Well, we all knew the day was coming. After being a ‘group’ for 4 years, also being one of the most under-used H!P members of all time, Ayaka Kimura took her final bow and announced her graduation. There will be no graduation concert or event of any kind – not that I’m surprised; think back on Hello Project’s squirming out of giving Makoto Ogawa her own graduation (though, at least she got something)

Her announcement tells us it she will be pursuing her dream of acting – the abrupt departure makes one wonder what the nature of this acting is – AV? I don’t want to say it, I doubt it’s true, but hey, it has to be said every time a girl leaves H!P it seems. My personal guess is maybe she’ll be pursuing acting in America, or star in something that requires the shedding of her idol image.

At this point. . . there’s little to nothing keeping me interested in H!P. The loss of Ayaka furthers that. The moment they lose Eririn, consider me history as far as H!P is concerned. Lest Maki make a miraculous return, I just honestly have nothing to enjoy in H!P anymore, especially considering my favorite girl in their flagship group is completely ignored despite being able to outsing and outdance one of their most undeserving (in my humble opinion) leads (read: Koha.)

I wish Ayaka the best of luck – she was always one of my favorites. She’s a gorgeous girl with lots of talent from what I’ve seen, so hopefully companies will be throwing themselves at her. You can do it, Ayarin!

Just months ago, before the release of Glass no Pumps, I had an ever flaming dislike of Maki Goto. Then, GnP was released, and that changed. God, did it change.

Since then Maki became my favorite H!P member, and the only member I actively followed. I suppose a long time Maki fan would look down on me for that – but before a release that called so much attention to it’s self, I figured she was just another H!P girl with a false cutesy act and squeaky voice. By the time I heard Suppin to Namida I decided “I should give her a chance.” and by GnP I was going “I have GOT to get to know this girl.” It was like seeing and hearing a completely different girl than before.

And now, I realize I had such little time knowing this girl, this girl who I quickly realized I was beginning to look up to as a talent, but yet it feels like losing an old friend when I read about her leaving H!P. I started finding the good in all her past releases, not to mention continuing to love her new style. Old and new, through and through, I loved everything Maki released.

In school, we have friends, and only when the time arrives do we realize that our school-time friendships do not last forever – college, pregnancy, marriage or lack thereof seems so far away, and you’re almost afraid to think of it. And never did I think Maki would graduate H!P before H!P bowed out all together.

I can only ask one thing, and that is that Maki continues an active singing career. After she has left H!P I have absolutely no one I actually feel is worth actively following.

I just hope Maki is happy in the end – she had often asked for more room for creativity, and now I hope she will have it. Maki is a talented girl and I know she has it in her to continue doing great – if she wants to. If she wants to settle down, then, well, good for her. In the very least, I can always cherish the music, music videos, lives, photos, everything she has had up until now.

I give Maki complete support in whatever she wants to do from now on. No matter how high or low sales are – I vow from now on to purchase anything she releases in the future that I can possibly get my hands on.

And on the less positive note…
What would a blog entry by me be if it didn’t include some form of bitching? Here’s what I’ll tell you – if idols were given any choice in their scheduling, image, music, or even able to write a lyric or two, they wouldn’t quit nearly as often. Maki wasn’t even really an idol anymore, it wouldn’t have hurt them in anyway to allow her any form of choice in matters. Maki has had so much experience in the business – if only they’d allowed her to turn down a live here or there, or maybe to co-write on a song (she’d asked to before)… I wish so many asian labels didn’t keep such a choke hold on their artists.

