Bikkuri Project

Since more and more bad costumes seem to keep piling up (and I swear, I’m trying to be lenient), The Costume Hall of Shame has left me with many questions. Mostly, they are along the lines of “Why??” and “Are they blind??” (the answers to which are “see the answer to question 2″ and “yes”), but I often find myself left with questions that are more difficult to answer than these two. Perhaps you will have more luck with them than I have.

What the hell is on Maki’s face?

What the hell is on Rika’s head? Is the costume a homage to the famous Princess Leia/gold bikini scene from Star Wars? Is Rika a fan of Star Wars or is she just hoping to appeal to Star Wars geeks in the audience?

Is Ayaya trying to appeal to Renaissance fair geeks in the audience, or is she actually on her way to slay a dragon?

If you have to take a second look to make sure a girl is wearing an actual costume underneath her boas, is she wearing too many boas? Is there such a thing as too many boas in the h!p world?

How about too many plaids? Is that why Yossie is so angry here?

Did Sayu just realize she forgot to pull her napkin out of her shirt-front after her lunch break? Does she think it’s okay to leave it that way because her napkin happened to match her bloomers? Why is she even wearing bloomers? Is that why Yossie is so angry?

Where will Maki’s crazy crochet-happy grandmother strike next!?!? (just try to tell me that this costume didn’t start out life as an afghan or table cloth made by an insane octogenarian)

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.