Ito Yuna Can’t Vogue, Fukuhara Miho is a Hippie and CHEMISTRY Doesn’t Deserve a Mention
More Video Talk: Buono, capsule, GIRL NEXT DOOR (Where A Sane Person Exists!)
No Sleeves and HANGRY & ANGRY: When New isn’t New and when New is WTF

Recommended reading. broomhead continues to cover some recent videos in a style that can only be described as “painfully honest.” If the titles of the posts don’t give it away, you will be able to make no mistake about his opinion on these videos once you start reading the reviews. He keeps it simple when necessary (on CHEMISTRY):

This video is so boring.

… focuses on the minor details occasionally (Buono!):

To go all K on this, I counted 50 Rottaras. That is a lotta love.

… and sometimes manages to drop a line that will have you giggling at its honesty (HANGRY & ANGRY):

She bangs the guitar like a tambourine.

If you are keeping up with recent PVs, you should be reading these reviews. Some of it may just be telling you what you already know, but broomhead often manages to make observations that aren’t going to necessarily enter the mind of your average jpop fan, and that is why these posts are worth reading.

MiChi’s Chest, Hidemi Uematsu’s Chaos and Aira Mitsuki’s Face
HALCALI is not HALICALI and tommy heavenly6 needs to STOP

Recommended reading. broomhead has ventured back to his blog after a small break to address some recent PVs. I think the most attractive part of his writing in these two recent entries is how straightforward it is–there’s no beating around the bush about what he does and doesn’t like. There are too many snarky one-liners to quote, so I’ll just leave it up to you, the reader, to go take a look at these posts. I think I have to say something about broomhead’s confusion on a particular group’s name, though:

I’ve always thought HALCALI’s name was HALICALI. I was pretty disappointed when I finally noticed the error of my ways. HALICALI just has a better ring to it, whereas HALCALI is boring. I’m trying to not let this disappointment cloud my impeccable judgment, but it is very difficult.

Impeccable judgement! Hahah… oh, sorry, right. Actually, I thought the same thing about HALCALI’s name for the longest time–it weirded me out when I realized there was no “i” there. Maybe we were thinking of cali≠gari?

ikimono gakari - Little Psycho Girls Talking To Dolls

And I thought the PV for Ikimono gakari’s Planetarium was boring! In this post, broomhead sounds like a cynical old guy who doesn’t believe in fairytales anymore.

Or maybe he’s just more sane than I am.

Watch out for stalkers, stars and drugs. This PV is the Hollywood life baby!

Kanna Arihara Picblog

Recommended ogling. As mentioned in the my previous post, broomhead has a new site. Anyone looking for a good dose of Kanna photos, you need not look any further! broomhead has posts from the end of June, but just completed his finishing touches it seems.

Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki Cannot Be Pink Lady
Not Much To Say About Kanna and A New TLS blog

It seems broomhead is not a fan of Takahashi and Niigaki as they portray Pink Lady. He has a clip of Ai and Risa, puts it up again a clip of the original Pink Lady (not the same song, though) and it seems that Ai and Risa just don’t compare. Though I don’t quite understand what the talk about “quality” is all about…

In a slightly older post, broomhead has some thoughts on Kanna’s non-scandal and has news of a new site…

True Life Seek Is An Utter Failure

Recommended reading. broomhead doesn’t seem to really think that True Life Seek is a failure–and I doubt that any of us do, either–but it is still healthy to take time out to think about the weaknesses of your blog (and your own habits as a blogger). He covers a few of his posts that suffered from small problems, and ends with another response-inspiring question: nobody’s perfect, so what are your own failures as a blogger?

I Almost Looked Like A Fool (True Life Seek)
Love the world #1 at Oricon charts! (Perfume City)
Perfume at No. 1 again (contemode LiveJournal community)

Our own Broomhead, ekuseru of Perfume City, and the contemode LiveJournal community put their two cents in on love the world hitting #1 on the Oricon Daily Charts.

Broomhead’s conclusions from the news make for an interesting read while ekuseru’s #1 mention includes the screencap from the Oricon website. One of the comments on the contemode community discussion makes note of the same single Broomhead thought would overtake Perfume and says there’s hope for Perfume to take weekly #1. I’d definitely like to see that happen.

A little aside: Tsume Tsume Tsume by MAXIMUM THE HORMONE and Berryz’s Monkey Dance are 2 and 3 respectively. Yay MTH.

C-ute Plugging Manoeri

Looks like C-ute are helping their fellow H!P member, Mano Erina, as she starts off her solo career. broomhead shares photos of the girls’ endorsing messages (at least I think that what they are… Well, they’re at least wearing ‘Erina’ shirts), and finds it unfair that Kanna’s new hairstyle is quite similar to that of Nocchi’s from Perfume. How can one resist such underhanded, but effective, tactics? XD

Sayaka Kitahara Photos

Recommended ogling. Our broomhead has a new theme at True Life Seek, and to test out a new gallery feature, he gives us a treat with some Sayaka eyecandy. I haven’t really paid much attention to Milky Way because… Well, because of Koharu, but Sayaka is quite cute. I may have to keep a closer eye on her (and refresh myself on how her voice sounds).

