新しい私になれ！ Be The New Me - S/mileage REVIEW

A few days ago S/mileage's newest double single A-side music videos were released onto their official channel and when I watched and heard Be The New Me for the first time I knew I instantly wanted to review it. Usually I'm not a huge follower of S/mileage but in the past some of their releases have caught my attention such as Suki Yo and Uchouten Love among others. However, when I heard this song it just made me fall in love with S/mileage right there and then again. Lately, they did go through a dark patch and a lot of people didn't know what to make of S/mileage at this point. However, now that they've been given a double A-side single I guess it's given them a little kick in the butt and it's worked wonders. They've really blown me away this time!!!

When I watched the music video there was so many amazing moments that I knew I had to screencap some of this so I do warn there will be many screenshots of this music video. There will be a lot of pouts so be warned! Teehee!

When I first saw these moves being executed I didn't know what to think. It was a very different thing I was expecting from the usual S/mileage.

I'm used to seeing this cute little Meimi jumping around in all bundles of kawaii genkiness or whatever you want to call it. However, in this music video there's a completely different side to her and I like it! Viva las mature Meimi!

Ayaka is usually "just there" for me in a PV but in this case she really showcased how sexy she can be. In some instances she did remind me of Maimi Yajima from C-ute which is  a FRICKEN GOOD THING! It's either the sexiness or the similiar hairstyles, but I love long hair on an idol!

The dance looked and flowed with the song well but then this dance move comes along and I was just so confused. It didn't go with the song at all, they reminded me of those golden Chinese trinket cats that bounce their paws up and down!

Ayaka and Kanon: These 2nd gen girls may be getting better but we still own this crib! Never forget that homegirl!

Gotta support their 1st gen spirit! It did make me giggle to see the contrast between these girls though Ayaka just oozed sexiness whereas I think Kanon was going for the more coy look or she had puppy eye syndrome.

Akari is just flawless on her own, she can just bat her eyelashes and pouty smile and I'm putty in her hand! She is the tomboy of the group but she can work it and prove she can be a sexy girl with the rest of these chicas! But be aware in the far distance is the Rina ready to prove herself! She wants to break through this Akari/Kana wall!

Rina has had luck on her side today and proved to people that she can be an awesome asset to S/mileage! I had to screenshot this because I loved her expression in this.

RINA: I can prove myself! Rina is the underdog soooon!

Okay I get it I get it I love you, please don't hurt me!

You want me to now leave you alone...okay master...but in future please be more clear so I don't get punished from the underdog Rina! Keep working it gurl!

Rina isn't the only other girl here who's trying to prove herself as an awesome idol! As the emptiness of Tanaka Reina's presence from Morning Musume in H!P blows through like dust, Meimi has decided to take the reigns of the sulky pout for those who miss Reina. She either as a plan for H!P domination or she does care for Reina's wota's sobbing from her graduation!

Ayaka you keep working it! Throughout the whole PV she really knew how to work to the camera and I was impressed. She may not be the best singer of S/mileage but she knows how to work her other talents.

Ayaka and Akari have now teamed up to rebel against the underdog that is Rina!

AKARI: She might have walked through my wall but she didn't know me down!
AYAKA: Preach girl! Showing you some senpai lovin'!

Ayaka! I love Akari so don't try and pull at my heartstrings! It's never going to work! I love you but Akari...she's my S/mileage #1! Even if you do look so stunning!

I know Akari is the tomboy of the group but she has this natural feminine beauty that really showcases itself flawlessly! When I screenshot this I thought this could be photo shopped into a fantastic fashion mag cover. One of you readers is going to do it aren't you?

AKARI: Me, a model? Gurl I pose in my sleep! *Pout*

Oh I know you could I could never deny your perfection!

Kana's hair was so just so pretty in this! I hope she keeps styling it like this it really does make her stand out! She's so adorable!

I really am in love with Meimi's posing, for a teen she knows how to pose sexy!

All in all I really enjoyed listening to this song, it was a cool song that really conformed to my preferences. I love a lot of H!P singles but the more cooler ones are the ones that I tend to love the most. The instrumentation was just so cool that the introduction didn't sound like a H!P or idol song at all in my opinion. It sounded like something a proper girl band could execute and I liked that. Also, in all honesty I don't really think that this sounds like a S/mileage single, but that isn't a bad thing. I really like how the girls have ventured into something new with this A-side. They have done cool songs before but not songs that have had to require so many mature vocals and sexiness to be executed. Some of the girls such as Kanon still sounded their same old cutesy S/mileage selves but other members such as Akari and Meimi really allowed the cool sound of this single to allow them to showcase the variety of their vocals and what genres they could apply themselves to. H!P is always about change so it's a good talent to have in my personal opinion for an idol in general to expand to different genres. However, despite the maturity of the song within the instrumentation and the verses, it's the chorus' that really reminds you again that this is a S/mileage song. Once they all sing together in the chorus' the typical high pitch that is S/mileage is re-introduced and I remember that this is a S/mileage single all over again.

Another thing that I love from H!P is when they use a lot of white. I don't know why but when I see PVs from H!P that are dominantly white they look sleek on my laptop screen. I guess that's why I'm still in love with the Only You outfits from Morning Musume's PV due to the heavy use of white. And this PV executed the same effect with me and I love the outfits!!!

With the dance shot the background did remind me of a familiar set that has been used in H!P plenty of times before (for example Juice=Juice's 1st indie single PV when they had the same background for their dance shot). But this is UFP and they like to recycle to save money, remember the less money they spend the better for them. That's a typical feature and will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Again in terms of typical H!P there again wasn't a lot of variety it was just the same old dance shot, solo shot number with a little, but not really counted as, variety with the use of different shots of the dance and the members stood with notes and the alley shots. One thing that annoyed me is that when I say alley shots they aren't really an alley. Do you recognize the studio wall? Watch some H!P behind the scenes videos of other PVs and you'll recognize that wall like it's your best friend. Again they are using resources they've used before. I won't complain because I did like those alley shots and the girls worked that shot well. They all looked very sexy in it but they all did it in their own ways. Ayaka was very sexy, Kanon was the coy sexy, Meimi was the moody sexy etc.

In terms of members I wanted to chart how much they impressed me!

1. Meimi!

Usually I'm not a big fan of Meimi and hyper idols in general. However, in this PV she managed to tone it down and showcase a mature side of her that I never thought I'd see before. And this showcases the maturity of her voice so much as well. She does have a fantastic cutesy voice but her mature voice is just 10 times better and I do hope that UFP recognizes this and keeps up with this mature sounding voice of hers.

2. Ayaka!
Again, another member who I hardly notice as made her way to the forefront for me which is for me impressive. When it comes to members who I hardly notice, if they manage to attract my attentions then they've done a great job because it takes a lot for someone to take my eyes away from my oishiis. Ayaka had great chemistry with the camera throughout the video and showcased that she has more variety than her genki idol character. She is 17 now so definitely reminded people of that in this!

3. Akari!

Akari was herself in this music video which was a good thing but she used her face in such a good way! She hardly moved her face but at the same time she emoted so much! She looked so beautiful but you just had to look into her eyes to see that and it blew me away. She might be the tomboy of the group but I still see her as a beautiful girl sometimes!

4. Rina!

Even though Rina was background in this music video most of the time, in the small moments she did get to the front of the dance she worked it effortlessly. She had a lot of, I hate to use the word, swag, in this video and I liked it. She might not get a lot of lines but I hope she can make herself stand out in other ways. But she does deserve more lines...just saying!

5. Kanon!

I can't believe this because usually Kanon blows me away and I always notice her. However, she stood out in this in a bad way. I could see she was trying to look sexy but she just looked typical S/mileage cute all over again and it stood out like a sore thumb between the other sexy solo shots. Her voice did sound amazing in this though!

6. Kana!
I have to admit Rina has always been at the bottom of my S/mileage ranking. There's just nothing about her that stands out to me. Yeah, she got a push in Yattaruchan but she just doesn't catch my attention as an idol. I do notice she is blossoming into a beauty but that's about it. I really don't know what else to say.

The outfits were also amazing in this music video and I was wish I had an outfit like that too so I could learn this awesome dance. Throughout the dance there were some weird moves such as the golden cat paw and the hugging/gropey moves at the beginning that did make me cringe because some of these girls are still very young, but apart from that it was a sexy yet simple dance that I like. It catered to all of the members' dance abilities and they danced well together. Of course it's not as awesome as Morning Musume's recent dances but they still know how to bust moves!

All in all this song along with Yattaruchan as a double A-side single is very impressive! I know Yattaruchan is the main A-side but this song will have to be my favorite out of the two. Yattaruchan bored me and was too cutesy for me even though their energy was very fun to watch! This single does prove that S/mileage does have what it takes to be an amazing group and the contrasting A-sides allows people to see that S/mileage can cater to more than one genre. I am excited to see how successful this single will be.

Thank you reading this review and if you have any requests please let me know!!!