Released June 11, 2014 Recorded February 2014 Length 4:16 | Format CD, Digital Download Genre J-pop, vocal trance Label Unborde | |
"Kira Kira Killer" (きらきらキラー, Kira Kira Kirā, lit. "Glitter Killer") is the first limited run single by Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It was released on June 11, 2014.
Contents
The song (along with "Ninja Re Bang Bang") was featured in the 2016 American animated film Sing during which five red panda girls perform the song as an audition.
Release details
The physical CD single will be a limited edition run of only 7,777 copies, which will come with a number of special goods (a glittery sticker featuring the cover artwork, signed mini-poster, and vinyl bag containing the single), as well as a code for entry into a raffle (for residents of Japan only) with the chance to win one of a number of additional special goods, including:
Track listing
All tracks written by Yasutaka Nakata.
CD Artwork Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
Description
The video starts with an arrow with a heart-shaped arrow-head flying in a sparkling background. The arrow pierces through Kyary's chest as she is completely surprise and she dies on the spot. Her soul leaves her motionless body through an Out of body experience and she is taken to the afterlife. Kyary then explores the area and a guardian appears. The guardian demonstrates his power to Kyary by showing her he is both in front of her as well as supporting her with his hand. She is very surprised and removes her mask. The next scene shows Kyary dancing around. After that she is walking on the globe on top of three elephants on a turtle. The guardian and Kyary stare at an apple falling off a tree. Then when the apple falls, it is shown that they are standing on a globe shaped like an apple. A snake then carries Kyary out then swallows her and then she slides out of the snake's body. The guardian and Kyary then look at ball bouncing back and forth. She then does some calculations and realized that E=mc^2. The guardian calls forth lightning, and a hoverboard is created where the lightning hits the ground. Kyary steps on the hoverboard then rides through a vortex with the guardian. As she hops off, sparkling lights appear and her outfit changes from dark to a white and more feminine outfit. She then jumps for joy on a flower. Her soul returns to her body after. In the end, Kyary is shown wielding the bow and arrow that pierced her heart in the beginning. Due to intense movement of scenario and involving song, some people reported EMDR side effects, including a sense of discomfort after repeated exposure.
Creation
The general plot of the video clip can be described as Kyary being struck down by an arrow of love, having an out of body experience, then achieving enlightenment through her time in the world of death, all in typical Kyary humor.
Video clip director Jun Tamukai (田向潤) from the outstart floated the idea "Let's have Kyary die", which Kyary supported saying she "'d like to do something around dark fantasy", the pre-plot of the video clip became "Kyary learns the secret of the world in the afterlife". Kyary commented "I wanted to have a theme that turns around the theme of glittery kawaii pop, and show a darker fantasy theme including a glittery assassin" (kirakira is a phenomimetic expression for glitter or glisten, kiraa is the word 'killer' assimilated into Japanese). The first part of the song shows a verse/bridge structure with religious and spiritual themes, such as skeletons, eggs, whereas the second part is more anchored in science demonstrating the law of gravity and relativity.
Scrupulously following schedule, the video clip was shot during two days in May 2014. The two outfits that Kyary wears took two weeks to make. The first costume is eerie and ominous, a costume with a dark theme that Kyary didn't show until that point. The lumpy styrene on the skirt and arms shaped like rain clouds, with a contrastive silvery mask and body protection, shows Kyary fighting in the other world. The outfit she wears in the conclusion, shows "Kyary Pamyu Pamyu having achieved enlightenment - Evolution".
To express the movement and franticness of the music, video-clip director Jun Tamukai used the 4D Views technology. This special technology scans and records the movements of the actor at the millisecond scale, and enables the replacement of complex camera work involving cranes with a computer rendering. However, to ensure image quality, the director only used this technology for far away shots, and actual actor footage for close-ups. Special care had to be taken to hide the transition between the two.
The scene where Kyary stands in front of a row of speakers singing her heart out is an hommage to Asian Kung Fu Generation's singer Masafumi Gotoh (後藤 正文) and the music video for their song Rewrite. During the filming, the staff shouted her to "Sing it like Gottchi!".
The stylist for the music video was Iijima Kumiko (飯嶋久美子).
Themes
In an interview, video clip director Jun Tamukai said there is no need to explain the themes and construction for the clip, since it is possible to figure out most of them by oneself. The list could therefore be considered a spoiler and no replacement for personal interpretation.
The video clip references: