In honor of Kis-My-Ft2’s complete videography being uploaded to YouTube (in edited form, of course…), I can’t resist writing about each single. To put this in context for Bias List readers, Kis-My-Ft2 (or Kisumai, as they’re often known) are my J-pop version of Infinite. That’s how much I love them and their discography.

Yet, I rarely write about them because finding online links to their music was so hard… until now!

A10TION (2021)

A10TION is Kisumai’s big 10th anniversary celebration song, so it’s no surprise it sounds like a bag of exploding fireworks. It’s a rollicking party of a track – a little saccharine in places but disarming in its pure jubilance. It definitely fulfills the brief, even if Yes! I Scream did this exact thing a million times better back in 2016.

I never thought I’d use the word “hootenanny” when describing a J-pop single, but that’s the best description I can give for A10TION’s chorus. Initially, I wasn’t sold on the switch-up in style, and I’d still like to hear a version of this with a different chorus entirely. However, I admire the song’s willingness to go completely over-the-top with its cheerful energy. It’s overstuffed, but that’s kind of the point. Strings swirl and whirl as gospel piano plugs away. Brass pinwheels all over the place and the percussion is insistently brisk. The clap-and-sing breakdown in the bridge drives home A10TION’s parade-like sentiment. Yeah… I can’t hate this.

The music video is exactly what you’d expect from the song. It’s stuffed full of extras, parading around in their pursuit to help the guys build a steampunk-style airship. It’s all very Seussian in its execution, which is fun to watch (and more than a little cheesy).