coinlockersbaby’s Neighborhood

This drawing for eiri <3
Hope you like it <3

I was composing a comment to zdorama's rememberance of an old single by SMAP.  A little while later, I had more of a rememberance of my own encounters with SMAP and J-pop in general, a decade-plus ago...

In the mid-90s I was becoming aware of SMAP as part of the whole J-pop pantheon.  One of the older managers in the office, a woman from Japan named Setsuko, pushing 60, was a huge fan of Johnny's Jimusho, especially Kimutaku and SMAP.  I was still generalizing on the king of all Japanese boy groups and thought her fangirl attitude a silly thing (ignoring of course my own CoCo worship but that's another story).  

I'm not sure what triggered the notion in me that SMAP wasn't worthy of ridicule (like say, the Backstreet Boys).  Certainly all those "Music Station" retrospectives provided some sort of foundation.  And it became clear that I'd have to learn some of those tunes for karaoke cause new material would be necessary for my co-workers from Japan.  

One day I crossed Setsuko in the hallway and told her, out of the blue, hey some of those SMAP songs are actually GOOD.  In fact, I SANG some of them.  She gave me this wide-eyed look, almost full of surprise.  "Of coooourse!" she replied, her tone not even trying to hide the obvious nature of my statement.  I could have expressed to her my great surprise that the sun rose Koko Head side or that it didn't snow in Hawaii -- her reaction would have been the same.

Not too long after that we were hanging out at a karaoke bar in Waikiki (long since closed) after work and I sang some of those songs, albeit rusty and unsure.  However Setsuko was impressed that I gave it the old college try and picked up the tab for the entire evening.  Thank you, SMAP!

You gotta love the play on words it's so cute! And all we need now is a Nacchi "Got Milk?" ad! ^-^

When this Nacchi milk carton popped up on auctions it became an instant must have unusual H!P item! I really admire it when UFA does something creative like this and it always makes collectibles so much more fun to own. "Natsumilk" comes complete with Nacchi concert dates bar code and...um..ingredient listing: bandana, can badge, and 2 photographs. The concert where this item was sold at was the Tokyo Koseinenkin Kaikan on November 5th, and the 6th back in 2005 for Nacchi's Autumn concert tour. I was trying to make it look sort of look like the items were "spilling" out of the carton here. :P This Nacchi autographed card is a bit smaller than the ones I usually see show up on auctions as you can get an idea of its size when placed next to the "Natsumilk" Nacchi pin (badge). Like several other H!P members, Nacchi's autograph has gone through its own fair share of changes over the years...this is at least the fourth incarnation of her autograph style that I've seen over the years and I have 2 of her previous autograph styles on previously purchased memorabilia including a larger group signed card as well as Asayan's "Ai no tane" original event group signed post card from the original five members. Nacchi used to sign her name using English letters but I find that I usually prefer it when they sign in Japanese characters instead whether it be kanji, hiragana, or katakana. It just seems a bit more special that way I think. ^-^ Here's a closer look at the "Natsumilk" bandana which comes with this set and it's actually of a pretty good size. One of the included UFA photos is a "logo" type which bears the name of her concert tour while the other is... ...a standard UFA photo release. Nacchi always has the best smile!!! ^-^ And what better way to accompany yourself with such a release than with Nacchi's latest concert DVD..."Special Live 2007 Autumn Acoustic Nacchi." With 115 minutes of intimate performances what's not to love here!...and a great set list along with live band...YES!...something that UFA should embrace more of and I know I keep saying this but what a live band brings to any stage performance is immeasurable in my opinion. Improvisation and interaction are just a small part of the possibilities that this adds to any live show and Nacchi's "Acoustic" live is no exception. Just one little clip here to share tonight and I've chosen one of my favorite Nacchi songs...."Iki wo kasanemashou." The all acoustic musician setting really adds a special dimension to the entire concert and each and every song gets an "acoustic" makeover of sorts with one of the most dramatically different arrangements being for "Koi no hana"....it simply just sounds so amazingly different here and with a violin and mandolin making an appearance in this new arrangement I think you'll be really impressed with it! For this performance of "Koi no hana" as well as many other great improvisations check out the rest of Nacchi's acoustic live which can be purchased here. And now..."Iki wo kasanemashou"...  

