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Thursday, October 05, 2006

LOOK on PPGZ

Here's LOOK running over the end credits of Powerpuff Girls Z.



The credits cite Yusuke Tanaka as the composer, and Halcali for the lyrics. Tanaka also wrote Halcali's Eureka 7 song Tip Taps Tip.

Thoughts?

Tanaka's second Halcali song seems to share all the same problems with his first. It doesn't sound like Halcali. It doesn't particularly sound like anyone. It has that same flat, processed feel that 95% of modern pop music has. Neither here nor there, it starts, plods along predictably and eventually ends, leaving you shrugging your shoulders neither better or worse off than you were before you listened. It makes absolutely no attempt to make even basic use of fact that the group is comprised of two rappers to it's advantage- it only wastes talent in having the girls lamely double up throughout. Let's salvage something from it though. There's a moment around the one minute mark where a harder bass beat kicks in that's vaguely interesting, and could the chorus be a grower? Perhaps not. Perhaps this is me wanting myself to like it in some way, but that's something I'll probably have to wait for the full release for to find out.

There are some other things the song has going for it too. Although this preview is fairly dull overall, I don't think that it sound be taken as a reflection of what Halcali might have in store for us for album three. It is, after all, a song written with a specific goal in mind, that is to play unobtrusively over the end credits of an anime made for young teenage girls. While that might not excuse Tanaka for wasting two opportunities in a row (Tandem was also featured on an anime in a similar way remember), he was lumbered with the kind of baggage that Nakamura, Fantastic Plastic Machine and whoever else turns up to produce on the next album won't be.

So while I'm undoubtedly disappointed, I'm tentatively going to just shrug it off for now. This is simply Halcali paying their dues to Sony and fulfilling the requirements of their contract.
On a genuinely positive note though, it's good to see them taking a more creative role in that they wrote the lyrics to the song. Based on interviews where they talked about how much they enjoyed it in the past (they started writing with Wakakusa Dance), I think it's a trend that's going to continue.

All that said, I'm still going to pick it up on release day. These anime cash-ins tend to promote and sell themselves, but after the commercial disaster of Twinkle Star, I'll be interested to see how Sony handles this one.

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hm....it really seems even more like typical pop-fluff than Tip Taps Tip did....

It doesn't even sound like there are two girls in there...
I do like the chorus though...it's catchy and cute..and that Super Mario Coin Sound makes me smile like mad :D

It's cute and all...but I'm not terribly thrilled by it...I'll wait for the whole song (and the PV! :D) before really making an opinion though.

I still look forward to the release. :)

3:53 AM

 
Blogger Paul said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

7:23 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

not as much a their other singles...but i really do like it :)
the beginning of the song is so awesome.
i cannot wait for this to come out though and the dvd !!
YAY

9:48 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the bass is really hot, but overall the song is pretty accessible. I think I like it overall, and I'm excited to hear the full version. I have to admit I love the Powerpuff Girls too, though!

1:20 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pretty bad and very pop-sounding. I don't hear anything even remotely reminiscent of hiphop. Even TTT had some redeemable qualities, but not this. (Fans of Super Mario coin sounds should be sure and check out YMCK.) I won't give up on them yet though.

5:25 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmm... yeah I think I probably like TTT better than this. And I wasn't even a huge fan of TTT. After the excellence that was Twinkle Star this song seems weak. But you know, this is the kind of song that will make them so much more accessible to the average music listener. Hopefully they will get a few more fans through this.

I'm still gonna wait anxiously for the PV and I'll buy the single for sure when it comes out.

5:58 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i duno i really like it. the song didn't even get to the super part at the end of the other preview on the sony website. the powerpuff girl ending version seemed to not get to the real "meat" of the song yet i think. have to wait for a full version :D

2:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

im with everyone else -- so far, LOOK is not as good as TTT, way beneath twinkle star, but i still have hope it'll win me over.

8:49 AM

 
Blogger jariten said...

Thanks for the comments everyone. Although I wrote a tentative review based on the clip, as was mentioned, it might be best to reserve full judgement until we've had a chance to digest it all.
Sadly, I've got the feeling that my opinion won't change much though.

I DO like the Mario coin sound though...

...I just re-read my short review again. Was I expecting too much?

4:36 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with most of the stuff you said. its pretty dull there's hardly any variations in the whole song. and the beat is popish rock.. its ok for an album to have 1 or 2 at the most.. anymore than two mellow songs like this is too much because they are SUPPOSED to be a rap group. And Releasing a song like this is just a really bad idea... Tip tap tips was good.. but after tip tap tips.. they should of picked backup and focused more on rap. And a complete dull duet wastes pretty much all of their talent indeed.

4:57 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"It doesn't sound like HALCALI" but maybe HALCALI want to develop themselves. I think packing them in the same box they started in is what will hurt them rather than accepting what they do now.

6:19 AM

 
Blogger jariten said...

"It doesn't sound like HALCALI" but maybe HALCALI want to develop themselves. I think packing them in the same box they started in is what will hurt them rather than accepting what they do now.

I know what you mean, and although I don't have a problem with, as you say, development, I think that Halcali can still develop (mature, or however you want to put it)without losing the basic essence of what makes Halcali, Halcali.
The trouble with LOOK is just that it doesn't sound like anything more than another airy, bland jpop tune. Halcali's talents are wasted on it.
I still maintain that the most sucessful attempts to marry the 'old' Halcali with the newer, 'developing' Halcali were done by Nakamura on his TTT and Twinkle Star b-sides.
The other thing to mention is that I don't think this points in any direction that Halcali might be taking in the future, I think it was a song churned out with a specific goal in mind; i.e filling in a minute of dead air for the end credits of a kids cartoon show. It could have been given to anyone, presumably Halcali had contractual obligations to fulfill with Sony.
The Nakamura stuff gives us a better idea of where album 3 might be headed, as he's on board as a songwriter for the album (as is Fantastic Plastic Machine, who came up with the great Otsukare Summer on the first album).

4:20 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Cover is Up!

Clicky!

hm....:/
Silly it is...

8:13 PM

 
Blogger jariten said...

Thanks!

2:02 PM

 

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