October 2008

13 Results Found

Hangry And Angry Romantic ni Violence Preview

Friday, 31st October 2008 01:15 | 18 Comments

By the looks of things we're going to be treated to previews of all five tracks that will feature on Hangry and Angry's mini album Kill Me Kiss Me, with the preview of Romantic ni Violence appearing on their page on the Oricon Website on Wednesday of this week and the announcement on their MySpace Website that next Wednesday (5th of November) that WALL FLOWER, the 5th track on the album will be previewed. I can only imagine that the 3rd track GIZA GIZA will be previewed the following week with the release of the album the week after that.
Listening to the new track only goes to reinforce my opinion on what I've heard so far, it's going to be an amazing mini album and the combination of Yossie's and Charmy's voices together along with the rockier sound of the music is still a refreshing change.
Does anyone have info on how the album is being sold yet?



TAGS [ Hangry and Angry ]
Posted Friday, 31st October 2008 01:15 | 5040 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

MADAYADE Full PV

Thursday, 30th October 2008 03:05 | 13 Comments

Hands up who wants to work in that office?

It's strange how this PV can be the best thing I've ever seen, whilst at the same time and for the exact same reasons be one of the worst thing I've ever seen, it's also odd that as soon as I heard the music all I wanted to do was whip out my copy of Pulp Fiction and give it a watch and that the chorus reminds me of the theme to the Batman series :S

Much like the recent Buono! PV the look and feel seems to be very low budget, the whole thing reminds me of a B Movie which is the reason why I love this PV so much! Being a fan of horror films, especially 80's horror films, I've developed a love for poorly acted and badly scripted films, sometimes these things add a lot to a film and give it a uniqueness and appeal that just simply wouldn't work otherwise. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a great example of this the film is amazing, with the added budget and the animation series spin off it kinda of got a little bit silly, if that's at all possible, although Return of the Killer Tomatoes did provide George Clooney with his best acting role to date ;p
MADAYADE falls into this category, the set design is pretty shoddy looking, the acting (if you can really call it that) by the non members in the group is put nicely awful and the dance routine reminds me very much of a poor mans Namida no Iro but when combined they make a beautiful package that works so well together whilst at the same time has me thinking "that's so bad"...how I love this feeling and the PV!
Added to all of this is the fact of how visually impressive the past few PVs for Berryz Koubou have been, Dschinghis Khan was an exceptional PV especially considering all the different version of it, even the Remix version had effort put into them. Although it would seem most people wouldn't agree with me on this, Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance was one of the greatest PVs this year, the uniquess of it with the completely wacky nature of the monkey outfits added a much need injection oh humour, fun and personality into something which could of otherwise been quite bland, certainly watching the Monkey Version showed how much fun the girls were having during the shoot and I think that it really shows and because of this it adds to PV as a whole more. Then we come to MADAYADE, visually it looks pretty basic, as I said the set looks quite cheap but this I feel allows the colour scheme of the conflicting two rooms to really give us an idea of the feelings flowing around. We have the Berryz girls working in a calming blue room with yellow phones, to me giving the impression of a nice relaxing day (all good joyful feelings) then we have what I presume is the managers offices, all decked in power red even the scary woman boss is kitted in an all red outfit...she means business!
The body language in the whole PV is done to extremes and I'm guessing this is done intentionally to help better convey the atmosphere; the cheerful playful Berryz side and the mean, impatient angry red side, and it's this over acting that really gives me this B movie type of feel and what really draws me into the PV.

The mismatch of the song against the PV is something I'm really enjoying, the guitar in this track reminds a lot of a song taken from the Pulp Fiction sound track called Surf Rider it has the same 60s (or is it 70...not to sure) feel to it, listening to it pretty much conjures up the images you'd imagine, the beach and the surf but to see the girls stuck in an office making calls and filling bringing in drinks is totally the opposite of what you would imagine, the closest they actually get to the feel of the song is the colour scheme of the room they're working in. It's such an odd pairing! And one that was quite shocking when I first heard it, the combination of the visual with the audio was so unexpected the two didn't seem to fit together, but as I keep saying it was an instant appealing combination.

I love this PV so much and quite possibly for all the wrong reasons, I think this has to be the first time I've spoken about a PV and not commented on the girls once (with the obvious exception of Melon Kinenbi's Onegai Miwaku no Target), H!P have come up with an absolute classic vision, fingers crossed we'll be seeing a bit more of this uniqueness in upcoming releases.



CD Release Date : 05 - 11 - 08    DVD Release Date : 19 - 11 - 08



Berryz Koubou - Madayade (Regular CD)
Amazon | HMV | CDJapan | YesAsia

Berryz Koubou - Madayade (Limited CD + DVD)
Amazon | CDJapan | HMV | YesAsia

Berryz Koubou - Madayade (Single V)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

TAGS [ Berryz PV ]
Posted Thursday, 30th October 2008 03:05 | 4389 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Lotta Love, Lotta Love Full PV

Tuesday, 28th October 2008 17:28 | 27 Comments

With the introduction of a new unit for the Shugo Chara! anime series I've been curious as to how this will affect Buono! and it looks like the first affect is a cut in the budget for their PVs, which is really sad considering how amazing all of the previous ones have been. But more disappointing for me is the complete lack of a sense of humour, as these the things I enjoy most about the unit, when it comes to PVs H!P very rarely stray from the norm and as such generally are all very similar in the style that they play out; group dance scenes with a mix of close up/solo shots, but with Buono! the great things about their PVs was that although they followed the general style their was this injection of humour and personality that made their PVs stand out with a sense of uniqueness, fun and genuine funny moments. What we essentially have with this PV is your standard H!P PV affair and if I forget about all of their other PVs it would be hard to knock, it's not a bad PV in fact as PVs go it's an enjoyable watch and I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible for the combination of Momo, Miyabi and Airi to do any wrong within this unit as even here where we aren't fortunate enough to have something up to their usual standard video wise they not only look great in their 60's-esque outfits but their personalities and the feeling of fun you get from all of Buono!'s releases still manages to come through. It's only towards the end of the PV we get to see that Buono! quirkiness, when Momo sighs and slouches as the performance finishes.
So with what appears to be a cut in the budget for the PV I wonder what we'll be seeing from Shugo Chara!? I'm curious to know whether the usual budget has been split evenly between the two or if Shugo Chara! have received a bit more to help push them with the debut release?

The PV has two different shots, the main dance part, very similar in style to parts of the recent Berryz Koubou Dschinghis Khan Tarutaru Mix PV TV Show Version PV as it appears that the theme/story behind the video appears to be that they are performing in front of a studio audience and (whether it's the outfits making me think this or not I don't know) the whole filming and scenario gives me a feeling that this is all meant to be set back in the 60s, the dancing in this section is up to the usual Buono! standards...I could quite happily watch them dance around all day long :) The other close up sections are fairly basic but the coloured backgrounds really go well with the girls outfits. Although the outfits ditch the usual rock/punk style that they usually wear the short shorts/mini skirts and socks are replaced with short dresses and boots, thankfully we're treated to the usual eye candy that are the legs of Buono! :) the only thing I'd say about the outfits worn in this is that I wish Airi's dress was just a touch shorter :S
As with the last few releases the constant battle as to who wins me over as my favourite is still ongoing, unfortunately for Miyabi she never stands a chance and is always put to the back of the queue, the cuteness of both Airi and Momo are always all-consuming but it's Airi lines and performance in the PV that win me over.

My first listen to the song had me thinking that this was their weakest single, still a great single just not up there with the rest of them, but as I type this I've had the song on repeat and I'm finding my enjoying so much that I can't bring myself to agree with my original thought any more, it's as catchy and rocky as their releases before and as I mentioned before they can do no wrong, their voices are as cute as ever and always sound great together.



CD Release Date : 12 - 11 - 08    DVD Release Date : 03 - 12 - 08


The covers are quite possibly the simplest on a H!P release, but the simplicity of them really works and fits in excellently with the song and PV. The shots of their faces on the Limited Edition version (the one with 12 photos) is by far my favourite, some of the faces pulled in this are so amazingly cute! Airi's first photo on the top of line this CD is by far my favourite I love what she's doing with her mouth...so cute!! Now off to watch Berryz Koubou's PV, it's a hard life sometimes ;p

Buono! - Lotta Love, Lotta Love (Regular CD)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

Buono! - Lotta Love, Lotta Love (Limited CD + DVD)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

Buono! - Lotta Love, Lotta Love (Single V)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

TAGS [ Buono! PV ]
Posted Tuesday, 28th October 2008 17:28 | 4378 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Must Buy More Ayaya

Monday, 27th October 2008 01:15 | 16 Comments

With the announcement of the Elder Club Graduation it's occurred to me that the majority of my focus within H!P is around the Wonderful Hearts side fo things, even to the extent where my overall favourite member with Hello!Project, Ayaya doesn't actually get that much attention from me. Well, technically that's a lie as her albums are always playing on my iPod, but when I look through the posts that I've made on here and the amount of actual merchandise aside from albums, I begin to feel that I've neglected her so much.
I remember when I first discovered Ayaya whilst hunting for Morning Musume PVs, I had found a bunch of Mini Moni PVs and through them discovered Morning Musume, but at that point I didn't understand the structure behind H!P, to be honest I still had no idea what H!P was and wasn't aware of the units and soloist associated with it, I knew that the members of Mini Moni featured within Morning Musume, but I was also aware that this wasn't the case all of the time as there was a number of PVs which didn't feature them, figuring out H!P is head scratching struggle, although my first contact was watching Nono and Aibons graduation the idea that members graduated was something I wasn't going to know for quite some time. But back to Ayaya, much like how I discovered Morning Musume through Mini Moni, I discovered Ayaya through Morning Musume but had no idea that they were in anyway related, at the time I just thought the association was just the nature of the music, being completely smitten with her looks and amazed by her voice she was certainly an artist I'd take an interest in once I found all I could about Morning Musume...then I stumbled upon Chu! Natsu Party, was that Aibon flashing her knickers along with Ayaya?! Things slowly (so slowly) clicked into place...

Currently I only own one of Ayaya's concert DVDs, two if you include the GAM concert and if I'm honest I've no idea why, perhaps it's down to the amount of publicity that the likes of Morning Musume, Berryz and C-ute get and I just get pulled in? In numerous posts I've remarked how it would be great if H!P members played with musicians in their concert performances and all this time the likes of Ayaya has been doing this and I've been overlooking it. Well no more! Having watched the clip of Ayaya's DVD of her recent tour Aya the Witch I've put an order in and am sitting back waiting for it to be delivered. If the clip is anything to go by the concert is going to be amazing and goes to prove that Ayaya can look amazing even in an odd Tie-dye skirt.



TAGS [ Ayaya ]
Posted Monday, 27th October 2008 01:15 | 3881 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Hello!Blog Server Move

Sunday, 26th October 2008 01:39 | 84 Comments

I've been a little slow on the posts this week, 4 days since my last post, but it's not through a lack of wanting, I've got a ton of things I want to post about Sayumi's new PB, Manoeri's latest single, my thoughts on Ayaya, the new issue of Kindai and finally get up my my post about Yo Yo Girl Cop, but unfortunately I've been a little preoccupied. For sometime now the site has been running slow, it's been a bit up and down, some times it will be fine other times it will take an age to leave a comment or view a page. My hosting company has basically turned around and said that the site has outgrown the shared hosting that it's currently using (lol, with the amount of bandwidth the site uses I'm surprised they haven't raised this issue with me rather than the other way around). So I've gone and bought myself a server and have spent the past week and a bit setting it all up and testing it, tonight I've finally finished. So I now have to make the switch which is going to leave the site down for awhile, from what I understand a maximum of 72 hours (fingers crossed it won't be anywhere near as long).
So in short the site will be down but it will be back up...and fingers crossed if everything goes smoothly a post or two as well ;p

