10.06.08
Catching Up, Part Two: Wonderful Hearts
Morning Musume did something retro. But it wasn’t the good kind of retro.
Instead of doing something 40s, or even 50s – which would have been totally bitchin’ – they did something 70s – which wasn’t really a thrill for me. I’m not exactly a fan of the 70s.
I was secretly hoping that Morning Musume would release a 40s-themed song. The last time they did that, all the way back in 2001, it turned out to be one of their best songs yet. If not that, they could have worn shirtwaist dresses or pencil skirts with cardigan sweaters on the cover of their next album. Wouldn’t that be adorable?
But no – instead, Morning Musume wore psuedo-disco dresses and sang Pink Lady’s song from the 1970s – Pepper Keibu.
Pepper Keibu is okay, but nothing more. The song is catchy, but I know it will get old after a few listens – it’s really repetitive…
The outifts suck, the PV sucks, but what can I ask for? A Hello!Project outfit isn’t a Hello!Project outfit unless it’s strange/fluffy/ugly or in this case, shiny. Morning Musume hasn’t released a decent PV in years, so I’ve given up on that one.
And…their next album will be entirely cover songs. Didn’t W do that for their first album in 2004? Why, yes, they did. W is great, fine. But I don’t like it when every song on an album is cover songs. Maybe if they had a few really good ones, it would be okay. But I like to hear new songs as well, and I’m sure you do too.
On Berryz’ new album, I like Happy! Stand Up and Baka ni Shinaide, and…that’s it. I would like Real Love too, if it wasn’t a Risako solo. I think Real Love should have been a Maasa solo, since MAASA ONLY GOT TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE GROUP SONG AND NEEDS MORE LOVE.
…
Oh! I secretly like Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, but only when I’m making graphics. I listen to all the crazy songs when I make graphics. 
Other than those few songs, I consider 5 (FIVE) to be rather mediocre. The fourth album was so much better.
I hope that Berryz and Morning Musume’s future releases will be something to look forward to, unlike these.
09.30.08
Catching Up, Part One: Milky Way
After giving all my attention in the past few weeks to studying, the 2008 election, family visiting from out-of-town, more studying, and – okay, I’ll be honest – more old movie stuff, I’ve had some time to catch up on music. I found some mp3s of the tracks on Kirarin Revolution Song Selection 4 and Berryz Koubou’s new album, 5 (FIVE). I also checked out the new Morning Musume PV and song, and realized that Milky Way’s next single is only a month away from being released.
Since there’s so much I’ve missed, I’ll be splitting this entry up into multiple pieces. I’ll begin with one of my favorite groups…
08.06.08
A look back at…the 2001 fanclub singles.
In 2001, the Hello!Project fanclub released 10 singles, known as the “fanclub singles.” What a lovely title for them. Each Morning Musume member had their own special solo single, containing one song and a message from the member. The singles get their titles from the members’ names, with each song title taking a few sounds from the particular member’s name. Apart from that, I don’t know very much about these. What I do know is that most of these singles are really good, and so I’ll be reviewing them today.
07.07.08
Scorning… Monkeys
From the first time I heard the radio rip, I knew the new Berryz song, “Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance,” would be bad. But my curiosity got the best of me, so when the PV came out, I had to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised to see and hear more Maasa, Chinami, and Saki (yet there’s still much more Risako than necessary, and not enough Yurina). Despite that, I don’t like the song or video.
“Yuke Yuke” is the most repetitive song I’ve heard from the Berryz. It’s the same verse and chorus over and over, until the bridge, which just comes out of nowhere. It’s a good song, really, if you want to annoy someone. The costumes are bad. They could be worse. Their fluffy skirts, long-sleeved shirts, black vests, and hats are so-so. And then there are the monkey costumes. Those officially ruined the video and song. The bodysuits with ears monkey costumes are a failed attempt to be cute; I don’t like them at all.
It’s not exactly “typical idol.” But it’s close.
Thankfully, there are those rare songs that aren’t typical idol.
06.30.08
Again and Again
The “Golden Age” of idols ended long ago. Alright, the 80s wasn’t really that long ago. Nevertheless, the world of Japanese idols actually started in the early 70s. So in 30 years, almost everything has been tried. It would take a genius producer to come up with a song or a style that hasn’t been shown yet, especially when during that golden age, idols would show up one day and leave the next. [And no. That genius is not Tsunku.]
I found all this out after I was listening to the radio one day. It was an online stream; I was able to find Japanese music. A song came on that I instantly liked. It was called “Haru Ichiban” by an idol group named Candies. Candies is — well, was — a Japanese idol group from the 70s. As I discovered more information on them, I saw their work parallel with that of Hello!Project’s.
06.21.08
A Music Survey, 夏の歌。
(Thank you for this, Misa. I’ve been inspired to write, and write about something J-Pop related too!)
06.12.08
Thirty-one Thoughts on a Lot of Stuff
The following is a whole bunch of thoughts. Or just random things that I wanted to mention. XD Some are serious, some are silly. Some are Hello!Project related, others are not. The links don’t always appear blue for some reason, so hover your mouse a bit. Have fun.
(636 words and 32 categories, 8 of which I’ll probably never use again! WOO!)
06.05.08
The Best Damn Vocalists in Morning Musume History
A quick run down of Morning Musume’s top ten vocalists follows, one being best.
10. Miki Fujimoto
9. Sayaka Ichii
8. Maki Goto
7. Yuko Nakazawa
6. Iida Kaori
5. Mari Yaguchi
4. Aya Ishiguro
3. Kei Yasuda
2. Natsumi Abe
1. Asuka Fukuda
~
If you haven’t noticed by now, I’ll point out that every person on that list (except Miki) is from early Morning Musume. There’s something about the early days of Momusu that just can’t be replaced, ever, no matter how cute your Reina and your Sayumi are. It’s the quality of the vocals. The first generation, without a doubt, was the strongest vocals Morning Musume ever had, and second is not far behind them. In 1997-98, it seemed that vocal quality was what was considered when members were chosen, not how cute they are, what kind of personality they had, or how many photobooks they could sell. And isn’t that what really matters? Argue all you want, but singing is what these girls’ initial purpose was, and still is. Sure. Now, they sell DVDs, photobooks, and whatever else is in the Hello Project official store on any given day, but back then it was all about the CDs. And you know, that’s still what their purpose is now, too.
05.28.08
HAY GUYZ GUESS WHAT I HEARD!
High-King’s PV for Cinderella Complex is here! And it’s ool. So watch it. I’m going to screencap it later and write about how much I love that song, Saki’s pretty voice, how great Ai and Reina look, the debut of cute Egg Yuuka, and Maimi’s overall awesomeness. So expect a post tomorrow. =P
In the meantime…what to say…what will make this post spiffy….
Ah, here we go. Now I can finish that sentence. In the meantime, Lauren Bacall is amazing! So be distracted by this picture. XD (Oh, how I love my idols.)
I’m so excited today, in case you couldn’t tell. I even wrote two blog entries. Summer began yesterday after much waiting! Yay~
…Hey, this post is 121 words. 121 is 11 squared. XD
音楽♪青春
After reading the “My Journey” series at Renai Project (which was very well written, might I add 
), I decided that I would like to write of my own “Journey”.
Morning Musume and Hello!Project…means a lot to me. Not only is it my favorite music, it’s a source of happiness, it’s something to cheer me up, and it’s an obsession. Go ahead, call me wota. XD
How did I get to this point? What did I love before Morning Musume?
It all started when I was little…
