobic? Or was it a naive statement that was spun out of context? Or was it a poor translation of a much less offensive comment? The thing is depending on which one you think is true, you can argue strongly for each one of those theories. The fact that you can do that makes me personally think there isn't enough solid evidence to determine any of those theories. Not without the original, untranslated transcript. When I first read the article, before all this pointless drama happened, I found A-chan's comments to be awkward and kind of offensive but not actively trying to insult an entire demographic of people. If anything, she sounded more oblivious to the implications of her words, if the translation is directly what she said. What I did was read the quote out loud; after all, this was a spoken interview. Maybe it would sound different out loud than on paper. When I did, it came off more as culture shock than homophobia. She seemed surprised, but not offensively. Did she sound demonizing? Not really. But that's why homophobia is such a touchy subject; you don't really know what's "homophobic" and what's not, especially when you don't have context. If there were maybe more things A-chan said about the subject of gay fans, then maybe these newly-formed opinions about her and Perfume would make more sense. But the thing is there aren't. There's only this one article, this one tiny, ambiguous blurb from an article. The fact that people are debating about the "homophobic" nature of A-chan's remarks should be enough to show that this isn't a clear-cut matter. But to boycott the whole group? Keep in mind, A-chan was the only one who said anything about this topic; Kashiyuka and Nocchi didn't. I think this is a combination of poor journalism, unclear translation, and biased circumstances. I'm not mad at other people's opinions about this; I'm mad at the source for these opinions.

If you took offense with what A-chan said and now feel conflicted about buying Perfume's music, I will give you the same advice my ex gave to me: if you like an artist's music, but not the person who sings it, illegally download their music. Ta-da. Problem solved. Now I'm gonna go bang my head against a wall in the hopes that I can forget this entire thing happened.

Well, Nogizaka46, your time has come. Your time of judgement. I made a promise that I would return to review whatever song you released after Girl's Rule. And now that the release of Barrette draws nearer and nearer, I have every intention to hold up on that promise.

To say that Nogizaka46 has increasingly surprised me over this past year is an understatement. The rate at which they've improved is utterly surreal. Around this time last year, I'd pretty much given up that Nogizaka46 would ever be an interesting group, let alone competent rivals for AKB48. And yet while AKB48's music has gotten shittier, Nogizaka46's music has gone in the other direction. Seifuku no Mannequin was a promising start, and Kimi no Na wa Kibou and Girl's Rule were both enjoyable songs. Maybe not my favorite songs but still a whole lot better than what AKB48's gotten for the past year. And so much better than Nogizaka46's first singles. Not only did this "rival" group seem to be improving musically but stylistically as well. I thought the outfits for their first single were god-awful, and I abhorred the entire Oide Shampoo PV. The dance, the outfits, everything. And Hashire! Bicycle didn't do much for me either. This year though? The two singles Nogizaka46 has released this year both have nice outfits that don't look like Gunny sacks from the Great Depression. And the PVs for each song are pretty nice-looking; I especially liked the PV for Girls's Rule. It's quite incredible, how quickly Nogizaka46 has redeemed themselves. I don't think a group I've been so thoroughly disappointed with has 180-ed my opinion of them over the course of merely a year! After Girl's Rule, I really began to hope that the string of decent Nogizaka46 songs wasn't just a fluke and that they were genuinely improving. And so that has brought me here, ready to review Nogizaka46's latest single and raise the hammer of judgement. Nearly four months after the release of Girl's Rule is their last single of 2013, Barrette. When I heard the title for this single, I wasn't the impressed. Come on, Barrette? Like the hair clip? That has got to be the lamest title I've ever heard! I'm starting to think Aki-P has a fetish for idol hair. Considering his othertwo hair songs weren't exactly eargasms, I hesitantly approached Barrette, prepared for a bland-sounding song at the worst.

What did I get instead? Something that sounds like an older AKB48 song!

Like wow, talk about a blast from the past. Or... you know, 2007. Hey, that was still six years ago! If I had to compare Barrette to an AKB48 song, I'd say it's a mix of Skirt, Hirari, Virgin love, and a little bit of Dear my teacher. Of course, I don't think the lyrics to Barrette talk about fluttering skirts, sexual inexperience, or teacher-student romance. The opening notes of Barrette are what really give me old-AKB48 vibes, particularly Skirt, Hirari. Hell, it even reminds me a little bit of Onynako Club's music. While Skirt, Hirari, Virgin love, and Dear my teacher were all very upbeat songs, Barrette is much more downbeat without having the playful energy of those three songs. Does that mean it's bad though? After all, I'm an advocate for songs with energy; but I think the less energetic nature of Barrette actually works well, especially when you watch it with the PV. Speaking of which, I heard the song only when I watched the PV, so unfortunately a few parts of the song are a bit softer than I'd like them to be. Despite the fact that I haven't listened to a clear rip of Barrette, I still really want to talk about the song. The sound of Barrette really surprised me when I first heard it, because I was expecting a much happier song. You could categorize Barrette as a more "serious" song but not necessarily in the same way the Seifuku no Mannequin, Kataomoi Finally, or Beginner are serious songs. Barrette mostly reminds me of a much slower, melancholic Kimi no Na wa Kibou. The arrangement is rather somber, but considering the mood of the PV, I'd say that works well for this single! Barrette is by no means a ray of sunshine, but it is a very relaxing song. I will admit, it's one of those songs that you can tune out pretty easily, especially if you're in the right mood. But I still like it, and I like that it sounds like older AKB48 music. In a weird way, that older sound if kind of refreshing to hear! Barrette might be too slow for some people, but I actually enjoyed the slowness of the song. It added this feeling of moodiness permeating throughout the entire song!

So the real question about Barrette is whether or not it is a continuation of actually decent music from Nogizaka46 or a relapse into their bland, vanilla-sweet songs of 2012. Personally, I really liked Barrette, a lot more than I thought I would. Is it my favorite AKS song? No, but I still like it, especially compared to some of the other A-sides from AKS this year! Dare I even say this is my favorite AKS A-side from 2013? Surely I don't! I mean, come on, how can a Nogizaka46 song end up being my favorite A-side from AKS this year? Unless AKB48's Janken song with the impractically long title blows me away (which it won't) then I think Barrette may be my favorite AKS A-side this year. I seriously can't believe I just typed that. But after thinking about it, I really do think Barrette is my favorite. AKB48's A-sides this year have ranged from mediocre to absolute crap, NMB48's two A-sides this year were listenable but neither really grabbed me. SKE48's three A-sides were nice-sounding, but none of them are my favorite. And HKT48? Well... their A-sides this year were endearingly happy, and that's all I want to say about them. Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick with Barrette as my favorite AKS song of 2013. The song is serious, and I have a tendency to like the more serious-sounding AKS A-sides than the cheerful ones (of course, that doesn't mean I dislike all their happy songs; just the bland ones). Barrette is a very serious, subdued kind of song. The low, downbeat energy of the song might not appeal to everyone, but in my opinion, I think it works to the song's advantage. So yeah. Barrette's my favorite AKS song from this year. Have I finally lost my marbles!? Or has Nogizaka46 just been getting better music this year? I'd like to think the latter. And if that is what's happening, I hope the improvement of Nogizaka46 continues in 2014! I had little to no faith for this group in 2012, but their music this year has given me hope for them! Kimi no Na wa Kibou, Girls' Rule, and Barrette were all good songs; maybe next year, Nogizaka46 can release some great songs.

But while we're still in 2013, the only thing I can do is look at the PV for Barrette! And even though the song is rather serious, I'm certain the PV for Barrette features lots of adorable, whimsical imagery featuring cute little Barrettes and idols prancing around and being happy! Right, guys?

So the PV starts off... pretty scary. One of the members of NG46 has been kidnapped.

And I can honestly say the guy responsible for the kidnapping terrifies me.

This whole setup is very frightening because of the way it's portrayed. There's nothing fun about it, and this opening scene is terrifying to watch.

But something about that one guy's performance really creeps me out. He's way too gleeful.

I think what also scares me are that her screams sound so genuinely terrified.

And ugh, I really can't emphasize unsettling this guy is. His whole demeanor is just slightly off throughout the whole PV.

So I'm guessing whatever was in the syringe paralyzed her?

I say that because the PV cuts to what looks like a men's club full of frozen idols. Creepy to say the least.

To make matters even worse, it looks like Miona is being auctioned off.

Luckily though, help is on the way!

In the form of idols. Not sure how idols can defeat illegal prostitution lords, but okay!

It does make me wonder how the girl was able to communicate with the rest of them though..

Ah-ha! A hidden cell phone! Very clever!

And so Operation: Barrette is a go!

But seriously, how are they gonna fight their way past all those-

Holy shit.

Idols and guns, huh? Well, this PV just got a whole lot cooler!

So this shot kind of looks like the promo pic for a murder-mystery series. Not sure why. Just does!

All right! Four idols with weapons...

...versus a bunch of older men also carrying weapons. What could possibly go wrong?

I hope they at least nab that creepy guy!

So these shots are kind of random but they're really pretty...

They do kind of match up with the lavish feel of these shots though!

Okay, I swear I have seen that set used in a Morning Musume PV.


Onna ni Sachi Are anyone?


And Dream Morning Musume's PV! Is this just like the go-to club to film idol PVs?

Nevermind, back to the action!

I have to admit, the fight scenes in this PV are... pretty well-handled.

The fights are brisk, fast-paced, and highly entertaining.

And to be honest, there's something about violence in idol PVs that always entertains me.

Sure, there are a few inaccuracies, like the fact that your brain doesn't have the cognition to fire two guns at once.

But do they take away enjoyment of the PV? Absolutely not!

Yay, more pretty imagery that adds nothing to the PV!

When you consider the fact that they're dancing at a men's club the dance shot gets a little awkward.

Luckily, more fight scenes distract the viewer!

AKS dances are never exactly spectacular but this one has a few interesting moves.

I'm not sure how a katana trumps bullets, but I'm just gonna roll with it!

Butterflies!! Okay, back to the PV!

All right! Finally it's time to take this creepy slimeball out!

YES!

You know what I just noticed about this PV? A lack of barrettes.

Oh well, at least they finally rescued Miona!

Now everyone can go home and this PV can come to a happy ending-

Oh no! Who shot Maiyan!? And more importantly, why!?

Surely it couldn't have been one of the girls, right? Right!?

Miona!? But why!? Dammit, I wish I spoke Japanese so I could figure this out more easily!

So with only one option left, this PV comes to a bleak, bleak closure, with the sound of a gunshot.

Wow. That was uh... pretty hardcore. I think it's the first AKS PV since Beginner that raised the stakes and the tension so high. In fact, I think the PV for Barrette is scarier than Beginner. You heard me: a Nogizaka46 PV is scarier than the AKB48 PV that wasn't even released with the single because the producers were worried it was too frightening. What makes Barrette a scarier PV for me than Beginner was that when you're watching Beginner, you know it's meant to be fictional. It has the girls in a science fiction environment playing a video game where they're all killed off. Granted, it's still a pretty freaky PV, but in the back of my mind, I could never get really scared because I knew that could never happen. Not in my lifetime at least. The PV for Barrette however displays a much more realistic premise: being kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. That is a scary concept because it can and does happen in everyday life, all over the world. That is why the opening of this PV scared me so much. It's not played for silliness like in NMB48's Ha! This is a brutal way to open an idol PV, and it doesn't help that everyone performing in the opening bit is terrifying to watch. Especially the guy who (presumably) runs the whole operation. Whoever played him was having way too much fun in that role; it made for a really unsettling and creepy performance. The girl kidnapped in the opening was also very convincing, and really added to the tension of the situation. My heart just about broke when she was paralyzed and placed with all the other girls for sale in the club. I was watching the opening of Barrette with my hands over my face, peaking out between my fingers only to see what happened. In fact, I was secretly hoping that the Barrette was a happy song just to take away some of the heaviness of the dark opening of the PV. Despite the fact that the opening for the Barrette PV was pure nightmare fuel, it did set the stage and tone for the rest of this PV. And I am someone who loves getting scared, so for an idol PV to scare me is quite the impressive feat!

Even if you're not scared by the concept of this PV, Barrette still holds up really well. The PV is around 10 minutes, but the pacing is perfect. The tension just keeps building and building up in this PV, and I was genuinely invested in what was going on. I wanted the girls to save Miona, I wanted them to defeat all the pervs in the club, and when that sucker punch of an ending happened, I felt like my stomach had just dropped out and plopped onto the floor. I will admit at first I had a bit of hard time figuring out why Miona shot Maiyan at the end of the PV. Then I thought that maybe the shadowed girl in the opening was Miona and that she was secretly working for the men who ran the illegal sex club. And that she was being used as bait to lure out the rest of the girls in Nogizaka46. However, when they came to rescue her they ended up overpowering the men meant to capture them. So when they finally got to Miona, she shot Maiyan in a panic! I also think this explains the dead-eyed look on her face throughout this entire PV. Sure, you could just rationalize that as Miona taking her role as center with the same amount of dignity and grace as Maeda Atsuko. However, I'd like to think she was brainwashed and/or traumatized into working under the men in the illegal sex club, her mannerisms in the PV being a result of that. Then seeing her friends in there coming to her rescue, Miona got morally conflicted leading to her shooting Maiyan. And thus we come to the bleak ending of all the remaining members of Nogizaka46 pointing their guns at Miona, with the screen going black right before the sound of a gunshot. Yeah, kind of a downer ending for an idol PV... But I should point out that the ending did not feel like a cop-out to me. Sure, it was unexpected, but not in a way that felt like a cheap twist. Although it did make the PV for Barrette a whole lot more depressing. And we never did see what happened to all those other girls in the club... Were they killed? Shipped off somewhere else to be sold? The more you think about theories for Barrette, the gloomier the PV gets!

