1 post tagged “shuffles”

So a few days ago, I downloaded a whole slew of H!P videos to watch what I missed. So after a few mind-numbing minutes (hours?) of music, I get up to stretch my legs and when I return, I've made it to the Puripuri Pink song, "Hitoshirezu Mune wo Kanaderu Yoru no Aki." (Here on known only as "Hitoshirezu", you could not pay me to write that whole name out again.)

I groaned a little quietly, because I first read some opinions on the 2005 shuffles, with most of the general opinion agreeing that "Inshouha no Renoir You ni" is a great song, "Onna, Kanashii, Otona" is pretty good, with the whole Miki-Miyabi-Megumi trio in bustiers making up for whatever the song lacks...and um, "Hitoshirezu" sucks. Plain and simple. It's been called boring...and well, I could list the other adjectives, but it all comes down to the same thing: the song is boring. Which is why I didn't download the video when I originally came across it. The song was only in my iTunes library for completeness' sake.

So I sighed but watched anyway, because wow that intro is pretty, with all the fireworks and the instruments. And then...

Shit, is that seriously Kei-chan? I mean, I love her to death, but whether on purpose or if that's just how she looks, she's never been one of the more attractive H!P members. But she looks gorgeous here. This is honestly what made me keep watching. No, really. It's sad but true.

Inaba...yeah, I don't have much to say about her. She looks quite pretty too.

Kaorin looks great too. The mood of the song and the way she looks at and away from the camera give her this air of wisdom and grace - funny, because she's supposed to be the clumsy tall one.

 

Yuu-chan doesn't look particularly graceful, but she does look wise...as if she knows the secrets of the world. Dominating it, perhaps...

You know, I really like their dresses. Pink should be inappropriate considering their ages, so one wonders if its supposed to be ironic or if they just thought it would look pretty. In H!P, it's so hard to tell what's tongue-in-cheek irony and what's Tsunku on crack. It really is.

I've actually listened to this song before...the first thirty seconds, maybe. And at the time, I agreed with the general consensus: this song is bad. The whole singing-together-in-harmony still doesn't wow me completely, but they do sound good together. Really good, actually. I wouldn't mind if we saw more from them, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Looking at this lineup, one actually has to wonder, "Where's Nacchi? Or Mari?" You could even ask where Maki is, since she is part of the Elder Club now. After all, if these shuffles were really made to sell, you'd think Tsunku would toss at least one of the more popular Elder members Puripuri's way.

But then again, if he had put Nacchi in there, assuming he had run with the harmony idea to begin with, this song would've turned into another "Furusato." Which isn't to say "Furusato" is bad - it's one of my favorite H!P songs. But I have to wonder why Nacchi bothered doing her own solo version on her first album. The original song was practically the solo version, for God's sake. But I'm rambling. I'm glad that there are none of the more "popular" members in this group - they would've undoubtedly stolen most of the scenes and would be placed at the front of the formation.

And honestly, this is pretty much the first time I've actually seen more than about half a second of any of these girls in a PV in a long, long time.

This is one of my favorite parts, and one where the excitement fits the song: the music picks up the pace slightly, and as it does so, they jump away to keep their clothes from catching on fire.

The music builds up to a satisfying, if not explosive, crescendo, and the girls doesn't disappoint. It's still a nice, quiet song to sleep to, but it's not as boring as I thought it was, and I'm really finding myself loving this song. It's like Maki's song, "Secret", only I actually could stay awake for this one. (Sorry, Maki, but "Secret" was only worth watching if one wanted to count all the times we saw your feet instead of your boobs.)

One thing I like here is that the girls interact with each other during the PV, smiling and laughing. In most of the other PVs, even in group shots, most of the girls are off in their little worlds, singing together but looking totally detached from the actual group. Obviously it would make sense to sing at the camera during a music video, but there's something about seeing the girls singing at each other and smiling, as if to say, "Isn't it great to be up here again, once more in UFA's sphere of conciousness?" If only for that one song? If only for a song that most people hated?

The PV itself is...okay. We only get about three different scenes: one with them in a dark room with either large mirrors or those huge rings that you use to catch bubbles in hanging everywhere, reflecting pink onto Puripuri Pink. Another one has them at a small little celebration, lighting those weird miniature firework sticks and waving them around and eating and just having fun. And the last one is the close-ups of each member.

Kei strikes a pose here, causing the other girls to crack up and presumably make fun of her. Oh, Kei-chan, you never change. (And oh God, Kaorin's FACE there.)

In another way, the laughing-during-such-a-slow-song is fitting, because there's something joyful about this song. Don't ask me what, because I know as much Japanese as...a fish. Or something. Assuming this fish isn't Japanese. What was I saying? Oh, right. It's sort of in the way they smile while the sing, like they're recalling some fond memory. What fond memories they might have about an idol industry that doesn't allow them to do shit in both their careers and in their personal lives I may never know, but they could always be thinking about their hometowns or whatever else Nacchi was singing about in "Furusato." At one point Inaba closes her eyes like she's savoring the moment. She's been in H!P for ages now, Inaba, and besides MCing, I've never seen her doing anything else after T&C Bomber broke up. I can't really judge her vocals by this song, because no one has a solo line, but she's been in shuffles and I do like her voice. Besides, T&C Bomber was pretty good.

But then, it's never been just about the singing in H!P. A shame, because you have plenty of girls that can sing but get shoved to the back. I could rant forever about that, but I'll refrain from it.

Yuko looks less terrifying here. She actually looks a little like a mother, or at least a motherly mentor figure - something so very different from the Nakazawa Yuko many of us think of...the one that eats Berryz (Koubou) for breakfast.

Truthfully, I've never paid much attention to any of these members once they left Morning Musume (and I never really paid attention to Inaba at all.) Mostly because their music wasn't as good or catchy - and it's hard to keep my attention. Which is sad, because these were some of my favorite members. They deserved - and still do deserve - so much better. Kei and Inaba deserve actual solo releases. Kaori deserves better promotion. Yuko deserves to eat the Berryz alive be let out of the "I'm-old-so-that's-why-I-don't-do-shit" track that UFA has been keeping her on. These are the most senior members of H!P, and at the same time the most neglected. It shouldn't work that way - the girls that worked so hard to be where they are today (or at least where they were during the "Golden Age", since you could argue that they aren't particularly anywhere today) shouldn't be shafted in favor of the girls that don't do much for H!P other than sell bikini photobooks. It's a sad thing, but it's how it works. I wish I could say differently.

So. On the whole, how do I feel about this lineup and song? The lineup is great, and I would love to see more from them

.

The song is...good. Not great, but it certainly isn't bad. It's not catchy, which in my book is a strike against it because I like music that I can bop along to. But at the same time, it's not boring at all. It starts off slow, that is true, but it really gets better as it progresses - much like "Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA", now that I think about it. I'm sad that I didn't realize this about "Hitoshirezu" sooner. D: