“Hanako Oku and the Impossible Hair”
No, I’m kidding. To quote Krusty-The-Clown “I kid … I kid, because I love…”
The name of the Japanese pop singing duo seen here with Hanako Oku is actually “Yoshido Yamada”. Only the one dude has impossible hair. Hanako Oku is performing with the group on live Japanese television. Both were promoting their new albums which were released earlier this spring. It is a sweet musical moment. The video quality is very low unfortunately, but thank you nevertheless to YouTube user “Koon Jimmy” for posting this unique performance.
Of other fashion note is that Hanako Oku is wearing her hair longer these days. Her hair is longer now than in any other photos on earlier CDs and live performances. It is a great new look for her! Inside her new album “Kimi to Boku no Michi” (君と僕の道; Our Road), there are several photos of her in the lyric booklet. There is one photo of her with her back to the camera, and it is lovely. It really captures her new long, flowing hairstyle. If I did not know any better, I would have though it was a photo of Haruna Kojima from the back : )
“That’s Hanako Oku? Pika! Pika!”
I’m also posting the other song Oku-san performs, on the same promotional show. The song is “Period” ピリオド (translation?). Oku-Historians take notice: She does slip up a little bit here. Makes me wonder: Does she struggle whenever she sings this particular song? We all have our “bad hair days”, even the Little Great One. I will take any Hanaoko Oku TV performance however. Watch it once then delete it.
So as to not leave on a sour note, I am also posting the studio version of the song. It is a great song on a great new album. Also notable about this one is that the intro reminds me of the intro to “Captain Fantastic” by Elton John. Discuss!
Pikachu loves the photos of Hanako Oku with the new hairstyle!
Pika! Pika! Click to view full size images!
Snivy says: “I love her!”
Oshawat, Snivy and Tepig pretend they are in the studio too!
Hanako Oku is HUGE in the Unova Region !!!
Enough random thoughts … I’m going to get a haircut.
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It only took three months for that blond starlight to reach my world.
Denny Sinnoh 
Comments on: "Hanako Oku and the Impossible Hair" (5)
First, I’d like to remind you to watch out for typos. It’s one thing to misspell a regular word, but misspelling Oku-san’s name is something else.
I came across that live recording and the related videos months ago shortly after the new album came out. It was posted to Nico Nico Douga on Valentine’s Day. It’s definitely not her best performance (she falls flat and she knows it), but it’s nice to hear a hikigatari version of Period / ピリオド. She’s performing hikigatari during her current tour, actually, including songs from this album. I’d love to hear it.
To me, the beginning sounds like someone spliced the intro of Oku Hanako’s Ashita Saku Hana / 明日咲く花 with Chicago’s You’re the Inspiration. It’s a very nice intro; it almost made me fall out of my chair when I first heard it.
As for the translation, it is literally “period”, as in a length of time. ピリオド is the transliteration of “period” in Japanese katakana:
pi / ピ
ri / リ
o / オ
do / ド
What I get from a machine translation of the lyrics is that a new stage (“period”) of the speaker’s life has come. The machine translation is somewhat confusing, but based on the content of the rest of the album, I’d say the speaker has found someone that she wants to be with for the rest of her life (it would explain “Wedding Dress” later in the album). I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m way off, though.
Ah, it’s songs like these that make me wish I understood Japanese.
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SCARY THOUGHT: The reason her performance was so flat was because she thought that the Blond Guy was SO CUTE, she got distracted and flustered, and all girly mushy.
If I ever get to a handshake event with The Little Great One, I’m going to be like a flustered Jackie Gleason (The Great One): “hummana … hummana … hummana … hummana”. Don’t ask me spell then : )
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“I will take any Hanaoko Oku TV performance” Sorry for the typo. That’s the last time I let Snivy on the keyboard.
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Her long hairstyle is definitely better than her short hair style, sported around 2011.
At this point, I think that the length in early 2006 (Yasashii Hana no Saku Basho / やさしい花の咲く場所) would be too short for her now.
Do you suppose she’s planning to donate her hair when she gets it cut?
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That would make sense, and I hope that will happen.
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