In my current lifetime, I’ve had the chance to meet several people who mean something to a great number of people. What they do is what fascinates us to the point where we celebrate them. This is of course, a celebrity. There are all kinds of different celebrities in so many fields: sports, music, acting, writing, science, being but a fraction of the possibilities.

I have met several “celebrities” over the past years. When I went to Video Games Live, I had a short 2 minute conversation with Jason Hayes, the composer for the popular game, World of Warcraft. It’s funny, I noticed his badge and just initiated casual conversation. He was a very nice guy and he really wanted me to play the game so that I could listen to the music. But I still haven’t nor plan to get around to doing it. Really, Jason Hayes was not a celebrity for me. I didn’t know who he was before being introduced (looking at his badge). In this sense, celebrities are very subjective.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting for all intents and purposes, my first TRUE celebrity, the one and only…

Kago Ai, ( 加護亜依 )

Read on further for my thoughts and recap of the event. You may skip the next paragraph, as I assume you already are familiar with Aibon.

For those who may not know who Kago is, here’s a short rundown. Kago Ai joined the popular J-pop girl group, Morning Musume, at the young age of 12. She was a very popular member throughout the years until she graduated with fellow 4th generation Morning Musume member, Tsuji Nozomi, to continue singing together as W. In 2006, a scandal broke out revolving her smoking underage. This caused her to go under arrest and a subsequent scandal caused her to be fired altogether from Up-Front Agency (the agency managing Hello! Project). She has since returned to show business.

On Sunday, November 22, 2009, Kago was to be promoting KDDI Mobile in Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, New Jersey. Recent news that she had become the American spokesperson had ran through the internet. More interesting news was coming from a blogger that she would be at certain places hanging out in America. While this seemed too good to be true, the blogger happened to be in close touch with her and her staff throughout her trip to America. A big special thanks goes out to Daisuke who let out the info that she was going to be in Mitsuwa.

The calm before the storm

When I read the news, I was initially hesitant to go, as it was a bit far away from my school. It was certainly doable, but inconvenient, and I wasn’t sure what would happen. Maybe it would be a closed event or maybe it wasn’t even real!? After sitting around in wotachat and thinking, I decided that I’d go for sure. I missed Morning Musume at AX, I would certainly not miss Kago here in my own home state! A good friend of mine wanted to go after I told him, so it was a matter of staying at his house the night before and making the trip in the morning. I pumped myself up by watching the crowning of Kusojo special featuring, the one and only Kago Ai. For those who don’t remember, that was the Mechaike Sports Special.

We arrived at Mitsuwa at 9am and waited till the doors opened to go in. By then, several people had already formed a line ahead of us. It was definitely the right line as I immediately saw a non-asian wota (I will use this word to refer to fans in this post) and knew that I was in the correct line. My friend and I got a red ticket which would be important later on.

The ad tells it all. Notice first glimpse of Mr. Awesome KDDI Man

It was a long wait for the main event since we were there early. I took periodic footage of the place and of people as more wotas came. Funny, in my excitement I had completely forgotten about batteries and had to buy batteries while I was waiting. Sure was a good thing that my camera is a AA battery user and not a Li-ion battery. I also took some time to go the Sanseido Books next door to get the latest UTB. Maimi, Maimai, Suzuka Morita, Shida Mirai…<3, among other girls were featured in it. But, I digress. As mentioned before, more wotas came! It was a good experience to finally be able to talk about one of my biggest interests with people that could relate. For those who haven’t had this experience, it truly is wonderful to finally fit in with peers. ^_^

I hung around Usako for practically the entire pre-conference time. Madara joined us and the storm of wota came shortly after. Charles from wotachat appeared and I recognized him (I presume he did too). It was really nice to see a lot of fans come from all over the place. Someone came from California even. If you listen carefully in my documentary video of the press conference, you can hear California when we shout out our representative areas.

We awaited patiently for Aibon

I must say, as the event drew closer nothing mattered except for the event. I was refusing a bathroom visit in the case that I might miss anything during the minute or two it would take me to go. I hadn’t eaten anything and had been awake since 7am. I was wearing a vest and a jacket inside, this was already starting to wear me down and I was sweating. But I was so into it, that none of this mattered to me. This would probably explain why I forgot to take off my jacket and backpack when I went to shake Kago’s hand later on.

KDDI mobile users got to sit down while us wotas stood around the perimeter. I hung with Madara at first, but we tried to get in for the seats which failed. He returned to his original left-side perch and I stayed behind the main line entrance for the remainder of the event. The event had been delayed at least 3 times from the original time that I had heard. But when Mr. Awesome KDDI Man took the floor, it was serious business.

I travelled from Somerset to New York, a good 2 hours. Then down to Weehawken, another half hour. Finally, after a 13 minute drive and about 4.5 hours of waiting, Kago appeared in front of me. Relatively speaking, she was a good couple of yards away from me until the handshake session.

