FREE HUGS! Impressions - Before & After -
Free Hugs Impressions
My thoughts on listening to the album:
1. Miyacchi Princess
Meh. Cute, but a bit too jazzy for my taste.
2. Yokoo
Ugh. Is this country music? It’s sweet that he has a song for his dad but. Harmonica.
3. Gaya
I like the bass beats going on here. It’s fine. Don’t think I’ll listen to it a ton though. It gets very repetitive very fast.
4. Tama
Starts out decent. I like the chillness, the beachy feel. Yeah, I can do this one. Don’t care too much about love song lyrics, but I like the vocal range he’s pulling for this. But the end busy signal? What?
5. Senga
Tooooo slow. Might be ok if it had more of a filled out arrangement. But I guess this way he can just play the piano live. It’ll be weird if he has a non-dance solo... oh. LOL there’s the switch. Ok yes, better once it gets away from the piano. This should be good for concert performances, and it’s got a decent beat. Oi. But then there are horns. Could have done without those. But I don’t hate this.
6. Mitsu
YES. THANK YOU. No, wait. Uh. Confused feelings. But yes, I think... yeah ok here’s some classic Mitsu. XD Which means a good, solid pop song. Chorus is still better than verses, but this’ll stay on my playlist. It’s hitting the same intervals as Give Me, maybe.
7. Nika
O_O It’s pretty... uh. Different. Super challenging and I’m seriously impressed he pulled off a song like this. The Eine kleine Nachtmusik is amusing, and the a cappella bits are interesting. The English is terrible, but maybe it’s better that he’s so incomprehensible.
Overall not super into most of the solos. Mitsu’s is probably the only one I actively like, and Tama’s is ok. Nika’s isn’t necessarily my thing, but it’s INTERESTING. The rest are... forgettable. I feel like by “oshare” and “grown up” they basically mean standard and boring. :p It’s just like a lot of other stuff out there that I never want to listen to. Hopefully Ill feel different about the performances. Especially for Senga, I feel like live will make it a lot better.
8th Overture
This might almost be worse than Yummy. It’s not, but. It’s definitely never getting played again.
ADDICT
I read the lyrics beforehand and. WOW. WOOOOOW. But anyways. Catchy, and the chorus reminds me of Party Rock Anthem? LOL. It’s actually much lighter and fun than the lyrics would suggest. Ugh cry but the words. Are so. Kind of problematic no matter which way you look at them? ^_^; I’ll just ignore the “smack” part. >_> Pretty sure they have no idea what they’re saying, anyway.
Chudoku
Weird but interesting? Could lend itself well to a good performance. Also the whole “Netflix and chill” concept is funny. The computerized voice modulation is silly but not in a bad way. These intervals are nuts. Another one I’m never gonna manage to replicate.
HUG&WALK
For once the lead song is maybe one of my favorites on the album? It’s just catchy AF. I had to read the lyrics to figure out what the hell they were saying for part of the English, but w/e if I couldn’t overlook that, I wouldn’t be into jpop in the first place. XD; I love the nananas.
Btw I had to manually label all my tracks, ugh.
Hmm. Potential? Yes, good. What song is this? Oh, CRAZY LOVE. This Crazy. W/E but yes and hey lots of Nika, I’m pleased. I don’t mind him sort-of-rapping because I feel like he gets more parts this way vs. how he used to not sing half the songs in the past. But it’s also a bit of a waste of his beautiful voice. I like this NikaSen bit here, though.
Whut. Abrupt shift. Saturday Night. Ok but now I get Nika singing, yay. (Yes obviously that’s a large part of how much I like songs, I’m not claiming impartiality. ;p)
After a break for a day of work, I’m much more open to this song. It’s helping me relax after as stressful meeting, so that bodes well for future listening.
Distance
Whoa hey. Yes? More Nika rap stuff and. Miyacchi! :D But yes, liking. Who is doing the high nasal overlay? I... like it. Yeeeeah. Liking this song A LOT. Everyone has great bits all mixed up like it should be. This is gonna get a lot of play. Multiple listens on... I still like it, but it’s kind of weird, the mismatch between the sound of the song and the lyrics. XD
HUGTIME
Strings?! YES YES YES, this has a great beat, melody, speed. Catchy, good shifts. This is giving me FEELINGS. Er. Hello surprise tears. HARMONIES. This song is love at first listen. There’s a DESCANT?!
Bring It On
LOL ok I’m laughing but there’s nika and it’s catchy. And STRINGS. Way to be dramatic, yes. This is totally KAT-TUN category plus Eurobeat, which means I love it. Oho! Gaya-Nika rap duet?! Goddamn I am excited for this in concert.
The song Mitsu wrote.
This sounds like a song from Kabuki. I guess that’s not super surprising. I like it. I expect to get rained on by glitter or petals or feathers.
