The Two Faces of Kikka

Is me reviewing Kikkawa Yuu's releases once a year going to become a tradition? Because I feel like I'm headed in that direction.

This time it's not my fault though! It really has been a year since Kikka's released anything. Okay, she released a compilation album and collaborated with some band I don't know or care about. But she hasn't released a single since that triple A-side from January 2013. Not even Perfume's taken such a long gap between two singles to release something. Don't get me wrong, Perfume's come close, but not to one year and five months. When I last listened to any new Kikka material though, the results were mixed. Her triple A-side from over a year ago was mostly forgettable, and her subsequent album Two You was almost as forgettable save for one or two songs. I've never been able to figure out what sort of image management has tried to pin on Kikka, particularly in her last few releases. At first, she's a Vocaloid-style electropop singer, but oh wait, now she's your girl-next-door idol! I'm all for chameleon-like changes in image and music as long as they make some sort of sense. My interest has definitely waned in Kikka since her debut days, but I enjoy her voice enough to keep a weary eye on her release activity. And since it has been ages since her last single, I figured I need to give Urahara Temptation/Ii jan a shot! Who knows? Maybe Kikka's back with a vengeance!

Covers/Outfits

It's a good thing that the quality of a single's covers doesn't always effect the quality of the actual. Because hoo boy... I've definitely seen better covers. I will say there are elements of the Urahara Temptation/Ii jan covers that I like. I like the pop art color scheme and editing. But these covers are kind of an eyesore. There's way too much going on in them yet at the same time they look incredibly cheap. Both covers show two different Kikkas, a lighter, happier Kikka and a darker, sexier Kikka. Think of the Two You covers only fifty times busier. I think the producers might have been going for something a little retro with these covers, but they end up looking kind of cheap. Of the two, I prefer the LE version (featured in this review) over the regular.

Urahara Temptation

After the lackluster triple A-side last year, Urahara Temptation is a much-needed energy booster for Kikka. Urahara Temptation is kind of different for Kikka. Kind of. The covers for this single indicated two different Kikkas, a mature, sexy Kikka and a sweet, innocent. Urahara Temptation presents that first Kikka. Funny enough, the song actually starts out kind... underwhelming. The verses aren't bad, they're just a little forgettable. Don't worry though, the pace picks up very quickly after the verses! Urahara Temptation kicks into overdrive with a chorus that instantly grabs you! And then the rest of the song is... weird. At times it's a good kind of weird, like the chorus. The chorus is the catchiest part of the song, and the strongest one I've heard from a Kikka song in a long time. Other parts of the song are hit-or-miss. Like for instance: Kikka raps! And it... kind of works? It wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would turn out! There's also a good deal of Autotune in this song, but nowhere near overt as the A-sides where Kikka dabbled in electropop. I do think they could have laid off the Autotune; Kikka has a good voice that doesn't really need to be covered up with Autotune. I think it was stylistic, but at times, the Autotune comes off as a tad bit forced.

Despite criticisms, I like Urahara Temptation! In fact, I think Urahara Temptation may be my favorite Kikka A-side since Konna Watashi de Yokattara. Even the chorus of Urahara Temptation reminds me a little bit of Konna Watashi de Yokattara, just in tone. However, Urahara Temptation isn't as good as Konna Watashi de Yokattara; Kikka's yet to broach that level of quality again. It is the song that has come the closest so far. The structure of the song is a little messy, and as I said, the Autotune I could have done without. However, Urahara Temptation still has energy and a chorus that grabs you. That's more than I can say about some of Kikka's past A-sides. Urahara Temptation gives me hope that Kikka isn't doomed to a mix of mediocre electropop songs and bland pop songs for the rest of her career. So no, this is not the best Kikka song I've ever heard, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Not every creative decision works in Urahara Temptation, but I still have to give props for at least trying to do a bunch of different things and mash them into one song. Overall, if you liked Konna Watashi de Yokattara or Darling to Madonna, I'd give Urahara Temptation a listen!

But of course, how can I forget about the music video? First of all, when did Kikka starting getting shitty English subtitles on her videos!? It's bad enough having to deal with them on Hello! Project's music video's. I hate that Kikka's management jumped on that bandwagon too! Oh well, I've ranted enough about subtitles in the past. Besides, there's a subtitles-less version on Jpopsuki.tv. The PV for Urahara Temptation is... minimalistic. Which is my nice way of saying it looks freaking cheap. The PV was shot on plain white backdrop, which is just about as cheap as you can get with a music video. Even the outfit Kikka wears in the music video looks cheap. I think Kikka's style team failed to realize that making something red does not automatically make it sexy. I mean the sequins and the tulle make her look like she's wearing a dance costume. Admittedly, not every part of the music video looks tacky. I think the production team at least tried to do something with the budget they were working with. There are a plethora of special effects used in the PV for Urahara Temptation, ranging from visually pleasing to looking about as low-budget as a B-movie.

The better-looking visuals are the geometric shapes used as transitions. Think Morning Musume's Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe or Yamabe Miyu's Butterfly. These are pretty simplistic, but they're nice and clean. Most of the color schemes are also pretty good. There are some black and white shots, other filtered shots, and a pretty blue main backdrop. But then... there are the really poor effects. Or mainly the one I like to call "Attack of the Multiplying Kikkas." During several parts of this PV, Kikka appears multiple times in multiple sizes and multiple angles, one right on top of the other. I don't know what it is about this effect, but it's really weird. And not in the fun, Kyarypamyupamyu kind of way. It looks so awkward, with all the different sizes and awkward layering. Even the multiple Kikkas in Konna Watashi de Yokattara looked less forced than the ones in Urahara Temptation. And beyond that one special effect, the other special effects all look like they're compensating for the low-budget nature of this PV. I think the creative team did their best to make it interesting, but there's only so much they can do. So yeah, not the best PV I've seen from Kikka. But hey, not the worst either!



And the music video has no affect on how many apples I give the song alone! I was flitting between 4 and 4.5 apples, but I'm gonna go with 4.5 apples for Urahara Temptation! There's a little too much going on in the song at parts, but overall, I enjoyed the song! I think it'll be one of the newer Kikka releases I listen to more than once!

Ii jan

So the other A-side is Ii jan. I heard a preview of Ii jan awhile ago, alongside Urahara Temptation. Of the two previews, Urahara Temptation grabbed me much more than Ii jan. The preview of Ii jan just sounded very dull. Like it was a generic happy idol song. And... yeah, Ii jan is on the generic side. But I like the song a lot more than I thought I would! Because yes, Ii jan borders on bland, but there's enough energy in the song to prevent it from sounding completely forgettable. I think this song is one of those that sounds more energetic when the chorus hits. The sound is similar to Kikkake wa You! or Hapirapi ~Sunrise~ but I think Ii jan handles that happy idol sound much better than either one of those two songs. Come to think of it, Ii jan also reminds me a little bit of Sweetie (a Kikka B-side). Ii jan doesn't have as much flair as Urahara Temptation, but there's still something likable about the song. Maybe it's the way Kikka sings it? She doesn't force a cute voice as much as she has on some of her other happy songs (I have Hapirapi ~Sunrise~ in mind). But she still manages to convey a very cheerful voice! And there are some really cute backing vocals in this song.

