How many chances like this come in a lifetime?

I was debating whether to post this or not, but you know what? Out with it.

AAA has officially been announced as one of Otakon’s musical guests this year.

And this just screws up all my summer plans and spending money. (Not that I really had any to begin with.)

I’ve never been to a con in my life. A bit sad, because I was quite the anime fan for at least 8 years of it, but true. And I was planning to break my con virginity next year with friends. But you know, AAA. On the East Coast. A 4-hour bus ride away.

Detrimental to my savings (especially since I’m heading to Hong Kong on August 4th) and mental health though it may be… How could I miss this?

So I’ve just spent the past four hours freaking out and fangirling and making very rushed plans and information gathering. All this with a growing puddle of drool undeneath me.

I’m not too fond of the way Otakon’s promotional blurb (their latest single was Kuchibiru kara ROMANTICA/That’s Right, and it was released over a month ago, dammit!) makes them out to be, but they did the same for Kitade Nana (who did not start the GothLoli trend in Japan). Yes, they started out with 6 members. Yes, they gained 2 new members. They only ever lost 1 – Yukarin. (And I’m extremely disappointed that this happened after she left.) They are talented, yes. They don’t really come from other professions though, they all were aiming to be in the Japanese pop entertainment world in some way.

Basically, the whole bunch of text is cheesy and hurts to read because it’s almost overdoing the whole pep-promotion thing.

But who cares? AAA in mainland USA! My chance to fangirl and scream in front of them! Break Urata’s eardrums with a piercing shriek! Maybe even a chance to get signatures! (See, that AAA T-shirt does come in handy!)

…If I miss this, I’m never going to let myself live it down. (Though on the other hand, if I go – someday, when my fandom has died, I can look back and laugh at the extremes I went to.) But hey. URATA. SHUUTA. WAIT FOR ME. I WILL BE THERE TO FANGIRL OVER YOUR REPECTIVE FUZZY HEAD AND HOT ABS SOON.

Oh dear. There goes the drool puddle again.

With or without you, he’s moving forward.

I’m going to make a lot of Kimeru fans happy with this next statement: If what they say about retro in fashion applies to music, Kimeru will clearly be the next big thing, with original songs produced for him by both Asakura Daisuke and Komuro Tetsuya, the two hitmakers of the 90’s.

Now I’m going to be hurt by a lot of Kimeru fans: In being the next big thing, Kimeru may become the next T.M.Revolution. *ducks rotten tomatoes*

And isn’t it ironic?

I think I can safely say I’ve been an well-behaved fan of JPop for at least 6 years now. (Hold on, let me do some mental math. Sailormoon fanfiction site with Japanese music in late 1999, first burned JPop CD in 2000, trip to Hong Kong with airline JPop radio channel in summer 2001, carry the one and subtract the two though it’s totally unnecessary… okay. 6 years. Ish. Maybe 7. Give or take a few months.) And for all my best efforts, I find I’m now stuck in the midst of two distinct communities with an amazing, if not extreme, amount of fans for Tsunku’s eventual New World Superpower, Hello!Project.

While I’m clearly not one of them myself.

I’m not sure what I did to deserve this.

We should all get FREAKY.

You know, coming in, I definitely had something to say.

I don’t know what it is anymore.

Not that it really matters because there’s only three things that are important about Koda Kumi’s latest PV, FREAKY.

avex joins the bandwagon

Apparently it wasn’t enough that Johnny’s gave Akanishi Jin an undefined hiatus from KAT-TUN and cut Kusano Hironori and Uchi Hiroki from NEWS.

Apparently it wasn’t enough that Hello!Project has had far too many scandals and leavings this past month. (Kago Ai getting caught again, Tsuji Nozomi being pregnant, Yoshizawa Hitomi’s graduation, and Fujimoto Miki’s “scandal”-caused leaving.)

avex has decided to toss their hat in the ring with their own news.

As of this morning, AAA’s official site announced the leaving of Gotou Yukari.

Could you call it an UVER comeback?

UVERworld, it must be admitted, had some sad troubles at the beginning of the year. Vocalist and frontman TAKUYA∞ knocked off a policeman’s cap while being written up because he was feeling bored and got his band’s album postponed for a month and a half. (Please. Worst cause for a “scandal” ever. What’s next, Hamasaki Ayumi gets suspended by avex for sticking her tongue out in a photo with some politician? Not really, but I can dream for some amusement.) Of course, other fan-speculated reasons for the album’s postponement included “scary cover” – but SONY used it anyways, so clearly it can’t be the cause of the delay.

So they released their second album, BUGRIGHT, a month and a half after the original release date without much fanfare other than TAKUYA∞’s stupidity and a PV to remind people that they still existed. Following my usual procrastinating and inattentive nature, I’ve yet to develop a definite opinion of it. But what I have gladly listened to is their seventh and latest single, endscape.

A Lasting Legacy

Without a doubt, when talking about avex’s girl group dream, there is one song that comes to mind. Quite easily their biggest hit, and the first ending to far-too-popular anime series Inu-Yasha, My will.

It’s always hard to limit an artist or a group to one song. Well, not if they’re one-hit wonders. But when they have potential, more than just a single hit, or are still active, how do you decide upon – or even just realize – the song that the person/group will be known for? It’s a pretty big speculation, after all.

Luckily for dream (or perhaps unluckily for the current dream), that song’s already been settled. Thanks to it’s tie-in with what was unquestionably one of the most widespread anime series ever, there will never be a shortage of people discovering the girl group for the first time. Unfortunately, thanks to the current state of the anime fandom and pre-teens’ ridiculous tendencies to be lazy, mislabel, and mis-attribute, there may never be a shortage of people thinking this song was sung by Hamasaki Ayumi or BoA instead. But go on, ignore the cranky old-timer (…wait, I’m only 19!) who’s discontent with the state of affairs in her fandom world today.