Official UFA Photo Shipment!! :D

I'm so happy!! My first batch of official UFA photos came in!! Mind you, these aren't my first official UFA photos - those came with my Miya and Chisa scarves... but I made those purchases for the scarves, not the photos. These photos were simply for the photos. Now that my random tangent is out of the way, I figured I'd share the photos, even though most of these have been around already.... You can never have enough H!P eye candy, right? :D )It also allowed me to test out my new scanner - my old one died on me, so had to get a new one.

To begin, I started my purchase off with my current favourite H!P group: Buono!


What can I say about Momoko? I'm really loving her in this group, but there just is no ground for her to move up within the member rankings for me... >_<


Osuzu looks kinda awkward dancing in the Renai Rider dance shot, but we still love her. XD


Miya just looks so cool in Buono! Her dancing, her movements, her style... It's all totally FOR THE WIN! :D

I have another set of UFA photos Buono! style coming in next month... Can't wait for those! :D

Up next, we have a group featuring 2 H!P members way up in my overall ranking: A&R (I really can't be bothered to spell out the entire name... I don't actually know the proper spelling of the "R" off the top of my head.. >_<)


Nakajima is cute, but man does her voice ever hurt my ears... She's fighting it out with Koha... Not a good thing to be fighting for. XD


Aika's still a work in progress for me. I'm fairly neutral to her.


I love Chisa so much! I just recently saw her sing Aa!'s First Kiss with Airi and Mai. I was afraid she would get Miya's lines at first (seeing as Miya has practically no lines in that song), but was very pleased when instead she sand Reina's. I thought she did wonderfully!


I love Risa so much too! She's adorable! And she's gorgeous... That may seem like a weird combination of adjectives, but it works for her. Her personality is absolutely adorable and she's got facial features that are adorable. But at the same time, I find her stunning. That makes sense, right? XD

Those two above sets were ordered directly from the UFA store, while the following pics came from the fabulous person who actually got all these pictures to me - these are pics she got from photo sets that she didn't want (lucky for me :D).


Old school Berryz Koubou. I love this single! And Maiha's still there! I love her dimples!!


Another wonderful Risa picture... Though now that I look at it, she's got the same pose in this picture as her A&R photo... LOL. XD


Miya and Airi in outfits from last year's (summer?) H!P concert. I actually really enjoyed these costumes... Which is a pretty impressive feat, seeing as H!P concert costumes are usually very.... o_O ... for lack of better words.


I really liked the outfits in this PV, and I thought Miya looked so pretty in this PV (along with Yurina and Chinami... However, Yurina's photo wasn't available for purchase).

So there are my purchases! I got 2 more photos with this order, but I'm not posting them yet... They shall be birthday presents for my brother, who is birthday twins with the shortest member of Buono! He knows what who they are (and had even seen them when I ordered them), but I have refused to let him look at them now that I own them until his birthday. One's of Kamei Eri, and the other is of Chinami in her Tsukiatteru outfit (Chinami is his fave Berryz member).

Berryz Koubou wins again with Dschinghis Khan!

I realize that I'm behind on the times, but I got a little caught up with Kawaiirrhea's "Hello! Project no Puzzle desu yo." on ★MINI MONI MANIA★. But I finished the puzzle and I felt very accomplished when it was done. It's so much fun! :)

So, to get back to my blogging, I'm here to finally get my word in on Berryz Koubou's new single, Dschinghis Khan. Before I go into my review, I just need to give mad props to Berryz for being so fabulous. There were a lot of doubters when this single was announced (with many people bashing it before hearing or seeing anything other than the title), but with the release of this PV I've definitely heard many more positive reviews than negative ones. So, with that out of the way, onto my thoughts!

When I first heard about this single, I had never heard the original song. However, at some point, I saw a link to the original PV with Berryz audio overlayed. I must say that the video was interesting to say the least. I wasn't too sure about the single, and decided to give it time and wait for the PV.

So I did, and I must say I was not disappointed. While it's not my favourite Berryz single (I'm not actually sure what would qualify as my favourite... I'm going to have to break those down much like I did with Morning Musume at some point), it's cute.

The song itself is fun and I've found it constantly gets stuck in my head. I randomly start humming or singing it at the office. It's earned me some strange looks from my co-workers, but they all know of my love for J-pop (I get my yesasia deliveries sent to work) so it's not a problem.

