Alternate title: So, Risako Didn’t Get Beaten to a Berryz Pulp, But After Watching this Concert, I Think She Deserves It.

WARNING: This will be a LONG review.

The Berryz vs. C-ute concert was kindly uploaded to Youtube a little while ago, but I’ve just gotten around to watching it. Each video is about ten minutes long and contains 2-3 songs. I’ll be reviewing every single one! YAY! For each section, I’ll also talk about who stood out, whether good or bad, and whatever else crosses my mind.

1. Huzzah, the opening! And… one of my least favorite H!P kids songs so far, Darling I Love You. There’s nothing interesting or catchy about this song to me. In fact, for some reason it just kinda REALLY annoys me to listen to it. So I’m going to pretend that the next song was actually the opening.

2. Special Generation is a great concert song. It’s fun to watch, the girls get right into it, and the wota are always really enthusiastic in their cheering for it. One thing I’ve learned to look out for when this is performed is the choreography in which Yurina and Momoko touch hands in the air (in this clip, it’s around the 6 minute mark). Just before they let go and Momoko sings “Suki to,” Yurina always mouths something to Momo, and Momo always looks even more under the influence of helium. It’s adorable, really.

3. The next song is Ookina Ai de Motenashite. It was around this point that the energy seems noticeably low. But it’s the beginning of the concert, so I can forgive them.

Stand outs for Part One: So far, no one’s really gotten into it (?)… but Momoko and Yurina both grabbed my attention, not just because they flirt during SpeGe, though that had a lot to do with it, for sure…

4. Part Two begins with a hilarious little video of each of the members suiting up for “battle.” I adore that Maasa and Kanna are their group’s leaders. And I LOVE how Yurina’s special “skill” is her height. That green outfit… she’s the Green Giant (I should be shot for that one). Good lord, Chinami’s got sexy legs. Is it just me, or is C-ute running MUCH faster than Berryz in the group-running scenes?

5. Member Introductions… pah. As if the wota didn’t know the girls already. Furthermore, I think tha- HOLY CRAP, SOMETHING’S EATING MIYABI’S HEAD! Quick, someone get a bucket of water! Kryptonite! A used towel! No, wait, someone go get some HAIR SPRAY, stat!

Oh, and I love Okai’s outfit.

6. Namida No Iro isn’t my favorite song, but I do love the dance. It’s fun to watch and very interesting. Throughout this whole performance, I can’t keep my eyes off of Kanna. She is absolutely spot-on with everything she sings, her expressions, her posture, it’s all great (She retains this throughout the concert, actually). Airi and Maimi do fine with their vocals, as usual. Hey… why do C-ute get those cute, somewhat-matching, modern looking clothes while half of Berryz get plaid lumberjack shirts? Shouldn’t Kanna be the one in a lumberjack outfit?

Standouts: Kanna and Chinami. Kanna, as stated, is solid not just in this clip but throughout the concert. And Chinami… Chinami’s got those killer legs.

7. I love this song! I love Munasawagi Scarlett, but not live. They always skip Chinami’s line, my favorite part of the song, and there’s just never enough ENERGY. They need to practically spit out the words. Another sore spot for me is the Miya/Momo duo line after the intense guitar solo. Their voices just don’t blend at all. but Yurina’s practically leaking sweetness all over the stage. So all is well in my little Berryz kingdom…

Miya Hair Check:

This might look like an innocent dance move, but in reality, if she lets go, it’ll explode.

8. I really am terrified of Tsunku’s voice at the start of La La La Shiawase no Uta. And I don’t like the beginning of it, or the middle, or, really, the end. But I do like the way that the crowd can easily interact with the girls in this song. Check out how simple a dance the chorus has, and how easy it is for the glowsticks to dance along. Nice. Maimi is fantastic here, all smiles and sparkles and… Maimi.

Miya Hair Check:

Is it… getting… BIGGER?!

9. Dschinghis Khan is a Chinami song. No two ways about it. She dominated the PV, and she’s dominating this, too. As for the vocals, well… Risako sounds like crap, Miya sounded really nice, and Momo sounds like a helium creature.  But one with good tone and control. Yurina’s still oozing cuteness, so good for her.

Standouts: Maimi was rather nice, and Yurina.

10. I really like Tokaikko Junjou live, and this was a great performance. Airi in particular had great vocals and her performance level has noticeably improved from the start of the concert. She did really well with that chest-popping move right after the bridge. Mai’s hair, I’m sorry to say, is bordering on Miyabi-like proportions, but the kid makes up for it in energy. She’s like a jack russel terrier, or something. If you’ve never seen one of those in action… Ah ha ha ha… ahem. And check out Kanna during Airi’s final line. I’m going to be singing her praises a lot during this review, because she’s constantly smiling and giving it her all, just like that.

11. I feel like this (Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi) is the song in which Berryz really starts getting their act together as a GROUP. They’re really solid in this performance. HOMG Risako makes the oddest, most awkward smile after her first line. It almost made me forgive her for sucking so much throughout the rest of the concert and for looking so awful in that shirt. Almost. This is also the first performance that inspired the title of this post. Saki begins pulling out the charm here, and it’s really fun to watch. I love her dancing during the instrumental break.

Standouts: Airi for vocals and Saki for sexy.

12. And then up comes Very Beauty… Oh. Mah. Gaki.

Risako, please. Please, just stop hurting my ears like this. Your performance here was sad, really. The “dancing” (slow walk down the stage) was half-hearted, your vocals… your vocals…

Airi. Thank you for trying to save this song from your friend. You almost did it. Well, at least you’re cute. I was right about you sounding good singing this song.

13. I was putting a lot of faith in the Bokura no Kagayaki performance. It contains all of my favorites from both groups, but aside from Chisato’s opening, I was disappointed. I mean, I’m all for Chisai getting lines, but couldn’t they have done a LITTLE bit more spreading around of lines? Most of all, I’m disappointed with Chinami. this could’ve been HER performance. It’s the perfect genki song for her, but she just wasn’t… there for me.

14. CAPTAIN YOU ARE OFFICIALLY AMAZING. Even though all she does is provide the sound effects, Captain is so cool and sexy throughout this performance of Sayonara Hageshiki Koi that she just owns the whole song, for me. This may, in fact, be my favorite performance of the whole concert. Maimi was also rather nice here, as was Miya. As a group, the only one who really doesn’t seem to fit here is Maimai.

Miya Hair Check:

It’s starting to look a little tired… maybe it mated with Mai’s hair-blob? That would explain Saki N.’s hair-do… well, hair-don’t.

Standouts: Saki. Saki Saki Saki Saki… SAKI. That’s Captain Saki, by the way.

15. I don’t totally understand Erika’s Tension Ageko character, but I still love her! I like how the wota get into the MC with the girls, and that makes this MC more fun. My friend and I now shout “used towel!” to each other whenever we see each other. And I certainly wouldn’t mind having Saki’s used towel… no, no, I’m not going to be a pervert. I’m younger then she is, darnit!

16. I was somehow really happy to have this song (That’s the Power) performed at this point in the concert, and whenever Erika interrupts with her “used towel” bits, I can’t help but smile. The atmosphere of this song is just so friendly and laid-back. It’s great. Well, more specifically, Erika is great.

17. See above paragraph, final sentence. Long live Do Don ga Don Ondou!

Standouts: This section is all about Erika, and it’s really nice. She proves herself to be a truly strong performer here. Buono! Stands out in that they’re conspicuously absent.

18. I really love Buono!, and their first single is by far my favorite. But somehow, the Eggs steal the show here. They’re soooo cute!

