Bikkuri Project

Either LinLin just lost at Jankenpon, or Jun2 stole Lin2’s icecream, and she’s holding it up over her head where she can’t reach it. Mean JunJun!

Boing!

Plop!

Who knew Eri hated having her head touched so much?

Yay Shianimuni Paradise!

Oh no! The next song is lipsynced!

Ai-chan and the others make their escape, leaving only Koharu to entertain the crowd.

Why the horrified look in that last one Koharu? Huh? Oh God! Run JunJun!!! Runnnnn!!!!!

You should have never said that you were cuter than Sayumi in Mikan’s making of video….

OMFG it’s Niigaki Risa!!!

Risa jump! Now with more scarf.

Jun2 is 2 hawt 4 U

These two girls who probably don’t even weigh in the triple digits might just kick your ass.

Pretty Ai-chan smile

Reina and Koharu are surprised and somewhat puzzled by the camera.

Awww! 6th gen luv

Aww! 6th gen..wait..No, Sayumi is telling them to shut up.

Neeeeeee?

I’d better stop there before I crash any computers. How did Reina make it into so many of these? Anyway, the next installment is pretty funny, so don’t miss it!

Shameless self promotion time. While I’ve got your attention, International Wota is having their first blog awards, and I’m very pleased and honored that this blog is nominated in two catergories: Best h!p Blog and Best Written Series (for the costume hall of shame). There’s some really stiff competition, so I would be shocked if I won anything, but of course if you’d like to vote for Bikkuri it would be greatly appreciated.

Details and instructions for voting here. You have to be a member of the site, but I suspect that most of you are anyway, and if you’re not, I’d encourage you to join. There’s lots of great blogs that link there.

Thanks so much!
~Celestia~

So I’m joining the crowd and posting my results from the Hello!Blog poll. No need to read this, I just thought the images were pretty. It seems my tastes have changed somewhat since I first posted my preferences. Interesting how that happens.

Baaaa,

~Celestia~

Oha! I don’t know what it is about me and Hello Project costume choices, but I’m kind of fascinated by them. So much so that the first thing that crosses my mind when a new concert is announced isn’t “I wonder what they’ll sing!” but “I wonder what they’ll wear!” I pray equally for really awesome costumes and truly horrible costumes.

My favorite sorts of costumes are sets where every member has a similar, but somewhat different design. I like to see what they come up with for each member, how it fits her personality/bodytype/coloring/whatever, and, most importantly, decide who got the best costume and who got gypped. For example, it is my personal opinion that the h!p wardrobe department has some kind of grudge against Chisato, because she gets whichever costume is the least cute every time. But that is another story and will be told another time (brownie points for you if you got the reference there).

What I do want to write about today are the costume sets from Morning Musume’s most recent fall concert tour. I have a vested interest in this particular concert because it marks the first MM concert DVD that I have decided to purchase for myself. Was that a pun? “vested?” costumes? No? Okay then, moving on…

The ‘too many pictures’ part comes in because I’ve posted the “winner” and “loser” of each costume category as well as an example of the costumes that are the same for everybody.

You know what? I’m not even going to comment on this dress, because I think it may just find its way into the costume hall of shame. Suffice it to say, the more I look at it the more I hate it, but LinLin is doing a great job of trying to look happy about wearing this monstrosity.

How cute is this picture!?! <3 As for the outfits, It's a ‘safe' costume choice I guess. Nothing to love, but nothing to really hate either (except maybe that they've been wearing too much gold lately).

Oh my! I’m loving the final layer of this costume set (modeled by Sayumi, because in a perfect world, everything would be modeled by Sayumi.)

And now, the first costume face-off!! The theme is Hawaiian looking outfits, and the winner is….

Reina! Why? Because if you’re going to have a giant flowery heart on your chest, you’d damn well better go all out and make it pink!

The loser is Ai-chan, not because her outfit is particularly horrible (none of these are) but because I don’t really care for the color combination. Red+Green=Christmas. Also, declaring her the loser gives me an excuse to post this picture.

Next is the mesh trench coat things, which are technically somewhat different for each member, but not different enough to pick a winner, and I’m just not very excited about them. Scary Nails Niigaki agrees.

The blue and white set is my favorite group of the concert. I may have to show more than my two allotted pictures, but for now, let’s go right to the winner!

JunJun! The top is almost a corset, and she’s looking hot! I love the lace-up look, and I also really like her hair for this one. The runners up are Reina with her Greek warrior princess costume, and Sayumi for her sash that can’t help but remind you of beauty pageants. The loser is Koharu, because I find this costume to be kind of plain and boring. Koharu is in a shorts rut, I think. Every time there’s a set of costumes, you can bet that Koharu will be the one in the short-shorts, and they’re probably going to be sparkly.

