My Complicated Thoughts on This One =LOVE Song
Have you ever had trouble thinking whether a song was good or not? That's what I've been going through recently... and it's been two whole weeks now.
To give you a quick rundown on who we're talking about today: =LOVE / イコールラブ (pronounced 'Equal Love', nicknamed 'Ikorabu') is a voice actress-based idol group. They are most notably the first brainchild of former HKT48/AKB48 member-turned-producer Sashihara Rino, as she had a strong aspiration to develop idol groups that 'surpasses' the ones created by Akimoto Yasushi (a.k.a. the guy who created the AKB48 franchise).
They debuted in 2017 with an appearance at that year's Tokyo Idol Festival event and released their first self-titled single a few months later. Now six years in, =LOVE has garnered a large and devoted fanbase, released numerous singles and albums, and continues to be one of the more prominent idol groups in the past few years. As of when this post is published, the group consists of ten members: Otani Emiri, Oba Hana, Otoshima Risa, Saito Kiara, Sasaki Maika, Takiwaki Shoko, Noguchi Iori, Morohashi Sana, Yamamoto Anna and Takamatsu Hitomi.
As for my personal connection to this group, I've been a casual fan of theirs for about two or so years now. Discovered them through a voice actress/seiyuu I follow and ever since, I've come to enjoy a lot of =LOVE's music, as well as like certain members of the group such as Noguchi Iori, Takiwaki Shoko and the now-graduated Saito Nagisa. They're a really cool idol unit and one that's worth following, and it seems like only recently have I taken the effort to appreciate and learn more about everyone involved.
Which brings me to the main topic of this post: =LOVE recently released their fourteenth single titled, Natsumatope, on July 19th. On that single is a coupling song, "Heroines", that has really jumbled with my brain and feelings for the past couple weeks. Was all this indecisiveness necessary? Maybe not. Am I making a big deal outta this? ...okay, yes but allow me to explain why.
Composition
Good: Fun, and Certainly, Idol-like
On the surface, "Heroines" is simply a fun song. While =LOVE has dove into more somber, honest themes and genres within their music such as "Zuruiyo Zuruine", "Kono Sora ga Trigger", and arguably their most popular track in "Anoko Complex", more poppier and innocent-sounding songs is still a common style within this group's discography. And despite me being more privy to their 'serious' side, so to say, I've come to enjoy many of =LOVE's positive-toned tracks like "Oh! Darling", the obvious K-pop influenced "Be Selfish", the Saito Nagisa solo "Geneki Idol Chu~" and even the newest A-side with "Natsumatope". They honestly do a pretty good job balancing these varying styles/moods, which has certainly impressed me throughout my time as a fan.
"Heroines" is no different. I think it's actually a pretty catchy tune, and hearing all these different instruments come to together was somewhat fulfilling at times. The occasional trumpets and piano playing were alright, and despite this being more of a pop-style song, the more rough-sounding electric guitar that was heard throughout wasn't too out-of-place.
Bad: An Legitimate Mish-Mash of Tones
But because "Heroines" is essentially supposed to be a 'self-introduction song' where they show off each and everyone's different identities, it makes sense that each section or 'member spotlight' would all sound unique to properly reflect said members. Except... the execution here was a bit off-putting, in my opinion.
I get it. I get that because Sana's got a really 'enchanting voice', they had to pair it up with a more melodic and classy tone with the piano. And with Emiri's fascination with style, clothing and physical appearance, you gotta have a more sparkly and pleasant ambience within her part. However, having to go from different pace to different pace, different overarching music style to different overarching music style... it's just weird to me. I have the same opinion with albums that have a significantly different genres throughout its tracks, as it's sometimes almost unsettling in a way. While experimenting with different sounds and atmospheres with your music is great, I feel like it's best not to cross over the line of consistency, as you may end up with something that doesn't seem coherent anymore. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit here but I don't know... going from X section where it has an emphasis on loud trumpet playing, to quickly being shot into Y section where it's MUCH slower and has significantly different instruments being heard was odd to me, personally.
