Weekly Poll #6

The Question was: Which future release are you looking forward to the most?

CHA CHA Sing by Berryz Koubou is the winner of the poll. It got 45% (19 votes). Out of all of these choices, Berryz new single is a single that I'm really looking forward too. Lately, while Morning Musume and C-ute have been doing great, Berryz seems like their in a slump. Aa yo ga akeru and Be Genki were great, but they weren't the best from berryz for me. However, their cover of P'Bird's popular song ounds fun and energetic. The PV is a standard H!P studio PV, but it actually looks really nice for once.

Tweet Dream/Sparkle by Fairies received second place with 35% (15 votes). I definitely think some of Fairies past works are better than their new single. For me, this is one of their weakest. However, I give props to the girls for trying out a new style, instead of sticking with the same sound and playing it safe. Unlike another group I follow... The songs aren't all bad. Tweet dream is growing one me, and Sparkle isn't half bad either. It may be their lowest selling single, but Fairies have grown a strong fanbase, in Japan, and also oversees.

Song For Smiling by Sakura Gakuin received third place with 19% (8 votes). I was surprised. Sakura Gakuin usually scores very low on polls. They are so under appreciated by everyone, it's sad. But I think their popularity went up a little, and I'm glad they snagged third place. Song for Smiling is definitely the typical upbeat, and happy Sakura Gakuin song. It's probably my least liked song from them, but the English is refreshing, and the painting outfits are cute; a nice break from their School Uniforms.I'm not sure if it's an official single yet though...but hopefully, it's included on a CD.

Go! Go! Here we go! by Ebichu took fourth place with 16% (7 votes). I adored Ebichu's debut, Karikeiyaku no Cinderella. It almost reached 30k, which is really amazing! I heard the preview, and I'm loving it so far. I just really love STARDUST in general. They really know how to produce good talents.

Headbanger by BABYMETAL took fifth with 14% (6 votes). Technically, they shouldn't be on the list because this single was released before I put the poll up, but I made a mistake. Anyway,  this is another awesome single, with an awesome b side from the group! I love the PV.

One up!!!/Ichigo Gyuunyuu by Idoling!!! took last place with 9% (4 votes). This result does not surprise me. While Idoling!!! has really great success in Japan, selling 50-60k with every single, they are really  unpopular with the western fanbase. I guess it's because at a glance, these girls are normal idols that don't really stand out. But actually, when you get to know the group, you'll find that Idoling!!! is really fun.
I like to watch their shows. Also, they have a good range of music.

In total, 42 people voted.

Weekly poll #7 is now up.

Don't forget, you can send in your weekly poll. I'm running out of questions! To find out how, click the weekly polls tab at the top of the page

WHY@DOLL:Fight

WHY@DOLL Make their debut to PIH with their debut single fight.
Fight is your traditional idol single, filled with close-ups and  dance shots as the girls put down their instruments [something they do often]; in a happy idol-pop PV.





http://www.cradle-records.com/whydollindex.html

ALLOVER PT 2

Not long ago I told you about the Indie Idol super group ALLOVER and their debut single.
Now outside of the debut live footage that I showed you before, we now have their debut PV.

You can read the profile post here
http://pureidolheart.blogspot.com/2012/05/indie-idol-super-group.html



For member and group related news and links to the Indie Idol groups the members come from
http://www.allover.jp/

PIH Live House: Afilia Saga East

Like the bad wota that I can be at times , I have neglected Afilia Saga East ,well it`s time to fix that as they are the next group to be featured in our PIH Live House.

Weekly Poll #5

Sorry, I've been busy, and I have skipped the weekly poll for several several weeks. But now, I'm starting over, even though it's not Monday yet.

The Question was: What is your favorite 48 summer release?

 Manatsu no Sounds Good came in first place with 19 votes (52%). It's kind of expected that they'd get first place because, since their the most popular out of the 48 family. I liked this summer single from them. The song wasn't the best, but the chorus was catchy, and they made the PV more than just their usual summer bikini PV by all of the violence.

