AKB48 - Kibouteki Refrain

I've really been putting off writing for the past couple of weeks. Christmas is a really busy time for me and I just have had no motivation either.

This is AKB's final single for 2014. It's kind of like the "cool" single and the Janken single all mashed into one since they didn't do the Janken tournament the same as usual. On one hand, I think it's a good idea to mix up the release schedule after having the same pattern for years. It also allows the girls to have more of a break in between promotional periods and with all the other groups that have to have songs released it also takes some of the burden off of Aki-P for writing all of the songs. Well, at least in theory that would be the case...except there's enough songs on this freaking single to seem like a full length album...but whatever. On the other hand, I look forward to the "cool" single. The best AKB singles have been those and we really need some "cool" dance or dark singles since the last truly good single like that was UZA back in 2012. Also, the reason of the Janken tournament is to give girls that are never in Senbatsu a chance to be in Senbatsu. Now I personally believe that the center girl is rigged (Mariko, Haruka, AND Jurina all making it? The chances of that happening are pretty darn low), but I'm also positive that the rest of the girls are completely random and I would guess that it was pretty disappointing to the less popular girls when the Janken was changed this year. Oh and Miyuki winning a solo single? If that's not proof of the winner being rigged I don't know what is. But anyway, off topic. On to the single!

The A-side for this single is Kibouteki Refrain. Honestly, this is the best A-side that AKB has put out since UZA. It's just SO CATCHY. As much as I miss my cool single, I'm really not all that angry because we FINALLY got a quality A-side this year. It's no wonder this sold slightly better than their others from this year (excluding the summer single), it's just a much better song. Even though quality music doesn't really matter for AKB sales, I think that it does make a slight difference. The MV is really awesome too. Extremely creative with the idea of the centers going on there. I do have to say that there's way too many girls in the Senbatsu for this though. I hope it doesn't become a trend. I know it means a lot to the less popular girls that wouldn't have a shot with the regular 16 member Senbatsu, but seeing 32 girls on the stage in the video is way too much. (If only the older gen popular members would graduate we wouldn't have this problem....) That's a whole different tangent though and what I have to say on that subject would probably anger too many people so I'll leave it at that. 5/5.

Kibouteki Refrain MV

The next song is by Baragumi, which I'm assuming is the Under Girls unit for this single because Ima, Happy appears on the theater version of the single. I'm not sure what to think of this. It's not bad really, it's just way too sugary sweet. I wouldn't even really say it's all that generic of an idol pop song. I think it's one of those songs that you'd call a guilty pleasure and you hide from friends. The video makes the sugary sweet-ness even worse. It's nice to see the Team 8 girls being included though. Ikumi in the A-side and Nagisa as the center of this song....although still disappointed it's not Hijiri but whatever xD 4/5.

Ima, Happy MV

The next track is Juujun na Slave by Team A. Can I say I'm so happy we finally got a dancey electro song from AKB this year? It's not as great as some of their others, but I'm still so happy anyway. It sounds like a K-pop song a little bit. A good K-pop song, like one from 2010/2011. The video for this song will be released on their new album in January so I'll update this then. 5/5.

The next track is Ambulance by Yurigumi. This song makes me sad. It starts out so perfect....and then falls into the trappings of a fairly typical 48G song that thinks it's trying to be sexy. It's a great song, just not as adventurous as it could/should be. The video....hm. I....honestly don't want to say anything about it beyond I really don't enjoy sexy concepts that just look like they're pandering to a mainly male audience. I just personally don't like that. It's one of the reasons I've all but left the K-pop fandom. (Listen: My personal opinion and belief. You can do whatever you want I don't care, but don't try and convince me I'm wrong for my own opinion like I've seen others do to people with the same opinion. If it makes you feel any better, I dislike it when male K-pop/J-pop groups do the sexy image pandering just as much as when the females do it.) But if you like that sort of thing, you'll probably love the video. 4/5.

Ambulance MV

The next song is Hajimete no Drive by Team K. This single is odd. It starts out incredibly strong with the title track and first three B-sides, and then the next three are pretty much snore fests, and then the last ones are a mix of boring, generic, and different. It's like the producers couldn't make up their minds with what they wanted to happen with this single. Don't get me wrong, variety is GOOD. Very good, and AKB needs it, but sometimes it feels disjointed like the company's throwing stuff and a wall and trying to figure out what sticks. As for this song, it's pretty boring. It's the least boring of the three boring B-sides, but still hard to sit through. 3/5.

The next song is Utaitai by Katareagumi. The song's not really my cup of tea, but I really love Aya's voice in the beginning. She sounds like she has a very nice voice. It'd be cool to hear more of it. I do applaud them for attempting a ballad that's at least slightly interesting. I can sit through it without wanting to fall asleep. I don't care about the video though. Mainly because the first half of it is them talking about something and I can't understand it and the second half is standing and singing. 3/5.

Utaitai MV

The next track is Loneliness Club by Team B. And it is the most boring of the boring group of songs. I think I only made it through about half of it. It's one of those songs you swear you've heard before because it sounds like every other ballad ever. 3/5.

The next track is Seifuku no Hane by Team 8. Now I really like Team 8. I like that management brought in completely fresh girls for a new team even if it is only for a car promotion. I just really hope they stick around as a permanent team (with some of the members leaving/being shuffled to other groups due to locational issues and just the sheer amount of girls in Team 8.) The song is a fairly typical idol pop track, but it's so much better than their first song that was on the Kokoro no Placard single. I just love the video too. I really like the fact that it shows shots of the girls in their home prefectures. I'm really not all that certain about Japanese culture, but I guess you could sort of equate prefectures to states right? I just think that's neat because here in the US, each state has it's like different cultural thing to it and it seems like the prefectures of Japan do as well. Also, some of the shots of Japan look eerily similar to the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania (where I'm from xD). Like all of the farmers' fields and semi-wooded areas and such. It looks like such a beautifully diverse country. 3.5/5.

Seifuku no Hane MV

Wow there's a lot of songs on this single...I thought I was almost done but nope. There's like 3 songs left to drone on about. Well, the next song is Me wo Akete Mama no First Kiss by Team 4. This song feels like an updated version of Morning Musume's Iroppoi Jirettai (Certainly not as good though. My loyalty obviously lies with H!P xD) I'm surprised with this song choice for Team 4. I really love it. 4.5/5.

The next track is Kaze no Rasen by Kojizaka46, which is just Haruna Kojima and some Nogizaka girls. I honestly don't get why people are upset about all the intermixing of AKB and Nogi. It sounds harsh, but you have to be naive to believe that they were only ever going to be a "rival" group of AKB. Aki-P is involved just like with the 48s and it was obviously only just marketing. If it didn't seem obvious that Nogizaka was essentially another sister group then it certainly does now. I'm actually hoping we'll see Nogizaka in the election, Janken, 48 singles, and other things. I guess it's different for many other fans, but to me the 48/46 system is really just all one large group with subgroups in my head so all the kennins and shuffles and transfers don't bother me in the slightest. They actually make things interesting. Now this song is definitely in the boring generic category. It's so meh. The video's about 9 minutes too long too. And gosh I hate when videos TALK OVER THE SONG. It's like, I'm watching this video to hear the dang song, not to watch a TV show. 3/5.

The final song is Reborn, the result of the fan voting for the Team Surprise thing. I really love that the girls chosen to sing this song were the girls that haven't really had any Senbatsu experience. The song itself is nothing special, but I'm happy that these girls got something special for themselves in a release. 3/5.

Gosh this was long....but this is probably the most solid AKB single of the year and features the best tracks since Sayonara Crawl. Even though there's a few boring spots, it still is a strong release with a little something for everyone. 4/5.

Morning Musume - No.5

Morning Musume's 5th album. Interesting thing about this album is that it has a song that features Maki Goto after she graduated from the group. I just think that's kind of cool, and to my knowledge the only time any H!P group did something like that. (Meaning a member comes back for a song....not that it includes a single from when they were in the group...)

Track #1, Intro: Just an intro. Doesn't really count as a song.

Track #2, Do It! Now: Review Here

Track #3, Top!: This should have been the album opener. As much as I love Do It! Now (and ignoring the intro) this would've been perfect as the opener. It's got that in your face feel that gets you pumped up for the rest of the tracks. I could go for a Morning Musume song nowadays with this feel. I think Makeru Kon'ya is the closest they've come recently to the feel of this song. 5/5.

Track #4, Tomodachi ga Ki ni Itteru Otoko Kara no Dengon: Typing that just now I noticed that this album has a couple songs with really long titles. Also, I apparently forgot to turn my iTunes off of shuffle because "Rock no Teigi" began playing & I was like "Wow this song sounds so modern for being released in 2003.....oh wait..." xD. For the actual song, it's just ok. Boring really. For an H!P song, it's pretty generic. 3/5

Track #5, Koko ni Iruzee: Review Here

Track #6, Suggoi Nakama: Hm. Maybe I take back my earlier comment on MM's 4th album that the albums were getting better. Well, actually that's not really fair. Their first two albums (and the third to an extent) were snooze fests, this is at least happy but this feels like their generic idol phase. Although the more the song goes the less generic idol pop it feels the more H!P it feels....really don't know what I think about this. Ah yes, the bridge shows Tsunku's genius. Maybe it's not as typical as I originally thought. 3.5/5.

Track #7, Tsuyoki de Yukouze!: Ah. Now we're back to H!P crazy. The guitars make the entire song. This could've been a great album opener too. I love the end where Mari? I think, says "Thank you!" and everything ends. H!P rock stars. 4/5.

Track #8, Megami (Mousse na Yasashisa): This song was used for a commercial. Generasia tells me it was a Pocky commercial, but I don't quite understand what Mousse has to do with Pocky....although I'm guessing Japan has a bazillion more Pocky flavors than you can get over here. Seems more like a razor commercial song though because this song sounds NOTHING like I'd ever associate with Pocky. Maybe it's a culture barrier issues. The song's pretty nice, not sure it makes me want to go buy Pocky, but I'd probably look up who the group was if I heard it in a commercial. 3.5/5

Track #9, Yes! Pocky Girls: Well this one is quite obviously from a Pocky commercial. I'm guessing that both songs were used in the same promotional campaign. Now I DO want some Pocky....unfortunately the closest store to me that sells it is 30 minutes from here...unless the Walmart around here sells it and I've just never seen it. Although this song makes MUCH more sense with selling Pocky, I'd rather listen to the Venus Mousse track. 3/5.

Track #10, Hey! Mirai: This song has a music video for some reason. I'm going to assume that this was meant to be a single because I've never seen H!P release a music video to promote an album before. Not a big fan of the song. It's just ok. The music video features adorable puppies. Should've been cats #crazycatlady4ever! (I swear I'll NEVER use a hashtag like that again xD I just had to xD I figure I'm the only one that will find that funny xD) 3/5.

Track #11, Ganbacchae!: This is the song that features Maki Goto. It also features the H!P Kids before they were Berryz & C-ute. Kind of sounds like Ai Araba. I found out there's a video for this too. The H!P kids look SO LITTLE! They're adorable!. It's actually a little weird saying that because I'm the same age as most of them. Mini Chisato & Mai are so adorable though. This song also furthers my stance that Risa should've been lead vocals for everything. 4/5.

Track #12, Sugoku Suki na no ne: Always appreciative of Tsunku's experimentation in songs. The one line of music that goes through the song (it's not the melody is it? The music at the beginning of the song & in the bridges that kinda sounds Christmasy) is so catchy. 4.5/5.

Track #13, Sotsugyou Ryokou (Morning Musume Tabidatsu Hito ni Okuru Uta): I was so ready to write this song off based off of the beginning. I was sad that MM was going down the boring predictable route on a song like this, but was pleasantly surprised with the pickup. 3.5/5.

This album is a step down from 4th Ikimasshoi, but it's not bad. Haven't heard their 6th album yet so I don't know how this compares in between both their 4th and 6th, but as a whole, I'd call this album the most idol pop they've done on an album from what I've heard. 4/5.

Charli XCX - True Romance

I think this is my very first post about something non J-pop. Surprising that it's Charli XCX though, not really a huge fan of hers. I got the CD primarily for "You", and "Set Me Free". I don't really know any of the other songs so this should be fun to listen to. I really don't want to talk about the music videos of non Jpop or Kpop acts cause I don't care about the videos for Western pop stars so I won't. The album will be embedded in a Spotify playlist at the end of the post.

Track #1, Nuclear Seasons: Pretty catchy actually. Wasn't sure where it was going to go after the intro, but it really picks up after the first minute. She sounds a lot like Gwen Stefani in this song to me. Feels like updated 80s synthpop. I like it. 4/5.

Track #2, You (Ha Ha Ha): I know this song isn't typical pop so it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. I really like how the beat says "You & Me" I thought that was so neat when I first heard it. It's got just the right amount of attitude in the lyrics. 5/5.

Track #3, Take My Hand: She's very alternative, 80s-ish synthpop isn't she? The songs on this album seem to be miles better than what she's been releasing since "Boom Clap" blew up (Break The Rules is ok, London Queen is awful.). This song sounds like something I've heard before, but I can't think of it. 4/5.

Track #4, Stay Away: You know, now that I re-listen to this, it sounds an awful lot like Boom Clap. The lyrics are like the polar opposite though (and Boom Clap is better....). The pre-choruses are the highlight of this song. The production of the song is really awesome. Man I hate using terms like 'awesome' xD. I don't know technical terms or anything about the actual production of music so I can't fully describe what I'm thinking cause it'll sound way worse than 'awesome' if I do xD. 4/5.

Track #5, Set Me Free: The best song on the album. I don't know what about it I like so much. The lyrics are really cool but to be honest in pop music I could care less about lyrics (unless they're really offensive or something like that) and the production in this song isn't as great as the earlier track. I don't know. Sometimes songs just click....like for example I really love AKB's Labrador Retriever, even though it is one of their most generic A-sides ever. Go figure xD 5/5.

Track #6, Grins: Well the music is getting a little too alternative for my taste. It sounds nice, it's just not really my thing. Her vocals help to cover the production a bit. Yeah...this song is certainly not my thing...the dissonant vocals in the verse are really annoying. At least it's unique. 2.5/5.

Track #7, So Far Away: Yup, it's getting way too out there for me. This time the vocals aren't helping. I find it very interesting that she's marketed as kind of an Avril Lavigne-esque popstar now, yet this album is sort of experimental for a pop artist. I personally don't care for it, but it's different. 2/5.

Track #8, Cloud Aura: Ok now we're back to something a little easier to listen to. The beginning reminded me a lot of Ellie Goulding. I kind of like this. The rapper actually sounds pretty cool too. Not a big fan of rap so I'm a bit surprised that I like her better in the song than Charli. 3/5.

Track #9, What I Like: This is probably the most radio pop feeling song so far. It's still a little out there, but this one I could actually envision getting moderate airplay. Just put Iggy Azalea on the track as a featured rapper and it'd completely work. 3/5.

Track #10, Black Roses: I could see this one working on pop radio too. Maybe I'm being too optimistic with these thoughts, but the chorus especially would sound right in place on radio. 4/5.

Track #11, You're The One: I'm actually getting a little tired of listening to this album. There's only so much alternative-ish synthpop I can take before it all starts running together. Or maybe it's because it's 12:30am and I'm very tired. That's probably why. I really shouldn't start these things shortly before midnight. Through this babbling actually the song is getting more catchy, especially in the chorus. 4/5.

Track #12, How Can I: Eh this is another one that's too far out there for me. The tapping sound is too similar to the tap sound from Love Live that I can't get that out of my mind. It's actually really annoying. 2/5.

Track #13, Lock You Up: This seems like a really long album even though it's only about average in length. I like that it ends on a brighter note musically. The more subdued synthpop of the last couple tracks was wearing thin. This is one of the better songs on the album for me. 4/5.

Really not certain what I think of this album. I think it's great that it's different for the realm of pop, but at the same time, the majority of the songs are too out there for my personal taste. Not sure if this was a good purchase or not. Well at least I have You & Set Me Free now. 3/5.

NMB48 - Rashikunai

I believe NMB48 is the final AKB sister group I've yet to talk about on here (excluding non-Japanese ones of course). They're probably my second favorite 48 group. For me it goes: AKB>NMB>SKE>Nogi>HKT.

