December 2009

11 Results Found

Happy X'Mas

Saturday, 26th December 2009 03:59 | 22 Comments

A very short and slightly late post (considering it's now Boxing Day) but Happy XMas!!!

To give the post that H!Pness it needs, here's a short little message from Hangry & Angry made available by the lovely people who are pushing them in Europe, Gan-Shin.


It's always amusing when any of the H!P girls talk english, it's just one of them enjoyable moments where you can sit back and have a little giggle at accents and in particular moments like this where it's actually been done to engage with an English speaking audience (although interestingly Gan-Shin is a German company) a sense of happiness that the effort has been put in for us.

I really enjoy the awkwardness of this video, I especially love Yossie first message which I can only make out as "Celebrate it with you love it once", I know what she's meant to be saying but LOL! Luckily this has been edited together a lot better than their previous English message (I would post a link but I seem to have lost it) where after the message they just kind of sat there and looked really uncomfortable for a good few seconds before the clip ended.

It's great to see that Hangry & Angry are still being pushed to a Western audience, but what interests me more is that this appearing on Gan-Shin rather than on the JapanFiles website, could this be an indication that they'll be returning to Europe again before they go to America? I'm hoping this might be the case, I still want them to appear in the States, I'm dying for an excuse to meet back up with all the fans I met at AX (and the non-Europeans I met at Chibi Japan), but it's a lot easier (and cheaper) for me to travel around Europe than it is to go to the States... lol, although I think the coach ride to France took about the same time as it took me to fly to LA :S But the US has already had both Morning Musume and Hangry & Angry, whilst Europe have only had the latter and a cancelled Buono! concert, we need something to even things out a little bit :D
I'm still presuming that with Gan-Shin being a German company and the site itself saying they are "working hard to bring this unique duo to germany", that the next European appearance they make will be in Germany. I need to start having a look to see when the next expo is happening there, I'm guessing they won't break from the current trend of appearing at these.

TAGS [ Hangry and Angry ]
Posted Saturday, 26th December 2009 03:59 | 1819 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Buono! 2009 Winter Fiesta Tour Goods

Tuesday, 22nd December 2009 23:26 | 45 Comments

One of the many things that have puzzled with Hello!Project tour merchandise is the complete lack (well at least I've never seen any before) of hoddies. Whenever I've been to a concert in the UK I always see hoodies alongside the tshirts, but there's been a total lack of any from any of the H!P tours. Especially this time of year I'm all for a nice bagggy hoddie to keep me warm, for awhile now I've just had to sit back and enjoy my Thundercats one although it is getting a bit tatty... and my advice if you see any stains on it, don't ask XD

But, with Buono!'s upcoming tour it looks like we're finally going to be treated to one. Over in Ohta's eBayStore he's recettly put up a selection of goods which include the hoodie, along with; phone straps, towels, a tshirt, visual books and DVD magazines.
The usual trouble with using Ohta crops up, as Hexi points out in her Buono! tour goods! post. I'm currently debating whether or not to spend £76 on a hoodie, I guess it's not so much the price but the total blind purchase. The graphic provided isn't a photo and I'm not quite sure if we're seeing the front or the back (I'm guessing the front?) but most of all is the complete lack of any knowledge of the quality. There's a reason I paid £10 for my Thundercats one and thats because aside from the massive logo on the chest it's pretty bab, I'd be mightly pissed off if it turned up and ended up being the same quality.

But I guess it's one of those things, I know if I don't grab it I'll be mightly dissapointed, I know I own no where near as much Buono! merchandise as I'd like and most importantly I do need a new hoodie. Damn it, I think I'm just going to do it and keep my fingers crossed.



TAGS [ Buono! Ohta ]
Posted Tuesday, 22nd December 2009 23:26 | 4255 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

SHOCK! Full PV

Tuesday, 22nd December 2009 04:04 | 23 Comments

As sad as the departures of Kanna and Erika were from C-ute I was excitied to see how this shift in the amount of members within the unit would affect the single releases. Less members means less lines to share, so in theory the remaining girls should all get an increase in lines and screen time... if this release is anything to go by, the only thing that seems to be happening is that Airi is being pushed to the front even more than usual, so much so that even Maimi falls into the same 'backing dancers' type role of Nakki, Chisato and Hagitty.

As ever with single releases if you're a fan of the member that gets the most lines then all is good in the world, there's no room for complaint. But, if you're not then, things take a different angle. Personally, I've never been the greatest Airi fan. Within C-ute I've never really seen her appeal, obviously I like her, C-ute wouldn't be my current favourite unit if I didn't, she's a very central member within the group, if not THE central member within the group. Within Buono! my love for her is growing in every respect, so much so that she may even be taking over Momo as my favourite memeber within the unit.
But for me, with this C-ute release it's really pushing things a little too far, I don't want to appear to be dishing out the hate to Airi, that's far from what I want to do, she's an amazingly talented girl and to be fair I actually like the song so in that respect I've got no complaints. It's more whoever sat down and decided that Airi needed more lines, it's all a little crazy, they've lost 2 members why would they then go and push everyone else to the back and just focus on one member? Surely this is the time to embrace the remaining members?
It would however be totally awesome if this was the start of a seriosu singles where each of the girls get a single essentially to themselves, I know it's not going to happen that kind of thing is reserved for album tracks.

I'm sure i'm not going to be the first one to have mentioned this, but does anyone feel like they're watching the opening credits to a James Bond movie when the song starts up? I've heard rip offs before (didn't someone do a rip of the Shaft them tune...of was that Asami Abe? can't quite remember now) but this one does confuse me a little, it just sounds odd. But once I get over that I only have to deal with hearing ever so quitely under the chorus.
The unfortunate thing is that although I'm keen on the song it's quite possibly the weakest C-ute song that I've heard in such a long time. Hmph, I have to say that I'm dissapointed after seeing the SHOCK! logo and the outfits the girls were wearing I had really high hopes, I just feel a little let down.



CD Release Date : 06 - 01 - 2010    DVD Release Date - 13 - 01 - 2009

C-ute - SHOCK! (Regular CD)


C-ute - SHOCK! (Limited CD + DVD)


C-ute - SHOCK! (Single V)


TAGS [ C-ute PV ]
Posted Tuesday, 22nd December 2009 04:04 | 2101 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Concert Tour 2009 Aki -Omoi Afurete- Preview

Saturday, 19th December 2009 02:43 | 58 Comments

As much as I love all of Hello!Project and it's associated units and soloists I find that at times when I'm in a particular mood there are certain artists that I love to listen to more than others. At the top of that list is Ayaya.
Her music has such a great affect on me, especially her later albums and concerts. I especially like listening to Ayaya when I'm feeling down or in a mood, if I've had a bad day at work a listen to Omoi Afurete on the train home will make everything better, if I'm feeling down a watch of her concert puts me into an odd mood. It's a mood that's hard to explain, it doesn't make me feel happy as such, but gives me a realisation that things will be all right. I'm sure I must be sounding like a complete idiot right about now lol, but I'm not entirely sure how to word it.

I've been in a mood the past few weeks, at the moment things are extremely hectic (lack of sleep, lots of work, arguments and just generally busy, busy, busy) and I've found on the odd occasion I've directed this mood at people that don't nessacrily deserve it. Nacchi has been doing her best to try and sort this out, lol she's my number two when it comes to things like this. And I have to say that her Summer Live Tour 2009 - Yappari Sneaker ga Suki! - Tour Final "Aratana Chikai" DVD has really hit the spot at times, it's really a killer concert! But, there's places that only Aya can reach (damn, I wished XD) and having packed all of my DVDs away just the thought of trying to hunt down one of her concerts fills me with the dread of tidying after, so I'm quietly waiting until the 23rd when her Concert Tour 2009 Aki - Omoi Afurete - DVD is released and I can overdose on Ayaya.
But, whilst I wait :::Dohhh Up!::: like any good dealer has seen me showing signs of Ayaya withdrawl symptons and to feed my habit for another week they've put up a little preview! It really doesn't dissapoint!

Right from the first few seconds just the sound of the guitar sends shivers down my spine and makes my skin all tingly and all this before Ayaya starts to sing. And when she does, heh it's exactly what I need. It hits the spot perfectly, audable and visual perfection! She even manages to make that odd sparkly skirt and clown bow tie look good.

I need this concert!...And now the more I think about it, maybe I'll go with an Ayaya calendar this year.



DVD Release Date : 23 - 12 - 2009
Matsuura Aya - Concert Tour 2009 Aki -Omoi Afurete-


TAGS [ Ayaya DVD Nocchi ]
Posted Saturday, 19th December 2009 02:43 | 5679 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Boooooooooo!

Wednesday, 16th December 2009 02:45 | 55 Comments

That is aimed directly at Viddler, who wonderously and without any prompting not only removed all of my uploaded videos but also my account, thanks guys!

Oh well, it happens to all of us at some point. But I had thought that Viddler was a safe haven for the vids as I'd never received any copyright infringement emails, like I did on Veoh... Although I never got any emails about any actual Hello! Project videos from Veoh just ones which featured members on TV shows, the PVs and the like always seemed to be fairly happy on there.

So it's time to hunt for another video hosting site that has an equal amount of cool features as Viddler, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, if possibly I want to stay away from both YouTube and Veoh I don't really get on too well with either of them, I can't stand the YouTube player and the quality of Veoh seems to have dropped stupidly since I first started using it... which is a real shame as I still rate as one of the most feature rich players (but the adverts got annoying as well...are they still there?).

Well this means that the fancy new video section I sat down and worked on when improving the site is now pretty much defunct until I get the videos back up, tagged and searchable. I may just upload them straight to my site, at least that way I know one can remove them, but it does mean however I have to write myself a complete video search, tagging (and all that stuff) facility, lol I was kinda hoping for a quiet Xmas but it looks like I may be stuck in front of my laptop coding away. Lol, I love it really, I'm such a geek!!

Sorry for the lack of videos :(

TAGS [ Stuff ]
Posted Wednesday, 16th December 2009 02:45 | 2731 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Hello! Project 2010 Diaries

Friday, 11th December 2009 14:06 | 43 Comments

It's that time of year where I particularly look forward to checking out the items over at HelloShop, mainly because I'm always after a Hello! Project scarf this time of year, there's something I find quite pleasing about wrapping around your fave members scarf aroung your neck and heading out into the Winter weather. As yet I've seen no scarfs (fingers crossed they'll be up soon don't they know it's getting cold?!...I haven't missed them have I?) but there's always the yearly diaries!

As tempted as I've been to buy a Hello! Project diary each year I see them, the style of them generally always puts me off of them. I only use a diary for work and the style of previous years one don't really convey a professional image XD (H!P Mouse Mats and Filofax)
These on the other hand look amazing, sure they're not a glaringly obvious H!P product but it's the subtly I like, with all the units written on the front and Hello! Project written along the spine if you know what you're looking for it's obvious enough.
It's one of those items, like my Koharu Rubix Cube keyring that on first glance people don't pay any attention to, it's shrugged off as a bog standard unintersting keyring but it's when people taking a second closer look that they pick up an interest in it and the questions start flowing, and I imagine much the same would happen with this diary.

What I am curious to know is if there is somewhere inside to store the photo? That would really make it for me if it did.
As I'm getting paid at the middle of next week, I think I'm going to treat myself to one as the likelyhood of any H!P presents this year are extrememly slim (well I say that, I know my Xmas present from MorningBerryz is currently sitting in the post office, so perhaps not that slim?) but the decision on who to choose is a tough one, even more so usual.
The three units have increasingly growing close together in my liking, as has the members within the units. There was a time when the Morning Musume girls would all be at the top of the list with perhaps the odd Berryz Koubou or C-ute member popping their heads in, but lately there's a good mix with the likes of Nakki, Chisato, Chinami and Momo all being up there with LinLin, Gaki and Sayu. And even if i was going to put the choice down to just who has the best photo, well that's just equally as tough if not harder, because if that's the case then I'd have to throw Risako and Airi into the mix as well.

