4 posts tagged “c-ute”
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. :)
First I want to announce that I absolutely loved Resonant Blue. Why didn't I review it? Because at the time the PV was released I was busy and later I didn't do it because I agreed with everyone else (why don't others get any screen time etc. etc.) so I felt it kind of unnecessary to repeat everything that had already been said. But now I must do a PV review. Because I'm amazed.
Just like I started my Renai♥Rider review with Airi now I have to start with Maimi. I really enjoyed her in LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta. She really was the only thing to save that song for me. While the costumes were hideous, and the whole song was a bit of crap, Maimi did her best, sang a thousand times better than Airi (I NEVER thought I would say this!) and danced like mad. She really impressed me. I never liked her that much before. I always thought she was overdoing it a bit. But how she impressed me then is nothing comapred to this PV, Namida no Iro.
Just WOW. She impressed me in every single aspect there can be regarding a song and the accompanying PV. Because I have to start with something, I'll start with the singing. Really, it's the only "weak point" she has and it's not even WEAK. If someone asks me, I think Maimi's the one with the most potential of become the next soloist superstar of H!P (yesterday I would have answered that Airi's the one! How quickly opinions can change... However, I'm not counting Aichan or Reina now). Less like a Kohachan or Ayaya kind of soloist, but more a Gocchin kind of. I could hear her singing songs just like this Namida no Iro. Sad, beautiful but powerful songs. Just look at her FACE. She's really putting her heart and soul into it!
That look... It gives me cold shivers and almost makes me cry... And you can hear it in her voice also. It feels like she could really relate to the lyrics although I have no idea wht they are about (probably something sad considering the name of the song. :P) Maimi handles her parts in a great manner and I no longer wonder why she's the other of this group's lead singers.
As for her dancing. When everybody was praising her I always thought that sure, she's great and all, but in my opinion she overdoes all the movements and is given too much credit for her dancing. She had a great talent but she wasn't really controlling it yet (even in Tokaikko Junjou). In a few years, I thought, she could learn to be more subtle and expressive. When she was claimed to be the best dancer in H!P I always thought of Aichan and disagreed. (Captain is great also, really!)
Well, it either didn't take her that long to learn or I was wrong all the way. I mean, just look at her posture.
Dancing is of course hard to capture but I'm quite sure you'll all agree with me that she stands out a lot. All the girls are great dancers but they're just on a completely different level from Maimi. I still wouldn't pick her over Aichan though, and there are others who are really good as well (Inaba Atsuko and Kame for example. I'm also starting to appreciate Sayu greatly. And I couldn't call Reina a bad dancer either...) Anyway, back to Maimi. I just have to say that she's incredible in this video.
And the intensive look in these shots...I think this slightly curly hair suits her face shape a lot better than straight hair. I really liked her looks in the covers already. But she has never been more beautiful than in this PV. She has great shots like this in her photobooks also, but I never really realised it... How pretty she is... I could just have a whole PV of her face!
But in the name of being fair I shall move onto the other girls now. First up, Erika.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this. Erika's been given her moment too! Although I must admit I'm a bit disappointed. She looked so kickass in the covers that I thought she would here too... Well, this was her worst shot. Maybe she should have let her head go even lower or something... But anyway, I was incredibly happy for this. Overall, though, she was given too little of screentime. And no sololines, of course. (Sigh...)
I can't say I didin't enjoy Airi in this one and she was certainly a lot better than in LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta. I guess I used to be so fond of her that I'm always expecting a bit too much, more than from the other girls. But I think she really got to show her dancing in this one.
Great Airi & Maimi working it out... Maimi's great but Airi's too. She's just incredibly talented and I was quite satisfied with her vocals performance in this one.
Airi deserves all the attention she gets. I think she was perfect in Tokaikko Junjou and even if I would want everyone to have a chance I wouldn't want to change her position. And in this one she really isn't stealing all the spotlight (she didn't steal it in LASnU either) so it's okay. Right!?
She isn't just as much as into the lyrics as Maimi is but she great too. And I love her anyway. She's my favourite. And I love her cap. :)
Where as Maimai really looks like she about to cry... Poor little girl. :(
But I definitely see why eveyone keeps saying that she's becoming a preteen diva. :) Airi uses that kind of looks sometimes also, I think.
Nakki keeps impressing me with her dancing, She also very pretty. :) I remember someone said that she like the Sayu of °C-ute. That might be right. :)
And then Chisa... I don't know what she needs to do to become something else than cute...