Yeah E Yeah
OH WHAT IS THIS?! YES. AAAHHHHH. The title is stupid, but the song is GREAT. MORE FEELINGS. Idk if it’s just work stress or if it’s just all the good tracks are hitting now, but. Yeah. Tearing up on the train, fun. God, I love Kisumai.
Addict
Dramatic, wow. Back to the beginning lol oops. Second listen: I expect them to do the shuffle in their roller skates. :p
Overall
Lots of Nika! So much Nika! I am pleased! Even if most of it is rapping/speaking. And they’re finally putting Senga’s stronger vocal abilities to good use with the decorative bits in stuff. Since he’s able to properly hold his own part against a melody. And Watta too, instead of just sticking him into the chorus or with other people, he’s got his own parts against the melody. And in falsetto, so he can probably actually do them live. Also overall it’s pushing members into parts they don’t do as often. Rapping from Miyacchi! And more balanced in general. By Kisumai with the straightforward uplifting pop will always hit me straight in the heart.
My thoughts on the concert performances of the songs:
Miyacchi Princess
I like the horse.
Yokoo
HE DID SO WELL. I like the simplicity of it. Not sure how I feel about the sand drawing on the screen. The transitions are weird. But Watta’s jacket with Mother Orange is cute.
Gaya
...yeah. Not much more interesting live. There’s a tiny bit of stompy dancing and vaguely molesting Jrs.
Tama
Pretty. But also pretty boring.
Senga
Piano and then dance, as predicted. I like it.
Mitsu
Blah. Mostly not interesting, except for his moments of freestyle wiggle dancing. What’s up with the face plant off the stage? (ok fine there’s a twist so he lends on his back, probably)
Update: In my head, he's flopping into your bed at the end. I like it better that way. Mmmmmitsu.
Nika
He pulls it off pretty well. Probably the most interesting of the solos, rivaling Senga’s, because at least there’s some dancing. Also massive possy of jrs. and a costume change. Could have skipped the stupid last bit, but he can’t just do it seriously or people might think he’s cool. Can’t have that now, can we.
Overall solos: Accurate in my assessment. :p
8th Overture
THEY DIDN’T USE IT, HALLELUJAH
ADDICT
Good performance.
Chudoku
LOL well ok. Their little “whoop whoop” gestures... XD;;
HUG&WALK
Good! Yes!
This Crazy Love
Interesting. I feel like there was more potential for the visuals here, but it’s a good concept, I guess.
Saturday Night.
Just bgm for a video, so.
Distance
Explosions. Fireworks. Fire. This was the obvious choice. Glad they got a moving stage, and did this on center/main. Much more impressive than flames on backstage.
HUGTIME
I like the costumes, and Nika is so pretty, so being near his lifter meant allllll the tears.
Bring It On
SPARKLERS. Ok, jumping through fire is fun.
The song Mitsu wrote. I can never remember it because I'm better visually, but the kanji/katakana combo shorts out my brain.
PRETTY. The color-change sequin costume is a nice touch. (Yeah, I made a punny!)
Update: ...And now Idek what it was.
Yeah E Yeah
ENCORE! :D
Addict
A good opening choice.
Overall
Less of Nika vocals than the album suggested, but he’s all over the stage, so that means seats don’t matter nearly as much this time, because he gets around. ;)
Update: This isn't likely to be my favorite tour ever, but it's also not a complete mess like some. *cough*World*cough* It's a solid album and a solid concert, they get to show off some new stuff, and I think more than being FUN, it's more skillful. They seem to really have figured out what to do with the members' different strengths and abilities. Senga's all over the place in the concert vocally, doing parts other than the melody, so he gets to stand out more. All of the Busaiku members have way more lines in general compared to in the past. They took Nika's talking/rap bits from Break the Chains last year and really ran with it - he's got a bunch of songs with that this time. There are more harmonies. Vocally, the whole show is just significantly more balanced than in the past. There's more balanced screen time than before, as a result. I'm not expecting equal amounts for everyone; Gaya and Mitsu are always going to be the main vocals and that's fine. But I'm happy that we're getting to see and hear more of everyone. I really enjoy it a lot.
Costume addendum. I... don't entirely HATE anything, but I don't love most of it either. I guess it's cute that Tama puts so much effort into the little details, but also, what's the point? No one is going to see UNDERNEATH the collars unless they do as they did and pull them up to specifically show them off during the MC. I think the red costumes are maybe my favorites from this tour, if I have to pick. Followed by the sequin jackets, maybe. They're both kind of fairly standard Johnny's stuff.
I didn't talk about the non-album songs, but that's all good too. Can always do with more skating (ROLLER SKAAAATES), but I'm pretty pleased with the setlist. The shuffle bit is a nice change since you never know quite which ones you'll get each day.