So Urahara Temptation was the Sexy Face of Kikka, hence Ii jan takes up the role of the Innocent Face. I mean, that is how the covers promote it. I like the contrast between Urahara Temptation and Ii jan. Ii jan is a very cute, lighthearted song whereas Urahara Temptation is a little more serious and playful. Neither A-side is a rehash of the other! And I like that Ii jan doesn't Autotune Kikka's voice! I think that would be really out of place in a song like Ii jan. At its core, Ii jan is simply a bright, happy little idol song, and it doesn't try to be anything else. Sometimes, I just like to listen to a happy idol song! As long as said idol song is not bland. And Ii jan turned out to be a lot less bland than I thought it would be! I think if wasn't in the right mood, I wouldn't be able to enjoy Ii jan. But I'm a little ecstatic right now (thanks to a certain trio finally coming to the US), so I'm loving Ii jan! I will say again though, it's kind of a bland song. Likably bland, but still bland. But if you like the more idol-y, less Vocaloid side of Kikka's music, you should give Ii jan a listen!

Then there's the PV for Ii jan. Like Urahara Temptation's PV, the PV for Ii jan is low-budget. Unlike Urahara Temptation's PV, the PV for Ii jan looks good. Ii jan is the cuter of the two PVs, even down to what Kikka's wearing. By the way, the white dress and crown she's wearing look adorable. Like the song, the PV for Ii jan is simply cute. It also features a plain white backdrop, but in this PV, Kikka gets to do more than just stare sexily at the camera. Ii jan's PV utilizes a bunch of special effects, mainly visuals that look like drawings. And then Kikka herself draws a variety of different things from hats to flowers to fishies and a bunch of other really cute things! The best part is all that art was done by Kikka herself! She's obviously not going to be the Monet, but her drawings look really cute and add a lot of character to the PV! I like how the visuals effects are a constant; there isn't a single shot where Kikka's just singing or dancing in front of that plain white backdrop. There's either some writing, one of Kikka's drawings, or some other miscellaneous visual in the background! And all the visuals look so adorable; they're all bright colors or and cute drawings that match perfectly with the song.

Kikka herself is really adorable in the PV for Ii jan too! Like I said, she did all the drawings in this PV, and she does a ton of faces that match perfectly with them. There's even one point where she draws a gun and then an actual gun materializes! It works better in context. The drawback with doing more mature songs is that it doesn't give an idol a chance to act happy and have fun. I mean, it's possible I guess but not in the same way. Kikka is part of what makes the PV for Ii jan so much fun to watch. She's bubbly and smiling and making these hilarious facial expressions all throughout the PV. So yes, of the two PVs on this single, I prefer Ii jan. I think it had probably about the same budget as Urahara Temptation, but the PV has much more popping visual effects and less awkwardness. The best PV I've seen all year? No, but probably the best low-budget PV I've seen all year. See, UFP? If you could make a PV like this for Kikka, how hard would it be to do the same for Berryz Koubou's Futsuu Idol 10nen Yatterannai Desho!? Okay, I'm veering into a different subject entirely. Still, I like Ii jan's PV!



I will give Ii jan four little apples! I like Urahara Temptation better, but Ii jan definitely got the better PV. And really, the song is quite pleasant to listen to! If you're looking for something happy and upbeat (and don't mind something a little generic), then I'll enthusiastically recommend Ii jan! Because that's what I think makes Ii jan work: the enthusiasm!

The Verdict

There's still hope for Kikkawa Yuu! Seriously, this single was so much better than her triple A-side... and Darling to Madonna... and Koko Kara Hajimarunda! Maybe working with that other band gave her producers some inspiration. I have noticed that this single's kind of scant compared to her previous singles. I mean, there are the two A-sides and... that's it. I mean understandably, it is a double A-side. But even her first singles had three different B-sides. Oh well, I guess since there are only two editions of this single, that doesn't leave room for a B-side. I'd have more of a problem with the small tracklist if one of the songs on Urahara Temptation/Ii jan was outright bad. But lucky for me, I think both songs are pretty good! The strongest songs Kikka's ever released? No. Urahara Temptation has a messy arrangement and some unnecessary Autotune. Ii jan is a safe, but slightly bland, song. But I think the good outweighs the bad with this single. And I'd rather have two good songs than one great song and one terrible song. Or even worse... two bad songs. Urahara Temptation and Ii jan are both good songs, and I like listening to both of them. I can remember how both songs sound.

I think the producers were trying to play up those two different images of Kikka for each one of these A-sides. So which one works better: Sexy Kikka or Happy Kikka? Musically, Urahara Temptation is my favorite of the two A-sides. It's her most memorable song I've listened to since Konna Watashi de Yokattara, and the energy flow is just great. Even if the music video looks kind of cheap and sloppily edited, I can still enjoy the song. As for Ii jan, just because that's the lesser of the two A-sides doesn't mean it isn't worth listening to! There's something irresistible about how infectiously happy Ii jan sounds. Ii jan's your basic happy idol song, but there's enough charm and energy to keep the song from sounding like a bore. Overall, I think these two songs compliment each other. Alone, both are solidly in good-but-not-great territory, but together, they make for a good single. I mean, for the first time in ages, I'm actually interested in what Kikka's going to release next! Kikka, you've redeemed yourself. I eagerly look forward to whatever you're planing on releasing next. As long as it's not Vocaloid electropop again.

My overall rating of Urahara Temptation/Ii jan is four apples. It's a good single, and if you've been skeptical of Kikka's music these past couple years, give this single a shot. Both songs on it are a decent listen. So why not give in to that urahara temptation and check this single out?

Let's Talk about Two You

I haven't given much love to Kikkawa Yuu lately...

But I can't help it if I've found her musical output to be dull and uninteresting lately! I said in my year-end recap for 2012 that one of the idols I'd lot interest in was Kikkawa Yuu. Why? Because Universal Music Japan turned her into a Vocaloid! I kid, I kid, but Kikka's music is a big part of why I haven't really been following her as much as I used to. What I like about Kikkawa Yuu that made me want to follow her solo music in the first place was her voice. I love Kikka's voice and I was happy that her talent was finally being put to good use via solo career. But after Koko Kara Hajimarunda! came out I just kind of... stopped caring about her releases. I'd actually thought about reviewing the PV for Koko Kara Hajimarunda! but other idol groups with more interesting releases came along and soon enough, it was the end of 2012 and I realized I hadn't reviewed any post-One for You! material from Kikka. I think the decision for Kikka to handle more electropop-type songs was what lead me to caring less about her music. I won't say I hate her electropop singles but they don't jazz me. So here we are in 2013 and I've decided that it's about time I took a look at what Kikkawa Yuu has been up to lately. And what a better way to do that than to review her second album, appropriately titled Two You. Ugh, even I cringe at how pun-tastic that title is. What I'm hoping is that maybe by giving her second album a listen, I'll be able to rekindle the enthusiasm I formerly possessed for Kikkawa Yuu as an idol. Maybe I'll finally revive some interest in her. Or I could just keep on forgetting about her. Either way, let's take a look at Two You and find out!

1. Dramatic

So opening the album is a Vocaloid-type song in the vein of Kikka's past singles like Koko Kara Hajimarunda! And I guess that makes sense; the guy who composed those songs also composed Dramatic! Yeah, I hope you like electropop because there are a lot of little bleeps and other electro effects in the introduction of the song. It is kind of cool, even though I've heard it before. I was a little worried that Kikka's voice was going to be edited like it was in Koko Kara Hajimarunda! but for the most part, her actual vocals remained untouched. And she sounds nice in Dramatic; her voice is strong and she doesn't revert to that nasally singing that's plagued a couple of her other songs. I wouldn't say Dramatic is really my idea of a dramatic song though... I guess when I think of a dramatic song, I just think of sweeping instrumentals and over the top melodies. But overall, I think Dramatic makes for a decent album opener.

My Rating:


2. Darling to Madonna

So the first A-side on the album is Darling to Madonna, the second A-side of the Two You era. And honestly, when this song came out, I wasn't that impressed. It just sounds like a rehash of Koko Kara Hajimarunda! to my ears. Well, that was last year and this is 2013! I didn't pay much mind to Darling to Madonna back in 2012 so I think going over it will be good for me! So... I don't think this is a terrible song but like I said, it sounds so similar to Koko Kara Hajimarunda! I do like though that Darling to Madonna has much less vocal editing than the piles and piles of Autotune Koko Kara Hajimarunda! had. And I guess the instrumental does sound pretty neat with all the electronic effects going on (even though they sound similar to that other song...). Darling to Madonna is a fun and upbeat song though and I can't deny that it does have energy so... I guess my verdict is it's a fairly nice-sounding song. Yeah.

My Rating:

3. Zutto Zutto Zutto Kimi ga Suki da

The next new album track is this song with a very long title! Try saying it five times in a row! So my first impressions of this very lengthily-titled song was that it sounded a lot like an ending to some generic anime! Then again, that isn't necessarily bad since I do like Zutto Zutto Zutto Kimi ga Suki da! It has a very bouncy sound to it and I like the use of staccato notes in both the instrumental and the vocals. I think that gives the song a very fun and lighthearted tone to it! I feel like this is one of the more idol-y songs on Two You; I could actually see someone like Mano Erina or even Matsuura Aya performing this song. I feel like if I was in a bad mood, this wouldn't be a good song to listen to but when I'm feeling more energetic and hopeful about the future, I think I'd like listening to Zutto Zutto Kimi ga Suki da! Overall, I think it's a very fun song and while it may not be the most creative song ever, it still has a very earnestly happy feeling to it!

My Rating:


4. Renai Ebo

Helloooooo, best new track on the album! Yeah, I knew about halfway through my first listen of Renai Ebo that it was my favorite song on Two You. And why not? It's flipping awesome! Renai Ebo is a more pop-rock song that sounds like something you'd hear from Buono! or even Passpo. Actually, this song really sounds like it would fit in Passpo's discography; Renai Ebo sounds a lot like Natsuzora Hanabi but it's not so similar-sounding it's a straight-up rip-off! This is just a rocking song! There's a lot of guitar, Kikka's vocals have a lot of spirit to them, I just really love this song, okay? I feel like I had the same reaction towards Hako no Naka no Blue from her first album. My only gripe with Renai Ebo is that it's way too short; the song is barely three minutes long and I think this is a song that could have used a kickass rock bridge... Still, that's only a minimal complaint and doesn't lower my opinion of Renai Ebo!

My Rating:


5. Sekaijuu ni Kimi wa Hitori Dake

So the most recent A-side to be included on Two You is from Kikka's triple A-side released back in January. I guess the other two A-sides didn't make the cut because the producers really felt like they had to work in those acoustic covers. But I digress. So how does Sekaijuu ni Kimi wa Hitori Dake hold up? Well... I'm just gonna come out and say it: the opening of this song frightens me. Why? Because the song starts out with all these soft instrumentals and then suddenly Kikka's voice whispers "I LOVE YOU" in this really creepy voice that's just... it startles me, okay!? Beyond that, there's not really much I can talk about with Sekaijuu ni Kimi wa Hitori Dake. It's not a bad song but I don't think it's truly a standout song either. I mean, Kikka sings well in this song and the arrangement isn't bad but there's nothing about this song that puts it as a favorite of mine on the album. But I suppose it's an all right song!

My Rating:


6. Koko Kara Hajimarunda!

And so the oldest A-side on Two You is... Koko Kara Hajimarunda. Yay. Yep... as you can tell, I'm not a very huge fan of this song. Those of you who were able to get through my entire year-end post of 2012 might know that I had Koko Kara Hajimarunda! under my Worst Use of Autotune category for songs. And believe me, the Autotune isn't the only problem I have with this song, though it is one of the main problems. Koko Kara Hajimarunda! started the phase of singles and songs which were more electropop-oriented for Kikka, inadvertently started my decline in interest toward Kikka's music. While you all probably know I am a fan of electropop, I never liked Kikka taking an electropop direction with her music because she just doesn't have a voice for it. What I'm trying to say is I think her voice would work better in more vocally expressive genres. Koko Kara Hajimarunda! isn't a bad song, but I can't bring myself to love it.

My Rating:


7. To Be...

...or not to be. That is the question! This is the ballad of the album and you all know how particular I am about what I like in a ballad. So how does To Be... hold up? Well, I gotta say, I'm not really feeling it. The first misstep with To Be... is that it has a weak opening. Kikka pretty much singing acapella in the opening notes and her voice sounds awful. Well, by her standards, it sounds pretty bad. Kikka's voice can be very hit-or-miss and usually, I like the sound of her voice but every so often she'll switch to this really weak, almost nasally head voice. And for a ballad, that really doesn't help. I always think what carries a strong ballad is the vocals and how a singer expresses his or her feelings through those vocals. Kikka just sounds really soft and weak in this ballad and doesn't stand out. I wouldn't say To Be... is a terrible ballad by any means since it does have some nice parts but it doesn't stand out that much.

My Rating:


8. Kaze no Youna Melody

And after the ballad is thankfully, a much more upbeat and energetic song! It's not a terribly energetic song but after To Be... Kaze no Youna is refreshingly faster-paced. Still, this song didn't really grab me but it wasn't that bad either. It has a lot of the familiar electropop bleeps and effects you'd hear on Koko Kara Hajimarunda! Weird... it's almost as if all these songs were composed by the same person. I wonder if... can it be? It can! I did some digging around and found out that Dramatic, Darling to Madonna, Sekaijuu Hitori Kimi wa Hitori Dake, Koko Kara Haijmarunda! and Kaze no Youna Melody are all composed by the same person. What a twist! Honestly, that really shows with all these songs because frankly, they all sound very similar. Sure, the arrangements and keys are tweaked with each song but they all sound the same to me. So Kaze no Youna Melody just feels like a repeat of Koko Kara Hajimarunda! or Darling to Madonna.

My Rating:


9. Unmei

No, this Unmei is not the newest Tokyo Girls' Style song; we'll talk about that song later. This Unmei is a ballad! Yep, this album has another ballad. Because if there's anything this album needs, it's another ballad! I mean, that first was one just so invigorating. And Unmei makes To Be... sound like Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta ga Mono~. Unmei is probably my least favorite song on the album because it's really slow, even for a ballad the energy is at a low. The main problem with Unmei is that there's never a moment where the song really picks up, not even in the chorus. Never did I hear a build-up; the song pretty much stays at the same tempo and energy level and it's boring. I will say, Kikka's vocals sound a bit better but the arrangement of this ballad puts me to sleep. It doesn't help that the song is nearly six minutes long. Unmei is sort of what I have in mind when I picture a poorly-done ballad. This was such a snore on the album.

My Rating:


10. Twinkle Days

So the only B-side included on Two You is from Darling to Madonna! Twinkle Days sort of has that same electronic pop Vocaloid vibe that Darling to Madonna does and I thought it was a decent B-side. Then again, that makes sense; the guy who composed this song makes a lot of Vocaloid music. Anyways, I didn't like the heavily Autotuned opening notes to Twinkle Days but luckily, the Autotune used in this song doesn't reach Morning Musume's One Two Three levels. But again, I do feel like the Autotune is very gratuitous, especially when it's used in the verses and the third verse. Kikka's voice sounds fine in this song so why does it have to be Autotuned? Twinkle Days is a pretty cheerful and upbeat song and I admit, after the dreadful borefest that is Unmei, Twinkle Days is a refreshing change of pace. It's not my favorite Kikka song but of the B-sides from her latest singles, I don't mind Twinkle Days making it onto the album.

My Rating:


11. Sayonara Namida (Acoustic Version)

The final two tracks on Two You are just acoustic versions of already recorded. Personally, I'm not so sure I really wanted two songs I've already heard before over two new songs, but I do think it's nice Sayonara Namida (or some form of it) made it into one of Kikka's albums. Sayonara Namida is one of my favorite Kikka songs and I actually think it made a better A-side than the actual A-side Kikkake wa You! It's a very pretty song and Kikka's vocals are well-done. The acoustic version is naturally, much more raw on the instrumentals and is much softer and toned-down than the original. It's not a bad redo but I still prefer the original version and the energy it had. But Kikka's voice sounds nice and she does a good job carrying the song. The piano sounds nice, the vocals sound nice, Sayonara Namida is just a nice song! As far as acoustic versions go, Sayonara Namida is overall pretty decent!

My Rating:


12. Kikkake wa You! (Acoustic Version)

Speaking of already recorded songs, the next acoustic version on Two You is Kikkake wa You! I guess that's fitting since this was Kikka's song she debuted with. Then again, this isn't really a song I enjoy a lot but I don't think it's terrible either. But honestly, I don't think I would have picked Kikkake wa You! to get an acoustic version. It works better as a more energetic and upbeat song to me. The acoustic version just kind of sucks all the energy out and while it's not as deadbeat as Unmei (then again, nothing else on this album is) I actually think I like the original song a little bit better. I will say though, the acoustic version of Kikkake wa You! does offer a different take on the original song. It's much more raw and slow and I think Kikka's voice does sound better in the acoustic version. Still, if I had to pick between getting an acoustic version of Kikkake wa You! or a new album song, I'd pick the latter. Even if it was a song like Unmei.

My Rating:


The Verdict

Wow. That was... not a good album. Okay, let me elaborate: in comparison to One for You!, Two You is not a very good or interesting album. Even if I wasn't comparing it to Kikka's debut album, Two You still wouldn't hold up very well. Is it a terrible album? No. But there's not a lot of material in this album that really stands out, save for one or two new songs. Actually, one problem I had with this album was the lack of new songs. Okay, only half the album consisted of pre-recorded songs but of the other six new tracks, I only liked half of those. My favorite new track on the album was Renai Ebo and that was because it was the most differently-styled song. I also liked Zutto Zutto Zutto Kimi ga Suki da and Dramatic but I doubt either one of those songs will every become my uber-favorite Kikkawa Yuu songs. The other three songs ranged from forgettable to hatefully forgettable. The worst song on Two You was most definitely Unmei; it's long and low-energy and monotonous and displays all the qualities I find in a poorly-done ballad. To Be... and Kaze no Youna Melody just didn't stand out for me. At least the new songs on One for You! had variety. Two You doesn't. Not much anyways. About half the songs on the album have that Vocaloid-styled electropop music that Kikka used in Koko Kara Hajimarunda! and Darling to Madonna. As someone who wasn't a huge fan of that style for her, obviously that doesn't settle very well with me. If you are a fan of that style though, you might like this album a bit more than I did though. Still, Two You isn't bogged down with bad songs but it doesn't have a lot of really good songs either. A majority of the songs on this album just don't stand out. So while there aren't a lot of songs that make my blood boil on Two You, it's still a very vanilla album. It's a shame that Two You is such a lackluster follow-up to One for You! since in comparison, I realize just how much more interesting that album was.

Well, of five apples, Kikkawa Yuu's second album only gets two and half. I'm sorry, but this just wasn't a very stand-out album to me. Half the tracks felt like filler and there were only a few songs that I really enjoyed listening to. So I guess my streak of not giving a shit about Kikkawa Yuu will continue. I'll keep waiting for the day she releases something that grabs me again, but I'm not expecting it to be for awhile now...

My Top 10 Ballads

As you all know, I am not a huge fan of C-ute's cover of Kono Machi. I spent a whole PV review saying that I didn't like how the original Moritaka Chisato song was turned into a ballad and that I really thought it took away from the enjoyment of the song. The ballad cover sounded slow and plodding to me, and although it's not a bad song, it's definitely not one of my favorite ballads.

So then I started thinking, "Are there any good ballads I've heard lately?" I realized no, not really but then I started also thinking about what ballads did I like? After all, I don't dislike ballads; there are just a lot of ballads I dislike. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is I have a small amount of ballads that I like. I think the reason that I'm not a fan of a lot of ballads is simply because of my song taste in general. I like music that has energy. And by energy, I mean a song that is energetic, regardless of style. If I'm listening to a happy song, I want it to be the most energetic, over-the-top happy song I've ever heard. Almost any style of music that backs itself up with a high amount of energy, chances are I'll probably like it or at least commend the song for its energy. The things is... ballads aren't energetic. Well, most of them aren't with a few exceptions. And since they lack one of the key things I look for in a good song, naturally there aren't a lot of ballads I like. Because to me, what defines a good ballad is emotion. A ballad tends to rely more on the vocals and less the musical arrangement to carry the song and if that vocalist can't provide the emotion they're trying to convey in their song, the entire song falls flat for me.  When a ballad, can make me feel the same emotion the singer has, that's when I know I'm gonna love this ballad. What can I say? I'm very particular when it comes to what ballads I like. That brings me back to my original question: what ballads do I like anyways? Surely there's a small handful of ballads I find good, I know there are! I've decided to limit my list to only J-pop ballads, since hey, that's what I write about (although I will say there are a lot of Western ballads that I adore too). But I've managed to compile some of my favorite ballads by J-pop artists that I follow! Some of them I picked for their emotion, others I picked because they make me curl up in a ball and cry. But I love all of them!

