Kanna Scandal?!

Another scandal has popped up in Hello!Project. This time it's C-ute member Arihara Kanna. She was spotted with Johnny's Jr member Hashimoto Ryosuke. They were seeing the movie "Hana Yori Dango: Final." Now that the brief summary of the scandal is taking care of here are my reactions to it.
Kanna has been my favorite member of C-ute for a while now, and I was shocked when I saw the picture last night. I don't want this to affect her status in C-ute, because honestly if she got kicked out of the group I would no longer listen to them. And this scandal couldn't have come at worse time. Right in the middle of them promoting their new single! Some people have said relax there's no word from UFA yet and Miyabi's scandal was swept under the rug. But Kanna and Miyabi are very different. Miyabi is the lead singer in two different groups, and Kanna barely gets enough lines to get noticed in the group she's in. They couldn't afford to lose Miyabi. But can they afford to lose Kanna? She's not the lead singer or even the most popular member of C-ute. She doesn't even have a photobook. Well the majority of C-ute don't have photobooks, but still. Kanna has started to get noticed more recently. But is that really enough?

It could also be debated that the nature of the pictures are more "just friends" than an actual relationship. I disagree with that. In the one picture she's leaning on his shoulder, that doesn't look like "just friends" to me. But for now I will remain skeptical and optimistic until there is some official announcement. If there is any. I am anxious/nervous/shocked at the whole situation. The Miyabi scandal didn't bother me that much, since I'm not a huge Berryz fan (I like Buono! a lot more) and I also knew she would never get kicked out. H!P has already kicked out my favorite member, Ai Kago, I really hope this doesn't make two. D: This why I hate scandals, especially when they affect I member I like, it's a waiting game. And most likely we'll be waiting for nothing at all!
It all comes down to the stupid boyfriend rule. Which I can't even understand. Well I understand, but in my opinion it's pointless. Yes I know wota's are a HUGE part of the sales and a scandal like this can really affect that. But there's supporting your idol and obsession. But I understand it in some form, because I'm shocked and worried for her. But it's not like I would stop supporting her in the future, when she remains in C-ute. In my opinion the boyfriend rule should be removed. I mean in real life wota's don't stop and say I can't have girlfriend I'd be cheating on Kanna! (some might I don't know, extreme wota's kinda creep me out XD ) So they shouldn't expect their idol to do the same. She's only 15 years old, she needs to be a normal girl. Ok, so she's an idol so it can't exactly be normal, but she should still be allowed to do what every other person is allowed to do. Instead of being ostracized because she just happens to be a member of C-ute. If she was a random girl sitting on a bench with her boyfriend you wouldn't give her a second glance. I know for some people it's hard to see her as a "random girl" since she's not. But there really isn't any legit reason why they can't. I strayed from the topic a bit, but I really wanted to get that off my chest. Wota's are a huge reason I don't tell a lot of people I'm as big a H!P fan as I am.
Anyway, it seems all we can do now is wait and continue to support Kanna. And hope this will all blow over. Which it probably will.

New story, new single

I've been a fan of Puffy AmiYumi a lot longer than any other Jpop/Jrock that I listen to now. They were my first slice of Japanese music and the reason I was drawn in so much. There was a time when I knew everything about them and listened to them for hours. As I started to listen to more Japanese music I kinda drifted away from Puffy and focused on the new bands. So I'm glad lately I've been following them a lot again. Maybe not as closely as I do with Hello!Project but close enough. Anyway, that's just a side note.
Puffy's latest single My Story, will be released on August 6th. It's their 27 single, which is almost too hard to believe. The song is sung completely in Japanese, taking a break from their last two single that were in English. Since Honeycrepper was released Puffy has had a more laid back feel to them. And this song is sticking to that. It draws you in from the very first note. It could almost be a ballad if it wasn't for the unique Puffy music thrown in. The beginning has a sweet melody and then almost without warning it throws you in the rock edge of the song. Puffy really has stepped up to the plate lately. Since Splurge was released they got this new kinda modern, laid back, upbeat, sound. And they've released some of their best songs to date. Also, in the last past years they have looked better than they ever had. So whatever they're doing they need to keep it up!
So of course a few days ago the video popped up on the internet. The video had a low budget I'm guessing. Since there really isn't anything there, just them. And most of the video is a sepia/black and white mixture, with a bit of color thrown in. It's not one of their most impressive PVs. But if you look at it from another perspective. The PV seems kinda raw. No distractions. Nothing to keep your eyes off them. Nothing to keep you from really listening to the song. If you look at it that way it almost seems fitting. But I don't really mind much. As long as the song is good I won't care if they were dancing in potato sacks. Well maybe just a little.

3 new singles

So I was kinda MIA from blogging right after I made this, mostly because I forgot all about it. XD In any case, I am back now. So the point of this post is to talk about the 3 newest singles from Hello!Project. Papancake, Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, and Edo no Temari Uta II.





Papancake: So I want to start off by saying that I am a huge Koharu Kusumi fan, and a lot of people seem to dislike her but I have nothing bad to say about her.
The song itself is very cute, upbeat, and catchy like all of her solo songs. Her voice is almost too overly sweet like she's forcing it to sound that way. In some of her other songs the cuteness sounded almost effortless. But the "hai" in the song is really adorable. When I listen Jpop I feel the cuter the better. So I give the song a 7/10.
Now the PV really shows how young of a demographic she has though. With the random tricycles and teddy bears scattered around in the background. I almost feel too old to be listening to it. And maybe I am. The PV aslo has way too much yellow for my taste, but other than that it's cute. Koharu's dress is cute and she looks really pretty. The kaleidoscope parts were really cool and fit nicely in the PV. So I'll give the PV a 8/10



Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance: The first thing I notice about monkey dance is the line distribution is fair. In Berryz songs the line distribution was always semi-fair, with it still revolving around Momoko, Miyabi, and Risako. The song is another upbeat and easy to dance to song. I found that it is also very addicting. It was a surprisingly good transition from Dschinghis Khan.
The PV is a bit of a problem for me though. I can't really get past the monkey outfits. But it's defiantly a first for H!P. The other outfits they wear are really cute though. And there's a lot of detail in the PV. With the transitional bananas and two different outfits. There hasn't been much of double outfits lately in H!P, so it's nice to see they had a higher budget for this PV.




Edo no Temari Uta II: This song had more noticeable line distribution than Berryz song. I think it's the fairest C-ute song to date. You usually have to listen to the B Side to actually hear the other girls sing. The song has a pretty harmony and the lyrics of the song flow nicely. The song is the shortest of the 3 only being 2:40 long. It leaves you wanting more.
I absolutely love the outfits for this song. I don't really like the hats they picked for Airi and Kanna. They almost look like bowls. They just seem out of place. The set of the video is very cool. Kind of like a modern version of those old Japanese paintings.




With three great songs from Hello!Project let's hope the next three singles will be as good! :D