Berryz Koubou's 2010 Summer Concert Review

I was finally able to watch the concert in its entirety last night, so here are my thoughts on all of the performances. Just a quick note as to how I'll do this: I won't go over the MCs, just songs and any time they sing during a skit. I'll quickly give my thoughts on the song, performance, and how the girls sang it and give my rating of that performance on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best). 1. Maji Good Chance Summer Not my favorite song ever, but it's decent. I didn't really like the way the concert started - with...

Read More

H!P Biweekly Roundup #4

C-ute's Dance de Bakoon! debuts at #7 Released on the 25th, C-ute's 13th single debuted at #7 on the Oricon charts. Not bad considering their competition, but it's not great either. Estimated first day sales are 7,697. The single ranked 12th and 8th for Thursday and Friday, respectively.  As of right now, the single has sold about 14,000 copies (by my estimates), so I'm expecting and hoping for a 20,000 first week, which would be pretty good...

Read More

H!P Biweekly Roundup #3

The past couple of days have definitely been busy in the world of H!P new release announcements so here we go~ Momoko gets new Photobook As I expected, new Berryz photobooks were/will be announced and filmed while the girls are in Hawaii. Momoko was the first to have her new photobook announced (or to be exact, her new IV DVD was announced). Look for at least one more girl to have a new photobook announcement (Miyabi please) in the coming weeks. Berryz's...

Read More

H!P Biweekly Roundup #2

Another day, another blog post. Nothing major has happening since the last roundup, but after the graduation announcement, that probably is good news. More H!P horror movies, more 3D It was recently announced that Niigaki will be starring in a new horror movie titled Hontouni atta Kowai Hanashi that is set to hit Japanese theaters this Fall. This article also mentions that Nakajima Saki will make an appearance. Horror is definitely in my top three...

Read More

Awesome photobook is awesome

Looking at the previews, I can already conclude that Suzuki Airi's fifth photobook is awesome. But that's to be expected right? After all, it is Airi we're talking about here. Anyway, it's picspam time! First up, some seifuku action. Now some random casual shots. And finally, the nosebleed inducing swimsuit shots. Now that you've seen 1/4th of the photobook, support Airi and buy it if you like it! The making of...

Read More

Its official: Eggs can audtion for 9th Gen

Nouciel has kindly translated a Tsunku blog post where he answers the long anticipated question of whether or not Eggs may join Morning Musume's 9th Generation. "The persons who're currently on Hello Pro Eggs, who are between 10 years and 17 years old, and have the desire to participate, can do so." So there you have it. Not only are Eggs eligible to audition, but they also will be able to skip the first round (where normal girls must send in a video of them singing/dancing). Makes sense seeing as Tsunku already knows what the Eggs can do. The...

Read More

H!P Biweekly Roundup #1

In order to have constant H!P related things to talk about, I have decided to do a weekly recap of recent H!P news. Not sure exactly when and how often I'll do this, but anyway this is for last week and the couple days from this week. Morning Musume's 44th Single titled, LQ preview uploaded Titled "Appare! Kaiten Zushi" (Admirable Conveyor Belt Sushi), seems to be in partnership with some sushi shop. A very low quality recording has emerged on the internet as well. There is too much background noise to really tell what's going on, but it should...

Read More

Is Blu-Ray really that big of a deal?

I'm doing a lot more posts about encoding than originally planned, but hey, at least this one is about Hello! Project. Anyway, I'll keep this one short and to the point. Thanks to the random wota that uploaded the Shuffle Date Blu-Ray ISO to the net, I have been able to run a couple of tests to see what looks best on Youtube (will make a couple public soon). For now, here are two images which should help you answer the question presented in the title. (Click...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part seven (final wrap up)

If you actually read all six parts and followed my instructions then you are one step closer to becoming a better encoder. However, even with all of the help I've given you, don't think that you are done. There are so many things that I either glossed over or did not touch on at all. My guide will get you started. It's up to you whether or not you continue practicing, experiment, and make yourself better. With that said, here are some links that I found very helpful when I first started encoding. Doom9 Forums  - A giant forum where many...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part six (encoding & finishing up)

