Shining Baybay!

If the title confused you, then I will explain.  This post is about Berryz new single, Shining Power.  Lemme just tell you, this single is definitely a hit in my book.  I freakin love it.  I find it awesome that they are playing ping-pong.  I find it awesome that they are talking about bento boxes.  I find it awesome that their outfits are dark red and black.

I heard people rant a lot of crap about this PV when it first showed up, but I thought it was cool.  The girls look fantastic.  Yurina is lead in the song and PV.  She knocked my socks off.  She was fantastic.  I loved every moment of it.  Her being center just works so well for Berryz.  She's the tallest, has the best voice, and is just WOW.  In my opinion, she should be leader, and should always be center.

HSU Black Friday Sale

So last night, starting at 6AM, HelloStoreUSA had a Black Friday sale!  They didn't say exactly what they were going to have, they just mentioned that they would have "GREAT DEALS on brand-new Hello! Project towels, photo sets, and accessories." and "Sale items are marked down over 50% -- some as low as $1.00!"  With that in mind, how could I resist?

It made me really curious as to what they would have for sale, and when they say "brand-new," I was really hoping that some Rival Survival photosets would be discounted.  No luck there.

Being as ridiculous as I am, I stayed up until 6AM, doing who knows what, wondering what I could get my hands on.  When the clock finally hit 6, the sale began.  I wondered; "should I stay up till 6AM, or just wait till morning? Because hey, nobody's gonna start buying at the crack of dawn right?"  Wrong.  People were going at it like rabid monkeys.  What kept messing with my head was that whenever I added something to my cart, someone else got to the finish line before me, so the item was removed from my cart.  This happened like 5 times, which bothered me a lot.  I would have been home with 3 more Linlin photosets and 2 microfiber towels if I was faster.

Anyways, I am mostly happy with all the photosets that I got, because everything was about 70% off.  Each $8 photoset was $3, and so were the metallic ones.  I really didn't have time to think twice, cause every few seconds, something that I wanted was taken already.  Cool ne?

Here's what I ninja'd away with:

H!P Ranking

So for a while now I have been being asked, "Who is your favorite H!P member?"  followed by "Who is your second favorite H!P member?"  Often on, my rankings change depending on something ive seen about that member recently that makes me love them more.

So for a while now I have been thinking on who really I like the most, and came to the conclusion that Mitsui Aika always had a special place in my heart.  She is just fantastic.  Some people may not agree with me, but hey, I don't really care.  More Aika for me!

Also, I'm not the biggest fan of "ranking" members 1-25, seeing as numbers often make people ask questions, like "Why don't you like this person? She's awesome!"  I did this because a) I was bored, and b) I was badgered mercilessly by a friend to make it.

Obviously, I don't want to offend anyone if your favorite member isn't in my Top 10, but if I happen to offend you somehow, my bad.

I put my rankings on a separate page (green button to the right), so  I wouldn't take up a whole page full of pictures.  Also, this way, people can go take a look whenever they want, and I can make changes to it without having to go back to an old blog post.

So lastly, if you agree with me, awesome! Lets be friends!
If you don't, i'm sorry, it's nothing personal!

(Green button on the right -->)

HSU Order

I finally received my order from HelloStoreUSA!  I'm so excited!  It's been a long wait for this, since "special order" items take like 6-8 weeks for shipment.  Well, after 6-8 weeks, I finally got my goods!

I didn't go crazy this time even though I really wanted to.  I bought a few things from the Rival Survival concert, and a specific shirt that I have been eying.  The wait was well worth it since I love all the goods that I got.

Now I share:

Group shots from the Rival Survival concert.  Awesome pics.

Aika, Lin, and Jun fans.  They are awesome but a lot larger then I expected.  No idea where to put them lol.

What i've been waiting for!  My Dance de BACoooooooooN shirt!!

Front (left) back (right).  Lighting is strange on the left side for some reason.

In all, I love how HSU has special order items, since it gives everyone a fair chance to get everything they want.  There's no first come first serve for these items, so people can contemplate for days on what they really want lol.  If I can wait 51 days, then so can you.

Shimizu Saki

Today, on November 22nd, 2010, Shimizu Saki turns 19.  For a second I thought she was turning 20 and I was rather shocked.  Explains why I shouldn't be up at 4am doing random stuff.