So get out your tissues because we are diving into my top ten personal favorite J-pop ballads!

10. 575 - Perfume

Ah, what better way to start off the list than with Perfume? The reason I put 575 so low on the list is because it's kind of a borderline ballad. Then again, that's what makes it such an interesting song! In contrast to the highly bland and boring VOICE, I loved this B-side on its first listen because of it's interesting arrangement. The verses that are sung are done in a haiku style: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables hence the title of the song. The song is pretty much about lining up verses in 5-7-5 to reach out to a person the narrator doesn't want to slip through of her fingers. 575 is kind of a "lost love" song only the love isn't quite lost yet and that provides the conflict in the lyrics. It's a pretty melancholic concept but the sung verses are absolutely beautiful in both sound and arrangement, especially with its slow tempo. And then the song transitions into the rapping part. Now you might be thinking "What the what? I thought you said this was a ballad! What the hell are you on, Nia?" I know it sounds crazy; you never really put Perfume and rapping together but in 575 it works really well! And the rapping is good, much better than I thought it would be. 575 may seem like a strange excuse for a ballad at first but the elements woven together into the song and the clever use of haiku verses are what make this an amazing ballad and one of my favorite Perfume songs in general.

9. Koi ING - Morning Musume

This is another one of those borderline ballads and I almost thought about not including it on the list. I say that because although the songs starts out much like a ballad with a really slow opening and slow-paced vocals from Miki, Ai and Eri (who all sound great in this song). But then the song gets a little bit more energetic leading up to the chorus and then it's like all this energy just came bursting out of a box! Does that even make sense? In context, going from such a slow pace to a high-energy level sounds like mood whiplash but for Koi ING, it works well. Even when the song goes back to that slow pace after the chorus and then goes right back up to having a boatload of energy and bubbly happiness, it still works. For two completely different styles to be seamlessly blended together is a pretty remarkable feat. As you can see, the fact that this song is like 60% ballad and 40% song made me hesitant to put it on this list. But there are just so many parts about this ballad that I love. Like that piano intro? I love piano intros, the #1 ballad on this list has an amazing piano intro and I love the piano intro on Koi ING. Actually, I really think that the instrumental of this song holds up just as well as the original. Koi ING perfectly combines slow and pretty with upbeat and happy and it's still one of Morning Musume's best songs.

8. My alright sky - Suzuki Airi

Let me go ahead and say that My alright sky was the only saving grace of the Partenza album. In the middle of the electropop mess that was this mini album was a little R&B-influenced song sung by Suzuki Airi, one of it not the best singer in Hello! Project. Up until My alright sky, I hadn't listened to any of Airi's other solo songs. I mean, I knew she was a good singer and everything, I just didn't really pay attention to any of the album songs, B-sides, and the digital singles she'd released. My alright sky was the first time I realized just how talented Airi is as a vocalist; every note she hits in this ballad is perfect. She makes it sound so effortless too; one of the most difficult things for a singer to accomplish is making the song she's singing sound easy. It's extremely challenging and Airi makes this song sound like a piece of cake even. Airi's vocals are my favorite part about this song and I think it's what separates it from other ballads in that same R&B vein of music. And the song has a really good flow; it just seems to float along with Airi's vocals and it's a great song to listen to whenever I want to chill out. I actually love playing it while I'm driving considering driving in itself is extremely stressful. Funny thing is, when I first heard this song, I was like "WOW, Airi speaks really good English!" Then I found out it's not her... oh well! Airi sounds great in this ballad and that's why I love it!

7. Knight Flight - Kikkawa Yuu

I like Knight Flight for the same reason that I love My alright sky: the singer. I've always loved Kikkawa Yuu's voice (well... when it's not Vocoded and Autotuned to hell) and a ballad is the perfect opportunity for Kikka to really sing. And she hits a lot of different ranges, going from high to low then low to high and even doing a key change right in the middle of a flipping chorus! Kikka's voice is what essentially carries the song and the vocal arrangement is definitely the most interesting aspect of this ballad. I think my favorite part is the chorus and when Kikka goes partway into her head voice; usually head voice doesn't work as well on a recording as it does live, but in Knight Flight, her head voice fits with the song. And I really can't emphasize just how beautiful this chorus sounds; I wasn't expecting it when I first heard the song. Because while the verses are kind of soft, they're also pretty safe in terms of vocal range but then out of nowhere Kikka just starts hitting these high notes left and right and it works so amazingly. I actually looked up the live to this song to see if she could pull it off as well as she did in the recording and... yeah, she does. Knight Flight is a ballad that makes me appreciate Kikka's vocal abilities and it's a beautiful song. It's just one of those soothing songs that always calms me down when I play it!

6. For you... - Linlin

I think my first thought when I heard this song was, "Oh my god Linlin can sing." Something to note about Linlin was that she graduated just after I'd gotten into Morning Musume so her time in Morning Musume was an era I was never really present for. I never really got attached to her because why should I? She graduated! I'd looked into the group's past singles and I noticed she didn't even get a lot of lines or screen time so my interest in her remained low. Then I listened to For you, her solo on one of those H!P compilation albums and ever since then I've been scratching my head as to why in the hell UFP let her amazing voice got to waste. All right, I'm fairly certain it was her Chinese nationality that ever prevented Linlin from having real success in Momusu, but that's still a shitty reason to shaft her! I'm serious, Linlin's voice completely blew my mind when I heard this ballad; I had no idea she was such an amazing singer because I heard her so little in Morning Musume's songs. Linlin's voice is what makes For you such a perfect ballad; in the beginning, she sings very softly and delicate and her voice grows louder and stronger until she hits the chorus and it sounds absolutely beautiful. The minimal instrumentals only highlight how wonderful Linlin's voice is and it's a shame that I didn't hear her voice more in Morning Musume.