TAGS [ Stuff ]
Posted Sunday, 26th October 2008 01:39 | 6996 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Hangry and Angry Angelia Preview

Wednesday, 22nd October 2008 10:30 | 32 Comments

With today being the 22nd that means it's time to head over to Hangry and Angry's MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/hangryandangry) and check out the song update!
Unfortunately this time around we're not treated to a fall version of one of the songs on the Mini Album, but a short (just over 1 minute) clip of the 2nd track Angelia. Again much like Kill Me Kiss Me the sound is very unique when compared to anything else heard from H!P and reminds very much of something done by Tatu, which is no bad thing, unfortunatly with the preview clip being so short just as I'm getting into the song it ends, but then I guess that's the purpose of teasers like this.


As well as the update on their MySpace page there's also an update within the News section which gives a link to special Hangry and Angry page within the Oricon Website, this gives us a little bit more information about the Mini Album release. For starters it gives us the names of all the tracks that will feature;

01.Kill Me Kiss Me
02.Angelia
03.GIZA GIZA
04.ロマンティックにバイオレンス
05.WALL FLOWER

And even better news is that we don't have to wait long until our next little preview of another track as ロマンティックにバイオレンス will be availble to listen to (presumably an edited version much like MySpace's Angelia as it's titles 'ORICON STYLE Edit Version')on the Oricon website on the 29th, only a week to wait!
There's still the little question of how this will be released as yet I've seen no signs of this in the usual places (CDJapan, YesAsia) and with the rumoured Japan and US release I was wondering if perhaps it would be a download only album, the fact that the album is to be released through Gothuall, an indie label owned by Up Front Works, suggested that perhaps it will be treated much like other similar releases; Manoeri's single only being sold at H!P Events and Rakuten Eagles singles which I'm presuming we're only available via Mail Order from official stockists, I'm thinking that perhaps this will be an album that we'll have to go through Ohta to get. It certainly looks like that the album will be available to in physical form rather than download and that it will be given a little bit more love and care than the standard H!P indie release as under the release and price details of the Mini Album the Oricon website says "with Steel Box, Pass Case", and certainly at 3000yen it had better come with something a little fancy.

TAGS [ Hangry and Angry ]
Posted Wednesday, 22nd October 2008 10:30 | 5360 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

H!P Culling

Monday, 20th October 2008 23:53 | 21 Comments

Sitting down Friday evening during a conversation with Chris about my recent break up with Kat I said jokingly "At least the H!P girls will never leave me", how we laughed, that kind of uneasy laugh as we both wondered "am I actually being serious?"... So as sods law would have it the entire Elder Club will graduate in March next year.

If you haven't already read the article over at Hello!Online here it is, it's quite literally shocking news and it had me staring at my monitor in disbelief for a good 10 minutes. What the hell is going through the minds of those UFA Execs?
With the decline in popularity and eventual cancellation of Haromoni@, V-u-den's disbandment and the complete lack of a Top 10 single position (excluding Ongaku Gatas's first single) from any of the Elder Club members it would seem then that this mass graduation is just another mark in what seems to be the gradual decline in H!P. It's really hard to look on the positive side of things when faced with something like this and it's not only the graduation of the Elder members that has me worried but the curiosity of what happens when members from the three major units Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou and C-ute graduate, is this an end to the graduated solo artist and less major groups as a whole, or is this to be treated as a culling with the H!P population becoming to great and the only way to deal with it is to take out older members, giving the younger (more appealing?) members to grow and take the limelight?
And what will happen with concerts? Although I greatly enjoy the individual group concerts and Wonderful Hearts concerts, it's the massive all member H!P concerts that I enjoy the most, the combination of all the members out in force performing old and new tracks in all manner of line-up combinations is something that I'll really miss after the graduation.

As said in numerous posts that I've read about this, the general lack of information about what is actually happening to these members after they graduate leave the whole situation in a questionable state, numerous quotes from Tsunku's statement got me thinking in a slightly more positive mood.

