This is going in the wrong direction.
“Reborn Superstar” is the second full-length album from Hanabie. Their previous album was solid, and you could hear they were trying out some new things on that album. So, I was excited to sit down and listen to their third album and see where this journey would take me.
Track 1: Blast Off
This is a short 1-minute introduction song that hints this is going to be an album offering a lot of electronica, I guess. It’s pretty groovy, but way too short. However, it gives us a big hint of what’s waiting for us. So, let’s continue!
Track 2: Hyperdimension Galaxy
You can already hear in this song that Hanabie wants to try out something new with this album, which I’m fine with as long as the quality is there.
This is a playful song that offers a lot of different sounds, and the opening feels like an electropop song. Yukina sounds a little flat in the verses, to be honest.
I’m not the biggest fan of this song as it’s pretty forgettable, and it’s way too poppy for my taste in the chorus. Matsuri doesn’t irritate me as much in the chorus, but I’m a little disappointed that Yukina doesn’t shine as much as she should. Has Matsuri decided to step more in front of the microphone from now on?
Track 3: Neet Game
Oh yeah, here is the Yukina I love when she starts hammering from the forty-second mark! She owns this song, and again there are a lot of electronic sounds in the song as there were in the previous song. It’s a song with a lot of life and chaos in it, and that’s Hanabie’s specialty—to not lose control over the chaos they create when making music.
The chorus is pretty bland. The highlight starts at 1:13, and it’s so hard and catchy. That’s why I love Hanabie—they are the masters of catchy heavy sections. But it’s the chorus in the song that’s lacking, which isn’t something new with this band. However, “Neet Game” is one of the best songs on the album.
Track 4: This Is the Year to Be a Gal (Early Summer Version)
And here is the first song I heard when I discovered Hanabie. I love this song, and it’s one of my favorite Hanabie songs. The opening is so warm and cute, and then it’s party time with Hanabie when they start rocking!
The chorus is awesome, and Matsuri sings it perfectly. This is just a pure, fun song with some heavy riffs, especially the cool and short, hard burst that starts at 1:55. It’s so cool, and I love the way Yukina poses in this scene in the video.
This song is something I would describe as controlled chaos. It’s a song that will make you happy, and everything clicks in this song. I just love the summer sound they created here. I have nothing to complain about at all. It’s more of a poppy Hanabie song, but sometimes that can work, like in this song. So, this is another highlight of the album.
Track 5: Tales of Villain
This is an interesting and aggressive song with a burping Yukina that lets it all out in the opening. She sounds like an insane demon, and the sound of this song is one of the most interesting so far in Hanabie’s career. You can hear the influence of Maximum the Hormone in the first 50 seconds with the way Yukina is half singing and rapping.
There are a lot of electronic sounds in this song also, and the buildup to the chorus is really good. The chorus is more cinematic and dramatic, and I love it since I’m a movie guy. This is one of my favorite songs on this album. This is another highlight, so now we have three great songs in a row. Will we get a fourth one?
Track 6: Warning!!
Another hard song like the previous one, but this sounds too generic and doesn’t offer anything new in the first half of the song. It’s a song that’s more tiring than interesting to listen to. It becomes more playful in the second half, but the chorus is so bland and flat. The highlight is the breakdown around the 1:41 mark, and from that point forward, the quality picks up, and it’s more fun to listen to. But after the 2:30 mark, we are back to a more generic and uninteresting sound.
Track 7: ME, The Ultimate Invader of the Universe
This is the weakest track on the album. It doesn’t sound like Hanabie at all. I think it’s Hettsu who’s singing, but she’s not the problem. It’s a cutesy J-pop trash song from the deepest hell, and I can’t stand soulless music like this song. I’m disappointed in you, Hanabie, for making a song like this and making me listen to it! It’s really BAD. It’s like a five-year-old child made a song, and this is the result. Lord have mercy! One of the worst fillers ever in music history!
Thank God it’s a short song because this was embarrassing!
Track 8: TOUSOU (Run Away)
This isn’t a song I like that much, which means we have three duds in a row. The opening of the song is fun and playful, but the chorus doesn’t do it for me because of Matsuri’s voice. It’s not catchy at all, and it drags the fun out of the song. She takes a step back in this song. Sometimes it’s best to let Yukina sing the whole song, but it seems like Matsuri wants to sing more and more in the last two albums. I honestly think she should take a step back, even though she’s the mastermind behind the group. Her range is so limited, and her voice in some songs sounds like a cat crying for help. But it’s not just her. It’s an annoying song, and it feels like the song is standing in front of you and yelling at you without you feeling the groove.
Track 9: Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now
This is one of the best tracks on the album. It feels more like the Hanabie I like. I’m not sure what kind of instrument I’m hearing, but it sounds Japanese, which is cool and makes the song stand out from the other songs on the album. I believe it’s the same instrument you hear in “Drastic Nadeshiko.”
The chorus is catchy, and this time Matsuri doesn’t sing as much, which was a wise choice. Let Yukina sing more, and everything will be fine.
This is a classic Hanabie song that brings out the smile in you because of the rhythm and the madness going on in this song. The chorus is so catchy, and the audio mixing is excellent. This is Hanabie at their best when they find the groove.
Track 10: Today’s Good Day & So Epic
Ouch, this sounds like a filler. Yukina is in angry punk mode, and there is only one section in this song I like. The chorus is just bad and generic light pop fish. This shouldn’t have been the song they closed the album with. This is a forgettable song that never should have been on the album. This is a pure trash song. Did you get it?
Conclusion:
So, this was the third album, and it’s not as good as the previous album. It feels like Hanabie is branching out and trying to reel in another audience with this album. That’s nothing new, and many of my favorite bands lost me as a fan by doing that, especially Metallica with that damn “Black Album”!
What concerns me is that Matsuri seems to be singing more and more. I’m not a fan of that because of her limits as a vocalist. Yukina should get the chance to sing most of the songs alone, and Matsuri should focus more on making catchy choruses, which I feel have always been the band’s weakness.
Even though I like some of the songs on the album, and it was “This Is the Year to Be a Gal” (Early Summer Version) that hooked me, I hope Hanabie takes a step back, listens to themselves, and reflects on where they started. But then we have the evil record company, and yeah, we know how this can go. I’m already starting to miss the old Hanabie—the simple outfits, the simple image, and the rocking sound with heavy riffs.
The heavy riffs and the awesome breakdowns are missing on this album. They have worked hard for many years, so they deserve the success they are experiencing now. But the songwriting on this album is mediocre, and it feels rushed.
The highlights on the album are: “Neet Game,” “This Is the Year to Be a Gal,” “Tales of Villain,” and “Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now.” That’s all I could find on this album, which has 10 tracks, and that’s not good.
I think I was too harsh on the first mini-album, “Cherry Blossoms Are Blooming” because of the weak choruses, but after listening to the mini-album a lot after writing this review, I adjusted the score to a 7/10 after listening to “Reborn Superstar.” I have stopped giving ratings to music albums; it’s too difficult. The mini-album, “Cherry Blossoms Are Blooming” feels so raw and honest, while “Reborn Superstar” feels more like a mess where Hanabie’s sound is almost lost. And I can’t get over how hard and rocking the breakdowns on those two first albums are. So, “Reborn Superstar” is their weakest album out of the three they have released so far.