While going through some old posters in storage I came across my almost complete set of Momusu calendars dating from their 2000 calendar through 2007. The first Momusu calendar was released the previous year in 1999 and the short version of a long sad story is that while I ordered it for the record store that I was working at at the time and did have a copy for myself on hold while just waiting for the next payday...someone took it and purchased it on one of my days off. :O And it was the last copy! :( So while I am missing Momusu's first calendar for the year 1999, I do have the rest of them and I'll be posting them one at a time probably just up until 2004 as those released after that point are probably not rare in any sense as most likely every Momusu fan owns them as well.

They've all been rolled up all this time and without giving them enough time to flatten out once again they're not going to be completely flat in these photos although I did employ the help of a Smap book to help in holding the pages down on the last few months. I've been keeping the original wrappers to rehouse and protect my Japanese calendars when I put them into storage when the years up for each of them and while traditionally these style of wall calendars are intended to be the...tear each page off as the months expire...type of design, I've always preferred to keep all of the pages intact and attached by using a clamping type clip to hang them up instead. So in this way I just flip the months over and when the year's over I can easily roll the calendar back up and return them to their original packaging keeping them in their original form. I think the 2000 calendar has one of Momusu's coolest looking calendar covers ever! Gomaki sported her "original" kinpatsu (blonde) look for quite a brief period when she debuted in "Love Machine" and happily she's still wearing it in this calendar production. ^-^ Her look was simply striking and I remember how much she just stood out when I first got Momusu's "Love Machine" single back in late '99! Momusu would appear on an episode of SmapXSmap shortly afterwards and even Kimutaku dressed as "P-Chan" was wondering what happened to her wonderful "kinpatsu" look!

So much to love about this 8 member lineup!....Nacchi!, Yukosan, Sayaka!, Ayappe!, Marippe!, Gomaki!, Kaorin! and Keisan!

And the production efforts put into the earlier Momusu calendars is also notably of a larger scale. The more recent calendars seem to sport a particular outfit and the members are just paired together rounding out the calendar with a similar background, while like many things back in the "golden" age of Momusu so much more variety and personality was put into them and the creativity was at a premium as well I think. Here in January & February we have Ayappe, Nacchi and Keisan dressed elegantly in kimonos..... ...March & April gives us a group shot with a nice touch of an angelic aura... ...May & June even gives us props!...Yukosan, Kaorin, and Marippe along with..."rain"....kasa...raincoats...and a cute little dog! ^-^... ...July & August brings your wall a Summery feeling with blue skies...surfboard, ukulele, and cute & fun attire. Another thing to note is also the abundance of group shots. I've just always preferred group shots in their calendars versus the various pairings that Momusu calendars sport for the most part now....and that way every month has the entire group that you adore and love upon your wall...and not just some of the members. ^-^... ...But that being said, I had to give exception to that sentiment for September & October and admittedly this particular page of the calendar spent a good long portion of the year on display in my room back then! :P But who can blame me?...Gomaki was new and brought such an energy and special feeling to the group and let's face it, Gomaki and Sayaka as cheerleaders?!!!! What fan could've resisted that?!! \(^o^)/...ah the overall creativity was so much more back then when it came to Momusu's calendars!...if only UFA would go old school on us for the next calendar shoot, just for nostalgia's sake! ^-^... ...and lastly for the year 2000 we have November & December sporting a distinct wintery feeling...just looking at this page makes me feel cozy! ^-^ And yes!..we have another group shot! :)   

AKA They Shoot Saki's, Don't They?

My Berryz Kamen vs. Cutie Ranger DVD finally showed up in my mailbox yesterday.  I had a tough time deciding which version of this concert to purchase.  If I had to choose one member of the H!P Kids that I would want to see more footage of, it would be Yajima Maimi.  Maimi is in my opinion the most perfect Musume to ever be in Hello! Project.  But overall I like more members of Berryz Koubou.  So I chose the Berryz version.  After watching all of the bonus footage for both DVD's, I would've been fine with either one.  It is the concert itself that I am most interested in anyway.

