【Event Report】University graduation confirmed, Berryz Kobo・ Tsugunaga Momoko、「My Momochi Musubi won't be graduated！」

The product launch for the Playstation 3/ Playstation Vita game 'Sengoku Musou 4', scheduled to go on sale on the 20th of March was held in town, and making an appearance as a special guest was Momochi, Berryz Kobo's Tsugunaga Momoko, unparalleled in the Idol Warring States Period. {I believe Sengoku Musou is set in Japan's Warring States Period, and 'Musou' translates to 'unparalleled'}

Though there were many people around who had played the Sengoku Musou series, what I was interested in was Momochi. At the event, she promptly gave her impressions of playing in the waiting room, "Knocking down people feels exhilarating! [The defeated military commander] was pitiful. As much as I pitied him, it was really fun."

Also, at the same time as Sengoku Musou's release was Berryz Kobo's 10th anniversary. When asked about episodes left over from looking back over their memories of those 10 years; at Berryz Kobo's America performance, Momochi was just waving her hand, and got cheers that she'd never been showered with in Japan, with the spectators unabashedly going, "Momochi very cute![sic]"  It made her feel good to look back on it.

Going back to the product launch, Momochi realised a specially produced "Commander Momochi" using the game's character edit feature. In her game run-through, as you would expect of a game on the Playstation Vita, she pulled off a nice combo while playing, surprising the press and the officials.

"Maybe if I was born in the Warring States period, I'd want to be a princess. If I have to enter a political marriage of convenience, Yurushite-nyan ♪," such an indecipherable comment came flying out. At the photo session after the event, to celebrate her 22nd birthday on the 6th of March, Sengoku Musou 4's popular characters Sanada Nobushige and Sanada Nobuyuki made a surprise appearance and presented Momochi with a birthday cake. Berryz Kobo also celebrated its 10th anniversary on the 3rd of March, and with her university graduation confirmed without any hitches, and her birthday, "Recently there have been a lot of pleasant things. I feel like I've been successful. Ufufufu," Momochi was delighted. However, concerning her university graduation, she was asked, "Are you going to graduate from the Momochi Musubi?" she plainly replied, "My Momochi Musubi won't be graduated! I'd like to continue until it comes into fashion." "Since Yuukorin-san's (Ogura Yuko) planet (planet Korin) exploded (?) when she was 26, 27 years old , I'd definitely go to that extent," making the press burst into laughter. {Trans: edited since I figured out what was going on with the numbers}

In a further digression, in relation to the wonderful characters in the game, Momochi was asked about her ideal guy. "A person who likes Momochi even more than Momochi herself." "A person who can wear a pink T-shirt without being embarrassed," Momochi expounded on her ideal man. Moreover, when asked, "What sort of date would you like to have with your ideal person?," those delusions were immediately broken. "I think it would be fun if the two of us played games. Like... in this game, I don't mean I want to beat that person in the game as an enemy. Something like, "What are you doing to my Momochi!" and counter-attacking, wouldn't that be great??" left the press in a great commotion. Immediately, "... why are you sniggering!" she put in a retort to the press.

Also, "Sengoku Musou 4"'s theme song, the new song written by Kuroyume, "Reverb" (releasing on 26th of March). This song, is being used as the ending theme for the anime "Sengoku Musou SP Sanada no Shou" that will be broadcast from 12 noon on TX Network on the 21st of March, and it was brightening up this event.

text and photo by ytsuji a.k.a. 編集部（つ）


Source

Berryz Kobo、 10th year anniversary with implementation of BKB “Hi～a” collaboration

Berryz Kobo surrounding their 10th début anniversary celebratory birthday cake

Celebrating their 10th year today on the 3rd of March, Berryz Kobo held a Tokyo performance at Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo as part of their whole country tour 'Berryz Kobo Début10-Shuunen Kinen Concert Tour 2014 Spring ~Real Berryz Kobo~'.

Starting the tour from the 1st of March in Kanagawa Harmony Hall Zama, they would be carrying out 14 performances over 7 venues. Before the curtains raised for their concert on the day of their début anniversary, they pulled off a performance of their new song 'Otona na no yo!' at the enclosed interview intended for the press corps.

Berryz Kobo performing 'Otona na no yo!'

At the enclosed interview, we listened to Shimizu Saki being enthusiastic of the concert tour, "This is our 10th anniversary commemoration concert tour, and I think the contents will make you experience the 10 years of Berryz Kobo's history. The members too are pretty full of spirit, and I think it will be great if we could transmit that spirit to the fans," she commented. When asked about the highlights of the concert, "It really is a blast from the beginning, but in the middle we do a medley where we string together extremely intense and high-spirited songs,  so I guess that's when everyone at the venue comes together as one," she answered.

When enquired about what impressions remained looking back on the 10 year period, "Compared to when we débuted, I've grown by over 20 cm, and I think even Tsunku♂-san didn't envisage that I'd grow to this extent. So from now on I think I'd like to aim for the Sky Tree (laughs)," Kumai Yurina uttered, relaxing the place.Then Tsugunaga Momoko revealed a shocking truth, "I asked Tsunku♂-san "Why was Momochi (Tsugunaga) selected as part of Berryz?" through an e-mail, and yesterday night, "First of all, Berryz Kobo had slightly low capabilities, so I gathered together members that had a bit of a uneasy factor," he informed me of this fact that was new to me (laughs)," astonishing the members.
[From Crank-in, continuing Momo's statements: Continuing on, Momochi, as if she had accepted the words, "The meaning of the 'Kobo' (workshop) in Berryz Kobo was to see to what extent the members could get creative with the music, but our dancing and singing was riddled with uneasiness, and being scolded by the senseis every day gave me the shivers... . Even though I've learnt that things can be settled with a 'Yurushite-nyan,' since I didn't have such an escape mechanism at the time, it was absolutely a challenge to accept everything when we were primary school students," looking back on 10 years of activities]
{Otomomochi Translator's note: Momo copy-pasted the contents of that e-mail on her blog. Suffice to say, it's a lot kinder than how it was made out to be at the press conference.} 

And when asked about their goal from now on,  "Since we've continued for 10 whole years, it would be great if us members could celebrate our 20th anniversary, our 30th anniversary. Above all, I'd like to become a group that is loved by lots of people," Shimizu reassuringly stated.

Bike Kawasaki Bike and Berryz Kobo

Moreover, in order to celebrate Berryz Kobo's 10th début anniversary on that day, entertainer Bike Kawasaki Bike made an appearance as a surprise guest. However, the first act had none of the Berryz Kobo's members know who Bike Kawasaki Bike was, and they didn't follow the BKB call, asking "Who is it?" without thinking. After that, Berryz Kobo joined forces with Bike Kawasaki Bike where each and every one of them did a version of his gag. Tsugunaga, with her good intuition, immediately followed up, but Tokunaga Chinami and Shimizu couldn't really follow the BKB skit, and the stage was wrapped in a weird atmosphere.
{If I had to explain, Bike Kawasaki Bike's skit involves doing acrostics with the letters BKB
From the Oricon article, he enters with a "Berryz Kobo ha, Koyoi, Birthday dakara" - "Because tonight, it's Berryz Kobo's birthday". Since I can't resist, Momo's was "Burikko, Kawaikute, Beautiful"}

In addition, on the concert held on that day, new songs from their new single "Otona na no yo! 1-oku 3-zenman Sou Diet Oukoku," on sale 19th February and from their Best-of album on sale 26th of Feb "Berryz Kobo Special Best Vol. 2" were introduced one after the other.
At the MC, a letter from Tsunku♂ was read out, "Although it is true that the number of people in Berryz Kobo has decreased, now new members have been added, so fundamentally things have been done with these members, and I think that that's really amazing", "Aiming for an Oricon 1st this year, let's make this wonderful Berryz Kobo-like seed ripen stylishly！" he paid them a compliment。

natalie.mu


Other reports - more or less the same as above:
Crank-in
Oricon (focus on Momochi's statement)
Barks (2 pages worth)
Dwango

[Live report] Berryz Kobo's first Nippon Budokan performance. Yappari Anata Nashi de ha Ikite Yukenai {page 2}

{Page 2 of the epic Barks Berryz Budokan article. Go here for page 1, and here for page 3}

Halfway through, ℃-ute appeared on stage as a special guest. Berryz Kobo had rushed in to celebrate with them during ℃-ute 's performance at the Nippon Budokan on the 10th of September (day of ℃-ute), so most of the fans had expected that ℃-ute would be making an appearance on this occasion. However, no one, including the members of Berryz Kobo, had expected the development that would occur after those girls had made their entrance.

"When Berryz Kobo came to ℃-ute's individual live performance at the Nippon Budokan, they had prepared photos from the time when we were part of Hello! Project Kids. So, we prepared some for Berryz Kobo too!"

Hearing that statement from ℃-ute's Okai Chisato, Berryz Kobo could not hide their agitation.
"We never heard of this, we never heard anything!",
"This, we never did it in the rehearsal, did we?" Tokunaga asked.
Of course it hadn't been done in the rehearsal, it was a surprise after all. Then, the photos were displayed on the screen above the stage, starting with a photo of Captain Shimizu. According to Okai's explanation, it was the first time that these photos were being revealed to the public, as they were photos from a clothes fitting session before their début.

The venue was mixed with cheers and laughter, and with a comment of, "What a country bumpkin!" Shimizu sat down in protest.
Tokunaga performed the same pose as her photo, "Even from then, your skin was dark."
In spite of her supposedly being in idol mode 24 hours a day, the Momochi depicted across space-time from 11 years ago would make anyone tremble in fear, "Scary!", "She's glaring."
On the other hand, not yet 170 cm at the time, the Kumai "before her rapid growth period" raised exclamations of "Cute!" (It should be noted that her current height is officially 176cm).