I'm know doubt going to ponder over this one all weekend, although I think I might be edging towards Gaki's, Linlin's or Chisato at the moment.



TAGS [ Berryz C-ute Hello!Project Mano Erina Morning Musume ]
Posted Friday, 11th December 2009 14:06 | 5597 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Nacky Preview

Wednesday, 9th December 2009 15:12 | 38 Comments

Finally we see the release of one of my most anticipated PB's in quite some time... well, since Chinami released hers). Nakki's debut photobook 'Nacky' is released today!
And to top it all off :::Dohhh Up!::: put a preview of the Special Edition DVD release availble through e-LineUP!.
From the handful of preview shots I've seen of this release and obviously the preview clip below, it looks like this release is going to be everything I've been anticipating and more. Nakki looks amazing, personally I think she kicks the arse of all the other C-ute girls when it comes to looks, but then I am totally addicted to her smile so maybe that sways me?
Some of the scans that I've seen so far (Shirow at wotakunow.co.uk has some up) look vaguely similar to shots I've seen in other PBs, specifically Konkon's and Sayu's and I'm sure that cheerleader outfit was either in one of Eri's PBs or used in Haromoni@ one of the two, but that's not really a bad thing, Nakki's able to give her own edge to it all.

This was another PB release that I'd thought I would have to pass on for a while (along with Sayu's latest and the debut's of both Hagitty and Chinami) but luckily I managed to wangle myself a copy *phew* I would have been seriously dissapointed at myself if after moaning for ages that she needs a PB release and when it finally happens I just passed it over.

I'm totally in love with the cover of the PB, a close up of Nakki's face... she has the most amazing eyes to go along with that smile <3


Saki Nakajima - Nacky PB


Saki Nakijama- Nacky Special Edition Making Of DVD


This DVD is only available through e-LineUP!, they will be taking orders between December 9th, 2009 12:00 - January 3rd, 2010 22:00, shipping out on the February 10th, 2010. If you're after a copy I'd say your best best is to give Ohta a shout.

TAGS [ DVD Nakki PB ]
Posted Wednesday, 9th December 2009 15:12 | 2805 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Koha, You'll Be Missed

Sunday, 6th December 2009 03:02 | 56 Comments

Losing an idol is like losing a close friend. It's going to sound silly to people who aren't 'into' idols as much as us Hello! Project fans are, but it's true. Sure, the real Koharu may be nothing like what we see on out TV (monitor) screens, but that doesn't stop us from growing attached to her any less. Koharu has given me quite literally days upon days worth of entertainment and joy and I for one am really going to miss her.
Fingers crossed this won't be 'The End' but more of a 'To Be Continued...', but the unfortunate thing is that I know she's going to drift away from me, or more accuratly that I will drift away from her. I've said it before when talking about graduating members, and that's as much as I want to keep my attention on her I know I'm not, a mixture of how hard it is to keep track of any graduated idol outside of H!P (even the likes of Aibon still aludes me the majority of the time, and let's not forget she was probaly THE IDOL for me) and to put it bluntly things change. Haha, I'm amused at how seriously I'm taking this, I feel like I'm treating it like an actual person I know is up and leaving, but then aren't I the guy that almost broke down into tears over the Aibon scandal and for a good few days sunk into a moody state when I heard that W was to be put on hold?
I like to think at times that I'm not that much of a fan, as silly as that may sound given all the obvious reasons screaming the exact opposite. But, it's at times like this that I realise that I'm sucked into this whole thing more than I like to say... Again I've mentioned in other posts, but I remember staring in amusement at the TV when Take That split up and wondering why someone felt the need to setup a support line for grieving fans, now obviously I'm far from being in that kind of state, but to a certain extent I can see where they were coming from. H!P and the idols within, play such an important part in my life, as raised by Chris this evening when discussing some fantasy reality where I was dating Vicky Blows (can I please live in this reality?!) and she asked me if I could stop with the H!P or that would be it, my answer was a firm "No"... these girls mean a lot to me, more so than any hobby or interest I've had before and it would seem more than a girl with one of the most amazing bodies on this planet.

