[2016.04.20] °C-ute - Naze Hito wa Arasoun Darou? / Summer Wind / Jinsei wa STEP!

[Meikochi]

Some people on H!O pointed out that the hand gestures at the beginning of Naze Hito seem to be (Japanese) sign language for "fight", "born" and "eyes", at least.

[DonJuan]

The preview of the Jinsei wa STEP MV has been showed on H!S today.
 
https://youtu.be/_x6IzhQyzE0?t=43s
 
I like that they're somewhat smoother dancers than the rest of H!P (they're also the most experienced of course to I kinda expect it of them). Also, in general, Jinsei wa STEP is fantastic.
Simple, but I really like it.

[WonderBuono]

I really wish Jinsei wa Step! were the lead song, it's soooooo good.

[MejraThea]

MV and Chorus recording of Naze on the Upcoming thing. The time I linked to is the vocal recording because it's wonderful.

[Revangelis]

Full PV of Jinsei wa STEP! is out
 
https://youtu.be/4RjYDNPwdvo

[Meikochi]

The song is growing on me. But I especially like the dance, it's really classy (and makes me miss so much dance shots) ; it totally fits them. The MV wasn't bad either.

[TicTacAnyone]

[quote="Meikochi"]
The song is growing on me. But I especially like the dance, it's really classy (and makes me miss so much dance shots) ; it totally fits them. The MV wasn't bad either.
[/quote]
 
That's because mixing idol dance with other genres tends to work out well, usually.. in this case tap. It really beautifully wraps up the vintage theme with this single--Naze hitting the more gospel, stage entertainment feel and Jinsei going with a classic tap movie spin.

[MejraThea]

Finally C-ute is back on the map (well, my map) again with this single.

[Elpis]

The song definitely took a bit to grow on me, but I like it and the style they're going for is good. Overall this already seems like a huge step up from what their last single consisted of.

[JPope]

I hope they continue in this direction, because goddamn this single is good. JPop could use a good, mature girl group. 

[TicTacAnyone]

Summer Wind's H!S edit MV previewed this week.... And I realllly dig it. This whole single is probably their favorite of mine.

[MejraThea]

I praise them and then they fuck it up with this. 

[JPope]

I really like the video.

[smtmissin]

The MV has a summery, faraway, intense atmosphere. Singing about wet hair swimming in the wind and the girl's scent filling the air also stimulate other senses. The girls' voices are pretty as well. And that Shala Shalala part. Even if one day I come to hate the song, I think I'll still like that part :D.

[momoirosaya]

This single as a whole is really solid. I like all the songs, the choruses all have really nice pleasant to listen to melodies that are different from the verse rather than sounding like an extension of it (which happens far too often and it's boring).

[Meikochi]

The MV is out !


I like this song the most out of this single. The choruses are really nice to hear.

[JPope]

[quote="Meikochi"]
The MV is out !


I like this song the most out of this single. The choruses are really nice to hear.
[/quote]
 
Yeah, the chorus is spectacular. The descending "oooh oooh oooh" between the first and second lines kill me. (It doesn't kill me as much as Mai's hair flip at 1:17, though. Jesus, she's my new dirty old man Jpop crush.) I suppose they could have done more with the video, but for a typically cheap H!P production, they did quite well, IMO. It fits the mood of the song perfectly, and doesn't use the usual out-of-context close-ups or sub-group posed shots. Everything fits into place and flows nicely, just like the song.

[TicTacAnyone]

Damnnnnn C-ute...... Will you be putting out my favorite single of the year?!
 
The kinda serious undertones of the lyrics really intrigue me. Almost like an old guy friend of hers has been pushing her to be in a relationship with him now that she's grown into a beautiful woman, even though she doesn't really want to date him. But she feels forced to smile and put up with his ego and control over her. Faking a sad face just to please him even though she doesn't care. One of my favorite lines is, "I'll sit in the passenger seat, but nothing is set in stone." With how intimate you have to be with someone to ride in their car in Japan, this line makes a lot of sense. Though she'll ride in the car with you, that doesn't mean she wants to be in a relationship with you. 
 
Sorry for the rant, I just really like the lyrics lolol.

[Anderei]

Debuted at 2 with 44,824. They're probably looking at 60k or so weekly.

[Meikochi]

It's 14k less than their last single's first day, best selling and ended at almost 70k. So I don't think they can reach 60k, rather 55k. Still, it's quite good sales but it might indicate that wota aren't fond of this more mature style.

[DonJuan]

The best °C-ute single in ages and that's how thankful the wota are.

[momoirosaya]

Whoever did the choreography for this single is a genius, especially Summer Wind.

[Anderei]

Not only is that first day nothing to complain about you guys, they didn't promote this single as well as the last one and it's not as mainstream sounding. I can't believe you're disappointed in over 40k on the first day for a mid-tier idol group.

[smtmissin]

C-ute's singles are often very poorly promoted. The company knows it will sell well in the 50-60k range anyway and there's no need for promotion. Last single was an exception. Personally I think Exciting Fight is the best song that C-ute ever releases. It doesn't sound idol-y at all. I could imagine it being sung by more well known groups which would make it a bigger hit. The single had a tie-in and if I remember correctly C-ute had 2-3 TV appearances.  For this single C-ute don't have any TV appearance until after release week. I don't understand what happen, since Angerme appeared in Full Chorus this week and C-ute next week, when C-ute's release is 1 week earlier. What's up with management? Hell they didn't even let the girls sing any of the new songs the last time they appeared in The Girls Live. They just put up a few posters and that's it. I'm not surprised by that low sales at all.
 
 
Still, I believe that even if they have a bad first week they'll still sell over 60k overall. There's no way this single can do worse than The Power/Kanashimi Heaven.
 
 

[Anderei]

They did perform one of the songs on The Girls Live. There's not a lot of evidence that tv appearances increase sales. They're obviously good promotion but I can understand why they'd give the opportunity to a group like Angerme and not C-ute.

[smtmissin]

^Really? I think I missed it. The last time I checked they sang one of their old songs. (Edited: Found it.)
 
The problem is, Angerme can appear next week when they releases their single and C-ute appear this week, not the other way around.

[Anderei]

It sounds that simple but it's not as if tv stations are rushing to book H!P groups. It's not a big show but it's entirely possible they already had all of their other spots filled. Angerme is a recently rebranded group with a new member and a graduating one. C-ute is a decade old group who don't have any special circumstances surrounding their new single.

[smtmissin]

But C-ute is booked next week for the same show that Angerme appeared on this week (Full Chorus) according to someone on on H!O. They're the same agency, H!P could arrange for C-ute to appear this week and Angerme next week.

[Anderei]

Well I didn't know that. But I still stand by my belief that it won't have a big impact on the sales of either.

[DonJuan]

The sales aren't bad, but it's frustrating to see when good, creative songs "lose" against other songs in sales.