So the other day, doop-dee-doop and all that, I see that one of my all-time anti-favorite acts in idol had a new MV. Should I write about it? I thought. Should I see what it’s like before making a call on that? That seemed wise. But then again, the artist in question, most easily referred to in their preferred shorthand — that is, SHINGEKI — you almost always know exactly what you’re getting, the only questions being left to the finer details. And so I thought, ah, let’s just Weekender that stuff again, nobody will miss it. BUT, friends, a different kind of realization struck me. See, it’s been some time since SHINGEKI came into our lives, and there have no doubt been hundreds of you whose journey into idol started after that and potentially even after this website stopped automatically posting every dang thing they did, so:

I decided that maybe, maybe just this time, I could try to fulfill the purpose of this website and put some context to the … I actually don’t know how to describe the way I usually respond to and consider SHINGEKI stuff. It’s almost always enjoyable if you can put away particular expectations other than “expect anything”; it’s almost always “good” in the sense that whichever musical elements they’re randomly slamming together sound nice and even sometimes tie together well; nonetheless, could I be accused of disparagement when it comes to SHINGEKI, something that would rise above light, good-natured teasing perhaps all the way to outright mockery? It’s all on the table, folks. But this post isn’t to recapitulate past observances, it’s to give those of you who either don’t know this wild-ass project or have only encountered it in snips and/or my backhanded remarks a chance to experience it in all its glory and then make your own judgements.

So. New single:

I am very curious as to your reactions. IIRC the original community response to this stuff was fairly enthusiastic, only (for most people) to fade after a while. Schticks work in idol, after all, but a schtick of “we’re so random!” can only get you so far; at some point, that all needs to coalesce into something tangibly enjoyable. I of course was a latecomer to this realization, given that I like both schticks in general and really random stuff more than the average bear, so I was still far more receptive to six time changes and four entirely different genres of music within three minutes of composition than I’d like to admit.

Ah ha! says the prog fan who also really likes things like acid jazz and White Ward and Candiria, but this is clearly all intentional and therefore artistic choices and because I, the strawman advancing Maniac’s convenient hypothetical, happen to like those artistic choices, SHINGEKI is actually not just Good, but Really Good, and a unique thing in idol that we are privileged to have.

Great. Cool. Whatever you need, guys. Like it, don’t like it, as far as I’m concerned a thing like SHINGEKI creates completely valid reactions from everybody who reacts to it, so may your own experience be the most positive one for you. And seeing as how they have many more fans than most of our personal favorites’, they’re clearly doing something right.