Bikkuri Project

I changed my mind about doing Risa’s entry. I’m going to try to do it on her birthday. It seems fitting. In the meantime, here’s a collection of my thoughts that aren’t really worth their own entry.

-JunJun on h!m eating that bannana… they are feeding her, right? Maybe the poor girl was just hungry?

-Abe Natsumi’s new song is boring. Sorry, but it’s true.

-I’m a little nervous about this whole “nice girls” project thing. We’ll see how that goes I guess.

-How did Kusumi manage to not only be the voice actor for Kirari, but also BE Kirari? Has this ever happened before with an anime (the voice actor being in the opening for the show, dressed as the character). I mean, it’s great for her, of course, but I still can’t figure out how she pulled it off.

-I should be studying for my biopsychology test tomorrow.

- My last tidbit for today is another new feature!!! I know you’re super excited. It’s the great lyric faceoff. I’ll select words that I think are common in MM lyrics, count how many times they appear, and declare a winner. Today our words are: Ai, dakishimete, namida. Only considering A-side singles, not counting titles, and including the sakura/otome gumi songs…

dakishimete: 14
namida: 31
ai: 97

There’s an awful lot of crying going on, though one song contributed heavily to that one (guess which one it was! ), but in the end, it looks like love really does conquer all in the morning musume universe, with almost 100 occurances! Who knows. Maybe with the new single it’ll get into the triple digits?

I’ve decided to start a new feature in this blog. What’s that you say? You didn’t know this blog had features? Well it does, okay! There are the detailed member assesments (only 1 to go (Risa’s). i’ll probably do that next entry), lists of favorites and not so favorites, and also random tidbit pages. Okay, so maybe there aren’t really features, but from now on there are because it’s my blog and I said so. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, the new feature is……Hello Project Costume Hall of Shame!!! I could talk about the costumes that I love, but it turns out that it’s much more fun to mock things, so I’m going that way.

Today, in honor of it being the first real feature, I’m going to write about 2 costume choices that have recently surfaced. Actually, these two outfits were kind of my inspiration for writing about this. First off, coming to us from the encore portion of the Aki bonkyu bonkyu bomb concert tour, if you’ve seen it, you probably hate it, being modeled by the lovely Ai-chan and her assistant Gaki-san, (as linlin would say) Dan Dan Dan!!!

The H!P costume designers, upon putting these two colors together thought… well, they look like shiny pineapples now, but I just don’t think it’s, you know, flashy enough. Heeeeeey, we’ve got lots of feather fluff left over from the Onna ni Sachi Are costumes! For extra pizazz, let’s glue them all over their costumes while blindfolded and drunk. The leftover pieces we can just stick in random spots on their heads. Sounds perfect!

The second inductee into the Hall of Shame is VUDen from the latest Hello Project summer concert.

Poor girls. Someone seems to have popped the largest bubblegum bubble ever all over them moments before they stepped on stage! That’s going to take absolutely forever for them to scrape off…

Yes, my computer is still broken, but I guess I lied and I just can’t stay away. I’m in the library now so “shhhh!” keep it down! This entry is focused on why Cute seems to be surpassing Berryz. It is highly opinionated, so try not to be offended if you disagree. If you consider a group’s popularity by single sales (and not everyone does) all of Cute’s major singles have outsold all of Berryz singles. Now, Cute only has two singles so far, with the 3rd being released soon, but I would be really really surprised if their 3rd single fails to surpass the sales of their last two.

Let’s look at some possible reasons for this, shall we?

1. Cute is getting better promotion: This may be true. Cute did sing the closing to the Robbie and Kerobbie anime, and two of their members are in the group that sings the next opening. However, at least some of their recent promotional efforts may be due to the fact that they’re newer and less known than the Berryz, and 2/3 Buono members are Berryz. Plus, Berryz still seems to get higher billing at H!P concerts and whatnot (their picture is bigger than Cute’s on the cover of the recent summer concert DVD). Also, Berryz has had more photobooks than Cute.So… i’m not so sure about this one.

2. Cute is getting better songs: I think that this one is a factor. We all know that generally in H!P uptempo songs sell better than ballads. Berryz has been getting a lot of ballads lately, and Cute has more uptempo songs. Personally, I don’t think Sakura Chirari is a very good song, but whatever. It’ll be interesting to see what Berryz next song is, and if it is uptempo, if Cute still outsells them or not.

3. Cute is just, well, cuter: Okay. This is the part where I might offend people, but I’ll have to say that I agree with this assesment, and physical appearance is a major factor in idol popularity. Just for fun, let’s take a girl by girl comparison.

The Boyish looking one: Chinami vs Chisato. I give this one to Chisato. Something about her facial structure is just more appealing to me.

