Bikkuri Project

Back by popular demand, it’s the costume hall of shame, tackling yet another of the serious issues plaguing the h!p wardrobe department, an preponderance of misplaced ruffles. I’m not going to suggest banning all ruffles from h!p costumes. They are idols after all, so a certain amount of rufflage is expect, maybe even required. However, that’s no excuse to start flinging the ruffles around willy-nilly.

This is totally Kanna’s bitch face, and it’s easy to see why she’s making it right now. Ignoring for a moment the awful color-combination, look at the placement of the ruffles. I hope I’m not dating myself by bringing up the infamous ‘puffy shirt’ episode of Seinfeld, but this reminds me a lot of that. Poofy-sleeved swashbuckling, a little neckruffly clownyness, and a big ugly chunk of ruffle hanging down her thigh like some sort of tail.

“So C-ute thinks they can beat Berryz when it comes to tiered, boxy, figure swallowing, unflatteringly colored, ruffly dresses reminiscent of jellyfish?” Risako thinks to herself. (I’m not sure if this is her bitch face or not. It may just be her normal face)

“Well suck on this you ‘lalalala’-spouting harlots!!!”

Umm…so Morning Musume, Little Bo Peep called….

Here’s a costume that’s perfectly fine from the waist up, but awful from the waist down. I ask you, is there any occasion, any occasion at all, where it is a good idea to wear long pants on one of your legs and not the other? Half of them have strapped one of those unflattering tiered dresses to one leg (presumably these can be removed and used as costumes by one of the kids groups later) while some kind of awful yellow sheath made to look almost plaid by the clumsy application of various ruffly ribbons adorns one of the legs of the other half. Just take a moment with me now and imagine how much nicer this would have looked without the half-pants. For God’s sake, it looks like they’re trying to hide the fact that they’re all missing one leg!

Hope I wasn’t too rough on them,

~Celestia~

Why didn’t anyone tell me that the Winter h!p concert DVD came out!?!? Actually, I’m glad I didn’t know or I would have spent my entire trip dying to make a break for our van so I could drive back to school and watch it immediately. Since I like doing concert reviews and I favor Wonderful Hearts, here’s a review of the Wonderful Hearts side of things. Just for fun, and because I like to make everything a contest, I’ve declared ‘winners’ of each song again.

Aozora ga Itsumademo, All- Their fairy costumes are awfully cute (only Momo could pull off a pink bow that huge). I am so tempted to line all of them up and rank them by how much I like their fairy costumes, but that would be a lot of work for a group this size, and I suspect that the results would be boring to most. As for the song, I’m a little bit ‘meh’ about it. I mean it’s fine, but not something I’d choose to pump up the crowd and open a concert.
Winner: Risako. She got the first close-up, she looked like she was about to cry for some reason, and it intrigued me. With this many girls on stage any of them who manages to catch my interest is a winner as far as I’m concerned.

Renai Revolution 21, All- As soon as the solo lines start, it is clear that they are not lip-syncing, thank God. I was so very disappointed when the entire summer concert was lip-synced. I love that Aika gets the “hoi!” line.
Winner: Risa. She is always super into the song no matter how many times it’s performed, as evidenced by the great facial expressions in her numerous close-ups.

LALALALA Shiawase no Uta, All- One or two listens and I’ve heard enough of this song to last me a lifetime. Not only that, but I REALLY hate the dance. The girls are trying to look enthusiastic about it, but whether it’s Cute or all of Wonderful Hearts, you can tell most of them are as bored as I am.
Winner: Momoko. She is one of the couple who didn’t look bored (the other being JunJun), and the mega-bow pulls her up to first place.

Tokkaiko Junjou, C-ute- Hehehehe, Tokkaiko Junjou in floofy fairy costumes. I love the idol world. Their dancing looks a little tired, which is sort of understandable since it’s a demanding dance and they’ve performed three songs in a row already. The singing is good though. Even Saki was hitting the right pitches.
Winner: Airi because it’s so hard to notice anyone else in this song. I think it’s one of her better performances of this singing-wise too. Her voice sounds a bit fuller and deeper than usual.

