Sekai Ichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko song/PV review

Here's just something straight away before I get to this. I a fond spot for C-ute; Maimi and Nakky are two of my favorite H!P members period, and two of the reasons I still follow C-ute news whenever I can. I like the other members too, though. This doesn't mean that I like everything that C-ute has ever released (can I just forget The Party now? *shudder*), it just means that I can tolerate something average more than I can tolerate with some other groups.

So alright, the reason that I'm reviewing this, my first H!P song/PV review in a while, is that I'm absolutely completely charmed by the song and PV, and to be honest, part of me doesn't know why. I think the components are well done, but the way I'm reacting is not the way that I've reacted to H!P in a while; the last song I reacted this way to was Reconquista.

The song: I really think that the way that someone looks at this song will honestly depend on what they're looking for in an idol song. To some, it may seem really generic, and I respect that. This is a pretty typical type of idol song that reminds me vaguely of S/Mileage's Suki-chan in terms of tone and style. If you're looking for something out there, completely unique, edgy or anything similar to that, Sekaiichi HAPPY na Onna no Ko is not the song for you. Some people will probably find this song boring. However, I LOVE cute idol music, and upbeat/happy songs are why I choose to listen to idol music (hence Happy Disco). Upbeat happy idol songs are the type of thing I listen to while walking to work or school that just make me feel happier, and this song fits the bill.

The first time I listened to it, I didn't really like the song except for the chorus; however, for me at least, it's one of those songs that has really grown on me. I think those are the songs that tend to be earworms for me; songs that start out uneventful but that I really start to like.

The song isn't perfect to me, though; the rushed line Maimi sings before the chorus feels kind of out of place and almost like Maimi herself can't get those words out. Also, is it just me, or does Chisato sound really weirdly high-pitched in the first verse?

I might be biased because of the songs I tend to like and the fact that the word "Happy" is so prominently placed: this song is now the theme song of Happy Disco (if someone mixes this song with Perfume's One Room Disco, I think I'll have to start a Happy Disco podcast to use it). Still, it's a fun, cute song that is exactly what I'm interested in. C-ute's moving in a... well, cuter direction (judging by this and Momoiro Sparkling) and I can't say I complain!

PV: The one thing that I like that kind of puzzles me is how much I really love the PV. It doesn't have a story, it's on one set in the standard white backdrop of H!P PVs. And yet...

I have to think of the PV as being a subversion of the other PVs H!P does. So many H!P PVs are really bland and colorless these days, set in the same set. However, the abundance of color in this PV seemingly coming from the idols in their idol rooms makes it seem like C-ute is adding color to this bland world. And cuteness!

The PV is gloriously colorful and I appreciate it for that. I also think that the little domino stunt they did with the books to make the word "happy" was really obvious but also really adorable, so I can forgive it. The idea of the girls all having their own different rooms is for some reason appealing to me; maybe it's because I love the PV for Perfume's One Room Disco so much (which is admittedly a far superior PV to this), but they could have easily made the PV with one backdrop, some closeups with different backgrounds based off their image color. This feels like some effort was made, which I have to appreciate.

The other part that's great is that the girls are really at their top game here. The one really notable thing about H!P groups nowadays (especially Berryz and C-ute) is that they've been around together for years, so they work off each other well, especially in the dancing and the group shot here.

The PV isn't the best that's ever existed ever, but it's fun and colorful, which makes it one of the better PVs H!P has released recently.

So overall, in my opinion, H!P managed to do a really great job here and I appreciate it!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 29

Day 29: In your opinion, who is/was the best leader of an Idol group?


This is honestly fairly easy for me. Granted, I could be biased as hell. Ishikawa Rika was v-u-den's leader, and I really think she did an excellent job; Erika and Yui were brand new when added to v-u-den, and yet the group really gelled like they'd been there for a while. No one felt weird or out of place, at least to me. I also love Yajima Maimi, and she impresses me as a leader, too. She really does take care of her group. One thing I saw was an interview with both Berryz and C-ute around the time of their concert together. The whole group was talking about their H!P Kids days, but Kanna wasn't a part of that (since she was added later). Maimi made an effort to ask Kanna what she thought. 


This also brings up the question of what makes a good leader. Leadership is really not THAT significant, because the idol who's the leader doesn't make any of the business decisions, doesn't write the songs, doesn't make any of the big decisions. Often times, I don't really think that leaders of idol groups do all that much at all.


However, a good leader of an idol group is one that I think brings all the girls in the group together behind that one person, loves and works hard for the group that she's in, and works hard for the others. And the person I think does that best is...

AKB48's Takahashi Minami.

I just can't help but admire the ways she really loves AKB and puts so much effort into making it a great idol group. I always have had the impression that even if Takamina wasn't in the most popular idol group around, she'd still love the group dearly. She's a member that the others can get behind, and I really appreciate that!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 28

Day 28: An Idol who reminds you of someone special or that was special.

C-ute's Nakajima Saki.

