Bikkuri Project

Today’s post is my top 5 shuffle group songs. I’m including both the official summer shuffles and oneshot groups that contain/contained members who are not normally in the same group. By the way, I have a good reason for not including “Susisugite Bakamitai” on this list. Don’t worry. All will be revealed to you in time.

5. “Shiawase desu ka?” Sexy8

First of all, does anyone know if there is some natural connection between the word “sexy” and the number “8″ in Japan? Morning Musume’s latest album is “Sexy8Beat”, this group is called Sexy8… do I detect a pattern? Anyway, at first listen, this song didn’t excite me much. It’s kind of low key, Mari looked silly with those hair extensions, and Yossie looked weird and uncomfortable in her dress. As I listened to it more though, I begun to realize that the song really is as sexy as the group name implies. Rika is adorable on her hopeful “Shiawase?” Mari “sexy beam” Yaguchi’s eyes are entrancing, and Ayaka is really smexing it up on the dance moves. The PV is nice, with the girls fading in and out, the rain, and Maki looking oh so tragic in the window. Also, it turns out that this is a solid, well-sung single that doesn’t become annoying with time (unlike many of the other summer shuffle songs).

4. “Shall we Love” Gomattou

Put when you put Hello Project’s three strongest singers all in one group, how can you not win? Making the cover look like the group should really be called “Maki and her ho’s” is just a bonus. Needless to say, all three girl’s vocal talents really shine on this track. Performed by lesser singers, it might have bored me, but as is, I can’t help but be impressed. I particularly like how they overlap a bit as one girl ends her verse with the high “da yo da yo woooh” line while the next girl picks up the melody.

3. “Kowarenai Ai ga Hoshii no” 7Air

Kon kon kon! Yo yo yo! I’ve got to say, I object to the idea of half of the group being labled “sexy” and the other half being labled “not”, but having half of the group sing and the other half accompany on the konkons (lol) does make it a fairly unique song for h!p. I enjoy having the girls themselves doing some of the backing vocals because it cuts down on the amount of creepy Tsunku lines. The rap is one of the better ones to come from h!p (though nothing can beat Do it Now’s rap), and melody lines are catchy as well. Also, Risa was in this group <3.

2. “All for One and One for All” HP All Stars

I’m so glad that they made this song. We’ve seen all of Hello Project in concert, but I believe that this is the first and only time that they have released a collective single. The beginning, with members getting lines in the order that they joined, is genius. It’s like the entire history of Hello Project all laid out in one song. As for the song itself, it’s good and genki, but I really like the single more for its set-up than its melody.

1. “First Kiss” Aa

Why oh why do I love angsty-sounding shuffle songs? Really, number 2 is the only one that isn’t full of plaintive angst-filled singing. Ah well. Let’s end this one saying that I LOVE this song. Little Reina leads the way, and her voice is perfect for the song, but it’s tiny doll-like, 9 year old Airi Suzuki who completely steals the show. For everything that Airi has accomplished so far with C-ute, I will probably always consider “First Kiss” to be the highlight of her career. Her voice drifts into that super-high range seemingly effortlessly, and she looks so adorably serious that I just want to run out there and give her a lollypop or something to snap her out of it. This is the song that made me, and countless others, fall head over heels in love with Airi Suzuki, and it’s probably the reason that she remains the face of C-ute today. Oh, and there was some other girl in the group, but did anyone even really notice her?*

As my final note, some of the things I’m looking forward to in early 2008.

Buono’s new single. I really like it.

The arrival of my copy of Morning Musume’s latest concert tour DVD

Watching Jun, Lin, Eri, and Maasa jumping around like crazy and Ai~ning it up in the most recent Wonderful Hearts concert

The Cute vs Berryz concert. A joint concert with these two groups pretty much had to happen, but making it a “battle” concert was a delightful surprise. I think that pushing the rivalry between these groups would do them both some good.

*I joke. I know that Miyabi was the other member of Aa! You’ll have to admit, for a group with only 3 members, she really didn’t do much, though I doubt that was any fault of her own.