Happy Birthday to….
wanna hear the TRUTH?

Misa of Cutie Party reviewed two Johnny’s groups: NEWS and ARASHI. She’s got an interesting take on their recent singles, and I found myself laughing to myself throughout these posts. As for NEWS’ Happy Birthday, Misa has a positive review, and she gushes over Massu in her very amusing screencaps for the PV. On the other hand, Misa has a negative review of truth, ARASHI’s latest single. Even though I adored truth, Misa doesn’t like it. However, even though Misa made fun of Matsumoto Jun (BLASPHEMY!), I found her MatsuJun-bashing great and refreshing after hearing so much about his hotness from others. All in all, Misa’s definitely got different way of thinking about Johnny’s boys, and I would totally recommend reading these posts.

AAA 3rd Anniversary Live Outfits // Urata!!! // Other weird outfits
How much does Raid disagree with Japan?
SQS #006

Raid’s latest post features plenty of cotume photos from AAA’s 3rd Anniversary Live DVD, and Raid unleashes some praise for the choices, and a little bit of that snark too. Shuta and Nissy look tasty-tastic in those tie printed t-shirts, and as Raid himself points out, Chiaki looks terrifying throughout. Oh, and I couldn’t agree more on the assessment of the before and after analysis on Hidaka’s haircut. He really did look like a pot smoking hippie didn’t he?

An earlier entry sees Raid pitting his opinions against general Japan - as he nicely puts it - coming out with various dialogues on the current top charting singles. Much of the analysis on the singles are done really well, I must admit, because without getting slowed down by the detail of each song, Raid manages to pursue the heart of his opinions with confident prose. I only wish I had it in me to review quite like this, because the writing appears easy. I can tell you, it is not. This one’s an enjoyable read.

And last but not least we have Raid’s 6th SQS segment, this time featuring a recent Arashi photoshoot. Matsujun’s still got it - that tarted up geek look. Keep on living the dream Matsu.

And More Importantly…
One Year!
Damn That’s Hot.
Otsuka Ai - Kurage, Nagareboshi

Tsukiki mentions her blog turning one years old, and she spends a short time reflecting. Congratulations Tsukiki!

An earlier entry follows the same sort of route, saying happy birthday to Hey! Say! JUMP!! who’ve also turned one. A group photo is shared, and I’m happy to say I dont like the look of any of them.

Tsukiki then goes onto post about Koda Kumi’s TABOO PV, talking about the hotness of it all, and there’s mention of avoiding rape. Huh? Jesus Christ. The video link doesn’t seem to work, but you can get the gist of it through Tsukiki’s dialogue.

And to finish things off there’s a review of Ai Otsuka’s latest release Kurage, Nagareboshi, and Tsukiki’s loving it, comparing the first track to that little old number Planetarium. She finds that the last track has a bittersweet melody, and enjoys the song the most, conlcuding that this is one of Ai’s best records yet.

My Ten favorite J-media males and females for 2008 (Males)
SQS #005
Old Ohmiya clip

Raid’s latest entry has his top ten rankings of J-media males - gasping at Ken Hirai’s position - and the reasons behind the positionings are always interesting to read. I see some fandoms never change though, eh raid ;). A nice and easy to navigate, pleasing on the eye layout from Raid - as is typical of him nowadays - which helps the read along.

An earlier entry sees SQS segment number 5, and this time we’re given Arashi’s Ohno Satoshi and a little bit of Ikuta Toma. Screen captures are taken from the MAOU drama, and Raid’s impressed by Ohno’s acting.

If you needed further proof of how much Arashi ‘love each other’, then check out this post from Raid, snipped from his old blog with screen captures of a tv segment involving the JE giants. The screen captures are both homosexual, sweet, and strangely endearing, and then a little more homosexual. Good times.

Mister Hey! Say! 2008

Raid ranks the members of Hey! Say! Jump with a neat little chart riddled with photos for different categories, and this one will please many of the female readers out there, what with topless shots and all.

Arashi - One Love

Oroitsme does a track-by-track review of Arashi’s One Love, and the analysis of the A-side is spot on, that the melody grates easily, but the chorus is a superb slice of pop. The other tracks get a fair rating which suprises me, because I thought the FINAL Remix feat. WISH, Love so sweet & One Love was complete and utter pants.

桜の花びらたちが　はらはら。。。

No idea what the blog title entry says but aiwish472 talks about losing her H!P fandom. Well, aiwish hasn’t given up on Hello!Project entirely, as of yet, so it makes for an interesting perspective.

There is a clear sense that one day, who knows when, aiwish knows she will no longer be a fan of Hello!Project. Even if she stays to the bitter end, Hello!Project itself won’t last forever. So really, this introspective look is applicable whether or not aiwish gives up on H!P or not.

I like this approach. It may be too late for aiwish to consider it this way, but I think it is easier to appreciate what you appreciate knowing that it won’t be around forever. Personally, I look at Perfume this way. I know that they will not remain popular or active forever, so it makes what they do all the more valuable to me.

aiwish isn’t ready to give up on all Japanese music yet though, finding interest in the music from AKB48 and Johnny’s.

JE Still Owning Oricon

Oroistme breaks down the half-yearly singles chart and finds that Johnny’s is dominating once again. In fact, a full 50% of the top 20 come from JE. Really though, is anyone very surprised by this?

Creative Input

Recommended reading. Celestia sees a notable difference between Hello! Project and Johnny’s Entertainment in the creative input department; at times Johnnys get to choreograph their dances, choose setlists and even write their own songs. Celestia ponders how H!P girls would do if they were given an equal chance to contribute creatively and points out that they would be taken more seriously as artists as well if given that kind of chance.

I totally agree with Celestia and I certainly hope they would become more like JE in that sense. Really, even if it wasn’t quite as up to par, wouldn’t it be awesome to, for example, hear what your favorite girls can come up with musically?

Thirty-one Thoughts on a Lot of Stuff

From serious to silly and from Johnny’s to Hello Project, but mostly silly and mostly Hello Project.