Has AKB48 reached their tipping point?

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Aimxaim

The other day I was watching a documentary on Netflix, and in this documentary this guy was talking about peak oil. Now, I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with this term, and if you’re not I’ll just give you the basics of it now. Right now the world’s oil reserves are at 100 billion barrerls. It might even be closer to 1 trillion. But I honestly have no idea, I’m no expert on this. I run an idol blog not an oil blog. Anyway, peak oil is when we reach the peak of oil production. Meaning we’ve used exactly half of the world’s oil supply and are left with the dwindling second half. Now, that got me thinking. Are we then in peak AKB48?

Looking back you can see the exact moment Morning Musume was at their peak. Mostly because we’ve seen the rise and the fall, but it’s a lot trickier with AKB48. It’s a lot harder to spot a peak in present time when it’s all happening. There are so many variables you cannot account for. That any sudden rise in popularity or dramatic full in popularity can happen at any moment for any reason. It’s especially hard to predict with a group like AKB48. A group that shows no signs of slowing down and seems to keep topping itself with each release. But I’m stil inclined to believe that we are in peak AKB48. But don’t quote me on this. This is just more of a personal hunch or feeling. As I said, absolutely anything can happen at any moment. And I’m no precog.

Right now AKB48 is in a extremely good place. They could sell ice to an Eskimo if they wanted to. I mean, they endorsed men’s suits. Mens. When’s the last time you’ve seen a commercial of a girl wearing and selling men’s clothing? I know I’ve never seen one before. It really is astounding, and no one out there can deny their draw and pull. But there is still a peak. A peak of love and tolerance the general public has for something. The closest examples are flashes in the pan. And since the general public is Japan, there’s not really much we can do about it my friends. Sure we can increase sales, but most of us don’t live in Japan we can’t effect TV ratings. And variety shows is how idol groups gain and increase popularity and inturn fans to begin with. The minute no one watches your variety show anymore, it’s the beginning of the end. We see that again with Morning Musume.

Now AKB48 has probably the best PR/marketing team I’ve ever seen. Constantly making an already established brand fresh and exciting. But for every victory they make they are also sabatoshing themselves, whether they relaize it or not. Once you reach the top you tend to get cocky and think you’ll never be beaten. Well, that’s probably more of how the fans think then the girls themselves. But every former child star will surely tell you what goes up must come down. And I think the people behind AKB48 probably have a similar mindset as the fans. The biggest and most blatantly obvious mistake is over saturation of the market. Now, I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times before, but that’s because it’s such a huge deal. It seems every 5 minutes there is either a new sub-group or soloist. But the absolute worst oversaturation is the creation, and future creation of, Teams 4 and 8. Which are nothing more than trying to squeeze more money and attention. And nothing to do with having too many great Kenkyuusei and not enough room or Teams. Which is fine. I get that it’s just business as usual. But do you realize that upon completion AKB48 wil have 70 members. Wrap your mind around that for a second. As a jaded idol fan 70 members doesn’t phase me nearly as much as it should. I just though, “Oh, AKB48.” But then I imagined trying to explain them to a non-fan. And they would honestly say either, “Why bother?,” or, “How how do you keep up?” Which is the same conclusion I made. I found myself saying, “70 members and I’m expected to know all of their names? Are you kidding me with this?” There are probably people out there who know all past, present, and trainees’ name for every 48 group. And you know what good for them. But I doubt there’s really a fan out there who knows absolutely everything about every girl, there are just too many. And if the sister groups completely follow AKB48′s footsteps adding 5 teams there will really be too many. And to know everything about AKB48 I’d probably have to give up every other idol group for a few months. And I’d honestly rather cut my own ear off. Which is obviously an overdramatic statement, but that goes to show to what extent that I can’t be bothered to catch up because of how time consuming it would be. I’ll just stick to my AKB48 noob posts while I slowly and gradually catch up. Well, eventually anyway, when I get around to seriously putting effort into it.

And let’s be honest anyway, the Senbatsu pretty much proves they only need 20-30 members. The other 35 members are just gravy. And that is a bit heartless, but that’s business. Now, maybe AKB48 fans will never get sick of seeing the girls, but obviously Japan doesn’t want to be constantly bombarded with them forever. That alone is enough to make them falter, but couple that with what made Morning Musume fall from grace and you have a bad situation indeed.

It’s pretty obvious that Momusu’s fall from grace happened when their beloved and popular members graduated. They were the members that made Morning Musume, Morning Musume. Not only that but it is extremely hard for new members to have the personality and the dynamic that the old members shared. With Acchan graduating it is a sobering fact that popular members are eventually going to start dropping like flies. Maybe even sooner rather than later. AKB48 is in such a seemingly good place right now. The group is 7 years old already and haven’t really lost any substantial members to graduations. And even if they did AKB48 was nowhere near as popular as they are now, so it didn’t really effect them as much as it would now. And we have girls in AKB48 who have either been there from the beginning or close to it. They are either starting to get too old or starting to think it’s been too long and are ready to move on. And you can’t really rule anyone out either. Idols frequently graduate years before they really have to. Kago Ai, Tsuji Nozomi, LinLin, Konno Asami, Sakuma Kaho, Akita Eri, Hayami Akari, etc. Idols also leave because of injuries or medical reasons Kameri Eri, Mitsui Aika, Kosuga Fuyuka, Imade Mai, Matsushita Yui, etc. And you can’t rule out idols being picked off from scandals as in the cases of Kago Ai, Murakami Megumi, Arihara Kanna, and Kato Rubi. Not to mention close to home scandals in the cases of Hirajima Natsumi, Yonezawa Rumi, Ishiguro Atsuki, and Kikuchi Ayaka. (Which obviously worked out for her in the end.) The next few years are probably going to be devestating in the terms of graduations. But even if these things do bring them down, I do still see hope for them. And they can do so by pulling an Arashi.

