August 2008

14 Results Found

Come Together Full PV

Sunday, 31st August 2008 01:50 | 40 Comments

First off I want to apologize for anyone watching the PV below, for some reason the quality of the clips at Veoh have dropped over the past couple of days so it's a bit blocky, I've no idea why...sorry!

So, this is our chance to see an Ongaku Gatas with a cut back member line up, with it being 2 members down and one of them being the popular Manoeri I'm interested to see if they lose any of their support? On the plus side (I imagine) we have a more focused Charmy, with V-u-den now gone I can only presume that more of her attention is going to be focused here, so hopefully in turn that means that we'll see some more releases? Well before I get ahead myself, I guess the thing to do is check out the latest release, it feels like I've been waiting for far too long for this.

:::Dohhh Up!::: put the PV up a few days ago (does anyone find it odd to mix H!P with trainspotting hobbyists?), my initial reactions to the song was one of shock, both the previous singles have this instant impact both visually and musically which really grabs your attention, Come Together however doesn't have this. The PV starts with the girls putting on their orange jackets, sitting around a table with Yossie, Charmy, Konkon and Mai looking like they'd rather be anywhere else than there, but then they're off to record the PV and being the professionals they are it's all smiles from then on in. The rest of the PV is split into two sections, the dance section which features some close up shots, and a 'behind the scenes' type of thing where the girls are presumably waiting to come out and film the PV.
The dance scenes aren't as lively as the previous PVs but it does fit perfectly with the style of song, the dance features quite a lot of air guitar so it obviously gets the thumbs up from me, the marching segments and the bits where they are in a line and they start dancing one by one looks quite cute as well and Nocchi looks really good in these sections.
The 'behind the scenes' clips are a lot more entertaining to watch, with everyone looking good. Yossie has to be the most best in these clips, if she's not looking moody she's getting out her handcuffs and presumably showing Charmy what they'll be getting up to at the end of the shoot when they're alone, although later on (4:39 - 4:41) it looks like they couldn't be bothered to wait that long ;p
You would have though the Charmy/Yossie snog would have been the highlight of the PV, but for me my favourite bit would have to be when Charmy puts on the red ribbon, she looks so cute, but Yossie's face just shows complete and utter disgust, this bit continues to make me laugh every time I watch it.

The song as I mentioned at the start lacks the immediate attention grabbing sound of the first two singles and it can also be said that it lacks this throughout the whole song, but then the sound and style of song is very different from the previous singles and if anything is more similar to some of their album tracks, Seishun no Custard and Kiss Shiyo, it's less of them sounding the same but more to do with the era that the particular song sounds like it came from, to me they all have a slight 60s/70s feel. The music within Come Together reminds me of a group that I can't quite put my finger on, which is really annoying and this is something that I'll be continuing to think about every time I listen to it until I figure it out, but there are also certain points within the music that I can't help but feel it has a Beatle-esque type of sound, although it may just be the title influencing me, lol.
Although the song lacks the initial hook that the previous singles had, this is still a great song and once you get into it you'll be humming/singing/tapping along to it, the singing is amazing and everyone sounds great, especially Yossie who much like in the PV makes the song, such a great voice.



CD Release Date : 10 - 09 - 08    DVD Release Date : 24 - 09 - 08
The thing with this release that's really got me worried about the future of Ongaku Gatas is the fact that as far as I know this release comes with no Limited Edition CD, normally this is reserved the lesser selling singles, so does this mean that Gatas are losing their popularity? Could this be influenced by the departure of a certain member?

Ongaku Gatas - Come Together (CD Release)
Amazon | CDJapan | HMV | YesAsia

Ongaku Gatas - Come Together (DVD Release)
Amazon | CDJapan | HMV | YesAsia





TAGS [ Ongaku Gatas PV ]
Posted Sunday, 31st August 2008 01:50 | 4087 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Hello!Blog Turns 2 Years Old

Wednessday, 27th August 2008 23:58 | 39 Comments

Hopefully I can get this post up before the clock hits midnight and a new day starts, as today (as I type this it's 11.30pm) is Hello!Blog's 2nd birthday.
I'd really like to take the time to thank everyone that reads and comments on the site, it's great that I've been able to meet so many people through this site that share a similar interest, I'm sure Kat would like to thank everyone too as it means I now very rarely bug her about the goings on within the wonderful world of H!P.

It's interesting looking back over some of the older posts and seeing the differences between them and the newer posts, to me it seems that my posts are longer than when I started, whether this is down to me getting more confident/comfortable about voicing my opinions or because I've started to waffle more, I'm not entierly sure but I'd hazard a guess that's it's probably a bit of both. There's also a slight difference in content I feel, mainly brought around by my buying habits with H!P, I'm now concentrating on the newer releases rather than the older ones. Although I have bought some older releases, mainly when I was over in Tokyo at the start of the year and found some bargains, I haven't mentioned in the blog, aside from the Ai Kago History Album 2000.5.17~2004.8.1 (Ultraman Exhibition and Thoughts of Aibon) the only other place where it's noticable is within a post made upon my return, A Quick Look At Last Months Items, where you can see some old albums, DVDs and PBs, but unfortunately I've never found the time to go into any further detail.
This brings me onto something that I really want to try and focus on and that's keeping up to date with posts, as I feel that at times due to work and life in general I've fallen behind on posts that I want to make. I have numerous half written posts that will probably never get finished.
And it's not just posts that I'm leaving half finished there's some ideas that I've had for the site that have just been stuck in limbo. In January of last year I started writing an online version of a Mini Moni GBA game which at the time I had every intention of finishing, but due to me straying from it for awhile and then losing the images and code when I changed PCs, all that I managed to do was the menu system, it's uploaded onto the site in it's current state but if you check it out don't expect too much as it is just literally the menus, click here to open.
I also attempted messing around with the Amazon API and wrote a simple page that listed the top selling 100 idol PBs, I managed to get them displaying in a simple form, but then really failed to see of any use for it, lol, if you want to check this page out click here, scrolling through the list it's good to see that there are quite a few H!P releases in there.