And the thing is, it's not like you can't make a consistent-sounding song where you need to showcase a ton of different idols and their personalities. Take "Ryoran! Victory Road" from the Love Live franchise's Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, for instance. It has just one uniform and steady melody, while each member's vocals/lyrics do the actual heavy lifting in telling you who they are and what to expect when it comes to their character. So while I am definitely not implying that "Heroines" has a bad composition, I just feel like they could've executed it a bit better if they did certain things differently.
Lyrics
Good: A Fantastic Song Concept, Alongside a Meaningful Feature
As I just mentioned, the overall idea of "Heroines" is to give =LOVE the opportunity to (re)introduce each other and show off who they are individually, which is actually a fantastic idea for a song. Given the group recently went through a major member change with Saito Nagisa graduating earlier this year, and the fact that they've been together for six years now, I think doing a 'self-introduction' song isn't a bad idea, especially if it's geared towards the amateur or newer fans like myself. Not only can this help people find a member they like a lot (as they are also trying to appeal to you lol), but it really is a convenient way to become familiar with everyone and get to know each girl's personality or interests. Admittedly, I only knew and followed a few members prior to the release of this song so being able to learn everyone's names and what they're like was genuinely helpful and well thought-out.
And I think one major reason why that's the case is because alongside Sashihara Rino's lyrics, each member was in charge of writing a fellow member's introduction. As seen in the behind-the-scenes video for this song, it was essentially randomized on who would do who's 'description' (through a very intricate scratch-card method), and I honestly liked how they organized this whole thing. The chance factor was neat and the uncertainty definitely poses the challenge of how well these girls can write something that effectively shows off the qualities of another member, especially since they've been together for so long now.
And for the most part, I think they did a great job doing so, at least based on the members I already knew. Anna's take on Shoko and focusing on her athletic lifestyle/interests (as she enjoys running and is a huge fan of baseball) or Maika talking about how Hitomi is "the sun of our lives" (possibly in reference to her being the center position within many of =LOVE's early tracks)... all of these were very genuine/wholesome and even the ones I wasn't familiar with, I was able to get a gist of what everyone else was like.
Okay: A Biiiiit Too Much English
I can't necessarily comment or share my thoughts on most of the lyrics, since I am a foreign fan and I don't know Japanese, so needing to run them through a machine translator certainly doesn't really put me in a proper place to do so. However, I did notice there was a LOT of English that was being used throughout this song, which was kind of a glaring aspect to me. While some English words were used in a clever way, it got to a point where it felt a bit excessive. I understand that Japan likes to input English into their conversations or songs, as it's more of a trendy or hip thing to do nowadays. But a lot of what I heard just felt like buzzwords and some just didn't make much sense to me.
The one I couldn't stop thinking about was Noguchi Iori's introduction for Yamamoto Anna. And let me be crystal clear before I go on: I love Iori. She's my favorite Ikorabu member and I really have enjoyed knowing about her, watching her play Purin in the recent Do-It-Yourself drama adaptation and I actually became a fan of hers when she was on an otaku-related online program with my personal No. 1 oshi (Kubota Miyu). So please do not think that what I'm about to talk about, in any way, changes my opinion on Iori or makes me think she's not good at what she does. That would be really messed up to believe that over such a small issue (lol).
But I'm really not sure what Iori meant when she wrote the line, "lil lil girl, yet, ill ill dancing". Is that supposed to mean that Anna's super skilled in dancing, to the point where she's sick at it? Like, 'sick/ill' as in 'awesome'? I get that Iori's labelled as the 'main rapper' for the group, and maybe that hip-hop, coolness factor is what she/the producers were going for here but man... it was kinda rough to listen to 😅 And I know it's literally like three seconds worth of the song's runtime so again, it's not a huge deal but I'd be lying if I said stuff like this didn't bother me.
