Sakanaction dropped their highly anticipated new studio album, called 834.194, on Wednesday (June 19), and shared the new music video for the first song on the set, “Wasurerarenaino.”
The visuals — directed by Yusuke Tanaka, who has helmed other videos by the electro-pop band, including “Shin Takarajima” — pays loving tribute to the fashion and trends of the ’80s in Japan, reviving the feel of those times in detail.
The video opens with a close-up shot of a model decked out in a sparkly, body-hugging top with make-up and spirally hair that was all the rage back then. The camera then cuts to frontman Ichiro Yamaguchi singing in a set that looks like it traveled in time from a classic music program on TV.
The costumes, including Yamaguchi’s shoulder-padded baggy suit and the outfits worn by the other band members and back dancers, are all meticulous recreations of ’80s Japanese looks, and the palm trees and beach motifs also channel the trends of an era gone by.
The retro texture of the visuals was made possible by shooting with an actual vintage video camera, and the chroma keying of a city night view towards the end is also reminiscent of how artists used to perform on TV. The music video definitely looks eerily familiar to those who remember those times, and probably strikes those who were born in more recent years as novel.
“Wasurerarenaino” was featured in a SoftBank commercial ahead of the album’s release. Yamaguchi appeared in this commercial for the cellphone carrier as a helpful entity who prevents users from hitting their data limit, as personified by actor Kyusaku Shimada, who also appears in the music video clad in the same oversized light blue suit.
