Morning Musume – Shouganai Yume Oibito PV Review

Hello! Finally Morning Musume new PV was released at Dohhh UP! A low quality PV was already available some time ago and it was constantly removed by UFA Agency requests – which I can understand, but those who desperately wanted to see the PV – I think they were able to catch it. I’m not a biggest fan of low quality(even Dohhh UP! is really not enough for me – but it’s better) so I didn’t watch it and patiently waited for full quality PV to be released. And so it was.

Now that was already too long of a story – I think let’s go on to the review itself.

You can go watch the PV at Dohhh UP - just click here. And as usual – I’ll stick a youtube video, so you could watch it while reading the review.

While watching it the first time – I was like – Damn, they’re beautiful! – I really like the clothes style in main shots. I think it’s way better than such in Naichau Kamo. As well as the dance shots costumes – they are tender gold-ish toned and again – I like this design more than in Naichau, even more than such in Resonant Blue(let’s not mention that green-ish thingy from Pepper Keibu, since it’s a cover and all…). The song itself is a bit slower-paced than Naichau or Resonant, it is kinda in the middle – sometimes getting faster, sometimes slower. The main theme of the PV is some kind of a simulation of an university-everyday-life – girls read most of the time, looking as if they’re studying something. The beginning is interesting too, it features picture-taking set, which is probably a contrast of university life with idol\talent life. And that’s pretty all of it. The main theme shots is blended by dance shots and close-ups – which is as usual and doesn’t change, so there’s nothing much to be said about it. Overall impression of this PV is good – it builds up a fuzzy-warmy feeling – because the color scheme is really calm and as I said the costume designs are plain and simplistic – which I personally like more than shining-everywhere-chained-and-bright stuff which is featured in Naichau and Resonant and (ah well what a heck) in Pepper Keibu. Yes, I do like the main theme clothes in Resonant and in Naichau, but I think that I like clothes in this PV a tad more. As for the dance – I’ll wait until I can see it in full – because here it is interrupted by close-ups and main scenes, so I can’t really build up the whole picture of it. And a bit on the line distribution in this song – it’s still the same Ai-Reina pattern, but with a bit more lines distributed among others. So in conclusion I’ll give this song a rating – 8 out of 10. It’s not a masterpiece yet, and there’s some mishaps in it – but nevertheless I really enjoyed watching it.

And a little picspam with cute screenshots from the PV, just for those who need them.

And there’s lots more – just turn on your creativity and click the snapshot button.

Thanks for your time.

News batch 7

Hello! I’ve been away for some time, but hey – it was relatively quiet. Anyways, this news batch topics are:

Buono! “My Boy” PV released. Review.

Yajima Maimi’s 3rd photobook cover released.

Yeah, it’s not that much for a batch, but let’s get on with it.

Buono! “My Boy” PV released. Review.

I don’t know when exactly it was released, but it was already broadcasted at M-ON and probably a bit later it was uploaded to Dohhh UP! site. Since I can’t embed the video from Dohhh UP! I’ll stick a youtube one, for your viewing pleasure. And you can click - here - to watch it on Dohhh UP!

So as you might have already heard – this song is a lot more rock-ish than Rottara’ Rottara’ and the PV stands up to this song, being more mature than the previous one. This time the girls are dressed like spies and through some stealthy action try to get to some heart-shaped box. This is mixed with dance shots and close-ups, where the girls are dressed in bright colored(with lots of colors) dresses, which I, personally, like a lot more than Rottara’ Rottara’ ones (and I think I’m not alone in this), but I think I like the style of Co.No.Mi.Chi a bit more, so overall the PV is a lot different from their previous ones, since this one has some plot included(even with a funny conclusion at the very end of PV – but you will see it for yourselves), and I think it’s a plus. So we have a new mature song from Buono! and once again – Tsunku didn’t spoil this one, so we should already try to step away from the stereotype that Tsunku only spoils songs (if such a stereotype exists) – as two Buono! songs proved – he didn’t spoil anything.

Yajima Maimi’s 3rd photobook cover released.

Yup – it’s been already released for some time now, but I think I should stick it here also – in case you missed it.

