One...Two...Three... Part One
28 March 2008
This is quite possibly the most complicated but ultimately pointless project I've ever taken on. My aim is to establish how often an individual member of Morning Musume features during an episode of Haromoni@. I shall watch each episode, starting with the first of 2008, and tally how many times each member appears on screen. It will be an ongoing project for the time being and I shall continue the count for each new episode released. What is the aim of this project? Mainly curiosity about whether some members get more exposure than the others. I hope to find out over the next few weeks.
As with any experiment there must be some rules and regulations. While these do not make the results completely scientific they are needed in order to keep things as far as possible. I have defined nine different conditions that must remain consistent, these are:
1. Each cut to a new camera (or the same camera) counts as a separate instance, even if the subject is the same in each shot;
2. Panning and zooming out/in only counts once. Any new members that come into shot on a pan/zoom will get tallied;
3. Still images and photos count as a new instance. Size of the image is irrelevant;
4. If the footage gets paused into a still image it counts as a new instance;
5. Drawn illustrations of members do not count;
6. Multiple occurrences of the same member on the same shot count separately;
7. Preview footage goes towards the tally, as does repeated footage;
8. Music footage played on the ending credits does not count, the footage in the box below does;
9. At least 75% of the member's face must appear for it to get tallied, independent of which direction they're facing.
I did exercise a bit of discretion when it wasn't very clear if it should count or not. I tried to remain as consistent as possible. I did not go back to check my numbers (it would be far too exhausting and tedious to do so) so an error margin of plus/minus two is applied to the figures. I think that's about it. Let's proceed onto the first set of results.
New Year episode - 6 January 2008
Niigaki Risa : 105
Tanaka Reina : 97
Michishige Sayumi : 85
Takahashi Ai : 83
Kamei Eri : 80
Jun Jun : 64
Kusumi Koharu : 62
Lin Lin : 49
Mitsui Aika : 47
First and second place were quite close on this episode. I think the thing that won for Risa was the fact Reina's little test with the children was cut slightly short. Quite a big gap to third, fourth and fifth places which were filled by the senior members. Jun Jun and Koharu didn't manage to perform so well but they were still miles ahead of Lin Lin and Aika. The editor must not have been a fan of theirs. It was quite unbelievable that the gap between first and last place was so large. This episode was really biased towards the more established members.
MouTube episode I – 13 January 2008
Niigaki Risa : 108
Kamei Eri : 108
Tanaka Reina : 106
Michishige Sayumi : 105
Takahashi Ai : 102
Jun Jun : 97
Lin Lin : 91
Kusumi Koharu : 1
Mitsui Aika : 0
This episode was a lot more balanced, mainly because they tended to show all the members at once during the showing of the clips. Jun Jun and Lin Lin are ever so slightly behind since they were seated together at the end of the table. Koharu wasn't actually in the main show but she appeared in the closing credits. Misui Aika didn't appear at all.
Viking Buffet episode I – 20 January 2008
Tanaka Reina : 136
Niigaki Risa : 124
Takahashi Ai : 121
Kamei Eri : 104
Michishige Sayumi : 3
Kusumu Koharu : 2
Lin Lin : 1
Jun Jun : 0
Mitsui Aika : 0
Only four members were in this episode so the results are totally skewed. Reina was the clearly ahead in this one. She was the attention of the camera a lot of the time. Sayumi, Koharu and Lin Lin all appeared in the end credits. Jun Jun and Aika didn't appear at all.
There we have it for the first three episodes of the year. Risa probably came out on top overall with two first place appearances as well as a second place. Reina wasn't too far behind with first, second and third placings. Poor Aika came last pretty much every time. Still very early at the moment and it could still change but there seems to be a divide already. Maybe as expected, the older members get more air time than the newer members. I wonder how things will shape up?
Posted byHocchan at 4:20 pm 1 comments
Ikemen Paradise
26 March 2008
Alas, it wasn't to be. It was highly improbable that this week's Haromoni@ would be anywhere near as good as last week's and it was proved right. There are far too many 'cute' animal clips which might appeal to Morning Musume but doesn't really interest me too much. Not that I have anything against animals, they just aren't that impressive unless they can do something totally unbelievable. Regular tricks just don't cut it sadly. At least there is one good thing to come from this - I don't have to spend hours typing up a synopsis like I do when it's a good episode. My eyeballs are mighty relieved, I'm sure.
