Bikkuri Project

Everyone seems pretty excited about this whole “Dream Morning Musume” thing, but I for one don’t like it.  Flame me all you want, but I will still be very much against the idea.

First, and most importantly, this seems like a huge step backwards for these women. They all have graduated from Morning Musume, supposedly to move on with their careers, to stand on their own two feet. Putting them back into a big group with the “Morning Musume” name and having them perform all their old songs totally negates and dishonors their graduations. It always makes me sad when I see bands who used to be really popular get back together to play casinos and clubs and stuff because the members need money. This isn’t exactly like that, but there are more similarities than I’m comfortable with. The “pop idol group” phase of these women’s lives was supposed to be over. Rehashing it feels a bit… desperate.

Secondly, I am sick and tired of OG stealing attention from current Morning Musume. The whole, Morning Musume goes on a TV show with OG, and the hosts completely ignore current Momusu thing was frustrating beyond belief. The OG’s graduation from Hello! Project was supposed to put an end to that. It’s like they’re telling current Morning Musume “you are not good enough”. I mean, the group’s name “Dream” Morning Musume even irks me. So we’ve got “Dream” Momusu and “Plain” Momusu. Which group sounds better:? The graduated members had their time in the momusu spotlight. It’s someone else’s turn now. Do I think this group will outsell current Morning Musume? I doubt it. When it comes to idols, youth is a crucial ingredient, and all these girls except for Koharu are really beyond that prime idol age. Yuko is almost 40 for goodness sake. Maybe if they had Tsuji, the graduated member who currently holds the most mainstream popularity, they could pull it off, but she’s withdrawing to focus on raising her babies. But even if they don’t outsell current Morning Musume in CDs, I bet they get more media exposure.

Again, it’s nothing against the women in Dream Morning Musume. I just hate the idea of the group and the way its being presented.

~Celestia~

I posted my top songs list of 2010, but what about everything else? And if I’m going to post the best, I’ve got to also post the worst, because, let’s face it, complaining about stuff is just more fun.

“Best” songs that have already been discussed in my “Top Songs of 2010″ post are just marked with a star instead of repeating the explanation.

Best Single- Otakebi Boy WAO! (Berryz Kobou) *

Honorable Mention- Aitai Lonely Christmas (C-ute)

Worst Single- Shock! (C-ute)

It’s not the excessive Airi. I love Airi. It the excessively annoying and non-catchy song.

Best Album Song- Namidacchi (Morning Musume, 10 My Me) *

Honorable Mention- Fantasy ga Hajimaru (Morning Musume, Fantasy 11)

Worst Album Song- Datenshi Ellie (More Friends, Mano Erina) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QONdoYdWsUc

It starts off sounding okay, but then things turn weird. Really weird. What the hell is with the high pitched, creepy, computerized voice talking to Mano? Most of it isn’t even a song. It’s just Mano talking to the weird voice. Call me crazy, but I’d like my songs to actually be songs.

Best Album- We Are Buono! (Buono)

There’s hardly a bad song on this album. It gets the nod because of all the albums released in 2010, this one had the most original album songs make it to my MP3 player.

Honorable Mention- 10 My Me (Morning Musume)

Worst Album- Shocking 5 (C-ute).

I really hate to give C-ute both worst single and worst album, but the whole “Shock” era was just not good to them. The album is absolutely packed with boring, forgettable, mid-tempo ballads, the one exception being the spastic and almost unlistenable remix of Shochuu Omimai.

Best B Side- Thank You! Crème Brulee no Yuujou (Yume Miru 15sai B-Sde, S/Mileage)*

Honorable Mention- Arigatou~ Ookiku Kansha!~ (Going On! B-Side, Shugo Chara Egg)

Worst B Side- Tachiagare Otome-tachi (Campus Life ~Umarete Kite Yokatta~ B-side, C-ute)

The only B-side of this year that I found to be truly annoying

Best PV- Genkimono de Ikou! (Mano Erina) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xID9Q9hKyrQ

Best by a landslide. A story-driven PV for Mano! The whole thing is hilarious. Riding crop wielding Mano and the red lyra-suited “Spirit of Genki” make a great team.

Honorable Mention- Otakebi Boy WAO! (Berryz Kobou)

Worst PV- Shining Power (Berryz Kobou) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUScN5qP2Fc

Pros: Yurina looks smokin’ hot

Cons: 1. Hideous and unflattering costumes that clash with the backdrop

2. The backdrop is just a few colored rectangles

3. Ping-pong scenes are totally random, and not in a good way. I imagine the conversation went like this.

A: We need to fill some screen time in the new Berryz PV!

B: Could we have them put on makeup?

A: No. We’ve done that in like 15 other h!p PVs already

B: Umm…. Then how about…. Ping-pong?

A: Ping-pong? Yeah! We haven’t done that one yet!

And so a terrible PV was born. You can at least make low-budget pretty. The whole thing (excluding the girls of course) was just an ugly mess.

