Wednesday, 24 December 2014

[12 Days of Idols] With the Magic of Christmas, Let's Journey to a Beautiful Wonderland... E-girls' 'Mr.Snowman' PV Review!

Within this post, any thoughts or opinions expressed are completely my own. Don't like what is said, then you don't have to read it, or if you do read it and want to vent, then vent to me, but fairly; if you're just going to whine/flame me, then don't expect me to answer you or play nice. Respect what is said, and others will respect you back: It goes two ways. So, don't flame, it's bad for your health! Thanks!

It's Christmas tomorrow! In some countries, it may already be that time of the year, however for myself and many others, we have one more day to go! In just a nights sleep, we will be waking up to the sound of Christmas bells and Santa's Sleigh...

Tonight, this is where the real magic begins. For on the 24th of December we begin to prepare for a wondrous day, and the joy of Christmas truly comes to life. As the children sleep with Santa in their dreams and parents putting the presents under the tree, we can only think of the happiness that will come with tomorrow's awakening. And then, when all arise for the morning and what it brings, we will see smiles and hear beautiful songs, coming together on a joyful time of the year. This is the magic of Christmas, and it is the preparation that truly brings about that happiness.

For a final journey towards Christmas, won't you join me on a journey to a Magical Wonderland? It's time to go...

On the Night before Christmas, our Idols brought to me...
A Magical Wonderland in an E-girls PV!

So this is the finale in my 12 Days of Idols series here on Okay! Musume Time, at least for this year. When thinking of this series back at the end of November, there was only ever one music video that I wanted to talk about on the final night, the one music video that truly stuck out to me as a perfect representation of a wonderful winter-filled video for one the most joyful seasons of the year gone by.

Of course, it only ever had to be E-girls' Mr.Snowman.

This was the first Christmas/winter video I saw, and it has stuck in my mind since. I mean, how could it not? Visually it's pleasing, and it is very captivating when you watch it, plus it has a little something to it that always manages to catch my attention in any video that has this subject in play, whether it is a music video or a TV show. No matter what though, this video has indeed impressed me, and for the final review in this Christmas series, I wanted it to be the last video I watched and reviewed before celebrating the real-deal tomorrow morning. So, this is it.

With the Night Before Christmas upon us all, the final post has arrived. Here lies the end of a series once again, but before we can truly finish this, I have something to ask of you all; Tonight, won't you come on a journey with me to a beautiful Wonderland?

Before the sun rises, let's have an adventure. This Magic won't last for much longer...


Cutting right to the chase, let's meet our random E-girls heroine! Which one will be the image center today?

... Nope, no clue who you are o 3o You're cute, though.


Ah, what's that you got there? A little present from someone? Or is it for someone? (le wink wink ;D)


Holy heck, it's a ring! Oh hi, Captain Obvious! Which lucky woman are you gonna propose to!?

Is she hot? ;D


"Awww yeah, bitches loooove diamonds!"

Made of all 9 Carat Plastic, bitches! Holla!


... Yeah, you dropped that on purpose, I know you did!


Don't you use your fake-ass shock on me, missy! I know you dropped that box on purpose!


Box; "I be rolling, and dey be hatin'~"

Well, looks like it's gone! That's the end of that issue, no more proposal~


"Oh no! Whatever will I do!?"

You're a really shit actress, you know that?


So of course, because it's fallen down the rabbit hole manhole, she has to go and look for it.

This scene looks glaringly familiar...
And ends up falling down in the process...


And over-acts once again in the process...


And, eventually, falls into a sofa, complete with a new wardrobe to boot!

I have to say though, she has some nice legs going on there!


"... Where the fuck am I?"

No clue, Alice, no clue... Wonderland, maybe?


Oh gosh, it's Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee!

Tweedles: "Pick a door, any door, only one door!"


Alice: "Holy shit, I get to choose !?"

Finally, some real excitement from this girl! I feel excited, too!


Alice: "Hmm..."

It's time to make your choice, kid, which one'll you go for?


Tweedles: "Pick a door, any door! What'cha pick, girl, Door #1 or Door #2, you can only pick one!"

Which one!? Narnia, or Wonderland? The choice is too much!!!

Also, I feel sorry for the chick forced to wear the Hammer pants. That's an unattractive look on anyone!


Alice: "... THAT ONE!"

Which one!?


Tweedles: "Welcome ta Wonderland, kid!"

WONDERLAND! YAAAAY!


And already, we're off to a good start! Welcome to the Mad Elegant Hatter's Tea Party, Alice!


Hatter: "I am your host... ME!!! Hope y'all have a fabulous time here~"

Wait, you don't have a hat! You're a FAKE!!!


