25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Days #23 & #24: J-Pop/K-pop Groups To Watch In 2017

Warning! Lots of embedded videos in this post so sorry for slow loading computers out there!

Combining these two from last year so I can catch up to the correct day lol. Essentially these are new groups that either released their first single this year, or were formed this year. They could also be more unknown groups that just came on my radar this year. Since I combined the two posts, I chose four groups from each of the two genres for a total of eight new groups to watch. They're in no particular order, just alternating between K & J.

Group #1: Dear Kiss (J-Pop)

Full disclosure: I'm not super impressed with the music they've put out so far. I only care about them cause Nonoko. Really hoping their first release with her will be super awesome to entice me to buy it! Dear Kiss is a new group that formed early this year around former Galette member Saki Shishima. They currently have 6 members and have released one single and one mini-album. Nonoko recently joined not long after the end of Galette. I wonder if the other three former Galette girls will migrate to this group. I'd really love to see Yui Komori join as I liked her as much as Nonoko. I feel like this is nothing about Dear Kiss and everything about Galette. Cause it is. I miss them D:

Group #2: Blackpink (K-Pop)

The new YG girl group that everyone had been begging for for year finally arrived and they were much better than expected. I was nervous that YG would attempt to make them the new 2NE1. I'd say that their styling is very much that way, but their music is very different. Boombayah was a bit of an attempt to stay 2NE1, but Whistle & Playing With Fire really stick out as good framework to build the group's sound around in a way that they won't get labeled "2NE1-lite". I realized a little after PWF was released that I had been screwing up Jisoo & Rose lol. I thought it was Rose I liked, but it was actually Jisoo. Jennie is my overall favorite though. She is such a standout of the group.

Group #3: FuwaFuwa (J-Pop)

Ok so I still hardly know anything about this group except that they're a subunit of Harajuku Ekimae Parties. Do you know how hard it is to Google the term "Fuwafuwa"? Yeah. Not easy. All you get is a bunch of other result that have nothing to do with the group. Then searching HEP gets you nowhere either. Guessing there's not a lot of info in English out there? So I had to resort to the Japanese J-idol wiki database thing I found a year or so back and my poor Japanese skills to find out some basics about them....and then I STILL couldn't find them in the lists. I'm guessing I'm blind cause they must be there lol. So here's my poor description of them: They have lots of members and sing cutesy idol songs that actually are pretty catchy and sung rather well for cutesy idol songs. Check 'em out lol.

Group #4: Cosmic Girls (WJSN) (K-Pop)

They are currently an 11 member new group from Sistar's company. I didn't care for them one bit when they debuted. Both of their debut singles were awful honestly. Mo Mo Mo is the better of the two. I don't know what the heck they were trying to do with Catch Me because that song is absolutely tragic. Then Secret came out. The music video is the most stunning ones I think I've ever seen. The song was such a 180 from their first release. Really excited to see their comeback in January to see what they can do.

Group #5: Questy (J-Pop)

I debated adding them as I am not a huge fan of their first release as everyone else seems to be. However, they remind me of a new Fairies-type group more than a new Flower or E-Girls so I'm interested in what they will release in the future. They are a seven member group trained by LDH and debuted under Avex. Like with Fairies & other LDH groups, three of the girls are vocalists and the rest are performers (pretty much just back dancers to put it bluntly.)

Group #6: Sol-T (K-Pop)

These girls are from a super unknown company and they're also super unknown but their Bad Girls song is awesome. They have four members and have released two singles. They sound pretty great considering how unknown they are. I'm really hoping that they keep going down the Bad Girls path because that style suits them so well.

Group #7: Cherrsee (J-Pop)

I want to like these girls because their premise is interesting. A J-Pop group produced by a major K-Pop producer isn't probably a good idea for business, but it is super interesting for music in my opinion. I didn't care too much for their two A-sides this year, but their one B-side Surisuri Masuri sounds very promising. I hope they release something amazing in the new year.

Group #8: Matilda (K-Pop)

Surprisingly, this super unknown group has released THREE singles this year. For an "indie" K-pop group, they've actually done quite a lot. They've also gotten better with each single release. Their current one is their best in my opinion, although I don't think it quite fits their vocals (and the chorus is produced kinda badly. It's way too loud for the rest of the song.)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #22: Top Hello! Project 2016

I am doing my best to keep up with these lol. I really don't know if I'll be able to make it tomorrow but I'm going to try. I'll still make all 25 posts, but life is busy lol. Like yesterday, just jumping straight to the countdown since everything's already been talked about.

#10

Angerme - Itoshima Distance

#9

Morning Musume - Sexy Cat no Ensetsu

#8

Country Girls - Boogie Woogie Love

#7

Kobushi Factory - Sakura Night Fever

#6

Morning Musume - Tokyo to Iu Katatsumi

#5

Juice=Juice - Karada Dake ga Otona ni Nattan ja nai

#4

C-ute - Mugen Climax

#3

Morning Musume - Mukidashi de Mukiatte

#2

Country Girls - Koi wa Magnet

#1

Juice=Juice - Dream Road ~Kokoro ga Odoridashiteru~

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #21: Top 48G 2016

I've already talked about both the music & the members from this year, so let's just jump right into the countdown!

#10

Keyakizaka46 - Futari Saison

#9

HKT48 - Make Noise

#8

AKB48 - High Tension

#7

NGT48 - Kimi wa Doko ni Iru?

#6

NogizakaAKB - Mazariau Mono

#5

Keyakizaka46 - Silent Majority

#4

Tentoumu Chu! - Seijun Tired

#3

AKB48 - Love Trip

#2

SKE48 - Chicken Line

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #20: Top Non J/Kpop 2016

Yeah yeah I know I missed a day. This is the busiest week of the year for me and this isn't a top priority so I'm unconcerned. I also missed a day last year so it matches lol. Last year this one was known as "Top Western" but I don't like that because there's way more music out there than just stuff from Western countries (and I really really wanted to include that G.E.M. song in this so I made it work lol). I actually haven't listened to that many albums this year from any country or genre. I just haven't really had the time. I want to, and I have a HUGE list of things to get to, but I just haven't yet. That's why most of my list is just main singles and such because I haven't had the chance to delve into albums where usually there's better songs than the singles. This is also going to be an unranked list. It's going to go over 10 songs on purpose & I don't want those restrictions on this list. I'll do it alphabetically by last name/stage name/group name/whatever you get the picture.

Sabrina Carpenter - On Purpose

Sofia Carson - Love Is The Name

Daya - Sit Still, Look Pretty

Fifth Harmony - The Life

G.E.M. - 死了都要 ‧ 愛

Ariana Grande - Touch It

Olivia Holt - Phoenix

JoJo - FAB (ft. Remy Ma)

KOLAJ - Into You (ft. Eric Nam)

Krewella - Broken Record

Zara Larsson - Ain't My Fault

Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex

Neon Hitch - Please

Pentatonix - Hallelujah

Peter Possession - Have You Here (ft. Matt Pardus)

Samra - Miracle

Sia - Move Your Body

Lindsey Stirling - Hold My Heart (ft. ZZ Ward)

The Weeknd - Starboy (ft. Daft Punk)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #19: Top J-Pop Idol 2016

So I thought of another song for yesterday's post. Perfume's Flash. I was thinking it was 2015, but nope! Released this year. Oh well. This year I feel like I really expanded my horizons with J-idol music. However, I wouldn't say I necessarily expanded my interest in other groups. I've listened to a lot of stuff and for me, most of it is very meh. There's a lot of 48G music clones and then there's also a lot of the "anti-idol" scene out there recently which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I don't like rock or alternative music like I used to. Some stuff I can tolerate, but other than that I just don't care for it. I kind of want some H!P music clones. I like H!P's J-popxEDM style where it's not EDM like K-Pop's or like Western music but it's a very specific style to them that kind of blends idol pop & EDM. It's cool, I like it.

#10

Dianna Sweet - Super Hero

#9

Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome - Otome Gokoro

#8

Predia - Setsuna no Yoru no Naka de

#7

Galette - Sonic Fighter

#6

P.IDL - Hello! Halloween

#5

FuwaFuwa - Koi no Lesson

#4

Tokyo Performance Doll - GyakkoxRaisan

No good YT videos, but you can listen to it on my newest 8tracks playlist! Click me!

#3

Orange Port - Trigger

#2

Rev. from DVL - Ungaisouten Samurai Tamashii!

