A few hopes for the next year of H!P

Before continuing, make sure you're aware that anything written in this post is purely my OPINION, which I have a right to share. If you don't agree with it, then you don't have to read it, k thnx bai.

Mmk so I decided to write this here. I dunno why. I should really get better about this blog :3 XD yeah, sure.

Anyway, so I'm just gonna get straight to the point. These are just a few of my hopes for the next year of H!P.

First of all, I really hope that a new unit will be introduced. Whether it's a new permanent Unit like MoBeKiSu, or a new sub unit like what used to be Minimoni, W, Tanpopo, v-u-den, etc. I just don't want another one that's like the Satoyama groups (seems to not be really "H!P"), revival groups (release 1-2 songs and then they're done), or Buono! (epic for like 4 years and then just dies). Anyway, I also have hopes that certain members might get into a unit like this too <3. Here's my list of top wants for unit members:

01. Shimizu Saki

No shit, right? Of course I'd want my current Oshi to get in a new unit if one is made, right? Well, honestly, it's not even because she's my Oshi, okay, that's bullshit, it's actually partly because she's one damn badass rapper. And you know what H!P can never have too much of? Rapping. Yes. I don't care if you love her or hate her, after Loving You Too Much and Cat's Eye, you'd have to be deaf to deny her rapping skills. I'll leave it at that since I know whether or not you like her voice is your opinion cause liking her rapping totally is not xP, I personally do, so that's props for me.

02. Nakajima Saki

Another Oshi. I'm being sooo obvious about this, aren't I? But the main reason I have her here is because, ultimately, I'm wishing for a dance unit (not like UFGZ or whatever they're called, I mean just like a unit made of H!P's dancers and it would have epic dances and yeah). And I believe that Nakky is among the best dancers in current H!P. But yeah, I love Nakky, so even if it's not a dance unit, I'd love to see this girl shine more in the project.

03. Otsuka Aina

Ohoho, now we're getting somewhere less obvious even though she's still my favorite Egg. Basically, Aina was one of the ones I was hoping would get in MM and didn't. I was SO happy to find out she joined the eggs. She's a cutie and a good singer, so I just really wish that she gets to be in a unit in the near future (Especially if the unit is like S/mileage was).

04. Katsuta Rina

Look, this girl is so undercreditted in S/mileage. She has some serious talent. If she isn't gonna get lines in S/mileage, she should get in a unit. Yeah. 'nough said @x@.

05. Suzuki Kanon

Why? Try why not! This girl is just omg. This girl should be a lead in MM. Zukki can sing. AND she as Boobies D: HOW CAN YOU NOT PUT HER IN A UNIT?!

06. Nakanishi Kana

Look at that face. Your reasoning is invalid. But really. Kana is actually my... -counts- 5th favorite in CURRENT S/mileage, and even I think this girl should be in a unit. She's cute and her voice is okay. It's better then a lot of H!P's current leads at least. Plus, I don't know, I just really think she would shine more in a unit then she ever will in S/mileage even if she got a lead (kinda like Yaguchi Mari in Minimoni vs Morning Musume. I personally think that Marippe just suited Minimoni more than MM, and she seemed to have a lot of fun.)

07. Kudo Haruka

Haruka has a LOT of talent. She's a great singing and a good dancer AND she's adorable. Plus she was an egg, so she has more training then since joining Morning Musume. How in the WORLD she gets pushed to the back in Morning Musume, I don't understand in the least. I think a unit for her would be a good way to up her fanbase, and hopefully her camera time in MM.

07. Oda Sakura

You can say I'm joining the bandwagon with this one, but to be totally honest, now that Aichan is gone, Gaki is gone, Kame is gone, Reina is leaving, and Shige probably won't last much longer, H!P needs a new ace. And I KNOW many many MAAAANY people will probably hate me for this, but I really don't want Airi to be that ace. I'll admit that Airi has one of, if not, the best voices in H!P, but I'm SO damn sick of hearing it everywhere. And now that Reina is leaving, You KNOW that face is going somewhere, and most likely it'll go to Airi (I'm not even gonna mention MomoMiyaRisa from BK with the shit budget they've been getting recently compared to C-ute's). And no. I'd rather it go to Sakura. A new face for a new generation of H!P. //rant

08. Mitsui Aika

Aika's a solo act now. But I can't see her ever being an actual soloist. With her foot issues, dancing alone would probably be troublesome, but also her voice isn't really solo material IMO. I really want to see her join, maybe even lead a new unit.

09. Conditional girls

I mentioned above that I'd like a new unit to be a dance unit, yes? Yes. Well, another secret secret? hope I have for a new unit, is one that has a similar concept as High King - a leaders unit. So if there were to be a leaders unit, of course Shige, Maimi, and Ayaka need to be in it!  That's the condition for them. For Riho and Ayumi, what's a dance unit without the current Morning Musume Dancing aces?

What? No Masaki? No Miyabi? Why the heck is Ayumi in "conditional girls"? Where's Fukupon? ANSWER!!!

Okay, so yeah, a few of these hopes are due to biases on some level. But I'm still kinda thinking rational. Kinda. Here's what I figure on the above mentioned girls (despite them being among my favorites).

Masaki: Despite loving her and her voice, unlike Haruka, Masaki doesn't have as much vocal training. Plus, her dancing isn't the best. Both her voice and her dancing have improved since she joined MM, but I still think 2013's too early for her to be in a subunit. I think she should get used to being in Morning Musume first. Plus, I highly prefer her lower voice (the one she used in  Hajimete no Happy Birthday), and I honestly don't want her to be put in a unit to use her cutesy voice.

Miyabi: I love Miyabi, but kinda like Airi, I'm sick of hearing her EVERYWHERE. With Aa, Sexy Otona Jan, Buono, and a lead in Berryz, she got a lot of attention ever since she joined H!P pretty much. I think it's time for some newer faces (or lesser shown ones) to get a little attention.

Ayumi: Like I said, what's a dance unit without Ayumi? But really, I think her singing leaves a LOT to be desired. She's improved a bit, but from what I can hear in Help Me!! her voice is still stiff and hesitant.

Fukupon: I thought about putting Fukupon on this list. I really did. But I just don't see her fitting in with any other members. Mizuki's voice is really soft and gentle, and I can't imagine her fitting in a unit with just about anyone that I put on this list.

Okay so that was a heck of a lot of talking over just one hope @x@. So here are a few more hopes that many people will probably disagree with but too bad.

-More graduations & auditions.

Okay, hear me out first. With Morning Musume gaining 9 new members and losing 7 just in the past few years, and S/mileage gaining 4 and losing 2 and a half (counting Fuu-chan as a half), and the graduation of H!P's only soloist, H!P is entering a whole new era. I hate graduations just as much as most other people out there, but if no one else graduates, I can't imagine H!P getting out of it's same old routine. Same with auditions. Preferably not a Gen 12 for Morning Musume yet @_@ but for sure I'd like to see a new unit, even if it's auditions, and I'd love to see at least one new soloist, preferably more than that. Basically, if a graduation or audition is announced, I'll probably cry and then get over it and be like "... wait... this is exactly what I want o 3o"

-Member colors

Okay I think most people who know me know that I have an obsession with member colors, so my few member color related hopes: 

1. Berryz gets goddamn member color outfits for a single. Really they're they only ones who haven't had one.

2. Member colors start being incorporated into outfits regularly. Even if it's just a bow or something.

3. Member color shuffle. Okay, part of me is petrified if this happens, but I'd LOVE to see it. Currently C-ute's okay (I'd honestly like Airi to be dark pink and Mai to be light pink, but whatever), but Morning Musume especially only a couple members really suit their colors now, I think. Especially once Shige graduates. And Berryz... and S/mileage... Just... idk XD it's scary to think about, but I think it would be interesting.

-Morning Musume Self-Cover album

You remember the Shinsei Naru Album that C-ute just released? Yeah. I wanna see an MM one. I can imagine, if it's after Reina leaves, that it would be VERY interesting since there are so many songs that only Shige if Shige took part in the original. OMG I'd die XD

-More and better Berikyuu

I love Berikyuu as a unit. But lets be honest, Amazuppai sucked ass. No solos, boring tune, boring PV, etc. And Cho Happy Song? So overrated. Eventually it got annoying to listen to. I want a GOOD Berikyuu song. One that I could play on repeat for days without it annoying me.

-Autotune dies

Really. Just die. I don't even care anymore. I'd rather listen to Shige squeak then have to hear any more autotune ever. OR maybe you should put people who can actually SING in front so you don't NEED autotune. Autotune can burn in hell.

-Risako stops with the shit hair colors

Really. No. Her natural color is so beautiful, she's gonna ruin her hair if she keeps dying it. And could she at least pick some good colors? Really. The cha cha sing color made her look like an old lady, and her red hair makes her look like a hooker. Look, red hair is for people with a MAX of Miyabi lengthed hair. Long red hair just looks like a shitty wig.

-More group songs, less solos

I love small group songs on albums. I prefer when these songs are from 2 to 5 people, preferably 3-5. So when 13 Colorful Character was announced to have two solos and then a 8nin song, I was so pissed off. And albums like 6 Chou Wonderful are shit too. I like ones like 5 (FIVE) <33 and even the new Morning Musume Singles that have small group b-sides. Just... <33 cut the solos and make lots of small group songs *^*

-Awesome

I just want this year to be the best year H!P has ever had! ^ 3^

Favorites Poll

My friend recently taught me how to make a poll on google docs. So I tested it out with a favorites poll. I plan to share the results when it seems no one is submitting anymore, but I thought I should advertise it here in case anyone reads this xD. I'll also kinda mention how things are looking so far. As of now there have been 38 submitted forms.

You can fill in yours here.

I'm just gonna talk about how things are looking so far.

Morning Musume (Gen 1): In the lead currently is Abe Natsumi. As much as this shouldn't surprise me since she was one of the first ever leads and SHE didn't leave after 4 singles, this actually does surprise me. Only because she was the last Gen 1 member to get a vote. And her first vote wasn't cast until the 10th person to fill out the poll. Nakazawa  is in a close second, only being in second by 1 vote, but the fact that Nacchi jumped so far so fast is really amazing to me.

Morning Musume (Gen 2): Yaguchi Mari has a far lead. To me, this is not surprising in that, when I personally thing of MoMusu Gen 2, the first face I picture is Marippe's. Since she did last the longest, and, in my opinion, got the most attention of the generation. Plus, with most fans I know being much more recent fans, they're more likely to known any given ZYX/Minimoni song than they are to know Otome no Shinrigaku. This is kinda sad, because Otome is an amazing song and Ichii and Yasuda both have amazing voices, and the harmonies are amazing... but because it's an album song and from an OLD album, a lot of people don't even look into it. I do highly suggest it for anyone who is interested, and you can find the audio here. Note: Otome no Shinrigaku (Woman's Intuition) is basically a Ichii Sayaka x Yasuda Kei duet with harmonies by the rest of Morning Musume.

Morning Musume (Gen 4): For Gen 4, Yoshizawa Hitomi is currently kicking ass, with almost half of the votes (45%) Not to mention it took until the 9th form for her to NOT be voted (Nono broke the chain). I'm not totally surprised by this, since I voted Yossie and I know a lot of people who like her best of 4th gen at least. The thing about this gen that I think is most surprising to me is that Ishikawa Rika is in last place of the 4. I honestly thought she would be head to head with Yossie, or at least 2nd. But We'll have to see where things go from here.

