Well while I wait for the pb to arrive I decided it would be a good idea to check out the making of thanks to the tracker at H!O. Woah! The cutest C-utie is totally deserving of this pb and, based on the making of, the pb will be every bit as good as those other great 2009 pb’s by Ai-chan, Koha and C-ute. What a great year for pb’s. We’re being spoiled.
Anyway the making of starts with a piece to camera which is cute enough…
Before Nacky-chan then moves out onto the street and gets fruity. There’s something about this (fruit) segment that makes it well worth repeat viewing…
After that it’s time to show off the classic beauty of Nacky with some of those traditional H!P-pictures-of-a-beautiful-idol-with-water-in-the-background shots…
Which is then followed with some traditional H!P-pictures-of-a-beautiful-idol-in-a-field shots, while one of AKB48 gets wet in the background…
There’s no sprinkler in that last pic. It’s just all the wotas are salivating.
Dogs feature a lot in pbs. This dog has a suitably fitting “aren’t I lucky?” expression.
Oh yeah under the chin.
Ah yeah go on stroke my head and chest.
Lucky dog. Dogs have great lives though don’t they? I mean if I was on that beach Nacky wouldn’t have come over and stroked me and even if she did (something of a long shot I know) I’d probably have then got into trouble when I rolled on my back and exposed myself expectantly. Yet dogs can do that all the time and all they get is a tickled stomach. It’s not a dog’s life for us humans and mores the pity.
Up next Nacky manages to wear something unattractive and yet still looks like a true beauty. That’s a sign of class…
Then it’s back indoors for some great bed posing and some spam (and not of the ‘pic’ variety)…
H!P never forgets the importance of getting an education though…
H!F also know that physical education is also very important and my mind has just melted at Nacky doing the splits. I think I need a lie down…
There’s just time for a quick dip in the pool (I love the pink swimsuit by the way. Nacky has this classic beauty that seems to suit an older fashioned style. Like some 60’s film star) and then it’s time for some light reading. There are good omens in this making of. There’s a hug and kiss too…
Finally there’s just time to squeeze in some classic bikini beach posing…
Adorable!
Nacky’s pb has been long overdue but judging by the making of it’ll have been worth the wait.
This has been a great year for H!P pb’s. I reckon there’s still one more great pb to come though as the cover for Ishikawa Rika’s 24 has been revealed…
Well now is as good a time as any to look at the voting for the top ten H!P singles of 2009 as voted for by you the general wota public and by me the general wota waste of public space that could probably be used to plant a virtual tree instead or something. I actually did plant a virtual tree once through my bank. I called it Yaguchi. I’m still not entirely sure how that helps the environment but hey, what do I know? I’m not a dodgy government scientific advisor with source material to hide.
So what of the results? Well never in the history of voting has one mistake made such a difference.* As of twenty-five minutes past three (GMT) of the 8th December 2009 the votes are (fanfare please)…
Morning Musume – Shouganai Yume Oibito 23% (46 votes)
Morning Musume – Nanchatte Renai 23% (45 votes)
Buono – MY BOY 12% (24 votes)
Morning Musume – Kimagure Princess 8% (16 votes)
Berryz Kobo – Dakishimete Dakishimete 8% (16 votes)
Morning Musume – Naichau Kamo 5% (9 votes)
Berryz Kobo – Ryuusei Boy 3% (6 votes)
Berryz Kobo – Rival 3% (5 votes)
Buono – Bravo☆Bravo 3% (5 votes)
C-ute – Bye Bye Bye! 3% (5 votes)
Berryz Kobo – Seishun Bus Guide 2% (4 votes)
Buono – Co.no.mi.chi 2% (4 votes)
S/mileage – Asu wa Date na no ni, Ima Sugu Koe ga Kikitai 2% (3 votes)
Berryz Kobo – Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama 1% (2 votes)
C-ute – EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!! 1% (2 votes)
Mano Erina – Hajimete no Keiken 1% (1 votes)
Mano Erina – Sekai wa Summer Party 1% (1 votes)
Mano Erina – Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo 1% (1 votes)
Guardians 4 – Omakase♪Guardian 1% (1 votes)
S/mileage – Suki Chan 1% (1 votes)
Buono – Take It Easy! 0% (0 votes)
C-ute – Shochuu Omimai Moushiagemasu 0% (0 votes)
Mano Erina – Otome no Inori 0% (0 votes)
Mano Erina – LOVE & PEACE = Paradise 0% (0 votes)
Shugo Chara Egg! -Shugo Shugo! 0% (0 votes)
Shugo Chara Egg! – PARTY TIME 0% (0 votes)
Shugo Chara Egg! – Watashi no Tamago 0% (0 votes)
Guardians 4 – School Days 0% (0 votes)
Guardians 4 – PARTY TIME 0% (0 votes)
Guardians 4 – Watashi no Tamago 0% (0 votes)
S/mileage – aMa no Jaku 0% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 197
So it’s 23% each for Morning Musume’s two best selling singles of the year, Shouganai Yume Oibito & Nanchatte Renai. However Shouganai has had one vote more. So it’s a victory by 46 votes to 45. I think now is as good a time as any to quote Wendybird’s comment from the voting thread.