She certainly trying hard though... And no solo lines. Never.
That's for the members. As for the PV... In the end it has a great atmosphere and mood to it. This is one of those PVs that made me change my mind on the song. When I heard the radio trip I thought it was a bit boring. But I'd never use that word to describe this song now... I love the instrumentals in the beginning before the verse starts. Actually the whole song is quite catchy.
Comparing to Tokaikko Junjou, I like the dance of this better. Tokaikko Junjou was great but this is even better. The clapping reminds me of course of Iroppoi Jirettai but I guess it's part of the style so that wouldn't be copying. The PV has got a praiseworthy amount of shots of the other girls besides Maimi and Airi and that's always good. What I like more about Tokaikko Junjou, though, is that it's shot outdoors.
I'm tired and going to end now. I was going to write more but maybe tomorrow. So now let's end with a few more screencaps.
Maimi shines again! That pose...
Now that Berryz Koubou's next single preview is up and the song is REALLY going to be a cover of this Dschinghis Khan song by a German band of the same name, I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to listen to one of Berryz singles without laughing. This is a very well-known song here in Finland, anyone can sing the Finnish lyrics to its chorus... But it's only really a big joke. Just as is their second sinlge Moskau (whose Finnish name is Volga) which is just as well-known. But as I've learned in the past year during the quest of making myself familiar with H!P, everything in j-pop works differentely. They CAN (or at least TSUNKU can) make a single for a bubblegum pop girl group with age range of 13-16 covering a ridiculous 70's Eurovision Song Contest song!
Why it's hard for me to accept what's going on:
- Eurovision is not a very seriously taken song contest... :)
- At least the songs performed in Eurovision are not taken very seriously. (Maybe excluding the Russians... :))
(To think of it more, there are many people who take the whole thing seriously... But I REALLY can't understand them. :))
But on the other hand:
- Many people wouldn't take j-pop groups like Berryz very seriously either.
- Maybe Eurovision was a little bit more of a serious contest back then.
- I must admit, this is a very H!P kind of song. XD
With all those "HU! HA!"s (Koi no Dance Site anyone?) and other yells going on, the choreography (which is actually also very H!P like :P they only need to make it a bit livelier) already made and the lyrics probably translated into Japanese already in the 70's all Tsunku has to do is decide which girl plays which part. And even that is quite easy as there are six members in the original band so he (or the choreogaphers) have to create only one part more.
After a new single is announced I'm always looking very much forward to seeing the PV. This time I'm really waiting to see it.
Bet °C-ute's next single is going to be a cover of Moskau? I do. :) And when that happens, remember that I said it first! XP
This coreography is made for seven people even more than the last one - see how they are clearly missing one people on the left side. There should be three in both sides and then one in the middle. I hope that Maimi gets the part of that man in the middle with red clothes, a weird beard and a funny hat. He is clearly the center and gets to dance the most so his part is definetely made for Maimi.
How great would that Berryz Kamen vs. °C-ute Rangers concert be with Berryz and °C-ute having a song and dance battle with these two songs? :D Have you seen the movie of the musical Fiddler on the Roof? There's a scene where the Judes are dancing in a local pub because one of them is going to get married. The Russians also start to dance to congratulate the man and the father of the bride. As everyone knows Judes and Russians didn't have very warm feelings towards each other at that period of time in Russia so they almost end up having a fight but fortunately decide just to dance more.
Skip the first 2.20 minutes if you're not interested in the song, only the dance part. The best part is maybe 4.44-> which clearly decribes what kind of dance battle I would like to see, though there are some other great parts also, especially the Russian dance part (3.40->) as the dancers are VERY skilful.
Just how great would it be to have something like that between Berryz and °C-ute? XD Really! Of course the dances would be very different. However I insist there should be some Russian features (something similar to Kohachan's Balalaika for example) since the other song's about the capital of Russia and Mongolia isn't very far either. :)
However the idea of having a joint concert with Berryz and °C-ute is a great one and I shall greatly enjoy the concert even if they don't feature my great suggestions.
PS. If you don't know what tropak is, it's the funny Russian (actually Ukranian) dance you can see in my sample video (Fiddler on the Roof) where the dancers straighten their legs and throw them high in the air while squating. It's usually danced by men but I think our little girls have the power to do it. :) You can always try at home yourself - I assure you it's not that easy.
Volga, Volga, rakkaus vai kuolema... *sings the Finnish version of Moskau*
This time I'm going to talk about the recent single releases of Momusu, Berryz Koubou and °C-ute. Recent indeed is especially Berryz girl's newest, as it is released today (yesterday? I don't know.) I shall go through these in the order they were released. ☆WARNING: this is gonna be a loooooong post.☆
First up: Tokaikko Junjou by °C-ute! The one that everybody seems to love (which is good☆), that earned them a nomination for Best New Artist at Best Hits Kyousai 2007 (well of course we shouldn't forget the other singles), the one that blew everyone away... and didn't actually impress me so much. When I saw the PV I really liked it, I thought it was well done, maybe better than any H!P PVs I had seen before. And Chisato's face ♥ in you-know-which-part was the most amusing sight ever, and it showed what a good actress she is. I really love that part. The dance routine is also very good. By the way, does anyone else think that °C-ute has been given such "sexy" dances compared to Berryz? Just see the PV of this or Massara Blue Jeans, or a performance of ENDLESS LOVE ～I Love You More～ or Time Capsule. Or is it just my imagination, but I think many of their dances are very different from Berryz. Well we have Ookina Ai de Motenashite, but still... I think this group has their own style. Look at this performance, I don't think Berryz have any dances like this.
Back to topic. :) About the song. I liked it but it didn't make me go WOW as it did to some people, even though it was almost all about Airi, who happens to be my favourite in °C-ute (I'm so happy that at least once my favourite is the one who is promoted the most and gets to sing a lot! And that means I got to see a lot of her pretty face in the PV also. :)) I almost forgot about the whole song but because it had such a good PV and it attracted so much attention I decided to give it another chance. After listening to it a couple of times I actually have started to like it a lot. This often happens to me: the ones that are my instant favourites end up being pretty boring and the ones I don't like first are the best ones. But I think I just listen to the songs of the first category too much at first then get tired of them.
The b-side Shiritsu Kyougaku is a pretty song that I like, but the first time I started to listen to it, I had to stop after the first lines. Erika and Nakki singing together sound so overly nasal that I couldn't stand it and I still can't. It's funny that later in the song when they sing together they don't sound that bad at all. But if I don't think about the beginning, it's a good song and especially I like the SHA LA LA... parts where Maimi sounds better than usually I think. ♪
More about the PV: the girls look just stunning, don't they! And also in the cover. My favourite clothes are:
-
Maimai's turquoise top and cool jeans (when I was eleven I wore flowered tights and very unfashionable old sweatshirts, for heaven's sake!). I'm pleased that they didn't dress her in a very revealing miniskirt or anything.
- Nakki's and Kanna's kind of similar clothes, which suit both extremely well. They're both good-looking in this release. Nakki's necklace is lovely, I want one of those!
- Airi's beautful green dress in the cover (by the way, I love the fact that she was given the promotional colour green in the concerts, because it's my favourite colour. Dress her in green in the future too, please!) And she has the best hair of all of them! Well she's the most beautiful anyway!
The ones I don't really like:
- Poor Erika's shorts that make her look like she didn't have hips... I think she has a great body but these shorts aren't very flattering.
Then the very poorly selling single, which I totally ♥LOVE♥. In this case everything was the opposite of °C-ute (liking the song, but PV just nice). When I first downloaded the radiorip and listened to it for the first time, I loved it to bits. I listened to it like 30 times in a row. First time I now all the lyrics by heart before a single has even been released. This might even be my all time favourite song by Morning Musume, but I don't know... Like ranking people, ranking songs is hard too. I only know which ones i like a lot. :) Let's list some of my favourite songs. But just some. I'll make a whole post about this someday, so I won't give any reasons now.
- Suggoi Nakama, sixth track of their album no.5
- Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT
- Roman ～MY DEAR BOY～
- Iroppoi Jirettai
- Kanashimi Twilight (YOSSY)
- I WISH
- Popcorn Love, coupling song from Mr. Moonlight ～Ai no Bigband～, speaking of which
- Mr. Moonlight ～Ai no Bigband～ (YOSSY)
- Samishii Hi, last track of their album First Time
Oh and this could go on forever... But I'll stop here and get back to topic. Yes, the song is great, I love the melody, the sound of everybody's voices and the message it has to all of us.
The PV was a bit too plain for me at first, but I liked the very beginning of the dance, the atmosphere of the lying-on-earth scenes and also the baby pictures (yes, I also thought that Mittsui's was the cutest ever. I also liked Linlin's, it was such a good photo.) But after watching it a several times it grew on me and now I enjoy it a lot.
