Jane Doe - Minami Takahashi REVIEW

After a flurry of my favorite AKB48 members being given solo careers, and after listening to Minami Takahashi's Jane Doe for the umpteenth time (and I will be ordering this single tomorrow!) I decided to finally review it. Before, I found difficulty to review it due to there being a lack of a PV online, however I luckily managed to find it on youtube.

Now Minami has to be my second favourite AKB member and when I found out she was having a solo career I was so excited to hear the single and the covers of the single pleased me so much and raised my expectations from this single. And for the first time in a long time I wasn't disappointed! The music video, the covers, the song were all amazing and gave me a fantastic package for what is an amazing solo debut for Minami!

Now the music video begins with many establishing shots of Minami as she is walking through what seems to be a church? And then suddenly her beautiful vocals are introduced and we have a variation of rotating shots of her face as she transforms from her red dress to her much more darker, and sexier, leather black outfit so it introduces two sides of Minami within the story line of the music video. I love the use of the mirrors too because it looks like she is looking at a different person through the reflection, and she is about to do something that she doesn't want to. She then starts into the song with pretty soft vocals over a soft piano playing in the background, allowing a light introduction before the full instrumentation of the song kicks into action and picks up the pace.

We are then introduced to two parallel goings on and these are separated with the two outfits that Minami wears. In her red dress, she walks onto a catwalk of a stage and throughout the rest of the music video she is stood there in a beautiful red dress where she is performing this song to an audience. Again, mirrors are re-introduced and in my opinion these mirrors are there to highlight the innocent side of Minami and showcase her innocent beauty through the mirrors and we're seeing the same image in all of these reflections which highlights how this is all we see to her when she is performing. We just see a performer, and there is no interest into what this girl is actually about.

Whereas, in contrast to the other scenes where Minami is wearing black, her stance is much more strong and she is much more empowered and has a stronger sight of what she wants to achieve. This allows us to identify to a much more truthful Minami, who is powerful and determined to achieve what she wants.She also has much more freedom in this field in comparison to how she has to carry herself as an admired doll on stage. This time Minami isn't on stage but it looks to be as if she is a kind of Robin Hood who is stealing from the rich to give to the poor, even though we aren't shown who is the poor. There are all of these rich people here, in what I think is a theatre, who are out to see a show but they are so dressed up that it looks kind of ridiculous. It's like me going to the cinema in my prom dress!!! However, Minami seems to have the same thoughts as me and in this she steals a silver necklace from a woman and manages to escape onto the rooftop of the theatre and in cheesy idol fashion throws it out into the sky to create a bright light of "heroic innocence". You get my drift with what I'm going with. Basically in a nutshell Minami is Robin Hood in the theatre and steals a necklace from a woman to teaches us that we should be happy with the better things in life and not base our happiness around materialistic things.

The music video was fantastic to me, and it ticked all of my boxes. When it comes to music videos I love a darker tone of it but with a moral undertone and this music video did just that. Minami does look like a villain in the black but her actions speak otherwise. I also loved all of the shots of the mirrors and the symbolism they carried, and I do love simple symbolism in a music video. H!P take note...sorry I had to go there!

Anyhow back on track, I was also impressed with the track because just like the music video, I love a dark rocky song that still upholds a positive message and gives it a bit of light so it isn't all depressing. It also showcased how amazing Minami is as a solo singer, and the dark tonality of the song also complimented Minami's lower voice as well. She was in her comfort zone and even though it didn't blow me away she did sound amazing! And I do hope the continues to release these kinds of singles. As I said, this whole release ticked a lot of boxes for me, and even though it's been in and out of the charts now, I'm still going to buy the single regardless! I want that music video in beautiful HD!

RATING: 9/10

Takahashi Ai due to undergo surgery for vocal nodules

It has been announced that lately Takahashi Ai, an ex-member of Morning Musume has recently been suffering from vocal nodules. She announced on her personal blog:

“I do not feel any pain, so no need to worry! When the surgery is over, and I recover completely, I will sing with all my heart in front of you guys again, and improve my acting skill as an actress as well.”

