Noel no Yoru

Sweet Mercy!

Teh Yukirin’s hand holding Rena close….Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

Yobisute FANTASY

Looks more to me like ear-nibbling *grins*

~

So, AKB48’s 24th single, a la 2nd Janken tournament, ‘Ue kara Mariko’ is already upon us.

As many people have already touched upon the main single, I will not go there again, besides, slightly off topic much!

Any ways, the single is here and as usual (well, second time around) the coupling songs and PV are the ones to keep an eye on, especially if you are like me and all your Oshii didn’t make it into the Janen Senbatsu line-up. So what do we do in this case, we look forward to those coupling Team songs and B-Sides which include all Team members and original Senbatsu members, respectively.

And my top Oshii being Yukirin and Rena, well it meant that in this single, I jumped right into the coupling song ‘Noel no Yoru’, which I bet means Christmas Eve(Night before Christmas) that the actual Night of Christmas, but alas, and Team B’s ‘Yobisute FANTASY’.

I don’t really know what was going on and frankly I wouldn’t have had it any other way as I got what I wanted in the PVs of these two songs.

First is Noel no Yoru, which featured all the senbatsu members from the third elections. Now while I won’t comment on the song itself (no musician) I will have something to say about the cinematography. I don’t know why but AKB48 PV makers really don’t know how to use colours. I don’t remember the last time I was simply blown away by simply looking at an AKB48 PV. Oh wait I do. It was this summer but that was only thanks to the BluRay magic. Their DVDs simply suck! And for some reason, even the HDTV rips of their PVs look like S*&%. And I can’t believe I just said that about my favourite Idol group.

It goes without saying then that this release also sucks, in the visual (camera side of things) department. The costumes and sets weren’t so bad, it the cinematographers that need to be fired immediately. Nah, just kidding ( I ain’t that bad).

Make way for the Princess

Back in the Kaze wa Fuiteiru days, kukuku, I was kinda sad how Yukirin was dismissed back to her irrelevant position as if No.3 was nothing! I secretly raged and a few posters felt my wrath (believe you me) in my home. Like, WTF was up with that? It was as if Flying Get was the Janken single and Kaze the one after – in that the senbatsu rankings are no longer relevant after that one single a la janken experience. I raeged so hard but I kept it to myself.

Until now. What better way to talk about it than after a resolution any ways. As to what I mean by this…

In Noel no Yoru and Yobisute FANTASY Yukirin gets her ranking’s worth of screen time and this made me so much happy and just in time for Christmas. I guess the people up top watched Kaze and realized their goddamn mistakes. Too bad the cinematographer choice wasn’t one of them.

So any ways, let’s talk the PVs.

Noel no Yoru.

 
 
 
 

Pimp Yukirin

What I loved best about this PV was the coupling thing going on. Only one actually. I would bet that it’s not only I that thinks of hoe messed up all other couplings were. Though kinda crack, outside of Majisuka Gakuen, Yukirin x Rena is the one that got me all hot and bothered. I mean it is Yukirin and Rena FCOL. Yukirin and Rena! And it didn’t stop there, they had to make them do the E.T finger sex which was accompanied by some floaty hearts, which were all outdone by that cute cheek-rubbing! Can’t get more intimate than that with a friend, am I right!

 

And Oh, let me mention that the two wore the same clothes designs but with reversed colours (black or white). I am pretty sure they were the only one who wore the same outfit designs, but truly, I wasn’t looking any ways so….But I am pretty sure.

Apart from these two, all other pairs were all over the place. Well, others that got me thinking was the Saya-nee/Sae pair and also Jurina looked very happy being close to her Mariko-oneesama. I almost pumped a BroFist in the air at the Saya-nee/Sae-chan! So much bromance right there.

 
 
 

Even though Mayuki or WMatsui would have done just as well, there is just that something about the two Ojou-sama Idols. And it looks like someone else is starting to notice it too. I hope this means, with SKE48 moving into AKB48’s hommies up there in management and thus meaning more working together with each other, that Yukirin and Rena will get to be together a bit more in the future. Also, there’s still Majisuka Gakuen Season three.

Any ways to summarize, The song is a generic Christmasy song for Christmas (what more do you need), Yukirin gets her camera shots and there is some Princess-loving so all in all, I loved Noel no Yoru.

~

Yobisute FANTASY

 
 

Freaky!

 
 
 
  

The hell is it?!

 
 

 
 
 

I am loving Harukyan’s short cut so much

 

 
 

Tsun-dere

 

Me scared!

The Team B song – Yobisute FANTASY. Where should I begin; Mayuki? The Director or that goddamned freaky Bear?!! Seriously, WTF is up with Freaky mutated monsters and AKB this year? Is it the year of the Monster? Is Japan going to add Freaky-Monster onto their zodiac calendar? I wouldn’t put it past them.

Okay, I guess that answers my question as to where to begin.

But seriously, NMB48’s 2nd single Oh! My! God!, released just over a month ago had a frikkin rabbitman. At least that wasn’t such a freak of nature though. And judging from those freaky teeth I am willing to bet that the monster in Kaze wa Fuiteiru, a month or so ago too, was a mutated rabbit god of some sort. But not even it was as freaky as the latest one in Yobisute FANTASY The fuk kinda bear was that?!. I don’t about anybody else but while the song moved at an upbeat pace and the girls looked happy, the overall image of the PV came off to me as disturbing. Are the girls supposed to be some fantasy little beings, like maybe, fairies? Then what was up with the puppet-like image in the beginning? I simply shuddered at the scene where the freaky bunny came onto the scene with huge-ass scissors and commenced to CUT the girls down! Usually when you cut the puppet’s strings they are ‘broken’, right? Usually. So WTF was going on here when the puppets instead turned to life after their strings were cut!?!

I don’t get it at all.

Leave it to Director (Ninagawa Mika) to leave people wondering. She is also the one that brought us the ever popular Heavy Rotation PV. I think most of AKB48 fans know what happened with that one. Thankfully, this time the commotion would be contained in the minds of the individuals alone and not escalate into a society level debate.

Not all was headache and furrowed brows though.

Enter Mayuki.

These two kinda dominated the PV screen time but not so much. Well, they would have were it not for that Freaky Bear thingy. The yuri was not as strong as it was in the Hebirote PV. I guess the lady is still feeling the heat from those days. That didn’t stop her from throwing in the Mayuki moments we have come to know and love like those meaningful glances, the touching and some whispered secrets this time around. Too bad she went about the other route where fans have to vote if whether there was love rivalry between Yukirin and Mayuyu for Pedo-Freak-Bear or if the rivalry was between Yukirin and PFB for Mayuyu.

Speaking of Jelly Yukirin, she was so HNNNNNGGGGG when she went all tsun-dere out of nowhere….And just at the right time that we get to have a Rin episode in Fate/Zero. It was a tsun-dere weekend!

Overall the music was an expected Team B song. In other words, smelling of cute and your typical idol characteristics that should keep the layman’s fan happy to be into AKB48 as we all know how different Team AkiP is from the other groups. Too bad they are turning into just that – the typical idols group. The changes aren’t big but they are there. I only hope NMB48 picks up where AKB slipped by keeping up the uniqueness.

Any ways, I loved this release which I think closes the year off from AKB. I wonder what the 25^th single is going to be about come next year. Best bet though is that there will be a cherry blossoms theme in there somewhere!

……………….

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Noel no Yoru ——|—– Yobisute FANTASY