My week, it has been made!

I have long admired those who supported the H!P girls through their regular purchasing of merchandise.

By admired, I mean that I was jealous of those devoted bastards* to the point of tossing stuffed animals at the screen every time I saw that someone had bought twelve zillion versions of Morning Musume’s new single, or nearly went oldschool and tore at my hair on seeing scans from Maasa’s photobook.

Now, I’m not saying that I didn’t buy the occasional CD, but that’s just it. That’s all I did. A single or two for my birthday, or BK’s latest album brought back when a friend went to Japan. I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I think a lot of fans feel like that after a while- that it’s not enough anymore to just sit there and watch.

About three days ago I decided that I wasn’t going to let myself off the hook anymore. I’m 16, I have a job and nothing to spend my money on. Thanks to the new HelloStoreUsa, I have now joined the ranks of those people whose webpages I used to bombard with stuffed toys: I have bought my first Official H!P T-shirt (please note the capitalization- this is serious)!

This is about as far as my writing skills can take me for now, so here is a picblizzard of my purchase!

Choosing which shirt to buy was an easy decision: It had to be one of Linlin’s. Here it is, in all of its glory! By the way, the color is much brighter and more vibrant in real life. I have to say, though, I think that the smiley in the lower left corner fits Lin’s facial expressions better. Oh well!

Here’s the shirt being worn. By the way, I got the large size, and it’s huge. I tied it back with a rubber band in this picture, but wow, it really is large!

It was at about this point that I started jumping about and down and squealing like a fangirl. I nearly broke my mom’s camera.

Here’s the accompanying wrist-band. I’m not sure I’ll ever wear it outside my house, but then again, it has Linlin’s name on it. I don’t mind looking like an 80s reject for her! (Seriously, why wristbands? Is it so the wota can wipe their sweat on a physical representation of their idol? Is that some sort of common wota kink that I’m missing out on?)

Finally, the part of my purchase that made me squee the loudest! Pictures of Linlin! Wow. I mean, just… wow. Look at her, for Gaki’s sake! She’s just… so amazing.

In all, I’m incredibly happy with this purchase. Buying merchandise and supporting my favorite makes me feel like I’m somehow closer to her, an important thing for a fan who has yet to make the pilgrimage to Japan and won’t be able to do so for a while yet. The t-shirt is a reminder that the person I’m supporting is in fact, a real, physical being and not just some tiny animated figure trapped on my computer screen.

*No offense intended to all of you devoted bastards out there. Really. None. I love you guys. Now go back to fondling your piles of merchandise, you jerks.

 

But–!

Say what?!

Koharu’s graduating?

WTF? But… But I just started loving her! T_T Much like Sayumi and Linlin, my feelings for Koharu started off as less than positive- in fact, I couldn’t stand her. But like the aforementioned two, something in Koharu began to win me over, and at the time of writing this I consider her one the most attractive girls among the current members, not to mention entertaining and, yes, talented.

The more I think about this, the less of my original shock (My initial reaction was to stage-whisper “What the fuck?!” over and over while I read the Hello!Online post) I feel. I feel like we’ve all had it too good for too long- there’s no way that we could have kept this amazing line-up for any longer than we already have. I feel like we’re actually pretty lucky to have got off with losing only Kusumi in all of this time.

Actually, Kusumi is the one girl that has the best prospects for a career once she leaves H!P. Although I think that she could have still grown within H!P, it’s very clear that she no longer needs H!P to help define her as a star. When she was younger she was content to just sit and be cute. She didn’t really exude any overwhelming feeling aside from newbiness. Slowly she began exhibiting that over-the-top hyperness that made most of us wonder if she was on crack. To me, that seemed like a desperate grab for attention, an attempt to stand out amongst the rest of the members that just wasn’t hitting the right note. Nowadays she’s begun to exude a confident, almost refined aura. No, she hasn’t lost all of that crackheadedness, but she knows where and when to unleash it. That’s something only a really good performer knows how to do. Such versatility will help her succeed in whatever she wants to do once she’s out of H!P, as will her youth and beauty.

Hello!Project seems to know what they’re losing on this one. Tsunku mentioned wanting to give Koharu a solo career, but it seems that she’s having none of it. Like Erika, she wants to become a model, something that is certainly possible for someone of her beauty (not to mention height).

