When A Miracle Makes You Cry

After waiting ages to be able to buy this DVD (it's the monetary issue, what else XD), and another 8 working days for it to ship to me, I finally have it in my hands!!! Koharu's graduation concert DVD that is - 9 Smiles.

I bought the overseas version cuz it was supposed to have subtitles and I really wanted to know what the other members told the graduating miracle. Unfortunately, the company who makes these editions somehow goofed up hence the first DVD doesn't have it. Blah! *grumbles* They are lucky DVD 2 has the subs or blood will be spilled XD

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The highlight of this concert is definitely the portion where heartfelt speeches are made to Koharu and vice versa. I think it's hilarious how the Nanakie kept wanting to talk about her senpais when the section was meant for them to tell her stuff :D

Ai's part was what I expected of leader. She spoke of how she felt with Koha being the first kouhai she had to see off. I understand completely where she is coming from as I too would have felt the same way.

For Gaki-san, I think it's great how she reminded Koha to be thankful for the people who gave her help and who support her. I felt that this is one aspect that a lot of entertainers (especially the popular ones) forget about after a while. After hearing Risa say this, I feel happy to be her fan ^^

Kame...awwww, the way the tears kept running down her face made me wanna hug her so bad. Her eyes are really pretty when she cries. (Hee, this isn't very relevant to this post but I can't help talking about it. Eri is just so beautiful.) I thought it was sweet of her to stay back and help Koharu with the dance steps even when she had her own things to practice. She must be a good teacher for the miracle to catch on more easily from her than from the actual dance teacher.

Shige-pinku's speech was the best imo. It was funny to make the sad atmosphere not so gloomy and allowed the fans to see another side of both her and her kouhai. I laughed when Koha-pinku called Sayumin by her Rainbow Pinku nickname :) It's so true what transpired between them. Usagi-chan might be really mean with the things she says, but she is kind and this can be seen by how she treats Eri. Sometimes I feel bad for her to be the one giving more than she is receiving. Then again, we don't see what goes on daily in their lives so Kame might be treating her very well also.

Ahhh the yankii. It's surprising that Koharu manages to see so deeply within quite a few of the members. She feels that Reina seems tough on the exterior but inside she really is a softie being warm and kind-hearted. I find that very believable. Apparently Reina also worries for her a lot and is someone Koharu talks to about her problems. To me, the kitty just wants to hide her vulnerable side in order to protect herself. Thus she doesn't cry in front of others.

As I was watching Aika, I really felt bad for her. From what she said, you could tell she greatly wanted to fit in and be liked. And she was envious of how her similarly aged senpai (their ages are apart by only a few months) could speak and behave so freely. She spoke of how she watched Koharu from afar and wondered how she could be like this. Then at this point Koharu said "you should join us." I don't know why I smiled upon hearing it. I guess I think it's sweet that she would want to engage Aika?

I know I have ever said I liked Jun Jun more in the beginning but this was overtaken by Lin Lin. But I think JJ is making a comeback. What struck me the most about the taller panda's speech was how she looked forward to get to know Koharu more only to have that hope dashed when the announcement of her graduation was made. She didn't understand why must there be graduations. And I don't too :( Despite her acting cute more these days, I can find it in myself to overlook that. After all, when my fave member is the reaction queen, what else can't I stomach? XD

Lin Lin is the funny, air-headed member who makes Ai laugh. I hate not having TakaGaki but I love seeing leader happy. So if having Lin Lin around does just that, then so be it. Besides, it's about time someone made Ai come out of her shell. If Eri can do it, why can't the most eye-catching member of Momosu right? I didn't expect Lin Lin and Koharu to be that close. But it did seem that way from the way they interacted. The last bit where she said "I'll cry for you today." Man, it really got to me. It's probably one of the sweetest lines in this MC *sniff*

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How many years have it been since I first fell in love with Morning Musume? Frankly I can't remember. I just know that the passion I hold for them is still going strong. And I really wish with all my heart that other fans love them the same way as they did on day 1, if not more as the days go by.

Every time I hear about fans losing interest I feel so sad. Isn't it depressing enough that MM doesn't enjoy high popularity in Japan or sells better?

Please continue to support Morning Musume. The girls deserve that much.

Maple, Canada and Eri

Maple is Eri's 5th solo PB released on 11 October 2007 was shot in Canada. I think it was the only MM PB that was taken in a Western country other than Guam and Hawaii? Many of her fans view this as her best one yet although with Hatachi and Sweet, this could very well change. The thing with Eririn is she photographs so beautifully that it is impossible to not be enthralled by any official photo or publication that features her.

I had a hard time picking out my 10 favorites cuz there were simply too many nice shots of the Rokkie.

The Cover

Don't you feel tempted to pick this up and bring it over to the cashier to make payment just by the cover alone?

10th

There's something about Eri when she bits on her underlip. It's just so...so....gah, I can't describe it. But it's a trait that I love about her and she is just so cute whenever she does it

9th

Eri undressing? @@ Isn't her back view just so awesome? And the way her face is hidden by her top so that she's peeking from behind it? Oh.my.god, it's just the 2nd pic and already I can't stop rambling about how gorgeous the turtle is.

8th

Noooo, stop killing me like this!! One of Kame's best assets has got to be her tummy. Her legs are great too but her tummy is just...WOW. I also like how she pushes her hair behind her ear. It's so feminine.

7th

Besides the sexy pouty lips, the mesmerizing eyes, the alluring thighs (gawd did I use alluring? XD lol I couldn't think of anything else), what else makes you doki doki when you look at Eri? For me it's her dopy smile and sleepy look. Here her dopiness isn't at 100% but it's still enough to make me go awwww :)

6th

Now this pic is just screams 1 word. HAWT! I think the photographer likes having Eri pose with this angle cuz I noticed a lot of her shots share this similarity XD

5th

Kame kissing kame. That lucky turtle got to taste her lips!!

4th

I've always liked plaid and stripes so the outfit in this shot makes it a winner for me. Please ignore the fact that the outfit is a bikini :P Her hair looks extremely good here too. Even the wooden slats look nice. Or maybe Eri just makes anything look pretty ^^

3rd

Converse shoes! I like. The playful mood, her casual clothes and the adorable hair. Need I say more? (^_^)

2nd

She sure likes to play this game huh? Hide-and-seek :D You don't have to hide your face Eri. You're more than beautiful *melts again*

1st

*Sigh* How can anyone be this perfect? As much as I like Gaki-san and Sayumin, I can't lie. And the truth is Kame looks the best out of the 3. If there was a contest for most perfect Asian beauty, the winner has got to be Eri.

かめっ★11

It's terrible to not have a regular dosage of GakiKame (I'm looking at you OnDiet :P) hence I'm trying to translate the blog posts from their 5 stars Monday radio show. The word is TRYING though cuz my Japanese sucks. I need to beg OnDiet for help on some words ^^;

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Wednesday: 27th January, 2010

Iie~ This blog~

It's Kamei Eri.

GakiKame recently is really feeling a lot of happiness.

The contents of the mails that everyone sends is so funny, we can't stop laughing.

This too I hope for a lot constantly.

In addition we would like to have a public recording radio show~ If it's on Gaki-san's birthday the next time it will be good.

However it's still nervous to be on public recordings.

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There! I did it. My first KameMame blog translation. I wonder how many mistakes I've made XD Don't kill/bash/scold me if it's wrong. Onegai~ *runs away*

To Drink or not to Drink

As I have not seen a translation for this series of blog posts by Sayu, I decided to do it myself. It might not be 100% accurate but I think I got the gist of it ^^


Subject: Good Morning ♪

After the concert yesterday,

Tokyo, for the first 3 days after the first performance, everyone has been very tired out~ hence,
Morning Musume's
Niigaki Risa-chan,
Kamei Eri-chan,
and then, Sayumi 3 of us together went for dinner(≧∇≦) Because the 3 of us are all over 20 years of age, so for the first kanpai, it was done before the food came, we ordered wine/beer (^_^)v

Yotsu! It feels so adult-like V(^-^)V

Because the concert has made our feelings high to the max, so continuing this high feeling we all played like mad o(｀▽´)o♪♪

So happy--- ｏ(＾-＾)ｏ

Although I wanted to post on the blog at real time, but in the shop Sayumi's phone had no reception. Unfortunate↓

With GakiKame, We go out and eat at least once a month (^_-)♪

But this month because of the concert rehearsals and actual concerts, and with going to Hawaii soon after I thought we wouldn't be able to do so...just as I was going to give up, the 3 of us still managed to go through with this it's great ♪

Even though it's only for a short duration, both my tummy and heart is satisfied (≧∇≦)

When I was taking this picture, Sayumi at that moment said this 『The 3 of us all have our eyes closed,~ sugoii~we have so much chemistry』

In the end Gaki-san
said 『Really~』
like this.

