Ikemen Samurai - Dear Prince ~Tennis no Oujisamatachi e~

Another new single announced today! Dear Prince ~Tennis no Oujisamatachi e~, meaning Dear Prince ~To the Princes of Tennis~, should be kinda familiar to fans of the manga, as it's the song that was used in the last chapter of the manga last week. I still don't see the point of that, all it was was the lyrics written on the page, I think they were trying to imitate a song playing in the last episode of an anime but it doesn't really work with manga. I hear it was hell for scanlators. xD But anyway.
Ikemen Samurai? xD I thought it would be a serious song but the group name (meaning something along the lines of "Good-looking Samurai") makes it sound like it's totally not. Though, according to the website, Konomi chose the group name, so...
The group consists of Echizen Ryouma and Tezuka Kunimitsu from Seigaku, Atobe Keigo from Hyoutei, Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou from Rikkai, Kite Eishirou from Higa, and Shiraishi Kuranosuke from Shitenhouji. Lots of different schools being represented here...Seigaku and all the teams they faced in the Nationals.
I think this would be a good ending or opening song for the Finals OVA series. I'm sure it's going to be the ending for the last episode, at least.

タイトル：Ｄｅａｒ Ｐｒｉｎｃｅ～テニスの王子様達へ～（初回生産完全限定盤）
アーティスト：イケメン侍（越前リョーマ、手塚国光、跡部景吾、幸村精市、
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　真田弦一郎、木手永四郎、白石蔵ノ介）
発売日：２００８年４月２３日（水）
品番：ＮＥＣＭ－１０１０１
価格：￥１，０００（税込）

Title: Dear Prince ~Tennis no Oujisamatachi e~ (limited release)
Artist: Ikemen Samurai (Echizen Ryouma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Atobe Keigo, Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou, Kite Eishirou, Shiraishi Kuranosuke)
Release date: 2008.04.23 (Wednesday)
Catalog code: NECM-10101
Price: 1000 yen

April 23rd...that's a normal release date (aka Wednesday). For once. xD

Tong-tai - Ya.ki.ni.ku

@_@
Another Prince of Tennis unit, this one being one of the more "wtf"-inducing ones. This new unit, just announced today, is based off of the special Yakiniku no Oujisama episode that's being released on March 16th, where Seigaku and a lot of rival schools meet at a yakiniku place and have a contest to see which school can eat the most in one hour. This song is apparently going to be the ending theme for that episode, and I can only hope that it's -only- that episode...
The unit is made up of Tanishi Kei from Higa, Kabaji Munehiro from Hyoutei, and Chinen Hiroshi from Higa. From the manga, I remember Tanishi's uber yakiniku-eating skills, and Kabaji copied those, but I don't remember Chinen...?

タイトル：や・き・に・く（初回生産完全限定盤）
アーティスト：トング隊（田仁志 慧、樺地崇弘、知念 寛）
発売日：２００８年５月９日（金）
品番：ＮＥＣＭ－１０１０４
価格：￥８００（税込）

Title: Ya.ki.ni.ku (limited release)
Artist: Tong-tai (Tanishi Kei, Kabaji Munehiro, Chinen Hiroshi)
Release date: 2008.05.09 (Friday)
Catalog code: NECM-10104
Price: 800 yen

Wonder what's up with the Friday release again? Maybe the next DVD is going to be released then or something.

Arashi's "We can make it!" is a cover?!

This just blew my mind.
We can make it! is one of the two songs that got me into Arashi. I love the song and it has a really high playcount on my iPod.
I just found out today that it's a cover. Apparently the original is "Love is All Around", by some woman named Agnes Carlsson. Well.
So I immediately went onto Youtube to find the original. After a search of the artist + the title, I didn't find any music video or anything. However, I found this:

Ohhh wow. xDD I'm only a casual fan of Arashi, I listen to their music but I don't know any of their names or anything. (I can't see myself ever getting into Johnny's like I did with Hello! Project, one uber idol group is enough. X_x) Still though, it's really amusing to have a girl's song playing over a video of a guy group. xD And apparently the Arashi version added some parts, considering this video has to cut to audio from We can make it! in order to fit with the PV. xD

It's always weird to find out that a song I listen to a lot is a cover, cause I always think of the one I heard first as the original. I kept almost referring to We can make it! as the original in this post...

Tezuka & Fuji - Koko de Bokura wa Deattashimatta cover + tracklist

TEZUKA ZOOOONNNEEEEEEE
But why is Fuji doing it too? xD Unless they're in SYNCHRO! 8DD But they're not a doubles pair so maybe not.


The tracklist was put up on Yesasia here:
1. Koko de Bokura wa Deattashimatta (Fuji & Tezuka)
2. Ryuusen no Michiyuki (Fuji)
3. Koko de Bokura wa Deattashimatta (SF to Karaoke)
4. Koko de Bokura wa Deattashimatta (KT to Karaoke)
5. Koko de Bokura wa Deattashimatta (instrumental)
6. Hitomi wo Tojite Kokoro no Mama Boku wa Kimi wo Omou ~200 Title Memorial Version~ (Fuji)

Ahaha, Fuji gets two solos but Tezuka doesn't get any. Poor Tezuka. xD Anyway, there's the title track and the b-side, and then the three instrumentals. SF stands for "Shuusuke Fuji" and KT stands for "Kunimitsu Tezuka", so I'm assuming both of those versions only take away the vocals of one of the two and leave the other. Of course, track 5 is just the normal instrumental. As for #6, Hitomi wo Tojite etc (the title's way too long xD) was Fuji's first solo single, released under the BEST OF SEIGAKU PLAYERS series. Maybe it's like a self-cover or something?

Four days until this release, I hope we get the full single right away. No one's uploaded the full single of Kai's Valentine Kiss yet...=(

I can't spend this much money, dammit!

Only like two weeks after I purchased $95 of CDs from Yesasia, here I am with $180 of music in my cart again. I'm honestly not sure who I should blame for this. I think it's a combination of Hello! Project deciding to release both Buono!'s and Ongaku Gatas' debut albums in the same month, the Prince of Tennis rerelease spree, and the fact that they're both happening at like the exact same time. That's HELLISHLY bad timing!
Curse whoever came up with the idea of limited editions and limited releases. As always, everything I want is limited, so there's the chance of it selling out if I don't get it now. But there's no way I could spend $180 right now. I mean, yeah, I have the money, but 1) I have to go through my mom for purchases because it's through her credit card, which means she can say 'no', and I get the feeling she will because of how expensive this is, and 2) I have no income, so I can't spend so much money each month. =P


Anyway, this is what I want to get:
Buono! - Renai Rider (limited edition)
Buono! - Cafe Buono! (limited edition)
Ongaku Gatas - 1st GOODSAL (limited edition)
Kai Yuujirou - Valentine Kiss (limited release)
Inui Sadaharu - DISTANCE (limited release)
Echizen Ryouma - future / WHITE LINE (limited release)
Hyoutei Eternity - Fujouri (limited release)
The Prince of Tennis op.REQUEST (limited release)
The Prince of Tennis ed.REQUEST (limited release)
3 Guava Trio - BRAND NEW DAY (limited release)

I -guess- I could cut the op/ed REQUEST CDs out if necessary, along with Fujouri- they're not too high on my priority list, I just really want them because the op/ed REQUEST CDs are opening/ending theme compilations (which I love) and Fujouri is the only seiyuu theme song I'm missing...
I just kinda get the feeling that the H!P CDs are going to sell out way faster than the PoT CDs, but I'm still worried that if I cut any CDs from this order they won't be available by the time I make my next order.

So, I had the bright idea to look on CD Japan, cause the prices are much lower there, right? I actually did a quick price comparison for all of the CDs:
Buono! - Renai Rider: $17.49 (Yesasia), $13.89 (CD Japan)
Buono! - Cafe Buono!: $32.99 (Yesasia), $31.49 (CD Japan)
Ongaku Gatas - 1st GOODSAL: $33.75 (Yesasia), $30.87 (CD Japan)
Kai Yuujirou - Valentine Kiss: $9.99 (Yesasia), not listed but presumed to be $6.85 like all previous Valentine Kiss singles (CD Japan)
Inui Sadaharu - DISTANCE: $7.64 (Yesasia), $5.56 (CD Japan)
Echizen Ryouma - future: $10.75 (Yesasia), $8.82 (CD Japan)
Hyoutei Eternity - Fujouri: $9.25 (Yesasia), $6.88 (CD Japan)
The Prince of Tennis op.REQUEST: $25.49 (Yesasia), $24.70 (CD Japan)
The Prince of Tennis ed.REQEUST: $25.49 (Yesasia), $24.70 (CD Japan)
3 Guava Trio - BRAND NEW DAY: $7.25 (Yesasia), $4.90 (CD Japan)

Total: $180.09 (Yesasia), $158.67 (CD Japan)

So, after looking at that, you'd think CD Japan would be the obvious choice, right? Then you take a look at shipping.

Shipping: $0.00 (Yesasia), $35.20 (CD Japan)
Total with shipping: $180.09 (Yesasia), $193.87 (CD Japan)

And that's the CHEAPEST shipping option, which I'd never use. GODDAMMIT CDJAPAN. >_< The prices are so low and appealing, AND THEN THE SHIPPING PRICES ARE HELL. No shipping should ever be $35.
So anyway, Yesasia's still somehow the cheapest choice. If only CD Japan had free shipping, or at least -cheaper- shipping. I mean, I'm aware that their shipping depends on how much the package weighs, and this order does contain quite a few CDs, but STILL. $35.

Actually, either way, I'm not making this order until mid-February because I just ordered some stuff two weeks ago. All I can do is hope for a sale or something...

Cafe Buono!

Buono!'s official site now has a title for their upcoming album- Cafe Buono!.
The album will be released on February 20th in two different versions, a CD-only and a CD+DVD. According to the website, the DVD will include:
-Kokoro no Tamago (dance version)
-Renai Rider (dance version)
-jacket shoot making of
-something promoting Shugo Chara

I'm really looking forward to this, especially the Kokoro no Tamago video. I really wanted it to have a PV when their debut single was first released, but sadly only Honto no Jibun was released on the LE DVD/Single V.
Actually, the limited edition of this album is sitting in my Yesasia cart right now, but since I just made an order last week I have to wait a bit longer before I can order more stuff. >_<

CURSE YOU, TOKYO KID!

Dammit. I've known something was up with their CDs for a bit now, and I stopped buying CDs from there a couple months ago just in case...
I was reading a guide to bootlegs (procrastinating, basically) and it mentioned three particular CD bootleg brands. I didn't recognize any of the names, but then it showed the logo for Alion, and my only reaction was-
SHIT.

Yeah, um....
Daaaammiiitttt......

I'm not at home right now (and I won't be until Friday night, unless we get really lucky and there's a snow day on Friday due to the snowstorm coming up), so I can't -actually- look through my CDs, but I have pictures from that post back in August where I sorted my music by release date. That was when I made the decision to stop buying CDs from Tokyo Kid, I think, so...
Well, let's see which of my CDs are actually bootlegs! Yay! [/sarcasm]
-Hamasaki Ayumi - I am...
-Kingdom Hearts OST
-Utada Hikaru - DEEP RIVER
-FFX-2 OST
-Naruto OST
-Naruto OST 2
-Shimatani Hitomi - Tsuioku+LOVE LETTER
-Naruto Best Hit Collection
-Hamasaki Ayumi - MY STORY
-Do As Infinity - NEED YOUR LOVE
-NANA OST
-Tamaki Nami - Single Collection Vol. 1 (actually, I knew this was a bootleg from the beginning, like an hour after I got it while I was leaving PortCon Maine I was like "wait why the HELL did I buy something that obviously isn't official...?")
-Kingdom Hearts II OST
-NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA - THE END

Oh, and I think my Naruto OST 3 and PoT OST 2 + 3 might possibly be bootlegs too, but they don't have the logo or anything on the obi so I'm not 100% sure...

A quote from that old post:

Everything I got at either Anime Boston, PortCon, or Tokyo Kid (the closest anime store) seems to be some sort of overseas version...I can't tell if they're bootlegs or legit overseas releases, like some of the earlier CDs I got off of Yesasia- I always used to go for the overseas versions cause they're cheaper. Hopefully the latter. I mean, that's 21 of my albums/soundtracks right there. o_o

Sadly, it's the former. Except the Anime Boston stuff. I can't tell for most of those, except the Ishida Yoko CD I got in 2005, that was the official English release.


I can't say I'll never buy from Tokyo Kid again (they have teh good Japanese candy), but I'm definitely NEVER even looking through the CD section again. I wanna know why I never -realized- until now. I mean, I had no idea what record label anime CDs were released under, but DAI? Ayu? The logo should have been an immediate tip-off, but sadly, I never even realized it. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now...

Request: Yugin - Fate

Yeah, I'm currently looking for the single of the current opening song to Ainori, 'Fate' by Yugin. Anyone happen to have this? xDD
It's their debut single, or at least their major debut single. I've been searching for like, two days straight for this single (it came out yesterday, I basically spent almost all of yesterday evening searching), but I've pretty much only ended up with tons of Japanese ringtone sites and blogs talking about the PV...
Here's the short version used in Ainori- I can't find the full PV, I watched it on Youtube like two weeks ago but it disappeared...

(on a side note, Ainori is addicting. Seriously, it is. Sadly, AZN Television is spamming this drama Galileo for the next three weeks so there's no Ainori on American television. Guess it's motivation for me to watch the subs.)


I seriously don't know why I didn't pre-order this. I definitely meant to...even if I order it tomorrow, which I probably will, it'll take a while before it even ships in order to get it in stock (along with the other things in my order) and then it'll take forever to ship...

[scans] Japanese fashion magazine (or something) KERA vol. 112 (Nov. 2007)

I went to Tokyo Kid yesterday with a $150 gift certificate, and along with some manga and candy, I picked up a Japanese magazine they were selling. Typically they don't have any Japanese magazines, so I had no idea what this actually was, but Kamiki Aya was on the cover and there was a list of names on the right side of the cover which included Buono!- so I assumed it was a j-pop magazine and immediately bought it.
(Thinking back, if I had bothered to try and read the other stuff on the cover, I probably would have realized that this was like a fashion magazine instead. But then I probably would have bought it anyway because of Buono!, lol. xD)
So yeah, it's a fashion magazine. It's from November, I have no idea why it was still out there, but w/e. xD
I actually had a lot of fun looking through it even though I don't really care about fashion and stuff. Some of it was kinda crazy and weird, like who the hell would ACTUALLY wear some of this stuff. =P
So anyway, I decided to go through and scan a couple of pages- just the ones with people that I've actually heard of, haha. xD Basically, that means Kamiki Aya (who's on the cover), Buono!, and Shirota Yuu, who I didn't even notice was in the magazine at first (I totally don't know the kanji for his name so I didn't see it on the cover or ToC) but then I was flipping through and he was just like THERE. xD

So, yeah, here are the scans. Sorry for the not-so-good quality of some of them. I seriously don't know what's up with my scanner.











...I used to totally dislike Shirota Yuu. I think it's cause my very first introduction to Tenimyu (well, technically the live-action movie) was a picture of him playing Tezuka and of course I had the initial "EW IT LOOKS SO WEIRD IN LIVE-ACTION DDD:" reaction. And I still think he looks weird and nerdy as Tezuka. But after seeing pictures of him -not- playing Tezuka, he's not that bad. xD

Two tech-ish questions

ONE:
How do you rip audio from a Youtube video? I really want an mp3 of this video I found of Niigaki Risa (as Athena from that anime she's in) singing Koko ni Iruzee!:

Haha, I wish there was a better version though, without the extra stuff from the anime. Oh well.
I think I like this version the least out of the versions I've seen so far (Morning Musume's original and Tsuji Nozomi's cover), but I still would love to have this on my iPod. xD

Oh, and we're reading The Odyssey in English class, and every time I see "Athena" I think of Risa. And I keep getting Shouri no BIG WAVE!!! stuck in my head while I'm reading. Hello Project has taken over my brain...


TWO:
How do you make ringtones out of mp3s? I think all I have to do is cut the mp3 down to a short clip, but I don't know how to do that- is there a specific program I should use? Haha, I want Mikan as my ringtone...xD

I just listened to Jaja Uma Paradise, and...

...all I can say is, what the hell. xD;; I really liked Koisuru Angel Heart, so I thought this would be good too...but I don't like this song...
Yes, I know I'm uber late listening to this song. I have an uber backup of music on my computer because I was uber lazy last year so typically music doesn't make it onto my iTunes until at least a couple of weeks after it's released, unless it's Momusu, then I stick it on as soon as it comes out. xD


On another note, Yesasia finally added the Prince of Tennis re-releases- I was kinda worried for a bit that they wouldn't add them and that I'd have to buy from CD Japan. No offense to CD Japan users, it's a good site, but I put together a tentative order there with some of the upcoming re-releases and a couple of H!P CDs, and it told me shipping would be like $50. What the hell.
Yesasia has free shipping. 8D Even though the prices are a little higher, the free shipping should make up for it.
So now that Yesasia added the re-releases, I don't have to worry about that stuff...

I had to cut down on some of the stuff in this order I'm planning to make uber soon in order to insure that I have enough money for both the re-releases and Anime Boston, which is coming up in March. (Haha, this year it's during spring break, so I can go the entire weekend and not have to worry about homework and studying!) Oh well, I think in the end it'll be worth it. If only I had a job, then I wouldn't have to worry as much about money...I always get lots of money in December cause of my birthday and Christmas, but then I typically spend it all before summer starts. xD;; Then I'm screwed until December again...


I dunno, this post was kinda random, but I'm just like hanging out on my last day of break and I don't really have anything long enough to devote a full post to...

2008 predictions

Haha, I wrote a list out like two weeks ago, but forgot to post it here. Oops.
Thankfully, I remembered it now, otherwise it would have been too late! xD
Some of these are predictions, some are more wishful thinking on my part...xD;

2008 Predictions
-Morning Musume will release 3 or 4 singles and their 9th album. Their 9th album has gotta be coming up soon, they've already released three singles due to be on it, and there's a fourth being released in March.
-Morning Musume 9th gen auditions. I know the 8th gen hasn't been around for that long, but...
-Takahashi Ai graduates, becomes a solo artist. I'm kinda neutral on Takitty, I don't love her but I don't hate her either. I could totally see her graduating to become a solo artist at some point...she has a good voice, and because of that, she gets so many solos in Momusu. I want the others to get lots of lines too...xD
-Hello! Project Kids become uber popular, get a #1 single. I keep hearing people say that the Kids have taken over Hello! Project...I think it's just a matter of time before some H!P Kids group, whether Berryz, C-ute, or Buono, gets a #1 single.
-One of the Berryz gets a boyfriend and is kicked out of Berryz. Haha, I kinda want to see this happen...8D I barely even know their names (I'm learning! I swear I am!) so if one of them got kicked out, I wouldn't really care all thaaat much...
-Yaguchi Mari starts a solo career. Or at least does something, please! She's my favorite ex-Momusu, and I really want her to sing again.
-Yasuda Kei does nothing. Still. Damn.
-Goto Maki signs with a new record label and releases first single. Please? I really loved Goto...
-GAM comes back. Even for just one single. I was hoping that because of GAM, Miki would still have something to do even after she left Momusu, but now GAM's pretty inactive...
-As for the new units...Ongaku Gatas is permanent, and continues to release singles. Athena & Robikerottsu releases maybe another single after their upcoming one, then either actually breaks up or just fades into inactivity. Buono! keeps going until Shugo Chara ends, singing all the opening/ending themes, then moves onto another anime.


