KAT-TUN - Real Face PV review

First of the two PV reviews I planned on doing. I figured I should review a few PVs that I have seen before as well or the majority of the PVs in the weekly reviews will end up being Hey! Say! JUMP related.

While I am not a big fan of KAT-TUN I do find the group enjoyable for the most part. I really like Taguchi Junnosuke and like Ueda Tatsuya as well. But the two are not enough for me to keep following the group as much as I used to, but I do like to keep tabs on them at least.

Real Face though, I love. I love pop music and I love rock music so rock-pop is one of my favored music genres. And Real Face is great rock-pop, which much of that can be chalked up to the fact Tak Matsumoto of the legendary Japanese rock band B'z wrote the music for the song. I think even if I did not like KAT-TUN at all I still would own a copy of their debut single based on the fact that Tak Matsumoto had a hand in the song as B'z is one of my all time favorite rock groups.

Thankfully the PV is a pretty good match for the song. It also helped show how much faith Johnny's had in KAT-TUN's debut as it looks slick and actually had a good budget to make it, unlike most of the debut PVs for Johnny's.

Not tunnels of love.

It does not take long to figure out who the obvious centers of the group are. And we get pretty boys being emo in concrete tunnels. The dark look of the PV though was a change from the typical Johnny's PV though with KAT-TUN being a 'bad boy' group, which set them apart from the current groups of that time.

Rockin' out.

Once the guitar riffs kick off and we pass the soft start of the song we get to see the rest of the group. And what I love is that the other members get ample chances to move to the front of the screen. I also to say that I like the outfits for the most part for this PV. The faux fur I am not a fan of, but I guess even KAT-TUN could not escape all the Johnny's mainstays.

Now if the light at the end of the tunnel was this easy to see for Jin now.

The tunnels are used several times in the PV, usually to give each group members a solo shot. They help keep the dark and moody tone of the PV, which is perfect for a rock-ish song.

The PV's true star, Kame's crotch.

Of course one of the big things about this PV that is noticeable in the first half is the amount of fan service it has. This screen cap is just one of the crotch close-ups that are done in the PV. There are of course other fan service moments throughout the PV so if you are a fan of this kind of fan service than KAT-TUN is the group for you. They bring it in spades, especially in these early PVs.

Perfect center.

There seems to be little in the way of dancing in this PV. It is a little weird as KAT-TUN was put together to primarily be a dance unit, but I guess too much dancing would diminish their "cool" factor or something?

What is that thing they are using there?

I used to think these "making of" scenes in the PV felt out of place. Then I took a moment to think about the lyrics of the song and considering that they are singing about a 'real world' they do match thematically rather well. Plus it gives an excuse to give the guys more close-ups so I will not argue this much.

Almost makes you think they all like each other.

Even though I expected more dancing there is a charm of just having the guys bounce around the area. It helps give off the feeling of fun without breaking too far away from the "cool" image the group is aiming for.

No! Don't walk into the light!

We finally get a scene change and the group moves to the stage next to the first one. We get something much more plain and Really not liking the faux fur here.

How Johnny's really recruits boys.

Then we get random standing around blind folded scene. I am sure this is more to show the guys waking up to the "real world" as they move to take the blind folds off and all that. Though considering the background behind them is just a screen I'm not sure how much that really works.

The rise of Mouse Peace.

I love that Ueda gets to show off his guitar playing in the PV. I do not think there are many debut PVs that would let group members really do something that shows off a skill that really will not be utilized much in the group. That seems to be something saved for later down the road which makes me really appreciate the fact Ueda got a chance like this.

Koki, as hardcore as a jelly donut.

 Tanka Koki'as contribution to the debut single is also noteworthy as he was able to write his own rap for it. And thankfully because of the rap Koki manages to get a good amount of screen time. I do question his "gangster" style, especially considering what a softy he truly is.

Raise your hands if you think Jin will he the first to go.

 And we actually get some dancing. I think this stage looks much better close-up and rather like the simple look as it contrasts well with the other stage for the PV.

Not sure how he ended up in this group honestly.

 What can I say, I like Junno. He is the ray of sunshine that does not try to pretend he is something else than sunshine. And I love the goofy boy for it.

Which one doesn't look like the others.

Is it bad for me to point out that even then Jin did not seem to have his heart in things. And I mean it more in the fact that he comes off having the attitude that he is too cool to do the boy band things he is asked to do as a part of KAT-TUN. I can understand why he could feel that way, as some of the things boy bands do can be embarrassing but KAT-TUN had the "cool" image and was spared some of the ridiculousness of it. But I guess even then Jin wanted to branch out to be seen a more serious light, which I will not blame him for, it is just a pity it came with all the heartache it did for KAT-TUN fans.

Take off not clear, in any sense of the word.

And we have the end. An airplane sitting in a building with the engine running. It might be a more powerful symbol of getting way from the "fake" and heading towards the "real" if it looked like it could actually leave the building without having to go through a wall or ceiling.


As debut PVs go KAT-TUN definitely has one of the best looking ones. Of course this is helped by the fact that debuts with groups like theirs get extra care and attention as Johnny's knows that they will be successful as they have already proven so with sold out concert tours and the like.

It is a bit sad to see the group back when they were at their peak knowing everything they would have to go through and where they are now. But they are not out from the count yet and they seem to be slowly leveling out and with the right promotion could have a chance to come back, though probably never to where they were when they debuted. Yet I feel that the group still has a good deal of potential and I am interested in seeing in where that will take them.