Nonetheless, I still think the PV for Barrette is awesome. Sure it's gritty, sure the ending is dark as a storm cloud, but the execution is what makes this such a good PV. I always love watching idol PVs that have some kind of plot, and the plot for Barrette has so many layers (for an idol PV at least). Even if the plot is rather complex, I can still figure out what's going on despite not speaking Japanese. I also love seeing stage combat, especially in idol PVs. And to see all these idols in seifukus toting guns and swords and kicking ass with them is so cool to look at. And I liked that the people they were fighting were more than just generic bad guys. The opening explains who these men are and what they do, so the viewer can sympathize with the idols' plight. You want them to win and rescue Miona! And even though the ending is a little twisted, the journey to get to that ending is still a thrill ride. And the fight choreography isn't too shabby either! I always go into an idol PV with reservations towards the quality of any fight scenes. The ones in Barrette actually look pretty good! Maybe not Kill Bill levels of good, but still! There were only a few overly exaggerated moves that stuck out to me; for the most part, I found the fight scenes in this PV to be one of the many highlights of Barrette. The setting was perfect, just the right combination of stylized and realistic to come off as not too hokey. I will say I didn't pay that much attention to the dance shot, mainly because I was so invested in the plot of this PV. However, the dance is all right for AKS, and there's nothing particularly odd or awkward about it. I do think it's kind of funny that the place where it was shot was also used in two different Hello! Project PVs though! Overall, the fault I have with the PV for Barrette are little more than nitpicks; this PV rocks. The plot is solid, the acting is good, I was invested, I can't believe I'd ever say something like this but Nogizaka46 got the best PV from AKS this year. Typing that feels... surreal. Have I actually fallen down a rabbit whole into an actual Wonderland!?


Do I dare give a Nogizaka46 song and PV five apples? Is doing that even possible!? I can't believe I'm doing this, but the quality of the song and PV for Barrette leave me no other choice but to give it five apples. As I said, the song is my favorite AKS song this year. The PV is where Barrette really packs a punch though... literally. It combines some of that good ol' violence with a taut-paced, intriguing plot that's not only disturbing but fascinating to watch. Nogizaka46, you have redeemed yourselves. Now let's see if you can keep up this quality next year!

Get it? Because the song is boring! Heh... heh... I think my puns are getting cornier. Oh man, one day I'm gonna wake up and find that I've turned into a flipping ear of corn.


Well... every group has to have a dud song, right?

I mean, it wouldn't be healthy constantly release a string of strong songs! Even though that would be... so awesome... What am I saying, that can't happen, even to the most amazing group! Unless an idol group has the shelf life of Firefly, there's a pretty high chance that at some point in their fruitful career, they will get an utterly lackluster single. Makes perfect sense, right? Nobody's perfect. Alas, I suppose somewhere in the clavicles of my subconscious I knew that Tokyo Girls' Style would have to release an unremarkable song eventually. But they were doing so well. I mean, the last song I truly didn't like from them was We Will Win! ~Kokoro de Po Pon no Po~n☆~ and that was released over two years ago. Even Tsuioku and LolitA☆Strawberry in summer were enjoyable songs, even if neither one is my favorite TGS song. Yakusoku was a great album, and their last single, Get the Star/Last Forever is one of my favorite singles released this year. The group's two digital singles from this year, Partition Love and Over Size, are also flipping awesome, and I thought that surely one of those two songs would be A-sides for TGS's next single. Instead, the leading A-side for their final single of 2013 turned out to be Chiisana Kiseki. Furthermore, this was another Road to Budokan single. Remember last year, when to commemorate performing in Budokan, TGS released a single called Road to Budokan 2012 ~Bad Flower~? And how that featured the awesome Bad Flower, even awesomer Discord, and the slightly-not-as-awesome but still pretty cool LolitA☆Strawberry in summer? So for performing at Budokan again this year (because why the hell not?), TGS released Road to Budokan 2013 ~Chiisana Kiseki~. And since last year's Road to Budokan single was flipping awesome, I figured I was making a pretty safe bet to assume this year's Road to Budokan single would continue the awesomeness. I should have remembered what my math teacher told me: to assume makes an ass out of u and me. Ugh, let's just get this over with.

In case I haven't properly let on yet, I am not a fan of Chiisana Kiseki. I think it's boring song that could have been another nice deviation in musical style for TGS if done well. However, it was not. So... at what point did this song go sour for me? Actually, the beginning was where I started to dislike the song, which is pretty bad. The beginning is supposed to give a hook, something to make the listener stick around and want more. But Chiisana Kiseki's beginning is... oh god... am I really gonna use the B word? I thought I'd only have to reserve that for AKB48 singles and anytime I bring up Super Girls but... I have to use the B word to describe Chiisana Kiseki. It fits the song too well. Chiisana Kiseki is a bland song. I hope no one ever makes a drinking game out of my blog, because if they had to take a shot every time I use the word "bland" in a review, they're gonna die of alcohol poisoning. But that's the kind of song Chiisana Kiseki is; I didn't want to admit it, but it's such a boring, generic song. Especially for Tokyo Girls' Style. The only remotely interesting part of the song is the chorus, but even then that's not uber amazing, not enough to salvage the song that much. I mean, I spent the first minute listening abysmally vanilla verses so by the time the chorus kicks in, I already wasn't that sold on the song. I don't think it's because Chiisana Kiseki is a deviation from TGS's style of music; their earlier songs like Onnaji Kimochi and Ganbatte Itsudatte Shinjiteru sort of have the same happier and lighter sound of Chiisana Kiseki. Then again, I can't say I'm a fan of either one of those songs. Even then, Chiisana Kiseki does have a little bit of their normal sound infused into the chorus and instrumental. But it does little to improve the song, and only gives the arrangement a very disjointed feel, like two different songs were fused together. I might be okay with that if the two different sounds worked together, but the final result isn't very memorable. It's such a disappointment, because I usually set the bar so high for TGS that Chiisana Kiseki is a major letdown.

The thing is, it's not even a terrible song. If this were released by AKB48, I'd be singing to the heavens that they finally got something that doesn't sound like every other song they've released. But this is Tokyo Girls' Style, and they can do so much better than this level of quality. However, after listening to the song several times, I did start to wonder... am I disappointed in Chiisana Kiseki because it's a genuinely dull song or because its not the kind music I prefer from Tokyo Girls' Style? Because even I can argue with myself that the only reason I don't like Chiisana Kiseki is because it doesn't have the usual mature funkiness that I like about TGS's music. But the thing is, when TGS has done music different from their de facto 90s Avex style, i.e. with Get the Star/Last Forever, I really liked both songs. And that was a pop-rock single! I am all for changes in style if they are good changes. I know that a common criticism thrown at TGS is that a lot of their songs sound the same, but as someone who is really a fan of their sound, I don't mind this as much because even if many of their songs do sound alike, they're still enjoyable. I don't dislike Chiisana Kiseki because it's not groovy and funky and serious; I dislike Chiisana Kiseki because it is boring. Not to mention it's boring in the blandest way possible, with that vaguely happy-sounding melody that gets under my skin so much. The only redeeming thing about Chiisana Kiseki are the vocals, but I can always expect good vocals from TGS. It is nice that everyone gets to sing, even Miyu. It's just a shame a song with such even vocal distribution is such a dud song. I was hoping Tokyo Girls' Style would end 2013 with a bang but all we get is a fizzle that is Chiisana Kiseki. Even the B-side on this single would have made a better A-side! If Chiisana Kiseki wasn't completely and utterly boring, I might like it better. However, as a change in sound, it doesn't work, and as a song alone, it doesn't work, especially for a group like TGS. I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed on Partition Love or Life Size getting to be an A-side on their next single...

So would I be right to say the PV for Chiisana Kiseki is just as bright and happy as the covers for this single are? Is the sky blue? Yeah, let's just get this screencap over with.


The PV opens with... pastel. Lots of pastel.


And cutesy idol poses. I'm not sure how I feel about this.


I guess the dance matches the song. It's utterly boring, but it matches the song.


Oh hai, slightly saturated dance set! Aren't you... luminescent!


Oh hey, TGS caught on to the flower crowns trend!


What can I say? We keep up with the latest style!



It's utterly surreal seeing Miyu with bangs. But it's a nice look for her!


Something about this dance move amuses me. It looks like they're reaching to pluck an apple from a tree!


Those gosh-darn lights in the back are so bright I'm gonna need sunglasses!


I think it's just the screenshot, but the frame this landed on makes Ayano's smile look so forced holding this pose! It's kind of hilarious!


Off we go! Not very far since we only had 3 locations for this PV but we're going!!!



Oooh, they're on a bridge. Things are really heating up now!


Okay, why do I keep stopping on frames that feature some of the weirdest faces from the girl's I mean look:

- Miyu's all "They may put me in the back, but I'm still leader, biatches."
- And Ayano's thinking "Just pretend you're having fun, you'll get a better song next single..."
- Hitomi's in the center thinking "Gosh, how did I get so perfect?"
- Yuri's looking over at Miyu like "Dafuq is this girl on?"
- And then Mei is just like "I have no idea what's going but if I smile life will be okay!!!"


Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to shoot this outside of Budokan? I mean this single is called Road to Budokan.


Oh well, we get an outfit change! Pretty!


Both outfits in these PV are, but neither one stands out very much in my opinion.


All right, now we're gettin' down!


Okay... they're not really getting down... but this is the most interesting part of the dance!


I guess it is kind of cool how Yuri can look like this.


And then look like this in their other PVs.


Still, which is more interesting? This?


Or this?


Well, they're still on a bridge! A neverending bridge...


-sigh- I love outdoor shots, but they can get boring after awhile if they linger too much on one shot.


Whatever, the PV's over.


And I gained absolutely nothing from watching it. Oh well...

Good lord, that was boring. Almost as boring as the song but the locations were nice so not completely boring. I mean... egads, that was boring. Did I mention this PV was boring? Well, at least it matches the dullness of the song. So yeah... I mean, what else am I supposed to say about this PV? The PV for Chiisana Kiseki consists primarily of the dance in three different locations: under a dome, a brightly lit stage, and a grassy outdoor area in front of the dome. Now this could have been fairly entertaining, if the dance had been strong enough. Unfortunately, the dance for Chiisana Kiseki is pretty lame, especially for Tokyo Girls' Style. There's never a part that stands out, not even the dance break is that interesting. The other few shots there are don't add much to the PV. The close-ups look fine but they're nothing special. The parts where they're walking on a bridge make me yawn. The only kind-of entertaining thing about watching this PV were some of the facial expressions I accidentally paused. I think it's just because of the parts where I paused, but there are faces the girls make in this PV that look so... odd. Like Ayano's forced smiles in several parts of the PV. Who knows? Maybe the girls were just as bored by this PV as I am and were desperately trying to have fun while they were filming it! Probably not, I'm 99% certain it's just the screenshots, but thinking that makes the PV slightly more entertaining to watch. I really don't know what else to say about the PV for Chiisana Kiseki. It's boring. It's so so so so so boring. But I guess it isn't terrible? It's like vanilla ice cream without chocolate syrup; what's the point? Like the song, the PV for Chiisana Kiseki displays a change in image for Tokyo Girls' Style, straying closer to a more idol-y image than a mature one. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this change. Once again, I don't mind change as long as it's change for the better. Visually, this is a bright and cheery PV, but there's nothing interesting about it. If you want to go for bright and cheery, you've got to give some life to it. I'm not saying is has to be a Momoiro Clover Z... just something interesting.

What I like about Tokyo Girls' Style is that their music and image are different from so many other idol groups on the market. They have this very elegant, mature, and polished image that really stands out, especially as such a young idol group. Weird enough the innocent youthfulness of the PV for Chiisana Kiseki feels very surreal. I don't want to say it's bad because the girls look their age, but I think I prefer when their PVs push the envelope by incorporating strange, sometimes sensual imagery. There's nothing in this PV that I can really talk about. How am I supposed to analyze them walking on a bridge? That's what made PVs like Limited addiction and Kodou no Himitsu and even Tsuioku such interesting PVs. This PV has nice camerawork and nice scenery and even nice costumes, but what else is there? It kind of reminds me of a Fairies PV, and I've explained before the reason Fairies doesn't work for me is their lack of charm. If Chiisana Kiseki wanted to be a good PV, it needed some charm. All this PV consists of is dancing and smiling. The girls look fine, but there's nothing quirky about this PV. It's generic, it's dull, it's boring, and most of all, it's a huge disappointment. The PV for Chiisana Kiseki is just as much of a let down as the song. I can always expect at least a visually striking PV from Tokyo Girls' Style, but this? There's nothing about it that stands out to me and... ugh, I just want to pretend this entire single never happened. Long story short, I really hope Chiisana Kiseki isn't representative of the future sound and style that TGS is pursuing in the future. Judging by the B-side of this single, I'd like to think it's not, but I can't help but get a little worried. But for now I can hope that Chiisana Kiseki is nothing but a fluke, a dud song that isn't an indication of Tokyo Girls' Style's further musical output. Because I don't want TGS to turn into a bland, boring group. There are already so many of those on the market right now. I guess I'll cross my fingers and hope their next single brings back all the funkiness that I love about Tokyo Girls' Style.