And just a couple of quick non-j-pop predictions...
-Prince of Tennis ends. This is the one prediction that I'd hate to come true the most. However, the end of PoT is obviously happening soon- it's so close, they're on singles 1, the very last match of the final round of the National Tournament. The author once said that he'd like to go through Ryoma's second and third years at Seigaku. I think at one point this would have worked- when Prince of Tennis was really really popular. However, now it's not, and so I think that he's just going to end it where it is rather than go on with the chance of cancellation.
-Mx0 gets an anime. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE
-Sket Dance survives in Jump. YESS

Berryz Koubou cameo in Gintama! xD

I think it's supposed to be Berryz, at least.
So I've been watching Gintama yesterday and today to try and catch up with the subbed episodes. Gintama parodies billions of other anime/pop culture things, like the main character wants a Bankai (from Bleach), and in episode 62, Yamazaki (who's obsessed with badminton) plays a badminton match against someone from 'Hyoutei' complete with crazy moves, the rest of the 'Seigaku' and 'Hyoutei' players on the sidelines, and 'mada mada dane' at the end. (Prince of Tennis parody, if you couldn't figure it out. link to the video, it's hilarious) But I didn't think there was going to be anything involving Hello! Project...well, I was wrong. xD
Basically in this episode (episode 18), there's this guy that goes around stealing women's underwear and giving it to the lonely guys that aren't liked by girls...and he's currently having a speech about all the lonely guys and how they're 'begging for him to save them'. xD Complete with pictures of said 'lonely guys' doing random things, like painting big-boobed anime figures and, you guessed it, going to a Berryz Koubou handshake event. xD

The headband on the guy on the far left says "Switch OFF" which I think is supposed to be a parody of their Switch ON! 2005 tour. xD

Haha, I love Gintama. xD

Merry Christmas everyone~

Eep, I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier. I was going to post this before the family Christmas party, but it totally slipped my mind. =P
I totally didn't get anything j-pop related for Christmas, but I'm not surprised. I don't ask for imports or anything cause I don't think my family could handle going online and trying to figure out things like different versions and stuff. xD I used to get Puffy CDs from my family, but now I have all of their US CDs so there's nothing left for them to get me...
But I ended up with some anime stuff- I never go out and buy anime box sets because they're so expensive (yet I buy a Hello! Project concert box set for like $100...) so I pretty much just ask for them for Christmas. xD I got the first two Fullmetal Alchemist box sets, Naruto box sets 3 and 4 (I already have 3, but I accidentally put 3 in my wishlist instead of 5...;-;), and the 3rd Prince of Tennis box set...haha, this means I'm going to have a marathon once I finish the Prince of Tennis panel count. (so close!) And of course this marathon also includes the H!P 2007 Winter concerts and the Morning Musume ALL SINGLES COMPLETE DVD, which I haven't watched yet...
I -did- get a $150 gift certificate (WOW) to Tokyo Kid, which has j-pop, but I was looking closer at some of the CDs I have from there and I'm actually not 100% sure if they're the official releases. Wish I had a definite official copy to check. I dunno how I'm gonna spend the $150, haha. xD When I went a while ago at the start of the school year, they had the live-action Prince of Tennis movie, but when I went again with more money they didn't have it anymore. If they have it again, I'm definitely buying it. xD

ANYWAY. Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd share some of my favorite j-pop Christmas songs with you guys! I love all three of these songs so much~
Pucchi Moni - Pittari Shitai X'mas!
Haha, what kind of Hello! Project fan would I be if I didn't include this song? It's catchy and cute and so Hello! Project-ish. And it has Goto Maki. Who I miss soo much. =( I wish Pucchi Moni would come back, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon...
BENNIE K - The Christmas
When their album Japana-rhythm came out back in 2005, I listened to it all the way through, and I think this song ended up being one of my favorites, if not my actual favorite, on the album. It's really catchy, with both the singing and rap parts. I don't know why I still don't own this album, btw. xD
Way back in winter 2005, I had this as background music on my Gaia profile, and my friends who weren't at all into Japanese music loved it. =)
BoA - Meri Kuri
And of course, one of my favorite ballads from BoA. I don't usually like slow songs all that much, but this song has been a favorite of mine for a while. I own the Korean version of this single, but I like the Japanese version better because I can actually understand some of it and sing along. xD I was trying to sing along to one of her Korean songs the other day, and I was utterly failing, and I was reminded of like two/three years ago when I was failing at trying to sing Japanese songs. xD Now I can sing in Japanese just as easily as in English...


But, if you totally hate Christmas and winter for some reason, I also uploaded an uber summer song? I honestly don't know, I uploaded this for a friend and figured I'd just post it here, haha. xD
Megane's - Manatsu no Megane's
I find this song so uber amusing, pretty much just because it's the Megane's (which consists of Tezuka Kunimitsu, Inui Sadaharu, and Oshitari Yuushi from Prince of Tennis- their seiyuu are Okiayu Ryoutarou, Tsuda Kenjirou, and Hidenobu Kiuchi, respectively) singing an uber summer song. xD The title means "Megane's in Midsummer" or something along those lines. There are also some random lyrics in there like "tropical drink YES!! non-alcohol" (well I'd HOPE so, considering they're only 15), "POKER FACE" (haha I don't see what that has to do with summer), and I swear I can hear Tezuka saying "YUDAN SEZU NI IKOU!" right before the second chorus. =P
I like this song much better than their new single, btw, but I'll leave that for another post. xD


Sooo, enjoy, and I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! ^^

[Scans] Morning Musume, Athena, and some manga covers

Explanation and music list

So, this is basically the scans post to go along with my recent orders that arrived on Friday. Sorry it's late, but scanning the two limited photobooks took forever, and I had a sleepover last night cause it's my birthday today (yay!).
I also didn't end up scanning the H!P 2007 Winter Live DVD Box, cause there's this 4-DVD case that's too big for my scanner and I was too lazy to figure out how to get it all. xD
I might end up scanning some more CDs soon cause I'm on winter break, but I can't make any promises. xD;;

EDIT: Sorry that the small versions of the preview images look crappy! In my earlier posts, I actually uploaded them to Blogger, but this time I uploaded them to Photobucket instead. Guess the site handles it differently. Just click the preview images for the full-quality version.