I find myself a little annoyed take Risako gets 2 solo lines when there are a total of 4 solo lines in the song. But what can you do? We all know that the management loves her. The song is at an amazingly high-pitch. I can sing fairly high, but I need to go into falsetto singing this one at parts to spare myself and those around me. You can definitely feel the Dance Man influence in this song. During all the "Ooh, ha" parts, I always want to go double time like in Koi no Dance Site.

Now for the PV, I absolutely adore this PV. Normally, I wouldn't like costumes like this, but they just fit the mood of everything so well. The girls all look lovely in this PV, and I have to say that for the second PV in a row, Chinami has just knocked me off my feet. I'm pretty sure I mentioned at some point that I like her hair shorter, but even though it's growing longer now, I think she looks gorgeous in this PV.

I love the hallway scenes. The girls are so cute as they mess around. I've read that lots of people have not been enjoying Miya in this PV. I'd have to agree that she's the most, shall we say subdued, of the girls in this PV come the hallway scenes (I think she's great in the dance scenes) - though I do enjoy her opening moment, and her bits with the glasses and tamborine. But in general, I find that Miya is at her silliest when the others are around her. Just watch any of the behind the scenes or making of videos. But when it's just her alone, she seems a little uncomfortable, at least in regards to being silly.

What really made this PV for me was Chinami. In addition to her looking absolutely amazing, her hallway scene at the 2:17-2:20 point was just so GOLD! Who wouldn't love that? Even if the rest of the PV had sucked (which it didn't) I think those few seconds of Chinami would have saved it for me. It was simply that great.


My one criticism of this PV would be that at some points during the dance shots, Risako looks as though she's losing interest. The other girls all look like they're having the time of their lives (I mean, this song is just so hyper, and the pitch is so high, it can't help but give you a high... It's like musical crack), while Risako has this blah look on her face. It's not a constant blah look... She does get into it at times, but at those blah moments, she kinda brings the mood down for me.

So there we have it. Berryz Koubou wins with another fabulous release. At this point, they have yet to release a single that I have failed to enjoy, so 16 for 16 is a pretty good statistic, if you ask me. ^_^

All Morning Musume singles ranking - Part 3 of 3

Well, this took longer than I thought (so much going on this week), but it's finally done!! And so without further ado, my top 14 Morning Musume singles!! :D

14. Sakura Manaki - Sakura Gumi
The longest song of all H!P releases (excluding remixes). This song is so pretty, vocally, instrumentally and PV-ally. XD I adore Sakura Gumi beacuse most of my favourite MM members of all time are within this group, and definitely my favourite members vocally (Takahashi, Hitomi, Risa and Kago - I love her voice when she sings seriously over cutesy). Although I'm not normally a fan of pink, I can accept it for this PV. I mean, Sakura blossoms are pink, so it's fitting. Their kimonos are beautiful and I love the fan dance. :)

13. Osaka Koi no Uta
Rika (official) and Mari's (unofficial) final single. The one thing that really stands out for me regarding this single is the PV. I love the effect during the dance shot of their bows (I call them wings) fading in and out as the red lights come in and out. It's a very dramatic sounding song, and I find the PV matches it very well. I like the vocals here, as most members get a line (though Takahashi gets most). I can deal with all the Rika lines even though her vocal quality isn't the greatest, simply because this is her final single. Not surprising she'd be showcased more. However, it's sad thar Mari only got one line in her final song. Then again, her leaving the group wasn't planned, so who would have guessed that this single was going to be her last?

12. Ai no Sono ~Touch My Heart!~ - Otome Gumi
I just love the drum line in this single. It's crisp and the transitions between the sections of the song are really brought together through the drums. The vocals are strong from all involved in this single as well. You really get to hear Mako-chan's
voice here and she does a splended job. Even Rika and Sayu, whose voices aren't very strong, fit in well with the parts that. And I must mention that I love watching Kaori do this dance (well, really, I love watching Kaori do any dance... She always looks so awkward, it just really gives me the giggles).