Various Kirari Crap- I mostly skipped through this. If you’ve seen one Koharu solo performance you’ve pretty much seen them all. Next.
Winner: The backdancing eggs. Surely you didn’t expect me to give it to Koharu?

Tsukatta ni Kataomoi, Berryz- You know, this song has grown on me a lot since I first heard it. It’ll never be my favorite, but I can see it showing up on my playlist on occasion. I don’t know if this was their best vocal performance though. A few of the solo lines sounded kind of rough.
Winner: Momoko! Yes she sounds unusually helium-tastic when singing this song, and I know that annoys some people, but I think it’s completely adorable.

Kohaku no Funsui Hiroba, Berryz- Love the song, but Risako’s singing almost ruined it for me. She sounds good singing peppy or angry songs, but on a slow ballad, the tone of her voice just isn’t right at all, and somehow it sounds especially out of place in this particular performance.
Winner: Miyabi. She looks elegant and sounds great (as usual). Of the leads, Momo is a bit too cute for a song like this, Yurina keeps smiling and ruining the mood, and Risako is too shouty, but Miyabi’s voice is just right.

Mikan, Morning Musume- I like the look of their little square formation spread out up the stairs at the beginning. You can see everyone, even the mysterious and elusive 8^th gen. Why the hell did Gaki and Kame lipsync in their TV performances again? They are more than capable of singing those ‘so short if you blink you might miss them’ solo lines.
Winner: Reina. “Oh yeah one TIME!!!”

Sexy Boy, MM- Hurray! It was quickly dropped from the BonKyu concert when they subbed in Mikan, so I’m glad that rehearsing Sexy Boy wasn’t a waste of time for them, even if all the somber pointing at the beginning is a bit odd. On the positive side, Sayumi’s high pigtails with the little bows combined with her costume makes for an almost lethal dose of cuxyness, and JunJun’s pose at the end was great. JunJun seems to be getting at least a tiny bit more camera time lately, and I highly approve.
Winner: Ai-chan. Her little, “A-ah” booty drop move always kills.

Odore Morning Curry, MM- What a silly song. It’s still fun, but just not the same without Yossie.
Winner: Sayumi and the butt-shaking/shimmy move around 2:15. What was I saying about dangerous levels of cuxyness?

Renai Rider, Buono- Love the song, but they’ve done much better performances of it. The group parts in the verses sound shrill. I believe this was the first debut of the song though, so they probably hadn’t had much practice with it yet.
Winner: Airi. She sang the best. Maybe you don’t like Airi, but there’s no denying that she’s consistent with her singing.

Seishun Love Lunch, Athena and Co.- I never thought I’d hear them sing live. Guess they proved me wrong. I love this group and everyone in it; I just wish they weren’t centered around such a lame anime.
Winner: Chisato. Chances to hear Chisato sing are few and far between, so let’s enjoy this moment.

Robokiss, Sayu/Risako- Good to see that W songs are no longer being held sacred. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the performance. Risako sang well, and Sayumi was really hamming it up with her wide-eyed innocent expressions and ‘dance moves’. She is truly the queen of exaggerated cuteness.
Winner: Sayumi!!! She’s absolutely perfect for this song.

Aa~in Dance no Uta, Eri/Lin/Jun/Maa- Okay, so they’re no MiniMoni, but no one can be MiniMoni but MiniMoni, and I’m just glad to see this song performed again.
Winner: LinLin. This is like the song version of LinLin. Spastic, bizarre, and yet somehow charming.

Chokkan 2, All- I just don’t like this song, so I’m not going to comment on it.
Winner: Eri. Her solo line took me by surprise. She’s become quite the singer in the last couple years, hasn’t she?

Everyday Everywhere, Ai/Reina- The world needs more Ai/Reina duets. Damn they both look hot and sound great. When compared with the rest of the concert, the song is in a whole ‘nother league of difficulty and vocal talent.
Winner: Reina. Not that Ai-chan wasn’t great too, but it’s rare to hear Reina drop the cutseyness and uses her big girl voice. Who knew she could hit notes like that?

