Morning Musume'14 - group evaluation by Hikari 光

Oi minna-sama! How do you do?

I got some feeling a lot of people might like this, 'cause today Hikari 光's writing about Morning Musume'14, and if you're not listening to it, you're missing out!

As the top-front idol group of Hello!Project talent agency, this group had a lot of changing within their members in just a few years and I know it's been hard for the fans too, since I am kinda one giant momusu (and *coughs* H!P) fan myself  -^.^-  so after all of those changes I decided to sum it all up and make an evaluation for the group as a whole as well as for the current members.

So, thank you for reading!

People might say it's not kinda cool to support group that changes members, but all of us H!P fans find this quite usual and it can even bring us some kind of joy in getting to know new talented girls. I don't think anyone minds it, except for the fact we get sad when our ichiban is graduating. :/

The current momusu setup is quite astonishing! While I watch them preform and sing, as well as when I watch them on tv I am really happy, because they shine with this contagious warm spirit that consumes you within the moment.

The current setup began its path from the moment Tsunku♂ changed the group's name. He said: "From now to 10, 20, 30 years, in order to continue the group, and for people to immediately know the answers to simple questions such as, 'when was that single released?' or 'which generation Morning Musume was she?', I decided to add the 'year'."

It might get hard for people to catch up with the old generations, but the best thing is that new generations are given the legacy of the past generation's success; it's exactly why you can still hear Love Machine live, athough it was released in the 1999 (sold 1,760,000 copies, making it a major hit; The song touted an image of Japan as the future "envy of the world" and cheered the masses during a period of economic recession. Its wild success dramatically increased the popularity of the group.)

I was personally the biggest fan of the momusu setup of 2008. It had the strongest vocal in the H!P's history - Ai Takahashi; Reina Tanaka, my favourite member, always glancing to the side of rock; beautiful Niigaki Risa I always liked to watch in combination with those two; Kamei Eri we all know for energetically jumping all over the stage; ever the cutest Michishige Sayumi; sweet Mitsui Aika gently smiling at the crowd; kawaii nasal voice of Kusumi Koharu and, of course, the ever enjoying Chinese duo Linlin and Junjun.
To me, girls were the best. I was astonished by the quality of their singing while jumping all over the place and they were, above all, real idols.

The great move Tsunku♂ did is to change the way momusu'14 is presented. Current setup is more of being an idol in a way that audience see girls getting better and better and evolving through their hard work, more than it is based on their personality as it was in the previous generations.
And he also decided to emphasize new dance formation MM'14 is so famous for. It all started with the reward for such a hard dance to preform with so many people in PV for the single Help me!

  
Morning Musume'14 does have more electric sound now than in the songs before that and this is just an extra credit to distinguish this generation more from others. I got the strong feeling they have new choreographers xD too, because they have a certain dance style, not just a new formation.

Beside the so-called ''bitch slap'', you can't say this moment is not just the best dance move you've ever seen!

9th, 10th and 11th generation members

It's been announced that current leader Michishige Sayumi is leaving the group by the end of the fall tour.

I mostly think it's because she's 24, I wouldn't know otherwise how to explain why all of the other girls left (except for the Kamei's health condition). I suppose it's the fact that momusu's music is meant for the young's by the style as well as the fact this way they can enter the big solo scene or more serious music rather then energetic music for youngsters.

I am glad 9th, 10th and 11th gen members had Sayumi and Reina as their senpais. You can feel they thought them well and gave them strength to continue to spread this beautiful atmosphere they are creating for their fans.

I still have tiny problems with names and faces, tho. For example, I tend to mix up Fukumura Mizuki and Ikubo Haruna.

Don't they look alike?

I also see combination Riho x Ayumi as good old duo Reina x Ai was (they are combined by vocal abilities, but the most by the fact they are the best dancers in the group) I can say as well that Riho is put in the Ai's place, while Ayu in Reina's, not only by the lines they sing that were used to Ai's/Reina's but also by the place in dance formation and a group role. Riho is quite beautiful and her dance is perfect, but her singing leaves the trace of the feeling that she's struggling while she sings (which is why I was always wondering why is Tsunku pushing here in front?). I'm astonished tho by the progress she made in her singing; she may miss some air, but that girl can scream! As for the Ayumi, she's definately my top fav new member. She has the most beautiful smile on the planet and I must say her singing is much more clear then Riho's. However, she doesn't have so many lines (give her more chance Tsunku!). Some dance moves she has are even better than Riho's (the move she makes in One Two Three dance during the 1st chorus).

I am especially inspired by Kudo Haruka. For someone who is only 14 years old, she is really mature, but also really sweet at the same time. I especially adore her voice; it has this special rough but refined sound while she talks. I kinda see her like a sort of a moral leader of the group and because of her firm spirit I'm happy she's subleader, maybe she'll took Sayu's place.

