Weather Girls > Weather Monsters

I don't know what it is about Weather Girls that keeps me coming back to them. Maybe it's their over-the-top energy. Maybe it's their sugary-sweet and hyper music. Maybe it's their legs. I have no idea!

I'm still not sure why I like this idol group so much. I mean, there's nothing I can can really criticize about them; I just never would have pegged Weather Girls as a group that I felt inclined to follow and write about. But they unsuspectingly won me over with the sheer hyper-happiness of Koi no Tenki Yohou, one of my jams of 2012. I still can't put my finger on why I love that song so much but the point is, it's a totally awesome song and hooked me to this Taiwanese idol group. Sort of. Even though it's bee a few months since I wrote about them, I have been following Weather Girls to see what they were up to and when they were releasing their next single. Part of me just really wanted to hear more from this group and the other parted of me wondered if my addiction to Weather Girls was just a one-time thing or if this was a group that I wanted to actively review and follow. Their next single, Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou, was pretty much their make-it-or-break-it single and was pretty much going to sway me towards following this group or forgetting about them. 

So how did Weather Girls' follow-up single turn out? Is it enough to get me to start actively following them? Well, I'm reviewing it right now, what do you think? I'm pretty pleased with how Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou sounds and that it follows in the same musical style that Koi wa Tenki Yohou had. Both songs are this genre of pop that's like... hyper pop. It's not Momoiro Clover Z level hyper but it's still a pretty high-energy song and I like that. I love it when songs have a lot of energy and Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou is highly upbeat and extremely happy. It's like K-pop turned into J-pop on crack. Do you get what I'm trying to describe there? I think if this were a K-pop song it would fall into the category of ridiculously cute K-pop songs but since this is a J-pop song, it's cute but not the cutest. I actually really like how adorable the verses sound and how energetic the chorus gets. It's a very fun song and has that same hyper-pop style that I loved about Weather Girls' debut single!

But... it's not as good as Koi no Tenki Yohou.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a good song but I feel like Koi no Tenki Yohou just... worked better. My biggest criticism of Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou is that the pacing and tempo is a little... insane. That's really the only adjective I think I can actively describe it. When I say that, I mean that there's a lot of stuff going on in the song and at times, and the song is at such an over-the-top level of energy, it does make me feel a little crazy when listening to it. The song is at such a level of musical insanity that there are times when the song really works and then other times when the song sounds just a little bit too crazy. For one thing, there is a lot going on in this song. There are boatload of different vocals going off everywhere beyond just the solos and the chorus; I think the sheer number of different background vocals can top the leading vocals! Not only that but there's a ton of different parts of the song and at times, it's a bit of a clusterfuck. 

On one hand, I like that there's a lot of variety and bunch of differently styled and structured verses but I do feel like if the song had been toned down a bit, it might have been a teensy bit better. I kind of had the same problem when I first started listening to Help me!! by Morning Musume in that there was too much stuff going on. There's only so much over-the-top cutesy-ness I can take! However, over time I grew used to the business of Help me!! and I'm hoping that the same can happen for Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou. I think this will become one of those songs where I can really get into if I'm into the right mood, and that's not a bad thing! But if I'm really pissy mood, I'm not getting anywhere near this song. Whereas Koi no Tenki Yohou could put me in a good mood just by listening to it, I'd have to be in a good mood to listen to Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou. Overall, I think if you liked their last single, then I think you can get into Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou. It's irresistibly energetic and if you want a sugar-sweet hyper pop song, this is for you!

So when I last looked at a Weather Girls PV, what I gathered from it was... Candy Land strippers. Hopefully their follow-up PV will have something a little bit different! Does it? You know the drill, guys. Let's find out!

What a better way to start a PV with vintage things?

Oh gee, I wonder who this is. You don't think it could really be a member of Weather Girls, right? That's just implausible!

Do I sense a flashback headed this way?

Hello, spontaneous transition to CGI Candyland!

Wouldn't it have been funny if they'd used a weather van? 'Cause they're the Weather Girls and... you get what I mean.

Wait a minute... aren't these outfits kinda similar to the ones in Girls' Generation's Gee?

What? Just because I don't listen to K-pop doesn't mean I don't know about certain artists...

What are these even... it's like Pixar and My Neighbor Totoro had a baby O_O

Get in position, Nuenue! Now is not the time to act adorably ditzy!

And again, getting flashbacks to Girls' Generation...

...only this time the costumes remind me of the ones they wore in Hoot!

Gosh, these girls are adorable! They just seem to light up the PV!

Off to work they go to do... actually, what the hell are their jobs supposed to be?

Don't you just wanna add a caption saying "Ooooh, what does this button do?"

Okay, do you girls even know what half of these buttons do?

Hee hee, nope, we're just carrying clipboards and pretending we know what we're actually doing!!

Guys, who ordered all these AKB48 CDs?

YES MY 1,000 COPIES OF EVERYDAY, KATYUSHA CAME IN!

I think I'm falling in love with this group.

I know, we're just so awesometacular!

My reconquista of the bench is COMPLETE!