Anyways, Saki hasn't really changed much over the years.  She's still rather short, and has the same cute face as ever.  I don't even think her hair has gotten much longer since either lol.

Here is her solo performance of Sprinter, from the Otakebi Land Concert earlier this year.

And here is some awesome Captain pic spam for you all you out there:

LA Auto Show

Yes, this post is unrelated to Hello!Project.

So this year a couple friends and I decided last minute to head down to the LA Auto Show.  It wasn't until a few nights ago that I was informed that each ticket was six dollars.  At that rate, how could I resist?  Funny thing was that lunch was more expensive then my entrance fee.

The auto show was held in the LA Convention Center, same place the annual LA Anime Expo is held.  This place is definitely not as fun without the cosplaying.

Anyways, the guests who attend this auto show are basically divided into two groups.  You're either like me; bored, have nothing better to do on a Sunday, and want to look at awesome cars that you will probably never own, or you're like them; sick millionaires who go looking for new weekend toys to mess around with.  Oh, there were plenty of those.  It was fun to pretend that I was one of them.

Basically I walked around going "oooohhhh shinyyy" and took a picture:

 

The "I can crush you" cars.

The "retro yet modern" cars.

Using their ultra-super powers, blossom, bubbles, and buttercup...

Idk they're just cool.

What is this I don't even...

My babies are trying to fly away~

Looks like the Anime Expo forgot something

Real Kakurenbo Final

My very special Mitsui Aika gets to make her acting debut, as she was cast as a character in an upcoming (sadly straight to dvd) horror movie titled "Real Kakurenbo Final."  This is awesome!  I'm thrilled that they decided to give Aika this role, showing that someone believed that Aika had the most potential for this specific role.  Not much is known yet about the movie, except for a few blog shots of Aika on set.

I for one am very excited to see what this movie is going to be about.  I'd be happy to buy the dvd, but I want to know if there are going to be any English subtitles available, or else, I'm just gonna be staring blankly at Aika.  It's exciting to see Aika in this movie, but at the same time, I don't want to see her get hurt, (let alone die).  This is a horror movie after all.

Hopefully, this will give Aika a boost of popularity.  I've been noticing lately that her popularity has been slowly increasing, seeing how more people are purchasing her goods, and I'm finding that her pictures and concert goods are sometimes first to be sold out.

Anyways, I think this movie is a great opportunity for Aika, and i'm very curious to see how her acting is.  Acting in a horror movie can be difficult because showing the emotion of fear can be hard to fake and capture.  This is why most horror movies are terrible in that sense.

I believe in Aika!  You should too!

DVD is set for release on January 7, 2011.

Aitai Lonely Christmas

Overview:

- So now it's my turn to review C-ute's latest single, Aitai Lonely Christmas.  Yay, Christmas song?  I like the idea of a holiday single, but that's because it's currently the holiday season.  When I listen to this song in March, it's gonna be a bit different.

- The first like 20 seconds of the song really thew me off.  It first sounded all twinkly, if you can imagine a twinkly sound of course, and then it went to a really low key on a piano.  Go listen to it, you'll know what i'm talking about.  I had to double check to see if I was listening to the right song lol.

- Anyways, the song is pretty good.  In my opinion, it's not as good as Dance de Bacoon was, but still good. 

-What is great about this song, though, is that the line distribution is much better then before.  Nakky actually gets to sing something, rather then just going "mou yada" or "suki suki suki."

- The song is definitely catchy, but it sounds more like something you would sway side to side holding up a lighter to, rather then dancing to.  I usually prefer upbeat songs, so you wont find this on my "gym playlist" lol.

Outfits:

- Aww, they all look so cozy!  Obviously, the outfits look very Christmasy.  The white is appropriate, seeing as the PV is based around a snowy set.  The black in most of their outfits offsets the white quite nicely.  

- I'm not totally loving Nakky's hat though.  It looks too big on her head.  I love her long wavy hair, and I'd prefer no hat on her at all, but since there's on obvious hat thing going on, maybe smaller next time? lol.

- Talking about hats, it really annoys me that Chisato's hat is NOT white.  WHY?  It's like HP is doing this to me on purpose.  And don't try to tell me that Mai's hat isn't white either.  ITS CLOSE ENOUGH.

Anyways, they all look soft and warm, and I just want to hug them.

PV:

- I don't think they could have found a creepier house-looking-thing for this PV.  I don't even.  It's like the doll house from hell. It would seem more appropriate if the girls inside were screaming for help.  Seriously.

- That's besides the point.  Now I guess we go "inside?"  Why in the hell would anyone...nevermind.

- What I noticed about this PV is that there are no smiles.  Everyone looks very solemn.

- From what I can understand from this song, is that they don't want to be sad on Christmas, and they want someone or something to come as their present on Christmas to make everything better.  Yay happy ending.

- To wrap things up, I actually do really like this song!  It's great, and the girls look and sound fantastic.  Nakky should have more lines then Mai in my opinion, but oh well.  Oh, and Chisato looks Russian.

Screenshots:

I know that look.  That's the "thanks for the crap gift" look.

This is the house that your parent's told you never to pay around.

Oh, she's one of those "do it yourself" gifters. >_>

Nakky's contemplating how her escape with a spot of tea.

 "Look at me i'm Russian ve don't drink tea ve drink Vodka!"

Okay i'll stop now, so stop giving me that look.

Daite Yo! Please Go On!

Now I present to you, my newest video, Daite Yo! Please Go On, sung by High-King at the Fankora concert earlier this summer.  I thought it was an awesome performance, and hey, we all love some more Aichan right?



 
To be honest, I didn't even realize that this was a Goto Maki song until I accidentally came across it on my iPhone earlier this morning.  I thought it was an original High-King song lol.  Anyways, the performance is great.  There's a lot of dancing which is always a plus.


The outfits are definitely creative, that's for sure.  They aren't that bad though.  They all have a pink/blue theme to them it seems.  What struck me as odd yet cool was Aichan's outfit.  Her skirt looks like an umbrella patched with old high school football jerseys.  Doesn't really matter though, since Aichan pretty much rocks anything she wears.

Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game

Overview:
Yeah, I know, i'm pretty late in talking about Morning Musume's new single.  So bite me.  Anyways, I'm totally fanboy-ing over this song!  It's just fantastic!  It's so nice to see after Seishun Collection (which was good, but not awesome like this one).  It has a great beat to it, and we get to see some action from the underdogs!  I love that I can get to hear Aika/Jun/Lin in the song.

Outfits:
The initial outfits for the song kinda scared me to be honest.  At first listen to the song, I had a competely different image in my head of what they would wear.  Actually, the military-esque outfits that they wore on the opening number of the Rival Survival concert would have suited the song quite well.
The main dresses for the PV look sorta like a cross between a hotel maid and a power ranger.  I'm not a big fan of them.  After watching the PV and seeing that they got nicer dresses, I was so happy!  So they balance each other out.

PV:
After the inital shock of the outfits, I was happy to see the PV.  It was a much better idea then Seishun Collection was.  I like how there are multiple shots too.  There's them against the white wall, then the black wall, then the close up with the plastic-leather-bubble-padded-narrow wall, close up pretty dress version, and the pretty dress standing in a pond of flowers version.  I don't really understand why they are standing in a puddle full of flower petals yet, but I don't really care.  It's awesome.


Screenshots:

 

Gaki's got that crazy hair thing going on.  I love it.

 Speaking of crazy hair...I didn't know this was a headbangers song!

Reina, what are you implying hmm?  Come with you? Sure!

I've always wanted a room with two angled black mattress looking walls.

It's pilates Momusu style!

 Alright, I'll stop making bad jokes, just don't look at me like that jeez!

Open For Business!

So, finally, the moment that everyone has been waiting for has arrived.  I, HelloRaffi, have opened up my own blog.  I had no intentions of making one, until a very specific someone (you know who you are), wouldn't let the thought leave my brain.  That's not all bad though, cause it actually made me want to start one, and here it is!

If you happen to find yourself lurking through this blog, then you're probably really bored.  I hope this blog is at least somewhat entertaining.  If you haven't noticed by now, my main topic of conversation will be Hello!Project.  Other then that, (since this is MY blog of course) I can drift off topic, which whoever is out there shouldn't mind reading.

So until I have something more interesting to say, go visit one of my friends blogs. :)

See, even Dawa was surprised that I opened up a blog.