GO-MAKI  GODDESS MAKI

I’m not normally one to call a song boring, no matter how slow or ballad-like, or dull it is. I tend to prefer the songs another would say drag on or are too long-winded; my friends even often tease me about it.
This isn’t, in my opinion, a bad single at all. Konoha sounds better with each listen, but the first 2 or 3 left me rather un-impressed. I’m a pretty new Nightmare fan, I met a girl last year who loved them. That aside, I’ve listened to a handful of their songs, and have enjoyed all immensely, thus I downloaded this single quickly, and equally quickly decided I probably wouldn’t consider purchasing it (this is coming from the girl who spends all her spare money on jrock, while ignoring her jpop)

Something about the song, musically, sounds raw, or rather, unfinished. Like looking at the base lines of an not-yet inked drawing. For me, the second track sounds far more polished.

I could be totally missing something here, of course, as my limited off-hand knowledge of Japanese prevents me from having a clue what Konoha is actually about. But going purely by ear, this song is just… forgetful. For now. Not my favorite Nightmare song, but nice.

Both PVs are pretty good – though having no clue on the story of the clips makes it a little less fruitful in the watching.

I actually loved all the covers so much, I decided to show each one. XD

Both songs are enjoyable, though I’d say I prefer Cloudy Dayz just a step above Konoha. Overall, on a scale, I’d give the single an 8/10.

I need more jrock releases to write about; I always cover them late, too. XD

Let me start by saying that, in my own personal opinion, this PV isn’t bad; it’s simply incredibly dull. The actual editing, angles, clothing, and concept are all a step in the direction of a more modern feel to H!P videos.

(Right click > View Image for larger pics)

The dumbed down colors are lame, by a large margin, but I’m that’s just from the less than HQ rip. The girls, discounting Rika, all look amazing here. Yui should never stop with this hair style – it evens out her facial features and highly pronounced jaw and makes her face look more proportioned and symmetrical. Erika always rather reminded me of an animal of some kind; not really a bad thing, but she always had this kind of sad-puppy look to her. But the new, long, curly style makes her look like a model, she by far is the star of this PV. She has a gorgeous smile, and she rocks this baby-ish singing style, which is saying something considering I consider them the most vocally impaired non-H!P Kid group.

Rika… well, Rika looks a bit tired, to be honest. It may just be the lighting, which her being very, very tan could have simply washed her out, but I see bags under her eyes, and the short hair still fails to do her any favors. The cute act has become such a habit for her, that she really seems far too practiced next to the other two. The other two aren’t used to playing the role, so it comes across much more natural, but you can almost see Rika calculating each move before it comes. She also has a rather annoying habit of raising her eyebrows for long periods of time when she does the cute thing; she looks very shocked for most of the PV.

The PV is too basic, far too basic. They have a long way to go, but it looks like H!P has finally tried catching up, after the childish affair and embarrassment that was the Onna ni Sachi Are and Koisuru Angel Heart. There are no gimiccy cosplay costumes, just bland, though stylish clothes. The set is lackluster; they should have focused less on closeups and more on the girls dragging clothes from the clothing rack. The title means, basically, Wild Girl Paradise, but they aren’t very wild. I’d like to see them spazzing a bit more in the PV, maybe throwing clothes around or some such. Something besides sweet looks at the camera and shaky head movements. If on a rating system, I’d probably give it a 6.5/10. Close, but no cigar.

I am trying to the best of my ability not to have a coronary over this. Someone, anyone, get a doctor, please!

Please, UFA, Tsunku, Mr. Doctor-kun-senpai-san, what the fuck is trying to be accomplished by splashing four black men on the cover of a single released by a Japanese all-female pop group? My only deduction from all this is that it’s all Kisaki’s The Mafia(Kisaki’s) The Yakuza AKB48’s the terrorists fault. Innocent jpop listeners, the Japanese public! YOU! That wota over there! Your copy of this CD will have anthrax within it!

Tape your windows and doors closed! It’s just been reported that they’re going to be sending out AKB48 in hoards as soldiers. They’re said to be incredibly vicious, feasting on the small and scant of their own kind!

This cracktastic entry brought to you by a very, very bored, very, very spaztastic Angela. Oh, and don’t worry. I like AKB48. andI’mnotonlysayingthattoavoidtheirclutchesreally.