Like TPD, this isn't on YT, but it is on the 8tracks playlist. Clicky Clicky.

#1

Wa-Suta - Ultra Miracle Final Ultimate Choco Beam

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown: Top J-Pop 2016

I feel like I did a slightly better job at listening to actual J-Pop stuff outside of idol pop.....except it was mainly older stuff. I admit when I typed in the title for this one I totally blanked on any non-idol J-Pop songs from this year that I liked. So I'm not even going to attempt a ranking but will instead just list stuff. Maybe next year I'll finally be able to do a real ranking.

FEMM - Neon Twilight

Egoist - Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

One Ok Rock - Taking Off

Babymetal - Karate

This is a little sad because this is all I can think of lol. I'm certain that there was more, but even searching for an hour I couldn't find anything. Next year. Maybe next year. I get that Babymetal could *technically* be called an idol group, but I personally disagree so I included them here. I make my own rules lol.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown: Top K-Pop 2016

Oh my gosh this is so difficult. Last year K-pop was just starting to become interesting again so it was easier, but this year, K-pop was actually really great and I had a hard time coming up with this list. I'm glad that groups moved away from that awful "I'm sexy!" concept that kept going on. Very few K-pop groups can actually pull off the ultra sexy concept without seeming try-hard. This new synthpop/electro route this year was absolutely awesome. Especially the stuff coming from SM. SM used to be the super generic company with box MVs what the heck happened? I'm looking forward to next year's music scene, although I'm a little worried at the same time. I have a feeling that with Twice's success that other groups will try to emulate them like with the sexy concept overflow after Sistar's success. I adore Twice. I love them to bits, but their concept is another of those concepts like Sistar's that is difficult to replicate without looking try-hard or over the top. Even TT (which I loved) seemed over the top for Twice. I can't even imagine how awful it would've looked for a different group. Because it was so difficult, I did my top 10, but also included some "runners up" that were so close to making it.

Special Mention Runners Up:

EXO - Lucky One

Rainbow - Whoo

#10

Cosmic Girls - Secret

#9

4Minute - Hate

#8

Wonder Girls - Why So Lonely

#7

Blackpink - Whistle

#6

BTS - Save Me

#5

Oh My Girl - Liar Liar

#4

Twice - Touchdown

#3

Dal Shabet - Someone Like You

#2

Luna - Free Somebody

#1

Blackpink - Playing With Fire

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #16: ?????

So. I really don't like last year's day 16 category and I couldn't think of anything else to put. Sure I could've just bumped everything up a day but meh. So I'm gonna put so music recommendations instead! For those wondering, last year's category was H!P/48G songs that weren't from the main groups/from disbanded groups. I didn't like the idea of doing that category again because neither company has really released any new side music in a long time. Because of that, nothing in the countdown would have changed & there would've been nothing to talk about. That's boring. So, random music recommendations instead.

G.E.M. - 死了都要 ‧ 愛

Anyone know what the English title of this is?? I have no clue & I don't like using the actual script for non-Latin charactered songs. Obviously the last character means "Love" but I don't know the rest of it. Whatever. It's a GREAT song. I adore G.E.M. She's one of the very few Chinese acts I really like. Her music is extremely well produced.

Sixth Sense - Don't Go

I REALLY like them. It's been years since I liked a non-major label new K-pop group. Two songs in a row that have been really good.

Sol-T - Bad Girls

Surprisingly another new unknown K-girl group with a great song. A different tone than Sixth Sense's song. They remind me of an updated To Anyone era 2NE1.

That's really all I've got for this. Not a whole lot of stand out stuff since the last time I did this type of post. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal on the countdown.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #15: Top Hello! Project Members

You know what I really want in H!P next year? Albums. Albums for everyone! Well, not Kobushi since they just had one, but more albums please! Angerme is so overdue for a third, Country Girls is sitting on a bazillion unreleased tracks, Musume has a bunch of A-sides that need a home, & C-ute should get a farewell album along with a single (and best single/b-side collection hint hint). I don't believe we'll see any new groups formed this year. 2018 with a C-ute replacement group? Yeah, but this year I don't see it. I do see a bunch of Kenshuusei being added to current groups though. As with my other ones, no members (or full groups for that matter) who have announced their graduations are included.

This is the first year I can say with 100% certainty that I have an overall H!P favorite since Reina left. It's weird because I never thought I'd have that one girl that I liked above the rest after Reina's grad but now I do. Musubu! I'm hoping for great things from her. She's so incredibly talented. Maybe a solo song on CG's first album? Please?

Morning Musume

-I feel like there is going to be a lot of graduations next year. Well, a lot for Musume. I'm thinking 3. Six years is an incredibly long time to be in a group & I'm sure some members are thinking of their futures. We'll definitely see the first 10th gen go next year. Anyone who thinks 10th is going to go together is just plain delusional. Not only is there a large age difference/popularity gap between them, there's NO WAY that H!P would allow FOUR members to leave at the same time. It'd be group killing. I'd also be shocked if both Mizuki & Erina stick around. I'm also feeling like one of the newer girls will leave too. It's been awhile since someone left early on in their Musume career and I think that it's going to happen again. I do believe that we're also getting 14th gen next year, probably a surprise addition. Adding two high school aged girls was a little left field for 13th gen, so I'm thinking that they were added for talent/faces for the group & we'll see number boosters next year.

#1: Masaki Sato (+1)

-Look who's back at number one lol. She's so polarizing even for me personally. I dislike her sometimes and then love her others.

#2: Miki Nonaka (-1)

#3: Akane Haga (+1)

#4: Sakura Oda (-1)

#5: Haruka Kudo (-)

#6: Maria Makino (+1)

#7: Ayumi Ishida (-1)

#8: Erina Ikuta (+1)

#9: Haruna Ogata (+2)

#10: Haruna Iikubo (-)

#11: Reina Yokoyama (NEW)

-She's too new to place anywhere else, although I can see her passing a few of the current girls if she really stands out in their first single.

#12: Mizuki Fukumura (-4)

#13: Kaede Kaga (NEW)

Angerme

-Angerme is second in line in seniority now. Wow that's almost unbelievable. If Ayaka doesn't get the H!P leader position, there should be a riot. She objectively has the most seniority & she's also better than Mizuki. As for graduations next year, I think Ayaka will announce at the end of the year & graduate in 2018 with a second gen member leaving in 2017. Hard to believe they've been around as long as MM's 9th & 10th gens.

#1: Ayaka Wada (-)

#2: Mizuki Murota (-)

#3: Maho Aikawa (+1)

#4: Rikako Sasaki (-1)

#5: Moe Kamikokuryou (+3)

#6: Akari Takeuchi (-1)

#7: Kana Nakanishi (-)

#8: Rina Katsuta (-2)

#9: Momona Kasahara (NEW)

Juice=Juice

-I really don't know if Juice will see a graduation next year. I think they're definitely coming up to it, but I don't know if it'll be next year or not. I don't think they'll go all together though. Likely we'll see one girl leave, they'll carry on for a couple of years after that, and then disband as a group. I don't foresee new members at all.

#1: Karin Miyamoto (-)

#2: Sayuki Takagi (+1)

#3: Akari Uemura (-1)

#4: Yuka Miyazaki (-)

#5: Tomoko Kanazawa (-)

Country Girls

-Yay no more Momoko! I don't hate her, in fact I rather like her, but I did not like her in Country Girls. She should've left with the rest of Berryz or stayed in the background. She really didn't fit in with the kids. Manaka's sudden grad was surprising. I feel bad for her that she finally got to live her dream and then health problems got in the way. I guess it's good that she was put into CG instead of someone dance heavy like MM or Anju because her issues probably would've gotten to her sooner. I don't think we'll see any more grads next year (outside of Momoko), but I think we'll get new members. I'm actually wondering if we'll see their reveal at the New Year's Countdown because I imagine that they'll want the successors for Momo to be added while she's still there for guidance.

#1: Musubu Funaki (-)

#2: Risa Yamaki (-)

#3: Chisaki Morito (-)

#4: Nanami Yanagawa (+1)

#5: Mai Ozeki (-1)

Kobushi Factory

-I'm cautiously optimistic that they won't have any graduations and will carry on for a few years as a full group, but seeing as this is the real world, I wouldn't be shocked if someone left next year. I don't think they'll be adding any members to Kobushi either. I think they're the new non-generational group in H!P like Juice.

