℃-ute, the J-Pop group whose previous single I reviewed here, has just released on their Youtube channel the music video for their new single "Aitai Aitai Aitai na". You can watch it below at the end of the post.
In my last review I mentioned that I felt it was a good idea for ℃-ute to move towards a more adult style. The adorable, bubbly pop music they started out with was a great match for them because when they started out they were children and pre-teens. Now, they can still pull off upbeat cutesy songs, but if you take a look at their past singles you can see how a more mature tone is really paying off for them. "Momoiro Sparkling" (Pink Sparkling) and "Sekaiichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko" (their 16th and 17th singles) sold 23,961 and 19,830 copies respectively. These two singles were the traditional style cute ℃-ute songs. Now take a look at the single that followed- "Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku" (You ride your bicycle, while I catch the train to get home).
"Kimi wa..." is a ballad, a first for ℃-ute. The song talks about a boy and girl in love who have to go home using separate ways of transportation, but they don't want to leave each other. They keep delaying their departure until there is only one train left the the girl can take to get home, and when the train starts to leave the station the boy tries to follow on his bicycle. Personally, it's not my favorite song, but it still gets stuck in my head and it is a strong effort from the group. The music video is the first from ℃-ute to feature a boy (although his face is never shown), and it takes a huge step away from the traditional UFA music video combo of dance shot/close-ups/random other shots. "Kimi wa..." really showcases how the girls have grown up since their initial appearance into the idol world. So how much did this mature single sell, you might ask? Well it became ℃-ute's highest selling single with 46,096 copies sold. That's more than double compared to "Sekaiichi", and almost double the amount of "Momoiro Sparkling". So it's pretty obvious to say that more mature and more adult is working well for ℃-ute.
So let's actually talk about "Aitai na" now. When I first heard the song from a radio rip, I really wasn't all that impressed. Nothing really stood out to me, and I wasn't fond of the synthesizing that I heard. However, now that the full song is out and has a video to go with it, my opinion has completely changed. It's always hard to really judge a song from a radio rip, so that's why I had been waiting for the official version to come out to decide how I feel.
I think it's awesome. "Aitai na" is another mature/adult song. However, at first glance, it seems more like "Kimi wa...", where it's mature in a sort of sophisticated way. As it turns out, "Aitai na" is pretty sexy. Unlike "Kiss Me Aishiteru", it doesn't start off blatantly sexy. The girls are more modestly dressed, and a lot of the video is close-ups, but then there are a couple shots that make you just go "Holy cow!". Most of these shots come from the dance. I'll have to wait for the dance shot version to be released, but it seems as if the choreographer really went all out for this song. The girls are rolling around on the floor, Maimi does an awesome kick, and at 1:49 Saki is pretty much feeling up Maimi's breast. For a Hello!Project video, that's a rather unexpected shot. From what we are shown, this dance is going to be one of the best we've been given in a while. It's just too bad more of it wasn't shown.
That's pretty much all I have to say about the video and dance, but now we get to the actual song. The word that came to my mind when I was finally able to hear "Aitai na" in full was "interesting". The song starts off with a traditional H!P style of synthesized instruments. The "Aitai aitai aitai na" parts and the chorus is really catchy though, and it worked with the music so I have no complaints. The song really caught my attention when the music changed into an orchestra with chamber choir vocals (most of which I'm assuming are Tsunku's). The orchestra then changes into rock before the two finally combine and ultimately shifting back into the synthesized instruments. Somehow it really works and it makes the song unique and memorable (in a good way).
What don't I like? Not too much actually, and the things I don't like are superficial at best. Pretty much my complaints are Mai's and Airi's hair. I just don't like Mai's ponytail; it makes her hair look weird. Airi's hair on the other hand looks fine, but they've been using the same style for her for years now. It's either the braids on the sides and her hair curled, or the braids and her hair in some kind of ponytail. She's got amazing long hair so I wish they would be more creative. But really, those are the only complaints I have, and like I said, they are very minor things.
I'm confident this single will go well for ℃-ute. Will it break the record set by "Kimi wa..."? I'm not sure, but I really hope it does. ℃-ute
has been putting out a lot of quality stuff lately. Heck, Hello!Project
as a whole has been coming out with many awesome songs and
performances recently. A lot of fans are expecting a Hello!Project renaissance
given the massive amount of success the groups are having. It's still a
little too soon to say, but if Tsunku keeps churning out these awesome
songs and UFA continues to promote these girls properly, then there' no
doubt in my mind we will have a renaissance on our hands.
Here's the MV in question:
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