So, I guess it's time to wave farewell to Koha and hope that at some point in the future she'll do the equivalent of bumping into me in the street and saying "Hi!", by appearing in a magazine or TV show that I accidentally (or purposely) stumble accross, I can sit back and see how she's changed, be reminded of her times within H!P and how she was the first idol that I fully got to experience all the ups and downs from start to finish with, but also look on and see how she's changed her and how she's grown. I've no doubt that with her personality and experience she can move her career into what ever direction she chooses and not only that, but she'll do it with amazing success.

And to leave it, her first solo single PV Koi Kanna. For me nothing from her solo career beats this, no song, no PV, no outfit, nothing. This in my opinion is Koha at her very best, she'll be greatly missed.



TAGS [ Koharu PV ]
Posted Sunday, 6th December 2009 03:02 | 5641 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Bravo Bravo Full PV

Saturday, 5th December 2009 03:23 | 15 Comments

Ah, Buono!. The unit that took 3 of my least favourite members out of C-ute and Berryz Koubou and allowed them to work their charm on me. Although I've still not toally warmed up to MiyabiMomo and Airi I'm still totally in love with them and I think it's now time to switch my favourite Buono! member from the little shorty that is Momo and over to the little cut-ie that is Airi.

Bravo Bravo has one of the best openings to any Buono! song I've heard. Why? Well, when it kicks in the first two seconds sound like it's about to kick into Melon Kinenbi collaberation single with NEW ROTE'KA, Pich Wa Chance, Baka ni Narouze!, then comes the unmistakable sound of Buono! with the cute sounding P·A·T·I chant, going straight back into intro to Pich Wa Chance, Baka ni Narouze! I don't think I've expressed (well not on the here at least) how much I love Melon Kinenbi's collab singles, expect a post about it over the next week, I best stop otherwise i'll just waffle on about them instead of Buono!... *waits till the end of Pich Wa Chance, Baka ni Narouze! PV before carrying on typing*

The thing I really really love about Buono! is the security they give me, unlike the other units where there's always the possibilty I could be underwellmed by the song or the quality of the PV (unfortunaly Morning Musume seems to fall into both these categories far too often for me this year) there's no such worry with Buono! to the extent that I just know that I'm going to love what ever they do.
When this PV was put up on :::Dohhh Up!::: I was sat in work with my boss sitting opposite me, normally this isn't a problem although I don't regulary slap on H!P when he's around, more of a respect type thing I generally won't play any videos if he's around and I'm supposed to be working, I have been known to listen to the odd song whilst he's around. This week (and last) however have been different with both of us literally at each others throats, so I chose to listen to it when I got home. That evening however I was heading around to see Chris so I got in changed and headed straight out, no Buono for me.
Lugging myself upstairs and plonking my laptop on the side, Chris said something to me that I don't hear too often, infact so rarely that I think the last time I heard it was when C-ute released Lalala Shiawase no Uta. He said something like "This new song is quite good", I looked puzzeldly at him totally forgetting that I'd updloaded Bravo Bravo earlier that day and then realised when he started playing it. A songs got to be good when it gets the Chris approval XD Although I don't think he rates higher than SNSD's Gee. The only possible downside to his comment was that it sounded very 'American' as to whether that's a bad thing I'm not to sure, as I love their blend of American and JPop sound.

