Monday, June 29, 2015

Jpop Wrap up January - June 2015

Half of the year 2015 is already over. The time flies so fast and I don't have enough time to do seperate posts for all the songs that I liked over the last 6 months. so I will again do a little wrap-up of Japanese songs.

02.04 Angerme - Taiki Bansei/ Otome no Gyakushuu

First up is the first single of this group with their new name. This is also the debut for the 3rd gen.
While Taiki Bansei is a up-beat and happy song, Otome no Gyakushuu is pretty dark, musical-like song. I like both songs a lot, though I think the second song is so much more interesting. It's nice to see this group experimenting a bit and I'm excited for their next single (that I will definitely review!).



3.25 Fairies - Kiss me baby

Oh right, I keep on forgetting about this group and then they appear again. Kiss me baby is a very cool song. I have the feeling Fairies keep getting better, which is awesome. It's still sad to see the lines not being distributed very well, but I love how Sora is getting so many lines here. *-*



04.01 C-ute - Gamushara Life/ Tsugi no Kadou wo magare

I talked about The Middle Management, which is my favourite song of this single. But the rest is also pretty awesome. I love both songs, especially Gamushara Life. That song is just so important and I cried at the live performance from last weeks Haro Sute.. :')



04.22 HKT48- 12byou/ Daite Twintail

HKT48's first single of the year honestly didn't really impress me as much as the other 48/46 stuff that was relased. But it is still a catchy and fun song. Just not as catchy as their previous songs in my opinion. But the B-side Daite Twintail is a greaaaat song and I love it so much. *-*


05.20 Takoyaki Rainbow - Genki Uri no Shoujo ~Namihana Meiuta Gojuu Sen~

Since I don't really like Momoiro Clover Z and Team Syachihoko's newest singles thaaat much, Takoyaki Rainbow is my saving grace from Stardust/ 3B Junior. I know them since fall 2014 and always tgought they were funny, though never caring thaaat much for them. Well, this single changed that. It is my favourite single by them, because it's just sooo damn catchy. The girls are really cute and I will keep my eye open on them. :)



06.10 Mayuyu - Deai no Tsuzuki

Mayu's newest solo single is a gem and probably one of my favourite song from her ever! She improved so much, so I hope she will continue to be a solo singer for a very long time. :)


06.17 Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku - Natsu Daze Jonny

Okay, EbiChuu's newest release is pretty darn awesome. You can't not love them, right? They are an awesome group and even though I'm not following them thaaat much, I like quite a few of their songs. This is no exception and the video is just so CRAZYYY!



So yeah, that's it for now. :)
There are still a lot of awesome songs that I haven't talked about.

Oh right, I'm always open for new artists and songs, so don't hestistate and drop a comment if you have a suggestion. :D

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Bokutachi wa tatakawanai - We don't fight!

After more than one month after its release, I will finally talk about AKB48's newest single ''Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai'' which was released on May 20th and served as this years election single.



I already talked about this 32nin single line-up before, but let me repeat, that I am quite excited for the Paruru center. Moreover since Jurina and Sakura are next to her. It's also interesting to see Renacchi and Yuria at the front. This sadly means, that quite a few older and more established members are further in the back. For example, Rena is in the last row of the main 16 media senbatsu!! Oh right, as you as can see the senbatsu is once again divided into two parts (I will talk about that later). The most interesting new addition to the media senbatsu this time is Mukaichi Mion. She's really rising and I expect her to keep doing that.
But now about the song, which is luckily sung by all the members. Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai is an up-beat dance song. The begining is very beautiful and then it turns into a more serious disco/ electro like song. I especially love the dance break in the middle of the song. I like it a lot and it's so much fun to dance to it. The lyrics are also very interesting. Like the title 'We don't fight' already tells, it's about not fighting but believing in the power of love. It does sound a bit corny in English, but I think the Japanese lyrics are very beautiful. :) 
This is a cool dance track with very meaningful lyrics, which it is the perfect mix for me. :D

So let's talk about the video, which only consists of the 16 media senbatsu members. Yes, only half of the girls of this senbatsu are appearing in the video. o.o


Oh really, this is AKB48?? xD


A catwalk.


And the first model is Sayanee. She looks really beautiful.


Yukirin is rocking this outfit! And seems like they all have little wings on their back. *-*


Haha, loving that smug face.


Haruna looks a bit surprised.


Yuihan looking awesome.



Sasshi is so lovely. :3


Why are you so surprised Takamina?


Mayu looks faboulus.


Yuria: SWAG!


Renacchi being confident.




Jurina is the best <3


Skaura looking so freaking cute. :3


Center in the house!!



Paru: I'm the best!!


And she has a special dress.xD


This is probably the designer. Nice hat. xD


Now we ca see his face.
Little Jurina puppy looks very happy.


He's getting flowers from a little boy. And seems like Sakuratan has to carry the hat.


Paruru looks slightly creepy.
Yuria: This is boring..


And suddenly that guy gets shot.


And Paru is like: Nooooo!


They could be a bit more shocked... x'D


Now it's panic time!


They are being attacked!




Those are the evil guys.



The boy doesn't know what to do..



So Paruru tries to protect him.


..while everyone dies around them.


Paru: When will this end?


The title.



Hm, are the girls refugees now?


Sakura.


Renacchi.



Jurina with the little boy.


And Paruru.



Paru: What is this?


Looks like a little clock.



Paruru: It's time!!!




This looks kinda epic.



Paru: We won't sit still anymore!


And with that the song begins.



The angel costumes.


LEGS!! (this looks reaaally cool)


The AKB Angels.


Uuuuh, I like the background with the big clock. *-*
And the clothes look awesome!


The girls are running!




Looking so epic!


I really like those white dresses. Everyone looks so beautiful. :D


The dance is awesome!


Paruru is jumping.


.. and she fights against the bad guys.



I can spot Rena on the right. :D
And Paruru looks somehow funny.


Paru: What??? I'm serious!!


Well, those evil guys' weapons slightly remind me of Star Wars' lightsabers..


Paru: Star Wars? This is way better than Star Wars!


Love this scene. *-*



Yeayyy, Jurinaaaa!! Fightooo!!


Okay, I'm not the biggest fan of Sakura's dress..




Yuria looks really cool. And her fighting looks very realistic!



While Sakura is just like: OMG, what am I doing?? XD



Wow, Renacchi :o


Yeah, Jurina and Sakura at the front!!


Ricchan's last single and we can barely see her. :/


Mion looks awesome. *-*



The difference between these two expressions is somehow really funny. xD
Sakura, ganbatte ne!





WOW, Yuria!! :O



WOOOOOW, Yuria!!!!! :O


Yuria: This is easy peasy...
This girl is awesome!


Jurina is laughing. xD
Paruru: Come on, Jurina. This is serious!


Jurina: Aaaaaargh, I know!



Oh no, she got hit. :o


Poor Jurinaaa


Wow, but here she looks awesome :3


Probably the best picture of Rena in this whole video. She looks so cool here *-*


And Sakura looks so serious now.


Waaaaaah. At first I was a bit shocked by these outfits, but now I think they are reaaaally cool. *-*


And the dance is sooo amazing.


Hihi, Sakura looks funny.




And ponytails <3


Paru is angryy



Sayanee: Come here!


Hehe, this is fun!


Oh noooo.. She looked so strong. :o



Aaah, what? Poor, Rena


Seems like everyone is being defeated now.



Wherever this is, it looks epic. And is that Paruru's angel outfit? It's pretty dirty now. :'D




Yep, this is awesome.


First solo scene and Sasshi gets beaten up.



Hehe, you can even see her spitting.


Ouch


Those trousers <3


Yukirin looks fabulous


And Sayanee is owning the dance




Le Shock O.O



They are running!


Oh no, center on the ground!!


Takamina: As the general manager I can't let this happen!!



Oh no, this looks painful :/


Did they win??



A sleeping bird.
(I was a bit confused at first because of this scene..)


Need to stand up!


The bird is Paru!! It is waking up now


And they are all getting their strength back.



I think this looks really cool. :)



Yuihan, fight!



Nyan Nyan looks exhausted.


Sayanee: I can still continue!


Sasshi: I will fight!


Mayu: For our freedom!


Yukirin: Let's goooo!!!



Dance break!



I love the contrasts from the light and the black outfits. :)







Wow, Yuria looks so serious. :o



Paruru is burning!!!
Paru: I will kill them!!



And now she's beating the shit our of her enemy.



Sakura: I wanna go home!


Beautiful Jurina Angel.


Paruru is thinking about the boy again. :)



Sakura: Gyaaaah, why is everyone hating on me?


THIS IS BEAUTIUL!!!!!!
I love this scene soooo much. Like seriously, this looks so dramatic. *-*


Paruru is still hitting that guy.


Serious faces.



The awesome dance.


Nice effect.


She starts crying now.






Paruru: Do we really have to fight?


We don't fight!

So the main video has ended.




Paruru from the fight rehearsal.




Sakura's footage.




Haruna




Renacchi




Jurina <3




Yuria




Sayanee



Yukirin




Mayuyu (love that smile btw)




Takamina



Yuihan




Sasshi



And a smiling Paruru at the end. :)

So that was the video. Like i already mentioned, only half of the whole senbatsu can be seen in the video. Moreover, only 12 of  those are mainly seen. Ricchan, Ikoma, Mion and RENA are almost not seen at all in the video, which is very sad. They are only visible in the dance scenes and there they aren't even shown thaaat much. Well, but let's talk about the story that includes the other 12 members.
In the beginning, the girls are models on a catwalk, but they get attacked by some evil Star wars- robot- guys. A lot of people get killed and the girls (+ the boy Paru saved) are stuck into a refugee camp. There Paruru finds a clock and shortly after that we can see the girls fighting against the bad boys. They seem strong in the beginning ( especially Yuria), but are all getting beat up shortly after that. Then the Paru bird appears and they all start to be strong again. But Paruru doesn't want to fight, so she starts crying in the end. 
That last scene is actually very heartbreaking. It shows that fighting isn't a solution and that - like the title suggests - they don't want to fight. I think the bird kind of symbolises the inside of Paruru. When it appears, it gives her the strength to fight back again, but also the strength to think about what's right or wrong. Paruru also thinks about the boy and decides for herself that it is wrong to fight. 
I have to say that this is a very interesting story and that it is very well made. Okay, it could have been explained even more, but the video looks really appealing and the girls did a pretty good job fighting the evil guys. My favourite scene has to be the one with the main 5 girls, where they are at a deserted place with their (now) dirty dresses and try to stand up. It looks so epic!
And let's talk about the dance again. This is probably one of my favourite dances of this group ever!! It's so sad that we didn't get a special dance version but from the few scenes and the live performances I really liked it.

All in all, this is a really, really good video. It's a shame that 16 people weren't even in the video and that 4 weren't almost shown at all. But despite these facts, I liked it a lot. Oh, and I guess we all expected a up-beat Bikini Summer Single, but I think its a nice change that we didn't get one (though I often like those singles). Anyways, this is a great release. 2015 has been so awesome until now, let's hope for more!!! :)