Posts
A new banner! *yay* Seriously, this guy is more recognisable from his lips than his eyes... o_O
I'm writing Yamapi a fanletter and I thought I should draw him something... Since I'm supposed to be "artistic" (I go to (well I've almost graduated ^^) a visual arts high school)... Then I also thought I should draw him a pic of himself since it's a fanletter after all. So I made a skecth of him with pencil. This is what it came down to:
As you can see I pretty much just copied that photo... So calling it "fanart" might be a little overstated. Although that's what portraits are right, copying a person's face... Anyway I chose this photo because I seriously LOVE his smile over anything! It's so gentle!!! There are people like Massu and Tegoshi who always have huge smiles on their faces and look really cute but there's something different with Yamapi... Like everybody knows he rarely smiles in photoshoots because he can't bring himself to fake a smile so you can really see him smile like this only at concerts! He really loves his fans! ♥ Of course he smiles at variety shows too since they're a lot of fun but in concerts his smile is somehow different! So lovely～ ♪♫♪
BTW, the covers of Koi no ABO are out and also a full radio preview (it aired like an hour ago :D)! Here's the covers from Johnny's official site:
And finally, here's the song (of very poor quality unfortunately):
I HAVE to post a few more photos of Yamapi. And I'm again sorry not to credit (it's so easy with H!P, people don't seem to care much about crediting! :)). I'm a horrible person for not remembering where I got each scan... But I really need to put up more photos of him! Oh well, they are probably from this community anyway: news_jpop... And maybe several random places...
Seems like I really have come back to blogging... O_o Although this post is about H!P I must warn everybody that from now on I'll write about all my favourite idols... Korean and Japanese... As I actually have already done since I've written about SHINee and SNSD and NEWS. :) No longer "a H!P (fangirl's) blog" but "♥ for Asian idols!!!" :)
First things first, why hasn't anyone been spazzing about Ayaya appearing in a new drama!? Or maybe I've just missed it all. Cause according to Tokyograph, she's gonna act in Sakurai Sho's new drama The Quiz Show. And I've read in a couple of different places that people think the best way to promote H!P would be having them appear in dramas... Well she won't be H!P anymore in a few more days and this is no leading role (a few of which she has done in the past), only a supporting one but screw it, it's a new start after graduating from H!P and a very promising start if anyone asks me! Her last single sold very poorly although I love it (and bought it :P) but I really think she could be a really popular idol/singer/actress again if promoted properly.
More importantly, the drama is with Shochan (Shochan=♥ ^^)! She has acted with Nino before (in the film Ao no Honou which is a REALLY good film in my opinion!), so maybe she'll evetually act with MatsuJun too and everybody in Arashi... :) Well I can dream huh. :P Here's the plot anyway (from Tokyograph):
Sakurai Sho plays the host of a live TV quiz program. On the show,
contestants who achieve 7 correct answers win 10 million yen, and those
who get 8 correct answers will have one of their wishes granted by the
TV network. But while the questions start off innocently enough, as the
game progresses, the questions gradually delve into the contestants'
past crimes or indiscretions, presenting them with the dilemma of
having to confess their guilt in order to win.
Sakurai's character also has a mysterious past. Before becoming the show's host, an accident had left him in a vegetative state for six years, which also resulted in him losing most of his memories.
The supporting cast includes Kanjani8's Yu Yokoyama as the show's director, Aya Matsuura as a rookie assistant director, and Miki Maya as the producer. Broadcast begins on April 18 in NTV's Saturday 9pm time slot.
Not many more days before it begins! The plot sounds really interesting, so I'm really looking forward to it! As well as MatsuJun's new drama Smile since it has Aragaki Yui too. ♥ Happily both are going to be fansubbed. :) But anyway, way to go Ayaya!
And well let's include some Chocolate Damashii too! ♥
And while we're at it why not some young Ayaya too? ♪
But now for the stuff I actually wanted to write about: for a while (read: for a year :P) I've been meaning to post about some of my favourite things in my collection. My JPop collection, which is becoming HUGE (for me at least)! If I don't be careful I'll end up like MorningBerryz and my room will look like a store instead of a bedroom! O_o Well maybe not yet :P But surely in ten more years. I'm not particularly rich btw (I'm not very old yet after all!), but I don't spend much on other things, only on JPop and KPop. :) Still there goes all the money I earned last summer at my summer job! How nice. At least I'm going to work again in a month. And I have saved a lot too so I don't have a bad conscience about wasting too much money! :) I'm just such a collector by nature...
So first I'd like to take a look at the few H!P official photos I own... And which will probably also stay my last ones because I have come to conclusion that they cost a bit too much after all. I guess I'm not gonna buy them anymore and probably not any Johnny's photos either. I rather by singles or other stuff that have photos on them. :) Or trading cards! I LOVE trading cards! (And they're a LOT cheaper!) Anyway, my initial intention was to post them a looong time ago right after I got them but as I haven't done so... The scans are still waiting for me to post them in my files. So I'm going to do it now. May I present: my tiny H!P official photos collection!
And now to the main star: Yossy!!! From her (last T_T) Momusu tour SEXY 8 BEAT (can't believe that was two years ago!):
Here's some more! The Narihajimeta Koi no Bell outfits must be my favourites from Ongaku Gatas!
And last but not least an Ongaku Gatas group photo. It was so hard to scan because our scanner is so dirty and the photo is pretty dark, so the scan is poor.
So this was "Favourite Bits from Andra's Collection Part 1: H!P Official Photos". :) Next time I might show you some of my trading cards... Or something else. :)
...and my birthday. But let's get to the NEWS right away!
And that's that NEWS' new single Koi no ABO (恋のABO) is now up to preorder on CD Japan and YesAsia! ♪♫♪ Released on April 29. ^^ It's about the time - they haven't released a single since October 31 (okay, well they had an album in November), during which period KAT-TUN had three singles! But what makes me really worried is the fact that their LE single includes a DVD with this stuff on it:
New single release from NEWS featuring discotic numbers. Limited edition includes original Karaoke of "Koi no ABO," 12-page booklet and bonus DVD featuring footage from their live stage perfomance ("Happy Birthday," "weeeek" "Gan Gan Ganbatte," "Hadashi no Cinderella Boy," "Summer Time," and MC) on December 31, 2008 at Tokyo Dome.
(From CD Japan)
Having a DVD to accompany their LE single is appreciated since they haven't had one since Hoshi wo Mezashite which was released two years ago. But why couldn't they just include a few PVs or something (the only PV they've ever released on DVD is NEWS Nippon from 2003!!!)? Why concert material? Does this mean they are NOT going to release a concert DVD?!! T_T Please don't let it mean that! NEWS has released only three concert DVDs so far (in five years! Just compare with H!P) and of them is only a mini concert. *cries*
It's so easy in H!P; you can always be sure they're gonna release everything: all songs on CDs and all concerts and PVs on DVDs. Stupid Johnny's sing a lot of songs only live and don't release them, especially solo songs and if you're not a Yamapi or Ryochan fan it's practically a given that your favourite's solo song won't be released on a CD. And now this T_T I'm gonna cry if they don't release Winter Party Diamond concert! I've been waiting for it so eagerly!! I can't go to their concerts so I want to at least watch them on DVDs.