Miya Hair Check:

Oh, it’s starting to wilt a little…

19. Ouch, Miya had some difficulty in the beginning. And holy crap Airi, those shorts are SHORT. They’re practically panties. Shiny, black, panties. But Airi has really nice le-… Oh, what, the performance?! Yeah, that was pretty good. Nothing great or spectacular, though. The thing that really made this a good performance, however, was that the girls seem to take up with whole stage. They don’t make it feel static and stuck, like some of the other performances, regrettably, did.

20. ASDJKASFkl. Saki. Either Saki. Both Sakis. Whatever. I was totally not expecting them to just dance the whole time during Natsu Doki Lipstick, but I’m incredibly happy that they did. It sort of became a Saki Dance solo, with Maimi singing in the background. My second favorite performance of the concert, for sure. I can’t wait to see the Berryz footage, because that’ll be practically a solo shot of this dance for Captain.

21. Massara Blue Jeans is such a fun song! I’m constantly amazed at the stamina of these girls. Especially Maimi and Saki right now. Wow. Just… wow. And THEN the Berryz come in… DIERISAKO. Diedediediekthx. Actually, her second line made me realize that this could be teh PERFECTZ song for Risako. I mean, all she does is scream, and that’s all that this song requires.

Stand outs: The Sakis (mostly Captain because she’s just a sexy beast), and Airi’s shorts.

22. My first reaction to this performance was that Jiriri Kiteru is a great song to perform with lots of people. Everyone’s energy is through the roof, and the all look and sound great.

23. What the hell? This is barely an MC.

24. JUMP is an inspiring song, and when it’s sung by 14 cute girls in pretty costumes, it’s just that much better. Songs like this make a concert completely worth going to. The girls themselves do the song justice. Chisai’s “Wow!” was adorable.

25. My favorite H!P kids concert song, period, is Yujou Junjou OH Seishun. it’s so much better live than as an mp3, when the Berryz’ voices were still too young and squeaky to really fit the song. And right there confirming that opinion is Kanna, bundle of energy that she is. During the line “Yume nare donna toki mo”, she is completely performing the hell outta this song. Close behind her are Captain and Chinami. Captain is, I swear on my honor as a Yossy-fangirly, channeling the great Yoshizawa here. There’s a part where she points at the camera and just sort of raises her eyebrows, which nearly gave me a heart attack. If Captain started being a cool character within Berryz, I would be so happy. And Chinami, well, she always owns this song.

Stand outs: Everyone. Everyone is just great here.

26. This is just too precious. The H!P kids playing superheroes! Everyone is so adorable. Momo is especially cute with her “White is feeling a little blue” (or something like that) line. This whole MC is pure kitsch. I adore it, really. Maasa continuously cursing, Kanna and Maasa as the leaders, Airi being Airi…

Stand outs: That bat-monster thing. What IS it?

27. Warera! Berryz Kamen & C-utie Ranger. Maasa’s “big” solo is my new god, Kanna and Chisato should’ve gotten lines (especially Kanna, I mean, she’s the “leader”), and Captain is still incredibly managing to remind me of Yossy.

28. What a cute MC, damn this review is getting WAY too long! I’m just going to include the rest of the concert here: I can’t believe they ended with Sakura Chirari. What’s the point? It’s not energetic like Yujou Junjou, it’s not touching or inspiring like JUMP. It’s just… blah, although having Ganbacchae (the song that started it all!) as the ending background music was sweet and nostalgic. In all, this is one of the finest H!P concerts I’ve seen since becoming a fan.

Stand outs for the whole concert: In my mind, this concert was a great one for Captain especially. If she keeps this awesomeness up, she’ll be moving way up in my member rankings.

SO in the end, Berryz Kamen and C-utie Ranger teamed up and defeated their creepy bat-thing enemy. But in the end, we all know what the REAL enemy here was:

It’s that wonderful girl’s birthday today, so let’s celebrate with PICTURES!

Chibi Maasa? Adorable!

