Today marked the release of C-ute’s latest PV on Dohhh! UP. It also happens to be the birthday of the youngest Berryz Koubou member. Slap in the face to Risako, much? Just kidding, but I find it kind of funny that Berryz’s rival group released their PV today. It’s most likely just a coincidence, but you never know… XD

On that note, HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY RISAKO!!
Note: I started this post at around 11 pm, but finished just after midnight, so I’m not REALLY late in my birthday greets. XD

Now we get back to the topic of C-ute. With my lack of enthusiasm for their last single, I was really hoping that they would come back with a killer release. As I’ve said before, they need to beef up in preparation for the Berryz vs. C-ute battle concert coming up in a few weeks.

Well, they didn’t disappoint! When the covers for this single released, I was in awe. The girls look fabulous and mature on the covers. Then new artist photos were posted on the official Hello! Project website, and I just have to say that Maimi was smoking hot!

Now the PV’s out, and again, amazing. However, as much as I love this single and PV, I really see the majority of fans sitting on either end of the spectrum on their views.

I have 2 complaints regarding this single/PV. The first is that it’s the Maimi/Airi show. No one else gets a solo line. And people thought Tokkaiko was bad with Airi getting the majority of lines. Is this single an improvement, a regression, or keeping par with that? Airi got less lines, Maimi got more. 2 people are really featured here, unlike Tokkaiko, where it really was only Airi. But in Tokkaiko, other girls at least got minimal chances to show their stuff, what with NakaSaki and Maimai getting solo lines along with Maimi. Here, only the two leads get solos (we’ll ignore that … sound that came from NakaSaki somwhere in the middle of the song). It’s hard for me to say whether this single is a step forward, back or standstill from Tokkaiko… In relation to LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta, on the other hand, this is a definite improvement.

Complaint number 2: WTF?!?!?! Where the heck is(are) Chisa’s solo line(s)?!?! I realize that this ties in with complaint number 1, but really now. This is just ridiculous! I am keeping track, and we are now at 5 official single releases and Chisato has had a total of ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, solo lines. Forgive me for being repetitive, but “GIVE ME SOME CHISA!!!!”

Now onto the positives of this release.

The song:

The song opens with short classical guitar riff and light shakers. This song has a lovely jazzy-latin feel to it. I love classical guitar, simply because I appreciate how difficult it is to play. While the riffs in this single aren’t particularly intricate, it’s still classical, so I’ve got to respect it. The horns kicking in at the dance break really enhance the instrumental and the percussion is emphasized by the dance.

Let’s just say that I love the entire instrumental for this single. Having the strings used throughout the song would have taken away from the vocals and the other instruments, since they’re pretty dramatic. Instead, they are used perfectly to build up certain sections, while allowing the piano and guitars to have their moments (which are fabulous too).

As for the vocals, Airi and Maimi do a wonderful job. What would make this perfect for me would be to make it Airi, Maimi and Chisa sharing the bulk of the lines. Possibly add Kanna into that mix. I’m just not that into the other girls’ voices. A solo line here and there for them would be nice, but a lead role? No thank you. However, since it is just Airi and Maimi, and it’s not their fault that management gave them all the lines, I have nothing to complain about regarding their performances. I love Maimi’s voice, and Airi’s isn’t too ‘cutesy’ here, like I felt it was in LA LA LA.

The PV:

What can I say about this PV? I saw it was up at around 11 in the morning, I but was at work. I sat in suspense all day before finally getting home and watching it at around 6:45 pm. That’s almost a 8 hour delay!! The suspense was killing me.

Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. The girls all look fabulous in this PV. However, I have come to realize that I’m not a big fan of Maimai’s outfit. It originally looked okay on the covers, but as I watched her dance in it, I changed my mind.

The dance is fabulous. And Maimi absolutely KILLS it! Particularly in that opening move (which is repeated a few times through the PV) where Maimi is front and centre, doing the leg kick then spin. She performs that move with such authority! She’s definitely leading her girls by example.

I can’t wait for a better quality version of this PV to come out, so that justice can be done to the awesomness these girls exude. And just like in the covers, Maimi is absolutely gorgeous in this PV. The fact that she does the dance with the utmost confidence and precision simply adds to the ferocity of her presence. I can’t wait for the dance shot.

I would have added screencaps to this post, but I know many other blogs have screencapped this PV. If anything, I’ll wait and screen cap parts of the PV once a good quality version of it comes out and post those with blurbs on why I love the shots so much. Eyecandy posts never hurt anyone. XD

Overall wrap-up:

I love this release! I am so ready to pre-order a limited edition copy. I think my next yesasia purchase will contain this and Berryz’s ‘Dschinghis Khan’ which I haven’t purchased yet because I didn’t have enough wants to get free shipping (stupid 3rd C-ute album disappointing me).

Maimi is the clear winner for me in this PV. Even if she wasn’t a lead in it, I think her commanding presence, wonderful look and awesome dancing would have made up for her lack of lines. Luckily for me, she didn’t lack lines, so she gave an all-around solid performance. Go Maimi!