The last costumes I have for you are the encore set previously featured in the costume hall of shame. I thought it would be near impossible to distinguish between all of the terrible costumes and determine which one was the least terrible, but fortunately, little Aika made it an easy decision.

Tada! Dare I say that she almost looks cute? I think it’s because her hair fluff kind of resembles a halo. Choosing the worst costume was much harder, but in the end, I decided to go with the girl wearing the highest concentration of yellow fluff in one place.

Oh Sayumi. You’re damn cute, but even you cannot pull of an entire skirt made of that stuff. I imagine that someone tried to warn her about how bad she looked, but she couldn’t hear them because of those earmuffs. Tragic really.

Since I’m already committed to posting too many pictures, I may as well post a couple more. Here’s a super cute Sayumi picture to counterbalance the one above.

Aika :3

And one particularly lovely flock of fairies.

All pictures credited to the Hello Online pic board.

I never thought that costumes would be in this feature based on their color rather than design flaws, but today I have been proven wrong. When a group of idols has been around as long as h!p has, they start to run the risk of repeating the same costumes twice. No doubt, the designers rack their brains before every concert, trying to come up with something they haven’t done yet, but when the idea well is really running dry, they have to use a less than optimal color pallet. Surely though, they couldn’t have been desperate enough that their only option was to use these particular colors together.

Orange fluff and brown velour. On idols. Idols are supposed to look bright and sparkly on stage, aren’t they? Well, this is whatever the opposite of bright and sparkly is. The brown is just horribly drab and muddy, and while the orange adds color, it also adds several metric tons of clash. Ewww. Don’t ever do this again! Do you hear me Country Musume?!

Ack! No no no!! Bad Country Musume! Bad! I see that you have lost the brown, which is good, but you have expanded the orange, and that is not good at all. This isn’t just orange, it’s traffic cone, life-jacket, construction worker vest ORANGE. It’s not that I hate the color orange, but costumes that are entirely this shade of it are downright eye-smarting. Very bright colors are like hot sauce, good in moderation and as seasoning for other things, but painful in large doses and by itself. Despite the potential risk to my retinas, I have studied these costumes further and come to the conclusion that the color is just a clever ploy to distract us from how poorly-made they are. They don’t really seem to fit the girls, and the whole thing just looks unforgivably cheap. It could have been worse I guess. These could have been the costumes for Mikan.

Unrelated note time! To cleanse your soul of orangeness, please examine this preview picture from Sayumi’s upcoming photobook. Once again, I am stunned by how flipping beautiful this girl is.

I seem to have ruffled some feathers recently (hehehe). For this entry, though, I’d like to focus on some of the other, and perhaps less controversial, Hello Pro Eggs. The Eggs who are not in THE Possible, or Ongaku Gatas, or one of the main Hello Project groups. The undebuted Eggs who are currently eagerly waiting to be plucked from idol limbo and given their shot at stardom. I can’t claim to be an expert on these Eggs (who can really?), but I do have a few things to go off of: their audition footage, the newcomer’s concert footage and interviews, the set-lists from the Egg concerts, and the recent “Delivery Station” shows. I’m not going to bother to post links to clips of all this stuff. Videos can be found easily enough on youtube or your video site of choice.

The Hello Pro Eggs have undoubtedly been getting more attention this year. The Possible has graduated, there’s the Ongaku Gatas Eggs, and they’re getting their own small concerts now. There could be a few reasons for this. Maybe with Cute and Berryz becoming more popular, h!p is just in need of a new flock of background dancers and figures that as long as they’re being put onstage they might as well be given something of their own to do. Maybe the older girls were getting impatient and beginning to quit (kind of true. 3 quit this year so far), so they are being given their own concerts to pacify them. Maybe, with the h!p kids getting a bit older, the younger Eggs are now in charge providing the ‘cute little girl’ factor. Maybe all of that is true, but I can’t help but think that there are some bigger plans in the works for at least some of the Eggs.

