[PV Roundup] Morning Musume ’16, Moso Calibration, Yumemiru Adolescence

PV Roundup is back in action, and things are getting pretty damn messy.

In case you missed the blurb on Twitter, I’ve decided what I’ll do with PV Roundup. I’ll try to keep it a (mostly) weekly thing with one big change. I’m no longer going to stress over video count. A roundup may have one PV, a full set, or somewhere in between. Doing it this way may result in some brief write-ups, but I think it’s going to completely solve my burnout problem. I’m an adult with a job and a household to manage. Sometimes time just doesn’t exist. That’s just how it is when you grow up, kids. Don’t grow up. As always I hope you’ll keep reading and enjoying all the content on the site. Yoroshiku~.

Morning Musume ’16 – “Mukidashi de Mukiatte”

It’s too bad Morning Musume has only had two singles to their name this year, but if we have to sacrifice a little quantity for a huge boost in quality, then I can live with it. I don’t know about you, but I think the ’16 variant of the group has totally blown ’15 out of the water. The final third of their recent single wraps it up in epic fashion.

In the past, Morning Musume PVs have been the butt of more than a few jokes. The usage of aftereffects in years past was less clever and more, to use an Internet phrase, rainbow vomit. Luckily the Hello! Project empire’s producers have come a long way since then. This is one of the best edited videos I’ve ever seen. Throughout the video, scenes divide and transition into each other using some very fluid effects. It gives the video a terrific sense of flow, and the effects are very stylish and tailored for the video. In the dance shots, their colors reflect the backgrounds, and when we get into the body paint scenes they reflect that atmosphere, too. The post-production on this one is exemplary.

Editing makes little difference without good scenery, though. Luckily, the PV delivers on this front as well. The video relies equally on dance and a few types of solo shots. The dance shot is very lively and fun, but not quite amazing. It gets the job done, but by itself it’s only good. This is made a non-issue by the exceptional solo shots. Some are simple singing clips that look really nice, but the cream of the crop are these darkly lit, slow motion posing shots.

These are wonderfully filmed and the poses are striking and epic. They’re also made even better with the editing around them. Additionally, in the second half of the PV there’s quite a few close-up shots that are digitally blended together. Combined with the fluid effects, this collection of faces, eyes, and lips can cross into some fairly sexy territory.

However, that’s just a taste of what’s to come. The video reveals its knockout punch with these shots of the girls smearing themselves and/or each other in glowing body paint. These scenes are pretty incredible and eye candy in every way. The members interacting in this way is more than a little intimate, and the colors on screen look so damn good. The glowing effect is pretty gorgeous. For better or worse, we don’t see much of these clips compared to the others. I think it works in favor of these shots as it makes them far more memorable. The VIP of this part of the PV is easily Ishida Ayumi. Her expressions are very alluring. She knows what she’s doing and she does it well.

I like the song itself a lot as well. Honestly this doesn’t sound like a Morning Musume song to me at all. It sounds more like something I’d expect from Fairies. The instrumentals have more of a dance feel to them than Momusu’s EDM or electropop norm, and the transitions to the chorus have a lot of buildup that isn’t usually there. In any case the instrumentals are very enjoyable. The vocals are more on the normal side however with very little in the way of solo lines. About all you get is some smaller groups for the chorus buildups, but it all sounds very nice. This song and video really made sure this single fired on all cylinders. It’s awesome to see Morning Musume have a great year of releases.