Best CD Cover- Onaji Jikyuu de Hataraku Tomodachi no Bijin Mama, Limited A (S/Mileage)

They all look so sweet and fresh. I love the concept behind putting them in the dessert case, and it’s a flattering picture of all 4 girls.

Honorable Mention- Fantasy! Juuichi, Limited Edition (Morning Musume)

Worst CD Cover- 6^th Otakebi Album , Limited Edition (Berryz Kobou)

Where to begin with the problems with this outfit. The costumes are glaringly ugly and bright. Miyabi’s bow alone makes me want to throw up in my mouth. Then we have the placement of the girls. People joke about Risako always being the focus of Berryz covers, but COME ON. Do they really want to make her look any bigger than she is? The most LOL thing on this cover is, of course, Yurina. It’s like they ran out of room, so they could only fit a little bit of her in the corner, and knowing how tall she is makes it even more awkward. Risako literally is taking up about 7 times as much cover space as Yurina. Also, is Masaa trying to catch flies in her mouth over there?

Best PV Costume- Aitai Lonely Christmas (C-ute)

They look warm and snuggly. Very pretty and fashionable wintery clothes. I love the hats!

Honorable Mention- Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game, just the princess dresses (Morning Musume)

Worst PV Costume- Shining Power (Berryz Kobou)

The costume was a big part of the reason this song got “worst PV”. It’s a ruffly homage to those guys who paint flame decals on their cars because they think it looks cool. The worst part is what they do to the girl’s figures, particularly Maasa. Why do they always insist on putting her in pants when everyone else is wearing a skirt? The shoes are big, clunky, and reminiscent of horse hooves. Also, is that a dead squirrel on Miyabi’s head?

Agree? Violently disagree? Let me know in the comments!

~Celestia~

Quote me in my post about 9th gen, “after Ai-chan graduates (I’m guessing next fall, once the 9th gen has settled in a bit).”

I am psychic. More on Ai-chan graduating later. We all saw it coming, but it’s still really sad. My biggest problem is the timing of the announcement. There’s been so much going on lately, and she’s not graduating for three more concert tours (MM spring, H!p summer, MM Fall). Why did they announce it so far in advance?

Oh blog. How I did not miss deleting the flood of spam comments that come in every day.

But anyway, speaking of my youtube channel (which is really close to 200,000 views!!!), I made a video of my 20 favorite h!p songs of 2010. Here’s the video with some commentary.

20- This song annoyed the crap out of me at first, but somehow I’ve come to like it. It’s probably the “dokidoki and wakuwaku” parts.

19- It’s a “nice” song. Not a great song, but nice. I connect this one with the recent graduations more than Onna to Otoko.

18- Special appearance by MM 9th gen member Fuku-chan! Catchy song.

17- Fantasy 11 has some real gems that won’t be fully appreciated until they’re heard in concert. This one, for example, really caught my ear

16- Makes good use of Mano’s “special” vocal skills. The PV sure was crazy.

15- So cute! Love the echos and the background harmonies

14- I think this Buono concert is one of the best DVDs h!p has ever produced. The live singing is superb.

13- Managed to draw a tear or two from me when I heard it live in person

12- It’s a real step in the right direction for Morning Musume, but overall, I’ve been much more impressed with their album songs than their singles this year.

11- Airi always gets the best solos. Also, isn’t she adorable in her little sailor outfit?

10- Again, S/Mileage brings the “cute enough to melt your face off”. Everybody loves somebody yeah! I don’t like how they keep throwing the super-high falsetto notes at them though.

9- She’s certainly gotten better, but I would like this song sooo much more if a better singer were singing it. Is that mean?

8- Another s/mileage song that grew on me. Now I can’t get it out of my head. I like the meaning of the lyrics too. Congrats on the “new artist of the year” win! S/mileage seems to be gaining a tentative foothold in the mainstream market. Hope they can keep at it.

7- Boing Boing Boing. I’d like to hear this song in concert again sometime.

6- Harmonies are to die for. So pretty and soothing. People need to start realizing how great this song is.

5- I don’t care if it was a failure sales-wise. I stand by my liking of this song!

4- A little bit Genki+. Can’t wait to see it performed in concert!

3- After a whole slew of forgettable songs, C-ute finally got something good. Thank God.

2- Love how they really dig into their solo lines. Kick ass song.

1- Yay energy!! Probably going to become a Morning Musume concert standby for a long time until everybody is absolutely sick of it. I sure hope so anyway. It’s in my personal Top 20 h!p songs of all time after all.

As for 2011, there have only been a few songs heard so far, but C-ute’s new single is definitely making the list! Echos FTW

~Celestia~

It’s the day I start blogging again. LOL.

No, but there were so many wonderful happenings at last night’s concert, I have been pulled out of the woodwork to write about them.

