International Wota is currently holding a charity auction to benefit Japan, and I’ve put up some things from my own collection for it. If you’re a fan of AAA, w-inds., or girl idols in general, you’re probably going to be interested, so check it out!

But to the few of you who aren’t bots, here’s the great news! I’ve moved! You can now find me over at 無礼講⇒ナイト [bureikouNIGHT], where I refuse to worry about you guys so I’m actually more likely to properly update.

Also, due to various circumstances, I’m not going to say a single word about AAA over there – so if you started following me for the now growing popular AAA, sorry! This blog will still remain (relatively) intact so you can go back and read the Otakon reports and the ilk, though.

Those of you joining me at bureikou, though, see you there!

無礼講⇒ナイト

o1/ Arashi’s MY GIRL single hits me on so many levels. One, the title song is bland. I’m sure as I watch the drama more, it’ll grow on me, but I don’t know how likely that is considering the source material (again, manga), is much cuter. I am considering continuing it past the first episode just for the little girl. She’s cute, she can act, and she gets Aiba teased. What’s not to like? On the other hand, I haven’t watched 0 Goushitsu no Kyaku, the drama in which Ohno stars in the first arc, but I’m rather enjoying Tokei Jikake no UMBRELLA, its theme song. Well, except for Sho’s rap. It honestly feels like they stuck it in there because Sho wouldn’t really have a rap on this single otherwise. I’m sure the fangirls are enjoying the orgasmic “Uh, mou dame” in the middle. Well, that and the recent news of Kobayashi Mao’s engagement to Ichikawa Ebizo. (Note to self: Avoid the topic of the engagement at the Johnny’s fanmeet on December 6th. Or tonzura koite out of the room if it gets brought up.) The rest of the song returns listeners to the dark dramatic atmosphere that made truth such a hit with fans, though the accordion calls to mind Professor Layton. It’s also a fun song to lip-sync too, since they’re so passionate in it.

But no, the best track is SUPER FRESH, by far. I’m almost sad to say that I love it best because it feels so Western, rather than by default. There’s the club-style beat, so easy to get addicted to. The monotone quick-paced singing, carrying you through the song to the chorus. There is one brass section at the end that throws me back to WISH, but overall Arashi songs are mostly known for their energy, so this is definitely a change of pace. But who’s to say it can’t be a good one?

o2/ Ohitorisama: I’m going to be honest. Like many w-inds. fangirls, I’m watching this for the novelty of seeing one Tachibana Keita act. I only just got through the first episode this past week with my sister (who is watching it for Koike Teppei – looking considerably aged from when we saw him in Shibatora – and Maya Miki). To my surprise, there’s a lot more musical artists in this show than I thought. Of course, heroine Mizuki Arisa is a singer, and Teppei and Keita are part of WaT and w-inds. respectively, along with having their own solo works. Matsushita Nao, another teacher who seems to have plans for Teppei’s character, put out an album earlier this year, but has been around since 2006. And Suzuki Ami – yes, that Suzuki Ami, Nakata Yasutaka fans – shows up as the school nurse. Unfortunately, this also means that some of the acting in this drama kind of sucks. I’m going to stick with it for my sister, though. (To you guys, I suggest you go watch JIN. Tied with MR. BRAIN for the best drama of the year in my opinion.) And because I want to know what the hell Keita’s character does that lets him do what seems to be sit at home and play games all day. Hook a sister up, will you?

o3/ Let’s get ugly. And by ugly I mean self-servicing. In case you don’t know and want to follow me, I have a Twitter. The Twitter, much like myself, is abundant with inanity. If you like my blog, you might like my Twitter, I don’t know. Follow me so I can call you a stalker. But onto the actual subject – having a Twitter means I am a victim of… Twitter operations! On November 17th (in Japan), the person behind the uwasako LiveJournal initiated an attempt to get Japanese pop as a trending topic, after seeing various KPop ones coast up the Twitter Trending Topic Top 10 list.

She chose the fun hastag of #deadfisheyes. It worked, sending them flying to just under New Moon, I think. Hey, I contributed one to the attempt myself. Though admittedly I didn’t actually know what it was for at the time. And now due to the success (or at least latching onto the originality of it in the latter case), two more operations are going on this coming week. On the 24th, Project #eggplant, for Akanishi Jin. (I don’t know why that date.) On the 26th, in honor of Ohno’s birthday, Operations #tsuribaka and #wemakestorm. (Girls, can I say that while I know there are a lot of Arashi fans on Twitter, I suggest PICK ONE AND STICK WITH IT. Or else you’ll end up like the Chinese elections here in New York and get nowhere. I prefer the latter for all Arashi tweets. Just sayin’.)

While I’m sick of seeing Wonder Girls on my Twitter feed – mostly thanks to one person, not saying it’s a bad thing to enjoy fandom, but not being a fan, I’ve had enough – I’m sort of ambivalent about Johnny’s Twitter spam too. Nonetheless, it won’t hurt too many, I think. I’ll get back to you about the murders I’ve committed in reaction to it after the event’s over.

o4/ avex, when will you stop with the underage kiddies? Not that certain people won’t enjoy it. So based off a show called Tensai Terebi MAX, apparently, a new group called Dream5 has been formed. If you’re like me, the first thing you thought of when you saw that name was Folder/5. (Speaking of which, I only recently discovered that it’s HIKARI playing Light’s little sister in the Death Note movie. Also, I’ve only recently watched the Death Note movie. It took an iPod for me to do it. Don’t judge me.) These kids are all younger than any underage group we’ve seen from avex in the past – Folder and SweetS being what come to mind. The youngest is a fourth grader, the eldest two are 7th graders. And the sole guy in the group is in the middle, being a 6th grader. He’s also adorable, but please ignore my pedophilia. They also follow in the path of main singers + backup dancers. I can’t see this one succeeding any longer than SweetS did, especially since their debut single I don’t obey ~Bokura no PRIDE~ is lacking in quality. (Has Togashi Akio lost his touch?) But hey, whatever gets me more cute little boys to fawn over.

In case you’re waiting for a report on Shingo’s Talk Like Singing musical – keep your eyes peeled… actually, don’t. That’s disgusting. But now that the musical has finished its run in NYC and I don’t have to worry about details being spoiler-ish, it’ll be along!

But I guess a few things in my head insisted on kicking themselves out as I mentally prep myself to watch Shingo’s musical Talk Like Singing today.

1) Ninkyo HELPER: I never managed to do a drama post for the Summer season (nor the Fall), but it’s one of the ones that stuck out at me from the beginning as being a winner. Did I ever underestimate that – the final episodes just build up into a crescendo, and then a very satisfying ending. Things are tied up, Yuki Jutta does hand motions that he should never do again, and even if you don’t particularly like the elderly, you will definitely at least feel for the old people on the show. Also, I may have become a pedophile, but Kato Seishiro’s squishable cheeks are entirely worth it. How did that boy EVER get only third place for Best Supporting Actor? I cried while watching this show. I can’t believe I just admitted that on a public forum.

2) Watarirouka Hashiritai‘s 3rd single, also known as Kanpeki Gu~no Ne!, also known as the first (and current) ending to anime Fairy Tail. I have a friend who hates Fairy Tail with possibly every fiber of her being, mostly because – as she says – it’s an imitator of ONE PIECE, and not creator Mashima Hiro’s first try at it, either. Me, I don’t care about the similarities, so I’m still able to enjoy it. The opening theme song, by FUNKIST, is a light pop-rock number in the style of SID. Take that with a grain of salt, I’ve only really listened to two SID songs and one was a live version (Yuukan Collection, in case you’re wondering). But oh, the ending. It is upbeat and catchy and cute as hell, and I was totally fine with it being stuck in my head when I thought it was done by a seiyuu group with Hirano Aya in it. (I sort of imagined the others to include Kugimiya Rie, who also voices a character on the show.) Then I looked it up, and found out Watarirouka Hashiritai was an AKB48 subgroup, composed of mostly Team B girls. And it. Just. Won’t. Leave. My. Head. I’ve listened to it a grand total of four times, and I have the melody completely memorized.

…Susan was right. Fairy Tail is bad for me. LISTEN TO IT. IT WILL EAT YOUR SOUL.

3) Hold Up Down:  V6 fans have known about this gem for 4 years now, and if you’re not a V6 fan, there’s no guarantee you’ll enjoy this movie. But essentially, it’s a crack fest. The plot barely exists. The acting is about as much as you can expect from the individual members of V6. Bananaman makes cameo appearances – or one of them does. The other one is a running joke. And as is apparently expected of director Sabu, there are over the top car chases and a spectacularly over-the-top fight scene. But no, there is only one reason you should watch this. To join the Church of Frozen Jesus Homeless Guitar Player Okada Statue. Because as this movie will show you – he is truly awesome.

4) LIAR GAME Season 2: Longtime readers of the blog, if they exist, will remember my hearty approval of LIAR GAME when the show first aired. So season 2 and a movie was announced, and now the former has begun airing. It just isn’t as good. Matsuda Shota has always been prone to overacting for the role of Akiyama Shinichi, but this time his magnificently feminine hair isn’t a distraction. Toda Erika slipped comfortably back into her role as Kanzaki Nao, but the fame of being active these past two years has added a sort of maturity to her image that doesn’t fit the naive Nao. The new dealer, Solario, will haunt you in your nightmares with his bulgy-eyed mask. And now that the show has been lengthened to an hour, it seems like they had no idea how to fill up the time other than to replay “dramatic” moments in triplicate. Of course, there’s always Suzuki Kosuke’s excellent performance as Fukunaga Jun to keep viewers in. But maybe I shouldn’t have read the manga, because the magic’s sort of lost.

5) The DBSK vs. SME lawsuit grows tiresome. It’s also a prime example of why I don’t like stepping out into fandom – it’s a pretty ugly creature. For the people who’ve never cared, or the Tohorangers fans living under rocks on Pluto, basically a couple of months back The Girl, Ultra Mushroom, and Kamen Laser as I’ve identified them (Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu to everyone else), sued SM Entertainment. Apparently they were investing in other ventures and SM wanted a cut of the profits from that, declaring that the ventures were making money from the name of DBSK being attached to it, and SM, being the creator of DBSK, had a right to it. This evolved into a dispute over the clasues in their contracts, and then into overall unfairness (their exclusive contracts are for 13 years). The remaining two, Bondage Ranger (Yunho) and Gi (Changmin), kind of stood off to the side until we were suddenly told they’d taken SM’s side – and what’s more, the three suers had a deadline to return to the group so activities would be continued. The deadline – November 12th, I think – passed, and the three didn’t return, leading SM to announce that the Shenzhen concert was canceled. Throughout all this, fans have mostly been “Pfft, SM, WE KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP TO YOU BASTARDS.” and started a boycott of SM products to make SM lose more money show their support for DBSK.

Well, it’s probably just me, but though SM was kind of stupid for wanting profits out of the boys’ side investments, they do have a point in saying that DBSK wouldn’t exist without them. Jaechunsu can also make a point in not “returning” to the group, but let’s face it, even if the contract had only been 5 or 7 years, they totally would’ve renewed it to end up being 13 years (or more) anyways. SM is good at creating the image Korea wants, after all. (And JYPYG already has BIG BANG. JYP has 2AM/PM. Thanks to Catherine for enlightening me further on the confusing world of Korean boybands!) As for the fans, if SM’s not making any money off DBSK, what’s to say they’ll keep them? Never mind that the boycott could be costing them money from other artists. So who’s the biggest loser here? Me, for actually reading fans whining and bitching and moaning about this over and over. Can we be done with this already?

6) AAA‘s latest single, Hide-away/Find you/Hide & Seek. On one hand, reusing the composition for all three songs with a different sound each time is supposed to make them comparable to Hamasaki Ayumi (Sunrise/Sunset), I guess. On the other, it’s cheap and makes it really easy to get really tired of the songs really quickly. And mostly, I’m sick of the splits. AAA is 5 guys and 2 girls together, not 5 guys and 2 girls occasionally smashed up in a hot aural orgy that’s cooling by the second. At this rate, 6th Anniversary will be two separate concerts – one girls-only, one guys-only. And neither crowd will be pretty.

7) Johnny’s, Johnny’s, Johnny’s. Earlier this week/last week, a Fuji TV member named Miyakawa Naoki sent out a cry for help through LiveJournal, trying to contact SMAP fans in the US for a story that aired on Monday. Well, that wasn’t the problem – hey, look, they know about LJ. Fuuuun. Well, no, one of the questions was “7. What is your favorite song of Smap’s, and your favorite drama, in which any of Smap members act?” If you can’t see the problem here, here’s a reminder – downloading/torrenting dramas is technically a gray area, but still a no-no. And while for a lot of people it’s easy to say Long Vacation or Hero or any other drama that has been out for years, some people are like me, only recent fans, yeah? And their favorite is quite possibly the amazing amazing MR. BRAIN that aired earlier this summer. Too early for DVDs. Or perhaps there was a mention of SMAPxSMAP or Utaban, the latter which would of course never be on DVDs. People did answer, though, and in the Tokudane clip no mention was made (not that I was really paying attention) of it, so hopefully this doesn’t open up a can of worms. (But but but Johnny’s, if you were to decide the US is a lucrative market, I’d be all up for going into the watching-when-it-airs-concert-attending-shrieking-fangirl business.)

