Kuroki Meisa’s bedroom eyes should be banned from all countries.
Perhaps her eyes themselves should be banned, period.
You see, a hellcat, according to thefreedictionary.com, is:
hell·cat (hlkt) n. Informal
1a. A woman regarded as bad-tempered and evil.
1b. A woman who practices sorcery; a witch.
2. A person who torments others.
Now, we can’t have that loose on the world, can we? Her eyes are tormenting enough already, what with the lovely bouts of jealousy and lust they incite in others, and so I offer to you the less inciting cover above. Also, I just don’t like an abundance of hair, and she practically had a mane in the other cover that reminded me of Amuro Namie on a frizzy hair day. But if you need something to jack off to, then who am I to deprive?
If you don’t know this by now, Raid and I are big fans of Urata Naoya. We were waiting for the release of his solo album, TURN OVER, for ages. Since it was announced that he’d be working on a solo project, at least.
Somewhere along the way, it went totally wrong, and based on the web reactions (for example, Brett over at Kurayami Monogatari and Noah at stylejapan), there are definitely people out there who love it. Us, on the other hand? We’re not entirely impressed. Or maybe that’s just me. Raid’s the one you want for lines like “OMGAH THIS SUCKS”, after all.
Something I’ve noticed during my stint in various fandoms is that people are loyal. If they obsessively like something, then they will support anything related to it, no matter how distantly related it is. For example, when the music of ORANGE RANGE’s KIRIKIRIMAI was used in the Fantastic Four movie’s motorbike stunt scene, there was a huge buzz. Never mind that not a second of the vocals showed up, or that it wouldn’t be on the soundtrack. It was in the movie! People went to watch the movie for that reason alone!
Not me. I don’t have the attention span to stick with fandoms to the point of micromanagement. You see, somehow, over the course of the two weeks in which I kept the Music Station episode on which both Arashi and Tohoshinki/DBSK/”SCREW THIS NAMING SCHEME, SM, I GIVE UP” appeared to promote and perform their latest singles, I ended up becoming a definite fan of the latter. There are dreams, there is the knowing of songs without really looking up the lyrics (and this is really harder because the Tohorangers still have accents, and I only listen to their Japanese releases of yet), and there is the looking up of variety appearances.
Honestly, I only have the attention span for one #-member boyband at a time. The instant I became a fan of V6, any consideration for NEWS was immediately shoved out of my head – KAT-TUN was never in the running. Kanjani8 used to not get any love because NEWS was also formerly 8 members, and they still don’t because AAA now also has 7 members. Tackey & Tsubasa don’t have a chance against KinKi, and while I tried to get into SMAP and TOKIO a lot more than I currently am – which is still saying something – they never could surpass Arashi. (Luckily for w-inds., there are few, if any other, 3-member boybands in Japan.) But somehow, the Tohorangers (perhaps due in part to my nicknaming them the “Tohorangers”) are edging their way in there.
And so it is only appropriate that the single I next review is their 23rd, どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう? [Doushite Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattan darou?] At least they were kind enough to provide a song to help explain my feelings.
I honestly didn’t think I’d be covering, much less fully reviewing, another KAT-TUN single in this blog so soon. After all, that last post was a long overdue one on a release from 10 months ago, and while I predicted two KAT-TUN dramas coming down through downloaded data streams into the household computers, I have not fully watched either. (I’m only halfway through the first episode of Kami no Shizuku, and RESCUE was primarily for my sister the Massu fanatic.) Despite not watching the drama though, I’ve got to admit – I fell in love with the eponymous theme song the instant the opening notes were wailed at the end of that excessively large and long first episode. (Am I the only one who thinks Nakamaru and/or his backers are trying to hint at something?)
RESCUE was released on March 11th, hot on the tails of KAT-TUN’s first single of the year (and the tie-in to Kami no Shizuku) ONE DROP. I normally don’t mention release dates, but this seems to be a case of “saving the best for last,” since I have had this song on repeat as much as possible, despite my major Johnny’s fandoms not having a whit of the K, A, T(x2), U, or N in them.
For the sake of making bad puns, I was once a non-Believer. When the first previews of this song came out as early as late December, I think, I wouldn’t touch it. Starting from January previews of the PV started flooding the Arashi communities – and I stubbornly scolled past it all.
So now I can only hope that the church of Arashi will let me back into its fold.
I hate having to eat my words. Not literally, of course, though I guess if they were printed with butter on a slice of brioche-esque brick toast it wouldn’t be quite so bad.
No, see, I carelessly remarked to Ruri that Inoue Joe’s latest single, 幻 [Maboroshi], wasn’t as fun as his last. Well, start rounding up that bread and butter.
