07.07.06
THANKS for 1000 hits!
To everyone who’s been reading this little blog of mine, thanks for the support and readership! I know you’re out there!
I shall post more and bring more of my fangirl musings to all of you, promise~
07.06.06
Hinoi Team – NOW AND FOREVER release info
HINOIチーム
NOW AND FOREVER
CD
1. NOW AND FOREVER
2. SUMMERTIME
3. I’M GONNA CARRY ON
4. NOW AND FOREVER(Instrumental)
5. SUMMERTIME(Instrumental)
6. I’M GONNA CARRY ON(Instrumental)
DVD
1. NOW AND FOREVER (Video Clip)
2. NOW AND FOREVER (Dance Version)
3. オフショット (Offshoot)
Oh my, my, my. Hinoi Team looks so good on the cover, I think I want this single rather badly. And I’m not even a hormonal guy, just an adoring fangirl. Well. The oldest of these girls is a year younger than me. But they have such star presence! And it’s hard not to like them.
After viewing the PV, I have… mixed feelings about the new dance. It’s not as “grownup” as the members were saying in their blogs, still very teenage-idol-group. I’m upset that it’s not classic Para Para, and looks less “clean” than their previous dances. More on this later, when I actually get my DVD. Just a question though, since Hinoi Team was marketed as a Para Para group, would they gain or lose popularity by moving away from the genre? It will be interesting to track the charts, but then again Oricon is not the only indicator of popularity when it comes to idol groups.
What’s obvious from these covers is that Hinoi Team seem to be changing their image from “cute” to more “mature”. I’m perfectly fine with the “mature” image, but I’m alsothinking that they’re playing up to that famous dirty-old-man lolita complex too much… I mean, Asuka’s 15 and Keika’s still 13, and here we have them posing with come-hither expressions… For comparison purposes, here are the previous single and album jacket covers:
First Single: IKE IKE
Second Single: KING KONG
Third Single: NIGHT OF FIRE / PLAY WITH THE NUMBERS
Fourth Single: PLAY WITH THE NUMBERS
First Album: SUPER EURO PARTY
WAIT. What was I talking about? There is WAY too much leg shown in KING KONG and NIGHT OF FIRE for those to be uhm, chaste. Well.
07.03.06
Hinoi Team – SUPER EURO PARTY CDJapan package
Since I’m in a blogging mood, thought I might as well post again. I feel bad for leaving this poor blog to languish here for long periods of time…
I’m going to talk about my copy of Hinoi Team’s 1st Album, SUPER EURO PARTY! Why is it so special? It’s because that was the first time I ordered something from CD Japan, and also the CD+DVD First Press edition!
It arrived in this really LONG box. I didn’t know why until I realised they had put a huge A1 poster together with my CD.
And this is the sticker on the plastic wrapping saying it was the FIRST PRESS!!
This is the cover. Another first press goodie is that the whole cover is actually a sticker.
The CD…
The DVD…
When you remove the CD and DVD, you get pretty pictures of the Team members…
Asuka and Rina of the Right wing:
Hikaru and Keika of the Left wing:
Lastly, the back of the CD.
Edit: CD Scans HERE!
I think most people would have already heard the album, so just a few quick words from me. It included basically all of the singles and coupling tracks, but also included interesting new songs. The new songs are Hey Mr. DJ, Everybody Dance, Emoticons, JAM JAM JAM, Aishiteru and Just for me.
My only gripe with the music on the CD is Everybody Dance. I felt that allowing Hikaru’s voice to overpower it in a loud and dangerously veering off-tune falsetto was unwise. It was achingly ear-splitting… literally. One does not know whether to listen to Hikaru’s screaming or Asuka’s lower voice in the background. As a result, confusion ensues and this makes for a very discordant song.
Hey Mr DJ, JAM JAM JAM and Aishiteru are just average, but the sweet melodies of Just for me and Emoticons make up for them. So weighing up the pluses and minuses on this 16-track album, I’d give it an 7.5/10 mainly because the catchy single and coupling songs are able to carry the lesser songs through.
As for the DVD, all I have to say is that it’s my favourite because it has all the PVs and dance shots in crystal-clear quality. I dance in front of my TV daily as exercise and this is way better than squinting at a small video on my computer. I think this DVD is the most worth-it thing in the entire PARTY package because I use it so often. I’m taking one point away because it doesn’t include the dance shot for STICKY TRICKY AND BANG, as well as the similar dance moves for the three new dance videos included, Sing Na Na Na, Super Euro Flash and YEAH!. I thought it spelled a lack of creativity on the choreographer’s part. But other than that, it’s a comprehensive video selection of Hinoi Team’s work.
Aaaand the packaging made me feel so pampered, it took me a while to remember that I’d actually paid for this. Altogether I think that Hinoi Team’s management has hit upon the right formula, and they’re doing a really good job – except with that mistake of releasing STICKY TRICKY AND BANG only a week before SUPER EURO PARTY. But on second thought it could be because they wanted to capitalise on the increased attention just after a single release to put out the album. I can’t wait for the new single NOW AND FOREVER, which will be without Korrikki! Shall be counting down to August 9th… wait that’s National Day for us. Excellent.
SORAN HAPPIES – ODORE! Soran Para Para PV
In a previous post, I mentioned that Mio Tachibana’s girl group, SORAN HAPPIES, would release their debut single on April 12, 2006. Well it’s been out a few months, and I’m very, very late. But even so! Better late than never.
The song, albeit rather flat and repetitive, is insanely catchy at certain points. I for one, cannot resist singing that “YAAAAAA-ren soran soran soran SO-RAN SO-RAN” line over and over again. It’s particularly useful when you want to irritate a roomful of people. Don’t blast it too loudly though, it really grates on the nerves.
But enough about the song. Today this blog brings you a detailed look at the PV.
***
In case you didn’t know, the four girls from SORAN HAPPIES are middle-school Japanese fashion magazine models. Can they sing? It remains to be seen, but they’ve got decent stage presence at least in the PV.
From left to right, Konan Yuka, Uehara Nami, Asada Miho and our dear Tachibana MIO.
Despite the fact that this is a music video, they couldn’t seem to shake off their modelling roots. Or perhaps the director couldn’t resist reminding us of the insanely cute way Japanese girls pose for photos:
However, apart from the posing, this PV actually has some sort of storyline, and isn’t your usual “dance-shot, face-shot, dance-shot, face-shot” type of idol PV that we often see with groups like the now defunct SweetS, or *cough* Morning Musume.
The PV starts with the girls in a classroom, and looking for “Neko-chan” (Cat). That would be Neko-Hiroshi, the comedian they collaborated with on this song. His job is to cut in at appropriate intervals and say nonsensical words such as his trademark NYAAAA~~
(Pretty scary when he does it to the camera)
But horror of horrors, Neko-Hiroshi is nowhere to be found!
He’s actually having fun hiding from the girls…
In the school’s General Office.
Dancing with the Principal.
Fooling around in the science labs.
But while he’s hiding, our girls are also having fun showing us their Soran Para Para moves…
On the Rooftop.
In the school hall.
But they’re not about to give up yet! They finally find Neko-chan in a classroom,
scare him out of his wits,
and then proceed on to forcibly dragging him down the corridors…
(don’t try this at home, kids)
At this point in time one is really feeling sorry for poor Neko-Hiroshi. Then we realise the girls were going to these lengths for a greater good! With the whole team present, they can finally proceed to ascend the larger stage of the… school hall.
It doesn’t seem impressive at all, until the camera zooms out to reveal a hall FULL of Japanese schoolgirls doing the same dance, at the same time. Now as a self-taught Para Para dancer, I couldn’t help but be moved by such a scene.
Then the PV ended.
***
Song rating: 2/5, PV rating: 3.5/5
They’d better try something new next time… if there is a next time.
Overall, I think that this PV was a decent effort for a debut group that has no strong vocals to back it up. The dance is sloppy at times when compared to the strict synchronisation of Hinoi Team’s para para, old-school but very well executed. Given the fact that this is a different kind of para para, “Soran” para para to be precise, I suppose this apparent lack of competency can be forgiven as part of the Soran “style”.
The PV’s storyline, while simple, was funny in a weird way. Bonus points for that.
I was hoping that Mio would have a voice similar in quality to her brother’s, but it was impossible to discern her voice from the general squeaky wail that characterised the song. However, ironically or not this group is saved by the song. As the song does not require rich or even clear vocals, it actually suits their squeaky wail pretty well. On first listen it is jarring, but on repeated listens some of the melody’s hooks get catchier and catchier. Definitely great arcade music, but not something you’d want to have on repeat, unless you’re also addicted to that “YAAAA-ren Soran” line.
Nyaa! Download the PV over here.