The theme for this week's outfits is ikemen (good-looking males) so they're all wearing trouser suits with ties. Though it would have been better if they were all wearing the uniforms from Hanazakari no Kimitachi e instead, and had a special guest appearance by Horikita Maki! Only in my dreams, huh? Nevertheless, I have to say some of the members look quite handsome in trouser suits, Niigaki Risa in particular, but I'm not sure those animal ears fit in with the ikemen image. I'd love to see some high-flying City boy walking into work wearing one of those on his head. Or even better someone like Alan Sugar with a pair of white bunny ears. Now that would make for some good boardroom meetings.
Quite a poor start to the show so there's not much to write about. Just some self-massaging cat and a JCB digger going on a date (not in the same clip). There was a mildly interesting video of a guy doing aerobics while on a road bike. This wasn't just the usual bike-surfing trick that everyone and their grandma can do, this guy could do some genuinely neat tricks. The following clips went downhill a bit until they got to another quiz clip. This time it was a guy doing head-spins and the girls had to guess how many revolutions he could do. Lin Lin really got herself noticed in this part of the show. She guessed 31 spins and illustrated this with three fingers and one ear of her headband. The expression on her face was priceless. It certainly got some laughs from the other members. Surprisingly she got quite close to the answer which turned out to be 33 spins. Good job, Lin Lin!
There was a reappearance of Princess Wai Wai with another illusion. Sadly, for me at least, it wasn't quite so spectacular. It involved turning water in a glass to ice by stirring it. Tanaka Reina picked up on the fact that the water had changed colour between shots and it kind of ruined the suspense /laugh. Not much else of note until the last part of the episode where it was time once again for the memory test. Jun Jun was back with the challenge of remembering the Katakana names for twenty-five different breeds of dogs. This must have been immensely difficult because not only were they in Japanese, they were the Japanese pronunciations of English names (most of them anyway). This was clearly evident when she started the challenge. She had trouble pronouncing 'Retriever' in Japanese. It did make for some hilarious moments but you couldn't help feel some sympathy for her.
This challenge must have been really tough because at the end of it Jun Jun had tears in her eyes. It was a brilliant effort to complete it without any mistakes and I'm sure it's endeared her to many fans. Even I'm becoming quite a big fan of hers. Jun Jun seems to fit in with the rest of the members really well. I've also noticed that they've got her hairstyles absolutely perfect. None of this embarrassing 'new member haircut disaster' the other generations seemed to have. Seems like I'm singing praise for the Chinese members every week but I really like them. It's a big 'up yours' to all the people who doubted their ability when they were introduced. I bet they're all crying into their porridge right about now. Well, carry on crying, suckers!
Posted byHocchan at 5:48 pm 0 comments
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
23 March 2008
Sorry to keep going on about this but my life seems to be a constant stream of bullshit (imagine that if you will) at the moment. There isn't a day goes by where something doesn't really get on my nerves and make life hell. Perhaps I'm letting it get to me too much, I don't know. It just seems like nowadays everything is out to get me. No sooner as I get one irritation out of the way another comes charging over the horizon, buckets of turd strapped to the saddle.
Just this last week I've had to deal with constant disconnection of my broadband and now my anti-virus program decides it wants to screw me over too. Well, go right ahead. Every other bastard has so far. Join the god damn party. It was working fine for over four years, never had a problem. But a few days ago it decided it didn't want to work any more. After an update it refused to load properly. It just sat there in the icon tray, taking up 100% of my processor power. I had to re-install the stupid thing to fix it. It continued to work fine until tonight, when it went and did it again. Another round of re-installing and updating. If it's going to do this every few days then I might as well not bloody bother with an anti-virus program.
They're only minor little things but they all build up to get on your nerves. They're like ants. One bite won't kill you but get enough of the bastards biting you and you're going to feel it. What I wouldn't give for one week, just one week, where nothing bothered me at all. A week where I can relax and enjoy life and not have to worry about anything. But it's not going to happen is it? I'm just going to have to find some way to deal with this or I'm going to die of stomach ulcers at the age of 29. And on my gravestone it shall read:
Drowned in a tidal wave of crap. What a shitty way to go.
