After School – New Schoolgirl

New Schoolgirl is After School’s debut single single and it was released on January 15th, 2009.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Play Girlz
2. AH
3. Bad Guy
4. AH (Inst.)

After School’s debut single begins with Play Girlz, an intro of very high quality that could have easily made a really great full track. The song is mostly the girls rapping(impressively I may add) until singing for the more powerful part of the song. Great intro.

AH takes a slightly more pop sound when compared to the intro. It focuses on its catchy hook of repeating the song’s name and its synchronized synth. Even though most of the song is rapping, the parts that they do actually sing are nicely done, although don’t blow me away in any way. I don have one complain though, the song is terribly short at only 3:09. I thought they could have at least added another 30 seconds to it.

Making use of a heavy bass line and dark, smooth synth is the provocative Bad Guy. The song actually begins very simply but then explodes into an array of really catchy synth and a great melody. During the second verse, I was surprised by the swearing(although censored) that the girls did. It only added to the maturation of the song. This song is even shorter than the previous at only 2:53. Even though it’s a great song, I would have like if they added a rapping section before the final chorus.

After School’s debut definitely began with a bang. Just about every song impressed me in some way, with my only complain being the length of the songs. The style of this group is a lot different to other groups, as they take a more mature sound mixing pop and R&B(think the Pussycat Dolls but Korean and better).

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Bad Guy

Morning Musume。- Nanchatte Renai

Nanchatte Renai is Morning Musume。’s 40th single and it was released on August 12th, 2009. It reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 70,299 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Nanchatte Renai
2. Aki Urara
3. Subete wa Ai no Chikara [40th Single Commemorative]
4. Nanchatte Renai (Instrumental)

Momosu keeps the trend of the synth and string heavy crossover songs with Nanchatte Renai, a song very similar to Shouganai Yume Oibito but by Naichau Kamo’s producer, making it that much more unoriginal. The song isn’t bad at all, in fact, it has very pretty string work, along with a lovely harp and a great use of synth but theres something lacking in the song. Maybe it’s that I’ve gotten tired of this style for them. Ai and Reina take care of the vocals, as always, while 8th gen, Sayu and Koharu shine during the rapping bits of the song right before the chorus. Although they’re quite short, it’s nice to see rapping back in a Momosu single after such a long time. The chorus is excellent but the song itself just lacks that immediate catchy flair that SYO had.

The b-side featured on normal versions of the singles is Aki Urara. It begins with a promising intro and a very solid first verse with smooth vocals and a constant keyboard but as the song reaches the chorus, it get progressively worse. The vocals maintain the same, thus not matching the heavier instrumental of the chorus and the overall harmonization was pretty bad executed. It’s a sexy song but is weighed down by its uneven vocals. Still, props go to the song for having a non-generic H!P b-side instrumental.

The b-side exclusively on the 40th anniversary version is Subete wa Ai no Chikara. It’s an improvement over the previous b-side’s line distribution but by only that. The song itself is pretty loud, obnoxious and annoying. The instrumental is a messy mix of synth and typical b-side beats and when paired up with a very disturbing chorus, the overall result isn’t that great.

For being the group’s 40th anniversary single(not to mention their highest selling one in years), I wasn’t very impressed. The a-side has its good points but failed in trying to renovate the synth+string combo. The b-sides were 50/50. One was passable but the other was an absolute mess. Hopefully Tsunku will focus more on the overall package instead of just the a-side with further releases.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Nanchatte Renai

°C-ute – EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!!

EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!! is °C-ute’s 10th major single and it was released on September 16th, 2009. It reached #2 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 27,750 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!!
2. Amai Wana
3. EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!! (Instrumental)

Tsunku managed to capture the essence of summer with EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!!, a breezy and tropical light pop sound with fresh vocals from the girls and a synth instrumental. Even though they still continue with these safer, lighter songs, the a-side doesn’t totally fall into the generic category. It’s instrumental alone is worth nothing, not to mention °C-ute’s impressive vocals. I liked the was the sang the second chorus together as a group instead of solos, it really gave the song a type of united feeling.

Amai Wana is actually completely different to the a-side. It makes use of the electric guitar, along with various other rock elements, giving us a very °C-ute style rock song(think FOREVER LOVE but b-side material). I have no complains at the vocals, although I thought they could have had a bit more energy and life in them. For a b-side(and one from °C-ute if anything), it’s not bad at all, though I would pass it over the a-side any day.

I really wish Tsunku would take the girls back to their older sound from songs like Namida no Iro and FOREVER LOVE. Sure, these cute pop songs aren’t insanely bad, but it just doesn’t stand out as much as °C-ute releases usually tend to do. Anyway, an overall nice release from the girls, even if it is Erika’s last.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!!

Buono! – Take It Easy!

Take It Easy! is Buono’s 8th single and it was released on August 26th, 2009. It reached #10 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 18,170 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Take It Easy!
2. Kirai Suki Daikirai
3. Take It Easy! (Instrumental)
4. Kirai Suki Daikirai (Instrumental)

Take It Easy! takes a different direction from Buono!’s typical cutesy pop-rock and instead is a light pop song driven by its acoustic guitar and western instrumentals. It might possibly be on the verge of being considered a ballad but it’s just not slow enough to honestly be considered one. Vocals are fair this time around, with Momoko being the biggest offender, particularly during her solos in the verses. Although it isn’t the catchiest thing they’ve released, it’s still a nice change from their typical releases and is nicely arranged.

Continuing the trend of great b-sides, Kirai Suki Daikirai actually has the potential to pass off as an average sounding a-side. It’s centered around a repetitive and catchy guitar rift with calmer verses that lead to an explosive chorus. The girls also sound much better here, harmonizing quite well during the songs climax. Once again, another great b-side.

I’m quite satisfied with this Buono! release. Although not many people may like the a-side, I found it was a nice change from their typical releases, leaving out the possibility of fans stating that all their music sounds the same. Hopefully they’ll continue this awesome string of releases.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Take It Easy!

[...V•O•T•E...] Week XI – XXI

Weeks of 8/23 – 11/1 (124 votes)

Well, due to my “little” absence, the Koharu poll seemed to get an insane amount of votes(well, being there for 10 weeks straight, I wouldn’t expect any less). Anyway, I was a bit surprised by the results. Mostly in that I thought that the majority of my visitors were H!P stans. Well, I was wrong. Maybe I’m just full of K-Pop addicts…

How does Koharu’s graduation make you feel?

1. I really don’t care about this Koharu chick or Morning Musume. – 35% (44 votes)
2. Even though she wasn’t my favorite, I’m still very affected by it. – 29% (36 votes)
3. Absolutely heartbroken. She was my favorite and I’ll never feel the same towards Momosu ever again. – 18% (22 votes)
4. Reina should leave instead. – 9% (11 votes)
5. I’m glad she left. She was just a waste of space. – 6% (8 votes)
6. I’m still new to H!P, so I’m not quite sure what to feel. – 2% (3 votes)

Well, 44% of my readers aren’t Momosu fans. @-@ Bizarre. Since I mostly write on H!P stuff, I thought that poll choice would have been much lower. Personally, I’m part of the 29% that stated that even though she wasn’t a favorite, she was still a Momosu and her leaving still means something to us.

I can’t help but feel bad for those 18% that lost their favorite member. I mean, I can’t imagine myself liking Momosu as much as I do now if someone like Eri were to leave. How bad would that be? :x

And yay at those 11 people who agreed that Reina should have left instead!!!

Week of 7/05 – 7/12 (29 votes)

Guess the votes made a slight U-turn this week eh? I looked at the results around Thursday-ish and there were a lot of ties, but looking at it now, I’m quite surprised. O_O The ties are still there but at least now we have a clear winner. The first place member might not be surprising but last place kinda disappointed me.

Who’s your favorite Morning Musume member?

1. JunJun: 17% – 5 votes
2. Takahashi Ai/Kamei Eri/Kusumi Koharu: 14% – 4 votes
3. Niigaki Risa/Tanaka Erina/Mitsui Aika: 10% – 3 votes

Loser: LinLin: 3% – 1 vote

Sayumin finished with 2 votes, just 1 vote away from being the loser. It’s pretty awesome to see JunJun who’s an 8th gen member beat out everyone else. The second place finishers didn’t surprise me at all, nor did third place(my vote went to Eri, duh ;D). All in all, these votes were very American(duh). JunJun is uber popular in the states but if this poll were taken in Japan, I’m sure the results would be A LOT different. LinLin would still be last(unfortunately as she outperforms more than half of the rest of the group) and I doubt JunJun would ever beat out Reina or Ai.

I think I’ll go ahead and ask this same question for the two H!P Kids groups next…

Morning Musume。- Kimagure Princess

Kimagure Princess is Morning Musume。’s 41stsingle and it was released on October 28th, 2009. It reached #4 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 36,274 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Kimagure Princess
2. Aishite Aishite Ato Ippun
3. Kimagure Princess (Instrumental)

Morning Musume。finally manage to strongly impress me with their current hybrid synth+strings genre with Kimagure Princess. Think of this song like the birth-child between Odore! Morning Curry and Nanchatte Renai. It has that ethnic/oriental sound to it mixed perfectly with heavy use of synth and some string-work(although not as prominent as in previous singles). The arrangement is done so perfectly that even the girl’s strangely high-pitched voices won’t let you enjoy let it. Lines are spread evenly between Ai and Eri(a first for a Momosu single) while giving other solos to Reina and Risa, leaving Sayu and 7th+8th gen without solos. I can’t help but mention the “suggestive” lyrics of the song with lines such as:

Like a butterfly with beautiful flapping wings
She’s a sexy princess with an alluring butt
Isn’t it nice? A little bit of an erotic smile

Despite that unfortunate flaw in line distribution(when compared to SYO), the lead singers do an excellent job of matching the songs upbeat style, which we haven’t seen in a VERY long time in Momosu.

Much to my pleasure, Aishite Aishite Ato Ippun doesn’t suck! It’s still b-side material(which is immediately obvious due to solos from members from the 8th gen) but doesn’t fall into the generic group that b-sides from the Nanchatte Renai single did. This time around, the song relies heavily on synth-work but also from the girls non-stop vocals and an enjoyable, memorable melody.

I’m so relieved that Tsunku was able to make something different with that style he’s adopted for the girls recently and it really shines in Kimagure Princess. It’s also nice to have an upbeat a-side once again after about three Emomosu singles. Since this will be Koharu’s final single(along with the ever great 9-nin lineup), it’ll be interesting to see how the lines will be given out in future releases.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Kimagure Princess

The End of Momosu’s Longest Stable Lineup

Of course we all know what I’m talking about. The graduation of Kusumi Koharu from Morning Musume in December.

Honestly, even though I considered her one of the 4 possible “graduates” if there ever would be an announcement(along with Ai, Risa and JunLin[the "exchange students" thing]), it was still a total shocker for me waking up this morning.

I really am quite bummed out. She was never a favorite, actually, after Reina, she was my second least favorite member of the whole group(but she later got bumped up a spot, making Sayu second least) but I think it’s that I’ve(and I’m sure all Momosu fans) gotten so used to this 9-nin line-up and have considered them the most united members yet. Seeing one of them ago, especially the ever retarded Koha, is just so weird.

I can already picture Aika during the graduation ceremony telling her something about how she honored her as a rival or something. -o-

Well, nothing that can be done about it now. :\ Just enjoy the rest of her time in Momosu and wish her the best of luck as a model, which I actually think is a great profession for her. She really is quite beautiful(‘cept her smile is kinda ehh…) and being tall helps!

Oh no, I just imagined seeing 8-nin Momosu lined up and having to see Aika right after Reina w/o no freakishly tall Koha in between. :(

If anything good comes out of it, it means that other members may get more line as Koha has been center in certain singles(Resonant Blue, Mikan…). I certainly see more Aika love once Koha leaves. Also, maybe Tsunku will start considering a Momosu audition? It’s about time…

But since Momosu will be an 8-nin lineup(and since having two centers with an even numbered member count is so much easier for dancing formations, etc…) it could mean that Ai and Reina will get EVEN MORE lines than the normal.

I wonder who will take Koha’s spot in live Resonant Blue performances? Aika please. ^-^

So, how does Koha’s graduation make you feel?

• Was she your favorite member and her announcement made you totally bummed?
• Were you just like me(not your favorite member) but still feel bummed out?
• Or did this not affect you in any way?

Comment with your thoughts~

And for old times sake, heres that infamous scene when Momosu visited Koha’s school, congratulating her as the winner of the audition:

Keeping you all up to ~DATE~

Well first of all, I wanna say that as of right now, the blog has reached 48,760 “attendees”!!! Just a bit more and we’ll be at half of 100k! Wow! Never would have thought I’d see those numbers about a year ago when the blog first started off. Expect a gift, as always, when the 50k are reached!

In other news, the sidebar has been totally “pimped” out with new gadgets. Let’s go over them shall we?

- Poll & Vodpod widget: I changed the Vodpod widgets style to “floating”, now showing the three most recently uploaded videos. I think it looks a bit nicer, even if it stretched the sidebar more.

The polls(yay it’s back!) are now much prettier as I’ve begun to use WordPress’ custom poll maker. New styles will be made randomly, when I get tired of it or to match a new blog theme. This week’s poll won’t count in the vote [...V•O•T•E...] series btw.

- “FOLLOW ME” widget: Scrolling further down, you can see that I went ahead and added various sites where I’m also active in which you can follow/stalk/friend me.

In order clockwise starting with upper-left: deviantART, Facebook, Gaia Online, Last.fm, LiveJoruanl, MySpace, twitter and Vodpod.

Don’t be afraid to add me, I accept all requests and follow people back on twitter+last.fm. ;D

- “SUBSCRIBE” widget: So in order for you guys to have easier access to my updates and such, I added various ways for you all to subscribe to my updates.

Pretty huh? @-@ Anyway, the first(gray) button is your typical subscribe button using Live Bookmarks, My Yahoo, Google, etc… The second button is to subscribe using FeedBurner which gives you lots more options and applications for subscribing. The third button is to subscribe via e-mail! That way whenever I post something new, you’ll receive an e-mail with the post. Quite nifty I must say.

0 READERS SO FAR BUT LET’S TRY TO RAISE THAT UP!!!

!!!SUBSCRIBE!!!

So yea, apart from that, the Upcoming Reviews page will be flooded with what I have to review next once the poll finished up. Also, the Yearly Rankings have finally been updated to include recent releases so check that out to see how everything has been so far.

Lastly, the 100 Reasons will now me 50 Reasons ’cause no matter how much I try, not even my hate for Reina can conjure 100 well thought reasons. “The 50 Reasons why K-Pop is better than J-Pop” has also been added so take a look!

Momosu’s B-Side Collection Cover Out!

And I am surprised. We all know why right? Duh, ’cause Aibons on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We see the current Momosu in the innermost part with the graduated members on the outside in an order I don’t quite understand. Also, it seems that the graduated member’s pics are of them wearing the outfit for the last single they were featured in. I thought that was pretty nice.

Not a gorgeous cover in any way but still wins simply because it has everyone in it. Although it does remind me of something(s)…

°C-ute – Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu

Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu is °C-ute’s 9th major single and it was released on July 1st, 2009. It reached #5 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and has sold 33,613 copies.

♠Tracklist♠

1. Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu
2. Zansho Omimai Moshiagemasu.
3. Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu (Instrumental)

As many of you may know, Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu is actually a cover of the original song by Candies. It seems that Tsunku has given each of H!P’s flagship groups their own cover song recently and unfortunately, this is the worst one of the three. The song has been given a more modern and fresh breezy arrangement with a very typical pop sound. The vocals were also made to match this, being very high pitched, even Maimi’s parts, not to mention Airi who are the only girls that get solos. The song is pretty short at just 3 minutes but thats really all it should be. While not a terrible song and having a pretty memorable chorus, overall it’s weak compared to their previous a-sides and not anything groundbreaking.

Surprisingly, the b-side Zansho Omimai Moshiagemasu., is a solo by Suzuki Airi. Don’t let the title confuse you though, it’s not at all similar to it’s counterpart. It’s a mellow, mid-paced pop song with pretty synth and an almost heartbreak atmosphere. It should be mentioned that Airi did a very nice job vocal wise though nothing extremely impressive. This couldn’t have passed as an a-side, but as a b-side it’s particularly well made.

Once again Tsunku has equipped °C-ute with that typical boring pop sound. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end here and my expectations of their next album are beginning to get real low. At least the b-side this time around wasn’t bad and was the more eye-catching part of the single.

♠Single Rating♠

♠Favorite Track♠

Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu