Harimakenji's blog

Thoughts on next Momusu Spring Concert

Like I did a long time ago, here's the setlist for the Morning Musume Spring Concert 2008, rearranged according to how much I want to see each of the performances and some comments.

01. Resonant Blue
02. Mr Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~
This is one I'm afraid of. It all depends on who is going to get Yossie's part... Actually, I think none of the current members can do it, but that just makes me more interested to see what's coming.
03. Namida Tomaranai ga Houkago (Kamei)
I love Konkon's solo of this one in some past concert, and Kamei is the best I can think of to do it now <3 I guess Aika would be interesting too, but I prefer Kamei.
04. Morning Coffee (Takahashi, Niigaki, Kamei, Michishige & Tanaka)
Main vocals should go to Taka, anything else to GakiKame. Sayu and Tanaka should do nothing. That, and Tsunku would have my eternal loyalty. As if he didn't have it already. Oh well, he'll get my grattitude.
05. Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyotan-Jima (Kusumi, Mitsui, JunJun & LinLin)
I'll be happy if this doesn't turn into "Kusumi & those others from the 8th gen". I'll be extra happy if they wear pirate outfits and false mustaches.
06. Manatsu no Kousen (Niigaki with Takahashi, Kamei, Michishige & Tanaka)

*Notice that there's two singles for 5th&6th gen, but only one for 7th&8th. And then 7th&8th doesn't get solos like 6th. It makes me sad.
**Thinking better, no solos from 7th actually make me happy. But 8th should have their moment.

07. Koko ni Iruzee
08. Summer Night Town
09. THE MANPOWER!! (Risa got Yossie’s lines.)
10. Iroppoi Jirettai
11. Osaka Koi no Uta (Mitsui does Yossie’s monologue.)
12. Kanashimi Twilight
13. Roman ~My Dear Boy~ (Niigaki got Miki’s lines.)
14. Medley
- I WISH - this one worries me. Who's going to get Aibon's lines?
- Happy Summer Wedding
- Koi no Dance Site (Kamei does the Sexy Beam) - Kamei?? O_O
- Souda! We’re Alive
- The Peace
- Renai Revolution 21
15. Medley
- Daite! Hold on Me
- Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~
- SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~
- Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari (features one member only and its changes everyday. Chorus is made by everyone) - I wonder who will be the member featured on the DVD?
- Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
16. Shabondama
17. Onna ni Sachi Are
18. Egao YES Nude (Eri has Yossie’s lines and Reina has Miki’s.)
19. Encore
- Ai Araba IT’S ALL RIGHT
- Love Machine
20. Mikan
21. Aruiteru
22. AS FOR ONE DAY (Michishige does Kago’s monologue)
Why isn't it "Gaki does Kago's monologue" or "Kamei does Kago's monologue"? I don't like to see Aibon's lines redistributed in any way, but giving them to Sayu is too much for me T_T Well, it's still better than giving them to Koharu I guess...
23. Do It Now (Takahashi and then everyone else)
If I were a Takitty hater, I'd love to say this "Takahashi and then everyone else" applies to most of their recent discography, but I'm not, so... Let me just say I'm not looking forward to this because I'm tired of the song, and not because it says "Takitty first".
24. Memory Seishun no Hikari (Tanaka)
This should be changed with a Panda-tachi song. Not necessarily Memory, another one by them.
25. Furusato (Michishige)
And this should be changed with an Aika solo. Or Takitty.
26. Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan

Happy Birthday, Aibon!

Kago Ai - 20 years old today

Today is Kago Ai's 20th birthday, and that's the perfect opportunity for me to make a positive post about her past, while feigning complete ignorance as to her sad present. I can never like her again the same way even if she ever returns to the idol business... But all the scandals she got into don't change a thing about the cute and funny stuff she did in the past. And she certainly did a lot.

First, let's take a look at some photos, shall we?

On a H!M comedy skit...

Oh, I remember this episode! I got quite a surprise in this scene when Queen's "Bicycle Race" started playing in the background. It was the first time I recognized a song played there... But now I've learned that Japanese TV shows feature lots of unexpected choices in background music, and I've recognized some Phantom of the Opera and Azumanga Daioh (an anime series) in other H!M scenes too... And "Bicycle Race" is almost a regular track in the program, everytime they show bicycles it appears... It's in the latest HM@ episode too, in one of the boring MouTube videos.

Konkon and Aibon <3

Aibon and friends

In the last rumors I heard about Aibon, she was supposed to be somewhere in New York City... I'd like to believe she is still somehow in contact with the other girls on H!P, and is not celebrating her birthday in some lonely house in NYC.

Anyone knows what program is this?

But I think at least she's still in contact with Nono...

Here are three videos out of my favorite ones with Aibon:

UTB (2002.10.31) - Aibon clip 01 - This is from Morning Musume's appearance on Utaban in 2002.10.31, promoting their single Koko ni Iru ze! Aibon and Konkon shined in this episode, but for today I'll just share my two favorite scenes with Aibon ^_^ This first video shows her answer to the question "What would you like to change to make Morning Musume better?"

UTB (2002.10.31) - Aibon clip 02 - In this other video from the same program, Aibon reveals who she would not want to be paired with in a new unit, and shows some love for Yossie towards the end.

Aibon and Yossie... This is an unexpected coupling, but since the subject is here, let me share some photos of them together:

H!M Judgement Day (2003-12-28) - In this scene from one of the best Hello! Morning episodes ever, Aibon is judged for her crime of breaking into a private residence and saying something very bad.

Going over some unrelated recent events...

Time to rant endlessly on the most diverse topics to make up for the long silent time around here!

Kouhaku

I wonder what the Kids were doing there? Ok, so C-ute is a great unit and Tokaiko Junjou sold well, but what's the use of having it there if it's just a 15 seconds segment or so? And what's up with that "LA LALALA LA" song in the end that I've never heard before - or at least don't remember? What a waste of Kouhaku time... And then the girls only appeared again in an enka song, where they did absolutely nothing. They just stood there watching the woman singing. Where's the kimonos and the cute dance, like they did last year? Ohh, that's with AKB48 and Shokotan... Shokotan!! <3 Thank God Leah Dizon wasn't in this part, he had already ruined the mood during the "Idols Medley" before (AKB48 + Leah Dizon + Shokotan). By the way, I thought Kouhaku was supposed to have Japan's best singers, who let that Dizon in? And they call her an idol, that kills me a little inside.

"They're Idols, not Musical Legends" & "It's ALWAYS been about the Music"

When I saw this I thought there would be another big discussion, but thank God it never got anywhere. I do put the idols themselves above the music, but that's just me. Focusing on idols or on music are just two different aspects of the same fandom. There's no need for this pointless discussion over which of them is the right way. I can't understand those who go against Rad's enthusiasm though... I thought it was blind once - that post about JUMP - but other than that... If a person can't show his devotion at his own personal blog, then where the hell is this world going? You can bet I'll go radical if I ever need to defend Konno. He has his enthusiastic writing that might bother some, but there's still arguments on it, and he's open to discuss them. I respect that.

1st GOODSAL Covers

Covers taken from Some Boys! Blog. I really don't like them. I think I understand the thought that went into this... In the limited edition, the one on the left, someone very creative decided to put the album's name in the middle and have all the girls around it look at the name. And the background should be the same color of the uniforms, orange. Then, to make things more interesting, they made a little twist on the idea when they designed the regular edition cover - instead of in the middle, put the name on the right, and have all the girls looking away from the name! Genius. And more orange. Coincidentally, orange is one of my least favorite colors.

