Rated Platinum 9

I just purchased my airline tickets for the trip out to L.A. I am still in disbelief that I am going. Nervous about flying, I’ve done it a zillion times, but I still don’t like it.

Morning Musume’s 9th album, Platinum 9 was released yesterday, March 18th, I checked iTunes on a whim and there it was! Sweet! I’m not sure why Cover You was unavailable there, perhaps something with licensing issues? Yet Pepper Keibu was available….

Songs ★★★
This song has such a weird intro and outro. The more I listen to it the more I like it, it just really struck me on first listen.

Resonant Blue ★★★★★
I still love this song. Love the attitude, love the beat. It’s just awesome. I am so hoping they perform it live, that and Egao Yes Nude.

Ame no Furunai Hoshi de wa Aisenaidarou? ★★★★
This song was leaked several months ago by one of the girls auditioning in the Taiwan H!P auditions so I’ve heard it before this. It such a pretty ballad. I love the quiet piano.

Take off is Now! ★★★★★
I’ve heard A LOT about this song before now, but haven’t listened to it yet as I wanted some songs on the album to be a surprise. By the title alone I was expecting something along the lines of Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan or even Koko ni Iruzee!, but it’s not at all. It does have a great rock sound to it. It’s just taking me a moment to adjust to what I thought the song was going to sound like to what it does sound like.

Even on first listen I can definitely state that this is going to become one of my favorite Momusu tracks. Wicked attitude.

Naichau Kamo ★★★★☆
Another single. When I first heard it I was really kind of underwhelmed by it. I thought it had a cool sound but the PV was really bland. Since then I’ve ignored the PV and listened to the song only and it’s really grown on me. Since I’ve heard it so many times since it’s release I don’t have much to say.

So on to the next track shall we?

Watashi no Miryoku ni Kizukanai Donkan na Hito ★★★☆
Poor Aika. In a way I think her singing voice has been ruined a bit by Momusu. She sings through her nose now, much more so than when she joined and struck that ball out of the park in Egao. Her voice is really nasal in some points of this song. I’m really glad she got a solo song on this CD, and that it has a really upbeat, poppy, anime-theme song sound. It’s just, at some points, if I had been coaching her while she sang this, I would definitely have told her to drop her voice out of her nose and into her chest. It’s a problem I notice with a lot of idols.

Guruguru Jump ★★★★
Koharu, Junjun and Linlin’s song. God this is cute! This is definitely a song to get them going at the concerts, jumping around and flailing. I bet there’s a cute dance on stage too. Tailor-made for wota. I won’t even pretend it didn’t get my foot tapping at my desk. It almost sounds like something you’d hear from Kirarin Revolution.

Mikan ★★★★☆
Mikan gets such a bum wrap, and I don’t understand why this is because I freaking LOVE it.

Jounetsu no Kiss wo Hitotsu ★★★☆
I like this song it almost sounds like something Melon Kinenbi or T&C would sing. It’s got that mature quality to it. Even still it’s not that stand out for me.

It’s You ★★★☆
Oh man did I go into this song with some trepidation! Sorry to all the Sayu fans out there, but I was nervous. A solo song from one of the weakest singers in the group? But color me both pleased and surprised with how well she does with it! A solid effort from Sayu-chan! It’s got a pretty interesting sound to it as well. A bit heavy, a bit sexy, but with the undeniable level of cute that Sayu has. Nicely done.

Onna ni Sachi Are ★★★★
It’s been out for so long I don’t have much to say. I don’t think they rerecorded the single because Junjun and Linlin are still sporting a pretty good accent.

Kataomoi no Owari ni ★★★☆
This is such a sweet little song, it has such a relaxing quality to it. I’m not quite sure why it was sandwiched between two songs with a much heavier/energetic sound. Song placement on H!P albums is kind of strange sometimes. Anyway, this is Kamei’s solo song. It’s about time! She sounds fantastic! Her voice is pretty clear. I think it really fits her personality well. The melody reminds me of a classical piece I can’t quite put my finger on at the moment.

Kanashimi Twilight ★★★★★+++++++++
Being that this was Hitomi’s graduation song I’m a little peeved that it’s on the album. I really like this song, but it will always be Hitomi’s song for me. It really shouldn’t be on here. This is the first Momusu album that’s all 5th Gen+, it should only be their songs.

