1mm Closer to Level3

All right, how is it that my poll for which summer PV of 2013 was your favorite ended with the joke option being the one that won the poll? I mean, I had twelve lovely summer PVs you could pick from and the option that got the most votes was "None of these. I'm just waiting for Level3." 

Maybe I underestimate how many Perfume fans read my blog...

Then again, I'm also waiting for Level3. Anxiously too. But I'd like to think I'm not the only Perfume fan slowly losing her grip on her sanity as the release date for Level3 gets closer and closer. I mean, the album is coming out in two weeks. Two weeks. At the moment, they seem like the longest two weeks in the world, but that might just be because of my abysmal school schedule. Still, I really don't think I've properly emphasized just how big of a deal it is that Perfume's releasing an album. I mean, yeah, of course it's a big deal for me because I'm a huge fan of Perfume but even then, it's still a huge deal. Why? Because Perfume isn't a group that releases albums on a regular basis like a lot of the other idol groups I review. So when they do get around to releasing an album, it feels like a sacred delicacy you have to savor because you're not going to get something else like it for another year at least. Their pattern of releases isn't so formulaic that I can pinpoint when Y single is released and when X album will come out. Frankly, I never know.

I can estimate that they release an album about every two years, but the fact that their album releases are that spaced out is what makes Level3 such a highly-anticipated album from me. Hell, I even have a countdown on the side of my blog! Even if this album turns out to be Perfume's worst album (which I hope that won't happen), I still think the wait has to be worth it. And now I know that at least one of the new album tracks on Level3 isn't going to suck: 1mm. A rip of 1mm has been out for awhile, and just recently it was released as a "promotional" single on iTunes and other international sites for downloading music! Pretty cool, especially if you're like me and live in 'Murica. I think going ahead and releasing 1mm as downloadable content before the rest of Level3 is a smart marketing move. I mean, it is the lead track off the album, and a song that I think will get people interested in listening to this entire album. And with the international release of 1mm and Level3 being 2 weeks away from release, what a better time to review its PV than now?

Of course, I think I should most definitely talk about 1mm before delving into the PV! I mean, you guys know my schtick by now: I like to review the song first, do my little screencap, then review the PV, and give the final product some apples! I guess technically I've already given a few of my thoughts on 1mm; I talked a little bit about the song in my fangasm of a news post about Level3. I think one of the most important features about 1mm is that it is a promotional track. This is the song that was thought to be the most marketable along with being the best representation of Level3 as a whole. That's why I wish I had the entire album right now; I wish I could state whether I think 1mm works as a song that represents the full album. But that's not a judgement I can make until Level3 comes out. Oh, if only I were one of those journalists who received copies of albums in advance to review them! Then again, I'd probably have to be an adult with with that pesky little thing called a college degree and stuff but that's beside the point. I review stuff! That surely qualifies me for an album, right? Right!? Ah well, I'll live.

So while I can't decide at the moment whether 1mm is a song that best represents Level3, I can compare it to Perfume's past promotional tracks: I Still Love U, Secret Secret, and Perfect Star Perfect Style. And then for some odd reason JPN didn't really have a promotional track... Anyways, one feature that all three of those promotional tracks have is that I freaking love them. Especially Secret Secret and Perfect Star Perfect Style. Hell, Secret Secret's my favorite track off Game period. I Still Love U is also a really good track, even if my love for it isn't quite as strong as Secret Secret and Perfect Star Perfect Style. What also makes these tracks such great Perfume songs is how well they represent their respective albums. Secret Secret was that perfect balance of soft and edgy prevalent in the entire Game album. I Still Love U had those sleek, heavily electronic sounds that were basically the foundation of the ⊿ album. And even though Perfect Star Perfect Style was from a compilation album, it still sounded like the send-off Perfume had for that era in their career.

So when you really think about it, 1mm kind of has a lot to live up to!

I'll touch more on that aspect of 1mm when Level3 is actually released though. For now, it's gotten me interested as to just what the general sound of the album is going to be. On its own, how does 1mm hold up? Like I said before, I really like this song. It kind of sounds like a mix of Macaroni, I Still Love U, and Fushizen na Girl. Then again, I think there are a lot of Perfume songs that borrow sounds from each other, sort of like one giant web of Perfume sounds. 1mm is one of the slower tempo songs of Perfume's discography, but nowhere near as slow as say 575 or Negai. I actually really like the pacing of this song; I wouldn't say it's upbeat per say, but the constant tempo it maintains isn't too fast or too slow. I almost want to say that 1mm is a more serious-sounding Perfume song but not as much as Game or edge. It definitely sounds harder than the JPN songs, but it's still on the pretty raw side of Perfume's music.

I guess they've just been progressively using less and less vocal editing over the years so I think 1mm follows that trend of more clear-sounding vocals where you can actually tell which girl's singing which part. The sound of 1mm really makes me wonder what the rest of Level3 is going to sound like. The girls themselves said it's their most "dance-able" album, but 1mm doesn't sound like a very dance-able song. I mean, even if I had the ability to dance without looking like one of those trees from Evil Dead, I still don't think I'd really listen to 1mm and think "WOW! What a great song to dance to! I'm gonna make some choreography right now!" But it does make me think that Level3 will be a continuation of the smoother more natural sounds of JPN with a little more technopop thrown into the mix. Time will tell how Level3 turns out (2 weeks time to be exact!), but for now, I think 1mm will suffice as new content. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I really like this song. I like the general sound, I think the flow is really nice, Nakata's production is sleek and efficient as always. It makes me wonder what the other tracks on the album will sound like...

Now what's more fun than screencapping a Perfume PV? You tell me; I've yet to find something! Well, seeing them in concert would be pretty fun... but until that's actually feasible, let's just look at the PV for 1mm!

The PV begins with the girls walking through what I assume is a transparent mirror maze!

Actually it's the set used in the Regular cover for Level3 but hey, either works for me!

Of course, Perfume does what any sane person would do surrounded by clear panels: dancing!

To be fair, the dance for 1mm is very well-done, as to be expected from Perfume.

I love the geometric patterns in the outfits for Level3 and I still love them in this PV!

But I have to admit, I like the white outfits just a teensy bit better...

I love how the lyrics to 1mm are edited into the PV, or I assume those are the lyrics. I doubt that's a translation of George Orwell's Animal Farm, right?

And you gotta love those color-changing panels!

They kind of remind of the rooms in One Room Disco... only pastel.

Is that... Kashiyuka's forehead? Has it resurfaced after all these years!?

Oh, the fringe is back. I keep wondering if Kashiyuka will ever let those bangs grow out.

I think I like Nocchi's outfit the best. It's the sleeves that give it flare!

Oh hey, look how each member is standing behind a color panel...

...that mirrors their group colors when they first started out! I'm not sure if that was intentional.

As nice as this set is, I kind of wish the girls could do something other than stand around.

In this shot, they're interacting with the set more and using it for the dance.

In fact, I really want to see this entire dance performed live; the bits shown in the PV look great!

Although I'm not sure how they'd incorporate the panels onto the stage...

The Forehead has returned! Bow to your knees in its glorious presence!

A-chan belts her solo while Nocchi plots how to take over the world...

Man, wouldn't it be cool if all the panels just like shattered? I mean... it's be dangerous but still cool!

Again, I feel like they need something to do.

Besides walking around.

I love when Perfume's choreography does that thing where one members starts moving then the other follows (although it's difficult to screencap).

It just occurred to me how hard it must be to dance in such a constrained area! I'd be worried I'd bump into one of those panels!

Finally! They're doing something in this shot!

Love this dance move. I don't know why. I guess it just looks very sharp!

Oooh, I like this lighting! I wish they'd used it more in the PV!

Would you look at that? The panels spell Level3! If you tilt your head at several angles...

Okay, you guys know that I'm a huge fan of Perfume, and that I always tend to enjoy their music videos, even the bad ones. They usually get some really creative PVs and amongst all the other idol groups I review like Hello! Project it's very refreshing. But on the Wonderland, I'm a reviewer before I am a fan, and I try to review content as objectively as possible. That means Perfume is not exempt from my criticism, as I've demonstrated in a few past reviews. So you're not gonna believe this but... I don' think 1mm is a great Perfume PV. I don't hate the PV, but I've seen much better from Perfume when it comes to their music videos. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot better than many other idol PVs I've reviewed, but for Perfume, it falls on that mediocre part of the scale. It's a notch above PVs like Glitter but nowhere near as interesting as love the world, Natural ni Koishite, Voice, Electro World, Spring of Life, Laser Beam, One Room Disco- okay, a lot of Perfume PVs, let's just leave it at that.

Before I get into why I don't think this is an amazing PV, I do want to go over the aspects of the PV that I liked. 1mm's PV had good production values and while the set is simplistic, it looks very sleek and polished, almost futuristic. I like the inclusions of the panels too, and the fact that they changed color in one shot. Not to mention the fact that they spelled out Level3 if you were looking down from above! I thought that was a very clever visual trick, even if the letters were a little hard to spot at first. And one of my favorite elements of the PV was the dance! I feel like I always kind of expect a really top-notch dance from Perfume, and usually they always deliver! I really love the fast choreography of 1mm, and it matched in a very weird way with the tempo of the song. I also liked that it included more leg movements since Perfume's dances tend to lean towards more upper body-type dances. It was very interactive with the panels used in the PV, and every time the dance shots came up in the PV, I was always engaged!

All right, positive stuff out of the way, where does 1mm fall short? See what I did there? Since mm is a metric system unit and... and... Okay, okay, I'll talk about what I didn't like. What I think was the biggest downfall of the PV for 1mm was the lack of activity. Beyond the dance, the girls themselves don't do much in this PV beyond walking around and standing during parts of the song. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I felt like there were even some parts of the PV where the girls actually looked kind of awkward. Like when they were standing still during one of the choruses, that just felt so awkward. I don't know why since the girls normally look very relaxed but confident in their PVs so... yeah, I don't know where that came from. Then again, I guess I'd start to feel a little awkward too if I had to spend four minutes trying to look engaged with what's essentially a bunch of windows. The color-changing panels, like I said before, are a very cool setup for the PV. I like use of kanji being edited into the PV as well.

