The contest is now over and we (my other judge and I) have decided a winner. Every single person did an amazing job on their entries so we thank you very much for making judging a fun thing to do. I wish I had more copies to give away, but there can only be one winner.
And that person is.. JuulChii!
Congrats! You deserve it! We both found your fanfic to be entertaining and skillfully written. You managed to capture all of Berryz's unique personalities into a short story that made us want to keep reading until the end to find out what would happen. And that is why you won.
I will email you soon and I need you to reply back with your name and address and I will send out your CD as soon as possible.
So that's it for this contest, but even if you did not win this time around don't worry. This was my first contest, but won't be the last. Keep checking back for more later on!
Reina's e-LineUP solo DVD, titled Attracted, recently released and the awesome folks at RS has subtitled it into English (note that the subs don't start until half-way through the video because there isn't any talking before that).
On March 26th, Morning Musume appeared on the Japanese variety show Melodix! to promote their 45th single, Maji Desu ka Ska! They had a really interesting 8 minute talk and 3 minute performance.
Again I thank yamiwonder for providing the main translation. I re-timed the subs, edited the grammar a little, and encoded it. Also, the song was unsubbed, so thanks to sei at onlylyrics.com for the lyrics and snoboat @ H!O for the translation. Without those people, this video would not be possible.
Airing on Japanese television sometime today or yesterday is Morning Musume's 45th single PV, Maji Desu ka Ska.
You'll definitely want to watch as quickly as possible because UFA has been pretty strict regarding removing videos lately. I'll update with a download link whenever I find a high quality source to encode from.
I really love this PV. It's pretty simple, but it's good. The close up shots and the Brady Bunch-esque shots were cool. The dance isn't bad. The song isn't my favorite, but it's growing on me. The girls really make this PV by using their personality to play around with the giant Japanese characters. Also oldman Aika is a great bonus
If you want to help the new Morning Musume get off to a good start, you can buy this single when it releases on April 6th!
Also, look for something special regarding Maji Desu ka Ska here soon!
So the setlists for the Hello! Project 2011 Concert DVDs are out.
One of the DVDs was originally scheduled to release this Wednesday but it was one of the few releases that have been postponed. It's new release date is April 26th and will release alongside the second H!P 2011 Concert DVD on that date.
Anyway, this post is actually about the Blu-ray version of those DVDs, which releases May 18th. It carries a price tag of 10000 yen (about $125), which sounds expensive, but it really isn't considering how many performances are on the DVD (86, yes that's right, eighty-six songs).
I was waiting for someone to transliterate the setlist to romaji, but seems like no one is going to do it, so here goes (thanks to AlwaysAi @ H!O for the kanji setlist). If I made any mistakes please point them out!
Note: Songs in green are exclusive to the Blu-ray DVD. Also, for some of the rarer songs, I also added the original artist next to them.
1. [Disc1] 3、2、1 BREAKIN'OUT! (All)
2. [Disc1] MC 1
3. [Disc1] Member intro VTR
4. [Disc1] Shortcut (S/mileage)
5. [Disc1] Seishun no Serenade (Manoeri)
6. [Disc1] Kiss me Aishiteru (C-ute)
7. [Disc1] Heroine ni Narou ka! (Berryz)
8. [Disc1] Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game (AL Ver.) (Morning Musume)
9. [Disc1] MC 2
10. [Disc1] WOW WOW WOW/ (Pucchimoni V)
11. [Disc1] Dekoboko Seventeen (Tanpopo #)
12. [Disc1] MC 3
13. [Disc1] Gatamekira (Shin Minimoni) - originally a T&C Bomber song + ZYX covered it
14. [Disc1] Shining Itoshiki Anata (Aa!) - originally by Country Musume
15. [Disc1] Renai Sentai Shitsu Ranger (Zoku v-u-den)
16. [Disc1] MC 4
17. [Disc1] Marui Taiyou -winter ver.- (ZYX-α) - originally a T&C Bomber song
18. [Disc1] DESTINY LOVE (High-King)
19. [Disc1] Scramble (High-King)
20. [Disc1] MC 5
21. [Disc1] Ambitious Girls (Manoeri)
22. [Disc1] Yume Miru 15 (S/mileage)
23. [Disc1] MC 6
24. [Disc1] Chou WONDERFUL! (C-ute)
25. [Disc1] HAPPY! Stand Up (Berryz + C-ute)
26. [Disc1] Dance de Bakoon! (Berryz, C-ute, S/mileage, Manoeri)
27. [Disc1] Otakebi Boy WAO! (Berryz, C-ute, S/mileage, Manoeri)
28. [Disc1] HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN? 〜Nihon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?〜 (all)
29. [Disc1] Guruguru JUMP (all)
30. [Disc1] MC 7
31. [Disc1] Tomo (all)
32. [Disc1] Aozora ga Itsumademo Tsuzuku You na Mirai de Are! (all) 33. [Disc1] Uwaki na Honey Pie (Pucchimoni V) 34. [Disc1] GET UP! Rapper (ZYX-α) 35. [Disc1] DON'T STOP Renaichuu (Aa!) - originally a T&C Bomber song 36. [Disc1] CRAZY ABOUT YOU (Shin Minimoni) 37. [Disc1] Zettai Tokeru Mondai X = <3 (Tanpopo #) - originally a Matsuura Aya song 38. [Disc1] Koi ~Suite Room~ (Zoku v-u-den) - originally a v-u-den song 39. [Disc1] SHALL WE LOVE? (High-King) 40. [Disc1] Kioku no Meiro (High-King) 41. [Disc1] Magical Future (Berryz) - from their 7th album 42. [Disc1] Seishun Song (C-ute)
43. [Disc2] Rival (all)
44. [Disc2] MC 1
45. [Disc2] Member intro VTR
46. [Disc2] Shortcut (S/mileage)
47. [Disc2] Seishun no Serenade (Manoeri)
48. [Disc2] Kiss me Aishiteru (C-ute)
49. [Disc2] Heroine ni Narou ka! (Berryz)
50. [Disc2] I'm Lucky girl (Morning Musume)
51. [Disc2] MC 2
52. [Disc2] Yeah! Meccha Holiday (Wada Ayaka)
53. [Disc2] Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam! (Tokunaga Chinami) - originally a Happy 7 song
54. [Disc2] Akai Nikkichou (Okai Chisato) - originally an awesome Akagumi 4 song
55. [Disc2] Hajimete no Happy Birthday (Mitsui Aika) - originally a Country Musume song
56. [Disc2] MC 3
57. [Disc2] Watarasebashi (Manoeri)
58. [Disc2] Hajimete Kuchibiru wo Kasaneta Yoru (Sugaya Risako) - originally an awesome Ayaya song
59. [Disc2] Toumorokoshi to Sora to Kaze (Nakajima Saki) - originally an Abe Natsumi song
60. [Disc2] Boogie Train'03 (Niigaki Risa) - originally a Miki song
61. [Disc2] MC 4
62. [Disc2] Momoiro Kataomoi (Tsugunaga Momoko)
63. [Disc2] 100kai no KISS (Maeda Yuuka) - originally an Ayaya song
64. [Disc2] FOREVER ~Anata ni Aitai~ (Tanaka Reina) - oringally a Tsunku song
65. [Disc2] MC 5
66. [Disc2] Bravo! (Morning Musume)
67. [Disc2] Onaji Jikyuu de Hataraku Tomodachi no Bijin Mama (S/mileage)
68. [Disc2] Genkimono de Ikou! (Manoeri + S/mileage)
69. [Disc2] JUMP (C-ute, Manoeri, S/mileage)
70. [Disc2] Maji Bomber (Berryz, C-ute, Manoeri, S/mileage) - note the kanji did not mention c-ute but i'm assuming they are a part of this performance
71. [Disc2] Love & Peace! Hero ga Yattekita (all)
72. [Disc2] Sukichan (All)
73. [Disc2] MC 6
74. [Disc2] Come Together (all)
75. [Disc2] Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~ (All) 76. [Disc2] Aenai Nagai Nichiyoubi (Fukuda Kanon) - originally a Miki song 77. [Disc2] Ai no Bakayaro (Kumai Yurina) - originally a Goto Maki song 78. [Disc2] The Bigaku (Sudo Maasa) - originally an Ayaya song 79. [Disc2] Koi no Telephone GOAL (Hagiwara Mai) - originally an Abe Natsumi song 80. [Disc2] Memory Seishun no Hikari (Suzuki Airi) 81. [Disc2] VERY BEAUTY (Ogawa Saki) 82. [Disc2] Shiroi TOKYO (Shimizu Saki) - originally a ZYX song 83. [Disc2] Ne〜e? (Michishige Sayumi) - originally an Ayaya song 84. [Disc2] Ai no Sono 〜Touch My Heart!〜 (Natsuyaki Miyabi) - originally a Morning Musume Otomegumi song 85. [Disc2] Ki ga Tsukeba Anata (Yajima Maimi) - originally an Ayaya song 86. [Disc2] Sayonara "Tomodachi ni wa Naritaikunai no"(Takahashi Ai) - originally a Goto Maki song
This is totally going to be one of the greatest DVDs ever
A couple of the C-ute members were finally allowed to update their blogs. All three of them (Maimi, Airi, Saki) wrote about the crisis in Japan.
