So, WORLD QUEST/Pokopon Pekorya is NEWS’ next single after their explosive, and extremely successful, comeback (an actual comeback, too, none of this K-Pop shit where they wait a couple of months before releasing and, then, smack the phrase ‘COMEBACK’ over everything to make everything seem far more exciting than it is, ignoring fully the fact that bloody group didn’t go anywhere and took a perfectly normally waiting period before putting out anything new `(*coughbapcough*)),and first release as quartet (after the tragedy of 7th October 2011 – yes, it was a tragedy; I very nearly cried, that makes it tragic), Chankapana, which managed to chart for a good nineteen (or so I’ve read) weeks. It was also the first single since the group’s only 2009 release, Koi no ABO, to hit the 200, 000 sales mark in its first week. Pretty good going, I’d say. And, now, NEWS have continued to impress, topping the Oricon charts with their 15th single, WORLD QUEST/Pokopom Pekorya. Let’s take a look-see~
- WORLD QUEST
This
is the main track of the single – I don’t care that the title of the single
clearly implies there’s some double A-Side business going on, the other song
doesn’t even have a bloody PV, so, yeah, this one’s the main one. It will also
be used as the image song for ‘TOTOYA presents FIFA World Cup Japan 2012’, much
in the same way that KAT-TUN’s DIAMOND was used as the image song for ‘Dramatic
Game 1844’, only, obviously, this is football and not baseball. I don’t give a
flying fuck about footie but, just so you know, this World Cup is ‘a soccer
tournament to determine the top club team from more than 300,000 club teams in
the six continents’. On top of this, NEWS’ own Tegoshi Yuya will be working as
a caster on the games, much like KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi Kazuya does with Dramatic
Game. Oh, and Tegoshi will also be working as a host on a new sports show
called ‘Soccer Earth’, much in the same way as, hm, KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi does
with baseball for Going! – what is this, are NEWS trying to become KAT-TUN’s
football-loving brother or cousin or something?
Anyway,
all that aside, it’s time to focus on the song itself. This song is NEWS.
Really. It just sums up everything NEWS are. Every aspect of it. Except for
parts of the lyrics, seeing as their songs aren’t normally full of football
references. But, seriously, I should think that anyone very familiar with NEWS
would agree with me when I say that this song practically just screams NEWS at
whoever gives it a listen. That isn’t to say, though, that it sounds like any
other NEWS song – it’s definitely a brand-new song but it just captures that
NEWS feeling so brilliantly. This song reminds me of everything that makes me
love NEWS (except for Yamapi, because he is, pretty much, a reason to like the
group but he’s not in the group anymore so whatever).
The
vocals in this song are absolutely gorgeous, too. This is possibly the best
I’ve ever heard from Shige – note that I’m not saying Shige’s bad in anyway at
all, he just sounds really nice in this. And, of course, Tego’s bridge line is
to die for. It’s absolutely stunning, he sounds so amazing. I do honestly
believe that Tego is JE’s very best vocalist; his voice is so clear and
powerful. I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard a botch note or anything like
that from Tego, even live, in his entire NEWS career, which has, I must point
out, lasted since he was 15 or so (so, basically, 9 years this September). His
vocals never fail to impress, I swear. Also, the falsetto parts in the chorus
are brilliant, too.
I
really love the arrangement of this song, too. The piano is a really beautiful
touch and I do love the clap-like beat in the build-up to the first chorus. The
echo/overlaps in the chorus add a really nice touch to it.
The
mood of the song is absolutely fantastic, too. The song manages to be extremely
upbeat whilst remaining really quite calm. I can’t actually tell if this song
is perfect for Summer or Winter (as I tend to associate certain songs with
these seasons) because it seems to be a perfect blend of the two. It’s truly a
song perfect for the entire year! Also, for a football song, it’s bloody good,
seeing as most football-themed tracks seem to feel the need to incorporate
crowd-chanting. That doesn’t work for me that well, that’s all.
- Pokopon Pekorya
This
is the second A-Side of this single, the PV-less one. This song is actually
pretty adorable in its own way and sounds an awful lot like something you’d
hear from some kind of teen girl idol group. However, NEWS have managed to be a
boyband who can do cute songs without pissing me off somehow, but that’s
probably to do with the fact that all those 12-year-olds currently taking over
Johnny’s Jr don’t actually interest me at all, and the fact that, however open
I am to listen to young girls sing, I don’t really see myself buying into the
whole squealing over underage boys thing. But that’s just me. God, I barely pay
boys under the age of 20 much attention (the youngest that I’ll take interest
in is 17, and that’s probably just an excuse to claim that a younger Kame is
pretty). Let’s just ignore that I do think that Tego was entirely adorable
straight from his debut and I actually liked him. I do make exceptions, but I
can’t help that most of the young boys in Johnny’s are a little sickly to me.
Besides, they spend their whole time trying to be both sexy and cute at once
and it really isn’t working for me, However, NEWS are all in their mid to late
20s and aren’t going overboard with the cutesy thing. It’s just a cute song,
that’s all. A properly cute song.
The
song starts off with this little tune that doesn’t actually crop up anywhere
else in the song and it’s a nice touch. And, then, it breaks off into bagpipes!
I love when they’re used in J-Pop cause they do actually sound so nice in certain
songs (MilkyWay’s Anataboshi’s another example of a song like this. The melody
of all the instrumental parts is just so catchy and upbeat, it really wins you
over, even though the big one in the middle does suddenly have a bunch of dog
noises for some strange reason.
The
chorus is also extremely catching and easy to remember. The lyrics are simple
and fun and the entire song seems to be about food. Songs about food are always
fun~! The chorus does actually have a fantastic melody, though, in terms of catchiness.