I’m half-considering switching this blog thing up. Rather than having every entry – whenever they appear – focus on a singular topic, a weekly post of everything remotely interesting and related to the main subject of this blog. Perhaps something much like this. A valiant attempt to get back into the spirit of regularly blogging. To my non-existent readers, any non-existent thoughts?

Since 2007, when Johnny’s made a permanent mark upon my listening spectrum, I’ve been wrapped up in boybands. If it isn’t catching up with the current releases of Johnny’s, or delving into their storied past, or trying – however grudgingly – to give other boybands a chance… well there hasn’t much of an alternative, actually. Sure, Inoue Joe has made his mark, Miura Daichi is always gold, and I made the perfunctory effort to keep up with other groups I’ve enjoyed in the past, such as AAA (oh, how low I’ve fallen), Micro, or Tamaki Nami. But other than Joe and Daichi, the one constant in my listening habits was a Johnny’s production. Whether this was Arashi, V6, or Domoto Koichi has fluctuated depending on who has had the latest release. This, of course, means it was usually Arashi.

All of this changed about three weeks back after I attended the AKB48 concert, though.

Caught up in the enthusiasm of the wota, I gave the 63 and then some girls more of a listen. Foolishly, I did not follow my own self-laid steps for joining a fandom with this endeavor… or perhaps not-so-foolishly when you consider that 63 girls is still more than all of the members of the currently active Johnny’s groups (that is, from SMAP on – Shonentai being disregarded for focusing on solo activities of late) combined, including former members such as Mori Katsuyuki, Moriuchi Takahiro, and Kusano Hironori. At any rate, I never got past step 1, because I’m still sort of in the denial stage. Perhaps at some point I’ll get around to watching Mendol so I’ll have fulfilled step 2, but that won’t be for a while.

Because being the easily-distracted person that I am, I was clearing out space on my poor abused laptop to make room for AKB48′s discography and came across concerts that I had downloaded, but never actually finished watching because, well, I’m easily distracted.

The first of these was SOUL’d OUT‘s Single Collection at Nihon Budokan. I started watching, trying to comprehend why I wasn’t so engaged by Diggy-MO’ and Bro.Hi performing the songs that I loved. It wasn’t until the fourth song, VOODOO KINGDOM, where the pyrotechnics began that I got starry-eyed, but more to the point, VOODOO KINGDOM was an instant reminder of why I enjoyed both SOUL’d OUT and Diggy-MO’s releases then and now. Now we’re in 2007, folks, with a slight nod to early 2009 for Diggy-MO’s solo album.

Next came I’ve in BUDOKAN 2009.  I never actually got past the first disc – Shimamiya Eiko (always my favorite of the I’ve pantheon of singers) singing Ginga no Ko shot me back to, well, 2006. The ethereality of that song has made it a solid favorite of mine. Which is a shame because since Johnny’s, I’ve kept up with I’ve Sound – pun unintended – but haven’t really listened to anything. To be honest, I’m still not really listening to anything new, since my I’ve love paused at 2006.

This year, besides being Arashi’s 10th anniversary, is also the 10th anniversary of a great many other artists. Let’s go over two of them first – Crystal Kay and Kuraki Mai. First was Crystal Kay, who was suddenly gaining immense popularity in KAT-TUN communities because she performed a duet with Akanishi Jin for her 10th anniversary collection album. She’s actually on here a bit unfairly, because I was drawn back to her music before AKB48 by her single featuring CHEMISTRY’s Kawabata Kaname and I’d been listening to the aforementioned album before the concert. Then Kuraki Mai, who had a 10th anniversary live, and everything I’d figured out about the need for shiny during SOUL’d OUT’s concert flew out the window because I was hooked even though Secret of my heart was just the woman singing on stage. A slow song, nonetheless. We’re now in 2005, for you guys keeping track.

Around this time, because of Crystal Kay’s collaboration song with CHEMISTRY, Two As One, I got a bit nostalgic over some of my favorites from them. These have been few, because CHEMISTRY mostly pulls the slow kind of R&B, but every so often something clicks. FLOATIN’ is one such song, harkening back to the startup days of Tofu Records releasing in the US, and the first several times I bought a Japanese pop album. Though the JPOP CD I heard FLOATIN’ on was released back in 2003, the actual song takes us to 2002, now.

Back on the concert track. Before JPOPSUKI switched trackers, some kind soul uploaded the ISO of dream‘s 2001 live. Though I didn’t get into dream until 2003, 3-nin dream is my favorite of the group’s many incarnations. The group just isn’t the same without Matsumuro Mai for me – odd, because when I was first trying to reconcile between 8/7-nin dream and 3-nin dream on the old AnimeLyrics.com forums, I identified Yu and Kana but mistook Mai for Erie, I think. Either way, 3-nin dream, whether because I have a fondness for trios or because the Japanese music of the early 2000s is essentially my starting point, awoke.

Then another 10th anniversary artist, Shimokawa Mikuni. Shimokawa, along with Okui Masami, Ishida Yoko, Takahashi Yoko, and Yonekura Chihiro, is really best known for her anime song – personally, I think she’s up there with the rest of the anison greats, but don’t hold me to that. She’d also released a 10th anniversary album, and while this was a while ago, I gave it a whirl. Big mistake, because she’d sung songs for a lot of shows I watched, and some of her songs are iconic for me. I also had a good amount of Hayashibara Megumi‘s discography sitting around somewhere, along with some Okui Masami albums, and Yonekura Chihiro‘s stuff was popping up on the new JPOPSUKI tracker. Now I was caught up in the dizzying spiral that is anime music.

And then the thing that clinched the deal – anime music ties in inevitably with Dance Dance Revolution for me. In fact, Dance Dance Revolution marks the beginning of the end of my interest in anime, harkening to my ditching meetings of an anime club I helped found in high school to attend the daily meetings of the Dance Dance Revolution club. Already having dj TAKA and Sota Fujimori’s solo efforts from Bemani on my laptop, and a bunch of BeForU as well, I now compounded it by hunting down a number of DDR soundtracks with the pieces that weren’t on the aforemention albums, and also hunting down SMiLE.dk albums for the full versions of such iconic tracks as Butterfly and Dancing All Alone.

