AKB48 Bunshin no Jutsu Concert Tour – Team B Zepp Nagoya Concert

So this past week the latest AKB concert tour was released on DVD. I myself have never been able to justify buying one of these INCREDIBLY overpriced concert box-sets AKB releases on what seems like a regular basis now. Yeah sure, this set has the 3 separate Team concerts, plus the one huge Budokan concert, but $340 is a little much. Hell, I have the boxset for Stargate SG-1, which includes all 10 seasons (which encompasses well over 200 episodes) and from what I remember, that was only a little over $100. Then again, Japanese media being overpriced for what you get shouldn’t come as a surprise to me. I do buy music singles after all…

But anyway, I’m getting off topic. I figured that for my next big set of posts, I’d review the concerts myself (or at least my favorite shuffle groups in regards to the massive Budokan concert) First up will be the Team B concert (obviously…) at Zepp Nagoya.

First up, I will mention that SKE48 Team S performs in both Team B’s and Team K’s concerts (strange how they don’t perform in Team A’s…seems like more Team A favoritism there, they don’t have to share their concert). However, in Team K’s concert, 8 members from Team KII are also present. In both concerts, they perform the same 3 songs, so I will only be including my thoughts on these songs during this review of Team B’s concert, if only because I don’t care to review the same 3 songs twice. That would be kind of redundant.

Of course, Team B’s concert starts out with their iconic song, Shonichi. I think this is a given when doing a Team B show, its THEIR song. This song is just so full of energy and really puts a smile on your face while watching. While I myself am a bit of a metal head when it comes to music, I do like these kind of songs from time to time, especially when your not in a good mood. The message Shonichi’s lycircs put across is really good at giving you a happy feeling, and don’t we all need that from time to time? Anyway, this is a great way to start the show.

Joshikousei wa Yamerarenai is next, and I’ve always loved this song. Its damn catchy (though that might have something to do with how much it sounds like Morning Musume’s Love Machine, which is also damn catchy) and the performance is really cute. All the girls dancing around with those little stuffed teady bears is just adorable. This is defenitly one of the best songs from B4, so I’m glad they put it in this concert.

Minasanmo go Isshoni is defenitly an interesting song, and one of my favorite B4 songs. However, I’ve always felt that the opening instrumental goes on for a little too long, but that might just be me. If their’s one song that showcases just how high energy Team B is, its this one. This song is an example of someone taking a regular song and speeding it up about 5 times its normal speed.

‘ll be honest, prior to this concert, I hadn’t listened to Wasshoi B! all that much. It just wasn’t really my type of song. However, after seeing it in this concert, I have a great appreciation for it. This is another song that is undoubtedly Team B’s song (I’m sure they could remix it for the other Teams, but it just wouldn’t be the same). Its a cut song, there’s no doubt about that, but the fact that its a song about Team B just makes it a joy to listen to, especially to a hardcore B fan like myself.

We next start the unit song set of the concert, starting with kuchiutsushi no chocolate. This one’s a strong favourite of mine. It features Yukirin as the lead, so that’s one plus. Second, its just a great sounding song overall, plus, its likely one of AKB48’s naughtiest songs to date, though this makes me question the choice of Lovetan and Naachan in this song, considering their a little too young for a song like this. The thing I like about this song the most is how it showcases just how great and variable Yukirin’s vocals are. Normally, she has a very strong, clear singing voice, but here, she has higher, almost desperate sounding vocals. The fact that she can change her singing pitch to fit the songs mood and style is really a testament to just how damn good a singer she is.

My other favorite B4 song, Itoshiki Natasha, is next. This song, and the trio who perform it, are just the embodiment of awesome. Haachans vocals are beyond amazing as usual, and she really makes this song for me. I also love just how powerful this song is. The dance routine with the stand mikes is just so Rock/Metal, and this performance actually seemed to have more power behind it than when I saw it on the LOD performance. It sucks though that they performed a shortened version of this song during the concert (as they did with quite a few songs actually) but still, defenitly one of the top songs of the concert.

Tenshi no Shippo is next. What can I say about this song. Its an overload of cute. I have always liked this song. The vocals are quite good despite the girls not being the best singers in Team B(well, except for Tomomi Nakatsuka, who has a surprisingly strong controlled voice). However, this is such a peppy tune I can’t help but love it to death.

Kataomoi no taikakusen is a strong favorite of mine from B4, however, this particular performance is a bit conflicting for me. Rumi and Moeno are fantastic as they always are in this song. Both look damn good doing it as well. In this performance, Komori Mika is the third girl, and I’m not sure about her yet. She seems like a decent enough singer, however, her stage presence really needs some work. She shows almost no emotion at all for a good portion of this concert, and her movements are VERY stiff. She almost seems like she doesn’t care…sort of like a certain Team A frontgirl….But anyway, I really hope she improves by the time the new Stages start, as I believe she’s part of the new Team B. Her participation in this unit kinda brought it down a bit for me, but it was still a great performance. I especially liked how much they focused on the back dancers, especially Yukirin in red. Hell, I think she might have had more screen time than the leads during this performance.

pajama drive is a song I’ve always liked, though I think it could benefit from stronger vocals. It features who are in reality the worst singers of Team B (Harugon, Naachan and Mayu) however, I guess in the context of the song they fit perfectly in it. Not much to say about this performance other than that It’s pretty good.

