FINALLY done with finals & final papers....I was fortunate this year and don't have anything for the rest of the week xD So yay for more posting time before work starts up again xD
This release is SKE48's first and only (so far) album. SKE48 is the first sister group of AKB48 and was founded in 2008. I've always wondered why SKE48 hasn't released another album yet. It's been over two years since this was released so they're due for a new album. I've heard that this album didn't sell particularly well, but for future releases that's easily remedied by including 2 shot tickets. It just would be nice to have a new SKE album, especially since both AKB and Nogizaka are releasing one in January and NMB released one earlier this year.
Track #1, Tsuyokimono yo: It's rare that first single from a group would wind up as one of my favorites. They really need to do some new songs in this style with the violins and the darker feel. I think only "Escape" is a better song in their discography than this. The music video really isn't anything special. It's just them dancing in a warehouse/airplane hanger. I find it so incredibly hard to believe that Jurina was only 12 here though. She looks so much older than she actually is. 5/5
Track #2, Aozora Kataomoi: It's always sad to me that SKE didn't stick with the Tsuyokimono yo style for more than one single. Before I listened to their earlier singles, the only song of theirs I knew pre-2013 was Kataomoi Finally and when I listened to Tsuyokimono I thought "Wow! SKE is the cool more dancey group! It'll be exciting to learn their older songs!" I was pretty wrong. It's not that their other singles are bad, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I was very disappointed that there weren't more Tsuyokimonos. This song is fairly generic idol pop. Nothing special. The music video's ok. Pretty low budget. It even has the annoying H!P-esque sparkles in some spots. The outfits are nice though. I guess this was before AKB really exploded though so it'd make sense that there wasn't a huge budget.There's one girl in the video that really looks like Aya Matsuura to me though but I don't know who she is. The only girls I can pick out in this video are Jurina, Rena, Yukiko, and Kumi. 3/5.
Track #3, Gomen ne, Summer: Again, there is nothing really special about this song at all. It's better than Aozora Kataomoi I guess. The music video is beautiful though. The environment that is. The actual video is a bunch of running and a dance shot...thinking about it, I think SKE has a few MVs where they just run in it. Which is a little strange. But anyway, where was this filmed? Where in Japan is this place? It's SO PRETTY! 3.5/5
Track #4, 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!: Not sure how I feel about this song. It's certainly better than their last two singles, but it's a little weird at the same time. Even though I'm not sure what I think of it, I'm glad they at least went with a different feel for this single instead of going with the same style from the last two. The music video's strange like the song. 3.5/5.
Track #5, Banzai Venus: I like this song. So catchy! The music video is like Koisuru Fortune Cookie before Koisuru Fortune Cookie lol. And features more running by SKE. 5/5.
Track #6, Pareo wa Emerald: The beginning of the song begins so promising.....and then it's back to the typical summer sounding track. Music video is the typical summer one as well. 3.5/5.
Track #7, Oki Doki: This song reminds me slightly of Junjou U-19. Don't know why though xD. The song's great. It's very much like Banzai Venus with how catchy it is. The video is like a combination of Yoroshiku and Banzai's music videos. 4/5.
Track #8, Kataomoi Finally: This is the only song that I had heard from them that was released prior to 2013 before I made the effort to dig deeper in the 48s catalog. Looking back on the song now, it's really not as great as I remember. Tsuyokimono is miles better. I think I enjoyed the song so much at the time because it was a "darker" song in a sea of bright pop songs by the 48s. It's not bad or anything, just not as great as I remember. 4/5.
Track #9, Hula Hoop de Go! Go! Go!: Now we're on to the songs with no videos. Before this week I had never heard any of these either so this was an adventure for me. This is Team S's song on the album. Unfortunately, it's one of those generic idol pop songs. Not bad, just not special. 3/5.
Track #10, Shikatte yo, Darling: This is Team KII's song on the album. It's more unique than Team S's track, but it's still not anything special. In fact, I think I enjoyed Team S's song more. 3/5.
Track #11, Mitsubachi Girl: This is Team E's song on the album. It's looking like Team S will be my favorite Team song on the album. Kind of disappointed in the new tracks so far. Hopefully there's at least one good one in here. 3/5.
Track #12, Sono Saki ni Kimi ga Ita: This is the Kenkyuusei's song on the album. It's a change of pace I guess? Just not a good one. If there's one thing I hate more than ballads, it's idol pop ballads. They ALL SOUND THE EXACT SAME. Seriously. Why couldn't the Kenkyuusei have gotten a crazy genki track instead. 2.5/5.
Track #13, Sunenagara, Ame: This song is performed by Selection 8, so essentially the popular girls of the group at that time. This is probably the best album song. It's pretty good but I don't have a complete opinion on it yet. I think when I listen to it more it'll become one of my favorites. 4/5.
Tracks #14 & #15, Ponytail to Shushu & Beginner: Just AKB48 covers. Obviously AKB's are better, but these are pretty good too.
I realize that they also covered Heavy Rotation on the CD/DVD version of this album, but I didn't buy that version and it's a cover anyway so there's no use talking about it.
The singles are miles better than the album songs on this CD. It makes sense that they would be, but I was still hoping that there would be a standout track among the new ones, but there's really not. Sunenagara gets close to being standout though. Maybe when I listen to it more it'll click. 4/5.
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