5. hitoribochi - BiS

Can I just take this moment to say that once again, the Brand-new Idol Society's music is totally awesome and you are really missing out if you're too stubborn to look past their weird image. I could probably make an entire list of my favorite BiS songs and Hitoribochi would definitely be high up on that list! Not only is it a great ballad, Hitoribochi is just a great song. This is a rock ballad and pretty much the only one on my list (unless you consider #2 a rock ballad). Honestly, this song feels more like a blend of rock and alternative; the opening especially reminds me something a jangly 80s band like R.E.M. or even The Cure would do. But then the chorus uses a lot of heavy guitars so I think Hitoribochi can be called an alt-rock ballad. And it's such a good song and it has everything I like in a ballad. The vocals are extremely emotional and hit their high point in the chorus and you can just hear the emotion behind the voices of BiS. The members of BiS also composed the lyrics for this song and I think that only makes the singing more genuine; the girls are singing what they wrote, not some producer, their own personal feelings and thoughts translated into music and lyrics. I would love to read an English translation of this song if I could find one someday, because I'll bet the lyrics are pretty thoughtful and carry as much emotion as the song does.

4. Sakura no Ki ni Narou - AKB48

Fun fact: Sakura no Ki ni Narou was the song that convinced me to give AKB48 another chance. At first, I just liked this song; I didn't ever expect myself to love it the same way I do now but things happen. Like graduations. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is one of AKB48's "Sakura songs" aka their graduation songs and any AKB fan knows that these songs tend to focus on growing up, graduating school, becoming adults, moving on, like a teen 80s movie only it's about Japanese idols! This is a very pretty ballad with a nice piano, soothing vocals and nostalgic lyrics. So why do I rank it so high on the list? Well... I think it has to do with the loudness of the song. The song starts out soft, really soft. But then the chorus is a bit louder. Then the following verses are a bit louder. And then the final chorus is when the song hits its peak both in volume and in emotion. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is like one giant emotional crescendo and it works beautifully. The lyrics are also beautiful, albeit somewhat abstract. What I gathered from the song is that the narrator was someone who was parting ways with the friends she'd grown close to, so Sakura no Ki ni Narou is not only a reflection of the friendships she had but a promise to remain true to those friends regardless of their obstacles. In the PV, that concept is really brought into the light and let me tell you right now, it's sad. Anyone who watches the PV knows it's essentially about a dead friend watching over her other friends as they grow up and move on with their lives while she's forever looking over them from the great beyond and it only adds to the moving nature of the song.

3. Shin'ai - Mizuki Nana

Oh hey, it's Mizuki Nana, that artist I kind-sorta bring up from time to time even though she has nothing to do with the material I review on this blog! Yeah, this is the only non-idol ballad I felt that I had to put on here simply because I really love this ballad. I've praised Mizuki Nana for her amazing voice again and again and for Shin'ai, her voice is once again one of the reasons it's such an amazing song. I think what makes a great ballad is if the singer can convey the emotions of the song through her voice and Nana does a great job at that. There are so many emotional highs and lows in this song from the soft and delicate verses to the emotionally passionate chorus. Nana wrote this song based around not romantic love but deep love (which is the English translation of the song title), like the bond you'd have between a family member or a friend or someone else you felt really close to. Nana herself wrote this song after the passing of her father, who was pretty much the person who pushed her so hard into having a singing career. Shin'ai is completely and utterly beautiful, a perfect combination of beautiful vocals and an even more beautiful instrumental. Seriously, the harpist in this song has some skills along with all the other instruments in this song. I always get teary-eyed when listening to Shin'ai and for that reason I decided to include it in my list.

2. secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ - Zone

Ah, Secret Base. Isn't this song pretty well-known now? I know it's been covered by Scandal and used for two different animes and I'm certain that this amazing ballad has been covered by a bunch of other different artists. But of all the covers, the original has always been my favorite. This is one of those J-pop songs where knowing the English translation actually gives me a better appreciation of the song. Secret Base is essentially about a goodbye to friend after a long summer of laughing, crying, fighting and just living out their summer in their little "secret base." It's a simple enough message but sometimes simple messages are the best to reach out to listeners. Secret Base relies on nostalgia to pull the listener in, and that message of a summer friendship and the parting of two friends really reaches out to me because it's so relatable. I can't even count the number of friends I've made over the summer and the number I've never seen again. But I remember the summers we shared together and all the amazing memories that I've kept all these years after those summers have long flown by. There were happy times, sad times, and everything in-between but I really cherish the nostalgia of my past summers so a song about that reaches out to me. And I can hear those same feelings in the sheer vocals the song; the girls of Zone sound so expressive and emotional in Secret Base and combined with the nostalgic lyrics, I absolutely love this ballad. 

1. Seventh Heaven - Perfume

I have cried many tears to this song. I think my love for Seventh Heaven has really shot up in the past year mainly due to personal events that have given the song a lot of sentimental value to me. Around October 2012, a relative I'm very close to was in the hospital for critical pneumonia and it really hit me hard when I heard the news. I remember driving to class and crying my eyes out but trying to focus on the road and not think about the possibility that someone I loved so much could die. I even ended up skipping my first class because I was too much of a wreak to make it through an hour of material I didn't even care about. So there I was sitting in my car in the school parking lot with mascara running down my face and just trying to pull myself together to get to my next class. I pulled out my iPod and put Perfume on shuffle because it's Perfume; they've always been able to lift my spirits when I'm down. I just needed something to take my mind off things and their music really does that for me. On the shuffle list, I reached Seventh Heaven and this... feeling just overcame me. It was like this combination of melancholy, hope, sadness, happiness, I don't even know how to describe it. I'd always liked Seventh Heaven but this time listening to it was different. So I listened to it again. And again. To this day, I haven't ever felt a song that gripped me so emotionally since Seventh Heaven and I knew when I started writing this list, that Seventh Heaven is my absolute favorite ballad of all time. Even without my little sob story, it's a beautiful ballad with a lot of emotion and power in it. The lyrics are incredibly melancholic and the instrumental is absolutely amazing. If you need a song that'll give you waterworks, I'd listen to Seventh Heaven. I know it has me crying every time I listen to it.

So with that sappy story out of the way, I've only got one question for you guys: what are your favorite ballads? Which ones make you feel good? Which ones make you cry? Which ones make you cry even though you're too tough to tell anyone?

Nia's Best (and Worst) of 2012! - A Year-End Megapost

Well, my wonderland of madness and Japanese idol music has endured a year of releases, some good, some bad and the rest somewhere in-between! 2012 has definitely been a crazy year buy hey, at least the world didn't end! That way we can see what the year 2013 has to hold for us! It's so weird to be doing another one of these posts... I guess I just didn't really think I'd last long enough to do another year-end post. But I have and I intend to make this one of the best damn year-end posts because I believe in delivering the best to you lovely readers that have help motivated me to keep this blog going! So last year, I just did my top 5 favorite songs of the year (with some honorable mentions) and my top 5 least favorite songs (with some dishonorable mentions). That was it. How dull is that!? To be fair, I was just starting out and had no idea what this blog would evolve into. Now that I have an idea of what I write about, how I write, etc. I decided I wanted to do more than just list some songs I liked and some I disliked and be done with it! Hence I have made a series of categories in two different groups: music and PV. In these two groups are songs I loved, songs I hated, PVs I loved, PVs I hated, and a plethora of other random categories. I admit, it's quite different from a Top 10 list but I realized I didn't want to talk about a few songs with large paragraphs, I wanted to talk about a lot of stuff in little chunks of text! So while my descriptions are shorter than usual, there's a lot to read! Over the past year I have compiled a list of songs and PVs that I find to fit X category or Y category. I was originally going to pick a "winner" for each category but when it came down to choosing, I just couldn't decide! Will you agree with all of my opinions? Maybe. Will you disagree with all of them? Probably. But you'll never know unless you read the results!

