Konoyarou
30 April 2008
Bit more of a sedate episode this week compared to the last one. At the start there was a performance of 'Anataboshi' by Milky Way. I like the song but it was a bit of a shame that they had to lip-sync it. I'd rather they sing badly than use lip-syncing, but I don't make these decisions so there's no point in complaining I guess. Just got to be grateful that they don't lip-sync everything. Moving on, the outfits for this week are in the style of ouendan. I've always liked the look of these school uniforms. They're maybe a little too militaristic looking but they are really smart. The white hachimaki they've added look really cool. Not sure why they've used that white sash around the shoulders. You usually see them on a kimono to tie up the sleeves. Doesn't really work on a school uniform but it looks cool in any case.
The GakiKame production wasn't quite as good as I expected. It looked good from the preview but once they showed the full one it was a bit of a disappointment. The first bit where Niigaki Risa threw those two pieces of rubbish into the bins was good. The pieces actually crossed in mid-air so that they would land in the correct bin. One for combustible rubbish and the other for non-combustible. Kamei Eri throwing those cans into the basket of her bike was good but nothing we hadn't already seen. I couldn't really get any decent screenshots either. I'm sorry to say this production failed to exceed their previous efforts.
Possibly the only thing of real interest to me was the Mitsui Aika makizushi section. In it Aika started to make a roll of makizushi and it was the job of the other members to guess what it would look like when finished. Tanaka Reina and Michishige Sayumi wanted to know if it was an animal of some sort but the narrator wouldn't tell them so Reina turned all yankii on him. There were some good guesses from everyone except Sayumi. For some reason she thought it would turn out to be the pictures that you get on toilet doors. I can sort of see her reasoning but I seriously doubt that's something you'd want to put on your sushi!
The correct answer turned out to be a snail. Quite amazingly Reina managed to get the correct answer (she must be some sort of psychic genius). Everyone was amazed that she got it right, including Reina herself. She seemed quite scared of her incredible powers at the end. Having seen this clip, it has made me want to try making my own makizushi. It must be quite fun to come up with new ideas of what to make. It does take quite a lot of spatial awareness to be able to imagine how it would look when rolled up. I don't think I'd be very good at that. I do follow instruction very well though so I can just copy other people's ideas!
There was an interesting bit where they featured a website similar to the last one they showed. This one would generate a self introduction for you when you input your name. For Reina it came up with something about her getting a wedgie just by walking. The thought of Reina with a wedgie just makes my mind boggle (x.x;). She did confess that during the previous concert she got a wedgie. The girls even had a nickname for it - 'PK' short for 'pantsu kuikomu'. The whole thing was quite surreal...
They closed the show with a memory test for Kusumi Koharu. It seemed very easy compared to the other challenges and it showed when Koharu breezed through the whole thing with confidence. Everyone but Reina and Sayumi awarded her a star for her effort. They said that the test was meant to show someone trying their best and that Koharu's confidence was irritating /laugh. Personally, this was one of the few times that Koharu's hyperactivity became fun to watch.
...I can't believe I just said that!
Posted byHocchan at 5:30 pm 0 comments
You Can't Escape From It
28 April 2008
What am I referring to? Corruption is perhaps too strong a word... preferential treatment though would be accurate. I recently decided to join another end game linkshell on Final Fantasy XI. I did this rather cautiously as I've had a bad experience with a previous linkshell of the same nature. I was convinced that the people in this latest one were good and honest. However, tonight's incident has left me dubious as to that claim.
There was an event planned today; the linkshell's first Kirin NM attempt. I arrived early, as did a few other people. That's part of the rules - turn up on time. Just a shame that other people don't seem to follow the same clock. A whole hour had passed and we still had people not ready. Fine, you don't have to turn up early. But at least be considerate and turn up on time. It's really irritating to have to wait for people because they don't have the same consideration to other members as you do. What's the point of me turning up early then? I might as well spend an extra hour doing something I want to do rather than standing around like a muppet.
