You have no idea how hard it was to find information about this group! The main problem was every time I typed "g girls" into my Google search engine, a bunch of homemade rap groups on Youtube popped up instead! That's not what I wanted to review at all! If I wanted to watch a bunch of untalented middle schoolers do some shitty wrapping, I'd just step into the hallway of my local middle school! But anyways, researching G☆Girls was a pain but I did manage to find more about them once I added the "☆" to my search! I actually didn't decide to look at G☆Girls until a few days ago, mainly because that's when I discovered them. I needed one more PV to get a full seven PVs for Sexy PV Week so I searched for gravure idol groups since I figured a gravure idol group would have a pretty sexy PV. Unless they're Ebisu Muscats. But I digress. Anyways, I found a G☆Girls music video on Youtube and subsequently found their music video for Tik tok. I looked over that and decided that it was perfect for Sexy PV Week.
So who is this gravure group anyways and where did they come from? Unlike Ebisu Muscats, which emerged from a variety show, G☆Girls emerged from a magazine contest. Each of the members of the group tried out at an audition titled "Miss Flash" sponsored by Flash magazine. The winners formed G☆Girls and no the "G" does not stand for "Gangster." However, it does stand for "Gravure" so technically the name of the group is really Gravure☆Girls. I guess abbreviated group names just sound cooler. I do think that is a pretty clever pun though! Not only would the girls be gravure models but they would also be a singing and dancing group... which could go either be good or a huge fail. Nonetheless, the group's debut single was entitled Mahou wo Kakete Love Me Do! and I thought about reviewing that PV but the full PV wasn't available and Tik tok's was. Besides, the Tik tok PV is in HD and I'm a total sucker for HD PVs. So before getting to the PV, how is the actual song? After all this is a gravure idol group and singing isn't exactly the driving force of a gravure idol group if you know what I mean...
Well, the one definite thing I can say about Tik tok is that it is not a cover of the famous Ke$ha song. But... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kind of hoping that it was a cover.
Instead, what we get is a generic club song that wouldn't sound out of place on an American radio station. Well, if they were speaking English. I have to say, Tik tok sounds like it would fit more with K-pop than J-pop. The opening has been done billions of times in so many songs (think Lady Gaga's Poker Face) and the song just has once cliche thrown after another. The song is a teensy bit catchy but not enough that it's going to be the kind of song that plays in my head for the rest of Sexy PV Week. The title drop of the song is the catchiest part of the song but the rest of it sounds pretty bland. I'm just saying that there are a ton of songs that sound a lot like this, particularly in K-pop. It does have some slightly cool electropop elements lingering the song but it's not enough to keep the song interesting, although the instrumental break does sound pretty nice.
As for the vocals of the gravure models... well, I didn't really have high expectations. And unsurprisingly, the girls' singing voices are... well, I've heard much better. Much, much better. I have to admit, the vocals aren't the worst I've ever heard but it's pretty obvious that most of these girls don't have a lot of training in singing. But hey, at least they try so I can give them a brownie point for trying! I think what bothers me the most about their vocals is how uninterested they sound; I absolutely can't stand a song that lacks vocal energy and Tik tok is a song that has a very low amount of energy. Even the most generic of club songs can be saved if they have a little bit of energy infused into the them! Sadly, this song doesn't and ultimately Tik tok is a pretty lifeless and forgettable song. And I know, they're a gravure idol group; music isn't exactly the focal point of a gravure idol group. Still, as an idol blogger, I review both the music and the visuals regardless of what type of group. And judging the song alone, Tik tok, unlike the Ke$ha song, is nothing special and not really worth a listen.
So even though the song is generic, this is Sexy PV Week so maybe the PV can breathe some life into it! Since G☆Girls is a gravure idol group, let's see if these PV is a sexy PV that showcases the talents of a gravure model!
And the fanservice has already begun even before the title drop! Wow! That's a new record!
Wow, that front girl has some massive... tracts of land.
There's our title drop!
Eh, what do you see up on the ceiling, girl on the left? Is it Ceiling Cat!?
A plain studio is a cliche but pretty safe set to use for a dance shot.
And look, another dance shot! I like this set better!
As for the dancing... yeah, the dancing in this sure isn't at Perfume levels of awesomeness.
Very good, girls! You can make a clock with your hands! You're more advanced than Perfume choreography!
Oh hey! Another set! I'm actually surprised at the number of sets used in this PV!
What do you want, a cookie? Go ask one of the many horny wotas I'm sure you have!
What better fanservice than self-groping?
