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.

Hirano Aya to Work With Morning Musume Producer Tsunku (hashihime 橋姫)
Ogawa Mana to Release Debut Solo (Stardust)

First of all, hashihime 橋姫 is run by hashihime appears to be primarily an anime blog. However, many entries seem to be dedicated to Hirano Aya, and that is more than enough for me to put it on IW.

And what is the news from hashihime and Stardust? Tsunku, Hirano Aya and Ogawa Mana will be involved, in some fashion, with the OP/ED releases for the anime Hyakko. The reports conflict each other though. hashihime says that Hirano Aya will be singing the ED and Ogawa Mana will be singing the OP. Stardust’s entry has it the other way around, with Ogawa Mana doing the ED and Hirano Aya doing the OP. Either way, it looks like Tsunku will be producing both songs (and writing Ogawa Mana’s).

On Anime News Network’s page for Hyakko, it lists Ogawa Mana for the opening theme and Hirano Aya for the ending theme.

Semantics aside, this is good news for Tsunku, Ogawa Mana and TNX in general. While Buono and Kusumi Koharu - and to a lesser extent, Athena & Robikerottsu - have been releasing music attached to anime, Tsunku has not been directly involved in these releases; or if he has, it has been uncredited.

Ok, I am not fact-checking every single H!P/TNX-related release ever to see if they have been used as anime OP/ED themes. So just leave the generalization that Tsunku has not had much involvement with the anime OP/ED releases as is.

Either way, It would mean for a bigger profile for TNX if this is a direction it takes.

Then again, there was Sentimental Generation by Tokito Ami, which was written by Tsunku and used for School Rumble Nigakki, and Ami did not become a fixture in anime openings/endings after that release.

Canaria Club Live Document DVD

Recommended Reading and Ogling.  Mars has gotten a hold of the latest NICE GIRL Project concert DVD, which chronicles Canaria Club’s April shows at Sunphonix Hall in Yokohama.  Mars does a well-detailed track by track review, and has plenty of great screencaps to check out while you are perusing.

Overall Mars is really impressed with this presentation, which mixes backstage and concert footage.  And that enthusiasm for the material shines through in this write up.  Watching this DVD made Mars a bigger fan of Canaria Club.  And I must admit reading this review makes me want to see it too.  And it’s a great chance to get to know some of the girls in the unit.  Check it out!