Song of the Day #144 - Leo Ieiri - イジワルな神様

Idol crush!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7l1MmgoxxM

I'm kinda new to the whole "idol" scene and I'm still not sure what exactly what I'm looking for but I know I found it here. Leo Ieiri is a gigantic deal in Japan, but afaik she hasn't broken over too far into western territory. She's famous for her lionesque eyes and voice, and generally seems to have a very intense sort of aesthetic... the "world" of her videos always seems to be some sort of desolate place in which her passions have to rage for some sort of prosperity to bloom. Or something. It isn't an uncommon sort of emotional state to write from, but there seems to be something very real and personal about this one. Or at least I've been sold that.

What is more readily evident is that wow oh wow she can sing. I love the transition from the first verse to the chorus, the way she locks into that new line with absolute power and confidence. Especially when she dips into her lower register like at 1:18, and the insane leap at 1:30, with those strange backing vocals. The song is about her displeasure with some sort of god or something idk I'm just a lazy/filthy gaijin. Despite this total lack of comprehension I still feel qualified to speak to the message and  I feel like this sort of song is both targeted "at" the listener but also allows the listener to feel on the "side" of the singer.

It's like uhhh... in a shonen manga, when the hero is beating up the badguy, and she's talking to the badguy, it's being directed "at" you in that you're supposed to be out of the perspective of the hero for the moment and simply "witnessing" her power, but obviously you're on the "side" of the hero. Ummm sorry if this isn't making any sense, I'm new at this whole idol crush thing and it's hard to put it into words. Also I use this analogy because holy cow Leo Ieiri actually looks like hella cool to me, the sort of badass sort of cool that I appreciate in my shonen protagonists. It isn't very often that someone comes along that inspires that sort of response in me.