Far be it for me to tell WordPress readers how to view an article. However, to get my photo gallery here, please play this song on YouTube. It will open in another window, so you can view the photos while you listen. “Anna” covered by Los Beetles de MexicanoLINKED HERE.
Anna Iriyama has been a member of AKB48 since 2010. She is one of the more popular members, despite getting few lead singing roles. Unfortunately Anna was one of the victims of the infamous 2014 attack at the AKB48 handshake event, and will probably always be linked to the issue. Her injured hand appears to have healed well.
No, I promise to never leave you “home Alone” Anna!
She is a beauty of course.
Anna Iriyama had this nice photo shoot where she appeared barefoot in yukata.
In case you were wondering what was under Anna’s kimono.
Starlight: Anna Iriyama 入山 杏奈 (Iriyama Anna), was born December 3, 1995 in Chiba, Japan.
Cyogonal is using what is known in Pokémon battling as a “Special Move”.
Cryogonal (in Japanese: フリージオ “Freegeo”) was introduced in 2011 in Pokémon Black and White. Cryogonal is an ICE-type Pokémon.
(Thank you again Bulbapedia)
Cryogonal is basically a big ice crystal or snowflake. The English The name is a combination of “cryo” meaning ice, and hexagon, as many snow flakes are six sided. It does not evolve from any other form. It does not have a Mega-Evolution form. Cyrogonal has neither a male or female form.
Clearly, Cyogonal is a “gender-less” Pokémon.
Quoted directly from Bulbapedia: Cryogonal resembles a shiny, blue hexagonal snowflake. Its facial expression is frozen, which leaves Cryogonal with a still, aggressive-looking face. Two cracks run through its face, the upper opening contains its eyes and the lower serves as a mouth. It has two glowing eyes and its large mouth contains an extendable chain of ice, which is used for hunting. When its body heat rises it will turn into steam and vanish, but will revert to ice when the body temperature lowers. Cryogonal is born in snow clouds.
My favorite name for Cryogonal is “Bergeron” after “Bergeron’s concept” in meteorology. Did you know that most rain actually starts out as snow? Even a warm summer raindrop starts out as an ice-cystal in the top, supercooled layer of rainclouds. The ice-cystal attracts moisture from the supercooled cloud droplets – much as the way Cryogonal may use the Pokémon move “Attract”.
Oddly, Cryogonal may use Attract even though it is GENDER-LESS! If defense is your strategy, Cryogonal may also use the move “Protect“.
This was the closest free image I could find for Cryogonal using “Protect”.
Other names I have used are: “Whiteout” after the term for Blizzard conditions, “Crystal Beth” after the drug popular with my redneck relatives, “White X-Mas” and “Let-It-Snow” after holiday songs, “Schmidlin” after the famous snow climatologist, and “Eat-My-Sleet” because I thought it would be a funny name to see when the Pokémon switches in to a trainer battle.
I also have Cryogonals named “Heart-of-Ice”, “Wind Rime” (after rime ice, and it sounds like wind chime, which Cryogonal somewhat resembles), “Six Points” like the hexagon or when you are scoring a touchdown, “Robert Frost” for the poet you studied in high school, and “Flakes” as in a crazy person.
You may think of other snow/ice themed names. Lady cosplayers may like the “Snow Queen” or “Ice Princess” concept.
I suppose that many players may make some type of “Frozen” movie reference. The Snowman song is linked here.
“Bergeron: Let it SNOW!”
What is the name of your powerful Ice Crystal? Please comment!
I have to say that do I miss writing about her and fanboying all over her. The good news is that Wasamin will have a new solo record out this month. She will also have a full solo concert on January 6th. I cannot be there … but if there is a CD, I will buy it. If there is a DVD I will buy it.
Denny’s fantasy: I went to a downtown Chiba karaoke bar with Wasamin and we rented a private singing-room so that we could compete against each other. Sing that funky music Chiba-Girl …
Wasamin got me very drunk on Sapporo, and she was pretty good at convincing me to start blogging again. Actually I did not need much convincing. I will blog/talk to anyone who will listen about the glorious Miss Iwasa.
Also, Misaki-san can be a little intimidating after she has had a few:
“Don’t make me have to get ROUGH with you, Mr. Sinnoh”
Starlight: Note to self — Never challenge Iwasa Misaki to a karaoke battle.
… and I just happen to HAVE some butter, Miss Misaki!
Corphish (in Japanese: ヘイガニ “Heigani”) is a Water-type Pokémon. Corphish evolves into Crawdaunt (in Japanese: シザリガー “Shizariger”) starting at level 30. Where it becomes a WATER & DARK dual- type. Corphish is basically a “crawfish” or “crayfish”. When Corphic evolves into Crawdaunt, it is a much larger, daunting crawfish. Crawdaunt may also be some type of lobster, as it certainly looks enough one.
One of the nonsensical or non-science-i-cal aspects about Pokémon is that Water-types do not appear to be confined to either freshwater or saltwater environments. If Corphish is a freshwater crayfish, it should not evolve into a salt-water lobster. These and other Water-type Pokémon may be caught in either environment apparently – as long as there is a water body — sometime coastal, but then sometimes inland.
I named one Corphish/Crawdaunt the name “Crawdaddy” which is another name for fereshwater crayfish. Crawdaddy was also the name of the 1970s counter-culture magazine, which featured articles on rock music and popular culture. If you love classic rock, you should see if your library has old copies of Crawdaddy.
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The magazine was a lot like “RollingStone”, at least before RollingStone magazine became musically irrelevant and unreadable by the 1990s, … but I digress once again. Kids, it is OK to NOT CARE a lobster shit what RollingStone says. It sucks — but not like in the way you eat a crawdad.
I think that she is the best singer in AKB48, and probably the least “shellfish”.
These photos of Iwasa Misaki (oh … Wasamin … my oshimen … Denny faints … THUD) were taken for her participation in the most recent AKB48 “Janken” tournament. Participants in the tournament always dress in costume. Wasamin came to the event dressed as some type of crustacean. I think she might actually be a shrimp however, not a crayfish. I don’t care – she could be a krill, it is close enough to crawfish for me. People put butter all over their crayfish and then suck out all the wonderful juice … er .. not that I would ever do that to Wasamin …and I am obviously meandering again.
Some people like to suck the head — the New Orleans method:
I have use the name “Scampi”, after the shrimp dish, but arguably that might be better for the shrimp-like Pokémon Clauncher.
I have also used the name “Prawn Star” because shrimp are prawns, and it sounds like “Porn Star” and Crawdaunt has a yellow star on its head for some reason … or is that just a star-shaped tab of butter?
Of course you can think of other names which have to do with eating southern cooked crawfish. Such names as “Cajun”, “Louisiana”, “Gumbo” , “Jambalaya”, “Cayenne” “Red Bayou” , etc. come to mind.
What is the name for your suckable crustacean? Please comment!
References: As always, I get a lot of my basic information from the Bulbapedia and Serebii websites. The rest of it is always just a hazy memory of pale ale and cheesecake.
Even before the camera moved up, I knew that it was Yukirin front-center here
I know that it is too early for Halloween, but I have been enjoying AKB48’s 41st single “Halloween Night” released a couple of weeks ago. I think that it is a very good disco song. Yes disco. The group did a very good job at capturing what I hear as a 1970s-style sound.
That is a big accomplishment, because in the 1970s, I was one of those “heavy metal kids” with the “DISCO SUCKS” t-shirt. Most of you are too young to know about this: The 1970s hard-rock, FM rock community I was a part of back then, did not like the Disco trend which was taking over the nation in the late 1970s. We loved Led Zeppelin, The Who, Todd Rundgren, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer, etc. , but would not tolerate any disco music. Looking back, I should not have been such a music bigot. I was young, and had a long musical journey ahead of me. I listen to all kinds of music today, and there are few genres that I do not like at least a little bit.
