Watching snow flutter down from these darkened skies, it finds itself buried upon a blanketed ground. At times, however, it finds it way to a crimsoned cheek, only to find itself melt with the warmth, and to merge with the tears that glide down her beautiful face...
✴❅✴ 6th Night ✴❅✴
Christmas is a time for joy, right? Or, is it the season to feel sadness? In America and England, respectively, we celebrate the season with family and friends. Gifts are exchanged, food is highly appreciated, and many who hold religion and belief close to their hearts rejoice at the birth of Jesus. Yet in Japan, there is no religious aspect to celebrating Christmas, though it is a popular time of the year for them, and a commercially successful one, at that. Another popular time of the winter season is also Christmas Eve, a day where couples celebrate their love of one another, and appreciate one another's company.
Yet what if, on that very Christmas Eve you hoped to celebrate with your loved one, they never came? How would you feel when one of the happiest nights of the year, the person you had given your heart to decided that they no longer wanted to spend it with you? Would that not break your heart, and give you a feeling of loneliness and despair?
For 12 Nights, and 12 Nights only, let's take a journey with Idols of all kinds and enjoy the wintry styles they have adopted. Whether the song is old or new, let's celebrate all it delivers. This season, let's fall in love with our Idols all over again...
This is the Sixth Eve, where we wait for the person we love to come to our house and take us on a winter date. When they do not come, though...
If you leave the lights on, maybe they will come...?
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Good grief, I miss the effort H!P once put into their set designs. This was freakin' adorable!
Nakky, are those circle lenses? -squints at her-
Awww, look at the little granny knitting herself a nice, fugly Christmas jumper :D
Good gawd, Airi looks as bored as I sometimes feel. Maybe she's doing essays, or playing a really bad Otome game?
Maimi: "Ah, fuck, I'm in another Chiima PV Review... R.I.P, me."
HEY! I'm not that bad!
Airi looks so cute, from afar.
She looks so cute closeup, too! :p
Good GAWD, Chissa, your hair is flawless here! I really miss your long locks ;;
Maimi looks pissed XD is it cause I;m so mean to ya?
Airi just looks bored in this XD In fact, they all do. None of them know how to pull off lost and forlorn.
I do like that phone, however.
Mai is such a cutie pie, but good grief, I don't want her to sing. She is especially grating in this...
In everything. She's especially grating in everything, but shush, she's actually annoying me with her voice in this one, for once. No appreciation from Chii, today!
I like your hat :3
Actually, I remember when I first watched this MV, I loved how stylish they all looked, especially Nakky.
D'awww, I wanna be that bunny! Hold me, Chissa! ♡
Maimi: "Urgh, good gawd, I need ta sneeze."
If you do happen to do just that, will it finally clear up that stuffy nose and make you sing better? :3
TROLOLOLOLOL
But no, seriously, she is lovely XD Here, Felicia, have a gif as an apology for my cruelty towards Maimi ;) ♡♡♡
Mai is knitting Maimi a giant hanky for her bunged up nose, it seems!
Chissa: "Suki, Suki, Suki~"
Suki, Suki, SUUUUUKI <3 Good gawd, I love ya, Chissa! You mur boo <3
I bet there's brandy in that.
... Yeeeeah, there's some brandy in that.
Airi: "Wh... whaaaaaaadaya put in mur coffhhheeeeee, Nyahhhky?"
That little 'kick' Nakky added in there for a bit o' Christmas cheer has just made our lil' Airi all whoozy!
I love that cart. I think that is an amazing prop, and I'm glad they used it for the MV.
Also, Chissa centre! What isn't there to love about that!?
Mai: "Huehuehue, my turn to sing, now..."
NOOOOOOOOO!!! DX
Is it just me, or does Airi look in a permanent state of wanting to bawl, here? I mean, it fits with the idea of being ditched on Christmas Eve and all, but still XD
Chissa: "Airi, I'm gonna steal yo manz~"
No wonder Airi wants to cry, Chissa XD
No, Airi, no! Don't call the lover, let them call you! Unless you forgot to text them back, then yes, call them! Call them now!
This shot feels so old-school H!P, and I love it! >8D
Wishing there was more movement, though.
Mai: -Banshee shrieks increase-
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu---!!!!
... Wait, that's not a cart. IT'S A SLEIGH!!!!
Also, Chissa front! Wishing Nakky switched with Maimi though, then it'd look BOMB! ;D ;D ;D
Okay, is that snow real, or is it an effect? If it's a damn effect, I'm bloody impressed, because H!P don't make their effects subtle, ever. BOOM, in your face, sparkly snow. That's how they operate, and yet... this looks somewhat convincing o-O
Nakky: "So amaze. So snow."
See, even Nakky's surprised!
Mai, however...
Mai: "When can I sing again?"
NEVAH!!! D8<
Gawd damnit, why lump Chissa with Maimi!? Couldn't ya have given Chissa a damn solo shot, too, and just left Maimi out? D8
Maimi: "Fuq you, I'm popular. I don't need yo love!"
PRESENTS!
... I bet one is a gift from Maimi, and I won't like it >o> Maybe it's a Chiima voodoo doll with an arm or a leg ripped off owo
Maimi: "I hope she falls off a cliff..."
GIIIIIRL I don't fall, I ROLL!
Airi: "Maybe... maybe he'll come to me in a helicopter?"
Nakky: "... Why is there a bunch of CG glitter in the air?"
Management can't afford fake stars. Not even paper ones.
Chissa: "Maybe I should cut my hair?"
NOOOOO! You'll look like a soccer mom for the rest of your career!!! D8<
Mai: "... I should really go put my dentures back in."
This house reminds me of something Tim Burton would put in a movie of his.
