By Kristen Olson
As many of us might agree, there's a certain thrill to walking past an attractive person. Maybe it's the doki-doki when they glance at you, or the surge of adrenaline you get when you think about striking up a conversation.
That's the fleeting moment that Surevi tries to capture with their "Surechigai Bijo" (Passed by a Beautiful Woman) video series, centered around nothing but cute girls walking past you. Created by Hi Inc. web content producer, Kento Kubota, the series is aimed not as practice videos for the shy of heart, but for recreating the highs and lows of walking past an attractive woman.
At 10-12 seconds a pop, the interesting part is not the simplicity of the videos but the virality. With voyeuristic framing, everyday locations, and the realistic sharpening of focus right when the man would notice the woman passing, Surechigai Bijo masterfully simulates the rush we all get when locking eyes with a beauty. The inspiration, Kubota explains, came from his own real-life experience in the city. “I was walking around town one day, and as a really pretty girl and I passed by each other, I thought, ‘This is it!’”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2HX4aYM3DQ
While the images provide instant gratification, Kubota stressed the need for a video to do such a thrill justice. “Men are naturally greedy, and with a still image they’ll go hunting for flaws,” he feels. “Surechigai Bijo’s clips, though, give a sudden spark of excitement,” he contends.
The viewership doesn’t stop with males. Several companies are utilizing the rush of a stranger’s eye contact and partnerships are flourishing, including ice creamery, Maneater, Mai Navi Teen, Girl’s DJ, and the Japan 読Mo Association, each encouraging viewers to “try by all means to pass each other with the full freshness of (insert product placement here) to everyone”.
But of course, none can quite compare to the most beautiful passing of them all (skip to 0:21 for instant gratification):
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Originating as an April fool’s joke, this special video was posted on Japanese media portal GyaO! as part of a tie-in with the live-action Rurouni Kenshin movies and their subsequent collaboration with Kumamon, the bear mascot from Kumamoto prefecture.
Need more eye-contact? Enjoy the fleeting thrill for yourself here: http://surevi.net/
Sources: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/05/29/video-series-recreates-the-highs-and-lows-of-walking-past-a-cute-girl-and-not-saying-hello/ http://kai-you.net/article/7242
