20 posts tagged “c-ute”

It is always numbing to wake up and find news of an idol graduating from her group.  Even if the idol in question isn't one of my favorites, it is still messing with the group collective.  And like most members of the human race my first reaction to change is one of resistance.

That was my feeling this morning when I woke up to the news of Umeda Erika's pending graduation from C-ute.  My first thoughts were about the group collective.  How is this going to affect Maimi and Airi?  What kind of future is in store for this group?  I didn;t feel this way when Kanna left because I had become used to C-ute as a 6-nin group, and to me they were doing fine that way.  But with Erika it is different.  She has been there since the beginning.  Even if I ranked her 7th on my C-ute ranker earlier this year, I will miss her being there.  My hope is that we see a couple of the H!P Eggs get promoted.

But here is where I begin my little rant...

I just received my C-ute Spring 2009 concert DVD in the mail last week.  A concert I was actually in the audience for.  If you read my post when I first saw the show I made a few comments on the crowd and how many were wearing each member's shirts in the audience.  The fact is that the yellow Umeda shirts were few and far between.

I read a lot of blogs, it is part of my little "job" at IW.  So when news like this breaks my feedreader in inundated with bloggers rehashing the story.  I quickly find myself going from slightly bummed to slightly annoyed.  It happened when Kanna left, and it is happening now...

Suddenly Erika is EVERYONE'S favorite member!

It is nice to see everyone saying nice things in her honor, but I can't help feeling that people are going overboard with this.  She is everyone's favorite member eh?  C-ute sucks without her, eh?  Kanna and Erika, the two background members of the group were the only two worth anything, eh?  People only watch C-ute PV's for Kanna and Erika's moments, eh?  (That must be a disappointing exercise)  I immediately referred to one of my favorite resources, Paul Thomas' Hello!Blog ranker...

Just as I expected, Kanna is the lowest ranked member, and Erika was 5th.  The only H!P main group member that was lower than both of them was Maasa from Berryz Kobo.  Yet they were both everyone's favorite.  How could this be?

It is widely known that a rock star's popularity usually skyrockets when they die.  Just look at Michael Jackson.  His CD's are topping the charts as if they had never been released before.  And per usual the wota worldwide come out of the woodwork to declare a recently departed H!P member their all time fave.  I suppose it's a nice gesture, but it comes across as a lot of psycho-drama.  If Airi left H!P and everyone was saying this I wouldn't be surprised.  But Erika?  Kanna???  Please!

So in summary I just want to say that I bawled my eyes out when I woke up to the news of Erika's graduation this fall.  She was MY all-time favorite member of Hello! Project because she was the ultimate eyecandy.  And now I don't know how C-ute (or H!P for that matter) will possibly go on without her.  The only reason I liked C-ute in the first place was because of her, and I only paid attention to HER in the PV's. (and Kanna)  Later in the day as my coworkers attempted to console me, I realized that C-ute will surely suck without her.  UFA are a bunch of idiots that are ruining Hello! Project by causing their best talent to leave.  First Kanna, now this?

Hehehe, whatever........

Seriously, I will miss her in C-ute.  I wish Erika success in the fashion modeling industry.  She certainly has the height for it!

Erika Ganbatte!!! :D

CK in California

I had mentioned this when I first reported about this concert in one of my Japan tour posts.  Now that I have seen this video it just confirms my first impression.  Maimi performing Seishun Song was friggin' awesome!

The crowd was absolutely on fire in this show!  I am trying to think of a more kickass performance ever done by a Hello! Project act.  The "rock medley" of Koko ni Iruzee, Eryo wa Nashi yo and Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun at H!P Winter 2007 comes close.  And the set of Tokkaiko Junjou, Massara Blue Jeans and Jump! later in this show was really good too.  But Maimi's performance is just on another level entirely.  Not to mention she looks gorgeous!

I can't wait for my DVD to arrive!

CK in California

Yatta!  I won MB's NASCAR Fantasy League!!!  I must say I got really lucky these past two weeks.  My drivers finished 1st, 2nd and 7th at Pocono, and 1st 3rd and 4th at Dover.  I guess it does help that I am a big NASCAR fan.  Maybe not as much as MB, but I do follow the sport.

But I didn't know that as the winner, I get to pick who wins second prize...C-ute's Bye Bye Bye DVD single.  That is a pretty cool prize.  You know, I have a few duplicate CD's myself.  Maybe I should start a contest.  Anyone interested in...

AKB48-Oogoe Diamond (Theater Version CD/DVD)
AKB48-10nen Zakura (Theater Version CD)
Ice Cream Musume-1st Best (CD/DVD)

Anyhow, as the assistant commissioner in charge of the 2nd prize lottery, I decided to make it fair.  So I had a little drawing here at the CK Abode...

I look forward to receiving my JunJun cap and will be proud to sport it at Anime Expo next month.  In the meantime, I look forward to re-kicking all of your butts in MB's next contest!

CK in California

It has been raining pretty hard here the last couple of days.  So traveling around the city for various shopping and concert experiences has been a drenching experience!  Wednesday was going to be a big day for me.  Two concerts, C-ute's matinee performance in Nakano followed by Ketchup Mania's Tokyo farewell in Shimokitazawa, which I already wrote about in the previous post.  To be honest I was dreading the day as much as anticipating it because I knew I would be completely exhausted at the end!

I have been attempting to squeeze in shopping around all of the events I have planned.  But I haven't done too much aside from the concert goods.  Just across the street from Nakano Sunplaza is an awesome little mall called Nakano Broadway.  In it there are tons of stores and restaurants selling everything imaginable.  It is also home to one of the best J-pop shops I know of...Trio2

Trio2 is filled with J-pop memorabilia.  And they primarily focus on Hello! project and AKB48.  There are literally thousands of pictures to choose from.  Some as little as 100 yen, and some worth hundreds of dollars!  They also have scores of used DVD's, posters, photobooks and just about anything else you can think of.  It is an awesome store!  I need to head back there when there isn't a J-pop concert happening right across the street as the shop was literally packed!  I couldn't get near half of the merchandise, but I did get a good look at the premium photo case.  This is where they keep pics that are rare or have been personally autographed.  And what did I find staring at me in the case, just begging me to buy it???

Heavens, lovely lovely Meetan!!!  There was no way I was going to pass that up.  And as far as autographed pics are concerned, it wasn't too expensive.  Anyhow, this store is a "must visit" for any J-pop fan traveling to Tokyo!  It is right across the street from Nakano Station!

I have always said I prefer Morning Musume and Berryz Kobo over C-ute.  I think for me personally it is because I like the members of Berryz and MoMusu a lot more.  The exception being Maimi.  She is absolutely gorgeous.  However, I wanted to see what they were like in their own solo tour.  The only other time I have seen them was for H!P Winter 2008.  And they did an amazing job!!!  I will say without hesitation that I enjoyed this concert more than Berryz' Berikore Tour last fall!

After purchasing a few concert goods I went into the theater early, if for no other reason than to get out of the downpour that was occurring outside!  This was the first time I have really taken the time to survey the crowd to see how many supporters each girl had.  To no surprise the theater was a sea of green (Airi) and Pink (Maimi).  There was quite a bit of orange (Saki) too.  But surprisingly I hardly saw any MaiMai or Erika supporters.  In fact at one point I didn't see any yellow (Erika) at all!  The show started early because there was an opening act.  Manoeri time!!!  I love the way she just pops up at these shows.  She did her new single with The H!P Eggs as backup dancers.  I am not a big fan of her music, but I do enjoy watching her perform.  This time she was dancing instead of hiding behind her piano.  I think that's a better idea!

C-ute opened with Akogare My Star, which isn't one of my favorites.  But it was exciting to see them live again from my 20th row seat.  The stage setup had this "hot air balloon" and "baby alphabet blocks" setup which was really cute.  Some of my favorite moments...

-This was another amazing VTR, done to Saikokyuu no Enjoy Girls  It was a live action video with the girls dancing and posing with a backdrop of cartoons, very cute!

-Airi and Maimi's solos were both great!  Airi performed the first half of Yes! All My Family in the balloon basket, and came out to dance the second verse.  Maimi's Seishun Song might be the best C-ute song I have ever heard!  It actually reminded me of The Ramones, if you can believe that!  What a sensational performance!

-The "Tap Dance School" MC was really funny, especially when Airi beat up Maimi (LOLOL).  And I loved the way they worked the tap dance into Sakura Chirari.  What a great way to freshen up that song!

-The main set ended with the powerhouse trio of Tokkaiko Junjou/Massara Blue Jeans/Jump!  It really whipped the wota into a frenzy.  Especially Jump!  The crowd went wild for that!

My pink Maimi shirt!  Actually it looked pretty good under my black button up shirt I had on over it.  And that Maimi picset was a Nakano exclusive.  it was the date on it too!  Overall it was a top notch show.  there were only a couple of songs I didn't care for.  I also enjoyed the performances of Forever Love, Seventeens Vow and Bokura no Kagayaki.  I can't wait for this to come out on DVD!

I stumbled upon this at The Ultimate Idol as I was checking my Googlereader today.  And there is no way I am leaving Japan without this DVD...

ZOMG!!!  That is freakin' incredible!  Did I tell you that Yazawa Erika from Idoling!!! is awesome?  I wish they were doing something while I was here so I could see her.  Sadly they are not, oh well.  I have no concerts scheduled for the next couple of days.  So it is time to do a little relaxing and some light shopping.  I need to be ready for this weekend...and encore performance of AKB48's Team K and Morning Musume!

CK in Tokyo

(Edit: I found that Yazawa DVD.  I didn't notice that it is from 2007.  So it was cheap...FTW!)

Okay, where to start?  I have been running around like crazy, which is tough considering it is "Golden Week".  You can't really "run" anywhere.  The sidewalks are packed with tourists on every street.  It is even an ordeal getting out of my hotel!

I do need to buy a few things for a few people while I am out here.  So I decided that a great place to look around would be Harajuku, specifically Takeshita Dori.  It is the famous walking street right outside the JR Station.  You might remember it from the old Mechaike Field Trip.  That's where Kago and Okamura Takashi ran down the street with that strange pink scarf!  Anyhow, there are a lot of fashionable stores in that area as well as a bunch of music related shops,  But a big problem...

Look at that sea of people!  And every store was packed.  One of my missions is to find a bunch of JE pics for Misa from Minna Iru Kai.  The good news is they have plenty of stores featuring male idols.  The bad news is I have no clue what Massu or Kato look like.  I mean the salesperson could hand me a Heath from X Japan pic and I wouldn't know the difference.  But it is fun rubbing shoulders with a bunch of frothing schoolgirls, which is what those shops are filled with.  I did run over to the Hello! Project store to see what costumes they had in the window.  Cool!  It's Berryz' Monkey Dance outfits.  Unfortunately my pics didn't come out very well so I will have to brave a trip back to re-take them.  Here is a blurry sample as a preview...

I am also hunting Shiseido products for a friend, but unfortunately wasn't successful.  Jeez, I figured Shiseido would be sold on every streetcorner here.  No matter, I will head to Ginza to their main store sometime this week.  I did manage to find Ameba Studios.  Now I just need to know if they are having a cool show I can watch sometime this week!  Anyway, at this point it started pouring rain.  And since I wasn't carrying an umbrella, I decided to scurry back to the train station and hideout in my hotel until the storm blew over.

