AKB48 Janken Tournament Results Are OUT alkdajkldfjalk

I'm not going to post the entirety of the results, but I will post the senbatsu lineup and then give my thoughts.

First place (and center of the PV and spokesperson for this tournament):
Uchida Mayumi
Second place:
Ishida Haruka

03) Kojima Haruna
04) Nakagawa Haruka
05) Maeda Ami
06) Sato Sumire
07) Sato Natsuki
08) Takajo Aki
09) Nakatsuka Tomomi
10) Kuramochi Asuka
11) Kobayashi Kana
12) Tanabe Miku
----end media senbatsu----
13) Kasai Tomomi
14) Matsui Sakiko
15) Maeda Atsuko
16) Chikano Rina 


My first thoughts when I first looked through the results were "Wait, who is Uchida Mayumi again?" and apparently she's a fairly new Team K member and ex-Research Student. 


Obviously, with these results, I'm a little bit disappointed. Lovetan (Oota Aika) is my AKB oshimen, so I was obviously rooting for her to do really well in this game of chance. I'm really happy that she at least made the Undergirls; I'm a big fan of Lovetan in the context of the Undergirls, so I don't think her status in the rankings will be affected at all. I wanted her to be senbatsu and to gain some popularity, but that just didn't happen.


Next, a LOT of senbatsu mainstays got kicked out in the first round to some newer/less focused on girls. I was really surprised to see that members like Itano Tomomi, Kashiwagi Yuki, Takahashi Minami and Minegishi Minami will actually be theater girls in the next single, and other members like Shinoda Mariko and Miyazawa Sae will be Undergirls. This has the potential to be a really interesting line up. 


Of the senbatsu members I'm really happy about Maeda Ami; something about her (her epic eyebrows, perhaps?) endears me to her, so I'm glad to see that she SHOULD be in a really good position in the next single. I really hope that they give very little focus to Maeda Atsuko, considering she didn't make MEDIA senbatsu.


All in all, while I have some personal disappointments, I do think this will lead to a really interesting lineup for their single!!

AKB48 Dating Sim; Yeah, for realz.

We've known about this for a little bit, but it was recently announced that all of the AKB48 members would be starring in a dating sim game. Basically you have to reject the other 47 and accept your Oshimen's love.

ffff, no Mayuyu, I have to ignore you!!!

As a video game concept, I actually think this is pretty clever. Unlike most dating-oriented games, you don't woo the girls; they're all already in love with you. (Yeah, I know, a wota's dream). However, you can only be with ONE girl, and therefore you have to ditch the other girls for your one favorite. This is quite unique, and i imagine if you dislike the certain girl that it could be quite refreshing.

Ahaha, Acchan, you're not MY favorite; I reject YOU

Now, there's a lot of debate as to whether a dating sim with real life people, esp. some of them being underage, is anything to be concerned with. However, from the descriptions of the game that have been provided, it sounds pretty innocent; the girls confess their love to you, no sex or anything. I mean, I bet it MUST have been awkward, especially for the younger girls, to be all "I love you" to the camera, but. 

Honestly, I'm a  BIT torn. On the one hand it feels a tiny bit creepy, and very very wota-focused. However, I bet it'll make some decent money for AKB (with all sorts of special features for special editions), but that's not really needed. 

I'm a bit torn because while I find it creepy... I kind of want it. ADMISSIONS. And since I doubt I'd be able to reject my Oshimen, so I'd have to end up with a 15-year-old.

Lovetan, gah, why are you so ADORABLE

Well. I guess I kind of want it. Um. Yeah. How much is a PSP again? 

"Click You Link Me"- NEW AYAYA ALBUM

Again, the "Serenyty wakes up and sees news" cycle has proven correct; I wake up, check my sites, and lo and behold, at her 9/11 concert, Matsuura Aya announced that she was releasing her 6th album!!

I'm really excited; As a fan of all of Aya's previous offerings (even her slow things; Double Rainbow is one of my favorite H!P albums ever), I am ecstatic. A while earlier Aya announced she was taking a break (after her Omoi Afurete tour) but that apparently doesn't include recording.

The album will be released 11/24.

I don't really know what else to say other than that Ayaya is amazing. And share some videos.





Oh! I really have high hopes for this album. My ideal album would be a mixture of upbeat songs (her earlier stuff, Ki ga Tsukeba Anata, etc.) with some ballads that show off her beautiful voice. My hope is that they actually promote this album and UFA does a good job with it, to try and bring Ayaya back. She was as big as Morning Musume back in the day, and for good reason. I wish her the best, and hope that this album does well so there will be many more to come!

Note to my readers

Hello to anyone that actually reads this on a regular basis (I'm honestly kind of shocked that I get actual comments on my blog; I'm not super popular, but the fact I have readers makes me rather happy.

