Guess who's baaaaaaaack with another review?~ /whacked;
You know, I finally got the time to write up this review. You know, I've been busy with school and blah blah blah. Stressed out about Calculus and blah blah blah. Okay, now isn't the time to complain about school! This blog is supposed to be a happy place~ In this review, I shall review JUMP's recent double A-side single ... their 13th single “ Weekender / Asu e no YELL. ” So now ... on with the review! Yaaaaay~
So first up, I'm going to start talking about “ Weekender ” first since ... everyone seems to really like it more than the other A-side, from what I have seen. This song is the opening theme for Yamada and Daiki's drama - Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (Neo). Two movies wasn't enough for them so instead, they created a TV drama~ To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to the drama at all. That is, until I heard that Ryunosuke was guest-starring in the first episode~ /whacked;
When I first heard this song, I actually kinda liked it. They were performing it live on 'THE MUSIC DAY.' JUMP performed a short version of it and to be honest, I just fell in love with Yuto's vocals in the song~ That one solo line that he sang - I just fell in love with. Like don't you guys have that one line in your favorite song that you just love? Like that one line that just sounds the best? This was what Yuto's solo line was for me. Besides that, I honestly did not like the attempted rapping-whispery parts in the song. I never liked JUMP's rapping and I never will. I hated their rapping in 'Ride with Me' and 'AinoArika.'
** 'Come back... ?' is an exception to that. It's because Hikaru was the one who was mainly rapping, and everyone else was just back-up vocals. Hikaru's pretty decent at rapping, not the best, but he's decent. Okay? He's pretty decent in my opinion. End of discussion. :D
However, as time passed, I find that the song was starting to really really really ... annoy me. This song was practically a throwback to the eighties or something - like a throwback back to the disco-era. This song was practically a disco number! In all truth, I'm not really a fan of disco ... I know, I'm a pretty bad person .. I'm sorry.
The song literally screams 'YAMADA RYOOOOSUKE.' This song was practically made for Yamada's vocals. This song suited his vocals the most. I can assure you, if Yamada was to have a solo concert - he'll be singing this song. Everyone else, despite how good they sounded in this song, just felt out of place. Yamada, as always, was totally in the spotlight. I'm not saying he's a bad vocalist or anything. He's a good vocalist and this just really centered on him.
While I do appreciate Yamada's vocals in this song, I need to give some credit to the other members. Everyone else sounded great in this song, but also out of place. I have come to appreciate the other members' vocals more in this song. Yuto's vocals are just amazing in this song. There's no question about it. Also, I find it really interesting seeing how Inoo was starting to get a lot more solo lines. Like didn't he get like three solo lines in this song? Like ermahgaaaaaaawd~!
Honestly, I do wished that Daiki could've have more spotlight in this song. I feel like 75% of time, he's been demoted to just rapping while Yamada has all the vocals. Daiki's vocals are really good, and sometimes better than Yamada - in my own opinion. Yes, I do know that Yamada's the main character in Kindaichi so it's obvious that he should be center. But Daiki's in it too ... I feel like he should've gotten a little bit more out of this single. At least, I wished he did.
Overall for the song, I'm pretty ... iffy about it now. I don't really like it, but it's a good song to listen to as a last resort~ It's an okay song, very Johnny's like. Okay, now enough about the song, let's move on to the music video! Oh dear ... where should I start?
First of all, why was 10 seconds of the video just of Yamada? 10 seconds is a really, really long time! I don't want to watch Yamada trying to act 'sexy' for 10 seconds! Also, what is he doing to his hair? What did the stylist do to his hair? I don't the highlights, I don't like the style. ... At least it wasn't as bad as AinoArika ... in my opinion.
At first, I imagined that the MV for this song was going to be funky and fun and really happy-go-lucky! I was right! Besides the really awkward 'sexy' bathroom mirror scenes, the overall music video was actually really really colorful. Like it was waaaaaaay too colorful! Now don't get me wrong, I'm usually a sucker for colorful MVs. cough;sekaiichihappynaonnanokocough; However, I find that this MV is WAAAAAAAAAY too coloful for my taste. I feel like they overdid it a bit.
I actually do kinda like the outfits for this MV. It looks really really casual and colorful~ However, Yamada's outfits just simply screams 'OLD MAN' for me. I didn't like his outfit at all. Yuto's outfit was okay, it was just that green jacket that felt out of place. However, Yuto was totally rocking the blonde hair. He actually looks really nice in Ombre hair. Everyone else was really nicely dressed~ I loved YabuNoo's bow ties~ I think they looked really cute in those bowties~ Hehe~ Chinen was really cute~
Okay, so let's move onto the most important part of the MV ... the dance. I don't really like it, it reminded me of some disco moves. I do know that JUMP are better dancers than this, but we all know JE ... JE's dances tend to be very lackluster, in my opinion. The dance for this song was very lackluster. I didn't really like it; I wasn't technically impressed.