Now tardiness I can just about live with. Unfairness, on the other hand, I despised more than anything. If we were able to kill Kirin then there would be a possibility of some worthwhile items dropping. One of these was a Dryadic Abjuration body that's needed to make a Shura Togi. Now, I wasn't in any position to be able to lot for that item but no one else wanted it. Therefore it went to free lot. Great, I might have a chance of getting it after all. But the strangest thing happened. Almost three hours later when we finally killed Kirin, the Dryadic Abjuration body actually dropped. Fantastic, I thought! Not fantastic. Without warning, it was suddenly announced that the item was no longer free lot and would be instead going to the linkshell leader. Who, as it happens, didn't even show up to the event until two hours after the start time. Just what the hell is going on?
I understand that I'm a new member. I also understand that I didn't really have a good chance of getting this item. However, I do not understand why an item would suddenly change from free lot just because the leader shows up. Their rules clearly state:
"If [you're] late at "Item Call" you can still raise your hand to vote up until the God is popped".
This person arrived well after Kirin had been spawned. It was below 50% health in fact before he arrived. So why does he suddenly get exclusive rights to the item? I can only think of one reason; one rule for them, another for us.
The whole thing has ruined the night for me and that's a shame because the fight was a lot of fun. I don't want to be one of those people who moans about not getting an item from end game. But I cannot stand by and forget this blatant disregard for the rules. I'm going to give them one more chance. But if I see another display of such unfair practice again, I'm gone.
Posted byHocchan at 3:36 am 0 comments
Okaeri
26 April 2008
The Spring 2008 drama season started a couple of weeks ago and I've been watching a couple of them. The first one that caught my eye was Hokaben, which is based on a manga of the same name. It stars Ueto Aya as the newly qualified lawyer, Doumoto Akari, who wants to specialise in Pro Bono cases (free legal service) as it is her dream to help those who are in need. Unfortunately the Pro Bono section of her law firm isn't very highly regarded and only contains one lawyer and his paralegal. This lawyer was sent to the section as punishment and doesn't take any interest in his work. There is tension between them as the naive but enthusiastic Akari starts her first day at work in the not-so-enthusiastic Pro Bono section.
I had the impression that this would be a quite light-hearted drama similar to Deru Toko Demashou! but I was severely wrong. The first episode deals with a mother who wishes to divorce her husband because he has been beating her and abusing their young daughter. They're both on the run because of what the husband might do. Akari takes up the case and tries to convince the mother to file charges of domestic violence against the husband but she refuses. Akari continually tries to change the mother's mind but it doesn't work. Things are made worse when the husband gets a high court judgement to take the daughter back. Feeling she has no other choice, the mother decides to kill the husband in a cafe. It leaves Akari devastated and questioning her reasons for practising law.
It's the first time I've seen Aya in such a serious role. Usually she plays the upbeat and energetic characters but in this drama she's really put through the emotional grinder. That scene in the rain was so beautifully shot and a brilliant opening to the series. I watched the whole thing without subtitles so there was a fair bit that I didn't understand. I'm eagerly awaiting the subtitled release.
Another drama that caught my eye was Zettai Kareshi. I had originally wanted to watch this series because of its wacky storyline but was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of my favourite actors in it. Heading up the cast in the lead role is Aibu Saki from Attention Please. Also in it as supporting characters are Maya Miki (Attention Please) and Mizushima Hiro (Hanazakari no Kimitachi E). This drama is very much a comedy with a hint of romance. It makes a nice contrast to Hokaben's seriousness.
The story centres around Izawa Riiko who is a temp at a confectionery company. She meets an employee of Kronos Heaven who promises her that he'll find her the perfect boyfriend. She agrees and takes part in a survey questioning her preferences in regards to the ideal lover. The next day she receives a massive box containing a humanoid robot. This robot is programmed to match all the options that she chose on the survey. However, she is completely freaked out and finds him/it rather troublesome. He/it proves his/its devotion to her later on in the episode and she slowly begins to warm to the idea.
I absolutely love this drama! It's so totally unbelievable but that's what makes it so much fun to watch. This might be the series to watch this season, for me at least. I also tried Last Friends which has a impressive cast list but was far far too serious for my liking. I can see that it's a very good story but I don't think I'd enjoy it very much. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the first episode of Gokusen 3 to be subtitled. After such a long absence it'll be interesting to see Nakama Yukie reprise her role as Yankumi. I hope it'll be as good as the previous seasons. There are a couple of other dramas I might try out but I think I have my viewing list sorted for now.
