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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