Flashback Friday! ºC-ute's “ The Power / Kanashiki Heaven (Single Version) ” Review!

Throwback Thursday! and Flashback Friday! finally have their own corners!

Wow ... It's been so long since I actually wrote out a review. I don't know know what to do now! /whacked; Just kidding, just kidding~ I've just been out of it for awhile now~ Although it's summer, I've been quite busy with summer school - earning original credit for Precalculus to get ahead. But now, since summer school is ending soon (this Friday), I now have more time to blog! YAY!~

This single was released quite some time ago, so yea ... This should be counted as a throwback. And now, on with the review of this cool single!

So first, let's start with the MV for The Power. From what I have seen from YouTube comments and a few other places, it seems that people don't really like it that much (the song, the dance, the set, etc.) Personally, I did enjoy watching this MV. Even though the MV is still in kind of a box set, it feels really different from what I have seen from Hello! Project so far this year. Everything just go so well together, the MV compliments the song. The outfits and the setting don't clash with each other. Everything fell right in place. That's what I really like about this MV.

Okay, I will agree with some people that the dance for this MV was very lackluster. It didn't particularly impress me that much. ºC-ute is known to be a very good dance group, so I was kinda expecting something more out of them. The dance ... again was very lackluster. I feel like this would be a dance that a group from Johnny's would do (i.e. Sexy Zone). However, what I like about the dance that it's so easy to remember. You can dance to this song. The dance goes so well with the song. That's a big plus for me.

I personally didn't really like the outfits. They're pretty simple and cute ... but they just don't 'WOW!' me. Do you know what's so different about this MV? The kaleidoscope scenes~ This is something we haven't really seen in a Hello! Project MV before. When I first saw it I was all "WAIT WAIT WAIT- WHAT? ERMAHGOSH-." I actually do like the setting for the MV. To me, it reminds me of a high-class hotel or something ... ?? I don't know~ But I like the setting~ Everything just go well together.

Now onto the song- THIS SONG IS MAH JAM. AYY~ ♪ It seems that a lot of people really hate this song. This song style is different from what ºC-ute usually do. This song has a very middle-eastern, oriental feel to it. And usually Berryz Koubou sings song like this? (I honestly can only think of cha cha SING, Loving you too much, and Dschingis Khan). From what I'm reading all around, a lot of people really hate this song don't they? I honestly don't really care. I think ºC-ute rocked this. Saki and Mai's vocals really stood out to me for this song. I like this song, okay?

The other A-side of this single is Kanashiki Heaven (Single Version). Okay, to be honest ... I'm starting to get sick of this song. When it was first released as a B-side to Aitai Aitai Aitai na two years ago, I liked it. However, it's starting to drag on ... I'm tired of seeing live performances of Kanashiki Heaven. So when this song was announced to be the other A-side to this double A-side single .. I was not too pleased with this. I was all "Ugh ... Kanashiki Heaven? Again? Ugh, this is starting to get a bit old."

The MV for this song is practically the opposite to The Power. In my opinion, it's much more prettier and has a more cool look to it. Plus it's also more darker, compared to the other A-side. Not dark as in evil, emotional feel, tears and all that .. but more like ... The Power is a much more brighter MV with oranges and yellows while Kanashiki Heaven has black, blue, gray scale color scheme. The Power has a more happier, upbeat feel to it while Kanashiki Heaven is more mature, sophisticated. To be honest, I do this MV more than the MV for The Power.

I do like the setting for this MV. I don't know why, I tend to like MVs that are actually shot outside - not in the studio. As expected, the MV (the promotional edit) mainly centered only on Airi and Chisato. It was very predictable. This song is a duet for the two of them. I feel like Maimi, Saki, and Mai didn't really get anything of this MV. I have yet to watch the 'real' MV of this (I think I have to buy the Limited B in order to do so). Maybe they'll show more of those three in the real MV. I hope so. 

Also, I want to kinda point out that this was a pretty fast-paced MV. And because of this ... it makes gif-ing this MV a lot harder for me. /sigh;

I do personally love the outfits for this; I think everything was simply gorgeous. Especially Maimi, she's so beautiful. Saki was also really pretty in this MV as well. As for the dance, they didn't create a new dance for the song. They might have changed a bit, but it's still the same choreography. I was really hoping that they would create a new dance. But oh wells, it can't be helped.

Also, during the music break, you could see bits and pieces of Mai and Saki pole-dancing. Honestly ... I don't really see the point in adding of a scene of them pole-dancing. I feel like it's an irrelevant part. It's nice that Saki and Mai are now able to pole-dance but adding it to the MV ... That's a bit unnecessary. Seriously though, I don't see the point in adding a scene of them pole-dancing. Why couldn't the editors add more close-ups? O^O

I think the only thing I like about this song is a new instrumental. I honestly really love the violins in this. I honestly do prefer this version more than the original. I think it's better, Airi and Chisato sounded better in this. Airi's "WOW!" is definitely .. wow. lol~ I remember reading that the line distribution would be a bit different for this version, like Maimi-Saki-Mai would sing more. However, I just want to point out the line distribution did not change one bit. Airi and Chisato still dominated this song ... 99.9999999999% of it. I feel kinda sad before .. I really hoped that I could hear Maimi solo lines, Saki solo lines, Mai solo lines ... It needs to be different~ Plus I wanna see what it would've been like if those three also got solos.

Also, am I the only one who noticed this but ... Did anyone notice the lack of Maimi in this single? I think as of recently, Maimi has been slowly shafted to the back a little. I remember back in 2010-2011, Maimi was a main vocalist. But now, it's 2014 ... she's been shafted to the back and Chisato's taking her place. I have no problems with Chissa, but I kinda miss the days where Maimi was a main vocalist. Also, she's so beautiful in this single. So pretty ...

So, yea. That's it for this review~ Not bad for my first review in awhile, but it could've been better. I do like this single, it's an okay single. I do like the songs. So until my next post~ Jyaa ne~
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Song: "Kaze ni Fukarete" by Juice=Juice
Mood: Proud, 'cuz I finished a review! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