Speaking of self-groping... BOOBS! Gaze at them, everyone! Gaze at this glorious fanservice!
Off we go to do... gravure stuff!
And here's our gratuitous leg shot! I wonder what's next on the Idol Fanservice Tour...
This girl has really pretty eyes! It's like they're staring into my soul!
You know, for a song called Tik tok, it might help to have actual clocks in this PV.
Oh yeah, eat it up, wotas. Eat. It. UP!
God, how long is that hallway!? Two minutes have gone by in the PV and they're still in it.
Even if these girls can't dance, at least they have nice legs!
Wow, nifty! The sexy stockings get an extension! Actually, what the hell did that accomplish!?
I wonder if there's a fanservice drinking game...
Ooh, this must be the part where they break out some cool dances moves... or try to anyways!
I have to admit the silhouette strangely reminds me of Spring of Life...
Except with more fanservice!
Still walking I see... in slow motion... wearing impractically high heels.
Oh hey, you finally made it to some stairs! And it only took you two minutes to cross that room!
And after all that walking, the girls enter...
The room they shot one of the dance shots in. Well. I've had more disappointing payoffs.
Ugh, I wish someone would go Mikiko on their sloppy dancing and sharpen it up!
Annnnd more leg shots because... FANSERVICE!
And finally a group pose, the only polished-looking part of the dance!
Well, that sure as hell wasn't Ebisu Muscats, huh? I admit, this is quite a mood whiplash from the innocent fanservice of Oecura Mambo. The fanservice presented in this PV is very obviously fanservice; you've got boob shots (like really close-up boob shots), leg shots, torso shots and the girls themselves are done up in very sexy outfits. They're wearing black fishnet stockings, shiny heels, boob-squeezing corsets, even the red-and-black color scheme just screams "SEX!" Then again, this is a gravure idol group and the screenshot on the Youtube video was a pair of boobs so what else did I expect? I actually think knowing what a gravure idol is and what they do did lower any potential shock I might have had if this had been a PV from, say, Morning Musume. Because Hello! Project would never do a sexy PV like this, right? Right!? Of course not but G☆Girls, being a gravure idol group, would most definitely do a very sexy and fanservice-y PV.
So I can't say I'm very surprised at how much fanservice there was in this PV, especially considering the main audience gravure idols pander to. But does that make it enjoyable? For me... not really. As I said before, fanservice is something I hold little to no interest in and all the body shots seem just a little to gratuitous for me. But I can't deny that they're shot well! Actually, I was really surprised at how well the camera work was for this PV; I guess I just assumed that gravure idol groups automatically get low-budget PVs. Surprisingly though, this was shot very well. I mean, the body shots are still fanservice-y but at least they look somewhat classy thanks to the lighting and the camera work. That being said, if you're a fan of gravure idols and blatant fanservice, this is right up your alley. I'm not kidding when I say that the PV is packed with fanservice (and that's only the second one on my list; imagine the PVs I'm reviewing further into the week!). If you're into more innocent fanservice, this might be too blatant and tasteless for you.
With or without the fanservice, the girls themselves all look pretty but then again they're models so I kind of expected that. But just because the girls look pretty does not mean they're good dancers. Yep, one of the biggest problems I had with this PV was that the girls really couldn't dance. I mean... wow. There were many times when they weren't in sync and the moves didn't look sharp but flowed very awkwardly. The choreography didn't look particularly hard but you could see parts where the girls were struggling. I can give them a gold star for trying but man, when the PV consists of 50% fanservice and 40% dancing, it's hard to ignore it. In fact, I think another problem I had with this PV was that while the girls looked pretty, that was about it. They didn't look like they were having fun and again, the song isn't exactly a fun and happy song but they could have shown a little more emotion!
I guess because they were trying to model and look sexy and everything but personally, I like it when idols look like they're having fun in PVs. That's what can bring even the cheapest of PVs back to life! The girls in this PV might as well have been mannequins. There were a few parts where you saw some personality leak out but the PV consists mostly of the gravure idols dancing around and posing and looking sexy. Again, I know that's what they're supposed to do but this PV felt less like an idol PV and more like a gravure PV. Other than those two criticisms, the rest of the PVs looks pretty nice. Like I said, they must have had a pretty decent budget because there are a variety of different sets and locations from the studio dance shot to the hallway to the room with the stairs to the alternate dance shot. The PV was surprisingly well shot too and the atmosphere of the PV matched with the song. So overall, this PV succeeds in fanservice and sexiness but fails in personality and charm.
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