Bikkuri Project

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 1^st 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.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

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!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

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!

Keep on Rockin’,

~Celestia~

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…

Mickey Mouse!

~Celestia~

Online Videos by Veoh.com
You’re welcome,

~Celestia~

I think I’m going to do more cross-posting, and by that I mean writing things that apply to both Hello Projects and Johnny’s. Such entries will be posted in one blog and linked in the other. It may well be that only the 4 or so people who read my blogs and are fans of both will enjoy these kinds of posts, but I’ve just been itching to make them, so here we go. This is posted in Bikkuri because three out of my five choices come from h!p

Here we have the top 5 idol performances that make me cry. There are only 5 of them because I don’t cry from watching things very easily. Feel sad, sure, but rarely do I actually cry. These five performances are the exception to that rule. Why do people enjoy watching things that make us cry? Maybe because it’s kind of cathartic? I know that any music or video that really makes me feel something, good or bad, is an instant winner with me. Anyway, if you are in a crying sort of mood, then this is the post for you!

5. Jin, Care, TV performance

For the first half of the song I’m fine, but after he pushes up his sunglasses and you can see his eyes, he just looks so sad, and desperate, and really really beautiful. I think I’m overly sensitive to Jin looking sad, with his eyes all glistenly like that. Don’t be sad JinJin!!!! His singing also becomes more and more emotional as he goes, from almost flat affect to seriously struggling to keep it together. I know this song (which he has named as his favorite song to sing because it’s his song) means a lot to him.

4. Morning Musume, Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru, 24 hour Terebi

If you’re not familiar with the story, that guy’s daughter (the one in the pictures in the background) died in a traffic accident, and Dekkai Uchuu was her favorite song. The contrast between the happy, hopeful song and the crying father with all the cute pictures really tugs at the old heartstrings, even though the sadness isn’t focused on Morning Musume themselves. I don’t know how they stayed so composed while singing this.

3. 5^th gen, Sukina Sempai, Konno’s Graduation Concert

I already posted this one as my #1 most sad Morning Musume moment a while ago, so I’m not going to write a whole lot about it, but what do you know, it’s still really sad. It’s 5^th gen and it’s their song, they’re singing it together for the last time, and we all know that 5^th gen is full of cry babies anyway.

2. ByeBye Mata ne, Berryz, Maiha’s Graduation

Reminds me of every friend I’ve ever parted ways with. The Berryz suddenly stop looking like idols to me and start looking like exactly what they are, really sad, crying little girls who are saying goodbye to someone that they love. I want to hug all of them, give them cookies, and tell them it’ll all be okay.

1. Nino, Konseki, Iza Now tour

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Now this is damn sad, not to mention some of the best singing I’ve ever heard from dear Nino. I love it, but I kind of hate it at the same time, because I can’t stand to see Nino looking so pained. The translation can be found in the description of the youtube clip I embedded here, and I’ve retyped it up below. I’d highly recommend reading it because knowing what the lyrics mean makes it at least ten times more tear inducing. Combine pathetically touching lyrics with Nino’s fabulous emoting/acting skills, and I’m practically sobbing. He wrote it himself, and you can see lots of tears in his eyes when the song ends. It’s an unusual thing because Nino is not one of the crybabies of Arashi *coughaibacough*. Isn’t this just beautiful?

Lingering, Lingering

After the early summer rain, the undried remains of tears

Unerasable, Unerasable

My beloved’s shadow floats in the dark night

Walking along the banks at sunset with you together

We lead each other along with our smiles

What shall we have for dinner today?

Such a small and humble happiness

Though you have died, you live within my heart

I could love someone else, but there is no one but you

No matter how many seasons I struggle through

I’m afraid of letting go, of letting it dissapear

I gaze at violets

What a pretty flower

But I know that someday they will wilt

It is evening

If I think of the crimson waters, there remains the two of us on the liquid’s surface

Shadows heap on top of each other

I’m afraid of being alone

Realizing too late that there is only one person on the liquid’s surface

The seed planted in my heart that day

Buds sprouted after

In appearance and form it is different

But my love is unchanged, the gentle light

Sniffle,

~Celestia~

Egg-watch here! I’m not going to write about the entire All H!P Winter concert (I’m too tired from doing the last review!) but I thought that this performance was worth our attention. It is the first time, to my knowledge, that h!p eggs have gotten solo lines in a song in a real h!p concert acting as h!p eggs (not as members of, say, Ongaku Gatas). With all the ‘Love Machine’ going around lately, the opening of this concert is quite unique in that respect. Also, the line thing they do at the beginning is so cool! The Eggs have definitely been sorted into a hierarchy of sorts in the last year or so. It’s pretty easy to tell who the favored eggs are by observing who gets which lines in this performance. Little Ogawa Saki leads the charge, Mori Saki does ‘the face’, ManoEri has the “disco” line, and then these three, along with Kitahara Sayaka sing the majority of the rest of the song. Sayaka is awesome, by the way, and if she doesn’t graduate from the eggs and into a permanent debuted position soon (I still say they should put her in Morning Musume) then I may have to personally hunt down Tsunku when I’m in Japan and hit him over the head with something. Just watch her sing ‘Akarui’. Awesome, no?

Other eggs who get lines (but not as many as those four) include Maeda Yuuka (2), Aoki Erina (1), and Saho Akari (1). I should note that Kikkawa Yuu wasn’t in this concert.

