Following up their promotions for Japanese single Different, LE SSERAFIM have released a music video for its b-side Kawaii. As they clearly want you to know from the producer tag attached to its title, this song was composed by popular Japanese musician Gen Hoshino. This is quite a coup for the group, instantly lending Kawaii a sense of artistic flair it might have lacked if it had emerged from a song camp.
You can hear this quirkiness throughout Kawaii, though overall the song adheres to popular percussive trends of the moment. Melodically, it sounds as if it wants to be a more effusive dance track, but its skittering drums and muted synths give it a moodier style. As I’ve stated many times on the blog this year, I’m so past ready to see this particular production style fall out of vogue. We’ve been inundated to such a point that all these songs tend to blend together into one amorphous musical goo. They’re cool and vibey but not particularly fun to listen to.
To its credit, Kawaii boasts a bit more energy than most of its contemporaries. The song itself is sturdy and performed with enough verve to almost break free from the constraints of its fitful arrangement. In particular, the chorus has great potential. I would have loved to hear a more daring instrumental underneath — maybe some of the exciting electronic beats favored by J-pop mainstays like Perfume? As it stands, there’s not much about Kawaii that makes me want to come back for another listen.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Despite its pedigree, its a pretty generic song. We heard those synths before. The verses are unremarkable. The sing-talk marks time. The chorus does not hit.
Flat 7 for me.
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yeah this is bad😐
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I heard it was just made for the My Melody and Kuromi Netflix show, considering that and considering it’s a bside it’s quite decent, I like the 24/7 I gotcha part, but Different and Star Signs are still definitely their best Japanese songs. This is nice though, I would give it like a B- or B, I can’t imagine it being like a listen to it on the regular song but who knows, it slightly reminds me of Perfect Night, one of my all time favorite lsrfm songs (the song that convinced me into stanning probably). It does sound like in the direction of a lot of other 24/25 kpop releases, I do like a taste of something different (no lsrfm pun intended) as opposed to basic-ish songs.
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LE SSERAFIM never disappoint us with their B-side and this one is not an exception for me.
Overall it has Perfect Night vibe with more bouncy & vibrant taste. While the dance beat might not go hard enough, the song production keeps the song interesting and alive until the end. The chorus is also quite catchy for animation OST.
The most important thing is this song is a rare catch among LE SSERAFIM recent discography with more than 2:30 minute length and a proper bridge (finally).
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There’s no way you can compare this to Perfect Night lol. That song is a billion times better than this basic song.
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