So without further stalling, let us dive into the Nia's Best and Worst of 2012!

Best Overall Singles:

Aitai Aitai Aitai na: C-ute - It was only after I put Kanashiki Heaven on my top 20 songs of 2012 on Selective Hearing that I realized how much I enjoyed the Aitai Aitai Aitai an single as a whole. The A-side is fiercely energetic and Kanashiki Heaven has the amazing vocals of Airi and Chissa. While Saikou Music was the least serious of the songs, it was still fun to listen to! I think this single showed off C-ute's strong points very nicely and I'm happy it sold so well!
The Airline Trilogy: Passpo - I couldn't decide which of the three "Airline Trilogy" singles I was going to put on here since they're all amazing so I decided "Hell, it's my blog! I make the rules so all three will be one nomination!" I really enjoyed the distinct style each of these three singles had like the rocking sound of Next flight to the summer pop-punk Natsuzora Hanabi to the Halloween rock of Wing! It's a great collection of different styles of music!
Electric Boy: Kara - I kind of wish I had reviewed this single because I did find it to be surprisingly enjoyable! I don't really follow K-pop but I do look at Kara's J-pop activities every now and then and I like Electric Boy because it sounds very much like J-pop! That's what I always liked about Kara; how easily their music adapted to J-pop! Orion is also a very pretty ballad to balance the hyper-energetic A-side and Pandora is... pretty awesome! I don't listen to K-pop much but I really like the sound of Pandora!
Kataomoi Finally: SKE48 - SKE48 really started the year off with quite the bang with Kataomoi Finally. The A-side is darker than what the happy-go-lucky sister group of AKB48 dabbles in and I think they succeeded well with a darker song. The B-sides are both nice and different in their respective ways with the Akagumi song being a melancholicaly upbeat song and the Shirogumi song brought a nicely generic but still nice B-side to contrast the other two dark B-sides. Overall, an amazing single from SKE48!
Kibou ni Tsuite: No Name - Being one of the three animes I have ever watched, AKB0048 revolves around idols and idol music in a dystopian future. And apparently dystopian futures have pretty damn good music! Kibou ni Tsuite, the A-side, is led by the seiyuus of the anime and it's a really beautifully powerful song that's very uplifting to listen to. The B-sides are nice too! Yume wa Nandomo Umare Kawaru is very soft and pretty with a simple instrumental and while Niji no Ressha is a bit generic, it's not the worst thing I've ever heard!
Road to Budokan 2012 ~Bad Flower~: Tokyo Girls' Style - I'm very happy that TGS took a brief hiatus from their activity to train some more with Avex because the single they bounced back with very clearly showed how much the girls had improved. Bad Flower is such a dark and hard-sounding song for the group and Discord followed in that same direction with a little electorpop infused into it! Lolita Strawberry in Summer was probably my least favorite track of the single but it was still a decent cover!
Spring of Life: Perfume - Oh come on, this wouldn't be a year-end post on Nia's Wonderland without Perfume in the list! And if it is, call the authorities because I've most likely been kidnapped and replaced with an evil twin. Anyways, Spring of Life marked the transfer from Tokuma to UMJ for the techno trio, allowing them to spring back to life with an extremely enthusiastic and youthful sounding song, brimming with energy and an adorably catchy B-side!

Best A-sides:

cha cha Sing: Berryz Koubou - Okay, this song further proves that Berryz Koubou needs to cover more foreign songs. First Dchinghis Khan and now this cover a Thai song, it's a really well-done cover! What I love most about this A-side is that despite being a cover it also sounds like a Berryz song with the group's own little style spun into it! For that not only does the song succeed as a cover but it succeeds as a really catchy, fun and unique cover for the group!
Chou Happy Song: Berikyuu - Best. Idea. EVER! I love the idea of combining two songs to make one song and that's executed perfectly in the combining of Berryz Koubou's Because Happiness and C-ute's Shiawase no Tochuu. Each song apart is already good but when fusioned together, we get Chou Happy Song and it is an absolute delight to listen to. I always love hearing the H!P Kids singing together and this song showcases the groups together perfectly!
Kataomoi Finally: SKE48 - Whoa, since when did SKE48 get so serious? All right, I know in the past they've had a few dark B-sides with the Akagumi sub-unit but Kataomoi Finally was the first A-side to have a more serious tone for the usually genki and energetic group. And it works really well! Kataomoi Finally isn't 100% gloom and doom and it still has a slightly upbeat and energetic sound to it! But you can hear the darker and more desperate emotion the song's trying to convey too and it sounds amazing.
Koi no Tenki Yohou: Weather Girls - Oh my oh my oh my gosh, I love this song! To this day I can't really pinpoint exactly why I love this song; it's very generic and not really the type of song someone like me would develop such a strong love for. But there's just something about the cuteness and sweetness and doesn't make it overly saccharine or annoying. Koi no Tenki Yohou has the energy of someone on crack and the sweetness of a lollipop and I absolutely love it!
Magical Lip Kiss: Naaboudoufu@nana - This A-side really grew on me from the time I review it until now as I'm writing this list. When I first listened to it, I enjoyed Magical Lip Kiss but it wasn't like I really loved it so much I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about it saying how much I love it. Needless to say, this electropop song has really grown on me for its 90s-esque dance style and using electropop in a way that it works! It's a fun and catchy song by an idol I hope to hear more from!
Next flight: Passpo - I admit will musically I like Wing a teensy bit better, if it weren't for Next flight I probably would have never become a fan of Passpo. For that, it gets brownie points and a spot among my favorite A-sides of 2012! Next flight's style is that of LA metal and while it's definitely not metal, this song still rocks! With the use of some great rock instruments, Passpo is like Scandal with stewardess uniforms for this song. And somehow that totally makes for a great song!
PPCC: BiS - I'm so happy that Brand-new Idol Society kept their rock/alternative music style even when joining a major label! It's quite the relief to know that they'll keep pumping out awesome songs such as PPCC. Yes, I'm kind of a huge fan of this song for many reasons such as great vocals, a kickass chorus, that alternative sound that a lot of BiS songs have... it's a fun song to listen to and you don't hear songs like this from idols a lot. Then again, it's BiS so that's not surprising!
Wakuteka Take a Chance: Morning Musume - I sure am happy that Tsunku took a chance and starting dabbling in electropop for Morning Musume and Hello! Project! This song and Help me!! really show how when you use the electro style in a good and memorable way, you can have some very interesting songs! I actually think electropop works better for Wakuteka than One Two Three; the instrumental feels less all over the place along with the vocals! It's a great electropop song and very catchy too!
Spring of Life: Perfume - Listening to this song makes me spring of speed up with the Perfume girls! Yes, although the other A-side of the year from my favorite techno trio is notoriously not in my favor, I absolutely adore Spring of Life! It has so much life and energy in it from the vocals the upbeat instrumental! The best part of the instrumental is in the bridge between the second and last chorus, where the music gets serious then it gets happy and bright! SoL is yet another great A-side from Perfume!

