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She’s more like a lioness, really.
Kuroki Meisa‘s bedroom eyes should be banned from all countries.
Perhaps her eyes themselves should be banned, period.
You see, a hellcat, according to thefreedictionary.com, is:
hell·cat (hlkt) n. Informal
1a. A woman regarded as bad-tempered and evil.
1b. A woman who practices sorcery; a witch.
2. A person who torments others.
Now, we can’t have that loose on the world, can we? Her eyes are tormenting enough already, what with the lovely bouts of jealousy and lust they incite in others, and so I offer to you the less inciting cover above. Also, I just don’t like an abundance of hair, and she practically had a mane in the other cover that reminded me of Amuro Namie on a frizzy hair day. But if you need something to jack off to, then who am I to deprive?
HIMEKA may not have a meaning, but she had a goal
HIMEKA, also known as Catherine St. Onge, is a success story that goes beyond the tales of other “overseas talent breaking into the Japanese music industry” tales.
For one thing, as far as we know, she’s not Japanese. (Everyone else has been raised in Japan – Crystal Kay – or partially East Asian. Even JERO had some of the blood… somewhere.) She’s Canadian. And while we’re on it, her Japanese skills aren’t that great either. She’s admitted as much herself.
For another, she’s 27. I don’t mean to be pointing out her age, but the Japanese business is renowned for the overall younger-is-better attitude they seem to have. Leah Dizon was 20 – or 19 – when she got her contract and moved to Japan.
And last, she wasn’t so much discovered sitting around in Canada with whatever overseas/international auditions were being held; she moved to Japan and won her chance in the Second Annual Animax Anison Grand Prix.
The result of this, a contract with SONY. So between you, me, and at least a hundred others according to her facebook fangroup… yeah, I’d say she’s done pretty well for herself.
Her first single, 明日へのキズナ [Asu he no KIZUNA], isn’t released until May 27th, but you can currently hear it as the opening to the anime series Valkryia Chronicles, or a short clip in the commercial for the single above. You can also find more videos of her performing and singing thanks to the YouTube fan user HIMEKAMediaArchive. While some may denounce her as an anime song artist and less “legit” than someone in the business without the anime tie-ins (Here’s looking at you, Raid!) – it’s what she wanted to do, and she made it. She sounds great doing it, too – her stage moniker, HIMEKA, doesn’t have an actual meaning beyond being the name of a character she once wrote, but you could easily substitute the characters 姫歌 (princess+song) and it wouldn’t be far off from the image she’s got now. Hint, hint to her marketers.
While this is obviously belated – congratulations, Ms. St. Onge! Or HIMEKA, as may be the case now. Girls with a similar dream are no doubt waiting for you to wow the world. You’ve wowed me already, at the least.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it!
I hate having to eat my words. Not literally, of course, though I guess if they were printed with butter on a slice of brioche-esque brick toast it wouldn’t be quite so bad.
No, see, I carelessly remarked to Ruri that Inoue Joe‘s latest single, 幻 [Maboroshi], wasn’t as fun as his last. Well, start rounding up that bread and butter.
Dangerous Girls are the Most Fun Kind.
Kuroki Meisa makes me a very very Bad Girl.
A little over half a year ago, I posted on her video Like This and remarked on her similarities to two other acts – career-wise, to one Yamada Yu. Image/song wise, to one Amuro Namie.
Well now we can throw a little Koda Kumi into the mix too.
Wait, did I say a little? I meant a lot.
And girl, do I approve. Kuroki’s clearly taken a few stripper dance classes since her first video and brings out all the sexy you ever wanted but were too afraid to ask for. Complete with inappropriate panting, lots of shots into her cleavage, wild tossing of hair, pelvic thrusting and just her general sexy looks. Unfortunately her vocals don’t seem to have improved any, but fortunately the song – a heavily synthed R&B affair – is such that good vocals aren’t required to carry the song. It’s a fun listen, and that’s all it needs to be.
Would it be bad to say I became seriously attracted to her during this? Because she’s right, you know. “Love is not everything,” not when you have as much sex appeal as she does. Admittedly, sometimes the sexy did feel bit overemphasized, like they were afraid the song wouldn’t sell without the boobs and the thrusts. But once you grow to accept it as an essential part of the song’s being, it works. And for those who can’t handle the imagery from the video, the song is sexy in its own right.
