Now she’s just a yolk…?

I’m so sad about this. Mucchi is/was my favorite Egg.

(My dear friend gave me the idea for this title when she asked that of Mucchi as I wailed in despair. Really, I did.

Aaaagh!

Like that.)

On to the rest of the post!

This is what Mutou Mika looked like when I was first starting to discover the Eggs (I always sort of glossed over them- I saw them in concerts, and it’s like they didn’t register until I saw the 2006 Wonderful Hearts Summer). And when I saw this picture I thought “She has to be the ugliest member of H!P. Ever.” And yet she was the only one whose name I could remember, or whom I could pick out whenever a camera man accidentally caught a moment of Eggie-face while panning to get a better view of Nacchi, or Reina, or Yui(‘s boobs).

To me, this picture sums up what I love about Mucchi the most: She is NOT an idol. She’s up there flashing a cheerful and cute peace sign, and yet her expression is so serious and almost bored. The total clash between the two shows that she didn’t totally know what she was doing, and I love that about her. She’s kinda like Maasa in that respect. Maybe I just like the weird girls?

Mucchi rocks with longer hair, I must say. And does anyone else see a hint of Matsuura Aya in her? Perhaps around the eyes?

In case anyone needed proof that Mucchi was hot as well as being a cutie, here it is. And I just love that expression!

As if to lend weight to the Matsuura Aya likeness, here she is doing Ayaya’s famous cheek-puffing out face… Well alright, not really. But that’s what I thought of when I saw this! Yes, I am a spazz.

Final proof that Mutou Mika has her own special charm. Even up against H!P greats like Rika, Yossy and Konno, and even just next to the slightly more popular eggs such as Noto Arisa and fan-favorite Mano Erina, Mucchi manages to hold her own.

I’ll miss you, Mucchi! The next Ongaku Egg on my list?

Help me, help me, help me!

But seriously, I need your help!

How does everyone here who lives in a Region 1 area (I’m not sure if I’m using that term correctly; I’m technologically challenged) watch Japanese DVDs? Just recently I bought C-ute’s Namida Iro single and Morning Musume’s Resonant Blue single, and can’t watch them due to the region error. (This is the first time I’ve ever owned a music video for anything, by the way. I’m kind of proud that my first music video purchase is H!P related!)

Needless to say, I’m rather disappointed in not being able to watch said first PVs, so anyone who could help me would have my eternal gratitude!

♪Here they come to save the day!♫

I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to post much lately. This fact was due to my being buried under a pile of homework. Currently I’m on spring break, looking at colleges for my brother (Any Adelphi alums out there? I’m typing from the Adelphi library).

So a little while ago I made a post about duo performances I’d want to see at the upcoming Berryz “Vs.” C-ute concert. Today I saw the setlist and, of course, not one of my predictions came true.

HowEVER! Some did come very close to coming true! I will get to hear Suzuki Airi singing Very Beauty (sadly I’ll have to hear her singing it with Risako instead of Miyabi, but ah well), and YES! I will get to hear a Tokunaga and Okai version of Bokura no Kagayaki! They will be joined by Kumai Yurina and one of my pairings consisting of Arihara Kanna and Sudou Maasa.

For those interested, here’s the setlist from Wikki.theppn, along with my comments:

1. ダーリン I LOVE YOU (Darling I LOVE YOU) {I don’t really like this song. Moving on!}
2. スッペシャルジェネレ～ション (Special Generation){The classic h!p kids song that doesn’t normally sound that good live. Oh, and what was up with that Berryz/c-ute version of this song at the Hello! Project 2008 Winter ~Wonderful Hearts Nenjuu Mu Kyuu~ concert? Who in their right mind would let Airi do some of Miya’s “Whoa whoa”s? I thought that it was an unspoken rule that no one touched those lines if Miya was present in ANY performance of Special Generation?}
3. 大きな愛でもてなして (Ooki na Ai de Motenashite) {I’m glad that this is being performed. It’s too weird a song not to like}.
4. 我ら！Berryz仮面 (Warera! Berryz Kamen) VTR {Doesn’t a VTR mean that it’ll be up on a screen?This could either be very, very interesting or really stupid. Man, and I was looking forward to watching an actual performance of this, what with Risako getting NO LINES and all. Ah, wait. they perform it again at the end.}
5. MC 1 {Don’t watch these, moving on.}
6. 涙の色 (Namida no Iro) – °C-ute {So I don’t exactly love this song, but I want to see the dance live. Those cheesy slo-mo parts of the PV kind of ruined the effect of the dance for me}.
7. 胸さわぎスカーレット (Munasawagi Scarlet) – Berryz Koubou {I love this song. They usually only sound okay singing it live. Oh well}.
8. MC 2 – Berryz Koubou {Don’t watch these, moving on!}
9. ＬＡＬＡＬＡ　幸せの歌 (LALALA Shiawase no Uta) – °C-ute then All {This song is a monstrosity}.
10. ジンギスカン (Dschinghis Khan) – All then Berryz Koubou {I kind of want Risako to trip and fall on her face during a performance of this song. Then Chinami and Maasa could “accidentally” stomp on her, forcing her to sit on the sidelines pouting for the rest of the concert.}
11. 都会っ子 純情 (Tokaikko Junjou) – °C-ute {Disheartened by her friend Risako’s defeat accident, Airi would suddenly find her voice deepening, gaining pitch control and depth. Surprise! She sounds just like she used to back in Aa!}
12. 付き合ってるのに片思い (Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi) – Berryz Koubou {With no Risako around to make this song even more unbearable, Captain, Maa and Chinami will take her lines and steal the show}
13. VERY BEAUTY – Sugaya Risako and Suzuki Airi {Silly fools, Risako has just been stepped on! Her little Berryz lungs are probably crushed! But oh, look, here comes Miyabi, bravely offering to take her place and complete this duet.}
14. 僕らの輝き (Bokura no Kagayaki) – Kumai Yurina, Tokunaga Chinami, Sudou Maasa, Okai Chisato, and Arihara Kanna {Chinami will probably be surprisingly genki during this performance, for someone who just stepped on a fellow member’s fallen body. Oh, wait. Chinami’s always genki…}
15. サヨナラ 激しき恋 (Sayonara Hageshiki Koi) – Natsuyaki Miyabi, Shimizu Saki, Nakajima Saki, Hagiwara Mai, Tsugunaga Momoko, and Yajima Maimi {They should wear black leather for this performance. Y’know, in mourning over Risako, and all.}
16. That’s the POWER – All except Buono! {Erika is busy making some important phone calls to ensure that Risako never heals properly, and must thus give up her position as Berryz’ front-runner}
17. ドドンカドン音頭 (Do Don Ga Don Ondou) – Umeda Erika {Having finished with this imprortant job, Erika shoos the others offstage, kicks ass and proceeds to sing… ondou music?}
18. ホントのじぶん (Honto no Jibun) – Buono! {I love Buono! and this song too much to make any comments}
19. 恋愛ライダー (Renai Rider) – Buono! {Ditto. Unless, of course, they learned how to swing on a trapeze and used that to make their entrance. That would be just cool}
20. 夏 DOKI リップスティック (Natsu DOKI Lipstick) – Yajima Maimi, Nakajima Saki, and Shimizu Saki {During this performance, Saki S. and Maimi will ensure that Saki N. suffers a Sugaya-styled accident and turn this song into a duet. Sorry, Saki N. You’re cute, but your voice makes me cringe. The plus side is that these are three of the better H!P kid dancers…}
21. まっさらブルージーンズ (Massara Blue Jeans) – °C-ute {The vocally born-again Airi leads the one-member short C-ute in a very nice rendition of this oddly-choreographed song (Pelvic thrusting much?). But from backstage, it seems that the twin evils of Sugaya and Nakajima(‘s vocal chords) are plotting something…}
22. ジリリ キテル (Jiriri Kiteru) {As the unsuspecting 12-member group performs one of the best Berryz songs ever…}
23. JUMP {…NakaSaki and Risako JUMP the stage (lame pun, sorry) and attempt to force their way back into the concert in a bloody revolution!}
24. 友情 純情 oh 青春 (Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun) {Wota chanting reaches a fevered pitch as they root for which girls they wish to survive the coup. Just as Chisato is pulling out one of her numerous concealed knives, management comes in and drags the girls away to calm them down with cupcakes and pocky.}

Encore

1. Skit {A much bruised Sugaya Risako uses this “skit” as a chance to attempt to re-start the bloodshed, but just when it looks as though her dastardly plot might succeed, we see something in the air! Is it a bird? plane? NO! It’s…}
2. 我ら！Berryz仮面 (Warera! Berryz Kamen) {SUPER-MAASA! With Chinami the Genki Wonder and Mayuge-girl (Saki S), our masked heroine quickly restores peace and order.}
3. MC 3{ Super-Maasa and co. take this chance to depart and return to the stage as their idol alter-egoes. Hmm, idol by day, superhero by night… there has to be an anime with that plotline!}
4. 桜チラリ (Sakura Chirari) {With a final song, everyone calls it a day and heads backstage for some more cake. All is peaceful in the world of the H!P kids! For now…}

That’s all! Thank you for allowing my inner geek to show through. No, I don’t actually wish physical harm to NakaSaki. As for Risako… well…

Word is…

So I heard that there are still some people who think Mutou Mika is hopelessly ugly.

Mutou Mika laughs at you.

Happy Birthday, and thanks.

Today is the birthday of the two most important adult women in my life: my mother, and Yoshizawa Hitomi. I could get philosophical about the impact both have had on my life… one birthed me, and both provide me with a constant positive role-model. But it’s been a long day, so I’ll settle for posting lots of pretty pictures of Yossy, instead.

Aibon no more

She’s a born-again Ai.

Kago Ai tried to kill herself (I got this information from this article).

I’m so sad and confused about this. But more than that, I feel disillusioned. My mom once made a comment to me about how damaging it must be for an idol to lose her popularity and fall from the adoration of the public. That comment really bothered me, and now I know why. When I was very unhappy and lonely, I discovered Berryz Koubou. As I continued to learn more about H!P and idols in general, I felt that I’d found something to count on that cheered me up. Idols are an illusion that I desperately want to believe in, an illusion of eternal cheer and happiness. More than anything sad going on in my personal life, or anything unfair going on in this world, I wanted to believe in the illusion given by idol happiness.

The epitome of endless cheer

Ai has made that difficult. Ai was the quintessential idol, one of the best there’s ever been. A near-perfect illusion. And then the dream ended. She was rocked by multiple scandals and plummeted from grace. Just when she seemed to be picking up the pieces, she screwed up again (literally) and was fired, this time for good. Today I learned that a year ago, when she was newly released from her contract, Ai tried to slit her wrists and end her life.

Trying to kill yourself is the ultimate outward expression of unhappiness. There can be no more illusion of Aibon the ever-smiling idol, an illusion I’d kept in my mind even through her scandals and multiple falls from grace. She has ceased to be part of the idol-induced dream I’ve placed myself in. I’m awake now, and I’m not sure I want to be.

How will this affect my views on idols in general? I’m not sure. I think that deep down I already realized that this was a potentially dangerous environment for young girls to grow up in, that even an idol can’t always be immune from sadness. I’d like to think that despite knowing this, idols will continue to be a source of happiness and interest for me. Only now I’ll know not to rely completely on the idol illusion.

Bye-bye, Aibon. Hello, Kago Ai.

Look, it’s KAGO!

Kago’s first interview in years…

“She’s really back?” That was my first impression. My second was “Whaddup with the hair? It looks like a wig”. For those who don’t know, Aibon is giving her first interview in… y’know, a while. More complete information can be found at Some Boys! Blog.

I’m not a big fan of Ai’s. She’s not my favorite Momusu, and I don’t think I was even into H!P at a time when she was still in it. But that said, Kago fascinates me. Similar to Goto Maki, Kago caught the public attention and refused to let it go throughout her career. Even now she has devoted fans, haters, and people everywhere just waiting and praying for her to come back.

What is it about an idol that appeals so much to people? Is there some sort of “idoling” gene that some people possess that allows them to touch people’s hearts like that? And if so, is there also an “Idol appreciation” gene for those of us who allow ourselves to be touched by idols (ignoring how dirty that sounds)?

But seriously, what is that that makes someone see a group of people to be admired and loved, and someone else just see a bunch of young people with mediocre voices bouncing around in skimpy clothes? For me, I was a fan from the moment I first heard Berryz Koubou’s cute voices. And yet when I showed my friend the same PV that I first saw (Warrachaou yo Boyfriend), her reaction was “Um… can we do something more interesting? Like, I dunno, studying the mating rituals of worms?”. How can two people have such radically different reactions?

Wow, this got off topic.

To Kago, and all of us who have the Idol-appreciation gene, good luck!

Namida no Iro Full PV: I’m not angry…

I’ve seen it. And I won’t get angry. I will not get angry. Really, after Resonant Blue, I shouldn’t be able to get angry over unfair line distribution any more.

So now, with the utmost LACK of anger, I say to you; did anyone besides Maimi and Airi get ANY lines? I do believe that at one point, Saki made a sort of whining noise, which is all very well and good, but where’s the Chisai? And Mai, doesn’t she normally get at least one line? Kanna and Erika didn’t stand a chance, blown away by Airi’s sub-par vocals and fan-backing. It is with joy, of course, that I report that this is a monstrous mis-use of talent, and really, just plain mean to the fans of the girls who aren’t Airi and Maimi.

NOT ANGRY AT ALL.