As you may have all already guessed (due to my inexplicable absence over the past few of months) Stardust has come to an end. I was kind of putting off ‘officially’ ending the blog in a hope my blogging spirit would conjure itself up again but sadly that isn’t the case.
I haven’t been checking the blog stats and comments regularly and just checking now, was amazed to find that hundreds of you are still visiting the site each day. I really felt that it wasn’t fair to leave everyone hanging like that, especially if people were checking if I had returned, so decided to post about it. A little over a year ago, one of my favourite blogs abruptly ended with no real explanation. It upset me a bit and I was constantly checking, hoping it would return. I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn’t do that to my readers - but look where we stand now I’m sorry if anyone has experienced anything similar here, I probably should have announced this MUCH earlier. I apologise.

So that’s the bad news. There is some good news, in some ironically twisted way: over my hiatus the blog soared past the 100K hit mark and is somewhere in the 110-120K range at the moment. So yeah … yay Thanks for that guys!

Just to explain myself (if I haven’t done so already), I’ve basically had little to no time to devote to blogging since I started my new job. Sure, I know most Bloggers are hard working individuals with either full time jobs or educational commitments - so why can I not balance it like other people? I guess I’m one of those people who is a bit of a perfectionist. Any posts I made were meticulously crafted - I tried to make them the best I could and spent far too much time in the process on even the smallest of updates. I can no longer devote that amount of effort and time and I can’t really get passionate about something I don’t put my all into. I did enjoy and love blogging and met some great people, who I sadly admit I have also neglected lately. Ahh~ so many apologies. Sorry!

Also, my fandom for H!P has been wavering lately. As most of you may know, I was a HUGE Kanna fan. When I heard Kanna had left H!P, I felt a strange sense of indifference and it was then that I realised that I just don’t really care as much for H!P as I once did. Not that I don’t still adore the girls and think they are fantastic… I just don’t have that grip anymore, especially for the kids. Morning Musume still has my utmost attention and will as long as they keep the current lineup (got my NR singles recently woooo) but yeah, non-MM doesn’t excite me as much. I hope that my fandom will return one day - perhaps I just need a break? We’ll see.

Thanks again for everyone who visited the blog and commented. It was really all you guys who fueled on my blogging, especially since moving to intlwota.com when more and more people started visiting the blog. It made me happy to see so many comments, I felt like after months and months of blogging for nobody that people were finally enjoying what I was working hard on. It was a great learning experience and just furthered my belief that the online H!P community is all sorts of awesome! On that note: Please be sure to check out International Wota for all that wota goodness (I’m sure everyone is doing so already just wanted to let those out of the loop know what an awesome site it is!) Also check out the blogs in the blogroll on the right. Many of the owners are pals of mine and they are all truly great Bloggers! (also Miracle Sexy Dynamite, the BEST TNX/NGP blog out there!)

Thanks so much readers. I enjoyed out time together.
Peace out, Mars.

The trailer isn’t jaw dropping but it is certainly a lot of fun Maimi kicks some major butt and I love the scene with the zombies on the road with Maimi and Kanon >.< !! For a low budget film, it looks relatively decent. I mean, the zombies look pretty horrible and it looks like it might be extremely a bit cheesy but whatever… it’s Maimi in a film fighting supernatural beings!!! It doesn’t get much better than that!
Hopefully this sees a DVD release so us international fans can get our hands on it eventually.

The song is a bit cuter than I would have liked and the chorus is kind of forgettable but the whole feel of the single is quite nice. The girls look amazing in the PV, which looks like it will be awesome. The dance is also really cool, specifically the intro part they practice in the clips above. I really like all the girls in this unit with Wada Ayaka, the leader of the group, being my favourite Egg I’m glad she’s finally getting some attention. I also love that Ogawa Saki is in this unit and paired with Kanon & Yuuka … S/mileage is really the cream of the crop!
I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this unit and I’m hoping for the continuation of this mature/cute hybrid style they’ve done here!

Welcome to the second edition of Specks of Stardust! I got a pretty good response to the discussion questions so thank you to those who took the time to complete them. The aim for the discussion section is not only to respond to the questions but also to each other’s responses - like, you know, a discussion So I urge anyone who feels like joining in to just leave a comment and let everyone know what you think. Thanks!

Specks of Stardust is jam packed this week with lots of news on H!P and the Korean Auditions (I take a look at the 15 finalists!) + reviews of Mano Erina’s latest single and the new single from NICE GIRL Project! + previews of Berryz’ new PVs! Woah~ ^^; Let’s get to it then!

