Wotaku Now!

Wotaku Now has moved!

2009-04-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

OMG SERIOUS TEXT BELOW!

This will be my last ever post on http://wotakunow.blogspot.com.

Why you ask!? am I dying? am I sick of idols?!?!?!

HELL NO!

I have infact got myself a brand spanking new website www.wotakunow.co.uk
Please alter your bookmarks/favorites accordingly! (pretty please?)
All information regarding my move can be found over at my new address ... which is WWW.WOTAKUNOW.CO.UK

Just incase you didn't catch the new address then please feast your eyes ...

UPDATE BOOKMARKS!!!

So that's it! see you on the other side!

www.wotakunow.co.uk

I think ...

2009-04-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

The costume designers need to be taken outside and shot.

Recent gets!

2009-03-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

I've only just recently moved into a new house so my money is very limited in regards to buying H!P junk, it really breaks my heart knowing the money spent on a new oven could of gone towards numerous delicious photoboooks.
Yet that said, I have managed to pick up a few choice items, enough to keep my addiction at bay (for now)

This is a Maasa Sudo microfibre towel, I'm not sure if I'm meant to admire it or wipe the dust from the TV with it, it seems sacrilegious to soil it in any way ... so for now it remain in the H!P vault.

Even though its printed on fabric the quality of the print is quite sharp, is that a mole on Maasa's cheek? or is it a spec of dirt on my camera lens?

These Berryz photos are bigger than the usual ones so I need to find a new photo album to keep them in, the two photos I love the most are ...

Miyabi, because not only do you see her natural hair color, you get to see her lovely awkward smile, MIYA FTW!

And Maasa is acting naturally silly (and powerful) bless her.

These two photos clearly are not meant to be parted, its quite sweet ...

and this photo is quite セクシー ...

Next up is some things Morning Berryz sent me

For some strange reason everyone who bought the scarf had to wait ages to get the photos that should of come with it, so this means that MB had to send me two packages probably costing her more than originally intended ... sorry!

I won this from MB's blog, the competition involved guessing which Nascar drivers finished the season with the most points ... or something .. I have no idea how I won, but I totally winged it.
When it popped through the letter box I was like 'oh shi..' because I thought I already owned it ... yet this is the A version ...

so it looks quite lovely next to the B version I bought a while ago.

There's a TON of stuff coming out soon which I would love to buy ... yet with me going to see Buono! in Sweden I really really really need to save some cash :(
it's for a good cause I guess though.

Happy Birthday International Wota!

2009-03-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

International wota is now a tender 2 years of age, it seems custom for people to make a cake for such an occasion, so please enjoy my contribution!
Nothing is better than a delicious cake, I decided to get some beers also.

As you can see it's a very professional job ...

I hope there are many more years and cakes to come!, if you don't follow International Wota then nows a great time to start!

And now a message from Aichan ...

I have one thing to say ...

2009-03-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

that is all.

Maasa captacular!

2009-03-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

The making of Maasa's photobook is pure visual poetry, the following pic spam might not interest you if you're not a hardcore Maasa fan ... but maybe it will sway you?
I'm still in a minor state of disbelief ... I seriously thought I would never see the day.

Pic spam roll

Maasa is not like other idols, she has a very unique personality and in my eyes acts as the mother and father of Berryz Kobo

She has a tendency to act incredibly goofy when in front of the camera

Yet she always has the ability to switch on her reserved feminine side within the blink of an eye

The location of the photobook is Guam (like many others) and Maasa clearly looks overjoyed to be there, its quite interesting to see how she acts by herself without her fellow Berryz

It's also quite interesting to see that Maasa has lost a little bit of weight, she will always retain a slightly larger frame (compared to her peers) but I think she's always looked beautiful regardless of her shape.
I wonder if the UFA suggested that she lose a little weight before they gave her a photobook?

As most Maasa enthusiasts are aware ... she's no stranger to stupid poses

Maasa's new hair cut is quite delicious, she plays with her hair and keeps saying 'cut desu! cut desu!'

Most videos of girls cleaning cars tend to have sexual leanings and iconography, so when I first saw Maasa cleaning a car I didn't know what to expect...

But thankfully she just fools around and wets herself (so to speak)

:3

I'm actually quite glad they didn't do any slow motion scenes of her spraying the hose because obviously it would instantly suggest a phallus (to me at least)
Although if they wanted to do a shot like that for Risako's next photobook I would totally welcome that

I have quite a fetish for female calves so this shot is totally relevent to my interests

Divine

It wouldn't be a photobook without the typical bikini pose (I'm not complaining)

Maasa's freckles are the cherry upon the delicious cake

Although she can be quite masculine at times her femininity charm isn't far behind

Gratuitous calve shot X_X

Maasa's shoulders and arms are true reflections of her immense power

I think I can recall Maasa having her hair in a similar style is some magazine, was it UTB?

Maasa was asked recently what she thought her charm point was, she said that her eyes were, I would have to disagree and say her entire face is, her button nose and totally pinchable cheeks are adorable beyond words

Sometimes words are worthless ... so I'll just post pics

When looking at Maasa's cheerful face life's problems just fade away

With her hair down Maasa looks quite mature indeed, also check out those biceps

She has definitely lost some weight off her face, I can remember a few years ago when my girlfriend decided to go on a diet ... she did lose weight yet from the wrong places ... she went down a cup size :/

is this a grave stone???

My image of Maasa has totally changed now I've seen her in a bikini

This picture reminds me of this picture

Frolicking on the beach is the bread and butter of any H!P photobook

I find that exposed bellybuttons are really quite cute

This part of the video is probably the most beautiful

Simply irresistible

I've never wanted to buy a photobook so much in my life

A fairly alluring pose, who could resist such a smooth tummy?

I'm not sure why the camera goes to black and white but you cannot deny it adds a timeless elegance to the girl

If Maasa tried to flag me down while driving I would brake so hard my head would smash through the windscreen

ORLY?

gratuitous freckle close up

The video closes with Maasa running down the road carrying her umbrella

It's beautiful moments like this that continually reaffirm my total devotion to idols.

Absolutely delicious.

Buono! to play in Europe!

2009-03-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

The past couple of weeks have been a phenomenal time for H!P wota, Maimi is getting her third photobook, Maasa is unbelievably getting her first, Morning Musume are playing in L.A ... and now something more unbelievable ... Buono! are gonna be playing in Europe.
The previous few days for me have been a roller coaster of emotions, after trying in vain to get the time off work so I could travel to L.A I was feeling slightly down and crushed that I would be missing out on such an awesome slice of history.
Yet yesterday while I was trying to sleep my phone went off
the message was from Lolli and it said ''Buono r going 2 stockholm, sweden in may i wanna go 2 that lol''
So now I have a new opportunity to see a h!p group ... and I figured something out ...

This will be actual history, because it will be the first time a H!P group have played in Europe, also I just wanted to confirm with people that the Morning Musume gig in L.A wont be the first time Morning Musume have played in America because they have played in Hawaii numerous times (Hawaii is the 50th state of America) the MOAR you know ...
I've just booked the time off work and now I need to get my passport replaced because it became the victim of a washing machine attack.
So far Me and Lolli are confirmed to be going, also Paul from hello blog is going with his mate chris, it will be quite interesting to meet up and get our drink on.
Are you going? if anyone wants to meet up with us wota bloggers in Stockholm send me an email to wotakunow@hotmail.com and I'm sure we can sort out a group ... its a good idea to be of legal drinking age though ... because most of my spare time will be spent in the pubs and clubs.

See you there!!!!

PS: Anyone wanna sell me a Buono T-shirt? :D

Maasa gets her first Photobook!

2009-03-02T05:28:00.000-08:00

IT'S ABOUT DICKING TIME.

Out off all the girls in Berryz I thought that Maasa would be the last girl ever to get a photobook ... just think of the other 2 girls she had to contend with ... little loveable Captain and Chi chan with the killer legs, I thought that those girls would of had their first PB many moons ago.
Theres been a bit of speculation recently on Massa's apparent loss of weight so maybe this has something to do with it?
The most pressing question in my mind is what type of shots are we gonna be seeing, I dont think I could imagine Massa in a bikini frolliking along the beach like Risako but time will tell.

The photobook is crypticly entitled 'MAASA' and will be out on 2009/03/11 thats in like 9 days!

I'm really quite stunned by all of this, I'm gonna get a few beers to celebrate such a joyus occasion, WOW.

DO WANT.

http://www.helloproject.com/schedule/01/01/list03.html

*please be aware that the preview photo I posted previously was infact Risa Yoshiki and not Maasa Sudo.

HOLD THE PRESS! COVER PREVIEW!

Happy 1st Birthday Wotaku Now!

2009-02-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

1 year ago to the day this blog was conceived, the idea came about while at work, I wanted to express my ideas and thoughts without just typing them on various forums, I thought the best way to get peoples attention would be to start a blog and fill it with pretty pictures.
I'm amazed that I posted more than 5 times but I guess I have a lot to talk about.
I'm very thankful to all of you that left comments and opinions, without that encouragement this blog would of probably died a slow death.
Also I'd like to thank International Wota who give me frequent write ups, a best new blog award and tend to give me more credit then I deserve.
Right now I would love nothing more than to get some beers and delicious cake but I have a ton of work to contend with and I'm also in the process of moving house so everything is upside down and in boxes, there's also gonna be a short period of time when I'll be offline, hopefully not too long because I need my idol fix, it's like crack.

Again a big thanks to all of you that come read my babble and thoughts, if you've never posted before there's never been a better time to start :D
I'll shut up now and let Risako and Miyabi take over ... Mmmm relevant.

Japanese Women Disgusted by “Unmanly” Behaviour

2009-02-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not but this blog isn't just about Hello! project, so from time to time I like to post Japanese related articles that amuse me no end.
This was liberated from Itai news and translated by Sankaku Complex

Below is a recent list of 16 male traits that Japanese females find loathsome and 'unmanly'

1. He has no opinion, is just carried along by others.
2. He always has someone to blame.
3. He can never be decisive at the moment of truth.
4. He’s always giving up (never puts in the work).
5. He’s always relying on his parents somehow.
6. He keeps quiet on the train even when he’s bunched up against some weirdo.
7. Though he’s timid around other people, he only acts firm in front of me.
8. He flip-flops around with what foods he likes and dislikes.
9. He splits the cost of meals (with me) exactly, even in increments of ¥10.
10. He asks to be treated.
11. He always whines about his work.
12. His mails are too long.
13. He does nothing but complain.
14. He checks his appearance in front of the mirror too much.
15. He uses hygiene products too much.
16. His body is frail and weak.

I think I'm guilty to some of these actions, but I'm totally justified in complaining about my work.
I'm tempted to create a list of female traits that I find very 'unfeminine' but I don't wanna sound like a sexist bigot and I don't wanna face the wrath of any female readers that are easily offended ... maybe I should get drunk and do it?
Also the above photo is from 2chan ... I have no idea what is going on but it seems to be some group bonding session involving Miyabi ... I guess we should be thankful they are still wearing pants ...

Berryz Kobo get their sexy on

2009-02-15T09:36:00.001-08:00

Like most people I heard this single last week from a concert audio rip, I could instantly tell it was gonna be epic ... but the question was is how epic.
Well after watching the PV countless times I can safely say that it's pretty goddamn delicious.
A number of people are saying that this single totally annihilates Morning Musume's latest effort (Naichau Kamo) which is a fairly ambiguous comment considering both singles contrast a fair bit, but I can see the reasoning behind it.
Considering I gave a relatively negative review about Morning Musume's latest single I am quite happy to be writing something positive for once

pic spam roll ...

The set really doesn't deviate much from 'Naichau Kamo' set, the umbrellas are replaced by large speakers, the glittery tassel crap has been multiplied by ten and there's a dj box thrown in for good measure.

As the video starts we get a lot of quick edits that merely tease you for the coming win, this cap of Miyabi's neck lasted almost one tenth of a second ... such a damn tease.

The video continues to tease before the rhythm fully breaks in, the camera never focuses on a girls face, the darkness and fast edits serve to build the anticipation.

The set quickly cuts to a spinning disco ball which then ...

explodes and treats us with shards of delicious Berryz.

There's little point of me talking about the actual music track itself because you can all listen to it and make your own minds up, there's no way on Earth I could dislike this track considering it has fast euro/techno beats and disco flavor, the music and video match quite well indeed.

The camera pans and introduces each girl, the most striking features of Miyabi is her new short hair and the loosely strapped dog collar (so sexy)

Although Chinami is my favorite Berry I think that she is looking the most ravishing out of all the girls, her hair tied up with a red flowered hair pin looks beautiful and her complexion is looking extremely white, obviously this is due to make up and lighting but where is my little tanned Chi chan? I can recall an interview with her from last year when she was asked if she could change anything about herself, her response was 'I wish my skin wasn't so dark'.
This comment actually saddens me slightly because it shows that she possibly has an inferiority complex based upon the shade of her skin, to put this into context, Koreans who live in Japan are treated as third rate citizens, this idea is based upon when Japan used Koreans during World war 2 to further their war effort and expansion across Asia, Koreans were treated no better than American/European P.O.W.'s (which was dire to say the least).
A Korean person who naturally has a darker shade of skin was considered inferior to the Japanese who by comparison have a lighter shade of skin (mostly).
The idea of racial superiority isn't limited to Japan of course but it is a constant issue within Japanese society, I'm not saying that Chinami is of Korean descent (it doesn't matter) but I'm curious if Chinami views herself in such a negative way.
Errr anyway ... on with the video

Maasa is looking doe eyed and beautiful, her curled hair is looking stunning and a welcome break from her standard style

It's quite hard to understand Saki's hair because her hat is covering most of the style, is it lop sided? is the short side combed to the side?
Her hat is quite terrible, but it can be excused because even the leopard of the jungle looks remarkably unfashionable and flamboyant now days

Risako is the absolute queen of looking innocent and pure, her pout is quite powerful and well trained.

The opening shots of the girls seem to follow a pattern of them all looking slightly serious and alluring, Momoko on the other hand tries to follow but fails when she lets out a little playful grin

Yurina has never looked so good, the leather dog collar is an added bonus also.

Although these types of shot might be easy to create they really fit in with the rhythm and speed of the song

Maasa's clothing might not be the most stylish but I think the hat suits her quite well

I've been watching a a lot of live performances of Perfume recently so I can understand how awesome lasers can be, I cant even recall if any previous H!P PV's have contained lasers ... can you?
Also can you see the DJ in the background? this is probably the best shot I can get of her/him.

Risako isn't fat ...

she's just the victim of binary fission

This shot really captures the style of the girls, its quite refreshing to see a more serious approach from the berryz considering the last 3 singles have been 'fun happy cute' style, I would consider this the first sexy approach that the Berryz have done, I think its about time also

for most of the video the girls retain a slightly serious/alluring facial expression, yet when the girls each take it in turn being the DJ they have a little fun

I shall be definitely purchasing this single, if there was an actual Vinyl I think it would be highly collectible indeed

Clearly the camera is focused on one thing, I wonder if future Berryz PV's will keep the continuity? I certainly hope so ...

Momoko's pinky makes a predictable yet welcome appearance

The dance move perform here seems to involve holding your arm up and punching the air beneath it, its rather funky and violent

I haven't read any translations for the lyrics yet but this cap is very much open to our own perverse interpretations

OBJECTION!

I'm not really sure if Momoko's little leather jacket and dog collar suits her style, she looks badass regardless

7 lots of Miyabi thighs in one shot is an instant heart attack

The edits for this video are done very fast so I decided to do a little math...

The video is 3 minutes and 56 seconds long

The average scene time is 1 second

so this video contains around 256 individual edits, which is fairly hardcore

Even though Momoko is delightfully cute she can at times look quite sinister

this is probably the first time I've ever said the word 'erotic' in the same breath of talking about the Berryz, this scene is totally a surprise and exclusive only to Yurina

her nimble fingers slowly run down her neck and along her throat ... erotic and highly relevant, I wonder if the dance version will have all girls doing the same? can you imagine that? I don't think my heart could take it

I think Risako is the best at making faces

I really cant remember any previous Berryz PV's that contained such gratuitous butt shots

I really like this shot (apart from the obvious reasons) the camera slowly pans downwards

and captures a funky little jumping move

Captain is a sexy little ghetto thug <3

as the video ends we are given a simple formation pose and a fade to black ... much like the ending to Naichau Kamo.
As you are already well aware I'm a huge fan of this, I think its got the potential to be a staple song at concerts much like Special generation and Munasawagi Scarlet, its fast, funky, sexy and hopefully sets the standard for Berryz Kobo from now on.
Now the big question is now will C-ute also step their game up?

Pigs are now officially flying

2009-02-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

When I first found out about this news it was like a swift kick in the nuts, I've been at work for the past 8 hours so I've had plenty of time to formulate and compose my opinions and questions as follows ...

