This July has been very eventful, I just recently graduated college with an English degree in May and am currently working towards a Master's in Education this summer. Over the past several weeks or so I have been wanting to write another J-Pop review because it has been over four months since I specifically wrote about a J-Pop song (f5ve's MAGIC CLOCK to be specific). Thus, I am glad to be getting back to J-Pop reviews by reviewing NiziU's "YOAKE".
For every review, I always want to focus on similar aspects yet mix up what type of aspects I discuss. So for this video, I will take a look at all of the scenes in the music video and simply tell what I thought of it.
The Intro
For this music video I enjoyed the ambiance and the captivating energy of the intro, it did very well in drawing me into the feel of the song . The combination of the background music, dance poses, blue outfits and harmonizing voices made me want to continue watching until the end. The mellow melody during this part also served to draw me into the song- perhaps most of all out of all the aspects of the intro. It really made me feel tempted to start to sing along especially with the chanted refrain at the beginning (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
First Verses
The scenes during the first verses were very unique and fun to watch. The birthday party scene synced well with the background music, lighting and ambiance. The pool party afterwards was a great contrast to the bright lights of the birthday party and really seemed to emphasize the members' friendship in the music video (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Pre-Chorus
The pre-chorus begins with a cinematic and artistic scene of Maya gliding through the night sky which is followed by Mako anxiously pounding on a door. Next, before major dance scenes we see Miihi with a tearful expression. All of these scenes along with the music and dancing add the emotional feel that I believe was the goal behind the story and message of the song (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Chorus
This is my favorite part of the music video. The musical build up to this part flowed very well and I thought that members like Riku, Miihi and Nina harmonized very well while Ayaka, Rio and Maya led the melody. The song is unique and relaxing because of how it is sung here which is a big plus for me as a J-Pop fan. The shift between the first chorus scene (during the chorus) back to the pre-chorus and first verse scene was a way to get me into the vibes of this song and the meaning of the title "YOAKE" (夜明け), which means "dawn" or "daybreak" according to Jisho.org. It makes sense for the first chorus to end here and shift to the second verse of the new morning because of this poetic J-Pop idea (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Second Verse
The mood changes here where we see Rio place a CD in a CD player and then Ayaka playing soft, careful notes on the piano. This short verse in the song was a dreamy shift to the increasing musical energy shown in the second pre chorus (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Second Pre Chorus
In this part, the atmosphere of the music video changes and we see the full story begin to take shape of what the music video is trying to convey to fans about the powerful symbolic storytelling (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Second Chorus
This time we have more emotion intertwined with the song than before and we see Maya glide through the sky, this time as day break is beautifully coming on. All members run in a field before the interlude begins, this part of the music video is quite lighthearted and I happen to enjoy it a lot in J-Pop videos (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Interlude
All members climb to the rooftop to the cloudy/sunny yet gorgeous weather in the background. Ayaka leads on the piano as other members start to individually harmonize. This was an exciting moment to watch because of their music talent and the lead up to the final chorus (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Final Chorus
Unironically, based on the song's title and the vibes of the song, this part of the music video is literally the sunniest and all NiziU members delivered a satisfying close to the song that also had the proper length (JYP Entertainment, 2025).
Bonus: The Group
One prevailing aspect of listening to this song that was very interesting to me was learning about their group through the song and their profile in this link : NiziU Members Profile (KProfiles, n.d.).
Closing Thoughts
YOAKE overall was a fantastic music video to watch and listen to. I was happy to listen to and review NiziU, a J-Pop group that I have never reviewed before. This is one of the few music videos that I would give a perfect score all around to because I enjoyed it so much.