However, I feel like the producers relied on both those effects a little too much in the hopes that they'd make the PV really engaging. Unfortunately, they were really interesting at first, but after about the 2 minute mark, they started to get a little dull. Because while both made for great effects, they're not interesting enough to carry the PV. The PV for 1mm reminds me a lot of One Room Disco in terms of setup: basically one isolated set that the girls have to interact and dance in. But what made One Room Disco work that 1mm is lacking in is interesting ideas and actions that give character and life to the PV. The PV for 1mm is far too neutral and basic. It's a simple PV that isn't terrible, but by no means is it a great PV either. Then again, I kind of had the same reactions towards the PVs for Fake It and I Still Love U, both of which were promotional tracks for their respective albums. I don't know, but this PV is meant to market the album, and in that respect, it gets its job done. For me, I'll just wait until the next Perfume PV pops up for something with a little more spark.

So I really like the song for 1mm, and even though the PV isn't the most fantastic I've seen from Perfume, I'm still gonna give 1mm three and half apples! Maybe it's just pre-album jitters that have me in such a good mood, but 1mm is a very calming and nice song, and the PV matches it in tone. Although I wish there'd been a little more going on in the PV for 1mm, it's still worth a watch if you're an avid fan of Perfume! Now all we can do is sit patiently and wait for Level3! Which is easier said than done...

Freshly Squeezed for a Major Debut

Well, after years and years of hard work behind the scenes as an independent idol group, I'm proud to say that Juice=Juice has finally worked their way to the big league of Hello! Project. It just warms my heart that such a persevering idol group has finally been able to achieve their dreams of majorly debuting after such a long time in indies- oh wait, am I getting Juice=Juice mixed up with S/mileage? Gosh darn it to heck! Yeah, talk about a short time as an indie group, huh? I count what, seven months? Look, I don't have much of an opinion on how much time Juice=Juice, Tsunku's shiny new toy, was around before their major debut. They've had their major debut now, and there's nothing I can do about it except give my two cents on how Juice=Juice's first single under a major label turned out. With Aina suddenly leaving the group, I was curious to see how her departure would effect the group's upcoming single, Romance no Tochuu. After all, the song had been recorded, the PV filmed, and promotional shots taken with Aina included. Having to redo the entire single without her was kind of a big deal for UFP. But the deed was done and Romance no Tochuu was transformed into a triple A-side, the two additional A-sides being "Memorial Edits" of Juice=Juice's first two indie singles. So does Juice=Juice still have what it take to be juicy? And more importantly... how many fruit puns can I make in this review? Only one way to know for sure... let's review!

Covers/Outfits

Lemme go ahead and warn you, all six of the cover's for Romance no Tochuu epitomize the well-enforced legend that Hello! Project churns out some of the tackiest, cheapest, most poorly shopped covers of any idol industry. I mean... it's almost hilarious at just how utterly Hello! Project these covers are. The bright colors, the obviously photoshopped backgrounds, the sloppy editing, the fonts... The sheer gaudiness of all these covers is making me giggle like a six-year old! But in all seriousness, these covers are god-awful in that special way that only Hello! Project can make god-awful single covers. I mean, just look at the Limited A edition at the top of this review. Overly-bright blue background surrounded by a highlighter-yellow frame with five idols poorly shopped into the mix? I can't help but laugh at the over-the-top gaudiness of that! But that's not even the best of the covers for this single. I think the winner of the "Most Hilariously Terrible Cover" is split between the Limited C and Limited D. Such different types of tackiness, which one to pick from!? It's too overwhelming.

On one hand, Limited C has some weird "rainbow space" background awkwardly shopped behind the girls, but then Limited D looks like the opening of a shitty 90s television show for little kids. I think I will go with Limited D for the worst of these covers, mainly because of how overly simple it looks. The primary colors look childish, especially compared with the outfits the girls are wearing in the single, and the formatting looks hilariously dated. Of course, Limited B, Limited E, and Regular aren't exempt from this tacky cheapness! They have their fair shares of... odd stylistic choices. Like the groovy yellow background the girls were shopped in front of for Regular. And the basic primary-color backgrounds used for Limited E. Not to mention the blatant green-screen pastels for Limited B! Bottom line is, if you're looking for some good-old fashioned Hello! Project single covers to laugh at, the covers for Juice=Juice will provide much entertainment value.

Romance no Tochuu

And here we have the one new song on the single, Romance no Tochuu aka Romance Is on the Way! Even before Aina left, I was eagerly anticipating the sound of Juice=Juice's first A-side under a major label. Would it follow the same cool, hip style of the group's first two indie singles? Or would it follow in the unfortunate direction of the agonizingly bland Ten Made Nobore? I hoped not, and after Aina left, I wondered even more how this would affect Romance no Tochuu, if at all. So I've listened to the song several times now, and my overall impression that I've gotten from it is... it's funky. Not as funky as the majority of Tokyo Girls' Style's discography, but still pretty funk. One of the distinctive aspects of Romance no Tochuu that separates it from the two other A-sides from Juice=Juice's indie era is the sheer amount of funkiness radiating from the song. Because Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne and Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru were both songs that leaned toward a cooler tone than funky. Romance no Tochuu goes in the other direction.

I will say one common factor all three of these A-sides share is that they're all heavy on the brass instrumentals. Tsunku must be on a brass high when he's composing all of Juice=Juice's songs. The song that Romance no Tochuu actually reminds me of the most is Daite Hold on Me, a Morning Musume song from way back when 90s fashion was finally coming to a much-needed decline. I know that's a bit of a distant comparison, but listen to Romance no Tochuu and Daite Hold on Me back-to-back. Come on, you gotta admit they sound at least a little bit similar. Maybe not exactly, but at least in general sound! No matter what song Romance no Tochuu reminds me of, I honestly think this was a pretty strong song to majorly debut with. For the most part, I thought Romance no Tochuu played to Juice=Juice's image as a "cool" idol group very well. The song has a distinctly funky sound, some very catchy hooks, and not to mention lovely vocals from the lovely Karin (although Sayuki and Tomoko match Karin just as well too).