I’m not going to wish Kusumi luck- but it’s not that I don’t want her to do well. I just know that she’ll do well regardless of what anyone says.

I’m no Pengiedamus, but…

In this post, I predicted (somewhat lightheartedly) that Erika would at some point decide to give professional modeling a try. For those who don’t want to click the link (Why don’t you? What’s your problem? Do you have some form of racism against links? Are you linkcist?! How do you play Legend of Zelda, huh?!), here’s the exact quote:

“- Yurina would call up her friend Erika and tell her how much fun modeling is. Erika gives it a try.”

So today after eating some delicious chocolate cake and looking in my local paper to see if anyone is giving away a set of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica (no luck, although someone was advertising “4 free hens and cock”), I turned on the computer,  went to Hello!Online, and what should I see but a brief article stating that Umeda Erika would be leaving C-ute to embark on a modeling career.

Damn. I hate being right about stuff like this.

I’m not exactly surprised. Erika never exactly fit in with C-ute. She was like a sexy giraffe amongst a herd of adorable zebras, or something. But still, I’m pretty upset.

Despite my disappointment, this brings up some truly interesting thoughts about H!P the likes of which I haven’t had  in a long time. I’m going to discuss them here, and I’m going to start by comparing H!P and AKB48. Groan if you’d like, but I find this sort of comparison endlessly fascinating and, as this is my blog, will feel free indulge myself a bit.

(Look at all those cute girls whose names I don’t know or refuse to commit to memory…)

I’m not the best fan of AKB48- In fact, the most I can say for myself is that I love all Asian idols to some extent, and AKB48 are thus on my radar. I read news about them with a kind of detached, fuzzy amazement. When I hear that three of the members are forming a group to promote nattou, read the daunting lists of TV shows that feature AKB48 members in prominent roles, or see that yet another AKB48 girl has become a successful model, I never thought too much about it. As far as I was concerned, that was just something that came with being part of AKB48, along with the songs about lesbians and prostitution- sure, it was great, but nothing to think too hard about. I honestly didn’t wonder why members of H!P weren’t doing the same things (minus the S&M themed songs). Then this happened, and I wonder how I couldn’t have wondered that.

(Pictures like this give me hope for her modeling career. Handled correctly, she’s stunning).

Say you are a teenaged girl in a H!P-managed idol group. Unless your name is Sugaya Risako you are probably charming and have at least some amount of talent. You perform in concerts, have handshake events occasionally, and go on variety shows with the rest of your group whenever you have a new single coming out.  Every once in a great while you might be allowed a solo photoshoot in a magazine filled with nearly identical photoshoots of other idols. If you’re not one of those bestowed with the elusive title of “Popular,” you might never appear solo in any magazine or on any TV show. That’s it- that’s the extent of your activities.

Imagine now that you turn on the TV on your day off. On every other channel you see the smiling face of a member of AKB48. You open magazines other than idol magazines aimed at single men and see an AKB48er posing in the latest designs from Paris.

You know that you can do more. You have interests- acting, modeling, advertisement. But for whatever reason, your management doesn’t allow you to do any of it. How infuriating must that be, never to be allowed to stretch out and find out the limits of your own potential? Eventually, you make the difficult choice: To find out what you’re capable of, you must leave the protection of H!P and head out on your own. Suddenly everything is in jeopardy. You’ve no idea whether or not you’ll make it outside of H!P. At least in your group you had some form of security in the knowledge that the other members were there with you. Now you’re on your own.

Members of AKB48 don’t need to worry about such things. They can go on and initiate modeling or acting careers while having AKB48 to fall back on if things don’t work out. This is a brilliant move on the part of those in charge of AKB48. When Shinoda Mariko goes to America to expand on her modeling career (It was she that did that, right?), that benefits AKB48 by generating positive publicity. What does H!P do that even begins to measure up to such accomplishments? A few anime roles, and Takahashi’s lone role in a drama that didn’t lead to a thing. Currently the only way a H!P member can expand her boundaries within the entertainment/advertisement industry is by graduating. If H!P doesn’t start changing their policies about such things very soon, they’re going to begin losing girls left and right. Erika may simply be the first in an growing pandemic of girls taking the plunge.

That’s not to say that H!P will be doomed for sure if they don’t change their ways. H!P has one thing that AKB48 doesn’t- a history of excellence (I’m pretty sure that that was my middle school’s motto…). But in the youth-driven idol industry, that will only get a group so far. The current incarnation of H!P is doing alright, all things considered. My point is simply that they could be doing so much more, so much better. The girls have the looks and the talent. Now all they need is the chance.

(Just… wow. I’m secretly giddy about her modeling career).

(PS:

Happy birthday to Yurina and I- We’re 16!)

Love and Peace!

http://www.dohhhup.com/movie/Hw3ii5IZQJiwENEJn1EkYwinAP8iwXuA/view.php

HAHAHA 2:23 IN THIS VIDEO HAHAHA.

Now, I tend to be the last person in the world to notice things, so everyone’s probably already seen this, but… Sayumi’s delighted face right after makes me so happy.

I’m pretty sure that the header of my blog came from a performance of this song, too (Someone who’s really on top of these kinds of things, can you tell me if that’s so?)

I love it when Momusu plays Kiss-the-Leader!

Sad…

Sad… sad… very sad!

My parents and I… were going to go to California- to see Momusu!

But in the end, it didn’t work out. T_T.

I just feel bad- it’s like, Momusu made this huge effort to come all the way to America. I feel like I owe it to them to meet them halfway and make the effort to get to California. The fact that it’s at the exact opposite end of the country is only a tiny obstacle! Rawr!

…

Guys, those of you who are going to see them, enjoy it for me!

Hey-o, Miyavi’s got a new single!

Miyavi kinda has a new single out, after a yearlong drought of singles.

By “kinda” I mean that he has a demo of this new song out on his Myspace page, but no official release yet. It’s… a surprisingly good song.  Part of the reason I’ve been less interested in Miyavi lately is the fact that he seemed to have a lot of pretense to his latest singles. It was all bluff and effects and a thousand different instruments, and I couldn’t relate to any of it. However, Hi no Hikari Sae Todokanai Basho De (his last single before this new one) was a refreshing change. He hadn’t stripped away all of his sound effects or random odd background voices, but there was much more humanity and emotion in the song, and it made me feel like Miyavi might be onto something good.

Fast forward to this next single, and once again I was pleasantly surprised. Here’s a link to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJoSVY6NfM4

PS: Whenever I hear Myv speak in English, he always sounds like this kid I knew in 3rd grade who would stuff marbles in his mouth and try to talk. It’s hard to take him seriously, so I just don’t. XD

The song, Super Hero, starts off in the annoyingly blustery style of  singles past, with Miyavi showing off the fact that he can actually speak English now, but then makes a very natural shift into a much more beautiful style. There’s very little pretense to the rest of the song- much like his last single, the song seems somehow vulnerable, despite its flaws.  The slower, softer parts at the very beginning and in between verses seem almost dreamlike, introspective and fragile. Then the speed begins to slowly pick up until suddenly the chorus arrives with a kind of wounded vengeance that is far more emotionally accessible than anything Myv has done lately.

In all, I was highly impressed with this song. It could be that his recent marriage and impending fatherhood has helped to calm Miyavi down a little bit.

PPS: While I was looking up info about this song, it hit me…
Miyavi is close to being 30 years old. Myu hu hu! He’ll be 28 this year! Creepy.

New Mini Moni, Old Mini Moni… oi!

Hi, everybody!

Well, let’s see! I haven’t blogged since Yossy’s birthday, I do believe. Why? Well, I have been mostly enjoying reading the blogs of others- you’re all amazing (yes, you). But something so momentous, so incredible, so unbelievable has happened that I have to come out of my semi-retirement to blog about it:

Tsunku may have actually had a good idea.