Maasa’s clothes were practically bordering on Goth in Very Beauty. Did anyone else notice? Studded (with butterflies) suspenders, black gloves, very minimal colors… just replace that silly flower with a skull and we’re talking.

Maasa’s got the most amazing lips in all of H!P. She could knock down Angelina Jolie with those lips.

This outfit set from Berryz’ concert was LOVE, and Maasa looks so amazing in hers.

Congratulations, Maasa! keep on growing into a strong young woman.

]]> http://peachusagi.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/happy-sweet-16-maasa/feed/ Usa-chan http://peachusagi.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/200/ http://peachusagi.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/200/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:16:30 +0000 Usa-chan http://peachusagi.wordpress.com/?p=200

Because I’m not at my computer, instead of talking about just how much I LOVE the Yuke yuke mokey dance PV, I’ll be filling out Bikkuri’s blogger survey. Thanks, bikkuri! It was really fun! I’ll be writing a proper, screen-capped write-up about Monkey Dance when I’m at home. Oh, but I will share with you my friend’s reaction to the monkey suits:

“Oh. My. Laundry Soap.
That will be giving me nightmares for weeks.
-shivers-”

On to the survey!

1. You have found a magical J-pop genie who will grant you one J-pop related wish (so no wishing for a million dollars or world peace or anything like that). It can be virtually anything as long as it’s directly related to J-pop, and don’t worry, because this is the nice sort of genie, not the kind who will try to find a loop-hole and screw up your wish. So, what do you wish for??? Oh no… my first instinct is completely selfish (I wish for a gift certificate to buy Yossy’s photobooks. ♥) but on thinking about it, what I really want is H!P’s success. Because the more successful they are, the longer I’ll be able to love them!

2. Is there any J-pop artist or group who seriously pisses you off? If yes, who, and why?
Sugaya Risako, is there a Sugaya Risako in the building? I just can’t bear this girl. She reminds me of all the clique-ish brats at my school who get by because people adore them for some odd reason. She’s just so lazy. It’s like she’s purposely trying to insult her fans by putting out 50% effort.

3. Who do you think is the sexiest japanese singer out there?

Hmm, within H!P? I’d say Sayu, because she’s just a sexy beast, but every now and then Kamei catches me off guard and it’s like… “Where did that come from?” I have to go with Kamei. Oh, but not in H!P? Ugh… Leah Dizon-person. I don’t like her music much, but she is rather sexy.

4. How about the cutest?

Difficult. Every time I see Maimai, I just wanna squish her cheeks, and no other H!P girl aside from Fukuda Kanon makes me want to do that. FACIAL CHEEKS.

5. Best personality? Probably… Yossy. She makes me feel at ease just by watching her. But as for a character, I really love Momoko. She’s a perfect Idol.

6. If given the opportunity, would you rather date person 3, person 4, or person 5? So my choices are Eri, the only H!P girl I’ve ever felt sexual at all about, Mai who reminds me of my four year old cousin or Yossy, who I love but in an admiring sort of way (in fact, she makes me think of my mom). Let’s go with Eri!

7. You work for a Japanese music magazine, and you have the opportunity to interview your favorite artist or group. What are a couple of the questions you want to ask them? I’d want to ask Berryz Koubou how they perceive their fans, and how they feel about the choices made by those at UFA, including Tsunku. Do they feel that they could be making better choices regarding the future of the group? Would they like to be my best friends and fly back to America and live with me?!

8. What’s the best (J-pop) song to listen to when you are really sad? I always listen to j-pop when I’m sad, so that’s hard. I generally listen to Ai’s “Yume kara samete”, AKB48’s “Kinjirareta Futari” and Utada Hikaru’s “First love” and “Dare ka no Negai ga Kanau Koro” when I just want to let myself be sad, but when I need to cheer up fast, I listen to W’s “Ai no Imi wo Oshiete.”

9. When you’re really happy? “Ai no Imi wo Oshiete” or Berryz’ “Munasawagi Scarlet” (I associate a really happy event in my life with that song!).

10. Do you often sing along to your favorite songs? Yes! I only sing aloud when others aren’t around (unless it’s Mr. Moonlight, because I can’t help but sing along there), but with others around I still mouth the words.

11. How about dance? No, never.

12. Artistic integrity question!! If someone offered to pay you for blogging, but they were allowed to censor some of your opinions or veto some of your blogging ideas, would you do it?

-inward sob- Yes, I would. Because I have need of money currently (if I get a job in the near future, I would say no). Hey look, I just got a job pet-sitting! So I can safely say “HELLZ NO! Give me blogging liberty or give me death.”

This post is lacking pictures, and lately I’ve been loving Kanna, so… here’s some Kanna for you!

Every job has its occupational hazards. My tennis instructor used to dream about being beaten by tennis rackets. Teachers probably DREAD being stuck teaching summer school. But what does this have to do with H!P, you wonder? Girls within H!P are all happy and eternally joyous, right? Wrong. There have to be some things that suck about being within H!P, and, dammit, I’m going to figure them out and type them up for your perusal! And before you ask, yes, this post was inspired by this clip.

(By the way, while some of these are serious, most aren’t.)

10.) Tsunku.

No matter how you look at it, this guy is creepy. And, my friends, this scary dude is the one making most of the decisions in your immediate future. How can a man who can’t even responsibly pick a hair color that matches his eyebrows decide the future of your entire group? (Answer: he can’t) And then he decides to go put out versions of your singles that utterly ruin the songs for the fans…

9.) Scandals.

They just never work out in your favor. Unless you’re Yajima Maimi, because MeguKami’s graduation did her a world of good.

8.) Fan-made “curses.”

There are quite a lot of these, and while they might not exactly have a direct effect on you if you’re a H!P member, it must get pretty annoying how a fan’ll make a curse out of ANYTHING these days. And I mean anything. For example, we have the rather famous and seemingly legit Love Machine curse, as well as the more far-fetched Sexy Otona-jan, Aruiteru and W curses.

Most of these, with the Love Machine curse being the obvious exception, are complete and utter tomfoolery (Yes, I said tomfoolery) despite how entertaining they are. In fact, to show just how easy it is to make up a curse if you’re a H!P fan, I’ve made one up for you now:

The 4-member Group Curse (Catchy, no?): All groups with four members will be doomed to poor sales, and a very slow/short run of market activity. Let’s examine this more closely, shall we (and seriously, how gorgeous does Kaori look in that picture)?

The four-members groups who have been/are in H!P are: Melon Kinenbi, SI*NA, Tanpopo gens. 2 and 3, T&C Bomber, Athena and Robikerottsu and DEF. DIVA. Melon Kinenbi, T&C Bomber and Athena and Robikerororororoooo all had fairly low sales, especially Athena and Robyblahblah. DEF. DIVA only put out one real single, and SI*NA hasn’t put out anything and is unlikely to in the near future. The third gen of Tanpopo sold poorly and only released one single. EDIT: Thanks to Nozofan, I realize that I’d forgotten Mini Moni. Well, they were doing just fine when Yagu was their leader, but the moment that Takahashi moved in, the sales plummetted. The only exception is thus the 2nd gen of Tanpopo, which did quite well. But I’m going to ignore that, because this is MY curse and I get to say what’s legit or not. Moving on!

7. Exhausting schedules.

This is one of those serious things that must suck about being in H!P. Thanks to the lovely Ishiguro Aya, we know that the girls often get as little as 3 hours of sleep a night. I’m dead if I get any less than 6 hours, so just the idea of getting 3 hours of sleep and then running straight to the next photoshoot/interview/performance is just… terrifying. Someone, I think it was Yoshimi, pointed out the dark circles under the eyes of some of the girls (Ai, Koharu) on the ONSA covers, and she was right. The girls really do look overly tired there. This work-life is partially what pushed Goto out of H!P, as well. Nakazawa Yuko had to graduate from Momusu because she couldn’t physically keep up with the younger girls’ activities. If UFA isn’t careful, they’re going to start losing girls left and right to sheer exhaustion.

6. Eggs.

You never know when one is going to crack.

5. Anyone from Johnny’s.

(Look, one of the three members of Johnny’s that I can recognize! The other two being Golf and Mike.)

Because on the inside you know that at the end of the day, no matter how much sparlkejuice you put in your hair, how many fake gems and human babies plastic flowers you stick to your nails, or how many peace signs you flash, they will still always be girlier than you.

4. Random black dudes who are hired to lip-synch in your PVs.

‘Nuff said.

3. Your group-mates.

Let me expand here. While it’s true that most girls in H!P seem to get along splendidly, there have been those who, on occasion, don’t get along at all (Rika and Miki being prime examples). And when you don’t like someone, being stuck with them day after day, forced to put on a smiling front for the fans, is near torture. Even the best of friends start getting on one another’s nerves if they spend too much time together.

2. The futility.

(Notice that Risako is almost twice the size of Shimizu Saki. That’s just sad.)

In H!P, you’re basically stuck in the same place among fans from the moment you debut. True, there are exceptions (kamei, Gaki), but generally it’s a futile task to try and become more popular within your group if you’re already one of the ones pushed to the back. Is this fair? No, of course not. It leads me to wonder, what would H!P lose if it did start promoting girls more equally? Would it kill the sales if Risako got one less line and ShimiSaki one more? I doubt it.

Which brings us to, finally, the number one worst thing about being a member of H!P:

1. That time of the month…

I’m completely serious here. Most of the members of H!P are 14 or older, and they are all girls, so eventually it’s going to be that time. For you bachelors out there who don’t already know, girls on their period are scary. And if you can imagine dancing around for hours on end, singing your lungs out, and smiling non-stop while all the while your stomach is cramping like crazy and all you want to do is stay in bed with a hot water bottle and bite the head off of anyone who comes near you, you’ll see that this is truly the most awful aspect of being in H!P.

A link to a new (?) website appeared on the official H!P site today, and it appears to feature the H!P Eggs. For those of you who don’t desire to toddle off to the official site, here’s the link to the aforementioned new site:

http://www.helloproject.com/akasaka/

So, my computer can’t read any kind of characters (including Japanese), so I’ve no way of reading this and guessing what it’s about, but I see pages that seem to have concert information, and there’s a page with profiles of each of the eggs and also another with what appears to be a blog. Anyone want to confirm/deny this? I’m making a big fuss about it, but it’s probably nothing… probably just an advert site for their newest concert.

And, because this post is looking rather bare, here are a few ramblings on the Eggies:

Fukuda Kanon. Does she have any fans out there, like, on the Mano Erina level? Seriously, how have you guys not discovered her yet? She’s freaking adorable, and a good performer to boot.

One of my favorites eggs. I saw Yuri in Narihajimeta koi no Bell and finally understood why that song is titled “The bells of love begin to ring.”

Sekine Azusa. i don’t know anything about this girl, but c’mon. The size of her head makes Miya look normal! And she’s so skinny… watching her on stage, it’s kind of like someone took a melon and stuck it onto a toothpick and told it to dance. Although if you cover up her impressive forehead, she’s rather cute. I’m sure she has some forehead loving fans out there, pining for her massive brow.

I wonder how they’d do wota chants for that?

L-O-V-E, LOVELY FOREHEAD!

We wota’ll make a curse out of anything these days…

Consider this a place holder for now: I don’t want to make any solid opinions until there’s a solid reaction from UFA.

However, my initial thought is this: While I’m not too torn up about Miyabi in particular, the idea of ANY H!P kid involved in a scandal is almost unbearable. I’m hoping that this will end up like that Risako non-scandal a while ago, the one with the picture of her (or a look-alike) almost kissing some random boy. Hey, if anyone has that picture, could you send it or a link to where it can be found to me?