Junjou Shugi is without a doubt my favorite song from B3. It’s an awesome sounding song, and Haachan is in the lead. Thats a win win right there. Moeno and Nakayan are in this particular performance, and while Moeno does a fantastic job, as usual, I still don’t think Nakayan fits in this much. She is a great performer, but her vocals just don’t fit with Haachan’s or Moeno’s. Yukirin would have been a perfect fit here in my opinion. Nonetheless, its still a fantastic performance, but again, its shortened, so that makes me sad.

Kagami no naka no jean d’arc is such an awesome song, excluding it from this concert would have been heresy in the eyes of any Team B fan. This is one of the few (if not the only) Unit songs in this concert to feature Kohara in it, and I really enjoyed seeing her in this concert. She just seems to enjoy everything she does. Too bad she’s now part of SDN48, and not even one of the main team members either. She was great in this song, and so was everyone else in it as well. I love just how rock this song is.

We know move on to SKE48’s little portion of the concert. Now, I am a recent SKE48 convert, so I enjoyed their little part of the show. The first song they perform is the title track of their 2nd Stage, Te wo Tsunaginagara. I remember reading a review on this stage over at CK’s AKB48 blog, and he mentioned how this song was “so K4″, however, I just don’t see that. Its a great song, don’t get me wrong, however, I don’t think it has a Team K feel to it. Still, a great song, and I really enjoyed the performance here. Next, they perform SKE48, which is really just a remixed version of AKB48. I actually like SKE’s version better, to be honest. IT just seems to flow better for some reason. I would have preferred them to perform another stage song from S2, maybe even a unit song, but this is ok I guess. To finish off their little set, Team S performs their debut single song, Tsuyokimono yo. Now, if any SKE song has a Team K feel to it, its this one. This is one damn awesome debut song. This performance is great as well, and really shows off how powerful this song is. Overall, SKE’s performances are great, and they are really taking off as a great Idol group. I’m also really warming up to the fact that Jurina Matsui as one of the front girls of this group. For someone so young, she has great potential, and in all honesty, she a fantastic performer even know. The thing that gets me is just how happy she seems when she is on stage. That goes a long way for me. The only thing I have to complain about here is the lack of Yui Matsushita. I don’t remember seeing her once. I wish they would have shown her a little more (seeing as she’s my fav SKE member) Ah well…

Team B returns to the stage now with Two years later from B3. Another strong performance here. Nothing too special to say here. Great performance overall. Same with the next few songs, yokosuka curve, kobushi no seigi (which is always a fav of mine, I love the outfits, so badass), suifu wa arashi ni yume wo miru and arigatou. All these songs are great, but I really don’t want to go over most of them again, considering I talked about most of them in my B4 review, and the performances here are just as good.

The First of the encore songs is my favourite from B4, B Stars. Now, most people always complain that this song says B way too many times, but I don’t care. I love it. Its so high energy and just damn fun to listen too. It really gets you going. The performance here is awesome. Did I mention I love this song? Can’t say that enough…

The last 3 songs are the last 3 singles at the time, Namida Surprise!, Oogoe Diamond and Iiwake Maybe. I still don’t like Namida, so I won’t even bother talking about it. I always love hearing Oogoe. Its one AKB song that never gets old for me. Team B puts on a great performance of it here. Team B’s rendition of it is very unique in how its sounds compared to when the other teams perform it, likely due to the range of vocal ability Team B has. The Iiwake performance is also great, though I wonder if its a good way to end the concert. I kinda like it when they do ballads to end off a stage/concert. Their the perfect ending songs. But oh well, Iiwake kicks ass, so I guess its pretty good to use as an ending song.

And so ends Team B’s Nagoya concert. All in all, it was fantastic. Team B is always a joy to watch perform, and this concert is no exception.

One thing that really hit home with me while I was watching this was the fact that I’m really going to miss the current Team B. It hit me that this was likely one of the last times in concert that they were going to perform together as Team B. While the new Team B has definite promise, it will NEVER reach the level the current lineup did. So to that, I say goodbye to the current Team B lineup. You guys kicked ass on so many levels, and no one could compare to you.

Original Team B, you will be missed, dearly.

AKB48’s Latest single – RIVER

First of all, I wanted to share this with everybody. I finally downed a particular rare enemy in World of Warcraft the other day, the ever elusive Time Lost Proto Drake!:

This is likely one of the rarest of WOW’s rare spawns, and its especially coveted because it always drops…well, itself, as a flyable mount, making it one of the rarest mounts in the game at the moment. Its especially tricky to get because there are normally a dozen or so people just camping its flight paths hunting it. How did I come across it you ask? Purely by accident to be honest. I was doing the daily quest in Brunnhildar Village to see if that was the day I would finally get the Polar Bear mount (it wasn’t…again. I’m beginning to think it doesn’t even exist. I’ve likely done the quest almost 100 times now). That days daily was to go back and fight in the pit. Now, I was just starting to attack my first opponent, and what do I see? My NPC scan addon alerting me to the Drakes presence, that’s what. And where was it? Right directly above me. Awesome! I quickly got off my war bear, summon my flying mount and flew towards my prey. I took it down within a few seconds, and the mount was mine at last! That defenitly made my day!