As planned, I have been spending a lot of time in Akihabara.  I love AKB48 so much, and have such a great time hanging around the theater.  The good news is that they have improved the air conditioning up there, so it isn't quite a stifling hot as it used to be.  I won shows on consecutive days via the email lottery.  So I got to see A5 again, and Team K's brand spanking new 5th stage!  Awesome!  I know there are quite a few H!P fans that have an aversion to AKB48 for some reason.  But I will still insist that if you just saw them live you would fall in love with them too.  The theater is so amazing.  The girls are within a few feet of you!  And while H!P shows are polished productions, AKB48 has a real "girl next door" feel to it.  If you went there you would know.

In any case, Team K's 5th stage is great!  To be honest I didn't initially love it when I saw the "On Demand" video of the first performance.  But Team K is so awesome.  They are all such energetic performers.  Unfortanately for me my precious Meetan wasn't there today.  In fact Team K was missing 5 members today.  Same with Team A yesterday, 5 members had the night off!  No Kojiharu or Miichan either. :(  The neat thing was getting the chance to hear Ono Erena premiere a brand new song, which she is performing for some anime.  It is called First Love.  And if you get a chance to hear it, it's a beautiful song!!!  By the way, I have won another Team K performance for Saturday night.  This kills my plan to see Perfume.  But I personally will take AKB48 over Perfume any day of the week.  And the prices for Perfume tickets are hellaciously expensive.  The lamest ticket I could find at a reseller was about the same price as a great MoMusu ticket!

I try not to buy too much stuff at once.  Instead I pace myself throughout the trip.  Although there are quite a few "must haves" that I buy immediately.  I knew I was going to buy the new Buono! and Idoling!!! singles, as well as the H!P Graduation DVD.  The other DVD in that pic is AKB48 Team B's 3rd stage, which is a theater exclusive.  I have a few "possible" things on my list, like the WH/Elder DVD.  But I haven't decided for sure.  The book you see is the Hello! Project Winter 2009 Photobook, which Morning Berryz did a great writeup on a few weeks back.  It is a great book, filled with excellent photos of all of the performances and backstage stuff!  I found it at BookOff for only $20!  It would have been worth it at double the price.  BookOff is the best!!!

I need to get some rest as I have a concert doubleheader to deal with tomorrow.  I begin in Nakano with C-ute's matinee performance.  And in the evening I am seeing Ketchup Mania's farewell concert in Shimo-Kitazawa.  They both should be great, I will surely be exhausted at the end of all that!

Goodnight Now!

CK in Tokyo 

 

...........................................

...........................................

...........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

.........................................

........................................

........................................

........................................

........................................

........................................

........................................

AKB48, Morning Musume, C-ute, Ketchup Mania and a whole lot more to come.  Do you think I am a little excited?

CK in California

Fan Club Exclusive merchandise is sort of a "double edged" sword.  If I were a fan club member, I would be happy that I have access to items that nobody else can get their hands on.  It makes it more valuable.  But being that I am an American fan, it is next to impossible for me to become a member.  Why is that?  I managed to become a member of the Manchester United FC fan club without much difficulty.  Whatever...the rules are what they are.  Maybe someday they will change.  Maybe one day I will be living in Japan, who knows?

That being said, I have no reservations about downloading the "lost" 2006 Hello! Project Winter DVD.  It has been three years since this show was performed.  But the release of it couldn't be more timely!  This was a time when the H!P Kids were still fledgling groups, and the stars of the show were the members who are now known as the Elder Club.  You know, the gals that will be saying goodbye to H!P in about four weeks time?  This is a great showcase of the tremendous talent H!P is about to lose...

I'm not going into a full TBT review of this show.  Instead I thought I would upload a few screencaps and reminisce about units of the past, and how great they were.  What really came up for me is 1) this concert could easily be the setlist to the February 2009 show.  It has so many classic songs and performers in it.  And 2) I think I may have made a mistake by opting not to go to the Elder Club graduation.  It is still four weeks away.  It isn't too late for me to change my mind, is it?

After an opening set of Morning Musume favorites came Ai ~Suite Room~ by v-u-den.  I know they graduated less than a year ago.  But they were such a sexy group.  I loved the acting work they did in Sukeban Deka,  And Erika Miyoshi is so irresistably hot!  I would love to see them perform one last time.  And Ai ~Suite Room~ would be a cool song to do.  Although my guess is they'll do their last single.

Now this moment really touched my heart.  Here is W performing just before the scandal that would end their run.  And it's really too bad.  Tsuji and Kago were so wonderful together.  But like Martin and Lewis before them, I doubt we will ever see them performing together again.  At least no time in the near future...but never say never!  I doubt this will really happen, but wouldn't it be amazing if Kago made a surprise appearance in Yokohama next month?  By the way, Juushichi no Natsu is one of my favorite W songs.  I didn't know they had ever done this live!

After W we get a Pucchi Moni All-Star team.  This concert was in 2006, and even a year ago we were talking about the Elder Club being washed up?  Underutilized is more like it.  This performance of Baby! Koi ni Knockout! is top notch!  And this is an excellent example of what a sensational performer Yasuda Kei is!  It's annoying that people give her crap about not being cute.  Whatever, Kei-chan is awesome!  Hell, I would date her!!!

Nacchi's performance of Koi no Hana is the moment that got me thinking about going back to Japan for this show.  I thought of never seeing Abe Natsumi perform live ever again really hurts.  She is absolutely beautiful, and so elegant!  And she is even more gorgeous now than when she was the "face" of Morning Musume.  I thought Nacchi would be in H!P forever.  Or, at least until she decided to leave.

One of my favorite performances of the show is Good Morning done by past and present members of Momusu.  If you have ever seen the DVD extras of Morning Cop, you probably remember this song being played as the girls are frolicking on the beach.  And that was in the days of Ishiguru Aya and Fukuda Asuka!  It was so bittersweet to hear.  I would love to hear them perform it again!