So my music player (currently my poor DS Lite), once taken up completely by Johnny’s tracks, is now slowly returning to a state of… well, I was going to say normality, but that isn’t quite right. For the past two years, Johnny’s had become the norm. Perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a state of balance.

What does that mean for this blog? It found its greatest number of viewers when I was just entering the Johnny’s fandom. But the Johnny’s fandom is also horribly time and energy-consuming. There are endless variety shows, dramas, releases, photoshoots, all needing to be caught up with. It begins to feel like a full-time job in itself. So perhaps this the spark of hope that this blog can become more varied again, that maybe it can actually fulfill the functions of a blog, or just be active. Period. I wouldn’t be too sure, seeing as the 2009-2010 Countdown’s coming up, as is Katori Shingo’s Talk Like Singing, but here’s the hope.

Oh, but if you know anyone who’s willing to pay a person to keep up with Johnny’s, let me know.

So for you poor unfortunate souls, here it is: I went to the AKB48 concert at Webster Hall about… 7 hours ago as I type this. (That’s right, it’s midnight and a half.)

I know. I haven’t updated in almost 4 months and this is what I come back with? You are in horror. Kimi, you cry, what is this? Where are the Johnny’s we have come to know you for?

Yeeeeeeeah, about that.

It’s a funny thing, going to a concert when you’re not a fan.

Funnier when fans terrify you. No, really. You deal with Arashi fangirls bordering on obsessive-delusional, and then tack on all the stories of how fanatical wota can be. It’s probably a bad idea to go to the concert knowing only one song.

And the situation becomes funniest when you go with a newly-bought copy of Coming Century’s mini-album Hello-Goodbye in your bag. Huh. Lucky the wota didn’t see that.

But for whatever stupid reason, despite not bringing along a notebook/writing utensil, the blogger in me would not let me go and I ended up jotting the setlist into a text message draft on my cell phone in the midst of what had to have ben at least 60 roaring people. So have a concert report from what is probably an interesting perspective! And then some.

The concert was supposed to start at 5, doors were going to open at 4. I arrived at 2:12-ish and found at least 30 people already crowded around the doors. Of note were a bunch of young-ish Japanese guys right in front, which was surprising to me because I hadn’t expected Japanese people out of nowhere for AKB48, but they became important later for very different reasons.

About half an hour later, I was joined by the two biggest AKB48 fans I know – Umi, perhaps better known as the maintainer of the AKB48 Livejournal community, and Solaire, whom you probably know better as Samantha of Egao YES Idols. How I know them is something not entirely related to this blog or this post, but I also couldn’t have picked two better people to go to the concert with – everything I didn’t know about AKB48, they were more than willing to push upon me. And then some, considering I went karaoke with them the day before when they were cosplaying in K-branded versions of the serafuku from the cover of Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou.

So there I am, with the two wota and their signs. 6 of them, in fact. They were eye-catching enough that 5 individual crews approached them for an interview. I sort of got drawn (awkwardly and unwillingly) into the last two. So if you see a girl going “Uh, I just became a fan because of these two” on any clips of the Webster Hall line – that’s me. And for future reference, if you don’t want to stand out, gaijin wota are probably not the way to go.

While waiting, though, knowing that I only recognized two people out of the 16 present (not that I can still tell you all of who went to New York other than that they were members of Team A, K, and some Research Students) Solaire made sure to impress upon me who Miyazawa Sae was, since I got the honor of holding her sign. So, count with me – Sae, Maeda Atsuko (known to me for that whole “my type is Yunho of DBSK” debacle), and Akimoto Sayaka (you don’t know Umi without knowing Sayaka. Trust me, it’s for your own good). Yep, my chances of surviving the concert were looking great.

Finally, at 4:30-ish they let us in, New York-Tokyo staff gave their guests tickets that went unchecked, we all got a pink glowstick and a red-bordered hankerchief, and then we got to the Grand Ballroom upon which all the Japanese wota mobbed their way to the front. And now that they were standing and near, things became unfortunate. If you read my report on the AAA concert at Otakon in 2007, you know this. I’m short. These guys were all at least a head taller than me, with the tallest one of all (standing directly in between me and the stage) having his streaked blond hair fluffed up to about an inch off his skull.

Why yes, I did have a lot of time to study the back of his head.

So despite being dead center in what was approximately the 3.5th row in the mishmash of people, the stage was not going to be fun to see, for any of the three of us. And this was after I’d switched spots with both Umi and Solaire so they could enjoy the concert more. (Who am I to take away the fun from fans? If I had signboards and you blocked me at an AAA/Arashi/V6 concert, I’m smacking your head down. They were better behaved.)

And then they started jumping, the ground started shaking, and the girl right behind Mr. Too Tall and Jumpy warned us, “They’re going to be jumping throughout the concert.” This did not look good.

So, let’s have a little review. Lesson number one of being a wota: You wait. (Umi and Solaire agree heavily on this. Especially when you try to interrupt wota while they are wota-ing.) Everyone else has to wait, so you wait too.

But rule number one of being a wota when a tiny little Asian girl is behind you: KEEP YOUR ASS THE FUCK DOWN SO SHE CAN SEE OR SHE WILL BE VERY PUBLICLY PISSED AT YOU HOURS LATER. Especially because you’re more likely to get some with the uninterested tiny little Asian girl than with the idols you kind of freaked out by being maybe too enthusiastic. Or if you have to jump, then at least do it to the music and not EVERY SINGLE SECOND.

Thank you, this has been a Public Service Announcement.

But honestly it would have helped all the tinier people to be in front, because I wasn’t the only one. (Solaire’s around my height. The heels she wore did not help.)

The concert started at around 5:30, to the relief of the slowly-beginning-to-riot crowd. First was a cute announcement in Japanese and then English – I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t given by the AKB48 girls themselves – telling us the usual stuff. No recording, no flash pictures, please don’t inconvenience other people (too bad that never happens), etc. And ended with a very very cute “Mou chotto matte kudasai!” – which is why I’m not entirely sure AKB48 was not saying it. But it was so adorable that the crowd made audible their approval despite having to wait longer.

A few minutes later, the opening bits of Aitakatta kicked off, and sixteen girls in uniforms ran out to massive cheering. I’m kind of certain that they were in the Aitakatta uniforms too, but don’t quote me on that. Oh, and remember how I said I only knew one song? This was that song. Is it looking as fun for you as it did for me, yet?