The title track for this single is Rashikunai. The font on the single cover looks so much like Sayonara Crawl's font it's sad. That font just isn't good. Did NMB really only release two singles this year? That's too bad. I know they released the album but it was so full of B-sides that it felt like a non-event. I know they only released two singles last year too, but the album last year was awesome and Kamonegix existed so last year was great. This year's A-sides were boring to be frank. They fell into the same trap AKB did this year. When I heard that Fuuko and Miru were centering the single instead of the usual Sayaka or Miyuki, I was not sure what would happen. On one hand, I was excited for things to be shaken up, but Sayaka is my favorite member so I was a little disappointed she was no longer center. Fuuko's my second favorite member though so the center change works for me. However, this release doesn't do anything for me. Rashikunai is ok, but I've listened to it in full a couple times and always get so distracted by other things that my brain forgets to listen to the song. That's not good because that tells me that the song is very boring. Not even the brass instruments could save this song. I really don't understand what's going on in the video. They attend some sort of conservatory? And then there's cleaning, ugly outfits, and soap suds? It just doesn't make sense to me. 3/5.

Rashikunai MV

The main B-side across all versions of the single is Tomodachi, which is sung by Sayaka Yamamoto and Nana Yamada. I guess this song will eventually take special meaning in the NMB fandom as Nana is graduating in April. Too bad this song is a typical idol pop ballad. And Nana's voice sounds bad. At least it's Sayaka as the duet partner and not Miyuki. Sayaka has one heck of a voice and it sounds unique too which at least makes the song easier to sit through. 3/5.

Live Performance from their official YT:

The Type A B-side for this single is Kyuusen Kyouten. It's sung by Team N and translates to "Cease-Fire Agreement". That title sounds so awesome and I was so pumped for an awesome song. And then I was let down. By a lot. I should never look at the English translation of these titles. It's not that it's a bad song, I just was expecting something wildly different than the 50s styled diner thing. I feel like they already did this concept anyway....wasn't it in their album this year? Or did I make that up in my head? Luckily for Team N I like these type of songs so I do enjoy this one. For the video....was this 50s diner/roller skate/sockhop type of thing actually popular in Japan? Or is it just modeled after the American era. I really don't know much about Japan's history when it comes to popular culture so I'm really curious about that. 4/5.

Kyuusen Kyouten MV

The Team M song for this single is Migi ni Shiteru Ring. I wasn't really expecting much from Team M's song, so I wasn't really let down by it when I heard it. This is certainly my least favorite Team song on this single. It's a pretty typical song for the 48s. The video is a typical one too. I loved playing "Find Momoka" though in the video xD. I love that the management allowed her to dye her hair green and allowed it to be shown in the music videos. Hooray for individuality! 3.5/5.

Migi ni Shiteru Ring MV

The Team BII song for this single is Star ni Nante Naritakunai. This was the track that I had the least hype for, but it turned out to be my favorite. In my head I equate Team BII with Team B, the more cutesy team. But this song is pretty great. It's very catchy, and although it sounds like a typical idol pop track, it's got a fresh feeling to it that's so nice. The video's pretty cool too. The only thing I dislike about it is the lighting in the shots with the purple curtain. It washes out their skin and makes them look a very sickly pale. 4.5/5.

Star ni Nante Naritakunai MV

The theater edition B-side for this single is Asphalt no Namida. First thought: Weird title for a song, but ok. Second thought: Well at least it's not the boring ballad I expected it would be. It's actually interesting that this song is better than the title track for me. I usually don't care much for the theater edition song (the last one I loved was Love Shugyou on AKB's Sayonara Crawl single.), but this one isn't bad. I guess you could say I was pleasantly surprised. 3.5/5.

Wow I can't believe how disappointed I am in this single. Almost all of the B-sides are better than Rashikunai and out of the B-sides, only two songs really stand out and only one of those two is really all that interesting. Maybe next year will bring better releases for all of the 48 groups. 3.5/5.

AKB48 Team Surprise - Hungry Lion

This is the second single from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Aki Takajo, Haruna Kojima, Mariko Shinoda, and Yuko Oshima.

Didn't really have any expectations for this unit as I really don't care about any of the members. I also wasn't expecting much because the first single, Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru was boring and I was sure that this one would be anything special either. I was pretty much right with my assumptions of the song. I can't decide if it's better than Mirai or just the same though. I guess the production is more interesting. And the video makes a lot more sense with the song. 3.5/5.

Hungry Lion MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Tokimeki Antique

This is the ninth single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It is sung by Rino Sashihara, Haruka Shimazaki, and Miyuki Watanabe.

I really had no expectations for this song when I saw the members. I don't dislike any of them but I don't particularly care for any of them either. Never saw what's so interesting about Rino, Haruka seems like the second coming of Mayu, and Miyuki really cannot sing. The song really isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but there's nothing special about it. At least it's not another Youchien no Sensei or Hatsukoi no Kagi I guess. I REALLY dislike the music video though. I tend to ignore music videos if they're stupid or crazy, but this is just too over the top. Sometimes you need to just stop before putting a plan into action. It's really no wonder a lot of people don't take J-pop girl groups seriously. It's one thing to do a crazy video, another thing entirely to do something like this. What does it even have to do with the song? 3.5/5.

Tokmeki Antique MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru

Merry Christmas to all!!!

This is the first single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. Features all sixteen members of the Team Surprise unit.

Honestly, this was a really weak way to start the stage. I understand why they did it, because it has the same feeling of most of the 48G A-sides from this year (bar Kibouteki Refrain & Bukiyou Taiyou). There is nothing special about this song at all and I'm pretty sure I've heard pieces of it in their other songs dozens of other times. I know I hate on typical idol pop a lot, but there's a difference between this kind and the kind that actually works (like Heavy Rotation or Everyday Katyusha). This is the type of idol pop that you've sworn you've heard before because nothing stands out about it and you can never remember it after you listen to it. So yes, just a weak way to begin the stage. The music video doesn't really fit the song at all, the outfits do, but then you have this dark stage and strobelights and explosions for a song that would be better suited to being sung in a field (or at the very least a green-screen CGI field like in Yume wo Mirunara). 3/5.

Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Dare ga Futari wo Deawaseta no ka?

This is the tenth single from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It features members Sayaka Yamamoto, Tomomi Itano, and Yui Yokoyama.

I had high hopes for this unit. Sayaka with her killer vocals, Tomomi with her usually fun electro-pop image, and Yui with her there-ness (I truly don't have an opinion on Yui....I guess she kinda seems like she can pull off darker concepts maybe. I don't know a whole lot about her talents or personality.). The song ended up as completely different than I was expecting (which seems to be a bit of a theme with the Bara no Gishiki stage...), but I really like it a lot. It showcases Sayaka's vocals very well and the other two sound really good as well. Tomomi really does seem to be improving vocally from what I've heard from her since her graduation (even though these were recorded before she graduated...I think.). Yui doesn't seem bad here at all either. My mind just keeps going back to Sono Mama de with her, Tomomi, and Aki? (at least I think the other was Aki...), and her vocals were very annoying. I think this is my favorite Bara no Gishiki music video. It's simple, but I love the concept with the lights and the stage is beautifully decorated. 4.5/5

Dare ga Futari wo Deawaseta no ka MV

AKB48 Team Surprise - Yume wo Mirunara

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile...I'm just so busy this time of year xD Also this was written early December so that's why it sounds like Minami's grad was just announced xD.

This is the third single from the Bara no Gishiki stage and features members Minami Takahashi and Tomomi Itano.

I'm such a hypocrite with so many things haha. I always love graduations cause it means something new yet I'm so happy that Tomomi's in this Team Surprise xD She was always one of my favorites. Unfortunately her solo stuff doesn't interest me a lot. You'd think I'd like it, but I'm really not a fan of her voice...she just stuck out to me when I was first getting into AKB like Minegishi. Luckily for this song, Minami is in it as well to compliment Tomomi's more nasally vocals. Speaking of graduations, Minami did announce hers a couple days ago. I'm happy for her & I really hope we'll see some more old gen graduations (or announcements) in the next few months. It's time for the newer generation to take full control....that and I truly believe that if someone from the top 16 in the Sousenkyou doesn't graduate it's gonna be so boring xD. But anyway, wayyyyy off topic xD. The song's nice, but not really my thing. What's nice about it is that Tomomi's voice really sounds like it's improving. The video is probably the worst Bara no Gishiki music video. I know that the budget isn't exactly high, but this one was truly boring. Tomomi really is looking like Namie Amuro in this video. 3.5/5.

Yume wo Mirunara MV

Morning Musume - 4th Ikimasshoi!

Fourth album released by Morning Musume (obviously xD). The singles included on this album are from The Peace to Mr. Moonlight. If anyone remembers I've already talked about the singles from that time span in an earlier post, so I won't ramble on about them again. And yes, I know that some of the singles have been remixed to 'album versions' but as I couldn't care less about that and replaced all the 'album versions' with the real versions in my iTunes, I don't care much about noting any differences.

Track #1, The Peace!: Review Here

Track #2, Ii Koto Aru Kinen no Shunkan: Oh this song is so Tsunku. The intro is so Tsunku it's funny. One thing I love about H!P is that Tsunku's production style turns even typical idol pop interesting. It's not the greatest MM song, but it's nice. 3.5/5.

Track #3, Mr. Moonlight (Ai no Big Band): Review Here I will say something random though. I know Tsunku's a huge Beatles fanboy and today I just learned while searching for this video on YT to add to the playlist that the Beatles have a song called Mr. Moonlight. Interesting.

Track #4, Hajimete no Rock Concert: So this was completely different than I was expecting but in a good way. Kind of reminds me of Sexy8's shuffle single. 4/5.

Track #5, Otoko Tomodachi: There's nothing really super special about this one. Can't really remember it after listening to it. 3/5.

Track #6, Souda! We're Alive: Review Here

Track #7, Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru: Review Here

Track #8, Ikimasshoi!: This is the song I was expecting to hear for the title song. I was expecting something a little higher energy, but it still fits what I thought in my head about it. Wait.....was that.....howling? What? Did that actually happen? Oh my gosh xD *Horrible EXO Wolf flashbacks xD* At least it's incorporated better than Wolf...just saying. Kind of liking this song. Might end up being my favorite. 4.5/5.

Track #9, Densha no Futari: Pretty good song. I'm actually fairly impressed with this album so far. Their earlier albums were all pretty boring (which makes sense because of the style they were going for at the time) but this one's pretty fun. 4/5.

Track #10, Honki de Atsui Theme Song: Much better of a song than I was expecting one with the words Theme Song in it to sound. Pretty catchy. 4/5.

Track #11, Suki na Senpai: This is probably the weakest song on the album. Kinda boring, not as cutesy as I thought it would be, but still not interesting enough to catch my attention. 3/5.

