June 2007

15 Results Found

Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba was Inspired by Thriller?

Friday, 29th June 2007 03:38 | 33 Comments

As with the majority of H!P releases that I'm not originally keen on, Berryz Koubou latest single Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba has grown on me, although I still don't think it beats their previous two singles. However I'm still not overly keen on the standard PV, it has grown on me a little but only a little. I know it's a different approach to the usual PV we've all got accustomed to and I hope it leads the way into some more original PVs, but I find it kind of boring.
However I really love the Dance Shot Version, the costumes, the minimal look and feel, which carries on into the dance routine, it all looks really nice and suits the song well.

The first time I watched the Dance Short Version of the PV one thing crossed my mind and now every time I watch it I can't get it out of my head, that one thing is Thriller. That's right Michael Jackson's Thriller.
The dance routine reminds me a lot of the Zombie dance routine, they even go so far as to do that strange shoulder head dance move, it's just a lot cuter and not as lively, although how you can be less lively then a Zombie I'm not entierly sure. Their costumes have that slight orangey/red look which colour wise is very similar to the outfit worn in Thriller. And it's not only that, the opening of Thriller, starts with Michael Jackson watching himself in a film and then he goes onto sing when he leaves the cinema, sound similar to the karaoke section, where they go up and sing and the TVs are showing the dance short version?? There's also the fact that the Berryz PV has a story line to it, personally I can't think of any other song that has more of a story than Thriller.
Underneath you'll find 3 video clips, Berryz latest PV with a slightly tinny sounding version of Thriller over the top, the original Thriller video (soooo good!! When will H!P do a 15 minute Zombie fest PV?!) and some strange Bollywood take on it, which has kept me amused for most of the night!
So there you go, Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba was inspired by Thriller, or the fact that it's 3am and I've been drinking all night could have clouded my judgement...one of the two.

TAGS [ Berryz PV ]
Posted Friday, 29th June 2007 03:38 | 6180 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

17 Love Hello! Sayumi Michishige Preview

Thursday, 28th June 2007 22:50 | 38 Comments

We're only a couple of days away from Sayumi's Love Hello! PB being released and annoyingly I'll be away on holiday when it's comes out, but fingers crossed it'll be waiting for me when I return.
The reason I'm posting about this PB is I've just been on Hello!Online and noticed that the Making of DVD is up for download, which got me thinking if the 'Making of' is up for download then surely there must be scans from the book itself around.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise when I get the PB I haven't gone all out and am just limiting myself to these few pictures, but for the minute they are more than enough!!
For some reason these shots remind me a lot of Sayumi's first solo PB. I feel that that these handful of pictures have captured her so well, bright, colourful, sexy and most importantly cute, I can only hope that the rest of the book is as good as these. Also I think the picture that most reminded me of her first PB was the shot of her in the red shorts and vest, the outfit is very similar to an outfit in that book, she's even got the same haircut.

TAGS [ PB Sayumi ]
Posted Thursday, 28th June 2007 22:50 | 28473 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

CD Data - 13th Tanakamesen and Hello Yossie Special

Thursday, 28th June 2007 02:10 | 25 Comments

The latest issue of CD Data magazine is out and as well as the usual Tanakamesen, we have the final Yossie article and an article on C-ute's new single Meguru Koi no Kisetsu. Last night Shohei took the time to translate the articles. I especially like the Yossie article as it gives an insight into the feelings of Yossie at her last concert. Also Reina's 13th Tanakamesen, makes me slightly worries as she talks about marriage and children...I hope she hasn't been spending too much time with Nono.

C-UTE
Single "Meguru Koi-No Kisetsu" release

This is a really hight tension tune! Let's sing together! Summer is coming! And the always lively summer girls C-ute release their second single.
"It is really summer-ish, and really C-ute as well. It's an up tempo and speedy tune. It was too fast to pronounce 'Ru' properly in the recording (laughs)" (Suzuki)
"the lyrics 'Always Positive, Always Morning will come' are a bit slow, I like this atmosphere and lyrics" (Okai)
"I like when we shout at the begining and in the middle, it is really high tension, let's sing together!" (Nakajima)

The liveliness and speedness of the song are really fit for their character, also some of the sentimental phrases and voices are the point of this song

"I think this song is about the circulation through the mind and the scenery. The PV is also good, it's about adolescence" (Umeda)
"The dance is like running and we got out of breath! But, you will feel the thrill of the summer" (Arihara)

On the other hands, "Bi-shojo Shinri" is a sad heartbreaking song.

"When I sung it, I was really movied, I was about to cry. I will be glad if you feel the same. It maybe really good with some purple lighting in the concert (laughs)" (Yajima)
"Its got an adult feeling to it, but I could relate to it. It is totally opposite to "Meguru Koi-No Kisetsu" and rare for C-ute, so I hope you will enjoy this" (Hagiwara)

Tanakamesen

Hi its Reina, now it's therainy season, isnt it? I hate it! But, I will cheer myself up today, hope you will read all I write! To tell you the truth, I am actually a "rainy girl", it's like when I go out to play or something, it starts raining....I was not like that before.... help me! One more things about the rain, my hair becomes kinda hard when it is raining, so it is hard to set up my hair. Aalso I have to change the white clothes to another one because of raining/
so, I just wanna finish rainy season!

I went back to Fukuoka for my cousin's wedding.
I love Fukuoka's food! I like Yamaimo Teppan-Yaki, which is almost like Okonomiyaki, but we can't get it in Tokyo. Its soft on the inside, and crispy on the outside. I cant stop!
Then my cousin's wedding. She was really pretty and looked happy! I want to be married like my father and mother! They are not always close, but I can feel they believe each other. I envy them! When I get married, I will get the same plate and cup, my one will be red and his will be blue. Our children are going to have yellow, orange and pink....
I went to Game Centre the other day and played the coin game, I got 999! I was really lucky that day, then when I came back the other day, I was really bad, and went back!

Hello Yossie Special

Everybody, I've really enjoyed it! "It's just passing by" referring to her graduation concert, "Morning Musume, Concert Tour SEXY8Beat" 5th June, in Saitama Super Arena.
A lot of penlights were shining and flashing from the audience's seats. At that time, Yossie was studying Chinese hard in her dressing room.
"I had to introduce the two new members JunJun and RinRIn and wanted to speak Chinese to them, but I couldn't memorise it, I wasn't think about my graduation (laughs)" But, she gave all the members her "Hello!Yossie" book, with her message, she didn't forget the other member.
The Concert was tension to the MAX! From the begining, it was songs from the album "SEXY 8 BEAT" and some Single tunes.
"During the concert, I felt like it was goning be my last time to sing the Morning Musume tunes or the last time to sing with these members, but　strangely I was calm down, also I was not worried that I would make a mistake or something like that"
She performed alone on a song called "Sono De-a-i no ta-me-ni" with Takaradsuka style feathers.
"I told the stylist 'I wanna wear the feathers' she told me 'I thought you told me' (laugh)s. It is the first time I have sung alone, and this song suit is really in my situation. I emailed thankyou to Tsunku after the concert"

Then, the last song was her favorite "I WISH".
"At the start of the year, I told Tsunku I wanted to sing I WISH, so he put this in the song list"
In the last ceremony, a lot of member was crying, but Yosshie didn't cry.
"I was bit emotional at the beginning and the end, but if I had started to cry, I thought I wouldn't be able to stop and control myself"
"I enjoyed myself!" Yossie smiled.

After the concert "Yossie Saiko(great)" was heard from the audience throughout Arena. It must be everybody's feeling in this concert.

TAGS [ C-ute CD Data Reina Yossie ]
Posted Thursday, 28th June 2007 02:10 | 6557 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

C-ute Meguru Koi no Kisetsu Full PV

Monday, 25th June 2007 02:22 | 23 Comments

This evening :::Dohhh Up!::: has been running extremely slowly, more so than usual, but luckily I fell asleep at my laptop and when I awoke (about 20 minutes ago) I saw that the PV for C-ute's second single Meguru Koi no Kisetsu had been added.

Unlike their last single Sakura Chirari, which took me awhile to get into, this had my fingers tapping along straight from the start. It's a really great upbeat and lively song, one that I think really suits C-ute's image. I still feel that although Sakura Chirari was a good fun song, it just wasn't lively enough for their first proper single release.
Again it doesn't look like much of a budget has bee given to the production of this PV, but I feel that an excellent job has been made of it, it's just as lively and fun as the song. Everyone looks amazing and there's the added bonus of everyone having a couple of different outfits each. My favourite bit of the PV has to be when Erika and Maimi are sitting in front of the blackboard, the scene is so cute and they both look amazing, especially Erika who looks stunning in the school uniform and glasses...it also makes me wonder why we have yet to see a solo PB of her, being the oldest and in my opinion the most attractive member, it would be great if the current PB boom we're having moves back over to C-ute.

CD Release Date : 11 - 07 - 2007 DVD Release Date : 18 - 07 - 2007

TAGS [ C-ute PV ]
Posted Monday, 25th June 2007 02:22 | 5587 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Gyaruru Boom Boom Meccha Maccho! PVs

Friday, 22nd June 2007 00:40 | 19 Comments

For some reason recently I've fallen behind on my H!P orders, things I would normally be ordering I'm just forgetting to get, a good example would be Gyaruru's debut single Boom Boom Meccha Maccho!. I think the reason I've totally forgot about this release was the whole Nono incident, with her departure my interest declined...but with Asami's introduction into the group as her replacement my interest again peaked...but by the looks of things not enough to make go and grab a copy. I think there have also been a number of other factors lately, the most obvious ones being the fact that this month has been a bit tight on the money front, I'm away on holiday in two weeks so things I would normally buy have to be put on hold, and the amount of free time I normally have has been totally eaten up by work. Now I've gotten my excuses for not yet getting the single out of the way...what's everybody else's? Lol

Boom Boom Meccha Maccho! was released on Wednesday and in the couple of days it's been on sale it's not been doing to great. On looking at the Oricon Singles Chart it entered the daily chart at No.15 and then fell the next day to 21, it's fairly obvious to see this single isn't going to appear in the Top 10...maybe not even in the Top 20.
On doing my usual blog crawl, I managed to only find a handful sites that mention the release. Both Some Boys! Blog and Totally Hello! Project touch on the sales of the release, whilst Hotaru's Blog and Hello!Girl comment on the PV, I'm guessing the lack of coverage goes to show why it's not doing so well in the charts.

This got me to thinking as to how the single would have done if Nono was still in the group. I would like to think that if she was, I would have definitely ordered this by now, especially with the Limited Edition DVD having a lot of potentially good extras, certainly the DVD is worth it just for the far superior Story Version of the PV (well in my opinion at least).
Although Asami looks great, I can't help feeling she doesn't fill Nono's shoes. If she had been given a costume that wasn't exactly the same apart from the hair, it may of been better, she would be a unique character within the group and not literally a replacement. Whenever I see Asami in costume, all I can think about is how much better Nono looked in it.

Originally I saw the standard version of the PV, found on Kokuchi-ch and to be honest I hated it, I still do. Admittedly the PV is obviously an attempt to get everyone doing the dance routine and in that sense it's worked, the minute my girlfriend saw this her hands were waving all over the place, but for me, I found it boring. Sonene, for some reason gives me the creeps in this PV, whenever the camera does a close up, her facial expression looks like she's either going to burst out into uncontrollable laughter or she's some sort of psycho and is going to kill someone. However both Amimi and Abebe, do a decent job, Amimi I think does the best in this PV as she constantly looks amazing, dances great and is really enjoying herself...Abebe, looks like she's enjoying herself as well, just not as much, even on occasion looking a little bored. For me everything was a bit samey, a bit low budget and just not to great. Then however today I saw the Story Version and this really does it for me, I love this PV and really makes me wish Nono could have been in it.
The Story Version, reminds me of a Mini Moni PV, funny faces, quirky poses, cakes, cake eating, cake buildings, generally lots of cake and fun all round. I'd like to think that if Nono had still been within the group, we could of possibly have seen an eat-off between her and Sonene in this video. Plus this PV really does redeem Sonene for her performance in the other PV I think, for me she makes the Story Version.

I've also just checked CDJapan and they still have copies of the Limited Release in stock, as soon as my wages clear tomorrow night I'll be making sure to grab my copy.

TAGS [ Gyaruru Nono PV ]
Posted Friday, 22nd June 2007 00:40 | 6707 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

The Return of Konkon

Tuesday, 19th June 2007 02:31 | 27 Comments

I've literally just received an email from Shohei telling me that Konkon will be returning to H!P, the Yahoo! News article can be found here and a translation of this article can be found below, courtesy of Shohei.

Save The Hello Project! Konno Asami will be back next month

Konno Asami(20), who graduated Morning Musume last July and retired from showbiz, and now student of Keio University, will be back next month. The Hello! Project Futsal team, "Gatas Brilhantes H.P" will release the CD and she will rejoin them. She will take studies as a first priority, but she will come back for the Hello!Project Summer Tour on 15th July.

There is a lot of scandal at the moment in Hello Project, such as Kago Ai(19) being fired, Tsuji Nozomi's(20) "Dekichatta-Kon" and Fujimoto MIki's boy friend problem, but, it is such a great news for them. It is the first time that a member who has retired has come back and the second person who is in University, along with Ayaka(25) Coconuts Musume.

According to the management office, when Konno retired last July, she said "If I can pass University, Can I play Futsal in Gattas?" and now, she could pass Keio University and get used to the campus life.
New Gattas will be 21 people, the captain is Yoshizawa Hitomi (22) and as a Music Unit, the member will be 10 people, Yoshizawa, Ishikawa Rina(22) Satomi Mai(23)....
their debut single "Narihajimeta Koi-no Bell" will release 22th of August.
Konno said "I am really thinking whether I could do the campus life and be a member of Hello Project both together, but, now I made up my mind. I am really happy I could do I want and do both"

So Konkon will be returning, I really can't believe that she'll be making an appearance on the Hello!Project Summer Tour, this is definitely another must have concert DVD.
As the article says, with all the recent scandals going on this is great news! Whether it's something that's been planned for awhile or it's something concocted by UFA to help put out some good press for H!P, who cares, Konkon is coming back!

As this is the first real post I've made about Konkon on the blog, I feel I have to comment on her bikini shots.
Personally I don't think any other member (ex or current) looks as good in a bikini as she does. Put simply she has an amazing body. When compared to other members in Morning Musume, Konkon has always been a strange one for me, in normal clothes I found her to look not quite right, I'm not entierly sure why but I think it was something to do with the shape of her face and the styles of her haircuts, they never really go with the outfits she wore, does that make sense? But in a bikini this all completely changes, no matter what the bikini, no matter what the haircut, I've yet to see a photo of her in swimwear that I haven't loved.

TAGS [ Gatas Konkon ]
Posted Tuesday, 19th June 2007 02:31 | 21119 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Berryz Koubou Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba Full PV

Wednesday, 13th June 2007 17:53 | 34 Comments

It took me a while to get into Berryz and it's been the last two singles that have really got me liking them. So much so that I've been eagerly awaiting their next single release, Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba.
Yesterday, :::Dohhh Up!::: put up the PV for this single release and after watching it I'm not to sure what to think. The PV has less dancing and more of a story, in fact the only dancing in the whole PV can be seen on the TV screens of the karaoke sections. And to be honest I'm not that keen on it. However, to make a change I am actually looking forward to the Limited Release of this single, as I've heard it said that it comes with the Dance Shot version of the PV, which I'm guessing is previewed on them karaoke screens...a nice touch.

I don't think the song itself is up to the standard of the previous two releases, I may find that it'll grow on me, but unlike the last two I don't find myself clicking on the play button as soon as it's finished or even wanting to hear it again, so far in the time that :::Dohhh Up!::: has had it up, I've only listened to it three times and at no point has it grown on me, but then C-ute's single was much the same and I love it now. The song is slow and reminds me slightly of Very Beauty, but a poorer version.

CD Release Date : 27 - 06 - 2007 DVD Release Date : 11 - 07 - 2007

TAGS [ Berryz PV ]
Posted Wednesday, 13th June 2007 17:53 | 7238 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Morning Musume Poll Results

Tuesday, 12th June 2007 01:16 | 109 Comments

[Updated 12:16 PM on Tuesday, June 12th 2007] - Jump to Update
So I'm writing this a little later than I had hoped and as I'm typing I'm also messing around trying to pull up the results.
I'd really like to thank everyone that voted, in total there was 487 votes, which to be honest is a hell of a lot more than I thought they'd be, and the votes have come in from all over the world and surprisingly votes from Japanese fans which totalled 43 was the 3rd most popular country, beat by America with 169 and the UK with 44.
Thanks to everyone who used the ranking image, I've seen it popping up all over the place and I must admit that it made me smile seeing it. At the bottom of this post you'll find a list of sites that covered their own favourite members, thanks to Ray over at International Wota for keeping track of most of these.