Everyday Yeah Kataomoi, Saki S/Mai/Kanna- Whoa, it’s like VUDen Jr, with one girl in the middle singing most of the lines and wearing a different costume than the two girls flanking her. Is MaiMai the future Rika Ishikawa? More importantly, is Kanna the future Yui? Perhaps a swimsuit photobook would help test that theory? Aika first though.
Winner: Kanna. There’s just a certain hidden sassiness about her that comes out even in a song like this, and she’s become a much better singer than she’s given credit for.

Oujisama to Yuki no Yoru, Erika/Maimi/Yurina/Chinami- Great costumes for the song. I really enjoyed this.
Winner: Maimi, I wanted to give it to Erika, but Maimi sang better and she had the prettiest costume.

Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger, Ai/Gaki/Eri/Sayu/Reina/Mittsi/Momo/Sako/Miya- Oh no! The costumes on Gaki, Mittsi, Momo, and especially Miyabi are AWFUL. The song is cute I guess. I’d almost forgotten that it existed.
Winner: Ai-chan. Her solo line towards the end is the only notable part of the performance.

Meguru Koi no Kisetsu, C-ute- A good energetic performance.
Winner: Maimi. She looks so happy that it makes me happy too.

Omoitattara Kichi desse, Berryz- This seems like an odd choice to include in the concert, but that aside, it’s cute, and I suppose it’s refreshing to hear a song that’s not performed very often. Many of the solo lines go to the three forgotten Berryz which is also a nice change of pace.
Winner: Momoko. She’s just too cute!!

Special Generation, Berryz/C-ute- I wonder, are Berryz just tired of performing this song by now? C-ute seemed much more enthused. Maybe they’re just mad that they have to share their song. Oh well. I still quite enjoyed the performance. Apparently Airi=Miyabi, Maimi=Risako, Nakki=Momoko, Mai=Yurina, Erika=Chinami, Chisato=Maasa, and Kanna=Saki, in case you were wondering.
Winner: Nakki. I think my eyes nearly popped out of my head during the close-up of her dancing at the beginning.

Bonkyu Bonkyu Bomb Girl, MM- Why do I like this song so much more now than when I saw it in the concert named after it? Maybe it’s because I’m not being distracted by huge gold dresses or awful yellow and green fluffiness?
Winner: Risa for her “Yow!” toward the beginning (she sounded like a cat) and the cool crescendoing “happyhappyhappy” part.

Go Girl Koi no Victory, MM- Weak performance. Come on girls, put a little more spirit into it!
Winner: Dunno. Didn’t really spot any stand-outs.

Handmade City, All- Still not a huge fan of this song because the verses are set too low, but it looks like it’s around to stay. That said, I think the vocals in this performance were better than the Bonkyu concert, and the scarf waving thing looks good with more people.
Winner: Eri. Again, she handles Miki’s lines confidently, and maybe even better than in the aforementioned Bonkyu concert. She can hit that low range without sounding manly unlike some girls. Hint: starts with an A and rhymes with ‘tailakabashi’

Nanimo Iwazu ni, I Love You, All- I love this song! I think it’s a great end to the concert, sappy and powerful without being sad, and good for evoking an emotional response. Also, it’s well suited to the large choral arrangement (I believe the original lineup actually performed it in semi-chorus robes one time). It is not well suited to the three buxom ladies of questionable vocal talent who make up VUDen, but that’s another issue for another time.
Winner: Ai-chan. Very nice introduction and harmonizations.

If I take it to the next level and try to figure out who ‘won’ the concert, it looks like a tie between Ai-chan and Momoko with three victories each.

Oh man. I still have so much to catch up with. There’s blog entries to read, two more concerts to watch, audio rips of MM’s spring concert to listen to, and half of a DVD magazine still to watch, and that’s just the bare minimum as far as this side of my fandom is concerned. That’s a long to-do list, albeit a very pleasant one.