Almost done, yay! Once again, return to the main MeGUI window. The "Avisynth Script", "Video Output", "Audio Input", and "Audio Output" boxes should all have files in them, like so. Now, where it says "File Format", select either .mkv or .mp4. Either one is fine (if you are using xvid to encode, .avi should be the only thing you choose)...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part five (h264 encoding and profile settings)

Before you can actually start encoding your video, you need to understand a couple of other things about MeGUI. Don't worry, I won't go over everything - that's for you to explore on your own - instead, I will tell you enough to get you going...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part four (dealing with .ISOs continued)

You will see three tabs in the Avisynth Creator - "I/O", "Filters", and "Script". Starting in the first tab, I/O, I will explain most of the settings...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part three (Key terms & Dealing with .ISOs)

A quick note before I begin: words in bold are "key terms" - common encoding words that I am not expecting the readers of this guide to know the meaning of. If you hover your mouse over those words, you will see a definition of the word written by me as well as a link you can click on if you would like even more information...

Read More

A guide to encoding, part two (Setup)

Ready to make the plunge? Great, but first you will need to download a couple of things to make everything work. Avisynth - The main component that you'll need.   MeGUI - A graphical user interface (yep, that's what GUI stands for) for Avisynth. Basically it means that MeGUI is a program that makes using Avisynth a lot more manageable for those unfamiliar with writing scripts from scratch. Winrar or 7zip - Winrar is free for 30 days and 7zip is 100% free. Both have similar functions, which is extracting the contents of .zip, .rar, and...

Read More

Why my encoding methods are better than yours: a guide to encoding, part one (Introduction)

Whenever I take interest in something, I like to go all out. I must know anything and everything there is to know about the topic at hand and I must become one of the best at it (or at least as close as I possibly can). Encoding is no different. Now don't get me wrong. I do not claim to be the best encoder ever. No where near. In the real world I'm above average at best. However, over these past three years (and with the above stated personality trait in mind), I have learned many invaluable things that has made me the encoder I am today. With...

Read More

Ganbaranakutemo's TopNude remix is hilarious

I'm a big fan of remixes, especially when they are done right. They add a bit of shelf life to a song that I otherwise may be bored of. S/mileage's Ganbaranakutemo ee nende TopNude Remix does exactly that, though in a different way. One thing that I always do is listen to iTunes's preview of a song before buying, to get some sort of idea of what I'm paying ninety-nine cents for. And I must say Apple's choice of editing is quite hilarious. For thirty seconds your ears are greeted with DAWA repeating "Dakidakidakidakidakishimete" and nothing else. ....needless...

Read More

Goodbyes aren't forever

August 8th, 2010 - a day that many H!P fans all over the world will never forget. During an MC at one of the last shows of H!P's 2010 Summer Concert, producer Tsunku announced that three Morning Musume members, Kamei Eri, Junjun, and Linlin, will graduate at the conclusion of Morning Musume's upcoming fall tour. But you already knew all of that; that's old news by now. It's been three full days since the news hit the net and it finally seems to be sinking in for most. Now that the dust has cleared, I'd like to look at the whole thing from an optimistic...

Read More

元気者で行こう!

A PV of Mano Erina's 8th single, Genkimono de Ikou! was uploaded to the UFA Youtube Channel earlier today. Considering Hello! Project's track record, I tried not to get too excited about this PV. A famous director, Yukihiko Tsutsumi, was hired to provide Hello! Project with some much needed direction, but just how much of an impact could one person have? Tons, apparently. It only took me one watch to see that Genkimono de Ikou! is miles better than any PV Hello! Project has churned out in the last couple of years. But what exactly makes this...

Read More

New blog time

Welp, it's been about three years since I last blogged and roughly the same amount of time has passed since I became a Hello! Project fan. Having nothing better to do, I started to think about random things, until a crazy thought popped into my mind. My summer is coming to a close and my days are becoming ever increasingly boring, so I decided to get back into the thinking mood that school life inevitably requires by blogging. I will be blogging mainly about Hello! Project, my Youtube channel, and random happenings in my life. Welcome to the...

Read More