#1: Rei Inoue (-)

#2: Minami Nomura (-)

#3: Sakurako Wada (+1)

#4: Ayaka Hirose (-1)

#5: Ayano Hamaura (-)

#6: Natsumi Taguchi (-)

#7: Rena Ogawa (+1)

#8: Rio Fujii (-1)

Tsubaki Factory

-Although they've already received a second gen, I also think that Tsubaki will be non-generational. I think it's pretty clear that second gen was added to bolster the group for their debut because of their lukewarm reception. I think that H!P just made the mistake of making them too soon after Kobushi and if they had been introduced this year instead of last that they would have been better received. I do see someone leaving Tsubaki next year. Likely someone from first gen.

#1: Kisora Niinuma (-)

#2: Mao Akiyama (NEW)

#3: Yumeno Kishimoto (-1)

#4: Mizuho Ono (NEW)

#5: Kiki Asakura (-1)

#6: Risa Ogata (-3)

#7: Saori Onoda (NEW)

#8: Ami Tanimoto (-3)

#9: Riko Yamagishi (-3)

Kenshuusei

-I think we'll see a couple girls leaving due to 13th gen being chosen. I also think that we'll see some of the older ones go into UUG gen 2/that little sister group thing. Or whatever the heck is going on with UUG. I hope we get a HUGE Kenshuusei generation next year. I feel like they need more numbers and girls to stick around for a couple years since they've all but gutted the Kenshuusei with all the group additions. I'm not going to bother posting the position change because the ranking of the Kenshuusei is too unpredictable.

#1: Ruru Danbara

#2: Momohime Kiyono

#3: Reina Ichioka

#4: Kizuki Horie

#5: Hikaru Inoue

#6: Kokoro Maede

#7: Ayano Kawamura

#8: Kurumi Takase

#9: Sakiko Kodama

#10: Shiori Nishida

#11: Mizuki Kanatsu

#12: Rin Hashisako

#13: Kurumi Noguchi

#14: Yuhane Yamazaki

#15: Marie Yoshida

#16: Kotomi Ono

#17: Kirara Yonemura

Kenshuusei Hokkaido

-I have no idea what to think about these girls. They've practically done a grand total of nothing.

#1: Ryo Kitagawa

#2: Mai Yamazaki

#3: Haruka Ota

#4: Hikari Sato

#5: Kanami Ishiguri

#6: Minori Kawano

#7: Yume Kudo

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #14: Top 48G Members (Year End Edition 2016)

Graduation announcements have gotten crazy the past couple of days! Shu, Naanya, AND Nishino?! What the heck 48G?! They're not even the semi-popular members that you'd be expecting to announce either. But I admit I do really like graduations. I love the unexpectedness of some of them like Nishino's today & I love seeing the changes in the groups after certain members leave. It's just a super fun system to me because I don't get attached to the girls.

Unlike my first half of the year edition, I'm going to *attempt* to do SNH, BEJ, & GNZ too but I'm pretty much just going to be ranking faces as I don't know the girls too well. Keyaki I have a slightly better idea of my ranking since they've released more material & NGT I'm still unsure about because they won't release their first single. Just like my past lists, no members who graduated in 2016 or who have announced their graduations are included in my lists. I also have taken up using the nicknames I know for certain girls when I'm just talking about them. It's just easier than writing their full names so I'm sorry if people have no clue who I'm talking about lol. I keep full names in the list itself though.

AKB48

-From my list just in May two of the girls [Naanya & Aigasa] have announced their grads. That's been very recent too so I had a bit of trouble coming up with two new girls because I haven't had a lot of time to think about it. It's also too bad that Paruru is graduating at the end of the year because she's really grown on me this year. As for the girls on my list, I think Miichan will definitely be announcing after Kojiharu's grad. I also think Mayuyu will announce next year as well. Yukirin is a maybe, but I don't think it'll be next year. I'm hoping Kira gets promoted early this year & I'm genuinely surprised that Kiara has stuck around as long as she has. I don't really have a clue if she'll stick around next year or graduate.

#1: Minami Minegishi (-)

#2: Nana Okada (+1)

#3: Mayu Watanabe (-1)

#4: Mion Mukaichi (+1)

#5: Hijiri Tanikawa (-1)

#6: Yuki Kashiwagi (+2)

#7: Kira Takahashi (-)

#8: Kiara Sato (+2)

#9: Juri Takahashi (NEW)

#10: Saya Kawamoto (NEW)

SKE48

-My SKE list fared better than AKB lol. I only lost Aya from May. Her graduation shocked me. I wasn't expecting it this soon & I also expected Suda to go before Shibata. There's a part of me that wants Jurina to announce next year just because of the shock factor, but I don't believe that will happen at all. She's way too eager to hit #1 on the Sousenkyo and if Sasshi, Mayuyu, & Yukirin choose to not enter, she's got an incredible chance at making it. I don't think my list will fare as well come next May. I fully expect Nao, Kaori, Akari, & Natsuki to annouce their graduations. With Natsuki.....does anyone else think she looks like Musubu Funaki? Looking at her profile pic with her haircut makes her look like they could be sisters it's so weird.

#1: Rara Goto (-)

#2: Jurina Matsui (+2)

#3: Kaori Matsumura (+2)

#4: Nao Furuhata (-1)

#5: Oka Suenaga (+4)

#6: Akari Suda (+1)

#7: Natsuki Takatsuka (+1)

#8: Ruka Kitano (-2)

#9: Marika Tani (+1)

#10: Airi Mizuno (NEW)

NMB48

-I'm still a little shocked about Shu's announcement. That was very unexpected. Out of my list, I don't really know who may announce next year. I do think that Sayaka will, but I don't think she'll leave until 2018. We might lose Ayaka, Rurina, & Narumi next year, but I can't even guess.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto (-)

#2: Ririka Suto (+1)

#3: Fuuko Yagura (+2)

#4: Rina Yamao (-2)

#5: Konomi Kusaka (+2)

#6: Miru Shiroma (-)

#7: Ayaka Morita (+3)

#8: Rurina Nishizawa (+1)

#9: Kanae Iso (-1)

#10: Narumi Koga (NEW)

HKT48

-Chihiro's graduation was another surprising one. I hadn't expected any of the HKT captains to leave for a few more years. I don't really see anyone on my list who's at risk of leaving next year. Unless Meru gets tired of being shafted and quits but I really hope that doesn't happen.

#1: Meru Tashima (-)

#2: Nako Yabuki (-)

#3: Sakura Miyawaki (+1)

#4: Haruka Ueno (+2)

#5: Haruka Kodama (+4)

#6: Emiri Yamashita (-1)

#7: Nao Ueki (+1)

#8: Yui Kojina (-1)

#9: Aoi Motomura (+1)

#10: Haruka Wakatabe (NEW)

NGT48

-I still feel like I know nothing about the girls. They really need to release a first single so I can see how they fit into the group because I just have no clue outside of what they look like. It's not like I'm going to waste the time to watch stages with songs I've heard a bazillion times and my Japanese isn't anywhere near good enough to understand MCs. As for graduations next year, I doubt there will be any. The only way I see someone leaving NGT is if they get a second gen too soon or if a scandal happens. But hey, I've been surprised so far this month with crazy out there announcements so who knows.

#1: Yuka Ogino (-)

#2: Rika Nakai (+1)

#3: Reina Seiji (+1)

#4: Ayaka Mizusawa (NEW)

#5: Anju Sato (NEW)

#6: Minami Kato (-4)

#7: Marina Nishigata (+1)

#8: Yuria Otaki (-2)

#9: Miharu Nara (NEW)

#10: Hinata Honma (-)

Nogizaka46

-I feel like there's going to be a mass grad from Nogi this upcoming year. They haven't really lost too many in their existence and they're coming up on 6(!) years in the group. No one from my May list left this year and the lack of graduations for so many years has made my list pretty stable compared to the rest of the groups. I think from my list, Maaya is definite to graduate. Poor girl is so unpopular. We might be in for a surprise and Minami or Mai might leave. I think both Rina & Erika will be sticking around for a while.

#1: Rina Ikoma (-)

#2: Minami Hoshino (-)

#3: Maaya Wada (-)

#4: Mai Shiraishi (-)

#5: Karin Ito (+1)

#6: Manatsu Akimoto (-1)

#7: Asuka Saito (NEW)

#8: Erika Ikuta (+1)

#9: Reika Sakurai (NEW)

#10: Rena Yamakazi (NEW)

Keyakizaka46

-I think I've been able to establish that Imaizumi is definitely my favorite. Techi is super cool too though and does make a great center. I predict that there will be exactly one grad next year. I don't know from whom, but still. I imagine they'll be much like Nogi and have very sparse graduations for a few years.

