[2017.06.21] Angerme - Ai Sae Areba Nanni mo Iranai / Namida iro no Ketsui / Majokko Megu-chan

[Mugi]

[quote="DonJuan"]
Full MV of Namida iro no Ketsui. 
 
I like it. The giant teardrop is a bit weird but other than that it's a cute MV.
[/quote]
 
Quote for new page.
 
I'm not a big fan of songs where some one the members don't sing but I really like this song.

[TicTacAnyone]

Love it so much... Namida's gonna be up in my favorites of the year. I think it's currently at the top. We'll see the rest of the releases of the year, but till then......

[momoirosaya]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Mugi" data-cid="208060" data-time="1496719137"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="DonJuan" data-cid="208054" data-time="1496687503">
Full MV of <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiV6VoZwPvU' class="bbc_url" title="External link">Namida iro no Ketsui</a>.


I like it. The giant teardrop is a bit weird but other than that it's a cute MV.</blockquote>


Quote for new page.

I'm not a big fan of songs where some one the members don't sing but I really like this song.</blockquote>
Yeah, I wish the other members at least sang the chorus. Rikako, Muro, and Kamiko's voice don't have the *nicest* quality they could have blended on their own.

[Anderei]

Ai Sae on H!S this week.

[DonJuan]

Eh. I'm definitely not a fan of songs that change so much from verses to chorus.

[Mugi]

Gonna need to listen to the whole thing a few times but from that small bit the song is kind of a no... 

[Revangelis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbDcPZeb7pY
 
Full PV of Ai Sae has been released

[JPope]

Man, Ai Sae is really good, but that 3/4 part just isn't doing it for me. 

[MejraThea]

I am not comfortable with Kassa doing Megu-chan.

[Anderei]

Short PV of Megu-chan on this weeks H!S

[DonJuan]

I like it.

[Meikochi]

Why do they only put work into collab songs' MVs ?

[TheParuProject]

It's sad that Megu-chan is my favorite track on the single, but Ai Sae is just a hot mess.

[rallyleo]

Ya'll.

This single is a train wreck.

[AquaChan]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rally" data-cid="208234" data-time="1497517702">Ya'll.
This single is a train wreck.</blockquote>
I'm sad, it's the first ANGERME single I really don't like.

[TicTacAnyone]

Megu isn't bad, but it's not great. The cheesy special effects and tons of lens flare killed it for me.... Namida is my favorite song of the bunch, and will probably be in my top of the year.
 
But Ai Sae is the worst song they've released for me since Mystery Night.... and that's sad that such a long streak of either "great" or "overall alright" songs got broken. I just don't know how (or really, more of why) they created a song that sounds simply like a mash up of Kyou Made and Marionette. They had such a good thing going....

[Shoujo Q]

Full Megu-chan is up. Not hard to mess up a cover, so naturally it's my favorite of the three, followed by the Namida song. The other one, I can't even get myself to listen to it all the way through without turning it off. 
 
Not a fan of the single, but then again post Meimi I've not really been into this group as much anymore. I do try though. But it's hard. 

[rallyleo]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="AquaChan" data-cid="208236" data-time="1497531457"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rally" data-cid="208234" data-time="1497517702">
Ya'll.

This single is a train wreck.</blockquote>
I'm sad, it's the first ANGERME single I really don't like.</blockquote>


Same here.

For me, ANGERME is the best thing H!P has going for it right now. The girls have come an incredibly long way.


This awful single is just poor song choices by management. The talent is clearly there, as well as the visuals and personalities. These girls are capable of way more.

Does anybody remember when Kana was the clear weak link in S/mileage? These days she's a capable vocalist with a distinct vibrato, and she slays every solo line they give her.


Namida has no followable melody that I can discern,

Megu lacks the charm and silliness of their previous "Sally" cover.

Ai Sae just has an incredibly lazy and tired production. The "edgy" synth progressions that are sprinkled though the song are uninspired, even for a jpop idol song. Like a lot of you, I can't make it past the first chorus.


I guess I'll just have to remain content with every other single they've released as ANGERME and hope they come back stronger in their next one.

[JPope]

I don't care what y'all say, I like this single, lol! 
 
Namida is outstanding. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't be able to follow the melody, as it stuck in my head from the first time I heard it. I honestly found myself humming it the next day after hearing it only once. To me this track stands up with their previous work, even if it's of a generic genre. I love it.
 
Ai Sae is the track intended to carry the ANGERME "sound", and it fits it well enough, but the overall flow is clunky in the transitions. The verse and chorus are good, though, and the string arrangement over the verses is sweet. It's not my favorite track from them, but I like it. 
 
Meg is almost exactly what I expected it'd be, which is maybe a little disappointing, because they could have gone a bit more in the ska direction and had something really special, but, alas, triple A-side means take-no-chances. Sally is definitely the better Witch recording, but Meg is enjoyable.
 
Is this single a drop off from ANGERME's established track record? Yup! Does it suck? Not to my ears, it doesn't. Maybe I'm just becoming soft in my old age, but I don't think so. I knew a drop-off in quality was coming for this group because very few groups sustain the high-level that ANGERME has established for long without a hiccup. I've made this point a lot over the years here, but I think it's unfair to expect a group to sustain greatness for too long, because it's so rare that it happens. Which is why I called it in the prediction thread that we'd see a drop-off in the quality of ANGERME's music, so maybe my expectations were suitably lowered to allow me to enjoy this single, but I think it's just because it's a pretty good single. It's just not as good as their other stuff.

[Anderei]

Two lives from The Girls Live this week.
 
Namida iro at 6:10.
Ai Sae 18:40.

[MejraThea]

Well, Ai Sae sounds like shit live, and I am sad. Akari's kotae nano line was great, though.
 
And I just realized, by I like the concept behind the SP edition cover:
<div>
[quote="Anderei"][/quote]
</div>
<div>You really feel like you're getting the whole single.</div>

[JPope]

In-studio lives are always underwhelming for me. I didn't like any of the studio lives of "Mugan Climax", either, but neither of these seem especially bad to me. Akari sounds amazing in Ai Sae. I think the problem with these performances is that, unlike concert lives,  the mix is always vocal-heavy, and the music sounds thin.

[TicTacAnyone]

Murotan sounded like she was struggling here... Rikako sounded more pleasant. Which is still saying a lot, but I like Rikako's voice more than a number of others here lol

[Anderei]

lbr, that Namida live is just more evidence of why Moe is the bestest.

[Meikochi]

Setlists of events in Sendai (Satursday)


First one :


1. Namida Iro no Ketsui

2. Majokko Meguchan

3. Tsugitsugi Zokuzoku

4. Umaku Ienai (Takechan took Maho's "Shousetsuka mo")

5. Ai Sae Areba Nani mo Iranai


Second one :


1. Ai Sae Areba Nani mo Iranai

2. Ai no Tame Kyou made

3. Gashin Shoutan (can't remember who took Kanon's lead)

4. Namida Iro no Ketsui

5. Majokko Meguchan


And I didn't go to the last one.


The events happened on the roof on a mall. It was very cloudy and they had several mic problems (during the first event, a Larsen effect happened and during the second one, half of the speakers suddenly shut down ; they continued singing and we clapped our hands to accompany them). The younger girls (3kies and kohais) seem to enjoy it a lot while, and this is coming from someone who loves Takechan, older ones didn't seem to enjoy it that much ; must say I was a bit disappointed by this (but at least Kananan and Takechan were playful between them during the handshakes).

During MCs, Rikako (from Sendai) mentionned her father (it was Father's Day) wanted to come but couldn't ; it led Dawa to speak about her own, who came to the event in her hometown prefecture (Gumna, June 10th). She said she was embarassed during the handshake so whe stayed formal and told him hello (I think she also mentionned a bit of embarassement during MCs, due to his serious look on her).

During handshakes, a female fan (a Muro fan) bought so much CDs that she finished all handshakes alone ; at the end, she didn't even come back at the beginning of the line every time, she was just doing it in the "right" order (from Dawa to Kassa) then backwards (from Kassa to Dawa) ; she had to be stopped by the staff to leave the booth.

Rikako was the most reactive during handshakes and Moe is really adorable in real life. Also Takechan is as tall as Moe, I didn't expect her to be so tiny.


I also like the concept of the special edition cover. And Majokko Meguchan, while I feel unconfortable with the lyrics and Kassa leading it, has become my favorite side of this single. I like other sides, they are not great but fine.

[Anderei]

Debuted at 2 this week.

[aine]

After JPope's urging I gave this single a solid listen and I don't hate it as much as most of you do.

Ai Sae >>> Namida > Meguchan

The structure and transitions in Ai Sae make me think of modern day This Is Unmei. I feel it has a big potential to be a hit during concerts, with a lot of room for audience response. Decent MV too. For those of you who didn't like it's probably this one song that will keep growing on you and in a month you'll realise you love it to death. The weakest part are the vocals which lack punch and any sense of conviction.

Namida is an epic ballad from the kind of epic ballads I don't really care about. But it's very solid for what it is. The still weak vocals fit it better and don't fall as flat here as they do in Ai Sae. And then you have this epic guitar solo towards the end which I will need to listen to again. Do we know who played it?

Meguchan is a missed opportunity. Not as fun a song as Sally, MV with a fraction of effort and relevance that was put into Sally's, overall a lazy cover, even if superficially the most catchy of the three songs on the single. Even the boob references can't help it.

I can see how people are disappointed in this single, it lacks the punch and the oomph of the recent streak of releases that started with at least Taiki Bansei. It sure is weaker than the previous ones but it does have its own merit, and I will be completely unsurprised if Ai Sae is considered a classic in a year's time.

[JPope]

[quote="aine"]
Namida is an epic ballad from the kind of epic ballads I don't really care about. But it's very solid for what it is. The still weak vocals fit it better and don't fall as flat here as they do in Ai Sae. And then you have this epic guitar solo towards the end which I will need to listen to again. Do we know who played it?

 
[/quote]
 
YES! That solo is really, really tasty. It's not technically difficult, but it's rhythmically interesting and different from the rest of the song, and builds to a wonderful climax. It's one of the better instrumental solos from H!P in a the last few years.

[Anderei]

Ranked 3 with 45k.

[Farrah]

At this point I think ANGERME is a group suffering from their own hype LOL.  Their singles since the name switch have been so unbelievably strong that they've set a precedent almost impossible to live up to.  Had this same single been released by a group like Tsubaki Factory or J=J I think people would be more impressed by it.  
 
Megu-chan is a lazy ass cover but I have to admit I really enjoy it, maybe just because I enjoy the original so much LOL.  Namida is a gooooooorgeous ballad that was wasted by putting Rikako on main vocals instead Akari or literally anyone else. Ai Sae is from the same school as Otome no Gyakushuu but doesn't build to an equally epic chorus.  It sells itself short.  All that said, I would still argue there is no bad song on here.  They're all good to solid.  They're just not as groundbreaking as before so people are a bit miffed.