"How accomplished!" "She hasn't really changed, not much."
Everyone was surprised with Miyabi-chan from 11 years ago.
"My father, he's called Ken-chan, but Ken-chan took one look at Miyabi-chan, and told me, "Chisato, you're going to fail this audition,"," Okai reminisced about her father's early declaration of defeat from the time of the Kids audition.
However, one couldn't help but think so, that it wasn't just boasting, looking at how perfect Natsuyaki Miyabi (10 years old) was. However, Okai Chisato also successfully passed the audition in the end.
While an overseas fan once stated that Miyabi-chan's presence was as the "absolute standard of beauty," Okai also, in her role as the mood maker of ℃-ute, said that she was indispensable presence who could talk, dance, and sing.

"She's too cute~," the angelic charm of Sugaya Risako excited everyone.
And last up was Sudo Maasa. However, the photo projected on the screen was of of a girl facing forwards with her eyes half open.
"Wait a minute!" "This is NG!" "It's a broadcasting accident!"
And, on stage, everyone was making an a × with both hands, behaving like young comedians and making a commotion. Moreover, Momochi requested that "Maasa, redo it, please."
While Sudo was saying, "I definitely can't", "Wait a minute. Not this photo," a collaboration with herself had materialised after 11 years had passed.

For some reason, a photo completely unrelated to Berryz Kobo, a photo of ℃-ute · leader Yajima Maimi suddenly appeared, and we were reminded once again of Tsunku♂'s terrific magic.
After that proof of Tsunku♂-producer's amazing ability to see through girls, Miyabi-chan introduced the next song, "Since everyone's gathered up here, going back to our time as Kids, I think we'd like to sing this song."
A chime resounded, and the 21 of them performed the Hello! Project Kids début song "Ganbacchae!", released on a Single V when when all of them were still in elementary school.
While the scenery on stage was slightly lonelier than that time, due to things such as graduations, even now the bonds among the Kids were still unchanged (Though you could feel it slightly more at the ℃-ute Budokan performance, as it seems that the girls kept in contact with the graduated members and still remain on good terms).
And above all, the fact is that those 12 were force to be reckoned with in the current idol scene even before they carried out their Nippon Budokan performances. For the fans that who have been watching those girls from the old days, they were overwhelmed with "Ganbacchae!" (and "Rival") on that day.

After ℃-ute showed off "Aitte motto Zanshin", the Hello! Project Kenshuusei made a fresh appearance. They did a stage performance of the standard Kenshuusei song, "Kanojo ni naritai!!!".
However, something was amiss. Here and there, it felt like there was a lack of freshness.
Not just that, there was an awfully tall Kenshuusei, and reflected on the screen were flashes of unfamiliar Kenshuusei names on T-shirts, "Tokunaga", "Sudo", "Kumai", "Sugaya," and "Shimizu." Already the audience had realised something, sending off familiar cheers, or laughing.

After singing, Kenshuusei Hamaura Ayano called out to fellow Kenshuusei Kaneko Rie, "There seems to be Kenshuusei I've never seen before mixed in with us."
Then, without introducing herself, a lone member wearing a T-shirt with "Tokunaga" written on it entered the stage centre. "I'm "ChinaChina" who just joined the Hello! Pro Kenshuusei! My favourite side dish to go with rice is grilled mackerel," she said, flashing an energetic smile.
In addition, "Similarly, I'm "SudoSudo" who just joined! My favourite car manufacturer is ......," Kaneko interjected in a fit, "That's enough!" The "newly-joined" members were frightened by their angry senpai's rebuff.
And then, "All of you Hello! Pro Kenshuusei~. The person whom the Hello! Pro Kenshuusei look up to, it's Momochi-oneesan~." Momochi made an appearance with her Momochi musubi in full swing. Come to think of it, the Momochi musubi, until the end of the Budokan performance, continued shaking while maintaining its shape. While being amazed by her power to keep its shape, from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair she's a splendid idol.

Momochi, utilising her "industry-learnt whispering" skills, persuaded the Kenshuusei who wanted to perform a cooler song, to still perform "Momochi! Yurushite-nyan♡Taisou." After the entire hall had exhibited the appearance of some belated warm-up exercises, we came to one of the day's moments of climax.

With the advent of Natsuyaki Miyabi, in one breath, the glowsticks at the venue begun to emit a purple glow.

Of note, wearing a crown, she gave off the brilliance of a queen, and she walked to the stage past the audience, her bearing being reminiscent of a red carpet entrance. The phrase "QUEEN of IDOL" was truly made for her. One couldn't help but be convinced.
Or, as in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "The Birth of Venus", Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was depicted standing atop a shell floating atop the sea; depicted here on the canvas of the Nippon Budokan on the 29th of November, standing on the stage, floating atop a wondrous sea of violet, was the goddess of love and beauty

That was evident in everyone's eyes.

"I'd like to talk about Miya's current state of mind, but ....... Wow. I'm real-ly nervous....... It's really beautiful," as Miyabi-chan looked at the scene in front of her eyes. One-by-one the violet lights, and the eyes of everyone, poured onto the girl standing in the middle of the stage. Then there was a great cheer of "Miya!" While saying, "I'll cry, I'll cry!" with her mouth, it was too late, her eyes were already full of tears. "Really, Budokan is... ah, I'm tearing up. Wait a sec, this is bad. Haha." With that, Miyabi-chan's playfulness led to a little laughter.

