In terms of my foray into current day J-pop, AAA is generally my go to group for various reasons. One of it is actually the members. While I don't mind all of them, the few I tend to gravitate to are Naoya Urata (浦田直也) for his vocals and style, Shinjiro Atae (與真司郎) for the looks, and the fellow I'll be talking about here, Takahiro Nishijima (西島隆弘), better known as Nissy, for a combination of both. He's also got a cute charm that makes him difficult to ignore, so it wasn't too surprising that I'd have a look into his solo works apart from his contributions to AAA.
The first of Nissy's solo singles I encountered just a few weeks ago was "Mada Kimi wa Shiranai MY PRETTIEST GIRL". Watching the MV that co-stared actress Kasumi Arimura (有村架純), it brought to mind what J-Canuck listed at the start of his article for Gen Hoshino's (星野源) "Koi" (恋):
Catchy funk-pop?
Quirky choreography?
Dapper clothing on the singer?
Personal appeal by the singer in the middle of the music video?
The rhythmic beat in the sunny melody is indeed catchy, and the jolly manner in which Nissy lilts "Mada Kimi..." makes for a fun and cheerful song to listen to. Then we've got the adorable "Pinky Dance" that had everyone wagging their pinkies throughout most of the MV. Looks a lot less rigorous than the "Koi Dance", if you ask me, but both are as amusing to watch. As for the dapper clothes, what looks like the cool alter ego of the awkward young man (both played by Nissy himself) is decked in a dark blue casual suit and fedora - it's almost Bruno Mars-like, and his crew are pretty spiffy in black. As for personal appeal, while it's not in the MV itself he did make a separate video (below this paragraph) where he conveyed his thanks to fans and collaborators alike before performing the Christmas edition of the "Pinky Dance" with his own mascot - a thick pair of lips with eyes. I think have bingo!
"Mada Kimi..." was released on 24th August 2016 as Nissy's 6th single. While it's not shown how well it did on the Oricon site, I'd like to think it fared quite well. Writing it were Hiromi (宏実) for the lyrics, and HENRIK Nordenback, SIRIUS, and Sebastian Zelle for the music - no wonder it had a western pop vibe.
uta-net.com/song/211288/
This "alter ego" in a blue suit who sprinkles magic love dust seems like a recurring character in as I've seen "him" in a few other of Nissy's MVs.
Hi, Noelle.
ReplyDeleteThat's indeed a pretty catchy song. The music reminds me of the old Motown sound from the 1960s!
Ear-worm for sure - I'm thinking someone heard / saw Olly Murs "Dance With Me Tonight" also. Great arrangement on the sax.
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