I call this post "Only done because I'm avoiding doing a project and studying for a test." LOL xD
I'm guessing HKT48 doesn't need too much of an introduction, but since I did one for C-ute I'll do one for HKT too, just in case no one knows them. HKT48 is the Hakata, Fukuoka based sister group of AKB48. They are the newest Japan-based sister group and formed in 2011. Their first single was released in 2013. To date they have released four singles. If anyone wants more information on the group, please check out this link; as the 48 groups just have way too much information to really talk about in a music recommendation/review blog.
The title track of this single, Hikaeme I Love You! is sung by the Senbatsu members chosen for this single. This is the first single that member Haruka Kodama has centered. Their past three singles were centered by Meru Tashima with Mio Tomonaga becoming co-center in their second and third singles. Even though HKT experienced a change in the center girl for this single, they did not have any different of a title track. To be honest, Hikaeme is even less memorable than Sakura Minna de Tabeta was. No matter how many times I listen to this song I cannot remember how it goes. I was hoping that with the change to Haruka we would see something a little different. I wasn't expecting them to all of a sudden pull off a Beginner or an UZA because that would be an incredibly dramatic shift, but seeing something more along the lines Love Shugyou or even a Namida Surprise type song would have been cool. A song with some character, yet still fitting of the cute image that HKT has. Maybe next year they'll release something a little different. I can only hope. I mean, neither this nor Sakura Minna are bad songs. They're just kind of....there. The extremely generic idol pop stuff that every single group puts out that can only be interesting so many times. At least if you go that route, do it like Kokoro no Placard where it at least has that super catchy "Palalalalalala" part that gets stuck in your head lol. The music video for this song was ok. Certainly my least favorite video of their main tracks. The outfits are adorable though. It's too bad they look like they're made out of plastic with the shine in some parts.....I cannot think of what they are made out of (I can't remember the word I'm looking for....this happens a lot xD), but it makes them look cheap which is sad because they're so cute.
Hikaeme I Love You! MV Sorry about it not being embedded....for some reason I cannot get Jpopsuki videos to embed, even though I remember being able to do it on the old blog.
Hikaeme I Love You! is performed by Senbatsu members: Chihiro Anai, Haruka Kodama [center], Yui Kojina, Rino Sashihara, Meru Tashima, Miku Tanaka, Natsumi Matsuoka, Nako Yabuki, Mao Yamamoto, Aika Ota, Mio Tomonaga, Kanon Kimoto, Sakura Miyawaki, Aoi Motomura, Madoka Moriyasu, and Sae Kurihara.
The next track of the single is Ima Kimi wo Omou. Admittedly, there is very few ballads that I can enjoy sitting through to listen to. This is not one of them. It's just boring. Sorry to all the ballad fans out there. I am slightly confused about who sings this song. I know that it's kind of a send off song for Marika Tani and Chiyori Nakanishi as they were transferred to different 48 groups, but the liner notes just state the singers as "HKT48, Marika Tani, and Chiyori Nakanishi" I'm taking this to mean that it's the entirety of HKT & those two girls singing it. Even though I'm not a fan of the song, I think it's really nice how the two girls got a sendoff from their original group.
Ima, Kimi wo Omou (Audio only) [Note: I know that 48 group songs tend to get taken down, and I did upload the song unlisted, but if I get a copyright strike on my account I'll be taking down all my songs and not putting them back up, sorry. Not a big fan of the system, but I don't want to lose my YT account either just so some people can check out songs. Another note: If you enjoy the songs, please buy the CD! If not from actual stores/online vendors, as they are very expensive I understand, please buy used/second hand like off of eBay. You can can 48 Group singles, especially theater editions, REALLY cheap off of ebay for the CD only.]
The next song is a Type A exclusive and is called Idol no Oujya. Just as another note (I know, I'm being annoying xD), I'm going to try to avoid the word "idol" as much as possible when I talk about J-Pop/K-pop groups because of personal feelings toward that categorization, so please don't correct me or say anything about that because I won't use it unless I have to like when talking about "idol" pop (As a music genre, not the groups). As a song, it's better than Hikaeme easily and probably would have made a better title track. It still fits the HKT image, but has a much more memorable feeling to it. It's also my favorite song of the single. The music video is fantastic too. This song is sung by Team H.
The next song is a Type B exclusive and is called Natsu no Mae. This is another of those generic songs like Hikaeme. I'm actually extremely disappointed with this song. It's not a bad song, but I had a really high expectation for Team KIV's song. Their coupling song for Sakura Minna was SO GOOD.....and we get THIS as a follow up?! It's just incredibly disappointing. The music video is very beautiful though. One thing about this single is that the outfits for the videos are so pretty. The stylists did such a great job with this single.
The next song is a Type C exclusive track and is called Namaiki Lips. I remember hearing this song being sung by Nako and Miku on some TV? show, I think. I remember hating it because they didn't sound too great lol. Fast forward to the studio release and music video and......it's still not great, but it's certainly better than the performance that I remember. Probably my second favorite song of the single. It's too bad that it suffers from the vocals of Nako and Miku. They don't sound terrible, but their voices seem too young to fit the instrumental. Maybe in a few years they'll sound better with it. The music video also suffers from the girls' young ages as well. It's not inappropriate or anything, but the girls and the song just do not fit the video. The video reminds me of like dark back alley gambling places from movies or something. It also feels like American Pickers. The two don't really go together, but that's what it feels like to me lol. Such a random location for the song. The clothes are adorable though. Congratulations HKT48 stylists, you did everything right this single haha.
The final song of the single is featured on the Theater edition and is titled Watashi wa Blueberry Pie, sung by the single subgroup Blueberry Pie (Yui Kojima, Hiroka Komada, Riko Sakaguchi, Misaki Aramaki, and Sae Kurihara). It's another meh song. Not bad, not good, just there. It's too bad the majority of the single is like that.
Watashi wa Blueberry Pie (Audio only)
For the title track only, I give the song a 3/5. It's just another typical release from the 48s which is sad considering they could do so much better. For the release as a whole, it's still only a 3/5. Even the slightly more interesting songs do not do enough for the release to make it any more enjoyable. Hopefully HKT's next release will be better than this one. Sorry this post is so incredibly long.....the 48s just put too many songs on each single.....not looking forward to writing about Kibouteki Refrain in the future haha xD. Please enjoy listening to the songs and comment with your thoughts!
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