Hello! Project

Click to see all the posts related to the whole agency.

Morning Musume.

Click on the title to see all the posts related to Hello! Project's flagship group.

Berryz Kobo

Posts about Hello! Project's heroines.

°C-ute

All the posts about °C-ute's activities.

S/Mileage

Everything released about the miniskirts girls.

Buono!

All the posts about Hello! Project's rockers.

Mano Erina

Hello! Project's soloist also have some activities to check out!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Dance de Bakoon! GETS

I'm totally late to the party, but I finally got a copy of C-ute's newest single. This complete my C-ute single collection, at least until their Christmas single comes out in December.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

A more perfect Musume

Why is it that I can never finish blog posts when I intend to? I've been wanting to complete this ever since the 9th Generation auditions were announced, but once again, school got in the way.

First, I applaud Tsunku for letting the Eggs have a chance to audition. I would rather he just choose a few, but this method at least gives some of the underdogs a chance.


But anyway, if I suddenly were in charge, this is how I would shape Morning Musume.

With only five members left after the graduation, I would look to add at least three members. To keep Morning Musume from becoming too big, five would be the maximum. Four would be the perfect number.

Of those four members, at least half would be Eggs. Replacing the likes of Eri, Linlin, and Junjun (whom I consider to be two excellent singers, and an excellent personality, respectively) won't be easy. Fortunately Eggs are experienced and I do believe there are quite a few suitable replacements waiting to be chosen.

Who I'd add (ignoring the age limit)

1.
Kikkawa Yuu

She originally auditioned for Morning Musume during the 8th Generation auditions, but was beat out by Mitsui Aika. Yuu is hands down the most talented Egg and I believe, with some live practice with the group, would be on par with Linlin's vocal abilities. Also a possible replacement to take over Aichan's lines whenever she graduates. Not a "wow" personality, but I think there is more to Yuu than we've seen.


2.
Furukawa Konatsu

Also missing the age limit by less than one year is Konatsu. She would be the personality option. Konatsu has always intrigued me and I'm not exactly sure why. She just seems like she's a Morning Musume wota. She always gives 100% energy and effort and has a decent voice. The ideal replacement for Junjun.


3.

Saho Akari



























My wildcard pick. Saho is an interesting one. After being together with Maeda Yuuka, Fukuda Kanon, and Wada Ayaka in Shuugo Chara Eggs, she wasn't chosen for S/mileage for reasons only Tsunku knows. Was it because she was lacking something? Or did Tsunku have bigger plans for Saho? It may be a bit of both. I see a lot of potential in Saho. In her limited opportunities (i.e. Aa!), she has held her own with some of the better Hello! Project singers. Being in Morning Musume would only make her better. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, Saho does not have a standout personality. There's nothing particularly wrong with that (especially with her potential), but it is worth noting.

4 and/or 5.

Audition winner(s). The main thing I would be looking for here is personality. Something that grabs your attention and wants you to listen to what she has to say. Next would be age. I wouldn't pick anyone over 16. Preferably around 14 years old. After that, if there is a particularly good dancer or singer, I'd consider adding them, but they'd really have to blow me away.


Who I'd add (keeping the age limit in mind)

1.






















Saho jumps to my #1 spot. I have enough faith in her potential that I think she will be better than Eri singing wise, with a year of being with Morning Musume.


2.
Kitahara Sayaka
 
Another Egg that I see with tons of potential. She has a totally unique voice that you either love or hate -- there is no inbetween. She actually reminds me of a younger Risako. Sayaka suffers from the same problems Risako did three years ago. She has major control issues. Though Risako is living proof that it is not impossible to overcome. If she is able to get her voice under control, she would be a Momoko or Yuuka type, except with more power. Also, she brings quite a bit of experience to the table due to her Kirarin groups/concerts/live shows. Not to mention she seems to have a pretty decent personality.

3.
Maeda Irori


Irori is another interesting one. She's only 13 years old so it's quite difficult to determine just how good she is (and how good she will become), but she has showed flashes of brillance.  

4 and/or 5.

Audition winner(s). This time I'd mainly be looking for girls with stand out singing abilities. It's not that the three above are bad singers; it's just that neither has really proven themselves and I'd add another girl with great potential to even things a bit more. If there is a fifth winner, I'd look for personality. 


And there you have it. Yuu, Konatsu, and Saho would be my main choices, but it's doubtful it will happen due to the age limit. I still think it's possible for one of the girls that are 18 to be added Miki style but I wouldn't count on it. Honestly, if even one of the six girls I listed above makes it I will be ecstatic. I have my fingers crossed for Saho.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

CD heaven

Argh, where has the time gone? I totally miss writing two posts a week, but it's been a busy month. So to not neglect this blog any further, here I am with a new post. Every once in a while I take pictures of all of my H!P stuff. Why? Honestly I don't know. I just like taking pictures of my stuff.

So here's part one - all of my CDs from the main groups of Hello! Project. I did not include any CDs from old shuffle groups and soloists. That, as well as my DVDs and photocards is for another day.

First up is H!P's newest group to debut - S/mileage.


As you can see, I have their four indies singles as well as Yume Miru Fifteen. Will get to buying Ganbaranakutemo some other time. Also, for some reason all five CDs are still in their original shrink wrap. Not sure why I haven't opened any of them. Oh well.


Bonus Yume Miru poster (that I slightly ripped trying to get the tube open) ftw.


Next up is the only current soloist, Manoeri. I was totally doing awesome keeping up with her new releases, but as you can see I'm way behind now. Again, I have all of her indies singles (and again still brand new) as well as a couple of her major singles.

Buono! time.



Once again, so close to having all of their singles. Just missing Conomichi. Also need their second and third albums to have everything.



My Berryz collection is a bit more scattered. I became a fan shortly before Tsukiatteru released and so it was the first Berryz single I ever bought.


And I haven't missed buying a single since... except for Maji Bomber. It's been far too long since I've bought a new release.


My two Berryz albums on top. Their 4th album (top left) was my first ever H!P purchase, which was made 3 years ago. The CD on the bottom contains a minute or so of Sakura→Nyuugakushiki. I believe it was sold at their 2007 summer concert, to promote their 4th album. It's one of the rarer things that I own.


This is the part of my collection that I'm most proud of. All four indies singles new (I have no idea why I never open my indies singles), their 3rd album, and in the top left is their special Rakuten Eagles release. It's my most underrated H!P song of all time. Probably has something to do with me loving baseball.


Their first six singles, complete with the Airi cover of Edo 2.


The last four singles that I own. Dance de Bakoon! is on its way.


Finally it's Morning Musume. This is a mix of some of their albums as well as some of their singles that come in a special cardboard box.


More albums. Yes, I have two copies of 10 MY ME, but one is severely cracked (post office's fault).


First couple of singles from Morning Musume that I own.


Resonant Blue x2, Pepper Keibu x2, Naichau Kamo x2, and Shouganai x2.


Last batch of Musume singles, complete with the interchangeable Linlin Kimagure Princess cover.


And last, but not least is my favorite H!P item, Aichan's only solo CD, Yume Kara Samete. It took me three years to get my hand on a copy, which I finally did earlier this year. Ironically enough, I did not get this until Aichan dropped from my #1 favorite H!P girl for the first time ever.

Anyway, that's all for now. Sometime in the future I'll write about my DVDs, older CDs, and photocards.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Who knew calendars could be so awesome?

Previews of Hello! Project's 2011 calendars have hit the web and I must say, UFA really knows how to please a wota. I'll let the pictures do the talking from here on out.


Morning Musume's day at the pool

LQ Berryz






And finally, the best for last - some C-utebutt.


If you want to support Hello! Project and buy these calendars (which you know you do), you can do so at CDJapan.

C-ute:  http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2011CL-54
Morning Musume: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2011CL-52
Berryz Koubou: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2011CL-53
S/mileage: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2011CL-55
Mano Erina: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=2011CL-56

No previews have surfaced for Manoeri and S/mileage's calendars, but I have a feeling they will be equally awesome.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

In the land of parts and components

Something I've been wanting to do for a while now was build my own computer. Monday I finally was able to make that a reality. Everything went pretty smoothly and I am typing this post on my brand new PC.

If I could give just one piece of advice to first time builders, it would be to read everything. Yes, I know, common sense right? Still, there seems to be a touch first, ask questions later attitude when it comes to building things with most people. So read all of the instruction manuals and it will save yourself from a lot of headaches.

Now onto the build. Here is a look at some of the components used.


Moar components.


Total list of new components used:
I also took a couple of parts from my old PC, which I definitely recommend. It can save you a lot of money. Just be careful with being too ambitious. You probably don't want to use a super old video card or something because it will slow your system down.

Total list of components taken from old PC:
I have two video cards listed because the GeForce 210 is a piece of crap and I determined my old GeForce 8800 GTS is significantly better. Sucks because the store I bought it from, Micro Center, is an hour thirty minutes away. Oh well, to eBay it goes. The two Hitachi HDs also leave a lot to be desired, but using them saves $100 or so, and gives me an extra 1 TB of storage, so I'm not really complaining.

The MVP of the bunch is definitely the Intel i7 870 processor. No surprises here. An i7 processor is about as good as you can buy right now. It's technically a quad core, but it actually has eight virtual cores, which really helps on things that I really care about - namely encoding. Awesome. I ordered a couple of case fans from Amazon, which should be here by the end of the week. After I install them, I'll try my hand at overclocking the i7 with 4.0 GHz being my ultimate goal. With the water cooling and the extra fans, I'm hoping that I can reach those levels, but I'm certainly not counting on it. I'd be more than happy to settle for a stable 3.8 GHz, which is a huge step up from my Q6600 quad core @ 2.4 GHz.

Anyway, back to the building process. Opening the Cooler Master box reveals a really epic looking mid tower case.


It's big difference visually (and functionally too) from the random HP case I used for three years.



Opening the case reveals emptiness (not like I expected anything different).



One thing you can't see (sorry for horrible pictures, I was overly excited and later tired upon working on my first build) is that Cooler Master already installed the power supply. That's one less thing that I have to do, so yay.

Unboxing the motherboard.


 I had a hard time picking which motherboard to buy, but after a week of research, I decided on the above mentioned Gigabyte board and I have no complaints thus far.

Fast forward and we have a nearly completed motherboard (processor, RAM, and video card added).

Screwing in the brackets for the h50 water cooler above.

Fast forward a bit more and here is the inside of the case with the power supply, motherboard, and water cooler installed.


And here I have almost everything inside and connected.



The only things missing are my other Hitachi internal HD as well as both DVD drives. The case only came with 2 SATA cables and I had four things to connect (both internal hard drives and both DVD drives), so I decided to just jack two cables from my old PC. Unfortunately the cables were way too short (thanks HP) so I had to hold off on adding one of the HDs and one of the DVD drives.

Entering the home stretch, I finally had everything in the case and everything connected (or so I thought). All that was left was to plug everything in, push the power button, and pray it turns on.

So I pushed it and waited... and waited... and waited. Nothing. I didn't panic because I knew there was no way I'd get it 100% correct my first time so I unplugged the power supply and went into the case once again. Putting my first tip into action, I re-read the Gigabyte's motherboard manual when I realized I failed to connect a bunch of things, including the On button. Silly me.

So I connected the On button as well as some other random cable and tried to power it on a second time. Once again, nothing.

Back to the trusty manual I went and looked for other things to connect. I forgot to connect another power supply cable as well as the audio and another that I can't remember at the moment. Everything was finally connected so I tried to power it on a third time and yep, the third time's a charm.

Windows 7 booted up without any issues to my surprise. Remember I said that I have two Hitachi internal hard drives? They both are identical so it was by luck that I happened to grab the one with my old C: drive, containing my Win7 installation.

After a quick scare of thinking either something was wrong with the LAN on my new motherboard, I remembered that drivers needed to be installed (which Win7 did quite promptly) and I was able to access the internet after a reboot.

One of the first things that I did was open Windows Task Manager to confirm something for myself.


There is something really awesome about seeing eight cores.

The only real problem that I've encountered so far (and you can see it in the above screenshot if you look closely) is that Windows is only recognizing 2 GB of the total 4 GB of RAM I installed. After some research it could very well be the crappy video card I used that is stealing memory. After my two fans and SATA cables come later this week, I'll install my old one and see if anything changes. If not, I have a copy of Win7 64 bit laying around somewhere that I'll try dual booting with as a last resort.

So, 9 hours of build time and $700 later, was it worth it? Absolutely. There was definitely a point during the build where I wanted to give up (though I suppose working that long without any real break will do that to you), but there was no better feeling to my inner nerd self than hitting the power button and having the PC function properly.

Also, of course I had to start encoding right away on my new system (the Morning Musume Hawaii FC tour I uploaded last night was done using this new PC) and my i7 did not let me down. Normally a 15 minute Youtube clip would take me around 10-12 minutes to finish encoding. Yesterday, it only took 4-5 minutes. And that is before I start overclocking. Needless to say, I am a pleased nerd.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The lack of updates

Sorry guys. I've been pretty busy for the past week, which explains the lack of updates (and Youtube videos). Tomorrow I'll be trying my hand at building a PC from scratch and if I have time, I'll blog about that. Otherwise I hope to get back into the swing of things soon.