Your iPhone Was Made for This J-Pop Music Video

Judging by the fervor over Beyoncé’s sweeping, hour-long visual album, Lemonade, the music video-as-artistic-statement feels very à la mode. But the internet’s other music video of the moment is pop confection “Run and Run” by Japanese girl group Lyrical School. Formatted vertically and meant to be viewed on mobile, the video appears to hack the viewer’s iPhone, with Lyrical School’s six members frolicking through iOS apps. Clocking in just over three minutes, the video was released on Vimeo in early April to drum up buzz for the official release of the group’s debut single, which dropped April 27. The video is a Vimeo Staff Pick and has been viewed more than one million times since it was posted.

For those not fluent in Japanese, the song itself is a little hard to follow, but the basic premise translates: the girls bop around the iPhone interface, appearing in their Twitter feeds and on Vine, recording a video on the iOS camera app, and uploading it to Vimeo. But the most magical moments happen when they break out of the interface, reaching across windows to interact. It's but one more effort, building on saccharine rockers Babymetal and holographic superstar Hatsune Miku, that proves there is no shortage of ingenuity in J-pop.

Check out the video below:

RUN and RUN / lyrical school 【MV for Smartphone】 from RUNandRUN_lyrisch on Vimeo.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video about the making of “Run and Run” here:

【Making】RUN and RUN / lyrical school from RUNandRUN_lyrisch on Vimeo.

Click here to visit Lyrical School's website.

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