Anyway, today I’m going to do a bit of raving over the latest AKB single, RIVER. I don’t know what else I can say about this single other than that it is BEYOND EPIC! This single is a radical departure from practically everything AKB48 has done to date, and in my opinion, its the best song they’ve released. Its edgy, up tempo and just so damn addictive. I also like how its edgy, yet its not dark or depressing, its just badass.

Now, I haven’t seen the PV yet (decided to wait for my copy of the single to arrive so I can watch the PV from the included DVD) but from what I have heard about it (and seen in screen shots) its pretty kick ass. It features the girls as soldiers, which alone sounds awesome. I have a feeling it will be my favorite AKB48 PV to date.

The accompanying tracks are also pretty good. The B-side, Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara is awesome. Again, this song really stands out among other AKB tunes, and of course it features the awesome Undergirls group (again, I HATE that name) so its of the same caliber as the A-side. Its a little more cutesy than RIVER, but it still manages to be an addicitve song, and is just as good as RIVER.

Now, the single does include a third song, Hikoki Gumo. Now, I will say this about the song; meh. I don’t care for it. Its generic, boring, and does not stand well against the likes of RIVER and Kimi no Koto. Its also old, in a sense. Its a song from A5, so its nothing even remotely new, and that’s my problem with it. ITS NOTHING NEW. This seems to be a new trend in AKB singles; include a song from the stages. Now, while this is not bad in anyway, I do like singles to give us something new. I also just don’t like Hikoki Gumo, so I am a little peeved at this choice. Everyone else in the fandom seems to like it though…don’t know why. So yeah, I just give this song a meh.

I’m hoping we can get more singles of this caliber in the future. RIVER is an awesome song, and I hope we get more singles like this one. This song is not like the cutesy, happy songs of the past. Its edgy, its badass, and its the idol song I have truly been waiting for. Bring on more singles like this one!

I should really think before I post something….

In the future, if I fall out of a certain fandom, I will not likely bring it up here, or even count on not being a fan for very long, because something will come around that will pull me right back in and never let me go ever again. I’ve found out I’m pretty weak when it comes to fandoms of varying kind.

if you can’t guess already, I’ve rejoined the AKB48 fandom.

You may remember that in one of my earlier posts, I pretty much denounced them. However, since that post was made, 2 epic singles have been released and a crap load of other stuff has happened. And to be honest, I’ve been drawn back. And I thought it back over, and in reality, I’ve figured I just have to learn to live with some of the things I don’t like abotu AKB48, which are really minimal to the things I do like.

One thing that really helped being me back were the release of studio albums for B4, K5 and A5. I love A5 and B5, so having some nice, clean versions of the songs to listen to was exactly what I have wanted since those stages came out. Now they just need to work on getting the albums for B3, A4, H1, H2 and K4, released. If they do that, then I’ll be a happy camper. Though all that crap in regards to their previous record label may hamper those stages getting releases for quite sometime. Gotta love the music industry.

The other thing that helped bring me back is the fact that SKE48’s first original stage done by Team S is actually quite good. You’ll remember a while back I didn’t like what I heard from that preview of S2. Well, having all the songs to listen to in full really makes a difference. I also found 2 members of SKE who I would call my favs: Matsui Rena and Matsushita Yui. Both are phenomenal performers and both are in my favorite of S2’s unit songs, Ame no Pianist. Romance Rocket, Innocence and Glory Days would be my other top favorite songs of the stage, though out of all those songs, Romance Rocket is without a doubt my favorite song of the stage. Its just so damn catchy. So yeah, I consider me a fan of SKE48 now. And with Team S’s 3rd Stage starting soon (boy, that was fast) we’ll be seeing more of them in the near future.

I’ve also been thinking alot about AKB’s recent single releases. I’m still adamant about my opinion that Namida Suprise sucks. However, since then, we’ve gotten two new singles; Iwake Maybe and RIVER. Both kick ass on whole new levels and are a welcome departure from the awfulness Namida was. Iwake and RIVER are especially awesome due to the fact that their B-Sides are equally as good as the A-Side, something I find rarely happens. Its normally one or the other thats good, with the other being somewhat mediocre. Both singles have introduced a new factor for future singles; multiple member lineups. Iwake has the Senbatsu members (those who were chosen via some voting thing from Namida Suprise) who perform the A-Side and the Undergirls (I hate that name, it makes it seem as if they aren’t as good as the Senbatsu members, though in Iwake’s case, I think their better, as the B-side is just a tad more awesome than the A-side, though both are good). Essentially, the Senbatsu members were the ones who got the highest votes ( I think they went up to 16 members) and everyone else who got below that (the number of members for this wasn’t 16, so it was really the next group of members who got voted high, but not as high as the first 16) were put into the Undergirls group. All the other members who weren’t in either of these groups got left out essentially. RIVER took this to the next level and has pretty much included every AKB48 member (and Rena and Jurina from SKE48) into the songs. The Senbatsu members again do the A-Side, the Undergirls do the B-side, and the Theatre Girls (which is the name given to the rest of the girls) gets the short end of the stick by having to do one ofm my least favorite A5 songs, Hikoukigumo. Seriously, they couldn’t have let them do a new song, or at least one that thats as good as the A/B side songs? Ah well, at least all 3 songs get a PV of their own, that’s pretty awesome.

The biggest news of course as of late is the reshuffling of the Teams. Team B was hit the hardest, with only 3 original members remaining (thank god Yukirin is one of them, and she’s the new captain of Team B to boot!). At first, I hated this news, but now as time passes, I’m excited about it. I can’t wait to see the new teams i action, and with some of my Team B favs spread out amongst A and K, I have more reason to pay attention to those teams now.

So yeah, I’m back in the AKB fandom, and loving it.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm

Before I get to the bulk of this post, I figured I’d post the new MV for T-ara’s song Lies. It came out just shortly after I posted before, so I wasn’t able to put it in the original post:

Now, yeah, the PV doesn’t fit the song whatsoever, but screw that. There’s nothing wrong with seeing the girls frolicking around at a water park. Nothing wrong at all.  Eunjeong especially looked good. Hell, they all did. This just proves the fact that girls + water parks = a damn good idea

Anyway, on to the main event. Friday marked the beginning of this year’s Blizzcon convention, and everyone was anticipating one specific thing; the announcement of the new World of Warcraft expansion, supposedly named Cataclysm. Prior to the event, numerous supposed details about a new expansion were leaked, though no one knew for sure if they were true (though the one blogger over at MMO Champions was 100% sure he was right about the info being absolutely correct)

And he was right. At the opening ceremony to Blizzcon, WoW’s 3rd major expansion, named Cataclysm, was officially announced, and pretty much all the leaked info was proven to be correct. Now, I won’t go over ALL the new stuff coming out in this expansion (just go to practically any game site or WoW blog like Project Lore or MMO Champion for all the nitty gritty details) but I would like to talk about the things I am excited most for.

2 New Playable Races: Goblins and Worgen

This is likely the biggest addition to the new expansion. A faction of the Goblins (remember, the goblins overall are normally neutral between both Horde and Alliance) have joined the Horde after shipwrecking in the Lost Isles. On the Alliance side, the werewolf like Worgen have join the alliance. Now, the Worgen joining the Alliance are in fact the cursed citizens of the Kingdom of Gilneas, which sealed itself away long ago. However, they were still hit by the worgen curse, and for years have lived a terrifying existence. Now, the Greymane wall protecting Gilneas has come down, and the secret of Gilneas has been revealed to the world.

Goblins look to be essentially the horde’s own version of the Gnomes, but much cooler. Goblins have long been an important part of WoW, and to be finally be able to play as one is pretty neat. However, I am more interested in the Worgen. Worgen’s will have the ability to shift between their human form and worgen form at will, which will be pretty cool. If I want to run around as a human I can, but then if I want to be a badass wolfman, I can, when ever I want. Worgen also have some pretty cool racial features, the neatest one being they can skin animals without having to have a skinning knife (I mean, huge claws should be just as good as I knife right?) and they get a bonus to the skinning profession as well. Their starting zone also greatly interests me. Gilneas has always been a place I have wanted to go to in game. I mean, you can go right up to the damn Greymane wall, and its just there, taunting you. You can’t go past it, its just there. Now we can go beyond the wall, and finally learn the fate of Gilneas. The Worgen will also make the Alliance so much more awesome that it ever has been. They are very much a horde-like race, so having the Worgen in the alliance should make things very interesting. And lastly, Worgen are essentially were-wolves (well, the ones of Gilneas and Silverpine are, original Worgen are in fact other worldly beings first brought to Azeroth by the ancient Night Elves using the Scythe of Elune and then by Archmage Arugal, who is responsible for the worgen curse itself, to fight the scourge. These worgen are inherently evil beings who come from a world of eternal war, where they fight against beings known only as the Lords of the Emerald Flame, who some believe may be the Burning Legion). How may games let you play as werewolves? not many.

Oh, and Goblins get cars as their mounts. Freaking awesome. Worgen also apparently get these weird pig/wolf things. I only saw some concept art, so I’m not certain what their mount is as of yet, but still.

Azeroth is Changed…forever.

With the Cataclysm (hence the title of the expansion) comes huge changes to the geography of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, where most of the expansion will take place. The cataclysm has devastated much of the land, so zones you’ve been to numerous times will look vastly different. These changes also bring about the ability to use flying mounts in mainland Azeroth, as things would be difficult to traverse otherwise. Forinstance, the Barrens will be split into two, Tanaris and Wailing Caverns are now lush and full of life, Thousand Needles is flooded, and Blackrock mountain has erupted. The new Azeroth will be much different, and much more interesting that ever before.