Now that this judge has watched the concert on a virtual endless loop for the the last 24 hours, I am ready to make a decision on who the winner of the Nakayoshi Battle is.  I've said all along that overall I prefer Berryz as a group over C-ute.  Is that a giveaway for the final tally?  We'll see...

Round One

"A New Classic" ~ Man I miss Yokohama Arena!  Very pretty dresses, but Kanna and Captain's cowboy hats seem a little out of place.  I mentioned before in a previous post that I really liked Darling I LOVE YOU for the opener.  Especially the chorus and it's cool guitar work.  And I feel it has the potential to be an H!P event standard for years to come!  They basically sing this as a chorus, and it's one of my favorite performances of the night!  Berryz brings the fan fave but (in my opinion) overdone Special Generation.  One of the fun things to watch here is the line distribution when they do each others' songs.  For some reason I felt some of C-ute (namely Mai Mai and Chisato) seemed a little out of place singing this.  It was like the song is too mature for them or something.  On the other hand, Airi and Erika owned it.  Ooki na Ai de Motenashite is probably my favorite C-ute song.  It's a shorter song than SG, but all of Berryz seemed right at home with it.  Yurina sang Maimi's part perfectly.  Hmmm, I like the C-ute song better.  But performance wise, I give it to Berryz. First round MVP goes to Yurina!  (Berryz 1, C-ute 0)

 

Round Two

"70's Cop Drama VTR" ~ Actually everyone wins here.  What an excellent sequence!  And Maasa is fronting Berryz tonight?  I am in heaven!  Man does she look hot holding that...what the hell is that?  Berryz has more cool poses while C-ute goes for goofy and strange.  But I love the focus on all of their eyes.  Very cute!  I prefer Maasa over Kanna, and Berryz weapons were cooler.  (Berryz 2, C-ute 0)

Round Three

"The Obligatory Hits" ~   C-ute definitely has an edge in the dancing department!  They look and sound great doing Namida no Iro!  And I love the casual outfits, especially on Maimi and Mai Mai!  C-ute won last years' "Best New Artist Award" for good reason.  The way they have grown as performers in just the last two years is impressive!    Checking out the Berryz' attire for Munasawagi Scarlet.  My biased opinion says Maasa looks totally hot in the "Mary Anne from Gilligan's Island" outfit.  I also love the way Momo's shirt cuts her across the chest. It makes it look like she almost has a chest!   And Miyabi's "Got What You Need" t-shirt is great!  It's funny how LaLaLA Shiawase No Uta becomes a much better song when C-ute isn't wearing those pink and purple frilly monstrosities!  But I think Dschinghis Khan loses something without the costumes from the PV.  Each group does three songs, and they all performed flawlessly.  Bottom Line, this segment comes down to who's latest singles you like best.  C-ute has been getting the better songs lately and thus dominated this part of the show.  Maimi leads the way!  (Berryz 2, C-ute 1)

Round Four

"David vs. Goliath" ~ Is this really even a contest?  Everyone had to know that Airi would blow Risako away on Very Beauty.  One of Riichan's biggest problems is she doesn't know how to project.  As a result she sounds shaky and whiny.  She needs to put more power behind her voice!  But I'm really starting to feel sorry for Risako.  She gets bashed a lot on the posts.  A lot more criticism than she deserves.  Jeez, she's just fourteen years old for cripes sake!  Give her a break.  By the way, Airi was just amazing on this song!!!  (Berryz 2, C-ute 2)

Round Five

"The Shuffles" ~  I've never watched a concert without becoming a fan of at least one song I've never given a chance to before.  Bokuga no Kagayaki (and That's The POWER later on) had me going right to EBay to find a copy of C-ute's second indie CD!  Chisato is a great singer!  She and Kanna dominate here.  Watch for the moment Chisa almost gets crushed in between Maasa and Yurina, too funny!  I'm not a huge fan of Sayonara Hageshiki Koi.  Maimi was very good singing alongside Momo and Miyabi!  But I had to play the track about five times because it kept losing my attention.  MVP: Chisato (C-ute 3, Berryz 2)

