Bonito Generation – A Kero Kero Journey

Kero Kero Bonito’s sophomore album, Bonito Generation, is certainly one of my favourites. In style and quality, the niche electro/j-pop collection stands out as it tells a vague story across its 12 tracks, so as my girlfriend and I sat in my room listening to the album, we couldn’t help ourselves from discussing shots. Pausing at important moments to detail a specific key visual, we listened and spoke, occasionally standing up to mimic an action or two.

To be honest, I don’t know how I envision it. Is the album one long continuous music video backed with a dreamy soundtrack? Maybe it is like a musical, spoken scenes interrupting the flow of music for the sake of context. Personally, I think the stitching is unimportant as, filmically, each song can be considered a scene with others hidden in-between (although I do like to envision it as a Wrightian project, similar to the loose inter-action connections of Scott Pilgrim).

Preferably, whoever is reading this, you should listen to the album alongside the short description I shall be presenting but unfortunately, I am unable to enforce that rule. Without further ado…

Waking Up

Sarah, our fresh protagonist, is woken by her alarm. As she groggily struggles to leave her room, she shuffles around in her bed slippers and pyjamas getting ready for the day ahead of her (brushing teeth, getting dressed, making tea). When the final chorus comes in and there is a lul in the song, Sarah stands behind her front door. She stands there, mentally preparing herself for what lies ahead. She takes a deep breath, and as the beat returns, she leaves her house, walking down her garden path towards her car.

Heard a Song

Now on her way to school, Sarah listens to the radio. She sings along to the radio (the song playing is this one), head swaying from side to side as the rain bangs away at the windshield. When the second pre-chorus begins, Sarah drives her new car through a tunnel, exiting at the end of the pre-chorus to a sunny world; rainbow in the sky and droplets sparkling on the ground.

Graduation

Note: Stylistically, I imagine this to be a faux-one shot.

It is the day of Sarah’s graduation. In class, she sits at her desk, baseball cap pulled down, lackadaisically singing the opening to herself, the camera dollying slowly backwards revealing she is sitting in the middle of the room. Once the beat drops, the class around her explodes in a flurry of movement: classmates using stationery to casually play out the song on their desk, others passing notes between each other, some talking, you get the idea.

Still at her desk, Sarah ignores everything around her as she doodles in her notebook, occasionally doing what the song says (tapping her pencil). The class continuous around her yet she seems oblivious to it, in her own world. During the second chorus class ends and everyone starts filing out. Last one in the room, Sarah opens the classroom door and walks into a changing room (like Scott leaving the bathroom. The transition could be hidden to the one-shot alive). The camera follows.

As the Japanese verse plays, Sarah walks through the changing room, hands reaching in outside of frame, taking off her backpack and her baseball cap, donning her graduation gown and cap. The camera dollies into her back and the shot is black.

The camera dollies backwards from black, revealing Sarah standing on the graduation podium. She is saying her graduation speech (mouthing the songs lyrics). When she says she “didn’t learn a thing,” she grabs the mic and screams the lyrics into it. Once the chorus starts up again, she walks of stage and begins walking away, down the aisle and through the crowd. As the song ends, the camera dollies backwards as Sarah walks towards it. She throws her hat in the air nonchalantly behind her, somewhat carelessly, as all the students in the background throw their caps up in joy; the pair synchronised.

Fish Bowl

Graduated and no longer tied down to the scholastic day-to-day life, Sarah wonders around a pet shop aimlessly, lamenting her newfound freedom. She finds herself attracted to the stereotypically goldfish swimming in circles in a fishbowl, a miniature castle in the centre. As the final chorus comes on, Sarah walks out the shop, holding her new friend.

Big City

Some time has passed since we last saw Sarah. Now living in London with a new rebellious haircut, she strolls down pavements soaking it all in. As she walks, she is next to invisible to those walking around her although, visually, she sticks out in the grey world. During the first pre-chorus she mentions how she “joined a band.” At that exact moment, she would bump into bandmates, Gus and Jamie, who would turn around and look into the camera for a split-second.

