First Thing’s First…

Now I’m not what you or anybody else would call an ‘experienced’ or ‘big name’ fan of anything – I pride myself on only looking at what I want to look at. Being a fan of idols doesn’t mean that by extension I have to be interested in absolutely everything all idols do, or even have an opinion on everything to do with my own favourites. I’m lucky enough to be close friends with one such person, however, who is genuinely interested in most things going on in the idol world enough to point something out to me when I should probably know it… or just show me things I might be interested in. So I’m not missing out on anything I’d really miss not seeing, honest.

That said, I haven’t watched the Shinjin Kouen yet. Partly because I wasn’t interested in the Eggs or the 8th Generation Musume much when it came out, and partly for connection related reasons. I can tell you right from the get-go that the only Eggs I’m really interested in before watching are Noto Arisa, Mano Erina and Furukawa Konatsu – so the others are going to really have to shine to keep my attention away from them. Also, it should probably be said that I really dislike both Aika and Kanna – just so you don’t get confused should I lapse into ranting about either one of them. It’s more likely than you think.

Why am I blathering in here about not having seen something? Elementary, my dear Watson – I intend to watch it, right now. So what you’ll get are my first impressions… once I’ve had a chance to think about how exactly I’m going to word them, of course. So without further ado, here goes nothing.

YOUNG DAYS
Lin’s permagrin really gets to me here. And not in anything even close to a good way – it seems to be all I can see whenever I look. Another thing caught my eye though; having been less than acquainted with the Eggs before now (which includes THE Possible) I generally have no idea of who’s who by sight so I had to look her up… and it’s Hashimoto Aina!
Anyone who knows me will know that I have some kind of weakness for glasses. That’ll be why I still bother liking Murata Megumi, and why Nakaya Sayaka stood out to me immediately when we first got to see AKB48’s Team B. So it’s no surprise that I like her immediately. Not only the glasses, she’s super cute too. I spotted a little’un with glasses too (possibly Arai Manami?), but she didn’t fit them quite so well… as if she’d picked someone else’s up off a table and decided to wear them for the concert.
I will say here that while I have never, ever liked Kanna (to the point of openly protesting when she was first added to C-ute and generally ignoring her ever since), her hip action and evident attitude in some parts has me smiling in a less than contemptuous manner. Go girl, I know you can be not irritating if you try, even if you are still ugly!
Other than that, Young Days is just your run-of-the-mill opening song where there are no solo lines so you can see everyone equally at least for now. I’m not particularly impressed, but I don’t dislike it either.

Special Generation
Finally some solos! Let’s see those girls shine! The first few didn’t grab me too well – I’m not a fan of Lin’s singing style (if it can really be called a style), and Aika’s live voice… the less said on the subject, the better. The first one to stand out to me and make me go ‘wow’ is Aina’s “kuuru na”. Anyone who can sing a Berryz song better than the Berryz themselves earns a few points in my book, even if I’m generally not impressed with Miyabi anyway. Cute, sounds good and wears glasses – I like this girl already.
I’m really looking for things to write about here, but I don’t see any until Lin’s “kono ba de”. Now while I don’t dislike her as much as Aika or Kanna, I’ve never been a big fan of hers – of the two ‘exchange students’ I’ve always preferred Chun. But I like that! She really looks like she’s having fun, too; let’s hope this lasts.
I’m amazed – the very next thing to catch my attention (and I have concentration issues, so that’s harder than it sounds) is Lin’s “aishite, oi!”. Generally I don’t have time to sit down and watch concerts – though I’m trying to change that – so I haven’t seen much of her stage presence before now… I’m impressed, to be honest.
I’m pretty amused by how the solos are pretty much all going to Lin, Chun, Kanna… and Yurika. Too bad you can’t sing live, eh Aika?

MC1
I didn’t mean to say anything about this, but… is it me, or does Sainen Mia have a double chin? Also, Maeda Yuuka and Fukuda Kanon are wicked cute. And wow it is so obvious that Maeda Irori is from Kansai. Just look at her.

Get Up! Rapper
First off I want to say that this was a really good pick for a Salt5. The girls have a whole bunch of energy and they’re getting out there and using it – no meek little ones who look like they’ve accidentally wandered into the wrong song. Nice picks, whoever decides these things!
Wow, nice going Kanon. I thought she was a bit tiny for this song at first glance, but shut my mouth, she really deserves Kago’s part. I’m also digging Aoki as Mako – possibly more than I actually liked Makoto, though that’s not really saying a lot.
I want to say a heck of a lot about this song but the truth is I’m pretty damn mesmerised. I mean, since it came out I’ve always loved the song – lineup and all, though to be honest I was never particularly taken with Makoto or Yuki. For a long time it was my favourite H!P song of all time, and it still ranks pretty high, so for these eggs and newbies to do it so well took me off guard a bit. Well done girls!

