Bikkuri Project

Reina doing the Reina thing

Ai-chan demonstrates the fine art of the smoldering stare.

Sayu is as pink as cotton candy and twice as sweet.

Cute pose contest…go!

Praise the Lord, I have internet again!!!!!!! After calling number after number trying to get assistance from the internet company, I finally got someone to come to my apartment and take a look at it today. Turns out that I wasn’t just failing at reading the Japanese instruction manual. There was actually something wrong with my modem, but it’s been replaced, and all is well now.

In order to celebrate, a small slew (is there such a thing?) of animated gifs from Morning Musume’s latest concert DVD (Haru Single Daizenshuu). I think that with gif files, less is more on a page, so I’m going to break this up into a bunch of entries with just 4 .gifs each. I’m hoping this will prevent anyone from having seizures while watching all of them do their thing at once.

Maniacal Koharu. Please keep away from animals and small children.

Gaki-san is fierce

yessss

Where does the loop start and end? I’m not telling.

Back in action,

~Celestia~

My internet at my apartment is STILL not working, and I`m about ready to throw my computer across the room, but I can`t stand to stay away from my blogs for this long, so I`m here updating from the internet cafe again.

Since I`m paying by the minute to write from here, I`m afraid that I`m not going to do the usual full review of this concert. Instead, since I was feeling curious, I decided to count how many solo lines each girl got. Only solo lines in group songs count, and spoken interjections (Hai!, Ah!, Yeah!, etc) don`t count either. I did count full spoken monologues as one solo line.

Ai-chan 105

Reina 79

Gaki-san 56

Eri 35

Koharu 32

Sayumi 20

Aika 17

JunJun 5

LinLin 5

Interesting maybe?

Owari,

~Celestia~

Just to reassure you that this blog hasn’t been abandoned, a very quick reactions post to some recent happenings. I’m due to catch a monorail for Tokyo DisneySea in just a little while.

-Kanna scandal. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Why do scandals break out every time I leave? If I really cared about Hello Project, I would never leave my computer, because bad things only happen when I’m not looking. Will she be okay? I mean, she’s probably the most dispensable member of C-ute (no offense to Kanna fans. I mean in terms of her role within the group and popularity level), but they seem to like the idea of C-ute and Berryz having the same number of members…

-Mysterious new Momusu song being sung at the end of the Wonderful Hearts concert. Is it a single? An album song? Whatever it is, I hope it’s a sign that Morning Musume will be releasing new music soon. And by soon, I mean like yesterday. It’s a very pretty song. Also, go LinLin! Her lines in the fan recordings are really impressive.

-New C-ute single/PV. Too happy over Chisato finally getting a chance to shine to care about how short it is. I’m in the camp that likes the costumes, even if Airi’s doesn’t really match.

-One of my friends who I’m traveling with has been living here for a year and finds herself more interested in Jpop after hearing so much of it. She even likes a handful of h!p songs especially Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, Cinderella Complex, and the Genki Jirushii no Oomori song. Yay!

-New Koharu photobook. Uhmmmm… since when is Koha a dominatrix. Leather and fishnets? Really??

-Lookit what I found in a bookshop! Have I mentioned how much of a kick I get out of seeing pictures of my favorite idols/ occasionally hearing their songs playing?

Ug. I am so behind!

~Celestia~

I tried to stay away from blogging. I really did. That lasted all of a day. Turns out that the town I’m staying in is known for its second hand stores. I can buy used CDs for about a dollar!!! How much more would that cost in America (with shipping)?? Of course, the selection is pretty limited, but this is what I bought.

• I WISH
• The Peace!
• Koko ni Iruzee
• The Minimoni movie soundtrack
• Hare Ame Nochi Suki
• Souda We’re Alive
• Ai Araba It’s All Right
• Do It Now
• Best! Morning Musume One
• Petit Best 6 DVD

The total cost for all of these items? Less than $20. In short, my first day in Japan was awesome!

Jealous?

~Celestia~

When Morning Musume’s Bonkyu concert was going on I wrote THIS, and I’d like to do something similar here for Haru Single Daizenshuu. The focus is on the sets where every girl is wearing something similar but different, because, inevitably, some girls are going to end up with something a lot nicer than others. So, who has pissed off the costume designers today? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, a quick review of the costumes that are too much the same to declare a winner and loser. Oh, and just so there isn’t any confusion, this entry is not meant to be part of the hall of shame series. In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that I’m not a heartless bitch who hates every costume ever. Plus, it’s a good excuse to post a whole bunch of Momusu eye-candy.

These are pretty!! Since they’re being used for a flamenco-ish song (Iroppoi Jirettai), I don’t even mind all the ruffles.

I’m very “meh” about the warrior princess costumes.

These are probably my least favorite from this concert. I think they all might be a little different, but it just looks like a big zebra-like mesh of fake flowers and breeches to me (breeches not shown in this picture, but who really wants to look at breeches anyway?), so I’m not going to try to discern which ones are the best.

Oh yes. Sayu the smexy school-girl. My one gripe is that Ai-chan looks kind of ridiculous in this. She’s really too old to be dressed as a schoolgirl anymore.

Technically these are different for each girl because the sash is in each girl’s designated color, but other than that they are the same. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that rainbow fabric somewhere before…(hint: purple feathers). If you don’t remember their colors: Ai-chan=yellow, Risa=green, Eri=orange, Sayu=pink, Reina=light blue, Koha=red, Mittsi=purple, JunJun=dark blue, and LinLin=turquoise. This becomes important later.

Peace! Peace!

Encore costumes are blue or pink t-shirts with their names on them, denim bottoms, and…feathery bustles. This is another example of a costume that was so close to being cute. I should “hall of shame” them for the bustle infraction, but I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let it slide this time.

And now for the fun part! These dresses aren’t all that different, so we’ll start with this set. First, the “also rans”

They’re cute, right? The only problem is that I couldn’t find a picture of Koha’s. Sorry about that.

And now! The worst costume in this set is……

It’s not horrible, but she’s the only one with sleeves, and I just don’t think it works with the dress. I don’t know why, but I’m somehow reminded of Star Trek.

That means the winner is….

The horizontal stripes with the chevron shape are flattering. I also like the see-through collar.

Now for the “Mr. Moonlight” set. The girls are all wearing “their” color again. See? I told you it would become important later.

“Also rans!”

And this time the costume designers hate….

JunJun! Is it just me, or does she not match the others very well? They’ve all got patterned fabric and lace and frills everywhere, so her costume looks downright plain and (were the skirt longer) school marm-ish. The high collar in particular is almost severe. To be fair, Reina’s almost took this spot for going too far in the opposite direction.

Who slipped those designers a crisp $100 bill?

Gaki-san is wearing a costume that I would be happy to wear in public as a dress. That might be a Morning Musume first! Just look at how cute this is!

For the last set, I’d like to do something a little bit different. The current poll has been up for a long while, so I think it’s time for a change! This time, you can play the fashion police and help determine the winners and losers of this set! Here are the costumes:

So, is Sayu’s baby-doll dress the cutest of the bunch? Does Reina’s pirate-wench costume float your boat? Vote for best dressed in the handy poll on the left side!

L8r,

~Celestia~

PS. The winner of the “favorite egg” poll was Arisa Noto with Yuu Kikkawa in second and Sayaka Kitihara in third. The most surprising thing for me was that Minami Sengoku did not get a single vote. I thought she had some fans out there somewhere? *scratches head*

PPS. When is Morning Musume going to get a new single? Berrysz and C-ute are both on their third for the year plus an album, and MM has only had one single and no albums!! The one single they had has easily out-sold anything either of the kids groups has ever done, so why are the kids groups getting so many more releases? It’s injustice!! Injustice I tell you!!

Surveys are fun, aren’t they? They give you something interesting to write about without having to pull material from nowhere. When I was doing my survey post, I started thinking about the kinds of questions I would want to ask other bloggers and J-Pop fans, things that I maybe didn’t know or hadn’t heard before. I would appreciate it oh so much if you would take the time to answer them, either in the comments section or your own blog if you have one.

1. You have found a magical J-pop genie who will grant you one J-pop related wish (so no wishing for a million dollars or world peace or anything like that). It can be virtually anything as long as it’s directly related to J-pop, and don’t worry, because this is the nice sort of genie, not the kind who will try to find a loop-hole and screw up your wish. So, what do you wish for???

2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?

3. Who do you think is the sexiest japanese singer out there?

4. How about the cutest?

5. Best personality?

6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5?

7. You work for a Japanese music magazine, and you have the opportunity to interview your favorite artist or group. What are a couple of the questions you want to ask them?

8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad?

9. When you’re really happy?

10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs?

11. How about dance?

12. Artistic integrity question!! If someone offerrered to pay you for blogging, but they were allowed to censor some of your opinions or veto some of your blogging ideas, would you do it?

Eagerly Awaiting Responses,

~Celestia~

Aika picspam! Go!!!

Goofy Aika

Cute Aika

Sexy Aika?!

Why Hello Thar Mittsi,

~Celestia~

But first, Morning Musume’s Fall Concert tour has been announced. I plan to go to one of the Saturday Tokyo concerts (either November 1st or 8th), so would anyone be interested in coming with? It looks like I won’t be able to make the h!p Summer Concert due to conflicts with me meeting my supervisor and moving in to my new apartment for work (sigh), so this will be my first Morning Musume concert.

Now on with the surveys. First, Cutie Party’s.

1. What was the first Japanese song that you ever listened to? Okay, wait. I’m not sure about this one, but as far as I can remember, I think it was around when I was in Junior High. The internet was only just coming into wide-spread existence, so the only real access Westerners had to Japanese music was VIA anime theme songs. I had a friend who liked Magic Knights RayEarth, and she got me to watch a couple of episodes, so I think that theme song was the first Japanese song I ever listened to. I don’t even know what it was called. *looks up* Okay, it was called “Unyielding Wish” by Naomi Tamura.

2. Did it inspire you to like that group/singer, or did it turn you away? I liked the song, but I have no idea who Naomi Tamura is, and I didn’t even know her name until now, so it didn’t inspire me to like her, but it wasn’t exactly deterring either. Guess I just didn’t care much.

