The full PV for C-ute's upcoming single, Sekai ichi Happy na Onna no ko, has been released on their official youtube channel. Ad it honestly seems really rushed. The single isn't releases until September 7th but we're getting the PV now. Which is about a week or 2 early. And we're getting the PV with no warning. Not one PV preview was released for this single.
When I first watched the PV I decided I hated it withing the first 10 seconds. But for some reason by the time I finished watching I was in love with the PV. Which is something that never happens with me. Usually it's pretty cut and dry, I either love the PV or I hate it. And everything about this PV points to me hating it. The PV itself is extremely cheap. A majority of the PV is filmed in the exact same place. They have the dance shot up front, and then 5 feet behind them is the space for their close-ups. Which is something they hardly ever do in idol PVs. No matter how low of a budget they have, the dance shot and close-ups are 2 different settings. Even the cheapest of the cheap PVs don't really do this. I can honestly only think of a few PVs that actually do this. Which are Buono's Renai Rider, and actually most of Kusumi Koharu's solo singles. Another reason I should hate it is because of the dance. The dance is extremely simple. But idol dances are hardly ever good. Literally 9/10 are terrible. I should also hate it because literally nothing happens in the PV. Just cute idol poses and close-ups, and that's it. Yet for some reason, despite all of this, I absolutely adore the PV. Because believe it or not I am pretty easy to please. I might be super critical of idol PVs, but that's not to say I don't enjoy most of them. The PV itself could be god awful, but if my idols look cute and are doing cute things, chances are I'm going to like the PV. It will never be my favorite idol PV of all time, but I will still enjoy it thoroughly. And that's exactly what this PV is like. The PV is simple, but it's not exactly boring. There are still a few cute elements to the PV. And above all, C-ute look absolutely adorable in this PV. They are wearing puffy idol dresses and oversized hair accessories. It's that's not adorable, I don't know what is!
I feel like I've seen this before. But I can't put my finger on it. And not Perfume's One Room Disco, somewhere else.
I challenge anyone to say that every members doesn't look to cute for words in this PV. I'm not the biggest Saki fan, but I want hug her in this PV.
Why does every idol group think this is a move worth repeating?
Airi looks perfect in her close-ups. *O*
Chisa looks pretty fresh and cute.
How is it possible for Maimi to be gorgeous and adorable at the same time?
Airi is so cute.
Gorgeous. MaiMai has been standing out to me a lot more lately.
Adorable smile.
Mai standing out, even in the background.
Creepy smile. Lol.
Airi! *O*
What's with the random orange?
These are probably my favorite scenes. You get to see every member, and they look cute and doll like.
Ring around the Airi.
Lol.
The funky chicken. Seriously?
Adorable.
Look how cute Nacky is.
It's pretty obvious what the dominos are for.
Adorable!
I have to admit, Saki really knows how to make her close-ups interesting.
The laying down scenes remind me of Paramore's The Only Exception music video. American music reference no one cares about. XD
Absolutely adorable!
Lolz at Maimi.
Totally saw this coming.
It reminds me too much of Berryz Koubou's Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda PV.
After months of waiting, and a hands on audition experience, the new S/mileage 2nd generation members were finally announced at the Hello! Project 2011 Summer ~Nippon no Mirai wa Wow Wow Live~ concert.
The 5 members who were selected are:
Katsuta Rina
Rina is 13 years old and her nickname for the group is Rinapuu. I have to say I am completely excited that Rina passed the auditions. She was one of my favorites and I was rooting for her. She has a cute voice, and seriously is mini Nono to me. A lot of people seem to think she's ugly. My poor Rinapuu is getting haters already.
Kosuga Fukuya
Fukuya is 13 years old and her nickname for the group is Fuu-chan. Now, I'm not really the biggest fan of Fukuya. I didn't like her voice in the auditions. And it wasn't bad or anything, it just lacked energy. That's something she really needs to work on.
Nakanishi Kana
Kana is 14 years old and her nickname in the group is Kanana. I am actually at lose for words about Kana joining the group. I absolutely did not like her one bit. She had the worst voice in the entire audition. I can't fathom why she joined. Her personality didn't pop to me, like Zukki's did. Zukki was the worst singer in the 9th gen but her energetic personality sold her to me. Kana did seem to smile a lot suring the auditions but she didn't seem to burst with energy to me. It seems she was only picked because she's pretty. And she is, she's absolutely adorable. Hopefully, her personality makes up for the things she lacks. Because right now a KonKon moment happened with her.
Tamura Meimi
Meimi is 12 years old her her nickname for the group is MeiMei. I am ecstatic that 13 made it! She was an obvious fan favorite, and was one of my personal favorites. Her voice was so cute and kind of strong. Her whole image just fit S/mileage perfectly. I couldn't be happier that Meimi was picked. The only real draw back for Meimi is she isn't that great at dancing. Hopefully, something like that won't effect her chances of joining.
Takeuchi Akari
Akari is 13 years old and her nickname for the group is Take-chan. And Maimi's cousin passes the audition. I wonder if things like that helped her pass? Maybe I'm just being cynical. And if it did she probably would have debuted a while age. Akari wasn't really my favorite auditioner. But her years of Egg training has put Akari at such a high level of singing and dancing that she deserved to join the group.
Even though these girls were announced as the winners of the auditions they are not out of the woods yet. Every single girl, yes every single one of them, are not official members of the group yet, instead they are all sub-members. They will appear in the S/mileage's upcoming 7th single and will take part in S/mileage's fall concert. And their performance in the concert will determine their permanence. Apparently the new members have the chances becoming a full member, entering the Eggs, making a new unit, or being dropped completely. Which is a complete 180 from what Tsunku had originally said. He said that if 6 members joined 2 would become members, and the other 4 would become trainee members. It seems Tsunku (or conceivably who ever is really in control of H!P) changed his mind and decided to have the new members tackle yet another hurdle. At first I thought this was a bit harsh, and even a slap in the face. But after I think about it more it almost seems fitting. S/mileage themselves had to get 10,000 smiles just to be able to make their major debut. So, why not make the new members go through a similar ritual? And besides that, it's even more press for S/mileage. Regardless of the outcome, you can be sure it's going to be mentioned somewhere in the media if the members are becoming permanent or not. Which just shows how Tsunku is handling the auditions perfectly to give S/mileage maximum exposure. As for my reactions to the winners themselves, am I 100% happy? Of course I'm not. I wanted first and foremost, the lovely Miyamoto Karin to win. That girl seriously had everything. She was the best singer, the best dancer, and she is absolutely adorable. I am completely devastated that Karin didn't win. But there's nothing I can really do about it. As a fan, you can't expect to have your favorites picked every single time. Anyone who watched the Morning Musume 8th gen auditions knows that. I am honestly lucky that Suzuki Kanon got picked at all. Having my favorite picked again would obviously be incredible, but obviously incredibly unlikely. After Karin my favorites were: Miyazaki, Yamaga, Rina, and Meimi. So, I actually didn't make out too bad. Since there were so many good singers in the auditions I secretly hoped that they would add 5 members, and I am actually thrilled they did. I can also hold out the hope that my other favorites auditioned for both the S/mileage 2nd gen and the Morning Musume 10th gen. Karin was talented enough to make it to the finals of both. Despite the general consesus of the fans, I actually don't think she would work that well for Morning Musume. She just fits S/mileage better. But that ship has sailed, and I'd rather have her in Morning Musume than not in a group at all.
And here's a completely unpopular opinion, but a part of me actually wants all the girls to get kicked out. Not for any malicious reason. I am actually really excited by the possibility of another group being formed. Ever since S/mileage first formed I've always wanted S/mileage to be in a Berryz Koubou and C-ute type of situation. Where the groups were formed a year apart and are pretty similar to each other. However, as time keeps passing that possibility gets further and further away.
We finally have a preview for the second A-side from Morning Musume's upcoming double A-side 47th single, Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo/Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai. However, the preview for Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai is about half of the song or less.
The song sounds nothing like I was expecting at all! The beginning of the song has some random train noises thrown in. Which immediately reminded me of the opening from Harajuku 6:00 Shuugou, just without the speaking parts, or Inspiration. And then the actual music starts and it sounds like a toned down version of Guru Guru Jump. And then theres also these beach party music randomly throughout the song. Which is a tad reminiscent to Berryz Koubou's Madayade. Which is awesome because I wanted an upbeat song with a big instrumental, something along the lines of Lemon Iro to Milk Tea. However, this song isn't that big. It's far too toned down. The song is almost there, they just needed to go all out and push it a little further. But I have to admit, I do like it more than Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo. I don't know, the sound is just better. But overall, this is a really incredible single. It sounds like the songs Morning Musume used to release. Hopefully, this is a sneak peek of things to come. This song is lead by Sayumi, and surprisingly I don't really care or mind. Sayumi hardly has one of my favorite voices in Morning Musume. But every once in a blue moon she's handed a song that's perfect for her voice and she actually enhances the song. She did it in Fantasy ga Hajimaru, It's You, and to some degree in Appare Kaiten Zushi. And I think Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai is one of those times. That mixed with being sick of hearing nothing but Ai and Reina, anyone else is a nice change. This song does still feature the usual suspects a lot. Ai, Reina, Risa, and Riho get lines. But just adding Sayumi's voice and having her take away some of the lines they woud get, throws off the normal balance and adds a different element to the song. And since this is only half the song we can hope that this means in the second half the other members will get lines. And even if they don't at least have a different 9th gen member sing where Riho's line would go in the second verse. I really want Aika to have a line. You can hear her voice in one of the group parts and she actually sounds good in the song.
The radio rip for C-ute's upcoming single, Sekai ichi Happy na Onna no ko, has been released.
I gotta say, I do really like the overall sound of this song. It is incredibly happy and upbeat. And it's also has a hint of a rock vibe, because there's a constant guitar rift in the background. The song is pretty much sounds like a generic idol song. But I still think there's a little something more than that in this song. Momoiro Sparkling was pretty generic too, but I like this song about 30 times more than Momoiro Sparkling. I really love the super fast lines that Airi and Maimi sing before the chorus. But for the most part, I don't really like the way this song is sung. The girl's are trying too hard to sound cute, and it's making their voices sound a little awkward. Especailly Chisato, Mai, and Saki. There voices are pretty annoying in this song. And don't even get ma started on Saki. Her voice isn't the greatest to begin with, but it's almost ear piercing at some parts.
The radio rip for the first song from Morning Musume's upcoming double A-side single, Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo! / Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai, has been released. I have been waiting for this rip for weeks now. Since the concert rip wasn't the best quality I've been waiting for the radio rip to finally hear the song.
You know, I wasn't instantly in love with this song when I first started to listen to it. But half way through the song, it just made sense. And I actually do really like the song. It's not my absolutely favorite, and there is an obvious room for improvement. But I think the song sounds good. The beginning of the song has this funky sort of disco vibe, with some jazz undertones. Risa's and Ai's jazzy extended notes during the bridge were just absolutely incredible, and one of my favorite parts of the song. However, I can't really say that about Reina's line there. And then the chorus hits and it sounds like a completely different song. The song gets a lot more upbeat and happy. And for a minute I thought it was Ganbare Nippon Soccer Fight. The chorus is just Ai and Reina but they pretty much kill their lines, so I don't mind. And Reina also hits this high note toward the end of the song and it's nearly flawless.
I really want to complain that the song's line distribution is completely unfair, and it's basically the exact same line distribution from Only You. But this is Ai-chan's last single, so let her sing as much as you want. But, hopefully this single and 12th album will really be an end of an era. And Morning Musume can start fresh and give everyone a decent amount of lines like they used to. I mean when Morning Musume had 12-15 members the line distribution was a lot more fair than it is now! Can someone explain how that even makes sense?
By the way, what are they doing about the PV? Was it already filmed? Becasue Aika and Riho are both on rest now. And Aika has been in a cast for a while, so even if the PV was already filmed what are they going to do about the dance? Is Aika, or Aika and Riho, just not in the dance scenes?
The full PV for Berryz Koubou's upcoming single, Aa, yo ga Akeru, has been released.
I am absolutely in love with the PV. Finally it's a video that's not the same standard idol formula! After I saw the PV preview I had some fears that the entire PV was going to be nothing but them singing on the stairs. But there's actually a lot of elements in this PV. The video is filmed in this beautiful castle, and they actually make use of it. It seems like you get to see a nice chunk of the castle. Some of the girl's walk around, and each girl is in a seperate room for their close-up shots. They are also sitting on the stairs for the group singing parts, and the dance scene also has its own seperate room. Which makes the video pretty interesting because you never really see the same setting for that long. The only real fault you could find with this particular video is there's not actually a storyline. But I'm completely fine with that because there's so many different scenes in this PV you don't even notice that. The PV really has everything going for it, it's interesting and the girls look gorgeous. Much like Buono's Natus Dakara PV, this PV seems to be one giant beauty shot. Which is an obvious plus. This video as a whole just has a elegant, classy, and highend. It just has this sort of princess feel to it. The kind of vibe I wanted the Kimagure Princess PV to have.
This castle is beautiful.
Risako's room is gorgeous.
It sucks that Miyabi has to sit by the front door though. Lol.
Yurina looks gorgeous here.
This room is beautiful.
The contrast is so high you can't even see half of Risako's nose. XD
Yurina looks so amazing! *O*
Why does Chinami look so sad?
Risako's looks sad and pretty at the same time.
I love how Massa looks angry. Lol.
Yurina! There are no words! *O*
And all that jazz! XD The dance is actually a little awkward.
Momoko looks really pretty.
Hot! Is she wearing green contacts?
I love this hair on Saki.
Creepy face.
Everyone looks gorgeous here.
But it stil reminds me too much of their Very Beauty PV.
Gorgeous Risako.
I can't get over how super pretty Momoko looks in this PV.
