Will I keep up with Berikyuu? Probably not. I didn’t keep up with Musume Dokyu or Uta Doki. Too many files to download, too much to keep up with. It’s going to need to be some kind of show for me to follow it regularly.

But before I get to watching it - I have high hopes for Berikyuu.

Haromoni is not the same show it was when I started watching it on a weekly basis. Two months ago, the majority of the show consisted of the Musume girls watching videos. Now an episode of Haromoni is more about the girls themselves. In an ideal world, the show would be better due to the changes. It isn’t. It is true that the girls are acting out the majority of the videos. However, the videos are still boring, predictable and repetitive. It makes me wonder if they filmed a month’s worth of episodes at a time. It’s possible to get a hit using the same format and the same gags over and over, but more often it’ll be a miss.

Berikyuu will save me from this! It just HAS to. We are all starved for variety entertainment from the H!P Kids. DVDs of material only come by so often. Appearances on the music shows only come with releases. There has never really been a steady stream of variety material from the H!P Kids. I am of the belief that the majority of them can be great entertainers in these situations. But am I giving them the benefit of the doubt? The fact is that the Kids - unlike Morning Musume - haven’t have the chance to disappoint yet.

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In this round:
3. Sayumi Michishige vs. 6. Aya Matsuura
2. Chinami Tokunaga vs. 7. Erina Mano

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In this round:
2. Chinami Tokunaga vs. 15. Saki Nakajima
7. Erina Mano vs. 10. Kaori Iida

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In my entry about Erina Mano going solo, I mentioned that I had an H!P Eggs concert in the TLS Vault that I will have to watch to see more about Manoeri’s abilities. Add Yuu Kikkawa and Sayaka Kitahara to the list. They are going to team with Koharu Kusumi to form the unit Milky Way. For me, this will be new territory with a new unit as I will have no preconceived notions about Yuu and Sayaka, besides Yuu’s eyes looking like Megumi Murakami’s. As for Koharu, I still think she is lying about her age, although it’s somewhat odd for a girl to claim she is younger than she actually is.

I do have some preconceived notions about Milky Way beyond the two H!P Eggs themselves!

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Years from now, we may be talking about how brilliant Hello!Project was to turn Erina Mano into a soloist. It could be the decision that turned things around for the company.

As for today, on March 2, 2008 - it doesn’t look like the right thing to do.

And I really like Erina Mano, and not just for her looks.

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It seems like times are bad for Hello!Project. Berryz Koubou is going to release another uninspiring single. C-ute is going to follow up the fantastic Tokaiko Junjou with Lalala Shiawase no Uta, a song that’s already frowned upon by many after the 58th Kouhaku. Morning Musume’s next single is delayed. Natsumi Abe and Maimi Yajima’s single, 16sai no Koi Nante, did not sell well and I have a sneaking suspicion the blame for it will be laid upon Maimi. Risako Sugaya is dangerously risking overexposure by releasing a third photobook, which is unjustly coming before the first photobooks of Aika Mitsui, Li Chun, Chinami Tokunaga, Kanna Arihara and others.

Despite all of that, good news has arrived today! V-u-den is breaking up! It may not seem like it, but it is good news.

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The Close Up PV of Yattarouze! is out. It’s pretty standard fare. However, in one scene, we get something completely different. On the final chorus, at the “wow” part, we get this…

It doesn’t even last a full second, yet I’m looking this far into it.

Nine different attempts to produce one single facial expression. First of all,
all of these were too closeup to enjoy this face in its full effect. Besides that, how well did Ongaku Gatas show this expression? What are we looking for here? It’s simple, to pull off the perfect surprised look. What is the perfect surprised look? Well…

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Eight days, not bad!

Ongaku Gatas is a fantastic group. I’m aware people get attached to certain groups (Berryz Koubou) and refuse to look towards alternatives (C-ute). However, I think you can get a different appreciation of your old group (Morning Musume) by seeing how amazing a better group (Ongaku Gatas) is.

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