Get the Star and Last Forever

Say, what's been going on with Tokyo Girls' Style lately? Have they been doing their lovely thing as usual, being all vocally talented and whatnot? I'd like to think so! The last time we saw our lovely Avex idols was in their sultry PV for Unmei, a hot, funky jam with an equally hot PV. But now we return to look at TGS with a new single, a double A-side to be exact. That double A-side consists of Get the Star and Last Forever. Of course, knowing how shit Avex is with promotion, only one of those A-sides is probably going to get any kind of promotion. I'd bet on Get the Star. Nonetheless, I'm always in the mood to review TGS, and what a better way to do that than a single review? That way I can review the entire single and not just the song that gets a PV! Of course, I do need to clarify that my single reviews don't look at remixes, so I won't be looking at the Orland Mix of Get the Star. I'm sure it's a fine remix and all; I just don't like reviewing remixes. With that aside, let's stop the stalling and take a look at this single!

Covers/Outfits

The covers for Get the Star/Last Forever are pretty minimalistic. Like... super minimalistic. Like I could probably duplicate these covers if I had enough people. All you need is either a roll of black, red, yellow, or blue tape, depending on which cover you want to imitate. Then you just need to find a corner of a room with white walls and gray flooring. From there, all you do is spread the tape around said corner in one of four shapes. Voila! The covers for Get the Star/Last Forever! So yeah, the covers are minimalistic in the cheapest way possible. But... I kind of like them. I mean, I've seen much more creative covers, but the concept is still nicely executed and a somewhat clever idea. I like that the girls are all placed inside the tape, with some parts of their bodies just barely sticking out. There isn't much variety with each cover, save for the colors and shapes of the tape along with the positions each member is put in. All in all, the covers are a really simplistic idea, but I don't think they look that bad.

At least they didn't add like shitty puke yellow font to the covers either unlike some singles I've reviewed this year that start with "Sayonara" and end in "Crawl." Tokyo Girls' Style has gotten much tackier covers in the past, so I'm not complaining much about the ones for Get the Star/Last Forever. And then there are the outfits for the single, which really gave me my first indication of what the songs were going to sound like! The outfits for Get the Star/Last Forever are lot less polished and sleek than a lot of Tokyo Girls' Style's previous outfits. The girls are all dressed like members of an 80s rock band... if there was an 80s rock band consisting of Japanese girls. They're all wearing acid-wash jeans or fishnets gloves or combat boots, you know, grunge-y looking stuff! As someone who likes wearing grunge-y clothes (when I'm not in a girly mood), I think the outfits for this single are pretty cool. I like that the outfits all look different from each other and that they're not so uniform. It works when the songs you get are all pop-rock songs. Speaking of which...

Get the Star

What's this? A song by Tokyo Girls' Style that is... not funky and fresh!? Be still my beating heart, for I have looked into the abyss and it has stared back! In all seriousness though, Get the Star is a different A-side for TGS. Hell, it's a different sound in general for them. TGS has always been Avex's callback to the 90s, with groovy beats and rhythms you could have sworn you heard in a 1970s exploitation film. Unmei, their last A-side was just about as funky as TGS gets. Get the Star on the other hand is a pop-rock song of all things produced by the bassist from a band called Luna Sea. Being the diligent reviewer that I am, I did a little bit of research on Luna Sea and listened to a few of their songs, just to get a feel of their overall style. And they seem like a pretty cool rock band with some good songs. They reminded me a bit of The Cure, only a lot less New Wave and a lot more rock-oriented. From what I can tell, they're a pretty prestigious rock band so an idol group like TGS getting a member from the band to produce a song for them is a pretty big deal, for them at least.

The song the bassist (whose stage name is just the letter J) produced for TGS is definitely much more pop than any of the stuff this guys does with Luna Sea. As I said before, Get the Star is not only a pop rock song, but a definite change in style from Tokyo Girls' Style's... eh... style. However, the real question is if this is a good change or not. Personally, I found Get the Star to be an incredibly refreshing song. Don't get me wrong, I love TGS and their own funky 90s Avex sound, but it's nice for a song to shake things up for them, and Get the Star is perfect for that. Even as a standalone song, Get the Star is still great. It's very refreshingly upbeat but not dissonantly upbeat; it still sounds like something TGS would do. It's a happy song, but also an encouraging song. There's just something so... joyful about the chorus of this song; I feel like the girls were really into singing Get the Star. If you're looking for the groovy TGS, Get the Star does not fit into that mold but is still a wonderful song that's a breath of fresh air for Tokyo Girls' Style!

As usual, I'd considered reviewing the PV for Get the Star, but in the end opted not to. It's more because I wanted to talk about Last Forever than because there isn't much to talk about in the PV though. Still, I don't know if I could have made a full PV review for Get the Star. I mean, the PV pretty much consists of the girls singing in a garage-type set. It's definitely a bit grittier than some of the other PVs they've been in. The girls are surrounded by amps and wires and spotlights and ladders, all the stuff you associate with cool rock PVs! Or at least what I associate with cool rock PVs... The girls spend most of the PV singing around in a circle, looking happy, chilling out together. And then there are a few miscellaneous shots thrown in of them dancing individually. Really there's not that much going on in the PV. It's almost like the girls just got together in some random abandoned warehouse to record a jam session with no instruments. In fact, I wonder what this PV would have looked like if the girls were playing instruments... It'd probably look more awkward than AKB48's Give Me Five! PV, but in my head, it'd look pretty cool.

Man, can you imagine Scandal playing in a location like that? In fact, I think they've already done that... several time.s Okay, okay, I digress! So yeah, the PV for Get the Star isn't by any means the most interesting PV I've looked at this year, but it's not blatantly cheap or gaudy looking. The editing is nicely done, and the visuals match the tone of the PV well. The setting's dark but the girls' cheerfulness creates a nice contrast. There are a few layered effects spliced into the PV that look like illuminated dustballs, but those are pretty tastefully edited so they look like stars! Kind of. Use your imagination, okay? One thing I noticed about this PV was the attention focused on Yuri. She got both the opening and ending shots entirely to herself! It's probably nothing much to talk about, but I think it was kind of cool she "got the star" in the ending shot of the PV. So yeah, other than that the PV for Get the Star is cool, even there's not much variety in it.



I've got to give Get the Star five out of five apples. I like that it's a pop-rock song, a genre of music that TGS rarely approaches. But I also like that it's such an encouraging-sounding song, with a lot of energy and a very positive, if rather abstract message. Definitely one of my favorite TGS songs.

