Tsukiatte Iru no ni Kataomoi

Berryz new single PV is out! Tsukiatte Iru no ni Kataomoi. I’m going to do things a bit differently here. Let’s review the song first, then the PV, and then the two together. There’s a reason for this, I’ll get to it in the end.

First the song! Listening to the song I am immediately struck by the lack of techno beats that seem to pervade H!P releases as of late. This is hearkening back to their pure pop roots and the song is fun! Very upbeat! Lots of Whoa! Oh! Yeah! and Ah!s in there. An H!P trademark. It’s got a great synthesized beat, one that makes you really want to pump your first in the air, wave your hands and jump around. This would be great for a magical girl anime theme song.

THE PV! (Watched without sound) First off the set is gorgeous! Old style Japanese shoji screens softly lit with bamboo behind them, and a big huge crescent moon in the background. I should point out that I LOVE the moon, so anything that has it as a decoration gets automatic bonus points from me. Every single one of the girls looks amazing, truly beautiful. Their costumes are gorgeous, very flowing and airy. The dance is nice and energetic, not quite sure what the knee thing is going on there. That’s something you see kids who have no rhythm doing at the friday night dance in the junior high school gym.

And sorry to the Momoko lovers out there but she kind of scares me in this video. She looks like she’s 40 with that haircut, it’s creepy. Like I swear I worked at a bank with someone who looked like her  once upon a time. Don’t hit me, that’s only my opinion. Moving on!

The song and the PV! DO NOT GO TOGETHER AT ALL. Like NOT at all. The set looks like something that belongs in a ballad, especially the shots of (is that Risako?) standing bathed in “moonlight” and looking up wonderously as a veil falls and she catches it. (That YEAH! is totally out of place as well). Maybe this has it’s root in some japanese folk tale that I am unaware of. Oh and I apologize if that’s not Risako, I have no idea who any of the Berryz girls are save Momoko who is easy for me to pick out. Oh yeah, and that shot at the end…. TOTALLY CHEESETASTIC.

It’s a shame, but I think this is one of the first instances in an H!P song where the song alone is terrific but when coupled with the PV totally ruins at for me. I just can’t get over how much the two don’t mix. Like oil and water even! So I’ll take the song, but not the PV. Thank God I have that option.