Another little update

This is just a short entry to keep you guys updated. Sorry for not updating at all this week. I guess for me it's been a bit of a slow news week.

That said, I do have a couple things to report.

First off, the blog now has a custom domain name, and can now be reached at www.berryzkyuuden.com. I'm hoping this will help my traffic as I get more return visitors, because it is shorter and easier to remember, I find, than the old URL. People say things like "I don't write for the views. I write because I want to write." Or something like that. And while that's partially true of me, I do want my words to be read by others. When people read my entries and comment on them, it gives me some feeling of accomplishment.

And on a not-too-distant note, I've also added a chatbox to the left. I hope it will make it easier to communicate with you all, as sometimes what you want to say isn't very relevent to the entry you may be commenting on. I encourage you to use it. Even if you just want to drop me a little "Hello." or something.

And finally, I've set up a new blog. Partly inspired by Shirow from Wotaku Now! when he created his second, Maimi-dedicated blog I Love My Maimi. But the main inspiration for it is explained in depth in the first entry. The new blog? A totally Maasa-dedicated blog known as The Church of Maasa. It's new and I haven't done much with it yet, but I look forward to working CoM as well as Berryz Kyuuden. Yorishiku onegaishimasu.

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Iida Kaori's son passed away

This news is a few days old by now, and I'm sure you've already heard it. But I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to post about this or not. It's hard to find words to say, to be honest. But I've decided to post about it afterall.

It was announced yesterday that former Morning Musume member Iida Kaori's son passed away at 6 months-old on July 27th, 2008 due to kidney failure.

Back in mid-2007, it was announced that she was 10-weeks pregnant and would be married to Kenji of 7House, a now defunct band formed by Tsunku. It was a shock, but everyone was happy and supportive. People were saying, "I'm sure she'd make a great mother." And then when she announced her son's birth on February 3rd, everyone was happy for her. We all assumed that the child was healthy. But it appears that immediately after birth the child was hospitalized due to kidney problems, and Iida spend alot of time in the hospital visiting her newborn baby. Her son was cleared and allowed to go home in April, much to everyone's relief I am sure. But his condition deteriorated and he died on July 27.

No one could have seen this coming. But the fact that they came out and told the media, and Kaori announced that she will return to work during the Winter Elder Club concert tour, shows that she has overcome at least some of the grief, and she says that by going back to work and singing, it will serve as some sort of personal memorial to the child. I was shocked when I read, and maybe I'm just a gossiper, as the first thing I did when I read it was to find the only person on MSN at the time (Hey, shwee!) and talk to her about it. There's no news like bad news. But it's difficult to find words to talk about it, I can't begin to imagine how the family would have felt about this. But I'll continue to support Kaori as her fan, and I know you all will too.

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Momo Beach

Before I go on. Let's just take a moment to enjoy that picture, shall we? I dunno what it is, but there's something so "eye-catching" about that picture. Nor am I particularly sure why I think it's so sexy. Perhaps it's one of those inner answers which requires deep meditation to discover. But I can wager a guess. Maybe it's the top she's wearing, which appears, at a glance, to be a little more revealing than it really is. Or perhaps I'm just falling in love with Momoko. It will go down as one of life's greatest mysteries.

That said, Momoko really is maturing, both physically and mentally, I bet. Although judging from her week of Yorosen, she's still as insane as ever, but it was more of an intellectual kind of crazy... Ah, who am I kidding? She's a kid (albeit about a year younger than myself). Even if I convince myself otherwise, or no matter who hard I try to rationalise my thoughts, it's still the case. (laugh)

So, Momoko's Photobook came out in the last week, I haven't seen any complete scans yet, but I look forward to seeing it. Going from the previews, this is likely to be her best photobook yet. Makes me wish I'd bought it, but alas, it wasn't on my wishlist at the time. Oh well, there's always time, I did buy the Yurina PB a full year after it's release. I'll maybe ask Santa to send me a copy. Hm... Do you think Santa is a Momo fan? He'd be a fool if he weren't a H!P fan, anyway.

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Family & Friends

Well, I'm sorry for not posting up the rest of the "Stories of a Collection" posts (although is anyone actually reading them?) but here's an entirely new post, and not something I've really talked about in the blog either.

By posting this here, I'm assuming that none of my family and friends actually read this blog. Oh sure, I've dropped the occasional hint, plugged my blog, whatever. But no bites. So I'm going to assume it's safe to say whatever I want.

So, what do these people actually think of my J-Idol "obsession"?

Well, let's start with my brother - some of you may know him as Azgaroth over at Hello!Online, I hear he's quite an active poster in the Reina thread. Anyway, I got into Morning Musume back in early 2007, which I've mentioned countless times before, I'm sure. At the time we shared a room, so I would be listening to Happy Summer Wedding, or whatever songs I was addicted to at the time, and he would sit there and complain about how crap it was. This was how things worked between us for several months. But one day, after having visited one of my friends, I returned home to be greeted with an all too familiar sound. Tou-san, kaa-san, arigatou! That sounds familiar indeed. Was I imagining things? Well, I stopped outside my bedroom door, and sure enough, it was coming from inside. Caught red-handed as it were, listening to the very song he had been calling "crap" for the last couple of months. Well, the rest is, as they say, history.

As for my parents... Well, when I first ordered my SEASONZ Photobook, my parents thought I was just wasting money, partly because they didn't actually understand what it was I was buying, but I'm sure if they actually knew, they would have been even more adamant in their "what a waste of money" way of thinking. I'm pretty sure they've kinda grown used to it by now. My mum even helped me make this poster;

That poster, created for me by Rina over at Musume-Central, took 9 A4 pages of glossy photo paper and about 2/3rds of my red ink to print. And my mum helped me stick all the sheets together, awful nice of her, don't you think? She probably doesn't have a clue who they are, but she thinks it turned out quite nicely. I agree. Don't you? Thank you Rina, if you're reading this. It turned out great. I know you were asking about it for weeks until I got around to printing.