I can only hope now that they recorded the concert on some other venue besides Tokyo Dome and release that one on DVD. Maybe the last concert of the tour? :) Or the one where Tegoshi dressed as a girl? (DO WANT!) :D
(Credits to tegoshi1054@forum and yamapi85@livejournal)
After this I've got no chance to argue that JE are not gay? :D Awww, Tegoshi! She, no wait HE has got so pretty and thin wrists!
But maybe this isn't as bad as I thought. Maybe they're just going to release the DVD with a concert in another venue. Yes. That's right. I'm gonna believe it like this. As someone pointed out at lj, the LE single's DVD doesn't include any songs from the new album... So that might mean something? Maybe they're just teasing us to get exited and then buy the concert DVD when it's later released? (Like every fan wouldn't do that anyway!)
Now I'm happy again. :)
For happier NEWS: Ai Ai Gasa LE single (by Tegomasu) and NEWS' Pacific Concert Tour LE DVD that I bought recently arrived today perfectly for my birthday. :)
BTW, if anyone has got a slightest interest in NEWS, I recommend reading these posts at livejournal:
NEWS Epic Pimp Post Part 1
Features long ramblings of each member with lots of hilarious bias, a lot of photos and example videos of them singing or being in variety shows (subbed).
NEWS Epic Pimp Post Part 2
Link to NEWS' whole discography, every PV and live performances of each single, stuff about their albums, A LOT of appearances in variety and music shows and stuff (subbed) and of course - some group photos. And more useful links. Yay! :)
Now GO! I know you want to.
Just ain't it my blog? What's this place? Really, osashiburi! It's hard to even recognise this place after such a long time! ^^
I havent' been writing at all but I haven't really been keeping up with the H!P wota crowd or blogosphere any other ways either. I've been reading only a few of my favourite blogs and of course I'm somewhat familiar with the newest releases from H!P but since I haven't been checking IntlWota I don't know what happening or what the latest trend. Actually my carzy devotion to SHINee came to an end also, I don't even watch their reality show anymore although it's hilarious. I plan on catching up with it in the future though. ^^ It's something that can't really be missed!
But why am I writing now? I'll be honest form the beginning. Prepare yourselves for the fact the the worst case scenario has come true. Okay, here it comes...
Tataan!
I'VE STARTED LIKING JOHNNY'S. AND NOT ONLY ONE GROUP BUT ALMOST LIKE HELLO!PROJECT, THE WHOLE THING. Whooh, now I've got it out. But really, I never expeceted this. I guess my likings tend to change really fast... First to SNSD and SHINee and then to Super Junior and Big Bang and then to Arashi. Right now I'm most into NEWS (YAMAPI～～!!!) but also lightly strating to like Kanjani∞ naturally because of their hilarious nature and the fact Nishikido Ryo is there (who's also in NEWS). And their songs are at the same time so much fun but also nice to listen to!
It all happened because of Hana Yori Dango.Or actually let's got a bit more back: the first jdrama I watched (okay actually third, first was Yanpapa and second Densha Otoko but they don't count) was 1 Litre no Namida (1 Litre of Tears). Nishikido Ryo stars in it. He's one of the most handsome guys in this whole world. But that's not the point. The point is, I loved the drama although it's horribly sad and made my cry literally every 5 minutes. But that's where I fell in love with jdrama and since I really wanted to watch some more I remembered hearing about Hanadan and it being crazy good. So I watched it. And I fell in love not only with the drama but also the theme songs of both seasons, Wish and Love so sweet, which are both sang by Arashi (since Matsujun plays the lead male role). So I started recearching Arashi. And because I also loved the drama I started wathcing more jdrama too (beware if you haven't started doing this yet: they completely absorb you in their own little world, so easily!). And after a while I watched dramas with Yamapi (for people who don't know Yamapi (shame on you for that!): Yamashita Tomohisa is his whole name) in them. And god, he's just as if not more handsome than Ryochan. But also the sexiest man I've seen in my whole life. Since I'm a girl, I never really saw any sexiness in H!P - well I knew what other people thought it was but I didn't sense it. As for SHINee, they're so young that they're mostly cute and good-looking and handsome too in my opinion, but not very sexy at all. But now I totally now why some male fans follow H!P (although the age factor is something I don't really understand but I guess women are usally attracted to older men whereas it's the opposite for men. °C-ute and Berryz are still too young for me to understand but well... let's just drop this subject.)! Yamapi is just so drop dead gorgeous!!! How my answers for the survey in my last post would be different now... ^^
So then end result is here: groups I'm a fan of right now are (not in any particular order, but right now it'd be NEWS in the top I guess. It changes a lot)
- Momusu and collectively the rest of H!P (how am I supposed to call the after the Elder Club graduates? You can't suppose me to list every single one of them, for god's sake. I guess I'll always just call them all H!P)
- SNSD (When is their next album being released?! It so overdue. After all the original plans were last summer!
- SHINee
- Arashi
- NEWS
And artists I'm a little bit fan of:
- AKB48 (but this is very little. I just erased almost all their stages I had downloaded and most of them were still unwatched. But I still enjoy their music from time to time)
- Super Junior (quite a lot)
- Big Bang (only their music, not the members. I guess that's called a casual listener? :P
- Kanjani∞ (a beginner so I haven't got their music yet, only seen some performances)
- Wonder Girls (a very casual listener. I don't like their most recent song Nobody for some reason so the only CD I listen to is So Hot since it includes Tell me too.
- BoA (lately she's really starting to attract me... I wish her all the best with her "conquering America", who knows what it could lead to if she succeeded!)
- Who doesn't listen to Utada Hikaru?Ikimono Gakari (They have something others don't. Clearly because all the others are idols, stupid. Except for Hikki of course.)
- KAT-TUN (I'm not into their music very much, the way they sing is annoying and their style is off most of the time and the whole gangsta image doesn't really suit me but I love Kame's acting T_T Why does he have to annoy me so much while on the stage? He's not a bad singer after all (I love Kizuna!). It's just the style!)
In addition to this, in these past few months
I've watched way too many dramas. I'll say it aloud: I'm addicted.
Maybe I'll be now returning to blogging. I've got lots to write about, since I
haven't dropped any of my interests but only grown more of them. And alhtough I
don't follow any of these groups as actively as many other fans, such as for
Arashi watching their regural TV shows, I'm very much into all of them. So look
forward to my "comeback"! If there is anyone interested in my blog
anymore, it's been so long. Well as if I cared. :P I'm just gonna talk to
myself then.
And still waiting for Gocchin's comeback! Not to speak of those promised
minialbums from Aibon.