This is it. It’s plain and simple. Maimi gives you this look – which some interpret as “I’m-too-angry” one and some think that Maim’s true scatterbrain-ish nature  showed up. As for me I think the cover is good enough, though not enough to attract some new Maimi-fans, but hey – who knows. Anyways – after this cover, I really want to see what’s inside, but it will be released on 24th of April and when will I be able to see it – no one knows.

Oh and ℃-ute’s  “Bye Bye Bye” was already released – no Kanna there – you know why. I didn’t listen to it yet, but as soon as I do – I think I will write a review here (that is if nothing gets me busy enough).

Thanks for your time.

Mano Erina 2nd Major Single – Hajimete no Keiken(PV)

Hello. As you may already now, Mano Erina is to release another major single. It’s titled “Hajimete no Keiken” and it is to be released on 20th of May. Honestly, I wasn’t able to watch the PV yet, but I’ll stick a youtube video here, so you can watch it right on. And of course it’s from Dohhh UP! site, so you can - click here - and watch it there. Either way, enjoy yet another cute Manoeri PV. Douzo.

Update: I watched it! First of all, I think it’s an improvement from Otome no Inori, that’s my own opinion and some may not agree. The PV is alive. It has a lot more action in it than in the previous one. And it features Eggs as back-dancers, which is also a plus and adds up to en-living the PV up. So the PV itself features Erina coming through different summer-ish experiences, probably that’s why the song is called “Hajimete no Keiken” – which means roughly “First Experience(s)”. Next on the list, of course Mano piano – just like in anything else, she also plays the piano here, but with other expression, it’s much more like having-fun face, and not her usual really-concentrated one, which is, I suppose, also an improvement. As for the song itself, Erina as always sings in her cutey-pitched voice(which I personally like) and which sounds better and better with each single. The music is an up-beat, and as for the lyrics – they’re pretty cycled up, with some sprinkles of fully-fledged verses, but overall it’s really catchy.

So that’s I think pretty much everything I can say if dried-up. As for feelings… [fan-boy-mode] Manoeri rullz and no Ayaya can stop her!!![/fan-boy-mode] Ahem.. so now I probably angered lots of Ayaya fans, my apologies.

Thanks for your time.

Berryz Koubou – Dakishimete Dakishimete(+PV preview)

Hello! Finally I was able to watch this PV, but before the preview itself, I’ll just tell you what we are dealing with.

This PV is made for Berryz Koubou 19th single “Dakishimete Dakishimete”(roughly translated “Hold me tight Hold me tight”) which is to be released on 11th of March, followed by Single V which is to be released on 18th of March. Main vocals here are Risako and Miyabi, with Risako being the center(as it happens most of the time) and Miyabi finally coming back from the back row, where she was put (as some suppose) because of that scandal we all are aware of.

The covers are pretty small, but you can see something on them, so I’ll put them here also.

Limited Edition

Regular Edition

As you see – this is something different from the usual Berryz Koubou style. As for my own preferring – I like the regular edition cover more, though the limited one is still great.

You can pre-order the single at HMV(LE – RE – SV) Yesasia(LE – RE – SV) and CDJapan(LE – RE – SV).

Though keep in mind, that if you want actually to support your favorite group in Oricon Ranking – don’t choose Yesasia if you can, because purchases from this shop are not counted by Oricon statistics.

But that’s not all of the fun – couple of days ago, at Dohhh UP! site the PV for the single was uploaded. And it was of course re-uploaded to youtube by the fans. I’ll stick the youtube embed into this post for your convenience and thanks to the uploader. Also you can go - here - to watch it on Dohhh UP!(and there’s lots of other interesting videos there). Oh and there’s always my VodPod, on the right hand of the screen.

Now let’s go on to the PV itself.

Okay, I already knew how great it was, because I’ve read some reviews. But I couldn’t watch it myself because my Internet was too slow to handle Dohhh UP! but when I was able to watch it, I loved it from the very beginning. I don’t think I’m able to write up an adequate preview now, because I really loved this PV, but I’ll try. First of all the theme setting of this PV is some kind of a night club, with girls being either DJs or the ones that dance on the floor. The song itself is an upbeat with an interesting rhythm in it. The dance is more mature and sexy than Berryz Koubou had ever done, which is a huge plus and a huge step forward to them. I hope that this new style will be kept up further. The costumes are keeping up with the general theme and I must say that they are simply great. Maasa and Saki wear hats and Maasa’s haircut makes her look completely different from her ordinary style, both look great. Momoko‘s costume somewhat resembles one of Buono! style costumes. Chinami and Yurina have great haircuts, Yurina has this huge hairdo that looks good on her and Chinami has a short haircut brushed to the side – which, like in Maasa‘s case, gives her a totally new feel(it reminds me a bit their look from last Berryz Koubo Gekiharo titled ‘Berryz vs Berryz’). Risako is cute as always, whatever she wears. And Miyabi is also wearing a hat with short hairdo and green shirt. Overall – the costumes are in dark tones, with no strange color patterns and look perfect. There’s nothing to say about the PV itself, though I must admit that it looks a lot more expensive with  all those lasers, turntables, huge speakers etc. But as always – it’s a plain dance-shot, close-up, main-shot sequence.

Now that’s enough with the dried-out preview and on to my own emotions. As I said – I love it! It’s great! And as a totally new thing in whole Berryz Koubou history – it’s even greater. And it really shows that girls grew-up and matured. I just hope that this whole concept will be sustained through all the rest singles that are to come.

Thanks for your time.

Buono! – Co.no.mi.chi PV

Hello! PV for Buono!’s upcoming single was released, though I somehow missed it out. Anyways – to fill that news gap, I will stick the PV here. And it’s been released on Dohhh UP! – so you can go there, to watch the PV in full non-youtube quality (it’s not much better, but it’s somewhat better compared to youtube).

So basically this PV, like the rest of others doesn’t feature anything new. It’s the same ol’ blue(or green) screen room – and this time the theme is – girls going along the road (by the way – the title is translated this road – or Th.is.ro.ad if you follow the style), then they are walking along the beach etc. it’s somewhat featuring the progression of life, and discovery of new things along the way. The dance parts look interesting – but I prefer looking at them closer either in Dance-shot PVs or in live performances. As for the music, pretty catchy and nice. And I really like the vocals here. Even though some of the fans feared that Tsunku-san will spoil the music – I think that he did just fine, though this time Buono is a bit more pop-ish, but I think it’s normal to try out some different styles, before settling on one and only. I really hope that Buono! will be with us for some more time.

Thanks for your time.

Kusumi Koharu – Hapi☆Hapi Sunday.

Hello! The single is to be released on 4th of February and the PV was made available today at Dohhh UP! So if you want – you can go there and watch it in good quality, or if you don’t – then I’ll stick the PV into my vodpod(from youtube) and I’ll put it here. Enjoy.

Thanks to the uploader, and of course thanks to Dohhh UP!

Now then, what can I say about the PV… Not very much, because the PV is typical Kusumi Koharu stuff and I’m not really the target audience of this, so I think it’s good from the real targeted audience point of view. As for the music itself, it’s the thing that suits well Koharu’s voice. Though this time it’s a bit more boring than Papancake was, but I liked this more than Tan Tan Taan. Overall – like I said, I’m not the targeted audience for this, so I can’t say “I just love it”, let’s just say that I don’t hate it. Koharu seems to enjoy what she’s doing, so I think it’s good for her.

Thanks for your time.

News batch 1

Hello! I decided to make collective news batches instead of creating a new name for it every time I write such posts. But since I decided it only today – this batch is the first one. And there’s a lot of news there I must tell you.

First of – Buono’s new single Lotta’ Love Lotta’ Love already has a PV preview and full radio preview. I’ll embed PV here too – thanks to Gon from JPH!P forum for pointing this one out.

Now personally – on one hand – I like this pv. It’s cute, the dance is great also. But on the other hand – I don’t really like this change in Buono!’s style. And then again – I like it. These controversial feelings fight with each other really viciously, but the total feeling is that I like this unit anyway and whatever they do – this won’t really change this. The next sing that really popped into my eyes is that the song itself really doesn’t fit into this PV. A lot of guitar riffs, rock feeling in this song is pretty strong and the PV is too cute to support all this. But then again – if you look at it from another angle. What we see here is typical black and white balance – cute pv opposed to heavy rock-ish sound.

Okay – without further hesitation I think I’ll also post covers here.

Thanks to tiny from JPH!P forum and to natalie.mu we now have pretty big covers.

Limited edition.

Regular edition.

I like these both. Though then again – they have different feeling to them since Buono! image changed.

You can preorder this single’s regular edition if you click here, here or here. And limited – here, here and here. It is to be released on 12th of November.

Also we now have a little sneak-peak at Momoko’s new photobook.

This is not much, but something’s better than nothing anyways. It is to be released on 21st of November. If you want to preorder it then go – here.

And Reina’s photobook “Very Reina” which was released on 24th of October already has a lot of fan-photos and stuff like that – I think you can find it yourselves. But in case you want to buy this photobook – then you can go here.

And just to tease you off – cover of this photobook.

By the way – a bit later(on 29th of October) dvd titled Real Challenge!! with Reina will also be released.

You can preorder it here.

There’s also message from Tanaka Reina on Dohhh UP! To see it – click here. And also on Dohhh UP! – previews of DVD – here.

That’s pretty much all the news for today. Thanks for your time.

Mr.Children – Hana no Nioi. PV, lyrics, translation.

Hello! Today I’m going to get off my main blog theme(H!P news and stuff that is) and post a little something I liked very much.

As you may know, Mr.Children’s new album which is called “Supermarket Fantasy” is to be released on 10th of December. “Hana no Nioi” is in this album, and it will be also available as digital download. The PV has been already released. I will embed a youtube video here – so you don’t have to look for there(but you may as well look it up in any other place you like). Credits go to the person posted the video I’m going to upload. Because he also posted lyrics for this song, but I’ll carry on about lyrics a bit later.

This PV truly touched my heart from the very beginning. And later on, when I translated the lyrics and undertstood it even more – it moved my heart even further. This is a very beautiful song. And the PV is five minute long packed with extra enformation animation. I’m sure I won’t be able do grasp every “layer” of this extra information. So I think I’ll leave this to you. And to help you with it, I’ve translated the lyrics of this song. And I will share it with you. And I will be really grateful if you give credits to me or my blog if you will use these.

Kanji lyrics

Mr.Children – 花の匂い
届けたい　届けたい
届くはずのない声だとしても
あなたに届けたい

ありがとう　さよなら
言葉では言いつくせないけど
この胸にあふれてる

花の匂いに導かれて
淡い木漏れ日に　手をのばしたら
そのぬくもりに
あなたが手をつないでいてくれてるような気がした

信じたい　信じたい
人の心にある　温かな奇跡を信じたい

信じたい　信じたい
誰の命もまた誰かを　輝かすための光

永遠のさよならをしても
あなたの呼吸が私には聞こえている
別の姿で　同じ微笑みで
あなたはきっとまた　逢いにきてくれる

どんな悲劇に　埋もれた場所にでも
幸せの種は　必ず植わってる
零れた落ちた涙が　じょうろ一杯になったら
その種に水を撒こう

人恋しさを　メロディーにした
口笛を風が　運んでいったら
遠いどこかで
あなたがその目を細めて聴いている

本当のさよならをしても
温かい呼吸が私には聞こえている
別の姿で　同じ眼差しで
あなたはきっとまた　逢いにきてくれる
(Credits to mrchildren888 for posting them with the PV)

Romaji lyrics

Todoketai todoketai
Todoku hazunonai koe datoshitemo
Anata ni todoketai

Arigatou sayonara
Kotoba dewa iitsukusenai kedo
Kono mune ni afureteru

Hana no nioi ni michikarete
Awai komore bi ni te o nobashitare
Sono nukumori ni
Anata ga te o tsunaide itekureteru youna ki ga shita

Shinjitai Shinjitai
Hito no kokoro ni aru atatakana kiseki o shinjitai

Shinjitai Shinjitai
Dare no inochi mo mata dareka o kagayakasu tame no hikari

Eien no sayonara o shitemo
Anata no kokyuu ga watashi niwa kikoete iru
Betsu no sugata de onaji hooemi de
Anata wa kitto mata ai ni kite kureru

Donna higeki ni umareta basho ni demo
Shiawase no tane wa kanarazu uwatteru
Kobareta ochita namida ga jyuuroippai ni nattara
Sono tane ni mizu o makou

Hito koishisa o merodii ni shita
Kuchibue o kaze ga hakonde ittara
Tooi dokoka de
Anata ga sono me wo hasomete kiite iru

Hontou no sayonara o shitemo
Atatakai kokyuu ga watashi niwa kikoete iru
Betsu no sugata de onaji manazashite
Anata wa kitto mata ai ni kitekureru
(I made this myself)

And translation of the whole text.

Mr.Chlidren – Smell of flowers.

I want to tell I want to tell
But my voice doesn’t reach you
I want to tell you

Thank you, good bye
With words I can’t describe
What’s going on in my heart

The smell of flowers lead me
To the place where sun shines through the leaves of trees
And if I stretch my arm
To this warmness of the sun
I feel as if you once again take my hand

I want to believe I want to believe
That inside humans heart there is still place for warm miracles

I want to believe I want to believe
That someone’s life is still a leading light for someone.

Even though we said good bye, which will last for an eternity
I can still hear your breath
You look different, but you have the same smile
I know that once again you came to see me

Whatever tragedy is wherever buried
After all, definitely becomes a seed for happiness
My falling tears can fill up a bucket
Which I will take to water the seed with

Melody of loneliness
Is carried by the whistling of the wind
To far place eye can’t see
Where you will hear it and smile again

We said god bye to each other for real
But I can still hear your breath
You look different but you have the same smile
I know that once again you came to see me
(This is my translation)

Feel free to comment on the translation, any comments are welcome. That’s it for now.

I find this picture really interrelated with one part of the lyrics plus it’s related with the current season – so I decided to put it here also. And it’s taken from innocent-world.org where you can find a lot more Mr.Children stuff.

Thanks for your time.

End of September update

Hello! I’ve been away for a bit and now I have some news to share. First of all – you may already know that Berryz Koubou new single is to be released on 5th of November. You may also know that its first supposed title was “Sakura” but we now know that its real title will be “Madayade”There’s no more information on this since it’s pretty far away for now.

Next news – there’s already a full PV version of MilkyWay’s Tan Tan Taan. It was made available at Dohhh UP! You can click – here and watch it from Dohhh UP! But if you prefer youtube more – I’ll embed it here for your convenience.

As I’ve said – I like this song and I like this PV, though they are less catchy than MilkyWay’s previous single, but it’s great nevertheless.

Tsugunaga Momoko‘s yet untitled photobook has been announced a while ago. No new information available. There will be two releases – photobook+dvd making of(on 21 of November) and a separate dvd(on 3rd of December).

I think that’s pretty much everything for now.

Thanks for your time.

Morning Musume – Pepper Keibu PV

Hello! This was made available about two days ago, but somehow I managed to watch it only now. After wathcing the full and hq version of it I understood that I don’t like it that much. I think that it is weaker than Resonant Blue and a lot weaker than some of previous Morning Musume releases. Somehow I’m again thinking about “generation change” in H!P that we’ve heard of. Though maybe this song will grow up on me after couple of listens.

What I like about the PV itself – the costumes. Though I couldn’t catch a proper glimpse of them, because Dohhh Up! version, after all is not that great in quality. But costumes are good.

The concept of the PV is similar to the Resonant Blue it’s a dance shot with some close-ups. I think that more vesrsions of it will come as soon as Single V or maybe an Even V dvds will be released.

The PV starts of with an old-tv-like picture and sound that is similar to that of original times of the song(60-70ies – I don’t actually remember now when it was). And at some point it goes off to a more modern video and sound. I find this interesting, though at first time I had an idea that this was some kind of codec-malfunction and not an artistic touch to a PV. But overall first impression of the PV is not that bad that I though it could be. Once again – I think it will grow up on me and I start to like it(as it happened with Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance).

I took some screenshots(41 of them to be exact) and I’ll put the best of the best from them.