So the covers for Romance to Tochuu fell into the pitfall that is Hello! Projects stylistic budget. Did the PV fall victim to the same thing? Nope! You can pop out the champagne and throw on a party hat, because this is a Hello! Project PV that actually had effort put into it! Somewhat. If you know how H!P rolls with their PVs by now, I think you can figure out what I mean when I say "effort." We all know Hello! Project has... trouble with presenting their idol groups in music videos that are visually appealing and don't look like they had a budget obtained from the profits a 6-year old would get running a lemonade stand. On the spectrum of Hello! Project PVs ranging from "Hey! They had enough money to make a nice-looking PV" to "Yikes, it was one of those budget-scraping weeks when this PV was filmed, wasn't it?" the PV for Romance no Tochuu fortunately leans much more towards the former side of the spectrum. Sure, the PV still consists of mainly just dance shots and close-ups, but the editing is nice and the PV has the girls in different outfits, which is always a big deal for Hello! Project PVs.

Mainly because this means the directors took the time to film the girls in separate outfits and film separate dance shots and close-ups. There are three outfits the girls wear in this PV: the houndstooth print outfits featured in the covers, the simple, but pretty white outfits, and the... Saved by the Bell outfits? Yeah, I don't know what the costume designers were smoking when they decided the girls needed to look like extras for the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But all the other outfits and shots in this PV are actually pretty elegant, and I like that the outfits give the separate shots more diversity. The set for the dance shot and close-ups reminds me of the gilded design used for The Great Gatsby movie, albeit more colorful. Which is my way of saying it looks fancy for a Hello! Project set. And notice that Juice=Juice must have swiped the chairs from C-ute's Kiss Me Aishiteru for their close-up scenes. In my opinion, Romance no Tochuu's PV fared well for H!P; it could have been so much worse but the PV we got actually looked very classy.



In the end, I decided to give Juice=Juice's first song as a major-label group four and half apples out of five. While maybe not as strong as the song they first debuted with, Romance no Tochuu is funky and fresh enough that I can get down to it in ways that only an awkward white girl can.

Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit)

Ah, Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne, the first taste of Juice=Juice we ever got. Now this is what you call a standout debut song. The bursting saxophone, the catchy chorus, the sheer amount of energy... I thought this was a great debut song, and even now, I still think it's one of the best songs we've seen from 2013 in idol music. So to find that it would be getting a remix (or "Memorial Edit") had me a little apprehensive. Best-case scenario was that this Memorial Edit would just feature re-recorded vocals to fill the solos left from Aina leaving Juice=Juice. Worst case scenario was... an actual remix. I'm not saying that Tsunku is bad at remixing songs but... look, you can't just add a few skips and sound manipulations and think that's going to make for a good remix. The process of editing a song is challenging, especially if the original song is already strong on its own. The remix has to compliment the original but also have enough twists and turns (and ones that work) to distinguish itself from the original. Producers like Yasutaka Nakata excel in making good remixes; Tsunku does not.

Hell, I think I've heard fans who can remix songs better than he can. The Memorial Edit of Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne doesn't make so many changes you can't recognize the song, but there are enough changes that I was... disgruntled with. One of the biggest changes of the song that I had the biggest problem with was that ongoing saxophone solo during the instrumental bits. You know, that really catchy opening to the song, that set up such a great tone for the rest of Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne? Yeah, that got completely butchered in the Memorial Edit. Overall, the changes made to such a strong song felt unnecessary. Like the old saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne was such a great song, and in comparison, the Memorial Edit pales extremely in comparison. I thought this was a sloppy remix, and I'm just thankful that not so much of the original song got skewed to hell for the Memorial Edit.

Due to reasons of Aina jumping ship, an alternate PV for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne was shot with the five remaining members using the Memorial Edit. Now I think we all remember the original PV. It was a shot a cheaply minimalistic set and half the girls in Juice=Juice looked like deer in the headlights instead of comfortable performers. So does the alternate PV fix all the problems I noticed in the original PV? Well... I'll say yes and no. The new PV for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne is nearly as cheap as the original PV. The girls still dance in an extremely barren white set, and the only other shots in the PV are the close-ups. I do think they tried to at least spruce up the colors in this PV though. The original PV was very monochromatic, with the only splashes of color being the bright jewelry the girls were wearing. The new PV isn't quite so colorless; the new outfits are very floral and keep up with the stylishly modern theme the members of Juice=Juice seem to get with every new single.

There's some nice shadowing in the dance shot, and the contrast between the white and colors aesthetically pleasing. The original close-ups were just pitch-black backdrops, but the ones used for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit) are different colors that match each girl's individual group color. Beyond those changes, there's not really much about this new PV that makes it stand out from the original. It all really just depends on your personal opinion, which style you prefer, and whether or not you like Juice=Juice with or without Aina. For me, I think this was an all right PV, but if it were never made, I wouldn't exactly be marching to UFP's headquarters and demanding a PV for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit). At this point, I have pretty low expectations for all Hello! Project PVs so by H!P standards, I guess you could argue this is a pretty good PV. In the end, my dislike for the Memorial Edit itself is probably not going to make me want to watch this new PV in the future.