*Clears throat*
“I’m sleepy and sick and accidentally clicked Naichau instead of Nanchatte FUCK THEY LOOK KIND OF SIMILAR
BRB SUICIDE”.
Yeah don’t worry. It’s unlikely to make any difference to anything.
…
…
…
Oh.
Well regardless, looking past the big two singles, sitting comfortably in third place is the ever reliable Buono with their MY BOY single. Followed by Momusu again with Kimagure Princess and then the Berryz with their excellent Dakishimete Dakishimete.
Well thank you to everyone who voted. Obviously you are all wrong. The correct top ten** would clearly be…
10. S/mileage – aMa no Jaku
That pv has been subbed by SimpleSub. Please visit them to check out more of their work.
Anyway what a great debut. I think S/mileage could turn out in future years to have been the best thing to happen to H!P in 2009. Just watch them grow. They’ll be as big as Berryz Koubou and C-ute soon enough and in Maeda Yuuka they have an idol who’ll rival the best of them very soon indeed.
9. Morning Musume – Nanchatte Renai
That pv has been subbed by LDK. Who are LDK? Do they have a site? Beats me.
Anyway a return to form for Momusu as far as I’m concerned. A song that sounds modern and fresh. I’d have to say mostly I prefer fun songs but something more serious every now and again is a good thing. I just wish the fun stuff would sell as well.
8. Buono – Bravo☆Bravo
It’s a late release but worth the wait. Buono are so reliable aren’t they? I mean they never let you down. You can always rely on them to come out with solidly good singles. In this single, just like their best singles Renai Rider, Kiss Kiss Kiss and MY BOY, they rock. Probably with a capital R actually.
7. Buono – MY BOY
That pv has been subbed by WCS. Again I’m not sure exactly who they are.
Buono are so reliable aren’t they? I mean they never let you down. You can always rely on them to come out with solidly good singles. Hmm…déjà vu? This was their best single of the year and probably the best pv of the year too. Buono rock. It’s what they do best. They’ve proven it twice again this year (at least).
6. Mano Erina – Otome no Inori
Comparing Mano’s music to the rest of H!P is about as arbitrary a thing to do as making a top ten singles list. Err…so…anyway…well I like it and I put it sixth. Mano is great. I can’t wait to hear her album. Mano’s continued emergence, coupled with the emergence of S/mileage, has made this year a lot better than it would have been otherwise. All three main groups were a bit disappointing this year but Mano wasn’t. I love this song and I really love that pv. It’s strange really. Mano’s covers are so similar but her pv’s spoil us all. It’s better than great covers but boring pv’s.
5. Morning Musume – Kimagure Princess
That was subbed by someone called Ethan and has caused quite a bit of discussion on the nature of interpreting the original language when translating into English. Which is fun. Other subbing services are available. So here is one of H!F’s versions…
This. Song. Is. Great. It is! It is! It is! I haven’t fallen so hard for a Momusu song in a long time. Kanashimi Twilight is probably the last Morning Musume song I’ve liked as much as this (Resonant Blue was good though as was Nanchatte Renai but not quite as moreish. This song is like prime quality heroin). It’s fun and catchy and it just reminds me of that golden era of Momusu when they had hits like Renai Revolution 21, Mr Moonlight, Souda (We’re Alive) and Koko ni Iruzee. It’s a real pity that the Japanese public don’t seem to want the more genki stuff. Oh and the pv has Ai-chan in a hat. What more could you want?
4. S/mileage – Asu wa Date na no ni, Ima Sugu Koe ga Kikitai
Talking of fun what could be more fun than S/mileage na na naing away to a cute beat while holding improbably sized phones in the equally cute pv? Nothing that’s what. Okay I’m not too fussed on their third single Suki Chan but even so S/mileage will prove to be solid gold over the coming years. Their major label debut is awaited with great optimism. Now if only I could get the single v for this cheaper than £20.
FU. FU. FU. FU. FU. Need I say more? I’m still mostly nonplussed by the popularity of the Berryz but this, like with Dschinghis Khan, shows just what great potential they have. Meanwhile the pv has Miyabi showing off a great outfit (and great legs). Hmm…maybe I should have made a top ten pv’s post too.
2. C-ute – Bye Bye Bye!
That pv has been subbed by ggliff of Musume-Central from a translation by someone called Airieeeeen. The lyrics could do with clearing up a little but it’ll do nonetheless.
C-ute are probably on a par with Morning Musume for me right now. Obviously in terms of history they can’t compete but over the last couple of years only they are more than holding their own. Even so I’ve found their singles disappointing this year. With this one great exception. C-ute go disco and I go YES. YES! YES! YES! YES YES! This is totally the kind of song they should be doing. So just why was this (like Berryz Koubou with Dakishimete Dakishimete) such a disappointing performer in the charts? The Japanese record buying public make no sense. Bah (humbug?) It’s still great and Shock! will be too so all is good.
1. Mano Erina – Sekai wa Summer Party
Let’s go! Let’s go do the Charleston to an incredibly old-fashioned sounding tune. I use the word “tune” because even the word “tune” sounds old-fashioned. This shouldn’t be good should it? But it is. The one word that sums this song up the best is “glee” or “GLEE” to be more precise. Yay. Yay. YAY! S. U. M. M. E. R. P. A. R. T. Y. SUMMER PARTY! This song definately needs a 60’s crime caper with a cast of dozens of stars like Phil Silvers and Herbie to do it justice. I love this song and frankly it should be made compulsory to listen to it each day.
* The term “history” is hereby taken to mean “the history of this blog” and should not be taken in any wider context.
** The term “correct top ten” is hereby taken to mean “in the eyes of the blogger” and is not intended to indicate any actual worth as an opinion.
Last years top ten as decided by me is here. There was going to be a public vote but it was thought that Ant’n'Dec would probably win somehow. Also all the money for voting would have gone to greedy shysters.
So it’s December 6th huh? I’m sure something important is supposed to be happening today.
Ah right yeah. Well my second favourite member is going to leave today but I doubt it’s the last we’ll see of her. Koha has too much energy, personality and mad charm to just disappear or “do a Yasuda” as I like to call it. Although that’s better than hanging around in the background, being all but invisible and having no particular use (or to “do an Inaba” as you could otherwise put it). Koha is too loud for that. So it’s not goodbye forever. It’s more like have a nice break. See you soon.
As for Morning Musume, well I hope they have some new members coming in next year and I hope they’re fresh and bring something new and lively to the group. Because this is what they are losing…
Koharu has grown into such a beauty. Here’s wishing her a happy graduation, a merry Christmas, a happy new year and lots of future success.
Edit: Hello! Fansubs have subtitled the Hello! Morning episode where the seventh gen auditions were shown. What a great way to commemorate Koharu’s special day. It’s available from the Tracker here.
I came across these pics (not literally you mucky minded readers) and just had to share. They are from some magazines. All I can say is that, based on this evidence, Rika’s next pb when it’s released later this month will be as hot as any other. That’s not to say these are necessarily pics from that pb (although I hope they are), I just mean that she’s still as beautiful as ever.
H!F have subbed C-ute’s first appearance on Utaban back when they were promoting Sakura Chirari. It’s available here. All I can say is they both haven’t changed that much and yet all look so unbelievably fresh-faced (like they still don’t now? Well okay of course they still do).
So Kanna’s fear is staying alone in hotel rooms. Her attachment to Airi suddenly makes more sense. It’s good to see she was already thinking of making her move back then.
C-ute then perform Sakura Chirari. It’s a good performance but with far too many close-up’s on the audience. The last part of the show gets very weird as some comedian comes on to perform a quick routine and then perform his single. However the female singer he’s with has great legs so all is good.
Anyway C-ute came on so lively, giggly and fresh so it’s a real refresher to watch on this cold, wet Sunday. Damn cute!
Well I’ll be doing a Top Ten again just like I did last year. Last year’s was a hard one to judge. So many good songs. This year’s will be hard too although more because I’ll have to think of what to shove in to make the list up to ten. Anyway as all the singles that are going to be released have been now (or will have been by tomorrow at any rate) I’ve decided to have a public poll. Just what do you think has been the H!P single of the year? I’ve split double A-sides up as I figured we should go for a single track. I’ve included Buono as they are H!P to all intents and purposes. I’ve not included Melon Kinenbi because they aren’t H!P anymore (and not because I couldn’t remember the names of their singles. Oh no.) So vote away and I’ll see just how much we disagree on everything.
Hello! Online have reported the tracklist for Mano’s first album so here it is.
1. Otome no Inori
2. OSOZAKI musume
3. Sekai Wa Summer Party
4. Itsumo Itsu demo
5. Lalala – SoSoSo
6. Hajimete no Keiken
7. Lucky Aura
8. Santa no Saxophone
9. Kono Mune no Tokimeki wo
10. Matsuge no Saki ni Kimi ga Iru
11. oyasuminasai
12. Mano Piano (Album ver.)
I’m glad to see the indies singles are included as I’ve not been able to get hold of them. Lucky Aura is my favourite song of hers so I’m very happy with that. Although to be honest I find Lalala Sososo a bit repetitive. Mind you seven out of twelve tracks are singles. It’s almost a best of. Of the new tracks obviously as I haven’t heard them yet I can’t give an opinion. I will say though that the title “Santa no Saxophone” does fill me with a certain amount of dread.
So it’s not goodbye forever. It’s more like have a nice break. See you soon.
