“This Every Little Thing music DVD was released during those experimental years of music DVD releases from avex before the CD+DVD releases. But it does feature one of the most ambitious, artsy drama (based on a song) that captures the soul of ELT’s hit ballad ‘fragile’. If you had problems understanding the music video to ‘fragile’, fortunately this DVD will have answers.”
DVD INFORMATION:
DVD TITLE: Every Little Thing – “fragile-Graceful World”
DURATION: Approx. 27 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Region 2, Rel. March 28, 2001
CATALOG #: AVBD-91050
COMPANY: avex trax
Every Little Thing is an interesting band as it was an electronic band known for its dance tunes in the mid-90’s and in 1998 made it big with their ballad “Time Goes By” (their 8th CD single) which sold over a million copies.
The group has changed since their initial debut, now there are two members and the group is more rock oriented.
There second largest selling CD single came on New Year’s Day 2001 with their 18th CD single “fragile” which would be another ballad and would feature a music video that was condensed from a drama and thus before avex started focusing on the CD+DVD releases, which are commonplace now, they would release these music videos with other content as separate DVD’s that would sell under $20.
“fragile” is a well-written song by ELT’s Mochida Kaori and Ito Ichiro. In a way, the lyrics are very in-depth of feelings one would have to someone they really love, especially during a breakup or a split and just realizing the feelings that you have the person is quite strong.  And reading various Japanese threads of how the song meant so much to them, it’s a powerful ballad and definitely one of the reasons why the song was another hit for the band.
This DVD features both music videos for their 18th CD single “fragile” and their 19th CD single “Graceful World” plus the TV commercials and the full length drama for “fragile”. Both videos for “fragile” and “Graceful World” are somewhat tied together but to fully understand what is going on, you really need to watch the 15+ minute drama.
The storyline is a bit fragmented as you see parts that actually is hard to make sense. In the beginning, you see a woman who missed a taxi and an older woman getting in, then it flashes to a moment where the younger woman gets into a taxi and the older woman missing its chance. (confusing, I know…so just forget this scene).
You start to realize that what you are watching are bits and pieces of the past and the present.
Sounds confusing and the drama is a bit confusing but to tell the story, the young woman riding in the taxi is suddenly having to help someone after a car accident takes place in front of the taxi and a guy is injured. She ends up helping the guy injured by using her scarf to help him.
Then you see scenes at the airport where she gives the man money and he goes on his way to leave the airport. Flash forward to another time in the future and the young woman realizes that the man she gives money to is not leaving for a flight but messing around with another woman.
She slaps the man and the relationship is over but she can’t stop loving him and constantly looks at their picture together.
Flash forward three months later and she meets the guy who she help in the accident, who comes back to return her scarf and say thank you. The guy asks her out for a date and the two get closer.
Flash forward a month later, the woman and the guy she helped are dating. They eat at a restaurant and then the scene goes back into the past with the young woman and when her ex-boyfriend were together, eating at a restaurant. And then you get flash forwards, flash back to the past during the dinner segment. And then you realize that during the flash back to the past, the current guy she is dating (from the present) was sitting next to her and her ex (during the past flashback).
Flashforward to a scene where she almost walks through a redlight and nearly gets hit by car but a ghost helps her. Throughout the drama so far, you see this kid. An angel or a ghost who seems to be by her side. Not too sure what this boy represents so far in the drama. A guardian angel?
In the present time, she takes the old frame of her and her ex and replaces the photo with a purikura of her and her current boyfriend.
You then see a scene for a bus going to Narita airport. You see the woman twice. In actuality, you are seeing the woman in two timelines.
Then you are taken to the Narita Airport where she meets with her current boyfriend and given a ring. They drive off in his Mercedes Benz and while in love and driving back home, they are hit by a big rig.
Flash forward to another scene at the airport now during present time and the ghost/kid is running while the woman is walking one way from the airport and the guy (who plays her current boyfriend) is walking in another direction and suddenly the two people see each other and stop and look at each other and the drama ends with a message.
You can view this last scene as either a) the couple are ghosts and they see each other at the airport b) another group of people (who are the same actress and actor) discovering each other at the airport c) the future where the two survived the crash and haven’t seen each other for years and just discovered each other at the airport.
So, I suppose you can have your own ending. Something tragic, something supernatural or something positive. Depending on how you interpret that final scene.
When you watch the “fragile” music video, you get pieces from that drama to show a woman who survives a big breakup and ends up in a accident helping another guy and then of course, ELT’s Mochida Kaori singing and Ichiro Ito playing his guitar.
For “Graceful World”, the music video is nicely done and features ELT singing but then you get pieces from that drama with short pieces from the drama during the opening, guitar solo and at the end which I’m not sure if anyone can really piece anything together from those scenes.
So, you have to drama to get the full story and the drama is only on this DVD release.
This is an older DVD release and I wish that the drama or even the music videos made sense but it almost has this “Final Destination” type of feel to it. Perhaps someone that was meant to die, didn’t. And thus he gets in a second car accident and is killed.  But I think that the storyline was pretty much about how life is “fragile”.
The drama is actually a bit artsy but at the same time, I can see people getting confused bu there is an interesting storyline behind the two music videos by watching the full drama. The drama can be viewed in multiple ways and I think the director did a good job with that.
Again, this is an older avex-released music DVD. These days, these music videos and dramas are included on the CD single releases. Back then, during the experimentation of Japanese music DVD’s and how they would be marketed, they were marketed outside the CD singles and sold separately. Fortunately, that has changed as now you can buy both the CD+DVD for a great price compared to how things were in 2001.
As for the DVD, this DVD is about eight years old, I’m sure you can find it cheaper online these days but all in all, it was great to revisit this DVD again.