Bikkuri Project

Gaki-saaaaaaaaaaaan!!! My favorite Momusu has a new photobook. Many thanks to gordiehowe at the hello online forums for putting scans up for download. I still can’t get over how she has transformed from an awkward pig-tailed kid into such a lovely young woman. She’s kept the same beautiful smile throughout though. Here are my favorite pictures of our little duckling turned swan.

Allow me to indulge myself with a bit of personal news at the end here. I finished my last ever class as an undergraduate about an hour ago. There’s still finals, of course, but no more classes. I feel…weird. I’m happy, but I also kind of feel like crying. I’m proud to have (almost) earned my degree, and I’m looking forward to going to Japan, but I hate it when things end, and today was the first time it started sinking in that a major chapter of my life is almost over. Even more than when I finished high school, everything in my life is about to change all at once. I don’t even know what to feel right now, and as graduation approaches, I know it’s just going to get more confusing.

Tomorrow is another day,

~Celestia~

I haven’t been around much lately, have I? I do have a good excuse though. We’re entering into finals week at my school, so I’ve been very very busy trying to graduate. It’s important that I do so, because if I don’t graduate, I don’t get to go to Japan, and if I don’t get to go to Japan I don’t get to go to concerts in Japan, and if I don’t get to go to concerts in Japan I will be so utterly disappointed that I probably won’t even bother defending myself when my mom comes to kill me for wasting all the money they spent on tuition by coming out without a degree.

I do feel obliged to take note of the fact that Mika Mutou is leaving both Ongaku Gatas and H!P. It’s no secret that Mucchi has not been my favorite h!p member. In fact, it’s fair to say that she’s been my least favorite h!p member. However, the announcement of her departure has made me like her just a bit more. She evidently realized that there is no future for her in the idol industry (and you’re just kidding yourself if you really think otherwise), and so she made the wise decision to exit gracefully. I respect her for that. She was lacking in looks, charm, and vocal ability, but apparently not in brains. I still kind of hate Mucchi the idol, but I wish Mika Mutou the person all the best with wherever her future takes her.

I wonder though, is Ongaku Gatas over? It’s been a while since they released anything, they’ve lost two members, and Arisa Noto is going to be busy with that new Happy Style unit now, so who knows how long she’ll stick around.

To Mika!

~Celestia~

PS. As long as we’re talking about eggs, I added a new poll. Vote for your favorite Egg! I added the girls who seem to be the most visible, but if your favorite isn’t on the list, feel free to add her! Remember that Erina and Miki aren’t eggs anymore, so please don’t add them!

Yesterday, I took it upon myself to learn how to make animated .gifs, and now I’m kind of addicted to it. I made a bunch for my other blog, and then spent far too long just staring at them. Watching them go around and around and around and around and…anyway, for my first, but certainly not last batch of h!p .gifs, I’ve just used the Resonant Blue “Another Version” pv since I already had it on my computer.

Feel free to take these, but as always, comments are highly appreciated.

Round and round and…

~Celestia~ 

!!!!!CONGRATULATIONS WINGEDMONKEY!!!

You have correctly guessed all of the song titles in my little game. Looks like I’m going to have to make the next game more difficult, because you guys are just too smart for me. I definitely want to do something like this again. I think it was a lot of fun. Highlight below for the correct answers, or don’t look just yet if you still want to try guessing just for fun. You can comment here if you want an explanation on any of them.

EDIT: Prize has been sent!