There’s no doubt that right now Arashi is the top idol group in Japan right now. Yes, the top. AKB48 might sometimes sell twice as much as Arashi does, but Arashi has been on the top far longer than AKB48 has. AKB48 didn’t start selling Arashi numbers until 2010. Now, AKB48 is just like Arashi in the aspect that everyone loves them despite their age or gender. Both groups are variety royality with multiple shows and appearing on multiple others. Despite the level that Arashi is now, the group wasn’t always on top. Arashi initially was doing good. Their debut single A.RA.SHI. sold over 900,000 copies. Arashi didn’t exactly keep up that pace though. Their next 5-7 singles only sold over 300,000 copies. And then after that their sales took a complete nosedive and their singles for the next few years only sold somewhere between 150,000 and 250,000. So what helped Arashi return from their fall from grace to reach the top? It was 2 things really. Gaining the success and completely striking when the iron is hot and making the most out of their success. Arashi regained their popularity because of Matsumoto Jun’s drama Hana Yori Dango 2. Arashi’s Love So Sweet single was used as the theme. And obviously since the drama was so popular the theme song sold well over 400,000 copies. Personally I don’t know what was so great about Hana Yori Dango 2 for Love So Sweet to sell so much. Arashi did the theme for the first season of Hana Yori Dango as well, but Wish only sold a little over 100,000 copies. And personally I thought the first season of Hana Yori Dango was much better. And their next theme song, Happiness, for the drama Yamada Taro Monogatari sold over 300,000 copies.

Shortly after that Arashi released One Love which was used as the theme song for the Hana Yori Dango movie. Which sold over 500,000 copies. And then that is where Arashi used their regained popularity to their advantage to stay relevant. At the time Arashi did 2 tours. One for their Dream “A” Live album and one Asian Tour. Coming off the popularity of One Love one month after it’s release they released their next single Truth. And the next single after that was Beautiful Days which was used as the theme for the drama Riyusei no Kizuna. And while all of this was going on Arashi also debuted 2 varitey shows that are still airing today, Himitsu no Arashi-chan and VS Arashi. But not only did they debut 2 variety shows the 2 shows premiered in a 2 day spand. Himitsu no Arashi-chan on April 10th and VS Arashi on April 12th. Further solidifying their popularity.

Now this might have seemed like way too much to read about Arashi in an AKB48 related post, but I felt it was important to go through exactly how Arashi regained their popularity. Because it really shows how AKB48 could also rebuild their image when they face their decline. A big chunk of AKB48′s popularity started from dramas to begin with. Oogoe Diamond which was the first big jump in AKB48 sales was most likely due to the fact that it was used as the ending theme to Mendol. Maybe the switch to King Records also helped too, I don’t Know. But AKB48 did start selling Arashi numbers because the theme song to Majisuka Gakuen was included in their Sakura no Shiori single. And then after that the rest is pretty much history. Which goes to show that the right drama can really make or break an idol group. Perhaps that was one of the reasons that Morning Musume never regained their popularity. Until recently the girls never acted in dramas.

So, what was the conclusion of this whole post? For one I absolutely do think AKB48 is in their peak. I don’t see AKB48 really being able to rise that much more above the level they are at now. I mean what really is above their current level? Really, think about it. Another variety show? Even more commercials? Selling 2 million copies? Even if they do achieve that, I think the public will be so fed up with AKB48 at that point. Even though hardcore AKB48 fans will want to see them constantly forever, casual Japanese fans, and non-fans alike, will think enough is enough already. I know it’s certaintly like that in the US. Like Lady Gaga for example. A couple years ago Americans, the media, and to some extent myself, could not get enough of her. But then you started hearing articles of people being sick of seeing her and hearing about her. And after Judas didn’t go as well as expected you didn’t hear from her nearly as much as you used to. Yes, You and I did have slim popularity, but that’s about it. Personally I thought You and I was a let down of a song and I didn’t even bother listening to Marry the Night. To this day I’ve only heard bits and pieces of it the number of odd times it’s been played. And that’s mostly due to the fact that it was her least popular song in the US. So, if someone like Lady Gaga can fade here, what’s stopping AKB48 from fading there?

Aika is really leaving

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Aimxaim

A few hours ago it was announced that 8th generation member, Mistui Aika will be graduating from Morning Musume. Now that announcement alone came out of nowhere. But in even more shocking turn of events Mitsui Aika will not be graduating sometime in the near future, instead she will be graduating on May 18th same as Niigaki Risa. Mitsui Aika has said the reason for her graduating is because of recouring foot injuries. Even thought she seemed to be healed from her recent set back her doctor told her going back to her previous lifestyle could cause a relapse. So after talking it over with her mother she decided it was important to think about her health. She also said that she will remain a part of Hello!Project and will work with Tsunku when she fully recovers to see what she can do in the future. With Aika leaving this marks the last remaining member of the 8th gen leaving.

I don’t even know what to say right now. I am just at a loss for words. It should be no surprise to people who read my blog or follow me other places that I am a huge Aika fan. I am constantly praising her on my blog. Shouting the love, adoration, and devotion I have for her. Defending her on forums in the past. Recently venting my frustration and distain for Aika haters hating on her for almost no reason on tumblr. I mean, I love Aika. She is my absolute favorite current member of Morning Musume. And to say that I’m upset about Aika graduating is the understatement of the year. I am devastated. Just completely devastated. I am literally typing this post through the tears. And the tears are so heavy I can barely see if I’m typing the right letters.

Now, Aika is nowhere near the most popular or loved members in Morning Musume. So it might be hard for some of you to understand why I’m so upset. But I might remind you that every member in H!P that is the either the least popular or on the bottom tier is someone out there’s number 1. And when it comes to Aika that person is me. And to explain why we have to go all the way back to when I first became a Morning Musume fan.

It was back when Kanashimi Twilight just came out. And as I’ve said 1,000 times before I already knew of, and already was, a fan of Koharu. So watching the PV and the making of, the first person that stood out to me was Aika. I was drawn to her because of her famous smiling face, and back then to me she was completely shining. I very quickly found out her age and felt a kinship to her since we were nearly the same age. After becoming an even bigger fan of Morning Musume she came to represent everything I love about idols and she was the type of idols I love to support. I like to support 2 types of idols: the idols with big personalities and the the underdogs. Back then she was still new and people still were curious about her so in the beginning of becoming a fan she did get a decent amount of lines. No matter how short lived that was.

But when I got more and more into them I saw how Aika was never in the front, she was always shoved to the back in PVs, pictures, and concerts. And I also noticed how she didn’t seem to be a popular member within the group itself. Never really being surrounded by the members or having them being super friendly with her. She kept to her self a bit. Remember when Ai-chan said it was her goal to get to know Aika better in Alo-Hello? It was then that my love and attachment for Aika really grew. I saw an idol that was always doing their best. Actively trying to get more attention and support. Begging for a photobook. And being overshadowed. I saw the girl who cried during Haromoni@’s memory game because her round was hard to remember and she didn’t want to let the members down. I saw an idol who through everything never lost her bright and infectious smile. A lot of people saw Aika as having a sour personality. That she was bossy and that she thought highly of herself.

But I saw the good in Aika. The girl who to me seemed slightly lonely and aware of that fact that she wasn’t popular. I saw that Aika was one of the sweetest members. Really sweet and genuinely cared about the group itself and its members. She always remined me of Konno Asami in that aspect, which is another reason both of them are some of my all time favorite Morning Musume members. I saw the girl who was working through pain and injuries just to be part of the group she loved. And even now I can tell that graduating wasn’t an easy decision for her. You can tell she really wanted to be a member, which is why she’s been pushing through it all as long as she has. I also saw her as the idol who doted on and guided the new 9th and 10th gens.

I love Aika. I love idols in general. It might be silly to care for them so much that I’m crying over them graduating. It’s not like they are dying or something. But idols are very open. In the sense that idols are frequently on TV or writting in their blogs revealing practically everything about them and their day to day life. You watch them grow as a performer and as a person. You’re there through all the laughs and the tears. And that makes it feel like a frienship. And just like I say everytime an idol graduates, it feels like you’re losing a good friend.

And Aika was one of the most important and cherished idols to me. She might of been nothing for a lot of people. She was there for a lot of people to make fun of or call ugly or worthless. She was the easy target for jabs and snark. And that honestly doesn’t bother me. Because everyone has idols they don’t like. I know I do. But people also have to get that graduations are crushing events. It literally feels like my heart was ripped from my chest. I have to be honest with you I haven’t been this devestated since Koharu graduated. With Eri I was fine because she was a veteran and I had just recently stated to really become her fan. With LinLin I was too angry to be sad. But with Aika who I’ve been supporting for 5 years I feel the full force of the sadness and devestation of the graduation. Of her not happily singing and dancing to the songs I love. To not playfully being with the other Morning Musume members anymore. To never personally see her in a Morning Musume concert.

I really love Aika and all these years I really just wanted her to shine. I wanted her to get more popular and to get more lines. And recently that was happening for Aika. She was getting more lines, maybe not in the singles, but she was in concerts. And she was becoming more popular then she ever was before. Since day one I saw the potential in Aika. With her deep voice that wasn’t really common anymore for Morning Musume, I felt she could have really added to the songs and been something special. With her reserved and level-headed personality I saw a leader in the making. And her interactions with the 9th and 10th gen solidified her future leader position in my eyes. Even Yuko saw her potential. And I really did think Aika was going to pull through this. H!P went out of their way to show that Aika was still around, by having her randomly show up every so often when she was resting. And I admit when she showed up at the Mobekimasu release event at Yomiuri Land I teared up. I was so happy to see her because I missed her.

