They already have 2.2 million subscribers to their YouTube channel, making them among the hottest of Japan’s teen stars, and their videos have been watched over 1.1 billion times. Now boy-girl combo VAMYUN are aiming for the stars with a glorious paean to the loving friendship between a young and idealistic man and woman.

VAMYUN are former V-Kei band member Vambi and one-time idol singer Yumi. Their debut single, ‘La La Rendezvous!’, and the accompanying pop video have just been released on the pair’s YouTube channel.

‘La La Rendezvous!’ is an upbeat, heartfelt song about the friendship between a young man and woman. It makes no reference to sexual feelings and the video features no gratuitous sexual imagery. Instead, the pair are seen enjoying a wide variety of wholesome activities such as riding a tandem bicycle and shopping for snacks in a convenience store.

The accompanying music video (known in Japanese as an ‘MV’) is most notable for the speed with which the participants change costumes and the sheer number of locations. The song has a tune that is easy to hum and hard to dislodge from the brain.

Viewers can also try to follow the rap segments, which require repeated views to copy with anything approaching verisimilitude. The godfathers of hip-hop culture often refer to the five elements that constitute their holistic approach to street life: rhymes, beats, beatboxing, breakdance, and graffiti. VAMYUN take a similarly all-encompassing approach to their art, teaming their catchy tune with nifty dancefloor steps.

Run DMC: pioneers of the ‘five elements’ approach to hip-hop culture. | Jeff Pinilla, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Among the moves VAMYUN showcase in the accompanying music video are the ‘tug of war’ dance, which is performed while maintaining an exquisite balance between the two dancers, and the ‘shuffle’ dance (also known as the ‘paripi dance’), a wonder of foot shuffling performed during renditions of the song’s contagious chorus.

Speaking to show business reporters at one of the video’s multiple shooting locations, the pair agreed that achieving mastery of the steps was no easy task. “It was difficult to memorise the MV dance. Right up until we started shooting, we were just doing it by trial and error, hoping that everything would be ‘alright on the night’”.

Their legions of teenage fans are sure to agree that VAMYUN are more than ‘alright’. They’re blooming marvellous!

VAMYUN’s debut single, ‘La La Rendezvous!’, was released on November 12, through Sony Music Records.

You can watch their ‘MV’ here:


By - George Lloyd.