I'm really starting to like Hijon... she's both adorable and hilarious! Oh my gosh, am I starting to develop favorites!?

Mini and Mia are making progress and Hijon is doing god-knows-what!

Over-the-top reaction shots are always fun to screencap!

And now you've unleashed hell. Nice job, Weather Girls!

THAT FACE. I don't even know what emotion she's trying to pull off but Hijon's growing on me more and more!

Gasp! The adorable Weather Girls have been turned into Weather MONSTERS!

D'aw poor monster!Esse...

It's almost as sad as emo!Nocchi...

I guess it's a good thing the groundbreaking technology that would be needed to transform them back is all available in a magic potion!

Off they go on an epic and lengthy quest to find the-

Well that was fast.

No! Now the Weather Monsters will remain Weather Monsters FOREVER!

D'aw, I just wanna give them a hug...

I love the way Dara's posing to listen to Yumi because yeah, we all pose like that when we're talking to other people!

But wait! Perhaps there's hope for the poor Weather Monsters!

THERE IS! Through some magical means we're not going to explain! We'll just say it was Gandalf and leave it at that.

Yay! The Weather Girls are back and with even cuter outfits than before!

And then they grow tails because... they just can, I don't know.

Well. That was one odd flashback!

Wait... I thought the Weather Monsters were back to normal. Is this implying the black leak spread all over the world and every day girls are turned into monsters!?

See? Not all hope is lost!

So apparently Esse is immortal... okay then!

GOOD OUTFITS! Outfits that actually look appealing and high-quality and not like scraps from the bargain bin at Party City! I'm sorry, you don't know how many god-awful and tacky outfits I've had to sift through during my brief time as an idol blogger. So yeah, as you can tell, I'm pretty damn pleased that Weather Girls actually got some good-looking outfits for Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou. I actually like all three outfits they have in this PV; I always like it when idols wear more than one costume in a PV and all the costumes were really cute! I loved the simplicity of the multicolored skinny jeans with suspenders, the retro feel of the color-coded jumpsuits and those last outfits just looked good. In fact, I honestly think this entire PV just looked better than Koi no Tenki Yohou; it doesn't look as cheap. I mean sure, Koi no Tenki Yohou had its cute moments and cute scenes but overall I think the biggest thing that weighed down that PV was that it just looked kind of cheap. 

Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou isn't the most high-budget idol PV ever made but it does appear to look pretty well put-together. Like you have the opening and ending scenes which take place in a vintage-y looking restaurant and I like the atmosphere of it! It's a nice contrast to the ridiculously colorful and saccharine world the rest of the PV takes place in! Then there's the set used for the dance and most of the PV and even though again, that's pretty simple there's a lot going on in it! I think that's mainly because of how the Weather Girls interact with each other and just how they act in general. I honestly thought the girls were hilarious in this PV; their personalities were cute and everything in their last PV but oh my god, they were absolutely hilarious in this PV. I loved seeing them have these over-the-top reaction and over-the-top demeanors! I always appreciate it over-the-top, hammy action and some of the faces and actions the girls pulled in this PV were priceless. Hijon in particular really stuck out to me!

Another aspect of this PV I liked (that wasn't present in Koi no Tenki Yohou) was that it had a story. I know not to expect storylines when it comes to idol PVs so when a PV does have a storyline, I can't help but feel pleasantly surprised. It's nice that the producers went the extra mile to add a little more to the PV, you know? And the plot was easy to follow! As a foreigner, it's always nice when a J-pop PV has a plot that's easy to follow (which is one of the reasons why I don't really gravitate toward AKB48's short film PVs). So yeah, the general plot of this story is that Weather Girls work in some kind of factory/test facility/whatever the plot requires and something goes horribly wrong! A box is dropped and out pours creepy black smoke, turning all the Weather Girls into Weather Monsters! So they go on a quest, find the magic potion to turn them back, and get a costume upgrade. The end! 

Like I said, it's a pretty simple plot but it's easy to follow and it has enough substance to make for an entertaining storyline. I actually feel like if given the proper money, this idea could have been expanded on but for what it is, I like it. And I like the use of CGI animation to show the Weather Monsters. Usually CGI animation can go two ways in that it can be really good, like Pixar animation, or it can really suck like this PV. Luckily, the CGI in Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou is fairly decent and is used pretty minimally. What works to its advantage is the animation is just as brightly colored as the live action scenes of this PV so they don't look weird or out of place. Honestly, they look pretty good! The Weather Monsters themselves are animated decently and they even get some nice facials too! Of course, they're not as priceless as Hijon's "Oh crap what do we do the box is leaking I'll just press a button!!!" face. So overall I find the Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou PV to be a mass step-up compared to Koi no Tenki Yohou with a highly entertaining plot and the on-screen charisma the Weather Girls have!

I'm gonna give Koi wa Tokimeki Chuuihou four out of five apples. Musically, this song isn't as good as Weather Girls' debut song but I find the PV to be a vast improvement over Koi wa Tenki Yohou. It has a cute storyline that matches the cuteness of the song! I think if you're a blooming fan of Weather Girls like I am, you can enjoy this song a lot!