Juice=Juice is no longer the newest Hello! Project group! It's actually a little weird to think about. Juice=Juice was the first new H!P group that I experienced being formed (I discovered Morning Musume in 2010, one year after S/mileage was formed), so it was really exciting to be able to follow a group from it's very beginning. I was also pretty happy I wouldn't have to play catch up with getting all their CDs like I've had to with other H!P groups lol.
Juice=Juice is a Japanese girl group under the Hello! Project umbrella that formed in early 2012. They are currently comprised for four former Hello! Pro Kenshuusei members: Tomoko Kanazawa, Sayuki Takagi, Karin Miyamoto, and Akari Uemura with one member who was a part of Up-Front (H!P's parent company): Yuka Miyazaki. They originally had five members from the Kenshuusei, but member Aina Otsuka left the group shortly before their major debut.
It's been pretty interesting to see these girls grow in the past two years they have been a group. When the group was formed I didn't think much of the members except for Sayuki as I liked her voice a lot. At the start of the group to me, I viewed Yuka as incredibly awkward, Tomoko as the next best singer, Sayuki as the main girl I focused on, Karin as the overrated one, Aina as the one with the annoying voice, and Akari as the one that was just there for some reason. Fast forward two years and my opinions have completely changed. Although Aina did leave (and don't hate me for this but I'm kind of glad....her voice was just grating to listen to. At least as far as I know, she's currently trying to become a solo singer so kudos for her not giving up on her dreams even though I personally am not a fan of her vocals.), in the two years since then, Yuka has really grown as the leader and for the most part has left that awkward phase, which I'm very impressed with how she's changed. Tomoko.....well.....I don't know what happened but she's become my least favorite. In their early songs her vocals sounded fantastic but now something seems off with them. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Sayuki's vocals, to me, don't seem as impressive either. Go figure that out, my former top two within the span of two years aren't that anymore lol. Karin has managed to win me over. I had originally disliked her because I knew she was "the popular one". The one everyone had hoped would be main vocalist, center, visual, everything. However, she's probably my favorite member now. Her vocals are pretty good and I've come to see that "spark" that she has that drew everyone to her in the first place. Akari has also really impressed me. Her voice from their most recent songs sounds very good, and I really hope that she is more utilized in their music. I know she's the visual, which is totally deserved, she's absolutely gorgeous, but she could be a main vocalist too.
Well I got pretty off track with that last massive paragraph xD Let's try and get back to this release lol. The main A-side for this single, Senobi, is probably my favorite Juice=Juice song yet. I know that it probably wasn't a favorite of a lot of people because it's more in the vein of Morning Musume's current style than what JJ has been putting out, but wow is this song ever good. One thing with the EDM-ish direction that Tsunku has been going in for the past few years is that it's consistently getting better. This song and S/mileage's Chikyuu wa Kyou mo Ai wo Hagukumu are two fantastic examples and I really hope he keeps going in this direction in the future. The song really fits the girls' voices too. For the music video, although it is simple, it's beautifully shot. I mean, I know zero about video shooting and production, but I think it's very nice. To me, it seems like Hello! Project has finally gotten it right with their videos. Could they be more extravagant or more in depth? Probably. However, the videos look like a professional production now instead of the tragedies that we had seen in years past.
Senobi MV:
The secondary A-side, Date ja nai yo Uchi no Jinsei wa, is ok to me. Juice=Juice always tends to have one fantastic A-side and then the other is kind of meh. It's not a bad song at all (in fact it'd be extremely difficult for me to think of any Hello! Project song I think is bad), it's just certainly not as great as Senobi. One thing I appreciate about the song is that it has a very "Juice=Juice" feeling. Due to their indies singles, I associate JJ with brass instruments. So even though the song isn't one that I'd replay to death, I enjoy the fact that JJ has a certain style that at least one of their A-sides sticks to. It makes them have something that stands out about their music in Hello! Project. The video isn't as nice as Senobi's to me either, but it still is very nice. I swear I've seen that brick wall in a video before though....I know K-pop has that brick building that everyone shoots videos in, but I feel like H!P's used this set before....just can't remember for what video lol. Or was it a single cover I'm thinking of? I don't know xD It's unimportant anyway. Reusing sets is cost-efficient and doesn't have to seem redundant if you do something different with it each time.
Date ja nai yo Uchi no Jinsei wa MV:
Not sure how to do the final review with this one....I suppose I could rate both songs separately and then give a whole release rating. This is one of the reasons it bothers me that H!P only does double A-sides with no B-sides anymore lol. I do understand the no B-side thing though. As much as it sucks to have less music, with Tsunku being sick and all it's best that he doesn't work himself too hard and gets the necessary rest to beat the cancer. Although H!P could go back to one A-side and a B-side....the B-side could still have an MV....the 48Gs do it....so H!P could too xD. Ok off track again...sorry xD. Ratings. Right. Ok. For Senobi, it's absolutely a 5/5. Fantastic song. Date ja nai would probably be a 4/5. It's great but can't hold up against Senobi. The whole release would be a 4.5/5. It's not perfect, but Senobi is just amazing. Enjoy listening to the tracks!
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