Posted byHocchan at 10:25 pm 3 comments
Okori Switch On
18 March 2008
I've learned my lesson. Never again shall I delay the write up of an update for so long. Don't want a repeat of last Saturday's frantic typing frenzy. Therefore, I'm getting an early start on this review. Luckily for me this episode was even better than last week's. The current trend seems to be having a themed outfit depending on the date of the episode. This time they're wearing kimono with hakama in celebration of graduation season (the school year finishes in March in Japan). I really like their outfits this week. They really remind me of the one Yuna from Final Fantasy X wears. I noticed that Michishige Sayumi's colour scheme was vastly different to the other members. I guess she just wanted to stand out /laugh. Before the first video they mentioned that Sayumi had graduated from high school, and Mitsui Aika and Kusumu Koharu from junior high, so congratulations to them!
Princess Wai Wai is back again with another illusion. This time the trick is to levitate an egg in some water using 'hand power'. First she drops the egg into the tank and demonstrates how normally it would sink to the bottom. Then she removes the egg and imbues the water with 'magic' before dropping the egg into it again. This time it drops gently down to the middle and then stops, just floating there, neither going up or down. Once again she finishes the illusion with the obligatory Y-balance at the end of the video. This trick looked more impressive than the last. I thought it was something to do with the egg but it turns out it was all about the water. Keen-eyed observers would have noticed a slight change in colour of the water between shots. The reason for this was because they added a layer of salt water to the bottom. As we all know, salt water is denser than normal water, that's why people can float so easily in the Dead Sea. The same principle applies to the egg in the salt water. Just a shame that the salt turns the water slightly cloudy thus giving away the trick. It was still fun to watch though. Can't wait to see more of these illusions.
There was an interesting guy who had a good internal clock. To demonstrate this he would say the word 'tomato' ten times in exactly ten seconds. He started the stopwatch and then proceeded to say 'tomato' in a high pitched, squeaky voice while doing some odd arm movements. At the last one he stopped the watch and it was bang on 10.00 seconds. I don't know how many takes this must have taken but it was still amazing. Back in the studio the narrator asked if anyone could imitate the feat and Kamei Eri confidently stepped up and accepted the challenge. She was allowed to use any word so she chose 'kame' from her name. Her style was to bob her head from side to side each time. She appeared to start off slowly and then speed up towards the end. It didn't help much and she ended up stopping the watch on 12.03 seconds. Not quite as impressive, but much funnier!
For the first time ever we have both Jun Jun and Lin Lin in the same Air-??? sketch. Lin Lin has got the lead in this one and she puts on an energetic performance. In the first instance she does lots of running and jumping before defeating a bouncing Jun Jun. Then after a little more running around Jun Jun gets her own back with a punch to the face. For some reason Reina is really good at guessing what they're trying to mime. Once again she correctly guessed the answer which turned out to be Air-Super Mario. Lin Lin was Mario and Jun Jun was one of those Kuribou (Goomba). Jun Jun mentioned that her role was difficult because there were no lines or facial expressions. All she had to do was hop around. I thought it was good performance considering. Nice to see the both of them in it.
It must be my lucky day because Tanaka Deka is back with a continuation of the Pikachu kidnapping story. It starts with her interviewing the suspect and trying to get him to confess to the crime. He denies having taken Pikachu so Tanaka has to use some special techniques to irritate him until he cracks. First off it's threatening to drop the guy's mobile phone into a goldfish bowl. I liked the little graphic on the side indicating his irritation level. I wasn't sure what the next thing one was all about. Something about dripping orange juice around a scrunched up straw wrapper. For the last thing they needed a Pop Up Pirate game. It was missing the pirate piece but she forced him to play any way. They took turns until the guy triggered the mechanism and lost the game. This made him crack and he finally confessed.
The whole thing was hilarious. From the stupidity of the irritation techniques involved to the brilliant reactions from the suspect (played by the guy who used to dress up in a cabbage costume). Reina had some menacing stares throughout the video which the narrator picked up on. She does a really good job of acting as the tough detective role. I still think she looks superb in that outfit. The whole thing is pure genius as far as I'm concerned. Reina is making a fight back for my favourite member of the group.
The last part of the programme is taken up with another memory test, this time with Lin Lin trying to recall fifteen historical people. Everyone from Natsume Souseki to Tokugawa Ieyasu was in the test. Apart from a slight hesitation with Sakamoto Ryouma she breezed through it with no problems. I reckon this was tougher than Jun Jun's test from last time. I think I'd have trouble with it because I'm pretty bad at remembering people's names.
