Hi everyone! Thsi week has been complete madness IRL for me, so I apologize for the lack of updates!

AKB48 has released their latest single “Kaze ga Fuiteiru” breaking their own record previously set with Flying Get for highest first day sales for a single ever since they started getting counted by Oricon. Congratulations to the girls! I have to say that KazeFui is definitely my favorite AKB A-side this year, it’s an incredibly beautiful song with a sad but encouraging meaning so give it a try.

I also loved the PV, although I might be in the minority for that xD Oh well, I’ve always been one for unpopular opinions anyway.

Let’s continue with the 30 day idol challenge!

Day 16 – Favorite Idol from a group not named before

I know that choosing a *48 group for this question is probably cheating a bit, but I love Nana so much that I can’t help it xD To be honest, I don’t have time to follow NMB very much (if at all) but ever since I watched the auditions I loved this girl. I didn’t know her from SINA because I didn’t even know what that group was lol but when I saw her in Starhime I knew that she would be my favorite because I’m initially super shallow with idols until I know them more.

So yeah, Nana is incredibly pretty, in ways that I can’t even understand. I love her lips and her big eyes and her innocent overall look even though she has a really hot body, it’s an interesting combination xd

I wanted to watch a performance with her to decide whether she was going to be the one or not, and then I watched the N1 stage and I was blown away by her. She’s a fantastic performer and even though her voice is pretty funny (quite high pitched but husky at the same time)  she works with it fantastically and it completes her image somehow gahh I don’t even know what I’m saying, she’s perfect I guess?

Hi people! Today I’ll continue with the challenge, we’re already halfway through with it! Yay!

Day 15 – Favorite Momoiro Clover member

Ahhh MomoClo, I remember when they were completely indie and people talked about them like a gem about to be discovered.

The thing is that while I acknowledge that MomoClo is a fantastic group and they definitely have their own flavor to set them apart from the others, I feel like this flavor doesn’t go with me xD They remind me a bit of SKE with their hugely energetic performances but these girls take it up a notch by having hilarious PVs to go along with them and super fun sounding songs, pretty much everything MomoClo related I’ve heard sounds a bit like the wacky Team B Oshi (But I haven’t heard much, so don’t count on my opinion too much).

The problem is that I’m getting a little old for that to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if I haven’t gotten too old for idols all together. I know that there isn’t an age bracket that allows you to enjoy idols, but I just can’t relate to songs about lunch boxes and stuff like that (and my time in school was completely meh and it was a million years ago, so I don’t have particularly fond memories of that either).

That doesn’t have a lot to do with the question at hand though xD So yeah, since MomoClo are a bit too youthful to fit my tastes I’ve never really gotten into the group. The cutest one for me is the pink girl, but the one that always catches my attention is the leader

Kanako impresses me because she’s super energetic but also looks like she’s really in charge of the situation even when she’s goofing off with the other girls. How vanilla of me to pick the center girl, but really, if I ever drop my stupid age notions and stop feeling like “I’m a grown up now I need to listen to serious music only” MomoClo is first on the list of things to really pay attention to

Maybe then I’ll get back to you and say whether the pink girl really became my favorite or not.

Hello! Let’s continue with the challenge.

Day 14: Favorite Idoling!!! member

First of all, I know next to nothing about Idoling!!! and it pains me because I randomly watched one of their concerts a million years ago and loved them. They are hilarious to watch and super entertaining! However, my time constraints make it impossible for me to pay more attention to them which is a shame.

The closest I’ve gotten to knowing the group (other than watching their concert which made me fall in love with Koizumi Rumi’s beautiful voice, but she graduated) was the AKBIdoling!!! collaboration. It was amazing, definitely one of my favorite AKB singles of all times, the song was just perfect and the interactions were adorable. Idoling!!! shares with AKB the multi member system and also the spunk and overall liveliness, which made for great TV in the AKBINGO episodes where they guested and an amazing release.

So, since I know virtually nothing about them (and it’s gonna get worse when the Momoiro Clover question of the challenge appears xD) I had to go with a shallow approach.

Meet Yokoyama Rurika (whose name I didn’t even remember and had to google all of the first generation members to see who it was I was looking for xD). The fact that she shares a last name with one of my all time favorite idols is just a mere coincidence, by the way. While I don’t know a lot about her, I think she’s the prettiest Idoling!!! member, her big eyes and beautiful smile are amazing. And from whatever little I can recall from the Chuu Shiyouze PV and the AKBINGO guest appearances, she seems quite kind and nice. I like that.

Ok, let’s move along with our challenge! Today’s question is:

Day 13: Favorite AKB48 member

I assume you guys don’t care for another Yuko dissertation, right? xD And I’ve already discussed my second favorite member in the “Who would be your girlfriend” day too (that would be Yokoyama Yui), so now it’s time for my third favorite member to make an appearance here!

When I first became an AKB fan, Team B was just being formed, and they debuted with a rehash of K2, which was one of my favorite stages at the time (still is, but I digress) I really didn’t think much of them, to be honest, and I only knew the scrawny little girl in BINGO! (that would me Mayuyu btw) and Yukirin, who I knew from the MM 8th generation auditions. I was obviously inclined to favor Yukirin, because I wanted her to win those auditions and I loved her voice, so she was the main reason why I watched B1.