Track #12, Renai Revolution 21: I debated on whether to review this song here or wait until I typed up the review on their Best Album 1. So I decided on the latter. Please look out for that! (I'll add that link into this later.)

Track #13, Nanni mo Iwazu ni I Love You: Oh gosh this is so 80s sounding. I love it. Maybe I'm a hypocrite because I always say I can't stand ballads, but H!P certainly has a lot of ballads that are actually worth listening to. Or I'm just incredibly biased....which is most likely the truth. 4/5.

Pleasantly surprised with this album to be honest. Wasn't too fond of their first three albums but this is certainly a step in the right direction. 4/5.

℃-ute - Lalala Shiawase no Uta

Our journey through C-ute's earlier material continues! Haha.

Really not a big fan of this song. Probably the weakest of their singles by this point. The lalala's are kind of catchy but it's not enough to distract from the rather boring feeling in the rest of the song. As for the video....I don't think we have any right to complain about the videos nowadays because ouch this video. The dance is silly, the camerawork/editing looks bad (or maybe it's just the quality but still), and who in their right mind thought those outfits were ok? They're hideous. I'm so sorry those girls had to wear them. 3/5.

Lalala Shiawase no Uta MV:

The coupling track for this single is Saikoukyuu no Enjoy Girls. Awkward title with those English words but whatever. Oh this should have been the title song. I really like this. Reminds me a lot of ZE:A's Mazeltov though with the naming of the days. 4/5.

Saikoukyuu no Enjoy Girls (Audio Only):

Not the greatest single, but at least the B-side is really fun. 3.5/5.

SKE48 - Kono Hi no Chime wo Wasurenai

FINALLY done with finals & final papers....I was fortunate this year and don't have anything for the rest of the week xD So yay for more posting time before work starts up again xD

This release is SKE48's first and only (so far) album. SKE48 is the first sister group of AKB48 and was founded in 2008. I've always wondered why SKE48 hasn't released another album yet. It's been over two years since this was released so they're due for a new album. I've heard that this album didn't sell particularly well, but for future releases that's easily remedied by including 2 shot tickets. It just would be nice to have a new SKE album, especially since both AKB and Nogizaka are releasing one in January and NMB released one earlier this year.

Track #1, Tsuyokimono yo: It's rare that first single from a group would wind up as one of my favorites. They really need to do some new songs in this style with the violins and the darker feel. I think only "Escape" is a better song in their discography than this. The music video really isn't anything special. It's just them dancing in a warehouse/airplane hanger. I find it so incredibly hard to believe that Jurina was only 12 here though. She looks so much older than she actually is. 5/5

Tsuyokimono yo MV

Track #2, Aozora Kataomoi: It's always sad to me that SKE didn't stick with the Tsuyokimono yo style for more than one single. Before I listened to their earlier singles, the only song of theirs I knew pre-2013 was Kataomoi Finally and when I listened to Tsuyokimono I thought "Wow! SKE is the cool more dancey group! It'll be exciting to learn their older songs!" I was pretty wrong. It's not that their other singles are bad, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I was very disappointed that there weren't more Tsuyokimonos. This song is fairly generic idol pop. Nothing special. The music video's ok. Pretty low budget. It even has the annoying H!P-esque sparkles in some spots. The outfits are nice though. I guess this was before AKB really exploded though so it'd make sense that there wasn't a huge budget.There's one girl in the video that really looks like Aya Matsuura to me though but I don't know who she is. The only girls I can pick out in this video are Jurina, Rena, Yukiko, and Kumi. 3/5.

Aozora Kataomoi MV

Track #3, Gomen ne, Summer: Again, there is nothing really special about this song at all. It's better than Aozora Kataomoi I guess. The music video is beautiful though. The environment that is. The actual video is a bunch of running and a dance shot...thinking about it, I think SKE has a few MVs where they just run in it. Which is a little strange. But anyway, where was this filmed? Where in Japan is this place? It's SO PRETTY! 3.5/5

Gomen ne, Summer MV

Track #4, 1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku!: Not sure how I feel about this song. It's certainly better than their last two singles, but it's a little weird at the same time. Even though I'm not sure what I think of it, I'm glad they at least went with a different feel for this single instead of going with the same style from the last two. The music video's strange like the song. 3.5/5.

1!2!3!4! Yoroshiku! MV

Track #5, Banzai Venus: I like this song. So catchy! The music video is like Koisuru Fortune Cookie before Koisuru Fortune Cookie lol. And features more running by SKE. 5/5.

Banzai Venus MV

Track #6, Pareo wa Emerald: The beginning of the song begins so promising.....and then it's back to the typical summer sounding track. Music video is the typical summer one as well. 3.5/5.

Pareo wa Emerald MV

Track #7, Oki Doki: This song reminds me slightly of Junjou U-19. Don't know why though xD. The song's great. It's very much like Banzai Venus with how catchy it is. The video is like a combination of Yoroshiku and Banzai's music videos. 4/5.

Oki Doki MV

Track #8, Kataomoi Finally: This is the only song that I had heard from them that was released prior to 2013 before I made the effort to dig deeper in the 48s catalog. Looking back on the song now, it's really not as great as I remember. Tsuyokimono is miles better. I think I enjoyed the song so much at the time because it was a "darker" song in a sea of bright pop songs by the 48s. It's not bad or anything, just not as great as I remember. 4/5.

Kataomoi Finally MV

Track #9, Hula Hoop de Go! Go! Go!: Now we're on to the songs with no videos. Before this week I had never heard any of these either so this was an adventure for me. This is Team S's song on the album. Unfortunately, it's one of those generic idol pop songs. Not bad, just not special. 3/5.