... Wait, why are they putting earrings on her? Is this like a Ruby Slippers thing, but now they're Pearl earrings?

Tweedles: "Tap your ears together three times, then whisper 'I want to go home...' and y'all get back, ya hear?"
Alice: "O-kaaaay..."


What a Fabulous tea party, DAH-ling!

That said, isn't this Teacup ride pretty!?


... Er, yeah, Alice, I wouldn't trust those Tweedles if I were you o-O Just sayin' ARGH PSYCHO GRINS!!!


Hatter: "Y'all want some sugar in yer tea there, honey?"

Nope. I don't drink tea.

Hatter: "Y'all can get the heck off ma property then."


Alice: "Wait, I want some sugar!!!"

Excited to be here, Excited to play~ And ooooh, is that snowflake in the background I see?


... Wait, where are we now? WHY ARE WE APPLYING TWILIGHT MAKE-UP!?


All the sparkles, all the pretty red capes!

... Wait, red capes?


Riding Hoods: "Welcome to The Hood, Homey. We The Red Riders."

Those are some damn pretty capes, and that is a damn pretty wood...

I want to go!!! Screw the man-eating wolves, I'm going in!


... Jurina!? Girl, what the heck you doing in an E-girls PV!? Go back to SKE, pronto!

Jurina: "Feck off, this is my night job!"

Moonlighting as an E-girls member is Jurina's night job? o-O


Oh, I wonder what this could be a reference to...


Let the awesome capes FLY!!!

Holy shit that is one spectacular looking backdrop! Why can't all Red Riding Hood settings be that pretty!?


Alice: "Oh, it's a perfect fit! Teehee~"

I never realised you had lost a shoe at the ball! Well, thank goodness you found it!

Now, click the Diamond slippers three times...


Alice: "MOON PRISM POWER..."

And something will surely change... byt the way, where did you find that dress!? Whoa!


Alice: "CRIB CHANGE!!!"

And that, children, is the power of shiny shoes...


And now we're in the Ice Queen's lair! Wrap up warm, it gets mighty chilly in here!


And yet, despite the ice cold floor, these girls still drop it down to the ground! Aww yeah!


Whoever this girl is, she's a cutie <3


RUNWAY TIME! Can you walk the catwalk?


Girl to the right, hummana hummana <3

Call me ;)


This kid is a right looker, too <3 I want her to be my friend!


Alice: "Mirror Mirror, on the wall..."

Dude, I wish my wall was quilted like that! I would lay on it!

... Well, as best as one can lay on a way... XD


Alice: "Who is the fairest of them all?"
Dark Queen: "I am. I am the fairest of them all!"

O-O HELLO!


Alice: "Wh-what!? Who is that?"

Most interesting scene EVER! Holy shit, there are two sides to her!


Dark Queen: "Your step-mother. Now, get in there! It's your turn to be trapped in that mirror!"
Alice: "What, NO! Please don't trap me in here!"

... Oh, shit o-O Our Heroine's in a spot of trouble...


Dark Queen: "Finally, I am free..."

Welp, nice knowing you, Alice!


I do love how, when they switch, the movement in the dancing becomes less timid and modest, and a whole lot more sharp and, in a way, vainer. It becomes a stark contrast, showing the sweet side vs the selfish side.

NICE!!!


Still the prettiest scene in this entire music video <3 Daaaamn!


Is it just me, or does the main blonde chick look like she's ready for a rendition of Swan Lake or what? Not that I'd mind, in fact, it would work well with this PV!


Alice: "How do I get out of here...?"

You can't, not until the Queen comes back, at least!

But wait! What is that coming towards the cursed mirror?


Alice: "... A fairy?"

IT'S TINKERBELL!!!


Hoyl shit Tinkerbell, thank you for coming! You've come to rescue Alice from her terrible fate as a Reflection, haven't you?


Tink: "Here, have some fairy dust! Sprinkle sprinkle~"

YAAAAY! Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts...


Alice: "Please, help, I need to get out of here! He---"

Will she come out onto the other side...?


Alice: "... What the... I'm a fairy?"

Well... now she's a fairy o-O

This is some damn adventure Alice is having in Wonderland today, that's for sure.


THREE TINKERBELL'S!?

The Jealousy will be high in these ones!


Admittedly, I really did not like this scene XD I find these sorts of scenes so... cheesy and obvious that they're being thrown about in the air by rope or bungee cords...


That said, here, have a really adorable fairy, courtesy of Alice's Adventure in Fairy Tale Wonderland!


... Holy shit, they even managed to throw in Aladdin here somehow, too o-O

Go on... rub it. I dare ya!

