Top Stuff of 2008

Hi people! I’m not going to be here for new years (because I’m going to Tokyo, baby! w00t!) so I decided I’d do a countdown of the best of 2008. AKB48 wins by default in all my categories XD but those ones are all  going to be in Aitakatta! and I’ll focus in the non-AKB stuff for now.

Top 3 LOLs of 2008

3. Sawajiri Erika is going to marry a guy who could be her dad…: Well, I don’t care about who marries who but its the controversy surrounding this one what really made me LOL. Apparently, she isn’t very convincing about her love for the guy, and thus people are in shock. Publicity stunt much? LOL

2. Koda Kumi’s MAJOR mess up: You know, some 6 months ago, Koda Kumi said that women shouldn’t have children after they’re 35 years old because their amniotic fluid is rotten or something along those lines O_o I don’t want to hate on Kumi, because I’m sure it was just a dumb thing she said, and she didn’t mean to insult so many women, but the way it came back to bite her in the a$$ was just hilarious! BTW, people should really advise her to keep her mouth shut about sensible stuff like this! I’m not a Koda Kumi fan, but I certainly enjoy her music, and I’m glad that she just brushed it off after a while and kept rocking. But yeah, LOL.

1. HANGRY & ANGRY: Come on! If this PV didn’t make you LOL nothing will. Now don’t get me wrong, I really admire Yossie and Rika is one of my favorite H!P girls because of her incredibly charismatic persona… But this is just ridiculous. An Ishiyoshi unit was always a dream, kind of like GAM, and then they dress them up in these really hardcore Gothloli dresses, with the awful hair and give them one of the cheapest PVs I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been a H!P fan for quite some time now, I should know about cheap PVs…) Yossie’s angry faces are too much, Rika just can’t feel comfortable dressed like that, and the spikey hair does no good for her. She is (for the first time in her long career) completely out of her element, and it shows. I like their songs, sure, butplease don’t ever give them guitars again. Especially not to Rika. XD  Well, let’s look at it on the bright side: LOL.

Top 5 Best PVs of 2008

5. Otsuka Ai – Kurage Nagareboshi: I’m a big fan of Ai-chin, although I very rarely fangirl her XD This was my favorite release of hers in 2008, especially because of the simplistic but hauntingly beautiful PV. The piano in the sea at night, and the loneliness that it conveys is touching. Loved it.BTW, you know that avex is a b*tch when it comes to copyright issues, so the only version I found was this with spanish subs XD But it works to give you an idea of what the wonderful PV looks like..

4. Perfume – Baby Cruising Love: This PV is amazing. It’s heart warming, cute, interesting and cool, all in one. I absolutely adore the outfits (especially A-chan’s <3) and the light bulb thing they do (you’ll understand if you’ve seen it XD) is both awesome and cute. Just like Perfume.

3.  Perfume – Secret Secret: I’m completely win over by this amazing PV. It has a classy aura, and a mysteirous feel to it, without losing the fun! Plus, Electro World outfits make a guest appearance <3. This was one of the best songs of the year too, you just never get tired of watching this PV.

2. Buono – Renai Rider: Renai Rider is Buono! at its best. It’s a great song with just enough elements of punk to make it sound cool without overdoing it. And the PV is both adorable and kickass at the same time! The outfits are cute, the dance is simple but works well, and Momo’s tricycle is EPIC. This remains my favorite Buono! song for now, and it probably won’t change anytime soon

1. Perfume – Dream Fighter: I ADORE this PV, I’m going to write a review about it at some point, but just now that I adore it! A-chan is my favorite Perfume member, but Nocchi was just FIERCE in this PV, and Kashiyuka was as awesome as she always is. The outfits are spot on, the simplicity of the PV makes it enjoyable to watch and contrasts nicely with the complex dance moves. It’s great to see Perfume just being their own selves, with not much else added. It has a charm of its own.