Morning Musume's latest single Mikan, normal edition. I scanned the photocard of Risa and included it in the .rar file.
Download the .rar file for the rest of the Mikan scans


Morning Musume's latest single Mikan, limited edition A which comes with a DVD. I scanned the photocard of Koharu and included it in the .rar file.
Download the .rar file for the rest of the Mikan limited edition A scans


Morning Musume's latest single Mikan, limited edition B which comes with a photobook. I scanned the photocard of Sayumi and I also scanned the photobook- both are included in the .rar file.
Download the .rar file for the rest of the Mikan limited edition B scans


Athena & Robikerottsu's first single, Shouri no BIG WAVE!!!, limited edition which comes with a photobook. I scanned the photobook and included it in the .rar file.
Download the .rar file for the rest of the Shouri no BIG WAVE!!! scans


I scanned the covers of the manga for my personal collection, so I thought I'd share them here too if anyone's interested. For SKET DANCE 1 and Prince of Tennis 40, it's just the one image so I didn't bother to upload a .rar file- just click on the preview image. The dust jackets just barely fit on my scanner- I didn't include the inside back flap because all it is is like a list of Jump tankoubon. For the Prince of Tennis Fanbook 40.5, the book's really thick, so the dust jacket was too big for my scanner. I scanned the inside flaps separately, so there's a .rar file for 40.5.

SKET DANCE 1 - Penki Kamen / Paint-Mask


Tennis no Oujisama / Prince of Tennis 40 - Tennis wo Wasureta Oujisama / The Prince Who Forgot Tennis


Tennis no Oujisama / Prince of Tennis 40.5 - Official Fanbook
Download the .rar file for the rest of the 40.5 scans

Morning Musume + America = ...?

Well, everyone's talking about this right now. I don't think I've ever really seen a debate like this in the j-pop fandom- the anime fandom, sure, but not the j-pop fandom. I guess it's cause I haven't been part of the blogosphere or anything for too long...but anyway.
I'm going to follow the crowd and be unoriginal and write a post about my opinions to the idea of Morning Musume coming over to America! 8D

I'd LOVE it if Morning Musume came to America. Honestly, it would be like a dream come true. To hear Morning Musume on the radio, to be able to buy their albums without paying like $30 + shipping, to even maybe get the chance to go to a concert...and if everyone knew about Morning Musume, I wouldn't be the considered the freaky girl at school who listens to weird Japanese music anymore. 8D Now that would be cool. I have a couple of kids at school who also like anime, but when it comes to j-pop (and especially H!P), all I have is the j-pop blogosphere. Oh how I'd love to have friends who I could actively chat with about this stuff. xD
HOWEVER, I'm trying to be realistic about this...and so I'm not exactly sure if they'd actually do really well.

Now, I haven't listened to the radio in years- well, I've listened to a couple of stations in the morning cause my roommate at school wakes up to the radio in the morning, but it's not like the popular music station or anything, so...
I haven't watched MTV or VH1 or any music station, either. However, from what I -do- know about popular music these days, it's that there isn't ANYTHING like Morning Musume. Pop used to be popular, back in the days of boy bands like NSYNC and solo girl singers like Britney Spears. But now I don't think anything like that's popular- so Morning Musume would be totally different than most of the stuff that's on the radio. Now, for me that's definitely not a bad thing. I don't like American music, so having more pop music like Morning Musume on the radio would actually get me to listen to the radio sometimes. However, for most American music fans, I'm not sure if that would be a good change- people aren't really used to that. It would be different, definitely- but I'm not sure whether it would be considered a good thing. I know a lot of people who love rap music, so if all of a sudden a Morning Musume song came on the radio after some popular rap song, I'm pretty sure they'd turn it off.

I guess this kinda also ties in with tours and sales- they have fans in the US already, but would they really be able to become popular with the people that don't already know them or watch anime? I want to say yes- but I'm really not quite sure. They'd get some fans- but I'm not sure if it would really be enough for it to really be worthwhile to come to America.

However, I think it would be a great idea to come to America for something like an anime convention. At an anime convention, they don't have to worry about the language barrier or anything, since everyone there obviously knows anime and everything. That would give the already-existing fans a chance to actually see them in concert, and also draw in more people to the fandom- they have a much better chance with anime fans than with your typical American who just listens to the radio everyday. And for the record, if Morning Musume ever goes to an anime convention, I'M THERE. 8D Unless it's on the west coast, then I'm screwed since I live in Massachusetts...>_<
I'm not exactly sure how all this stuff works, but maybe they could release their 10th anniversary album in America- just to start off, since it's all their singles (which, in my opinion, are their best songs), and see what happens with that. And if that's popular, then they could go ahead and try releasing more albums and maybe come for a tour or something.
I think putting Momusu on US iTunes is a good start. Now, I personally refuse to buy songs from iTunes- if I'm willing to pay for a song, I'll buy the physical copy, thank you very much. >_< But so many people use iTunes for all their music- so making H!P music available on US iTunes was definitely a good idea. It's much easier (and cheaper) for non-hardcore fans to buy a song on iTunes rather than import an album from Japan.