Kamei-san is
『Eh Eri, eyes, they are open.』
Like this.

That's right...
Gaki-san and Sayumi,
we closed our eyes on purpose to take the picture!
As for Eri...
Seems like she wanted to open her eyes at first.

Eventually Eri still had the always sleeping look~ (laugh)

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Subject: Eri Before and After

Yesterday as always she was laughing and looked so happy from the beginning to the end.

Usually she just shows her dopey smile,

but yesterday because she was so high,
she went ah hey ah hey~ as she laughed ↑ (laugh)

From the middle, the Kamei Eri who fell asleep on Sayumi's knees.

No matter when Eri is in her want-to-sleep mode

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Subject: Just How Happy We Played

After seeing this smile of Gaki-san, you should know (*´∀｀*)

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Subject: Prize

At the end we ordered dessert,

We only ordered one portion of ice-cream, but two sets came V(^-^)V

After asking the owner/shop's staff, we realized it was given for free!

Yatta- ＼(^ー^)／

Because these 3 days, we worked very hard during the concert,
hence this must be the prize that kami-sama gave us ♪

Yaho ー(^∀^)ノ

...that's why, we held feelings of grattitute and finished the ice-cream (>v<)

Uma (⌒〜⌒)

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After thoughts:

Oh man, finding the symbols to follow the emoticons that Sayu made was even harder than the actual translating! XD What is with Japanese keitais? (Assuming she posted with her cellphone). If she was using her sweet-as-pudding pink laptop to do this, then I seriously want to scream, ISN'T IT ENOUGH THAT I CAN'T GET THE MODELS OF SHOES AND CLOTHES SOLD IN JAPAN EVEN IF THERE IS THE SAME BRAND HERE? NOW THE COMPUTERS ARE DIFFERENT TOO?!?!?! Lol (I'm being dramatic).

Anyway, on to my thoughts about this series of Sayumi entries. When I first saw them, my initial reaction was glee, because I love Ojou 3 and I'm glad that they hung out together and did stuff. Having said that, I'm still not too thrilled about them drinking. Still, they are of legal age and frankly, which young Japanese woman doesn't drink?

Also, Kame looks really cute when she's tipsy :P Because of their smiles in the photos, I'm guessing that Sayumi was the most sober of the lot. It's probably because someone needs to be clearheaded enough to get all of them home but in my fanfic fantasy scenario, it's because the bunny wanted to have her way with the turtle XD Thus with subu-chan out cold, she had the perfect opportunity :P

My 2 yen worth:

Then there's the issue about them not inviting Ai and Reina. You see the thing is, with 8 girls in the group, it's not possible for everyone to get along like a house on fire. We know the Rokkies and Gokkies are close in their own right but let's face it, even with good friends, how many are you comfortable enough with to show your crazy antics and what you could do when drunk? At this point my fic fantasy strikes again. I think Risa might be too shy to show her tipsy side to her beloved Ai :D Besides, doesn't it seem like Reina loves KTV more than anything else in the world? I'm sure if Ojou 3 asked her out, she would decline it over going to sing with her friends.

As for leader, she has loads of friends in the entertainment industry. Yukina and other ex-H!P members like Miuna from Country Musume and Ayaya too. I doubt she has enough time to split between all her groups of friends. And that's not even counting those from Fukui who visit. Considering her age, she probably has a ton of friends dropping in on her. Who knows she might even have quite a number of wedding ceremonies to attend.

Therefore, I think it's alright for the girls to go out and have fun once in a while as long as they don't get into any trouble. One question I've been wanting to know is, is Sayumi allowed to show this side of her group members to the world? :D

BUONO! Winter Festa~

Although I named this blog Mame and Friends, I don't think I have posted any entry involving the other H!P acts except MM when my original idea was to do so ^^; Hence, I decided to start today with a post about BUONO!