Ah, Music Fair. Main reason, I admit, to watching and reviewing this, is that OMGWTFBBQ KEI. Kei <3 Kei <3 Keeeei <3

We haven’t seen her in so long, it’s pathetic Say what you want about her looks, but she’s one of the best talents to grace H!P

I anticipate that I will be continuously let down by performances containing such members as Koharu.

01. UFO

I actually know this song, thanks to one of my friends. I forget who it’s by; one of those female duos famous in the 70’s (and she’s going to kill me for forgetting the name.) Anyway, the opening, with the falling lights gets you revved up for something big. Too bad that’s ruined once the lighrs come back; god, those costumes make me wanna barf. Osaka Koi no Uta meets Iroppoi meets Happy SummerWedding. As you can see in the second cap, the pandas are standing next to two of my most adored H!P members. The newbies automatically go up 5 points in my book. Click pics to view fullsize

I’ll give this performances one good comment as far as how it appears; Maki looks smokin’. Not that we expect any thing else.

02. Natsu chu omimai moushiagemasu

Eh, could have been better. This trio deserved a rockish song or something. Something a little less… cute. The opening was all over the place with off notes, not something I usually see from these three. Got better as it went along. Too short, but enjoyable. I’d also like to remind you all that Ms. Goto is a goddess.

03. Nai Nai 16

It seems someone decided to construct the most incredibly annoying, both vocally and otherwise, trio conceivable. Takahashi’s voice is inoffensive. Not os much at all to the other two. All three of my least favorite ex-MM members in all MM history, paired with my least favorite current member. UFA is aware of how the other two sound, having Takahashi’s mic impossibly loud over the others. A pretty transparent attempt to cover the other two.

04. Choo Choo Train

Kind of lame that it’s so short (16 seconds) but, a nice, energetic interlude of Berryz doing what they do best: Dancing. Berryz are probably among the best dancers in H!P. I dunno about C-ute, they haven’t been given any extensive choreography as of yet.  I must say, most Berryz members are much more consistant singing live than Momusu.  C-ute were also impressive singing Meguru on… was it popjam?  Either way, more to the kids, I suppose.

05. 17 sai

Oh dear God… what has possessed me when my favorite perf so far is of my two second least favorite members of MM. Even more so, the two with the most annoying voices (in my humble opinion) These two got, so far, the funnest song. Listening again, vocals aren’t too good, but they both sound better than usual. They’re just so cute. You just wanna eat them all up. This can’t be healthy.

Annnd on to the Momusu songs~ Skipping the rest of the oldies, sorry.  You’ll have to watch for yourself.

09. The Weakest Rendition of Renai Revolution Ever

This “wowah”s are going to give me a fucking aneurysm.   It’s quite sad to see how vocally inadequite current MM is.  I really, really hope the pandas get more lines in the future.  They’re the only ones with a chance.

Let us pray to god above that they work.

4th gen has officially shown its’self to be the most dysfuntional gen.

Someone’s smoking, and someone’s smoking the pole. It seems, even now, Aibon has out done Nono; by using a condom. Nono is about to pop out a little no-no of her own, and our main concern is her letting down her fans. But, I ask, why does she have to let down her fans? Because she has to go! But why does she have to go?

And this all brings be back down to my point; I hate idols. Why do I hate idols? Because, they are famed for looks and humor instead of talent. And because of such, they have to keep those looks and personality protected and keep upkeep on it. And this, I believe, is disgraceful to music its self, because most of these girls have talent, so why aren’t they allowed to depend on it? Namie Amuro gave birth and popped right back in the scene. But an idol can’t do that, because an idol isn’t their talent. . . an idol is the idol persona.

I ask, however, why UFA (not Tsunku. Tsunku seems pretty much in his right mind on the matter, but not the company.) can not take the girls past their idol image. Past it, jump over it, and start making real jpop, not idolpop. No more insane bundles of photo books for 12 year olds, no more scandals just because someone touched a turtle inappropriately, no more wasted careers because a 22 year old has a boyfriend.

