Jpop Mix: Country Girls - Boogie Woogie Love, Koi wa Magnet, Ran Ra Run

I've had this post in the "drafting" stage since March. Oops. This is coming much later then I originally intended, but Country Girls has not released a new single, so it's not too late right? ;) Well, I've always had this sort of "I'm-not-so-sure" relationship with Country Girls. They were the group where I liked most of the members individually but in terms of the group itself - nah, I didn't care much for them. I did quite like Itooshikutte Gomen Ne, and while I originally thought I would soon tire of it, I still find myself listening to it. Haha, so if I could revise my original review, I would probably give their debut single 4/5, hehe. But! Their follow-up didn't really grab my attention at all and I sort of gave up on the group. 

Well, in the later half of 2015, two new members were added to the line-up, Hello!Project trainees Funaki Musubu and Yanagawa Nanami. This kept my interest only for a bit, but then I saw the new line-up perform their debut single and I was blown away. Like, these new girls had charisma and it's not that the previous line-up was bad, but with the additional two members, I felt like Country Girls as a whole just came alive. I waited patiently for a new single to be released and I was not disappointed. 

A triple A-side, this single is amazing in that it highlights a pair of girls in each song. The main A-side is Boogie Woogie Love which was a song that I immediately loved due to its retro style and jazz undertones. The music video looks like it was filmed in a diner and their outfits are so cute and definitely fit the era of the 50's. I felt like Funakki and Nanami were both featured in a way that wasn't overwhelming and I really liked their little solo dances in the middle. It's a fun song that I listen to often.

Music Mix: Morning Musume '15 Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi/Endless Sky/One and Only

Just two months ago, I wrote an entire blog post dedicated to one of my favorite idols of recent years, Sayashi Riho, who had just announced her graduation from the group, Morning Musume. Being that she graduates in two days time (one if you're in Japan's time zone), Morning Musume dropped one final single with Riho as a member. A tripe A-side single, this single hits a perfect balance between featuring Riho and providing a final farewell from her and looking to the future of the group. In this post, I will tell you of ALLLLL my feels and general feelings about each song.

The single's first song and main A-side is "Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi", whose official translation is "The Cold Wind and Lonely Love". The song was originally intended to be Riho's graduation solo song, however, the song was rearranged to include all members so that it can be promoted into 2016, after Riho's graduation. The song is a melancholy ballad that has sprinkled EDM dance breaks which sounds bad in written form but actually works very nicely in the song itself. The dance breaks are specifically for Riho to perform her solo dance(s) as she is known for being an AMAZING dancer.

I'll be honest, I'm kind of upset Riho herself didn't choreograph these solo's since I think she would do a much better job, but eh, she pulls it off. Some of the dance steps seem a bit off in certain parts but overall, she does a great job and this song stands as a great homage to Riho's skill and status as ace of the group during her tenure. The music video does a good job of showing us how much Riho has grown and her solo dance breaks are especially good because they really reflect Riho as a person: a solitary girl with great talent and a passion for performing. This music video is definitely my favorite of the three.

Jpop Mix: Tsubaki Factory, Seishun Manmannaka!

How long has it been since I've done one of these? Wow, a while. There have been a lot (and I mean A LOT) of releases among my favorite singers/groups in the last few months but I'm going to zero in on one and post my thoughts on their newest release. This time I will introduce a new group that just made their indies debut earlier this month: Tsubaki Factory. Hey, doesn't that sounds a lot like Kobushi Factory? Yes, yes it does and this is because the groups are meant to be "sister" groups of sorts, thus the "Factory" in both of their names.

I will be the first to admit that my initial impression of Tsubaki was not all that great. This is probably because the girls of Kobushi Factory are so polished. While not bad singers nor bad dancers, Tsubaki factory lacks the vocal prowess that their older sister group is consistently praised for. Further, the girls are still a bit awkward on stage. While I would normally find this endearing, it is a stark contrast when compared to Kobushi's confidence and obvious superior stage presence. While I know the two groups shouldn't be compared, I really can't help it. Since they were formed so close to each other and have the sister group tag, it's so hard not to compare them!

Jpop Mix: Morning Musume '15, Seishun Kozou ga Naiteiru/Yuugure wa Ameagari/Ima Koko Kara

Earlier this year, I introduced the idol group Morning Musume by reviewing their 2014 album, 14 Shou ~The Message. With the start of a new year, Morning Musume has now evolved into Morning Musume '15, and has released their first single with Mizuki Fukumura as leader. This is also the first single that includes the new 12th generation members.

Titled Seishun Kozou ga Naiteiru/Yuugure wa Ameagari/Ima Koko Kara, Morning Musume '15 starts the year off by releasing a Triple A side single (meaning that all three tracks are main tracks and equally promoted). With 13 members, the girls come back as a group trying to evolve; starting out by providing three very different tracks and featuring rotating centers. 

Jpop Mix: Juice=Juice, Wonderful World/Ça va ? Ça va ?

Another Music Mix post? Yes indeed. I realize that this is the third one already this month, but there have been tons of releases in 2015 that I wanted to review so I've been trying to knock them out as quickly as possible. 

This time, Juice=Juice's newest single is up. Juice=Juice is an idol group signed to Hello Project! (the same group that manages C-ute, Morning Musume and Country Girls). They are considered a newer group, since they debuted two years ago; despite being one of the newer groups, they are largely considered a professional and sleek group, with strong teamwork that mirrors C-ute. The two groups are compared often as they both have 5 members, 3 main vocalists and 2 supporting vocalists. In addition, Juice=Juice is remarkably versatile, just like their seniors. 

Juice=Juice originally boasted a very unique sound. The majority of their music featured strong jazz undertones and really made them stand out amongst the other groups in Hello Project! The release of songs such as Hadaka no hadaka no hadaka no kiss and Black Butterfly marked a departure from their earlier style and the girls began to release music in a variety of different styles. They continue in this new direction with their newest release, the double A-side single, Wonderful World/Ça va ? Ça va ?

Jpop Mix: ℃-ute, Gamusha Life/The Middle Management/Turn The Next Corner

℃-ute is one of those groups that I have been following for a while now. I first really got into them in high school. I stumbled across their songs, "Massara Blue Jeans" and "Ookina ai demotenashite". I remember finding the songs extremely addictive and fun to listen too. Despite their young ages,℃-ute turns 10 years old this year. With this year being their 10th anniversary, their first release of 2015 is a triple A single (meaning that all three songs are main tracks, receiving the same amount of promotion).

℃-ute has always praised for their good performances and great teamwork. When watching them live, it's easy to see that they are veterans in the idol business and they are admired for their professional and sleek performances. Despite having more of a "cool" vibe in their music these days, ℃-ute still releases cuter songs, normally reserved for younger groups in the agency. This single gave us a bit of both worlds as well as a ballad in order to showcase how well-rounded ℃-ute are as a group and as individuals. Without further ado, let's take a look at the three title tracks.

Jpop Mix: Country Girls, Itooshikutte Gomen Ne/Koi Dorobo

Making their major debut under the Hello Project! label, Country Girls is the essentially the revival of the group, "Country Musume." The original group debuted in 1999 but the group became inactive when all but 1 member left. In 2014, 6 girls were chosen to revive the group as the new Country Musume, which was to be renamed Country Girls. Their debut single was released on March 25th, 2015. 

Titled Itooshikutte Gomen Ne/Koi Dorobo (Sorry for Being Adorable / Love Thief), the single unsurprisingly, gives no "country" vibes. The name of the group does not seem to relate to their concept in any way, which was a bit disappointing for me. I would have liked to see this group release songs that I would never have seen any other Hello Project! idol group release, but I digress. The main track on this single is Itooshikutte Gomen Ne (Sorry for Being Adorable). I absolutely loved this song when it was first released. I loved the melody, I loved the talking portions and the dance is adorable. Most of the girls are quite young, so a song like this really emphasized how fresh and new they were to the scene. However, after listening to it over and over, it became stale for me.  Whaaa? Why? Getting past the excitement of this being a new group to Hello Project, I didn't find the song to be as stellar as I originally touted it was. Nevertheless, it's still a very good song and gets a solid 3.8/5 stars. 

Jpop Mix: Morning Musume '14, 14 Shou ~The Message~

I didn't think I would actually review this album because I bought it on iTunes way back in September. But then I realized that technically, I could still write a review because I promised that no releases would be more than a year old. Since that year is still a ways away, I decided to go ahead and review this album. 

Morning Musume is an all-female idol group formed in Japan in 1997. The group has a graduation system, where girls leave the group or "graduate" when they see fit to leave or when their producer decides a girl is ready to go. The average time a girl will spend in the group is about 4 years, although Morning Musume does boast a total of 4 girls that have stayed for over a decade. Each new addition is referred to as a "generation", the largest being the 1st generation - the 5 girls that founded the group. The smallest generations are the 3rd, the 7th, and the 11th, each consisting of only one girl. As of 2015, Morning Musume has had 12 generations and currently has 13 members. During the time of the release of the album 14 Shou ~The Message~, the group had 11 generations and 10 members. 

JRock Mix: Hello World!

Yay for our first Music Mix that doesn't feature idols! Although it's still Japanese music, this time I bring a review of all-girl pop rock band Scandal's newest album release: Hello World! 

First, some quick background about the band: they were formed in Osaka, Japan in 2006 by four high school friends. After being in the indie scene for a while and finding great success, they had their major debut in 2008 with the single, "Doll." Scandal are well known among international Japanese music fans and have continued to evolve in their music sound throughout the years. The band is made up of (from left to right in the picture above): Tomomi Ogawa (bassist, lead vocals); Haruna Ono (lead vocals, secondary guitarist); Rina Suzuki (drummer, keyboardist, secondary vocals); and Mami Sasazaki (lead guitarist, secondary vocals).

Hello World is Scandal's 6th studio album released in December of 2014. Now, I own every single album release from Scandal and I have enjoyed the way they have explored different sounds to add to their music. Their fourth album, "Kirifuda wa Queen" (Queens are Trumps) is one of my favorite albums just because it's markedly different in style and sound than their previous albums. It's the most experimental of their albums. With Hello World however, Scandal delivers an album that sticks to their more traditional pop rock sound. As I consider their 5th album, Standard, to be my least favorite of their releases, it was nice to see them going back to their roots in their 6th release, returning to the sounds and arrangements that made me a fan in the first place.

Jpop Mix: Yasashiku Suru Yori Kiss O Shite -やさしくするよりキスをして

Welcome to the third Music Mix post! (Yeah, I'm doing a lot of these...I recently bought quite a lot of brand new CD's so I'm trying to review them all as quickly as possible). This time up is Miyuki Watanabe, who celebrated her solo debut in December of 2014. I decided to start off right away with the video for the song because I love the 80's super idol vibe she is channeling through her music video. Yeah, I'm a total fangirl, haha.  Miyuki is actually a member of NMB48, another of the sister groups of AKB48. Many soloists are produced from their ranks, but I don't generally follow them unless I really like the song. All in all, I think I have like 4-5 singles from their soloists, which is not that much considering they have quite a large number of them. Anyways, Miyuki is known for her flirtatious personality. While her singing is not the best, she is a very good dancer and is quite charismatic on stage. She currently claims the title of my favorite member in NMB, so it's not much of a surprise that I bought her first solo single.

Jpop Mix: 12gatsu no Kangaroo

Hello and welcome to the second installment of Music Mix! As I warned in my first post here, most of the music I listen to is Japanese pop music or just Japanese in origin. So, I'll likely be posting quite a lot of reviews of Japanese pop music, although I will try to add rock/classical/etc. when I'm able to :) This time, we take a look at SKE48's December single, 12gatsu no Kangaroo or １２月のカンガルー. The name of this group must sound pretty familiar right? The first music release I reviewed was one by a group named AKB48. SKE48 is AKB's sister group, founded 3 years after AKB was formed. Both groups have their own theater's where members perform nearly everyday. AKB's theater is located in AKihaBara, in Tokyo. Meanwhile, SKE's is located in SaKaE, in Nagoya. Just a quick explanation as to why they're so similar in name and structure. 

Jpop Mix: Kibouteki Refrain

What is this? A new post category? Why, yes, yes it is. Welcome to my MusicMix post, where I review a new CD/single I have bought or maybe a song that has caught my attention. I will try my best so that this category doesn't end up filled solely with jpop, but as a forewarning, most of my music is jpop. I listen to a wide range of jpop artists, from idols to classic artists so even if I don't seem to break from the jpop bubble, I'll try to present a slice of my varied music tastes. As a heads-up, in addition to jpop, I listen to a fair amount of cpop, kpop, indopop, Spanish pop & rock, and in terms of American music, it's a little bit of everything. My iTunes has tons of soundtrack music from American movies and television shows so I may review a few soundtracks from time to time. Please be aware that not all the music I review will be the latest release, but I will try to make sure the music is no more than 1 year old. :) 

So, with that out of the way, lets get started! First up is the single, Kibouteki refrain (希望的リフレイン) by Japanese mega idol group AKB48. The first picture on the left is of the front cover of this single which features the members in various phases of running. The second picture is the back cover, featuring the following members, from left to right: Mako Kojima, Sakura Miyawaki, Mayu Watanabe, Nana Owada, and Rena Kato. One of the first things I want to make clear is that AKB48 is huge. HUGE. This is literal. AKB48 is a girl group made up of tons of members. The original concept was to have 3 teams: Team A, Team K and Team B. Each team consisted of 16 members (thus the 48 at the end). Why so many girls? The girl group has its own theater where they have shows daily for fans. In order to not overextend the girls, each team takes turns performing. In addition, the girls hold handshake events and meet-and-greets with one main goal in mind: increased access. The idea behind this group was to create a group that was easily accessible to their fans and therefore a group that everyone could relate to. Of course, since their indie days they have grown into the bestselling girl group in Japan. They also now have 5 teams (Teams A, K, B, 4 and 8) and boast waaaayyyy more than 48 members.