What do the Fans Want!? Is it even Necessary!? Morning Musume's 'What is LOVE?' Review x Rant!

All opinions within this post are totally my own and no one else's... er, well, it is my blog, who else's opinions would be on here!? Baka Chii!!! Tut!!! Still though... LEAVE YOUR BUTTHURT AT THE DOOR! THANK YOU!!!

This is more of a rant than a well-rounded post. YAY for letting loose sometimes xD

Good Lord, it feels like it has been forever since I last wrote, but that's all thanks to tiredness + a bit of horrible writers block. It is never nice to combine those two horrid things, I tell you! It puts a downer on my life a bit, because I do love my writing! Ah, where would I be without pen and paper?

... Oh wait, I would just be using a computer or typewriter instead, wouldn't I? Silly me!

So around this time last week, on News Years Day to be exact, Morning Musume had released their latest music video on Hello! Pro Station to the public known as The World Wide Web. Of course the reaction towards the new music video was a positive one, filled with bright, cheerful smiles, happiness and many joyous cries at seeing the video. Yes, everyone soon fell in love with it, cherishing the precious one that they had all been given and enjoying it greatly!

... Oh wait, I lied. Everyone fucking HATED it. How freakin' peachy! It's good that everyone can agree on something, right? That it's so cheap and a poor attempt, that it's shit and nothing amazing, that it's a rip off of AKB MV's or whatever else people are saying...

Yeah well, guess what World? I like it. BOOM, whaaaat? Chiima is, once again, a part of the Minority! Whoopee!!!

I can just hear the dry sarcasm in my typing right now.

Seriously though, I like this PV, and it rather annoys me that so many people are unhappy with this video, mostly because I think that, hey, we are getting THREE PV's from MoMusu for this single instead of the one or two we usually get, but I do have other gripes about it too (and these gripes could reign in butthurt galore depending on who reads this) but we shall get to those later.

... So who wants to look at the PV everyone hates so much with me? I DO!!! Oh wait, only me? FINE!!!

Love, Morning Musume '14, is an emotion that we men and women harbour towards the opposite or same sex, our teddy bears and also the unconditional love towards our families. Some also harbour this strange emotion towards large pillows that include a print out of their favourite Anime character or Idol on said pillows.

That is what LOVE is.

Whoever has the most glowsticks is the most LOVED!!!

... I think it's Daaishi. Whoops, sorry Riho, no more Ace name for you!

Why the Hell are MoMusu obsessed with the Crane neck dance move? Do they all want to be bloody birds this coming year?

Dayashi: "I need to tie my shoes..."
Sayumi: "Fuck, I think I just busted a hip! Ouch!"

Most favourite dance move. EVER!!!

... Or at least until I find another dance move I like a lot, that is.

Jesus Christ on a Shelf, there is a lot of Eripon and all them other ones in there! FUCK YEAH, ERIPON!

Yes Sayu, having your very presence in Morning Musume (14) and on our screens is a Never Ending Luxury... Please, never end! -sobs-

Also, look at that gorgeous Iikubo face in the background! Yee haw, cowgirl!

No, Masaki isn't fair to everyone, especially when you go to her handshake events. Then again, those are the ways of a Goddess.

Crying and Laughing at this ridiculous but fun dance! Muahaha!11

Er, Daaishi, we need to talk about your filthy language...

Masakins, I don't know if we have told you about the birds and the bees yet, but erm... to have babies, it is definitely necessary to get turned off, and sometimes when you don't want 'it', it is also necessary to get turned off...

Eripon: "Why is everyone trying to explain the laws of sex to Masaki...?"

DAAISHI, this is your fault!!! Thanks for bringing it up!

Wear shorter skirts or bikini's... basically do an AKB, and then you may just attract the world, girls!

This has to be one of my favourite scenes from the entire video... that camera angle! -shudders-

Just by being there, you can bring great happiness to the world! And YAY, heart!!!

Riho, you've become so pretty? -sobs-

Also, dat Daaishi belly!

I want to take a ride with that cowgirl Haruna... if you know what I mean >o>

Best. Move. EVAR!!! KICK THEM LEGS, GIRLS!!!

MoMusu still think that they are birds of a feather, taking flight... girls, you are NOT Swans!!!

NO ZUKKI! You would not love to go! You would love to bloody well STAY!!!

Who the fuck are you lot kissing? Don't let Friday get in on this rumour, you lot!

I do love it when choreographers reminisce and steal dance moves from past releases...

It's great having a blast from the past! Especially one as bloody weird and hilarious as this dance move!

A BETTER PV!!!

Sayu: "Dance, my puppets, DANCE!!!" -Cackles-

Oh yeah, do the Swan Can-Can! Swing those legs!

It seriously looks like Eripon's lugging up some boxes in this scene, doesn't it? Oh, and Dayashi x Sakranbo are idolisig the eternal Idol, Sayumi! Who wouldn't?

Reminding us mere viewers at home that we have not seen MoMusu live yet... -sobs-

I swear, Riho goes a tad crazy with her dance moves! ROCK IT, GURL!

Rock the baby, but don't let it fall... whoops, I think Sakura dropped hers! Shit!!!

A BETTER PV!!! STILL!!! Aren't you fucking listening to the masses?

For the fans who want it... er, yeah, it's kind of necessary...

Haruka: *hic* "Hii...~"

Pfft, you're telling me, Dayashi. Try conversing with a few fans who don't see eye to eye with you, and you realise you really can't convince them.

Meh, I've let many people down. Not gonna stop me from doing it again, though!

Also, HEART! SWAN CAN-CAN! YEAH!!!

Daaishi: "Zukki... HELP ME!!!"
Zukki: "Cha-chan~ <3"

Sayu in the middle of everyone's heart, including the make-shift MoMusu one. D'awww...~

Zukki: "Fuck this shit, I'm done."
Masakins: "YEEEEEEEAH!!!"
Sakuranbo: "Urgh, why the fuck is Riho an Ace when she can't even sing properly?"

Oh crap, who turned the lights out!?

This looks like a re-enactment of Stacies. Go Zombies, Go!!!!

I kind of wish that this had been put in colour order, rather than order of who UFP like for centre girls. Oh well!

... Oh crap, the screen caps have ended! This can only mean that it is time to tackle the rest of the post in written form, with my opinion... deep breath people o-o
 Though why I am nervous to write this part is beyond me, but I have a feeling it's because this will be a very unpopular opinion... yeah... Oh wait, when has my opinion ever been popular? Never. Okay, nerves gone! I can get on with this happily now! Whew~

So, let's talk about the PV. That dreaded, horrible video that seems to have everyone on the edge of their seats with absolute despair and loathing. This is the very video that has many a fan hissing through their teeth at UFP and cringing over what this video turned out to be. This is, to put it ever so bluntly, the bane of many fans' existence. Don't deny it; a good majority of the fandom fucking hate this PV, whilst very few enjoy or  even love it. Thankfully, I am within the minority here, so I was a rather happy camper when this video came out.
 It wasn't until I read the comments from the fans of MoMusu that I really started to get annoyed. Forget the video and whatever everyone says about it, its the comments that get to me about this entire video. And of course, in a Chiima-like fashion, I am going to put my foot in it and whine a bit. Because that is just what I DU!

See what I did thar? Hurr hurr... yeah...

Hitting off my post of whining, one of the main gripes from the fans that I have seen to do with this video is this; I WISH they had shot a REAL PV!!! What? Are you telling me that you have never seen a PV shot in this way before? You've never seen an artist from anywhere around the world release a video that shows the performance aspect, rather than the visual style? This is what we in the Media call a 'Performance Music Video', one which focuses on these points; the performance of an artist, and also the popularity of a group. That is, basically, what this video is all about! The performance and showing off that Morning Musume are pretty popular and/or well known. This isn't a new thing, and it isn't actually lazy; it's just an easier way (easy can also be interpreted as lazy, sadly) to show off the dance, and also the fans. So what if it isn't shot in a studio or have snazzy effects like people want? It's still a PV, it's just that they decided to use concert footage instead of re-hashing outfits and sets (Hi, Matenrou Show, and fugly ol' Kimi Sae...). Sure, they could have used footage that previously existed from their other concerts, but this one was actually re-shot in Budokan, hence the funky camera angles and sweeping shots, to show off the fans a bit.