Oh, it hurts me to give Chiisana Kiseki two and half apples. But the song is dull and the PV does nothing to alleviate the dullness of the song. I hate to be so harsh on TGS, but I only do this because I know they can do better. Chiisana Kiseki was just a dud song, completely normal for any idol group that's been on the market for over two years! I only hope that whatever single they release next has a more interesting A-side than this one does.

You know... idols are really manufactured.

Pretty startling revelation, right? I mean, wow, I bet you guys didn't know the Wonderland covered such unique, thought-provoking ideas! Maybe my next insight will be that humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide! Enough of being Captain Obvious, I think everyone over the age of ten who follows idols know that they are manufactured. They are a product tailored and altered to cater to a specific audience and make lots and lots of money. Of course, that doesn't mean idols can't be creative. Groups like BiS and Momoiro Clover Z show just how far you can stretch the "idol" image. At the end of the day though, both are just as manufactured as AKB48. However, idols themselves have contributed to the creative process that goes into producing an idol's image and music. Idols like Sashihara Rino and Kitahara Rie have dabbled in the production departments of idols, and there are even a few idol groups (like Tokyo Girls' Style and BiS) who have written lyrics to their music. But at the end of the day an idol is not an artist. No matter how good their music, how interesting their music videos, an idol does not have the same creative freedom an artist does. Unlike an artist, an idol is created usually by a company with a certain idea or gimmick, whereas an artist creates their own image and writes their own music. An artist attracts an audience; an idol is made for an audience. I could go on all day about the differences between idols and artists, but that is a subject I wish not to delve deeply into. All I'm trying to say is idols are manufactured and despite this knowledge, I still love listening to them. I think choosing not to listen to a group or a singer because they don't write or produce their own music is a silly reason not to follow them. In my opinion, as long as the music is good I don't care if a group of elves wrote it. I know not everyone shares that sentiment, and that's completely okay, but I long ago got over the fact that idols are manufactured. That doesn't hinder my love for idol music one bit.

Besides, idol music is what led me into J-pop in general. I started with Perfume, moved into idol music, and finally branched outward to J-pop artists who aren't idols. Since then, I've really been trying to explore all the facets of the mainstream J-pop industry. I know that the market is a little oversaturated with idols right now, but I've still found some really cool artists that I like. What I really love about J-pop is that it seems very... diverse. Like yeah, there's mainstream pop, but then you've got rock, indie, Shibuya-kei, technopop, dance, a variety of different genres that do pretty well. I'm not trying to say the J-pop industry is better than other nation's music industries; it's just different. And that's why J-pop has always appealed to me. Anyways, over the past few years, I've started to get into J-pop artists that aren't idols. I've noticed that I listen to a lot of female J-pop artists... in fact, that's mostly what I listen to in J-pop. It's kind of weird because my English-language music is much more balanced in gender. I mean, I listen to Yellow Magic Orchestra and a little bit of Luna Sea and Flow, but other than that, I can't think of any other male J-pop artists I listen to, not actively at least. Even then, all my favorite J-pop artists are female, save for one. I guess because I like to listen to music I can sing along to? Even then, that doesn't make sense as I can't sing for shit in Japanese. I really can't explain it; maybe it's just a subconscious bias toward female J-pop artists? That being said, I just wanted to drop a few of my favorite non-idol artists in J-pop into the Wonderland! I know, I know, it's not what I usually do; just relax and your regular programming will return shortly! I don't have a lot of J-pop artists I really like yet, but the handful I do listen to, I really listen to. These are artists where I have at least ten, sometimes twenty songs on my iPod by them. But for this, I just listed three songs I like from each of them under this post. Unfortunately, I was only restricted to the music videos on Jpopsuki.tv so I wasn't able to include all my favorite songs... Still, here are my favorite artists!

...I'd have sparkles or fanfare or something here if this wasn't a written post... uh... APPLAUSE! TO THE LIST!

Oomori Seiko


I will say Oomori Seiko took some time to grow on me. Frankly when I first heard her voice, I couldn't stand it. She sounded like she was screaming/wailing the lyrics, how else was I supposed to react!? But unlike some singers, I think Oomori Seiko's singing style is intentional. As someone who likes nice, on-key, clear vocals, this has always been a style that's hard for me to get used to. However, through what may be desensitization, it can grow on me, if the music is strong enough. For Oomori Seiko, her music is! Her debut album, Mahou Ga Tsukaenai Nara Shinitai, is one of those albums that needs more than one listen for me to form a proper opinion of it. Oomori Seiko's debut album very slowly grew on me with each listen, and as of now, it's one of my favorite albums of 2013. Part of Seiko's appeal for me is that she's an indie artist, one of my favorite genres of music in general. She just has a very nice blend of sweet, quirky songs combined with a distinct, if rather odd voice to go with them. What I also like about Oomori Seiko is that she's a huge fan of idols, including Hello! Project. So much that her upcoming second album features a cover of a Tanpopo song! I always find it really cool when artists are into other artists, especially idols. It makes them... relatable in a weird kind of way? Needless to say, I am looking very much forward to Zettai Shoujo, which actually releases in a couple weeks! The album cover looks cool (not quite as cool as Seiko's homage to Shiina Ringo cover though) so I'm hoping the music in it is equally cool!

Aira Mitsuki


Despite the fact that Aira Mitsuki just went on hiatus, I still decided she deserved a spot on the list! It saddens me deeply that Aira Mitsuki has gone on hiatus, and I hope she doesn't go on the Saori@destiny path of retirement. She's just such a cool artist; surely she's still got a few more songs and albums left in her! Yeah, I discovered Aira Mitsuki around the same time as Saori@destiny. Much to my chagrin, Saori@destiny had already retired; luckily Mitsuki was releasing one more album before her hiatus! That was I'll Be Back, and hopefully she will be back. I really love Aira Mitsuki's image and how she's billed as "Technopop Icon Aira Mitsuki." The title fits well for her. There's something very futuristic about her music, and not just because it's technopop. Like I could legitimately see this being played in the future; or a sci-fi version of the future. Maybe Star Trek? Hell, if Kyarypamyupamyu can play in Star Trek, Aira Mitsuki fits perfectly! Visually she always has really striking imagery, from the Barbie doll look of Plastic to the mystical flying train on I'll Be Back. I think part of why I really like Aira Mitsuki is based on how sheer awesome her single and album imagery are. Of course, her music is equally awesome. I especially love the lyrics to her songs; even in the translations, the wording and concepts are so interesting and introspective. Aira Mitsuki's songs cover so many ideas from emotion to space travel to technology to so many other well-explored ideas. I really do hope she will be back; I need more of her interesting music!

Recommended Songs
- Galaxy Boy
- Sayonara Technopolis
- Plastic Doll

Hanae


She's probably the youngest artist on the list, being only nineteen years old. Technically, she's young enough to be an idol! However, Hanae is a singer-songwriter, currently with only six singles under her belt since her debut in 2011. Despite the fact that she hasn't released much, the songs she has graced the world with are delightful. I first discovered Hanae quite by accident, when I more-or-less found her PV for Boyz & Girlz. I really loved the breezy, whimsical nature of the song and the PV was really cute. Unfortunately, I can't find a lot of information about Hanae, just her releases. Even her Generasia page isn't regularly updated. It's a shame because she's released some really good music. Her music actually reminds me a lot of Kimbra's, but maybe a little more raw. What I really love about Hanae's music is that each song has this very quirky, slightly offbeat sound still nested in pop. She has a very high-pitched, smooth voice that really gives a lot of life to her music. Not to mention her music videos are absolutely adorable. A little a weird at times, but still really cute. If Kyarypamyupamyu toned her PVs down, they'd look like Hanae's. I find Hanae to be very charming and charismatic, with cute pop music and a light and breezy sound. My only complaint about Hanae is that she's kind of obscure, and accessing a lot of her content can be difficult. Still, if you can find her material, I'd check her out! She's releasing her first album, Jikkai Quiz, on Wednesday, and I can gladly say I am looking forward to it!

Recommended Songs
- Kamisama Hajimemashita
- Boyz & Girlz
- Koi wa Shinsei Roma

Capsule


I'm a fan of Perfume and Kyarypamyupamyu, of course I'm a fan of Capsule! Or should I say CAPSULE? After all, that is technically how their name is spelled now. Eh, typing in all caps makes me feel like I'm yelling at my readers so Capsule it is! Funny enough, I was a fan of Perfume before becoming a fan of Capsule. Even now, I'm still not as huge a fan of Capsule as Perfume; then again, it is Perfume... I am very slowly getting into Capsule, but I'm finding that the farther back I go, the more of their stuff I'm liking. What I like about Capsule is how much they've changed and evolved since their early days. There's so many different styles of music their discography encompasses. It's a little underwhelming trying to browse through all of it! But I am slowly wading my way through both the old and new of Capsule and absorbing all their different sounds. As much as I love Perfume, I think Capsule is where Nakata's musical talents really shine. After all, Capsule is like his pet project where he can experiment in whatever styles he wants. With Perfume, he's restricted more to their general sound. Listening to Capsule made me realize just how far his composition abilities extend. He's written some really cool stuff in Capsule, and the voice of Koshijima Toshiko just helps enhance his music. Yeah, I really love Toshiko's voice; it's so clear and works well with Nakata's music. One of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of Control is because of the lack of Toshiko. Still, Capsule is such a cool group, and definitely one to check out if you want to hear the more experiment side of Nakata's music.

Recommended Songs
- Retro Memory
- Sugarless Girl
- World of Fantasy

Meg

What I really love about Meg is that she's virtually un-Google-able, unless you use her real name! I kid, but seriously trying to find any of her music is a pain in the butt. But it's worth it because her music is freaking awesome. Even better, she's got a decade of it to peruse through! Since 2003, Meg has released eight albums and twenty-one singles her first being Kasa to Shizuku and her latest being Kiss or Bite + Save. While today she releases more techno music, her early work has a lot of musical variety ranging from house to groovy funk. Check out her debut album, Room Girl, to see what I mean! However, I didn't find her earlier work until later; I was first introduced to Meg through her work with Nakata. Big surprise there, huh? The first song I heard by Meg was Lies, and that was what immediately hooked me to her music. I love Lies, it's one of my favorite techno songs. From there, I found the rest of her Nakata-era music and then after that, I starting look at her pre and post-Nakata music! What really makes Meg stand out is definitely her voice. I can't really describe it words... it's just one of those voices you know when you hear it. Even in her techno songs you can still hear her voice through all the vocal editing. I also think it's really cool she writes all her songs; she's penned some really great lyrics that give a layer of genuineness to her songs. As a techno artist, her ever-changing visual and musical style makes her one of my favorites. What else can I say other than I'm totally hyped for the release of Continue?

Recommended Songs
- Groove Tube
- Precious
- Trap

Shiina Ringo

Shiina Ringo is one of the more recent artists I've discovered but my god, do I wish I'd discovered her sooner. You know those artists you just feel really cool listening to? Like if a friend discovered you listen to that artist, you'd be completely okay with it because that artist is so cool? Shiina Ringo exhibits a level of coolness that I will probably never reach. To try and describe Shiina Ringo's musical style is like trying to describe Nikola Tesla's inventions: generalization just won't do. Shiina Ringo has a myriad of styles she's dabbled in from jazz to rock to enka, you name it, she's probably dabbled in it. And it. Is. Awesome. I can't properly put into words my reaction on hearing Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana for the first time. I think I might have been crying tears of joy. It was three in the morning so details are a little fuzzy. And Muzai Moratorium, Shouso Strip, and Sanmon Gossip are all divine. But my favorite always switches back and forth between Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana and Shouso Strip. How am I supposed to pick though? Musically, Shiina Ringo is such a wild card; I never know what she's gonna release next. One day she'll collaborate with Nakata Yasutaka, the next day she'll record a soundtrack for a movie! All I know is that I can usually assume that whatever she does release will be some degree of awesome. I also love her nasally voice; it sort of grew on me the same way Oomori Seiko's did, although her bombastic music probably helped. I still need to listen to her music with Tokyo Jihen, although I'm certain it's just as awesome as her solo work!

Recommended Songs
- Honnou
- Meisai
- Tsugou no ii Karada

Mizuki Nana


I figured I ought to save the first for last... if that makes sense. Mizuki Nana was the first J-pop artist I ever started listening to that wasn't an idol group. Most of the artists on this list I started listening to when I was around fifteen or sixteen. I started listening to Mizuki Nana when I was thirteen. Thirteen. The only other J-pop act I listened to before that was Perfume. The largest number of songs by one artist in my iTunes library is also Mizuki Nana: I have eighty-six of her songs on my iPod. To say I adore this artist is a mass understatement. Mizuki Nana is not only my favorite J-pop singer, she is one of my favorite singers in general. I waxed poetic about her voice in my editorial about lip-syncing and for good reason; this woman's voice is mind-blowing. Before watching her concerts on Youtube, I didn't even know it was possible to sound so clear and so strong, but she does. She's one of the most consistent performers I've seen, and she has such a wonderful range and she's so expressive and I think Mizuki Nana is the reason I'm so nitpicky about vocals in idol music. It's not your fault, Sayashi Riho, it's only because of Mizuki Nana I constantly pick at your strained vocals. Not only does Mizuki Nana have a great voice, she has equally great songs that show how great her voice can be. She can sound cute, serious, epic, sweet, sad, and her songs always match the tone she's trying to convey. Her songs often feature epic orchestras or adorable pop jingles, but most of the time Mizuki Nana's songs work perfectly.