Thinking of it, "What's up with this, me, despite never crying like this." Those words, we've heard them before at the <Hina Matsuri Festival 2013> in March. Recently you can see Miyabi-chan crying a lot, that is definitely because she became an adult blanketed in the kindness of many people. As Berryz Kobo, as Natusyaki Miyabi, there certainly were painful thoughts and difficult times. However, people can understand the kindness just as much as the pain. And, for her, she had listed the Budokan performance as a dream for the longest time. The hardships and grief up to now, and since there were difficult times, now, it was a fact that she was standing on the stage of dreams. Moreover, she was receiving warm cheers of support from the large crowd. Everything was linked, so it was natural that she would be overflowing with tears.

"Because Budokan is the place of Berryz Kobo's dreams, I'd never thought that we'd get to today. Like, I'm really glad. We did it! Really. From when we were rehearsing, all of the Berryz were nervous, we did tons of double-checks, and you could really hear the music, every day, those days continued. I mean after all, when we heard about Budokan, we were sooo anxious, wondering how many people we could gather, we really had it in our thoughts, thinking about it. Because I discussed it a lot with Captain......"

With each word, despite fumbling due to her feelings, she continued talking, but with that mention of 'Captain', she finally stammered with tears. She had been officially appointed as the Berryz Kobo sub-captain in April, with different opinions to Captain, and from a different angle, she looked at Berryz Kobo, and she assembled together the team by being strict at times. In addition, with Captain in particular, they had discussions in order to make Berryz Kobo even better, discussing their worries, shedding tears together. The word 'Captain' itself, made her remember the various feelings from the days so far, heating up the chest.

"I never really thought that we would really gather this many people," she said, and as if to boost her with all their might, a great call of "Miyabi! Miyabi!" spontaneously erupted. The original glow stick in the shape of Berryz Kobo's "B", just for this moment transformed into the brilliance of MIYABI's "B".
"I really didn't mean to cry (laughs). But I'm really grateful." With her eyes sparkling, Miyabi-chan flashed a smile once again.

"Isn't the Budokan amazingly spacious? So when I got to appear as a guest at Sharan Q-san's live performance, I said that "It would be great if Berryz Kobo could fill this up-."And I came to see the live performances of various artist-sans. I came to see Hello! Pro live performances, and the live performance by ℃-ute who came today, when I left, at the moment, despite it not being my own live performance I was really nervous, since they might be our contemporaries, but I was really moved. Today, Berryz Kobo at Budokan...... since I never thought that we could pull it off, and yet we really really did it, I'm extremely glad. Thank you very much for assembling here."

In response to the thunderous applause, "Your applause is amazing." Once again, Miyabi-chan was overcome with emotion. "Well... What should I do. Even the singing made me nervous." For such a hesitant statement to come from the girl who was usually known as the sexy and cool one, voices going "Good luck-!" flew out. And, Miyabi-chan, from Tsunku♂-producer, received instruction to sing a solo song at the Budokan performance, "The feeling of wanting to meet everyone soon is really strong." And, personally selected, she started singing "Aitai kedo..." packed full of love.

<Kimi ha itsu no hi mo/ Ganbariya-san da ne > {<You are, at any time/ Always a hard worker>}
<Kyou mo Ashita mo/Suki de imasu> {<Be it today or tomorrow, / I will love you>}

Budokan was filled with her fascinating, yet carefree singing voice. It might be that Miyabi-chan visualised the faces of each and every fan in the lyrics, but in the eyes of the fans, the girl who became active as a member of Berryz Kobo, after passing the auditions at the age of 10, was now standing alone, singing atop the stage of the Nippon Budokan of her dreams, 21 years old on that day. Thinking back on her, tears were shed to that singing voice.

Source

{Here's my translation of page 1 if you missed it, and here's page 3!}

Berryz 10th anniversary Amazon campaign

So in commemoration of their 10th anniversary, Amazon is having a 3 day campaign starting March 3rd featuring Berryz Kobo. 

Link here! 

They're selling the 1st best of and 7 recommended songs by the members for 10 yen, and the other albums for 1000 yen.

Disclaimer that I'm not actually making any money off of this.

They also have several videos, which I'll try to summarise. I don't know if the site will continue to be maintained, so give them a watch while they're still there.

[Group video]
Captain starts with opening greetings.
Chinami remarks that their 2nd best-of album has gone on sale.
Momo continues on by mentioning about their 10th anniversary from their début, and thanking everyone.
Maasa then talks about the Amazon promotion in general and that 1st best-of album is on sale for 10 yen.
Miyabi specifies that there are 7 specific songs chosen by the members going for 10 yen.
Yurina notes that the old albums are also going for 1000 yen.
Risako closes off by asking you to take this chance and look up Berryz' works.

