Abe Natsumi “Screen” PV  (Love マシーン)
Screen PV!!  (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)
Natsumi Abe - Screen Video  (Morningtime)
Nacchi’s Final SCREENing  (Stardust)

A few bloggers have posted Nacchi’s latest PV since it has been uploaded to Dohhhup.  Most of the enthusiasm is over how she looks, although the song gets a bit of praise as well.  The exception here is Mars, who didn’t dislike the song, but it didn’t leave as good of an impression on him as it did for the others.  Tricia and MarkusAntoine are both hopeful that Nacchi will continue to sing after her Elder Club graduation.  And Morningtime is ready to propose marriage, again…

M, you are so fickle!  Didn’t I just cover a post about you melting over Michishige Sayumi?

Morning Musume in the Future

Tricia has high hopes for Morning Musume in the coming year.  She gives a preliminary list, including her choices for photobooks, graduation, and new units.  A return of Koharu and Sayumi’s Rainbow Pinku unit?  Sheesh, I don’t know if the world is ready for that again.

But my favorite quip is how happy she is that the year went by “super fast”.  I can tell you Ray and I AREN’T thinking that.  Once you hit 30 the days of looking forward to your next birthday are long gone!

The End of an Era: Elder Club Graduates  (Stardust)
Bye Bye HELL! Project  (Hello Island)
Here’s Something To Ruin Your DAY!!!!  (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)
ELDER CLUB…GONE?  (fields of maize and berryz)
Change is good  (On Haku to Myaku)

It’s interesting how so many people are taking a pragmatic view of this situation.  Not everyone mind you, but quite a few…

Mars feels this is horrible news as many of the Elders rank among his favorites.  He just can’t picture Hello! Project without Morning Musume’s OG members.

hide-chan thinks this works out great for everyone involved.  The Elders are free of the bonds and rules of H!P  Or as hide-chan calls it, the Hell!  And when he says it is Something New, Fresh, and Amazing, he is talking about what could lie in the future for the graduating members.

Poor Tricia, she is devastated this happened on her birthday of all days.  She was looking forward to a return of Tsuji-chan, and a possible future 5th gen. group.  The emotional Tricia is also sad she will never get to see Melon Kinenbi.  Tricia, never say never.

Of the Elders, Maize is mainly a fan of Ayaya, and she hopes this will open up an opportunity for Aya to advance her career.  She also points out how amazingly “heavy” this graduation concert will be.  Usually we all giggle at the on-stage goings on of the graduations, especially since we know the girls are usually returning to H!P.  But not in this case.  I’m sure it will be a sad night in Yokohama.

Jim feels this will be a good move for everyone except for H!P themselves.  He also notes Kago Ai as an example of there being life after Hello! Project.

There are many different ways to look at this.  But we are merely the audience, and it will unfold as it unfolds.  I highly doubt this is the last surprise we will get in regards to this.  Still more to come…

SCREEN

Tricia has uploaded a live version of Screen, Nacchi’s latest single, which is scheduled for release this December.  This is the first single release by Nacchi in over a year.  It’s not quite upbeat, not quite a ballad.  Just a nice, sophisticated sounding song.  But going forward I get the feeling we are going to see a lot more acting, and a lot less singing from the former face of Hello! Project.

Shugo Chara Eggs Revealed [Update]  (Stardust)
Minna no Tamago  (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)
Shugo Chara Egg unit debut live.  Sanspo article translation.  (Sazaki’s H!P weblog)
New unit - Shugo Chara Egg!!!  (Wotaku Now!)
New Shugo Chara Unit Announced!  (Merry Go Round)

Gee, I wonder if anyone is enthusiastic about this new H!P Egg unit?  Let’s see…

(CK reads articles)

Whadda ya know!  It looks like just about everyone is blown away by the cuteness of this group as we have plenty of great screencaps on all of the reports.  Mars explains to the uninitiated how the character(s) are based on the suits in a deck of cards, he has also included a link to the official site.  Tricia reports the new single, Minna no Tamago will be released December 10th, and the new season of the anime will be called Shugo Chara Dokki.   Sazaki has translated the articles from Sanspo, which contain a few quotes from Maeda Yuuka.  Shirow loves the outfits, which he describes as “super hyper über genki”.

I saved Amy for last because she had the most detailed opinions on the event.  Amy sees this as an opportunity for Buono! to branch away from the anime and start doing other things.  She explains that the four girls in the unit aren’t representing different characters, but the one main character in various transformations (I think).  She also speculates that Maeda Yuuka is probably the lead girl since she is wearing the “heart outfit”.  Whatever that means.

So, are they a “one hit wonder”, or a new H!P force?  I’ll admit they are very cute, but I’d like to hear the song first.  And I have a feeling we are going to see more “Egg” units in the very near future.

Berryz’ 18th Single Pushed Back (Hello!°C-ute)
Berryz Koubou’s 18th single Pushed Back! (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)

Hello!°C-ute and Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog both note that Berryz Koubou’s next single, originally slated for October 22, is being pushed back to November 5.

Morning Musume Hawaii FC Concert
Berryz Kobo Concert Tour 2008 Autumn ~Berikore!~ Setlist

I love setlists!  It is so exciting to get a preview of what we will be seeing on future DVD releases, although Morning Musume’s FC Concert DVD is usually expensive and not easy to get a hold of.  Tricia is excited about the number of solos in the concert, and there are quite a few.  And Koharu is singing Himawari?  Gee, I wonder if it will be lip-synched?  Could this possibly be a preview of Momusu’s Fall tour?

Speaking of Fall tours, Tricia is very excited about Berryz’ set.  Well, except that Special Generation is part of it…again!  Tricia has also linked to the tour merchandise page from the official site.  Now this is a concert I will be getting the chance to see live.  And I am most excited to see Suhada Pichi Pichi on there.  Anyhow, both sets look pretty cool.

It’s funny how enthusiastic most of us are before the DVD’s come out.  Hopefully these two won’t disappoint.

Ongaku Gatas Come Togther Outfits and PV  (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)

ongaku gatas “come together” pv  (Love マシーン)

Ongaku Gatas - Come Together  (The J-Pex)

Come Together PV  (Stardust)

Ongaku Gatas Come Together pv  (Morningtime)

Ongaku Gatas- Come Together PV  (Midori’s J-pop Overanalyzations)

Ongaku Gatas - Come Together (unfortunately)  (Wotaku Now!)

Sorry for the delay on this one.  Here is what people are saying about “Come Together” by Ongaku Gatas…

Tricia quite simply says the PV and outfits are “super cute” and has screencapped the promotional photos

Markusantoine is happy that Konno, Rika, Yossie and Sotoda Mai are fronting a PV, noting it feels like the past H!P.  He also digs the outfits.

J-Pex really likes the rock feel to the song, and notes that this is the most “western” style PV Hello! Project has ever done.  JP also likes the behind the scenes footage.

Mars also likes the “documentary” style of the PV, but is concerned about the “pushing to the back” of the Eggs in the group.  Overall he is still not sold on the song.

Morningtime has a screencap bonanza!  And also hopes the song does well.

Midori bulletpoints the good and bad of the PV, although most of the good points seem to be critical of the PV too!  She is not crazy about the dance or the costumes, and is offended by the “fake” promotional newspaper they are reading.  But she feels Yossie carries the song with her vocals.

And then there’s Shirow.  Shirow gives us some well-detailed reasons why he doesn’t like the song or PV, which can be summarized by his title line…

“The PV Sucks”

So there ya have it.  Not a glaring endorsement.  Maybe I’m crazy, but I think it’s the best song Gatas has done.  But then again, I also like Koharu’s “Konnichi Pa”.  So consider the source.

Dschinghis Khan Tartar Remix Pushed Back (Hello!°C-ute)
Dschinghis Khan Tartar Remix Rescheduled! (Tricia’s H!P and TNX Blog)

The release date of Berryz Koubou’s, ugh, Dschinghis Khan Tartar Remix has been pushed from August 27 to September 10. Why couldn’t they just cancel it?