PS. One thing's almost for sure. For some strange reason I don't find DBSK
appealing at all～!
I don't usually answer surveys. But this survey at Bikkuri Project sounded like a lot of fun and I'm not feeling too lazy so I might even answer its questions. Although, I'm sorry, but I just know H!P so I'm not able to answer all of the questions properly. So you can ignore this as an answer to a certain survey and just read it as me answering some funny questions.
1. You have found a magical J-pop genie who will grant you one
J-pop related wish (so no wishing for a million dollars or world peace
or anything like that). It can be virtually anything as long as it’s
directly related to J-pop, and don’t worry, because this is the nice
sort of genie, not the kind who will try to find a loop-hole and screw
up your wish. So, what do you wish for???
I'd probably wish for Momusu (and H!P) to change their image a bit and after that magically become enormely popular again among the ordinary crowd in Japan.
2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?
No, not really... But note that in the end I don't know much about jpop. I'm only really familiar with H!P, AKB48 and Hikki and then I know all the biggest names but have never really listened to their music.
3. Who do you think is the sexiest japanese singer out there?
I'm sorry... But I really don't know! Not really familiar with the male singers...
4. How about the cutest?
Sayu! / Airi!
5. Best personality?
Yossy!
6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5?
Well, given the fact that I gave no-one for person 3 and girls for persons 4 and 5 I'd date Yossy out of them. But I'd rather date Onew from SHINee although he's Korean so he doesn't count.
7. You work for a Japanese music magazine, and you have the
opportunity to interview your favorite artist or group. What are a
couple of the questions you want to ask them?
I'd interview Gocchin... And I'd ask how she really feels, what her true intentions are... And why she left H!P in the first place: was it because of his brother's actions, or artistical differences, or a little bit of both? Or was it because of being overworked? Was the graduation planned ahead? If it was, why was her next single already been scheduled to be realeased? Is she happier now, does she wish that she'd left UFA earlier? And how does she want her career to continue from now on - is she really aiming to become one of the biggest or does she want to continue with modest success? How was being an idol like? Does she regret that she came into show business in the first place? Or does she wish that she'd signed up with AVEX or some other company and become a singer like Koda Kumi instead of becoming an idol?
8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad?
I have many... I guess I'm sad a lot :P But the four most frequent would probably be:
I'm sorry but for some stupid reason I can't seem to embed from vox so you'll just have to click them and go to the audio page to listen to these. :( From left to right: Samishii Hi by Morning Musume, Masayume by Aa!, Samidare Koi Uta by W and Koi ING by Morning Musume.
I've already expressed my love for Masayume ("True Dream"), Samidare Koi Uta ("Early Summer Rain Love Song") is the most beautiful song ever (well not really) and I have the impression that everybody loves Koi ING ("Loving"), so I'll just talk about Samishii Hi ("Lonely Days").
IMO, Samishii Hi one of the most beautiful songs of Momusu ever, both music and lyric-wise. Just have a look at the lyrics (taken from Kiwi Musume's jpop lyrics site):
I threw something away
Even though there was no guarantee that I’d be able to catch it
It seems like I’m progressing
Even if it is just little by little
Maybe it’s because I believed so strongly
That day I shed tears
And left on my own
Ah it was a long night
When did I start
To feel lonely?
I think I have as much loneliness
As I do courage
If I feel like crying
I just cry
That way I sleep better
Even so, there are days
When I just can’t take it
Is it OK to be a bit childish on those days?
Is this something
Everyone worries about?
Or is it just me?
That was when
I started to feel lonely
I think the reason I’m lonely
Is because I know your tenderness
That was when
I started to feel lonely
I think the reason I’m lonely
Is because I know your tenderness
It's just a perfect slow-paced song with only piano accompanying the beautiful vocals of the talented first and second gen girls. My only complaint is that the vocals are mixed to be very quiet and the instrumentals take them over really easily. But on the other hand, you have to really keep quiet and pay attention to be able to catch their words which is a good thing since it's makes you calm down.
This song makes me cry every time! Why is it that you want to listen to sad songs when your sad, not to happy spirits-lifting songs? H!P makes way too few sad songs!
9. When you’re really happy?
Pretty much to anything, but mostly to HEY! Mirai and Ganbacchae! and Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT and Genki Jirushi no Oomori Song and that kind of songs that tell you "It's okay to be weak and cry sometimes, as long as you try your best you'll be able to do anything!" H!P has a lot of that type of songs, anyone has noticed by chance? :P
10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs?
All the time! Since Japanese is easy to pronunce for Finnish people, I remember most of the lyrics by heart. I even lipsynch when I'm listening to my iPod in the underground or tram...I must look mad. :D But lipsynching is better than singing aloud in public, isn't it?
11. How about dance?
Well some basic stuff like hand movements... For songs like Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai. Then I have a few songs that I almost know the whole coreography (Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi, Waraccahou yo BOYFRIEND and EVERYDAY YEAH! Kataomoi) but I don't actually practice or try to figure them out so they probably have a lot of errors.
I think all H!P fans do this since their dance routines are so catchy. Everybody knows at least the "L"s in LOVE Machine.
12. Artistic integrity question!! If someone offered to pay you for blogging, but they were allowed to censor some of your opinions or veto some of your blogging ideas, would you do it?
There's no way that someone would offer me money... But I wouldn't accept it. Unless the amount was really big. Then I would. Blogging is not that important to me and I don't do it that frequently. So it wouldn't be a big deal. I don't have that many visitors anyway (I think, I don't want to put up any data collecting divices). I could just put up another blog where I could talk freely :P
My rule: never a post without a photo!
As you probably know, I'm a huge fan of SHINee... And because of that, I decided to participate in SHINee forums' first ever project:
link here :P To quote the post there: "Our objective for Project T-Day is to send birthday presents for our dear maknae, Taemin's birthday on July 18th. But of course, we can't just leave out the rest of our SHINee boys so, we will also be sending them a gift(s?) as congratulatory debut presents."
So what I am doing is writing a fan message to be part of the fan message book that is made because, as it's said on the post, "the purpose of this is to show SHINee that they do in fact have fans all over the world". (I would love to donate also but I'm still thinking about it. But it would be nice to know that the presents are from me too.)
I wonder if it's okay to write here the letter that I wrote for the fan message book... Maybe I'm too embarassed to share it after all. I know it's probably just the same all the other fans wrote too but that's how I sincerely feel so I'm okay about that. :)
But the problem is here: I'm also going to do an audio "Happy Birthday" message to TaeMin. (To think that he could really hear my very own voice with my poor English pronunciation speaking to him! *dies*) But I find it hard to come up with something to say! I'm afraid that I'll sound ridiculous...
