"As You Know" From Those Who Don't Know
This an english version of this post. It was human-translated by me, so it may contain mistakes. Unfortunately some nuances are lost in translation from Portuguese.
It has been four months since the release of "As You Know", and I have long promised a review of it. At the time I did a kind-of complete timeline of the group's history until then. I actually wanted to review the album back then, but a few things changed my mind.
The first one is that I really think that some things you need to hear a few times to form a solid opinion about. There's quite an amount of song that I didn't like at first, but that I ended up liking as time went by (not exclusively Saku46). The second circumstance is that I had not found the new songs, with the exception of Masatsukeisu, very interesting. As time passed, I started to like them more after seeing them in live performances and reading the actual translations of the lyrics by the fans.
However, this post is not my review of the album. I always had the feeling that this album would be much more appreciated by those who didn't follow the group, rather than by those who followed the single releases. Because several of their best songs are already known to the fans, it is to be expected that they will not enter into their account of the overall quality of the album, and the judgment will be made only on the basis of the new songs. Still, I remained curious, "what if someone who doesn't know or follow the group just listened to the album?" I always had the feeling that it would do much better with that audience.
And what follows is the actual opinion of people who do not know nor follow Sakurazaka46. All the opinions are from people who don't follow the group.
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All of the reviewers fall into one of the categories below:
1. Doesn't know nor have heard of Sakurazaka46.
2. Does know Sakurazaka46 by name, maybe a song or two, but doesn't follow at all.
3. Did know Keyakizaka46, a few of their songs, but never heard Saku46 songs.
It may be important to make it clear that basically all of them were familiar with Japanese music beforehand, either through anime or other Japanese groups/bands. It makes things a bit easier.
The material I gave them included the album link on the streaming platforms, a YouTube playlist with the MVs (although I made it clear that this was completely optional) and the tracklist with the names in romaji. Perhaps what made me happier in all of this, as you'll see in the following reviews, some of them actually went off the track to look for additional material, like the lyrics.
This text was published in the Sakurazaka46's debut birthday, the actual date of "Nobody's Fault" release. My humble gift to the group was to make a few people to listen to them, give them a chance. Special thanks to @kaibastan and @BarDoTekos. Without them this reviews would not happen, since they actually contacted some people that are featured in this post.
Some other considerations that I think are important:
I didn't make any demands on the type of review. Some people found it better to review the whole thing in a single comment, others preferred to comment song by song (or specific songs). I wanted to give them freedom so the review would be as sincere as possible.
One last thing before the review itself: some people you can probably find on twitter. Regardless of the content of the comments, I ask that there isn't any kind of harassment against these people. It's sad, but that's the internet these days.
Note: All the comments have been translated from portuguese. A few nuances are surely lost in translation, but I've tried my best to make them justice. I'll add notes if needed.
*People are credited by their chosen name/nickname.
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Sakurazaka46 - "As You Know"
The first reviewer decided to comment on the songs he liked the most.
The second reviewer made a general statement about the album and a few songs.
The third reviewer commented on a song-by-song list.
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@BarDoTekos
7. Nagaredama (流れ弾)
Nagaredama is extremely catchy, whether it's its upbeat rhythm or its frenetic dancing, it's a perfect song to listen on a loop until you get tired of it.
8. Dead end
This song has one of the main elements of the group: The rebellion, and this will always be welcome.
12. BAN
It's not the most different or creative song, but it synthesizes the group well, and it would definitely be one of the first I would recommend to someone else.
16. Naze Koi wo Shite Konakattan darou? (なぜ 恋をして来なかったんだろう？)
This one I initially liked because I thought the center was kind of cute, but then I realized that lyrics represents me a lot.
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GABUW__
It is my first time listening to a Sakurazaka46 album, at the very first song I liked it a lot. What I liked the most in the lyrics of Masatsukeisu is that it expresses that we should be far more sincere, I like motivational song, and that was my reading of the lyrics, but maybe it's not 100% correct.
The other song that I liked was "Guuzen no Kotae", it's that kind of romantic song that has that sad tone of unrequited love.
