Yay 2013! (yeah WAY LATE). Anyways, it’s time to sit down and return to the land of Momusu and with this post I’ll be reviewing 4 PVs which are Koko ni Iruzee!, HEY! Mirai, Ganbacchae!, and Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima. To me these four kind of marked a small period where Tsunku really wanted to hit a certain child-like atmosphere which I felt through all four and don’t forget, Maki Goto had just graduated from Morning Musume! So let’s dive in!
Koko ni Iruzee!
The Song: So dealing with the loss of Gocchin, the group pushed forward and released their first single without her, Koko ni Iruzee! Suffice to say, the song was a giant switch from their last one “Do it! Now” by moving from an R&B setting to something I could only describe as spastic and wild and full of youth! The lines were actually split between most of the members quite nicely so there wasn’t a instant lead like some of the previous singles
What Genre is it?: Personally, I would say Ska would be what I consider this song to be.
The Premise: Like I said in my last post, there seems to be less of a premise in the PVs they do. Koko ni Iruzee! is one of those where the PVs premise kind of is non-exitant (unless breaking through paper fits with the lyrical content).
The Setting: There’s three different settings (which becomes the kind of norm for the ladies). The first, and most prominent is the dance shot which is placed on a stage, but lord is it colorful and kind of looks like it has some of that hippie flower thing going on lol. Of course they are also performing in front of a crowd “or extras” which is a first for Morning Musume right?
The other two are kind of in junction with each other, but the close-up shots and the whole “breaking through” the paper setting. All the girls in the close-up rub ash across their face (I guess to show that they’re badasses) and the breaking through is kind of that meaning in the song. It’s kind of funny seeing the expressions going on (especially Tsuji getting hit by that random rock xD amd Aibon nomming on French Bread XD).
The Outfits: There’s also two seperate outfits based on the settings! The first for the dance shot was them wearing different colors but they all wore plaid and wore ties as well. It was a bit clashing with the set and all but I suppose it made them pop out.
The other was for the other two settings and it was kind of the basic military-ish look.
The Choreography: Just like the song, the dancing is pretty spontaneously and kind of frenetic. There’s a lot of jumping and some random posing from the members whenever they have a solo. Then it just suddenly goes single wave towards the end when the whole ~lonely boys and girls~ part starts.
PV as a whole: I’m going to be straight up honest, I never really liked this PV even when returning to it. I just felt like it was a bit disjointed with the dance shot being in such a vibrant and colorful set and then the whole military/breaking through things…it just didn’t click with me (even though I had more fun watching the latter because of some of the random moves some of the ladies did…like Kaori with paper in her face, Konkon’s kick, and the aforementioned stuff from Tsuji and Aibon. I just never really “got” it so to speak.
Ranking: 55/74 (I never really cared about this song very much and it ranks really low for me even for an A-side that’s not good!)
HEY! Mirai
The Song: So the next two songs are tracks that some people do forget about (unless you’re a diehard Momusu fan) HEY! Mirai and the other tracks were used for the movie Koinu Dan no Monogatari. Also both tracks are from their album “No.5”.
What Genre is it?: Definitely idol pop!
The Premise: There really isn’t any to speak of…the puppies are there since the song is tied to the movie (which is has a dog in it).
The Setting: I would stress to say that HEY! Mirai has the smallest set the girls had to work with yet! I mean it’s really a tight fit for all the members to fit in a straight line. Then again there’s not a lot of moments where all of them appear at once, but a lot of the time is spent in close-up shots of the girls singing or d’awwwing over the puppies they’re holding lol.
The Outfits: It’s very casual, surprisingly enough (the horror if they were to wear puppy outfits…). Nah, there’s some correlation because some look like they’re wearing clothing suited for the winter months. Then again the movie did come out in June (which I assume is Winter there?).
The Choreography: The only thing they really did was line up, that was the nearest thing to some kind of movement that was needed. Otherwise…nope.
PV as a whole: I feel like this was just so silly of a PV to make. I mean it’s kind of funny that the official MM channel on Youtube has this up (while “Aisha Loan de” fades more into obscurity. HEY! Mirai is kind of the group’s boring PV because they really are just kind of looking plain and the over-gushing of the puppies is a little random (plus Nacchi letting one of em lick her teeth is a bit gross, no?).
Ranking: 44/74 (The song isn’t too bad, but that PV was just a throwaway IMO).
Ganbacchae!
