Yorosen! Week 8 - How C-ute
Yorosen! Week 7 Subbed

Okay, I know everyone watched the last two weeks of Yorosen! episodes what with the Sensei’s being the ultra popular Momo and Airi, right?  Momoko sure got the festivites off to a hot start in that silver dress…Yowza!!!

That said, M’s review of Momo’s week 7 fun has me right to YouTube to find the episodes.  It seems like she has been one of the funniest and cheekiest teachers the girls have had so far.  In Airi’s week, it doesn’t seem quite as spirited, but the girls of C-ute and Manoeri come up with great one-liners like “How do you say idiot in English” and my personal favorite “Oh no, bunker!”  Morningtime’s dislike of golf is also evident.  Anyhow, there are literally tons of screencaps.  It’s like watching the whole show!  For once, these episodes of Yorosen! are…recommended!

Berryz Koubou ~Berikore!~ on TV

Just a quick announcement that television network M-ON will be televising Berryz’ fall concert on December 14th at 7pm local time.  I don’t know the last time a Morning Musume or Hello! Project concert was broadcast, but this is the 2nd time in the last two years for Berryz (Saitama Super Arena show).

I just want to say that I find it interesting that with this news, C-ute’s Edo no Tomari Uta II being nominated for an award, and Morning Musume putting out a great tribute CD that they weren’t invited to this year’s Kouhaku event.  The three groups seem to be having a pretty good year.  Oh well.

Let’s Talk About Forever Love

Celestia plots out her post on C-ute’s Forever Love by seperating the positives and Negatives of the PV, which, after reading blogs for god knows how long is always a nice and simple way to navigate the writing. Celestia’s enjoying some of the aesthetical features in the PV but still finds the bigger picture a little static, and she’s a little dissapointed by the song’s chorus. There’s more thoughts to go through, and they’re all pretty valid and enjoyable to read.

Airi’s golfing family

Zush is a bit late on the whole Airi + golf relationship, but that doesn’t stop the man from declaring himself 95% worse off at golf than Airi. I’d say those are good odds, and no matter how badly Zush may suck at hitting a ball with a stick - I know it’s not that simple - I’m sure he’d like to go a few rounds. A post made in passing with a few pictures. Short but sweet.

Let there be lips!

superhappygenki, from SUPER HAPPY GENKI HYPERFORCE GO!, has made a return to blogging! Upon her return, she brings us an interesting review of some H!P smiles. The categories used are smiling, not smiling, and CHU!. superhappygenki comments on each girl’s smile, and who is good at what smile. I was very amused by this, and not at all surprised by who superhappygenki considers to have a good smile.

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW

I always show K-Sno’s post to my friend who is studying for his doctorate in Structural Engineering. He knows nothing about J-pop. We each find half of it hilarious. I don’t know what else to say. Recommended.

Yajima Maimi in B.L.T.U-17 scans and interview translation

I am so thankful to those bloggers who take the time to translate articles for the non-Japanese speaking fans.  Sazaki has posted a translation of Maimi’s recent B.L.T. interview, and we get a little bit of insight on the leader of C-ute, like her future aspirations and her feelings about her groupmates.

My favorite part of the interview is how she denies being a “natural airhead”, something the other C-ute members often accuse her of being.  But then she relates two stories, one about going to school on a holiday and the other about forgetting all of her luggage on a recent trip to Osaka!  Okaaaayyy.

Sazaki has also uploaded photos from the article, which we have seen here on IW before.  But then again, one can never have too much Maimi eyecandy!!!

Morning Musume Spring Tour
C-ute Spring Tour 2009

For anyone thinking about heading over to Japan next spring, Hello! Project has announced a preliminary schedule for Morning Musume and C-ute.  I can’t help but notice that the Momusu schedule is far more massive than C-ute’s.  Tricia wonders when they give the girls an opportunity to rest.  And I have to agree.  Their schedule is beginning to look like that of the Grateful Dead!  Given how popular C-ute has become lately, one might think that they would be the group with the huge tour.  Maybe it’s because of the age difference, I don’t know.

Berryz Kobo played Saitama Super Arena almost two years ago.  I wonder if/when C-ute will ever get the opportunity to do something like that?

Sekushii Island

Introducing Sekushii Island, Seiryuu’s new blog! Seiryuu is a H!P blogger being hosted by our very own pengie of unchained. She’s only been blogging for about a week, but she already has a variety of posts up ranging from a review of FOREVER LOVE to a post about C-ute’s latest concert. Seiryuu is a fan of Airi, which makes me extremely excited to see her blog. Along with her excellent posts about C-ute, she also brings us a couple of eyecandy posts relating to Captain’s birthday, Reina’s birthday, and Kamei Eri’s thighs. This huge variety of posts makes Sekushii Island indeed a sexy new blog!

GOOD MORNING! - FROM KANNA, MAI, AND CHISA!  (fields of maize and berryz)
C-ute English  (Bikkuri Project)

This has been in my post queue for so long, and I’m sorry it has been because it’s just so damn cute!

Maize and Celestia have posted an MC segment from C-ute’s latest tour DVD that includes the abovementioned members doing an entire segment in English.  Well… they are attempting to do it in English,but the result is so much cuter than if it was grammatically correct!

The consensus is these segments are great!  For Maize it brings back memories of Ayaka’s Surprise English Lessons.  As for Celestia, she notices the superiority of C-ute’s stage costumes over the ones given to the less fortunate Berryz members.  And she gives us a little preview of what to look forward to on the DVD.

But the star is the segment itself.  Check it out, it is too funny!

Delicious Maimi pic spam

Recommended ogling. Shirow of Wotaku Now! and I Love My Maimi has decided to spam us all with some impressively hot pictures of Maimi. Much to our enjoyment, he did not hold back on how many pictures he decided to post. Whats even better is that not a single one of them is lacking in hotness. So, what are the bets that our Cydol is going to get any hotter? I certainly hope so, but I don’t think its possible.

“避暑地でデートいたしまshow”…H!P 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts. (MorningBerryz’s blog)
[Review] Hello! Project 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~Hishochi de Date Itashima SHOW~ (Renai Revolution 21)
2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts concert ~ My Review (mayuge Madness)

Recommended Reading. The 2008 Wonderful Heart Summer Concert has been out for a few weeks and we have a few bloggers sharing their thoughts on the performances put on by the future of Hello! Project.

MorningBerryz starts it off by going over the performances he thought were most memorable. Obviously everyone will have their own thoughts on the best or most memorable songs within a concert, and it’s interesting to see MB’s choices. Screen caps and video are interspersed as is usually the case in MB’s posts to help bring the oberservations home.

Up next, we have Wendy of Renai Revolution 21 giving a song by song rundown of the concert with a little commentary on each performance, as well as a grade out of 10. I really have to comment on one thing in this review for Wendy says, “It’s amazing to watch Namida no Iro performed in Edo outfits.” I don’t know about everyone else, but I find myself thoroughly amused watching Maimi perform Namida no Iro in that bulky outfit of hers… It looks like an highly approved concert until we get to the second half. Buono!, and the “generic” performances got some harsh reviews.

Finally, we have Liamers of Mayuge Madness chiming in with his thoughts. I have to say, if he was this excited over Risa’s performance of Manatsu no Kousen, it makes me wonder if he’s seen Risa’s version of the song in Morning Musume’s Spring concert. I’m a huge Risa fan, and I’ll take Risa’s solo version over this lip synced version anyday! And I must say, the die hard Matsuura fan in me dies a little every time I see something like “But ya they sang a song I had never heard of before “Hajimete Kuchibiru wo Kasaneta Yoru” and it was really nice.”. XD

The amazing wonderful hearts summer preview!

Midori has a preview of the H!P 2008 Wonderful Hearts Concert! They’re performing Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou, and that’s quite a mouthful to say! I loved this performance, and Junjun and Linlin performed their solo lines amazingly. Midori brings us her usual review of the performance and finds nothing wrong with the song except for the ridiculous outfits. I personally liked C-ute’s outfits, but I agree with Midori when she says that Berryz Koubou had ridiculous outfits.

