It would be difficult to ignore singles from AKB48, as I’ve done so far in my blog. I’m not one of those Hello! Fans who demonize everything 48, and I’m definitely not under the illusion that one group is inherently better than the other. You can see right away in the PV for “Sayonara Crawl” that the two groups, AKS and H!P, are different in their approach to entertainment. AKB48 seems to allocate much of their funds toward the creation of their promotional videos. The appeal of these girls is very apparent in this PV as they shot perfectly to highlight their strengths. The girls frolic on the beach together, inviting the viewer to imagine him/herself with the group. I’ll be honest: I felt like dirty paparazzi screencapping “Sayonara Crawl”!
The song opens with its chorus- a bouncy sounding thing with a catchy repetitive rhythm and horn accents. I like the way the chords work their way around the melody, and this is the most memorable part of the song. Visually, the girls twirl and hop around in their floral bikini: isn’t that what we want?
Their second outfit is an all white seifuku which the girls accent with flower headbands.
MARU!
Gettin’ slapped
Tomochin’s wicked smile
Mariko looks self-assured. She’s not graduating anytime soon.
Run away!
Kimonos, fireworks, and lanterns make an appearance.
So, what’s this PV about?
Yuki, what is this PV about?
What is this PV about?!
Oh look, a pool.
I really like this shot. Very imaginative use of florals.
Isn’t she just a surrogate for the wota? You want to BE her right now.
So, what is this PV about?
Hey, TakaMina, what do these strings do?
Throwing the cyborg around …
How about a bedroom set on the beach? I really enjoyed this set up. As the camera tracks to the right, we see the girls frolicking in pairs. This tracking shot is intercut with a two-shot of each pair gets a two-shot as the camera passes.
Brushing their teeth? Too much Nisemonogatari?
Itano Tomomi catches my eye quite a bit. Her smile just looks adorable to me.
Is she beckoning?
Yukirin goggles
Won’t it be funny if we pick up TakaMina?
Getting ready for the big ending
Sayonara, balloons!
I get it. This will definitely have astronomical sales- it’s an election single on top of a disgusting bikini single. I don’t blame anyone for this.
I felt like I was in the minority with their last single “So Long” – I thought that it was a great song! I’m less enthusiastic with this song. I’m not a fan of the brass arrangements and I’m a brass instrument player! In fact, things just feel “off” with this arrangement: it might be the guitar’s tone or the flat drum/percussion track.
One thing that I learned from this: I have to fight the urge to screen cap Mayuyu. She’s pretty close to perfect, and every scene with her is close to perfect. How interesting is a screen capped review with only shots of Watanabe Mayu? Answer: very interesting (for me).
