Thursday 19 April 2012

Lost in the Coolness of Fudanjuku! - Fudanjuku's 'Kaze Ikki' Single Review!

All opinions within this blog are my own, and no one else's. Whatever I think or feel about this group, their singles, PV's and/or lyrics are my own thoughts, so please respect that. If you do not like what I write, then you are free to disagree but do not disrespect my opinion! Thank you.


I'm a little bit behind with my posts, because my computer died and I am using my younger sister now - so it's more so a case of getting the time to write and review as I have college, trips, coursework and a period of waiting time to use the computer now. So I'm kind of struggling for time, especially as I need a computer to do all my work for college... DX

Anyway, today I am reviewing Fudanjuku's 7th single, the cool and edgy Kaza Ikki, the song which pretty much helped me to fall in love with this magnificent group. Now, I adore this group already, but not everyone will. Some people don't see the appeal of girls dressing up as men (though when AKB did it, fans were fangirling, so yeah...) but, I actually sometimes forget that these guys are actually girls... But I find them appealing because of how they portray themselves, the way they act and look, and how good they are at performing during a PV as well as how good their music is.

Anyway, I really anticipated this single because of how much I adored Kaze Ikki on its own. I think that the song is great, but the other two songs, I really did want to listen to. So, my overall opinion on the single? Well, let's take a look at the songs!

1. Kaze Ikki

The title track of the single, Kaze Ikki is a really cool, but extremely catchy and fun song. This was the first time that I had seen the cooler side of this group, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this song. It's a strong single, and really shows off the groups talents. This is also the debut single of the two new members, Aiba Kensui and Yukimura Ryouma, and I think that Kaze Ikki was the perfect song for these guys to debut to. This song shows a more masculine and cool side to each of the members, and even with the girlyness of Ryouma's voice, you still get that sense of cool and mature attitude that is needed in the song by him.

Kaze Ikki isn't just cool, though - there are some repetitive parts that I think are absolutely wonderful, such as the repeated Fudanjuku and Kaze Ikki's which are present in the song. It adds a catchy theme to the song, whilst still keeping it edgy and mysterious in its own way. I like that these two elements of a song could be combined to make the song both fun to listen to, and still cool and mysterious, with a little bit of darkness thrown in there. This is a mature song, with some adolescence to show that these guys are still boys, but not yet men.

It's a fun song. I enjoy it, I think it's perfect, and I really like that this was the debut of the two new members! A perfect way to enter the group, in my opinion!

2. Mugen no Procyon

The second track of the single, Mugen no Procyon keeps to the cool side of the group, and whilst not as catchy or cool as Kaze Ikki is, this song is still great. It reminds me of Love Spider in a way, and I find that I like this song the more I listen to it. I love the violin's used in the instrumental breaks where the guys aren't singing, and when their vocals do kick in, you realise that this is a pretty powerful song that the members have really given their all. It sounds amazing when they put in all of their vocal power just to sing this song.

The softer parts of this song are absolutely beautiful as well - it starts off with some very soft, gentle vocals, and just builds up into this powerful instrumental with even more powerful vocals, until finally we come back to a strong beat with the group, and they all sing together just to make the song louder. The anticipation you get when they start off soft, then become louder, is wonderful here - I thought that was an amazing part of the song, especially when they just slowly let their voices become softer when they end the song - it just makes this song even better. It's powerful, but soft, and it has a sort of cool but classical feel to it because of the violins. This is a great song, one that I would definitely listen to on a loop!

3. My Home Town

This song surprised me, because when you think of Japanese songs to do with hometowns, don't you just suddenly think of Furusato by Morning Musume? Maybe it's just me, but that is what I think - so when I first heard this, I was genuinley surprised by how up-beat and catchy it was. Okay, so it isn't the most up-beat, happy song out there - but it is indeed a nice song to listen to, especially if you want something rather fast-paced and happy listen to.

The best thing about this song is that you get to listen to everyone sing about their home town in it - some are slower than others, whilst other members have lines where they sound out of breath, like they are excited to tell you about where they live. And then we get into the group parts - the group parts are great, because everyone sounds so wonderful together. I love that it becomes both slow and up-beat for the group lines, they all sound so happy to sing about their hometowns as a group. I love the parts where they sing with 'Everyday, Every night' because it's more up-beat and happy, but the slower parts are calming, as if the members are thinking about what they want to sing and tell the listener about their hometowns.

This is a really good song. Is it my favourite? Probably not, but I loved listening to it. I like how they were all able to sing separately and tell us about their hometowns, and I love how they sang together. Everyone sounded happy, and they all sounded good. I think that this is a nice song, and I like how it can suddenly go from a rather slow and calm beat to a more excited, happier beat.

This single, in my opinion, is quite good. I like how cool and mature it starts off, then how it ends with a nice, and unexpected, song at the end. Kaze Ikki as a single is a good listen. There will probably be a song or two that you don't like, but I think that what we have here is really good. The songs all show off the guys' voices well, and we get a pretty good mix of catchy, happy and slower songs. I like that My Home Town was used as the last song, because it just kind of slows everything else down and ends the single perfectly.

This single has made me really appreciate the voices of every single member, and I love how it showed off a cooler and more mature side to the group. These guys are all growing up, and they have come so far since their single Katsunda!, which is the total opposite of Kaze Ikki. I feel that this is a strong single. I doubt it will appeal to everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I like all the songs. It may not be to your cup of tea, but I think that Kaze Ikki is a really great, well made single.

Sorry for the delay in my posts, how all-over the place this post is, and I hope that you can all try and give at least Kaze Ikki a listen!

Chiima~

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