Keep on keepin’ on,

~Celestia~

With all my love of categorizing and ranking things, the entire concept of image colors really appeals to me. I like the idea of them each having their own little category, and I’ve often wondered if there’s any meaning behind the colors chosen for them beyond, “the girl who used to have this color graduated, so here you go new member”. In an attempt to find out if there was any real correlation between the girl and her color, I looked up the most common personality associations with each of the ‘image colors’ and compared with my perceptions of the girl’s personalities. I’m considering the fairy costumes worn at the winter WH concert to be indicative of the most current image colors for each of them. It seems like Risako and Miyabi have been switched around, but the rest are all consistent with what they’ve been for a while.

Team Pink- Sayu, Maimi, Momoko

+Associations: feminine, appreciative, romantic

-Associations: passive, weak

Pinkitude Rating:

Sayu- she’s certainly feminine and romantic, but she’s definitely not passive. Pretty weak when it comes to physical strength

Maimi- I don’t see her as being all that feminine, I mean, she is, but not like Sayu is.

Momoko- she’s a pretty little princess isn’t she?

Team Red- Koharu, Kanna, Miyabi

+Associations: Passion, strength, leadership/power

-Associations: arrogant, quick tempered, masculine

Reditude Rating:

Koharu- certainly got the arrogance, and wielding a fair amount of power lately, and it’s hard to argue that she’s not passionate

Kanna- doesn’t really seem to fit her at all, I only give her points for the ‘masculine’ thing due to that lesbian comment

Miyabi -I’ll give her passion and leadership, her jaw covers the masculinity, but I don’t really see her as a ‘firey’ red kind of person

Team Orange- Eri, Nakki, Chinami

+Associations: enthusiastic, playful, energetic

-Associations: over-emotional, attention demanding

Orangitude Rating:

Eri- hmm. Not really. I guess she’s playful, but she’s not especially any of those other things, she’s one of the more low energy, less attention demanding members

Nakki- Nakki, however, fits this quite well. She’s very energetic and enthusiastic, she cries a lot (over-emotional)

Chinami- a good fit on the positive traits, but not so much on the negatives

Team Yellow- Ai-chan, Erika, Risako

+Associations: outgoing, joyful, friendly

-Associations: cowardly, dishonest

Yellowitude Rating:

Ai-chan- she’s not super-sunny really, I would say that she’s friendly though not particularly outgoing, and if you see her in a haunted house it’s not a stretch to call her a bit of a coward, but then again, she’s been quite brave with all she’s had to handle lately

Erika- Good match on the positives

Risako- I don’t know why, but I see her as kind of dishonest; don’t know if she’s all that friendly either

Team Green- Risa, LinLin (because I’m not making a new category for “turquoise”), Airi, Yurina (SO my favorite team)

+Associations: gentle, kind, sincere

-Associations: envious, inexperienced

Greenitude Rating:

Risa- All of the positives fit her to a T, and while she’s not actually inexperienced, the “Gaki-san” indicates otherwise, and I wouldn’t blame her for being envious after being shafted for so long

LinLin- Hmm. No. Not especially sincere or gentle, and not inexperienced either

Airi- Yes on the positives. No on the negatives. Who exactly could she be jealous of?

Yurina- I don’t really see her as this type

Team Blue- Reina, JunJun, Chisato, Maasa

+Associations: calm, confident, dependable

-Associations: aloof, sad

Blueitude Rating:

Reina- I totally give this one to her. She’s full of confidence, has been accused of being kind of aloof, and has certainly proven herself dependable over the years

JunJun- I guess she’s calm sometimes, but nothing else really fits so far

Chisato- Calm and aloof? Nope.

Maasa- Not so much with this one either.

Team Purple- Aika, Mai, Saki

+Associations: creative, mysterious, noble

-Assiciations: prideful, fake

Purpleitude Rating:

Aika- The only mystery about her is how she became so cute

Mai- I’ve heard her called both prideful and fake, and she does have a bit of a noble baring about her, despite her age. I think she’ll fit this even more as she grows up

Saki S.- No. Not at all.

I’ve ended with everything from “fits her perfectly” to “couldn’t fit her worse”. I think if I were to reassign the image colors, I’d do it as follows.

Team Pink v.2 Sayumi, Ai-chan, Airi, Yurina

Team Red v.2 Koharu, Chisato, Maasa

Team Orange v.2 LinLin, Nakki, Momoko

Team Yellow v.2 Aika, Erika, Chinami

Team Green v.2 Risa, JunJun, Kanna, Saki S.

