Stardust - a jpop & H!P blog

Stardust Has Moved!

2009-01-13T15:14:00.005+09:00

I haven't been posting much the past couple of days and for a very good reason: Stardust is moving to a new server! Ray, the owner of intlwota.com, offered to host my blog on his website and thus I've made the switch from blogspot to wordpress. Along with all this comes a brand new layout, which I hope everyone will enjoy, and lots more features which I hope to be able to implement once I figure out what everything does :P

A few people helped me but you can read all about that in the introductory post at the new blog. For now check it out and let me know what you think. The url for the site is intlwota.com/stardust - so update your bookmarks and blogrolls please.

This blogger site will no longer be updated but I'll leave it intact for now.

Ice Cream Hit the Streets!

2009-01-11T17:14:00.003+09:00

NEWS: They've done numerous TV appearances and press conferences, have tons of articles about their debut plastered all over the Taiwanese media ... so what next for Ice Creamusume's promotion for their album 1st Best!? Why! Street performances, of course!

The girls hit the streets with megaphones to promote their debut mini-album which was released yesterday in Taiwan. Watch the girls below as they perform their title song Lian Ai Deng Chang in all their megaphone glory!

co・no・mi・chi! Walkin' Yo!

2009-01-11T05:12:00.002+09:00

PREVIEW: co・no・mi・chi, Buono!'s newest single, is released in just 10 days and the PV is finally here (curtosy of everyone's favourite Dohhh Up!)

While I wasn't really optimistic about this song from the LQ rip I'd heard, I do actually really enjoy this PV. The theme of walking/travelling is portrayed really well and I love all the little costumes and settings. I particularly like the Safari theme where the springbok comes running past them lol. Ok so the animals all look pretty fake and silly but I'm pretty sure that's what they were going for, it's not meant to be serious (which means I can take it WAY more seriously).
The PV makes me enjoy the song much more and I think it can grow on me. The dance is also really cute - I think I'll like this performed live. All in all - a great PV.

Two good H!P PV's in two days - what is the world coming to!? LOL

Could Koha Get Any Weirder?! >.<

2009-01-10T04:21:00.004+09:00

PREVIEW: Kusumi Koharu is back with another single as Kirari Tsukishima, titled Happy☆Happy Sunday! I'd already pointed out from her profile pic and the concert pics that her outfit for this single is incredibly cute so I couldn't wait for the PV and it was released early this morning ^^

AHAHAHA!! This PV is so frekin strange and Koha just acts weird the whole time - but that's what makes her so endearing ^_^!! I love the Chance!-like costume alteration towards the end. She looks like a transformer :p I'm not sure I like the song but Kirari songs rarely spark much in me. It's cute and kinda catchy which I guess is the important thing. I'm just glad Koha's still releasing after the selling disaster of Papancake (which I actually liked). Happy☆Happy Sunday! isn't the new Balalaika but it's a cute song. It's already growing on me *is scared*

Debut! ~Ice Creamusume~

2009-01-08T11:55:00.010+09:00

PREVIEW: I was tempted to title this post How NOT to Make a Good Idol PV but I decided that would be mean :P I was pretty disappointed with the PV of Lian Ai Deng Chang and thankfully they've revamped it slightly for the Japanese version of the track, Debut! ~Koi Suru Kado ni wa Fuku Kitaru~.

Things I prefer in this version are the solo shots of the girls singing and the fact that there are more shots of the dance. This however comes at a price, less shots of the girls acting all silly which was the highlight of the Taiwan PV for me. Can't win em all I guess!

Regarding the Japanese version of the song, it's really great. The girls all sound surprisingly good and, as somebody who isn't Japanese, I wouldn't really be able to tell they were foreigners (though I'm sure Japanese people probably would).
The song has grown on me so much, not that I didn't love it to start with, but I just think it's terrific now. Sure, it's extremely idol, but it's a fun catchy track.
Shenshen gets a lot of screen time in the PV which she totally deserves. Her solo lines are incredible and I'd go as far to say that she out sings Linlin (I love Lin but I find Shen's voice much easier on the ears). She also exudes charm which always helps.
Lots of ReiRei in the PV too - it seems like she's being pushed as a front girl, front and center on the album cover etc. She seems kind of nervous about this and she does come across slightly awkward in some shots of the PV but it's altogether nothing horrible, she is a cutee.
PeiPei also shines in the PV with her crazy faces and silliness. I'm glad they kept in the scene where Youko pops Pei's bubbles and Pei gives her a glare lol.
The other 3 girls are unfortunately sort of pushed back slightly. It would have been nice to see more of Youko and the others. Guu-chan seems very confident and I'm sure she'll shine in the live performances. Anchii is a bit of a manigma for me. She seems like the mysterious beauty, it's hard to read what she'll be like, especially since we haven't seen much of her (she wasn't in NEW STAR much).

Reading the comments regarding ICM on H!O totally brings me back to the whole Jun & Lin hate when they were first announced. Some people totally disgust me; If something isn't 100% pure Japanese they just totally write it off. I can understand people not being impressed with the PV (or even the song... but that would be crazy ^^) but to just say something like "nup, don't like them" or whatever a lot of them said ... yeh, that annoys me ... ^^; The girls have been thrown into recording and filming a PV for a Japanese song with little training and no prior knowledge of the Japanese language - they're trying their best and they've totally impressed me so far. They don't deserve to be written off just because they're not Japanese. I was a big supporter of Jun & Lin when they first joined and I'm a big supporter of ICM!

Somewhat good news (though somewhat bad) is that the Japanese version of the mini album will be sold exclusively at the Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Graduation Memorial Concert on January 31st. This leads me to believe that the girls will be performing which is great, but not getting an actual nation wide release isn't so great. Oh well, I'm buying the Taiwan version anyway.

I also watched Ice Creamusume's appearance on AzioTV the other day and it was a lot of fun.
The girls each got to do their own little thing. PeiPei was very cute singing Morning Coffee while Youko surprised me with her rendition of Scramble. She was actually very good and her voice even reminded me of Maki's a bit. ShenShen did a bellydance to MM's Do it! Now and it was really good lol. She did the chorus and the rap bit and it was very cool. They also played charades and ReiRei was a master at guessing - Her and ShenShen did very well. A few of the girls showed off some silly faces too.
I'll do a full review of it if it ever gets upped to youtube.

I've just realized my last two posts have been pretty long. I tend to ramble without thinking and since I type pretty fast, it ends up an essay before I know it ^^; Do you guys like reading the longer posts or do you prefer shorter, more to the point posts - or even a combo of both? Let me know and I'll keep writing accordingly ^_^

How You Make a Good Idol PV + UFA Ranting

2009-01-07T16:38:00.013+09:00

Ok, so I'm not really a huge fan of SNSD, in fact their new track Gee is probably only the 2nd song of theirs I actually enjoy. Despite this, UFA management could learn a lot from how their latest release has been handled.

While I'm relatively happy with Naichau Kamo, Gee has that mainstream, new sound, that Morning Musume needs to constantly be sticking with. I'm not suggesting MM sing something like Gee - I personally don't think it would suit them at all - but just something a little less idol-fied than they've been doing. Still, I'm not worrying too much on this, since the latest tracks have been great, even if slightly idolish, but (bless Tsunku's soul) it would be nice to get some different song writers in to provide something more updated or at least a different approach. Tsunku seems to be trapped in this mesh of what he thinks is cool and hip and it obviously is not appealing to teens/early 20s who are the main buying public. That being said, Tsunku seems to be the only one involved in H!P who actually cares anymore.

Promotion wise, this single has been great. Commercial teasers, little tastes of what to expect, promo shots etc - it makes the unveiling of the single and the PV an event that everyone looks forward to. Naichau Kamo just happened to be played on Reina's radio show with no previous announcement and nothing else supporting it. We have the song, great, what else? UFA sucks at promotion.

Most importantly is the PV, something I think UFA fails at MAJORLY time and time again. Just look at the video for Gee (and keep in mind SNSD has 9 members, just like Morning Musume).

So, how great was that, yeah?!

The PV doesn't seem to have an extravagant budget but most importantly, it doesn't look cheap. Every recent H!P PV has looked cheap as chips and I'm so sick of it. UFA isn't exactly in debt, the H!P groups sell a decent amount and concert sales are great. On top of that, they're not really spending big on promotion, PV directors or song writers - it seems they're content on taking our money whilst spending as little as possible.

So what makes SNSD's PV so great?

~ It has a cute little storyline (UFA never does storylines of any sort)
~ Each girl gets a decent amount of screentime (UFA always has some girls getting little to no screentime - see Junjun, Kanna, Captain etc)
~ Everyone is in a number of cool, unique outfits (UFA has a habit of sticking the girls in COSTUMES, not outfits, and they're usually carbon copies of each other. They sometimes get it right - C-ute has had some good outfits like in TJ, NnI etc)
~ The dance is great and creative (Some H!P PVs have cool dances but on a whole they're pretty ordinary. Just seeing something like this can show you how uncreative waving your hands around and pointing up is)
~ The girls are having fun (Something I question when it comes to H!P. Reina for instance seems pretty unhappy with some of the crap she has to put up with and has been vocal about it - If the girls want to be in dramas then bloody hell let them audition. Urgh! - I'm sure she isn't the only one.)

I swear I'm gonna go berserk if the Naichau Kamo PV sucks and unfortunately it probably will.
I'm increasingly becoming more annoyed at how cheap and crap UFA is. So much so that I don't even want to be a H!P fan anymore. Of course, that won't happen since I absolutely adore a lot of the girls and you know, I'm in it for them. They always give 110% and it isn't their fault that UFA doesn't seem to care.

Anyway lol. This turned into a major rant and it wasn't meant to be. I was just gonna show everyone the awesome SNSD MV ^^; lol. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Oricon Roundup 1/06: 1st no.1s of 09

2009-01-07T15:40:00.007+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

Please note: The charts below are accumulative sales from the past 2 weeks as Oricon forgoes weekly ranks for the week over the new year.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 stay with me Koda Kumi 58,108 NEW
02 Days / GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi 40,003
03 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 37,591
04 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 28,231
05 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 23,537
06 Nocturne / Campanula no Koi Hirahara Ayaka 22,342
07 Sheryl no Uchu Kyoudaibune Nado Nome Sheryl 18,284 NEW
08 Ranka & Bobby no SMS Shoutai no Uta nado Nakajima Megumi 16,980 NEW
09 fairytale Kalafina 15,984 NEW
10 Nihon no Mikata -Nevada Kara Kimashita- Yazima Beauty Salon 15,532

Albums:

01 My song Your song Ikimoni Gakari 242,691 NEW
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 190,213
03 GIRL NEXT DOOR GIRL NEXT DOOR 171,165 NEW
04 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 166,095
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 55,048

Also, I forgot to post the Oricon charts for the last week of December -_-; (sorry) so here they are (12/21):

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Days / GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi 127,650 NEW
02 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 33,249
03 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 20,905
04 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 17,608
05 HEAVEN BUCK-TICK 14,724 NEW
06 Tomorrow Yukari Tamura 10,691 NEW
07 Nocturne / Campanula no Koi Ayaka Hirahara 10,332
08 Friend / Sugao no mama Rina Aiuchi 9,573 NEW
09 Sunao ni Naretara JUJU feat. Spontania / I can be free JUJU 9,182
10 White Xmas KAT-TUN 7,790

Albums:

01 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 177,581
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 147,454
03 LOVE LETTER Otsuka Ai 104,232 NEW
04 BLEACH BEST TUNES Various Artists 52,835 NEW
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 24,740

ICM Get a Couple of Replacements

2009-01-05T12:45:00.004+09:00

NEWS: Ice Creamusume made their first TV appearance last week, according to one of their blog's managers (however they were on MTV almost a month ago, though that was really just a quick 2 min introduction) - The girls appeared on Azio Entertainment News to promote their upcoming album 1st Zui Bang!

Unfortunately both Anchii and Guu-chan were unable to make the recording due to school commitments so instead they had some replacement members to fill in for the two missing girls.

*lol* XD Apparently the other 4 girls couldn't stop laughing when they saw the life sized cutouts of the other two members.

The girls each got to perform on the show. PeiPei sang at track from the album while Youko sang a Goto Maki track (nice taste!). The other two girls danced, ShenShen doing a bellydance (of which we already know she's awesome at) and ReiRei taught everyone the dance to Lian Ai Deng Chang, the leading track from their album.
They then performed Lian Ai Deng Chang and the manager was very excited that the girls all sang live (no lip synching for these girls!).

The show is airing tomorrow evening, 7pm on Azio TV. If anyone has the ability to cap it for all us fans, please do ^_^

Another Year, Another WH Concert

2009-01-03T15:13:00.007+09:00

NEWS: Last night marked the beginning of the 2009 Winter Concert Tour, Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~Kakumei Gannen~ - All in all it went off without a hitch, minus the charismatic Wada Ayaka, who was absent due to illness (get better soon DAWA!). Thankfully BARKS has some nice coverage of the debut concert, with lots of pics that everyone can check out ->HERE<-

This run of concerts marks the lead up to the graduation of the Elder Club so soon Wonderful Hearts WILL BE the Hello!Project. Get used to it everybody!

Presenting Wonderful Hearts!

Morning Musume looking very cool performing their upcoming single Nai chau Kamo

Berryz look very cute in their canary yellow outfits...

...while C-ute are hot in their suits.

Milky Way performs Tan Tan Taan! C'mon! How C-ute is Koha's outfit for Happy☆Happy Sunday ^_^!!!

Buono! in their ~~pyjamas~~ costumes, performing Lotta Love Lotta Love.

& finally Mano Erina, behind her YAMAHA.

Ayaya Tells Us to Eat More Rice!

2009-01-02T12:15:00.004+09:00

NEWS: Matsuura Aya is starring in a new series of commercials from Japan's MAFF ( Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) intending to spread awareness of healthy eating.

In the first commercial, Ayaya is seen cooking herself a big bowl of rice before she leaves for work while in the second she doesn't have time to cook and instead picks up an Onigiri (rice ball) from the store. So in other words always eat breakfast to stay healthy! The commercials feature Ayaya singing a new song Shiawase Gohan no Asa.

ICM to Cover More Than Just RR21

2009-01-02T01:24:00.007+09:00

PREVIEW: After last month's preview of Ice Cream Musume's version of Renai Revolution 21, some people were left wondering if the girls would cover any other Morning Musume tracks and with the release of the track list today (curtosy of yesasia), those questions were answered: YES!

Bing Qi Lin Shao Nu Zu / Ice Cream Musume

1st Zui Bang! / 1st Best! (Taiwan ver.)

1. 戀愛登場 / Lian Ai Deng Chang
2. 早安咖啡 / Zao An Ka Fei
3. 在沒有雨水滋潤的星球上是無法付出愛的吧? / Zai Mei You Yu Shui Zi Run De Zing Qui Shang Shi Wu Fa Fu Chu Ai De Ba?
4. 戀愛革命21 / Lian Ai Ge Ming 21
5. Go Girl～戀愛勝利～ / Go Girl ~Lian Ai Sheng Li~
6. Debut！～戀愛的轉角會有好運降臨～(日文版) Debut! ~Lian Ai De Zhuan Jiao Hui You Hao Yun Jiang Lin~ (Japanese ver.)
7. 早安咖啡(日文版) / Zao An Ka Fei (Japanese ver.)

For those playing at home:

2. Morning Coffee
3. Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou?
4. Renai Revolution 21
5. Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
7. Morning Coffee (Japanese ver.)

I think those are good tracks to cover - A nice range for sure. I'm going to look forward to Go Girl as it's one of my fav MM tracks from way back. Ame no Furanai is a really nice choice and one the girls practiced during the NEW STAR show. It'll be interesting to compare the Japanese ver of Morning Coffee to the original. I think the 6th track is the Japanese version of the song released yesterday - I'm not sure why it has a different title though.

For those who want to support this new group, the Taiwan version of their album is REALLY cheap, especially considering it is a CD+DVD album. It's only US$14 which is affordable even for me with my shitty AUS$ -_-; I'll prob wait out to see the differences between the Japanese edition before preordering, though.

Interesting to note, yesasia declares in their big bio about the album that Ice Creamusume will make their Japanese concert debut at the H!P concerts at the end of January. Exciting!

Morning Musume KAMO! KAMO!

2008-12-31T21:21:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: Managing to sneak in as the last big surprise of 2008 is Morning Musume's upcoming single Nai Chau Kamo. Tanaka Reina graciously played it on her radio show this evening and let me just say it is great. Along with that we have a low quality pic of the girls for this single and I'm really liking the image. It seems my prayer of more mature, mainstream songs was answered ^_^

-> DOWNLOAD <- right click + save as

Thanks to amp at jpmforums for the radio rip

Firstly I'm LOVING the sound, which seems Latin inspired, along the vein of Irropoi Jirettai - it's definitely a cool, mature sound that suits the current Morning Musume. Ai & Reina lead as usual but with more variety in vocals than past singles. I hear some Sayu, Eri and Risa and lots of harmonies and such from the others. I'm very happy with this track, what a perfect way to end 2008.

Everyone have a great NEW YEARS! See you in 2009!

Ice Cream's Love <3

2008-12-31T14:10:00.013+09:00

PREVIEW: Ice Creamusume's debut music video liàn ài dēng chăng (roughly Entering Love) was released today via Yahoo! Music Taiwan. I managed to rip the PV off and upload it to youtube for you all. Quality isn't great but that's all I could do :p

So first things first, I'm extremely disappointed at the budget of this PV - They're dancing in front of a white background and they have some props, urgh whatever. I think I'm going to start giving up on UFA putting effort in anything they do from now on. Moving on...
The song itself is very sweet and I'm really enjoying it. The chorus is catchy and I think it suits the overall image of the group. The vocals are very nice and ShenShen's solo towards the end is really lovely.
The thing I like the most about this PV is that we get to see the girls' personality. They all act very goofy and cute, it's a lot of fun to watch, even if slightly unoriginal. I wonder if they'll do a PV for their Japanese version of the song?

C-ute's Edo no Temari Uta II Praised

2008-12-31T01:32:00.003+09:00

NEWS: C-ute was honoured yesterday evening with a EXCELLENT WORK award, at the 50th Japan Record Awards, for their song Edo no Temari Uta II.