Please comment at the original entry.
My thoughts on listening to the album:
1. Miyacchi Princess
Meh. Cute, but a bit too jazzy for my taste.
2. Yokoo
Ugh. Is this country music? It’s sweet that he has a song for his dad but. Harmonica.
3. Gaya
I like the bass beats going on here. It’s fine. Don’t think I’ll listen to it a ton though. It gets very repetitive very fast.
4. Tama
Starts out decent. I like the chillness, the beachy feel. Yeah, I can do this one. Don’t care too much about love song lyrics, but I like the vocal range he’s pulling for this. But the end busy signal? What?
5. Senga
Tooooo slow. Might be ok if it had more of a filled out arrangement. But I guess this way he can just play the piano live. It’ll be weird if he has a non-dance solo... oh. LOL there’s the switch. Ok yes, better once it gets away from the piano. This should be good for concert performances, and it’s got a decent beat. Oi. But then there are horns. Could have done without those. But I don’t hate this.
6. Mitsu
YES. THANK YOU. No, wait. Uh. Confused feelings. But yes, I think... yeah ok here’s some classic Mitsu. XD Which means a good, solid pop song. Chorus is still better than verses, but this’ll stay on my playlist. It’s hitting the same intervals as Give Me, maybe.
7. Nika
O_O It’s pretty... uh. Different. Super challenging and I’m seriously impressed he pulled off a song like this. The Eine kleine Nachtmusik is amusing, and the a cappella bits are interesting. The English is terrible, but maybe it’s better that he’s so incomprehensible.
Overall not super into most of the solos. Mitsu’s is probably the only one I actively like, and Tama’s is ok. Nika’s isn’t necessarily my thing, but it’s INTERESTING. The rest are... forgettable. I feel like by “oshare” and “grown up” they basically mean standard and boring. :p It’s just like a lot of other stuff out there that I never want to listen to. Hopefully Ill feel different about the performances. Especially for Senga, I feel like live will make it a lot better.
8th Overture
This might almost be worse than Yummy. It’s not, but. It’s definitely never getting played again.
ADDICT
I read the lyrics beforehand and. WOW. WOOOOOW. But anyways. Catchy, and the chorus reminds me of Party Rock Anthem? LOL. It’s actually much lighter and fun than the lyrics would suggest. Ugh cry but the words. Are so. Kind of problematic no matter which way you look at them? ^_^; I’ll just ignore the “smack” part. >_> Pretty sure they have no idea what they’re saying, anyway.
Chudoku
Weird but interesting? Could lend itself well to a good performance. Also the whole “Netflix and chill” concept is funny. The computerized voice modulation is silly but not in a bad way. These intervals are nuts. Another one I’m never gonna manage to replicate.
HUG&WALK
For once the lead song is maybe one of my favorites on the album? It’s just catchy AF. I had to read the lyrics to figure out what the hell they were saying for part of the English, but w/e if I couldn’t overlook that, I wouldn’t be into jpop in the first place. XD; I love the nananas.
Btw I had to manually label all my tracks, ugh.
Hmm. Potential? Yes, good. What song is this? Oh, CRAZY LOVE. This Crazy. W/E but yes and hey lots of Nika, I’m pleased. I don’t mind him sort-of-rapping because I feel like he gets more parts this way vs. how he used to not sing half the songs in the past. But it’s also a bit of a waste of his beautiful voice. I like this NikaSen bit here, though.
Whut. Abrupt shift. Saturday Night. Ok but now I get Nika singing, yay. (Yes obviously that’s a large part of how much I like songs, I’m not claiming impartiality. ;p)
After a break for a day of work, I’m much more open to this song. It’s helping me relax after as stressful meeting, so that bodes well for future listening.
Distance
Whoa hey. Yes? More Nika rap stuff and. Miyacchi! :D But yes, liking. Who is doing the high nasal overlay? I... like it. Yeeeeah. Liking this song A LOT. Everyone has great bits all mixed up like it should be. This is gonna get a lot of play. Multiple listens on... I still like it, but it’s kind of weird, the mismatch between the sound of the song and the lyrics. XD
HUGTIME
Strings?! YES YES YES, this has a great beat, melody, speed. Catchy, good shifts. This is giving me FEELINGS. Er. Hello surprise tears. HARMONIES. This song is love at first listen. There’s a DESCANT?!
Bring It On
LOL ok I’m laughing but there’s nika and it’s catchy. And STRINGS. Way to be dramatic, yes. This is totally KAT-TUN category plus Eurobeat, which means I love it. Oho! Gaya-Nika rap duet?! Goddamn I am excited for this in concert.
The song Mitsu wrote.
This sounds like a song from Kabuki. I guess that’s not super surprising. I like it. I expect to get rained on by glitter or petals or feathers.
