Anyone who follows the Oricon charts knows that Arashi’s latest single Troublemaker sold very well in its first week. But how did kind of reviews did it get from bloggers?
Anyone who knows MorningBerryz knows she’s a diehard Arashi fan, and her enthusiasm for the group is not dampened at all with this release. She loves everything about the single – from the PV (stating it to be one of Arashi’s best), to the b-sides. She loved it so much it got a double Maochan award, the first time in MB’s blog’s history. I think that’s her very subtle (ha!) way of showing her appreciation for the single.
On the other end of the spectrum, Karen of No Music No Life was less than pleased with Arashi’s latest venture. Giving the A-side and first B-side a listen, she was disappointed to find that both songs bored her as she found that Arashi was being too “safe” in their musical style. Luckily, upon listening to the second B-side, only available on the regular edition of the single, she found a saving grace to an otherwise lackluster release.
“Best of” year rankers of all sorts pop up at the end/start of every year. Hello! Project rankers show up on almost every H!P blog (I actually need to get working on my own rankings). However, Misa is calling out all Johnny’s fans to share the best of 2009 with a Johnny’s twist. She gives a list of categories to help get you started. Share your answers on your own blog or in the comments of her post. She’s got a lot of responses in the comments already, but I think I only saw 1 or 2 blog links… Maybe this should be a call for more Johnny’s fans to start up some blogs. ^_^
Looking at this list makes me want to squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee in delight too! Of course, the lack of some artists *coughMMcough* makes me a bit sad but overall, I’m just so happy! Arashi! Kanjani8! Ikimonogakari! And so many more artists are performing that it’s sure to be something amazing. Airing on Christmas Day, I’m sure this will a nice present for me to watch later after all the family activities have tired me out. :3
aramatheydidnt@livejournal links us to the performances that happened the other night on Best Artist 2009, one of Japan’s many year end shows that feature the best selling artists of the preceding year. As always, I’m impressed by the music that these artists continue to produce. My recommended performances are ayaka’s and both of Arashi’s. They made me very happy.
I remember Raid’s picks from last year and how ecstatic I was that Koharu took 1st place. I am remembering that correctly aren’t I? (Koharu, BAWWWWWWWWW ;_;) In this years edition Raid has separated the ranker into three parts. The first section is dedicated to his favorite artists Hirai Ken, AAA and Big Bang. There is a small commentary for each entry, and Raid highly suggests checking these songs out. So go for it! As a special bonus he has linked each song at the bottom for your sampling pleasure.
The second post features…everyone else. For the H!P faithful there is one entry here. Sadly it is the only one that made the list. But there are plenty of JE boys to check out. Actually it is a nice mix from some of the leading J-pop artists. And again, Raid blesses us with access to all the singles. I have been holding out posting this waiting for Raid’s Top 10. But he has kept me in suspense for too long. (Dammit Raid!) What I have always liked about Raid’s rankers is he takes a refreshingly objective look at each song. That and his unique brand of snark.
Now I will just continue to wait for his Top 10! (CK taps foot)
Celestia has completed her top 100 Hello! Project songs series. I am seriously in awe of her for being able to rank her top 100 songs. I have a hard enough time trying to rank my favourite singles by individual group. Though, I have to say that her #1 H!P song is in my top 3 H!P songs… Unfortunately, I’m not sure what the order of my top 3 songs is. XD
And with the completion of her Hello! Project project (har har), she’s begun the male equivalent countdown over at KAT-TUN 2 Me – Part 1 of her top 100 Johnny’s songs. If you’re like me and haven’t followed Johnny’s acts at all, this could be a good intro into the “better” songs of their empire (of course, all personal rankings are very subjective).
There is a new blog in town. Part metablog, part opinion site. But all hawt Johnny’s guys for tons of JE fun!!! (CK checks his masculinity at the door for a minute)
The site is run by Misa and Murr, and has been going strong for two months. I know Misa and Murr, which means I can assure you there will be plenty of NEWS and Kanjani 8 reports, as well as plenty of videos and eyecandy from the male idol world. The site also functions similarly to the way we do here at IW. So if you have a JE blog that J-EXCITE doesn’t know about, I’m sure they would love to hear from you.
So let’s give a warm welcome to the girls and their relatively new site. Judging by the demand for Arashi tickets these days, I am sure there are plenty of fans that would love a site like this. Personally I don’t know a Yamapi from a Massu but who knows? Reading this site perhaps I’ll be able to find the true “fangirl” in me!
Solarblade over at Kurayami Monogatari takes a shot at reviewing NEWS’ third album, Color. When I asked him to review this I wasn’t expecting him to, and I definitely was not expecting him to like it. There’s a few songs on the album that aren’t to his tastes, but his overall opinion on the album is positive, and that is amazing to me.
When this album came out I was still pretty new to NEWS, other than my obvious choice of a favorite I didn’t really know who to like, and why I should like them, and yet I still decided which tracks I liked on the album based on who my favorites were at that time. It really is a breath of fresh air to read a review by someone who doesn’t know the group at all; no bias towards songs based on who he likes the most, it was certainly interesting to see which tracks came up on top.
I was really, really glad to see that he liked Ordinary, which was probably the only track on the album I didn’t like because of the song, and not just the person singing it. However, I’ve really grown to like it recently and its now one of my highest played songs on itunes. I laughed that he doesn’t like Summer Time–It’s bubblegum pop as it comes and it just doesn’t suit guys at all, so it’s obvious that it wouldn’t be to everyones tastes.
Like I said, I’m really glad the overall opinion on this album is positive. Hopefully at least one more person checked out the album because of this review.
Looks like Yamapi’s got some new work for him. With the recent speculation of NEWS breaking up, I’m not surprised that Yamapi is being more promoted by the agency, but for him to have solo concerts?! And especially when he’s only released one single for the opening of a drama (even though it sold really well), what would he do at these concerts? I guess that one and the one he’s set to release soon, but I’m still confused as to why him and not someone else…
A review of GUILTY, V6’s latest single, amaiyume is liking the prettiness of the title track. Described as a mix of “smooth” and “catchy,” the song also brings along some interesting pop and rap styles to round things out. The B side also gave a nice ring to amaiyume’s ears, as she makes note of the great sounding vocals of this slower moving song. The two additional tracks made available with the regular edition however, didn’t really do much for amaiyume. The first is low energy with a distracting instrumental, while the second offers a different mix of sound but not much else; in the end they just aren’t memorable. Overall, amaiyume gives this release a pretty decent grade, but there was nothing about it that really stood out as one may have observed in previous releases.
There is a new blog in town. Part metablog, part opinion site. But all hawt Johnny’s guys for tons of JE fun!!! (CK checks his masculinity at the door for a minute)