Posted byHocchan at 9:26 pm 0 comments
Zettai Makenai Kara
21 April 2008
Quite a dramatic episode of Haromoni@ this week to say the least. They'd set up an interesting situation at the end of the last show by organising a competition between Mitsui Aika and Jun Jun. There had already been some tension in the air from that but add on the revelations from their Music Fighter appearance and you had a bomb waiting to go off. Before I go onto that though, I'd like to take a moment to mention the outfits they wore this week. 'Angels' was the theme so they all had dazzling white dresses on; along with furry wings and halos, and star-capped wands. I particularly loved the shoes with the straps that go up around their legs - they looked absolutely brilliant. Michishige Sayumi's rabbit ears sprouting up out of the middle of her halo also made me chuckle.
I was very surprised that they put the memory competition at the beginning of the programme. It would have been better if they put it at the end like they usually do. Having at the start kind of dampened the atmosphere a bit for the rest of the show. I guess they wanted to continue directly from the end of last week rather than breaking it up. I'm not sure it was a good idea though. At the start Jun Jun didn't sound so confident about the whole thing. She made the point that she wasn't very good at Japanese so it would be unfair, which was a valid point. Nevertheless, Aika didn't want to back down so Jun Jun came back with some fighting spirit and they proceeded with the contest.
This challenge was by far the toughest they'd had on the show. The task was to memorise the names of forty well-known people from around the world. These included such people as Alexander Bell, Wilhelm Röntgen and Socrates. Each person would take it in turns to name the face that appeared. If one person didn't get the answer correct then it would get passed to the other person. If the other person then got the answer right that would mark victory for them. When Jun Jun returned to the studio she looked very unsure of herself. In fact throughout the whole thing she didn't seem very comfortable. She certainly didn't look as confident as she did during her previous memory tests. Aika on the other hand had a smile on her face throughout. You could see there would only be one outcome as a result.
Both of them had no problems until Jun Jun had trouble remembering Marco Polo. It took her awhile but she eventually managed to recall the name and they continued on. With only fourteen names remaining it was Jun Jun who once again stumbled and couldn't remember the person's name. You could feel the atmosphere of the whole studio plummet. The staff were quiet and the members' faces suddenly became very serious. Despite encouragement from the other members Jun Jun could not remember who it was and had to pass. She probably knew she wasn't going to win now and her eyes welled up with tears. It might sound silly but I felt really intrusive taking screenshots during that moment. I had to try and convey how upset she really looked though.
Aika had no problems at all naming Richard Wagner and thus won the contest. She continued on and recalled the names of the rest of the people. It was certainly impressive but it also felt a bit of an insult to Jun Jun to carry on. I don't think Aika's conduct throughout the competition was very sporting. It's too much like Fujimoto Miki who used to put everyone down all the time. I actually already knew who the winner would be, thanks to some unscrupulous person on the Hello!Online forums in the 'Resonant Blue' thread (use spoiler tags damn it!). I hope this will be the end of the so-called 'rivalry' between them. I don't think it does anyone any good. At least Kusumi Koharu diffused the situation at the end by challenging Aika herself. It helped lift the mood a bit.
The rest of the episode was good but it was hard to enjoy it after everything that happened. There was a funny new corner featuring Lin Lin and her reaction to a cockroach hidden under a bagel. 'Aiya' appears to be the scream of choice in that situation. It was cruel but funny. They went on to show some of the NG clips from the previous GakiKame production. It was great seeing Kamei Eri throwing the phone over and over again until it finally landed in the bag. I can't wait until next week's GakiKame, it looks very entertaining.
Princess Wai Wai returned once again with another magic trick. This time she had an assistant to help her - Princess Hoi Hoi. The trick was being able to pop a balloon on command whilst it was in the air. The secret behind this trick was the assistant. As she held the balloon in her hands, ready to throw into the air, a hidden patch that had orange juice on it would brush the side of it. As the balloon was released the acid would eat through the side and burst it. They actually showed this effect during a Magic Restaurant on Hello! Morning.
Finally to round off the show was a Doi Takako skit involving a brass band. It was quite amusing to see Takahashi Ai pretending to be part of the band. I found it slightly frustrating though as I couldn't remember the name of the song they were playing. I've heard it before somewhere. That'll bug me for ages. Anyway, next week's episode looks good. Let's just hope it's not as emotionally draining as this one.
Posted byHocchan at 12:37 am 2 comments
Interlude
18 April 2008
It's been awhile since I wrote about something personal and not Hello! Project related. To be honest there hasn't been too much worth mentioning. At the moment I'm trying to sort out stuff for university in September. I've applied for my student loan but that'll take weeks to process. I also received the accommodation application form this morning. I've just got to get a passport size photograph tomorrow and then I can send it off. The whole thing will probably take until May before it's sorted. At least things are starting to get moving now. I have a countdown set on Facebook and it's just reached 150 days left. Just got to get through the rest of spring (if it ever arrives) then enjoy summer before the real fun starts.
In the meantime I've been playing Final Fantasy XI quite a lot. Given up on levelling Dancer for the time being and concentrating on Monk. It's currently level 66 after many nights of campaign battles. I'm very short of money at the moment so I may have to take a small break from levelling and try and make some cash. I'm excited at the prospect of getting Asuran Fists in five levels though. I never imagined I'd get Monk to such a high level. I may end up playing it more than Samurai eventually. I'm getting very frustrated at missing so many weapon skills on Samurai. It's not making my job very enjoyable to say the least.
Posted byHocchan at 1:18 am 2 comments
One...Two...Three... Part Four
17 April 2008
Here's part four of the great Haromoni@ tally. I've almost caught up to the most recent episodes now. One more batch of shows and then I can take a well deserved rest. I won't have to do another post about it until the beginning of May.
MouTube episode VIII - 9 March 2008
Niigaki Risa : 93
Kamei Eri : 93
Takahashi Ai : 85
Lin Lin : 81
Tanaka Reina : 79
Michishige Sayumi : 66
Jun Jun : 36
Mitsui Aika : 1
Kusumi Koharu : 1
Risa and Eri had their GakiKame production this week so they ended up sharing the lead. Ai once again finished near the top. Surprisingly, Lin Lin managed to get fourth place; her highest placing so far. Jun Jun, on the other hand only managed to get just over half the amount of screen time compared to Sayumi above her. Koharu and Aika didn't make an appearance until the closing credits.
MouTube episode IX - 16 March 2008
Tanaka Reina : 84
Takahashi Ai : 60
Kamei Eri : 59
Michishige Sayumi : 57
Jun Jun : 53
Niigaki Risa : 50
Lin Lin : 46
Mitsui Aika : 2
Kusumi Koharu : 2
Reina secured top spot this week thanks to her Tanaka Deka clip. Ai, Eri and Sayumi all got around the same amount of appearances. Lin Lin once again slipped down the table towards the bottom. Koharu and Aika were absent and only appeared in the preview footage.
MouTube episode X - 23 March 2008
Takahashi Ai : 95
Niigaki Risa : 89
Tanaka Reina : 79
Kamei Eri : 77
Michishige Sayumi : 59
Jun Jun : 58
Mitsui Aika : 57
Lin Lin : 51
Kusumi Koharu : 42
It seemed that Ai was the director's favourite for this episode. She seemed to get a lot of attention. Risa had her Korean impersonation skit to help her to second place. Despite being absent for most of the show, Jun Jun got a respectable placing once she did appear. Overall it was another case of the senior members getting more appearances than the juniors again.
Posted byHocchan at 7:45 pm 0 comments
Mitsui-san Dakara Daijoubu Desu
15 April 2008
I've noticed something rather disturbing about the last two episodes of Haromoni@. They're now exactly four minutes shorter than they were before. It would appear the broadcasters have secretly cut the running time of the show again. Four minutes is a big chuck of time when you're talking about a twenty-three minute show normally. Add to that the fact that they had a studio performance of 'Resonant Blue' this week and there's very little time left at all. Personally I'm quite saddened by this as I've started to enjoy the show since the New Year episode. I really that hope this isn't an ominous sign of an impending cancellation. That would ruin Sunday mornings forever.