There’s something about anticipation. In anticipating this event, I must have played through a good hundred+ different scenarios. What would she wear, what should I say, what would she say, what would she do, would she show? There are so many variables in anticipation… No matter how many different scenarios your brain processes, once the real thing is up, that’s it. Throughout those 4 hours of waiting, I didn’t know what to expect. When I think of Kago, I see her as I fondly remember her, in Morning Musume and W. When I think of what she sounds like, she sounds exactly like what I expect to hear when I try to identify her voice in songs or hear her talking in her relatively high-pitched voice. Basically, when I think of Kago, I think of the Kago that everyone has seen and expected for years. Nothing more, nothing less. That being said, I was certainly not disappointed. Kago is EXACTLY what I expected. She still sounds the same as if it was 2003 (which it was the night before ^_^). She’s as short as she should be. She’s everything I’ve come to look forward to in my idol.

My friend forces a funny reaction out of Kago

And as my turn came to shake her hand I find that my mind was completely blank. This is probably one of the few if not the first time, I can remember that I was clearly not thinking of anything. I don’t recall that I had forgot something during that time, I just recall it being a crystal clear moment from being in line to the moment our hands connected. Then a thought came, and I was so surprised. As stupid as it may sound, my first thought was, “Wow, she has really soft hands”. In regards to my speech about anticipation. I lost all the ideas of following any plan. I just said, “Kago-chan, daisuki,”, kept my eyes on her until the kindness of my heart allowed me to go on. She said, “thank you”. And I can’t help but feel she wanted more out of me.

May not be able to see my face, but it certainly is one of the happier moments of life.
^_^

In reality, I’m quite assertive and friendly. But I sure got shy when it came to Kago. This event has made me feel that I have to be mentally prepared for the next chance I get with a celebrity I care about. Kago introduced me into the world of Hello! Project and for that I thank her very much.

It was a great experience hanging with fellow wotas. It was a great privilege to shake Aibon’s hand. Lastly because of this experience, I can now put my fandom for Kago to rest. I chose not to say anything unnecessary to Kago, as I felt I should be truthful. Saying I’m a big fan would be somewhat rude as I have not been following her recent progress. That being said, while I love Kago forever for her time in Hello! Project, I realize the need to move on and dedicate myself to the next in order, Gaki-san.

In hindsight, there were so many things I should’ve/could’ve done. Why was I still wearing my jacket and bookbag when I had plenty of time to leave it with my friend? Why didn’t I film more stuff at the end? Why didn’t I say more things? The most important question, why didn’t I stay longer!? Oh well, it all happened so fast. But I do cherish it. It will be a moment to really remember for years to come.

If you haven’t already check out my earlier post with my little documentary of the event. I included some of my own personal thoughts in the post too for a meta-documentary.

Big thanks go out to Charles for the great pictures. He sacrificed a handshake for more pictures. Though, I suppose if Kago is not that high on his list, the trade-off is reasonable. A great thanks too, goes out to Daisuke for letting the fans know about this, so we could participate. Shout-outs to Madara for the authentic journalist experience, Usako for being a super awesome Kago fan, Rocky for moral support, and Awesome KDDI Man for being awesome. I’ll never forget this experience and I hope I can make more memories sometime in the near future. That means you Momusu…. come over to east coast sometime ^_~

~Siggy, who thinks he will never feel hands that are as soft as Kago’s~

So, this past Sunday was a landmark in my life. I met the one and only, Kago Ai. Not only that, I shook her hand!! But I’ll leave the thoughts and coverage for another post as it is way too much for what I may want to say.

I spent a good portion of my time there taking random footage for updates and memories. After about 2 hours of cutting and editing (and creative decisions) I produced a condensed 15 minutes (including credits) of the footage I got.Here is Part 1 of Meeting Kago, which I dubbed, “The Chronicles of Mitsuwa: Kago Ai Edition.

Comments:

Throughout the first 2 clips, I went for a calm before the storm feel. I opted to use classical music and turned to one of my favorite relaxing tunes, Elvira Madigan by Mozart.

@ 0:29, my complete disregard at my friend’s “time” statement. Watching the video over again, it felt like a somewhat comedic event, and this was where I started realizing I had a lot of random amusing comments.

@ 1:05, look carefully and you’ll see Madara walking up to the Customer Service section. Madara noticed us soon after I stopped recording because of our distinct “wota” look XD.

@1:16, Wow what horrible geography knowledge, I have… I was right the first time that Chicago was in Illinois…

Abrupt music change, but this is the beginning of music that I felt was tailored for the moment. It’s a “sneaky” kind of music that I felt could be associated with us tailing the Kago decoy. I originally heard this tune, “Night of the Living Room”, in the drama Akihabara@deep. In fact, I use Tucker’s music for the rest of the video XD. Cause, it really is that good.

@2:00,  The zoom comment was rather amusing in hindsight. In this whole scene you can feel the “documentary” feel as I purposely made rough cuts all over the place, given the footage I had of course.

@2:30, He was in fact right in front of us to the left beyond the scope of my camera. As I said, per his preference, he did not want to be recorded.

@2:57, Idol wear: Sunglasses, hoody, face masks, caps, and anything to hide your identity against the all-seeing paparazzi! Notice the man that strolls by with three babies XD

@3:26, We had actually met Madara by the time I was reporting on the Kago decoy, but I felt the clip was right placed over here.

@4:00, Charles from wotachat was epic with the two cameras and all the shots he took. Berikyuu was the hard to see green shirt girl from H!O. Rikappi was blocking her in my view. And Berikyuu had brought the girl in blue to Mitsuwa as a surprise to meet Kago. Wow, what a surprise! Good friend you are, Berikyuu. Madara was conversing with a lot of people. And so we see the rest of the cast for this documentary.

@4:30, Believe it or not I had about 6 clips where this same scenario happened. “Kago isn’t here yet, still waiting, it’s (time).” But this one clip was important as I called it “The Chronicles of Mitsuwa: Kago Ai Edition”.

“Koi no Hundle” was used, because I wanted to show our building excitement. This tune was energetic but at the same time, more like a building excitement. I felt it was a good choice and really flowed with the overall progress of the last minutes before Kago’s big entrance.

@4:53, I followed Madara for the left side look. I probably should’ve stayed there as it certainly would’ve been easier to get pics/footage from that side.

@5:10, Wow what a slip-up. I didn’t even know what a weeabo was until a couple months ago.

@5:35, I believe I was thinking of saying “This is how we roll” but instead my proper grammar came out first. It’s an honor to be on the sidelines cheering on Kago though!

@5:40, I don’t actually know what kind of priority there was to the few red tickets that got into the seating. The staff was actually very good and handling everything very professionally. I applaud them for good service.

@6:10, Kouhaku is like a magical word. It’s funny that after hearing them talk about Kouhaku, the next day I saw that H!P was not on this year’s Kouhaku list.

@6:30, Sorry for the shaking, I was getting excited. I felt like I really wanted my inner wota to come out for once. This was the moment!

I felt the need to respect Kago’s entrance and left out an external audio track. Though I backed this up by putting in the very catchy Mini. Strawberry Pie.

Part 2: Kago’s Press Conference

For the press conference, I felt it needed a more relaxing tune, since the one and only is in front of us. It’s like a dream come true. So “The Moon Is High” set this mood for what I felt was a very laid back conversation + sales pitch.

@0:20, New Jersey definitely outvoiced every other location. If you listen carefully, Madara yells out, “The Bronx”. Connecticut corresponds to Holly. I forgot the name, but there was a girl that was from California who had seen Momusu as well as H&A. Quite a wota there. Two thumbs up go to the one who yelled out, America!

@0:44, I captured Rikappi’s tearful moment behind her. She even refers to it in her recap of the event here.

@1:45, Tonari no Totoro Monomane. KDDI guy was becoming very awesome in my book because of this. From what I remember the last time I saw the movie, Kago’s monomane is fairly accurate XD

@1:54, my batteries were fluctuating from the strain and so I had to start setting up my spares. I missed capturing her American versions because of this.

@3:08, I ran out of batteries right after it XD

The second track that plays during most of the raffle is probably the most fun I had in picking a track. “Village in Thailand” is quite a playful tune that I felt was very fitting for everyone in their teetering situation. I certainly wish I could’ve won an autographed phone case/strap ><

The english that is thrown out from KDDI man and Kago is so awesome. Yes, Kago was the best part but you have to admit KDDI man was very cool.

@4:08, What did she say???

@4:14, Her english is a bit more clear than previously. It’s very clear in these ending stages of the press conference.

The red tickets were a big deal for all of us. I sure wish I could’ve won though.

The third track, “Electoon Waltz” was meant for a celebratory ending. It is actually the last track in the Electone Wizard album. And I feel it certainly closed up this documentary well. I even let it finish the credits.

@7:44, My friend Malachy gives Kago a Kabocha (winter squash). This was a pun and actually got an amusing reaction from her. Hope you enjoyed that.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the two videos! I was going for a real documentary feel so no transitions were needed. In hindsight, I really should’ve recorded the aftermath of the press conference. But my memory was running low (I forgot that my DS Lite had a backup memory card). And the high of shaking Kago’s hand was taking over all rational thought. You know you’d be doing the same thing if you were in my position XD

I will write a detailed account with pictures tomorrow! Look forward to it.

~Siggy, who loves Kago for introducing him to the world that is H!P~

Although yes, Halloween is well half a month past, I finally got the pictures. I wish I had more pictures but don’t really. Then again, I didn’t have that many more opportunities for pictures. Anyway, for Halloween I dressed up as a “wota”. For those who don’t know, you can consider a wota to be a fanboy. In particular, a fanboy of Japanese idols and/or music.

So for my wota costume, I made use of some here and there things and the merchandise that I got from Hello! Store:

• Niigaki Risa Nine Smile Tour T-shirt
• Niigaki Risa Nine Smile Wristband
• Niigaki Risa Platinum 9 Disco Muffler Towel
• Takahashi Ai Nine Smile Wristband
• Gaki-san and Takahashi’s Nine Smile T-shirt pictures
• Fannybag
• Bookbag
• Orange Bandanna
• Wonderful Hearts Summer 2009 C-ute Fan
• Wonderful Hearts Winter 2009 Visual Book
• Jeans, glasses, sneakers

I tried to be as stereotypical in otaku image as possible. The first things that come to mind when I think of an otaku is this:

Densha Otoko! That’s right, the classic otaku love story is about as stereotypical as it gets. Plaid shirt with jeans and glasses is the mainstay of otaku fashion. I was thinking of wearing plaid but then I opted to be more obvious about my fandom. I have to say wearing a bandanna was a very good decision in cementing the image. It really makes me stick out from just a normal person.

I originally wanted to have posters protruding from my bookbag. Since I had an exam, I didn’t have time to make those things. Instead, I got a fannybag from home. Which was good, because then I could carry my Gaki-san and Takahashi pictures safely and closely.

I was going for being a Gaki-san wota by donning all Gaki-san wear. But I tried to go just a bit farther by putting in various other Hello! Project goodies because I really wanted to use my C-ute fan. In fact, by using my C-ute fan, my costume becomes a pun: fanboy. Get it? ^_~

Pictures!

The pictures were taken at my school’s Japanese Cultural Association club on the night before Halloween. The six of us were actually dressed up as something. From left-right: H!P Wota, Frank West from Dead Rising, Stock Villian from Stock Movie, Southern Italy, Bartender, and some sensei from Yu-Gi-Oh GX (I cannot remember for the life of me what it was).

Just imagine, if I seriously dressed like that everyday…

~Siggy, who needs to watch the Chanpuru concert in that get-up…~

It should be no surprise that I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Nine Smile merchandise would come up during a time that wasn’t surprisingly inconvenient for me. Lol… I seriously wrote “surpris” 3 times in that sentence. At any rate, I camped out for the raid on Hello Store last week. Originally the plan was just to get 1 order. That ended up becoming 2 orders… Surprisingly, I got the second order first before the other one seems to even be near completion. I’m going by the information reflected in my Inbox. Not too long ago, I saw H!S tweeted that they’re bogged down on the high volume of orders. Well, I guess I have a while to go before my other order comes. For the spoils of war, read on!

Airi wants you to read on, she promises you won’t leave unhappy ^_~

So what do we have this time!

A small USPS mailing envelope
The yoyo is there blocking my personal info … >.> just in case.
Look inside… and at my Bugs Bunny/ Dalmations sheets

This surprised me, I don’t recall the order sheet being so detailed even with pictures.
It means they’re upgrading, they’re working on better things!
Or it means I have very very short term memory.

Compared to my first order, a relatively small order, but dang… look at all that blue. XD

Cutie Circuit 2009 Airi and Maimai 2L pics
I like Airi in her Bye! Bye! Bye! outfit
and Maimai, you can never go wrong with Maimai

JunJun package
Nine Smile Concert T-shirt including wristband and 2L photoset

JunJun’s shirt is sooo blue (though I could say the same about Reina’s and LinLin’s)
I actually like the design of this shirt
H!P shirts are amazing comfortable too
Either that or there’s a placebo effect on these things

Yours truly rocking the blue on orange, Complementary colors!

<3 JunJun

~Siggy, who awaits his next order for some 5th gen love~

I wish I could say I knew it was coming, but I certainly didn’t. I was quite surprised at the announcement of Hello! Store USA a while back. But I was determined to check it out and buy something to support my favorite girls. So about a week ago, was the midnight opening (PST) of Hello! Store USA. And I waited for it… to 3am in EST…

- Midnight Opening

As I have mentioned, the midnight opening was set in Pacific Standard Time. I woke up 10 minutes before 3am in my Eastern time to wait for the opening. It was quite fun and exciting when the doors opened and the servers were getting destroyed. I stayed in wotachat while waiting for loading and the such. Eventually I got through and was pleasantly surprised

- Buying

I must say I was greatly surprised at the variety and number of items they had. I opened many tabs while the site was still being extremely slow (no doubt, people who stayed up for the opening). Eventually I got through my order but I wasn’t sure if I had actually put the order through, and I wasn’t about to duplicate my order if it really went through. That was when my order was like around $50. I found out that it didn’t actually go through and I had to “save” shipping to actually make it go through. So when I finally finished my order, I wound up getting $184 worth of Hello! Project swag (don’t forget that $9 shipping too for oversize… darnnnn). Overall, I’d say the experience was fairly ok minus the slow loading times but I can forgive that since I know the reason why. Now onto to the most important part of this post.

- Goods

I know that I am an impulse buyer and it really shows in this order. I greatly apologize for picture quality as I’m not really a good photographer and there were a lot of hard shots. I tried my best to align everything for a group shot too! And for those who happen to be wondering, yes those are my Bugs Bunny / Dalmations sheets on my bed ^_^;. So without further adieu, these are the items I got from Hello! Store:

My package came hidden behind the tree next to my house.
Look at everything padded with bubblewrap!

C-ute Fan from the Summer 2009 Hello! Champloo concert
I really like C-ute. I really LOVE orange. Orange + C-ute = <333

Hagiwara Mai Sports Towel
I got this fully out of impulse cause I really like Maimai.
It looks nice, I guess I can poster-ize it.

Morning Musume Platinum 9 Disco Concert T-shirt
This shirt is awesome. Member-neutral, very cool in design and good taste
I can’t wait to wear this!

C-ute ABC Concert and Wonderful Hearts Winter 2009 Concert Visual Books
I’m really surprised how big these books are.
And they are soooo nice >w<

Morning Musume Group Single Collection from Resonant Live
I like these costumes actually.
Notice that JunJun beat the system and made it in 3x

JunJun and Leader from P9D Tour in Large size
Takahashi’s glove is … so hot
<3 JunJun

C-ute Atarumo Hakke!? Group Photo set
C-ute! On top of Eyeless Maimai!

Suzuki Airi and Yajima Maimi from Shochuu Omimai Moshiagemasu Photoset
My two favorite girls from C-ute <333

Niigaki Risa Muffler Towel + Shouganai Yume Oibito Photoset
Gaki-san!! Gaki-san!!

Everything laid out as best as possible, suteki da ne?
And as an added bonus more shiny goods!

Heart of Yoyo’s around Gaki-san!

Well, I can’t wait for Nine Smile stuff to come out. I want it!!! Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures of the goods. The Visual Books are really nice so I will be making efforts to get more. And overall, I’m happy that we have a Hello! Store in America now.

~Siggy, who impulse buys too much~

If you’re reading this, you probably already know. Kusumi Koharu of the 7th generation of Morning Musume has been slated for graduation, come this December. This comes hot on the news of the eldest C-ute member, Umeda Erika, graduating next month. Well, I don’t really know what to think. I’ve had a complicated time with Koharu from her Iroppoi Jirettai debut to today.

Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane. Koharu was praised by one Tsunku as a miracle, an ace in the hole. Do you remember the last miracle? If he even referred to her as such, it was Goto Maki, which brought us Love Machine and the golden age of Momusu. Koharu certainly did not do this for Momusu when she got there but she added in some young blood. I still wonder to this day, who judged her voice, because I never thought it was passable. That was 2005, four years later she is now much more grown (height/body wise at least, I can’t say for sure about her actual personality).

Funny, as I go on the H!O picboard to grab some pictures of Koharu, the first girl that pops up on the banner is Koharu! Koharu has been an interesting member. While, I initially thought she was nowhere near worthy of her Tsunku-given title, she really was a miracle in a way. She was given an anime lead that eventually turned to her own solo career. She went from being shy to what I consider a crazy crackhead. There’s a certain thing to being a new member of Morning Musume. It’s like a rite of passage. You start shy and Up-Front decides what personality you should taken on. I presume at the time, they needed someone energetic and childish, considering that Koharu was young.

But let’s look further, she even got photobooks! A solo career, solo lines, photobook. Koharu really must have worked hard. I’m not completely sure what she was doing about her voice, since I still don’t think her voice is trained very well. Perhaps she was being overworked. A lot of people have noticed that her energetic persona she displays is quite the opposite of what she has when she’s in an intimate controllable environment. The recent H!P magazine shows us how relatively calm Koharu is. It only looks to me that Koharu was very much manufactured there.

At any rate, I don’t really like to delve into that topic. It’s much too subjective. I suppose it’s no surprise. Someone had to graduate eventually. Morning Musume has been in its current 9nin configuration since Kanashimi Twilight (Panda switch for Yossie+Mikitty is acceptable). I must admit following Morning Musume during this stable time sure made it feel like Momusu was like this all the time. When I watch old concerts with Iida, it’s like… “this isn’t Morning Musume?!”

But for me, I must admit that Koharu was a core component of what Momusu was to me during Yossie’s leadership. I applaud her for her hard work, it definitely shows considering how much work she has done compared to other members. And while she ranks very low in my personal rankings, I will admit that there are some points of her that I do like. She is a pretty girl and she is amusing. I await watching the graduation. This will be the first Momusu (Elder Club does not count) graduation that I am aware of before it happens and I can be ready to watch out for the graduation.

I’m overall happy that Koharu was in Morning Musume. I regret not giving her enough love. But overall, she still scares me… cause… you know… it is Kusumi Koharu, yay! yay!

~Siggy, who cannot listen to Guruguru Jump the same way anymore~

I like variety. I really like variety. That’s why I have a variety of likes and dislikes. But I find myself very hypocritical in this sense. Because while I do like variety, change, and experimentation; there are lots of times where I am frustrated that someone/thing is changing beyond my likes.

The term “bootstrap” apparently means to start a calculation and use this result as a basis for the next calculation (which would’ve been impossible without the first calculation) and continue this until you are at the desired answer. At least this is what it means according to my Chemical Bonding professor. That’s one crazy guy man… At any rate, while I was sitting bored in class I thought of “Musical Bootstrapping”. And from there I just thought of a lot of stuff… but that’s typical of me. By the time I was nearly finished writing this, I just decided to change the name of the post to the current title to better reflect the subject at hand. It also has a nice ring to it that sounds like what I’m trying to convey. But “bootstrap” is too good of a term to pass up.

A lot of my preferences in music and entertainment come from this kind of bootstrapping. I want to call it bandwagoning but I really don’t know the “proper” term for it. It’s like when you wiki “Theodore Roosevelt” and you end up at “The Battle of Jabiim” (Star Wars event, for those who don’t know). Or like when you youtube “Morning Musume Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari” and somehow you end up watching a Pokemon battle from the latest episode of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. All those intermediates between the beginning and the end are what sprout out to be my web of interests. And I am fascinated that this is the case with music.

I want to bring up one of my most celebrated musical acts: m-flo.

Original m-flo featuring: Taku, Lisa, and VERBAL

For those who don’t know (if you do know, this is just a recap), m-flo was a Japanese Urban group first made in 1999 with 3 members: Lisa (vocal), VERBAL (MC), and Taku (DJ). They became pretty popular over the years. Eventually, Lisa left to pursue a solo career in 2002. In 2003, m-flo came back. This time they didn’t have a dedicated vocalist, they set out to do a LOT of collaborations. This was the “new school” m-flo, the “m-flo loves …” series. They worked with many artists, small and big, such as: melody, Koda Kumi, BoA, Dragon Ash, MINMI, MONKEY MAJIK, BENNIE K, and many others. They kept producing hits up until 2008 when the 2 original m-flo members decided to disband the group.

m-flo is like the Japanese James Bond
m-flo loves BONNIE PINK

Anyway, that was the history lesson of the day there ^. The big idea here is that m-flo changed from the beginning to the end. From the time they lost Lisa and went to different artists they changed a lot. It became such to the point where m-flo was being accused of “going Pop”, where they previously had that underground urban sound that made them so popular in the first place. You know the saying, “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it”. They did go broke after Lisa left but they could’ve found another vocal and repeated their success.

The two remaining members at the end of their career. They are still active today in other projects!

Innovation is what makes the world go around. Despite what people think, money and love do not make the world go round. What m-flo did was team up with a vocal and create something new altogether. I will admit that they certainly did sound more pop than they initially did. But that’s what got me into them. Because I like love pop music. I love upbeat songs and fun songs. In fact when I go back to their old songs, I find that I don’t like them very much. So had m-flo not changed, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into their later work.

The first song I heard from them (that I can fully acknowledge) was: “the love bug” by m-flo loves BoA. Very pop, with just some hints of urban music. This was how I started listening to rap music, through m-flo. By listening to m-flo songs I was ultimately introduced to other artists. Today I am a fan of Monkey Majik and BENNIE K through m-flo.

“the love bug” by m-flo loves BoA, the first m-flo PV I saw

“Taste Your Stuff” by m-flo loves BENNIE K, one of my most favorite songs from the m-flo loves… series

By getting into Monkey Majik I was subsequently introduced to the Yoshida Brothers. This struck a chord because the brothers were the ones who did the famous music for the Wii’s American commercial. Monkey Majik even did a song with rapper SEAMO. Coincidence that BENNIE K had made a hit song with SEAMO? Funny thing, I never got into SEAMO despite this coincidence. I still pick my interests based on if I like it. But it’s this spider-webbing that has broadened my horizons. It allows me to make new connections with other artists and other styles. Who knew I would like Canadian guys singing English in Japan??