The Song: The other song that was used for Koinu Dan no Monogatari was a rather nice surprise for Morning Musume. First off, we get our first real look at the newly appointed Hello! Project Kids (C-ute and Berryz Koubou). The other great news is that Maki Goto returns for the song/PV as well! So we got a pretty BIG cast here lol
What Genre is it?: It’s idol pop, but really aimed for the younger side of listeners.
The Premise: So I find it funny that there is slightly a story that kind of goes on in the video. It’s mainly about this tree which started as a sapling and they go through various seasons cherishing and protecting it until it grows into a full tree. Oh, and everyone draws pictures.
The Setting: Looks like we kind of took a page from “I WISH” with the cheap set and all. The main story takes place on a set of course where they plant the tree and do all sorts of various things around the tree (like catching butterflies or Tsuji >.>, protecting it from rain and snow, and even dancing about and playing games.
The other setting where you see most of the singing is set in a studio (kind of lame but kind of cool too in a way).
The Outfits: Well the main outfit (and mostly only) are the blue (Morning Musume) and pink (H!P Kids) hoodies they have. Although there are different accessories that make them standout. Plus there are scenes where they were raincoats…but that’s only for a scene really.
The Choreography: I thought there really wasn’t going to be any by going through 2/3 of the damn PV, but it seems in the last minute and a half there is a some dancing (but it’s nothing too intricate, seeing as the H!P Kids are kind of still too young to do such a thing), but for just swaying and doing simple moves, I guess it had its effect.
PV as a whole: I was so elated to see Maki make one more PV with Morning Musume, and even appear in it, but then seeing the REALLY YOUNG and brand new H!P Kids kind of felt a little odd to me (and is really one of the only times a MM PV includes members of another group and a former member as well). I kind of took this PV as a nice introduction to the young members even though there’s really no way to tell who was who at the time. Cute PV…and this makes for a great SATOYAMA PV…if H!P wanna be like all earth-friendly and all that haha.
Ranking: 61/74 (I feel like this song was pretty out there, I mean it’s like we haven’t heard something so kiddy-like from Morning Musume, but it was necessary because of the H!P Kids/movie…I don’t know…I just kind of unsure if I like it or just kind of find it weird).
Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima
The Song: As we move away from the “No.5” era, we get the first cover song ever for the group. As a theme for an old 60’s show, Hyokkori Hyoutanjima I guess was something Tsunku thought would be smart to do? Even though their sound has definitely garnered a more younger sound. HOWEVER, I didn’t think they’d stoop THIS low for such a sound x.x
What Genre is it?: As a children’s song…well that’s all I can say.
The Premise: There really isn’t a concrete premise, but more like mini stories, but none of them really are important lol. Most of it is pirate problems.
The Setting: Most of the setting takes place on the pirate ship itself, which includes the side stories and the dance shot. It looks once again a bit cheap, but I like that they did do something with it. Other things were pretty much CGI/Green Screen like the ending and the various weird stuff like the bobble-head style of things going on (clearly it looks exactly like the same style used in “Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam!”) and Kei-chan being shot out of a cannon into space. It was interesting…
The Outfits: So being a pirate-themed PV, of course the outfits had to fit the occasion. For the dance shot they all wore nearly the same outfit (of course different accessories make the girl), they wore outfits as if they were the crew.
Though once they went into their short scenes, certain girls got different outfits. Yossie and Gaki got captain outfits, Mari dressed like a chef and Makoto was the princess of the seas (though once again, damsel huh like in “Mr. Moonlight”). The other girls didn’t really change if at all, but Aichan wins for her Hitler moustache XD.
The Choreography: The dance is quite simple and cute to watch because they are finally doing some movement and not so much jumping around like in “Koko ni Iruzee!”. Plus, all of the ~hyokkori hyoutanjima~ parts were funny but nice.
PV as a whole: I know this PV kind of takes a little from the shuffle units during this time period, but this song was actually not bad for a cover. All of the members got to shine which is nice to see and the whole pirate theme, while a bit youthful, fits the occasion even though I still have no clue why Tsunku choce to cover this. Fun song and fun PV
Ranking: 42/74 (Probably the best of the 4 here, but still kind of in the middle since it’s not a part of my favorites, but it has enough going on to make it memorable)
NEXT TIME…THESE 4 NEVER MADE IT TO A STUDIO ALBUM DAFUUUUUUU…
Iroppoi Twilight Game 