Hey! Say JUMP - Ultra Music Power PV review

Continuing on with debut PVs this week it is Hey! Say! JUMP's debut PV, Ultra Music Power.

Get ready for the future...

Out of all the FIVB debut PVs I like this one the most. And it is not just bias as I think this PV does the best with taking the theme of the PV and tying it to the song. It also helps that it does not feel like any member is shoved to the back for the entire PV even though there are definitely hints of favoritism, but still remains rather equal especially for a group with ten members.

...which means really tall buildings and sky bridges.

Like most FIVB debut PVs we get a futuristic setting. This one showcasing a bright futuristic city. I think I prefer this theme over NEWS' and Sexy Zone's, but mainly because I think HSJ's song fit with the PV instead of feeling like the futuristic elements were tacked on for the sake of it.

Hey! It's a volleyball court for a volleyball theme song!

We get a quick cut to the group doing their dance routine for the song, which does not look all that coordinated at first. Of course looking at this really makes me appreciate the more recent HSJ performances with just how much they have improved with their dancing and the kinds of performances they can pull off now.

And of course broody looking boys.

And it looks like they decided to borrow a concept from NEWS Nippon with the random room that the boys are in. Thankfully without the dancing as trying to get all ten to do so would probably have lead to even more awkwardness than with NEWS.

Hope you enjoyed the center position while you had it, Yuto.

Of course you know it has to be an early HSJ PV as it is with Nakajima Yuto on lead vocals. That and just how young he looks. I mean he is actually shorter than the Hey! Say! BEST members.

The capsule is to protect him from the fangirls.

 While the capsules the boys are in are questionable I think they are what really helps bring the song and PV together as they fit with the "Fly high" lyrics, as that is what they are doing throughout the PV.

Keito still fits the "unidol-like idol" role today as he did then.

 As I mentioned before there is a distinct lack of the heavy favoritism in this PV, which is best seen with the close up shots all the members not only have but get about the same amount of. This of course means Okamoto Keito and Inoo Kei can actually be seen in this PV without having to hunt down the one or two seconds they are shown clearly in more recent PVs.

Reaching for the sky ... or ceiling.

It also means we can get centers that we typically do not get anymore. Which is fine by me as I like all the boys and will be happy with whoever gets to be center, but of course some variety is always nice.

Probably thinking of Ohno Satoshi the whole time.

Early HSJ of course also means pre-puberty Chinen Yuri who was not only completely adorable but had the perfect voice for the high notes in the song. It just does not sound right after his voice broke and I do admit I miss his old voice, but that is life and at least he still looks just as adorable.

One wonders how these things navigate.

The CGI is much better with this PV than NEWS Nippon. Whether or not this came from a larger budget or just improvements in the filed of CGI is unknown.

Cuteness overload.

 And this is probably the reason I find it so hard to find the Hey! Say! 7 members as sexy. They are just so cute and adorable like a box full of kittens or puppies. So glad they are allowed to just be cute and not try to full off being sexy already, though some do still try. Yes, I am side eyeing you Ryosuke.

One of these things is not like the others...

Of course this is also the era that Chinen got to show off his acrobatics. It is rather a shame he does not do that so much anymore, and really only at concert nowadays. But I do like these scenes of the boys doing random jumping as again it makes everything actually feel like it belongs together, this time tying in the group's name into things.

HSB when they were all still jail bait.

Of course I am happy anytime HSB is on the screen. I think they show that Johnny's probably was not sure who was going to be the lead with this group unlike other groups. It makes sense as they have two members of the most popular Junior group there with Yabu Kota and Yaotome Hikaru but also Arioka Daiki and Takaki Yuya who where a part of the original Hey! Say! 7 line-up that just released a hit CD. And Takaki at that time was already most likely set for Gokusen 3 so making sure he was getting pushed made sense. And with HS7 Yuto at the time was one of the more popular Juniors, Yamada was still rising in popularity, same with Chinen who really did not do much as a Junior until 2007 so it was still probably too early to figure out who would be the most popular of the group. Though that did not take too much longer to figure out for them.

In the future you shower with light and with your clothes on.

Then we have the random light showers for HSB. How this fits with anything I have no clue. Though I guess it was more one of those things they decided to do just because they could.

Most neglected member of HSJ.

This screen cap is mainly because Inoo is looking pretty good in it and it is just so nice to see him so much in a HSJ PV. I really hope once he is done with university he will do more work.

Adorable boys being adorable.

 I really love these scenes in the PV. They are simple but it is nice to see the boys looking like they are enjoying themselves and how close they all look. It probably helps that outside of Keito they have all known each other and worked with each other for a good while so it does not look really forced.

He looks skinny enough to be blown away.

And with HSB get their light showers, HS7 have wind blown at them. Just as random but there is jumping involved so perhaps not as random as the other.

I am glad that they do have some of the dance in the PV. As silly as this move is I am oddly fond of it. I blame my love for cheesy things on that.

Most likely thinking about lunch right now.

I do not think I will ever get through a HSJ PV review without a solo screen cap of Takaki. And of course this is because of my bias.

Future rulers of Japan (or at least nine of them will be).

I think with all the quick cuts and different scenes that something simple like this works as you are not looking at it long enough to get too bored of it. And even though the boys are more cute than anything else they actually pull off cool for this, which is another plus.

Flying high, into the sun.

Then we get one of the final scenes of the capsules with the boys in them flying straight towards the sun. Hopefully that is not their destination as that would probably be painful and most likely to end in death.

But honestly I do like this PV overall. I think it is a good solid debut PV and one of the best when it comes to giving all members of the group screen time. It also helps that I love the song as well, even though there was a time I just could not listen to it as I had overplayed it that much as that was just about all they would perform.

It has been nice to be reminded where HSJ has come from and makes me happy that they seem to be on the path to success with how well their recent singles have done.