Morning Musume Reign Supreme!

We all knew they could do it: Earlier this week Morning Musume took out the weekly no.1 spot on the Oricon Singles Chart with their new single Shouganai Yume Oibito. Honestly though, anything less would have not been fitting for such an awesome single ^_^!

The girls sold about 47.5K which isn’t really a whole lot more than Naichau Kamo sold but it’s a solid effort. Interestingly, this now makes it so that every member in Morning Musume’s history has had a no.1 single (Shouganai Yume Oibito being the first no.1 for the 8th gen girls) - a pretty impressive feat! Congrats again to MM and I’ve still got this single on repeat (when will my copy arrive?? GRRRR!!! >.< )

Mano Erina Makes Her Music Station Debut

Resident H!P cutie, Mano Erina made her debut on Music Station this week promoting her new single Hajimete no Keiken. Apparently Manoeri was so proud of being able to perform on the show, that she stole took some boxes of the Music Station tissues to prove that she performed there. How delightfully cute ^^; *cough* … I can’t help but think a recording of her performance might have been somewhat more convincing. For all we know, she could have been the building janitor. Well luckily for us, her performance was on the show and we all got to see. You can watch it below:

I’ll give the girl props, it didn’t suck… it was actually kinda cute. Her singing was, um, on par with the studio version so that’s always good. She seems to be improving, at least in regards to performing live. The performance did seem very 70s idol to me, but that may have just been the seizure inducing flower/heart montage on the big screens -_-; either way, it’s always nice to see a performer on MS promoting H!P. Mano’s single debuted on the daily charts at no.2 which is great for her ^_^ Sales are on par with Berryz and C-ute it seems, so Manoeri is doing very well! You can check out my full review of Hajimete no Keiken in the review section!

NICE GIRL Project! Take a Trip to OhaStar!

NGP super group, MM Gakuen Gasshoubu paid a visit to OhaStar on Tuesday to promote their new single Meccha Mote I LOVE YOU. While not all the girls made an appearance, front-girl Ogawa Mana was joined by THE Possible’s Aina, Robin and Yurika + Canaria Club’s Mikiho, Ikuko, Reiko & Ayumi. For those who don’t care about NGP, Tuesday is Koharu’s day on OhaStar so you can just oogle at her cuteness while the rest of us watch Mana and co >.< The girls chat a bit before doing a little performance of the new track.

Pfff WTF was that?! The performance lasted a grand total of 44 seconds … great *sarcasm alert* Well what we got was good at least and Ogamana is cute as can be (and talented to boot!) so I’m happy. This is another single I’m waiting eagerly to recieve, it can’t come soon enough! You can check out my full review of Meccha Mote I LOVE YOU in the review section!

After School’s Love Machine Cover

Those who know me well will know about my recent After School obsession. For those unaware, After School is a hot new girl group in Korea who are aiming to be Korea’s answer to the Pussycat Dolls. While I don’t like PCD, I do like AS and because they’re almost all in their 20s, I don’t feel guilty for fawning over them XD So yeah anyway, I was pretty overjoyed when I heard they had done a cover or Love Machine, or as they call it: Dream Girls.

I may be biased, but this is pretty awesome ^_^!! I love the new electro feel to the instrumental. The PV is crap but it’s just for some TV show and I’m surprised it even got a PV. It’s just one of those “in the recording studio” PVs … we’ve seen plenty of those before -_-! Bekkha’s rap is a pretty cool addition - I guess they had to add it cause they seem to refuse to let her sing. Considering some of the other girls *cough*newgirl*cough* she must be pretty shit >.<
I’m still hooked on AS’ last digi single DIVA but Dream Girls will be a welcome addition to my ipod ^_^ Oh well, I’m gonna pimp AS while I can … check out DIVA, it’s off the hook!

>.< I’m kinda a fan! Anyway, apparently AS caught the attention of Tsunku and H!P because a lot of the girls auditioning for the Korean H!P Auditions sang AS songs. Speaking of the Korean Auditions…

Korean Auditions Down to Final 15

Well the auditions are down to 15 girls who will compete on the new show Meet Tokyo Girl which has aired its first episode yesterday (I think >_> ).

The first episode had 3 judges, E-Tribe (who I know best from Lee Hyori’s stuff “BEAT FROM E-TRIBE! HA!” etc), Jung Sungwook (who is a coreographer) and Soulflower (a vocal trainer) and at the end of this all, we’ll have ourselves a new soloist. I haven’t watched the first episode yet but when I do, I may do a review. For now, I have small clips to judge the top 15 girls on:

An SoRi (1989, 169cm): 1 word… HOT! She’s a model apparently and, obviously, quite attractive. Her singing is pretty good and she has a nice vocal tone. I like ^_^!!!

So YeRin (1996, 163cm): Well, it’s hard to get an idea on this girl as she doesn’t sing in the clip and her “dancing” is pretty much just gyrating, but hey, I’m not complaining ^^; She’s cute and has nice style.

Kim JongEun (1983, 160cm): So this girl is 25 (or close to at least), which is quite a surprise considering this is a H!P audition - but I love that she has made it so far despite her age. Unfortunately her singing doesn’t do much for me and her dancing is a bit … wonky! She’s cute though and looks far younger than she actually is.

An HaYong (1987, 160cm): First things first - Great voice! She’s not the cutest girl of the top 15 but she’s certainly not unattractive. Nothing a nice haircut and a bit of makeup couldn’t fix. She’s not ugly, just a bit of a Plain Jane. I quite like this girl, I hope she makes it far … at least to the makeover episode … oh wait >_>

Kim YuBin (1986, 165cm): This is another girl who looks very modelesque and has a strong voice. I dunno but, she doesn’t give off much personality, even when dancing to Sakura Chirari. Maybe she was just nervous, but yeah, not sure about this one.

Lee SuJin (1987, 168cm): This girl is quite pretty but vocally not that incredible. She has a sweet tone and her Aruiteru was good but the second song (It was so short I didn’t catch what it was) was a bit dodgy. Still, pretty and vocally she’s on par with most H!P girls, just not up to the other girls I’ve seen so far, who are all above average singers.

Chang DaYong (1995, 167cm): Geez, this girl is tall for her age. She seemed very nervous and her singing was a bit shaky. Then she started dancing to After School ^_^~!!!! … but it was kinda lackluster. Hope she picks up some confidence and performs a bit better on the show.

Chang MiKyong (1989, 164cm): Well this girl is certainly a shining personality and cute to boot! I dunno if she seems like a soloist though … why aren’t they doing a group. So many talented girls. Hopefully Tsunku pulls a MM and throws the rejects into a group :p She’s also apparently a Tanaka fan but I can forgive that :p I like this one ^_^

Yang YunSoo (1994, 160cm): This girl seemed slightly nervous and her singing wasn’t fantastic … but she looks so much like one of those girls Tsunku wants to pick so he can polish up and make her a star. She reminds me of Aika lol. She looks better with her hair off her forehead I gotta say. That haircut is kinda … grandma-ish ^^;

Lee HiRi (1993, 170cm): This girl (despite looking older than her age) is, I hate to say it, probably too good for H!P. She’d probably be more suited to perform in some Broadway show rather than be in some idol pop group. Her English is very good but she apparently lives in New Zealand, so that’s no surprise. I like her and she’d be awesome for a mature group but I gave up hope of a cool, mature group when the awesome Taiwan finalists became cutesy Ice Creamusume (who I love, I promise <3 ).

Song JiEun (1993, 160cm): OK, wow at the outfit. She didn’t sing, she danced … but she looked like one of those sexy strippers you hire for bachelor parties. “Yes, I’d like to book the Japanese schoolgirl thanks… how much?” She’s hot, I’ll give her that.

So YuMi (1992, 162cm): I love this girl’s voice. It’s raspy and sexy, very nice. Her dancing is also awesome. She’s apparently the dancing queen of her talent school … I’m not surprised. I want a hot, mature group! Do it Tsunku!!!

Oh MiNa (1989, 163cm): She’s quite pretty and has a sweet but powerful voice. I can imagine she’d be a pretty versatile vocalist. She sing’s Tell Me ^_^ How awesome!

Kim ChouHe (1989, 158cm): Sheesh, 158cm?! What a shortie!! :p She is quite cute and has a cool, soulful voice. Very nice! WTF is she wearing though? She looks like she stepped right out of the 80s lol. Her dancing is pretty decent.

Hong JiRong (1992, 170cm): This girl is really cute, she has a unique look to her which I quite like. She’s also heaps tall for her age, great! Then she started singing … -_-; By far, the worst of the lot Which is a shame. Oh well, she’ll prob win now lol.