The award put them amongst artists such as EXILE and Koda Kumi in the running for the BEST WORK OF THE YEAR award. While they didn't win the top prize, which went to EXILE's Ti Amo, they were invited to perform at the ceremony, where they sang their nominated track.

This is the second year in a row that the girls have performed at the Japan Record Awards. Only a year ago the girls were nominated in the New Artist category, ultimately winning the BEST NEW ARTIST. Let's take a little stroll down memory lane to see how far the girls have come since this time last year!

C-ute is once again cementing themselves as the group to watch in H!P, being recognized for the second year in a row for their music. A BIG congratulations to C-ute, this is QUITE an honour and truly deserving :D

Q.E.D Sneak Peek!

2008-12-31T01:17:00.007+09:00

PREVIEW: Promotion for Takahashi Ai's upcoming drama, Q.E.D, is well underway and us lucky fans have a special 2 minute sneak peek of what's in store for us all!

So it's definitely looking very exciting! I'm especially liking the episodic feeling it looks like it will have, with the different cases to solve each week involving undercover work/costumes etc. Ai is so cute in her maid outfit ^_^ I can't wait for this!

Nya~guchi Mari!

2008-12-30T11:43:00.006+09:00

*lol* I found this vid posted up at the jpm forums and I just had to share! It's a bit old, from June this year, but it was new to me. Make sure to turn on the subs if you need them (lower right corner -> middle button in the popup).

Yaguchi on her show Gyao MIDTOWN TV and participates in a punishment game, Moe Moe Idol Nyaguchi Mari, where she has to act like a kitty idol, adding NYA! to the end of each sentence ^^; Hilarious and cute!

Make it POSSIBLE!

2008-12-29T04:10:00.006+09:00

PREVIEW: When in doubt, you can't go wrong with THE Possible: Their upcoming single, Shiawase no Katachi.

Firstly: The song is awesome. When I first heard the preview, I wasn't sure - but it's a very sweet track. Secondly: The PV is awesome. Not overly expensive (hell they dance in darkness) but it looks very polished and professional. The outdoor shots are sublime!

It totally gives me a Mihimaru GT vibe which is major points in my book!

A New Years Surprise For Me!

2008-12-28T19:36:00.013+09:00

Some exciting news today as I logged on to find that the blog has just surpassed 20,000 hits! *yay* When I first created the blog I had no idea there would be as many visitors as there has been but my daily hits have been gradually rising. Thank you so much to everyone who visits the blog, especially those who come here on a daily basis - it means a lot to me to see that the site is appreciated ^_^

I started the site back on July 15th, with my first post being a review of Berryz Koubou's Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance. Since then I think I've written 222 posts - I always try to post at least once a day so people have something new to see when they visit lol. I've tried to remain as dedicated as I can to bringing updated news and fun stories, that I hope everyone has enjoyed! ^^
When I first started tracking Stardust's hits (August) I was scarcely getting 10 hits a day. I have to give big thanks to the folks at International Wota, especially CK who is ALWAYS writing up the blog, for bringing those 10 hits per day to the hundreds I'm getting at the moment. Over the past two months especially, the blog has really grown in popularity.

As a commerative New Years/20K ... thingo, I've decided to list the posts which actually mattered amongst the 222 I've written so far lol:

Vocal Training with Junjun & Linlin
28th July 2008

This post was kinda special as before this date I was very focused on doing a NEWS driven blog. Most of the previous posts were news items or reviews, which I still do a lot of, but this was the first little post where I just brought something I thought was interesting and cool - footage of Junjun and Linlin in a vocal lesson. It got a lot of attention, being posted on IW a few days later, and the site had over 200 hits when this post got written up!

Canaria Club Live Document DVD

29th July 2008

I was very proud of this post: 1. because it took me AGES to do (I'm talking literally HOURS lol) and 2. because I love Canaria Club. This review of their Live Document DVD didn't get the attention I was hoping for. I'm pretty sure IW eventually wrote it up, but I think it mainly got gradual hits as I kept linking to it in subsequent posts *lol*

Kanna x Hasshi Scandal?
29th July 2008

Yes, I'm aware the first 3 posts are all within 2 days lol, but it was just a busy couple of days. I swear! This post, about Arihara Kanna's little scandal, got LOTS of hits but mainly from a different audience - the Johnny's fans. It was posted up at a few Johnny's forums and was googled a lot, resulting in it being one of the most popular posts on the blog.

Anticipating SanHora's 6th Story: Moira & Moira: The 6th Story
August 29th & September 16th 2008

These two posts regarding Sound Horizon's 6th Story album Moira still gets a heap of hits to this day. Because they aren't really about music most H!P fans are interested in, the hits are mainly from googlers who just happen to find the blog when searching about the album. I'm really proud of these posts, a lot of effort went into them, and I'm happy they've gotten the attention they have.

New Star *finally* coming to a close...
September 1st 2008

Ok so here starts the facination with the Taiwan auditions, NEW STAR, and the hundreds of hits I got everytime I posted anything remotely related to them lol. I dunno if I was just the only blog following the auditions but that's just what happened :P This first post talked about the remaining 15 contestants and picking out my favs - of which only ShenShen made the group :p

Introducing SI☆NA ...
September 7th 2008

This little post was about the H!P Kansai group SI*NA - I believe they had just recently been named as a group and these cute little vids popped up and I just had to share! Of course they still haven't debuted and my enthusiasm for them is starting to fade away, but just watching these vids again makes me excited for their debut, which should be any year now... (-_-;)

New Star Elimination Update
New Star 9/13: Recap & New Star 9/14: Another Recap
September 9th 2008
September 14th & 15th 2008

AHHH~ this was the horrible post where I accidently spoiled NEW STAR for everyone lol. It utterly confused me (the site had posted a news article about the eliminations before the episode had aired) and then I wasn't sure what was going on. Eventually it all sorted itself out when I got my hands on the episodes and reviewed them for everyone but it did leave me a bit rosy cheeked.

Ping Leaks Chinese H!P song....

September 20th 2008

This post was about Ice Creamusume's PeiPei (at the time known as Ceng de Ping) leaking the Morning Musume track Ame no Furanai Hoshi de Aisenai Daro via her blog. The song was already pretty popular (concert rip or whatever) so of course the post was popular too. I pretty much wrote off PeiPei's chances at getting picked as a result lol but I was obviously quite wrong. To be fair, at that point she had already been chosen ^^; ehhh - later that day...

NEW STAR Winners Chosen & Who are the NEW STARs?
September 20th & October 3rd 2008

Later that day we all found out the New Stars and everyone was shocked and disappointed that the little girl (who will forever be known as Risafan) did not make it ;_; I'm still recovering from that one. One of the most popular posts on the blog stemmed from the NEW STARs as I set out to determine Who are the NEW STARs? - I knew so many people hadn't followed the auditions and had no idea of who these girls were so I managed to get my hands on the last episode and made some vids of each performer and posted them up. Now please keep in mind I know nothing about video editing lol - it took me a while, but I got there in the end. It was worth it though, I'm proud of this post!

Aibon: Rockin' Out!

October 12th 2008

This post goes to show how even posts that take hardly any effort can become much more popular than more intensive posts. This 5 min post where I just posted some pics of Kago Ai got hundreds of hits lol. Crazy eh? It is Aibon though and she is rockin! ;) (re-reading this I realise I used the word post in this... post far too often lol)

Kill Me, Kiss Me: HANGRY & ANGRY ... grr

October 13th 2008

I wrote up this post about hANGRY&ANGRY literally at like 3 in the morning lol. I remember I was so pumped at seeing it and was so excited I had to write it up right then and there. I remember it very vividly, my friend told me that the pic was obviously photoshopped and laughed at me for thinking H!P would ever do anything like this -_-; lol. Anyway every man and his dog did a post about H&A so I can't remember if it was very popular, but I enjoyed writing it.

The End of an Era: Elder Club Graduates
October 19th 2008

This was a sad day for me :( Urgh, Elder Club - they'll be missed. I'm still in mourning and they haven't gone yet - I'll prob be mourning for a few more months afterwards. Once again, every man and his dog, I think this post got lost among the masses - but those are my sad feelings on the news.

Halloween no Musume!
October 31st 2008

Ah! One of the posts I'm most proud of! So much work went into these little horrifying Musume's but every minute was pure joy. This is the type of thing I just do when I have nothing else to do so it wasn't a huge waste of time lol. I got lots of nice feedback on this post and many hits, a few sites linked to it which was cool. I'm dreading what I'll have to do for next Halloween *eek*!! I'm *hoping* I won't have the time to do something similar (I needs a life lol) ... but we'll see.

NEW STARs Jet Off
November 11th 2008

The formula for success: NEW STAR related x post = popular ^_^ lol. I actually translated this article from Mandarin via a really crappy online translator. Urgh, the things I do for the blog and all you lot :p

Tough as Nails, Fierce as C-ute
November 12th 2008

Nobody really cared about this post lol (that's always how it is, when I actually try to make a post people will like - nobody does :p) That being said, I still really like this post and I'm putting it here in an attempt for somebody, somewhere to care lol. *please... pleeeease!*

Int'l Wota Here I Come!
November 19th 2008

Wow, it doesn't seem so long ago that Pengie emailed me about joing IW lol. Since then I've done all of 3 writeups on the site -_-; I'm such a bad contributor! My New Years resolution is to be more active on the site! Best bit about IW is meeting all the cool (yes you're all cool!) ppl on wotachat, hours of fun ^^!

Welcome, Ice Cream Musume!
November 21st 2008

Wooo~!! We finally got a name and cool group pics! My love for the NEW STARs never dwindled and my love for Ice Cream just made me love the group even more! peachusagi commented on this post: You always have the best news! - AWWWW see, everyone loves Ice Creamusume!

Yum! Ice Cream! ^_^
November 23rd 2008

This post got NO attention at all!! @_@ <- tis my angry face lol. Do you know how long I sat down trying to think of Ice Cream flavours that would go with each member? lol! I got the idea from CK who kept blabbing about how each girl should represent a flavour. Now we actually know that the girls do have flavours - I have to say mine are much better >.<

Ayaya's in the Kitchen... with Chickens?
December 9th 2008

Ahahaha! LOL this post was great *is not conceited* - I'm talking about the actual song ;) I think this one got lots of hits and everyone seemed to love the Kitchen & Chicken track! I've still got my fingers crossed for a release in the near future. I don't need another slow ballad ... I WANT CHICKEN!!!

The 12 Days of Christmas
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
December 14th to 25th 2008

Most of December was busy for me, with Xmas and all, so to keep the Blog up to date and as a nice holiday surprise I decided to do my 12 Days of Christmas countdown. December has been my most popular month so far - I'm not sure if it's because of the 12 Days but people kept coming back and it was nice to be able to share those 12 songs with everyone.

Ice Creamusume's Love Revolution 21!
December 22nd 2008

Let's talk about crazy Ice Creamusume for a second ... this post of mine was the all time most popular post on my blog - pretty much by far lol. When I posted it I NEVER imagined the reaction it would get. I pretty much heard the track would be on radio that evening, went to the radio show's website and found it was online and then decided to record it while I was listening. I then posted it before I went to bed and when I woke up I had hundreds upon hundreds of hits. The radio rip has been downloaded over 800 times from the blog, as well as countless others from other forums and youtube. My 1GB bandwidth even exceeded on the site where I post my audio files lol. A very popular post and a nice Xmas gift to myself!

So there we have the most significant posts in my short blogging history and after all that time writing this post up, those 20K hits have now surpassed 30K *lol* ok not quite ;) Once again, thanks so much to all the people who visit the blog. I hope you'll keep coming to check it out after the New Year. Maybe for your NY's resolutions you can all comment a bit more, eh? ;) lol.

Have a great New Year!
xMarsx

H!P Best of 2008 Poll

2008-12-28T15:33:00.013+09:00

I promised Amy I would do this a few days ago but I suck at keeping promises and, you know, whatever. But I'm doing it now ^_^ so here we go, my H!P BEST OF 2008 Poll RESULTS! Remember people, this is all personal opinion ;)

BEST

Best Group Single:

Resonant Blue Morning Musume

I've already blabbed ad nauseum about how much I adore this single so there's no real point in continuing - suffice to say, it rocked my socks.

Best Soloist Single:
Okitegami Fujimoto Miki

Ok, so I've heard people go on and on about disliking this song or that it doesn't suit Mikitty but didn't she want to do Enka? I thought she asked to do it. Either way this is an awesome track and it's not really Enka at all to be honest. Like, it might be in theory but Mikitty doesn't sing with all the Enka flair and it ends up sounding like a normal jpop ballad. It's a moving, nice song and amongst a horrible year for the soloists, it is the best.

Best Group Album:
3rd ~Love Escalation~ C-ute

3rd ~Love Escalation~ was an album that wasn't really appreciated by many, I think because they didn't expect the type of music that was on it. A lot of people only liked Erika's solo song, where for me it is one of the tracks I barely listen to, not because I don't like it but because I love the rest of the album even more. I read a review once that said it could be a soundtrack to a dorama and I agree, It has a very school day drama feel to it. A great album.

Best Soloist Album:
Best selection 15 Iro no Nigaoetachi Natsumi Abe

There was little to choose from but it's a best of Nacchi so you can't really go wrong there. The new track is really fun too and it's nice to look back through Nacchi's solo career and pin point the exact moment when all the soloists began to go downhill XD

Best PV:
Resonant Blue (another ver.) Morning Musume

While I've given this award to MM, my fav PV of the year is probably Edo no Temari Uta II by C-ute because it perfected the dance shot PV - that being said, I am forever chirping on about story lines in PVs and Resonant Blue's PV came as close as H!P ever has. It looked great, each girl had their own little scenes - the main issue with it was that it made no sense. People were going places, doing stuff, but we didn't know why. That's the next step ;)

Group with Best Overall Releases:

C-ute

Since C-ute debuted they've been the epitome of great, unique releases. Their singles have a lot of variety, from the Happy LALALA Shiawase no Uta to the Latin flavoured Namida no Iro not to mention the unique Edo no Temari Uta II and the pumped up FOREVER Love. Throw in their '07 singles and none of their stuff sounds like a carbon copy of their other singles (see Berryz in 08). Variety is what is needed and C-ute delivered with some great tracks.

Best New Group:

MilkyWay

MilkyWay didn't excite me TOO much to begin with. Though I like Koha, her solo singles are enough for me and I'm one of the few people who wasn't head over heels in love with Kikkawa from the 8th gen auditions. Their debut, Anataboshi, won me over and they are completely awesome. They have charisma when performing and are a great addition to H!P. I decided against awarding this to High-King purely since they aren't really a group rather than a one time unit, it seems.

Best New Soloist:

Ogawa Mana

Yes, Ogamana is part of the NICE Girl Project and not H!P but Amy listed TNX stuff in the nominee section so at the risk of offending all the ManoEri fans out there, Ogawa is the best new soloist. Ogawa is a terrific vocalist and performer, she is yards above most of H!P and it's truely a shame that more people haven't discovered her.

Best Established Group:

Morning Musume

I was originally going to award this to C-ute but when I thought back on 08, Morning Musume had a pretty good year. Sure it wasn't filled to the brim with releases but the tours of Asia, the Cinderella musical not to mention the different activities for the individual girls - it was a nice year for the girls.

Best Established Soloist:
NONE

Let's face it, the soloists sucked this year. I'm tempted to give this to Mikitty for the ability of milking Okitegami for the entire year - but no, one release doesn't cut it.

Best Photobook:
Happy girl Niigaki Risa

Truth be told, I'm not somebody who downloads entire PBs and checks them out. I tend to just see the preview pics and whatever anyone sends me. Happy girl was a great PB but, Risa is always adorable and those snow shots were so great! ^_^

Hottest Idol of 2008:

Takahashi Ai

08 was Ai's first full year as the leader of Morning Musume and she has done a terrific job. She leads in almost every performance, she has to mentor the younger girls, not to mention all the other duties she has been given as leader. On top of this she had the biggest role in the Cinderella musical and has been filming the new drama Q.E.D the past month or so. She has been working so hard and to me that justifies being the Hottest Idol of 2008!

WORST

Worst Group Single:
Come Together Ongaku Gatas

Ongaku Gata's much anticipated 3rd single turned out to be a dud (for me). I know some people LOVE it but when compared to their GREAT singles last year, this one was horrible. Throw in the fact that Manoeri and Mucchi were gone and thus the eggs became backup dancers - and this ends up being a hell of a disappointment.

Worst Soloist Single:
Kizuna Matsuura Aya

*yawn* This song bores me so much that I cannot even feign the enthusiasm to write how bad it actually was. Kitchen & Chicken walks ALL OVER Aya's crappy ballads.

Worst PV:
Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance Berryz Koubou

Ok, so maybe Charisma Kirei (or whatever that Melon song was called) was worse but Monkey Dance wins the award for so many reasons. Firstly this song actually got a PV, meaning somebody actually took the time to think up this atrocity and build the backdrop etc etc etc Secondly Berryz were coming off their best selling single EVER! so you'd think UFA would throw them a bone, instead their budget consisted of monkey suits (which are cheap as chips) and one giant, fugly banana. It was just such a disappointment. Yes, tons of deluded Berryz fans loved it because of the *cute* monkey poses, but we're talking about the actual PV, not the fact Berryz manage to save all their shitty PVs with their personalities. It was a white backdrop with a giant crepe paper banana and some monkey outfits - it sucked. This PV disappointed me immensely and totally brings up the whole UFA being cheap bastards subject again, which I'm not going to get into in this post ^_^

Worst Vocalist of 2008:
Mano Erina

This girl is meant to be H!P's saviour - soon she will be the only soloist, along with Koharu - the thought alone makes me shudder. Remember the days when we had Ayaya, Nacchi and Maki - now we have Manoeri and Koha ... *urgh* Get the girl a singing coach, pronto!

Least Attractive Girl of 2008:
NONE

Looks are all subjective and, truth be told, nobody in H!P looks bad. They're all pretty cute!

So there we have it, hope it lived up to your satisfaction Amy and everyone else who bothered to read ^^; Peace out!

1st Best! for Ice Creamusume

2008-12-28T11:23:00.004+09:00

PREVIEW: Ice Creamusume's debut release, the mini-album 1st Best! is released next month. The girls have recorded 2 songs in Japanese in preparation for the release.

1st Best!

The album is released on the 9th of January in Taiwan.

C-ute's Christmas Gift

2008-12-27T09:00:00.007+09:00

PREVIEW: Ok, so it's a day or two late ... but Maimi has debuted the title track from C-ute's upcoming album, Akogare MY STAR, on her radio show. The song has an upbeat, dance feel to it and everyone gets a solo line ^_^

Want a gift?

DOWNLOAD - right click -> download

So is this song great or what?! ^^ It seems Tsunku is saving some great tracks for albums, Berryz' had some great album tracks too - so let's hope 4th Akogare MY STAR turns out to be a strong album.
The covers were also released yesterday and have a spring feeling to them:

I probably would have preferred something a bit different but this is ok. That Airi/Kanna shot looks killer! - and the group photo is very sweet. I think I'll prob end up getting the limited, not sure. We'll see.

Here's the tracklist:

1.★憧れ My STAR★ (★Akogare My STAR★)
2.Ｏｎｅ'ｓＬＩＦＥ／Umeda, Okai, Hagiwara
3.Yes! all my family／Suzuki
4.涙の色 (Namida no Iro)
5.愛してる愛してる (Aishiteru Aishiteru)／Nakajima, Arihara
6.青春ソング (Seishun Song)／Yajima
7.Ｂｉｇｄｒｅａｍｓ
8.ＳＨＩＮＥＳ
9.約束は特にしないわ (Yakusoku wa Toku ni Shinai wa)
10.FOREVER LOVE
11.江戸の手毬唄Ⅱ (Edo no Temari Uta II)

4th Akogare MY STAR is out on the 28th of January.

On the Twelth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-25T21:04:00.003+09:00

...my true love gave to me MORNING MUSUME,
a celebration,
something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Firstly: MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone! I hope everyone has a great day filled with lots of joy and memories. What better way to celebrate this Xmas than with my personal favourite group, Morning Musume! Though they've only released 2 singles this year, I think many were blown away by the enigmatic Resonant Blue, a song which surprised and brought plenty of joy to lots of people this year!

When I first heard this song it was via a pretty ordinary radio rip and I was truly transfixed. It was something totally different to what MM had done before and I was in love with Resonant Blue from the first second. Around the web, there was definitely a sense of excitement about this release, the vast majority of people LOVED it and everyone was trying to find out who sang what lines (because everyone sounded so different and great) and then eventually we learnt it was all Ai and Reina lol, but whatever. From the 4 PVs to the kick ass covers, for me, this was one of the greatest releases MM had produced in years.

The new, more mainstream, image was very welcomed by a lot of the fans and one we had gradually seen MM nudging towards in recent songs. I can only hope that Pepper Keibu (which I did really like) was a slight deviation from this new direction (due to the remake album) and that MM will return to this style with their next single. I really think it is what MM needs to maintain the current fans and win new ones, we need MM to stick around for many more years! ^_^

I hope you've enjoyed reading these 12 Days of Christmas segments. I know a few people have discovered new artists through it and I hope many of you enjoyed at least reading my own thoughts on the songs. Now, I purposely only decided to use 1 H!P track for the 12 Days since otherwise there would be far too little variety lol. As a result I'll list my 10 fav H!P singles of the year:

Fujimoto Miki

Okitegami

09
Athena & Robikerottsu

Seishun Love Lunch

08
Berryz Koubou

Dschinghis Khan

07
Buono!

Lotta Love Lotta Love

06
MilkyWay

Anataboshi

05
C-ute

Namida no Iro

04
High-King

C\C (Cinderella\Complex)

03
Buono!

Renai Rider

02
C-ute

Edo no Temari Uta II

01
Morning Musume

Resonant Blue

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty good year for H!P in regards to actual songs. I've quite liked a number of the releases and hopefully 2009 is even better! Once again, have a great day!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
♥ Stardust!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

2008-12-24T12:59:00.002+09:00

...my true love gave to me a celebration,
something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Ikimono Gakari had a big year, releasing 5 top10 singles and 2 albums (My Song Your Song was released just this week). All their singles did really well this year and were all very enjoyable, but the group ended on a high note with the delightfully playful Kimagure Romantic.

This song was released just a few weeks ago but it's definitely one that many people seem to love. It's such a fun, cute song and it totally makes me smile whenever I listen ^_^ I was hooked right from the first time I was introduced to it, with the chorus being the major selling point for me. Ahh~ It's so cute! ... and not sickeningly sweet/cute but adorably *aww* cute. The video is also really cool, I love the video game aspect of it, very creative :D Everyone MUST do the crazy dance when they listen ... DO IT!! ... ^^;;

So as I mentioned before Ikimono Gakari just released their 3rd studio album this week and it debuted at no.1 on the daily charts *yay* I'm hoping for a weekly no.1 - they've never managed one before I don't think, but it's long overdue!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas Eve, remember to not go to sleep TOO late - you gotta give Santa time to deliver all your presents ^_^; Peace and goodwill!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-23T19:00:00.003+09:00

...my true love gave to me something a bit naughty,
a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Koda Kumi began 2008 with a bang, her 6th studio album Kingdom rocketing to number 1 with sales of 750K, and the year was pretty good to Kuu-chan. Her 3rd single of the year, TABOO, saw her gain her 5th number one single and a return to the funky, dance sound which made her so popular.

TABOO was a track I was obsessed with this year. While I like lots of songs, I rarely listen to them on repeat over and over, even with songs I call my favourites - but with TABOO I did. It was just the perfect track Kuu could have released after Anytime & Moon Crying which while good, didn't have that edge that Koda is known for. I was even compelled to buy it and it was a wonderful purchase ^_^ ~! The video caused a bit of a stir but hey, it's Koda. If she wasn't strutting around in little girl guide outfits, I'd think something was wrong. This is the way Koda Kumi should be (at least in my opinion). I definitely prefer these upbeat, infectious tracks over her ballads, but she seems to like the ballads and they're pretty good so I'll run with it.

Speaking of ballads, Koda's Winter themed single stay with me was released this week and I've heard that there is already a major buzz for the song. It seems the Japanese public loves their ballads and this one is a sweet one, so it should do well. Koda is also releasing her 7th studio album TRICK at the end of January 09. I have high hopes for it to live up to her previous albums. Go Kuu!!

Ice Creamusume's Love Revolution 21!

2008-12-22T21:22:00.012+09:00

PREVIEW: The world debut of Ice Creamusume's debut hit the radio just minutes ago and being the Ice Creamusume fan that I am, I was there ready to record it ^_^ The song Lian Ai Ge Ming 21 (恋爱革命21) is a remake of Morning Musume's smash hit Renai Revolution 21.

DOWNLOAD - right click -> download

Now the song is in Mandarin which some H!P fans might find a bit difficult to get used to (personally for me it's not an issue since I listen to plenty of mando-pop). The arrangement is EXACTLY the same which is a bit of a shame, I would've liked something a bit different but hey, I can understand why they didn't change anything. The girls sound pretty good, some are better than others but nobody is horrible. It's extremely difficult to tell who is singing what just yet lol. I really like the synth "ooh ooh BA-BY, yeah~!" parts - they sound pretty cool and different from the original. All in all a cool track for the girl's mini album 1st Best! which is being released in Taiwan on the 9th of January.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-22T19:09:00.003+09:00

...my true love gave to me a rise to fame,
10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

When Tohoshinki/DBSK began 2008 they had not yet managed to hit the top spot on the Oricon singles chart but a rise in popularity saw all 4 of their group singles hit the top spot of the charts this year. They also released a 5-set of solo singles from each member, all managing to make the top 10. This highly successful year was capped off with their first no.1 hit, Purple Line.

Before 2008, I wasn't really interested in Tohoshinki much at all, but Purple Line really made me pay attention and I think it made Japan pay attention too. The song has an infectious beat and a cool sound to it, it's a great track. It marked the start of a string of no.1 hits for Tohoshinki and it was a great year for the group. Songs such as Doushite Kimi o Suki ni Natte Shimatta n Darou? and Jumon -MIROTIC- showed the diversity of Tohoshinki whether it be a ballad or a faster paced song. MIROTIC was also an Asia wide hit, with the song being the group's much anticipated comeback in South Korea. The album sold in excess of 450K there and is still a massive hit. The group also received numerous awards including top honour at the Golden Disk awards.

But wait... there's more! (cue informercial lol) ... the year isn't over for Tohoshinki just yet - the boys have been invited to perform at this years Kohaku New Years event, a first for them and a true honour. They also have a single sceduled for release in early 2009 which, like Purple Line, is sure to kick off a successful year.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-21T17:57:00.005+09:00

...my true love gave to me 10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Hamasaki Ayumi, the Queen of Jpop, celebrated her 10th anniversary in 2008 and held her second tour of Asia. Because much of the year was spent touring, Ayu released only 1 studio album and 2 singles in 2008 (along with a singles compilation). Her first '08 single Mirrorcle World, an extended version of the introductory track of GUILTY, saw her hit the no.1 spot on the Oricon singles chart for the 30th time.

Ayu is kind of special to me because, like many people, she originally got me interested in Japanese Music. While I had heard some stuff before (mainly from games) Ayumi was the first Japanese artist I could call myself a fan of and that fandom of Jpop has just grown in leaps and bounds since then! While I've expanded my fandom to other artists now, Ayu will ALWAYS hold that special place in my Jpop loving heart ^_^
Mirrorcle World was such an awesome track - when I heard Mirror on GUILTY it really did leave me wanting more and it was great the song got single treatment. It has a lot of oomph and energy, fitting for Ayu's 10th Anniversary. I think a few people were disappointed that Ayu's 10th anniversary was a little quiet on the release front, myself included since I obviously can't take advantage of Ayu's awesome Asia tour - but this single lasted me through the whole year and through Ayu's ALL SINGLES COMPLETE I was able to rekindle my love for some past singles which I hadn't listened to in a while.

Of course, Mirrorcle World was Ayu's only single of 2008 until this week when she released Days/GREEN which looks to be on heading for a certain no.1 spot on the charts. Sales so far have been pretty pleasing and it seems Ayu's 10th Anniversary has been a great success. I'm hoping for another 10 awesome years! ;)

On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

2008-12-20T19:40:00.003+09:00

...my true love gave to me an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Avex celebrated their 20th anniversary this year and debuted the special group GIRL NEXT DOOR, fronted by Chisa. Though they only debuted in September, the group released 3 singles in 2008, with their most recent top 3 hit being Jyonetsu no Daisho:

GIRL NEXT DOOR was a group I REALLY tried to like straight away but just didn't. Their dance sound just didn't appeal to me and I felt their first two singles were very similar; they weren't bad by any means, it just isn't the type of music I really enjoy straight away. That being said, Jyonetsu no Daisho won me over straight away and was the epiphany I was looking for with GND. The song is pulled back ever so slightly from their upbeat previous songs and it's just a very memorable track from the trio. Chisa is such a cutee you can't help but like her and she is a great vocalist. The PV is also really stunning, their best yet.

GIRL NEXT DOOR have had a pretty successful year despite only debuting in the later half of the year: 3 top 3 singles, an invitation to appear at this years Kohaku and they also have their debut album being released next week. On top of this, the groups official fanclub 'Next Door' will launch on Monday - it's been a few pretty busy and very successful months for GND. 2009 should bring more of the same success!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-19T18:40:00.004+09:00

...my true love gave to me a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Kalafina, the brainchild of the immaculate composer Kajiura Yuki, debuted in January this year with Oblivion and followed up the single with the amazing sprinter/ARIA. sprinter is an incredibly imaginative track, with the 4 fantastic vocalists showing off their skills.

sprinter was another song which I came across while reviewing for the blog and that is one of the main things I love about writing these reviews. I generally now listen to most of the new releases each week and discover all these little gems that would otherwise have flown straight past me. sprinter was a true find! This song has so many levels and variations, it's eclectic yet at the same time it is in harmony. While the song is led by Hikaru, each girl sounds flawless and the layered vocals are to die for. I've expressed awe at some of Kajiura's other works and she puts together another fabulous piece here, she's a true magician!

While Kalafina have only released 2 singles this year, 2008 is not over for them. Their 3rd single fairytale is released next week and features the vocal talents of Keiko, Wakana and Hikaru. It is another wonderful song and I will keep my eye on this group in the future.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-18T21:39:00.005+09:00

...my true love gave to me a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

When we talk successful songs in 2008 you can't look far past ARASHI's Truth. The single (Truth/Kaze no Mukou e) is by far the highest selling single of the year, infact ARASHI have been the best performing group on the singles chart this year with 3 of their 4 singles in the yearly top 10.

Now I'm not really a Johnny's fan, I do like some tracks and some groups but I don't listen to anything regularly and I'm not all that excited about releases. I knew pretty much nothing about Truth before the single was released and only listened to it because I was reviewing it for the blog. Boy did I get a surprise, this track is so great! The whole single was totally awesome but this song in particular had to be one of my 12 memorable tracks for the year not only because of its success but because I really do love it (a lot of people do it seems!)

It really has been ARASHI's year. Truth/Kaze no Mukou e sold 618K which is just amazing in itself, but to have all 4 of your releases sell in excess of 370K is ... WOW! The boys already have a single scheduled for 09 and no doubt it will be as much of a success as 08.

Reviews: 12/17 New Releases

2008-12-18T18:48:00.008+09:00

REVIEWS: We're so close to the end of the year! I actually think this is the final week for the Oricon Rankings for 2008 (the weeks ending and beginning the new year are combined for 2 week rankings/sales). I don't think it will be my final reviews for the year, I'll hopefully find time to review next week. This week I'm reviewing Ayu's new single, Manoeri's latest offering and a really odd DJ OZMA track.

Days/GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi

It seems like a millennia since Ayu’s last single Mirrorcle World, released in April. It’s certainly been quiet 10th Anniversary for Ayu on the release front, granted she has spent a lot of the year touring around Asia. Anyway, to make up for the wait we get a double A-side but has it been worth the wait?

When I first heard Days I honestly wasn’t too impressed, but I blame that on it being a tiny little clip and I probably wasn’t really paying attention lol. It ended up being a very good track. It’s a beautiful, sweet ballad and Ayu sounds really good on it. The track grows really well and the chorus is particularly nice. While I’ve heard people rave about this track I beg to differ, it’s sweet but it’s not a knock out.

Now the next track is more my style. GREEN is another mid-tempo sort of song and its unusual instrumental wins me over this time. It has a really beautiful musical arrangement with some wonderful sort of Chinese highland type sound. I suck at explaining the intricacies of instrumentals so just give it a listen and call it what you will. The song itself is really nice, the chorus has a wonderful sound to it. Ayu’s vocals go vibrato crazy on this track which bothered me at first but I got used to it very quickly.

This whole release has a bit of a different sound for Ayu, she’s sort of dabbled in these styles before but it’s nice to get a single with 2 really nice, unique tracks – it makes for a refreshing single. I wonder if Ayu is moving away from the rock sound she’s been hooked on for the past few years. That’s one thing I do enjoy about Ayu, her genre and style is ever changing as she grows as an artist from pop, techno, dance, rock etc. I welcome anything new that Ayu wishes to bring to the table and thus, this single is great.

Rating: 8/10 and 9/10

Lalala Sososo Mano Erina

Oh hai Manoeri! Is it release time again already? I’ve been watching more Manoeri stuff lately and I’ve realised she’s not the devil-spawn demon child I thought she was. She’s pretty cool but that doesn’t mean I have to like her music and I don’t, sorry Manoeri.

Lalala Sososo isn’t as slow as ManoPiano and it’s not as fast as LUCKY AURA, it’s sort of a cross in between. Let’s talk about the song itself – it’s pretty much ‘meh’ to be honest. It’s not horrible but it’s not even close to being good. It reminds me of an early 90s British children’s show theme song. I can just see some horrible claymation characters strolling down the street XD Manoeri’s voice – erm. I’ve heard people saying “wow she’s improved” – I honestly don’t hear it; perhaps a very slight improvement. I still think she sounded yards better in Ongaku Gatas which defies all logic. It’s almost as if they told her to start sounding crap … although knowing UFA that’s a possibility. It’s not really Mano’s fault and I don’t blame her, UFA need to just get her some vocal training, which is something ALL H!P members should be receiving ALL THE TIME … even Takahashi.

The whole piano gimmick is stupid. Unless she goes out there and does some Alicia Keys piano work then there is no real point. Any person and his dog could be taught to play the routines Mano performs and I have no doubt that she can probably do much more difficult stuff. All in all Mano falls victim to UFA pushing her in the wrong direction. She needs to be doing fun, upbeat, dance tracks that suit her voice, instead she’s stuck doing … well this. Bland and boring.

Rating: 6/10

I RAVE U ravex feat. DJ OZMA

Ok so I have no idea what ravex is… I assume it’s some sort of rave themed project from avex? I RAVE U features DJ OZMA and his band of merry men and topless ladies (see infamous Kohaku performance).

I’ve heard DJ OZMA songs before and I know going in it’s gonna be a little over the top and unusual … but I wasn’t expecting this at all. It took me a while to even figure out what to make of it. To make things worse I heard the song for the first time while watching the PV (oh god lol). I’d hate to ruin such an experience for anyone else so check it out! >.<

This is one of those songs where I don’t know what to say about it, you kind of have to make up your own mind on it. You’ll either love it or hate it. I think I’m leaning towards love, it has spread throughout me like some awful plague. It's quite addictive.

Rating: 8.5/10

Berryz are wired, yo!

2008-12-18T17:06:00.004+09:00

NEWS: Berryz Koubou had the privilege of performing at the 41st Nippon Yuusen Taishou Ongaku Shoujushou Award show last night and were also nominated for the Wired music prize.

The performance was really great with some cute new costumes. There seemed to be some audio problems: Risako's mic was booming while some of the others were hardly audible, but that may have been intentional XD

Fujimoto Miki also performed at the awards which was a nice, little surprise. She sang a duet with Takao Horiuchi.

Unfortunately I don't think Berryz won the award they were nominated in - at least I haven't heard anything about it and if they had, I'm sure I would have. The nice thing is that everyone gets an award. C-ute was nominated for the best new artist last year at these awards and despite not winning they still got little medals. Yay for Berryz.

C-ute will appear later this month at the 50th Japan Record Awards where they won the Best New Artist award last year. This year they are nominated for the Excellence Award for their hit Edo no Temari Uta II.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

2008-12-17T19:35:00.008+09:00

...my true love gave to me a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

alan burst on to the Jpop scene late last year with the wonderful Ashita e no Sanka and despite being pushed as Avex's new girl over the past year, has had pretty disappointing sales, far less than I think she deserves. This year alan embarked on her 5 elements campaign and got herself a moderate hit with the wonderful RED CLIFF ~Shin·Sen~ The song, representing the fire element, has been her best selling single yet.

Now, those who know me know that I'm a sucker for big, sweeping ballads. That's what this is. I've actually heard quite a bit of varied opinions on this song but I personally adore it! alan has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard and her Tibetan wailing is incredibly beautiful. RED CLIFF has so many layers and the growth is amazing, it sends chills up my spine!

I have to wonder why she isn't as successful as she probably should be. The poor girl is being pushed so much by Avex and yet this single sold less than 15K, her best sales yet. Poor alan - or maybe not. Lackluster sales won't hold back ~~Avex~~ alan who already has 3 more singles and an album scheduled for early 2009. Go get em, alan!

Oricon Roundup 12/16: Xmas Shopping!

2008-12-17T12:35:00.005+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 152,260
02 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 81,907
03 White Xmas KAT-TUN 19,962
04 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 17,550
05 Heart of Winter Yamazaki Masayoshi 14,206
06 Eien no Ashita DEEN 13,898
07 Tobira GReeeeN 13,235
08 CROSS GAME alice nine. 12,703
09 Minna no Tamago Shugo Chara Egg! 12,587
10 PAPERMOON Tommy heavenly6 11,838

Albums:

01 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 707,763
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 257,760
03 VOICE Nakashima Mika 33,920
04 Enka Meikyoku Collection 9 - Aishu no Mizuumi - Hikawa Kiyoshi 28,765
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 28,125

40 Abe Natsumi Best Selection 15 Shoku no Nigaoe Tachi Abe Natsumi 5,206
66 Pucchi Best 9 Various Artists 3,354
122 MEGA MELON Melon Kinenbi 1,477
132 Hello! Project Special Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,349
148 Taiyo to Ciscomoon (T&C BOMBER) MEGA Best T&C Bomber 1,172
164 Hello! Project Shuffle Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,102
168 Tanpopo / Pucchimoni MEGA Best Tanpopo / Pucchimoni 1,084
171 Country Musume MEGA Best Country Musume 1,073
182 Legend Nakazawa Yuko 1,020

hANGRY & ANGRY to jet off to USA

2008-12-17T06:05:00.007+09:00

NEWS: hANGRY & ANGRY (Yoshizawa Hitomi / Ishikawa Rika), the Harajuku fashion based duo, will make their USA debut at next April's Sakura-con 2009. The event, held in Seattle, Washington, will see Yossie and Rika perform at their first non-Hawaiian USA event - how very exciting for the both of them! :D

The official USA hANGRY & ANGRY myspace site released the following press statement:

Sakura-Con to host Hangry & Angry premiere US performance!

Seattle, WA- 12-16-2008 ANCEA is pleased to announce the final headlining performers for Sakura-Con 2009. "Hangry & Angry" will make their US premiere at Sakura-Con 2009, April 10-12 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

Hangry & Angry is a collaboration with a Harajuku fashion store which goes by the same name and is the brand of popular Japanese designer h.NAOTO . Illustrator GASHICON draws the gurokawa (grotesque-cute)-style characters "Hangry" and "Angry". What is Hangry & Angry? Hangry & Angry represent a potent synthesis of fashion, illustration, fantasy and music.

The characters "Hangry" and "Angry" are said to come from the H44 Star Nebula in order to save the world from global warming. They arrived in the present in their time machine dubbed "LOVE MACHINE."

On the Third Day of Christmas...

2008-12-16T17:12:00.006+09:00

...my true love gave to me the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Mihimaru GT is one of my favourite artists - I really dig their unique style - and this year was a great year for them, releasing their successful 4th studio album, mihimarise. Their latest single, Shiawase ni Narou, released in October, would have to be one of the sweetest tracks of the year.

Mihimaru GT is probably best known for their awesome, crazy songs but they really do have some beautiful ballads. diverge, also released this year, is another I would recommend; Simply stunning. Hiroko has such a pure, honest voice, I could listen to her forever (and look, but that's another story for another blog post ^^; ) - This track just gives me little butterflies inside, it's so sweet and cute and the rapped verses are great!

I knew I wanted to use a Mihimaru GT song for one of the 12 Days and was kind of torn, I've really LOVED their 3 singles (I'm not including the collab) they've done this year. Meh, I'll just post them all!

Girigiri Hero is such a cool fun song + I love that cute outfit Hiroko wore during the live performances ^_^ (!!!!!) and diverge, as I mentioned before, is just beautiful!

So yeah, kudos to Mihimaru GT for a great year!

On the Second Day of Christmas...

2008-12-15T14:17:00.006+09:00

...my true love gave to me a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Moving on from upbeat and fun to slow and creepy, 2008 marked the debut of a talented young artist Wakeshima Kanon. Her debut single, still doll, was the closing theme for the first season of Vampire Knight.

When I first heard this track I was completely transfixed. Kanon has such a unique, haunting voice and still doll is just deliciously creepy! Under the wing of producer Mana, Wakeshima has delivered two stellar singles this year, I even bought a copy of her latest, Suna no Oshiro, purely because I just love it so much.
But this girl is not only a great singer, but also a cellist and artist. She truly is such a creative person. The artworks she has on her blog as incredible, her cello playing is incredible. I totally can't express how impressed I am with Wakeshima Kanon, such talent and she's only 20 years old!

2008 was a great debut year for Kanon-chan and 2009 already looks promising, with Kanon releasing her debut album Shinshoku Dolce in February. I personally cannot wait!

On the First Day of Christmas...

2008-12-14T18:39:00.009+09:00

...my true love gave to me a WINTER PARTY!

I thought we'd start off the 12 days of Christmas with a bang; WINTER PARTY, the purely awesome Xmas themed hit from BREAKERZ. BREAKERZ have been on a roll this year, releasing 3 really great singles after last year's 2 albums. WINTER PARTY was their 3rd single, coupled with Angelic Smile, another great track.

I wanted to share this song with you all because it is, by far, my favourite winter/xmas themed song from this year and I felt it was very fitting to kick off my 12 Days with an Xmas track. The chorus in this song is so cool, I love the Engrish lyrics (Puresento!!) - it just really gets me in such a Christmas mood, it makes me all giddy ^_^; On top of all that, it's just a really fun track.

Hopefully you'll give it a listen and maybe it will boost your Xmas anticipation as it did mine.

Nicks 4 Ice Creamusume

2008-12-14T06:47:00.007+09:00

NEWS: Ice Creamusume's official blog opened today and although there are no posts, it does have bios on each girl which include new (much easier to remember) nicknames. We also learn that their name is written with a joint of Cream and Musume - Creamusume.

Guu-chan
(グーチャン)
DOB: 1996.12.14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUU-CHAN!

Youko
(ヨウコ)
DOB: 1992.8.28

PeiPei
(ペイペイ)
DOB: 1991.2.10

ReiRei
(レイレイ)
DOB: 1994.1.16

Anchii
(アンチー)
DOB: 1989.7.23

ShenShen
(シェンシェン)
DOB: 1988.1.10

The 12 Days of Christmas

2008-12-13T10:24:00.006+09:00

Starting from tomorrow, the 14 of December, I will be counting down Stardust's 12 Days of Christmas.

I thought for a while about what my blog could do special for Christmas and decided to count down 12 songs, released in the past year, which were influential to myself in one way or another. These songs aren't necessarily my 12 favourite songs of the year (that would be way to hard to do lol) but more so, songs that are special to me. Similarly the 12 days is not a ranking, each song is of equal importance, but I've left the best till last I believe ;)

So make sure to visit over the days leading towards Christmas to see a new song each day and let me know what you think of the songs and maybe let me know which songs were special to you this year.

Longing 4 C-ute's Album

2008-12-13T00:55:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: It's still over a month away but a very preliminary tracklist of C-ute's 4th album 4 Akogare My STAR is out thanks to neowing. The tracklist indicates shuffle units once again, with new pairings of Erika/Chisato/Mai and Saki/Kanna, aswell as solo songs for Airi & Maimi. There are also 4 new full group tracks.

01.Namida no Iro
02.Edo no Temari Uta II
03.FOREVER LOVE
04.★Akogare My STAR★
05.SHINES
06.Yakusoku wa Toku ni Shinai wa
07.Seishun SONG / Yajima Maimi
08.Big dream
09.One's LIFE / Omaeda Erika ・ Chisato Okai ・ Hagiwara Mai
10.[Untitled] / Nakajima Saki ・ Arihara Kanna
11.[Untitled] / Suzuki Airi

I'd expect that the track order might end up changing. The singles right at the beginning in cronological order seems a bit odd + the two tracks without names being right at the end along with the shuffles. We'll see I guess. The album is out January 28th.

Reviews: 12/10 New Releases

2008-12-11T15:39:00.003+09:00

REVIEWS: Review time again! As it gets closer and closer to Xmas, I'm running out of winter ballads. I'm still haven't found one that totally knocks my socks off... maybe next year. This week none of the tracks are especially wintery, well except for Shuuchishin newie but ... well read the review. I also review new tracks from Porno Graffitti, RSP, Tommy heavenly6 and H!P's newest unit Shugo Chara Egg!

Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti

Porno Graffitti are sort of entering a new chapter of their singing career, coming off their successful BEST ACE/JOKER albums released last month. They kick off this phase with Koyoi, Tsuki ga Meizutomo which is the ending theme for the third BLEACH anime film (Bleach: Fade to Black –Kimi no Na wo Yobu-).
The song has a great sound to it throughout; it’s an upbeat, energetic song with some rock and synth elements. It really is very high energy from start to finish … It must be a bitch to perform lol so all credit to Okano who does really well vocally. The song is really going for that exciting, upbeat sound, but for me I would have liked a little more variety in the instrumental. It tends to maintain pretty much the same energy throughout, there’s no highs or lows, it’s much of the same all the way through. It’s still a pumping track though and a great start for this new chapter for Porno Graffitti.

Rating: 8/10

LA.LA.LA LOVE SONG ~Koko kara Hajimaru Koi Monogatari~ RSP

LA LA LA LOVE SONG ~blah blah~ (lol) is RSP’s first single since their debut album DICE which was released a little earlier this year. The track sees the girls (+dancers) team up with DA BUBBLE GUM BROTHERS and is a cover of a Toshinobu Kubota song.
One thing I love about RSP are the edgy vocals of Saki and Ai. They both sound very unique and give RSP their own unique vocal sound. Unfortunately we’re bombarded by DA BUBBLE GUM BROTHERS who are some old dudes who rap. I’m not really sure why the girls just couldn’t rap themselves, we all know they can… urgh wateva. In regards to the song, it’s a great track. Very catchy with a bit of a disco beat but still maintaining that street feel that RSP have. Maybe on their next album they’ll have an RSP only ver of this track? I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Rating:7.5/10

Minna no Tamago Shugo Chara Egg!

Ah~! ‘tis a debut single from a new H!P group! Shugo Chara Egg!’s Minna no Tamago is the opening for the new season of Shugo Chara (Doki!!) and is very much inspired by the colourful anime.
I always love when new groups debut and this one has one of my fav eggs Wada Ayaka in it! Unfortunately pretty much my whole fandom of DAWA was based on her cute performances where I hadn’t really heard her sing solo. This song sort of crashes my pure image of her. Everytime she opens her mouth I feel like sticking a gun in mine -_-; Oh well, I still love ya DAWA! (even if you can’t sing) -_- The other girls are all very cute and it’s generally just a fun, childish song. It’s not the most terrific song to ever grace H!P but for its purpose it does well.

Rating:7/10

PAPERMOON Tommy heavenly6

PAPERMOON is Tomoko Kawase’s new single and her first since release as Tommy heavenly6 since Heavy Starry Heavenly back in early ’07. It’s good to have heavenly back!
To be honest, the track is a pretty conventional Tommy rock track but I still really enjoy it. For me the song is very upbeat and catchy, the chorus in particular has a great sound to it – but I do really like the whole track. Tommy’s vocals go a long way – she is a pleasure to listen to, especially when she really goes for it. The rock instrumental is pretty good, if not totally original, and it works well with the track.
Perhaps one of the very exciting things about this release is IW’s fav gaijin rocker Elec (LAVERITE) appears in the Wizard of Oz themed PV, rockin’ out as the scarecrow. It’s a pretty nifty PV so check it out:

Rating: 8.5/10

Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin

Everyone’s favourite Shuuchishin has a Christmas track which is almost certain to rocket to no.1 … yay! (-_-; ) … lol I don’t watch Hexagon so I don’t really ‘get’ the appeal of these dudes but each to their own I guess.
Yowamushi SANTA is pretty dodgy. I’m sorry lol, but it just is. Firstly the guys can’t really sing very well, which I can look past if the song is good (hell, I’m a H!P fan) … but the song just isn’t anything special either. It’s like a mid tempo sway session song … what a bore. The chorus is kind of catchy I guess, I’ll give it that. It might work on the whole retro tv song level – I can totally picture this being sung on their show. It’s not bad, I mean I can listen to it, but it’s just a very average song – so I’m giving it a very average rating.

Rating:5/10

My Last Order of '08

2008-12-10T17:00:00.008+09:00

So I promised myself that I wouldn't buy anymore expensive cds from Japan but, as usual, I have a hard time keeping my word XD - This order actually arrived last week but I forgot to post about it but better late than never, eh?

I bought Morning Musume's COVER YOU, C-ute's FOREVER LOVE (reg edition) and Wakeshima Kanon's Suna no Oshiro (Limited).

Morning Musume's album came in a slipcase (the actual cover is much nicer than the brown one imo) - but I'm perplexed as to the so called 3-sided-spine thing that it was meant to have; I guess that idea was scrapped. The booklet is really nice, but I'm sure everyone has seen it all before. One thing that I really loved was the CD. It looks really pretty, don't ya think? It's very shiny and cool, I love the artwork on it. The cd itself is great and I waited until I got the album to give it a full listen - it was worth the wait! :D

C-ute's FOREVER LOVE was sort of an impulse buy. I don't usually buy C-ute singles (this is my first one) as I tend to stick to albums. I did really like the track but, and I thought what the heck. The packing is a regular cd single, nothing too special. The artwork seemed to be castle inspired, which I found odd - I really don't know where that connection comes from lol. Secret agents ... castles .... rightio. It's nice either way.

Finally, I bought the Limited edition of Wakeshima Kanon's latest single so it came with some yummy extras: A vampire knight sticker (top left) which was attached to the obi as the back cover of the single; A sticker of Kanon's artwork (top right) - she's such a talented little artist and it's great! - The cd also gives you access to an live performance which you can view at Kanon's website online. All in all a great purchase ^_^ I adore Kanon-chan!

So this is obviously my last purchase of 2008 ... and I'm thinking back now what I ended up buying. I didn't go TOTALLY crazy but I bought a little bit: C-ute's 3rd Love Escalation, Canaria Club's Nishiki Kazare, MM's Resonant Blue, Hamasaki Ayumi's ALL SINGLES COMPLETE, Sound Horizon's Moira, MM's Pepper Keibu, Wonder Girl's Nobody, Koda Kumi's TABOO, DBSK's Vol4 - Mirotic, C-ute's FOREVER LOVE, MM's COVER YOU & Wakeshima Kanon's Suna no Oshiro - I think that's all. I'd be inclined to suggest I'll buy more next year but with the current conversion rate, it prob won't be the case :(

Oricon Roundup 12/9: EXILE's PERFECT YEAR

2008-12-10T13:55:00.003+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

CHARTS:

Single:

01 White Xmas KAT-TUN 250,106
02 Tobira GReeeeN 42,394
03 Prototype Ishikawa Chiaki 29,402
04 Kimagure Romantic Ikimono Gakari 23,662
05 NAKED LOVE Nightmare 22,030
06 Aino Mamade Akimoto Junko 21,664
07 Sunao ni Naretara JUJU feat. Spontania / I can be free JUJU 18,145
08 Jesus Gackt 15,900
09 Last Christmas EXILE 13,662
10 Tsunagari Sunset Dragon Ash 12,441

29 Screen Abe Natsumi 4,848

Album:

01 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 943,901
02 Macross F / Macross Frontier: Nyantama TVSoundtrack 86,450
03 VOICE Nakashima Mika 61,049
04 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 39,120
05 Circus Britney Spears 30,340

Ayaya's in the Kitchen... with Chickens?

2008-12-09T17:08:00.007+09:00

NEWS: Matsuura Aya has a new commercial deal with Family Mart for the Christmas, Holiday season. She also sings the theme song for the cm, titled Kitchen and Chicken. Family Mart have a youtube video channe l where you can see a number of videos about Aya's new commercial deal, including some little talk videos. They also have a making of style video of Aya singing the track.

It's interesting, to say the least. Is it wrong that I like this song better than anything she's released recently -_-;;

crunch Pocky!

2008-12-08T20:32:00.004+09:00

PREVIEW: Mano Erina's upcoming drama Pocky 4 Sisters begins airing later this month and commercials for the drama have started airing on Japanese tv.

Mano has also appeared in the 4th volume of YanYan, promoting her upcoming single Lalala-Sososo - a preview of the cover art of the single appears on one of the scans below:

(click to enlarge)

Tamago Dreams~

2008-12-06T08:04:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: Talk about a long wait! Shugo Chara Egg's debut single Minna no Tamago is released next week and the dohhhup! JUST released the PV! We heard this single AGES ago from the Shugo Chara opening but had to wait so long for the PV, how strange. Anywhoo- here it is:

The PV is really cute and is one of the better recent green screen PVs. It really fits the mood of the anime well and the scenes from Shugo Chara are nice but don't totally overpower the PV (it's mainly about the girls, as it should be). Everyone is great, I'm starting to like Yuuka more and more which scared me lol. Kanon is cute as can be, very aibon-esque looking! Akari seems very sweet and while DAWA has a voice that can make my ears bleed, she's still my fav egg ^_^

Winter Games with GND

2008-12-05T15:47:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: GIRL NEXT DOOR is perhaps one of the biggest debut acts of the year, not so much in terms of success but in regards to how much they've been pushed by avex. It really seems they want this group to succeed and I do too. I haven't loved their 3 singles, but I've kind of liked them all so I'm hoping for something to hook me onto GND and their debut album might just be the thing!

GIRL NEXT DOOR's self titled debut is released the day before Christmas and has a very clear winter theme. The covers are incredible, the whole winter idea of this album is sublime! I really, really am hoping for something that knocks my socks off. Lucky for me, the PV for the leading track of the album Winter Games was released today and it's so great!

Ok, so the song is a similar style to the previous tracks which I have constantly panned for all sounding the same ... whatever. I've pretty much accepted the fact that all their songs are going to have some ~~lame~~ disco/dance sound to them. This one does seem to stand out from their other tracks so far, at least for me, the chorus is great. Although it might just be the PV which is hilariously awesome. Watch through to the end, it's great!

Either way, I'm looking forward to GIRL NEXT DOOR and hoping for a great release. I honestly can't believe I'm a fan of the group and I don't even listen to their music -_-;; ~ Give me something to like!! lol. The album drops on the 24th of December.

Reviews: 12/3 New Releases

2008-12-05T11:35:00.007+09:00

REVIEWS: I've been a bit MIA this past couple of weeks and as a result I didn't get the reviews done last week. I almost wasn't going to do them again but I decided I had to try and get my act in gear and dedicate some time to my blog! ^_^ I'm reviewing new singles from KAT-TUN, Ikimono Gakari and JYONGRI this week.

Kimagure Romantic Ikimono Gakari

I really enjoyed Ikimono Gakari's previous single Planetarium, it wasn't stellar but it grew on me a lot and was a song I did enjoy. Their new single, Kimagure Romantic is more of an upbeat, fun pop track and is a real winner in my eyes.
The track begins with this great, upbeat instrumental that is repeated throughout the chorus and it's just amazingly infectious! I really love the build in this track, the song gradually grows from the verses to the pre-chorus bridge and then the chorus really takes off. While the whole track is great it's really the chorus that makes this song, it's just so happy and fun - it really gets you feeling great! The PV is also a lot of fun for anyone who wants to check it out. The dancing at the end is just too cute ^_^
Kimagure Romantic is the type of song which just lifts your spirits, no matter what mood you are in. It's definitely one of my favourite tracks of the year.

Rating: 9.5/10

White Xmas KAT-TUN

White Xmas is KAT-TUN's first single in what seems like a while. DON'T YOU EVER STOP from memory was their last, earlier in the year? Damn theppn for being down! Either way it's nice to have something new from KAT-TUN. Christmas themed tracks are very popular at the moment and KAT-TUN give it a shot with their ballad White Xmas.
I gotta say, apart from the odd Christmas in the lyrics every now and then, this doesn't sound Christmassy at all. It's just a normal ballad, but still, it's a nice track. It sounds a bit melancholic so I'm sure it's about not being with someone for Christmas, something along those lines. The vocals are ok, some solo sections aren't strong but the chorus sounds reasonably good. Though White Xmas doesn't leave too much of an impression on me I will say that it's a nice change of pace though from their previous rock tracks.

Rating: 7/10

Winter Love Story JYONGRI

Winter Love Story is another winter themed track (I love winter ^_^) this time from Korean songstress JYONGRI, who I don't really listen to, but I'm willing to be won over (please please please!)
The track wasn't really what I was expecting - I was expecting a ballad but it's a nice mid-tempo track and it has quite a bit of English in it which always helps me decipher the meaning. The instrumental isn't the greatest, I mean I like the pace but it sounds a bit synth in parts, could have been better but not altogether horrible. JYONGRI's voice is really great; She has a deepish, unique sounding voice which I really enjoy. She's apparently fluent in English which explains her English sounding uncharacteristically decent. It's a really nice track and gets me interested in her other songs.

Rating: 8/10

Dear... Tenjochiki

2008-12-05T10:56:00.008+09:00

PREVIEW: Tenjochiki (CSJH The Grace) are releasing their second album Dear..., coming off the moderate success of their last single Here. I do like Tenjochiki even though I don't really often listen to them but this album has sparked my interest in the group.

Sukoshi de ii kara (少しでいいから) is the lead track of the album and the PV was released a few days ago.

As someone who just casually listens to Tenjochiki, I find this song really incredible and it will definitely make me check out their new album (when I probably wouldn't have). It's a sweeping ballad, just beautiful. The PV is also very nice and the girls are great as always.

Dear... is released on the 7th of January, 2009.

Some '09 H!P Releases

2008-12-03T08:16:00.008+09:00

PREVIEW: A small handful of upcoming 2009 releases were announced today, sure to get all H!P fans anticipating the new year!

Morning Musume's 38th Single
泣いちゃうかも
Naichau Kamo (I might cry)
11th Feburary

It's a new Morning Musume single and it isn't a cover - always something to get excited over. While I did enjoy Pepper Keibu and COVER YOU sounds promising so far (I'm waiting till my copy arrives) - it almost feels like we haven't had a NEW MM track since Resonant Blue. Naichau Kamo sounds like it could be a ballad, but tracks that sound like ballads usually end up totally different lol. I'm hoping for more of that cool sound we heard on Resonant Blue.

C-ute's 4th Album
4憧れ My STAR
4 Akogare My STAR (Longing 4 My STAR)
28th January

What a cool title ^_^ I adore C-ute, they have such a broad range of music styles and a strong set of singers. Their last album 3rd LOVE Escalation seemed to get mixed reviews (though I loved it) so it will be interesting what sound My STAR takes. Tsunku described in one of his blog entries that the new album has some sexy/fun/cute songs but overall a very cool sound to it. Sounds great!

Matsuura Aya's 6th Album
想いあふれて
Omoi Afurete (Overflowing Thoughts)
21st of January

I'm not sure if that translated title is correct since I did it myself and my Japanese track record is dodgy at best :P Either way, Omoi Afurete will seem to be Ayaya's last release as a member of H!P. It's almost the end of an era, Matsuura being H!P's most successful soloist. I never really got into her last album Double Rainbow - and her latest singles haven't bowled me over - but I'm hoping for a great send off for Ayaya.

Kirari Tsukishima starring Koharu Kusumi (Morning Musume) 6th Single
はぴ☆はぴサンデー
Hapi☆Hapi Sunday
4th Febuary

Koha's last Kirarin single BOMBED big time but I'm glad she's coming out with another one. Koha is one of my fav MM members (sometimes my least fav - love/hate y'know) and I tend to really enjoy her solo stuff. I'm hoping for happy, addictive and koha-tastic!!

Oricon Roundup 12/2: Xmas VOICE

2008-12-02T17:10:00.003+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Last Christmas EXILE 200,255
02 Everyday/Can't Get Back w-inds. 48,303
03 Jigsaw Acid Black Cherry 42,896
04 Hakanaku mo Towa no GALAXY UVERworld 27,275
05 FOREVER LOVE C-ute 26,603
06 Sunao ni Naretara JUJU feat. Spontania / I can be free JUJU 25,736
07 24 Xmas time Kuraki Mai 21,002
08 Hurry Xmas L'Arc~en~Ciel 20,381
09 Aino Mamade Akimoto Junko 17,420
10 Bouken Suisei Kurumi Enomoto 13,697

Albums:

01 VOICE Nakashima Mika 155,502
02 Umbrella Shumizu Shota 56,442
03 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 51,498
04 Unreal flumpool 45,203
05 Chinese Democracy Guns N' Roses 39,095

27 COVER YOU Morning Musume 9,824

C-ute and Mikitty at the Lyricist Awards

2008-11-30T22:22:00.008+09:00

NEWS: Earlier this evening, C-ute and Fujimoto Miki both performed at the Lyricist Award Show, a ceremony held in honour of the great lyricists of Japanese Music - Tsunku has been a past winner at the awards show.

C-ute performed twice, opening the show with ZARD's MAKENAIDE before later performing their hit single Edo no Temari Uta II which was nominated for an award, Yoshioka Osamu being the writer of the song. You can check out both performances below:

Fujimoto Miki paired up with Horiuchi Takao (who she had previously worked with on Oki tegami) to sing Itsu demo yume wo. I can't find any vid of the performance yet though. But I do have pics ^_^

Ice Cream on MTV Taiwan

2008-11-29T18:18:00.004+09:00

Ooooh! I love Ice Cream Musume and they haven't sung anything yet ^_^ They better not let me down *shakes fist* - The girls appeared on MTV Taiwan yesterday, introducing themselves and having a bit of a chat.

For those trying to learn who is who, some nice fellow has subbed the little introduction section of the appearance:

They're all adorable :D The girl I've been calling "Lán Ai Zi" is apparently named Qiu Cui Ling - Not sure where I got the first name from lol. Either way she's cute as can be ^_^ They better give them stage/nick names but, I can neither remember nor pronounce any of them -_-;

Some Tragic News

2008-11-29T08:28:00.006+09:00

NEWS: As you may or may not have already heard, it was announced today that Iida Kaori's 6 month old son passed away back in July from chronic renal failure. A memorial service was held for the child in September and Iida-san plans to return to the stage sometime next year.

I can imagine that losing your own child would be one of the most painful things to endure and I'm just really shocked and saddened by this news. Iida is such a kind, generous soul and it's so unfair something like this had to happen to her. With the love and support of her friends and family, I pray she can make it through this rough time.
My deepest condolences to Kaori and her family.

Oricon Roundup 11/25: Just some NEWS

2008-11-27T22:13:00.004+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Hakanaku mo Towa no GALAXY UVERworld 118,852
02 Dream Fighter Perfume 70,873
03 Jyonetsu no Daisho / ESCAPE GIRL NEXT DOOR 22,117
04 Beautiful Days ARASHI 16,102
05 ”ShoukuGyou: Idol” Idoling!!! 14,670
06 Tsuretette Tsuretette DREAMS COME TRUE 14,419
07 17 Sai Ginkgo BOYZ 13,819
08 Ashita no Sora SPEED 12,926
09 Kitei no Tsurugi ALI PROJECT 12,054
10 ORION Mika Nakashima 11,787

Albums:

01 color NEWS 180,380
02 Unreal flumpool 110,832
03 Chinese Democracy Guns N' Roses 57,683
04 MY SHORT STORIES YUI 38,169
05 Personal Soundtracks Noriyuki Makihara 36,832

Kouhaku Shafts Morning Musume

2008-11-25T16:22:00.013+09:00

NEWS: The list of performers for NHK's 59th Kouhaku New Years' Celebration was released today with Morning Musume notably absent from the Female Red Team (Akagumi) list. It is the first time they have not been invited to perform since they began appearing at the event in 1997. Last year they were joined by C-ute and Berryz in a joint H!P performance to commemorate MM's 10th anniversary.

Satoda Mai will be H!P's sole representative, perfoming with Pabo and Schuuchishin on the White Team (Shirogumi).

Debuting Artist Press Conference

Artists performing at Kouhaku for the first time this year include Aoyama Thelma, ikimono gakari, GIRL NEXT DOOR, Perfume, KIMAGUREN, Jero, Tohoshinki and Mr.Children.

NHK 59th Kouhaku
PERFORMERS
numbers indicate tally of past performances

Akagumi/Red Team
aiko（７）
Aoyama Thelma（DEBUT）
Akimoto Junko（DEBUT）
ayaka（３）
Angela Aki（３）
ikimono gakari（DEBUT）
Ishikawa Sayuri（３１）
Otsuka Ai（５）
Fujioka Fujimaki and Oohashi Nozomi（DEBUT）
GIRL NEXT DOOR（DEBUT）
Kawanaka Miyuki（２１）
Koda Kumi（４）
Godai Natsuko（１５）
Kobayashi Sachiko（３０）
Sakamoto Fuyumi（２０）
SPEED（４）
Tendou Yoshimi（１３）
Nakashima Mika（７）
Nakamura Mitsuko（１３）
Perfume（DEBUT）
Hamasaki Ayumi（１０）
Hitoto You（５）
Hirahara Ayaka（５）
Fuji Ayako（１６）
Mizumori Kaori（６）
Wada Akiko（３２）
Special Performance
Enya（DEBUT）

Shirogumi/White Team
Aqua Timez（２）
Akikawa Masafumi（３）
Itsuki Hiroshi（３８）
EXILE（４）
Kitajima Saburou（４５）
Kitayama Takeshi（４）
KIMAGUREN（DEBUT）
Kiyama Yusaku（DEBUT）
KOBUKURO（４）
Jero（DEBUT）
shuuchishin with PABO（DEBUT）
SMAP（１６）
Tohoshinki（DEBUT）
TOKIO（１５）
Tokunaga Hideaki（３）
Hikawa Kiyoshi（９）
Hirai Ken（６）
Fuse Akira（２４）
PORNO GRAFFITI（７）
Maekawa Kiyoshi（１８）
Migawa Kenichi（２５）
Mr. Children（DEBUT）
Mizutani Yutaka（DEBUT）
Mori Shinichi（４１）
Moriyama Naotaro（３）
WaT（４）
Special Performance
Miyazawa Kazufumi ingannga・ZUMBA & THE BOOM

Yum! Ice Cream! ^_^

2008-11-23T16:35:00.029+09:00

Ice Cream Musume or Bing Qi Lin Shao Nu Zu (BQLSNZ) are now the talk of the town (at least in my little universe) and I'm going to post some more pics of their group reveal ... just because ;)

Yes, I photoshopped the dude out lol

click to enlarge

Also I've heard people speculating that each girl might represent their favourite Ice Cream flavour which made me ask myself ... What flavour would each Ice Cream Musume be and why?

Light bulb Rocky Road

This Ice Cream Musume brings together delightfully sweet milk chocolate and fluffy marshmallows to create an explosion of adorable cuteness. However be warned, at times she can be a bit nutty.

Lán Ai Zi Strawberry Cheesecake
This Ice Cream Musume not only looks cute but is as sweet as can be. While she isn't the main attraction, she has that delicate, modest flavour that is sure to make anyone's heart melt.

Wú Sī Xuán Triple Choc Fudge

You asked for flavour and this Ice Cream Musume delivers! She's the kind that keeps on giving, with layer upon layer of goey, delectable goodness, though some might find her a little too rich for their taste buds.

Gǔ Yún Neapolitan
No matter what your flavour preference is, this Ice Cream Musume has the goods: Sweet strawberry, cool vanilla or sexy chocolate... take your pick! Everyone always ends up going for Chocolate.

Céng Dé Píng Mint Choc Chip

This Ice Cream Musume has a refreshingly peppermint personality with that odd crunch of choc chip quirkiness. One spoonful and she'll win you over with her zany stories and wacky jokes.

Zhōng An Qí Cherry

When you think of this Ice Cream Musume you think of just one thing: Sexy! A real looker with that irresistable taste, she gives just enough to leave you wanting more. Be warned boys, this one's a heart breaker!

Impressive Debuts from Ogamana & Twe'lv

2008-11-23T12:30:00.005+09:00

REVIEWS: It's always nice to see some new artists hitting the scene and these two perked up my interest straight away.
Ogawa Mana has always been my favourite girl in Canaria Club; She is a total star with an incredible voice and great stage presence. When I heard she was releasing a solo single for the anime Hyakko I was very excited and Suppin' Rock is definitely not a let down.
On the other hand we have Twe'lv who are new to the scene and who I discovered when their PV was posted to DohhhUP!. I was pretty impressed with the Seishun Oden PV and the retro feeling of it.
Now both singles have been released I can finally do some full reviews of the two ^_^

Suppin' Rock Ogawa Mana

Suppin' Rock

Mana's voice has real punch to it so Suppin' Rock is the perfect debut single for her. It shows off her voice whilst being catchy and fun to listen to. The choruses are the high point in this song, with the "It's only love" lines being very catchy, and there is a general joyous feeling to the track helped by Mana's whoo!ing and yeah!ing throughout .^^. The rock instrumental is pretty good, though a little uninspired which tends to describe the track - good but far from great. It's not something that stands out to you straight away as an awesome song and is something I think would work much better in concerts. I'd love to sit through a live performance of Mana rockin' out, it would be sublime! So while it's not a suburb track, I do love it and listened to it yesterday for like an hour on repeat, which has to say something for it ;)

Gakuen Seikatsu; Campus Life

The b-side Gakuen Seikatsu; Campus Life is a duet featuring Orikasa Fumiko who is a seiyu/singer also featuring in the Hyakko anime. This track is not rocky like the previous but is a sweet, little pop number. It is unfortunately a bit forgettable and very similar to a lot of other idol songs having that school days, reminiscent feeling to it that you tend to often see. I can't say it makes much of an impression on me at all.

Suppin' Rock: 8.5/10

Gakuen Seikatsu; Campus Life: 6/10

Seishun Oden / Junjou Seishun Love Twe'lv

Seishun Oden

I'm not sure I was as infatuated with Seishun Oden when I first heard it as I am now but I just love this song. For the retro style it is going for, it hits a home run and is a great, interesting track. I know it might not be the style of song everyone is going to enjoy but for me it's a definite winner. Usually I pick out the highlight of the song (whether it is the verses, choruses, bridge etc) but everything here is just wonderful and of the highest quality. The girls' solos aren't stellar but they do sing well enough together that you don't really think about the vocal abilities either way. They are neither great nor bad, which is better than being bad, I guess - they can only improve in the future. Overall it's a great track especially for a debut, from what I hope will be a strong group in the future.

Junjou Seishun Love

Twe'lv's debut single is a double A-side and, the second A-side, Junjou Seishun Love continues the style of the previous track to create another retro styled song. While I generally dispise double A-sides which sound very similar, it is obviously the theme of the group so I can overlook it. The track though just isn't as strong as the previous and ends up feeling like an inferior version of Seishun Oden. Despite this, it's still a decent track and would have been a great b-side. As an A-side, I'm not sure it is as strong as it could have been.

Seishun Oden: 9/10
Junjou Seishun Love: 7/10

Mano's a Pocky 4 Sister

2008-11-22T22:25:00.004+09:00

NEWS: I was a bit reluctant to report this 'news' since I don't know much about what is going on lol, but Mano Erina is appearing in some sort of dorama titled Pocky 4 Sisters ~Dasenai Tegami and it's getting a bit of publicity :D

The other Pocky Sisters are played by Omasa Aya, Kanai Miki and Okamoto Anri and the dorama is scheduled to air from the 27th of Dec on BS-i. I don't know much more other than that lol, but I'll make sure to get you Mano fans any new info I hear.

Check out some great Magazine scans which include some shots from the dorama as well as some scans of Mano featured in Kindai. Click for high-res obviously ;)

From the Past to the Future: MM in BLT

2008-11-22T15:09:00.003+09:00

Morning Musume is in the latest issue of BLT Magazine with a little feature on Morning Musume's history and some cute gen shots of the girls ^_^

click to enlarge

Welcome, Ice Cream Musume!

2008-11-21T13:12:00.007+09:00

NEWS: The Taiwan H!P NEWSTARs have finally been given an official group name, from now forth they shall be known as Ice Cream Musume!

Back row: Zhōng An Qí, Gǔ Yún, Lán Ai Zi, Light bulb
Front row: Céng Dé Píng, Wú Sī Xuán

The group definitely has a Winter theme for themselves, or at least their debut album. They all look very cute in their ice cream jackets, leggings, furry boots and mini ice creams - some girls also seem to have been given mini makeovers since traveling to Japan. Xuán's hair has been cut in a bob now it seems and she looks strikingly like Sawada Yuri, I think lol. Píng has been given a short haircut too by the looks of it. Zi and Yún look really similar, could they be the next two top? Qí is looking gorgeous and Light bulb is Light bulb - cute as can be ^_^

The guy isn't part of the group - for those who were unsure ^^;

So thoughts on the name? It's cute and Ice Cream is my favourite thing in the world + their jackets suspiciously match the red/pink colour I'm always using on my blog... hmmmmm. It's great finally seeing them on the road to a debut and I can't wait to see what kind of songs they'll be singing!

I've also updated all the past NEWSTAR posts with the Ice Cream Musume tag, so click it to read up on the history of the group if you wish.

Punk+LoliGoth = hANGRY & ANGRY

2008-11-20T09:06:00.008+09:00

REVIEW: When the hANGRY&ANGRY news dropped a little over a month ago, so did all our mouths - what in God's name was going on?! We didn't really know but we knew we frekin loved it! (well most of us). Over the past month we've been enticed and teased with small clips and PV shots but now finally we have the album in its full glory. So does it live up to everyone's almost unrealistic expectations?

Kill Me Kiss Me, the title track of hANGRY&ANGRY's first album, is a song we all heard when the group was first announced and one we have likely replayed over and over again this past month (I know I have). Personally I think it's the perfect song to start the album out with. It's different and unique from anything H!P has done but it isn't as far off the mainstream path as some of the other tracks.
The song has a great rock vibe to it; The instrumental is really wonderful with an awesome beat. One of the best points of this song is how it builds towards the chorus, it really begins to pump you up and the chorus rocks! The girl's vocals are also pretty good - I really like how Yossie and Rika's voices are so different that they compliment each other well. There are a number of vocalization effects in this song which are done very well and add to the atmosphere.

Angelia opens with a haunting synth instrumental and the whole track is like some scorned lolita love song - it's creepily awesome. This track has a LOT of vocalization in it, especially in the chorus, but it works surprisingly well and the 'angelia' sections are very catchy. The track is produced impeccably, it sounds very cool and the mood is great. Rika's voice suits the song nicely, it would have been great as a solo - but I adore Yossie so Angelia rocks, regardless. The instrumental section with the ringing bells just adds to that spooky feeling the song gives and that whole section of the song is awesome.

GIZA GIZA is a synth-rock track and opens with an awesome little intro leading into a cool instrumental. The vocals on this track are very crisp and perhaps the best on the album, with both girls sounding terrific. The emotion in their voices is very apparent, especially in the verses and they shine in this song. The chorus is a total winner for me; It's just really catchy and great to listen to to. I love the antithesis of the fast paced chorus and the song's slightly slower verses - it allows for lift and growth in the song. GIZA GIZA also has a vocal bridge, which further shows off the girl's vocal abilitiest, followed by a cool instrumental. A great track and one of my favourites on the album.

Romantic ni Violence is as ballad as this album gets and the chorus still rocks out heaps, but the first verse is very sweet and pure. This song, like Kill Me Kiss Me has an awesome build up leading into the chorus with the instrumental ever so gradually picking its pace. The pre-chorus bridge has some cool vocal effects and it makes for one of the highlights of the track for me. The chorus as I said earlier is very rocky and the "Romantic ni Violence" line is repeated throughout making it easy to catch onto. The track is one of the more upbeat, fun numbers on the album.

The album closes with the mid-tempo WALLFLOWER, opening with one of the more creepier intros the album offers. The opening is decieving though, as the song eventually ends up being a very happy-go-lucky affair with some fun synth effects and a general joyous feeling. The choruses have some horrid Engrish in them lol, I'm not even sure what they're saying... (I'm a bright flower, yeah! ... ?) It's not my favourite track on the album, infact it's probably my least favourite and the song isn't that bad, which just goes to show how awesome this album is.

Kill Me Kiss Me is a totally different affair for a H!P act and something I generally feel H!P has needed for a while. I wish H!P would be more willing to branch out into this more mainstream, appealing sound even if it is not rock, but something that would appeal to a more general audience. It just feels like a much higher quality, professional album compared to recent H!P stuff. Unfortunately it took some crazy fashion label tie-in to create something like this, when really H!P should and could have had a group like hANGRY&ANGRY as a stand alone unit.
My only gripe with this album is that, being a mini album, it is over in 20minutes. FAR TOO SHORT!!! This group NEEDS to continue!

Rating: 9.5/10

Int'l Wota Here I Come!

2008-11-19T21:17:00.009+09:00

So I got an awesome surprise today as pengie, an admin at International Wota, emailed me to ask if I would be interested in joining the Int'l Wota team as a contributor...

Now let me just explain for a second: Int'l Wota is like my bible. It's almost a bit sad lol, but I check it multiple times a day and I don't know if I could live without it. For those who don't know, basically it is a collection of interesting and noteworthy posts from a ton of H!P/Jpop themed blogs on the net, so it's always great to keep up to date with all the news without having to visit hundreds of blogs. They've also been really supportive of Stardust, featuring a lot of my posts and I always have a great amount of hits each time they do. So yeah, pretty much I love the site.

... so back to the story - I went to the wotachat IRC site where all the Int'l Wota crew hang out and everyone was just so awesomely nice and quite a few said that they enjoyed my blog and everything. So of course I accepted and now I'm a contributor on Int'l Wota. Yay! Big thanks to pengie and maiZe, my mentor broomhead, who taught me well, Henkka ^_^ and all the other IW crew who I met. You can check out my first Int'l Wota post if you wish; It's about AKB48's new adult shows... saucy!

Reviews: 11/19 New Releases

2008-11-19T14:58:00.005+09:00

REVIEWS: I’m being so punctual this week to make up for last week’s tardiness. I’m doing reviews of 3 singles for today's review post: Perfume’s Dream Fighter, UVERWorld’s Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi and GIRL NEXT DOOR’s Jounetsu no Daishou / ESCAPE. I really wanted to review Ogawa Mana’s new single but I couldn’t find it anywhere and I didn’t want to review it from the PV only. I’ll wait and do a joint review of Mana and Twe’lv soon.

Dream Fighter Perfume

I could never really get into Perfume. I do enjoy their style, they have some catchy songs, but the whole synth vocals really aren’t my taste – so I’m warning you already lol and I’ll try to remain impartial.
Dream Fighter actually has a really funky beat to it and that is something Perfume is great at, their instrumentals are always very catchy and get my feet tapping and my body moving. The chorus is really nice and catchy, all throughout which I haven’t been able to say about too many Perfume songs - granted I haven't heard many. I tend to find their songs sound very similar or don’t really have a distinct sound to them but Dream Fighter stands out for me. I can’t say I love the song, purely because of the synth style, but for a Perfume song, it's quite nice.

Rating: 7.5/10

Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi UVERworld

I loved loved LOVED UVERworld’s last single Koishikute, it was a great rock ballad. Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi is a much more upbeat number and is the new theme for Gundam 00.
Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi kind of worried me at first, since it opens with synth vocals lol. I thought ‘oh god!’ but thankfully it’s back to normal after a few seconds. I can handle synth vocalization in small doses only :p and to be honest it does sound good as the intro to this song. The instrumental in this track is really great, I love the sections after the chorus, the pre-chorus bridge is also really great. So I love before and after the chorus, but the chorus itself doesn’t leave a huge impression on me. It’s upbeat and rockin’ but it’s just not particularly catchy, I don’t think, which is a shame since the song is pretty solid.
I feel that this track seems to get less interesting and captivating as it goes on, which is slightly odd. It is an anime theme so maybe they focused too much on making the intro really catchy and the rest of the song suffered because of that? I’m not particularly sure. By no means is it a bad song but it just doesn’t give a long lasting impression.

Rating: 8/10

Jounetsu no Daishou / ESCAPE GIRL NEXT DOOR

GIRL NEXT DOOR is a funny group for me because I want to like them so much and, to tell you the truth, I do - but not for the right reasons. I enjoy their image, Chisa is adorable and a great singer. Their PVs are great … but the music does little for me. Unfortunately that’s really the most important thing, right?

Jounetsu no Daishou continues their dance beat style of songs but it is pulled back ever so slightly which is a nice change of pace from their previous upbeat singles. The chorus in this song is pretty good, I love Chisa’s voice and this song allows her to express a bit more emotion than previous singles. I just wish they’d actually gone the full way and made a nice ballad out of this instead of feeling like they had to create some 90s style dance track. It is rather similar to their other stuff and it’s getting old really quickly. That being said, it’s probably my favourite of all their tracks and I do like it.

This single is a double A-side just like their last single and ESCAPE is another dance track (surprise, surprise) which sounds just like all their other songs. I have to say this track’s verses are almost identical to their first singles’ Guuzen no Kakuritsu, I mean the beat is exactly the same. The song in general is really boring, I have no idea why it is an a-side. I think they delayed the single too in order to make it a double a-side. meh whatever.
This group is starting to get on my nerves only because I want to like them just sooo much! RELEASE BETTER MUSIC PLEASE!!! (or at least more diverse stuff)

Rating: 8/10 for Jounetsu no Daishou & 6/10 for ESCAPE

Oricon Roundup 11/18: YUI Shares Her Stories

2008-11-18T20:21:00.004+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

Singer/Songwriter YUI took the top spot on the album charts this week with, her b-side collection, MY SHORT STORIES. The album, which sold 173K, is her 3rd no.1 album coming off I LOVED YESTERDAY's success earlier this year. YUI was unchallenged at the top of the charts, holding the no.1 spot on the daily ranks all week.
Kato Miliyah's BEST DESTINY dropped only 1 place to no.2 this week, selling 55K, bringing her total sales to just under 150K.

The singles chart was much more competitive this week, with DREAMS COME TRUE, the GazettE and ARASHI all holding daily no.1 rankings, but it was DREAMS COME TRUE who nudged their way into the top spot. Tsurette Tsurette sold 46K, 5K more than the GazettE and SPEED who sat in 2nd and 3rd positions.
ARASHI charted at 4th this week with Beautiful days selling just under 36K.

Two H!P artists managed to make the top 10 this week. Satoda Mai's Mou Sugu Christmas (with Gouda Kyodai) was 7th with a little under 26K while Buono!'s Lotta Love Lotta Love charted one place lower at 8th. Buono!'s sale numbers of 22K continue the trend of declining H!P single sales in recent times. Morning Musume, Berryz and now Buono! have seen their latest singles sell lower than the previous.
Berryz Koubou meanwhile dropped to 50th in their second week with sales of 2K.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Tsuretette Tsuretette DREAMS COME TRUE 46,452
02 LEECH the GazettE 41,200
03 Ashita no Sora SPEED 40,058
04 Beautiful days ARASHI 35,931
05 Oshare Banchou feat. SOY SAUCE ORANGE RANGE 30,845
06 ORION Mika Nakashima 27,046
07 Mou Sugu Christmas Satoda Mai with Gouda Kyodai 25,788
08 Lotta Love Lotta Love Buono! 22,484
09 Toki no Ashioto KOBUKURO 18,164
10 Sky High GOSPELLERS 13,735

Albums:

01 MY SHORT STORIES YUI 173,741
02 BEST DESTINY Kato Miliyah 55,239
03 I am ... Sasha Fierce Beyonce 42,037
04 UROBOROS DIR EN GREY 37,588
05 Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits Christina Aguilera 29,416

All Hail the Nail Queens!

2008-11-18T09:13:00.011+09:00

NEWS: The 2008 Japanese Nail Queen awards were held yesterday at the Japanese Nail Expo in conjunction with the JNA (Japanese Nailist Association) and the results are in! (exciting, yeah? ^_^ ) (click images to enlarge)

Homare Sawa, Peter, Yonekura Ryoko, Koda Kumi, Watanabe Ann, DAIGO

Yonekura Ryoko took home the top prize in the actress category, while Watanabe Ann (model) recieved the prize in the talento catagory. DAIGO (BREAKERZ) represented the men and I'm sure he loves being called a Queen ... or maybe he's the Nail King? I have to admit, nail art looks cool, but I dunno if I'd do it. If you're a dude, I think you have to be a rockstar to pull it off. Homare Sawa and Peter also won awards in the sport and special categories.

Koda Kumi was also named a Nail Queen in the artist category. She has held the title since 2006 and because she has now reigned 3 years in a row, Kuu was inducted into the Nail Queen Hall of Fame. She was presented the award by fellow Hall of Fame-er Becky, who had won the Talento category from 2005-2007. Koda had her claws out proudly at the awards - I think you'll agree, they're very impressive ...

Undercover: C-ute's New PV

2008-11-17T00:22:00.012+09:00

PREVIEW: Hot off of Dohhhup! C-ute's newest PV FOREVER LOVE:

So, what do I think? Well the PV starts off promisingly - the shots of the girls around the computer monitors is wonderful - lit lovely and with the mood is perfect. We then see that the girls are actually watching themselves on the screens and thus, we have the concept of the whole PV *yawn*
The girls dance in ridiculously mismatched outfits, with a lot of plaid patterns. I believe they're meant to look Winter-ish though it is slightly deceiving: Kanna in long bell-bottom pants, a scarf and a beanie; whilst Mai struts around in tiny shorts, rightio! The dance, on the whole, is good but there are a few funky looking sections. I do love how much the formation rotates, it seems every girl gets some part of the song where she is in the center.
In the second half of the PV the girls switch to their suits and all look very cool in the danceshot. This half also introduces close-ups which I thought were really horrible looking. Each girl has a plain background with their specific colours on them. Some of the girls look really awkward in these sections, Mai in particular, and the jackets look huge on everyone. Why couldn't they have panned the camera out a little and done individual shots in the room they did the dance-shot in? It would've been a whole lot better imo.
There isn't much more to say - that's all there is to the PV, they dance and they watch. The end.
While it seems I'm being overly critical, I did still enjoy the PV. I adore C-ute and the song is great. I do enjoy the concept of security guards/secret agents they went for but it could have been so much better without stretching the budget. I mean they have a kick-ass song, decent outfits, a gorgeous couple of sets ... but no imagination what so ever.

If I was directing the PV: I would start off very similar with the girls watching themselves on the monitors. I'd keep the dance shot the same while making the outfits slightly less radical. In the second half of the PV I would introduce a storyline of the guards running to the room to catch the dancing girls they were watching on the monitors. We would have shots of C-ute running down a hallway or down a flight of stairs (all in slow-motion) intertwined with the dance shot and individual shots of the FBI girls singing, in various locations (against the wall in the hallway, sitting on the stairs etc). When the song finishes the dancing girls pose as they do in the PV and then we see FBI C-ute burst into the room, but it is completely empty - they stumble to the center of the room, looking around and at one another, confused. The camera would then pan out and the shot would become the monitor screen in the security room which suddenly flicks blank. FOREVER LOVE appears on the screen and then the whole PV flicks off and it is over.
Somewhat cliched and the story is very basic (but at least existant), I think something like that would be much better and I doubt it would cost much more. Oh well, my artistic talents shall continue to go wasted ^_^

So in the end, it looks like I'm on the fence with the PV. I love C-ute and I want to love this PV: It is definitely a decent PV but it just seems so half-assed. How hard is it to inject some creativity into the PV? They had all the ingredients for a wonderful creation but it just ended up as another boring dance shot.
Do you agree with me that it could have been much better, or do you LOVE it? Let me know what you think, ok? ^_^

Heart! Diamond! Clover! Spade!

2008-11-15T12:53:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: Shugo Chara Egg! have their debut single Minna no Tamago being released next month and we get a peek at the PV as commercials start airing on TV ^_^

First impression is COLOURFUL! Which is a good thing considering this is a unit for Shugo Chara which is a colourful, boisterous anime - the little preview captures that well. The girls are dressed in the outfits of Amu's Chara Transformations Amulet Heart, Amulet Diamond, Amulet Clover and Amulet Spade - they're not perfect recreations but they're good enough, I guess. We get a little preview of the covers too and they look very cute.
It seems DAWA and Yuuka are the being pushed in this unit, a slight surprise as I would have considered Kanon to be more popular than DAWA - even though I like Ayaka more ^_^ (though I like both more than Yuuka and I don't even really know who Akari is, she's never popped up on my radar). Full PV should be out in a couple of weeks I'd guess.

PIZZA (a) LA Buono!

2008-11-15T09:26:00.005+09:00

NEWS: Exciting news for Buono! as they become the spokespersons for PIZZA-LA, self described as the "No.1 delivery pizza". They feature in 2 cms both 15sec long - You can watch them below or at higher quality here.

While I'm not a huge fan of takeaway pizza, it's still exciting news for Buono! I'm glad they're branching out from Shugo Chara! and really standing alone as artists rather than just a group specifically for the anime.

Feelin' GREEN

2008-11-15T07:08:00.009+09:00

PREVIEW: Hamasaki Ayumi has been having a bit of a quiet 10th Anniversary, with only an album and single release earlier in the year as well as her recent Asia tour. Her second single of the year is the double A-side GREEN/Days which is released on the 17th of December. We have yet to hear what Days will be like but GREEN, which has been used in the Panasonic Lumix FX37 cm for the past few months, has been leaked in full.

The song has a bit of a Chinese feel to it which I'm really enjoying. The intro in particular is really lovely and the instrumental throughout is interesting to listen to, really nice. Ayu has a bit of a strange singing style in this song, not that she hasn't sung like this before, but it almost sounds like a live version rather than a studio recording. It might be the vibrato - either way it doesn't bother me as I'm used to it. The song itself is really pretty. I've seen some mixed reactions amongst fans but I really do love it (and I don't love everything Ayu, I swear) - From the sneak peek pics of the PV it looks like we're getting some sort of an old Shanghai themed PV and it should be incredible.

Nacchi's Final SCREENing

2008-11-15T06:11:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: Abe Natsumi's likely final single as a H!P member, SCREEN is released next month and dohhhup! released the PV early this morning.

It's definitely one of the more intricate PVs as of late and it looks like they did their best with a limited budget. Nacchi looks incredible, as always, and the imagery in the PV is quite nice. I think the fade in/outs were overdone just a touch, but overall it created a nice mood and it fit the song well. I'm not exactly sure what was meant to be going on but at least it looked like something was happening :P I loved when Nacchi picks up the key (I think it was a key, yeah?) I just love those old brass style keys, they're quite cool.
The song itself is mid-tempo and a nice change of pace from Nacchi's recent ballads. I can't say it left a huge impression on me or that I think it is awesome but I didn't hate it, which is always a good start.

Reviews: 11/12 New Releases

2008-11-14T10:59:00.009+09:00

REVIEWS: I’m late once again with my new release reviews, I apologise – BUT I have an excuse this time… I spilled boiling hot soup on my hand yesterday (It stung like hell) and I literally had my hand in a bucket of iced water the whole day – so while I was able to slowly navigate my computer, typing reviews would have been extremely difficult, especially with the amount I’m tackling this week.
Lots of great artists are releasing this week and I couldn’t even review all that I wanted to. Some new releases I had to skip were the GazettE’s new song which is doing really well on the charts, Nakashima Mika’s ORION, Hirahara Ayaka’s new double A-side and alan’s final elements single, Megumi no Ame. I liked some of these tracks but they didn’t really make a huge opinion on me either way. I also skipped reviewing Wakeshima Kanon's Suna no Oshiro because I ordered that and I'll do a review of it later when it arrives (bulk order so it'll be a while). In the end I went with new tracks from SPEED, HALCALI, Buono!, Aoyama Thelma, Satoda Mai, ORANGE RANGE and DREAMS COME TRUE. Enjoy!

Ashita no Sora SPEED

SPEED’s much anticipated new single Ashita no Sora is their first since their charity single in 2003, after disbanding in 2000. They apparently have regrouped due to Eriko’s son’s hearing difficulties; that if he couldn’t hear her music, she wants him to be able to see his mother perform. So while making her son happy, she’s also made thousands of SPEED fans absolutely ecstatic.
Their comeback single is a nice mid-tempo track with a bit of a soul feel to it. The song starts with the chorus which is by far the best part of the song. I think it’s really catchy and is the highlight of the song for me. The verses are a bit uninteresting unfortunately and I found myself just waiting impatiently for the next chorus. It definitely saves this song. Thankfully the verse sections aren’t too long – the chorus makes up most of the track as well as some nice instrumental sections.
I think for a comeback this is a nice sound for SPEED, it has a more adult feel to it, reflective of their members having grown up since the early days of the group. This works because they’ll be targeting a different age group, their fans having also aged. For myself, who was not a fan of SPEED (purely because they were around before my j-pop fandom kicked in) I think it’s a great track that can also attract new fans.

Rating: 8/10

Long Kiss Goodbye HALCALI

It’s been over a year since we’ve had a new song from the HALCALI girls and it was over a year too long to wait! I adore HALCALI and their unique, fresh tracks so it’s great that they’ve come out with a new single FINALLY.
Long Kiss Goodbye has the signature rap style vocals from the girls paired with a nice smooth chorus, an effect that works really well and that I am personally a fan of. Unlike the last review, the verses this time are probably my favourite parts of the song, though I do adore the chorus too. It’s almost a shame that after the second verse there isn’t any other rap sections, with the bridge of the song being similar to the chorus, but that’s ok. I’m not too nit picky when it comes to HALCALI tracks, I just enjoy them for what they are and I’m thankful that these girls are still producing great music.

Rating: 8.5/10

Lotta Love Lotta Love Buono!

Lotta Love Lotta Love (or Rottara Rottara as some of you like to say) is Buono!’s newest single and the closing for Shugo Chara! Doki! – While Buono! aren’t doing the opening themes anymore, they are still doing the closings, which isn’t really a huge issue. Only their B-sides have ever been opening themes for the anime, with the rockier signature sound of Buono! always being used for the closings.
Lotta Love Lotta Love, I have to say is my favourite Buono! track or at least on par with Renai Rider. The whole song is just great, it’s like a roller coaster of awesomeness – thrills at every turn. The "Lotta Love" sections are catchy and fun to sing along to (not that I’ve tried), the rocky instrumental is awesome, the pre-chorus builds really well, the chorus is fantastic, the girls sound great … what more can I say? I LOVE IT!

Rating: 9.5/10

Mamoritai Mono Aoyama Thelma

Aoyama Thelma really shot to fame with Soba ni Iru ne earlier this year, which sold close to 500K and her follow up single Nando mo selling 70K which is still a good number. She has an R&B style to her music which isn’t really my favourite genre and I haven’t particularly been able to latch onto her stuff yet so I was hoping her new track Mamoritai Mono could change my mind.
The track is a winter ballad which I always really love, with a touch of an R&B feel to it, which I love ... not so much. The winter sounding instrumental is really beautiful, with nice orchestral sections in it and Thelma sounds really wonderful on this song. For a ballad I have to say this track is quite good. The pre-chorus is particularly nice and interesting and the whole song has really nice elements to it. Despite this, I dunno, I just can’t get into it that much. Maybe it’s because of the R&B feel, I'm not really sure. I think this will appeal to her fans (if they are into ballads) but not particularly for me.

Rating: 7/10

Mou Sugu Christmas Satoda Mai with Gouda Kyodai

So now we get to the most popular H!P girl, Satoda Mai (who would have thunk it!) with her new single Mou Sugu Christmas. She sings this track with Gouda Kyodai (Fujimoto Toshifumi and misono) and it's linked to the Quiz! Hexagon variety show so it’s sure to sell pretty well, I would think.
The track starts off with a sweet Christmas-y intro but then kind of switches to a more mid-tempo, fun beat. Apart from the odd bell or two in the instrumental it doesn’t really give off a huge Christmas feel, but Mai-chan with Reindeer antlers on the cover more than makes up for that. The song really isn’t that good lol, but let’s be honest, it’s meant to be a fun, crazy song – it’s not meant to be a masterpiece. Vocal wise, not the best from any of the singers, because they’re trying to sound silly and cute, so on that front ... mission accomplished. For fun factor, it scores high for sure.

Rating: 7.5/10

Oshare Banchou feat. SOY SAUCE ORANGE RANGE

Oshara Benchou feat SOY SAUCE is another crazy track from ORANGE RANGE, with a techno dance style. It’s the promo song for the Glico Pocky Chocolate cm which features a scantily clad model crazily dancing to the song with pocky in her hands. Yum! ... the pocky I mean ... ^_^ - I really enjoy the track there, but sans hot model I’m not sure I will :P
The track is a bit hard to review lol. I’m not sure where to start – This song feels a tad repetitious but then I guess all dance tracks are to some point. The chorus is repeated ad nauseam; thankfully it’s the best part of the song. It’s been produced really well, there are some interesting effects throughout – yeah… I dunno, just listen to it *lol*

Rating: 7/10

Tsuretette Tsuretette DREAMS COME TRUE

DREAMS COME TRUE is another really popular group that I haven’t ever gotten around to having a good listen to but this single really stood out to me – The winter promo pics, the “winter limited edition”, the snowman on the cover … this all screamed AWESOME WINTER TRACK to me. I was a bit disappointed though, this song isn’t very Winter-y at all o.O Despite this I gave the song a listen and it actually was better than I expected.
The whole song is quite a laid back, mid-tempo track with a bit of a soft dance beat to it. The chorus is the highlight of the song, beginning with a really lovely line which has a nice melody to it that’s quite catchy and repeated with the "Tsuretette Tsuretette" lines. The song sort of floats on by really nicely and towards the end of the track there are some pa ra pa pum pum’s (at least I think that’s what they’re singing) which makes it a bit more Winter-y.
Tsuretette Tsuretette is the kind of track that grows on you I think, it got a lot better each listen for me (I usually listen to the tracks over and over before and while I review – ;) I’m listening right now!). So yeah if you don't like it straight away, maybe give it another few listens, as it's quite a nice track... even if it is only slightly Winter-y :P

Rating: 8/10

Oricon Roundup 11/11: It's a Beautiful Day

2008-11-12T20:08:00.005+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

Well ARASHI are just blitzing the charts this year, aren't they? Beautiful days is ARASHI's 4th single of the year and their 4th no.1 hit of the year. They hold the top 2 positions in the yearly sales ranks, with truth/Kaze no Mukou e at the top followed by One Love. Step and Go is in the top 10, while Beautiful days is 12 on first week sales alone. The ballad sold 351K and charted at the top of the charts all week long.
Fellow Johnny's group Kanjani8 fell from the top spot to 7th selling close to 22K. Sales are up from the previous singles' second week sales.

Urgh, another BEST album selling well? Actually not really ... you see Kato Miliyah's BEST DESTINY isn't really a typical BEST album, as the majority of the album is new material. The album is a collaborative effort which sees Kato-san sample other artists' material in each of her songs and is comprised of 4 singles from throughout her career plus a whole bunch of new songs. Either way, it sold well raking in 92K, up from Kato's last album TOKYO STAR.
Kings of the chart last week, Porno Graffitti saw both their BEST albums fall outside the top 5, ranking at 6 and 7 with sales above 20K each.

Berryz Koubou's newie MADAYADE failed to live up to expectations, halting the recent rise of the Berryz' girls. Coming off receiving one of the New Artist awards in Korea, you would have thought they would have gained on their past singles' sales but instead they sold over 7K less first week sales than their last single Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance. The single charted at a respectable 6th for the week, but sales of only 22.8K were disappointing.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Beautiful days ARASHI 351,860
02 Shish Kebab Yuzu 52,271
03 Toki no Ashioto Kobukuro 33,477
04 Kyou mo Dokoka de Oda Kazumasa 28,672
05 Wakaba Spitz 27,364
06 MADAYADE Berryz Koubou 22,861
07 Musekinin Hero Kanjani8 21,723
08 Nihon no Mikata -Nevada Kara Kimashita- Yajima Biyoushitsu 20,111
09 Angelic Smile / WINTER PARTY BREAKERZ 19,142
10 Somaru Yo chatmonchy 17,586

Albums:

01 BEST DESTINY Kato Miliyah 92,423
02 Surf Bungaku Kamakura ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION 56,110
03 Expressions Takeuchi Mariya 30,592
04 DJ KAORI'S JMIX II (Various Artists) 28,838
05 WE LOVE HEXAGON Hexagon All Stars 28,317

Tough as Nails, Fierce as C-ute

2008-11-12T10:26:00.011+09:00

PREVIEW: Yes, I used the word Fierce (Tyra would be proud) *finger snap* - but there is truly no other way to describe the new C-ute single covers, they truly are FIERCE! I'm feeling in a playful mood so now that the larger versions of the covers are out, let's rate each C-utie's FIERCE FACTOR!

Limited - Regular

click to enlarge

Erika: Erika looks great, no doubt about that, but she isn't really getting the whole boyish theme for these covers. Hands on your hips, weight on one leg, with a sweet innocent smile isn't really a boyishly fierce look. It's cute, yes but not FIERCE. On the regular cover she looks slightly more FIERCE but she could do much better.

FIERCE FACTOR: 7.5/10

Maimi: On the Ltd cover, Maimi is looking very cool. The jacket slung over her shoulder, hand rested on her belt, glaring at the camera: very cool. Reg cover is not as FIERCE unfortunately. Maimi suffers from the awesomely debilitating condition of extreme attractiveness. She just looks far too lusciously girly on the Reg cover, sweet but not FIERCE.

FIERCE FACTOR: 9/10

Saki: While she isn't my favourite C-utie, no doubt Saki is a gorgeous girl. Unfortunately for her, this gorgeousness doesn't translate well into photos and she often ends up looking extremely awkward Eg: every photo of her ever taken. She has the posing spot on, especially in the Ltd, but the face says confused, not FIERCE.

FIERCE FACTOR: 8/10

Airi: Ltd cover is Airi's best shot. Belt adjustment makes another good showing and clutching at her jacket is a very cool look. Reg is awkward, she looks like she's in the middle of changing her pose. The elevated pinkies don't help either. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the hairstyle, I can't recall the last time I saw a dude sporting a high ponytail.

FIERCE FACTOR: 8/10

Chisato: While Chisa is often known as the 'boyish' one in C-ute, she is also a devilish, little munchkin, and she's homing in on both those traits in these covers. The cocked up head in the Ltd version is very nice, but she looks like she's about to burst out laughing while in the Reg she has that 'intelligent guy' look about her. Kinda FIERCE, almost there.

FIERCE FACTOR: 8.5/10

Mai: Hagitty is growing up so fast! She looks really great in the Ltd except that her hip is pushed out a bit too much, a tad girlish, but still FIERCE. The mischievous grin works because she is the youngest. In the Reg she stands out, the leg on the chair is great and her death glare could burn a hole in your soul. I like that she's giving two different looks in both covers, mischievous and mean - Tyra would call that versatility. I call it FIERCE!

FIERCE FACTOR: 9.5/10

Kanna: Kanna is totally channelling the 'sensitive guy' persona in these photos. I really like the tugging at the tie on the Ltd cover and her slight smile would make any fangirl's heart melt. In the Reg she looks more sad rather than FIERCE, as if somebody just ate her cookie. Thankfully this works for her 'sensitive guy' image as fangirls are already lining up to wipe their future husband's tears: " He's so dreamy! ^_^ "

FIERCE FACTOR: 9/10

So there we have it, they all did pretty well, even though some girls can't help looking adorably cute; They are C-ute afterall. To remind us of this fact let's have a look at the girls all being incredibly Cute:

click to enlarge

CUTE FACTOR: 11/10 ^_^

NEW STARs Jet Off

2008-11-11T19:44:00.016+09:00

NEWS: The winners of Taiwan's NEW STAR auditions traveled to Japan this past Saturday to begin rigorous dance training and preparations for their debut album.

Zhōng An Qí, Lán Ai Zi, Céng Dé Píng, 'Light bulb', Wú Sī Xuán, Gǔ Yún

After the six girls were selected by Tsunku himself in September, over a month was spent with the girl's parents organising for their futures in the entertainment industry and in contractual talks. The girls also immediately began training and now that all affairs have been sorted can now travel to Japan for training and recording for their debut album.

Although the sun had not yet even risen, the spirits of the members were high on the morning of the 8th of November as the girls all arrived at the airport. The girls declared their excitement with many not being able to get to sleep the night before, in anticipation.
12 year old Gǔ Yún, the daughter of track athlete (decathlon) Gǔ Jin Shui, will be heading abroad for the first time by herself. Her father is not worried though, describing his daughter as independant and clever.
Céng Dé Píng expressed a desire to lay a firm foundation of Japanese pronunciation before tackling Japanese conversation while 14 year old, Lán Ai Zi acknowledged that training will be tough, concerned that she may not be able to keep up with the other members. She maintained that she will try her very best to make the most of her Japanese trip.
Light Bulb had one of her classic moments at the airport after being told drinks and liquids were prohibited from being brought on the plane, extremely concerned she would be branded a terrorist for having to bring on cold medicine. Her tension was deemed cute and amusing to the staff and other members.
Elder members Zhōng An Qi and Wú Sī Xuán showed motherly spirit, caring for the younger members' whereabouts and emotions. The pair have also been strenuously practicing the lyrics of their Japanese songs together.
While the girls have very serious training ahead of them, their biggest concerns seemed to be excitement over visiting Tokyo Disneyland, revealing their childish, cute sides.

Their debut album is expected to be released before the new lunar year (Jan/Feb 09), though the article is scarce on details. More information, including a release date, will be revealed as the girls progress through their training. They are all hoping to have great results from the training, bringing glory as they represent Taiwan.

I'm very excited for this! I can't wait to see what these girls can bring to the table and the style and sound Tsunku has in store for them. Thanks to Estrea @ JPH!P who posted a full translation, I fixed up a few errors I had made in my summary. Check out the link for more details.

Cover You Track Info

2008-11-10T21:31:00.004+09:00

PREVIEW: Morning Musume's Aku Yuu tribute album is out in a few weeks time and we have some more in depth track list info for all those waiting in anticipation! The new info reveals an Ai/Risa duet, an Indigo Blue Love reunion and a 6th/7th/8th gen song, aswell as Ai's previously reported duet with Itsuki Hiroshi.

1st Press ~ Regular

click to enlarge

1. 渚のシンドバッド - Nagisa no Sinbad
2. どうにもとまらない - Dou ni mo Tomaranai
3. 居酒屋 - Izakaya ~ Itsuki Hiroshi & Takahashi Ai
4. ペッパー警部 (ALBUM Ver.) - Pepper Keibu (ALBUM Ver.)
5. 白い蝶のサンバ - Shiroi Chou no Samba
6. 青春時代 - Seishun Jidai
7. 林檎殺人事件 - Ringo Satsujin Jiken
8. ロマンス (ALBUM Ver.) - Romance (ALBUM Ver.)
9. 街の灯り - Machi no Akari ~ Takahashi Ai & Niigaki Risa
10. 恋のダイヤル6700 - Koi no Dial 6700
11. ピンポンパン体操 - Pinpon Pan Taisou ~ Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Kusumi Koharu, Mitsui Aika, Junjun & Linlin
12. わたしの青い鳥 - Watashi no Aoi Tori
13. ジョニイへの伝言 - Jonii e no Dengon ~ Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Tanaka Reina
14. UFO

click to enlarge

Being a 5th gen fanatic, I'm really pumped for the Ai/Risa duet. It's about frekin' time! (concerts and musicals don't count :P) - Jonii e no Dengan should also be good with Risa, Eri and Reina. I loved Indigo Blue Love and while the song isn't very similar, I still enjoy the mix of vocals.
This album should be good; I can't wait!

Flying From the Nest

2008-11-09T22:53:00.004+09:00

NEWS: Canaria Club's Rippon (Sugira Riho) will graduate from the group and TNX's NICE GIRL Project in January next year to focus on her studies.

She is reported that her last job as a Canary will be participating in Tsunku Theatre, from the 10th to the 12th of January.
Rippon really impressed me while watching the Canaria Club Live Document DVD - she was very personable and funny, just a joy to watch. She was one of my favourites in Canaria Club, and I'll definitely miss her. Bye bye Rippon :(

Thanks to menO at the jpm forums for the news.

Reviews: 11/5 New Releases

2008-11-07T13:50:00.013+09:00

REVIEWS: I'm tardy with my reviews once again this week but I am determined to keep reviewing new singles so here are this week's reviews, new singles from BREAKERZ, ARASHI, Berryz Koubou and Yuzu.

Angelic Smile / WINTER PARTY BREAKERZ

I really liked BREAKERZ last single and I’m really interested in the double A-side thing they’ve been going for. I get really annoyed with double A-side singles when the two songs are really alike, but BREAKERZ last single had two totally unique, great songs, so I had high expectations for this one.

Angelic Smile is an upbeat rock song and it’s a great track. DAIGO of course is great on vocals, his voice really suits the rock genre; It’s really great to listen to. Like I mentioned on my review of BREAKERZ last single, this truly feels like a group rather than a front man and some band. AKIHIDE and SHINPEI get some awesome solos and the instrumental is generally really good. I like the bridge after the instrumental break in this song, it melts back into this great change of pace before the final chorus.

WINTER PARTY excited me because of the title, if you had read my post on Koda’s new track, you’d know I love all things Winter. The little bell chimes at the beginning just get my spirit soaring ^_^ … this track is really quite fun. It definitely has that Christmas vibe to it, from the instrumental to the lyrics (the chorus mentions silent night, holy night and later on they sing Merry Christmas … you can’t get more Christmasy than that ^_^ ). It actually gets me kind of excited for Christmas, so it does its job well especially for a rock song. I really like the pre-chorus bridge, it’s the highlight of the track for me.
Another great single for BREAKERZ, both tracks being unique and top quality songs. They’ve captured the winter theme really well.

Rating: 8/10 & 9/10

Beautiful days ARASHI

2008 is definitely ARASHI’s year with all their ’08 singles selling huge amounts, their last, Truth/Kaze no Mukou e in excess 600K. So now that we’ve determined they are hugely successful, let’s get to their latest single Beautiful days.
The thing I immediately like about Beautiful days is that it is unique from the rest of their recent singles which have shown a nice range for fans. While it doesn’t have the immediate infectious hit of Truth, Beautiful days has a charming, pleasant arrangement. It’s easy to listen to and the guys are all sounding pretty nice, it is definitely a genre they excel in. The chorus is particularly likeable, and pretty catchy actually. I was totally getting into it even on the first listen.
I’m predicting another huge seller for ARASHI (yes kind of cheating since its two day sales are pretty amazing) … but I would have predicted this 2 days ago too, I swear ;)

Rating: 9/10

MADAYADE Berryz Koubou

Why am I doing a H!P track review in my new release reviews? – There is a very simple reason … I can’t be bothered doing a full review ;) I totally forgot to review Pepper Keibu, so I’m just gonna stick MADAYADE in here or I’ll forget that too.
Berryz lately has been on top of the fun, upbeat tracks and I think that is really working for them. MADAYADE is another upbeat, catchy, fun song. I really dig the surf feel to the instrumental and the verses are really cool, especially the Arabian sounding bit (I’m probably the only one who thinks it sounds Arabian but yeah, that bit :P ). I gotta say my tiff with this song is the chorus. While the chorus is undeniably catchy, it’s also really effin annoying. HA HA!! MADA MADA MADA – I can take maybe 15 or 20 MADA’s but after that it starts to get repetitive and boring. Despite this, as a whole it’s a good song, but it doesn’t live up to the previous two singles imo.

Rating: 7/10

Shish Kebab Yuzu

Shish Kebab is Yuzu’s 3rd single of the year, and is the theme for the drama Salary Man Kintaro. I don’t know the duo well, so I don’t have much to say on them. They’ve been around for AGES, I probably should know their stuff, but alas I don’t. I’m going into this blind.
So, my first impressions are that it’s a fun, upbeat, endearing song. The shish-shish-ka-bab lines are catchy and really cute (see Berryz, sometimes less is more :p ). The pre-chorus bridge has lines which sound suspiciously similar to some lines from MM’s Da Di Du De Do Da Di! … but it’s probably just me. The song grows really well leading up to the chorus and the instrumental has a nice folky sound to it.
Shish Kebab is one of those happy, fun songs that doesn’t take itself too seriously. From the silly chanting to the let loose chorus, it invites you to have a fun time listening.

Rating: 7.5/10

Kill Me Kiss Me PV

2008-11-06T07:30:00.003+09:00

PREVIEW: hANGRY & ANGRY's Kill Me Kiss Me was released this morning on their myspace website. Check it out!

It's a really cool PV! I like the variety of the backgrounds, even if they are green screen, it's still enjoyable and fun, whilst being dark and rocky at the same time. Best thing about the PV is obviously Yossie and Rika. Yossie is rockin' out like a legend although she gets a bit scary sometimes, but I guess that is the point :p Rika is just a goddess, she looks incredible. I really couldn't stand her when I was first getting into H!P but she's definitely near the top of my fav list atm. She's just all sorts of awesome.

Kago's Cigarette Magic!

2008-11-05T17:40:00.009+09:00

PREVIEW: Kago Ai's upcoming DVD Kago Channel Vol.1 is released later this month and pokes fun at herself on its cover.

click for larger

So what do we think? Hilariously charming or tastelessly tacky? I'm leaning towards the latter, I mean Kago wasn't the only one affected by her actions. Still it's cute, I guess ... kinda. Eh, you all decide for yourself.

UPDATE: Shwee left me a comment to a video preview of the DVD which explains more where Kago is going with this:

While it is still obviously meant to be comedic, I do think she is trying to get out the message that underage smoking is bad. She's kind of like meant to be the smoking police lol. It actually does look quite interesting, I might have to check it out. I'm not a HUGE Kago fan, but it looks like it could be good viewing - I love how they all like "Kago-chan!?!?" *lol*

Oricon Roundup 11/04: PG serves up an ACE

2008-11-05T14:03:00.008+09:00

ORICON ROUNDUP

Porno Graffitti ruled the Album Charts this week with their joint release BEST ACE and BEST JOKER scoring sales of over 100K each to take the top 2 positions. Coming off their single Love, Too Death, Too, which placed no.2 on the Oricon Charts, the album is their first no.1 album since 2005's THUMP x.
Last week's no.1 WE LOVE HEXAGON, fell to no.4 but still managed sales over 50K. The album fell down on the daily charts due to the new releases, but saw itself reclaim the top spot over the weekend and going into its 3rd week on the charts.

Kanjani8 unsurprisingly hit the top of the Singles Chart for their 5th consecutive no.1 single. What might be a surprise is the huge sales of 347K, up over 150K from their last single Wahaha's debut sales. Musekinin Hero's incredible sales just firmly cements Kanjani8's growing popularity in the Japanese single's market.
Hey! Say! JUMP drops to 7th spot from last week's no.1, with sales of 23K, pretty much on par with their previous singles' 2nd weeks.

MilkyWay's TanTanTaan had a bit of a disappointing debut, only managing to sell 16.6K and charting at no.8 on the Singles Chart. This is down 11K from their debut Anataboshi however it is up 4K from Koharu Kusumi's Papancake's dismal sales.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Musekinin Hero Kanjani8 347,735
02 Toki no Ashioto Kobukuro 136,111
03 Nihon no Mikata -Nevada Kara Kimashita- Yajima Biyoushitsu 38,844
04 Monochrome no Kiss SID 36,982
05 36ºC WaT 33,389
06 Sou ~new love new world~ Fukuyama Masaharu 24,425
07 Mayonaka no Shadow Boy Hey! Say! JUMP 23,499
08 Tan Tan Taan! MilkyWay 16,667
09 Ame ga Furu Sakamoto Maaya 13,825
10 motto☆Hadenine! Tomatsu Haruka 11,505

Albums:

01 PORNO GRAFFITTI BEST ACE Porno Graffitti 104,747
02 PORNO GRAFFITTI BEST JOKER Porno Graffitti 102,931
03 Kaze no Chroma Remioromen 55,229
04 WE LOVE HEXAGON Hexagon All Stars 54,978
05 DJ KAORI'S JMIX II (Various Artists) 44,207

C-utie Guys?

2008-11-04T13:14:00.008+09:00

PREVIEW: Small previews of the covers of C-ute's new single FOREVER LOVE, dressed up in suits and ties, looking very Johnny-ish.

Really cute concept for these covers. The girls look great and the covers are pretty good. I like the limited edition better, but reg looks really good too. Of course the Mendol (AKB48's new drama) comparisons have to come into this. Meh, I don't care, the girls look great! :D

What's that in the sky?! ... UFO!

2008-11-04T09:28:00.005+09:00

PREVIEW: Morning Musume's COVER YOU is released later this month (My copy is already pre-ordered! ^_^ ) and we have our first preview of the album with the remake of Pink Lady's UFO.

->DOWNLOAD<- (right click -> save as)
It sounds pretty frekin incredible :D I can't wait for some of the other tracks. I'm especially looking forward to Koi no Dial 6700. I've always loved that song ^_^

UPDATED: stay with kuu aka WINTER!! WHOO~

2008-11-03T18:58:00.014+09:00

PREVIEW: Hot off the no.1 hit TABOO, Koda Kumi has a new single coming out this December title stay with me. The track is said to be a winter love ballad reflected in the winter themed covers.

CD+DVD CD ONLY

Playroom Edition (Fanclub)

I only just realised that the preview wasn't working before as something went wrong when I uploaded it and I stupidly forgot to check before posting. It should be ok now :)

The preview for the song is very short so it's hard to get a full grasp of it. I'm still unsure on whether or not I like it. I definitely think it has some potential and it will be interesting to hear the full version.

WINTER!WINTER!WINTER

I am excited for this release purely because I love Winter ^_^ My birthday is in Winter, so growing up I always claimed it was my favourite season :D Of course, down here in the southern hemisphere, Winter is in the middle of the year not at Xmas time (I'm getting sick of stinking hot Xmas days) and it doesn't snow, it doesn't look pretty ... in fact it is usually just wet and overcast - I guess I just love the Wintery image and of course ... Winter ballads ^_^
Anyway, yeah I love Winter, so bring on the Winter singles >_< !!

If It Looks Like a ...

2008-11-01T07:28:00.007+09:00

PREVIEW: If it looks like a PV and walks like a PV ... then it must be ... A PV?!?

These pics have appeared on the HANGRY&ANGRY blog, showing Yossie & Rika rockin' out in front of a green screen. That's definitely a video camera in the second pic. I'm not entirely certain cause their release is a mini-album, not a single, and H!P related acts usually never release PVs for albums.
I guess maybe this could be a commercial for H&A's store though their myspace site definitely hints at it being a PV. Hmmm... I won't get my hopes up but my fingers are crossed.

MY DARRING!

2008-11-01T06:47:00.006+09:00

PREVIEW: C-ute's FOREVER LOVE is released at the end of this month and *finally* we have a preview courtesy of Maimi's radio show.

-> DOWNLOAD <- (right click -> save as)

Everyone gets a solo line *yay* but it is still predominantly Airi+Maimi, but at least the others don't get shafted. I'm quite liking it, especially the verses and the instrumental. The chorus needs to grow on me a bit but I've gathered that that's what a lot of people are saying, it kind of changes the pace and attitude of the song. Airi is sounding fabulous lately btw.
Hopefully the PV is a good one ^_^

Halloween no Musume!

2008-10-31T15:53:00.016+09:00

It's finally the 31st of October, HALLOWEEN: the day where the spirits awaken and the dead walk amongst the living ... ok well maybe not - But it gave me a nice excuse for some Photoshop fun!
There are two links for each picture. B/A contains a before and after side by side comparison of the pictures I used and Large are full sized versions (1030x1330pixels - less than 1MB each).

The girls are split into 3 groups of characters. First up are the vixens of forbidden magic and enchanting spells... WITCHES ~

KAMEI ERI & MITSUI AIKA
THE WICKED WITCH & THE GOOD WITCH

B/A Large - B/A Large

The second group takes inspiration from Alice Through The Looking Glass, where Alice deals with the QUEENS OF THE CHESSBOARD, frivolous, nonsensical women.

KUSUMI KOHARU & LINLIN
THE WHITE QUEEN & THE RED QUEEN

B/A Large - B/A Large

The third group of characters take inspiration from the Elements: Chilling ICE, Electrifying LIGHTNING & Burning FIRE.

NIIGAKI RISA
TANAKA REINA & MICHISHIGE SAYUMI
THE ICE MAIDEN
THE LIGHTNING WARRIOR & THE FIRE PRINCESS

B/A Large

B/A Large - B/A Large

The final pair is the antithesis of good and evil. The greatest good and the darkest evil: DEMONS & ANGELS.

TAKAHASHI AI & JUNJUN
THE DEMON & THE ANGEL

B/A Large - B/A Large

So there we have it. Morning Musume in their 2008 Halloween costumes. I hope you all like my work, it took quite a while all up I guess (cause there were 9 to do *lol*), but I really enjoyed it. If you want to post these pics on other sites that's fine, but please give a link back to Stardust for credit. Also I have to give my own credit, I used TON of brushes that I picked up from deviantart so here are all thing things I used: CREDIT.
Please leave a comment letting me know what you think. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts ^_^ HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Twas the Night Before...

2008-10-30T21:12:00.002+09:00

Halloween is tomorrow! So here is my last sneak peek (I'm trying to create a buzz, I don't think it's working ^_^ lol). I'm revealing all the characters, which hopefully some of you will find exciting. Like I said earlier, nothing TOO ghoulish. Enjoy!

A Hexagon Xmas

2008-10-30T19:43:00.004+09:00

PREVIEW: Satoda Mai (who is quickly become the most successful H!P members ... well until she graduates) has a new Xmas single coming out soon titled Mou Sugu Christmas where she is joined by comedian Fuji and singer misono (collectively known as the duo Goda Kyodai).

The single goes on sale the 12th of November and is limited to 30,000 copies so get in fast if you want to nab this one.

Stardust - a jpop & H!P blog

Stardust Has Moved!

Ice Cream Hit the Streets!

co・no・mi・chi! Walkin' Yo!

Could Koha Get Any Weirder?! >.<

Debut! ~Ice Creamusume~

How You Make a Good Idol PV + UFA Ranting

Oricon Roundup 1/06: 1st no.1s of 09

ICM Get a Couple of Replacements

Another Year, Another WH Concert

Ayaya Tells Us to Eat More Rice!

ICM to Cover More Than Just RR21

Morning Musume KAMO! KAMO!

Ice Cream's Love <3

C-ute's Edo no Temari Uta II Praised

Q.E.D Sneak Peek!

Nya~guchi Mari!

Make it POSSIBLE!

A New Years Surprise For Me!

H!P Best of 2008 Poll

1st Best! for Ice Creamusume

C-ute's Christmas Gift

On the Twelth Day of Christmas...

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

Ice Creamusume's Love Revolution 21!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

Reviews: 12/17 New Releases

Berryz are wired, yo!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

Oricon Roundup 12/16: Xmas Shopping!

hANGRY & ANGRY to jet off to USA

On the Third Day of Christmas...

On the Second Day of Christmas...

On the First Day of Christmas...

Nicks 4 Ice Creamusume

The 12 Days of Christmas

Longing 4 C-ute's Album

Reviews: 12/10 New Releases

My Last Order of '08

Oricon Roundup 12/9: EXILE's PERFECT YEAR

Ayaya's in the Kitchen... with Chickens?

*crunch* Pocky!

Tamago Dreams~

Winter Games with GND

Reviews: 12/3 New Releases

Dear... Tenjochiki

Some '09 H!P Releases

Oricon Roundup 12/2: Xmas VOICE

C-ute and Mikitty at the Lyricist Awards

Ice Cream on MTV Taiwan

Some Tragic News

Oricon Roundup 11/25: Just some NEWS

Kouhaku Shafts Morning Musume

Yum! Ice Cream! ^_^

Impressive Debuts from Ogamana & Twe'lv

Mano's a Pocky 4 Sister

From the Past to the Future: MM in BLT

Welcome, Ice Cream Musume!

Punk+LoliGoth = hANGRY & ANGRY

Int'l Wota Here I Come!

Reviews: 11/19 New Releases

Oricon Roundup 11/18: YUI Shares Her Stories

All Hail the Nail Queens!

Undercover: C-ute's New PV

Heart! Diamond! Clover! Spade!

PIZZA (a) LA Buono!

Feelin' GREEN

Nacchi's Final SCREENing

Reviews: 11/12 New Releases

Oricon Roundup 11/11: It's a Beautiful Day

Tough as Nails, Fierce as C-ute

NEW STARs Jet Off

Cover You Track Info

Flying From the Nest

Reviews: 11/5 New Releases

crunch Pocky!