I’m sure that you’ve guessed that I’m talking about the revival of MiniMoni. I think that this move is risky but brilliant on the part of the T-man, and if he plays this right (IE composes it of all of the members I want ;3 ), it could be very successful. And if not, wellllll, it’ll at least be fun for the wota!

~~~

(I mean, seriously, look at this man. Ridiculous).

Now, there have been countless times in which Tsunku has appeared to be on drugs when coming up with a new idea involving H!P. Sometimes he seemed to have been on something very good- I’m thinking that this was the case when he came up with The Peace, decided to include children who could barely speak in his project and train them to be superidols bent on draining our wallets, not telling Niigaki Risa to take herself and her bean-shaped head the hell out of his auditions and including Tsuji into the fourth generation at the last minute. But more often the inventions of the insane man behind H!P’s inventions have been, well, insane.

~~

(I mean, seriously, look at this group. Ridiculous).

Take Coconuts Musume. CocoMusu were essentially a bunch of awkward, semi-talented Hawaiians who spoke little to no Japanese and looked gigantic next to the petite and supernaturally pretty MM members. They didn’t sell well, and the line-up bounced around enough to make even the best Wota’s eyes spin. And Tsunku was originally very excited about them. They’re not the only ones, though. Most of H!P has had to deal with Tsunku’s crackosity at one time or another: He treated Melon Kinenbi so badly that they quickly became a running joke amongst fans, and even Berryz fell prey to his lunacy (“HEEEEY! Heeey, man, let’s, like, dress ‘em up in MONKEY suits! And have ‘em sings songs! About MONKEYS!” “Dude, you’re, like, brilliant.”). So, I’ve learned to take most of what Tsunku says and look at it through a filter- a loving, incredulous but indulgent filter. “Oh, that’s just Tsunku being on ecstasy again, it’ll all turn out fine in a few days, no worries.”

(“TSUNKUUUUUU! I WILL DEVOUR YOUR LIVER!”)

~~

With all that, what makes me think that this revival of a classic group would ever be a good idea, when H!P is stagnant in its popularity and the economy looks like a Johnny’s member without make-up (According to Newsweek, Japan’s economy this year has taken the largest yearlong plunge in decades)?

For one, at least in the beginning, this group should get great publicity. It’s a revival of a group whose old fans are at the right age to look back nostalgically at- “Ah, Mini Moni were so great. I loved listening to their music after school!” In the idol industry, which is all about image, publicity is everything. When people see you, they’re more likely to buy.

Secondly, H!P is moving towards a more mature image. Yes, C-ute’s newest cover single sounds like it was sung by Airi and the Chipmunks, but the other groups are shifting towards a more mature style, Morning Musume especially. At the same time, there’s some holding back. Morning Musume has done dance-y and a little sad in their latest singles, and Dakishimete Dakishimete dabbled in sexiness, but nothing really sultry has come from H!P in a long, long time, whether it be in the form of a song or a group. In fact, the only sultry prodcut of H!P that comes to mind is the original  Tanpopo line-up, and that was back when Morning Musume members were allowed to be real, sexual beings. I feel that with a new Mini Moni to keep up H!P’s playful, childish side, Tsunku may feel more comfortable experimenting with the sultrier side of things. Put those awesome Korean H!P hopefuls to use!

So which H!P members do I think would make this new group a success? Well, that depends.

First, how many members does Tsunku want? Technically there was a time when MiniMoni had five members. I’d like to assume, though, that Tsunku will stick with four.

Will the group have the same theme? Well, we all seem to be assuming that this’ll be a bright, childish group, and that seems about right. If it’s not, then my post is mostly rendered moot. And I hate being made moot.

Second, will he stick with the 150 cm height rule? That seems unlikely, as very few non-Egg members of H!P match that rule. However, since this will be a children’s group (we hope), the members might still stay on the short side.

Third, what groups will the members be from? In my idealized world in which the only drugs Tsunku takes are the ones that he uses to help out in bed with his trophy wife, he’ll choose one girl from each group (BK, C-ute, the Eggs and MM).

The criteria are thus that  there’ll be one member from each group, that the height doesn’t matter but should be shortish, and that the group will be childlike and happy.

So taking that into consideration, here it is:

AOI♥USAGI’S PERFECT NEW MINIMONI FORMATION:

Of course Kanon is already in the group, but I would’ve chosen her anyways: She’s the perfect new Kago. She’s sweet, adorable as hell and has a good voice.