Recommended Songs
- Heaven Knows
- Astrogation
- Synchrogazer

So, any of you guys have a few favorite non-idol artists? Because if you guys like any on this list we should totally talk about them. Just saying.

For the record, I still think Sweet Refrain is lame. Maybe not as much as I used to, but still pretty lame. However, now that the single has been released along with the PV, I have also given myself the time to reflect on why I think it is lame!

Yeah, Sweet Refrain is probably gonna be one of those songs that takes awhile to grow on me. Maybe not as long as Spending all my time did but still not overnight. Already I don't dislike it quite as much as I did when I first heard so hey, baby steps! It probably helps that I have a clear file of the audio and some really spanking nice headphones to listen to the song on. That being said, I still do have problems with Sweet Refrain. I have already touched upon most of my main criticisms for Sweet Refrain, and much of what I said remains the same. But something else about the release of Sweet Refrain has also come to my attention. This has nothing to do with the song itself; it's the release date. As much as I love Perfume, I think now was too early for them to release another single. They should have waited until after their Dome Tour performances and released this single in January or February. I know Sweet Refrain was a drama song, but the release of it as a single so soon after Level3 was in my opinion, a bad marketing move. Normally, I'd be completely down with Perfume releasing something really super soon, but I feel like Sweet Refrain was too rushed. However, the single's out, and I'm late to review it. Just now am I reviewing the PV! Anyways, as long as the single's been released, there's nothing I can do about it except do what I do best and review it. So yeah... Sweet Refrain... what the hell am I supposed to say about this song? I feel like everything I'm going to say in this review has already been said. Well, as we all know, Sweet Refrain was written for the drama Toshidensetsu no Onna. I think the drama has something to do with relationships; I read the summary awhile ago, but forgot so clearly it must not have grabbed me. Anyways, previously in the career of Perfume, their last drama song was Spice, a song that happens to be one of my favorites from the JPN era. Back when I was still excited for Sweet Refrain, I was hoping that it would be similar to the sound of Spice: smooth, calm, and sleek.

Instead, I got... well... Sweet Refrain. Look, I'm not trying to come across as hating Sweet Refrain. It's really not even a terrible song! But that doesn't mean it's without it's problems. My biggest problem with Sweet Refrain is that I don't think it knows what kind of song it wants to be. Does it want to be a happy and lighthearted JPN-esque song? At some parts it does. The opening makes you think it is. And the chorus sounds extremely similar to Kokoro no Sports; I even played the two songs back-to-back to hear how alike those choruses sound. Unlike Sweet Refrain though, Kokoro no Sports at least sounds more cohesive. There are parts where Sweet Refrain sounds like it's trying to be a cool, edgy dance song from Level3. Mainly in the instrumental. It's a little bit jarring hearing this sudden appearance of Dubstep over the girls' sweet vocals. I admit, I don't dislike the Dubstep quite as much as I did when I first heard Sweet Refrain, but I could still do without it. And if it was going to be kept in the song, I would have liked it to stand out a little less. Sweet Refrain is trying to combine these two different styles into one which isn't possible, but the end result is something that could still use fine-tuning. I get what Nakata was trying to do. It's what he did in Shiina Ringo's Netsuai Hakkakuchuu, combing Dubstep and other EDM effects with a sweeter song arrangement, and that song is flipping awesome. However, something just doesn't click with Sweet Refrain and I think it's that the song is too sweet-sounding. What worked with Netsuai Hakkakuchuu was that it wasn't overly sweet and did have a bit of a sinister edge to it. Sweet Refrain is as sweet as the title, especially the vocal arrangement in the chorus. Maybe if the chorus had gone the route of Meg's Prism Boy... oh my god. I just realized how to fix Sweet Refrain. Sweet Refrain needs to have the same chorus of Prism Boy. It has the buildup for it! Come on, that's legal right!? Nakata can just tell the girls to sing along to Prism Boy and bam! Problem solved! No? He can't do that? Dammit...

I am being serious though, if Sweet Refrain's chorus sounded less like Kokoro no Sports and more like Prism Boy, this might have been a better song. Prism Boy starts out more-or-less in the same tone as Sweet Refrain, and what makes the chorus so great in that song is how the it just envelops the rest of the song like a wave. Sweet Refrain has a lackluster chorus that should have been more sweeping more... dramatic. Not some cutesy Kokoro no Sports-esque type of chorus. See? It's stuff like this that can be easily fixed that ultimately prevents Sweet Refrain from being a really great song. Okay... I've spent like two paragraphs bashing the hell out of this song, is there anything I do like about Sweet Refrain? Well... I actually do like the instrumental. I know I was complaining about the Dubstep, but I still do think the instrumental to Sweet Refrain is interesting. My opinion of Sweet Refrain's instrumental is pretty similar to the same as the one for the instrumental of Voice: it's better than the actual song. Here, without the really cute vocals, all that Dubstep fits better, and I can get a better feel of what Nakata was trying to accomplish. And without the girls singing, I can finally hear all the little embellishments that make Nakata's music so interesting. There are a lot of really nice little moments in the instrumental for Sweet Refrain. I feel weird saying this, but it's really the vocals of Sweet Refrain that make it such a disjointed song. The vocals sound way too sweet and adorable and needed to be toned down in order to match with the song. And considering the girls of Perfume basically sing the song however they want to in the recording studio... it's their fault this song sounds so weird! I guess I do like the end of the song where "Refrain" is repeated over and over... all the other parts need to lay off the sugary-sweetness. Look, I still don't think Sweet Refrain is a bad song. I'd take it over, say, Speed of Sound or Mirai no Museum. But there are elements of the song that could have been handled better, so in the end, my overall opinion of the song remains mixed.

But something I can always expect from Perfume is that even if they have a lackluster song, they will usually get an interesting PV to go with it! Usually. Let's hope I didn't jinx it and Sweet Refrain is actually a good PV.


What time is it?


It's Perfume time!


Now we're off to the Perfume Museum! (and no, it's not the Mirai no Museum)


To the back, you'll see Perfume trying to recreate music notes.


And here, you'll see them performing a dark ritual to summon the power of Dark Lord


Ah, the Fall of A-chan! Quite a thought-provoking piece, if you ask me.


Aw, look at Mini!Perfume! Their outfits are so adorable!


Poor Kashiyuka, all alone while A-chan and Nocchi stare at each other.


This is Spending all my time all over again!


Time is but an illusion in the Perfume Museum.


Was... was that a dance move from Perfume no Okite?


Does this PV consist of homages to other Perfume dances? Because if it is, I'm gonna suck at figuring out which dance matches with which song.


Okay, I know this is the actual dance to Sweet Refrain.


Mini!Perfume dancing is adorable.


Okay, maybe this is a reference to...? I'm really not sure.


I love how each rotation features a variation on every action in the Perfume Museum.


Now there's a Perfume Line, the best kind of line in my opinion!


Meanwhile, this Perfume continues diving into the occult. Fun!


Check out the other Perfume peeking around the corner!


...if they're just gonna leave those shoes there, I'm taking them. Surely one pair will fit me!


Uh-oh. I don't think Nocchi would be pleased.


Time for another round of Ring Around the Perfume!

Perfumes, Perfumes everywhere...


The Perfume Guide to Sitting in a Chair. Groundbreaking!


More of snooping!Perfume! I like it!


Is anyone else experiencing deja vu, or is it just me?


Meh, probably just me.


Agh, I know I've seen these poses in other Perfume dances! I just can't remember which ones!


Now the ritual is complete. We will have another #1 single again.



All right, I definitely recognize that pose from Spring of Life!


Now if only I could figure out the 50 other dance references in this PV...


Oh no, I guess I'm out of time...

Thank goodness this PV is better than the song. What I always like about Perfume PVs is that watching them can magically raise my opinion of the song they accompany. Maybe not by much but just a little bit! Sweet Refrain is definitely a very interesting PV. After the colorful visual spectacle that was Magic of Love, I did wonder just what kind of PV their next single would have. Like Magic of Love, the PV for Sweet Refrain is one that relies on visual trickery. While there may be no overarching plot, Sweet Refrain is still a very engaging PV to watch mainly thanks to the technical effects. In fact, the more I watch this PV, the more in awe I am of the effects used in this PV. Sweet Refrain is shot so that it looks like one continuous spinning shot. There are a series of different areas in this shot: the chairs with clocks, the floating circles, the triangles, the music staff, the triangles, and a few other little sections before going back to the chairs in the opening part. The seamless rotation of the camera is awe-inspiring enough; then there's what the girls are doing during the PV. Each section has the girls doing something, whether it be dancing, bouncing balls, posing, etc. What changes each time the camera starts rolling back around from the clocks on the chairs are the number of girls in each section. The number of Perfume girls increases in each rotation, with them sometimes appearing in larger numbers in one section or appearing in a completely different area all together. It's kind of similar to the effect used in the PV for Magic of Love, except on a completely different level (you might say it's on... Level4... sorry I couldn't resist). Much like the rotating camera, the multiple Perfumes look just as effortless. Even though I knew that obviously there weren't 10+ Kashiyukas in one room, it still looked real enough that I was able to suspend any disbelief I might have had. Even if nothing else in the PV for Sweet Refrain would have stood out, the visual effects are enough to make this an interesting PV. I don't know how they pulled off the technicals in this PV, but they're mesmerizing to watch on screen.

And then there's the concept of the PV for Sweet Refrain. I admit, I was a little confused about what that was before reading it. I thought maybe it had something to do with monotony? Turns out I was completely off. The concept for this PV was that it was a "museum" featuring Perfume. Funny how this PV had more to do with a museum than Mirai no Museum. Ugh, I don't want to dwell long on that release. So each section was like an exhibit featuring the girls doing something. And I think there are some parts where the girls are doing dances and poses relating back to their past releases. I could definitely see it with a few of the poses. I think a few hand motions were reminiscent of Spending all my time or maybe even the JPN Special from the JPN Tour. See, that's the problem with being a sucky dancer; you can never tell what choreography goes with what! I love watching Perfume dance, but even I can't figure out all the dance references in the PV for Sweet Refrain. I still think it's a really clever idea though. I always like when artists with a bunch of singles under their belt references their past singles. It's fun to watch, especially for older fans! And of course the PV wasn't filled with just dancing! Perfume did a bunch of a random things throughout this PV like bouncing balls, peaking around corners, posing, you know, things people do everyday! Yeah, the PV for Sweet Refrain is definitely an artsy PV. As a result, it doesn't make a lot of sense, and the imagery can get a little nonsensical at times. But it's no different than some of Perfume's other artsy PVs! Some of my favorite Perfume PVs have been their artsy ones but admittedly, I didn't like the PV for Sweet Refrain as much as Voice, Magic of Love, or Fushizen na Girl. I think that's because there isn't a lot of color in the PV for Sweet Refrain. Nearly everything is some shade of white, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that was a kind of muted to look at on the screen. The dominantly black outfits the girls wore didn't help much with the color scheme of the PV for Sweet Refrain either.

Speaking of the outfits, I think they've finally grown on me. When the promotional image for Sweet Refrain was released, I didn't like the outfits that much. I thought they made the girls look really old and boring. But in the PV, they work much better, especially when the girls are dancing. Besides, I'm happy they finally managed to move away from that style scheme they've been using for the past what? Two years? I swear it feels more like four, but I'm pretty sure it's two years. You know, the Magic of Love-esque outfits except with the colors and patterns changed? Even though the outfits for Sweet Refrain do make the girls look older, I like that all the outfits look different from one another. Like Nocchi gets the snazzy pantsuit, A-chan's wearing the classy dress, and Kashiyuka got the elegant... robe? I'm not quite sure what to call Kashiyuka's outfit, but it looks nice! And they all get red shoes which are a much-needed splash of color in the PV for Sweet Refrain. One of my favorite parts in the PV is when their shoes are placed in an empty area, and the girls pop their heads out for a brief moment. Another part of the PV I liked a lot was the inclusion of the miniature dancing Perfume. They were so tiny and cute! It's the little parts like that that make Sweet Refrain such a nice PV. It's not my favorite Perfume PV, but I do like the concept for it. The PV also has enough charm and grace that it's still an enjoyable PV to watch. While the PV for Sweet Refrain may not make me forget all the problems with the song, overall, it's still a pretty cool PV. The fact that it's an artsy PV is enough for me to at least give it a thumbs up. The visual trickery throughout the entire PV is what really makes it stand out. It adds to the whimsy in the PV, and makes for a very entertaining, if rather dizzy PV. Sure, I think the PV for Sweet Refrain could have used a little more color, but it was still an interesting PV. Even if I still think Sweet Refrain was released too early, at least I got to screencap and review the cool PV for it! I think that's enough of a consolation.


