Review ~ LM.C
LM.C: The Music Videos
A mechanicalized voice welcomes you to the screen with the announcement: "LM.C. THE MUSIC VIDEOS." LM.C's music videos are a few light years ahead of the average promotional video. Trained thought and a considerable amount of effort can clearly be sensed from the videos, which are shamelessly colorful and action-paced. Being one of LM.C's most prominent features, one of the guilty pleasures that draws fans to their realm, it was only a matter of time before the videos were captured in this nicely packed DVD. The menu for instance is like looking at a map of Disneyland, except in this case it would be LM.C land. It's strangely fitting given that much of the music videos are like amusement park rides themselves. After watching one you might feel slightly dizzy but extremely thrilled from the rush. Just don't let your DVD player suffer from constant rewind.
★Rock the LM.C★ - It falls in line with videos like P.O.D.'s "Rock the Party" and Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'". It's one of those songs that revs up the engine on parties and the music video falls consistently on top of that image, showcasing LM.C on a raised platform surrounded on all four sides by devoted fans mindlessly rocking it out alongside them. It's easy to see why this one is maya's favorite. Guy looks damn confident and cool in every single frame.
little Fat Man boy - The trippy video tells its story employing the wonderful technique that is claymation. Claymation maya and Aiji look impressively identical to their real life counterparts. Actual maya and Aiji do appear in the video through a TV that their claymation characters are watching. In the meantime, besides being freaked out by seeing themselves as real people on TV, claymation maya and Aiji go on adventures on a little rocket submarine ship, break a hole into the ground using a kitten turned jack hammer and unleash a geiser of star sprinkles. Very wacky and entertaining overall. Doesn't take itself too seriously.
OH MY JULIET. - Yes, the Juliet is in reference to Shakespere's Romeo + Juliet. If any doubt was cast on whether or not that be the case, the video kind of confirms it with its starting title of "Romeo and Juliet, Montague Capulet." This video would make a great introduction to those who know nothing about LM.C or think visual kei is all screamo noise. The music is catchy and easy to get into and the video is stylishly badass from start to finish.
BOYS&GIRLS - OK. Brilliant song, but the combined effects from the lighting and editing make this video somewhat of an eyesore. It suffers from being too bright and some sloppy editing here and there. But I'm loving the giant LM.C balloon and how enthusiastically Aiji plays when the spotlight's on him.
LIAR LIAR - The videos before LIAR LIAR are all drained in more or less the same colors - dark, blue, dark blue... From this PV on the videos get very colorful. Apart from looking like it came out of a cereal box, the video has a very sweet tone overall and matches the song quite well. maya has the look of a circus magician, and the video plays around between his LIAR LIAR persona and LM.C and co rocking out in an abandoned warehouse and ending with a candy-touched finish, literally (guest appearance by giant chupa chup!).
Sentimental PIGgy Romance - I didn't think music videos could surpass Hello! Project cuteness, but apparantly they can. The irresistably adorable video shows an animated world where pigs fly and fall in love with lions. Fits the title literally to a T and makes me smile everytime I watch it.
Bell the CAT - The most flirtacious of LM.C's videos, Bell the Cat is appropriately crazy where it needs to be and slyly seductive everywhere else. The video features an assortment of performers ranging from fire spinners to drummers, most wearing kabuki make-up. The carnival atmosphere is intensely played up and the action is constantly moving towards the camera. Fun ride and equally fun song!
JOHN - If Lite Brite had been conceptualized as a video, John might have been the end result. Visually its extraordinary and conceptually its astonishing. DENKI-MAN is featured prominently throughout and is painfully addictive to watch with his hyperactive dance moves. Enjoy this video's zany unpredictability! Were I to crown a video from the LM.C batch for groundbreaking achievement, it might be this one but unfortunately the video suffers from being cut off at the end. The absence of the ending will leave viewers feeling very dissatisfied to say the least.
88 - Crystalized in wonder, 88 showcases an honesty unlike the previous videos. Like most of LM.C's videos, you can expect an explosion of color around every corner. According to maya, the song refers to constellations in the sky. The video makes reference to that as the camera pans around LM.C and its support members. A genuine effort, everyone gets a moment in the spotlight, and the video creatively and successfully expresses the beauty of stars.
An extra feature on the DVD is a live performance clip of BOYS&GIRLS filered in with various behind-the-scenes footage. Its fairly interesting to watch and gives the viewer an idea of what its like to witness them live.
This would have been a perfect collection of music videos but it sadly doesn't include the making-ofs, which would have settled some satisfaction for curiosity's sake. It also would have added some extra flavor to include some behind-the-scenes footage aside from the bonus live performance of BOYS&GIRLS. Without it, the dvd loses the juicy appeal it could have had. Another annoyance that I already mentioned is that JOHN is cut off at the end. How this dvd could have been released with such a glaringly obvious mistake is beyond me. The lack of extra features aside, the pamphlet would be of major interest to anyone who enjoys karaoke. It includes romaji lyrics for all the videos featured on the dvd. You can pocket it for a night out of karaoke and not have to worry about messing up the lyrics.
As a bonus, this DVD would also be great to play during a party. Since the music is consistently peppy and serves to pump up the volume, it's perfect for a party atmosphere. Kill two birds with one stone: Introduce your friends to LM.C and watch your drunk friends be mesmorized by the crazy visuals.
Review by Sarah
LM.C: THE MUSIC VIDEOS is available at the Maru Music on-line store, Amazon.com, Hot Topic stores and selected Anime Stores.
Maru Music Online
LM.C Official Website
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