Alternate title: Reina, get out of the way, I can’t see Saki. Or Maimi. Or Yuuka. Hell, I can barely see Ai.

I’ll keep my opinions brief. By the way, I don’t think I’ve stressed this enough, so, I HATE REINA. She’s right down there with Risako on my H!P list. The fact that Reina is in this group totally ruined it for me.

-Honestly, this PV was exactly what I was expecting. A crapload of Reina screentime, a few seconds of Saki and Maimi, and a nice but not too difficult looking dance.

-What surprised me was the lack of Yuuka-time. I thought that, as a cutie pie l’il Eggie-poo, she’d be getting a fair amount of screen time, but she gets next to nothing.

-Ai can best pull the feeling of this song/PV off, but she surprisingly gets very little screen time when compared with Reina. And mind you, I’m using Reina’s name with as much annoyance and condescension as possible. I am just awful at thinking up snappy insults and will thus leave her name as is.

-Sakitan, there are people who think you’re pretty! I certainly do. I really, REALLY wanted her to do something attention grabbing, like, I dunno, start breakdancing or drop-kick Reina or start waving around Risako’s dismembered head like it was the head of Medusa.

-This whole PV would gain +200 points in my mind if the awesome pairing of Sakitan and Maimi were given a dance battle during the bridge. Heck, even just having those two dancing together, without Ai, Reina or Yuuka doing anything to disrupt would make it better.

…if we enjoy watching pretty girls get tortured with mushrooms and string.

I have to say, Ai has the most entertaining shriek of fungus-induced terror I’ve ever heard. Oh, and is it just me, or does Ai actually look a little bit like Momoko here?

It makes you wonder what person sits around in a dusty room all day thinking up new and possibly scarring ways in which to torture our idols. All I can picture is some drooling man in a straightjacket, chewing a rusty nail and babbling things like “Must shoot steam at MM members… must make Rika pet a chicken… must deprive Koharu of crack and sugar…”

I haven’t had the mental power to come up with a worthwhile post lately, but I’ve rather wanted to take this survey… so, here it is.

Goals:

• Why do you blog? At first, I just really wanted to have a place to talk about Idols with other people who felt as strongly about them as I did. Then I started reading some other people’s blogs (most notably Shanimuni Paradise, Yossha Yossha yossha and Hello!Blog, all of which are linked in the sidebar) and decided that what i really wanted was to voice my opinions and have discussions with people like these.
  

• What long-term goals do you hope to accomplish, if any at all? I don’t really blog to accomplish anything. I just… do it to be heard.

• Where does your blog fail to meet your goals? I have trouble stating what I mean to say concisely. And, of course, I rarely come up with anything original to say…
  

• If you do have goals, what will accomplishing them do for yourself? My goals don’t have much to do with my blog…
  

• What do you want to gain out of blogging? A creative outlet? Praise from others? Personal satisfaction? Money? No money, sadly, and even if I earned any, it’d go right to H!P merchandise… it is something of a creative outlet for me, because Idols leak into my everyday conversations enough as it is. Praise from others is always an added bonus…
  

• Do you feel that your blog should meet a requirement for amount of entries? Do you feel any particular entry should be a certain length? No, that’s a limiting and rather silly thought!~
  

• For any particular entry, what motivates you to start and finish blog posts? I start a post because an idea or feeling takes a hold of me and I need to get it out! Finishing is something different entirely. I rarely finish my posts.
  

• Do you actively consider long term goals for each individual post? Only if they’re in-depth thought posts.
  

Subject Material:

• What do you blog about? Asian music. Mainly H!P.
  

• Would you be keeping a blog even if it wasn’t about the subjects you tend to cover? …no?

• Do you write about the material to promote it to others? Sometimes. I don’t tell people to go out and buy something, but I’m not above asking people to give something a listen!
  