"...they have realized that it is necessary to smash through the stereotypes that have been built up for them by now..."
Although I love H!P I am fully aware of the stereotypes that are associated with it as a whole, there's the obvious stereotypes that befall them in their current idol status they are required to act, perform and live to a strict set of rules which control not only their working life but their day to day life. Add to this the mix of the stereotypical obsessed wota, it's a clear to see how both these factors can affect the progression of their careers. Much like the Maki, a move to another label and could benefit them greatly.

"...I have big expectations for their future efforts, and I would like to announce my support for these girls..."
This is a clear indication that the girls have plans or are indeed planning plans(?!) for the future, as to whether this is under a UFA or with a totally different agency is yet to be seen, but I feel that it's inevitable that they will cut ties with UFA much like Maki, as it seems slightly pointless to do a mass graduation and then keep them within UFA as it doesn't really release them from those stereotypes mentioned earlier. But what this does mean is that we have the potential to see some of the under used members of the Elder Club (and to be honest who out of the Elder Club isn't under used?) more active and potentially more creative with their works. Personally I'm dying to see what the likes of Ayaya, Mikitty and Nacchi can achieve without the restrictions imposed.
Ongaku Gatas remain a unit that has me wondering though, with the members being a mix of Elders and Eggs and as far as I know Gatas Brilhantes H.P. still existing with the current line up of members, what will be the unit and the Eggs within fate be? Surely they too won't be graduating? And if the Elder members within this unit are still to be included within the line up of Gatas Brilhantes H.P. won't still be in part still within H!P? Does this in itself then mean that perhaps members will not be leaving UFA? I guess with the lack of any solid details it's just a matter or sitting back and waiting.

Looking back through some of the recent units formed it's clear that the Eggs are coming, could their introduction into these units be UFA testing the water before they are unleashed on mass? With the graduation of the Elder club are we in turn gaining new blood into H!P? New faces and a fresh new look, with new solo members and units? Another worry I've been having with this graduation is aside from the three main units left, what else is there? A handful of temporary units based around Anime and a stage show, as proved with the Athena and Robikerottsu what happens if the Anime becomes unpopular or as with all TV shows comes to an end? Personally I've loved all of the recent Anime inspired units and the demise of Athena and Robikerottsu was a sadding thing, as I loved the line up and the cheerful songs they produced. There's just currently no solid unit featuring any of the Eggs aside from Ongaku Gatas and with half the members from this unit graduating what future can the unit possibly have?

One thing that is for certain the lead upto this graduation is going to be an interesting time and I'm hoping we'll see the formation of some new units, seeing the Eggs coming out and taking their positions in more active units and lets not forget that with this mass graduation comes the possibility of the formation of units or one mass Elder Club super unit if their going I'm sure UFA will do it in style, lol it's their last chance to cash in on them so sure as hell hope they do, my fingers are crossed for a single release of an equal greatness as that done by the H.P. All Stars unit with ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!. It's certainly going to be a sad time, but oddly I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen between now and March 31st. Ones thing for certain plans for Japan will be put into action and any questions whether I'd be going to see a Wonderful Hearts Concert or an Elder Club concert have been answered by this news.

TAGS [ Elder Club Hello!Project ]
Posted Monday, 20th October 2008 23:53 | 2926 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

More ~Berikore!~ Tour Merchandise

Thursday, 16th October 2008 11:13 | 57 Comments

Following on from a recent post about the tour merchandise from Berryz Koubou current tour (~Berikore!~ Tour Merchandise) I've just noticed that over on Ohta's eBay Store a few more items from this tour have turned up.
I'm no longer left scratching my head about the lack of towels for this tour as they're now available to buy, I'm a little puzzled as to why they weren't added to the merchandise page on Hello!Project website with the others, but there here now and that's all that really matters. I'm almost certain that I'll be getting a towel, but I need to decide which one to get...Saki or Chinami, Saki or Chinami???...