Abe Natsumi & Yajima Maimi - 16sai no Koi Nante

I made a comment on this in Henkka's positive review about it, so let me first paste it here:

"Hum... I guess we're pretty far off in this one. By the middle of 16sai no Koi Nante I was just bored and skipped to the B-side. It still didn't really grow on me, although taking a look at these lyrics might help that. I'll be checking them now. However, if Yuuko sung this "with all the lost time, age thirty is just before your very eyes / If you don't decide now, there'll be no time left" I'd be converted in an instant XD Love that and it'd be genius with Yuuko. Call me cruel.

I like the B-side though, it convinced me that their voices can work together to create something beautiful."

Checking the translated lyrics helped me like the A-side a little bit more, but it's still not enough. I think this just isn't the kind of song I want to hear Nacchi sing (that would be something like Iki wo Kasanemashou / Anata Iro / Amasugita Kajitsu / Yannachau).

Hello! Project Concerts setlists

Instead of showing the setlist and commenting each song, I'll show it in my order of preference (since you've probably already seen the setlist in the right order somewhere else). First, the Elder's Club tour:

1. Yattarouze! - Ongaku Gatas
2. Narihajimeta Koi no BELL - Ongaku Gatas
3. Koisuru Angel Heart - Biyuuden
4. WOW WOW WOW - Yasuda Kei, Yoshizawa Hitomi & Ayaka
5. Hitoshirezu Mune wo Kanaderu Yoru no Aki - Nakazawa Yuko, Yasuda Kei & Maeda Yuki
6. Watarasebashi - Matsuura Aya
7. Datte Ikitekanakucha - Abe Natsumi
8. Iki wo Kasanemashou - Abe Natsumi
9. Danna Sama - Nakazawa Yuko
�� Morning Musume medley - Morning Musume OG:
10.���� Renai Revolution 21
11.���� Daite HOLD ON ME!
12.���� Happy Summer Wedding
13.���� Happy Night
14. Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari - All
15. HAPPY TO GO! - Matsuura Aya
16. Jaja Uma Paradise - Biyuuden
17. The Peace! - All
18. SEXY NIGHT ~Wasurerarenai Kare~ - ROMANS
19. Akai Freesia - Melon Kinenbi
20. ENDLESS LOVE ~I Love You More~ - Maeda Yuki, Inaba Atsuko, Miyoshi Erika & Okada Yui
21. Onegai Miwaku no Target - Melon Kinenbi
22. Ai Ai Daiko - Maeda Yuki
23. Michi Naru Mirai e - All

Anything that has Konkon, Yossie, Yasuda and Yuuko gets priority. Lots of songs I don't recognize either go to the end of the list, or stay somewhere higher because I like the line up. Overall, I think there'll be some great moments on this one, especially seeing Momusu OG doing all those classics and the Yasuda-Yossie-Ayaka trio, but I'm more impressed with the Wonderful Hearts setlist. Here it is, in my personal order:

01. Robokiss - Michishige Sayumi & Sugaya Risako
02. Special Generation - Berryz Koubou & °C-ute
03. Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger - Takahashi Ai, Niigaki Risa, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Mitsui Aika, Tsugunaga Momoko, Sugaya Risako & Natsuyaki Miyabi
04. Renai Rider - Buono!
05. Seishun! LOVE Lunch - Athena & Robikerottsu
06. Ai~n! Dance no Uta - Kamei Eri, Junjun, Linlin & Sudou Maasa
07. Everyday Everywhere - Takahashi Ai & Tanaka Reina
08. Tokaikko Junjou - °C-ute
09. Meguru Koi no Kisetsu - °C-ute
10. Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba - Berryz Koubou
11. Aozora ga Itsumademo Tsuzuku You na Mirai de Are! - All
12. Odore! Morning Curry - Morning Musume
13. Mikan - Morning Musume
14. Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~ - All
15. Chance! - Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume)
16. Happy - Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume)
17. Everyday Yeah! Kataomoi - Shimizu Saki, Hagiwara Mai & Arihara Kanna
18. Oujisama to Yuki no Yoru - Umeda Erika, Yajima Maimi, Kumai Yurina & Tokunaga Chinami
19. Omoitattara Kichi desse! - Berryz Koubou
20. Bon kyu! Bon kyu! BOMB GIRL - Morning Musume
21. Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~ - Morning Musume
22. LA LA LA Shiawase no Uta - All
23. Hand Made CITY - Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou & °C-ute
24. Nanni mo Iwazu ni I LOVE YOU - All
25. Renai Revolution 21 - All
26. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi - Berryz Koubou
27. Sexy Boy ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~ - Morning Musume