WOAH. CHISATO. (Picspam)

Wendy of Renai Revolution 21 stumbled across some particularily hot pictures of Chisato and decided to share them with us. These pictures are pretty recent, and I think every Chisa fan will love them! The little cutie is finally growing out her hair. She’s always had a cute face, but her short hair made her look like the spy from Johnny’s, so maybe having longer hair will make it easier for fans to take her more seriously as an idol. Looking fine, Chisato!

My Latest Wonderful Hearts ratings: °C-ute
My Latest Wonderful Hearts ratings: Berryz Koubou
My Latest Wonderful Hearts ratings: Morning Musume.

Wendy of Renai Revolution 21 shows us a more updated list of her rankings among the Wonderful Hearts troupe of H!P. I think the most shocking development for everyone would be the placement of Linlin; with all the “jokes” she helped start, its suprising how high on the list Linlin actually is. I however find the rank of Sayumi most surprising; I can’t find anything to hate about dear Sayu, and plenty to like. To me, she is a crucial part of the group’s character. I guess this is one thing that Wendy and I disagree upon!

Berryz Kyuuden

Recommended reading. Berryz Kyuuden is a new Hello! Project blog by Dran which focuses mainly on the Hello! Project Kids groups Berryz Koubou and C-ute. However, he also looks at other H!P groups and artists such as Morning Musume, and even has his thoughts on the latest unit announced Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika’s Hangry & Angry. He has them down as the new H!P group, but I’ve read in other blog posts that the group itself isn’t part of Hello! Project, and this group is under the indie label GOTHUALL. Though, with your front-liners being half of Morning Musume’s 4th gen, they’re obviously going to be lumped in with Hello! Project no matter what you do.

Anyway, back to the blog… It covers all sorts of media, from singles to PVs to magazine articles to stage plays. The blog has been around since the end of August, so there’s lots to browse through. I’m looking forward to seeing how this blog progresses.

Still shopping for a 2009 H!P calendar for next year?…this may help.

It looks like CDJapan loves MorningBerryz, seeing as the Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou and C-ute calendars which were scheduled for release in Japan on October 11 arrived in HAWAII for MB to enjoy on that same release date. AND, MB was kind enough to share in his good fortune and took pictures immediately to help out those who may still be trying to decide on which H!P calendar to buy.

MB has pictures of each page of each calendar, and I have to say after seeing these three calendars, I went and ordered Berryz Koubou’s release for myself. MB has links to CDJapan and yesasia for anyone interested, and while CDJapan has cheaper calendar prices, the cost of shipping easily matches the prices offered at yesasia (for shipping to Canada at least…). Yesasia, on the other hand, has free shipping on orders over a certain amount depending on where you’re shipping to. Definitely something to keep in mind.

In praise of Suzuki Airi and the person she shouldn’t love

pengie of hajimete no ROCK CONCERT is smitten with Airi’s performance of Suki ni Naccha Ikenai Hito! Some of you might not know this, but I actually love Airi quite a bit, so hearing pengie talk about how much she likes Airi is great! Anyways, pengie embeds the performance for those of you who haven’t seen it. She also calls Airi “as cute as a button”, and I AGREE!

C-ute DVD Magazine Vol. 7

C-ute’s new DVD mag has been uploaded to YouTube.  Hello! C-ute has links to all six segments, and the front and back cover.  The front cover is that same “Amish Country” photoshot from the 2009 calendar.  And the DVD seems to be mostly karaoke and little games.

But what is up with that tiny barrel-shaped room the spend most of their time in?  It seemed like an odd place to film a DVD magazine.  That being said, the girls all look really cute in those Kimonos.

Chisato Okai: Holy Crap, She’s Even Better At Singing Than I Thought!!!

Celestia thinks that Chisato has what it takes to be a solo artist in H!P. The video on show - a singing segment from the FC DVD - aims to prove Celestia’s point. To me at least, it just sounds like average karaoke. I suppose by H!P/Idol standards you can get away with that. Anyway, I’m not as enthusiastic about this whole thing as Celestia is, but hey, you lot might be and I guess that’s the important thing.