In addition to being a bad AAA fan, I am also apparently a bad Arashi fan.
Because I know I will eventually have to review them for this blog, I have put off listening to the albums I have yet to review, both past and recent. Even though I do listen to the new singles as they come out, I don’t pay nearly as much attention as I should – after I have learned the melody for the A-sides so I can sing them at karaoke when necessary, I am easily satisfied. I have also put off listening to Believe and Kumori nochi, Kaisei – but that’s less of a “bad Arashi fan” and more of a “Kimi hates previews with a passion” thing, even though the full single will have already been leaked by the time this posts. (Hurray for scheduled posting!)
Because I was once ambitious enough to start writing fairly in-depth Episode Guides for Himitsu no Arashi-chan!, G no Arashi, and Arashi no Shukudai-kun, I have put off watching the variety shows until I can translate the related blurb on the official site (or in Himitsu-chan’s case, gather the mental capacity required to translate many spoken informative lines at the same time). Unfortunately, as a side effect, VS Arashi has also been thrown to the wayside, though the translation effort required isn’t nearly as great. Playing catchup on their older shows (such as Mago Mago Arashi) has also temporarily been abandoned.
Because I am afraid of wanting to make another photoshoot post, and because I am afraid of losing yet more money to magazines that I can’t exactly afford at the moment (well, perhaps I could, but I honestly find my snack and gaming budgets more important), I have avoided checking out most of their new magazine appearances since Nino in Cut around the beginning of Ryusei no Kizuna. To be honest, though, I think it might take me another two months to get over that photoshoot.
Because there’s just so many other shows and activities (read: games) taking up my time, I have barely begun the first episode of Ohno’s drama this season, Uta no Onii-san. (Oh, but everything else has been given more than a cursory glance. Curse your addictiveness, TRIANGLE and Mei-chan no Shitsuji!) I shudder to think of how long it will take for me to get around to watching Nino’s tanpatsu, DOOR TO DOOR.
Ruri, who I accidentally (okay, perhaps not) converted to the Arashi fandom and now spends at least 2 hours a week messing with Arashi-related things instead of getting sleep or doing homework, tells me that I am a bad Arashi fan. Ruri is also the one who insists I get around to learning the new Arashi songs, too. And Ruri is now the one who spazzes over Arashi shows to me whereas previously I would insist on her watching various things.
By the way, Ruri also has some very painful ideas of stimuli to get other people to get work done.
So somehow I’ve managed to overcome all of the above and finally bust out a review for いざっ, Now. Okay, I lie, I haven’t really overcome any of it yet – and definitely not the Ruri part, since she could care less about this. But here is an Arashi review for you anyways. The 7 of you who came here only for my Arashi posts can come back now – I like having my readership levels above the “10″ mark.
If you have not yet heard Uematsu Hidemi, do yourself a favor and listen to her NOW.
Did you press play yet? No? What is wrong with you? Do it. NOW.
Okay, now that you have listened to/watched the video, we can move on. (You have, right?)
Because there’s already a blog dedicated to promoting Hidemi as a godsend, I’ll spare you my own godsend praises in giving you an introduction, short of her being a 23-year-old singer-songwriter. TRAUMA, the video above, is not her latest single – but it’s the second of two tracks on her debut single (her second, Jidai, comes out early next month) and extremely touching.
As you have heard by now (I’m sure you’ve heard it, yes?), Hidemi’s got a strong voice and fairly unique. It’d be simple but unflattering to describe her singing as a mix of AI and alan (or perhaps as a friend of mine puts it, enka singing), but it’s the best description that comes to mind at the moment. As for her music, it seems best to reference Amano Tsukiko.
TRAUMA, above, is a powerful song combining a steady drum & bass with various grandstanding strings and a twinkling synth. The music alone evokes sad emotions and a rainy mood, but it’s Hidemi’s raw vocals that make the biggest impact on this song. If YouTube comments can be trusted, the song is supposedly about the father who left her and her mother, and explains the hook of cries to “daddy” (i.e., “I need you need you Daddy” and “I’m crying crying Daddy”) leading up to the dramatic (if amusing) “dundundundundundundun Remember” that ends the chorus. This will grow and catch on you, but it’s a moving track even without the draw of the hook.
Dear My Friends, the first track of her debut single, is a more acoustic track, with tempo kept by a combination of handclaps and drumbeats. Again, Hidemi’s vocals are the main focus of the song, soulful in their delivery. You pretty much expect a gospel choir to pop up, singing along with her in the chorus, and though they never appear, the song isn’t any lacking for it. That the music stops suddenly as she wails out “Friends” in the end adds a stronger emotion to the song, something that is oft used to the right effect but never quite as touching as it is here.