During the chorus, people begin to notice her as she sings while she walks; a man looks up from his newspaper and watches her walk by. When the second verse begins, it is now dark and all the shops are lit by neon signs as Sarah keeps exploring. As the bridge begins, Sarah walks past a shop window filled with tvs, all playing the same thing: Sarah in a cool outfit on a pink backdrop with Gus and Jamie behind her, singing the bridge (the camera is tracking Sarah and stops in front of the shop, watching the tvs).

During the second pre-chorus, the song repeats how she “joined a band,” which is when Sarah picks up a bland flyer: Two DJs looking for a singer! Sarah runs down the street in the final chorus, still singing. As the song wraps up, she stands in front of a studio, she opens the door and sees Gus and Jamie inside and as the she utters the final line of the song, she closes the door on the camera, a colourful poster hanging on the door: Kero Kero Bonito – Recording in Session.

Break

Now in a band, Sarah is lounging in her room with nothing to do, and she’s loving it. Calm and relaxing, she sings to herself as she pots about, calling her bandmates later in the song as she plays The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Lipslap

Kero Kero Bonito have their first live show. Walking through the crowd, Sarah can hear people talking about their upcoming set. Some are excited while many are ridiculing them, “They just sound super childish.”

In the green room, Sarah, Gus, and Jamie are preparing for the show. As she tries to pump herself up, Sarah begins to feel super anxious and is struggling to compose herself. She walks onto stage with her bandmates and starts the show. Although most people seem to be having fun, she sees the same critical people she heard earlier leaving without looking back.

Try Me

Her confidence faltering, Sarah is in her room looking at herself in the mirror. She begins to speak to herself and as the song progresses, the scene transforms into an interview, Sarah interviewing herself. At the beginning, Interviewer Sarah doesn’t seem too plussed with Interviewee Sarah but as the song progresses, the latter begins to grow in confidence. At the end of the song, Sarah seems more relaxed in her own body, but when she receives a call from Gus and Jamie, she mutes it and lets it go to voice mail.

Paintbrush

It’s the middle of the night and Sarah sits in a garden. She looks up at the stars and paints in a small sketchbook she brought with her.

Trampoline

It’s raining, and Sarah looks out of her flat window onto the street. When she looks down, she sees her old garden with her old trampoline in the middle of it. She runs down into the street and into her garden as if she never left her childhood home, rain splashing underfoot. Jumping up and down, Sarah seems to be on top of the world and hangs in the air, looking down at her trampoline as if it were the whole world.

As the song ends, Sarah is out of breath standing on her bed, her cheeks glossy with tears and her mouth in an energetic grin.

Picture This

Sarah is getting ready for a photo shoot. In her room, she tries on numerous outfits and uses a disposable camera to photograph herself in various rigid poses. When she checks “that no one else is around,” she looks around (in sync with the whooshing sound) and starts to pull funny faces, making ridiculous poses.

Now in a photography studio, Sarah is with Gus and Jamie, all three of them standing in front of a photographer as they are posed. All of them enjoying themselves, they take a break leaving only Sarah in the room. Once again, she checks if there is anyone in the room and begins taking photos of herself in a prop mirror, the vibrant backdrop in shot. Distracted by her enjoyment, Sarah doesn’t notice Gus and Jamie walk in, both laughing and hugging her. The camera clicks with a flash.

Hey Parents

Kero Kero Bonito have released their first album and as the band start to get media attention, Sarah reminisces being in her small hometown even though she had always wanted to leave. After some press stuff, Sarah comes home and video calls her parents, speaking to each of them in turn along with the song’s lyrics.

During the bridge, Sarah is sitting on a train and is recognised by someone walking down the aisle. Awkward with the interaction, she takes a photo and asks the fan if they want to sit next to them. They say yes and share the train ride.

When the third chorus begins, Sarah is on the phone walking down a suburban street; old houses sit behind gothic metal fences and luscious front gardens. She is mouthing the lyrics to her parents over the phone, eventually turning down one of the garden paths to a familiar house. When she asks for the final whether her parents kept her room, she goes to knock on her front door but before she can, it opens to reveal her mother standing in the doorway.

After the pair lovingly embrace, Sarah walks into her old home. The door closes and the camera dollies left to reveal a window looking into the living room, her father sitting in his armchair reading the newspaper. Sarah and her mother walk in, the father standing up the moment he spots the familiar newcomer. All three are absorbed in conversation as the camera fades to black.