Starting with Maimi, I am going to take a couple of short quotes from each post. If you want to read the full translation (and you should because all three did a great job expressing their feelings), you can click on their names above.
Maimi says,
But, in those sad news stories,
I watch each person struggle to survive as I fight against the pain in my heart.
I was moved by how strong everyone is.
Me too, Maimi. It is really uplifting to see very little panic and it's nice seeing a competent government that actually helps its citizens in a time when they need it the most.
She later continues,
Though it hurts my chest, I have so much thanks for those who frantically went out of their way to protect us.
A life that was protected.
A life that was saved.
Though they wanted to survive, those who didn't, they didn't waste their feelings
I have to live and live strong!
In great sadness
we learn important things each and every day.
Wise words from a wise leader.
Nakajima says,
If a lot of dirt piles up, it'll become a mountain
something like that right?
surely.
If everyone combines all of their powers
something big will come of it.
That's a very interesting take on the situation. Pretty deep stuff. Didn't know Nakky had it in her.
She finishes,
Also
there are probably a lot to be anxious about but
I want you to not forget how to smile.
But
it'll probably hurt so much
to smile in this painful and sad time but
I don't really understand however
I feel that the day we can smile will come if we really smile from our hearts.
I feel to anyone you send a smile too, a lot of smiles will pile up.
I don't know who but
I feel that it'll become the one biggest power!
therefore
shall we smile a lot?
Very good advice from Nakky. Smiling is a powerful thing; it's really contagious you know? Especially for someone that has a great smile like Nakky does.
And finally I found Airi's post to be the most touching. It is drenched in melancholy, but with a glimmer of hope sprinkled in.
Airi says,
In the earthquake this time
a lot of people's lives had disappeared
in an instant.
Along with praying for happiness in the next life for those who have died, I give my sympathies from my heart to those who have been affected by it too.
Indeed. There isn't much those of us half-way across the globe can do, but praying - or even wishing - for happiness is a good start, especially if the whole world comes together with that one goal. The world then would truly be a better place.
She continues,
I think to myself
What can I do for them?
could I live happily everyday feeling grateful?
To be able to eat, to be able to sleep
to be able to be by the people who are precious to me.
None of this happens for everybody.
I felt once again.
I felt I should live these precious everydays feeling grateful for this small happiness.
I really find it refreshing to see a (young) celebrity that doesn't take what she has for granted. Most people never learn what it means to be humble.
Continuing again,
When people are supported by their comrades, they can climb over great difficulty.
I believe in that too.
You just can't live through life by yourself.
And I don't feel that anyone is alone.
Looks like Maimi isn't the only wise one of the group. At this point in the blog post, I'm about ready to cry, but Airi continues,
I feel there are a lot of people who have ended up having to part ways in these painful days
to their family, friends, lovers and people important to them,
At this time
I pray for the great pain to become smaller, even just a little bit
and everyone to have love and support each other.
And then she finishes with,
I look forward to the day I can meet everyone with smiles.
I have to say, those three blog posts were very touching. They wrote their blog posts from the heart and I felt a little of what they must have felt when they wrote them.
I'm really liking this song now that I've seen it live and seen some of the hand gestures that goes with the song. There's something about UFA and debut singles. Like every single group and soloist's debut single has been epic to me. I'm also really glad for Kikka because she waited a very long time to debut even though she probably was ready in her auditions. Now, she's gotten even better and I think in a year from now (when Aichan has moved on), she will be competing for H!P's best singer.
Her debut was schedule for March 30th, but it has been postponed to May 11th. You can still pre-order it.
Also don't forget that UFA is doing something pretty rare and special with this release - each edition comes with a different B-side, so you get more Kikkawa for the same low price of 1000 yen each.
Probably the biggest change to Firefox is what's called Panorama. It lets you visually see a preview of all of your open tabs and group them together. It's very, very useful for people like me that always has a million tabs open and struggle to find the one I want. The button is at the top right.
Click and your tabs will look like this:
All of your tabs are grouped together and you can see a preview of them. If you have, say, 30 tabs open, this is a great way to switch between them.
But, that's not the greatest part of this. You can group similar tabs together to make things so much easier. Let me show you a video of me demonstrating.
Firefox 4 is Mozilla's biggest update to the popular browser in years. They made a ton of new changes, most of which are awesome. In this post I'll show you some of them.
First the bad: UpToBoy issue number 203 has been canceled. Normally I wouldn't care, but Airi was supposed to be on the cover, meaning we would have gotten tons of delicious pictures. Hopefully UFA will just randomly upload them somewhere.
Now the good. Aichan's new photobook titled Love No. 10 (releasing on the 28th) now has a cover.
Aichan's photobooks are always hot and this one is no exception. We already have a couple of previews.
I'll be interested in seeing who Morning Musume's new competition is and what their chances of getting a #1 are. A quick search reveals they will be facing a Johnny's guy, Tsuyoshi Domoto, but he seems to sell around 45,000 which is certainly beatable.
I wanted everyone to have a chance to win so I will let you do whatever you want. You can draw, make a graphic, a fanfic, essay, OPV, video of you fangirling, or whatever. The only requirement is that it involves Berryz Koubou in some way - this is for a Berryz CD after all!
I will judge your entries on a scale of 1-10 and I will also have an unbiased second judge do the same. Whoever has the highest total score will win.
Entries are due by Wednesday, March 30th by 11:59 PM US Eastern Standard time.
I'll announce the winner Thursday (as long as I'm not passed out from school) and send out the prize on Friday.
You can post your entry here or email me at airiindeshou@gmail.com
NOTE: If you email me, please be sure to tell me the username you used to comment here or else I won't know who it came from!
BTW, even if you did not comment on the last post, you may still enter.
Good luck everyone and remember to have fun making your entries!
As a result, I am going to be running a contest. If you read my last post, you know I got a copy of the regular edition of Heroine ni Narou ka! in the mail with my Captain autograph. I actually have another package coming from CDJapan that I ordered a long time ago, which will have another Heroine ni Narou ka! in it.
I certainly don't need two copies of the same CD, so I'm giving this one away!
I haven't decided exactly how to give it away yet, but leave a comment here if are interested in participating in the contest. Also, if you have any Berryz fans for friends, tell them about this post too! The more that participate the merrier~
Click HERE to find out information on what you have to do to win.
While skipping through Bijo Gaku #49, I noticed the raw that I used still had the commercials left in. Two of the CMs shown were Morning Musume's new single, Maji Desu ka Ska and Berryz Koubou's new single, Heroine ni Narou ka! They are 14 seconds each and are in 720p HD.
Maji Desu ka Ska CM
I particularly loved this Heroine CM because it was great to see the close up shots in HD.
First of all, I once again thank the translator yamiwonder because the translation belongs to him. I re-timed it, edited the subs a little, and hardsubbed it.
Note: at the 9 second mark a blue border appears on the left and bottom of the screen - that is probably news/information about the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. I cropped out as much of it as I could (it is completely gone after the 15 second mark), but couldn't edit it out at the very beginning.
This is a pretty interesting segment because we see the senpai members mentor 9th gen (especially Aika scolding them, Gakisan being stern, and Aichan staying behind during practice). I was a little surprised to see Aika act that way - it's a side we've never seen before - but it just shows that she (as well as the other senpai members) really want the new members to succeed.
Even when Aichan leaves later this year, after watching this clip I am not at all worried about Morning Musume's future leadership. It goes without saying that Gakisan will be an excellent leader. Sayu, despite her poison tongue character, is a caring person and I think will fill the role well. Reina loves Morning Musume just as much as any wota and will put in the effort to be a good leader. And as this video shows, Aika will also be a great leader someday. She already seems ready. Whenever her time comes I know that she will be up to the task.
After my Youtube channel was suspended for the millionth time I had planned to stop subbing PVs and performances, but apparently more people care about these subs than I thought. And again no new releases of note are coming out anytime soon so subs like this can fill the gap. I'll probably work on one a week until new releases start coming out regularly again.
So I decided to start with a Chisato solo. Chisato is awesome, Buono! is awesome, so surely Chisato singing a Buono! song is epic right?
Of course it is! This was my favorite performance of her first solo live. Actually being able to understand the lyrics just adds to the overall experience.
I mentioned that my encode of Chisato's solo live vol. 1 is the first video I've uploaded here that features chapters. This post is meant to better explain what they are and how it can make watching things like concerts much more awesome.
So first let me explain what they are. When you hear the word "chapter", you probably think about chapters in a book, which is good because chapters within a video serve a similar purpose.
If you are reading a book and want to go to specific point in the book, you look in the index, find the chapter you want, and turn to that page right? It's the same concept here.
For example, if you are watching Chisato's solo live and want to skip to when she sings Bokura no Kagayaki, all you have to do is select the chapter that says Bokura no Kagayaki and instantly the video skips to that performance. Doesn't that sound helpful?
Now I'll show you how to do that, using the Chisato solo live encode in this post. Note: not all video players support this feature. Media Player Classic, VLC Player, and Zoom Player (three of my favorite video players, in that order) DOES support chapters. Windows Media Player (the one built into Windows) does NOT support chapters.
For Media Player Classic:
1. Open the video
2. On the menu bar, click on Navigate
3. Click Jump to
4. Select whatever chapter you want
Since virtually all new releases and events for the month of March are either canceled or delayed, I decided now would be a good time to catch up on encoding some of the things I've missed. Today it's Chisato's first solo concert DVD.
It's not as spectacular as, say, an Ayaya concert or something, but those that are familiar with Berryz and C-ute's solo lives at Pacific Heaven will know what to expect.
I was a little disappointed that it wasn't more like a real concert (the Berryz/C-ute Annex FC events were more of what I was expecting), but it was still good. It started a bit boring with just dancing (I would have preferred the dancing only performances to be mixed in with the singing performances) but quickly picked up when the Buono! song started.
Also I love how Chisato has quite a few fangirls in the audience - and in the front row too! The arm in the above picture is one of the crazier ones who seemed to know the lyrics and dance to every song Chisato sang. Truly a girl after my own heart.
Also a quick note about this video: this is the first time I have publicly released a video with chapters. Chapters allow you to skip to any performance instantly with the click of a button (assuming your video player supports it). More on chapters and how to use them in this post.
Most of you know what I think of AKB48 - at least their music - but I can't help but report when they do something incredibly nice.
Tokyograph and Kyodo news report that AKB48, their sub-groups, and their producer Akimoto Yasushi will donate a total of 500 million yen. That's over $5 million!
They are putting that money in a special bank account where AKB fans can deposit more money to help the cause.
I still could not care less for most of their songs, but the AKB brand has earned a ton of respect from me for this. I always admire when the affluent gives their own money to a worthy cause.
Due to the ongoing crisis in Japan and the fact that much of Northern Japan is flooded and inaccessible, many Hello! Project events, releases, and concerts have either been rescheduled or worst case, canceled.
I will try and keep this post updated as new news is available.
Morning Musume - Maji Desu ka Ska single (Release date rescheduled) - Rival Survival Blu-ray DVD (Release date rescheduled)
C-ute
- Hawaii FC Tour (Canceled)
- "1974 (Ikunaiyo)" play (Rescheduled) - 6th Album (Release date rescheduled)
Kikkawa Yuu - Debut single (Release date rescheduled)
Berryz Koubou - 3/14 Heroine ni Narou ka event (canceled) - 3/15 7th anniversary FC event (canceled)
S/mileage - 2011 "Smile Factory" Limited Concert (Rescheduled or canceled)
M-line/Dream Musume - 3/20 Hokkaido tour (canceled)
Other - H!P 2011 Winter Concert DVD (Release date delayed) - All H!P concerts and events for the month of March (canceled or delayed)
If you want to continue to follow whats currently happening in Japan I would strongly suggest against watching news on TV.
Foxnews is crap. CNN is slightly better but seems to love to be overly dramatic about the nuclear reactors and reports news hours late. I don't have BBC but I imagine it's better. Al Jazeera is good, but you can do better.
My preferred option is using this site. It is a combination of two video feeds. On the left is the NHK channel broadcasted in Japanese. It's live all the time. On the right is a guy name Katz that is translating any press conferences and breaking news right as they happen on NHK. He's been going strong with little break ever since the disaster started. He also answers viewer questions. Turn down the volume on the left video and just listen to Katz talk and translate.