That being said, it’s one of my favorite Momusu songs. It gets +5 rating. Two awesome to be legal! (Hitomi ~ I miss you!)

Anf there you have it, my rated review of Platinum 9. Overall I think it was a very solid album.

Nanase Aikawa – Prism

While I wait for my latest order from CDJapan (which seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time), and since Nanase’s latest album is included in that order… I thought I’d do a little review of one of the songs from it, and on that’s been getting a lot of play from me lately Prism.

My love for Nanase started quite a while ago, but I’m going to admit I hadn’t listened to a Nanase song in a while. In truth it’s been 3 years since she put anything original out, so when I found out about the upcoming album I was stoked. Purana and Foxtrot still get a fair amount of play, but usually I put them on in the background while doing something else. I haven’t listened to them as a mood enhancer for quite a bit. The past few weeks I’ve been listening to Prism a lot. It harkens back to what made me a fan in the first place. It reminded me just how awesome Nanase is. I love Morning Musume for how upbeat they are, but I love Nanase because of how strong she is. She’s empowering. She doesn’t have to fake the attitude with leather jackets and chains – or to fit the mood of her current single. She doesn’t appear (to me anyway) to be selling an image. It’s just clear in her character and voice.

The song is incredibly upbeat, great beat, great sound. I love Nanase’s voice. She has one of the most unique singing voices in Jpop. As far as being instantly recognizable she’s equal with Utada for me.

I need to make a mix CD (or playlist) of cruising summer songs because this is another that would definitely be on it.

I’m not going to say much about the PV, as it’s apparent there wasn’t much budget for it. It’s quite obvious they put her in front of the camera, turned on the music and told her to just move around and lipsync. I love the rainbow effects, it reminds me of sunlight and summer. On a rainy and cold day like today I look forward to warmer days.

Kago’s latest “scandal”

Apparently according to FRIDAY (again with them?) Kago is a home wrecker, blah, blah, blah. You can read the whole article over on Hello!Online I’m too bored with it to recap it.

Reading the comments I’m really quite amazed at how people jump so quickly to conclusions. Do these same people stand in line at the supermarket and read the shit about Brangelina and think that’s all true too? Seriously. There’s no proof yet except the ex-wife’s word and she might just be a vindictive bitch. As for the evidence she has….. pictures of underwear, clothing and cosmetics? How the hell do you prove they belonged to Kago? Why is she bringing this up after the divorce became final? It’s not like you can walk into court and say “I want a divorce today.” and get it. That takes months of legal maneuvering. Why is this an issue or news now?

As for the script with Kago’s note on the back about getting married to the dude, not only does it say right after it that she was joking…… what were the roles of the two in the movie? Were they lovers? It could have been an in-joke or something. Not only that, but how does she prove Kago actually wrote it?

There’s just too much evidence that could be explained away – along with the timing of the whole event. Unless either Kago or the guy come out and admit it I’m just going to wave it off as gossip.

Guess who has tickets?

Online registration opened yesterday evening for Anime Expo, guess who has tickets? If you buy the weekend pass and book the hotel through the Con you get a free event ticket. I’m willing to bet you knew exactly which event I picked. Oh, yeah! I was so excited about it last night I had trouble falling asleep.

Strangely enough the concert is listed as taking place between 12:30 and 3:00 on Friday afternoon. I thought for sure it’d be scheduled for Saturday, but maybe there’s business reasons behind this… previous engagements in Japan? Will this be part of the summer tour that they usually hold? I wonder what songs they will sing?

I hope they have merchandise for sale. The whole ride to work this morning I was wracking my brain trying to figure out if I should cosplay a Momusu outfit, and if so which one? I’d really like to do the letter jackets from I Wish…. would that be hard too pull off? Should I do something more recent? It’s gotta be something layered so I can lose pieces if I need to. (I plan to be dancing at the concert and don’t want to get too hot).

I think the girls are going to be pleasantly surprised by the reception they receive, especially by the amount of Momusu fans online that appear to be going to the con specifically for this concert. (Unless someone else really awesome makes the guest list I’m ditching the con on Saturday to hit up Disney). Yes! We do know their names! Should I learn the wota call outs during songs? I plan on buying a shit ton of glowsticks to hand out. I hope they allow cameras… though I doubt it.

Arara! I am just so excited!