Aya Hirano GETS!

Hey Everyone!  

At Anime Overload a few weeks ago, I found a booth that was selling Japanese movies and music.  I found "Yo Yo Girl Cop" with Aya Matsuura and Rika Ishikawa, but it was too expensive for me.  T___T  

BUT.

I did find two Aya Hirano CDs there for $5 each! 8D

The two singles I bought were:

Bouken Desho Desho?

Motteke! Sailor Fuku

Here's some pictures!

Some butthead stepped on my CD in the maid cafe.  But it's okay, since he didn't crack her face or the CD.  I would've been more pissed off if I had paid the standard 20 bucks for the single. 

What I find strange about these singles is that all of the text on them is romanized.  The title, tracklist, the lyric book...even the text on the CD itself is romanized.  I asked the booth that was selling these if they had business cards, and they quickly said no.  If y'all have any idea what company this is, please let me know.  

Oh!  And the lyrics have English translations too!  I'm just hoping this isn't a fansub thing, since I do want at least part of my money to go to supporting Aya.  

Anyway!  On to the songs!

Tracklist for Bouken Desho Desho:

1.  Bouken Desho Desho?

2.  Kazeyomi Ribbon

3.  Bouken Desho Desho? Karaoke Ver.

4.  Kazeyomi Ribbon Karaoke Ver.

       This single is a part of the Haruhi Suzumiya series, so the both of the songs are used in the anime.  Bouken Desho Desho was used as an opening, and Kazeyomi Ribbon was used as an opening to Haruhi's radio show in the anime.  Bouken Desho Desho is a very interesting track, as it is happy sounding, but it also has some mystery involved.  The lyrics especially add to that mysterious feel, with the song being about destiny, adventure, and the unkown, all of which are central themes in the anime series.  Aya's voice has a mature tambre to it in this song which suits the themes of it well.  

        Kazeyomi Ribbon, on the other hand, is more of an upbeat song.  The central themes of this song are ambition, one's dreams, and perseverance.  The song is a great characterization of Haruhi, and Aya's voice reflects that, as she uses more of her character voice for this song.  The instrumental in the song is a lot more fast paced and a bit hectic, so it leaves you with your heart pumping and a smile on your face.  

          This single shows a shift in the anime to a more serious and plot driven section, as the show had been going on for some time and was getting more twists and turns in the story when the single came out, so it's a good reflection of the story at the time.  I love how seiyuu's singles reflect their characters and the story itself.  It's almost like you could track the series through the songs that Aya released. 

Moving on to the second single!  The tracklisting for Motteke! Sailor Fuku is:

1.  Motteke! Sailor Fuku

2.  Kaeshite!  Knee Socks

3.  Motteke! Sailor Fuku (off vocal)

4.  Kaeshite! Knee Socks (off vocal)

             This single is like the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of Bouken Desho Desho.  At first glance, both songs are a stream of consciousness, and basically are nonsense.  Aya's voice reflects that by sounding more youthful and high pitched.  She sings with three other seiyuus in this single, since these songs are in theory supposed to be sung by the four main characters in the anime series.  These songs to go the show Lucky Star by the way, if you didn't know. 

              Motteke Sailor Fuku is the opening song of the anime, and the dance to the song is one of the most famous dances in the anime world.  You can't go to any anime convention without hearing this song, or seeing the dance be done, (a concert, in the hallway, people derping around).  This song is like slipping into the mind of a hyperactive Japanese middle school girl.  The lyrics are complaining about the sailor fukus, liking Summer uniforms better, food, hating their part time jobs, being cute, crushes, good weather...everything but the kitchen sink.  It's so wonderfully random, and there are also random bits of dialogue or shouting in the song, which makes it even more hectic!  I can't listen to this song without feeling ridiculous and grinning stupidly from ear to ear.  It's the nonsense that makes me so happy, and it's what makes the song a great song to listen to!  The instrumental itself is super fast paced, and it almost feels like a jazzy traffic jam or something.  I totally love this song and I'm so happy that it was created.  

               The B side to this single is called Kaeshite Knee Socks, and it's much more simple than its A side counterpart.  It has a rock feel to it with some electric guitars in the instrumental, and it feels like girly teen angst.  The song is about losing one's favorite pair of knee socks, how annoying it is to lose them, the cost of replacing them but wanting to buy other things.  Normal teenage girl stuff.  I imagine a bunch of girls singing this in their room at a sleepover into hairbrushes and thinking they're really rebellious...but they're actually super cute. XD  I'm not into this song as much as Motteke Sailor Fuku, but I think it's a good glimpse into tweenager-hood.  

I hope you enjoyed the review, and I have a few more coming up for ya!

Kaya

New Dance Cover! Morning Musume's One Two Three

I hope y'all like it!

I played with effects in this one, so let me know if you like 'em or not.  

I love dancing to this. XDDD  So much fun!

Pinku Invasion Single Review

Hey y'all! I got Pinku Project's Debut Single, Pinku Invasion in late May/Early June, but I didn't do a review on it!  I also have some more singles to review, but I thought I would start with this one.

 Here's some pictures to start y'all out with:

 

The Cover

 

CD

 

Berricha's autograph on the lyrics card!

 An autographed Photocard of Berricha!

 The lyrics book

 DVD

Inside of the lyrics book

Moar lyrics!

A thank you letter from Berricha!

 The back cover

Okay, so to explain all of the extra fun stuff, when you pre-ordered their CD, you got to choose a member to autograph a photocard for you.  I chose Berricha! <3  She's such a sweetheart!  The packaging itself is super high quality!  And the design is super cute!  All of the pink and pastel colors make me really happy, and the girls look super adorable in their Pinkly Ever After clothes.

So the tracklist of this single is:

1) Magical Journey Ft. Yukapon

2) Pinku Invasion

3) Magical Journey Ft. Yukapon (Japanese Ver.)

4) Pinku Invasion (Japanese Ver.)

5) Bonus Track

The English lyrics were written by Baby Pinku, and they were translated into Japanese by Berry Pinku.  

I personally LOVE Magical Journey.  It's only sung by Baby Pinku and Yukapon, but their voices work together really well.  Baby has a soft and sweet voice, while Yuka's is more robust.  Cute, yes, but robust.  Baby's voice acts as the perfect catalyst for Yuka's voice whenever they sing together.  This song is a good one for Pinku Project to start off with, since it fits most idol music standards, such as twinkly sounds, full back vocals, a steady, but not overpowering beat, and the lyrics are about achieving your dreams, believing in yourself, and finding happiness.  

Pinku Invasion, on the other hand, is like idols on speed.  It's like someone took Pinku Project and put them into some strange idol-y rave.  Or at least that's what it sounds like to me.  The beat is heavier on this song, and there is much more going on with the instrumental.  There is also a steady "Pinku!" chant in the background, as well as written in wotagei (L-O-V-E Lovely Pinku)!  All four members of Pinku Project sing in this song, but the bulk of the singing still goes to Baby.  When I first heard the song, I thought the squeakiness and the "pinku!" over and over was annoying, but as I kept listening to the song, it became much more enjoyable.  There are some good harmonies in this song, which were done by Berry Pinku.  Nicely done!  Besides that, Berry and Peach only have one solo line, while I do believe Cotton has two or three, and Baby...sings a lot like I said, which isn't a bad thing!  My only gripe about lines in this song is that Peach's solo line sounds distorted.  Ah well.

Moving on to the Japanese versions of these songs. 

DEAR LORD JESUS NO.

NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO.

Let me explain.

Their pronunciation was perfectly fine, but their voices gave me CAVITIES.  Straight to the dentin I tell ya!  Especially Yukapon's.  That great robust quality that her voice had in the English version was COMPLETELY GONE and replaced by some whiny child.  It makes me sad that she distorts her voice in that way when she sings in Japanese, since she really does have a great voice on her own.  I guess it has to do with that whole Forever 13, "oniichan" thing she has going on.  I heard that she released an original single in Japan, so I'd like to get a hold of it and see what she did with her voice there.  Anyway, I do prefer the English songs to the Japanese ones, since the cuteness comes naturally, and isn't forced.

Now the bonus track is a solo version of Magical Journey done by Yukapon.

IN ENGLISH THANK YOU JESUS.

She sounds AWESOME!

For the stuff on the DVD, it's:

1) Magical Journey PV

2) Magical Journey PV photoshoot

3) Pinku Invasion Recording

The PV was what I expected.  Yuka and Baby being cute with a green screen.  And hey, I'm not complaining!  They did a good job with what they were given, and with a low budget, this was pretty much their only option. XD  The stuff they put on the green screen was cute and sparkly, so that was good.  

I liked watching the photo shoot as well, since we got to see all of the Pinku Project members, plus Yukapon.  Seeing all of the different outfits is really what makes this worthwhile, since it's mostly just them sitting there posing. XDD  Robin (Peach Pinku) does an AMAZING job with her fashion line, Pinkly Ever After.  Her clothes are such high quality and they fit in with her vision perfectly!  And they all fit the Pinku Project members very well!

The recording of Pinku Invasion was alright.  It was interesting to see them record for a bit, but in my opinion it ran on a bit too long, and we were seeing the same thing over and over again.  It would have been interesting to see them working on the choreography for the song as well as recording it.

Speaking of which, they did release a dance video with Berry Pinku's original choregoraphy to Pinku Invasion on Youtube:

For a debut single for a North American idol group, this was AMAZINGLY done!  I give this entire single an 8.5 out of 10, with the only points being taken off for the squeaky child voices in the Japanese version, and the recording bit on the DVD.

Also, Peach and Berry are having a duo mini live at Atomic Lollipop in Toronto this weekend!  If any of y'all are in the area, I highly recommend checking them out!

Another review will be up tomorrow!

<3

Girls' Generation-Paparazzi

Hey y'all!  Now that I'm not all sick anymore, it's back to regular posting!

And I know, I'm late for this party, but I just HAVE to talk about this music video!

IT'S SO GOOD!

The intro of this totally saves the video from turning into a big cliche.  The girls have already sung songs about being the center of attention with people always surrounding them, but this video brings an old fashioned flair to it that somehow makes it new and fresh!

When the video starts, we see the girls walking in a pack with cameras flashing all around them.  I was a bit disappointed when I saw this, but since SNSD is my favorite girl group, I decided to keep watching to support the girls.  When the curtains opened and "Singing in the Rain" started to play, I was ecstatic!!!  The street setting and the trench coats combined with that song made it seem like a real broadway show!  When the trench coats came off their wardrobe still reflected a show girl style, so the theme was still tied together.  The rest of the video is different clips from the broadway dance setting, a gold room dance setting, and the paparazzi flashes.  The dancing itself in the video is very well done, and the face framing moves go well with the title of the song.  The gold room dance setting was alright.  The costumes still had the showgirl element to them, but the room itself looked cheap.  

As for the song, after "Singing in the Rain," I was expecting a Broadway styled jazz number, which would have been really cool, and I was disappointed when I heard the electronic beats.  But that disappointment quickly went away as I was bouncing in my seat to the catchiness of it.  Also, in Japanese releases, line distribution is always so much better (except for Hyoyeon, my poor baby T___T), so it's nice to see the other girls shine.  Sooyoung totally stole the show in this MV for me.  WERK IT GURL.  

After the song itself was over, we switch back to "Singing in the rain" with a broadway style one by one exit, which was really cool to watch.  The slow motion combined with the twirling trench coats made a really cool effect.

If you haven't watched the MV yet, I highly recommend it!  I'll be buying the song once it's out on iTunes!

It's カヤ！

WHAT UP PEOPLE!?

It's Kaya.

For those of you who know me already, nice to see you again! ^--^

For those of you who don't know me and are visiting for the first time, welcome!

I'm the head of a maid cafe and dance troupe based in Austin Texas called the "KiraKira Moe Show."

It's tons of fun, and I'm trying to expand it into a business!

We're going to have our own theater one day!  It's gonna be awesome. 8D

But for now, I'm in college and I'll be posting my various adventures here on this blog, which include:

Cooking:

 Pork and Tofu curry!  Yummy!

Anime Conventions and Rehearsals with the KiraKira Moe Show:

 

Myself and Hikaru...EPIC BREAKFAST TIME!

Cats:

 One of my foster kittens...she loves to sit in laundry.  And she won't sit still for a picture!

Lots of Purikura:

 Wooo hoooo pretty pictures! 

And talk about idols, fashion, geekdom, and geeks themselves.  

I'm in the middle of a piece on Geeky Dating.  

So thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the crazy ride that is カヤカヤカヤ！