Berryz Koubou - Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance

WTF is this? Seriously?

When I saw the cover of the single, I thought - Oh Good! Maybe we’re going to be treated to a cool, upbeat pop song! Then I saw the title - and I thought - what the hell is this song about? And then I saw the PV and heard the song.

Now, I know in general the Japanese buying public is obsessed with all things cute. This is a cute, novelty song, but there is no way they are trying to market this song to the record buying adult public, the general non-wota public - it’s clear this song is marketed at kids. But that’s ok! They are young idols, so it would be smart to be marketing to the young ‘asking Mom to buy it for you’ public.

This might be fun for the younger set, but myself - I’ll have to pass.

Best of H!P 2007

So, we’ve reached the end of 2007 and are now barrelling  headlong into 2008. It’s was  quite a year wasn’t it? Last time I focused on the scandals and bad times that rocked H!P during the twelve months prior. This time around I decided to focus on something upbeat and present what are, in my opinion, the best single releases of H!P this year.

First off let’s start with the flagship group!

 Morning Musume.
They had several really awesome singles this year, and I can honestly say there wasn’t one among them that I didn’t like! They were all really, really good, and all really, really different! It’s hard to pick one as a favorite. On terms of personal playback Egao Yes Nude still gets the most airplay from me. It’s such a really fun song! Easy to dance to, easy to sing along to, I still love it! It was the first single for Aika and I think it really showed everyone she had a lot to bring to the table.

Honestly, this was a re-confidence builder in me for Momusu. I had been a little disappointed with the singles released in 2006 (time has since endeared me). I had been pretty disappointed with My Asia…. especially after 2005 brought about some of my favorite Momusu singles to date. So when Egao was released it was like the second coming. Here was the pop fun I was looking for, and the song had it in spades. So for those reasons, I will vote Egao Yes Nude as my personal favorite Momusu single release of 2007.

Kusumi Koharu (as Tsukishima Kirari)
I really don’t understand all the Koharu-chan hate. Personally I love with girl. She’s been an explosion of energy since the get go and has never slowed down. She released 2 singles last year, Happy! and Chance. (Not including KiraPika of course). Both songs are infectiously cute. And I mean virally so. I hate to choose between them, but Happy gets my vote as it’s the more rocking of the two.

Ongaku Gatas
Oh no! I refuse to choose between the 2 singles released by current favorite group in H!P. Ongaku Gatas are AWESOME. They are a powerhouse of AWESOME. Nari Hajimeta Koi no Bell and Yattaroze! are almost too good to be true. Love, love, love from me. I refuse to choose….. though I will admit that Narihajimeta is the one I find myself singing absent-mindedly more often than not.

C-ute
I will admit, right here and now, that I am a way bigger fan of C-ute than I am of Berryz. Stone me if you wish, but I just prefer them. C-ute had 3 stellar releases in 2007; Sakura Chirari, Meguru Koi no Kisetsu and Tokaikko Junjou. While I really loved each of these songs, the winner, hands down, is Tokaikko Junjou. Maybe the best release H!P put out this year. This is just one AWESOME song. From the beat, to the awesome moves in the PV, C-ute is on fire.

Berryz Koubou
Man. I hesitate to even write this. I don’t want to judge all Berryz singles on the awesomeness that is Munasawagi Scarlet, but they really had a bland year as far as singles go. Two of their singles were ballads, which are pretty and all, but I’m not much of a ballad person. And honestly, I had completely forgotten about one of them until I looked it up. If you ignore the PV I would have to say that Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi was one of their more fun releases. It really is a good song, again, if you absolutely totally ignore the PV. So that would get my vote.

Biyuden
Poor Biyuden. I hope they’re not going the way of Melon Kinenbi. They only had 2 singles released in 2007. Koisuru Angel Heart, which gets my vote, and Jaja Uma Paradise, which I abhore. (The cute thing with Rika’s voice makes me want to punch a wall). Anyway, Koisuru, is a really fun poppy-rocky song. Along with Melon, I’m just not sure Biyuden is marketing right. They’re both carrying some really amazing talent, but not performing the way they could be saleswise.

Melon Kinenbi
Man, Melon are so fantastic! I have no idea why they are the lowest group on the H!P radar! These girls have some serious talent, and they’re always overlooked. They only had one real single release in 2007, the awesome Unforgettable. (Onegai I don’t think really counts as it was a rerelease of an indie single. Melon needs more love. They rock!

Athena & Robikerottsu
Special mention has to go to Shouri no BIG WAVE!!! for being one of the cutest and most infectious releases by H!P this year. Just adorable!

Well there you have it! My personal favorite single releases by H!P this year. I realize other artists put out stuff, but these were the ones that registered on my radar. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

Kouhaku Utagassen (updated as the show airs here)

Oh yeah!

Awesomely, my local Japanese channel, which usually airs crap, is airing Kouhaku Utagassen! I get to watch it! On my OWN TV! How awesome is that!

First a couple of observations. (It’s airing as I type this)

There is a WHOLE LOT of enka in this show. Like A LOT. Of which, I now realize, I am not that big of a fan. I like the pop-esque enka… I don’t know I guess I shouldn’t base my entire opinion of a genre based on a handful of songs.

Secondly, the H!P opening act…. someone came in late on their cue during Love Machine, but we can forgive that because all the girls looked fantastic! Which brings up the question, why the hell are Morning Musume still performing Love Machine?! Berryz and C-ute got to perform their latest singles, very abbreviated versions of their latest singles…. but the latest none the less. I understand Love Machine was Momusu’s biggest single to date (and let’s be honest, probably ever) but NONE of the girls currently in the line up were in Momusu when Love Machine was released! They ALWAYS play Love Machine for these kind of events, I’m sure people are kind of tired of hearing it! Let’s have a fresh image for Momusu and stop living in the past! (Yeah I realize it’s the 10th Anniversary, but Mikan is a perfectly awesome song to perform!)

Thirdly… how badly choreographed was that bit where the girls came back out and did fake back-up singing for Kouzai Kaori? It looked like it was slapped together at the last minute! People were out of synch with their movements, lip-synching to the main vocals and not the back up vocals… their outfits made them look like a junior high choir. (Black skirts & pumps, white button up shirts). I don’t mean to be so negative about it, but it really was kinda poorly done.

AKB48 I almost missed as the dog came trundling in and stepped on the remote which turned the TV off. They looked really good! (Except for the running into each other part). I know it’s a gimmick but I’m kind of sad there are 48 members… how the hell do I get to know them all? They had the honor of coming out and also performing a back up dance for another enka singer. They looked a lot more polished and a little more classy dressed in kimono.

In other H!P kind of related acts, Amin performed Matsuwa! Which you may remember was covered by W! Man, that made me miss them! Of Amin, at the beginning of the song Takako looked like she was about to burst into tears, but she held together well and they performed quite nicely.

More to come?

Tsukiatte Iru no ni Kataomoi

Berryz new single PV is out! Tsukiatte Iru no ni Kataomoi. I’m going to do things a bit differently here. Let’s review the song first, then the PV, and then the two together. There’s a reason for this, I’ll get to it in the end.

First the song! Listening to the song I am immediately struck by the lack of techno beats that seem to pervade H!P releases as of late. This is hearkening back to their pure pop roots and the song is fun! Very upbeat! Lots of Whoa! Oh! Yeah! and Ah!s in there. An H!P trademark. It’s got a great synthesized beat, one that makes you really want to pump your first in the air, wave your hands and jump around. This would be great for a magical girl anime theme song.

THE PV! (Watched without sound) First off the set is gorgeous! Old style Japanese shoji screens softly lit with bamboo behind them, and a big huge crescent moon in the background. I should point out that I LOVE the moon, so anything that has it as a decoration gets automatic bonus points from me. Every single one of the girls looks amazing, truly beautiful. Their costumes are gorgeous, very flowing and airy. The dance is nice and energetic, not quite sure what the knee thing is going on there. That’s something you see kids who have no rhythm doing at the friday night dance in the junior high school gym.

And sorry to the Momoko lovers out there but she kind of scares me in this video. She looks like she’s 40 with that haircut, it’s creepy. Like I swear I worked at a bank with someone who looked like her  once upon a time. Don’t hit me, that’s only my opinion. Moving on!

The song and the PV! DO NOT GO TOGETHER AT ALL. Like NOT at all. The set looks like something that belongs in a ballad, especially the shots of (is that Risako?) standing bathed in “moonlight” and looking up wonderously as a veil falls and she catches it. (That YEAH! is totally out of place as well). Maybe this has it’s root in some japanese folk tale that I am unaware of. Oh and I apologize if that’s not Risako, I have no idea who any of the Berryz girls are save Momoko who is easy for me to pick out. Oh yeah, and that shot at the end…. TOTALLY CHEESETASTIC.

It’s a shame, but I think this is one of the first instances in an H!P song where the song alone is terrific but when coupled with the PV totally ruins at for me. I just can’t get over how much the two don’t mix. Like oil and water even! So I’ll take the song, but not the PV. Thank God I have that option.

Berryz Koubo - Very Beauty

I finally got around to watching the PV. I have to admit that out off all the Berryz releases, the only two I’ve ever really loved are “Anata nashide wa sekite yukena” and “Munasawagi Scarlett”, but this one would probably rank as third.

Very Beauty is a song I can easily see growing on me. At first listen the melody reminds me of a warm lazy afternoon. There’s something nostalgic about it. The video is very nice, washed out colors and cute outfits that fit the song well. There are several high notes in the chorus that are strained to be hit, but it doesn’t in any way detract from the song.

The single was released on March 7.