Track #10, Shikatte yo, Darling: This is Team KII's song on the album. It's more unique than Team S's track, but it's still not anything special. In fact, I think I enjoyed Team S's song more. 3/5.

Track #11, Mitsubachi Girl: This is Team E's song on the album. It's looking like Team S will be my favorite Team song on the album. Kind of disappointed in the new tracks so far. Hopefully there's at least one good one in here. 3/5.

Track #12, Sono Saki ni Kimi ga Ita: This is the Kenkyuusei's song on the album. It's a change of pace I guess? Just not a good one. If there's one thing I hate more than ballads, it's idol pop ballads. They ALL SOUND THE EXACT SAME. Seriously. Why couldn't the Kenkyuusei have gotten a crazy genki track instead. 2.5/5.

Track #13, Sunenagara, Ame: This song is performed by Selection 8, so essentially the popular girls of the group at that time. This is probably the best album song. It's pretty good but I don't have a complete opinion on it yet. I think when I listen to it more it'll become one of my favorites. 4/5.

Tracks #14 & #15, Ponytail to Shushu & Beginner: Just AKB48 covers. Obviously AKB's are better, but these are pretty good too.

I realize that they also covered Heavy Rotation on the CD/DVD version of this album, but I didn't buy that version and it's a cover anyway so there's no use talking about it.

The singles are miles better than the album songs on this CD. It makes sense that they would be, but I was still hoping that there would be a standout track among the new ones, but there's really not. Sunenagara gets close to being standout though. Maybe when I listen to it more it'll click. 4/5.

Team Syachihoko - Himatsubushi

So I was originally going to ask if it was Syachihoko or Shachihoko officially, but then I saw what their official YT romanized it to so that's the official way in the title I guess xD To be honest I bought this album purely because I liked Ii Kurashi and I had enough CDJapan points to get it for free so I decided why the heck not. They're a sister group of Momoiro Clover Z and Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku and I really love MCZ so I was hoping that this CD would be pretty good too. So before sitting down to listen to this today, the only song I had heard was Ii Kurashi. So this was an interesting experience. Everything written here is my first reactions so it's very weird xD

The tracks that are on YT will be linked in a playlist at the end.

Track #1, Space Himatsubushi: So I was NOT expecting the "rapped" intro by the dude. That was interesting. I have a feeling that this album will be hard to get through because of the girls' vocals. MCZ has the same problem, but the songs are so great as stand-alones so hopefully Shachihoko will too. This song certainly has the off the wall-ness that MCZ has, except more. I kind of like it. It's weird but really cool. 4/5.

Track #2, Shuto Iken Keikaku: Yep. They're definitely like MCZ. I really like this song. It's so un-idol pop it's great. I've been missing out on this group. The only gripe I have is their vocals. The song goes for 5:30 so it does drag with their vocals a bit. However, I couldn't stand MCZ's Mugen no Ai at first because of vocals and now it's one of my favorite songs (and most played song) of all time, so I expect this to meet a similar fate. In the music videos.....aren't this essentially the same outfits as in Ii Kurashi? This came first though. Hm. Wonder why they used the same-ish look. The music video contains lots of signs in Japanese I can't read, and what I'm assuming to be pictures that have something to do with the words which I obviously don't get. 4/5.

Track #3, Dakishimete Anthem: Hugging/Embracing Anthem? Well hugs are good and I think they do deserved to be praised more often xD Semi-kidding of course. These titles sure go along with the interesting titles from other Stardust groups. I really hate to keep comparing them to MCZ because they're their own group, but I think it's a pretty major compliment to say that a song sounds like something that could've fit on 5th Dimension. Gosh this purchase was SO worth it. The "video" for this song on their official channel is essentially a dance practice video with costumes, but the costumes are adorable. 5/5.

Track #4, Ndatte!!: Syachihoko's answer to Babymetal? Kind of I guess, felt like it with that intro. So far this is probably my least favorite track, but it's still pretty darn good. Now that I think about it for a second, it feels more like Love Live's After School Navigators than Babymetal, which is still awesome. (Shameless plug alert: English ID for Love Live [595559611], Japanese ID for Love Live [345154852]. Both my screen names are Kyrie...except it's written in Hiragana in the Japanese which would be Kirie but yeah xD Add me if you'd like xD)

Track #5, Ai no Chikyuusai: As soon as this song started I knew I'd love it. I'm a sucker for anything even remotely electro sounding. Not sure if this is better than Ii Kurashi or not, but it's pretty close. I'm only five songs into this album and I'm super impressed. I swear I heard a bit of Pitbull's "Hotel Room" beat in here too....which although that is a terrible song, the beat is kind of cool. I have NO clue what's going on in the music video though. And I thought that MCZ had weird videos. This is just insanity. Not quite Kyary Pamyu Pamyu insanity, but close. 5/5.

Track #6, Ii Kurashi: This is already an automatic 5. Both song and video. I was incredibly impressed when I heard this song for the first time. I've been trying to branch out to other Japanese girl groups over the past year and really haven't found a great deal of ones I actually think anything of. So I love when I come across that one song that just completely blows me away. This was one of those moments. 5/5.

Track #7, I Don't Care: First thought in my head was Fall Out Boy's song (fantastic song btw). This is another weak song for the album. However, their "weak" songs are incredibly strong compared to a lot of other group's discographies so it feels wrong to label this as weak. It's actually really growing on me the longer the song goes. Dubstep that ACTUALLY WORKS?! K-pop please take note! 4/5.

Track #8, Akamiso Blood: This song is very short for a J-pop song. This song is SO COOL and SO DIFFERENT! It features a beat boxing pianist. I'm actually surprised that they were able to pull this off. The video in the playlist is from the beatboxer's channel & it's a concert video and it's pretty cool to watch. 4.5/5.

Track #9, Colors: Well this is for certain the weakest track on the album. After the previous eight tracks, heading into pretty normal territory for Japanese girl groups is strange, but I guess you do have to have a track that isn't completely off the wall. I actually like the track for being a bit of a combo breaker. I feel that this was probably a good place to dial back the crazy. 3.5/5.

Track #10, Akeboshi: Nope, spoke too soon. THIS is my least favorite. Colors was catchy in it's own way, this is just a ballad. But at least it's not the normal ballad that you'd expect. It's not a generic idol pop ballad that makes you want to slam your head into the wall. Maybe it's because of the pretty violins. 3/5.

Track #11, Yoroshiku Jinrui: One of the girls in this group seems to have a really strong voice? Is it yellow girl? (Don't really know who the girls are xD). With this song we're kind of half in the crazy and in the typical, which at this point is okay. Perhaps this album won't suffer like 5th Dimension does with playing through the whole thing in one sitting. As much as I absolutely adore 5th Dimension, it's incredibly difficult to sit through the whole thing unless I'm in the mood for it. Maybe this one will be better to get through more than a couple times. The end of this song reminds me of a Christmas song. The video for this is a cute animation. 3.5/5

Track #12, Country Girl: WHAT? WHAT IS THIS?! Oh my gosh xD This is so great xD Not in a I'll listen to this a million times way, but in a oh my gosh who thought to put THIS together way xD THERE'S A BANJO IN IT haha xD I actually know someone that plays the banjo so this is just strange. I'd actually be completely ok if H!P's new girl group (or revival group whatever) Country Girls sounds like this. 5/5 just for the complete surprise.

Track #13, Otome Juken Sensou: YES. The album ends on the perfect high note. I just really have no more words. 5/5.

Playlist (doesn't include all of the tracks, just official videos)

Wow. I cannot believe that this album is as amazing as it is. I'm just sitting here in shock and awe over what a purchase that I just made because I was running out of time to use points turned out to be. Someone please remind me to buy things on whims more often. Everyone PLEASE check this album out! It's SO WORTH IT!. 4.5/5.

S/mileage - Tabidachi no Haru ga Kita

I'll have to retag this in the future when they reveal their new name. Not sure how I feel about the new name and possible complete rebranding of S/mileage. Within the past two years I've really begun to love them. I just hope they continue to have songs that show Meimi's incredible voice. Or just give her a solo career. That's ok too. I do highly approve of the three new members though. I've liked Mizuki for a while in the Kenshuusei. I'm trying not to dislike Rikako as I originally did like her until everyone started acting like she's going to be the savior of S/mileage. She's got the charisma and the raw talent to be great, but she's really not a great singer and she's a little over enthusiastic when performing. However, I'm sure once they really integrate into the group she'll stand out in a good way and grow in her performance ability. Maho's the wild card in all this though. From the pictures I've seen she looks very pretty but I know nothing of her singing voice. Can't wait to find out what she sounds like.

This song was their first release in 2013. It has that whole graduation vibe to it, I guess because it was released around the normal graduation time. I had overlooked this song for the longest time because I was paying attention to their other releases, but this song is very good too. It's not one of those slower songs that you would expect with the graduation feeling and I'm happy for that. I'm glad that they sing more maturely now though. One of the things that kept me from getting into S/mileage until last was the vocals. I love the video for this. It's simple but the outfits are adorable. 4/5.

Tabidachi no Haru ga Kita MV:

Ok I'd never listened to Doushiyou before today and WOW am I shocked. I was expecting something COMPLETELY different but when I heard the dubstep-ish beginning my mouth dropped open. This song is GREAT! Why did I wait so long to buy this single? I put it off for forever because I didn't think it was as special as their newer stuff but gosh you never know what you miss out on with that attitude. 5/5.

Doushiyou (Audio Only):

It's not their best single of 2013, but it managed to surprise me. Doushiyou is my new jam. 4.5/5

AKB48 Team Surprise - Itoshisa wo Marumete

This is the fifth Team Surprise single released from the Bara no Gishiki stage. It features AKB48 members Yuki Kashiwagi, Haruna Kojima, and Yui Yokoyama.

This is one of only three really good songs on the new Team Surprise stage in my opinion. It's not as good as Hell Or Heaven, but I like the rock feel to it. This is pretty much the song I was expecting when I saw who the girls were for the single. Yuki has a really good voice and I generally see Haruna in "dark/sexy" concepts, so I figured the song would be pretty good. Yui I wasn't too sure on though. Nothing about her really stands out too much to me, but I think she did well in this song and her voice doesn't sound bad. The music video was pretty neat. I like the concept of it with all of the TV screens. 5/5

Itoshisa wo Marumete MV

Update

Hi all! So I've been incredibly busy the past few days and with finals week next week I don't know when the next time I'll be posting something will be. Hopefully before the new year. Speaking of the new year though, I've decided that I'm going to be doing a giveaway! I'll be posting it on YouTube and on some other sites to drum up some interest so please look out for that! It'll begin in early January (haven't decided on a solid date) and will include some J-Pop CDs and K-pop/J-pop photocards, so I hope I can get some good participation for the giveaway! Thanks for reading! Good luck with finals for all of the university students out there that have them coming up :)