But .. EEE-gads, if the long-haired, leather clad 18-year old Denny would have known that someday the (something-something)-year old Denny would be loving a disco song by a “manufactured” Japanese girl dancers pop group, he would have thrown up his 12-pack of Colt 45.
… or maybe I would have liked this kind of disco music. I might admit, that there were some disco songs I thought were OK. In fact, The Rolling Stones – who were worshiped by the hard rock crowd – were actually kind of “disco” when I think back on it. There was no getting away from disco in the 70s, no matter how hard you rocked. Furthermore, most 1970s “chicks” were OK with the Disco. Even if they liked hard rock too, most of the ladies I knew liked to disco dance! The girls had it right. They might rock out at an Aerosmith concert, but they also knew that disco dancing was fun too. I guess I was too “anal” (which is the nice way to say what we heavy metal fans were).
“Look, if you are going to talk to this chick, you are going to have to go out on the disco dance floor”.
Oh, getting back to the new AKB48 single. It is pretty cool. Sashi does a good job centering this single. (All is forgiven. You deserve to be center, Rino-chan.) The integration of occasional English words is pretty cute, and lends itself to that 1970s feel. That “Boogie Night” phrase kills me. “Ready? …” So cute.
The official music video features the ladies in great (but freaky) Halloween costumes. However, I think that I prefer these shiny-silver dance outfits used in this promo performance video. I think these silver mini-skirts are cuter and sexier than the scary stuff. Overall, I am liking performance videos better than the official music videos these days. I think the TV appearances and other performance videos (PVs) allow for a better look at all the Idols. The official music videos (MVs) are usually cut pretty fast, and are often about something else than the song.
I like to watch the PVs and identify the members who I know. I don’t know ALL the members, particularly with all the recent graduations, and the creation of so many sister groups and sub-units. I can only identify about 30 current members by name, but may remember the name when reminded in a subbed video — “Oh, yeah … her.” The funny thing is, that I can ID which one is Yuki Kashiwagi, just from looking at her legs. (See top photo above.) As the camera pans over the dance floor, you just see the girls legs, but then before it panned up, I thought “oh, there is Yuki”. Ha. I am so much of a fan, I can now identify her just by her legs. Hoo boy … I should really get going to work today.
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Here is what some of the “Halloween” costumes look like …
… which you can see more of in the commercial — I mean — the “short version” of the official MV approved by the company..
Sakura is a great choice to be a jester. Mayuyu is adorable as a goth-lolita, and Jurina is a perfect black widow.
If you can get Jpopsuki to load, you can view the entire HN video here. You may have to “boogie” something while it loads, but it is worth the wait.
The music video has a lot of lighted-floor disco dancing — straight out of Saturday Night Fever. There are a lot of dancing dudes too. “There are girls who look like guys, dancing with guys who look like girls.” I think that I actually owned some of those polyester shirts shown. The great thing about those polyester leisure suits those guys are wearing is that they did not need any ironing or special care. You could “boogie” all night in it, wash your car with it the next day, then hang it up and it would look fine.
We also get to see disco dancing styles from not just the 70s — but some 80s “break” dancing, those 1990s dances, and the more modern “whatever-the-devil-you-young-people-call-dancing-these-days.” It is a very fun concept video, but I will probably stick with the performance video instead.
OH! If you want to learn how to dance AKB’s “Halloween Night” dance, instructions are linked here. I can only do the “bat” move.
STARLIGHT: Don’t point the telescope at all my embarrassing 1970s Heavy Metal T-shirts!!! … too scary …
“Begin the day / With a friendly voice/ A companion unobtrusive / Plays that song that’s so elusive / And the magic music makes your morning mood …”
Thanks, Neil, but I know you did not have this genre in mind when you wrote that. Nonetheless, it certainly is inspirational to hear/see the HKT48 girls early in the AM. I like listening/watching HKT48 YouTube playlists on my iPhone during breakfast. They girls are true to the spirit that you wrote about. You know, they would have been good on AM radio. Right up there with the Archies.
