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?
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.
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
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that LinLin is currently the least favored member of Morning Musume. Consider the fabulous and far-reaching poll at Hello!Blog HERE and HERE
You’ll notice that LinLin ranks last overall as well as in almost every individual category. This makes me wonder, what is so wrong with LinLin? Why is she so universally disliked? Well, it’s not that everyone dislikes her, but she clearly has significantly less support than any of the other Musumes. There have been far worse singers and dancers to grace Momusu’s ranks over the years, so it can’t be that. She’s not exactly gorgeous, but she’s far from ugly, so I don’t think it’s that either.
The easy explanation is that she’s Chinese, and racial prejudices are inhibiting her popularity. Unfortunately, she joined at the same time as a certain JunJun who has been much more successful in gaining fans despite being just as Chinese as LinLin, so that kind of debunks that theory. I’ve heard complaints that she comes off as “fake” or that she’s “trying too hard”, and I’d agree with that, but then again, haven’t we heard the same complaints about popular members such as Reina and Sayumi? Why does it bother us so much more when we see LinLin acting in a way we perceive as fake? I’d say that we just haven’t gotten used to her yet, but it’s been a year, and if anything, her popularity has only been decreasing in that time.
I think one of her main problems is that within an entire year’s time she has yet to develop a real idol personality. I feel like I’ve gotten to know JunJun and Aika, to a certain extent, since they’ve joined, but LinLin is still kind of a big question mark. I still don’t really know what to expect from her, aside from lots of enthusiastic nodding, and that bothers me. It seems like she hasn’t been making herself vulnerable to the camera at all, and whoever her “real self” is, it’s hidden behind a lot more layers of protection than your average idol. I think she’s so worried about doing this idol thing right that she’s just being too careful not to mess it up. She’s acting how she thinks an idol should act: cute, very enthusiastic, constantly smiling, and energetic, but the viewers can sense that there’s something too forced about the whole thing, and its off-putting. She’s trying sooo hard that it’s exhausting to watch her.
Another subtle contributing factor is the way she interacts with the other girls. Watch Momusu interact for a little while, and it becomes clear that none of the other girls are really that fond of LinLin. Sure, they’ll pose with her for pictures and whatnot, but you can sense their wariness around her. If you look a bit beyond the surface, at the averted eyes, the forced smiles, and the subtle body language, you’ll see that the apparent friendship is just an act for the camera. While JunJun seems to be fitting in beautifully with the others, especially Eri and Risa, LinLin just isn’t. Everyone seems to regard JunJun with affection, but LinLin with veiled annoyance. I’m not saying that they hate her or anything, but I get the impression that they still don’t really consider her to be one of them. Such subtle cues from the rest of the Musume are bound to rub off on the audience as well.
I really hope that LinLin can work things out, because I can only imagine how hard all of this must be on her. She is a strong and determined young woman to leave her home country, deal with all the criticism she has faced, learn a new language as well as a myriad of songs and dances, and try to navigate the social minefield that is a group of teenage/early 20s girls. My personal favorite, Gaki-san, was once the least popular member of the group, so I do think there’s still hope for LinLin, and I’ll try to continue to support her.
I know full well that everyone and their dog is going to be rushing to comment on the new High King PV, but what the hell, I guess if you’re bored with hearing about it you don’t hate to read this. First, let’s look at the PV if you haven’t seen it yet.
I’ll say right up front that I like this a lot, but it inspires many unanswered questions.
-How did this unit get the best H!P PV of the year so far? Leaders/captain pulling strings perhaps?
-How did Reina end up being the focus of a PV with both Ai-chan and Maimi in it?
-Could Maeda Yuuka be any cuter?
-I’m not the only one getting very strong “7 Air” vibes from the set-up of this song, am I? Ai-chan, Reina, and Yuuka are the “sexy” part and Maimi and Saki are the “cool” part, right?
-Speaking of that, why is Yuuka dressed like Saki and Maimi? The only time they split into two groups, she’s singing the “nana” part with Ai-chan and Reina, not the rap part.
-Does this group qualify as a full fledged shuffle unit? It draws members from 4 different h!p factions, but on the other hand, there’s only one of them rather than the traditional three. Could they possibly be testing the market for the return of the shuffle units?
-Will this song be integrated into the Cinderella musical in any way? As an encore perhaps?
I really enjoyed watching the solo angle DVDs (though I wouldn’t recommend watching them all in a row), because you can see a lot of things that the original video editors didn’t choose to show you, and you can see more of what the girls are doing when they’re not singing. Here are a few things I noticed upon closer scrutiny of the individual girls.