Watching the PV really does make me sad, not becuase I don't like it, it's up there with every other PV they're ever made, the split between the rocky Buono! and the cute Buono! is handled perfectly with the split screens, it's more a realisation of what we missed out on earlier this year, damn you Stockholm Expo I'd kill to see Buono! live and you had to go and cancel the whole event! Buono! need to come back to Europe! Sod it, bring them around mine and we can have super intimate concert XD
The PV has all the elements that make this unit one of the best within the H!P, they have the mix just right. Cute, sexy, fun, humour and seriousness all rolled into one amazing package and I guess it's not just the PV that this comes out in, it's the song as well and their personailites. Damn it, if it wasn't so late I'd whipping out the Buono! concert DVD and cry into my G&T as to how badly I want to see these live.

Ahhh, Airi... How great does she look in this? I much prefer in the rockier side than on the cheerleader side (Miyabi totally owns the cheerleader side of things) her hair looks the best I've ever seen it, it's not the cute Airi that I'm used to seeing but a more sexier mature look, plus loving the socks and heals!! And look at that look she gives the camera over Momo's shoulder at about 3:06...



CD Release Date : 16 - 12 - 2009    DVD Release Date : 22 - 12 - 2009

Buono! - Bravo Bravo (CD Release)


Buono! - Bravo Bravo (CD + DVD Limited Release)


Buono! - Bravo Bravo (Single V Release)



TAGS [ Buono! PV ]
Posted Saturday, 5th December 2009 03:23 | 2293 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Cracktastic Koha Weekend Gets Downgraded

Thursday, 3rd December 2009 03:06 | 22 Comments

So you may have read on here about the planned meet up of some UK H!P fans, it was decided that as Koharu would be graduating soon we'd name the meet after her, Cracktastic Koha's Craze Addiction!. However the weekend was downgraded to a Mittsi weekend, which was perhaps a little harsh... I quite like Mittsi XD
This 2nd meetup was a two parter, Saturday; some Karaoke and drink fest, Sunday; another little drinky and the Grand Cosplay Ball.

With the meet spanning two days it meant that those of us coming down that didn't live near London or it was just simply too expensive to head down on the train on both days booked some hotels rooms, these were booked in the lovely area (and by lovely I mean....) of Clapham, those staying in the hotel headed there first whilst the rest prepared ourselves for the day ahead.
Before meeting everyone I perused the local sex shops, I think I impressed CDevil with my expert knowledge of Harmonys shop layout. Grabbing the final parts to my cosplay, 4 rolls of bondage tape, I headed to the counter and made idle chit chat with the guy behind it, I couldn't bring myself to disappoint him when he saw all the tape I was buying, especially when he heard I was planning on using it all this weekend, he thought I had a weekend of kinky pleasures ahead of me (hopefully he didn't think it involved CDevil, lol you're a great guy an all, but you're just not my type ;P)... unfortunatly I had a weekend of cosplay ahead XD
CDevil, Tasukidaisuki, Tammy and myself all met up at the new and improved Japan Centre Food section now located in it's own special shop. This was the first time I've been to the Japan Centre since this part has had it's relocation and I have to say it's fairly impressive, it's much larger and filled with even more snacks and drinks to tuck into and having zero will power I grabbed some sweets and a Yakisoba Pan to help fill the gap before Pizza.

With the lack of any Japanese songs at the last Karaoke meet we decided that a new venue was called for, so we booked a room at Karaoke Epoc. Having no bar meant that drinks worked out quite cheap as we stocked up on booze from Tesco before hand, grabbing 15 Carlsbergs and 15 Boddingtons for a bargain price of £15, 50p a can!! All we needed to make this like my teenage days was some bottles of White Lightning!! Buying the beer actually made my day, as I was ID'd at the counter. The odd thing is it seems to be becoming a regular occurance now when drinking down London, I was ID'd at the door of the cosplay Ball, although to be fair I'm fairly certain the guy gave up on me when he compared my ID to how I actually looked...with a face covered in paint and a totally screwed up haircut I could have giving him anyones ID and blagged it. A few weeks back I also got ID'd yet again when trying to grab a drink in the Moon Under Water in Leicester Square, personally I'm puzzled, I wonder if I'm shrinking XD