If that was the case, what are their options? There’s always creating another all Egg, The Possible-type group, or maybe a group for an anime. There seem to be enough talented Eggs floating around to pull it off, and realistically, I think that’s the most likely next step. However, that’s not as interesting to me as the other option: adding Eggs to the established groups. Which groups though? There are the Kids groups, and I’m sure some of the Eggs would fit in well there, but the Kids groups haven’t had many changes in the line-ups so far. Sure, Kanna was added to Cute (and some of the other Eggs probably secretly hate her for it), but that was before Cute even started producing singles, so there wasn’t as big an impact as there would be if they add a new girl now. At this point, Berryz and Cute seem pretty stable, so I don’t see them adding any Eggs unless they lose a member or two and need to fill their spots. There is one major group in Hello Project that is known for having a constantly rotating lineup though…

So, what about adding Hello Pro Eggs to Morning Musume as part, or even the entirety, of the 9^th generation. Could it happen? Would it be a good idea? We’re due for 9^th generation auditions, and I would be surprised if they didn’t happen in 2008. I’m not sure if adding Eggs into the mix is likely, but I think it’s definitely possible, and probably a good idea. I’m thinking that one or two girls from the Eggs and one from open auditions would be a good way to go. It’s important for Morning Musume to maintain open auditions so little girls watching can feel that they could maybe be a part of it someday, and so we the fans can root for Little Miss Nobody to become a popular idol. However, the Eggs bring some things to the table that Little Miss Nobody can’t: many have a (relatively small) pre-existing fan base, they have experience, and the company knows what to expect from them. The Eggs have been around enough that the company has a pretty good idea of their skill level, how hard they work, how much they appeal to the fans, and their rate of improvement, which would allow them to make a more solid choice when selecting a potential new Morning Musume.

Let’s just suppose that Hello Pro Eggs were a part of Morning Musume’s 9^th generation. Again, it’s not very likely to happen, but just suppose for a minute that it did. The important issue now becomes which limbo Egg(s) to pick. In my opinion, below are some of the more likely candidates. I’ve ranked them on a scale of 1-5 according to likelihood for them to be chosen for MM if they did add Eggs (5 being the most likely). I guess you can assume that if a girl’s not on this list I would rank her likelihood at 0.

Fukada Kanon (12)

This girl may be the most popular of the undebuted Eggs. She’s got great stage presence (she dances her little butt off out there), surprisingly strong vocals for someone so tiny, and she’s as cute as a button. Naturally, Kanon gets a lot of attention, and she stole the show in her “Delivery Station” group. Going against her is the fact that she’s only barely old enough (though she’ll turn 13 soon), and she looks even younger than she is, so she would really stand out. Then again, Aibon and Tsuji sure were popular little 12 year olds, and Kanon might have the spunk to pull it off. Liklihood: 4

Mano Erina (16)
I know she’s busy with Ongaku Gatas stuff right now, but she has gained too much popularity with the fans to be left off this list. She has the looks and the appeal, and while her vocals aren’t the best, they’re good enough. Could her inclusion in the Ongaku Gatas just be a ploy to test her out and prepare us for her addition to Morning Musume? Meh. Probably not. If Ongaku Gatas is a permanent thing, she’s found her place. If it’s not though, there is real potential for bigger things in Manoeri’s future. Liklihood: 2

Furukawa Konatsu (15)
Age is right, she’s pretty cute, she’s gotten more attention than your average Egg, and her voice isn’t bad, but I don’t feel like she stands out enough as evidenced by the fact that I don’t have anything more to say about her. Liklihood: 3

Kitahara Sayaka (14)
She’s about the right age for MM entry, and she’s rather pretty and mature-looking for only just turning 14. She would fit right in with the MM crowd looks-wise, and her vocals and dancing were pretty impressive in the Newcomer’s concert performance of Oosaka Koi no Uta. Overall, a very strong candidate. Likelihood: 5

Ogawa Saki (11)
Is too young, this I know, but it’s hard to ignore all of her lead parts in the newcomer’s concert and her inclusion in the “Delivery” shows. She has an adorable and unique look about her, she seems to have a really nice personality, and her voice is good, but she’s just too young for Morning Musume (I think the cut-off is 12). I would bet that h!p will put Ogawa Saki in a real group, but not until she matures a bit. Liklihood:1

Mori Saki (14)
Another one in the right age range who gets some attention and has a decent voice, though not one that stands out among the eggs. She’s cute (amazing hair!) and has a pleasing and entertaining personality, so I’m giving her good odds. I think she would do well in Morning Musume. Likelihood: 4

Kikkawa Yu (15)
Again, about the right age. She made it to the final round of auditions before, and if they considered putting her in MM once, they might consider it again. She has a pre-existing fanbase rooting for her to be added to the group, and you know she wants it. She also has some of the strongest vocals in the Eggs. She’s cute, but somehow I don’t know if it’s the right kind of cute for Morning Musume. Maybe she just needs a different haircut? I think that the main thing standing in her way right now is that adding her to Morning Musume would mean the company admitting that they made a mistake in not picking her in the first place. On the other hand, her story of perseverance and not giving up would resonate well with the fans, so I’m still thinking she has good odds. Likelihood: 5

Maeda Yuuka (12, 13 this month)
Her vocal performance in Oosaka Koi no Uta was good, especially for her age, and though she hasn’t gotten that much attention yet, and is a little on the young side, just look at how freaking cute she is!!!! Maybe I just really really want her to be added to the group because I want to see more pictures of this girl. Liklihood: 2

This time the sort of unrelated note is at the end instead of the beginning! I really want to see Chisato and Asuna Okai perform something together, even if it’s just on Uta Doki. How cute would that be!?

