3 posts tagged “michishige sayumi”

The PV for Morning Musume's new single, Naichau Kamo has dubuted on Dohhhup today.  It has been a while since I have done any sort of review of a Hello! Project PV.  Lately I really need to be inspired to do one...I have just been inspired!

I really like what Morning Musume has done here.  The intense chorus and cute outfits really got my attention.  But what I really enjoyed was watching the girls doing some emoting, which was a real breath of fresh air.  And it is an emotional style we don't always see from them.  These were some of my favorites...

Takahashi looks so beautiful here.  I guess she is a pretty good actress, eh?

It almost looked as if Sayumi was smiling during half of this PV.  But it's just her style of singing.  I finally found this great shot toward the end of the PV.

Awwww, look at JunJun, don't you want to hug her?

I saved the best for last.  Would you look at that face!  I would bet that's an expression Reina's parents saw a lot when she didn't get her way as a kid.  I almost laughed when I first saw her looking like that!  She is sooo cute!  She can pout like that to me anytime!!!

I wouldn't call it the greatest PV ever.  But they are sticking to their new musical direction, and they tried a PV witha little more to it than a dance shot.  It isn't unlike the video for Resonant Blue.  I liked that one too.  But truthfully I like this song more.  So Kudos!

CK in California

It's a mere hours before I leave Japan to return to San Francisco, so I am sort of in a "come down" state.  But I will do my best to stay enthusiastic and do this review.  Anyhow, I still have a few things to do before I leave, like dash down to Shibuya to pick up Berryz Kobo's new single.  By the way, is anybody thirsty?

Jeez!  Seven shows in 10 days!  It seems like "forever" ago that I was watching Matsuura Aya live at STB-139.  Throw in three AKB48 shows, Berryz in Fuji and now Two Morning Musume concerts, it has been a whirlwind vacation.  I am sad I am leaving, I could stay here forever!

Since I couldn't find any good pics from this show on the internet, should I pepper this post with pics of my concert goodies?  Or should it be random pics from around Tokyo?  Uhhh, how about a little of both...

Morning Musume ~Resonant Live~ 11/02/2008-11/03/2008 at Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan

I was really "pushing the envelope" by winning a ticket to see AKB48 Team B's matinee show on the same day.  That meant I had mere minutes to literally run out of the AKB48 theater, grab the JR Chuo rapid train across Tokyo to Shinjuku, and meet Celestia so we could hit the concert.  I got nervous for a minute because I didn't know she was lost wandering around JR Shinjuku station.  Eventually we met up and made it over to the venue just fine.

When we arrived the front of the hall/hotel was just a sea of people.  There were two lines, but neither seemed to be moving.  Eventually we lined up on the left which led us behind the hotel where there were tons of people selling/trading merchandise.  This turned out to be the line to actually get into the show.  The weird thing was that they were actually selling the merchandise outside of the theater.  So neither of us could buy and goods or glowsticks.  It was a good thing we were both coming back the next day, lesson learned.

The stage setup itself was sort of non-descript, unlike the Wonderful Hearts stages, which are usually a lot more extravagant.  It's easy to tell who is a fan of who because everyone prominently wears the colors of their favorite member.  I only saw a few people with multiple colors represented.  I think the idea is that you will get your favorite girl's attention that way.  At the first show Celestia and I were surrounded by Sayumi Michishige fans.  The second day I was in a sea of Kamei and Ai-chan fans.  We also noticed a piano set in the middle of the stage.  That could only mean one thing...Manoeri.  Well, unless Koha has taken up the piano lately.  And contrary to popular belief, there were many girls in the audience!

The lights went down, and Manoeri walked out to sing her new single, Lucky Aura.  Now I have made it no secret that I am not a huge fans of Mano Erina's material, although I DID buy the single.  But that was mainly because I wanted the bonus photo, and it was totally cheap too!  I may not like her music, but I do think she is really cute.  Anyhow, song was okay live.  I like it a bit more than Manopiano.  By the way, she did not perform at either of Monday's performances.  So I am glad I had an opportunity to see her.

Oh boy, time for Momusu.  The arena went dark again, and the girls come out in what looks like yellow rain slickers singing the B-side to Resonant Blue,  Sone Bamen de Bibiccha Ikenai Jan!  I really like this song, and it is perfect to get the crowd going to start the show.  And as usual, I was fixated on Reina during this performance.  At Monday's show I had the opportunity to buy goods so I could represent, so I was decked out in Reina Blue!  And WOW, the crowd was "shot out of a cannon" for the first few numbers.  Mikan is a great song to see live.  It is a lot of fun to dance to, and also really energetic.  By the way, Takitty has amazing legs.  Very muscular, you can totally tell she is a dancer.  By comparison, most everyone elses legs look really skinny!

After the intros and opening VTR, we heard Pepper Keibu, which was done in the PV outfits, and a few other random songs.  But the one I like the most in this set is TOP, from the fifth album.  Hearing it reminded me of Kei-chan's graduation concert.  I absolutely loved Lemon Iro Milk Tea, with Sayumi, Eri, and Reina.  Now the cool thing was they rotated who the lead girl was on each performance.  Sunday night was Eri, but Monday I heard Sayumi.  It's a great song, and it was neat to hear each girls distinct interpretation of it.  I loved Sayu's uber-cute version.  But I am jealous of Celestia who got to hear Reina's version!  No matter who did the lead, it's a great song.

After the next MC, which seemed to have Reina trying to teach Sayumi and Eri to speak French?  With some great Reina pouting thrown in.  It was time for Tan Tan Taan with ALL of Milky Way.  Personally, I prefer Anataboshi.  But the funny thing was the Ai-chan fan behind me was apparently a huge Kitahara Sayaka fan as well.  When they came out he went absolutely berserk.  Even his friends were laughing at him...SAYAAAAAAAAA, SAYAAAAAAAA, SAYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

That led to a bunch of the new material, with a few solos thrown in.  Mittsi looked cute , but I thought she was pitchy throughout Watashi no Miryoku ni Kizukano Donkan na Hito.  Risa's solo was in the matinee, and Takitty's was in the evening.  Of the two, I preferred Gaki-san's Indigo Blue Love.  Then again, ballads are always a tough sell for me.  But she looked smoking hot.  That hairdo she is wearing is total win.  And I loved the way she "spun" out of her dress to go immediately into Take Off is Now with Takitty and Reina.  A very sexy song.  I generally liked the outfits here, although I thought Risa had the lamest of the three (see my last post).  Somewhere in this set there was a Risa/Ai MC segment.  They were talking about birthdays, and all of a sudden Reina (b-day 11/11) ran out in the background of the set, flashed a peace sign, and ran off.  Such a cute moment.  But my favorite performances of the show were still to come...

GuruGuru Jump is not on the Aku Yuu tribute album, so this must be a preview of their 9th full length release?  In any case, it is a cute, fun, and energetic song.  JunLin and Koharu made a great team up there.  This one got the crowd going again.  And the following MC segment with the three of them and Aika was cute too.  JunJun plays that ditzy card perfectly.  She makes Koharu seem like the levelheaded one when they are together!  But I still say Koharu's personality goes a long way in adding much needed personality to the group.  My favorite song of the night by far was Koi no Dial 6700.  Man, this is an awesome song.  Having LinLin sing lead on it so she could do the "rin rin rin rin" parts while pointing to herself was genius!  She looked so happy and cute up there.  But the cutest thing was Sayumi dressed in the sweet loli clothes doing the "hello?" parts.  That was unbelievable.  You have to see it!

Next we get the standard Momusu selections.  Souda! Were Alive, Koko ni Iruzee, Roman My Dear Boy are all good choices.  Souda! really gets the crowd going too with the fist pumping part.  At some point Reina waved to me here.  At least I think she did.  She was looking right toward me, and there were no one else in Blue in the immediate vicinity, AND I jumped around when she looked my way.  So I am going to say she was waving at ME!  Resonant Blue finished the set.  That is an amazing dance!

I love the way they "chant" for encores at these shows.  "encor-ee, encor-ee" on and on and on.  They did it the same way at Berryz and AKB48.  Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou? is that beautiful song from the Summer concert with the JunJun-LinLin chinese solos at the end.  I love that LinLin got a lot of face time in this show.  And JunJun was so cute when she pointed out everyone with bananas in the audience!  The last song was the standard Auzora de Itsumademo Tsuzuke You na Mirai de Are!,, a song that I loved when I saw H!P winter.  I really tried to savor this moment because I really don't know when I will next get the opportunity to see them.  I watched Reina all the way off of the stage.

So there ya go!  Quite a trip eh?  I know we all like to critique the DVD's when they come out.  But there is nothing like seeing these groups perform live.  They are ALL consummate professionals, and fabulous at what they do.  And I am so in love with Reina.  She is the total package, a perfect Idol to me!  I really felt sad after the show was over.  Now all that is left is to pack to return to California and relive the memories through these posts, photos and personal experiences.  I love it here so much.  If I could I would move here for good.  But for now I'll just have to plan my next trip over.  Hopefully it will be fairly soon.

Goodnight

CK in Tokyo (for just a little bit longer) 

Even though I have been in Japan before, I wasn't entirely familiar with the way the trains work.  Even now I am unsure about a few things, so a Japan Rail Pass was a great, albeit expensive way to learn and use the train system with ease.  However, if you plan to make at least two trips on the Shinkansen, it pretty much pays for itself.

There are many different train lines throughout Japan, and there are also multiple private companies operating public transportation, but the biggest is the JR Line.  Plus, JR also runs the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) throughout Japan.  I took the Shinkansen to see Berryz Kobo in Shizuoka Prefecture.  It was amazingly fast and smooth.  The nice thing about the Rail Pass is you can board most any JR train or bus just by showing your pass, you don't have to figure out what the fare is.  Although all stations have a well detailed map of destinations and corresponding fares.

The main train around Tokyo is the Yamanote Line (the green circle in the middle of the pic), it stops at most of the major tourist areas around Tokyo.  If you have ever been to London, it would be comparable to the "Circle Line".  Everything moves really fast with the trains.  You walk among a sea of people into the train station.  The ticket gates are designed you no one needs to pause as they insert their ticket into the slot.  And the trains come almost instantaneously.  The Yamanote stops every 3-4 minutes normally.  It reminded me of when the guys on Utaban asked Sayumi Michishige what she thought of Tokyo, and she remarked that she was amazed how the trains come so quickly.  By the way, they were putting new signs on the trains today.  here is one of the new ads on many of the cars...

Why yes Matsuura-san, I will gladly board your train!  I don't think we need to worry about Ayaya leaving the Elder Club.  She seems to be doing just fine.  In any case, one of the things foreigners (including myself) find so fascinating about the JR Lines is the "music" they play at each stop.  I have heard three different explanations on why they do it, and I believe every station's music is different!  It is just another "unique" thing about Tokyo.

 

A Quick Preview of Morning Musume

My next post will be my thoughts about seeing two Morning Musume shows this weekend at Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan in Shinjuku.  But suffice it to say that it was a great performance.  I went to the first show with Celestia of Bikkuri Project, and she has also done a preview.  But like me, she is waiting to see it a second time before giving a full review.  By the way, Celestia was very nice, and great company at the show!  Even there she was making selections for her "Costume Hall of Shame", sorry JunJun!

 

One Last Visit to the AKB48 Theater

I had a "Cancel Machi" reservation for the Sunday matinee Team B show.  And it would end just in time for me to dash across Tokyo and meet Celestia for Morning Musume.  So I went for it, and got in again.  That means I got to see all three teams (A, K, and B) while I was here.  And let me tell you, Team B's 3rd stage is just as good as Team K's fourth stage!

This is Team B's first stage with original material, and I think they did a great job with it.  Almost every song in it is upbeat and fun.  My favorite songs had to be Wasshoi B! and Kagami no Naka no Jean da Arc, which had all of my favorite members in it.  Watching this stage live also gave me an opportunity to pick some favorite Team B members.  I didn't even know who was popular on this team, although I do hear Noguchi Reina talked about a lot, and Watanabe Mayu is prominent in the Oogoe Diamond PV.  First off, Urano Kazumi is gorgeous!  She is the oldest member of B, and she reminds me A LOT of Abe Natsumi!  I can see why she is popular, great personality!  The girl who I made repeated eye contact with was Yonezawa Rumi.  She stared right at me throughout the show, so she gets a vote too.  Here's another sample of Team B's Third Stage...

But the one I was dying for was Tanabe Miku!  My god is she adorable!  She reminds me of a Japanese "Pippi Longstocking" for some reason, and she has sort of a smokey voice too.  I couldn't believe how young she was (almost 16, Saggitarius like me).  Sixteen going on Twenty-Five is more like it.  She is totally off the charts HAWT!!!

But I might be breaking a cardinal rule by naming more than one member as my favorite.  One of the first things an AKB48 fan asks you when you meet them is "Who do you support?"  What I noticed is everyone seems to have ONE person that they most like, just one!  Although they may be fond of multiple members.  Fans have so many different opportunities to meet the members, and I guess there is some jealousy that goes on when an idol sees you at events, and then sees you meeting another member.  They all want to be your #1 Idol...Funny!

I mentioned the opportunities to meet the members.  It blew my mind to find out about all of the goings on at that place!  At the end of every show there are a bunch of fans standing around the door with flowers and gifts.  They have won the opportunity to meet their favorite AKB48 Idol!  And it seems fairly common, Every time I stuck around there were 10-20 fans waiting.  The whole thing lasts about 2-3 minutes.  They call your number and you go to the theater doors, they open and there she is!  You go for a short walk to the stage where you can talk to them for a minute or two, then they take you to a camera and take your photo with her.  And then (there's more!) the girl personalizes a message for you on the photo!  Mind you, this is a prize you have to win.  But from what I was told it can be "bought" as well.  But this is just the tip of the iceberg, there are tons of other "prizes" like that to get!  That and all of the handshake events, you can really get to know these girls!

This is why I have fallen in love with AKB48.  Sure, they have invented all sorts of ways for the fans to spend money.  But everything about the experience, from the tiny theater to the handshake events, to the "stage" concept, to all of these "prizes" that give you the opportunity to personally interact with the idols...it is just such an amazing concept!  And of course the AKB idols are adorable!  I'm going to miss the theater most of all when I leave, but when I return you can be sure I will be looking into that meet/photo-op prize...now who to pick?

Just look for this guy on the main drag in Akihabara just two blocks from the JR Station.  He is your ticket to AKB48 Heaven!

CK in California