 

Round Six

"C-ute Takes Over" ~ Let me start by saying that Erika has historically been my least favorite H!P Kid.  But that just changed!  The next few songs are my favorite part of the concert by far!  That's The POWER is a great song.  I love the calypso sound to it.  And Do Don Ga Don Ondou was my favorite performance of the night.  Erika just blew me away with how good she was.  Not only is she having a great time singing the song, but you can tell everyone else is having fun doing the "Do Don Ga Don" parts.  Who is the Egg with the glasses on?  Kawaii!  Erika is obviously the MVP here.  "Solo Artist" kept coming to my mind as I was watching her!  (C-ute 4, Berryz 2)

Round Seven

"A Quick Appearance By Buono!" ~ I love Buono!  And I am looking forward to seeing their new songs performed on the Summer DVD.  Honto no Jibun was less than 90 seconds long.  That's too bad.  They went a little longer on Renai Rider.  I really like these outfits.  And I know I'm going to hell for this, but I couldn't take my eyes off of Airi's caboose the whole time.  Momoko's thighs aren't too shabby either.  Hey, the wardrobe department knows what they are doing when they put Airi in a pair of shorts like that.  It is meant to titillate.  Round seven winner?  Airi's arse steals the show! (C-ute 5, Berryz 2)

Round Eight

"They Shoot Saki's, Don't They?" ~ As much as I love Maimi, I've never really liked Natsu Doki Lipstick.  But this is as much about the dancing as the song itself.  We all knew Maimi and especially Captain Saki were superior dancers.  But I never knew Nakajima Saki was as good as this.  She is a bit lanky which makes her seem like she's all "arms and legs".  But she moves with great energy and passion.  The Captain is simply amazing, and her dance moves took all the attention away from Maimi.  I'll bet this part drove the DVD editors crazy.  Who should they focus on?  The Captain for the win! (C-ute 5, Berryz 3)

Round Nine

"It's Just Wrong" ~ I feel sorry for Saki and Maimi.  They just finished an extremely energetic performance and then they have to immediately do another strenuous dance.  So far the outfits throughout the entire show have been really impressive.  I can't imagine any of them making it into Celestia's "Costume Hall of Shame"  Sexy silver (C-ute) and copper (Berryz) skirts and matching tops that show off their midriffs when they dance.  Massara Blue Jeans and Jiriri Kiteru are two songs that benefit from powerful live performances.  And watching C-ute gyrating their hips on the "Love Me x4" line really surprised me.  Is it legal for them to be dancing like that?  NakaSaki really gets into it too!  They do some hip gyrations during the Berryz song as well, but you can tell they were all starting to get a little tired at that point.  Nakajima Saki's hips for the win! (C-ute 6, Berryz 3)

Round Ten

"Dueling Crowd-Pleasers" ~  There has never been a bad performance of Jump or Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun.  They are both phenomenally good songs in concert!  Both of these renditions are on par with the Hello! Project chorus versions done in 2007.  "Jump" in the Winter and "Yuujou" in the Summer.  But of the two songs, I prefer Yuujou.  While Jump is really fun, Yuujou just rocks out!  This rounds' winner?  Chinami working the crowd.  This rounds' loser?  The two jerkoffs in the "family seats" apparently sleeping behind Maasa!  (C-ute 6, Berryz 4)

Round Eleven

"Paging Tom Cruise" ~ I am so happy Maasa is getting a bigger role in Berryz Koubou.  First Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance, and now this.  I guess she is considered a pretty good actress.  She is just too adorable.  This is the MC portion of the show where they all "take on" that robot from the opening VTR that looks like a rejected idea from the War of the Worlds remake!  On the Cutie Ranger side, I love that little grin Airi gives when she introduces herself as "Cutie White"  But Berryz, and especially Maasa Sudou are the stars here.  But did they defeat the robot?  Will we ever find out! (C-ute 6, Berryz 5)

Round Twelve (Final Round)

"All Good Things (and Robots) Must Come To an End" ~ Ohhhhh.   So for some reason singing Warera! Berryz Kamen was so offensive to the monsters' ears that it just exploded?  This is a really cute sequence with the monster antagonizing them in the middle of the song.  And the "Power Ranger" uniforms are another winner.  The final song is Sakura Chirari?  Interesting choice to close the show.  I noticed they were playing Ganbacchae! in the background as the girls left the stage.  Now that would be a cool song to close a Hello! Project concert with!  Berryz takes the final round because their song destroyed the enemy.  "Sakura Chirari" couldn't hurt a fly!  So the winner is...

