Everyday48! June 2, 2011
A new AKB48 forum has opened up! It's being run by several people, including me, so be sure to check it out (and join, of course! ;D).
Categories: Blog
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Spotlight: BY2 May 22, 2011
Holy crap, I actually remembered this time. I was originally going to go with BY2 last week, but C-ute's easier to write about and I was in a hurry. 
So, like I just said, this week is about BY2, one of my favorite C-Pop groups!
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BY2 is a duo from Singapore, based in Taiwan. The group consists of twins Miko Bai and Yumi Bai, born on March 23, 1992. The name "BY2" was chosen because of their last name (BY/Bai) and that they're twins (2). At the age of 13, the girls joined Ocean Butterflies' training course. Billy Koh of Ocean Butterflies Music noticed their talent and gave them a 10-year record deal. The group released their debut album, 16 Wei Cheng Nian, in July 2008. |
In April 2010, they released their third album, entitled Cheng Ren Li ("Grown Up"), which featured a more grown-up style, like the title implies.
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Review: AKB48 21st Single "Everyday, Kachuusha" May 22, 2011
Oh boy, another review! And I'm actually posting something! This review is for AKB48's 21st single, Everyday, Kachuusha, which will be released on the 25th.
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01. Everyday, Kachuusha 02. Korekara Wonderland 03. Yankii Soul (Type A) 04. Hito no Chikara / Under Girls (Type B) |
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Spotlight: C-ute May 16, 2011
Okay, I said I was going to do this about every week three weeks ago, but clearly I forgot. :awesome: I was going to try and do it every Sunday (which was last night), but it got too late, so I decided to wait until today to do it because I didn't want it to be too half-assed.
This week's Spotlight is one of my favorite idol groups, C-ute! I chose them because I have Midnight Temptation stuck in my head and I had no idea who else to go with.
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C-ute is a Hello! Project group that was formed on July 11, 2005. It initially consisted of the seven H!P Kids that were not apart of Berryz Koubou, but H!P Egg Arihara Kanna joined the group in January 2006. After several indie singles throughout 2006, and Murakami Megumi graduating in October of that year, C-ute finally debuted in February 2007 with "Sakura Chirari". Later that year, C-ute was nominated for several awards, including the New Artist Award at the 49th Japan Record Awards, which they won. |
In February 2009, Arihara Kanna took a hiatus because of a bunion on her foot. In July 2009, she decided to leave the group return to a normal life. In October, C-ute would undergo another graduation with Umeda Erika, who left to become a model.
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Rainie Yang: Possible New Album + New Song! April 30, 2011
I figured because I don't have a place to talk about Rainie since all of her threads at the forums I go to are inactive, I'll post all of my Rainie stuff here. :awesome:
Anyway, I checked Rainie's Chinese wiki page and it said she'll be releasing a new album in summer 2011! 
mg: I have no idea if it's true or not, but I've been wanting a Rainie album for forever, so if it's not, I think I'll cry. ;-;
On the plus side, she has a new song out, which I think, is called Wo Men Dou Sha, which is being used in her new drama, Love You. I didn't even realize it at first until I heard her voice. 8D It's a very beautiful song, and of course, I like it as I have yet to dislike a Rainie song that's not Yi Xiang Tian Kai as I like it now. :heart: And you can hear it below:
On another note, "Love You" is actually pretty good, so watch it. ;D
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AKB48: Everyday, Kachuusha PV April 28, 2011
I'm a little late on this, but here's a mini-review type thing of AKB48's new single, Everyday, Kachuusha! Or rather, it's a-side since I haven't heard the other b-sides enough yet to review them. (and I'd really rather not listen to Hito no Chikara again)
Everyday, Kachuusha's video is basically a large reference to most of AKB's past PVs. It's either a very clever idea or a very unoriginal idea. So far, 2011 is shaping up to be just like 2010 for AKB. Just like last year, they had a graduated-themed sakura song at the beginning of the year, Majisuka Gakuen, senbatsu elections, and a summery single about a hair accessory. I wouldn't mind the PV having references to AKB's other PVs only if 2011 wasn't a copy of 2010 because it makes the idea seem very unoriginal and lazy. And to make matters worse, it was poorly executed.
