Mina Is Back. . .again With MOAR PV Reviews!

HYUNA stop wipping your crotch while people are looking at you!  Oh, and rubbing your butt against his is not how you do sex.  I get you want to be sexy.  I think you can do it to.  You are trying way to 'effing hard!  Look at the dude.  Everything is covered and he is just being chill and he looks smokin'.  Why must girls be overtly sexual to be sexy, but guys can just be simmering under the surface!  You just need to be confident Hyuna and people will think you are sexy.  Hyuna ruined this video, well that and some of the clothes she wore were a bit how much leg can we show without showing her pussycat.  Wait a second. . . did he just touch her crotch?  The video is quite fashionable and I like how they play off of each other.  I like the choreography where he goes to kiss her but she turns away.      
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It might be because I love Takei Emi but for a ballad PV I was throughly entertained.  When it comes to ballads the trick is to just keep my attention.  The song is lovely.  The sets and costuming is stylish, which makes sense since she is a charisma model.  I was confused at first by the contrast between the spring and winter, which appeared disjointed.  My first guess was that Emi was thinking back to the beginning of a love-relationship.  In Japanese literature spring signifies the beginning of romance, the courtship period.  Summer is when things get hot and heavy.  The relationship becomes strained in the fall.  And everything is dead by winter.  However, it is revealed that the spring segment is in one of the crystal balls.  I do enjoy twists, but I guess I could of realized it earlier because we get a glimpse of the crystal ball towards the beginning.  Takei Emi does a wonderful job at singing a ballad in front of the camera without it appearing stiff.
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The beginning of this video reminds me of K-Pop teasers.  It is very cool and serious and then you see the PV and hear the song, and it is rarely the same in epicness.  Another super group?  Is that going to become a trend now?  Most of these groups irk me because a fair number of the members never sing.  I get it, they are dancers.  Still, this is a music group isn't it?  I want them to at least sing back up.  I wish Happiness' lead vocalist would just go solo.  The dancing is good, as expected.  I like how they approached the outfits.  While the set matches the costumes well, it looks romantic and a bit gothic which does not match the song in the least.  There is also a bit of the Super Junior trapped in a room thing going on too.
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It seems the world is going through a fairytale phase (there are two snow white films coming out).  I love the childlike wonder or this video.  My issues are with the length of her dress.  Her dress looks like something I would wear as a child and the video itself seems innocent.  I just want it a little bit longer, or shorts would work too.  I want that duck by the way.  The song is spectacular and playful, like I'm listening to a fantasy book.  I find it odd that she is bubbly in the storyline shots, but dead-pan in the dance shot.  It weirded me out.  I guess she is suppose to be doll-like like the figures that pop out of clocks.  My last critique was that the dance shot left something to be desired.  Since she had a traditional style dance shot I would of preferred a bit more movement and dancing on her part.  Either that, or more creativity in the angles and pans during the dance shot.
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The cityscapes and the desaturation/ use of cool (as in the temperature) colors.  The problem here is that box!  You can't introduce it as a major character if no one has any idea why it is there.  You need to give at least a hint.  I hate the close-up and solo, box-room shots.  With all the outdoor shots, including the dance shot, using the typical room thing looks out of place.  They needed to have a dance shot in a room complimentary to the outdoor dance shot.  They then could of used the outdoor shots at the climax of the song to give it some extra umph.  They should of introduced more variety towards the beginning because I started to get board.
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In the dark room shot the introduction of different shirt colors was very interesting.  I love when they try something that I've never seen.  See!  There is nothing wrong with a room music video, but you need to add some a little bit of spice to it.  The shots, like of their feet, the consistent movement it all adds a bit.  Notice how they never let there be no movement, either the camera or the members, for too long.  This had an amazing dance shot!  I could of been perfectly satisfied with just that.
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Oh my word, I am loving every second.  What I love about it is that it doesn't try to do anything that different.  It is all in the details.  The variety in cinematography combined with the basic style of a music video is brilliant.  It is simple but still unique at the same time.  Stylish.
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This is adorable.  They are doing cute right, not the annoying aegyo thing.  If you have fun and act natural you don't have to go over the top to look cute.  This is my favorite winter wonderland of the year so far.  
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Let's see, three dance shots in rooms with close ups.  This doesn't sell it to me.  There is nothing horrendous about any individual shot, bur I can see these three dance shots in completely different videos.  Like the plain room could go with a gritty and or retro theme.  The lightning room is kind of hipster.  Then there is the bee-hive which makes me think of 4Minute.     
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Here is my deal with this video.  I feel like their crotch is in my face!  Those short, shorts combined with the camera looking slightly up at them tends to put their junk right near the center of the shot.  Plus the forward pan at that low level doesn't help.  I think 4Minute has a butt fetish.  They keep on popping and touching their tush.  I guess I'll give them a pass and assume that I just randomly noticed that area and started obsessing over it.  (They get an extra star.)
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Same old, same old.  Momoclo are idols on crack.  They have a ton of great shots and they look like they are actually enjoying themselves.  Wait!  Where did the coconuts come from!
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The brilliant thing about this video is that it appears to be just a typical idol video, but then all hell breaks loose.  (I've tested it on my friends on Facebook, it is true.)  I think they are hilarious and I love to join in.  I don't love all their humor, but I understand why they do it.
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I like the styling of the video, it works well with the tone of the track.  HOWEVER, I find the song and the video offensive.  Women= a commodity on the same level of alcohol and cash.  Plus, the concept of the song, and how it is incorporated into the video, is completely unoriginal.  The majority of hip-hop songs in the US are all about men having a lot of all three.  I hate that the song is catchy and video looks amazing, but the context is horrible.  (Um, did you mean anything by taping girls' mouths shut. . .)  They lost a star for the look how much hot ladies, money, and fame I got shots.  Just a different cliche.
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New PV Spam