So they decided to follow the last tour's Sayu-Momo-others Momoiro Kataomoi performance with a Sayu-Risako Robokiss? I can't complain :D Then there's Special Generation with C-ute, that seems both weird and genius for me, since I strongly associate this song with Berryz, but this combo might be great. I'm surprised to see Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger here, but those members can make it great. Actually, add Kamei, Junjun and Linlin to that, take out Miyabi, and there you have it, a perfect line up for a new super-unit! Hum... maybe swap Risako or Aika with Airi... But then she would have to compete with Takitty for lines, and that could get ugly. Anyway... Then there's Buono!'s new single, looking forward to that, and also Athena & Robikerottsu, which doesn't really matter to me musically, but Aika is cute there. Oh, and since I'm talking about Aika...

The Moment I Begun Liking Aika

Uta Doki! 311 - Yaguchi Mari - Koibito ga Santa Claus

There's nothing special in this video, it's a Christmas-themed Uta Doki! episode featuring Yaguchi singing and Aika as host. However, in the middle of it, Aika decides to play with Yaguchi throwing some ballons around, and I noticed how cute she is. I mean, I already knew that from a Haromoni@ episode some time ago, but this sealed it. Then I went watch Shouri no BIG WAVE!!'s PV (hadn't done it yet) and she was cute there again. Oh, and I decided I can like Koharu too, after brainwashing myself with her KirarinLand album some weeks ago.

ZARD, Kobukuro and Hirai Ken

Just wanted to say that although H!P's performances on these last year's specials weren't that great, the specials introduced me to Kobukuro and Hirai Ken, which are my newest addiction. ZARD I've known for a while (hello, MorningBerryz!) but only started listening to recently. "Sakura" from Kobukuro, "Ooki na Furudokei" from Hirai Ken and ZARD's "Kimi ga Inai" are the basis for my current playlists. Actually, ZARD's whole "Golden Best: 15th Anniversary" album is always present.

Buono! in the U.S.

Buono! is tied to an anime. Anime is already all over the world. I only don't believe Shugo Chara will be enough for them to make it: it'll be licensed, the singles will come to the US, but it'll never get mainstream attention from that. Doubt it? Well, then the people who're not into anime, try to tell me, which show is Hare Hare Yukai from? Can you name the people who sing it? Thought so. This is from a BIG anime (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) whose seiyuus (Japanese voice actresses) have already been in an American anime convention. If Shugo Chara doesn't get as big as Haruhi or Full Metal Alchemist are - that's very difficult -. they won't reach even the majority of the overseas otaku market. Unless there's a bigger number than I think of American otakus who are already into H!P, enough so that calling one of the units for an appearance in a convention would be interesting, they'll need to ride on the popularity of something better than Shugo. I'm sure Buono! or some other H!P unit can do that if they really try. Good luck for them.

Exams are over!!!!

VACATION! FREE TIME! HAPPINESS! KONKON! YAAAY!

*too tired to write something understandable*

Last exams week...

Once again it's time to forget the world and concentrate on exams. I'm going to sleep in a few minutes, and Firefox won't be running again tomorrow. I'll be back by the end of next week. See you then ^_^ 

Japanese "Lolita Complex" Boom

I just saw this video posted up at DannyChoo, a big otaku community site that sometimes talks about idols. This video is about U-15 idols' photobooks and DVDs, which is somewhat related to the never ending bikini shots moral questions that tend to pop up in our community once every few months. In no moment it talks about H!P PBs, but still, it has some interesting - and eventually disgusting - opinions from people interviewed on the street about the topic, that one might consider are valid to some H!P photobooks too. I especially liked the commentary from a father that appears in the end of the video so much I'd be inclined to give him a kick in a certain place if I had the chance. I still feel that H!P PBs are okay and not really comparable to the ones in this video, since aside from one or other bikini shot that some might consider offensive, there's nothing wrong with them really. At least I didn't think there was in Momoko's momo and Airi's CLEAR, the ones I've seen. Or maybe I've already gone to the dark side and can't judge clearly.

Top 10+1 Morning Musume PVs

Quite self-explanatory, here's my 10 favorite Morning Musume PVs (including Sakura and Otome gumis) with some comments and a last honorable mention in the end.

joshi04

01 - Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari
I remember quite clearly that this was the first PV to catch my attention on YouTube all the way back when I couldn't tell the members apart. That's because, after watching it more times than I cared to count, I had memorized all their names. And it was the perfect way to get to know their idol personae.
I love that every member gets their moment in the center, and that there's always at least 3 more people behind them all doing different things. That makes me gladly watch the PV many times, so I can pay attention to what each member is doing. It also helps that they don't move much, so when I'm trying to watch one of them I don't have to follow them around while they dance. And observing closely each member in this PV pays off, because there's hardly anything else out there that compares to it in the "Funny Faces per Second" department.
Oh, and my favorite part of it is right after they say Sayu doesn't need to use makeup, when Kaorin comes to the front and says "How nice, to be young...", Sayu answers "Yes!" and Yaguchi "Dammit~!"

moonlight01

02 - Mr. Moonlight
I think I can justify this PV's position with three screencaps.

YOSSIE!

YOSSIE + OGAWA = YAY! :)

YOSSIE! And a LIVE BAND back there!

It's also good to remember the impressive historical significance of this single & PV. It marks the beginning of the Konno era <3 She doesn't really do anything on it, though T_T

iwish01

03 - I WISH
The "message" of this PV, if I can call it that, always amazed me. The beauty of the lyrics doesn't need any extra commentary, it's one of the best - if not THE best, I'd have a hard time choosing this or Ai Araba - in Morning Musume's discography. But it's the scenes in the PV that get my attention. First, there's a character introduction of sorts. Then, something starts going wrong with every one of them: Yasuda burns her clothes, Tsuji doesn't get paid, Yossie injures her head, etc. After that nonsense scene� when Maki, Yaguchi and Yossie do a kamehameha (?), they all go fight in front of the police. And then, they see Rika walking with her dog and smiling at them. So, they all make peace instantly while the song starts going "LIFE IS WONDERFUL!". Lesson we learned: Rika's smile is the way to world peace (???)

Online Videos by Veoh.com

04 - Dance Suru no Da
I love the way this one was filmed. Or better, I love the way this version was, because I've seen two different ones, this and another with more "normal" camera angles. Oh, and I know this isn't an official PV, but I want it here.
What this camera does is give me exactly what I liked in JKM, although in a different way. With the screen split into two and the coreography not demanding the members to run all over the place, I can easily watch any one of them I want. And the parts with them playing around are pure gold <3 I especially liked when Tsuji and Kago appeared with the AIBO robot (the dog), because the name remembers me of Aibon. But that's just me and my weird sense of humor...

.

Sakura Mankai

05 - Sakura Mankai
This is the most beautiful thing to come from Hello! Project <3 I think if I took a random frame out of this PV, it's certain that whatever scene it contained would be wonderful and ready to be used as a wallpaper. Whoever divided Momusu in two groups was a complete genius... If it had been me, I'd put Sayu in Sakura and Yossie in Otome, because that would make more sense with the image I usually have of them, but the way it was ended working perfectly.

Hare Ame Nochi Suki had its beautiful moments too.