Morning Musume (Gen 5): I'm very very happy to say that Niigaki Risa is smoking the competition, 4 points ahead of Takahashi Ai. (Okay, so she's not smoking x3 but still.) I'm not surprised that TakaGaki did get the lead, but I'm pleasantly surprised that KonkonMako both have a few votes. Tied with 3 votes each, actually. I was so sad voting for this one, to be honest, because Gaki is my H!P love, but Mako is so close behind her and Konkon not too far behind either, so I was really hoping that they get some votes too. I'm very happy with the fact that they did.

Morning Musume (Gen 6): Kamei Eri is currently in the lead for Gen 6, with Reina not far behind. I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not by the fact that Shige is ahead of Mikitty though... I personally voted Mikitty. I think she was the only one with any real singing talent when they first joined, and I just love Mikitty (I honestly preferred her as a soloist, but whatever). I did kinda expect Reina to be in the lead at this point, though, so I'm kinda surprised (in a good way though), that she's not yet.

Morning Musume (Gen 8): This is the absolutely least surprising to me. I actually kind of expected this, to be honest. Linlin is in the lead (that much I didn't expect), but the 3 girls have 12, 12, and 14 points. Meaning it's almost even. I think of people I know, and almost all of them vary very much with Gen 8. I know people who, like me, love Junjun, I know people who love Aika, and I know people who love Linlin. I really can't imagine any of the girls "owning" the others.

Morning Musume (Gen 9): This one I had a little bit more vague of a prediction for, but once again, it's so far as I expected. Fukumura Mizuki is in the lead, 3 points ahead of Sayashi Riho. Zukki and Erippon do also have quite a few votes too (well... "quite a few" for only 38 total votes) No real comments on how this one is looking so far.

Morning Musume (Gen 10): I think Gen 10 is the most surprising for me, so far. (Other than the little Nacchi thing). In first place Kudou Haruka and second Sato Masaki. Haruka isn't near as surprising to me as Masaki. Personally, Masaki is my favorite, but everywhere I look I see a lot of Masaki hate. The face she's in 2nd... very surprising to me. My prediction was probably Ayumi -> Haruka -> Haruna -> Masaki, so yeah. I'm happy. 

Morning Musume (Solo Gens): I'm not lying when I say that Maki and Koharu are neck and neck. Literally (Apparently someone didn't vote this question), Goto Maki has 19 votes and Kusumi Koharu has 18. On one side of the coin, I'm really surprised, on the other side, I don't know why since I couldn't really imagine who would have the lead here. For a bit I thought it would be Koharu, since she's more recent, but even to Maki was a while ago, her stuff is really popular (not only her MM stuff, but also her solos). So this doesn't totally surprise me when I think about it a bit.

Berryz Koubou: I'm actually very happy to say that my favorite, Shimizu Saki, is in the lead with my 2nd favorite, Natsuyaki Miyabi, in a close second. I'm NOT happy to say, though, whatsoever, that poor Maiha doesn't have any votes D: she's the only option in this entire poll who doesn't have a single vote. It's really sad to me, because I know she left early on and never had a very big part, but she's one of the few H!P member's I've ever heard with a cute voice that isn't annoying. If you wanna hear her voice clearly, I'd suggest you listen to Natsu Wakame (In case you didn't get it, you can click that), in that perf she's the one in orange that is not Kumai xD. If you wanna just look at the CC lyrics and SEE where she sings, Colorz has accurate lyrics for this song (Again, you can click that).

C-ute: I'm not surprised in the least that Suzuki Airi is in the lead with Okai Chisato following behind. Nor am I surprised that the top 5 are the current 5 members of C-ute. I'm very happy that all members got at least 1 vote, though. For those of you who don't know who Murakami Megumi, Arihara Kanna, or Umeda Erika are, I'd highly suggest listening to C-ute's Indies singles and the songs on their 1st album. That is my favorite C-ute album because of those 3 girls.

S/mileage (Gen 1): I'm very sad to admit this is the exact results I was expecting. Maeda Yuuka is in the lead with Ogawa Saki behind her and my amazing Wada Ayaka is in last. I really hope this changes as more people vote, but I'm not expecting it to. </3

S/mileage (Gen 2): Takeuchi Akari being in first doesn't surprise me, what surprises me is that Katsuta Rina is the one on her tail. I honestly thought that Meimi would be tailing her (though she's not far behind Rina), but that fact Rina is actually makes me happy. Mostly because the positions of these five girl's mirror my order of favorites (Akari -> Rina -> Meimi -> Kana -> Fuu-chan). 

Buono: Honestly I don't really know how I feel about this. Airi is in the lead by a long shot, followed by Miyabi and finally Momoko. Part of me doesn't by it, but the other part of me does... I dunno. I personally like Miya best, and Miya started out strong. But whatever, I love Miya and Airi, so I'm glad their ahead of Momo.

Peaberry: I'll start off with saying: I love Dawa... not so fond of Riho. Now whoever out there reads that and thinks it means something for the results, it doesn't. These girls are at 18:18, have fun with that.

DIY: Not surprised that my Miya is in the lead. I think what surprises me most is that Haruna is in 3rd. I mean... Chi's not amazingly popular, nor is Maimi, but that fact Haruna beat them both being as new as she is kinda surprised me.

Mobekimasu Unit: Last, but not least, MBKMS. Morning Musume is number one, as I expected, what I didn't expect, though, is that the rest of the groups, much like S/mileage gen 2, follow my favorites rank... (Berryz -> C-ute -> S/mileage -> Mano) (MM for me is in between BK and C-ute), I kinda expected C-ute to do better than Berryz with all the promotion they got going on recently.

For those of you who are interested in the final results, I will probably leave this poll up for a few weeks, or at least give it until it goes a couple days without any new submitted forms, before posting the "final" answers on my blog, though I'll keep the poll open for anyone who wants to continue voting after that.