-Mittsi makes some really strange faces sometimes.
-Sayumi lipsyncs along with almost every single line in every single song. I’m not sure she even realizes she’s doing it. It’s really cute. She’s pretty funny to watch on “Ikimasshoi” because they’re all wearing headmics and lipsyncing there, so the lines Sayumi “sings” and the lines where she doesn’t look exactly the same. Someone who wasn’t familiar with Sayumi’s voice probably wouldn’t be able to tell when she’s “singing” and when someone else is.
-Risa wins for being the thrashiest during Shabondama. She’s seriously awesome. Eri gets second.
-Not so much a discovery as a lack of one. Does anyone know what they are spelling with their fingers during “Please Jiyuu no Tobira?” It’s kind of driving me crazy.
-It is a rare occasion when Koharu’s manic grin disappears, and it never lasts long enough
-It’s really easy to tell who’s been doing this forever (5th/6th gen) and who’s still a little awkward at it (7th/8th)
-Mittsi was trying so hard not to smile during Shabondama, but she just couldn’t keep a straight face for most of it. Cute!
-Reina’s solo angle is the best out of the bunch. She’s changes her facial expression the most, interacts with the other girls the most, and just generally adds the most little entertaining elements to her performance, even when the main camera isn’t on her.
-It’s interesting to note how little each individual member sings. Even Ai-chan rarely sings for more than half of a song.
-Risa’s body rolling during the Kanashimi Twilight intro is HOT
-Watching solo angle DVDs gives me a massive headache. The girls never stop moving, so neither does the camera. Owww
My recent graduation has me feeling thankful to be a h!p fan. There just aren’t many American songs that are suitable for musing on graduation. There’s that Vitamin C thing from forever ago, and I could always listen to the “doooooo dododo doo doo” graduation march over and over again, but thanks to h!p’s frequent graduations, I have lots of songs that are well suited to a graduation state of mind. Here’s my top 6. Mostly MM, but they have the most graduating going on, so that makes sense. They’re not all songs that have been used to for graduations, but there are some other songs that just seemed appropriate.
6. Hey! Mirai- MM- Future-focused songs are always good for graduation. This one is all about dreams for your future life. It’s fitting for the graduate who isn’t quite sure where they’re heading next and needs some encouragement. Lyric Sample: Hey! Kono machi wa. Watashitachi o sodatete. Hey! Kono saki wa. Watashitachi ga tsukuru mirai. Translation: Hey! This town is the place that raised us. Hey! Right before us is the future that we’re going to make. 5. Hyacinth- Ayaya- Pretty song right? It expresses appreciation for the people who supported you, now that it’s time for you to set out on your own. Appreciation for the people who helped you get there is an important thing to remember at graduation-time. Lyric Sample: Arigatou. Watashi ga itsuka watarashi rashii kaze ni naru. Arigatou anata ga kureta subete ni arigatou. Translation: Thank you. One day I will become my own wind. Thank you for everything you gave me.
4. I Wish- MM- It’s the graduation song, right? This song is so very hopeful. The message, “there are both good times and bad in life, but overall, life is wonderful!” is just what a new graduate needs to hear. Lyric Sample: Hare no hi ga aru kara. Sono uchi ame mo furu. Subete itsuka nattoku dekiru sa! Jinsei tte subarashii. Translation: Because there are sunny days, there are rainy days too. Someday, you’ll understand it all. Life is wonderful.
3. Never Forget- MM- This is one of MM’s songs that’s tailor-made for graduation. The lyrics are about reminiscing about the past with friends while you reluctantly say goodbye. I know I’ll never forget my time in college and the people I met there. Lyric Sample: Wasurenai wa anata no koto. Zutto soba ni itai kedo nee shikata nai yo ne. aa nakidashisou. Translation: I’ll never forget you. I want to stay by your side always, but I guess there’s nothing I can do. Aa, it seems that I’m starting to cry.
2. ByeBye Matta ne- Berryz- Sometimes you want to feel optimistic and excited about where you’re going. Sometimes you want to cry your heart out over leaving where you have been. This is the song for that second occasion. Saying goodbye to my best friends, quite possibly never to see them again, is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The lyrics and the tone of this song express that feeling perfectly. Lyric Sample: Bye Bye kyou to iu suteki na jikan. Bye Bye watashi na zeitaku na anata to no jikan. Translation: Bye bye. Today was really a wonderful time. Bye bye. The time I spent with you was precious.
