1. Check the 2023 Stage48 Member Ranking Results, how did your Oshimen rank this year?

Single Sakurazaka 2nd [BAN] (2021/04/14)

Discussion in 'Sakurazaka46 News & Releases' started by minaeshi, Mar 1, 2021.

  1. RedBug

    RedBug Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2014
    Location:
    Home
    Oshimen:
    kashiwagiyuki
    The dance is more fluid than NF, which is great, reminds me of Ambivalent.

    I love the song and 2-ki looks more mature now
     
  2. Hamasaki90

    Hamasaki90 Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2017
    Oshimen:
    odanana
    When I thought that keya choreo could have not been harder than Ambivalent haha BAN choreo is so complex yet so beautifully crafter. I also notice that the screen time for the senbatsu becomes much better compared to the debut single.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  3. iainus

    iainus Future Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2019
    Location:
    A Rainy Scottish City.
    Oshimen:
    Sakaki Miyu
    So much crazy energy in that choreo, and the outfits - especially the second - are so pretty. I love this so much, this group is absolutely on fire.
     
  4. paradisekiss

    paradisekiss Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2018
    Oshimen:
    Morita Hikaru
    Amazing. Groundbreaking.
     
  5. too much idea

    too much idea Next Girls

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2012
    Location:
    Indonesia
    Twitter:
    toomuchidea
    Director Kato, the one behind BAN (and NazeKoi) shares his thought on the MV and on the members
    Tweet 1
    Tweet 2

    Translated with karl

    "The girls who have experienced Keyaki put their body and soul into this. Conveyed through Sakura's performance is the aspiration of rising up and facing forward without exception. That's why I thought that I should express "boku" together with their own story that overlaps with each other"

    "Together with the time of Keyaki, Sakurazaka has a protagonist that is "boku" appearing in the lyrics. They were a group that embodies that picture and the surrounding society, but it is also true that before this the impression of a "turbulent Keyakizaka" also came to be. However, after having passed through that story of the Keyaki period, Sakurazaka are increasing their charm even further. I came to love Sakura after watching the Keyaki documentary movie, and I felt that their performance has become even more splendid than before. That's why I wanted to make it into a Sakura that has experienced Keyaki, and this time I thought it was important while portraying the world of the lyrics and music, also to express the girls' own story, rather than just acting as someone else. The story of each and every girl in Sakura who has experienced Keyaki is very attractive, just as much as the "boku" depicted in the lyrics, and it is also connected to the world-view of BAN. To be honest, this is what I wanted to express in NazeKoi as well. And what is conveyed from there is, after all, is the aspiration of rising up and facing forward without exception. That's why I told the members I want them to not just to act the role of "boku", but to also to make their own charm shine through. In the world that has been in a difficult situation since last year, the gloominess that is similar to the group's past also came through, and in that sense, I wanted to present to the people watching, the strength and hope from the members in the future"

    "In that way, I thought that they can evolve from the Keyaki's "boku" who had been piling up despair inside them until now, to Sakura's "boku" who is releasing hope outwards and strongly move forward. In a way, one conlusion (among many) of the BAN MV is a story of a group that crawls up from the very bottom, and I hope that by watching BAN MV it can purify what has been until now. As someone who know Keyaki from Sakura, it is awe-inspiring to step into Keyaki, but after all I feel that Sakura should not forget Keyaki. However, what should I do in order for Sakura to be looked on as a new group that doesn't drag along Keyaki's appearance? As I took on and work hard on BAN with this intention in mind, I wanted to make it into something that can affirm both Keyaki and Sakura. Keyaki will not disappear. It still strongly lives within the girls. Sakura is also wonderful. While including their imperfections their straightforward and sincere approach is something to be applauded. And Morita Hikaru -- who acted as center-- her expression, dance, and attitude, especially her determination, were breathtaking. In the end, I want them to soar, that's what I want for Sakura. May that this MV could give you courage, even for just a little. And I hope that the members could evolve BAN even more from now on."
     
    • Winner Winner x 4
    • Like Like x 2
  6. miwa

    miwa Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2019
    Oshimen:
    Sasaki Mirei
    This is SUCH an improvement on Nobody's Fault. The music video for NF isn't really replayable while this one is.

    And Hikaru is such a star!
     
    • Agree Agree x 4
  7. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    BAN MV sub file

    Japanese comments on YouTube. Lots of deserved praise for Morita.

    One post says how many members have a straight build, and says the movement of the loose clothing adds a "wave" feeling. Someone else lists members with a straight build: Tamura, Kousaka, Akanen, Morita, Rika, Karin, Takemoto... Another poster adds Risa.

    I was struck by how straight Karin sat when she was interviewed in the MTV series show about her. She stands straight and tall but can also somehow give a wave to her whole body.

    One person lists all 14 members with the caption for each "Nailed it" in English.

    A poster says Morita's performance may solidify her position at centre, but they'd like to see each member at centre, as the main character. I have to say I think just about every single member in the senbatsu could be a centre. There's a lot of real talent and determination here. As another poster says, there's a kind of equality in the group. But I also have to be honest and say that some are more equal than others. Every one has their own strengths, however.

    The director did a good job, as he says in the comments translated above by @too much idea that he wanted to, of featuring every member. I appreciated the way he emphasized that Keyaki was still present in them. But as the translation says: "...after having passed through that story of the Keyaki period, Sakurazaka are increasing their charm even further." Much as I love Hirate, that statement gave me a thrill.

    The MV has been out for about 24 hours now, and it has a little over half a million views.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2021
    • Like Like x 2
  8. paradisekiss

    paradisekiss Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2018
    Oshimen:
    Morita Hikaru
    it’s been 17 hours
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  9. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Quite right. Time-zone mix-up. Sorry and thanks.

    There's a Japanese matome item comparing first-day views of this with Nobody's Fault, Garasu wo Ware and other songs, but different posters give different numbers. This makes it difficult to make reliable comparisons, but the latest posts there are in some agreement, and and say one-day views were Garasu 190K, Ambivalent 163K, Fukyouwaon 127K and Nobody's Fault 75K. We're approaching 19 hours now and Ban is above 540K.

    The Ban first-day number, if the past numbers are accurate, suggests that Sakurazaka may have established its own identity. Nobody's Fault is now at 5 million, after ~4 months. Naze Koi is at 6.5 million and Buddies is 2.7 million (I checked all three on YouTube).

    EDIT: Figures for previous releases are much too low. See corrections below.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2021
  10. tmfce

    tmfce Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2016
    Oshimen:
    Okamura Minami
    Multiply those by 10
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  11. valerien

    valerien Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2019

    Those numbers seem way off the mark. From what I know, Garasu Wo Ware soared past 1 million views within the first few hours. I don't know the exact numbers for the likes of Ambivalent, Fukyouwaon and Nobody's Fault, but Ambivalent and Fukyouwaon definitely went past 1 million views in way less than 24 hours. Nobody's Fault did not get past the 1 million mark in 24 hours, but definitely higher than 500K at this same point in time.

    So maybe like the above poster said, you probably miscalculated the numbers and needed to multiply those numbers by 10. So within the first 24 hours, Garasu was at 1.9 million, Fukyouwaon was at 1.27 million and Nobody's Fault was at 750K.


    Edit: Just checked, to make sure I'm not giving you the wrong information. Copied the info from the Garasu thread, which funnily enough, one of them was from you =P


     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2021
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  12. Rev4

    Rev4 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2019
    From all releases you can tell the pandemic is at it's peak. Most releases this year starting from January have been hurted by the pandemic. Even Johnny's groups have been affected. The only group that continues to increase from it's previous result is 22/7 (nananiji).

    The low views for BAN compared to Nobofa and other MVs shows that people are still fed up with covid-19 news (even more so this year) in Japan. Yesterday was a unfortunate day for Saku to get news about state of emergency by government will be removed on 3/21. People got furious at this and wanted Suga-san to take responsibility and say it's impossible to have olympics now with delayed vaccination and removed state of emergency.

    From positive news it's a really well made MV and the same director who was behind Naze Koi is good at shooting. I really like how he got the views of Runrun's madness with her facial expressions at the end when they perform with water. Takahiro-sensei's choreo seems to up his game after 1st single and 2kis are getting more confident. Consider that Karin's center song is more soft makes me think we'll get that hanami MV we expected from A-side instead when everything was blank for a month ago.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  13. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Yes. Bad day for my math skills. Thanks to all. That's ten thousands, not thousands: Garasu 1.9 million, Fukyouwaon 1.27 million and Nobody's Fault 750K. As @valerien wrote. BAN now 580K at 23 hours. Less positive than I thought.

    One thing that made me wonder about this song was whether the lyrics would be a downer for a significant part of the potential market. And today some people on 5channel were claiming that lyrics have become more important to success of songs. Any comment?

    Thanks to @Rev4 for mitigating political/social information. Years ago, there was talk of Aki_P being involved in the Olympic preparations. Did that fade away?

    Interesting that it's only an anime-connected (22/7) song that's increasing its totals. Not sure if that means anything or not.

    I really want a hanami MV for this group. But still wondering if they'll find some way of featuring Shibuya locations mentioned in Karin's song.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2021
  14. ajma93632

    ajma93632 Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2019
    Oshimen:
    Shiraishi Mai
    i just want to say how much I like BAN the mv, the music, the aesthetics is so perfect I like it a lot of more than NF. It reminds me of Naze Koi but BAN is more like Sakura style while Naze Koi was more like Keyaki. At least that's how I see it. I'm glad to see Berika being in the senbatsu of this great song. Amd I don't care that it's the same Sakura 8 from the 1st single anymore. I hope to see more good song lime this in the future.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  15. valerien

    valerien Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2019
    After more than 3 days, the MV for [BAN] has finally surpassed 1 million views on Youtube. Any ideas as to why the reception to the second single has been exceptionally poor? I actually thought that [BAN] is much better than Nobody's Fault in terms of both MV quality and song quality. Some possible points of discussion -

    1. I feel that [BAN] is an upgraded version of Nobody's Fault in that it sounds similar but [BAN] is definitely a better quality song, and that the MV is similar to Naze Koi. Maybe they should have gone for a completely different sound this single? Even though it's a good song, I feel that the song lacks "replayability" like Naze Koi, and the chorus isn't catchy enough. It feels like there's a similar tune throughout the entire song while I was waiting a crescendo to hit and a big chorus to enter.


    2. I feel that management tried making changes too fast at the start of Sakurazaka46 just to completely pull away from Hirate and Keyakizaka46. To have all 3 centers coming from the second generation and then removing Akanen from the vice-captain position as well as the senbatsu might have alienated sections of fans that might have not completely bought into the second generation yet.

    They should have gradually made changes, and instead of having 3 completely new centers from the second generation right from the start of the first single, maybe have Hikaru center the main single and have Risa and Yuipon/Yuuka center the other two songs. And then from the second single, introduce Karin to center a song and have two second generation members centering songs together with one first generation member.

    They should also have allowed Akanen to continue on as a vice-captain and just added Matsuda as an additional vice-captain instead of completely removing her and then left her out of senbatsu as well, which would have completely alienated her fanbase and those that supported her as a vice-captain.


    3. Maybe there's a disconnect between Hikaru as the main center and the fanbase? She's definitely a good performer, but it doesn't feel like the songs feel completely hers. She's performing the songs to a high quality level, but it doesn't feel like she's the protagonist in the songs and that she's just performing it.

    I thought Karin in Naze Koi was much better and I felt that out of the 3 centers for the first single, Karin did the best. But yet it seems that the fanbase has not taken to Karin very well too? Which mystifies me. Her meet and greet sales for the second single is actually abysmal (sold out 2 or 3 slots I think) considering she's one of the 3 centers for the first single and I even thought that she was the best center out of the three.


    4. I initially thought that when Hirate left, 50% of the fanbase left together with her and solely supported her individual activities instead of the whole group's while 50% stayed on for Sakurazaka46. But after the second single, it feels more like 70% or higher left with her and now support her individual activities while the other 30% stayed on with Sakurazaka46. The problem is that I feel like the 30% portion isn't gaining new fans fast enough, while continuing to bleed fans. Her debut digital single actually surpassed Nobody's Fault's MV views while being released almost two months after, while having something crazy like 126K likes compared to the MVs of 46 group singles, which meant that the "crazy" part of the Keyaki fandom left with her. Which is what every fandom needs, a "crazy" portion of the fandom who will go through hellfire and back for the group and which Sakurazaka46 currently lacks.

    It certainly doesn't help that S&F alienated parts of their international fandom with their meet and greet antics for the first single while threading out the message that "We want the international fandom to buy the singles, but you might not be able to use those tickets that you bought for the meet and greet events. Haha". Even though they are both (Hirate and Sakurazaka46) using the same management company (S&F), it feels like two completely different management companies where Hirate's MV was uploaded until 4K quality as well as subs for the international fandom. And now with the latest news that S&F has started sending out emails to the international fans asking them to support the group by buying the new single (while not being able to attend meet and greet events), it just feels like a cash-grab which has left a bitter taste in a lot of fans' mouths.


    5. Sakurazaka46 needs a runaway hit. A song like Silent Majority or Fukyouwaon or Garasu or Kuroi Hitsuji or even Hiraishin to be their centerpiece song. They are a group which relies heavily on performance value. They need a song that will heavily focus on that portion of their charm. Right now their songs are good, but there's only so much you can do with those songs.

    What I mean is that while you can certainly put out a very good performance of Nobody's Fault or [BAN], a 6/10 performance and a 10/10 performance wouldn't feel any much different. But the difference between a 6/10 performance of a Fukyouwaon or a Garasu compared to a 10/10 performance is massive. This is what they need more than a changing of centers, or changing of Sakura 8 or senbatsu members or anything else. Forget about trying to add more more unique stuff to the group and focus more on the very basics, great songs which will amplify the group's performance value.
     
    • Agree Agree x 7
    • Dislike Dislike x 1
    • Disagree Disagree x 1
  16. Yabai_Yabai

    Yabai_Yabai Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2021
    Definitely agree on that. I mean, both songs are good, but they don't have that big hit feeling into them. They need to come up with something Bugbear would compose (Silent Majority & Fukyouwaon). I think they'll come much stronger for the next single, they're probably saving a massive hit for Japan's summer.
     
  17. miwa

    miwa Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2019
    Oshimen:
    Sasaki Mirei
    I disagree that Akanen's dismissal had an impact. She doesn't seem to have the fanbase to be affected by the news. But I also wish Keyaki/Sakura never had a vice captain to begin with. If Nogizaka and Hinatazaka don't have one, why does Keyaki/Sakura need one? Then again, I've always felt Yuuka wasn't the greatest choice for captain.

    Also disagree on Hikaru not connecting with the fanbase. She is the most or second most popular member in 2ki (not entirely sure who's more popular between her and Hono), and she has already sold out her slots. If your basis for connecting with fanbase is the handshake slots (like with Karin) then Hikaru has done well. Personally I think she's great.

    As for Hirate, well she always had (still has) crazy, intense fans. It doesn't surprise me her music video has more hype than Nobody's Fault. Also, thanks to S&F essentially only pushing her as the face of the group for the entirety of Keyaki's run, she also has the general public on her side. Perhaps things would be slightly different for Keyaki/Sakura if Neru also hadn't left (as Neru had some kind of attention of the general public). While Yuuka, Yuipon and Risa are popular they don't seem to be known to the general public, or at least not as much as Hirate and Neru. Of course this probably would be different if Hirate hadn't centered every Keyaki song ever, but we've already had this discussion a million times.

    Yeah, the numbers are worrying. They don't seem to be gaining fans and they have fallen behind the other Sakamichi groups (personally I've always felt that Hinatazaka would surpass them, with or without Hirate in the group). I've also noticed that their twitter follower count has been at 1.1 million for months now. They were once quite close to Nogizaka's popularity (I believe their peak was 2017, just like that was Hirate's peak as a performer in the group) but now I can't see them reaching those heights anymore. I'm not entirely sure what management can do to overturn this. But imo they should ditch the whole Sakura 8 thing. And the three centers thing. Or at the very least you can have, say, one song per center (or two for the main center, like how Hikaru got three songs in Nobody's Fault). But the other songs should be different. And mix up the formation. My oshi is in Sakura 8 so I shouldn't care but I just don't find it interesting to have all songs with constantly the same people, with essentially the same formation except for a different third row that ultimately doesn't even matter because you barely see the third row anyway. Bring back the Keyaki single concept. One thing that was cool about Hiragana Keyaki's independence was that now Keyaki had two free slots for new songs, meaning new concepts or new units so you'd think management would take advantage of that. I just don't find the whole Sakura 8 concept interesting. You can't compare it with Nogizaka's fukujin because even with that Nogizaka had other songs in their singles with units or generation songs. What a shame Rikopi graduated without a 2ki song.
     
    • Agree Agree x 5
    • Like Like x 1
    • Disagree Disagree x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
  18. too much idea

    too much idea Next Girls

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2012
    Location:
    Indonesia
    Twitter:
    toomuchidea
    I think that the current fandom of Sakuzaka, who decided to stay after nearly 2 years with no new release / new show, the chain of graduation and withdrawal, and the sudden renaming announcement, is loyal as your described. But I do agree that we lack in the vigor to create an SNS buzz. That part of the fandom, no matter how "crazy" you take them to be, dedicated hours (and many internet quota) to tweet about Techi or the shows she is in using hashtag, streaming the MV endlessly maybe even using more than one device. Considering I myself barely do any of the above, instead of feeling disappointed I should've stepped up my game and encouraged others to do the same. Like usually during SokoSaku broadcast, including me, I perhaps only see 5~8 other accounts live tweeting using the hashtag in my timeline.

    Oh and also, she went viral in South Korea for Dance no Riyuu.

    I also think that Hirate's MV gets 4K quality because she doesn't have physical release, meanwhile we have the Blu-ray quality included as a bonus when you buy the CD. As for english subtitle, I really don't get why they can't add the same, especially when members themselves have spoken out about overseas comments in the YT videos. I've been posting translated lyrics into the comment section, and in BAN I feel that the number of overseas fans commenting have increased. Perhaps we should keep it up and increase it further.

    Also not sure about the emails from S&F. The only email I get is promotional email from Fortune Music, which I probably receive because I added Sakurazaka as my favorite artist.

    Also, I agree with the opinion going around that the teaser and the thumbnail screwed them. The teaser video still trends when the MV dropped, so it backfired and blocked the MV from entering the trending chart. Were it not because of that, I believe that the MV would've ranked 2nd or 3rd right below SnowMan's new MV (or was it Sixtones? I don't remember). The thumbnail also showed building instead of members / Hikaru

    Other than that, I agree with what miwa said above on this matter

    I disagree. They messed up with 2nd gen so bad by positioning them as just substitute for what, 2 years? that now they have to speed things up. I do agree that they could've rotated the center for 1st to 3rd single to Hikaru -> Karin -> Ten but welp

    I also disagree with having 2 vice captain. It'll just be a confusing system to have and to follow. Having Matsuri experience a leadership role would also prepare her for eventually become the new group's captain and one of the group's rep in public

    I agree and sure hope that they could hit another homerun (I mean, which fans doesn't want their group to get a viral song or two?), but at the moment I'm curious to see how the public would react to BAN in future performances.

    In any case, just want to remind people of what the director has said:

     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2021
    • Like Like x 2
    • Agree Agree x 2
  19. paradisekiss

    paradisekiss Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2018
    Oshimen:
    Morita Hikaru
    None has mentioned that YouTube froze ban mv views at least twice. Once within the first 24 hours and the day after. Each time for at least an hour. That is one of the major reasons that ban views was so slow. NF views were frozen only once. Also the mv teaser of course seriously messed things up because getting on the trending = random users not following sakamichi news at all seeing the mv = more views from outside the outaku community. I still have hope that their performances on music shows will garner attention. The reception towards the song was great e.g. the radio rip on YouTube garnered around 400k views and the actual mv dislikes hasn’t hit 1K. At least last time I checked.

    @valerien I only agree with Nobody’s Fault not entirely capturing Hikaru as a protagonist but that doesn’t mean she didn’t grow to become it. She’s not just performing it, you should watch their Kohaku performance for example. There are some songs during Keyakizaka where techi didn’t necessarily feel suitable to be the centre of it but that doesn’t mean she was “just performing it”
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2021
    • Like Like x 3
    • Agree Agree x 1
  20. sc89

    sc89 Member Studio48 Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2017
    Oshimen:
    Yamamoto Ayaka
    The above comments contain better commentary than I can ever offer, but I'd like to add that while song quality is certainly important, at the end of the day it is not entirely objective and it is also not the sole factor that contributes to popularity (or lack thereof). I believe the group should continue to work towards quality music and quality performance, and the management should also promote the group/members in other ways (produce good variety shows, get them more outside jobs, etc.) and preserve/build the fanbase slowly. That way, even if they don't have any massive hit, they can still grow in the Nogi way (not spiralling to sudden fame, but going up gradually), and who knows, maybe 'that song' will come one day, when no one is expecting it.

    Stuff like B-side centre, Sakura 8 and senbatsu probably mean more to the core fanbase and very little to the general public. I don't think they're that important when the question is 'why isn't this single a hit (which usually means public hit)', but they're relevant to keeping the existing fanbase happy and that's not unimportant. I don't have actual data, but if there's reason to believe that a significant part of fans aren't happy with the current system, something should be done. I can only speak of my personal opinion: I'm OK with having the same centre trio for a few releases (maaaybe 3 singles + 1 album?); 'Sakura 8' in its current form isn't interesting at all and I can do with or without it; however I do wish that the centre trio only centre the three main songs (i.e., those that come with an MV) and the other B-sides should have different formats, e.g., unit songs.

    As for 'handshake/M&G sales vs performance' in senbatsu/centre selection... well, I also like seeing good performers more than good hand-shakers on stage, but HS/M&G is undeniably important to 46/48 groups and a centre who sells poorly will be under extreme pressure, and that's not something I want on anyone. I'd like to see members be encouraged to do well (or, at least do their best and try to get better) in both, but the question is how this can be done. By having the best sellers as BAN's senbatsu, the management is telling both members and fans that HS/M&G sales is important. So what else can it do to tell members and fans that performance is also important? Hold a competition/audition among senbatsu and the best performers become Sakura 8? Have some of the B-side senbatsus be based on dancing skills, singing skills, etc.? Or have even more intensive training for senbatsu performance? Just some rough ideas, not necessarily the best proposals, but if any of these is done, I'd like to see the process recorded and be broadcast somewhere. I think this can help build the group's image and manage the expectations of fans and members alike... Then hopefully it can bridge some of the gap between HS/M&G sales vs performance. I'm not sure if the gap can ever disappear though, and of course it all depends on how much the management wants the group's image to be performance-focused lol. I just think that if the management only ever acts in a way that says 'HS/M&G sales is important', then eventually it will become the only thing that matters...




    Anyway, I came to this thread today to say that I've been completely converted by the MV and am now a big fan of BAN lol I'm liking it even more than Nobody's Fault now.
    Guuzen no Kotae is not bad but currently I don't like it as much as NazeKoi (that's a high bar in my book though lol). It's nice... in a safe way? Let's see if the MV/performance can elevate it. NazeKoi comes with superb choreography and MV after all.




    By the way, in my mind, I just keep comparing BAN to Nobody's Fault and Guuzen no Kotae to NazeKoi. The centres are an obvious reason, but I seem to notice thematic similarities among each pair as well?
    Nobody's Fault and BAN both have a 'boku' that feels similar to Keyaki's 'boku'. The 'boku' who wants to be free, to live in their own way, to be themselves. But while Keyaki Boku is often defiant against 'adults', Sakura Boku has literally said 'I've become an adult' in both NF and BAN. An adult that shares Keyaki Boku's spirit? Or maybe it's really Keyaki Boku, after a time skip? The two Bokus face different challenges, but that seems to be caused by their difference in age and place in society, while their base desire remains the same...
    Then NazeKoi and Guuzen no Kotae are obviously both love songs. Even Plastic regret is a love song. Why does Karin keep getting love songs?? lol
    I wonder if it's a deliberate attempt to differentiate the three centres' image. Hikaru and Ten got different themes in their MV-less songs in the first single though, so at least they had the chance to widen their repertoire. (I know I just advocated changing the centres of the MV-less songs lol, but that's from a group perspective... Centering more songs is a good experience for the centres themselves.)

    I'm posting this before we get to hear Ten's centre song. Will it be a thematic continuation of Buddies or will my theory be disproven? lol
    (Either way, I hope I'll like it better than Buddies, which I... just don't like very much :fear: Hanshin Hangi is better imo.)
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
    • Like Like x 2

Share This Page