Fumetsu no Scrum
All opinions
expressed in this review are my own. Basically, they don’t need to agree with
your own. So, don’t start trying to get all batshitty at me if our views clash~
Okay, so I half-told myself that there was no way that my next
review would be a PV review, because I’m not that good at PV reviews. Yet here
I am, writing a review on…oh, right, a PV. Oh well, I’m never going to get
better unless I make an attempt, right?
Of course, it would only be natural for my risky review to be of a
KAT-TUN PV, right? So, I’ll be reviewing KAT-TUN’s new PV for their latest
single, Fumetsu no Scrum.
I’ll say it straight out – this PV did not impress me as many other
KAT-TUN PVs. Oh wow, I started out a KAT-TUN review with a negative comment.
Well, it’s better to be honest than biased, I find. Anyway, my point is…it’s so
simple. I am fully aware that other KAT-TUN videos are somewhat simple –
ULTIMATE WHEELS only had two one-colour sets but, at least, it had that fancy
camera and the light and shadow stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the PV,
really. I do honestly like it and probably prefer it to a great many other PVs
– you have to take into account I’m purely comparing it to other KAT-TUN PVs here.
The PV was definitely entertaining, though. I think it was probably
a really good PV, it just didn’t put me in that weird state of ‘Oh my god wow
oh my god this is so wow and so perfect oh god’ that the past few PVs have
managed to do – the last PV that failed to manage that was probably Going! over
2 years ago. Aside from that, the concepts of the dance & close-up shots
and the bowling scenes clashed a little. Thanks to the editing, they stilled
worked well together and with the song, mind.
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| It's irrelevant, but I LOVE the outfits from this single's covers~ |
My main complaint about the bowling scenes was their outfits, to be
perfectly honest. Okay, yes, they were wearing bowling clothes but gold sparkly
looked a bit…naff, maybe? It’s not really of too much consequence, but,
personally, the outfits didn’t sit well with me. It has to be taken into
account, though, that I don’t like bowling outfits anyway, so that opinion
can’t be helped. The bowling scenes were cute, though, definitely. The boys
just looked so happy and like they were having fun, it was sweet. Especially
their circle dance after Kame’s victory – I honestly love that bit. I love
watching these guys interact and I suppose this PV gets lots of bonus points
for being, like, the only video where that really happens (ignoring Kame and
Maru’s conversation in the background of THE D-MOTION and similar cases, seeing
as they weren’t even intentional). Sure, maybe I wasn’t overly impressed by the
PV but, as I sit here reflecting over these scenes, I’m getting ready to have a
giggly fit over how lovely it all is. But, I’m in public right now, so, that’s
a bad idea e.e
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| Icky shirts but just look at Kame's attempts to sexy things up with those sunglasses |
My favourite part of the video was possibly the dance shot – one
reason for this is…their trousers. I want their trousers and they’ve now been
added to my list of trousers I’ve seen male celebrities wear and would quite
like for myself (along with the ones they wore in their ShoKura Premium LOCK ON
performance and so many of the ones I’ve seen Yamapi wear). Honestly, I just
love their outfits in those bits and that definitely more than makes up for my
feelings toward their bowling outfits. Another reason as to why I love this
part is the choreography which was written by Junno himself (if you didn’t know
already). Sure, it’s not the best choreography ever but Junno did really well
for his first attempt at group choreography. You have to understand that in my
saying that it’s not the best ever means nothing more than it’s simply not
among the best dances I’ve ever seen but KAT-TUN don’t normally have the most
impressive dances anyway so it’s not exactly important – just to clear that up.
But, what I think is important, at least for a song like this, is that this is
definitely a fun and light-hearted dance that fits the group and their style
(or styles, since none of them seem to want to dance the same way) extremely
well. Maybe the dance would be even better if these derps could dance on time
with each other =w= But, I love their lack of synchronisation, don’t worry.
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| Rub-a-dub-dub~ |
The close-ups weren’t anything to be hugely amazed by, though, the
big lights in the back were definitely cool. They added a really nice effect to
the video. Though, there’s never much to comment on with the close-ups unless
they actually stand out in some way since, past that, it’s all down to the
members. I can say that they looked awesome against that backdrop, but I’d
rather that, for now, I was reviewing the video and not gushing over the
members *coughorkamecough*.
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| Could it be? A gorgeous turtle come to prove my point! /helooksawkward/ |
However, I’d like to gush a little now, is that okay? ;w;
I think they looked amazing in this video. I mean, as amazing as
they could seeing as I don’t actually find all the members attractive. And you
can’t judge cause I’ll just point out that it means that I just like them for
their voices and personalities rather than just their faces =w=
I really liked Koki’s hair in the dance and close-ups, the way it
was tied back. I believe that he should go back to the straight long hair. I
just prefer it to the poodle perm, that’s all.
Kame was gorgeous in this PV. Like, no, especially in some points. I
admit that I’m probably hugely biased towards this man, but I can’t help that he’s
so stunningly beautiful, okay? =3= I really like his hair in this video,
though. And that glare when Maru pats his back *.* Those eyes >< That man
has such lovely eyes. And legs. I love the way he moves his legs and those
trousers looked good on him, uhh. I’ll stop here out of here that I’m just
going to get derailed and bore you. So, basically, to summarise this whole
paragraph, I love Kame and am fascinated by his existence. There. Done.
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| Can you really blame me for my feelings? I refuse to be blamed!! |
Now, I think it only makes sense to conclude with a quick review of
the song itself, right? What’s the point in reviewing a video without
appreciating the entire package?
My first comment would have to be that the actual style of the song
differs somewhat from the typical ‘KAT-TUN Style’ that has been built up throughout
the past six years or so – they’ve been around for 11, I know, but most of
style was developed via singles. This difference in style doesn’t bother me –
in fact, songs of this style appear quite frequently as B-Sides and album
tracks. On top of that, I love when groups release things in different styles,
as long as the songs retain their essence. This is something KAT-TUN are very
good at – no matter what genre of song they tackle that same feeling is always
there that makes them stand out. I also think that KAT-TUN’s ‘experimentalism’,
if you can call it that, makes them original. Someone once told me that they
were one of the most generic groups in J-Pop right now and I was immediately
sure they hadn’t actually listened to the bloody group. I can’t actually think
of another Japanese group that sound like KAT-TUN, even in JE. Okay, sure,
maybe the odd song, but for the most part, they’re fairly unique-sounding.
Obviously, they’re not perfectly original but on a small scale they can be
referred to as such. Besides, this person was an AKB-stan – I like AKB48 and
all but they’re hardly something original. The fact that most of the 48 groups,
at first listen, sound just a little like carbon copies of each other kind of
proves this.
I don’t actually know what this song is about, so I won’t comment on
lyrics or meaning, but it has a very upbeat feeling to it. I imagine it’s a
song with an uplifting or powerful message, granted they don’t pull a GACKT on
me or something and stick me with a lovely, happy-sounding song with a dark and
depressing message.
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| Victory for KAT-TUN! |
That’s all for now~!
I’ll hopefully be writing a review on the PV for Koki’s solo, BLACK
OR WHITE, which featured as a B-Side on the First Press edition of this same
single, tomorrow!
