ElectroCute's 1st Single Announcement!

First of All, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  I hope you all eat a lot of delicious food today, even if you aren't American! XD  Delicious food is good for the soul. xP

ANYWAY, here is the announcement of my first music group's (as a producer and a performer) single, "Let's Live!"  This announcement is taken from the KiraKira Moe Show Official Blog.

I mean...I still wrote it, but I'm putting it here!

"Hello Starshines!

Kaya here, with a HUGE announcement!

Electro☆Cute will be releasing their first single in Mid-January!!

We’re all so excited for it!  The song is titled “Let’s Live” with lyrics penned by Kaya and composed by Christopher Escalante, video game composer and voice actor!

Pre-orders for the single will start during Ikkicon VII, and the girls will perform the song during their concert there on Friday, December 28th.

More details on the single’s release date, and previews will come as Ikkicon approaches.

Stay tuned!"

I hope y'all are excited!

Right now, Chris has finished composing the track, so I'll be recording a demo to send to the rest of the girls so they can finish learning the song.  Mayu is working on choreography at the moment, and I'm discussing the MV shoot while Keiko puts our ideas onto storyboards. 

IT'S ALL SO EXCITING!  I can't wait for y'all to hear it!  

Reina: My Oshi is Moving On

So I'm on break for Thanksgiving and I wake up this morning, turn on the computer, and what do I find?

A Graduation announcement from Reina.

How am I supposed to deal with this!?

I mean, there are two parts of me that show up with this announcement:

There is a part of me that loves her so much and she's my Oshi so I'm sad and don't want her to leave.

There is a part of me that loves her so much and she's my Oshi and I want her to be happy so I'm excited about her band and the new things she's going to do.

Reina has been the face of Morning Musume since she joined the group, so like when Ai-chan left, this will be a big shift for the group.  I know the group will survive, since it survived when Nacchi left, when Koharu left, when Ai-chan left...so I'm not freaking out in that sense.

I'm just surprised.  About a month ago on her blog, she says she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon...but now she is leaving.

I'm just hoping she gets a proper send-off.  I mean, I'm sure she will, but as a big fan, I hope she gets the best.

Also, I'm kind of bitter about it in some ways, since a lot of people are actually celebrating her graduation, and being happy that she's going to leave, showing the same kind of hate that the same people showed for Aika when she left.

Which brings me to the other part of me.

I'm really happy the members for her band have been decided, and a picture was shown of all four of them together, and she looked so at home.

I mean, she looked really comfortable with them, like she felt at home and like she belonged.  Which is probably what she is missing from MM right now, with all of the younger members, she probably is feeling a major shift within herself.

People change, and Reina is no different.  She's not the same person she was 10 years ago when she joined, and I think she feels that to grow as an artist in the way she wants to, she has to move on from Morning Musume.

And in a way, I agree with that.  With this band, she may get more control over her image, the kind of music she puts out, and maybe even taking a hand in writing some of the songs.

It's a whole new thing that she's about to jump into, and it's exciting for all of her fans to see what she's doing next.

Whenever a girl graduates from Morning Musume, I always have this fear of that girl disappearing off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again.  But with Reina, that fear is not going to come true.  And as a huge fan of her, I will follow her activities in whatever she does, and I'm so glad I still get to hear her wonderful voice when she leaves.

Good Luck to you Reina, and make sure to enjoy your last 6 months within Morning Musume!

And make sure to love on Sayu lots, okay?  She's going to miss you so much!

NMB48 HA! Short MV

Oooooo lookie what we have here!  An MV for NMB48's track on AKB48's newest single, Eien Pressure!  This song is titlted "HA!"  I'm super excited for this track, since it's something different than we've heard from the girls.  The song itself opens up with some pretty gnarly guitar riffs, and then leads into fast paced trumpets.  It reminds me of music from a spy movie or something (which ties in nicely with this MV).  It's always interesting to hear Japanese idol music with western influences, since you know it has taken inspiration from another place, but it's still so distinctly Japanese in the way the music is used, and having the sugary sweet idol voices over the music track.  The one thing I really appreciate though, is how guttural the "HA!'s" are.  These ladies are ready for battle!   I can't wait to hear the full song!

