H!P Rankings and an introduction

or, The Day I learned to stop worrying, and love Hello!Project.  This is my first blog on Vox, or anywhere.

I discovered Hello! Project quite by accident around one year ago.  While randomly surfing You Tube, I came across a video of a cute girl dancing to The Fast Food Song (Does anyone fancy a shake?).  While looking through her fav videos I discovered the Close Up version of Robokiss.  I was absolutely mesmerized!  These girls were freakin' adorable!  I started downloading videos like crazy, and searching for any sights that mentioned anything H!P.  About three months later I graduated to buying merchandise.  I've amassed about 80 CD's, 20 DVD's, another 20 PB's...an all-region DVD player (I don't even want to look at my Amex bill!)  This year it was time to take the next step, so I booked a trip to Japan and attended all three H!P shows at Yokohama.  This is starting to sound like a "drug binge" story, but that is what J-pop is like for alot of people, ne?

That's my story in a nutshell.  I listen to their music every day, my most visited web sites are Ebay, Dohhhup, Wiki, You Tube and International Wota, so I'd say I'm a pretty huge fan.  With that in mind, here are my rankings from Paul's Hello Blog...

Momusu

1. Tanaka Reina  She is one of my top 3 favs in the history of H!P.  The others are Nacchi and Ayaya.  She is the perfect mix of sexy and cute.  I absolutely adore this girl.  To all the haters...I just don't get it!  Tanaka is an ANGEL!  And I've never heard her miss a note.

2. Takahashi Ai  What I love most about Ai-chan is her "babe in the woods" personality.  She always seems so innocent and unassuming.  Over the years she has become more "beautiful" and less "cute", but that's OK.  She's a great singer.

3. Kamei Eri  Once again, love the personality.  Eric Kamezou is great.  I love her with Gaki-san on Haromoni@, and 17sai is one of my favorite PB's, especially those awesome thighs of hers.

4. Niigaki Risa  I used to be slightly turned off my Gaki-san's "eternally twelve" look.  Then she put on a little weight, changed to a fuller hairstyle, and became Athena.  At that point she changed to me for the better.  And she is dynamite live.  The most explosive Musume on stage, really pumps up the crowd.

5. JunJun  I don't know why I've jumped on the JunJun bandwagon, as I didn't like any of 8th generation at first.  But she is cute, and I thought she stood out in the Mikan PV.  And it's fun to listen to her struggle with Japanese.

6. Kusumi Koharu  She doesn't stand out to me in Momusu, and it troubles me that they won't let her sing solo live at concerts, but I love the solo material she gets, and the PV's are top notch.  I've probably watched Koi Kana at least 200 times!

7. Mitsui Aika  I love that she's taller than you think, she has a great smile.  I also love that her voice is more mature than her body.  She's very young, and needs time to develop into a stronger performer.  She looks like a cross between Momoko and Mickey Dolenz!

8. LinLin  I would like to rate LinLin a lot higher, but I don't feel like we know her well enough yet.  But she's a champ on Haromoni@.  Her "bucking bronco" routine won me over, and she has a great petite figure. 

9. Michishige Sayumi  First off, I agree that she is amazingly cute, and looks great in her PB's.  I enjoyed her live at Yokohama.  That said, she seems to act perpetually 5 years old, which is a turnoff.  She isn't a stand out singer either. 

Berryz

1. Sudou Maasa  I'm not sure I've ever heard Maasa sing more than one phrase, but I think she is absolutely beautiful.  I wish she would get more face time.

2. Shimizu Saki  Yes, the two least visible berryz are my two favs.  Great smile, I love her voice.  Seems to be having the time of her life while dancing, and one of two H!P's I had extended eye contact with at the show (the other was Tanaka)  I loved her in ZYX.

3. Tokunaga Chinami  I know she is fourth in the photo, but after the Khan PV, she moves up (I almost made her #2)  Another great smile, always seems to be having fun, and getting prettier as she gets older.

4. Tsugunaga Momoko  People either love her voice or hate it, I think it's great.  She is my favorite in Buono!, and I do like Buono!!  I love her lead vocal in Gag 100 Kaibun.

5. Natsuyaki Miyabi  The last three I'm kind of "the same" about.  But Miyabi's in Buono!  And again...

6. Sugaya Risako  She's getting prettier as she gets older, but I don't get the hype.

7. Kumai Yurina  Doesn't do anything to stand out.  She's very lanky.  I'd like to see her grow into that body a bit more.

Cute

I'll keep it brief with C-ute, as I don't have too many individual opinions about the members.  I base a lot of my rankings on personality, so I can't wait for Berryz and C-ute's new TV show. Perhaps my rankings will completely change after that.  With that in mind...

1. Yajima Maimi  In each group, my number one pick was absolutely no contest.  Maimi is far and away my favorite Hello! Project kid.  She is amazingly beautiful.  Looks so mature for her age, and has the best smile in H!P.  I'm so sorry I didn't like 16sai no Koi Nante, although the live version at Yokohama was very cute.  Maimi will be a star for a long long time if she wants to be.

2. Hagiwara Mai  Mai gets number 2 for her incredible talent at her age.  It is unbelievable to me that she can display that much confidence in the face of thousands of men frothing at the mouth.  A born entertainer!

3. The Rest  I like them all, but nothing about any of them stands out for me to comment.

Wow, this blogging stuff has tired me out!  BTW, assuming there will be a Hello!Project winter concert in 2009, I will be there for sure.  If anyone wants to team up, let me know.

CK in California (Chris)