I love C-ute and I love Nakky, but whenever I see Nakky I have to think of my friend Dani. Nakky's Dani's favorite idol ever. Dani is the one lasting friend I've made from the idol fan community; we've been friends for about two years or so, I think. There are amazing people in the wota fan community, and I enjoy the time I spend on various forums and chats (hi people of Wotachat!) but Dani is the closest friend I've made from this fandom, and so I'm really grateful to the fandom for that. 

おめでとう、Happy Disco!!

People who read my blog (I love you!!) I have some news.

This is my 100th post on Happy Disco. Yaay!!

This is the first image you get if you search Happy Disco on Google Images. 

My infatuation with idol music isn't going away anytime soon! Usually when I start up projects/blogs like this I get bored quickly and stoop doing it, but I really do enjoy what I do here on Happy Disco.

First up: If you guys read this and have read my blog before, what types of posts do you like? Would you prefer more straight up reviews, more lists, more rambles about the nature of idol pop? I'm just curious to see what people would want to read from me.

Secondly: I'm still continuing my 30 Day Idol Challenge and Tokyo Idol Festival series', but I'm thinking that since the 30 Day Idol Challenge will end soon that I will start a new regular segment. What do you guys think I should do? Reader feedback yay.

And since I want to make this a fun 100th post, in honor of my long posts here on Happy Disco I'm going to do a list of my top 10 idol PVs. (in no particular order).

Note: This list is largely personal, and I'm also betting that in a day or two I'll find a PV that will make me wish I included it in this list. Also it's only idols, nothing else.

SKE48- 1! 2! 3! 4! Yoroshiku! 





I feel like, if anything, this PV is proof that you don't necessarily need to have a story to make an interesting PV. This is in my opinion a perfect idol PV. It's shot well, edited interestingly, and even when they're focusing on things like the dance shot, it's not shot at some unmoving flat angle, but moves around and really makes it interesting. This is the first of SKE48's "Let's hire the entirety of Aichi prefecture to be in our PVs", and while I really like Banzai Venus, I think that the extras had a better role here. They really do a lot to add to the excitement and really keep the energy up high.

Finally, the PV really plays to the strengths of the girls which is always something that a good idol PV should do. This one plays to the fact that SKE48 has really strong dancers by having the dance-off scene as well as focusing a lot on the dance shot, since they have an interesting dance.

This PV is just a joy to watch, and I absolutely love it.

v-u-den: Kurenai no Kisetsu



In my opinion, this is the forgotten v-u-den PV; the one that no one really knows or thinks about. However, it's one of my favorite PVs of all time.

Again, there's no story except Rika, Erika and Yui all have to look sad. However, the scenery and set pieces in the PV are absolutely gorgeous. I'm not very knowledgeable about cameras, lightings and settings for those things, but I'm curious about what they did with the color with some of this. I think they might have changed something? But the colors do seem warmer some places and cooler in the dance shot, and whatever it is it looks cool.

The part that just wows me and that I love about this PV is all the playing around with mirrors. In addition to being great set pieces (the cracked mirrors near Erika are particularly stunning), the way that shots play around with them is amazing. I'm particularly fond of whenever they look into the mirror so that it looks directly at the camera. Also, from what I know of filming, I know that mirrors have their own set of issues, since they tend to reflect things which often can include the people filming the thing. When the PV director inevitably went "alright, this PV will center around MIRRORS" they were obviously taking a bit of a chance, but it totally paid off.

Beginner (original ver)- AKB48



I'm so happy that AKB48 released this PV on DVD so I didn't have to use the low quality PV obviously filmed by a phone that I first saw this PV from.

This PV is very well known among current idol fans as the one that got banned, that AKB wasn't allowed to air on TV so they had scramble and come up with their PV that got on the DVDs and could be aired places, a mix of the dance shot and the making of.

However, the original PV is now in high quality thanks to new DVDs and it totally deserves the praise it's given. It has a really interesting Matrix-like story of the girls being plugged into games and banding together to stand up and stop fighting each other but fight the system, the machine they're in. The moment when Acchan finishes screaming, tears away from her old arm and evolves to be able to fight the system just sends shivers up my spine, as well as the moment when Yuko hugs Takamina so Jurina can pull the plug.

This is a PV where I desperately want more, so I can know a back story. And that's why it's up there among my top ten PVs.

Top Secret- Hangry & Angry





This is definitely a bit of a personal choice for me, but a year and 9 months or so later (wow, it does NOT feel like that long ago) I STILL love this PV and watch it on a regular basis. This is another one with amazing sets, good design, and it's really edited interestingly.

However, in my opinion the biggest strength is the performance of Yossy and Rika. Like I said in my Reconquista review, one of the biggest strengths with Hangry & Angry is that Yossy and Rika have been active idols for over 10 years now, even though they were probably the most famous back at the start of their careers. They both have a LOT of experience and as such always give really fantastic performances live and in PVs, and this really reflects that. The way that the two of them act in the PV, interact with each other and the camera, it really speaks wonders of their experience.

So while the PV is made very well, Rika and Yossy are really the stars of the PV, as they should be.