At the end I'll leave a comment on Masaki Sato.

Although I would like to say the blessing Oda Sakura is, as well as the special character of Suzuki Kanon, I cannot not comment on Masaki! Whenever this girl's talking while on stage she has this super-charming-giggling talk. Even when she preforms, when her line comes it's all Sato-time! Something one cannot explain in words. So why not check everything on stage?

Here I have the best live Morning Musume'14 did so far, and this WILL make you cry (trust me, my sister cried too), because that strong ai saretai part simply touches your soul:

volume up and enjoy! 

and thanks for reading :)

see you on the next review

Hikari 光

Kuroshitsuji (black butler) review/ 黒執事 by Hikari 光

Hello everyone from the west side of the planet (and if you're from the East I have a throne for you!)!

Welcome to the J-zone, Hikari 光 here is bringing you the first of many reviews on Japanese stuff. Nice to see you here.

So, I've been a lot into Kuroshitsuji, although I thought it's not going to be such a good story at the beginning. It had quite boring episode structure, but then you start getting the story...

One of the most popular stories, written by Yana Toboso, Kuroshitsuji, in translation known as Black butler, is about to meet its 3^rd season of anime, while live action movie has already hit cinemas. If you haven't seen the trailer yet WATCH IT:

  A story about Ciel Phanotmhive, a 13-year-old English earl; the Watchdog of Her Highness the queen of England  and at the same time an orphan who sold his soul to the demon.  

I chose to make a review on this story since it’s quite untypical and has combined some elements one would think can never be put together. 

At the beginning of the manga, we meet Ciel Phantomhive, an arrogant, shrewd and sagacious thirteen-year-old boy, who holds numerous exalted positions: the head of the Phantomhive household, the chief manager of a chain of Funtom companies, and the Queen's Watchdog. He is always in a company of his butler, Sebastian Michaelis, that is, soon we find out, a demon. Two years ago, Ciel's parents were murdered, the mansion burned down and he was kidnapped and enslaved by a cult. Deeply traumatized, Ciel was desperately searching for a way out, and since he has no faith in God he accidently summoned a demon whom with he made a faustian contract (meaning the demon offered specific services and fulfilling Ciel’s wish in compensation of consuming his soul that will result in his death.) 

This story is interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, the way the story is told; we as an audience support Ciel’s decision to make the deal, which normally no one would support. Secondly, the terms of the deal are interesting as well; in this story, the demon is totally willing to be subservient to Ciel for as long as it takes, and he is faultlessly loyal to his master, staying by his side for the duration of their agreement. There are no loopholes in their deal from out of which Sebastian tries to sneak.

Furthermore, it is unusual for a manga story to be told in a way that every detail is out of a great importance. The story plot evolves thanks to the small discoveries or even the way someone said something. This makes the story quite intelligent. 

One thing that makes this story completely fabulous is the cast. You’ve never seen such awesome cast displayed in the most mindblowing of ways. For example, Ciel's clumsy and fragile maid is actually a sniper shooter and not to even mention death goods out of which one uses chainsaw as his death scythe and other a mower (can you imagine that?! no wait, let me show you:

They also have the most distinctive characters you’ll ever find that will make you laugh your very soul out (besides Ronald Knox riding his mower up here, real fans adore his sensei Grell Sutcliff: 

                                                   and yes, he's a guy................ we think.

Author’s approach in making the point in this story is also rather untypical. The morality of the actual decision to sell a soul is never really dealt with in the series, nor is the theology in which there are demons (evil) and death gods (neutral) with whom to barter and converse but no complementary good supernatural force. And on the topic of morality, we as the audience are generally inclined to root for the Sebastian, the amoral demon butler, who will maim, seduce, or kill anything that stands in the way of his master’s goal.

There are certainly some harsh truths and brutal actions revealed over the course of the story, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s nice to have an utilitarian antihero sometimes rather than a typical just and gentile manga-boy-lead.

 

As for the character development, you get surprised even here. Because of his proud non-hesitation stance the audience gets the feeling that Ciel is faultless and quite remarkable 10-year-old. Because he’s so advanced for his age we tend to never doubt him, but he is a child and therefore he learns and develops even more and at those moments we gain even greater respect for him. It’s astonishing how this story shows this realistic dimension of human nature. The Author is aware of what person would normally do and includes it in the story.

Black Butler is really worthwhile manga. It has incredibly intense storyline, awesome characters, wild philosophical dilemmas, and insanely beautiful art! At the same time it's quite serious, but heartwarming story and on the top of that it is insanely hilarious! This manga will make you change the point of view. It will also give you a lot to think about, while its art will leave you breathless. 

                                                                                                             Hikari 光