I'm hoping that this time next year I'll be able to look back and see that I've pushed myself that little bit more and managed to get out the posts that I want to and that any ideas I have aren't left in this unfinished state.
Enough with this worrying about unfinished posts, etc, for the minute, I'm off to grab myself some rum and have a drink. Happy Birthday Hello!Blog!

TAGS [ Stuff ]
Posted Wednessday, 27th August 2008 23:58 | 3931 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

PBs I'd Like To See

Tuesday, 26th August 2008 15:46 | 40 Comments

With another three PB releases scheduled for release; Nacchi's "End of summer", Sayumi's as yet Untitled 5th solo PB and Reina's recently announced 7th it looks like UFA are still sticking to the regulars when it comes to these books. I always find myself torn between my views on these kind of releases, one side of me is thinking "YES!!! Another Sayu/Reina/Nacchi PB release!!!" and the other side is shouting "Where's (insert H!P member name who hasn't had a PB release yet) 1st PB release!!??", the thing is there isn't a member of H!P that I wouldn't like to see a PB release from, which in turn I guess is a problem as if members that haven't had a release start to get releases there's the possibility I'd fall in to the mood of "When will Sayu/Reina/Nacchi get her next PB?" as I can't imagine the frequency of releases will increase as us fans only have a limited supply of money.
Then there's the questions of who decides on these releases, is it purely UFA and merchandise sales figures? Do the girls have a say? Do the parents of the younger members have a say? Admittedly from a business point of you it makes perfect sense to only produce PBs of the most popular girls, they know they're going to sale and in turn it can only push the popularity of those members up, but then what about the other girls? If I'm sitting here thinking to myself why hasn't Mittsi got a PB release yet whilst Koha is on her third what must she be thinking? And it's not like I think that they wouldn't sell, I know I'm not the only person waiting on members to get releases.

I wonder when UFA are going to take a break in this regular pattern of members and we start seeing some new faces appearing on these pages?

What I'm really interested in finding out is who the most anticipated members are that we're waiting for to get a PB.
Within Morning Musume I have to say that I'm really looking forward for Mittsi getting a release. With Mittsi I have to admit that I'm dying to see some bikini shots of her. Having spent my days trying to hunt down Mittsi's Alo Hello 2 shots when it Japan at the start of the year and failing miserably, with the exception of both Mittsi and Yossie the other members were easy to find, and now recently rewatching Morning Musume's Alo! Hello 2 DVD I'm reminded of how great she looks...


Chinami is the member within Berryz Koubou that I'd like to see get a release next within the Unit, with this thrust that she seems to have been given in the last couple of PVs I can only hope that this is leading up to this release. Her haircut was always something that I wished the stylists in H!P would sort out and now that they have she looks amazing and it's the cause of her getting most of my attention when watching Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance and Dschinghis Khan...well that and the antics she gets up to in both of them which always make me laugh, and it's this mix of personality and looks that really want me to see what wonders she could pull off.


Then there's C-ute and the reason for this post, Erika. I was having a read through some of my older posts on my lunch break and I noticed a comment I made in one of them, "Lol, I'll give UFA a couple more months before I start a petition with the aim of getting her a PB release out ;p ", looks like I'm still waiting and I'm not entierly certain how effective a petition would be, lol... :(
Looking through the photos in the post that I took that comment from, B.L.T U-17 Vol6, I'm still left scratching my head as to why we're still waiting for a PB release. And then there's Nakki (Nakki Concert Solo Photobook), another member from within C-ute that I'd really like to see get a release, a book full of smiles would cure even the most depressed person, it's contagious!! But for some reason I have this feeling that the next PB from within C-ute will be hers, it just seems so unlikely that these release will just alternate between Airi and Maimi continuously and although I'd love Erika to be next in line, I feel that my 2nd fave C-ute member will get it.

Outside of the three main units there's two members that I'd really like to see get a photobook, Yui and Yossie. There are two reasons why I'd love to see a Yui PB; the first being that it would convince me that she's going ro remain active now the V-u-den are no more, I know she now features as a solo artist within the Artist List section on the H!P website, but that doesn't stop me worrying, the second reason...cleavage!
Lastly, Yossie, for much the same reasons as Mittsi (although I was able to find Yossie's Alo Hello photo I was after) seeing her in the Alo Hello 2 DVD reminded me that with her new image change she does look really quite sexy! But that aside, Yossie is a member I feel that has always been under used when it comes to photobooks, her image hasn't been the most conventional when compared to the majority of H!P members, she's able to pull of such a varied amount of different shots, from the usual kinda shots that feature in PBs, to the shots the tomboy-ish style of shots, to the shots where she looks soooo cool, now mix into this the odd bikini shot and this release would be a killer!



TAGS [ Chisato Erika Mittsi Nakki PB Yossie Yui ]
Posted Tuesday, 26th August 2008 15:46 | 4713 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Tsunku For A Day...My Units

Sunday, 24th August 2008 14:14 | 35 Comments

Over at MorningBerryz Blog we're given a chance to be Tsunku for a day (...so you wake up one morning and you're Tsunku for a day.....), hold the temptation to go on a wild spending spree because you've now got to create a Shuffle Unit for 2008 and your very own Dream Unit!!...but before you get to it, a quick flick through the diary is probably in order, must remember Sayu's mobile number ;p

I found the task to be quite difficult, I found myself staring at the screen and almost thinking "I don't envy Tsunku with tasks like this", but then sense kicked in; the money, the lifestyle, getting to see all the live performances you could ever want, being able to have a one to one with the girls and all the other wonders the job involves, every job has it's difficult times and although actually choosing is a tough task the good thing is there'll never be a bad or wrong combination!

Oddly I found choosing my Dream Unit the easiest out of the two, I would have thought that with such a large number of great H!P members to choose from I thought that this would be the hardest but it all came fairly quickly, I think my decision came quickly as I just went with my current favourite H!P members.


Admitedly with such a large line up of members it feels like I've taken a bit of a cop out when selecting just my current favourites, but at the moment these are the members that interest and excite me the most, with members like Ayaya, Nono, Yui and Sayumi I've always rated them highly since I discovered H!P so for them to make an appearance here seems obvious, Kohachan is an another obvious member for me, when ever given a choice of members she'll always appear at the top of it! Both Erika and Nakki are members that I had to think about, it was a tough one and I was thinking of changing them for Konkon and Yossie, but when I thought about it and these are two members that I'm really focusing a lot on lately and am enjoying not only their performances but their personalities and looks, so I put them in here as I have no doubt my opinions on them will if anything just get stronger.
I've only just noticed that I was meant to choose 10 members instead of 7...oops, so it looks like I can include both Yossie and Konkon in there as well, I'll have to have a rethink of who the final member will be.

This was more of a harder decision, firstly I didn't want to a rehash of my Dream Unit and what I wanted to try and do was create a unit of members that I would like to see more of. Looking through the members I choose this choice seems a little odd as some of them we see quite a lot, I'll try and give my reasoning.


Admitdly we do get to see a lot of both Ayaya and Nacchi compared to other soloists within H!P, but I still feel that both of them not only need more releases but releases that get more attention then they do, with the slower songs that they seem to be releasing lately a lot of the feedback seems to be negative, mixing them with the younger members there would be more of a chance of the song being livelier. I didn't really want to include anyone from my Dream Unit into this unit, but I just couldn't resist putting Ayaya in, her voice is simply amazing. Gakki, we've seen a fair bit of lately outside of H!P, in the 10th Anniversary unit and Athena & Robikerottsu along with Mittsi, but along with Mittsi these are two members of Morning Musume that I think go well together and I'd love to see more of, if only they'd bring back the Athena & Robikerottsu unit.
Having no members of Berryz Koubou in my Dream Unit, it's only right that some should appear in this unit. Chinami is a member that I've only just stated to notice, with my attention in the unit focused heavily on both Risako and Momo it's great that my attention is now being brought to the other members. Risako, how could I consider Berryz members without putting her in the unit? Her cuteness and voice are something that I really love. Then finally Hagitty, much like Risako it's her cuteness and her voice that I love and every time I hear her sing I just love her voice, with her being so young and having such an amazing voice I can't wait to see it evolves through the years, but here and now I love her voice, I loved KiraPika and would love to see more of her outside C-ute.

If you haven't already created your own Dream Unit and 2008 Summer Shuffle Unit, you still have some time left as your able to do so until August 30th.

TAGS [ Hello!Project Stuff ]
Posted Sunday, 24th August 2008 14:14 | 4022 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

~Wasuretakunai Natsu~ Tour Merchandise

Saturday, 23rd August 2008 02:42 | 26 Comments

Just as I was thinking of emailing Ohta to see if he'd be able to get the C-ute t-shirt I've had my eye on for the past couple of days up it appears on his eBay store with a whole ton of other C-ute merchandise from their Summer 2008 ~Wasuretakunai Natsu~ Tour.
I've had my eye on the grey group shirt, it's been ages since I've bought a grey coloured t-shirt, the last being a Kohachan one from the Morning Curry tour, and it's a colour that you can't go wrong with, it goes with anything and even if the colour differs from that in the picture...it's still grey, grey is grey it will never be an in your face colour. With the added bonus that this comes with photos of the whole unit there's no downside, it's a must!
The individual member shirts use a very simple design,the member name on the front and the tour name on the back, nothing fancy but the straight forward deisgn looks great and has got me thinking that I might order one of these as well. As to whose I can't quite decide, obviously Erika's is my first consideration but I'm also really liking Chisato's one as well, I'm loving her photos. And then there's the towels, I'm trying to think when the last time was that I bought a towel?...I think it must be from the 2006 Sports Festival, has it really been that long? Well, I'm extremely tempted to also put an order in for a towel in as well, have you seen Nakki!! WOW!! I love that outfit!!