Enkyori Poster- AKB48's Team PB




However, despite the experience of Rika and Yossy lending well to their performances, the girls of Team PB do really well. So well that, after I saw this vid, for a while I decided that I was a "Team PB oshi" and that I would support all the Team PB girls forever. That's not so true right now (though I do love all the girls in Team PB), as I'd probably, if anything, would classify myself as a Watarirouka Hashiritai wota.

HOWEVER, the point still stands that all the girls are outstanding in the PV. It solidified my bias towards Oota Aika and it definitely moved Maeda Ami and Miyazaki Miho up further in my ranks. Myao in particular.  She basically nailed this PV.

The one thing that eluded me for a long time, though, is WHY I thought Enkyori Poster was so brilliant. It's fun to watch because the girls all look like they're having a blast and they all do very well with their energy. But why is this PV considered one of my top 10, with such simple backgrounds and props?

Well, after thinking this it really hit me how brilliant this PV is. The song itself is pretty simple; it's about the feelings of a fan who loves and supports their idol. The lyrics have in the past made me tear up with things like

"though it seems that i can't quite meet you you are there by my side more than anyone else
at times I make mistakes and about to give up I will just gaze and dream of you meeting me face to face" (taken from Stage 48's Studio 48.)

Those words are really particularly meaningful to me and a lot of idol fans; who hasn't gone through a rough patch at school or work, and come home and just watch things with idols to self-medicate? I know that when I'm feeling down and when I feel like I can't do anything, what I really do is watch something with Rika, Lovetan, Wasamin or one of my other favorites and just imagine them.

This PV takes those lyrics and takes that thought, and moves it to one guy's room. Now, he's fantasizing about the girl(s) (he's totally Yukirin oshi) in his poster, but then we move to the posters. As we would expect from this being a PV, the girls sing and dance like usual. However, we sometimes see through to the other side of the room from in the poster, to see that it is really a poster, to remind us of what we're watching. Furthermore, whenever the girls sing and dance around the room, the posters are blank, so we know that this is about the girls of the posters.

There's more to it, though; one of the things that I liked a lot about the PV originally were the different angles that we see the girls at in the dance shot. However, the camera rarely moves during the dance shot; it moves once or twice panning the girls. But the thing I realized is that the angles that we see the girls in the dance shot, the unmoving shots, are really the angles that might be in a poster, further cementing this.

The other parts of the PV are close up shots and the girls dancing in the guy's room. However, during the close up shots, nearly everything that the girls do is straight up posing in ways that would be seen on a poster. They only move freely in the guy's room when the fantasy is at its peak. When the fantasy is confined to the posters, every move is a cute pose, reminding us that these girls are just on the poster and not in reality.

Finally, we see a shot of the man staring at Yukirin, cementing the fact that the PV was his fantasies of his 

idols, not reality.

Mirai Bowl- Momoiro Clover

First off, if you haven't seen the extended version, do so now. You'll be glad you did.

Sorry I can't embed it!

This is gold. It's set up like a cheesy old-fashioned sitcom, with the introduction at the beginning and a laugh track and cheesy music. The story is an obvious Grease parallel... only that there's a relationship between a girl named Sandy (Kanako) and Danny (Akari). Two newsies are there to get them together (Shiori and Momoka), I guess? Also, Danny is a super amazing bowler, so that's important for the music part of the PV. However, Leader (Ayaka) wants Sandy too, with Reni as her assistant. In the drama part of the PV, I have to say that I love Ayaka and Reni's part the best. Ayaka's deep gangster voice and Reni figuring stuff out by going "give me chappa chappa etc." is just amazing and hilarious. They kidnap Kanako by going "It's a UFO" and pointing.

I love all MomoClo PVs dearly, but I had to pick this one because it has the most hilarious plot of all of them. The girls know how to ham it up in these roles and it's just funny because it doesn't begin to treat itself seriously. These girls are also really great dancers and performers and that in itself makes it really fun. The comics-style effects are also really fun, and the break where they actually have the bowling game over Kanako's heart is just super fun to watch.

Not putting Ikuze Kaitou Shoujo, D' no Junjou and Pinky Jones on this list was super hard,  but just by PVs Mirai Bowl never stops being really fun. It's one of those PVs that seems like it must have had a fairly small budget, but made the most of whatever budget it had and then some. No matter how high or low MomoClo's budget is, they totally make up for it and then some.

Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou - AKB48





Yes, I picked the suicide PV.

Keibetsu never fails to make me emotional and cry. You just feel the hopelessness of the girls throughout the PV, and the images of Yuko going to commit suicide are just heartbreaking.

This PV, even though it was in AKB's early years, has a lot of depth and maturity to it. The way they act, when you see Sae leave the school because of bullying, leaving Yuko alone, you feel like there's more to it than just what you see in the PV.

The color scheme is also dark, fitting in with the rest of the PV, and the looks of the girls at the end, almost going "You know what you did" just never fail to be haunting. I know people who miss AKB48 from when they were less popular because of stuff like this, and I honestly don't blame them. I love the current happy idol music that AKB and co do, but songs and PVs like Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou are certainly missed in the current lineup.

