Hibernation Ends

Yaawwwnn.... DaBear comes out of hibernation.  It was a long winter with much work done in the cave, moving far distances to a new cave, and of course watching idols.  Now that this stressful and tiring process is done... time to update you on some idols.

On the technology side, imageshack seems to randomly fail on some images.  Hence photobucket will be the desired image host for the time being.

Since a cave blog post wouldn't be complete without a picture, here is a fellow hibernator, Suzuki Airi:

Introduction to C-ute

In 2005, a group called C-ute (°C-ute) formed out of the remaining 7 H!P Kids.  This younger sister group to Berryz Kobou often complements Berryz with the choice of songs and performances.  Having worked together for years, all the H!P Kids seem to still be friends even though they are in two competing groups (although I am not sure if they feel they compete as such). The joke of the wota community is that what C-ute lack in singing talent (lack is a very loose term here since most of them are actually very good singers), they make up in other attributes, consistantly beating Berryz at various contests.

The lineup of C-ute was changed in 2006 with the graduation of Murakami Megumi and addition of Arihara Kanna.  Kanna was not part of the H!P Kids audition and is not considered a "kid".  She entered H!P as part of the Hello! Pro Egg group of trainees.  The current lineup involves girls aged 13-17 as follows:

• Umeda Erika - oldest, tallest, reserved, mature
• Yajima Maimi (leader) - scatterbrain, mature yet playful
• Nakajima Saki - cute
• Suzuki Airi - very pretty, amazing voice, usually lead singer
• Okai Chisato - short, dog!, smiling, joker
• Hagiwara Mai - youngest, the kid
• Arihara Kanna - nice smile

C-ute has released 4 indie singles, 7 singles, and 4 albums.  They have also appeared in many H!P concerts as well as their own concerts.  Here is a group picture:

Top from left: Erika, Mai, Chisato, Kanna

Bottom from left: Airi, Maimi, Saki

Introduction to Berryz Kobou

The next short introduction post is about the H!P group Berryz Kobou (Berryz工房) meaning "Berryz Workshop" (don't know who Berry is, but somebody should congratulate the guy :P).  The members of Berryz and its sister group C-ute are often lovingly refered to as "the kids".  This name is not indicative of their age (especially considering that the girls are growing into beautiful ladies in front of our eyes) but of their origin.  The "kids" were winners of the Hello! Project Kids audition that took place in 2002 to recruit trainees and helpers for concerts, etc.  Out of close to 28 thousand applicants, only 15 girls were chosen.

Berryz Kobou was the first official group that was formed from the H!P Kids in 2004 consisting of 8 members.  One of the members (Ishimura Maiha) graduated in 2005, leaving the current lineup of 7 girls, ranging in age from 17 to 14.  They are:

• Shimizu Saki (captain) - oldest, shortest, mature yet playful
  
• Tsugunaga Momoko - insane!, overly-cute, high pitched idol voice
• Tokunaga Chinami - happy, smiling eyes, joking
• Sodou Maasa - very feminine yet with a strong build, funny
• Natsuyaki Miyabi - quiet, reserved, mature
• Kumai Yurina - tallest (by far!), kind-hearted
• Sugaya Risako - youngest yet very pretty, often lead singer

Some of the girls have very evident personalities (or maybe idol personas :P) but more on that at some later time.

Berryz Kobou has released 18 singles and 5 albums and have appeared in several concerts per year.  I leave you with a group picture from the latest (18th) single MADAYADE:

Top from left: Maasa, Miyabi, Chinami, Saki

Bottom from left: Yurina, Risako, Momoko