My Top 15 Perfume Lives

As you all know, I'm kind of a huge fan of Perfume.

Okay, that's an understatement. I'm a really huge fan of Perfume! They're my favorite J-pop group and overall one of my favorite artists too. I love their songs, the girls' personalities, their dances, their PVs, their history, and you guessed it, their lives. Perfume holds some of the most captivating and interesting live concerts that I've ever seen from an artist. "But Nia!" the hypothetical you cries out "You haven't even seen Perfume perform live! How could you possibly do an entire post on your favorite Perfume lives!?" Well... yes, it's true that I've never seen Perfume live and I probably never will, considering I live in the Southern United States. For a long time, I was extremely sad that I would never be able to see Perfume live but over time, I've accepted it. Besides, Perfume's such an awesome group that even seeing their lives from a computer screen is fun. Not a lot of artists can hold my attention like that but Perfume does! Perfume's lives are always top-notch and they seem to get better year by year. A lot of my favorite lives have been from the Tokyo Dome concert, the ⊿ Tour, and even the JPN Tour had some breakout moments. Every year, it seems like Perfume's lives get more intricate and more complex and they show you just how far they've come as a group. I think even someone who's not a fan of Perfume can appreciate the sheer time and effort put into making their concerts memorable. They're stocked with stunning visuals, loads of audience participation, amazing dances, emotional MCs, brilliant medleys, engaging specials, everything I love about Perfume only live! So to show that yet again Perfume is awesome and will enhance your life, I've compiled a little list of my personal favorite live performances by the techno trio!

15. Macaroni - Budokan 2008

Macaroni's one of the slowest songs by Perfume; don't get me wrong, it's good but I always wondered just how Perfume would perform it. Would there even be a dance? Because the PV just consisted of the girls wandering around a city filtered by Instagram. Well, it turned out that Macaroni did get a dance at the 2008 Budokan concert and the girls used the classic microphone stand and incorporated them into the dance! I actually really like this dance a lot even if it's one of the less complicated dances Perfume's handled before. It's just very cute, almost idol-y, with simple hand motions and slow pacing to match the steady tempo of the song. There's just something very genuine about this live of Macaroni and I can't really put my finger on what. The girls just seemed really relaxed and really happy when they were performing this song. It's definitely one of the slower-paced lives but honestly, I like its slow pace a lot. A majority of Perfume's lives are usually very high energy so it's always nice to calm things down with a slower paced song like Macaroni, Negai, 575, or even Toki no Hari. The tone and pacing of the live perfectly matches the tone and pacing of the song, and I get that same nostalgic and lounge-y feeling when watching the live that I do when listening to the song! My favorite part of the live is when just before the chorus, after Perfume's finished singing the third set of verses, the stage the girls are standing on starts rotating. I absolutely love this effect; it's simple but effective and really mesmerizing to look at. The 575 live at the Tokyo Dome also incorporated the use of a revolving stage so you can just give that live the imaginary #16 spot on the list!

14. JPN Special - JPN Tour 2012

This is kind of like the Perfume no Okite of the JPN Tour. I say that because this is one of Perfume's non vocal lives and is more dance and visual oriented. I will say, I feel like there are more visuals and less of the actual girls which is one of the reasons why I put it lower on the list. I'm serious, the first four minutes of this live, you don't even see the girls. Well... you see them projected on a screen but you don't actually see them until their entrance. Then again, it's a pretty kickass entrance. The screen is shaped like a giant triangle made up of a bunch of smaller shapes and the visuals incorporate even more geometrical shapes and other visual effects. It's very cool to look at and the music provided by Capsule matches the performance perfectly! Perfume doesn't actually show up in the video until about two and half minutes in and then the ultimate Perfume showdown begins! No really, the girls start fighting each other Matrix-style. And if there's something I find entertaining, it's idols beating the crap out of each other! Okay, it's not graphic but it's cool to watch and the visuals only add to the futuristic surreal look of the fight scene. After this there are some more interesting visuals and the finally the real Perfume shows up! Something I always love to watch in Perfume lives is when the girls interact with the visuals and stage and in the JPN Special, you get a lot of interaction between the girls and the visuals. It's very cool to watch, even if it's only made up of special effects. Is it more visuals than actual Perfume? Yes, but the visuals used in this live are pretty intricate and anyone who appreciates special effects can enjoy the JPN Special!

13. GLITTER (Album-mix) - JPN Tour 2012

After seeing the JPN live for Glitter (Album-mix), I think I like it even better than the live of the original Glitter! I mean it, I really wasn't expecting much for the live of Glitter; the dance was fun and the song is amazing but the visual effects for this live were really top-notch. The live consists of lights, lots and lots of lights. From the get-go, you've got streams of light flooding the stadium as the opening notes of Glitter (Album-mix) start playing and then Perfume rises out from below the stage, making for a very epic entrance! The lights are a darker shade of blue, illuminating their shiny new costumes and then the lights focus more on them. I think what I love most about this live is that Perfume gets to interact with the visual effects; I always love it whenever a singer interacts with the stage because it feels so surreal and magical. Yeah, I know it's just special effects but I'd like to pretend that for a few minutes, all the glowing lights are magic. Just let me dream! But yeah, the live has each girl in Perfume standing in their own little section on the stage and it has them interacting with the lights streaming around them; it's a simple effect but when done well, it can look really cool and here it looks completely awesome. The dance is also really cool to watch but then again, Glitter already had a cool dance. I think it was enhanced by the stage though, along with all the visual effects. There wasn't much glitter in the Glitter live, but the stage looked very luminescent! I just overall like the atmosphere of the Glitter live; it's a combination of fantastical and cool, with stellar visual effects combined with an equally stellar song.

12. Polyrhythm - every concert they've done it at

I have yet to meet a Perfume fan who doesn't know this song (and a good majority of fans know the dance too). The only reason I put Polyrhythm so low on the list is because Perfume has done it a lot. If they have a concert tour? Polyrhythm? TV medley? Polyrhythm? TV appearance not promoting a single? Polyrhythm. I always wonder... does Perfume ever get tired of performing Polyrhythm? I've said before how Polyrhythm to Perfume is what Love Machine is to Morning Musume and they pretty much have to perform it at their concerts. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not! Polyrhythm's a good song and was the turning point in Perfume's music career. That being said, it can get old after awhile which is again why it's not as high on the list. But it's still a good song and the dance is one of the most iconic dances from Perfume's discography! The best part of every live is the opening notes of the song when the girls start singing and the crowd just goes wild. And then the chorus kicks in and the girls start that famous Polyrhythm dance and the enthusiasm of the crowd gets even higher. My favorite part of the Polyrhythm live is always when the girls dance to the polyrhythmic bridge; this part of the dance was cut out in the PV, so I always love seeing it performed live because it's awesome. The bridge dance is the best part of the live because Perfume does all these motions in a rapid-fire sequence and it's absolutely awesome to watch. So even though Polyrhythm can get a bit overused, it's a really fun live to watch and the dance is both iconic and awesome!