First I want to say that I will not be making "regular" blog posts for a couple of days. The only thing on my mind right now is the crisis in Japan.
Anyway, there are many charities and organizations that are currently in Japan offering help, but if you are interested in alternatives, there are ways to donate money towards tangible items as well as ways to give as little as $1.
First the free option. Youtuber myargonauts will donate 50 cents to anyone that leaves a positive comment on this video. If you have a Youtube account, you have no excuse not to take 10 seconds out of your life to post a comment. Even if you don't have an account, it takes less than five minutes to make one.
Cruncyroll.com will match your donation, meaning if you donate $10, so will they, which basically means you just turned your $10 into $20.
Next is ShelterboxUSA. Your donations go toward a box full of supplies that are desperately needed by Japanese people who are now without homes to live in. You can even donate as little as $1 so if you have some left over change in a Paypal account or something, you can still help.
There is also Importfood.com. I have bought Asian food supplies from them a couple of times and can vouch that they are legit. They are accepting donations toward sending packages with food to Japan. You can donate $12 for a 16 pack of instant noodles, $25 for 15 pounds of rice, or $30 for a care package full of energy bars. Note that you will also have to pay for shipping to Japan.
Lady Gaga has an official store where you can buy a wristband to support the Japanese relief efforts for $5. Do note that it is a pre-order and won't ship out until March 25th.
Again, I ask that if you have any extra money at all, please consider donating using any of the links above. It is estimated that the damage done is $180 billion so every dollar counts.
As a side note, I applaud Noppin (a website that allows you to buy things from Japanese stores that do not ship abroad) for donating $1200.
I edited my post yesterday, but this deserves its own post.
If you're reading this blog you no doubt have some interest in Japan and you probably know about the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan yesterday. A natural disaster of this magnitude will cost a ton of money to fix so Japan could use your donations.
I chose donate to the Red Cross because they are usually the first on the scene to disasters like this. The Salvation Army is also another good place where you can donate.
Every little bit helps. Japan needs you!
EDIT: Google has now setup a page where you can donate directly to the Japanese Red Cross and you can donate as little as 100yen (about $1.50). If you only have a small amount to give, this is probably the best way to do it.
So I awoke this morning checking my email and my RSS feeds like normal when two particular items gave me a scare. This blog and the H!O twitter both report that an earthquake of historic magnitude hit Japan earlier.
I read the Japan Times, an online English newspaper about Japan and they report that it was an 8.8 on the Richter scale, which is almost as high as the scale goes. It is the hardest earthquake to hit Japan, well, ever. But thankfully the death toll isn't record numbers.
It did hit around Tokyo, but all H!P members and staff are okay (though they are canceling all events for a while).
Still, an 8.8 is no joke (according to here, it is tied for the 5th worst earthquake in the world since 1900), so if you are religious in any way, Japan could use your prayers.
EDIT: If you want to help, you can donate $10 to the Red Cross to support their rescue efforts.
The latest e-Hello DVD release is Momoko's Momoplay DVD. It was released a day before her birthday, but I didn't have time to encode and make a post about it then.
If you ever wanted to go on a virtual date with Momoko, here's your chance.
Normally I don't post about this kind of thing, but I'm in a Berryz mood so why not.
The limited edition is on top and the regular on the bottom.
The covers themselves aren't anything groundbreaking, but I don't really care because the girls look absolutely wonderful. Seriously, Chinami <3
In case you didn't know, this album is getting an official US release and you can buy it at HelloStoreUSA for a fraction of the normal Japanese price. I'm totally buying mine March 11th when HSU begins selling the Berryz Times concert goods.
Of course this makes her the first 9th generation member to get a solo DVD. Though she won't be the only one. According to the H!O twitter, the other 9th gen members will soon follow.
After getting their first daily #1, news of Berryz's Heroine ni Narou ka single's first week sales are out. They sold 22,428 copies. Its about 1000 lower than Shining Power (23,450), but significantly higher than Maji Bomber (13,958). They are becoming consistent again, which is great.
They also are ranked #7 for the week, which is pretty cool considering their 7th anniversary just passed.
If you haven't got your copy yet and you want to help support Berryz Koubou, then you can always buy it!
I haven't watched it yet so I'm not sure exactly what it's about, but upon quickly skimming through while uploading, it looks to also tie into their journalist/news/magazine reporter them for their new concert.
It seems like it's like one of my favorite Japanese gameshows called Run For Money where celebs are chased by men in black suits in a glorified game of tag. If you get tagged, you're out. Survive the time limit and win money. I'll have to watch later to confirm whether or not my initial reaction is true.
For today at least, Berryz Koubou are ranked #1 on the Oricon daily charts, selling 5893 copies.
To my knowledge, this is the first time Berryz has ever gotten a #1 ranking (even for one day). C-ute did it right before Erika left (Everyday Zekkouchou!!) and of course Morning Musume has accomplished that feat multiple times.
Congrats Berryz - you deserve it! Especially outselling the likes of Arashi and AKB48 (if just for one day). After a couple of rough spots (I didn't really like Maji Bomber or Shining Power), Heroine ni Narou ka is right up there with some of my favorite Berryz songs of all time.
If you want to help this single outsell Shining Power (about 8000 more copies are needed to be sold), then you can buy it!
On the Event V are solo versions of the PV for each member. These PVs are a mix of close ups, dance shots, the ball chair ver., and metal balloon ver. with the camera focusing on just one member per PV.
In case you haven't noticed, I've been in a Berryz mood as of late, especially with Airi dropping out of my #1 ranking for the first time in a year (Captain now holds that spot).
On the 3rd, Berryz celebrated their 7 year anniversary and also kicked off their 2011 Spring concert tour.
The setlist is as follows (thanks to MaikuBano @ H!O for the romaji translations)
1. Heroine ni Narou ka!
2. Special Generation
Movie
3. HAPPY! Stand Up
MC
4. Joshikai The Night (New song)
5. Onna no Pride (New song)
6. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi
Skit
7. Munasawagi Scarlet (Miyabi + Risako)
8. Sakura wa Raku Sa (Momoko, Chinami w/ Captain solo dance)
9. Grand Demo Rouka Demo Medatsu Kimi (Maasa, Yurina)
Whose the heroine of the day? Heroine corner.
10. Darling, I LOVE YOU (It's preformed by everyone except who was chosen to be the heroine of the day)
Heroine of the day, heroine corner again. The chosen Heroine does their favorite thing for 3 minutes.
11. BOMB BOMB JUMP (New song)
12. MADAYADE
13. Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba
14. Jiriri Kiteru
15. Shinning Power
16. Icchoume Rock! (New song)
17. Otakebi Boy WAO!
Encore
18. 7 Year Anniversary Medley: Koi wa Hippari da ko -> Berryz Kobo Koushinkyoku -> Maji Natsu Sugiru -> Sayounara Hageshiki Koi -> Yume wo Hitotsubu ~Berryz Kamen Ending Theme~ -> Kimi no Tomodachi - Magical Future
MC
19. Girls' Time (New song)
As you can see, 5 new songs were performed. I haven't found a concert rip, but a radio rip of the last song, Girls Time, has appeared (thanks to afa4004 for the original mp3).
From the latest Bijou Gaku episode, 9th Gen gets to practice with their senpai group members. Hurry and watch because Bijou Gaku episodes don't last on Youtube for long.
To see my hardsubbed version of this video and to download it, visit this post.
S/mileage leader Wada Ayaka recently released her first photobook and her first solo image DVD quickly followed. You'll find download links to both of those at the end of this post. But first here are some screenshots.
The first set is from the making DVD included with her photobook.
The other day Berryz appeared on PON! and had a talk to promote Heroine ni Narou ka and a couple of days before that, they appeared on Happy Music for a short talk and performance.
Like I said in the post linked above, I encoded both the PON! talk and the Happy Music appearance.
Berryz Koubou - PON! talk (3/2/11)
Berryz Koubou - Happy Music talk + Heroine ni Narou ka performance (2/26/11)
Both are in 720p HD. The PON! talk is 9 minutes long and 288 MB. The Happy Music talk + perf is 10 minutes long and 354 MB.
This is going to be so awesome. I wish I knew more Japanese to translate it when it releases. Hopefully a group will pick it up so that we can enjoy it in subtitled form.
A preview for Kikka's debut single Kikkake wa YOU! PV has appeared!
It's only a minute and a half but I can already see some actual effort went into making this PV. I don't know what's up with UFA this year but the vast majority of the PVs have been nothing short of amazing (especially compared to the usual).
I'll hold off full judgment until I see the full PV, but Kikka is off to a great start!
If you want to make her March 30th major debut a success then buy it!