Nagiichi came in second place with 7 votes (19%). I was surprised. SKE48 is more popular, so I thought their summer PV would be in second place. I didn't really look too much at NMB's sumemr single. I mean, for their first summer PV, It was good, but it seems like a copy of AKB's summer stuff. Bikinis, cuteness, but nothing outstanding.

Aishiteraburu! came in third place with 6 votes (16%). Only one vote behind NMB. Anyway, I liked SKE's single the best out of the 48 family. (SKE bias...) because the song was really cute, and the PV was refreshing because it was located over water. Much better than Parero wa Emerald.

Oide Shampoo came in last place with 4 votes (11%). Nogizaka is still a new group, so it's expected that their PV would get the lowest. To be honest, I haven't looked at anything that AKB's rival group sister group has released.

In total, 36 people voted.

Weekly poll #6 is now up. I tried to have some diversity in the groups this time.

Don't forget, you can send in your weekly poll. I'm running out of questions! To find put how, click the weekly polls tab at the top of the page

PASSPO☆???

After releasing several indie songs, PASSPO☆ debuted with Shojo Hikou on May 4th of last year. It debuted at #1, setting a record. It was an amazing debut for an idol group. Not long after, PASSPO☆ had their second single, Vivi Natsu, which sold around the same as Shojo Hikou did. (40-50k)

After Vivi Natsu, the girls released their second album, CHECK-IN. It didn't do too well. But I wasn't worried since albums usually sell badly anyway. After CHECK-IN, PASSPO☆ released their third single this year in March, Kimi wa Boku wo Suki ni Naru. It sold in the 12k range.



I was not surprised at the sales because the It was a very idol cliche-ish, and kind of bland song. Even though the single was kind of bad, I didn't expect the number to be so low. Usually when a group releases a "bad" song, sales are lower, however, in PASSPO☆'s case, I think for a bad song, sales were too low. Kimi wa Boku wo Suki ni Naru should have at least gotten to 20k, in my opinion. The song is growing on me, and it's not so bad after all!

Then most recently, when PASSPO☆ released their fourth single, NEXT FLIGHT, I was shocked. NEXT FLIGHT was an outstanding single. The song and PV were amazing. Even the b-sides were really good. But it only reached 8k, even worse than Kimi wa Boku wo Suki ni Naru. I tried to think of everything that they could have done wrong. But I soon realized that this problem was more than a case of bad promotion.

Here are some posts from the PASSPO☆ forum  These quotes are from what  アドレナリン said.  (I'm sorry, I took out and added some things to make it shorter)


"As you know Kaho left Passpo at the end of last year. But did you know that the staff has been changed too? Erina-chan (manager I think) has left and another important man has left too (now he's managing another band)

First, after Kaho's graduation, it has been decided that Passpo wont be doing much events next year. They did too many events, that's why in the future the number of events will decrease. Passpo trained too much, and it begins to be hard for them to continue to repeat and dance that much. I thought that Kaho's injury may have appeared because they repeat a lot and push their body beyond its capabilities.


Second, Passpo used to be an idol group who's really really near of passengers (PASSPO☆ fans). During events, everyone can speak, take pictures with members and talk a lot with them. But the Passpo direcetor is a cold man, and isn't really appreciate of the passengers. He has changed his mind and it seems this proximity has been lost. (during handshake session staff are really strict with passengers) 

Passengers can't see Passpo as often as they want and as they used to. For instance during the Golden Week no event was held. Passengers feel really bad, even Passpo members begins to complain (on Yukimi's blog we can read that she really want to meet Passengers and make flight)"

So as you can see, the decrease in sales is probably because there has been a negative change in the way management deals with PASSPO☆. Groups like AKB48 and Arashi, of course, must restrict contact between fans and the members because of their popularity. But smaller groups like PASSPO☆ and indie groups' are really fun, because theres usually no strict rules, and fans are free to interact with members without it being too strict.


It's not so much the sales that I'm worried about, because I'll still be a Passenger no matter what PASSPO☆ sells. I'm just worried that interest will decline so much, that PASSPO☆ will have to disband or something. They're one of my favorite groups, and I'd be crushed if they stopped performing. Hopefully, some things change with management, so PASSPO☆ and Passengers won't be upset anymore.

NMB48: Cat Transformations in "Mousou Girlfriend"

Yesterday, the Osaka AKB48 sister group released the PV to one B-side of their 5th single, Mousou Girlfriend, on their official Youtube channel!

First off, the song! I like how soft-sounding and casual the opening sounds! If I didn't know, any better, I'd think I was listening to one of Acchan's songs off her solo singles. But then, before I can even think, it was just to lead into the real instrumental of upbeat "du-du-duru, du-du-duruduruduru..."'s and clapping, along with some bells, maybe? These make the instrumental breaks sound quite cutesy, in a good way. But when it gets to the chorus, it gets pretty standard. Meaning: It doesn't really stand out in any way. The only part that does stand out is when they sing the first two lines of the chorus and they shout out "GIRLFRIEND!" or "BOYFRIEND!". It continues in that meh-kinda style for the verses and the bridges. For the most part, but I also do like how the percussion builds up in the bridge, and how they say "PLEASE!" in the part before the last chorus. It somehow builds up my happiness, in turn. Aaaaand that's pretty much all I find great out of this song. I mean, it is cute and catchy, but really, really, REALLY generic pop. Thank goodness, it's just a B-side, though, and not the A-side. (Really don't want a repeat of Oh My God; part of the reason why I don't keep up with NMB releases)

Looking at the thumbnail, (which looked... Interesting, if I do say so myself) I knew I was in for a crazy ride. But looking at the beginning, I was squinting a little. "Ah", I thought, "they're just trying to surprise us!", so I continued to watch. When watching Milky talking to the cat and touching it, I found it fairly normal. Who doesn't talk to cats from time to time? But when the cat bit her finger and I saw sparkles coming out, I knew that was when the fun started. From there, Milky finds herself on the ground, her pinky turning pink, growing a tail and ears (With an awesome bow!) and suddenly, standing up, dressed in a crop top, frilly skirt, furry wristlets and a garter, totally pulling off cute and sexy simultaneously.

Surprised by this, she runs off to... Somewhere. I don't know where, but she looks ridiculous when contrasted with the calm, normal scenery! I was really giggling a lot! Through town, on the railroad, in the forest and she finally makes it to the other NMB members, who look at her like, "Who the hell is she?!". But all Milky wanted to do was spread the cat disease by biting her fellow workmate. And so the cycle goes on with biting and transforming into a cat!

Once all the members have successfully turned into cats, they all dance to the music and sing along, as any cat idol would. The choreography, just like the outfits, is cute and sexy with every move that they do. The part where they're in a line, swaying their heads from side to side in unison especially looks so cute and carefree. I also found the part where they do a round-off of poses very giggle-worthy. What surprised me most, though, was that it appears they've woken up from a dream at the end while the camera pans out at their stunned faces.

The storyline was quite fun to watch! Really random and crazy, but fun! The transforming parts were well executed and magical, so they were some of the best parts of the PV for me! I thought that at the end, the cat would be there when the camera panned out fully or something else like that would happen. But with the PV ending like it did, it kind of made me feel empty, like all the whimsicalness of the whole PV was just fake. A bit depressing, I know, but still, I'll just remember the story from before the ending. :P Also, though the outfits were a little distracting at first due to their lengths and furriness, they fit the girls and the dance well. I'd say the PV almost makes up for the song!

Overall, I'd give this 6.7/10; Like I said before, a generic pop song, but the PV bumped up some of the points for me.

Party Rockets Are Here

I wasn`t sure what type of attitude this unit was going to bring ,if it was going to be something that I`d like for the long run or be like some other units ,heavy on cuteness , but quickly to tire of.

Well Party Rockets have landed on the scene and I can`t speak for you the readers, but for myself I could listen to this all day.

This is my type of idol and idol group ,one with some bite and an edge to them.

This maybe the first partner unit that overcomes their more popular sisters. Dorothy Little Happy will now have to step it up to another level to hold off these little rockets.

Alice No.10 Special Report

Life on the road is difficult for Indie Idols, eating in the finest establishments, flying first class around the nation and more importantly staying in the most luxurious hotels.

Come now with Alice No.10 [formerly Alice Juban] as they expose the secret life of Indie idols, in the lifestyles of the not so rich and not so famous Indie Idols.

Dream5 and Kid Power!

Technically, this adorable 5-member group isn't labeled in the idol genre, but, like I said before, they're adorable; who doesn't associate adorable with the word idol? :P

In 2009, a popular NHK program, "Tensai Terebi-kun MAX", held nation-wide auditions, looking for kids in the fourth grade to 1st year in middle school who specialized in dancing and singing. Out of 1,500 applications, 5 people were chosen. The name that appealed to the public was "Dream5 (Or Dori5), and so Dream5 they were named.
Due to overwhelming public reaction, they debuted with their CD titled, "I don't obey ~Bokura no Pride~", in the same year as their formation. Along with their activities as artists, they've branched out to participating in things such as drama and variety. Their fanbase consists mostly of children and parents, but this dance and vocal unit is popular among elementary and middle school students, too!

The members are, in order of the picture from left to right:
Takano Akira (高野洸) - Dancer
Nickname: Akira, Takanocchi
Birthday: July 22, 1997
Blood Type: B

Oohara Yuuno (大原優乃) - Dancer
Nickname: Yuuno
Birthday: October 8, 1999
Blood Type: A

Shigemoto Kotori (重本ことり) - Leader, Vocalist
Nickname: Kotori, COTORI
Birthday: October 5, 1996
Blood Type: O

Tamakawa Momona (玉川桃奈) - Dancer
Nickname: Momo, Momonga
Birthday: March 24, 1997
Blood Type: O

Hibi Mikoto (日比美思) - Vocalist
Nickname: Mikoto, Mikochi, Mikocchan, Mikochin, Mikochan
Birthday: September 20, 1998
Blood Type: B

Honestly speaking as a fan of this unit, I wouldn't say that they're successful in sales. (I've never seen any of their single or album releases go past 10k) But that's definitely not why or how I got into them in the first place. I remember looking up new groups to listen to and came across them, but never really got motivated to look into them more. Then after seeing them in a picture with TOKYO GIRLS' STYLE, I decided to give them another chance. MAN, I'm so glad I did!

If you knew me, you'd know that dancing for me is one of my top factors when looking for new musical acts to listen to, and this group was no exception! I was so surprised with how precise, energetic and fast-paced their dancing was. Not even some people older than them could handle the choreography that they'd been given! Of course, that means they weren't trained in the skill or dancing's simply not their strength, but even so!

The 3 members officially labeled as dancers, Momona; Akira; and Yuuno, definitely know what they're doing, as to be expected! And, in my eyes, each one stands out in one way or another; Momona's the best at hitting the choreography with each move; Akira's like a little B-Boy when performing his tricks; and with Yuuno's facial expressions, she adds a lot of personality into her dance.

As for the two members officially labeled as vocalists, Kotori and Mikoto, they both have their own flavour then they sing. Kotori's the deeper, funky and adult-like voice, while Mikoto is like the opposite; higher, girly, and child-like. Their voices don't exclusively sound like that at all the time, but they do for the majority of the time. It's quite easy to distinguish the two when sing alternately, but it's weird how well they blend whenever they sing duet lines.

Usually, I wouldn't be into a group that's made up of "kids" and is targetted at "kids" and has an image that's "kiddish". But with talent from each and every one of the members, it's easy to just focus on their performance and personality that they give with each single, album, PV, live and event that they do.



EZ DO DANCE


Dandan GROW UP!

Bokura no Natsu!! Furitsuke Video (The video that led me to them~!)