11. Spending all my time - Summer Sonic 2012

Something that's always impressed me about Perfume's dancing is that most of the time the girls move in a way that makes their dances seem really effortless and easy when really they're complicated as hell. You can best see a demonstration of that complexity in their lives performances of Spending all my time. Now I know that on more than one occasion I've said I'm not a fan of the song but I always try to include that the song is much better to me because of the PV and also the really great dance with it. I really love the dance and I feel like you don't get to see a lot of it in the PV; you get parts of the hand motions and even a few foot moves in the PV but the live is where the dance really springs to life. Get it? Spring to life? Eh heh... anyways! Perfume's always had pretty intricate dances when it comes to their post-major debut songs and Spending all my time is one of the most complex and elaborate dances I've seen from Perfume. I think that's mainly because the moves that A-chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka do are all separate and different; sometimes the same motions happen at different times or right after one another but they're all pretty much doing three different dances. But those three different dances are like three puzzle pieces and when you put them together, everything fits. Each hand motion blends together and the dance flows so beautifully and the girls make it look effortless when in reality the SAMT dance is complicated. I like the Summer Sonic live especially because it shows the best parts of the dance, with great camera work that really brings this song to life!

10. GAME - Tokyo Dome 2010

Let me just go ahead and say that the Tokyo Dome concert was fucking awesome. Well... I don't know from personal experience, but I can tell that it was fucking awesome, that's how awesome it was! Tokyo Dome is probably my favorite Perfume concert (well... either that or ⊿ Tour) because of all the effort put into making this a memorable live. Every song selection is perfect, the effects are perfect, the girls are perfect (but they always are at lives), this is just a perfect concert with everything fans love about Perfume. It's got light songs, old songs, dark songs, new songs, the setlist is perfect. And one of my favorite performances from Tokyo Dome has got to be GAME. Now GAME had been performed before at both the Budokan in 2008 and also the GAME Tour but I always felt like those lives could have been better if the group had access to a more expansive stage. There was potential for a really awesome live and I felt that with the right atmosphere, GAME could be a really kickass song to perform live. Well, with Tokyo Dome, I got that awesome atmosphere that I was yearning for. What I love about this live of GAME is that Perfume makes great use of the expansive Tokyo Dome Stage. The girls are everywhere starting at different corners, coming to the center and then going back out to their respective corners. The live is completely badass; they have freaking lightsabers! I knew it! The girls are Jedis! So Nakata must be Yoda... But anyways, I love the use of lightsabers for this song and I also love the dance those moving platforms look awesome. It's a kickass live that was really brought to life thanks to the stage the girls performed in!

9. Spring of Life - Kouhaku Uta Gassuen 2012

Light. Up. Dresses. That alone could make for an awesome live! I've said before on numerous occasions how I think Perfume's light-up dresses used for Spring of Life are completely and totally awesome and probably the best costumes they've ever had. And live, they look even better; I love seeing Spring of Life performed live just so I can see these light-up dresses in action! But I think the best live of Spring of Life was at Kouhaku Uta Gassuen. Perfume had hinted that their Spring of Life performance was going to be pretty kickass, and luckily they did not disappoint! I think of all the times Perfume has been to Kouhaku now, Spring of Life has got to be my favorite Kouhaku performance of theirs. What makes this live stand out from the other SoL performances is the sheer amount of visuals gone into this one; not only do the girls look great in their light-up outfits (I really love the outfits used for this live) but the other visual effects are top-notch. The stage at Kouhaku is really expansive and has this kind of arc-shape and that allows a lot of possibilities for visual effects! From three sides you have a myriad of different visuals, from geometric lighting effects to giant images of Perfume dancing (think Perfume on Okite with light-up dresses) to even the stairs getting their own visuals. The stage looks almost futuristic with all the stuff going on in it and Perfume fits perfectly with the background. Every time I watch this live, I never really know where to look; I want to look at everything but I try to focus on Perfume. The Spring of Life Kouhaku is absolutely breathtaking thanks to all the different visuals and of course, those flipping awesome light-up dresses!

8. Perfect Star Perfect Style - Tokyo Dome 2010

Let me just go ahead and say that Perfect Star Perfect Style is a great live at any of the concerts but for me, the Tokyo Dome performance has always been my personal favorite. I think the nostalgia factor is what plays into why I like this particular live of Perfect Star Perfect Style. The song itself was recorded for their best-of album in a very uncertain time for Perfume during which the group didn't know if they were going to be dropped by their label or not. They had yet to have a breakthrough hit and the girls themselves were so unsure if their future as a group that they enrolled in universities in case Perfume didn't work out. The lyrics also carry a theme of saying goodbye, almost as if Perfume was singing goodbye to their then-small fanbase. The girls had always dreamed of performing at the Tokyo Dome so to be standing on that stage, ten years later singing a song that they thought would possibly be the last Perfume song ever is a very heartwarming moment. What I really love about this performance is how genuinely happy A-chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka look; my only criticism of the Tokyo Dome concert was that there were a lot of parts in the concert where the girls looked really nervous. But then again, if you were performing in the venue of your dreams, I think you'd be a little nervous too. When they get around to performing Perfect Star Perfect Style, they all look really relaxed and really happy; you can really tell how much it means to them to be performing in such a prestigious revenue and for that reason, this live always puts a smile on my face.

7. Take me Take me - GAME Tour 2008

One of the selling points of Perfume is that they're not really what you'd call "sexy" and don't rely on fanservice (at least the conventional kind) to gain fans. At the most, Perfume is sensual, and it's only every so often the fans see the sensual side of Perfume. But when they're sensual, boy are they sensual. If I were to make a list of the Top 15 Most Sensual Perfume Dances, Take me Take me would without a doubt be number one. If you're a fan, you should already know that the vague English lyrics have enough undertones to be a sensual song and the dance successfully conveys the lyrics in a tasteful manner. There's no chest-thrusting or hip shaking in this song (not much anyways...) but instead there are slow and deliberate moves. I think it was a genius idea to do a chair dance to Take me Take me and the use of the chairs and the dance convey that "take me tonight" feeling the song has. It's a very intimate and sensual song and the dance and the setting of this live really add to those feelings. With the smaller stage and the closer audience, the GAME Tour live feels just as intimate as the song does; I didn't get that same intimacy with Budokan's live of Take me Take me, although it was still very good. With dim lighting, the up-close and intimate shots, and the most sensual choreography Perfume has ever danced to, the Take me Take me live is a compelling live and not just because of Kashiyuka's legs.

6. Secret Secret - Tokyo Dome 2010

I have two favorite parts in this song: the opening and the bridge. For starters, Secret Secret opens the Tokyo Dome concert; the very first Perfume song all 50,000 of those fans packed in that venue hear is Secret Secret. And I couldn't have picked a better song.  Secret Secret has always been one of my favorite Perfume songs, so much that I think it could have held up as a single on its own. It's one of the Perfume songs that's really suited for lives with a stellar opening and even more stellar dance. I think that's always what I love about Secret Secret live; the opening really comes to life! At the start of the Tokyo Dome concert, there's this huge tent-shaped drop-cloth obscuring Perfume and only projecting giant shadows of each girl. The opening notes start and you can hear how psyched the crowd is; even I got psyched sitting in my desk chair in front of a computer screen. Then the drop-cloth falls and the girls spring into that awesome dance and the music gets even louder as the song goes on. The feeling when the girls start performing at Tokyo Dome is totally exhilarating and I can only imagine how it exciting it must have been for someone at the concert. My other favorite part of this live is the bridge of the song, thanks to the outfits the girls have on. When the bridge starts, the lights get dim and their outfits glow and it looks absolutely cool. Okay, the outfits aren't quite as cool as Spring of Life (but then again, I don't think any other outfits are) but it's still a really cool part of the song! Overall, I love it when Perfume performs Secret Secret and Tokyo Dome was when I felt like they were at the top of their game.