My Poor Kanna’s Hand

broomhead has some Kanna eyecandy to share, though he’s a little disturbed with how her hand ended up. And of course, there’s the customary broomhead snark to go with it. My day is now complete… XD

Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, AKA the greatest video in existance. (Renai Revolution 21)
Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance PV (★ Morning Musume Again ☆)
Monkies Like This (Shanimuni Paradise)
It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times (True Life Seek)
Yuke Yuke Monkey Fail…I mean, Dance - Berryz Koubou (ºAbsol-ute ºC-ute)
Going bananas for “Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance” (I couldn’t help myself…) (Kira Kira Bomb)

Recommended reading. Here’s the next set of ‘Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance’ responses. Like the first batch, feelings regarding the PV are very mixed.

Wendy at Renai Revolution 21 is loving the PV and relates the silliness of the PV to golden age Morning Musume. While I can understand where she’s coming from, I don’t quite agree with what she’s saying there, but that’s an argument for elsewhere.

yanki07 at Morning Musume Again is not a huge Berryz Koubou fan. Well, this is certainly an interesting release to take notice of them with… I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing. yanki07 likes the song, but the PV…. Not so much.

Tsukiki of Shanimuni Paradise has 2 PV reviews in this post. First up, she watched Kuroki Meisa’s ‘Like This’ PV and she wasn’t impressed. While she’s sexy and can dance, it seems the singing is subpar, which is a huge turn off for Tsukiki. Following it up, she reviews Berryz’s ‘Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance’, and it doesn’t fare much better. Tsukiki likes the line distribution in that everyone gets to sing, but feels there’s too much Risako overall. I feel horrible, and I don’t actually want this to happen, but Tsukiki really amused me with one line in her review:

God, Risako, please get into some really horrible scandal and leave H!P forever. PLEASE.

broomhead of True Like Seek has a detailed review of the PV and why it has disappointed him so greatly. The roles of Maasa and Chinami within Berryz is highly frustrating for him, and he is the first person I’ve seen who mentions how bad the monkey costume is to poor Yurina. I thought the same thing when I watched this PV.

These costumes are horrendous to Yurina. She sticks out wearing a monkey costume in a group of people wearing monkey costumes. Wow.

Amimi of ºAbsol-ute ºC-ute is another fan who is not getting into this PV. She’s more of C-ute fan (obviously), but even she’s complaining of the unfairness of the releases being given to Berryz. Her review is pretty thorough, and she does her best to try and find positives for each aspect of the release that she comments on.

To round up this set of reviews, Valentine at Kira Kira Bomb sandwiches the negative responses with a positive one. Here is one blogger who is absolutely LOVING the monkey suits… And the giant banana in the background.

[Review] In response… (Our Second Blossoming)
Music I’m Attached To (True Life Seek)
Let our melody play on… (J-Riff)

Three bloggers have posted entries in response to a post on unchained about music that is important to a listener for purely emotional reasons. Second Blossoming talks about Do As Infinity, the first Japanese group he listened to, and goes on to detail some other artists and songs that are meaningful to him before touching on his recent interest in Hello! Project. broomhead offers lots of clips, commenting on why each one is important to him (or is at least on the list) before ending with a jab at Morning Musume and High-King. Finally, J-Riff explains how their own journey into jpop began, starting with popular artist Hamasaki Ayumi.

These are all great, well-thought-out responses, and it’s interesting to read what songs others associate with good (or bad) times. It’s also great to learn how people actually began listening to jpop, and how fondly everyone seems to think of that first artist or first song. Maybe these entries will inspire a little nostalgia of your own!

TLS JUNE Madness: This Finally Ends

Recommended reading. Our broomhead FINALLY completes the TLS [insert month here] Madness series with an exciting finale!

The suspense must have been killing all of you.
Or no one cared anymore about it. And with just cause.

I was part of the first group. LOL XD I really enjoyed this series by broomhead, even though he knocked Miya out in the early goings…

I Want to Run Around Naked on a Deserted Island

Recommended reading. broomhead shares some thoughts on the graduated Coconut, Ayaka, while sharing his favourite Surprise English Lesson. I never really thought about it in context with her phrase, as broomhead so kindly points out, “Mari’s phrase is even better with the big giant card covering her shirt.”

His thoughts on Ayaka are definitely interesting and raise a good question: “who was the real star of Ayaka’s English Lesson”? Was it Ayaka, or was it Morning Musume…?

Perfume in Porno Graffiti’s Itai Tachiichi

Recommended reading–and no, it’s not what you think! broomhead has an excellent writeup on Perfume’s appearance in rock group Porno Graffiti’s latest PV, “Itai Tachiichi,” and how the collaboration is likely meant to boost sales and popularity of both acts, as opposed to boosting Perfume’s sales alone (the girls are holding their own by now, it seems). The commentary on the video itself is easy to read, and plenty of screencaps are offered for those seeking sweet, sweet Perfume eyecandy. Mmm, Kashiyuka.

I’m So So So Hot Hot

Recommended ogling. It looks like a heat wave passed through broomhead’s nick of the woods, and in order to get his mind off the heat, he turns to the pools and beaches of H!P photobooks. It’s arguable that these pictures would cool someone down though… XD