Oddly, whilst grabbing the photos from the tour page I noticed that the image names for Maasa's and Miyabi's towels were slightly different, so I altered them to fit in with the name pattern of the rest and stumbled across two variant towel designs. As for whether these versions of the towels are for sale I don't know, I'm guessing that they're probably not otherwise they'd be shown on the page and not hidden away, but it'll be a shame if they aren't as personally I prefer these two designs over the other ones.



TAGS [ Berryz Ohta ]
Posted Thursday, 16th October 2008 11:13 | 10949 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Hangry and Angry

Tuesday, 14th October 2008 01:47 | 34 Comments

Words cannot descibe how much I hate MySpace, I loath it (hmm, maybe they can, lol), just hearing somebody say it winds me up. It's one of those sites that everybody (use to) rave on about, much like they now do with FaceBook, that I fail to see the point of. After all these years that it's been up, the site is still unusable and badly designed as it ever was, profiles with auto playing music have me hunting around the screen for the stop button, garish custom colours have me rushing for the close page button. In conclusion it would take something of epic proportions to get me to register add someone as a friend and actually use the site.
It's been an eventful day and as bad as it's been I'd never thought I'd be doing this... *takes a deep breath, heads over to MySpace, registers, verifies email address, leaves a comment*



So we have a new H!P unit, one consisting of two members that I love and one in particular (Yossie) that I've been desperately craving to release a more rocky kind of track and have an image to suit...this is the reason why I've headed over to MySpace, the reason why I've registered, above you'll find their first single Kill Me Kiss Me, but if like me you feel up to heading over to MySpace and showing your support on there, go for it, head over to http://www.myspace.com/hangryandangry sign up and support them, what better way to show our support.
The promotion for the unit is something that interests me greatly, having what I believe to be justified hatred for MySpace I've very rarely used it and as such know only what I've been told about it, I know that it's used by many artists as a means of reaching their fans easily, but I've always understood that this was a very Western thing, no doubt there are many other Japanese artists using this as a means of reaching out to a broader audience but this is the first I've ever heard of something like this, especially from H!P. The fact that the site is in English, perhaps not out of choice but by default (again my lack of knowledge of the site means I don't know for certain) really excites me, could this perhaps be a real attempt to reach out to us?

The style of not only the song but the outfits worn by both Charmy and Yossie are something that also interest me, with that H!P pop image we're so used to, this is an unbelievable step into a style so different that it's bound to attract an audience that potentially are totally unaware of H!P or are aware but aren't keen on them because of their pop nature (I'm thinking more specifically people outside of Japan)?

As far as the song goes, this is what I've been longing to hear for ages, a track that I really think suits Yossie and to a certain extent Charmy, who can not love that slightly scary/cute/sexy image of hers in this. I can't wait for the album release, the PV for this release and as many publicity shots as they want to throw at me!

TAGS [ Hangry and Angry Rika Yossie ]
Posted Tuesday, 14th October 2008 01:47 | 12253 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Dschinghis Khan Tarutaru Mix PV (TV Show Ver)

Monday, 13th October 2008 01:52 | 23 Comments

The more I listen to the Dschinghis Khan Tarutaru Remix the more I'm liking it, although it's not as good as the original it has a certain charm to it that I find with the inclusion of this new PV has had me watching and listening to the song repeatedly for a good few hours.
The thing that I'm most impressed with both the PVs for this release is that they are in fact good. With this being a remix of a previous single I was thinking that this wouldn't be getting the love and attention that a normal release would get. And although both PVs are a rehash of previous videos (well this version does feature some extra footage) with the inclusion of clips from a performance of the original song from German Pop group Dschinghis Khan they both stand on their own feet as amazing videos.

The craziness of the standard PV is still here in this version and even has that same cartoonish/comic book type feel to it, the sheep even make a reappearance albeit a less prominent way and in cartoon form. The thing that really stands out in this version thought is all the new footage, filmed specifically for this release and the integration of this footage into the older live performance of Dschinghis Khan. It's this new footage within this PV that really I'm really enjoying the most, the Berryz girls dancing more to the original than their own with Maasa at the top with a red and yellow cape on performing a similar routine to the caped fellow in the original.