I’d still sort of like it if she had grown into her own, instead of being a combination of various selling points. However, perhaps this is exactly what Meisa is and is meant to be, because so far it seems to be working. And to be honest, right now I’ll take this over any sign of actual musical talent. Vocal ability is not everything either.
The Promotional Parade [July 2008]
Well, it’s been over a full year since I last did one of these. And why yes, this is oooooooooold. Half a year old. But I started this before my school term started again, before my Internet crashed, and before I lost my faithful laptop of 6-7 years. I have it, I poured hours into it, and so this is getting stuck up here anyways. Give it a look through anyways – if you have my taste in music you may find something new. Or you may just have fun when I poke fun too.
Don’t think about it.
So, my first post of the new year won’t be on a Countdown of any sort. Surprise, surprise.
But that’s probably because I drew this one up before the year changed. Oops?
It’s both mean and pathetic to admit, but when it comes to male vocalists, cases where I think both the person’s vocals and looks are always good are few and far between. This has led to a distinct gap in my listening habits – for example, I adore Miura Daichi’s vocals, but the boy is just not photogenic. (That’s okay, though, I’m not either.) Then there’s the Johnny’s – enough said.
井上ジョー [Inoue Joe] is a bit of a toss up. Not always a good shot, and sometimes his voice comes off as rough. When it comes out good, though, it comes out good.
Recently, I downloaded his second (and latest) single, CLOSER. I still have no clue what compelled me to do so, especially since I’d never heard him before and when I downloaded the single, it was tagged as being the latest ending to the NARUTO anime. Which, I, uh, don’t watch. Whatever spurred the decision, I’m rather glad for it.
The titular track threads a catchy vocal melody through a throng of guitars. And I mean a throng. There are times when I listen to the chorus and have the impression that Joe’s vocals, even with backup, are battling with the guitars to be heard. It’s the same guitars that add power to the song, and they build up at just the right moments for that perfect shounen anime adventure feeling. There’s also a regal instrumental break after the second chorus that breaks the song’s pace, slowing it down until the guitars run full speed back into the foreground. It’s a well-put together song that flows through the ears fairly easily, overall – and the chorus has a very real danger of sticking in the head.
GRAVITY, the first B-side, maintains the rock mood and the guitars, though it ends with some light acoustic strums. Perhaps it’s because the song is completely in English, perhaps it’s because he starts out singing in a wistful tone and suddenly turns defiant without completely accomplishing it, but Joe’s vocals sound a lot less polished. This does add to the atmosphere of it being an emotional song, though. While it’s nice in its own way, it wears down after a number of listens.
The final B-side, 考えたくない ～Can a guy talk all night?～ [Kangaetakunai ~Can a guy talk all night?~], is a fun if crazy song that really holds true to its hook. Said hook being “I don’t want to think about it.” If you don’t understand Japanese (or lack someone who does to translate for you), part of the fun will be lost on you – that’s okay, it’s still a upbeat track between Joe’s singing and fast guitars. And perhaps the random toilet flushing. If you do, then you’ll be treated to a list of various situations that, uh, yeah. You probably don’t want to think about. It can be a fairly addictive song, though, and is probably what prompted me most to decide that yes, I like Joe. The subtitle of “Can a guy talk all night?” doesn’t completely hold no meaning, by the way. Just say the (full) title and you’ll see.
While not his first single, or even his first release on a major label, CLOSER as a single is a well-rounded piece of work that also showcases various sides of Inoue Joe as a musician, and perhaps as a person. (If that last track isn’t indicative of a sense of humor, I don’t know what is.) I’ll certainly be looking forward to hearing (and probably picking up) more from him, whether or not it was a fluke that got me started in the first place.
Because this just creeped me out.
According to their official blog, MAAKII (born Onaga Maki) of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR got married to DREAMS COME TRUE’s Nakamura Masato and so she’ll be leaving the band by the end of 2008.