The group t-shirt is a definite for me, as for the other two well I'll have to wait and see what my money situation is like, but at the moment if I had to choose between the two I think the towel would win.



TAGS [ C-ute Ohta ]
Posted Saturday, 23rd August 2008 02:42 | 4325 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Haromoni@ Coming To An End?

Friday, 22nd August 2008 14:22 | 34 Comments

So it looks like Haromoni@ is apparently coming to an end, with only 6 more episodes until we have to say goodbye. Hello!Online have an article (thanks for pointing it out ddrchik) where they note that although there has been no official comment on the matter it certainly looks like the end of Haromoni@, first mentioned on a Japanese blog (Berryz王国) and then later backed by BLT magazine's TV listing where it has the word 'End' after Haromoni.

I've always found it hard to keep up to date with Haromoni@ and even before that with Hello!Morning I was always weeks behind, but with the format change I found myself not downloading episodes on a more regular basis, this was really due to the fact that Torrent downloads are becoming more and more difficult for me to download (I must remember to thank my ISP for that) than a real dislike for the show, which although it's no where near the greatness of what it used to be, but it's still a good watch. But it would seem that viewing figures for the show have dropped down low, apparently less than 1% and with such low figures it's clear as to why the show is coming to an end. But the question which doesn't seem to have been answered, because no official comment has been made, is to whether the show will be continuing on in some other form? If it doesn't then I wonder, is it time to start worrying?

If the show stops completely and Morning Musume are not on the screens every Sunday then I wonder how this will affect their popularity and sales of the unit. The show is essentially a 30 minute advert for not only the only Morning Musume, but for the individual members and H!P as a whole and without this does this mean that sales will drop? It's a tough one to comment on, after all they are more than just the show, but the show gives everyone a chance to enjoy the girls on a regular basis, so surely it would reflect on sales?
With such low figures I really don't think that they'll be given another chance straight away and so I can only imagine that for sometime we'll be out Morning Musume on their own show, but perhaps this is the kick up the backside that UFA have been needing, if they want to continue to feature Morning Musume in their own show it means that they must now go back to the drawing board and come up with something more impressive.

But at the moment, who knows. I guess all we can do it sit back and wait for some comment from UFA letting us know exactly what's going on. And who knows, it could just be a coincidental typo in BLT, lol!

TAGS [ BLT Haromoni@ Morning Musume ]
Posted Friday, 22nd August 2008 14:22 | 4142 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Manopiano Live

Monday, 18th August 2008 01:26 | 28 Comments

I'm really surprised that it's taken so long for :::Dohhh UP!::: to upload a video of Manoeri performing her debut single Manopiano, I can understand that perhaps making a PV for the release would have been a costly idea with the potential of not making the money back on it but how hard is it to take a live recording? Especially at a live performance.
But, timing aside it's great to see it finally up as I've been dying to not only hear a live performance of the song but also to actually see how much of it is played by Manoeri and I'm glad to see that she plays all of it, for some reason I had this impression that she was literally only playing a couple of notes.

Although this song wasn't what I expected when I originally heard it (Manopiano, Manoeri's Debut Single) it didn't stop me from enjoying it, also as time has gone on I'm enjoying it more and more, I regularly sit with the CD on repeat when I find myself with nothing to do or I fell like relaxing. Also, now that this live clip has been put up, I find I'm watching this over and over, the mix of the song and Manoeri's cuteness is just a winner!
I've included an edited version of the clip that appeared on :::Dohhh Up!::: below, the original was about 7 minutes long, but I've cut out all the talk and just put up the performance.



TAGS [ Live Mano Erina ]
Posted Monday, 18th August 2008 01:26 | 6124 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Three Weeks of Friday

Saturday, 16th August 2008 00:24 | 30 Comments

Having done my usual and drifted slowly behind with Friday magazine I popped into the Japan Centre during the week and was fortunate enough to be able to pick up the past three weeks issues. Interestingly each of these issues feature a member of Pabo, 8/8 has a four page spread featuring Kinoshita Yukina, 8/15 has what is I think a first at least in the time I've been buying it and has a H!P member on the cover, Mai not only features on the cover but also has a three page spread and lastly 8/22-29 features Suzanne on the cover, but oddly not inside the magazine, the only mention is a small section at the bottom of the Contents page.


Both articles mention the recent "Super Unit" Aladdin and it's single Hi wa, Mata Noboru. The single has really shocked me, when I originally heard the release I wasn't overly impressed with it, it's certainly catchy but at the same time it has a slight cheesiness to it, I don't know whether this is being used as the new theme to Quiz Hexagon II but it certainly sounds like it wouldn't be out of place if it was.
Having listened to it almost on a daily basis it's really grown on me, however in no way do I think it even comes close to C-ute's Edo no Temari Uta II. With them being released on the same date it's interesting to see how the sales for each compare. C-ute came in at No.5 with Aladdin reaching No.2, but it's not until I looked at the first weeks sales for each that I realised how much of a difference these two positions really were, with Aladdin outselling C-ute by a massive 123,792, I am quite literally dumbstruck, but I'm guessing the sales of the single were really pushed by the male members of the unit rather than Pabo, when you consider that Pabo's single only sold 8,725 in it's first week compared to that of Shuchishin first single which sold 140,591.
When I saw these figures of how well the single sold I thought to myself that perhaps this could mean that Mai's success with the single could overflow into Ongaku Gatas's next release, but when comparing Pabo to Shuchishin it looks like perhaps that this won't be the case.



