Mayu Watanabe – Hikarumonotachi (Type-A) (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

1. ヒカルものたち
2. 地平線の彼方はどこにある? -Beyond the horizon-
3. サヨナラの橋
4. ヒカルものたち (Instrumental)
5. 地平線の彼方はどこにある? -Beyond the horizon- (Instrumental)
6. サヨナラの橋 (Instrumental)

DVD INFO: 16:9 LB, Region 2, Duration: (1) 5:12 (2) 8:32 (3) 4:48

1. ヒカルものたち Music Video
2. ヒカルものたち (Music Video メイキング)
3. サヨナラの橋 (Music Video) (まゆゆ制服コレクション)

There is no doubt that that Mayu “Mayuyu” Watanabe is one of the more popular members of AKB48.  As a member of the AKB48 sub-units Watarirouka Hashiritai, No Name and Team Dragon, she’s one of the most visible members of the group on television and in media.

Ranked #2 in the Senbatsu Elections, known for her cute personality and her love of anime and manga, in 2012, Watanabe was given the chance to debut as a solo artist.  Her debut single “Synchro Tokimeki” was released in February and debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts, followed by “Otona Jelly Beans” released in July 2012 and debut at #3.

Now, Mayuyu is back with a third CD single titled “Hikarumonotachi” and the single became her first #1 single.  A single which has a tie-in to the animated film “Nerawareta Gakuen”, in which she is the voice actress for the main character and also sings the theme song “Sayonara no Hashi”.

And prior to the CD single’s release, a lot of buzz was being made as Watanabe was shown with an outfit for her CD single cover as she will be portraying a virtual idol and for teh music video of “Sayonara no Hashi”, how she would be portraying a student wearing a high school uniforms from 47 schools.  In addition, buzz about limited edition releases and also DVD content to attract fans.

“Hikarumonotachi” was released in five different versions.  A limited edition “CD＋α” featuring Mayu Watanabe with her costume as a manga illustration by Arie Tanimura and comes with a limited photobook, Type-A, Type-B and Type-C coming with a DVD and all four versions coming with a different second track.  And the fifth version is the regular edition with no DVD but also comes with the second track that was included in the limited edition.

The version I will be reviewing is the Type-A version.  The insert is a bi-fold with lyrics and production credits on one side, while the other side features images of Mayuyu in her outfit.

The CD begins with the upbeat idol pop track “Hikarumonotachi”.  One will automatically think auto-tune or Vocaloid as the direction for this single is to showcase Mayuyu as a virtual idol.  An upbeat track that is more electro-pop with plenty of voice manipulation throughout the track.  It’s a bit different from her usual sugar sweet idol pop single releases so far and I’m actually open to this experimentation with her music, to show that she is a diverse artist and I enjoyed the song!

The song can be translated to “Shining the light for you” and from the English lyrics at the beginning of the track, it pretty much describes the song:

    Can’t you feel the love, it’s shining so bright now
    Can’t you feel the beat, the beat of my heart now
    I believe in love, it’s everything I need
    Don’t you ever stop, these things that I’m feeling

The rest of the song features surreal and philosophical lyrics.  One can listen to the song and think its about life. And one trying to understand the world.  The song asks “Why are people born?” and “Why do people die?”.  For those who choose to live,  to enjoy life and believe that love exists in this world.

The second track on the single “Chiheisen no kanata wa doko ni aru? -Beyond the horizon-” translates to “What Exists Beyond This Horizon? -Beyond the horizon”.  The song is a mid-tempo track that incorporates a Beatles-esque type of arrangement with synth brass.  The song is about one asking “What exists beyond this horizon?” and if one’s love or relationship continues beyond the horizon?  But it’s a fun love song overall.

The third track “Sayonara no hashi” can be translated to the “bridge of goodbye” and it’s a sad ballad about only when one has said goodbye to that person, then you realized how much you loved that person.  And the person reflects on the memories that she/he had with that person.  And how the bridge of goodbye is a bridge to the future.  I love this song and it’s probably the track I listen to most in the entire single.  The arrangement and the overall song is quite beautiful.

The remaining three tracks on the single are the instrumental versions of the first three songs.

As for the DVD, the first video track is “Hikarumonotachi” and features Mayuyu performing in concert and the concert is being streamed live on and likes on the videos are climbing up very quickly. And in a Nico Nico-ish style, text from fans are being displayed on the screen.  But then there is a short in the hardware, and a hardware error leads to Mayuyu being frozen and the audience is stunned.  And numbers begin dropping and people disappointed because they thought Mayuyu was a real person and not a virtual idol.  And then we see previous music videos of Mayuyu of her disappearing and on her CD’s, her image is replaced by another person, surprising her fans.

But an animator fortunately comes to the rescue by creating a CG version of Mayuyu and we start to see manga characterizations of her become popular with the public.  And people are wondering what happened to the real Mayuyu or was she a virtual idol all this time?  But fortunately, the hardware resets and we are able to see the real Mayuyu materialize again.

The second video track on the DVD is “The Making of Hikarumonotachi”.  A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the music video, from the stage performance to a few of the green screen segments of the video.

The third video track on the DVD is the music video of “Sayonara no Hashi”.  A very cool video as we see many versions of Mayuyu portraying various students in different high school uniforms (she is wearing high school uniforms from 47 different prefectures).  The song is the theme song for  her animated film “Nerawareta Gakuen”, but there is nothing about the anime film featured in the music video.  It’s pretty much Mayuyu interacting with her various version of her self.

Overall, “Hikarumonotachi” (Type-A) is a CD+DVD release that gives us three different styles of music from Mayu Watanabe.   An experimental Vocaloid-like style for the main track “Hikarumonotachi” is actually quite fascinating, upbeat and fun.  While the second track “Chiheisen no kanata wa doko ni aru? -Beyond the horizon-” is short but also cheerful track but it’s the final track “Sayonara no Hashi” that I really enjoyed the most and the reason why I purchased Type-A to see this music video.  Type-B comes with a “Goddess of Akihabara” video and Type-C comes with the Mayuttan special episode (Mayuyu guest starred on Haruna Kojima’s magical girl show “Meguttan tte Mahou Tsukaeru”) and this is footage not seen on the show.

But for there are six new songs by Mayuyu spread across four different CD+DVD singles, so hardcore fans of Mayuyu’s music will definitely want to collect them all.  Whichever version that you do pick, you do get both “Hikarumonotachi” and “Sayonara no Hashi” music tracks on each CD single.

But while there are fans who may prefer the sugary sweet idol pop tracks featured on Mayuyu’s first two singles, I enjoyed the diverse tracks featured on “Hikarumonotachi” as producers are exploring various sides of the artist. In this case, trying to capitalize on the Vocaloid popularity.  It’s a different style but the song works.  Personally, I like the song but I don’t want to hear her voice being auto-tuned or being tweaked on every track.

Exciting, fun and something new, “Hikarumonotachi” (Type-A) offers three different tracks that show us the different musical side of Mayuyu.  A single worth recommending!