NMB48 - Oh My God! PV review (repost)

(Should have done this yesterday but did not think of it. I will try to get my review of the 6th episode of Bakaleya up tonight so this is not the only post I will make today.

But basically I am moving this PV review from my My-Kei blog to this as I switch that over to a video blog (of sorts) and this become my more general idol blog. The original post was done back on 19 November 2011.)


Since I found doing this kind of review fun for the Sexy Zone PV over at my Johnny's blog I figured I'll go ahead and start doing that kind of thing for this blog as well. The first PV I'll be doing for this blog will be NMB48's Oh My God! PV, because I just reviewed the single.

She sees you~.

Honestly I can't think of a better way to start a PV than with a shot of Yamada Nana. I'm already to give this PV my seal of approval from this opening scene even though I'm not as much in love with the song it's meant for.

Why yes, this is going to be a Nana-centric screen cap review. 

I kinda hate to say this but I'm kinda glad Watanabe Miyuki is not a part of the senbatsu for this single. It sounds cruel but I know everything Nana has in this PV is because Milky isn't there and even though I do like Milky I just like Nana so much more.

I have to wonder if they all met up before they go to practice
together, and of course, why?

And we get to see the rest of the senbatsu for the single, minus the two centers. I have to say they do a good job with the set up for the story line that goes through the PV. Sure the scenes are all pretty standard but they do the job effectively to show who everyone is and what the conflicts will be.

The other star of this PV, Team N captain, Sayaka.

If Nana was not enough Yamamoto Sayaka helps bring in the perfection for this PV. I can't figure out why I was so indifferent to her at first but she's become one of my favorites so easily since.

I'm sure if he had something bright and shiny they would be just as impressed.

There really doesn't seem too much of a point to this scene other than to add some humor. That and maybe show that this is hardly the kind of team that worries about going to tournaments and championships with how easily amazed they are with their coach's simple soccer tricks.

Nana's heart and popsicle breaks.

And of course before we can get to the PV we need to move past the introduction and into the actually plot lines which is done about as well. My only issue is that it's never explained who the girl Nana sees the boy she's crushing on is. It makes me wonder if the guy she's crushing on is really worth it unless that girl is a younger/older sister that Nana didn't know about, as that's a common enough trope but still it's not explained and it just bugs me.

Come on Jo! You need to be able to outrun the wota.

Of course there needs to be more to drive the story and we get that with Jo Erika, a member destined to be either an Ace or Captain in NMB48 once they get around to announcing Team M. Of course my Japanese fails me here and I can't figure out why she's having a hard time keeping up with the group but the couch gives her a hard time.

Shun the non-believer, shun!

And then she's given a hard time by Nana and a few other teammates and runs off in tears. And thus we can finally start the music portion of the PV.

Sayaka/Nana double center FTW!

The dance moves in this PV are rather interesting to say the least. I guess you can say they fit the group image of being pretty energetic and out there and they do seem to fit the song, though I'm not sure if there would be many fans trying to copy the moves.

Yuppi, the girl with a smile that could light a sun.

And this screen cap exists solely for the fact that Yamaguchi Yuuki (on the far right) is actually in the front line up for the few seconds this lasts. As much as I love Nana and Sayaka my love for Yuppi is also strong and I wish that she would get more chances to shine.

NMB48 is falling down~ falling down~

For the actual PV it does a lot of switching back and forth between the girls dancing and the soccer game they are playing. Though I think it's a pretty liberal use of the word 'playing' as there is an awful lot of falling down by the girls.

NMB48's pedobait, Jo Erika and Yogi Keila.

And my favorite of the 2nd generation KKS, Yogi Keila, who I'm still in denial about for being only 12. But in any case she is cute and I'm glad she's getting pushed with the other 2nd gen KKS in this PV.

Making sure you remember the name, the whole two letters of it.

And of course we get our turn around when everything looks down and out with Jo making her return. 

You will become one of us. One of us!

And everyone is of course pumped up and all is forgiven and wonderful. But I do like these kinds of shots but not when there are faces that are cut off. Those are a bit creepy and I can't help but feel sorry for those girls as this is a pretty good shot of all sixteen faces if all the faces could actually be seen.

Why are there red pompoms when there is no red on their uniforms?

And then suddenly cheerleaders. This is the one part of the PV that makes no sense as it not only adds nothing to the narrative but has no place in it. But the girls are still cute in it and it fits the peppiness of the song.

We're going to nationals!

I will admit that I do really like this part of the PV. Even though singing like that looks really awkward and difficult it's still an unique idea and really makes the live performances stand out. Though that doesn't counter how odd it looks to have Jo there standing on the side but someone would have to be the odd one out no matter what with sixteen girls to make a pyramid with.

Or not.

I do like how they still make sure to use Jo by having her be the one to do the bow once they collapse the pyramid, as it also works to tie this PV with their debut PV that ended with them all bowing like that. 

In a way you can say that they still have one.
(Feel free to groan at the pun.)

When we finally return to the story for the end of the song we get an important goal shot made and then the song portion of the PV ends. I'm used the underdog coming back to win it stories that when the short version of the PV came out I had assumed that's what would happen with this as well so I was a bit surprised to find out as the drama played out that while the shot was made they still lost badly. 

Sad Sayaka. ;_;

We get sad girls on the field as Sayaka returns with her narration. 

Pray the wind doesn't change and your face gets stuck like that Maachun.

While Ogasawara Mayu isn't as pushed in the PV as the other three girls, Sayaka, Nana and Jo, she gets her moments to shine as being the "mood maker" and in the story. And I can't help but find her impersonation of the coach cute.

And this is here because Sayaka just looks gorgeous. Of course the whole PV has some really nice shots in it. It may not look as slick as their first PV but it's still pretty solid for the feeling of simplicity it has.

Nana's love can be bought with cellphone charms.

And of course we get wrap up of Nana's story line here as she receives a gift from her crush. I still think there should have been an explanation of who he was with earlier for Nana to still be that happy to receive something from him. Resolving that conflict off screen is pretty bad story telling which stands out with this PV  as the rest is solid even if not original. 

And they all lived happily ever after.

And speaking of solid yet unoriginal we get the final scene of all the girls walking together to somewhere. Again I wonder where they are coming from and where they are going as I would think that they have different schedules so they wouldn't be able to just walk around school like that.

In summary I like the PV. Sure it's nothing really new but it's done well and I'm more than willing to forgive that fallible for that. As even for none Japanese speakers it's easy to follow who is who and what is motivating them to do the things they do from how everything is shown and sticking to the basic tropes that are common in media from pretty much the world over.

Of course I know a part of it also might be because I am a big Nana fan so having so much of her in a PV was a wonderful treat. But she's not the only girl that I'm biased with in the PV and I can imagine that if it was another group of girls I did not know in the video instead I would still think it was a good solid video. It's not the best I've seen but far from the worst. I still would prefer something like their debut PV to be for their next PV over another one like this though something completely different would be nice too.

So hopefully a new NMB48 single gets announced and we can see what they come up with next.