This time I'm going to list the members that impressed me the most in this song/PV:
- Sayu! ♥ Although I don't think she sounded good in her lines she sounded better than she has ever before! I'm so glad that she got those two! And when I saw the PV I liked them even more! She's now high again, as she used to be my very first favourite but them she was kind of forgotten when I discovered other interesting people. But her solo line parts in the PV... just perfect!
- Reina! She has never been very popular with me, although she does have a nice singing voice. But her solo line "warau kado ni fukukiteru" in this song was just... perfect and sounded heavenly!
- Mittsi! So cute nowadays! Just look at that cover picture and the PV... Oh she's so cute! So cute! Just perfect!
Some points on the clothes:
- Sayu's dress is cute as always, and I love cute. And the colours. I WANT!
- Junjun's dress is... well, I REALLY want it.
- Mittsui! Oh so cute! I WANT!
- I kinda like Aichan's clothes, because I love green and the shorts look nice. But I wouldn't wear the shorts, they're too short for me.
So here's some pictures of them. Two Mittsui's, because she's just oh so CUTE!
I don't really understand the low sales... I would so buy this single by only having looked at the cover and not even knowing anything about the group. So cheerful ☆ The best covers (all three editions) maybe ever!
The coupling song Bon kyu! Bon kyu! BOMB GIRL is also very good and I like that it's a lot of Risa, the underestimated one who's really talented and has a great voice! Espcially Risa sounds extremly great with her "HAPPY x 4 HAPPY! Has come" line. I like the style used in this song.
Well I guess I can't help it. To talk about the sales... Before I didn't really care if Momusu was selling less than before or if all its fans left were stupid wota (I don't even know what that is really. Everybody has right to be a fan, regadless of their sex or age, havent they?). I just thought that it's good as long as they keep producing music that I love so I can listen to it always. Before I wouldn't have cared less about the sales of this single. Somehow, somewhere I started caring after all, because now I'm very disappointed (does this mean I'm finally a true fan?). I just know that I don't really understand what's going on... I don't think that this is the end of Momusu. But I really, really hope that they will be doing better with their next release. I want to believe that they will.
The thing that makes me the saddest is that now that this kind of music didn't sell, they'll go back to Onna ni Sachi Are and I like this song so much... :,( They'll never ever produce a single like this anymore.
I'm sorry, I don't have a bigger picture. Well, almost everyone seems to be saying that
- The song is nice but the PV's setting doesn't match/is horrible or
- both are horrible.
Well... I disagree with both statements. :) I heard song for first time when I watched the PV, and I fell in love with both. I watched it at Hello!Online and when I went to read the comments, I was expecting to read more complaining about other groups getting better PVs than Momusu (people were saying that a lot when comparing °C-ute's and Momusu's latest PVs). But what I found was a lot of laughter about this Berryz PV. I hadn't noticed the "slight" uncompatibleness, (is that a word? Well you know what I mean) that is so obvious, at all.
Am I just pleased too easily? Do I love everything that comes from H!P regardless of its quality?
Maybe, but I'm okay with that. ♥
Even though I now admit that they don't match each other at all, I still like them both. Even together. The PV is all about Risako, but it's understandable because Miya and Momo are now shining in Buono!. But I think that now they had the chance to give Miya and Momo a little bit less screen time, they should have used it to have the other girls getting some attention too. I'm happy for Maasa, as she got even TWO solo lines, but poor Chinami as well as little Captain are still trying to survive with only one solo. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, Chiichan! Someday, you'll be appreciated. Though I think that Waracchaou yo BOYFRIEND would have been a great opportunity to do that, as her voice suited that song so well. ♪
Also there has been people complaining about the dance, which seems to be a lot of flapping legs. Althought I admit that the particular move is quite... original, I don't hate it. the other parts of the dance routine are very interesting and I love the beginning of the chorus.
Can't say a whole lot about the clothes... White, white and white. And Chinami, the legs of this girl group, has the shortest skirt!
The b-side, Warera! Berryz Kamen, is a little strange... Well I'll let you decide yourselves. At least some of the not-much-heard-girls get a chance to sing.
Now this ☆was☆ a long post, and maybe half of it only was related to the topic (but it's all right isn't it). If you are reading this now, I congratulate you for the patience you have had to have to have been able to read it (what a sentence! I'm sure there's something wrong with it). :)
And a nice photo to the end.
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