My Gran said something interesting to me yesterday. She said that while out shopping she had "seen a jigsaw in the shop with a picture of a Japanese woman on it". I found this interesting because it means people around me assume that just because I like Japanese idols and dramas, that sorta thing, that I'd be interested to know or see anything remotely related to Japan. In some cases this may or may not be true, but what does it say about me when my family just assume that? Oh well.

Also, going back to the Berryz Koubou Photobook, SEASONZ... Which I'll talk about in an upcoming "Stories of a Collection" entry. My aunt said something not long after it arrived. I showed her it, (which she looked through back-to-front. Right-to-left, people!) and she made a strange off-hand comment which was "I can understand Japanese people buying that, but not here." At the time I didn't think much of it to question further, but afterwards I realised what she'd said. What did she mean by that? I fear I'll never know.

As for friends, I tend to just avoid talking about it with them. One friend (known by us all as "Cazi") said said countless times before that "J-Pop all sounds the same". Is he mad? Considering he is a fan of anime, you'd think he'd have a little more respect for the J-Pop genre. Oh well.

And another friend, he hates Japanese idols and the entertainment industry as a whole, for some reason. Claiming that Japan are about 10 years behind in their music? I don't think so. Despite that, he's probably a model example of "Yellow Fever". It's quite sad really.

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Hello!Project - Stories of a Collection! [Part II]

So, following the concert, I'd been propelled down the path to Berryz fandom, and ultimately wotagei. And I had decided that my next purchase would be dedicated to my new favourite Hello!Project group. And my chance came when the Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance previews came out. I instantly fell in love with it, and the PV just increased that sheer volume of win.

So I bought a couple of CDs...

That's right. Jingisukan and Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance. Argueably the best singles Berryz have done to date (although I do love MADAYADE). So let's talk about Jingisukan first.

Jingisukan was the first Berryz song I can remember hearing, no doubt I'd listened to them before, but I was still new to H!P at the time, and was still getting used to Morning Musume, I didn't pay the Kids groups much attention at all. But I do have a feeling that the first song I ever heard was Happiness ~Koufuku Kengai!~. But on to Jingisukan! There's really not much to hate about the song, it may be a cover but for some untangible reason, that made it feel even greater (and ultimately lent itself to the tarutaru mix, which I've posted about previously.) Of course, I was disappointed at the number of lines Maasa got (2 solo lines?), but she did get the best costume in my opinion. I hear you, "Dran, you old fool, all of the costumes are the same!" That may be true. But don't you think that it looks best on Maasa? No? Well, I think so anyway. And look at that cover! That's clearly one of the reasons the single sold so well. You don't have to have even heard of Berryz Koubou before to look at that CD cover in a store and think, "This looks pretty cool. I buy it and see what it's like!" The red, flaming background? The cute, smiling Japanese girls? I know lots of people who would buy the single just because of that cover... As shameful as it is to admit that.

Then there was the PV... Or rather multiple PVs. They were so much fun and so colourful. And seeing all those Elementary school kids spinning like mad wota during those wide-shots... It almost brings a tear to your eye. The next generation of wota, y'know? Actually, this raises an interesting question. I wonder how many of those kids were actually Berryz fans. And how many became fans after they got to be in the music video? Lucky kids anyway, regardless of wether they are fans or not. But my favourite version was the Mongolian Dance Shot Ver. I'm not sure why. I've heard a few people say it was the worst one. I guess the costumes just won me over. And the dance. It's simple enough that even I can follow it. How many of you actually know the dances to Hello!Project songs? Do you dance along? I try to, and ultimately fail every time. I've damn near got Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba down though. (wahahaha!)

Anyway. I seem to have been focusing alot on the visual side. So as for the song itself. The lyrics are insanely catchy. ("Jin Jin Jingisukan!") The melody will be hummed around the house all day. ("Hey brother, hoo brother") And you'll definately feel like dancing. Of course, there's the usual issues with the lines being spread out. Or rather not-spread out as Risako seems to get all the lines. Now Risako is awesome and has a great voice, but as a Maasa wota, I want the best for Maasa! Hear that UFA? More Maasa! (L-O-V-E Lovely Maasa-chan!)

Anyway, at the start of this entry I began by talking about Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, lets go back to it, shall we?

After Monkey Dance was announced, I was looking forward to the previews with much anticipation. And when the previews came around, I loved it. I decided there and then that I wanted to buy it. Pre-ordered early, and recieved it the day after release. I, and many others, felt our prayers had been answered when halfway through the PV we see the girls in the infamous Monkey outfits. Those outfits sold the single to some folks I know, where others were put off by it and saw it as nothing more than a gimmick. But gimmick or not, it did what it intended to do, take everyones mind off what was essentially a very low-budget PV and make them just enjoy the show. If you get into the economics of wether UFA are spending enough on the PV, you stop enjoying it and start complaining about it. And Monkey Dance proved that even with a small pocket of cash, they can still produce something great. (Easily the H!P PV of the year, and if you're a Musume-Central member you'll know what I mean when I say that it'll get my vote.)

During the song Maasa got 6 solo lines. I kind of credit this song to the rise in Maasa's popularity as around this time, Maasa become one of the most featured members on Berikyuu! No complaints there, eh? And, even though Risako was still perhaps the center, Maasa and Chinami really stood out during the PV. Although Saki seemed to have been nerfed as usual. But you win some, you lose some. She did get more heavily featured in MADAYADE's PV, anyway. So all's well that ends well.

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Hello!Project - Stories of a Collection! [Part I]

Well, the 7th was pay day for me, and so the first thing I did was put in my order for several H!P releases that are either just out or bordering on release. Just thought I'd make a little entry to talk about the H!P goodies I've bought over the last 2 years.

Well... I say 2 years, but I didn't actually buy anything until the start of this year when I got my very first Concert DVD and H!P item. Hello!Project Winter 2008. This was an expensive first purchase, but worth every penny I spent. (I believe it consumed the remainder of the money I had "requisitioned" over Christmas) 4 Discs. (Wonderful Hearts, Elder Club, Haro!Pro awards, and bonus backstage footage), and the Wonderful Hearts concert instantly became my favourite concert. I've not enjoyed watching a concert before, nor since, WH Winter 2008. And it's probably the one I've seen the most often too (barring, perhaps, Berryz Koubou Summer 2007 ~ Welcome! Berryz Kyuuden, from which my blog's name so creatively lends itself to). I'd already been somewhat of a Berryz fan before it, so I enjoyed seeing most of what Berryz performed. And the M-C which featured Maasa, where she seemed to make some humerous remark about Makoto. (If anyone has a translation of that, I'd be deeply appreciative if you shared it.) But after seeing the performance of EVERYDAY! Yeah feat. Saki, AriKanna and MaiMai ... That sent me down on the path to C-ute fandom as well. I guess I owe Tsunku my undying gratitude for that song and Ookina Ai de Motenashite. Well... And damn near every other song he has written for H!P.
Also, the Risako / Sayumi performance of Robokiss was just filled with win. I'm not even that great a Risako fan (and in fact hated her when I first watched this), but despite that I loved it. I've heard people saying things like "they should have left that song alone" and "W were much better". But I'd like to announce here that these murder accusations are false! It was a great performance and, in my opinion (keeping in mind that I AM a 4th Gen fan) it was just as good as, if not better than, some of W's performances of the song. Lots of cute facial expressions from Sayu and I love the costumes. I haven't seen their duo in the Summer concert yet, because it has yet to be shipped, but I'm hoping it will be as good as the Robokiss performance.

The Elder Club concert I watched afterwards, and that may or may not have affected my judgement. But I didn't enjoy it quite so much. While I love OG as much as the next guy, and Yossy remains my favourite Morning Musume member to date, I thought the concert just wasn't as fun as Wonderful Hearts. I hade to use this word, but it lacked that energy that WH had - the X Factor, if you will. But we got to see Yuki Maeda, so no regrets. Mind you, knowing that this concert is one of the last times we'll see some of these Elder Club girls, perhaps I'll give it another chance. It's just a little dissapointing that it took the announcement of Elder Club mass graduations to make me say that.
That said, some performances I really enjoyed. Abe Natsumi's Iki wo Kazenemashou is one of my favourite songs by her, and this had me singing along like a 12-year old watching High School Musical. There wasn't enough Yuko in the concert, though. A complaint we've heard countless times before, I'm sure. But still true. And while I'm talking about her, don't you guys think that Yuko only gets more and more beautiful as she gets older. There's no way she doesn't have a boyfriend. She or UFA are probably just keeping it secret because it's not really the character she developed in her time as an idol as that "Beauty who can't seem to find the right guy..." You heard it here first.

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Layout Update

Just a quick entry to tell you guys about the new look of the site.

Some of you may have noticed last month that the place changed a little. Namely the position of the side-bar switched from the right to the left. This was just the first part in a (hopeful) number of changes being made to the look of the place. But now, as you can see, the banner is gone and has been replaced with an entirely new one (courtesy of Liamers over at Mayuge Madness) and a new colour scheme to match.

I changed, mostly because the colours of the old look were really starting to bore me, and I wanted a bit of a change. And since white technically isn't a colour, it can't be a boring one. Also, this new theme provides a lot of room for future updates to the look, where as the old theme was fairly static and there wasn't much I could really do with it. And I do have a few ideas for the future, I hope I can one day put them into practice, but for now... Please bear with me as I tweak the font colours, etc. And please look forrward to anything the future may bring!

Finally, I'd like to ask you for your feedback, anything you want to see or colours that you think would compliment the theme.

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LIFE: It's all about the bullies

Have you ever been bullied? No? Well I have, and I'm sure most of you reading this have been the victim to (or cause of) bullying at some point in your lives, albeit at work or school or even at home.

LIFE (or ライフ) is a story about bullying. The TV Drama was based on a manga of the same name by Keiko Suenobu. And it's not an average High School drama, in that this has slightly darker themes and plots than some may be used to with other dramas, and as such, is probably aimed at a slightly older audience. The focus is on bullying, but it does touch on themes such as suicide, rape and domestic violence.

The drama follows Shiiba Ayumu (Kii Kitano) who tries to get into Nishiko High School along with her friend Yuko, whom she calls Shii-chan. But because her studies are weak, she asks Yuko to help her study for the entrance exam. But when the time comes, she scores higher and passes the exam. Yuko, however, fails to meet the requirements and is not accepted into Nishiko. She blames the time wasted helping Ayumu for her failure, and fails to commit suicide after running in front of heavy traffic.

When school starts, she tries to avoid people, thinking it best because she would just end up hurting them, but Anzai Manami (Saki Fukuda) quickly tries to befriend her. However, after an incident between Ayumu and Manami's boyfriend followed by her refusal to join in the bullying makes Ayumu the victim herself. She only finds hope and the will to fight the bullying from her friends Hatori Miki (Megumi Seki) and Sonoda Yuki (Takahiro Hojo), even where the teachers and other students turn a blind eye to what is really happening.

I loved this drama. It really succeeded in getting strong emotions from me as I watched. You begin to feel for the characters and during those scenes where Ayumu is in danger, for example in the scene when they try to force her to swallow needles, you feel as scared and worried for her as she is. You may even find yourself talking to yourself while watching. I sure did. "Just fight them back! Just punch her!" Yeah. I'm sure I said those things. I think this shows that the story was well-written and adapted and the characters were portrayed very well.

And as a side note: don't you think that Manami (the girl in the center of the picture, at the top of this entry) bears some resemblance to Miyabi from Berryz? Maybe it's the hair. Or maybe it's just me. But I was thinking this throughout the drama. Almost distracting really.

The one thing I didn't like about this drama was the end. (I won't say anything about what happened. Find out for yourself!) Don't get me wrong, it was a great ending, but it felt incomplete. It felt like there should have been more. I wish there was more. A second series would have been great, because it felt like the writers got a little lazy towards the end and decided to just wrap it up where they had it and hand it over to the director.