5. What is Disco? - Disco!Disco!Disco! 2009

The first half of What is Disco? is actually a video played at the concert in which there are two Perfumes: the Dark Perfume and the Light Perfume. Dark Perfume summons/kidnaps/creates Light Perfume to discover "What is disco?" and then Light Perfume wanders around trying to figure out just what is disco and much hilarity ensues. I love the little video sketch before the actual live and I think it shows off Perfume's performing skills and the onscreen chemistry they have as both individuals and as a group. The sketch is absolutely fun to watch and a great build-up to the actual live with playful visuals and a lot of great visual humor! The sketch then ends and that's when the live starts and it's a pretty awesome buildup. What is Disco? is actually a medley of Perfume's past songs at the time with a slightly disco remix to the entire medley, hence the title What is Disco? I actually really love the build-up to the medley because I get all excited that Perfume's about to come out and start performing. Baby Cruising Love comes in and from then on the medley is absolutely fun. The songs in the medley range from harder and edgier to cuter and lighter and the transitions are nice and fun, very disco-y! Perfume actually sings a lot of songs that they don't perform live a lot anymore including Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow, Oishii Recipe, Linear Motor Girl and even Sweet Donuts! I always think it's fun whenever Perfume goes back to some of their older songs, and you can really tell how much fun the girls are having interacting with the audience. The older songs, adorable video intro, and the audience are what make What is Disco? my favorite Perfume medley!

4. Summer Night Medley - 2012

I almost forgot to add this live to the list! Can you believe that? I think it's because it's so recent and I was trying to look more for lives from past concerts. But after some speculation, I realized I had to include this live, simply because of the groundbreaking technology used in it. The live is pretty much your standard Perfume medley, with the songs Laser Beam, Spring of Life, Hurly Burly and Glitter all being mixed together but I think any Perfume fan knows what the most breathtaking aspect of this live was: the holograms. This live used holographic images of Perfume and had them perform the dances alongside the real Perfume. You know the only other J-pop artist that's used holographic technology in a concert? Hatsune Miku. And she's not even a real person! Oh yeah, and Tupac Shakur's had a lot of holographic lives but that's off topic. Anyways, I was completely blown away this live. The most amazing thing about the holographic Perfume girls is that they look incredibly lifelike, and it wasn't until the real Perfume came on stage that I was able to really pick out the differences. At first it felt really surreal but the more I watched holographic Perfume, the more entranced I was. Can you imagine just how much time and effort was put into making these holograms look like they were actually there? Holographic effects are more than just projecting an image onto a screen; it's creating something that looks three-dimensional and projecting that into a live setting. I would really love to see this effect used in Perfume concerts in the future, even though I know animating and creating holographic Perfume must be hard. Still, the end result paid off and I absolutely love this live!

3. Perfume no Okite - Tokyo Dome 2010

Sometimes I forget that this entire little sequence is basically the build-up to a costume change. Don't get me wrong, it is a freaking awesome live but I just find it hilarious that the last thing you see before the live ends is the girls shedding their gold coverings to their costumes and re-emerging wearing luminescent green costumes! But enough of the outfits! I mean, the songs starts with giant dancing images of Perfume dancing in synchronization with the much smaller Perfume to this insanely catchy melody. Then each girl punches her real name and birth date on a giant calculator projected onto that same screen. And that's only the first half of the live. After that, each member does their own little segment in the song. First, Kashiyuka dances surrounded by multiple Kashiyukas and who doesn't love multiple dancing Kashiyukas? Then the camera focuses on A-chan who takes out a giant machine gun and proceeds to shoot lasers at balloons, popping them and it's extremely badass. My favorite member bit is when Nocchi dances down the stage; the Tokyo Dome was set up to include the numbers 1-11 to show how the group had released 11 singles at the time of their landmark concert. At each number, Nocchi would do part of one of the dances to each single from Linear Motor Girl all the way to Voice! It was fun figuring out what part of the song she was dancing to and a nice throwback to all the group's past singles! Then the group gather back together, and finishes the rest of the amazing dance. Perfume no Okite really shows off Perfume's movement and dancing and it's one of the coolest non-vocal lives they've done.

2. edge (⊿-mix) - ⊿ Tour 2009

There are several reasons why edge (⊿-mix) is my favorite Perfume song and this live's one of them! Here's a little fun fact about edge (⊿-mix): it runs for 8 minutes. That's almost 10 minutes of a procession of choreographed moves that have to be carried out with absolute precision otherwise the whole dance will collapse in on itself. Luckily, Perfume pulls it off astoundingly well, executing each move with military-like precision then smoothly advancing into the next portion of the dance. It probably helps that edge (⊿-mix) is my number one Perfume song ever made but among the reasons it earned that title is because the live is so mind-blowingly awesome. Everything is at the top of its game: the lighting, the effects, the videos, the dance, the girls, and all that combined. Even if you're not a fan of Perfume, I still think you can appreciate the effort put in from Nakata, Mikiko, the girls, and everyone else behind this. It's so good that it made me feel like I was at an actual concert despite the fact that I was watching it on a computer screen. It just takes me into this surreal world of Perfume and then by the time those 8 minutes are done my mind is blown. There is so much going on in this live from the compelling dance that ranges from frantic and fast-paced to slower and melancholic to the visual effects, like the boxes the girls stand on at the beginning and the use of the screens to show a hologram version of Perfume. I think the choreography and the visuals in this live match the feelings of the song perfectly and the live of edge (⊿-mix) is something I can watch over and over again.

1. Any time they sing live

For the record, Perfume is perfectly capable of singing live. A lot of their songs just happen to be Vocoded and Autotuned to hell so if Perfume were to sing some of these songs live, they wouldn't sound anywhere near as good as the originals. Even so, what Perfume lacks in live singing they make up for in their intricate choreography, awesome visual effects, audience participation, and the girls' own vibrant personalities. But just because Perfume lip-syncs most of their songs when it comes to their live performances doesn't mean that there aren't some songs that they perform. Jenny wa Gokigen Naname is one of the group's oldest songs that's sung live and it's pretty much a staple at concerts now. Other audience participation songs like Perfume are also sung live and even a few songs off JPN were sung live during their JPN Tour. At first, putting Perfume's live singing as my favorite Perfume live might seem like a weird choice. It doesn't really have any of the qualities I value in Perfume concerts: the dances are usually much simpler, the visual effects (if any at all) are pretty toned down, and as much as I hate to admit it, Perfume aren't the best live singers in the world. Don't get me wrong, they're still really good, but I've heard better live singers. I think what I love most about Perfume's live singing is that we don't get to hear them sing live often, so when they do, it's a happy surprise! The girls' raw vocals just carry more earnestness than their Autotuned and recorded vocals and you can tell how much fun the girls have when they get to sing live. I love it when they sing live and the happy surprise that comes with it!

If you're new to Perfume, I highly recommend checking out any of these live performances. Actually... just check out Perfume's live concerts in general. They're quite the spectacle to see and one of the many amazing aspects of Perfume (and proof that Perfume really will enhance your life!).