I have also heard a few complain how this is not a real PV because it is simply a 'performance' with an MP3 put over it. Seriously? You would rather have shitty Kimi Sae over this? Honestly, I think that this is way better than what we could have gotten, because I originally expected us to get a lazy video in the same costumes, with a curtain over the set once again to hide the original studio set the girls had used for one of their other PV's. When I first saw this, I was extremely happy that they had used concert footage with a few funky shots going on to enhance the feel of the performance! It was nice to see that, despite using concert footage, they had enhanced that feel and look of the entire video simply by using great looking shots! I also think that using the concert footage has enabled me as a viewer to feel like I am there in the crowd watching the group too, cheering them on along with the crowd! I find it pretty amazing to see the fans in the shots, though they honestly don't last long enough. Also, I find that watching the MV this way, we really get that sense of realism in how they perform on stage, rather than the uniformed and clean dance style in a studio; in a studio, they can re-shoot it until it is perfect, whilst on stage they have one chance and only that chance to dance it to perfection, rather than having to go over certain steps because they messed up. We get to see that frantic, energetic dance style we have come to love from MoMusu, rather than seeing everything clean and polished and overly perfected.

Going back to my gripes now, another gripe I have is people whining about this video copying or borrowing from '48 styled videos... Er, no. As I said previously, these sorts of performance videos have been around a long time, so it isn't a '48 only manufactured thing. Performance style videos are, as I said, a way of showing off that a group is popular or have a good majority of fans, Usually these sorts of videos also include backstage footage and interaction with the fans (which is what commenter's have actually also said they wished they saw, and I agree whole-heartedly with that!) but what MoMusu is doing isn't completely new or innovative; they did it because it was a great way of showing off how they perform live, and also to show off their popularity and how many fans they have. Surprisingly enough though, this is only the second time Morning Musume have released a PV like this; the first being Chokkan 2, which really was a last minute, budget video because everyone disliked the Koi wa Hassle, DO THE HUSTLE song, and then this one. So it's not as if MoMusu always take this approach to music videos, because they don't, so to see it once in a while really isn't a bad thing.
 Sadly, people make it out to be that way sometimes...

To be honest, my main issue that comes with this MV is how people have taken it out of proportion, saying that they want a real video and not something like this, or that this is cheap and that UFP are being unfair. I find that rather fussy and greedy, if you ask me. And yes, I am aware I could get major hate for this, but that is seriously how I feel; most of the fans, newer and older in a sense, are being greedy. I mean, remember the days when we as fans had to wait a month or a little less to eventually see a PV from Morning Musume, or when they didn't have many releases at all? To be able to see what we have now, and to be given a Triple freakin' A-SIDE, is extremely lucky and amazing for us fans! Also, don't forget that these music videos aren't cheap or easy to produce, especially if you have three to create! I have a feeling that not only the budget for the two MV's, but also the budget to get to Budokan and then film in Budokan was a bit of a price to pay, and we all know that UFP aren't made of money, or at least don't want to splash that dough. The fact that they made Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa as amazing as it is is stupidly surprising in itself, so I'm not exactly surprised they created a video made up of concert footage for What is LOVE? anyway.

In my opinion, What is LOVE? came out better than I expected, and I do love it. I originally thought that it would be shit and ugly like Kimi Sae, or that they wouldn't even do a PV for the song (yup, pull a Johnny's on us all!) and leave us with just a track. That, or they would just do a cheap dance shot with an even cheaper background. But nope, we got concert footage with amazing shots and a few shots of the fans, and whilst I think a bit more variety (such as other performances of the girls in varying costumes and at different venues... like Pyjama's!) would not have gone amiss, I am really happy with the performance footage we have for this Performance Music Video, though not everyone is a happy camper.

Seriosuly though, what else can we expect? This is UFP, and when they do more than one A-side on a single, you can always guarantee that the last song on the list will be the least promoted, and will receive the worst PV and treatment, because it is simply not the 'important' song. What is LOVE? may be an incredible track, but it had its run of being promoted and baited to the public thanks to J-Melo, and now they are promoting two new songs that have a bit more importance to UFP - the original song, and then the Sochi '14 Olympics song. That, and MoMusu may not have had the rights to even film what others think of as a 'proper' PV for the song, given that this was a track made specifically for J-Melo. You never know.

