Finally, Kikka, I like another one of your songs! - Kikkawa Yuu's Koko Kara Hajimarunda Single Review

Kikkawa Yuu (I refuse to call her 'You') is the Hello! Project Egg turned soloist, being one of the more anticipated debuts for Hello! Project fans in 2011 since... well, since she got shafted in the Gen 8 auditions, if I'm correct.

So, in 2011 she debuted as a soloist under Universal Music, and has a pretty good career since then, such as producing four singles and an album as well as a photobook and also appearing in her own documentary-movie as well as appearing as a lead role in the movie, Cheerfu11y.

In general, I'm not a big fan of this girl. She has a fantastic voice, and I can see why she's popular, but she's never really stood out to me like other girls have. If anything, she's less Idol material and more professional singer material... kind of like Goto Maki was. That, and none of her singles, barr her debut, have really stood out to me.

And then she brought out this single. Koko Kara Hajimarunda. Kikkawa, I was settling with not liking you or your boring songs! Damnit!

Anyways... I never intended to listen to this, but a lot of people were rolling over themselves at how 'amazing' the PV and song were for this single, so I became interest, and that is how I pretty much fell and started to like this song.

It's kind of weird how I've started to like electro pop based songs after devotedly hating on One Two Three (which I am still not really overly in love with) but suddenly falling for Tweet Dream. I guess I'm just destined to hate One Two Three. Meh.

Okay, I'm derailing... Let's move onto the actual review before I go off track further...

Tracklist:

1. Koko Kara Hajimarunda

2. 17sai

3. Kaze no You na Melody

Koko Kara Hajimarunda

The title track of the single, Koko Kara Hajimarunda is a Vocaloid-filled, Idol/Electro pop type of song which is actually really nice to listen to, and a pretty fun song if you think about it. It's nice and up beat, and I love all the effects that were used on the song itself. It's as if Kikka herself has turned into a computer (or at least her voice) and is breaking up and crashing, but she's trying to fix herself and escape... or at least that's what I got from the video.

I've actually been listening to this song (and another one) non-stop since I first heard them, and it's because Koko Kara Hajimarunda is a fantastic song that is worth every listen. In fact, it's so good, it has two PV's!

I was surprised by how pretty and enchanting the video itself was for this song, though it's a pretty simple PV, but with extremely pretty graphics which are fun to watch. The PV didn't really do as much for me as the song itself did, but I think that they both work in a perfect harmony together - especially as I feel like Kikka is breaking out of the room she is in for the outside world when I watch the PV.

And then there's the second PV...

Full PV here

... Which is basically the Vocaloid version of Kikkawa's PV, and I honestly really like this version, though the face of Kikka's vocaloid itself scares me a little.

Koko Kara Hajimarunda is a really good, nicely composed song, one which I have really been enjoying lately. I love the effects, and I like the Vocaloid sound it has to it. Vocaloid is certainly not my favourite in terms of song choice (in fact I only like one vocaloid song) but I like how Kikka was able to sing in this song by using both the effect whilst not totally destroying her real voice with a stupid amount of auto-tune One Two Three cough cough and still produce a great song.

I'm impressed, and it makes me not want to ignore Kikka... -cry-

17sai

The second song, which is available on the Limited A and Regular edition singles, and is also a cover of Moritaka Chisato's song. This is a very fun affair, and doesn't rely heavily on effects or Vocaloid-like sounds to it.

This is probably the song I will dislike the most on this single, though it's also a song that you can't help but want to like. It's fun and I enjoy the composition, but it's... Kikka's voice. Something about her voice and overly happy songs doesn't sit right with me, I just seem to prefer her singing songs like... well... Koko Kara Hajimarunda, ballads, slow songs... anything that it isn't overly happy and up beat.

It's a nice cover of the song, but honestly, it won't ever be my favourite. Kikkawa Yuu's voice and happy, energetic songs have never really sat well with me, I mean, I hate Happy  Rappi Sunrise, and tha's an overly happy song. But, other than that, I think that the cover of the song is nice and that Kikka did a good job. It may be someone else's favourite, but it certainly isn't mine.

Kaze no You na Melody

Oh Kikka, your back with another pretty song which I don't dislike! Kaze no You na Melody is a slow, pretty song which makes great use of Kikka's great vocals, and really shows them off by allowing Kikka to sing at a slower pace, creating a calmer, more heartfelt atmosphere for the singer. There is less of a fun element in this song that Koko Kara Hajimarunda had, and more of a serious tone that really suits Kikka's voice.

It isn't as enjoyable as Koko Kara Hajimarunda, but it's just as nice to listen to in my opinion, though I probably wouldn't listen to it as much as I do Koko Kara Hajimarunda. In fact, I've probably only listened to this song a few times just to get a general idea of it and to see if I liked it. I don't think that this song will ever surpass the B-sides on Kikkake wa YOU, but it's a pretty strong B-side (though the A-side is the strongest...) and I love how it works for Kikka's voice.

... But to be bluntly honest, I hate how high her voice goes in this song sometimes. Her high voice hurts my ears...

Other than that, it's a nice song, and I can stand to listen to it, but I still prefer Koko Kara Hajimarunda.

All in all, I think that this is a pretty good single. It's probably a lot stronger than what I think, but honestly, the only song that I absolutely want to listen to on a loop is Koko Kara Hajimarunda. The other two songs are nice, but just not to my preference this time around.

It's a nice little release for Kikkawa Yuu, and I hope that she gets a lot of good press release for the song, because honestly, the A-side is pretty awesome to listen to, and a nice choice of song for her. I love that it's already received two 'official' PV's, one with the human Kikka and another with a Vocaloid replica of the singer, and I love that the song has helped me to like Vocaloid and electronic-sounding songs a little bit more.

If you haven't checked out the songs already, then definitely take a gander and look! Especially the PV's, because despite their simplicity, they are incredibly beautiful.

Chiima~

PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: July 16th 2012