The Hello! Idol Blog Project

The latest news, videos and music from Japan's top idols. Or at least the idols that I find most interesting! Be prepared for lots of Hello! Project as well as more than a few posts that wander from the topic of idols. I go to lots of conventions and concerts and will report as those as well as they come up. This tumblr site will serve as a mirror for my official site (A-To-JConnections.com) which hosts not only The Hello! Idol Blog Project, but also many other blogs! Be sure to check it out!

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Hello! Pro Station Episode #95

My post regarding the recent episode of Hello! Pro Station! Check it out! Hosted by Oda Sakura and Tokunaga Chinami, there's lots to see in this one!

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Michishige Sayumi's (Morning Musume '14 Leader) Graduation Concert: Livestream Report

I have my own site up finally. A-To-JConnections.com is officially live! It is a work in progress though and the site look is completely temporary. After lots of thought, I will be keeping this tumblr open. For now, I will slowly put up links to the articles I have written in the interim. When I eventually catch up with the current articles, I will then double post! First up, my Livestream report of Michishige Sayumi's graduation concert last week. Read and enjoy!

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We got the preview to the new GEM single “Star Shine Story” earlier this week. I have been a fan of GEM since they debuted and this song is one of their best by far if I do say so myself! This is a great time to be an idol fan! Avex always steps up when they feel like it and they apparently were feeling GEM here! I like the costumes, but in typical idol fashion, I question some of the different versions the members wear. Who or what determines when someone has a skirt or when they have pants? The world may never know...The production values are great and the whole video looks lovely and matches the great performances. These girls are really talented! If you have not had the chance to check out GEM, do so now! If you have, then be sure to catch this video! Enjoy!

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This is an interesting episode of Hello! Pro Station. While not as eye catching as some other episodes, there is lots here that is important to a Hell!o! Project fan. For starters there is the Dance Shot PV for Berryz Koubou’s “Romance wo Katatte”. I still feel somewhat indifferent to this song, but I appreciate the fact that it is their last single and also do think the songwriting is great, it’s the presentation and production values that suffer. Moving on there is a segment on “Country Girls” that features Momoko! I can’t wait to see how this group forms. They will be non-Tsunku produced and have Momoko? Interesting…. There is some off-shoot footage and then a Juice=Juice live all closed out by a Morning Musume ‘14 segment featuring the new members. It is going to be weird to see all these girls in the group. While I don’t dislike the idea of new members, I can’t help but feel that this transition will be harder than any that have come before. We shall see. Anyhow, back in the studio Suzuki Kanon and Saki Shimizu do a lovely job holding down the fort and keeping things moving. Speaking of keeping things moving, stop reading, watch and enjoy!

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I have been watching Union Music Japan closely since I first saw C-Zone back at Anime Expo 2009. Hysteric Lolita and Carat are two of my favorite new, indie groups and I almost passed up this video, but I decided to watch it. It is a duo called “Verge” and this is their first single “Chikai -pledge-” it is an amazing song! UMJ is by no means a no-name indie label, but it is still a little sad that this song will probably not go too far. Be that as it may, I will support this group from afar and I hope that lots of other people do as well! This is a song/video that I recommend highly! Please WATCH!

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Debut Single VS Graduation Single.

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Okay, now we get the Dance Shot version of UP UP Girls’ “Itagaki wo Mesazu!”. The recent UP UP Girls material has been really strong and this song follows that tradition. A very nice, catchy dance song. This means that this Dance Shot makes sense and isn’t just the typical idol filler PV. Watch and enjoy if you haven’t heard this song yet. If you have, watch and dance!

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It’s actually “Itadaki wo Mezase” which means “Aim for the top” ;)

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Thanks for pointing that out. It was a typo lol. I have fixed it in the original post.

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Okay, now we get the Dance Shot version of UP UP Girls’ “Itadaki wo Mesazu!”. The recent UP UP Girls material has been really strong and this song follows that tradition. A very nice, catchy dance song. This means that this Dance Shot makes sense and isn’t just the typical idol filler PV. Watch and enjoy if you haven’t heard this song yet. If you have, watch and dance!

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While I prefer “I miss you” to this song, I still have to admit that C-ute’s newest single is strong as hell! “THE FUTURE” is a really catchy song that follows their more typical formula. The video is functional, the girls look great and the costumes match, but it is clear that “I miss you” had the bigger idea, and maybe bigger budget. That being said, this song is really good and C-ute is really stepping up their game! Watch and enjoy!

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There isn’t really any idol stuff in last week’s episode of Music+, but there is Takui Nakajima performing “Message”! Some might recognize the song as the opening theme for Music+, but I recognize it as being one of my favorite songs by someone who is probably my favorite Japanese solo artist! This song is amazing and the performance is spot on! Watch and support Takui Nakajima! Elsewhere in the episode we get treated to LOTS of Lovendor off-shoot footage that is pretty entertaining. Watch and enjoy!

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It’s that time of year and those that know me know that I have a soft spot for Christmas songs! Especially JPop ones, since they have that Christmas-y feel, but they are still fun and playful! “Mr. Snowman” by e-girls is just that type of song! I have been listening to this over and over since the video dropped a little over a week ago. The girls are in top form and the video has that usual Avex look. In other words a LOT of money and production value made it on the screen! I was only a casual fan of e-girls before, but this song has made me want to look more into them! I highly recommend that you watch this video! My only small complaint is that it is a preview, but don’t let that totally detract you! Enjoy!

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Last week’s episode of Hello! Pro Station had it all. Most importantly it had the PV preview of C-ute’s new song “The Future”. This song is up to C-ute’s usual standards, which means it is amazing and has great production values. We get the Country Musume announcements courtesy of Satoda Mai. Behold the new group “Country Girls”! I wonder what this group will sound like. Maybe we'll see some new songs penned by Chisato Moritaka? We'll see....We also get a live of Tiki Bun from Morning Musume '14 and some other goodies, like a Saki Shimizu dance lesson. This is a great episode and it is hosted quite well by Ikuta Erina and MIyazaki Yuka. Enjoy!

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Morning Musume mv gif sets by gen: 9ki

↳TIKI BUN

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And now we get the full version of C-ute’s “I miss you”. This is a song I can get behind! This one is amazing and the video is way above most of the recent Hello! Project outings. There is lots of interesting things they tried with this single too. The melodies and harmonies are more complex than what we usually here and the video itself has some unique editing. The girls all look amazing here as well. It’s clear where Up Front and Hello! Project put their effort and money… It’s not even a very lively song but I can’t help but listen to it over and over again. Watch and enjoy!.

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Here is the full version of Berryz Koubou’s “Towa no Uta”. I still have mixed feelings about this song and video. I like the retro aspect of it, but I still think the song is a tad on the mediocre side. I do like it though I feel that Berryz deserved far more on their last single then these two songs. That being said, I can appreciate the song for what it is and I can’t help but stress that everyone should support this single as it is already shaping up to be their biggest selling single by far!

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Here is a nice live of Carat performing “Shekina!” at LIVE JAM 2014. This song is amazing and I absolutely love Carat and wish they’d get just a little more attention in the idol scene. Please watch and enjoy! You can direct any Carat questions my way too as I really want more people to know about them.

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Throwback Thursday Time! This week I’ll share WINK’s song “Sabishii Nettaigyo” which was their big chart-topping single. For those that aren’t aware of WINK, they were an idol duo from the late eighties/early nineties. They were mainly famous for covering western hits with Japanese lyrics, but they also had more than a few great original songs of which this is one. A REALLY great song that I can’t recommend enough. Knowledgeable listeners might recognize this song as being covered by W and Kikkawa You just two name two artists. Watch and ejoy!