Song Review:: Boyfriend: Time Limit- Time limit {Japanese}

• Release date: 2025 February 13

• Album tracklist: Time limit, 君は輝いている (Kun Wa Kagayaite Iru), Time limit - Instrumental, 君は輝いている (Kun Wa Kagayaite Iru) - Instrumental

• Album runtime: 14 minutes

 Look, I scream it from the rooftops enough, but if you're going to give me a group that disbands and then reforms or reunites, even under a different name, I'm going to love them automatically out of the probably misguided hope that NU'EST follows suit. Not that I didn't already like the limited songs I've heard from them. And now I find out that Boyfriend did in fact actually get their name back? Also, fun fact, between Seventeen, NU'EST, and Boyfriend, we've got a grand total of 10 members of the 95z. Boyfriend also gets some renown for having a set of identical twins, which is cool but stressful for those of us who can't tell identical twins apart. Although, this release is actually in Japanese, but you know what? I'm not picky. This is the exact situation I want to be happening, and so even if it is in Japanese, I will be supporting them. And three and a half minutes per song? Yes.

It's a very subtle special effect at the beginning that sounds like coins scattering. It's very brief and it took me a couple of listens to identify exactly what was going on there. There are alarm sound effects that sniff their way into the song on occasion, which gives the song a strong texture, but also startle me every time I hear them. At some point, I really need to learn the term for the echoey water sound and what kind of instrument it is. Because I'm sure that "echoey water sound" is not the technical term, though it is rather descriptive. Everything does an excellent job of supporting the vocals, with the guitar adding an excellent layer to the track. Love the section with the softer piano. It breaks up the rest of the song well.

There's something very satisfying about hearing mature voices, and though the youngest members aren't geriatric by any stretch of the definition, fourteen years have done a lot for their voices since their debut. The vocals are a lot softer than that guitar would like you to think they are, which is pleasant, a surprise, and also a pleasant surprise. Starting off with the rap does make you think that the song is going to end up being more aurally intense than it is, but it still feels strongly of second gen era, or at least that nebulous zone between the late second gen artists and the earliest third gen artists. It's the style of the rap. You find it more often in the older groups. 

I love the extreme close-ups on their shoes. It's a weird thing to love, but it's also satisfying. This is also such a soft song with those lyrics, and it's so sentimental, if I'm correct that those are in fact their own pictures from their time together. There's not much of a storyline available, but I also can't decide if this is more of a vibes and visuals music video or a performance video. I'm currently leaving more towards a performance video. However, the slow downs? Y'all. That's what I like to see. Technical shenanigans to achieve an emotional response in the viewer allow for more than what could be achieved with their absence. And they're slow downs on their chests, rather than their faces, which reminds me a little of what was going on with their shoes earlier. It's not as much as I would like, but I am simultaneously enjoying the cinematography with this music video.