BIGBANG - Koe wo Kikasete PV (Ohitori-sama OP) November 25
It’s funny the things you can inadvertently come across on the Internet when you’re trying to blog an episode of anime and looking for some new PVs at the same time. While this is completely unrelated to anime and has no precedence here, I found the song interesting enough to post about it. It’s titled “Koe wo Kikasete” (Let Me Hear Your Voice) and is the opening theme of the currently airing Japanese drama Ohitori-sama. Now if you’re somewhat unfamiliar with Asian music, the unexpected part is that BIGBANG is actually a five-member boyband from Korea. This isn’t the first time Korean artists have ventured into the Japanese market, nor will it be the last, but I’ve been pretty detached from the non-anime-related music scene for the past while. As it turns out, they’re another one of YG Entertainment’s money-making creations and a pretty popular one too. For a detailed rundown of the group, I’ll refer you to their wiki page.
What I wanted to point out though is that I found this song surprisingly good for a very odd reason. It doesn’t sound very Japanese at all. Neither does their pronunciation of the lyrics, which sounds a bit off to me at times. In short, it sounds like what it is — a Korean-ized Japanese song. But I’ll be damned, it’s really catchy and I’ve been looping it for the past while. I guess I’m not the only one that thinks so either, seeing as it topped out at #4 on the Oricon charts earlier this month. If you’re negatively swayed by the image of Asian boybands (or boybands in general), I suggest not watching the PV right away, simply clicking play, and letting your ears decide. I unintentionally did the same when I stumbled on the video and walked away for a bit, then heard the song playing from afar and thought, “Hmm, this song’s pretty good.” Anyway, you’ll probably notice that their rappers have pretty good English as well, something I find fairly common with Korean artists given how heavily influenced they are by western hip hop and R&B artists.
That said, I’m kind of tempted to go check out the Ohitori-sama drama now. Based on the synopsis, it sounds like something I’d enjoy too. This might not be a good thing from an anime blogging perspective though. I can feel my Jdrama senses tingling. Once you get caught up in the whole drama phase, it’s hard to get out of it for a while! Hmm, what to do…
Animeluv at 11:14 pm on November 25th, 2009
oh my god i love Big Bang!!!!
Anonymous at 11:34 pm on November 25th, 2009
The song was pretty good (the Engrish bits had me LOLing as usual), but the music video had me cringing at the cheesyness of it, as I always seem to when I force myself to watch Asian MVs…
Avalon85 at 11:37 pm on November 25th, 2009
Ohitori-sama is definitely worth checking out. Thanks for the PV, they only play a really tiny part of it during the jdrama.
shuffleair at 11:43 pm on November 25th, 2009
Ah, this song is really catchy. I’m kind of compelled to watch the drama now. >_>
pierce at 11:47 pm on November 25th, 2009
lol After reading the sypnosis of Ohitori-sama, I was curious to know the main characters’ real ages. It turns out that Koike Teppei (Kamisaka Shinichi) is indeed 10 years younger than Satomi. The show seems interesting if you’re into love stuff, which isn’t something I’m too excited about.
Azbaby at 11:59 pm on November 25th, 2009
Divine u have finally joined the other side to the asian media wave i welcome u and the drama is good very cliche sorta but it is a fun jdrama to watch nonetheless
Someone at 12:02 am on November 26th, 2009
Hoooooh I’m a BIG Big Bang fan *o* I listened to the song on the day it just came out and fell completely in love with it <3
Syllen at 12:06 am on November 26th, 2009
lol the song is ridiculously catchy
divine at 12:10 am on November 26th, 2009
Thanks Azbaby, but who says I haven’t been on this side before… OR have been from the very beginning. =)
ZenFalyn at 1:05 am on November 26th, 2009
Quite a good find, indeed. I was surprised at how well they did some of the English bits in the song, since it brought a different feel to it once it did happen, but I thought that it made the overall performance a bit richer.
I had to lol at the music video itself, though.
Key at 1:44 am on November 26th, 2009
I have to agree with you.
Once you venture into the drama-world you won’t get out so easily…
As of big bang, I’m totally in love with them.
I just gotta love their songs, but it surprises me that Taeyang ( The one with his sides shaved), Daesung ( which sings most of the interlude of the chorus) and Seungri (the one with the short hair) get to sing the majority of the song.
Nonetheless I still like them.
Have to check out the drama now I guess.
ciq666 at 1:58 am on November 26th, 2009
wow, nice song and good english
Kari at 2:27 am on November 26th, 2009
One Piece had a Korean band earlier this year too. Perhaps its a new trend?
maAkusutipen at 2:27 am on November 26th, 2009
I am with your observation that their pronunciation was really strange.
I really thought to myself… Is it just me or has my ears gone bad? I kept thinking that since they actually released a japanese single like this they really put some effort fixing their enunciation, right?
Well, at least someone else noticed it and here I was being paranoid.
m at 2:37 am on November 26th, 2009
Meh. I can’t find anything good to say about the song. The genre it inhabits doesn’t do anything for me.
I am always up for trying out new dramas though. Looking at it from afar it reminds me a little of Anego.
Stuff at 2:44 am on November 26th, 2009
oh wow, finally got rid of their wannabe gangsta concept they had going on. I’ll give them a chance now. Haven’t listened to a YG artist since Lexy.
rawrME at 3:04 am on November 26th, 2009
TOP~
Masami at 3:21 am on November 26th, 2009
Needs more G-Dragon. Just kidding. Love this song, love Big Bang.
Hotarubi at 3:32 am on November 26th, 2009
ehm…some pronunciation is weird, but overall it’s very good…i don’t know what you guys are smoking.
ohitorisama is an awesome drama, you should check it out…it’s a very light hearted comedy with very cute characters haha.
Freya at 4:09 am on November 26th, 2009
roflmao….I’m watching this drama now.