Introducing Agents Buono!
April 19, 2009 at 5:33 pm | In Buono! | 7 CommentsTags: 2009, Buono!, H!P, Hello!Project, MY BOY, Natsuyaki Miyabi, single, Suzuki Airi, Tsugunaga Momoko
I’ll do Morning Musume’s new PV when I’ve got my energy back (and when YouTube stops screwing with me). This is one of my most epic posts I must say.
For the most part I have no problems with Buono! While I didn’t quite get what they was trying to achieve in the first place with the pop-rock angle and the Shugo Chara plug, I quickly fell into agreement with their music when I discovered Renai Rider (which is still my favourite Buono! song).
I lost much of my enthusiasm for them quite quickly though. If I went through my thoughts on each of their singles this is what it would end up looking like;
- Honto no Jibun – Prefer the b-side
- Renai Rider – LOVE
- Kiss!Kiss!Kiss! – Left a good initial impression, but I just don’t listen to it anymore
- Gachinko de Ikou! – Suffered the same fate as K!K!K!
- Rottara Rottara - Like the dance… the end.
- co.no.michi - I know the lyrics to the first line. And that’s all
There’s something about Buono! that initially appeases me, but I’ve lost track of them in the past few months. I don’t even have any thoughts to share on their two albums because I haven’t even listened to them.
I did try, but after a few bars of the album tracks I gave up.
To put it in perspective I wasn’t even aware that co.no.michi had even been announced before the PV came out and it’s the same with their newest single MY BOY.
I’m going to experiment a little here and do a pic-spam PV review rather than my usual block-paragraph style but before I begin that, because I know it will take forever, here’s a few thoughts about the girls.
Buono! is where Miyabi first caught my eye. She actually shines in these releases as opposed to her unfortunate habit of simmering on the back burners in Berryz Koubou releases. I’ve always felt her presence as more than an effect of there only being three members in the group. Miyabi made more sense as “leader” of the group than Momoko, but there was that scandal-that-wasn’t-really-a-scandal… In short, Buono! suits Miya
The first thing I always want to say about Airi is that she is “a very strong/powerful performer” and while it’s no less than a compliment and certainly true, I find it to be a little bit of a dead-end statement. I have to sit here and ask myself “What do I think of Airi?” and you know what the answer is “The lesser of seven evils”. I have no strong feelings for C-ute at all and while going so far as to call the girls ‘evils’ might be a bit strong, it almost definitely draws parallels to that way I view them. Airi is my favourite C-ute member because I don’t like Maimi enough and I couldn’t care about the others less. *breathes*
In terms of Buono!, which is actually the point of this rather long paragraph, Airi is an obvious choice. She’s popular, she’s a vocal powerhouse on stage and she has an adaptable look – perfect for a style of music that requires you to be more than just an idol.
Momoko really, really, really, really annoys me. I am not inclined to like her voice (ah merry-go-round notwithstanding) and SHE IS NOT CUTE!!! I’ve actually always thought her to be slightly masculine in some ways, she doesn’t strike me as particularly girly. AND THAT GODDAMN PINKY FINGER!!! I can only just about stand her through a PV, so it’s obvious how I think of her in Buono! or any other unit for that matter.
RANT OVER. Back to MY BOY
NB; The screencaps are out of order. I stopped caring
The first thing that hit me was that this is actual rock. There’s no hiding behind a veil pop elements or formlae and it’s not disguised at all, this is pure, mainstream, unadultered rock. If I heard this song randomly one day without knowing anything about it, the only thing that could possibly give it away would be the voices which are still very much dealing with the melody in a pretty standard H!P way. Which means that Momoko sounds more out of place than usual. The guitar riffs are just damned awesome and their presence throughout the song just cements how awesome (and completely unexpected) the song is. That said, I don’t like the bridge, it doesn’t make sense with the rest of the song.
In terms of the PV, we have espionage, an attempt at choreographing a rock song and some godawful costuming. And the whole point of the PV is to steal some cake! Oh, puh-leeeese.
Though I concede Momo some points for being the one to whip out the knife.
It’s H!P’s most inspired PV for quite a while though. There’s a plot-ish type thing, several different scenes and the only recurring images are the close-ups and the dance shot. Unfortunately… I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes at Momoko’s highly overacted ‘fear’ at the suit of armour.