Uldum

This is another place that has always been present, but has been inaccessible. Uldum lies at the very southern tip of Kalimdor, in Tanaris. With the new expansion, the veil will be lifted and the secrets of Uldum will be revealed. Apparently, within Uldum (which will be split into two 5 man instances; Halls of Origination and The Lost City of the Tol’vir) lies a Titan super weapon, which The Alliance, Horde and the primary enemy faction (which I’ll get to next) all want to gain control of. Now, I can only guess what kind of weapon this could be. After seeing some of the stuff in Ulduar ( The Flame Leviation, XT-002 Deconstructor and Mimiron’s V-07-TR-0N weapon system) it should be awesome. This Titan complex also has an ancient Egyptian style of architecture, which is interesting because Ulduman in the Badlands had a very ancient Greece style to it, while the various ruins in Northrend had somewhat a mixture of both with Roman styling to it (though the Titans themselves are based on the deities of Norse Mythology) so it will defenitly be a sight to see. The lore should also be a feast for the mind. I’m also excited to see everyones favorite Titan fan Brann Bronzebeard make his return.

and now on to what has me most excited for the new expansion:

The return of Deathwing and Ragnaros, and the Elemental Planes:

Deathwing, also known as Neltharion The Earthwarder, makes his triumphant return as the primary villian of Cataclysm. First some backstory. Deathwing was formerly known as Neltharion, and was the aspect of the Black Dragonflight and likely the most respected of the various aspects. However, he was driven mad by whisperings of the Old Gods, and turned to a being of pure evil, known as Deathwing, the aspect of death. Deathwing hasn’t been seen since Warcraft II, and now his return from the elemental plane of Earth, Deepholme, has brought about the great cataclysm that has torn Azeroth asunder, and also has the Old God cult known as the Twilight Hammer on his side. Now, last time we saw Deathwing, he had grafted armor plates to himself, but was still somewhat an average looking dragon (blame old graphics for that) but now, Deathwing is back and more badass than ever:

Now, if this is what being driven mad by the Old Gods turns you into…then sign me up. Seriously, have you ever seen a dragon look so awesome? Awesome work by the Blizzard artists.

The other big baddie making a return is the fire lord Ragnaros, who players banished back to the elemental plane of fire back in vanilla WoW. We will now get the chance to take the fight to Ragnaros in said plane, where he is at his strongest. That should be one hell of a fight.

We will also visit Deepholme and the elemental plane of water (in the form of the dungeon Abyssal Maw) as well as the Elemental plane of air I believe. These should be some interesting places indeed.
Needless to say, this is going to one hell of an expansion. The revamping of old areas is awesome enough, but all the rest of the new stuff just makes me want this expansion more. Now, we still have Wrath of the Litch King to go through (Icecrown Citadel and Arthas are next) but come the end of that, we’ll have a lot to look forward to. Bring on the Cataclsym!

My new K-Pop Addiction – T-ara

Those that know me (or have at least read my previous posts) will know I have a great love for K-Pop, though that interest is primarily in the many girl groups, which seem to be the hottest commodity in the Korean music industry as late. That’s perfectly fine by me, seeing as they have been putting out some excellent work the last while.

The last year or so has seen an influx of new girl groups enter the scene,and I’ll be honest, its been a bit overwhelming for me. Prior to this influx, my two top favorites were SNSD and Kara, and even now they still are. However, with the introduction of new groups such as 2NE1 and 4Minute, I was bound to like one of them, and I found that group; the highly hyped and anticipated 6 member girl group T-ara.

T-ara (normally said as Tiara) debuted on July 29. As I mentioned earlier, this group had a lot of hype go into their debut. Before their debut last month, the group had been in the works for at least 3 years prior, so there was a large amount of anticipation and expectation to be had.

And as far as I am concerned, they lived up to any hype and they sure men my expectations.  I was addicted to their debut songs after only one listen.

T-ara does have an interesting history though, especially in the months leading up to their debut. As of now, the group consists of 6 members (from left to right in the above picture); Boram, Qri, Jiyeon, Soyeon, Hyomin, Eunjeong (the group leaders). However, this was not always the lineup. Prior to June of this year, the group only consisted of 5 members; Eunjeong, Jiyeon, Hyomin and 2 other members, Jiwon and then leader Jiae. However, in June, only a scant 2 months before the groups official debut, Jiae and Jiwon quite the group, and Boram, Qri and Soyeon were added to form the group we have today. It does make you wonder though, what would the group be like if Jiae and Jiwon hadn’t left. From what I understand, their reasons for leaving is that they didn’t like the way the group was going musically. Kinda harsh to say when they hadn’t even debuted yet. Who knows, even if they didn’t like their debut music, maybe something down the road might have been their thing.

I figure I should get one thing out of the way though.One thing that’s hard not to notice is Hyomin. She is seriously the spitting image of SNSD’s Jessica. No, a clone is more like it. She defenitly has her own charms though, but still, the similarities are striking ( and I also think Jiyeon looks somewhat like AKB48’s Tomomi Kasai, though I’m sure Jiyeon is FAR more talented)

Now on to the music itself. T-ara debuted with tie digital single, Lies. The single itself contains 3 different versions of Lies (2 somewhat differently arranged versions and the ballad version) and the song Wanna Play?. You can check out the songs here:

Lies MV:

Lies (Ballad ver.)

Wanna Play?:

I wasn’t able to find a link to the 2nd version of Lies, but in all honesty, I found both versions much too similar to like one over the other, but that might just be me. Defenitly give both a listen to find out which one you like  more.

So far, this group has given me a lot to like, and I will defenitly be looking out for future releases from them. If korean girl groups are your kind of thing, then defenitly give T-ara a chance.

Things Change

When I started this blog all that time ago, my fandom for AKB48 was likely at its highest point. At that time, I had been a fan for about a year or so I believe, and really, I felt like that I would be a huge fan for as long as the group was around.

Oh, how things change.

I now find myself and a point where, to put it bluntly, I just don’t give a frak about AKB48 anymore. Why you ask? Well, its a myriad of reasons really.

First up is the fact that the groups management seem unwilling to change whatsoever. The PV for the most recent single, Namida Suprise, was released recently, and while I haven’t watched it (and have no plans to whatsoever), I have seen some screens of it and read what fans have had to say about it. Its the same as every other AKB PV over the last little while, in that it focuses pretty much entirely on Maeda Atsuko, and is just plain uninteresting overall. This is one reason why I can no longer stand being a fan of AKB48, and its this constant need to feather Maeda in frakking EVERYTHING. Seriously, if this is the way every future PV is going to be, than that shows a complete unwillingness to change or even have some frakking variety in their group. Whats the point of having around 48 girls if your only ever going to prominently feature 1 of them? Its bullshit, thats what it is. And its not fair to the fans of other members as well. Also, I will never understand whats so damn interesting about Maeda Atusko. She’s not the best singer, she has a negative stage presence (not one where she stands out because of her abilities, but where she stands out because she always looks so fake and uninterested on stage) and its just not fair that those with far more talent that she is always pushed to the front while they are pushed far into the back. But it comes back to the whole variety thing. AKB48 would be a whole lot more interesting if they just focused on more girls, or switched it up for every PV or something. I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I know is that until this changes, it doesn’t matter if they sell massive amounts of CD’s or whatever, I won’t be coming back.

This also brings me to my second point; AKB48’s merchandising. Just a little while before I became a fan, pretty much everything AKb had to offer was released as normally as it should have been. You could buy their singles and DVD’s on the internet or in stores in Japan, just as you would expect. After the release of the H1 DVD, things changed for the worst. Now, the only thing AKb related you can buy regularily are their singles. The DVD’s are now really only released at the theater itself. Thats just bad marketing if you ask me. Now, only those who actually go to the theater can buy the DVD’s. It’s Not fair to those of us not in Japan, or even those in Japan who may not be able to get to the theater on a regular basis. The other thing that irks me is the fact that it now seems we’ll never get proper audio CD releases of AKB’s stages. Awhile back, they released the CD’s for Team A and K’s first 3 stages, and thats all we’ve gotten so far. Between then and now, we’ve gotten A4 and A5, K4 and K5, and B3 and B4, along with H1 and H2. So where the frak are the audio CD’s for these stages? Hell if I know. All I do know is, I don’t think they are ever going to be released.

The final reason would be that I am simply not liking much of their music much anymore. I just find their music lacking a certain something nowadays. Its just all getting kind of bland. I think I realized this after the dissapointment that was K5.

And don’t get me started on SKE48 or any of the other groups they may form int he future. They are a waste of time, and are getting WAY to much attention. I also don’t care for SKE invading AKb singles. Its about time they get their own so we don’t have to see that annoying little Jurina Matsui freaking everywhere AKB48 is. Seriously, I can’t stand her.

So that pretty much sums it up. As far as I am concerned, AKB48 is dead to me. Unless they come out with something that is just utterly fantastic, or they ditch Team’s A and K and just use Team B for everything, then I am officially done with them.

This does not mean the end of this blog though. Not by a longshot. I recent;y rekindled my love for the various Hello Project groups, especially Morning Musume. Their recent stuff has absolutely blown me away, especially their latest album. I’d like to do a review of that, so look forward to that. And of course there will likely be some new Gundam model reviews (and maybe some non-gundam models as well). Heck, I also might do some posts about my other addiction/pastime; World of Warcraft. There’s always some good stories to be told playing that game.

So I’m back, and I’m taking this blog in a new direction…sort of.

AKB48 Team K 5th Stage – Saka Agari

The other day, Team K began its anticipated 5th stage, and I say anticipated because everyone in the AKB48 fandom seemed to have this insane liking for K4 and was thinking that K5 could only continue the supposed awesomeness this stage began(not me in particular though, I personally thought K4 had far too many dud songs to be great overall), and I have to admit, I got sucked into the hype this time around. I mean, its a new AKB stage, how could I not get excited? But I did figure it couldn’t possibly compare to B4 in terms of awesomeness. I’ll always love Team B more than K or A, but K is far from average. They are awesome on so many levels, and I figured this stage would have to be better than K5.

Boy was I wrong.

However, before I get to the meat of my review, here’s the setlist for K5:

M1. tenohira
M2. saka agari
M3. hitei no REQUIEM
M4. sono ase wa uso wo tsukanai

M5. END ROLL (matsubara natsumi, umeda ayaka, oshima yuko, noro kayo)
M6. wagamama na nagareboshi (kobayashi kana, ono erena)
M7. ai no iro (miyazawa sae, masuda yuka, ohori megumi, ishida haruka, oku manami , chikano rina)
M8. dakishimeraretara (kuramochi asuka, kasai tomomi, satou natsuki)
M9. mushi no BALLAD (akimoto sayaka)

M10. furishite maneshite
M11. umi wo watare!
M12. machikado no PARTY

M13. FAN LETTER

EC1. fugiri
EC2. hanpa na ikemen

EC3.To be continued

For me, there is no easier way to describe this stage that this: Its boring. Plain and simple. While I didn’t completely enjoy K4 as a whole, it had a couple of really awesome rock songs. They were high energy songs that would really pump you up when you listened to them. It really gave Team K an upbeat, tough, rocker image.