1. Resonant Blue- MM

2. Ookina ai de Motenashite- C-ute

3. Uwase no Sexy Guy- Maki

4. Wassup? Enryo ga Theme- Minimoni

5. Koko ni Iruzee- MM

6. Skip!- Melons

7. Sentimental Minamimuki- Tanpopo

8. Robokiss- W

9. Giniro no Eien- Miki

10. I know- Ayaya

11. Shiawase desuka- Sexy 8

12. Handmade City- MM

13. Unforgettable- Melons

14. Yeah! Meccha Holiday- Ayaya

15. Happy Summer Wedding- MM

16. Ai to Taiyou ni Tsutsumarete- MM

17. Sugao flavor- Kirari

18. Baketsu no Mizu- Buono

19. Mikan- MM

20. Bi~ Hit Parade- VUDen

21. Thanks- Gam

22. Get- Heike Michiyo

23. Dance & Chance- Coconuts

24. Ai no Sono, touch my heart- MM

25. Takara no Hako- MM

26. Hey! Mirai- MM

27. Very Beauty- Berryz

28. Everyday, Everywhere- Taiyou to Ciscomoon

29. Amasugita Kajitsu- Nacchi

30. Iroppoi Onna ~Sexy Baby~, Country Musume

31. Tatoeba- MM

32. Lucky Chachacha- Minimoni

33. Sayounara, Tomodachi ni wa Naritakunai no- Maki

34. Kokoro no Tanima- Gatas

35. Baisekou, Daiseikou- Pucchimoni

36. Fighting Pose wa Date ja Nai- Berryz

37. Aruiteru- MM

38. Pittari Shitai X-mas- Pucchimoni

39. Shouri no Big Wave- Athena and co.

40. Namida Tomaranai Houkago- MM

41. Aisu Kuriimu to My Purin- VUDen

42. Otome no Shinrigaku- MM

43. Otome no Keitai denwa no himitsu- W

44. Akai Fresia- Melons

45. Special Generation- Berryz

46. Today is My Birthday- Berryz

47. Jump!- C-ute

48. Fine Emotion- MM

49. Oshare- Ayaya

50. Last kiss- Tanpopo

Below you will see a list of Hello Project song titles in disguise. I’ve taken the meaning of various H!P song titles and put them into different words. For example, “Love Machine” might become “Mechanical Device of Strong Affection”. If a title is in Japanese, I may use words that mean the same as the English translation, but a good two thirds of them are at least partially in English to begin with. See how it works? Your challenge is to decode as many of them as possible. “Why should I?” you may ask. Because it’s fun! Also, I’m generously bribing you.

THE RULES

1. Post your guess in the comments section. I will not approve these comments to be viewed by anyone (so no one can steal your answers)
2. The contest ends on May 20^th at midnight
3. The first person to guess all of them correctly, or the person who has the most correct when the contest ends, is the winner
4. Any song within the Hello Project discography is fair game. TNX is not included. Any distinguishing punctuation (~, *, !, etc) is not included in the clues
5. If I feel like it, I may give hints on some of them later on
6. It is not required to list the artist name in your answers
7. The grand prize is $30 to YesAsia.com to spend as you see fit. If anyone can get all of them, I’ll be extremely impressed and make it $60

Here is the list. Some of them are quite hard, some of them not so much. Remember, it can’t hurt to guess. If you only get one right but you’re the only one who guesses, you still win! Ready, set, go!!!!