So overall on the MV, I would give this say ... a nice 5 out of 10? It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. I kinda enjoyed watching the making of for this song. It was pretty amusing seeing how the members messed up on the rapping part after the first chorus. Hikaru dropped the gold microphone. Yamada broke it. And Inoo's just "THE SHOW MUST GO OOOON~" I was pretty amused, huehuehue.
Alright, so enough about “ Weekender ” I said too much about it. Let's move onto the other A-side which is “ Asu e no YELL ” . To start things off, I will admit that I like this song more than the other A-side. I really really do like this song.
“ Asu e no YELL ” is the theme song for Yuto's and Takaki's drama - Suikyuu Yankees. Or as I like to refer to it, as a live-action version spin-off of Free! And note, I don't really like Free! at all. I never really did the anime, but it seems like everyone else likes it. And I keep seeing gifs and fanarts everyone especially on We ♥ It. Anyways, let's start talking about this song - shall we?~
At a first glance, I didn't really like this song. I didn't really find it memorable. However, after a few more tries, the song really grew onto me~ And now, I totally love this song~ I really like this song~ I find this song to very out-going~ It's super up-beat~ This song really reminds me of “ Seishun Song ” by ºC-ute. I really loved Yuto's vocals in this song. I think this song was made for Yuto. He really did a good job in this song~ And then there's Yamada-
I won't hate Yamada or anything. However, from my perspective, I feel like he's always in the center. He's the second main vocalist of this song. It's inevitable. He is a good vocalist so he has to get some solo lines. But I feel like, the management should've promoted Takaki more in this song rather than Yamada. Even though Takaki has a minor role in Suikyuu Yankees, compared to Yuto, I feel like Takaki should've had more solo lines instead of Yamada. Takaki may not be good vocalist like Yamada, but he has pretty decent vocals. I feel like he should get a little bit more than three solo lines/words.That's just my feeling - that's my opinion.
Unlike the other A-side, I think everyone really fits in. They don't feel out of place~ I think everyone's vocals really suited this song - Hikaru, Chinen, Yabu, Inoo, everyone. They really come together in this song. Sometimes, I feel like “ Asu e no YELL ” is the exact opposite of its other fellow A-side. Sometimes. Sometimes.
Again, this song really reminds me of “ Seishun Song ” by ºC-ute. I feel like they would play this song as the encore and they would be spinning their towels around~ That would be really cool though~ I can really see that for “ Asu e no YELL ” . It'll be just like what ºC-ute does~ Like as the final song for their encore, JUMP would be performing the song - holding their towels and spinning them around. And the fans would also be spinning their towels along with the song as well~ Wouldn't that be fun? lol.
Overall, I actually really like this song. I prefer over . This is a really nice song~ To be honest, I tend to listen to this song during school. This is a very encouraging and up-beat song~ I read the lyrics translation for it and I liked it~ This is a very encouraging song in my opinion~ It really has meaningful lyrics to it~
“ ああ 強くなりたくて ただ熱くなりたくて
泣いたり笑ったりして手に入れた Wow Wow
まだ ちっぽけだけれど これが僕らの勇気 ”
Although, again, I feel like they should've made the MV more colorful - I'm actually pretty satisfied knowing that they didn't really overdo it like the other MV. The only thing that was mainly colorful was the stage since it was practically rainbow striped. It really stood out to me. The colors really made it suit out. But not only that, it really made the guys' outfits stand out really well as well.
The guys were wearing mainly white and sky blue outfits. It really very simple and I actually really liked those outfits. For once, I actually did like Yamada's outfit. In this MV, we also see the debut of Yamada's silver hair. /sigh; He doesn't look that bad but really ... he should stop changing hairstyles. Eventually, all the styling will definitely kill his hair. Also, Keito's rocking the short hair! Yes! Keito, you're so handsome! You're getting even more and more handsome as time pass! I think Yuto's outfit really suits him~ I think that jacket really suits him~ Also, I just point out to you guys ... Takaki's cardigan~ Huehuehue~
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| Yuto's playing with Takaki's cardigan~ lol |
Although I'm glad that the management put Takaki in front with Yuto, I'm still a little bit bitter that Yamada's still in the center position. I mean, yea! I get it. Yamada's the poster boy of the group. He has the largest fanbase! It's obvious that they would put him in the center. But for once, I would like to see what it would be like if they just pushed Yamada all the way to the frekin' back. Like all the way to the back where you can barely tell that he's even there. One day, I want to see them do that.
Overall, I actually like this MV in general, as well as the song. In my opinion, “ Asu e no YELL ” is the better A-side out of the two. Done. End of discussion~ :D
Also, I kinda noticed how Chinen's slowly starting to fade into the back a bit. Chinen's popular so he really has this big presence in the group. However, for this single, I find that he's slowly fading into the back. Yes, he does have solo lines and stuff. But for this single in general, I find that he's slowly fading away in the MVs. It's kinda like what I said about Maimi in my review of ºC-ute's “ The Power / Kanashiki Heaven (Single Version) ” review. Yamada is Airi, Yuto is Chissa - and Chinen's Maimi.
