Release Date: September 7, 2022
Track Listing
- Wing Wing
- Daisy
- Up! (Japanese Version)
- Wa Da Da (Japanese Version)
Review
After releasing two successful Korean EP’s, Kep1er has entered the Japanese market with their first EP Fly-up.
The lead single Wing Wing is their first original Japanese song, and rather than pandering to the whims of Japanese listeners, the music plays to strengths that made Kep1er a popular girl group in their homeland of South Korea.
So instead of a watered-down version of the group, you get their energetic brand of pop that appeals to a broader group of listeners than just idol fans.
This feeling continues with the b-side Daisy, which I believe is much better than the a-side and is closer to sounding like a Japanese girl group pop song, only with better vocals than the typical Japanese idol song.
Tacked on to the end of this EP are Japanese versions of Kep1er’s first two a-sides WA DA DA and Up! If you are a follower of this group, you already know what these songs sound like. There’s not a lot of difference in the translations to Japanese, and thankfully there are no weird, awkward phrasings that kill the flow of the songs.
I believe Kep1er has done well for its first step into Japan. Their two original songs are on par with their Korean material, and that’s already going way above the low bar I have set for current K-Pop groups crossing over Japan.
Let’s hope Wake One doesn’t make the mistake that Off The Record did with Kepler’s predecessors IZ*ONE and turn their future Japanese releases into low-quality, low-effort steaming turds. Only time will tell I guess.
For now, consider Kep1er’s Japanese discography off to a good, unblemished start.
