YMMV / Kero Kero Bonito

• Awesome Art:
  • The music video for "The Princess and the Clock" features utterly gorgeous animation directed by Dan W. Jacobs, heavily featuring handpainted watercolors, stylized character lineart, and tasteful digital embellishments that perfectly evoke the wistful, folkloric tone of the song itself.
  • "21/04/20" also features animation by Jacobs, visually documenting the Day in the Life of the song, which combined with the long pan-style choreography allows it to unfold like an old, beautiful tapestry.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Flamingo" is an amazing, laid-back demonstration of what the trio has to offer, and won't be leaving your head for days.
  • "Trampoline" is very easy to dance to, with an irresistible house/J-pop beat, infectious hook, and a simple, yet heartfelt message to it:
    "Even if you're falling, that's okay! There's a trampoline waiting for you! It's so easy... You just have to believe! 信じればいんだよう!"
  • "Forever Summer Holiday" is just a blissful piece of pop music, perfectly encapsulating the joys of summertime.
  • "Swimming" sees them go full Dream Pop, resulting in one of the band's most beautiful songs.
  • Of the pre-Sarah tracks, "Weapons Grade" and "Fortune Teller" are both well regarded by fans. The band themselves still seem to hold fondness for them, as the former's melody was repurposed for "Fans (Are So Cool)", whilst a remixed version of the latter (with added vocals from Sarah) was released in 2020.
  • "The Princess and the Clock" mixes an entrancing, fairytale-like narrative with some of the band's most eclectic, dense, yet colorful production to date, and the result is one of the most whimsical yet danceable endeavors.
  • "Well Rested" is a rocking house epic that takes full advantage of its 7-minute runtime. Featuring some of the band's most ornate, yet accessible and danceable production ever, it also carries a dramatic and beautiful call to action for humanity — if they avoid giving into despair and care for their mother, civilization will live on forever.
• Fan Nickname: Kero Kero Bonito's oddly large fan crossover with Death Grips earned them the affectionate nickname of "Life Grips" among their fans.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • Rather bizarrely, there's a rather sizeable amount of fan crossover between KKB and the one-and-only Death Grips, which increased significantly following the more abrasive-sounding TOTEP. Amusingly, the band itself seems open to a crossover, and have even done a few live covers.
  • The band has crossover with the PC Music scene, partly motivated by Gus' participation in it under the side project "kane west". More broadly speaking, KKB is considered something of an honorary member of the hyperpop scene due to their similarly quirky takes on pop music, as well as occasional collaboration with genre figureheads like SOPHIE and 100 gecs.
• Funny Moments:
  • The spoken-word bridge to "Break", with Sarah's line being delivered in the most adorable, carefree way imaginable:
    (beep) "Hey, you've reached Gus and Jamie from KKB. We're recording right now, so leave your message after the beep." (beep)
    "Yo, Gus and Jamie, it's Sarah! Just to let you know that, I don't wanna do anything today! So I'll see you later, bye!"
    • The music video is also hilarious thanks to the occasional confused bystander wondering why Sarah is sitting still in the middle of public. At one point a few young passersby even decide to get in on the act, apparently posing for photos with her - through clever editing, their actions are timed to match the lyrics (e.g. one of them lies down next to Sarah as the line "if you like to lounge, relax, or flop..." is heard)
  • The lyrics to "Cat Vs. Dog" are so utterly hateful and jarringly violent for the band that it turns out to be weirdly hilarious. On top of that, there's some Lyrical Dissonance since the beat seems to be entirely composed on Mario Paint and incorporates cutesy barks and meows. '"Eternal hatred..."''
  • This excerpt from "Heard a Song", in a verse about driving around and hearing a song on the radio:
    "It's a beat so sweet that I stop in the middle of the street (brakes)
    Then a kid runs up and he says, "I don't know you but that sounds fresh!"
  • If you aren't expecting it, listening through "If I'd Known" — a mostly straightforward song thinking about the "many-worlds interpretation" theory — and suddenly being hit with Jamie rapping the final verse from out of nowhere can come off as hilarious.
• Harsher in Hindsight: While the song "Hey Parents" is still adorable and loving, the portions of it featuring Sarah questioning the uncertainties of growing up ("Sometimes I realize / time's running out and I don't know why / ずっと子供でいたいのに^note But I wanna be a kid forever") can be seen as unintentional foreshadowing to the existential and melancholy tone of Time 'n' Place. The line of "Did you keep my room?" especially hits hard as one of the tragedies that motivated the album was Sarah discovering the destruction of her childhood home.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • "Hey Parents" is a loving tribute to... well, parents, and how important they are. As a bonus, that's actually Sarah's parents in the track artwork, and they even make a cameo in the video for "Trampoline".
    Hey, mom! How are you today? Are you missing me a lot?
    Yes, I'm sticking to my bedtime, and I'm keeping very warm, so
    Hey, dad, don't you worry now, cause I got it all worked out
    But don't tell me, did you keep my room? Cause I'm coming over soon
  • Sarah's vocal feature on Kane West's "Good Price" starts off with her thanking "Kane" (really Gus) for letting her sing on his track.
    "Don't forget me when you're famous, Kane!"
  • "Visiting Hours" is somewhat bittersweet due to the context (it's from the point of view of someone visiting a loved one at the hospital), but it takes a turn for the wholesome with the actual subject matter; said loved one is recovering just fine, and the narrator is having fun conversations wishing them well and hoping they come back home soon.
  • "Sometimes" is a stripped-down, but undeniably adorable and hopeful song about keeping your head up through whatever life throws at you, sung like an acoustic campfire song with a bunch of friends.
    • Carrying on the idea beyond the band itself, here's a video of over 30 members from a Facebook fan group singing the song for Sarah's birthday. Sarah sent her regards.
  • In an odd, bittersweet way, "21/04/20" manages to be one of the trio's most peaceful songs, depicting the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a surprisingly uneventful, normal day. Sure, the stores are closed, everyone's in lockdown, and nobody's sure of where the world is exactly headed next, and yet there are still bright moments of happiness throughout all of it in connecting with friends and family, ending on a dream that a brighter tomorrow is sure to come.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "I don't know you, but that sounds fresh!"^explanation A memorable line from "Heard a Song", leading many fans calling new music by the band "fresh."
  • "It sounds like Death Grips!"^explanation The noise-inspired elements of "Only Acting" initially drew a lot of comparisons to the infamously noisy and experimental Death Grips, a comparison others would later lampoon as shallow.
  • "Flamingo" is probably the biggest meme related to the band, having being used in numerous remixes and video edits, most infamously this one.
  • Hello Sarah From Kero Kero Bonito ^explanation A 4-panel image that is spin-off of the "Hello [character] from [series]" meme. In the first 2 panels, an image of Sarah and someone else are shown left to right, with them greeting each other as [person/character] from [where they're from]. The bottom panel on the left shows Sarah staring directly at the screen (from the cover of Time 'n' Place), with the other person/character giving a stare of their own on the bottom panel to the right.
• Moe: Invoked with Sarah.
• Most Wonderful Sound: The first chorus to "Fish Bowl" is a sudden blast of gorgeous Shoegazing and Dream Pop vibes, widely considered a precursor for their more developed exploration of the sounds in Time 'n' Place.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The bridges of "Only Acting", complete with intense amounts of distorted noise and the sudden screams. It's already jarring and unnerving enough as is, but the fact it's coming from a band known mostly for bright pop music gives it a much higher degree of creepiness. The lo-fi video and its Last Note Nightmare make it even worse.
  • "Rest Stop" begins as tranquil and quiet before suddenly descending into musical hell in the second half, with a nervously noisy cacophony taking up most of the audio as Sarah's quiet singing is reserved for the right channel. Right before the song ends, all the audio except her singing abruptly cuts out, ending on these cryptic, yet resonant lyrics:
    So when we walk among the clouds
    Hold your neighbour close
    As the trumpets echo round
    You don't wanna be—
• Signature Song: "Flamingo" is likely KKB's most recognized track by a large margin.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • Many have drawn comparisons between the main melodies of "Trampoline" and "A Cruel Angel's Thesis". SiIvaGunner went to town with this. For the record, Gus denied it being intentional.
  • "Let's Go to the Forest" sounds similar to "K.K. Faire" from Animal Crossing.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: A vast majority of the band's music, including a lot of Bonito Generation is lovingly-crafted, adorable and incredibly positive, and will be sure to leave a smile on your face. The band has such sincere and contagiously wholesome vibes, and has been known for getting a lot of people out of rough spots.

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