Hello Music! » Hello Project Groups

°C-ute [Sakura Chirari]

Casey — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:18:36 +0000

Sakura Chirari was released on February 21st, 2007 and reached #3 on the Oricon chart, which is quite impressive for such a young Hello! Project group. °C-ute was formed in 2005, pulling girls from Hello! Project Kids, who mainly served as back-up dancers and such. Sakura Chirari is °C-ute’s first “official single” even though they have released 4 indie singles prior. The song itself is not anywhere near fantastic, but it is a modest start for °C-ute.

Current members are as follows:

My Subjective Score: 7/10

1. Sakura Chirari
Although it is a cute song it has an underlying of maturity to it. I don’t think the singing overall is strong enough throughout the chorus; there could have been more energy. Yajima Maimi sounded pretty well; I can’t recognize a lot of them yet. Overall it doesn’t stand out, but it is a decent song. I do dig the French tunes in there.

2. JUMP
The song seems like it is better suited for a solo artist than a group to me for some odd reason. Some of the girls fall flat in their singing. I like this song as much as I did the first one, yet I’m not saying it was terrible, it just isn’t catchy enough for me to put it on repeat.

Track 1: Sakura Chirari

Track 2: JUMP

Track 3: Sakura Chirari (Instrumental)

A video full of pastel colors and floating stuffy! The pink outfits they had on reminded me of bath curtains. It’s cute to watch all the different girls. Maybe I’ll begin to start recognizing them.

GAM [Thanks !]

Casey — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:21:44 +0000

GAM is the newest super group of Hello Project, composed of Fujimoto Miki and Matsuura Aya, my two favorite gals in the whole world. As you may already know, Aya is a successful solo artist while Miki will soon be the leader of Morning Musume. Thanks ! is their first single released on September 13, 2006. Tsunku has really created something big here…and I can’t help but wonder if he’s creating a definite place for Miki to go when she graduates from Morning Musume. Aya and Miki had been grouped together before in Gommatou, along with Maki Goto. Will this be the group that finally sticks? I hope so.

My Subjective Score: 9.5/10

1. Thanks !
This is a very infectious track! I love the fast-paced chorus and background music, which makes it great to dance to. Aya and Miki compliment each other very well. Thanks ! was a smart first single for the two.

2. Shinkirou Romance
A sweet longing love song that doesn’t fall into the ballad trap of similarity. I can already understand that GAM is going to try to be more of a mature and serious group.

Track 1: Thanks !

Track 2: Shinkirou Romance

Track 3: Thanks ! (Instrumental)

There are a lot of leg shots! If you’re not familiar the word “gam”, it also happens to be a slang term for sexy legs, supposedly. They are really playing this up big time. Aya and Miki are doing some sexy dancing behind a bright pink screen and flashing lights that is surprising. I can’t say they are hip-hop stars, however. Every know and then the girls are sitting in a huge leather chair, crossing their legs. The name of the single just should have been “Legs!”

Aa! [First Kiss]

Casey — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:11:53 +0000

Aa! was created as a one-shot group under the massive Hello! Project umbrella and released only this single, First Kiss, on October 29, 2003, reaching the #8 spot. The trio was composed of Tanaka Reina from Morning Musume, and Natsuyaki Miyabi and Suzuki Airi from Hello! Project Kids. Today Miyabi is now in Berryz Koubou and Airi in C-ute; Reina is still part of MM. I am wondering why Aa! never released any more singles, as they are a decent group. I think Tsunku bites off more than he can chew sometimes…

These are current pictures of the girls who were in Aa!

My Subjective Score: 7.5/10

1. First Kiss
Not too bad of a song. Airi has a great voice for her age, but she is just so young on this song that it makes me like it a little less than if someone in their twenties sang it. She was nine years old when she sang this and she has the bulk of the vocals! Quite impressive for her but it doesn’t say much about the other two. Perhaps this single was an experiment revolving around Airi’s ability.

2. Masayume
Again, I have the same problem with Airi’s young voice, which sounded a little worse on this time around. I didn’t like the nasal-lie words during the end of the chorus. Masayume is decent but not great. Airi’s voice isn’t mature enough to fully carry the song.

Track 1: First Kiss

Track 2: Masayume

Track 3: First Kiss (Instrumental)

Airi looks absolutely comical dancing around in pants that could literally eat her alive. All three of them are just dancing in a room and continuously staring out a window.