The PV doesn't make any sense at all. The references are randomly placed throughout the video and they don't flow or go together well at all. It seems more like a collection of random clips than a PV. I'm actually really surprised at how poorly it's done considering AKB's had several story-themed PVs before, and they've all been done really well, but "Everyday" is so cluttered and messy. There's no direction at all.
As for the song, it's AKB's worst single since... Sakura no Ki ni Narou. :awesome: But yeah, I don't like it. It's a shame because AKB had so many awesome singles last year and this year's singles suck so far. ._.
Categories: Music Videos, Releases, Videos
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C-ute: Momoiro Sparkling Preview April 28, 2011
The preview for C-ute's 16th single, Momoiro Sparkling, is out! You can listen to it here.
I'm not sure how to feel about it. I like it, but it sounds more like a b-side than an a-side. After Kiss me, Aishiteru, I was hoping they'd continue with "cooler" songs, but then again, this is Tsunku we're talking about. He usually makes an awesome cool single, then has a shitty "happy/cute" single right after. (Onna ni Sachi Are/Mikan, Tokaikko Junjou/LALALA Shiwase no Uta, anyone? Okay, Mikan and LALALA aren't shitty; I actually like LALALA a lot, but he still usually goes with less awesome happy songs. =P)
On the plus side, the girls get the same amount of lines, so I'm happy. :heart: I just hope that in their next single, either Nakki, Chisa, or Maimai will have the lead along with Maimi and Airi. The line-distribution in Kiss me, Aishiteru was fantastic, and even though they didn't get the lead, you could still hear Maimai and Nakki, so I really hope they keep it up. Of course, the bias side of me says I want it to be Chisa leading the next song, but as long as it's not just Maimi and Airi, I'm happy. 
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Review: C-ute's 6th Album "Chou WONDERFUL! 6" April 25, 2011
Yes, the album was released a while ago, but I wrote this review before I opened the blog, so I'm posting it. =P
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01. Chou WONDERFUL! 02. Midnight Temptation 03. Kiss me Aishiteru 04. Iza Susume! Steady go! 05. Rururururu 06. Wakaretakunai.... 07. Aitai Lonely Christmas 08. Circle 09. Dance de Bakoon! 10. 3ban Home 3 Ryoume 11. Campus Life ~Umarete Kite Yokatta~ |
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Categories: Reviews
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Spotlight: Rainie Yang April 22, 2011
A Spotlight a new "corner" that I'm introducing! Every week (every Sunday or so), or whenever I feel like it, I'll feature one of my favorite artists with a little information about them and samples of their music in hopes that other people might listen to them, too! 
Plus it's a good excuse to post something that's not AKB all of the time, hoho.
So, the first Spotlight is an artist that you'll be seeing here a lot and one of my favorites, Rainie Yang!
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Rainie Yang (楊丞琳; Yang Cheng Lin) is a singer and actress from Taiwan. She started out as a member of the band "4 in Love" at the age of 15. She got her stage name "Rainie" as the other girls' names were "Cloudie", "Sunnie", and "Windie". After the disbandment of 4 in Love in 2002, Rainie kept her stage name and moved on to TV dramas. In 2005, she released her first solo album, "Ai Mei" (My Intuition). |
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Ranking: Hello! Project April 19, 2011
I've written about AKB a lot lately, be it on my Natsumi fanblog or here (even if I opened yesterday or so, I cross-posted all of my reviews, so it feels like it's been months. XD), I figure it'd be nice to write about another fandom I like - Hello! Project! This is a ranking featuring all current 27 members and why I like or don't like them. Interesting, right? Of course! So go on and read it. You know you want to. ;D
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Categories: Rankings
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