TAGS [ Aladdin Friday Ongaku Gatas Pabo PV Satoda ]
Posted Saturday, 16th August 2008 00:24 | 6359 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

My First Sayu Tshirt

Thursday, 14th August 2008 12:19 | 14 Comments

In all the time that I've been a Morning Musume fan there's been one member that's always consistantly been a favourite, Sayumi. If I look through my collection of H!P merchandise it's fairly clear that she's one of my favourite members, but the one thing that I'm lacking when it comes to Sayu is a tshirt.
I know I almost always comment on this when a new series of Morning Musume tshirts come out, so please forgive for repeating myself yet again, but it's the colour of her shirts that always stop me from buying them. As a colour pink suits Sayu perfectly, it's a colour which compliments her looks as well as her personality. As for me, well Sayu's bright pink isn't really my colour. The funny thing is that if I look back at the tshirts I owned before I was into Hello! Project there's a clear difference between then and now, I never used to wear anything too bright; blacks, whites and greys were my colours of choice, but now if you look through what I wear the change from dull colours to more bright and lively colours is obvious, now I'm wearing reds, yellows, oranges, blues etc etc, but pink is yet to be a colour to slip into this list. I've nothing against the colour in general and could even see myself wearing pink Sayumi shirts on a regular basis if they just weren't so bright.
I was recently tempted with her 19th Birthday Celebration tshirt, which in the small images I saw on the tour merchandise pages of Hello!Project Website looked the perfect shade of pink for me, but when I eventually found it on Yahoo! Auctions the larger photo revealed that it was indeed the same usual bright pink...and this is where my latest buy comes in.


At last I can now add to my wardrobe a Sayu shirt and one that isn't pink! The design of this is a little different to the usual member shirts that have come out in the past as the name printed on the shirt isn't Saymui's full name, also absent is the tour name and instead of having Morning Musume printed on it we have a big red letter "M" on the sleeve. And oddly for an inidivudal member shirt no photos were included, which is a shame as you can never have too many Sayu photos ;p
I can't wait to wear this!!


TAGS [ Ohta Sayumi ]
Posted Thursday, 14th August 2008 12:19 | 3883 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Gachinko de Ikou! Full PV

Tuesday, 12th August 2008 02:27 | 28 Comments

I've seen the covers floating around for this release for some time now and because of these covers, specifically the one where they're dressed in suits and with playing cards, I've been so looking forward to seeing this PV, I enjoy a sense of humour and fun in a PV and to me these suits (and the humongous cards) show that this is going to be packed full with both.
Buono!'s I think are quite unique within H!P at the moment, other groups share the qualities I'm going to mention but I feel that with Buono! they really have the edge over the other units; everything about their releases has a fresh and clean look and feel (does that make sense?!), the songs are always catchym, the PVs always being visually impressive they manage to combine a sense of fun, humour, cuteness and even a little bit of sexiness (lol, who ever made the recent couple of PVs seem to have a love for Momo's legs...and who can blame them!). And this release doesn't disappoint, everything is of the usual great Buono! standard.

When I originally listened to the song yesterday afternoon I wasn't too sure about it, it wasn't that I didn't like it just that it wasn't as instantly catchy as their other singles, but with a couple of listens I'm now thinking it might be their best single release to date, as ever it's a rock-ie/pop-ie affair which has an amazing and unique sound.

One thing that I can never decide on when it comes to Buono! is which PV I like the most as every PV released is just a great watch each with some really funny sections, normally involving Momo. Not including this release I would say that the PV for their last single, Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!, comes in top, with the video for this release in particular it's more than just the hilarious antics going on within the PV, it's the eye opener I needed to see how great Airi is, much like how the first singles turned me into a massive Momo fan I can see much the same happening with Airi especially when taking into consideration this PV. It's really interesting how both Momo and Airi stand out to me in this PV whilst Miyabi just fades into the background, within Buono! Miyabi is very much the straight man whilst Momo and Airi are the ones getting the laughs and I think this is what really appeals to me about them.
If I take into consideration this PV as well the choice as to which is better becomes quite tough as there are a lot of elements within this that I love. First off the outfits, opening with the suits I just thought "YEAH!!" the girls look amazing in them, especially Airi who with her hair up just looks the business, with Momo it's the combination of her haircut and facial expressions that really do it and Miyabi looking great in her hat. Then the costumes within the dance sections are the standard Buono! affair, long socks and short skirts/shorts which automatically gets the thumb up from me, again it's Airi that grabs my attention in these sections, she looks great and again her hair is just amazing.
Then splitting the PV into three sections you have the game sections, dance sections and then the instrument sections. The game sections have to be my favourite bits by far, there's so much humour and fun packed into them. There's the obvious Momo hilarities, but it's all in her look; the way she smiles, the way she opens her eyes, it's hard to explain but once you've watched the PV you'll know exactly what I mean. There's a great bit with Momo and a mosquito, which is the section I mentioned earlier about the fascination with her legs, it lands, it bites and she scratches in time to the guitar in the background, classic!! Then there's Airi serious nature when playing the games and the way she acts in these again rasies a smile, especially when the camera pans round and we can see she's been at the grape juice!! And then there's Miyabi, lol, this is what I mean...all I can remember her doing in these sections is just looking pretty, not necessarily a bad thing lol.
The dance sections are pretty much that, we get to see the girls looking good and doing some great dancing. But it does get a bit more interesting in the bits with the instruments and this section could quite possibly push into being my favourite Buono! PV, unlike Honto no Jibun where we saw the musicians in the background or Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! where we saw the girls pretending to play the instruments we have a merge of them both! We have a bunch of girls playing the keyboard, drums and guitar and we have Miyabi, Momo and Airi dancing around and occasionally pretending to play the instruments. With the style of music that Buono! release it's great to see that we're given a little bit more than just the girls, if you know what I mean.



CD Release Date : 20 - 08 - 08    DVD Release Date : 03 - 09 - 08


Choosing which version to get of the single is an easy choice for me that requires no thinking or debate what so ever, the Limtied Release with the suits and the cards, it just looks so funny.

Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou! (Regular Version CD)
Amazon | CDJapan | HMV | YesAsia

Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou! (Limited Version CD + DVD)
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Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou! (Single V DVD)
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TAGS [ Buono! PV ]
Posted Tuesday, 12th August 2008 02:27 | 4874 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Berryz Koubou and C-ute Visual Screens

Monday, 11th August 2008 11:22 | 57 Comments

Following on from the Visual Screens released earlier this year, H!P are releasing another set for both Berryz Koubou and C-ute. This time around instead of featuring outfits from their recent singles, which is a real shame as there would be no way I could resist the urge to get the Berryz ones if they were in their monkey outfits, we have the pleasure of seeing the girls in some beautiful looking kimonos.
Personally I'm finding the C-ute versions to be my favourite (although that may be just be my favouritism coming through, lol) with Nakki being my favourite out of all them. Looking at these images I really wish that sometimes H!P would offer some better images than the tiny ones they provide on Hello Shop, as sometimes it does feel like I'm buying a little blind, the tshirts are a good example as the colours are never quite as they appear in the images.

I'm slightly curious as to who will be buying these visual screens as I'd imagine anyone interested in them would have bought the previous sets (C-ute Visual Screens, Berryz Visual Screen and Oijigi 30° Merchandise) and with them being so large I wonder where they'd have room to put these new ones up? With things like this I see it as a waste to buy them and not put them on display. As ever if you're after these they can be found on Ohta's eBay Store.



TAGS [ Berryz C-ute Ohta ]
Posted Monday, 11th August 2008 11:22 | 6184 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Edo no Temari Uta II Limited Edition CD

Friday, 8th August 2008 02:14 | 31 Comments

Although the PV for C-ute's Edo no Temari Uta II single was put up whilst I was away I've deliberately avoided commenting on it since I've been back as I thought save making two posts about it within the space of a few days it would make more sense just to hang on for a bit and comment when my copy arrived. This was one of the hardest things I've had to do! I've been wanting to shout about this release for what feels like ages.
Lol, I was so excited about this release I somehow managed to put two separate orders in for it, I'm really quite worried about my memory this is the second time in as many months I've accidentally doubled up on a order by mistake, so if anyone is after a copy of the Limited Release of this single leave a message with your email and I'll get in touch and put it in the post.


When I originally saw the preview images of this single I was slightly worried that I wasn't going to like the outfits worn on them, for some reason the red plaid design just didn't appeal, but luckily the outfits look great and mixed with the dark background it really looks amazing. What really struck me about the group images is how my eyes aren't drawn to the usual members that my eyes always seem to wander off to, although the likes of Erika and Nakki look great, my focus always falls on Hagitty and Chisa. With Haggity would get my vote for cutest H!P member and in these shots it really shows why...she's just SO cute!! Oddly with Haggity I find myself wishing that I could jump in a time machine and shoot forward through the years, I just know that as she gets older her voice is going to be a killer, I really look forward to seeing more of Hagitty. With Chisato I can't get over how good her hair looks and I think it really goes to show that although it's short it doesn't have to look boyish, this style (or is perhaps the angle?) really makes her look a lot more feminine than usual.


From the very start this release has excited me, hearing that the Limited Release was going to be DVD free and feature alternative covers made me instantly put in my order. Although I've grown accustom to the now all to familiar 'bonus DVD' that accompanies the Limited Releases it's these kind of extras that I enjoy the most. I've mentioned it in previous posts but I have this annoying habit with the majority of bonus DVDs and that's watching them once, with the odd one or two I've been known to rip it and store it on my iPhone, and then forgetting about it, as I pretty much only listen to my music through my PC all the singles are ripped and stored, with no real need to go grab the single aside from looking at the artwork. Looking through my H!P CDs is something I really enjoy doing and with the Limited Releases it's always good to have a look through the extras and staring at an extra DVD isn't really the most exciting of things, give me some cards, a booklet or in this case the alternative sleeves any day of the week. There's also that added incentive that a DVD can't offer, there's the actual feeling of owning it, if that makes sense, with a DVD it can simply uploaded and shared but with these extras owning them is only the real way to see them at their best, sure sleeves and cards can be scanned in but much like a PB, scans don't even come close to actaully being able to hold it in your hands and look at it.