Either way, I love the video, and whilst a little bit more clothing variety would not have gone amiss, I am a happy chappy here. I just need to stop reading the comments...

But seriously guys, what do you want? And is what you want even necessary? Is what I want necessary? Ah, the Goddess of Life and MV's is cruel...



MEH!!!

Chiima~

A Tribute to Winky: A Half-Assed PV for the Half-Assed Performer from a Half-Assed Company... Sounds about right

Please do not take my opinions to offence or take them seriously; my opinions are my own, not yours or anyone else's, and so you should only read if you have an open mind and can take on another persons opinions with a bit of humour, or knowing that it does not effect how you feel about the group, song and/or PV mentioned in this post... Or something like that.

... UFP are douche bags, you guys.

I was completely happy with Brainstorming as a PV, you know? So happy that I was actually anticipating how awesome a certain Kimi Sae Wah Wah would be despite the Flapper Pyoko dresses they were adorning. I mean I like the song, so with the epic PV that was Brainstorming, wouldn't this PV be just as epic?

... Yeah, fuck that shit, UFP are still the ass wipes we know and dislike greatly.

Now don't confuse my reaction to the video with how I feel about the song itself; I actually like the song and find it extremely enjoyable to listen to. In fact I love it, probably a lot more than Brainstorming. Why? Because it reminds me of rave music, and back in the day (when I was around 11, lol) I used to rock out too rave music at my computer desk, a few years before I found Jpop. I blame my brother entirely for this, of course; he loved rave music, and he got me and my younger sister into it, so hearing a smidgen of Rave-esque sounds in Kimi Sae Wah Wah is really nice. In a way, the song is subtly nostalgic.

It still has its problems, though.

Fuck this shit, let's just dance aimlessly!

One of my major issues with the song is something that you will either like or hate with a passion, and that has to be the harmonising lines. Really now? Why not just give the leading girl in these 'duets' the full-blown solo? Harmonising, when done right, can sound amazing, or extremely grating to the ears... and that was a problem I had with Riho and Sakura's duet from a Help Me!! b-side. Sadly, harmonising is used once again...

thankfully it's pretty tasteful here, though Sakura and Ayumi's harmonising duet sounds quite horrible to my ears. But seriously... if you're going to harmonise, do it with girls who have voices that compliment each other, and don't make it seem like one girl is singing the whole damn line. It pisses me off.

Other than that, though, I do like the song. It's catchy and quite pleasant to listen to in my opinion, and I love attempting to sing along to it. Note, I said attempt.

Thank fuck I'm leaving this joint

Taking a look at the PV itself, I'm not kidding when I said I was really looking forward to it. Brainstorming was basically the cherry on top of the cake for me, so my expectations for this after finding out that I enjoyed the full song were pretty high. I was ready to cast away my judgements of the original PV preview and prepare myself for more awesome, only to find that someone had stolen the cherry off the top of my cake and replaced it with marzipan.

I hate marzipan.

A majority of their faces... fuck it, all of their faces tell me that they want to burn this song to the ground.

I fee like I was a lot more disappointed with this PV when I first saw it than I am now when I take a look at it; there are things that I don't mind about it, but I also feel like this is a let down as well. In fact, when I first watched this I couldn't help but think 'Wow, this is just as disappointing as The Matenrou Show was', and at that point I also thought that this was pretty much what The Matenrou Show was around the time that the single came out.

Both PV's are essentially just dance shots with curtains in the background, however this single seems to have a better budget because the girls are wearing different dresses, and they managed to spruce up the set a bit in order to differentiate it from the Brainstorming set, thank the Lord.

... Actually no, wait. This is basically The Matenrou Show's successor. Both have curtains, a dance shot and lights behind said curtains. The only difference is the number of members and the change of costumes.

"Fuck yes, I have ALL the lines bitches!"

