The Perfume Effect

In deciding on a “first post,” I realized… Well, there’s really nothing HUUUUGE going on in Perfume land!  So what are you supposed to do when you need to bs a blog entry?

The same thing you do when you need to bs a DBQ for US History AP!

Perfume is Love.  That’s the tagline of this blog (even though wordpress believes its “Just a kickin’ Perfume blog”).  But why is Perfume “Love”?

That, ladies and gentlemen, would be called the Perfume Effect.  What is the Perfume Effect, you ask?

It’s Perfume innate ability to win over most people through their cuteness, catchy music and the kickass PVs.

Kashiyuka, A~chan and Nocchi have made a splash in the Jpop world, and not many people are too sure why, exactly.  Three girls from Hiroshima who embarked upon an Idol career ended up as the techno sweethearts of Jpop, with catchy singles like Polyrhythm and everyone’s favorite, Electro World.  There’s a lot to the group that people like–afterall, everyone keeps comparing the track Internet Cupid from BUONO!’s debut album to a Perfume song.  That alone says something.

So, let’s look at the things that make Perfume so… well-liked in the blogosphere, and outside it, as well.

#1: Kashiyuka wa kawaii~!!  And so are those other too, I guess.

I’ve always said that H!P’s Country Musume (CowMusu) was made up of some of the least attractive girls in H!P.  Not that they were ALL ugly, or anything, it’s just that they weren’t as pretty.

To that effect, sometimes, Perfume can resemble them.  However, the girls themselves make up for it in this entire aura of adorability.  A~chan and Nocchi are the subjects of the “maybe-kinda-unattractive” claim.  But when put with Kashiyuka, they turn into an adorable little unit.  Besides this, on their own, each girl has the potential to shine.  They’re adorable; besides this, they take possibly the best promotional pictures a trio could take.

This alone makes people go, “Ooh, three cute girls?  Let’s take a quick listen.”

#2: Pretty Catchy Music!

Once a casual listener takes up Perfume, it’s kind of difficult to stop.  Their music is like a drug of some sort.  Every song has something to offer–from the slow-paced but adorable Baby cruising Love to the whispery Valentine’s Day Chocolate Disco.  Their music gets repetitive, but all techno is relatively repetitive.

But the repetition gets their songs stuck in your head.  And once a song is stuck there, you can be sure you’ll be randomly blurting out lyrics left and right–once at a play practice, I randomly got up on the stage, made a peace sign and said “1. 2. 3. 4. ICHI NI TO SAN~! HAI!” for no real reason.  But for some reason, Perfume’s music will make you do silly things like that.  Every song has the capability of getting ingrained into your head.  It sits, waiting for the perfect, most embarassing moment to make itself known–perhaps during a dinner party your mother is throwing, or during a dance class.

Besides this, the catchy-ness of it makes it rather universal.  Even my little sister (the one from the Experiment with the MoMusu) likes Perfume, and has narrowed down the songs she wants to do for her talent show to Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band, and, surprisingly, Chocolate Disco.  And let me tell you, if she’s doing Chocolate Disco, she’s doing that cute dance.

What dance?

#3: The best PVs possible = Happy Happy Technopop Fans

Why, THIS dance!

The dance for Chocolate Disco is just one great dance that the Perfume girls have given us. Others are Computer City, Polyrhythm, Baby cruising Love, and Electro World. Along with this, they just tend to have GREAT PVs.

The first Perfume PV I had the pleasure of watching was Computer City. It took me one watch to like it. There was something charming about the simplicity of the PV–it wasn’t “cheap” like H!P PVs, or dramatic like AKB48, but it was… charming, in its seizure-inducing way.

Besides that, their accents make it sound like “Computer Shitty” which always makes the typical American giggle to an extent.

Anyway, with their adorable PVs and dances, it’s hard not to like them, right?

Two words: Electro World. This is arguably the best PV Perfume has come out with, because its ORIGINAL. It’s not as completely simple as the other ones, but it makes you go “WOW.” Not every PV can do that–not even the big names. I still watch some Ayu PVs and go, “What the fuck, avex, can’t you do anything right?” The Electro World PV seems to feature a computerized city in the Electro World. The dance features a running motion (a nod to the opening lines, which talk about running).

Also, come on, the tetris scene is just SO cute.

To date, I haven’t found a Perfume PV that I hate. I don’t think there ARE any. Each PV has something different in it to make it stand out–whether its Computer City’s recurring “Perfume” label popping up everywhere, Polyrhythm’s random-as-fuck apple, or Baby cruising Love’s Cum-Ball of Light.

Conclusion

What else can I say at this point? Perfume really is Love. There’s always something about them, that makes you go “WOW~!” There’s always something about them that makes you think “This group is just so awesome.”

And there’s always something that makes you go “Wow, this is what I wish Jpop was like.”

Anyway, I’ll try to find something more to write about Perfume soon. ♥