UPDATED: MOAR from the AKB family! + PVs

After the great news that Maeda Atsuko would have her first leading role in a film and release a solo single, I bet you are all pumped to see her have the lead for the Hana Kimi remake.  I've been wishing that they make a live-action adaption of Ouran High School Host Club (which they are), plus this!  AKB48 are reaching now to surpass Mr. Children in record sales; they surpassed a million copies on their second day.  This makes dealing with haters so much more worth it.  The opening theme will be AKB's 22nd single, but that isn't too surprising considering Acchan has a guaranteed spot in the top 5.  However, if she isn't center would that be weird. . . Anyway, there is even better news for AKB48 fans: Tojima Hana and Komatani Hitomi will be joining SDN48!!!!!


With all SDN's recent graduations, things weren't looking too good.  (You tend to get people that graduate early on, but still you hope they aren't jumping ship.)  They are both first generation members.  Tojima is very popular with overseas fans, like myself.

I'm under a bit of a time constraint with working, and me leaving on Monday.  So, I will just post some recent PVs and I'll try to review them later and update this post.


The outfits are cute, but I don't like the bubbles.  The close-up and dance-shot backgrounds are cute.  I didn't understand the point to the six part shots at the beginning.  So, I actually would prefer it if they did less editing, because the things they did looked cheap.  The jump shots and props were fun.  Except for some of the editing, this was a good Hello Project PV.  Typical Hello Project PVs: studio-only, dance shot+ close up shot, and no creativity (except for the girls making cute faces).
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The costumes really suit DiVA, but the pants for the silver. . . do not approve.  I do appreciate them doing a different angle (birds-eye ish), but I didn't love it.  I'm not usually a fan of black-figures but with the dancing it turned out well.  Now what were they holding, that made them switch outfits?  The night-time setting matched the song, but them holding something that glows didn't have a point to it.
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This is only one shot out of a PV, but I posted it anyway.  I'll just leave some comments.  I love the fact that they are doing something different and Mano looks great outside!  See what a change of setting and moving camera can do.  I wouldn't even mind that much if this was the entire PV.


