Why I like AKB48 (Part XXVII)

“Put sun oil on my back!”
Removing swimsuit top, you lied down
That single bold sentence
gave off
 a mushy sweet scent …

So begins  one of my favorite AKB48 songs.  “Manatsu no Sounds good!”  (Translation: Midsummer: Sounds Good!)

You can watch on this YouTube link.  720 HD available.

In order to avoid potential confusion and misinterpretation, note that this Yasushi Akimoto song is another example of a “Boys perspective” song — the lyrics reflect the words of a boy, even though the song is sung by a girl.  “Boys Perspective” songs are common in the Japanese Idol genre.  Such songs may be in the format of a “pen letter”, and tell the thoughts, sayings and/or true feelings the man has for a woman.  (It should be stated that these songs are NOT meant to be sung by a woman to another woman.  Hopefully, that potential misunderstanding is avoided.)

It is a great song about a chance meeting on a beach.  A guy meets a flirtatious young woman.  She is uninhibited, but is perhaps aloof.  He thanks “chance” (not God, but chance) who has brought this woman into his life, and he wants to quickly escalate the relationship.

This is one of the most visually stunning AKB48 music videos.  For me, this was the group at their peak, just before Atsuko Maeda graduated.  All my favorites of  the AKB  first generation girls are in the front rows (Yuko, Haruna, Jurina, Tomochin, Mariko, Mayu, etc.)  Also, some of the younger members who have later become favorites are also seen in the background.  There is a lot of physical beauty to observe in this.  The singing, and dancing — all great.  AKB48 fans can especially appreciate it, as they are aware of  the character development and individual personalities of each girl.  Definitely a music video to watch over and over.

The landscape is quite striking.  I love the Zen-like meeting of the sky and the horizon, the intimate beauty of where the horizon and ocean embrace.  I like the visual contrast of the texture of the waning beach, which yields to the sea …  and … and … STOP LAUGHING at me — I’m being SERIOUS.

The full lyrics in Japanese, Romanji and English translation are available from the “Studio 48” website.    ありがとう  (Thank you) to them.

http://stage48.net/studio48/manatsunosoundsgood.html

“CHANCE” DOES A GOOD JOB!

Side note:  There is another music video of this song (The Sci-Fi “alien virus” version).  I will review that one later.

(It took over two years for the starlight from this AKB music video to reach my world.)