Maple GreanTea

Name: Umeda Erika
Age: 17
Status: Member of C-ute
Appearance: Awkward, Slightly American-looking
Appearance considering Age: Normal
Singing Ability: High-Pitched, Squeaky, OK
Personality: I wouldn’t know
Charm: 30%
Reminds me of/Resembles: Weird looking American girls

I don’t pay Erika much attention, and I think I only know her name by memory because there is an Erika in V-u-den, who I somewhat like. I’m not a huge fan of Erika U.’s looks, although I know many H!P fans are. I am all for “messed up” H!P teeth, as I usually think they’re cute, but for some reason Erika’s have always bothered me. She’s certainly gotten a lot better looking over the years, if you look back at her older pictures, but she isn’t very pretty, in my opinion, at all. Her voice isn’t anything special either. Despite my overall dislike of Erika, I do wish her the best, and hope she remains in H!P for a while. She simply is not one of my favorites.

I hate to say it, but H!P could stand to lose the last 9 people on the list.

Anyone want to guess who this includes?

Actually I’d say the 10th person only borders that list for me because she resembles the guy from Bad Family<3

Name: Shimizu Saki
Age: 16
Status: Member of Berryz Koubou, High-King
Appearance: A little awkward, Plain
Appearance considering Age: Looks a little younger than she really is
Singing Ability: Deep
Personality: I wouldn’t know
Charm: 30%
Reminds me of/Resembles: Mutou Mika

I’ve never liked Saki much. I believe she’s the smallest in Berryz Koubou, which doesn’t help her any when it comes to standing out in the group, especially when the other short girl in the group is Momoko. She is not only very plain to me, she is downright awkward looking. Don’t get me wrong, I love her refreshingly silly, deep voice, and Berryz Koubou wouldn’t be the same without her, but every time I see her, she looks as though she simply doesn’t know how to present herself. She’s gotten prettier recently, but I still see her struggling to bring that H!P idol cuteness to her surface. I think that my biggest problem with her is that she seems like she just hasn’t blossomed into anything. Regardless of these faults, I’m rather glad she’s been put into a group and given a chance aside from Berryz to shine. I’m hoping she’ll do well and be put into more units. I also think she has mismatched eyes, which I like.

Broomhead’s Survey:

Goals:

• Why do you blog?
  I feel a lot better once I get my opinions out to some kind of audience. I love reading others’ blogs and analyzing their different points of view, partly because they trigger me to think as well. So I figure, the more points of view, the better. It’s also really for myself because I love to complain (:.
• What long-term goals do you hope to accomplish, if any at all?
  I hope that I’ll eventually start to blog consistently, and write about each new thing that I hear ( or see) music-wise. Right now I post only every once in a while. I’d also like to reach a good-sized audience. I love getting feedback.
• Where does your blog fail to meet your goals?
  I write something new only every few days or even weeks. Most of the time, I lack the energy or motivation to put an entry together ): .
• If you do have goals, what will accomplishing them do for yourself?
  I’ll be content, but motivated to write even more.
• What do you want to gain out of blogging? A creative outlet? Praise from others? Personal satisfaction? Money?
  The biggest thing I would like to gain from blogging is the skill of wording my thoughts well. Basically I feel blogging, which means writing, makes me smarter.
• Do you feel that your blog should meet a requirement for amount of entries? Do you feel any particular entry should be a certain length?
  I don’t think too much about this. Whether I write a couple of sentences or a couple of novels, as long as I get my point across, I’m satisfied.
• For any particular entry, what motivates you to start and finish blog posts?
  Particular releases, news, scandals, or people who strike me as interesting. When something happens in the H!P world that I can’t stop thinking about, I write about it the best that I can.
• Do you actively consider long term goals for each individual post?
  No

Subject Material:

• What do you blog about?
  Mostly the Hello Project. I’ve occasionally written about DBSK, because I’m turning into a huge fan! I’ll most likely continue to do that, and eventually I hope to blog about all of the groups I love.
• Would you be keep a blog even if it wasn’t about the subjects you tend to cover?
  Probably. I’m quite interested in a variety of things.
• Do you write about the material to promote it to others?
  I will in the future. I’d like to write about releases I recommend, but I haven’t gotten to any posts like that yet. I mainly write about material to get other opinions on the same thing.