Ayaya, you are so amazing.  But I know your career will still be going strong long after you say goodbye to Hello! Project.  By the way, Aya was "all over" this concert!

The H!P Kids were so great in this show.  Ishimura Maiha had already left Berryz Kobo.  But it was really touching to watch Murakami Megumi and C-ute perform Wakkyanai (Z)  I really wonder what C-ute would be like if Megumi was still with them.  And I wonder what she looks like now?  And look how cute Airi was when she was younger (and shorter!)

Be All Right! is one of my favorite shuffle unit songs.  The song and PV were so much fun!  And everyone who was in it will be gone from H!P in a few weeks' time!  I am really going to miss Inaba Atsuko.  To me she was the best concert MC H!P ever had.  I'll always remember the "fro".

Hello Kimura Asami!  I wish I could have seen Country Musume perform.  Two of their songs were done on this night, Marui Taiyou and Uwaki na Honey Pie, which is the song they said farewell with exactly a year later.  By the way, if you don't have their "Mega Best", I highly recommend it.  Not only were they the "cutest" H!P unit ever, they have a really strong catalog of songs.  Especially in the early days when Toda Rinne was still there!

DEF DIVA.  Here is another amazing, albeit short-lived H!P Unit.  Wow, what a "supergroup" they were!  And this performance of Suke Sugite Baka Mitai was simply awesome!  Why did they only have one single?  Well, two if you count the best Rakuten Eagles song ever done!

ZYX's Shiroi Tokyo might be one of my favorite H!P songs.  And W's performance of Miss Love Tantai was probably their last time ever singing in public together, so sad.

And then you have Gocchin.  She and Fujimoto Miki had the foresight to know it was time to break from H!P.  Neither were my favorite performers.  But I will always remember Goto Maki and her wonderful performance in Pinch Runner.  And who could forget Mikitty and her "parents" in the Mechaike Sports Special?

In usual H!P concert fashion, the show ends with a series of Morning Musume numbers.  Beginning with a great version of Koi no Dance Site.  Well, great, except that Melon Kinenbi's Murata Megumi slaughtered Mari's famous "sexy beam" line!  And the semaphore version of Souda! We're Alive! is great.  I love when idols dance with flags!

This is one of the best H!P concerts I have ever seen.  And with the omnipresence of so many soon to be graduates it really made me long to see them perform live with Hello! Project one last time.  And, I would love to get my hands on a copy of this DVD.

I guess Yahoo! Japan Auctions is calling me...

CK in California

I was originally planning to do this as a continuation of my last post about AKB48.  Since I have now declared them my favorite J-pop group, it is time to begin my AKB collection.  I had finally reached the point where I had most all of the old H!P CD and DVD's I wanted, and now I could focus on just buying new releases.  It's not that I don't already have a few AKB48 items, I do!  This is going to be total hell on my wallet all over again.  But I am really excited about this "new beginning"!

Fly To High posted this What J-Pop Do You Buy post earlier this week.  To answer the questions on the post...

I buy "most" of my collection on EBay.

Most of my collection has come from Japan, although I do have a few overseas versions mixed in.  A few of my DVD's are Hong Kong bootlegs.  But after I bought an all-region DVD player I have only purchased Japan DVD's.

I have purchased quite a few items from Yes Asia.com, but now I am buying most of my stuff from HMV Online.  And for special items I almost always buy from the amazing Ohta!

As I begin to turn my attention to the girls of Akahibara, let's see what kind of damage has been done to my bank account so far.  Shall we?

 

Morning Musume

"First Time" CD

"Second Morning" CD

"3rd Love Paradise" CD

"4th Ikimasshoi" CD

"No. 5" CD

"Ai no Dai 6 Kan" CD

"Rainbow 7" CD

"7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini!" CD (LE)

"Sexy 8 Beat" CD

"Souda! We're Alive!" CD Single

"Aruiteru" CD Single

"Mikan" CD Single (LE)

"Resonant Blue" CD Single (LE A&B)

"Resonant Blue" Event V

"Morning Cop" OST CD

"Best Morning Musume 1" CD

"Best Morning Musume 2" CD

 

Melon Kinenbi

"1st Anniversary" CD

"Fruity Killer Tune" CD

"Kokuhaku Kinenbi" CD Single

"Akai Freesia" CD Single

 

Berryz Kobo

"1st Cho Berryz" CD

Dai 2 Seichouki" CD

"Special! Best Mini~2.5 Maime no Kare" CD

"3 Natsu Natsu Mini Berryz" CD

"Anata Nashi Dewa Ikita Yukenai" CD Single

"Fighting Pose wa Date Ja Nai" CD Single

"Happiness~Kofuku Kangei!" CD Single

"Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi" CD Single

 

C-ute

"2 Mini ~Ikiru to lu Chikara~" CD (LE)

"Sakura Chirari" CD Single (LE)

"Meguru Koi no Kisetsu" CD Single (LE)

"LALALA Shiawase no Uta" CD Single

"Edo no Temari Uta II" CD Single (LE)

 

Country Musume

"Daizenshuu 2" CD

 

W

"Duo U&U" CD

"2nd W" CD

"Koi no Fuga" CD Single

"Ai no Imi wo Oshiete" CD Single

"Miss Love Tantei" CD Single

 

Matsuura Aya

"First Kiss" CD

"T.W.O." CD

"X3" CD

"Double Rainbow" CD

"Matsuura Aya Best 1" CD

"Tropical Koishiteru" CD Single

"The Bigaku" CD Single

"Ne~e" CD single

"The Last Night" CD Single

"Kiseki no Kaori Dance" CD Single

 