“Change” by Monkey Majik + YOSHIDA BROTHERS

How far did this bootstrapping get me. From m-flo, I ended up finding Clazziquai Project, a Korean group. Wow, I jumped from Japan to Korea! And so that was the start of my jump into Korean music which eventually led me to the Wonder Girls and SNSD. Now this would come full circle if I could say that the Wonder Girls led me to the Jonas Brothers (boy band, where most little kids’ start their musical journey). But I would be ashamed if that were ever the case, thankfully it is not the case. I started listening to the TERIYAKI BOYZ because VERBAL from m-flo was in it. I will admit after a karaoke experience and yo-yoing, I have a great amount of appreciation for some of their songs.

Today, I still listen to m-flo songs because they’re awesome. I was never really one to listen to the radio or just randomly listen to other music. So I am quite thankful for m-flo for broadening my horizons and essentially cracking open my shell. For a while when I had my first iPod, m-flo ruled a majority of my top played charts simply because of the variety and quality of their songs. At one point, m-flo even beat out Queen Ayumi (when I was still a hardcore fan, at that).

I’d like to write a post about the real origin of my J-pop preference because it is actually quite amusing to me and many of my friends who I’ve told the story to. I’ll get around to it sometime. But until then, more music for me! Music is love! Spread the love for music!

~Siggy, who changed the main idea of this post several times and had completely lost track of the point of it~

This past Wednesday I was over at my friend’s place for a mini-vacation. While I was there I got the opportunity to go to the Mitsuwa Japanese marketplace in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Now you may be thinking this sounds suspiciously like something I’d write in a real blog. Well, it certainly does, but there’s one part of the trip that pertains to my hobbies/entertainment interests.

So we went to Mitsuwa and my friend gave me the tour. He specifically showed me the candy section, because I love Japanese candy, in particular Hi-chew. So I went and bought the 6 Japanese flavors (I refuse to buy American Hi-Chew…) that I have not tasted. Though I have to say that I have had green apple before, but it’s just in a different packaging which to me = buy it.

We got some quick to go food and microwaved it there, something that I’ve always seen happen in konbinis but now I get to do it! It’s quite exhilarating really. While we were in the food court eating I noticed some Korean kids near us. And wow they were sooo annoying. This one kid, I swear he had a crush on the girl sitting opposite of him. He kept on trying to get her attention and doing the “Nobody Nobody but you!” thing.

After leaving the food court we went to Sanseido Books, the Japanese bookstore. Lots of manga, lots of magazines, children’s books, some small non-Japanese selections, a small selection of albums/singles, and a DVD rental place. It was realy cool. For all the Japanese I hear/watch, it still feels like I’m seeing/hearing a fabled mythical being when I really see/hear real Japanese people. While I was walking around I’d hear the lady speak over the phone in Japanese a lot.

Anyway, the one part that has to do with my hobbies is what I bought from here. I just saw this among many other magazines.

You’re probably thinking exactly what I’m thinking… Yajima Maimi on the cover of UTB. At first, I was like MAIMI! It gave me hope that there might be something else I was interested in, in the shop. But that really wasn’t the case, so I took a look inside the book.

Little did I know I was also going to find Airi in there too! These pics are courtesy of the H!O picboard, cause I really have no way of scanning these pics myself. But amazing, it is such a big difference to actually have the image in a book versus the image on your computer. Maimai was also in the book, which… 3 C-ute girls is a definite reason to buy the book. So I bought it. Here’s some of my favorite pics and the trading card that I got There were 3 sets, each set had a C-ute girl in it and I got Set B with Hagiwara Mai. I’m trying to arrange for trades to acquire Airi and Maimi from the other 2 sets.

That Maimi pic on the left is probably one of my most favorite pics of her… mainly cause of the shorts… which equals legs… <3 Maimi. At any rate, I love the UTB magazine and look forward to revisiting and hopefully getting another issue. And I want Airi and Maimi in trading card form! argh, someone make it come true!

~Siggy, who is totally in love with Maimai after looking through H!O picboard~

The other night I went to Duet48 (which makes me think AKB48??). For people who don’t know, it’s a karaoke place in New York City, somewhere… At any rate, I went with a housemate of mine and our circle of friends.

Given my taste in music, I have virtually no reason to pick any English songs. But alas, since I cannot read Japanese reliably (and quickly) I am stuck having to sing songs that I just know. Unfortunately, after hearing SO many songs, I don’t know any. It doesn’t help that I can’t really sing well either XD.

But being in that Karaoke room, for just a moment made me wonder what it was like at Hello! Party. On the couple of times I got to pick a song, I picked songs that I would want to sing or at least attempt.

I picked:

• Perfume – Dream Fighter

I REALLY like the chorus and KSYK’s solo part in the song. But really… I don’t know the rest of the song after that XD. It was just mumbling and trying to go by what I remember, oh and watching the PV cause they actually had it on screen with the karaoke lyrics. But I just wanted a chance to sing that awesome chorus.

• TERIYAKI BOYZ – WORK THAT!