I have been so happy and entertained by these lovely young women — my adopted daughters from Hawkstown. I think I like the HKT48 even more than the main AKB group now. These youngsters have so much pep, and they sing and dance with such energy and enthusiasm. This is Idol music the way it is supposed to be … like a milkshake that never ends!
First off — lets hear “12 seconds” while the coffee finishes brewing. This is my song of the summer! … or at least my favorite in the Idol genre. You will not need any sugar in your Breakfast Blend. Aika Ota is sweet enough! Good example: see time 1:39 – 1:42 seconds. Lovetan is not even singing at that point … she just poses … but …
Love-tan you are KILLING me. At least my heart is started.
This next one goes back to HKT48 Dome Concert in 2013. This is probably the CUTEST idol duet I have ever seen. That is Aoi Motomura in the hot pants, and Sakura Miyawaki in the skirt. Musically, I think that one part is stolen from “Be My Baby” by The Ronnettes. The young Sakura-tan is so adorable here so I will not quibble Akimoto’s possible theft.
I could not be more proud (tearing up a bit). Future Anthropologists should study Sakura’s moves in order to define and understand what a Japanese Idol should be. Sakura is pure joy in a bottle. She is like a little piece of God piercing a hole in the fabric of space-time into our universe. Through this teenage girl, we might then be able to comprehend new dimensions … and a higher plane of consciousness. …Um, … Did you put something in my coffee?
Um … Now this next one is lower video quality, but that is OK because I’m dancing while I reheat these eggs anyway. A better quality video is available, but you have to be on YouTube. I grock that heart shape at the end.
Remember when The Beatles used to sing “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you added ONE MORE “YEAH”? Find out here. I like this one because this PV features HKT48’s youngest member Yuka Akiyoshi. I own underwear older than her. She’s a little rascal alright!
This next one is from a great mini-concert outside of the HawksTown Mall last year. They cover their big-sister’s hit single “Baby Baby Baby”. Much of the video is down shot at floor level — kind of like a Yasujiro Ozu film. Like the late, great Ozu-sama, the HKT48 kids gave me a great “Late Spring”. The crowd LOVES it!
The next one is “Tenshi no Shippo”. After a introduction by Aika Ota (to time 0:27 seconds), the trio performs this Akihabara Theater favorite.
Warning: Tails are shown in this dance video! (Denny eating too fast and rambling): I like the animated balloon background. The dancing is super cute, and it reminds me of CHAM. Sometimes these performance videos don’t have the greatest sound. It sounds a little like the girls are at the end of a tunnel. The 21-year old Ota-san is a little flirtatious here. Hmmm …
“Angel Tail” you say Love-tan? “MOE! MOE!!”
“Modestly, I love You?”. Ha Ha, at first Google Translate had it as “Conservative I Love You”. There are so many performance videos of this out there on so many shows. The dancing is always great. I love how the song mixes some English words in with the Japanese. I think I like the performance videos of this better than the official music video. While that official music video (linked here) is glorious color eye candy, that video is cut so quickly you can hardly get a look at your favorite idol when her cloud passes by. (Forget YOU – Rolling Stones!)
Oh, man, we need to get going. I could watch these all day. Let’s have one more cup of coffee, and watch one more. This is another cover of an older AKB48 song, but it is a perfect match for the younger HKT48. The sound is “muddled dome” because of the distance … but DID YOU SEE THOSE CUTE BOOTS AND HATS!?!?
Oh. wow I am so late … I don’t think I can finish my melon juice! The kids sing with the Japanese mascot Funassyi – who is actually a “Pear Fairy” not a melon.
(Plus, I have already been blamed for looking at melons when I wasn’t … but that is a rant for another meal).
Starlight: “Off on your way / Hit the open road / There is magic at your fingers / For the spirit ever lingers / Undemanding contact / In your happy solitude …”
AKB48, SKE48, Nogizaka46 member Rena Matsui has announced that she will graduate from the AKB Family this August!
The 23-year old idol has always been one of my favorites. She debuted in SKE48 in 2008, and quickly became one of the most popular members. Together with Jurina Matsui (no relation) she was the core of that sister group.
Matsui-san is special to me. I have had a special page “Bikini vs Kimono” since the start of my blog. Does Rena look most amazing in her bikini or her kimono? There was also a poll there. Results? WordPress Readers voted Bikini over kimono 54% to 46% !
Rena will pursue an acting career, which is not a big surprise. She has a beautiful, sculpted face. In fact I can’t understand why there are not more statues of Matsui-san!!! She recently had a role as a voice actress in Ultimate Otaku Teacher (as Suzane Kagami). She has also appeared in several cute commercials.
Please enjoy this YouTube link of “Mujin Eki” (aka “The abandoned train station”. There I was at the train station turned into a ghost town. Alone with only my memories of twirling umbrellas.). This Yasushi Akimoto song (lyrics here) was actually Iwasa Misaki’s hit single. Other members have also performed it on stage, including Mariko Shinoda. Rena does a great job with the song. It even looks like Rena is wearing Wasamin’s kimono here. (Maybe Misaki-san was out that night?)
I also snagged a few images from the performance here:
I wish Rena well in her new career!
Starlight: Rena Matsui born July 27, 1991. Happy Birthday too!
Petilil (in Japanese: チュリネ “Churine” ) is a Grass-type Pokémon. Petilil evolves into Lilligant (in Japanese: ドレディア “Dredear”) when exposed to a Sun Stone. It thus remains a Grass type.
I sometimes name a Petlil “Pantene” after the brand of shampoo. If I intend on evolving the little flower I name it accordingly for the next form.
This young lady is pretty as a flower, but growing like a weed!
I name a Lilligant “Hanako” or “Hana” or “Hana-chan” after my favorite singing Flower Girl Hanako Oku!
“Hanako” is a common Japanese girl name! 華子 (華 is the kanji symbol which may mean – ‘splendor’, ‘flower’, ‘petal’, ‘shine’, ‘luster’, ‘ostentatious’, ‘showy’. 子 ‘ko’ is the second kanji, meaning ‘girl (child)’).
There 1960s pop group The Cowsills recorded a song most people refer to as “I Love the Flower Girl”, but which is actually titled “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things”. Please enjoy this nice YouTube post which complies multiple Cowsills performances. I’m singing it while I compose this post, as you can see by my notes in green. You can find the lyrics linked here.
It is a pretty good 1960s pop song. I must have heard it 1,000,000 times on AM radio, but I never really listened to the story until now. A guy is at a park. It has just stopped raining. Then there she is … The Flower Girl. The song says “the Sun broke through”. (Coincidentally you need a SunStone in order to make the Petilil evolve into a Liligant!) He goes off with this girl, WHO HE HAS JUST MET BY THE WAY … they engage in some activity, which is not clear in the song, but what they do strews “FLOWERS EVERWHERE …”. All of a sudden – the Flower Girl is gone. Did he imagine the whole thing?
Hmmmm … well, here is a brief slideshow of some “elegant flower girls” in Lilligant cosplay.
“I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew … she could make me happy …”
Some other names for Liligant?
I like “Lilith” which is a nice proper Anglo-sounding name. (Also the name of the wife of Dr. Frasier Crane.)
