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When most people think of AKB48, I’m sure it’s the front girls that come to mind. If you’re unfamiliar with the group and have only hear one or two of their songs, seen a few promotional things of them out there (a PV, a commercial, whatever it may be), there are probably a few girls that you might be able to picture. The first one that comes to mind is probably Maeda Atsuko, AKB48’s prized daughter. You’d probably also know Takahashi Minami, another front girl in the group. All the rest is up for grabs. A particular girl might’ve caught your eye in a PV and you may have looked up her name– say, Kojima Haruna, Oshima Yuko, Oshima Mai, or Shinoda Mariko. All get pretty consistent screen time in the PVs. All depends on your preferences, anyway. Maybe you’ve checked out Aitakatta! An AKB48 Blog to learn more about some of the girls. You could’ve gone a few paths from there– became an AKB48 of varying degrees, or, you know, were just content with the knowledge you’d gained about the group as it was and became a casual listener, or even forgot about AKB48 for the most part.

I could spend about a week straight just blogging about all the girls and I’d still probably have more to say, so I’m going to really focus in on one aspect of AKB48 that most people overlook right now. Even among fans– lots of people know Teams A and K, but Team B remains a bit of a mystery. You see their pictures, you hear the occasional fan talk about their favorite Team B members, you may have spotted a Team B member in a PV! But for the most part, Team B remains very misunderstood. A good portion of AKB48 fans know and have come to love Team B, but it’s just not enough in my eyes. So I’m going to try my hand at correcting that. Why? Because they deserve it, simply enough! Too many assumptions are made about this Team because people are too focused on the other two teams. Now, I’m not saying that you all should just give up your favorites and love Team B forever and ever, but just give them a chance! I definitely have favorites on Teams A and K myself and think they’re both wonderful parts of AKB48– the group, quite literally, wouldn’t be the same without them. Each team has their merits, each team has their own style. Even Team B. It’s called AKB48, not AKandthoseotherpeople48.

Disclaimer: I just want to note that this entry is lengthy. This was on purpose. Don’t feel bad about skimming the entry or just reading one or two profiles. If you want to read the whole thing, you’ve definitely got my admiration! But my whole purpose here was just getting out as much information as possible about these underloved girls in hopes of them getting a bit more attention in the fan world. But seriously, even if you just learn about one or two members, I’d be thrilled! 

I just want to clear up a few fairly common misconceptions before I dive right in and introduce you all to the wonder that is Team B, because I think they’re really important distinctions to make from the start.

Myth 1: Team B is a filler group. – I’ve heard people assuming that girls from Team B would be used to replace girls from the other two teams when they graduate. This is not the case. Team B was created after Teams A and K, obviously, but they are their own legitimate team with their own permanent members. Now, I’m a little wary about the word permanent, so don’t write that down– only because Akimoto Yasushi has shown us in the past that he’s willing to shuffle around some members if needed. The one time this happened was when Team B was being created; Watanabe Shiho, Hirajima Natsumi, and Urano Kazumi, all originally Team A members, were chosen to be on Team B. Originally, Masuyama Kayano was also going to be switched around to Team B, but when Orii Ayumi graduated from the group, it was decided that Masuyama Kayano would stay with Team A. Ever since Team B’s formation round December 2006, no Team B members have been moved to other teams. The only changes to Team B’s roster was the graduation of Watanabe Shiho from the group in November 2007, and the addition of Saeki Mika, a former AKB48 SEED, to Team B in February 2008. The SEED group is probably the closest thing to a “filler” group that AKB48 has. These SEEDs regularly perform at the group’s Himawari shows, where Teams A and K perform together (Team B has its own separate stages at the moment). And, as mentioned, Saeki Mika was the first SEED to be promoted to an actual Team.

Myth #2: Watanabe Shiho, Urano Kazumi, and Hirajima Natsumi got “demoted” to Team B. – While these members were decided to be moved to Team B, saying that they were “demoted” to Team B is both an insult to them and an insult to the Team itself. Being assigned to Team B was not a punishment for these girls. Yes, Team B is the newest official Team, but the entire unit is still a good group of talented girls. I’ll get to the specifics there later on, but please, make no mistake– Team B is not some troupe of flunkies basking undeservedly in the light of Teams A and K.

So, now that we’ve got those misconceptions out of the way, what else is interesting about Team B, in general? Team B is currently the largest Team in AKB48! With 16 total members, Team B outnumbers Teams A and K (both of which have 14 members). The ages of the members range from 13 (Oota Aika, Watanabe Mayu) to 22 (Urano Kazumi). Team B has performed two total stages so far– their first was ‘Seishun Girls,’ which you may have known to be Team K’s 2nd Stage previously. AKB48 has a bit of a tradition of having the new team do their own versions of previous stages. When Team K was created, their first stage was ‘Party ga Hajimaru yo,’ which was also Team A’s first stage. After this, they got their own original songs. Team B ended up performing one more “recycled” stage– “Aitakatta,” which was originally Team A’s second stage. But finally, it was announced that Team B will be getting their own original stage (called ‘Pajama Drive,’ for anyone curious). In fact, it debuts in just one day– March 1! Being the Team B fan that I am, I’m highly anticipating it; I can’t wait to see what kind of songs the Team gets and how the girls perform now that things have been tailored to them specifically.

Some other basic information about Team B– the audition for Team B was announced in October 2006, and in December 2006, the chosen members were announced. In April 2007, Team B began performing their First Stage, ‘Seishun Girls.’ Ever since, the girls have been regularly performing, and at the moment, they are the only team with their own individual stage currently running. (Teams A and K regularly perform in their combined stages, ‘Himawari’.)

And now, finally– just exactly who are these girls that make up Team B, and why should you love them, anyway?! Before I jump right in here, I just want to note that everything is, of course, highly subjective. I’ve watched enough Team B footage to feel comfortable with many of the girls’ personalities, and I’ve seen a good amount of performance footage to judge their performing, but my word is definitely not law here. I have my favorites just like in any other team, so, at the very least, this is just intended to give you a peek at who these girls are.

Watanabe Mayu, “The Fragile One”

If you’ve watched AKB48’s latest PVs (from BINGO! and on), you have probably spotted this girl. Her PV debut was BINGO!, where she was scheduled to debut with two other Team B members– Kashiwagi Yuki and Hirajima Natsumi. Mayu was the only one of the three to get a lead part in the PV, and ever since, she’s been a very visible part of AKB48. Mayu is one of the youngest girls of the Team– she will be turning 14 on March 26. (I have to personally admit that Mayu is one of the few idols whose age has surprised me. In recent pictures, she looks her age, but when she debuted in the BINGO! PV, I thought she was around 17.) Anyway, Mayu strikes me as one of the sweetest, most innocent members of the entire group. Her mannerisms are really gentle– that’s really the only way to describe them; after watching ab episode of AKB48 +10!, where some of the girls from Team B competed in a cooking challenge– it was just amusing watching this girl approach something as simple as stirring some ingredients in a bowl with care. One of the professional chefs had to come over and show her how to properly stir. She’s a little goofy, but in a more subdued way than some of the girls; she’ll joke around with the other girls and speak in a squeaky voice at times, but she certainly doesn’t go overboard. Physically, she is very, strikingly small. You really can’t appreciate just how tiny this girl is until you see her on a stage, side-by-side and dancing with the other girls. Just last year, she was absent from many performances because of a broken wrist. She explained that she broke it by falling asleep on it while she was on a train. (Hence my “fragile” description!)

Mayu is a pretty good dancer; she has really precise footwork, which comes across really well on stage. She keeps her movements very close to the body, however, which might give one the impression that she isn’t putting a lot of effort into it, but I do believe that she really does try and puts energy into her dancing, she just naturally seems to keep things small. Her voice, on the other hand… well, I’d call it one of the weaker ones in Team B. Again, this one is totally a matter of preference, however. Sometimes her voice works well with a song and I really like it, and other times I just have to cringe. If you want a sample of how her voice sounds, take a look at this preview for ‘Nagisa no CHERRY,’ off of the official website: here. This is from their second stage, ‘Aitakatta.’ This song was sung by Maeda Atsuko in the original stage– so that may even give you a sense of Mayu’s role in Team B. She’s the most popular member in the Team.

Kikuchi Ayaka, “The Nervous Nelly”

Kikuchi Ayaka is one of the girls who has remained a bit of a mystery to me. Watching the AKB48 +10 episodes that she’s been in and other footage hasn’t given me a solid sense of her personality, but the most striking thing about her personality to me so far is this girl’s nervousness. I downloaded a fan’s video recording of Team B’s performance in China last year, and the video included a segment where Ayaka was doing an MC portion, and she just drew a blank on the words she was supposed to remember. I felt really awful for her– seeing her up there and stuttering her way through, trying to take little cues from the other girls, until Watanabe Shiho stepped in and saved the day. Ayaka seems like one of the more shy members of the Team; she’s differs from Mayu in a sense of fragility– it has more to do with her personality than her physical characteristics. Nevertheless, she still seems like a very sweet girl, and she seems to liven up when she’s hanging around with the other girls of the team.

Ayaka has always reminded me of Miori from SweetS. Just throwing that out there now for the fun of it. Anyway, moving on, the fact that she’s a bit anxious and shy definitely does not show in this girl’s performance style. When some of the longer preview clips were aired from Team B’s 1st Stage, I was really taken aback by her stage presence. Her dancing is quite good– very energetic, and she’s always, always smiling. She’s got one of the prettiest smiles in the whole group, and this girl really shines when she’s on stage.

Katayama Haruka, “Team B’s Big Sister”

Many fans are quick to point out just how mature for her age Haruka is. At only 17, she acts like a big sister or a ‘den mother’ as some fans have phrased it, to the other girls, and I’d definitely have to agree with at assessment. Haruka is very composed and calm most of the time, but she’s certainly no pushover. In one of the AKB48 +10, many of the girls from Team B compete in a ninja challenge; the girls were separated into teams, and the girls from each team usually competed once in a competition. Haruka’s team won each time, and at the very end, she and the two other girls from her team competed for the “ninja champion” title, so to speak. Haruka surprised everyone in that episode when she came out on top! With limited fanfare, Haruka tried her best and won. In the very last challenge against her teammate Kashiwagi Yuki, Yuki ended up losing to Haruka when she fell in the water on a challenge. When Haruka crossed the finish line in the challenge, she even stood by at the end to help Yuki out of the water (though Yuki wasn’t too kind to her– and ended up beating on Haruka in the end!) Haruka did a little dance for herself when she won, but her modesty was much more striking when she didn’t make a big show out of the whole thing. Anyway, that whole story was just to share a little bit on how I admire this girl, and to give you a sense of her mature personality.