#1: Yui Imaizumi (-)

#2: Yurina Hirate (+3)

#3: Nanako Nagasawa (NEW)

#4: Risa Watanabe (NEW)

#5: Neru Nagahama (+4)

#6: Nijika Ishimori (+1)

#7: Manaka Shida (-4)

#8: Yui Kobayashi (-2)

#9: Rina Uemura (NEW)

#10: Yuuka Sugai (NEW)

SNH48

-And here's where the members don't matter and pictures tell a 1000 words lol. As I've just begun to have any interest in SNH & their sister groups, I have no clue really who each girl is. So my rankings are going to be changing drastically at least for the next year while I learn more about them.

#1: Jingyi Ju

#2: Guanhui Chen

#3: Yuge Zhang

#4: Rui Sun

#5: Qingyang Li

#6: Jiaying Chen

#7: Xiaoyin Kong

#8: Beiting Qian

#9: Yanwen Wu

#10: Han Mo

BEJ48

#1: Shiyan Li

#2: Yan Wen

#3: Bowen Hu

#4: Shan Sun

#5: Yifan Yang

#6: Xinyi Ren

#7: Zi Li

#8: Shanshan Su

#9: Mingjun Yan

#10: Lei Fang

GNZ48

#1: Jingyuan Zuo

#2: Hanyue Luo

#3: Qianqian Liu

#4: Lifei Liu

#5: Yuqi Chen

#6: Yanping Nong

#7: Leilei Xie

#8: Huijing Chen

#9: Qiongyu Zhang

#10: Nanxi Chen

All I want for Christmas is for 48G & China48 to stop making new groups lol. I can't keep up & I'm only really interested in the music. I can't imagine how difficult it is for people who actually try and follow the girls. It's insanity.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #13: Top Morning Musume

Now that I've had 24 hours to process the news of 13th gen, I'm just somewhat ambivalent towards them. They need to release something for me to have any interest in the new girls. I do think people are being a little unnecessarily harsh towards Kaede though. I don't particularly care for her because I don't think that her voice is good like people say it is. It's a deeper voice which draws people to it, but I don't find her a good singer. As for her supposed attitude problem, I don't follow the Kenshuusei close enough to even know what people are complaining about. With Reina, I'm really thinking she would make a good double center with Maria. MM needs faces to lead the group. Keep the Sakura/Mizuki/Masaki lead singer trio, but put Maria/Reina front and center to push them into the minds of the general public.

With MM this year, I feel like they just coasted through it. Two singles a year for the most popular group of H!P is not a good business plan Up-Front. They even have a bunch of new songwriters so they can't use the excuse that Tsunku has too many songs to write. They need to have an album next year and at least three singles. If they want the new members to gain traction, they need to start shoving them onto as many music, variety, internet, cooking, or alien theory shows as possible. Anything that they can get them on is the point really. Now is a great time to start with the buzz from new members.

Musically, MM was once again the group with the best releases (with maybe the exception of Juice=Juice this year). Their first single was a bit blah, but Utakata ended up being fun & Tokyo to Iu is still awesome. I like to pretend The Vision doesn't exist. The entire Sexy Cat single was pretty solid in my opinion. I like Sou Janai the least but it's still cool. Mukidashite (? I can't spell to save my life this month I swear) is freaking amazing. Sexy Cat is quirky and fun. Something different for the group in it's current incarnation. Hoping next year's single exceed this year.

#10

Yuugure wa Ameagari (2015) (NEW)

#9

Onna ni Sachi Are (2007) (-2)

#8

Only You (2011) (+2)

#7

Ai Araba It's All Right (2004) (+1)

#6

Do It! Now (2001) (-1)

#5

Renai Hunter (2012) (+1)

#4

Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game (2010) (-)

#3

Fantasy ga Hajimaru (2010) (-1)

#2

Osaka Koi no Uta (2005) (+1)

#1

Watashi wa Watashi Nanda (2014) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #12: Top C-ute

This is supposed to be about C-ute, but just a quick aside: Congrats to the new Musume members! I had a feeling that Yokoyama would get in because of the random buzz around her that seemed to crop up overnight. She's very pretty and I hope that she has a good voice to accompany that. As for Kaede....well. I'm very happy that she's getting to realize her dream and got to join the group with the most opportunities. I truly hope that she melds in well and is a good asset for Musume. The members both are older which is a shock (and it feels like there will be new younger members added next year too because of it) and they both fit the current mature image of MM. Congrats again to them & I can't wait to see their debut!

As for C-ute. I sooooo knew it. I KNEW they would announce their disbandment this year. Honestly, it's time and I couldn't be happier that they're leaving. That sounds awful as I do like them, but H!P needs to complete it's transition to the new H!P and pass the torch to the new members and groups. Now there's just Ayaka Wada who is pre-2010 (if you don't count Aika who doesn't do anything anyway.). I fully predict that Ayaka will announce next year as well. Maybe not graduate, but definitely announce.

As for C-ute's music this year, outside of Mugen Climax (which was such a return to form for them), nothing was outstanding at all. Jinsei wa Step was fun & even though I've mainly ignored Summer Wind, I'm coming around to it. Naze Hito was just bad & I don't even remember what the other Mugen Climax single songs sound like so that's not a good sign. I guess I can say they outdid Angerme this year and maybe Kobushi, but I'm not sure on my feelings on that. Hopefully their final single will be an awesome goodbye for them. I'm also expecting a single/B-side collection like Berryz. I will be so incredibly upset if they don't do that. I want their singles/B-sides but I don't want to have to buy all of the singles I don't have to do so. I'm running out of room on my display shelf.

#10

Mugen Climax (2016) (NEW)

#9

Kiss Me Aishiteru (2011) (-2)

#8

Kanashiki Heaven (2012; Aitai Aitai na) (-3)

#7

Crazy Kanzen na Otona (2013) (+2)

#6

Midnight Temptation (2011; Chou Wonderful 6) (-)

#5

Please, Love Me More! (2013; Tokai no Hitorigurashi) (+3)

#4

Aitai Aitai Aitai na (2012) (-2)

#3

Adam to Eve no Dilemma (2013) (+1)

#2

Tokaikko Junjou (2007) (+1)

#1

I Miss You (2014) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #11: Top Angerme

Ah Angerme. It seems like they're the current "golden child" of H!P fans. They are always praised to the heavens by just about everyone. I don't get it personally. I like Angerme. I do. I like the members, they're talented. But their music is no better or worse than the rest of the H!P groups. It's exactly the same. For me personally, I actually like Angerme's newest material less than everyone but Kobushi. Their EDM-ish tracks are so lame and one note. The girls sound bored singing them. Their rockier tracks are even worse. I've been indifferent to everything they've released this year. Itoshima Distance was probably the highlight and even then it's kind of meh. So disappointing for Meimi's final single. I really hope they get better music next year, or at least have some energy while singing the songs.

Member wise, Angerme has been somewhat surprising this year. Moe was pretty surprisingly added (although I don't remember if that was late last year or early this year. Whatever. She had her first single this year so it counts). Moe seems to be very talented, but I don't find myself drawn to her like everyone else seems to be. She also really looks like Zoe Barnes from House of Cards to me. I don't know why. I didn't like Zoe. She was annoying and I'm glad she was killed off super early into season two (I'm on episode 3 I think of season two so far, such a good show). Off-topic but ANYWAY, I'm indifferent to Moe. Momona though. Gosh I really dislike saying I don't like certain girls because I don't know them personally and they're all younger than I am and it's their dreams to do this job, but I really don't like Momona. They couldn't have picked a more horribly awkward girl for Angerme. She needed another year or two in the Kenshuusei in my opinion. I know that Maho was super awkward at first and she's amazing now, but Maho has a quality that drew me to her from the get go. Seeing Momona in official pictures makes me cringe because she is so out of place. I'm just somewhat disappointed in Angerme all around this year.