Note: I'm well aware that polls like these have many holes for "cheating", I want you to be aware of this also. I'm hoping that fans are kind enough that they vote once, and only once, each. But we live in a pathetic world and, since the votes are anonymous, I can't guarantee that this is the case. Please do not state the obvious that you cant trust these or accuse this poll of being rigged, I have no control over the actions of others. Thank you.

Sea☆A Babbling

Before continuing, make sure you're aware that anything written in this post is purely my OPINION, which I have a right to share. If you don't agree with it, then you don't have to read it, so no hating.

Okay, so I told myself when my Sea☆A CDs came I would review them on my blog. Primarily so that I actually give a listen to all the songs, cause I have a tendency to ignore songs I haven't heard before out of pure laziness. However, I'm relatively... no... very inexperienced in "reviewing" things, and I don't really have a particular way of doing so because of this. I've not reviewed near enough to comfortably "review" anything. So instead I'm going to "babble". In other words, I'm just going to talk about it and what I think of it as I have it playing on repeat in the background. So, without further ado (I guess) let's get one with this.

  

Single 1: DREAM SHOOTER

Tracklist:

01. DREAM SHOOTER

02. Soda Sound Fountain

03. DREAM SHOOTER (Off Vocal)

04. Soda Sound Fountain (Off Vocal)

Before I get to talking about the actual songs, I wanna say one thing about this. The fact that both the a-side and the b-side have instrumentals makes me SO happy. As a dubber, this allows for the possibility of producing a dub of the b-side without the concern of if it'll make a good instrumental. Buono! does this aswell, and honestly it's one of my favorite parts of them. Now if only they had instrumentals for their albums... Oh well.

Anyway, we'll start off with DREAM SHOOTER. This song was their debut, and the PV (as posted below if I remember) was uploaded to the "lantis" youtube channel. It was a while ago, but I think Chiima is the one who original sent me the video. I loved it. The opening, which isn't in the mp3, basically starts right off the bat saying that these girls aren't Japanese. Actually they're Singaporean. And, as someone who has dreamed of being able to perform Japanese, even though I'm in America, this really excited me and inspired me in a sense. Of course, the girls seemed to get a bit of hate as well for the exact same reason. I remember some of the comments on the video at the time including things like "These girls should sing their own language" or something. But there seemed to be just as many comments defending the girls, so I wasn't too worried about it.

As for the song itself, it's a really cute song. Unfortunately, it's a "chorus" song, as I like to call it. Meaning all four girls sing the whole song, there's no solos or small groups. This is kinda nice, since the girls blend amazingly, but it's a shame you don't get to hear any of their unique voices.  But the song does give off a "group" feel, I suppose. I do love the beat, also the fact they through a lot of English words in the mix. (I've always enjoyed when English words are used in Japanese songs, I'm not entirely sure why to be honest.)

Overall this song is an amazing song, the fact it's their debut just goes to show how much potential this group has. When I first watched it, I think I watched the video 3 or 4 times in a row. Haha. Well I know one thing, I subscribed to lantis immediately in hopes that I'd be able to see more from this group soon. Sure enough, I was glad I did. But it's not time for that yet. So enjoy the DREAM SHOOTER PV and then we'll move onto the b-side.

Okay, so moving onto Soda Sound Fountain. I'm honestly listening for the first time now. I'm actually surprised at the contrast to DREAM SHOOTER! This song seems to show a cuter side of the girls, the pitch of the song is a bit higher than it's a-side. I don't know the girls voices very well, but I'm happy to say I'm sure there's duets in this song. That's also a nice contrast. This song kinda sounds like a song you'd hear at an amusement park to me... Maybe I'm just weird, but it just has that fun, playful sound to it I think.

I'm making a new paragraph because the song finally ended and is repeating now. Yeah, probably a bad reason. Listening to the lyrics, from my limited understanding, it sounds like the song is from the perspective of a girl with a crush on someone (lines like "I like you(/him?)" give that away clearly) but I would guess the girl is a child because this song has a really innocent feel to it. Lines lines "I want to play together with you" and "Let's dance, let's play, let's sing", they give the song a really innocent kind of love feel. Not to mention the song name is "Soda Sound Fountain". Somehow that in itself makes me think of a child.

I will end with saying my translations may not be TOTALLY accurate, since I'm going by ear (cause I'm too lazy to go look at the lyrics booklet) and I only took level 1 and 2 Japanese. So uh... yeah, disclaimer I guess.

Single 2: DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS

Tracklist:

01. DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS

02. Ding Dong Ding

03. Renai Circulation (Valerie)

04.  DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS (Off Vocal)

05.  Ding Dong Ding (Off Vocal)

06. Renai Circulation (Off Vocal)

I really wanted to put a picture of the back too, but I couldn't find one. Oh well. Anyway, Yay for C-side solos! In case you're wondering, Valerie is the Yellow one on this cover and the number "1" on DREAM SHOOTER (the others are Beryl (Purple/16), Wynnie (Pink/7), and my favorite, Estelle (Orange/19)).

DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS, as far as I know, is the most popular Sea☆A song. Within reason, too. It's a very fun song. If you watch the PV, it has a video game feel to it. But really, it's just a fun song in the end. The opening is a good sign for the rest of the song's theme: "Guri Guri Hungry ja Muri Muri onaka suita", it's hard to translated for me, but trying I get "gry gry I'm hungry, I can't work with a empty stomach" or something. The song overall doesn't make much sense if you want to find a deep meaning or something. As far as I can tell, it's just a fun song. It's got a fun tune, and seems easy to dance too. 

And what else? What's that I hear? Solos and small groups? Yay! According to the live that Chiima sent me yesterday, those "solos" are duets, that, or the girls need to get the mics away from their mouth when they're not singing, but in the mp3 they're pretty clearly solos, I think. I can tell why people seem to favor this song over DREAM SHOOTER and Friendship Birthday. I personally like it the most of the 3. But you can decide for yourself.

Once again, this is my first time hearing the b-side, so bear with me. Unlike DREAM SHOOTER and it's coupling, Ding Dong Ding seems to really suit the theme of it's a-side. It really has a video game feel to it. I think 8-bit? Not completely, but it has quite a few 8-bit notes throughout the song. I can see the video game girls from the DELI PV in a video for this. This song, much like they're others, does have a fun sound to it, but I do think it has a bit more of a meaning behind it then it's a-side. 

Much like Soda Sound Fountain, it seems to have a meaning wrapped around liking someone. This time, though, it doesn't sound so much "innocent" as it sounds "pure". "Please stop time when we're like this". It is innocent when comparing to other songs, but it does seem a bit more mature than "soda fountains". Thus I conclude "pure". The bridge before the final chorus starts off "Ah, the color of the sunset is becoming heartrending". As it repeats, I seem to think this song as more "beautiful" than it is "cute". I really really like this song. And I'm glad I did this, if only for this song.

For Renai Circulation, I have heard it once when a project I'm subscribed to dubbed it. I think this is a cover song, but I'm not sure (but I think so). Valerie, I have to say, has a much cuter voice than I expected. The song, however, really suits it. I really like how it sounds. The song itself, in my opinion, it's a typical anime song. It has a bit of rapping, though, that makes me happy and kinda impresses me too. When I listen I kinda feel like this song has 3 different songs mixed in, for some reason. Maybe I'm crazy, but the rapping, opening line (That shows up throughout the song), and the choruses don't flow as well as a song should, in my opinion. But it's nice to hear the different... styles... I guess, with Valerie's voice. And I do really like this song, but it's not one of my favorite out of Sea☆A's 8 songs.

As for the meaning, it seems to be another love song. One line "Just that your laughing makes me smile", I believe, makes me think it's another purer kind of love song, but it's the only line I can understand without having to look at the lyrics. But the bits I understand throughout the song seems to give off that this is one of those songs with the meaning basically that "When you're happy, I'm happy". But I may be wrong.

Before I move on, I do want to mention that I didn't even know Sea☆A's songs were anime themes until I was re-watching the DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS PV and happened to notice one of the top comments was something mentioning it. Maybe I'm just oblivious, but yeah, I felt like an idiot. I just wanted to mention that, not sure why. Now before I finish this, I'm gonna eat lunch, so in the meantime please enjoy a groupdub I'm in of DREAM SHOOTER (or just move on since the rest will be below the video by the time you read this, haha).

Yum, that was good. So anyway it's time to move onto the last (well, last as of now) single. 

 

Single 3: Friendship Birthday ~Arashi no Yoru ni~

Tracklist:

01. Friendship Birthday ~Arashi no Yoru ni~

02. Shiawase♪Ranranran

03.  Friendship Birthday ~Arashi no Yoru ni~ (English Version)

04.   Friendship Birthday ~Arashi no Yoru ni~ (Off Vocal)

05.  Shiawase♪Ranranran (Off Vocal)

But before I talk about the song, I just want to say: I'm very happy that the colors from DELI showed up once again in this single. Beryl's wristband and the other girls' hair accessories. It really helped me while I was learning who was who, since at first I only knew Estelle. Beryl was pretty easy to learn too, but Valerie and Wynnie... well, I guess if I mixed them up in this post, it'll prove my point. But I'm pretty sure I have them right. I hope. ANYWAY back to the song.

Friendship Birthday ~Arashi no Yoru ni~ has a more serious tone than their previous a-sides, I think. I don't really want to spend too much time talking about the Japanese track since there is an English track that is the exact same music, but I'm guaranteed (almost hehe) to understand the lyrics. But before I just move on, I do want to say that I really like this song. It kind of sounds a bit like DREAM SHOOTER when it comes to the... flow? I guess. I don't like that too much, but the two songs are definitely both very pretty... Yeah now I'm gonna move on, sorry.

Shiawase♪Ranranran, my first reaction: -listens curiously- -first line comes on- -laughs-

This song is just so cute. As I should have probably gotten from the title, but I didn't cause I'm slow, it's a really fun childish song. It has child-friendly effects such as echos and a repetitive onomatopoeia or two, chanting, and fun music. This is the first coupling from Sea☆A that doesn't seem to be about love. I like it. I can see this being a song they perform for kids on children's day.

As far as I can tell, this really is just a kids song about happiness. Like... I don't really understand the meaning when I try other than happiness. But then, if it's for kids, that's all it really needs to be, isn't it? Why go overboard with the meaning when kids won't even understand? You might as well keep it fun and silly. I am not ashamed to admit that I do love kids songs. I love the Douyou Pops albums too. So this song... I can't not smile listening to it. It's just so cute! I love it.

Okay back to Friendship Birthday with the English version now. First of all, I'm really happy that they made an English version of their song officially. Occasionally I like to sing English versions that I write, and they don't always flow right, so the fact that they released a Japanese and English version is really cool to me. Also it gives me a change to critique and learn from how the official translates. Also it saves me the work of having to translate it for this. Yes, I'm lazy.

The lyrics are really sweet, the song is about love again, but this time it's a friendship love, not romance. This time, it's "I'm so glad to have found you!" And it really makes the person they're talking about sound very important to them more than just their looks or something. I really love the lines "Can you feel it? My hand on your hand. Overflowing courage and love. Feel the beat synchronize and our hearts harmonize, lifting me high above, into the blue sky and beyond." They're so touching and beautiful. I love this song, and maybe I'm a traitor, but I really prefer the English version. Check it out and compare the the Japanese version above and decide for yourself.

So that's it for the singles. Like I said, I'm not the best reviewer, but I really wanted to do this so. Well, if you're still reading, thanks for bearing with me for this long. 

Before I end this I do want to talk about two things. First, I want to announce to any of you who don't know and are interested: Sea☆A's 4th single has been anounced. It's called "Entry!" and will be released on November 14th. (I was misinformed that it would be released on the 4th, which made me mad cause my birthday is on the 5th. But looking it up to check the single name which I had forgetting, I noticed their site said "14" not "4" so I feel better xP)

Secondly. Any of you reading this who are Singaporean, Malaysian, Thai, Filipino, Indonesian, or Vietnamese may have the opportunity to join Sea☆A! That's right, Sea☆A is holding auditions. Since I am none of these ethnicities, honestly, I didn't look into much like the requirements or where they auditions will be held or anything. But if you are, feel free to check them out for yourself *HERE*.

That's all for now. I'm hoping to review BoA's THE FACE album when I get it in the mail too, so look forward to that~. That is, if you consider this "reviewing" ^^;. Bai~

HaroPuro funnies.

Hey, look at that, I'm actually posting for once. Yeah, I'm a bad blogger cause I get lazy or forget about it. But I'm bored right now, so I figured "Hey, why not?" So I'm gonna talk about some funny videos I've seen in the past and just kinda share why I like them or something. Yeah no plan whatsoever going here.

First one!

The title on youtube is "Ai-chan Kakkoii!" which means basically "Ai-chan, so cool!" or something depending on how you prefer to translate it. This video overall isn't that funny, it is cool though. The part I laugh at every time I watch it, though, is at the ended when Ai-chan's on the floor. She says "Mawatteru Mawatteru Mawatteru" With wide eyes (which literally translates to "Spinning Spinning Spinning", I personally understand it as what I always said as a kid when I got dizzy "everything is spinning"). Which earns the response from one person "Tattenai! Tattenai yo!" ("Don't stand up, don't stand up!"). I could watch that ending on repeat and never grow bored of it. It's just so amusing and reminds me of when me and my sister/friends would have spin-offs when we were little. But really, don't stand when you're dizzy, you will just fall back down.

Moving on. "Dating with Junjun, Reina, and Sayumi" is amusing in itself. This video involves Sayu and Reina coaching Junjun in on-the-spot-skit making. This doesn't go so well for Junjun at first, in that the first story she ends up intruding on a couple, and then the second story she ends up being ditched by her dual girlfriends. The final story, however, is quite simple. She just has to stop Reina and say "Nande?" (Why?") with puppy dog eyes. She pulled of this story quite well and looked adorable doing so. So what's so funny about it? Well, other than the bits that made me laugh the first time, the ending, like the previous video, never ceases to amuse me. After the girls say bye to the audience Reina exits the screen with a "Iku yo!" (Let's go!), Junjun responds using the new technique the girls taught her "Nande?" I personally find it amusing because since the girls said bye, you expect that the game is over, and I'm sure they did too. But Junjun surprisingly continues with an extremely serious face. Causing even her herself to laugh. Maybe it's not so much funny as it is adorable, but it makes me laugh, so I count it as funny.

"Makoto Gets Scared By Hchinamier Surprise" is a clip from Makoto's graduation special of HaroMoni (I believe? I don't know anymore, there's so many names of shows...) where Makoto was in charge of the events that happened that night. Maybe some people might think "oh, it's just a typical 'girl gets scared, screams, and runs away' video", but to me, it's different. I find it absolutely hilarious that she (1) turns around and looks at what popped out, (2) screamed, (3) ran all the way across the room screaming, and (4) hid behind a chair that you can SEE THROUGH. And after all was set and done and she realized what happened, "ORZ" she started laughing at herself (and the surprise). Not to mention, Gaki in the background saying (what I understood as) "Why did you run away, you said you loved ..., didn't you?" (I forgot his name, sorry, and I'm not sure if Gaki used his name). For those of you who don't know who this man is, he was a comedian that was on one of the shows that Haromoni (or whatever) had. It was a show where (if I remember correctly) the members were put in groups and bid on comedians based on a description given to them. The highest bid got to watch the comedian perform for them and the audience while the other groups had to wear blindfolds and earmuffs so they couldn't see or hear the performance, afterwords the audience would rate whether they thought the comedian was funny or not, and however many people said "yes", that many points would be giving to the group who won the comedian. When this man came on, Mako had her group place a bet that turned out to be much higher than the other groups (I think the other groups bet 10 (the minimum) and hers bet 70 or something). I can't remember how he scored with the audience, but Makoto made a big deal about how she loved him and his act. He showed up on a later episode too, I believe, and once again, she intentionally bid too high, but this time the other groups did attempt to take him from her (like I said, I don't know for sure that he even showed up a second time, so this is based on memory, it's been a while.)

"chinami tokunaga talking english" is an adorable video gone wrong on Miyabi's part. I guess what Chi said was kinda funny, but to me, the funniest part was Miiya's face change. When Chi says "my girl friend" Miiya's eyes suddenly go wide and she looks at Chi like "what do you think you're saying?!" then looks back at the camera and denies it. If you notice, also, as Chi turns away, her face looks kinda mad/sad and if you didn't catch it, at the very end she says "mou iku" as she leaves, which means "let's go already". LOL it makes me wonder if Miiya's denial angered her? The thought makes me laugh even more. 

"Kappa Airi Strikes" is a prank (I believe?) that the C-ute girls pulled on the Berryz girls. Airi dress up like a Kappa and surprised the Berryz girls in groups of 2 or 3. This is only one of the groups, but if you're interested in all of them the "Kappa Airi Deluxe Edition" video on youtube has all of them. In this video, they head up stairs into a large room where the narrator(?) (the guy that's sitting with the C-ute girls when they show that clip) tell the girls to close their eyes. Airi then comes out and pokes them and such. The funniest part is when Airi taps on Risako's shoulder twice, then the man said "Open your eyes" Risako looked like she was embarrassed at first, when the man said "Behind you!" and she turned around and screamed, then Airi ran away. It was hilarious. (And just in case anyone was wondering what they were saying when the man said "Dame desu", I'm pretty sure Risako had said "I wanna open my eyes" or something).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jRfawQNfvGs
This one is unlisted, so I don't think I can show a preview. But this is the video where Kanon Fukuda gets hit with a helmet. Now, I first heard about it from one of the confessions tumblr's (don't remember which one) because a lot of people were hating on DAWA for not reacting properly, and others were praising Meimi for being Kanon's "Knight in Shining armor". First of all, I'll will start of by saying, I had no idea what happened the first time I watched it. I mean, everyone said Kanon got hit with the helmet, but it looked to me like Rina did. So I rewatched it and noticed that before it hit Rina, it hit Kanon in the chin. Maybe this shouldn't be on my list of "funny videos", and maybe some people will think I'm a hater because it is. But dude, I laughed so hard when I caught that. And it's not a Kanon "deserving to get hit" thing (another thing mentioned on the confessions site). If that had happened to Gaki, I would have laughed. If that had happened to my sister, mom, dad, I would have laughed even louder. If that had happened to my best friend, I'd probably have fallen out of my chair laughing. I get it from my mom - I laugh at other people's pain as a first reaction. After I laugh, then I worry if they don't eventually join me or then start crying (like Kanon did), but my first reaction is to laugh, okay?

"English Lessons in Japan" This entire attempt itself is funny. It helps that it starts with Kame saying "Cheese.... Box... Cool" trying to say refrigerator. Even Yossie's "REFRESH!" makes me laugh. And "Refrigerator in Cheese" "OH MY GOD!" haha this episode makes me laugh. "RIFURI... JORETA". I can't watch this video with a straight face no matter how many times I watch it. When Kame said "Mother talk 'dog cheese'", I wouldn't have thought much of it had the guy not said it in Japanese "Haha shaberu 'DOGGU CHIIZU'", which, for those of you who don't get it, sounds even worse grammatically in Japanese than it does in English. The ending was funny too. Charmy asks the teacher "What did you think of it, of Kame?" and he plainy states "It was amusing. Really. The 'RIFURIJIITAA' was amusing." This video is one of the best to watch if you're looking for a good laugh - that is, if you have time to watch a 4 minute video.

"Niigaki Risa look a like". I loved Konkon's original reaction the the drawing, but the funniest part of this video to me is when Gaki imitates the drawing's face. I cracked up! That face! LOL. The first time I watched it, I wasn't expecting it at all, so I burst out laughing. I couldn't keep a straight face as long as it was on my screeen.

So yeah I know of a lot more funny videos, but either I can't find them, they were taken down, or I'm just too lazy to look, but yeah~ Hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Maybe I'll start blogging again, who knows? (Yeah, pretty unlikely) Have a good day/night.

Rant of Facts and Fiction (Collab with Kelly/Kerri/Chiima)

This post is a collab with Chiima. Before continuing, make sure you're aware that anything written in this post is purely my OPINION, which I have a right to share. If you don't agree with it, then you don't have to read it, so no hating.

20 TRUE OR FALSE Qs by Momo and Chiima

01. If your favorite member were to leave a group, you would abandon that group.

False. My favorite MM member IS leaving, my co-favorite member's been gone, and I'm still gonna listen to them. My favorite C-ute member was the first to leave, and they're my current favorite group.

02. Your favorite member/group is obviously the best member/group to exist and without them, the group/project would fail.

False. My favorites change, for one, and for two, my favorite isn't always my favorite because they're awesome in that sense, I just like them. Like DAWA, I know a lot of people dislike Dawa (I don't really know why...) and I know that, even though she's leader, S/mileage would do just fine without her, but I love Dawa... she's been my favorite since Shugo Chara Egg, and she's still my S/mileage favorite (sorry Dawa, but Fukuhime passed you in SCE when she joined Gen 2 XD).

03. The new members (Gen 9/10 MM & Gen 2 S/mileage) are too new to handle the loss of so many senpai (Aichan, Gaki, and Yuuka) so soon after joining.

True. I mean, when there's 8 kohai vs. 3 senpai and 4 vs 2, I feel like we have a problem... especially when Morning Musume has lost they're most popular voice, and their most powerful voice within a two year period. I worry for some of the newbs who will probably get the spotlight too early like Reina did (particularly Riho) and may end up being overworked to the point they lose talent. (I'll be the first to defend Reina in that, other than Miki, she was the BEST vocal of Gen 6, but upon being pushed to the front, listening to her now and comparing her with when she joined, she hasn't improved that much, if not has gotten worse, where Kamei and Michishige both have improved greatly.)

04. Idols should be forever pure - They should not marry, or date, or even think about anyone other than their fans.

False. Idols are humans too, we all long for love at some point or another, and, as sad as I am to see them leave over ... a guy ... I can understand that at some point, just singing about love ain't enough, you know?

05. H!P members should be allowed to date/marry so they can stay members forever.

True. I mean, they'll probably leave eventually, but to be forced to leave because you've been seen with a guy (like Mikitty) is a waste of talent. I mean, I'm sure a lot of those creepy stalker Wotas would be mad to know their beloved unknowing lovers are taken, but... has that ever stopped creepy stalkers before? I mean... yeah... that's why they're "creepy stalkers" ._.;

06. When a member graduated, suddenly, everyone loves them.

True. I've noticed that whenever a member is about to graduated, suddenly everyone's all like "Oh! She's my favorite member." "I've loved her since ______" and then when that member is finally gone they move onto their next victim of whatever. I know this isn't true for everyone, but I see it waaaay too much. It makes me mad, as a true GakiMakoCaptainMegumiDawa fan to see people take the word "favorite" and throw it around like it's nothing. THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "ALL TIME" FAVORITE AND "CURRENT" FAVORITE. After Gaki leaves, Fukuhime will be my current favorite, but GAKI WILL STILL BE HIGHER ON MY "ALL TIME" FAVORITES LIST :/

07. When a new member gets more lines than other new members, everyone either hates that member or loves them. (No in between)

True. o 3o I'll admit, I'm the same way. But, Riho, Akari, and Meimi for example, it feels like everyone loves them or hates them, and there's not many in between. XD Not that voice out about it anyway.

08. The new Members of Morning Musume (or specific members) don’t look like they belong there.

False. To me, none of them look like they belong there until they've been there for a while XD. Like, now Gen 10 looks really out of place, but before Gen 9 looked out of place, and now I've seen them in enough MM photos and videos that they seem to fit right in. So... it's just a "gotta get used to the change" thing for me.

09. Morning Musume are a Sinking Ship.

False. As far as I can see, yes, there's a lot going on at once, and a lot of controversy over it, but I do feel like it'll work out in the end, I just need to take a breather to take in all this change happening at once, and I'm sure a lot of the other fans who claim to "Hate this new MM" also need a break to get used to it and then -poof- they'll be all over MM again in a while. -shot-

10. Morning Musume are too childish, so naturally people won’t like them anymore.

True and False. I do think MoMusu has gotten too childish, but MoMusu has always been the "multi-image" group, IMO. I mean, the first single was pretty, and then for a while after that they were mostly sexy, but then around the time Gen 4/5/6 came in the picture, they switched to a funner lighter image, then around gen 7/8 they had a more serious image. So they've gone to cute now, I'm worried, yes, and I don't like it so far (Maji Desu ka Suka and Kare to Issho were good but... Pyoko... is a bit too much for me), but I think they'll be able to pull it off well in the end :).

11. S/mileage has become more mature than Morning Musume as of 2012.

True and False. Voice-wise, as soon as Gaki leaves, S/mileage will have a way more mature vocal range, though even with Pyoko, S/mileage will always beat MoMusu for "cuteness" to me.

12. S/mileage ARE the new Morning Musume.

False. Though I do agree they seem to be taking a similar path as MoMusu but at a slower pace Indies singles before debut, new gen) MoMusu is MoMusu, and S/mileage is S/mileage. The S/mileage girls will never be able to pull off MoMusu's multi-image ability as well as they have, just as MoMusu doesn't seem like it would be able to do near as well as S/mileage with so few members and such a "Cute" image.

13. C-ute is only still “cute” because they owe it to their group name.

True. With how Berryz seemed to have matured suddenly in the PVs and songs, C-ute is just as Cute as ever, and I firmly believe it's because they're name is C-ute and not S-exy XD.

14. Berryz and C-ute might disband soon.

FALSE FALSE FALSE. I would be sooooo sad D: though if they COMBINED groups... Well... I wouldn't lose hope as much ;3 I might actually be somewhat excited.... XD

15. Aika should graduate.

False. Unless her ankle is really that serious and it's only hurting her more to stay in Morning Musume, no.

16. The fans are the real problem behind Morning Musume’s problems.

False. Fans are fans, and fans are fickle. Some fans won't be as appreciative as other fans, or as reliable, that doesn't mean it's their fault.

17. Sayashi Riho and Tamura Meimi are only in H!P because they previously performed in Stage Plays with H!P members/groups.

True. As much talent as Meimi and Riho possess, I do believe other people they were running against in both of their competitions were more talented and better suited for MoMusu/S/mileage than they were, I do think performing previously with H!P put them at an advantage above other auditionees...

18. Tanaka Reina needs to graduate.

False. Morning Musume cannot handle the loss of any more senpai after Gaki until these newbs are settled and their places in the group revealed and practiced.

19. A-sides are better than B-sides, or else the B-side would be the A-side.

False. Give a listen to Pyoko's B-side (Kanashiki Koi no Melody), Only You's (Yamete yo! Sindbad), Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game's (Aisare Sugiru Koto wa Nai), Aa, Yo ga Akeru's (Otona ni wa Naritakunai Hayaku Otona ni Naritai), VERY BEAUTY's (Gaki Taishou), Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu's ("Zansho Omimai Moshiagemasu."), and Ganbaranakutemo Ee Nende!'s (Smile Bijin) just to name a FEW of the B-side that own their A-sides.

20. Berryz Koubou shouldn’t be “Sexy” suddenly after being “childish” for so long.

True. I just don't like the concept of getting all sexy Berryz unless they plan on giving the mature voices more lines in these songs...

21. IT'S ALL TSUNKU'S FAULT!

FALSE. TSUNKU DOESN'T HAVE THE FINAL SAY IN ANYTHING! HE'S JUST THE PRODUCER, JUST THE /FACE/ OF H!P, HE DOESN'T MAKE ANY OF THE "BUSINESS DECISIONS" FOR H!P, Business decisions include things like who graduates and when, who gets in, who gets lines, etc. etc. etc. All Tsunku does is write the songs and look pretty, so STOP BLAMING HIM FOR ALL THE SHIT YOU'RE MAD ABOUT AND START APPRECIATING HIS ABILITY TO WRITE SONG AT A RATE OF 10 PER WEEK! (or something of that caliber seeing as most of the recent H!P song have all been written by him and NOBE, but mostly him...)

This has been Momo's half of the MomoChiima collab of Fact and Fiction ranting. Please check out her blog to see how she answers these 21 True or False questions: Okay! Musume Time or Chiima's Corner (cause I'm the idiot who doesn't know which she's putting it on XD)