Readership:

• How much do you care about readership?
  I care about it a lot. I can honestly say I keep a blog for myself, but at the same time, why keep one if no one ever reads it?
• Does it satisfy you to know people are reading, even if they don’t comment?
  Yes, but it’s 100X more satisfying if they comment.
• What effect does receiving a comment have on you?
  Usually I think about the response, then reply. Sometimes comments correct me, or make me think twice about what I wrote, which is a good thing.
• Do you write with a particular audience in mind or an unspecified general audience? Why?
  I write with the assumption that other H!P fans will read it. So i suppose they are the audience in mind.
• If you write for a particular audience, is it International Wota? If yes, why?
  I think it is INTLWOTA, or people who read International Wota.

Community:(The International Wota section)

• If International Wota didn’t exist, would you blog?
  Maybe about a different subject. But probably not about H!P. However, I am very grateful for International Wota, and check it daily. I read EVERYONE’S blog (: .
• When IW covers an entry of yours, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
  I’m very encouraged.
• When IW does not cover an entry, are you encouraged to blog more or less?
  I think my motivation stays the same, it’s only when an entry of mine IS covered that my motivation goes up.
   
• How often do you read other blogs?
  Everyday.
• How often do you comment on other blogs?
  Not very often, althought I always want to.
• If another blog covers a topic that you wanted or wished to cover, do you still blog about that specific topic? Why or why not?
  I will sometimes blog about the same thing. But sometimes when the slightest bit of news leaks, 50 blogs are all writing about the same thing, so I either pass on that subject or I wait a couple of weeks when there aren’t so many posts about the exact same thing. I think what I said earlier applies here just as well. The more points of view, the better.

Commitment:

• How serious is your attitude towards blogging? Do you consider it just as something to do for fun?
  I’m not very serious about blogging, but I’d like to be. It’s a hobby for me, something I look to when I really have nothing to do, or only when something really hits me. In the future, I’d like to become a lot more serious about it.
• How often do you blog? How often would you like to blog?
  I updated with a new post almost every day at first. Now I post every 5-12 days, something like that. I’d like to post every day at least, but it’s difficult.
• What priorities do you or have you put aside in order to blog? Why?
  I don’t have to put anything aside really.
• Do you see yourself blogging in 6 months? Why or why not
  Of course! I plan to keep blogging for quite a while. I’ll always be interested in H!P, and with H!P comes lots and lots to talk about.

Personal:

• Would you say you blog for yourself?
  Primarily, yes.
• What is your feeling after posting an entry? Is it relative to the time and effort you put in an entry?
  After a very long entry, I feel proud, and eager for a response. Short entries or thoughts are just to put what I think out there, for fun.
• What needs does blogging fulfill?
  I’m not sure, it’s mostly just for fun.
• Do you consider yourself a writer?
  No. I don’r particularly enjoy writing if it’s about anything other than what I blog for.
• Do you consider yourself good at writing? Good at blogging?
  I’m merely average. I’d like to get better, which is one of the reasons I started my blog.
• How much of your personal life do you share on your blog? If none, why do you leave this out?
  I try to leave most or all of my personal life out of things. I don’t think I’ve let even my age or gender slip. I leave things like this out simply because they’re unimportant to the purpose of this blog. My ideal blog would be one like SomeBoys!, which usually only covers news, but because I have no way of deciphering or finding news before others, a blog like that would be pointless.

Name: Sawada Yuri
Age: 16
Status: Member of Ongaku Gatas, Egg
Appearance: Very Pretty
Appearance considering Age: Normal
Singing Ability: Strong, Clear, Deeper
Personality: I wouldn’t know, she seems pretty confident in herself
Charm: 60%
Reminds me of/Resembles: Ishikawa Rika

Other than being one of the prettiest girls in H!P (in my opinion), Sawada Yuri doesn’t have many qualities or traits that I can speak of. I don’t know much about her at all, and I have hardly witnessed her personality or what she acts like off-stage. She has a very pleasant voice that is strong, and never squeaky or unsteady. I would love to see and hear more of her, preferably in the center of an activity, instead of blended into a group of the not-so-popular girls in a unit. I feel that she is talented enough (and pretty enough) to be put in the spotlight as the center of a unit, or at least as one of the leads. She is someone that I wouldn’t and haven’t forgotten about, despite the fact that she doesn’t get much attention. She does well in Ongaku Gatas, but let’s see what she can do on her own!!

Resonant Blue Positives

1) The choreography is amazing
2) Everyone is gorgeous, even the ugly ones
3) This is supposedly the unveiling of the “New Morning Musume”, or something like that, so we can expect more of their stuff to have this kind of feel to it
4) It seems more mature than other MM releases, as it should be; there aren’t any 12 year olds in Morning Musume anymore
5) The actual song is very good!

Resonant Blue Negatives

1) The B-side to this single is not worth listening to, let alone the time and effort and money that went into MM recording it.
2) The non-leads and Koha’s outfits are questionable
3) The 2 alternate PV’s aren’t interesting
4) We didn’t get to hear JunJun or Linlin
5) The next MM single will probably be a slower song, considering we’ve had 5 faster, more dramatic songs in a row

What other people think is terrible that isn’t that bad in my opinion

1) Ai/Reina Leading: While all of the girls have truly unique and equally appealing voices, Ai and Reina did perform extraordinarily in the PV and performances, with their presence, attitude, dancing, as well as vocally. They are both amazing leaders when it comes to being leads for songs, and I don’t think the rest of MM will be background dancers for the rest of MM’s career, probably only for this single.
2) The Original PV
3) “Prostitute” Reina: I think she looks fine! And she always looks that way, not just in this particular PV!

My Questions

1) Why does Kamei seem to have different choreography than anyone else in the PV?
2) Will future releases be similar sounding, or just “similar” in the sense that they’ll be more mature?
3) Why does Koha have to be in the semi-center when she has so many other projects and the rest of Morning Musume doesn’t?
4) Why does it seem like the smaller MM girls wore over-the-knee socks?

I’ve been waiting to talk about Resonant Blue until after it was released. I guess I wanted to wait to hear the single in it’s entirety, which wasn’t really worth it. The B-side is a piece of crap. On the contrary, Resonant Blue is one of the best songs I have EVER heard from Morning Musume. The Instrumental by itself would have compelled me to buy the single.

I am not sure how many times Tsunku has said he wants to introduce a “new Morning Musume”, but this version doesn’t seem much different from Onna ni Sachi Are’s MM, which I loved. My ideal Morning Musume would be producing work like…well basically like what they HAVE been producing for the past 5 singles, excluding Mikan. I feel that Morning Musume is going in the right direction.

First of all, I would like to point out that everyone looks better these days, especially since Resonant Blue, except for maybe Koharu. Takahashi impressed me the most when it came to looks for this release. Although they’re wearing heavier makeup than usual, I think the style and feel of this release suits them well.

The best part of the Resonant Blue image:

LinLin looks pretty decent with this release.

I know a lot of people liked the more PV-ish PV more than the original, which is more like a dance-shot, but I prefer the first one. The choreography is mesmerizing and powerful, and the girls look amazing.
The Studio Version is rather pointless in my opinion, but it gave interesting views of the dance.
The other version (I don’t know what it is called) where they’re walking around and exercising is boring, and my least favorite of them.
The dance is the most major likable part of this entire release or single, their image and outfits being second to that.

The thing I loved about this single was that EVERYONE looks good.
This post is so unorganized,  but I have trouble getting my thoughts on this release together. I give this single a solid A+ in all areas (:.

Name: Yajima Maimi
Age: 16
Status: Member of C-ute
Appearance: Pretty
Appearance considerg Age: Looks slightly older than she really is
Singing Ability: Great, Steady, Strong, Deep
Personality: Calm
Charm: 80%
Reminds me of/Resembles: Ni~ya

Yajima is currently my favorite member of C-ute. I feel she does a great job as leader, and in my opinion, is the prettiest and most lady-like of the group. Her voice is deep and unique, and reminds me of Kaori Iida’s. This girl is hopefully headed for more and more great things, maybe she could even surpass C-ute in time. When she paired up with Abe Natsumi, I was far more impressed and interested with Yajima, and I truly believe that says a lot for Yajima, considering Abe has had more than 10 years in the business and was once one of the most valued voices of the organization we know as H!P. I really hope Yajima Maimi has a bright and successful future ahead, and I will be supporting her until the day she graduates (which hopefully won’t be for another 10-15 years!)