Blast From the Past! ~Berryz & C-ute

If you’ve been aching for the return of Uta Doki, H!P fans, wait no more! This may not be a permanent thing by any means, but a few recent episodes of Berikyuu! have featured Uta Doki segments, meaning the Berryz Koubou and C-ute girls have been given the chance to pay tribute to some classic Japanese music from multiple genres. (The Jitterin’ Jinn “Natsumatsuri” cover has already been mentioned by CK here.) Mars has some great commentary going between each video, but I the highlight of this post is the “Roppongi Shinjuu” cover at the very end. Weird song for Berryz Koubou to be singing, but man, Momo looks fierce here.

Traditional Airi

A cute little entry here which poses the question regarding the definition of the style of traditional wardrobe worn by C-ute fan favorite Airiin. Natsu matsuri always features the far more “casual” and informal summer style kimono which typically displays a much simpler pattern than the traditional kimono…and we have one particular geisha doll in our home which is dressed in the full attire and not only are the layers complex but surely something like this cannot be worn in the summertime ever! You’d probably loose 5 pounds by means of sweating just walking from your zen rock garden to your bedroom! While I’m definitely no expert on the classifications of traditional kimono I’d have to say these are yukata due to their much simpler nature but do give them a look here and not just for the brief Airiin eyecandy but also for clarification as I too am curious if this is correct. I totally adore Airiin and her striking resemblance to a classmate of mine back in High School only adds to the fascination…was she Airiin’s long lost cousin? Actually growing up in Hawaii so many of your classmates could’ve resembled someone worthy of H!P entrance….hmmm I’d scan in a photo of my Airiin look-a-alike classmate here but I feel that would be intruding and possibly unwelcome by her had she by chance stumbled upon it and thought…”Eh?!! what the @##$!! Pardon my French….(why do people say that? Did they invent the word?)

The final photo at the bottom is noted for it’s oddness and what it really looks like to me……..let’s see go back many years and reminisce about elementary school and placing those little sheer strips of colored paper upon an art piece via the delight of a glue and starch combination…paper mache magic! ^-^ Seriously though…who made that outfit?!!! O__o Kowaii!

H!P/TNX single reviews Jul 2008
H!P/TNX single reviews Aug 2008

Henkka has this obsession with long posts. He says this himself in the beginning to “H!P/TNX single reviews Jul 2008.” There is no problem with this obsession if he is talking about that which he enjoys. But what about when he is discussing music that doesn’t have strong appeal? How can he write a lot about that? Well, Henkka solves the problem by reviewing a bunch of releases in a single post.

As a tangent, and this has nothing to do with these entries by Henkka, the length of a blog entry means little to me. It’s possible to write an entry with a lot of words that says nothing at all and it’s possible to write a short entry that says a whole hell of a lot.

Anyways, back to Henkka, he reviews the July releases of Berryz Koubou (Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance), Canaria Club (Hitomi ga Kirakirara), Kusumi Koharu (Papancake), °C-ute - (Edo no Temari Uta II) and Aladdin (Hi wa, Mata Noboru). Ok, sorry to bring up this “short and sweet” argument, but the review for Papancake is less than 50 words and says everything you need to understand how Henkka feels. In fact, had he expanded on it, it may have lost its impact. He also talks about how he hopes Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance will keep him alive through the Finnish winter and recommends the Canaria Club single, and TNX in general, to anyone who is bored of Hello! Project as of late.

In August, he reviews THE Possible’s Ijiwaru Crazy Love and Buono!’s Gachinko de Ikou!. A lot less material then there was for July. Henkka really enjoys the Ijiwaru Craz Love and considers it a massive upgrade over previous releases from THE Possible. As for Buono!, he points out that there is a formula that most Buono! songs follow and Gachinko de Ikou! doesn’t stray too far from the model. I get the feeling from Henkka that he values diversity in a discography.

No, REALLY.

I feel that the general consensus of the C-ute 2009 calendar cover was that it was absolutely ridiculous. Chiakii doesn’t really refute this, but still enjoys the cover. She likes the idea behind the cover even if it didn’t play out too well. And I agree with her that Arihara Kanna and, yes, even Nakajima Saki look good in those, as Chikaii puts it, “crazy clog-wearing-milkmaid-esque outfits.”

[Review] Because the term “eyecandy” would be debatable

Recommended.  I think Vee has decided that everyone has been a little too nice about the Hello! Project calendar covers.  So she gives them a good going-over, and nobody comes out of it unscathed.  Vee seemed to have the most “fun” with Morning Musume and C-ute’s calendars, noting the strategic positioning of legs and some funny criticisms of LinLin and Aika.

I don’t know who can look at C-ute’s version and not laugh at that Amish Country motif.  Vee finds it remarkable that Maimi can still look hot in such a silly photoshoot.  In fact, she has prescribed to the “so bad it’s good” theory awarding this and Ayaya’s cover the win.

Ya know, I never thought of it that way until Vee mentioned it.  Now the C-ute calendar is my favorite too!

Kohachan And C-ute Shirts

Paul shows off his latest H!P shirts - a C-ute and Koha one - and to find out more about these specific items check out the post. Thank’s again to Ohta for bringing the west a little closer to H!P merchandise, and also for taking all our money XD. So, it looks like I will have to keep my promise to Paul and get myself a Pink Koha shirt of my own. Although his one’s pretty much what I’d be looking for. I love the baseball design, and I remember wanting a similar styled Mikitty one a year or two back.

Cutie Party

Quite by accident, I stumbled across this blog and was quite surprised to see the title “Cutie Party”. I was fuming until I realized what a solid blog this was. A blog dedicated completely to C-ute can only be good! This blog seems to be focused on news, but I love the little bits of opinion that are thrown into the mix. This blog seems very promising, so please update your RSS!

Morning Musume in Hawaii Fan Club Tour merchandise…

MB finally posts up his purchased items from the latest H!P Hawaii Fan Club Tour, and to say there’s a lot of merchandise would be a gross understatement. There’s a store of eye candy for you to filter through, and JunJun and Sayu look absolutely stunning. Is it me, or do they look close to being sisters with every new photoset? Anyone sense a new unit? Granted, the vocal output would be terrible, but on aesthetics alone it would be a f****** hot time. Anyway, I have to wonder where MB gets all his money to purchase all these lovely UFA photos. Damn him!

A question to the readers of Wotaku now!

It looks like C-ute’s latest single has another version for the PV. Shirow has watched it and is left with a very interesting and valid question…

is the dancer in the video male or female?

He’s set up a poll at the end of the post. Help Shirow out and give him your feedback! Also, like Shirow, I find this PV version creepy… There’s just something about this dancer all by its lonesome with the facepaint and the lack of lyrics… Creepy.

Airi Suzuki #6

SB will be delighted - although I’m sure he’s already got this set - with these Airi Suzuki pictures, where she’s donning a cute little outfit, showing a lot of stomach and leg, and holding a long slithery tube spurting out liquids. Yes, I am ashamed of myself.

C-ute Calendar ‘09

Midori has many complaints regarding the supposed cover for C-ute’s 2009 calendar. It looks like Midori is holding out hope that this is a joke, and that a much better photo will be released at some point. She tears down each girl on the cover (even Maimi, simply due to her inability to fit in with the randomness that this photo embodies - I actually find it quite amusing that with the completely un-related outfits all the girls are wearing, Maimi is able to stand out with an especially random outfit).

Personally, I feel that if this actually is their calendar cover, this may be the karma coming around, because they’ve had some pretty awesome outfits in previous singles (please ignore ‘LALALA Shiawase no Uta’). Maybe the wardrobe department realized that they’ve been too kind to C-ute recently and felt the need to even things out a bit. XD

Random stuff and Nonsense

Morningtime has a fun, light hearted post covering all sorts of things relating to Hello! Project. It seems morningtime has had a lot of time on their hands, and you can see it with the opening question “which MM member is most likely to hit someone?” What really got me was that the question had multiple answers, depending on the situation. That set the stage for quite an amusing read.

I just have to comment on that one photo of Satoda Mai. Is it just me, or does she look really old there?

Super Happy Genki Hyperforce Go!

Recommended reading. The blog’s name may seem daunting, but Super Happy Genki Hyperforce Go! is a promising looking new H!P blog. This blog has been around for about a month, and superhappygenki already has quite a few interesting posts.

There is the obligatory introductory post which outlines superhappygenki’s likes and dislikes within Hello! Project’s groups. It looks like she’s not too into the soloists.

She has also written up 2 posts highlighting specific members of Hello! Project. Up first was Berryz Koubou’s Captain, Shimizu Saki and with superhappygenki’s enthusiasm for Captain, I think she and SecondBlossoming would get along quite nicely. She follows that up with some musings on Morning Musume’s leader, Takahashi Ai, which definitely give you something to think about.

However, this is not solely a H!P blog, for superhappygenki also has a post on doramas. She also notes that some anime/manga posts may pop up every now and then. This is definitely a blog I’ll keep my eye on.

Edo no Temari Uta II, Backup Dancers Version

Charmy links a very interesting - if a little bizarre - video of C-ute’s Edo no Temari Uta II PV, the backup dancer version, and it consists mostly of one freaky looking person doing a very laughable dance routine. So it appears that Tsunku’s still popping happy pills then.

AAA Purchases // AAA TOUR 2008 PICSPAM // 2009 Calendar!
THANK YOU: NEWS (and some C-ute) on Music Station

Raid treats himself to some AAA goodies consisting of the Music!!!/Zero singles, and also the AAA tour 2008 DVD and calendar. Expect a few sreen captures to go with the post, and also a lovely segment involving Nissy not just wanting Misako, but also Urata. The captions had me all giddy inside - being both an AAA fan and a Nissy one - and yes, Raid, I think somewhere down the line all fans consider the posibility that Nissy wants to go a few rounds with the guys. Lucky bastards!

An earlier entry sees Raid thanking everyone for his top spot at Jappanblogger.com, and he’s also garnered a fair few hits, too. I have to say I’m a little jealous. Our man in Singapore thoroughly deserves it though, so well done! He also treats us to a self-translated C-ute segment from a Music Station interview.

Hello! project 2009 calenders (Wotaku Now!)
2009 Calendar Covers (「☆☆☆」)
2009 H!P Calendars: WHICH ONE WILL CFB BUY!? (Obnoxious Wota)
2009 Calendars (Morningtime)

The time has come to choose your Calendar! The covers for the 2009 Morning Musumue, Berryz Koubou, C-ute, Matsuura Aya and Abe Natsumi calendars are up and ready to get you thinking about which calendar you want to buy for next year.

C-ute’s mish-mash of outfits leaves me intrigued to see what the heck will be within the calendar. Shirow of Wotaku Now! has some amusing commentary on that cover.

Bri at 「☆☆☆」 loves Momusu’s cover, is a little disgruntled at Berryz Koubou’s, and is not impressed with C-ute’s at all. She’s got a thumbs down for Nacchi and a thumbs up for Aya (go Aya!).

CatchFiveBats of Obnoxious Wota is torn between Berryz Koubou and Morning Musume’s calendars… He’s taking suggestions in his comments… I wonder if he needs a suggestion from me, or if my vote is predictable…

Morningtime just looks at Momusu’s and Nacchi’s covers… There is some amusing commentary on Morning’s, while Nacchi’s smile doesn’t seem to be up to snuff this time around.

