by iceymoon » Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:58 am
Haruna's look certainly doesn't help mask her awkwardness, but i definitely don't think it's the majority of her problem. you can be super slim and not have dance moves not look awkward at all (think Yossie, or Gaki and Reina at their slimmest), though their appearance even without dancing can be a little awkward.
there's just some people, usually the ones with longer limbs (proportional to their size), that don't have the looseness and to make their moves look smooth (it has to do with not being able to isolate parts of your body, so instead of doing a hip swish they end up moving their abdomen and legs quite a bit too.. a lot of guys have this). other people don't have good rhythm. other people have both of these problems, and that's where Haruna (and Kananan) fall. but even if they don't have these things naturally, they can learn them over time (as we're already seeing).
Forefore is pretty borrowed, but i felt the same way about Cabbage Hakusho from the first listen. though for the life of me i can't think what song it reminds me of.. i'm thinking some old school jpop.
however, i don't mind that they're both kind of heavily inspired on some source or style. they're still done well, and they somehow bizarrely fit the Satoyama thing (which is better than going too cheesy/obvious, like old H!P would). actually, i think the Satoyama relation is why i don't mind that both of them might be classified as "easy listening" and lack a build into a bigger/stronger song. they're meant to make you want think of nature and the simple life.