Vocal Performance
Good: Business as Usual
I've always thought that =LOVE has some really gorgeous vocalists on their squad and even now, as I'm getting more and more familiar with this group, that really is the case. The first time I truly realized that was when I listened to Maika, Iori and Sana perform "Anoko Complex" on the famed THE FIRST TAKE online series. I honestly believe that still has to be my all-time favorite performance from THE FIRST TAKE, and while only three out of the then-eleven members were present, I think it was still representative of the kind of talent that =LOVE has as a whole.
And yeah, even with "Heroines", we continue to get some great vocal performances, as they're fully capable of doing these more fast-paced and fun songs. To be fair, everyone sounded good throughout the song but some of my favorite parts have to be Maika's (hearing her more upbeat voice while also having a great flow was nice), Kiara's (insanely cute) and Anna's (her voice is just pleasant to listen to, tbh). I also enjoyed the short one-liners at the end of each 'section', as it just tied everything up with a quick and fun phrase from each spotlighted person. The one with Shoko was clever ("Ikorabu saikō! Tanoshimimasho ko!"), and obviously how can a Noguchi Iori fan not like hers ("Ii-chan no koto-suki?"*).
Not Necessarily Bad, But...: A Questionable Fit
I think what I have a problem with here is not the ladies themselves, but rather the other things we've discussed. Because of the rapid changes in paces and musical styles throughout this song, some of what I heard from certain members felt, I guess, out of place. Vocal performances that I haven't really heard as an =LOVE fan, such as Hitomi and Iori needing to sing with a filter and in a deeper tone or Hana's heavy use of English sounding a bit cliche. Again, this is not a criticism about the vocalists themselves (and to be fair, everyone needed to write coherent lyrics to an already produced beat, which I assume was a challenge to fit within the strictly-placed melody) but it's something I'm not used to hearing from a lot of these ladies and unfortunately don't believe was the best application of their vocals. Although I will say that Iori and Hana, for example, seemed to sing like their normal selves within the chorus, which I liked a lot and is what fits them more (e.g. Iori singing "Te o futte motto te o futte!", or Hana's "Sutando mo koe o hibika sete").
Conclusion
With all that complai- I mean, those observations and opinions being said, do I think "Heroines" is a good song? Well, I would say that it is good, but notably flawed.
Look, I understand that =LOVE isn't always going to release music that I think is excellent or lines up with my tastes and such. No artist, no band, and no idol group will ever do that. But considering that this song has such a fascinating and cool concept in introducing themselves through a musical track, as a method of appealing to new fans... it just feels like some things felt off. I will admit that I am being pretty nit-picky with my criticisms about this song, as I still do believe that in no way is it 'bad' or 'terrible' (me listening to this track literal dozens of times probably proves how replayable it is). It gets the point across, sounds fun and catchy, the personal/camaraderie aspect is there with how the lyrics were handled, and no question does it show off everyone's qualities and cuteness (especially in the music video). But I feel like certain things could've been done different to make this song even better and more effective, especially composition-wise.
And don't get me wrong: this is a 'me' thing (lol). I am probably in the minority here and I'm sure the long-time =LOVE fans resonate with this song much more than I ever could, which makes perfect sense. So again, am I making a big deal about this? Yes. But as a casual fan and someone who talks about music a lot, that's just how I feel about it.
So... yeah. That's all I got for you today 😅
I feel like this post would not be well-received if any =LOVE fans end up stumbling upon it (lol) but please do note that I still love this group. I enjoyed "Natsumatope" a lot with its Maika/Iori double center and the MV that was filmed in the Philippines, and the single's other B-side in "Dakaratote" was pretty good as well. In fact, listening to "Heroines" has truly made me a bigger fan of the group and I'm glad it got me to learn more about all ten members.
Well, other than that, it is a bit of an interesting coincidence that when this post is published, =LOVE (as well as their Sashihara Rino-produced sister groups, ≠ME and ≒JOY) will be holding their yearly joint live tonight. And fortunately, overseas fans are able to watch it for the very first time, so that is what I'll be doing later on. I am planning on making a review/sharing my thoughts about the event so please stay tuned for that!
Thanks for reading!! :D
-al