Country Girls “Tamerai Summer” [PV]
For the of their second single, Country Girls present “a special summer I wouldn’t forget brilliantly swaying and shining”. As should be apparent by now, the girls are on a mission to present the retro compositions delivered in the cutest way possible. While the music plays like a flashback request hour (there won’t be a bass drop anytime soon), references to selfie-sticks and emails clues the…
ANGERME sends off one its original members with a song that tries to encapsulate the essence of the group’s first six years of work. Fun and funky blends equal parts with Smileage’s “Shortcut” and ANGERME’s”Taiki Bansei“. (more…)
Juice=Juice “CHOICE & CHANCE” [PV]
Pushing things to the max, Juice=Juice release a second promotional video for their “First Squeeze” album barely days after “Tsuzuiteiku STORY“. With “CHOICE & CHANCE”, Miyazaki Yuka, Kanazawa Tomoko, Takagi Sayuki, Miyamoto Karin, and Uemura Akari flex their muscles with an aggressive number that maximizes their vocal power. And, like “Tsuzuiteiku STORY”, “CHOICE & CHANCE” seems like a PV that…
AyumiKurikaMaki – “Honey Honey Honey” PV
If you keep tabs on my Twitter you probably saw my growing fondness for AyumiKurikaMaki over the last few months. With the release of “Honey Honey Honey”, I find myself unable to control it any longer. This group, as it stands now, fills a void left agape from the departure of Buono! from the idol scene. Their last three singles (“Jet Kuma Star”, “Shake Shake Shake”, and “Honey Honey Honey”)…
Country Girls – “Wakatteiru no ni Gomen ne” PV
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first: Shimamura Uta would have been perfect in this release. Now that I have exorcised the demons, or at least the adorable former H!P idol, we can talk about “Wakatteiru no ni Gomen ne” properly. Country Girls stick to their guns and hit us with another irrepressibly adorable concept. On their second release, Yamaki Risa, Inaba Manaka, Morito Chisaki,…
Juice=Juice “Tsuzuiteiku STORY” PV
What happens when an idol promotional video strips bare? Will the lack of props, costumes, and setting unsettle you? Or, will it focus your gaze? The recently released “Tsuzuiteiku STORY (Everlasting Story)” promotional PV does just that: five girls and nothing more. The ballad drips with emotion and signals farewell, thank you, and anxious expectation in one action. (more…)
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Morning Musume ‘14 Baby Photos!
モーニング娘。’14 （幼少期）
道重さゆみ 譜久村聖 生田衣梨奈 鞘師里保 鈴木香音
飯窪春菜 石田亜佑美 佐藤優樹 工藤遥 小田さくら
ANGERME “Nanakorobi Yaoki” [PV]
ANGERME come roaring out of the gate for the next round of Hello! Project releases with their effort “Nanakorobi Yaoki (Ups and Downs)”. When ANGERME was still S/mileage and the group cut their hair on the moon (Short Cut), a song like this would have been unthinkable fo the group. The powerful song quickly roars in your face with a quickly paced driving beat and aggressive guitars. Providing…
Playing Catch Up with Cheeky Parade – “Cheeky Dreamer”
Who the hell is Cheeky Parade, and why am I devoting so much time to them? As of writing, I still do not possess a great understanding of the group. When I originally began looking into the Cheekiness, they were promoting their terrific “Together” mini album. An upcoming performance in New York City put the group in select the company of the few idol acts to break out of Japan. “Together” made…
Watanabe Mayu – “Deai no Tsuzuki” [PV]
Don’t you dare. I’ve been listening to music too long for you to give me problems about writing about an AKB48 release. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably had an inkling that I take a fancy to Watanabe Mayu. I wouldn’t say I was crushed by her placement in the 2015 Sousenkyo (she placed third), but I did hope she could reclaim her top spot. And, while many are off-put by her “so perfect…
Uemura Akari and Ogata Haruna in BOMB (July 2015)
Earlier this month, Juice=Juice’s Uemura Akari and Morning Musume 15’s Ogata Haruna got together for a pictorial guide to happiness. If this feature provides any indication, Aarii and Haachin lead the group of new young faces of Hello! Project. We had an idea that Aarii would receive the push for her looks, but Haachin has not been seen without her generation mates in a magazine feature until…
Team Syachihoko “Tensai Bakabon” [PV]
Before I start on Team Syachihoko’s “Tensai Bakabon”, I should mention that I have no particular bloodlust for the group. Nor were any syachihoko harmed in the making of the PV (that I know). Team Syachihoko, who impressed me greatly with their last release “Shampoo Hat“, (it made my “Top Singles of 2014” list), returned to action with their May 13 release “Tensai Bakabon” (yes, I’m REALLY late…
How is it possible that an beach scene with blue skies, crystal water, and pretty girls became the backdrop of an identity crisis for one of the most promising young idol groups? I can’t deny that I enjoyed seeing Q’ulle on the beach for the 4:44 duration of the song. “Heartbeat” exists in a world far removed from the dramatic costuming of their first two singles. With the single, the girls don…
If you strip nature to its barest composition, reduce all of its glorious curves and angles to perpendicular black, and simplify hues to primary colors, you would probably produce something that looks like Piet Mondrian’s work. No doubt the Dutch painter’s work crossed through your visual stream once or twice. His compositions and style from the 1920’s became shorthand for modernism in the…