And I feel so completely upset that Aika doesn’t get her own graduation concert. I know it’s impossible with her curent situation. But it’s just much too suden. With graduations you usually get a few months to really cherish every last moment you have with them. And in their final single they usually get attention or at least a line. But in Renai Hunter it’s completely Risa owned and Aika gets nothing. Which makes no sense if you think about it because Tsunku always knows well in advance when members want to leave. And have you seen the setlist for the Ultra Smart concerts? Because Aika can’t dance she’s not in like over half of the songs. In her own graduation concert she’s not really singing. I get one final concert with Aika and she’s not even really in it. I can already tell there’s no way I can watch the concert. I can never bare to watch my favorite members graduation concert, and to this day I have never seen one. Not Koharu, not Eri/LinLin/JunJun, not KonKon, not any of my faves. And it’s sad, I really wanted to see 10th gens first Momusu concert.

Looking to the future right now is so grim. My favorite member in Morning Musume is leaving. Who do I have now in Morning Musume? I don’t like the remaining 6th gen members and the 9th and 10th gen are still so new I hardly know anything about them. I mean, I do have my favorites. But I’m nowhere near as attached to them as I am to Aika yet. It’s just impossible to be. I also hope H!P really does find something for Aika. Maybe put her in a group with Kenshuusei. Kinda like a V-U-DEN or Ongaku Gatas type thing. In my opinion we’re well overdue for a new Kenshuusei group anyway. Or they could make Aika a soloist. If the dancing is to much do what they did with ManoEri. ManoEri isn’t really the best dancer in H!P so all of the dancing she does in her PVs is pretty simple and she has backup dancers dancing more intensly in the back to make up for her lack of skills.

Let’s celebrate Aika one last time and listen to some of my favorite songs were Aika is prominent.

Arashi-Face Down PV preview

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Aimxaim

A few days ago the PV preview for Arashi’s upcoming single, Face Down, was released.

The PV seems to be yet another realatively simple PV from Arashi. A majority ofthe PV is nothing more than Arashi either sitting in business chairs or standing in a mirror room that reminds me a lot of Hey! Say! JUMP’s Super Delicate PV. This is also yet another PV without dancing. Which is honestly really sad because Arashi usually has the best and most fun choreography in all of JE.

And you know even thought the PV is completely simple I can’t help, but still like what I’m seeing of the PV. Maybe it’s because the sets are interesting with the colored ceiling or abstract walls, or maybe it’s the colorful outfits they are wearing half the time, or the fact that nearly everyone looks incredible in this PV. I say nearly because I absolutely hate Sho’s hair. It’s too short and it doesn’t work for his face at all. But most likely the real reason I like the video is because the song is really great that I’m looking past the fault of the PV. Then again it could also be the borderline annoying flashing camera angles to make the PV seem more dynamic. Even though it is a little bit annoying I do have to admit I actually think it really works for the PV.

Another plus for the PV is of course that MatsuJun and Nino are looking amazing per usual. But the most surprising thing is how well Ohno looks. He stands out the most to me in this video. It’s probably since the song is for his drama they put him more prominently in the PV.

New AKB48 sub-group No Name announced

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Aimxaim

It was announced that the members of AKB48, SKE48, and NMB48, that were chosen to voice act in the AKB48 anime, AKB0048, will be forming a new sub-group to release the opening and ending themes. The new sub-group is called No Name and the official release not of their single has yet to be announced. But the opening theme is titled Kibou ni Tsuite and the ending theme is titled Yume wa Nandomo Umarekawaru. AKB0048 begins ariring April 29th, so we should have a preview of the song in a few days.

I am really excited for this, after the 30 members passed the first round of juding for the anime I really wanted Sato Amina, Sato Sumire, and Watanabe Mayu to pass because I had a feeling the winners would also be doing the themes. And I am completely thrilled that it’s actually happening. Despite Amina never getting any attention or lines, she actually has one of my favorite voices in AKB48. She might not be the most vocally talented singer in any 48 group, but she has that adorable idol voice that I absolutely love. But sadly poor Amina is shoved in the back of this promo pic so it’s pretty much guaranteed she’s not going to get a solo line. I’m actually a little confused as to who the center for this single is going to be. Is it going to be Mayu because she’s in the absolute center of the picture or it Kumi because she’s in the center of the front row? It’s probably going to be Mayu lead and Kumi secondary anyway. Either way I’ll still be happy since both girls have adorable voices.

Hey! Say! JUMP to finally release second album

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Aimxaim

After almost two years since the release of JUMP No 1, it has been announced that Hey! Say! JUMP will be releasing their long awaited second album. The album is currently untitled, but it will be released on June 6th. The album will of course come in a Limited Edition and Regular edition. The LE will have a DVD that includes footage of the album recording and the jacket shooting. The RE will come with a 3D booklet and messages from the memebers, much like the messages both editions of JUMP No 1 had.

But what’s different about this album from their last one, and most Johnny’s releases, is that the the final 3 songs on each edition will be different. The LE will get 2 old songs: Spicy by Hey! Say! BEST and Endless Dream, as well as new song Uta Utau by Hey! Say! 7. The RE edition will 2 new songs: SNAP by Hey! Say! BEST, and Hana Egao by Hey! Say! 7. The RE will also include another single medley, probably much like the one at the end of Thank You Bokutachi Kara Kimi E, so I don’t really count that as a new song.

Well, I can’t say that I’m shocked by this announcement. After 1 year passed with no new album I was pretty much expecting the announcement to come any day. And once it got to be a year and a half, then almost two years, I started to get pretty annoyed and impatient. I don’t really understand what the management is doing with Hey! Say! JUMP. First they had that whole year of not releasing a single, and then almost 2 years inbetween album releases. NEWS also had this kind of waiting period, but for good reason. There’s absolutely no reason for Hey! Say! JUMP to have these long stretches of nothing.

That small complaint aside, I’m obviously really excited for Hey! Say! JUMP to be releasing another album. HSJ is one of my top 3 favorite JE groups, and I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for this release. This album already seems to be a lot better than their first album already since the only difference between LE and RE was the jackets and member messages. I’m glad that they put a lot more effort into each eddition. I can’t really comment on anything else though because most of the albums are new. But I can comment on the old songs. I really love that Hey! Say! JUMP has slowly been releasing old songs as B-sides because as it is right now nearly all of their unreleased songs have been officially released. As for Spicy though I’ve never been a huge fan of the song and I think I’ve only really heard it once ot twice. But relistening to it now it’s actually not that bad of a song. But for the unreleased songs I am way more excited for Endless Dream. I’ve been a huge fan of this song since they first sang it on Shounen Club back in 09. And it was actually one of the unreleased songs I wanted them to include in JUMP No 1. Endless Dream is really a great song. The music is great and the line distribution is almost good. 7/9 of JUMP get a decent amount of lines, but per usual Keito and Inoo are left with nothing. But quite honestly I’m just happy that Yuto has a nice chunk of lines.

And for any new JUMP fan out there, or anyone who just wants to refresh their memory, here are clips of Spicy

and Endless Dream.

AKB48-Manatsu no Sounds Good PV preview

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Aimxaim

Recently a PV review for AKB48′s upcoming new single, and I’m pretty sure Acchan’s final single, Manatsu no Sounds Good was released.

I’m actually really surprised with this PV preview. I’m actually impressed with it, which I did not expect to happen at all. But at the same time I’m only half impressed. The PV preview is half epic and half predictable. Let’s start off with the awesome part first. And that would be the th scenes of AKB48 on this sort of apocalyptic, or deserted, or Battle Royale type of island. Since the PV preview is really sort it’s hard to get a feel for the storyline. But it seems to be half of the girl appeared injured on this island wearing what looks like the Everyday Kachuusha outfits, but I could be wrong, and the other girls rush to help them. And the girls seem to be releasing some sort of deadly black smoke, which reminds me a lot of Lost. They even show Jurina dying. Well she just falls to the ground but it looks like she’s dead. Which is hilarious since they are killing her off again in another PV. And then Mayu is carrying Acchan off to safety and the other members suddently appear down the road dressed in white dresses. Which doesn’t really make sense as of yet. But I have to say, overall this part of the PV is cool. It’s well though out, it’s interesting, and it’s filmed in this awesome dirty/grungy filter.

And then we have the other half of the PV which is the generic 48 group bikini PV. Where it’s the girls dancing in bikinis on the beach, and that’s pretty much it. At least mix it up and do another poolside one like the Baby Baby Baby PV. And the bikini PV scenes in this PV are probably the worst I’ve ever seen because every single girl is basically in the same bikini. This awful white one, and some of the girls are wearing this off white shade which completely irks me! I miss the other bikini PVs where the girls are at least wearing different bikinis and have some individuality. I’m just over the whole bikini PV thing. Unless of course there is some effort in the theme. Give me some other aspect then just the dancing on a beach. Simply adding a beach ball or a frisbee would make it a lot more enjoyable to watch.

And I feel the need to mention this because the PV preview pointed this out, but why is Mayu the center? Sure Mayu is absolutely adorable and popular enough, but there are still more popular members than her. And why isn’t Acchan right in the center for her last song? It doesn’t make sense to me.

NEWS are finally coming back!

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Aimxaim

After days of a mysterious countdown on Johnny’s special website, Kei-chan’s radio show, K-chan NEWS, has officially announced that NEWS Will be making their comeback. NEWS is set to release a new single, best album, and a concert tour. As of right now the official date has not been set for any of these. Also, the best album is very hands on as fans can vote for their 4 favorite news songs and the 2nd disc of the best album will consist of the top fan voted songs. I’m not entirely sure how that will work. If it will just be the songs in their original form or not. But I’m guessing they will most likely rerecord the songs like they did for the singles on the Pacific album.

I have to say that I am beyond excited that NEWS is finally making their comeback. And I have to admit after months of us fans being strung along I actually did start to think that NEWS would really just fall by the wayside. But I am of course thrilled that, that wasn’t the case. And I felt such a mixture of shock, surprise, excitement, and was generally overwhelmed, that I actually teared up by this news. I have been sticking by NEWS through all of this. Through them not releasing anything for a year, through the rumor of them breaking up, through losing two members, and through the wait of their comeback announcement. I feel exactly like the NEWS fans who waited for NEWS to comeback after their year long hiatus after the Uchi and Kusano scandals. So yes, as a pretty emotional person I was completely overcome with sheer happiness that one of my favorite idol groups are coming back, and teared up. Tears of joy though, akin to the tears of joy I shed when Kago Ai announced her comeback with her Hong Kong movie Kung Fu Chef.

To anyone that reads my blog reguarly I’m sure you’re aware of the posts I made throughout this whole NEWS ordeal, where I was skeptical about the breaking up, and the post where I raged over Ryo’s departure in general. And if you’re not, I suggest you read them if you care. Anyway, in the first post I voiced how I was devastated by my favorite member leaving, and I even said that I wasn’t sure if I was even going to continue to listen to NEWS. But that was all said in the heat of the moment and written a mere 40 minutes after finding out about it. And I have to say over the months I cooled down. I started to be able to listen to NEWS without feeling sad and I realized I could never abandoned NEWS. NEWS is my first JE group, they opened the doors to so many other artists. And I had a lot of good times with NEWS. And NEWS, in my opinion, releases some of the best music in JE. With other JE groups I feel let down by releases, but with NEWS that hardly ever happens. Pretty much the only single I’m disappointed with is Sakura Girl and the only other songs I really don’t like are Let’s Go To The Planets and Stardust, which is pretty good. And NEWS is still NEWS, no matter what change they go through. They stated off with 9 and are now 4, and I’m honestly just as excited for this lineup as I was for the lineups that included Kusano and Ryo. I could never stop listening to them. I know that there are some fans out there that do abandon idol groups when their favorite members leave. But I think that’s just silly. And if I did that I wouldn’t listen to half the idol groups I listen to now, because I’m super unlucky and my favorite members always leave before their time.

I was also really excited that fans get to vote for their favorite songs. I love fans can participate in things like this. A few years ago I voted for Miyavi’s Fan’s Best album. Though it did suck that pretty much every song I voted for didn’t make it into the album. It was still fun to pick nonetheless. I hope my picks fare better this time. The lovely news-jpop livejournal community have translated instructions for voting located here. Voting ends 12/04/30 23:39 JST, so get your votes in while you can.
And if anyone is curious here are my 4 picks.

I gotta tell you it was incredibly hard to pick just 4 songs. But I definitely picked my favorite songs. And I think these 4 songs really show the full spectrum of NEWS songs.

1. Fiesta. Fiesta has been my favorite NEWS song for as long as I can remember. I remember hearing the song right in the beginning of becoming a fan and was instantly in love with the song. There are 2 reasons I love this song. The first being just how catchy and danceable the song is. And the second reason is honestly because Ryo has a lot of lines in the song. But I still really do love the song. I seriously can’t get enough of it. The lyrics aren’t exactly deep. They’re pretty much just about banging someone, but I love this song because of how fun it is. This song really shows NEWS’ dance side.

2. Mafuyu no Nagareboshi. Now, I picked this song 100% because of the lyrics. I absolutely love them they are sapppy and adorable. “The midwinter shooting star is the afterimage of your smile” Whoever doesn’t think that’s sweet must not have a heart. And I love how bittersweet the song is. It’s about the end of a romance, but still wishing the other person happiness. I also really love how the song is sung. It’s very soft and everyone sounds really amazing. Even Shige’s voice doesn’t sound too out of place. It really shows NEWS’ soft ballad type songs.

3. Koi Yake. Koi Yake was so close to losing to Say Hello. Touch is a great album and I really wanted to include a song from it. Koi Yake has always been one of my favorite songs from this album. And after I listened to it again and remembered I loved it because of it’s undeniably catchy chorus, it became obvious to pick Koi Yake. I love this song because it has a nice rock feel to it, which is rarity in NEWS songs.

4. Minna ga iru Sekai wo Hitotsu ni Ai wo Motto Give & Take Shimashou. I’ll never forget when I first heard this song I was absolutely disappointed. I was actually disappointed by the entire Color album when I first heard it. And while I did give the songs a second chance and have grown to love nearly all of them, Color is still my least favorite NEWS album. But I really love this song. I really emcompasses everything I love about NEWS. The song is super upbeat and the lyrics have a postive message. It’s music like this that is the reason I love NEWS in the first place.

Here are my other favorites I unfortunately had to leave out: Beach Angel, Chiraizumu, Say Hello, D.T.F., Alibi, Baby! Be My Baby!, Gan Gan Ganbatte, Smile Maker, Kirameki no Kanata e, Nantoka Naru Sa, Wonderland, and Why. And of course many more secondary favorites I couldn’t vote for either. XD

The 30 Day Idol Challenge: Day 6

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Aimxaim

I decided that I needed a nice change of pace for my blog. I’ve been playing a game of catch up on my blog recently. And whenever I have to play catch up I become unmotivated pretty quickly, because then it almost feels like I’m being forced to blog. And it really takes all the fun and enjoyment out of blogging. PV reviews are probably my favorite posts to make, but feeling obligated to do a mad rush of 10 or so in a matter of days is really a drag. However, the push is from no one but myself. I actually feel like I’ll lose readers or people will become disappointed/bored if I don’t review all the PVs, since I’ve made them the main selling point of my blog.

This post has take a rather unpleasant turn, so enough of the talk and onto the main focus of this blog. And that’s continuing the The 30 Day Idol Challenge. Now, I’m constantly playing catch up on my blog and focusing on idol news, that I have completely overlooked this challenge completely. The last post I made about this was back in October. I’m a little bummed about that myself.

Let’s get on with today’s question which is: “Your favorite sub-group?”

Now, there are, and have been, tons of idol sub-groups out there. I mean, I could have picked anything. But over the nearly 4 years of blogging and over 5 years of being an idol fan the answer to this question was extremely obvious. And keeping up with past answers you know I couldn’t pick just one group.

Buono:

Of course Buono is one of my absolute favorite sub-groups. I’ve been a dedicated fan of Buono ever since they first formed. And I think anyone that reads my blog can tell I’m a big Buono fan since I named my blog after one of their songs. Buono is one of those groups that keep getting better. Virtually whatever type of music they have they manage to pull it off. From super cutesy, to rock, to ska, to soft ballads, even auto tuned. Buono is just absolutely perfect! And everyone’s singing in Buono is top notch. I mean, watch some of their concerts. A lot of the time they sound almost identical to the CD. Which is super impressive. And the girl’s voices blend together perfectly. I seriously can never get enough of Buono. Their songs are constantly stuck in my head, and I’m constantly singing them. And their B-sides and album songs are just as catchy as their A-sides, which doesn’t always happen with idol groups.

Watarirouka Hashiritai/7:

Now, I haven’t been a Warota fan for nearly as long as I have been a Buono fan, but that doesn’t mean I love them any less. Watarirouka Hashiritai is just another perfect idol group in my eyes. They have the insanely cutesy idol voices that I absolutely adore, and they are making the exact kind of idol music that is my favorite. Upbeat, happy, cute, and sweet enough to make you lose your teeth. Watarirouka Hashiritai might only have one album, but they make up for it by usually having anywhere from 2-5 B-sides to keep you interested. They might have a few songs that I’m not a fan of, but collectively their songs are amazing and they put me in such a happy mood. And it doesn’t matter if they gain, lose, and then gain members the music never gets effected and they keep coming out with even better songs.

Momusu’s heart stealing new PV

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Aimxaim

Recently the full PV for Morning Musume’s upcoming new single, Renai Hunter, was released.

After watching the entire PV I could already tell the hate for this PV must be enormous. Well, let’s be real, this is a Morning Musume PV people would hate on it even if it was pure gold. But as always with Momusu, I’m going to go against what everyone else thinks and come out and say that I really love this PV. It was an absolute joy to watch. My girls are always a joy to watch awful PV or not. But the reason that I like this PV is because it looks like their was some real effort put into this. Is the PV perfect? Absolutely not, there are tons of things which could be improved on, and don’t worry I’ll get to that part. Lately Momusu’s PV have had a lot more effort put into them. I don’t know if they hired a new director, or they realized the 9th and 10th gen are give them a popularity boost that LinLin and JunJun never could. What was it a month after Riho joined she already had double the members on her mixi fanclub or whatever mixi does? Seriously if they really build the 9th and 10h gen Momusu would be in a good place. They have all the perfect idol traits. But that’s another post all together. Whatever UFA is doing with Momusu PVs they really should continue. I feel like the Renai Hunter PV is almost there. To me it seems more like a transition PV in between awful and absolute gold. Now, I personally don’t think Momusu has only ever had a handful of really amazing PVs. But fans seem to forget that every time shiny new idol groups relase something. But the fact that the Renai Hunter PV has more going on than just dancing and close-up singing shots proves that my god they’re actually trying.

Now let’s start off with the main part of the entire PV which is the set. I absolutely don’t like the set at all, it’s just too simple. I mean it’s white, you can’t get anymore bare than that. They are basically dancing in a giant white box. With a box/ladder pattern on the walls and simple fluorescent lights on the ceiling. And it honestly looks like an office building. Not only that, the entire set makes the members look washed up. Since they are wearing silver outfits they some times blend into the background, which is a huge no-no. But there is something great about the set, and that’s that the entire PV was filmed using one set. Now, that actually sounds horrible. But what makes it great is, you can’t really tell everything was filmed in one place. The first close-up uses colored beads which block the background completely. And the second close-up blurs the background and uses a gray filter. It’s just brilliant.
Moving on to the next biggest part, which is actually the psrt you notice the most, which are the outfits. I hate the outfits. Since the song uses dubstep I’m going to assume they tried to go futuristic with the outfits. But why does everyone think futuristic means silver? It doesn’t. Silver, let alone metalic silver, hardly ever works in the present. And I hate that the outfits do not have a shape at all. It makes them all look like flat boards without a single curve. Which isn’t flattering in the slightest. The other thing that irks me is everyone’s outfit is split into colors by their gen. 10th has blue, 9th has red, 6th has black, and 5th has yellow. But Aika is lumped into the 6th gens black. I guess they wanted Risa to standout and be the only person with their own color. But it’s just not working for me. Yellow is the most vibrant color out there anyway, they coukd ahve put Aika in gray and it would have still worked.
Next the dance, which is awful. What happened to Reina’s explination that it’s like a zombie? I see no Thriller-seque moves, or even any moves that are remotely difficult. There’s just a lot of shaking, pointing, and dropping. It’s just really awkwad from start to finish. The 10th gen can handle something more difficult than this.
The close-up shots for me are some of the best scenes. I love the close-up singing scenes because I actually love the random hanging beads. I know they are cheap sets 101, and H!P uses them all the time. They just used them in Dream Morning Musume’s Shining Butterfly PV. But I love the beads in any PV. I think they are really pretty and add a nice effect. They also balance nicely with the lack of set otherwise. The second close-up scenes are nothing more but beauty shots. But I absolutely love them. The girls look stunning. And I love the slight wind on them. It reminds me of the close-ups from the Sexy Boy PV.
And saving the best for last, my favorite scenes. Which are obviously the magazine scenes. I think they’re adorable. A really simple and cheap effect, but it’s undeniably cute. You get to see some cute shots of the girls posing with lollipops, and the magazine itself has a few stats of the girls.

I love this font.

Awkward dancing already.

Gorgeous Risa.

I can’t even with this dance right now.

Even though it’s just pointing I do love this move. Just because of how synchronized it is.

Absolutely stunning.

Oh, Reina’s hair is down. People can finally stop complaining that’s it’s always up.

Sayumi looks really pretty.

Ayumi still comes off as a little creepy to me.

Risa is killing me with these close-ups.

Most awkward move in the history of idol dances. And Zukki can’t really even do it. Lol.

Aika looks amazing.

I don’t like how boyish Erina’s hair looks.

Wow, Zukki looks incredible. *O*

Poor Haruka looks like a deer caught in headlights.

Mizuki is brining it though.

Eh, Reina’s cover is a little boring.

I love Risa’a lollipop.

Adorable.

Riho’s ins’t that spectacular either.

Aika looks super pretty.

Love them.

Adorable.

Love Aika’s wink.

Wow, Mizuki’s is the best so far.

Erina trying to look sexy.

Gorgeous.

Zukki!

Not bad Ayumi, it’s actually kind of cute.

The pose is a little awkward, but still cute.

Absolutely adorable.

Meh.

Realy beautiful.

Mizuki looks so fresh and pretty.

No words.

Haruna needs to work on her posing.

Too sexy Eripon. It doesn’t work with her cute image.

I just wanna hug Masaki.

I love that Risa says she loves Morning Musume.

Arashi go hog wild in new PV

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Aimxaim

About a month ago the PV for Arashi’s new single Wild at Heart was released.

After seeing the PV preview for this song I had high expectations for this PV. I’m not sure if the PV is really as amazing as I was expecting it to be, but I definitely enjoyed it. It’s one of those idol PVs that are relatively cheap, but make up for it because it’s overflowing with personality. And I’ve come to the conclusion that Arashi are the kings of this format. As I was writitng this PV I was thinking of past Arashi PVs to compare it to, and I’ve realized that nearly every Arashi PV had a pretty low budget or was even on a cheaply made set. But most Arashi PVs are exciting to watch otherwise, which shows just how much you can really over look those things is the PV is good enough.

And this PV is no different, there’s only 4 different scenes with 2 different outfits. The main scene in this PV is Arashi standing around in a circle just lip syncing the song. Their also wearing the main outfits for this PV, which I actually like. They’re simple black suits and everyone looks pretty good in them. The only think that irks me about them are the cut of the pants. They’re awful slight capri, or should I say Aiba-length, and who really wears that length with a suit? This scene is pretty much the same format as the Troublemaker PV and even the Happiness PV. Where they were just told to stand and pretty much do whatever they wanted to. There are a lot of cute and funny scenes because of that. And true to form Aiba’s are the most interesting to watch. But Ohno is also really bringing his A game, which is a bit out of character.
Another main part of the PV is the dance scenes. They are probably my least favorite parts of the entire PV. Mostly because the outfits are god awful. They’re wearing this metalic purple jackets with what looks to be leopard print on them. And they’re just disgusting. Let’s be honest those are the jackets that elderly men wear when they go play slots or golf. And pairing that jacket with equally metalic gold pants just doesn’t work, it clashes completely. It’s the same exact color scheme they wore for NTV’s Best Artist 2010. The sunglasses don’t really bother me though, I kinda like them. They remind me of the booklet for their Boku no Miteiru Fuukei album. But I do have to admit the glittering beaded curtains they are standing in front of scream Arashi.
This PV also contains some, what I guess JE considers, fanservice. It’s basically Arashi is trapped in some sort of suitcase, which by the way doesn’t match the rest of the entire PV. I mean, what’s the whole point of these scenes? And the Arashi members are squeezed so tightly in the suitcase that they are all over each other and on top of each other. I’m sure there’s some Arashi orgy joke in there somewhere, but I leave that up to you.
And though all of that none of those scenes even remotely compare to my favorite, and hands down the best, scenes in the entire PV. Which are: Arashi trying to fit thought a hallway they don’t quite fit into. This is nothing more then brillant camera angles, because at a couple of points you can see they fit perfectly fine. But these scenes are just the best, filled with the members overacting trying to squeeze and push through the walls. Maybe a Indiana Jones-esque scene with the walls closing in would more a little more exciting. But I’d honestly prefer corny overacting any day of the week.