To say it again, this PV is amazing and I am in total shock as to how good it is, it makes me wonder why UFA put so much effort into making such an original and well thought out PV for such a release yet they don't really do the same for standard PVs. Personally I'm dying to see this kind of originality and uniqueness to be put to good use in other releases. On looking it at it Berryz seem to have a good run with creative and just all round decent PVs of late I wonder if this will stick around for their next release and if any of it will spill out onto any of the units, I'm dying to see more than just your standard Dance Shot and Close Up versions, sure there's nothing wrong with them but why can't I bit more effort be put into them as a whole? I know Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance wasn't everybody's idea of a good PV but I found this to be a refreshing change to what seems to be a somewhat repetitive nature of PV releases.



TAGS [ Berryz PV ]
Posted Monday, 13th October 2008 01:52 | 3446 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

C-ute Concert Shirt

Friday, 10th October 2008 01:33 | 21 Comments

C-ute's latest t-shirt has a really amazing design, the simplicity of the design really drew me into it but when it arrived in the post on Saturday I was really shocked at how good the design really was. Although the idea is simple with the C for C-ute on the front, it's not until seeing it up close that I realised that it's composed of a flower print which really looks amazing.
The only thing I'd say as a possible down point to the shirt is that it's odd shade of grey, personally I love grey shirts but every grey shirt I own isn't a solid color like this, it would have also been great to have seen this shirt available in some different colours.


Much like the last set of C-ute photos I received (Kohachan And C-ute Shirts) these are simply beautiful, so much so that when I first saw them in a post on MorningBerryz blog I was gob smacked and again much like the shirt seeing them in front of me just impressed me more, I just can't get over how much they've images have developed recently. Haggity seems to be ageing so quickly in every photo I see. Erika as ever looks stunning (UFA WHERE'S HER PB!!!???), Nakki...her smile is just a killer and in this shot it's quite possibly the best that I've seen it.
Although I've found it really hard to choose a favourite photo out of these I've managed to settle on one, Chisa. In past posts I've commented on her hair and on how I'm not overly keen on it, but seeing this photo changes my whole opinion on the matter, she needs keep it exactly like this! This photo has got me so excited that I really can't wait to receive her individual shirt from this tour, if the photos are anything like this WOW!



TAGS [ C-ute Ohta ]
Posted Friday, 10th October 2008 01:33 | 3531 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Pepper Keibu Limtied CDs

Monday, 6th October 2008 02:31 | 51 Comments

I had started to think that my postman was beginning to hate me and who could really blame him with the amount of parcels that turn up at my house he must be thinking "Not another one!". But yesterday after what has felt like ages of waiting, just as I was getting ready to leave the house there he was with two packages, as it turns out both my YesAsia order and my C-ute shirt from Ohta arrived at the same time. Also at the start of the week I got another package from Ohta, which was Koharu's Special Edition Making Of DVD, so in all it's been a pretty good week for H!P merchandise, although I'm still waiting on Ohta to send out my Chisa tshirt, thinking about it I should really send him an email and see if he can get Manoeri's new single for me.


Morning Musume's new single Pepper Keibu has been a great relief for me as it's given me the reassurance that I've needed that the wonderful packaging of their releases hasn't totally vanished for good, this releases is back to a single DVD release, a release with booklet and a cardboard case and the regular CD. For people that don't buy the CDs I'd imagine that this little difference in how these items are released is a trivial affair, but for me (as is proved by the numerous times I've repeated myself on the matter) I've grown accustom to the high quality of these releases that it's a shame if they were to disappear, as half the appeal of these releases is the packaging and the included booklet.
As ever the inlays and booklet feature some amazing shots of the girls, the only question I have is why doesn't Gakisan stand up? In all of the full body shots (and by the looks of it some of the head shots) she's doing practically the same pose, whilst everybody else is attempting something slightly different. Gaki's hair is something I'm not overly keen on, it gives me the impression that she should be covered head to toe in gold chains and Burberry and bowling out of some dodgy estate :S
The group shots within the booklet look amazing and I'm glad to see that the cover of the Limited B release features a large group shot photo as I think this has much more of impact than the other covers.