The dread of wota aside, once the music started it was hard not to get caught up in the rush. The girls who were clearly excited to be there, the bass pounding throughout your body, the adrenaline in the air rising, the crowd mobbing forward with a giant approving roar… it is hard to not enjoy a concert where the fans are so clearly in love with the performers – and even then there were some in the audience who were there out of curiosity, but when everyone’s into it, you can’t help but get swept up. Of all the songs they performed, this was definitely the best opener.

Soon after, with a “We are AKB48! Thank you for coming today!” from Acchan, the girls went into Baby! Baby! Baby! – no bikinis, unfortunately for you, but their uniforms started looking a bit disheveled. I don’t study them enough nor do I remember if it had actually been that way during Aitakatta, or if they pulled a string and magically shirt tails came out of skirts and suspenders slid off, but it was kind of amazing.

Following this was Namida SURPRISE, which I only identified because of the sudden Happy Birthday in the chorus. Yeah, that was a surprise the first time I listened to it, alright. Unfortunately, neither song particularly struck nor stuck with me, but the crowd was whooping it up. To be fair, the crowd (and the wota in front) had been whooping it up since Aitakatta, though.

16 people still apparently equals three lines, by the way, but the girls were pretty good about switching it up – people who were obviously not usually lead girls had their turns to come to the front and wave and smile and sing to the fans. So the concert began in three lines and Namida SURPRISE ended in three lines. At this point, Acchan thanked everyone again, as did Takahashi Minami, who surprised me with her lower voice. (Both were in the front line.) It should also be noted at this point that throughout the concert, the girls made a very concious effort to speak entirely in English.

Takamina stumbled and had some interjected help from Sayaka a couple of times – especially when trying to say the word “introductions.” After all, next up were the self-introductions.

I honestly do not remember all of the girls who were there, nor what order they went in, but I can tell you that Team K was generally at the end, Research Students scatted amongst them, and Team A mostly in the front.  I think that’s pretty good considering how I know just about nothing of the group. I’m sure you can find a full list somewhere in some actual AKB48 fan’s report. All self-introductions had the girls’ full names (in the Western order), a “Please call me [nickname]!” line with time for the crowd to yell it back at her, and a little something about her. Sometimes they threw in their ages. All of it was pretty much in English. Acchan and Takamina, in front, were amongst the first four people to introduce themselves. Acchan had to bring up that Oshima Yuko in the row behind gave her cheesecake to eat the night before. (“It was very DERICIOUS!”) In the second row, I remember Fujie Reina making me laugh by commenting on how surprised she was at the size of drinks here, Yuko saying “Please call me Y-U-K-O YUKO!”, Kojima Haruna announcing that she went to the drugstore, and reacting with a little bit of shock at remembering Ono Erena‘s name from her role in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. She also stumbled a bit – but instead of having only Sayaka to help her, she lifted up her hand, and started reading from her palm. In the final row were four girls – Sae, someone who I don’t recall, Sayaka, and Satou Amina. Sae made a huge motion of surprise at the portion sizes in America, Sayaka talked the longest (having the best English), and Amina blanked out and just decided to use “dokidoki,” as in “I am very dokidoki!” – leading Sayaka to translate for her “She is very excited!”

There was a bit more talking, where Sayaka roused the crowd, before announcing that the next bunch of songs were going to be unit songs. Sure enough, Acchan kicked it off with Nagisa no CHERRY – and yes, the frilly skirted yellow/blue costumes were there. For what was probably the first time, I found myself entranced by the dancing legs. The short skirts and bare arms did not help.

Next was Bye Bye Bye, again with outfit change –  and not to be confused with any number of songs sharing the same title. As Google would not stop doing to me when I was trying to see if the costumes were the actual ones. Despite having only three members on stage, No Sleeves made sure to dominate. And the Haruna fans to my left were very very happy. (I just realized I watched Haruna in Coin Locker Monogatari and she was somewhere in the background for both Yamatarogari and Mei-chan. Except I wasn’t entirely fond of the former, and she was sort of nonexistent in the latter two anyways.)

Then the girls trooped onstage in the animal costumes for Ame no Doubutsuen. This being my first time – I thought it was adorable. The costumes helped. The (again) mesmerizing legs helped more. This being not Umi and Solaire’s first time, though, they were kind of sick of it.

It got shunted down to four girls again for Nageki no FIGURE, again with a costume change. I was getting used to the costume changes, but what I really needed to get used to was the dancing skin assaulting my eyes. I did like the dance, the robotic movements brought to mind Perfume at first, but bare arms moving sharply through the air are not the best way to help me retain much memory. (And the bliss brought about by Korean fried chicken post-concert didn’t help me much either.)

But no, getting used to the bare skin was neccessary because the last of the unit songs was Blue Rose. When Team K strutted out in the accompanying costumes (jackets already open, skimpy black outfits leaving little to the imagination), Umi let out a shriek and began to stumble, grabbing onto my arm. Well, I guess when you’re that enthusiastic, the song has to be some sort of awesome, right? If it wasn’t, the girls certainly made it so – oozing attitude, sex, and wild rocker headbangs. Or mostly Sayaka did. Replete with stripping off her jacket (to a very excited crowd) – and then sheepishly saying her heel broke after the song. I’d been getting into the spirit of the cheers up to now, but the “HOI HOI HOI”s during the chorus were at their strongest here, from both me and the crowd.

Following a short talk from the Team K girls (again, mostly Sayaka), it was back to the whole group songs, kicking off with Boku no Taiyou. The Team K girls went back to change costumes a bit later because of the talk, so they ended up joining in the song about halfway.

Then with a hearty “1, 2, 3, GO!” off went BINGO! – the English version. While I confess it’s fun to listen to English versions of songs sung by the original artist, it’s usually going to be the Japanese that wins for me. Then came Oogoe DIAMOND in English,  which was again, a curiosity that was a bit jarring for me. I applaud the effort to reach out to a foreign audience, but I like it when they’re not struggling with the language.

It should be noted – Mr. Too Tall and Jumpy went a bit overboard with being Too Tall and Jumpy during one of the English songs. While he was being his tall jumpy self through out the concert (along with the rest of the wota), here he got some of his buddies to lift him up. Into the air. Where he flailed at the girls onstage.