The Girl Beneath the Mask

Disclaimer: this post discusses extremely sensitive topics including suicide and contains an image that may not be suitable for all readers. I very strongly recommend approaching this post with caution, especially if you have been personally affected by suicide. 

Look at that idol. Isn't she pretty? What could possibly be wrong with her life?

That idol is Okada Yukiko and you idol history buffs might recognize her as an idol from the 80s and the rest of you might even know a little bit about her history thanks to Ray's post on Idolminded! But for those of you who don't know who I'm talking about, here's a little history on this 80s idol! Okada Yukiko was first discovered in 1983 on a Japanese talent show (think American Idol only from the 80s and in Japan) called Star Tanjo! and even went on to win the show. And so her idol career began. Okada gained the affectionate fan nickname "Yukko" after mispronouncing her name due to nervousness when introducing herself on The Best Ten, an old TBS Show. Yukko's first single, titled First Date, which debuted at #20 on the Oricon Charts. Now that might be the most stellar position to debut with but as the year progressed, Yukko started getting more and more attention as an idol. She released two more singles that year and both were received well by both her growing amount of fans and critics alike. In 1984, Yukko won Best New Artist for her song -Dreaming Girl- Koi, Hajimemashite at the 26th Japan Record Awards. At the rate she was going, Yukko had a promising career ahead of her. 1985 only brought more good fortune for the blossoming idol and she released three more singles that year and snagged a leading role on a TV Drama. Her songs were used for a variety of commercials including Glico and Toshiba U30. 1986 started off great for the idol as well; her 8th single, Kuchibiru Network, hit #1 on the charts! Fans loved her for her sweet personality, her simple but sweet voice, her cute and innocent looks, and most of all, that beautiful smile she always seemed to wear. Yukko was the quintessential idol and she had the potential to reach the level of idol stardom that Matsuda Seiko possessed.

So why am I writing about her anyways? What stands out so much about Yukko to me? I mean, I know about other classic idols like Matsuda Seiko, Nakamori Akina, Moritaka Chisato, Pink Lady, Onyanko Club and so on but generally the older idols from the 70s and 80s don't really interest me. Okay, Nakamori Akina's music is pretty cool but other than her I don't look much into the older idol boom. I know it's a huge part of what led to the modern-day idol industry and I appreciate it for that but I still don't have a lot of interest for the idols or music from back then. What is it that separates Yukko from all those other idols? I've listened to some of her songs and they're okay, nothing special but very pleasant to listen to. She has a beautiful smile, but she's not the most striking idol I've ever seen. From what I've seen of her TV appearances she has a sweet personality but not one that really distinguishes itself. That doesn't really seem like enough material to generate an entire article, does it? Well, I'm afraid to say that a more tragic element of Yukko's life is what compelled me to write about her. On April 8, 1986 around 10:00 at night, the manager of Sun Music entered Yukko's apartment to find it filled with gas (a common method of suicide in Japan is gassing). And in the closet lay Okada Yukiko, her wrist slashed and crying her eyes out. Why? No one knows but the manager took her back to the Sun Music building. Roughly two hours later, Yukko jumped from the seven-story building.

On April 8, 1986 Okada Yukiko the smiling idol was dead on the sidewalk at age 18.

I got chills when I was reading about Yukko's suicide. I'm not exaggerating; I looked down and my arms were covered in goosebumps. It was shocking and sad... but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fascinating either. I've always had a knack for mysteries, and the suicide of Okada Yukiko was one of the most mysterious things I've encountered during all my time as an idol blogger. I read on and found out that Yukko's suicide triggered a small amount of other suicides mirroring her own, including one fan who jumped off the same building she did. The small phenomenon was coined the Yukko Syndrome and that was yet another element to this strange, disturbing piece of idol history. But honestly, as someone who blogs about idols, that little tidbit wasn't what interested me the most about this whole thing. What simultaneously interested and disturbed was the more of the fact that an idol took her own life. It's very rare that you read about dead idols and the way Yukko died is not only sad but a mystery.

I'm aware that the life of an idol isn't all rainbows and flowers but why on earth did this idol feel like her life wasn't worth living anymore? Isn't that always the question when someone takes their own life? Why did they do it? Why did Yukko, this beautiful idol with the start of a such promising career ahead of her, do it? I honestly don't know; there's too little concrete evidence to really back up any of the theories I've developed. All I can ever really do is speculate. I don't know if Yukko had any skeletons in her closet or any emotional problems; on the surface she seemed like a normal, happy girl to everyone, including her fans. Relatives and friends reported that she seemed like a perfectly happy person during the time of her suicide. My personal theory is that stress had an element in the idol's suicide; I think the weight of being an idol just... got to her. Or I guess I should say one specific element of being an idols: The Mask.

The Mask is a personal term that I use for idols and the definition is somewhat self-explanatory. The Mask is simply the public persona an idol takes on, the personality she projects to her fans, regardless of what she's really like. The Mask could be very similar to her own personality or it could be a completely different persona that she feels compelled to keep up because the fans like it or because management shoehorns her into it. But the key element of The Mask is that it is not what an idol's true personality is like. Very rarely do we see that girl beneath her mask because that's not an idol's job. She's not supposed to wear her heart on her sleeve; she's supposed to smile and be happy and get wotas to buy her songs and photobooks. I think something that I tend to forget is just how meticulously and how much an idol has to wear that mask. It's true that we all have our own personal masks and that we all act different ways around different people and that it can be very mentally exhausting to constantly keep up an act. But usually there comes a time when we can stop and take off that mask.

An idol doesn't have that same luxury, especially a popular idol. A popular idol constantly has to keep up this personality that may or may not reflect who she really is as a person, constantly balancing herself on this emotional tightrope. If she lets the wrong emotion break free, she could very well slip off that tightrope, losing fans and maybe even popularity. For that reason, being an idol is not just a job; it's a lifestyle and if a girl isn't prepared to take on that lifestyle, then it could really be stressful. The idea of having to consistently keep up an act and behave a certain way with the risk of losing fans is a strenuous thought. I know I could only keep it up for so long. My personal theory is that Okada Yukiko couldn't take being a smiling idol anymore; perhaps it was stress or perhaps she realized that she couldn't bear the strain of being an idol. So feeling like there was no escape from the life she had ahead of her, she ended it.

Mind you, it's just one of the many theories floating around but thinking about Okada Yukiko and her suicide made me realize something: of all the idols I follow, all the groups I'm a fan of, I know nothing about these girls. Sure, I have favorites, I praise certain girls' personalities and criticize others but at the end of the day, I know nothing about them. All I know is the image they've carefully constructed to please their fanbase and I've made judgement on which ones I like based on that. But then again, that is the purpose of an idol. Idols aren't supposed to be these multi-faceted people we can observe with both positive and negative traits. Idols exist to be that shining illusion that we can admire, idealism all wrapped up in a shiny pink bow. We're not supposed to identify with these girls' problems; we're supposed to identify with their perpetual happiness and smiles and any other image created by The Mask an idol wears. The only group I feel like I know more about beyond just The Mask is Perfume but even then that's not much. For all the years I've been following them, I only know so much about Perfume. Granted, it's more than some of the other idols I follow but still. It isn't like the teen celebrities in the US, where it feels like you know every aspect of their life and personality because the tabloids and gossip magazines cover it so much.