MiniMoni

"MiniMoni Song Daihyakka 1 Kan" CD

"MiniMoni Songs 2" CD

"MiniMoni Telephone! Rin Rin Rin" CD Single

"MiniMoni Hinamatsuri" CD Single

"Lucky Cha Cha Cha" CD Single

"Kazoe Uta" DVD Single

 

Buono 

"Cafe Buono" CD (LE) 

"Gachinko de Ikou" CD Single (LE)

 

Athena & Robikerottsu

"Shouri no Big Wave" CD Single

"Seishun Love Lunch" CD Single

 

ZYX

"Shiroi Tokyo" CD Single

 

v-u-den

"Single Best 9 Vol. 1 Omaketsuki" CD

"Hitorijime" CD Single

 

Goto Maki

"Yaruki! It's Easy" CD Single

 

Abe Natsumi

"Hitoribocchi" CD

"Date Ikitekanakucha" CD Single

"Koi no Telephone Goal" CD Single

"Yuma Naraba" CD Single

 

Kusumi Koharu

"Mitsuboshi" CD

"Kirarin Land" CD

"Balalaika" CD Single

 

Fujimoto Miki

"Boogie Train '03" CD Single

 

Tanpopo

"All of Tanpopo" CD

 

Nochiura Natsumi

"Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger" CD Single

 

High-King

Cinderella/Complex CD Single (LE)

 

Milky Way

"Anataboshi" CD Single

 

THE Possible

"Happy 15" CD Single

"Love Message" CD Single

 

Hello! Project

"Otome Gumi Ai no Sono" CD Single

"Otome Gumi Yuujou" CD Single

"2003 Shuffle Units" CD Single/PB

"H!P All-Stars 2004" CD Single/PB

"Pucchi Best 1" CD

"Pucchi best 2" CD

"Pucchi Best 3" CD

 

Photobooks

Matsuura Aya Alo-Hello (2003)

Matsuura Aya- Ma! Chura (2004)

Abe Natsumi- Nacchi (1999)

Abe Natsumi- Natsumi (2001)

Abe Natsumi- AloHello (2005) *DVD*

Takahashi Ai- Photobook (2002)

Yaguchi Mari- Yaguchi (2002)

Yaguchi Mari- Love Hello! (2003)

Iida Kaori- Kaori Kaori Kaori (2002)

Kago Ai- Go on the Journey (2003)

Kago Ai/Tsuji Nozomi- TsujiKago (2002)

Ishikawa Rika- Photobook (2001)

Ishikawa Rika- Photobook (2002)

Kamei Eri- 17 Sai (2006)

Tanaka Reina- Reina (2005)

Tanaka Reina- AloHello! (2007)

Konno Asami- Photobook (2004)

Konno Asami- AloHello! (2006) *DVD*

Tanpopo- Photobook (2001)

Morning Musume- AloHello! (2003)

Morning Musume- AloHello! (2004) *DVD*

 

Concert DVD's

Morning Musume First Live at Shibuya Kohkaido 1998

Morning Musume Memory Seishun no Hikari 1999  (Fukuda Asuka Graduation)

Morning Musume First Live at Budokan 2000  (Ichii Sayaka Graduation)

Morning Musume Live Revolution 21 Haru 2001  (Nakazawa Yuko Graduation)

Morning Musume Green Live 2001

Morning Musume Love is Alive! 2002 Haru

Morning Musume Love is Alive! 2002 Natsu  (Goto Maki Graduation)

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 Haru "Non-Stop!"  (Yasuda Kei Graduation)

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2003 15nin de "Non-Stop!"

Morning Musume Otome Gumi Concert Tour 2003-2004

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2004 Spring "The Best of Japan"  (Mika Todd Graduation)

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2004 "The Best of Japan Natsu~Aki"

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2005 Haru "Dai 6 kan Hit Mankai"  (Ishikawa Rika Graduation)

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2006 Aki Odore! Morning Curry

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2007 Spring Sexy 8 Beat  (Yoshizawa Hitomi Graduation)

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2007 Aki Bonkyu Bonkyu Bomb!

Morning Musume Concert Tour 2008 Single Daizenshuu

Hello! Project 2002 Kotoshi no Sugiozo

Hello! Project 2002 One Happy Summer Day

Hello! Project 2003 Winter Tanoshinjattemasu!

Hello! Project 2003 Natsu Yosha! Bikkuri Summer!!

Hello! Project 2004 Winter C'mon! Dance World  (Abe Natsumi Graduation)

Hello! Project 2004 Summer Natsu no Doon!  (Kago Ai/Tsuji Nozomi Graduation)

Hello! Project 2005 Winter All-Stars Dairanbu, A Happy New Power!  (Iida Kaori Graduation)

Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayou Show '05 Selection Collection!

Hello! Project 2007 Winter Live DVD Box  (Country Musume Graduation)

Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10th Anniversary Dai Kanshasai

Hello! Project 2008 Winter Live DVD Box

Matsuura Aya First Concert Tour 2002 Haru "First Date"

Matsuura Aya Concert Tour 2005 Haru 101 Kaime no Kiss

Matsuura Aya "Captain Koen" Hello Pro Party 2005

Matsuura Aya Live in Shanghai 2006

Matsuura Aya Concert Tour 2007 Autumn

W "Standby!" Double U and Berryz Kobo 2004 Natsu

Berryz Kobo Live Tour 2005 Aki ~Switch On~  (Ishimura Maiha Graduation)

Berryz Kobo Concert Tour 2006 Haru, Nyoki Nyoki Champion

Berryz Kobo Concert Tour 2007 Sakura Mankai

Berryz Kamen/Cutie Ranger Nakayoshi Battle Concert 2008 Spring  (Berryz Version)

Melon Kinenbi 1st Anniversary Live Tour 2003

MiniMoni Special Live Dapyon! Haru 2003  (Yaguchi Mari Graduation)

 

Other DVD's

Morning Cop

Pinch Runner

Tokkaekko

Nama Tamago

Koinu Dan no Monogatari

The MiniMoni Movie

17 sai Tabidachi no Futari

Sukeban Deka, Codename: Asamiya Saki

Morning Musume Musical "Love Century"

Berryz Kobo Event V 2005

MiniMoni Single Clips 1

W no Eizo no Sekei Vol. 1 (Single Clips)

Hello! Project 2000 Shuffle Units DVD

Sakura/Otome Gumi Single DVD "Sakura/Yuujou"

 

Now for my Non-Tsunku related items...

 

AKB48

"Aitakatta" CD Single

"Bingo!" CD Single (LE)

"Set List" 2006-2007 CD (LE)

"Team K 2nd Stage" CD

"Team K 3rd Stage" CD

"Team A 4th Stage" DVD

"Set List, Live at Shibuya-AX 2008" DVD Box

 

Perfume

"Game" CD

"Electroworld" CD Single

 

Pipo Angels

"Luvly, Merry-Go-Round" CD Single

"100% Pure" CD Single

 

Ketchup Mania

"Everytime Music Freak" CD

"Greetings From Tokyo" CD

"U.R.G.E." CD

"L.O.V.E." CD

 

SCANDAL

"Hello Scandal" CD/EP

"Space Ranger" Single CD/DVD

 

Various Items

Andromedia DVD

Battle Royale DVD

Densha Otoko DVD Box

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon DVD Box

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon OST Vol. 1

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon "Dear My Friend" OST

 

T-Shirts

SCANDAL Concert T

Hello! Project 2008 Winter T-shirt plus sweatband

 

 

Oy!  That list was a total pain in the a$$ to put together!  If you add the cost of two trips to Japan plus concert tickets, that's a pretty big dent in the savings.  I'm not really into collecting rare items, instead I focus on CD's I want to listen to and DVD's I want to watch.  When I first started collecting I was enamored with the thought of watching Hello! Project on my big TV screen and cranking up Morning Musume in my car during the daily commute!

Now it's all about AKB48.  Let's see how much of their crap I can amass over the next year!

CK in California

Berryz工房＆℃-ute 仲良しバトルコンサートツアー2008春

My Berryz Kamen vs. Cutie Ranger DVD finally showed up in my mailbox yesterday.  I had a tough time deciding which version of this concert to purchase.  If I had to choose one member of the H!P Kids that I would want to see more footage of, it would be Yajima Maimi.  Maimi is in my opinion the most perfect Musume to ever be in Hello! Project.  But overall I like more members of Berryz Koubou.  So I chose the Berryz version.  After watching all of the bonus footage for both DVD's, I would've been fine with either one.  It is the concert itself that I am most interested in anyway.

Now that this judge has watched the concert on a virtual endless loop for the the last 24 hours, I am ready to make a decision on who the winner of the Nakayoshi Battle is.  I've said all along that overall I prefer Berryz as a group over C-ute.  Is that a giveaway for the final tally?  We'll see...

Round One

"A New Classic" ~ Man I miss Yokohama Arena!  Very pretty dresses, but Kanna and Captain's cowboy hats seem a little out of place.  I mentioned before in a previous post that I really liked Darling I LOVE YOU for the opener.  Especially the chorus and it's cool guitar work.  And I feel it has the potential to be an H!P event standard for years to come!  They basically sing this as a chorus, and it's one of my favorite performances of the night!  Berryz brings the fan fave but (in my opinion) overdone Special Generation.  One of the fun things to watch here is the line distribution when they do each others' songs.  For some reason I felt some of C-ute (namely Mai Mai and Chisato) seemed a little out of place singing this.  It was like the song is too mature for them or something.  On the other hand, Airi and Erika owned it.  Ooki na Ai de Motenashite is probably my favorite C-ute song.  It's a shorter song than SG, but all of Berryz seemed right at home with it.  Yurina sang Maimi's part perfectly.  Hmmm, I like the C-ute song better.  But performance wise, I give it to Berryz. First round MVP goes to Yurina!  (Berryz 1, C-ute 0)

 

Round Two

"70's Cop Drama VTR" ~ Actually everyone wins here.  What an excellent sequence!  And Maasa is fronting Berryz tonight?  I am in heaven!  Man does she look hot holding that...what the hell is that?  Berryz has more cool poses while C-ute goes for goofy and strange.  But I love the focus on all of their eyes.  Very cute!  I prefer Maasa over Kanna, and Berryz weapons were cooler.  (Berryz 2, C-ute 0)

Round Three

"The Obligatory Hits" ~   C-ute definitely has an edge in the dancing department!  They look and sound great doing Namida no Iro!  And I love the casual outfits, especially on Maimi and Mai Mai!  C-ute won last years' "Best New Artist Award" for good reason.  The way they have grown as performers in just the last two years is impressive!    Checking out the Berryz' attire for Munasawagi Scarlet.  My biased opinion says Maasa looks totally hot in the "Mary Anne from Gilligan's Island" outfit.  I also love the way Momo's shirt cuts her across the chest. It makes it look like she almost has a chest!   And Miyabi's "Got What You Need" t-shirt is great!  It's funny how LaLaLA Shiawase No Uta becomes a much better song when C-ute isn't wearing those pink and purple frilly monstrosities!  But I think Dschinghis Khan loses something without the costumes from the PV.  Each group does three songs, and they all performed flawlessly.  Bottom Line, this segment comes down to who's latest singles you like best.  C-ute has been getting the better songs lately and thus dominated this part of the show.  Maimi leads the way!  (Berryz 2, C-ute 1)

Round Four

"David vs. Goliath" ~ Is this really even a contest?  Everyone had to know that Airi would blow Risako away on Very Beauty.  One of Riichan's biggest problems is she doesn't know how to project.  As a result she sounds shaky and whiny.  She needs to put more power behind her voice!  But I'm really starting to feel sorry for Risako.  She gets bashed a lot on the posts.  A lot more criticism than she deserves.  Jeez, she's just fourteen years old for cripes sake!  Give her a break.  By the way, Airi was just amazing on this song!!!  (Berryz 2, C-ute 2)

Round Five

"The Shuffles" ~  I've never watched a concert without becoming a fan of at least one song I've never given a chance to before.  Bokuga no Kagayaki (and That's The POWER later on) had me going right to EBay to find a copy of C-ute's second indie CD!  Chisato is a great singer!  She and Kanna dominate here.  Watch for the moment Chisa almost gets crushed in between Maasa and Yurina, too funny!  I'm not a huge fan of Sayonara Hageshiki Koi.  Maimi was very good singing alongside Momo and Miyabi!  But I had to play the track about five times because it kept losing my attention.  MVP: Chisato (C-ute 3, Berryz 2)

 

Round Six

"C-ute Takes Over" ~ Let me start by saying that Erika has historically been my least favorite H!P Kid.  But that just changed!  The next few songs are my favorite part of the concert by far!  That's The POWER is a great song.  I love the calypso sound to it.  And Do Don Ga Don Ondou was my favorite performance of the night.  Erika just blew me away with how good she was.  Not only is she having a great time singing the song, but you can tell everyone else is having fun doing the "Do Don Ga Don" parts.  Who is the Egg with the glasses on?  Kawaii!  Erika is obviously the MVP here.  "Solo Artist" kept coming to my mind as I was watching her!  (C-ute 4, Berryz 2)

Round Seven

"A Quick Appearance By Buono!" ~ I love Buono!  And I am looking forward to seeing their new songs performed on the Summer DVD.  Honto no Jibun was less than 90 seconds long.  That's too bad.  They went a little longer on Renai Rider.  I really like these outfits.  And I know I'm going to hell for this, but I couldn't take my eyes off of Airi's caboose the whole time.  Momoko's thighs aren't too shabby either.  Hey, the wardrobe department knows what they are doing when they put Airi in a pair of shorts like that.  It is meant to titillate.  Round seven winner?  Airi's arse steals the show! (C-ute 5, Berryz 2)

Round Eight

"They Shoot Saki's, Don't They?" ~ As much as I love Maimi, I've never really liked Natsu Doki Lipstick.  But this is as much about the dancing as the song itself.  We all knew Maimi and especially Captain Saki were superior dancers.  But I never knew Nakajima Saki was as good as this.  She is a bit lanky which makes her seem like she's all "arms and legs".  But she moves with great energy and passion.  The Captain is simply amazing, and her dance moves took all the attention away from Maimi.  I'll bet this part drove the DVD editors crazy.  Who should they focus on?  The Captain for the win! (C-ute 5, Berryz 3)

Round Nine

"It's Just Wrong" ~ I feel sorry for Saki and Maimi.  They just finished an extremely energetic performance and then they have to immediately do another strenuous dance.  So far the outfits throughout the entire show have been really impressive.  I can't imagine any of them making it into Celestia's "Costume Hall of Shame"  Sexy silver (C-ute) and copper (Berryz) skirts and matching tops that show off their midriffs when they dance.  Massara Blue Jeans and Jiriri Kiteru are two songs that benefit from powerful live performances.  And watching C-ute gyrating their hips on the "Love Me x4" line really surprised me.  Is it legal for them to be dancing like that?  NakaSaki really gets into it too!  They do some hip gyrations during the Berryz song as well, but you can tell they were all starting to get a little tired at that point.  Nakajima Saki's hips for the win! (C-ute 6, Berryz 3)

Round Ten

"Dueling Crowd-Pleasers" ~  There has never been a bad performance of Jump or Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun.  They are both phenomenally good songs in concert!  Both of these renditions are on par with the Hello! Project chorus versions done in 2007.  "Yuujou" in the Winter and "Jump" in the Summer.  But of the two songs, I prefer Yuujou.  While Jump is really fun, Yuujou just rocks out!  This rounds' winner?  Chinami working the crowd.  This rounds' loser?  The two jerkoffs in the "family seats" apparently sleeping behind Maasa!  (C-ute 6, Berryz 4)

Round Eleven

"Paging Tom Cruise" ~ I am so happy Maasa is getting a bigger role in Berryz Koubou.  First Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, and now this.  I guess she is considered a pretty good actress.  She is just too adorable.  This is the MC portion of the show where they all "take on" that robot from the opening VTR that looks like a rejected idea from the War of the Worlds remake!  On the Cutie Ranger side, I love that little grin Airi gives when she introduces herself as "Cutie White"  But Berryz, and especially Maasa Sudou are the stars here.  But did they defeat the robot?  Will we ever find out! (C-ute 6, Berryz 5)

Round Twelve (Final Round)

"All Good Things (and Robots) Must Come To an End" ~ Ohhhhh.   So for some reason singing Warera! Berryz Kamen was so offensive to the monsters' ears that it just exploded?  This is a really cute sequence with the monster antagonizing them in the middle of the song.  And the "Power Ranger" uniforms are another winner.  The final song is Sakura Chirari?  Interesting choice to close the show.  I noticed they were playing Ganbacchae! in the background as the girls left the stage.  Now that would be a cool song to close a Hello! Project concert with!  Berryz takes the final round because their song destroyed the enemy.  "Sakura Chirari" couldn't hurt a fly!  So the winner is...

 

A TIE???

Uggh! Just like kissing your sister.  Actually there is a winner here.  And no, it isn't Airi's butt (although it should be).  The actual winner is...

 

Anyone who bought either version of this DVD!

CK in California 

I have been anticipating seeing the setlist for the current Hello! Project summer tour for the last few weeks.  Now that the setlist is out, the reality is sinking in for me that this is a show I will not be seeing in person.  To be honest, this selection of songs didn't really "floor me".  But the same could be said for the show I went to in January.  And I loved that show!

After watching Haromoni@ this morning (kinda funny, I enjoyed the JunJun segment) I decided to put together my own version of the summer concert via You Tube.  And after experiencing it that way, it's not a bad set at all.  Not great, but not bad...

 

Hello! Project 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~Hishochi de Date Itashima Show~ (CK's Version)

Natsu LOVE Romance ~ I had never heard this song before.  I'm glad they are "mixing it up" a little and playing seldom, or in this case never heard songs.  This actually sounds like a Melon Kinenbi song.  I'll give this choice for an opener an "A" for effort!  I really like the song, and the video above is great.  Props to the YouTuber who made it!

 

Manatsu no Kousen ~ I am really excited that this song is undergoing a sort of renaissance.  It hasn't been done live by Momusu or H!P in a few years.  And all of a sudden Momusu, H!P, Nacchi, and Yuko are all singing it in their latest shows.  It's a great song, so I don't have a problem with this at all.

Core Group Set One ~ The setlist follows a familiar format.  The opener is full of surprises.  Then you "bookend the show" with the core groups,  and then do something new and original for the middle of the program.  We start with the two latest each from C-ute, Berryz, Morning Musume, and Koharu.  The song I am looking most forward to here is C-ute's newest single, Edo no Temari Uta II.  It sounds so cool and hip.  It's interesting that they separate the C-ute set from the Berryz Koubou set by placing Koharu and Milky Way in between.  I still say I like Berryz better overall.  But lately C-ute has gotten the far superior material.  And I don't care if it is lip-synched, I would love to see Milky Way's Anataboshi done live!  Now we go to my favorite point of the show, the mix-up of group members and songs. 

This is as close as we get to Shuffle Units nowadays, so I guess I'll take it...

KoiING ~ I always give ballads a tough time, but KoiING is a very pretty song.  Historically they've had strong singers singing the lead on it (Gocchin, Yossie).  This is obviously going to be Takitty on the verse, with the eggs backing her up.  Ai-chan is a superior singer, so I'm sure this years' version will be enjoyable.

Hajimete Kuchibiru wo Kasaneta Yoru ~ This is an interesting choice for a few reasons.  First of all it's two "slow" numbers in a row.  Although the song is more intense than KoiING.  This has disaster written all over it, unless either 1) Airi carries the whole song, or 2) Ogawa Saki is an amazingly powerful performer.  Maybe they'll surprise me, but I think they could have picked different singers to accompany Airi for this.

 

Chu! Natsu Party ~ The return of team Sayumi/Risako!  They are really "bucking the odds" here.  They both surprised us in January with a pretty good rendition of Robokiss.  But this reminds me of an old South Park episode when the entire town bets every dollar they have on the roulette wheel at the Indian Gaming Casino, and when they miraculously win enough to save the town, they instead let it ride!!!  This is one of my favorite Hello! Project songs, and it's been done by everyone from Heike Michiyo to Melon Kinenbi to the H!P Eggs.  I am sorry I'm not getting to see this in person.  But my only question is "Where is the third member?"

High King/Manoeri ~ Both High King songs, very cool!  Kioku no Meiro is an excellent c/w track!  But I really don't like Manopiano at all!

 

Tokonatsu Musume ~ Cool, back to the shuffle songs.  I've never been into Coconuts Musume, but this is a pretty good song.  Although I do prefer the ZYX version c/w the Shiroi Tokyo single.  GakiKame and Mittsi should be pretty cute doing this.  I have a feeling this is going to be a highlight of the concert.

Tropica~l Koishite~ru ~ This is a pretty huge cast for a song that has been traditionally done solo.  And I am wondering why all of the H!P Eggs are getting equal billing in the performance credit.  Does this mean that the rest of the Eggs are all going to begin forming permanent units?  This is kind of how it started with Berryz and C-ute when the H!P Kids roles kept expanding at the live shows.  There doesn't seem to be a true leader here (Maasa and JunJun?), so my guess is they are going to sing this as a big chorus, and split the lines relatively even.  I will say that this might be the "cutest" shuffle group of the night (Maasa, JunJun, Nocchi, Kikkawa Yuu, Sayaka)

Kousui ~ I like Melon Kinenbi, just not this song so much.  The only cool thing about this version is the lovely Tanaka on the lead.

Core Group Set Two ~ Overall this setlist has been a bit lackluster.  But here's Buono! to save the day!!!  Kiss Kiss Kiss is an awesome song, and the few seconds I've heard of Gachinko de Ikou! didn't disappoint me at all.  Egao Yes Nude we've seen before, but I'm sure it will be good.  Then C-ute and Berryz do a "Battle Concert" rehash.  I would love for them to give Special Generation a rest already!  Like Love Machine, SG is becoming the Stairway To Heaven of H!P.  Extremely overplayed!

** In my opinion there hasn't been a "huge" moment in the show yet.  My guess is in the Tokyo shows we could possibly see Morning Musume OG show up around this point**

 

The Big Finish??? ~ For a single B-side, Love & Peace! Hero ga Yattekita gets performed an awful lot at these shows.  Don't get me wrong, I love the song.  And who wouldn't enjoy watching Morning Musume kissing each other all through it?  I just worry about it being too much of a good thing.  I guess the big unknown commodity here is Ame no Furanai Hoshi de Aisenai Darou.  No one seems to have ever heard this song before.  I'll choose to be optimistic and say it might be one of the best H!P songs ever produced!

And how many times can they close the show with All For One & One for All or Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru anyway???

CK in California