Well TaeMin hearing me sounding ridiculous is better than TaeMin not hearing me at all. :) So I think I'll think of something... I still have a little bit time. I think it doesn't have to be that special, maybe he'll be happy anyways. And there aren't many people participating so maybe he'll pay attention to everyone regardless of how interesting the message itself is. :)
Why don't H!P fans ever arrange such projects as these? Soshified is full of them... (Although I think that some of the presents there are ridiculously expensive. I think the girls have more money than us - if they wanna buy something expensive they can buy it themselves. We, the fans, should just send them special things, not any diamond rings (well okay, they haven't gone that far yet :P). I think they'd appreciate it more!) As for H!P, I would love to send for example the graduating members something... But there are way too many of them to be sending something every birthday. :P
Now that I let out all of that shit from me in the previous post, for the funnier part of my kpop fandom. :)
First of all, some great kpop sites you should visit to get started. :)
krnloop is a great (unbiased and correct!) Korean Pop News blog. :) Be sure to get all up-to-date news from here.
Stay Gold is a blog full of kpop downloads so if you need something. I love it and the commentaries are always interesting to read too. The blogger has even got a bit into Momusu, it seems. :)
And if you won't get offended about people hating SNSD, then ShenYuePop is full of articles about different stuff. Note that they're not only a news reporting site but always express their opinions too and many times in a pretty hilarious way.
Endless L.O.V.E ♥ ~ is full of SHINee L.O.V.E!!! (The blog is great also in other ways, I only put link to the SHINee category.)
But anyway, I've already started supporting So Nyuh Shi Dae financially too and bought both their first album and single. I bought the Taiwan version of their repackaged album called Baby Baby because it includes a DVD with all the PVs! Although I'm not too sure if I'm allowed to call them PVs because this is Korea not Japan... So maybe I'll say MVs. :) I don't know if everything will be written in Mandarin or something but after all what does it matter to me, it's not like I could read Korean either. :P So I thought that I could buy the Taiwan version, it would make no difference. When I buy H!P music I always buy Japan versions but that's different but all H!P products contain the same things no matter what country's versions they are and the Korea version of Baby Baby doesn't contain the DVD and I really wanted it... ♥ The single on the other hand seems to have a great desing and a lot of photos... Aww, love. :)
So I'm currently waiting for them to arrive. I'll SO post about them when I get them! But for now, a little bit about my fandom. My favourite is SeoHyun. (BTW, all SNSD photos in this post are from Soshified.)
Isn't she looking sweet in that hanbok? ♥♥ Absolutely, I'd say. One thing I've come to realise BTW, when trying to find more photos of these pretty girls: due to official pictures and photobooks it's extremely easy to find great photos of H!P girls! Untagged, great quality... As for SNSD (and other Korean artists, too) the photos seem always to be from some news site and have a huge tag on them (fortunately this one has only a small one!).
Anyway, back to SeoHyun. She's the youngest of SNSD, being born in 1991. She's one of the main singers and rightly so because (at least to me) she has a great voice. It's not too powerful though, but has a sweet tone. She's also a great piano player! Or at least she has a great technique (I'd argue a bit about the mood, she's too hasty. But I guess she was a bit nervous when the video was shot so she cannot have played the best she actually can. And also we have to remember that as she said in the same program she doesn't have much time to practice anymore because she's so busy with SNSD activities. And additionally, she's only 16... So no-one can expect her to be able to play as expressively as this guy for example.). Anyways, here she's playing Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. 66 No. 4.
I can't find the whole program where this is from anymore... It was subtitled and all... But if you want to watch other subtitled SNSD videos go here. It's the YouTube account of Soshi Subs and they present an amazing amount of subbed SNSD videos. If you're interested, I recommend that you start with MNet's Girls Go to School. It's a reality show telling about SNSD's debut and it's great! It's the only one I've been able to watch since I've been too busy... I'll put a few photos more of SeuHyun, this incredibly cute girl! She's really modest and quiet too, maybe a bit too unconfident... But she's just so sweet! And besides, she loves Johnny Depp! We could be real friends, this girls has some good taste... :P
She looks a lot like Mikitty in that one doesn't she? It's funny because I never thought Mikitty was that cute... But I definetely think that SeoHyun is cute!
Our cute maknae (=the youngest) can also be quite sexy!
So where was I? SeoHyun is great but so are all the other girls. :) My second favourite would probably be TaeYeon, the oldest, the leader and also the babyface of the group. :D But seriously, she's incredibly cute too (for a five year old :P)! TaeYeon is probably the best singer out of SNSD with only Jessica fighting for that spot with her, these two indeed being the two lead vocalists. She's incerdibly tiny but also has a powerful voice... I could never have thought that such a mature voice could come out of such a little girl.
A few beautiful photos of her too!
I'll put a clip of her singing now... Since SeoHyun had her talent showcase clip TaeYeon should have one too. Not to like SNSD because they are "talentless"... That's just cheating oneself... (Just to have fun, go and listen to the "male version" of this song... It's amazing how you can really make them sound like real men just by lowering the pitch! Here's some more, these are so funny! It doesn't work so well the other way around though XD)
But that's it for SNSD this time. Two members gone through, seven more to go! :) These girls are actually all my favourites. In this group, there is no last one. But well I just said I'd move on. Because I have a fandom that's even bigger than this one! The first boy group I've ever been into! Who's in my banner??? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Here's a clip of a rehearsal of their debut performance (he's the one with the shirt that says "wicked" XD). It's so cute in the end when they are supposed to stop but TaeMin just keeps on dancing.... I had to play that part of the video again and again, when JongHyun pokes him and he looks so embarassed and MinHo puts his hands in his shoulders like "Okay maknae, it's time to go away now.". :) Poor TaeMin was so concentrated in his performance that he didn't remember to stop! BTW, in the MV TaeMin's the one with a yellow shirt and a bowl cut (LOL) and the one who always in the middle and front in the dance cuts. He has no real solo singing parts, presumably because his voice is still developing, but he has a nice solo dance. And the amazing point is the mike pass he and Key do before and after that part in live performances! I didn't even notice the whole pass before someone pointed it out in their blog... I'm sorry but I can't remember where I read it. But anyway, it's just so sneaky. (Unless, like in their Music Bank performance, it fails... Poor TaeMin had to dance the rest of the song without his mike and unable to sing. :( Fortunately there's not much of the song left after his solo dance.)
That was their DEBUT PERFORMANCE. Seriously, just how talented are these guys?
Next up is Onew!
But someone wanna tell what M.V.P is? I have no idea O_o (Onew's the one who sings that.)
But I'm supposed to include a clip of Onew too am I not? I decided to put a clip of In My Room, the second track in their debut mini album. Onew is the first one singing and I love his voice! So that was Onew! He's the best!
SHINee and especially SNSD (with those hard times they've had) FIGHTING～!
This photo is here just to make me feel a bit better before I start...
First af all I need to point out that I'm a total newbie to kpop and thus completely unaware of many facts and things that have happened in the past. If some facts are wrong - feel free to correct me. :) Everything I say is based on information that I've gathered by reading bits here and there so I might lack an overall view. I'm saying this just because the war that has been going on seems pretty cruel and I wish that if anyone that is somehow involved and also better informed than I am happens to read this entry doesn't just start picking on me. This is just my opinion and because I don't know much about everything that has happened my points of view can seem stupid to people who know more.
