Let's review!
First of all, I think this is the first full length 'making' of an AKB48 related photo book release. Some photo books such as Nakata Chisato's came with a 'making of' DVD, but that's just 20 minutes of random footage.
Kingyobachi takes a full hour to break down the various shoots of Matsui Rena's photo book. One question which plagues my mind is: "What is the added value of a making of DVD, rather than using the same settings to film an Image Video?" I thought about this all day, but have yet to come up with a conclusive answer.
Let's start with the things I liked, which can be best described by setting it off against the photo book. My main beef with
Kingyo was that they were trying too hard to make it special, meaning it didn't feel like it captured the charm of the Matsui Rena I like. I feel that this DVD comes a lot closer to capturing her charm. The best scenes therefore are the moments before and after the shoots. Scenes were she falls asleep, giggles about how embarrassed she is and all that stuff. That is Rena, that is what I want to see.
Another thing I absolute hate about the photo book are the 'forced sexy' shots, such as Rena eating the banana on the street and the up skirt shot when she reads the book. By the way, Rena said they just gave her the bananas and she didn't know what to do with them. So pure. Anyway, this video takes a much more classy approach. You barely get any clear shots of the sexy moments in the photo book. I felt that the swimming pool scene was very tastefully done. In addition, there is zero footage of topless Rena in the tub. I'm sure this will enrage various people, but I am truly happy about that.
Rena wears too much make-up in some of these scenes, but due to this new footage I can appreciate it a bit more. The black dress scene and the make-up make Rena look really mature, which definitely adds something extra. I now realize that the scope of the photo book is much wider than I initially gave it credit for.
However, looking at this DVD I can't help but feel how much opportunities they missed. The footage of Rena swinging in the water is absolutely gorgeous. I feel that the 'black and white' option they used in the photo book doesn't add anything. Secondly, I still feel that they should have used more photo's of Rena smiling. She smiled quite a lot, yet the actual book focuses too much on her 'mature expressions.' Overall the book has a very depressing feel to it. In some ways this reflects part of Rena's personality, but they definitely failed to show the other sides of her in the book, which do come through in this DVD.
The extra footage is a bit hit or miss. The Shibuya footage was awesome. Rena browsing her own book was cute and it gave us some more insights in how she views this entire experience. The twenty questions felt a bit rushed. Rena sitting on her knees on that stool made it seem like she has four metal legs, haha.
My favorite scenes include:
- The extra footage in Shibuya where Rena goes around town to check out the huge promotional posters and gets too embarrassed to look at them.
- Rena falling asleep everywhere.
- Rena feeding the fish.
- Rena trying to handle a fork. It's like me and chop sticks; I get the job done eventually, but it not the most elegant sight in the world.
But the absolute highlight of the video is the final scene of the main documentary.
Amazing footage. That is the Rena I like. She said it herself that scene is the most like her.
When I saw that smile I thought "I am never going to spend one cent on an idol who isn't Rena."
In conclusion, I probably prefer this release over the photo book because it shows more sides of Rena and better captures her charm. However, I don't understand why they chose the making approach over shooting a proper image video. Footage of Rena getting her make-up done isn't the most exciting stuff in the world, so perhaps an IV approach would've made better use of the one hour we got on this DVD. On the other hand, if they did go for the IV approach, it probably wouldn't have turned as classy as it is now and neither would we have gotten to see Rena's off-shots moments, so I guess this approach is for the best.
One thing I am interested in is what people who aren't Rena fans think of this video and if they felt the 'making of' approach was interesting at all. That is something which I simply can't judge without being biased. Sadly, if you're not Rena's fan you're probably not going to sit through these 90 minutes. If you have even the slightest interest in Rena, I would recommend watching it.
Topic: [2012.07.25] Matsui Rena - DVD/Blu-ray "Kingyobachi" (Read 12826 times)