Paris Japan Expo: Day One

After a little sightseeing and meeting up with Brian at the Eiffel Tower, we made our way to the FNAC store where we found about 3 dozen Japanese and local French fans queuing already. We got there before midnight, but some of the people at the front had been there since about 6pm after greeting Momusu at the airport. 

We sat down on the ground, behind a large group of Japanese fans and looked forward to the next 12 hours of queuing with a mix of dread and excitement. 

Time passed rather quickly at first. I got out my iPhone and would play some tunes - though ReiNa.than and chibilolli weren't pleased when we learned that I'd forgotten to put 10 My Me on my phone and couldn't play Moonlight Night for them. Some of the nearby Japanese fans saw me doing ROMANSU and got a chuckle out of it though, and for the next hour or two they would join in every now and again as we did the motions to various songs like Mikan. A real sense of camaradrie was there, among the 50 or 60 people, but that point, who were lining up overnight just to see Morning Musume - though there were fairly well-defined "groups" and not so much intermingling between them.

Random French people kept wandering by and, noticing the crowd, would approach our group and ask what we were doing. We'd tell them that we were waiting for the fnac store to open, and they would inquire who was going to be there. "Japanese pop group called Morning Musume", we'd tell them, and they would be slightly puzzled, but no less interested, by this revelation. Brian decided to pass the time this way and try to make friends by hailing people of the street with a hearty, "Excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais?" and would proceed to show off his gibberish French and incredible Dutch charm. One group of girls he hailed over asked what we were queuing for, and he actually managed to convince them that Barrack Obama was signing his book in the fnac store and we were lining up overnight to see him. "Oh my god! Really?" They asked, "No." He then went on to explain Morning Musume, and they seemed a tad dissappointed.

It got to around 2:30am, and people were starting to pass out from fatigue. Most of the Japanese fans around us, probably tired from lining up for so long compounded by jetlag, had fallen asleep leaving a trail of unconsious Japanese wota snaking through the line (which was actually a pretty funny sight to behold - I wish I had taken a picture). Some of our own group had fallen asleep too. Brian was asleep, so was Lolli and -kitsune-. The two Dutch girls, Miekie and Kerichan12 had gone back to their hotel a long time ago and wouldn't return til about 7am.

Those of us in our group still awake had taken small glowstick (of the kind you put around your wrist) and an empty bottle of water and were trying to toss the ring so it landed on the bottle - though if you succeeded but knocked the bottle over it would count as a fail. Yes. That is how tired and bored we were.

Some time after 3am Oroboras joined us in the line. He'd driven a van across England and a motorbike across France, and had just arrived in Paris. Luckily, he brought a laptop with several concerts included on the hard-drive, so we sat and watched them for a while. What happened following is a bit of a blur, I fell asleep for an hour, but when I woke up it was about 7am or soemthing and Miekie and Kerichan12 had reappeared.

Shortly thereafter, X5-2000 turned up. I was supposed to be rooming with him at the hotel, but his flight didn't land til 7pm, and, although we had arranged to meet at the hotel then, I was in the city with the others at this point. He wasn't able to meet us at the fnac store earlier because he didn't know how to get there and the trains stopped running about 1am. We managed to get him to join the line with us. Nimrod appeared just after too, but when Nimrod joined us in the line, some of the fans further back complained and asked him to join the back of the line. X5 was lucky enough that they never asked him to. Not sure why, but he wasn't complaining. 

Everyone stood up and the line tightened as we prepared to enter the store in 2 or 3 hours. Some reporters and camera crews arrived, as well as security. They got lots of pictures and footage of the crowd, as well as a couple of interviews, and we learned from security that we'd be let into the store around 15 minutes before regular opening time in groups of 10, where we'd buy a CD, get our ticket and then come back out and rejoin the queue, before being let into the signing.

Anyway, so that's what we did. Except the whole thing was pretty badly designed. Our group walked down the stairs into the store, right past the stand where we were supposed to grab our CDs, and into the line to pay for the goods, where the Japanese fans in front informed us that we had to go back and pick up a CD. When we went back to find them, we discovered that the group that were let in after us had already grabbed the last ones on the stand, and so we had to let the staff know there was none more - all the while more and more people are crowding into the store. One of the fnac staff brought out 2 or 3 dozen CDs, which she said were the last ones, and so it was a mad frenzy to grab one. It didn't matter what, just anything would do.