First, Kikkawa Yuu (You?) solo career! It is unclear whether or not she will be a soloist with h!p or in some other capacity, but I am so very very happy for her either way. This girl has too much talent and charm to graduate from the Eggs and disappear forever.

Second, not really an announcement, but Okai Chisato center for a C-ute single! Yesssssss!!!!!!! After years of singing backup for Airi and Maimi, Chisa is finally getting the attention she deserves. Her voice is really something special, and she’s grown from looking like little boy into quite a pretty young lady, as evidenced by her recent photo book.

And of course, Morning Musume 9th generation. I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled about Tsunku’s choices. It’s a miracle! He actually picked the best ones out of the audition instead of the “project” girl. And I love 4 member generations. 4th, 5th, and 6th, all the best generations have been 4 members! All 4 girls are very cute, with strong potential to become beautiful as they mature, and all have at least decent performance skills already. Overall, they’re starting out at a much higher level than previous generations.

From left to right- Suzuki Kanon, Sayashi Riho, Ikuta Erina, Fukumura Mizuki

At the time of the 8th gen auditions, Morning Musume needed a star. What they got was Aika.  Now, Aika is cute and sweet, but she just doesn’t have the big talent or big personality to be anything but a background girl in the group. I don’t blame Tsunku for choosing her, because IMHO, there really wasn’t a girl with that star potential among the 8th gen finalists. (Yes, even Sumire. She really was badly off the rhythm with her dancing and her voice was quite immature. She’s a great little idol now, but she just wasn’t ready to join Morning Musume at the time of her audition). And while the pandas had the personality (and LinLin had the talent), the fans didn’t want to accept them for a long time just because they were Chinese. Sad but true. So Momusu stagnated a bit. They didn’t really lose much popularity, but they didn’t gain much either. I think this new 9th gen has the potential to really bring freshness to the group and draw in lots of new fans if they are used properly. These four girls each bring something to the table that Momusu needs right now.

Sayashi Riho-

The clear fan favorite from the audition, and with good reason. She’s young, she’s very pretty, and she’s a crazy talented dancer. Her singing is already very strong, and it’s sure to only get better. Without a doubt, Tsunku has found the new “ace” he’s been trying to find for Momusu for a long time now. I predict that she takes some of Eri’s old lines in the upcoming concert and then becomes co-lead vocal with Reina after Ai-chan graduates (I’m guessing next fall, once the 9th gen has settled in a bit). My one concern is that there are subtle signs that she may be a bit of a diva. Well, so was Goto Maki, and she did the group a lot of good. I just hope she knows how to work as a team player and doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight, at least at first.

Suzuki Kanon-

And the 2nd fan favorite from the audition also makes it! Mole-chan, as she is affectionately known, will bring energy, and lots of it. Morning Musume has been a bit…calm… since Koharu left, and I think she can help fix that. She also has a very powerful and deep voice for her age, which will help to keep the group from drifting too squeaky once Risa eventually graduates. I was impressed with her at the audition, because while she was clearly struggling a lot with the dance at first, she made a huge improvement by the final dance audition, and she kept a big smile on her face the whole time. That kind of work ethic and resilience will serve her well as an idol.

Ikuta Erina-

She wasn’t featured very prominently in the auditions, so I don’t have as much to say about her. What I do know, is that she has a great smile, and during the dance audition she was beaming and clearly putting her all into it. I have a feeling she’ll be a natural on stage. Tsunku says she has a “little sister character”. I’m excited to see how her character develops and what niche she fills in the group. I do believe she really wants this. She’s a fan of idols (both AKB and S/mileage) and that’s something I love to see in a girl. Unfortunately, she’s already getting some flack from the fans for liking AKB, so she may have a bit of an uphill battle ahead of her. However, there are also fans supporting her already, and the protest is much milder than the sh*t storm we saw with 8th gen.

Fukumura Mizuki-

Last but not least, our surprise Egg addition. Mizuki joins Kanna, ManoEri, S/Mileage, and now Kikka as an Egg who graduates on to much bigger and better things. I was expecting an egg or two to be added, but I honestly didn’t think Fukumura was a likely choice. Now that I think about it though, it makes a lot of sense. She’s a very feminine girl with a soft, soothing voice and demeanor, and that is a character Tsunku said he feels Morning Musume needs right now. She’ll help balance out the otherwise super-genki 9th gen. She’s also been one of Tsunku’s favorites recently (she took Yuka Maeda’s spot in Shugo Chara Egg), so I’m surprised at how much I didn’t see this coming. Apparently she didn’t see it coming either, based on her overjoyed reaction in the pictures of the concert.

The only remaining question on everyone’s minds, “What about Dayun?”. Maybe they didn’t want to overwhelm us with announcements last night and we’ll find out later in the concert series?

Best of luck to 9th gen! As Tsunku said at the audition, “The future of Morning Musume is in their hands” and as he didn’t say but maybe thought, “Don’t screw it up”

~Celestia~

Edit: Dang! Riho is one bad ass 12 year-old.