Haruka also has a wonderful voice. I honestly believe that she’s one of the best singers in AKB48. She wasn’t given any huge parts in ‘Seishun Girls,’ which is where I’m basing the majority of my judgments on, but on the lines she was given, Haruka is a star. Her voice is very, very pleasant to listen to– very pretty. In Team B’s second stage, Haruka was given more parts, and was even one of the Sukahira Seven (‘Skirt, Hirari’ is one of the songs included in that stage). I’ve only been able to hear a little of her in the previews, but she sounds as great as ever. Her dancing doesn’t stand out to me so much, but she’s not a bad dancer, and her voice more than makes up for whatever she may be lacking!

I recommend watching this performance of ‘Seishun Girls,’ here– not only do you get to hear Haruka’s beautiful voice in a solo line here and there, but you get to finally see a preview of Team B in action!

Tanabe Miku, “The Weird One”

Now, before people get all pissed at me because I called this girl weird– let me assure you that I say it 100% lovingly. Weird is GOOD. Miku is one of my personal favorites from Team B, because she is just so… different! On stage, she is really elegant. She’s one of my favorite dancers because her moves are really distinct, and she really stands out among the other girls. She just carries herself really well. I remember reading that she’s had training in classical ballet, which would definitely help explain how she looks just so graceful up on stage. More recently, I’ve noticed Miku dancing with a lot of attitude. A clip from AKB48’s Shibuya AX concert, and in the ‘Romance, Irane’ performance, all the girls are on stage– the girls who aren’t in the actual song are backdancing, and Miku caught my eye right away. You can spot her right in front of the camera at 01:53; she’s wearing the red outfit with a cropped top. And just… damn! Miku totally rocks in this dance!

Also, she just has really striking looks; when I was first learning the names of the Team B members, Miku had one of the easiest faces to remember. Unfortunately, Miku gets really shafted in most of the stages, so I’m not familiar at all with what her singing voice sounds like. Here’s hoping she gets a bigger part in Pajama Drive!

But to fully appreciate Tanamin, you need to know about her personality. She likes ninjas (and seemed really excited about that AKB48 +10 episode with the ninja challenge– too bad she didn’t end up winning!), knows some of the most random words (I THINK she often says “Jambo!” which is Swahili for ‘Hello!’, and for some reason, she picked up the word ‘bohemian’ and has used it around the other girls– much to their confusion), lists “wild ideas” as one of her hobbies, and, well, she’s unique, to say the least!

Saotome Miki, “Miss Energy”

And we’ve arrived again at another one of my favorites from Team B (in case you’re curious, the order these girls in is based on a random integer generator because I’m dorky like that– except for three that are in specific places for certain reasons). Anyway, Miki is one of the most energetic dancers I’ve seen. It’s just really enertaining watching this girl, just because she really throws her all into dancing. Whenever I think of the end of the ‘Seishun Girls’ dance, I always picture Miki leaping up and down singing, ‘Love love love we are crazy girls!’ In the fan video of the performance in China, Miki totally shined in that song, it just really sticks in my mind.

Another interesting thing to note about Miki is that she may be a bit of a tomboy. She’s a fan of soccer and talked about sports in her introduction video from an AKB48 +10 episode. Other than that, I know very little about this girl. She seems really, really genuine and laid-back, which I totally love, but unfortunately, Miki isn’t one of the popular members, so we don’t get to see very much of her. I demand more Miki! She’s such a gorgeous girl, and I want to see more of her talents on stage!

Noguchi Reina, “The Airhead”

Again, the nickname is 100% loving. I haven’t seen enough of Reina to judge her much myself, but these comments about her come from what I’ve heard from other fans. She’s been described as Team B’s version of Kojima Haruna, in terms of, um, brains. A quote from her Wiki.theppn article reads, “There is said to be a ‘Noguchi disease’ at her junior high school, where people forget what they are talking about while they are talking.” Another one– “Wants to try riding on a cloud.” What I particularly like about her is that she seems to be a carefree girl who’s off in her own world– and, well, the world needs more people like that, haha! She’s also a big fan of Berryz Koubou, which gets her some points in my book. But she seems like a fun girl to be around– she’s totally out there.

As for her performances, I think they’re okay. I’m not particularly disappointed by her or anything, but she doesn’t normally stand out to me. She’s not a bad dancer at all, and as for her singing voice– I can’t say on that one, she’s been one of the unfortunate ones not to get many solo lines at all.

Matsuoka Yuki, “The Power!”

Yuki is probably one of my favorite performers in the whole group. She’s right up there with Saotome Miki in terms of her energy– in fact, she probably exceeds Miki’s energy. When she puts her heart into dancing (which is… all the time), she very easily outshines the other girls on stage. It’s quite a feat to watch! She puts on one of these huge smiles and goes out there and dances to her very limit, and even so… she never seems to run out of energy! I love watching this girl. Sometimes she can overdo the dance moves a little, but I end up far too mesmerized by her energy to even notice. As for her voice, Yuki has a surprisingly cute voice. The first time I heard her singing, I was taken aback by how cute and higher-pitched her voice was. It’s not really grating on the nerves at all, though, it’s a nice, melodic-cheerful compromise.

Not only is this girl energetic while she’s dancing, she’s energetic in her MCs, too. She’s got a very cheerful-sounding voice, and in the MC segments I’ve seen, she’s been pretty lively. Also, fans who have seen Team B shows always report that Yuki studies English, and she throws out random English phrases from time to time during the MCs (my favorite: “Empire State Building!”)

If you need some evidence of this girl’s energy– check out the video posted under Haruka’s entry above, as well as this– a performance of the song ‘Virgin love,’ again from Team B’s first stage. Yuki is just a fantastic performer in both of these.

Hirajima Natsumi, “The LOL”

I realize the nickname I gave her makes no grammatical sense, but I figured it would be most fitting for Natsumi. If you like wacky characters, then Natsumi is your girl. There have been numerous reports of this girl bouncing around on stage, twirling the wrong way in dance moves, and, well– just saying some of the most random things. What I like about Natsumi is that she never seems to take things too seriously; she seems a little more grounded than say, Reina or Miku, but she’s still totally wacky. Definitely seems to be one of the funniest members. She records videos for AKB48’s little vlog feature on their official website, and they’re always a blast. Recently, I think she was secretly filming a few of the other Team B members or something to that effect. Weird, but funny!

As for her performance, I’m generally pretty impressed with the girl. Other than the occasional mess up, she puts a lot of energy into her dancing, and as for her voice– it could be perceived as some as a bit grating, but I generally don’t mind it. It’s higher-pitched, even a little nasal, but it’s really not too bad at all. Natsumi was one of the girls who was switched from Team A to Team B, and I think she fits in just wonderfully.

Nakaya Sayaka, “The Glasses Girl”

I can’t possibly talk about Sayaka without mentioning her glasses. Sayaka’s big claim to fame is the fact that she’s the only member who wears glasses all the time (other girls wear glasses in their personal lives, or just for fashion, but Sayaka here is never seen without her glasses). But don’t focus only on her glasses! Sayaka is a really beautiful girl. I remember watching one of the AKB48 +10 episodes– that ninja competition one, in fact, and I remember being completely taken aback at how pretty she was. She had her hair pulled up, and she was just really pretty. She seems like the glamour type. Team B recently participated in a fashion show, and I think Sayaka handled herself really well there; she was a little timid on the runway, but she was definitely better than some of the other girls at handling that show. Speaking of Sayaka’s timidness, she also strikes me as probably one of the more sensitive members of the group. During the ninja competition AKB48 +10 episode, she ended up competing against Kashiwagi Yuki in a challenge– she ended up falling in the water she was trying to navigate herself over, and she screamed and shouted– understandably, when she fell in. When she climbed out, though, she just started bawling, and the other girls tried to come over and comfort her– but she was either really cold, or really upset about losing. I haven’t seen very much of her personality other than that; in candid pictures, she usually seems to be laughing and fooling around with the other girls, so she may be in the same vein as Ayaka– she’s a bit shy for the most part, but when she’s only around the other girls, she loosens up.

In Team B’s first stage, Sayaka and Kashiwagi Yuki were the two selected for the duet, ‘Kinjirareta Futari.’ The preview of that song from the official website is the only good quality sample of her voice that I have, so if you’re curious about what she sounds like, check it out here. Her voice sounds pretty nice– nice enough for a duet, definitely. I think a few of the other Team B girls rank higher in terms of their voices (namely Kashiwagi Yuki, Naru, and Katayama Haruka), but Sayaka certainly doesn’t have a bad voice. It has a very dreamy quality to it. And as for her dancing, Sayaka’s not bad there either. Her one dancing fault seems to be that she tires herself out pretty easily, but at least that lets you see that she puts a lot of effort into her dancing!

Urano Kazumi, “The Charismatic Powerhouse”

Just an FYI– I’ll be calling Kazumi ‘Cindy.’ It’s one of her nicknames, and it just feels… awkward to call this girl Kazumi, I’m just so used to using Cindy. Anyway, this girl may look sweet and cute, but folks, do NOT dismiss this girl. She’s my second favorite girl in Team B because she’s so damn impressive. On stage, she’s a good performer– a decent voice (which is actually somewhat deeper, but she has quite a good range, she can handle songs from the upbeat ‘Koi no PLAN’ to the rock-themed ‘Blue Rose’), and really strong dancing skills– but she is absolutely an explosive personality off-stage. Cindy is just… not afraid to be Cindy, and I adore it. She’s constantly wearing tiaras, is very direct, and has no qualms about waving her own flag. She has an absolutely hilarious character. Over at Stage48, Tatami Mats posted a review of a handshake event he went to, where Cindy came right out and asked him, “Why do you like Miichan and not me?” She was joking around, of course, but I just love her for picking fun at the fans and asking questions like that. I get a kick out of her attitude every time. I’ve been searching Youtube for this particular clip of Cindy absolutely shooting down a TV show host with her razor-sharp wit– it was just a fantastic sight, but unfortunately, you’ll just have to use your imagination on that one!

Cindy REALLY struck me when I was watching an (you guessed it) episode of AKB48 +10– it was a cooking challenge, an Cindy absolutely stole the entire show. The girls were separated into teams, and I have no doubt in my mind that Cindy absolutely masterminded the entire theme of her group– which was basically a giggly… maid-type concept, and that’s just… so Cindy. In the entire span of the show, she managed to take control of her team, makes the other girls call her “onee-sama,” convinces Inoue Naru to give her a massage while she was working, and picks on the other teams. She was always, always 100% with it throughout the entire span of time in that episode– it’s really amazing just how… overpowering her presence is! This is one girl who just wins at LIFE.

Oota Aika, “Team B’s Little Cutie”

This kid is just so cute. Out of all the craziness that makes up Team B, Aika seems like just a normal little kid. She’s a welcome change of pace. Recently, Aika’s been climbing up my list of favorites– thanks a lot to recent AKB48 +10 episodes where we finally get to see a little more of her personality. She just seems like a sweet kid who’s having fun with this whole idol deal. In backstage footage with other Team B members, you can find her bouncing around the room and giggling, but fans have also commented on just how witty she is for being so young whenever she’s on stage, doing the MC segments. She impressed me on the latest AKB48 +10 episode where she handled a punishment game really well– she had to drink some nasty-tasting drink, but she barely hesitated on it– and even said she liked it in the end! A good sport!

