Holly Jolly PV Week: Momoiro Clover Z

Yes. That PV.

Before I start talking about the insanity that is Momoiro Clover Z, I just want to wish you all a merry Christmas! I hope wherever you are and whatever you're doing that you're happy right now! I myself will be with family all day so I haven't been able to publish this review until late in the evening. But technically it's still Christmas so there! And I figured there isn't a better PV to close Holly Jolly PV Week out with than a Momoiro Clover Z one! I can guarantee it will be wacky, insane, and weird in all the fun ways that Momoiro Clover Z always is! Naturally, I am referring to the one Christmas PV I know that Momoiro Clover Z has released: Santa-san! Pretty appropriate name for a Christmas song if I do say so myself! Honestly, I'm not surprised that MomoClo has a Christmas song. I'm more surprised that it took so long for them to do one! For an idol group that likes to take common idol concepts the craziest and weirdest limits possible, you'd think they'd get around to injecting a shot of insanity into a Christmas song. Oh well, better late than never!

Santa-san was released in late 2011, actually as a B-side to Roudou Sanka, a single released in November. I guess MomoClo just couldn't wait to get into the Christmas spirit! And November 2011 just so happens to be the time I started blogging, a time when I'd yet to get into Momoiro Clover Z, let alone know much about them. But I vaguely remember the divine and wonderful Chiima reviewing the PV for this and being generally weirded out but still providing a very entertaining screencap. Then stuff happened, I started listening to MomoClo, things got crazy, and here we are now! In hindsight, I wish I hadn't forgotten about Santa-san so easily because it is a really good song. I'm not even saying it's good as a Christmas song, it's good as a song in general. I almost regret never getting around to reviewing this PV back when it was released... then again, my reviewing skills were crap back then! Now I feel like I can provide a much more thought-out and developed review that I believe a song like Santa-san deserves!

In Santa-san, Momoiro Clover Z is just as crazy and lighthearted and fun singing it as they are singing many of their other songs; this one's just about Christmas! And I love the energy the girls put into it; they sound so excited. I haven't really said this, but I've always liked the way MomoClo sort of throws themselves into the songs they sing. Like it doesn't matter what style or sound, I always feel like the girls sing the songs with such commitment. I mean, I know the songs are composed by other arrangers and writers, but a song can still be boring if the singers sound bored. And even in their more boring songs, the girls of MomoClo never sound bored. With all the idol groups I review, a group that sounds consistently not-bored when they sing is such a blessing. And in Santa-san, I believe the girls are genuinely excited when they sing about Santa and Christmas! Even if it was faked and the girls didn't feel that way in real life, in the song, they at least convincingly act like they're excited! And I think that excitement is what makes Santa-san such a good song.

That and the arrangement. Oh my gosh, the arrangement for this song is crazy in the most entertaining way possible. I wonder if that Hyadain guy composed it... a-ha, I just looked it up and yes, he did! I'm not surprised. I know he composed a lot of MomoClo's intricate, Battle and Romance-era songs, and Santa-san definitely does have a very Battle and Romance feel. I feel like I've been hearing that guy's name a lot recently with other idol groups. The guy must be busy! Anyways, the arrangement, like I said, has so many different parts in it. It's a little jarring at first, like any of MomoClo's Hyadain-composed songs, but I can't help but get caught up in the excitement the girls profess throughout the song! When I listen to Santa-san, I just feel so happy. Sort of the same way a little kid feels on Christmas day. In fact, I'm sure this song existed when I was a kid, I would have loved it, because Santa-san is a very childish song. But childish in a way that both adults and kids can enjoy it! Kind of like Disney movies!

And I love that a Christmas song can get me so excited. As each year passes, and I grow more mature, I feel that I'm very slowly losing touch with the enchantment I had with Christmas as a little kid. Don't get me wrong, I still love Christmas and look forward to it, but no in the same way I did when I was a little kid. Maybe because I know the truth about Santa, because my brain has matured, I don't know, I just enjoy Christmas in a different way now. You know how little kids look at things differently than adults, and the way a kid looks forward to Christmas is an emotion so difficult to capture as an adult. All that wonder and joy and anticipation of waking up seeing presents underneath a tree. It's hard to feel that same way once you get older. But Santa-san reminds me of those feelings of Christmas as a child. It's the only song on Holly Jolly PV Week that really comes close to displaying the ecstatic joy of Christmas and everything about it. And that's why it's my favorite idol Christmas song.

I think it has so much enthusiasm and heart and sweetness and all the emotions that I've experienced around Christmas, whether it be now or as a little kid. The girls of Momoiro Clover Z deliver the lyrics of this song with such childlike happiness too. I think the lyrics to Santa-san also help make it such a great song. They're about what else? Santa! And a bunch other things surrounding Christmas. Really Santa-san covers a range of different Christmas topics. My favorite part is when Kanako and Shiori mention that in Australia, they're celebrating a midsummer Christmas and Reni goes "WHAT!?" in the song. Then the girls switch from repeating "Santa!" to repeating "Coco!" Just the way it's delivered at such a rapidfire timing makes it so funny. And there a lot of other nice touches to the lyrics, with the girls musing about presents, delicious Christmas food, believing in Santa, and a lot of other things! Santa-san is actually one of the few songs where I strongly recommend reading the lyrics. They're part of what make Santa-san such a memorable Christmas song along with the arrangement, the emotion, and just about everything about this song! For me, it is the best idol Christmas song, hands down.

But does Santa-san have an equally high-quality PV? We're looking at a Momoiro Clover Z PV, so even if not, I do expect some level of craziness! The question is just how crazy does MomoClo get? If you're all done unwrapping presents and celebrating, how about we take a look!

A vintage Santa figurine! Nice!

Aw, now isn't this a sweet way to open up a PV?

With the girls in their pajamas thoughtfully singing about Santa, I bet this PV's going to be absolutely-

OH GOD WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY WEARING

Okay... pull yourself together, Nia... they're just costumes... fuzzy abominations... but still costumes

I could honestly see Kanako being down with becoming a Christmas tree.

Momoka and Aa~rin got their Shiori at Sears for only $49.95! Plus shipping and handling.

The girls do genuinely look like they're having a bunch of fun.

I mean, I don't think I've seen idols have this much fun since BiS kidnapped Pinky in W.W.D. II!

A fridge that comes with an idol instead of a back wall!? I want my money back!

Yes, Reni, that's a card. Of something. This is why I take Spanish.

Ain't no party like a MomoClo party!

Just don't be like Not yet and end up partying so hard you end up in jail.

Silly Kanako, you can't eat an ornament! Or can you? I wouldn't try it.

Oh, Reni looks so nice and pretty in her purple kimono-

Oh my god. That. Is. HILARIOUS!

I'll bet they got Shiori during the Black Friday sale. Idols come at great prices during that time!

As crazy as it would probably be, I'd love to party with Momoiro Clover Z.

I mean, they look like they're having so much fun. Not fake-idol PV kind of fun, but genuine fun!

Even in those hideous outfits, they still look like they're having fun!

Kanako has now achieved her goal of becoming a cherry tree- oh wait, that's an AKB48 song! Wrong PV!

And Momoka is perpetually adorable.

Pity they can't eat that food. It looks delicious!

Ah, I was wondering when Kanako would pull one of her unintentionally-psychotic grins!

A pie in the face is classic slapstick. And it's delicious!

I wish the Christmas parties I've been to were this much fun.

Um... so now it's Christmas pool party?

Oh, I get it! The lyrics talk about Australia Christmases so MomoClo does what MomoClo does and throws and Australian-style Christmas party!

Table dancing! YEAH! This party's getting hardcore!

Poor Momoka; I guess she isn't keen on getting pied in the face...

Of course the PV couldn't end without one last shot of those terrifying outfits. Eugh.

I forgot how bat-shit crazy this PV is! But it's bat-shit crazy in the most awesometacular way possible! I love how the PV starts out with the girls all lined up in their pajamas swaying and looking really calm then BAM! UGLY CHRISTMAS OUTFITS! Yeah, the outfits in the dance shot are ugly in the tackiest and most hilarious way possible. I can't even hate them that much because they're just so over-the-top. The girls look like walking Christmas ornaments in them! Then again, what else should I have expected from Momoiro Clover Z? Besides, most of the PVs shows the girls in outfits beyond the fuzzy abominations. Basically, the PV for Santa-san is one giant Christmas party. It shows the girls dancing around, admiring delectable Christmas food, riding around on a toy train, and goofing off in every way possible. They're like little kids! It's so adorable!

