WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA “The Bamboo Princess” YAMADA Kento,Director

This music video for “The Bamboo Princess” by the group WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA, which began performing in 2013, puts a modern spin on the Bamboo Princess of Japanese folklore, riffing on the theory that she was really an alien with music made of sounds evoking the hand drum and Japanese harp. Vocalist KOM_I makes peculiar movements as she sings, wearing a dimensional costume piece made with a 3D pen by TSUNO Seiran. The video begins with the moon in the sky and traditional Japanese motifs like a bamboo forest and a tatami room; a sliding paper door opens to reveal a space that combines East and West. Finally, the Bamboo Princess returns home to the moon. Made to evoke an illustrated book with a new discovery on every page, the video’s superb editing connects cuts with top-to-bottom rolling transitions, while its creative camerawork finds the viewer peeking through a hole in the ceiling.

A music video gives music substance, adding a layer of world view, color, and visuals that cannot be communicated with sound alone. I feel as though Wednesday Campanella’s videos consistently betray that construct—in a good way. This video—crammed full of the creativity, mobility, willingness to experiment, and the originality the group’s youth has given them—goes beyond the scope of music videos to become a powerful piece that is closer to being an art film. I hope the group continues to inject some excitement into various media stereotypes from this same viewpoint. (SAITO Seiichi)