Was the next to previous single foreshadowing? But as of today, Arihara Kanna has left the Hello! Project. Am I surprised? No, not really. Am I sad? Surprisingly, no. I actually think that she's better off not in the group.
Don't get me wrong... I'm not a Kanna hater or anything like that. But it seems that the fans have really been treating her badly. I've heard a story about the time when her first boyfriend pictures surfaced (apparently, according to H!O, there is now a second set? Or maybe this is the same set?). Basically in a handshake event, all the wota would deliberately shake hands with all the other C-ute members and then deliberately skip over her, resulting in her ending up in tears at the end of the event.
I know that I'm a fan of AKB48, where cruelty to their members seems to be their business (election anyone? I'll probably do a post on that later), but for the most part, I put that on the managers, since the love to structure things that the girls know when they're not popular so that they "work harder". Ha, or have a nervous breakdown.
Anyway, that's to blame the management. But with Kanna, I feel it was the failure of us, fans. They maybe idols, but they're still people. And I toast Kanna's departure and hope she finds a better future, and people who will appreciate her a lot more than we have (or at least the Japanese fans have).
I went to the concert! It was unbelievably awesome! I got to AX at about 10, but we stood in line in registration for the second time, because I went with my best friend and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend hadn't registered. Then we walked around the exhibit hall for a while before we got in line to get seating for the MM concert. It was really hot outside >.<, but you could hear the songs they were rehearsing.
Then we sat in the concert hall for 2 hours before the show started. I sat next to a guy from Japan who goes to numerous concerts a year. He's a huge Ai-chan wota, wearing a yellow shirt... and I tried out my Japanese the best I could, but it had been 1 year since I had spoken it so it was pretty broken Japanese >.<. I also hung out with Aaron, who I met in line for the MM tickets, and met Joel. I know that Aaron was a Reina-wota, and it just seemed like Joel was a general fan.
I had a great time there. Here was the setlist: Mikan 3 2 1 Breaking Out MC Intros Shouganai How Do You Like This Japan Resonant Blue Golden Age Medley (the exact medley I think from the all Singles concert) Love Machine Resonant Blue Coupling Song (too lazy to look up the title) Ame ga Furanai .... (apparently this song is about global warming? I had no idea) Announcements with Yossi (!!!!!) and Tsunku(!) with OPV winners. 3 2 1 Breaking Out Reprise
Some thoughts: *-I had a great time here, but the audience seemed kind of low energy. I really credit that to the inexperience of some fans, but I know that a lot of people there had no idea who they were, and didn't know their stuff. *-The girls looked super tired. Their energy wasn't up as high as I've seen in other concerts. I'm guessing they were jet lagged... they only did arrive 3 days before the concert. *- Junjun's intro was pure win. She said something along the lines of "I came from China, but I'm here with the Japanese group Morning Musume. It is because of this opportunity that I now know that music has no borders." and she did it in English! She's so awesome! I wish I had glow stuff in her image color. *- Best song: HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS JAPAN? It seemed to have a lot of energy, and it seemed the crowd loved it.
After that, I walked around the exhibit hall some more and then I went to the "Whose Line is it Anime?" That was really funny, but I wish I knew more anime so that way I could enjoy it more. I had to leave this early though and headed over to the Sekai no Melody panel. I had a great time there... they seem like an awesome dub group!
I had a great time that day... ended up going home way too late!
So, today was the first day of Anime Expo, and I got to see Morning Musume live in person for the first time! Now I've never been to AX even though I've lived in the LA area my entire life, but I just had to go this year. I wish my camera was in working order for pictures.
My costume: High King. I'll have to upload pics of this later, though I guess some people who take pics of cosplay have my outfit in their picture catalogue.
My first item on my agenda: AX Idol auditions. Man everyone was so good! I auditioned with Sobakasu, but I'm afraid I drifted a little on the song because of nerves and it was acapella. I saw Kyttyee and the leader of Sekai no Melody. It was loads of fun, and the judges were nice. I wish I knew who they were...
Second item: Morning Musume Q&A panel. I wish I was closer... then I would have gotten an autograph ticket. I was running late because of the AX audition, but it was so amazing that I could be in the same room as them. My impressions: Ai, Risa, and Eri are adorable. Junjun and Aika are very reflective and thoughtful, Sayumi is absolutely hilarious. Poor Reina had so many fans that asked her to do things (one guy wanted to do the punishment game with her... yuck) ... she looked a tad grumpy... might have been the jet lag though. Koharu was a tad bit annoying... when one person asked about future voice acting roles, Koharu wanted to do her Kirarin role... It would have been okay, but he was really asking the others for future roles.
I'm glad I understand Japanese... the translator kind of left stuff out, some of it to me changed the meaning. But *heart* Junjun liking the movie "Eraser inside my head". I saw that and it was so sad and moving... it's kind of nice to know that I've seen something that she has... I really wished that I could have gotten the chance to ask them something... I was too damn far away to get in line in time.