Last Forever

The other A-side on this single is Last Forever, despite the fact the Last Forever wasn't anywhere near as promoted as Get the Star. Unlike Get the Star, which is energetic and jubilant, Last Forever is much more toned down. Mainly because it's a ballad. That alone should give you a pretty clear idea of how Last Forever sounds. Now Tokyo Girls' Style has done several ballads before, the most recent being Tsuioku. Personally, I've found the few ballads TGS has done to be pretty underwhelming. Tsuioku was pretty but I've always found it to be a rather a dull song to my ears. In my opinion, it's way too slow. So I wasn't exactly jumping up and down to hear Last Forever. Luckily, all my preconceived hesitations were blown away when I finally listened to the song. Last Forever is a ballad, but it's the best kind of ballad: one that feels genuine. The members of TGS wrote the lyrics to Last Forever themselves, which I found to be very interesting. I don't think the girls of TGS have ever written a song, so I do like that they were able to contribute a little creative input for once, especially as an idol group.

While I've yet to find a translation of Last Forever, the way the girls sing the song give it such... emotion. I've said before that my favorite ballads are the ones that sound emotional, and Last Forever excels in that. It's the first ballad I've heard from Tokyo Girls' Style that really works for them. Funny enough, like Get the Star, Last Forever is kind of a different song style of TGS. It's a ballad but it's more of a rock ballad, very loosely speaking. However, the stylistic change is done well creating what's probably one of my favorite J-pop ballads. Yes, one of my favorite J-pop ballads. I think my favorite part (of several favorite parts) of Last Forever has to be the outro with the amazing guitar riff. And the chorus itself is the vocal highlight of the song. What else is there to say about this song? Last Forever is not only a great ballad, but an absolutely wonderful song, the kind of song that I can see myself listening to a lot. I highly recommend listening to it.



And it looks like another 5 apples are going to the other A-side of this single! For a ballad, Last Forever is one of the strongest idol ballads I've listened to and not just because of the good vocals. It's a heartfelt, emotional song

The Verdict

Well, this just might be the best single I've reviewed all year. That or Magic of Love. Get the Star/Last Forever consisted of two songs that are both a little different from what Tokyo Girls' Style normally does but different in a good way. What I really like is that both the A-sides on this single compliment each other. Get the Star is a very upbeat pop-rock tune while Last Forever is a much slower rock ballad. What ties both these songs together and makes them mix so well is the fact that both songs have emotion. The emotional levels of Get the Star and Last Forever are high, and there's something very genuine I felt from each song in both the instrumentals and the vocals. Get the Star felt like a very encouraging song to listen to, and I liked the collaboration between TGS and the bassist from Luna Sea. I think every now and then TGS needs to be pulled out of their comfort zone of groovy 90s Avex. A pop-rock song that sounds like something you'd hear from BiS or Scandal is in my opinion the perfect genre for such a mature idol group to deviate to.

Get the Star was a fun song while not sounding like something completely out-of-style for TGS. And I think the same can be said for Last Forever. This is probably the first ballad from TGS that I've really, really liked in part due to the genuine emotions from the song and the fact that it's a rock ballad. Overall, this single is absolutely amazing, and I try not to use that term lightly. Both songs represent a change in style from TGS that is a great change. I don't know if Tokyo Girls' Style's next single is going back to their traditional style of exploring this one more, but if it's the latter, I wouldn't mind in the least. I can't recommend listening to this single enough, even if you aren't a fan of Tokyo Girls' Style. When I say I'm a fan of TGS, songs like this are why I'm such a huge fan of them. The songs on this single are some of the best Tokyo Girls' Style songs I've heard, probably as good as Limited Addiction or Kodou no Himitsu. I don't know how TGS is going to top this, but Get the Star/Last Forever is probably one of my favorite singles they've released.

I said I thought this might be the best single I reviewed all year and I wasn't exaggerating. Get the Star/Last Forever gets a perfect five-out-of-five apples for me. And well-deserved apples are they too! Both songs on this single are top-notch, with each one distinct in sound yet complimenting the other nicely. It's singles like these that make me truly happy to be an idol blogger. So since the end of 2013 is coming soon, do you guys have any favorite singles that are so wonderful they make you cry sweet tears of joy? Obviously, I do...

Going Into Over Drive

Ah, Nakata Yasutaka. This is a man who is primarily the reason why I am into all the J-pop artists I am into today. Tell me, what artists come to mind when you hear Nakata Yasutaka's name? Capsule? Perfume? Meg? Suzuki Ami? Kyarypamyupamyu? And that's just a few. Whether you like his works or not, you can't deny that Nakata has put his name and creativity into a lot of different artists and produced a wide range of electronic music spanning across several years.

So what a better move for such a regarded EDM producer than to produce a Scandal song?

Come on guys, you know about Scandal! They're the group that specializes in electropop. I mean, this is such a technopop-oriented group, I'm surprised that they didn't collaborate Nakata sooner! You know with all that Autotune and electronic editing they use, I don't even think that Scandal uses real instruments in their songs! Wow, what a perfect collaboration: Nakata the electropop producer producing the most electropop girl group on the market right now. I get just a little choked up thinking about it. Actually, that's probably just me choking on the sarcasm coating those last few sentences. In all seriousness, what the hell led to this collaboration? You've got Nakata, the well-known producer that specializes in technopop and Scandal, the four-member girl band that specializes in pop rock. Where exactly do these two opposites meet, let alone decide to get together and collaborate? Tell me, is Akimoto Yasushi going to produce Morning Musume's next single? Perhaps the world has just finally turned upside down and a result of that is Nakata producing music for Scandal.

Well, if we are living in an upside down world, I'm still gonna review this odd little collaboration! The first time I heard that Scandal's final single of their Standard era, Over Drive, was being produced by Nakata, I must have done the kind of double take that's only supposed to exist in cartoons. It's just so... surreal. I legitimately want to know how and why Scandal and Nakata got together and Nakata decided he just had to write a song for Scandal. What kind of conversation panned out between the two parties that led to Over Drive? And since when did Nakata even produce rock music? I guess it's plausible but it's like seeing a group of basketball stars try to act in a feature-length film. And we got Space Jam from that happening! Before I'd even heard Over Drive, I was joking how the song was going to be a Dubstep dance track with all the members singing being so vocoded we wouldn't be able to tell them apart. But I was curious to see how Over Drive would sound, especially as a fan of both Nakata and Scandal.

