"Oh, cool, the PV's gonna be gorey... never mind."

Just a short entry, but recently it was announced that the PV to AKB48's latest single, Beginner, was being pulled, not airing on TV and not appearing on DVD anywhere; I've heard that it was specifically banned (i.e., someone else did it for them).

Now, I don't quite know what I think of this. I actually think it could have been a really really cool PV; I've seen the preview clips like everyone else, and the blue blood they used (since the setting was video game related) actually did help in making it seem less violent. It looked violent from what I saw, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then, on the other hand, I've heard reports of Acchan's hand being stabbed, hands and heads getting cut off and worse things happening. I'm not a gore fan, so I really wasn't looking forward to this aspect of the PV.

Now, I REALLY dislike censorship stopping something from coming about; I'm a big proponent of free speech. However, this doesn't sound like something that any TV network in the US or Japan would air, other than subscription cable networks or something. I could be wrong; I haven't seen the full PV.

I've actually heard some theories that this is all promotional and that they had this happen SPECIFICALLY so the buzz surrounding Beginner would go up. That's pretty plausible, but I have to wonder how expensive the original with all it's effects was, and would that be feasible to spend on "free" publicity in the news and among fans.

I'm kind of torn, because while I do think that it would alienate SOME people (I know if the PV was as gorey as I've heard in fan reports, I'd watch it once and be done with it), a lot of other people were really excited about it, so it's definitely a bummer.

Like Momoiro Clover? You should. You should also go here.

If you've read my blog you know I enjoy Momoiro Clover. A lot. I'm firm in saying they ARE my favorite group doing stuff right now; I have a lot of posts about them, including a brief introduction, so if you like cool stuff, check them out.

Buuut. If you've done that and went "wow, that MomoClo is really spiffy" (like you should) you really ought to check out this new forum my friend Dani and I have made together, "The Weekend Heroine" (because Momoiro Clover calls themselves "Shuumatsu Hiroin" which is what that translates into).

http://z15.invisionfree.com/The_Weekend_Heroine

It's not much quite yet, because. It's basically just us and another member. BUT. We're working hard at making it a really cool community for international fans of the wonderful group, Momoiro Clover. Idol culture spreads to the US pretty much through word of mouth, and that's what we're trying to do for MomoClo. The two of us really love this group that's essentially just starting out, and we want to support them as much as we can (Seriously; Dani owns a copy of every version of Ikuze! Kaitou Shoujo. That's 7 copies.). I don't think Morning Musume or AKB48 would have the internet following they do without forums where people could find out about things and talk to people about it, so we just want to introduce more people to our favorite idol group.

So yeah. Please join. ... I love you?

Momoiro Clover- Pinky Jones

OK, the PV to Pinky Jones, Momoiro Clover's newest single came out. And I for one am saying what I've been saying for months now about MomoClo: They are currently the best idol group our there. I want to hesitate and say Ongaku Gatas, but they're pretty inactive. Even in Gatas' case, Momoiro Clover seriously is the best mesh of girls I've seen in a long time. They all work well together, are cute, are all about similar levels of vocal skills (good, not great, but they CAN do live singing and have done so), have great dancing and stage presence. Seriously, my praise for MomoClo does not end. They're at this point my number one group I want to see when I go to Tokyo (though I'd admittedly rather see Rika or Ayaya).

Pinky Jones as a song is really catchy; when I first heard it I wasn't too sure about it. However, it's a fun/energetic song that I think is really MomoClo's forte; energy. I was actually really surprised that there's a fair amount of Akari in this PV; I have to say hesitantly that all the girls get about equal lines and screen time, which is good. The PV itself is really fun, albeit a tiny bit cheap looking. However, the fun girls more than make up for that. I was personally really happy to see more of Akari (my second favorite) and to see Ayaka (my favorite) get center position for an extended amount of time near the end; more shots for my cute favorite! I also liked that Ayaka and Akari got to do a lot of the non-dance/close up shots together; the two of them are really good friends, as they're often together in a lot of clips o MomoClo doing things. This is why the two of them and Kanako (who is often hanging around them) are totally my picks if MomoClo ever does subgroup things.

Seriously though, I love all of them and I really love Pinky Jones. I think a lot of people were worried that MomoClo couldn't beat Ikuze Kaitou Shoujo, and while I don't know if other people think so, I think that if any song has a shot it's Pinky Jones.

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.