This isn’t an official breakup announcement, of course, and HaiKara is supposedly going to continue their activities – but without Maki, they’re pretty much Anti-Nobunaga again, so it’s hard for me to think of them as HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR anymore. And as for Maki – congrats if you’re happy enough with the guy to marry him, but my mind, personally, is reeling from this. Nakamura turns 50 this year, Maki turns 21 next month. Nakamura also started DREAMS COME TRUE the year after Maki (and I) was born. Before you bring it up – it’s almost twice the age difference between Hikki and her ex-husband. The difference between Odagiri Joe and Kashii Yu is also only 11 years. Those cases are sort of understandable, but this borders on cradle-robbing. Then again, the age difference is pretty jarring because she was born in the same year I was. (And I just keep giving, you Internet stalkers.)
Then there’s the fact that this announcement came on the heels of Nakanomori BAND’s disbandment – what band that debuted in 2005 is next, UVERworld?
Best of luck to both HaMC and Maki, congrats to Nakamura on getting what’s practically a schoolgirl wife at his age. I’ll be waiting for UVER’s announcement.
Baby, I can see someone else singing Like This.
So I’ve got a bunch of posts waiting to be written – and this one, I confess, was done entirely half-assed.
Kuroki Meisa‘s PV for her first digital single, Like This, was released today. Maybe yesterday. Most of you readers, trailing over from the Yamada Ryosuke and KAT-TUN fans that make up International Wota, will probably know her as Sister Angela from Kame’s last drama One Pound Gospel. In addition to being an actress, she’s a model. And with her half-lidded eyes, she’s constantly drawing up comparisons in my mind to Yamada Yu, another model/actress turned singer.
Except the second time I was watching this music video, I started hearing Amuro Namie. Then I paid some more attention to her dancing, and her outfit in those scenes (with the tight and the black and the shiny), and I saw Amuro Namie.
We should all know by now the Japanese pop industry is anything BUT unique. You can only stretch pop so many ways. And to give Kuroki credit, it’s a nice synth R&B/hip-hop song, the dance beat catches on fast, and her voice isn’t so bad in it, though it lacks power. It’s stereotypical of the genre as found in Japan, but I could give this more than a singular listen. But from the layering of the chorus, to the semi-rap of the bridge, to the attitude permeating the song… it’s all screaming Amuro Namie to me. Kuroki even maintains the unchanging facial expression, though she showed some very lovely smiles in the drama. So was this done to have Kuroki coast on the tails of Amuro’s return to the spotlight? Or was this Kuroki’s personal choice of genres for her debut single?
Either way, Amuro with straight hair is utter sex. If the imitation was intentional (and I don’t doubt it was), Kuroki picked the right person. She’s not on the level of Yamada Yu, nowhere near the level of Amuro, but maybe she’ll grow into her own.
Finding the Answer
There’s so much I need to catch up on. Arashi’s 8 years of existence, KinKi Kids’ 10 (almost eleven, surprisingly), BeForU’s missing year (2005/2006, as far as I’m concerned, disappeared), the summer shows that I didn’t quite find time to watch, the music releases of the past three months, questioning whether or not my long-standing artist fandoms could really be considered fandoms anymore, video games, and of course, any corresponding posts for this blog. Let’s slide in the fact that it’s been a full month since there was any official music news from AAA, and I’d become a proper junkie to their new release information.
You’ll forgive me if I find myself a little overwhelmed and disinterested with Japanese media at the moment, of course. Luckily enough, FLOW‘s latest single provided the Answer. (You’ll also forgive me the blatant pun abuse. Right? I knew you would.)
My Five Favorite Men in Japanese Pop
Partially inspired by Randi’s Top 20 Asian Females post over at pink_wota, partially because after a recent JE-fandom wankfest post that sprung up on LJ I need to remind myself who I love and why I love them, and also just because.
Also because I’m procrastinating on the other 19 posts I have waiting to be written on this blog. (Some go back to… March. When I started this version of the blog. Ouch.)
Unsurprisingly, you will see Johnny’s on here. Very unsurprisingly, you will see AAA on here. (At least, I would hope that’s very unsurprising to you. If not, you haven’t read this blog much, have you?) Because this is a list of only 5 men and all of them in primarily music-based careers. If we were to throw in actors, the list would be longer, include a variety of ages (including one Terajima Susumu and one Yamamoto Taro), and be somewhat less personal and pretty. If we were to throw in males in Japanese music who I feel admiration towards (Kimeru, Gackt, and Miura Daichi being three of them) then this would be a lot less personal, and only slightly more pretty. Hopefully what you want from me here is the personal and a bit of the pretty.
みんな☆ 
