56 posts tagged “hello! project”

There has been much to keep up with in the idol world lately.  And to tell you the truth I have been a little "out of it".  Starting with work and then the trip to New York Anime Fest, I have been lacking in rest.  It is something I hope to rectify in the coming weeks as my trip looming trip to Japan will surely be anything but restful.

Of all the singles coming out in the next few weeks, I find myself most attracted to the singles being released on Pony Canyon.  To me it seems like all of their artists produce music that is a lot of fun while having a guitar-driven musical edge.  I don't mind the similarities because I really like the style.  On the surface, two of my favorite groups may seem completely different.  But upon close listen you will hear a lot more similarities.  They are both awesome in their own way. And they are Hello Project's Buono! and AKB48's Watarirouka Hashirtai.

They haven't announced the release date for Buono's Bravo ☆ Bravo, but a preview was featured on the most recent episode of Shugo Chara...

This is classic Buono!  Listening to the music itself it is hard to believe this is idol music, let alone Hello! Project idols.  But that is why I love them so much.  It is the one group within the H!P collective that repeatedly pushes the envelope.  This song is a perfect cross between My Boy and Kiss x3.  And chicks with guitars always kick ass!

Then you have Watarirouka Hashirtai.  It's easy to say that they are completely different from Buono!  They are younger, and their music doesn't "rock out" quite as much as Buono!  Both groups capitalize equally on their lolli cuteness.  But ultimately it is the music that I find equally appealing because it has the same "fun" sound that Buono! possesses.  And it should also be noted that Pony Canyon also produces Idoling!!!  And a lot of their tracks have this same style.  But back to WH...

Kanpeki Guu no ne is their third single.  It releases while I am in Japan next month.  I loved their first two releases, and to me this one is just as good.  Like Buono!, none of the girls are among my favorites in their respective idol stables.  But collectively they make a great unit.  Although I am quickly growing an affection for Lovetan.  She has the cutest dimples...

So this is really a message to the Buono! fans among the H!P faithful.  I know some of you have this inexplicable fear/disdain/whatever of non-H!P idol acts.  But I really think you will like Watarirouka Hashirtai (and Idoling!!! for that matter) if you give them a serious listen.  They are as adorable as any idol ensemble out there right now.

And kudos to Pony Canyon!  Keep doing what you're doing, and I'll keep breaking out the Visa card!!!

CK in California  

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

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 

 

After watching the new Buono! PV for "My Boy", all I can say is...

...

...

Jeez, I am speechless!  Well, maybe not speechless.  Then there would be no reason to post.  Suffice it to say that this video AND song are freakin' incredible!  It may only be a first impression, but I think this might be my favorite song by a Hello! Project artist of all time.  Musically speaking, it is so fierce!  Buono! has been consistently doing "hard rock" songs since their inception.  But My Boy definitely tops them all, by a huge margin!

I love the guitar riffs throughout the song.  This is total heavy metal.  We are talking Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead fuckin' metal.  Momoko does such a great job acting here.  She is totally hawt in the dance shots, and completely comedic during the acting parts.  All of the girls do a great job.  But to me Momo is the star!

And how awesome is it that the entire operation was to have a piece of cake!  Total win at the end!  The video left me with only one question...

Morning Musume's new single previewed today.  It is a nice song.  But it just pales in comparison.  I just wonder how big an impact it would have if MoMusu suddenly came out with a song like this.  As great as the song is, it is what we come to expect from Buono!  But Morning Musume?  Perhaps they are tooling with a different style right now.  But "My Boy" would be the kind of song that could cause the music industry to take notice.  And i think MoMusu could pull it off if they so desired.

Just a thought.  Anyhow...

Buono!..."My Boy"...Kick Ass!!!!!

Hellooo...Hellooo...Hellooo......HELLO!  Buono's Three Stooges moment FTW!

CK in California

If you are a regular reader of this blog (there must be one of you, right?) you might remember when I posted my experience of seeing Matsuura Aya's "Special Live" show at STB-139 last October.  My only disappointment being that when I posted the article I could not for the life of me find any pictures of the inside of the venue.  As much as I tried, the only pic I could find online was of the front door.

STB-139 is a small jazz club/dinner theater located in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.  It is on a small street just a short walk from the Roppongi Mall and Train station.  In many ways it reminds me of seeing a show in a small Las Vegas venue.  Dinner, drinks and an intimate show where you really get a good look at the artist no matter where you are seated.  Quite a few Hello! Project soloists have performed there.  Aside from Ayaya STB-139 has featured performances from Abe Natsumi, Nakazawa Yuko, Yaguchi Mari and now Fujimoto Miki.

Dohhhup has posted an abridged video of Mikitty's March performance there.  And it's a great opportunity to see an example of what the venue is like...

For Ayaya I was at the table to the left, about 20 seats from the front of the stage!

My only regret at the time was that I was so tired when I saw Ayaya, I didn't take full advantage of the menu as I had just arrived in Tokyo 3 hours earlier and was afraid food and alcohol would make me even more sleepy.  Anyhow, I just wanted to show you what a neat place STB-139 is to see a show.  If you ever have an opportunity to see a concert there, do yourself a favor and check it out!

STB-139 Official Site

CK in California

Tom could sense it, couldn't he?  It is Springtime and all of the sudden these random "rankers" were showing up on everyone's blogs.  We were all jonesing for another H!P poll.  We were subliminally asking him to do another one on Hello!Blog.

We asked, and Tom delivered.  By the way, that widget he used was awesome!  So for the second year in a row...

                  Hello!Blog's Annual H!P Ranker (Elder Club Final Edition)

1. Tanaka Reina-  I have made my feelings known about Reina many times now.  Just read two posts back.  She is the perfect idol.  Reina has everything...Brains, Beauty, Talent.  When I see Morning Musume live I can't take my eyes off of her.
 

2. Matsuura Aya-  Ayaya is far and away the best singer H!P has ever had.  Just watch any Hello! Project collective concert.  She performs on an entirely different level than everyone else.  Even if her more recent music isn't quite my style, I appreciate her for the amazing performer she is!

3. Maasa Sudo- The main reason she ranks so high for me is because she has the prettiest face.  But I also like her for her "underdog" qualities.  She isn't Berryz' best singer, she doesn't have the cutest figure.  She doesn't have a Diva's personality.  She is truly the "girl next door".  Her "regular girl" qualities are what make her a great idol!

4. Abe Natsumi-  The great thing about Nacchi is that she never seems to age.  Like Dorian Grey before her, just look at pictures of her from ten years ago.  Aside from the fact that she isn't quite as skinny (which is a good thing, she was too thin).  She looks almost exactly the same.  And Nacchi was as big a reason as any why Hello! Project is still around today.  She was their first true "star".

5. Yajima Maimi-  If Reina is the "perfect idol", then Maimi is a "perfect idol" in training.  I love the fact that her C-ute groupmates describe her as sort of an Airhead, although that might hold her back a little.  But she is gorgeous, and an amazing dancer.  To be honest, if it weren't for her I might not like C-ute at all.

6. Ohtani Masae-  Someone has to give some love to the Melons.  I like to think of Melon Kinenbi as H!P's "Blue Collar" Idol Group.  Their catalog has a slighly sharper edge to it.  And the girls don't have that classic schoolgirl cute look, except maybe for Ayumi.  But I love Masae for the same reason that I love Country Musume's Kimura Asami.  They both have a "wild girl" quality to them.  She seems like she would be the most "fun" on a date!  And if you look at my personal dating track record, she fits me perfectly.  CK has a thing for "quirky" girls.
 

7. Ishikawa Rika-  I have never really considered Charmy as one of my favorite idols.  But she makes the list because I consider her the best actress in Hello! Project.  She has played so many amazing roles over the years.  And I also give her kudos for being probably the hardest working H!P member in history.  No one has been in more units than her.

8. Youko (Lighbulb)-  Once again, CK loves quirky girls.  And the moment I heard that she was the New Star Audition's "weirdo", I knew she would be my favorite.  If I had to go on looks alone, ShenShen would be my #1 ICM girl.  But Lightbulb gives the group personality.  And she IS really pretty!

9. Niigaki Risa-  Another surprise for me.  But Gaki has developed so much since she became an adult.  She was so youthful when she first started that I never thought she would be able to become as sexy as she has.  But she has pulled it off.  And on "Uta Doki" she really showed what an amazing singer she can be!

10. Noto Arisa-  I cannot believe this girl is old enough to go bar hopping.  That is so hawt!  At one point she seemed to be in competition with Manoeri on who the most popular "egg" was.  And at this point Mano is getting most of the attention.  But don't count Nocchi out just yet.  Hopefully after Ongaku Gatas graduates she will be placed into a new sub-unit, one that isn't quite as massive.  And then we will see how awesome Nocchi really is!  As for now, she is the queen "bunny girl" of Hello! Project.

Once again, thank you to Paul Thomas.  You rock dude!

CK in California

This isn't mine.  Juju from Melody Life showed this to us on wotachat.  And I believe it came from a 2ch thread...

Bwahahahaha!

And that's my little Hello!Island/YODC imitation of the day.  Congratulations to Fujimoto Miki on her pending marriage!

CK in California

Or should I call it "wanking" season?

It has been over a year since Paul Thomas started his great H!P ranker at Hello!Blog.  And after looking at so many people's rankers over the last few weeks, I decided it was time for me to review how the girls have risen or fallen on my H!P pecking order over the last year.  Of all of the current groups of Hello! Project, Morning Musume has always been the most important to me.  I really love Berryz Kobo too, but my ranking of that group really hasn't changed at all.  Maasa and Captain are still my favorite members.

My feelings about the girls of MoMusu have really changed this year.  Keep in mind that I love them all.  But lets take a look anyway...

9. Mitsui Aika (Last year #7)  Maybe it is because she is the youngest, but Mittsi has never really intrigued me.  She doesn't have a quirky personality, other than the fact that she seems to be ultra-competitive.  I would love to hear her belt out a tremendous solo effort.  And then I might appreciate her a bit more.  Plus, I still say she looks like Micky Dolenz!

8. Michishige Sayumi  (Last year #9)  I'll be the first to admit that she is adorably cute.  But I don't think she has quite the sense of humor that she should have, especially considering how vain she is.  She would be great if she acted a little more like Koharu.

7.  Takahashi Ai (Last year #2)  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  She is beautiful, she is an amazing singer, and I did enjoy her performance in QED.  But she just doesn't excite me like she used to.  That isn't to say that I don't love her, I do.  But I am just searching for some personality among this group.

6. Kamei Eri  (Last year #3)  As she has grown older she has become more sexy, which is a good thing.  And she definitely has the ability to be quirky-cute.  But she is beginning to mature, which is great for her.  But it's a death sentence for a pop-idol.  She is great when she is standing next to Risa, but otherwise she acts a bit too introverted.

5. LinLin  (Last year #8)  There is just something about LinLin that makes me want to route for her.  She is an excellent singer.  She always has a beaming smile on her face.  And you can tell she always wants to be funny, even if she isn't the best comedienne.  She was so awesome fronting Koi no Dial 6700.  She deserves more time in the spotlight!

4. Kusumi Koharu  (Last year #6)  There is part of me that wants to hate Koha.  Yes, her singing skills leave much to be desired.  But she is far and away the most "colorful" member of Morning Musume.  And this group is in dire need of wacky personality.  She exists within the group if for no other reason to keep things interesting.  And when you get past the goofy facade (and yes, it IS a facade)  she is totally hawt.  Just look at her last PB.

3. JunJun  (Last year #5)  JunJun is amazingly funny, and that's as a JSL (Japanese second language)  If she were a native speaker (and they had a TV show) she could be leading this group!  She knows how to be cute, but my favorite JunJun moments are when she shows her maturity.  She loves to play with her groupmates, and is okay with being the butt of the joke.  Evidently she is also the best English-speaker among the group.  That is always a plus!

2. Niigaki Risa  (Last year #4)  At some point within the last two years Gaki became a gorgeous woman!  No one has changed as much as her.  Frankly I found her to be a bit nerdy as a kid.  But I love her "fuller" hairstyle.  And she showed her maturity playing the prince in Cinderella.  And she is the greatest live performer in the group.  If you have ever seen them perform in person you will know exactly what I mean.

1. Tanaka Reina  (Last year #1)  Oh no, that's not changing!  Reina will always be the perfect Musume as far as I'm concerned.  She markets herself perfectly.  She is sexy.  She is cute.  She is Yankii.  She is vulnerable.  She is a great singer.  And the fact that so many female fans dislike her is the clincher.  Jerushii!!!  Reina is freakin' awesome.  All of the "haters" can take a hike.  I love every wink!!!

Six weeks until I arrive in Tokyo.  I am counting down the days!  Perhaps after seeing the Platinum 9 tour my rankings will change yet again,  But as it stands I think you can count on me wearing my "Reina" shirt to Anime Expo this July!

CK in California
(photos courtesy of Hello!Online)