Readership:

• How much do you care about readership? I’m very grateful that people stop and read my blog. The idea that my words are being read and thought about by others keeps me going!
  
• Does it satisfy you to know people are reading, even if they don’t comment? Yes!~ Very much so. Comments are nice, because they offer a different perspective on what I wrote, but just seeing that people visit my blog is enough.
  
• What effect does receiving a comment have on you? It makes me a little embarassed, but also very happy.
• Do you write with a particular audience in mind or an unspecified general audience? Why? I don’t do so… I write for myself.
  
• If you write for a particular audience, is it International Wota? If yes, why? At first i was, because it was my goal to have the people at IW notice my blog. When that occured within my second post, I was almost speechless.

Community: (The International Wota section)

• If International Wota didn’t exist, would you blog? I started blogging after seeing all the blogs on IW, so if it never existed, then no. But if it were to cease existing, then yes, I would.
  
• When IW covers an entry of yours, are you encouraged to blog more or less? More! I love seeing what they say about my posts.
  
• When IW does not cover an entry, are you encouraged to blog more or less? More. It makes me feel like I need to improve.
  
• How often do you read other blogs? Every day! Even more than writing in this blog, I enjoy reading what others say.
  
• How often do you comment on other blogs? At least once a week, but not often.
  
• If another blog covers a topic that you wanted or wished to cover, do you still blog about that specific topic? Why or why not? I do! Blogging is all about getting out different opinions on the same or a similar topic.
  

Commitment:

• How serious is your attitude towards blogging? Do you consider it just as something to do for fun? It’s both serious and fun. I do it for fun, but because other people are reading what I write, I have to put effort into my posts to be respectful of my readers.
  
• How often do you blog? How often would you like to blog? I blog at my own pace. Sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it’s slow. Generally it’s slow… but that’s not so bad!
  
• What priorities do you or have you put aside in order to blog? Why? School. I never do homework at home, anyways… blogging is just another thing that I do instead of that (well, I’m doing homework right now…).
  
• Do you see yourself blogging in 6 months? Why or why not? Of course. In 6 months, new singles will be out, new scandals, new groups… I want to blog about it all!
  

Personal:

• Would you say you blog for yourself? I do, but at the same time, I ensure that I’m not overly offensive to someone who might be reading, and I try to make what I write interesting.
  
• What is your feeling after posting an entry? Is it relative to the time and effort you put in an entry? I feel a little nervous, since I’m putting my opinions out there for others to judge.
• What needs does blogging fulfill? The need to talk about Asian music!
• Do you consider yourself a writer? Yes, I love to write anything and everything… except this stupid speech for history class.
  
• Do you consider yourself good at writing? Good at blogging? I’m good at writing in that I can make up words about any topic and sound like I know exactly what to say. I’m as good a blogger as I can be right now.
  
• How much of your personal life do you share on your blog? If none, why do you leave this out? I’ve no real reason to share personal life here, right? You all care more about Takahashi Ai in a bikini than what I had for breakfast this morning, right (French toast and strawberries, thank you very much)?

First it was Airi, Risako and Sayumi singing Momoiro Kataomoi:

Then it was Sayu and Risako with Robokiss:

Now at the upcoming joint Berryz and C-ute concert, we have Risako and Airi singing a duet version of Very Beauty.

It’s always interesting when H!P repeats things like they do here. Sometimes I wonder about Tsunku’s decisions. I wonder how he came up with songs like The Peace and Sou Da! We’re Alive, why he constantly promotes only certain girls, and why the hell he can’t create a decent faster song for Matsuura Aya anymore. Then I realize that I already know why. The reason, my friends, is that Tsunku can afford better drugs than most. And he can probably afford a lot of ‘em.

I predict that Airi and Sayu will be performing a duet sometime soon… Oh, and is it just me, or does Risako dance incredibly lazily? Just more to hate about her…