If you actually just read through this post without giving either of the above songs a listen, you should be ashamed of yourself. What are you reading my blog for if not for me to push things onto you? Hurry and give Hidemi a listen. If you have the same taste in music as me (and I would assume you might to be reading this blog), it’s not likely you’ll regret it.
A little over half a year ago, I posted on her video Like This and remarked on her similarities to two other acts – career-wise, to one Yamada Yu. Image/song wise, to one Amuro Namie.
Well now we can throw a little Koda Kumi into the mix too.
Wait, did I say a little? I meant a lot.
And girl, do I approve. Kuroki’s clearly taken a few stripper dance classes since her first video and brings out all the sexy you ever wanted but were too afraid to ask for. Complete with inappropriate panting, lots of shots into her cleavage, wild tossing of hair, pelvic thrusting and just her general sexy looks. Unfortunately her vocals don’t seem to have improved any, but fortunately the song – a heavily synthed R&B affair – is such that good vocals aren’t required to carry the song. It’s a fun listen, and that’s all it needs to be.
Would it be bad to say I became seriously attracted to her during this? Because she’s right, you know. “Love is not everything,” not when you have as much sex appeal as she does. Admittedly, sometimes the sexy did feel bit overemphasized, like they were afraid the song wouldn’t sell without the boobs and the thrusts. But once you grow to accept it as an essential part of the song’s being, it works. And for those who can’t handle the imagery from the video, the song is sexy in its own right.
I’d still sort of like it if she had grown into her own, instead of being a combination of various selling points. However, perhaps this is exactly what Meisa is and is meant to be, because so far it seems to be working. And to be honest, right now I’ll take this over any sign of actual musical talent. Vocal ability is not everything either.
Recently a little girl by the name of Kylee has been making a fuss in the NEWS fandom circle.
If you’re used to my style of posting, just the fact that I’ve bolded her name tells you she’s not a fangirl, she’s important.
You see, one Tegoshi Yuya is currently filming a movie titled Nakushita Kioku, and early on rumors buzzed that Emma Roberts would be playing the role of his girlfriend. Then it became Kiritani Mirei, and now we have finally landed on Kylee. I’ve got to say the girl has some smart management, because amidst all this buzz, she released her first single VACANCY. I can’t tell you the sales data, but I obviously took notice of it.
According to her official MySpace, Kylee is a 14-year-old half-Japanese, half-American girl from Arizona. (Well, I would certainly hope she’s a girl.) Well, that’d also explain her lack of an English accent despite that she sings only in that language.
Kylee’s a fairly pretty girl, and considering she’s only 14, she’s got a nice voice and a good sense of how to work the camera. A bit unfortunately, her music sounds very much like one Avril Lavigne’s, sticking her in the guilty pleasure category for me; though it’s somewhat understandable given she lists various rock bands among her favorite artists. Go ahead, play the video for You Get Me above if you don’t believe me.
But what really gets me (no pun intended) is her mouth. You see, Kylee has braces. This by itself is not a problem. I have braces. And the girl is only 14, the approximate age when braces are most often worn anyways.
However, Japan is the land of magical teeth correction. They will either leave the bad teeth in there, or get surgery (but that sounds a lot better as “magical teeth correction,” don’t you agree?) Take, well, Tegoshi for instance. Early pictures of him in NEWS have him as a very very awkward teenager. In this picture, ex-bandmate Kusano (a full year younger so also very much in puberty) is much less awkward than him – and Kusano cleans up nicely without it being too unbelievable. But my Kusano bias aside, note Tegoshi’s teeth. Here’s another, frontal picture for your reference too.
Then take a look at the Tegoshi of now. This entire time he was in the spotlight, and even Invisalign couldn’t have taken more than half the credit for that. Hence, I say “magical teeth correction.” (Granted, I think Tegoshi got himself the whole fairy godmother schtick too, because NEWS seriously needed the eyecandy magic after both Uchi and Kusano got the boot, but sadly we’ll never have confirmation of that.) This is not only the case with Johnny’s, but everywhere. Think of Tsuji Nozomi’s fangs, once upon a time. The concept of crooked teeth has become viewed as a “cute” trait, but there is still an effort made to correct it. We just never see the effort.
So with all that as a precedent, Kylee is rocking out with her braces in full view is a very admirable thing in my opinion. It’s an added bonus for her as a singer that a newer wave of overseas Japanese pop fans and potential converts – that is, the teenyboppers - can possibly identify with (because they “get” her), but for others, there’ll be a bit of a hurdle to overcome. And despite my fixation on her teeth, I’ll be looking forward to what happens.