So Perfume ends the year with Sweet Refrain, and I end my last PV review of a Perfume song for this year by giving it a three-and-half apple rating. To say the song is not the best Perfume song I've ever heard is an understatement. However, it's not a horrible song either. The PV picks up the slack by being a thoroughly interesting, artistic endeavor that's a clever homage to Perfume's dances of the past.

For the record, I mean the album not the idol who released the album... but hey, I might as well talk about her too!


The girl in the album art above is Curumi Chronicle (which is clearly a stage name and not her real name). She's an idol relatively new to the scene, and through the use of social media, she hopes to "chronicle" her career as an idol. Pretty standard up-and-coming idol fare. So I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath to read why I wanted to write about her. Or at least I assume you are, just let me pretend. What stands out about Curumi Chronicle is that she is a technopop idol in the vein of Aira Mitsuki or Saori@destiny. In fact, there's a picture online of the Saori@destiny with Curumi Chronicle! Since Aira Mitsuki is on hiatus and Saori@destiny is retired, this conveniently leaves a slot open for a technopop singer for me to follow and jam to. Not only that, as someone who is not only a fan of both those technopop artists and a fan of idols, Curumi Chronicle is an idol that should be right up my ally. However, before the release of her eponymous debut album, I'd only heard two songs from her. Luckily, both are great songs, but I think in order to truly get a feel for how Curumi Chronicle's music is, I needed to listen to her album. And let me tell you, I am totally excited to hear it! First Aira Mitsuki's I'll Be Back, then Perfume's Level3, then Capsule's Caps Lock, and now this album... man, this has just been a fruitful year for technopop! Now we'll see if Curumi Chronicle can follow this trend of good listening! Put your headphones on and crank up some technopop, because we're diving into the debut album of Curumi Chronicle!

1. Humming

The album starts with a brief introduction that features exactly what you think it does: humming! Or the first part does. Then after the first twenty-eight seconds, it goes into instrumental Curumi hums. I will say, I'm not a huge fan of the concept of an "introduction" song, mainly because they're usually really short and don't add much to the album. As far as introduction songs go, Humming is actually pretty decent though. I like that it's connected to the second song on the album. That and it features a really nice buildup which slowly crescendos, slowly blossoming into a technopop song as each second goes by. The tune itself is simple but really pretty, the kind that I wouldn't mind having stuck in my head. Other than that there isn't much to say about Humming. I think it is a nice introduction, but I wouldn't be complaining if it were replaced by a full length song. Speaking of full length songs...

My Rating:


2. Gozen Juuichi Ji

...this is the song that Humming seamlessly transitions into. I always love it when albums do that thing where two back-to-back songs cut so they sound like one song. Gozen Juuichi Ji just builds on the mystical, cheery tone that Humming set. I get a lot of Aira Mitsuki vibes from this song, particularly Mysteric from I'll Be Back. This song carries a lot of the cheerfulness that I found in a lot of Aira Mitsuki's music. It's also one of the calmer songs on the album, especially in the verses. I think Gozen Juuichi Ji is a very pretty song and light too. I don't have much else to say about this song other than I think it's very breezy and calming to listen to; I think if I were trying to relieve stress, this is the kind of song I'd like to play. So yeah, while Gozen Juuichi Ji isn't my favorite song on Curumi Chronicle, it's still a really good song. I like how it's connected to Humming and I like the overarching tune prevalent throughout it!

My Rating:


3. Kagayake Sorairo Shoujo

And here we have the first single song on the album! An online friend of mine introduced me to this song long before the album was released, and I loved it. I still love this song. I will say though, it's bit of an odd listen when you first hear it though. I heard the opening chorus and thought it was going to be really happy-go-lucky, but then the instrumental took a nosedive into hardcore EDM music. Then the happy vocals came back! It was a bit like musical whiplash! However, when I listened to Kagayake Sorairo Shoujo a few more times, the two different tones worked in this really weird way. I think because the transitions into both parts were really well-done. And most of the song is on the lighter and happier side anyways! This is one of those songs that just heightens my mood when I listen to it! Curumi sounds so gosh-darn-happy when she sings it I can't help but feel happy myself! A thoroughly wonderful song!

My Rating:


4. Make New World

I immediately noticed this songs happens to share the same title as Aira Mitsuki's Make New World! However, Aira Mitsuki's Make New World and Curumi Chronicle's Make New World are luckily both very different-sounding songs. Weird of a comparison as this is, Make New World actually reminded me of something Kikkawa Yuu would sing. You know, if her producers actually went all the way with her electropop concept and not the half-assed songs she usually gets. Anyways, back to Curumi Chronicle. I liked Make New World a lot. It's a lot more EDM-oriented than Kagayake Sorairo Shoujo, but like Kagayake Sorairo Shoujo, Make New World still balances lighter and happier parts too. Although Make New World doesn't have quite as strong of a chorus as the last song, it's still a really good listen. I definitely like the dance vibe it's rocking! I even like the bits of Dubstep sprinkled in it!

My Rating:


5. 16 feat. Usagi Disco

This is the first new song on the album that I really liked. It's edgier than the first four songs on the album, sort of in the same way that Meg's Lies was. The guy featured on it, Usagi Disco, I think just does the instrumental and maybe composition on it. I say that because he's an electronic musician. Whatever role he had in this song, I like 16 feat. Usagi Disco a lot. Curumi's opening vocals in this song sent shivers up my spine! In fact, I really liked her vocals in this song, her English bits in particular. I'm not sure why I like the way she pronounces her English; it's not exactly accurate but something about it is really cool. 16 feat. Usagi Disco is a full-out dance song and a really atmospheric, almost moody one at that. The vocals are much more minimal in 16 feat. Usagi Disco, but when they do appear, they sound great. 16 feat. Usagi Disco is definitely one of my favorites on Curumi Chronicle!

My Rating:


6. Broken Toy

This is a really super-short song, and going off the title, I really didn't know what to expect from this song. I thought maybe it would kind of cute? The piano in the beginning and the staccato notes were making me think it would sound kind like Perfume's Communication. Upon listening through the entire song though, it's really not! Far from it actually! Broken Toy is a... strange song. I mean that in the nicest way possible because it's strange in a very fascinating way. There's something about Broken Toy that sounds... off. It may be the raw vocals, the minimal instrumental, that constant tempo... It's something I can't quite put my finger on. It almost sounds like someone winded up and actual toy and this was the song! For such a short song, I really liked Broken Toy a lot more than I thought I would. Slightly off and slightly creepy, I think the length is just right, and the way it cuts out is very fitting!

My Rating:


7. Kururikuru

All right, a straight-up happy song! Seriously the happiness is just radiating in Kururikuru. Sure, the past songs on Curumi Chronicle were also happy but in a very laid-back, soothing way. Kururikuru practically bursts onto the album with a high-energy beat and an explosive chorus. And from there, it feels like you're riding a wave of happy-techno-goodness! If there's anything I love it's songs that can get my blood pumping, and that's exactly what Kururikuru does! I feel like I could run a marathon to this song! In my opinion, the best songs are songs that have energy, and Kururikuru has so much energy! It's so fast-paced and happy and oh my god, can I just marry this song? Actually, I probably can't legally or physically do that but still! I can't emphasize enough how awesome Kururikuru is. It's a techno song that's so explosive and vivacious that I'm kind of bummed when it ends. Still, it's totally awesome!

My Rating:


8. Twinkle linkle line

So am I the only one who thinks Twinkle linkle line sounds like a Teletubbies catchphrase? No matter what the title of the song sounds like, the real test is what the actual song sounds like. After the ecstasy-inducing Kururikuru, you need a slightly more toned-down song that'll take you off the roller coaster ride. That's exactly what Twinkle linkle line does! I'm really happy that this song wasn't a ballad; I don't think I would have liked it being placed here on Curumi Chronicle if it was. Twinkle linkle line is energetic just like Kururikuru, but just toned-down enough to get me calm again. Like the previous song, I just love how happy this song is. There's something very contagious, almost inspiring about how Twinkle linkle line sounds. It almost sounds like it could be an anime opening. You know how anime openings have that sound that just gets you pumped to do stuff? Twinkle linkle line has that same kind of sound!

My Rating:


9. Susume! Susume!

And here's the other song I heard before this album was released! This was honestly the song that got me intrigued about Curumi Chronicle. To me, it reminds me of Meg's Natalie or Perfume's Macaroni, you know a lounge-type song? Except Susume! Susume! is a little more energetic than a lounge song. The highlight of Susume! Susume! is the chorus. Not only is it catchy, it's bouncy and fun! I think Susume! Susume! perfectly balances out both the technopop and idol sides of Curumi Chronicle. It's definitely technopop, but it's composed very much in the same style of idol music. I could totally picture Susume! Susume! being covered by a regular idol group. This is just a song that has a very well-done techno instrumental. The result is a lovely fusion of idol pop and technopop! I loved this song back when I first heard, and listening to it on this album, Susume! Susume! is still an amazing song!

My Rating:


10. Rainy Starry Night

Finally slowing down the album is a song that comes closest to a ballad. Rainy Starry Night is about as chill as Curumi Chronicle gets. This is a slow song, despite being a little over three minutes. At first, it was a little hard for me to get into this song. But over awhile (and several repeated listens of the entire album), the more I liked Rainy Starry Night. I guess at first I was expecting something more ethereal; Rainy Starry Night sounds very much like a lullaby or something out of a fairytale. It's a very pretty song, and Curumi's vocals are so sweet in this song. What I also like about Rainy Starry Night is the instrumental; there are a lot of different sounds layered on top of each other. The result is a really beautiful, if a little quirky, ballad-type song. Rainy Starry Night does take a few listens to get used to, but I ended up loving this song. I think it's a really nice way to close out the album.

My Rating:


11. Gozen Juuichi Ji (Usagi Disco remix)

Of course, this album isn't done yet! We've still got one last song to close out Curumi Chronicle. Kind of. This is a remix of Gozen Juuichi Ji, the second track on the album! And it's by the guy featured in 16 feat. Usagi Disco! I liked the original Gozen Juuichi Ji, so I was interested to hear how the Usagi Disco remix would sound, especially after listening to 16 feat. Usagi Disco. Gozen Juuichi Ji (Usagi Disco remix) is definitely different from the original. While the original was calming and laid-back, the remix is a little more dance-oriented. I think that's mainly because of all the added instrumentals though! The vocals are more-or-less the same, with only a bit of vocal manipulation. The instrumental is much more dominant though in the remix; I have to say, I like it! Gozen Juuichi Ji (Usagi Disco remix) has a lot more going on than the original, giving it a nicely different and distinct sound! Personally, I really love it!

My Rating:


The Verdict

Hot damn. That was... a really good album. Like holy crap, I didn't think there were going to be any albums that trumped Level3 this year, but man alive, this is a good album. Have I mentioned this is a good album yet? Actually, is Curumi Chronicle, dare I say, a great album? After several listens, this is the verdict I've come to: absolutely. Despite being only eleven tracks, this is a strong debut album for Curumi Chronicle. There wasn't a single song on this album I disliked, and any issues I had with the music on Curumi Chronicle were small and didn't take away any of my enjoyment. It's hard for me to even pick my favorite songs on Curumi Chronicle, because honestly, I liked all the songs. If I did have to pick personal favorites though, I'd probably go with Kagayake Sorairo Shoujo, 16 feat. Usagi Disco, Broken Toy, Kururikuru, and Susume! Susume! And that's nearly half the songs on the album... I do think that the second half was a bit stronger than the first half of the album though. From 16 feat. Usagi Disco, the album had a little more variety and it felt like each song transitioned better. Not that the first half was by any means bad; in comparison though, the second half was just what I preferred. Overall though, I think this album had a really great, diverse collection of technopop, with some songs leaning more toward idols pop and others toward EDM. It's an album that balanced both the idol and technopop sides of Curumi Chronicle. I think each song stands on its own well, and together they make for a really, really great album. So yeah, in case I haven't emphasized this yet, you should all check this album out, especially if you're into idols and technopop and want to see the two combined. Curumi Chronicle contains a lovely collection of technopop songs in the vein of Aira Mitsuki, Saori@destiny, Perfume, even Meg. As a fan of all four of those artists, I am completely enthralled with Curumi Chronicle. This is an album that makes me want to hear more from her, and I do hope that she will go far on her chronicle to becoming an idol.


I wasn't sure if I was going to give Curumi Chronicle five apples or four-and-half apples. But you know what? This album rocks, and Christmas is almost hear, so this album gets five apples! With some truly amazing technopop, Curumi Chronicle is one of my favorite albums of 2013. It's definitely gotten me into Curumi Chronicle, and I'm looking forward to whatever endeavors this new idols has next!

Dear Tsunku,

PLEASE STOP RELEASING DOUBLE A-SIDES. You've written nine for the H!P groups this year, ten if you count Juice=Juice's triple A-side. Look, it's hard enough to do one PV review when I've got so many other groups I need to review. It's hard for me to write a double PV review, okay? So please. Just... stop. For my own sanity and other idol bloggers out there.

Sincerely,

Nia


But if I'm gonna review one double A-side, it might as well be C-ute's! That way I can make up for not reviewing Kanashiki Amefuri/Adam to Eve no Dilemma. I am serious though, all these double A-sides from Hello! Project are a pain in the butt to review. Like, I can handle one a year, maybe three at the most. But how on earth am I supposed to review nine of them? Even if I count out the Berryz double A-sides, that's still seven! Normally, I'd just do seven PV reviews, but making those singles double A-sides forces me to either do double PV reviews (which take a toll on my already-slipping sanity) or write fourteen PV reviews. Shocking as it may seem, there are PVs besides Hello! Project's that I want to review. And unlike H!P, those other groups all have the common sense not to constantly release double A-sides! Hopefully Tsunku's just having one his phases, and he'll get back to releasing single A-sides for awhile before finding some new fad to throw on all the H!P groups. For now, I probably won't get around to reviewing all the double A-sides H!P's been cranking out this year. What I'm thinking I might do is just select one A-side from each single, whichever one I prefer more, review that, and just leave the other one unreviewed. That sound like a good plan? That way I get to keep the fragments of my sanity, and I don't have to wrack my brain into writing two reviews in one. Well... except for one review. I do want to review both A-sides of C-ute's latest single, because in my opinion, both are worth talking about. I know, I know, it was practically released a month ago, but all November I've been planning to review it and just haven't gotten around to doing so. What can I say? I got distracted by Perfume, Nogizaka46, and Momoiro Clover Z. Things happen! Still, the sheer quality of the PVs for Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin was what merited a double PV review for C-ute. Besides, I haven't done a double PV review since Passpo's Step & Go/Candy Room. I need something to do that'll drive me crazy every few months!

With that in mind... let us proceed with caution.

So let's talk about the first of the two A-sides, Tokai no Hitorigurashi. The last time that I talked about C-ute at all was when I was comparing them to Berryz Koubou. In summary, I thought that currently C-ute was getting better songs and better production than Berryz. Their PVs have been slowly getting better, their sales have been better than ever, and as a group, C-ute just seems to have the best dynamic in Hello! Project. Meanwhile, Berryz has... not. And I'll just leave it at that. Anyways, I referred to C-ute's latest single Tokai no Hitorigurashi/Aitte Motto Zanshin as evidence that their production quality had improved. However, even though I did say display both Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin in a positive light, I actually think that both songs aren't the best A-sides from C-ute this year. I mean, thank god neither one is Kono Machi 2.0, but I still think both songs could have been better. But I'll get to the problems with Aitte Motto Zanshin in a moment. Let's start with Tokai no Hitorigurashi or Living Alone in the City if you want to use UFP's shitty translation. Since Crazy Kanzen na Otona, C-ute has been riding a fairly steady wave of dance tracks, and Tokai no Hitorigurashi follows that trend. However, instead of being a more intensive, serious-sounding song, it's a lot more lighthearted and bouncy. And Tokai no Hitorigurashi heavily borrows the disco-funk sound you might have heard in Mobekimasu's Busu ni Naranai Testugaku or Morning Musume The Matenrou Show or Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo- oh wait, did I say Tokai no Hitorigurashi borrowed that sound? I'm sorry, I meant to say that Tokai no Hitorigurashi basically is the same sound with a slightly different arrangement of what plays where. I'm serious, the first time I heard this, I thought I was listening to a perkier reincarnation of Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo! I swear I have heard this sound done to death in Hello! Project. I'm starting to think it's just the song style Tsunku defaults to when he can't think of anything else to compose.

For that reason, I can't really get into Tokai no Hitorigurashi, because the style has been done to death in Hello! Project, especially in the past two years. I love funky disco, and Tsunku has written some absolutely jamming funky disco. But there is a point where I can have too much of it. When your funky disco songs start sounding like your other funky disco songs, you have a problem. Even though the general sound of Tokai no Hitorigurashi is completely predictable, I don't think it's a totally bad song. As usual, the vocals are what ultimately save the song from being terrible. I've praised C-ute's vocals on more than on occasion, and I will do it here again. However, this isn't really the most vocally challenging idol song to sing. Sure, if this were a Morning Musume song, this would be more-than-okay with me, but this is C-ute. The girls have handled songs with much more difficult compositions than Tokai no Hitorigurashi. One of the strongest traits about C-ute is that vocally, they're such a strong group. Even Maimai, the weakest singer, still sounds pretty decent. Tokai no Hitorigurashi's vocal arrangement is all right enough. It is a happy song, and considering C-ute has gotten a bunch of serious-sounding songs lately, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. But the arrangement kind of borders on being just a little to safe. You know that Guess the Note game I play with AKB48 songs? Well, I can do it with Tokai no Hitorigurashi too! While vocally, this is happier than some of Tsunku's other funky disco songs, a lot of the notes hit in it are very reminiscent of again, songs like Busu ni Testugaku and Kono Chikyuu yo Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo! Like the last two notes of the chorus for Tokai no Hitorigurashi sound near-identical to the ones in The Matenrou Show It's little similarities like that that make Tokai no Hitorigurashi sound like such a boring song. I've heard this style from a handful of better H!P songs. In the end, Tokai no Hitorigurashi isn't a horrible song; it is merely and okay one, and C-ute can definitely do better.

But Tokai no Hitorigurashi the song isn't necessarily why I wanted to do this review. Oh no, the PV is really what I want to talk about. Why? Because... UFP actually put effort into making it more than just a formulaic dance shot and close-up. No, you are not dreaming, so pinch yourself and join me on a screencap of the PV for Tokai no Hitorigurashi!


The PV opens with Airi thoughtfully adjusting the upcoming title drop for us.


And then things start to get... artsy.


I hope you like bright and colorful edits because this PV has that in droves!


Personally, I like it. The editing gives the PV flair!


I also think it's cool how each member's color is incorporated into their name introduction.


Like Chissa's intro is green...


...Maimai's is yellow... it's a simple but cute little effect!


And the special effects just keep on coming, adding flair to a mere walkway!


Good thing too, since the room this was shot in is a tad bit bland...


Actually, has this area been used in an H!P PV before? It looks familiar.


I guess the girls are cheerleaders now! Give me a C! Give me a dash! Give me a- okay, I'll stop.


Woo-hoo! More colorful effects!


I like the staircase in this shot. Very mod. And Nakky looks lovely!


The dance shot has got to be my favorite part of the PV.


See, UFP? It doesn't hurt to put a little effort into a PV, does it?


Yeah, why not give us more creative PVs like this? We're too awesome not to get any!


To be honest, this probably isn't the best dance I've seen from C-ute, but the visuals make up for it!


I love the comic-style filter on these close-ups. Wow, wouldn't it be cool if C-ute got a completely animated PV? I know, I know, that'd be way too creative for UFP.


Ah, some Magic of Love-style editing here! Nice!


Oho, a doughnut! Is it a sweet doughnut?


Sorry, I'm legally obligated to show a screenshot from Sweet Donuts any time a doughnut appears in a PV.


I'm 99% certain Nakky could walk into a bathroom and wash her hands and somehow make it look hot.


And Maimai is absolute adorable in this PV! I love her hairstyle!


More cute editing!


Who needs subtitles when this PV prints what each part of the song is about in bright, colorful letters?


What snazzy sunglasses! Not sure how you see through those lenses though...


A Nakky center is the best kind of center.


The fact that they used actual locations for this PV brings me tears of joy.


And the effects aren't gratuitously sparkly and pointless.


Okay, maybe the filtering is a little overdone in this final shot.


Still, it's adorable! And Airi's adorable! This whole PV was adorable!

So you all know that I tend to treat Hello! Project PVs with a little more leniency than most of the other idols I review. Because we all know that H!P PVs tend to be a little less... well, good. A typical H!P PV will consist of merely a dance shot, usually filmed on a cheap and obvious-looking set, along with a few close-ups, and if we're lucky, a random shot that was probably just filmed to pad the PV. It is the die-hard Hello! Project PV formula, and I do not believe that UFP will ever be able to break out of it. Over my past two years as an H!P fan, I have desensitized myself to this formula, recognizing that most H!P PVs are lazy and cheap but also that there's nothing I can do about it. Naturally, any H!P PV that comes along and dares to deviate from this formula, is enough to give me a shock. You can only imagine my surprise when the PV for Tokai no Hitorigurashi came out. Luckily it was pleasant surprise instead of say, a PyokoPyoko Ultra surprise. At its core, Tokai wo Hitorigurashi is still somewhat similar to the formula. There is a dance shot, and there are close-ups. However, the first plus this PV has is that it's shot in an actual location in lieu of a set. And it's a very nice looking place too! In fact, has this been used in a PV before? It looks like the same location used for Berryz Koubou's Nanchuu Koi wa Yatteru You Know? PV, but that PV was shot such a long time ago, it may be a coincidence. Either way, the PV looks so open and airy thanks to the setting. Some of my favorite areas were the staircase Nakky lounged on and Maimi's little room with the mod chair and shelf with magazines in it. For the most part though, these locations were still pretty simple, with bland colors and not a lot that stood out. But for a PV like Tokai no Hitorigurashi, that is an essential thing to have. Why? Because on top of this very simple PV is a myriad of special effects that turn it from your normal Hello! Project into a PV that's actually... good. I'm not talking Hello! Project-standards of good, I'm talking regular idol-standards of good.

Yes, you may have noticed from the screencap that what makes Tokai no Hitorigurashi such a good PV are the visual effects edited into it. Now this could have gone in the opposite direction and been absolute crap. I think we all remember the gaudy, craptastic visual effects gratuitously edited onto Morning Musume's One Two Three and Wakuteka Take a chance PVs. But through what's either a miracle or brilliant marketing, the PV for Tokai no Hitorigurashi has some great, simple effects that give the PV so much flair. What I love especially about these effects are how colorful they are. As I pointed out, the location this was shot mostly has pretty neutral colors. Splashing this neon rainbow of effects into the PV provides for a great contrast, and it makes sure that the blending isn't tacky. The effects in this PV pop partially thanks to the blandness of the locations. And there's such variety from the bit with sunglasses to the words that pop to just random effects that come and go during the PV. My screencap doesn't even show half the cute little effects in the PV for Tokai no Hitorigurashi. In fact, if you haven't watched the PV already, please watch it. I promise you won't be disappointed! My favorite part has to be the dance shot, where the effects just start popping up everywhere at such a quick rate. Not only are the visuals clean and nice to look at, the editing in this PV is actually pretty good too. This PV does more than just cut to various close-ups and other shots. There are parts where the camera will pan on one girl then turn away and cut back to reveal her with another girl next to hear. And then there are the pan-outs where it'll show some of the girls in a frame then cut out to reveal another girl holding an actual picture frame. It's little effects like that that add a bunch of charm to the PV for Tokai no Hitorigurashi. And that's why I found Tokai no Hitorigurashi to be such a great PV: it's artistic. The effects in it are smooth and colorful and interesting. I can't believe it happened but UFP actually managed to give an H!P group a good PV!


Still, I do have to take into consideration the song. And because of that, Tokai no Hitorigurashi only gets three-and-half out of five apples. What can I say? The song just isn't very interesting or original. Fortunately, the PV makes up for the song exponentially. I absolutely love this PV; it might be one of my favorite H!P PVs this year. Well, that or the next A-side on this single...


So the next A-side is Aitte Motto Zanshin or Love Is More Innovative. I'm not sure how the girls of C-ute would know that, since they can't date anyone but oh well! Willing suspension of disbelief, right? As usual, I had no idea how this song would sound, and I wasn't exactly paying close attention to the release of this song either. Unlike Tokai no Hitorigurashi, Aitte Motto Zanshin has no funky disco in it. I do hear some eurobeat pop in this song though! Not exactly an innovative choice for a C-ute song, but hey, if it's done well, I don't care how it sounds. So the real question is does Aitte Motto Zanshin stand not only as a good song but also as a good double A-side? What I always like to see in good double A-sides are two different songs that in a weird way still complete each other. Tokai no Hitorigurashi is a very fun, happy song whereas Aitte Motto Zanshin is more serious and intense... kind of. What happens with Aitte Motto Zanshin is that you go in thinking it's going to be a Kiss Me Aishiteru-type of song. The opening instrumental is actually similar to Momoiro Clover Z's Saraba, Itoshiki Kanashimitachi-yo, or it is to my ears at least. The verses come in and they're very fast-paced, giving the song a lot of energy. I will admit though there are parts when it sounds like the girls are rushing through the song. I blame them tempo more than the girls themselves though. And I will admit, the fastness of the verses does give Aitte Motto Zanshin this very frantic, urgent kind of sound. Like you could run away from zombies to this song! But if you're doing that, I doubt you're reading this review... At this point in Aitte Motto Zanshin, the verses and the instrumental had been for the most part, pretty decent in my opinion. The energy was solid, and the structure of the verses, while a little chaotic, worked in a very strange, interesting way. The song was lingering a little bit into generic dance song territory, but I think I was just happy that Aitte Motto Zanshin didn't sound like a rehash of The Matenrou Show. Other than that Aitte Motto Zanshin seemed like it would be a pretty neat song.

And then... the chorus came in.

