Five releases today: Mano Erina’s Seishun no Serenade Single V, Bijo Gaku Vol. 3 & 4 DVDs, and Buono’s 11th single Zassou no Uta.
Since there aren’t that many previews for the Bijo Gaku DVDs I won’t be able to review them (I couldn’t find that many links to buy the DVD either), but I still encourage fans who are interested to buy the DVDs since the series is very entertaining.
Mano Erina “Seishun no Serenade” Single V
Mano Erina’s Single V for her 9th single.
Unfortunately there aren’t that many details about the Single V for some reason (Mano isn’t as popular as Momusu, Berryz and other groups so usually her Single V releases go largely unnoticed) so I don’t really have a good idea of what is included in the DVD apart from the main PV and the Making Of, so I will review the PV briefly so that fans who haven’t seen it yet get a good idea about what to expect from the DVD.
Seishun no Serenade
Video uploaded by: ManoErinaCHANNEL
Like I mentioned before on my brief review when it was released the PV is somewhat calm but it features many different scenes that give the PV enough variety to keep the viewer entertained.
There are about 4 scenes in the PV: dance shot in the classroom with Mano and 4 Eggs dancing in front of a stationary camera that moves back and forth and a camera that swings side to side, a shot of Mano walking around the school and into the various classrooms, a shot of Mano singing while sitting in a desk, and a closeup shot of Mano singing to the camera in front of a bright background.
The song is simply amazing since it features a catchy beat that mixes a ballad sound with an upbeat happy feeling, and even though the bridge of the song seems to stand out a bit too much since it changes the sound abruptly I loved every second of the song since Mano’s vocals are amazing, the songs instrumental is catchy and cute, and they both combine to form an amazing song.
The dance shot in the classroom is where most of the PV takes place, and in it we can see Mano dancing along with 4 Eggs as backdancers, and even though there are only two different cameras: the camera in front of Mano going back and forth, and the one on the side going side to side I really liked the way the dance went along with the song since it was simple, cute, and matched the beat of the song.
The shot of Mano walking around the school seems to have been done to give the PV a bit more of a story, and apart from the weak storyline where she walks around the school and finds a piano I found that the shots turned out pretty good since we get to see Mano walking around and playing a piano at the end of the PV.
The shots of Mano singing from the desk and the closeup are the best in the PV since Mano looks amazingly beautiful in both of the shots, and even though the shot of Mano singing in a desk is somewhat calm and the closeup doesn’t feature that many dance moves I loved how great Mano looked in each one of them.
The PV overall matches the theme of the song since the cute upbeat lyrics and the calm ballad sound of the song went along perfectly with the dance shot in the classroom, the walk around the school, the singing from the desk, and the closeup of Mano singing, and while the bridge of the song sticks out I consider this to be among my favorite Mano releases.
Even though I couldn’t review the entire Single V I could at least review one of the three videos in it, so hopefully fans who enjoyed the PV consider buying the Single V since it contains this PV, an alternate version, and the Making Of.
Buono! “Zassou no Uta”
Left: Regular, Right: Limited
- Zassou no Uta
- Runaway Train
- JUICY HE@RT
- Zassou no Uta (Instrumental)
- Runaway Train (Instrumental)
- JUICY HE@RT (Instrumental)
Buono’s 11th single (and the first since they left Pony Canyon) which debuted on the Oricon charts at #8.
Like most of us already know the single wasn’t promoted well at all, but I’m glad to see that despite it not having that great of a promotion run it did manage to debut in the top ten on it’s first day and in it’s second day it managed to stay in the top 10 at #10, which is pretty impressive for a group that didn’t release a single for a year although slightly disappointing since it’s not doing that great when compared to their last release.
Despite that this single was one of the most impressive releases by the group since it features a grand total of six tracks: three songs and their instrumentals, and while this should have made the release more tempting for fans it is a great comeback for the group since it gives everyone a chance to enjoy an extra song along with two extra instrumentals.
Surprisingly there were two PVs for this release, one for the main song Zassou no Uta and another for JUICY HE@RT which is something rare for H!P, and since I haven’t had a chance to see the PVs or hear any songs from the single I will be writing down my first impression of the songs which will most likely be a bit more positive than usual since I love Buono and all of their releases.