 

A TIE???

Uggh! Just like kissing your sister.  Actually there is a winner here.  And no, it isn't Airi's butt (although it should be).  The actual winner is...

 

Anyone who bought either version of this DVD!

CK in California 

Gimme a V! Gimme an O! Gimme an X! What's that spell? VOX!

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I would like to say thank you to

Jan-Ken-Pon racky Mun Umi KuKKIEZ nakki Erika-San Vera

for giving me a good words from the last post

and to all of my friends who tryin' to help me with everyway.

Now, I'm try to be what I use to be.

I will not go anywhere, I'm still here and sharin' the good things with you guys.

I'm promise you guys I will come back again

with the same "KookkoO" that you guys use to know.

Thank you once again ... from all of my heart.

"Thank you"

To download this file :: http://www.mediafire.com/?jwi9gyemeyx

While my ventures into anime are quite modest escapes for me, over the years one seiyuu (voice actress) in particular has always been able to capture my attention. Sakurai Tomo (written as both: 桜井智　＆　櫻井智 the former being used earlier in her career while a switch in kanji was chosen for the latter part of her career) is best known for her work in anime (she has quite an impressive anime resume!) and radio dramas but she also released quite an extensive music catalog and interestingly her works can be found on several major labels including Pony Canyon, Warner Music Japan, Pioneer, and Victor who all represent large players in the market. Sakurai Tomo made her music debut in 1995 and her first album is titled "T-mode."

When you really think about it the transition from seiyuu to vocalist seems like a natural venture but while in general all seiyuu have voices that can easily captivate an audience it does not necessarily guarantee a well projected voice in music as well. I've always thought of the talent that voice actors/actresses embody to be quite remarkable as their ability to portray an on screen personality with such convincing feelings and nuances seems to always convincingly connect them with that particular character in a way that the viewer could possibly see the two as one in the same. And then there usually comes the day that an anime fan will finally see the seiyuu behind their favorite anime features and on some accounts perhaps a bit of the fantasy of the seiyuu and on screen character's marriage can be diluted a bit..but really how is a person in real terms supposed to mirror that of a perfectly drawn anime dream character? While this intention may have never been the point, it's really just a nice daydream of sorts to imagine your favorite wide eyed anime characters as having these captivating voices in...um reel ("real") life. Sakurai Tomo however is a bit different in this regard, and while okay she isn't a perfect translation of anime perfection brought to life she does have a remarkable charm and personality about her which embodies much of what is loved in the genre. Viewing her "Tomo Natsu '96" concert is somewhat like watching what an anime character would be like on stage if one had the ability to bring one to life...and really this isn't an exaggeration as her excelled vibrant demeanor and charisma are not unlike the charm that attracts fans to their favorite on screen animated characters both in a physical and audio sense. My Sakurai Tomo collection consists of twelve of her albums a single.... ...and two concert releases. Unfortunately the majority of her music releases are now out of print and her "Tomo Natsu '96" live was never re-released to DVD to my knowledge....I would just love to present a few performances from this aforementioned concert in particular as it really is one of the most entertaining, energetic and cute performances that I've seen over the past 15+ years of collecting J-Pop.....it's just so sad that it's not available on DVD. And just like any other idol, Tomochan has her share of shashinshuus as well....the one above is titled "Ripple." Sakurai Tomo's voice may be best known for her voice acting roles and she as a singer is a perfect extension of this but in some regards her musical vocals even more impressive as her musical genres include everything from cute J-Pop, rock, jazz, and adult contemporary. Here are just a few of my favorites which can be found on her albums "Cherry" (VICL-762) and "Can-D~Musical Selection~" (WPC7-10018)....for if I were to include much more of my favorites this post could go on forever. :P