Personally, I’m really enjoying watching the eggs develop, especially now that I can recognize all of them. I enjoy cheering for these girls, because I know they’re all so close to being able to debut, but there’s always a good chance that they’ll never quite make it. They must want it so badly, don’t you think? Every time one of them manages to break out (Kanna or Erina for example) the rest of them must all start hoping and praying all the harder that they’ll be next. I’d say the smart money is on Yuu and Sayaka (since they’re already getting something with Milky Way and they both look and sound great in the PV) and perhaps Mori Saki too. There are a lot of notable very young eggs who have been getting a lot of attention (Maeda Yuuka, Fukada Kanon, and especially Ogawa Saki), and while I can almost guarantee you that h!p has plans for these girls, I wonder if those plans are to debut them together soon or to wait until they’re just a bit older first. I think it would be great to see them as unit aimed very specifically at little girls (no scary old men please) some time soon, but I worry that they would attract scary old men anyway, so maybe it’s better to let them stay relatively safe in their egg shells until they’re at least teenagers. On the other hand, both Ogawa and Maeda got solos in the last Egg concert, and if that’s not a sign that the management thinks they’re ready to hatch, I don’t know what is.

I’d like to note that Mittsi still got to keep the “Love Machine” ending line. I think the tradition of giving it the the youngest Musume is really cute, and that reminds me, this is sort of the one year anniversary of Mittsi’s debut concert! By that I mean, the all h!p winter concert last year was her first appearance. She’s become so much more confident since then, hasn’t she?

Go Eggs!

~Celestia~

With the h!p Eggs suddenly getting a whole lot of attention lately, perhaps it’s time to devote another post to them. H!P has released new pictures of them for their upcoming 3rd concert, and I must say, they’re quite nice. It’s further evidence that they’re investing more in their eggs that they bothered to get them dolled up in fashionable clothes and style their hair for pictures instead of just slapping them in matching T-shirts and pony-tails like usual.

In particular, new Milky Way member Sayaka Kitahara’s picture is striking.

I’m telling you, this girl is going places. I think Milky Way is sort of the last test of her abilities and appeal. If she passes, and I have no doubt that she will, then it’s only a matter of time before she graduates from the eggs and debuts with a real unit.

I also really like Maeda Yuuka’s picture, even though she looks like she’s about 6 years old. She’s like a sad little doll, and I just want to give her a hug.

Speaking of eggs, I recently realized that I only had seen part of the Newcomer’s concert, so I set out to remedy that. The concert bugs me a bit because I imagine that it must have been weird for the Eggs to perform with Aika, JunLin, and Kanna as equals when they know that when they next meet, those four will have the fans chanting their names while the eggs backdance for them. Even within this concert, it’s clear that the eggs are 2nd class citizens and the four debuted girls are the main attraction. It seems like that could be awkward on both sides, really. Still, it’s the best egg footage out there right now, so well worth watching. Here’s their performance of dadida dobidobidobidee or whatever that song is called. Is it just me, or does Aika seem loads better at singing in this clip than she does in MM performances? Weird. Perhaps being covered with tinsel inspired her. Kanna also seems to sing better than usual. Sayaka is one of the eggs who gets a lot of focus in this, so pay attention! She sings with Ogawa Saki right after Aika.

I just realized that I can recognize and name pretty much all of the eggs now. That’s dangerous. I didn’t want to get attached to them because I know that many of them will never debut for real, and that makes me sad. I guess I just couldn’t help it though. I do wish they’d give their other concerts DVD releases. I want to see more of what they can do.

I still don’t like Mucchi though.

Auf Wiedersehen,

~Celestia~

Let’s talk about the hello project performance on FNS Kayousai! What the hell, let’s call it the hello project clip of the week even.

Overall, I am impressed. The gang’s all here (minus cute), but I was happy to see Mari, Yuko, Kei, and some of the other elder club members who don’t seem to perform much these days. Oh, and with the possible exception of Aika’s, I really loved the costumes. They were oh so shiny and festive, like tinsel!

Now, it was a very good show, but if I could re-do the performance to my liking I would make a few changes. First, either lose Berryz or add C-ute and let them all sing. The h!p kids have really outgrown their “back-up dancers” roll, and since C-ute seems to be, at the very least, Berryz’s equal nowadays, it doesn’t make sense to have one without the other in this kind of performance. As for the set order, I would keep the Aya performance, then let the OG sing some Love Machine on their own, have MM’s current members sing some of one of their more recent songs on their own, and then keep the end the same with everyone doing Renai Revolution together. I think it would make a neater package that way, because so much of everyone performing together on that smallish stage takes away from the impact and starts to become overwhelming. Oh, and I wouldn’t have Koharu and Konkon (two of h!p’s worst singers) sing duet lines together in RR21. That was the weakest part of the whole performance. If you must showcase these two, at least pair them with someone who can sing.

Some more observations…

-JunJun’s hair looks nice like that

-The dance part of RR21 was rather impressive with all those girls doing it together

-Ayaya looked like she didn’t want to be there during the Renai Revolution performance. She wasn’t even smiling. Maybe she should have just done her song and then made a graceful exit

-Sayumi seems to have lost some of the chub she gained recently. Man that girl’s weight fluctuates a lot

-LinLin is a great dancer

-What exactly was everyone on stage doing when they were showing the clip of the old Love Machine performance?

-Risa’s hair is…poofy…very poofy

-Celebrating the 10^th anniversary with the classic songs is good and all, but I really hope MM does at least one of their more current songs on Kohaku