C-ute never fail to impress with me with their releases and with this unit in particular there's always that anticipation as to what direction the song is going to go and the impressive thing with this release is that I don't think it really fits into either of their "cute" or "cool" styles. The song is definitely on the cool side of things, but is so drastically different to the likes of Tokaikko Junjou and Namida no Iro. It's a mix of a more traditional Japanese song with what I can only describe as a Jazz type feel and this mix doesn't just work, it works extremely well, producing a very unique sound, so much so that I wish they padded the song out (and with it coming at about two and half minutes in length it couldn't of hurt) with a bit more of this sound, chuck in a couple of "Hey, hey"'s from Airi and well it could probably go on for 10 minutes and I still want more.

With a song this good this good it would have been a shame to have a PV that wasn't equal footing, but it looks like a lot of effort was put into making a worthy PV. From the outfits to the dance routine to the backing dancers, everything looks great and fits so well together.
With the song being a modern interpretation of a more traditional style of song the outfits worn in the PV fit right in with each member in what I can only describe as a modern approach to a traditional style of Japanese dress. The dance routine is very unique and different to the normal type of dances given to C-ute and again just adds to the greatness of this release.
I feel that I can't adequately describe how amazing this is, so the only thing I can suggest to do is to, if you haven't already, is watch the PV.



TAGS [ C-ute CD PV ]
Posted Friday, 8th August 2008 02:14 | 6713 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Cinderella Merchandise and H!P Wallet

Thursday, 7th August 2008 11:11 | 52 Comments

With Cinderella The Musical opening yesterday in Japan I thought that it's only right that I should put up a post featuring the merchandise from this musical available from Ohta's eBay Store. As per usual we have all the normal merchandise available, tshirts, towels, DVDs and photos.
The Tshirts look very similar to those from the recent Berryz Kamen vs Cutie Ranger concert, the only unfortunate thing being that I don't think these look as good. The thing I really liked about the concert tshirts was the two tone colour, it wasn't your standard sort of affair with a coloured shirt and white images on it, the addition of the coloured shirt with the coloured image and writing was something that I think made them stand out amongst the recent tshirt line up (that and the fact that the quality of the shirt and the print seemed a lot higher than usual as well), these follow a very similar design, with an outlined image of the member on the shirt with their name running across the top, what I'm not overly keen on and what is really the reason why I'm not overly keen on these is that all the print on them is done on black, it just doesn't seem to have the same impact.
Looking through the photos, I'm really drawn to Aichan's and Gakisan's, their dresses look really good them and as ever seeing Gaki's smile in these shots has made my day that little better...what is it about her smile?


For a change were also able to see what the tshirts look like in a little more detail, as instead of just having the crappy bad quality images that appear on the Hello Project website a couple of clips have been uploaded onto :::Dohhh Up!::: with the girls in their shirts. The first clip really made me laugh at certain points, everyone looks fairly bored throughout the whole clip pretty much standing around doing nothing, but when the first guy comes up to speak Kamei's reaction to one of his comments really had me laughing, all I could see was her laughing and her just whacking her side. The second clip which shows a small rehersal of the show, really had me going wow! Have a watch and listen to both Aichan and Gakisan's voices, they really are amazing!!


Ohta is also taken orders for a Hello! Project Wallet, although I haven't seen these available on his eBay store, I think you may have order them directly through him at his Hello! Prject Goods Shop. The wallet follow on from the recent H!P Key Cases and the design of them is very similar. Like the key cases they are made from a white leather and feature a design from a chosen member from Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou or C-ute, much like the key chains the wallet is a Special Edition item and as such is quite costly. The wallet is a little too big for my liking, there's no way that's going to be fitting into back pocket! Hagitty's "I ♥ ROCK" design is still by far my favourite out of everybody's, it's such a cute design, I really want it on a tshirt!



TAGS [ Berryz C-ute Morning Musume Ohta ]
Posted Thursday, 7th August 2008 11:11 | 11675 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Koha's 3rd PB Nakki

Monday, 4th August 2008 03:30 | 36 Comments

Whether you love or hate (I don't think I've actaully met anyone yet who thinks she's just OK) Kohachan, there can be no denying that she's a force to be reckoned with. It doesn't look like she's any intention of slowing down with her career, for me this is a great thing with Koha being my favourite within Morning Musume the more attention she gets and the more releases she it just has me getting more and more happy, I could watch Koha all day long.
The thing that I find really interesting about Koha is the fact that people have such strong feelings towards her, as I say it's generally love or hate, but the great thing with this is that she always causes great discussions amongst people. When I read through some of the comments left on posts that are about her, it's interesting to see that people comment specifically to say that they don't like her or don't like her release. And certainly within my blog this pretty much only happens when mentioning Koha, the fact that peoples feeling are so strong that they feel the need to comment that they're not a fan only goes to show how great Koha is, the amount of discussion she can cause amongst fans (good or bad) is something that always impresses me and really shows how much of an affect she's had within Morning Musume. Her latest PB release is a good example of this and in particular a series of shots within it has caused quite a stir, so what better place to start than with the shots that started everybody talking.


The first thing that came to mind when I saw these shots were for Sayumi, her move from cute PB releases to a more sexy and mature look was one that I think didn't go as smoothly as it could have, certainly if you look back at her last two PBs I think they've not only captured Sayu's sexiness but also her cuteness, where as if you look at her 2nd solo PB release Doukei I personally find that this release lacks the cuteness that not only suits her so well but is also an integral part of her personality. Then you look at these shots, Koha has nailed sexy in her first attempt and for me there's nothing missing from these shots, sure her image as a whole is one of a totally crazy hyper cute girl but these still fit into personality perfectly, which for me is the most important part with PB releases. To me PB releases are more than just books to flick through and perv over, to me they are an extension of whoever is featuring in them, if they don't convey the personality of the members featured in them then what good are they? And as these shots don't feel out of place within the pages of this book, I find it hard to justify there being anything wrong with them.
The only arguments I can see for people not liking these shots or feeling uncomfortable with them is for two reasons; Koha's image and her age, and both these reasons to me seem unjustified. As I mentioned earlier Koha's image within H!P is the cute crazy one, but that's only a part of her, there are sides which although we don't see are still there or at least are implied by the nature of her success, I fail to believe that since she's started within H!P she hasn't developed a more responsible and mature side, whether she chooses to show it or not to me I feel that it's there. If we look outside of Morning Musume and into her solo career and voice acting for Kirarin Revolution this cute image is again found and due to the nature of the show exaggerated to extremes when it comes to songs and PVs, but luckily for Koharu her image was suited perfectly for these. This in it self could be the cause of the reactions to the shots, as I've seen similar reactions within the UK when child entertainers take on more adult roles or photo shoots for magazines of the likes of Loaded and FHM. There's the initial shock of the break of an image we're so used to and have grown comfortable with, then comes the fact that their main target audience is at children, mix the two together and you've got the argument that these images stray too far away from the comfort zone that people may have grown accustom to and then there's the possibility that because of the role she plays and the fact that she has a large following of child fans with the Kirarin Revolution song releases it's automatically going to get frownd upon, just look at the reactions to the recent 'topless' photo shoot of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, do the words "over reaction" come to mind? This I think is quite a good example as not only does it cover the whole image side, but also the age side of the argument as well, when is right for someone to move away from the norm that people are accustom to? If we look at Koha, I see no reason for this not be now and for the most part I feel the reaction to these shots were perhaps more to do with moral issues rather than anything else, and issue that seemed to crop up was that the shot was inappropriate for a girl of Koha's age, given a couple more years at the age of 18 it would have seemed more appropriate. At the age of 16 I feel that Koha is old enough to do these style of shots, baring in mind that living within the UK I've been force fed Page3 models (...I say force fed...) since an early age from papers such as The Sun, The Daily Star and on the very odd occasion The Daily Sport and there was a time when models for these photos (topless glamour shots) only had to be 16, this age has since been increased to 18, but to me compatibly these shots are harmless. But even now I'm using my morals on something outside of my culture and this is clearly something that shouldn't be done for obvious reasons, different cultures have different moral values and who are we to judge as to whose are right?

Starting with the cover we can see how much Koha has grown and changed since her first release, but she still retains that cute look and feel about her, which continues throughout the whole book.


Right from the start we're introduced to Koha in what have to be the best school uniform photos I've ever seen (and my favourite photos within the book), I think this is achieved with the introduction of glasses, they add so much to these shots it's unbelievable, the second and third pages in are mind blowing, seriously just look at the scans below. I'm a little confused as to what is meant to being studies in these shots, looking through the books on the shelf they look a bit on the extreme side and a little outdated, I wouldn't like to study in whatever school Koha goes to...well that's a blatant lie, as long as I was in her class it would be fine ;p


The bikini sections within this release although good really don't hold a candle to POP's bikini section, the photos certainly do her justice and portray her well, but I feel the bikini hotos within POP were much more fun, colourful and suited more towards Koha. The only couple of pages that I feel really give over the feel that POP had are the two pages that feature the stripey red and white bikini and the yellow cone, there's a sense of fun with these that really make me smile.


Although this book has some amazing photos within it, I would have to say for me this POP as a whole is my preferred PB release from Koharu, the colour and feel of this book is something that I really like and the poses and outfits within POP are more suited towards Koha.

In particular with Koha's PB releases, the Making Of DVD is a vital part of the experience and in my opinion more so than with any other member. Kohachan's personality really shines and we get to see more than just her wacky cute side, admittedly we do see it a hell of a lot but we do also see a more serious side of her personality especially when doing the images in the black hot pants, which I think really puts them into perspective, there is a cool mature side to her it's just it's very rarely seen.


As with the majority of PB releases now this release also has a Special Edition Making Of DVD available through e-LineUP! and is availble to order up until the 14th August. I've already put my order in through Ohta's Hello! Project Goods Shop and I'm counting down the days until it arrives. If you need more persuading that the Special Edition DVD is going to be the best thing in the world ever, :::Dohhh Up!::: have put a preview of it up, watch and enjoy!!



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Posted Monday, 4th August 2008 03:30 | 6086 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment