Ok, so maybe those shots on the PUFFY staff diary weren't from the new album cover shoot. (Hey, the staff diary implied it.) Because here's the same location in the brand new Kuchibiru Motion video - check it out:
Online Videos by Veoh.com
As one of my co-workers put it, "it's a total fetish video!" Ha, seriously, that's gotta be intentional - and I love the idea. The song is not as immediately catchy as most of their tunes, but it is growing on me. It's a song that requires more than one listen to really get a feel for it. I still think the vocals are a little too hot in the mix; the guitars should be driving this song. I am diggin' the look, though...
What do you all think about the song and video? Leave a comment and let me know.
By the way, I started linking to Veoh (vs. YouTube) simply because the still image they're using for this video looks better. But they win out on video quality too, and purely by chance, their embedded player fills my blog column width perfectly. (Thanks to puffyamiyumiworld.com for turning me on to that site.) So I'll probably continue using them to embed video unless anybody's got any objections. Their file sizes do seem larger, so they might not work as well with slower connections - let me know if you have any problems.
What is amiyumidas? A fan blog dedicated (mostly) to the j-pop/rock duo Puffy with news, reviews, commentary and other things Puffy that pique the contributors' interest. As you browse the site, feel free to leave comments, in either English or Japanese. よろしくお願いします！
Dude, you're on fire! I didn't expect THIS much news, so quickly. I'm heading to Italy next week. Do you think I might find some of the PUFF-sters work there at a cheaper price?
ReplyDeleteI'm just posting stuff as it's happening... plus whatever comes to me to fill in the gaps... but it's right before a new album release so there's a lot going on. They're the ones on fire lately, not me! You'd think they'd be slowing down after 11 years but they're not.
ReplyDeleteI dunno about Italy... but I don't think they're as popular there. So I don't know how much you'll find. Good luck!
Any thoughts on the statement made at the end of this video? I'm just wondering why the statement is made? Is it purely for media attention? To create talk? It must be something the girls wanted to say or it wouldn't be there, right? Perhaps there is something in the song (in Japanese) that I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you mean the photo?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it really means anything, although my Japanese is probably not much better than yours, so I'm not sure about the lyrics to the song either. My wife, who is Japanese, watched this with me, though, and didn't seem shocked by anything.
Knowing what I know about them, I think if anything that photo's probably kind of a joke. They're obviously both straight. Not that there'd be anything wrong with it if they weren't. But they are.
There have been lots of suggestive photos from them together in the past, though. I'm sure it's calculated for one reason or another. But I don't think it's actually *saying* anything.
That's kind of along the thoughts that I had. It seems kind of bothersome that they would include it other than to stur up talk. Sort of like the Madonna (can't even remember who it was she kissed on stage) or Angelina Jolie (her brother - which was more innocent that Madonna's I think).
ReplyDeleteI think there is genuine affection (not necessarily sexual) between Ami and Yumi and it's a good thing. Even if there is more I still can't find fault. 2 people who have spent so much time and energy together are bound to have a deep emotional tie.
It's simply the blantantness of it... Promiently at the end, a picture meant to look like they are kissing, but based on the facial expressioin/positions it appears to be a 'doctored' photo not a real-life photo. I just wonder - why?
Yeah I don't think they're actually kissing. Kinda just looks like their chins are touching. The first time I saw it, I was like "what?!" and then I paused for a second and I was like "eh." I do think it's meant to get a rise out of people (no pun intended) but it's really pretty tame.
ReplyDeleteLately they've been getting both more self-deprecating and also more critical of the pop culture that they're a part of... in both interviews and in their lyrics. I mean they don't write most of their own lyrics, but nobody's forcing them to sing them, either. And some of the lyrics they have written themselves have been the same way ("boom boom beat", for one), especially their English lyrics, because I think they think most Japanese people won't understand them anyway. It seems like they think a lot of pop culture these days is hypocritical and stupid. They're getting a little jaded, and I don't think they like having to play to expectations all the time.
My guess is this photo is them saying "look, we know this is what you've been waiting to see for 11 years, so here it is." I don't think it's really for the media attention. I doubt it'll get them much. I think it's just a little personal statement and/or joke on a certain type of fan that they attract.
I like this video I cant wait to hear the whole album
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that picture was just a play on the song name. The song is called Lip Motion and kissing is what you do with lips. They have a picture from 1996, from 2006 and this occurs here now. They've been friends for 11 years, so this is probably no problem and fun for them. Anyway, this is now my most FAVORITE video and something that I'll watch a million times more.
ReplyDeleteI think yossie-san is correct. I didn't realize the title meant 'Lip'. That makes sense, but Jeff has some interesting thoughts too...
ReplyDeleteWell, alkulp, I think you were right in that this was a calculated decision. That photo didn't just happen to be there at the end of the video; they put it there. There are plenty of ways they could have made a video about kissing without kissing *each other*.
ReplyDeleteI think you also have to look at it in the context of the video, which definitely *is* a riff on fetish videos. Fishnets, fruit, toilet, shoes; these are all classic fetish video subjects and they totally play them up, and I'm sure that's 100% intentional. That's the concept of the video. Two girls kissing fits in with the theme. But that doesn't contradict what I said above about it probably being basically a joke. The whole video is really playing against what people expect of them, so the whole thing is them getting as far out of character as possible.
Anyway I think we've over-analyzed it a bit at this point :)