Would two good things combine to make a bad thing?

That was the question on my mind when I first listened to Over Drive. After all, I like a lot of Nakata's work, but Scandal seemed like such a different field for him, I wasn't sure if he'd stumble and trip his way through producing a song that matched the group's general sound. But much to my surprise, when I put my earbuds in and hit play on Over Drive... it was actually a pretty good song. Like I'm surprised at how much I like listening to this song. Because it's by no means a great Scandal song, nowhere near as awesome as Shoujo S or Doll or BeauTEEN!! or Shunkan Sentimental. But there was something about Over Drive that made me keep listening to it a lot more than I thought I would. Was it because of my knowledge that it was produced by someone whose work I was a fan of? I thought so at first. But then I realized that Over Drive sounds like nothing Nakata would produce. If you'd played this song before I knew Nakata produced it, I can 100% say I never, ever would have even connected it to him.

I don't know whether to find it shocking or incredible that Nakata made a pop rock song so easily. Of course, there is some token Nakata-Engrish in the song. Just a word of advice from an English speaker: there's a better word out there than "clappy" to rhyme with happy. Hell, even "clapping" would have worked! Still, that doesn't by any means deter my enjoyment of the song. In fact, of the three A-sides Scandal released in the Standard-era, Over Drive is in my opinion the strongest. It's a lot better than Kagen no Tsuki at least! Sure, it may not be as awesome as some other Scandal singles of the past but Over Drive still holds its own pretty well. I guess what really appeals to me about Over Drive is that while it may not be the most creative song or the best Scandal song, there's something so gosh-darn happy about it. I mean, how could I hate such a happy song? I can bounce to Over Drive too, and nothing seems to get me in a better mood that a bounce-able song!  I guess overall, I give a pretty positive verdict on Over Drive.

Something I always have to ask myself whenever I'm reviewing a group I'm a particular fan of is whether I like a song because it's a legitimately good song or because I love the artist so much I'm very lenient toward their musical output. I have a tendency to do this with Perfume a lot. And while I'm not the biggest fan of Scandal, I am a huge fan of Nakata as a producer. So regarding Over Drive, is it a good song on its own or is my bias towards the guy who produced the song clouding my judgement? I will say, I can barely tell that Over Drive was produced by Nakata at all. The only hint that gives away any possibility is the brief harmonica solo during each instrumental between the vocals. It'd probably be a lot more obvious if it were bagpipes but still, I don't recall any member of Scandal being a harmonica player. Other than that, Over Drive is a song that stays true to Scandal's pop-rock roots, while still having a little bit of flair on Nakata's part. I can't help but wonder what a song from Scandal would sound like if Nakata went full-on EDM for it. I'll bet the fans would go apeshit if that ever happened!

I think it's good if Nakata just sticks to Perfume for techno; I like Scandal as an idol band more than I every would as a technopop group! Anyways, while some fans may complain that Over Drive is a sign of Scandal furthering spiral into more pop-friendly music, I still think Over Drive is a highly enjoyable listen. I won't deny that it's radio-friendly, but hey, a lot of great songs happen to be radio-friendly! Over Drive is a cheerful, upbeat, and fun song and my favorite A-side of the three released during the Standard era. Speaking of which, with the three singles of the Standard era released now, I do wonder what the rest of the album will sound like. I wager it'll be geared toward a pop-rock sound; I just hope it's not as pop-oriented as Baby Action. Really, I have no idea what Standard will sound like; these three singles haven't given me much of an indication. Still, I'll listen out for it and who knows? I might even actually review it!

But for the moment, all I'm aiming to review if the PV for Over Drive! So how about I put my review goggles into over drive take a look at it? And maybe I can squeeze more bad puns out of the screencap!

Well, the PV starts with a pretty flashy opening title drop!

Oddly enough those red jumpsuits remind me of the one Joel wore on MST3K...

...maybe the members of Scandal will be forced to watch bad movies too!

Unlike many other Scandal PVs, there are a boatload of details in this set.

And honestly, they make for a very fun PV!

So Haruna can levitate bolts and screws because... coolness factor?

Ah well, this set's cool enough!

I can't tell if these are iPads or not...

Okay, the CG's a little iffy in this shot, but I still like the floating effect.

I do wonder if there's meant to be some explanation behind this though. Do the girls of Scandal have the same powers Perfume did in the Spending all my time PV?

It looks like this quirky device has turned into a deadly device!

And now the rest of this set has become electrifying!

I don't care how cool you try to make it look, "clappy" is still a ridiculous word.

Haruna's like really super pretty in this PV. I think it's the hair styling.

Yes, show more stuff around the set! I need quirky gadget porn!

I love how during the harmonica solo they all just kind of dance around not playing their instruments.

Who cares about telekinesis when you've got a slam-a-jamming book to read?

Gosh, Rina looks positively luminous with the light bulb illuminating her face.

What a lovely stalker-shot!

I think Mami's one of the few singers I've seen who looks really good with blonde hair.

Oh, this is cool, Tomomi's honing in on her telekinetic abilities a la Spending all my time!

Playing with electricity! Ha! What could possibly go wrong?

Well for starters, the light bulb could crash to the ground!

Along with all the bolts and screws!

And now the electricity's malfunctioning! Yeah, what could happen now-

OH GOD DID TOMOMI JUST GET ELECTROCUTED!?

Rina too!? NO!!!

So... did they... die?

This isn't gonna be Spring of Life all over again, is it!?

I mean, everything in the PV is shorting and malfunctioning so it's plausible!

Then again, they look perfectly fine in this last shot so... I'll assume the best!

Can someone please clarify whether or not Scandal died at the end of this PV? No one? Am I just gonna have to speculate this one all by myself? Fine then! That's exactly what I'll do! Hell, I can come up with a whole backstory about this PV by myself! In fact, I did do that! No seriously, I got inspired and came up with this entire plot surrounding the events of Over Drive. You guys wanna hear it? Well, I guess that's kind of a rhetorical question since your answer won't effect this post... Oh well, I'm gonna tell you guys anyways! So you know how in the band shot, all the members of Scandal are wearing jumpsuits? That's because they've been kidnapped by Dr. Forrester and forced onto the Satellite of Love, where they're being forced to watch bad movies. Now, being band members and not movie riffers, the girls of Scandal did what they do best to stay sane: play music! This is why they're playing their instruments in the PV.