Yeah! Meccha Holiday
Oh wonderful, I think as the lights come on and the girls yell the first line – a mediocre song led by my two bottom-ranked girls in all of H!P. And they’re all dressed as particularly flamboyant chickens of some variety. I don’t expect to enjoy this much at all.
I’m not sure what Kanna’s shouting as she and Aika make their way down the steps to front and center where (if you ask me) neither of them should ever be… but it occurs to me that she sounds a lot like Sayumi. You know, back when everyone hated Sayumi because she was just. that. irritating. Nice going. Only not.
I’m confused as to why Miki, Mia and Erina are stuck off to the side right now as though they were an afterthought or something. Who knows – maybe they were, but there’s no need to make it so obvious if so… The debuted members are obviously the focus of this concert (or that’s how it seems to me already), sure. But if you’re going to put anyone in the back, pick some backing-type people! Manoeri’s already stealing pretty much all of my attention, but that’s not exactly difficult looking at the alternative.
Okay, I’ll be nice here and say that… sure Kanna’s singing bothers me, a lot, and I think she’s ugly. She reminds me of a monkey to be honest. BUT she can move, and I’ll grant her that. Something that sets her apart from Aika at least!
Lalala no more about this song it is boring. This should’ve been before Get Up! Rapper, I think.

Chokotto LOVE
This song… I don’t know, I was a bit disappointed when I heard it. How many times has it been done? Seriously, it’s one of those songs now, the obligatory one that everyone’s tired of hearing – or at least, I am. It’s not quite so bad as Love Machine (yes it was a chart-topper, keyword is WAS, leave it alone) but it’s pretty bad, so I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence that it was going to impress me.
Okay, I’m a little sad that Arisa is way in the back there but I can tell she’s giving 200% anyway – she’s that kind of girl, which I like a lot, that’s my favourite thing about her. She’s totally idol material, someone tell me why she’s still an Egg? At least she gets Ongaku Gatas… Anyway, her face when she loses at Janken is hilarious. XD Somehow she makes it less obvious that it was planned that way.
Others who are catching my eye (apart from Konatsu who is obvious) are Sawada Yuri who is just pretty, and Sengoku Minami who sounds really good! Also, Ayumi’s “soitsu wa komatta” was perfect, and her smile was so cute! Love.

Zettai Tokeru Mondai
This song always gets me, because in the lyrics it gives the equation “2x – 9 = 0″, which would make x = 4.5, which is clearly above three. The math nerd in me is irritated.
Oho, I see you Go Girl outfits. I love how Sayaka is clearly in a team of her own, whereas the white team goes entirely unrepresented. Not very nice to Rika, Eri and Mari.
A’ight, I have looked this little girl up and it appears to be Ogawa Saki – why is she all I can see despite being so very tiny? Smaller than Yuuka even, who by the way is still adorable woo! But anyway, way to go overpushing the little one to the point at which it becomes obnoxious, whoever had that decision. I’m getting sick of her already…
So like, someone needs to tell me why they let Mirei graduate. I’m loving her attitude and just the way she moves, it’s awesome and really helps the song along, she would’ve been an asset to keep around – but I suppose there are a lot of things in a Japanese girl’s life that have to take precidence over being an idol. Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it!
Of course, Yuuka’s adorable “wakaru ka na?” deserves a mention too. More solos for her! Down with Ogawa! Koharu for president! …Um, what?

Go Girl! ~Koi no Victory~
I didn’t once glance at what songs were going where, because I prefer to be surprised and not have a chance to prepare myself for the song before it comes on, but of course I knew Go Girl was coming by the outfits in Zettai Tokeru Mondai. I’m a little confused as to why the other girls don’t have the outfits though – wasn’t there time to change during the last song? The Get Up! Rapper girls have had three songs worth of time, too. It looks a little weird with just those five dressed for the occasion…
What I love, looking at the colourcodes on ProjectHello.com, is how none of the dressed up girls kept their parts! Ogawa and Mirei, who were in blue, sing red parts. Sayaka who was yellow is now with the whites. Red-clad Yuuka sings with the blues and similarly red-clad Anri sings yellow parts. Confusing? Yes.
Not a whole lot to say – the camera has ADD and only ever bothers stopping for Ogawa, though I can’t think why. Kanna needs to talk less; that or they need to give more of the obnoxious “minna mo issho ni!” type comments to other people. Finally I catch a glimpse of Okai’s little sister (Asuna, I believe) in chicken-costume, even though she wasn’t in Yeah! Meccha Holiday, which means she’s probably not in the next few songs either.
Something about Anri reminds me of Takahashi Ai, I’ve just realised. I’m not sure what it is though. More on that later, perhaps?