• is this the beginning of UP-FRONT INTERNATIONAL fully opening up to the western market and actually becoming fully international and not restricting themselves to the Asian markets? it would seem unfair if the UFI didn't give us European wotas a slice of H!P pie also.

• Will this event propel Morning Musume into the western mainstream, I'm curious if its possible new fans could look past the language barrier and the idol concept, there is potentially a massive market for Japanese pop groups considering Japanophilia seems wide spread amongst teenagers, its just a question of how they are marketed ... can you really see H!P photo books sitting in your local bookstore?

• is this all just an experiment the UFI are doing to get a feeling of how well Morning Musume (and idol groups) are received? I'm sure the turn out at the Anime expo will be a key factor in any possible future performances.

• Will Morning Musume's setlist consist of newer material? I personally think that it will contain mostly stuff released in the past year ... I'm not sure why I think this ...I just do.

• Will Morning Musume's flight into America be greeted with a crazy ass fan fest like when Berryz kobo touched down in south Korea?

My overall thoughts on this news are mostly positive ones, although my fandom for Morning Musume has slipped lately due to lackluster singles, I still remain a big fan so the thoughts of Morning Musume expanding and becoming more popular are very much welcome.
Although ... part of me wants them to remain exclusive to Asia, I don't think I would like it if they became too mainstream in the west because I enjoy the fact that a majority of people I know have zero idea what an idol group is.
My Lolli secretary checked out the flights from the UK to LA and it would be costing me around £525 for a return flight ... I'm quite tempted to pop over for a few days and show my support, anyone in LA wanna put me up for a few nights?
Ideally I would rather see the girls in Japan and bust out the glowsticks in true wota style.
If any of you do attend to the Anime expo ... learn the wota chants, coordinate your glowsticks ... and if possible bring large inflatable Bananas for Jun Jun.
I'm gonna end this now with one of the first (and favorite) Morning Musume videos I saw way back in 2004 Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari!

Buono - HYBRID PUNCH!

2009-02-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Buono's upcoming concert bizzarrely titled 'Hybrid punch' looks like its gonna be quite awesome, 4 days of fun it would seem.
The tracklist seems to consist of nearly all of Buono's 2 albums (not to be mistaken with the currently named album) so how could this concert get any better?

Buono! are just getting bigger and better, since the latest album 'Buono! 2' is an absolutely amazing piece of work which YesAsia.com has described them quite favorably:

Buono! were no strangers to the Oricon charts last year. They pleased their fans with no less than four top ten Oricon entries, some of which can be found on their second album. Buono! 2 features twelve tracks including the hits Lotta love Lotta love, Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!, and their most recent Oricon #4 hit Co No Mi Chi.

Not only do Buono! pack amazing songs (I NEED YOU, Goal) they also score quite highly on the style factor ... I don't think I've seen such beauty and adorability, the stylists needs a huge round of applause:

The Buono! merchandise is also quite awesome... Buono cutlery anyone!?

...kinda want.

The Karen girls

2009-02-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

When poking around the internets you find an abundance of idols, a group that I recently became aware of was the young idol unit 'Karen girls'.
So far they only have 2 singles which were opening themes to the anime 'Zettai Karen Children'.
The girls currently have a new single coming out soon called 'Fly to the Future'

The most pressing question in my mind is the age of the girls, I'm guessing that the girls are part of a management company or under control of their parents ... either way I hope that they apply to child labour laws ...
Another question is ... what age is acceptable for an idol group?
Do you think there should be an age cap? do you think its a form of child exploitation?
Personally I'm a fan of them and I find the music and vocals quite addictive, no doubt this group will appeal to the fans of much younger idols, but don't let age prejudice stand in the way of an awesome idol unit.

It's awwww right.

Over the Future

My Wings

Mano Erina's 1st photobook

2009-02-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't bought myself a photo book in a while but looking at these delicious previews I find myself very much tempted to order it from yesaisa.
The official release date is the 10th of Feb so lets hope some kind wota soul makes a full scan of it.
Below are all the previews I can find, don't you think there's a lot of fan service type shots?

... do want.

Berryz Kobo Solo events (1 of 2)

2009-02-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

First of all I want to say that this isn't a review or an in depth affair, it's just lots of delicious pic spam and off hand remarks about the latest Berryz solo events.
Lets roll ...

When the girls enter the studio area we get a behind the back stalker type cam, and as you can clearly see its a sausage fest out there ... shock!

First up is the lovely Chinami who has some silky sexy smooth hair

each girl gets to perform 3 songs and also talk about something random (and mundane)
I'm guessing that this is Chinami's dog ... it looks a lot like Maimi's dog 'rocko'

I don't wanna sound too pervy but Chinami has such a killer pair of legs and waist, those shorts are quite lovely

Like most of these events its a mostly male audience, the main demographic seeming to be 20-30 year olds, and in some cases 50+ (see arrow).
It makes me wonder if I will still be lusting after young girls when (if) I become a dried up old biddy.

Next up is Momoko

Momoko never falls out of character, she acts so innocent and naive at all times, when she introduces herself she lets out a childish giggle

Momo decides to bring her guitar along with her (the same guitar used in Dschinghis Khan) ... notice the erect pinky ...

Suddenly a random wota jumps onto the stage to attack momo ... :(

LOL just kidding ...he is infact a mere stage hand helping with the mic stand

You would think that Momoko is about to play something half decent considering she has her fingers stretched onto a scale ...

But her guitar 'playing' leaves a lot to be desired ... much like her piano playing

Next up ... can you guess the girl? wide shoulders, awesome hair, it could only be ...

MAASA SUDO ... how amazing is her hair? its gloriously EPIC.

Maasa's cheeks and lips are looking radiant and kissable

Her bun is just win, but anyway her main talking points are about ...

Her school backpack or the correct term is randoseru

Maasa also treats us to an old skool pic of her as a school girl

It would seem from a young age Maasa has always had a fetish for aviator type sunglasses

Next girl ... the gentle giant Yurina! with lovely smooth hair

She also shows us her randoseru and points out how she decorated it

Like all the girls she sings 3 songs, her voice is quite fragile yet beautiful, Yurina has a way of talking that makes her sound very insecure and hesitant but she has alot of confidence performing her songs in front of everyone without any issues.

PART 2 LATER... ... when I wake up

What do you think?

2009-01-31T22:34:00.000-08:00

So I was just checking out Satoda Mai's blog and found a rather interesting picture ...

Now this might seem like a standard group shot (which it is) but if you look a little closer ...

I don't wanna sound like captain obvious so I'll let you all guess what Miyabi's shirt says.
If anyone can fully confirm its text with photographic proof then I will send them 10 H!P photos of their choosing.
I love me some random Engrish.

UPDATE!

Also if anyone could find more pictures of Miyabi in this 'interesting' top ... do it for great justice.

Awards/gifts and babbles

2009-01-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

The photo above was taken today while I was strolling around town shopping, I'm not sure what it means but it was in a Chinese herbal shop so it's probably related to some type of Viagra.
There's lots of little things that make me think of H!P, bananas remind me of Jun Jun, peaches remind me of Momoko and now the Morning musume single 'man power' will now remind me of erectile dysfunction (personally I find that Yajimi Maimi remedies this ailment).
Anyway moving swiftly on there's a few thing I wanna babble about, first up is ...

I stumbled home drunk last night after a heavy drinking session, when I logged on to #Wotachat everyone was congratulating me on winning, being drunk at the time I was probably like ''LOL WAT FGSDSDCHCTRTFUCKYEAHSEAKING!11CDH'' but after a good sleep and a cup of tea my coherency returned and I can honestly say I'm totally stunned and thankful to everyone that voted for me, this blog is almost coming to its first birthday so I think its a really cool achievement, or as my friend would say 'achievement unlocked!!' when something good happens.
Once again a huge thanks for the people that voted and for IW for hosting it all, winning this award not only makes me all warm and fuzzy inside it also makes me wanna become a better blogger and remain fresh and entertaining.
Next up is even more good stuff, I received 2 mystery packages in the mail ...

A curious package sent to me from fellow blogger Lolli ... what could it be?

oh hello ...

OH YEAH!!! Momoko's third photobook!!

It's totally delicious and much win is within, it will look lovely on my book shelf next to her previous 2 photobooks, thanks so much Lolli! <3
Next is a package from Morning Berryz

A box from Hawaii ...

what have we here?

Momoko scarf!!!

A comparison with the previous years scarf, will UP FRONT INTERNATIONAL act in any different way than the agency? probably not.

So now I have another scarf to add to my collection, I never actually wear these things because I don't want to ruin them, I just like to keep them stored away in a safe place, massive thanks to MB for the gift! totally appreciated.

For years I've used PC's but a while back I decided to splash out and get an imac (which is totally awesomes) the imac comes with a 'mighty mouse' as standard ...

After a few months of using it I can honestly say its absolute garbage, the actual shape of the mouse hurts your hand after a while because it fails to have a natural design that your hand can rest on, your hand is always in a mild stress postion (for me at least).
The lack of a right click button is a pain in the arse also because it forces me to use the apple key constantly AND that little roller ball always fails to work no matter how much I clean it or use pressurized air canisters on it, I gave it a shot ... it failed me, so now I move forward with ...

I got this wireless optical mouse for the bargain price of £9 and it works like a dream, very smooth feels natural and comes with enough buttons

If you are using a 'mighty mouse' then I suggest you throw it in the fire and purchase one of these babys, it totally gets the 'Shirow seal of approval'.

And one last thing ...

Does having a hello kitty phone charm make me a complete weeaboo?
Yes/No?

Recent loot

2009-01-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

My H!P merchandise has taken a fairly massive nose dive in regards to buying, I just don't seem to have the cash right now ... I'll be sure to get back into the habit shortly though, so for now I'll update my GETS.

First up is a collection of C-ute Forever Love photos ...

I hope you don't mind if I post some close up shots, these are really awesome

Clearly I love the Maimi photos, but I love this one most of all.

And all new photos now have the words UP FRONT INTERNATIONAL instead of UP FRONT AGENCY.

Even though she's grown up lots Mai Mai is still very adorable.

Airi ALWAYS looks amazing.

Chisato is looking very mature recently.

Got a nice big (B2?) group photo.

Collection from the Berryz VS Berryz.

Maasa is so cheeky.

I'm in total love with the 'evil' Berryz set.

Maasa with tight leather gloves seems very appropriate.

Since I have some type of photo addiction I need to take good care of them, I know there are official holders you can buy but I store mine in these handy photo holders, each album can hold up to 100 photos

As you can see they keep the photos in order (and wipe clean)

But I found an even cheaper way to keep them in perfect condition, these are photo holders I picked up from ASDA (wal-mart) at a bargain price of 50p each

As you can see these holders can hold the standard type photos and the slightly larger type

I also managed to get hold of an awesome Berryz Chi phone strap

The little picture of her is so sweet

The 3 plastic things attached are kinda large and have sharp edges so I have taken them off

Also got a Berryz concert t-shirt

The writing on the shirt is covered in glitter...

The back of the shirt has all the tour dates (as expected) please excuse my poor camera skills.

Next up is UTB magazine which was very kindly sent to me from fellow wota Rick

Every page is just filled with cute delicious girlys

Relevant...

Each page you turn it just gets better and better ...

This girl is beautiful, yes I know the photos I take are kinda poor BUT there's no way in hell I'm gonna rip apart the magazine and scan it

Oh hi Mano Erina

The magazine also features fun little sections with tips and help from various idols ... I would love some delicious cake

Even Erika and Airi get a little section

Captain Saki <3

The main reason why I wanted this magazine so much was because Maimi has a glossy spread in it, I'm in total awe of the photos

Maimi >>>>>> other idols

And I think that's all I got recently, I'm not sure when I'll be buying things again because I have some other financial commitments (which I'll be talking about soon).
Of course if I see anymore delicious Maimi photos I'm bound to pick them up.

Morning Musume - Naichau Kamo

2009-01-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

I was slightly hesitant to write about Morning Musume's latest effort for 2 reasons...

1) Most people don't like to read things loaded with negativity

2) I don't like wasting my energy/time on things I don't enjoy

Well I think I'm a fairly honest person so I'll just come right out with it ...

IT'S TERRIBLE

Why? well lets start with the actual song itself 'Naichau Kamo' which translates into 'I might cry' hardly fills you with optimism and warm fuzzy thoughts that I've come to expect from J-pop, it makes you wonder if this will be a heart rendering ballad or a powerful love song ... its neither, it's just an extremely typical bland filler type song, if this were to feature on an album I would instantly skip it.
I heard the preview to this a couple of weeks ago and I could tell instantly that its a very un-catchy tune, last night at work I was trying to remember the rhythm for this song and I honestly couldn't ... now this could be blamed on my poor memory or the fact that there's nothing worth remembering, I'm opting for the latter.
The lyrics are typical which isn't that much of an issue, the main cause for concern is the track, cheaply thrown together synth keys and boring uninspiring melody, the only thing that stands out is when the girls shout 'Kamo' and that's only because they keep annoyingly repeating it.
Next up ... the outfits, like a majority of H!P releases the girls wear 2 types of clothing, as you can see in the photo above it looks like a secondhand clothing store has vomited upon them, the only girl that looks half decent is Koharu, I understand that clothing needs to stand out for promotional reasons but they stand out for all the wrong reasons, Lin Lin looks like a dutch milk maid, Jun Jun looks like a 60's reject, Aika appears to have a small animal nesting upon her head, and Eri ... I really have no idea whats going on there.
The secondary outfits consist of short leather red/white jackets which are quite nice if worn with clothing that coordinates with it ... which isn't the case, short black ruffled skirts with black stockings and pvc/leather knee high boots ... one word springs to mind ... WHORE ... yes that just happened, all these items of clothing can look good if worn correctly, even black fishnet stockings ...

So now I've firmly established my thoughts so far, can the PV sway me in any way?
lets move forward...

The set consists of two mock skyscrapers parted by and arc of umbrellas and some sparkly ribbon crap thrown in for good measure (probably left over from the pepper keibu PV).
The floor looks remarkably like the floor used in Berryz Kobo's 'Jiriri Kiteru' PV.

The dance used for this is fairly bland, there's no crazy dance break downs or high energy jumping, as you can see in this capture they are performing a flamenco style clap which seems totally out of place.

Aichan is looking ravishing as usual, her hair style is really cute.

Throughout the video the girls shed tears and look upset which is totally ripped off from ...

Berryz Kobo 'Jiriri Kiteru'

Mmmmm Miyabi, I love this video ... uh anyway back to Naichau Kamo...

Sayumi with a pearl necklace ...

Jun Jun is looking incredibly sexy, yet she fails to get hardly any screen time or solo lines

Eri on the other hand gets plenty of screen time and vocal parts

Like the crying parts we also get 'girls standing in the rain' shots, there's probably some hidden symbolism in this that I fail to see, all I see is the girl getting wet and making a grumpy face

Reina (princess wonk) gets a helluva lot of screen time, she is a total line whore also

Koharu gets very little screen/vocal love, which is quite surprising because she tends to get quite a alot normally

It's also quite strange to see Koharu with a serious face, I'm so used to her grinning like an idiot and bouncing off the walls

Aika is hardly even featured at all in the video, I do quite like her hair style.

There's a dance move in this that looks alot like the '1000 hand slap' made famous by E.Honda from street fighter 2

The video ends with a simple pose and then thankfully fades to black.

I'm confident that many people will disagree with my opinions but you cannot deny that this single is very lacking in style and substance.
I'm almost certain that the sales for this will be quite low ... will they be lower than 'Mikan'? unless this single gets a lot of advertisment and tv spots it probably will.
One last thing that bugs me about this ... what the hell is going on with the 8th generation? why recruit new members if you are not going to use them? I have yet to see Aika, Lin Lin or Jun Jun featured prominantly at all in any single (especially this one) of course I don't mind Aichan taking the vocal lead because she is the best, but I would love to see some variety in the future.
Like all my reviews I was going to end it with an upload of the PV, but considering I don't like it I wont subject you to it.
What I will do though is post a GOOD pv ...

I bring you 'Gee' by Girls generation ... awesome song and great PV ... Tsunku please take notice.

And please remember ... Life would be boring without different opinions.

International Wota Awards!

2009-01-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

Oh hi, just to inform everyone that International Wota are now allowing people to vote for their favorite blogs of 2008.
I have been nominated for:

Best new blog
Best eye candy blog
Best H!P Blog

I'm really quite happy to of even been nominated, there is alot of competition because blogs I'm up against are awesome blogs.
Just to be clear I'm not gonna push anyone into voting for me, there is a great selection of people worthy for the numerous awards so I hope you can all vote honestly and swiftly!
Pengie has set up a really simple drop down form so picking your votes is a very very simple affair, please VOTE HERE!

GO GO GO !!!

Idolism

2009-01-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today I would like to ramble about idolism....

When looking at my own fandom in regards to idol culture I always wonder if there is a thing as 'too much' sometimes I ask myself if spending hundreds upon hundreds of pounds on merchandise is a good idea or if its totally pointless and a waste.
When I was young boy (around 11) I developed a huge crush on Gillian Anderson from the X-files, I amassed a huge amount of X-files related material including videos watches magazines and cd's.
I can remember Gillian featured in mens magazines like FHM and Esquire, the local newsagents wouldn't sell me these magazines because I was too young for such material ... thankfully I asked my mother to buy the magazines for me, which she did.

I still have this magazine somewhere in a box and it remains as a relic of when my idol complex started, apparently this magazine is now a collectors item and worth a fair bit of cash ... but unfortunately I cut the magazine up so I could add pictures to my Gillian Anderson scrapbook ... I wish I had a picture of my old bedroom because the walls were littered with posters of her, to some people it might of seemed creepy but that's how I rolled.
Getting a little older (around 13) I then developed another mild obsession with the violin player Vanessa Mae

Just like with Gillian I started buying anything I could relating to Vanessa, mostly music tapes and magazines that featured interviews with her.
I then took up learning to play the violin which I got pretty good at, then I progressed to learning the viola which is kinda the same but a little bigger .
I still listen to her music from time to time, it reminds me alot of my past, the good times and the not so good times.
Here is a performance that I've always loved, I did have this on VHS back in the day and the tape got so worn down it was virtually unplayable.

And getting a little older (15+) I became slightly taken taken with the bass player Talena Atfield from the metal band 'kittie'

I made a website when I was around 16 dedicated to her, I can no longer remember what was on the site, it was probably total garbage but I thought it was cool at the time, the site might still exist somewhere ... who knows?
My fandom didn't make me take up the bass guitar but I did end up dating a girl that looked almost like her, the relationship wasn't that great so I dumped the girl lol.

The next girl that became victim to my fanboyism is none other than Kago Aibon

She is the key reason why I am here now blogging everywhere and spending countless amounts on H!P photos, cd's, posters, dvd's etc etc.
My fandom has kind of died in regards to Aibon, this was mostly due to the repeated 'scandals' that happened.
Life after Aibon was no problem because there was another idol to take her place ...
Kusumi Koharu

Kusumi is my number 1 Musume, yet she also shares the podium with my other number 1's thus being Yajima Maimi, Chinami Tokunaga and Maasa Sudo.
I always wonder if my love for Japanese idols will die one day, of course I have no idea but I highly doubt it, I enjoy too many aspects of idol culture for it to disappear.
Personally if I wasn't a wota I have no idea what I would do online ... maybe I would go outside more and walk my dogs?
Not bloody likely.

IceCream Musume ... is this awesome? (Y/N)

2009-01-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

What the bloody hell? it only seems like 4 minutes ago since these girls were thrown together, and now they have their very own debut single ... is it anygood? ... well lets just say its mixed.
Personally the song is medicore and the PV is fairly typical but it has its charms ... I when I say 'charms' I actually mean 'Gǔ Yún' who now has a new name Guuchan ... she's quite the dish indeed

Lets put her age aside for the time being (or not) but I think she might be key factor in making this group successful, oh sure the other other girls are quite adorable but Guuchan has that PIZAZ (or whatever) and don't forget that she has the moves.
Icecream Musume have recently acquired a blog where each girl has their own section ... like most idol blogs it contains pointless bits of information on what they ate for lunch and other such nonsense, I do appreciate the random photos they post though ... like Peipei talking about getting her hair chopped off

Her management FORCED her to do this! (probably)

OK seriously I think this will end up on ebay or something, but the important question is ... would you buy it? and how much?

Oh look a delicious cake ...

Uhh anyway back to the topic at hand ... the PV, like I said its a fairly simplistic affair so I'll just throw a few caps and random remarks out there to give you a jist ...

Matching winter outfits FTW ... even though it must be a pain in the arse to dance in

the obligatory Hitler salute

Chu! ... I still need to learn the girls names (again)

Although its only a simple white background its fairly effective in conveying the winter feeling across

Even though the dance routine is fairly simplistic its done very well indeed, I look forward to more energetic performances in the future, I guess you can't really do much dancing in those big bloody fur boots

Moshi moshi... lol seizure desu BRB

Guuchan グーチャン <3

The dance is actually kinda cool looking through it in slow motion

As you may of realised the girls are using icecream cones as microphones, the icecream looks fairly realistic to I'm quite surprised that we don't see any drips or dribbles ...

oh hello ... this girl gets alot of screen time (yes I should learn the names but the moment I do there bound to change them again)

ok let me make a point, can you remember what pissed me off about Koharu's 'Papancake' video? well it was the fact that she was teasing a pancake for the whole video without even taking a single bite, and I feel exactly the same about this video, we get 4 minutes of girls with icecream and not even a single nibble, NOTHING!

The video closes with them all looking happy and friendly ... yet the real test of this group will be developing a sisterly bond and working together, I'm sure that alot of money will be pumped into this group so I really hope to see some brilliant singles ahead of them, yet although it might be slightly pessimistic they really need to release better singles than this, I need hooks and catchy beats, so far this is a forgettable tune, its unfortunate but true, lets all hope future stuff improves in quality ... I'm 100% sure it will do.

The Best of 2008 H!P poll

2009-01-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

The lovely Amy over at Merry go round has put together a questionnaire for us fans of H!P to fill in, she'll be counting all the answers and producing a poll of some sorts near the end of January (hopefully).
Below are my answers and maybe a little bit of reasoning behind my responses.
If you have yet to answer this on your own blog then maybe you should? its kinda straight forward and Amy has also given us a list of possible answers ... so its not particullary tricky to answer...

Best Group Single
Oh god ... this is kind of tricky, well there were so many singles that I loved from 2008, namely from Berryz kobo and C-ute.
After much serious thought I'm gonna have to choose 'Forever Love' by C-ute, this single not only contained awesome choreography and Maimi in shorts its also got an amazing rhythm and great club beats, if this played in a club I would be first on the dance floor regardless of my alcohol consumption.

Best Soloist Single
Although there hasn't been a massive amount of solo releases this year I think Mano Erina wins hands down, all 3 of her songs are utterly adorable ... so its simply a question of which one ... hmmm ... how about 'Lucky Aura' that song wins hard and fast.

Best Group Album
Simple question, simple answer ... Berryz Kobo 5(FIVE).
This is one of those albums I can stick on from start to finish and enjoy every single track, tracks that I'm totally in love with are 'Happy stand up!' 'Clap!' 'Ah Merry-go-round' the awe inspiring 'BE' and one of most delicious 'REAL LOVE' by Risako Sugaya.

Best Soloist Album
Although there were only a few solo albums out last year its quite clear that Kusumi Koharu's 3rd album 'Kirarin to Fuyu' wins, many fun addicting songs, one of the most stand out tracks on the album is 'Happy Love' hearing her growl and bark like a dog is brilliant, I would love to see her in the recording studio ...

つんく: ok good, now I need you to bark
Koharu: lol whut?
つんく: Bark like a dog! HOWL FOR ME!
Koharu: RAFF RAFF RAFFFF!!
つんく: NOW GROWL BITCH!!!

Best PV
With this question there is alot of choice ... so looking through them all my mind rests upon Berryz Kobo 'Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance'.
Not only am I a huge fan of the song the video is quite amazing also ... although its not exactly a stylish or expensive video it contains so much charm and genki spirit, who can resist cute happy girls jumping around in monkey outfits?

Group With Best Overall Releases
Although my loyalty is with Berryz Kobo I cannot deny that C-ute have had a brilliant year for releases...

LALALA Shiawase no Uta: WIN
Namida no Iro: WIN
Edo no Temari Uta II: WIN
FOREVER LOVE: WIN

Case clsoed.

Best New Group (debuted in 2008)
I'm totally torn between either Milkyway or Shugo Chara Egg ... I guess Milkyway should get my vote though because only Koharu could get me to enjoy bagpipes and shake my magic tamborine at the monitor.

Best New Soloist (debuted in 2008)
Simple! Mano Erina, she's had some great singles this year, lets hope she gets a PV soon eh?

Best Established Group (did not debut in 2008)
Berryz Kobo.

Best Established Soloist (did not debut in 2008)
Kusumi Koharu.

Best Photobook
Yajima Maimi - Sou Sola

Why you might ask? well ...

Hottest Idol of 2008
Yajima Maimi

Worst Group Single
Ongaku Gatas - Come together

Worst Soloist Single
Nothing was really bad so I cant answer this question.

Worst PV
Hangry & Angry - Kill Me Kiss Me ... GOD IT SUCKED.

Worst Vocalist of 2008
I enjoyed all the vocalists so I cant answer.

Least Attractive Girl of 2008
Erm ... this is a real unfair question as all the girls have some level of attractiveness ... but what I'm trying to say is that I'm a pussy and I wont answer.

The Alo Hello! 3 Captacular Part 4

2009-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

... continued

This part of the video is kinda interesting/boring

Risa, Eri and Koharu are in the middle of a field ... their facial expressions show either annoyance of the blasting sun rays, or something that stands before them ...

OH HI!

DO NOT WANT

Risa look clueless (as per usual)

The guy who looks like a plumber/heroin addict shows the girls his magic rock

Note to H!P: I didnt watch Alo hello! 3 to see some random addict rub a wet rock

The girls clearly don't give a shit

Koharu's face sums up everything quite nicely

Koharu auditions for a bit part in a feminine hygiene commercial... oh what a feeling

Koharu daydreams about Shirow

Nothing to see here ...

Risa preys for something good to happen ...

OK NEXT UP!!! Aichan, JunJun and Aika go for a ride on a powerboat!

The girls scream 'yay' and 'Alo ha!' for the following 10 minutes

The text says 'If you enjoyed the ride please tip your guide' ... I hate forced tipping.

Aika dont taste the water!!! ... infact go on DRINK IT

This guy is clearly trying to rub his junk against Aika's shoulder

Seriously dude! get out the bloody shot already.

No idea who this guy is but he seems determined to get into shot with the girls

Well except Aika ...

Aichan dont stick your butt out ... people will attack you

[random pervert activated]

[Monkey dance activated]

And now the last part ... cooking!

Sayumi thinks its a great idea to shove a stick into a Banana ...

Such a thing makes me (and other males) shudder ...

Sayumi makes an interesting combination ... I call this dish 'phallus sunrise'

LinLin sure likes strawberries ...

:O

What a fruity mess

Then the girls decide to make a delicious cake ^^

I think Sayumi has something against Bananas ... 0_o

Grrr

LinLin is so much fun to cap

The girls finish with making a meaty mess

Lunch time!

And surprisingly the next 10 minutes consist of the girls saying 'Oishii'

LOL evil Aichan

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

O_O

MOAR PLOX

I CAME!

LOL KOHARU

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

DO NOT WANT?

Guess what JunJun has spotted ...

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

And I'm gonna end all this with the last cap of JunJun eating her banana, I hope you enjoyed all the caps because I'm personally sick to death of capping!
Also if you have the money you should totally buy this dvd yes?

FIN.

The Alo Hello! 3 Captacular Part 3

2009-01-03T13:13:00.000-08:00

... Continued

Next up Aichan, Eri and Sayumi go shopping ... I'll say this now ... its BORING ... just like shopping with girls in real life.

Dont you hate shops like this? it feels like your spending a fortune just looking around .. then the pushy staff say 'do you need any help??' ... leave me alone!!

the girls continue to babble and point at stuff ... YAWN

The girls decide to get some custom jewelry made ...

Which Eri seems clearly amazed by

*CUTS TO SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING*

Here comes fun ...

This is an awesome combination of idols

:o

''I'm Ray whats your name?''

''My name is LinLin hi!!!''

''MY NAME IS KOHARU! ☆''

''JunJun! nice to meet you''

LinLin grabs the pink, Koharu gets the red, Jun Jun then says in perfect English ''I want red too!''

JunJun gets light blue instead, then for some reason starts saying 'HO HO HO HO HO'

Ray then shows the girls how to stand and balance on the surf boards ...

If this was a handshake event Ray would be on the floor now covered in security men.

Koharu masters the perfect form ...

And then gives us her adorable dorky trademark smile

The girls are quite clearly struggling

YARRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHH

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

JunJun almost ...

... nope fail

She's enjoying herself though, bless.

Koharu almost ...

FAIL

Koharu sure likes to scream alot

Watching the girls mess around is really quite an enjoyable experience

JunJun figures it out

Great success!!!

LinLin manages to stay on the board for about 13 seconds while keeping her constant :o

HEIL HITORA

Koharu's surfing style involves screaming constantly and sticking your butt right out

LinLin and Koharu scream 'VERY VERY HAPPY!!!' while JunJun looks like WTF?

To be continued ... probably in the morning

The Alo Hello! 3 Captacular Part 2

2009-01-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

... Continued

Throughout the game we get classic 'defeat poses' like this one.

this

and this ...

Koharu's team wins the match

All of a sudden Koharu becomes distracted ...

Koharu is clearly enjoying the view.

Yum yum flat tummys.

The next part of the video is pure gratuitous fan service ...

After much MUCH research I think LinLin's pink bikini is the cutest

Oh nice pineapples ^^

DONT YOU DARE RUIN MY MAKE UP AIKA.

Dont you think that these upward camera shots make 'things' look more epic?

JunJun is quite clearly pushing them together...

Maybe its just me but I think JunJun is giving Aika an evil scowl

And within seconds JunJun is back to shooting love beams at the camera.

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

LinLin does an impression of an aeroplane while riding on top of Kamei

Oh hi fan service

Sayu fan service

Aichan fan service

Fan service hyper combo

Choo! choo! all aboard the idol ~~train~~ boat?

Fail boat now departing

When you get shots like this you can see how huge Koharu is compared to the other girls, LinLin is like a midget.

LOL Risa 'adjusting' herself.

The next part involves Risa, Reina and Aika looking around a sealife park, I'll keep things brief ...

The girls get strapped up and the instructor shows them dolphins, this is followed by them saying 'kawaii' about eight trillion times.

LOL BEASTIALITY

[Dolphin missiles activated]

Like I said before, Hawaii is a beautiful place, the woman who looks after the dolphins must really enjoy her job *jealous*.

Risa relaxing in the pool ...

*cue Jaws theme tune*

Oh shi ....

[idol missile activated]

HEIL HITORA!!!!

The girls then leave the pool and let the dolphins spin around aimlessly.

To be continued later tonight ...

The Alo Hello! 3 Captacular Part 1

2008-12-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Right then let me start this off by saying that I utterly adored this video from start to finish, every second is dripping with idol goodness, beautiful girls and a beautiful location ... this is the kind of stuff that more idol groups need to be doing (ahem Berryz).
The following babble/caps are devoid of context and time line, and I'll no doubt skip parts I think we can do without ... if this page is loading slow due to the amount of images then that's too bad!
Anyway swiftly moving forward...

How amazing does Hawaii look? clear waters and blue skies, unlike the UK which consists of grey skies and concrete paving slabs.

Something you see alot of in this video are staff members in the background, normally the staff are edited out, but as you can clearly see a female member of staff is playing with Aika's chest.

JunJun on all fours looking quite excited for the flag race about to happen.

Watching this race in slow motion is interesting, Eri is bouncing everywhere and Risa falls on her ass for some unknown reason.

Beach hazards include Jelly fish, sharks and falling idols.

''YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

You might be smiling now Aika ... but just you wait ...

Again we have Eri bouncing everywhere ... yet my eyes are distracted for a moment by ...

BAM!!!! Aika's head flat in the sand, ooh SNAP!

''Head down!'' ... oh Risa that's my kinda language ...

10 minutes later Aika is still wiping the sand from her 大きい chin.

JunJun gives us a goofy ''Yaaaay tanoshii!!!!''

By the ridiculous grin on this mans face he clearly enjoys his job, THE LUCKY BASTARD.

Sayumi says ''Eri sugooooiiiii'' in a really annoying voice.

''恐いいいいいい''

Koharu SMASH!!!

''Help meeeee!!!!!''

Volleyball time!! *thinks of dead or alive beach volleyball*

OMG LinLin ... relevant.

Aichan's body is smoking as usual

JunJun is really scared about getting hit by the ball

So Reina gives JunJun some advanced lessons in hitting.

Gotta love the camera shot here ...

Dang ... who would of thought the pandas would look so good in bikini's? ... JunJun's abs are awesome.

:O

JunJun hangs in her head in shame after a poor shot

LinLin midshot ...

:O

Fail shot.

JunJun almost smacks Koharu in the face ...

''SO SORRY!!!''

With Koharu being the Volleyball captain back at school she should totally pwn everyone ...

Strike ...

Point!!! and bonus points for almost hitting Reina!