Perfume always does a fabulous job.  I love the concept of taking pictures and making them coming alive by replacing them with video.
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Oh god.  When I saw the outfits I was concerned.  The problem with these is that they aren't flattering.  It flattens their chest and highlights curves in a negative way.  These only suit those who are tall and thin.  It made Risako's boobs smaller.  I don't like the changing colors and heart shapes.  Changing colors always look cheap to me; I hate it when people use them in opv and amv.  Some of the dancing is vulgar in my opinion.  The bike shots looked bad.  I do like the sectioned screens during the dance shots.  I did like having the girls dance in front of a screen of their close-up shot, it reminded me of concerts.  However, I didn't like the single close-ups on the screen during the dance-shot.
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Very pretty.
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I don't like the crystals and the mini poles at the front of the dance shot.  The short blonde hair isn't good on Takahashi.  Niigaki's hair finally looks good, but they still need to work on styling Aika's.  The group still shot looks odd with all the extra props.  I do not understand all the crystals.  If they took away all the extras I would like it more.  Adding doesn't make it better.  The girls look pretty and I prefer the white on white over the purple and red sets.  I would prefer a different oufit on different colors.  I just don't think they look as good.  Besides it is the same set with different color curtains.  They should of mixed up the outfits a bit more than 9th gen has shorts.  This didn't make me like the song than I already did.
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I don't like any of the guys, or the song that much.  I do like the variety of shots, angles, outfits, and pans.
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Why are they at a foreign college?  I guess a lot of people travel abroad but. . . I don't like the bimbo cheerleaders.  I like the close up shorts of them singing and some of the group shots outside, but I'm not sure about anything else.
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I'm not a huge fan of this single.  I find the contrast between the new and old backgrounds odd.  There were quite a couple of things that confused me.  However the dance shot and the close-ups were good.  Why is Yukirin keep on trying to seduce me?  Nice, in Aki-cha's temptress shot she just twirled. . . very sexy.  They are pretty adorable.
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I like the positive messages.
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Little trivia, but they didn't finish filming this PV because of the earthquake, which is too bad because I love everything about this PV.  Perfume is just perfection.  I adore the orange accents and the flowing fabric.  You don't need to over-edit, or tons of different things to make a good PV.
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Mina's Massive PV Review Extravaganza!

It is spring break!  (Well, not really but I am skipping classes tomorrow to sleep in and to go to a rally so basically yeah.  Note to self, write that mini-paper tomorrow before you forget!)  Now, I am going to have a weird post coming soon.  I feel kind of bad that I've bumped Todd down; I wish I knew programming stuff better so I can keep a featured post at the top.  If you haven't read it scroll down a bit until you see Mayu, and read another delicious post from Todd.  Claire is in Nara, so I wonder if she'll get around to writing those posts she mentioned. . .  She'll be back in the States in April so I can harass her in the same time-zone then.  Sorry again to my fellow bloggers for spam posting, it is just I am more busy at certain times now.  Oh, and remember to vote for us as best new blog and Todd's Absurd for best post of the year at International Wota.  You only have six more days . . . more like five considering when I'll actually post this. . . to vote.  I have the information for some of these following singles and where you can buy them here.  Hello Project people get excited, in case you feel neglected by me, because I'm starting with you!
吉川友『きっかけはYOU！』   

Let me start off with informing you of my biases.  As you might have deduced already is that I am not a huge fan of her yet, which is why I have posted little to nothing about her.  I wasn't all that impresses with her doing back-up to Koharu Kusumi.  My ears did perk up when I heard her voice was similar to Mikitty's, and I am a fan of her.  The close up and dance shot give me a Happy Girls Project or whatever that is called, or Mano Erina.  I guess it is an idol debut song, so they won't be doing anything too out there.  The song is pretty meh.  I love her voice and she looks lovely with her hair up.  I also adore all the bright colors in the balloon/ ball room.  However, it is way to cute.  It looks like she is trying, and nothing works if you are trying too hard.  It went from meh to do I have to finish watching this for my review as soon as she picked up the toy instrument.  You are trying way to hard and it is turning me off.  There are so many other ways they could of played this song without boring me and scaring me off.  Just be yourself!
モーニング娘。『まじですかスカ！』

When I saw the making of and the ten second clips I thought, same old, same old.  Why can H!P never get Niigaki's and Mittsi's hair right these days!  Once in a blue moon they look good and the rest their hair looks like sh*t.  Oh my god, I was so close to liking this PV and saying that I had nothing I disliked about it so far, but they just couldn't do it!  The four youngins look great, don't ever change.  As I said before there are two people who need to be protected from the staff.  Then there is that elephant in the room: Takahashi Ai.  Wait, she didn't leave yet?  Just kidding!  But with all the 9th gen stuff that included Sayu and Niigaki it almost felt like she wasn't there anymore.  I thought the whole point was that she could train them before she left.  Anyway, take off her make-up!  They are wearing clothes (including short shorts) that are on the verge of looking hooker-esque.  That lipstick and curly hair does nothing for her age or for her looking respectable.  So, thanks Takahashi every close-up shot of you made this PV preview feel a bit worse.  Sorry about that, but I really like it!  I mean I wasn't thinking about anything.  Sayu is still cute as a button and I think I have the same tights.  I was concerned that the hooker outfits would work against the 9th gen, but they look great.  The black and white background with the pops of color are perfection.  See you guys can pull off a decent formula PV.  Just need to get hair and make-up on board.
Berryz工房『ヒロインになろうか！』