Mano Erina
Hajimete no Keiken

It’s no secret than Mano Erina isn’t my favourite member of H!P but I’ve tried to be pretty impartial to her music and her career and open to her winning me over with something amazing. Hajimete no Keiken is not an amazing track, but it’s an improvement from her past singles and closer to the style of music I’d expect from Manoeri.

Hajimete no Keiken is very reminiscent of 70s idols for me and, coupled with the Music Station performance, it really seems that is the type of direction they’re trying to push for Manoeri. I don’t feel like she is meant to be appealing to fans of today’s music, but to the wota who have been idol fans for decades. Of course, I may be totally wrong but it’s just how it seems to me. Sweet and pure Manoeri, the epitome of an age old idol.
The track is her most upbeat track yet and I really think fun, upbeat songs are where Manoeri shines most. She isn’t the most polished singer but her voice isn’t as vulnerable in this song as it is in some of her slower ballads. She is able to play up the cuteness of the song suiting her voice well. That’s not to say that Manoeri hasn’t improved vocally over the past year, she has marginally I guess, but there is still a fair way to go.
Hajimete no Keiken’s catchy hook is the best thing it has going for it. Even if you aren’t overly impressed by the song, it’s certainly easy to pick up and remember, even before the song has finished on your first listen. That’s always a sign of good song writing.

The B-side is a slightly rocky track Nakimushi Yowamushi, which starts out promisingly with a nice pop/rock instrumental but sadly fails to deliver much. It’s very much regular B-side fodder which is a shame. There isn’t anything particular wrong with it, it’s not horrid, it just falls a bit flat. With such a attitude filled instrumental, Mano’s lackluster vocals bring the song down lots. It’s not about her vocal ability, it’s the lack of attitude and punch in her performance. She could have added a bit of spice during the actual singing sections - it would have improved the track greatly.

The PV for Hajimete no Keiken is surpringly good, with a variety of shots and outfits. If you’re a fan of Manoeri, you’ll obviously love this. There are lots of shots of Mano smiling, playing, laughing etc all glazed over with some “flashback” filter. The dance is sub par but Mano is joined by a whole bunch of Eggs which is a plus. I can’t imagine the dance would be very interesting with just Mano and it’s nice the Eggs are getting to do something. It’s a sweet PV even though it does feel a bit Sunday afternoon bland - at least some effort was put into it.

Hajimete no Keiken is not the single that is going to put Manoeri on the map but it’s a HUGE step up from the crap she was releasing before (sorry for my candor). I’m still waiting for her to do something more Ongaku Gatas like. It was there that she truly shined. This 70s idol stuff does nothing for me, but I can appreciate it would be nice for the wotas.

Hajimete no Keiken: B
Nakimushi Yowamushi: C+
PV: B
TOTAL: B- (It’s OK)

Preorder Hajimete no Keiken
Limited Edition A: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Limited Edition B: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Limited Edition C: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Single V: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

MM Gakuen Gasshoubu
Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU

NICE GIRL Project has been on my radar for a while now, being a huge fan of both THE Possible and Canaria Club. CC’s Ogawa Mana recently landed the title voice acting role on Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou and, along with that, both the opening and closing themes. Ogamana is joined by pretty much the entire NGP in a super group known as MM Gakuen Gasshoubu to release their single Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU

Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU is awesome right from the get-go. The intro is one of the more exciting openings I’ve heard in a while. The electric guitar gives the song real punch and the song maintains that intensity throughout. Ogawa Mana is clearly the lead girl on this song, with the rest doing backup. You can clearly hear Mana’s incredible vocals throughout and she is great, as always. There are some cute shouting moments which are adorable and the chorus is fun with the “YEAH YEAH!” and “MECHA MOTE!” shouts. There is a bit an instrumental section 3/4 of the way through and I can’t help but think it would have been nice to have a vocal bridge or something included but it’s a small gripe. The track is a high energy, great song. It really surprised me.

From one side of the spectrum to the other, Kirei ni Naritai is a mid-tempo ballad lead by Canaria Club’s Ayubee and Ikucchi. The first thing you have to say about this track is that the vocals are amazing. NGP have some of the best idol vocalists I’ve ever heard. As much as I hate to admit it, only Takahashi Ai can hold a candle to the top 5 or 6 best vocalists in NGP. They’re just all such incredible singers. The track has so many different levels, it really feels like this fantastic journey. From the rap verses to the violin (or is it cello?) instrumental and the RnB feel, it’s a fresh and unique song. Ayu especially continues to impress me and I love that she’s gunning for her idol dream even in her 20s. Good on her! Kirei ni Naritai would have to be one of my favourite NGP tracks so far.