So I went over to the exhibit hall so I could purchase something for them to sign, but they were also out of autograph tickets. I'm hoping that if I stand in line long enough, I might be able to get something signed, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.
I do have my concert ticket for tomorrow! This is going to be my first Jpop concert, so I'm super stoked. I'll be sure to post more about it later!
As promised, to make me feel better about not feeling like a shallow wota, I am showing the unsuperficial aspect of AKB48 that I love.
So, what amazes me about AKB48 is just how much variation there is in the group. I read somewhere that the concept that Akimoto was using for the AKB48 concept was a classroom where you have all types of girls, so it was not necessarily based on talent alone. While AKB48 has some very generic, cutesy idol songs (which more often then not, to my dismay, end up as their singles >.<), but they can have some sexy songs, some mature songs, and songs that just flat out rock. But with the concept of the stage, we really get to see some of the girls show off their vocals that normally wouldn't fit in the generically cutesy idol single songs (*cough* Yuka *cough*). So here, I included my favorite vocal performances. As a note, I haven't really watched all the stages yet (though, I guess I have listened to all the songs at one point), so I'm really open to hearing other great vocal performances that you readers all have heard. These just happen to be the ones that upon the first couple of listens blew me away.
Also, since I ended up with so many on the honorable mentioned list, I decided to make a top 10 list! Yay! (DISCLAIMER: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MUSIC THEORY... if you disagree on music theory/vocal knowledge, I would love to hear what you think ^-^. I love learning new things.) Most of these songs I put on here, because I have tried them out and had a lot of trouble doing them, so I'm super impressed by them.
10.Mail no Namida
When Sayaka's solo comes near the end of the song, it literally gives me chills every time I hear it... it's so beautiful. Whoever thought of Chocolove is a complete genius :D I mean, let's pair Rina, who has the voice of an angel... it's so light and airy and beautiful... but I'm getting distracted here, with Sayaka and Sae who are good powerful singers. And despite this difference, they blend beautifully. Unlike their first single where Rina had the only solos, this one allows them to show off their voices in solos that seem to really suit them. All I can say is wow. And while I did like Mochi's addition to AX, it's not the same without Rina T-T
9. Anata no Christmas Eve
I love that they both come back every year (well... all two years they've held it, lol) to perform this at AX. I did like Takamina and Maimai's rendition, but there is nothing better than when Ayumi and Michiru perform this together, with Michiru on the piano. The low notes are kind of killer, but it fits their voices. Add in some beautiful harmonies in the bridges, and then a power chorus, it shows that when these two graduated, AKB48 really lost two great vocalists.
Darn... I couldn't find a yt video on this to embed, but I think I said this before in one of my first posts, but this song is what put Natsuki in my Top 10 of my favorites. Every time I hear this song, it gives me both chills (because the singers are amazing here) and also a warm feeling inside. I love Mochi's amazingly smooth, low voice, and Kasai's higher pitch vocals. I didn't think Kasai would have fit such a mature song, but she nailed it. But the person that I love the most in this song is Natsuki. Her voice is strong and clear while still having an edge of something that really makes it stand out to me. It's so gorgeous T-T. Anyway, the only complaint I have of this that Natsuki gets the second chorus, which means when they shorten it for concerts (like AX... mark my words, this song will be in there next year! I'm voting for it!), Natsuki's chorus won't be in there :(. Anyway, I love this song so much.
7. Naki nagara Hohoende
I LOVE Yuko's voice. It's very unique, it's got this like husky quality to it. Though, I haven't heard her in recent stuff (... slowly catching up on that...) since her surgery, I have they haven't changed her voice. I mean, I guess it would be okay if Yuko got a cute voice, but the way it is here makes her really stand out. Anyway, I love this ballad. It interested me at first because this (before K5 that is) was the only solo song that was officially part of the stages, I think. Then when I listened to it, I got the good goosebumps. Yuko did an amazing job with this.
Hm... I can only find Yuka's version on youtube... but it's okay, because it's just as good as Sayaka singing it, but I'll put the audio have of it here. All I have to say is wow about this song. It's a solo, so that demands a lot, but not only that, it's an 80's style power ballad, which means only certain girls in AKB48 can sub in. In the Yuka version, it's amazing because she's singing completely live... you can hear the rawness, but this song was just made for Sayaka. Words can't express how much I love this song.
5. Higurashi no Koi
I thought it was only fair that I include both version of this. In Team 2, we have Oh-yay, (who I wish I had gotten to know when she was still on AKB48, but unfortunately she graduated before I got into AKB48) who's voice is really sweet and nice, and Deguchi, who I guess is on SKE? I don't know, but she's really good. This is what I will call the sweet version of this song. It's really pretty as a ballad, and they did an amazing job with it. But I love the Team 1 version of it of Takamina and Yuka. I'm going to call this the power version of it. I honestly think that it suits the song better with power, but either way you look at it, both teams nailed this song. After trying this song out myself, it's not easy... especially those choruses. They require you to stay in your head voice for some kind of high notes, which in Oh-yay's and Deguchi's version, they actually switch to head voice, but in Team 1's they did not. But this song in Team 1 has who fans argue as the best singers on AKB48, so it's only understandable that they came out with such an awesome song. This though is really my favorite song from the Himawari stages, and I will always vote for this one when AX rolls around, so I can watch live Takamina and Yuka vocals!
4. Blue Rose
This song is just so full of wow! I mean, it's awesome cool song... my favorite part being where they kick the mic stands away and pull them back up. This one got high up on my list because recently I did a fandub of this a couple of weeks ago (which will be posted as soon as I get around to posting my other groups besides Twin Stars...), and my god was this hard. It made me sweat just from singing it... I can't even imagine how this girls pull it off so easily. Anyway, you really have to power this to make it sound good, and then there are very places to really get good breaths. The notes get a little on the high side to really power them well without getting nasally, and the fact that all of them can do that is just so amazing to me. I like the Team K version the best, though the Team B version is pretty good as well. I wish they would stop doing this song in shuffle concerts though T-T. I really don't like Team A versions of this... they're voices are just too cutesy for it.
3. Maria
lol on the blooper with Ayaka's magic hair. This song is mixture of pure magic: take a religious-ish song (AKB48 seems to like them...) about the Virgin Mary, add nun/Victorian costumes with Tomo~mi-chan in a gothic lolita outfit, lots of rockin' guitars, and Yuka power vocals, and you get pure epic win. Anyway, I recently heard Takamina try to do this song in the JCB shuffle concert, and boy it made me realize that the only person on AKB48 that can sing this out of the park is really only Yuka. I mean Takamina tried, and I thought she did the best she could, but no one can pwn it the way Yuka does. I'm surprised that there is dancing in this song because it requires so much in the vocal department.
1. Dreamin' Girls/ Mori e Ikou
We have a tie for number 1~! Because to me, to have to choose between the two songs is a little unfair because they are both awesome I think for the same reasons Okay, AKB48 is a huge group. So, I LOVE it when they take advantage of it to do a choir sounding kind of thing, and the biggest sucker for having the girls sing their own harmonies in songs. I love these two songs because it really shows to me, a serious side to AKB48, as well as shows that this group really can do kickass vocals. First we have dreamin' girls, which is an awesome acapella gospel song. That's right, it's a genre that I have seen no other idol group venture into, which really earns them bonus points. Also, this song is so complex with what sounds like many parts to the harmony as well as different parts singing the "ah"s, which are also harmonized. So amazing T-T
Mori e Ikou is just amazing. I almost had this one ranked above dreamin' girls, but I realized the only reason why I liked this one better because this one had a kick ass instrumental. But the composition is amazing, and the girls sing it so well. It's a great song.
Honorable Mentions:
Temodemo Namida: This song may not be that hard notewise, but I've been trying it out because it's going to be the next Twin Stars release, and I'm convinced now that Miki and Yuki are robots and don't need air. If you ever wondered why the dance is so simple in this song, it's because it's super hard to sing this, and if you tried to dance, there wouldn't any air left for the last line of the chorus.
Junai Crescendo: Another song that I find absolutely amazing, and all the girls are really strong here. I love how their voices sound, and some of those bridges give me the good chills at how they do their bridges into the chorus.
Bird: A great display of Takamina vocals here. I really like the emotion that these girls put into their performance.
Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru: I only included this because this song for some reason gets covered by a lot of groups, but those low notes are kind of deceptive. The dubbers trip all over themselves on them (which makes me really appreciate the way that Takamina just nails it every time).
Boku no Taiyou: I'm not going to lie, this one surprised me because I didn't realize until I tried to sing this for a group, that the range of just the melody is almost 2 octaves o.o I'm sure there is someone out there who can tell me what the actual range is, but it's amazingly big.
Inochi no Tsukai Michi: Another one, like Boku no Taiyou, which has a huge range for the entire group to sing.
Nagai Hikari: I really think that I included this only for the Takamina (or Myao as it was for the month when Takamina was too busy filming Mendol) solo. I love it.
Wow, that's a lot of songs I've listed here o.o It turns out that these girls have a lot of songs that they can really show off their vocal prowess in. I really liked making this list because it made me go back and listen to a whole bunch of great songs ^-^. I may be missing some other great vocal performances, but I'm still new at AKB48. these are the ones that caught my ear when I listened to all the stages out there so far. Some in the honorable mentions should be in the Top 10, but I didn't have enough room T-T I had already expanded it from 5 to 10 when I noticed I had like 15 songs in the Honorable mention list.
Some of my typing is a little nonsensical because it's a little on the late side here, and I wanted to finish... I'll fix them later, but for now, enjoy!