Yeah E Yeah
OH WHAT IS THIS?! YES. AAAHHHHH. The title is stupid, but the song is GREAT. MORE FEELINGS. Idk if it’s just work stress or if it’s just all the good tracks are hitting now, but. Yeah. Tearing up on the train, fun. God, I love Kisumai.
Addict
Dramatic, wow. Back to the beginning lol oops. Second listen: I expect them to do the shuffle in their roller skates. :p
Overall
Lots of Nika! So much Nika! I am pleased! Even if most of it is rapping/speaking. And they’re finally putting Senga’s stronger vocal abilities to good use with the decorative bits in stuff. Since he’s able to properly hold his own part against a melody. And Watta too, instead of just sticking him into the chorus or with other people, he’s got his own parts against the melody. And in falsetto, so he can probably actually do them live. Also overall it’s pushing members into parts they don’t do as often. Rapping from Miyacchi! And more balanced in general. By Kisumai with the straightforward uplifting pop will always hit me straight in the heart.
My thoughts on the concert performances of the songs:
Miyacchi Princess
I like the horse.
Yokoo
HE DID SO WELL. I like the simplicity of it. Not sure how I feel about the sand drawing on the screen. The transitions are weird. But Watta’s jacket with Mother Orange is cute.
Gaya
...yeah. Not much more interesting live. There’s a tiny bit of stompy dancing and vaguely molesting Jrs.
Tama
Pretty. But also pretty boring.
Senga
Piano and then dance, as predicted. I like it.
Mitsu
Blah. Mostly not interesting, except for his moments of freestyle wiggle dancing. What’s up with the face plant off the stage? (ok fine there’s a twist so he lends on his back, probably)
Update: In my head, he's flopping into your bed at the end. I like it better that way. Mmmmmitsu.
Nika
He pulls it off pretty well. Probably the most interesting of the solos, rivaling Senga’s, because at least there’s some dancing. Also massive possy of jrs. and a costume change. Could have skipped the stupid last bit, but he can’t just do it seriously or people might think he’s cool. Can’t have that now, can we.
Overall solos: Accurate in my assessment. :p
8th Overture
THEY DIDN’T USE IT, HALLELUJAH
ADDICT
Good performance.
Chudoku
LOL well ok. Their little “whoop whoop” gestures... XD;;
HUG&WALK
Good! Yes!
This Crazy Love
Interesting. I feel like there was more potential for the visuals here, but it’s a good concept, I guess.
Saturday Night.
Just bgm for a video, so.
Distance
Explosions. Fireworks. Fire. This was the obvious choice. Glad they got a moving stage, and did this on center/main. Much more impressive than flames on backstage.
HUGTIME
I like the costumes, and Nika is so pretty, so being near his lifter meant allllll the tears.
Bring It On
SPARKLERS. Ok, jumping through fire is fun.
The song Mitsu wrote. I can never remember it because I'm better visually, but the kanji/katakana combo shorts out my brain.
PRETTY. The color-change sequin costume is a nice touch. (Yeah, I made a punny!)
Update: ...And now Idek what it was.
Yeah E Yeah
ENCORE! :D
Addict
A good opening choice.
Overall
Less of Nika vocals than the album suggested, but he’s all over the stage, so that means seats don’t matter nearly as much this time, because he gets around. ;)
Update: This isn't likely to be my favorite tour ever, but it's also not a complete mess like some. *cough*World*cough* It's a solid album and a solid concert, they get to show off some new stuff, and I think more than being FUN, it's more skillful. They seem to really have figured out what to do with the members' different strengths and abilities. Senga's all over the place in the concert vocally, doing parts other than the melody, so he gets to stand out more. All of the Busaiku members have way more lines in general compared to in the past. They took Nika's talking/rap bits from Break the Chains last year and really ran with it - he's got a bunch of songs with that this time. There are more harmonies. Vocally, the whole show is just significantly more balanced than in the past. There's more balanced screen time than before, as a result. I'm not expecting equal amounts for everyone; Gaya and Mitsu are always going to be the main vocals and that's fine. But I'm happy that we're getting to see and hear more of everyone. I really enjoy it a lot.
Costume addendum. I... don't entirely HATE anything, but I don't love most of it either. I guess it's cute that Tama puts so much effort into the little details, but also, what's the point? No one is going to see UNDERNEATH the collars unless they do as they did and pull them up to specifically show them off during the MC. I think the red costumes are maybe my favorites from this tour, if I have to pick. Followed by the sequin jackets, maybe. They're both kind of fairly standard Johnny's stuff.
I didn't talk about the non-album songs, but that's all good too. Can always do with more skating (ROLLER SKAAAATES), but I'm pretty pleased with the setlist. The shuffle bit is a nice change since you never know quite which ones you'll get each day.
Please comment at the original entry.