1. Aruiteru-MM, Maybe a surprising choice for number 1? I swear though, this one is just waiting to be someone’s graduation song. Maybe Sayumi’s. She seems rather attached to it. I like the image of “walking forward into the unknown future”. There’s the feeling that we’ve got to keep walking, keep progressing. It’s encouraging, especially since the song reminds us that we’re not alone. Lyric Sample: Aruiteru. Sono saki no sora he. Mada minu mirai he. Translation: Walking. Towards that sky ahead. Towards the future we cannot yet see.
Another cross-over post. You have been warned. There’s more h!p so it goes here.
I’ve got to admit, I’m kind of brutal with music. When I get a new album or single or whatever, the first thing I do is listen to all of the songs once or twice through and sort them into two categories. Either they go into the NEW section of the “My Music” folder or to the “Other” folder, which is a dumping ground for things I’m not sure I want to get rid of, but I’m not sure I want to keep either. The “My Music” songs in the new folder get listened to regularly until I’m no longer being obsessive about them at which point they are moved to the appropriate permanent folder, sorted by group, where they will still be listened to, but not as often. Songs that go to the “Other” folder are largely forgotten about until something prompts me to dig them up again. When I say I’m brutal about my sorting, I mean it. It’s not uncommon for entire albums to end up in the “other” folder, and even with my favorite groups, it’s rare that more than 3 or so songs on an album make the cut.
That’s not to say that I never change my mind. I will occasionally go back and give albums or songs another chance, just in case, and I usually find some songs that didn’t impress me much on the first listen, but are great on the second. Also, watching a good live performance of a song is often all it takes to change my mind about it. So, out of my more recent diggings through my reject folder, here are some of my “New” discoveries.
Koi Uranai Toori ni wa Naranaiwa- Ongaku Gatas Album I’m ashamed to admit that I kind of blew off the entire 1st Goodsal album when it came out. Something about Gatas and their music style just doesn’t sit right with me. It might have been Mutou Mika, I dunno, but interestingly enough, she’s the one who inspired me to give this song another listen. I noticed that it is the only song on the entire album where she has any sort of solo line (for a grand total of 5 words), and I wanted to hear what her voice sounded like. Not surprisingly, she’s no Ayaya, but surprisingly, I found myself liking the song. Not the best singing (it’s all the eggs), but it’s got a nice melody.
Fight All Night, KT- I was resisting this song for a very long time for a very dumb reason; I think the title is stupid. There are several songs I have excluded from my files over the years because I’m embarrassed to listen to something with such a lame English title (MM’s ‘Nature is Good’ comes to mind). However, on reassessment, I’m forced to admit that the part in the beginning where they kind of computerize a few words of Jin and Kame’s voices is rather cool, and they don’t say “Fight all Night” that often, so I have begrudgingly promoted it to the My Music folder.
Dekiru Onna, MM (c/w to Ai Araba)- B-sides are always at a big disadvantage when it comes to making the list, especially when they are the coupling for a single that I really like. I love Ai Araba so much that almost any coupling track would pale in comparison. So, I brushed off Dekiru Onna as being too slow and kind of strange and forgot about it….until the Sexy8Beat concert. The girls were all sweaty and lethargic, and somehow it was the sexiest performance of a concert with the word “sexy” right in the title! The last line where Rika (Aika in the concert) gets cut off is awesome. This isn’t standard MM, but it’s certainly worth more than one listen. 45 second performance clip! Short for easy viewing.
Rock You- Arashi, TIME album What a deceptive title. There’s nothing “Rock” about this song at all. Without a doubt, it was the live performance from the TIME concert DVD that made me like it. Turns out that while I don’t care for the chorus much, I LOVE the verses. The song starts with the chorus, so I probably stopped paying atention at that point when I first heard it. I really hope that this is an Arashi album track that they’ll be bringing back sometime. Also, I like the little Ohmiya moment in this song. You can see better in the larger version, but I swear, Nino has a certain way of smiling that you only see around Oh-chan. Doesn’t he look downright proud? Anyway, this part of the song is really nice, isn’t it? 30 second clip!
Sayonara Hageshiki Koi, Berryz- It is a mystery to me why this song didn’t make it through the first time around. Did I accidentally skip it or something? I watched the “Welcome Berryz Kyuuden” concert and was like, “What is this song?? It rocks!” You know, it might even be my favorite Berryz album song now. I’ll have to think about that though…
I suppose the lesson here is that it might be worth your time to give songs a second chance. Something that didn’t really grab you at first may end up becoming one of your favorite songs!
I don’t know exactly what this is, but it sure is cute! Also, I love Disney so…
Interesting that LinLin got a singing line when Sayu, Aika, and JunJun just got spoken parts. Anyway, real update on the way soon. I’m busy watching all 9 solo angles of the BonKyu concert you see…