I was avoiding this PV because of two reasons, Lady GaGa and the auto-tune (I didn't want to piss off the Berryz fans).  The dance shot is great.  I love the different light settings it definitely gives it some extra life.  Outfits were all most perfect, but Miyabi (and her close up) sticks out like a sore thumb.  I like the Lady GaGa.  It is clearly Lady GaGa; I don't care how this originates or whatever but it looks identical to Poker Face and I love that god damn music video.  I would love this song to death, if it wasn't for that stupid auto-tune.  I know she isn't the best singer, but I think it makes it sound worse.  My ears are bleeding.  The only other issue is 'whats her face' doesn't look good in the wig because her eyes are too far apart of something.  It doesn't suit her.  I am not saying this is a great PV or anything.  It is a good Hello Project PV and my standards are lower in that category.  It is clearly formula, but they do a pretty good job with it.  Formula is only okay by me if I don't think about it.  Captain looks smexy (smoking sexy) here.
ゆいかおり『Shooting☆Smile』

Forgive me Yui and Kaori for forgetting about your third single!  I'll never do it again.  Yes, it is formula for dummies, but it is freakin' cute and they mix it up a bit.  The sets look great, the lighting is nice, and they move the camera around a bit.  Their second single is still my favorite, but keep it up my darlings!
ももいろクローバー『Chai Maxx』

And that is how you do a low budget, formula, idol PV!  Boom shaka a laka!  When I first watched it did I notice, nope.  Why?  I don't know because it was pretty awesome that's why.  (Bought it!)  I think you can figure out why it works, and they don't even need more than one costume.
赤西仁『Eternal』

I think he is sexy (in dramas), but I don't like his attitude.  Oh if you are a foreigner and are heading to Japan before he leaves, you might still have a good chance of tapping that.  Promising. . . zzzzzzzz.  Oh wait what happened?  Nothing, okay I'll go back to sleep then.  There are some good things, but we don't see his face and it is BORING!  I get it, thoughtful/ gangsta, love song thingy, but you can do that and be as cracky as fuck.
ノースリーブス『Answer』

Good things: dresses, use of color and saturation, simplicity, and cute little add ins.  Bad thing: this would be dull if I didn't like them so much.  Their voices are beautiful and their gorgeous, so I don't mind them just being pretty and listening to their honey smooth song makers.  Now, if you do like it, the simplicity works in their favor.  It isn't flashy.  It is clean, elegant, and lovely.  I don't want to change anything about it.  Miichan. . . okay all three look like perfection.
Not Yet『週末Not yet』

A in costumes.  B in sets.  C in make-up; we need to work on eye make-up.  WTF in back-up dancers.  Faceless, monster cheerleaders?  I find the song is pretty good, but this didn't sell it for me.  Seeing them perform in those costumes did.  So maybe doing something more like no3b did would of been better.
SDN48 『愛、チュセヨ』

First off, nice crotch shot there.  I think everyone and their mother noticed that little add in.  We get you guys are the sexy group.  Those costumes do plenty for it already.  No need to be desperate about it; we aren't Tila Tequila now are we?  Now I am going to watch this about twenty more times, good night.  JK, but this does its job.  It isn't anything out of the ordinary, but it sells the song.  The ladies are mesmerizing, so all they need it a little bit here and little bit there and they're good to go.  The only thing I want to get rid of is the naked dancing.  I don't care for it, plus they are holding their boobs the whole time.  I do like, now that we've heard and seen the second single, their style.  It would have been nice if CINDY was there. . .

Mina's Mass PV Reviews! + Update

SKE48 『バンザイVenus』

SKE48 バンザイVenus
Uploaded by masa37610. - See the latest featured music videos.
Update: Sorry I forgot one.
SKE48 may be cementing their own formula for singles: genki songs which include a dance section and tons of extras.  I am pleased to see chibi airi getting a good amount of screen time, and that SKE has done away with the small senbatsu for about 16 members.  The PV is a ton of fun and shows that you don't have to do a ton of editing to do a good job.  (There are adorable kids and old people.)  The song is okay.  I like genki songs, but I prefer their last single because it was catchy.  When I saw the PV preview for this I became attached, which proves that it completes its purpose.  Plus, you gotta wonder if all those extras are going to grab a copy.
栗山千明『おいしい季節 』