Meguru Koi no Kisetsu- C-ute

This is definitely a big change of pace from Keibetsu. XD

I love this PV so much, you guys have no idea. On the one hand I really really like C-ute from a visual standpoint (if that makes any sense) because I love how they dance and perform with such energy. This is super apparent here in the dance shots, close up and other shots, where C-ute is in high form, doing very well.

The reason that Meguru Koi no Kisetsu is on my list and not any of the other C-ute PVs, however, is that this is a perfect example of how a budget isn't anything. This PV doesn't look like it cost  much of anything; a few backdrops, a few props, nothing radical that would cost a lot of money. However, the seamless way they move between all the backdrops and use them creatively is really something. I've seen a lot of people complain about the budget in H!P videos, when this PV would seriously counter that. PVs are a lot more interesting when they take whatever budget they have and use it creatively, like they did here.

This PV is fun, really enjoyable, and overall really well done.

Watarirouka Hashiritai- Gyu




Guys. I love Watarirouka Hashiritai. So much.

This is probably my most subjective pick on the list, but I don't even care because I love it. The whole PV is like a drama; I can imagine that this is some romcom drama about five girls with their own problems and relationships and it'll be one of those things where they all bond over their relationship troubles and stuff. This is something I want.

But anyways, they all have their relationship things:

Harugon (Nakagawa Haruka) doesn't have any relationship issue. She and her "boyfriend" (which is one of the MSN messenger "people"; was this sponsored by MSN?) are all happy and in love. Good for her, I guess.
Lovetan (Oota Aika) has an unattentive boyfriend who flirts with other girls and not her, even though she's the girlfriend. This is where you have to suspend disbelief in the PV, because who would choose other girls when there's Lovetan. Though her slap is kind of my favorite moment ever in any PV. When this came out I watched that slap about 10 times in a row.
Nacchan (Hirajima Natsumi) is basically playing me, because she has a thing for her teacher. In the PV she hugs her teacher in what could potentially become harassment? Teaching the English word for hug, yeah right. And the whole classroom claps, which makes me think that the classroom is writing Nacchan/teacher fanfiction.
Ayarin (Kikuchi Ayaka) gets confessed to by a guy but then turns him down. Which makes me believe that this is the final test after her scandal; if she decided to get with the guy then she's gone for good. But yay, Ayarin stays.
Mayuyu (Watanabe Mayu)... runs? Mayu, running isn't acting, oh wait, for you it is, OK. I've heard theories that she's romantically involved with another girl because they take Purikura together with some other girl (which is usually just with girls) and I like this theory a lot.

This is a fun PV with a fun story and it's about hugging. I love hugs. So, it's a favorite.

Zutto Suki de Ii Desu Ka- Matsuura Aya







The rest of the list is in no particular order, but this is my #1 favorite PV ever. I think it's ridiculously well-crafted, creative and beautiful. The way that they use a continuous shot through all the beautiful sets is really well done. If you watch the PV making of it isn't editing trickery or whatever; they really did do most of the filming in one fell swoop, with Aya running around the backs of sets to get where she needs to be. It reminds me a bit of one of the scenes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind that involved the main actors running around the backs of sets to get places. If I think "Oh, maybe Michel Gondry directed this PV?" then you KNOW it's a great PV.

It's not only doing the continuous effect, but it also has really gorgeous sets; I particularly like the one with the clocks. It has a twinge of a surreal feel, too, since you see the way it gets to all the different sets that are clearly fabricated.

Still it's gorgeous and I love it.

A very subjective list (that took forever to write), but there you have it! Happy 100 posts, Happy Disco!!!

30 Day Idol Challenge Day 24

Day 24: An Idol that is not one of your favorites but you admit that they're good.

What does this even mean?

For my idol fandom, I have a tendency to pick favorites. And by favorites, I mean the #1 favorite idol that will rule all the other idols in my idol rankings, but I tend to do that by group. For example, Ishikawa Rika is miles above any other Morning Musume member ever. It's been changing a bit lately (in AKB48 fandom I love Oota Aika most, but Natori Wakana and Iwasa Misaki are pretty close, too), but I still do that. Furthermore, after the favorites then everyone tends to be pretty similarly ranked. For AKB48, I can do my top 10 members, but I can't rank all of them simply because I like all of them and don't want to put any one on the bottom.

So here, I have a lot of idols that aren't my favorites, but I like all of them. So how do I pick among the myriad of idols?



I have one cop-out answer and one real answer to this question, so I'll share both.

Cop-out:




SKE48 as a whole is my cop-out answer. The reason is that I love AKB48, and I follow them more than SKE48 or any of the xxx48 groups. However, I really like whatever I see of the members in SKE48. They all have nice personalities and in my opinion they're a much stronger group than AKB48 at least in terms of dancing. 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku is one of my favorite PVs, and I love every bit of music I hear from them.

Yet, for whatever reason, I follow AKB48 more. Maybe it's part of the popularity thing, but if that was the case I couldn't have Momoiro Clover as my chosen favorite idol group. So while I don't know most of the girls in SKE48 (my favorites are Yagami Kumi and Matsui Jurina, two front girls), I really should follow them more, because SKE is quite a strong group in their own right.