This Memorial Edit only gets two and a half apples from me. I can't emphasize enough that the original Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishmenakya ne is so much better than this half-assed remix. I will admit this remix wasn't terrible... just very, very unnecessary.

Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (Memorial Edit)

With Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne, I had a very strongly positive impression of it upon my first listen. When Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru came out shortly after, my response was... not quite as enthusiastic as it had been with Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne. Still, I didn't think Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru was a horrible song; by my standards, it can even be considered pretty good! But in comparison to Juice=Juice's first indies single, this second indies single just didn't pack quite as much of a punch. It was still a very catchy song and had a lot of that snazzy brass instrumentation! So after hearing the wreck of a Memorial Edit for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne, I feared immensely for how Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru was going to get butchered. A rip of the Memorial Edit for the song leaked online, and Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru pretty much got the same type of remix Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya did. Which really just means that the changes to the song were sloppily done by someone who is clearly not skilled in the field or song remixes.

But Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru didn't get quite the large amount of changes that Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya did. In fact, I think the only really prominent change made to this song, was the the opening trumpets were distorted. Sure, that made for a not-so-fantastic way to open the song, but beyond that, I don't think much of this song was touched beyond redistributing Aina's solos. And a plus about the new line distribution is that Tomoko got a few of Aina's solos! She kind of got the vocal shaft for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit) and she's kinda-sorta turning out to be my bias in Juice=Juice so yeah... I'm happy about that! I will admit, since the original and Memorial Edit of Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru are so similar, I'd rather a new B-side just have been recorded for this single. I do like Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru but I don't exactly need two versions of it to get into this song.

I get the feeling that UFP really wanted to sweep Aina's sudden departure from Juice=Juice under the rug, because Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (Memorial Edit) also got a PV. And much like the PV for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit), the PV for Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (Memorial Edit) doesn't really add much. The original was slightly less cheap-looking than Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne, with an attempt at making an actual set. And some close-ups showing rain cause you know, the song mentions rain and all. The umbrellas the girls used in the original PV were nice too, very bright and summery. So what's different about this new PV other than the obvious lack of Aina? Well, there are these mysteriously silhouetted trumpet players jamming out to the song in a completely separate shot! It's not the coolest thing since the Perfume's Laser Beam PV, but it's always nice seeing an idol PV featuring people besides the idols themselves.

The set used for the dance set in this PV looks much more like a stage than the original PV, especially with the spotlights in the background. I actually think I noticed the dance for Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru in this PV a lot more than I did in the original PV. Don't know why... maybe there was just more of an emphasis on the dance shot than the close-ups? One thing I forgot to mention while I was talking about the PV for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne is that the members of Juice=Juice look so much more comfortable in these new PVs. Like seriously, Karin and Sayuki finally figured out how to work their angles on the camera and stop looking like awkward monkeys! Beyond that, I have just about the same opinion of the PV for Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (Memorial Edit) as I did for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (Memorial Edit). I think the PV's all right, even if it's your standard H!P fare, but it's not exactly the kind of PV you need to watch to enjoy the song. I guess if you want to see what this song would have looked like without Aina, this gives a nice look.



Well, I can safely say that Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (Memorial Edit) didn't get anywhere near as trashed as Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishmenakya ne (Memorial Edit), but I'm only giving this song three and half apples. It sounds so close to the original, I just don't see much of a point in remixing it and throwing it onto this single.

The Verdict

For a major debut single, I think Juice=Juice got a bit of a mixed bag. The "main" A-side, Romance no Tochuu, in my opinion, was the best of the three A-sides featured on this single. It was fun, funky, and had a distinctive feel to it. I think what surprised me most about this single was that there were no B-sides, and honestly, I would have liked to see at least one on there. I'd already heard Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne and Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru; would it have killed Tsunku to write just one more song to fill this single? I might not be complaining about that had the Memorial Edits for the other two A-sides on this single actually improved the songs they were remixing. As I elaborated on earlier, I found the Memorial Edit to be Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne to be particularly poorly done. Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru's Memorial Edit fared a bit better, but that's nothing spectacular.

In my opinion, these two A-sides included on the single just weighed it down. To be fair, I don't think Aina's departure was the reason for the lack of B-sides and re-recorded A-sides. Apparently before she'd left, Tsunku had already planned to do Memorial Edits for Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne and Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru. Either way, that doesn't mean I'm going to suppress my wishes for a more substantial single. In all honesty, I'm probably just going to listen to the original songs in lieu of these Memorial Edits. One, because they're just better and two, there aren't enough changes in the Memorial Edits that I feel as though I can equally enjoy the original and the remix. It's not like Perfume's edge and edge (⊿-mix) where both songs can stand alone as really good songs. Overall, I guess my verdict for Romance no Tochuu/WgIMnDn (Memorial Edit)/SBgS (Memorial Edit) is... mixed to positive? If you really want to hear Juice=Juice's old songs without Aina, you'll probably like this single more than I did. For me, Romance no Tochuu was good, and I'm hoping that their next single will offer more new material.