Especially Gaki with that hair. I predict she's joining Biyuden in their J-Rock invasion in 2008 *wishful thinking brought upon by Biyuden's recent revelation of a great wild side in the cover of a singles collection album I saw in MorningBerryz's blog*

hyoutanjima01

06 - Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima
It's too much fun =D I read once somewhere that this PV and song was a little childish, but this is nothing for someone who appreciates MiniMoni. This is surely a PV from a time H!P had plenty of creativity around, this and Koko ni Iru ze! that comes just below in this list. There's little to say about it, though, only that I laugh a lot each time I see it. Especially when Yasuda is thrown into space, and when Ogawa/Yossie appear together Titanic-style.

iruze01

07 - Koko ni Iru ze!
Another overall fun PV, but that doesn't really get me inspired to write... Just want to share one thought though...

Rika's air guitar RLZ

Oh, and this scene also RLZ

08 - Souda! We're Alive
09 - The Peace!
10 - Renai Revolution 21
These are classic PVs, much has been said about them already and I don't really have much to add. I LOVE the giant M flag in Souda! We're Alive (I'm not even sure if I can call it a flag with that size), and the jumps. Those scenes with them stopped and the camera rotating around them don't do much for me, though. The strong point of The Peace! is so obvious it shouldn't need mentioning: the sheer craziness of it all. And two YAY!s for the sailor suits. Renai Revolution 21, I love its sci-fi style <3 and the hairstyles too <3 especially Aibon/Nono/Nacchi

Aruiteru

Aruiteru
I like Aruiteru, and I really like its PV. Seriously. *watches the readership go away in disgust*
I wasn't around by the time this was released, so I haven't read it, but I saw one or other comment in some blogs that made me believe Aruiteru was mostly rejected by the English H!P community.� I like the song, it's the kind I'd hear when I'm tired and happy. The PV isn't Top 10 material, maybe Top 15. The first half of it is the cutest Close-up Version I've ever seen (there's almost only close ups...) and then there's the happy reunion around the campfire part <3 Ok, Mikitty went a little too far in her HAPPY! YAY! impression, since that's so far from her usual self in Momusu... But whatever. That's not a bad thing.

Happy Birthday Kame-chan! & Merry Christmas!

Kamei Eri

Hi there! After some time of silence around here, because I had three exams last week and my parents were very persuasive when convincing me to study more, I guess I can gradually come back to the blog... There's still three more exams in January, but those are mostly math/physics, and that's not a big problem for me.

Keeping the tradition I plan to have, here's my Birthday Tribute to Kamei Eri =D She's 19 today, found that out on H!P Sauce. I'm no good with this birthday speech thing, so I'll just say "Otanjoubi Omedetou, Kamei-chan!" and "Do Elizabeth again when HM@ gets a News segment!". Here's some Kamei scenes I got from my collection of H!M screencaps, and three videos =)

Haromoni Academy - English Lesson (subtitled)

I think most people have already seen Kamei's hilarious adventure in the English language =P but it's worth remembering <3

Strange H!M segment

This is a pretty different H!M segment, I haven't watched many episodes from 2005 yet so I'm not sure what this is about... Kamei enters a room with a not very friendly tough-style guy, who announces right away he doesn't like talking to people, and starts attacking Kamei for making him wait too long. The poor girl does her best to talk to this idiot. And then, he starts showing some unexpected items he carried in his bag... I'm not saying what happens in the end, watch it =)
Hum... Thinking about it now, maybe this video is a little sad to put in her birthday post... Oh well, the last one is happier.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Haromoni@

Finally, this is from a HM@ episode. After a segment where Kamei, Gaki-san and the Pandas had to make some bread with different ingredients, some children were chosen to choose which one was the best, and they chose Kamei's, to everyone's surprise =P The video starts when the kid are just making their choice. Since Kamei won, she gets to walk around town selling her own bread, while she advertises some random guy's business. I particularly like how she ignores the language barrier and sells the bread to some foreigners in the beginning. I chose this video because she keeps smiling almost the whole way through it, and that's always a good thing <3


Oh, and before I finish, I'm not sure if I'll be posting something again before Christmas, so here's my message to all of you, sent through Kamei =P

kamei002.jpg

kamei001.jpg

Happy 27th Birthday, Obaachan!