However, they had to make a bunch of makeshift amps and other musical instruments to have the proper equipment, which is why their playing room looks so messy. They only had the spare materials on the Satellite of Love to work with! Now what do the shots of them levitating nuts and bolts have to do with this story? Well, due to prolonged exposure to toxic fumes on the Satellite of Love, the girls all developed super powers. When not playing their instruments or watching bad movies, they work on honing in these super powers, hoping to develop them to get back at the evil Dr. Forrester and escape back to Earth! However, during the events of Over Drive, their poorly configured electrical wiring naturally malfunctions. This unfortunately leads to change in the magnetic fields on the Satellite of Love (because SCIENCE!) and all the members of Scandal get electrocuted! And then... well... eh... I haven't figured that part out yet because that's where the PV just ended! Look, I'm just working with the little bits of plot I got from a Japanese pop PV that probably wasn't supposed to be taken so seriously! Clearly I've been watching a little too much Mystery Science Theater 3000 lately...

In all seriousness though, this was actually a pretty good Scandal PV. You've got to understand that usually Scandal's PVs are... not that great. Don't get me wrong, they aren't terrible but most of them don't have much of a budget and just consist of the girls playing their instruments. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the PV for Pin Heel Surfer barely featured the girls playing their instruments, and that's one of the worst Scandal PVs I've seen. Then again, it's terrible in the most entertaining way possible but still. I'm just trying to say that as nice as it is seeing the girls so into playing their instruments, the formula can get a little monotonous after awhile. That's why a PV like Over Drive is great to shake things up! I remember reading that the members of Scandal remarked that the PV for Over Drive had a slightly higher budget than some of their past PVs, and honestly that shows. There's a lot going on in Over Drive, and it's all really fun to look at.

My favorite part is that elaborate set where they play their instruments. It's packed top to bottom with a mishmash of gadgets all doing a bunch of random things. It gives off a very quirky science fiction vibe, and I loved seeing the camera zoom in on parts of this set. I really think the producers put in a lot of effort to make this a memorable set and it shows! The girls look great and they look like they're having a lot of fun playing their instruments in this set. And I love the lightning effects used in the set too! The telekinesis scenes give me strong vibes from Perfume's PV for Spending all my time, just different settings for each one. The gist is both girls in each PV are practicing their telekinetic powers. Of course, Perfume's practicing didn't end with their electrocution, just being locked in (or out...?) or a room. Overall, I actually really liked the PV for Over Drive, especially after screencapping it! There's a lot going on in the PV that works really well, even if the electrocution shots shock me every time I see them! They also send me into a tirade of bad puns! Anyways, the PV for Over Drive gets a thumbs up from me!

I don't know how the rest of Standard is going to sound, but Over Drive is promising! So I'll give the song and PV 4.5 apples out of 5. Again, the song's not the most creative Scandal song I've heard, but I did enjoy the happiness radiating from it. The PV is one of the better Scandal PVs and quite the visual spectacle! Then again, I'm a sucker for science fiction PVs... why else do you think I love the PV for Spring of Life so much?

Fly Hi, Mitchel

Damn, just when one member of BiS graduates, another follow shortly behind. Is there some sort of "idol curse" placed upon this group that prevents members from staying for a fixed amount of time that Pour Lui and Nozomi have developed immunity towards?

Feel free to go nuts if you're on of those conspiracy enthusiasts, but all I'm going to do is stay bummed that Mitchel is leaving BiS. I mean, wow. First Wacky, then Yufu, and now Mitchel. All from the same audition too... very surreal. I admit, Mitchel isn't my favorite member of BiS (considering I don't exactly have a favorite member of BiS), but I still liked her and thought she brought a very strong presence to the group. As much as it sucks to see another member of BiS go, I think the group will still be able to stay on its feet without Mitchel. And hey, now they're back to a five-member group, one of my favorite numbers for how many members to have in an idol group! Before leaving for other opportunities, Mitchel's last single with the group is a double A-side called Fly/Hi. Pretty smooth names for your A-sides, especially when you put both words next to each other! Something of note is that this is the first double A-side single from BiS. Is it just me or have there been a lot of double A-sides this year? Maybe it's just all the groups I review. Anyways, as a fan of BiS for mainly their music, I think it's only appropriate that I give Mitchel a final sendoff in the only way I know how: a single review!

Covers/Outfits

Okay, first question I have: why is Mitchel not featured on any of the covers for this single? Is it to show that she's already flown from BiS? Was she just not around on the day of shooting? The decision not to include her on the covers legitimately confuses me. Maybe she gets her own individual picture in the booklet for the single. Well, other than the lack of Mitchel, there's not really too much that really stands out with these covers. That doesn't mean they're bad covers or anything (they look fine), but there's just nothing that really stands out as really cool or really bad. The covers pretty much all feature the girls of BiS posed around what looks like an abandoned warehouse snarling into the camera. Pretty typical for BiS. Then again, at least these aren't as creepy as the covers for DiE were. Eugh. Talk about nightmarish. Anyways, what I liked about the covers for Fly/Hi were the outfits. BiS has a tendency to get pretty weird outfits for their singles, at least weird for idols. They always seem to look like much grungier version of the typical "idol uniform" concept popularized by AKB48.

The outfits for Fly/Hi follow in that same pattern, but what I liked about these outfits were the hats they wore. The girls are all wearing goggles on their head with what look like antennas protruding from the hats. I think it looks very cool, kind of steampunk-ish. I heard that the look for this single was inspired by cockroaches, which would explain the antenna hats. Then again, growing up in an area where cockroaches are a thing of nightmares (especially the ones that fly), knowledge of that concept is a little gross. But then again, BiS is an idol group that seems to revel in grossing its viewers out in any way possible. Besides, this isn't anywhere near the weirdest or nastiest image concept BiS has done! Overall, I think the covers and outfits for Fly/Hi are pretty cool; they match well with the image BiS is always trying to portray.

Fly

From the producer who brought you Primal and DiE is Fly! Gee, this guy sure likes one-word song titles, huh? I hope you liked Primal and DiE because Fly follows that same alternative rock sound of those other two songs. However, it's important for me to note the Fly doesn't sound like a rehash of either one of those songs. And as someone who really loves Primal and enjoyed DiE even if the latter did have a few faults, I really liked Fly. It's super fly! Just kidding, I really wanted to use that outdated slang in a review. I think Fly rocks but it also has that same raw, emotional feel that Primal and DiE executed so well. I also think vocally it rests at a better range for the members of BiS. Of the six members, only Pour Lui really has the strongest voice; the other girls sound all right but they're all kind of weak vocally. Luckily, BiS songs usually don't have to lean on really intricate vocals to stand as really good songs. Speaking of vocals, I think it was really nice that Mitchel got a little solo between the second and last chorus of the song. It kind of felt like a nice sendoff for Mitchel to fly away from BiS and re-enter the world outside of idol-dom.

Something else I noticed about Fly is actually... okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but Fly sounds like a Paramore song to me. And not the current, new wave Paramore, the Paramore that existed around the Brand New Eyes era. Did any of you guys listen to Paramore? Well, back in middle school, this rock band was my jam, and my first gateway into non-pop music. Am I the only one getting that vibe from Fly? I hope I'm not. I don't really listen to much of Paramore's new music anymore, but Fly does kind of take me back to the days when I rocked out to them. I think Fly is probably my favorite A-side released from BiS this year. It's exploring the more alternative side of their music in lieu of screamo or punk pop or any other genre they've done, and I like that. If you found Primal or DiE or even PPCC to be right up your alley, I'd highly recommend listening to Fly. It doesn't exactly cover any new ground for BiS, but it's still a rocking song to listen to!

I thought about reviewing the PV for Fly, but I ended up just not having the time to really look into writing a full PV review for it. That being said, it is one of the group's more... unusual music videos. As I have said many times before, BiS often gets very hit-or-miss music videos. Some are really cool with a somewhat profound message for an idol group and other are too strange and grotesque to really be appealing. Fly actually falls in-between this spectrum. I don't think there's much of a message or any hidden symbolism or meanings but visually and artistically, it's still a very interesting PV. There's... kind of a plot. If you could count a little girl in a white dress getting chased around by a monster as a plot. Not to mention it doesn't really have a resolution. By the end of the PV, nothing has really changed. The girl's still being chased, and the members of BiS are still dancing in slow motion and generally doing their own thing. But this is just a music video. I'm not exactly expecting an award-winning art-house short film from the producers behind BiS.

I really did find this PV to be pretty cool to watch. It held my attention from start to finish, it wasn't boring, the visual choices made for the camera were executed well, and the overall result was very artsy. I think it might be because the PV's in black and white; somehow my mind always seems to connect black-and-white film with "artsy." Call it an instinct or whatever. You could show me a cat rubbing against a cactus in black-and-white, and my first reaction would still be seeing it as artsy. But I do think shooting this PV in mostly black-and-white does give off a creepy and gritty vibe. I like the shadowing a lot on the girls in the shots where they sing, from when they're together to the individual shots of them all crouched on the ground. The PV for Fly matched the dark and raw tone of the song too! In the end, I'm not sure exactly what kind of message Fly was trying to convey, if any message at all, but the PV for it was visually interesting with a lot of bizarrely fascinating creatures from cockroaches to giant monsters.



Overall, I'll give Fly 4.5 apples out of 5. BiS as usual continues to appeal to the darker and grungier side of my music tastes by fusing said music with an idol group. I thought it was a really good song, and I liked the it was more of an alternative rock song. If I were Mitchel, I'd be totally happy to leave BiS on such a high note of a song. The PV was cool, the song was cool, and I feel cool listening to Fly!

Hi

So next A-side and the only other different song on the single is Hi. You might also recognize it as a common word English-speaking humans use to greet other English-speaking humans. Who knows? Maybe the next song BiS will release will be called Hola! Or Bonjour! All right, enough joking, this is a serious review! So I need to seriously ask if Hi even needed to be an A-side. I mean... it wasn't really promoted the same way Fly was. And I personally found Fly to be a much stronger song than Hi was. Of course, Hi wasn't by any means a terrible song. In fact, compared to some of the drek I've listened to this year, Hi is a blissful thing to listen to. But I just can't really get into this song. I think partially because the song is really short. I don't know why, but I'm not exactly the most enthusiastic about really short songs. And when I say "short " I mean shorter than three minutes. Hi is just a little under three minutes. If I'm going to listen to a song, I want to get my worth out of it.

For short songs, especially good short songs, they end way too quickly. Now Hi is a very energetic and fast-paced song, so I guess I can kind of see why it's so short. And it makes use of its short length; there's a very clear structure and the energy is great. But it's probably not gonna be one of those BiS I find myself listening to a lot. It's a fun song, but I can't really get into the melody and feel of the song. And in comparison to Fly, Hi doesn't exactly reach the level of quality Fly did for me. It's really not a bad song, and I do enjoy listening to it, but I'd rather BiS not return to the sound they used for Hi. There is a PV for Hi but it's more-or-less a performance PV. You know those PVs where they just film a few live performances of the song, splice them together, and edit the audio to the song over it? In a nutshell, that's what the PV for Hi consists of. If you dig performance PVs, then this one is okay I guess, but there's not really much to talk about it. It does consist of a lot of Mitchel, so if you want to see clips of her last days in BiS, then I'd watch this PV! So yeah, Hi's okay but BiS can aim for higher quality songs. Ah, puns.



As for me, I thought Hi was overall an okay accompanying A-side, but not quite as awesome as Fly was. So I'll give it 3.5 apples out of 5. It makes for a good head-bobbing, but Hi is too short and just a tad too grating at times for me to really jam to it.

The Verdict

I thought this was a good single. Maybe not quite as good overall as DiE was but still a nice BiS single. I have to admit though, I don't really think this single needed to be a double A-side. Fly was strong enough that it could have lead the single alone, and it kind of did anyways. Or at least I personally thought that of the two A-sides, Fly was more promoted. You know, it's always boggled me why a lot of idol agencies have the tendency to release these double A-side singles but only promote one of the two A-sides. Avex did it for Tokyo Girls' Style's latest single. Hello! Project did it for Morning Musume's One Two Three/The Matenrou Show. Anyways, I guess it doesn't matter. Fly and Hi are both listenable songs, especially if you're a fan of BiS. Personally, I just liked Fly better than Hi. I will say even if my opinions towards Fly and Hi were at different levels of positive reception, I do at least have to commend the fact that both songs sound different.

I always think what makes a double A-side work is having two different-sounding songs that still manage to complete each other in some way. Fly is much darker and serious, with a pounding guitar and even some really nice piano thrown into the instrumentals. It definitely carries the emotions of escape and "flying high" as mentioned in the song, and I think it makes for a perfect sendoff for Mitchel. On the other hand, Hi is much peppier, or at least peppy by BiS standards. It's very fast-paced but also packs a punch, and the chorus is very catchy. Almost a little too catchy at times, but it's still a fun song to listen to. I think which A-side you prefer comes down to personal preference. If you like BiS taking on a more alternative rock style, you're probably gonna lean towards Fly. However, if you like seeing BiS do a more pop rock sound, then Hi fits the bill pretty nicely. Like with any song, your mileage will vary. For me, I found Fly/Hi to be a pretty solid single from BiS. It probably isn't my favorite single from the unconventional idol group, but it maintains many of the quirks that make BiS such an enjoyable idol group to follow.

So my final verdict is four out of five apples. I have to admit, I'm gonna miss Mitchel. She was pretty cool, and she definitely had one of the coolest bowl cuts I've ever seen... ever, actually. But I think the new members and the old members will be able to carry on without her. So all I can say is I hope Mitchel does fly high, high into whatever career or dream she hopes to reach. Eugh, that sounded corny. I'm gonna go listen Idol is Dead.

Rock! Paper! Scissors! Conspiracy!

Everything is all a conspiracy! The Senbatsu Election! The Kenkyuusei auditions! In fact...could it be my own blog is a conspiracy too!? NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS GUYS. Or at least that's what you'd think if you popped by an idol forum. I swear to god the reason I barely go on forums anymore is because of all the bull shit theories that seem to fly around left and right. Nothing against you if you happen to be active on forums, I just don't have the patience or tolerance for them, ludicrous fan theories being one of the many reasons why. Then again, I do find a hilariously ridiculous fan theory every now and then...

With such a gargantuan group like AKB48, you're bound to get a hefty amount of delusional theories. But I've noticed that there are usually two times when these fan theories start getting particularly outlandish: when a member is caught in a dating scandal or after the Janken Tournament. Especially after the Janken Tournament. I swear, every effing year I see this tournament, I read on the Internet cries of foul play and "This was totally rigged!" comments from fans. I might take these comments more seriously if there were more physical evidence to back up such claims, but there's not. I think there are too many unknown variables to really know as to just what happens behind the scenes in the idol industry, especially in AKB48.

As long as none of us are actually in AKB48, I don't think we'll ever be able to fully know the politics and dynamic of how the entire group is managed. And even if we were in AKB48, I doubt management would let us really talk about the shadier aspects of being an idol what with a public image to maintain and millions of fans to appease. So the Janken tournament, a creative concept at first that has slowly lost its charm on me because of shit like this that goes down along with the Janken songs generally sucking, has happened again. And once again, everyone's going ballistic over the final results. Now I'm a practical idol blogger, one that tries to take every tidbit of news she obtains with a grain of salt. The pop music industry is a place where lies and rumors run rampant (and can end up ruining careers), and AKB48 is by no means exempt from this rule.

But... it is awful convenient that the the last three centers for AKB48's Janken singles have all been favored by management.

-yawn-

I'm not trying to insinuate anything. Even though I may hate all the fan conspiracy theories on forums, for every twenty of them, there's always one that actually sounds plausible. Two popular/pushed members winning consecutive Janken tournaments? I'd call that a fluke. But I also hold a belief that when things happen in threes, that's something to look into. And seeing this is the third time in a row that the Janken tournament has ended with an already popular victor... I have to at least raise an eyebrow. But in order to obtain a slightly better understanding into just why the circumstances surrounding this Janken tournament are so suspicious, I think I need to go over the first Janken tournament, and the single that accompanied it. Chance no Juban, the epitome of a bland AKB48 song, was the first Janken single to be released all the way back in 2010 before I'd even gotten into AKB48. The sales for Beginner, the single before the Janken single, were 826,989, the highest first-week sales at the time for AKB48.

Now let's take a look at the sales for Chance no Juban, the follow-up Janken single: 596,769. Not bad first-week sales at all but it's still a drop from Beginner's sales. And then Sakura no Ki ni Narou, the single after Chance no Juban hopped right back up selling 942,479 copies in its first week. Now what was different about that Janken single and those other two singles? The Senbatsu. More specifically, the center of each Senbatsu. Beginner and Sakura no Ki ni Narou had Maeda Atsuko, the most popular member of AKB48 before graduating, as center. But Chance no Juban? Uchida Mayumi, one of the members at the bottom of the AKB48 popularity hierarchy, centered that single. It didn't matter that Kojima Haruna and Maeda Atsuko were still in the Senbatsu for Chance no Juban; the single, in terms of proportions, still was a drop in sales for AKB48. Fast-forward to next year's Janken single, Ue Kara Mariko. That single sold a whopping 1,198,864 copies. And who was center for that single again? Definitely not Fujie Reina! Shinoda Mariko, highly popular member of AKB48, was.

Maybe Mariko's win really was just a very, very lucky chance. But what if her win and the success of Ue Kara Mariko gave management an idea? The idea of having a set winner for the Janken Tournament. Every other position would be determined by chance except for the center spot. Whoever management wanted to promote would be the lucky girl to win the tournament. Hence the reason Shimazaki Haruka won last year at such a convenient time, and probably why Jurina won this year. But how, you say, can you rig a rock-paper-scissors tournament. Isn't it all just chance? In a way it is. But remember that all Paruru did last year was throw scissors. Every round she threw scissors. And this year Jurina just threw paper for every round. So apparently no one going up against her thought "Oh, so if I just throw scissors, then I'll probably have a really good chance of winning, won't I?" Or maybe management just told the girls competing against Jurina not to throw scissors.

Last year, I'd probably have disregarded this theory but this year, I'm starting to see it as a little more plausible. Either it's the most convenient thing to ever happen or there's someone pulling the strings to assure that at least one position in the Janken Senbatsu is fixed. And if that is the case, that's really a shame. What I'd always found interesting about the Janken Tournament (other than the costumes) was the idea of a wild-card Senbatsu, where anyone had the chance to get in with the right luck. Now it just seems dull and predictable. What fun is a game of chance when your players are cheating? Does the center for a single matter that much anyways? Especially in a group like AKB48 where just being in the Senbatsu is a tooth-and-nail fight for the members of the group? If we were just going to go by the sales of Chance no Juban, Ue Kara Mariko, and Eien Pressure, you'd think that'd be the case. And maybe it is. However, there's not enough physical evidence beyond statistics to really explore this theory.

Rigging or not, Jurina's center for the Janken single this year and that's that. I actually like Jurina a lot, and think she's a very capable performer and center. She works great in SKE48 and she's proved over time she has what it takes to center AKB48 singles too. But I'd still rather her not have won the tournament for two reasons. First and most important is her health. The girl's only 16 and she's stretched thinner than an AP high school student. She's had a few health problems over the past, and I really wish management would let her take things a little easier. Centering the next AKB48 single along with inevitably centering the next SKE48 single is not something that she needs to be doing right now. I'm worried that she's wearing herself down too quickly; Jurina's a great performer but she's not a super idol. Another reason why I'm not that excited for a Jurina-centered single is... guys, we've had like twelve Jurina-centered singles before. This is nothing new.

I guess something I always liked about the Janken Tournament was the chance to see a member who normally wasn't center take a center position for once. Like with Mariko! And Paruru's first time as center was in the Janken single. And sure, she looked awkward as fuck and continued to do so for So Long! and Sayonara Crawl but there was something amusing about that. But Jurina's been center lots of times before, and don't get me wrong, she's been a great center, but I'm just not expecting much. I mean, the Janken song's gonna suck anyways, so there's no point in me getting excited over who gets center, be it Minegishi Minami or Walt freaking Disney. Aki-P has a song formula he sticks to like the Gospel for the AKB48 songs he writes, and the Janken single is going to just like it always is: bland an unoriginal. If that's your thing, then great, but I personally have kept my expectations low. Just like I did last year. And the year before. A true surprise would be a good Janken song.

In the meantime, how about we take a look and see if anyone else I remotely know about made it into the Janken Senbatsu? I get the feeling that it's going to be a lot like last year's...

16. Oya Shizuka - Well, I'm only at #16 at I already get the feeling that I'm going to know absolutely nothing about any of the girls in this Senbatsu! Not that that's a bad thing per say since it's nice to let other less popular girls of AKB48 get at least one chance to be in Senbatsu. So yeah, Oya Shizuka... Well, she was also in the Janken Senbatsu for Ue Kara Mariko! She must be lucky enough (or skilled enough) at rock-paper-scissors to make it into another Janken Senbatsu this year! Poor girl. According the AKB48 Wiki, she's been a member of the group since 2009 and only made Senbatsu for two singles. Oh well, good for her to make it to another Senbatsu!

15. Yumoto Ami (AKB48 KKS) - Unlike Shizuka, the next Senbatsu member for this Janken single has been in AKB48 for a very, very short amount of time. So short that she's not even officially a member of the group; this Yumoto Ami chick is still in Kenkyuusei. According to the wiki, Ami made it into AKB48's 15th Generation KKS on June of 2013. So as of now, she's only been in the group for around three and half months! A pretty big achievement for such a new girl to already get into Senbatsu for a single! True, it's just the Janken single, and her win was thanks to chance... Still, this girl may never ever make it into the real Senbatsu for any more AKB48 singles, so she should just enjoy being in Senbatsu while she can!

14. Sasaki Yukari - And here we have yet another girl that I know absolutely nothing about! Get used to this guys; I'm one of those fans that doesn't have the time or memory to learn every name and face in the gargantuan of an idol group that is AKB48. So yeah... how about this Yukari chick? I read that she's in Team A and that she debuted as a member in April of 2011. It also said on the Wiki that this is going to be her first single as a member of Senbatsu so hey, that's good! Always nice giving less popular girls a chance to shine in Senbatsu for what will probably the only opportunity they get all year! Yeah, that's all I got for Yukari. Congratulations to her though!

13. Fujie Reina - At lucky number thirteen in this Senbatsu is a face I'm actually familiar with! What a relief that I'll recognize at least one person in the Janken single this year. I've kinda noticed that Reina gets very on-again, off-again promotion in singles. Like she's been in Senbatsu for a handful of singles going as far back as 10nen Zakura, but then it's like management just forgets about her for some time then just up and decides to throw her back in another Senbatsu! Very spotty luck she has with management... Well, even if this ranking in the Janken Senbatsu isn't as high up as she got with Ue Kara Mariko, it's nice seeing Reina having another chance to participate in Senbatsu!

12. Tsuchiyasu Mizuki (AKB48 KKS) - Wow, another Kenkyuusei made it into the Janken Senbatsu! Man, how many KKS made it into the tournament anyways? I thought that they had to like go through a preliminary tournament, the select KKS girls who won that could participate in the Janken Tournament. I could be wrong, but if I am right, then that's pretty awesome that these KKS girls were able to fight their way through not just one but two tournaments to get into Senbatsu! Even if I know absolutely nothing about this Mizuki chick... Um... by her picture, she looks all right! Very... idol-y. Yeah, I didn't know about any of the past KKS, so there's no point in me trying to BS an opinion about current KKS.

11. Kitahara Rie - All right, here's a member of AKB48 I can recognize! When I first read the list of winners, I was beginning to wonder if any other well-known member besides Jurina made it into the Senbatsu before I saw Rie's name. So most of you casual fans will probably also recognize this name! Rie's been a regular in Senbatsu since Oogoe Diamond, although she did drop into Undergirls for Koisuru Fortune Cookie. And with being dropped out of Senbatsu for Heart Ereki, their next single, I wonder if management's going to phase her out of regular Senbatsu entirely... For now, at least Rie gets to be in the Senbatsu for the Janken single!

10. Furuhata Nao (SKE48 Team E/AKB48 Team K) - Oh, she's in AKB48 too? Well, that shows just how closely I follow all the member of AKB48. I'd never heard of this chick until now, and even now, I don't know that much about her. She was in the Senbatsu for Utsukushii Inazuma, and that was the first time being in Senbatsu for an SKE48 single. And it looks like this is the first time she'll be in Senbatsu for an AKB48 single! Seriously, why is she a concurrent member if she's barely in any of AKB48's material? Ah well, I'm not terribly learned in the logistics of AKS and how they manage their idols. Anyways, this Nao chick looks like a decent idol. Congrats to her!

9. Uno Mizuki (NMB48 KKS) - Damn, another Kenkyuusei!? And this one isn't even from AKB48! As a result, I know nothing about her. Except for the fact that her surname happens to also mean "one" in Spanish. And I guess that's pretty cool. I'll just have to rely on my handy-dandy Wiki 48 to see if I can find anything interesting about this girl! So I did look her up like I did with everyone else and I didn't find anything terribly fascinating about her. She's been in a lot of B-sides for NMB48 singles. It makes me wonder if she's going to get promoted to member-status soon. The wiki also says she's from a city where there are a lot of deer. Eh... interesting? Oh well, happy to see her get into Senbatsu for a single!

8. Natori Wakana - You know, something just occurred to me. Even though I probably know mostly nothing about many of the girls in this Janken Senbatsu, this can at least be a learning experience for me. It can at least give me an introduction to some of the lesser-known girls in the group, even if I never want to learn more about them! Like this Wakana chick. Right now, all I know is that she's in Team B. But who knows? Maybe in the future I'll just wake up one day and be like "I want to learn more about Natori Wakana!" But still, that day is not today. I know nothing about Wakana and I got too much other stuff to cover to spend all day finding more about her.

7. Kikuchi Ayaka - My level of familiarity with Kikuchi Ayaka is about on the same level as my familiarity with Fujie Reina. I like her a lot, and would love if she were featured in Senbatsu more. Still, if she's not, then I won't exactly be torn apart about it. I've always found her backstory to be interesting. She got fired from AKB48 for having a boyfriend only to re-audition for the group and be let back in as KKS. Then she had to work her way back to actual member status. Ever since then, she's been an on-again, off-again member of Senbatsu. So it's nice that she'll be able to be in a Janken Senbatsu! I believe this is her first time, non? If so, it's great she was able to rank so high!

6. Abe Maria - Oh hey, I remember this name. Didn't she make it to last year's Janken Senbatsu as well? According to the wiki, she did! I do vaguely remember talking about her... For last year, she was #8 in the Janken Tournament; it's pretty amazing she climbed up two spots from last year! Even if that is amazing, I still know little to nothing about her. I'm sure she's fine and all that, but I just don't have any ambition to learn much about her. Something I did find interesting about Maria is that she's a fan of Ichikawa Miori. You know, that member who's always rambling about how she's going to become a fresh lemon or something like that... Maybe Maria really likes lemons!

5. Tano Yuka - I have no idea why, but this girl's name sounds really familiar. I'm not sure why, since she hasn't been in any other Janken Senbatsus so I haven't written about her. I do know that she was one of the original members of Team 4 but now she's in Team A. Other than that, it looks like she hasn't been in the Senbatsu for any other AKB48 singles, but she's participated in a lot of the B-sides. I'm sure it'll be nice for to finally experience being in the Senbatsu for a single! The wiki also said that she's a huge fan of Miyazawa Sae, and if there's any cool person to be a fan of, it'd be Miyazawa Sae. Or Akimoto Sayaka. If she were still in AKB48... Back on topic, congrats to Yuka!

4. Oba Mina (AKB48 Team B/SKE48 Team KII) - Okay, here's another girl I actually do know a little about. I probably wouldn't recognize her face, but I do recognize the name! Oba Mina was captain of the original Team 4 before it folded. And she was suspended for underage drinking, a little different from your typical "boyfriend scandal." I didn't know she was a concurrent member of SKE48 though. Or that she was in the Senbatsu for Utuskushii Inazuma! Man, if anything shows you how closely I pay attention to the member of SKE48, that does. I think it's kind of funny how Mina's been in Senbatsu for an SKE48 single before this AKB48 single! Just amusing for me I suppose.

3. Hirata Rina - So this is the bilingual member of AKB48! I heard someone say that there was a member of AKB48 who could speak English, but I couldn't remember the name mentioned. So it's Hirata Rina, or Hillary, as her nickname says. I think it's pretty cool AKB48 has an English-speaking member- wait a minute. If she speaks English then... I sure hope she doesn't find my blog! I'm kidding, there's no way my little blog makes enough of a dent to get many people's attention! Anyways, back on Hirata Rina, she seems pretty cool to me. Maybe that's just because she's bilingual and I admire anyone who is fluent in two or more languages but still! Congrats to her for making it into Janken Senbatsu!

2. Kamieda Erika (NMB48) - And here we have the girl that came so close to winning the Janken Tournament, but ended up playing the wrong hand. Although, if she'd just thrown scissors, that would have been a safe bet considering all Jurina did was throw paper throughout the whole tournament... But anyways, apparently this Erika chick is captain of Team BII in NMB48. So yeah. I didn't even know Team BII had a captain yet. All I know is Yamamoto Sayaka's captain of Team N and that is a wonderful thing. I almost think that Erika must be one of those captains that doesn't make it to Senbatsu very often, kind of like Umeda Ayaka. At least now she finally gets a chance!

1. Matsui Jurina (SKE48) - I think I've pretty much stretched out everything I can say about Jurina's win of this year's Janken Tournament. Well, I haven't said yet that I think I'm comfortable with her being a center over Shimazaki Haruka! At least she won't look as awkward anyways... Like I said, she's centered both AKB48 and SKE48 singles plenty of times before; I have complete faith that she'll be fine centering this Janken single. Who knows? Maybe she'll be able to act like it's not a sucky song, the true challenge of performing a Janken single! I just hope that healthwise she's up for performing in another single, but only time will tell.

Before I go back to waiting for Level3, I should probably touch on AKB48's next single. Next on the AKB48 calendar of releases is their fall single or their "cool" single. I know I haven't talked about Koisuru Fortune Cookie (and I swear I'm getting there), but I actually really liked that song. I thought it was nice and funky with a really catchy tune. So their cool single is titled Heart Ereki or Heart Electric (I think I'll probably refer to it as the latter title; it just makes more sense in my language). What I find to be the most interesting bit of news about Heart Electric is the center; it's not Paruru, it's not Jurina, it's not Sasshi, it's... Kojima Haruna! Bet you all saw that coming with all the crazy promotion Harunyan's been getting lately, haven't you? Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the only person tilting my head in confusion towards Harunyan's position as center for Heart Electric, especially since she the only single she's centered is Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka? and that was a dual-center with Maeda Atsuko. I smell a graduation.

Considering Harunyan's one of the oldest members of AKB48, I wouldn't be surprised if she were graduating soon either. She's spent a long time in the group, and maybe Heart Electric is supposed to be her final sendoff before departing to the land of graduated AKB48 members. Potential graduations aside, how does Heart Electric hold up? After all, UZA, last year's cool single bored me to death, even though the PV was effing amazing. I have to say, Heart Electric reminds me very much of a no3b song. It's not as dance-able as UZA was, and definitely a safe AKB48 A-side, but I don't think it's that bad. It probably won't make any of my best-of lists, but considering the other crap A-sides we've gotten from AKB48 this year, Heart Electric holds up pretty well. I'll have to hear a studio version before I give my final verdict, since I'm only going off the concert rip. Also I should mention for Heart Electric the girls have English nicknames, and I have absolutely no idea why. As with the Janken single, only time will tell.