BUONO! is possibly the next best group after Momosu. Consisting of 3 girls whom I love (they aren't comparable with GakiKameShige yet but still :P), this trio puts out some of the better songs. And if you watch their DVD magazines, they are pretty entertaining. Even the usually morose Miyabi has fun and can be rather crazy when she is with her bandmates.

I remember I used to read comments about Miya not liking the peachy one. And I got that vibe too when viewing the older Berryz Koubou stuff. However, that definitely changed with BUONO! Doesn't it feel like the girls absolutely adore being around each other? (^_^)

This is the concert booklet thingy that I received just today. I really wanted to get the individual cellphone straps too but they were all sold out :( Well, at least this glossy material booklet is filled with gorgeous pics and cheered me up significantly.

The girls were dressed in 2 different outfits and both were beautiful. After pondering for some time, I still can't decide which set I prefer XD

Before I knew about H!P, I was never into the color pink. Now I'm more acceptable to this color but that's only cuz of Sayu :D Here, Momoko is decked out in it. It's alright I guess.

Now, I love this blue that Miyabi's wearing. The design of her top looks really fabulous too.

I never understood why Airi likes to style her hair so high and big. I feel that she looks better with her hair down. Her boots are really cute and the expression on her face is too pretty for words :)

Group shot! I like all the candid pics that were included. These sort of photos are much more fun imo. That's why I'm looking forward to the H!P PB that will be released soon that promises to have loads of such pictures.

Since their concert is named Winter Festa, it makes sense to have the girls wear white outfits with a wintery theme. They look more mature in this set of costumes and personally I find MomoAiri looks better than Miyabi here :P

Blogger of the Year

I never knew a person could blog this much. But I'm not complaining cuz I derive a lot of joy from reading the subs that Hayakupa Subs so faithfully provides of Sayu's blog. He probably won't know that I'm thanking him here (I think it's a him though I'm not sure) but I still wanna say I really appreciate his efforts. Fans like me who can't understand Japanese well will miss out on a lot if not for awesome fans like him ^^

After I started following the bunny's blog, I have to say I have gotten a more in depth view of her personality. Some of the things I would have never thought someone like Shige-san (since she is an idol and all) would bother with, she actually does! And of course all the kawaii and pretty pictures that she posts is a great sight to behold. When she talks about the other members or provides their photos too, the entertainment level practically soars! :)

I really hope Sayu can gather more fans through her blog. Frankly, I find she's a great idol. She has the looks (no doubt about that), the personality, the character and the image. So she can't sing that well and her dancing isn't the best. But so what, being an entertainer is all about that, entertaining people. And it's not the most important aspect as to which method she does this by.

Also, I want more people (especially those who bash Sayumin) to realize that she's not really the mean and narcissist person that she portrays on screen. That's just a tool she uses to help facilitate how she brings across her image.

I love you Sayumin (even if you might have bad breath XD) and I absolutely can't wait to enjoy more of your incredible personality from your upcoming DVD and PB due in April (my birthday month YAY~!).

Ganbatteyo Shige-pink!!

Kamei Eri = Gorgxy

Gorgxy = Gorgeous + sexy :D (I hope this isn't some word with a bad meaning that I didn't know about)

I've just watched the making of Eri's latest PB Sweet and holy cow....she looks good in a bikini XD But she also looks good in a dress, in shorts, in a towel :P and in that super adorable grey and white stripe jumper lookalike outfit. Basically she looks good in everything! *Sigh* Every time I see a new Kame PB, it just reinforces in my mind how pretty she is.

I'm really glad management decided to give her this cuz I wanted the turtle to have at least one piece of work by which I could remember her current hairstyle by. Considering how some of the other members have never changed their hair in ages (this might not necessarily be a bad thing), it's quite refreshing to see how Eri can look with various hairdos ^^

I'm hoping the scans appear soon as I'm dying to see what the shots are. Oh and something random, I noticed that Eri has a little hard time getting the poses that the photographer asks for and she tends to laugh a lot in the process. I think she's shy, which is so darn cute :)

When it comes to Ai's PBs though, you don't see this. It's either leader is more capable in this aspect or the editing people don't include such scenes.

Last thing, Eri did lose quite a lot of weight for this PB. But it's a good thing she didn't become as skinny as Risa was in AmaNatsu. That was really shocking and not too healthy, I would think.

Here is the making of for you to drool over. With subs too! Hello! Fansubs is definitely a godsend *thankful*