August 2025 was quite a busy month for Z CLEAR. Of course there were a lot of live shows for the group, but they also joined XANVALA and ミスイ (Misui) on the PARAGUAS inc. record label. And last but not least, the subject for today’s review was also released on YouTube: the MV for “DINER”.
Unlike some of the band’s other releases, “DINER” is a so-called ‘standalone’ release. It’s not considered to be a single, or even a digital release. This means it is not available as a song on Spotify, or other streaming services like Apple Music or the iTunes Store. It’s quite unique, even in their own discography. But this unfortunately does mean that today’s article will be a bit shorter than usual.
No changes have been made to the band’s lineup either. This means we’re still looking into the world created by vocalist AKIRA, guitarist みやこ (Miyako), guitarist トミー (Tommy) and bassist こーちゃん (Ko-chan), this time taking place in a -you’ve probably guessed it already-, diner.
Are you ready? Well then…
Let’s have fun at the romantic diner
“DINER” is an upbeat song with a surprisingly accessible rock-sound to it, and instantly familiar as something Z CLEAR would come up with. The lyrics don’t really tell us a story, or at least not one with movement. There is no clear description, but do contain the familiar formula AKIRA and みやこ (Miyako) have shown us over and over by now. A catchy rhythm that keeps the group just out of the pop-category combined with some motivational lyrics like “Don’t let your dreams remain dreams” and “Those who don’t run away are the ones who succeed”. (And of course some ‘non sensical’ lines mixed in, like the English “Wake up to the baby emotion. Wake up.”.)
But, if you have heard the song or are listening along, you’ve probably heard something else too. While it is impossible to say this with one hundred percent certainty, it seems to be the assumption of the comment section of the video as well: there is a clear influence from hide. An influence that returns both in the composition, vocal style and even the costumes for this MV.
The music video begins with a few office workers walking down the stairs into the diner, showing AKIRA behind the bar and pushing a welcome drink towards us. The other members are visible throughout the video playing their guitars or having fun with the diner’s guests. Doubling down on the ‘let’s have fun at the diner’-part (since I am not so sure about the romantic aspect here), the video shows us different guests with different interests like fashion, games (cards or even a Nintendo Switch) and baseball, and of course how they’re all interacting with each other and drinks.
Taking on the role of the host, AKIRA makes his way through the diner, stopping at different patrons and interacting with them based on their shown interests while the band continues to play. His engagement seems to heighten the ‘fun’ in the diner, showing guests laughing and interacting happily. And since there’s alcoholic drinks, “this is a dream place for adults”.
The music video doesn’t have much to grab on to in terms of translating the lyrics into a visual format, but the title of the song does. The concept of a diner leaves a lot of room to make something fun, and this time it does keep the video out of the ‘band performs song’ category. Even without telling a clear story. Your experience at the diner is what you make of it yourself, after all. (As a non-Japanese, my visual image of a ‘diner’ is quite different from the location used for this MV. With the word ‘diner’ the first thing that I envisioned was the location where ゼラ (Zera)’s “Barmy Army” music video was filmed. This can’t be just me, right?)
Conclusion
“DINER” makes for a unique addition to Z CLEAR’s discography, mostly due to its exclusivity as ‘merely a music video’. This decision might do it more harm than good, but it is always fun to see a band trying something different. The influence of hide’s style and looks are a bit too prominent to be a coincidence, but still subtle enough to not be considered a cover song or an interpretation of where his career might be today.
In the meantime Z CLEAR is hard at work and have already released their next music video “束孤” (tobacco) on January 2nd of this year. I don’t want to betray too much yet, but the emotion is the exact opposite of “DINER”…
More about Z CLEAR
        |   |  (Miyako) |  (Tommy Souma) |  (Ko-chan) |