And on that note, I think I'll wrap up this entry here too. I'd give this drama an 8/10 - spoiled only by the half-baked ending. But I reccomend everyone of you to go watch it. And if you are interested, you can stream the series from here.

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What happened to Berryz Kyuuden?

Well, I'm slightly dissapointed in myself, to be perfectly honest. Last month was looking to be my most active month yet with 6 entries by the 14th. Then I stopped. Even despite the ocean of great topics I could have written about. So I'd like to appologise to those who actually read this blog (that's right! All 3 of you!) for the inactivity over the last fortnight. But I'll work to update, and make this month even better than what I hoped for last month!

Anyway. Last week, I was in London at the London Games Festival, went to see Video Games Live on the 24th. Sadly it was the only event I had the chance to go to, as my train was leaving the morning after. But it was brilliant. And if there are any fans of games reading this, be sure to come next year if you weren't there this year. I may post about that when they announce the tour dates for the 2009-2010 tour.

Anyway, back to the world of Japanese Idolling. As I'm sure everyone is aware by now, all of Elder Club will be graduating from Hello!Project next year. I was incredibly annoyed when I heard the decision, but after a couple of hours, I started to see that it's a great oppertunity for Hello!Project. With all of those low-selling obaachan out of the way, it makes way for a cleaner, fresher H!P image. And with Berryz Koubou and C-ute growing ever more popular, these two groups can benifit a great deal. Without having to worry about Elder Club groups, wota will have more spare cash in their pockets to spend on the more important units. The Wonderful Hearts. During the Second World War, Stalin purged the Red Army of alot of it's commanding officers, for greater control over the Army. That seems to be similiar strategy to what UFA are using, but in a more Corporate form. Purge all the Senpai and there'll be no-one to complain about how things are better in the Golden Era right? This is the Golden Era, I wager. Bigger budgets for these groups almost always results in bigger sales. And with Berryz and C-ute already breaking into their own Golden Eras... Think how much higher all these units can climb! The sky's the limit in the world of JPop.

I have so many new releases to buy too. But I'm broke at the moment, what with the London trip, and then some other things I've bought on top of it all. I've nothing left. I get paid next week however, so I'll have to order this years Wonderful Hearts Summer concert then, as well as MADAYADE and perhaps I'll throw in C-ute's upcomming single in there too. This year has been such a big year for releases it isn't even funny. I'll get my hands on it all some way or another. Also; I'm still waiting for my Maasa shirt to be sent. But Ohta did say it could take up to 4 weeks before he even gets it. So I guess he should have it by next week. I'll be sure to share a picture or two when it arrives.

So...

I'm back!

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What is the future of Morning Musume?

"What is the future for Morning Musume?"

A question that a lot of people are asking, and have been for quite some time. And now, without their weekly midday TV show, after it, along with Berikyuu, was replaced with the new show Yorosen last week, the question is more relevent than ever. These are some of my opinions and predictions on the matter...

Yorosen could either rekindle that dying flame that some would call Morning Musume as it is exponentially more interesting than the Haromoni@ that so many people have complained about. Now, however, a lot of people are revealing the hypocrisy in their opinions after claiming that nothing could be worse than HM@, they say that they would rather HM@ or no show at all over the current Yorosen. I couldn't disagree with them more. HM@ drove me to boredom and I stopped watching it regularly a long time ago. Yorosen though, I have watched semi-religiously since it started, however (the same goes for Berikyuu, though). And I believe that the show is interesting enough to recieve a major lift in TV ratings over HM@ was. (For reference, in the last season HM@ was averaging around 1% and Berikyuu around 3%) The main problem is the time slot. Yorosen isn't quite necissarily too short, considering that all 5 days added together means the weekly airtime isn't much less than Haromoni@. But, unlike Haromoni@ which aired on a Sunday afternoon, Yorosen airs after midnight every weeknight. This surely means the number of possible viewers is much lower. But I'm sure they can pull through considering that Berikyuu was the same and still achieved higher ratings.

As you may be aware, Takahashi Ai is also about to star in a winter drama which will air from January 8 to March 12 on the NHK Broadcasting Network. I, and many others, see this as a great oppertunity for Ai-chan to get a little publicity. However, Cotton Cloth posted this at Musume-Central; "Presumably this is a prelude to graduation." which recieved a very skeptical response. But I agree with him. I've had my predictions for several months that Ai-chan will graduate at the end of the Morning Musume Spring 2009 concert. And after saying that I really want Ai to graduate* I got a lot of hate-comments. But this drama could very easily be the prelude to her graduation, perhaps she is trying to break from the idol image like so many other H!P artists have been doing and will try a career in acting.

*Note: I have nothing against Ai-chan, in fact, she's one of my favourite members of the current line-up. But she is very clearly exhausted, and has been in the group for 7 years now. By the Spring concert she will have been leader for 2 years. She can't keep up with the rest of the group for much longer. And I think it's in her best interests, and ours as fans, if she were to leave the group sooner rather than later. (If you disagree or have your own opinion on this then feel free to comment. But hatemail will be deleted.)

For the last few singles, sales figures have been fairly unstable as some sell over 55k and other's fail to reach 50. Despite that, every one of Morning Musume's singles have charted in the Top 5 in Oricron (barring Morning Coffee and Mikan). And with the still-fresh 8th Generation bringing new life into the group. Despite the group's decline, I think that Morning Musume still have a bright future yet. But please, Morning Musume (and the rest of Hello!Project) relies on you buying their singles. Even if you download the music from Hello!Online or some other place, I encourage you to buy some of the songs - even if it's only your favourite group/singles from time to time. The cause of the decline in H!P sales isn't anything to do with the quality, but the number of people who think "Why buy it when I can download it for free?" And yes. I have seen people talk like that.

So what are your views? Do you think that Morning Musume's future is as bleak as some would have us believe? Or is their really a silver lining to every dark cloud?

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"Hangry & Angry" Rocking the World

Well, this is shocking news. It's just been revealed that former Morning Musume members Yoshizawa Hitomi and former Biyuden leader Ishikawa Rika will be teamed up in a brand new Hello!Project Unit.

Hangry & Angry, named after the Harajuku gothic-lolita fashion store which the new unit seems to be promoting, are a very interesting unit. Not because of the members, as an IshiYoshi unit is something alot of fans have been begging for for quite a while.

No, what is interesting about this unit is the style. The Punk-Rock feel to, not only the costumes, but their debut single Kill Me Kiss Me makes this unit feel very fresh and original. I think it's safe to say that this is something UFA have never tried before.

The song carries with the style very well. And fans of the Punk genre can really get into this. I'm more of a Heavy Metal guy myself, but I'll settle with Punk-Rock. But this song really doesn't appeal to the usual market. A bigger market? Maybe. Maybe not. But I don't think alot of the more casual H!P fans will have quite so much interest in this song as the hardcore wota and Visual Kei fans.

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

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Jingisukan Tarutaru Mix - New PV

Earlier I was recommended a look at a new Jingisukan PV by a couple of people, including shwee who said "Maasa is center". My friends know me well. Anyway, I've checked it out, and I love it. The old PV we saw before with the dancing sheep was weird, and it may have been fun, but it was in no way a great PV - not in comparison to this one, anyway.

And indeed, just as I had been told, Maasa is the center of the PV as she takes the most prominant place at the top of the stairs, and with slight alterations to her costume to help match the original song by German pop-group Dschingis khan, she stands out the most in the video, despite being stuck at the back of the group.

What I love about this one is that it has a healthy combination of footage we have already seen from the various PVs (including the Mongolian Dance Shot ver. which happened to be my favourite version) of the original Berryz cover, as well as some performance footage from the original german Dschingis Khan versions. Also included is some brand-new footage which is very simple and mimics the 1980's style of the original song and performance.

The dancing sheep that baffled, confused, and terrified us all also makes a re-appearance in this version, but this time in cartoon-form, which is significantly less terrifying than the old photo-realistic looking sheep used in the previous remix PV.

As for the song itself, I've already cast my opinions on that in a previous entry, and readers of this blog will hopefully remember the positive entry I made on it. But I'll say this, almost a month has passed this the single was released, and the song is as catchy as ever, and watching this PV will only put the weirdness of the song and video in your head for another 3 weeks, but it is still hard to fault such a great remix.

And on that note, here is the new PV.

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Yorosen : So it Begins

TV-Tokyo
月曜～金曜 (Monday-Friday)

テレビ東京「よろセン！」 (Yorosen)
※10/6（月）スタート！

月・火・木 - 24:53～25:00
水 - 25:13～25：20
金 - 25:53～26：00

Yorishiku Sensei (Yorosen) has just aired for the first time, you will probably find the episode on Hello!Online tracker or on YouTube within the next few hours. (And as soon as I find it, I'll embed it in this post). Those of you who have read my post on (or were already using) KeyholeTV may have been lucky enough to watch it live. If not, don't fall behind, find my previous post on Keyhole while you have the oppertunity and get the software (or anything better you find elsewhere). The broadcasting times are found above.

Don't read Japanese? Want to know what those times are in your respective time zone? Refer to this:

• Monday: Japanese (JST) - 24:53~25:00 | British (GMT) - 16:53~17:00 | US-Eastern (EST) - 11:53~12:00
• Tuesday: Japanese (JST) - 24:53~25:00 | British (GMT) - 16:53~17:00 | US-Eastern (EST) - 11:53~12:00
• Wednesday: Japanese (JST) - 25:13~25:20 | British (GMT) - 17:13~17:20 | US-Eastern (EST) - 12:13~12:20
• Thursday: Japanese (JST) - 24:53~25:00 | British (GMT) - 16:53~17:00 | US-Eastern (EST) - 11:53~12:00
• Friday: Japanese (JST) - 25:53~26:00 | British (GMT) - 17:53~18:00 | US-Eastern (EST) - 12:53~13:00

So. Now that you know. If you haven't seen the first episode already, and don't want any spoilers, don't read beyond this point.

It started with all of the Morning Musume members sitting in the classroom (apparently the theme of the show) at their desks chatting. When Reina, their sensei, walks in and a pretty sexy outfit that reminds me a little of the costume that Yuuko wore in the "Until the Bus Comes" skits. Anyway, she came in and introduced herself. And then proceeded to start sticking things on the board. Cards with text on them I didn't understand. This episode needs a translation to be fully enjoyed. And I hope someone out there will translate. Without understanding what is on the board, the meaning of the entire episode was lost on me and will likely be lost on alot of other people.

Please, someone, translate these 3.5 minute shows!

(EDIT: I've found a copy of the video on YouTube. | EDIT2: Replaced with working subbed version.)

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Berikore! shirts to be owned.

Well, I just put my order into Ohta's store for the shirt you see above. It'll be my first Hello!Project shirt and I'm happy it'll be my favourite idol's one. Although I was tempted to go for Miyabi's instead, for the sole reason that I liked the colour.

If you're interested in ordering one too, you can find them on Ohta's store here. But be fast, if you try after October 9th it'll be too late, as he'll have already sent away for the order.

I'm looking forward to recieving mine. And I'm sorry that this entry wasn't very interesting. But there are two pretty Maasa pics up above to keep you parasites happy.

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Berryz Koubou go head to head!

I've just learned about something spectacular.

Something that will change my world forever.

Berryz Koubou will be appearing in a new Stage Play in November. A play that, interestingly, has been titled 「Berryz工房　VS　Berryz工房」. Clearly such a confrontation, Berryz clashing with none other than themselves, would be so sweet - triple coated in a thick layer of pure win - that it would melt the eyes of anyone to even look at it with the simplistic awesomeness.

Surely, anyone who goes to see this play live will return home a changed man. And I envy anyone lucky enough to be in Japan during the 12 days that it is being performed. Now the Video Games Live concert which I'll be going to see in London on the 24th of October (anyone else going? Drop me a letter) seems pointless, and I've been looking forward to it for about 3 months now. Anyone want to switch places? I'll even sell you my arm (just not the right one - I need that one). In fact, if there happens to be any form of Handshake event happening at the same time I'll throw in my leg too.

I hear you. "Dran. What are you talking about. No play, Berryz or not, will ever be awesome enough to warrant limb-selling." Well, I'm easily hyped about something I love. And I love Berryz. And if the play is anywhere near as good as their 2006 play then I have every reason to be as excited about it.

"Which is stronger?
Which is prettier?
Which is bitterer?
Which is more beautiful?
Which is right?
But
Who is who?"

And for those that haven't seen their previous stage-play (shame on you!), I've embedded it into this post for you (you'll need VeohTV to watch the full video)... Right here:

Watch [MMIF] Berryz Koubou - Edo Kara Chakushin ~Time Slip to Kengai~ (Subtitled).avi in Entertainment Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

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Kumai Yurina's Moon Diary

Yurina Kumai
Uploaded by artisttong

I just found this excellent Kumai Yurina OPV, titled "Moon Diary - The Power of Perfect Circle".

This OPV is simply beautiful, there are no other words to describe it.

The video, itself, is about 2 years old, so there isn't any up-to-date footage included. And most footage seems to come from the 2002-2005 era. So we get to see lot's of video and pictures of Yurina (and the other girls) looking quite young, and very cute.

It starts off with a brief interlude, stating that the OPV was made for the creator's sister's birthday. Then at about 0:37 begins the introduction. With a "Yutta Factory Presents" and a beautiful nightscape view of Tokyo all lit up. The image dissapears briefly for a nifty animation with "Kumai Yurina"'s name in both romaji and kanji, and the nightscape returns with the title and a large, beautiful moon in the sky that wasn't in the previous image. The music fades, and the OPV begins. As the camera zooms in on a turqoise book labeled "Yurina's Diary" the music starts. The music is sung as beautifully as the lyrics. I wish I knew who and what the song was. If anyone knows, be sure to drop a comment. I'm dying to know. Anyway, inside the book reveals some pictures and "memories" of Hello!Project Kids. As well as brief footage from some Dramas such as Hotaru no Hoshi.

We are given a message from the notebook saying;

"I will do everything for my beloved group
So happy for growing up with Berryz Kobo"

And we are soon treated to footage of Yurina with each of the other member's in turn. Showing them as being good friends. This is the sweet and innocent Berryz that I miss. Despite that. I do look forward to seeing them mature and Berryz becoming a different group entirely. But it's nice to look back on the old days with a bit of nostalgia.

"With all these wonderful memories
I feel like I'm climbing a stairway to adulthood
..........I'm growing up......."

Anyway. I'll stop there. I just pointed out a few of my favourite moments from this extraordinary OPV. And it really was. Be sure to watch it. It's now one of my all-time favourite OPVs. And if Yurina wasn't already one of my favourite H!P members, she would be after seeing it.

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Jingisukan Tarutaru Mix

Well, it's been out for a while now. But I haven't posted in a while, and this is a good excuse to do so. As soon as I heard the remix, I fell in love with it. It was the last thing I expected. I expected something a little like the Special Generation remix, perhaps. And then it started and I was left in awe. That song wouldn't be at all out of place at some night-club/rave. It's also somewhat amusing listening to high-pitched (Yes, the pitch of the girl's voices now border on chipmunk) Berryz members singing, what is essentially a song aimed at kids, and then Dschinghis Khan come in with their significantly deeper voices and finish off a line, singing their own version which is essentially NOT a children's song.

Keep in mind that dance music isn't my preffered genre of choice. In fact, quite the opposite! I'm more of a Heavy Metal fan, to be honest with you.

And yet, I can't bring myself to hate this remix. Because it is probably even funner to listen to than both the original and the Berryz versions. And Jingisukan happens to be one of my favourite singles (I have a copy sitting on my desk beside me at all times.) I'm pretty sure alot of you are like that, hating dance music and the people who listen to it with a passion, but think this remix is great. Who-ever remixed this deserves commendation and should be given an honour by the Emperor himself - and yet at the same time, be locked away for crimes against humanity.

This is madness? Nay. This is Jingisukan.

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Chinami's Phone Stolen?

It's been a bit of a hot-topic in the Chinami thread at Hello!Online the last few days. I think I'll mention it here.

There are rumours going around now that Chinami's cellphone has been stolen, either some one deliberately stole it, or she lost it and someone picked it up. I'll let you be your own judge. Anyway. Wether or not this rumour is true is anyones guess. But the facts are that several unseen pictures have recently appeared on 2ch. Pictures featuring other members of Berryz and C-ute. The image quality seems fairly consistent with cellphone cameras. Some are noticably lower-quality than others, mind. But it does seem that a fan has managed to get Chinami's phone and has taken pictures from it's memory.

There's also a related rumour that the police have been involved in searching for the missing phone. Surely with modern technology it wouldn't be any real effort to locate a stolen cellphone?

Anyway, these are the pictures that I've seen:




There are more likely alot more of those around. The thing that worries me most is that someone stole her phone, there could have been anything on it. I've seen maybe a dozen photos uploaded, but that couldn't have been all the phone had. I suspect there were plenty more pictures that haven't been uploaded yet. And not to mention that Chinami's phone would likely have the other members' phone numbers stored.

Of course, we still can't be sure if the phone was actually stolen. But it's a worrying thought, no less.

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Berryz Koubou's 5(FIVE)

I'm a little slow making this entry, I know. But I've had my hands full with my other blog and college work. So just pretend you haven't heard any of this yet! (*smile*)

Anyway, Berryz Koubou's new album is out, and I've got it ordered (along with the new calendar - I was indecisive between the Berryz or the C-ute one - but I can't resist anything with Maasa on the cover). The album went up on the tracker a couple of days ago, and I downloaded it. After listening to it, it just moved up my wishlist. I planned to by it before I heard it. And I went and ordered it after listening.