And BTW if there's a photo in this post that you think should be credited some way (most of them are taken from Soshified) just mention it in the comments and I'll add the credit.
I have been into SNSD (Girls' Generation) a while now. But being their fan is not that easy - especially if you don't want to hide in your own little corner but rather learn more about kpop.
I can't remember how I first got to know about SNSD, it might have been through H!P - Hello Non-Pro Hour but it took long after that post before I really got interested in them. I can't remember what it was that made me go back to them but I know that when I did I eventually fell in love with them. Comparing them to Momusu, I thought they were extremely professional and talented and overall on a completely different level. Don't get me wrong though, I still love Momusu and no matter how bad singers or dancers they are they'll always be the best for me because after all, their charm is somewhere completely different than in talent and skill. But going back to SNSD, I thought that I would finally have one group that other pop (idol) group lovers would take seriously and respect when it comes to singing and dancing. I admit that I have never read anything that really bashes Momusu or H!P but that's just because I've never been reading much other sites, blogs or forums about jpop, only those about H!P and there isn't naturally much hate towards them since those are created by fans. I still have a feeling that there are "serious music lovers" or Johnny's lovers or whatever that are into jpop but hate Momusu a lot and if not hate then at least laugh at it. And I thought that SNSD would be different from Momusu. I thought it would be up to par with other pop groups and respected just as the others are. I thought it would have teenaged girls as fans also in Korea, not just internationally. I thought that when I would watch concerts or TV performances I would hear fangirls screaming instead of low-pitched men voices shouting. (Not like I care about that though - after watching all those H!P concerts I'm so used to men's shouting voices that when I hear fangirls' screams they sound weird to me. :D)
Just how wrong was I.
Being such a newbie to kpop as I am I started looking for kpop news sites and blogs and such things to help me learn more about this entertainment bussiness so similar to but different from jpop. One of the first sites I found was ShenYuePop, a "Korean Entertainment News & Gossip" site. If you take a look at some of the articles concerning SNSD you'll be able to notice that the people writing for ShenYuePop are not positive about them at all. And what am I to say anything about that, people are free to hate anything they want. It just made me feel a bit bad - did I just find another "ridiculous" idol group which being a fan of is just completely stupid?
Well, knowing all that changed nothing: I'm still a huge fan of theirs. But even if I'm a fan I can still understand most of the points that are argued against them and even agree with some of them.
I guess the difference between the SNSD hate and the supposed Momusu hate (as I said I haven't seen anything like it because I'm only involved with other Momusu fans but I'm completely sure that it exists) is that the SNSD hate seems to be everywhere. I've been thinking about it and found some reasons that sound somewhat reasonable to me.
Popularity.
Momusu is quite a minor act in the Japanese entertainment industry nowadays no matter how much we would want them to be ruling the world or at least Japan. People who think they're a bunch of talentless celebrity-wannabes with a sex-oriented image aiming to rip off every penny from introverted middle-aged Japanese men can easily just pass by them with a shrug of shoulders, do the same for AKB48 and just not care and never think about either of these groups again. Momusu won't be endangering the top position in Oricon charts of their favourite artist's newest single or challenging any of jpop's major acts any other way either. They're just not worth any ultimate hate bacause they're too small to make any difference. I'm sure there are many people who are simply indifferent about them or, especially in Japan, just consider them as something very nostalgic - something they loved when they were children and whose music they still sing in karaoke eveytime they're drunk or having fun with their childhood friends. But something which would now be a bit humiliating to be a fan of now.
Whereas SNSD is probably at their peak - in spite of all the hate they're receiving they have a lot of fans too and their CDs have sold pretty well. They're getting a lot of promotion because they belong to SM Entertainment, the same agency that handles BoA and Super Junior and DBSK (or Tohoshinki or TVXQ or whatever). It's HUGE and has LOADS of money to put in artists they want to promote. One of the things that has irritated SNSD antifans is the fact that they've been promoted through DBSK and SuJu who are already really famous and popular. Such things as making commercials together, appearing on TV shows, being labeled as friends. I find it easy to believe that some of these people really are friends and I don't see anything bad in it. Neither do I see anything bad in SNSD being promoted by using SuJu's or DBSK's popularity. I think this trick has been used before (I've heard that SuJu was also promoted this way - they even made a joint single Show Me Your Love with DBSK back when they debuted. But this is where being a newbie comes in: I couldn't know if there was something that made that situation different from the situation of SNSD today because I wasn't around yet.) But there are people who see this in a different way: they think that SNSD is let go too easily, that they receive all the popularity without having to work hard. And as far as Korea (and Japan also) are concerned, working hard and doing one's best seems to be the most important thing if one wants to be respected.
If someone asks me, I think that they're sincerely doing their best. But how could I know. I never met them. And there are people who say that they sometimes act rude towards their fans and not always as idols should: being grateful and cheerful. Of course I wouldn't want to believe that, but it can be just as true as the sweet image we are offered. What if the sudden rise to stardom really has made some of these girls think too much about themselves? Even if it was (is) so, I wouldn't care. But many people do. Especially in Korea it seems. Being polite is after all just as important (or even more important it seems to me) as in Japan.
(But I do feel funny when international fans feel offended by things that matter in Korean culture but not in their own. I understand that Korean fans get mad when SNSD are not using formal speech when talking to seniors but seriously... Why would someone who lives in Europe or USA feel offended? It still seems that many do. Maybe I just don't take things as personally as other people... And as I said before, people are free to hate whatever they want. So they are also free to feel offended by whatever they feel like.)
Image.
Momusu's current image and SNSD's image are actually very similar. They're marketed as extremely cute but at the same time sexually appealing. When people criticize this kind of image I need to agree with them. It is indeed aimed to attract men (with short skirts and "panties-flashing" and stuff) and at the same time still be pure enough to pull of the "I'm a virgin!" thing (again to attract men) and be appropriate enough to be suitable for children and mass media. To me it seems quite hypocrite and double-standarded.
But in the end, am I not myself the most hypocrite one here? Am I not the one who loves Momusu and SNSD for their cute images? I am. Although I need to defend myself and say that I like the cute image a lot more when there's less sexiness around. Being sexy is nothing wrong (Early Momusu!) but the "cute 'n' sexy" is indeed not a very pretty combination especially when it's used for younger groups like °C-ute. (Yes, this is excatly where I'm being hypocrite, I love °C-ute after all.) But the Golden Era Momusu was actually quite non-sexy and marketed purely as "cute" (if people see sexiness in songs like Happy Summer Wedding, Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima, I WISH or Souda! We're ALIVE it's only in their heads, not in the PVs or whatever) and that's one of my favourite images for Momusu. Still, I love the miniskirts. But I would really like them to wear a bit more especially in concerts and please non-bikini photobooks too!!!
