Romance no Tochuu 5/5
Juice=Juice’s debut song, and what a debut! RNT still keeps their sort of funk/retro sound that they had in Samidare and Watashi ga iu. I love the chorus in this! The verses I feel get a little repetitive towards the last half of the song, but the “Everybody Clap Your Hands” part makes up for it.
Iijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo 5/5
RNT was amazing, but this is even better than that! Once again, Ijiwaru still has that funk sound we’ve heard from Juice=Juice, but amplifies it. This song is so catchy, and Tomoko’s voice is amazing in this!! This single is classy as heck, from the vocals, to the clothing, to the MV, to the dance! probably Juice=Juice’s best song!
Hajimete wo Keikenshuu 4.5/5
I wish this song was a b-side instead of an a-side. Compared to what J=J has released do far, this seems so out of place. The opening has an awesome rock sound, and then it just turns into the normal “Cute” idol sound. For being closer to the idol side, this song is actually really great. The guitar goes well with the song. It’s just a surprise because I didn’t think of Juice=Juice as a group who would release this type of music.
HADAKA no HADAKA no HADAKA no Kiss 5/5
I love this song as well! To me, It’s up there with Ijiwaru! Even though J=J doesn’t really have an official “style” or “genre” yet, It keeps with their overall style that they’ve been doing so far. It sort of has a latin influence to it’s instrumental. I absolutely love the chorus! Even the dance is really great!
Are Kore Shitai! 4.5/5
Another “idol-ish” song? What is this?? Unlike Hajimete wo Keikenchuu, this isn’t as catchy. I like the instrumental, which is pretty nice. And the chorus is pretty adorable. Once agian, for an Idol-ish song, this is pretty great. It’s not catchy on the first listen, and takes a while to like, but is a pretty nice song. Again, If it wasn’t for the cute dance and MV, I think it should have been a b-side.
Black Butterfly 3.5/5
Here we have a very cool, tango influenced song, which fits right in with Juice=Juice’s sound. This song showcases one of Juice=Juice’s best instrumentals. However, the verses are a little boring, with the chorus being the main selling point.
Kaze ni Fukarete 4/5
Here is a more cool sounding song. The pace of the song reminds me of Hadaka a lot. I think the instrumental is really cool. What is that bagpipes? And the vocals are pretty awesome. Other than that, nothing too special going on here. This song suffers what Black butterfly suffered. The verses are a little boring, with the chorus being the main selling point.
Senobi 4.5/5
I think that this song is very Juice=Juice. It seems to fit in with their sound nicely. The chorus kind of saves this song. It’s the kind of the best part of the song, with the “WOW WOW’s” (Which are so freakin’ catchy) and the awesome ‘Aitai’ part after. Other than that, I think this song is a little bland. Originally, I liked this song over Date jai nai, but that kind of changed the more I listened to this.
Date jai nai yo uchi no jinsei wa 5/5
According to the majority of fans, this is kind of the less liked song of the single. I agree, but I play this song much more than Senobi. and I have no idea why. This song is nothing special, and sounds like a rushed J=J song, but I really like it. I love the energy of the song, and the dance with all of the arm movements is pretty cool!
Overall, I felt like Juice=juice has formed into a nice group. Their 2013 singles were better, however. In 2014, It seems like the group kind of experimented a little too much. They pretty much had all double A-sides in 2014, and I found myself only loving one of the A-sides every time from each single. Don’t get me wrong, experimentation is good! But you have to establish your sound first before going crazy. I thought J=J’s sound was that brass/jazzy kind of sound, but UFA doesn’t seem to be very consistent with that. Let’s see how this group fares in 2015!
Strawberry LOVE 