The year is not over yet, so some might say that it’s too soon for “best____ of the year” features, but to them I say pish posh. I’m doing one anyway.

For your viewing pleasure, my favorite h!p photos of the year (so far). Most of them are from photobooks, but there are a few exceptions.

10.Out of all the recently released h!p kids photobooks, I think that Maimi’s really stood out. A lot of her pictures still have a somewhat awkward “it’s my first time doing this” look to them, but some of them, such as this shot (the cover) look wonderfully natural. I really love her expression in this. It’s kind of enigmatic, I think.

9.Good lord Sayumi is beautiful. That’s all I can say about this.

8. Ahaha Rika. I love it when photobooks have silly goofy shots like this. The shot where she’s trying to pull off the sock is especially cute.

7. To me, this shot of Aika from the recent concert just says “I have arrived”. Adjusting to being a Musume is no doubt a difficult and stressful process, but it seems that Aika is finally feeling confident and really starting to enjoy herself now. I think that this photo of her singing a solo while looking oh so happy and adorable shows that progress.

6.I love Reina’s “girl” photobook so much that it was difficult for me to not put too many pictures from it in this list. This one made the cut because it shows a side of Reina that we don’t get to see very often. It’s not “kirakira” and it’s not “yankii” either. It’s not even gothic princess. She’s looking incredibly chic and refined, almost European, and proving that yes, she can pull off this style as well. I also really love her expression in this photo. It’s a little bit innocent and a little bit cocky and totally Reina.

5.Morning Cofee cover! I’m sure you’ve seen this photo before, but I can’t help but include it. The girls all are wearing wonderful smiles, and, whether or not it’s true, this cover makes it look like they have a great group bond. Of course, I can’t ignore what a clever way this is of tying together Morning Musume’s past, present, and future.

4.I’m not a huge Eri fan, but something about this photo pulls me in. Maybe it’s her lip color. I don’t really know why, but I love this picture.

3. Risa has such a lovely genuine smile. It’s one of my favorite things about her. This photo combines a great example of that smile with perfect lighting; careless looking curls which frame her face in a very flattering way, and a casual and relaxed look and pose. Even though it’s a posed professional photo, something about is seems real and approachable.

2. This photo of Sayu is just so very pretty. The field of pretty flowers and a beautiful girl throwing her head back as though to sigh in happiness. Ah. Even in the cold of winter, this picture makes me feel refreshed and summery.

1. My very favorite photo is another of Reina. Again, it’s really her expression that gets me here. She looks thoughtful, vulnerable, and maybe a bit sad. The way she’s perched on the railing is kind of child-like, but her look and styling is mature. There are cute photos of girls prancing in bikinis (which can be great in their own right), but then there’s photography as art. I think that this photo belongs to the latter category.

I love love LOVE the Mikan single covers!!! Now that bigger photos are out, I can appreciate how awesome they are. It’s like we just stumbled into a big Morning Musume party, and how lucky we are! The general feel of these covers is one of celebration. Celebrating both this single, and I think, Morning Musume in general. I also appreciate the use of a set and props instead of just a photo-shopped conglomeration of the girls posing in some kind of outfit. It makes these a lot more interesting to look at. From top to bottom the pics are regular, limited B, and limited A.

My favorite is the limited-B because I think every single one of them actually looks really good here (which is hard to do with a photo of 9 people at once). I especially love LinLin’s pose (even though she kinda looks like a bumble bee), and Koharu is looking great too.

Next I’d pick the regular edition, mostly for Mittsi’s super cheesy grin in her photo. JunJun is the winner of this cover though. She looks lovely.

The limited-A is my last choice. I really like how everyone looks except for Koha. I think she’s kind of fake-smiling/not really smiling, and since she’s front and center it really detracts from the photo to me. Risa’s hair is very pretty like that, but Reina wins in this cover. Somehow she reminds me of a girl who’s rocking out in her room singing into her hairbrush, and it’s really cute.

Looking forward to the PV even more now. I wonder if it will reflect the covers or be something else all together?