It's a case of, "Wait, doot-doot-doot dance? Remind me!" vs "Of course and look, I precioused the memory of that frog with a shot for every 1/10th of a second."
New vocab, people. You take lots of pictures like your name ends in Akurai? You're preciousing your memories.
Anyway, there are two reasons I decided to go with Beautiful Days, the 30th and absolute latest PV to date. First, it's beautiful and has a feeling of Autumn to it and somehow with this being the 13th installment, that is just suitable. 13 makes me think of Fall.
The second reason? Well, we shall get into that shortly.
In the meantime,
Please read this PVS with the color of wine in mind! 8D
So here's the set up to Beautiful Days.
We're in this sort of interesting, old house with peculiar decoration and no lights. It has an overwhelming atmosphere to it. The song itself is somewhat melancholy - I say somewhat because while the lyrics are definitely bittersweet, the melody itself seems a little more uplifting than I would have expected. It sort of reminds me of breaking someone's heart with a lollipop... But for our bittersweet song, we find ourselves in an abandoned house full of more memories than Sakurai Sho's digicam.
Man, I've barely started and I've managed to go after Sho three times already. That must be some new record. I better cool it.
Except, not even 30 seconds into the PV, Sho's doing this. They're all singing and he's decided it's just time to move already. You may argue that perhaps Sho was directed to leave the group and get into position early, but with his confession on Shukudai-kun some time ago that he's having more and more trouble remembering dance steps, I'm just going to chalk this up to Sho Dance Ability. Even though as this is a no-dance song, there is in fact no dancing.
He is long gone, folks.
Old age has finally set in.
Hmm, the light features are interesting, but whoever decided on those paintings needs to be fired. And no fridge? Who tries to sell a place in this market without offering a fridge these days? Have the paint redone and we'll talk.
There is a reason for this atmosphere and all of the wistful nostalgia and the Nino dead center focus. Beautiful Days is the theme song for Nino's latest drama, Ryusei no Kizuna. (For those still at this point not terribly into idols or JE and just read for the lols - you must be thinking to yourself right now, my goodness, is every song a tie in with some drama or movie? And the answer is, pretty much. If your band has actors, it's an endless supply of easy contracts and self-sustaining promotion. Unless the drama sucks... In that case, ask your kouhai to do the theme.)
In any case, Nino is the eldest of three siblings whose parents were brutally murdered when they were younger. As the statue of limitations runs out on the crime, the siblings vow to find the murderer and take their own revenge on him.
I have to say, Nino, you do an excellent job in the series.
Nino: Really?
Oh yes. You do a magnificent job with the material. If people aren't watching or haven't watched it, they should really consider seeking out RnK. It's some of your best work.
Nino: Well....
Of course, I wonder how much acting is actually involved considering your character is sort of a revenge-minded loser...
But you should still pick up an award for this.
Nino: Well thank you.
Although, let's be honest. Scheming but socially failtastic Nino? It's not as if you're having to really stretch yourself like, say, Ohno playing a ruthless bastard in Maou.
Nino: ...I'll show you scheming but socially failtastic...
My point exactly.
Aiba: Hmmm.
Aiba: Isn't it a bit dark in here for a PV?
Sho: You think so?
Ohno: Well, for a promotional video, it is a little dark.
Sho: Ohhhhhh. I think I can solve the problem.
MatsuJun: I'd love to see that happen.
Sho: Let there be light!
MatsuJun: ...
Aiba: ...
Sho: It's good to be Shosus.
Aiba: Shosus would be more impressive if he weren't standing next to the light switch...
And so, the lights come on, which is the beginning of the transformation of this video. Really, honestly, I think there's a lot going on in Beautiful Days. Here we have this nostalgic feel in an abandoned house and the lights come on and bring with them childlike magic. It's as if in the dark, you are better able to pretend the lightbulbs are stars; that is, imagination, and not reality, takes over when our perception is diminished.
And so the stars, so to speak, solidify the return of childhood and bring with them a sort of personal manifestation of whimsy.
SEE! I TOLD YOU! THE FROG!
*ahem*
Because Nino is very much into magic, it makes sense that his representation here is a top hat exploding with stars. Doesn't make tons of sense that there's a frog in there, but I can only imagine that some of Aiba's whimsy got mixed into the batter...
Magician's top hat...
Or, as the angle adjusts, rather, Nino's whimsy is more like a magical pants explosion of wonder! His pants! They explode magic evvvverywhere!
Congratulations, Nino!
You have just qualified as a nominee for the Riva A. Nishioka Memorial PVS Bitch Face Cap.
BTW. MatsuFab Fabby-chan.
I can see your Fabbrows from here.
And your Fabicles.
And your Felbis.
Ohno: Felbis?
Pelvis + Fab? I know - it's the hips I love, but when I mashed Fab and Hips together, I got Faps. Which, perhaps, is not the image I'm going for?
Ohno: What's wrong with saying I can see you fapping from he...................oh.
Exactly. So Felbis it is.
Speaking of the Felbised One.
His image of whimsy is a profile because the director is a cruel hearted bastard who just couldn't pass up the chance to mock and remind everyone of MatsuJun's particularly in-your-face face?
I mean, really. How many of you snorted just a little when MatsuJun of all people got stuck with the big giant face?
But hang on a second.
You may think that I am jumping on board with the strong face jokes and that the whole "I can see your Fabbrows" is a shot at his new style, which involves a natural return of his eyebrows from their over-plucked Bambino days under the protection of a slightly feminine haircut.
Congratulations Jun. You are hereby nominated as a recipient of this PV's "Aiba Masaki Is Always Gorgeous Rule" award.
(Note, Aiba's still gorgeous, so he's sure to win - but seems like there wasn't much Aiba to be found in this PV!)
Point being - Lawd-a-mercy-mercy!
It's like...as a fangirl, I've finally been rewarded for patiently waiting it out. Because, honestly - look at all the PVs in order. He'll be fine and then bam. Then pretty again. Then bam. It's like puberty hits every other PV.
Please tell me that by the next PV you'll still be this way and not in the beginning stages of Puberty #16?
MatsuJun: Wait, Puberty #-
Shhh. Don't talk. Just be pretty. We don't know how long we have.
Back to the whimsy!
Naturally, given Aiba's side job of playing with animals in the show Tensai! Shimura Doubutsuen, he gets to play with the frog.
And because Sho acts like the mommy of this group, his whimsy is in catching all of Nino's stray Magical Pant Stars so that they don't make a mess on the floor.
Oh, what the hell...
Fly little Magical Pant Stars! Fly!
Be free little Magical Pant Stars!
No two Magical Pant Stars are alike!
Sho's hands on Nino's Magical Pant Stars makes Nino cry.
Lastly, of course, is Ohno.
Is that not gorgeous?
Hell if I know how wings suit Ohno, though.
Aiba: Hmmm, how are wings suitable for Riida...
Ohno: I'll give you a hint! Once you meet me, it's obvious.
Aiba: Oh! Is it that when you dance, it's like you're floating on air?
Sho: Oh Masaki. I don't think it would be something as lame as that.
Sho: Is it because Ohno had Angel Wings as a kid too?
Ahem. Side note.
You probably didn't get that joke. Let me explain! 8D
There's a Jrs. clip floating around where very young Sho compares his shoulder blades to angel wing nubs because of the way they stick out. This then leads to Sho showing everyone his ass crack on television because he also has a coccyx like a monkey tail. I'm not in the habit of linking videos that could disappear at any moment, so you'll just have to work with the caps I linked there.
Point being - OMG YOU JUST SAW CHIBI SHO ASS!!!
Back to the PV.
Aiba: I think you're the only one with that particular problem, Shosus
Ohno: Yeah, neither of those are quite right. Try ag-
MatsuJun: Is it because you're half bird?
Sho: Ohhhhhhhh, that's a good guess!
MatsuJun: Thanks. I read a lot.
Ohno: No, that's really not i-
Nino: It probably has something to do with that secret tattoo we got after the drunken holiday in Hakone...
...you know, maybe we should just move on.
And so, midway through the video, we leave the whimsy behind momentarily to gaze at the constellations in the sky.
...DID SOMEONE SAY CONSTELLATIONS?!?
Yes, folks. This is reason number 2 for PVing Beautiful Days so soon. Just after I rambled last time in HnNnG that constellations in an Arashi video were in no way interesting unless certain parameters were met, they go and do this. And you know what? Despite the fact that I asked for Arashi to dress up like the mythical beings themselves, there was really only one constellation that I absolutely thought should have been included. They only had to do one little thing to appease me.
Do you believe...
CETUS THE FUCKING WHALE.
THEY ACTUALLY INCLUDED CETUS THE FUCKING WHALE!!!!
Hm, strike two on my strange list of things I blather about in PVS that magically show up in later PVs.
It would be more appropriate, though, if Cetus the Fail were over Sho's head instead of Aiba's, but whatever. I have corrected this oversight by using the proper corresponding color to highlight.
Also amusing in this collection of constellations? Please take a look over MatsuJun's head.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Cassiopeia.
Aka, the vain queen who was punished by the gods for saying she was too beautiful.
