Today, Morning Musume's official youtube channel uploaded the official full MV to their 52nd single "Help Me!!".
I was already excited about this release - as it is new 11th generation member Oda Sakura's single debut! (I really like Sakura - she is vocally talented, looks really sweet and her soulful voice brings back the Takahashi/Niigaki sound that has been missing from MM for a while now).
Having been able to view the dance shot version for a few weeks now, I have already been able to get a feel for what the MV would be like and appreciate the amazing dance for Help Me!!
First off, I have to say that I think the full MV is AMAZING. I've been really impressed by Morning Musume's rebirth since Michishige Sayumi became leader - One Two Three was refreshing and very successful, the dance/video for Wakuteka Take A Chance was impressive and pushed Morning Musume into a new direction... and now Help Me!! is my new favourite music video.
Firstly and very importantly - the song itself.... it definitley feels like Part 3 of their new electro-pop sound >> and I like it! It definitley feels like they've established a fresh re-born group with these recent releases.
Importantly, the beginning voice sequence (mainly featuring MM's princess Fukumura Mizuki) is really good - it reminds me of older MM songs which have speech in them - like "Shabondama", but in Help Me it really fits in with the robotic electro sounds.
Sayashi and Reina as the main aces of the group take most of the solo lines, but new 11th generation member Sakura has a couple of outstanding solos that make hairs stand on end! Now that the 9th and 10th gens have firmly settled themselves into the group, there are some good duets between various members and mixing and matching of duos which works really well with the disribution of lines in the song. Overall what works really well in "Help Me" is the strong electro-beats that give the song a really cool, heart-pounding feel contrasted with the sudden breaks into beautiful, echoed solo lines.
The next thing that stands out is the dance for this single... The outstanding point in the dance being the V formation at the end of the choruses. It looks really cool, enhances the high point in the music and isn't something that's been done before with MM... it really seems original in comparison to their regular stand-in-a-line dance shots.
I really like the costumes for this single... when I first saw sneak-preview pictures of the costumes I thought "Leopard print? really..."... but upon seeing the full costumes they are in fact really cute and particularly Reina-style. The hot pink skirt and golden leopard print go well together, and theres a good mix of differences in each members costumes (ie. different collars/garters/hair accessories/cut of the skirts) to keep it looking fashionable and edgy.
The music video for me is 10/10. Really nice mix of different backgrounds/settings, there's variation in the background in the dance shots and the video overall is of a very good quality. There's a good balance of close-ups for all the members - it's nice to see that they're showcasing everyone rather than just focusing on the aces. Notice that there are a lot of shots of Fukumura Mizuki (same in Wakuteka) and deservedly so - she is talented/extremely good-looking and is definitley being pushed further into the lime-light in this video.
The illuminated twilight-city backgrounds really make this video for me - much more visually engaging and atmospheric than a glitzy dance-studio for example. The highlights of the video are probably the beginning shots with the members "computerised", flicking on and off screen, the Reina shots with the illuminated Fairground wheel in the distance and of course the epicly illuminated V-formations at the end of the choruses.
Overall I'd give the MV a 10/10... the song itself might not be to everyone's taste (especcially if you're a die-hard fan for the classic MM funky/disco sound), but this song is up-to-date, extremeley cool and has a strong electro-beat. The dance is impressive, the costumes are cute and the video shots are striking and eye-catching. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see how this single fares in sales when it is released on the 23/1/13!
I was already excited about this release - as it is new 11th generation member Oda Sakura's single debut! (I really like Sakura - she is vocally talented, looks really sweet and her soulful voice brings back the Takahashi/Niigaki sound that has been missing from MM for a while now).
Having been able to view the dance shot version for a few weeks now, I have already been able to get a feel for what the MV would be like and appreciate the amazing dance for Help Me!!
First off, I have to say that I think the full MV is AMAZING. I've been really impressed by Morning Musume's rebirth since Michishige Sayumi became leader - One Two Three was refreshing and very successful, the dance/video for Wakuteka Take A Chance was impressive and pushed Morning Musume into a new direction... and now Help Me!! is my new favourite music video.
Firstly and very importantly - the song itself.... it definitley feels like Part 3 of their new electro-pop sound >> and I like it! It definitley feels like they've established a fresh re-born group with these recent releases.
Importantly, the beginning voice sequence (mainly featuring MM's princess Fukumura Mizuki) is really good - it reminds me of older MM songs which have speech in them - like "Shabondama", but in Help Me it really fits in with the robotic electro sounds.
Sayashi and Reina as the main aces of the group take most of the solo lines, but new 11th generation member Sakura has a couple of outstanding solos that make hairs stand on end! Now that the 9th and 10th gens have firmly settled themselves into the group, there are some good duets between various members and mixing and matching of duos which works really well with the disribution of lines in the song. Overall what works really well in "Help Me" is the strong electro-beats that give the song a really cool, heart-pounding feel contrasted with the sudden breaks into beautiful, echoed solo lines.
The next thing that stands out is the dance for this single... The outstanding point in the dance being the V formation at the end of the choruses. It looks really cool, enhances the high point in the music and isn't something that's been done before with MM... it really seems original in comparison to their regular stand-in-a-line dance shots.
I really like the costumes for this single... when I first saw sneak-preview pictures of the costumes I thought "Leopard print? really..."... but upon seeing the full costumes they are in fact really cute and particularly Reina-style. The hot pink skirt and golden leopard print go well together, and theres a good mix of differences in each members costumes (ie. different collars/garters/hair accessories/cut of the skirts) to keep it looking fashionable and edgy.
The music video for me is 10/10. Really nice mix of different backgrounds/settings, there's variation in the background in the dance shots and the video overall is of a very good quality. There's a good balance of close-ups for all the members - it's nice to see that they're showcasing everyone rather than just focusing on the aces. Notice that there are a lot of shots of Fukumura Mizuki (same in Wakuteka) and deservedly so - she is talented/extremely good-looking and is definitley being pushed further into the lime-light in this video.
The illuminated twilight-city backgrounds really make this video for me - much more visually engaging and atmospheric than a glitzy dance-studio for example. The highlights of the video are probably the beginning shots with the members "computerised", flicking on and off screen, the Reina shots with the illuminated Fairground wheel in the distance and of course the epicly illuminated V-formations at the end of the choruses.
Overall I'd give the MV a 10/10... the song itself might not be to everyone's taste (especcially if you're a die-hard fan for the classic MM funky/disco sound), but this song is up-to-date, extremeley cool and has a strong electro-beat. The dance is impressive, the costumes are cute and the video shots are striking and eye-catching. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see how this single fares in sales when it is released on the 23/1/13!