The girls look absolutely stunning this week. They're all wearing businesswoman style suits; complete with glasses for that sexy school teacher look. Definitely the best outfits they've worn so far in my opinion. They look seductive; but also ready to pull up a flip chart and start discussing the finer details of the Production-Possibility Frontier (I don't know what that means but it sounds complicated). Consequently it has meant that the screenshots this time are all of the girls rather than any of the clips.
The first video features a five-year old kid who's a master of the Taiko no Tatsujin game. I've always wanted to try that game so this was of some interest to me. You wouldn't think a child that young could have that much hand-eye coordination. I wish I was that good! Following this was the return of 'Mister Noise' with his impressions of a Formula One car and Donald Duck but they weren't as good as the last time. After seeing the clip of this guy, Michishige Sayumi immediately raised her hand and wanted to do her Mickey Mouse impression. I don't know what the Japanese voice of Mickey sounds like but I bet it's nothing like Sayumi's version. Wasn't as good as her Yoshi impression that's for sure.
Niigaki Risa's Korean impersonation series returned once again. This time it was Yamamoto Takahiro's impersonation of Oda Yuuji (an actor who starred in the drama 'Bayside Shakedown 2: Save the Rainbow Bridge' which the dialogue was taken from). I've never seen the drama before so I can't say whether it was accurate or not but it was quite funny. Afterwards Tanaka Reina also tried to impersonate him and it seemed to go down well with the rest of the members. Sayumi wanted to do her Mickey Mouse impression again but they wouldn't let her /laugh.
The longest clip of the show was an odd little video featuring 'Cabinet Minister Cabbage'. It showcased some interesting little items to help you with hanami (blossom viewing). One of the items was a small machine that made candyfloss from small sweets. The girls paired up and had a go at making some in the studio. This led to a rather cute moment between Reina and Sayumi taking a bite out of the same stick of candyfloss. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I saw that. I couldn't help but take a screenshot of it.
Lin Lin featured in another Air-??? skit this week which everyone seemed to get. Well, apart from Reina and Sayumi who both thought it was bungee jumping when the correct answer was skydiving. They both raised their hands in objection in a manner which reminded me very much of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Kamei Eri stole victory again and made Risa do a cute little pout.
The last part of the show was Jun Jun's memory test segment. For some reason she'd decided to put on a cutesy character for the whole thing. Her challenge was to recall the names of twenty-five breeds of cat. She breezed through it without any problems. When it came to grading her performance it was Mitsui Aika who once again rebelled and refused to award a star. There was much tension as Aika called Jun Jun a 'gaudy woman'. In order to settle the dispute they're going to have a battle next week to see who will come out on top. From the preview it seems that Jun Jun will end up in tears again. I hope she wins!
Despite the cut in runtime this week's show turned out to be pretty good. There were lots of memorable scenes (like Reina and Sayumi's candyfloss moment). I really do hope they don't axe the show in the coming weeks. I know most people either hate it/find it boring/can't be bothered to watch it (or all three) but I find it enjoyable. Surely there must be other people who like it too? Aren't there...?
Posted byHocchan at 5:55 pm 4 comments
Pengin!
10 April 2008
The girls have gone all Chobits on us in this week's Haromoni@ and have dressed up in Victorian-style dresses. I believe the proper term for this type of clothing in Japan is Lolita fashion. Needless to say, there are plenty of lacy frills everywhere along with a plethora of cute ribbon bows for good measure. Personally, I don't particularly like this sort of fashion but they do look quite pretty in those outfits. I guess as long as you don't wear them all the time it's perfectly fine. I think either Jun Jun's or Tanaka Reina's dresses look the best. I like the way the dark fabric is accentuated with the white and pink lace. Hmm...I must subconsciously have a thing for Gothic Lolita! Does that make me officially weird? Probably.
My favourite clip of the episode happens to be the first one shown. I love anything that involves katana or Kenjutsu so this video was a real treat. It starts with a practitioner slicing through five vertical tatami rolls in two strokes. That katana must be pretty sharp considering how smoothly he cut through them. He then moved onto other items chosen for dissection. They filmed everything with super-slow motion cameras and it made the whole thing more spectacular. First he sliced the top off a cabbage, then a grapefruit and finally a raw egg. I think the egg got the best result as the blade cut through the shell relatively cleanly. At the end he cut a bottle of water into two but it was hard to see anything due to the water gushing out. Having seen all these I can kind of imagine what it'd look like to slice someone's scalp off. But I doubt they'd ever televise that on Haromoni@...
There was quite a good Doi Takako appearance this week. It involved some Enemy of the State-style satellite tracking. They typed 'Doi Takako' into Google Earth and it zoomed in from a image of the Earth right down to the queue outside a ramen shop where Takako was. Last bit was fake obviously but it was quite funny. There was also a new corner from Reina that imitated a home shopping channel. It featured a pearl curry that was white. It looked more like a cheese sauce than curry. I'd like to try it sometime. After this Jun Jun returned with her Air-??? skit. This time it was quite an accurate representation of Spiderman. Surprisingly Reina didn't get this one and it was Mitsui Aika who answered correctly.
The show ended with a memory test for Lin Lin. Her challenge was to memorise the names of twenty different fish. I'd completely fail at this task as all fish look pretty much the same to me. Lin Lin didn't seem to have any problems with it though. There was one slight slip-up on fourth fish but she recovered quickly. After she'd cleared them all they voted on her rating. Everyone gave her a star except Aika who didn't like the challenge to her throne /laugh. Despite everyone's disapproval she refused to give Lin Lin the final star. Seems like Aika's developing a more confident, confrontational personality which I'm happy about. Just hope she doesn't turn into another Fujimoto Miki. That would suck.
There we have it, another synopsis done and dusted. There were relatively few videos on this week's episode so it wasn't too hard to pick my favourites. Anyway, back to my other task before work starts to pile up again. After this Sunday's episode that'll make six episodes in total for me to tally until I'm caught up. I'd better make a start on them or I may never get it completed.
Posted byHocchan at 4:47 pm 0 comments
One...Two...Three... Part Three
09 April 2008
I'm still going! I haven't given into the tedium of pausing the footage every three seconds and marking little sticks on a piece of paper. At least not yet. I'm actually getting the hang of it. Once you get a good rhythm going it's not too bad. I have learnt that it's not a good idea to try and do this tally when you're tired though. You need to be fully awake to avoid making mistakes.
MouTube episode V - 17 February 2008
Niigaki Risa : 97
Mitsui Aika : 72
Kamei Eri : 57
Takahashi Ai : 56
Kusumi Koharu : 54
Lin Lin : 49
Tanaka Reina : 45
Michishige Sayumi : 44
Jun Jun : 40
Risa and Aika secured top spot this week, thanks in part to the 'Seishun! Love Lunch' performance at the beginning. Risa will still have come out on top without it but interestingly Aika wouldn't have. Sadly (for me since I'm a fan of theirs) Reina and Sayumi didn't do very well this week and came in near the bottom.
MouTube episode VI - 24 February 2008
Tanaka Reina : 80
Kamei Eri : 75
Mitsui Aika : 68
Niigaki Risa : 55
Takahashi Ai : 54
Michishige Sayumi : 45
Kusumi Koharu : 39
Lin Lin : 29
Jun Jun : 29
Reina finished in first place for the second time because of her Tanaka Deka skit. Eri also benefited from this and got second place. Aika had her memory test and it helped her into third place. Lin Lin and Jun Jun only managed to get 29 appearances each - the worst total yet for anyone actually appearing in the show.
MouTube episode VII - 2 March 2008
Kamei Eri : 128
Takahashi Ai : 94
Niigaki Risa : 85
Tanaka Reina : 79
Michishige Sayumi : 75
Kusumi Koharu : 58
Jun Jun : 51
Mitsui Aika : 51
Lin Lin : 39
Eri completely dominated this episode thanks to her GakiKame appearance. Not sure how Ai got to second place. I guess it was because she was sat in the centre of the table. Apart from that it was business as usual with fifth and sixth generations in the upper table, and seventh and eight generations in the bottom.
Posted byHocchan at 6:34 pm 0 comments
Henna Kao Yatta Mon
04 April 2008
This week's review of Haromoni@ has been delayed slightly because of problems with my broadband and phone. I'm currently waiting on an engineer to come and fix the line. It'll probably take until sometime next week at the earliest. I'm guessing the next review will also be a little late but everything should be back to schedule in a couple of weeks' time. In the meantime I'll still be able to continue my Haromoni@ tally project with help from the local library's broadband.
Every perverts' dream has come true this week. They're all wearing skimpy cheerleader costumes complete with loose socks and gold pom-poms. The red and white combo works really well. Reminds me of strawberries and cream. I have to admit they do look quite good but I still prefer their cafe waitress outfits from a few shows ago.
The first clip is a continuation of the now famous GakiKame series. It starts with Kamei Eri calling home and telling her mum (Niigaki Risa) that she's on her way home. Risa starts to make some curry for dinner. She chops the top off a carrot and deftly throws it behind her back and into the bin at the other end of the kitchen. Meanwhile, Eri starts rushing back but trips over a discarded drinks can. Cue comedic slow-motion fall complete with over-the-top sound effects. Clearly annoyed she grabs the can and lobs it backwards over her head. It lands straight in the bin behind her, much to the surprise of the person sat on the bench next to it. The clinking sound as it drops in is so satisfying for some weird reason. Back in the kitchen Risa begins to slice some potatoes. She throws each piece into the pot on the stove beside her without turning her head and continues to chop some more. Back with Eri we see her run past a woman on a bicycle, who drops her purse without noticing. After failing to get the woman's attention she throws it straight into the basket on the back of the bike. I thought this one was quite impressive as it's quite difficult to hit a moving target.
Outside the house we see a kid trying to get a basketball into a hoop but failing. The ball rolls to Eri's feet and she picks it up and throws it, backwards over her head, right into the hoop. Impressed by this feat, the kid tries to recreate it but only manages to break someone's window. Finally arriving at home Eri and Risa settle down to eat their curry. They flip each other their spoons and begin to tuck into their food. They finish with their classic 'A' for Art pose. Though this clip didn't do anything radically different from previous shows it was still fun to watch. The things they do aren't mystifying but they're still very entertaining. The members agree and give the video 8/8 stars.
There was a couple of animal clips including one featuring some extremely cute and fluffy kittens that Tanaka Reina liked so much she wanted to eat them. There was also a guy rolling a frying pan into a tube and snapping the handle off. I'm not sure if it was a real pan or not but the girls didn't like it at all and gave it 0/8. After this Risa's Korean impression series returned with another skit. The highlight of this clip was definitely her fake moustache. I've read somewhere that oddly it seemed to suit her quite well, and without trying to sound rude to Risa, I have to say they're sort of right. The act itself was quite funny but I don't think she'll ever beat her Koshima Yoshio impression that she did. The whole thing was just perfect in that video. From the music to the costume and dancing, it just worked so well.
For the first time ever they're showing a couple of videos that were sent in from outside Japan. The first is from Indonesia and the narrator asks Michishige Sayumi if she knew where Indonesia was. Almost immediately she replies with some confidence, “Germany? Germany?” Then Lin Lin suggests it's somewhere on Earth. Reina tries Germany again much to the dismay of the narrator. Takahashi Ai valiantly tries to stop everyone from embarrassing themselves but fails. The narrator tells them that Indonesia is in South-East Asia to which Risa asks, “You mean the top-right area?” /laugh. The whole thing was pure class. It reminded me very much of the old Utaban episodes where they made fun of the members' lack of geographical knowledge. In the end the proceeding clip was a bit of an anti-climax. All it was was a guy balancing a couple of forks on a matchstick propped up on the tip of his finger. The build up to it was much more entertaining to watch.
The second video was from Jamaica. Obviously, once again, the narrator asks Sayumi if she knows where Jamaica is. This time she replied, “Hawaii! Hawaii! Hawaii!” followed by, “I know! I know! England!”. The best thing is that the other members didn't realise how stupid the suggestions were and so didn't react. The video was another quiz where the members had to guess the answer. This time it was asking which famous Japanese person's theme tune had become popular in Jamaica? Jun Jun went first and suggested that it was herself. She looked so cute when she did it. I think that's sealed it for me and I'm now officially a Jun Jun fan. As expected though, it wasn't Jun Jun's theme tune but Koshima Yoshio's 'Oppapii' gag (the one Risa copied in her Korean imitation series). For some odd reason it's become hugely popular in Jamaica as a Reggae song. Very odd indeed.