Alright, so now's let's start talking about them B-sides shall we? We have four new B-sides for this single. To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to the B-sides. I find that I don't technically enjoying listening to JUMP's b-sides. I really didn't like their B-sides for the last single (except for Sakura, Saita yo). But I think they're redeeming themselves now with this single~ I will talk about them (the b-sides) in order that I have on my iTunes. So first up, we got ... Hey! Say! 7's “ Tada mae e ”.
This song from Hey! Say! 7 is really pretty! This is a really pretty song. Oh my god. I really
So yea, I wasn't really looking forward to listening to song. However, I'm glad that I gave this song a chance~ Again, this is such a pretty song~ None of the guys stood out individually, rather ... the four members of 7 really stood out as a whole~ They really have good harmonies in this song~ Also, I recently read the lyrics translation for the song and it was really nice too~ If I were to choose whose vocals stood out the best, it would be a tie between Chinen and Yuto for me.
Alright, so the next B-side on the list is Hey! Say! BEST's “ Suits Days ”. Similar to Hey! Say! 7's case, I wasn't really looking forward to this song. I didn't really like BEST's song in the last single so yea. At first the song didn't interest me at all. It was a little boring and I wanted to skip to the next song. However, the instrumentals reminded me of another song I couldn't put my tongue on at the time so I kept on listening to it. And then I heard the lyrics ... 「激しいジェラシー 苦しい恋しい」.
WHOA. WHOA. WHOA. WHOA. WHOA. WHAT. What is this .... “ Suits Days ” sounds almost exactly like “ School Days ”. Now if you don't know, but “ School Days ” is like one of my most ultimate favorite songs ever from JUMP. It was the song that got me really interested them. You know, I was in bed when I was listening to the song, and when the lyrics popped up ... I nearly jumped out of my bed. I was like "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat." I was really surprised for a moment there.
Over time, I listened to the song more and it really grew onto me. So now, I actually really do like the song. I'm thinking of this as “ School Days ” Part Two!~ A lot of the lyrics in the chorus, is really similar to the chorus in “ School Days ” - I found it to be very cool~ In general, I actually really like this song. I think everyone in BEST really did great in this song. They really stood as a whole~ No one stood out more than the other~ Enough said~
Okay, we're almost done people! We're almost done! Only two more songs left! You just need to bear with me for another couple paragraphs (ish). The second to last song is titled “ Through the night ”. At first, when I tried listening to this song, it wasn't really memorable to me. No, it was more like, I kept listening to it but I never really paid attention to it. My mind would just blank out and the next thing I knew, the song is already over.
When I first listened to this song, I thought that was a throwback to “ BE ALIVE ” from their “ Magic Power ” single. At least, it felt like it. In all truth, there wasn't really anything that stood out in this song. It was a pretty average song and often my mind just blanks out. However, I will commend Hikaru and Yabu though~ In my opinion, I think their vocals really stood out in this song~ YabuHika! Yay! (What am I saying ... I'm a YabuNoo shipper. I do ship YabuHika sometimes ... ).
Overall, this is a pretty cool song in general. There wasn't really anything stood out to me. It's just another song from JUMP. Again, this song feels like a throwback to “ BE ALIVE ”. If you are a fan of JUMP's more cooler song, then I would suggest that you should listen to this song. I feel like I should like this song more but I can't bring myself to do so. It just doesn't really stand out to me. This song has potential though, I can see that.
And now for the final song! Yayyyyy~ This final song I shall talk about in this review is title “ Rainbow Candy Girl ”. When I first say the song title, I thought that it was such a cute title! Oh my god, this is seriously such a cute song title~ lol. However, I knew that I had to expect for the worst from thue song. I just knew that I had to expect for the worst.
This song is practically a remastered version - a throwback to their song “ School Girl ” from their “ Ride with Me ”. If you have read my previous posts, you guys would know that I definitely hated their “ Ride with Me ” single. I hated the A-side, and some of the B-sides, and the MV too. You know, I just realized that I forgot to download the “ Ride with Me ” on my new MacBook. That just shows how much I really hated the single - to the point that I have forgotten its existence. I'm serious, guys. I totally forgotten about its existence until now.
“ Rainbow Candy Girl ” is one of JUMP's more cutesy songs. I'm technically not a fan of their cutesy, rainbow, sparkle, unicorn songs at all. If it's Sexy Zone, maybe that's a different story. But for JUMP, no ... In the beginning, the sounds make you think that it's a carnival - amusement park song. Well, it does sound like a carnival-amusement park song doesn't it? I don't necessarily like it, but I like it better than “ School Girl ”. The song kinda annoys me and is just another filler song on my iPhone. So if I'm bored, I'll have no choice but to listen to it~ Wait, now that I think about it, this could be a good OST for a fanfic I'm writing ...
Well that's it for my review! Whoa ... I wrote a lot more than usual. This took me all day to write. I started writing this review at like 10 am and didn't finish until 5 pm. This is because I get distracted with watching MVs and reading fanfics, lol. Until my next post, jyaa ne~
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Song: “ Get Up! ” by Nakayama Yuma
Mood: A Bit Impatient (▰˘o˘▰)
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