About the album, I really loved it, it's very diverse and there are songs that very cheeful and vibrant, romantic and there are some that and calmer and motivational, which I liked the most. After listening to the whole album, Masatsukeisu was my favourite.
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@kaibastan
1. Overture
Lively, fun vibe, but I found it forgettable.
2. Masatsukeisu (摩擦係数)
I felt an anime opening vibe. I can easily imagine this song playing as the opening of an adventure anime... maybe InuYasha? I think it would be a good match. It's really nice to listen to, but I thought it was a bit too long... more than 5 minutes.
3. Samidare yo (五月雨よ) / 4. Boku no Dilemma (僕のジレンマ) /5. Shakan Kyori (車間距離)
All of them gave me a similar vibe, of songs made to be coreographed. I can imagine that watching them live may be a lot of fun.
6. Seifuku no Ningyo (制服の人魚)
I liked this one because I could hear each girl's voices separately, in a way that isn't exactly a rap, but I like it. They have beautiful voices and the song is upbeat. The chorus with them singing together ended up being the song highlight for being different from the rest of the song.
7. Nagaredama (流れ弾)
I liked the guitars in this song, I focused more in the instrumental than the vocal itself.
8. Dead end
This one also gave an anime vibe, but not like the opening, but an insert song for that moment when the characters are preparing for a final battle/challenge. I liked it!
9. Mugon no Uchuu (無言の宇宙)
I don't know exactly what to say about this song, but it's good to hear.
10. Sonia (ソニア)
I didn't like this one very much... I thought it kind of nahh, I'm not sure. Generic, maybe. I found the chorus kind of annoying.
11. Jamaica Beer (ジャマイカビール)
Another one that didn't catch my eye.
12. BAN
I liked this right from the intro! Very fun to listen to. I thought it was cool how it starts with a girl singing, then two, then it seems to be three. The vibe of the song is really nice.
13. Guuzen no Kotae (偶然の答え)
This one seems to be the slowest? Not slow enought to be a ballad (thank god) but it starts slower, to get uplift later. I like this kind of song.
14. Omotta Yori mo Sabishikunai (思ったよりも寂しくない)
Slice of life anime vibe... I liked it. I liked the "rap" around 1 minute.
15. Nobody's fault
Fun, also sounds like a battle music.
16. Naze Koi wo Shite Konakattan darou? (なぜ 恋をして来なかったんだろう？)
Cool as well, I specially like the part where they sing fast, it's always the most fun to try to sing along.
17. Buddies
It's an okay track... I can understand why someone would like it, but it's really not my style. Also found it unnecessarily long and, yeah, more than 5 minutes yet again.
18. Jouken Hansha de Nakete Kuru (条件反射で泣けて来る)
Ehhhhh, dunno. Neutral.
19. One-way stairs
This one's cool! I found it very different from the other in a good way!
20. Time Machine de Yeah! (タイムマシーンでYeah!)
This one is specifically happy and too colourful for me, I don't know how to explain it, but I din't like it. lol I didn't even want to hear it until the end.
21. Zutto Haru Dattara naa (ずっと 春だったらなあ)
A good ending for the album. Of course, I can't speak about the lyrics of the songs, but vice of this one, due to the melody and stuff, is very end-like, that's my impression at least. Good song!
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Two Years!
I was hoping to gather more people (I aimed to get five), but the end of the year keeps people pretty busy. Maybe I should plan a few months ahead next time - at least it's a lesson to learn. Even so, I would like to thank everyone who participated and who volunteered to participate and could not for some personal reason.
In the end, I think the opinions were positive overall. I'm truly glad the album really has this energy that can get a few people who knows little to nothing about them, but obviously, if given the chance to.
If anyone is interested in my overall opinion of the album - it's also positive, and I'm really excited for the future. I hope that on the day we are talking about the second album, it will again be an album filled with good songs again. If the biggest complaint is that it's full of good songs from the singles that came out before, I think it's fair to say that the path has been more positive than negative.
The next album will be full of newcomers and maybe less original members. Sad in a way, but the future is really promising and I hope the newcomers are welcomed with great songs.
Thank you for reading.
