Ebichuu's Immaculate Return to Achieve Final Victory For The Glory of the Vampire Race

Subtitle: C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

With wu's recent delightful spamming to keep this blog alive, and with me being virtually deceased due to getting involved in some hideously complex processes known as a) making films and b) getting my ass into gear and finally getting a photobook printed, I figured it was high time I made a post. Just as I thought that, I saw Ebichuu's new video and thought, "aha! Perfect." And then I saw the rest of the video and my "perfect" turned into a "YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!" type of thing, though probably not for the reasons you may (or may not) be thinking.

Also apologies at the start for what will likely be an incredibly illogical post, I've been battling my ISP all day and likely will do so several more times before the post is finished, so it may start semi-coherent and then descend into a mass of feeble writhing over an increasingly bloody pane of glass.

So, the PV:



So, what you can hear at the start is some awful Engrish. But wait, horror costumes? Could this be the next Oh My Ghost, the incredibly bizarre but also insane and win horror song from their indie days? WHY YES!

At this point my mind became an incomprehensible mess because FUCK ME organs. And rock. And this is the Ebichuu I love. Silly lyrics, mildly insane music and incredibly insane everything else. The last two singles have been disappointments despite being Hyadain-penned numbers, this one has a lack of any Hyadain whatsoever, possibly affirming rumours of a bust-up between him and Stardust. However, despite that, I really quite enjoy it.

There's organs and harpsichords, resulting in many wins. The verse helpfully murders your brain by sticking a seemingly innocuous lydian 4th (#11) into a D major scale, the structure is pretty screwy with massively extended choruses and a few cutbacks to normally non-repeated sections, and yet everything still sort of fits together nicely and works. The vocals have improved, especially from Mayama, Yasumoto and Aiai. In fact, Aiai's lush alto still confuses and excites me, even more so when you consider her usual high-pitched moe voice. Yasumoto's speech impediment is also win. But anyway, I digress.

The video is spectacular and beautiful. It's not often I say that about a PV, especially not when it's a simple H!P-esque danceshot/closeup thing. However, the visuals are incredible. There's scenes with normal lighting. Scenes in which they're all silhouetted. Scenes shot through an infrared camera, which is even weirder considering they must have been wearing incredibly cold clothing because most of their bodies show up as black, meaning under 20C, meaning you'd be rather dead. And finally, the most glorious use of UV lighting I've ever seen. Usually I'd be up in arms about this, bemoaning the fact that I hadn't thought of it first. However, I actually did so, 4 years ago, so I should be annoyed that they stole my idea. However, they pulled it off much better. The UV lights are alone, no boring normal lights to fill in like I used. Their makeup is also much more pro than my feeble attempts were, and the white trim on their dresses and the white gloves help to make the colour on their faces seem much starker and more haunting. I also like how they have their numbers painted on their faces, much easier to identify those I'm less familiar with. So yes, a beautiful and creative PV that remains so despite the formulaic nature of the content. UFA should take note, it is possible to make a visually pleasing PV from only danceshots and closeups, and it really doesn't have to include sparkles.

This song is the theme song for a drama called Vampire Heaven, which, despite the title and the usual treatment of vampires in media currently as a source of great and terrible romance, is a comedy. Still, I'll watch it for lack of anything better.

It's out in June sometime. I hope the other A-side is as good.