Team Blue v.2 Reina, Maimi, Miyabi

Team Purple v.2 Eri, Mai, Risako

Whew. That was kind of difficult since there were some categories where no one from a certain group matched and some where I wanted to add more than one. I think I’m satisfied with what I came up with though, or at least that these colors are much better matches than what they had before. Any ideas on switches that should be made? Also, any idea why the formation of ‘teams’ automatically makes me want to pit them against each other in some kind of hypothetical death match?

Silly Rabbit, Trix are for Kids,

~Celestia~

I said I would write a review of C-ute’s new album, 3^rd Love Escalation, and I would never break a promise to you all, so here we go.

Overall-

I’m a bit disappointed. There are some good things, but overall I think it’s too safe. Aside from one particular track, the new songs lean heavily toward the generic. It’s not bad, but I think that C-ute’s other albums are both better. Also, I don’t know how it escaped my attention that none of C-ute’s major singles had been albumized before, but this album has all four of them. Four singles on an album with only 10 tracks makes for not very many original songs, which is kind of to be expected from a h!p album I guess, but I was still a bit sad. I do appreciate that they’ve continued with having each member participate in either a duet or a solo. It gives us a chance to hear some of the less utilized voices in the group. Here’s a track by track review of just the new material.

2. Image Color- Airi/Maimi

Honestly, I expected better from the group’s two main singers. There is nothing the least bit vocally challenging in this song. An Airi/Maimi duet should be spectacular, and this was just kind of forgettable. I swear, Airi almost sounded like Nakki at some points, and that’s not a good thing. The song reminds me a bit of ‘Aozora ga Itsudemo..etc’ so if you like that one you might like this. Rated so low not because it’s really that terrible but because it should have been SO much better. 1/5

3. Otome Kokoro

This one is slower, and glory-be, I can hear a fair number of Chisato lines! It’s a nice, relaxing sort of song, with a pretty chorus. A bit boring, but I rather like it. The image I get is of the girls lying on their backs in a nice sunny meadow somewhere looking up at the clouds. 3/5

5. Honmerare Nobiko no Theme Kyoku

This is my favorite of the new group songs. Once again, there are Chisato lines which is worth an extra star right there. The song it’s self is more dancey, kind of in the style of Bishoujo Shinri (but not as powerful). It’s pretty catchy, and they didn’t forget the hooks this time, but I feel like the tempo should have been just a bit faster. It would have given it more energy, and the song runs out of steam by the end. 4/5

6. Sweeeets Live- Chisato/Kanna

The intro starts out with an ethnic sounding beat, and then some computerized effects, giving me hope that this will be an interesting song. Then the verses start, and I am utterly disappointed by the lack of actual singing. The verses are kind of monotonal and ‘talked’ through, much like a Koharu song. It’s just a crying shame to give Chisato and Kanna a Koharu-style song, because they both deserve better. They sing quite well, and the chorus is okay, but neither ever get a chance to really open up and sing. “Bokura no Kagayaki”, with the awesome Chisa introduction, was so much better. This is the second biggest disappointment on the album, after the Airi/Maimi duet. 2/5

8. Hare no platinum Doori- Mai/Saki

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s really about as good as it could be, being a Mai/Saki duet. I think those girls voices are too similar for them to be paired for duets, but maybe that’s just me. The sound is really old-fashioned, like golden age of idols old-fashioned. Well, it’s not great, but the melody was nice enough, and it could have been a lot worse. 3/5

9.Do don ga don ondou- Erika

Just when I thought this entire album was utterly boring and safe, Erika comes along and saves the day with her tribute to that Odoru 11 song. Is Erika trying to show more personality? Because I fully support that idea. Behind all the silliness and childishness there are some strong vocals. Erika’s singing really has improved. She might just be moving up in my C-ute ranking soon. 5/5

I wanted to love this album, but I was left feeling a bit ho-hum about the whole thing. Maybe I’ll like it better when I hear the songs in concert.

Whatever,

~Celestia~