Momo Musu: Making a Bad Day Better With: Reminiscing

I had so much I planned to do after work today. And then I ended up having a bad day at work and I just don't want to do any of it. But I feel like I need to do something to distract me before I go crazy, so how about some reminiscing?

How long have you been an H!P fan? Do you remember the approximate date you first came upon the fandom, or do you remember by some comparative measure? Were you exposed to the fandom before actually finding out about it? Some of these answers, if you're like me, might surprise even yourself.

I'm gonna spam you with a bunch of songs now. The songs involved are some of my all time favorite songs, and I'll give a little bit of reasoning and background to each of them, but I really hope that you'll give them a listen, especially if you've never heard them before. Maybe you'll love them, maybe you'll hate them, I don't know. I definitely have different tastes then a lot of people, but I believe it's always worth a listen.

Morning Musume

-Bon Kyu Bon Kyu BOMB GIRL-

I don't get it. I don't think I'll ever get it. But this is one of those songs you don't really have to get. It's just a fun, bouncy song. I love the GakiShige part after the instrumental break, it's probably my favorite part of the song. For those who aren't familiar with songs that don't have PVs, this is the coupling song for Morning Musume's single "Mikan".

-SONGS-

The first track of Platinum 9 Disc, this song was a very encouraging song to me whenever I was really lonely or depressed. The meaning is very relate-able to me, and the song as a fun, fast beat feel that makes my heart race to follow the tempo it sets.

-Watashi no Miryoku ni Kizukanai Donkan na Hito-

Also from Platinum 9 Disc, Mitsui Aika's solo song! I was a fan of this song from the time the full studio recorded version finally was put on youtube. It's a cute song and it suits Aika's energetic, cute personality. (You have no idea how happy I was when Masaki sang THIS song live in an H!P concert.) This song just has a lot of history to me, not just as an H!P fan, but also from my time dubbing.

-Shanimuni Paradise-

A quartet from SEXY 8 BEAT featuring the beautiful vocals from Gen 5's Takahashi Ai and Niigaki Risa, and Gen 6's Fujimoto Miki and Tanaka Reina. This song is probably the ultimate "summer" song to me. I was happy when the 4 senpai sang this song at Niigaki Risa and Mitsui Aika's graduation concert, it was very refreshing, though neither Aika nor Shige really suited the lower voices of the absent Aichan/Mikitty, but it was really pleasant that they were able to sing this song one last time before the remaining original singers, Gaki and Reinya, graduated. I really want to see a new version of this song with Zukki, Masaki, Haruka, and Sakura preferably, I think they'd sing it well, but yeah, I really hope this song shows up again in the future of H!P concerts.

-Otome no Shinrigaku-

From "Second Morning" this really old song was pretty much a Ichii Sayaka/Yasuda Kei duet featuring harmonies by the other members. This song cleverly made use of the "channels" used in music and I highly suggest you listen to it using headphones or earphones. You'll notice that Yasuda's vocals are only heard in the left channel, while Ichii's are in the right. It's really interesting to listen to, and really suits the tune that, honestly, kinda reminds me of some detective type of song (partly makes me think of the Pink Panther...) which suits the title's theme "Psychology of Women" which is more of a mystery than most detective shows tend to talk about anyway. (Please don't be offended, I'm a woman and I still believe this with my whole being. WE DON'T MAKE SENSE. ACCEPT IT.)

-Da Di Du De Do Da Di!-

Also from "Second Morning," this song is really repetitive, and if you only focus on that, it might get to be as boring as Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru (Sorry again, I just find that song annoying XD). But in the song, there are a lot of talking lines and mistakes (they may be intentional, but either way) that makes it easy to hear that members were having fun singing it. It's something I might close my eyes and imagine they sang the song in a karaoke room after learning it and that version was used. It's so fun and friendly, and it's not anywhere near my "Favorite" songs, but it's one that I still love after the... 5? years since I first heard it. This is how I define an "all time favorite." Kinda like a "All stars" for songs.

-YAH! Aishitai-

"Lil Moni's" YAH! Aishitai can be located in the 12th track on "Best! Morning Musume 2". This song is just amazing. Like... You can't even argue with me, because I have no argument... it just is. The video with "Lil Moni" (AKA little chibi-tized figures of the Morning Musume and Co. members) on what looks like a storybook type of adventure is just adorable, and the song is so cute, and the constant change is vocals is nice and just lksdfjaks NO ARGUMENT. IT. JUST. IS. Also, if you're wondering what I mean by "Morning Musume and Co." All of the members in the song /were/ in MoMusu at some point, but Abe Natsumi, Yasuda Kei, and Goto Maki, who are featured in this, had already graduated from the group before this came out, so they're not technically part of Morning Musume at the time.

-Say Yeah! -Motto Miracle Night--

Yes, there is a reason I used a AMV for the video. And that is - this is my very first H!P song ever. And this video is why. Before I got into H!P, I was an AMV maker/watcher (I can't show any, since it got my account closed when Youtube went all batshit crazy over copyrights a few years ago... LOL) and I don't even remember how, but I saw this one. This song did NOT, however, get me into H!P. However, it did have something to do with me getting into it - when I found it it was the same agency as the song that got me searching, I was as good as convinced. This song means a lot to me, and it's one that I can sing almost by heart... I'm even close to getting the talking part thanks to the Sakuragumi Version's being at a bit slower pace. I even know when all the Fu!'s and Yeah!'s are in the song, and I have a tenancy to get a bit too into it when it comes on.

-Ren'ai tte Naani?-

Kago Ai's solo out of the Fan Club solos. This song was always a cute song to me when I first heard it. Hearing it for the first time again after learning a few levels of Japanese, I loved it even more when I realized it pretty much relates to me 100%. I think the only part that doesn't relate to me is the random part about hating milk... I love milk!

Berryz Koubou

-Piriri to Yukou!-

This is another song I first heard before I actually knew what H!P was. Ironically, one of my AMV making friends who I was subbed to uploaded an audition video for a groupdub of it. At this time I didn't know what a groupdub was, so I didn't think much of it until much later and I found the songs. The song is old, but it's really nice. You get to hear all of the girls, it's fun, very creative when it comes to the distribution, etc. I like it anyway.

-Ah Merry-go-round-

Please be patient with me, as for the rest of the Berryz Koubou songs are all from albums, and there are quite a few of them, as BK was one of the first groups I plunged into after becoming a fan. This song, from their album 5 (FIVE), is a duet of the two eldest members Shimizu Saki and Tsugunaga Momoko. It's a really slow and sad song, but it's really nice at the same time. It's also the only song I was able to get my friend in Japanese class to learn the lines for with me from H!P, so it's a very important song to me, and every time I hear it, I think of her.

-REAL LOVE-

Also from 5 (FIVE), Sugaya Risako had a solo song. I don't even know what I love about this song, but it's a song much like Say Yeah to me, I get really into it every time I hear it. I have no way to relate to it at all, but it's such a passionate song, and even verging on painful. It's a nice listen once in a while for sure. The talking line also fits well in the song. (I can't sing/say it for the life of me, but I like to listen to it!)

-Watashi ga Suru Koto nai Hodo Zenbu Shite Kureru Kare-

Moving back an album, This is a duet by Tsugunaga Momoko and Sugaya Risako from the 4th album with a weird name with Ai in it! :D. But in all seriousness, this is much like REAL LOVE to me. I don't know why I like it, and to be honest, I kinda wish I didn't simply because "I just do" is a very odd answer to "Why do you love a song so much that's a duet of your two least favorite singers in a group?" But I can't help it > 3< It's just an amazing song. And a little confession: when I first got into BK I loved Miyabi and Risako because the only thing I knew them by was their colors on Projecthello. My biases in all the groups at first were just the leads because I liked to sing for them. So that may have to do with why I like these songs that are earlier into my fan experience.

-Sprinter!-

Also from the 4th album with the weird title, Sprinter! is a duet between Captain Shimizu Saki and Sub-Captain Natsuyaki Miyabi (She wasn't back then, but I'm just so happy for her I really wanted to say it! And this seemed like a good situation). This song is a happy, energetic song that encorperates a bit of English (RABURII RABU RABU <3) which is always fun. Plus it's a duet of my, now, two favorite members, so it's just a song I can't not like! It's a song that once in a while, I just wanna give it another listen.

-Natsu Remember You-

A summer song with a sad feel from the 3rd album, also their first (and only?) mini album. This song is just really nice, and the sad feel isn't so much depressing as it is... aching I guess? It's got a feel and a meaning similar to another of their songs, Bye Bye Mata ne, and Morning Musume's Never Forget. (Btw, I love both of those songs too... Yup.)

-Joshi Basket-bu ~Asaren Atta Hi no Kamigata~-

From their Dai 2 blah album, this song, admittedly, is one I still have no idea as to the overall meaning. Why? Because when I first heard it, it sounded to me like a stereotypical Asian gibberish, and I didn't care to find out what it meant. I just enjoyed the sound of it. I still do. I know the lyrics a little bit now, and I'm sure if I wanted I could probably translate some bits without having to look anything up, but I really don't want to. This song will forever be my "I just love the sound of it" song, I think.

-Semi-

From their very first album, 1st Chou Berryz, Semi is another song I have no idea what it means (ironically since the video provided is subbed, huh?) but it's forever warped in my mind with the English version I wrote for it... which had nothing to do with the original song's lyrics except when I was at a road block with what to put next... but it's a very personal song to me, and I like it.

-Kozukai UP Daisakusen-

This song is just adorable with a side of creepy (the remaining songs, including this one, are all from 1st Chou Berryz). Something about the tune creeps me out, but at the same time I kinda like the feeling. This song is just one of those songs I love. I love love LOOOVE it. It's definitely underrated! I hate that the only performance of it is a trio by Momo, Chi, and Yurina, and it's a short version, too...

-TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY-

This song is the reason I love Maiha so much. Maiha can sing cute, but not annoyingly so. I love this song overall just... because. I guess the longer I've know a song, the less reason I really have to love it still now...

-Bye Bye Mata ne-

It's so hard to listen to this and not cry. Between the song's sad but hopeful meaning and tune, and the final performance of Ishimura Maiha... It's just a beautiful song. I really love how the vocals are in this song as well, and you get to hear each of them once too, which is better than most of Berryz songs thereafter.

C-ute

-Campus Life ~Umarete Kite Yokatta~-

This song is so much older than I'd like to give it credit for. It's not near as old as some other songs in here... but It feels like just last year C-ute was 7nin still... This song means a lot to me, because it was my debut in the most influential project I was ever in as a dubber. I don't listen to the song much, but it's one of those songs that's just really refreshing and a great listen that once in a while where I want to listen to it.

-Soku Dakishimete-

Soku Dakishimete is my absolute favorite C-ute song ever. The main reason for this is that Murakami Megumi is my favoiret C-ute member ever, and this song is Megumi's song. The song itself is fun and catchy, and I love the video, even if it doesn't match the song much, it looks like the girls had so much fun in it. I can't stand listening to the Shinsei Naru version of this song, because this song without Megumi is like peanut butter and jelly without peanut butter to me... I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who like it that way, but I don't. It makes me want to cry... Sometimes I wish Airi and graduated and Megumi had stayed instead (I'm sure I'll get a lot of hate for that), but ughhh </3.

-Aishiteru Aishiteru-

This is just such a cute, sweet song. It's a duet between Arihara Kanna and Nakajima Saki from 4 Akogare My Star. I always really liked this song. At one point Nakajima Saki soloed it, and that's pretty much when I first started to really like Nakky. Nakky was originally my 2nd least favorite C-ute member of all C-ute, with Mai at the bottom, but since then she's climbed up and now she's 2nd only to Megumi in my list. With Kanna being my 3rd/4th favorite (Her and Erika switch once in a while) this song is just that much more awesome then it was then.

-Do Don ga Don Ondo-

This is a solo by Umeda Erika featuring the other 6 C-ute members for a lot of background vocals from their 3rd album. It's a really cute song with a bit of a festival feel to it. I really enjoy listening to it due to it being one of the few places where you get to hear Erika's voice in abundance in the short time she was in C-ute. With Megumi, she was a co-lead in most to all of the songs she was in, and Kanna had duets with both Nakky and Chisa. Erika, though, other than this, was only in two trios, one of which her only solos were rappy, which isn't bad, but it doesn't show off her vocal ability, and the other she got mostly smaller lines, which is something, but this song is still very refreshing.

-Tsuugaku Vector ☂-

This is an over-rated song. I'm just going to say that off that bat. But at the same time, it's not. Because it really is amazing. It's fun and has a catchy rhythm to it. This is a Suzuki Airi solo from C-ute's 2nd Album/First Mini Album. My favorite part is probably the concept behind the line rute rute zuubo. You may or may not be familiar with a teru teru bouzu. It's a doll that was thought to keep the rain away when hung up. In the song, they reverse the worse (teru -> rute, bouzu -> zuubo) in hopes of having the opposite effect, as the singer wants it to rain.

-As ONE-

I really don't know why I like this song. I just do. It's a fun song with a fun chorus. There's really no reason much behind it... I really like how it sounds. It's that simple.

S/mileage

Due to the fact that none of the songs that are actually old enough for me to consider "reminiscent" do I like enough to reminisce about them, I will be skipping S/mileage. Sorry.

Buono!

Note: Just about all of their songs are reminiscent to me, since Buono! was the group that officially got me into H!P, so I'm just gonna put videos of my absoulte favorite songs with little to no reasoning. kthxbai.

-co.no.mi.chi-

-Rottara Rottara-

"We are born to become happy, and we live to bring happiness to someone else" I love that line so much...

-My Love-

My Love is the coupling to Rottara Rottara. I don't really know why, but the song always touched me. I just think it's really pretty <3.

-Minna Daisuki-

-Honto no Jibun-

Ahhh the song that started it all. My friends asked if I wanted to learn the dance with them... and from there... it branched out.

-Independant Girl ~ Dokuritsu Joshi de Aru Tame ni-

From We Are Buono

-Shoushitsuten -Vanishing Point--

From Buono!2

-Nakimushi Shounen-

From Cafe Buono!

-Last Forever-

From Cafe Buono!

-Hoshi no Hitsuji-tachi-

From Cafe Buono!

AND YES. These are just my favorites... :P

Everything Else

Due to me being at this for hours and almost ready for bed, reasons will only be giving for songs with something to say about them.

-Shugo Chara Egg! - Minna no Tamago-

-Athena & Robikerottsu - Seishun LOVE Lunch-

-High King - C\C (Cinderella\Complex)-

C\C was another song that I heard before I knew about H!P due to AMVs like Say Yeah. C\C was actually a pretty popular AMV song at the time, if I recall correctly.