I will admit, while I usually don’t like rap music and other urban things, I have warmed up to it over the years because of m-flo and his unique approach. That being said, I am biased to liking Teriyaki Boyz because VERBAL from m-flo is in it. I was just gonna sing the song because 75% of the lyrics are in English. But it was a surprising hit among my friends. The room was just full of us yelling: “Work that!” (no lie, almost 75% of the song is simply those 2 words). That actually makes me have a lot more appreciation for the song. I only really listened to the song because, Hiroyuki Suzuki, one of my favorite 1A yo-yoers used it for his freestyle music. But, now I can really appreciate the song. Go listen to it!

• Caramell – Caramelldansen Speedycake Remix

I’m actually surprised this was in their book… But I couldn’t resist. Doing the Caramelldansen dance and singing … Swedish is it? lyrics is instant fun. It’s quite a good song actually, very addictive.

At any rate, I’m surprised at the effect karaoke has on a song. At first, I was aghast that the instrumentals were MIDI-sounding and all (I suppose because of licensing and the like). But karaoke is fun. It’d probably be better if I could actually sing songs, I memorized. Or better yet, read… -_-; But who cares, when you can just mumble like Scooby Doo, when you can’t read the lyrics fast enough.

~Siggy, who has an excellent Scooby Doo impression~

So this news was brought to my attention in an extremely anticlimactic way. First I noticed that the subject of the night at wotachat was Erika, when I was scrolling by what I missed during the night. I ignored that, and then noticed much later what it was really about, thanks to the Wotachat subject line.

For those who don’t already know? And who doesn’t? Our lovely Umeda Erika has been slated for graduation from C-ute and officially all of Hello! Project on the last day of their concert tour for this coming fall, October 25th.

Ch’yea, I’m out of the crazy Tsunku farm

By the way, I love that picture there. She’s looking really awesome and I love the one sided ponytail <3.

So, first Megumi, before I even got into C-ute. Then Kanna, who I really didn’t care too much about. Had it not been for the whole lesbian thing I would not have really known about Kanna until I actually bothered to really get into C-ute, which still has yet to happen, since I kinda still neglect Chisato and Saki. But now, Erika!?

First a quick history of my rankings of C-ute:

(Yes, I know Kanna isn’t in this pic, but Maimai is, so I’m happy)

• I first noticed Maasa, Yurina, or Erika at some concerts cause of their height.
• I really thought Erika looked kinda ugly in her first appearance back in the H!P All Stars PV. But in retrospect it was one of those awkward phases, as she has since blossomed.
• I noticed Maimai because she’s super young and apparently I always notice the super young ones first XD
• Erika becomes my #1 in C-ute, due to her underdog status, height, and the fact that I know no one.
• Airi becomes a favorite.
• Maimi was hot a long time ago, it just took me that long to notice.
• Airi becomes official #1 for me in C-ute, followed by Maimi cause she’s hot.
• Maimai becomes my #3
• Which leaves Erika as my #4

Erika was like the underdog for me because she was the oldest one, yet not leader. She’s tall, I like that, and in that sense is somewhat reminiscent of a certain tall member of another H!P group. I like tall girls, I really do, that’s why Maimi overtook Erika in my rankings later on.

One of the few advantages Erika has over Maimi: height ^_^

But Erika had that used towel and tension thing going, which to this day, I still haven’t quite gotten. She’s quirky and I like that. But I have to say that she was hard to notice unless you were just looking at the big picture. She did put a lot of effort though. Being tall is hard, especially if you tower a good half your group. Like now when I watch Iida perform, wow, she looks so strange on stage with the rest of Momusu.

So for the timebeing, we should appreciate Erika’s onstage presence until her inevitable graduation. I wonder if she’s getting a real send-off. Did Megumi get a send-off, cause I don’t really know what happened. I appreciate Erika still, even though she’s not my favorite anymore. And I’ll continue to support her. I hope everyone else will too. She’s apparently going to be studying to become a fashion model, so whoot can’t wait to see her again on the catwalk. Erika has always reminded me of Erika Sawajiri ever since Namido no Iro. I hope she becomes more popular after H!P and certainly not go through the stuff Erika-sama went through… XD

Live long and prosper Umeda Erika and Arihara Kanna

Umeda Erika (… NOT!)

Let’s not forget, when properly handled there is a future after H!P. Erika certainly has the looks and the upstart to become successful outside of H!P. And I can’t wait to see her become more popular after leaving H!P, not that I want her to leave now. But it’s like growing up, you know. As inspiration, I read Vee’s post which includes a great testament and gallery to Erika. I can’t find that Chinami pic Vee mentioned. But I thought I’d throw in my own, since I happened to save a Chinami pic along the way in preparation of this post.

Good luck in your future career, Erika and sotsugyou omedetou! Don’t forget your time in Hello! Project and the fans that adore you to this day!

~Siggy, who says moeeee~ to suspenders ^_~