There's nothing like musical whiplash. And when I say that, I mean there's nothing more irritating and frustrating than musical whiplash! Like many other songs I have reviewed, Aitte Motto Zanshin falls plague to the dreaded musical whiplash, a phenomenon where parts of a song sound completely different from each other! I have to say I'm not the biggest fan of musical whiplash. I guess there are times when it can work, but for Aitte Motto Zanshin it doesn't. It tries, but it just doesn't. When the chorus for Aitte Motto Zanshin comes in, what it does it a complete 180 of all the hard edginess in the verses and goes for something... that oddly sounds like a sped-up chorus of Kanashiki Amefuri. And I liked that song all right, but unlike Aitte Motto Zanshin, Kanashiki Amefuri sounded cohesive. The chorus is in my opinion, the key part of a song, basically the core.  It's what the rest of the song is built around and usually the most memorable part of the song too. The chorus for Aitte Motto Zanshin sounds like it was taken from a completely different song, rearranged a little bit, and slapped into this song. Obviously, that isn't true, but every time I get to the chorus for Aitte Motto Zanshin, my mind starts comparing it to other H!P sons. Yeah, the chorus may work in another song, but here it's too... I don't want to say it's too happy but too... optimistic? I guess that's practically the same thing but still. There's a very clear disconnect between the chorus for Aitte Motto Zanshin and the rest of the song. If I had creative control over this song, I'd give it a different chorus. I feel like I'm listening to fragments of two different songs. A cool, edgy song and a slightly happier song to be exact. I want to like Aitte Motto Zanshin, I really do, but it lacks cohesiveness and refinement. I think with the right editing, this could be a really good song though! I do like the instrumental for Aitte Motto Zanshin a lot; all you would need are some changes to the vocal arrangement in the chorus and voila! A good song! Gosh, I should become an idol producer! How hard can it be, right?

Like Tokai no Hitorigurashi, Aitte Motto Zanshin isn't without its strong points. In fact, when I compare the two A-sides, I actually prefer Aitte Motto Zanshin over Tokai no Hitorigurashi. While I take issue with the vocal arrangement of Aitte Motto Zanshin, I think the vocals themselves are top-notch. Unlike Tokai no Hitorigurashi, which wasn't much of a vocal stretch for the girls of C-ute, Aitte Motto Zanshin is much more interesting. With the fast-paced nature of the vocals and the quick-changing octaves and tempos, the vocals in this song delivered in the way that C-ute always delivers. Even Maimai and Nakky, the group's weakest singers, still sound solid. And of course, Airi, Chissa, and Maimi all sound great, especially Airi. I love the high note she hits at the end. It's a strong way to close out the song! And I think the deepness of Chissa's voice worked really nicely for this song. Her voice is always kind of 50/50 on C-ute's cuter songs but more serious songs like Aitte Motto Zanshin are when her voice really shines. And as I said before, there are parts of Aitte Motto Zanshin that I do like. The energy of the verses and instrumental is enough to get my blood pumping! It's only when the chorus comes in that I know I'll never be able to really get into this song. Still, this isn't the worst song I've ever heard. Come to think of it, neither is Tokai no Hitorigurashi... In fact, both these A-sides aren't horrible songs. I just have criticisms for both songs. Tokai no Hitorigurashi is bogged down by the synth-horned funk that plagues to many other Hello! Project songs, and Aitte Motto Zanshin has a lot of potential that is squandered by an incohesive vocal arrangement. But really neither song is unlistenable. Still, these songs don't make a good case for why I think C-ute gets better music than Berryz Koubou currently. I honestly liked Kanashiki Amefuri and Adam to Eve no Dilemma better than these two A-sides, but it's my fault for being too lazy to review them. All I can say now is that both Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin are simply okay.

Luckily though, there is one more characteristic Aitte Motto Zanshin shares with Tokai no Hitorigurashi: UFP actually put effort into this PV too. Either I've finally lost it or UFP has; either way let's take a look at this PV!


While Tokai no Hitorigurashi's PV was colorful, this PV is... darker.


And it takes place in an abandoned warehouse.


Well hello there, serious-looking title drop!


A boiler room! If this were a horror movie, that would be terrifying!


Luckily, it's an idol PV, so these locations are really super cool


When you think about it though, dancing in a warehouse is a little ridiculous. But hey, if Footloose can do it, so can C-ute!


I'm not so sure about the outfits. There's a little too much going on with them.


The girls themselves look great though! They match nicely with the grunge setting!


And if anyone can make camouflage look good, it's Nakky. She could probably make the chicken suits from PyokoPyoko Ultra look good.


I really love the setting used for this PV.


It gives me a lot of Tokaikko Junjou vibes. Except the girls are older and hotter now.


And the dance for this PV is pretty cool, but it isn't without its odd moments.


Like you can interpret this dance move as a motion to prevent the ghosts of the warehouse away from C-ute!


Begone evil spirits!


Nakky's doing the robot now... all right!


So there are parts of this video where it looks like UFP got their hands on some Instagram filters.


And then other parts where it looks like it's going to turn into one of those creepy "found footage" videos!


Uh, I don't think banging your head against that wall is safe or healthy. Think of all the tetanus!


The empty space in this shot is really cool.


All I can think about when I see this is that poor, broken piano just left there to gather dust...


You know what really would have made this PV gritty? Flannel. Lots and lots of flannel.


This is definitely one of the neater formations in the dance.


I like Maimai with short hair. It's a good look for her!


I mean, honestly everyone looks really good in this PV. Especially Nakky.


Ah, more Instagram filter. UFP sure is fond of those, aren't they?


Oh look, a Sepia tone filter! That's new!


Now it's time for the intense, hardcore dance break! YEAH!


Aw yeah, high kicks! C-ute dances seem to be fond of those, don't they? That and dancing on the floor...


Not even an Instagram filter can take away Nakky's hotness.


And Airi sends us out on a high note. Literally!


Then the girls turn to their Weeping Angel poses. The end!

Just a little PSA for you guys: do not explore an abandoned area without the proper equipment and proper safety precautions. Think you're gonna do what the girls of C-ute did and film a snazzy video of you dancing in some cool-looking abandoned building? Think again. It can be really dangerous, especially if you don't know the area you're exploring in. There could be other people inhabiting the area, wild animals, risks for tetanus and other diseases, unstable parts of the building, and worst of all, evil spirits still haunting the area! Okay, maybe not that last part, but I am being serious about those other warnings. Don't believe me? I explored an abandoned pool by myself and was lucky to return with only a few shallow scratches and my favorite pair of jeans getting ripped. I don't want any of you lovely readers having to experience what I did or worse. That being said... oh my god, I love urban exploration so much. I think it's just about one of the coolest activities to do, even if there are so many risks taken with it. I find the concept of a building left to the elements from a time period long past to be absolutely intriguing. It's about as close as I can get to time travel. I really mean I enjoy urban exploration. Even if I don't do much of it (barely at all, actually), I do love going online and looking at urbex photography. There are so many abandoned places in the world to explore, and it's nice being able to see them from the somebody's camera lens. Okay, I'm done waxing poetic about the wonders of urban exploration. The only reason I even bring it up is because the PV for Aitte Motto Zanshin was shot in an abandoned warehouse. I assume it was a structurally stable abandoned warehouse that didn't have any people taking refuge in it. Unless UFP is ten times cheaper than I thought they were. I don't think so though, because I think this was also the same warehouse that Tasaki Asahi's Tegami and Morning Musume's Nanchatte Renai PVs were shot in.

Anyways, back to C-ute! The fact that Aitte Motto Zanshin was shot in an abandoned warehouse is enough to make me happy. I always like it when actual locations are used in idol PVs in lieu of green screens or sets, and the location for Aitte Motto Zanshin fits the song well. Even better, I love that a lot of the shots in the warehouse are from a variety of different locations. Like Chissa's surrounded by pipes, Maimai dances near a window, Maimi has all that wide open space, all these really interesting areas in the warehouse. I think the locations was utilized really well in this PV. And it gave me a chance to really see the inside of this place. It looks really cool! I'd love to explore it myself, but I'd probably never have the chance to. I'll just content myself with watching this PV! What makes Aitte Motto Zanshin such a cool PV is really the location. Had this PV been shot in a studio, I don't think I would have found it anywhere near as interesting as I do. So hey, how about UFP just shoot all H!P PVs in abandoned locations? Trust me, there are plenty of areas in Japan that I've seen on the Internet. I'm sure UFP could find some place! Then again, that might get a little tedious after awhile... Oh well, I still think it would be a neat idea! Aitte Motto Zanshin is primarily a PV consisting of only the dance and close-ups, but the aesthetic helps make said dance and close-ups interesting. As I said, there's a lot of variety in this PV, not only in the locations, but the shots themselves. This PV shows the girls from a bunch of different angles and locations, making it look like the PV is more high-budget than it probably was. I like the fast editing in this PV too; it matches with the pace of the song itself. I think the only thing I would have liked to see a little more of was the PV going all the way with its grittier look. That would mean nixing those outfits. They're a little... odd. I don't know, sometimes when I watch this PV, I like the outfits for Aitte Motto Zanshin, and then there are other times when I think they completely clash with the mood of the location.

That's only a small complaint though and doesn't take away any of my enjoyment of the PV for Aitte Motto Zanshin. I still think this is an awesome PV that takes a simplistic and formulaic concept and makes it into something interesting. The locations of an abandoned warehouse makes for a very visually striking PV. I don't even mind the Instagram filters in this PV! Normally, I'm not a huge fan of them in idol PVs, but I think that they were used sparingly in the PV for Aitte Motto Zanshin helps. And when they are used, it's very brief and makes for kind of a cool effect. Overall, the PV for Aitte Motto Zanshin is just cool. The dance is cool, the location is cool, the atmosphere is cool, I think if you walked into this warehouse, it would automatically make you cool. Trust me, I've taken a science class. The girls themselves also do a great job dancing and looking fierce and badass in this PV. Sure, their outfits are a little iffy, but they still rock them! You know, for such a simple concept, I'm very pleased with what the producers managed to do with Aitte Motto Zanshin. They made grungy PV in an abandoned warehouse that looks extremely cool. Like with Tokai no Hitorigurashi, I like the PV for Aitte Motto Zanshin better than the song. It's more interesting I don't know what UFP was on when they decided to give both the PVs for this single decent budgets. I was thinking for sure that one PV would get all the money put into it, and the other would get jipped. But no, both the PVs for Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin. For this reason, I really wanted to review both PVs for this single, even if the accompanying songs weren't my cup of tea. Each PV is miles above the typical quality of Hello! Project PVs, and I feel like that fact needs to be emphasized. It's rare I get to review such pleasant, interesting PVs from H!P. And even though it's always a trial to finish these double PV reviews, for Tokai no Hitorigurashi and Aitte Motto Zanshin, it was worth it.


And so I bequeath upon Aitte Motto Zanshin four apples. The song could be better, but there are parts of it that are nice. However, the PV is where this song really stands out. It's such a gritty-looking PV with a great location that it thoroughly utilizes to the fullest effect! Just don't go exploring in an abandoned warehouse without proper safety precautions, kids. I'm out to start screencapping Christmas PVs! Festive!

Ah, the last Perfume review of 2013 is both bitter and sweet. Sweet because it's a Perfume review and bitter because... well, it's Sweet Refrain.


Yeah, yeah, spoilers. You all know I am not the most enthusiastic fan of Sweet Refrain. Still, I believe in doing the song justice by giving it a proper single review in which I can review both the A-side and B-side of this single. So I intend to give Sweet Refrain a proper single review, going over once again my opinions about the A-side and getting a chance to delve into my opinions about the B-side. I will admit, I find it very surreal that Perfume released a single so soon after Level3. I can't say I'm complaining that much, but it doesn't take away the surreal feeling of this entire release. I don't know, I guess the news and release of Sweet Refrain came so fast, that I didn't have much time to react. Not to mention I was still jamming to Level3. Still, this is a Perfume single, and there's nothing more fun than reviewing a Perfume single! While I have expressed disappointment with the A-side, perhaps the B-side will salvage this single? Maybe, maybe not. I will say what I was hoping for with Sweet Refrain was a B-side that would sound better than the A-side? Did my dreams come true? Or were they a pathetic desire that could have never happened? Let's find out! Onto the review!!!

Covers/Outfits

At first, I did not like the outfits for Sweet Refrain. I thought they were too dark and aged the girls by ten years. Now I think that may have had to do with a bad promo shot. Something about the way the girls were posing made the outfits look really matronly. When I saw the outfits in the PV, in the live performance and other miscellaneous photographs, I liked them a lot better. While they are a much more mature look for Perfume, the girls look very classy and elegant. And I like that the outfits aren't so uniform. I feel like a lot of Perfume's recent costumes have all had this default style to go to. Youknow, thesecostumes. Same style, just with different colors and patterns? Even if I wasn't initially jazzed by the costumes for Sweet Refrain, I was at least thankful that the girls had gotten to wear something that looked different. These costumes are very monochrome, with the only splashes of color being the bits of purple and the snazzy red shoes the girls get to wear. But the matching colors do give the girls a unified look, even if each individual outfit is different. My favorite of the three outfits has to be Kashiyuka's, just because it looks so smart and crisp. Nocchi has a decent outfit too, and it is nice seeing her in a pantsuit. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make her look like a high school principal. A classy high school principal but still. And then A-chan's dress... I don't have much of an opinion on. It looks nice, very pretty and mature. So yeah, in short, the outfits grew on me, even though I don't think they'll ever be my favorite Perfume single outfits. The covers follow the simple, mature theme the outfits have got going on. Both the Regular and Limited Editions are in black-and-white, with the hot pink title being the only splash of color. I have to say, I do like the color scheme, and black and pink is always a win-win combination in my eyes. There isn't much to say about the Limited cover. It's nice, but there's not a lot going on in it. The girls just look very elegant. Same goes for Regular. The room in that cover is pretty cool though, kind of retro looking. And the clocks do allude to the PV!

