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IZ*ONE is back with their third Japanese single titled “Vampire”, which is just in time as Japan goes full-force with Halloween festivities.
The single was a success as first day sales was 174,242 copies but brought in weekly sales of 205,032 copies (Oricon Charts) and 344,828 (Billboard Japan Top Single Sales) and taking the #1 spot for both weekly charts.
For this review, I’m going to review both Type A & Type B versions.
Both have different covers, as “Suki to Iwasetai” featured the group with Shibuya Crossing in the background, the latest single features Harajuku’s Takeshita Street/Harajuku in the background and each CD comes with a photo and also a code to get a chance to possibly meet an IZ*ONE member.
The insert booklet is a tri-fold featuring lyrics and production credits, while the other side features photos of each of the 12 members.
And if anything, they made sure that fans will want to purchase both versions of the single, because not just for the songs but also the DVD content, which is very cool and I will get into it later in this review.
The single kicks off with “Vampire” written by Akimoto Yasushi and featuring music arrangement by CHOCOLATE MIX, a song about liking someone so much, wanting to try and hate the person but can’t and wishing to be a vampire, so you can bite them, knowing each other more than a kiss.
The song remains consistent with their Japanese style of songs, so there are people who prefer their K-Pop dance tracks versus their Japanese music, but for the most part, as an avid listener to J-Pop and K-Pop, I’m used to the differences and have accepted and enjoy it.
The second track “Kimi Igai” (Other Than You) is also written by Akimoto Yasushi and music by SCOOP MUSIC’s Hara Kazuhiro, known for creating music for EXILE, BoA and Koda Kumi. I have to say that I was delighted that Aki-P brought Hara for this track. I love the arrangement and dance beats and for those who grew up with BoA’s music, Hara is known for her songs “LISTEN TO MY HEART”, “VALENTI”, “Merikuri” and more! So, this was a cool to have Hara involved in this track.
As for the lyrics, this is actually a deep song about wanting to love someone who doesn’t reciprocate that same love. And wanting to be loved and feel loved.
The third track is by written by CHO YUN KYOUNG and IZ*ONE members Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Minju and features music and arrangement by DRO, BIN, CAPITALIST.
This is actually a fun song in which Miyawaki Sakura said the following on her radio show:
I wrote the song ‘Love Bubble’ with Kim Minju, but we really didn’t have time to write the lyrics. I believe we did it in a week. It really is different to make lyrics with two people, because we have have our own story. If you mix it, it would not become a story. So, what should I do? When I heard a version with no lyrics, I wanted to discuss what kind of image I had and tried to bring them together. I told Minju and we were thinking exactly the same thing. There were various corrections, but the first theme was a place where I came to see IZ*ONE at an amusement park or an exciting place. Even if you had a hard time, if you are WIZ*ONE, you can be happy if you came here and it’s a song that would make everyone fel happy. Minju had the exact same idea. I talked about making a song for WIZ*ONE and received advice. So, when I heard the version with the members singing the lyrics, I was so happy and thought, “Wow! These are the lyrics I wrote” and I was happy and also a little embarrassed (laughing). Also, on the CD, the lyrics are written as by Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Minju and when I saw this, I felt “Wow!”. When I heard people listening to it, it was amazing. It was an amazing feeling that I had never had before. It’s a different feeling than a song you are singing and I felt very happy.
The song no doubt has a bubble feel to it and I enjoyed it. It’s a happy love song and the lyrics reflect that. An all day party, bubbles going up to the sky, white bubbles popping. The lyrics can get a bit misconstrued as something else, but I suppose it depends on the person who’s listening to it and how they interpret it.
But I do like the fact that they allowed a Korean song on this single, do give a bit of diversity with the tracks and also I like the fact that for “Kimi Igai”, they brought in Hara, and has given many hit songs for BoA in Japan. So, that was cool! And felt the c/w songs on this single was much better this time around versus “Buenos Aires”, although I really enjoyed the c/w songs for “Suki to Iwasetai”.
And of course, “Vampire” is a cool song. Granted, I love the music video so much more but I have listened to the songs many times during my commute, as I have with the previous two singles.
As these are the three songs for Type-A and they are featured also as instrumental tracks, for Type-B, instead of “Love Bubble”, included is the song “Shigaisen Nanka Buttobase” (Let’s Shoot Ultraviolet Rays) and is a song written by Akimoto Yasushi and featuring arrangement by Maesako Junya and Rikimaru Takashi.
The song is about the summer sun and not liking to go out because the ultraviolet rays are too strong and bad for the skin. But the person was invited to the beach by someone she likes, so she will go. So, she wears a sleeveless shirt and puts on plenty of sunscreen. And realizing how much she enjoys to be at the beach and how heavenly it is. And wanting to wear a swimsuit, but will she be bold enough to do it or will she be embarrassed? And the song ends with her saying, “Let’s run through the beach….Wow! Romance”.
OK, now as I mentioned, the big difference of one wanting to get both versions is the DVD content.
With Type-A, you get 33 minutes of content.
You get the music video of “Vampire” and this is probably me nitpicking, but I wish Universal would start releasing Blu-ray versions on disc, instead of DVD. The YouTube video looks so much better than the DVD release and it’s probably the only thing that I wish Universal considers doing for IZ*ONE.
Now included is the special feature “Tokuten Eizo [Watashitachi no Jikan] Part One” (Special Video [This is Our Time] Part One). The first part features IZ*ONE visiting a special museum for WIZ*ONE and the group looking at the various costumes being displayed but also the best part, is the group surprising many of their fans.
In the video, fans sit in front of a cardboard cutout of IZ*ONE, not knowing that with each photo, IZ*ONE members are standing right behind them. And their reaction when they see the photo with IZ*ONE behind theme is priceless! That was so cool to see!
Now for some, they may choose Type-A over Type-B to save money, which is understandable. But the reason why I do recommend Type-B is because it features the continuation of the “Tokuten Eizo [Watashitachi no Jikan]” and also includes the making of the “Vampire” music video.
Like Type-A, you get the music video for “Vampire”.
For ” “Tokuten Eizo [Watashitachi no Jikan] Part Two”, WIZ*ONE gets to watch a special mini-concert performance with WIZ*ONE. Included is a performance of “Buenos Aires” and “Suki to Iwasetai”, and hear comments from their fans, but also WIZ*ONE started to sing their song “Secret Time” in unison to IZ*ONE which was very cool and would make each member start tearing.
And the final video is the making of the music video “Vampire” which is about eight minutes long. From Honda Hitomi putting her hands and having to touch jellyfish(?), how the scene with Kwon Eunbi and Kim Minju, Minju couldn’t keep a straight face as she kept cracking up. And then what happens when Choi Yena, Yabuki Nako and Kang Hyewon discover a trampoline and how much time the group put into the making of the music video.
Overall, “Vampire” is my favorite IZ*ONE Japanese single release by far. While musically, I enjoyed the songs on “Suki to Iwasetai” a bit more, content-wise, “Vampire” is a well-balanced release and you get more for your money. While it was cool to get music videos for a c/w song in the past two previous singles, the added content on the DVD for this single alone makes both Type-A and Type-B versions of “Vampire” worth owning.
Recommended!