But ignoring her existance for a while… Miyabi looks freaking amazing in her spy get-up, as does Airi but fear my bias. She’s rocking the bobbed hair and the eye-liner! Airi gets awesome glasses and pleases fanboys by crawling all over the floor. Under lasers, not just for sheer kicks of course.
Now, that’s what I like about the PV for MY BOY. Here’s what I don’t like.
Apart from Momo.
The dance shot in general. The costumes are pretty awful, the neon-disco injections of colour are obviously a futile effort to keep the video within the realms of Hello!Project but the girls end up looking like retarded go-go dancers. In a tasteful way of course, mostly.
No Momo. Try this pose when you're a little older
The dance itself deserves an award for futility. This is not a genre of music that you can really dance to. Head-banging/moshing/jumping about looking like a lunatic is as far as it goes and that is never particularly co-ordinated. The dance is completely expendable in my opinion.
As I mentioned earlier, what is the point in all this effort for a cake? Surely they could have matched the badass quality of the song with an equally badass conclusion for the PV. Any number of things could have happened here’s my personal favourite idea (if we’re talking a serious ending);
Miyabi throws the smoke bomb into the room. The guard collapses. They reach the sealed container. They open it only to discover that – Oh, no! It’s actually a ticking time bomb! Airi slams the cover back down. Buono! runs. Buono! leaps through a window. And the whole building explodes behind them in a blaze of glory. I’ll even give Momoko a closeup.
But maybe that’s a little too serious for an H!P vid. I’d like to see it happen though – it’d make idol pop history.
All in all this is probably my second favourite Buono! song. Sorry girls, it still doesn’t beat Renai Rider. MY BOY is pretty epic, completely unexpected and the PV, while there are obvious issues with it, is one of the most impressive for a while. I suppose I’ll have to see what the b-side is like before I label this as the best Buono! single ever but it’s definitely going onto my to-purchase list.
And it’s making me love Miyabi. DAMMIT! I’ve already done my H!P ranking.
Hello!Blog Rankings ~You say “Jump”, I say “Which Bandwagon?”~
April 4, 2009 at 2:12 pm | In 1 | 1 CommentI’m expecting a few “Eh?”s in response to this.
HOW DID THIS TAKE THREE DAYS TO WRITE?!?
FUJIMOTO MIKI
Is there much more to say than the fact she’s damn awesome? Miki is the only person I’d say was my ultimate number one. I’m not a huge fan of her solo career but going back to her activities with Morning Musume (I wasn’t a fan when she was part of the group) I just love her more and more. And I loved her performance in Ribbon no Kishi – deliciously/sympathetically evil. She’s AWESOME I don’t need to say anymore, I really don’t.
KUSUMI KOHARU
She’s been my favourite member of Momusu since the beginning. I love her solo work because I’m…mildly insane and have no qualms with listening to music that would make others’ ears bleed. I love her personality, that’s what makes her interesting really, she may not always convey the mood of the song properly but she’s got buckets of presence. In terms of how much I like her she’s actually on par with Miki but, you know, it just wouldn’t be quite right to place her above Miki if we’re talking about the whoooollleee of H!P, it just doesn’t work that way.
YOSHIZAWA HITOMI
Because what girl in her right mind didn’t have an eensy bit of a crush on her after watching the PV for Mr Moonlight? Charisma, humour, endearingly bad English skills, one hell of a voice and a certain je ne sais quoi in terms of leadership qualities. Yossie’s always had a presence and I think that was wasted a bit in Ongaku Gatas because she didn’t have enough to bounce off of even though 1st Goodsal was a pretty strong album. Hangry&Angry however… I was surprised by how well that mini-album went over with me. Speaking of which…
ISHIKAWA RIKA
Her voice isn’t that amazing but she’s another one who has enough charisma to compensate, although she was also quite impressive in Ribbon no Kishi My massive bias towards her comes from how much I always loved Biyuuden… I still hate the fact that they are no more. While she was pushed towards being a sexier idol she still has a cute simplicity about her performances and that contrast is one of the things I like most about her. And she kicked all kinds of ass in YoYo Girl Cop – her eyes are just the right amount of expressive to execute an evil glare!
LINLIN
Wow… I truly love this girl. I remember looking at other blogger’s rankings and seeing that most people favoured JunJun. I always liked LinLin more – she’s a little funny looking and can be rather awkward but she has more than enough talent to keep my interest. Her voice is gorgeous, as displayed in Shiroi Chou no Samba, and I would very much like to see a solo in a near-future concert. Though she isn’t quite right for a solo career yet as she hasn’t quite perfected the idol personality yet, I truly would not mind an album of LinLin but if not I hope that she becomes something of a big hitter in the H!P world.
NIIGAKI RISA
The ultimate Prince Charming! She has a VOICE and the way it has evolved is awe inspiring. Sub-leader suits her but I can’t say I see her as being leader yet (pre-mature anyway because Takahashi is still in the group, duh!). Again, as an idol her personality wins me over the most actually, she’s always worth watching in PVs and she’s never disappointed me in a performance. I’m not a PB buyer, I don’t have an income flow, but I don’t need them to prove that she is gorgeous.
KIKKAWA YUU
How did she not get into Morning Musume??? Answer me this. She has a brilliant voice and we really need to hear more of it. Her performance in Tan Tan Taan! hit me pretty hard when I first heard it, because honestly in Anataboshi Koharu monopolises. Kikka has a pretty brilliant voice and I need a ballad from her, even though I hate ballads! This girl needs to go big… and soon. She needs to be leader of something!
OKADA YUI & MIYOSHI ERIKA
Yes, I did/do love Biyuuden. Yui was my favourite member that’s why I placed her before Erika but they’re pretty close in my mental ranking. Erika has a pretty strong voice and she’s also got a great presence and that’s why I like her, whereas I can’t put my finger on just why I liked Yui so much from the beginning. Now I have one HUGE reason why I like her… her performance in YoYo Girl Cop is my favourite in the whole movie. Rika was kickass and Aya was awesome and Erika … didn’t have many lines but she’d already proven her acting worth to me in Ribbon no Kishi, but Yui had such a sympathetic personality and I could feel myself wanting to be in Aya’s shoes and punch Rika’s character in the face for bullying her!
SUGAYA RISAKO
My favourite Berryz Koubou member is number ten simply because I can’t justify her being any higher than the others. Sure she’s a bit fail in the vocal department, but when has that ever stopped me liking someone? (case in point: Koharu) I am eagerly waiting to see what that new Shugo Chara unit come up with. Hopefully, it’s awesome enough for Risako. I only really started liking her so much after the battle concert, especially when she was trying to look all badass with that diddy bow and arrow set and her solo on Berryz’s last album was quite a surprise. And to all those that hate her… back off my Risako!!!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
This ranking was an absolute bitch to do. I actually had to write out everyone’s name and then narrow it down a bit, and then a bit further and so on until I ended up with 10 girls. I got jammed a little when I reached 11 and couldn’t think of who to eliminate so I think it’s worth doing this.
- Maeda Yuuka
She was my 11. I wasn’t sure whether I could rank her or not and in the end I dropped her from the list. I loved Yuukarin from Cinderella\Complex and when Shugo Chara Egg were formed I immediately went “YAY!”, in my mind of course. If she can keep up with Ai, Reina etc. then we should be seeing a lot of her in the future. - Kamei Eri
It took her a while to grow on me as she didn’t leave much of an initial impression. It was her performance in Single Daizenshuu that really made me take notice and then I found her really very amusing in the Cinderella musical. - Suzuki Airi
I’ve never really had much to say about Airi other than the fact she is a very strong performer. She has a great voice and though she is a little too well promoted I do like her very much. She’s probably my favourite C-ute member, but as I mentioned in a previous post I never have much to say about C-ute anyway. - Matsuura Aya
She was actually one of my first Jpop listens. Kiseki na Kaori Dance and Momoiro no Kataomoi were two of my early discoveries and this was even before I knew what H!P was! Let alone was a fan. I’ve not gotten on well with much of her recent releases but those two songs are enough to endear her to me for life. - Natsumi Abe
Nacchi… I don’t know, I just like her. Never had much more reason than that.
Well, this is my post of H!P epicness… and damn did it take a long time.
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