Yasuda Kei

Thanks to H!P Sauce for remembering us all of Kei-chan in the right day (yesterday), especially since she's not much remembered these days. Although I could have made a simple "happy birthday" post, that wouldn't have me delayed one day for the party, I decided it'd be a nice opportunity to make a bigger tribute to this historical member <3 And is there anything better to show of her talent than her acting in the old HaroMoni Gekijou? Unfortunately for now I only have "Bus ga kuru made" screencaps, but it's when Kei-chan had her best characters anyway...

Online Videos by Veoh.com

And to top it off, here's a clip of Obaachan in her best form ever =D Well, not really... I remember one episode with that dark think in the ground that when the characters went on they turned "evil"... Obaachan appeared with some hardcore makeup and props, and I think she did the dance there. I want to find that episode again and take some screencaps of that so bad >_< Anyway, this wouldn't be complete without a full video of her appearance in one of the skits, so here's one of my favorites, with a great chemistry between her and Nacchi, and an interesting twist with the appearance of another great older generation member: watch it here.

Non-H!P Favorite Artists

This is a post about my favorite Japanese artists outside Hello! Project. I tried to organize them by the order I met them, but in some cases I'm not so sure, especially the first ones... I've only included groups I've been listening to for a while, some that I've been listening to more recently like a bunch of Johnny's, Gackt, ZARD and Every Little Thing I decided to leave for the future.
 

Do as Infinity

Do as Infinity
This was my very first Japanese group. Don't say bad things about them here. Anyway... Tomiko doesn't have, let's say, Hikki's vocal skills, but I love her voice, so just ignore that <3 I think half my Japanese vocabulary could have come from memorizing lyrics to songs from DAI... I don't listen to them much nowadays though, mainly because I have so many new things to try...
Recommended songs: Fukai Mori, Oasis, Heart, Tookumade

Utada hikaru

Utada Hikaru
Utada is the eternal Queen of J-Pop for me, no one can convince me of the contrary <3 I can't stand Koda Kumi, and there's very few songs I listen to from Ayumi Hamasaki. I'm with Hikki all the way. I can't even tell how it all started, I don't remember anymore, but she's been my favorite for as long as I listen to J-Pop. I love her PVs, they're always creative and probably with large budgets... Only thing I could say against her is that I don't like her with short hair, and that her looks in her MTV Unplugged are the best ever in this Earth, but in the end, it's her writing and vocal talents that matter <3<3<3 And then SHE DID THE THEME FOR REBUILD OF EVANGELION!!! <3<3<3<3<3 The BEST of the anime world with the BEST of J-Pop world makes me VERY VERY MUCH HAPPY YAAAY! =DDD Anyway, better stop here or this is quickly going to turn into an evangelion blog...
Recommended songs: First Love, Sakura Drops, COLORS, Can you keep a secret?, Addicted to you

L'arc~en~Ciel

L'arc~en~Ciel
I stumbled on L'arc, like was the case with most of the first groups I found, by an anime. In this case, I never watched said anime, but I saw the opening. Driver's High, from GTO. From then on, it's been love. In fact, Japanese music for me has L'arc, Morning Musume and Utada Hikaru at the top, in an order I'll probably never figure out but keep trying anyway. I love hyde. I love how he acts cool but forgets his lyrics once every concert and sometimes says some funny stuff. I like every member of the band. Don't ask me why, I don't know, I probably have a mind crazier than Tsunku's, but I always associated L'arc with Hana Yori Dango. To be more specific, with the four main male characters in HYD. For me, hyde was like Tsukasa, Yukihiro was like Rui, tetsu was like Akira and ken was like Sojiro. I mean, that's how I imagined their personalities to be, back when I'd never seen them talking anywhere. I still think hyde remembers Tsukasa.
Recommended songs: Jojoushi, Flower, winter fall, Niji, Pieces