I really love all the variety put into this PV. The sets are so cute and look great with all the Christmas decorations! I mean, whoever did the set for this PV really went all out! All the decorations gave the PV a very homey feel, like this was a real house and not just a set! I sometimes like pausing this PV just so I can get a good look at the detail put in to the set! And I like that they show the sets from several different angles, like Kanako and Momoka on top of a table to Shiori on the train to Aarin in the refrigerator. The editing in this PV was really nice too. I think the camera cut to every scene at the right time so that this PV never felt slow. Screencapping this PV was so much fun because of how fast-paced and energetic it is! There's so much to talk about in this PV because there's simply so much going on! I felt like Santa-san is a PV that showcases so many great things about Christmas. Like the decorations, the food, the presents, and most of all the happiness. This is such a happy and carefree PV. It perfectly matches the mood that I feel on Christmas: that sense of utter happiness and content.

Even though all that is great, what makes Santa-san such a great PV is the girls themselves. In Santa-san, the girls are an absolute trip to watch. They're so entertaining! I like that this PV allowed the girls to be goofy in a way that isn't exactly cute. The girls still look adorable, but there are parts in this PV where they act goofy and dorky. Like I feel like a lot of idol Christmas PVs just show the idols doing all these cute things and looking really glamorous and pretty while doing them. I mean, that isn't a bad thing, but it's just nice seeing the girls of MomoClo doing stuff like shoving pies in each other's faces and having food fights and falling into swimming pools and other physical comedy like that. I mean, when Reni-chan came out with her purple kimono rearranged, that was hilarious! Stuff like that made me feel like the emphasis of the PV was less "Look how cute Momoiro Clover Z is!" and more "Look at all the crazy stuff Momoiro Clover Z does on Christmas!" It's refreshing.

I mean, I know that I goof off on Christmas all the time with my family. And at the few Christmas parties I've been to, I've done more-or-less the same thing. Okay, I've never had a Christmas food fight because the food's so delicious that no one dares throw it at people. But still, a lot of the stuff MomoClo does in this PV is on the same level of wacky dorkiness that I experience on Christmas! Letting MomoClo go all out and do all this crazy stuff was really fun to watch. And it helps that they genuinely look like they're having fun. I think MomoClo does a good job of being expressive in their PVs, but Santa-san is a PV where I think they were really allowed to be super excited and happy. They're always smiling and teasing each other and laughing and having all sorts of fun in this PV! I want to have a Christmas party with MomoClo if they're this fun! The girls all look so happy, and I love the fun, friendly way they interact with each other. It just reminds me of my own Christmases.

I think because I can relate to the PV for Santa-san I love the PV a lot. All the emotion in the PV perfectly matches all the emotions that I feel on Christmas! Like today, I felt pretty much the same way the girls did! By the way, I just want to take this moment to wish you all a merry Christmas. I know, I know, it's off topic but still! I have to at least deliver a little Christmas message to my coolest of cool spuds! I hope that you enjoyed this Christmas. I enjoyed mine a lot; I spent time with my family, and it was just a really nice day! But I know that not everyone experiences a great Christmas. If you're one of those people, I just want to say that I hope that whatever is preventing you from having one goes away! And I hope that if you are in a bad place right now that you get out of it!

For those of you who did have a wonderful Christmas, I want to give you all a gift. Well... it's not exactly a gift that you can hold or do anything with. It's just my thanks! Thank you all for supporting me and my little Wonderland! I know I can get kind of dorky and weird and passionate about idol music, and for you all to sit and read my ramblings makes me grateful beyond words. Christmas is a time when I like being thankful for all the opportunities that I've been given, and just knowing that people out there enjoy reading my stuff on the Wonderland is something I will always be thankful for. I wish I could give each and every one of you something like a card or candy or... I don't know, just something to say thank you! I hope that the least I can give back to you is my writing. So one last time, thank you for sticking around and reading my writing! I love each and every one of you, and I hope that you all are having a merry Christmas! So uh... where was I again? Right! Momoiro Clover Z! Yeah, I love the PV for Santa-san in case you didn't figure that out already. If you are as much of an enthusiast about Christmas as I am, I highly recommend checking this PV out if you haven't already. In my opinion, it is the quintessential Christmas PV, showing all the best parts of Christmas, both physical and emotional!

Yeah, Santa-san gets the entire five fruitcake rating, reserved for only the most Christmas-y of idol Christmas PVs! The song is great, the PV is great, this is such a great Christmas song. I feel really good ending Holly Jolly PV Week with Santa-san; it encompasses all the holliness and jolliness I wanted this week! And I hope you all enjoyed it, and again, I especially hope you all had a merry Christmas! With Christmas almost over (like it's almost midnight where I am), now I can start getting into all the year-end stuff! Yay!

Holly Jolly PV Week: AKB48

Ohohoho, of course I haven't forgotten about all the AKB48 Christmas songs! Even if I'm displeased with their current music that would never stop me from reviewing their older songs and PVs! But which of the three Christmas AKB48 PVs could this be, hrm? The first? The second? The third?

It's the first, and in my opinion the best: Yoyaku Shita Christmas!

There actually isn't a cover for Yoyaku Shita Christmas, so I had to use an advertisement featuring the Senbatsu for the song. Look, I don't care if I have to use a penguin, I am not putting that ugly Janken cover at the top of this review! Speaking of penguins, technically I could have used Hashire! Penguin for Holly Jolly PV Week.  Or Noel no Yoru. Or Totteoki Christmas. Yeah, AKB48 has a lot of Christmas PVs. And that's not even getting into their stage songs without PVs! Honestly, trying to figure out which of these Christmas PVs I wanted to pick was a little overwhelming. I knew I didn't want to do Noel no Yoru (besides, if you want to see a review of that PV the lovely Chiima already reviewed it here). I wanted to do an older AKB48 PV, so that's kind of why I ended up going with Yoyaku Shita Christmas. Another reason why I went with Yoyaku Shita Christmas is because it was the first Janken single Christmas B-side. As many of you know, AKB48 has a tradition where every Janken single has better B-sides than the actual Janken song.

I'm just kidding! But no really the Janken songs suck and WHY aren't the B-sides singles they're so much better ugh it's almost Christmas I refuse to rant about this again. But for the first three Janken singles, the main B-side was a Christmas song, accompanied by a Christmas PV. I don't know why Suzukake Nanchara broke the tradition with a normal song, but Mosh&Dive is a decent song so I'm not complaining that much. I will admit I never really got into the Christmas B-sides on the Janken singles. I remember thinking Noel no Yoru was okay but sounded like every other Christmas song I'd heard. In fact, that's the really hard thing about original Christmas songs: trying not to let them fall into the tired song styles and tropes that have become practically a standard set by all the popular Christmas songs from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. Or just sounding like a rehash of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You. Idol Christmas songs don't fall plague to this quite as badly as American Christmas songs, but there are still a lot of these songs that sound the same if you play them back to back. They're just kind of bland.

And yet... I am surprisingly okay with this.

No, your computer didn't just glitch, warping the text in this post to display something I clearly would never say. I know that from nearly the start of my time as a blogger, I've written endlessly about my disinterest in bland idol music. There are many times I've downright ranted about bland music. It drives me berserk, I can't stand it, and I've probably hammered that into my readers' heads more than they would have liked me to. Despite this grudge, the one time where I more-or-less let it go is with idol Christmas songs. Yes, a lot of them are bland. Sure, there are still some really good ones that have been featured in Holly Jolly PV Week, but for the most part, idol Christmas songs don't exist to be original. They exist to cash in on Christmas. But when you think about it, everything idols do is an attempt to cash in. Because you know what idol Christmas songs also do that regular idol songs don't? They try to spread the joy of Christmas. And sure, maybe sometimes an idol group's concept of Christmas can be kind of cheesy and cliched, but in my opinion, it's the thought that counts.

In fact, I think it's the thought that counts with anything Christmas-related. I mean, when someone gives me a bad gift, even if I can't bring myself to like it, I can appreciate the fact that someone took the time to wrap this gift and give it to me in their best attempt to spread some Christmas kindness to me. And that's kind of how I see these idol Christmas songs. For me, trying to hate these songs is like trying to hate a puppy that tracked mud all over your floor. For that reason, AKB48's bland Christmas songs are their only bland songs that get a free pass from me. Maybe because it's Christmas, and my cold, bland song-hating heart, can't bring itself to devote any hatred to these songs the same way it does with all of AKB48's other songs. I bring all this up because Yoyaku Shita Christmas technically started the tradition of bland AKB48 Christmas songs. Unlike the other AKB48 Christmas songs though, Yoyaku Shita Christmas isn't quite as bland. Hence my reasons for reviewing it for Holly Jolly PV Week.

I'd actually just started find out about AKB48 around the time of Yoyaku Shita Christmas and Chance no Juban, but I wasn't into them that much yet. So I guess you could say I was kind of in the idolsphere when Chance no Juban was released, I just didn't know it yet. But upon listening to Yoyaku Shita Christmas after... over two years ago, I actually found that I liked this song a lot. More than I remember liking AKB48's other Christmas songs. And okay, it's not the best song out there. If you're looking for something with innovation or a different sound for AKB48, Yoyaku Shita Christmas is not that. However, I found it to be a surprisingly heartfelt song. And it's kind of a Christmas rock song. Or... as rock as AKB48 can get. I don't know, there's just something so joyful about Yoyaku Shita Christmas. I don't know if it's because of the jubilant tone of the instrumental, the vocals, or what, but when listen to Yoyaku Shita Christmas, I just get so excited for Christmas. And I think, sitting here typing in the dark and counting the hours until midnight, Yoyaku Shita Christmas is one of my favorite songs to listen to on Christmas Eve!

It's kind of funny, because the lyrics are just about a Christmas love story. You know, a girl's with a guy, and she wanted to meet him again on Christmas Eve. So she's standing at the meeting spot waiting for him to come. Unlike Aitai Lonely Christmas, which as a more pessimistic take on a meeting someone story, Yoyaku Shita Christmas is extremely positive. The girls spends the song gushing about the happiness she feels with this guy and their enchanting day on Christmas Eve. Sure, I think the lyrics are kind of corny with all the Christmas puns thrown around in them, but I can see how other people could relate to it. I can relate to that feeling of... togetherness the girl feels in the lyrics. But that togetherness stems more from being with my family on Christmas! Overall, I think for a bland Christmas song, Yoyaku Shita Christmas is still really sweet, and it very slowly grew on me, eventually becoming one of my favorite idol Christmas songs!

Note: this is the last Christmas-y shot of the whole PV. Prepare yourselves.

Now we're going off to AKB Magical Christmas Land!!!

Look! A Christmas wreath! A CGI Christmas wreath!

So I guess Santa's chilling and letting the Senbatsu do his work for him?

Then again, I wouldn't mind AKB48 coming to my house and delivering presents...

ACCHAN! Why oh why did I never appreciate her while she was in AKB48?

Idols conjuring wreaths out of nowhere!? It must be WITCHCRA- oh wait, it's just CGI.

Look, another member of AKB48 no longer in the group.

And another member. Gosh, how many former members are in this PV again?

All the conjuring in this PV could give a Harry Potter Christmas a run for its money!

So uh, who's holding those floating glasses? The Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present?

Like seriously, did The Haunted Mansion cater this Christmas party?

That's the face of someone who has no idea their career's going to shit in two years!

Long hair or short hair, Miichan is ADORABLE!

Oh Mayuyu, how I've missed your Creeper Smile! So creepy. So awkward.

Now which of these four girls went on to become #1? Hint: it's not Maeda Ami.

Seriously, why do Newton's laws of gravity not apply to this PV!?

Wait a minute, this effect kind of looks similar to... to...

...oh my god, to Gounn! So AKB48 did a cool effect before Momoiro Clover Z? WHAT!?

I wonder if AKS ever thought to cash in on AKB48 Christmas ornaments.

Holy crap, now the PV's even doing the same spiral-out effect that Gounn did!

What surreal world do we live in!?

Wow, an object that isn't CGI! We can touch it!!

Oh hai, outfit change... did S/mileage swipe those antennas for Samui ne?

This PV really likes dropping AKB48's name for some reason. Is is subliminal messaging?

The whole group looks so festive in their cute little Santa outfits!

Man, those snowflakes look more like snowfakes. Get it? 'Cause they look so fake! HA!

Aw, the fade-out with the wreath is cute!

Wheeee more spiraling! It's like I'm watching Gounn all over again! Except with less Buddhism..

And the PV ends with a sprinkle of cute little stars! How sweet!

This is a Christmas PV. There's no denying it. You don't even have to know the title of the song to know that this is supposed to be a Christmas PV. Hell, the very first shot after the title drop establishes the Christmas mood of the PV! Yoyaku Shita Christmas is the next-to-last PV on Holly Jolly PV Week for a reason. Only one PV I've found is more Christmas-y than Yoyaku Shita Christmas is. But we'll get to that one tomorrow. I think it's pretty easy to figure out why I picked this one for Holly Jolly PV Week. Yoyaku Shita Christmas is one of those PVs that is a straight-up Christmas PV. There's no subplot, no symbolism, no alternate messages, it is a series of Christmas imagery all dedicated to celebrating Christmas. Literally. Yoyaku Shita Christmas plays out like one long, magical Christmas party. It's kind of like what The Polar Express did. You know, the story of kids boarding a magical train and going to the North Pole to meet Santa? Yoyaku Shita Christmas has that same kind of magical idea. The girls of AKB48 are celebrating Christmas in their magical house that defies the laws of gravity.

Yeah, you do have to apply a willing suspension of disbelief with this PV. There's not much of a plot, it's just a PV that relies on a variety of common Christmas themes and ideas strung together. You've got the Santa outfits, the yummy Christmas food, the wreaths, the floating Christmas presents, all the common things associated with Christmas. Or the modern version of it. I won't get into an editorial about the commercialization of Christmas, but the PV for Yoyaku Shita Christmas does sort of exemplify the idea of a "commercial" Christmas. Not that that's a bad thing. Well... depending on who you ask, it may be, but personally, I did not have a problem with this. I don't want a reenactment of the nativity scene from AKB48. Yoyaku Shita Christmas works as a Christmas PV because it showcases a vibrant, almost idealistic depiction of Christmas. No, of course my presents don't float around my house. But what makes Yoyaku Shita Christmas work so well is effects like that.

Yoyaku Shita Christmas is a very special effects-heavy PV though. Again, that's not a bad thing, as most of the effects hold up pretty well. I didn't notice much until now, but a lot of this PV is green screen. Thankfully though, it's a case in which the green screen actually looks decent. I swear, all these shitty green screens in the past year have made me so jaded. I will admit there are a few effects (like the floating glasses) that do look a tad bit gratuitous. I mean, those snowflakes at the end of the PV look so fake. I'm not expecting Frozen levels of snowflake detail, but come on, they could have at least tried to make them look a little more real. Even so, the lower quality effects in this PV didn't bother me. Actually, I think the green screens in Yoyaku Shita Christmas set up a very nice atmosphere. They gave the PV this very storybook-like quality. Obviously, the settings weren't meant to be real, so you could kind of picture them as scenes from a picture book. Like with the hanging clouds (you can clearly see the string), the transitions, and the pop-up nature of the special effects, the PV for Yoyaku Shita Christmas felt very much like a story being told either as a play or as a book. Like... a children's book. 

Ah, I can see it now! A children's Christmas book about AKB48 and how they had to save Christmas when something happened to Santa and... uh... yeah, I don't write children's books for a reason. Still, the PV for Yoyaku Shita Christmas felt like a view of Christmas the same way I viewed it as a kid. A bright and cheerful holiday full of delicious food and presents and Santa hats! Of course, it means more than that to me now, but Yoyaku Shita Christmas is a simpler depiction of Christmas. It's fun and lighthearted with just enough magic in it to be a delight to watch. It's one of my favorite Christmas PVs. I think the colors are beautiful, the girls look so sweet, and part of me gets so nostalgic for older AKB48 PVs. Okay, maybe this PV isn't super old, but compared to the AKB48 of today, it looks old. For me, Yoyaku Shita Christmas will always exist as this storybook-like Christmas PV. And that's just the way I like it!

Yoyaku Shita Christmas is probably the quintessential idol Christmas PV that a lot of idol fans think of and for a good reason. The PV is Christmas in a wonderfully whimsical and happy way, and the song isn't too bad either. So I can generously give Yoyaku Shita Christmas an overall rating of four and half fruitcakes! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. After all, Santa can't get here if I'm still up!