3. What is the one song that you have been listening to for the longest time? So by that I assume you mean a Jpop song that I still listen to? Probably that SMAP song, Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana. That would be the first Jpop song to make it onto my playlists. I heard it at Karaoke when I went to Japan after graduating from high school, it got stuck in my head, and I ended up liking it a lot.

4. What group/singer have you liked the longest? Morning Musume.

5. What is the song with the most plays on your itunes/media player? Uhm.. I’m stupid and I don’t know how to figure that out

6. Is that song your favorite? N/A

7. If not, what is? Depends on my mood, but probably “I Wish”

8. Is there any one group that you can listen to all/most of the songs by? If so, who? No way. I’m far too picky for that.

9. What is your favorite agency? Up Front and Johnny’s. I love them both in different ways!

10. What is your favorite group/singer? Morning Musume

Hmm. I think my answers turned out to be kind of boring. Sorry about that. Now the “survey” from Unchained. The challenge is to write about songs that you have the strongest emotional attachment to and explain why. I’ll start early and work my way up. Sorry if it’s cheating, but most of my choices are not Jpop, because most of them are associated with important times in my life, and thus far, the most important times in my life haven’t been strongly associated with Jpop.

You Are My Sunshine- Children’s Song
Yeah, we’re going waaaay back. When I was a baby/toddler, I absolutely could not go to sleep unless one of my parents sat with me in our rocking chair, read me the book “Good Night Moon” and then sang me this song. I must have been such a joy to raise, huh?

I Hope You Dance- Leanne Womak
Let me get one thing straight. I do not like country. At all. This song, however, is a special exception. I was on dance team in high school, and this was one of our competition songs in the fall of my Freshman year. It was a moving and lovely lyrical number, and it felt really really good to dance it (not to mention that we took 1st place!). This song made me fall in love with dancing, and the lyrics are beautiful and inspiring as well.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (Life Goes On)- The Beatles
The summer after my junior year of high school I went on a trip to Europe with a group from my school. Our bus driver REALLY loved this song, so he’d play it a lot, particularly when we had reached a destination after a long drive, everyone was asleep or mostly asleep, and we needed something to energize us again. By the end of the trip we were all singing along. That trip was a significant time in my life. I met my current boyfriend there, and it also sparked my interest in travel and seeing other cultures.

Ai Araba It’s All Right- Morning Musume
That this song made the list should probably come as no surprise. It’s the first Morning Musume song I ever heard, and the song that was to begin my obsession with them. To this day, it never fails to cheer me up.

Defying Gravity- Wicked
I love musicals, and this is my absolute favorite song to come from a musical. It’s just so powerful. I don’t have an emotional attachment to this song because of a specific emotional memory so much as it stirs strong emotions in me of it’s own right. If you haven’t listened to this song before, I advise you do so. It’s simply amazing. The real song starts about 1 minute in (there’s kind of an introduction)

Out Loud- Dispatch
This song is special to me because of my college sorority. Every winter at recruitment (or rush or whatever you want to call it) on one of the nights we’d have a slide show of pictures of us and the girls who were the best singers would sing a song a’cappella or with a guitar accompaniment. This was the song used both my Freshman and Senior year, and so it represents both the beginning and end of my collegiate sorority experience for me and all the memories and friendships that came along with that. Hearing it makes me want to cry, but in a good way. I don’t have a recording of our girls singing it, but here is the original version.

I don’t want this list to get out of control, so I’m going to cut myself off here. I’d encourage others to write their own answers though. I like to see what kind of music touches people.

Natsukashii ne,

~Celestia~

I had so much fun with my last little contest that I’ve created another. This time the name of the game is identifying which PV the following images were taken from. Give it a try! What have you got to lose?

RULES/INSTRUCTIONS

1. Entries must be submitted via numbered list in the comments section.

2. You may add things/change you submission ONE time so make it count

3. Only the title of the song needs to be submitted, not group, version, or what exactly you’re looking at

4. All images come from h!p single PVs, this means NO ‘Best Shots’ or PVs that were made for album songs of B-sides, but any version of the A-side PV may be used

5. If the single is a double A-side, either PV might be used

6. All images have their number in the file name, so double check that before submitting in case your browser misaligns them

7. Deadline for submissions is June 30th, or whenever someone answers all 30 of them correctly

8. The person with the most correct answers wins

9. PRIZE IS $20 TO YESASIA.COM, IF ALL ARE CORRECT: $30

10. An important hint. Images are from PVs by the following groups: Morning Musume (including Gumis), C-ute, Berryz, Buono, W, Kirari/Kirari-related groups, Matsuura Aya, GAM, Summer shuffle units, Country Musume (any variation), Tanpopo, Minimoni, VUDen, Pucchimoni, Goto Maki, Fujimoto Miki, and Abe Natsumi. If you don’t see a unit or soloist on this list, they are not included. Every unit here appears in the answers at least once. It might seem like a long list, but I’ve actually eliminated quite a few.

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Alternately, if you’re having trouble viewing the images you can download the full set HERE 

Play Ball!

~Celestia~