#10

Suki yo, Junjou Hankouki (2012) (-2)

#9

Aa Susukino (2014) (NEW)

#8

Ee ka?! (2013) (NEW)

#7

Mystery Night (2014) (-)

#6

Uchouten Love (2011) (-1)

#5

Smile Bijin (2010; from Ganbaranakutemo Eenende) (+1)

#4

Shin Nippon no Susume! (2013; from 2 Smile Sensation) (-)

#3

Nana Korobi Yaoki (2015) (-1)

#2

Yumemiru 15 (2010) (+1)

#1

Chikyuu wo Kyou mo Ai wo Hagukumu (2014) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #10: Top Juice=Juice

Juice=Juice seems to have had a pretty good year. Both in public recognition and music. I think it's pretty awesome that they were able to star in their own drama. I haven't watched it because I really don't care enough to watch it, but it's still cool. Upset that they never released Otona na Jijou as a B-side/a single. I don't want to waste the money to buy the Petit Best to get it on CD. The group is very good as a complete package. Better than C-ute in my opinion. I don't think that they have amazing talent above and beyond everyone else, but as a cohesive unit they're good. As for the music this year, I think that they had the best releases. Their first single was amazing all around and Dream Road is probably one of the best songs out of H!P in the past 2 years. They're the group that still has the most "H!P Tsunku vibe" to them, probably because they're still mainly produced by him. I predict that someone will graduate next year though. I don't imagine that they will last as long as Berryz and C-ute. I'd be surprised if they lasted as a group until 2020. For next year though, I hope that they continue with the great music and continue to impress.

#10

Romance no Tochuu (2013) (-)

#9

Black Butterfly (2014) (-2)

#8

Ijiwaru Shinaide Dakishimete yo (2014) (-4)

#7

Karada Dake ga Otona ni Nattan ja nai (2016) (NEW)

#6

Watashi ga Iu Mae ni Dakishimenakya ne (2013) (-)

#5

Hadaka no Hadaka no Hadaka no Kiss (2014) (-)

#4

Dream Road ~Kokoro ga Odoridashiteru~ (2016) (NEW)

#3

Kaze wa Fukarete (2014) (-)

#2

Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru (2013) (-)

#1

Senobi (2014) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #9: Top Country Girls, Kobushi Factory, Tsubaki Factory, & Kenshuusei

It's too bad none of these groups have enough songs to fill an entire countdown yet. Well, Kobushi does (and technically the Kenshuusei do too but they'll always be with other groups unless they come out with a second album), but I haven't heard the songs from Kobushi's album yet so they still get this place. With C-ute leaving next year, there will be an open slot on the countdown for them or Country Girls, depending on if Country Girls releases an album since they have more seniority.

I guess I'll go backwards and talk about the Kenshuusei first. This year I don't find myself interested in any of the Kenshuusei that are left. There's girls that I think are talented, but I'm not invested in any of them like I was with Musubu or Kisora. Even the Kenshuusei test this year was pretty bad. I thought almost all of the girls didn't perform well, especially girls who had been in the company for a while. Momohime knocked it out of the park & Hikaru/Ruru were good as usual, but everyone else just sounded blah. As for who I'm rooted for for 13th gen....I don't really know. I don't want Kaede. I don't think her vocals are hot stuff like everyone says they are, she just has a deep voice. I do want Reina though. Her singing is ok, but she's so gorgeous. She and Maria could be co-faces of the group & get lots of photoshoots I believe. As for a good singer, either Hikaru or Ruru would be nice. Momohime I believe would be a good talent to have in MM, but not yet. In my opinion, she doesn't look mature enough yet to meld into the group with the style they're going for these days. In a year or two, maybe, but not yet. Could MM change their style up to fit her? Yes. But at the same time, MM has NEVER been a cutesy group. Sure they have a couple cuter songs, but they've always been a more mature looking funky group and to become Country Girls 20 years into their existence would be a terrible route to pursue. I truly think that Momohime is the next Karin/Ayano. The future face of a future group once she's older to be able to carry it. So yeah, I don't have much of a preference for 13th gen. Even if Kaede or Momohime get in, I won't be upset. I don't personally think they'll fit, but who knows, they might surprise me.

Tsubaki! I don't care what anyone says I love Tsubaki & they're better than Kobushi will ever be (bold statement xD). Yes, objectively Kobushi are much MUCH more talented than the Tsubaki girls. However, I love EDM. Therefore, I vastly prefer Tsubaki over Kobushi and always will unless both groups drastically change their style. I'm extremely excited for their major debut. Just Try sounds like it'll be great in the studio recording. The three new members were a shock this year. Mao was really the one I was hoping to get into MM, but I'm very pleased with her placement in Tsubaki. Saori I was always iffy on (I've always seen her as a Karin-lite), but she seems to be fitting in well. I didn't really know anything about Mizuho, but she's SO pretty and fits in with the group perfectly. I'm upset that they only received one release this year (I don't count the EP cause it was all already released/covers). Hitorijime was.....ok. I typically love Tsunku's songs but it just felt ok. Nothing mind blowing like Manmannaka or Sakihokore.

Kobushi is a group of ups and downs for me. They're so very talented, but so few of their songs appeal to me. I don't really care for funky pop rock music and it's grating hearing young teenagers attempting to do that vocal growl in songs. I didn't really like any of the songs on their third single, and outside of Sakura Night Fever (which grew on me), their second single was meh too. Also, what's with them receiving an album before Country Girls?! That somewhat bothers me but whatever. I am surprised that none of the girls have announced a graduation yet though. H!P groups tend to always have that one that leaves not long after debut. I would be ok with both Kobushi & Tsubaki becoming the new Berryz/Cute and not having generations (barring Tsubaki gen 2 as they were clearly added to balance out the group before major debut) and graduating as a mainly intact team.

Country Girls had such a high point early this year with Boogie Woogie Love & Koi wa Magnet, and then kind of crashed from that with the okay Dou Datte & a song cover. I don't like covers. To me, it's a company being lazy and they didn't want to pay a songwriter to do something original. I really wanted an album from them this year. I'm hoping that the rumor of their new single is true. The rumored song titles sound like a dark vs. light (SWTOR themed? LOL....if anyone gets the bad joke xD) concept with a mature song and a cutey song. I think that'd be cool. I'm SO glad that Momoko is leaving next year. It's a perfect time, right after Cute leaves. I'm also hoping for a Country Girls Gen 3 with Momohime & one of the newer girls. And Musubu leads. And solos. And a Musubu solo career without Country Girls. Yes. That. Speaking of Musubu, was anyone else upset that she got no lines in that cover song? I was upset. It wasn't only a cover song, but it was also a cover song without Musubu getting a solo line. Two dings from me! In all seriousness though, Namida no Request isn't bad at all, I'm just annoyed they had a cover song as an A-side on a single with only two songs. It's not as annoying when there's more songs.

#10

Country Girls - Dou Datte Ii no (2016) (NEW)

#9

Kobushi Factory - Sakura Night Fever (2016) (NEW)

#8

Hello! Pro Kenshuusei - Oheso no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa (2014) (-4)

#7

Kobushi Factory - Survivor (2015) (-4)

#6

Country Girls - Boogie Woogie Love (2016) (NEW)

#5

Hello! Pro Kenshuusei - Koishitai Shinto (2015) (+2)

#4

Hello! Pro Kenshuusei - Onna no Sono (2015) (-2)

#3

Tsubaki Factory - Keidakaku Sakihokore! (2015) (NEW)

#2

Country Girls - Koi wa Magnet (2016) (NEW)

#1

Tsubaki Factory - Seishun Manmannaka! (2015) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #8: Top AKB48

It's kind of fitting that AKB's day lands on the same day that they debuted their 16th gen! Congrats to all the new girls! I'm excited to see new faces in AKB & I can't wait to see who gets pushed. AKB itself has been somewhat interesting this year. Takamina FINALLY left after her way too long drug out graduation, Kojiharu is also finally leaving soon, and Paruru announced her graduation. I never really minded that Shimazaki didn't seem to be overly enthusiastic about AKB. Unlike Kojiharu who I feel should've left a long time ago, I like Paruru. I think it's for the best that she announced though. Not just for her health, but I think it's always better to leave at your peak than overstaying your welcome. Nana Owada's recent graduation announcement shocked me. I can't believe she's leaving already. I figured Nishino would be gone before any of the other newer pushed girls. As for next year, I'm hoping that more old gen girls start to leave. It's time for AKB to completely transition to Gen 9 and newer. As much as I love Miichan, I hope she also announces next year. It's time for first gen to go. I also have a feeling that Mayuyu will announce next year.

As for the music this year, it's been very up and down. Kimi wa Melody was pretty good to me, even though I saw a lot of people not really feeling the song. That single also featured two super awesome B-sides: Make Noise & Mazariau Mono. Tsubasa wa Iranai, both the song itself and the B-sides, were so bland. NGT's song on the theater edition is cool, but everything else was SO disappointing, especially for the summer single. Love Trip as a song is awesome, but I didn't think the other A-side or the B-sides were anything special at all. I never really care for the B-sides of the Sousenkyo single though. High Tension I think is on par with Kimi wa Melody as far as the total package. The A-side is great & there's two super great B-sides: Seijun Tired (best B-side this year from them) & Shunsuki (? I think I spelled that wrong...) Adrenaline. Overall though, I didn't feel like there was that great of music from AKB this year. Hoping for something different next year. Maybe another UZA-type A-side? That'd be nice instead of more slow songs or funky songs. Change it up please!

My ranking has drastically changed from last year. I finally got (almost, missing Pajama Drive, the Himawarigumi stages, Renai Kinshi & Saishuu Bell) all of the stage albums and I LOVE so many of the songs from them. Much better than their singles and normal albums tbh.

#10

Kibouteki Refrain (2014) (NEW)

#9

Nageki no Figure (2006; Team A 2nd Stage) (NEW)

#8

Dokugumo (2010; Team K 6th Stage) (NEW)

#7

How Come? (2013; Sayonara Crawl Type K) (-2)

#6

Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (2007) (-2)

#5

Ikiru Koto (2013; Sayonara Crawl Type A) (NEW)

#4

Beginner (2010) (-2)

#3

Hana to Chire! (2006; Team K 3rd Stage) (NEW)

#2

UZA (2012) (+1)

#1

Mokugekisha (2009; Team A 6th Stage) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #7: Top SKE48

I wish SKE hadn't only gotten two singles this year. As they're the second most senior group after AKB, they should get more releases tbh. And what happened to that album? Did management forget about it or something? SKE's really feeling pretty forgotten recently. Their first single this year, Chicken Line, was REALLY good. Now that's the type of song SKE pulls off the best. The music video was amazing too. The B-sides were largely forgettable, although Is That Your Secret was good. Kin no Ai the A-side was nice. The concept fit SKE even though the song was just ok. The B-sides though...is it just me or were they all the same song? Seriously, they all sounded so sameish and bland. The group also lost a lot of strong members in the past year. Aya Shibata leaving was certainly a downer. They really need to focus on the new girls and stop relying so much on Jurina cause the older established members are starting to drop like flies.

#10

Darkness (2013; Choco no Dorei all versions except Type C) (-)

#9

Banzai Venus (2011) (-1)

#8

Coquettish Juutaichuu (2015) (+1)

#7

Kesanai Honoo (2014; 12gatsu no Kangaroo (Type A))(-)

#6

Tsyokimono yo (2009) (-2)

#5

Chicken Line (2016) (NEW)

#4

Bukiyou Taiyou (2014) (+1)

#3

Utsukushii Inazuma (2013) (-)

#2

Kataomoi Finally (2012) (-1)

#1

Escape (2013) (+1)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #6: Top NMB48

Ah NMB....they could be so awesome and they do have great moments, but fall flat so often. Was it only me that found NMB's releases this year bad? Amagami was ok at best & Boku wa Inai was sad. Their newest single sounds like it's going to be awesome, but it's too late in the year to really think about for this post. I also wish that there wasn't any "rapping". No one in 48G can rap so please, please stop it. They sound worse than the token K-pop rappers. I was right last year when I thought that the big members were going to begin to graduate with Miyuki leaving this year. I'm still guessing that Sayaka will at least announce hers next year. I think NMB will be fine without either girl, they just need to stop relying on Sayaka so much. Ririka makes a good center & this "Ayaka Yamamoto" girl (gosh when they saw her name they must've seen dollar signs) seems to be coming up so they have other options. Sayaka will still sell a bazillion handshakes whether she centers or not.

I think very few of my rankings changed from last year. Ouch NMB.

#10

Junjou U-19 (2011) (NEW)

#9

Ibiza Girl (2013; Sekai no Chuushin all versions) (+1)

#8

Renai Petenshi (2015; Don't Look Back (Type N) (-)

#7

Kitagawa Kenji (2012) (-1)

#6

Todokanasoude Todokumono (2013; Bokura no Eureka (Types A-C)(+1)

#5

Don't Look Back (2015) (-)

#4

Must Be Now (2015) (-)

#3

Teppen Tottande! (2013) (-)

#2

Kamonegix (2013) (-)

#1

Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo (2011) (-)

25 Days Of Christmas Coundown Day #5: Top HKT48 & NGT48

Didn't NGT have a single announced for this year? What happened to that or was that just an internet rumor? AKS seriously needs to get on the ball and have them release something. Keyaki has been around for almost the same amount of time and they've already had three singles. It's almost like AKS wants everyone to forget about NGT and watch them fail. They have I think only 2 songs (or was it three? I don't remember) so far that were just AKB B-sides. Their B-side on Tsubasa wa Iranai was awesome though. I hope they take that direction instead of HKT cutesy. It was also the only good song on the entire Tsubasa single too. I really don't have many thoughts about the group itself. They need to debut because I'm just uninterested in them otherwise.

HKT is so boring. There I said it. Out of all the 48s, 46s, eleventyfours & whatever else, they're the most boring musically. They absolutely have good songs, but why do all of their A-sides tend to sound EXACTLY THE SAME. Saikou ka yo was an ok change from Okubuns & 12 Byous, but it still felt so blah. For a supposedly high energy song where was the energy? The girls sound like they sing on auto pilot & the recording people don't care. I also really miss Meru has center. Haruppi is bland in my opinion. I liked that they switched it up & made Hana center for Saikou but I don't really see anything much more interesting in her to be honest. Their B-sides this year were all rather bland too. Taboo no Iro attempted to be edgy & cool, but it came off really forced. Team H's song on Saikou was alright, but beyond that I can't think of any other B-side this year that caught my attention. The weird thing is, their best song this year was on an AKB single! Make Noise is awesome. Why not do that on your own singles?!

#10

HKT48 - Kidoku Through (2014; Sakura Minna de Tabeta (Type A) (-2)

#9

HKT48 - Suki! Suki! Skip! (2013) (-2)

#8

HKT48 - Shekarashika! (2015) (NEW)

#7

HKT48 - Tasogare no Tandem (2015; Shekarashika all versions) (NEW)

#6

NGT48 - Kimi wa Doko ni Iru? (2016; Tsubasa wa Iranai - AKB48 (Theater)) (NEW)

#5

HKT48 - Melon Juice (2013) (-)

#4

HKT48 - Hikaeme no I Love You (2014) (-1)

#3

HKT48 - Make Noise (2016; Kimi wa Melody - AKB48 (Type C) (NEW)

#2

HKT48 - Mukashi no Kareshi no Oniichan to Tsukiau to Iu Koto (2014; Sakura Minna de Tabeta (Type B) (-)

#1

HKT48 - Tenmonbu no Jijou (2013; Melon Juice (Theater) (-)

Music Recomendations (December 4, 2016)

Am I allowed to do two posts in a day? I don't think I've ever done that lol. Well, I'm actually avoiding working on some things and was thinking how I haven't done anything like this recently, so why not! Since I haven't done it in so long, I'll just explain the purpose of this kind of post. Essentially, I love music and I can't stand how there's hardly any type of blogs out there that have just a list of songs to listen to. I'm lazy, just give me lists! So I figured why not do that sometimes on my blog? Unfortunately I haven't really been keeping up with that, but I still want to do it every once in a while. What I do is just list some songs, link their videos, and maybe give a little blurb about what the song is like. So...onward to music!

Park Ki Ryang - Hustle (ft. Mechilling) (2016)

This is such a bad song to start out with because no one's going to want to look at the rest because of my terrible music taste lol. Okay, this song is kinda bad, but it's a guilty pleasure type of song. Catchy, mindless, dancey. Great as a distraction in my opinion.

Lindsey Stirling - Hold My Heart (ft. ZZ Ward) (2016; from the album Brave Enough)

Violins & dance music? Yes please! Best song on her new album from the singles I've heard so far. I love when she teams up with vocalists.

Playback - Playback (Areia Remix) (2016)

Is a remix cheating? I actually disliked the original, but I heard this two days ago and I'm just obsessed with that instrumental. Props to the remixer because wow it's one of the best pieces of pop music ever.

JoJo - FAB. (ft. Remy Ma) (2016; from the album Mad Love)

If you're not big into songs with a lot of swearing, don't listen to this one. This type of song isn't usually my thing, but it's just so catchy and attitude filled. Love it! The rap is slowing growing on me too (not a rap fan at all).

Predia - Kindan no Masquerade (2017)

Predia's newest single! I'd say that if you're mainly a K-pop/Western pop person, this is probably a good group to get started on if you want to look into J-pop. They have amazing vocals and their music is modern dance pop.

Peter Possession - Have You Here (ft. Matt Pardus) (2016)

It's probably pretty clear what type of music I prefer huh? The instrumental is so awesome.

Sabina Ddumba - Not Too Young (2016)

Discovered this from YouTube a couple of days ago. Pure pop perfection. Love it.

Dear Kiss - Shiny Shy Girl (2016)

Okay final one. I semi-like this. It's an okay J-Pop song. BUT I just found out that Nonoko from Galette recently joined this group!!! AHHH *Excited dancing* I love her & I'm looking forward to following Dear Kiss. Saki Shishima who left Galette early this year is also in this group. Hoping Yui Komori will come along too because she & Nonoko were my favorite Galette girls and I'd love to see them stick together.

Hope you enjoy!

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #4: Top Nogizaka46 & Keyakizaka46

So. I've noticed that all 3 of the entries I've done so far besides this one I've screwed up the title. Wow. I clearly am not having a good week lol. I've been sick all week so that's my excuse.

Nogi & Keyaki are together in this because Keyaki doesn't have enough releases yet to have their own spot.

To me, Nogi hasn't had a super stand out year. Quite frankly all of their releases from this year blend together and I actually had to sit for a couple minutes to even remind myself what they'd released. I haven't enjoyed any of their title tracks this year and their album wasn't interesting outside of Erika Ikuta's solo either. I guess Nogi's music style is not for me at all. However, they do manage to release some really awesome songs once in a while. Like I said on my Top J-Pop post, when Nogizaka releases a good song, it's not just good, it's stellar. They did that this year. Their B-side Harukanaru Bhutan. Whoever did the music for that song, I just want to congratulate them on creating one of the most gorgeous pieces of pop music I've ever heard. I'm so upset that it was a B-side and didn't get a whole lot of attention. It's the best thing that any 48G group has ever put out. It's just too bad that the rest of their music is so bland. As for Nogi themselves this year, I'm actually a little shocked at how strong they are going right now. It looks very possible that they will beat AKB within the next year or two, as long as the idol market doesn't completely crash.

Keyaki is a bit of a mystery to me. I can't figure out if I want to like them more than Nogi or not. Their very first single, Silent Majority, absolutely blew me away. Such a style difference from Nogi's more reserved songs. I loved it and the B-sides weren't that bad either. However, I've been disappointed in their next two singles. I like that they're keeping the faux military concept, but I HATED Sekai ni wa. It's a song. There's not supposed to be that much talking in a song. Make a freaking drama if you want to talk over music don't ruin the song. The B-sides were okay, all though I did really like Yurina's Parco solo. That was cool. Although I don't hate Futari Saison, I find it bland like Nogi's material and the B-sides were very lacking too in my opinion. The group seems to be easily matching AKB's sister groups in sales and will likely surpass them by next year. One thing I do wonder though is how long people will like Yurina being the center. I think she's a rather good center, but as we saw with Nogi, will people start being resentful that she's the only one centering like Rina was? There's already some talk on forums that I've seen where people are wishing for a new center. I'm curious to see if management will stick with Yurina or if they'll try someone new next year.

On to the song countdown! Like last year, it's unlikely that all of the songs will be linked because it's harder to find 48G material online that aren't download links sadly.

#10

Nogizaka46 - Sono Saki no Deguchi (2014: Natsu no Free & Easy, Type A) (-4)

#9

Nogizaka46 - Yubi Bouenkyou (2012: Seifuku no Mannequin, all versions) (-2)

#8

Nogizaka46 - Popipappapa (2015: Ima, Hanashitai Dareka ga Iru, Type A) (-)

#7

Nogizaka46 - Natsu no Free & Easy (2014) (-4)

#6

Nogizaka46 - Barette (2013) (-2)

#5

Keyakizaka46 - Silent Majority (2016) (NEW)

#4

Nogizaka46 - Girl's Rule (2013) (+1)

#3

Nogizaka46 - Seifuku no Mannequin (2012) (-1)

#2

Nogizaka46 - Koko ni Iru Riyuu (2014: Natsu no Free & Easy, Type C) (-1)

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan (2016: Harujion ga Sakukoro, all versions) (NEW)

Only one Keyaki on the countdown...maybe next year they'll feature more.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown #3: Top SNH48, BEJ48, & GNZ48

Last year they were never included because they had no original releases, this year they do! I know that they are no longer part of the main 48G, but to me they still belong to that umbrella "48 Group" thing. When they announced that they were breaking off from AKB & forming new groups, it didn't really surprise me. SNH always seemed much more separate from the Japanese groups that JKT ever did. While I think that morally it wasn't very nice to just be like "Oh well we're taking your concept for ourselves & cutting you off bye bye!", I like the fact that they are getting their own original music now. Cover songs are soooo boring. I wish that AKS would allow JKT to have an original release for once because I love collecting 48G CDs, but I'm not going to waste money on CDs from a glorified cover band.

With SNH's original music, they've only gotten better as the year's progressed. Engine of Youth's EP was ok at best. One song was incredible while the others were just ok. Dream Land's EP was the same and to be honest I can't really remember anything from it besides that it wasn't awful. Princess's Cloak though. Both versions of the EP are pretty dang good. Romantic Melody is so awesome. BEJ & GNZ's songs are much like SNH's first two EPs, ok, but nothing amazing. Since SNH had such a huge jump in quality from the start of the year to now, I'm really looking forward to what their sister groups have in store for the future.

I don't know why, but I've never liked using pinyin for Chinese songs, so I'll be using the English translation for the song titles that I've seen. So the English might not even be completely right lol. The translations I've seen seem a bit "clunky" although I'm not sure how difficult it is to convey the meaning of a song title between Chinese and English so it might be as good as it can get.

#10

SNH48 - Dream Land (2016)

#9

GNZ48 - You Don't Know Me (2016)

#8

SNH48 - A Yo Ai Yo (2016)

#7

GNZ48 - Flashing Dream (2016)

#6

SNH48 - 48 Secrets (2016)

#5

BEJ48 - Hello! Mr. Future (2016)

#4

SNH48 - Engine Of Youth (2016)

#3

SNH48 - Princess's Cloak (2016)

#2

SNH48 - Romantic Melody (2016)

#1

SNH48 - Hand Of Justice (2016)

I just love how these are all actually on YouTube. Not like Japanese songs. I also never saw any of their MVs until looking them up for this. Holy crap the budget! These rankings will probably change so much by next year lol.

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #2: Top J-Pop of All Time

So last year when I did this one, I didn't really know many J-pop songs outside of idol groups. This year I've gone more out of my way to find J-pop songs from soloists and bands. I still have a long way to go to get into other J-pop, but it's improving lol. Because of expanding my horizons, this list is much different than last year's. As with last year, this will not feature any songs from H!P or 48G (minus one) because the entire list would be from them otherwise.

#10

One Ok Rock - Mighty Long Fall (2014) (NEW)

Yeah blah blah this isn't technically J"pop" but I don't technically care. The only reason I checked this song out was because I saw their Taking Off video uploaded on the Fueled By Ramen YouTube & I was so confused because I knew they were a Japanese group and didn't know why they were being uploaded on an American YouTube channel. I'm glad I did decide to check it out though because it's such a great song. Reminds me a lot of Fall Out Boy who I love.

#9

Minako Honda - Dramatic Escape (1988) (NEW)

One thing I've really been trying to do over the past year is focus on 80s J-Pop. I really love the sound of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to check out too many CDs, but one that I have is Minako's Lips album. It's SO good. I'm a sucker for great 80s music and it really is awesome.

No YT video, sorry. But you can listen to it on my 8Tracks playlist! (<---Clicky Clicky)

#8

Galette - Brand New Style (2013) (-6)

I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT GUYS. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. I was devastated by the news of their disbanding. Well, at least as devastated as I can get with music. I don't get super attached to groups even if I love them so it's not like I was crying over it but I was still upset. They had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Wasted. Utterly wasted. To be honest I'm more pissed off at their company than upset that they disbanded. But ANYWAY. This song has slipped a lot for me recently. Probably because I overplayed it to death. Still an absolutely amazing song though.