*cough*
You know, I'd like to think that everything in a video is done by design and that someone somewhere thought, just like giving MatsuJun the giant face whimsy, putting Cassiopeia over his head was hil-fucking-larious. Of course, that would indicate that someone, some professional, somewhere out there is as abusive as I and I'm not too keen on having to share my job.
Regardless, if it's just serendipity, I'm still kind of amused.
So. While I'm being a nerd...
I thought, hey, Cetus and Cassiopeia - any other winks and nods, imagined or real, in these stars?
Meh, not so much.
But what the hell, why not go ahead and identify what I can? Which, by all means, feel utterly free to school me here; different cultures connect the constellations differently, so I looked for the closest variation of what I see in my own sky.
There's Orion and Ursa Minor (in the frame and the little dipper there), neither of which I highlighted since everyone knows those. It also looks like there's Virgo (purple), Gemini (yellow), and Pegasus (green). Hercules and Leo could be the constellations in the foreground and mostly off screen. The squiggle lines totally throw me. I have no idea if they're Draco, Vulpecula, Lynx, something completely different - is the U a constellation on its own (Auriga)? Is it the head for Draco? No clue here.
I also wonder if the one in blue is a variation on Cygnus the swan.
Because, later on...
We have definite swanage.
Oh hey, does that mean Ohno's wings have something to do with Cygnus the swan?
His butt is as soft as goose feathers?
Anyway, enough of the constellation rumination. I don't even know how much I actually believe these things I suggest. Just, if you're the type to froth at the mouth at the mere mention of leisure analysis like some people *points to self*, then Beautiful Days seems to offer plenty to chew on between the graphics and the decor.
Back to the funny!
...or not.
Because, as the night ends, so does the whimsy.
Which, if I'm going to continue in the vein I started, seems a bit like the end of childhood, doesn't it? When conditions are such that you can't accurately perceive the situation, you rely on imagination instead of reality; well, what happens when imagination abandons you?
And whether that's what they were going for or not, it is a very touching sequence in my opinion.
I mean, I really don't know whether MatsuJun is blissfully sad or tragically happy here. It's all sort of bittersweet, which is why I'm clinging to the metaphor of growing up. This PV smells like lost childhood and, honestly, that's a suitable theme for Ryusei no Kizuna.
Isn't there something just heartbreaking about watching Nino see his own magic float away? Regardless of what you think that top hat signifies, whether it's childhood or escapism manifested or just a pretty, fun, entertaining video graphic - it's gone.
MatsuJun: That is kind of tragic
Nino: ...that's really kind of tragic.
Nino: That part, it's gone forever now
There, there Nino. We've worked through the bittersweet sentimental portion of the video and faced the harsh reality of having to let things go - as the song says, "It's so pretty it makes you feel sad, doesn't it?"
But now that we've had to face it, we can move on.
And go back to making penis jokes.
MatsuJun: Yeah, penis jokes do sort of ruin the mood...
And so
Night is ending for Arashi.
The stars must fade.
I love that once MatsuJun touches the bulb, the light goes out. It sort of reinforces my whole spiel here about facing reality.
And, in fact, dawn comes. Does this mean childhood is officially over?
Does this mean Arashi are at the dawning of true adulthood?
MatsuJun: Who the hell opened the blinds?
Ahhhhh. I was worried you'd miss it this go round, Pup. But you always deliver.
The winner of the Riva A. Nishioka Memorial PVS Bitch Face Cap, 13 PVs in a row, is...!
Hrm. Your inability to shed your amazing Bitch Face powers probably means we'll be back to puberty antics next PV, won't we?
MatsuJun: Cute
...dammit.
In that case then, let me linger just a little longer?
Oh Dr. Girlfriend, we'll always have Beautiful Days...
Ohno: Oh hey, the sun's out!
Sho: The sun!!!
And with the sun shining through, all of the magic is officially gone.
Nino: Oh well, everyone has to grow up at some point, right?
Sho: Not me. I'm Shosus.
Sho: Let there be dark. LET THERE BE DARK!!!
Awhn. Lack of omnipotent power makes Shosus cry.
And so, we come to the end of Beautiful Days.
And I think the parting frames really sum up the entire PV experience for this song.
Ah, so many things I could have shown you for this well-named PV; but rather than provide stills, you're best served by watching the actual video for yourself. You know the drill on that. It's a little place I like to call...Tube of You.
And as you watch, see if you aren't charmed, connecting to just the tiniest bit of warmth even as the PV sneakily tugs at your heart.
Is moving past nostalgia and losing the enchantment you may have associated with your memories all that bad?
Nah. The real world is much more wondrous than that.
Seems like the funny left with Nino's Magical Pant Stars. Oh well. I already know what PV 14 is going to be and let me tell you, nothing pretty about that one.
MWA!