Lord Gaki: Lustful Hunter - Morning Musume's 'Renai Hunter' PV Review

All thoughts and opinions on this group, the song and PV are my own, and no one else's unless otherwise stated or quoted. I have the freedom of thought, and so do you, however do not take advantage of this right by openly bashing my opinions just to make yourself feel good/righteous. If you do not like my opinion, then simply do not read what I write. If you want to oppose how I feel, please do, but please respect my opinion at the same time. Thank you~

Earlier, I did a small, rather excited, review of the video. There are no screen caps, just a small amount of writing and the video to the song and PV itself. Yes, I was that excited that I had to voice my opinion and love for the song and video before I actually could screen cap it. Is it really that awesome? Well, to me it is - a few people on Arama think differently, but I'm going to respect what they say, whilst slightly ignoring what they say, but taking into account that everyone has a different view of a video that I absolutely love.

So, with that said and done, I will get onto the pic spam - I will warn you all that this is a rather... healthy bout of pictures. I actually screen capped about 60 of them, with the first 20 being under the 2 minute mark of the entire PV. Yes, I was that excited that I screencapped the shit out of this amazing song! I love it that much! So, you will get a whirlwind of love!!!

Which is, wonderfully enough, mostly made up of Gaki. So, prepare yourselves and get out your love arrows, because this Renai Hunter!

The minute that the PV opened up with the title screen, my sister said 'OMG it looks like the Peace!' xD

Already looking badass...

Gaki is freaking gorgeous in this, js...

Lord Gaki and her Minion army! Just how we want it!

You work it girl!!!

Am I the only one who thinks that she looks like Yossie here?

Reina looks freakin' beautiful in this video, no lie!

The light of Awesome is just too much for Gaki to handle...

The wind blowing in their hair? Much love for it <3 Especially when it makes Gaki look even more beautiful than she already is.

Riho is seriously cute, but there was only one part where she actually impressed me in this video...

Gaki needs YOU!!! And she's pulling the 'come hither' gaze! -drools-

Looking sexy, and delicious... <3

Again, Reina is wonderful in this - such a beauty! <3 Flawless, effortless, winky-ful...

Aren't those curtains from Yume Miru 15sai?

These scenes... oh boy... -sighs dreamily-

Sayumi is, as always, extremely beautiful and tasty. No one can deny it!

Baby Predator is freakin' beautiful, as always <3

Gaki is enjoying the amount of awesome that she is, and loves the spotlight!

OMFG, A WILD AIKA APPEARED!!!

Throws Pokéball

... Do I need to even say how sexy Erina is getting lately? Especially in this video <3

Oh man... dat dance! xD

I think that Ayumi should be a model <3

Finally! Some Kanon, looking extremely wonderful and rather... alluring...

Haruka is also extremely flawless - all hail Queen Haruka!

-nosebleeds everywhere- Oh, Harunyan... <3

Magazines on badly CGI'ed sheets? Nice choice there, especially as they are sucking lollipops...

Oh, and Reina's smokin'.

But Gaki is the most epic here. She looks so. Damned. GOOD!!!

Lord Gaki: "Pervert~ I am innocent..."

Not so sure if she is... lawl, jokes ;D

Oh... DAT LOOK!!! That look screams 'come to bed...'

Mwahahahahahaha

Sayashi does a rather generic, but cute, pose~ Let's see how many others are the same...

Lord Gaki: "BITCH please!"

She knows she's awesome, hence the all-knowing smirk...

The amount of gorgeousness in the Winky is SO HIGH!

Aika is so damned cute, it's awesome <3

... And this scene <3 Oh man, the amount of love for this scene was rather damned high... <3

Two flawless beauties, together... yes!!!

Reina with wind-whipped hair is a rather sexy Reina~

The little wink she adds to this specific scene is adorable, and she looks rather divine~ <3

Mizuki is absolutely gorgeous in this, her innocence is a great contrast to how grown-up and cool everyone else seems.

... -dies from Eripon being too sekushii-

Oh man... two beauties, one after the other, giving me come-hither stares... -explodes-

Haruka, don't look so worried!

Kanon... is just... perfect <3

Ayumi looks wonderful, she should seriously be a model!!! <3

Oh, Kanon, you just get even more grown-up with every video... This is simply gorgeous, and professional model work <3

Sayumi looking absolutely gorgeous, and the two little dancers bowing down to her.

Sayumi is just precious <3

So... freakin... pretteh!!!

Haruna... is... FLAWLESS!!!

