Single Miyuki Watanabe 1st (Yasashiku Suru Yori Kisu wo Shite) (14/12/24)

i really like her solo single, surprisingly.
because you know, singing is not really her thing.
but i enjoy the song, the (too) soft pink outfit, her middle-length hair, the move on the stage, the cute smile, the jacket cover, her voice and the pv.
one thing i am not satisfied with is that she always looks tired and lifeless on tv due to preparation of her solo debut
i know this sounds ridiculous, since sayanee is better in singing, but milky set a high standard for sayanee to fulfill.

 

i love Milky but even Sayanee singing on commercials obliterates Milky's studio single

 

But Milky's single has an undeniable character and personality to it.. something that Sayanee's solo songs have never possessed. Sayanee is certainly talented, but I've never really noticed her having a big stage presence, showing much personality, or injecting a personal touch into her songs.

Most of the time when she performs solo, she has that damn guitar.. and she focuses so much on playing the guitar correctly, that she merely sings the notes instead of emoting the song or making her presence known on stage.

That time when Milky sang Jungle Gym, I found myself much more into the performance because Milky played a sort of character with her expressions and singing style.. and even though it was lipsynced and nowhere near as good as Sayanee's vocals, the performance stood out much more to me than any of Sayanee's.

And when Sayanee sang Warukii.. it was like... Mm okay, that was nice. Milky performs it with such sass that it's quite the experience. Sayanee just sang it and danced the choreography.

 

i think milky has more ability to nail a song, to make her song her own.
like warukii, zipper, and yasashiku suru yori kisu wo shite.
those songs belong to milky (even when somebody else sing it, they tried to act flirty and fishy like milky because her influence in the song is so big) because she plays a character while singing the song. her voice sometimes might sounds terrible but her playful dancing and fun way to attract audiences covers her vocal.

but sayanee is not bad either. her powerful voice in NMB songs made them kami song. because of her bold and powerful voice. her dancing is the best but, i think, sometimes too powerful that she forgets to enjoy it. i agree with @MocchiMooch that sayanee lacks of character.

 

1st Week Sales

Week 1: 41,068 (4th)

 

Wow,well done Miruki♥ Better than Tomo-chin, i'm impressed.

 

Week 2 Sales (This Past Week's)

Week 1: 41,068 (4th)
Week 2: 5,549 (46,617) (9th)

 

Week 3 Sales

Week 1: 41,068 (4th)
Week 2: 5,549 (46,617) (9th)
Week 3: 2,590 (49,207) (25th)

 

About the pv why did Uchida hardly in it? They kicked her out in the beginning of the video

 

But in the end, she have her revenge. xD
The way I see it Chori got the more undesirable role as magazine staff. :\

Sayaya is really gorgeous in the pv.
and Kiichan.. wow

 

Milky is certainly quite good in character, and I do agree that she is very good at making a song her own.
But that being said, apart from her Jungle Gym perf, I don't think the characters in Warukii, Zipper or even Yasashiku Suru Yori were that different.
So in a way, while she was being reaally good at playing the character, it is her usual chara anyway, and I haven't exactly seen her being put out too far off her comfort zone. I think there's that to consider too.　

Sayanee doing Warukii is also far out of her comfort zone. I thought she tried her hardest to make her own interpretation of the song and performance, and even if she wasn't as convincing as Milky, I think she certainly did put a lot of effort to get into character.

Hmms but even as a Sayanee oshi, I kinda understand what you mean. Sayanee is a lil...well OCD and perfectionist. She tends to give detail and precision into every performance she does that she kinda forgets about other things sometimes. But that's also what has made Sayanee and Milky a great duo to begin with. They both have always excelled in different areas and could make up for each other's weaknesses.

That being said, about stage presence though, I have to disagree. I don't know if you're talking only about her solo performances, but she tends to do very well in injecting her personal touch into the unit shuffles she does. One of my favourites up to now is her rendition of Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate that she did with Milky and Jo. The way she performed on stage was a step above in that, she knew the exact timing to look at the camera, and I thought her portrayal in this was just reaally reallly good.
If you need to rewatch it, here: http://dai.ly/x13ov74

Also in terms of emoting, I thought she did it incredibly well in her rendition of １２月３１日 in AKB Kouhaku 2013. I could feel every tinge of emotion in her voice. So while maybe she couldn't do it as well in Jungle Gym and what not, implying that none of Sayanee's performances were as memorable or lacking personality was a little harsh in my opinion. I mean, she may still have lots to improve, but i certainly do think she definitely had some great performances as well. I don't know about you but apart from what I mentioned so far, I thought her solo rendition of Bokura no Eureka at AKB Natsu Matsuri was one of her best performances up to date.

Then again, I guess I could come off as biased as a Sayanee oshi, and we may really just be viewing things from a different perspective. As for me, I always enjoyed watching Sayanee's passion on stage; to me, it is what I love most about her. Especially the way she was just enjoying herself and smiling brightly while performing her solo live at AKB's Natsu Matsuri, I guess that's the Sayanee I enjoy watching the most.

Maybe I am being easy on her because of that, but somehow I just felt like it was something I had to say.

 

As someone who likes both a LOT (I put both Milky and Sayanee in my 'kami-tier' girls, so to speak) I have to say... Sayanee has gotten a LOT better since she first started in terms of injecting her character into her songs, but it's nowhere near Milky's level. That being said, I think she's starting to learn it a bit, and she's also realized that her focus on guitar has to be balanced with having a stage presence.

Even as late as, say, 2013 or early 2014 Sayanee was still not that great at it. Watching the Utage performance Sayanee had with the Chemistry guy was a bit painful for that reason... It's still really hard for her to relax, but she's trying and you can REALLY see the improvement in her (as opposed to Milky, who I love, but is just comfortable where she is).

 

@piyochama you said it better than I ever could. Thank you, I completely agree with everything you have said

 

Week 4 Sales
-------------------------------------------------
Week 1: 41,068 (4th)
Week 2: 5,549 (46,617) (9th)
Week 3: 2,590 (49,207) (25th)
Week 4: 1,501 (50,708) (33rd)