I think Juice=Juice, despite being such a young group, has gone off to a very promising debut. Now the trick is to see if Tsunku can keep up the momentum and not get bored with Juice=Juice several singles into their career. For now, I'll give their major debut single three and half out of five apples and eagerly keep an eye out for whatever release the group is taking on next!

Kill... Brown Eyed Girls?

Hey, uh… do you guys like watching movies?

And I don’t mean like going to the movie theater every so often to watch a blockbuster, I mean watching movies. Like going through Netflix to find movies to watch for fun. Or browsing through your local DVD store (if those still even exist) for the sole purpose of buying movies. Do you get what I’m trying to say? Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I freaking love watching movies. I don’t even think I can properly list all the reasons I love watching movies. I love that a really good movie can transport you to this alternate universe, even if it’s only for a couple hours. I love that they can be analyzed and picked apart. I love the variety of genres, how the visuals can vary with style, the effects, the characters, I just really, really love watching movies. Even bad movies! Do you have any idea how entertaining it is to rag on a bad movie!? I've said before and I’ll say it again: had I never started the Wonderland, very likely I probably would have started a movie blog.

Ever since middle school, when I started going to the movie theater more regularly and checking Rotten Tomatoes for upcoming movies, I’m always looking for movies I haven’t watched from classics, to B-movies, to anything else in-between. As a result, I have a somewhat wide knowledge of movies that I've watched or are on my watch list. One of my favorite directors (and believe me, I have a lot), is Quentin Tarantino. What I really enjoy about his work is that he has a very distinct visual style with each film he makes. From the colors to the editing, all his films manage to stand out in both plot and visuals. One of my favorite Tarantino films is his two-volume Kill Bill, a tale of revenge and how far one woman will go to obtain it. If you can handle blood and guts (because there are copious amounts in nearly any Tarantino film), I would highly recommend checking Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 out. Both films showcase a diverse set of characters who each stand out on their own, along with a variety of visual styles from exploited films to 1970s kung-fu films to even Westerns.

Now why is all this important? Well, because I'm reviewing Kill Bill!

Oh yeah, the Brown Eyed Girls song. Not the movie.

There, that's better!

You know, it really baffles me why I haven't just up and started following Brown Eyed Girls yet. I mean, Cleansing Cream is one of the few K-pop songs I can listen to on a regular basis. I liked Sixth Sense and Abracadabra all right, and their accompanying music videos were pretty cool too. And I loved Bloom, which was a solo single released by Ga In, one of the group's members. Hell, I even know all four of the members' names: Narsha, Jea, Ga In, and Miryo! That's a huge step for me! Sure, I still can't match names to faces... but it's a lot better recognition than many of the other K-pop groups I can't tell apart. So why? What's keeping me from actively blogging about and reviewing this group? Well, I think part of it has to do with inconsistency. I never know when BEG is releasing anything thanks to that "comeback" system popular in K-pop (which I still don't get by the way). So the time in-between their releases is so long that after awhile, I just kind of forget about them because I have a lot more important idol groups in the J-pop market to cover.

And I have to admit, beyond the singles BEG has released, not much of their other material stands out to me. Hell, even some of the songs they've released as singles don't stand out to me. Like I listened to Black Box, their most recent album, in an attempt to really get into them. Unfortunately, beyond the song I'm reviewing, none of the other songs jumped out at me. I think it's probably because K-pop is a genre that just has a hard time appealing to me, but even then, I feel like it's beyond just the genre of music. It's a shame because I do have at little bit of admiration for the members of BEG as people. They seem like very mature, self-aware idols who aren't afraid to openly discuss some of the more polarizing aspects of the K-pop idol industry, i.e. plastic surgery. So even if I can't always get into this group's music, I do want to say that I tip my metaphorical bowler hat towards what BEG stands for as a group.

With that out of the way, let's talk about Kill Bill. I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't have taken the time to review this song and PV if it wasn't based around the Quentin Tarantino movie I said I was such a huge fan of. In fact, had I not stumbled across the PV for Kill Bill by sheer chance on Youtube, very likely I would have kept blogging on my merry way, oblivious to its existence. Luckily, that was not to happen. As much as I want to get straight to talking about the PV for Kill Bill, I do at least need to go over the song. Kill Bill is a K-pop song, and it sounds very much like a K-pop song. Okay, categorizing Kill Bill as just a "K-pop song" is a little vague; what I'm trying to say is the sound and styling incorporated into the song does not sound like your typical J-pop, especially not the idol music I review. I've stated before that I'm not a huge fan of a lot of K-pop songs for various reasons pertaining to the sounds reminiscent of a lot of Western music. But to be honest, I really like Kill Bill. Because while it does sound like a K-pop song, it doesn't sound like a generic K-pop song.

I think listening to it a lot helped the song grow on me, but I still think this is a really good song. What drew me in to the song at first was the whistle that opened the song, and that tune lingered throughout the rest of the song. I'd like to think it was a callback to the Twisted Nerve theme from Kill Bill Vol. 1, but even if it's not, it's still a really good hook. And it's that swinging, catchy hook that keeps the song's momentum going; it's not overdone either! This is going to sound kind of weird, but if I stretch my imagination, I almost think Kill Bill the song matches the tone of the movie. It's fun, but also intense, it has a catchy hook involving whistling and... See? Perfect fit! Well, just like the movies, Kill Bill isn't a song for everyone, but if you're looking for an energetic song that makes you want to break into the House of Blue Leaves and fight all the Crazy 88, I'd give Kill Bill a listen! Personally, I'm glad that I did since I found what's shaping up to be my "token K-pop of the year that I really like."