Omg... Haruka, you are so cute, but that pose is so... generic... xD

Gaki looks, as always, gorgeous with wind-blown hair... <3

Dat... STARE! <3

This video has convinced me that Eripon looks absolutely amazing with short hair! <3

Chokubo modelling... This is, of course, pure love because this is wonderful BUT, very generic pose wise Dx

Eripon... this... is... AWESOME

Masaki is so adorable,her smile is pure love <3 but her pose is very similar to Riho's haha

Morning Musume: "All hail, LORD GAKI!!!"

Lord Gaki: "Bow down to me, bitches!"

Fukuhime is just gorgeous in this <3 Especially these scenes~

Lord Gaki: "I'm the mother-f*cking Queen of Hello! Project! All hail ME"

Kanon is so innocent in this picture... <3

Oh... so beautiful...

Lord Gaki: "Ai-chan, I'm returning to you, baby <3"

Oh man, her wink <3 <3 <3 -explodes-

This scene made me want to cry like a baby!!!

So, I already did a rather quick, flustered and excited review on this PV already, but I am ready to do a better, probably more in-depth review where I basically tell you what I think, what others are thinking and how I am reacting to all of this. So, let's get started~

First off, the wonder that is the PV - you know I love it, I have stated that quite a bit already, and that's because it is so good!

The first time I watched this, I was pretty much in awe - I loved how all the girls look, how Gaki was presented and how she was the centre of the entire thing. Gaki was definitely the Queen Bee in this, and this is probably the only PV in UFA which focuses mostly on a graduating member. Even Ai-chan didn't get this much. Whilst Ai had a great amount of lines, Gaki definitely camera whored this video. This video definitely screams a lot about the graduation of a great Morning Musume member, and whilst she may not have been as prominant as Ai was in most singles, Gaki was definitely always noticed and focused on a lot more than other members were, even when she was new. You can't deny it.

Anyway, I like this PV for how much focus is on (certain) members, and not the video itself. I have stated before that I like it when a group is more noticeable than the backdrop, and recently, C-ute has done this with their latest PV, but it's Fudanjuku who I mostly think of when I start to think about groups that entertain you without the use of a lot of props or pretty backdrops. And this is the sort of video that does that. When I watch this, I pretty much see the members. Yes, I notice the backgrounds, but seriously, these backgrounds do not distract from the members themselves like Pyoko Pyoko Ultra did. So, I am very glad that UFA took that sort of approach, and made the background simple but still quite effective for the video.

And that will kind of bring me to some controversy in the internet world with the video itself - a few individuals seem to like to nit-pick on the whole cheap idea (once again) with this video. Obviously, it's because of the background where they dance, as well as the recycled curtains that were used from Yume Miru 15sai. Honestly, I don't see why people like to complain - they bitched, moaned and screamed over Pyoko Pyoko Ultra, and then they do it all over again for Renai Hunter, just because they can. Okay, I bitch and whine when I don't like something, but I at least try to find good things about something, not just point out all of the negatives. I guess that is what irks me really.

So, brushing that dust under the rug, I think that the outfits are awesome. When I first saw them, I did like them - they just reminded me of tin foil, or space cadet outfits. I like the concept of the outfits, though, and they suit the cool, edgy tone of the song more than I expected. Then there's the dance shot, another point of controversy in the Wota world. A lot of people find this dance rather embarrassing, and probably stupid, and I guess I agree in a way, but I find it funny rather than stupid and embarrassing. That, and I like how most of it centres around Niigaki and puts her in the centre position for the world to see. The dance works for the song, no matter how silly it may seem, and at some parts it looks quite cool. In all honesty, I think that the dance itself works well with the song. It doesn't look out of place, and I think I've seen worse dances.

Moving on... the close-up shots are, you guessed it, wonderful. I like that every single girl gets a bit of screen time. Granted, Eripon, Zukki, Harunyan and Fukuhime didn't get enough screen time like they deserved, but the rest got a decent amount - especially Gaki. I mean, she probably has the most close up shots in the entire PV which is epic, but also a tad unfair to the girls who aren't as pushed as the others. Yes, it is nice to see Gaki getting a lot of spotlight in her graduation single, but it's also really unfair to push certain members rather than others. Seriously, UFA, where is your logic in that? If you want girls to sell, push them all and not just a few.

Er...

The close-up shots were awesome, anyway. I thought that they were all done, and whilst the Yume Miru 15sai curtains seem to be an issue for some, I am glad that UFA are promoting recycling. The girls all looked amazing, and there was even a point where I thought 'Damn, Riho, you sound and look good here!'. But I think that the biggest surprise was the amount I noticed Reina in this - yes, she is always dominant in singles, but I rarely take notice of how pretty she is unless she really stands out, which she did here. I liked the more natural hair that she had going on, and how pretty her face is. She really just stood out, much like she did in ONLY YOU. Heck, I noticed her more than Sayumi, which is kinda not good on Sayu's part, but great for Reina herself.