And as for this girl’s dancing and singing abilities– well, her singing voice is exactly what I expected it to sound like. You can hear a bit of her singing in the ‘Nageki no Figure’ preview on the official website– here. She’s also a pretty good dancer!

Inoue Naru, “The Sweetie”

Naru is quite an interesting case in Team B. Naru is an amazing, amazing vocalist. Second, in my opinion, only to Kashiwagi Yuki (but, of course, I’m biased there). She’s got an incredibly good voice, and they really let her shine in ‘Blue Rose.’ There’s an upload of it on Youtube, but just before you watch– I want to warn you about something in particular about Naru. Her dancing is not very good. She definitely tries, but she just can’t move like the other three girls; unfortunately, it wasn’t just a one-time fluke, because she’s generally weak in the dancing department in most performances I’ve seen. But dear lord, this girl has amazing vocals to make up for it. Also, I haven’t seen much footage of Naru recently, so it’s entirely possible that her dancing has improved. But anyway, here it is, Team B’s performance of ‘Blue Rose’:

She blows all the rest out of the water vocally there, it’s really great.

As for Naru’s personality– it’s what really made me love this girl. She seems exuberantly friendly, but at the same time, she’s got a very chill personality. It sounds weird to say, but she just seems like a genuinely good person– I’ve seen a few pictures of her hanging around with the other girls backstage and just generally being the sweet Naru I’ve seen in videos. She just seems like a really caring soul, and I love how she always pays really seems to be paying attention to the other girls during MCs with this cheery little smile on her face.

Anyway, the least I can hope for with Naru is some more chances to show off vocally. I don’t remember seeing her a whole lot in the previews for ‘Aitakatta,’ so here’s hoping for more Naru in ‘Pajama Drive!’ Her voice is just too good to be ignored!

Nakagawa Haruka, ”The Fighter”

Haruka is yet another energetic performer out of Team B; one of the favorite words I’ve seen used to describe this particular girl is “insane.” People have said she “dances like she’s fighting,” and she’s been pegged as a ball of energy. After seeing her perform, and even from TV shows, I’d definitely agree with that assessment. Harugon showed off her athleticism in a recent AKB48 +10 episode, and she really seemed to be enjoying herself there. She’s really adorable, and I love how massively expressive she is. It’s hard to describe until you’ve really seen her.

Here’s a little clip of her with Team K member Akimoto Sayaka on ‘Sasuka Mania!’ — just a little glimpse at how crazy this girl is:

Once again, I’m not familiar at all with this girl’s singing voice. She was chosen as one of the Sukahira Seven for ‘Aitakatta,’ so here’s hoping that we’ll all be able to see and hear more of her when that DVD is released! Fight on, Haruka!

Yonezawa Rumi, “The Happy One”

I do have to admit that Rumi just isn’t one of my favorites, but I’ll try to do this girl justice in my little review here and base my observations more off of what other fans have said about her. Rumi has this big, infectious smile, and has some great stage presence and appeals to the audience well. What I personally like about Rumi is how I’ve seen her acting in backstage footage; when the girls are practicing their dances, she seems to pick up the steps really quickly, and keeps really focused on the task at hand. One good place to look if you want to see Rumi in action is the performance of ‘Blue Rose’ listed up in my review of Naru. While I think that Rumi can sometimes really overdo the dances when she’s on stage (see ‘Virgin love’ for some evidence of that), I think she pulls of ‘Blue Rose’ pretty well!

Saeki Mika, “The Cool One”

Saeki Mika is a very unique case because she’s the first member from AKB48’s SEED group to officially join one of the three Teams. If that isn’t enough for you, well, just look at her! She’s another girl in AKB48 with massively striking looks. You just don’t forget a face like that. Unfortunately for me, Mika has yet to leave much of an impression on me. What I’ve noticed most about her is that… her face doesn’t change from photo to photo. She very rarely smiles in photos– but hey, I haven’t seen any footage of her performing before, so she could very well liven up. At the moment, this girl remains the most mysterious Team B member for me– just because she is so new to the Team, and so little is known about the SEEDs in general.

Now that she’s a permanent member, it will be interesting to observe where this girl heads in the group. I don’t know what her personality is like, but she’s due to appear on an upcoming episode of AKB48 +10 with some of her fellow Team B girls, so we’ll have to wait and see how she turns out there!

Kashiwagi Yuki, “The Italian”

Yes, folks, I saved the very best for last. Not only is Yuki my favorite girl in Team B, she’s my favorite girl in AKB48 entirely, and one of my very favorite idols. I ended up being very lucky when I picked my favorite, because Yuki is definitely one of the more popular members in Team B, and she’s one of the Team B front girls. But that spot isn’t an arbitrary thing– this girl is total front girl material.

Yuki’s claim to fame outside AKB48 is the fact that she auditioned for Morning Musume’s 8th Generation. That’s actually where I first spotted Yuki. She was my first favorite in the audition footage; when I saw her, I thought immediately, “Oh, this girl’s in!” I was shocked when she wasn’t picked to be one of the final six finalists (she got to the round right before the final six were picked), but I wasn’t dismayed for long, because she was picked up for AKB48’s Team B in December 2006! (And I’m definitely thinking that Yuki getting picked for AKB48 instead of Morning Musume has turned out to be a MUCH better deal after all…)

So anyway, this girl immediately captivated me with her voice. This video features a clip of her singing ‘Koi ING’ at the Morning Musume auditions. One listen, and I think you’ll appreciate why I’m raving about this girl’s voice. And even if that isn’t enough, I’ll point to this preview of ‘Kinjirareta Futari’ once more (her duet with Nakaya Sayaka), this preview of ‘Koi no PLAN,’ this preview of ‘Namida no Shounan,’ and even my rip of ‘Cinderella wa damasarenai’ from Team B’s performance in China– here (or if you’d rather download it, or if Putfile’s being screwy– here). Some of Yuki’s particular solo lines in ‘Cinderella’ are at 00:57 and 2:15. Convinced yet?

If that isn’t good enough, this girl has loads of stage presence. She’s just so entertaining to watch. I’ve previously complained about her dancing looking a little stiff at times, but from watching the performance in China, I’ve realized she’s improved TREMENDOUSLY in such a short time! Her moves could still use a little work, but she’s much better than she was at the Team’s debut. When she puts her heart into dancing, Yuki can totally rock out and really move. I just love it! Most of the time, she looks so cheerful up on stage– particularly in that ‘Koi no PLAN’ preview, she really shines there.

And, on the most shallow level… she’s just so cute! The big fringe is her trademark look, and she just looks so cute with it! And– let me clear up the bit about the nickname I gave Yuki. It was actually suggested by a friend, when we were talkig about how much this girl talks with her hands! So, no– for anyone who was excited that this girl had some Italian in her, as far as I know, she doesn’t– but hey, she does have those Italian mannerisms!

Want to see more Yukirin? I’m throwing in a shameless self-plug here of a little OPV I made of Yuki when I was bored a couple of weeks back. I made it in attempt to convert more people into Yukirin fans. It’s an entertaining watch just because her personality is SO fun. It’s hard to describe because the fangirl in me will just run on with a bunch of flattering adjectives… she’s funny, cute, energetic, pretty, silly, hilarious, mesmerizing– uh, yeah. All of those and more, pretty much.

 … and after all of that atrociously long post, I hope I’ve given at least some of you a better look into what Team B is really all about. This is a good group of talented girls, and it’s about time they got some good appreciation! Team B’s first DVD officially comes out on March 26! If any of you are interested in that– here’s a link to the DVD on YesAsia. Even if you’re not interested in purchasing the DVD, I still encourage you all to support Team B in any way you can!

A MASSIVE thank you goes out to everyone over at Stage48 for all the posts over there reviewing Team B and teaching us all more about these girls!

Well, hello again. Feels like I haven’t blogged in a while now, but it really wasn’t that long ago. I’ve been pretty ill these past few weeks– that and otherwise buried in homework. Those factors sort of combine together with the fact that nothing recent in the idol world has inspired me quite enough to make a big blog post about it (sometimes I think I have an attention span worse than Tsunku’s), but the recent Hello! Project ranking poll started by Hello! Blog that’s been going around and reading about everyone’s rankings has made me want to join in, too. So I’ll post up my rankings and explanations and combine a whole bunch of random thoughts I’ve had about recent events in the idol world later on in the entry. So, without further ado…

(For some reason, WordPress is being immensely difficult and not letting me load images on my entries. I don’t know why– so I apologize for the inconvenience there. Links are provided in place of all the pictures I was planning to use!)

[My Morning Musume Ranking Graphic]

Morning Musume was the hardest of the three groups to rank. After going through that, I realized even more just how much I love the current line-up of the group. I’m just so attached to so many of the girls, and it was really difficult to place a lot of them because of that.
1. Linlin — The top spot was the hardest one to choose. The top four in this list tend to be quite interchangeable, actually. But for now, it went something like this: Linlin stomped onto the battlefield, took hold of her mighty sword of idol prowess– no!– abandoned the sword entirely and resorted to her bare fists of brute comedic power and Bonkyu! Bonkyu! BOMB-style knocked out all the rest, emerging in the end with a triumphant cry of, “Bacchiri-desu!”
Linlin just does everything right. She’s a talented singer and dancer, she’s explosively funny, seems to have a very sweet personality, and her stage presence and energy is just unbeatable. Honestly, I think this girl is the perfect Musume– the ideal. I can find no faults in her.
Here’s to you, Linlin– and here’s hoping she gets the kind of attention she deserves (HINT: Solo lines in Resonant Blue, please!) soon!

2. Junjun — I love how much Junjun’s personality has really been shining through lately. She started off almost a year ago as a shy girl, but she’s been coming out of her shell lately, as episodes of Haromoni@ continually reveal. How could one forget the classic banana-stealing moment? And, a little further back– I really remember falling a LOT for Junjun in one Haromoni@ episode where the girls had to go through a haunted house type of place. All these little traps were set up around the place to try to scare them, and Junjun, Takahashi, and… I think it was Reina went in together. Ai’s manly screams absolutely cracked me up, but it was Junjun that really impressed me. She was totally unfazed by the whole experience, even while Ai and Reina were jumpy and screaming all around her. She just smirked whenever something scared the other girls. I liked to see that kind of toughness in her– it really set her apart from the others.
Aside from her personality, Junjun looks like a good dancer, and she’s an absolute beauty. A cute beauty, at that– she can pull off the cute look, the beautiful look, and even the sexy look. A versatile image is another great plus for Junjun.
My one reservation with Junjun is her voice, actually. She’s a decent singer, and she sounds just fine in studio recordings, but when it comes to lives, she seems to have a bit of trouble maintaining her vocal qualities. She certainly isn’t the worst in the group, but she could use a bit of work. That has really been the only thing that’s disappointed me about Junjun, thus leaving her so far up in my list.

3. Takahashi Ai – Ai is just the superstar of Morning Musume. While I can normally annoyed by particular girls getting all the lines in singles, Ai has the vocal talent to really deserve those lines. I cannot think of many other Musumes who have been on the same level as Ai– with such talent. And not only is she a good singer, she’s a spectacular dancer. She’s just one of Morning Musume’s top performers. She has the kind of dependability that Morning Musume really needs. Even when everything is utterly failing (ahem), Ai is RIGHT there with her A game. I’m barely ever disappointed by this girl. 
Whenever a graduation rumor comes about, I always worry that Ai will be the next one up. Because honestly, Ai leaving is the LAST thing Morning Musume needs right now. Ai is at the heart of the group. She’s that solid foundation that keeps things from falling apart, and without Ai, I’d be almost afraid to hear what their singles would sound like (judging by Tsunku’s typical pattern– Reina and Koharu leads?!).
Outside of that, Ai’s personality is so loveable. She’s shy, quiet, unintentionally goofy. I always feel like I’m seeing the real Ai with her– it’s not just some act.

4. Kamei Eri – Eri is just one of those girls that you HAVE to like. Eri’s quirky, funny, cute, and another girl where I always feel like I’m getting to see her genuine personality. Eri’s a great dancer, and while her vocals can sometimes be a tiny bit ittle weak (more on the ‘whiny’ side– but her range is just fantastic), I can easily overlook that because she has so many other good qualities about her. On a more superficial level, Eri definitely has the best damn figure out of all the girls. Her photobooks just reign supreme.

5. Niigaki Risa – This girl just has the best smile ever. What I love about Risa is that she looks so happy when she’s performing. Her enthusiasm is totally unparalleled. She always looks like she really wants to be there, and she always puts on a strong performance. I’m also a huge fan of Risa’s vocal talent, too. She can pull off a great range, and her voice is always so strong. Risa power! On a last note about her, Risa just exudes the classic feel of ‘Morning Musume’ to me. Her presence always reminds me of the group’s past, and she seems to help keep that classic feeling around. As I said, I love this current line-up, but Risa is the one who helps make the group really feel like Morning Musume– not just any other talented pop group that you could slap any random name on.

6. Mitsui Aika – Oh, it broke my heart to see Aika so low on this list, but I had to do what I had to do. I won’t elaborate too much here on Aika, because I’m still really gathering my thoughts about where I stand with her recently. But mainly, the reason she’s down here so far is the vocal quality factor. I’m generally not too impressed with her performances. But what I do like is that she’s indeniably adorable, and always looks like she’s having fun– an important quality to have, for sure!

7. Kusumi Koharu – Like I’ve explained before, my love for Koharu seems to come in waves. Right now, it’s at one of those low points. Not that I’m tending to be on the “I dislike Koharu” side of the fence lately, but I just haven’t been too impressed with her lately. And it mainly has to do with her live vocals. I can tolerate her studio recordings well enough– hell, tracks from her Kirarin Land album constantly get stuck in my head and I don’t mind it. (I can’t even count the amount of times ‘Konnichi pa’ has been stuck on repeat in my brain, but I’m used to it by now.) But her live vocals… just… not so good. A little painful, at times. When a live performance of ‘Mikan’ was shown on Dohhh UP!, I watched it and just felt… embarrassed for Koharu. This is one I have to share just so you can all see what I mean.

At 00:46, I just watched along in horror. While I normally love the spacy spaz look on her, I just wasn’t feeling it this time around, and with that combined with her shaky vocals– yeah, as I said– it was just… embarrassing to watch.
What I do like about Koharu is that she’s a really enthusiastic dancer. She really gets into her dancing (you can see that in the Mikan performance, too).

8. Michishige Sayumi – I’m going to be harsh on Sayumi here, so if you’re a massive Sayumi fan, I’d recommend not reading this. I was just discussing my thoughts on Sayumi with a friend a few days ago. I’ve usually thought favorably of Sayumi, but more recently, the tide has been turning away from that. It’s sort of gone from really liking Sayumi to sort of liking Sayumi to tolerating to Sayumi to… well, now. My patience is running short with Sayumi. I used to find her bad singing cute, but now it’s just… lost its appeal on me. Whenever I see Sayumi performing live, I’m usually just disappointed with her. I’ve sort of come to the point where I’m thinking, “Shape up or ship out!” with Sayumi. She has been able to improve since joining Morning Musume, of course, and I’ll give her credit for that, but it’s just not enough for me right now.
I was listening to ‘Sayonara Solitia,’ by Chiba Saeko the other day, and I was just STRUCK by the similarities that her voice shared with Sayumi’s. It amused the hell out of me. (Seriously, if you haven’t heard the song– take a listen– hear how she definitely sounds like Sayumi in some places?!) I really think Sayumi COULD be like that– if she worked REALLY hard. But at this point, I’m not optimistic enough to think that will ever happen. I’d be majorly impressed if she someday DID sound that good. But for now, Sayumi’s charm has just worn off on me.

9. Tanaka Reina – There should be no surprises here. Reina is at the very, very bottom of my entire Hello! Project ranking. Again, more harsh words coming. Flee, Reina fans! In short, I find her voice annoying, her stage presence and personality annoying. The act’s old now.

Next up!

[My Berryz Koubou Ranking Graphic]

1. Sugaya Risako – This one should also not be a surprise. Risako is very easily my #1 girl in Berryz– that top spot is very comfortably hers. For a much more detailed explanation, see a previous post– The Mystery of Risako.

2. Tokunaga Chinami – Again, no surprises. Chinami holds a close second to Risako’s top spot, and is very comfortable in second place, as well. The divide between 2 and 3 is quite large, and as much as the rankings of the other girls may change, 1 and 2 are ALWAYS Risako and Chinami. And again, for a more detailed explanation, see As long as there’s Chinami, IT’S ALL RIGHT.

3. Kumai Yurina – Choosing between Yurina and Miyabi was probably the hardest to do of this bunch. But Yurina won in the end because she consistently impresses me. While I have my reservations about her vocals, I just genuinely have to like Yurina. She’s a good dancer, a great performer with great stage presence and energy, comes across wonderfully in PVs, and, well, she’s super pretty! She also seems like a really sweet girl, too. She’s got a very likeable character. I have very few complaints with the girl.

4. Natsuyaki Miyabi — Berryz’s vocal goddess is in a pretty respectable spot on my list. It’s a very fine line between 3 and 4. But Miyabi definitely deserves all the praise she can get. She’s a pretty good dancer, and extremely vocally talented. She’s sort of like the Takahashi of Berryz in this way– I’d fear for the fate of Berryz songs without Miyabi. While not as reliable as Takahashi, she’s still the best vocalist in the group and usually does well whenever it comes to singing– whether it’s live or in the studio. Not to mention that all my favorite lines from Buono! songs are sung by Miyabi…

5. Tsugunaga Momoko — If it weren’t for Buono!, Momoko would place a lot lower on this list. I don’t think I would’ve really given her the chance. But through Buono!, Momoko proved to me her versatility as a performer. While I find her voice can get a little grating [in Berryz songs] at times, I like her voice in Buono! Most of all, though, I love this girl’s personality. She’s very much an idol. Her energy shines on stage and she’s a fantastic performer. But even off-stage, I find myself really liking her. It may seem like a stupid a thing to say, but I just have a feeling that she’s just a really good person. She seems like a good, reliable friend to the other girls, and I think it’s very admirable.

6. Shimizu Saki – I find myself with very little to say about these last two. Saki doesn’t have the best vocals, but I can certainly tolerate them. I guess the thing that stands out the most is Saki’s talented dancing. Ever since I saw her solo dance in a concert performance of ‘Anata Nashide de wa Ikite Yukenai,’ I’ve been blown away by her dancing. That girl can MOVE!

I can’t comment too much on her personality. She’s soft-spoken and cute, and… well, that seems to be the gist of it! She doesn’t stand out a whole lot to me, and that’s why she places so low on the list, but I certainly don’t dislike her.

7. Sudou Maasa – And ending off this group is Maasa. Again, I can’t find much to say about Maasa. She has her moments, and her singing seems to be improving lately, but out of all the girls, Maasa definitely stands out the least to me. I don’t particularly love her, but I don’t dislike her either. I’m just neutral about her.

And finally!

[My C-ute Ranking Graphic]

 1. Umeda Erika – As with Risako, this shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Erika is one of my very favorites in H!P as a whole. She’s a talented, talented performer. Her voice is fantastic and her vocal quality in lives tends to be strong, she’s a good dancer, and her personality is just AMAZING. She’s ridiculously entertaining, I just love watching her goof around with the other girls. There’s a rumor going around about the possibility of Erika getting a solo song on C-ute’s new album, and I think I can die happy if that happens. To say the least, Erika deserves a LOT more attention than she’s been getting in H!P. She’s immensely talented, pretty, and a real star.

2. Nakajima Saki – Oh, Saki. With her ducky little voice, crybaby eyes, and fragile smile, Saki charmed her way into this second spot. It’s so hard to dislike this girl. A lot of people complain about her rather painful vocals. I do agree that she has a lot of work to do on improving her singing, but she has been slowly improving ever since C-ute began, if that counts for anything. In the short lines that she’s given in singles, it can be hard for her to really shine, but in songs like ‘Disco Queen,’ Saki’s able to show off and handle her voice a bit more. What’s really notable about Saki, though, is her dancing. She’s so tiny on stage, but when you focus on her, you really get to see the punch that this girl packs in her dancing. Take a look at her in this clip of ‘Bishoujo Shinri,’ especially right at 03:13.

Even in other live performances, dance shots, and whatnot, Saki works really hard on stage, and I really appreciate it. She doesn’t just go through the moves like some of them seem to. Saki POWER!

3. Yajima Maimi – Maimi is an absolute powerhouse. She’s an INTENSE dancer– one of the best in Hello! Project, and overall a very strong performer. I’m rarely ever disappointed by Maimi’s performances. She can outshine the other girls so easily. She’s been getting a lot of attention lately, and she totally deserves it. Her vocals were great in the recent single with Nacchi. And, well, to sum it all up, Maimi is just a superstar and another one of those girls that I could just never dislike.

4. Arihara Kanna – I think Kanna has a lot of hidden potential. She’s given very, very little attention in C-ute, and I really can’t understand why. She’s a good dancer, and her vocals have improved IMMENSELY lately. I’m always really impressed whenever I see Kanna in concerts, because I always tend to forget just how great this girl is at performing. She can easily wear herself out on stage, but she always keeps trying, and I admire that hard-working spirit. Not to mention how fantastic Kanna looked in the latest C-ute PV! She’s absolutely gorgeous– definitely the prettiest girl in that PV, but she barely gets any screentime! What’s up, Tsunku?! Start noticing Kanna more! She’s way too talented to be kept in the back!