“PrettyFlower” will just fit in 12 letters. My idea for this name is “For Your Clothes Here’s a Pretty Flower” which is what Hare Krishna’s say when they pin a flower on you and ask for a donation. Which reminds me of the time I met this Hare Krishna chick at the mall. I was about 18 years old, and horny as hell, walking along, minding my own business. All of a sudden this great looking blond girl with flowers in a headband comes up to me and starts asking how I am doing. One thing did not lead to another, and … oh, crap … I wasn’t getting anything, she was just after a donation for her cult. There was probably some ape-shit ugly dude out in a van in the mall parking lot, putting her up to it … and er … huh huh … I digress once again.
The Netherlands grow and sell a lot of flower bulbs, so Holland-inspired names are appropriate: “Bulbs” or “Holland” or “Hollandyke” — for example. “Tiptoes” if you remember the “Tip Toe Through The Tulips” song.
“Lillium” is the genus name for the flower Lilly. It is the Latin word used for the genus, and is also the name of the FANTASTIC operatic opening song sung in Latin for the landmark anime Elfen Lied. Perhaps pretty flowers would grow in an “Elf Field“. Listen to the music linked here in another window. … Gulp … It was one of the most profound anime’s ever … how can you say you are an anime fan if you have never been on this? I get lost remembering the haunting theme …
Another suggestion is “McGill” as in the line from The Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon” — “Her name was McGill, but she called herself ‘Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy.”
Starlight: I’m old enough to remember when my sister bought the Cowsills album in 1966.
“Lady Snowblood” ( 修羅雪姫, “Shurayuki-hime”) is a 1973 Japanese film directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji. Supposedly the movie was based on a manga, but I have not been able to find any which predates the film, so I have not read it. The movie is a good old-fashioned slice-and-dice “revenge” story of a beautiful but deadly young woman named Yuki Kashima. “Yuki” meaning “snow” of course.
The young swordslady seeks her vengeance upon four people who raped her mother and killed her mother’s husband and son. Um, she is actually born in prison, and er … it is complicated. It raises some interesting plot, and biological sequences. However, it is a lot of fun, but it is not a happy movie and does not have a “Hollywood” ending. It holds up well and stands the test of time. In fact I would say that it is a lot “edgier” than the bulk of what comes from Hollywood. This is the original trailer:
Now I do not want to spoil the ending, because it is well worth watching. However, how there could be a sequel – and how the character could be continued — defies logic. Never let logic spoil the fun I guess. Here is the trailer for the sequel.
This is the great theme song “Shura No Hana”, sung by the Lady Snowblood actress herself. Great song, and great kimonos are seen here.
Sounds pretty “Enka” doesn’t it? In fact, this is on her great Zenkyoko Shu album. Go ahead and listen to it on YouTube for free, minimize it, and you will feel like you are in a Japanese cinematic classic. The song was used by Quetin Tarantino’s movie “Kill Bill, Vol. 1.” Apparently Tarantino was a big fan of Lady Snowblood. If you have seen “Kill Bill” you might remember the sword fight in the snowy landscape between Uma Thurmon and Lucy Liu. Tarantino rips off … (cough) … I mean … pays homage to the original movie. The American director also included LS sub-plots, character names, visual motifs directly into his “Kill Bill” series.
I watched the original film from a Neflix disc which was an Animeigo repackaging. I love all the old samurai movies which were re-translated and re-issued on DVD.
Animeigo adds in many cultural annotations, color-coded subtitles, and provide special features which are pure candy for fans like myself.
Starlight: I need to get a copy of the original pre-1973 manga.
See more of Meiko Kaji on my Pinterest board linked here.
Likes: Pop Culture, Humor, Japanese Culture, Iwasa Misaki, Hanako Oku, AKB48 History, Kurosawa films, Kimonos, Anime, Lolita fashion, Buddhist philosophy, and finding the perfect nicknames for my Pokemon.
A fansite; for old and new fans of AKB48 and all their domestic and international sister groups: (SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, NGT48, STU48, JKT48, BNK48, MNL48, AKB48 Team SH, SGO48, AKB48 Team TP, and CGM48)
Denny Sinnoh 
Written
on November 14, 2016