Please let Chisato into the group! She’s little, she’s spunky, and she’s simultaneously able to pull off Tsuji-like levels of mischevousness and Mikitty-like levels of singing ability. She needs to be C-ute’s representative in this group!

Momoko is insane and has a unique, powerful voice. Her personality takes second place to none and she can hold her own on variety shows. She’d be the Mari-figure that this group needs. Plus, she’s tiny! Yay!

Yay Linlin! Lin gets to be the crazy foreigner (IE Mika) of this group. She’s a fabulous singer, just like Mika, tiny, full of personality, and can teach us another language! Just please don’t make her wear the Chinese flag on her head in the form of an ugly bandanna, please.

So there you go Tsunku, get off your pills and read my blog. Or stay on your pills and read my blog, for all I care. Just read it!

Disclaimer: Of course, this is the T-man that we’re talking about. It’s completely likely that this group will end up containing Kumai Yurina, Junjun, Umeda Erika, and a half-dozen eggs chosen at random. C’est la vie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy birthday to dear Yossy! Today she’s twenty-four! Hurray!

I love this hairstyle on Yossy! Especially the color- I like her with darker blonde hair!

Some oldschool Yossy (And Goto and Kei) love!

My mom… is fifty today. Ah ha ha! Dont’ tell anyone that, though!

…Guardians… 4…?

A new H!P group for Shugo Chara, H!P’s anime BFF, has been announced! It’s called Guardians 4 and consists of Kumai Yurina, Sugaya Risako, Nakajima Saki and Mitsui Aika.

So my initial reaction to the new group was this:

“Is that a g-word I spy? G as in… GRADUATION?! OHMIGOD. KUMAI’S GRADUATING?!”

After more careful perusal, I figured out that the word was indeed “guardian,” and not “graduation.”

Although I love the idea of a new grouping of H!P girls, I’m none too pleased with this one. All I can say is that as of now, even Yurina cannot save this painful grouping of girls. None of them can sing a jot aside from Yurina, who’s hit-and-miss. I HATE Mittsi’s ugly hair-cut, and Risako cannot dance. What was the inspiration behind this group?! Perhaps it’s a similarity to the characters?

In Shugo Chara, the main character (Amu) is part of what is essentially a souped-up school-council called the School Guardians. The girls in Guardians 4 are wearing the School Guardians’ outfits. Let’s compare the girls to some of the anime/manga’s School Guardians, shall we?

Kumai Yurina:

Comparable School Guardian: Nadeshiko/Nagihiko.

Nadeshiko is the gentle, feminine and reserved best friend of the main character. She has long, black hair and is somewhat tall. She is also a boy. There’s a little side story about how it’s tradition for the boys in his family to be raised as girls until they reach a certain age, to supposedly learn how to play female roles in traditional Japanese dance. Nagihiko is his name as a boy.

Yurina actually fits this character well. Yurina has a very refined, gentle and ladylike aura to her, just like Nadeshiko/Nagihiko. She’s a very traditional Japanese beauty… And if she’s actually a cross-dresser, more power to her.

Nakajima Saki:

Comparable School Guardian: Yaya Yuiko or Nadeshiko/Nagihiko as well.

Yaya is the youngest Guardian. She’s determined to act like a baby (in order to get her parents’ attention back from her baby brother). She is hyper and likes cute things. I say that Saki fits this image because she is sort of tiny and scrappy and cutesy like that.

The only reason that I say that Nadeshiko might suit Nakki is the way that her hair is in the preview images- She’s got it tied back in a bow, which was Nadeshiko’s signature look.

Sugaya Risako

Comparable School Guardian: Mashiro Rima

Rima is the gorgeous but stuck-up and aloof new girl at the school, who eventually joins the Guardians when Nadeshiko leaves to go… er, go away and then return as Nagihiko.

She fits my idea of Sugaya perfectly. Risako exudes this over-confident, aloof aura- she knows people love her, and she thinks that she’s totally deserving of that love no matter what. Many also find her to be indescribably gorgeous. Similarly, Rima stands aloof and doesn’t even try to make friends when she joins the Guardians- she insists that all she needs are her love-struck male “slaves,” the boys in the class who, having a crush on her, will do anything for her. Kinda like wota.

Mitsui Aika:

Comparable School Guardian: Soma Kukai

Kukai is the sporty, jocky, gung-ho character that’s friends with everyone and totally in your face. He’s loud and bright and cheerful, which to me totally fits with the slightly more mischievous, genki side of Mittsi. However, Kukai leaves the Guardian’s early on. What does this say about Mittsi’s prescence within the group?

SO, IN ALL?