This is just an FYI post that I will be updating Happy Disco and Charmy Disco much less frequently than I have in the past in the next while. I'm a college student and I just started classes again this week. Even though I love this blog a lot, writing it takes a fair amount of time and effort; I spend a lot of time especially on the Ongaku Gatas reviews, which take about an hour and a half to write. I love writing them and I'm doing it for myself, but taking 18 credits with my two majors doesn't lend itself well to blog-writing.

However, I'm not stopping Happy Disco or going on hiatus or whatever. Just updating it less frequently. Same with Charmy Disco, for any readers of that.

Ongaku Gatas 2010 Spring live Concert Review Part 4

If anyone actually likes this review, sorry for taking forever. ... I love you (to my readers :))

Seishun no Custard
First off, I have to say that this song is already kind of old to me, going into this review. It might not seem like it now, but back a while ago I used to be a pretty devoted fangirl to Yoshizawa Hitomi; I loved everything she did, and that included their songs. I listened to Seishun no Custard WAY too many times, and now when I listen to it it sounds like one of the oldest songs to me. I don't know why I listened to this more than other Yossy solos, Sono Deai no Tame ni and Yoshite, Yoshite, but I just did. So, let me just get that out of the way. It's a great song, don't get me wrong, I just have heard it way too many times.

When I first saw the setlist I was slightly confused. Korenaga Miki was going to be singing instead of Satoda Mai? When Satoda's the one who recorded the song and is honestly a better singer than Koretty? However, I'm actually pretty happy about this. I've said this once and I'll say it again, but I love each and every member of Ongaku Gatas, and so this is obviously part of their effort to make the Egg members actually do more. Korenaga only got one non-group song on the Ongaku Gatas album and that was the Egg song, Koi Uranai Doori ni wa Naranai wa, whereas every member except Mutou Mika and Korenaga Miki got one more small group song (and KonKon and Rika got two). So having these small groups right away that really bring out the Egg members I think is a great ida, and I'm very happy about it.

You're still amazing, Koretty~

That being said, I really do think that Seishun no Custard is a good song; actually, listening to it again, I like it a lot more than I did the first time I watched this concert. Like I said earlier, Satoda is really a better singer than Korenaga. However, Koretty obviously was doing her best, even if her performance was slightly stiff. Yossy's performance was looser, but that's come from her 10 years of experience in the music business. Both of the girls looked like they were having a lot of fun, but Yossy looked like she was enjoying it a bit more. I can't remember right now if Korenaga has had a song in this small of a group in either the 1st Goodsal or Come Together tours, but she's generally the least noticed of the egg members, so there was probably a bit of nervousness involved.

It's times like these that I remember how much I loved Yossy..

I really did like this performance. I mean, Koretty wasn't as enjoyable to watch as Yossy who was really fantastic in this performance. However, seeing the two of them together, one of them a seasoned performer and one of them someone who barely sings in her performances just made me really happy.

Aisaretai Aisaretai


Confession time; before I listened to this concert I had not heard this song. I do like every thing Gatas puts out... but the song Come Together is kind of Gatas's weak link. I love it (even though I love the PV more for a very very specific reason), but it's no where near as much of a good song as Gatas's first two singles, Narihajimeta Koi no Bell and Yattarouze; it sounds more like a generic pop song than the disco sound of its first two songs, the sound I love (that kind of inspired the name of Happy Disco).

However. Man oh man, was I missing out on Aisaretai Aisaretai! This is an upbeat, fun song that after I first heard it I had to keep listening to it over and over; I just loved it that much. This is exactly what I love about Ongaku Gatas as a group; they do great pop-disco tracks. And this performance didn't disappoint at all; the dancing was some of the best of the concert, great singing all around, and all the girls looked like htey were having fun again.

Nocchi looking cool~

Like I said, the dancing's pretty cool; it's not choreographed as much as other H!P concerts can be, but it feels looser and really fun. One part of the choreography I personally like is when all the members surround Yossy for her big solo and it just looks TOO cool.

As we see later, Yossy IS the pimp of Ongaku Gatas

They changed costumes in between! I didn't comment on those yet. These are actually some of my favorite H!P concert costumes; they're cool looking with the black and white, the black jackets/faux corsets, the ties.. It's cool and special enough to be a costume, yet it doesn't look ridiculous, goofy or just plain strange (I'm looking at you, 1st Goodsal costumes near the beginning). All the girls look great in them and these are really what idol concert costumes SHOULD be.

Seriously, these costumes are fantastic. I want Rika's hat.

Other than that I really don't know what else I can say about almost every performance in this concert. All the girls are really into it all, singing great, performing well. The choreography, costumes and great performances really make this one stand out, though.

What I Like About My Idols II: Presence in PVs

(Note: Read from the beginning of the series on, esp. the intro to this series of posts)

Here's probably going to be the most fun post in this "What I Like About My Idols" series of magic and joy because I'll be posting pictures and video links. Mainly video links, really.

But last time I told you that while I don't care about the vocal skills of my idols, the songs are really the jumping point I have of a group (I kind of didn't, but that's what I meant). Vocal ability and songs might be what initially get me into a group, but PV appearances are really the jumping point of getting me into idols. If I hear a voice I can't associate that with a person; I might go "Oh, pretty voice," but that doesn't make me take notice of that person.

However, a good appearance in a PV can really make me take interest in a specific idol. My strongest example that I have is how I became a fan of Berryz Koubou's Tokunaga Chinami. Many people don't know this, but the first H!P girl I liked and the first favorite in Berryz Koubou I had was Tsugunaga Momoko (yes. it's true.). I suffer from terrible "I think my favorite is the first girl I really notice"itis, to the point where, when I get into a group, I have to think "OK, my preliminary favorite is her" but I know it isn't going to last. Momoko was the main girl in the first H!P PV I saw, Gag 100Kaibun Aishite Kudasai, so I thought she was the best. But yes, I thought Momoko was my favorite in Berryz and that she was better than anyone.

That is, until...



That's right, Berryz's Dschinghis Khan PV. Back then I was still a new H!P fan, and this was right around when I started actually following releases. I was watching this PV, thinking that I liked Momoko, but then...

I must go deliver my cuteness upon the world!

I noticed one girl, Chinami. Before that Chinami had never really stood out to me; I thought her "No Nyu~" in Gag 100Kaibun was cute and I didn't mind her, but I was way too focused on Momoko to really care about anyone else. It was when I saw the energy and fun that Chii provided to Dschinghis Khan and Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance in particular (though she really does bring this to every PV she's a part of) that I took notice, started looking up more things of her, and she became one of my favorite girls from H!P and my (now second) favorite H!P Kid. And while I'm now really into C-ute and Maimi, Chinami's appeal in PVs has never gone away, and to this day if I ever need something to cheer me up I watch something like Chinami's solo PV for Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance.


BANZAIII~~ I seriously love the faces Chinami makes. It's why she's amazing.


And while for me, Chinami's presence in PVs is certainly one of the most marked switch of favorites, almost all of my current favorites made me notice them with their presence in PVs, if it wasn't the first thing I noticed about them. I noticed Ayaya's cute/fun nature in her PV to "Ne~e", I noticed Rika a lot in the PVs to v-u-den (though I went back to her other PVs and noticed her there). PVs are often the first time I see an idol, and thus it's really the first time I will notice them. PVs really distinguish the girls, and so how a girl does in a PV is very important to me, and I imagine to a lot of JPop/idol fans.

I fill out another survey because I'm bored

It is this point where I don't think anyone will be interested at all. But I found this survey from 2008 from Celestia on Bikkuri Project, and I was bored and procrastinating my long post I'm writing for Charmy Disco and the posts I've been working on for Happy Disco. So. Survey time.

1. You have found a magical J-pop genie who will grant you one J-pop related wish (so no wishing for a million dollars or world peace or anything like that). It can be virtually anything as long as it’s directly related to J-pop, and don’t worry, because this is the nice sort of genie, not the kind who will try to find a loop-hole and screw up your wish. So, what do you wish for???
Ishikawa Rika gets a solo singing career that is a lasting career (meaning it's not just one or two solo singles like Yaguchi Mari, but a legit soloist career)

2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?
I'm not super happy with the new Avex group, Super*Girls, but only because the only thing they're saying about themselves is 'we're forming to beat AKB48'; they're basically admitting "yes, we're only here because big idol groups are big."

Also, Nooot a fan of Natsuyaki Miyabi.

3. Who do you think is the sexiest japanese singer out there?
Ishikawa Rika

4. How about the cutest?
Ishikawa Rika

5. Best personality?
Ishikawa Rika

6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5?
Same person. But I'd like to date her, yes.

7. You work for a Japanese music magazine, and you have the opportunity to interview your favorite artist or group. What are a couple of the questions you want to ask them?
Things like "what do you see yourself doing in five years?" or "what's your favorite part about being an idol?" Happy questions from the Happy Disco.

8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad?
If I'm angry and sad I rage to Shabondama; if I'm sad and I want to be happy I listen to Mano Erina's Sekai wa Summer Party.

9. When you’re really happy?
The Peace or Koi wo Shichaimashita.

10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs?
If I'm alone I'll be singing along.

11. How about dance?
If I know the dance I have a hard time NOT doing it while I listen to the song. I am unable to listen to Kimagure Princess without doing chest thrusts and rubbing my ass.

12. Artistic integrity question!! If someone offerrered to pay you for blogging, but they were allowed to censor some of your opinions or veto some of your blogging ideas, would you do it?
I honestly don't see what anyone would censor of mine ("YOU'RE TOO HAPPY. HATE SOMETHING NOW."), but thinking about it I probably would, mainly depending on how much censorship would go on. If it was small things like "tone this down" or something like that then I'd wholeheartedly love to get paid to do that, but if I had to actually change my opinions? That's when I'd have issues.

But yeah, I'd probably sell out. So you ought to buy diet coke, the official drink of Happy Disco.

... see what I did there?