Anyway, although I kinda agree (in spite of still being drawn to the same image I consider as inappropriate) just bashing them for wearing too short skirts and being like "Oops! You saw my panties now! ^o^" is questionable too. After all, it's not like the groups with pure sexy images (although in my opinion all the Asian girl groups I'm familiar with have some cuteness in their image no matter how "pure sexiness" it is) are wearing anything much longer. In some cases they even wear significatly less than SNSD. And honestly I can't see much difference in the image Wonder Girls have in Tell Me and the image SNSD have in Into the New World. Especially SunMi And SoHee, the younger members of Wonder Girls, could easily fit in SNSD.
But maybe this is again because I'm a newbie and I can't see the subtle differences.
(About panties-flashing, I always feel like defending them by "They're not flashing anything! Look! They wearing shorts under their skirts you idiots!" (Photo from Soshistalker)
But really, what's the difference? It doesn't matter if they're wearing shorts or not. Because the goal is still trying to make fanboys drool after their short skirts.)
To conclude, I don't think that their image is that different from other girl groups that don't get bashed. But I neither think that their image is all right even though I love it. (Momusu's image goes a lot further after all.)
But what makes this image seen so bad in Korea while in Japan I don't think it's that bad at all? I have no idea. But maybe it's again because SNSD is supposed to be up to par woth other pop groups. Unlike Momusu which is really starting to be an underground act (not really :DD and also that's a stupid term to use but I just mean similar to all those minor idol acts in Akihabara and also to gravure idols). SNSD instead can't just start being all "bikini porn" (like some fellow blogger hilariously described gravure idoling, I'm sorry I cannot remember who). They're supposed to have some dignity (even though most people seem to think they don't have any) so they can't just do anything.
But can anyone put any name of a current Momusu member and digninty in a same phrase? If you can, I'll bow.
Wow I've gone through so many things... But I bet some of you that aren't familiar with this are still wondering... "So why are they hated so much?" I seems that all of it originates from these various reasons I've gone through here. But what really has caught my eye is the supposed rudeness and bad behaviuor of these girls.
Here is one article about Tiffany that really shows all her bad sides. In my opinion it's a whole lot unfair but I don't want to offend the writer. I just find many parts unnecessary but if you write about someone you hate... You certainly won't write nice things.
And then there's the whole thing about this huge boycott towards SNSD they experienced recently in 2008 Dream Concert (a huge (charity?) concert where all the top artists of Korea perform). This article is also very biased. But I think it's very informative for all people who are not familiar with the situation to understand what kind of hate I'm talking about. Just be sure to consider everything you read yourself! There is also another one concerning this issue. After all this stuff about what's going on in Korea the article also lists everything that SNSD have done wrong according to Koreans and other people who have felt offended by their actions.
And in the end, SNSD had to do something - apologise. I say that it's good that they did it. Since so many people thought they did things wrong and felt so bad about them that they even organised that huge boycott I think it's mature to say you're sorry. In personal life too: you have to apologise sometimes when you don't feel like you've done anything wrong. If other people feel bad about your actions, it's not always about yourself but also about other people's feelings.
While I think that SNSD have been treated unfairly at some points, it's good that they're themselves trying to solve the issue rather than ignore everything (as I first thought they would do). They seem to admit now themselves some of the things that they've been accused of and since they're guilty they need to apologise. But there are things that I really wonder (maybe they're unclear to me because I'm so ignorant of Korean culture but still):
- Aren't people who hurt other people supposed to apologised to them, not just randomly to everyone?
- How is it possible that the same people who demand respect from SNSD can be so disrespectful themselves? Are they any better then SNSD? Why can't people just do like my supposed Momusu haters and ignore them if they're so low instead of going down to the same level by acting disrespectfully themselves?
But I really think that a huge issue like this couldn't have just happened without a reason. There must be something behind it, and SNSD can't be totally innocent if they're so hated. But although I know that most of the antis will not accept this apology (and who am I to blame them for that, how could anyone know if this is sincere or not and if it's written by themselves or forced to them by their agency that's trying to defend their image) at least these girls tried. And that's what means to me, as a fan.
One thing that stood out to me in the end of that apology post in ShenYuePop is the fact that they're wanting SNSD fans apologise too. And there are also people who want SNSD to apologise also in behalf of their fans. At first it sounds weird doesn't it? This is about the group, not the fans right? How does fans' actions make the group any worse or disrespectful?
The idea behind this that I've been represented in many places is that "Fans make or break the artists". I think this is a very interesting view to idols and to entertainment industry overall that I haven't been familiar with before. As they probably mentioned somewhere the (Korean) SNSD fans are considered to be quite violent. There are rumours of rapes and beat ups (in the Dream Concert and also before it) and although I firmly believe that most of them are false there might have been some violence and at least the threathens some SNSD fans have left in various places in the net are true. I believe this is actually not very different from the way some antis act (like the infamous event of an antifan girl making U-know of DBSK very sick by giving him a drink mixed with superglue) but violence is always unforgivable. I really think there's something wrong with Korean society when teenagers and a little bit older fans too put so much in their fandoms. I don't believe there are many people in Finland who would ever be violent towards any starts or because of them. I'm not saying that there isn't violence at all in here - just a few weeks ago there was an incident where about 200 teenagers who were hanging out in a park after a huge free concert and suddenly started to throw rocks and glass bottles at the police with no obvious reason. The difference is that nobody accused the artists that performed in that concert for the violence. And also none of those young people involved argued that they were fighting because of some artist.
My point is that violence will never be avoided, it's something that is part of human nature. But why do these fans in Korea get so passionate about their favourite artists (or, in case of antis, their most loathsome artists) that they're ready to perform extreme actions in order to make other people love/hate those artists or punish people who don't agree with them or even hurt the artists themselves? It's almost like football hooliganism! But even creepier because they don't just settle for raging but they also attempt murders and threathen the artists with such things as kicking them in the stomach so long that they won't be able to have babies (although there are so many versions that I don't know anymore who said this and to who)? The same goes for the crazy Johnny's fangirls with blowpipes! And the crazy H!P fanboys (men) burning CDs and photos!
This really leads me thinking if this fucked-up idol culture is worth existing at all...
Anyway, I think that SNSD is only guilty for the things they do themselves, not the horrible things their fans do and should be not hated for those. And only completely mad people do such violent actions without any provocation (although being provoked doesn't by any means make violence more acceptable) so there's some guilt in someone else too. Being guilty of loathing and threathening doesn't go for SNSD fands only, there are fans of every group out there who do such things. So if the the SNSD fans are to apologise so are all the other fans who have acted hatefully too. It's not like there only one quater that has caused all this mess. There are many people to blame.