Which is all fine and nice when your feet are firmly on the ground and you’re not blocking – ahem –  a certain tiny little Asian girl from watching. No one behind him was very happy about it, though. The wota in front of me, with his backwards cap and leather jacket and huge lightsticks and freaky metal Kanye sunglasses started leaning back further than before – almost knocking right into me and giving me more than a deep breath of the fumes from his leather jacket – to avoid getting hit by Too Tall and Jumpy’s flailing limbs. And during Ame no Doubutsuen, two Japanese girls ended up to my left, between me and the Haruna fans, and they’d been cheering as happily as anyone for the girls, but when this happened they started yelling at the guy to stop it and get his ass down. Except in Japanese, of course. (What did I tell you? Don’t block tiny little Asian girls.) According to Solaire, who obviously had a better view of the stage than I did during this spectacle, the AKB48 girls were kind of freaked out by it too. Luckily his buds tired out about half a minute before the song ended.

We were then told that the next song would use the scarves (really, kerchiefs for us) – beginning the mad scramble for the scarves. If you’re an AKB48 fan, you probably know that the next song was Hikoukigumo. I have to admit, twirling the kerchief in the air got fun after a while.

And then Sayaka – having made sure we were having fun – announced that the last song was Sakura no Hanabiratachi. Lots of groans and awws did not stop them from launching straight into it – Sayaka the most enthusiastic one of all. Even if I didn’t know who she was, I would definitely have noticed her because she was bouncing all over the stage. Some of the other girls had apparently begun to tire out – but forgive my untrained eye, I couldn’t tell – so Sayaka was possibly trying to make up for them. To be fair, though, all of them were waving their arms and smiling their mouths off at the crowd when they were close. And the crowd very happily joined in with the dance movements.

When the girls had left, the crowd demanded an encore with various calls for about a three minutes before the girls came back out – Acchan, Takamina, and Sayaka all telling us “Thank you for the encore!” They’d taken off the costume top and wore relatively tight I ♥ NY shirts on top, and bounced straight into Iiwake Maybe.

Sayaka thanked us for the encore again and announced the next song to be 10nen Zakura. I apologize for having absolutely no comment on this, but now it’s almost 4AM and the last time I stayed up this late was for a school paper. You’ll forgive that my brain is failing.

Following this, Sayaka said “The last song is – again – Oogoe DIAMOND!” Despite the groans from the crowd, they launched into what was supposed to be the final song – again. Despite my own personal groanings, it was the English version – again.

And so the girls left again… another chant for an encore was held… and out they came for the third time for another round of Hikoukigumo. Replete with, yes, red scarf spinning and waving.

Before we could do a third chant for an encore, though, Webster Hall staff shut us down by playing the generic waiting music.

Leaving the concert hall, Umi (following me), Solaire (also following me), and I (having never been in Webster Hall before) headed the wrong way, doubled back, and then realized people were talking about buying goods. Off they went to buy posters/photos/whatever else was for sale in that crowded room right before the steps to the exit. Me, being the cheapskate non-fan that I am, stood off to the side safeguarding their signboards while getting poked in the head by a spiky-leafed plant. Also, fans are terrifying.

When we finally made it out of the building, their stuff safely in hand, we saw the bus the girls were supposed to board. Fans slowly began to crowd around and wait to freak out over their leaving the building as I chose to step off far to the side to avoid the stampede. Luckily (or unluckily), the fierce Webster Hall staff cleared out that half of the sidewalk and shooed us off, and Umi decided that perhaps she was too hungry and in need of alcohol to hang around and wait.

And so marks the end of my terrifying experience amidst AKB48 wota-hood. And I don’t know how likely I am to do it again. As for the final verdict on me being an AKB48 fan – no, still not one. But more of a “not yet” if Umi and Solaire have anything to say about it.

For those of you curious – here are my “goodies” from the concert.

The jokingly-named “souvenir” ticket that went unused and so actually became a souvenir.

The flyer for the concert that was apparently also blown up into a poster? I could be wrong.

The kerchief/scarf/my new fashion accessory if I ever remember to use it as such.

And before you ask, no, I’m not selling that last one.

Since the airing of ROOM OF KING last fall, I have developed a love for the music of Kimaguren, the duo who pretty much singularly handled the soundtrack, along with releasing the catchy ending theme.

Apparently recently they hooked up and became good buddies with fellow (albeit with a much greater career lengthspan) musical duo Yuzu, after finding a common birthplace, common friends, and probably a common beer or three. They liked each other so much they decided that despite all members being males, they had to make a lovechild.

And so, my friends, I bring to you… well, two友 [two Yuu], the single released by ゆずグレン [Yuzuguren]. The name literally means “Two Friends”, but also sounds like “to you” and Tuyu (both the name of a CM group featuring Johnny’s – TU-YU – and a resort town – fully Mar del Tuyú – on the coast of Argentina). If you know me, you probably know I’d like to milk it for all it’s worth – but I think I just did.

To best describe the song probably requires a description of its creators. Kimaguren songs usually have a very laid back island melody with guitar worked in somehow and combined with a fast beat, which is admittedly the best setting for the sort of vocals ISEKI and KUREI provide. Normally KUREI does a half-spoken, half-sung, occasionally rap stanza – that grows all the more addictive as his voice grows softer and breathier – and then together with ISEKI wails out the chorus or hook with all the energy they can muster. Neither vocalist will charm over listeners by the power of their vocals alone – it’s the whole package Kimaguren makes, with some fun lyrics when the occasion calls for it, that draws fans in.

On the other hand, Yuzu, I am less qualified to talk about. They’ve been around since 1998, but the thing I most identify them with in my head is guitar ballads and folk songs. Which isn’t far off the course, as the two started off as street musicians. Based off this song alone, I’d declare their vocals of the standard Japanese nasally sort. And speaking of which…

Combining these elements into two Yuu creates a soothing and heartwarming song. Even though the stanzas – spoken by KUREI – are almost hypnotizingly lulling, they’re broken up by the song outburts of Yuzu (and possibly ISEKI) and there is a steady guitar strum that leads us through into the heartfelt chorus. The single also features an instrumental and a remix version – the latter of which introduces more instruments and synth effects. No matter which version you listen to, you will come away with a relaxed feeling, and perhaps the thought that these are four men who truly love music and doing what they do.

After all, they wrote this song to you.

BECK: Monogolian Chop Squad ran in 2004, with the manga finishing just a year ago, and featured the packed-with-musical-influences-and-bad-Engrish (mis)adventures of an indies band trying to make it into the big leagues. (The band is originally called BECK, after a dog, but is named “Mongolian Chop Squad” for their American releases because of the trademark by the singer Beck.) Along the way, they obviously run into more than their fair share of troubles, including a rival band with a grudge that does get signed, band spats, and Koyuki running through the problems that plague the average teenager – or is falling in love with the younger sister of your tough band leader not quite an average problem?