Top 3 Best Albums of 2008

3. C-ute -3rd Love Escalation-: Geez I’ve just discovered that I spent all of 2008 fangirling AKB and thus barely lstened to any of the albums released this year XD Anyway, I liked C-ute’s album, but I seem to be in a minority, since I read many reviews rating it as average. I’m not a C-ute fan, I just love Airi and Maimi, and like Kanna, Erika and Chisato. But I’m not going to rave on about hem for hours like I do for my favorite groups or singers. I found this album entertaining, and a good listen. I can’t remember some songs right off the bat by just looking at the tracklist, but I thought it was well balanced. My favorite track is Sweets —->live, which is amusing, because it’s one of the most bashed tracks in everyone’s reviews XD This album included Tokaikko Junjou which is C-ute’s best sigle ever (IMO) so it was good. And yeah, next year I’ll try to listen to more stuff so that I don’t end up babbling about an album I barely listened to XD

2. Berryz Koubou – Five: I <3 Berryz, and this album is amazing! I like the stronger sound they have here, and how well the girls sound, I’m proud of them! So, since I really loved the album (and because I only babbled nonsensically in the above album comment XD) I’ll do a mini review:

1. HAPPY! Stand up: I love this song. It’s high energy and kind of badass. I love Captain’s lines here, with a passion. And Miya’s too. If the song title didn’t have “Happy” in it, it would be SO much better though

2. Kono Yubi Tomare: Sounds like an old-school Ayaya song, and that is always a great thing <3 Also, Maasa and Chinami get some love, and they work really well with Momoko! Great song.

3. Baka ni Shinaide: My favorite song in the album hands down. It features my favorite member (Yurina) with strong voices Miiya and Captain and plus, Risako, whose voice I like This is a rock number, and it’s just BADASS! I didn’t believe that the girls had it in them to rock out, and it was a pleasant surprise!

4. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance: Eclectic album indeed. From the rocking Baka ni Shinaide we move to the silly and hyper Monkey Dance. I’ve always loved this song, it’s so much fun and so infectious. Plus, Chinami’s “Banzai” line is pure moe–

5. Ah Merry-go-Round: An RnB number sung by Momo and Captain. It sounds great, because they are both great singers, and there are lovely harmonies included as well <3! I’m not much of a fan of that style, nonetheless but yeah, enjoyable.

6. CLAP!: Yurina, Chinami and Miiya do an amazing song! Thank God the lyrics don’t say clap, or they could end up sounding like “crap” which would spoil it a bit for me XD Ok, bad jokes aside, I like this energetic and feel-good guitar driven song a lot! <3

7. REAL LOVE: This is the song people will hate on forever and ever just because it’s Rii’s XD I like it, musically it reminds me of the early Gocchin songs, and a bit of Gomattou which I loved. It’s kind of a slow-ish song, but I like it. Not LOVE it, though, especially not at the ridiculous lenght it has…

8. Yume no Hitotsubu -Berryz Kamen Ending Theme-: Now this song right here is the highlight of the album! It features Maasa at her best, and it has a funky background music that sounds typically spanish and flamenco like and then turns into something that sounds strangely russian during the chorus O_o I love it!

9. Dschingis Kahn: I like it. That’s all. With this song, you either love or hate, and I love it.

10. Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi: I’m one of the few people in the world who actually enjoyed this single. Oh well.

11. BE: A ballad… ew. It sounds pretty, I guess. Who the hell are those kids? This sounds like Disney! It bores me to death though.

12. Special Generation Remix: Not needed. Whatever

1. Perfume – GAME: Ok, no GAME mini review, because I’ll do a real one later on This album had a lot to live up to, since Complete Best was so good, but it managed to surpass its predecessor and establish Perfume as the greatest technopop group ever (not that there are many out there, but still XD) There’s not a single dull moment when you listen to it (and yeah, Take me Take me isn’t boring, if you think it is then you aren’t imagining Kashiyuka doing the dance with the chair while you listen to it!). It has a great balance of happy songs, slightly more serious stuff and things that you can just headbang to. Awesomeness.

Ok, this is long as HELL. But I really felt like writing it Well, people, see you next time, maybe I’ll be able to squeeze an update in before I leave, but I don’t promise anything XD Have fun!