Oh the innuendos this screenshot could create!


E-girls: Genie addition! Rub the lamp 3 times to find your random E-girl TODAY!!!


The dance with the lamps is actually pretty cool, though I did hope one of them would come out looking a bit like Aladdin...

Ah, well!


Her forehead is rather appealing, in a foreheady way.


She's rubbing one out calling forth an E-Genie, you guys. Make a wish ;D


Holy shit, that's really fucking GORGEOUS!!!

Well, it would be perfect, if only they took away those tacky-ass computer generated crystal...


But holy shit, the Ice Queen's palace has some mad Christmas lighting going on here! Who knew she got into the Chrimbo spirit?


She is just so... <3

It's the smile, guys, it captured me! Those eyes, too!


This one is drop-damn-GORGEOUS, though! Dayumn, sexy lady!


All them legs, though <3

I need to visit this Winter palace, if E-girls are there ;D


Seriously though, so pretty! I wonder how much of it is CGI? xD


... Wait, the ring is there!

Does this mean it's the end of the PV!?


Hey, Alice! Wake up! Why aren't you in Wonderland? ; A;


... Okay, you're just gonna walk away from me?

Well, if it's under lights as pretty as this, then keep on walking! I wanna admire these twinkling lights!


...

Okay, I admit, they all look absolutely gorgeous in their Santa outfits, but... well, it doesn't excuse the sudden cut off for the video! Where's my awesome Wonderland adventure!?


The dance was, however, very entertaining! Thanks for that, girls!

With the end of Mr.Snowman's video, we slowly come to the end of the 12 Days of Idols series for the year 2014. For these past 12 days, I have really enjoyed writing these reviews for everyone and experiencing another Idol-filled Christmas, one that has been both fun, a tad somber, and overall very beautiful. Really, it has been a wonderful 12 Days!

Cracking onto my final review for the series though... Wasn't this a pretty PV? Really, it's so well done! When I first watched Mr.Snowman I was amazed by it, and this was only the short version I had watched at the time. I was so captivated by how lovely it looked and how magical it all seemed, and then... the fairy tales. Oh, the fairy tales! As a big fan of these sorts of things, I was really happy to see that E-girls had taken on a fairy-tale concept for their beautiful Winter PV, and it created a truly magical setting for the song. For me, this video really took it to the next level because of that.

It brought together two things that I really love, and made them one. What more could a Christmas Lover and Fairy Tale Maniac want in life?

For me, this is almost perfect. Almost.

This video, though it is glorious and amazing and probably the most wonderful Christmas PV ever created, (because FAIRY TALES, GUYS!!!) was not all I wanted it to be, to put it simply. When watching the short version I of course highly anticipated the release of the full music video and the beauty that would follow, and so when I finally found the full music video and finished it to the end, I realised that I was disappointed. The video, to me, felt incomplete, lacking... even the song felt unfinished, as if another verse could have been added. Instead, it was left at under 4 minutes long, so rather than giving it another minute to really create a story, the song was left hanging a thread. For Mr.Snowman, in both video and song, there should have been more, and that is why the end of the video and song came as a disappoint to as both a viewer and a listener.

This doesn't stop how much I like the video though, because I like it plenty, however I can't help but wonder what more could have been done if a minute or so had been added to it? For sure, it would have felt a lot more satisfying to watch and hear, but I also wonder what the progress of the video would have been like? Would we have gotten an ending to the video, other than keeping the idea that the lead visual girl in this song stayed as a fairy? Would she return home, leaving behind her Wonderland, but keep the memories?

For sure, this video and song left a lot to be desired, and honestly? I hate that I have to keep on speculating with a video like this one, because where they made everything fun and obvious, they left it on an end note that was truly disappointing.

Still, it is very well made and something wonderful to see, so don't let my disgruntled ramblings put you down; this is a video that must be viewed, despite how it ends. It's fantastic in how it represents the fairy tales shown, it has quality and beauty, and I really do enjoy watching it. Aesthetically pleasing with amazing choreography, beautiful girls dressed up as childhood characters from our fairy tale stories and some gorgeous background visuals that will please any eye, this is definitely a Winder-Wonderful music video that is sure to capture your attention, no matter what your style.

In true Winter style, E-girls have crafted a wonderful Christmas PV, one that I will surely remember next year when Christmas rolls around once again.

And with that, I end this review and this series for another year, but before you all go I have one more question to ask of you. So, here it is;

... Do you want to build a Mr.Snowman?



Even if it's only once a year, I hope that we can return to this Wonderland again...

Until next time, take care and have a wonderful Christmas, and a Happy Holiday.

Much Love,
Chiima~

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