MC2
Man Makoto is so annoying.

Shushoku = GOHAN no Uta
I’m loving me some THE Possible already! Aina continues to live up to the awesome image she set for me near the beginning, and Robin is wicked sweet. I’m not sure who it is, possibly Kaede since she’s the only one I haven’t really seen yet, but near the beginning it looks like someone forgets their dance steps for a second – which is not good when you’re next to Robin who is obviously having a hell of a lot of fun with hers.
Wow Yurika. That’s not the best live voice ever, you just have to watch a Morning Musume concert of any description to know that (hi Nacchi, Maki, Taka), but she really outshines half of the current Musume in my book. I’m always wondering – in a genuinely curious way – what’s so special about the particular girls in THE Possible that they’d get to debut whereas the other Eggs are still just that, but I think through this concert I’m slowly beginning to see.
Ah, seems that the same can be said for Aina! Definitely not as good as the high-end Musume (Taka, Reina, Eri) but much better than the low-end (Sayu, Aika). Though I don’t know, it’s kind of damning them with faint praise to say they’re better live than Sayu or Aika – most of Hello! Project are, haha.
I like the song, it’s cute and has the potential to get stuck in my head if I listen to it much more. Definitely a good thing, and the girls suit it! Rock on GOHAN~
I really want to know what the chicken-girls are doing there though.

Mini. Strawberry Pie
Well this lineup looks good! I’m already way into Arisa, and Yuu and Yuri have been catching my eye some too. I’m not quite sure of what to think of Akari yet since I haven’t seen much of her – but her first line “chicchai amai strawberry pie” sounds very promising. Let’s hope she’s always that good.
Arisa is just the kind of chick this song needs – she’s adorable, she’s obviously enjoying herself and she throws herself right into the dance. Maybe she’s not the best singer under the sun (I haven’t heard much of her outside of Ongaku Gatas in which she sounded pretty good, so it might just be that the song’s tone doesn’t suit her voice) but she really gives it the right atmosphere. Akari sounds good, sure, but she’s looking a bit bored to me which puts me off some.
Just what the doctor ordered! More songs like this please~

Pittari Shitai Xmas!
So it turns out that nobody listens to me! Haha. I’m all about how there’s too much Ogawa, and how I dislike Kanna and Aika in general… so what do I get? A song I care very little about, sung by the three girls I’d prefer not to see more of. Sorry Saki, you might be good but you’re just so in my face here I’m finding it difficult to appreciate it! This might be okay though, so I’ll give it a chance.
The dance to this song is uninspired – not the girls’ fault since they don’t really get any say in what dances they do, but it hardly helps me enjoy the song any more. Saki gets Maki’s parts – what? Yes, that tiny little thing really does get those huge shoes to fill, and (unsurprisingly) absolutely fails to fill them. After every one of her lines she has this look about her like she’s waiting to be praised for her good work. Yes, some kids are idol material at that age – just take a glance at Hagiwara Mai if you don’t believe me. But unfortunately, Ogawa Saki doesn’t appear to be one of them. Her singing voice appears to be up to par. Too bad for her that really, at that age, you need the full package to really be worth it.
It is just heartbreaking to see the camera focused on little eleven year old Saki asking “Does Santa really exist?”

MC3
Fairy dresses! ♥

Osaka Koi no Uta
Wow at Mirei’s sparkly eyes during that awesome intro speech. Only Yossi could have done it better!
I’m confused as to why Ogawa has Taka’s parts in this song. I mean… sure, maybe you’re trying to push her, but it’s not fair on the little girl to give her huge parts like that when the song doesn’t suit her tiny prepubescent voice at all. It just highlights her failings whereas what you’re obviously trying to do is show how good she is. And it’s not like there aren’t others there who could do the same parts much better – Yurika? Aina? Mirei? Anri, even?
Speaking of Anri, I read about her surprising confidence in this song on another blog and wow if I don’t agree. I wasn’t expecting miracles, because generally other people notice these things more than I do, but I was pretty blown away by the wink and eyebrow thing on “itsumo issho no anta ga”. Even more reason she should’ve had more parts in this song!
The older girls are stealing the show here – Saki has the vast majority of the solo lines, along with the similarly tiny Yuuka as Rika and the similarly nasal Sayaka as Miki, but Aina as Risa and Mirei as Yossi alone are enough to show that the song suits older girls much better. And that’s not even counting Anri as Reina.
In short, this song could have been a hell of a lot better if only the line distribution was… pretty much completely reversed.

Love & Peace! HERO ga Yattekita.
Wahey hip-shakey dancemoves! I could probably watch Aina do that for a while… Heheh. Anyway, on to song-related things!
Mori Saki! Her facial expressions are perfect at any given moment. XD Could probably say the same for Aoki Erina too – and hell, why not! This is a fun song, with a fun dance, and the girls are obviously enjoying themselves bouncing around up there. Kanon is back! I missed her, where’s she been since Get Up! Rapper? Ditto Chun!
Aoki’s “daisuki yo” is right on the money, and Lin follows it with an awesome “aishiteru” – nice combi, I hope they get some duet lines.
Wow, Aina’s “ikimasu yo” was quiet – or am I just used to the obnoxious screaming of Arihara by this point? I get the feeling she doesn’t like shouting much though; Aina, that is… How I’m getting this from two words muttered mid-song? Magic, obviously.

Piriri to Yukou!
Catching a glimpse of Manoeri at some point during this song was one of those epiphany moments for me – I finally know who she reminds me of, which makes it obvious why I liked her so much from the get-go! Looking at her, doesn’t she make you think just a little bit of Kumai Yurina, AKA my #1 Berryz girl?
Anyway, another thing I thought of after everyone came together for this song – where have some people been? Arai Manami, Komine Momoka, Maeda Irori, Mutou Mika, Ogura Manami, Okai Asuna, Sekine Azusa? I remember catching a few glimpses of some of them being cute in the background, but have they actually been singing anywhere? That’s something of a kick in the crotch, being Eggs to the Eggs…
Someone caught my eye at one point in a wide shot, throwing themselves right into the dance, but through people moving and the camera never staying still I can’t tell whether it was Korenaga Miki or Noto Arisa. I wouldn’t be surprised with either one really – come to think of it, where’s Miki been too, apart from in the back of Yeah! Meccha Holiday? Really, there are a lot of girls there Mister Organising Person, it’s your responsibility to make sure we see them all. Bad boy! Though this is just Tori no Koku – maybe they got more screen time in Saru no Koku. I hardly dare to hope.

Love Machine
You have no idea how annoyed I was to see not only the camera focusing on Ogawa Saki again, but that it did so to introduce no other song than Love Machine. Let it die! It’s an old song! It should have died with the oldschool Morning Musume! Oh, I know a good way to kill it – have Kaori, Kei and Yuko sing it. I’m not saying it’s fair, I’m saying it’ll work.
Chun’s face on that “DEIYAA” or whatever it is had me in stitches for a good while though. Way to go Chun!
What the hell giving OGAWA SAKI the “nice body body body” line. She’s a little girl. She’s good, but she’s a little girl and she cannot do everything. Give her a break and stop giving her silly lines.
Huh. Let’s give credit where credit is due, no matter how surprised – that “donna ni fukeiki datte koi wa inflation” solo Aika got came out pretty well. She’s not so bad when she’s not trying to go low; which, unfortunately, is a painfully high percentage of the time as far as I’ve seen.
Haha, in the end you have to give decent solos to girls who deserve it – at least, Yurika and Robin kind of deserved them, but if I’m perfectly honest that “love love love factory” line was pretty good for Saki.

MC4
Kanon for president.

I know
Not a lot to say about this one – I didn’t know the song before so I didn’t have an opinion on it. Morisaki stands out more in this, which I like because it really sounds like she deserves it. And after that Q&A thing in the last MC I want to see as much of Kanon as possible! She’s so cute and I love her attitude. More Kanon in the future! Kanon for Milky Way! Okay maybe I’m not that lucky.
Arai Manami keeps catching my eye, and not in a good way. Okay, she’s a little’un, but would it kill her to be a little enthusiastic? Next to Arisa she looks like she’s only there for the free food or something. Maybe with those glasses on she wandered onstage by accident. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Da Di Du De Do Da Di!
Ooo, not-awful Aika solos to start, I like where this is going. I really wish her voice was a little stronger though, with higher solos she could really sound okay if it was. More vocal training for Aika! Strict schedules from morning ’til night! Screw school, being an idol is what it’s all about these days anyway!
This song is an easy one to sound good singing (have you heard Kago’s solo version?), which makes it a good one to end on because I have a much better lasting impression of Aika and Kanna from it.

Overall I feel like I know some of the eggs a whole lot better than I might have just looking at pictures. I’ve formed some pretty good opinions of their ability and such – and I’ll probably be looking for some THE Possible songs!
Well done eggs, well done 8th Gen and well done Kanna. That’s pretty much it.