Sunday, 02 November 2008

• Minorin PVs [WIP]

  For those who do not know, PV stands for "promotional video"="videoclip"="music video"
  Have you ever noticed that all PVs of Minorin have something in common? No, I don't mean that all of them are performed by the same person, there's something not so obvious. There is some kind of duality, more or less, in all her videos since Message 01. Let's try to find it.
  
  The first from the Message 01 DVD is
  
  

  Kimi Ga Kureta Ano Hi (That Day You Gave) 2007.06.06

  
  The least obvious example to demonstrate this duality though, but an awesome and emotional song.

  Shijin no Tabi (Travels of the Poet) 2007.10.24

  Oh such a piercing glance..

  
  By the way, this PV is considered to be the most Minorin-style PV ever and I can't agree more. You will see what I mean below.

  Junpaku Sankuchuarii (Pure White Sanctuary) 2007.01.24

  
  The most obvious duality could be seen in this PV. Pure white and black. Be sure to check out its preview version, and try to find anything similar with the PV.

  Message 02

  Melty Tale Storage 2008.03.26

  
  This is my favorite song and the first Minorin's PV I saw. I can listen to all the four versions (Melty Tale Storage, Echo of Melty Tale Storage, Melty Tale Storage (off vocal) and Melty Tale Storage Live (Contact)) endlessly, especially I love Echo and Off-vocal version (Daisuke Kikuta is sure a great composer). The idea of the duality in this PV is in the fact that there are actually "two" Minorins: one is the narrator of the "Tale" and the other is its main character. In order to understand ideas of this song better you should read information provided by Lantis (if you understand Japanese) and the English translation. It is pure awesome. Moreover, the idea of duality presents not only in video but also in the song itself: we can hear the chorus and the main theme vocals in the same time. The "remix" called Echo of Melty Tale Storage contains this chorus as a main theme and vocals as a background (it seems to me even more harmonical than the original song).
  But the more I love this song, the more it is painful for me - to see that some fans dislike it. Sometimes I see them discussing about the strange title (which doesn't seems too strange for me, maybe because English is not my native language.. but in Russian almost any way of word combining is right), the English language used for title (what would you say about another awesome song called "Contact"?) and about the fact that such style of the PV doesn't fit Minorin's personality (like you can say). I can't and don't want to understand such unfairness. 
  You can download the preview version of this PV (the one Lantis embedded in its page) here.
  
  

  Ameagari no Hana yo Sake (Let the flowers bloom after the rain)2008.08.06 

  	Seeing Minorin similing at me so close makes me the happiest man in the world

  
  Amasake (short for the "Ameagari no Hana yo Sake". This short version was introduced by Minorin in the 66th issue of her radio "Minorhythm". You can download this release (and a lot of others) here: www.mediafire.com/Minorhythm) is my favorite PV. It is so summer-like, bright and warm, just like Minorin's personality. In one word, cute. This is why we all love her, right? The style of the PV fits pretty well the season when in was released (Aug, 06). The song is very nice too, especially at 04:00. Surely I love the Close-Up PV versions, even though in this clip were used pretty simple CG backgrounds and effects (in comparison to Junpaku Sanctuary). But who cares about the backgrounds when you have chance to see your beloved idol smiling at you so close?
  You can download the preview version of this PV (the one Lantis embedded in its page) here.

  Voyager Train 2008.11.26

  The duality itself

  
  The main theme of the new Minorin's album called "Parade". Combined a lot of features from the previous PVs. Here are them: Minorin staying on the field, wearing dress with her hands waving (just like in Shijin no Tabi, it's the main feature), very obvious duality like in Junpaku Sanctuary, the "dark side" reminds of Kimi Ga Kureta Ano Hi and Melty Tale (esp. at 00:39). In my opinion it is very interesting PV, maybe I like it the most. It is mystical: some kind of blue crystal, mysterous transparent plate and colourful bands flying around Minorin. If only I could translate the song... Moreover, I like the color combinations and gamma pretty much - so warm yellow sky, red dress and sparkling blue crystal. Very nice and colourful. 

  However I think I saw something familiar before... Ah yes, must be there. Unexpected similarity.
  You can download the preview version of this PV (the one Lantis embedded in its page) here.

  Paradise Lost 2008.11.05

  
  The opening theme from ongoing anime "Ga-Rei Zero". Despite being noticeable different from usual Minori style, the composer is still good ol' Kikuta Daisuke - and thus the music is awesome as ever, can't wait official release to listen to off-vocal version. As for the PV itself - I can't really understand, why this PV is 6 times more popular than Voyager Train (according to the amount of views on YouTube; as for MP3s extracted by me from these PVs and uploaded to Mediafire, the difference is even more drastic - 50 downloads for Paradise Lost and 4 downloads for Voyager Train. Oh my.). Maybe because people say that it reminds of Nana-chan's clip called Massive Wonders. But rather than copying somebody's style, I prefer "traditional" colourful Minorin's PVs. Though I have to admit that Minorin is quite stylish in this clip.
  You can download the preview version of this PV (the one Lantis embedded in its page) here.
  [edit, after reading smbd's blog ./^]
  And.
  The only reasons people watch this PV more than Voyager Train are:
  1. It's just too similar to Massive Wonders, performed by so-loved-by-everybody-Mizuki
  2. There was an aura of secrecy made by Lantis over this single, so everybody's interest was pretty much stimulated. Especially now when we know that it is anime op. Some say, that vice versa worked too - Amasake, which creation was being publicly announced is said to have less that expected popularity.