I think part of the reason they lost CDs so fast was because some people were buying multiple ones. I saw people leaving with 3 or 4 of them, which wasn't really fair on everyone else as there ended up being a lot of people who didn't get a ticket. I did manage to grab one and get a ticket though. So it was back outside to join the queue.

I ended up being behind a guy in full yellow wota gear while in line, the same guy who had said to me, "Dran! Dude, you forgot your change." when I bought the CD and forgot to collect my change. I asked him who he was and how he knew my name (and I did recognise him from somewhere myself) and it turned out to be CatchFiveBats who I knew mostly from our discussions on #wotachat and MSN. I would join his group from time to time over the coming days - though his group never really became a part of our large one.

Anyway, after more lining up (and Morning Musume arriving, I believe, though somehow I never noticed them arriving) we got to head back inside in groups of 10 or 15 like before and queue up to meet the girls and get their autographs. We were told that they would sign any official item, not just the CD you bought for the ticket, so alot of people were getting photobooks, sports towels and photocards signed. I didn't have anything at this point other than the CD I got from fnac and the CD I bought from lolli, as all my Musume goods at home were from the pre-Love Machine era, and it didn't make any sense getting them to sign CDs or whatever that the current members didn't actually feature in. So I got them to sign the book from the OMNI single I bought from lolli.

When I got to the tables, I was blown away. I still can't remember much about the whole event, I just remember being so close to the girls - closer than I would be able to get to them than at any other point over the next 4 days. I was so starstruck that I didn't actually manage to work up the courage to speak to them until I got to Eri, whom I proudly told in Japanese that I had come from Scotland to see them. She couldn't hear me at first, so I repeated myself. But she still couldn't hear, so she stood up a little and leaned over the table so I could say it into her ear. I was little over a foot away from Eri at this point. She finally understood, and thanked me.  The rest of the session other than that was fairly uneventful for me, though I did make a point of telling JunJun that I was a big JunJun fan, which she was very happy about and thanked me in English.

After the session, we went to a nearby McDonald's to get a drink, and then everyone went their seperate ways. Brian had parked his car nearby, and offered to give X5, Kitsune and myself a lift back to our hotel. That was quite an experience. He couldn't get his SatNav to find the satellite, so we were driving around just about getting hit by other cars while his attention was half on the road and half fiddling with the SatNav. But since he's Dutch we didn't care. If you are going to get killed in a crash, might as well have a hilarious Dutchman at the wheel yelling at French drivers while it happens, right?

Anyway, we got safely to the hotel, and I retrieved my bags from -Kitsune-'s room and we then made our way to our own room, where I met Gunnar, the third roommate. The whole experience must have been a little surreal for him, since he wasn't an wota, or even a Momusu fan. I dunno how X5 managed to drag him along to Paris. Of course, the room slept three people, but one of the beds was a double, so I ended up sharing with X5 - but that was fine, since we were rarely ever in the room anyway. 

After dumping my bags and resting for ten minutes in the hot room with no air-conditioning, we decided to just go straight to the Japan Expo. We picked -Kitsune- up from his room again after he'd had a shower, and walked to the Parc des Exposition. This 4 people would be the extent of our group for the rest of the day, as the others had all gone back to their hotels to sleep (or so I imagine).

We entered the Expo through Entrance 4, which was the normal entrance for 4-day ticket holders. But weirdly enough the staff never checked our tickets. We just walked straight in wondering, "Aren't they supposed to scan our tickets? Oh well."

We went straight for the Hello!Project shop, and I bought a pika pika tour Uchiwa and Berryz concert visual book. The uchiwa was something of a lifesaver, since it was so hot in the Expo - even hotter than outdoors. Constant use did kind of bend it out of shape, but I didn't really care. It still worked, and it wasn't really damaged, you would only notice the non-perfectness of the shape upon close inspection. We found La'Kea lurking in one of the side alleys and she directed us to the JE shop, who then told us we had to go to the signing information desk near the back of the expo to enter in the draw. When we got there the queue was relatively small and we quickly reached the front of the line where the staff member marked our tickets and we drew a piece of paper out of a box with a hotle in the top just large enough to fit your arm in. One after another we all drew fails, but she told us if we rejoin the back of the line we could have another try. So that's what we did, unfortunately the final winning ticket was drawn just before we got our second go.

We didn't know you could watch the signing event at this point, so we wandered around the Expo looking at random stalls and the video games before deciding it best to just head back to our hotel to shower and get some sleep. My first real chance to sleep in two days.

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Paris Japan Expo: Day Zero

As I'm sure many of you are aware by now, this last week I have been in Paris for the Japan Expo, and more importantly, the Morning Musume concert and events. This is my account of what transpired over the 5 days that I was there. The highs, and the lows.

I hadn't even planned to go originally. Being more of a Berryz fan, I didn't feel as compelled to go as some of the Momusu fans out there. But then I got a job, and with the income generated from it I did some quick calculations and learned that I could afford to go, though it would be pretty tight. And it was then that I realised that I really wanted to go. The very first Hello!Project concert in Europe? Morning Musume, my old Idols playing as close as Paris, only ~2000 miles away? The chance to meet up with hundreds of other wota? This was the chance of a lifetime, and so I made my decisison and started frequenting the PJX thread on Hello!Online.

Here I later learned that I wasn't going to be the only Scottish fan in attendance. -Kitsune-, a fan who lives less than two dozen miles from me, yet I had never met before, would also be attending. We later learned that, by strange coincidence, we had booked the same flight from the same airport, and would be staying in the same hotel. And so, we both decided to meet up at the airport and fly together, it seemed logical. And if we were to represent a race of 5 million people at a Morning Musume event by ourselves, it might as well be as a unit!

And so, I met him at the airport as planned. I made my way to the gate, and someone walked up to me saying, "Dran?" When I turned around, there was a guy standing there, about the same height as me, with a Hello!Online nametag taped onto his bag reading -Kitsune- (I had a matching one that said Dran. They were designed by Bisso). Despite having never met before, we got off to an incredible start. The awkwardness was dispelled in minutes and we were busy chatting away at the gate, and then during the flight, about various aspects of Hello!Project fandom and Hello!Online life.

So we landed in France, nervous about everything. Neither of us were frequent fliers, so nerves about the whole process coupled with the knowledge that in an hour we'd be within shouting distance of Morning Musume? We had butterflies and adrenaline going around all at once. We got into Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at Terminal 2B, and after waiting for our bags for 10 or 15 minutes, we were finally able to make our way to Terminal 2E, where Morning Musume were expected to land 30 minutes later. This wasn't easy, as we'd just landed, and Charles de Gaulle can be pretty confusing to find your way around for the first time. So we got a little lost, and more than a little confused, but eventually found our way there and when we got there saw a crowd gathering in front of the doors.

So we joined them, and I immediately recognised Nimrod. You'd never believe it from the way he is online, but this is a man of few words. Maybe he didn't understand spoken English all too well, or maybe he doesn't have much confidence in his own ability to speak it, but he barely said a word the whole time we were in Paris. Just a giant German bloke following us around and soaking in everything he could.

I do remember wondering what this large group of wota must look like to other people. I looked up at the walkways above us, and there were security guards and airport staff watching us all very bemused. And then every time a person walked through those doors from baggage collection into the arrivals lounge they would greet us with equally confused looks. Can you imagine walking through and finding 200 wota all dressed in coloured t-shirts and wota gear staring at you with cameras in their hands? Well... I can't. But some walked through and had a little fun with us. They'd strike a pose and we'd all cheer for them and take photos. Then we'd go back to watching the doors like hawks and mingling with the wota around us.

It was here that I heard someone walk up to a short girl standing beside me dressed in a green Gaki t-shirt and said, "Are you chibilolli?" This caught my interest. Lolli is pretty famous and, while I wouldn't have said we knew each other well enough to be considered friends, I'd spoken to her many times online. I turned around with, what I can only imagine as looking like a surprised expression, and said, "Lolli?" 

"Yes."
"I'm Dran!"

And so we shook hands.

Humble introductions. But Lolli became another addition to our group, like -Kitsune- and Nimrod, that lasted very much the entire way through the Expo. Although at this point we only shared a brief conversation. Suddenly the doors opened and huge cheering ran out. Morning Musume had appeared. I was stood in the second or third row, so I only got brief glimpses at all of them, though the one thing that did stick out in my mind most of all was that as she was walking past Gaki looked and waved right at me.

Unlike previous Airport greetings I've seen, we weren't entirely barricaded off from the girls. There was barricades set up in front of the doors which created a pathway that goes to either side of the crowd, but that was it. Once the girls walked the 5 or 6 metres to the corner they would turn into the open arrivals lounge where, in theory, one could walk right up to the girls totally unhindered by barricades or anything.

As soon as the girls had gone past, we all made a run to follow. We had the courtesy to not get too close, and gave them enough room to walk to the cars that were parked in the car park for them. But the whole time we were yelling and waving at them, and they seemed to be enjoying it a little too. They later reported in their blogs that they had arrived in Paris and were happy to see lots of fans there to greet them which, I've been told, was significantly more than the number at Anime Expo last year.

When we got to the car park however, all hell broke loose, wota were scattered everywhere and were cheering the girls. Buses and cars were unable to get through for us and the girls' car. Their windows were blacked out so you couldn't see them, but the windscreen was totally see through, so if you were standing at the front of the car, you could still see Sayu clearly.

Someone was also shouting "Mikitty!" I found that a little confusing, but it was heard alot over the 5 days, so I guess either someone has been out of the loop for the last 3 years, or he was having a laugh.

They finally drove off, and left a bunch of fans hanging around. Some of them wandered off, and some of us stayed put and chatted some more. By this point our group had grown to include Chibilolli, La'Kea, ReiNa.than, mnhuik, Nimrod, -Kitsune-, and myself.

We mingled some more before mnhuik and Nimrod left, and we decided to make a move and do a little  sightseeing. Everyone caught the train to our hotels (which wasn't easy - why can't ticket machines in Paris accept notes instead of just coins?) and we decided to meet back at the station at Parc des Expositions before heading into Paris. My roommate X5-2000 wouldn't arrive for another 3 hours or so, so I couldn't check into the room, so -Kitsune- checked in and I dumped my bags in his room for the time being and we headed out immediately back to the station which was about a mile from the hotel. 

But on the way back we were followed by two girls. After a while, the ran up to us and asked if I was Dran. I still had my nametag stapled onto my bag at that point so the must have seen that, so when I told them I was, one of the girls said she had read my Berryz fanfic only the night before. That was a pleasant surprise. The girls were KeriChan12 and Mieke, two Hello!Online lurkers. They followed -Kitsune- and myself back to the station, where we met up with the others. We introduced our new friends, and were soon on our way. We bought Paris tickets and made our way to the Opera to do a little sightseeing and grabbed a bite to eat at a fast food joint called "Quick", which is actually a misnomer as the service was neither quick nor was the food very good. I recommend sticking to MacDonald's for burger joints in France.

La'Kea had left us by this point so she could go home, and gave us directions so we could catch the trains to the Eiffel Tower. So we went there, and it was only standing there in front of the lit Eiffel Tower at night did it really sink in that I was actually standing in Paris. It was a fantastic sight to behold (though during the day it's rather ugly).

.Brian contacted us at this point after having driven all the way from the Netherlands, and we had arranged to meet him here at the Eiffel Tower, he was waiting for us under the East leg, I believe. So we had to walk to the Eiffel Tower from where we were standing near Trocadéro station and look for him in the crowds. Luckily Brian is 6'11", and easy to spot in a crowd. We continued to enjoy our location, and be bothered by dozens of people trying to sell us Eiffel Tower souvenirs while waiting for La'Kea to turn up. She never did. So we decided to head straight to the FNAC signing session after learning that there were already some local French fans and Japanese fans queuing up all afternoon. We got to the FNAC store around 11:30pm, took our place (around 40 or 50 in line) and began the long process of sitting in the middle of a busy Paris street at night for the next 12 hours so that we would be secured a place at the signing the following morning which only offered around 150 tickets.

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Tsuji Nozomi Pregnant... Again!

Ex-Musume Tsuji Nozomi announced on Wednesday her second pregnancy.

We all remember the news the first time around. Tsuji was several months pregnant, and was getting married to Taiyo Sugiura, an actor famous for playing the titular character in children's TV show Ultraman. Shocking news, to say the least, and it caused her to leave Hello!Project on maternity leave at a time when she was caught in a long period of inactivity after fellow W (Double You) member Kago Ai was suspended after her underage smoking scandal (and then her contract finally ended a year later after a repeat scandal). This inactivity on Tsuji's part due to Kago Ai's scandal and her own scandalous pregnancy lasted right up until her official graduation in February 2009 where she appeared for her last time on stage as a Hello!Project member alongside her fellow Elder Club members who were also graduating, and the Wonderful Hearts members that make up Hello!Project today.

Tsuji attended a public event on Tuesday, Tokyograph reports, and had been feeling strange for several weeks. She underwent a medical examination the following day, where she was informed that she was seven weeks pregnant.

This is shocking news for me, I can only imagine how shocked Tsuji and her husband Taiyo were. Once again, we should continue to support Tsuji, and look forward to the inevitable pictures of random baby limbs that were such a common sight on her blog after her first child, Noa, was born.

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You don't have to be Japanese to be an Idol!

If there is an Idol out there who has really been catching my interest lately, it's that 14 year old Manx girl, Beckii Cruel.

We on the internet are oft accused of being assholes with nothing better to do than troll. And when this girl got her big break after a video of her dancing to Danjo, a 2ch meme, went viral on the aforementioned BBS, I was shocked to see the news begin to bring out the worst in H!P fans and non-fans alike.

Mudslinging comments about her surfaced almost immediately, calling her anything from ugly to untalented and everything in between. One Hello!Online user described her as being "fake". How does one become a fake Idol anyhow? Even more surprising, however, is how kindly 2ch seems to have reacted to her by comparison. 

2ch, a notorious haven for xenophobia and outright racism, managed to find the appeal in her videos dancing to their memes. So when a forum of racist Japanese nationalists can, why can't the west? Well, we have a habit of thinking of ourselves as more accepting of different cultures here in the west than in Asia, but it seems to me that this is just ignorance. I can think of many reasons why people hate her... 

Simple racist dislike to anything non-Japanese? It's not as ridiculous as it sounds. I've heard it before, I'm sure you have too.

Perhaps it is jealousy. This girl has been given alot for people to get jealous about. A career as an Idol in Japan (for however long it lasts), the chance to meet celebrities and Idols - notably Sayumi Michishige, whom she seems to have developed some kind of affinity with. "True, but I'm not jealous of her!" I hear you say. Well, perhaps not, but that's the feeling I get when people say "She's not even that great at dancing!" or "Why did they pick her? XXXX is so much better at dancing!"

Or maybe people simply dislike her. Not everyone can, and if she isn't your cup of proverbial tea, then that's fine. Though often it's hard to tell these people apart from the ones above with troll-mentalities.

I, however, come from the camp of people who actually like her. Despite what people say, she is actually cute. She is also very talented. And most importantly, she is having fun and fulfulling some kind of dream. Seriously, how many of us get to reach our dreams in our lifetimes?

I said before on H!O that perhaps one of the reasons that I like her is also because she is Manx, and being Scottish myself, means we both belong to Celtic ethnicities. Not the same ethnic group, but the Irish, Scots and Manx are all descended from the same ancestry. Anyway, I was joking when I said it, but actually having an Idol that speaks in the same language as you always makes life easier for the fan. I can follow her on FaceBook or converse with her on NicoNico Live, something I probably couldn't do even if I tried with Maasa.

Language barrier is one of the most frustrating things for us non-Japanese fans, so it's nice to get past that.

But I think I'll cut this entry short. I've been without internet for days, and am stuck at the moment on an unstable 3G connection. 

So I shall leave you with one last comment....

Danjo is the catchiest song in the world. Danjo Dan Danjo Danjo (woop woop)

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Berryz Koubou's 6th Album "6th Osakebi"

So the new Berryz album is here. What do I think of it? Well. Let's take a look, shall we?

First up, let's take a peek at the covers to the right. Regular being the top one, and Limited the bottom. The costumes are wonderfully bright and colourful. It's these colourful covers that make Berryz stick out so much next to Morning Musume and C-ute whose covers are usually pretty dark. I do like those dark covers, they look great. But they aren't eyecatching enough. Are these covers eyecatching? Pastel colours and cute girls? I suppose they could have done worse. In fact, this is one of those CDs where I find that I actually prefer the regular edition's cover. Which is a shame, because I never buy the regular. I always go for the limited edition where possible. Something about it being limited edition draws me to it. I just like the idea that in 10 years I'll have a copy and these will be difficult to find. Or they will in my mind anyway.

Is it just me, though, or does UFA insist on giving the girls those god-awful bows at every opportunity. They were something of a signiture of Tsuji Nozomi's before, and now they keep giving them out to everyone. Chinami and Miyabi this time around. Does anyone actually like those? Answers on a postcard.

Anyway, onto the music!

Otakebi Boy WAO! / Berryz Koubou

First song on the album just happens to be the first song from the new single. The best word to describe this song is "POWER". Everything about it reflects this theme. The singing, the guitars, the PV. Everyone sings at a low register, the one everyone seems to be talking about is Risako, who (and I hate to let this word become a cliché) sings powerfully throughout. In fact, the song reminds me alot of Morning Musume Otome-gumi. The songs are very different, but the feel of the songs are not too dissimiliar. But here, even Momoko manages to hit the low notes, which is no small feat, considering her normal voice. And the PV is simply epic. It has everything. Pink camoflauge, explosions, fire and lightning, Maasa roundhouse kicking AKB48's Atsuko Maeda (though I may have made one of those up). An epic video. An epic song. An epic start to an epic single and album.

Rival / Berryz Koubou

Rival. I'm in the minority with this one. It's a good song. But I'm from the small group who thought it wasn't as good as it's partner. More on that later though. This song, despite me preferring the other one, is still really good. The rock-ey guitar riffs and vocals make this one an incredibly catchy song. The PV is fine. But overall, the song is one of the more forgettable ones.

Ryuusei Boy / Berryz Koubou

This was an instant favourite. More recently Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama has become my preference from that single, but it took longer for Danna-sama to grow on me. I liked this one from first listen. Only trouble was that everyone else was talking about this single for 2 months before I finally got to hear it. I never listen to previews. I generally wait for the PVs to come out before giving singles a listen. But this time I had opted to save it. I felt it was a show of my own dedication as a fan to not only buy it without listening to it (which I've done a few times before), but to not listen to it until I had my copy and could stick it in my CD player. But due to extreme delays with the delivery (4 weeks after it shipped and I still hadn't gotten it) I didn't get to hear it til much later than the rest of the world. I picked a fine time to challenge myself. But it became like Lent or something. I managed to resist the urge to listen to it "early", which was at some points unbearable, and heard the single and loved it when it finally arrived. The dance shot version of the PV, which was included in my LE, looked so awesome that it tipped the scales and this became a new favourite song of mine. The dance, the costumes, the special effects. The catchy vocals. Every time I hear it I feel the need to get up and dance and sing along with it. 

Ai ni wa Ai desho / Momoko & Miyabi

Wonderful rock song. Miyabi and Momoko have had lots of practice at this kind of music with Buono! and I can't wait to see how this song looks in concert. I can already imagine some of the dance in my head. But I really want to see if it's anything like how I imagine. While their characters aren't quite as compatible, Momoko and Miyabi have voices that compliment eachother rather well as well as the guitar solos. In short, it's the perfect song for these two, and wouldn't have been anywhere near as good had it been given to anyone else.

Seishun Bus Guide / Berryz Koubou

This is the song I liked so much better than Rival. I've actually already blogged about this one before, so I'll keep this short. But the song was catchy. The costumes were awesome. And most importantly, I loved the video. I've heard alot of people claim that it was awful. But I don't think they could be more wrong. The video had a cute bus guide and the Berryz girls pretending to be schoolboys fawning over her? The whole thing was hillarious. Not to mention the fact that the bus somehow managed to achieve warp speed. 

Kimi no Tomodachi / Berryz Koubou

The first ballad of the album. It's a nice song. Risako seems to take point this time. What I find really interesting about this song is that during the chorus parts it kind of speeds up. The drum becomes more prominent and the singing speeds up, which then leads into a monologue by Risako. Also, is it just me, or has friendship been a reccuring theme recently? Ever since Dakishimete, I think.

Ground Demo Rouka Demo Medatsu Kimi / Maasa & Yurina

I must admit here, I'm inclined to love this song even before I hear it. Maasa and Yurina happen to be my two favourite Hello!Project members, and we haven't had the two of them singing together like this since Omoitattara Kichidesse! which also featured Chinami. This song lives up to expectations. It's split into two halves, where Yurina takes point at the start, and then halfway through it switches to Maasa. The two girls are a natural choice to put together. Maasa and Yurina are best friends, and they both have similiarly low voices. I love seeing them together, I love hearing them together. Admitadly, I doubt it will replace Omoitattara Kichidesse! as one of my top songs, but it's not trailing too far behind. It's just that that song was catchier and slightly funner.

Tomodachi wa Tomodachi Nanda / Berryz Koubou

Here we reach the epitomé of this "tomadachi" theme. The song itself isn't at all dissimiliar to Rival. It makes use of the same kind of rhythmic singing. Of course, this song is better than Rival. The song is catchier, the mere mention of the name causes me to start singing the chorus, and the lines are more even. All of the girls get a chance to sing a solo "section". The video reminds me somewhat of Buono!'s PVs like Kiss!Kiss!Kiss! and Take it Easy!. There's something of a plot to it. All of the girls are sitting having fun, but gradually all of them leave to do other things and Momoko is left on her own. But just as the loneliness kicks in, friendship wins out and everyone returns. Perhaps the most mainstream song Berryz have released ever. It combines a fresh, original PV with a great tune.

Kibou no Yoru / Berryz Koubou

Our second ballad. This one is a far more traditional ballad than Kimi no Tomodachi. It's somwhat akin to Sonosubete no Ai ni, and in my opinion, is a much more mainstream ballad. I doubt it'd sell very well as a single A-side. But as a song it's excellent, and would make an excellent VN theme. One of my favourites. It's not depressing, but a slow and uplifting love song. Once again, I feel like Risako takes point in this, but she's always been the best ballad singer in Berryz. If, like me, you are a fan of ballads I imagine you will love it. If not, I hope you give it a listen and find something to enjoy in it, because it's a wonderful track.

Dakishimete Dakishimete / Berryz Koubou

I believe this one took me slightly longer to get to really like than some of the other songs. I wasn't really sure about the dance music or the crazy techno video for it - in fact the video was my main problem at first. I didn't really like Maasa's costume (though Captain's was awesome), and this was around the time that Chinami started wearing her makeup alot thicker, which I still don't really like. But over time I've kind of accepted it as one of the better Berryz singles. Once you've heard it a few times, and tried to dance along, you quickly forget about whatever you didn't like about it and simply enjoy it. It's not exactly a musical masterpiece, but that's the key - it's one of the most fun songs on the album to listen to.

Yakimochi wo kudasai! / Saki, Chinami & Risako

This song starts off slightly boring, but by about halfway through you really start to enjoy it. It's kind of fun, and the tempo is just about right. Wonderful performances from all of the girls involved. And I am noticing that Captain gets her fair share of lines in this song, a feature that is unfortunately missing in most singles these days. Despite being the leader and the oldest (not to mention the best dancer), Captain is probably the most over-looked member of Berryz. She never really developed into a character the same way that the other girls did. So it's always great to hear her sing. I find myself clapping along the whole way through.

Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama / Berryz Koubou

Even though I originally preferred Ryuusei Boy, it wasn't long before this maturer, sexier song and it's video soon won me over. I'm not sure what it was about it. The PV is decent, and formulaic at best. It's like a Berryz single trying to be a Morning Musume single. And it's not really something that compells you to get up and dance along. It's as danceable as a ballad, without actually being a ballad. But despite it's shortcommings, I can't bring myself to hate it. The costumes, the sexy singing by Risako et al... There's nothing really to hate is there? Maybe it's just because songs like this are rare with Berryz. We've come to expect this sort of thing from Morning Musume, so it's become slightly more dull. But Berryz typically do genki songs, which makes this mature one something of a refresher. It proves to us that Berryz are capable of doing different styles when they need to.

So, my final verdict?

Due to the number of double A-sides released lately (mostly due to the fact that they are performing for an anime now, and they have the money to make 2 PVs) the amount of original content in this album has suffered. 7/12 songs we already own. That leaves us with 5 new tracks. The old tracks are great and the new tracks are decent enough, for the most part, that it makes it worth the buy, assuming you are a Berryz fan. If you only have a passing interest in Berryz or prefer C-ute or Morning Musume, I can't see you buying this album. Or perhaps you'll buy this album so you don't have to buy the singles. Unlike 5(FIVE) which had something for everyone, this album falls a little short of the standard set by the previous album. But is worth a listen anyway.

Buy it now on YesAsia
Limited Edition | Regular Edition

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