Zassou no Uta
Video uploaded by: buonochannel
The song is somewhat more calm than what I imagined Buono’s comeback would be like, but despite the somewhat calmer beat the song had the Buono sound with the guitars, drums, and bass along with the great vocals from each Buono member although the lyrics seemed to repeat a bit (it might have been the cheering not the lyrics though).
The PV is very interesting since it features a very elaborate setting with Buono performing in a garage full of cars along with a different band in the background, which was really impressing since most H!P PVs only feature a stage or something similar and shows that they actually did a great job with planning the PV since they didn’t seem to have any budget issues.
The other half of the PV features a shot of Buono fixing a car up which matches the car theme well and it is really fun to see Buono laughing while they work on a car together, and while Miya’s hairstyle might be a bit distracting I did like the way everyone looked in both of the shots since they look as great as always.
Overall the PV is interesting since it features a unique car theme with a great story shot of Buono working on a car, and while the song might be a bit calm by Buono standards I did love the PV and the song since they both sounded amazing.
Runaway Train
Video uploaded by: xEriJunLinx
The song features more of an edgier instrumental since the beginning has a great guitar intro along with great vocals which seem to have a similar calm feeling to the a-side although the song has a bit more guitar when compared to the a-side which makes it very interesting to hear since it’s the closest to the Buono sound we are used to.
The song isn’t as catchy as I would have though it would be but it might be because I’m listening to the song for the first time but I did love the guitars and the instrumental along with the vocals since they both sound incredible and they go along with the sound of the main song perfectly.
JUICY HE@RT
Video uploaded by: buonochannel
The song stands out from the rest since it seems to have some more synthesizers in the instrumental along with the guitars, but I’m glad to see that they didn’t overuse them since it resulted in a pretty impressive and balanced instrumental where none of the instruments overpowered the others.
The vocals like always are amazing and catchy and while most of them are group lines I loved the way that everyone sang since it seemed a bit more unified than usual since there wasn’t any member that overpowered the others while singing (I couldn’t tell apart Momo, Airi or Miya’s voices that easily).
The PV is simply amazing and I say that mainly because of the amount of variety in the PV, starting from the yacht where they eat a pizza (most likely from pizza-la), to the scene where they get out of luxury cars like movie stars and sing in front of them as well as the part where they sing in an amazing and fancy room the PV impresses with each new scene since it shows a completely different approach to PVs.
The outfits each member had were all a bit darker than the usual outfits we are used to seeing but it seems that they have a darker more mature sound than usual and the PV does an amazing job of showing it of since we get to see a yacht, luxury cars and a fancy room along with the dark punk outfits each member has, which makes them stand out a bit more than usual.
Overall the song is amazing since it has a synthesizer instrumental along with the guitars and the impressive vocals, but the PV is simply one of the best I have seen since it combines variety, luxury and Buono’s image to show off a unique H!P PV, and even though I usually have a small complaint I can’t really find one for this PV since I really loved it.
The single didn’t feature any song composition by Tsunku (from what I remember) so it’s interesting to see that Buono’s image has gotten a bit more mature during the past year. It almost seems like Buono grew up a bit and so did their music since all of the songs have a similar calm but mature sound with amazing vocals, and while the songs might be a bit too similar sometimes I loved each one of them since they all have something that sets them apart.
Hopefully all Buono fans can get a copy of the single since this is a great single with amazing songs.
A last word before ending the post: I highly encourage everyone to buy the singles from the links below since they count on the Oricon charts, but if you don’t want to or can’t buy the singles due to the cost of shipping I recommend that you buy them instead from iTunes since it’s the second best way to support Buono and other H!P artists without having to spend a lot of money.
If you like the single please consider buying the songs instead of just downloading them since it shows UFA how much we care about great groups like Buono while supporting them.
Here are some links to buy the products from sites that count on the Oricon, please support your favorite H!P artist!
Mano Erina
Seishun no Serenade (Single V)
Hello! Project
Bijo Gaku Vol.3 (DVD)
Hello! Project
Bijo Gaku Vol.4 (DVD)
Buono!
Zassou no Uta (Single)
Buono!
Zassou no Uta (Single+DVD) Limited Edition
Hello!SayuNii 