Sunday, June 17, 2012

Idol Challenge 25 - Double Trouble

Day #25: Past group you miss the most.


Oh gosh, this is so cliche, but I miss W. The W we can never get back. Even if there was a reunion (i.e. a miracle), I would still be missing W. Aibon's revelations of the truth made it so I can never see her in the same light again. I feel sad for how her life has been these past six years, but she destroyed the idol magic when she began making her comeback under a different label several years ago and basically told the fans how messed up her life was and how "Aibon" was all a lie. It's like if the guy in the Barney suit stepped out of his costume and told preschoolers that Barney's not real. The kids probably already had an idea, but the revelation ruins the character, too. I'm not saying idols shouldn't move on or shouldn't speak up about their problems. But once something like Aibon's situation happens, there's no turning back. Fans will always remember.

Also, the W image would be hard to maintain with two mothers now anyway. Here's where the purity aspect of idols comes in. Let's be upfront (yay, pun): a lot of idols, if not almost all, eventually get a photobook or photoshoot or video with bikinis in some quantity or form. Nono released a photobook not long before she announced her pregnancy. After she announced it, I saw some images fans had scanned from the book on forums and fanpages. All of the sudden it felt wrong to look at the pictures. Not in a perverse way, I mean. The pictures were artistic, particularly the shots I remember, and in good taste (one of H!P's hallmarks when it comes to swimwear shots) of Nono in a forest. It was one of those "one with nature" types of shots. But pregnancy does come from something that is usually not considered pure in our culture. Instead of looking at pretty pictures of one of my favorite idols (who isn't much older than me), I was suddenly looking at half-naked pictures of someone's mom. I was embarrassed.

The idol-ness of W is gone forever. They aren't coming back unless I listen to my old CDs or watch old footage from before the scandals. I can only play back fond memories of the first idol group I fell in love with. And so I miss them.

And as for why I love them so much to miss them (besides them being my first idol group)? Their music was so cute and catchy, their voices melded really well together, and the way they played a bunch of dumb hungry troublemakers intrigued me so much. Through music and character, they led me into this hobby and culture of idol fandom.




Saturday, June 16, 2012

Idol Challenge 24 - A Sock o Soul

Day #24: Idol who is not your favorite but you still think is really good.


Risako Sugaya of Berryz Koubou. I admit, I was one of the people that thought Risako looked a little too full of herself, being the most pushed center. And I laughed at those unflattering pictures that cropped up in 2008/2009 that made her look like she had gained thirty pounds. But then the horrible comments people began making when it was discovered those weren't just bad pictures, she really was curving up, made me defensive for her. Next to the other girls, yes, she looks thicker. Put her in an oversize floral shirt, and yes, it makes her look bigger. But put her in a fitted dress and she can pull off looks the curve-less girls can't (and I don't mean 'fat'.) She's gorgeous.

And I think she's an awesome singer. She can pull off songs with soul, belting out lyrics with power. That power makes her stand out from the nasally and high-pitched singers prevalent in Hello!Project. I appreciate the variety she gives. Actually, of all the current groups, Berryz Koubou is the one with the greatest variety of voices, and I think Risako's is the power that binds them.




Friday, June 15, 2012

Idol Challenge 23 - Mari-a

Day #23: Past H!P member you admire most.


Mari Yaguchi. I really seem to admire or like the shorties: Momo, Nono, Kanyon, Chisa, etc. Mari's only 4'9", the shortest of them all! See, being among the vertically challenged myself, I admire these short women who stand out from their modelesque peers with personality and cuteness. But it's not really Mari's shortness that I admire. That's only one of the things I like about her.

It's what a cool person she is. She's the kind of person I'd want as a big sister. She's smart, driven, funny, sweet, spunky, cute, and ahh, I just really love her. She's a leader, too, training (what was at the time) the next generation of H!P idols. (I think she may have had quite an influence on Momo!) And she's vocal about her video game and manga nerdery and the fact she sleeps naked. She's awesome!




Thursday, June 14, 2012

Idol Challenge 22 - Colorful Closet

Day #22: Favorite costume.

S/mileage's "Uchouten Love"

I really can't choose between S/mileage's "Uchouten Love" costumes or Morning Musume's "Kare to Issho" costumes. Both of those are relatively recent, so I wouldn't be surprised if within the next year, I have some new favorites. But for now, the two aforementioned costumes reflect two of my favorite tastes in fashion.

For "Uchouten Love", they have a "that's so 80's" look to them. There's nice bright neon colors that still retain a cool vibe. I love S/mileage's hair styles (that's part of the outfit, too, right?) and the wide-necked tops remind me of the ideal high school I dreamed of when I was little (and the disappointment when I realized those were re-runs from the 80's and nobody dressed like that anymore except teachers for retro day.)

Morning Musume's "Kare to Issho"

"Kare to Issho", however, looks like a comic or cartoon brought to life. Bright and vividly colored with lots of quirky detail. It's an escape to a more exciting, happy world. And they look so fun to draw. In fact, I'm going to be working on some small cartoony illustrations of the girls in these outfits because I love them so much!




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Idol Challenge 21 - Spitfire

Day #21: Idol you respect or admire.


Chisato Okai of C-ute. She may not be one of my favorite personalities or voices, and I think her talent isn't as high as others claim (she's no Airi, her rival), but she has a determination I strongly admire.

When less popular members of her group began graduating and then C-ute pretty much had an Airi solo for a single, it would have been so easy for her to quit, too. (And it would be easy to assume she would then try out for AKB48 or a related group for more fame, but to be honest, I don't she would have fared so well over there either. Or at least, the odds would be against her. At least in H!P you have a greater chance for solo opportunities, just because of the smaller number of girls.)

Nope, Chisa doesn't quit, she takes things into her own hands (with approval from staff, of course.) She uploaded dance covers onto YouTube, the first of which garnered over a million views in a relatively short amount of time. This was before official H!P music videos on YouTube came close to that amount. Then H!P banked on this popularity with a photobook and allowed her to stand out more in singles, as well as have other solo projects.

And she really does seem honest and a hardworking. She doesn't pretend that she is problem free, she just works with what she has, relishes it, and aims higher.




Monday, June 11, 2012

Idol Challenge 20 - Butterfly Charmer

Day #20: Most charming idol.


Zukki. She is able to draw my attention just by being her silly and cute self. Actually, Airi fits this, too. They are idols that are so likable whether their talent is rough (Zukki) or more polished (Airi). It's mind-boggling that they both have vocal haters: one camp thinking that idols shouldn't weigh over a hundred pounds ('cause you know, we have complete control over our bodies during puberty and any weight gain is the result of too much cake that we may or may not have eaten); while another camp is upset because the most skilled vocalist gets the most lines (C-ute now has solo songs for all the members and, well... ouch.) Despite both girls having sweet, modest personalities. But I think if just their characters are examined, it's practically impossible to hate them. Unless the hater happens to be a Care Bears villain.

Anyway, I choose Zukki over Airi, though, because I enjoy her sense of humor more. Airi also has great wit, but Zukki delivers her craziness with such enthusiasm and smiles to give me warm fuzzies and laughter every time. But that's charm, right?




Sunday, June 10, 2012

Idol Challenge 19 - Like a Confident Badass or Butterfly

Day #19: Who would you like to be for one day?


Haruka and/or Zukki. Haruka is very close to my self-image when I was twelve. But she seems to have way more confidence, so being Haruka for a day would be like re-living my past in a more ideal way (I really liked my 6th grade year and have many fond memories, but my tendency to avoid people and not talk in front of class made me get some poor marks and I wasn't able to go to my best friend's birthday party, even though she was moving that year...)


Zukki also seems to have tons of confidence, not afraid to make those strange bug impressions of hers on television and concert stages in front of thousands of people. Also, she seems super happy most of the time. It would be amazing to have a whole day feeling confident and joyful.

But the coolest thing about being either of them is being a Morning Musume member for a day and being able to enjoy it because of the confidence and happiness!

Basically, I'd like to be the girls I most relate to, because I'd probably feel strange or have nightmares coming back from a day being someone like Maimai, who I think is cute but I can't relate to at all. (At least going by on-screen persona.)




Saturday, June 9, 2012

Idol Challenge 18 - Kappactress

Day #18: The best actress.


To be honest, I've rarely seen the girls act aside from the acting they do as their idol personas. I know the girls act a lot in musicals and do have some movies and television shows they've starred or appeared in, but I haven't found them accessible and I don't have the time (let me know when Crunchyroll, Viki, or the like have them available to stream, though.) But I have seen commercials for some of the them, so I have concluded that Airi is currently H!P's best actress. (This is all my opinion from what I have seen, of course.)

She's such a goofy character as an idol, the laid-back absent-minded genius. So it really surprised me to see how cool, dark, even sadistic she appeared to be in the commercials for the horror movies "Ousama Game" and "Gomennasai". Looking fierce and such for a magazine photoshoot is different than actually acting out in a believable way on film (i.e. idols that can do sexy poses for modeling photoshoots but come off as dorks if they try the same pose on video, because they start laughing too hard.) In the commercials for those movies, I didn't just see Airi, the idol, but I saw an interesting character that made me wish those films (especially "Ousama Game") was available with English subtitles (legally, I mean.)




Friday, June 8, 2012

Idol Challenge 17 - Fangtastic

Day #17: N00b trying to bury their way into your heart.


Meimi. Unlike Haruka, who I liked practically from the start, I didn't know what to think of Meimi at the beginning. She was cute, both her face (yay, fangs!) and her voice. But she did have that weird forehead thing going on (though admittedly it made her stick out more and more fun to draw) and there seemed to be a lot of complaints about her. Normally in auditions, I just have my own opinions and the opinions of others aren't likely to sway me, unless there are some hilarious ideas for a girl's future in the group. We usually haven't seen all that the judges and producer have seen, only little snippets of what the agency wants to show us, so with all these girls we haven't seen much of, it really comes down to viewers' personal preference of which girl(s) will make the best addition(s).

But I wasn't able to see much of the S/mileage audition footage since I was busy and without Internet for awhile, and suddenly Meimi was announced as a winner. I was rooting for her, for the aforementioned cuteness, but then I had doubts. Did I miss the part where she was an annoying banshee that couldn't sing? And then I saw footage from Hello!Pro Time. And the live-streamed concert on YouTube. And then she became a lead singer when my least favorite member left. She may have messed up on her notes a bit in that concert, but she really can hold a tune most of the time and her voice is still so cute. And at least she sounds all right in the studio versions of the songs! (Maybe there is some recording "magic" going on, but at least it's to better appreciate her voice.)

I'm also a fan of her crazy hyperness, which makes her a lot more entertaining to watch than other members of the group. Any idol that can give me giggles has won a piece of my heart.