As for international SNSD fans, they've probably not beaten anyone but there are some that have been extremely rude. But also in here, they are not the only rude ones. SNSD have been bashed a lot and it's no wonder that people who are emotionally attached to them are angry. But just one thing: no matter how offended and angry you feel by something or no matter how much you hate something, if you're a civilized person you don't just go around and start to run down everyone. People who hate SNSD are free to say it aloud and even make a big deal out of it, but they don't have to take to the astronomical hights it is now in. And SNSD fans are not any better if they start acting similarly and bash other people. If you want people to act respectufully towards SNSD the solution is certainly not to act disrespectfully towards the SNSD bashing people.
So in my opinion. It would be the best if EVERYONE (who's done something wrong) would just apologise. After that everyone's free to hate and love anything want, but I just wish people would stay polite in at least some level so that they needn't to have this kind of open war that's going on right now. Another option is that NO-ONE apologises because everybody's guilty and everybody could just decide we're now even and move on.
Just please, the war that's on right now is ridiculous. I'd be insanely happy if it could end and I, as a kpop fan that wants to learn about all the groups instead of taking one side, could peacefully go on and continue expanding my fandom. For the end, I just want to quote soyboy from ShenYuePop who said excellently:
"Hopefully, the Cartel fans’ boycott will be a reminder to all stars and their respective fan clubs, not just SNSD and Soshi, that if you want RESPECT, then you should give it first."
I'm just so glad that jpop is not this full of bashing and craziness (it's not like it's limited just to SNSD, all the groups and artists seem to have their fair share of antifans)!
Seems like some kind of a game is becoming popular... Tagging other bloggers! And now I've been tagged by MorningBerryz so I guess it's my turn.
The rules taken from MorningBerryz's blog who took them from Dj_MaiMai's blog. :P
"The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer."
Question 1: What were you doing 10 years ago?:
I was eight... The summer holidays of schools had just started but my parents were still working I guess, so I was probably enjoying the chilly days of the early summer at the playground near by. :)
Question 2: Five (non working) things on my to do list today:
I'm doing this in the evening so I'll write things that I had on my list (whether I did them or not is anoher thing :P).
- Go to driving class (I'll get my driving lisence hopefully this summer!)
- Find my calendar (I lost it and now I don't know what's happening and in what day...)
- Eat ice cream :D
- Go to library (many of the books I've borrowed are very late and I have a huge fine waiting to be paid...)
- I can't think of anything... Eat more ice cream?
Question 3: Snacks I enjoy:
Almost any fruit there is on this planet, but especially banana, cherries, grapes, pineapple and orange. And sweets! Well, basically everything sweet. :) And many salty things too. Let's just say that I enjoy eating!
Question 4: Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would pay my parents' mortgage, try to do some good and put my money in something that could help some miserable people who live in this world... Then I'd buy all the H!P merchandise I've ever wanted and travel to their concerts in Japan. ;) Maybe I'd travel a bit somewhere else too and go to see all my friends who live somewhere else in the world.
Then I'd buy all my favourite books and myself a house that has a library room like all houses have in old books. I'd spend all my days there reading.
Then I'd save a lot of money for my children and give some to my family members so they could also have the things they've always wanted.
Question 5: Places I have lived:
All my life I've been living in the same district in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Although I've lived in three different houses in this area. :)
Question 6: Jobs I have had:
I've only had one real job (I'm still young you know) and that's working in an amusement park as a person who works at the games (such as different wheels of fortune or raffles or games where you have to shoot or throw balls somewhere to earn points... you know, that kind of games there are in amusement parks).
No to who I should tag... Everybody's been tagged already! Who should I? I'll think about it and do it a bit later! And edit this post then.
I need to put one photo. A post without a photo is nothing!
It's hint. :) Of what I'm interested in recently and what I will post about next.
Yeah I know... It's really obvious...
(Here's something for you to listen to while reading my utterly long post. Am I the only one who loves the pinku-duo? :P After this it'll be no use ever again to claim that in an idol I look for a good singing voice.)
TADADA-A! My birthday present (anybody remember anymore? :)) arrvied actually over a month ago :D but I haven't been able to post about it. So now I shall (it took me ten days to write this :D). Here it is:
Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint. The reason why I finally started blogging (I had been planning it for a while) and why I started my blog here in vox is this. A long time ago (okay, it hasn't been such a long time :P) MorningBerryx decided to hold a draw for two great j-pop items, Arashi's concert tour DVD an Morning Musume's "Sweet Morning Box 2002". As a result two lucky persons got a wonderful a Christmas present. I wasn't one of them (:( unlucky me) but to be able to enter the draw I had to create an account here in vox. And this is how my blog was born. :)
Anyway, after that MorningBerryz also made entries about the other "Sweet Morning Box " Momusu Christmas collectibles from years 2003 and 2004. I was immediately drawn to these great collections of interesting and unique Momusu goods. These really are the most complex H!P collectibles I've ever seen! But as MorningBerryz mentions in the other post these were unfortunately released only during the years 2002-2004.
However, after looking around in Yahoo Auctions Japan I found out that the first "Sweet Morning Box" was actually released in 1999 with the LOVE Machine line-up available only to Fan Club members. Shortly after that the person from whom I usually buy H!P stuff in eBay put up this thing. I was able to win it at only 15.50 dollars! (The fact that the box wasn't sealed and that the shipping fee was huge didn't bother me at all. :)) So this is what I ended up with: "Morning Musume. Sweet Morning box 2000"! ★☆★
Although it's a million times more simple than the later releases MorningBerryz has got I'm extremely happy with it and it's justifiably the shining jewel of my H!P collection! Because I love all of it I'll start with the cover of the box.
This box is beautifully designed right from the beginning: once you remove the red cover another, green one appears. The picture is very cute: Momusu choir with Yuuko as the conductor! Can you recognise them all? :D Remeber that this is from th year 2000 - the 4th gen had just joined the same year.
It's not too hard is it? :) I think Gocchin's the cutest one here. For some odd reason Nacchi's not cute at all even though in real life she's as sweet as sugar! But let's open this "takara no hako" of mine :). ♪♪
Looks good doesn't it? :)
As you might have already noticed the cover of the box tells us everything there is inside it. All in all it makes seven different items:
- X'mas Message Video
- Special Trading Card x3
- Deck of Playing Cards
- Year Plate 2000
- Special Mini X'mas Tree
- Ornament x10
- Message Card
Isn't it great? ♪
I will review these items in this given order. First up is the "X'mas Message Video". BTW, although this box was open when I bought it all the goods inside were sealed and so was this VHS too. However I couldn't resist opening and watching it. ☆ As you all probably know VHS aren't very hard-wearing so I'm thinking of taking it to one of these places were they'll transfer it to DVD. My parents are going to do so with some of our old VHS and I think maybe they will be kind enough to take this at the same time. :)
I have no knowledge of how to rip a VHS myself and put it in computer so unfortunately I don't have the chance to upload this video anywhere. I can't even share screencaps as much as I'd like to. :( I can only tell about the content of this video and show scans of the case.
Aibon's wearing some amazing hair extensions isn't she? :O I wonder why they aren't smiling properly, Christmas is supposed to be a happy event isn't it? I can imagine a similar shot with the current Momusu... It would probably be something more like this.