Leave the kids ALONE!!! D:

We’ve heard that Berikyuu will soon be replaced with a new show which will feature the H!P Kids groups, Manoeri and Morning Musume. junkang is not happy about this, and uses UFA photos from the summer Wonderful Hearts concert to show how Morning Musume is infiltrating all things H!P Kids.. XD I must say, there is some nice eyecandy here…

I’m particularly amused by the Chisato, Koharu and Yurina shot… Those two make Chisa look so tiny. And once again, there is a reuniting of Aa! in a photo. They seem to like Airi, Miya and Reina together in concert photos… Have Miya and Airi gotten taller than Reina? XD

New Morning Musume, Berryz and C-ute tv show (Morningtime)

Yoroshiku Sensei [Yorosen!] New Hello! Project Show (Totally Hello! Project)

Morningtime and Totally H!P have the inside scoop on the new show to replace Berikyuu!  Apparently it will be called Yorosen! and will star the three H!P core groups and Mano Erina.  Everyone seems to be a bit cautious about their enthusiasm since we have no idea what this is going to look like.  But Morningtime sums up my feelings about show’s running time perfectly.

A weeknight timeslot has got to be better than Sunday mornings.  But 7 minutes per show?  And I never saw an episode of Berikyuu! that was more than 5 minutes long.  That is hardly enough time to put together something substantially entertaining.  I wish them luck, they’ll need it!

And if I see the King Baby, Nintendo Wii, or the girls talking into a vase I am changing the channel!

HATSUBAI CHU!

Mars has embedded the TV spots for Edo no Temari Uta II from C-ute’s new “Event V”.  This is just like the Event V for Resonant Blue, where each girl gets a solo spot and promotes the song.  I really like these limited edition DVD’s, but they are not very easy to get.  Anyhow, these TV spots are very cute!  Hatsubai chu!

~Wasuretakunai Natsu~ Tour Merchandise

Paul has the inventory of shirts, towels and DVD Mags from C-ute’s latest tour.  The shirts look pretty basic, except for the grey “group” shirt.  That one looks kinda cool.  But I’ve nver seen one of these towels before.  Are they beach towels?  Is the image really that clear?  So if anyone is interested in unloading a bunch of cash to Ohta and his EBay store, here’s a good opportunity.

Paul has a really nice H!P collection, and this is where he seems to get much of it.  Actually, I also use Ohta for hard to find stuff.  He is very professional.

A Game of Fiery Handball, Anyone? - Edo no Temari Uta II

Hotaru takes a look at °C-ute’s lastest single. Hotaru is left slightly confused at what style is being attempted, but this does not interfere with enjoying the single. Hotaru also looks at the PV and each individual member’s involvement. I mean it, Hotaru really covers each member, even down to Arihara Kanna’s shoes.

Gamer Ai + C-utie Drawings

Mars has the translation to an article with Morning Musume’s leader where she explains her love for video games. I remember there was an article a little while ago like this, where she talked about the kinds of games she likes to play. But I don’t remember if she said exactly which Final Fantasy games she liked best. I’d have to say that FFVIII was my favourite of the series due to the storyline, but FFX is up there for me too.

Up next, Mars has the girls of C-ute drawing their leader as well as a translation to their thoughts about their leader. I don’t know why, but I always get a kick reading about Maimi being an airhead. It’s just so cute!

Berryz Koubou & C-ute Battle Concert!
Niigaki Risa as Prince Charming

Tricia received the Berryz Koubou & °C-ute Battle Concert and quickly goes over it. Tricia notes that Sudou Maasa and Arihara Kanna get a lot of attention. Tricia also says that she likes Sugaya Risako but not as a lead, which a stance that could be expaneed upon I guess.

In another post, Tricia shares some photos of Niigaki Risa; there is one photo as regular ole Risa and a bunch of her as Prince Charming from the Cinderella musical.

Bringing the members of C-ute a little bit closer…

Recommended reading/ogling. MorningBerryz goes in depth to describe one of his recent purchases: an autographed Edo no Temari Uta II promotion poster. Having been a proud envier of MorningBerryz collection for quite some time now, I think this poster just throws the ball out of the park. I love this style of C-ute, and though the sales were pretty low considering Berryz Koubou’s and Buono!’s sales, I really do hope they continue in this direction.

Kanna & Maasa are Sizzleful, Summer Girls!