You only see what management wants you to see out of an idol and if an idol does something that management didn't want the public to see, such as dating in public, the idol gets punished. Then the affair is quickly swept under the rug before anyone can realize what happened and fans move on to another shiny new idol that won't make mistakes like that other tarnished, no good idol. Very rarely do you see traces of an idol's true personality because they spend so much time looking and acting in a certain way to appeal to a certain demographic. It doesn't matter how sad they feel, how angry they feel, or anything else because the moment she steps out in public, an idol puts on a mask. Is it stressful? Probably, but it's their job and they know that they could risk their entire career if they act in a way that isn't the norm of how idols are supposed to act.

And when an idol does show signs of an emotion that isn't acceptable for idols? Don't expect the fans to be happy because god forbid an idol display any signs of how she truly feels about something. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; it's only natural. We latch onto an image we carefully construct of an idol. And when that idol does something that doesn't fit with that image we have of her, we get angry. We get hurt. We don't know what to think. We wonder why did they do it and question our loyalty to them. And that brings me to Kusumi Koharu. I'm sure a majority of you know who and what I'm talking about (since I'm fairly certain most of my readers are Momusu fans) but for those of you who don't, here's a brief history on this idol. Koharu was the sole 7th Generation member of Morning Musume, dubbed the "Miracle Idol" of MM. She spent four years in the group with a pretty decent amount of popularity thanks to her job as a voice actress on popular kids' show, Kirarin Revolution, with her brief solo career as an anime singer and a nice amount of vocals and spotlight in Momusu.

In December 2009, she graduated and went on to become a highly photogenic model. Now obviously Koharu was before my time as an Momusu fan and I honestly don't really pay attention to her. She'll never be one of my favorites but I've never disliked her; I simply never had the chance to grow attached to her and become a fan because she wasn't in Morning Musume anymore. The reason I bring her up was because very recently, Koharu had a scandal. Not a dating scandal but something a little more potent to her fans. On a radio show with Sayumi, Koharu was discussing her past in Momusu, saying how she'd only joined the group to get a stepping stone into the entertainment industry and become a model. She expressed displeasure with the (mostly) male fanbase she catered to as an MM member so she claimed that she left the group while she was still young enough to pursue other career choices. Naturally, it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, including her fans. Left and right people accused her of being ungrateful toward both Momusu and all the opportunities presented because of that.

Do I think all the flack she's getting for this little scandal is reasonable? Well... yes and no. I say yes because I do agree that she sounded ungrateful for the opportunities presented thanks to her position as a Morning Musume member. I also think it was foolish of Koharu to say such things with a Morning Musume member on the same radio show. But on the other hand... okay, have you guys ever done something that you really, truly hated? Something you thought you were going to enjoy and that everyone else enjoyed? I think most of us can say yes we have. Back in fifth grade, I joined a dance team because I thought it would be fun to dance to something besides ballet and being on a team would be a fun way to meet new friends. It turned out to ruin fifth grade for me. On the team, I was ostracized for being a bad dancer, constantly told what I was doing wrong, and generally left out. It was awful. And do you know something else? I could vent for hours about how much I hated that fucking dance team. The hatred I have for it seems to have built up as I've gotten older and I only look back on the experience with bad memories and an overall bitter outlook.

Now who's to say that Koharu doesn't feel the same way about Morning Musume? From what I've gathered, Koharu wasn't exactly the most welcome member of the group. Sayumi's stated that she was a pain to mentor, she was never really close to anyone in the group, and at her graduation, her fellow members seemed rather distant to her leaving. Koharu said that she wanted a cool image like Yossie and what mask did she get? The cutesy and smiling Kirari-type character. I don't know what went on behind the doors of UFA between Morning Musume and Koharu but if she had a bad experience in MM, wouldn't it be hard to project an illusion of it being the greatest time of her life and all that sparkle? I think on the radio show, she just got mad that yet again, she had to talk about a time in her life that she was more than ready to leave behind even if it had given her so many opportunities. So she vented and put her foot in her mouth, regardless of the consequences.

As much as I hate to admit it, learning how Koharu felt about Morning Musume is kind of a relief. It's refreshing to see an idol speak with such genuine negativity, even though I know her fans didn't like that. I don't know why but it's strangely fascinating to catch a glimpse of the girl beneath the mask. Like I said, seeing an idol express any emotions that aren't happy, lighthearted, jovial, etc. is extremely rare and I never expected Koharu of all idols to do so. I know there are a lot of people who are going to dislike her for her statements about Morning Musume but I can't help but admire the nerve (or foolishness) Koharu has. Because hearing her say something so harsh is strangely relatable; it's relatable to me to know that Koharu had an experience that she felt jaded about and even more relatable that Koharu spoke about it in public. It's a nice reminder to me that idols are people too and people hate things, even when they're supposed to like them. So I guess what I'm trying to say about this entire post is... there's more to an idol that what meets the eye and that may be an uglier and nastier side that she has to hide but nevertheless it's there. Beyond the sparkles and the frilly dresses and microphones are real teenage girls with a range of different problems that we will never see thanks to those carefully constructed masks that these idols wear. I just hope that no idol feels compelled to go in the same direction that Okada Yukiko left.

My Top 10 Ballads

As you all know, I am not a huge fan of C-ute's cover of Kono Machi. I spent a whole PV review saying that I didn't like how the original Moritaka Chisato song was turned into a ballad and that I really thought it took away from the enjoyment of the song. The ballad cover sounded slow and plodding to me, and although it's not a bad song, it's definitely not one of my favorite ballads.

So then I started thinking, "Are there any good ballads I've heard lately?" I realized no, not really but then I started also thinking about what ballads did I like? After all, I don't dislike ballads; there are just a lot of ballads I dislike. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is I have a small amount of ballads that I like. I think the reason that I'm not a fan of a lot of ballads is simply because of my song taste in general. I like music that has energy. And by energy, I mean a song that is energetic, regardless of style. If I'm listening to a happy song, I want it to be the most energetic, over-the-top happy song I've ever heard. Almost any style of music that backs itself up with a high amount of energy, chances are I'll probably like it or at least commend the song for its energy. The things is... ballads aren't energetic. Well, most of them aren't with a few exceptions. And since they lack one of the key things I look for in a good song, naturally there aren't a lot of ballads I like. Because to me, what defines a good ballad is emotion. A ballad tends to rely more on the vocals and less the musical arrangement to carry the song and if that vocalist can't provide the emotion they're trying to convey in their song, the entire song falls flat for me.  When a ballad, can make me feel the same emotion the singer has, that's when I know I'm gonna love this ballad. What can I say? I'm very particular when it comes to what ballads I like. That brings me back to my original question: what ballads do I like anyways? Surely there's a small handful of ballads I find good, I know there are! I've decided to limit my list to only J-pop ballads, since hey, that's what I write about (although I will say there are a lot of Western ballads that I adore too). But I've managed to compile some of my favorite ballads by J-pop artists that I follow! Some of them I picked for their emotion, others I picked because they make me curl up in a ball and cry. But I love all of them!

So get out your tissues because we are diving into my top ten personal favorite J-pop ballads!