This is all a dream, of course. It’ll never happen. But it is interesting to think that this girls could be living normal lives like any other pop star, but instead have to live the life of an idol. An idol who isn’t even idolized anymore, just wanked to.

But, back to topic. 4th gen is now sort of a fuzzy dream we can recall if we think hard enough.

We have now lost the very last shred of 4th gen we had left, and anyone with common sense knows we probably won’t be seeing much more of her. Yoshizawa Hitomi is gone. Completely gone. And while we might see her again, the deciding factor is whether or not UFA & Tsunku are willing to step up to the plate and find something to do with her. If she is made a solo artist, we can pretty much assume that we won’t be seeing her again outside Uta Doki, at most. I wish Yossie luck with her new gained freedom, something tells me she is probably a little bit glad to be freed of the group she’s spent all the most important years of her life in.

Everyone always thought that Ai Kago was going to be the star of 4th gen. But, in an amusing twist of fate, she was first fell to the trap. A bittersweet irony is that while W grew up doing everything together, they’re now even leaving together. Another strange, sick turn on this rocky-road of idolism, is that Ishikawa Rika is the true star of 4th gen. Yes, little Rika. Charmy Ishikawa, whatever you want to call her; she has managed to do the most with her fame in her little trio, you might have heard of it, Biyuuden. The cutie pie that couldn’t sing has become the best singer in 4th gen, has a fairly swell-selling group that she leads the hell out of, and even released a photobook shot in LA. I’d say Rika has bloomed into quite the flower. This here is proof that Tsunku really does know what he’s doing.

Let me say, I got into the jrock scene fairly late, so I hadn’t witnessed a member leaving a band I listened to, as basically all the bands were very solid (Dir en grey) and had just been around for quite a while.

That said I didn’t know how I’d react. I guess now I do.

Reading the translation from here, Bou has basically said he feels he is lying to the fans, as he has been “surpressing something” he’s wanted to do. His last live will be April 30th. There are a ton of rumors, of course, what with it being somewhat sudden (though, sort of obvious, if you now think of his absense lately.) the most popular being that he wants to tend to his parents who are sick. I do not believe this has yet been confirmed (has it?)

I would have first jumped to that too, if it weren’t for the usage of the words “lying to the fans”. Lying about what exactly? I suppose it could be flaw in a translation or something, but that sounds very…weird, to be blunt. The rest of the comment is so optimistic, but you see that little bit of resentment and guilt slip through. Regardless, I hope Bou knows the fans completely support his decision, wether they are happy about it or not (and I’m fairly sure none of us are happy about it.)

The news really hit me like a ton of bricks. My first thought was, “Surely it’s a lie. There’s no way it can be true.” But I knew deep down it probably was, and I knew it for sure after having finished reading the article.

My new main worry is the band splitting up. I know it’s unlikely, but then being so young (older than me, but still young) I feel the situation could be even more tender. Teruki seems upset the most to me, maybe because he’s leader, I don’t really know, but it’s quite worrying to read. It also somewhat saddens me that he had to find out from a third party, but I’m not sure why.

Regardless, I leave Bou my best wishes in whatever he continues on to do, and my wishes for An Cafe to continue, period. It will, for now on, be a little harder to look at my banner.

And now for some sappy picture spam.

Or, just drop the blog and call it strawberry pie. I don’t really mind either way.
This blog is run by Angela, yes, the same Angela from Sakuranbo.

Strawberry Pie is the redheaded step child of the j-music blog Sakuranbo!.
Sakuranbo was closed down simply because of writers block, and also because the blog became a jpop blog, or more, a Hello! Project blog.
This was, of course, never the intention. Strawberry Blog, also named after a food and a song, is meant to remain fairly balanced, though more jrock leaning.

Look forward to entries and please, do comment, and plug.  I really want to find my old audience again.