You know how in the United States there is a belief that models shouldn't cross over to acting or singing because it usually doesn't go that well.  The song is pretty good, she looks great, sounds great, the whole PV looks amazing. . . BUT I don't like the way she is moving.  It looks odd to me, almost like she is posing.  I bet you can get a ton of awesome looking screenshots, but it is not fun to watch.  I just want her to stop moving or at least slow it down.  If they could fix that it would be an amazing PV.  I can't watch this.  Oh my god, right when it gets to the rock part and she squeals(?) she has this expressionless face.  I'm starting to get scared by her face, but she moves around like a preteen trying to act rock n'roll or cool.  That was a bit painful.
嵐『Lotus
Here it comes!  I heard from my Arashi source that the limited edition sold out in three hours on CDJapan.  I even ordered a copy, but the regular edition was also out of first press copies by the time I got there.  (I was able to snag one of the last 14 copies of Momoclo's first press, RE copy of their next single.)  This is one of their serious songs so it sounds great, but it is no where as cracky as their happy songs (like Kitto daijoubu).  It might be a good thing considering their PV ballads have been boring as hell.  The dance-shot set looks cool, but I have no idea why there is a bird without a head.  I shouldn't watch this PVs because Johnny's PVs are amazing in comparison with H!P and is just going to piss me off at Tsunku more than I am.  I am impressed by their costumes.  Each one is different and stylish and provides lovely contrast to the sets.  Hehehehe, Junnifer and his lesbian hair-cut.  Nino does this Ahaaa thing and then just stops.  I just can't keep a serious face while watching these close up shots.  I don't care for the editing here.  The juxtaposing effect is oddly used here.  The effect suits the song, but they end up overlapping two images on top of each other which I don't care for.  I would of moved the second more to the side so it is less crammed together.  The way they have it now you can't see the first shot most of the time.  My favorite background set is the cherry blossom one.  And what is with the double members!  It is like they are singing to themselves alone in a room.  It is weird.  The song is spectacular except that one short line of Aiba's that is heavily auto-tuned.  I just don't understand why they did that.  Never do anything unless it improves the work.
SCANDAL『Pride』

The song as a whole is okay.  I think the verses are a bit meh, but I dig the chorus.  The PV has a great color palette and there is very little I would change.  I don't think the spinning segments are needed.  Towards the end where the backdrop is white and they are pretty drained of color (so they look like black figures) I would of edited it a little more just by cutting it differently.  During some parts they are doing who knows what and they walking towards the center (except the one shot of them alone raising her hand to catch something leave that as is), so by (don't know the best way to describe it) using smaller parts in the wrong order would be a nice effect that would make that part a bit more interesting.  So, still sucks to be a H!P idol.
KAT-TUN『ULTIMATE WHEELS』

Let me first say, I am not a Kat-tun fan.  Their music is pretty good, but the members don't do anything for me.  Jin was just a nice piece of ass (to me).  They are popular and an idol group so I thought to include them in my reviews.  I'll try to start including NEWS and Yamapi too.  I love this song.  I am a huge sucker for epic songs that include an orchestra.  I adore the concept of shadows and I think they did a spectacular job with it.  Okay, first problem might stem from the fact that I am not a fan of them as idols so the close up shots are not my favorite.  One of them looks stupid.  Some of them look like they are trying too hard or are boring.  Although, the new main guy is doing a good job.  The group dance shots are just a mess.  The first portion is boring and nothing is going on; they have to be doing a lot or moving fast for it to be cool to do slow-mo shots.  There are a couple of things they could of easily done to fix it.  One, improve the choreography.  The song is way to powerful to be doing dull choreography, and I can see from the individual dance shots that at least some of them know how to dance.  The second portion is just stupid in my opinion.  Two of them just do some flips while the other ones do their own thing.  It feels disjointed.  Now, the last group dance shot looks a bit better because they used a more compelling camera angle, which is also my second suggestion.  Just by using a couple different angles or doing mid-shots of individual or a couple members will add more depth to a dull dance shot.  The choreography is much too smooth for a song with so much base.  If they did something like what Arashi does.  More precise, or hard-hitting moves would be more suitable for this track (like what they did at the very end!!!!!!!!!).  The guy I said looks stupid. . . I would love to punch him in the face.  I hate him more than Jurina. . . okay whats his face is now satan baby.
安室奈美恵 feat. AI and土屋アンナ『Wonder Woman』

Pretty good job, basic PV.  The collaboration is amazing (but I don't love the song).  I kind of don't know what to say, no, I just don't feel like it.  The two shots I didn't like was the four-way split one and the wide shots of anyone singing in the elevator (but the mid-way ones I did like).