The Karaoke room we had booked was huge, which to be fair it had to be as there was 12 people coming along. The equipment and amount of songs available was really impressive, there was a great catalogue of Japanese music; ranging from Morning Musume and other JPop to Anime themes and war songs, a range of great and fairly random English songs and to top it all off a selection of Korean music including The Wonder Girls, it was a shame that they had no Kara as I was totally up for giving Pretty Girl an attempt...well I say that now.
My singing is crap, totally and unquestionably crap, and it's not that I'm a bad singer it's literally that I just can't sing. It's something that I know and at times, normally when I've had a drink or two, embrace. However I don't think there's enough drink in the world that will get me up and singing a Hello! Project, a lack of knowledge of the language isn't really an issue as we had printed out the lyrics, it was more for my love of the music. My karaoke songs are always pure cheese and there's a reason for it, I don't want to murder a good song and so I stayed clear of H!P, choosing instead to do a bit of Kula Shaker, Monkey Majik and the theme from Monkey. Others, with abilities way above mine sang all manner of Japanese songs, including songs by Morning Musume, Koharu's solo songs and some AKB48.

The reason for the downgrade to a Mittsi weekend was in part due to the lateness of those staying in the hotel, what can I say...? I'll keep it simple and I'm sure every guy reading this will understand when I say this, girls.. Lampshade however having power walking skills equal to that of Harold Bishop actually managed to turn up an hour before all the others and got in a couple of songs and even managed to polish off a bottle of plum wine alongside some beers. The rest of the gang (Matt_D, Steph, Sam, Emi and Lauren) turned up with about 30-40 mins to spare, a beer each and quick song and it was time to go. Unfortuantly a short while after everyone turned up TD had to shoot briefly as she had take Tammy home, although TD wasn't showing off her legendary drinking skills this weekend (as she'd managed to single handedly destroy a night club the previous night before ;P) Tammy stepped up to the mark and got totally smashed! Wandering around and hugging everyone, letting us know how totally awesome we were. To be fair I was expecting that if anyone was going to get that drunk that someone would be me, next time maybe lol.
Drinks, pizza, random chat and even a stop in the torrential rain to stare at boots in a window (girls.. lol) ensued, with us eventually meeting back up with TD and heading to the Trocadero. CDevil grabbed his ticket to the ball and we browsed Claire's (or was it Accessorize?) for some star shaped ear rings for CDevils High King cosplay, it was fairly amusing watching a member of staff head over to us and ask if we needed any help. Whilst CDevil headed off I tried on some hats to see if any suited me, as I was hoping to have something to cover up the scary haircut I had planned the following day...if you can belive it, girls hats don't suit me :(
The night finished with some drinks in the Trocadero and Matt_D almost getting in a fight with every security guard in the building, for some reason he just drew them all in.

Sunday, the day of the Ball. From my experience of the ball there's two types of cosplayers, those that enjoy it and make the effort and me XD This was my first ever attempt at anything Cosplay related. I'm going to hold my hand up and admit it, I'm not really a fan of Cosplay. Well technically that's a bit of a lie, I like cosplay for two reasons, attractive girls + cosplay = WIN! and secondly, I enjoy a good laugh and quite a large amount of cosplays fall into that category for me.

I have zero skills in making anything clothes related and the manga that I read are fairly absent of any outstanding costumes to wear, so I went with a character off of Oha Star, a character I was into even before I was into H!P, Tekken. My thinking was simple, a bit of face paint sorted! Upon thinking about it I thought that I may need to do a little more than this, so I held out on getting my haircut so that I could chop it off for the Sunday and get something similar to that of Tekken's, unfortunatly I ended up looking more like Keith from the Progidy, but in the end it all looked pretty good. And the bondage tape even made a pretty good (if cheap and amusing looking) attempt of what he normally wears.
For me things started off bad, after meeting up with Matt_D, Lampshade and CDevil I went to there hotel rooms bathroom to apply my facepaint, with seconds of me stepping into the bathroom the paints were all sitting at the bottom of the toilet, I'm hoping that it was the yellow escaping that gave the water it's colour....

With my face all made up and the guys all kitted out in their SHIPS and High King cosplays we headed to the ball. For those of you who've never been to Croydon let me give you some advice, if you have a haircut like a member of Progidy and your face painted, if you have sparkly pink trousers on, a sparkly hat and a feather boa or you decide to wear a hat, a bright red body warmer and shorts (with it being the middle of Winter) do not, I repeat DO NOT walk the streets XD
In all honesty it wasn't that bad, we got the odd look, which is perfectly understandable, and I was only approached by three 8 year olds for a fight XD For some reason, which I can't quite understand it was my outfit of shirt, trousers and shoes with just a painted face and dodgy haircut which shocked these kids, they saw me and their reaction was "WOAH!" they all came walking over asking if I "wanted a fight?!". As tempting as it was to punch them all squarly in the face I thought better of it, I don't have much of a reputation to uphold but I'm fairly positive being found stabbed to death by three 8 year olds outside Croydon station with a bag of bondage tape and my face painted isn't going to do me many favours.

Getting into the Ball I whipped out the tape and started mummifying myself, it actually got quite a reaction some random came over and helped wrap me up, the staff and people by the food counter were also equally intrigued. I learnt a lesson that night, don't wear bondage tape over your clothes for 6 hours straight, you get very hot and sweaty!
The ball itself was 'interesting'. It wasn't really my thing, but it was still a very enjoyable evening. Much like the nights at Fuyucon and Anime Expo, the music at times were a little to be desired, why have an event like this and not play Japanese music? Why have a Disney Medley? Why have a fat and unattractive Burlesque dancer in a thong 3 sizes to small for her? Why is a bottle of beer £4? Why have a strange throw back from the 80s whose not quite good enough to be in a boy band hosting it? Why was one packet of Sainsbury's Rick Crackers £2? Am I the only person that seems unable to dance to the Azumanga Daioh theme?

Hahaha, ok I'm making it sound a lot worse than it was and as I say I had a really good time, I just feel that at times at event like this a little bit more effort could be put in at times, as much as I like Bon Jovi I don't really want to be singing and dancing to it at an event like this.

With the night coming to an end with Choco singing the final song, we all gathered at the front of the stage to show her some support, we waved our hands and cheered as she sung a song from a Final Fantasy game (I've no idea which one lol). When it was over me and CDevil managed to lose everyone, but luckliy found ourselves in a kebab shop :D We sneakily made our way back to Matt_D and Lampshade's room where we was greated by a semi naked Matt_D half asleep looking slightly puzzled as to why we was knocking on his door (haha, you don't know how tempted I was to post that photo we took of you), in we walked collapsing on the floor ready for our few hours sleep.


For those of you in the UK that are intersted in the next meet Matt_D has already put into action a play for the Koha Rerun which is on the 30th January 2010, drink, karaoke, food and bowling. So if you're around come on down we know for sure they'll be some Morning Musume for you to sing at Karaoke!

TAGS [ Fan Meetup High King Koharu Mittsi Stuff ]
Posted Thursday, 3rd December 2009 03:06 | 2425 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment

Aibon Reference in Eyeshield 21

Tuesday, 1st December 2009 02:06 | 42 Comments

So a fairly random post, I've been watching the Eyeshield 21 anime over on Crunchyroll for sometime now. I remember when they made that Morning Musume announcement sometime ago this was what got me into purchasing a subscription. I'd totally forgotten why I knew this show, I knew that Chris had started reading the manga sometime ago and just presumed that it was a "I remember Chris saying this was quite good let's give it a go". But having managed to hunt down a copy of the 1st manga I now know why I remember this, Aibon reference!!
What better excuse to read a manga than an ex member of Morning Musume is referenced once in it XD But aside from that it's a great watch (and presumably read) and this is coming from someone that can't stand American Football. Random post over :D



TAGS [ Aibon Stuff ]
Posted Tuesday, 1st December 2009 02:06 | 3648 Reads | 0 Tweet Count | Leave a Comment