10. 575 - Perfume

Ah, what better way to start off the list than with Perfume? The reason I put 575 so low on the list is because it's kind of a borderline ballad. Then again, that's what makes it such an interesting song! In contrast to the highly bland and boring VOICE, I loved this B-side on its first listen because of it's interesting arrangement. The verses that are sung are done in a haiku style: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables hence the title of the song. The song is pretty much about lining up verses in 5-7-5 to reach out to a person the narrator doesn't want to slip through of her fingers. 575 is kind of a "lost love" song only the love isn't quite lost yet and that provides the conflict in the lyrics. It's a pretty melancholic concept but the sung verses are absolutely beautiful in both sound and arrangement, especially with its slow tempo. And then the song transitions into the rapping part. Now you might be thinking "What the what? I thought you said this was a ballad! What the hell are you on, Nia?" I know it sounds crazy; you never really put Perfume and rapping together but in 575 it works really well! And the rapping is good, much better than I thought it would be. 575 may seem like a strange excuse for a ballad at first but the elements woven together into the song and the clever use of haiku verses are what make this an amazing ballad and one of my favorite Perfume songs in general.

9. Koi ING - Morning Musume

This is another one of those borderline ballads and I almost thought about not including it on the list. I say that because although the songs starts out much like a ballad with a really slow opening and slow-paced vocals from Miki, Ai and Eri (who all sound great in this song). But then the song gets a little bit more energetic leading up to the chorus and then it's like all this energy just came bursting out of a box! Does that even make sense? In context, going from such a slow pace to a high-energy level sounds like mood whiplash but for Koi ING, it works well. Even when the song goes back to that slow pace after the chorus and then goes right back up to having a boatload of energy and bubbly happiness, it still works. For two completely different styles to be seamlessly blended together is a pretty remarkable feat. As you can see, the fact that this song is like 60% ballad and 40% song made me hesitant to put it on this list. But there are just so many parts about this ballad that I love. Like that piano intro? I love piano intros, the #1 ballad on this list has an amazing piano intro and I love the piano intro on Koi ING. Actually, I really think that the instrumental of this song holds up just as well as the original. Koi ING perfectly combines slow and pretty with upbeat and happy and it's still one of Morning Musume's best songs.

8. My alright sky - Suzuki Airi

Let me go ahead and say that My alright sky was the only saving grace of the Partenza album. In the middle of the electropop mess that was this mini album was a little R&B-influenced song sung by Suzuki Airi, one of it not the best singer in Hello! Project. Up until My alright sky, I hadn't listened to any of Airi's other solo songs. I mean, I knew she was a good singer and everything, I just didn't really pay attention to any of the album songs, B-sides, and the digital singles she'd released. My alright sky was the first time I realized just how talented Airi is as a vocalist; every note she hits in this ballad is perfect. She makes it sound so effortless too; one of the most difficult things for a singer to accomplish is making the song she's singing sound easy. It's extremely challenging and Airi makes this song sound like a piece of cake even. Airi's vocals are my favorite part about this song and I think it's what separates it from other ballads in that same R&B vein of music. And the song has a really good flow; it just seems to float along with Airi's vocals and it's a great song to listen to whenever I want to chill out. I actually love playing it while I'm driving considering driving in itself is extremely stressful. Funny thing is, when I first heard this song, I was like "WOW, Airi speaks really good English!" Then I found out it's not her... oh well! Airi sounds great in this ballad and that's why I love it!

7. Knight Flight - Kikkawa Yuu

I like Knight Flight for the same reason that I love My alright sky: the singer. I've always loved Kikkawa Yuu's voice (well... when it's not Vocoded and Autotuned to hell) and a ballad is the perfect opportunity for Kikka to really sing. And she hits a lot of different ranges, going from high to low then low to high and even doing a key change right in the middle of a flipping chorus! Kikka's voice is what essentially carries the song and the vocal arrangement is definitely the most interesting aspect of this ballad. I think my favorite part is the chorus and when Kikka goes partway into her head voice; usually head voice doesn't work as well on a recording as it does live, but in Knight Flight, her head voice fits with the song. And I really can't emphasize just how beautiful this chorus sounds; I wasn't expecting it when I first heard the song. Because while the verses are kind of soft, they're also pretty safe in terms of vocal range but then out of nowhere Kikka just starts hitting these high notes left and right and it works so amazingly. I actually looked up the live to this song to see if she could pull it off as well as she did in the recording and... yeah, she does. Knight Flight is a ballad that makes me appreciate Kikka's vocal abilities and it's a beautiful song. It's just one of those soothing songs that always calms me down when I play it!

6. For you... - Linlin

I think my first thought when I heard this song was, "Oh my god Linlin can sing." Something to note about Linlin was that she graduated just after I'd gotten into Morning Musume so her time in Morning Musume was an era I was never really present for. I never really got attached to her because why should I? She graduated! I'd looked into the group's past singles and I noticed she didn't even get a lot of lines or screen time so my interest in her remained low. Then I listened to For you, her solo on one of those H!P compilation albums and ever since then I've been scratching my head as to why in the hell UFP let her amazing voice got to waste. All right, I'm fairly certain it was her Chinese nationality that ever prevented Linlin from having real success in Momusu, but that's still a shitty reason to shaft her! I'm serious, Linlin's voice completely blew my mind when I heard this ballad; I had no idea she was such an amazing singer because I heard her so little in Morning Musume's songs. Linlin's voice is what makes For you such a perfect ballad; in the beginning, she sings very softly and delicate and her voice grows louder and stronger until she hits the chorus and it sounds absolutely beautiful. The minimal instrumentals only highlight how wonderful Linlin's voice is and it's a shame that I didn't hear her voice more in Morning Musume.

5. hitoribochi - BiS

Can I just take this moment to say that once again, the Brand-new Idol Society's music is totally awesome and you are really missing out if you're too stubborn to look past their weird image. I could probably make an entire list of my favorite BiS songs and Hitoribochi would definitely be high up on that list! Not only is it a great ballad, Hitoribochi is just a great song. This is a rock ballad and pretty much the only one on my list (unless you consider #2 a rock ballad). Honestly, this song feels more like a blend of rock and alternative; the opening especially reminds me something a jangly 80s band like R.E.M. or even The Cure would do. But then the chorus uses a lot of heavy guitars so I think Hitoribochi can be called an alt-rock ballad. And it's such a good song and it has everything I like in a ballad. The vocals are extremely emotional and hit their high point in the chorus and you can just hear the emotion behind the voices of BiS. The members of BiS also composed the lyrics for this song and I think that only makes the singing more genuine; the girls are singing what they wrote, not some producer, their own personal feelings and thoughts translated into music and lyrics. I would love to read an English translation of this song if I could find one someday, because I'll bet the lyrics are pretty thoughtful and carry as much emotion as the song does.

4. Sakura no Ki ni Narou - AKB48

Fun fact: Sakura no Ki ni Narou was the song that convinced me to give AKB48 another chance. At first, I just liked this song; I didn't ever expect myself to love it the same way I do now but things happen. Like graduations. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is one of AKB48's "Sakura songs" aka their graduation songs and any AKB fan knows that these songs tend to focus on growing up, graduating school, becoming adults, moving on, like a teen 80s movie only it's about Japanese idols! This is a very pretty ballad with a nice piano, soothing vocals and nostalgic lyrics. So why do I rank it so high on the list? Well... I think it has to do with the loudness of the song. The song starts out soft, really soft. But then the chorus is a bit louder. Then the following verses are a bit louder. And then the final chorus is when the song hits its peak both in volume and in emotion. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is like one giant emotional crescendo and it works beautifully. The lyrics are also beautiful, albeit somewhat abstract. What I gathered from the song is that the narrator was someone who was parting ways with the friends she'd grown close to, so Sakura no Ki ni Narou is not only a reflection of the friendships she had but a promise to remain true to those friends regardless of their obstacles. In the PV, that concept is really brought into the light and let me tell you right now, it's sad. Anyone who watches the PV knows it's essentially about a dead friend watching over her other friends as they grow up and move on with their lives while she's forever looking over them from the great beyond and it only adds to the moving nature of the song.

3. Shin'ai - Mizuki Nana

Oh hey, it's Mizuki Nana, that artist I kind-sorta bring up from time to time even though she has nothing to do with the material I review on this blog! Yeah, this is the only non-idol ballad I felt that I had to put on here simply because I really love this ballad. I've praised Mizuki Nana for her amazing voice again and again and for Shin'ai, her voice is once again one of the reasons it's such an amazing song. I think what makes a great ballad is if the singer can convey the emotions of the song through her voice and Nana does a great job at that. There are so many emotional highs and lows in this song from the soft and delicate verses to the emotionally passionate chorus. Nana wrote this song based around not romantic love but deep love (which is the English translation of the song title), like the bond you'd have between a family member or a friend or someone else you felt really close to. Nana herself wrote this song after the passing of her father, who was pretty much the person who pushed her so hard into having a singing career. Shin'ai is completely and utterly beautiful, a perfect combination of beautiful vocals and an even more beautiful instrumental. Seriously, the harpist in this song has some skills along with all the other instruments in this song. I always get teary-eyed when listening to Shin'ai and for that reason I decided to include it in my list.

2. secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ - Zone

Ah, Secret Base. Isn't this song pretty well-known now? I know it's been covered by Scandal and used for two different animes and I'm certain that this amazing ballad has been covered by a bunch of other different artists. But of all the covers, the original has always been my favorite. This is one of those J-pop songs where knowing the English translation actually gives me a better appreciation of the song. Secret Base is essentially about a goodbye to friend after a long summer of laughing, crying, fighting and just living out their summer in their little "secret base." It's a simple enough message but sometimes simple messages are the best to reach out to listeners. Secret Base relies on nostalgia to pull the listener in, and that message of a summer friendship and the parting of two friends really reaches out to me because it's so relatable. I can't even count the number of friends I've made over the summer and the number I've never seen again. But I remember the summers we shared together and all the amazing memories that I've kept all these years after those summers have long flown by. There were happy times, sad times, and everything in-between but I really cherish the nostalgia of my past summers so a song about that reaches out to me. And I can hear those same feelings in the sheer vocals the song; the girls of Zone sound so expressive and emotional in Secret Base and combined with the nostalgic lyrics, I absolutely love this ballad. 

1. Seventh Heaven - Perfume

I have cried many tears to this song. I think my love for Seventh Heaven has really shot up in the past year mainly due to personal events that have given the song a lot of sentimental value to me. Around October 2012, a relative I'm very close to was in the hospital for critical pneumonia and it really hit me hard when I heard the news. I remember driving to class and crying my eyes out but trying to focus on the road and not think about the possibility that someone I loved so much could die. I even ended up skipping my first class because I was too much of a wreak to make it through an hour of material I didn't even care about. So there I was sitting in my car in the school parking lot with mascara running down my face and just trying to pull myself together to get to my next class. I pulled out my iPod and put Perfume on shuffle because it's Perfume; they've always been able to lift my spirits when I'm down. I just needed something to take my mind off things and their music really does that for me. On the shuffle list, I reached Seventh Heaven and this... feeling just overcame me. It was like this combination of melancholy, hope, sadness, happiness, I don't even know how to describe it. I'd always liked Seventh Heaven but this time listening to it was different. So I listened to it again. And again. To this day, I haven't ever felt a song that gripped me so emotionally since Seventh Heaven and I knew when I started writing this list, that Seventh Heaven is my absolute favorite ballad of all time. Even without my little sob story, it's a beautiful ballad with a lot of emotion and power in it. The lyrics are incredibly melancholic and the instrumental is absolutely amazing. If you need a song that'll give you waterworks, I'd listen to Seventh Heaven. I know it has me crying every time I listen to it.

So with that sappy story out of the way, I've only got one question for you guys: what are your favorite ballads? Which ones make you feel good? Which ones make you cry? Which ones make you cry even though you're too tough to tell anyone?

This Town is... a Green Screen?

All right, I told you guys I was going to review something by C-ute and that it was one of my resolutions for 2013. Mainly because last year I reviewed nothing by my favorite group in Hello! Project so let me remedy that and give a PV review of C-ute's latest song, Kono Machi!

Kicking off 2013, C-ute is going in the same direction as Berryz Koubou and covering a popular song! Instead of Thai pop though, C-ute's cover is Kono Machi by Moritaka Chisato, a famous idol in the 80s and 90s. Now Before I heard the original, I'd only heard C-ute's version of the song because I wanted to develop an individual opinion about the song without the influence of the original. I admit, C-ute's Kono Machi is okay. It sounds pretty and it has good line distribution so that's always nice! As usual Airi and Chissa are the best sounding members of the group but that's nothing new. It is nice though to hear them take on a ballad, especially Chissa! I swear she should sing a power ballad some time; I really think her voice would be suited for that! This song is less of a power-ballad and more of a straight-up ballad and it's not really one of my favorite ballads out there. What I look for in a ballad and my definition of a "good" ballad is a song that can still hold my attention despite a slower pace. A lot of the strength in a ballad depends on not only good vocals but the emotion conveyed through the vocals. My favorite ballads are the ones where you can tell how the singer is feeling simply by how he or she sounds on the ballad.

Another aspect of a good ballad is being able to hold my attention despite its length; I like energetic songs and most ballads are lacking in energy because of the slow pacing. When I first listened to Kono Machi, it sounded like Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku only with less rock and the song itself doesn't really stand out among the many ballads out there. It's not a terrible ballad but it's kind of slow. Not only that but during the bridge, there's this really awkward bit where all the members are talking and it totally takes away from the tone of the song. However, I still thought the song was okay. After hearing all these people saying how much the original was so much better and how C-ute should have stuck more to it, I finally decided to open up and listen to the Moritaka Chisato's version of Kono Machi and see just what all the fuss was about.

And then I found out the original song sounds great.

At first, I didn't know what everyone was going on about saying that the original was so much better than C-ute's version. Only when I finally came around to listening to the original Kono Machi did I realize oh my god, this song is excellent. I'm serious, I love the happy sound of the original Moritaka Chisato song. The original Kono Machi is such a joyful and upbeat song and Chisato's equally happy voice with it is what makes the song stand out. Listening to the song makes me feel happy and joyful! And taking away that joyfulness from the song is a huge step back and I think that's what brings down C-ute's cover. Turning the song into a ballad only makes the cover sound sad and the music feels like it's dragging. After listening to the amazing original Kono Machi, I can't really enjoy C-ute's cover anymore. Is it terrible? Not in the least but compared to the original, the cover pales greatly.

I just feel really downtrodden when listening to Kono Machi as a ballad and I don't think it measures well up against the original. Now keep in mind that whenever approaching a cover song, I always try to keep my expectations at a realistic level depending on how easily the original song can be covered. Like nerve by Brand-new Idol Society? That's a hard song to mess up so I had good expectations for the Dorothy Little Happy cover of that song and it turned out their cover was nice. It didn't surpass the original but I enjoyed the cover almost as much as the original. But if Watarirouka Hashiritai's covering Perfume's Chocolate Disco? Yeah, I kept my expectations low for that and surprise surprise, I didn't enjoy Warota 7's painfully cutesy cover of one of my favorite Perfume songs.  I think if C-ute's cover had stuck with the same upbeat melody that the original song had, I would have enjoyed the cover a lot more. And C-ute is totally capable of  happy songs; just because they're the "mature" group of H!P doesn't mean they can't do a happy song! Overall, I find Kono Machi to be a lackluster ballad that's okay but doesn't measure anywhere near up to the greatness of Moritaka Chisato's Kono Machi.

Now when we last saw C-ute handling a ballad PV, Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku consisted of odd transitions, strangle lighting, an interpretive dance, and Airi riding a train. Will the group's second ballad feature the same type of strange PV? Let's take a look.

The opening title is cute, a nice representation of a town (the song translates to This Town).

Airi looks lovely and everything but I'm really distracted by those "Love and Peace" earrings.

It's like someone took a picture of their town and ran it through Instagram!

NAKKY! Gosh, you're adorable.

And Chissa's hair looks cute! But it looks blonder than it did before...

Instagram, Instagram everywhere!

I don't know why, but there are some shots in this PV where Maimai looks eerily similar to Yoshizawa Hitomi. I think it's the hair.

Ooh, you know what these vintage-y shots remind me of?

Macaroni! Maybe the PV will have C-ute wandering around with vintage effects and they will-

Oh my god, they green-screened them in... I have no words.

But why, UFP, why!? You can't be that cheap, can you!?

I'm not sure which is worse, the painfully blinding bright green-screen of Help me!! or the painfully muted green-screen of Kono Machi.

Let me predict the rest of this PV: we get this close-up, the green screen, a group shot and kapeesh, that's all isn't it?

Yep! Here's the group shot! Wow, this PV's more original than a Kyarypamyupamyu PV!

By the way, how many times have those Kanashimi Twilight cubes been recycled now?

Well... at least the outfits look nice. And everyone looks pretty. But god, this is a boring PV and I'm only one minute in!

Ooh, you put two shots into one! Now you're getting really innovative, UFP! You're a regular Stanley Kubrick aren't you?

Yeah, you're not gonna convince me into thinking that's real scenery, UFP... ugh, do you guys wanna see what the original PV looked like?

There! Moritaka Chisato's was probably just as cheap but which PV looks more fun and creative?

I love how they have them walking as if they're actually walking through an environment. Ha! If that's a real environment then I'm a synthetic girl from Mars. As far as you know.

-yawn- Is the PV over yet?

I know the girls are just trying to convey the emotions of a ballad but frankly, they look just as bored as I do.

But at least Nakky's adorable.

I guess I should be grateful that this PV doesn't have some weird, interpretive dance like Kimi wa did...

Not even Yossie Junior can keep me entertained.

Yep, this sure ain't Tokaikko Junjou...

...are Maimi's ears pierced? I just noticed it doesn't look like she has holes in her lobes so- what am I saying!? This isn't on-topic! God, this PV's making me distracted by the randomest of things!

And then the PV ends with a monologue that sounded much less awkward in the original.

DO SOMETHING!

Is there a nearby wall that I bang my head against? Or better yet, a pillow so I can go to sleep? Because this has got to be one of the most boring, uninspired, cliche idol PVs I've reviewed during my time as a blogger. Okay, okay, let me explain why I think it is one of the most boring, uninspired, cliche idol PVs I've reviewed during my time as a blogger. My first big disappointment was (surprise, surprise) the green screens. I was so disappointed when I found out UFP decided to go the same route as Morning Musume and give C-ute a bunch of green screens in lieu of putting effort into the PV and actually going out and shooting at real locations. I really hoped that they would have the girls of C-ute wander around a city or a town or some other place of that nature, much like Mano Erina did in some of her later PVs. Or even better: Macaroni. I said this in my screencap, but the green-screen backgrounds and their Instagram filters reminded me a lot of Perfume's Macaroni PV and I love that PV.

I was hoping that C-ute's PV would go in the same direction with the girls wandering around a city/town with the same vintage tones. It would have been slow but deliberately slow and nowhere near as boring as this PV. The green screens themselves are unremarkable; as much as I dislike the use of green screens in Morning Musume Help me!! PV at least there was a boatload of effort into giving them a lot of variety and locations and even colors. Kono Machi's green screens are dull and faded and don't catch my interest. I mean sure, the Help me!! green screens were so bright the viewers would need sunglasses to get through the whole thing but at least the background were somewhat cool to look at. Even though the girls look really out of place, those backgrounds were pretty damn cool. With Kono Machi, not only do the girls highly contrast against the vintage-toned background but not even the backgrounds themselves are that impressive. They're also extremely lacking in variety; I only counted five different backgrounds and that was it. It looked like the girls were standing less in an atmosphere or scenery and more in front of a painting at an art museum.

On the bright side (Get it? Because the Help me!! PV is... yeah, you got it), the green screens aren't the only shots that comprise the Kono Machi PV. There are still close-up shots and a group shot of all the girls standing together on some cubes. On the down side... that's even more boring than the green screens; at least those were slightly more interesting. The set is extremely barren with only a few cubes and the bright outfits providing anything to look at and it's boring. The entire PV basically consists of the same shots only with the girls singing different parts. Not a single thing that stands out. You know PV I had a same opinion about? Peaberry's Cabbage Hakusho PV; I called that PV pretty but bland. I'd say the same thing about Kono Machi but it's not even that pretty, just bland and cheap. And it had so much potential to be a really beautiful and sweet PV; the song is about a town, how hard would it have been to film C-ute wandering throughout a town. The PV could have played on themes a nostalgia, using vintage filters and outdoor scenery to really connect the song to the PV.

Instead, the effort feels half-assed and the result is something that's not only cheap but also very forgettable. I think the director was trying to go with a more minimalistic approach but that backfired because of one crucial thing: there is a difference between minimalistic and just plain cheap. Take Bump.y's Cosmo no Hitomi PV; I praised that PV for its simplicity and the use of plainer and simpler sets and shots. It's a cheap PV, but it looks clean and simple yet still retains a style and look. Another good example of simplicity is Perfume's Computer City PV; all that consists of is a black background and the girls dancing but the visual effects are what bring the PV to life. Kono Machi is simple but not in a stylistic or appealing way. I wouldn't call it a mess but more of... the opposite of a mess. It's a PV that lacks anything interesting and matches the slow energy of the song. The girls look nice but they're not enough to save the PV.

I hate to give the first thing I review by C-ute two out of five apples but Kono Machi is an absolutely lackluster cover, especially when you hold it up to the original. I highly recommend checking out the Moritaka Chisato's Kono Machi because it is a really good song and I wish it hadn't been turned into a ballad. The PV is completely forgettable and lacking in substance, let alone entertainment. C-ute, you're a great group, but maybe it's time you lay off the ballads and do something happier.