I wasn’t planning on doing any Japanese reviews this week. This was partly encouraged by the lack of new releases (I do plan to go back to some other Japanese releases in the coming weeks). But then Pentagon dropped their music video for Happiness. And I didn’t want to neglect more Japanese reviews. So today, we will be delving into their latest release. The group previously returned to Japan with Cosmos and more recently returned to Korea with Humph!.

Happiness is another typical pop track. Interestingly, I thought the song delved into more KPOP roots, rather than particular JPOP sound that we all know of. Despite that possible crossover, there isn’t anything new within the song breaking ground, especially considering the group’s discography. The song did lose that carefree and easy-going vibe that I have noticed Pentagon has been pulling off since Shine. But this loss did not amount to anything new. Apart from that, Happiness does manage to include a nice hook that made the song catchy. That post-chorus was probably my favourite part. The vocals were good but I felt the rapping managed to etch forward by being a little more dynamic in nature. The instrumental was rather plain, upon reflection, which gave the song that typical vibe. I think there is enough done by the members to make the song ‘relatively okay’ as opposed to disappointment. The ending was probably the most questionable part, with their pronunciation of the title, Happiness. I had to replay the ending a number of times to confirm if I heard it right. I think this mistake has been done before in the KPOP/JPOP world due to the way syllables were emphasised. But you would expect the group to nail the title of the song in a non-questionable manner.

The music shows the members as office members. Pretty much done with their jobs and in a much needed of a holiday. All of a sudden (might be part of their imagination), they are transported to the beach and have from then on. We later see them partying on in the office, which supports my imagination theory. It is a rather typical video when I try to describe it. But it looked rather fun and suiting the Summer season. Not much else to say here.

The choreography was good. Once again, it aligns with the rest of the choreographies and performances from the week, which just wasn’t captivating enough for me. I did like some moments but I don’t think they are worth my time going through as they didn’t make it as captivating as I would have liked it to be.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6.8/10