So, it turns out TAFE (a.k.a. another type of higher education in Australia) has been eating at my soul, and my time, for the better part of this week.
This, of course, means I’ve been slacking in the blog department. Sorry! I’m at TAFE right now, but I’m opening this entry and its comment section to more suggestions for what you think my future posts should be about. I still have a few ideas based on past comments, but that probably isn’t enough. For future reference, don’t go recommending spin-off units (wait, is that the right term?). You’ll see why soon enough.
P.S. More blog views my ass. I’m doing this for the experience, whore, AND DON’T FORGET IT.
(If you saw that feature pot of my blog on International Wota, this’ll make sense. BTW, JOKING, I LOVE YOU ALL.)
So, I’ve received… Quite a few requests, actually, considering how young and empty this blog is. And since I’m trying to get into the H!P scene, I figured, “Why not?”
Of course, every post here is a recommendation from SOMEONE. So the title “recommendation requests” pretty much just means that someone recommended it in a comment. Todays topic? Soloists.
Boogie Train ‘03 is kind of a mixed reaction for me… I mean, it’s nice and all, but… I’m not a fan of Miki’s voice, and those “choo choo” sounds she makes are just strange… As well as some of this screaming and such. The arrangement is okay, if not a bit annoying at times… It’s not something I’d be interested in listening to again, really. Miki herself looks pretty good, but I’m not a huge fan of these outfits… Apart from that part at 1:05… *growl*
While the case is SLIGHTLY similar to that of Boogie Train, I can safely say that I dislike Tokyo Bijin. The arrangement is just plain boring, and Yuko’s voice is similarly bad. In fact, the chorus is so off that I can barely bring myself to listen to it at all. This is one of the things I feared from the Hello! Project, I can safely say. Plus, I don’t think she’s overly good looking. (And that’s actually a surprisingly big thing for me, heheh.)
Ooooh, myyyy… This is a song I have reeeeeeeeeally wanted to say that I hate for a very, very, VERY long time. But honestly, I can’t. Ne~e? is too cute a song for me to hate. The arrangement, while rather girly and childish, is actually extremely good, and Aya’s semi-bad singing actually kind of fits the sound of the song well enough for me to listen to it multiple times over. Plus, the lyrics are really cute. The dance and outfits in this video are kind of laughable, but… Again, they fit the whole theme of the PV and the song amazingly well. That pop-up at the end cracks me up every time. She’s kinda hot outside of the ridiculous outfits, though… It’s kind of context-specific with her. I actually think I need to download buy the single this song is on, now…
I’m not a fan of Tokyo Yoi Machigusa at all. Even less than Tokyo Bijin. The arrangement is just… Bad. And so are the vocals. I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not, but those high notes are just badly executed either way. Plus, no PV. I couldn’t find one, anyway, please give me a link to it if there is one. But I’ll pass on this song, thanks. Is this even a H!P song? I really wouldn’t have thought so.
Ah, Maki, you loveable slut, you… SOME BOYS! TOUCH never ceases to… Amaze me, in many more ways than you probably think. Maki is unbelievably hot when she wants to be, and this PV is a pretty good example of that. She was actually the first AND ONLY H!P act I liked before opening Rottarax2, because she was almost nothing like what I thought the Hello! Project was all about, when it came to How to use SEXY. The song itself is really good in every single aspect, except for a few vocal problems here and there.
I know I already posted a Maki, but come on… Glass no Pumps is THE reason I got into her in the first place. This song beats out SOME BOYS! TOUCH in every aspect except sex factor, which makes it one of my favorite songs. Altogether, not just when it comes to the Hello! Project. I love absolutely everything about this song, with NO exclusions, and while the PV isn’t as sexy as I’d like, it is hot. Very hot.
So it probably included too much Maki compared to what we were all hoping for (I could’ve put in a lot more, though, believe me), but overall, I’m definitely not interested in the Hello! Project and its solo sector, going by these tracks. I will still try listening to more, but the first impression wasn’t really favorable. Also, thanks to all of you who gave me these soloist recommendations~
Actually, there isn’t much of a meltdown in sight, but I did listen to a few MoMusu songs to see what I thought of them. Thank you for the other suggestions to the people that offered some from other groups, but I felt the need to do some Musume grabbing tonight.
I pretty much only just heard Naichau Kamo for the first time. The first thing I thought was that I loved the synth arrangement to it. It sounds sort of dance-infused, but it’s not really a trance-styled dance song or anything. The second thing I thought was that it’s nowhere near as good as Shabondama.
However, I rather like how the PV is, with the dance scenes and random girls in wet t-shirts. Unfortunately, the rest of them ends up getting wet too, but I guess I’ll have to survive through it. This is one of the easier songs for me to enjoy, and that fact kind of gives me a bit more hope for Morning Musume.
Pepper Keibu is another story. The mellow interlude the song has actually sounds fantastic. This is why I ended up so disappointed when it transitioned into a more upbeat sort of campy pop song that isn’t fast enough to make me overly interested in it. Despite that, I DO like it, just not as much as I could have. Those short instrumental sections are nice to listen to, and the vocals are actually pretty good here…
The outfits in the PV just make a few of the girls look weird, though, and I’m not a huge fan of dance PV’s… I have a feeling this is a different version of the PV, but this one didn’t really catch my eye.
Okay, what the hell is with Resonant Blue’s actually rather uncoordinated dance? The song itself is actually really catchy, probably somewhere around Naichau Kamo’s level, but just a bit below it. I can find myself getting into this song as much as I could the first, but that dance… The PV was just a bit disappointing, mainly because the whole thing is one big uncoordinated dance scene. I’ll pass on the PV, but the song is good.
Okay, SEXY BOY was a random discovery while I was watching one of the other PV’s. I was rather… Intrigued by the title, so I decided to click it open and give it a bit of a listen. Those are actually some pretty cute outfits they have on there… And quite a few of the girls actually look pretty good in the close-ups. I’m still surprised by the synths they use for this group sometimes though, I’m never expecting something this dance-infused. It is a bit of a surprise, but I actually really enjoyed this song, probably as much as Resonant Blue and Naichau Kamo.
So what did I learn from this? Morning Musume is actually pretty fucking awesome when they want to be. And they were the main reason I was avoiding the Hello! Project… Look at me eating my own words here.
So, today I was blasted with quite a bit of music from different groups. When I say different groups, I mean, like, two or three.
Although I will say one thing… Edo no Temari Uta II is pretty much better than anything I’ve heard from Buono! thus far. I fucking love this song way too much for my own good. It’s got that oriental, classic Japanese feel to it while still managing to sound a bit modern. Which is what I guess they were going for, with what the song is about and all.
Also, Maimi’s hot. Much hotter than Miyabi, who I still think is hot. I’m starting to like C-ute a lot more now… Eheheheh…
Now, this song I’m not as big on… I don’t like the whole Latin feel, though I will admit that these girls actually have decent voices. Especially Maimi. This song could grow on me, but if Yuna Ito’s Koi wa Groovyx2 was any precursor to how I’ll treat Latin songs, I don’t think it will.
And may I add… Maimi has hot thighs.
Why, hello there, Miyabi, we were just talking about you! She looks pretty hot in this PV, I must say, but despite my love of certain styles of club music, this song was oddly horrible and annoying to me. I’m not liking Berryz as much as I could be, really… I just don’t think this style really suits them. I’m not going to go avoiding them like the plague or anything, but I don’t think this song’s gonna grow at any time soon.
Oh, god, here we go… This song is pretty catchy and interesting at first, but it gets old. FAST. I could’ve seen myself liking it if it was a bit shorter (as if it wasn’t short already), but this is just making me start to hate Berryz even more than Dakishimete Dakishimete did. I’ll be trying something else from them soon, but I’m not liking how things are looking.
AND ANOTHER ONE FOR C-UTE! I rather like the aggressive backing track this song has, and the vocals are pretty good for… Most of the song. Those “My Darling” and “I Love You” lines annoy the shit out of me, but at least Maimi looks hot here. Again. They’re what keep me from loving this song a LOT more. And may I add…
At 2:48… OH, GOD! WHAT THE DEAR SWEET FUCK IS THAT?! MY EYES ARE MELTING, OH, LORD, IT’S HORRIBLE! She isn’t photogenic in the least, it’s rather sad… No offence to any Kanna fans out there, but that girl is just… Blargh.
Oh, what do you know, there WAS another Berryz song I listened to today… Either way, I’m not a huge fan of the arrangement, and while the vocals are okay… I just can’t sit through the song. As much as I hate to say it, I think Berryz Koubou is turning out to be the first H!P group that I actually hate, within a reasonable doubt. Or whatever the term is.
So what have I learnt from all of this random song listening? Maimi has some hot-ass thighs. Hell, Maimi’s just hot altogether. The highlight of the Hello! Project. I’ve also learnt that C-ute is pretty much shaping up to be my second favorite Hello! Project unit. I’ve also learnt that Berryz aren’t really my cup of tea, unfortunately, but you can’t love them all… We’ll see how things go. I’d say this was my most adventurous day so far, I listened to quite a few new songs. More than I usually would when just starting out with a new artist/unit. Well, when it comes to idols, at least.
God damn, as soon as I start to wonder if Buono! can actually get any better, I get the biggest slap to the face ever with the discovery of one simple song: Internet Cupid.
WHY HAD NO ONE TOLD ME THAT BUONO! TRIED TECHNO-POP?!?! I swear, being the biggest Perfume fanboy in the damn world should have driven someone to show me this song LONG ago, and even more so recently since I was trying to get into them and all.
Right from the get-go, you can tell that Perfume MUST have had at least some influence when it came to the sound of this song, because that aggressive backing synth just screams Electro World… Or maybe it’s another Perfume song.
Plus, it’s a computer nerd’s referencial paradise, with all the talks of climbing over the firewall of love and infecting them with love or something like that. It’s cute as all hell, and it’s techno: If I wasn’t a Buono! fan, believe me, this song definitely played a big part in it. There are a few rough spots, like when they actually sing the title, and the fact that it LACKS A PV! I still find myself being more attracted to songs like Renai Rider after a while, but this was a nice break-away.
For my first trip into MoMusu land, however, I’m going rather far back… All the way to Shabondama. I’ll be honest, I have heard a few Morning Musume songs, and I thought they were awful, which is half of the reason I hated the Hello! Project so much.
However, after hearing Shabondama, I can’t help but think about how… Good some of these girls actually sounded at this stage. I’m aware that most, if not all of these girls have probably graduated by now, which makes this a bit disappointing, but either way, I actually have some knowledge that Morning Musume isn’t full of crap now.
Plus, some of these girls are actually pretty… Hot, for probably being underage. I’m not sure about the workings of Morning Musume or the age limits yet, but either way, regardless of age, there are a few good looking girls here. And please, don’t take that like some pedophile comment, because it isn’t… I swear!
One thing I will comment on: Water dancing is fucking awesome, it seems so random (I guess not, with a title meaning Soap Bubble), and yet it ends up looking like the most fun you could have while filming a PV. Also, the exagerrated emotions, talking sections and close-ups are rather amusing. Nowhere near as amusing as all those death stares though: That guy must have been one big player to piss of that many girls to that amount.
I’m still not used to these big, overly crowded dancing scenes, either, but I guess that’s part of the package. I’ll learn to love it, believe me. Anyway, now I have some more motivation to check out the other stages of Morning Musume and its overall career, so who knows what I’ll end up listening to next… And who knows whether I’ll love it or not. I’m volatile like that, so expect some surprises.
I’m going to start by saying… I do not think these girls are going to be healthy for me. AT ALL.
I haven’t heard much from Buono! yet. I downloaded their two albums, but I found two of their songs to be so good that I can’t tear myself off of them to save my own damn life. As soon as I saw these PV’s, I was in love.
Renai Rider was probably THE song to get me into Buono! and make me change my mind about H!P. I was scared off by the idea that the Hello! Project was full of underage Japanese girls singing bubblegum pop with their horrible singing voices.
They do have some noticeable flaws in the vocal department in this song, but I will say one thing: Miyabi is WAY too hot to be underage. She won’t top the usual girls I’ve grown with, but as far as things go, she definitely ended up catching my eye for almost the whole duration of this PV for some reason. Airi was great, too, though I’m not as fond of looking at her, with her underage charms and the paedophilic thoughts everyone seems to get about her. I’m not too big of Momo yet, though. Or the dance routines. Some of these moves are just… Strange.
And then comes the blog namesake, Rottara Rottara. I’d been in a few conversations with my fellow track-by-trackers on how catchy the song is, and almost had it forced down my throat then. Had I been able to listen to it then, this blog may have come up much sooner than it has.
The vocals are a much smaller issue this time around, and the music is, once again, rock-influenced in the best way possible, with a bit of pop thrown in to make it so much cuter. And once again, Miyabi is too hot for me to be looking at: She looks hella good with this hairstyle, too bad she… Probably (Read: Definitely) didn’t keep it. Once again, Airi comes in second, but I can’t bring myself to stare at her, lest my soul be eaten alive. Momo is still passable. This dance is a lot better than Renai Rider’s, too, I love this PV.
Now, instead of fawning, the question is… Why do I love these girls so much? They’re close to a style I already loved before venturing into their discography. It definitely softened the blow when it came to listening to this big sector of the Japanese music world that I once hated with such vigor. The voices were exactly what I was dreading, but they seem to work a bit better for me this time.
So needless to say, Buono! definitely seems like the big gateway into the world of the Hello! Project and, in turn, the idol world as a whole. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on these girls, though I don’t think I have the willpower or the nerve to go any further than this group yet. That, or I’d like to keep a bit of my pride before my entire belief system is shattered into a million little pieces.
As I was writing this post, I randomly chose another song to listen to. Baaaad idea, because I think this is going to become another looper for me. I NEVER KNEW A H!P GROUP COULD BE THIS GOOD!
Well, there was really only one reason for opening this blog… To document my voyage into the world of the Hello! Project, for all to see.
I’ll admit, I have always been an EXTREME hater when it comes to the world of the Hello! Project. I barely even gave the girls a second glance, apart from one miss Maki Goto, who has since left for greener pastures, also known as avex. That’s why this has become such a big shock to me.
I’ve been a frequenter of the wotachat recently. I’ve gotten myself into some deep shit a few times while voicing some personal opinions, but I’d like to say that I’ve at least made my presence bearable to the people there. Anyway, it was today that I decided to swallow my pride and ask for recommendations on where I could start with the Hello! Project to make the transition as painless as possible. That’s when it all started.
I was told by the vast majority that Buono! would be the place for me to start. They seemed to fit my tastes well, and they had the most consistent sound. I’d already been told about Rottara Rottara a while ago, but it was only today that I actually listened to it. Before that, there was Renai Rider, however. After listening to that, I went to the aforementioned Rottara Rottara, and before I knew it, I had fallen in love.
That wasn’t all though… I was given a few more songs to sit through, with the most notable being of the true bane of my existence… Shabondama, by one of the earlier conglomerations that was Morning Musume.
It’s still in the early stages. I haven’t listened to much more, but I do plan on it. On this blog, I will post about different videos that truly capture my interest, songs that do the same, and the new groups I begin to enjoy. I don’t even know how it’s going to turn out, but sit back and enjoy the ride: Selryam’s finally converted!