Unfortunately it seems the PV for the song was removed from Youtube so I can’t review it. I did see it when it was first released and it was pretty bad with a whole lot of anime scenes. It was obviously just thrown together to stick on a DVD and not a serious attempt at a PV so I’m just going to forget about it for the sake of this review ^^;

Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU is one of the strongest singles from NGP’s relatively impressive collection. Anime tracks by idol groups are often lackluster efforts which leave little impression but this single will be staying on my most played list for a while, I can tell!

Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU: A-
Kirei ni Naritai A
TOTAL: A- (Recommended!)

Preorder Mecha Mote I LOVE YOU
Limited Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

Double Trouble with Berryz Koubou’s Latest PVs

Berryz’ fans got twice the joy earlier this week with PV previews of both A-sides of their upcoming single Seishun Bus Guide / Rival. Let’s take a look

Woah green screen fest much? lol. Despite the horrid green screen effects, I do applaud the PV for having a very clear storyline. The Berryz Boys are obviously smitten by their hot Bus Guide woman who gets far more screen time than the rest of them combined >.< I think a little more effort could have been put into the male versions of Berryz. Fudanjuku gave a much more convincing performance as dudes. The variety of outfits is nice and Yurina looks simply stunning in that purple outfit. Legs? uh huh *nods* ^^;!! Also seriously, that Bus Guide is sweet looking but nothing to go gaga over lol. They should’ve got some sexy babe. Suzanne perhaps? Also, why is it that I LOVE Buono! Momo but HATE Berryz Momo. It’s like they’re two different people -_-;

Rival was nothing like what I was expecting. I was hoping for some mature, kick-ass song but instead it’s a happy, fun song … meh. The song is fine, not as good as Seishun Bus Guide, not really good much at all but it’s fine. It’s pretty much on par with the PV, cute but plain. They just sing and dance around. A lot more effort could have been put into the whole rival idea. It was a good idea but totally under utilised and the shots they used were kinda lame. I would have loved to see a good Berryz vs evil Berryz. But yeah, too expensive for UFA. Seems they put all their budget into the Seishun Bus Guide PV. Again, like most Berryz PVs, the girls are able to bring it to life with their personalities, which will be enough for most fans.

Preorder Seishun Bus Guide/Rival
Limited Edition A: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Limited Edition B: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

Onto the discussion questions! Again, feel free to answer as many as you wish or if you’d prefer, just leave a general comment about the newsletter. I’d love to hear from you guys

01: What do you think of After School’s remake of Love Machine? If you could have any artist/band remake a H!P track, who would it be, what track and why?

02: If you’ve managed to watch the preview clips of the Korean auditionees, which girls impressed you and which girls did you not really like and why?

03: Do you like the new Berryz PVs? Are you more a fan of Seishun Bus Guide or Rival? Why?

04: Manoeri has been gaining in popularity lately. What are your thoughts on her new single? Have you been a fan of hers from the beginning, just starting to like her or is she still yet to impress you?

05: Do you listen to much NICE GIRL Project stuff? If so, who are you favourite members/songs/groups and what are your thoughts on the new MM Gakuen Gashoubu single?

Thanks for reading,

Mars

Welcome to the first volume in what I hope will be a weekly affair, Specks of Stardust - the weekly newsletter for the Stardust Blog! For those new to the blog: I am Mars, an avid H!P fan and blog addict >.<! I know that a lot of readers have been waiting eagerly for me to start blogging again. I’m sorry I was away for so long but now I’m back! Hopefully I’ll be able to bring an enjoyable newsletter each and every week, that you will all enjoy reading.

Before I get to the newsletter, I’d like to thank everyone for 80,000 hits to Stardust. It’s so rewarding to have so many visitors coming and enjoying the site and it really makes me want to be a better blogger. Of course I’ve been away the past month and a half, but to see so many visitors still coming to the site each day… it was like wow! Thanks!