I don't believe they could just all of a sudden come to America, tour, release an album, and just become popular just like that. If it's not like American music (which it's not, obviously), then they can't just break into the market right away- but if they start small, maybe they could possibly get enough attention to get on the radio and become popular.
I know that a lot of people have strong opinions either way- either saying that Morning Musume would totally work in America, or that they would fail and they shouldn't even try. I'm kind of in the middle of this- I don't want to totally rule out the possibility of them coming to America, since I think they could have a chance, but I don't want to be overly optimistic and say that they'll definitely become a huge hit.


I do think that there are other artists in Japan who could become huge hits in America- but I think I'll save that for later. ;)

New stuff, yay!

Well, I'm kinda procrastinating my homework right now, so I took the time to put together two orders, one on CDJapan and one on Yesasia...
So this is what I ended up getting:
Athena & Robikerottsu - Shouri no BIG WAVE!!! (limited edition)
Morning Musume - Mikan (normal edition)
Morning Musume - Mikan (limited edition A)
Morning Musume - Mikan (limited edition B)
Hello! Project 2007 Winter Live DVD Box (limited)
SKET DANCE volume 1
The Morning Musume. All Singles Complete Zen 35 Kyoku - 10th Anniversary (limited)
Megane's - Manatsu no Megane's (limited)
Kawamura Takashi - C'mon every burning (limited)
As soon as I heard about the Athena single, I knew I had to get it- I mean, it's Risa and Aika and two H!P Kids...
I actually ended up getting all three versions of Mikan. I was looking on Yesasia, and for each of them it said the first press came with a randomly selected photocard. I love the photocards, so I figured it's definitely worth it to buy all three, not to mention it's my favorite Morning Musume song in a while, so...
And as for the box set, who could turn that down? I mean, it's THREE concerts- the normal concert and the Wonderful Hearts/Elder Club concerts that are usually only released to the fanclub.
Then there's SKET DANCE volume 1, one of the newest Shounen Jump series- I absolutely love it, so when I heard the first volume was out I had to buy it. xD
Since I bought the Momusu 10th anniversary CD, it only makes sense to buy the DVD that goes along with it- it includes all of their PVs, including an alternate version of Mikan and something to do with LOVE Machine...
Then there are the two PoT character singles. At first it started off with me looking for something cheap to randomly add to the CD Japan order (I put the Momusu DVD in a separate order on CD Japan because I didn't want it to hold back the other stuff since it's coming out later) because if I hit 5000 yen I'd get a 500 yen coupon, and I ended up with Manatsu no Megane's. Then I found out about Taka's new single, which actually includes a b-side (which is rare for PoT singles, usually it's just the title track, an instrumental, and maybe a track with random talk from the seiyuu) and stuff, so...xD;

AND I also bought a couple of doujinshi yesterday...someone was selling Seishun Gakuen Paradise by Kodaka Kazuma for $2, so of course I bought that, and she was also selling some other doujinshi for cheap prices so I got two anthologies, Ground Smash 2 and Love Prince 4.

AND the girl who runs (well, at this point, it should be 'ran') doujinstar.com is selling all her Prince of Tennis stuff- all of it. SOOOO of course I had to get some, right?
New Season Set 1 Birthday Card Akutagawa Jirou
Eiji Pin
Bromide Set 2: Summertime/Oceanside: Golden Pair
Bromide Season 4: Sakura: Jirou
Bromide Season 5: Festival/Costume: Eiji
Bromide Season 5: Festival/Costume: Momo/Kaidou
Bromide Season 7: White Day Presents: Eiji
Bromide Season 8: School: Golden Pair
Bromide Season 10: Fashion Prince: Golden Pair
Databook 20.5
Love Prince 1 + 2
I ordered all this stuff a bit more than a week ago, but it's not going to be shipped until she puts the last batch of her stuff up for sale- I'm waiting until the end just in case I want anything from the third batch of stuff. xD

EDIT: ooh hey even more stuff! don't feel like making a new post, so...
AAND someone else on the garagesalejapan LJ community just put up some CDs including W's two albums (the first press of the second one) and Berryz Koubou's first two albums (again, the second album was the first press edition) so I just had to grab some of them. I ended up buying the two W albums and the second Berryz album~
Seriously, with shipping it ended up being $33.13. That's basically how much one album is on Yesasia.
I'm having lots of fun with this Livejournal community...

Goto Maki leaving H!P...

Ok, a couple of things I have to say first before I get to the main point of this post.
First of all, I'm sorry for not updating in a while! I started high school last month, and I definitely don't have as much time as I did over the summer and at the end of last year when I started this blog. So I really can't update as frequently as I used too. I haven't been keeping up with j-pop news at all lately- really, all I know is stuff about new releases. I've found that I kinda have this thing where I go back and forth for a while between focusing mostly on j-pop and focusing on anime...I haven't written a j-pop post in like forever. ;-; It's just cause I don't really have the time to keep up with everything anymore, but I think I'm gonna try to keep up...

Second, yeah, I moved the blog to a new URL- from 'indigoskies-shadow' to 'indigoskies-shadows'. If you're reading this, you've figured that out already. I thought I wrote a post explaining why, but now I find out I didn't. ;-; The thing is, my mom found my blog (it's really all my fault, I forgot to delete the link from my e-mail signature when I e-mailed her at one point), and she got really mad at my swearing and stuff (somehow she missed the Darling! post, which I'm ETERNALLY THANKFUL for) so she said she was going to monitor my blog. See why I had to move it?
I don't know if people are going to find this blog again. ;-; I barely had any visitors before, but now I don't think I have any. I figure this is a good time to get back into the j-pop blogosphere, and I'm probably gonna post the new link to my blog on International Wota somewhere...


ANYWAY. On to the main point of this post...

So today I was procrastinating and not doing my homework, and I looked up Goto Maki on wiki.theppn.org.
And saw that Goto Maki was leaving Hello! Project.
Oh wow.
Apparently it's because her brother was arrested recently. But what does that have to do with Maki's career? I don't understand.
I'm totally gonna miss Maki in H!P, but at least she's still going to be singing, just under a different record label.
I think this could really work for her. I'm pretty sure that no one who left H!P has had a successful career outside of H!P, but Maki's definitely popular, and I think she can do really well if she ends up with a good record label. This will also give her a lot more freedom, since we all know H!P is really strict when it comes to things like boyfriends.
Maki is (was, I guess?) my favorite H!P soloist, so I really really hope she does well. <33 I'll continue to support her no matter what...so good luck, Maki~

So I ordered new music today.

Yeah...
Buono! - Honto no Jibun (limited edition)
byTachikiritai - Koi no Gekidasa Ecstasy! (limited release)
Gyaruru - Boom Boom Meccha Maccho! (limited edition)
Morning Musume - 7.5 Fuyu Fuyu Morning Musume Mini (limited edition)
Morning Musume - ALL SINGLES COMPLETE ~10th Anniversary~ (limited edition)
Morning Musume - Eizou The Morning Musume 4 ~Single M Clips~
Ongaku Gatas - Nari Hajimeta Koi no Bell (limited edition)
Prince of Tennis 2008 calendar

I think this is the first time in a while that I've bought more general j-pop than PoT music...anyway, with this I'm finally caught up with Morning Musume's CD releases, so now I have to start heading back and collecting everything before Chokkan 2...
Aaand I actually bought a Morning Musume DVD! YAAAAYYYYYYY I downloaded this DVD a while ago, and I liked it a lot~ it's all their PVs from THE Manpower!!! to Kanashimi Twilight. Plus, it's the only place to find their PV for Koi wa Hassou Do The Hustle!...
Then there's Gyaruru's single- it's the limited edition, so it comes with the DVD. I heard that the DVD of this is basically like an H!P Single V DVD, so I'm looking forward to it~
I'm not exactly sure what the DVDs for Nari Hajimeta Koi no Bell and Honto no Jibun have, but whatever~
Lol, then there's Koi no Gekidasa Ecstasy!. I wasn't actually planning on buying this, but when the opening video came out the other day, I ended up listening to it a lot and getting addicted. xD;;;;; It's too catchy...though I STILL don't like it as much as Flower or Kakaeta Kiseki, it's definitely good. So that resulted in me pre-ordering the single...
And the calendar, of course. Someone posted the images on the tenipuri LJ community, and it looked amusing. xD So...yeah, I bought it.
I was tempted to choose the split shipment option, but it was $10 extra, so...guess I just have to wait until the end of October for this to ship out (since Honto no Jibun and Koi no Gekidasa Ecstasy aren't being released until the 31st).


On a totally unrelated note, Ao to Bin to Kan's single Gather FINALLY SHIPPED! I ordered that over a month ago from one of those places through Amazon. Believe me, I'm not ordering from that site again...I almost forgot about it, but I got an e-mail a day or so ago telling me that it shipped. YAAAAYYYYY]

And on another totally unrelated note, 6 more PoT character CDs have been announced. From the looks of things, it's the Shitenhouji Best of Rival Players set. Dunno how they're gonna get 6 CDs...Shiraishi definitely gets one, same with Chitose and the freshman kid. Then I bet there's gonna be one for Koharu/Yuuji...maybe Ishida Gin? And that's only 5...maybe Oshitari's cousin, Oshitari Kenya? Not like he plays an important role in the story at all, but...well, whatever. We'll see when it gets closer to the release dates- two are coming out on November 21st, two on the 28th (Eiji's birthday btw, yaaay), and then two are coming out the Wednesday after that (too lazy to look up the date).

[Download] Paku Romi & Morikubo Shoutaro - Voice For You (mp3, not a full single)

So a while ago, I found a ~2 minute radio rip of a song called Voice For You. I really liked the song, and the best part was- it's by Paku Romi and Morikubo Shoutaro, the seiyuu for Temari and Shikamaru from Naruto! xD SHIKATEMA FTW~
And, just today...someone actually uploaded the full version! =DDDDDDD

Download

This song makes me uber happy...xDDD I keep thinking 'ShikaTema yay'~

Seriously, check it out. It's a great song~


now I should probably get back to my homework...I'm kinda procrastinating at the moment...