  Something about similarity of PVs performed by Minorin and Nana:
  

   

  Ok, back to the topic.

  Message 03 

   Tomorrow's Chance 2009.06.03

    

   Everything changes - this is what the PV is telling us. The only similarities to previous clips are the sunny, though rather blue, atmosphere and close-up shots, like in Amasake. And yes, the duality is back, but there are no signs of it on CD covers, while PV lacks flame-y orange color from there. As for Nana's PV - this time it is Innocent Starter, am I right? Maybe people saying about similarities since Junpaku Sanctuary were right too...

   Precious One 2009.12.23
   

  

  Indeed a precious PV, it shows rather beautiful side of Minorin and yet again the dualism is in its full glory. Environment and picture frames remind of Kimi ga Kureta ano Hi. Might as well be the best PV in M03, if it wasn't for the orange dress, which I find kinda less good-looking than its gray counterpart.

  Final Moratorium (2010.02.17)

  what

   work in progress, but not even close-up shots can help this PV. Excess use of cosmetics, effects and dance. Embrace the mainstream.    TODO: more critique

  Yasashii Boukyaku (2010.02.24)

    

  One of the prettiest Minorin PVs ever, it doesn't feature any dualism, but nonetheless is a true pleasure to watch. I mean, what could be better than a town without people? Quite contemplative PV and twice as much beautiful for those watched The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, to which theme song this PV is. Speaking about anime, no wonder, that only anime-related singles feature true side of what a Seiyuu song an PV should be, much unlike unrelated and rather mainstream pop ones. Just compare Junpaku Sanctuare (Kiddy Grade theme), Paradise Lost (Ga-rei Zero) and this PV to something like Tmc or Final one. Obvious difference.

  Message 04

   Freedom Dreamer (2010.07.21)

    

  Another colorful summertime PV, but this time with more people on screen and less close-up shots. As for the dualism, some might say there are more than two, but I'd call that simple dress showcase. The actual dualism here is in the fact, that there are two versions of the PV, long default one and Nijima short (rather pretty version, I have to say, wish it was longer).

  Defection (2011.02.09)

     

   What I like about some PVs is how their name exactly defines the style and meaning of the video, considering japanese knowledge of English. Unfortunately that's all I have to like about this PV, because it indeed is one helluva defection of Minorin's style. Not even song gets to me, and seeing rather simple CG backgrounds and quite unfitting dark dress makes me sad. Back then Lantis was able to exploit black vs white theme much better but now, I guess, this is what consumers demand. Yes, you.

  Key for Life (2011.02.09)

    

  Being clownish as it is, this PV still seems to be OK, mostly thanks to contrast with the previous one. However I think, that its frivolous and clumsy atmosphere would fit much better in Minorins 2nd album Parade and Message 02, which were all about clowns and circus. Well, I guess this never happened since Message 02 have to consist only of songs composed by Kikuta Daisuke, which this song is not. Wish all Minorin's songs were composed by the Master... I can never have enough of violins. In fact decrease of Daisuke's share in her songs obviously correlates with quality and authenticity decline in both PVs and overall style. Speaking about the style of this very PV, especially first few frames, it reminds me quite a lot about her song Jellybeans, one of my favorite from her first album, Heroine. You can listen to it here: 

  Yes, that was her first album, not Contact (which is nowhere less awesome, however). Though Lantis would like us to think of it as of her zer0 album, as it never allows resinging of songs from there on any events, not to mention some calling these times "Black History". It's a huge mistake, believe me, especially compared to what we have now. If only Heroine got its PV... too bad all we have is short and compressed commercial. This PV could have been made for Jellybeans and it would've fit it perfectly. As for another associations, it also reminds me of Nana's Cosmic Love.

   Planet Patrol (2011.07.06)

    

   This PV has its potential to be something interesting, involving some kind of game being played instead of singing and also beautiful kimonos (yeah, that's like autopilot for win in terms of visual style), if it wasn't for, well, how do I call it... people lipsyncing the song Minorin sings off-screen? That creeps the hell out of me every time I watch it. But this isn't yet the WTF of the PV. Lantis surely succeeds at crippling thing, and Message 04 has another version of this PV, called Minori Police. That's dualism exploiting for ya. Fortunately it is not considered to be a regular PV so I don't have to review it. I just can't. Let's say, I have had enough of inappropriate fighting in Horie Yui's Immoralist (the title again!). Guess this is the reason chinese comrades have some word for Lantis which roughly translates as "corrode". I have no reason to not believe them, for they created what could easily be the largest fandom ever for most of seiyuu. TODO: cards

  Celestial Diva (2012.03.21) 

    

  Perfection. Now this is the level of quality and style I was already desperate to encounter nowadays. Yet here it is, implementing the best and key features that once defined traditional Minorin style since Junpaku Sanctuary, finally reviving my faith (only to be destroyed by next PV, but whatever). The music, the environment, colors, gamma, the overall style and image of Minorin are pure awesome and leave nothing to wish to be better (see, I actually can enjoy things when they are right, not merely critique everything). Well, again, it is wonderful, but it is no wonder why - this is a theme song for game "Chaos Rings". While not an anime but still related, it again proves my theory that anison wins over mainstream so damn much.

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