[Because when I'm not talking about Asian music, I'm sharing pictures of people with people.]

I is for ice cream! I is also for Ingrid. Whee.

A very mellow/happy/somewhat amused-looking Gene Kelly.

Thank you for your time. ^_^

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.

That song is “Haru Ichiban,” and that video is the basis for some of the biggest similarities between Morning Musume and Candies. So many things that could be said about that video could be said about a live Morning Musume performance as well. They are not fantastic dancers. The members of the group shout out their thanks as the middle-aged male fans — see: wotas — cheer them on. I could have sworn I heard those chants somewhere. Above all, we can see the members of Candies trying to smile and act kawaii. How many times has THAT been seen in H!P before?

Alo-Hello! obviously isn’t anything new either.

What? GAM, you say? Why, yes, they certainly are wearing outfits that show their legs!

That guy teases them just like the Utaban guys tease Kei.

Recognize it? It’s “Koi no Fuga.” [Although I believe "Koi no Fuga" was originally by Pink Lady."]

The first few seconds of that dance reminded me of “Anataboshi.”

So the point is, every time you think one of your favorite idols is doing something wonderful, new, and improved, think again: with 30 years of the same stuff over and over, it’s probably already been done.

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???

I meet Sayaka Kitahara, Yurina Kumai, and Maasa Sudou. We’re close in age, Sayaka is my favorite Egg, and Yuri’s my favorite Hello! Project Kid, with Maa at a close second. I hope we’d be good friends!

2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?

KUSUMI KOHARU. (Aren’t you surprised.) BEEEH. I hate her voice, her personality, her voice, her face, her voice, everything about her.

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

Kamenashi Kazuya. <3 He’s so amazingly sexy. I also think Akanishi Jin and Taguchi Junnosuke are hot.

[This question never said pick one. Ha!]

4. How about the cutest?

Probably Junno. But Jin can be cute when he wants, too. (Bakanishi, anyone?) Masuda Takahisa fron NEWS has an adorable face as well.

5. Best personality?

The Queen of Hello!Project, Yuko Nakazawa!

Or Yaguchi Mari. Mari can be whatever she wants, when she wants…mature, cute, funny, silly…we’ve seen it all from Yaguchan.

6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5?

The ones in #5 are out of the question. I’d date Kame from #3. (And then marry him.)

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?

I would ask personal questions so we can know more about the artists. What kinds of personal questions, I don’t know, but nothing too deep. I wouldn’t ask the same-old, “What foods and colors do you like?” or “How do you feel about the new release?” sorts of questions.

8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad?

Ganbare! by AKB48 and Namida no Hoshi by Maki Goto. Most of the sad songs I like are Korean or Chinese, so I suppose I can’t mention them here. =/

9. When you’re really happy?

The Peace! by Morning Musume, Tadaima Renaichuu by AKB48, and Doki Doki Love Mail by Aya Matsuura. There are probably a lot in addition to that, but those come to mind first.

10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs?

I used to sing along rather often, but now I don’t sing along that much. I usually only sing when I’m in a very good mood.

11. How about dance?

I never dance…XD

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?

Unless they were going to pay me a ridiculously high sum of money, no. One of the best parts about blogging is voicing one’s opinions, especially when they’re new or controversial.

I still like Hello!Project. I really do. But my interest in it…is not the same as it was a month ago, even a couple weeks ago. It could be getting old. I’ve mentioned in another entry that I get bored easily. Or it could be that I’m not satisfied with the current condition of Hello!Project, which is noticeable in a few very dissatisfied recent entries here. They often express a strange state of nostalgia that really never existed. You may also have noticed that I’ve taken on another interest: classic film and the actors/actresses from old Hollywood. But there’s more.

I’ve also found myself listening to more Johnnys, and even more AKB48. I don’t know why AKB48. Actually, no. I do. Their music is good. Even if they’re twice as provocative, and sell four times more sex than Hello!Project, I’ve really been catching on to their music. I also used to like Chocolove, but now I love Chocolove. And I couldn’t have loved it without…

Sayaka Akimoto.

I love Sayaka for one of the same reasons I love Yossie, Mako, Maimi, and Yurina: She has a lovely, deep, lets-not-take-helium-for-once singing voice. I don’t know much about her personality yet, or any other AKB48 members, but her version of “Chocolate” is the best of the three solos. [I also love her solo lines in "Ashita wa Ashita no Kimi ga Umareru" and "Mail no Namida."]

Download Sayaka’s Version of Chocolate here.

I really don’t like the very high voices. There are a few exceptions: Mari, Kago, Nono, Chinami, and Eri. Look at all my least favorites: Koharu, Momoko, even C-ute (except Maimi) tends to annoy the hell out of me. I like kawaii, but it’s just too much. And by the looks of it, Hello!Project won’t be adding any more normal or deep voices anytime soon. If they do add anyone, it will just be more squeaky, whiny, so-high-it-makes-my-ears-bleed ones.

So Akimoto gets the AKB48 Awesome Award, okay?

Could that be why I’m choosing Johnnys and AKB48 over Hello!Project? Because they’ve become too cute and I don’t appreciate the singing? I still like Hello!Project, and Morning Musume is still the number one played artist on last.fm for me, but I listen to mostly the Golden-Era songs. And I often think about how funny it would be if there was a classic film version of Morning Musume. [Veronica Lake as Mari = WIN. And I can picture Lana Turner as Tsuji easily, for some reason. XD. Rita Hayworth would make a perfect Maki. I could go on, but...that will be another post, someday...maybe...]

But Hello!Project, regardless of the year, will always come back again. I’ll push my thoughts of “I don’t really like this anymore” to the side, and enjoy some Morning Musume or Berryz Koubou. And then I become bored again. It’s just the beginning of a downward spiral.

Once it’s all gone, what will I do with all the Hello!Project things I’ve bought? I know I’ll feel guilty for using so much of my and my parents’ money on things that I only enjoyed for a short time. Two photobooks, two albums, three singles, a single V, one essay/photo book, and a DVD. It’s probably around $300. It may not seem like much at first, but it’s money wasted. This is not to mention the countless hours and minutes that accumulate to days, months, spent just doing Hello!Project-related stuff. I was downloading music, watching videos, browsing through photobooks, watching Hello Morning, and so much more when I could have written a letter to a loved one, read a book, or studied.

A line from one of my favorite poems says: “The music won’t last.” Of course, the meaning is different in that poem and in this context, but the music really isn’t lasting anymore for me.

So I’ll move on. I’ll continue being a total wota (the word fits here) for old films, and my interest will grow in AKB48 and Johnnys. If I begin loving Hello!Project again, it will show. Don’t forget that I like it, because I’ll still write about Hello!Project here a lot. But expect more AKB48, and more film.

[Icons credit to Ogeecons. :D]

I love this picture. ♥

…

This post was completely necessary.

(Thank you for this, Misa. I’ve been inspired to write, and write about something J-Pop related too!)

1. What was the first Japanese song that you ever listened to?

“Playboy Playgirl” by Pizzicato Five was my first Japanese song ever, but my first H!P song was “Ne~e?” by Aya Matsuura.

2. Did it inspire you to like that group/singer, or did it turn you away?

I liked them for a long time, but I don’t like P5 anymore. And I still love Ayaya!

3. What is the one song that you have been listening to for the longest time?

“Some Boys! Touch” by Maki Goto.

4. What group/singer have you liked the longest?

Aya Matsuura, probably. She was one of the first artists that I got into, as mentioned, and I still like her today.

5. What is the song with the most plays on your itunes/media player?

“Some Boys! Touch” by Maki Goto with 188 plays. It’s followed by “Melodies” by GAM (108), and then Glass no Pumps by Maki Goto (92).

6. Is that song your favorite?

I really like “Some Boys,” but it’s not my favorite.

7. If not, what is?

“Happy Summer Wedding” by Morning Musume and “How to use Loneliness” by Maki Goto are my favorite songs.

8. Is there any one group that you can listen to all/most of the songs by? If so, who?

Maki Goto. I love her and her music, so I’m really happy that she’s back in the music business! I hate to go off topic, but we got our wish. Maki’s with Avex now~

9. What is your favorite agency?

I have a love/hate relationship with UFA. I also like Avex.

10. What is your favorite group/singer?

Maki Goto and Morning Musume in Hello!Project, but outside of Hello!Project my favorites are Namie Amuro and KAT-TUN, and outside of J-Music it’s SeeYa (Korean) and Rainie Yang (Chinese).

Survey ends here.

~~~

It’s June 21! Do you know what that means? It’s the first day of summer! Okay, so it started for most of us a long time ago, whether that was when we got out of school, or when we went on vacation, or when it started to get really, really hot. I’m going to heat up your summer even more with 5 summer-inspired Hello!Project songs.

1. Summer Reggae Rainbow (7-nin Matsuri, 2001 shuffle unit)

Out of the three 2001 shuffle songs, this one is probably the most unique. Hello!Project reggae? Brilliant! I love the part in the video where they slide down the rainbow, it’s so cute.

2. Manatsu no Kousen - Morning Musume

THIS SONG NEEDS MORE LOVE. It seems to get a lot of hate. “Manatsu no Kousen” was the original Hello!Project happy-bubbly-cute song. Of course, compared to now, it seems like a rather mild pop song. But it’s so cheery and happy, it can make even the brightest of summer days brighter. (Did that make sense?)

3. Yeah! Meccha Holiday - Aya Matsuura

This was one of my first Aya songs, and remains a favorite today. “Yeah! Meccha Holiday” is good for all those crazy summer days…

4. Tropical Koishiteru - Aya Matsuura

Aya just seems to love summer, doesn’t she? There’s this, the song mentioned above, “Good Bye Natsuo…” And that’s okay, Ayaya. Your summer songs are the best.

Tropical Koishiteru was Aya’s second single. It’s very upbeat and happy, just like all the other songs on this list. So far. Until now:

5. Natsu Remember You - Berryz Koubou

We don’t see Berryz ballads very often. It’s so touching, from what I understand. Words like “Yasashii egao” (sweet smile), “Samishii namida” (sad tears), and “Itsumade mo wasurenai” (Forever, I’ll never forget) makes the song seem like it’s about a heartbreaking summer love that will never be forgotten. You can still capture the loveliness of the song even without knowing the words. Aww.

I bid you all a great summer! Just three more months until autumn. XD

Or lots and lots of Rita Hayworth. Because she’s awesome. ♥

I promise I’ll make an actual post soon. I’m just lacking inspiration right now. Baaa here’s some Rita.

She’s on ur skis, wearin ur mittens.

PANCAKES.

Don’t confuse teh love goddess! D:

The puppy is not the cutest thing in that picture.

Hair defies gravity?

AWWW.

You’ve been Hayworth’d. And that’s a good thing.

This picture does not need a caption. It’s perfect. ^_^

Pictures credit to this website. Check it out for more images and tons of other information on Rita!

(Title inspired by “There is never a wrong thread to post a Risako” header at Hello Island. I hope you guys don’t object to me using a similar one here. )

That is all. (For now, anyways.)

She turns 15 today.

They’re so cute and pretty. They release fun, happy music. How could anyone not like idols anymore, I wondered. Morning Musume had plenty of fans in their earlier days. What went wrong?

I could always go on and rant about how the vocal quality has become sub-par, or how the overall quality of the music was better 2003 and earlier. But there’s something else I want to talk about. Something that really bothers me about the idol industry.

Now, you know what to do when we hear the secret word! Scream! That’s right! And today’s secret word is…

Wota.

(Aaaah!)

It’s the wotas that are preventing the idols from being successful. Those wotas who will buy anything with their favorite Hello!Project member’s face on it, no matter how worthless it might be. Those wotas, who Up-Front-Agency caters to.

I feel like I overuse the term “wota.” I’ll call anyone who likes Hello!Project or other idol groups a wota, including myself. But after watching some videos, and really thinking about what’s in the videos, I’ve found that to be a big mistake. (Some 50-year-old guy who nearly has a heart attack from breathing a “bag of Berryz air?” I don’t think a lot of us even come close to that.) I couldn’t call casual fans “wotas” in Japan, and I shouldn’t do it outside of Japan either. There’s a reason why wotas have such as negative reputation.

The wotas want THAT.

I came across that picture on Hello!Online today. It’s a perfect example of how greedy UFA and other idol management is. They don’t care about the members. They just want what sells to wotas. Looking at it from a business point of view, that sounds just fine. But looking at it from a moral point of view, it’s disgusting. Mai Hagiwara is 12 years old. She shouldn’t have her picture in a dirty old man’s magazine with her skirt flying up. Her skirt wouldn’t be hirari’d if she hadn’t been trained to dance like that. It’s the sexual exploitation of a minor, and it’s too sickening for words. If I’m not mistaken, it would even be illegal here.

Granted, not all wotas are pedophiles. I’m sure a lot are normal As for them, they’re not really normal either, but I don’t think they appreciate pictures showing up like the one above.

What about the members? How do I think Saki and Mai feel about that magazine article?

The problem is, I don’t think they know what they’re doing. They’ve been in this business for a while, so it’s normal to them. As for the older members, who probably have a better idea of what’s going on, they can’t stand up and say that it’s wrong. Otherwise, they won’t sell. Remember the Rika clip that caused a small uproar? They’re idols. They have to be perfect for those people again. Those dirty…wotas.

I can’t decide whether it’s the management’s fault for allowing this to happen, or the wotas’ fault for supporting it.

If you asked me what I wanted to be 6 months ago, I would have given you two answers. It would go a bit like this. “Realistically, I want to go into medicine. But in my dreams, I want to join Morning Musume.”

Now that I’ve realized what that means, and who I’d have to deal with, I am embarrassed. I would never, ever want to be an idol. Being forced to do things against one’s will, all those restrictions. Not being able to date, which is just a normal part of growing up, and who knows what else. It’s not normal.

It must really suck.

I feel sorry for the idols.