You may be wondering what this has to do with Japanese pop – in fact, it has loads. BEAT CRUSADERS took charge of the musical direction, bringing along indies punk band Husking Bee‘s vocalist to provide the singing voice of main character Koyuki. A number of their songs (BEAT CRUSADERS’, that is) were also used in or covered in the series, as well as that of other indie bands. The ending theme, done in series by the supposed rock band-to-end-all-rock bands The Dying Breed, was actually provided by meister, the brainchild of Do As Infinity’s guitarist Owatari Ryo. (The B-side of the single, while never showing up in the series, features Bonnie Pink.) And pop vocalist Sowelu provided the singing voice of Minami Maho, the aforementioned younger sister. There are even two soundtracks – one of the songs as they are, supposedly performed by the bands and characters in the series; the other containing the original songs as done by their indie bands and more new songs. 5 years later, it’s still amongst my favorite anime, and still a source of some fun music.

5 years later, also, we get our tie in to the other half of this blog – actors and Japanese dramas. BECK is now getting turned into a live-action film (a considerably easier adaptation than, say, Yatterman, I’d think. With the exception of the patchwork dogs), starring Mizushima Hiro (Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Hanakimi, Zettai Kareshi) as band leader Minami Ryusuke “Ray”. They also dredged up an all-star cast – as far as manga adaptations go – for the rest of the band, including Sato Takeru (ROOKIES, Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Princess Princess D, BLOODY MONDAY) as vocalist/guitarist Tanaka Yukio “Koyuki”, Nakamura Aoi (Q.E.D., Shinigami no Ballad) as Koyuki’s eventual best friend and the band’s drummer Sakurai Yuji “Saku”, Kiritani Kenta (ROOKIES, Crows ZERO, but probably best known on this blog as the Post-It guy from Ryusei no Kizuna) as the ramen shop worker by day/tough-as-nails-with-an-afro rapper by night Chiba Tsunemi, and Mukai Osamu (Hachimitsu to CLOVER, Mei-chan no Shitsuji, also showed up in Nodame Cantabile, Osen, and Bambi~no!) as the smokingly attractive (look who casted correctly) bleached bassist Taira Yoshiyuki. It will be directed by Tsutsumi Yukihiko, also no stranger to manga/anime adaptations as he directed the Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo season starring Domoto Tsuyoshi and Tomosaka Rie, H2, Psychometer Eiji, and most recently 20th Century Boys. Oh, and for the Arashi fans, he directed PIKANCHI. Nope, no lack of star power here.

While the series focused on Koyuki’s story – there’s even a period where Ryusuke goes missing – the movie will focus on Ryusuke’s side. No word yet on who Minami Maho will be portrayed by, or if she’ll even be a part of the movie, as her role in the series does center on her part as Koyuki’s love interest.

Supposedly 30 original songs are being written for the actors to play after a month of intensive training – not unlike and perhaps even better than the movie adaptations of Nana, for which the vocalists (Nana starring Nakashima Mika and Reira starring Ito Yuna) were the key point.

Also, rather amusingly, this will be the third link between Mizushima Hiro and Sato Takeru, both of who were once Kamen Riders and worked together in Mei-chan no Shitsuji as siblings vying for the love of Eikura Nana’s Mei-chan role. And I suppose if you really wanted to push it, Sato will show up in the fourth episode of MR. BRAIN, Mizushima’s current drama. This aside, though, I’ve already got a movie to see in 2010. How about you?

Sources: Sports Hochi, Tokyograph, Anime News Network (but they all got it from Sports Hochi anyways)

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?

Speaking of which,  one of the biggest drawing points for many overseas listeners when it comes to Meisa seems to be her similarity to so many artists. The cold domination of Amuro Namie with the sensuality Koda Kumi thrusts at you, rolled into one attractive package.

Despite having two decent “single tracks” (term being used as loosely as Meisa herself, seeing it was more of a promotional video or two being aired a lot earlier than the album’s release date), the album itself is particularly uninspiring. SONY certainly knew which ones were winners, but unfortunately, it leaves the remaining 6 tracks out to dry.

o1/ Hear the Alarm?: If the title weren’t bad enough, this R&B track starts out with (and rides on) a series of synth beats that leads into the monotonous (if layered) chorus covered with some vocoding. Now… synth beats, monotonous vocoded singing, and a title with “ALARM”. Clearly Amuro Namie’s influence wasn’t over with after Like This. Add to that the fact that the song is essentiallly about a girl who is in an affair, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the how this album is going to pan out. (No, really. The recurring themes in this album seem to involve “Bad girls,” “Sex,” and a shitton of English. Especially that last one. Every song is half in English.) While Meisa’s vocals don’t seem to have grown – in fact, she sounds strained during the chorus when there is no synth, though if she provides the random vocalizations, she sounds lovely there – this song gets to add to the pile of those that prove you don’t need to be able to sing well to have a singing career. This song, however, does grow on you if you let it. Intentionally or otherwise. Watch out for those alarms.

o2/ Like This: Laziness says I reviewed this once upon a time – say, almost a year ago, when its video first came out. So laziness also dictates I copy-paste because honestly, a year’s not going to change this song much.

I started hearing Amuro Namie. [...] We should all know by now the Japanese pop industry is anything BUT unique. You can only stretch pop so many ways. And to give Kuroki credit, it’s a nice synth R&B/hip-hop song, the dance beat catches on fast, and her voice isn’t so bad in it, though it lacks power. It’s stereotypical of the genre as found in Japan, but I could give this more than a singular listen. But from the layering of the chorus, to the semi-rap of the bridge, to the attitude permeating the song… it’s all screaming Amuro Namie to me.

o3/ Bad Girl: Word on the street is, actual bad girls are a endangered species now that being “bad” is more “in” than Britney Spears’ non-existent panties are in her pants. Word on the street also says copy-pasta’s not part of a very fulfilling diet, but what are you going to do, cook me Kraft macaroni & cheese instead? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Kuroki [...] brings out all the sexy you ever wanted but were too afraid to ask for. [...] 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. [...] And for those who can’t handle the imagery from the video, the song is sexy in its own right.

To Kuroki’s (or her management’s) credit, though, despite leaving us hanging after releasing Like This in mid-2008, we flocked just as quickly back to her 7 months later when this video dropped to announce the upcoming album, and it definitely kept us interested.

o4/ Criminal: With this song, we take an abrupt turn-around from the previous three tracks. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’re still on the synth R&B, and we’ve still got the loads of “bad girl” English. (Hell, the term “bad girl” makes an appearance in the lyrics.) No, what happens is that with this song, Kuroki Meisa drops all pretense of being seductive with her vocals, with half of them being screamed and the other half at her usual singing ability. Actually, no, that’s incorrect. She’s been singing like that all along. This song just makes it painfully obvious. And to be honest, I was all prepared to hate this song for the scream alone – the chorus wasn’t too catchy, and it’s normally the winning point of a Kuroki song, so why ruin it? But then I watched the video, and dammit if Kuroki Meisa’s sexy looks didn’t win me over. It distracted me from the scream long enough to get sucked in by the snappy dance beat and the “Crimi crimi criminal” of the chorus, so I repeat my plea – can we ban her eyes?

Creepily enough, at the end of the music video, despite the feline eyes (still sexy), she looks more like a vampire instead of an anthropomorthic hellcat. So let me put this out there – Meisa. You are hot. Not amazing enough to join my list of girlcrushes, but I’d still tap you. Really I would. As long as you stay away from the vampire image. I deal with enough vampire crap from the popularity of Twilight already.

o5/ No, no, no: Okay, now the Amuro influences are getting blatant. This sounds completely like something Amuro Namie would have put out around the time of the STYLE album. The kicker? Kuroki actually sounds like a good singer in her own right here, playing mix-and match with some amazingly seductive low in pure Namie’s Style and the sweet highs that form the two ends of Kuroki’s vocal spectrum, then weaving them through a series of beats that intend on drumming themselves into your head. While like the rest of the album, this isn’t an amazing track, it’s a perfectly decent piece on its own that perhaps suffers mostly because I insist on making the comparisons. (Yeah, Amuro totally could’ve done this. Better.)

o6/ SEX: Darren Hayes, formerly known as half of the Australian pop duo called Savage Garden, released a song on his debut album Spin titled Dirty. First it opened with the sounds of a girl making noise like we’d just started a cheap porno, and then had Hayes making breathy noises and sharp vocalizations much like he was actually in the middle of the act too. If you didn’t have an idea of what the song was insinuating by the title alone, he made sure you realized pretty quickly.

SEX has similar intentions – if you had no clue what this song’s about after reading the title, even if you don’t understand Japanese, the song definitely plans on clearing that up. From the start the synth is both ominous and dizzying, and Kuroki vocalizing to the beat doesn’t lighten things up any. The song keeps at a slow pace, with only the singing adding any variety, effectively forcing you to pay attention to it. And with lines like “It hurts so good,” “夜を制御不能な　出来事で満たして” [Satisfying the night with uncontrollable events], and that purely English rap, you can’t miss the meaning. Speaking of the rap, it and her spoken lines (“Going crazy, cause I’m thinking bout SEX”) end up being the best part of the song, partially because her half-scream singing method ruins the feeling. Leave the sex crap to Akanishi Jin, Meisa.

o7/ Lost: Okay, so perhaps not every song can be about sex and sordid love affairs that aren’t supposed to happen. Lost tries to be the requisite love song, which means toning down the attitude-filled R&B, and leaning towards a lighter musical background. Unfortunately, this fails in two parts – Kuroki doesn’t stop that half-scream, leading to disastrous pain when you hit the chorus; and an inordinate part of the song brings on her higher range to make her sound less sexual, and that sounds rather strained. Luckily, there is no video and no bedroom eyes from our hellcat, so this song isn’t going to grow on me. It’d be hard-pressed to grow on anyone, and would be much better off, well, lost.

o8/ THIS IS CRAZY: Someone at SONY was smart enough to include only one of the above, because the final track on Kuroki’s debut album brings us back to the formula that won interest in her singing career to being with. I have a fondness for homonyms being used in lyrics – part of the reason why V6′s Tokonatsu VIBRATION got anywhere with me –  and the lyricist has a bunch in the bridges of the song, such as “watashi ga STOP (gotta stop)”/”oshiemashou (must show).” There are times when this song feels like it’d be better placed near the beginning of this album, possibly switched with Criminal (which sounds like a great album-ender), but while it’s fitting with the first half of this release, it’s also as mediocre as the rest of the songs in the half this is located in.

Anyone who listens to this album is sure to agree – Kuroki Meisa is out to paint herself as a bad girl. Considering her ability and the genre she’s working in, this album could’ve given her that reputation in more than one way. It starts out catching, but declines soon enough considering this album – mini-album, really – is only 8 tracks and 30 minutes long. If you expected any better, then that might have been your fault as much as it was her inability. The one thing you can’t fault this hellcat for, though, is that perfect face.

HIMEKA, also known as Catherine St. Onge, is a success story that goes beyond the tales of other “overseas talent breaking into the Japanese music industry” tales.

For one thing, as far as we know, she’s not Japanese. (Everyone else has been raised in Japan – Crystal Kay – or partially East Asian. Even JERO had some of the blood… somewhere.) She’s Canadian. And while we’re on it, her Japanese skills aren’t that great either. She’s admitted as much herself.

For another, she’s 27. I don’t mean to be pointing out her age, but the Japanese business is renowned for the overall younger-is-better attitude they seem to have. Leah Dizon was 20 – or 19 – when she got her contract and moved to Japan.

And last, she wasn’t so much discovered sitting around in Canada with whatever overseas/international auditions were being held; she moved to Japan and won her chance in the Second Annual Animax Anison Grand Prix.

The result of this, a contract with SONY. So between you, me, and at least a hundred others according to her facebook fangroup… yeah, I’d say she’s done pretty well for herself.

Her first single, 明日へのキズナ [Asu he no KIZUNA], isn’t released until May 27th, but you can currently hear it as the opening to the anime series Valkryia Chronicles, or a short clip in the commercial for the single above. You can also find more videos of her performing and singing thanks to the YouTube fan user HIMEKAMediaArchive. While some may denounce her as an anime song artist and less “legit” than someone in the business without the anime tie-ins (Here’s looking at you, Raid!) – it’s what she wanted to do, and she made it. She sounds great doing it, too – her stage moniker, HIMEKA, doesn’t have an actual meaning beyond being the name of a character she once wrote, but you could easily substitute the characters 姫歌 (princess+song) and it wouldn’t be far off from the image she’s got now. Hint, hint to her marketers.

While this is obviously belated – congratulations, Ms. St. Onge! Or HIMEKA, as may be the case now. Girls with a similar dream are no doubt waiting for you to wow the world. You’ve wowed me already, at the least.