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

Is that her real name or just portraying rikkopi

 

That's her real name. They used their real name in the MV. Here's her twitter accont too, if needed lol
https://mobile.twitter.com/rico_nagase_

 

I don't know if I can remember a story MV from 1st single that was this well made. It finally came with 2nd single. Rejoice!

BAN was a dance oriented MV so now we got a story MV people in the thread thought was lacking from the rebranded group.

 

Also, it's a small thing but I love the part at around 4:30 with Takemoto

 

Interesting how, for Sakurazaka, they gave Karin the 2 most Keya-like sounding songs, coolest songs, and the best MV so far. Love Guuzen No Kotae!

 

This is the first time I've seen people refer to the Karin songs as the most Keyaki like. I think even someone in this thread mentioned the exact opposite, that they're giving her songs away from the Keyaki image. Naze koi definitely isn't Keyaki like and I don't think this song is Keyaki like either, maaaybe early Keyaki.

Either way, what a lovely video. I'm not Karin's biggest fan but she did so well here. Special mention to Takeyui and Hono who had wonderful expressions during the last dance.

 

This!!
I think everyone have really great expression at the last dance scene, though unfortunately we don't get to see much of it

 

TakeYui is always so extra lol

I don't know about the Keyaki-like song though.
First thing I though watching the video was that it felt like an old 48 song/mv, which is not as negative as it may seems. I liked it.
The only part lacking something for me is the choreo, which is not as impressive as we are used to.

Karin did good, I'm not a fan of the stills, which at this point feel a bit overused when it comes to our mvs, but the concept, the pace, acting, the plot, all felt very good. The scene with the members dancing and Karin on the train platform in front of them is my favorite so far.
Too bad the real Riko couldn't be there... if she was they would have lived happily from the start

It may not be an happy song, but I hope japanese lgbt kids will love it anyway, because no matter how much it hurts, love is always worth.

 

Finally were announced bonus materials for all types of discs (A,B,C,D)... and I already made my preorder... ^^

only in japanese for now
https://sakurazaka46.com/s/s46/news/detail/R00060?ima=3521
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAN_(曲)

 

Lovely song and heartbreaking MV.

At first i thought it had that early Keyaki vibe, but after listening the song for a couple times it felt more like one those Nogizaka ballads.

 

Tracklist was posted on SakuzakaCentral!

I've also updated it on the Wiki

 

What a masterpiece! This song and the story hit me right in the heart. And I don't know anything about Karin but when she broke down near the end I was close to tears as well. She portrayed an emotion I might have felt once or twice in my life perfectly.

Truly breathtaking.

 

sasuga karin. she seem to have another dichotomous artistic persona separate from the normally shy karin.
although we have yet to see n hear Ten centre song, imo Karin keeps getting the best song and mv haha

 

Agree, Karin gets the (arguably) best songs and best MVs (no questions here)!

 

@Jsprite -- As a big fan of Karin, maybe I'd say that she gets good songs and good choreo and makes them great. Heavy choreo song? Check. Dramatic song? Check. I wonder what's next.

The choreo here seems fairly simple, but Karin's gracefulness is special, and I think the others are to some extent smoother than usual, too, which is easier with simple choreo (and Karin's example?). Good dancing all round. I look forward to seeing stage performances.

I think Karin is a Keyaki-like person -- real and introverted -- but I'm not sure these are Keyaki-like songs. My favorite Nogi songs are Kimi no Na wa Kibou and Inochi wa Utsukushii. This song isn't really like them, but somehow it reminded me of them. Maybe the outfits? Except the dancing here was more graceful than Inochi, it seemed to me.

@amimaru -- It seems as if putting Karin on stage and giving her something to express turns her from shy to outgoing, and from normal to shining. I had no idea she could act like this. And maybe neither did she.

"Riko" is played by an actress/model called Nagase Riko (her agency is "Sony Music"). As it says in @too much idea's translation of Karin's blog post, Karin met her at TGC, where they both modelled. The coincidence of the name with Matsudaira Riko is pretty interesting. There's a line in the song that says a coincidence is always answering a question (the song title could be translated An Answer by Coincidence).

 

Wasn't Rikopi "into" Karin? It would have been pretty odd if Rikopi had stayed and given Riko's role. Actually I think given the song's lyrics and overall theme, S&F deemed safer not to involve another Sakurazaka member, and that role given to someone outside Saku, just in case.

 

It's @too much idea 's translation by the way, he included the credit there

Also 3rd Round Results! Looking at the site now, and we now have NINE sold out members including... dark horse Moriya Rena!
All of the title track members have now sold out at least three slots, with Masumoto being the highest selling non-title track member (leading by 5 slots compared to Inori).

I will post the full results and chart on SakuzakaCentral twitter as usual.

 

I'm definitely of the opinion that out of everyone that made the transition from Keyakizaka46 to Sakurazaka46, Karin has grown the most.

For me, the Karin-centered Naze Koi was the best song and MV in the first single, and without having seen the Ten-centered song MV yet, it looks like the Karin-centered song will be the best song and MV for the second single too. She really did perform beautifully in the MV, and did bring out the maximum in the song (which I initially thought was rather flat in just the radio rip version without the MV).

But my concerns remain the same. Even with her having the two best songs and MV in the first two singles, it still seems like people haven't really bought into her (including the Sakurazaka46 fanbase - which is far wider than just this forum). And I have no idea why, it's actually quite mystifying. Her MV hasn't broken past 400K views with 24 hour timeframe approaching, and sitting at around 24K likes. I've always viewed Youtube views and likes as being quite important when judging just how much the fandom and general public has taken to Sakurazaka46.

I hope as the promotions and live performances for the second single songs start, things will start to change for the better.

 

@valerien -- I can understand Karin not being a top handshake/meet & greet attraction, since she might not seem that easy to talk to. What shocks me is the comparatively low total of YouTube views for this MV, in which I think she's brilliant, a real artist. Time will tell. No doubt this song and its subject do turn some people off.

I think she has a similar kind of ability to Techi's (I'm not saying she has the same amount of it): to communicate as an artist, to "sell" a song. As one Japanese comment said, she doesn't "act" a role, she "exudes" it or "reveals" it. In any case, since Karin has done two love songs now, perhaps she could do a Silent Majority-like declarative message song. I think she might find that more natural to her, and I wonder what she would do with it.

@Jsprite -- I liked this Japanese comment: "Perhaps, through the emotional parts of this MV, Karin may have come to understand Rikopi's feelings for her." I remember the 2gen hidden-camera episode of KeyaKake (#176), where Riko got Karin to go to the washroom with her, but Riko kept pawing Karin -- holding her hand or pushing her shoulder -- and Karin got upset with her, kept pushing her away and telling her to let go. But they still went off out the door of the dressing room together. I should add that I'm making no inference about anyone's sexuality. I have no idea, nor do I care.

EDIT: In actual news. the fumi Diary blog has identified most of the shooting locations for the MV:

• the opening scene is the rooftop garden of the Tokyu Plaza in Shibuya
• the train platform is at Moriya (!) station on the Kantou Railway. There was a report at the time of Sakurazaka taping there.
  
• the school is the old Tochigi Prefecture Ashikaka West high school, north of Tokyo
  
• the parking lot where Riko and Karin talk is at the Across Mall, Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, also just north of Tokyo.
• as I mentioned before, the fabulous scene of Karin striding across the pavement (I want to see that stride on the runway) was in front of Parco, at the top of Spain-zaka in Shibuya.
• and the final scene was by a wall at the Aquary fortune-telling shop on Spain-zaka

Never underestimate otaku.

 

I'm a bit worried about the stagnant of the fanbase.

As @miwa mentioned before, the increase of subscribers have been noticable for Nogi and Hinata.

Just for a few weeks Hinata's youtube channel has gone from 560,000 to 569,000 subscribers and Nogi increased to 1.40M for few weeks ago and is now 1.41M.

Sakuzaka's is still 1.04M since Oct last year. And pandemic on top of all things make the situation worse for a group with majority of new members that need as much screentime as possible.

Once this horrible pandemic has finally being defeated and vaccine has normalized the situation it's full speed ahead for hard work and public recognition like Keyaki 1st gen did in 2016. Things got delayed for Saku.