11. Ai Araba It's All Right
This is such a happy-go-lucky song. It never fails to put a smile on my face. It's so catchy. Every time I hear it, no matter what I'm doing, I always have to tilt my head right before the chorus (like my head's a bell). I also get the urge to point and sway my hips. LOL :)

10. Souda! We're Alive
This is one of Morning's more rocking songs. I love the guitar riffs in this song. This was the second single with the gokkies, and all of them got solo lines except Konkon. It was with this song that I fell in love with Takahashi's voice. I didn't notice it so much in the recorded version, but during one of their Music Station live performances, I was absolutely wowed by how she sang her "hontou no kimochi wa kitto tsutawaru hazu" line. Risa on the other hand... Her performance in this back in the day was kind of painful. However, I am glad to say that Risa has improved over 100-fold in the 6 years (interesting... It's almost 6 years to the day that Souda! We're ALIVE released [02.20.2002]. Has it really been that long?) since this single. This song is very high energy. Similarly to Ai Araba, Souda! always has me pumping my fist. Doesn't matter if I'm at home, at the mall, or in the car. My fist starts pumping during "Doryoku mirai A BEAUTIFUL STAR".

9. Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
This song always puts a smile on my face, just like Ai Araba. It always makes me want to dance as well. I love the dance in this song. I just adore this PV so much. Vocally, there's nothing spectacular (not that I'm saying the vocals are bad). No solo lines here, it's all group work. Basically, the energy (and dance) in this song is what ranks this one so high. It never fails to brighten my mood when I hear it.

8. The Manpower!
This song has so much going for it. First off, can you say Takahashi and Yossy for the win?! Their tag team solo lines are absolultely fabulous. The beat in this song is perfect. It always gets my head bobbing. I love the dance in this song. The hip
thrusts are fabulous, and the costumes are one of my favourites (quite possibly my favourite) from any Morning Musume PVs.

7. Shabondama
The rokkies (well, Reina at least) had a very nice welcome into Morning Musume with this single. 4th gen were in the background with their debut single Happy Summer Wedding. Same with the gokkies and Mr. Moonlight. It was 6th gen that started the trend of actually putting new members to use with their debut single. This single had a very different sound compared to the singles which had been released to it, and I found it very refreshing. I remember reading an interview with the members saying they were surprised at the anger in the song, and they were worried at how the new members would cope with the song. This song is so intense, particularly with the hard, rolled "R"s. This is one of my favourite Morning songs to sing along with because of its intensity.

6. Kanashimi Twilight
Yossy (official) and Miki's (unofficial) final Morning single. I thought this was a great way for Yossy to bow out of Morning. This song is another one of those distinctive Morning songs, due to the edgier sound (much like Shabondama). The vocals were solid in this single (seeing as it's mainly Miki, Yossy and Takahashi, who at that point were the strongest vocalists in the group - some of the strongest vocalists [arguably the strongest overall] in the entirety of Morning Musume's history). The guitar in this single is just so sexy. It gives the song such attitude, and add that in with emotion you hear in the girls voices and then hotness that is
the PV for this single, and it just stands out as a great release for Morning.

5. Iroppoi Jirettai
I love the Spanish feel to this song. The trumpets are amazing (not that trumpets are particularly Spanish) and I just adore the castanets. This was Koha's debut single, and she was alright. She wasn't too in your face at this point (and other than the
whispering at the start, only got one line, so nothing was butchered too badly... I don't mind Koha getting camera time, 'cause I don't argue with the fact that she's quite attractive. Just please, don't make me listen to her sing too much >_<)... So maybe I should say that she wasn't too in your ear at this point.

4. Roman! ~My Dear Boy~
Another song with great guitars. Anyone noticing a trend with the guitars? I love the guitar solo in the middle of this song. The vocals are strong in this single (again, mainly Miki and Takahashi). I remember watching this PV the first time and thinking "what the heck is up with the non-Japanese people here?" Again, it's all part of my amazement anytime a non-H!P related person is seen within an H!P PV (like Memory Seishun no Hikari). This is another song where I just love the dance. I learned the dance during the chorus for this one, but I find that listening to it again, I need to brush up on the movements.

3. Do It! Now
Another one of the edgier Morning songs. I mean, it's got a rap in the middle! :) This single followed the release of Souda! We're Alive, and this song further confirmed my love of Takahashi's voice. Another song in which I loved the dance. Another song which I love to sing along with. I loved most of the outfits in this PV (though I know, and will never forget, that I abhor - notice the present tense, for it hasn't stopped - Aibon's outfit here. It makes her look so frumpy. I don't know why, but I feel like their stylists hated Aibon. She almost always seemed to get the ugly clothes).