5. Suzuki Airi – The reason that Airi’s got this position on my list is merely because of her personality, and, well, Buono! again. Her vocals in C-ute tend to grow old on me fast, and her dancing is nothing spectacular (not BAD, but it just doesn’t stand out to me), but gosh, this girl is so loveable. And, again, Airi’s great in Buono! I can’t complain about her there.

6. Okai Chisato — Sort of along the same lines as Shimizu Saki– I don’t have much to say about Chisato. She’s definitely a cute girl, and a good singer, but Chisato just doesn’t stand out too much to me. Not that she’s really been given the chance to, though. Chisato seems like a fun-loving girl, which is definitely a positive point. And Chisato never fails to impress me whenever I watch performances of ‘JUMP’! 

I still do like Chisato, she just unfortunately ended up all the way down here on the list. Though I will note there is a HUGE split between this and seventh place. I like Chisato a LOT more than, well…

7. Hagiwara Mai — Bluntly, I just don’t like Mai. She’s a cute kid, sure, but… she doesn’t impress me, and I just… find her a little bit creepy. Sorry I can’t articulate this better, there’s just something about Mai that I simply don’t like, and because of it, she always ranks so low. She’s a step above Reina in my book, at least.

And finally, those random scattered thoughts that I mentioned before–

• Janakya Mottainai is one of the best songs to come out of a Hello! Project group ever. It’s just SO different, shows off the girls’ voices spectacularly, and I just love it to pieces.
• The previews for Buono!’s upcoming album ALSO are spectacular. I’m in love with almost all the previews of the new songs, and I really can’t wait until the full thing is released.
• Noto Arisa needs to join Morning Musume… NOW. That girl is pure, 100% idol POWER. Her stage presence is amazing, she NEVER falters. And, well, she’s so freaking adorable it HURTS. Ongaku Gatas is giving her a lot of good exposure, but it’s Morning Musume would benefit massively from Nocchi. She’s more than ready for a chance like that.
• Remember how I said Uchida Yuma is one of those rare, really CLASSIC cuties with a really unqiue appeal? Yeah, I believe that EVEN more now. How cute is this girl?! (Photographic evidence: 1 /  2 / 3 / 4 / 5)
• I’ve really been liking THE Possible lately, but I’m just not a fan of their two latest songs and PVs, unfortunately! Here’s hoping they release some better stuff so I can, you know, actually WANT to follow their releases!
• While I was massively disappointed with AKB48’s latest PV, ‘Romance, Irane,’ the PV preview for the upcoming re-release of ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi’ looks AMAZING. Now we all know where the budget went!
• On the note of AKB48, Team B needs more love. (On that note, I’m considering creating a post about Team B soon.)
• Risako’s latest PB was her best yet! She’s such a gorgeous girl, and I’m really impressed with how well it turned out! In fact, I’ll just share one of my favorite shots from that PB to wrap this entry up.

[Risako PB photo]

No, really. What’s so special about Buono? The question is 100% genuine– not to be taken in a sarcastic way at all, and it’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out for a while now.

When the formation of Buono! was announced back in the summer, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. Just what Hello! Project needed– even more Airi, Momoko, and Miyabi. Because we hadn’t seen or heard enough of them, of course. When I heard about the Athena & Robikerottsu unit, I had a very different reaction. That was a step in the right direction, I thought. Taking Risa, who has continually been overshadowed in Morning Musume, Aika, and Nakajima Saki and Okai Chisato from C-ute and throwing them together for a super-cute unit. This was the way to go about it– put a few of the lesser-known (and newer, in one case) girls in H!P with a more well-known, deserving member of H!P, and you’ll have success. Throwing Miyabi, Momoko, and Airi together into an anime-based unit seemed as redundant as a regular H!P single. These three girls have constantly gotten leading roles in their individual groups or Berryz Koubou and C-ute Suzuki Airi ft. the Rest of C-ute. Buono was neither new nor exciting. And on a more personal level, I didn’t particularly like any of them. Miyabi was the highest on my list out of the three of them, but she wasn’t enough to save the group for me. I just wasn’t interested.

But here I am, months later and loving Buono, without any explicable reason whatsoever.

The group itself was announced a while before their actual first release was scheduled to go on sale. This created a long wait for the fans of the group (who were fans of the group right away, that is); while ’Honto no Jibun’ had been performed live during the summer, it’s never the same as actually having the studio-quality song in your possession. But from my perspective, I really didn’t care, because I wasn’t anticipating this group’s release. When the live performance was uploaded to the internet, I took a peek at it, chuckled at the rather poor vocals, and I was glad the song was nothing special (so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything). Then October came. The single was released, and that was that. I remember watching the PV and chuckling at Momoko getting pelted with paper balls. But other than that, the PV was nothing substantial. ‘Good,’ I thought, ‘I’m still not missing out.’

I finally listened to the full single for kicks in, oh, let’s say mid-to-late November. I hadn’t bothered with the b-side, ‘Kokoro no Tamago,’ before– so I found myself slightly pleasantly surprised. I liked the song. It was cute, catchy, and had a very light, whimsical feel too it. Maybe it was how silly the English pronunciations sounded– maybe that’s what made me like it. Maybe it was, very simply, the melody of the song. There was something about it that made me like it. In fact, I liked it enough to give the a-side, ‘Honto no Jibun’ another try. I don’t exactly know what happened after that point, but I found myself humming ‘Honto no Jibun’ while I was out and about on a normal day, and I ended up listening to ‘Honto no Jibun’ even more than ‘Kokoro no Tamago.’

I will admit that the occasional song will sneak up on me, viciously attack my playlist, and keep itself on repeat without me even realizing it. This usually happens with Canaria Club songs (it happened to me when I was listening to FAITH! earlier today, now that I’ve finally found the full single), and THE Possible songs– and now, with Buono songs too, apparently. If someone told this to me in late August last year– that I’d be loving Buono’s releases– I would’ve just laughed in their face. Totally unlikely.

But it’s come to pass! I still rock out to ‘Honto no Jibun.’ That song just doesn’t get old, and I love the translation of the song. And I’ve been absolutely loving ‘Renai Rider’ to death ever since I heard the first rip, and I’m highly anticipating the single’s release on February 6.

So what changed my mind about Buono?

The answer might be simple at this point– and it was what I originally assumed at first. It was the music. The music was cute, without being overbearingly so, and catchy. They were just good songs to begin with, and it wasn’t really Buono that I liked. It could’ve been three other random girls from Hello! Project and I would’ve liked the songs just the same. (Except Tanaka… or Hagiwara. I have a feeling those girls have no hope for redemption in my book.)

So I went along with that assumption for a while, and it held up well… until a few weeks ago, when I sat down to watch C-ute’s ‘Aki ~Houkago no Essence~’ concert. It was a C-ute concert as usual. My attention was mostly on Erika and Saki whenever possible. Otherwise, I was cheering for most of the girls, except Airi.
I have to note that I’ve found it hard to dislike Airi as a person; whenever I see her doing anything other than performing, I tend to like her, because she seems like a silly, sweet girl and she just generally amuses me. (Hell, after seeing episodes seven and eight of ‘C-ute Has Come,’ I could never dislike that girl.) But when she’s performing, Airi just bores me, and I don’t think she deserves the constant spotlight that she gets, so… I tend to get annoyed with her when I’m watching C-ute perform.

So then, in the middle of the concert, Miyabi and Momoko suddenly show up on stage. While I did like ‘Honto no Jibun’ by that point, I was less-than-excited about seeing them perform it. “Oh, boy,” I thought, rolling my eyes again, “here they come. I just can’t wait to see this one.” Miyabi and Momoko talked on stage to buy time for Airi to get changed into her costume for the song, so I was not pleased about having to sit through that little MC and hearing Momoko’s grating voice.

Oh, did I mention that I didn’t like Momoko?
I’ve mentioned before that there were three people in Hello! Project that I didn’t like. Tanaka Reina, Hagiwara Mai, and now you all know the third one– Momoko.

So, anyway, moving on. Airi finally showed up in her Buono gear, the three introduced their unit, and the song began.

Before I knew it, I was dancing along to the song in my chair and found myself cheering for all of them. Not just Miyabi– all three of them.

Once the song finished, I was taken aback. What the hell had just happened?! Why did I suddenly like Buono– as a group?! Why was I not sitting there thinking, “Ugh, and there’s Airi… again.”?! Why was Momoko so suddenly no longer in my bottom three?!

I’ve yet to come to a conclusion. I’ve looked at the issue from several angles– none of which give me a solid answer.

Was it the dance? No, the dance isn’t that special– even a bit overdone with the air guitar segments and fist-pumping.
Was it the costumes? No. While I do like the costumes, they were shown way back in August, and I would’ve liked them right off the bat if this was totally based around the outfits.
Was it the anime connection? Nah. I don’t watch Shugo Chara– that wouldn’t have been it.
Was it the voices? This has some possibility to it. That performance at the C-ute concert was the only time I had really listened to a live of the song (except back in the summer when they first formed the group). Maybe hearing this live made it better– but again, we were still dealing with the Airi and Momoko factors here– where Airi usually annoys me when she performs and where I didn’t even like Momoko. It was still them singing the songs, and their live voices never made me like them before.
Was it the line distribution? I thought that this one could’ve had some potential to it, but inevitably, this theory got shot down, too. In ‘Honto no Jibun,’ there is a very even line distribution– no one gets significantly more lines than the others, which is the opposite of your typical Berryz, C-ute, and even Morning Musume single. But then I considered the other girls I liked in H!P– particularly Risako and Takahashi, and both constantly get more lines and face-time than others in their respective groups. So nope– this theory doesn’t work either.
Was it… the hair?! Haha, this one wasn’t one I came up with personally, but it does have possibilities. I shared my sudden love for Buono with a friend and asked her the same question– why was I liking them all of a sudden– and her take on it was their hairstyles. Intriguing, but I’m quite not that fickle. (I <3 you, Serere, by the way.)

 So… what was it?! Any other theories?

Now, I’ll finally admit I’m a fan of Buono. I’m looking forward to all their future releases, and I’ve even found myself hoping for solo tracks on their upcoming album. I really still am astonished that it’s actually me writing this post– the same person who couldn’t stand the sight or sound of Momoko just a few months ago… suddenly hoping that she gets her own solo track?! I’m suddenly re-watching Berryz concerts and actually liking the way she performs, and liking her personality offstage too?!

It’s a strange, strange thing– what Buono’s done to me. I’ll never forget how my bottom three of Hello! Project suddenly became only my bottom two, or how this one performance shook up my view on some of Hello! Project’s most popular idols.

(My own conclusion, by the way, is magic. Cutesy punk rocker black magic.)

And on a completely unrelated note, I just want to share some news with you all. I just found out earlier this week that my application to study abroad in Japan next semester got accepted! I’m super-excited for this fall! Osaka, here I come!

I’ve kept it no secret that I hold Chinami in high regard. In my whole scheme of favorites in H!P (and elsewhere in the idol world), there’s very few idols that I think can really do no wrong. Chinami is definitely one of them. I honestly don’t remember ever being disappointed by anything about her– her personality, voice, performance style. Nothing. And that’s why I think it’s such a shame that Chinami always seems to get the short end of the stick. She has disappointingly few solos in Berryz singles; ‘Tsukiatteiru’ was the most recent, and what lines did she get? “Ne ii deshou?” Oh, fantastic. We get to hear Chinami singing solo for about half of a second. And the other most recent was, “sore ga onna yo,” in ‘Very Beauty’– it was notable that she was the only one other than Risako, Miyabi, and Yurina to get a line– but it was one line, not verses like the others got. And yet, even with the little glory that Chinami is personally given, the girl knows how to work with what she’s got. She absolutely owns her solo lines, and despite not being a front-girl for the group, she’s always energetically performing.

I still remember when I was first browsing Berryz videos– ‘Gag 100kai bun Aishite Kudasai’ was one of the first ones I found, and it was just one little appearance that made the entire PV enjoyable. This girl had me at “no nyu!”

There’s one thing I can say about Chinami with absolute confidence– this girl is one of the world’s most charming idols. I’ve never noticed Chinami messing up anything. I’ve never seen something where I thought, “Hmm, Chinami must be having an off day.” She’s always spot-on and charming. Chinami has her own brand of confidence that makes her incredibly unique, too. When I think of confident H!P idols, I usually think of strong personalities like Fujimoto and Yossie, but Chinami is another one that immediately comes to mind, and her kind of confidence seems different than the kind that Miki and Yossie have. She doesn’t really have the potential to strike fear into my heart like Miki does, and she doesn’t have the larger-than-life personality of Yossie. Chinami can be just another girl in the background if she doesn’t care to be up front, but when the spotlight’s on her, she absolutely shines. I was just watching the episode of Music Fighter where Berryz guest star– around the time of their ‘Jiriri Kiteru’ release, and that show demonstrates this aspect of her personality.

Throughout the show, there are girls that the hosts seem to particularly focus on (like Risako, but she’s painfully shy here), and then those that open up quite quickly without much prompting (like Momoko). It’s only when Chinami is specifically referred to– when they ask about her being “in charge of comedy” in Berryz Koubou, that she first gets some decent time to talk (around 4:27). And right away, she’s ready with a pun to give an example of her comedic talents. One of the things I love about Chinami is how prepared she seems; there’s barely any hesitation and shyness in her demeanor. She’s strong right from the start. And it’s things like that that make me think that if Berryz had an epic battle of wit, Chinami would absolutely slaughter the competition. What’s ironic, though, is near the end of that clip, Chinami talks about how she gets told by the others that she’s very cheerful and energetic, but she thinks that she’s lacking in sexiness. But confidence can be very sexy. She just needs to learn how to work that kind of sex appeal, and she’s certainly got a lot of time to develop that skill.

Heck, I think she’s already working on it quite well. I’m convinced of that after watching some recent performances, particularly her very memorable duet with Yurina in the 2007 ‘Sakura Mankai’ concert. I honestly think that their performance of ‘Nicchoku ~Geinoujin no Kaiwa~’ is one of the best of that concert.

I’ve read comments where the two have been compared to models on a catwalk in that performance, and I think it all has to do with their confidence. The footage at around 0:24 is almost surreal. The two look like totally captivating goddesses, and all they’re doing is walking! Throughout the clip, the one that consistently grabs my attention is Chinami, though. There’s just an aspect of energy and confidence in her performance that makes me forget about Yurina and focus on her, instead. I’m not quite sure if it was choreographed this way, but at parts in the dance like at 01:33, Yurina wiggles around a little bit, while Chinami totally goes for it.

Still, it’s impossible to think of Chinami and not picture her bright smile and her often goofy personality. Comedians always win me over, so I absolutely love that Chinami just seems to love to laugh, and she’s never afraid to joke around backstage with the other girls– or even while she’s on stage.

A very memorable Chinami performance moment (for me, at least), is right around 5:50 in that video. The girls are performing ‘Gag 100kai bun Aishite Kudasai’ in their Summer Concert from 2006. I can’t say for sure what makes Chinami do this– it could be the slight stutter of Miyabi’s voice that happens just before that moment, but Chinami gets a SERIOUS case of the giggles, and the camera catches her cracking up. She makes it through her “no nyu!” lines shortly after– but just barely. She even seems to cut the last “no nyu!” a split second short because she immediately tries to stifle her laughter afterward. But you’ve just got to love that kind of thing– we get to see Chinami being Chinami, right on stage– breaking form just for a tiny bit. And instead of being disappointed, I’m completely charmed by the moment, simply because it’s Chinami, the Comedy Queen of Berryz. And, as mentioned before, she’s certainly no stranger to joking around and having fun backstage. Whether it’s trying to coordinate the “Chi – na – tsu” line with Miyabi, pretending she’s a wota in the audience with Saki (~1:21), or just generally being her loveable, rather dorky self, Chinami brings a sense of fun wherever she is.

And even so, Chinami still remains a serious, valuable performer. Her dancing skills are great, as mentioned before, but I haven’t yet mentioned her singing. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Chinami’s voice on several occasions. I know that I’ve referenced this particular video before in one of my posts, but it’s so good that I want to bring it up once again.

Once again, it’s a performance from the ‘Sakura Mankai’ concert in 2007. ‘Very Beauty’ is the song being performed, and this was one where Chinami was just lucky enough to get one solo line. Among the verses from the regulars (Risako, Miyabi, Yurina), we get to hear one line from Chinami, and she just owns it. I’m positive I would’ve overlooked this one as just another concert performance if Chinami didn’t sing that line the way she did. Risako sounded… like she usually does; Miyabi sounded… like she usually does. Yurina sounded slightly better than she usually does, but it didn’t wow me. Then Chinami comes in (~3:09) and puts a very needed spark back into the song. She’s not just going through the motions here, and as corny as it sounds, her voice just sounds very hopeful and alive, so much more than the others. She holds her last note out just beautifully before the musical break in the song.

Another thing that I love about Chinami’s singing is that she doesn’t back off at all. If you pay attention to how the girls seem to approach their singing, Chinami’s voice is quite strong. I’ve been impressed by her in this area several times recently, and I’ll share both. The first is the concert performance of ‘Sakura wa Rakusa,’ and Chinami’s lines are at ~01:03 and 01:45.

Chinami’s voice comes across with a very crisp, clear tone to it. She shows that she knows how to sing out without straining her voice or becoming screechy or shaky. That can be pretty difficult to achieve while dancing at the same time, but Chinami makes it look so effortless! Another recent performance where Chinami really caught my eye was from the 2008 Berryz Summer Concert.

There’s two songs in that video, but the one I’m referring to is ‘Yume de Do Up,’ which starts at 04:30. The dancing made me chuckle a little– seeing all the Berryz girls skittering around in a big circle is just not something you see every day (imagine if you did!), but I guess it’s appropriate for the whimsy sound of the song. Anyway, Chinami’s just great in this one. You can hear her distinctly at 05:01, and when I was watching this concert for the first time, that line just made me take a step back and, literally, say “WOW.” She hits those low notes with that clear, strong voice of hers. And later in the song, at 05:42, she gets another great solo line, followed by one of her infectious smiles.

The saddest thing is that Chinami is so often overlooked. She’s proven herself time and time again– she’s charismatic in PVs and live performances, her voice is great both in the studio and live, she’s got such a loveable personality, a winning smile, and still, if it weren’t for album tracks and b-sides, we’d be barely acquainted with Chinami’s voice in the scarce solo lines she gets in singles. And that’s definitely not the way to go. Chinami is someone you’d want to promote in the idol world; you’re not making any gambles on whether or not she’d bring everything she’s got forward, because she’s shown that she already does, even with what little she’s been given to flaunt.

Chinami has always been this… capsule of potential. From the very beginning, in ‘Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai,’ Chinami was cute and charming, in voice, looks, and demeanor. She’s kept on improving ever since, and I still think she’s got tons of potential in her– she’ll just keep on improving. I’m certainly looking forward to hearing more of Chinami in the future. I think it will be impossible to shove her in the back for much longer. She simply can’t be ignored.

(And, of course, I’m still waiting for my dream unit of Umeda, Linlin, and Chinami. Oh, if only…)

Wait, wait wait wait wait wait. How did I miss this one?!

It is almost 5 AM. I’m getting ready to go to bed– wanted to listen to a SweetS song before I turned off the computer, and I realized I didn’t have the one (Pieces of Peace) I was looking for on my computer. So onto that trusty SweetS resource, Mienai Tsubasa, I went, and before I headed off to the page I was looking for– a new update caught my eye. It was pretty recent, just posted up on December 20, and I had to remind myself not to just SCREAM (seeing as it’s… almost 5 AM and people are sleeping). Why? MIORI IS IN A PV.

She’s not singing– just… well, acting, and looking gorgeous. But it doesn’t MATTER. It’s Miori!! In a PV! I was seriously just… gaping in awe when her face popped up on the screen in that PV. I never thought I’d see a SweetS girl after the group disbanded– though Miori was supposed to be going into modeling, I don’t exactly follow models, so I don’t know what happened with her there. But this is pretty much the first time I’ve seen her surface since– and in a PV, no less!

The PV is for the song called “Akaneiro, Sora no Shita,” and is by Himari. I’ve personally never heard of the duo before, but the song is actually a good listen (I’ve had it on repeat ever since I found it), if Miori wasn’t enough of a pull for it already.

I don’t know if I’m totally late on the news here– since the PV was released in November, but I don’t really care, haha. I’m just too happy to see Miori doing SOMETHING now. And I’m just hoping some people will be as ecstatic as I am if they haven’t seen/heard of this yet.

So, without any further delay– the PV:

 I’ve also uploaded it to Mediafire (here), if anyone wants to download it. Again, the source for that is Mienai Tsubasa, so a BIG thank you for them to uploading it for us all to see!

I’m too tired to do a write-up on the PV right now, but I figured I’d toss this post out there ASAP to share the news with anyone who hasn’t heard yet. (But will be taking a suggestion from Ray over at International Wota and should be putting up a more analytical post on another lovely Berryz girl sometime later this weekend.)

So, for now, I’m off to desperately pray for Aki’s return– uh, I mean… sleep (if I’m ABLE to stop being so ecstatic about this!).

It took me forever to decide on a title for this post. I wanted to get across the point that it’d be about Risako, obviously, but I didn’t even know how to go about phrasing it. I’m not 100% happy about how in turned out– but it’ll do. It was either that, or replace ‘Mystery’ with ‘Power.’ (And then both of them led me to trying to form some pun like… Risakopower!! ga subarashii… and, just… anyway.) Power might be a bit more true to the entry, but it sounds awkward out of context and sounded more like some kind of late-night infomercial on alternative healing or something. But I guess that’s the inevitable trouble I face in trying to describe a girl as… extraordinary as Risako.

My feelings about Risako seem to come in waves. To begin with, she’s sort of my anti-Koharu story– in that I started out loving Koharu, and she fell out of favor, but then I liked her again. With Risako, she started out as my least favorite girl in Berryz. I remember last summer, when I was just getting into Berryz– I was browsing Youtube for any videos I could get my hands on, and I particularly watched some of Berryz’s earlier live/concert performances. To put in bluntly, I was just not impressed with Risako’s performances; her singing sounded more like yelling, she didn’t seem that confident, and still, she seemed to be a fan favorite! I just didn’t get it at all. Brain did not compute. And– dare I say it– it even made me a little frustrated. I was a big fan of Chinami from the start, and I thought she was a better performer, and she didn’t get nearly as many lines in songs as Risako did! She just seemed to be this painfully awkward girl placed in the middle of all this idol stuff and left seemingly nervous and unsure about everything.

And to be honest, I can’t even pinpoint exactly when it happened. I honestly believe I woke up one day and my brain declared, “Good morning, Samantha. Today, you will start liking Risako. No exceptions,” because I seriously cannot remember when or how that happened. I found myself no longer cringing at the sight of Risako in videos or the sound of her voice when I listened to Berryz songs. In fact, I didn’t just tolerate her, I began to like her. Quite a lot. I found myself watching her solo performance of “Yeah! Meccha Holiday” when I was feeling down, and her solo lines in both live performances and recorded songs suddenly became my favorites.

Just earlier tonight, I was listening to ‘Special Generation’ on my iPod– I hadn’t listened to the song in quite a while, and I was surprised at how much I liked Risako’s solo lines– even now. She totally owns all of her lines in that song– I couldn’t tell you why, because it doesn’t make any musical sense, but in my brain, it does. But anyway, I’m skipping around here. Back to the ’suddenly liking Risako’ stage– Risako suddenly became a bit of a milestone in my H!P fandom. I came across some UFA photos on eBay one day– it was either earlier this year or late last year, and I toyed with the idea of buying a few just to have them. I almost didn’t, and closed out of the site– until another day, I found myself really wanting to buy, at the very least, one of the Risako photos that I really liked. So I did. (And ended up buying an Umeda Erika and MM 5th Gen. photo along with the Risako one, FYI). It may seem silly and unimporant, but really, that was the first time I ever bought something H!P related that wasn’t a CD. And later on, I liked that photo so much that I found out what concert it was taken from (judging by the outfit she was wearing), and THAT was the first H!P DVD I bought. The fact that the Miyabi/Risako ‘Anata wa Nashide Ikite Yukenai’ performance was in the same concert DVD sealed the deal on me buying it, but the whole reason I sought it out in the first place was because of that photo.

And yet, my feelings about Risako are not static. Just weeks ago, when the PV for ‘Tsukiatteiru no ni Kataomoi’ was released and Risako got tons of screen time (as usual), one would logically think I’d be very pleased about the whole thing– but really, I wasn’t. Rather, I really didn’t care that much. She hadn’t fallen into the realm of ‘dislike’ with me at all– in fact, she was still my favorite girl in Berryz. But my reaction was more like, “Oh, there’s Risako. She looks pretty here. Hey, Yurina’s really cool in this one. Hm, neat. *Click.*” I didn’t care for the song at the time, so that might’ve been a contributing factor to the whole don’t-care take on it. Now that the song has grown on me, I love listening to it– especially, you guessed it, Risako’s lines. It’s just so odd. One day, Risako’s in the “she’s cool, but I’m more interested in [insert name here]” category with me– and the next, she’s battling with Umeda Erika for my “top favorite” in Hello! Project. And that’s where I’m at now.

And for once, I can explain why! I just recently purchased Risako’s first photobook. Once again, Risako claims another milestone in my H!P fandom, and J-pop fandom in general. Not only was that the first H!P photobook I bought– it was the first photobook I ever bought. Once again, I had to toy with the idea a bit before I actually went through and bought it. Someone posted in LiveJournal that they were selling it– so there the opportunity was, right out of nowhere. I’d seen the photobook before (online), and it was so close to Christmas. I’d bought my presents for others at that point– but would I really want to spend even more money on an early gift for myself? Eventually (obviously), the answer was yes. Might as well, right? Erika didn’t seem like she’d be getting a PB anytime soon, so why not actually see what this whole photobook thing is about and spend a little bit to buy one of Risako’s– the girl who had always fascinated me. So I got it, just last week. Flipped through the book, was taken aback at the photo quality, and then noticed the ‘making of’ DVD at the end. I didn’t recall ever watching the making of for that PB, so I popped in it my computer, and after watching it for a bit, it hit me. Gradually, I’d been seeing a lot of myself in Risako– I just never really wanted to admit it. Our personalities seemed similar, and just– there was something that I always saw in Risako that I could relate to more than any other idol. People have even told me I look like Risako, too. But it took watching that making of for me to fully realize what I’d been thinking all along.

And it’s sort of funny– the things that made me dislike Risako in the first place became the true “charm points” that eventually won me over. I found myself rooting for her along the way, and I was not disappointed. Risako has been improving in singing, and, quite tremendously, in her stage presence. She’s come a long way since the beginning of Berryz– the transformation is really hard to believe. That awkward kid who cried at the end of one of her first performances of ‘Anata wa Nashide…’ (I can’t find that video for the life of me, or I’d link it– my apologies!) has become a confident performer today. She still seems to get nervous from time to time, but it’s understandable. As a performer myself, I can certainly say that I’m not inevitable to stage fright from time to time.

To me, Risako went from being the “worst” idol in H!P to the one who I wanted everyone to see. When I would show my friends H!P things, I would make sure that I would have to show them something about Risako. When I was making up my presentations on J-pop for my Japanese Culture class last semester, I deliberately picked Berryz clips where Risako got the most screen-time.

It’s sort of humbling to actually acknowledge all of this about Risako. But it really is just one manifestation of the power of the idol world at work. I can’t explain why, but Risako became one of my favorite idols. (I’m still reluctant to say that Risako is my favorite idol, because of my attachment to Umeda Erika and Kashiwagi Yuki (AKB48), but deep down inside, I might really have to admit that she is my favorite. In fact, it seems kind of silly to even compare them all at times– Risako is in an entirely different league than the others.) I suppose I can mostly blame that whole relatability factor– the fact that I can relate to her so much is a huge pull. She just “clicks” with me, for some reason, like no other idols do. But I can’t help but wonder– if it was the same with another idol… if I related to someone else so well, would they be my favorite? Or is it actually the power of Risako– uniquely Risako– that won me over all along? I doubt I’ll ever find out, but hey, c’est la vie!

I really apologize if this entry was particularly boring or I rambled on and on about insignificant things, but this was one of those ‘I really need to examine this’ entries, and I did just want to put it out there that I am completely under Risako’s spell, if anyone can relate to that. XD That and I think this is another interesting thing about the whole idol world– how close you can feel to particular idols, seemingly out of nowhere, because of so many different factors. So anyway, for anyone who got bored (and anyone who didn’t!), I’ll wrap this up with the beautiful performance of ‘Watashi ga Suru Koto nai Hodo Zenbu Shite Kureru Kure,’ by Risako and Momoko, from the most recent Berryz concert DVD. Well, actually, it’s a big clip from that DVD, and the performance of that song (I just REFUSE to write out that title again) is in the middle– right after ‘Sprinter!’

(And, for the fun of it, my favorite Risako picture.)

So, I’ve got some time to kill before heading off to some Christmas festivities with my family… so why not spend it posting Christmas-y pictures of some of my favorite idols, I say! This entry’s going to be purely eyecandy, but expect an actual entry coming up sometime soon!

From the Canaria Club beauties:

And some Cutie Queens:
  

And to finish it all off, C-ute playing ‘Silent Night’ on bells.

Merry Christmas/Whatever You Celebrate, everyone!

Before I start this one, I just want to note that this entry was highly influenced by the events of my week; the title that reads like some bad scientific paper (and I had one due yesterday morning), the possible incoherence at times in this entry (due to the lovely concussion that I have), and, well, the most important of them all, my final Developmental Psychology class. What the hell does that have to do with Natsuyaki Miyabi? More than you may think!

So there I am, sitting in my last Developmental Psych class of the semester, eagerly awaiting the clock to hit the hour mark so I could get out of there and do all the rest of the things I had lined up for the day. Our final lesson was on quite a few different things– but the one that struck me while I was copying it down into my notes was the characteristics of what adults perceive to be a childlike face, what the psychologist/zoologist Konrad Lorenz described as “babyness features,” and how they transform as people grow. One of those transformations was described as the elongating of the face and the lengthening of the jaw.

Get it now?!

Poor Miyabi gets picked on a lot about her face– for having a long chin/jaw, in particular. I always get a chuckle when I look through her photobook. I remember someone saying, when people were first getting their hands on the PB when it was released, that there were a lot of chin-hiding pictures in there! I didn’t believe, at that time, that it could be that noticeable– that they wouldn’t have hid the girl’s chin that much. But when I took a look for myself, lo and behold, there they were, plain as day! It was pretty hard to miss them, in fact.

So, clearly, the photographer was well aware of the phenomenon that is Miyabi’s chin. And it seems like other people in Hello! Project are, as well.

Who could forget the infamous backstage recording of Yoshizawa stating quite bluntly that she didn’t think that Miyabi was a virgin? I certainly didn’t! It was the first thing in my train of thought about Miyabi and her “adult” features. Now, clearly, I’m missing a very big piece of the puzzle; I don’t hang out with Miyabi– I don’t know what her personality is like, I don’t know what she acts like when she isn’t being filmed. So Yossie may have observed something about the way Miyabi acts to come to that conclusion. But as far as my theory goes, I think it may have at least something to do with her face. As I said before, the elongated chin/jaw is one of the transformations that human faces undergo as people grow. Was that aspect of Miyabi getting to her? Did that thought come to mind because Miyabi’s face looks a little more adult-like than the other girls?

Yossie wasn’t even the first one to relate Miyabi to adulthood, either. Who could forget the Summer Shuffle Unit from 2005– ‘Sexy Otonajan,’ where Miyabi and Murakami Megumi teamed up with Fujimoto Miki? 

Now, Miki made sense; she’s one of the sexy queens of Hello! Project, but… now, what about these other two?! Both of these girls were just 13 when they were in this unit– well, actually, if you want to get picky with the details, Megumi just turned 13 a short while before the song was released (within that month), and Miyabi was actually 12 and wouldn’t turn 13 for a few more months! So what was it, exactly, that prompted the big bosses of H!P to pick these two for this “Sexy Otonajan” unit? Megumi I can’t answer for, but as for Miyabi… was it the face?! Both of the girls are fantastic singers, of course, so I’m sure that had something to do with the decision, but going on this theory of mine… could it have had something to do with the way Miyabi looks? Did she pass as older than her actual age?

I remember when I was first looking up Berryz stuff, and I came across the PV for ‘Gag 100kaibun Aishite Kudasai.’ I thought Miyabi was ridiculously pretty, and I thought she was older than she actually was at the time. One of the first videos I came across of the Berryz girls when they weren’t performing or in PVs was one with Miyabi and Risako in it. Risako got up and started dancing to her ‘Yeah! Meccha Holiday,’ and I was nearly shocked when Miyabi joined in and went even crazier than Risako; she had no fear of just shoving Risako out of the way and taking over. This video has that footage in there with lots of other Miyabi craziness–

I’d previously perceived her as being a lot more mature– or at the very least, chill, but I slowly discovered that this was not the case. She was just as (or even more) crazy as the rest of them. But was my initial view of Miyabi affected by… the face?!

To do a little test of my theory, I talked to one of my friends yesterday who has little knowledge about J-pop. Well, actually, she’s pretty well-informed on matters that I tell her about, and then the things she asks me. She’s so tolerant of my ramblings about J-pop, so I figure she wouldn’t mind being asked. I know I’d talked about Berryz with her before, so I wouldn’t have to do any explaining there, but she definitely didn’t know the little details like all the girls’ ages. So, I showed her a recent group picture of all the Berryz girls, and asked her to tell me which girls she thought were the oldest and the youngest. For the oldest, she couldn’t decide between Saki or Chinami, and she picked Momoko as the youngest. While my little test here didn’t come out as expected, I let her know the reason I asked, and I pointed out Miyabi. She said when she took a closer look specifically at Miyabi, she said she did look a little older than the rest of the girls– and the reason she was reluctant to pick Miyabi out at all was because she reminded her too much of a mutual acquaintance of ours, more than anything.

So while my quick test didn’t go exactly as expected, I still got some interesting comments out of my friend about Miyabi. My theory’s led me this far, and now I know the idea is never going to leave my head. And of course to anyone who may find this just a bunch of bull, that’s just fine, too. It’s just an amusing theory I got on a whim and decided to investigate a little. But I found it sort of funny how much I’ve overlooked Miyabi. I’m always so focused on Risako when it comes to girls that “look older than their ages,” and such (and while I personally think Risako looks her age, it’s clear that lots of others don’t)– but it was Miyabi who was put into “Sexy Otonajan,” after all!

So, what do you all think? What exactly is it about Miyabi?

(A big thanks to Nouciel at JPH!P for providing me with pictures of Miyabi from the Shuffle Unit!)

It’s a proven fact: idols are cute. In some way or another, they’re all cute. It’d be hard to find one that wasn’t! But I want to focus on two particular idols I’ve seen that have a really distinctive kind of look to them. They’re often overlooked in their respective groups, but I think they are really, really the epitome of what “cute” is, in its most stable form. I find it really hard to overlook these two, myself– I can’t figure out if it’s because of their talents, personalities, or looks, or a combination of all three, but for some reason, these two girls have grabbed my attention and struck me as real distinct cuties– enough so to make me do a little write-up on the two.

The first of the two that I want to focus on is Hayano Kaoru from AKB48’s Team K. I’m going to throw it right out that this girl does not havee the most fantastic profile pictures. I don’t know why, because in all the other photos I’ve seen of her she is just as adorable as you can get, but for some reason, her profile pictures haven’t always been the best. I’m not saying they were bad– I just really recall the first time I was researching H!P and I happened upon her profile picture at the time– she looked a little tired and a little bewildered (the one with the yellow background, if you’re so inclined to do some searching), but since then, her profile pictures have turned out a lot better. But still, don’t just judge her looks on those– she’s much, much cuter.

This girl first caught my attention when I was watching the performance of ‘Nounai Paradise’ from the DVD of AKB48’s Spring Conert 2007. She was dressed in that exact outfit and had her hair just like that, and she really impressed me with her dancing in that song. She really seemed to get into the song, and every time I think of that song, I end up thinking of Kaoru. In the following video (that said performance), you can see a fantastic close-up of Kaoru at 1:18, and at 3:08, you can see her doing peace signs at the crowd– probably my favorite random shot of the video– just Kaoru and the crowd. She shines throughout the whole performance, though, so the entire thing’s a good watch!

I thought, she just works very well with that song– until I started thinking about it more and realized that she works very well in almost any song! Nounai Paradise was a really fun song, and she just aced the mood of the entire thing. Then, later in the concert, she was in a smaller unit and was adorably silly in her performance of ‘Kurukurupaa.’ (Though I’m sure it’s hard NOT to be silly in outfits like this! And [here's a link] to a performance of the song, if anyone’s insterested.)

She even worked well in a more intense song like ‘Hana to Chire!’ When I watched the DVD of Team K’s first stage, she absolutely blew me away in her performance in the song ‘Classmate.’ There’s no upload of it that I know of– I really wish I could share it with you all, because Kaoru has such charisma fitting for the song, but I have clipped the portion of the song where she got a nice solo verse. Because of that song, I learned that not only was she cute and a good dancer, she was a FANTASTIC singer. [Here's her solo verse on Putfile, so you don't have to download anything.] [Or here's the file uploaded on Sendspace, since Putfile is acting a little wacky lately, if you still want to hear the song; the file is a little under 370 KB.] It’s really beautiful, I highly recommend giving it a listen.

This kind of versatility in talent is absolutely amazing; she has such idol qualities because of things like that. And as for her looks, I think she’s very versatile there, too. Kaoru can look like a really, really cute kid one minute:

And a real beauty the next:

Now, Kaoru isn’t an extremely popular AKB48 member (at least from what I’ve seen), and I can’t quite understand why– other than the fact that she’s not in any singles. That plays a, uh, pretty big factor. But still, just look at this girl. She’s got charisma, and a real sense of that classic cuteness that sets her apart from all the rest– she’s just so distinct that I couldn’t overlook her, even if I wanted to. And I swear, everything this girl does is cute. But I’ll leave you with one more example of just how cute Kaoru can be, from an MC segment– Kaoru’s turn is at ~5:55.

(Oh! And Happy Early 15th Birthday, Kaoru!)

The second ‘Classic Cutie’ that I want to talk about is Uchida Yuma (“Ucchi”) from TNX’s Canaria Club! Now, it’s really no surprise to be picking someone from this group, honestly. The members of the Canaria Club were selected from a group of 1000 girls trying to make it as models from the Spacecraft [Agency?]. And all of the girls are pretty. Riho, my favorite of the group, is one of the most stunning idols, looks-wise, that I’ve seen, bit she doesn’t have the certain… air to her beauty that Ucchi does.

I described in another post about the Canaria Club how I was pretty resistant to liking Ucchi at first. She’s a pretty shy girl, and because she’s one of the youngest girls in the group, I attributed that to her age. She seems pretty timid in most videos I’ve seen of the Canaria Club, but she always had an adorable smile that I noticed, and in PVs, even when she was clearly nervous (or came across that way from the ‘making of’ segments), she tried her very best to come off as though she’s having tons of fun in PVs. That spirit of trying hard eventually wore me down, and I looked at Ucchi a little more closely after that. She has a really loveable character– the other girls are always around being crazy, and she’s pretty chill, sometimes off on her own in the background, but when she needs help, lots of the girls always flock to her to help her out (in dance routines and such, so I’ve observed). And aside from everything else about Ucchi– I really can’t ignore her looks. She is such a cutie. Just like Kaoru, she looks so classic– her look, to me, is a real standard of timeless cuteness. She looks cute– all the time.

Ucchi didn’t start off with the most confidence– it was very easy to tell. She just seemed unsure of herself most of the time. But ever since the beginning of the group, Ucchi has progressed so much. She’s become much, much better in front of the camera, knows how to act on the spot when she needs to– and hell, even in recent pictures, she’s really starting to take on that full-blown classic look. She’s got a much more confident look in her eyes, and it does so much to amp up her physical presence in photos.

The one above is from one of their more recent promotions– for their first mini-album. The hands-on-hips pose makes her look so poised and confident– which is a huge step for timid, tiny Ucchi. Now this next photo I’m just going to leave a link to, since it’s so huge, but resizing it doesn’t highlight the look on Ucchi’s face quite as well: [this photo] is of the whole group, but just look at how stunning Ucchi looks! She’s the third person in, if you’re having trouble identifying her (she’s standing in the back row, leaning a little bit forward over one of the girls in the front). She’s got the most adorable mini-diva face right there! I love it! That smile just makes up for how tiny and pushed in the back she is there– she looks like a little, confident movie star or something!

Ucchi just turned 13 in early November, so she’s certainly got a lot of time ahead of her to continue growing in confidence and beauty. One of the most recent pictures I’ve seen of her is a profile picture, where she’s wearing the outfit for their upcoming single, “Faith!” And really, she looks amazing.

It’s such a tiny little picture, so I apologize, but it’s one of the fewI can find out of that outfit right now. The only other one of it is from a whole-group picture, and is also pretty small:

Needless to say, I really can’t wait until the bigger promotional pictures are released for this single– and the girls get their individual photoshoots in those outfits. I’m sure Ucchi will really stand out in those!

There’s really not that many Canaria Club videos out there to share with you all (aside from the Kokuchi-ch short videos that are always being added, but Ucchi really doesn’t make an appearance in too many of them), but I do want to share the PV for “Seishun Banzai,” where it really showed that she stepped up her game since the PV before that.

She has a close-up at around 1:17, and she just looks amazing there. So, so, so cute. Other notable Ucchi moments are at: 02:11– taking a big swipe at the camera and looking AWESOME at dancing (another HUGE improvement for her), from 02:17-02:22 (just a few seconds of absolute cuteness), and at 03:28 (a big peace sign right to the camera!) Of course, she looks great throughout the whole PV, but those were some of my favorite moments.

So for now, I’m eagerly awaiting their new release to see how Ucchi does, and just hoping that more people appreciate this Classic Cutie!

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Edit (12/10): And strangely enough, it’s the next day and the PV preview for FAITH! has been released! Here’s a [link] to that preview, and here’s a quick mini-review on what I saw (but I’ll still focus on Ucchi in a moment): The song has potential, I think. I didn’t mind it, at least, but I think it’s going to take a little time to grow on me. Ogawa Mana got a solo line in the preview, but mygod, that girl’s vibrato went crazy. Matsui Yurie also got a solo line (yay!), and she controlled her voice much better. ONE Riho close-up, which I’m disappointed about (and I could barely even find her in the dance portions). Speaking of that… the dance is a little silly in the very beginning, but it seems to get better as the song goes on. And that set… hello, SWEET&TOUGHNESS, take two! Plain white. Again. And a chair in some other random shots. Seriously, guys, with girly outfits like that, you need Kusumi Koharu-esque PV sets, not just… muted greys and blues and pure white!

And as for Ucchi… she was AMAZING! I had a good feeling about this PV for her before, and it looks like I won’t be disappointed! She looks absolutely natural in those outfits; her hairstyle is adorable, and she just looks beautiful in her close-up near the end of the preview! She’s gotten SO much more confident in front of the camera, and her dancing has definitely improved! I’m so impressed and proud of her! <3