Another version of the 30-day challenge

Day 1: Your Favorite Idol
Day 2: The Idol you hate or dislike
Day 3: If you are or were a boy who would be your girlfriend?
Day 4: If the Idol was a boy, who would be your boyfriend?
Day 5: Favorite Group?
Day 6: Favorite Unit?
Day 7: Favorite Couple.
Day 8: Your favorite voice.
Day 9: The voice you dislike.
Day 10: The idol you used to hate and now like (or vice versa).
Day 11: The one who’s not your type but totally won you over eventually.
Day 12: The evilest idol.
Day 13: Favorite Berryz Koubou member.
Day 14: The idol with the best body.
Day 15: Favorite Morning Musume member?
Day 16: The sweetest idol.
Day 17: The n00b trying to burrow their way into your heart.
Day 18: The best actress.
Day 19: Who would you like to be for a day?
Day 20: The most charming idol.
Day 21: The idol you have the most respect for or admire?
Day 22: Your favorite costume.
Day 23: Past H!P member you miss the most?
Day 24: Idol that is not one of your favorites but you think is really good.
Day 25: Past group you miss the most.
Day 26: Idol with the best personality.
Day 27: Idol that you have special feelings for?
Day 28: Idol that brings you special memories of something or somebody?
Day 29: Your favorite idol leader.
Day 30: The idol you’d like to go on a vacation with for a week.

Day 30: Why do you love idols?

Decided to modify it slightly from the original, expanding from just H!P to idols in general.

So why do I love idols? Music definitely isn't the main reason, although that's the main method I get my idol fix.

The main sticking point for me is that idols are fun. I got hooked to Berryz Kobo  first probably since they were experimenting with fun concepts at the time: singing about a Mongolian leader, dressing up as monkeys, crossdressing and flirting with a bus guide. Though now C-ute is trying the cute group image, while Berryz is going for the sexy.

Even grumpy monkey Saki makes me happy

There's that happiness that you gain from following an idol. That may be why I'm more inclined to MomoClo over TGS - TGS seems a bit too professional for me, while MomoClo mess around, having fun. Unsurprising given how TGS were assembled by avex, while MomoClo climbed up from indie to mainstream.

Part of this is captured in Team PB's almost-meta-idol-song, Enkyori Poster. An idol song from the point of view of an idol fan.

There's always that aspect of cheering your idol on, and the fact that they're working hard to garner your support drives you to work hard... to support them. Ah, that cycle called capitalism.

I wish they'd step out of this poster

Yet, that cycle is how one develops a connection to an idol.

Unlike Western celebrities, you feel that these idols are human, are people just like you - full of worries, troubles, and doing their best at their job. 

I have to admit that idols do act an escape mechanism for me.

The statement "If it wasn't for teenage Japanese girls, I might've killed myself" has a ring of truth to it, although if I hadn't found idols I'd probably have found something else. Like [insert weird fetish here] porn. Or drugs. Or alcohol. Or coffee.

Yet why are they an escape mechanism for me? Just because of the joy they bring to me. And I'll sign off at that.

Day 29: Your favorite Morning Musume Leader?

Well, not much competition here.

Ever since I've entered the idol fandom, Takitty has been the leader of MoMusu.

I've heard that Yossie was a good leader, but I've got no benchmark to compare with.

Now if it had been between the current H!P units, would've been more food for thought. I have a definite bias towards the Buono! leader, but I think I'd end up calling it a draw between Captain and Maimi.

Heck, I'd probably call it a draw and call it both of them. They're also another fun, if uncommon, pairing. Heck, they form a manzai - Captain as the tsukkomi and Maimi as the boke. 'Twas fun watching them MCing during one of Mano's lives.

Day 28: Idol the brings to you special memories of something or somebody?

Now I can mention songs that fit the bill, but an individual idol? None come to mind.

So, by association, are there any special memories I have of idols?

Well, the easy answer is that fateful day when I went down to Paris to see MoMusu at Japan Expo. Nothing else comes close.

Day 27: Idol that you have a special place in your heart for?

Well, I see we're getting to the more difficult questions now.

To me at least, this question seems somewhat silly.
All idols I cheer for have a special place in my heart.
After all, who would waste that much time, money, and energy for someone they don't feel for?
Closer to heart would be family members, close friends - and so far I don't think any idols have got that close.

So following my all idols answer, have a pic of Mobekimasu, just cause I can't be arsed to look for photos of other groups I care about:

Day 26: Idol with the best personality?

Best personality? How should one measure that.
Well, okay, imagine I was blind and tone deaf, or at least unable to appreciate music. Then let me get to know H!P.

Let's see strip out the boring ones, the annoying ones, the ones I don't care about, and let's see whom we have left.
By my count, 6 idols.
Some of them have got quite a bit of love on this blog, so I'd thought I'd highlight an alternative choice - in this case, Yajima Maimi.

Maimi's such a sweetie, it's surprising I don't mention her more.

Honourable mention goes to Chinami. She was the first one that came to mind when I came up with the filters.

What gave Maimi the edge over Chinami?
Well, continuing with the blind theme, I get the feeling that Maimi would be much more likelier to lead me by the hand than Chii would. That's about it.

Day 25: Past group you miss the most?

Well, is High-King still active? Well, technically they're still complete until Aichan graduates. And they are a unit rather than a group.

Even looking beyond H!P, I never really was emotionally invested into any of the groups.
There's Speed, which seems to be making a comeback.
ZONE, though I've never heard any of their songs.
Hinoi Team was pretty popular. I know the leader was Hinoi Asuka. They sang 'Ike Ike', the opening for Ichigo 100% (which was a pretty rubbish story, if you ask me). And that cover of Night of Fire with that sumo wrestler/entertainer. But again, their disbanding wasn't much of concern to me.

How about I twist the question slightly. What about the past group I wish I had a chance to follow?
Well, I'll go with Melon Kinenbi.

The pretty one is Shibata Ayumi. That summarises basically everything I know about the group's members

Their discography has some of my favourite H!P songs - This is Unmei and Onegai Miwaku no Target (Mango Purin Mix). I've watched a video of This is Unmei live, which was completely exciting and energetic.

Always amuses me that their final album declares that they aren't dead
Also remembered for having a cock in the cover art

One thing I'd heard was that Melon Kinenbi was the red-headed stepchild of H!P, abandoned by Tsunku yet still managing to garner a significant following.

They also managed to last 10 years without any lineup changes, which is probably more than any other H!P act can say. They were the group that everyone expected to last past the Elder Club graduations - and disappointed on that count.

But yeah, among the H!P groups out there, they're the ones I would've liked to follow from before.

Aww, how sweet

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.

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.

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:

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.

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

Day 12: Favorite ℃-ute member?

I'll be unsurprising and go for the frontliner: Suzuki Airi.

My personal order in C-ute is
Airi >Chissa & Maimi >>>>>>>Nakky & Mai

To be frank, I find C-ute pretty boring.
In general, their songs are generic idol fare or dance style. Thankfully, their recent ones have been slightly more exciting generic idol fare.

Personality wise, Airi's your basic girl next door, and so is Maimi with a bit more genki. Chissa's more my way or the highway tomboyish. Nakky's the emo type. I have no idea what Mai's personality is ever since she and Chissa stopped playing pranks. Erika was another one I didn't get.
At least Kanna was interesting. A charming lack of confidence, yet happy to get her hands on any of the other girls. Sad that she had to leave.

As a plus, C-ute always appealed to me as the professional group in H!P. Overall, they're the best dancers as a group. Individually, they don't have the best dancers in H!P, but their worst dancers far outdo the worst in the other groups. I wasn't surprised that one of their recent concerts was a Dance Special.
Of H!P's flagship groups, I enjoy watching their concert performances the most. Their concert MCs generally are made up of sketches, which are hit-and-miss. But their song performances - yeah, it's good stuff.

Tsunku also seems to be pushing their presence online - what with Chissa's Odotte Mita series, their live streaming concerts, the activeness of their YouTube channel.