Proportions

Found this website that lists down the proportion that each member gets for the various Berryz songs. Red indicates highest number, while blue indicates lowest.
Not sure what the exact measure is, but I think it's number of beats for each member, and any shared lines get split amongst them.

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tomoaki/20020110

I'm surprised that Miya seems to get the most lines in singles. I would've thought that Risako would've got the honour.
I wonder if it takes into account all of Miya's 'oohs' and 'ahs'

There are also one for the other H!P groups, but nothing surprising there

Day 24: Idol that is not one of your favorite but that you think is really good?

I guess I owe that title to Kikkawa You.

First noticed her in Tan Tan Taan, along with Koha and Kitahara.
Basically, she had the best voice among the three.
Which probably isn't too hard when you think about the vocal abilities of the other two, but even in general, she's got a good voice.

Even among the current three solo artists, she's the most able vocally.
I guess I'm more charmed by Mano's pretty face, though Kikka does give her a run for her money given the covers from her latest album.
I guess if the quality of her songs improves, I might start paying attention to her. Or possibly even the quantity - the more I have to hear, the more I have to base my opinion on. After all, Mano's been average all this while and I still like her.

Day 23: Past H!P member you miss the most?

It's not a long list that have graduated from H!P ever since I became an idol fan. Well, unless you count the whole of the Elder Club.
Maiha was before my time, and Erika and Kanna were pretty unceremonious. Koha was interesting, and her graduation left MoMusu a lot more boring than before.
Sakichi's is recent and sad, but there's another I have in mind.
That leaves three more from MoMusu. Kamei was weird, and JunJun was a Sayu clone up until she wasn't. Can't dislike someone who likes Captain.

My choice might have been obvious from my previous posts touching on MoMusu: the delectable little LinLin.

Flashback to mid-2010. I'd been a H!P fan for long enough that I'd already gone through most of H!P's history, even reacquainting myself with my past favourites from the early noughties.

At this point, I had established favourites in each group. Except MoMusu.

So when I heard that they would be performing at the Japan Expo in Paris, I was like meh. Had it been either of the Kids groups, I'd have been more enthusiastic. But I thought that I should be supportive of H!P, since hopefully they'd have an increased foreign presence, so I went.

Sourced off Wikimedia Commons

Think I mentioned  that I managed to score a chance to get MoMusu's signatures. LinLin was the most responsive, and she instantly became my favourite.

Her performance of Aozora ni Itsumademo knocked me out of the park as well. Pity we didn't get any of that at the Japan Expo concert.

Although JunJun seems to have gone into acting, there hasn't been much news of LinLin. I hope she goes back into music, as I don't think I've got the energy to follow her if she goes into acting. But, whatever it is, she's the one I miss the most.

Day 22: Your favorite Costume?

I'm not particular about my costumes. Most H!P concert costumes are pretty shite anyway.
The first one that comes to mind are these - the newspaper-themed costumes from the Berryz Times concert.

Sourced from Purple Sky Magazine

It's pretty difficult to get a photo with all of them together in that outfit, simply because the official goods don't have that outfit as a group set photo. So had to look at the Sakura-con coverage, where I was sure they had worn the same outfits.

I'll let the lovely Kumai Yurina model a clearer picture of the costume:

Honourable mention goes to their Medachitai costume. No, not the fish costume, although those were pretty interesting.

My first impression of that performance? Wow, they've actually figured out how to dress Maasa.

Berryz is an orthodox idol group. But looks wise, Maasa generally doesn't seem to fit.
I guess dressing girls like Momo, Saki, and the rest aren't too difficult. Well, Miya probably is - when you start out with perfection, you can only go downhill from there.
But Maasa has always been the recipient of dresses that never seem to suit her. But this one - ah. It fit the theme, yet was very understated compared to the other girls. The sash in the middle gives her a more mature look. And her lovely black hair is let down, creating a very mature, mysterious, suggestive look. Hell yeah.

Day 21: The idol you have the most respect for or admire?

I respect and/or adore Risako for improving her vocals from terrible to horrible to merely bad to amazing, all without appearing to give a thought about it.

I respect and/or adore JunJun & LinLin for being brave enough to work overseas, leaving their families to venture to a foreign land.

I respect and/or adore Okada Yui for the size of her boobs.

I respect and/or adore Sakitty for doing her best, and choosing to end her career on her own terms.

I respect and/or adore all idols for their amazing work ethic. Performing in concerts, various meet-and-greet events, in some cases having to prove themselves to the public - not easy.

I respect and/or adore Momo for working her ability to recover from any amount of teasing, and her antenna of love that she always sticks out.

No, Momo, isn't the last part of my list, though she definitely isn't the least.

I respect and/or adore Okai Chisato most of all.

Rather than accepting the status quo as one of Airi's entourage in C-ute, she decided to make it on her own.

It started with her 'Odotte Mita' series, where she did dance covers of H!P songs. In hindsight, if it was working to well in improving the popularity of a 9-year old, wouldn't it entail even more if it was done by a professional idol. The original performer herself, even.
In a way, it kind of humanised her. You know, made her into more of an idol you felt like you could meet rather than an untouchable idol, protected by management.

She followed this up with a web show, Okai Chan Neru. And that's a great pun if I've ever heard one.

Nowadays, it does feel like H!P has a stronger online presence, with their Ustream arrangements. But I always felt that Chissa was the one who paved the way to greater online exposure, as well as being the reason C-ute seems to have the most active online presence (see International High School).

To top it off, she held a solo concert - which sold off so quickly, they decided to make a second. Say what you want about dinner shows, theatrical performances, movie appearances - if an singer idol can sell out a concert on her own, she's probably doing something right.

Yup, definitely worth my respect.

Ranker

Stumbled upon this Mobekimasu Ranker. Choose the photo of the girl you prefer, or click between them in case of a draw.
Doesn't include the two soloists. I guess that would make it Mobekimasukiki?

優柔不断度：6.42%

順位名前得点
1嗣永桃子90
2鈴木愛理87
3岡井千聖84
4清水佐紀81
5小川紗季78
6矢島舞美75
7菅谷梨沙子72
8夏焼雅69
9須藤茉麻66
10徳永千奈美63
11道重さゆみ60
12真野恵里菜57
13高橋愛54
14熊井友理奈51
15田中れいな48
16鈴木香音45
17新垣里沙42
18鞘師里保39
19中島早貴32
19萩原舞32
19前田憂佳32
22和田彩花27
23譜久村聖24
24生田衣梨奈21
25福田花音18
26光井愛佳5
26中西香菜5
26小数賀芙由香5
26竹内朱莉5
26勝田里奈5
26田村　芽実5


Blogspot doesn't like tables. Pity, it was colour coded by group as well.


Quick translation:

1. Momo
2. Airi
3. Chisato
4. Captain
5. Ogawa Saki
6. Maimi
7. Risako
8. Miya
9. Chinami
10. Sayumi

Yes, only one person from MoMusu in my top 10, while almost all of Berryz is in there. And more than half of C-ute.

Those last few are the S/mileage sub members, of whom I have limited exposure to. Where do you think the draws came from?

Ooh, there's a button at the bottom that separates them by group:

モーニング娘。
順位	名前	得点
1 (11)	道重さゆみ	60
2 (13)	高橋愛	54
3 (15)	田中れいな	48
4 (16)	鈴木香音	45
5 (17)	新垣里沙	42
6 (18)	鞘師里保	39
7 (23)	譜久村聖	24
8 (24)	生田衣梨奈	21
9 (26)	光井愛佳	5

Berryz工房
順位	名前	得点
1 (1)	嗣永桃子	90
2 (4)	清水佐紀	81
3 (7)	菅谷梨沙子	72
4 (8)	夏焼雅	69
5 (9)	須藤茉麻	66
6 (10)	徳永千奈美	63
7 (14)	熊井友理奈	51

℃-ute
順位	名前	得点
1 (2)	鈴木愛理	87
2 (3)	岡井千聖	84
3 (6)	矢島舞美	75
4 (19)	中島早貴	32
5 (19)	萩原舞	32

真野恵里菜
順位	名前	得点
1 (12)	真野恵里菜	57

スマイレージ
順位	名前	得点
1 (5)	小川紗季	78
2 (19)	前田憂佳	32
3 (22)	和田彩花	27
4 (25)	福田花音	18
5 (26)	中西香菜	5
6 (26)	小数賀芙由香	5
7 (26)	竹内朱莉	5
8 (26)	勝田里奈	5
9 (26)	田村　芽実	5

Hmph, suddenly it decides to like tables. I can't retry, since there's no back to complete ranking button.

Note that there may be differences within my earlier rankings. What's life without a bit of volatility eh?

There's also a H!P ranker, which incluldes the eggs, the Up-up girls, as well as the other two soloists.

Day 20: The most charismatic idol?

Charisma, if I remember my AD&D correctly, had basically two parts - personality, and leadership ability.

As idols, personality is basically a given. So it boils down to leadership, the ability to persuade people to follow you.

The straightforward answer is Airi, for reasons mentioned in my favourite voice post. I'd follow her to the ends of the earth after listening to that performance of Aa Koi.

Another way to look at the question is from an idol context - how are they as leaders of idols?
Now that's trickier.

As far as leaders of idols in H!P are concerned - Aichan, Maimi, Momo, Dawa - plus one Captain, don't appeal to me as charismatic leaders per se. I don't know the past leaders of MoMusu, though I hear Yossie was a good one. Takamina's another one I've heard, but I'm not familiar with her in the context of being a leader.

Makes me wonder - in H!P concerts, is there one character that everyone will follow? Kamei was actually very good at catching everyone's attention, not necessarily by orthodox means. But that isn't exactly leading, is it?
So who does anyone follow in a H!P concert. One answer comes to mind - Makoto, everyone's favourite middle-aged MC with a mushroom haircut.

Yup, all the H!P idols definitely listen and follow his lead in concerts.

As a parting gift, here's the cover for Melon Kinenbi's 'Charisma Kirei'. Irrelevant but still on-topic

P.S. I also think there's a term 'Charisma Idol'. I wouldn't know what it would mean to be an uncharismatic idol, but I have heard that term being bandied around.

Ousama Game

In which Berryz and C-ute storm Abottabad to find the world's most wanted terrorist.

Wait, wrong Osama.



If anything, I'm happy this is more of a psycho Battle Royale than a horror movie.

MoMusu's latest double-A single

So here we have a PV preview of Kono Chikyu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatteirundayo! & Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai.



Kono Chikyu:
Kyaa, the 9th gens look so adorable in their pajamas, getting out of their beds!
The video then degenerates into generic idol dance shoot.
Gold dresses don't look that great when on a mostly golden background.
The designs seem to be a ripoff of Only You's designs, and might be an homage to Aichan's new blonde do. I have a suspiscion of my own:

Costume designer A: Whoa, we've still got all this gold material left from Kiss Me Aishiteru
Costume designer B: Yeah, who'd have thunk that we only need one person's worth of material to clothe up all five members?
Costume designer A: We can probably use this for another single
Costume designer B: Maybe Takahashi-san's last single? She just went blonde, so it would be fitting

Music-wise, I like the jazzy introduction. And the first verse sounds promising. And then they hit the chorus, and you get back to the realm of generic idol music.
Don't get me wrong, the song is alright - but merely ok. Doesn't feel great.
And I realise I prefer Gaki's lines over Aichan's in the song.

Kare to Issho:
Well, the director seems to have got inspiration from the recent success of Kyary's PONPONPON.

Lucy in the sky with... dancers?

The costumes are pretty horrible. The choice of colour suggests that the designers were averse to running away from the red, yellow, and blues of the colour palette.
The arrangement of the video has an amateurish charm to it. It reminds me of 3,2,1 Breakin Out's PV and the contest PVs.
Although the constant usage of floating heads in the video are an abomination. Please, floating heads don't work. Not even in bad horror movies.

Second Morning: The curse of the 1st and 2nd gen's floating heads

I still like the song, though it's charm has worn off.

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

Okada Yui.

Cause boobs.

Out of H!P: Shinozaki Ai.

Y'know, cause boobs.

'Nuff said.

Day 18: Favorite concert?

You know, Buono! was supposed to perform at Sweden in 2009. I looked at the date at the calendar, and it would've been the day after my final paper. I considered going, but wasn't sure if it was feasible. In the end, it didn't work out.

Berryz in Bangkok! Yeah! During my spring break at that, so I could hop down back home and watch them.
Sadly, I had other commitments with friends down in Brussels. Wasn't the best time to be in Bangkok anyway, what with the red shirt protesters. Risako fans, no doubt.

Since I couldn't see Momo herself in action, I grasped at straws - and pulled out MoMusu, performing in Paris:

Ogawa Saki to graduate from S/mileage

So I wake up, open Google Reader. First thing I see is news that Ogawa Saki will be graduating. This Saturday. As I read, I realised that it wasn't just someone trolling.

So, the only member of S/mileage I care about is graduating.

TKMR's translation of Saki and Tsunku's announcements

As short notice as it is, I'm happy that it seems to be on her own terms. In a way, I'm happy for her. She got further than most eggs did, toughed it out, and made her own decision to leave. That last part is never an easy choice to make. The constant eyebags under her eyes may have been a sign.

I haven't watched their concerts after May, so I can't tell how she performed as an idol after she made her decision. With all her effort, like any idol would, I assume. There seems to be no trace of her giving up in the Uchouten Love PV.

Tsunku's mention of her abandoning her work partway seems a bit snide. But one can understand - her talent was still developing, and to let her go before she comes into full bloom would be pretty disappointing for a guy so used to nurturing such talents.

TKMR's translations of the other members' reactions

The members sound like they've known  that she was leaving, and only now have had a chance to voice their thoughts. I kinda understand why the members of S/mileage seemed so unhappy with the news of the new members - their announcement meant that Sakitty would be nearing her graduation.

It seems a bit of a wasted opportunity that they couldn't have a proper graduation concert, given that they could at least have planned some sort of special S/mileage live, only revealing why it was special later. Heck, you could even say it was for the new members. After all, this is S/mileage's first graduation. Maybe Sakitty wanted it that way - who knows?

I'm saddened by the fact that she's choosing to stop any idol activities, but at least it's her own decision. At least she wasn't taken out on the pretense of having a medical illness and unceremoniously booted out. And possibly, just like Kanna, she might just come back to the idol world.

Still, reading her announcements, doesn't sound likely. Only time will tell.

Sakitty, all the best to you in the future, in your life as a normal teenager. 

Day 17: Your first Idol (first one you noticed/were exposed to)?

Long story short:

The big three of Berryz: Momo, Risako, Miya.

Long story after break, since it's going to be a lengthy post about my J-music listening background.

Day 16: Favorite S/mileage member?

Easy. The lovely little Sakitty:

Miyamoto Karin might've been a contender, but she didn't get in.
I'm not the most enthusiastic fan of S/mileage. I like their songs, but the personality of group feels somewhat lacking. Idol group with the shortest skirts? Their name comes from 'Smile' and 'Mileage'? I can understand 'Smile', but not 'Mileage'.
Their declaration of wanting to be the best dance group irked me a bit. Say not of the Korean groups - they haven't got to the level of their seniors, C-ute yet. Though I guess they have done a collaboration concert.

So yes, Sakitty. Possibly the least idol-like of the group. Why her? I'm of the opinion that she's got the best voice in S/mileage.

I'll admit it was high pitched. But hey, Very Beauty is a difficult song. The simplicity of the instruments forces the singer to work with very little margin of error.
And sitting down while trying to hit that tricky first note - that shows confidence.
With her high pitch, you can see that she's trying her best with a difficult song. I can barely remember what her fellow S/mileage compatriots sang in the same concert.

There was that marching band song as well, where the rest of S/mileage played second fiddle to Sakitty and the Oha Girls. That was a good song as well.

One minus about Sakitty - she always seems to have bags under her eyes in single photos. Get some sleep girl!

Regarding the new S/mileage sub-members, I'll reserve my judgement until I see them in action.

Oh, and Miyamoto Karin would've been perfect for S/mileage. She was the only one who seemed to have enough potential to be a threat to the existing members.
Even if she does make it through to MoMusu 10th gen, I fear that she'll be squashed by the seniors. Even if she does get put forward, it'll feel more like a management push. Had she been in S/mileage, she'd automatically be kick ass and we'd expect her to naturally move forward.

Oh well, we'll just have to wait to see how she does if she gets into MoMusu. And see if she's the miracle that will bring MoMusu back to its lofty heights.

Day 15: Favorite Morning Musume member (current)?

Slightly over a year ago, this would've been easy. After meeting MoMusu at Japan expo, Linlin became my favourite. Her bubbly 'Wo Ai Ni' in response to my own, her lovable & amusing personality, her amazing voice.

Sadly, it's just been slightly over a year since she's left. So I've got to choose from the remaining lineup.
After reflecting a bit, Sayu, I choose you!

Honestly, initially I thought that I'd have picked Aichan. I'm usually a stickler for vocal quality, the one thing that Sayu definitely lacks.
Yet what she has over the others is the fact that she has a personality. And she appears so much in TV shows. If the idol aspect doesn't pan out (wouldn't if it was purely based on vocal ability), she wouldn't have any problem with being a TV celebrity.
Have to give her props for consistently giving the most entertaining answers for the Pocket Morning questions.

Here's a quick ranking:
Sayu> Aichan, Reina > Zukki > Riho > Gaki, Aika, Mizuki, Erina (i.e. the "I couldn't care less" tier)

Aichan has the voice. Not a fan of her current blonde look, but she's got a short time left in MoMusu, so let her do as she pleases.
Reina has the attitude, but has degenerated into a mostly generic idol.
Zukki is entertaining, at the least.
Riho's the 9th gen being pushed by management. She's decent, but only time will tell if she'll drop into that last tier.
The rest - well, I couldn't care less honestly.

As a parting gift, here's a photo of LinLin I took at Japan Expo:

Snapped while queuing in line for autographs

Day 14: Favorite Buono! member?

Now this is a lot trickier. Thankfully, I'm biased.

May be surprising that my number one's a difficult choice. But I love love love Airi in Buono! so much more than in C-ute. Strange surprising how much more she's pushed in C-ute - Shock was basically performed by her, with 4 H!P Kids as backup dancers. But I love her interactions with NatsuMomo, partly because I like them both, partly because I couldn't give a rat's arse to pay attention to C-ute out of performances.

Rankings: Momo = Airi + ε > Miyabi, where ε is an arbitrarily small positive quantity

Currently listening to Partenza as I write this (Guess what came in the mail yesterday?). Will do a GETS post soon.

As a bonus, here's something from Rock'n Buono 4.

Black Angels

Just finished watching Black Angels, starring Yajima Maimi and some guy

Not particularly impressed. Hardly any storyline to talk about. Maimi in cheongsam is nice, since I very much enjoy thigh-high slits. Not enough to keep the file on my hard disk though.
Kudos to H!F and Aidol for subbing this.
I've got Fuyu no Kaidan - Boku to Warashi to Obaachan no Monogatari on the watchlist. Will get around to watching it once I feel like watching horror, which is almost never. Why is it that H!P does so many horror movies?

Day 13: Favorite Berryz Koubou member?

Can't go with anything but my number 1 in this case: Momo!

Let's see, the ordering for Berryz:

Momo>Captain>Miya & Risako>Maasa>Yurina & Chinami

Yup, that's seven.

Berryz as a group:

Berryz has always struck me as the fun group in H!P. While MoMusu can shift from emo to genki to sexy and C-ute are the professional dance troupe with boring songs, Berryz always seems to be having the most fun. Beatboxing, singing about monkey dances, dressing up as fish - all playful acts that I can't really imagine the other groups doing. Well, possiblt S/mileage.

Where C-ute developed as a dance group, Berryz aimed to experiment with their vocal abilities, doing a capella and beatbox versions of their songs.These experiments bring out the fun image of Berryz.

I always think Berryz was currently aiming to a younger, anime-centric audience thanks to their Inazuma Eleven connection, while C-ute was targeted more as the mature dance group for wotas.

Getting back to my rankings:

Yurina and Chinami are at the bottom end since someone had to be at the bottom. Seriously though, I like most of Berryz Kobo as idols. They're at the bottom since I find their vocal ability lacking. I've touched on Yurina, but I remember being unimpressed with Chinami's recent solo.

Unlike Momo, I feel that Chinami doesn't go out of her way to impress as an idol. Case in point, in the Kids' 1st Solo lives, both Chinami and Maimi performed Momoiro Kataomoi. It's not the most difficult performance vocally, tbh. And Chinami and Maimi weren't singing it too badly. The main difference was that Maimi took the opportunity to at least do the moves, interact with the audience a bit. Chinami was basically a singing plank.

Maasa I like because you can see how her confidence developed as an idol. When you compare her now to when she was flailing around in the back of Special Generation, she's developed a lot.

She isn't your traditional idol, which makes her more interesting when you compare her to the rest of Berryz. I think that's the cause why it's so rare that the wardrobe team dresses her so horribly most of the time (relative to the horribleness that is H!P costumes) - they haven't figured out how to dress her. They managed once in the Medachitai concert though - a lovely, unadorned red dress. Sadly, it looks like they've forgotten that magic.

Moving up, Miya and Risako. A few years ago, Miya would be second and Risako would be last. Nowadays, they're roughly on the same position, which is still pretty high.

I'll start with Miya. She was number two for quite some time early in my fandom, though she was eventually taken over by Chinami, and now, Captain. It's obvious to see why she was just after the impassable barrier where Momo stands - she's one of the mains, she can sing pretty decently, she can dancewell, and finally, she's real pretty.

Only problem: she's pretty boring as well. Her saving grace is that whenever I start thinking of her as boring, I will eventually stumble upon a concert performance of her and think "Damn she's fine!". Not a fan of the fact that she's taken to caking tons (relatively) of makeup on her face recently.

While Socko - she's the complete opposite: couldn't sing, couldn't dance, and yet was the frontliner. Why was she ahead of my Momoko? Yet, like Maasa, you could slowly notice improvements. Her singing voice slowly went from terrible to merely bad. At some point, she stopped caring about the weaknesses in her vocal ability and just concentrated on her strengths. And how that helped. She changed from a shouty voice to a strong soulful one. Her recent rendition of Hajimete Kuchibiru no Kasaneta Yoru? Top notch.

I'm more a fan of old school Risako than the current Risako. It's not that she's fat, it just that she looks - so dolled up. It almost feels fake. And one thing I like about Risako is how sincere she is. Face and personality don't match.

Captain's gone up in my rankings these past few years. I started getting interested in her from Berryz' 12th DVD magazine, where Berryz visits an aquarium. Momo, Chii, and Captain were waiting their turn, and they try to get Chii to sing in harmony. By now, Berryz have shown that they're capable of doing that shit. Yet, circa Munasawagi Scarlet, Berryz got pwned for not knowing how to harmonise on a TV show. So this was impressive to me.

Unlike Socko, who maximised her vocal strengths, Captain refined hers. I'm impressed with her vocal range, though I still think she lacks vocal strength.

Helps that she's also been starting to look more attractive starting from Seishun Bus Guide.

Momo is my number one. Is there anything about her I haven't said yet?

She seems comfortable in the burikko/ijirare character she has. I've mentioned that her "I'm cute" act has been a bit overboard, and the other members don't seem that enthusiastic about that act.

But still love her anyways.

I think Momo's the H!P idol I've mentioned the most so far, so I'll leave you with a pic of my number 1 and 2, the Oneesans.

Where are they going next? Momo looks excited, while Captain just wants to get to the next place