The song may not be your thing, necessarily, but you’d still have to admit that
at the very least. The bridge, a big Massu solo, is also pretty nice. The way
it breaks into gibberish at the end is cute, too. I could honestly see some
girlgroup singing this yet NEWS do it so perfectly as well that I don’t even
care.
It’s
actually a dead shame this song doesn’t have a PV, because I’d love to see it,
granted that they shoved Tego in pink tartan somehow (same goes for the other
three, but in their respective member colours – platinum blonde and pink just
seems like a nice combo). Though, I don’t actually know what kind of bagpipes
they are. Coloured tartan’s just cute.
- Hello
This
is the first of the single’s three B-Sides and it’s a calm, almost ballad-like
song. This song is also very typically NEWS (though, I can’t say that it would
impossible to see KAT-TUN singing something like this, or even Arashi). It’s a
very peaceful and emotional track. I have to say, I’m a sucker for songs like
these. They make me want to cry, just a little, and I don’t know why. I mean
they’d be nice tears but still. It’s just such a pretty song. Honestly, this
song, to me, is flawless. The vocals are absolutely fantastic in this song and
feature the members at their peak of vocal prowess, especially at the bridge.
Every single member just smashes their solo lines there and it sounds really,
really nice.
The
melody of the entire song is really sweet and pretty and, while not necessarily
being the most memorable or catchy, it all definitely has an impact. The chorus
is simply gorgeous, too. It all has such a dramatic calmness to it that I can’t
help but feel completely drawn in by it all. This is a song I’d love to fall
asleep to, it’s that calming. But, it’s important to remember that, as calm as
it is, this song is also pretty powerful. It’s a really sweet little song and
it’s in a style that NEWS are always brilliant at. They do have a bunch of
songs in this same kind of style, after all, and they’re all wonderful as well.
- 36°C
The
single’s next B-Side is another peaceful, ballad track, which opens with a
really nice solo from Massu. He suits this kind of song very well. In fact,
this song is very similar in style to Hello, only this songs a lot more
NEWS-ish, to the extent that it’s harder for me to see KAT-TUN or anyone else
singing this one. In fact, while Hello was a perfect example of an amazing
album track (even though that’s not what it was), this is the kind of song that
would do really well as an A-Side ballad. This song is a lot catchier than
Hello and would do really well just as a single, I feel. It also sounds like it
deserves a PV, in my opinion.
The
melody and arrangement of this song are beautiful, I do have to say. It’s all
very sweet and relaxing but it’s still rather upbeat, though not in the same
way as WORLD QUEST.
Speaking
of PVs, the kind of PV I would see this song having (and, yes, that counts as
an expression of how I feel about the song, shut up) is one that either
features a lot of warm-toned flashback kind of scenes of nice romantic things
with close-ups by windows or doorways or parks or something, or one with not
very much plots but lots of close-ups and group lip parts against starlit
backdrops with other shots involving the members being all friendly and being
excited about falling stars or something. I don’t know, regardless of the
lyrics, that’s the image with which this song provides me and it’s a total
endearing set of images in mind head, so, no complaints there. Basically, it’s
a gorgeous little song that doesn’t more than the life of a B-Side (even though
I’m a person who actually thinks B-Sides and albums tracks are just as
important as any other song).
- Quntastic
This
song is completely different in style to the other two B-Sides but is still
very NEWS-esque. It’s a much dancier song, akin to the likes of tracks like
FREEDOM and Dancin’ in the secret, at least in the verses. The whole song is
actually really catchy and I do mean it this time. Actually, when I first heard
this song, it was stuck in my head for a while and I kept getting the urge to
just listen to it (along with the single’s A-Sides). Tego’s first solo is
brilliant too; I just thought I’d point that one out, even if his pronunciation
of ‘MY WORLD’ is a little off. This song is very upbeat but much less calm than
the other tracks on this single. Actually, it’s probably my 2nd
favourite song on the single (with WORLD QUEST being 1st),
regardless of how beautiful I may find the two ballads and how cute I think the
other A-side is. This song really won me over from the very moment I heard it.
Besides, it’s got a good name – it’s a play on words of some description! Kyun
(meaning boom, in some cases, but is also a shortening of the phrase ‘kyunto’,
which is something along the lines of the pure feeling of falling in love and
is often associated with a very cute and sweet romance - it’s that instant
feeling of attraction a young girl (typically) feels when they see someone they
like) is changed to Qun, and obviously, whatever is being referred to is
tastical in its kyunfulness and is, therefore, Quntastic. Ta-dah! The ‘boom’
aspect might be backed-up, though, in the line ‘blowing blowing blowing blowing
up’. The vocals in this song are very good but they’re less crisp than in some of
the other tracks – quite simply, this is not a song that could ever act as a
vocal showcase for the members. However, the blending is fantastic and the
emotion and energy in the members’ voices works extremely well with the
backing, so, there’s really no issue with that. This is fun and catchy song and
I seriously love it.
The Four Kings of Pout - excluding Kame and Pi, of course, but that's hardly a fair competition |
This
entire single is nothing short of a glorious, glorious success on NEWS (and the
writers)’ part. I’d take this single over Chankapana any day, though, this is
possibly less comeback-worthy. This whole single is, though, in my opinion,
much better and I love every single track. Honestly, they’re all flawless. This
is probably, to me, the best combination of tracks in a NEWS single in a long
time. Actually, this is probably one of my favourite combination of tracks in
one single ever. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am that this group is back –
really, they’re back and they’re still going seriously strong. Even if people
immediately assumed otherwise upon Pi and Ryo’s departures, I knew that losing
members wouldn’t hold NEWS back (it’s not like it’s a first for them, even if
this time round it was the two most popular ones). They’re, quite simply,
unstoppable.
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