1. A cheerless sustentation or amplification of sonance
2. Regale me with potent fondness which is of above average size
3. The possessor of a Y-chromosome about which statements are in general circulation
4. Why, how might you be today? The subject matter is circumspection
5. This is my current location
6. Move in a light, springy, manner by bounding forward with alternate hops on each foot!
7. Maudlin with the front part of my head directed 90° clockwise from East
8. Automatronsmack
9. The color of Ag in perpetuity
10. It is within my comprehension
11. Would you describe yourself as “chipper”?
12. A metropolis constructed entirely without the use of machines
13. Impossible to become unable to recall
14. An affirming acknowledgment. Day of exemption from work to a high degree.
15. Gladsome nuptials during the period in which our particular hemisphere of the Earth is most tilted towards the sun
16. Completely enclosed in warm personal attachment as well as radiance emanating from a nearby star
17. Doesn’t taste of any sort of deception
18. A flat bottomed cylindrical vessel containing dihydrogen monoxide
19. C. unshiu
20. Pulchritudinousness, procession of dazzling instances of success
21. I wish to express my appreciation
22. Acquire
23. Rhythmical movement as well as opportunity
24. Plot of land used for the cultivation of affection, palpitate the circulatory organ which belongs to me
25. A container often favored by pirates
26. Hark! That which is yet to come
27. Exceedingly pleasing to the eye
28. Exempting neither a single time during which it is not night nor any location
29. Excessively saccharine material resulting from the ovaries of photosynthesizing organisms
30. Erotically attractive lady, infant of similar quality
31. Supposing such is or will be the case
32. Auspicious ballroom dance of Latin American origin
33. Valediction. I do not have a hankering for our relationship to be chummy
34. Coronary cleavage
35. A form of conveyance which relies on two circular frames revolving around an axis aligned in tandem, and a success of considerable size
36. A posture that suggests that one may soon engage in combat lacks in flamboyance
37. Perambulating
38. I covet a yuletide without flaw
39. Monumental progressing disturbance of triumph over adversaries
40. My lacrimal glands will not discontinue being unusually active following a period of education
41. Fattening dairy product of passionate attachment and a thickened dessert in my possession
42. The study of the mental processes of the gentler sex
43. Confidential knowledge which belongs to the portable communication device of a certain lass
44. One of the flowering plants in the family Iridaceae which reflect light at a wavelength of 625-740nm
45. Extraordinary body of individuals from the same epoch
46. The where n=number of earth orbits around the sun and n=0 corresponds to the 24 hour period in which I came into existence, during the current 24 hour period, n is equal to a positive, whole-number integer
47. Make use of the muscles of your legs in order to increase in elevation!
48. Top-notch sentiment
49. Vogue!
50. Buss after which there would be no further osculation

Final Answer?

~Celestia~

Not much of an entry, but I came across this picture, and I was so amused that I just had to share it.

Hehehehe, that cat wishes Nacchi dead!

Which caused me to casually scan through my files and some websites for other hilarious photos to come from official photobooks. Here are a few that I found. May they amuse you on this fine Friday.

More Nacchi torturing that poor kitty. You can clearly see the terror in its eyes.

I couldn’t not include something from the Aibon/Nono photobook, could I? This is just so utterly random.

I think there’s something unintentionally hilarious about Ai Takahashi double fisting gas pumps. Am I just weird?

I’m okay with the tiara and the princess dress and the fuzzy slippers, but the teddy bear??

Reina’s side job: chasing ducks out of empty swimming pools

Sorry there aren’t many, but I’m too busy with tests and papers to do a more thorough search.
C-ya,

~Celestia~

A recent blog entry by Kimitsu has really got me thinking on the subject of how well we do or do not know our idols. It’s something that bloggers touch on a lot, I know, but I’d like to put in my two cents on the matter. This paragraph in particular caught my attention.

“No matter how much we learn about their personalities, we can never completely tell how much is real and how much is just marketing. Of course, it’d be great to say that they’re all amazing actors if what we see is completely made up, but once we do get to know the actual person and know for certain that it is them, we’ve crossed the intangible line that separates a fan and friend. (You can be a friend and a fan; but not a fan and a friend, if that makes any sense.) But with the high level of exposure idols get doing what they do, it’s all to easy to imagine that we’ve crossed that line.”

True…. But I’d like to take a moment to argue the other side of things, since I’d say that the above is representative of the prevailing opinion in the blogosphere. I believe that we, the fans, do in fact “know” our idols better than their casual friends, and certainly better than their casual acquaintances. We’ve watched them for countless hours doing everything from playing stupid games on TV shows, to interacting with each other behind the scenes or even on hidden camera, to performing in concert in front of thousands of fans. We’ve seen them laugh and we’ve seen them cry. We’ve watched and read interviews, and seen them reveal countless little things about themselves through their answers to questions, anecdotes, personality quizzes, and how they react to things. We’ve heard their other group members tell stories about them. Picture your favorite idol. I’d reckon that you could easily write several pages on their likes and dislikes, background, personality quirks, and other traits. Now picture someone who you consider to be a casual friend. Could you do the same for them? I know I’d be struggling to finish an entire page.

I acknowledge that everything we see and hear about our favorite idols (expect for tabloid stuff) is carefully filtered, but do you reveal all of your darkest and innermost thoughts and feelings to your acquaintances and casual friends? No. The side of yourself that you present to them is just as filtered, if not more so, than what the idols present to us. We see idols in a huge variety of situations and expressing a huge variety of emotions, while the ways in which you see your casual friends are usually much more limited. So can we know, really know, an idol? Of course not. But how many people do you think really know you? Maybe your close family members and a couple of best friends? There are plenty of things we don’t know about our idols. Important things, no doubt. There are also plenty of important things we don’t know about those whom we consider to be our friends. Kimitsu writes that the line between fan and friend is, “[when] we get to know the actual person and know for sure that it is them”. I’d argue that even with “friends”, it is nearly impossible to know for certain that what you are seeing is “them”. What you are seeing is a certain side of themself that they are choosing to present to you, and that’s the same thing you are seeing from an idol.

One may argue that there is a difference between fandom and friendship in that the idol is essentially trying to sell themself to you while a friend is not. However, I still think that even though no money is exchanging hands in a friendship, the situation is essentially the same. Aren’t trying to make a good impression on a new acquaintance, not making a casual friend privy to all the gory details of your love life, or smiling at a someone, even if you are in a bad mood, all ways of “selling yourself” to that person? The only thing it comes down to is trying to make another person like you. Even if you claim to be someone who “doesn’t care what other people think of me”, I’d imagine that you don’t mention your darkest personal secrets to casual friends or acquaintances. I’d also imagine if you think about why that is you’ll find that it’s because you don’t want them, or other people who they might tell, to think badly of you. Therefore, I’d imagine that you are a liar when you say you don’t care what other people think about you. Everyone’s selling themself. Idols are just a lot more up-front about it.

There is, of course, a big difference between the idol-fan relationship and friendship, and that is that there is no reciprocity in the idol-fan relationship. The idol knows absolutely nothing about you and they don’t care about you, at least not on a personal level. Friendship is a two-way street, so it would be incorrect to consider your favorite idol to be your friend. However, if a fan cares about an idol and knows a fair amount about them, I’d say the one-way street from that person to the idol is qualitatively no different from friendship.

Thoughts? I’m so ready to debate this!

~Celestia~

Having already claimed the distinction of being the first to post the “Another Version” of the Resonant Blue PV, I figure I’ll attempt to be the first to write about it too. I suppose this is the sort of redundant thing the poll tells me I should try to avoid, but I’ve developed a weird sense of ownership for the PV, and a little occasional redundancy never hurt anyone.

*Let’s get the mandatory, “Why the hell isn’t this the regular version of the PV instead of that dance shot version?!?!?” whining out of the way. Expect to see much more of that coming from every direction. It’s a valid point. They shot all this great footage and then didn’t put it in the official PV…why? I wonder if Tsunku or someone will ever explain that one for us.

*Lots of Reina focus. Maybe it’s because she can pull off the ‘urban’ thing the best? She looks great, so I’m not complaining. There’s also a fair amount of Gaki. Again, not complaining

*Way to put the two Chinese girls in a Chinese restaurant. *rolls eyes*

*Love the studio shots, and looking forward to the studio version. It was a smart move for Risa to wear bright green. It makes her stand out.

*The best shots are the ones with each girl (or pair) staring at the camera angstily in front of her backdrop. Panting, sweaty, Ai-chan is especially hot

*Is anyone else reminded of AKB48’s prostitution song by the ‘Reina in a tunnel’ shots?

*I really love the part during the instrumental interlude where they’re doing a ripple and then it cuts to JunJun in the studio doing it

*LinLin has been doing the pigtail thing a lot. I think it’s the designated hair-do of the least popular member. First early Risa, now LinLin

*Koharu looks gorgeous, damn her.

Audios, Bye Bye, Chacha,

~Celestia~

Online Videos by Veoh.com
You’re welcome,

~Celestia~

Second comparison post! This one pokes fun at some of the differences between my two favorite idol franchises. Link is HERE