However, since choosing a group for a singular idol might be considered cheating, I chose one.

Airi, if your jersey is referring to Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, we need to seriously be besties.

Even though my Hello!Project fandom is really being superseded by groups like Momoiro Clover and AKB48, I still follow all the groups somewhat, and I try to follow C-ute a lot. I'm mainly a fan of Yajima Maimi and Nakajima Saki when I follow C-ute and Hello!Project. 

HOWEVER, for the life of me I don't know why I don't follow Airi more. I mean, she's great; she seems like she has a sweet personality, she's cute, she's a good performer and singer. Honestly, even though I want Maimi and Nakky to get the most screentime because they're my favorites and my biases, I'm really fine with Airi being the C-ute front girl and have no problems with that at all. Recently on Hello!Online I said that the new Buono song needs more Airi, even though she has more lines than either Momoko or Miyabi, and I meant it. I quire like Airi, and approve of her hoarding lines.

30 Day Idol Challenge- Day 4

Day 04: If this Idol were a boy, who would be your boyfriend?


Why this question; anyone who knows my idol tastes knows that I go for the girliest of girly idols. I like my idols covered in frills and pink, dammit.

However, I could definitely date...

Yajima Maimi.

She's not exactly SUPER manly, but she's not the girliest of my favorite idols. She's really nice, a great leader, and just a really fun person, I think. If she was a man, I'd totally go for Maimi.

Hello! Project Fankora Concert Review- pt 4

MC2

O hai thar, Yossy. I keep forgetting you're in this concert as the sole shining representative of the amazingness that was the Elder Club. Next time bring Rika with you. We can jam.

This whole MC was basically Momoko going "LOOK AT ME I'M A LEADER OF MULTIPLE GROUPS OOOOOOOOH" and everyone else not caring. She's being a little too attention-whorish for my tastes here. 

Aisu Kuriimu to My Purin

Can I just skip this? Please? PLEASE. No? Gah. 

Zoku. I just don't like them. It's nothing against the members; I just think that they are honestly the antithesis of what v-u-den WAS; in fact, no one in current H!P is fit. H!P is about youngness, youth. v-u-den was about women starting adulthood and that's part of why I find them interesting and that they're tied with Gatas for my favorite H!P group. I've ranted about this before, it shouldn't be tough to find on the Disco.

Anyways, this performance keeps confirming what I originally thought about Zoku in my Zoku rant (in which I stated I would NEVER call them Zoku v-u-den. OK, yeah. don't want to get into this. I like the members, but they don't represent v-u-den's v-u-denness. 

This was actually less offensive to me than Koisuru Angel Heart, but JUST BARELY. This song is not something to be taken seriously, but at the same time is actually supposed to be sexy. Playfully sexy, sexy in a "look at how silly fanservice can be!" kind of way, but nonetheless sexy. The impression I've always gotten from the Aisu PV is "haha, fanservice is ridiculous" but it's still pretty hot. 

The dancing was not TOO bad, but it had some iffy bits; the kickline was uber fail, and no one was really a good dancer. It felt slightly unrehearsed, and, my main complaint about the group as a whole, like they really didn't try. 

JunJun, you're doing it wrong. 

Speaking of not trying too hard; I understand that Zoku's only doing one song and that they all have other things to do. But seriously. The costumes? What are they supposed to be? I mean, even if they had to use them for the main groups. Why are the main groups using those costumes? 

Vocals weren't too bad; Risako was really the best one there and I was happy that she got Rika's long solo near the end. I wasn't expecting amazingness from them, so. 

I don't mean to sound mean; a LOT of this is my bias speaking. But say what you want about the original v-u-den, but their performance skills (not vocal, performance) were out of this world, and Zoku doesn't come close to representing the original group I love so much. They honestly feel a tiny bit like a REALLY good cover group of the original, but certainly NOT the revival. So really, it's my bias as a v-u-den enthusiast, but in my opinion the revival groups are that; trying to be the original group as best as they can. And this really wasn't that bad of a cover, but when it comes down to representing what v-u-den was I can't give Zoku the thumbs up. 

Oh, and Momoko attention whores. I know a lot of people found Momoko getting up and dancing cute, but I honestly thought it was pretty disrespectful (my GOD this review is going to get me flames). I liked her a lot before, but man I don't know now. I just really thought it was rude, no matter how I felt about the actual performance going on. I mean, I don't mind people going for attention, but IMO this was not the place to do it. 

Also, I was hoping to see Yossy rocking out in the back (she's notorious for LOVING this song), but that didn't happen. Perhaps she needed Rika to be there. 

Daite Yo! Please Go On!

Am I the only one that finds it awkward when solo songs become group ones? I don't know, maybe I am. But the one thing that I keep focusing on here is just how it is of a group song. It MIGHT have been done another time, but the one memorable time that Daite yo! was used as a group song was for Goto Maki's Captain Kouen concert, which was Gocchin, Tsuji Nozomi and v-u-den. It was really more of a solo song for Maki, but with the other four sang with the chorus. 

Also, there was a dance solo section before the rap. Speaking of, that would have been REALLY cool for High King. If High-King is excellent at one thing it's dancing; in fact, I think that was the main theory for the group? I could be wrong. Anyways, while the girls ARE rather fierce here, I only wish that there had been a better arrangement of some kind to better feature their dancing.

However, despite preferring a more imaginative arrangement other than just the song sung by five people, I really like this performance. I can really tell why it was that these five girls were chosen; their dancing was all spot on and excellent to watch, and all of them seemed to be giving it their all. The singing, to be perfectly honest, was nothing special. To be frank, Goto Maki was much better than Aichan was here, and the others never wowed me. 

Though she IS fierce here

However, it was the dancing and the energy of this performance that made it really entertaining to watch. The five performers were all really excellent at performing, and it was so high energy that it made me forget the low energy-ness of Aisu Kuriimu. High-King's never been my favorite unit ever (I love Maimi but I don't really care that much about the others), but they really impressed me here. 

Hello! Project Fankora Concert Review- pt 3

Maji Bomber!!


Sorry to all you Berryz Koubou fans out there: Berryz may have gotten me into H!P, but as of recent times I just don't follow them all that much. At all. They have lost a lot of spark that they might have had with me. In fact, when watching concert performances of Berryz for something like a review I have a little game I play, but I'll explain that later.

Maji Bomber is a pretty good song; I wouldn't consider it that interesting, but it's pretty catchy and is a good song for a lot of the people involved. It's a song where pretty much every Berryz memeber gets a solo and sounds great. Vocally, this performance isn't bad at all. Some members sound better than others, but otherwise they all sound nice when singing it.

However, this is another issue of energy; they perform it well but not great. I don't watch the performance and go "man that was better than in the PV!" or "oh man, that was epic;" it just feels standard. It was a solid performance, but nothing memorable.

Like, looking back I'd remember S/Mileage and C-ute's performances as being particularly energetic and thus I'd feel positively towards the group. Conversely, nothing about this performance was particularly memorable; it was just. Good. Except...

When I watch a performance of Berryz I ALWAYS watch for Miyabi. Now you might be wondering why. Miya's not my favorite Berryz member (that's Chinami), but ever since I saw the performance of Nigiyaka na Fuyu with the fish costumes I realized that Miyabi never really looks super enthusiastic on stage. I have nothing against her as a person, but I just observed her lack of interest. So therefore, I have dubbed her face of "why am I doing thiiis?" to be "Miyabi Face" and now looking for evidence of Miyabi Face is my game.

Like here, sort of. Not my best. 

If there's any point I want to make here is that I don't find Berryz that interesting anymore. There weren't any glaring things wrong with this performance, but it really didn't hold interest for me.

Seishun Collection

Now here's professionalism! Performing a fairly dull song with fairly dull choreography with ugly costumes, all of them look at least somewhat happy to be there. No Miyabi faces to be found!

Seriously, I really am not the biggest fan of this single to begin with. Now, I DO think it's a move in a better direction. It's upbeat and happy, which I honestly think is what the Japanese music market is looking for at the moment with AKB48. Unfortunately. This happened. Well, Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game looks to be better. 

Other than that I don't have too much to say. It's a nice performance, with all of them doing a good job, but no one doing particularly well. They all seem to be enjoying themselves and giving it their all; granted this isn't saying THAT much, considering there's not much to give when it comes to this song, but hey, I'll take what I can get. 

Hello! Project Fankora Concert Review- pt 2

Genkimono de Ikou!


((on a side note, I just learned the grammatical reasons for Ikou. Yeah. Be jealous of my Japanese knowledge))

Speaking of Japanese knowledge, what does Genkimono de Ikou! mean? Why, I'll tell you! It's "Let's go with Energetic Things!" Basically, it's "yay energy." Which is why it baffles me that they got Mano Erina of all people to do this song in particular and to get the budget her PV must have gotten, considering they hired a legitimate director and everything.

The vocals are fine for this performance. She has a few pitch issues, but she's not horrendous, and never sounds too out of breath. However, man, the energy level was low. That's why I made the point about the title. The song is LITERALLY about energy; the title is rather energetic. So why are you performing this like it's "let's go with slightly unenthusiastic things!"?

I've never been a huge proponent of H!P needing super strong vocalists. Hell, plenty of my favorites aren't that great of vocalists, I know that. I think that as a soloist Mano Erina should be stronger than she is now, but she's not super terrible or anything and that in itself is good. However, if there's one thing that should not be missing from a lot of H!P songs it's energy. They don't always require amazing vocals (though some do; I'm looking at you, Ayaya), but they do require their performer to have the right level of energy and ManoEri just did NOT deliver the genki for this performance.

They also need to start training her on stage presence; I like her well enough as an idol, but man if you ALWAYS need four background dancers to fill the stage and you're a soloist, then that's a problem.

I don't need THAT much from an idol. But come on. It's the title of the song; energy should be a given.

Dance de Bakoon!


I've got it! C-ute stole Mano Erina's energy!

In all seriousness, THIS is what I'm talking about when I'm talking about energy and what I need from idols. None of the girls here have perfect vocals; not even Airi or Chisato. I'd say that no one here is bad and that they're all very good in their own right, but it's not the greatest vocals ever. Why? Because they're giving it all they've got into the dancing and the energy of the song, and so their singing skills suffer just a little.

The dancing here is INTENSE; I swear, these girls gave it their all and I'm beyond impressed. Lately I've been really into C-ute, mostly in thanks to my friend Dani who adores Nakky. This is the type of performance that confirms the reasoning behind liking them so much as of late. The energy here is intense.

Maimiiiii <333 and fierce!Airirin

I even like this performance better than in the PV; all the girls are performing their best, they all look very much into it. This is one of those performances that is super fun to watch and that I just have to love. At this point in the concert, only four songs in, I'm just thinking that this is the song and group to live up to. 

Hello! Project Fankora Concert Review- pt 1

I haven't forgotten about my other review in the works; not at all. I'm still working on finishing my Gatas review. However, I decided I wanted to review Fankora while it was still relevant, whereas Gatas might not have another concert TO review.

So, here's Fankora! First off the bat I'm a bit disappointed that they only had ONE concert to review, especially since it's the one I was possibly LEAST excited about. Oh dear God I have to review Zoku. So it's a bit disappointing I can't see the Tanpopo# performance I wanted to see, however I still like the idea that they took fan contributions and did a lot of older numbers (even if they didn't use my super epic suggestion of doing I&YOU&I&YOU&I *grumble*)


All For One and One For All


What a way to start out a concert; this IS the quintessential H!P as a whole song, excluding Hello! no Theme (HELLO HELLO HELLO DANCING...). However, I realized when watching this that it was the first time that we saw All For One without the Elder Club involved (if I recall correctly), and so...

We start with Takahashi and Niigaki. And then I realize. Oh my goodness. This is the Mobekimasu version of All For One. Why do I have to endure this?

This isn't to say I dislike Mobekimasu; not at all. I like them. However, the fact that it's not Yuko, Nacchi and Kaorin singing the first line just makes a little bit die inside.

I did like that the beginning started out with all of Morning Musume's generations; it's as if H!P's saying "Yeah, MM>>the rest of them, woo!" I mean, I do miss the old distribution of lines, I really do. But that's not super feasible without having a few Country Musume members to throw in, good soloists to throw in (why hello there, Yukidon; how's enka-town?) etc. After a while, this song just gets to be really long. The one thing that made this song so good originally was that it WAS all of H!P; all 45-46 members of Hello!Project, with a bunch of different generations, showing just how vast H!P was but having all of them sing a song. It's showing H!P's history and the importance of each generation within the collective whole.

However, after MM's generations, it just shuffles through the Mobekimasu order; MM, Berryz, C-ute, ManoEri and S/Mileage a few times. It's slightly repetitive. 

(And goodness, whyyy did the unit I've been least impressed with lately have to sing the 4th gen lines? *sigh*)

The performance itself was OK. It was really nothing special, and honestly I got kind of bored part way through it. I mean, a few of them looked like they were into it (C-ute in particular, S/Mileage too) but about half way through there's really not that much energy left and it's kind of a let down. This is a song to perform with an abundance of energy, not holding it back. At one point I was looking through the Eggs to try and find my favorite, Sekine Azusa.

C'mon, Sekkii, I know you're in there somewhere....

All in all (haha, see what I did there?) this is another performance to remind me yet again how much I miss the Elder Club. I don't care how legit a decision it was, Tsunku, the Mobekimasu groups haven't gotten better songs or PVs since they left; bring back the Elders. 

VTR

It's a VTR. What do I have to say. Well. A couple of odds and ends.

1. Best MC roster. Ever.

Makoto's a pimp. Yossy's the pimp. We all win. Makoto, please never stop being the one male member of Hello!Project. You make everything more epic and more amazing. I hope to study abroad in Japan when the 2012 H!P summer concert will take place. I will cheer hard for Makoto. I was surprised this screen didn't get more cheers; there's obviously a deficiency in the Ishiyoshi wota in the audience. Wait, is that picture of Yossy from Tokyo Alice? If so, then that's over a year older than the concert. Maybe I'm wrong, but I could have SWORN that was a picture from her stage play. Or maybe I'm totally off. 

2. That took a LONG time to get through ManoEri. I get she's 1/5th of Mobekimasu. But really? 

MC1

Yossy's funny. The first MC should be funny, yes? aaaand no. It's sadness. Graduations. I've already blogged about Eririn/JunJun/LinLin graduating, but it is actually pretty sad to watch happen. JunJun and LinLin look pretty upset; like they haven't actually accepted it. Because anyone who thinks it was 100% their choice to go back to China needs to get their brain straightened out. 

Aannd to the first main group song, which is....

OO Ganbaranakute mo Ee Nende!

Yay, I like S/Mileage. I've actually had a reaally big thing for this song ever since previews came out, and so seeing a live performance of it really warms the heart. I'm seriously really excited for whenever the DVD of S/Mileage's solo concert comes out; I can see S/Mileage without sitting through ManoEri. It's perfect!