A really good episode this week. If it gets better next Sunday then it might even rival Hello! Morning in entertainment factor. It doesn't look too promising from the preview (lots of animal ones) but you never know.
Posted byHocchan at 1:23 pm 3 comments
Nee Ano Jikan Wa Nan Datta No?
15 March 2008
Gah! I'm running out of time to complete my task. I've not got long to write up this last review before midnight arrives. I'm exhausted already. If I was a car I'd be running on fumes right about now. But I must not give up. I must fight on! Without further ado, let's-a-go!
This is last week's episode from the 9th March. The girls are all wearing one piece floral dresses in celebration of spring. Michishige even has flowers on her hair band. The narrator mentions that Sayumi has been learning to walk like a model recently. She doesn't seem to know much about it but says she can do it anyway. What follows is the most over-the-top catwalk style from the 80s. As hilarious to watch as it is sexy. The look she gives to the camera at the start of it could stop a charging rhino. It was hypnotising to say the least.
The quality has improved slightly in this episode. It's significantly more interesting than last time, though that's no real surprise. We see a return of the guy who makes wacky musical instruments from straws. He makes them into shapes that relate to the tune that he's playing. Last time he did the theme tune to Godzilla and Doraemon. This time he made an elephant, the moon and some dango (dumplings). It's pretty impressive what he can do. The video made Tanaka Reina want to try making one herself. When asked what she'd make she replied, "Eh? No plan" /laugh. Reina seems to be making a lot of funny remarks lately and it's been great to watch. She definitely has one of the nicest smiles in the group.
This week also saw the return of the awesome GakiKame Theatre. They were both in it this time which was nice. It was one of those videos played backwards but filmed so it looked like it was being played normally. This time they were supposed to be practising Kenjutsu. Eri wanted to show Niigaki Risa that she could see everything with her mind's eye. She put on a blindfold and Risa attempted to strike her with a katana without her knowing. The first time was an overhead strike which she caught with the palms of her hand. The second time was a strike to the side which she caught with her index and middle fingers on one hand. On the third attempt she was lying on the ground when Risa did a downward strike from the side. Eri caught this one with a pair of chopsticks. The whole skit was pure genius. Risa wielding a katana was fantastic. It's probably my favourite one of the series.
After a video from Takahashi Ai's Takako skit, Sayumi did her impression of Yoshi from the Super Mario games. I think her impression is superb. Not very accurate but really funny. Speaking of Mario, the following video was from a guy also called Mario. His skill was head banging and he wanted them to guess how many times he could move his head in thirty seconds. They measured it using a digital pedometer strapped to his forehead. They filmed him doing air guitar and head banging to a rock song. At the end of it he took off the pedometer and showed it to the camera. The result was zero /laugh! All that effort and it didn't register any movement. The last shot of the video showing the guy sitting forlornly in the spotlight was brilliant.
The last bit of the episode was taken up with Jun Jun's challenge. In a similar memory test to the one Mitsui Aika did a couple of weeks ago, she had to remember the names of twenty traditional things from Japan. Although the total amount of things was less than Aika she didn't have any trouble remembering them all. They gave her five stars for the completing the challenge but she requested a banana instead /laugh.
Alright! All caught up with updates with forty-seven minutes to spare. Now please excuse me while I go buy myself some new eyeballs...
Posted byHocchan at 11:13 pm 0 comments
Princess Illusion
Since I'm behind on these reviews and because they take up so much energy to write, I'm going to cut it down to highlights to save time. Makes more sense to do it this way. It's kind of pointless to try and write something about a video you don't particularly like. It's a win-win solution! This episode is from 2nd March. In it they're wearing kimonos because of Hina Matsuri. This is a holiday that's held on the 3rd March in Japan. The kimonos they're wearing aren't quite as flashy as those worn on New Years but they look nice all the same. My favourite is probably the one worn by Jun Jun. The red/pink on black looks nice. After showing off their outfits they go onto the first video. Whilst not particularly interesting, it does provoke a superb reaction from Tanaka Reina, who seemed to like the flying noodles.