Great success!!!!!

Stay tuned for part 2 ...

It's that time again ...

2008-12-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

The festive season is always an incredibly busy time for me, not only do I work throughout the night I also have to contend with idol news/study/sleep and drinking, the latter being the most important.
There is also quite alot I have to catch up within the world of H!P, in my 'to watch' folder I have the latest Berryz Kobo's concert (Berikore!) I cant wait to watch this, I intend to cut the video up and upload my favorite parts, I also hope to write a post about it.
Other videos to watch is Buonos! 'Rock n Buono!' concert, I've had a quick look at this and its quite amazing, again I will write about this in a coming post.
But the video that I'm most eager to watch is Morning Musume's 'Alo Hello 3!' ... 7 gigs worth of delicious girl's in bikini's, I'm DEFINITELY gonna do a big ass post about this complete with many many lovely pictures ... the thought of Jun Jun in a bikini makes me *ahem*.
So over the next week I'm gonna try and take care of some of these things, although my 1st priority will be drinking with friends and enjoying the festive period, I hope you all have a great Christmas and an awesome new year.

Shirow.

こんばんはつんくです!!!

2008-12-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Hello readers of 'Wotaku now!' genki desu ka?
Shirow has been kind enough to let me write a post on his blog, isn't that nice of him?
For those of you that don't know my name is TSUNKU, I'm kinda like the overlord of h!p production ... I'm the man who knows how to get things, I'm kind of a BIG deal.
I'm not here just to talk about myself and post sexy pictures though, I need your help ...

Oh this is me being all casual ^^

Anyway enough of this sexual tomfoolery, lets get down to business, like I said I know how to get things ... so I pose to all of you a question ...

What do you want to see happen in 2009?

This past year has been a super busy time, not only have we been expanding our Empire further into Asia we have also been cutting costs at home, getting the elder members of h!p to graduate has been very good for our finances ... that right ... we have more cash to play with.
So ... how do you want us to spend this money? shall we hold auditions for a 9th Generation? ... shall we splash more cash onto our promotional videos? ... do you want more photobooks? Risako keeps texting me for her forth one ... do you think someone else wants one? if so who? ... Chinami? JunJun?

oh I'm so silly at times ^^

Please leave comments below and tell me what you want to see more of ... and maybe even less of ... I hear that some of you are getting pissed with line distribution and cheap videos?
Shriow wants his keyboard back now so I guess this is bye for now ... I'll be keeping my eyes on the comments so please go type your ideas ... be part of history ^^

さようなら皆。

The obligatory C-ute girls & Adolf Hitler post

2008-12-08T10:41:00.001-08:00

The producers of Yorosen have just landed themselves in hot water by allowing a seemingly contraverisal statement slipping into the program claiming that Adolf Hitler is a 'great man'.
Multiple Japanese news sites have picked up on this story with claims that it offended various viewers ... the Yorosen staff then issued a statement;

On our TV show "YoroSEN" on 12/4, something improper was broadcasted.The theme was "World's great men DEN" and the subject of Adolf Hitler was brought up.
We were misinformated in history.
Some viewers were very unpleased, and to whom it may concern, we sincerely apologize.
From now on, the broadcasting content will be reviewed in the company.

First lets look at what actually happend on last weeks show before we unleash a lynch mob...
The teacher of last weeks 'Yorosen!' was Saki NakaJima (or as I call her Naki)
and the topic to be taught was 'the worlds greatest men'... here's a brief run down of events ...

Naki writes on the board 'the worlds greatest men' to which Maimi comments on Naki's poor writing skills.

YES!

Naki then gives a brief description of Christopher Columbus or コロンブス as Naki puts it

Then follows an impression of him lol

Up next is the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte, as you can see Naki's drawing skills leave alot to be desired.

She then says how he created buttons to go on sleeves to stop french troops wiping their noses on them, Naki treats us to a little song that goes 'if there's snot here, dry it off!'.

I'm now gonna skip ahead to the relevant part ...

''For today's Yorosen let's continue with our Nakky-ish great men!''

Naki shows the board to everyone ... Hitler! or as its written Hi-to-raa (ヒトラー)

Maimi then comments 'who was he again? I don't remember anything about him! but I think I've heard of him before'.

Naki then says 'I think when you see his face it will come back to you'.

Jaa~nnnn!!!

Maimai says it looks like Hitler is hemorrhaging

Another brilliant example of Naki's artistic brilliance.

Naki then proceeds to give a brief lecture of him

Anyway so this person was very good at delivering speeches and captured the hearts of his nation.
But he had some very deep secrets and one is that his speeches had a cleansing effect.
They were said to project a trembling rhythm.
And so the citizens were captivated by his speech.
Incredible huh?
Furthermore Hitler was said to have a certain complex.
Maichan do you know what it is!?

''His mouth!?''

''No!''

Actually it was that he felt he was too short.
But in regards to this issue , Many of Hitlers people didnt think so.
And tried to convince him otherwise by constantly telling him, ''That isn't true''.

Naki then decides to do an impression of Hitler which is (thankfully) her saying ''Well I've got 170cm!''

I find this story interesting for a few reasons, obviously the most prominent being the omittance of Hitlers record involving genocide, the show does touch upon a small part of Hitlers history by saying he was 'leader of Germany, he published anti-semitic works and was defeated in world war 2'.
I understand that the show is light hearted entertainment so I dont expect a meticulous account of the third reich or final solution but I do think the producers were a little short sighted when dealing with one of the most contraversial figures of the 20th century.
Were these facts left out because its an entertainment show? or were they left out due to ignorance? I find it very hard to beleive it was the latter.
I was going to expand on this and talk about the Japanese schools curriculum involving the history of world war 2 ... but it's probably a little out my depth and I'm not going to single Japan out in regards to numerous atrocities commited by all sides.
So to wrap up ... Naki was awesome on Yorosen, and her drawings were kinda cute (even Hitoraa).
Thank god she didn't do a Sieg Heil while doing an impression of him though.

Credit to Nouciel and sferris for the translations.

Shugo Chara egg! - worth the wait?

2008-12-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

It's been over 2 months since I first talked about the new j-pop unit Shugo Chara egg ... and 2 months in wota time seems like 2 years, everyday for the past few weeks I've been poking around the internets in hope of finding more information ... but thank god, no need to search anymore as the PV is now out, so was it worth the wait? to quote the lyrics I would have to say 'fumu fumu yeah! yeah!'
To start off, the key reason why I love this single so much is because it embodies everything that I lurve about j-pop, it's bouncy, quirky, catchy, colourful and amazingly cute, it's such a tried and tested formula that never fails to grab my attention (and money).

The video starts with a very very very colorful set, and for those of you that have played on 'Super mario 64' this might bear striking resemblance to the 'Rainbow ride' level ...YAY!

It's quite easy to tell that Maeda Yuka is the lead girl in this group, I don't have a problem with this because she has a very lovely and addictive voice, not to mention adorable eyes.

Fukuda Kanon (along with Maeda Yuka) are the two girls that are featured the most heavily, they get the most lines and longer close ups.

Saho Akari has a slightly boyish style going on ... no doubt this is down to her blue clothing ... but check out her suspenders! me like.

Wada Ayaka (can you say that name fast without loling?) to me looks alot like Saho Akari, they could almost be sisters, she has a fairly nifty hair do going on also.

Although it might seem like Maeda Yuka is calling us all losers, she is infact in the process of making a diamond shape with her hands ... this probably has something to do with the anime series (which I don't watch).

Fukuda Kanon is totally giving a naughty little smirk here.

Saho Akari looks really cute when she's concentrating.

Check out that hair! reminds me slightly of Airi Suzuki's hair.

Maeda Yuka seems to have a slightly dorky yet cool style going on, her ears stick out slightly which I consider uber cute with idols.

This part of the video shows all 4 girls laying down with each other, which is good because I can get better screen caps when their not jumping around singing and dancing.

She really looks like Saho Akari's sister.

I hate to use the term 'Kawaii' because I've heard it about a trillion times but sometimes I cant help it ... かわいい

かわいい!!!

I wonder if you can buy these pillow things? considering this is an anime I would probably say yes you can.

Jazz hands desu!!!

someone say jazz hands desu!?!

Group hug!!!

Personally I think that Fukuda Kanon is the idol what stands out most in this video, not only is she the shortest member she also has a brilliant ability to pull the :3 face ...

She also can pull dorky faces ^^

Which girl do you think is best? they all have talent and cute looks in my opinion but I think Fukuda Kanon somehow appeals to me because she reminds me a little of Kago Aibon (the younger Aibon pre-scandal of course).
Feel free to watch the video and then VOTE!

Your Market Research Here

My thoughts on recent stuff ...

2008-11-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

Probably the most interesting news this week is about the new Taiwanese group called 'Bing Qi Lin Shao Nu Zu' ... although this might sound like some awesome drug it does infact mean 'Ice cream musume'.
The group consists of 6 girls with names I can barely even pronounce ... to make things a little easier Ive taken the liberty of giving them all nicknames (in the bold text), if Tsunku wants to use them he can do so at the right price

Wú Sī Xuán (wu wu)

Zhōng An Qí (kiwi)

Céng Dé Píng (ping pong)

Zhào "LightBulb" Guó Róng (rong dongs)

Lán Ai Zi (erm ... zi-zoo)

Gǔ Yún (yun yun)

They all look kinda cute and after looking through some of their videos they certainly show alot of potential ... but lets keep in mind that Tsunku chose the girls so no doubt they must have some talent .. who the hell am I to question Tsunku???
So anyway I was looking through the videos of them all and I came across this (no not like that) ... ladies and gentleman may I introduce to you Yun Yun! she's bendy! she's 12 years old! and she's singing a song about her ass!

Did you notice the lyrics when the camera showed Tsunku?

What you gon' do wit all that breast?
All that breast inside that shirt?

What indeed, I'm sure Tsunku will show us soon .. the perverted genius.

Anyway in other news Ogawa Mana (the girl from Canaria Club) has bought out a new single called 'Suppin Rock' ... I dont really know much about Ogawa other than she has some funky hair, and after listening to this single a few times I'm in total love with her voice, listen to her single below or watch the PV!

Suppin Rock - Ogawa Mana

Yesterday I saw the most amazing picture ever ...
its like Risako is trying to ride her Saki bike!

AMAZING YES!!?

Evil Risako is killing Captain Saki while evil Momo stands there looking all evil and stuff, for those that don't know its from their stage play called 'Berryz VS Berryz' ... I just know this will be amazing.
Another photo I saw that deserves a mention is this ...

Kappa Airi !!! ... how adorable is this photo? and wait ... its about to get more awesome .. you can buy that costume! its called a 'Kigurumi' and retails for ¥7,500 ($76)

Buy it from here!

There was some other things I wanted to talk about but I'll save them for another post, bye!

DELICIOUS PUDDING

2008-11-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

Oh hello whats this? ... new Risako photos?

Whats that? I should change my blog into a Risako worship blog?

... I've thought about it but its not very catchy.

Ahh ... Risako ... the alluring honey trap ... the pudding of puddings.
It seems that alot of my posts contain a fair amount of Risako photos ... this post will be no different.
Risako Sugaya's digital photobook has just been released and surprise surprise ... ITS EXTREMELY RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS.
We get to see 118 previously unseen photos from her first and second photobooks, it makes me wonder how many actual photos do exist, no doubt literal thousands will be sat on some lucky photographers computer, it must be a very hard task to select the final photos to be published though, if I had my way the photobooks would be about 3 inches thick, a man can dream.
Now let me show you some previews ...

Risako looking just like a doll, a beautiful shot and a flawless complexion.

Its surprising that these photos of Risako in a red bikini didn't even feature at all in her second photobook.

Am I alone in thinking this photo is slightly suggestive?

It's still hard to believe that she is STILL only 14 ... not that it matters.

She has the ability to fix her gaze upon you and leave you motionless ... much like a snake before claiming its prey ... wait what?

A cute photo from her 1st photobook.

There are quite a few photos of her in swimwear ... oh no!

Soooooo anyway here is the photobook, download it and enjoy!

Risako Bukake armpit ipod perverts

2008-11-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

Confused?

Well let me explain, to track the stats on this blog I like to use blog patrol because not only does it track the most obvious stats like hits and Referrers, it also gives me a list of words that people punch into search engines, the following words in red are the exact words that people used to find this place, lets have a look at some of them ...

yurina kumai a lesbian?

She is? well no ... maybe, I'm sure this could be used for some perverted fan fiction? ... just an idea.

risako sugaya undressed

This isn't that surprising really, you don't have to go far to see her in various states of undress

is kanna a girl?

... LOL WUT ... I certainly hope so but at times she can forget her idol like manners.

c-ute perverted Maimi Chisato

Maimi and Chisato are far too innocent for such filth! ... fan fiction anyone?

kusumi koharu upskirt

I guess this is a typical search term, photos probably exist somewhere ... but not here (for now).

mobile obama japan phone monkey anime

Yep ... I have no idea either ... but if there was an anime like this I'm sure it would be awesome.

how to say lol in japanese?

umm ... I'm guessing you would say 'ROL' ?

miyabi chunk free videos

yeah ... I'm sick of all those videos with extra Miyabi chunks also

berryz risako fat

This is quite a common term lately, there are some unflattering photos of her about ... but after much 'research' I can assure you she isnt.

koharu racist

My Japanese teacher says that a majority a Japanese people are racist ... so who knows? its hard to think such a sweet girl could be capable of such thoughts ...

Yajima Maimi shorts

This is relevant to my interests ... infact it was probably me who searched for this.

risako sugaya pervert

So someone types this term and finds my blog ... coincidence? no ... I think that's a fair description of me.

i hate airi suzuki

WHAT!? how on Earth could someone be so heartless!?! ... theres nothing to hate about the girl.

airi suzuki r.i.p

All this negativity makes Airi MAD!!!!

berryz armpit

I guess we all have our fetishes ... have at it.

miyabi natsuyaki sexy pic

You really dont have to go far to find sexy pics of Miyabi ... because there all kinda sexy ^^

risako berryz getting fat

Again with the fat issue ... she isnt!!!! there just bad photos damn it!!!

maasa sudo fat

I have to admit that Maasa isnt a skinny rake like Koharu or Airi but she is still a slim healthy girl ... but she will hurt you.

risako bukake

... I really hope people don't mean Risako Sugaya! ... maybe they mean the Japanese porno stars Risako Mamiya or Risako Konno?

takahashi ai bum

Yeah! these are my kinda search terms!!

rock like fuck momoko

Looking at her new photobook previews it would certainly seem so ... rock on Momoko!

suzuki airi boring

... She is? ... no she isn't.

Aika creepy

Erm ... I guess at times she can seem like it ... lols

Maasa bukake

After looking around I cant find any Adult stars called Maasa ... I guess Bukake is a popular pastime in Japan?

Momo peach ipod

I have no idea what one is but I want it.

Why is Saki awesome?

I have no idea why but don't you dare question her.

Tanaka reina has skinny legs

She really does, that girl needs to eat some hamburgers or something.

So there you have it ... most of the terms I see are just plain strange, but they amuse me no end, I'll probably do a future post like this and update all the weird and wonderful search terms that come to me.
Do any other fellow h!p bloggers get pervy words also?

What makes you a Wota? ...

2008-11-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Midori from Midori’s J-pop Overanalyzations has put together a checklist so we can all analyze our fandom ... while this might seem like fun it probably offers a deep psychological insight ... probably ... but anyway here's my answers:

• You can name and/or recognize half or more of the AKB48 research students or H!P Eggs:

Although I do have an interest in AKB48 I'm not very knowledgeable on hardly any of the 'research students'.
I do know some of the eggs though ... some of my favorite girls are Fukuda Kanon and Maeda Yuuka.

• You own at least 10 photos of your favorite idol:

Guilty, I own probably just over 400 photos of various idols, the photos I own most of are Chinami Tokunaga, Maasa Sudo and Takahashi Ai.

• You buy t-shirts advertising your favorite idol/idol group and wear them on a regular basis. If you're a man 25+, you don't feel any about this:

I own about 10 h!p t-shirts and wear some of them on a regular basis, I dont wear the shirts that have bright colours though, I have a Miyabi shirt that is a horrible turquoise blue.
I'm 26 and feel zero regret or embarrasment, thats how I roll and its awww right.

• You know all of your favorite idol's stats by heart:

Nope! idol stats don't really interest me that much, knowing a girls blood type or if she likes eggplants is kinda pointless in my opinion, I do enjoy finding out little facts about the girls, but I don't memorize this stuff.

