Sunday, April 19, 2009

Morning Musume - Shōganai Yume Oibito

The PV for the 39th Momusu single is out on Dohhh UP! Rather early since there is still almost a month to the release. Shōganai Yume Oibito is a slower song but I quite like it (even though I prefer faster songs). It has that Momusu feeling to it and well..you can't not love it for that!

The PV is quite interesting. Similarly to Buono!'s My Boy, we see more natural on-location footage and basically no green screens (well.. there is this screen they girls are walking/standing in front but it doesn't seem to be used in the PV - maybe pictures?).

The setting for the PV seems to be a university. This is greatly enhanced by the girls wearing normal clothes (no strapped on dead muppets, etc) and they are quite mature looking and acting. It seems like they are going about their way studying, walking to class, meeting each other, etc. The girls look lovely with their mature looks (and no crying like in the last single).

Onto the image spam (video follows).

The video starts with the girls in front of some white screen somewhere outdoors, although they are just standing there or walking around. Unsure what the purpose of the screen is but it looks quite interesting. I just love JunJun's outfit :P



Aichan seems to be reading something from a book with a highlighter in hand - study girl, might come in handy someday :).



Aika looks awesome and she also is reading a book (or staring at it!).




In walks Reina! WOW! I mean WOW! She looks lovely in a natural way, but still preserving some of her fashion sense in her clothing. Come here my dear, I'll give you some teriyaki beef I just made.. you like beef don't you?!




Koha seems to be not too thrilled with all the notes she has to carry around. I wouldn't worry... unless this is a girls only school, she will find somebody (or a horde) to carry her books. She also looks quite lovely with her mature look (I really don't like her Kirari acting most of the time).



Risa looks lovely indeed! Love the hair!



I'm not too thrilled about Eri's look - she has looked better. Eri certainly likes to read (or stare at) books about Forests?! She's an environmentalist!




The pandas are walking together, talking, laughing. It looks very natural and very cute. JunJun is lovely! I wish I put her first on my cuddle list... oh wait, I did! well then! :P LinLin looks... well like LinLin :).




The dance shot reminds me a lot of Sexy Boy... not sure why.. maybe the dance, maybe the formation, maybe the dresses.



Aichan so cute and natural!



Reina... so lovely... I want to feed her and give her a hug!



Whoah...there is this one moment when Koha looks to the side then looks down than stares right at the camera - sends shivers down my spine! Wow... she can be so sexy sometimes!



Another good shot of JunJun:



Now, that's it... I'm packing my bags and applying for a professorship in japan! Damn!



Finally a nice closeup of Sayu (and a solo line, yay! :P). She's sporting a very sexy asymmetric haircut that almost covers one eye!




LinLin is playing games on her cell! Or she's texting JunJun (who is right next to her!)



Aika being the kitty she is, is rubbing her back on a seat.



Koha seems to be running (away from something) in the hallway.... there might be bears chasing her..who knows!



The PV ends with Aichan staring at the sky then the camera. She looks very similar to her drama character in Q.E.D.



Dohhhup video:

Friday, April 17, 2009

H!P Rankings

Paul over at Hello!Blog has created a wonderful program that allows you to choose your top 10 H!P members. It was created for the H!P 2009 Poll and you can read the results at Paul's site. Many bloggers have voted in the poll and have published their results. I didn't make it in time to vote in the poll but was able to use the program to choose my favourite H!P members. Thank you Paul for making such a wonderful and easy to use program!

The decision was very tough and isn't entirely based on logic :P. Here is my list:



The top 3 girls are my favourites from the 3 main H!P groups. The others might not be in the right order but like I said, it's not entirely based on logic.

Shirow at Wotaku Now! has created a challenge to the blogging wotas to do a separate "cuddle" list. Of course there might be many meanings of such a list, and the exercise of filling in the blanks is left to the reader (hey! they are not necessarily all about that!). As for me, there is a large range of cuddling that I would be interested in, depending on the girl and depending on the situation.

So, without further ado, here is my cuddle list which is definitely not based on any reasoning. If you notice, some of my top choices on the regular ranking list are not even on this one... well... that's the mystery of it! Thanks Shirow!

Introduction to Buono!

Buono! was created in 2007 and is composed of 3 girls from C-ute and Berryz:

Tsugunaga Momoko, Berryz - leader, oldest, kills you with her cutesy mysteriousness
Natsuyaki Miyabi, Berryz - with her mature, beautiful look
Suzuki Airi, C-ute - youngest, with her amazing voice and beautiful cuteness

The group was created for the opening/closing songs of the Shugo Chara! anime. Their music is mostly rock-sounding which is different from the typical pop-y sounds of other H!P songs. They currently have 7 singles, and 2 full albums.

For those lucky europeans, Buono! will be performing on May 24, 2009 at the Japan Expo in Stockholm, Sweden. I wish I could go but somebody needs to keep lighting the fire in the cave!

Picture from the latest single - My Boy - with Airi, Momoko, and Miyabi:

Buono! - My Boy

I was very excited about this song when the short preview came out. It is quite fast and just sounds great. I would classify it as eurobeat-rock :P. The preview (from the Shugo Chara! anime ending) can be found on Youtube (until somebody decides to delete it). It features a really cute cat running away from some troubles:



A few days ago, the PV for the song came out and I just love it! I think it's the best H!P PV in years! It goes away from the normal green-screen PVs that H!P has been producing lately with actual on-site footage! Plus, there is a story to the whole PV! I haven't read a translation of the lyrics so can't say if they have anything to do with the PV story (and probably they don't). The full PV can be seen at Dohhhup:



So, lets start with the picture review!

The PV stars with an image of a curious heart shaped container that is being guarded by military guards somewhere within a castle or something. What could it be? Why is it important? Who is the creepy guy spying on the girls?!





The girls appear (video cuts to dance-shot)! They are wearing so many different colours - it looks very spring-like and refreshing! Of course, the outfits are the typical Buono! costumes with knee-high socks and short shorts/skirt.



A chest!!! Something is coming out!!! It's a MOMO! She looks.. serious? confused? sick of being in a chest? all of the above? She's wearing a dark brown secret agent / scout uniform with a wireless ear/mic set.



Then we see Airi coming from behind a door wearing the same uniform and acting very concentrated on her job.



Finally, Miya appears behind some glass doors trying to break into something. Looking very hot I might add!




The dance-shot part is interesting. The dance is quite simple but they seems to flow quite nicely into interesting formations.

Oh oh... Momo has a gun!!! Everybody should be very afraid! And what is that there... is it... can it be... yes... of course... it's the pinky!



Thank goodness it's not a real gun!



Airi puts on some fancy hot glasses and begins to crawl under some lasers! Way to go girl!





Meanwhile, Momo and Miya are creeping around staying in the shadows. Momo encounters her nemesis: a medieval suit of armour.



Airi is relieved having just passed a whole corridor of lasers!



New orders from the creepy boss looking at their every move (is that supposed to represent Tsunku?)!



Finally the girls meet up in some dungeon room (yes... well... indeed... but that's another story). They seem quite happy!



Oh oh. They have some kind of a knockout gas granade they are using on the guards!



Missing accomplished... they finally get to the misterious heart shaped object! Good job girls! But... what is it? Why?



The cake is not a lie!!!



The PV ends with some happy eating!




There are some close ups of the girls throughout the PV - which look lovely indeed:

Momo:



Airi:


Miya: