Hi people! I’m in Tokyo right now, it’s a dream come true :3 But it’s also the reason why I haven’t updated in a million years… Sorry about that! I hope that all of you had a great New Years celebration, and of course, Happy New Year, everyone!!! I hope that you all can achieve all of your dreams this year and be really happy 
(and buy tons of Perfume CDs/DVDs as well )
So, people, what have I been up to here? Well, I’ve been hanging out in Akihabara every single day XD And as a result, I’ve been able to buy some really cool idol stuff that I wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise, probably!
Particularly, I managed to buy SweetS first mini album! HUGE nostalgia trip! It’s been like 3 years already and I can’t freaking get over them. I just adore them. So, I’ve decided to introduce all of you to these amazing and defunct loli group… They deserved so much better than what they got u_u
So, first of all, the members!
Name: 柏木亜季子 (Akiko Kashiwagi)
Nick: Aki
Date of Birth: August 24 1990
Place of Birth: Osaka
Height: 150 cm
Aki was the leader of SweetS, and the girl who got the most lines other than the lead singers (it isn’t very significant either way, though 8D). Most people didn’t really like her all that much, I’ve actually never met anyone who had her as their favorite member… Poor Aki. She was an ok performer, not spectacular at dancing or anything, but she definitely wasn’t bad either! I like her voice, which is sweet and rather plain, but she was out of pitch quite a bit sometimes. What I liked the most about Aki was her dominant personality. She was a cam-whore 100%, especially on TV shows and the such. Since she wasn’t a lead singer, she didn’t get as much face time as other members, but whenever there was a talk segment she wouldn’t close her mouth AT ALL. She even repeated what other members said in order to simply be heard XD Pretty funny, IMO. Also, she was in charge of MCs and the such, and she was very good at it. Definitely a confident and sassy girl, perfect for the leader position.
Name: 吉村綾花 (Ayaka Yoshimura)
Nickname: Aya, Aya-neechan
Date of Birth: September 22 1990
City: Osaka
Height: 159cm
Aya was my favorite member. For no particular reason at all, you see, I have a thing with some idols, like a connection, and once that weird thing happens, I can’t go back and like another girl. Like an idol radar of sorts XD. It doesn’t mean that there’s no reason to like her, on the contrary, being a lead singer, she got TONS of face time on PVs and performances, and her voice is just incredible. Seriously powerful and always on pitch, she’s an outstanding singer hands down. Not such a great dancer, but she wasn’t bad either! Plus, it must’ve been tiresome to belt all of those lines and keep up with the dance steps, so bear with her, dammit! Aya is one of those “quiet, shy and not so intersting” characters that seem to plague the idol world lately (like Aichan or Konno, to name just 2), but there was more to her than she let on! I remember a Tv show where she said that she had confessed her love to like 3 guys in a row or something like that That was funny, and unexpected too!
Name: 竹輪春奈 (Haruna Takewa)
Nickname: Haruna, Haruu~
Date of Birth: April 23 1991
City: Nagasaki
Height: 156 cm
Haruna was everybody’s favorite XD She’s one of those idols who *have it*. Like Gocchin, for example. You just know that there’s something special about them. Haruna was a multi tasker, she was a lead singer, with her clear powerful voice, that contrasted beautifully with Aya’s deep one. She was also one of the best dancers in the group, if not the best! Everyone talked about Mai being the best, but Haruna just made it all seem so easy, like it was natural for her to go into dancing frenzy and she enjoyed every minute of it. What makes it all the more impressive is the fact that she had only a slightly smaller number of songs than Aya, yet she pwned all the others at dancing. I really want to see Haru pop up somewhere else, she’s SUCH a talented idol, that kind of skill shouldn’t be wasted…
Name: 瀧本美織 (Miori Takimoto)
Nickname: Mii-chan
Date of Birth: October 16 1991
City: Tottori
Height: 153 cm
Miori… I just <3 her. She was my second favorite member, again, for no reason at all XD But with Miori it’s a bit different, she’s the type of girl that simply has a special secret charm that you can’t quite point out but makes you watch her in awe even if she’s just standing there looking uninterested or babbling or something. Like AKB’s Acchan or H!P’s Nacchi, for example. Miori was this type of idol, and she was just so lovely! She almost never got lines, but she was quite a good singer, and had the deepest voice of all of the girls. They should’ve let her sing some more X_X Anyhow, surprisingly enough, even in spite of her lack of lines, she’s probably the most famous post-SweetS girl. She did an advertising campaign for some sort of high school, appeared in the japancse playboy magazine (not in a bad way, of course) and was featured in the PV of a girl duo named Himori or something like that. Not bad at all! But I still want to see her sing!!! People were hating on her when SweetS broke up, even blaming her for it indirectly, because she was a succesful model when they disbanded and was so busy with that job that she didn’t attend their final live event. You know, w/e, the group was going to hell anyway, don’t blame Miichan, love her!
Name: 岩崎舞 (Mai Iwasaki)
Nickname: Mai!, Ganmai, Mai-tan
Date of Birth: October 1st 1991
City: Nagasaki
Height: 150 cm
Mai is a cutie. She was always full of energy and all over the place, saying the most random stuff in interviews and smiling all the time! She was the worst singer of the group, her voice became raspy and flat after dancing a little, but that’s understandable, seeing how she was very energetic in all of her dance moves and stuff. I liked her, especially since she was very entertaining and endearing with her tomboyish, child like qualities. She got near to zero lines in songs, yet she was active after SweetS disbanded singing at some avex events or something. She’s got a great personality for TV, she should pursue that, maybe.
And now, the next point! The music!
SweetS music had various periods. Their first mini album was completely composed by BOUNCEBACK, which made for dramatic pop, very danceable and remarkably catchy. After the serious FAIL of the sales number for that album, BB called it quits and the girls started working with different material. This time, it was mostly typical idol pop, but with the advantage of having two great vocalists in Haruna and Aya, the songs have a different quality to them, they sound like “real” music XD.
Their PVs are also worth mentioning, since the group was very focused on being good performers (they trained for a year before their debut), their choreographies were very well executed and PVs focused on them most of the time. Also, their clothes were very important because they advertised a clothing company called “Pentys”. Those are some cute clothes! I don’t know if the brand still exists after their break up, but I guess it probably does.
Here are my picks of favorite 5 PVs so that you can check them out yourself
Love Raspberry Juice: With lyrics more fit for Koda Kumi than a bunch of pre teens, this song is a Jpop classic for me 8D It’s danceable, catchy and cute all at the same time. Also, the girls look tiny in the PV, it’s pretty cute!
Love like Candy Floss: Geez, I obsessed about this song for like a whole year, it was insane! It’s an incredibly good pop number, and features Haruna as the main vocalist, which gives the song a whole different vibe, but still, amazing.
Mienai Tsubasa: This is from their “second” era, after BOUNCEBACK left them. I love this song, it’s so uplifting without sounding too cliche or anything like that. There are like 1000 versions of this PV, but I’ll just link to this rather simple one that focuses on the choreography. If you want to look up the others, you are totally welcome to do so on Youtube 8D There’s a pretty cute one with only scenes of them at Hawaii having fun and being kids… Good stuff!
Grow Into Shinin’ Stars: This was SweetS highest ranked single ever, and that was like at position 250 at Oricon X_x I never quite understood why they were so unpopular with the japanese fans, but they’re already gone now, so what difference does it make… This is a fairly catchy number, and the PV is pretty cute, at the planetarium (I LOVE planetariums).
Color of Tears: This was their final single before they disbanded. I love this song, they all get lines (not anywhere near an even lie distribution, though LOL) and it just… feels right. It’s also quite impressive to compare them here and in their former PVs, where they are just little girls. This is a very good song, and it also has a nice, soothing PV. A great send-off.
Ok, so that’s all. Now go and do some research, and mourn them, because they are freaking gone D:
(Random fact #1: The MC that Miori did short after SweetS disbanded was for a cram school called Waseda Academy. That cram school is like 2 blocks away from the hotel I’m staying at O_O. It’s a sign! I must never get over them and keep whining about their awesomeness forever!!!)