Flashing peace signs and looking ridiculously happy. :) Now, that's what idols are supposed to look like! I couldn't deny though that the Morning Musume of 2000 is just as cute as the current one even if it's a lot more serious. :)
The video is basically a making of. I don't know what the running time is because I didn't count when I watched this and it isn't written anywhere but it was more than an hour. First we're treated with some footage from a photoshoot (all the girls look incredibly cute!). The photoshoot is the same one where these case photos (and the trading cards which I will show you next) are from. (The next photo is even cuter than the last one! I love their clothes. :) So 90's :P)
After the short photoshoot footage there are individual interviews from all these girls. I don't understand Japanese so I can't tell what they're saying. :/ From my VERY limited understanding I can say that the questions asked are something like "What was the highlight of the year 2000?" and so on. In the end of their interviews eveyone gives a short message to the viewer (who supposedly is a fan club member as this is a fan club release). I have to say it once more: they are all extremely cute! I had to scan the other side of this VHS too because they're incredibly cute!!!
I just got an idea: I promise that from now on, on my every birthday I will buy myself one of these "Sweet Morning Boxes" as a birthday present and eventually, after five years, when I turn 23 I will own them all. Isn't that a great idea? ♥ I'm loving it already. :P
Shall I move onto the trading cards now? I'm having trouble of finding something to say about the video because I can't share any of it. So maybe I'll just move on. :)
Here are the next great items included with the box! I'm a trading card girl; I always collect the photocards that come with limited editions and first presses and I even have two trading card albums for Momusu trading cards I've bought via Internet: one for normal trading cards and one for bromides (that one's extremely fullt though. So I absolutely love these. I scanned them too in order for you to see better. :) First the front sides and then the back sides.
Whoa the Momusu choir makes another surprise appearance! Now you should at least be able to recognise every memeber from the drawn pictures. You even have a parallel in the other side of the card. :) They are standing in the same order except for Yuuko Santa who's in her sleigh. Plese bring me lots of gifts next Christmas Yuuko Santa!
BTW, all these girls look as adorable as ever. Have I mentioned it yet? I love the third card best because of its great backside. Yossy, Marippe and Gocchin have great poses! The first one is great too again because of the back. The photos have a kind of home photo album feel to them which makes them special. The setting behind is the same where the interviews were shot.
I wonder if these cards where the same in all boxes? I guess so, but just what makes them "trading cards" if everyone has the same cards...?
Next maybe my second favourite thing in the whole box... Douzo!
A deck of Momusu playing cards! Isn't the case hilarious? :) I really don't get that snowman. Unless it's Makoto of course. :) (You know which Makoto I'm talking about. Alhough I think he wasn't MCing H!P concerts yet at this point.)
This case is something I've never seen. It has the most unique way of opening. It's genius though, it prevents the case from being damaged when opening. Sometimes I think I'd like them to have something like this in the CD slip cases too, they always tend to fold when I open them...
Can you see how it opens? I think it's great! The folds are there already so the case remains decent-looking. No you can see the contens already can't you? :) Here it comes (I scanned the hearts because the pictures are the same in all the suits and hearts are the cutest ♥):
It's the choir again!
Aibon is given the position of Ace as the cards feature the members from the youngest to the oldest. Isn't Nono cute? It's always hard to realise that Gocchin was actually the third youngest in the group at this time...
Then it's everybody's beloved Yossy, Charmy and Marippe. For some reason Rikachan's looking very young throughout all these goods. Maybe it's just because she really was very young. :P
Nacchi looks incredibly sweet... And Yuuko continues to stand out with that blond hair of hers. :) She's so funny.
Now I have the court cards left. They feature different girls in different suits so I scanned them all. :) Please pay attention to details - you may find some little things that are different from the rest. :)
Did you notice something missing...?
I THOUGHT SO. SO DID I and I was still surprised. :DD BANG!!!
BANG!!!
Which one is scarier? :DD I might vote for Kaorin - Yuuko looks just plain disgusted. XD
These playing cards are just great. However, I'm never going to use them. Who would like to have a deck of dirty, torn cards? Not me at least.
Now to my biggest favourite! You can see the package (it's the choir again) in the photo of all the goods from this box. The white cardboard case contains something that's really precious to me...
Tada-a! It was extremely hard to take a photo without any reflects but I did my best... At least I got a photo where all the drawings are well visible. Isn't it lovely? I really, REALLY like it! All the girls are really good at drawing, but some of my favourites are Marippe's incredibly cute angel choir, Aibon's peach head that reminds me of Momo's drawings (they have a very similar style don't they?) and Yossy's little Father Christmas. :) Gocchin's Santa is quite hilarious and Nono's little creatures - well, weird. :P I don't get what their doing. But I must announce that the winner is
YUUKO WTF? I don't get her drawing at all! XD Maybe it helped if I understood the text. As for now, to me it looks like a chibi-Yuuko crying out for help for getting married. ;P
I just have to say again that this particular piece is just incredible. You may enjoy the photo - I'm certainly not giving this to anybody! :D
Next up is the Special Mini X'mas Tree. I have to say that this was maybe the one to impress me the most. As you all may know today's Japan is full of plastic stuff - everything just seems to be made of plastic. There are a lot of throwaway things. So, I was very pleased to see this:
It even contains real cones! The tree itself is plastic, of course, but in a non-annoyning way that really pleases me. And the stand is real wood. I just love this and I'll be sure to use it next Christmas to decorate my room! It's so pretty!
Well, nothing more to say - and this post is already unforgettably long - so I'll move on! Ladies and Gentlemen: Ornament x10!
I don't have much to say about these... only that I wish I that these actually contained actual photos of the girls themselves, not these choir girls again... They're cute nevertheless but I won't use them. :) I'll include bigger photos just in case you want to take a closer look.
There are they. And now for the last one: Message Card!
Do you know what this is? Obviously a Message Card, right, but what does it do?
The choir gets its fair share again, because this thing sings. Well of course it doesn't actually sing, it plays. No more and no less than We Wish You a Merry Christmas in a very annoying whiny sound that sounds like a ringtone. Well I bet you all know how singing cards sound like.
I was having a hard time trying to get good photos of its inside without opening it too much because I didn't want it to play, but evetually I had to open it completely. To my great pleasure, although, it played the tune only once and then remained silent. So I was able to get good photos of it after all.
All your hand are belong to Andla@. :P Anyway, this is how it looks like
and here what they said. Again no idea but I like Kei's lips. :P
And a little closer look to the already famous choir which is singing with its whiny ringtone voice.
But wow! This time it really is them! :O
You know, that was it. ☆ See you next time (I have time to write anything. I have a job now, you know, so that I could afford to buy H!P stuff :P.)
Because it's already full of photos nobbody's gonna care if I put one more. I support you Gocchin, through the hard times with your family! I hope you'll be able to start working soon!
Gocchin's totally badass banner and wait! I accidentally put two pictures. ♥
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