Despite being an ‘air band’, Golden Bomber offers plenty of amusement with their 16th release, Boku Quest. Released on June 01, Boku Quest came before Golden Bomber’s recent appearance at Japan Expo at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center, which was held from June 30 until July 03.
Ranking first on the Oricon Indies Charts upon release, the title track, Boku Quest, has a slightly dark, typical visual kei flavour. Set in a minor key, the track opens with a heavy intention to it. There’s expected howling throughout, provided by Kiryuin, as well as odd chords at unexpected moments, but the overall result sounds like the usual conventions of a visual kei song—nothing out of the ordinary. However, approximately 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the track, just as the song slows right down to the tempo of a ballad, the listener knows something is astray (and will have a grin on their face). Boku Quest is also used as the ending theme for the TV anime, Yu-gi-oh Zexal.
An official recording of the demo track, Rafiora opens brightly with major chords and enough synthesizers to warrant it being labelled an Oshare-kei song. However, any Golden Bomber work is far from that. It’s brighter in comparison to Boku Quest, but at some points the song is surprisingly relaxing because of the slower tempo.
“One two san shi” counts in the beginning of Konya wa Tonight. A tinge brighter than Rafiora, the words “tonight, tonight, tonight” appear just before and after the chorus, just to “mix it up” a bit.
Included on the bonus DVD (Type A), the PV for Boku Quest is the -complete- opposite of what the song promotes. This is where the true hilarity of the group is shown, and the listener gets to experience the ‘real’ Golden Bomber through visual aids. The PV is rather low-budget, which further adds to the amusement. Boku Quest (PV) starts off with Kiryuin sitting cross-legged on the floor, eating and playing a video game. Credits roll across the screen, mimicking the start of a game. In the game, players are selected and several two-person fights are orchestrated. Throughout the PV, each member fights each other in quasi-“Street Fighter” style which offers plenty of laughter for the viewer. The costumes and parodies of well-known characters are very memorable--Kenji’s rendition of Hard Gay (complete with white face paint), Gachapin and various “Street Fighter” characters. At the end of the PV is a shot of (presumably) a motherly character beating Kiryuin for playing video games, followed by the game being discarded amongst the trash lying on the floor.
After watching the PV, it’s hard to take Golden Bomber seriously when seeing them elsewhere in the Japanese media in a more serious (and rather photoshopped) light. But no doubt; you will find it hard not to laugh!
The making of PV takes the viewer behind the scenes, through make-up and the range of costumes, and shows silly jokes between and played on the members. A live PV version of Boku Quest is also included on the bonus DVD.
Golden Bomber certainly seems to be skilled at crossing over a multitude of genres as well as parodying other popular acts, all under the guise of being an ‘air band’, and overall Boku Quest offers plenty of humorous moments for fans.