• Whenever anyone insults your favorite idol or idol group, you immediately come to their defense... even if you know you're b.s.ing half your compliments. (i.e. "They're good singers!" "She can dance well!" "She has more personality than [insert some famous TV personality here]" "They're NOT ugly!":

Alot of people do bash Koharu a fair bit, but when you look at their reasons for doing so their 'arguments' fall apart.
I respect most peoples opinions on idols but I cant really tolerate aimless bashing.
Also it depends who's doing the bashing ... Lolli likes to tell me that Maimi dances like a retard ... of course this accusation is false and baseless so I take it on the chin.

• You have spent more than you make a day on idol goods:

God yes, I'm not sure how much I've spent in one go but its ALOT.

• You can recognize all of your favorite idols' voices:

I can recognize all of Morning Musume's, Berryz Kobo's and C-ute's voices which took me a while to do.

• You have almost a stalkerish obsession with wanting to meet them or even just see them in person:

I would sell both my lungs to be able to attend a handshake event or something like that, I wouldn't call it 'stalkerish obsession' at all, I wouldn't stalk anyone because its just super creepy and Wota's have enough negativity attached to them already.

• You hear someone say something that remotely sounds like your favorite idol's name and you immediately assume they're also a wota:

Hmm not really, although I do see items in stores that remind me of idols, I recently saw a lampshade that was called 'Massa' which of course reminded me of Maasa.
There was also some deodorant I bought that's called 'Maiami' which at the time I thought it was called 'Maimi' ... it smells fruity.

• You heavily anticipate any news from your idol:

absolutely!!! what fan doesn't? I'm currently anticipating Maimi's third photobook .... oohh yeah.

• You have sent fan-mail:

Nope, not yet at least, I'm tempted to send an email to Maimi's radio show ... but I'm gonna brush up on my Japanese skills before I do so.

• Your favorite idol appears in your dreams more than once:

I've had numerous dreams about various idols, yet most of them have been random and pointless ... I do know a certain girl that has pervy dreams all the time ... yet I cant mention her name.

• You have wondered what would happen if your idol dated you. (Mainly for guys, but if we include Johnnys here:

I have wondered at times how an idol would act as a girlfriend, which I'm sure she would act like any other girlfriend (mostly).
I haven't thought about an idol dating me because that's just far too silly and immature to a degree.

• Your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/immediate family has learned to deal with your obsession long ago.

Being currently single I have the freedom to worship my idols in peace ... although if a girl came along I would lay the law down ... idols >>>> you

• If your favorite idol is suspended/fired/retired/graduated/has no work with their agency/other you check more than two sources of possible info everyday and accept any rumors about his/her return to be true immediately.

I've already been through this turmoil as when I first got into h!p I was totally dedicated to Kago Aibon, after her millionth scandal I couldn't take it anymore ... I no longer follow her new career, I cant stand scandals ... even when there kinda juicy and fun.

• You have at least 3 photobooks or DVDs of your favorite idol:

I sure do, and I hope to own more when possible, they look good on the book shelf.

• You could colorcode a song sung by AKB48 O.o (I'm afraid of those who can!)

Not at all, I hardly know all the girls names from AKB48 ... although Berryz Kobo is a different issue.

• You do fandubs, cosplays, or fandances of your favorite idol or idol group:

If I was a cute girl I would probably do stuff like this ... I know some of the dance moves but I never find the time to use them ...

• You make birthday and worship posts on a blog/forum

Ummmmm ..... I guess XD

• You don't take the cheap route and buy your idol's songs from iTunes or another mp3 site, you spend the money to order every edition of the CD/DVD:

I don't buy mp3's at all, if I'm gonna buy h!p related music I want to physically own it.

I think I scored about 10 and a 1/2 out of 20 .... maybe I should try harder?

[also please be aware that the picture above is not me ... or is it???]

One moment please ...

2008-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Due to high traffic my photobucket account has exceeded its bandwidth D:
bear with me while I upgrade the account, stuff should be back to normal shortly...
Now for the time being lets look at Momoko

C-ute - Forever love (thoughts and observations)

2008-11-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Every time a new h!p video comes along its always the same routine:

• The video appears first on Dohhh UP!
• Dohhh UP! then gets a crazy amount of traffic causing the buffering times to be painfully slow
• After about 10 minutes someone uploads the video to you tube
• The torrent file then pops up
• Forum people then start screaming best/worst PV ever
• Then the bloggers start to dissect every detail

This isn't a bad thing at all ... just an observation ... and why should I be any different? so here goes my two cents ...
One of the features that stands out about this PV is the sexy black suits, not only are they rocking some sexy boots they also have some pretty nifty/kinky chains, I used to have some chains a few years ago attached to my wallet that looked similar to these, I can also remember some of the issues they caused, at times they would become attached to the bar stool I was sat on .. I would then proceed to drag the stool along the pub with me ... umm anyway I wonder if the girls got their chains hooked together while dancing? maybe we will find out in the making of?

The opening shot shows us a smart looking office setting ... yes I'm thinking the same thing ... didn't the Berryz just have this setting also? ... they sure did .. but I think C-ute get bonus points for this because everything looks cool and the girls are looking slick

The girls dont seem to be doing anything on the computers other than looking at themselves dancing ... kinda pointless in my opinion

The video then kicks into a shot of the girls doing their thing, and this reminds me alot of the what Morning Musume's 'pepper keibu' did, after about 5 seconds the music cranks up abit, I really liked that feature on 'Pepper Keibu' and I REALLY like it on here because it goes really well with the rocky theme of this song

As the video gets going you cant help but realize the girls alternate outfits ... whats going on? it looks like winter clothing ... first let me say that Kanna's 'outfit' looks terrible ... seriously ... she's head to toe in a horrible brown drab garb that looks old fashioned and is probably a pain in the arse to dance in ... and yes she also has a scarf and wool hat ... weird

As we can see Maimi is back wearing her lovely short shorts (also might I add that they are the shortest compared to the other girls, there is a god.

Airi is looking predictably adorable yet I'm not convinced with her secondry outfit either ... she's got the bottom half right yet that top thing she's wearing (poncho?) looks very restricting and not clothing suited to dancing in

Mai mai is looking very grown up recently, she has a very smart hair cut and is getting crazy tall also ... Yurina LOOK OUT!

Admittidly I'm not the biggest fan of Erika ... this is because I fail to see any charm or personality with her (she also reminds me of an ex girlfriend) also her 'spin the towel' part at concerts really bugs me, BUT I have to say that she is looking really slick, her hair is also looking almost as good as Miyabi's (almost)

Maimi is looking stunning as usual, her hair is looking a little shorter, yet still silky smooth, yum.

It's a shame I dont have a higher quality video to cap because this pose Maimi does is delicious

Even though the suit idea is fairly simplistic its very effective, its a very different look from their previous cute bouncy stuff, its also good at showing C-utes new mature style

Chisato's has the most beautiful hair out of all the girls, it really shows that she has a feminine style ... even though she is a total tomboy

Airi's hair is looking kinda funky

When I start screen capping I just cant stop ... theres so many little moments of WIN

Near the end of the song there's an awesome guitar part that sounds like it would fit into a Slayer track, also the dance becomes alot more intense, considering the girls dance in such close proximity to each other I'm sure that Maimi must of given Airi an elbow in the face, I cant wait to see this performed live to see how they dance round each other

I'm still not really convinced about the alternate outfits though, Maimi looks hot, Erika looks slick ... Mai mai looks acceptable ... but the rest of the girls look like they went shopping for winter bargains ... why are they wearing wooly hats??? this is a dance studio with crazy hot lighting ... the girls must be perspiring a fair deal ...

I really do like the closing shot though, it just shows how cool they all look in their suits, I'm hoping to get some photo sets of all the girls, I'll have to poke around yahoo auctions or something.
So to sum up my thoughts I really really love the song 'FOREVER LOVE' its catchy and has some kick ass rhythms, I think it's easy among my top 5 C-ute songs ever (number 1 is Namida no Iro).
The PV is fairly straight forward, like I said the office scene hardly even serves a purpose unlike in Berryz Kobo's last PV.
I'll definitely be buying this single, and I really really really hope they do a poster of the girls wearing suits, that would contain so much WIN.

(Recently Veoh has reduced its video quality dramatically, not only do we get blocky streams we also get on screen advertising which is a complete joke, I'd be happy to have adverts if the video was a good resolution and streamed fast yet this isn't the case, for the time being I'll be uploading videos I feature here onto Viddler, this place seems kinda cool for now and shows decent resolution and speed (for now).
I read a while ago that veoh is also blocking certain countries ... are you one of these countries? if so where in the world are you from? I would like to know!)

Risako Loves Fantasy...

2008-11-09T15:03:00.000-08:00

The latest episodes of Yorosen! have got alot more spicy now that Berryz Kobo have taken over.
The teacher of the class is the delectable Risako Sugaya ... not only is she sweet, shy and smexy she comes complete with the cutest black frilly lace witches outfit complete with pointy hat ...

And it gets much better ... long knee high leather boots ... XD

Risako tells the class that they will be learning about the world of fantasy ... she then confesses that she 'loves fantasy' .... *nosebleed*

Throughout the 5 episodes of Yorosen! (20-25) she acts as a very clumsy shy and at times dominant teacher.
The other Berryz girls constantly make remarks about her teaching method and forgetfulness .
There are many many moments of WIN within, one of the coolest and cutest parts is when Risako tries to 'Shush!!!' the class because they are being noisy ...

She then looks up at the class and takes aim ...

And unleashes the cutest DEATH GLARE upon her students

She then turns away and gives herself a smile of satisfaction ...

Another funny part is when Saki gets the highest test score and wins a troll

She looks so happy!!!

Another thing I found very funny ... and I must admit you have to have a quick eye for this ... did you notice all the girls had customized their white shoes? it was tricky to get decent screen caps of this because the camera hardly gave a decent shot,

Miyabi has written her name in the alphabet

Saki's shoes were hardly picked up but I'm sure that her left shoe has the Kana さ (Sa) and on the right shoe き (ki).

Chinami went crazy and colored her shoes red ...

Agian its really hard to see but I think Momoko has written もも(momo) along each of her shoe straps

Yurina's shoes are really colorful and creative, her name written complete with stars

I've been watching and uploading all of the Yorosen! episodes onto veoh, feel free to watch all of them here.
If you wanna get hold of subbed episodes then please check out www.hello-fansubs.com
Also one last thing .. I think Riskao must follow some type of magic or wicca ... you decide ...

Latest GETS!

2008-11-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

I'm kinda late updating this list so there is a slight back log of things that came to me.
I have actually cut down on buying stuff recently as I'm trying not to blow all the cash I get ... but there's always so much cool merchandise coming out, it's an expensive job being a Wota.

First up is some presents that Lolli got me when she went over to Japan to see the Cinderella musical ...

A big ass Berryz Kobo anniversary poster picture, the photo is taken from the VERY BEAUTY photo shoot which I find quite lovely, I just need to figure out a place I cant put it.

Two photos of my most favorite girls in h!p, wearing their bowling outfits.

A C-ute photo set!!! I don't own that many sets of photos so this is really cool, also these photos have a cool metallic shine effect.

Maimi looks very dominant and sexy indeed, she's also quite good at doing doodles.

An awesome Berryz Kobo photo set, all the girls have awesome hair styles ...

Maasa has the sweetest lips, and Risako has such a cute puppy dog pose.

At first I thought these were a box of Japanese tissues ... but upon further inspection it turns out its a Japanese 'tickler' condom ... YAY!? ... so far I've resisted from taking it out the packaging and blowing it up over my head (for now).

Also Lolli got me this as a birthday gift! I'm totally in love with it, Eri's 'photograph collection' every page is filled with delicious Eri win.

The photobook is contained within a nice thick cardboard case.

The side of the photobook has a cool little doodle of a turtle which I think is pretty cute.

Quite predictably every page is filled with yummy Eri photos, there's also a great juicy amount of Bikini pics, BIKINI FTW!!!
A massive thanks to Lolli for the gifts!! love them!.

Next up is even more gifts! Paul from Hello! blog kindly sent me some Japanese magazines from the Japan centre in London.
Friday magazine is actually pretty cool considering I have a burning hatred for the magazine (because of the h!p scandals it publishes) but most of the pages are filled with great photos of yummy Japanese girls ...

I think this girls name is Suzanne, I'm not sure ... but I am sure that she is incredibly hot.

There are also a few pages dedicated to Tanaka Reina's latest photobook 'very reina'

Flicking deeper into the magazine you start seeing more girls and less clothing ...

In the center of the magazine there is a special sealed section that contains full frontal nudity, I've censored the picture as you can tell ... if anyone wants the original let me know ...

But the magazine isn't all about naked girls .. well most of it is .. but there's even a feature on the current president elect Barack Obama.

Kindai magazine is alot more focused on idols that have clothes on, with a great chunk of pages dedicated to h!p idols.

Even a full page spread dedicated to super idol in the making Mano erina

And a feature on Milkyways latest single, its really great to see these photos all glossy and full colour.

Its not just hello! project featured either, theres a couple of pages dedicated to AKB48

Yummy, a big thanks to paul! I'll repay the favor soon!

Next up I picked up the 5th album (special edition) from Berryz Kobo, I was gonna do a full review of this album but I cant really be bothered and I suck at writing about music, I'm in total love with all the tracks on it though, the most stand out tracks for me are 'Ah Merry-Go-Round' and 'Happy! Stand Up'.
It's an album I can quite happily stick on and listen to it from start to finish, awesome stuffs.

It was recently Maasa's 16th birthday so I thought it would be cool to pick up her special birthday t-shirt, also with the t-shirt I got a wrist band and 2 photos of her wearing it but I forgot to take photos of them, I have yet to wear it yet though, maybe on a special occasion?

These photos are a little bigger than the usual size, I love the younger pic of Maasa with her little guitar.

Random Maasa photos

More random photos ...

I'm in love with this photo, chu!

These Risako photos have a cool metallic shine to them

hmmmm....

Risako in uniform ... DO WANT

I think that this might be the cutest photo of Risako in existence ... anyone care to prove me wrong?

When Maasa got a new hair style she did these awesome photos showing it off, I had to get them.

Pure pure WIN.

End of transmission.

HANGRY & ANGRY - EPIC FAIL

2008-11-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

After listening to this single numerous times I've come to the conclusion its just a bland medicore type song, its got a fairly catchy chorus yet little chance of it being a favorite on my playlist (at all).
And after watching the video once I've decided this is the worst video I have cast my eyes upon in a long time ... seriously ... its very hard to disappoint me, how can a video with two good looking Japanese girls and a punky loli style go wrong?
well first off the most noticable thing is how cheap and tacky the video looks, we see a mix of the most horrible colours and props, I find parts of this video painfully embarrasing, Yossie constantly growls and gurns throughout the video which looks ridiculous and very forced, while Rika on the other hand tries to look cute and innocent ... which fails to work because it looks forced and fake (pretty much sums up my sentiments about everything in this video).
Another thing that really bothers me about this video is the fake guitar playing, Yossie and Rika are jumping around banging their guitars like they are actually playing .. I'm not a musician at all but is it really necessary to have 4 guitar players? I dont bloody think so.
And one last thing that bugs me about this video the pseudo lesbian shenanigans, while there is nothing particulary wrong with this (Berryz and Morning Musume do this at times) I fail to see any type of sexual chemistry between Yossie and Rika, a long time ago I did think that Rika was quite attractive yet I just think shes too whorey and fake.
Considering this will have an official US release I really hope this wont put non-wotas off delving deeper into the world of Japanese idols, yet Hangry & Angry are not doing themselves any favors.

Watch HANGRY & ANGRY - Kill Me Kiss Me in Music Videos | View More

C-ute - Forever Love (preview)

2008-11-01T02:11:00.000-07:00

C-ute's 7th single seems to be shaping up quite nicely, when I originally heard that the title was called 'Forever Love' I had visions of it being some dire ballad, dont get me wrong ... some ballads can be done well, but when I hear stuff like Morning Musume's 'Aruiteru' it makes me want to self immolate.
The beginning of this track reminds alot of Berryz Kobo's 'happy stand up' but thats not a bad thing at all, I'm also quite fond of the 'my darling' and 'I love you' parts, at the moment theres no promotional photos or anything hinting about the outfits they have ... I just hope that Maimi's outfit shows off her killer legs.

FOREVER LOVE - C-ute

Also while on the subject of C-ute singles ... for those that were a fan of 'Edo no Temari Uta II' ... why dont you check out by itsuki hiroshi's version 'Edo no Temari Uta I'
Its not that bad to be honest ... I find his voice kind of appealing in some strange way ...

Edo no Temari Uta - Itsuki Hiroshi

Also while listening to this song it reminded me of the music that played on the Mystical ninja game for the Nintendo 64, 'I AM IMPACT' ... its a quality tune, and the game was awesome.

