Hanako Oku footage resurfaces …

Guest Mouse: Oku Hanako

I was happy that a YouTube user re-posted this interesting performance by a young Hanako Oku!

Hanako Oku makes a cameo appearance on this (unknown) Japanese Television show from several years ago. Although I do not understand much of what is said, it is still fun to watch. She plays some snippets of her commercial jingles and other songs, then laughs and jokes with the other two performers.

Notable:

1. Well, Hanako Oku dressed as a mouse.
2. Hanako Oku wearing a SKIRT. Note that because she is a LADY MOUSE she is wearing a mini-skirt. Only time I have ever seen her in one (… at least a skirt that short)!

I had seen this a long time ago, when I was first falling in like with HO songs. It was taken off — and I had to wonder why. What possible harm was there to the other performers, their companies or their lawyers?  I have to credit YouTube user サバイデサバイ for recently posting several PRICELESS videos of early Hanako Oku performances. There are several  rare live clips which show Hanako Oku early in her career. Thank you sir (or ‘mam) … I bow respectfully to you. You are making it very enjoyable to participate in Hanako Oku’s 10 year anniversary! (I hope I don’t get them in trouble by posting this.)

Just enjoy it for now, all Hanako Oku fans … all three of us in North America, I guess. If you are not a fan, you don’t know how much we enjoys clips like this. She endears herself to us. To us, it is instant joy to see The Little Great One. I feel like buying her records all over again.

Starlight: I do not have a date of origin … does anyone know?

First Drink with Iwasa Misaki

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Iwasa Misaki sings her new single “First Drink”: Do you remember your first drink of sake? I sure don’t. I was in college, and already drunk out of my mind by the time someone asked me if I wanted to try some. I had to go to the liquor store the next week to buy a bottle so I could get my first sake buzz. Um … long story short, I ended up having it the next morning.

What — something wrong with rice for breakfast?

This is the first live performance of “Hatsuzake” (aka “First Drink”), her 4^th single, which was released April 29. (Of course I already ordered it.) The song was written by Yasushi Akimoto. Youtube user AKB48SHOW#72(mitukunsp) posted this from AKB48 Show!.  I noticed that the song is slowed down(?) from the studio version. (I am not sure if that is that is the way it was performed, or if the user was doing it for legal purposes, or what..)

Also the green lighting makes her purple kimono look much lighter than on the cover of her new CD. The light show is pretty good. She is lighted by an electric bamboo forest. Only a drunkard would think that the lighting is like absinthe.

I also snagged some images from the YouTube post. Most of them turned out OK.

Indeed, the young Idol and Enka-singer is finally able to legally drink sake, as she just turned 20 earlier this year.

Miss Misaki said that up to this time, her parents had forbidden her to drink it. You see, Wasamin is a “good girl”… (Denny rolls his eyes dreamily and gets a really goofy smile on his face).

Two cups? Wish I could have been there for that first drink of sake.

For Fans Only: Sorry, her explanation of the event was entirely in Japanese, and is not subtitled. Still, Wasamin says it all.  See link here. I could watch it over and over again in HD, just because … you know. I could listen to her all day. I would just smile and nod.

OK, I’m not that drunk* so I think I can handle the Karaoke … here goes …

(You have to pretend that I’m singing).

* I only get intoxicated from Wasamin.

Starlight: Still waiting for my new CD-DVD combo from Japan, but I will post some observations when it gets here : )

What? You say you’re going to open a can of “WHOOP ASS”?

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Well … You might open your can of “whoop ass” but I am going to beat you down when I open my can of “Paruru”!!!

Asahi soft drink corporation has released new promotional commercials for their product line of “WONDA” coffee featuring AKB48!  WONDA promotional campaign spokes-idols are AKB48 members Haruka Shimazaki (島崎遥香), Mayu Watanabe (渡辺麻友), Minami Takahashi (高橋みなみ), Yuki Kashiwagi (柏木由紀) and Yui Yokoyama (横山由依).

They are pretty cute “Japan-is-crazy-type-commercials” which we all know and love. (But nothing as crazy as the music video at the end of the post.)

I actually liked the older WONDA cans when they had the photos of the members on the cans. Then, you could really “open up a can of Paruru”!

I’m gonna open me a can of Shimazaki-san !!!

Still, I would like to have the promotional poster!

You can see more commercials — one featuring each member for each day of the week — at the post by AKB48-Daily linked here.

Oh, and these commercial themes are also going to be worked into a new AKb48 music video.  Here is the “short version”. The record company does not trust me with the long version. It is still 1:30 of funny.

Starlight: From the Sun to Neptune. Not all that long this time!