My favourite part of the show; Princess Illusion! It featured Princess Wai Wai (AKA Michishige Sayumi) performing an illusion. The intro was brilliant with Princess Wai Wai scolding the audience for not giving the correct response to her visual cue. After that she did her trick which involved reaching into an empty tank of water and pulling a glass jug out of it. At the end of the video she did a Y-balance (where you hold your leg up straight with one hand and have the other arm up to form a Y). The trick was pretty cool, even if it was pretty easy to figure out. The water in the tank wasn't actually water. It was some sort of salad oil that made glass objects almost invisible when placed into it. You could see a bit of the outline if you looked carefully enough. At first glance though it did look quite cool. I liked the interrogation after the video where Sayumi vehemently denied being Princess Wai Wai, even though she's the only one in the group that can do the Y-balance.
For some reason this week's episode featured a lot of animal videos which are starting to get tiresome. At least in return we got another part of the GakiKame Theatre series. This time it was Kamei Eri in her own little drama. A short story starting with her waking up and brushing her teeth in the bathroom. She ran out of toothpaste and threw the empty tube into bin behind her without looking. After brushing her teeth she rinsed the brush and bounced it off the mirror and into the tumbler. Then it showed her at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She flipped the teaspoon from the table into the cup with the palm of her hand. Her phone bleeped so she opened it and typed out a text. Flipping the phone closed, she then threw it over her shoulder and straight in the open compartment of her bag that was sat on the coffee table behind her. Finishing her drink she noticed it was 8:02AM and rushed to get her bag. All of a sudden the TV turned on. She went over to a dish of bouncy balls and picked one out. She threw it against the wall and it bounced onto the floor before landing on the remote and switching the TV off. I don't know if it was all done genuinely but Kamei insisted it was all real. In any case, it was really fun to watch.
Overall, the show wasn't too good that week. Only a few videos were worth watching. The worst video was definitely the freaky Beyonce impression by some woman. She ate a banana and kiwi fruit without peeling either of them. It was weird. Let's hope we don't get any more of those next week...
Posted byHocchan at 8:26 pm 0 comments
Pretty Woman, Won't You Pardon Me?
Right! I've set myself a deadline of midnight tonight to clear my backlog of updates. That means completing this post about Final Fantasy XI, dramas and general news, followed by the reviews of the last two Haromoni@. The reason being that it's Sunday tomorrow and another Haromoni@ will have aired. I'd have three episodes to write about in one go and I don't think I have the willpower to achieve that. Plus, if I don't do this now I'll probably never get it done. It's a slippery slope into the abyss of blog hell once that happens. Wouldn't be good to go neglecting my blog like some people around these here parts...
Once they'd stopped pissing about with their registration server maintenance I managed to return to Final Fantasy XI, just in time for the March update. It's been a good update so far. Samurai got a new job ability and my Dancer now has its artefact armour. Just a shame that it needs to be crafted again like the Treasures of Aht Urhgan jobs. Cue massive inflation in prices of materials from people trying to make a quick profit. It's bloody annoying. I'll have to wait until the prices come down. In the meantime I have the Easter event to occupy my time. It's the same egg-hunting quest from the last few years but they have new prizes. As with the Dancer artefact materials, the prices of eggs are ridiculous. I've seen people charging 20,000 gil for one. They must be taking the Micky Mouse. You can take that egg and shove it up your arse, quite frankly. There's still plenty of time yet to complete the event without the need to line some greedy bastard's pockets.
I've been neglecting this season's dramas lately. Partly due to the trouble I've been having with my broadband, but also because the ones I want to watch are not being subtitled as quickly. Both Mop Girl and Edison No Haha haven't made much progress. So while I wait for them I've been re-watching the brilliant Attention Please. A couple of weeks ago I read that there will be a second special episode of this drama airing in April. It made me want to watch the series again. It's definitely my favourite of all Ueto Aya's dramas. Not sure if I wrote about it before on here but it's about Misaki Youko, a rebellious and outgoing trainee hoping to become a cabin attendant, much to the despair of her instructors and seniors. I very much liked the JAL uniforms that feature throughout. I'm tempted to make JAL my choice of airline when I fly to Japan. Watching this series through again has got me itching to see the special in April. It'll make a nice start to the month.
Why must things constantly piss me off? My connection went to shit a couple of nights ago and it's only just sorted itself out. But there's no respite from the rain of bullshit because now my wireless network card is deciding to toss about by having a low signal all the time. I haven't changed anything so there's no reason for it to do this, other than to get on my nerves. Why does shit never work properly for me?!
Posted byHocchan at 5:17 pm 0 comments
Sekkanoki
12 March 2008
Oh dear...I'm so far behind on stuff I need to post. I don't even have the energy to update it properly today. I have two reviews of Haromoni@ to write, as well as the regular news about dramas and Final Fantasy XI. This mini-update to show my new desktop will have to do for now. I seem to be changing it a lot lately. Been trying to find the perfect wallpaper but it's a difficult task when you're a perfectionist. The wallpapers are never sharp enough or well designed for my liking. It's a shame I don't have much artistic talent or I'd make one myself. Took me ages to find this one so I'm going to keep it for awhile.
Posted byHocchan at 7:35 pm 2 comments
Jumping In Front Of A Train Must Be More Fun
03 March 2008
I swear to God, everyone and everything is trying its damnedest to piss me off today. And so far, it's working quite well because I feel like I want to head butt a brick wall until my face is a bloody pulp. My stupid Internet is still slow as bollocks, so no change there. I was hoping to get back onto Final Fantasy XI on Sunday but wasn't able to because of their registration server maintenance. Two hours after it had supposed to have finished they reported a problem with their payment processing. They extended maintenance indefinitely. They said they'd update the site with further progress at it happens. Obviously they've been sat around on their backsides because sod all has been posted so far. There's no bloody way to know when this'll get fixed and I can renew my content ID.
Last Friday I went to Natwest to open a student account since I would be applying for my student loan soon. I took along proof of student status, address and identity and popped into the local branch. I was then told that they couldn't accept the proof of address letter so I had to bring in something else. Fast forward to today and I return this morning with a bank statement. "Sorry, we can't accept this because your account is overdrawn". I go home and gather up a big pile of different letters with my address on it and return to the bank. Only they'd all pissed off somewhere and there was no one around to process my application. They gave me an application form to take home and fill in. Two wasted trips on a bitterly cold day, I was not best pleased.
But here's the best bit. I look through the form and on the list of documents accepted for proof of address was the exact letter I had taken on the first visit. They must be laughing their goddamn arses off right now. I took the form and binned the bastard. It's a shame I still have to get an account with them. I tried to apply online at a different bank but their procedures were even more bullshit than Natwest's. I'll have to go back (AGAIN!) sometime this week and demand to be seen by someone who knows what the hell they're doing. I'll chain myself to the counter if I have to, I'm not leaving until they've given me what I want.
UPDATE 04/03/08: I did a little bit of searching around on the Internet and it seems like my slow broadband speed may be part of a line restriction. I received a breach of fair use policy from Orange not long before I was cut off. However, in that letter they only stated that they'd restrict my connection during peak hours (6pm-Midnight). From what I've experienced the last few days though, I've only been getting 0.5mbps no matter what time of the day. I'm going to call their useless customer service tomorrow and find out what this latest bullshit is about. I would call today but I really can't be arsed dealing with it so soon after yesterday's fiasco.
Posted byHocchan at 2:32 pm 0 comments
Tanaka Deka Vs. Kamei Gahaku
02 March 2008
The next episode will be airing in a little under three hours time but I've only just got around to watching last week's Haromoni@ (due to some unforeseen consequences -.-). Having finally seen it I was slightly disappointed with the featured videos. It wasn't as good as the previous week. There were some amusing entries, but overall I think the girls were more interesting to watch. That might go some way to explaining the screenshots I took /laugh. That plus the fact they're wearing maid cafe outfits! They look absolutely fantastic. They kept the animal ears and pouches for some reason, probably to cover all the cosplay bases. I think Tanaka Reina and Michishige Sayumi really shine this week, though I might be ever so slightly biased. Mitsui Aika also caught my eye for the first time. But enough dithering, let's get on with the show! We start with a performance of 'Lalala Shiawase No Uta' from °C-ute. People have complained about this song being too repetitive, which it is, but it doesn't mean it's highly addictive. Not as good as 'Tokkaiko Junjou' for sure but how can you not be cheered up by this new single? It's simply too much fun.
The first video of the day features two brothers showing off their somersaulting skills. It was quite amusing when they suddenly broke into a back flips without warning. It got a good reaction from the studio. I've always wished I could do somersaults. It looks like a lot of fun, though I'd be worried about the prospect of breaking my neck. Decent start to the show, 7/10. Moving on, we had Lin Lin's choice from the list. It showed a guy brushing his teeth with his arms wrapped around the back of his head, brush in each hand. Very odd indeed. A bit silly but funny nonetheless, 6/10. The next act was quite impressive. It showed a guy sitting at his table with some weighing scales and a bowl of rice. The rice weighed 400g and the challenge was to each just enough rice so that it reduced it to 300g. So the guy starts stuffing his mouth with rice, I'm not even sure how he manages to swallow it without chewing. After emptying what appears to be half of the bowl he places the bowl back of the scales. A dramatic drum roll and oscillating needle later, it comes to rest at exactly 300g. I'd give this an 7/10 simply for the skill of the guy.