Well, that feel is gone with K5, and a more mellow, yet boring and uninteresting image has been shifted into place for Team K. Most songs of this stage are generic, and uninspired. The energy that was present in a number of songs in previous K stages is gone, and replaced with what we see in this stage; something that is really just not that interesting overall.

That’s not to say I didn’t like any songs in K5. There were a couple of standouts with I thought were pretty good, and one I actually thought was particularly awesome.

The first song I found that was pretty good was Hitei no REQUIEM. Of all the songs in this stage, this was the only one that truly felt like a Team K song. Its got a great rock style. However, what makes this song particularly unique is what they do with the chorus. One group will start singing one part of the chorus, then afterward the other group will sing that same part while the lead group continues on. It makes for a really cool effect.

The next song I enjoyed was END ROLL. Its got a very slow temp to it, however it has a very latin-style dance feel to it. It truly is a unique song in comparison to other AKB48 songs.

I also really enjoyed Ai no Iro. Its one of the larger unit songs in AKB history, and it has a really great sound to it. I don’t really care for the fact that the unit is comprised of 6 members though, as that means not everyone gets their fair share of lines and are just relagated to being backdancers and whatnot.  However, the fact that my favorite Team K member Chikano RIna is in this unit automatically means this song is win…and it doesn’t help that the song by itself is just great.

The last song I enjoyed from this stage would be Sayaka’s solo song, Mushi no BALLAD. The whole prospect of Sayaka getting her own solo song was really exciting for me, however, I was initially turned away by the title.  I didn’t want another boring ballad, and Sayaka’s stellar vocals would be put to much better use in a very rock-style song. Thankfully, this song is no ordinary ballad. In fact, I would equate it to more of an 80’s style power ballad, like something akin to a Bon Jovi song or something like that. This is without a doubt my favorite song of the stage (and really, it had absolutely NO competition, considering the dribble it was up against in this stage). Sayaka really puts her best into this song, and just the whole song itself is awesome. The vocals, the beat, the pace of the song all combine to form one hell of a tune.

So yeah, out of 16 songs, those 4 were the only ones I thought worth mentioning. All in all, this stage is a bust for me overall. While it has a couple of exceptional standouts, the fact that the majority of songs are either boring or just plain generic really brings this stage down in my opinion. It doesn’t compare to its predecessor, and doesn’t even hold a candle to B4, which remains my dominant favourite of the current running stages.

So would I recommend checking out this stage. Not really. I would really recommend only checking out the ones I mentioned, but who knows, you might like some of the others. In my opinion, check out B4, A5 or even just keep listening to K4 instead. They are the superior stages.

Games and Gunpla

So first up for today are some recently announced Gunpla kits, ones I’ve been eagerly awaiting for awhile now:

- HG Arche Gundam – May release, 1,680 Yen (inclusive of tax).
- HG O Gundam – Release date & price TBA.
- HG Susanoo – July release, 1,260 Yen (inclusive of tax).

- HGUC Schuzrum Dias – May release
- MG G Armor – June release
- HGUC Hi-Nu – Release date TBA

(info from Ngee Khiong blog)

Of these new kits, All 3 of the OO ones and HGUC Hi Nu are the ones I’m very excited for. I”m defenitly glad they decided to release Susanoo over Masurao, as the Susanoo just looks better overall. I also wonder what colors the HG O Gundam will be in. I’m hoping for its RX-78-2  color scheme, though I honestly wouldn’t be disappointed if its in its Roll-out colors. HG Arche should also be pretty awesome as well, and it would go great alongside my HG Throne Zwei.

Now HGUC Hi-Nu has me very excited. Its been one of my favorite UC Gundams ever since I laid my eyes on it, and it will be nice to have a kit of it that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg like the fantastic looking MG. I also hope the HGUC retains the MG’s slimmer build. While I do like the original, I like the less bulky style of the MG better.

Now on to some other Gundam news, this time about video games. In a disappointing move, it seems the 0081 series I posted on earlier will not in fact be a series, but will in fact be a new Gundam video game for the PS3, called MS Gundam Battlefield Record U.C 0081. While I am disappointed that we won’t be getting a new UC series, the game does actually look pretty good. And its supposedly a game in the vein of Gundam Lost War Chronicles, which I’ve been told is a very well designed game. The reason I mention this is that Gundam games are not usually of the highest caliber, so hopefully this game turns out great.

In other Gundam game news, the sequel to Dynasty Warriors Gundam has been pushed back to next month. This sucks as it was supposed to be released in North American this weekend. Hopefully this is the last time they push it back.

Gundam 00 S2 Episodes 21, 22, 23.

Episode 21

In regards to deaths, this episode was full of them, Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long both meet their ends at the hands of Nena, though Nena meets her end thanks to Louise. I personally thought it was about time Nena suffered for what she did to Louise. And really, Nena deserved to die. There were no redeeming qualities about her, as she was just an evil person. However, Louise has finally realized that killing the person who murdered her parents isn’t going to magically bring them back, and its hit her quite hard. Saji is going to have his work cut out for him if he’s going to try and bring Louise back. This episode also starts another exciting battle between Graham and Setsuna. I say Graham because he’s seemingly returned to being Graham. Its also nice to see the Susanoo (formerly the Masurao) looking more like an Overflag.  However, the most interesting part about this episode is the revelation that Setsuna is becoming the first natural Innovator. You can almost draw a parallel between him and Louise, who is essentially an artificial Innovator. Because of that, she’s messed up quite a bit, yet Setsuna is perfectly normal. It will be interesting to see what happens in regards to this in the coming episodes.

Episode 22

A truly epic episode. This episodes contained one of OO’s best battles to date, with A-LAWS using an anti-beam field to severly restrict CB’s fighting potential. However, in the end they are saved by the combined might of Kataron, who really shine, and the Federation coup forces under the leadership of Kati. Because of this, A-LAWS is dealt a fatal blow, and is essentially all but defeated by the end. The only thing I didn’t care for was how quickly the battle between Setsuna and Graham was. Graham has been defeated, but I think he’s been shown the light, if you will. I defenitly think we’ll see him again as a changed man before the end. I did think it was fitting how the Susanoo was truly an Overflag, seeing as its head was simply an Overflag head with a mask over it (somewhat befitting Graham. He’s somewhat been unmasked by the end here, and the same happened to his MS) Of course, the bit shocker at the end is Ribbons being killed by Regine (who seems to truly have plans of his own), but we’ll have to wait and see.

Episode 23

As I expected, Ribbons was not truly dead. The Ribbons Regine shot was simply a clone or something, and now Regine is dead, thanks to Ali Al Sachez. The battle also continues as A-LAWS is essentially finished and the fight for VEDA has begun. Ribbons unveils his ship, the Celestial Being, and his army of clones and attacks the CB/Kataron/Coup forces relentlessly. The Gundams have also truly lost any advantage they had previously, as all of Ribbons forces have Trans-Am at their disposal. The final battle is going to be like nothing CB has ever experienced.  Some interesting matchups begin here. Ali and Lockon have engaged in battle, and really I think its fitting. Though Setsuna has his quams with Ali, he did kill Lyle’s brother, so Lyle has every reason to want him dead. Also, Setsuna/Saji countinue to fight against Louise and her seemingly unstoppable Regnant, while Tieria goes after Ribbons himself. The endgame has officially begun, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

J-Pop and K-Pop – A difference in Quality Control

This post is about something I’ve mulled about for some time know.

Now, everyone who visits here will know how much I love AKB48, and J-Pop in general, but most people don’t know that I have an equally strong like of K-Pop as well. That started about a little over a year ago, when I found out about the K-Pop group Girls Generation, which has now become quite the phenomenon. When I was getting into K-Pop was also around the time I was getting into AKB48, so I’ve liked both for an equal amount of time. Now, I love both J and K Pop just as equally, but I have begun to notice just how much more goes into making music in Korea.

Lets take a look into how groups are formed. AKB48, for instance has occasional auditions to find new Research Students, who will eventually have a chance at being put into one of the teams. Now, as far as I know, these auditions are open to anyone in Japan (as long as your a girl, obviously) and essentially if your chosen, you begin performing almost immediately, though obviously not on the same level as actual members. The RS’s backdance and do fill in for other members on occasion. Now, one thing I am unsure of is what training comes with being an RS, or even a full member, but as is apparent, you don’t have to have any formal training to audition. I expect they get some pretty lousy people audition, which brings to mind all those hilarious auditions you see every season in American Idol.

Now, what I’ve seen in the Korean music industry is quite different. Auditions are still present, but the training seems to be far more intense, almost to the point where it seems like a boot camp for the music industry. Lets take a look at SNSD (Girls Generation), before any of those girls actually debuted, they went through YEARS of training. Years. Some more so than others, but the one thing that is for sure is that these girls didn’t audition and then immediately start performing or pumping out singles and what not. For example, one of SNSD’s lead singers, Jessica, trained for over 7 years before debuting with the group. That’s devotion if you ask me. I don’t think any of the girls of AKB48 or Morning Musume can attest to that.

Now, of course, I still love AKB48, regardless of whether these girls had proper musical training. One thing that seems to seperate these 2 groups is simply why they were made in the first place. AKB48 is an idol group, and more of its focus is on the girls themselves, not actual talent. That’s not to say AKB48 doesn’t have its share of tremendous talent. It does for sure. It just seems to me that K-Pop groups seems to have a better focus on the musical talent of its performers.In SNSD’s case, not one of them are a bad singer in any way. They all have fantastic voices.

There are times when listening to AKB48 when I wonder how some members actually passed their audtions, and it becomes obvious image is the key factor here. All I am saying is why can’t the idol world of J-Pop be more like the Korean music industry, where image AND musical talent are both valued just as equally.