Sweet Refrain

I think I have gone very thoroughly over my opinions about Sweet Refrain. By now, I pretty much just feel like I'll be repeating myself for the third time. But if you don't want to peruse through paragraphs and paragraphs of text from my previous posts about Sweet Refrain, here's the short version! I personally think Sweet Refrain could have been a better song, especially as the first A-side to follow up the Level3 era. It sounds like a remnant of the JPN era mixed in with the sounds of the Level3 era. I don't know if that's because it was released for a drama, but for whatever reason, the song feels like a mishmash of two different styles. Sure, that can and does work, but here, it feels hastily cobbled together. I do think that Sweet Refrain had the potential to be a really good song; something along the way just ended up not working. In my opinion, that something is the vocals. Yes, the ultimate downfall of Sweet Refrain is that the vocal arrangement is too sweet-sounding to fit the instrumental. I was only able to figure this out when I listened to the instrumental of Sweet Refrain and found that the song was a lot better sounding than I gave it credit for... when the girls weren't singing, that is. Sweet Refrain is a song rich with music box-style notes and EDM effects sprinkled amongst the instrumental. It's this really quirky combination of whimsically cute and dance-oriented. Listening to the instrumental makes me wish that Sweet Refrain had a better vocal arrangement. As it stands though, Sweet Refrain's vocals remain too cutesy and sweet. Not all parts of the vocals are bad though; the buildup before the chorus is nice. And so is the repetition at the end; I really like the slow fade-out the song does. Really Sweet Refrain isn't a terrible song; in fact, when I'm in the right mood, I actually enjoy listening to it! I don't know, I think Sweet Refrain has slowly been growing on me, and I would take it over some Perfume songs. However, even if I do end up enjoying this song more than I do now, I don't think I'll be able to ignore that flaws that Sweet Refrain has.

Luckily, the PV for Sweet Refrain does what so many Perfume PVs do: it enhances the song. Again, I have an entire PV review for Sweet Refrain if you want my full opinion. In short though, I like it. It's another artistic Perfume PV, one that relies on slick special effects and visual trickery to engage the viewer. The basic concept of Sweet Refrain is the idea that the girls of Perfume are exhibits in a museum. The PV is basically one endless rotation, showing each time what the multiple Perfumes do in the museum. They do activities ranging from dancing around in a circle to bouncing balls to posing in front of musical staffs, you know, normal stuff you see in a museum! The PV also features several homages to past Perfume dances, and if you're an expert on Perfume choreography, you might be able to spot them! I, of course, could not, but I still tried. Yeah, Sweet Refrain isn't really a PV with plot, but the effects in this PV are engaging enough. What really impressed me about the PV for Sweet Refrain was the camerawork. This entire PV is shot so it looks like it's one continuous, rotating shot. That, of course, can't be because there's no way they could get tones of people who looked just like Perfume and placed them all in a room together! I really like the editing for this PV, and not just because I get to see a bunch of Perfumes in one room together. It's really mind-blowing how seamlessly these multiple doubles of the girls interact with each and their surroundings in the PV. I would actually like to see a making-of video for Sweet Refrain, to see how all these effects were done. Of course, the PV for Sweet Refrain isn't without its flaws. Mainly, the only thing I don't like about Sweet Refrain is the lack of color. This is a very muted PV, mainly being only the color white with very few splashes of color. It didn't look terrible, but the lack of color did make the PV look a little monotonous. Still, that didn't prevent me from enjoying the PV. Overall, I found the PV for Sweet Refrain to be a nicely done PV that boasted some extremely clever special effects.



I will give Sweet Refrain 3.5 out of 5 apples. I didn't really need another A-side so soon after Level3, and I'd be lying if I said Sweet Refrain was a good follow-up to such an amazing album. Still, it's a decent Perfume song, that I'm sure most Perfume fans will enjoy. Me, personally, I think it had its flaws, but even I can admit to listening to it of my own free will.

Koi wa Zenkei Shisei 

Ah, here is the elusive B-side! I heard absolutely none of Koi wa Zenkei Shisei until the weekend Sweet Refrain leaked. No previews, nada. I went into listening this song with absolutely no idea of how it would sound. All I hoped for was that it sounded better than Sweet Refrain. So the question is... does Koi wa Zenkei Shisei prove to be a better song than Sweet Refrain? Yes. Absolutely yes. If there was a show called Songs that Could Have Been A-sides, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei would be featured on it in glowing, neon letters. This song is so much more interesting than Sweet Refrain. I guess it was inevitable that Sweet Refrain would have to be the A-side though what with it being used for a drama and everything. Still, would it have been so bad to make this single a double A-side? I would have been completely okay with that. More than okay! But there are things that cannot be. And even though Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is merely a B-side, it is still a great song. Like Sweet Refrain, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a happy, upbeat song. Unlike Sweet Refrain, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a happy, upbeat song that works. The very beginning is really cool in that it starts with the vocals being a lot less process before sliding into Perfume's usual vocoded and edited vocals. I also love the metronome-like sound effect at the beginning; it's similar to the way Communication started, only a lot less cuter. From there on, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is a really sweet song, that has a very nicely layered instrumental. In fact, the instrumental is my favorite thing about this song. Of course, the vocals work well with the instrumental, like the parts where they echo and overlap over each other. I honestly don't have anywhere near as many problems with Koi wa Zenkei Shisei that I did with Sweet Refrain. I guess the only criticism I can really give is that it doesn't bring anything new to the table for Perfume? Even then, that doesn't prevent me from enjoying the song. Koi wa Zenkei Shisei is so much more musically interesting than Sweet Refrain; all I can do is lament that it wasn't the A-side.



But hey, at least I can give it some apples! And so I shall give Koi wa Zenkei Shisei 4.5 out of 5 apples. It isn't by any means the most exciting and fresh Perfume song, I've ever heard, but I still think it's a really great B-side with a quirky instrumental and nice vocals to match!

The Verdict

I stand by my opinion that Sweet Refrain was released too early. Level3 had only been out for less than two months; to release another single so shortly after the album was in my opinion, not a very wise marketing move. I mean, I like not having to wait six months for Perfume's next single, but Sweet Refrain just feels a little rushed. I think the only reason it was released so early anyways was because Sweet Refrain was included in that J-drama. If I had been in charge, I would have released the single after the completion of the dome tours, probably some time in January or February of 2014. As it is though, Sweet Refrain is... an interesting single. I've driven to death my problems with the A-side. In a nutshell, Sweet Refrain is too happy-sounding, reminiscent of the JPN era. That could work, but the problem is that the instrumental is much more EDM-oriented, with all the Dubstep thrown around in the song. The final result is a disjointed song that perhaps might work with some fine-tuning. However, in its current state, Sweet Refrain is merely an all right song that could have been so much better. Luckily, Koi wa Zenkei Shisei picks up all the slack Sweet Refrain leaves, being an equally happy song with a much more cohesive and interesting sound. I particularly love the instrumental for Koi wa Zenkei Shisei, with all the cute quirky noises sprinkled about in it. Sweet Refrain is another case of the B-side being better than the A-side. I like Koi wa Zenkei Shisei so much better than Sweet Refrain; I at least hope it will be performed during one of Perfume's dome tours! Overall, I don't think Sweet Refrain is a bad Perfume single. In fact, compared to some Perfume singles, it's pretty good! I do like the style used for this single, and the PV for Sweet Refrain is lovely and artistic! However, this just isn't the best I've heard from Perfume. And as a follow-up single to Level3, it is kind of lackluster. If you're a Perfume fan though, I think you can get into Sweet Refrain. Besides, I have this nagging feeling that it's probably going to be a long time before Perfume releases their next single...


After meticulously compiling my opinions for the A-side, B-side and overall single, I have decided to give Sweet Refrain four apples. Even if the A-side is a little iffy, I highly recommend checking Koi wa Zenkei Shisei out. It's probably one of my favorite B-sides this year and the better of the two songs on this single. Now all I can do for Perfume this year is wait until images from the dome tours leak!

Happy holidays, Wonderlings! Grab your tinsel, put on your Santa hat, break out the gingerbread cookies, because it is December on the Wonderland! Fa-la-la-la-la~! Not only is a great month because of all the lovely holiday festivities, but also because I only have two weeks of school left! Oh, sweet bliss awaits me in Christmas break. Oh, and once I'm out for the break, I'll hopefully be able to write more stuff on the Wonderland! Because the road to the break is not easy. Not this week, but the week after, I have exams. Luckily, I only have three, but I still have other things I need to do alongside that. But once I get all that out of the way, I'll be in the clear to kick back, relax, and enjoy the holidays! It's just getting there. Oh, it's fun being a senior. Anyways, something else that's also significant about the month of December is that it's the final month of 2013! Hence it is also the last month for any idol releases this year! And some of you probably remember what I did last year for 2012: a year-end megapost!!! It's gonna be huge. And awesome. And I'll probably go crazy trying to finish it, but it's totally gonna be worth it. Before that happens though, I want to finish up all my miscellaneous reviews before 2014 arrives, along with a few Christmas-related reviews. So as always, here is a tentative list of posts that I'm working on for December:

A Cheapskate's Guide to Buying Idol Merch
- I know, this editorial is still alive! Can you believe it? I can! I kind of left this in my drafts for awhile, and only now have I finally come back and started actually writing in it. I figured since December is the month where many people are buying presents, some of you guys out there are probably looking to buy idol merch. Hence I find it very appropriate to devote an entire post about my own personal tips when buying idol merch! And as a someone who has a slightly more conservative view on buying idol merch, I hope that I can provide helpful advice to any of my other fellow cheapskates who read this blog!

French Kiss PV Review
- I have to admit I'm rather surprised at the lack of Christmas PVs this year. Well... the groups I review aren't exactly releasing many. Then again, I guess it's pretty proportional to the Christmas PVs from last year. As long as there's not another Samui ne! Kara is one of the few groups that released a Christmas PV though, despite the fact that the song is called French Kiss...I guess it could refer to French kissing under the mistletoe! Although I remain a casual fan of Kara, I do like their PVs, and I would like to at least bring a little Christmas spirit to the Wonderland. So this PV's perfect for that!

Holly-Jolly PV Week
- From the fabulous and vivacious blog that brought you Sexy PV Week comes... HOLLY-JOLLY PV WEEK!!! All right so maybe this isn't going to be as sexy as Sexy PV Week but... come one! It's Christmas! What's a better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to look at seven lovely idol PVs revolving around all the warm fuzziness that makes up the holiday season? I've already got all the PVs picked out and figured out the lineup. What's going to happen is I'll start Holly-Jolly PV Week the week before Christmas then have the last PV on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Stay tuned!

Jejejejet! Album Review
- I kind of wish I'd reviewed One World last year, so to make up for not reviewing that, I figure the least I can do is review Passpo's latest album this year! I will admit at the moment, I'm not very sold on this album. The covers in my opinion look really cheap. However, I do like that the album will contain nine new songs even if I get the feeling that the first track is going to be an opening instrumental. Who knows? I'll reserve my full judgement for when I listen to the actual album. I haven't exactly been very impressed with Passpo this year so I really am hoping that Jejejejet! is a good album.

Nia's Best (and Worst) of 2013 and Other Year-End Posts
- Can you believe we're already nearing the end of 2013? I could have sworn I was scrambling to make my year-end posts for 2012 just a few weeks ago! I've already begun a lot of work on the Year-End Megapost, adding some new categories, taking out some old ones, and making some graphics for it. The post is gonna be huge, which is why I've been working on it since October. As of now, I'm making good progress! There are also a few other miscellaneous year-end posts I'll write, but I'll start those more towards the end of December. Probably during Christmas Break!

Pinpoint Album Review
- Bump.y's first original album!? You know I'm down for that! I can't believe it took them this long to get an album though. I mean, yeah, they had the cover album and compilation album, but neither one of those is an original album. I'm a fan of Bump.y, and I feel that as a fan, the best thing I can do is give Pinpoint a listen! I've already seen the tracklist for the album, and I'm pretty excited! Now the hard part is waiting. Pinpoint won't be released until December 18, so this will probably be one of my later reviews. Still, I will do my best to review this album as soon as possible, and definitely before the new year!

Suzukake no Ki no Michi de "Kimi no Hohoemi wo Yume ni Miru" to Itteshimattara Bokutachi no Kankei wa Dou Kawatteshimau no ka, Bokunari ni Nannichi ka Kangaeta Ue de no Yaya Kihazukashii Ketsuron no You na Mono PV Review
- Get a big fat eyeful of that full title because that's the last time you're going to see me write that entire thing out! I will elaborate on my opinions regarding the uh... "title" of AKB48's Janken single when I actually review the PV. As of now though, the full PV has yet to come out, and I'm a little surprised that it hasn't yet. I don't know, I guess the preview's out, so I do have a pretty general idea of what the PV's going to be like. And I've also listened to the entire song. You all know how I feel about AKB48's Janken songs, so you probably have a good idea of how my review will sound... or do you?