For the MV, it looks like they're going to have it be like a little mini movie, which is always fun to see.  The girls' acting may not be the best, but hey, we never watch mini-movie MV's for the acting, right?  XD  We watch to see the girls thrown into these crazy situations!  That's what's fun about it!  From watching the preview a few times, I think the story goes like this:

Sayanee is meeting with someone to find where Milky is, Milky meanwhile, has been kidnapped by a group of Yakuza (the reason why I'm not sure), and while she is trying to charm her way out of it with her idol girlishness, Sayanee gets a call from one of the baddies.  Sayanee gets her tough her act on, and she comes to Milky's rescue!  The Yakuza all have a very over the top Osaka dialect with a yankee accent thrown in, which I think is really cool to hear as someone outside of Japan.  I'm glad the group is embracing, and even poking fun at the culture and stereotypes from their area in their MVs.

As for the non-story parts of the MV, we see a really cool dance shot with the girls on a lit up party boat in the middle of Osaka, and some close up shots in front of a red curtain.  The girls are wearing some sexy one shoulder kimonos lined with leopard print and some crazy huge kanzashi.  It's interesting to see the mix of the yankee style with the traditional Japanese dress.

NMB48 just keeps getting better and better, and I'm excited for this single to come out!

I'm hoping to see SKE48's and HKT48's videos for this single soon as well, and of course the title track with AKB48.

48 Family fighting!

Birthday Paaaaaaaaaaaartaaaaay!

Hey y'all!

It's been a busy week!  Cinderella has been in tech since last Saturday so I haven't had much time to blog, so I've just been updating my Facebook Page (which you can find on my contact page) with tweets and such.

ANYWAY.  Last Friday was my birthday, and I have some fun pictures from the celebration!

First off, here's what I wore on my birthday!  I went all out with a mini hat, sash, and a magical birthday wand! XDD  Oh, and I went and voted with all of this on.  I take my duty as a US citizen veeery seriously. XDDD

HELLO.KITTY.BIRTHDAY CAKE.  Mama ordered it for me.  She's the best!  I took this before I went out to dinner, I couldn't stop staring at it. XD

Then it was off to Fuji for a hibachi grill dinner!  We started off with a salad...

The sexy sauce!  (Seriously, the chef called it that).  If they sold this in bottles, I would buy soooo much. XD  Seriously, this stuff is SO good.  It makes an amazing vegetable dip too.

Friends!  I love my girls!  From the left, we have Terri, Micki, Lisa, Julia, and Kelly!

This was my delicious hibachi-cooked meal!  Salmon, two jumbo shrimp, fried rice, and plenty of vegetables!  It was suuuuuper tasty!  The chef was really funny too.  He joked the whole time, and has lots of different props to play with.  I hadn't laughed that much in a long time!

Then the waitstaff brought me ice cream and sang a birthday song for me!  They even had a little Taiko drum! 8D

Then we went back to Micki's apartment for cake and movies, where our other friend, Naomi, joined us.  Before we ate the cake, I had to get a picture of the side, the flowers were just too cute!

Everyone say caaake!

It was red velvet cake!  So good, but so rich!  None of us could finish our slice. XD

We watched Magic Mike and Moulin Rouge that night. XD  Both super sexy movies, for different reasons.  It was very enjoyable.

By the time we finished Moulin Rouge, it was 3am, so I had to go back to my dorm and go to bed since I had Cinderella the next morning.

But this was probably the best birthday ever!  Just good food, good movies, good friends, and LOTS of laughter!

<3

I'll be back to normal posting midway through next week, so I'll see you next time!

Birthday Giveaway!

HEY PEOPLE!

So before I go out and start the birthday party tonight, I posted a giveaway video on YouTube!  Check it out!

I'm giving away a poster of SNSD's Taeyeon in her costume from "The Boys" album promotions.  Since I'm getting all of these awesome gifts for my birthday, I wanted a chance to give one as wel.  ^--^

If you watch the video and read the description box as well, you'll know the rules and how to participate.

So please do participate!

Party posts will come tomorrow, as well as some reviews and such that I've been procrastinating on! XD

Love y'all!

<3

二十歳

It's officially midnight on November 2nd, so today is my 20th birthday!

If y'all don't read kanji, the title of this post is "Hatachi," which means 20 years old in Japanese.

It's weird to think about being an adult.

But I'm seeing this as a chance to turn over a new leaf.

I'm starting a new chapter in my life, a chapter where I start to take control of my life, where I make my own choices, and live for myself, and not for other people anymore.

I've been stuck in this pattern of making choices in my life for other people, be it family members, friends, or teachers.  Since I'm stepping into adulthood, I want to make sure that from now on, my choices will be for myself.  I won't feel tied down to other people's expectations, since over the past year, I've learned that my expectations for myself are the most important ones.

I want to keep my compassion and caring for other people intact, since that is an important part of being an adult and a human being in general, but I've neglected caring for myself for a long time, and the time has come for that to change.

So I've made a few lists:

Things I'm letting go of

Things I'm stepping into

With this new chapter in my life starting, I wanted to give myself a vision for the coming year and beyond.

Things I'm letting go of:

*Trying to please everyone at the same time
*Taking my life in a different direction to please others
*Feeling like it's my fault when others get angry
*Beating myself up over and over again for minor mistakes
*Shutting myself away from the world instead of asking for help
*Trying to solve everything by myself

Things I'm stepping into:

*Making major life choices according to what feels right to me
*Going after what I really want in life, not letting others' visions get in the way
*Building a new kind of self confidence that doesn't rely on the support of others
*Asking for help when I need it, instead of trying to take on the world by myself
*Loving myself and caring about my needs just as much as I care about others

I've written these lists on sheets of paper, and after all of my classes are finished for the day, I'm going to go outside, rip them to pieces, and let them blow away with the wind, as a promise to fulfill these goals starting today.

I hope that my first year as an adult will be a successful one.  One where I achieve many goals, learn a lot of new things, and love myself and others unconditionally.  I hope to spread positive energy all around me, and to have that energy inspire many new things.

I also hope to take this opportunity as a new adult to revive the childlike creativity in myself.  I not only want to mature as a person this year, but I also want to stay young at heart.  I want to be able to have unlimited imagination, to have a world inside myself where anything is possible, and to have curiosity for everything around me.

I feel that if I approach the world with a childlike curiosity and have an adult like process to apply my new worldly information, that I can do anything I set my mind to.

I know that all of this is a life-long process, but as a new 20 year old, I'm ready to accept the challenge and to enjoy the struggle.

And to the 19 year old me, thank you for making the new discoveries you've made in the last year.  I know it's been a very difficult experience, but now you can rest.  The 20 year old me will take over from here, and I promise to make you proud.

One last picture of the 19 year old Kaya:

Thank you everyone, for all of your continued support up until now.  Your support has helped me through a lot of difficult decisions and situations, and I hope that you will continue to support me this year as well.  I'll do my best to be true to myself so I can have my best life and do my best work! <3

20TH YEAR LET'S GO!

Last day of Teenagerhood/Halloween Candy

So it's officially after midnight on November 1st.

Which means my 20th birthday is tomorrow.

WHAT!?

WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!?

Wasn't I just a freshman in high school yesterday?

Seriously man...

I have no clue where the time went.

I'm still not used to this whole being an adult thing.  

I mean, it's not like turning 20 is going to make me change immediately.

Becoming an adult is a process.

But still, I don't want to lose my inner child.

I think there will be parts of me who are always 5 years old anyway.  XDD

But more on that on my actual birthday.  

SWITCHING TOPICS!

Yesterday was Halloween!

It was so much fun!

Like a child, I ate lots of candy.

But, like an adult, I also gave out lots of candy.  

See?  I can do a little of both! XDDD

I enjoyed giving out candy and making people happy.

I chose to give out Dum Dum pops this year.  

It reminds me of when I was in elementary school, since they always had Dum Dum pops in the library.  I would sit down and read and suck on a Dum Dum pop.

My favorite flavor hasn't changed.  

Butterscotch. XD <3

It was cool to see what flavors everyone else picked, and if they still had the same favorite, or if they were trying something new.  

New flavors that everyone seemed to like were blueberry and mango.

They're so strong!  I was surprised by the amount of fruit flavor in them!  I wonder if they used real fruit juice...

Anyway.

This is just a personal blog.  

Nothing much to do with idols or KKMS.

But sometimes I just need to ramble out to someone.  So yeah...

...but actually, the Dum Dum pops gave me a cool idea for KKMS.

More on that later. ;)

What's your favorite Dum Dum flavor?  Did you ever save enough wrappers to get cool prizes? XD