It's Buono! ... but not as we know it

2008-10-31T01:50:00.000-07:00

I think its safe to say that is one of the most catchiest and addictive Buono! songs yet, its really hard to get the 'rotarra rotarra' out my head.
But this video seems really quite different to anything they have done before.
The PV is comprised of 3 sections, a dance shot, a close up, and close to the end a 'free cam' shot that gets up close and personal, nothing special or exciting really.
What really makes this video different is that this seems to be the first Buono! video that has no story line or gimmick, we dont even get to see Momoko doing something dorky or goofy, whats that all about?
And another HUGE difference is the costumes ... its undeniable that all 3 girls look cute as hell ... but where in gods name are the punky pop girls I've grown to love? I dont see any straps, chains, tartan, badges or clothing with the word 'fuck' on, is this a new direction Buono! are taking? a cutesy 60's style unit? ... probably not but I find it kinda strange that they broke away from the usual codes and conventions that make Buono Buono! (that makes sense in my head).

Although I love all 3 girls I think that Airi really shines the brightest in this video, the big yellow bow in her hair is too adorable for words.

Momoko seems to have the most energy in this video, she's throwing herself about constantly, its a shame we see little action from her pinky, although if you watch the video in slow motion it can be seen at times sticking out.

Have I mentioned recently how good Miyabi is looking? I think she probably has one of the best hair styles in hello! project ... right next to Maimi.

During the video all the girls do the 'L' sign with there fingers, I'm 100% sure this means Love, aww.

Airi never fails to look cool and cute at the same time.

It's really good to see that Airi still has her cute fangs, we should enjoy them while we can just incase she gets a veneer like Risako did ... at least I think she did.

Like I've said previously we seem to see alot more leg exposure of late, these short hem lines are playing havoc with my heart and nose bleeds, Miyabi seems to have a natural ability of sticking her butt out, even more so than Momoko, wow.

I love the closing shot of this video, simple yet iconic.

Video credit to Paul from Hello blog

The Berryz Kobo 'MADAYADE' review!

2008-10-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Reading around the forums the latest berryz Kobo's offering is getting mixed reviews, some people are flying off the handle and saying its the worst PV to date, and others are saying its one of the best, I always think its best to watch the video before becoming tainted with other peoples opinions, you always get the typical comments with every h!p release, the cheapness of the video, line distribution, costumes etc etc ...
My own feelings about 'MADAYADE' are mostly positive (surprise surprise) but I do have some issues with it.
The office setting it quite interesting (if a little sparse) yet I'm not really into the gaijin office workers in there, they dont really seem to serve any purpose what so ever, I can understand the main concept of the video though with the Berryz showing their fun genki sides as opposed to the missrable office workers, I think the activity inside the office could of been a little more interesting though, all we really see is the girls typing aimlessly on the keyboard or walking around with empty blue cups, the gaijin workers just seem to stand about talking with each other looking stern.
If I had my way (which thank god I dont) I would of had the berryz getting slowly pissed off with the other workers and finally going crazy and tying them all up with telephone wire, and then throwing away their office uniform and having a pillow fight or something ... I dunno ... but it would of been kinda hot.
The colorful outfits the girls wear are actually pretty cool ... YET ... I dont think they really suit this video at all, they would be much more suited to a live concert or something.
I think a great costume idea would of been a office costume varrient, like a shorter skirt and more snazzy colors or something.
Like I said the costumes are cool but just slightly misplaced, I'm confident that I'm not alone in enjoying the hem line of them, the Berryz seem to be showing alot of thighs recently in their PV's ... I'm not complaining at all.
I'm just gonna give a photo break down of things that stick out for me ...

As the video starts we are treated to a slow upward pan of someones legs, I was totally transfixed by this and trying to figure out who they belonged to ... Risako? ... Miyabi? ...

Bleurgh! its some old hag office worker, this was totally uncalled for ... the goggles do nothing, thankfully things start to perk up slowly

I think all the girls look cute in their little office outfits, I think that Saki has the supervisor postion in the company as she is always checking on the girls work

As you can see the main dancing area is kinda dull looking, I think it would be better if they were dancing in a more studio like situation, or maybe even on top of office desks? ... but why are we looking at the surroundings? I cant keep my eyes off Risako legs ... very relevant indeed.

While watching the video there are many interesting shots, Risako tends to make some very fun and cute looks

Miyabi is looking quite lovely as usual, and her killer chin really stands out here, loves it.

Supervisor Saki hard at work, Momoko looks fairly pleased with herself

Momoko wants you...

Supervisor Saki gives Risako a thumbs up ... for aimlessly typing on a keyboard

This shot really gives you a scope of Yurina's amazing height

This is where things get interesting ... a few people have called this scene 'gratuitous' ... but I like to call it gratuitously delicious ...

And I got a little excited and carried away .. so I made this to mark such a great event ... click me

I love this part in the dance when they all sing 'P~yooooonnnn' ... it looks a little reminiscent of the monkey dance pose

Momoko looking clueless and Risako looking just like she did in the 'Gag 100 Kaibun Aishite Kudasai' video, minus the love letter

Happy armpit day!!! love Miyabi <3

Momoko NOM's on a cookie called 'berryz soft', I've looked around and I'm sure that this is a fictional brand.

Then Momoko gets told off by the old hag for eating on the job, poor Momo!

Moshi moshi! kore wa Banana phone! Maasa desu!!!

For some reason Miyabi gets pissed off and throws her papers in the air, YOU GO GIRL!

Risako continues to whore it up even when at work

Hai hai moshi moshi Captain Saki desu!

I have no idea what happens here but for some reason money falls out the sky onto Yurina, how strange.

Jazz hand desu!!!

Jazz hands desu!!!! ... no wait .... Chinami ... what are you doing!

Chinami learns from Miyabi and does her sexy thing ... I guess she deserves this

Close to the end we get another lovely 'P~yoooooonnnnnn'

A lovely closing shot ... and I hope this picture shows that Risako isnt getting fat, she's just developing her curves ...

And I'll end the blog with a super cute and radiant cap of Risako.

Bravo! oh and enjoy the video!

Berryz welcome the elder graduations with Happiness!

2008-10-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I found this funny fan subbed video today, the girls of Berryz are quite clearly over joyed with the graduations, and it seems they are aiming for pure h!p domination.
Nicely made and very witty, I love Momoko's remarks towards Risako's future solo career.
Big props towards BerryzKoboWota, I look forward to more videos in the future.

(Look at the youtube page for a higher quality version)

My thoughts on recent events ...

2008-10-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've been in London the past week so I've had little time to go online, and even if I did have the time I would of been far to drunk to understand what I was doing.
So below is a little ramble about various h!p things ...

Maimi in UTB magazine!

This news probably should be in my other blog (I love my Maimi) but there's not really alot to talk about, all I can do is drool and hope that her 3rd photobook gets a release date pronto, these photos really show off her natural beauty, its amazing how much she has changed, I'm gonna have a look around and try to pick up this magazine, if anyone knows a seller give me a heads up!

Elder Club fuzzy bunny!

Ok first of all I'm sick of hearing the term 'graduation' so from now on I shall use the much cuter term 'fuzzy bunny'.
There's probably little I can say about this that hasn't already been said by numerous fellow bloggers, I do like the idea of a mass of wota suicides, that would be funny.
Normally when a fuzzy bunny happens its because the girl wants to move on with her career (most of the time) ... yet since this will be a mass fuzzy bunny its fairly clear that none of the girls had much of a say in this, we could debate back and forth of why this has happened until the cows come home, but lets face the facts ... the UFA want to save money, pure and simple, not having all these girls in active groups they probably wont be getting paid as much, but lets remember that they are still under contract by the UFA ... so they still get paid, I dont think the girls will have to resort to adult entertainment for cash ... for now at least.
I see this fuzzy bunny orgy as a spot of spring cleaning to be honest, as the majority of girls are 'older' I think they all had there time to shine, and I think its important to focus resource on fresher and younger talent.
It will be strange to see future wonderful heart concerts though, there will quite clearly be wide gap in the line up, there will be somethings that I will really miss though, It will be a shame never to see Miki Fujimoto perform 'Boogie train' again ... I really have a soft spot for that song.
Looking at the fuzzy bunny list I cant help but see the amount of talent being taken away, I find it funny that Konno and Ogawa are being fuzzy bunny'd, it seems like they have been back about 7 minutes and now they are gone again.
I'm not that concerned about Yossie and Rika because they have their new 'hangry & Angry' so they are being kept busy.
I'm really quite upset about Arisa Noto being on the hit list also, how can such a quirky and cute girl be faced with fuzzy bunny? I hope the UFA have more plans for her.
There are a few more girls I could talk about but I'll refrain for now ... although I must say I'm over joyed that Yasuda Kei getting booted, that might sound harsh, oh well.

Risa turns 20!

While to some people this event might not really matter much, I think its fun to celebrate along with your idols birthday ... its the wota thing to do.
I had the pleasure of spending Risa's birthday down in London with Lolli from the Lollis love lunch blog.
To see more details of what happened in London please go read her blog!, I'll probably talk about this on my more personal blog over at hello online.
I can say that there was alot of beer drinking and idol chat, it was really quite an experience, here are a few photos that sum up what happened ... drinking, wearing suits, and doing wota things.

New Berryz best of album!

Oh yeah!!! The berryz get a 'best of' album! I'm almost 100% sure that this album will come with some kind of sexy special edition box set or something ... will it contain something like that previous box set complete with flip flops and beach ball? probably not but I do hope to get something cool.
I was thinking today of what songs should be on the album ... and then it hit me ... I love ALL their songs, seriously, I love each and everyone one, I guess its a combination of my devout fanboyism and great production from Tsunku, of course there are are tracks that will be on the album like Special generation, Munasawagi Scarlet and Gag 100 kaibun Aishite Kudasai, but I hope that some of the not so popular songs get featured like Joshi Basket bu Asaren Atta Hi no Kamigata and Himitsu no U.ta.hi.me.
Either way there's no way on earth I can dislike this album, if it contains the track 'Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteruu You Know' I will be in heaven as recently I cant stop listening to it, I lurve it, and you should too.

Watch Berryz Koubou - Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteruu YOU KNOW in Music Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I'll probably post again shortly with more thoughts as they happen, so I'll just end the blog with this picture ...

Can you see what I see??? ... Kanna is quite clearly getting some grope action on Aichan, the dirty girl! what will she do next? I guess she has good taste at least.

idol battle! - Maimi VS Risa

2008-10-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

Like every person into idol culture we all have our favorite and like to boast about their exploits and such over another.
This will be the first of many idol battles, lets try and keep things fun and clean unlike a certain republicans campaign...
Below is a simple voting form, please take into consideration each idols strengths and weaknesses, ie: Vocal skills, dance ability, sexiness etc ...
Its no secret that I will be voting for the super idol Maimi ... also Risa is a terrorist or something.

VOTE OR DIE!

Your Market Research Here

Berryz Kobo - MADAYADE (preview)

2008-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

It wont be long now before we are treated to the PV for this new single, as usual I'm quite excited about this.
The preview for this sounds really upbeat and catchy, I had fears that it might be a slow mushy but it quite the opposite, I've said it before and I'll probably it again but I think Tsunku saves all the best music for the berryz.
There's a part in this track were all the girls go 'HA! HA! HA! HA!' I can see this being a very popular wota chant during the live performances, loves it!

MADAYADE (preview) - Berryz工房 Kobo

Say hello to Hangry & Angry

2008-10-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

First of all let me state the facts:

• 'Hangry & Angry' are a new duo unit featuring Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa.

• 'Hangry & Angry' is also a Japanese clothing range that features Gothic/Lolita/punk style clothing (website here)

• 'Hangry & Angry will be releasing a mini album on the 19th of November called 'Kill Me, Kiss Me'.

• The term 'Hangry' means a feeling of being angry and hungry at the same time.

• 'Hangry & Angry' surprisingly have a myspace page that features their single 'Kill me, kiss me' (myspace page here).

This news really took me by surprise, of course there's nothing shocking about a new unit, but this combination and style is very interesting.
Considering that 'Hangry & Angry' are already a popular fashion line it seems that this unit is merely a living and singing advertisment.
At the moment I know that this unit is controlled by the UFA but I'm not sure if its under the h!p or Tsunku's TNX label, personally I doubt its on either considering the edgy lyric of 'Kill me'.
Its good to see Yossie and Charmy back to work but I'm really wondering if this type of unit has a chance of getting past its second single, this reminds me a little of a more adult version of Buono.
I am a fan of Loli/goth/punk fashion yet I dont think it really suits these two girls.
Will we be seeing a PV for this? I hope so, but for now check out their new single below (download here) (credit to ck2 @ h!o).

Kill Me Kiss Me - Hangry & Angry

Momoko ♥ mouse

2008-10-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this clip last week and I must of watched it over 100 times at least so far, there's something about it that makes me love Momoko a million times more than I already do, her unscripted antics make me lol so much, she's clearly insane.
In the video when she shows her amazement towards a wireless mouse her ''ehhhhh EHHHHH!!!!'' cracks me up everytime, even Yurina's ''Suuugiiii!!!!!'' makes me smile.
I've already transfered this video to my mobile so I can watch it all the time (which I do).

A new show! should we care?

2008-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

And so a new hello! project show is born Yorosen! but before I talk about that I want to take a little stroll down nostalgia lane and babble about past h!p shows.
Being totally honest I found Haromoni a spectacular failure ... not only were the ratings piss poor the show itself was 95% dull and uninspiring (the 5% I did enjoy was JunJun eating Bananas and crying).
It baffles me how you can have a 40 minute show consisting of 9 sexy girls in cosplay and still fail to get high ratings ... it's clearly not the girls fault at all, its the producers being so shortsighted and uncreative.
I'm sure the UFA read my blog ... so might I suggest a few ideas for a sure fire hit:

• Remember when the girls went to the Nintendo building and played on the wii?, well everyone loves videogames, so if we create more face offs involving two player video games, I would love to see the girls take each other on Mario kart, I can already imagine the the camera close ups of the girls shouting and screaming.
Also maybe we could see the girls play on the balance board, who could resist seeing Aichan play on the yoga game?

• Considering the girls dressed up everyweek in cute cosplay I dont think its a far cry to see the girls dress up in those sumo suits and take each other on? it worked back then and it could still work now, I want my idols jumping around and having fun, not sat on their butt's looking bored.

• Remember that old segment when they put a blindfold on a girl and dangled an object in there face? well I always found them highly entertaining, there's something so enjoyable watching the girls go through mental torture, I guess that's just typical Japanese comedy, but it works.

• and if all else fails get out the twister board, everyone would love to see the girls get up close and twisted, and if dont you deserve to be taken outside and shot.

The other show that just ended also was of course Berikyuu, this show in my opinion was far FAR superior than haromoni, a reason I might of enjoyed this more is probably because I'm a bigger fan of Berryz Kobo and ˚C-ute than Morning musume.
But this show had a very mixed formula, a good chunk of the show made little sense if you could not understand Japanese due to the word games that were played when the girls whispered into that little jug, even though my Japanese is fairly limited I still found the show adorable, there were many MANY moments of pure love and win, who can for get Kappa Airi and Momoko screaming KAWAII!!??!?

I am quite upset that Berikyuu is over, but sometimes good things are not meant to last, I'm hoping that Yorosen! bucks it's ideas up and starts delivering high levels of hyper genki idol win.
Now that Haromoni is no longer alive I will not miss it one bit, it's regretable of course the girls wont be getting as much airtime, but you reap what you sow, I hope that the producers learn lessons from this, if they continue to use the same formula then I can see this new show being a failure also.
Time will tell of course, so feel free to watch Yorosen! on my new spanking Yorosen! channel here.

Mano Erina - Lucky Aura (preview)

2008-10-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

I've been really looking forward to Mano's second single considering her first effort was amazingly awesome.
Her latest single 'Lucky Aura' (which is an indie release) has a great 70's pop feel to it, it's alot more upbeat than I expected but it really shows how strong Mano is as a vocalist, I'm sure she could handle anything thrown at her.
At the moment I have no idea if she will get a PV for this single or not, obviously I would love it if Mano popped her solo PV cherry, but it seems kinda unlikely.
Press play below and enjoy, or download it from here (credit to boinsie from jpopmusic forums).

LUCKY AURA - Mano Erina

Buono! - Rottara Rottara (preview)

2008-10-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

Freshy ripped from the Shugo Chara Doki ending, here is Buonos 5th single 'Rottara Rottara'.
Although its only 1 minutes and 30 seconds you get a good feel of what the single is all about, its rocky, punchy and cutesy, I can't take it off repeat, the first parts of the song when the girls break and 'honto!?' and 'ehhh???' are pure WIN.
Download the rip here.
Or press play below.
So far no promotional photos or scans have been released so we have to play the waiting game, I cant wait.

Buono - Rottara Rottara (preview) - buono

And heres the new ending for Shugo Chara Doki:

Berryz are bigger than Jesus

2008-10-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Berryz just touched down in Korea for the 'Asia song festival 2008' and by the looks of it they were greeted by a large amount of screaming Korean wota's.
Although I'm sure the girls of Berryz 工房 are quite used to screaming fans I cant help but wonder what the girls think of them when they act in such a psychotic fashion.
In the video below you can clearly hear some guy constantly chanting 'RISAKOOOOO ... RISAKOOO', If I was stood next to him I would tell him 침묵!!!, but come to think of it ... if I was there I would probably be shouting 'CHIIII!!! CHIIIII!!!' in the loudest voice possible.
All of the girls naturally stand there smiling and waving to the fans, its also good to see the girls are so photogenic even without studio lights and airbrush, just LOOK how stunningly radiant Miyabi is looking ...

It's great to see such a good turn out, lots of guys AND girls all sporting colourful banners and such, given the intensity of the crowd chanting I hope there was sufficient security staff, as you can see in the video the fan cam gets worryingly close to Momoko.

And yeah ... you might want to turn your speakers down because the shouting and screaming gets fairly intense ... ahh wotas ... Zerg rush!!!

Yurina gets owned by a tomato

2008-09-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Awwwwww ... it's enough to melt the blackest of hearts, surely someone should be held responsible for making the gentle giant Yurina cry ... yet the reason she's so upset is because she was FORCED to eat some food she didn't like.
On a recent berrikyu Saki and Yurina faced the challenge of eating some food cooked on a bbq ... with adorable results ...

We start the scene in a small woodland glade, the presenter of Berrikyu ... umm I cant recall his name so lets just call him 'Mr Pink' ... also isn't it funny that most men that work with the girls within hello! project seem to give of a strong homosexual image? ... I'm sure this is done on purpose so the wota's dont get jealous, this makes perfect sense to me because if my girlfriend (Maimi) wanted to go out shoping with a male friend I would be slightly curious who the bloody hell this man was ... but if she said ''Oh Shirow I'm going shopping with gay George see you later'' then I wouldnt bat an eyelid ... or maybe thats just me? ... where was I again? ... yes mr pink!.

Yes mr pink shows the girls what they need to do (which is put their hand in the red box and pull out the name of a food they must eat)
Saki puts her hand in first ...

Saki pulls out えび ! (shrimp) ... she seems slightly hesitant but keeps a smile on her face, personally I would asked to pull out another ball.

Then Mr pink shows Saki and Yurina what he wants them to do ...

Which is to eat the food with a smile on your face and to say delicious!
As you can see Saki is already looking a little scared

Mr pink then rips the head of the shrimp and begins sucking out the 'meat' ... all the girls scream here, I lol'd.

Yummy! as you can clearly see Mr pink is really finding the shrimp tasty!
And now the girls turn ...

Saki slowly places the food between her lips to get the taste ...

Nom nom nom nom nom nom

Success!!! she said Oishii and seemed to of meant it ... and now it's Yurina's turn ...

Yurina clearly looks over joyed with this prospect...

She slowly and carefully places some into her mouth ...

Nom nom nom nom nom nom

Yurina takes a moment to consider if she likes whats in her mouth ...

After a few chews the truth slowly appears ...

awwwwwwwww ... just LOOK into Yurina's eyes ... who could do such a thing!?!

Yurina fights back the tears (ish) and continues to nom

After that traumatic event Yurina is made to make her selection from the red box ... what will it be?

YAY! a tomato! ... Yurina looks overjoyed ...

Looks like she hates tomato ... she dosent seem to be enjoying herself ...

Note: Yurina has not put anything into her mouth yet ...

Mr pink offers her a tomato ...

Yurina seems to be putting on a brave smile ... it wont last ...

Maimi decides to show Yurina that tomatos are tasty!

Maimi slowly parts her lips and places the fruit inside her mouth ...

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

Yurina slowly thinks about it ...

Here we go ...

Can you see the pure terror on her face?

Yurina recoils in pure disgust ...

Mr pink and Saki show their support

She tries to give a brave face for the camera ...

Then forces a smile and almost says delicious ...

Then Yurina is told her whole family just died in a horrible plane crash (that might be a lie)

Yurina starts cying for some water ...

Even after a drink she continues to scream 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!'

After such an ordeal Yurina gives us a winning smile, bless her.

Then Yurina grows super tall (this might also be a lie)

So there you have it, Yurina totally won me over with this video, she is clearly the star, all the other girls laugh at her constantly ... which I guess is justified.
You can watch the above episode(s) over at my Berikyuu channel at veoh (over 130 episodes uploaded so far).

Blog Whoring

2008-09-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

My good good Friend Lolli recently started a new blog thing on Live journal called 'Lolli's love lunch'.
Feel free to go read her fan girl rants and pervy thoughts, although to read some stuff she writes you might need to add her as a friend!
Follow the link!

Lolli's love lunch

Also because I'm a total blog slut I've created a new blog that's dedicated to the lovely sexy lady Yajimi Maimi, if you enjoy looking at her as much as me then I think you'll find the blog highly relevant to your interests.

I Love My Maimi

And for no reason whatsoever here's a sexy pic of Risa Niigaki.

Genghis Khan Tarutaru Mix

2008-09-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

There's something about this release that I cant quite put my finger on ... I don't know if I love or loathe it ... I cant say I'm the biggest euro electro pop fan ... nor am I a fan of high pitched chipmunk style vocals, yet there's something so irresistible about this remix single.
Its quite clearly a cash in to ride the wave of success generated by Berryz Kobo, but I have to admire Tsunku's imagination and experimental side, there's been many moments within my h!p fandom that makes me say WTF? ... and this is one of them.
If you wanna experience this then download the track here.
Or alternatively press play and listen below.
While looking around for more information I came across another song that 'Dschinghis Khan' did which is called 'Moskau' the song is really funny and odd, some of you might remember the song from ytmnd.com as I recall it was featured quite heavily years ago.
Check the video below at your own risk, German pop can be a scary thing.

Dschinghis Khan Tarutaru Mix - Berryz Koubou

New unit - Shugo Chara Egg!!!

2008-09-20T10:11:00.001-07:00

Holy shit! this unit look so goddamn cute it makes me wanna burn my house down and jump out the top window.
Who ever designed those costumes deserves to be placed higher than the ivory spires of heaven and forever worshiped.
Maybe I'm being a little dramatic but nothing beats a new unit that looks super hyper über genki.
At the moment I know next to nothing about his group other than it consists of 4 eggs, Maeda Yuuka, Fukuda Kanon, Wada Ayaka and Saho Akari.
Now considering this unit features Maeda Yuuka I'm seriously looking forward to hearing her amazingly adorable vocals, I hope the other girls can match them, and looking at the pictures of them all I have to say that Fukuda Kanon is looking the cutest.
Ok like I said I lurrrrrve the outfits ... Kanons green outfit is quite clearly the best with those big puffy bloomer shorts, Yukkas red ribbons look like a health hazard, she must get caught in doors quite alot, can you see what Akari is wearing? ...suspenders!! am I wrong in thinking this has some type of fetishtic appeal?.
No doubt we will be hearing and seeing more of these girls over the coming weeks so I'll write more about them when I learn more.

EDIT - Found a fan recording from the event, enjoy!

Shugo Chara Egg - Minna no Tamago (fan recording) - Shugo chara egg

What would you do? (picture related)

2008-09-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

Can you remember that film called 'freaky friday' when the mother and daughter awoke one day to find themselves in each others body? the film was complete garbage but it got me thinking.
I have a question to you all ...

Lets get hypothetical for a moment ...

You wake up in the morning at the hello project apartments to find out that you have turned into your favorite idol ... you are still yourself inside ... but your outside is that of an idol ... the burning question is ... what would be the first 2 things you did?
Its a question that could fuel numerous erotic fan-fics no doubt, I would really like to know what people would do ...

My answer ...

I wake up in the morning only to find out that I've turned in to Yajima Maimi ...
The first thing I would do is take a loooooooong shower ... maybe about 8 hours long to make sure I'm really really really clean...
The second thing I would do is go through my phone and arrange a big hello project hot springs visit ... girls under the age of consent are excluded of course*.
While at the hot springs I would find out all the inside gossip about who's dating who and what the girls really think of those fat 50 year old wotas jumping up and down screaming out prepubescent girls names.

What would you do? explicit details not necessary ... but encouraged :D

*Risako Sugaya is permitted to join in.

Maybe its just me ...

2008-09-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

But I would prefare it if Maasa was kissing the banana ...

does this make me a bad person?

JunJun has got the idea ...

ok I'll stop now ...

Peepaaaaa KEIBUU !!!

2008-09-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm not keeping myself up to date with Morning Musume but this latest single kinda popped out of no where, I knew there was a new single on the way ... but this was like WHAM BAM! HERES THE NEW MORNING MUSUME PV KTHXBYE.
I'll resist on giving an in depth breakdown of the pv for two reasons ...

(1) You can see the video yourself below, so you can make your own mind up.

(2) I'm far too tired from work, and this Singha beer is demanding my full attention.

I heard a radio rip the other day of this and initially I wasn't actually that keen ... but after a few days and few beers things have changed considerably.
The thing that stands out the most with this single is the catchy lyric 'PEEPAHHHH KEIBUU!' ... I cant actually shake it from my head, the song has a really catchy beat and would be brilliant on the dance floor.
OK ... now get ready for some random screen caps and off hand remarks ...

I'm not the biggest Aika fan but I have to admit that when she has her forehead showing she looks so goddamn cute, this picture shows a sexy dance move ... which I'll call 'the boobie rub'.

And almost right afterwards 'the boobie rub' strikes again! ... oh yeah Eri work it girl.

As you can clearly see ... SEXY LEGS is a heavy feature in this video .. it's really hard to focus on anything else ... and why would you want to?

This dance move basically involves shaking your stuff for the camera, the beauty is in its simplicity.

And whats this? oh yeah!

Aichans legs are SMOKING in this video, but Eri's are also very very sexy

And YES! Aichan KICK! (and Risa butt?)

Sayumi quite clearly is the cherry on the cake, such a cute voice!

And to finish the video we all get shot by love bullets!

There seems to be a good amount of line distribution in this which is a breath of fresh air, although I do think the camera is fully focused on Aichan throughout ... but when shes looking this good who really cares?
Admittedly I dont love this single as much as this girl, but I do find it quite enjoyable, its not an epic single, but its not another 'Mikan'.
Good stuff.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

A question to the readers of Wotaku now!

2008-09-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Dohhh UP! has recently shown us a new version of C-ute's 'Edo no Temari Uta II' yet this version is called 'Kurofune version'.
The video scares the crap outta me to be honest, and there is one question that keeps annoying me ... is the dancer in the video male or female?
watch the video and vote!!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

(credit to Paul for the video)

Meet Cuca!

2008-09-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Cuca, she's 6 years old and by the looks of it a complete hardcore Wota.
I found her YouTube channel a few weeks ago and there's a great selection of videos of her dancing to various Hello! project videos, even though shes very young she has a brilliant dance ability and pulls off each dance with close to professional precision ... although I think her brother could do with a few more dance lessons.
I think its a safe assumption that her parents film her and upload these videos on her behalf, it makes me wonder if her parents are also hardcore Wota? ... I wonder if from birth they indoctrinated her? ... either way she seems to be enjoying herself and slowly picking up a fan following, she seems happy to take requests so I suggested that she should dance to 'Special Generation' and/or 'Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai'.
I hope all people with YouTube accounts subscribe to her channel which can be found here.
Here's a video of Cuca dancing along to 'Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance' ... its so sweet!!!

And here's the not so sweet ... Hardcore Wotaku Japanese men dancing to 'jiriri kiteru'.

1000 yen for a squeeze!

2008-09-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

The following blue text is lifted from Tokyo reporter

TOKYO - It is a recent Sunday afternoon inside the offices of adult video broadcaster Paradise TV. Two enthusiastic female voices can be heard counting from behind a pair of covered booths: “Ichi, ni, san, shi, go!”

The entry flap of one booth is labeled with the kanji character pronounced ushiro (behind) and colored pink, the other is yellow and marked oppai (breast). Outside is a line of five men, each of whom is eagerly awaiting his turn to grab (with both hands) the bare buttocks and breasts of two adult video (AV) actresses five times for 1,000 yen - with all the proceeds being used for research to prevent the spread of the HIV virus and AIDS.

“I am so proud to have been selected for such a worthy cause,” says the curvy Aya Natsuki, 25, a veteran of roughly 50 AV films who ceded each of her buns for 100 yen per squeeze. “As well, this is an opportunity for me to communicate much more directly with my fans.”

Each year Paradise TV, a channel which specializes in wacky porn programming, holds its annual “24-Hour TV: Eroticism Saves the Earth” fund drive to raise money for the prevention of AIDS, a condition that continues to be a worsening problem in Japan.

Last year, donations totaled 2 million yen. Paradise expects this year to see a 50% increase in pledges, which have come from as far as away as North Carolina. Satellite provider SKY PerfecTV, which hosts Paradise broadcasts, and the Japan Foundation for AIDS Prevention are supporters.

In February, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare reported that the number of new infections of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, reached a record high of 1,048 in 2007. The ministry’s AIDS Surveillance Committee revealed that the number of cases of AIDS over the same period reached 400. The total number of 1,448 represented an increase over the year before for the fifth consecutive year.

Considering all of this lewd activity is for a really good cause its hard to find fault with this.
In my opinion everybody wins, I would no doubt do my part for charity ...
Follow the link above for more on the story and some boobie pictures ... I would post them here but I wanna keep Wotaku Now! a nipple free zone (for now).

Hello! project 2009 calenders

2008-09-02T13:52:00.001-07:00

I'm quite supprised that we get to see previews this early (it is early right?).
So far this year each day has been graced by a gorgeous photo from the Morning Musume 2008 calender, but for the next year I reckon I'm gonna go with Berryz Kobo, although looking at these new photos my mind might change ...

Berryz Kobo 2009

All the Berryz girls wearing lovely dresses! and surprise surprise! ... Risako is in front.
While I'm tempted to say this photo looks boring ... I cant because all the girls look so sweet, lets hope we see some more inside photos soon.

C-ute 2009

When I first laid eyes upon this photo I started laughing really hard ... and even now I cant help but laugh, Umeda Erika dressed up in her indian garb complete with red dot (the red dot is called a tika, and is meant to signify that a woman is married) is too funny!, they really should research this stuff more.
Okai and Mai look like Chun Li from streetfighter (awesome), Kanna and Saki look like Dutch milk maids (cute yet odd) and Airi and Maimi are wearing lovely dresses, I think Airi's hat is so adorable.

Morning Musume 2009

When I first saw this picture my eyes went directly went to Koharu's legs ... aint they alluring?
then my eyes went to all the other girls ... they all have sexy legs! looks like this calender is gonna crank the sexy up to 11.

Berryz Kobo 5th album 「5(FIVE)」

2008-09-02T13:51:00.001-07:00

Like most h!p fans I am really looking forward to Berryz Kobo's 5th album (crypticly entitled「5(FIVE)」).
So far we have been given a track listing along with who sings what:

1. HAPPY! Stand Up
2. Kono Yubi Tomare! (Momoko, Chinami, Maasa)
3. Baka ni Shinaide (Saki, Miyabi, Yurina, Risako)
4. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance
5. Ah Merry-go-round (Saki, Momoko)
6. CLAP! (Miyabi, Chinami, Yurina)
7. REAL LOVE (Risako)
8. Yume wo Hitotsubu ~Berryz Kamen Ending Theme~ (Berryz Kamen)
9. Dschinghis Khan
10. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi
11. BE
12. Special Generation (Eccentric Remix)

So far I've heard most of the 'Special Generation Eccentric remix' and I'm totally in love with it, I'm not the biggest fan of remix stuff but this really does win hard ...

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

Preview of the track 'Happy Stand up!' has just been leaked ...

Berryz Kobo - HAPPY! Stand Up (preview) -

And a radio preview of 'Baka ni Shinai de'

Berryz Kobo - Baka ni Shinai de (radio rip) -

I cant wait to get hold of this album, its gonna be pure love.

Ongaku Gatas - Come Together (unfortunately)

2008-08-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

The Ongaku Gatas have shown us their 3rd single entitled 'Come together' ... which I find a total sexual reference, but that's probably just me.
A great PV, catchy song and great dance moves ... this latest release lacks all three ... and when I say lacks I actually mean they are non existent.
Although I tend to love most h!p videos by default, this is an exception to the rule.
First lets understand why I think this ...

The PV sucks.

When the Ongaku Gatas released 'Yattaroze!' I didnt think it would be possible to create a video with a lower budget, but 'come together' totally blows that idea, this video consists of two locations, a clear screen background with studio lights and some little room with a table filled with random junk.
While in this room the camera turns on some type of grainy effect which try's to create some kind of informal unrehearsed situation with the girls, this could work if the girls where actually doing anything of interest ... all they seem to do is sit about playing board games and acting mildly goofy, all of these antics seems painfully forced and unnatural, if this part of the video was trying to show the rapport the girls have with each other then it fails spectacularly.
The dance moves to this video are tired and uninspiring, there's not a single movement or gesture that grabs my attention, and I have looked and there's nothing here that we haven't seen 100 times before.
The outfits are ok, the orange jackets are kinda slick but thats about it.
And most importantly the song itself is just weak and forgetful ... seriously ... I watched the video about 10 minutes ago and I cant even remember a single lyric or rhythm, the song just dribbles along without any hooks or stand out moments, I cant even recall any decent solo lines, I really hope their second album steps up the quality because this is a bland affair.
Considering the group has heaver hitters like Charmy and Yossie you would think that this would be made of win ... I can imagine what Yossie must be thinking ...

Yossie: I left Morning Musume for this??? :facepalm:

So yeah I think I've summed up my feelings for this, I really dont like to be too negative but I'm just calling it as I see it, am I being too harsh or do you guys and girls think its also garbage?
I sometimes think Tsunku saves all the good ideas for Berryz Kobo and C-ute.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

LOL BERRYZ

2008-08-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

If you had the chance to pose with Berryz Kobo what pose would you want to strike? would you want to pose like the dude in the above photo? he looks like a rapist.
I think I would get me and the girls to do a double thumbs up and a cheesy grin ... one day I'll meet them oh yes.

Risako gets dirty

2008-08-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

On one of the latest Berikyuu's Risako Sugaya lends her vocal talents to sing a song called 'Memorable Summer Experience'.
I watched the video a few days ago and found it quite enjoyable, the song sounded interesting and she sang it very well.
But ... after seeing a subbed version of this song my experience of this song has changed radically ... lets read the lyrics ...

I'll give you a girl's most precious thing

I'll give you precious thing held in my small heart

I kept holding it to dedicate to my lover

I wouldnt mind to get dirty

I wouldnt mind to cry

Cause love is blessed

Everyone experiences only once

The alluring honey trap

I'll give you a girl's most precious thing

I'll give you my most precious thing shining with pure tears color

If my lover is pleased I am happy

I wouldnt mind to break down

I wouldnt mind to lose

Cause love is blessed

Everyone experiences only once

The alluring honey trap

Now, although I might have a perverted mind sometimes (most of the time) these lyrics require no second thought to what they actually mean ... but just incase you dont understand ...

a girl's most precious thing - I dont think she's talking about an ipod, dare I say ...virginity?

precious thing held in my small heart - what thing? small heart? girls dont tend to claim they have a small heart do they? ... unless she's talking her small .... 0_o

to dedicate to my lover - now this basically spells it out, she's not talking about her love ... she's talking about her 'lover'.

I wouldnt mind to get dirty - well it always helps when getting into such situations

I wouldnt mind to cry - I guess a girls first time could reduce you to tears ...

Everyone experiences only once - first love? .... or first LOVE?

The alluring honey trap - .................. do I need to say anything? ...SERIOUSLY ...

my most precious thing shining with pure tears color - this line might require a little bit of perveted thinking ... but I'm to much of a gentleman to tell you...

So anway I was highly amused by these lyrics, I think the song itself was written in the 70's, but even then theres no way they could be viewed as innocent and without hidden meaning.
Did Tsunku choose this song? did Risako? ... who knows ... I am aware that there are lots of suggestive lyrics within h!p songs but I really think this breaks all records considering risako is only a mere 14 years of age.

Enjoy the video you perverts ...

Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou!

2008-08-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

What seemed like an eternity Buono's! latest video finally popped out onto the internets, I already had a good idea of what to expect anyway because I saw some preview videos and what not.
The PV quite predictably keeps up with its fresh pop pseudo punk style, while this video sticks to all the usual codes and conventions its interesting to note that there are some random females parading around with musical instruments ... I have no idea who the hell these girls are but they are kinda hot so if anyone knows who they are, tell me more ...
Like with previous Buono videos we are treated to some colorful quirky styles, 2 things that stand out for me is ...

1) Airi's hotpants (no explanation needed)

2) Miyabi, DAMN when did she get so hot? did this happen overnight? or have I just been totally blind to her looks? she's looking really sekshii, and her hair is just crazy and awesome at the same time, and speaking from experience girls always tend to do something drastic with their hair when they start a new relationship .... or end one, I'll leave that thought with you.

Why do I always enjoy it so much when the h!p girls wear suits and tie? I have no idea but the girls look super cute in them, Airi really pulls it off, throughout the video she's looking cool and calm, which is quite a different look for her considering most of the time she bouncing around making dorky sounds and eating pig heads.
Momoko has some pretty funny moments, she makes some really happy/crazy faces while playing cards, and it seems that part of the dance routine involves her using the special butt bash attack, you can see her quite clearly throwing her ass side to side.
The only thing that I didn't like about this video was that cheap and tacky buono pop up pirate thing at the end, it looked like it was made by a 5 year old ... yeah I know its a small point so I'll just be quiet now.

Enjoy the video!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

What to do with a girl like Kanna?

2008-08-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Lifted from Dannychoo.com

The idol group ℃-ute recently had a hand-shake-with-fans session after a concert but one of the members Arihara ended up crying after.
The reason was that many fans ignored her when it was their turn to shake hands with her.
One of the given by fans who ignored her was because Arihara had a boy friend and that some of the fans felt betrayed...

Clip of Arihara being ignored below.

[the video is from last year]

I cant help but feel bad for Kanna, although nothing was confirmed by the UFA it was quite clear that Kanna had something going on with that guy.
The video is kinda funny and sad at the same time, I wonder if many people did ignore her? I wonder if there was any truth in the fact that she was crying?
I doubt this news will ever turn into a scandal ... which is a good thing because any drama involving a member effects the group as a whole.

What am I saying?

2008-08-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

The 'word cloud' above shows the most commonly used words on this blog, the words that seem to stand out is 'sexy' and 'girl' ... do I use these words that much? I guess writing about sexy girls will have that effect.
Try it out yourself ... all you have to do is punch in your URL and let it work its magic, you can also edit the colours and fonts.

http://wordle.net/

Try it out

The looming tower Yurina Kumai

2008-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

When I first got into berryz kobo Yurina was probably one of the last girls that I noticed which is quite a feat considering her looming height.
But within time she grabbed my attention for a number of reasons :

1. She is a very good vocalist, she also is considered one of berry'z lead singers, although she might not get as much screen time as Risako or Miyabi, her voice gets a prominent front seat, and quite rightly so.

2. Her maturity, a majority of the berry'z girls are bat shit crazy, yet Yurina always seems to retain her feminine and reserved side, she always seems to be there just looking cool and going with the flow.

3. Her looks, while admittidly she dosen't seem to compare alongside Risako or Miyabi ... I consider her to have the ultimate 'girl next door' vibe going on.
Thankfully there isn't a girl next door that looks like her ... because no doubt she face a constant onslaught of my affection and 'wooing'.

I only found out the other day it was her 15th birthday ... I seriously thought she was close to 16 ... crazy.

Anyway Yurina is now always in my eyes now, and I'm curious if she will ever get a second photobook ... seems a shame to waste such beauty.
Here is a download link for her first photobook (crypticly entitled 'Yurina') its quite lovely indeed.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4NNWN8J0

[UPDATE]

It turns out that over 8000 people cheered and wished Yurina a happy birthday at the 'Hello! Project 2008 Summer concert'.
How awesome must that feel?

[Retro review] - Sexy Otonajan

2008-07-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Considering that there is such a bulk of hello! project shuffle groups and what not, one can find it hard to absorb everything past and present.
I think that being a h!p fan/wota is a constant learning experience, while one can pride themselves of a vast knowledge of h!p history ... there will forever remain gaps and events that were overlooked.
The one shot shuffle group 'Sexy Otonajan' is one of those things I have overlooked.
I can always recall the image of the girls wearing those deep red sexy outfits but I never had the instinct to investigate further.
While drunk the other night I went on a miyabi picture hunt on google image search (as I frequently do with many members).
The picture of her wearing the gold skirt and fitted corset-like top kept popping up in front of my eyes.
After another small search I fell into the world of Sexy Otonajan.
The line up for this shuffle group is a little odd ... but I can safely say that the first word of the groups name is well placed indeed.
The girl that strikes me the most is Miyabi, this I find quite surprising considering she is performing next to Miki Fujimoto, but seeing miyabi with her jet black hair really grabs you, I can always recall Miyabi having dyed hair from a very young age (even though its against school regulations).
The track they perform is called 'Onna, Kanashii, Otona' which means 'Woman, Sad, Grown-Up'.
As the track starts you can instantly tell its going to be a soothing classy affair, their voices slowly croon over the smooth piano notes and slow beat, the song is a brilliantly structured affair, all the girls get a good amount of lines each and their voices really do compliment each others aswell as the music.
The PV itself is a fairly simple one, it contains many slow close up shots of their beautiful faces, and also shows a fairly slow and sexy dance routine, within the first 20 seconds you can clearly see the slow booty wiggles.
Its fairly obvious to say that I wish this unit went further, yet with the departure of Murakami Megumi it was not meant to be.
If you wish to check out more then:

Download the single here:

Sexy Otonajan - Onna, Kanashii, Otona
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GS5MS8OD

Listen to the single here:

Onna Kanashi Otona - Sexy Otona Jyan

And watch the lovely video here:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Suzuki Airi to star in TV drama

2008-07-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Seems like Airi's popularity keeps getting bigger and bigger.
She has been chosen to play Sakurada Junko in a drama called 'Aku Yuu Monogatari'.
Sakurada Junko is an old school j pop singer who started her career at the age of 15 back in 1973.
The drama is about the life of the famed songwriter Aku Yuu, its unclear at the moment if Airi will have any dialogue or acting parts, but she does has a singing role in it (see below).
Also appearing in this drama is Takahashi Ai and Risa Niigaki, they will be playing the roles of Mitsuyo and Keiko (aka 'the pink ladys).
I think its really cool that h!p girls get as much exposure as possible as it will increase the chances of them getting further roles outside of the h!p bubble.
Below is a selection of photos of Airi in her outfit ... she looks like a boy, and two videos, one of Sakurada Junko singing 'Watashi no Aoi Tori' and 'Juu-shichi no Natsu' which if you remember 'W' also covered.
The other video is Airi also singing 'Watashi no Aoi Tori' ... she looks so adorable its unreal, and she sounds great, I cant wait to see this drama.

Special K

2008-07-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

I can safely say that Kusumi Koharu's latest photobook 'Nikki' is a splendid collection of photos that really capture her increasing beauty.
Filled with a range of different styles, from 80's mega hair to slick chic chick.
A few people have found fault with this photobook though, they say that the photo of her laying on the floor wih her legs open are ... 'disturbing' 'unnecessary' 'just wrong' 'nauseatingly vulgar' and 'truly sick' ... do these people posses fine moral clarity? or maybe they lack the knowledge to understand what idol culture is all about, Koharu hating appears to be a favorite past time for numerous h!p fans but who cares about negative opinions? cest la vie.
Every photo in this book is highly relevant to my interests, and maybe yours too?
download it here ...

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SGV1IGU8

and a few choice shots to wet your appetite:

Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou! (radio preview)

2008-07-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

A radio rip of Buono's 4th single release 'Gachinko de Ikou!'
I reckon were gonna be seeing the PV for this in about a week or so, enjoy!

Gachinko de Ikou! - Buono!

C-utes latest single - Edo no Temari Uta II

2008-07-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

After waking from a 7 hour sleep (which for me is incredibly long) I jumped into my desk chair to see what idol news I missed in the hours I was absent, and to my delight C-ute's latest single 'Edo no temari uta II' is streaming on 'Dohhh UP!'.
I wasn't expecting this to come out for at least another week or so, hello project just seem so busy at the minute, I can bearly keep up.
The two most prominent issues that people have talked about on the forums is that the single is far too short, standing at a mere 2 minutes and 40 seconds as opposed to the standard 5 minutes+ that an average h!p single has, the single is undoubtly short, although I wish the track was a little bit longer I still think that every second of this is pure quality, like most things in life I prefare them to be short and sweet as opposed to drawn out and medicore affair.
The second 'issue' is Maimi's outfit, compared to the other girls Maimi's outfit (which is similar to a traditional chinese robe called a 'Shenyi 深衣) is the biggest and covers the most skin, for fans of Maimi this is a high crime committed by the UFA.
All of the girls outfits are quite beautiful, Airi's outfit (which is like a sexed up cheongsam 旗袍) consists of a very short hem line which would of looked lethal upon Maimi, but Airi also has a lovely pair of legs so its hardly a bad thing.
So to conclude ... yes it sucks that Maimi isn't showing her sexy legs ... but she still looks beautiful, and I'm confident we shall see them in all their glory in the future.
Considering the PV is short its good to see that the UFA have actually given C-ute a decent budget to work with, this isn't the typical cheap green screen job, it looks like someone has actually had the idea of creating a stage set, adorned with cool looking neon lights, and if you look closely enough ... you will spot old h!p posters randomly placed (oh yes you will).
Although the video quality itself is of a low quality I'm sure the backing dancers are infact hello project eggs, I'll have to wait for a dvd version before I can clearly see them.
Just a few more quick observations ... Erika's outfit seems to follow a similar style to her previous 'Namida no Iro' outfit, I'm guessing its the colour scheme.
Saki looks stunning, her mustard yellow clothing look beautiful on her, and her hair looks equally gorgeous.
I cant say I'm overly keen on Kanna's and airi's 'hats' ... to me they seem bowls that have fallen on their heads or ice bags to nurse a bad cold.
Chisato reminds me of a power ranger warrior type with her lime green outfit, I wont lie but i do find her outfit fairly hideous, but considering she shows so much energy and charisma I'll overlook that fact.
Overall the single and PV are both equally awesome, they have a great sound and pace, this track will feature heavily on my playlist no doubt, FLAWLESS VICTORY.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

A peek into Koharu's diary

2008-07-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Waiting for a new photobook from your favorite idol can seem like an eternity at times.

In the past few days some photos have slowly leaked onto the net, and today 'Dohhh up!' started to stream a 3 minute preview of the photo shoot, hooray!

From what the video shows we get a great selection of outfits, the typical beach bikini, frilly night wear, but most importantly ... seifuku! complete with some very alluring red ruby glasses ... thank you UFA!!!.

The opening scene of this video shows us koharu in a very lovely red bikini, you can quite clearly see that she has 'developed' somewhat recently, she is also sporting a fairly impressive muscular belly.

A thing that I do enjoy about this video (amongst many) is that she is speaking in her normal voice, not her idol voice, for those of you that have seen the adverts for 'pa pancake' the part when she says 'new single' really goes through me, I'm sure that every dog and cat in the vicinity heads exploded.

The next scene shows us Koharu in her adorable seifuku, if the UFA ever called me and aksed ''hey Shirow, what do you wanna see in Koharu's photobook?" I would instantly reply ''Lots of seifuku and sexy glasses!!!"

Such a deadly combination of Win is not for the weak hearted.

The third scene opens with Koharu in casual wear, stood inside an empty train, when I saw this I instantly thought of 'Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari', I was hoping she would start doing the dance ... but she doesn't ... maybe she will in the full length video? fingers crossed.

The last scene and perhaps the most stunning shows us Koharu in a white rag/wedding dress style get up, her hair is big, curly, unruly but most of all beautiful! I cannot wait to feast my eyes upon these shots.

I'm sure some kind wota soul will scan their photobook soon, I'll no doubt be looking at the scans before the photobook gets to my house, either way its all good.

Below are a few shots from the photobook and the video preview, yum.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Wonderful hearts 2008 photos!

2008-07-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

This post is nothing more than a selection of awesome photos from the upcoming 'Wonderful hearts 2008 summer concert'.
As the photos show it looks like its gonna be a concert worth watching,
I'm hoping there will be video/audio leaks coming soon.

LOL JAPAN

2008-07-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

OK ... first up, this video is probably older than the bible but its new to me!
The J pop group 'Hinoi Team' join up with japanese comedian and wrestler 'Koriki Choshu' and perform a track called 'night of fire'.
I've had this track on my hard drive for a while now but i never knew there was an actual video for it!
I think its awesome, and I have a strange urge to learn the dance moves ... FIRE!!!!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

C-ute - Edo no Temari Uta II

2008-07-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

A radio preview of C-utes latest single has just dropped, so heres a little update to share it.
I'm really enjoying the sound of this, its got a good tempo and the girls voices sound really cool, what do you think?

Edo no Temari Uta II full radiorip
http://www.mediafire.com/?m1ccl0yyrtp

Wasuretakunai Natsu (b-side) radiorip
http://www.mediafire.com/?a31hy3otyug

Edo no Temariuta II - C-ute

Credit to Nouciel @ Hello! online