2. I Wish
Another feel good Morning song. This is the one and only song in my top 10 that doesn't feature Takahashi Ai. I don't know what it is about this song, but it blows all the other happy and joyful Morning songs out of the water for me. It's hard to explain this in words. The tempo stays consistent throughout the song, but the intro and outro are "slower" than the body of the song. I guess the best way to describe it would be that the intro and outro are more focused on the vocals. There isn't much in terms of background instruments or sounds. Just a little bit of keyboards, followed by organ, slowly building up into the more energetic part of the song. There's also a part after the instrumental that doesn't have much background sound, but it has a slightly different effect due to more than one person singing. It's the contrast of intensity in this song that really catches my attention. It's hopeful and dream-like, as well as energetic and genki. I find it quite fitting, since if I'm remembering correctly, it was out during the 2000 Olympics and was kind of Japan's theme song. Aibon and Maki were great in this single, and this single is best with the original
line-up. It really was a toss up between this song and the #1 song on my list. But by far, this song is my favourite Morning Musume song of all time (with all members together - excluding the subgroups).

1.Hare Ame Nochi Suki - Sakura Gumi
Like I said, it was nearly impossible for me to choose between this song and I Wish for my number one song. This is such a beautiful song, and the PV is fits perfectly with it. Takahashi and Aibon absolutely pwn this song!! Takahashi's last line, the
high note "SUKI" is fabulous. I love all the vocals in this one. Looking at the lyrics on PROJECThello, I just realized that every line in this song is a solo line. This song is so soothing yet powerful, I could listen to it forever with no complaints (much like Aya's Zutto Suki De Ii Desu Ka). I'd say that this song will always be best sung by Takahashi and Aibon (much like I Wish with Aibon and Maki), but I do have to mention that I was highly impressed with Miyabi's performance of this song at the Winter 2007 Wonderful Hearts Otome Gokoro concert. I thought she sang it beautifully, and this was actually the performance that really brought Miya to my attention. Maimi was impressive here as well.


Well, there you have it! My top 14 Morning Musume singles, thus finishing off my ranking of all Morning singles released from 1997 to the end of 2007. It's amazing that it's been 10 years since MM came into existence (and almost 7 years since I was first introduced into the world of Morning Musume, and thus Hello! Project).

An explanation of my rankings: basically, my what places a song higher on my list is how often I can listen to it without getting tired of it. I have fully memorized 6 out of my top 7 songs. I don't understand much Japanese (though I'm trying to remedy that situation). When I work on memorizing a song, I listen to it constantly. The fact that I'm not few up with it by the end of learning the song is testament to my love for the song. This is why amazing songs such as Mr. Moonlight and Renai Revolution are further down my list. I simply cannot have those songs on endless repeat without getting bored. Obviously, it's all a matter of personal taste. :)

What I've learned from my rankings:
- This isn't quite new information, but rather it just consolidates my previous mention of Takahashi being my favourite Morning Musume member in terms of vocal quality. From this top 14, she is heavily featured in every song except for I Wish (she wasn't part of MM yet), Go Girl (there are no solo lines in that song), and Touch My Heart! (she wasn't in Otome Gumi).
- Singles leaning towards the rock genre (or rather, the edgier songs) rank highly on my list. These are the songs with prominent guitar and drums, where you could picture a band (as in a rock band) standing behind the girls playing live, and not having half the sound of the song gone (ie. less synth and cutesy sounds, and filled with strong, classic instruments).
- Vocals are my number 1 criteria for song favourites. The instrumentals are next. I was surprised to find that the dance for a single really helps keep my interest in a song. And funnily enough, costumes in a PV can raise my interest in a song (probably because I like to picture the PV as I listen to the song, simply because the costumes are pretty).

There we go! All done! Hope you all enjoyed my reasonings, and congratulations for surviving all my rambling! :)

MM, Berryz and C-ute rankings from Hello!Blog

I'm still working on my final installment of my Morning Musume singles ranking, but in the interim, I thought I'd join the ranks of blogs posting their results from the poll on Hello!Blog.

First up, C-ute!


Not much has changed since my last C-ute member ranking, except Erika is no longer at the bottom of my list. The more I hear of NakaSaki's voice, the more I shudder. It pains me to great degrees that she gets solo lines in singles while Chisato, who has such an amazing voice, gets zero, zip, zilch, nil, nada, etc.

Next up, Morning Musume!


Again, no real changes from my original MM ranking, except that the ties are no longer ties. I still adore both Ai-chan and Risa (and watching Ribon no Kishi just increased my love for them both). Eri beat out Reina due to the fact that I like Eri's voice more than Reina's and Eri was just so win in the MouTube vids she did with Risa. ^_^ Junjun is my top 8th gen member because I like her voice best, and Linlin is my bottom 8th gen member because I like her voice least, which leaves Aika in the middle. And the bottom two... Well, I established my reasons for not favouring them in my original post.

And finally, Berryz Koubou!


Now here we have some crazy changes going on in compared to my original Berryz ranking.
1. No change in the number 1 spot, with Miya still taking home the gold!! :) I think my layout speaks for itself in that regard.
2. Risako has been bumped out of spot #2, which will be explained when I get to her. Yurina has moved up one spot due to Risako's drop. Yurina edged out Chinami mainly due to her being featured more.
3. Chinami has also moved up one spot due to the drop.
4. Risako's moving down on my list, but I'm having a hard time placing her below Momoko, so she sits here in spot #4. Basically, I starting to fall a little bit into the "Risako is overrated" club. I still like her in general, but as I watch more recent lives and whatnot, she isn't as amusing or interesting as she initially was for me.
5. Ahh!! Momoko's moving up the ladder! I'm telling you, it's all Buono!'s fault! However, she still bothers me as a member of Berryz, I don't know what it is. Maybe the punk-rock style of Buono! just suits her better, and the songs Buono! sings allow her to use a more mature voice, compared to Berryz singles which call upon her high-pictched squeak. That high-pitched squeak is unfortunately stopping her from climbing my Berryz Koubou ladder.
6. Maasa beat out Captain for 6th spot. Exact reasoning, I'm not sure... Possibly due to the previously mentioned funny character she played in their stage play "Geki Haro "Edo kara Chakushin!? ~Timeslip to Kengai!~".
7. I'm sorry Captain, but someone has to go to the bottom of the list. But that doesn't take away from her awesome dancing abilities. :)

I had some family visiting from California over the weekend, so I didn't have much time with my computer. Thus the lack of my top 14 MM singles. Hopefully that will be up within the next few days. Until then! ^_^

All Morning Musume singles ranking - Part 2 of 3

On to part 2 of my singles ranking. Here I shall list Morning Musumes singles from #28 up to #15.

I've come to realize that it's hard to think of ways to describe what you like about a single without being completely repetitive, or just copping out and saying "I just like it. I can't explain it..." I'm doing my darndest to keep my reasoning and writing varied so as not to get too boring (which is why I'm adding my little stories along the way, 'cause those are all individual to the singles :D).

So, to continue trudging along, here are my MM singles #28-15!

28. Daite Hold On Me!
I love the "Shake it Do it Do it"'s. I love the chorus. And for some reason, I really love the dance during the chorus. It really isn't much of anything. I think my love of the chorus and dance is due to the girls singing and dancing to it during one of the Hello! Morning karaoke episodes.

27. Love Machine
And here is where MM singles started getting more energetic. My favourite Ishiguro Aya moment is within this PV. Who doesn't love the "Nice Body" moment? XD The song and dance is catchy and fun. If I don't fully get up and dance along when I'm watching an H!P or MM concert, I at least raise my arms and do the movements along with them.

26. Happy Summer Wedding
I used to be absolutely obsessed with this song. I think this was the first MM song that I fully memorized the lyrics to. It's cute, it's fun, and man can it ever get stuck in your head. However, I remember when I watched a live performance of this single (this was a little after I had gotten into MM, and was going back to see things released before I started listening), there was one girl who I just couldn't identify. My brother exasperatedly told me that it was Hitomi... >_< In my defense, I say she looked so different back in those early days just after joining MM.

25. Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni wa Naranee!~ - Otome Gumi
This is definitely a song that can get stuck in your head. It's a very energetic song that I can't help but sing along to. However, there are too many Sayu and Rika lines, and too few Miki and Mako lines.

24. Renai Revolution 21
This was either the first or second MM PV I saw (which also means the first or second single I heard - I can't actually remember if it was this or The Peace!). I actually got into MM just around the time of 5th gen joining, but this and The Peace! were the first PVs my brother got a hold of. The Golden Age of MM is definitely the way to be introduced to MM and H!P. The PV is great, I love the dance, the outfits, and the song is just so much fun. Unfortunately, I think the reason this song is so far down on my list is that I listened to it too much, and eventually I hit my Love Revolution limit.

23. Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~
Ahh... Yossy's breakout song. I really love this song mainly because this was where you first get to hear the wonderful quality that Hitomi's voice possesses. I also like how it's not your normal H!P song in that it's of the swing genre, which was a contrast to what MM had been releasing the past few singles prior to this one. The one downfall for me was that this was the Gokkies debut single, and only one of them gets a solo line (Risa in the official single, and then varied depending on which live you watched). Otherwise, 5th gen was really just in the background.

22. The Peace!
I used to dance to this song all the time. During my first year of university, my dorm mates would come into my room and see me doing the dance, and dubbed "The Peace!" "The Happy Hitler Song" due to the arm movements during "HO~ hora yukouze". >_< Anyway, this was Rika's breakout song, and part of the reason why I love her so much. IMO, she had the coolest hat in the PV, and she was just so cute in the talk break, I loved her getting attacked by the other members. :) However, much like Renai Revolution, I think it got a bit overplayed and thus is lower in my overall ranking.

21. As For One Day
I love the instrumental in this song. The piano in the intro is very dramatic. Through the song, I like the sound of the the twangy-sounding stringed instrument (I'm not sure what it is). The line distribution is nice. We finally got to hear some quality solo lines from the Gokkies in this single (I don't count the lines from Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima as their normal voices - it's a weird sounding song). I also like the strong beat in this single. At moments, I get the feel of an old-school Ace of Base single.

20. Morning Coffee
Morning Coffee is a very simple song. It's got a simple melody, very simplistic drum line and very light guitar and piano. This is another example of my loving the harmonies. Now that I think about it though, I may have unfairly ranked Furusato because I do have to say that I'm not a big fan of the vocal quality in the original release of this single. Seeing as this was MM's first official release, you can hear that the girls' vocal control isn't quite there yet. I actually really enjoy the 2002 version of this song, which was the c/w for Souda! We're Alive. And I must say it's a freaking boring PV.

19. Koi no Dance Site
I find almost everything absolutely fantastic about this song. It's fun, the dance is enjoyable, it can easily get stuck in your head, and best of all: "SEXY BEAM!!!" Mari is gold in this single.

18. Mikan
This is a nice, upbeat, feel good song. I like the mix of instruments and the beat in this single. No story to go with this single. The baby pics in the PV are cute, but otherwise, nothing spectacular in the PV. It's simply a great song that can bring up your mood, because "Life is one time!"

17. Ambitious! Tashitenki de Ii Jan
"HEY HEY! Happy no mainichi!" Another fun, upbeat song. This one gets me bouncing in my seat every time. For some reason, I somehow missed the release of this single much like Hyokkori Hyoutanjima, but I obviously didn't have the same reaction to it once I became aware of its existence. I always forget that Mako-chan and Konkon were still part of MM in this single, but I think that's mainly because I discovered this single sometime after Aruiteru was released. For some reason, I'm very tickled by the 16th note high hat interspersed throughout the song.

16. Onna ni Sachi Are
Upon re-listening to this single, I was reminded that I actually enjoy Junjun's voice from what I can gather thus far. Linlin on the other hand... Not so much.

15. Koko ni Iruzee!
Hmm... this section (#19-17 and #15) seems to be filled with the high-energy, bouncy, head-bobbing, dancey songs. The girls definitely rock it out in the PV in their plaid blazers and rough it out in their fatigues, dirt on their faces and all. This is the first single post-Maki, and I find it amusing that on PROJECThello.com (where I usually get my romanji lyrics), Takahashi's colour coded lyrics get switched from her original orange to Maki's red. XD Coincidence? I think not!

Well there you have it! The top 14 are left... You can figure out by process of elimination what my top 14 are, but can you guess the order? :)

C-ute: LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA (x4)

Just before I post part 2 of my All Morning Musume Singles Ranking, my thoughts on C-ute's new PV.

So, the PV for C-ute's new single "LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta" is up on Dohhh UP! and I'm sad to say that I am nowhere near as enthusiastic about this PV as I was after watching Buono!'s "Renai Rider" for the first time.

It's an okay song. It's not terrible. I like Maimi in this single. But I find I'm not liking Airi's voice so much in this release. I feel like she's c-ute-syfing her voice too much. She's not singing badly per se, but I don't like the quality of her voice when she manipulates it in the way she does in this release.

The girls all look C-ute in this PV, though I could definitely do without all that fur... But hey, it's an H!P PV, and sometimes you just have to wonder what the stylist was thinking. >_< I thought Maimai stood out from the girls - and I'm thinking it was due to her hairstyle. I just really liked it here.



I was highly disappointed with the lack of Chisato solo lines. It's absolutely ridiculous how Chisa hasn't had one solo line in the 4 official singles released by C-ute, and only 1 solo line from the 4 indie singles. That's 1 line 8 singles. Erika and Kanna tie for the 2nd and 3rd least number of solo lines at 3, while Nakajima's had 6 lines and Maimai has had 8. I won't bother counting Airi and Maimi. We know who the leads are... All I can say is "Wow..." and "GIVE ME SOME CHISA!!!!"

Moving on... Do you notice the title for this entry? That's 31 "LA"s. Notice the (x4). 31 x 4 = 124. That's how many times the girls sing the word "LA" in the last 50 or so seconds of the song (starting at around the 3:24 mark in the PV). I just thought all those "LA"s really dragged on... and on... and on... It felt like the song would never end.

So, while I don't hate this song, I don't love it either. It's energetic and happy, but I think it's longer than it has to be. I won't be able to bring myself to buy this single, no matter how much I love C-ute. Therefore, I'll just sit back and hope their next release is more to my taste.

PV: C-ute - LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta

*EDIT: I'm sitting at work, and the LA LA LA's are running through my head... I can't recall the melody of the verses for the life of me, but can't forget the LA LA LA's. If this keeps getting stuck in my head like this, I think this song may drive me to insanity... Or rather, even deeper into the insanity that is my psyche.

All Morning Musume singles ranking - Part 1 of 3

And FINALLY, here comes my Morning Musume singles ranking!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the H!P rankers on American Wota after reading a Morning Musume ranking entry on Infinite Seasons.

I've allowed these Wota Distractions to thoroughly distract me. :) This ranking includes the other MM singles (ie. The Gumi's and MM Tanjou 10nen Kinentai and the pre-MM single, Ai no Tane), a total of 42 singles.

I'm going to break this ranking into 3 parts (14 singles per part) simply due to the volume of songs. Some of these songs have stories which go along with the reasons for my liking or not liking the single, which makes my breakdown very lengthy. So here goes!

NOTE: If there's no clarification on the group, it was obviously a regular MM release.

42. Aruiteru
This is at the bottom of my list because of the very first line. When I first heard this song, I hadn't been following MM very closely. My brother got me to listen to it, and I cringed when I heard that first line. Some voices blend well together. Takahashi Ai and Kusumi Koharu's voice simply DO NOT! It was too painful for me and pretty much turned me off to the entire song. Don't get me started on live performances of this...

41. Ai no Tane
I took this ranking very seriously, because I really wondered my favourite order. In order to really figure out which singles ranked best for me, I went back and listened to the older songs that don't get on my playlist much. So, I was really surprised when I realized that I had actually never heard this song in my life... That was an eye-opener. In general, the song didn't really stand out to me, thus the low ranking. There was only minimal harmonizing in this song, which is one of my favourite things about the old school MM singles.

40. Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima
I can't quite explain it, but this song just never interested me. I somehow had originally missed its release and heard it at a concert. I thought they were promoting a new single or it was song random album song I'd never heard before, but my brother clarified that it had been out for some time. The PV was... interesting to say the least, and the song just wasn't musically stimulating for me.

39. Itoshiki Tomo e - Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai
I don't understand why Koharu is in this group. She brings down the vocals, and seeing as there are only 5 girls in this group, she gets a lot of solo lines. You'd figure for a 10th year anniversary group, you'd want some quality songs with some quality singers. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this group (as much as I love Risa). Nacchi, Maki and Kaori were never my favourite members of MM. I normally love ballads, but this song never got stuck in my head. If you asked me what it sounded like, I wouldn't be able to hum it off the top of my head.

38. Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia - Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai
Basically, the same reasons as #39. Too much Koha and not too interested in the other members of the group (minus Risa).

37. Furusato
The reason this single is so low is because I find it's not really a MM single so much as it's a Nacchi single. I mean, come on. There were 6 other girls in the group at this point in time. Massive Nacchi overload. I actually really enjoy this song on the fanclub releases (ex. I love Takahashi and Risa's versions of this song). People can talk about line whores all they like (ex. Takahashi, Suzuki Airi of C-ute) but they've got nothing on Natsumi in this single.

36. Namida ga Tomarani Houkago
As much as I love Konno, her voice isn't one of my favourites in the history of MM. With her, Rika and Sayumi taking many of the solo lines in this single, I couldn't bring myself to listen to it very often. It was did have a catchy tune though, and I often found myself humming it to myself.

35. Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~
Not too much to say on this one. Never listened to it much. The "souda souda souda mattaku" parts are catchy and have gotten stuck in my head once or twice. It's a weird song though, looking at the translation. >_<

34. Memory Seishun no Hikari
I don't know where the mp3s of the older songs went, so to refresh myself, I found the PVs. I realized that I had never actually seen this PV before. My inital reaction to the PV: THERE ARE BOYS!! :O I was completely shocked in a very amused way. I mean, there are never boys in MM PVs. But in general, I don't like the PV much. The dancing leaves much to be desired (which was the case in most of the old school MM singles). What I really like in this single is the harmonization. I don't understand why they don't utilize such a wonderful musical device in the current MM releases. It's not like the current members are lacking the ability or talent to harmonize.

33. Egao Yes Nude
And we get to my lowest ranking 8th gen song. It was kind of funny, because not only did I have to refresh myself on the older songs, but I also had to do it on the newer singles as well. Mikan is the only current MM single I've listen to on a regular basis. I've been more distracted with the H!P Kids groups recently. Anyway, when this single first came out, I was like o_O in regards to the title. I actually really like the vocals in this song, particularly due to the line distribution (lots of leader/subleader solo and duet lines in this song, both the current and former leader/subleader duos). I think what puts this song so low for me is the PV. I just didn't like it all that much (and really didn't enjoy the outfits).

32. Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari
When this single first came out, I was all over it. It's catchy and cute, and I enjoyed that much more when someone translated the PV (I mean, since it's little stories about each member, it's nice to know what they're telling you). However, I found the novelty wore off fairly soon, which is why this song is in the bottom half of my list. However, I really enjoyed this PV and dance.

31. Summer Night Town
Again, another song with harmonies that I just love. I don't care much for the PV (the oldest MM PV that I actually enjoyed, and basically when the PVs started getting more enjoyable overall, was LOVE Machine).

30. Sexy Boy ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~
I really enjoy the "SEXY ooh wa ooh wa"'s for some reason (both the singing and the dance). I really like the melody in this song as well. I like the vocals for the "Ippai kitai" lines. The PV just had a little bit too much white for me. The girls could fade into the walls.

29. Manatsu no Kousen
As I re-listened to this song, I noticed a very annoying guitar (I think) sound during the instrumental bits (like in the intro to the song). That's the only thing I can hear at those points in the song now. But it can't bring down the love I have for this song. It's such a happy, bright song (as it should be, since they're singing about an endless summer). And once again, enjoyable harmonies in this oldie.

There we go! My bottom 14 MM singles. It's sad to say, 'cause I definitely enjoy almost all of these songs, but something has to go at the bottom of the list, right?

Another H!P purchase...

Before I get into my MM singles ranking, I just want to share my most recent H!P purchase. A few weeks ago, Cutie Party's Misa posted that she got Sukeban Deka at PMall, a mall which I frequent on a semi-regular basis. There used to be a store that sold H!P releases at PMall, but quite some time ago, they stopped stocking the H!P stuff, so I stopped buying. I asked Misa where this store was in the mall, and voila! I finally got down to PMall today, and here's what I got:



I am now currently in the process of listening to GAM's 1st album (had never listened to it prior to this). I was compelled to buy it when I saw it because I absolutely adore Ayaya (as explained in a previous post), and have come to develop a newfound love for Miki ever since watching Ribbon no Kishi.

The 2 singles and the album are all limited editions (CD + DVD). I must say that it's ridiculous how much more affordable the Taiwan/Hong Kong releases are than the Japanese ones. Can anyone explain to me why this is the case?

Misa is absolutely fabulous for pointing me towards this new store! :D