Now vocal nodules are usually found on the vocal chords and without surgery it can have leave permanent damage. And to be honest it isn't a surprise Ai has suddenly needed surgery for this. I keep track of her activities since her graduation and she has been a very busy bee with being in stage plays such as Dance of the Vampire, The Wedding Singer and Anne of Green Gables to name a few as well as television work. It seems like she is constantly working and maybe it is just taking it's toll in the form of nodules.

Luckily, she is undergoing surgery and should hopefully make an excellent recovery. I hope the surgery goes well, I don't want it to be the end of Ai's reign as an amazing singer! She has the gift and she shouldn't lose it!

Luckily her appearance at the reader theatre "Watashi no Atama no Naka no Kashigomu 5th letter" will be postponed from June 4th to the 12th.

Get well soon Ai-chan!!!!!

Itano Tomomi announces her graduation: my thoughts!

Way back in February of this year AKB48 announced another graduation of one of their 1st generation members, Itano Tomomi. Known as the cute style icon of AKB48, Itano has managed to charm a lot of fans with her doe eye look and her cute little tooth! You know what tooth I'm talking about! You can't deny the kawaiiness at all!

Now the graduation was announced through an interview Itano participated in in AKB48's documentary "DOCUMENTARY OF AKB48: NO FLOWER WITHOUT RAIN...". She announced:

“The interview for this documentary was supposed to be about the members of AKB48, their scandals last year, AKB48 in the future, and the graduation of (Maeda) Atsuko, but my feelings towards graduation became stronger. I decided to announce it like this.”

So I guess from Itano's graduation announcement it looks like she was influenced to graduate from Atsuko's graduation. Now we know AKB48 is a beginning platform for these girls to gain the experience of getting into the entertainment industry. Through Itano's eyes she feels like it is her time to graduate AKB48 and go into the future to new ventures, whether it be singing or acting!

The graduation date has not yet been confirmed but I do hope that it's towards the end of 2013 so I can get myself emotionally prepared for this graduation even though I know I'm going to be sobbing. I haven't been a fan of AKB48 as long as I have been a fan of MoMusu but in the duration of myself being an AKB fan Itano was always my favorite  Her beauty and cute innocence really pulled me in to take notice of her, and her style is also fantastic! She has a pretty good voice and she has sounded fantastic in her solo material so I do hope she continues to sing after graduating AKB48!

I am going to be very sad when Itano graduates from AKB48 and it will be difficult for me to keep listening to them if my favorite member has departed. But I am big fans of Takahashi Minami, Yuki Kashiwagi, Mariko Shinoda and Yuko Oshima. Fingers crossed Takahashi and Yuki don't decide to graduate anytime soon...they've just started their solo careers and I want to hear of them as much as possible!!!

But despite how saddened I am with Itano's graduation, I wish her all the best for the future! If she doesn't continue in performance I hope she has a career in fashion!!!

Morning Musume - Brainstorming/Kimi sae ireba nani mo iranai REVIEW! (Part 2)

Hello my lovely readers!
Today I will be continuing on from my last blog post and I will be reviewing the second A-side of Tanaka Reina's graduation single and Morning Musume's 53rd single release! Now this full single looks to be a promising release with two A-sides and three B-sides it looks to be another promising release for fans and wotas alike with a good assortment of songs.

Now my first listening to Kimi Sae was through a 30-second preview that was released and I have to admit I was very disappointed. However, due to it only being a short preview I thought I'd shrug my pessimism to one side and decide on what I thought of the song when I heard the full thing. When I saw the dance shot and heard the song fully for the first time, I liked it but didn't fall in love with it like I did Brainstorming.

Now I'm going to start this review with my thoughts on the song, now that I've listened to it a lot more. Now the first thing I heard in this song was 2000 people on the dance floor and even though it was such an odd addition to the song, I liked it and thought it was quite a catchy intro to draw you in. You then get the format of different verses where the lines are divided between pairs of members and then of course we get lead vocals from Reina, Riho and Sakura which isn't surprising. Then you get an uplifting chorus that gives you hope and if you know the English translation of the lyrics it emphasizes it more.

Now the thing I liked about this song better than Brainstorming is when I saw the English translations to each song. Brainstorming has the same old message of being empowered and living life to its full potential but I feel like this kind of message has been repeated a lot in the last few releases and it's getting a bit tedious for me to hear the same old kind of storyline through the lyrics. However in this it also bases itself on a lover and helping each other through life and being there for each other through thick and thin, which I think is a better message. I mean it's good to be independent but sometimes it's nice to have someone there to share the memories of success with. Oh, I'm going off on a tangent. Being a Performing Arts student I get into the habit of going through the meanings of things and reading between the lines. Now back on track.

I thought it was fantastic that the members had some good lines paired up, but the downside was that the use of auto tune didn't allow you to pick out who was singing and who wasn't. I love to hear the different sounds of the girls and they all just sounded the same apart from the solo lines that had less auto tune on them.

The only parts of the song I loved were the 2000 people on the dancefloor hooks (even though it's clearly only 11 members on the dancefloor) Oh Tsunku! Time to go back to school to learn to count haha! I also adored the chorus, because it was just so empowering and really made me want to sing out loud. I think this song will be a fantastic one for them to perform live.

Now of course, the PV is just another cheap UFP production with just a dance shot and close ups within the dance shot, which is a slight disappointment in the case that this is Reina's graduation single. However, just because it's cheap doesn't mean it can't be excellent creativity wise. The use of the rotating camera shots throughout the dance gave it variety and allowed different girls to stand out with their dance skill even if they weren't at the front in the spotlight. Sayumi stood out a lot to me even though she didn't have any singing lines, but her movements in the dance and expressions really stood out to me. Well done leader-sama!!! /bows/

I also really adored how happy Reina seemed in this PV, she seemed to enjoy herself and it's nice to see that in her last PV shooting as a Morning Musume member. And I am a big fan of her little beret with the cute little yellow bow, it wouldn't be the real Reina without some cute bows and accessories galore! Her vocals were stunning in Brainstorming but in Kimi Sae she didn't sound as good, she held a good tune but that was about it. The same with Sakura, her voice just didn't shine for me, and I am surprised to say that Riho sang better than them in my opinion in this song. A lot of people will disagree with me, but I, who hasn't always been a fan of Riho's voice, think she has improved loads and it does show in Kimi Sae and Brainstorming.

The set was simple with a stage and a white curtain that allowed the lighting to shine through and it gave it a good effect and it contrasted with the yellow well to make their costumes stand out. I also liked the contrast of when the lighting would dim at the right times of the song to really create tension with the lyrics and then the lights would burst in the chorus' to emphasize the hope that the lyrics showcase.

In terms of the costumes, I didn't like them when I first saw them, but when I saw the girls dancing in them, the looseness of the dresses allowed them to flow fantastically in the dance. And the girls were all so sharp in the dance and I love their thrusting moves within the chorus! Especially Mizuki she stood out to me the most in terms of that. And Haruna danced fantastically in this too, she has improved in leaps and bounds so much! Again Zukki didn't stand out to me at all which is a shame. When she first debuted in Maji Desu ka Ska she was fantastic and was a breath of fresh air to MoMusu but now she's kind of diminished to me a little and I don't like it. I still like the girl but she doesn't attract me to her as a fan in terms of girls like Reina and Mizuki.

The funny thing within this PV as well were the little errors. I didn't notice them until people pointed them out to me but there is a point in the PV where you can clearly see a staff member stood in the frame. And you can also see the studio ceiling. People make mistakes but when it comes to the flagship group of UFP it can't really be forgotten about. If mistakes like this appear in PVs it makes people wonder about the professionalism of the company.

Overall I enjoyed this song and I still love to listen to it now and again but it didn't have an impact on me like it did with Brainstorming.

RATING: 7/10