Another thing that irked me greatly with this PV, other than the lack of an interesting variety of scenes, was actually how bored and uninterested everyone seemed in this video. Granted, Riho, Ayumi and Reina sometimes looked like they were having a good amount of fun, but that only happened when they had solo lines. In the dance scenes where they didn't sing, they looked bored and uninterested like everyone else did.

Also, has anyone else noticed the daggers that some of the members are giving the camera's? Eripon especially.

Just pointing out the editing fail present in this PV. Maybe once the video is up and running on Morning Musume's youtube channel, they will have removed it and possibly given this PV a bit more variety and maybe even a storyline?

Doubtful though.

Reina: "Derp?"

That's another thing... what the fuck happened at UFP headquarters? I mean looking at Brainstorming all you see is this beautiful, glittering (thank fuck it doesn't actually glitter) beacon of awesome... and then there's this. You would think that they would pull out all the stops for Reina's goodbye single, right? RIGHT? I mean yeah, the costumes are pretty bad to look at if you aren't into flapper styled costumes, and even the set is a bit half-arsed, but you would think that they would give more to the PV.

Because let's be honest here, not even the dance is that good for this video. Brainstorming was quirky, and even The Matenrou Show had something fun about it that made you like it, regardless of how lazy the set and costumes happened to be. But this?

I would at least expect more because the dance isn't that great, and also: IT'S WINKY'S BYE BYE SINGLE!!!

I swear, this was all that was going through UFP's head at the time they were creating the video:

Or maybe Brainstorming was an early April Fools? Like HA BITCHES... we're not really that awesome.

They're probably watching me cry right now, guys, because this is an awful 'PV'.

Actually, thinking about how 'half-assed' this video is... maybe it's a tribute to Winky in all of her half-assed glory? I mean we all know that she half-asses the dance in any PV now, so maybe UFP decided to tribute the entire half-assed video to her half-assery.

Yeah, that's probably it.

And this is how bored we feel watching this video right now. Thanks for showing me my exac expression as I sit here watching this, Spoony.

Reina: "Mufufufu, I'm out of here! Onto greener pastures, bitches!"

I can't get over how much of a Gremlin Reina looks here.

Okay so joking aside... this PV is basically a dance shot (and not even a very good one) with plenty of Reina and Riho shots thrown in there, and maybe a few others, but that is pretty much it. Of course we also have different ways of panning the shots which makes it a little more interesting... but it isn't enough to make me like it any more than the little I do right now.

Riho: Hi, y'all! Back to steal the spotlight, even if it IS Baby Predator's time to shine!

This PV, overall, is boring. Downright boring and uninteresting to the core, and probably one of the more unflattering PV's that UFP have given MoMusu. I have no idea if it's the lighting or the costumes, but whenever I see some of these girls (Reina and Sakura especially), they do not look as pretty as they usually do. That is not me being a bitch or offensive or whatever... that is how I feel about the girls when I watch this PV, and whilst I applaud UFP for shoving Sakura down my throat a bit more in this video, I would rather they do it in a more universally flattering PV and not this video, because no... this is not a flattering video.

Please please please, Lord Gaki master of mine, do not let anyone see me in this hideous garment...

Bottom line, no, I don't like it. It's just a dance shot with zooming camera's, and it's so half-assed that even the girls don't like it unless they get a solo line somewhere in the video... and even then their happiness is half-assed. That is how bad this video is to me... and only me. But I do like the song, and listening to the song makes up for how crap this video is.

I have no idea how I managed to drag this post out, but yeah... this is the downfall of the Brainstorming/Kimi Sae Wah Wah single for me, and it is just the PV. The song is freakin' awesome, but the PV just ruined it. I have no idea what happened with UFP, maybe their budget was blown or something, but it seemed they went from awesome to absolutely... well, crap, in less than a day when the two PV's were released, and that makes me sad face a little.

But still... the song's good. I just wish that this PV had more than unflattering close-up shots (and not even everyone gets a close-up, it's pretty much just Sakura, Reina, Ayumi, Riho and probably someone else) and a dance shot.

Urrrgh... I need to shut up, or I will re-rant over this entire video.

Fuck you UFP... you dashed my dreams and stole my cake's cherry. Douche bags.

Chiima~

PING!!! Idolminded Recommended Reading: April 3rd, 2013