But let's be honest, I just wanted to review Kill Bill so I could fangirl over the PV. I should probably clarify that this screencap is chock full of spoilers for both Volume 1 and 2 so if you have interest in seeing both movies and don't want to be spoiled... you should probably skip this screencap! For the rest of you that don't give a shit about spoilers, read on!

Like Volumes 1 and 2, this PV opens with a black-and-white scene!

But as you can see, the content of each scene is slightly different. I don't recall a tattooed woman painting on a guy's back in the movie...

Jea lurks just below the bed, holding a deadly tarantula in a jar!

You might be wondering why this scene is poorly shopped with a cartoon-y looking spider. Well, as someone with crippling arachnophobia, giant tarantulas tend to frighten me. So to prevent myself from freaking out while I was doing this screencap, I had Chiima shop a cartoon spider over the deadly tarantula.

The PV and Vol 1 each feature the same quote in their openings: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Oh, that's nice reversal to have Ga In (that is Ga In, right?) dressed as a blood splattered bride pulling the trigger!

In the original Volume 1, it was unfortunately The Bride doomed to be shot in the head by Bill, leader of that gang of assassins she used to be part of!

And in a cruel twist of fate, Jea is the first to go down with Ga In literally shooting her eye out!

Another nice little reference to the film. The titular Bill also had a handkerchief with his initials on it.

See?

I think the "Bill" is crossed out in the title because the members of BEG just spend the whole PV trying to kill each other instead.

Seriously, from here on, it's the members of BEG dropping like flies in the most awesomely dramatic ways possible!

You can't deny death by hairpin is a pretty wicked way to go.

Bang, bang, she shot... uh... the door down!

Along with Narsha!

Three girls down, one left standing. But has she truly bested our other three protagonists?

Not with that demon spider from hell still alive and crawling about...

And thus the violent confrontation ends with five girls dead. But does the story end here?

If you know the movie, things are only just beginning...

I'd know that snazzy trench coat anywhere!

That's supposed to be Elle Driver, the merciless and hot-tempered California Mountain Snake!

Or BEG's version of Elle Driver anyways.

I assume the comatose Ga In is representing The Bride at the beginning of Volume 1.

I have to say though, Ga In sure looks a whole lot healthier than The Bride did!

I smell a tumultuous past that will never be elaborated on!

I should probably point out now that a dance shot is present in this PV but it's not that interesting and I'm not going to focus on it much.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with the cinematography for this PV.

I mean, look at this shot from the film, and then look at the one from the PV below.

It doesn't directly mirror Tarantino's but it does pretty damn good job at capturing the feel he wanted to set for each of his scenes.

I think I understand why Jea calls herself the Bloody Blue Spider... eugh.

What a convenient time to awake from a coma!

Ga In gets a puntastic code name. I like it!

But the deadly syringe of deadliness is zooming towards her! Whatever shall she do!?

So either Jea has really shitty aim due to losing her eye or Ga In flipped the syringe on her...

I think Narsha is supposed to represent Budd but it's a little unclear...

Mainly because Budd was a washed-up bouncer in the films.

Either way, she's taking Miryo out in the most cruel and sadistic way: burying her alive!

How are you even supposed to say Narsha's code name out loud? Do you spell it or just say it all together?

In fact, how come none of these code names have cohesiveness?

The films had all the code names based around deadly snakes. Here it's... I don't know? Traits relating to each member of BEG???

Whatever, Ga In's got some people to murder and some legs to rejuvenate!

It's probably a good thing they didn't incorporate the Pussy Wagon into this PV... you never know what age demographic is watching this.

I sure hope Miryo trained with Pei Mei so she knows how to bust out of that coffin!

Oh hey, Jea's still alive! Girl doesn't go down easily, huh?

Wiggle your big toe, Ga In.

Alone Narsha waits, with her Hattori Hanzo sword, in her Budd-esque trailer.

The next scene is pretty much a shot-for-shot remake of the brutal but awesome fight between Beatrix Kiddo and Elle Driver.

But hey, if you're gonna do a shot-for-shot remake, this one is perfect for it!

The violence is downplayed though, I think because again, the demographic.

That and fight scenes are really hard to choreograph, especially close fight scenes like the one in Volume 2.

But I do recommend watching the original fight because it is really well-done.

Man, how long's Jea been straddling herself on that ceiling!? Girl's got endurance!

I wish they'd had enough time to show Miryo completely digging herself out and going to the cafe to ask for a glass of water like in Volume 2.

That was one of my favorite parts in Volume 2!

Narsha just seems to magically attract shotgun blasts, doesn't she?

I think I see why Miryo goes by Guns n' Roses...

But a shotgun's nothing against a vengeful woman that's fast with a knife!

And down Miryo goes with a knife not the head but to the stomach!

The last one alive ends up being the first one who went down before... Jea!!

Nevermind, Narsha shoots her down just before keeling over herself!

And so the moral of this story kids is don't go around killing people because you'll just end up dead!

The end!