Striking as they may be, as far as I’m concerned, these similarities are no excuse for such a tossed-together group. Weren’t Mittsi and Saki together already in that Robby & Kerobby or whatever group? I dunno. This grouping just seems so random. Well, we’ll see. I just hope that they aren’t going to be replacing Buono!

RR2!

The second installment of my Rankingu Revolution shall deal with the Berryz- my first and still favorite group of singing-dancing J-pop hamsters!

Last year’s thoughts

-

#7. Sugaya Risako

Former position: #7

Oooooooooooh C-ko, how I dislike thee! For all the standard reasons, of course; her hotter-than-thou persona, her refusal to sing like a civilized person, and her evident lack of effort when it comes to dancing.

Now, two of those three flaws also could apply to a certain Ishimura Maiha, adorable woodchuck Berry of my dreams (seriously, I love that girl), so what’s the difference, one wonders? Well, look at the difference in line distribution betwixt the two. See it? Good. Now go listen to Yume de Do Wop (Do up? Doo Wop? Uh… Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteru You Know’s b-side) and think about the Woodhchuck Berry, and sigh.

-

#6. Natsuyaki Miyabi

Former position (one wonders why I don’t say “former rank,” as this is a ranking…): #4

So at this point, rank doesn’t really matter any more. I love every single one of the non-Risako Berryz nearly equally. Where they rank just depends on how I’m feeling that day, or how they performed at the latest live.

So Miyabi gets ranked here, but there’s really very little change in how I feel about her from last year. She’s only getting more and more gorgeous, although lately I feel like she’s expressionless during live performances. I love her new haircut.

-

#5. Tokunaga Chinami

Former Position: #3

I could say that China and Momo are tied for their position, but that would be boring, wouldn’t it? I basically think that Chinami’s the hottest thing that’s ever walked around on two legs. Especially her two legs… She’s also nearly as funny as Momoko.

-

#4. Tsugunaga Momoko

Former Position: #5

I NAMED MY IPOD AFTER THIS MONKEYGIRL.

She’s entertaining and has the best singing ability (but not the best voice, that would be Miya) out of all of the Berryz. I absolutely adore her.

Also. What is with the Berryz looking like animals? Momoko is a strange monkeygirl, Miyabi is Seabiscuit, and Maiha was obviously descended from a long lineage of woodchucks. Kumai even has the word “bear” in her name! Hmm…

Idols genetically made to contain animal DNA…

It’s like a cross between Kirarin Revolution and Tokyo Mew Mew. OH GOD. THE SHOUJO. IT BURNS.

-

#3. Kumai Yurina

Former Position: #2

After all this time, I still love Yurina. If I had to pick one Berryz member to meet, it would be Saki, and I’d fangirl all over her. But if I had to pick one Berryz member to call up when I was sad, it would be Yurina. Just looking at pictures of her calms me down, and watching her perform always has me sitting there with this stupid happy smile on my face. She exudes a sweet gentleness that always makes me glad to be around.

\

#2. Sudou Maasa

Former Position: #1

Before I say anything; Maasa is getting her first photobook! Can I get a Hellz Yeah?! Whoever at UFA made that decision has my eternal love and respect. Then again, that same person might have had the idea to give Rii three (or was it four now?) photobooks before O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN ever even got one, so… I revoke my respect.

I never download PBs- I’ve only done so on two occasions (That would be Kamei’s Maple and Yurina’s… whatever it’s called. Probably “Yurina” or something. First photobooks in H!P get the lamest titles), but I’m definitely going to find some way to download this one.

Maasa and Captain occasionally change places for first or second, depending on how I’m feeling that day. Maasa makes me laugh. I look at her, and I laugh. I can just feel that funny things are just around the corner. Maa has a strong personality, which is good when compared with such gentle creatures as as Kumai or Miyabi. She stands out. Plus she’s the only Berry who I think might be able to defend herself in a self-defense situation. Being the martial artist that I am, things like that matter to me.

#1. ShimiSaki- O Kyaputen, my Kyaputen!

Former Position: #6

ShimiSaki can be so cool at times that I get as giddy as a middle schooler at a HSM concert. It’s like Return of the Yoshizawa Only Shorter and As Of Yet Not Blond. So on days when I want to fangirl my brains out, I look up Captain. She just has this amazing ability to draw one into the performance and keep you there, just like Yossy was always able to do.

The reason she’s come up so far in my Wota ranking is almost entirely the BK vs. C-ute concert. She did amazing things there.

—

All in all? I love the Berryz. It’s been five years since they came into the J-poposphere, and while they haven’t really made Musume-levlr strides om said microcosm, for this one fangirl, that doesn’t matter.

PS: COMEBACKWOODCHUCK!