The Lead Singer: Miyabi vs Airi. Miyabi isn’t unattractive… but she can be awkward looking, and Airi has been absolutely adorable from the time she joined h!p. Airi wins.

The Tall One: Yurina vs Erika. This one is a lot closer. Erika hasn’t been the most attractive girl, but recently, she’s gotten a lot prettier. Still, I’ll give this one to Yurina, because she looked really nice in her photobook.

The Tiny One: Mai vs Momoko. Mai is pure Cuteness. Momoko has her own kind of weird cuteness, but if you stood her next to Mai and asked who was Cuter, I think that most people would say Mai.

The One Named ‘Saki’: Captain vs Nakajima. Saki Nakajima is another one who has only gotten cuter as of late. As for Captain… I’ve never thought that she was that pretty really. She kind of has a weird face shape, thick eyebrows, and a weird smile. I’m giving this one to Saki N.

The Pretty One: Maimi vs Risako. By virtue of my nickname for this matchoff, i obviously think that both of these girls are quite pretty. It’s a hard choice, but I think I’d pick Risako, because her prettiness is a bit more unconventional, and I think she might be just a tad more photogenic. Really though, this one could have gone either way.

The Overlooked One: Kanna vs Maasa. I feel a bit bad for both of these girls. I can understand that Kanna is newer, and maybe less popular because of that, but neither of them get very much in the way of screentime or lines at all. Oh well. I think Kanna is waaaay cuter than Maasa, so this one is no contest really.

FINAL SCORE: Berryz-2 Cute-5

4.Timing: I believe this is the most important factor. Allow me to explain. When Berryz debued (early 2004) H!P was, generally, more popular than it is today. It may seem like this would work in their favor, and it did to a certain extent, but they also gained themselves quite a lot of the fans that are col
lectively known as “Wota” which is a major turn-off to the general public. Plus, they were younger than the members of Cute are today. As a result, they became the group of cute little girls with a large following of creepy old men. Cute has only debued recently, in a time when H!P kids in general are gaining in popularity, at an older age, and fresh with a relatively small fan-base. Even though they certainly have some Wota fans, it’s somewhat less creepy because they’re older, and there are less of the fans anyway. Cute has a much better shot than Berryz ever did of appealing to the mainstream population, and I think that they are doing just that. Berryz name is already sort of tarnished by their past and fanbase, but Cute has a chance to break out of that stigma and sell to the general public, and therefore, they are currently outselling Berryz.

Just my opinions. Sorry this was so long, and I hope you enjoyed it.

I just watched the “special generation” performance from the newcomers concert. JunJun and LinLin had lots of lines, and they both sounded really good! LinLin is kind of surprising, because she does have a high nasaly voice, so you expect her to sound like Sayumi, but her voice is actually really strong, and she hits the right notes, so yay LinLin! I’m glad I watched that. It affirms my belief that the pandas are both good aditions to the group.

And now… On with the show! Please note that I mean this all in jest. You=smileys

Congratulations, and welcome to Morning Musume! Just go ahead and sign in blood here, here, and here. Great! Now here’s your microphone (please try not to drop it while performing) , your costumes (stylish and awesome for photo shoots, bikinis for photobooks (you will be doing LOTS of those), and sparkly, feathery, and flamboyant for concerts). Don’t worry, if you weren’t cute enough to pull it off you wouldn’t be here. That reminds me, you’d better take this book of stock idol poses. Might I reccomend the “ganbare pose”, the “fingers interlaced under the chin”, and of course the classic “peace sign” . What’s that? Oh, them. They’re just your mob of screaming, dancing, male fans who would rather buy pictures of you than have money to buy food today. oh geez, they saw you. It’s okay, they do tend to fall on the floor and spasm from time to time …. Hey! Wait! Where are you going!?!?!? You signed the contract! If you leave I get your first born son!!!! Wait!!!!!!!

Some thoughts about the new fall concert, based on listening to the fan-rip and reading the set list.

I must see this concert! In fact, I’m 90% sure I will be buying the concert DVD. Just from the sound of things, this concert seems so much more energetic than the last one. I felt that the Sexy8Beat set was a bit lacking in that department. The songs are all either agressive or joyful. In fact, looking at the setlist, there isn’t really anything that could be considered a ballad to be found. My favorites from the recording are “How do you like Japan?”(so much awesomeness in live performances), “Hello to You” (makes me happy to listen to, and in my opinion, blows the Hello Morning theme out of the water), and “Shabondama” (the crowd LOVED it, and as always, it’s one of my favorite H!P songs).