X-JAPAN

X-Japan
First it was all about Forever Love <3 That song made the X-1999 anime movie for me - I mean, it was the only thing I liked - and is still one of my favorite songs ever. I still prefer their slower songs. However, their visual kei look scared me. That made me ignore them for quite some time, but the day came when I had to recognize their brilliance. About the same day I got into Malice Mizer, but that's another story.
Recommended songs: Forever Love, Dahlia, Kurenai, Silent Jealousy, Tears

the Indigo
Found it through an anime. "Under the Blue Sky" was the ending theme in Mahou Tsukai Tai. Funny that, watching a little known anime I found a little known J-Pop group, and liked a lot both of them.  I'd love to be wrong, please someone tell me in the comments I'm not alone with the Indigo, but I've never seen it mentioned anywhere... I can't even find a higher quality picture to put up here, but small covers are all I have.  And it's such good music <3 All beautiful, calm songs, great to rest my mind <3 I wish I could find more PVs. Namoshirenu was also in another anime, Ai Yori Aoshi, but in that case I only like the song.
Recommended songs: Under the Blue Sky, Pain, Feel Like Makin' Love (suite mix), Toikake, Namoshirenu

Malice Mizer

Malice Mizer
It doesn't feel very right to write about Malice Mizer in an H!P blog. They're, for me, the most extreme opposites there could be. Not different, like apples and oranges, but extremes that can't get together, like electrons and positrons. H!P is almost happiness all around, and there's nothing of that in Mizer. There's only beautiful goth music. If I had found this at the same time I got into Phantom of the Opera, God knows what would be of my life today. Quite different. I think I'll never forget the one and only concert I've seen from them. Masterpiece.
Recommended songs: Syunikiss ~Nodo me no Aito~, Brise*, Au Revoir, Gekka no Yasoukyoku
*fans of FFVIII, notice the costumes

Southern All Stars

Southern All Stars
I first heard their Katte ni Sindbad in Uta Doki!, and was instantly convinced to look for more from them. Itoshi no Eri closed the deal (useless trivia: Wikipedia says Eririn got her name because her father loves this music). They're what I'm listening to the most right now. I still haven't got through 1/3 of their discography I guess, but I hardly find anything I don't like, so that should change very fast. I like how they're still around having success, and haven't really changed their style much. Love the pirate outfits in this PV. Glad to see age hasn't taken their humor.
Recommended songs: Tsunami, Katte ni Sindbad, Itoshi no Eri, Bye Bye My Love (U are the one)

SharanQ

SharanQ
As should be expected, I got to know SharanQ through Tsunku and Morning Musume. Never really cared to look for them, until I watched the original ASAYAN audition, and got to that conclusion most wotas probably had once in their life. That is, that Freud would've been very interested in meeting Tsunku. Quite a crazy man, with an unique mind and reasoning style. Like saying only that Nacchi "holds the mic very well" and then passing her immediately without more comments. But still a genius with lots of talent. So I decided to search for SharanQ stuff. Only found YouTube videos and a 2006 concert though, and Tsunku is already showing some age side effects on the latter. Still good though, will watch it throughly when I have time. Just looked at my favorite songs until now. I like the weird keyboard player, err... *goes at theppn* Taisei, that's the one. He wears a nice pair of horns in the concert footage I've already seen. Hatake's hair style is also interesting, my mother saw him when I was watching an ASAYAN episode and thought he was she. I can't really blame her. Anyway, I love them now, and I'm looking for more old stuff... Current Tsunku singing iiwake just doesn't do it for me, he's lost half the coolness. That adds a different feel to the song, which isn't bad for itself, could grow on me... But not yet.
Recommended songs: iiwake, Zurui Onna, 上・京・物・語, Single Bed

PS - I've just finished posting this and noticed that I forgot Luna Sea, but I'm too lazy to write about them now. So, yeah, they're on my favorites too...