Mars has scans of Berryz Koubou’s Sudou Maasa and C-ute’s Arihara Kanna, both of whom have been featured in the B.L.T.U-17 magazine. Both girls are looking quite lovely. Mars expected it in regards to Kanna, but was pleasantly surprised with how Maasa’s photos turned out.

The Captain of Dance

After watching the Berryz Koubou & °C-ute Battle Concert, our own Second Blossoming writes about Shimizu Saki’s proficiency at dancing. While there are a considerable amount of Berryz Koubou fans who feel that Saki is talented at dancing, I think that explaining why could prove difficult. And on that note, SB does a good job of explaining himself here. He paints the picture of two different styles of dance - extravagant and over-the-top like Yajima Maimi or Nakajima Saki or the more subtle and refined like, as SB argues, Shimizu Saki. By doing so, SB goes beyond saying a basic “Saki is good at dancing” statement.

Of course, SB is his usual conflicted self during this piece. On the one hand, he stops himself from calling Saki “sexy.” Yet, at the end, he wonders what other situations in which Saki’s dancing skills would be beneficial.

Natsu matsuri - Remake

Some of the recent episodes of Berikyuu! seem to be revisiting the formula of Uta Doki Pop Classics.  Such was the case of episode #95.

Zush really enjoyed Mai, Chinami and the two Saki’s version of Natsu Matsuri, a song originally performed by a group called Jitterin’ Jin (Great Name!) and covered more recently by the all-girl rock group Whiteberry.  Zush provides links to a few different versions of the song as well.  I love the Whiteberry version!

Zush would love to hear Berryz and/or C-ute record a version of this.  Why not?  It’s a great song.

C-ute’s “Edo no temari uta II” blends Japan’s past and present.
Morning Musume “Love” calendar 2003…a look back. (continued)
HM@ 8/3/08- “The one where Kamei throws the book 1 million times & Mittsi’s snack knowledge tested.”
Berryz工房 tops C-ute by slim margin

Recommended reading/ogling. MorningBerryz got C-ute’s latest single a little while ago and shares all the wonderful extras as well as goes over a wonderful review of the single and the”b-side”, which he feels is good enough to be an a-side. He ends off the post with a nice rundown of why he likes each girl as he shows off the alternate jacket covers that come with the LE version.

Up next, MorningBerryz comes back with the next installment of his look back on Morning Musume calendars. Here he shares the 2003 edition. This year’s calendar was filled with white, and I’d have to say my favourite shot was the September/October photo with Yossy and Rika, 2 of my favourite Morning Musume girls.

Then MorningBerryz goes over the Aug 3 episode of Haromoni@, and it’s one of the episodes that I’ve actually watched. The GakiKamei segment is awesome in this episode… At least I thought so, as did MB. I guess it depends on how much frustration and repetition amuses you. Well, it amuses ME greatly, thus the non-stop love for Eri here.

And finally, MB posted the results to his Berryz Koubou vs. C-ute poll… Can you guess who won? I just have to say that I love the special appearance at the bottom of the post… So cute!

Angry Fans Make a 15 year-old Singer Cry (Road to the Deep East)

What to do with a girl like Kanna? (Wotaku Now!)

So once again we have another example of the wota and their complete and utter ridiculousness.  At a recent C-ute handshake event a bunch of “fans” chose to ignore Arihara Kanna and instead only shake hands with the other six members.  Apparently one fan in attendance said that he felt betrayed by Kanna’s recent “date” photos with a Johnny’s Jr. member. 

Santos goes into great detail on why he feels this is such a childish act.  Especially in light of the fact that many of these fans were much older than the girls in C-ute.  Shirow has embedded a video of one of the wota “in action”, also noting the sadness of this turn of events.

Have the wota completely lost their minds?  (That’s a rhetorical question)

H!P 2008 Summer Eyecandy [Warning: This may kill your internet]

DJ_MaiMai has a load of H!P eyecandy taken from this summer’s H!P Wonderful Hearts Concert. It seems the post is still currently under construction (meaning that more pics will be coming). I’m hoping that means as least one piece of Miyabi eyecandy will find its way into this post. Also, DJ_MaiMai inserted a little birthday message to Yurina.