Ok, now to the newsletter: because this is the first volume of Specks of Stardust, the layout and features aren’t all necessarily worked out yet. This edition will include four main sections which may be extended upon in further volumes:
First I’ll be bringing you NEWS, which will contain the biggest pieces of news (at my own personal digression, of course ^^!) from the week. These will be very similar to my regular news posts that you’d all be used to.
We’ll then have REVIEW, which pretty much explains itself: reviews of H!P (or NGP) releases for the week. If there have been no releases in that week, I may decide to review an older release, a DVD or just omit the section entirely ^^;
Next is PREVIEW, which is another regular set of posts from the blog, dealing with future releases. This includes stuff like single/album covers, radio rips, PVs and so forth.
Lastly we have DISCUSSION which is entirely for you folks, so you can have your own input in the Newsletter. Each week I’ll give a couple of discussion questions, focusing on news or releases discussed in that week’s newsletter, and you can all respond in the comments section with your own opinions. Then the next week, I might put some of the most interesting responses in the newsletter ^_^
I want to expand on these four main sections in the future but for now I’ve decided to keep it simple, at least on my first try! So here we go, I hope you enjoy reading and be sure to leave a comment letting me know what you think.

So what does the first volume of Specks of Stardust focus on? Well, there is lots of news on Morning Musume’s new single Shouganai Yume Oibito including a review of the single. I also look at the debut PV from Guardians 4 and a cute commercial featuring Tsuji Nozomi and Yaguchi Mari ^_^ + much more!

Morning Musume Vs Perfume on MUSIC JAPAN!

Morning Musume appeared on MUSIC JAPAN earlier this week to promote their new single Shouganai Yume Oibito, where they faced rival idols Perfume in a Ping Pong battle! Now, as a ping pong beginner I know it’s a little tricky … but yeh, the girls’ skills left much to be desired ^^; But all in good fun… it was certainly a blast to watch! XD

Well they didn’t win -_-; but it’s not like the result of this game will determine who wins on the charts … will it? *in denial* The girls also performed the new single on the show. You can check out the performance in the video above or, if you have some deeply ingrained personal issues with Perfume, you can watch the (non-Perfume) performance only video below!

I really enjoyed the performance, it was sung and performed well. This was the first time for me actually seeing the dance in full and I actually quite like it. The layout of the girls is pretty interesting and it looks like a lot of effort went into the choreography, even if the dance steps aren’t overly technical. I also think the whispering at the start is quite cute ^_^

Shouganai Yume Oibito Debuts at #1

The MUSIC JAPAN performance seemed to help, with Morning Musume’s 39th single debuting at #1 on the daily Oricon charts. This week’s charts aren’t overly competitive and their sales were rather on par with some of their recent past releases, so it’s not really time just yet to start announcing the comeback of Morning Musume into mainstream popularity. Still, it’s always nice to see the group at the top of any chart in this day and age.

Shouganai Yume Oibito dropped to 5th before returning to the top position on the charts yesterday. Hopefully the single can sell strong over the weekend and give Morning Musume a chance for their first no.1 single since 2006 (Aruiteru).

UFA to Fans: Can You Do Any Better?

Well… perhaps the title is a bit far-fetched, but with all the complaining over UFA’s shoddy PVs over the past few years, it may as well be true! >.< UFA has lifted its game recently, with the PVs for Buono!’s My Boy and Morning Musume’s Shouganai Yume Oibito both being splendidly done, but now they’re handing the reigns over to the fans for the b-side of MM’s latest single, 3.2.1 BREAKIN’ OUT!

The competition is being run in collaboration with MySpace and Morning Musume now have their own Official MySpace, which is certainly a nice addition. Pretty much, UFA has provided budding video editors with the short version of the track and 82 videos to create an OPV out of.
Now I’m certainly not skilled enough in video editing to even attempt something like this but it’s a lot of fun and a great idea from UFA. Already, the online H!P community is buzzing with fans wanting to create some spectacular PVs. I haven’t seen any finished ones yet (it’s still early days), but the OPV below has some awesome editing, despite no green screen effects.

I’m looking forward to seeing lots of finished entries closer to the deadline of June 19th.

The Age Old Question: Burger or Donut?

Minimoni pals, Tsuji Nozomi & Yaguchi Mari have appeared in a couple of cute commercials for MOSDO! Mister Donut - MOS Burger which are apparently faux mini burgers made from donuts with chocolate patties ^^!! (there’s also some normal meat burger but *meh* who cares bout that) Their reactions are priceless and, of course, the cell phones are out, ready to catch those blogging moments!

A couple of cute commercials with two of my favourite (ex) H!P members! ^_^

Lucky Koha Gets Ohastar Gig

Why do good things happen to crazy people? >.< Kusumi Koharu, Morning Musume’s resident nutter, has booked herself a regular gig on popular kid’s morning show Ohastar. Now this isn’t to say that Koha wasn’t on Ohastar regularly before - she was on quite often as part of the live action Kirarin Revolution bits. Now however, Koha will be appearing (as herself) each Tuesday morning.

Koharu has her own profile up on the official Ohastar website. Hopefully Koharu can help boost Morning Musume (and H!P)’s popularity amongst these kids. Congrats Koha!

Morning Musume
Shouganai Yume Oibito

Morning Musume has been my saving grace in H!P lately, releasing some awesome singles the past couple of years and a great album with Platinum 9 DISC, so I had high expectations for this single and thankfully, I was not disappointed!

Shouganai Yume Oibito was a favourite of mine right from the early radio rip; I was instantly in love <3 Moving away from the upbeat tracks, Tsunku has composed a mid-tempo ballad, retaining the mature sound Morning Musume has been developing recently. The song's lyrics speak of not giving up on dreams ... or something along those lines (I don't claim to be any good at Japanese!) but really the majority of English H!P fans are kind of indifferent when it comes to knowing the exact meaning of the lyrics ^^; All I know, is that I like it! I also feel Morning Musume (and all H!P groups) are heading towards more equal line distribution in their songs, which is always a plus. Gaki, Eri and Sayu all get time to shine in this track along with mains, Ai and Reina. The other four girls are relegated to harmonies and duo lines but one step at a time, eh? I'm just happy it's no longer the Ai and Reina show -_-;

In regards to H!P b-sides, I rarely care about them at all. I’ll give them one or two listens and that’s it. Some H!P c/w tracks are quite good but the majority are forgettable. Fortunately, 3.2.1 BREAKIN’ OUT is the former! This track couples perfectly with the understated Shouganai Yume Oibito, a fun uptempo track that is top quality. This single could have been a double a-side as both tracks are getting equal play on my ipod, I just love them both! The song is a bit unconventional, at least for a H!P track, and gave me a few surprises on my initial listen. I guess to some, it can seem a bit messy but for me it’s an eclectic bundle of joy!

No doubt, every man and his dog has seen the PV for Shouganai Yume Oibito already and, from what I’ve gathered, the praise is pretty universal. I’m really enjoying the university theme (Risa looks especially great ^^) and the cinematography, compared to past H!P PVs, is Oscar worthy (lol). The dance shot is also done very nicely too and I love the outfits. All in all, this PV pretty much walks all over Naichau Kamo’s PV which was kinda disappointing.

So yeah, praise all around for this single! It is certainly the strongest release from H!P in a while. It isn’t often that A-side+B-side+PV+Covers all = AMAZING! … so when it does, you savor each and every moment. Straight As!

Shouganai Yume Oibito: A
3.2.1 BREAKIN’ OUT: A
Shouganai Yume Oibito PV: A
TOTAL: A (Highly Recommended!)

Purchase Shouganai Yume Oibito
Limited Edition A: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Limited Edition B: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Single V: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

Berryz Koubou is Giving Me Déjà vu

Berryz Koubou’s 20th single Seishun Bus Guide/Rival is released in June and the covers for the three editions of this single showed up this week. Now I know it’s not just me. Don’t these covers remind you of something?

It’s frekin’ Dakishimete Dakishimete Ver.2!

They could literally be different versions of the same single. C’mon UFA, put some effort into it, eh? I guess it wouldn’t be so bad but the actual covers just aren’t very good … in fact, they look pretty dodgy. I kind of like how the regular edition is done: like a collage with the pictures and then the red scribble. The idea was good, the execution… not so much. The other two covers are *blah* to the extreme. They could have at least stuck the girls in a bus or something. Whatever.

Thankfully, the gorgeous new profile pics of the girls are very redeeming:

Maasa looks particularly stunning. It is amazing what a difference a tiny bit of weight loss can do (and a better haircut)!

Preorder Seishun Bus Guide/Rival
Limited Edition A: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Limited Edition B: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

Do Guardians 4 Hit a Home Run?

Guardians 4, the new unit for the Shugo Chara anime had their debut PV released this week via DohhhUP! for their upcoming single Omakase Guardian. Check out the PV below:

Well , yeah … that sucked >.< I don’t know how to put it any other way than that lol. From the toy stadium, to the shining cuffs and overuse of anime footage … it was a disappointment.
I have to be honest, the song doesn’t do much for me either and the whole unit doesn’t excite me at all. This is kind of surprising since I adore 3 of the 4 members (no prizes for guessing who I loathe XD), but yeah, it just isn’t doing anything for me. I have to say I enjoyed Shugo Chara Eggs much more than this unit, although I am happy that 3/4’s of SCE is going to be in that new S/Mileage unit (poor Akari ;_;).
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Guardians 4! Well I don’t like it and after the recent better PVs from UFA, this totally scrapes the bottom of the barrel of mediocrity so I don’t know what’s going on. UFA is like an enigma wrapped in a riddle and I’m not even going to start trying to understand them. Of course, someone out there probably loves this unit and is cursing at me through their computer screen… sorry! ^^;;

Preorder Omakase Guardian
Limited Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global
Regular Edition: YesAsia USA YesAsia Global

So there we have it … if you made it this far, thanks for reading the first Specks of Stardust! Please leave a comment on your thoughts on the newsletter including any ideas and feel free to take the time to answer any or all of the discussion questions below!

01. Are you entering Morning Musume’s OPV Contest? If yes: Have you started yet? What are some of your ideas? Is it harder or easier than you expected? and are you having fun? ^_^

02. Morning Musume haven’t had a No.1 single since Aruiteru. If you had to choose just one single since then (including Shouganai Yume Oibito) that deserved to be no.1 on the Oricon Charts, which would it be and why?

03. Share your thoughts on Shouganai Yume Oibito. Are you as in love with the single as I am?

04. What do you think of the covers for Berryz Koubou’s Seishun Bus Guide/Rival?

05. Guardians 4 or Shugo Chara Egg? Which group do you prefer and why?

Thanks for reading!
Mars.

Unfortunately I’ve come to the realization that I just won’t be able to keep the news coming as frequently as before and I’ve had to rethink what I want to do with Stardust. I really do love blogging, so I don’t want to just shut the blog down. I was thinking of changing Stardust to sort of a weekly newsletter, summarizing all the important information that has occurred in the H!P/NGP world over the past week. I would probably do these on the weekend when I have much more time and I’d put all my personal opinions and all that jazz that I usually do … it would just all come at once. I think it might also be good for busy people who can’t keep up with daily news, to get all their H!P info. Does everyone like the sound of that? I guess the downside to that is the rest of the week the blog wouldn’t have a whole lot of activity but I can’t really help there. If anyone has any ideas feel free to let me know.

For now though, I’m still getting used to my new job (which is going nicely; thanks to the people who wished me well!) and I’m getting a new kitten this week who is sure to keep my hands full >.< …. so if I do decide to go along with this newsletter thing I might not be able to start it till next weekend. Keep checking back though, I’ll be sure to keep you updated!

Mars.

Just letting you guys know that I’ll be taking a short hiatus from blogging (just a week or two maybe). Something, quite heartbreaking, has happened in my life and I just don’t really feel like blogging at the moment. Of course, H!P makes me happy - that’s what I love about it - so I may be drawn back really soon, but I just didn’t want people wondering if I was abandoning Stardust or something. I promise I’ll be back real soon!

I’m so glad she’s moving onto more upbeat stuff. Her voice really isn’t strong enough for ballads and she’s adapted some sort of anime/cutesy voice for this track which actually suits her much better. The song is pretty catchy, the chorus is very nice as are the repeated sections. Actually the whole track is surprisingly pretty good … not great, mind you, but good.
I also like how they’ve incorporated the piano into this song too; The instrumental is quite upbeat and fun.

Mano’s first single did nothing for me, so I’m glad she’s heading in a better direction (at least in my opinion ^^;)

The Graduation Message

The short note, apparently written by (fake) Tsunku, thanked the fans for their continued support over the past 10 years before declaring that “I, Tsunku ♂, am also graduating from Hello!Project” o_o;
Tsunku made a blog post, later in the day, titled “huh? Graduation?“, where he confessed that he had also been fooled when reading the Oricon/Yahoo articles and the fabricated quotes apparently made by himself!

Well, certainly a successful April Fools prank from the Taiwan H!P site, I think Good work!

The girls announced their show on Dohhh UP, which was kindly translated by Turbos86 (Hello!Online). CHECK IT OUT!

These girls couldn’t be more fun! I’m glad their back on the radio again!