Kisumai Magic 06 October 2015 episode review

So Kisumai GAME transitions into Kisumai Magic and seems to really have only changed in title and keeping to more low key games. Which of course means we continue on with magicians, but there are changes so it is not the same tired game.

Instead of simply tricking Kis-My-Ft2 and their guest we have a competition between returning magician Fujii Akira and a trio of young magicians he has to face in three rounds of competition.

The guys watch the trick then hold up one of three signs with their answer and each wrong answer awards the magician points.

The guest for this episode is judo practitioner Shinohara Shinichi. I do not see how magic tricks and judo mix but Shinohara proved to be a solid guest as he looks to be rather sharp. He even had a magic trick of his own to show off at the end.

There is no one member that stands out for this episode but there was an entertaining bit when they were discussing if the cameraman in their midst had a good view to be able to see through the tricks.


Honestly I am rather shocked that I ended up kinda liking this episode. The magician episodes in GAME were easily some of the most boring but all the changes they made really improved the enjoyment factor with Magic. The competition is far more engaging since there are actual clear winners and losers unlike previously where there did not seem to be much in the way of rules so it was hard to tell if anything was at stake. So far the change from GAME to Magic is looking to be a good one.

The next episode brings back the voice actor guessing game. I enjoyed these episodes with GAME and it does not look like they changed much so I am looking forward to this one.

Johnny's WEST - Paripipo RE album review

Artist: Johnny's WEST
Title: Paripiro
Release date:  2015
Type: mini-album
Version: RE

Packaging: Seeing as the group is on the Johnny's Entertainment label the packaging is on the plain side. There is a front and back jacket with the front jacket being a part of the lyric booklet. The inside of the booklet is pretty plain with the lyrics on white with little stars spread over the page. At the very end there are small solo shots of all the members placed across two pages.

The dancing baby thing that looks to have become the group's mascot makes its debut here on the CD and behind it on the inside facing side of the back jacket. Honestly I could do without it as it just weirds me out. I do rather like the photos used for this release. They convey a lot of fun and energy, or basically a lot of what this group's image is. There are three group shots in total and the solo images I have already mentioned.

Tracks:

1. パリピポアンセム (Paripipo Anthem)
This song is a mess, which actually makes it a good song to sum up this album with. It starts off sounding like it wants to be another fun song like their A-sides tend to be but then add in conflicting elements, like the rap sections, and does several change ups that just do not flow together well. It is almost as if it wants to cover all the sounds of the other tracks on the mini album but seeing as those all do not go together it ends up with a mess as it does not seem to know what it wants to be.

2. Toxic Love
A more standard pop song and one of the stronger tracks on the album. It has a dance pop vibe to it and the chorus is catchy. I do not think I care too much for the first rap section as it grinds everything to a standstill though there definitely needed to be some kind of change up in the song at that part. That and the rap is better incorporated into the song going on from there. That said there is nothing overly stand out about the track though the chorus does help it stop from being forgettable.

3. キミコイ (Kimi Koi)
And this song is where the mini album begins to fall apart. Because after two very pop songs with a dance flavor we have this song. A jazzy big band sounding song that really only has the fact that it is an uptempo song in common with the song before it. Outside of that it is not a bad song at all though it does feel rather paint by numbers in making sure it has everything a song of this genre needs to have. It also lacks an interesting hook so outside of the genre it can be easily over looked.

4. SCARS
Then we get a slow tempo song that is nice enough on its own but is yet another jarring switch going from the previous song. And mostly because it is another genre switch as things go back to a more standard pop sound. And standard is a pretty good description of the song as while it is pleasant to listen to there is nothing to hook a listener in. By the time it moves to catch things up it is coming off as a bit dull, especially after repeat listens.

5. アカンLOVE ～純情愛やで～ (Akan LOVE ~Junjo Ai Yade~)
While this is another change up with this being an uptempo high energy song it does not seem too jarring compared to the previous two. Perhaps because it is not such a complete genre change as well. It is a nice way to wake you up again if SCARS was putting you to sleep. It reminds me of the kinds of songs that V6 used to sing during their early years in the early 00s. And not in a bad way at all. The chorus is nice and catchy and the driving beat throughout keeps it going and helps it transition through the change ups in the song.

6. Mambo de WEST!
This song brings the group back to the fun pop songs their A-sides have mostly been. Thankfully it does not sound much like those, which is probably mostly in thanks to the fact they needed to have a mambo sound to it somewhere to live up to the song name. But it is still quite a bit of fun listening to and a nice bright spot on this album.

I had forgotten that this was the first bonus track for the regular edition as it is a nice fit and honestly would have been good to end the album with.

7. PARTY MANIACS
The second bonus track of the regular edition and the one that feels like it was just tacked onto the end of the album because they had no idea where else to put it. This song would have fit much better at the start of the album with the other dance-pop songs and is just jarring at the end where it does not sound like any of the songs near it. Unlike Toxic Love that is more a pop song with dance influence this is more of a full on dance song with an edge to it that the rest of the songs do not have. In fact it feels like a song that Kis-My-Ft2 might have passed on for one of their releases. It is not a bad song but feels out of place with most of the album having it placed at the end as it is.


Overall: This is the release that finally lost me with Johnny's WEST. It is as much a mess as its lead track and is another sign that management has little idea of what to make of the group. I dropped getting Hey! Say! JUMP releases because they have become directionless and with each new release JWest seems to have already facing the same issue. It is like all management knows is that they want them to be like Kanjani8 because they are also from Kansai but without the band element. And it is frustrating as the group has a lot of promise but it is just going to be squandered if they are not given more than that.

For the release itself the few songs I liked just is not enough anymore to keep me interested in what the group is releasing. Though I do think this could have been put together much better if someone wanted to give it a little more effort. Like if Toxic Love was switched with Mambo de WEST! the mini album would have flowed so much better. And it would hardly be the first time bonus tracks were inserted in the middle of an album track list for the group as their debut album did so. Which makes it infuriating that the producer of this album did not think of doing something so simple.

One of the nice things about this mini-album is that at least the songs do not sound like clones of what they have released before. Unfortunately the general lack of cohesion of the tracks really drags it down.

Uta no Prince-sama - Maji Love 1000% - Idol Song Shinomiya Natsuki CD review

Title: Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love 1000% Idol Song Shinomiya Natsuki
Artists: Shinomiya Natsuki (Taniyama Kisho)
Release date: 24 August 2011
Version: n/a

Packaging: This does not break away from what the rest of the series of singles has for packaging. The main differences is the use of Natsuki's character color, yellow, and the artwork of the character. Instead of showing him as his usual cheerful self it is of the more serious side that is depicted but the care that is almost always there in his eyes can be seen so it does well to show off an aspect of the character.

Tracks:

1. オリオンでSHOUT OUT (Orion de SHOUT OUT)
A rock song that in the anime is technically performed by Natsuki's split personality, Satsuki. Which is why I am assuming this song breaks the mold of the other anime character songs and does not feature Natsuki's character instrument of the viola. While a rock song does not seem to fit Natsuki's personality it is a perfect fit for his other personality of Satsuki who is more aggressive. Plus this song does well to fit where it does in the anime series and has a stronger impression on me for that. But Taniyama's vocals fit well with this kind of song so I am glad that Natsuki ends up with this style of song for his character songs.

2. Top Star Revolution
The viola missing from the first track does feature in this high energy rock-ish tune. It was a driving beat that it kicks off with and carries through the song. It brings a sense of urgency to the song and it works surprisingly well with the viola parts. It has some nice change ups with instruments coming in and going throughout the song so it never comes close to sounding stale. It also gives some chances for Taniyama's vocals to shine with some higher notes that let you hear his vibrato and his control over it.

3. オリオンでSHOUT OUT (Orion de SHOUT OUT) (off vocal)
4. Top Star Revolution (off vocal)


Overall: I really enjoy Natsuki's character songs. From my love of rock pop, driving beats and the mix of string instruments with rock instruments everything seems to be covered. And Taniyama's voice goes well with this style as it is not one that will get drowned out easily by the music. The songs overall just come off as strong and fit well with the character in the sense that it is the bolder Satsuki that is the one that tends to come out to perform.

One of my favorite character singles from this series of Uta no Prince-sama singles, if just because the songs touch on so many of my music preferences. So if your taste seems to be similar to mine then you will probably enjoy this as well.

Taguchi deguchi

This is honestly the hardest post I have written for this blog. To try to make it easier I am going to try looking at everything known so far and give my thoughts subject by subject.

The Announcement

Taguchi Junnosuke has announced that he will be leaving not only KAT-TUN but also Johnny's & Associates. The exact date is not known but it is planned to be sometime in the Spring of next year. He mentioned something along the lines that as he was turning 30 soon he has felt that he was not satisfied with his life and wanted to change that.

The Speculation

It has been a well known fact with fans of the group that Junno has had a long term girlfriend so plenty are speculating that at least part of his reason for leaving is to get married and start a family. Something being an idol makes hard to do. Though I think it is more than that, though I would not be shocked to hear about getting married within the next year.

He was never one of the members of the group that got much of a push or that much solo work. So wanting to strike out on his own is understandable. I can see him doing more with being a dancer as that was always something that seemed to be his forte.

Considering how he got to announce his leaving, the fact that he will still have months with the group before he does and the messages from other members of the group have given I would saw that this is something Junno really wants. And it is nice to see someone leave the agency amicably for a change.

The Location

I did find it odd for this announcement to happen on a program like Best Artist. It was awkward and did feel like an attention grab. I cannot help but wonder if management told the Junno to do it there so they could get extra buzz from it. Of course the group looked to be well aware of things though still distraught as there was no turning back from this.

That said this was still the best leaving announcement that Johnny's has had anyone give as most of the time such things come with a scandal attached. But since there seems to be none here they look to be trying to do things properly, or maybe at least in a way to give the group a boost before losing yet another member.

KAT-TUN's Future

Since Junno is not immediately leaving the chances of him getting an actual send off of sorts seems like a real possibility. Certainly one final concert with the group and since the members have brought up their 10th debut anniversary on March 22nd I have the feeling that is a part of the reason why he is staying until Spring of the next year.

That said with KAT-TUN down to three members it does cast doubt on the survival of the group. If it breaks up I can see Kamenashi Kazuya and Nakamaru Yuichi staying on with the agency as they have work through them. Ueda Tatsuya I would worry about staying on as he is not nearly as busy and seems like he may want to give being a musician without the idol hangups a go. But that is if they do not decide to continue as a trio. I do think as long as the members want to the agency will keep the group going.

Personal Thoughts

My heart is broken. I may have never been a big KAT-TUN fan but I did enjoy the group and was an active fan for few years. The first Johnny's concert I ever went to was one of the Tokyo Dome concerts for their Break the Records shows. From the get go Junno was my favorite member and seeing him perform live and see him show that he cared about trying to interact with the fans, he was the only one I could see looking at the higher levels consistently and even tried to get a sign board up to the higher levels, only made me a bigger fan.

Even when I stopped being a KAT-TUN fan I never stopped being a Junno fan. I kept up with the group passively just in case of news about him and gladly purchased the Face to Face single to get his solo song and PV.

The selfish fan part of me does not want him to leave and just wants him to change his mind and stay, if not with KAT-TUN at least with Johnny's. I know he is not going to disappear once he leaves but I do not want this change.

But that selfishness does not rule what kind of fan I am. I will be happy for him and support him with my well wishes for whatever he decides to do with his life. He has already given about half of it so far to being in the entertainment industry and my fond memories are not going to disappear when he leaves the agency. And at least I have the time to prepare myself for his departure, something so few fans get when someone leaves Johnny's. I wish I could see him perform once more with KAT-TUN, but that would be impossible for me. Instead I am just going to hope they do a final concert and it gets a home video release I can purchase.

I have cried a little and each time I think about this I get teary eyed. Until the end I want to support Junno, so until then it is still Iriguchi, Deguchi, Taguchi.

Kisumai GAME 29 September 2015 episode review

The final episode of the show before it was changed to Kisumai Magic. And it ends with a magic episode, which I feel is a great let down. I would have much preferred another drone or sport related game for it. That said this was another okay episode with the magic tricks.

There are a few major changes to the format outside of where they filmed it. They have a studio audience behind them and instead of just the three that are a part of the trick all the members of the group get to guess who has the handkerchief at the end.

The first round is with the magician Motti, who is one of the returning magicians for the show. While he did the usual pocket checks with the other two he had rather interesting instructions for Senga Kento. Senga just cannot seem to win in these magician episodes.

Next is another familiar face for those watching the show, Dr. Leon. His trick unfortunately was very similar to one that had been used in the previous episode so that was a bit of a let down.

The third and final round goes to new faces, a magician duo that is called Napoleons. Their hint was basically the same as the rest, that you need to look for differences in how they do the trick.

Yokoo Wataru definitely wins for having the most interesting moment for being a complete troll for the reveal at the end of the trick. In fact overall he seemed to be rather on point in the episode and looked to be having fun.


I am so glad they made sure to try new things with the magician episodes so it was not too grueling to get through so many of them. It is still disappointing that the show could not have had one of the more fun and active games to end off with. But I guess that in the end it had to come down to budgeting issues as these late night programs do not get much of one to run on.

Since Kisumai Magic looks to have more of the same episodes as Kisumai GAME I will be going ahead and reviewing those episodes. So next week will be a review of the first episode of that.

Kis-My-Ft2 - Kiss Damashii RE single review

Artist: Kis-My-Ft2
Title: Kiss Damashii
Release date:  25 March 2015
Type: single
Version: RE

Packaging: Like with all recent Kis-My-Ft2 releases the packaging is really nice. It comes with a slip cover and the jewel case it covers is definitely of a higher standard that the usual ones used for CD releases. I don't care for the lips with headphones logo used on this, but I do not hate it either. Plus I do like the fact that they are using member colors throughout this, which the logo is mostly used for. Any cover that shows all the members equally is a big plus for me. And not only does the cover do that but it actually spreads out KiFT a bit so the usual split is not really noticeable. The booklet has two group photos then individual photos. As a nice touch the individual photos all use the colors of the members as the background.

Tracks:

1. Kiss魂 (Kiss Damashii)
What jumps out at me each time I listen to this song is the fact that it sounds so much like like a song they already released, Unmei Girl. While there are differences they are just enough alike that it gives me pause each time I listen to Kiss Damashii as I just think about how similar it is. Especially the "Come on" lines as that was something that stands out in my mind when I think of Unmei Girl so having it used in this song in the same way just bothers me.

2. Shake Body!!
While the chorus sounds a bit like another song of the group's, everything else is enough of a break away from what they have done it is forgivable. Or at least not as obvious and easier to enjoy the song. I do like how the rap parts are incorporated into the song, as it works quite well. There are several parts of the song that seem to switch to a bit of a different sound but nothing that strays too far to make it sound out of place. A fun dance pop song for the group and could have easily been the A-side.

3. サクラヒラリ (Sakura Hirari)
A slow tempo song that breaks away from the other songs on the single. The song overall just has this "chill" factor to it and is just relaxing listening to. It is quite the switch from the previous two songs but works to balance the single out. I enjoy the fact that this is more lax with the instrumentals so the voices are put front and center.

4. Past & Future
I really like this B-side with how it builds from the versus into the chorus. It gives it a dramatic feeling to it, especially once it hits the chorus. It is on the slower side of things, though not as slow as Sakura Hirari. More like the verses are slow with the chorus picking the tempo up a bit. And while it does nothing overly impressive with the song it never lets things overstay their welcome and makes the needed change ups to keep it sounding fresh.


Overall:
The B-sides are easily the strongest tracks as the title track does feel like it is just another take on a song they already have released. The rest have enough to keep them apart from previous releases while still keeping to the style of songs that Kisumai do.

The single is a good example of Kisumai's style of music though and is pretty solid. Again the enjoyment of the A-side is really only hampered by the fact that it sounds so similar to Unmei Girl. But if you have not heard that song then there will be a greater chance of enjoying Kiss Damashii as it is a fun energetic pop tune.

Getting into My Hero Academia

I have been a fan of superheroes since I was a child and that love has never completely gone away. Though these days I do not read many American superhero comics regularly, as I find many go into the "dark and gritty" to prove some kind of maturity. But thankfully there are some exceptions to that, Ms. Marvel being a shining light for that. As superhero movies being global hits they are seeping into the media of other countries, and Japan picking it up should be no surprise. Superheroes are not a far cry from some of their own hero fare, just usually they did not wear capes, unless they were made of bread. There has been dabbling in the genre for some years and in the past few there has been a rise in series based off the premise of superheroes, like Tiger & Bunny, One Punch Man and one of the more recent series, My Hero Academia.

One thing I enjoy about the Japanese takes on the superhero genre is that they have the fun element to them that I find largely missing from American superhero comics, though oddly enough that is a prominent style to Marvel's movies. But because of this I am willing to give superhero manga a try at least and I am so glad I did with My Hero Academia.

It does not break far from the usual Weekly Shounen Jump mold but has enough unique flavors to it to make it an enjoyable read. The super hero school setting is a perfect way to get the WSJ and superhero tropes to mix as well as give them a new twist.

I love the character designs and the kinetic artwork of mangaka Horikoshi Kohei. I am not familiar with his past series but this looks to be his break out series. And I hope it continues for some time if just to see Horikoshi become (hopefully) better at his craft.

Also seeing different powers and how the characters use them in battle has always been something I have enjoyed with superheroes. Or at least when it involves stories where a character has to be creative with their abilities and just cannot simply overpower their foe. It helps that even though the hero of the series, Midoriya "Deku" Izuku, has a power that looks to be mostly overwhelming strength he cannot depend on it because of his lack of control and naturally being powerless before made him into more of strategist.

Overall I am enjoying the series so far and see a lot of potential with it, especially as it is willing to give some decent character development and exploration to the side characters. I have always liked series with large casts so that is another point in its favor for me.

There is no word yet for when the anime will premiere but I am hoping for a spring debut. Partly so there is more of the manga out as it is still a fairly new series so it most likely is not going to become another long running Weekly Shonen Jump series like One Piece or Naruto. So far the little promotion for the anime that has been released so far look really promising. (Anime News Network article ) I will be glad to have it start airing to bring in more fans and I know I am going to want to review the episodes.

I just hope it keeps things on its current level of story telling and action and does not fizzle out like some other Shounen Jump series I used to follow. Which is mainly Bleach. It had so much promise but sank so quickly after a point. I am still bitter about it. But I do want to remain optimistic about the series and at least for now I have a new series to give me my fun superhero fix.