Then we have 7 videos of the members introducing the songs they had chosen.

Shimizu Saki "Sekai de Ichiban Taisetsu na Hito" (from Asian Celebration single)

Although all of us still haven't done a live performance of this song, it's a really cute song with lines like "Kuttsuki mottsuki daisuki" (I love sticking close to you) or "Ude no kekkan mo daisuki" (I even love the blood vessels on your arm). Since it's a song that really is packed with "Daisuki daisuki" (Love you love you), I think I want everyone to listen to this song and soothe their heart.


Tsugunaga Momoko "Momochi Yurushite-nyan ♡ Taisou / Momochi (Tsugunaga Momoko feat. Berryz Kobo) (from Cha Cha Sing)

Though I think there isn't much to talk about when it comes to the reason for choosing this song, it's a musical work that incorporates the phrase currently popular throughout Japan, "Yurushite-nyan," Momochi's first solo single. I think that just listening to this song will lift your spirits, and lead to a peaceful Japan, that's the kind of musical work it is!


Tokunaga Chinami "Aisuru Hito no Namae wo Nikki ni" (from album Dai 2 Seichouki)

The lyrics are really adorable, for some reason, when I listen to this song, it makes me want to start a diary. I recall that during those days, the moment I listened to this song, I'd start a diary on that very day, but after 3 days I wouldn't continue it, it's a song that I personally can't forget.



Sudo Maasa "Ground demo Rouka demo Medatsu Kimi" (from 6th Osakebi Album)

It's a song that I got to sing together with member Kumai Yurina-chan. I really love the lyrics and the tempo, I loved this song so much that I was willing to protest, "I want to sing this song!" when they recently asked what we wanted to sing while deciding on the setlist.



Natusyaki Miyabi "Aitai kedo..."  (from Munasawagi Scarlet)

It's the coupling song for our single 'Munasawagi Scarlet,' which went on sale on 2006. I got to sing this song solo in our first Budokan concert last year. I can recall very well how deeply moved I was when I got to sing this song. Everyone, make sure to listen to it!



Kumai Yurina "Renai Moyou" (from Ai no Album 8)

It's a song included in our 8th album 'Ai no Album 8.' The four people singing it are myself and Sugaya Risako-chan, and Sudo Maasa-chan and Tokunaga Chinami-chan. It's a ballad with really heart-rending and mature lyrics.




Sugaya Risako "Himitsu no U-ta-hi-me" (from 21-ji made no Cinderella)

The lyrics for this song are really adorable, I just love the places where it makes your heart skip a beat. It's a song that I got to sing this solo in our Budokan live performance in November last year, so it really left an impression. Everyone, please make sure to check it out!

[Live report] Berryz Kobo's first Nippon Budokan performance. Yappari Anata Nashi de ha Ikite Yukenai {page 1}

{In celebration of Berryz' 10th anniversary, I decided to translate the Barks Budokan report - you know, the one that the Berryz-chans got an award for. It's a bit of an epic yarn, so I decided to split it up by page. Here is page 2, and page 3.}

Berryz Kobo held their first Nippon Budokan performance <Berryz Kobo 10 ShuuNen Kinen Nippon Budokan Special Live 2013 ~ Yappari Anata Nashi de ha Ikite Yukenai~>¹ on November 29th (Ii Tsunku♂ no Hi²/ Ii Niku no Hi³). For this live performance, the jam-packed set list spanned the history of Berryz Kobo from their major début in 2004.  At the end of it, Kumai Yurina mentioned, "I don't know if these are tears or sweat." The performance had reached a huge climax, brimming with sweat and tears and smiles.

¹ Berryz Kobo 10th Anniversary Commemoration Nippon Budokan Special Live 2013 ~ After All, I Can't Live Without You 
² Good Tsunku♂ Day - play on words with the number 1129
³ Good Meat Day - also another play on words with the date 1129

Celebrating their entry into the 10th year since their début in 3rd March 2014, Berryz Kobo had the experience of establishing a record in the past by being the youngest performers to have an independent performance on the stage of Saitama Super Arena. However, those girls put forward a dream to be achieved before their 10th year milestone. That dream was realised with their first independent Nippon Budokan performance held on that day.

At the same time, the fans also had high expectations, and put their game face on. Driven by the desire to support the performance, a short while after the announcement of the decision for Berryz Kobo's Nippon Budokan performance, fan-made poster visuals and video trailers appeared one after another.
"A night where you can encounter the true Momochi."
"A night to frolic with the dynamic dancing princesses."
"A night where the goddesses dance bewitchingly."
It started with those catchphrases, done only for the sake of their love for Berryz Kobo. But the quality of those compositions were packed with the groups' charm. It gave a great impact to those who weren't fans of Berryz Kobo, and became a big topic on the Web.

In addition, on Saturday, 22nd November, a week before the performance, the hashtag "#berryz日本武道館スッペシャルウィーク雅ちゃんの土曜日"⁴ started appearing, thanks to the fans. Every day Twitter was flooded with photos and comments conveying the charm of each and every member.
Incidentally, Natsuyaki Miyabi was on Saturday, and on Sunday she was replaced completely by Sugaya Risako. It seems that this arrangement was based on the Thai calendar.
Among the countries all over the world, Berryz Kobo is especially popular in the country of Thailand. In that country, every day has its own colour - purple for Saturday, red for Sunday. The allocation of colours coincidently matched the 7 member colours of Berryz Kobo.

⁴ #Berryz Nippon Budokan Special Week Miyabi-chan's Saturday

　　◆ ◆ ◆

I'm really nervous .........
I've definitely been restless the whole day.
Because I think all the members feel the same way,  today I'm going to be by everyone's side no matter what!

(Morning of the day of the performance, from the blog of Berryz Kobo Captain Shimizu Saki)

　　◆ ◆ ◆

November 29th, the weather was extremely good. Even from the morning you could imagine the beauty of the sunset. Rain for ℃-ute, clear skies for Berryz Kobo. One would expect no less.

As soon as the doors opened, the fans who had been eagerly awaiting for this day surged into the building. Because it had sold out, the Nippon Budokan was promptly filled, from the arena up to the seats near the ceiling. Beneath the Japanese flag, the scene was of the many colours of the performance commemoration T-shirts bearing "AAICLWY (After all, I can't live without you.)" swaying around. In just a few minutes, Berryz Kobo would be appearing on that earnestly desired stage of the Nippon Budokan. The joy of being able to witness that moment made our chests fully swell up again. Thereafter, for once in our lives, we could relish the few hours where we got to witness and share our feelings, on the 29th November at Nippon Budokan. Yes, "this moment would leave an impression that we'd never experience again!". <sup>5

5</sup> Reference to their 2007 spring tour, 2007 Sakura Mankai Berryz Kobo Live ~Kono Kandou wa Nidoto Nai Shunkan de Aru~ {This moment will leave an impression that you'll never experience again}

While punk rock (BLINK182) was being streamed faintly, an unexpected song was used to signal the start of the performance. About ten minutes past the start time, the audience lighting flared up as a song that symbolised Hello! Project played. It was "Hello! no Theme," recorded on Berryz Kobo's 1st album "1st Chou Berryz". With the rising musical pressure, the audience confirmed that this was no mere background music. Of course, by that point the glow sticks were in full swing, everything was prepared.

When "Hello! no Theme" finished playing and the audience lighting had been dimmed, we were enveloped in the great roar of everyone's voices calling out for Berryz Kobo. And with a heavy opening sound effect, at high volume, 7 figures appeared atop the grand staircase on stage.

The fuse for this memorable Budokan performance was lit by the swinging phrase "Ha-i, minasan ogenki? Youkoso irasshaimashita saa soredeha hajimaruyo Let's have a good time!"⁶... Yet, it instead led into their début song "Anata Nashi de ha Ikite Yukenai". It had flowed into an impressive ethnic music introduction, shaking the entirety of Budokan.

⁶ Miya's opening words in 'Asian Celebration' - "Hi everyone, how are you doing? Greetings and welcome. Well then, let's begin. Let's have a good time!"

Moreover, during the song, photos of the girls were displayed on the large screen, a flashback from their début in 2004, followed by introductory clips of each of the members. The images of the screen matched the person in the middle of the spotlight. Each and every one of them fuelled the stage with a dance performance.
At the end of it, Captain Shimizu Saki was shaking her body vigorously.
Here and now, Berryz Kobo had descended onto the grand stage of the Nippon Budokan. Moreover, an art work stating "Yappari Anata Nashi de ha Ikite Yukenai (AAICLWY)" was splayed on the screen. At that time, all the parts came together, and at exactly that moment, those seven disparate characters and personalities were basking in the spotlight on the stage at the same time. It was overwhelming. Berryz Kobo, their presence was overwhelming and breathtaking.

It had been 10 years since their début. These girls had progressed, and to show that the group could also sing mature songs without overextending themselves, they dyed Budokan 'even greater than red'⁷  with "ROCK Erotic." Their enthusiastic singing had the audience forget about doing any calls, their eyes were fixed on the girls. The extent of the girls' spirit was directly conveyed to every inch of the Budokan.

⁷ Reference to the line '赤色よりもっとすごい' in ROCK Erotic - even greater than red

"Everyone gathered at Nippon Budokan, good evening.We are Berryz Kobo! "

The first words in Budokan were a slightly proud greeting from Captain Shimizu Saki. Although Miyabi-chan had recently been attacked for aligning herself towards the image of being a cool & sexy "mature woman", with her hair bundled up at the real performance, and even more, with her forehead bare, one felt as if her innocence was unchanged from a decade ago. Miyabi-chan's feelings burst out with a "This day has come at last!" In response to that shout, the individual voices of thousands of people changed to form a great cheer that seemed to shake the earth.

Tokunaga Chinami informed us that, since there were such a great number of songs they wanted to perform at the Budokan, the set list for the live performance exceeded 2 hours. Starting off with their début song and their latest single, rekindling the memories up to now, "Now, it really feels like we've gone full circle," said Kumai Yurina. Everyone's Idol, Tsugunaga Momoko a.k.a. Momochi, "Really, it's a really splendid vye... view," somehow slipping up on her first words. A resounding "Eh-!" from the audience was replied with, "It seems that Momochi's going in circles as well," and a bitter smile.

And, with Captain signalling with a "Let's go⁸  quickly, onto the next song!", they went into "Golden Chinatown" in a merry-making mode and a "Let's go⁹ ". Continuing with "Asian Celebration" and "Loveing [sic] ​​you Too much", it continued into a perfect revelry with "Dschingis Khan". The Berryz Kobo extravaganza ended there.

⁸  The word used is 'icchaimashou', so it's likely a Golden Chinatown reference
⁹  The word used is 'icchaina', definitely a Golden Chinatown reference

With an enthusiastic shout of "Enjoy!", Kumai Yurina hosted a solo MC corner, already covered in sweat (something not completely unexpected). The plan was to look back on the history of Berryz Kobo through the covers of the CDs they had released so far. She went through them in rapid succession, with stories like an episode about the origin of "Momochi Musubi" during the styling for 'Madayade', or how warm the clothes for 'Ai no Dangan' were. When "Special Generation" was released, how super busy she was with both work and school. Talking about her impressions of those days, she had a memory of "the salaryman's joy from vinegar konbu," where one day, when eating vinegar konbu on the train, there was a salaryman close to her who wanted it, so she discussed with her mother and gave the vinegar konbu to him.

Shimizu Saki, Sudou Maasa, and Natsuyaki Miyabi did the Motown-like "Waracchaou yo BOYFRIEND", then Sugaya Risako performed "Himitsu no U-ta-hi-me" with the dignity of a songstress¹⁰ . And with "Tomodachi ha Tomodachi nanda!" by Tsugunaga Momoko, Sudou Maasa, Tokunaga Chinami, and Kumai Yurina, it was a line up of nostalgic songs. Moreover, from the last, innocent 'Sayonara' in "Sayonara Usotsuki no Watashi", they followed up with 'Yume no Naka Yasashikatta ne Anata,' from their latest song, "Motto Zutto Issho ni Itakatta". And then "Jiriri Kiteru," with its motif of Chopin's "Revolutionary Étude". In the past, this song shook Saitama Super Arena, and it was also met with much surprise at the Nippon Budokan.

⁸  The word used here is 'utahime', lit. song princess, and looks to be a reference to the song "Himitsu no U-ta-hi-me"

{Page 2 is here, and here for page 3!}

Source

The end of Puri Puri Princess

So apparently Puri Puri Princess will be coming to an end, on the 30th of March.

エンディングで桃子姫が伝えた通り、3月30日の放送をもって、Berryz工房 嗣永桃子のぷりぷりプリンセスは最終回となります。ぜひ、「あなたにとってこの番組はどんな存在だったのか」お便りで送ってください。何卒、よろしくお願い申し上げます。 #momochi #ももち
— ぷりぷりプリンセスの爺や (@jiiya_joqr1134) 2014, 3月 2

Just as mentioned by Momoko-hime during the ending, with the 30th March broadcast, Berryz Kobo Tsugunaga Momoko no Puri Puri Princess will be broadcast for the last time. Please, make sure to send letters explaining "what sort of programme was this to you."  By all means, thank you for everything.

I actually am considering writing in, just to put forward one last thing while I still have the chance, whether or not it'll be read.
Also mentioned on Momo's blog. 

They also gave a comparison to KRC:

Berryz工房 起立！礼！着席は全5年260回、 Berryz工房 嗣永桃子のぷりぷりプリンセスも全5年、放送回数は259回。震災時の休止分を含めると260回。 ひとりで丸5年喋り続けた桃子姫へ、メッセージを送ってください。 おたより、お待ちしています。
— ぷりぷりプリンセスの爺や (@jiiya_joqr1134) 2014, 3月 2

 Berryz Kobo Kiritsu! Rei! Chakuseki spanned 260 episodes over 5 years, Berryz Kobo Tsugunaga Momoko no Puri Puri Princess is also spanning a total of 5 years, broadcast for 259 times. If you were to include the pause during the earthquake disaster, it would amount to 260 times.
To Momoko-hime who's been continuing to talk alone, please send your messages
We'll be waiting, for your letters.

Well, I guess there's still Trattoria Buono!

By the way, today's episode was quite interesting. With Maasa and Captain as guests, they reflected on their 10 years as Berryz Kobo. Remember, the anniversary is tomorrow!

℃-ute in Big Comic Spirits 2013 #40 (16/09/2013)

[Top] The most aggressive idols currently! ℃-ute is appearing with a full complement of members! & A mysterious new series
[Pink words on side] A sudden cute blast of wind, the greatest!!!
[Speech bubble]You've been waiting ♥
[Centre] The first appearance of this 5 member line-up
℃-ute
Shots of the world's most cute x sexy dressing gown party ♥

[Red] Infiltrating for a real scoop

[Top]A relay to the ℃-ute monopolised meeting!!

[Bottom] In close contact with ℃-ute!! Flowers in full bloom!  Navels fully open!

℃-ute Meeting Start

Suzuki: For ℃-ute meetings, a lot of the time what ends up happening is that we end up talking idly for quite a while. On the day that we were informed of the Budokan, we met up at night and discussed our goals from then onwards

Nakajima: Since we couldn't decide on anything and were all scattered,  we ended up specifying the next one to be at Tokyo Dome

Hagiwara: But for the Budokan, I still don't know what to feel!

Okai: Indeed~. During the rehearsals, we'll probably feel it once we get on-stage~

Yajima: Even though we haven't started, I'm already nervous-!

Suzuki: Me too~. I wonder how many people will be coming. We've got 2 days, can we fill it?

[Profile] Nakajima Saki

5th Feb 1994, from Saitama prefecture

Height: 156 cm

Blood type: O

Hobby: Assembling handicrafts, shopping

Special skill: Currently looking for one

I'm good at looking things up. When us members are chatting and someone wants to know the meaning of something, I'm the person who loves quickly whipping out her iPhone and looking it up on the 'Net. You might say I'm diligent, but in reality I'm not really thinking about anything.

The World is Waiting for ℃-ute

Nakajima: But doesn't it make you glad when you hear that there are people who haven't come before, but are coming because it's the Budokan?

Hagiwara: That's true, since it's always been the place we've had our sights set on. For those who are close to us, up to those sitting distantly in the back, I want to make it a live performance that'll leave them with enjoyable memories

Yajima: Yup, splendid even before we stand on-stage!

Nakajima: I'm hiding the unease of standing on-stage, I've decided to make it a cool stage!

Okai: Since I want to make it a blast together with everyone who comes, I've been doing nothing but making sure to listen to the songs on our new album!

Suzuki: But, firstly I'm worried about the weather (Looks at famous ame-onna Yajima)

Yajima: What can we do, right...? (laughs)

[Profile] Yajima Maimi

7th Feb 1992, from Saitama prefecture

Height:166 cm

Blood type: O

Hobby: Making things

Special skill: Catch, Tongue twisters

My palate might have change when I turned twenty, I'd never eaten motsunabe nor beef entrails, but I came to like it when I went to eat them with Momochi (Tsugunaga Momoko) and Mano-chan (Mano Erina), and I've ended up going for them several times this year.

Queen of J-Pop
Yajima: On this album, each and every member has a song that features themselves...
Okai:  Singing them is difficult. There are a lot of lyrics, and we hope the people listening can understand their interpretations, so we have to discuss them before the live performance
Nakajima: Yup... With a wide world view, so that the members can speak of the lyrics, we've got to express our opinions like that
Yajima: Even more, there's also a song composed for the sake of Budokan, since Tsunku♂-san, the producer who knows everything about us, wrote it for out sake, we might cry while singing it
Suzuki: But, speaking of "If you're talking of ℃-ute, it's a dance number," we've got a ton of cute songs (cont.)

[Profile] Hagiwara Mai

7th Feb 1996, from Saitama prefecture

Height: 160 cm

Blood type: AB

Hobby: Playing with my pet dog Chocola

Special skill: Currently looking for one

As the youngest among the members, and also the youngest at home, I'm always the younger sister wherever I am. I love trying on all sorts of clothing styles. My mother said, why don't you start uploading your clothes for the day on your blog, but it ended up being a daily routine and I've lost sight of when I'll stop.

 This is ℃-ute
(cont.) But this time it's the top, there's a lot of lines talking about every day things, isn't it interesting?
Hagiwara: That right! Before, we were children, we couldn't grasp the situation or comprehend them. but having grown up and watched dramas, it was fun and easy to imagine, particularly for 'Bagel ni Ham & Cheese'!
Yajima: That's right~. For love songs too, not just love, but also seeing the view of life, there are lyrics that make you think as well
Suzuki: If someone without a lover were to listen, it's an album that paints the life of a girl enjoying herself. Also, in the music video included as bonus footage in the album, you can see the plain faces of all of ℃-ute~
Everyone: We beg for your kindness!

[Profile] Hagiwara Mai

21st June 1994, from Saitama prefecture

Height: 151.7 cm

Blood type: A

Hobby: Karaoke, Bowling, Games of chance

Special skill: Exercise

My special skill is eating a lot. Be it eating salty things or sweet things,  if you reset the taste I'll be able to eat a lot. I love karaoke. I like singing songs from the 80s, singing nothing but things like BOØWY.

[Profile] Suzuki Airi

12th Apr 1994, from Chiba prefecture

Height: 161 cm

Blood type: B

Hobby: Drawing, making things

Special skill: Keeping the contents of my bag organised, puns

It's tough keeping up with credits now that I've entered university life, currently I'm having fun taking classes related to my graduation thesis and learning an extensive amount of things. Since my classmates have gotten into accessories, I've also become interested in things like earrings and doing my nails.