I was Happy to hear Jun and Lin’s version of Suki na Sempai, and I thought they sounded great! It was a bit short, but how many lyrics in a foreign language can they be expected to memorize and be ready to perform in such a short amount of time? I don’t think the pair of them have a whole lot of lines, but considering how difficult it must be to memorize and pronounce everything for them, it’s understandable. I’m amazed they can do as much as they do, and as they get more MM songs “under their belt” so to speak, I think we’ll be hearing more and more from them.

Aika sounded really good on her song, and I was glad to hear that VUDen is mostly doing backup vocals on that one. I complained a bit about how much VUDen there is in the thread about this concert. Risa got a lot more lines (some of Miki’s and Yossie’s), and since she’s my favorite, of course I’m pleased with that.

Overall, there was almost exclusively newer material (6th gen plus), which may dissapoint some fans of the older stuff, but to me, I think this concert proves how great the newer material can be, and is in keeping with the idea that we are seeing “the new morning musume”.I can’t believe I have so much to say about this, and I haven’t so much as seen any actual concert footage yet. I’m really really looking forward to seeing this with the dancing and whatnot! It’s going to be such a long wait!

And the bronze medal of my Morning Musume ranking goes to…… Reina “Wonky” Tanaka! Yay!

Reina, maybe more than any other MM member, brings the whole package. She’s got the cuteness, the entertaining personality, and the dance and vocal abilities. I think Tsunku said at her audition that she was close to the ideal Morning Musume member, and I think he was right on the money with that.

Aside from Reina’s infamous eye perculiarities, her stage presence immediatly caught my attention. Every second that girl is on the stage, you know she will really be performing. Sometimes she overdoes the cutsey gestures, but at the same time, to a fan who is watching from a seat kind of far away, that might be necessary so he can even tell something is even happening. Her dancing is energetic, and you know that when she opens her mouth to sing, nothing out of tune is going to come out. Her voice isn’t as strong as Ai-chans, but it’s still very good, especially when utalized in the right kind of songs such as Shabondama. Shabondama just so happens to be one of my favorite Momusu songs, which probably adds to my affection for Reina.

Reina’s personality can be a bit of a mystery sometimes, but it is clear that she has a bit of an attitude on her. At a time when attitude is sorely lacking in MM, she is a great asset because of that. Now, whether her previous “yankee” look was partially an act, or if she’s now covering that up more to act more like an idol is debatable. I think the truth probably lies somewhere in between. What we do know about Reina is that she loves the camera (see any of the “making of” videos), she talks back/makes blunt comments occasionally, but she does have a volnerable/self conscious side that comes out sometimes at graduations or when she’s nervous. Honestly, Reina probably isn’t the “nicest” of the MM, but I still love her. I think she’s like the pretty, popular girl at school that’s nice, but talks about everyone behind their back. Actually, the main problem I see with Reina is that I’m afraid that she’s just a scandal waiting to happen, and I really really don’t want to lose her over something like that.

Reina takes great photos. Her hair almost always looks fab (love the sparkly things in the bangs), and she is great at posing. There’s hardly a bad official picture of her out there. She is a bit too skinny for me, but I think she’s just naturally like that. Great sense of style! I almost always love her clothes. I’m quite looking forward to her new photobook!

Before I start this entry, let me just say that I seriously want all of the outfits from the new book cover. Those clothes are so fricking cute and stylish! I have never craved clothes so badly.

Okay, ahem. On to the main event.

I have taken over two years of Japanese in college, plus studying and practicing on my own, so I know a fair amount. Of course, I don’t know alot of things, and when words that I don’t know pop up in JPop I like, especially if they are in titles or they come up often, i have to figure out what they mean. Usually, these aren’t the kind of words that one would really use in every day life. Still, it got me to wondering how many Japanese words/phrases I have learned solely through JPop. I counted all of them that I happened to remember.

dakishimete, daite, shiawase, koubou, tobira, shanimuni, shabondama, ii kanji, namida, itoshiki, sachi, tsubasa, mayuge, egao, kawari, monogatari, honki, seishun, taiyou, kusege, okashii, chicchai, funsui, yume, afureteru, shin(member), unmei, otome, kimi, tsuzukete, jama, shunkan

32 words, not too bad for not even trying, even if most of them are pretty useless outside of songs.

I was looking at the 10th anniversary pictures, and I must say, I really really like all of them. I saved them to my computer, but I wish I could figure out how to buy the set for real. I especially like JunJun’s message Morning Musume Dai~Dai~Dai~Daisuki!!! (roughtly translated: I really really really love Morning Musume).

I wonder if the members even look at what they’re signing when they write those messages. It must get very tediouis for them because they all basically say the same thing. LinLin has the hang of the “stock” message, but JunJun doesn’t quite yet. I like that about her.