At last, we come to the bit I've been waiting for - Tanaka Reina dressed as a detective. Might just be me but I think that trench coat and hat suited her really well. Her character, Detective Tanaka, starred in a short drama about Pikachu disappearing and Reina having to get a sketch of him from Master Artist, Kamei. From previous Hello! Morning episodes it's clear that Eri has a reputation for being a terrible artist. It didn't help that Reina was trying to pressuring her to finish the picture. Reina also did the cutest impression of Pikachu ever whilst she was waiting /laugh. As expected, the resultant sketch looked nothing like Pikachu at all. Eri tried to give the excuse that Reina had asked her so suddenly, that's why the picture was poor. I loved this bit of the show so it's a foregone conclusion, 9/10 for this skit! I hope this will not be the last we see of Detective Tanaka.
The next two videos were the obligatory animal ones. The first wasn't too bad. It was about a dog that could balance on the edge of a table with its front paws, leaving its rear legs hanging in the air, whilst it waited to eat a piece of apple. The second one wasn't quite so good. Just a clip of a bear in a zoo throwing a tantrum by waving it's arms about and waggling its head. The only interesting bit about it was the studio reaction after it had ended. The announcer mentioned that the bear was from Tokuyama Zoo in Yamaguchi prefecture. This caught Michishige's attention because she's from Yamaguchi, "Ah, Tokuyama Zoo?". They asked her if she was familiar with it, to which Sayumi replied, "I don't know (it)". I love this side of Sayumi. I don't know if it's just an act, because sometimes she can be quite intelligent and mature, but other times she's really ditzy. Nonetheless, it's really cute and I hope she doesn't change. Anyway, 5/10 and 4/10 for the two clips.
Next we had my least favourite video of the show. It featured a man writing with several marker pens attached to his fingers. The writing wasn't very neat and it didn't seem all that impressive. Only 2/10 I'm afraid. Thankfully, Takahashi Ai's Doi Takako impression followed and brought the quality back up. This week she was attempting to feed some sheep. I expected them to run away like the llamas but it was the opposite. They were super eager and one of them even ended up chasing Takahashi around the park. I particularly loved Eri's expression at the end of the clip. Great stuff from the leader, I'll give it 7/10. Next up was Niigaki Risa and a continuation of her Korean impression series. This time it was the old favourite, Antonio Inoki and his big chin. I didn't like this video as much as last week's. I still think Ogawa Makoto is the undisputed queen of Antonio Inoki impressions. I hate to do this but only 6/10 this time.
Last but by no means least, we got to Mitsui Aika's challenge. She'd been gone for most of the show memorising the names of characters from Kinnuku Man (a popular anime from 1979-1987) themed erasers. One of those erasers cost 120,000 yen (about £576/$1150)!! They brought her back to the studio and asked her to identify all 30 characters that popped up on the screen in front. She got the first three correct but struggled to get the fourth one. They kindly gave her a few goes and even some hints and she got there in the end. After that she breezed through the rest of the names without any problems. I found myself warming to Aika after this challenge. I'm beginning to see her appeal. I really regret ranking her last on the Hello! Blog poll now. I can see her rising a few places within the next few months. I'm sold, 9/10!
Ah, these reviews take so long to write! It's been about two hours since I started (not helped by my bastarding broadband which keeps disconnecting). God, there it goes again. I'd better finish this post and publish it before I go smash the router into a million pieces and set fire to it. No good pile of stinking crap!
Posted byHocchan at 12:12 am 3 comments
Just Shoot Me And Get It Over With
01 March 2008
I'm back. Or at least I hope I am, it's hard to say for sure where Orange Broadband is concerned. I can access the Internet again but it's slower than a no-legged, dead snail that's nailed to a mountain. And it keeps disconnecting me for no reason. In the space of writing these few sentences it's already done it twice.
So business as usual then for Orange Broadband...
Posted byHocchan at 1:08 pm 0 comments