The girls here are really fantastic; they have some really nice live vocals. Even the admittedly weak link Wada Ayaka (it's OK, Ayacho, I still love you!) sounds really nice and never sounds too terribly out of place throughout this relatively vocally strong performance. It's times like this that I'm still amazed at how little they've been around so far; they all sound great for debuting not that long ago. I mean, they were all Eggs, but even still; many Eggs still suck. 

You don't suck! Cute Kanyon is cute!

Energy wise I love these girls. They're all very energetic and are all very much into it, unless they're somehow amazing actors. The dance is silly, but they do it well.

Oh, you girls be silly

I seriously have nothing but high hopes for the future of the group; they are all very solid at dancing (or at least the dances choreographed for them), solid at singing, and they jive really well together as a group, which is really important. They all look like they're having fun with the silliness of this song. I maintain that this is one of the best single songs H!P has had in years, and while I'm not super into the Bijin Mama song.

More later!

C-ute PV- Dance de Bakoon!

When I first heard the title to C-ute's newest single "Dance de Bakoon!" I immediately thought of a silly song akin to Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance or S/Mileage's recent "OO Ganbaranakute mo Ee Nende". Maybe it was just me, but I pronounced Bakoon like "buhkoooon" with an 'u' sound and it sounded really silly to me. So, keeping that in mind, the first concert/radio rips I heard of the song were disappointing to me. According to JPopStop "Dance de Bakoon" translates to "Dance with a Smash!", so the rock feel to the song really fits the title, but I initially couldn't get into the song.

However, the more that I listen to Dance de Bakoon the more I like it. Right now the one issue that I have with the song itself is that it feels disjointed. The verses all have this rock feel, which is cool, but then the choruses have a more dance/pop feel that I actually kind of like better. So every time I get to the chorus I think something like "OH YES, YAAAY" though the verses (especially the "jajajaja" bits) are endearing themselves to me. I admit I wasn't really wowed by this song when I first heard the concert audio and the radio rip, but it's really grown on me and I definitely like it a lot better than SHOCK or Campus Life.

An issue a lot of C-ute fans have is the line distribution, so I think I'll take a few sentences to address that. I'm going to have to get it out of the way that I am very very much biased towards Yajima Maimi. I think she's a fantastic leader, idol, dancer and I really like the sound of her voice. That being said, I actually like the line distribution here. I think that the Airi/Maimi lead dynamic has worked in the past and has proven to be a solid combination. All the members get at least three solos (Chisato gets four) so the song isn't completely Airi/Maimi, but Nakky, Chisato and Mai all get some solos. I'd personally want more of Nakajima Saki because I think she's adorable and she's my second favorite member of C-ute to Maimi, but all in all this is a better song for line distribution than SHOCK and Campus Life.



This is a fairly simple H!P PV and definitely does not have the budget alloted for Mano Erina's Genkimono de Ikou that I covered in my last post. It's dance shot, close-ups, a few variations on the dance shot and some model walking in different outfits. The whole thing is obviously green screened with no real location other than two main green screen backgrounds (one with lights and one without as many) and a runway screen.

However, the more I watched Dance de Bakoon the less I minded the obvious green-screening. In the far off dance shots where you see more of the floor and they aren't backed by lights I really don't like the background (it looks too fake) but when it comes closer it looks pretty nice.

So fake looking I can hardly stand it....

However, the more I've seen this PV, I really get past the cheesy background and watch more of the girls, and how fun it is. I normally really want originality in an H!P PV so after I saw it for the first time I thought that I would hate it but, surprisingly enough, I love this PV. I really think it's shot well and that itself makes it commendable, but more than that the PV is FUN. From the beginning, when the girls all do poses until the end, the PV is all about the girls having fun, dancing and singing. I think part of the reason that I like this PV so much is because of the girls themselves. They look like they're legitimately enjoying themselves and that's a big reason that I like the girls I do. If they're having fun, I am as well.

It was after I was thinking about this that I realized that, at least to my sensibilities, I thought that Dance de Bakoon's PV was better than Genkimono de Ikou's PV. Now, before I get attacked, let me explain. Genkimono's PV was good, it had a story, it had a budget (*gasp*, an H!P PV with a budget?), all things that I want H!P PVs to have. However, the one thing that continues to bug me about Genkimono's PV is how NOT-ManoEri it is. It has stories that are professionally directed with Mano Erina, the girl who's supposed to be the star of the show, acting like an afterthought. It's almost as if the director/UFA is saying "Yes, we know that Mano Erina isn't selling anything; let's try to sell...professionalism?" However, despite Dance de Bakoon being potentially budget challenged and unoriginal, it at least centers around the most important things for an idol PV; the idols. C-ute really shines in this PV, having fun and lighting up the camera. I keep writing about them "having fun" but it's true; I'd much rather watch idols having fun, being themselves and rocking it for the camera than a professionally done PV with barely any idol in it.

Honestly, it's a matter of preference, but I do know that when it comes to watching the PVs, I know which PV I'll come back to and which one I'll just listen to the song instead.