Single: Fantastic Time
Hey! Say! JUMP broke not only records but also the Internet with the release of their newest single a few days ago, which is Fantastic Time with four accompanying songs.
I, living in the Philippines and being a lame-ass fan, don't have the physical copy of the single. Fortunately, a generous tobikko gladly shared her mp3 rip with me. That definitely made me proud to be in this fandom. I felt greatful for her because without her, this review wouldn't be possible.
So here we go, I got my digital copy of the single and this time I want to give my opinion on the songs in this single.
Fantastic Time
I already gave my opinion on this song on the day of its unofficial release so I will not include it here anymore.
Never Let Me Go
If you look at the title, it has a ballad vibe to it. But oh boy, it is not. It was said that Yuri and Daiki was the main focus of this song especially the rap part so I felt excited. I've got to listen to the preview of this song on Twitter and what I can say that time and same with today is that THIS IS MY JAM! It has a KPOP feel to it maybe because of the rap I dont really know. Chinen's voice definitely improved a lot as time goes by (I used to dislike his voice because it sounded ear-y and annoying to my ears but time and opinions change.) As expected of Daiki, he never failed to amaze me with his unique borderline mature and cute voice and did I already mentioned that I super love it whenever he raps?
In conclusion, this has got to be my favorite in the single. Good job, Daiki and Yuri and of course the rest of HSJ.
Wonder Road (ワンダーロード)
The vocals trio, Ryosuke, Kota, and Yuya, was the focus of this song. And oh JUMP with their English song title, they just don't learn at all. Don't misunderstand me, I love the song it's just that I find it awkward yet funny to listen to their mispronounced English words (it's not such a big deal tho.) Yuya was given the task to hit the high notes of this song and though he's my ichiban, I still somehow think that whenever he has got to sing high notes, he seemed to lack confidence resulting to it being "bitin" or sounding like it was forcibly cut-off (same thing happened to his high note in Pet Shop Love Motion) but still, his voice quality is awesome.
It is a fun song that has a oldies feel to it. I also thought that it sounded a bit like Sexy Zone's Cha-Cha-Cha Champion (I don't know, maybe I'm just being random lol.)
What A Feeling
A focus on Keito's recently discovered talent which is rapping, together with Hikaru's specialty. The song starts off with Hikaru's bass exhibition and oh heck it sounds so good same with Keito's English ugh. I could imagine exhausting lively dance moves for this song, same with the moves in Fantastic Time or maybe a part 2 (because the theme is there.)
I enjoyed this song so much that one time I was like "why does this end so fast????" and when I looked at the duration, it was only for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. WHY HEY! SAY! JUMP !!!!!!!!!
Seijaku no Asa, Kimi to Iru Sekai。(静寂の朝、君といる世界。)
So here comes the ballad song. Yuto and Kei was the main focus of this song but for me it didn't felt like so. It's more of like Hikaru or Yabu's song (Yabu and his ballads ugh. His voice just stands out in ballad songs because such fit his voice so much.) Granted, it's a nice song but it felt weak for me (not to mention that it somehow felt out-of place.) Maybe if JUMP could practice their harmonizaton more (they should focus on the vocal aspect also not just their dance, but isn't it too late to learn this thing just now?) or if this song was with the soon-to-be-released Give Me Love, maybe I could appreciate it more than I do right now.
To sum it all, it's a great single. Mature JUMP is definitely here already and we might get more from these dorks acting all matured lol. I honestly didn't expect much from this single (because of the trouble with the Fantastic Time song) so I should learn not to judge way too soon. Same with my opinions here, these might change in the future so don't take it seriously, okay?