The Limited A type comes with a DVD which features interviews with the girls and some footage of the girls at the photo shoot for the cover and inlay of the singles. As ever with these type on bonus material I'm wishing I had a good knowledge of Japanese as I'm always interested to know what's being said in these interviews. The opening with Reina and Mittsi is really cute and I've found myself watching this little segment over and over again, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Mittsi's voice. The DVD goes to show that infact Gakisan hasn't lost the ability to stand upright and with her winning smile she even manages to look great with her haircut, is there anything that smile can't do?


The single has done quite well in it's first week in the charts, coming in at a respectable No.3 it's fairly safe to say that the blip that was Mikan is looking like it won't be repeated, but looking at this weeks sales a thought crops in to my mind that always seems to crop up with every H!P release recently and that's the rapid drop after the first week of sales. Although getting a top 5 release is great to see, I'd love to see a H!P releases stay within the top 10 for a bit longer...but then on saying that I don't really follow the Oricon chart in any great depth only having a look when H!P singles are released and this may indeed be a common trend with Japanese music, although I'm doubting that.

TAGS [ CD DVD Morning Musume ]
Posted Monday, 6th October 2008 02:31 | 5637 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Tan Tan Taan! Full PV

Thursday, 2nd October 2008 00:49 | 29 Comments

The first thing I noticed about Milky Way's new single Tan Tan Taan! was the similarities between it and the previous single Anataboshi, the star shaped tambourine's remain as do the headsets, this for me was quite a surprise as I would have thought that with a single like this with it's Anime ties and kid fans the whole toy/accessory angle was something that would change with each release, hordes of kids bombarding their parents with requests for the new Kirarin Revolution tambourine and headset was something I thought would be happening with each release to help cash in on the singles and the unit. Also the familiar tambourine sound is there at the start, I was half expecting the song to carry straight over into an upbeat jigg much like Anataboshi, but that's where the similarities end, this song is so different from not only the previous Milky Way single but also those released by Koha, it's such a calming song! Although the song wasn't what I was expecting it's still a great track, with the only possible downside being that I'm not overly keen on the "Yayyyyy!" parts as they sound a but squeally but that's a minor problem for me and something that I'll probably completely forget about the more I listen to it.
As ever with the Kirarin Revolution releases I really enjoy the outfits worn, specifically Koharu's, I love seeing Koha in these PVs as the costumes always (well nearly always...Balalaika's costume is the only let down) look amazing on her, and the great thing with this release is that the outfits worn were designed by a fan, sadly I know very little details of who this was, but it would be great to find out and I'd certainly like to check out some of the other entries, so I'll be keeping my eye out. But credit where credits due, the costumes looks amazing and the girls looks amazing, although I have one slight gripe with them...I can't see Saaya's abs, which is a little disappointing as I so loved them in the last PV.



CD Release Date : 29 - 10 - 08    DVD Release Date : 05 - 11 - 08
I was keeping my fingers crossed that either the Limited Edition CD or the Single V for this release would include some footage of some of the other costume entries, as I think it would make a great added extra, but it looks like it's a standard affair with the bonus card included in the Limited Release and a Making Of in the Single V. I'm curious to watch the Single V release as I really want to see if both Saaya and Kikka have gained confidence around the camera, as with the last Making Of Koha was clearly in charge of the screen.


Milky Way - Tan Tan Taan! (Regular CD)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

Milky Way - Tan Tan Taan! (Limited CD + Card)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

Milky Way - Tan Tan Taan! (Single V)
Amazon | CDJapan | YesAsia

TAGS [ Milky Way PV ]
Posted Thursday, 2nd October 2008 00:49 | 4189 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment