Oda Sakura becomes Morning Musume’s lone 11th generation member!

Well that was fast!

We’d only just gotten some tidbits of audition footage, so recently I hadn’t actually done a post about it yet probably because I have been a blogging delinquent this summer. . But, this morning, lo and behold, the identity of the chosen ‘suppin utahime’ was revealed!

I am not at all displeased that she would turn out to be Oda Sakura, former S/mileage auditioner turned Hello Project Egg (er, kenshuusei, but I hate that term. It reeks of 48).

To be totally honest I never would have thought it would turn out this way. I wasn’t huge on Sakura in her S/mileage audition but girl has come a long way, in dance, vocals, and even looks since becoming part of Hello! Project. Even knowing that, I was delighted to see her audition footage and found that she had gotten even better than I’d originally thought.

Sakura has got the voice. It’s not perfect yet, she needs a pinch more control, but it is quite good even so, and is already much better than most of the current members. She will be invaluable to the group in that aspect – so long as she actually gets to sing, unlike some of the other vocal talents like Mizuki and Haruka.

Sakura’s dance was good, she seemed to pick it up well from what they showed in the footage. I don’t know her well yet, but her personality seems sweet. And then there’s looks…. I liked her better with the longer hair + bangs combo much better than the shorter cut they have given her, but she’s still not a bad looking girl, and will probably become quite cute as she grows up.

So really there are only a few things that disappointed me about this addition:

1. So many fresh and new girls applied, but we basically saw none of them. Almost every finalist was an egg or from NGP. Guess it doesn’t matter since I love who they chose, but still.

2. The audition coverage, or utter lack thereof, was dreadful. Auditions are the lifeblood of Momusu, they should be promoting the hell out of them, bombarding us with footage to give us reason to be on the edge of our seats for the big reveal. Very disappointed in the amount of footage, especially considering how awesome some of the other gens’ footage was.

3. I wanted 2 girls, Sakura and cutie pie Ayano. I loved her. Also, only having one member can put a lot of pressure on her, being only one means she will be scrutinized, although I think she could be amazing, like Maki (hopefully more like that than a travesty like Koharu).

But at the end of the day, I can live with the result, and even love it, because Sakura is a wonderful choice and I think she is going to bring a lot of good to the group. I could certainly stand to hear someone besides reinho at this point.

ーJess

Preview for Morning Musume’s 51st single, WAKUTEKA Take a Chance!

I have been so pleasantly surprised with Morning Musume as of late, what with their past 2 singles being incredibly good and their album previews showing lots of promise.  Their next single, WAKUTEKA Take a Chance, is set to be released October 10th.  I thought it would take longer to get previews, but I’m happy to say that they have put out a dance practice video for the A-side on Youtube (Check it out!!).

A Review of Morning Musume’s One-Two-Three / The Matenrou Show single

Ok, so I’m a bit late with this.  The single has been out for a while.  I didn’t review it intially, since I’d already gotten my thoughts out there on One-Two-Three, which is the “main event” for this single, and typically I don’t really bother with most Morning Musume B-sides.  There are hidden gems here and there, like Koi ING, but on the whole they’re usually lackluster.

Well, after having listened to all 3 B-sides and both A-sides, and giving them all a chance to really sink in, I really had a lot to say about the songs, the way they showcase the group, and how they demonstrate the abilities of the newer members, many of whom haven’t had much in the way of lines until now, so I decided to do a full review.

PV for Berryz Koubou’s Cha Cha Sing released!

I’m not usually a Berryz fan.  I’ve got a selection of 10 or 15 songs of theirs I have liked over the course of their lengthy career – I usually end up liking 1 or 2 songs a year that they come out with.   I’m happy to say Cha Cha Sing is going to be one of them!  The PV has been released, available on Youtube here.

Apparently this is a cover of a Thai song – that’s pretty odd, but considering they have covered some other weird foreign material in the past, like Dschinghis Khan, I guess it fits.  Actually, that had been one of my favorite of Berryz’ songs as well, so maybe this group just does really well with other people’s stuff.

My Top Ten Momoiro Clover Songs (for now)

I’ve been thinking lately about where I would place Momoclo’s songs in a ranking, what ones do I love the most, and why.

Some of the inspiration for this comes from the recent news of Momoiro Clover Z being the group chosen to sing the theme song for the new Sailor Moon series in 2013.  Suddenly Momoclo’s videos on youtube were blowing up with english comments, and let’s just say not everyone seems as excited as I am about it…   But even I have to admit that if my first exposure to the group was a rather sloppy live cover of Moonlight Densetsu, I might not have been too happy either!

I don’t expect Momoclo to appeal to everyone, in fact, their strangeness is one of the things I like most, and that very thing may be what drives some away.  But, I’m sure there are some people out there, who aren’t familiar with this fabulous group, who might get into them if they only have a good introduction.  For me one of the toughest things when trying out a new group is finding what songs to listen to.  Maybe some not-yet-fans might be the same.

Momoiro Clover Z to sing the theme song for new Sailor Moon series!

This one might be bigger news for me than for some idol fans, but I’m sure I’m not alone in being a huge fan of Sailor Moon.  The original series was the catalyst for getting me into anime, which was what lead me to Jpop and idols, and to this day I am still a huge fan of it and have an incredibly enormous love for it.  When I read this afternoon that 1., they are making a new Sailor Moon anime, and 2., Momoiro Clover is going to do the theme song, I just about died of happiness.  Check it out on natalie.mu here!

Two of my favorite things that I never thought would come together are both set to do just that.  Life is good, man!

As for the series, what I’ve heard is that it will follow the manga more closely.   Although I prefer the anime to the manga overall (filler episodes aside), I do still enjoy the manga version of the story and its portrayal of some things was very different, so I think this is pretty darn cool.  Mitsuishi Kotono will also be reprising her role a Sailor Moon herself, which is also a huge plus for me.

This is really just one more awesome Momoclo thing in the midst of quite a bit of things they’ve been up to that I haven’t had time to blog about yet – they’re doing the ending theme ニッポン笑顔百景  (Nippon Egao Hyakkei) for anime Joshiraku, although they seem to be going under the pseudonym 桃黒亭一門 (Momo Kuro Tei Ichimon).  Pretty obvious it’s them, their voices are unmistakeable, it’s written by  Maeyamada, and it’s from their label, Star Child.  Seems kinda like when they did their UFI stuff.    Then in the commercial department,  they’re doing Pepsi black (I wonder if that song will be released?), Lottte’s Sou (PUSH) and Fit with Sasaki Nozomi (With this as of yet unreleased song), and more.  On top of that, their latest single, Otome Sensou, has been very successful.  It’s a good time to be a fan of Momoiro Clover Z, their idol career has really taken off this past year!  There’s just so much to be excited about right now!

–Jess

Momoiro Clover Z releases the PV to Otome Sensou!

Momoiro Clover Z has finally released the PV to their next single, Z女戦争 – Otome Sensou (Maiden War), available at their youtube channel here. Hooray! Review time!

They’ve been terrible teases this past month, letting us hear the C-side, and then the B-side, but nothing, not even a short preview of the A-side. What to expect? The C-side Mite Mite Kocchicchi, and B-side PUSH, were decent, but not mind-blowing, especially after the last single was so dramatic. But what about Otome Senso, the A-side?

Well, here it is. Battle start!

Kikka is coming to America!

That’s right, Kikkawa Yuu (or You, as they have had her spell it) is coming to the US this year! Atlanta, Georgia, at Anime Weekend Atlanta from September 28-10, to be exact.

This was incredibly joyful news for me for about 15 minutes, and then off and on for a few days, and that has faded into disappointment and despair on my part…

I can’t go.

I thought it would be feasible – east coast, and I have vacation time from work that I could use… But then I took a harder look at expenses. The flights from where I live to there run about $350 round trip. If I drove instead of flying I’d be looking at an 18-hour trip, each way, which would cost a fortune in gas and I’d definitely need at least 2 days to get down there (plus a hotel room for at least a night). Once there I’d need a hotel for the weekend, which is around $100 per night. I might need to eat something, and I’d definitely need to buy lots and lots of Yuu-tastic merchandise. Once I put together all the expenditures of the trip I was looking at around $1000, and well… I really don’t have that to spare.

I’m devastated. Yuu is one of the artists I follow, and someone who I’ve been following since she first auditioned for Morning Musume so many years ago and didn’t get in. I adore almost all of her solo material, and she’s just amazing, so cute, great voice…. It would be the highlight of my year to be able to see her in person and maybe even meet her and get an autograph, say some encouraging words and fangasm all over the place. But alas, it’s not to be.

I keep going back over the details, trying to think of some way, any way that I could soften the financial impact and make this happen, but it’s useless. I’d be better off just forgetting about it.

Every time I even think about how close she’ll be, with me unable to make it, I start tearing up, so I think I better get off this subject. If anyone needs me I’ll be drowning in my own sorrow.

–Jess

A Review of Momoiro Clover Z’s latest PV, PUSH!

Momoiro Clover Z has been alive and well in the idol world lately, with bits and pieces of their next single, Otome Sensou, coming out one by one.  First we got to hear what would become the C-side, Mite-mite Kocchicchi, and now we get to hear, and see, the B-side, PUSH on their official Youtube channel.  PUSH is a commercial tie-in for an ice cream, Lotte Sou, and a teeny tiny bit of the song has played in the commercials, giving a small sample.  The full song has much more to offer, and the PV to go with it is pretty amusing as well.

Concert preview for One・Two・Three (AKA Morning Musume has become amazing)

Holy holy shit.

There’s a concert preview out now for the first of the two A-sides off Morning Musume’s next single, One・Two・Three / The Matenrou Show.  And suddenly, between this single and the previous single, I have suddenly found Momusu is incredibly cool again.  It’s not the direction I thought the group would go in, with so many young members, and after Pyokopyoko Ultra, but I am 100% A-ok with it if this is the new Morning Musume.

Go watch it.  It’s awesome.