There was video from Kusumi Koharu singing the whole chorus of 'Mori no Kuma-san' in under 20 seconds. It's quite a long chorus and it did seem quite impressive that she could sing it so fast. Tanaka Deka returned with another interview irritation technique. This time she produced a small jigsaw puzzle of Ai's face that was missing a single piece. She wouldn't let the suspect complete the puzzle until he'd confessed. I don't think this one was quite as funny. Finally the end of the show featured Mitsui Aika returning for another memory test. She had to recall the names of 30 countries from seeing its flag. It ranks up there as one of the more difficult tasks as there are a lot of flags that look very similar or that you've never seen before. There were a few slight slip-ups but it was a very commendable effort.
This has turned into one hell of a long post. Funny thing is that I didn't think I'd have much to write about after watching the episode for the first time. I also had some extra stuff I wanted to include too. Good job I cut them or I'd have a serious novel on my hands!
Posted byHocchan at 2:39 pm 0 comments
One...Two...Three... Part Two
03 April 2008
Welcome to part two of the Great Haromoni@ Tally. This batch of episodes contains a continuation of the MouTube series. There were a few troublesome problems that arose in the II and IV episodes. But I'm still confident that I kept an accurate record of how many times each member was on screen.
MouTube episode II – 27 January 2008
Niigaki Risa : 75
Kamei Eri : 75
Takahashi Ai : 73
Michishige Sayumi : 71
Tanaka Reina : 66
Kusumi Koharu : 44
Lin Lin : 42
Jun Jun : 36
Mitsui Aika : 31
There was another clear divide between the members. The fifth and sixth generations formed the top half of the table while the seventh and eighth made up the bottom. Risa and Eri got the most exposure but Ai, Sayumi and Reina weren't too far behind them. Once again Aika didn't get featured very much at all. It was quite a pain trying to tally everyone this episode because of the cameraman. It's like they only had one operator that day and he had to film everything alone which resulted in some dodgy camera work. It was enough to drive you insane.
MouTube episode III – 3 February 2008
Niigaki Risa : 114
Takahashi Ai : 103
Kamei Eri : 99
Tanaka Reina : 78
Michishige Sayumi : 78
Lin Lin : 64
Mitsui Aika : 44
Kusumi Koharu : 42
Jun Jun : 40
This episode was mainly a battle between Risa and Ai for the top spot. Ai led for most of the show but Risa eventually pulled it back and gained a sizeable lead thanks to the GakiKame Theatre skit. Eri wasn't far behind in third place but it's a big gap to Reina and Sayumi in joint fourth. Lin Lin didn't do too badly this time around with 64. Aika, Koharu and Jun Jun were quite a bit further behind on only 40-44 points.
MouTube episode IV – 10 February 2008
Takahashi Ai : 68
Kamei Eri : 53
Jun Jun : 51
Niigaki Risa : 51
Kusumi Koharu : 51
Mitsui Aika : 50
Tanaka Reina : 48
Michishige Sayumi : 43
Lin Lin : 34
This episode is where everything got turned on its head. Seems like the seventh and eighth generations are forming a coup d'etat. This time Ai clinches first place with a decent lead. Quite astonishingly Jun Jun and Koharu jump up to joint third place with Risa. This is the first time Risa has been outside of the top two. Finally Aika starts to get more attention and manages to usurp both Reina and Sayumi in one fell swoop. Only Lin Lin didn't manage to better her previous positions.
Just when a discernible pattern begins to emerge it ruthlessly gets chucked out of the window thanks to MouTube episode IV. Not surprising since that episode was a major headache to tally at first. It's all thanks to Chelsea's appearance in a room full of photos and posters. At first I tried to include those in the score but it proved far too frustrating so I ended up excluding them in the end. I might have to amend my rules to deal with future annoyances like that one...
Posted byHocchan at 4:02 pm 0 comments