Before I go into the results, I just want to explain how I kept track of everything, for every vote that was made each member was awarded points, 7 for being voted 1st, 6 for being voted 2nd, all the way down to last palce which got 1 point.

1. Takahashi Ai (2698)
Aichan got a whopping 2698 points, putting her firmly at the top of the list, 354 points ahead of Gakisan in 2nd place. I think a number of reasons may have influenced her position; her taking over as leader, her amazing voice and the fact that she looks so good.

2. Niigaki Risa (2344)
I think another 50-60 more votes for Gakisan at the top of the list would have got her into first place (that's assuming that Aichan was ranked at the bottom), which really goes to show how much of a lead Aichan has. It's good to see that the new leader and sub-leader have ranked so highly in this. I must admit to not paying that much attention to Gakisan and after seeing the preview of her upcoming Alo!Hello I really think she'll be heading up my list. Her facial expressions are amazing and she looks unbelievable as well.

3. Michishige Sayumi (2158)
I really am surprised that Sayumi made it into 3rd place, I know I voted in at number 2, but I have to say I thought her whole cuter than cute attitude really bugged a lot of people, to be honest I was expecting her to appear in the bottom 3.

4. Kamei Eri (1782)
Again, much like the difference between Aichan and Gaki, the difference between Sayumi and Eri (3rd and 4th position) is quite large, you're looking at 376 points difference. The top 3 really are ahead by a lot.
I really love Eri, I loved her bit within Hello Morning with Mikitty and loved the outfits she used to wear.

5. Tanaka Reina (1652)
Looking at the scores these two were quite close, there's not much between them. But to be totally honest I thought that Reina would rank a lot higher in all of this, certainly higher than Sayumi and Eri. Every forum I go to seems to have an extremely active Reina threads, with discussions and photos (mainly photos), I am really surprised with this position.

6. Mitsui Aika (1440)
So the newest member (excluding Linlin and Junjun) comes in 2nd from last. This is better than I had thought she'd do. For me I'm still getting used to Aika and as yet she doesn't hold any real appeal, she has a great voice and one that's completely different to anyone else, given time I can see her getting a higher rank next time I do one.

7. Koharu Kusumi (1338)
WHAT!!! BOTTOM!!! Hahaha, now this I didn't expect. Right at the very bottom we have Koharu, with a score which if doubled would still put her behind Aichan...what happened to the Miracle Girl?? I'm guessing a lot of people disagree with me on Koharu. For me she's ranks at the top of my list, she's funny, attractive, cute, has a great voice...the list goes on, OK, occasionally she goes a little mental but for me that adds to her appeal. What with her solo works, voice overs and now being part of 2nd Generation of Eco Moni, I would have thought she would of ranked a lot higher than this...Oh well, Koharu, you're still my No.1 !!

Interestingly, I'm also able to pull up the results for the amount of times a member was rated as the most favourite (image below), this shows a slightly different view.

Although Aichan and Gakisan are again at the top of the list, Reina and Sayumi (as well as Koharu and Aika) switch places, what this shows us is that although more people have Reina as their favourite (over Eri and Sayumi) it would seem that Sayumi is ranked higher throughout.

[Update] One thing I forgot to mention in the original post was how many times each member made it to the top of the list as someone's favourite;
1. Takahashi Ai (134), 2. Niigaki Risa (124), 3. Tanaka Reina (74), 4. Kamei Eri (64),
5. Michishige Sayumi (37), 7. Koharu Kusumi (35) and 6. Mitsui Aika (19)

These figures I find to be really interesting, especially Sayumi's and Koharu's as there isn't much in it, literally only 2 people more have Sayumi as their favourite, but Sayumi ranked so much higher overall.

Something else I didn't look at in the original post was how the top three voting countries compared when it came to results. At the start of the post I mentioned that the the US had the most votes followed by the UK and Japan, below you can see the results for these three countries.

US Vote

UK Vote

Japan Vote
These results are quite interesting, although in the overall results it was Aichan clearly in the lead with Gakisan following behind, these individual country results show a slightly different picture. Both the UK and Japan have Eri beating Risa and in the Japanese total, Eri actually has the same score as Aichan, the only reason Takahashi appears to be in 2nd place is because I never even considered that anyone would get equal scores and it sorts the results by score and then by name. In the UK results, Eri was only 6 points away from the top score, so who knows, if a couple more people from the UK had voted Eri may have been the top here too.
It's also interesting to see that Koharu isn't at the bottom of these results, even though she never breaks out of the bottom three it's good to see she's not last.

If there's any information I've left out and you want to know, just ask and I'll try my best to find out and update this post.

Blogs that covered their favourite Morning Musume members;

The AW Idol Index - June 3, 2007 (American Wota)
The Pagoda MoMusu Ranking (June 2007 Edition) (Stuck in a Pagoda with Motoko Aoyama)
Favorite Morning Musume members (~ lurking in the shadows ~)
My current favorite lineup of Morning Musume members (matsu-wa.net)
Favourite Momusu (Mai Point of View)
Fave MoMusu members (refrigeeta)
Vote for your favourite Morning Musume member (Totally Hello! Project)
Morning Musume Love Ranking (冬冬パラダイス)
Fave MoMusu members (Дневник Теоретика.)
My favorite! (Megumi-no-Punch)
H!I top rankings (There is never a wrong thread to post a Risako.) This made me laugh so much!
モーニング娘。メンバーランキング。(June 2007) (MorningBerryz)
Japtard Radio -Episode 1- (Japtard)
Favourite Morning Musume Members Poll (Hello Non-Pro Hour)
ランキング (その一瞬 For an Instant)
Morning Musume de las Favoritas (quill93)
Favourite Morning Musume Members (h4kkai)

As a side note, but on a similar topic to this post both Morning Musume.co.uk and KD's Hello!Project Blog are both discussing the ultimate Morning Musume members of all time.

TAGS [ Morning Musume ]
Posted Tuesday, 12th June 2007 01:16 | 58616 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Morning Musume Alo-Hello! 2 DVD Preview

Sunday, 10th June 2007 13:32 | 33 Comments

The Alo-Hello! and Love-Hello! DVDs (and PBs) are coming out thick and fast. At the moment I can't buy anything as I have to wait for my next pay day (thankfully it's only a week away) but the list of things I'm going to order just keeps growing and growing. With Gakisan's PB and DVD releases, Sayumi's new Love-Hello! PB...and presumably a DVD to be released soon...now I'm adding another Alo-Hello! DVD to the list, Morning Musume Alo-Hello! 2.
:::Dohhh Up!::: have put up a preview and I have to say it looks amazing! It starts quite predictably with bikini shots of the girls (and WOW Hitomi in a proper bikini!!), then it's round by the pool and off to a trip to a water park. But then it looks to get quite interesting.
I have very little idea what the next section is about, but I'm taking a guess it's a task based thing and possibly a race to where Mikitty is, it looks extremely funny. I have to admit to watching the Reina and Sayumi clip a number of times, I just can't stop laughing, Sayumi's reaction to Reina screaming and running is classic, I just love the fact that she hasn't got a clue what has freaked Reina out, but she looks equally as freaked as she's runs shouting "What?!".

DVD Release Date : 20 - 06 - 2007

TAGS [ DVD Morning Musume ]
Posted Sunday, 10th June 2007 13:32 | 6883 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Koisuru Angel Heart CDs

Friday, 8th June 2007 01:01 | 50 Comments

I'm running so unbelievably behind with this post, I received V-u-dens Koisuru Angel Heart singles in the post with the GAMs Album last week, but with this turning into the busiest week ever (so far every night this week I think the most I've had a chance to sleep is about 4 hours) this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and write anything.

To make a change, as well as getting the Limited Version I also got a copy of the First Press Regular Version, which came with a photo card. The Limited Version came with the Dance Shot version of the PV.
When I saw the original PV I completely fell in love with it, the white angel costumes are amazing, but that was until I saw the Dance Shot version, this PV is amazing. A whole 3 minutes 40 of them looking great and jumping all over the place. Does anyone know if there's a PV of them in the black costumes?

I showed the PV to Chris awhile back and a comment he made about Yui sends shivers down my spine when ever I think about it, the comment...Sonia Jackson...UK readers will probably know who I mean, but for those of you luck enough not to get crap UK TV, she acted in a soap called EastEnders, the most annoying thing, I can kinda see what he means.

TAGS [ Chris PV V-u-den ]
Posted Friday, 8th June 2007 01:01 | 6299 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Favourite Morning Musume Members

Monday, 4th June 2007 02:12 | 326 Comments

OK, a while back over at MorningBerryz Blog MorningBerryz posted his Favorite Morning Musume member lists, both current and previous, it took a while but I managed to come up with up with my list, it read like this;

1. Kusumi Koharu
2. Michishige Sayumi
3. Tanaka Reina
4. Takahashi Ai
5. Kamei Eri
6. Fujimoto Miki
7. Niigaki Risa
8. Yoshizawa Hitomi
9. Mitsui Aika

I know it's only been about thee months since I done my list, but recently I've felt the urge to have another look at it, with Yossie's graduation and Mikitty's recent leaving I wonder how this would affect the list.
MorningBerryz, also mentioned in his post how it was good to look back and see how this list changes over time and I couldn't agree more, as Morning Musume grows and the girls get older the list is going to change and new favorites will start appearing. So over the weekend I set aside some time and I've programmed a little voting system which will generate an image of your favorite current line up of members, although I've not included Linlin and Junjun at them moment, one, because I don't think they've played a big enough role since they joined and two, I have no idea what colours they will be given...lol, it'll make more sense when you see the image.

As you can see from my current list, not much has changed in the line up. Eri has risen above Aichan, but that's about it, although if Mikitty was still leader we would have seen her up as well.
At the moment it will take a lot to knock Koharu off the top spot and to be honest I can't imagine that happening any time soon. I also get a feeling that Gakisan may be moving up the list after seeing the preview of her Alo-Hello! DVD.

Finally I would like to ask for people to click the link below and vote for their current favourite list of members, the voting will open for a week and the collective results will be posted here late next Monday night, I've been curious for a long while as to who are the most popular members.

Click Here to Vote For Your Current Favourite Members List

TAGS [ Morning Musume ]
Posted Monday, 4th June 2007 02:12 | 50399 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Reina's 12th Tanakamesen

Sunday, 3rd June 2007 02:25 | 35 Comments

I'm way behind on this post, I bought this issue of CD Data on the 20th of last month, it's just been really hectic.
This month's issue of CD Data features a couple of pictures of Yossie promoting her essay book and the regular Reina article. I've still haven't ordered a copy of Yossie's book but at some point I will get round to it. Has anyone managed to get a copy?
I've managed to get Shohei to give me a translation of the artcle, it makes for an interesting read...although Reina does mention that she loves Taka and Toshi, a Japanese comedy duo, what with all the recent H!P articles and comedians she could picked her words better, lol, but she wasn't to know. As usual it reads from top left to right.

Hi, it is Reina! It's already May!
I am really into "Vegetable Juice" now and drink it every morning. My day is begins with this! It's healthy, isnt it?

These days there are a lot of good TV programmes, I normally can't watch them because of work, so I record and watch a lot of TV. I laughed the most recently at Taka and Toshi's (Japanese comedian) show. They had to eat 1000 rice crackers within a week! I couldn't help but laugh and cry! I love Taka and Toshi!

On my last day off, I went to see "Dorarion" it was amazing! My seat was quite near the front. It was thrilling and sometimes funny as well. Great！

20th of June, "Aloha! Morning Musume DVD" will be released! The Fan club tour on March was really fun! 2 months have already passed since then....Enjoy the DVD when we were in Hawaii!

May is Mother's day (In japan second sunday of may) I really get on with my mum, we go shopping, talk about a lot of things etc...she is like one of my friends. When I was a kid, I gave her a "massage coupon" or I'd write a letter.

TAGS [ CD Data Reina Yossie ]
Posted Sunday, 3rd June 2007 02:25 | 5134 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Risa Niigaki Alo-Hello! Preview

Saturday, 2nd June 2007 03:09 | 37 Comments

Another Alo Hello! DVD is scheduled for release and this time it's Risa's. :::Dohhh Up!::: has just put a preview of the DVD, which is scheduled for release on the 13th of June.
I must admit to being a fan of Gakisan's PBs, but outside of that I must admit to not really giving her the attention she deserves, she's quite the character. With this release and her new position as Sub-Leader it'll help me appreciate her more.
This DVD looks like it's going to be great, up there with Reina's recent DVD. From looking at the preview, there seems to be a random encounter with an old overweight guy in his swimming shorts and a cooking session where, in the clip we see at least, it isn't doing to good...hahaha, looks like something burning. Also, I'm looking to the forward to the bikini segments of the DVD, there's a preview of Gaki in a black bikini with her hair up and I have to say it's the best I've ever seen her look!

DVD Release Date : 13 - 06 - 2007

TAGS [ DVD Gakisan ]
Posted Saturday, 2nd June 2007 03:09 | 9772 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Mikitty Breaks Mari's Record!!

Friday, 1st June 2007 17:04 | 21 Comments

That's right, after being the leader of Morning Musume for only 26 days, she's handed in her resignation. This is a complete shocker and to be honest I'm lost for words, I was fairly certain that UFA was going to let this slip...how wrong was I.
From reading the translation of Mikitty's comments on the Official Hello Project Site (a translation can be found on Hello Non-Pro Hour) it would seem that the choice may have not totally have been up to UFA, was this a forced resignation or was done happily in premeditated act?! What gets me is the fact that when this happened to Mari, her resignation was almost instantaneous whereas with this it's been dragged on and with Miki openly admitting to it. In my opinion someone didn't want her to leave and I think being in GAM has given her a taste of what it was like before her Morning Musume days. And all this just as I had started to like her.
Although this is bad news it does come with some good news, Aichan is now leader and Risa is now sub leader. Let's all wish Aichan good luck and keep our fingers crossed that she can last longer than a month!

I guess the thing what we need to look out for now is Ayaya's solo career, I know her recent single got persponed but with Mikitty's departure I can't imagine that she'll be aloud to carry on within GAM without any punishment and if Ayaya's solo career starts to pick up again, I'm guessing we won't be seeing Mikitty or GAM for some time.

One final thought...how pissed off must Yossie be right now? Her solo career been put on hold because of Nono's unexpected pregnancy and having left Morning Musume leaving Mikitty in charge only for this to happen, I know I'd be royally pissed.

TAGS [ Aichan Ayaya GAM Mikitty Morning Musume Yossie ]
Posted Friday, 1st June 2007 17:04 | 5101 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

1st GAM ~Amai Yuwaku~ Limited CD

Friday, 1st June 2007 00:27 | 15 Comments

Everyone who reads my blog regularly will know how I feel about the recent trend with the limited edition versions of the CDs of including a DVD...and if you don't, let's just say I'm not a fan. But on this one occasion I must admit to have been looking forward to the one included with this album, mainly because of the nature of GAM, it's not all about the music. Sure the single releases have been great, but the PVs have always been better in my opinion, I could spend all day every day watching Ayaya and Mikitty do their stuff in the GAM PVs.

So before I listened to the CD, before I flicked through the inlay booklet, before I done anything, I put in the DVD and prepared myself for some GAMness.
Now I don't think I'm overreacting to say that the included DVD is CRAP! Included on the DVD, are 3 PVs, Ayaya and Mikitty versions of Melodies and the Dance Shot version of LuLuLu. The solo PV versions for Melodies are in my opinion the worst extra to be included with any release, it looks like an after thought all pieced together, it just doesn't look good. The opening for each look like they filmed it from one angle and then just blew it up and cut out the section of the screen they needed, consistantly seeing half of someones face in the corner of the screen does not look good.
Now to be fair the Dance Shot version of LuLuLu is amazing, on first watch I thought the dance routine was awful, but then on rewatching it I saw past the dodgy bits in the routine to realise that it's all about making their hips sway...don't watch the hands watch their hips it's hypnotic!! But like most of these DVD extras it's nothing that couldn't have been included elsewhere. All three PVs can be found below...am I overreacting? For me the two awful Melodies PVs really lower the standard of the whole Limited release.

Now that I've finished what my moaning about the DVD (seems to be becoming a regular occurrence) it's onto the actual CD itself and thankfully it's a hell of a lot better than the DVD. Listening to the tracks it makes you realise what a good pairing Ayaya and Mikitty are, as well as looking good together, they sound really good together. All the tracks are strong, my favourite tracks (not including the single releases) on the album being Ai no Fune, a nice slow song with some great harmonising, and the title track of the album Amai Yuuwaku, this is more upbeat and energetic, and the thing that I really love about this song is the English spoken at the start, I love how Mikitty says "Are you ready?!".
All in all this is a good album, but I feel that it could have been so much better.