It's their first triple A-side single! Here is ºC-ute's 32nd Single Review! ☆
Honestly, how can one person be this cute? As a girl, I'm a bit envious. I wish that I could be that cute as well. Oh wells, it can't be helped. ヘ（´ｏ｀）ヘ Today, I shall be reviewing ºC-ute's newest single. This is the first triple A-side single. And the entire single title is super long.. /takes a deep breath;
The Middle Management ～女性中間管理職～ / 我武者LIFE / 次の角を曲がれ
Alas, the single basically consist of nothing but A-side. Hello! Project has yet to bring back the beloved B-sides that
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So first let's start talking about 'The Middle Management ～女性中間管理職～' I'm just going to shorten it to 'The Middle Management.' Like almost every song released this year, I would totally forget about its existence until the music video came out. When the short version of the music video was released on Hello! Station, I came to really like the song. I was instantly drawn to it. Out of the three, I would have to say that this song is my second favorite.
As always, let's start talking about the music video. Honestly, it's your standard music video from Hello! Project. It mainly consists of the dance shot, close-ups, and a few other scenes here and there. Personally, it's not my most favorite music video. It was a nicely shot music video. It was very simple, very clean, very polished. Nothing really felt out of place. However, the music video ended up being slightly boring as a whole. Underwhelming, that's the word for it. I'm hoping that the real music video is a lot more interesting.
I really do like the dance; from my observation, I think that quite a handful of people do like the dance. It really does compliment the song- the dance follows the beat very closely. In my opinion, I don't find it that difficult of a dance to learn. It's a rather intermediate level dance, I'm assuming. I think the only difficulty would be the timing. Another thing that I like about the dance is that everyone gets a chance to be in the center position.
In my opinion, I feel like everyone just looks extremely stunning in this music video. Everyone looks so beautiful and mature. Their outfits made them look more mature- look their age. In my opinion, Mai and Saki really caught my eye. Those two were dominating the verses; they were front and center. Honestly, I think they did a pretty great job. I also feel like Airi really did catch my eye too. She almost looks like a K-pop star, to be honest. /whacks;
Overall, I found it to be a very decent music video. It was underwhelming and there really wasn't a lot going on at all. I'm just hoping that the real music video would be more interesting. And now, let's move on with the song. From the beginning, I really did like the song. The first time I actually heard it was when the music video was released on Hello! Station. I was instantly drawn to it. Again, it became my second favorite song of the single.
Following the EDM-autotune trend set by Morning Musume, this song was mainly EDM during the verses. Honestly, I don't really care too much about it. I'm not complaining. I've come to accept the fact that I kinda like EDM-autotune (It's probably because that's all I hear in school. Dubstep is everywhere, along with rap). Also, it was really nice to see that Mai and Saki were the main vocalists for this particularly song. They were dominating the verses.
The song has a sense of realism to it. It's a pretty realistic song quite a handful of people can relate to, especially me. I was quite surprised when I was reading the lyrics. This song was almost practically my life in a nutshell. Almost. Hmm.. There really isn't anything else I could say about this song. Honestly, my favorite parts of the song would be the verses. I found those parts to be very memorable. Mai and Saki, while they're not the greatest nor the strongest vocalists, did a pretty good job on this song.
- - 02. 我武者LIFE - -
This next song was written for ºC-ute's ten year anniversary. Also, it wasn't written by single. Rather, it was rather by another artist known as SHOCK EYE. There was a lot a hype about this particular song. There were short behind the footage about the making of this song and the recordings. Honestly, I wasn't really fazed by it. It wasn't like I wasn't interesting in the song; rather, it was just there. I never heard any previews. I was just there.
However, I was able to stumble upon a full radio rip of the song on YouTube and I decided to listen. Immediately, I fallen in love with this song. I was amazed, surprised-- I can't. Similar to 'The Middle Management,' the music video for 'Gamusha LIFE' was rather simple. However, I believe that it's still a much better music video. It wasn't too underwhelming. There were a little more going on. There was more than just the ordinary dance shot and close-ups.
Although the majority of the music video was mainly in a white-like setting, there was that large splash of color from the backdrop and I love it. I love difference between white box setting and the colorful poster/backdrop. I love how they were able to include all the names of the members onto the backdrop. They were able to include the initials of all the former members and in my own opinion, I found that to be very touching. The dance was really simply- it wasn't too complex. However, it does compliments the song. It goes along with this light-hearted feel that music video gives off. Nothing felt out of place, really.
All of the girls, especially Airi, were really cute and lovely in this music video. I love the outfits. In my opinion, I really think that the girls did enjoy making this music video. They look like they were sincerely enjoying themselves. The group scenes were my favorite part of the music video. I love all of the outfits, especially Maimi's. Maimi really stood out to me, in this music video. She was really, really lovely and was mostly in the center.