#7

Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me (2002) (-4)

One of the very few non-English songs I enjoy primarily for its lyrics. Just a lovely song.

#6

Predia - Maboroshi wa Xanadu (2014) (NEW)

So. I feel as though I should be ashamed of myself for not knowing this song earlier. I actually owned it for a year before listening to it. I bought Predia's first album because I liked the singles and then never got around to actually listening to the album itself (which is absolutely fantastic by the way if you like dance pop & good vocals). I either like this or Yakou Chou best on the album but I couldn't decide which so I just went with which one I loved first lol.

No video

#5

Hangry & Angry - Top Secret (2009) (+1)

This really only has a placing because of nostalgia, but I remember this being my first real J-pop song addiction outside of Morning Musume.

#4

Momoiro Clover Z - Mouretsu Uchuu Koukyoukyoku Dainana Gakushou "Mugen no Ai"(2012) (-2)

Another song that's fallen because I played it completely to death. Still love the insane wackiness of the whole thing.

#3

Osaka Shunkashuto - Cameleon Shoujo (2015) (NEW)

When are they going to release a new single? Seriously they need to release something and not just perform all the time. I hate when I fall in love with a group and then they hardly ever release music (looking at you Coco Decoru. One release since 2014.) But at the same time Osaka Shunkashuto is one of the few groups that I actually have watched a couple live performances of, mainly because Maina is an absolute star and owns any stage she walks on.

#2

Galette - Air Summer (2015) (NEW)

Man I miss them. Their whole discography is flawless. They should've released one last single or an album before their end.

#1

Nogizaka46 - Harukanaru Bhutan (2016) (NEW)

This is my one exception. I only put this here because it is my actual favorite J-pop song of all time. It only came out this year, but it's one of those genre defining songs for me. The music is absolutely gorgeous and everything is just wonderful about it. It's actually surprising to me how much I love it as Nogizaka is one of my least favorite groups in 48G. However, when they have good songs, those songs are incredible.

No video :(

25 Days of Christmas Day #1: Top K-Pop of All Time

I said I was going to do this again and I'm going to try my best to post on time for each day lol. The format will be exactly the same as last year except this year I'm going to the places each thing moved (or is new) from the past year. Mainly because I just want to see how my interests have changed over the year. So here we go, entry #1!

So I feel like last year's list was completely all over the place. 2015 was the first year since 2012 that I had had much interest in new K-pop and due to that, my list was so scatterbrained and I had forgotten about so much. This year I think I have a much more accurate idea of my top 10 K-pop songs of all time.

#10

Oh My Girl - Closer (2015) (-)

This song made the list last year even though it was practically brand new. Closer really reignited an interest in K-pop for me. It's just an incredible song by an incredible group. If the song continues to hold up in the future, it easily could be in my top three.

#9

Girl's Day - Expectation (2012) (NEW)

I really got back into this song this year. I loved it when it came out, but I finally picked up the album this year and have played it a lot since. This song in my opinion was Girl's Day's peak. They've had good songs since, but this was their peak musically for me.

#8

Girls' Generation - Into The New World (2007) (-4)

Out of all of SNSD's songs over the years, their debut remains my favorite. It's actually aged rather well as opposed to once great songs like The Boys or Run Devil Run that just sound like they should've stayed in 2011. It's just a fun & uplifting song.

#7

Chocolat - I Like It (2011) (-4)

I still miss them so much. Years ago this would've been number one for me, but quite frankly it just hasn't aged well at all. I still love the song and I still love them, but there's so many other songs that are sounding better than this.

#6

Wonder Girls - Loved (2015) (NEW)

So last year I had I Feel You pretty high up, which was only because I couldn't think of half the tracks that I should've featured. But as much as I love that song, after listening to the album over the past year, Loved is such a stand out track. In my opinion, it's probably the single greatest K-pop album tracks ever released. It's just 80s filled amazingness.

#5

After School - Dressing Room (2013) (+1)

I'm still upset at myself that I haven't purchased the First Love EP yet. I want to, but I keep feeling like I can't justify buying K-pop EPs anymore because they cost the same as full albums & none have come up for cheap on ebay that I've seen. Oh well, eventually. This is After School's greatest song and should've been a single. I couldn't decide if this & Loved should've been switched around so I just kept them in the order of release.

#4

2NE1 - Come Back Home (2014) (NEW)

Quite frankly the reason this is so dang high is because of their disbandment. However, this is an incredible song and unlike the vast majority of their other material, I feel like this will hold up over the years.

#3

Orange Caramel - Bangkok City (2011) (-2)

The beat in this song is still fresh 5 years later. The ultimate K-pop club track in my opinion. Orange Caramel needs to release something else like this.

#2

Swan.B - Be All Right (2011) (-)

Why does no one know this song?! WHY?! Yes, it's super duper indie & there's no clue what ever happened to the group that did it but it's just so good. Eurobeat is sadly not featured in K-pop ever.

#1

KARA - Step (2011) (NEW)

I don't think there will be anyone in K-pop who will ever release anything quite as amazing as Step. It's one of those songs you can never get tired of and sound like they could be released tomorrow and still smash. I didn't list it last year because I forgotI forgot about it when I when I made the list. Kinda upset that I did that lol

Dianna Sweet - Deep Snow

I can't believe how soon December is already. I've decided I'm going to do what I did last year, the "25 Days of Christmas" countdown throughout December. I thought it was fun. Don't know if anyone else enjoyed seeing it or not, but I liked it. It makes up for hardly ever posting otherwise lol.

I don't actually know a whole lot about Dianna Sweet other than they have a few cool songs. They formed in 2013 and currently have three members. They have released seven singles with their newest being "Superhero" which was released this year. "Deep Snow" is their fourth single and was released in three versions, each with a different track 2. I'm mainly going to be talking about Type A since that's the one I have.

Track #1: Deep Snow

I'm actually not a big fan of the title track itself. It starts out nice enough, and the music is catchy, but I don't like how they sing the song itself. Their vocals are very young sounding and a little annoying. It also sounds like the girls are off pitch of the song that they're trying to sing in certain places (in the verses in particular). It's unfortunate because I think with a different group the song would sound really cool. 3.5/5.

This will be the only video linked since the others aren't on YouTube/Spotify.

Track #2: The Twin Tail!

This song is the reason that I bought the single in the first place. Now I'll be the first to admit (and I've even already said it) that I can't really stand the super high pitched cutesy voices that are present in this song. The reason I do like the song though is because of the music itself. It's a "metal" idol pop song that is super catchy and fun. It's like really early Babymetal, except without Suzuka's good vocals. 4.5/5.

Track #3: Hatsukoi Revolution 2015

This is the third track across all three versions of the single. It is an updated version of their first single, Hatsukoi Revolution. I don't like remakes and remixes personally. It bugs me when I end up having 3 different versions of the same song so I always end up deleting the non-originals. However, I have never heard the original of this song so I can't really compare. This version of the song is really idol poppy, but not annoyingly so. It's catchy, but definitely my least favorite on the CD. 3/5.

Type B Track #2 & Type C Track #2: Lucifer & Always

I can't really say too much about either of these two tracks as I've only heard previews of both. From the previews that I've heard, Lucifer is my favorite of the two. Lucifer is a dance pop track with pretty good sounding vocals. Always is a ballad track and doesn't really do anything for their vocals in my opinion. I can't rate either though as I haven't heard either in full.

All in all, it's not a great single, but it's fun and catchy. I much prefer their two newer singles to this though. Although Dianna Sweet isn't that well known, you can buy some of their music on US iTunes! If you'd like to check out more of their material. 4/5.

J-Pop Girls Mix (Vol. 2)

I made another 8tracks playlist! It's only been like a year since the last one lol. This one is just like the last one, except it's all solo singers instead of groups. Enjoy!

J-Pop Girls Mix (Vol. 2) from danceordie9173 on 8tracks Radio.

The tracklist is...

#1: Tomomi Itano - Dear J

#2: Ayami Muto - Parallel World

#3: Namie Amuro - Ballerina

#4: Ayumi Hamasaki - Real Me

#5: Maki Goto - Ai no Bakayarou

#6: Minako Honda - Dramatic Escape

#7: Seiko Matsuda - Ringoshu no Hibi

#8: Miyuki Watanabe - Yasashiku Suru Yori Kiss wo Shite

#9: Ai Otsuka - Laugh

#10: Kumi Koda - At The Weekend