Happy International Day Against Homophobia
17th May 2008
Just wanted to wish you all a good one!
(After all, I keep asking myself what messages I want to get out there using the voice this site gives me, and right now, this is it.)
Fandomに落ちる
12th May 2008
I should really be alarmed, right? This just doesn’t happen. I don’t care about these people. When I want boy bands, I go to Dong Bang and Suju. When I want pedobait, I get me some Kamiki Ryunosuke. (Of course, he’s actually my age or around there, but he was young in that movie.) If I actually want Johnny’s, I don’t really want Johnny’s, just Arashi. And I even resisted Arashi at first, but I had to give in after awhile. I haven’t actively fangirled over them much, but I did rent Letters from Iwo Jima just to see Nino, and that’s something! I do wish I’d seen it in a theatre, though. Nino on a movie screen would’ve been so cool. Then there’s my Kitto Daijoubu x Iwo Jima parody, but that’s something more suited to coinlockersbaby.
Anyway, I should be really really alarmed right now, because this is very out of character for me. I don’t just like Johnny’s groups. Johnny’s annoys me! Or just doesn’t interest me. Other than the occasional KAT-TUN or NewS song that I like enough to listen to, these people just don’t hold my interest. So how the fuck is this happening? Yopo didn’t even try that hard to do this to me, and yet…it’s happening.
This may not be just a passing “hey cute boys” thing. I may actually be getting into this fandom.
9nine, Hey! Say! JUMP, Perfume, and Utter Confusion
6th May 2008
Being an idol fan is tiring. Being vaguely OCD is also tiring, when the habits come out, anyway. In addition to having to deal with how I feel about scandals and losing my favourite idols when their companies fire them because of scandals, I find myself sitting around trying to justify things until I can satisfy myself with some kind of an explanation, a resolution, a happy ending for everyone. But hey, if an idol’s gone, you’re most likely not going to see them again. Not ever getting any closure with Megukami has been a huge part of why it’s been so hard to get over her leaving. And then there’s the awkwardness of when I discover something that I didn’t know before about an idol who I thought I knew all of the general basics about, and I then have to wrap my mind around things being different than I thought they were, different from what I was used to. It all gets confusing and frustrating after awhile, and sometimes makes me want to say, “I don’t care anymore. I’m going to go watch yaoi now.”
No One Tells Me Anything
29th Apr 2008
(Except for broomhead telling me Perfume stuff, THERE, ARE YOU HAPPY? YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME ABOUT THIS THOUGH! And maiZe says it hit the blogosphere on Sunday night. -_-)
So apparently, Mutou Mika is graduating from H!P.
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[Concert Review] AKB48 - Team B 1st Stage - Seishun Girls
13th Apr 2008
It was around the fall that Perfume began to pwn my soul, but I never did wind up writing about them here - you’d have had to have been reading my Vox to find out how much I was falling in love with them. (I WILL be writing about them soon, though.) More recently, the same thing has happened with AKB48, and you already know that if you keep up with coinlockersbaby. I haven’t been feeling much better about H!P, so the timing was really perfect for this. After all, I was bound to become a bigger AKB fan eventually after listening to them casually for over a year, and being so blown away by “Seifuku ga jama wo suru” last year. I’ve finally gone beyond their singles to check out their stages and the awesome songs in them, as well as their larger concerts, and I can name everyone in the group now! With the exception of the SEEDs, and one of those new Team K members who came from SEED.
Team B’s first stage, Seishun Girls (which was Team K’s second stage and first original stage), was recently released on DVD. I’ve been getting into the group a lot more than ever before over the last month or so, but I didn’t see much of Team B in that time, since they’re newer than the other two teams. Watching their first stage seemed like a good way to get to know the girls better - I could already name them all, but I’d never seen most of them perform. Then, there was the temptation of the new performance of “Kinjirareta Futari”, which I fell completely in love with upon checking out the original version, and which I may have to dedicate an entire entry to at some point. Finally, there’s Hirajima Natsumi, aka Nacchan, one of the original Team A members who got transferred to Team B, who somehow soared into my top three out of the entire group, despite my not having seen much of her. Nacchan and Kinjirareta were reason enough for me to buy the DVD, and so I did. But I had no idea just how much it’d prove to be worth the money.
Super Junior China, Henry Lau, and Jumyuk
30th Mar 2008
Last fall, I wrote about the rumors of a Super Junior China subgroup featuring Henry Lau, then known as the violin boy from the “Don’t Don!” MV to most Suju fans, and Hankyung. That entry has since been one of the main search results for the queries “Super Junior China” and “Super Junior Henry Lau”, which is pretty cool! A lot of Henry’s former classmates have stumbled across my blog because of it, so I’d say it’s likely that even Henry has seen what I had to say at that time. Naturally, considering all this, it’s time that I provide an update on the whole situation now that there’s some official news. I considered time and again writing an entry about the whole “Only 13″ debate, but I always decided against it. This, however, is an important thing to write about. Super Junior China is set to debut this week.
An MV of the Chinese version of “U” (I’m assuming it will have the same lyrics as the Mandarin version featured on the Taiwanese release of the “U” single, but vocals by the SJ China members) is set to come out on April 1st, two days from now. The members featured in this MV are Donghae, Hankyung, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Shiwon, Henry, and a new guy, Jumyuk. Some still images from the MV have already been leaked. There are also samples (and maybe leaks?) of the upcoming SJ China album. This is really happening! SJ China is a rumor no more! And you know what? I’m excited.
Happy Cake Day!
18th Mar 2008
Happy Birthday, International Wota!
Some friends came over for the party!
Then the boys decided to join in! The H!P girls had to leave since they’re in the convent, but Perfume didn’t have the same problem, so they stayed.
Eventually, though, they left so Dong Bang and Suju could have their boy band orgy. Hey look, Dong Bang brought confetti!
(Click pictures for larger versions.)
T-errific or T-errible? Let’s discover together.
14th Mar 2008
I’m not segueing into a C-ute joke, actually. This is a Kpop entry! Except not really, because it’s a DBSK entry and they’re trapped in Japan these days. BOY BAND TRAPPED IN JAPAN, what a horror movie that could be…AKB48 could be all of the extras, and Dong Bang could be forced to meet Tsunku, and one of the special features on the DVD would be Heechul doing the Tokaikko Junjou dance. I’ve always wanted to see that because I’m convinced he would LOVE it.
…Anyway.
Towards the end of last year, I read that DBSK would be releasing a Korean album near the beginning of this year. Instead, they released a new Japanese album. A lot of fans were getting fed up with their Japanese stuff and wanting them to head back to Korea, and I think it’s safe to say you can add me to that group, now. “Summer Dream” was the beginning of my disappointment in their Japanese stuff, because it was just too boring for my taste, but they bounced back with “SHINE” which I really enjoyed, and then came the amazing “Forever Love”, one of the rare ballads that I’m actually willing to listen to over and over again. “LAST ANGEL” with Koda Kumi I didn’t like so much at first, but it grew on me quite a bit after awhile. But then there was that single I’ve been doing a really good job of ignoring with the horrible animated PV - and gah, it’s on this album, too. And then, “Purple Line”, which…I will talk about later. And since the album there have been 50 million new singles (or maybe five, but they might not even all be out yet, I CAN’T KEEP TRACK)) and I haven’t honestly checked out one of them yet because I’m really sick of Avex’s decision to push the AAA rapid release thing onto Toho. But I think it’s a good idea to give their latest album, “T”, a fair listen before I check out the new singles. So, I finally bought my copy of the album (two discs and two DVDs, yay limited edition!) at Pmall last Sunday, and I’m now ready to give the album a listen. My opinions on certain songs may change after a few listens, but I’m going to go ahead and review the album based on my first impressions, though my thoughts on the single tracks will likely be more drawn out.
I’ve already made fun of all of the fobby English lyrics in the booklet. I’m not sure what to expect. I’ll write down what I think as I listen to each track. Iku yo~! (For those who aren’t so familiar with Toho, the titles of single A-sides and B-sides I’ve listened to have *asterisks* beside them, while those of album tracks and B-sides I’ve never listened to don’t. That way, you’ll know which comments are first impressions, and which are more thought through.)
Cozy sitting in the crackling shell…err, not that kind of egg.
11th Mar 2008
Hello! Project, Morning Musume, Jpop, C-ute, Kusumi Koharu, THE Possible, Concerts, TNX, Hello! Project Eggs, Kirarin Revolution, Milky Way
I’d been really hoping for Milky Way to feature Eggs. Moreover, I’d been hoping for Kitahara Sayaka to be put into a group soon, since she’d impressed me so far in what I’d seen of her (which wasn’t much, I’ll admit - she was great in the “Osaka Koi no Uta” performance at the Shinjin Kouen concert, but that was one of the only performances from that concert I’d seen - but she’d left an impression on me nonetheless). How is it possible that my H!P hopes could come true this exactly? Kd’s theory has proven correct: Milky Way is a unit for Kirarin Revolution, featuring two knew characters. The lineup features Koharu, Kitahara Sayaka, and Kikkawa Yuu, the Egg who most of us remember from the Happy 8ki Auditions, as she was one of the final six along with Aika!
I am thrilled about this. This is the first H!P news in a long time that has gotten me this excited. Yuu and Sayaka are lovely, and you already know that I love Koharu. This should be great! Plus, it’s so cool that Yuu will be working with Koharu now, because even though she didn’t make it into Momusu when she auditioned, her idol dreams are still coming true, and now she’s even working with a Momusu! And now, another of the original Eggs, Sayaka, is getting her long-awaited debut. This is obviously a bigger deal for the Eggs than Koharu, but hey, it’s probably fun to perform in lots of different groups.
This great news had me even more eager to watch the H!P Eggs Shinjin Kouen concert, and watching clips of AKB48 made me want to see more of H!P’s big trainee group even more. So, I finally tried looking up the concert on Veoh, and there it was! Since I’ve finally been able to form some real opinions on more of the Eggs, here are my thoughts on the concert and the Eggs’ abilities on display in it.
Movin’ On Up in the H!P Universe
2nd Mar 2008
Hello! Project, Jpop, THE Possible, Tokito Ami, TNX, Ongaku Gatas, Hello! Project Eggs, Perfume, Fujimoto Miki, Milky Way
Sometimes, you’ve gotta wonder if it’d be easier to just be an AKB48 fan. All the surprises and frustration and utter ridiculosity in H!P just seem like too much, sometimes. Of course, said ridiculosity is also one of the things that makes us love H!P, and the surprises are great when they’re pleasant…but not so great when they’re what are frustrating us. And there are all kinds of things going on in H!P every day that can frustrate a fan. Still, with all of those great idols and lots of great music, it usually feels like being an H!P fan is worth it. Even with the mood I’ve been in lately, disappointed by so many of H!P’s current releases and goings on, I’ve been listening to and rediscovering lots and lots of H!P music (especially Momusu songs I hadn’t listened to in a long time), and even I can still say that this whole process is worth it for the enjoyment I do take from it.
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen a few interesting and fairly major developments in the world of H!P, and this morning I’ve woken up to even more H!P news, this being the most blogworthy news of all in my opinion. So here are some thoughts on what all of these developments could mean for H!P’s near future, and what I hope they mean.