Damn, I don't think I've had such a long screencap since Gingham Check... then again, none of my PV reviews have come near the amount of pictures for Gingham Check, including Kill Bill. But hey, do you know what those two PVs have in common? They're both homages! Gingham Check was a mishmash of homages to different film genres popular in Japan, whereas Kill Bill is an homage to a film series... which was also an homage to different film genres, Japanese film included. Along with Westerns, kung-fu movies, B-movies... a lot of quirky film genres popular in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Just know that the end result is an awesome blend of different film styles that all vividly are brought to life with much affection onto the screen. Now I've watched Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 several times, enough to know the plot and the many highlights of each movie. Not only that, I've stated previously that I'm a huge fan of the two films.

But while I'd like to give an opinion as someone who's watched and enjoyed the films BEG's version of Kill Bill reenacts, I also have to step back and look at this PV as someone who has never seen either film. I pity the person who hasn't but hey, everyone has their own tastes regarding movies. The defining element of Kill Bill the PV is that it is an homage to one specific movie. Not a genre, one film. Just one. I raise this question: can the PV for Kill Bill still be enjoyable to someone who has not watched the films? The delicate line an homage has to balance is that it has to include just enough material from the original content to strike a chord with fans of said content, but it also can't get so lost in trying to callback the original material that the final product is lost in its own references and shout-outs. I have seen plenty an homage that I was completely lost in because I either did not know the source material as thoroughly as I needed to or I didn't know the source material at all. So the challenge that Kill Bill faced was not only making an entertaining and well-done homage, but an homage that was able to connect with audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with the films.

Let's be honest, cramming over three hours worth of material chock full of standout moments and breakout characters into a seven-minute PV is no easy feat. I admire BEG for even attempting to make an homage to a franchise such as Kill Bill, regardless of how well they pulled it off. As a fan of the original Kill Bill, I really loved this PV. Like... it's probably one of if not my favorite PV for 2013. Unless another idol group whips out something even more impressive in the upcoming four months. When I was first watching this PV, I kept mentally pointing out all the scenes and characters I recognized from the original movies and getting increasingly excited with each new reference made. And as I watched the PV over and over again, I just liked it more and more. I love homages when done well; I practically had a heart attack with the PV for Gingham Check. And the fact that Kill Bill is an homage to one of my favorite film series and well-done one at that? Let's just say it puts me in a very ecstatic state of mind.

I actually think the PV does a pretty good job of including many of the pivotal scenes from both movies, even if there were a few scenes I wish they'd been able to wedge into the PV in some way, shape, or form. And of course, much of the plot and characterization from the movies also had to get cut. But hey, this was a PV not a rendition of the movies! In BEG's version of Kill Bill, revenge is still the overlying theme but the desired revenge is not towards Bill but the four members of BEG. All part of a gang of assassins called the Brown Eyed Girls Squad (original name, huh?) through circumstances unknown to the audience, these four women have all decided that they need to kill each other. Their first attempt at doing each other in leaves Jea with one eye and Ga In in a coma, Narsha and Miryo's fates unknown. Four years later, they all find out (again, through unseen circumstances) that they're all still alive, and set out to do what they were doing to each other before meeting their near-deaths: finally finishing the deed and trying to kill each other!

I think even if you haven't watched the movie, you can still gather that's the basic plot of this PV. And you can probably find entertainment in the over-the-top ways the women of BEG try and kill each other. However... I really think the best way to enjoy the PV for Kill Bill is to watch the movies. I mean, unless you're a die-hard fan of BEG and love anything and everything they touch. There are just so many great references to the films that you can only catch if you watch them. Like the way the PV is shot is so reminiscent of Tarantino's cinematography, especially when Ga In and Narsha fight in the trailer. A shout-out to the fight between Beatrix Kiddo and Elle Driver, this brutal, merciless fight is in my opinion, one of the best fight scenes in Vol. 2. The closeness of the area they're fighting in along with the sheer malice you can feel between the two women fighting is just so captivating. The reenactment stands well on its own; the cinematography is very similar to the original, and while this fight is much more toned down, it's still awesome seeing the fight reenacted.

And the hospital scene was perfect; the editing was so reminiscent of Tarantino's it was almost eerie. I don't know what it is about homages in idol PVs, but it's like I got this little thrill of watching each scene I knew and loved from the original movies unfold in the PV for Kill Bill. And the fact that an idol group took on this kind of PV was such a surprise to me. Don't get me wrong, it was an extremely pleasant surprise, but nonetheless a surprise. I guess it always surprises me when I see idol groups paying homage to media that I'm familiar with, but in a really good way. That reason alone is what makes Kill Bill's PV stand out to me. The material it pays homage to is material that I'm extremely familiar with. I think this was a great take on Kill Bill, with just enough references to the original film that it kept me excited as each scene unfolded in the PV! If you like movies, especially Quentin Tarantino movies, I absolutely recommend checking this PV out.

As a fan of Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2, I'm a tad biased towards giving out apples for Brown Eyed Girls' take on the franchise. Still, this is my blog and I can be as biased as I want on it! So I'm giving Kill Bill five out of five apples. I loved the PV for Kill Bill to the its violent end. I loved pointing out all the references to the original films, and the sheer fact that Brown Eyed Girls made a PV about Kill Bill at all brings me much joy. Again, if you haven't seen the films, I highly recommend watching Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2. While they're very gory, they're also exuberant and fun to watch. And then you can finally understand more of what's going on in this PV! But for now, I just have one question for you guys: do you like movies? Any favorites?