The album is very different from most of Berryz usual work, in that most of the songs aren't as genki as Jingisukan or Monkey Dance. The songs are often much slower or maturer. There is still great genkiness in there, like CLAP! (which, by the way, is a perfect song for Yurina's voice. Love that song. Love that girl) But there are songs like BE which is a beautiful song, and definately my favourite song on the album - and probably near the top of my all-time favourite H!P songs list. It probably looks wierd up there with songs like Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance and Omoitattara Kichi Desse! but it's there.

And then we have the Special Generation remix at the end, which at first I didn't really like. I guess it's the natural reaction when a remix is made of a great song (I believe Special Generation is the highest-selling Berryz single to date). But after a couple listens I'm starting to get used to it. I do feel, however, that the intro and extro to the song are the best parts. The main body, while good and entertaining, has some very annoying parts to it. Don't expect an awesome remix to the already-awesome song, because you won't get it. But it is still fun to listen to it. So don't be hesitent to listen on my account.

These are song I look forward to seeing performed in the upcomming Berikore! concert DVD. Some more than others, but all of them are worthy of, and have the potential to be, great songs, great performances, and great fun!

I've uploaded 3 of my favourite songs from the album, ones that may best give some indication of what this will sound like to you, so please enjoy. And please support Berryz by purchasing the album.

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KeyholeTV

I recently discovered the wonders of Keyhole TV. A free program that allows people to watch LIVE Japanese Television absolutely free! I've been using it all week now, and I thought I'd blog about it here to share with you guys.

The software is simple and easy to use, even though it's in Japanese it doesn't take any knowledge whatsoever of the Japanese language to work, or to enjoy. The quality, however, isn't great. But when you get to watch your favourite Japanese TV Shows live for free, what's there really to complain about?

This week I've been watching Berikyuu with it, and just this afternoon I watched this week's Utaban! The novelty just doesn't wear off.

So I hear you asking, "Dran, how do I get this software?" And I'll tell you. The first thing is to download the installer, which can be found here. This should only take a few seconds to download with a broadband connection. Once done you simply install the file to your hard drive. Run the .exe file and a window will pop up with, hopefully, a number of buttons in the top half of the window and a list of channels in Kanji below. If not, make sure the button on the top-left says "Online". Click the button to log in, and hit the "Update" button. You should see the channels. If you can't read what the Kanji says, don't worry. If you click on a channel it should reveal a thumbnail picture and a brief description of the channel. These descriptions should provide the english name for the channel such as "TV Asahi" or "Fuji TV". Also, TV-Tokyo often appears near the bottom of the list with the description "tokyo12".

Once you've decided on a channel to watch, simply double-click and the client will begin streaming the video/audio-feeds.

However, you should remember that Japan is 9 hours ahead of GMT, so some of your favourite TV shows or animes may air at strange times for you.

If you know the broadcast times for any good shows, then please share them in the comments.

This is good software to catch the last episodes of Haromoni@ live. If you are free during the hours it broadcasts.

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Berryz Koubou's 18th Single!

Regular Edition:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PKCP-5129
Limited Edition [w\ DVD]
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PKCP-5127
Single V
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PKBP-5103

New Berryz Koubou Single. The release date has been announced as the 22nd of October. The Title, however, is still to be determined. The Single V, will also be released on the 5th of November. There is little more information out at the moment than this, but I'll try to keep you up to date on it.

It seems that the Kids units have been really busy. We've had new Singles from Berryz, C-ute and Buono! as well as the new Berryz album, 5 [FIVE], being announced. There's also the Spring concert which was one of the best concerts to come from Hello! Project yet, in my opinion. Although I do still prefer Berryz Kyuuden. As well as the upcomming concerts, and Berryz performing in South Korea. These are good times to be a H!P fan.

I can't wait to see what kind of song the new Single will be. And I'll be sure to post about it when the radio previews are out. Keep an eye out for that!

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Ongaku Gatas 3rd Single!

Well, there's good news and bad news...

The good news is that I've just got the radio rip for the upcomming Gatas single.

The bad news is it's awful. No, not the quality of the rip, but the quality of the song itself.

The song is like a Buono! song that, thankfully, never was, in my honest opinion. I keep hoping for a massive build up in tempo and suddenly catch me, so I can get over the rest of the really boring parts of the song... But it just never comes. The song feels like it should be fast and genki, but it just isn't. Even those pretty cool guitar riffs aren't doing anything for me. This song, honestly, makes me feel sleepy.

Don't believe me? Then have a listen for yourself:

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See what I mean? Not that a great song at all.

Then there's the fact that I hardly managed to pick out any voices as well. I heard voices, but they were just that. Voices. I really wasn't interested enough to pay any attention to who those voices belong to.

Perhaps the PV will be a little more exciting. I hope so anyway. For their sake.

But for those strange people reading this who actually liked that, then you can get it here from CDJapan for 1000yen. I won't be buying it, but you guys might.

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Buono! - Gachinko de Ikou

The PV for Buono!'s new single (that will make 4!) has been released on Dohhhup! So this post is dedicated to that video - which you can find at the top of this post.

The video starts out with the three girls sitting around a table in a darkened room wearing khaki-coloured suits. I guess this is supposed to create the look of a poker ring, and it does that just fine once you get past the fact that they are staring at a tower of Jenga blocks. The music finally begins with clips from that Dance Shot. And they've put away those old suits for something much more fitting to the Buono! image.

And it is here, for the first time, we get to see clearly Miyabi's new hair! I'm not sure if it was just for this PV, but I'd like to think that she'll keep it like this. Miyabi hasn't had her hair red since about 2004, and even then, it was closer to brown than it was to red. But this is a beautifuly redder colour. I'd even compare it with Kasumi from the Dead or Alive video game series, if they'd used a colour like that in the movie then the actress might have actually looked like Kasumi.

The song, itself, is fairly typical for this group. Very genki and catchy. When I heard the radio rips for the full song i listened to it all day, no joke. And those little yells in the background, "Sou da! Sou da!", really go a long way to making this a great song. You wouldn't believe it, but after you hear those you just think "This is a really fun song!"

I'll admit, I've liked all of Buono!'s songs from the moment I heard them, and it really doesn't end here as this was an instant favourite.

All I can really say is that if you enjoyed Buono!'s previous singles, then you'll like this. If you don't like them (shame on you!), then you probably won't like this much either.

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B.L.T.U-17 Sizzleful Girls

The new BLT is out today. And it seems they've already been scanned!

This issue of BLT features Berryz member Sudou Maasa, in Side A, and C-ute member Arihara Kanna, in Side B, among others.

As you can see, the pics are awesome and the girls are looking better than ever. I'll admit, I've yet to order my own copy of the magazine - I've been planning to since it was announced that Maasa would be appearing in it, but I just haven't had the money to spend on Hello!Project. :/

I hope I can get it soon, there are a few other H!P things that I'm hoping to get too. UFA sure know how to lighten a guys wallet.

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Morning Musume 37th Single!?

CD [Regular Edition]
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EPCE-5579

CD [w/ photo booklet, Limited Edition]
Includes bonus photobook plus bonus serial-numbered application card.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EPCE-5578

CD [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]
Includes bonus DVD plus bonus serial-numbered application card.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EPCE-5576

Single V DVD
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EPBE-5305

It seems Morning Musume are due to release their new single (that'll make 37!) on September 24th! This is all that has been announced at the moment. It's just been announced, it seems, so the name hasn't been decided yet.

I really wish they would decide on a name BEFORE announcing the single. It gives us something to identify it by, as opposed to "Morning Musume's new single".

For those brave souls out there, you may be ordering your copy as we speak; but I won't be. At least, not until I hear a preview first. Resonant Blue is one of the worst singles H!P have released in the last 3 years, in my opinion... And if this is anything like that I won't be buying a copy.

I leave it up to you, Tsunku. :)

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"Arihara Kanna Dating?" and "5 (FIVE)"!

The Japanese tabloud magazine, Bubka, has published an article (see pictures above) about C-ute member Arihara Kanna spotted going to the movies with Johnny's member Ryosuke Hashimoto. According to said article, they were spotted going to see Hana Yori Dango: Final together - a film starring fellow Johnny's member Matsumoto Jun.

The article does make clear, however that they only met for the movie. After the film ended, they went their seperate ways.

It seems it's C-ute's turn to get a bit of unwanted attention. I suspect that, like Miyabi's Scandal several weeks ago, this will be completely ignored by UpFront. This isn't the best way to go about it, but who can deny the fact that it worked? I have to say that following Miya's scandal, I did get that slightly betrayed feeling which I feel most of Berryz' fans got - even if they don't admit it. But after a while you just forget about it and move on. That's probably what will happen with Kanna too.

* * * * *

And on a slightly brighter note, Berryz Koubou's 5th full-length album has been confirmed!

The album, apropriately named 5 (FIVE), will be released on the 10th of September as Regular Edition and Limited Edition versions.

Like most Hello!Project releases, the Regular Edition will ship with a random Berryz photocard, and the Limited Edition will ship with a bonus DVD. This DVD will contain footage from the concert at Shinagawa Stella hall on July 21, 2008.

I'll try to keep you updated on these topics as best I can.

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Edo no Temari Uta II

Well, it seems that the latest C-ute single, Edo no Temari Uta II, is finally out. Have you all ordered it yet?

The song is really interesting, at first I really didn't like it, I thought it was a little too removed from their previous work, but I'm listening to it right now as I type and it really isn't so bad. It's still quite a mature song but does have a sound a little more consistent with a lot of other Hello!Project songs being released at the moment, such as High-King's Cinderella/Complex.

The one problem I have with this song is length, the A-Side only lasts for about 2:30, so it's a very short song - by H!P standards, anyway. So it reaches the end and leaves you thinking, "Was that it? That only lasted for about 10 seconds!"

The Coupling song, Wasuretakunai Natsu, is a much longer song in comparison - twice the length of the A-side. Wasuretakunai Natsu has a very differant sound. However it does sound rather familiar, as it's nothing new. The song sounds very similiar to alot of H!P songs and, sure, while it is differant, it certainly does have the same feel and will leave you thinking, "Haven't Buono! already sung this before?"

Anyway, here is the song Edo no Temari Uta II for your enjoyment.

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Morning Musume Concert Tour 2008 Spring - Single Daizenshuu

Well. Morning Musume's Spring concert is about to be released on DVD. It will be released on the 30th July! Have you all ordered your copy? No? Well hurry up! You've had over a month to do so!

For those of you who haven't been following the news very recently, Morning Musume's newest concert tour DVD, which features footage from the concert held in Tokyo on May 18th, 2008, will probably be one of the biggest Morning Musume concerts of the last couple of years. Definately the best since around this time last year when Yoshizawa Hitomi graduated with the 2007 Spring concert Sexy 8 Beat.

Why? Well, this concert has performances of every A-side track Morning Musume have ever released. No one can complain about this concert as their favourite single wasn't in the set. And, while it would be simply awesome to have a concert which included coupling tracks, such a concert would surely last for 4 hours. People complain about feature films lasting not as long as that, I really don't think many of you would have the attention span long enough to sit through such a concert. And then there's the girls, themselves. They do alot of singing and dancing, as you should well be aware by now, and you can see that they are normally quite exhausted by the end of a 1 and a half-hour concert. Can you imagine how exhausted they'd be with a 4-hour concert? Even the fittest idol has to give up at some point.

Anyway, I think this is probably the most promising, yet somewhat uninteresting (It doesn't take a creative genius to throw that one together - "Let's just have them perform everything!"), setlist I have seen yet.

So, as a little teaser before the concert is released and your copy arrives, take a look at this - the Resonant Blue performance from the concert (courtesy of Dohhhup! and YouTube);

Thank you for reading the very first (in hopefully a long series) of posts in this site.

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