... Lemme take a screenshot and send it to him for some ideas ;D
Chissa: "Fuck... you... Loser..."
Well, now. Never ditch Chissa on Christmas Eve XD
Y'all know H!P were loving Chissa's sudden popularity boost when they give her a scene that would typically be given to Airi or Maimi.
Seriously, though, Chiima of 2010 was giddy with joy when she saw how much Chissa got in terms of line distribution, solo shots and being put in the centre for the cart. I was fecking OVERJOYED AND LOOOOOVING IT! >8U
When the lights go down and her tears cease, so does the love that had been held for you once, long ago...
"I can't wait forever."
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This music video was suggested to me by Tony, and he's asked me to do it before. Honestly, the reason why I've not done it yet is because I kind of thought I had already written one, when actually, that's not the case. So, because it is the season to do Reviews (wait... that's every season), I thought it would be nice to finally tackle this one, and give you all a bit of imagery and words for your daily dose of nut job-Chiima reading.
Now, to start, way back when this was first released, I LOVED this song. I would practice the dance (badly), and I would sing it a great deal, too. I also thought that, damn, this was a gorgeous PV - it still is - and I obsessed over it slightly. At the time, I was unaware of just why a Christmas PV would be this sad, but after looking into a bit and discussing it with my lovely Ashley, I understand the video so much more, now, and I appreciate it a lot better. Once you kind of have that background information stored in your brain, you suddenly figure out why Christmas PV's from an Idol group or soloist can seem so damn unhappy. So, yeah; I still like it after all these years. The video is good, and it has aged pretty darned well. The only thing that might make you realise its age is the low quality, but hey, we can't have everything, right?
It's a fairly simple video, but it's effective. There are also a lot of slow moments throughout, with scenes that look like they are very quiet and thoughtful at times, and that's pretty nice. Whenever I think of a music video, I don't think of 'quiet', but that's the thought I had in my mind when watching this video for the first time in years. It's not complex, it doesn't deviate from this idea of a girl waiting, and its alternative scenes are very satisfying, though they could have a great deal more moment. Still, I understand why the members of C-ute are so still, sometimes; it adds to that idea of silence and seriousness that is evident all the way through.
The video is gorgeous, too, and I really do love how they set everything up. It actually looks like they're outside, rather than in a studio - an amazing feat that H!P rarely achieve when in a studio - and the muted tones and cool colours really compliment the theme and feel of the song, delivering a strong sense of sorrow and loneliness with each scene. This is an aesthetically pleasing PV, in so many ways, though it does feel slow at times. I honestly wish a dance shot had been included in another edit of the MV, but I don't begrudge it for not being a part of the original, either; it seems H!P wanted a serious tone, and they definitely delivered one here.
The costumes are also a great addition in the video, allowing to look even more attractive, and also giving the members something stylish but fun to wear. I really want some outfits like that, because they feel very classy, but still modern and feminine. The fact they don't really have anything covering their legs, though (aside from Nakky, of course), only makes m wonder just how in the heck they are going to keep warm if they dare venture outside? Sure, y'all look cute and all, but... THE LEGS! Wrap them up, stay warm, and be sensible in your clothing choices, ladies! XD
Okay, moving on. Given that I find the video has seemed to age pretty well, I want to talk about an aspect of this release that has not aged well, at least for me, and my poor ears... Yes, it's the song, and we're going to talk about it. Sorry to all those who adore this, and want to maim me this very second. Please, though; bear with me, then you can grab the pitchforks. Cool? COOL!
Aitai Lonely Christmas is a good song, it truly is - the instrumental is great, I like it enough. Here's the thing, though: It's too damn squeaky! In fact, throughout the entire song and those repeat loops I was doing throughout this review, I just couldn't help but think that, of all five members, it was Chissa and Maimi who saved me from switching it off. God damn Maimi, whose voice I generally dislike in older songs, is one of the few saving graces for Aitai Lonely Christmas. Good grief, this is a Christmas Miracle by itself. Seriously, though, not even Airi could aid me in not wanting to rip my ears off here! I mean, she, Nakky and Mai sound quite whiny, and I can't stand it. I would rather listen to owls screeching for 5 minutes than go through Aitai Lonely Christmas one more time. Good grief!
It feels like a drastic change, given how much I adored this song once, but actually, it's been six years. That's a long freakin' time, so of course my tune would change, eventually. I mean, I rarely listen to the song anyway, so no wonder I might react to it differently after so long... but yeah, I was surprised myself, especially when I realised just how quickly I wanted to listen to something else just to stop the song from replaying in my head.
Again, it's not a bad song by any means, it's just that I myself have stopped enjoying it. If it was just Chissa and Maimi singing it, maybe I'd have an easier time listening, however, it's not a duet, and it will forever contain whiny Airi, Mai and Nakky, at least in its studio edit from 2010. Really, though, if you love it, GOOD! Don't let my newfound dislike of it sway you, please.
So, to conclude:
I enjoy this music video and still think highly of it. It's beautifully done, the outfits are amazing, and it was definitely a point in C-ute's career where they had created a solid look and feel, showing off their maturity well, as well as their strengths as a 5-knit unit. They brought their A-game here, like they do with every one of their releases, and I loved every bit of this video in image and tone. Of course, the one downfall for me was the song, but that's just a change in taste, and we can't help that. It's nature; we like what we like, and we endure what we dislike with some form of grace, and a little bit of disdain, but we pull through.
Hopefully, you enjoy this a lot more than me, and see the beauty in both sound and vision.
With one last look outside the window into the snow covered night, you begin to accept with a heavy heart that it is time to turn out the lights. The waiting stops now...
Take care, and cherish your Idols.
Much Love,
Chiima☆
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