Overall, I really do love this song. Honestly, this music video is a perfect example of that you don't need to go all out to make it a great music video. This music video was really simply yet it was very sweet. You don't need computer graphics, you don't over-the-top the costumes, you don't need extravagant settings. Some may call this music video boring, and I understand that. However, I still find it to be a very great music video. I really love it.
Moving on from the music video, let's start talking about the song. I really do want to commend SHOCK EYE and KOUGA for making this beautiful song. It was just simply amazing. Initially, judging from the title, I was expecting this song to be really hard-core/cool/slightly overwhelming. I was really surprised (in a good way) to find this song very gentle, light-hearted- beautiful. I will honestly say that this song is my favorite in the single.
This is a song dedicated to ºC-ute's ten year anniversary and what I like about it is that they're not talking about idols and whatnot (compared to Berryz Koubou). Rather, this song seems more like a reflection of their experiences over the past decade. They were talking about friendships in this song. I found it to be very sentimental, a very touching song. All of the members sounded amazing. I got a bit teary-eyed while watching the music video and reading the lyrics.
In my opinion, I feel like the girls received mostly equal line distribution. Yes, Maimi was leading them a majority of the time. However, the fact that each girl got a chance to shine a bit was really nice. I have no problems whatsoever. Everyone just did a fantastic job. Overeall, I really really love this song. This may become one of my ultimate favorite songs of all time.
- - 03. 次の角を曲がれ - -
And now, we're at the last song which 'Tsugi no Kado wo Magare.' This is the song written and composed by the beloved Nakajima Takui. Although he had previous worked on other Hello! Project songs, I feel like this year- he's really receiving a lot of recognition from the fans. Honestly, I find him to be a very great lyricist and composer. I feel confident that if Tsunku were to retire, Nakajima can smoothly step in and take over. That's just show how good he is.
For this single, I feel like the music videos are rather simple. However, they are each different and unique in their own way. This music video also shows off a more mature and adult look to the group. Similar to 'The Middle Management,' the music video was very clean and polished. Nothing really felt out of place. I really do like the settings. They were mostly focusing on blue and black hues. They were stuck to a consistent color theme. It helped give off a semi-serious and cool feeling to the music video, in my own opinion.
The dance seemed okay, in my opinion. Honestly, it didn't really stand out to me. The dance, as a whole, wasn't that memorable. The only part was that stuck out was the hand movements during 'hoshizora.' I'll be quite frank, I didn't really like the Kenshuusei members in this music video. I don't hate the Kenshuusei. However, I feel like adding them to the music video was a bit unnecessary. I don't hate the Kenshuusei, but adding them to the music video felt a bit out of place. It was felt a bit odd for me.
All of the members just look simply gorgeous in this music video, especially Airi and Chisato. Airi's hair was so long and luscious. I'm quite envious- I kinda wish that I had beautiful hair like that. ;3; Oh wells, it can't be helped. In my opinion, I would have to say that I love Mai's outfits the best. It's rather simple and looks like something I would wear. I also want to point out that Saki's outfits for this song was extremely similar to her outfit in 'I miss you.' I almost thought that they made her wear the same outfits again. /whacked;
Overall, it was a pretty okay music video. It's not my favorite music video; however, it ain't too bad either. Now, let's start talking about the song. Honestly, I did listen to a concert rip of the song for quite some prior to the release on Hello! Station. I didn't really like it. It didn't really stuck out to me. It wasn't until the music video was released that I eventually grew to like it. I was admit that this is my least favorite out of the three songs.
I'm not saying that the song is bad in any way. Rather, I find it not so memorable as I expected it to be. The only part of the song that really stood out to me was 'hoshizora' and that was mainly it. I will commend the girls for doing a good job as always, in terms of vocals. Chisato and Maimi's 'kuyashikute' was really powerful and strong. I recalled reading how they had difficulty with that part of the song and they pulled it off nicely. I was impressed.
The main theme about the song was about encouragement. It has this sense of realism to it, as well. If you're not happy with the path you're taking now, turn the next corner and do something different – that's the message that the song is conveying and it's a good message. Overall, it's not my favorite but it's not a bad song. It's just not my cup of tea. There really isn't anything else that I could say about this particular song. /whacked;
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And, that's it. That's my review of ºC-ute's new tripe A-side single. I like it. I will buy the physical copy of the single if I get the chance. Currently, I'm broke right now. /whacked; So what are your thoughts on the single? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Until my next post, jyaa ne~
MUSIC; Highschool♡love / E-girls
MOOD; In a Working Mood ___φ(・ω・｀ )
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