I also noticed a lot of Haruka - she stood out more than I thought she would, even my sister was surprised by the amount that she stood out. When I was talking to my sister about the PV, she said that she was surprised by how much she remembered Haruka in the PV as opposed to the others, and I agreed. Haruka left a big impact. For an 11 year old (or 12, who knows), Haruka did a better job than nearly all of her senpai's - she has no solo's, less screen time than others, and yet she had the best shots out of everyone. She really is a star, and I hope that she gets pushed to the front, because she is someone to watch out for, and I am pretty sure she could steal the other members' spotlights.

Another big push to the front was, quite obviously, Ayumi - and yet she never left an impression on me in the PV, other than that she should definitely take up modelling. But she really doesn't stand out against other members to me, however a lot of people will surely oppose me on this, because I have read comments where people talk about Ayumi a lot and how she stood out to them. But, for me, she didn't. As for the rest of the members, I was sad that they got less screen time - Even Sayumi was shafted for Ayumi and Riho. I do wish that Zukki, Fukuhime, Eripon and Haruna had more screen time, because these girls have killer looks and interesting facial expressions (especially Zukki) which stood out to me. Eripon looked especially mature here, and she really rocked her solo shots. She looked simply amazing, and it does annoy me that her screen time was very little, the same with Zukki. Fukuhime and Haruna - in fact, for all the members who got shoved in the back, I am unhappy. But this is something that UFA will always do, because they like to push certain members.

Actually, all of the shots were good - the modelling shoot like shot was beautiful. I loved the wind-whipped hair that was going on throughout, and the beaded curtain scenes were lovely. I think that each girl rocked their individual shots, and I think that they all really looked cool. Well, Fukumura looked more angelic compared to the rest, but other than that, they rocked their outfits and really brought focus on themselves rather than the backdrops or the main singers. Even the random magazine shots that come into play are wonderful - each of the girls did interesting poses, with Eripon and Ayumi rocking theirs. I thought that it was really interesting how they did that, and whilst I find the effect rather cheesy, it worked with the video and just showed off the members a little more in an interesting way.

Overall, the PV is really good - I love that Gaki is a centre and takes up most of the lines, and I was really happy to see a lot more Aika here. Whilst she wasn't dancing, she looked great and her interaction with Masaki was wonderful. She really left a good impression on me, and it makes me hope that she will dance again in the next single. I am glad that she wasn't left out here, and you could really notice her, too. I like that Gaki brought on a more mature, leader-like face than when she was in Pyoko, and how she rocked this video. She really owned it all, and watching this video, I could really tell that she was Morning Musume's true leader.

The song itself now, and I will try to keep this short because I spent so long trying to explain things, is wonderful. I didn't expect it to be this cool and edgy, but it is pure wonder. I love that Gaki does get a lot of lines, but the main issue here would be the horrible line distribution throughout the entire song, and that does take away from how good it is. Only Niigaki, Reina, Sayumi and Riho get solo lines, and even then Sayumi only gets the one, which is sad. I wish that the line distribution could have been better, even if only two other members received lines. But, this is what we get, and it is something that I am still getting used to...

That said, I thought that the lines that were given were well sung. I was surprised by auto-tuned Sayumi, however I felt it seemed appropriate. It works with the mood and tone of the song, and it was really good. Only one solo line really struck me as not so great, and that was Riho's first line. Now, to me, Riho has a rather whiny voice - but that is what I hear, it does not necessarily mean that you hear it, too. But, her second solo line was absolutely mind-blowing. She sounded strong, determined and powerful, a total contrast to her first line in this song, and I was really impressed by her at that point. But, still - that first line she had was not my favourite, it sounded strained, nasally and whiny. But that is what I heard.

I think that the song and the PV are a great match - I love the PV, and I can see that there was a lot of effort put into it. Was it cheap? Maybe, but when I see these girls performing rather than entertaining, like in Pyoko, then I really don't give a crap about the back drop. You could see that they were working hard, and that the focus was on them in this video and not on their costumes or their backgrounds. I think that, because of this, the PV is great - one of the better graduation singles, and one of the best that Morning Musume has come out with in a long time. It isn't perfect, no, but it's darned good and finally, the PPU whiners can stfu!

Oh, and the last clip of the entire video? Yes, it made me want to cry. Because we all know that Niigaki does truly love Morning Musume, and for me, she is Morning Musume.

What do you all think of the video, and who did you notice the most?

Chiima~


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