And then I found myself falling in love with another girl who wasn’t Kashiwagi at all xD I first noticed Haachan because I thought there was something about her performance style that set her apart from the others. Now, don’t get me wrong, when Team B debuted they were already leagues better than K or A at that time, but even then, Haachan had a particular sense of confidence in everything she did, from her dancing, to her smoldering expressions to her amazing vocals in Ame no Doubutsuen. Yes, that is the only time that song has had amazing vocals lol.

So right after I finished that DVD I had to find out who she was, and I started hunting videos and anything that could teach me more about her personality. This is how I found out that she was a big sister character for Team B and that she was completely head over heels for the Showa era (so am I!!!) and well, I just found her incredibly gorgeous and mature for her age.

And then Team B got its first original stage, B3, and I was completely blown away. My baby had gotten a unit all for herself! She was the center of Junjou Shugi, and as soon as I heard the first stage audio that leaked (back then we didn’t have LODs xD We’d just make do with a crappy quality recording of the stage’s audio and wait eagerly for the video previews that were shown in the home page) I fell in love with the song completely. It was techno oriented, sassy sounding and omg Haachan’s voice is just an eargasm. Needless to say, when I watched her in that sparkly red dress with a garter belt I died. And then I died again the next time I watched it and well, you get the point xD

Obviously Itoshiki Natassha, her B4 unit was another pleasant surprise for me. Even though Haachan never became really popular she got a great position, and she got more lines than Sasshi, even though she wasn’t the lead. It makes me happy to see that at some point in AKB talent was somewhat important (hence the Yuka domination in original Team K stages <3) but yeah, I won’t turn this into a rant of why I hate AKB’s popularity sometimes xD

Suffice to say, I was crushed when she was moved to Team A because pretty much a million frontgirls were there and I knew she wouldn’t stand out. She got stuck in the leftover unit, but even then she rocked it. And she ended up subbing for Takamina’s solo, which is amazing, because she’s simply a fantastic performer.

Lately she’s been developing a hilarious character who gets to be the butt of all jokes with her old fashioned personality and tastes, which is great because it’s given her more screentime in general, and I hope her popularity keeps rising. No matter what, what I admire the most about her is her capacity to be super confident in all cases, that’s what makes her so sexy and such a fantastic performer.

The latest Haachan moment of note for me was when after the elections (she didn’t rank for the first time ) the girls had to perform in Coming Soon, and Nakai-kun asked her why was she included in the line up for the performance if she hadn’t ranked (along with Natsumi and someone else I can’t recall) to which everyone laughed, and then he asked if they knew their positions even though they hadn’t ranked, and the answer was no, but Haachan still replied “Oh, it’s ok, I’m sure we’re number 41, 42 and 43 anyway” with a huge smile on her face. That’s what makes her my girl <3

After I’ve given this a LOT of thought, it’s finally time for me to keep answering this challenge xD

Day 12: Your favorite Hello!Project Idol

This question is so so hard for me… I used to be a huge H!P fan, but my interest has dwindled and now I just casually check what they release to see if I like something. The truth is that my favorite girls were in the Elder Club and after they axed all of them I was a bit lost about who should I like. So yeah, I thought about this a lot, and I came to this conclusion:

Michishige Sayumi, of Morning Musume. It’s strange that I came to this conclusion, I always liked Sayu because she’s full of spunk and personality, and well, she’s super gorgeous, which doesn’t hurt at all. Her singing used to bother me, but I really love about her how serious she is about her work and how much she has improved over the years.

If there’s anyone in Morning Musume who knows what it takes to be an idol and plays her role perfectly it’s Sayu. She knows that it’s important to create a distinct persona, but still works hard to polish her skills in order to not fall behind her fellow group members. She’s never going to be a stellar singer, but she works fantastically with what little she has, and she’s just a delight to watch on stage. I love dedicated people like her <3

Another thing that made her climb my rankings is her love for idols in general. Here you have a girl who not only loves her work, but also admires the whole industry she’s a part of. It was heart warming to hear her humming Ponytail to Shushu or wearing an Idoling!!! T-shirt.

And then I just recently watched the Mujack episode where Morning Musume interacts with Takahashi Minami of AKB, and Sayu was obviously being her sharp tongued self (Reina too…) but after that part of the show ended, she apologized profusely to Takamina, saying that she really didn’t mean those things, all while some other MM members (I can’t even remember who, probably JunLin) were pointing out how she’s very kind and nice to everyone. Sayu appeared to be distressed that her true personality was showing up, and she said “Stop saying those things, I’m a horrible person, people have to believe it or they’ll stop inviting me on TV shows” or something along those lines xD That’s amazing right there, she’s so focused on making her career succeed that she doesn’t care about all the bad things that come with it (in every most disliked woman in Japan poll that other women take part in, she’s in the top 3) because she knows what being an idol is all about, and it’s not just about singing and dancing beautifully.

I can’t wait for Sayu to be the leader of MM, I think she’ll be amazing at it and certainly give the group a different flavor and image.