Best B-sides:

Discord: Tokyo Girls' Style - I was heavily anticipating how this B-side would sound and fortunately for me, TGS' B-side for Road to Budokan ~2012~ was everything I'd hoped it would be! It had the same dark underlying sound that Bad Flower, the lead track, had while still standing apart as its own original single! I loved the electronics fused into it along with the hard-rock sound the song had!
Everything by Akagumi: SKE48 - I honestly couldn't pick which B-side I wanted to nominate for SKE48's Akagumi group because I really liked all of them. Koe ga Kasureru Kurai was a melancholicaly rock-influenced song with a sad chorus, Nante Ginga wa Arui wo Darou was hauntingly beautiful to listen to, and Tori wa Aoi Sora no Hate wo Shranai was sweet in a distant sounding way. Quite a lovely collection of B-sides for the normally genki SKE48!
Hurly Burly: Perfume - Sing it with me guys! Halle-Halle-Berry!!! Oh man, I love this song so much it's probably not healthy. The other B-side on Spending all my time, this and Point completely overshadow that A-side. Hurly Burly is one of the peppiest songs in Perfume's discography, the kind where you want to get up and dance like a spazz! I love the bouncy instrumentals, the catchy chorus, and all the energy packed into this song! It's the Chocolate Disco of 2012 for me!
Kanashiki Heaven: C-ute - Aitai Aitai Aitai na was a pretty good A-side but I actually found myself loving its B-side even more! However, I don't think I'd want it to be the A-side because then everyone would be complaining about the poor line distribution... Personally, I love having Chissa and Airi lead the song because their strong voices are what make the song sound so good, along with their great harmonizing! I also love the use of acoustic guitars in this song... this is just a great B-side!
Kanashiki Koi no Melody: Morning Musume - Thank god PyokoPyoko Ultra had a really kickass B-side to save it! This B-side has the tone a lot of Emo Musume songs did but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad song! It's really a quite good song and I personally think it should have been the A-side over its feathered atrocity. And I like hearing this style from the newbs of Momusu who weren't around during the Emo era. It's a pretty song that outshines the A-side in my opinion!
Loving you too much: Berryz Koubou - If this is what happens when Berryz covers foreign songs, then can they please cover more foreign songs? Both cha cha Sing and Loving you too much are really well-done covers of Thai songs that have a cool Thai sound to them. This song also stands out on its own and it's a really enjoyable B-side to compliment the A-side! If it weren't for my absolute loathing of Yurushite Nyan then I would have nominated cha cha Sing for Best Overall Single!
Renai Higai Todoke: NMB48 - Most of NMB48's B-sides pretty much don't stand out to me and this one was one of those songs that didn't interest me at first. But then that chorus kept creeping into my head and before I knew it, I found myself really enjoying it! The sounds incredibly... mischievous, especially when you hit the chorus and the girl's voice just bounce around from speaker to speaker! It makes for a cool effect and this is one catchy song! 
Show Fight!: AKB48 - Even to this day I'm still asking myself why the hell this wasn't the A-side instead of Gingham Check. It's flipping awesome and it could totally fit as a Senbatsu song! It kind of reminds me of Flying Get with just a little more energy and a slightly different tone. The best part is the chorus where the song gets really catchy but overall it's a really cool, badass, and fun B-side that should have totally been the A-side! Stupid Gingham Check...
Stargazer: Masuda Yuka - This B-side totally blew the already pretty awesome Lost the way out of the water! I'd always known Masuda Yuka was a good singer because hey, she's in freaking DiVA but it wasn't until this song I realized just how powerful her voice is. Combined with an equally powerful instrumental, the best word I can give this song is epic. Like, really epic.

Worst A-sides: 

Eien Pressure: AKB48 - Trust me, I had a slot reserved for the Janken single on this list before the Janken tournament had even happened. You might say that I was jumping to conclusions but prefer I call it preparing for the worst! Eien Pressure is just as bland and lifeless as I expected it to be but I guess part of me still hoped that it would surprise me and turn out to be really awesome. Then again, if they couldn't make an interesting song with Mariko as center, they sure as hell couldn't with Paruru as center.
Gingham Check: AKB48 - What makes this A-side particularly bad in my eyes, is that it isn't just some run-of-the mill AKB48 single. It's the Senbatsu single, the one single of the year I expect lots of time and effort put into it. Instead I get a bland song about a fabric I can't stand that completely wastes all the potential it had with Yuko center. The song is more vanilla than French Kiss; I'll stick with Heavy Rotation, thank you very much.
Next My Self: Mano Erina - Oh, Mano, why couldn't you have just released Song for the Date and graduated with a bang? I think I'm pretty much the only person in the wotasphere that does not like this song and thinks it's way too bland. Even as a bland song, I can't like it because it's the last thing I'll hear from Mano the idol. However, I ripped this song harder than a cat rips an expensive feather pillow in my review of it so look at that for a better idea of why I don't like this song.
PyokoPyoko Ultra: Morning Musume - There's a fine line between endearingly cute and annoyingly cute when it comes to idol songs. Unfortunately, PyokoPyoko Ultra falls into the latter category. Even without the god-awful costumes, this song was far too cute and annoying for my tastes. The girls themselves sounded unenthusiastic in this song and it was a terrible introduction for the 10th Generation.
Spending all my time: Perfume - You know what hurts? When a group you love dearly releases a song you don't like. Even Perfume isn't immune to releasing songs that I don't like and unfortunately, Spending all my time is one of them. I find the song too reminiscent of Western music, repetitive, and lacking any of the charm that I love about Perfume's music. It was polarizing song for the fandom and I fell on the side that was disappointed at this song's lack of originality.
The Matenrou Show: Morning Musume - A-side? This was an A-side!? This has got to be one of the most under-promoted A-sides I've ever seen! I guess UFA realized it was a sucky song too and decided to heap all the promotion on One Two Three to make up for the boring RiDOS-Reina show this song is! My problem with this song is it's that overused disco-schtick we've heard a billion times before combined with the vocals of my favorite singer in Morning Musume ever. The italicized bit was in massive sarcasm quotes.

Worst B-sides:

Do Re Mi Fa Onchi: AKB48 - I had such high hopes for this song. The chorus sounded so powerful and emotional but unfortunately the rest of the song was all over the place! Parts of it were annoying, bland, weird, generic, I honestly don't know what tone this song was going for. Maybe it was going for everything! In the end, I was so much more disappointed with this song than I wanted to be.
Eien Yori Tsuzuku You ni: AKB48 - My unofficial nickname for this B-side is The Lemongrab Song thanks to the incredibly lemon-y PV. Funny how that nickname hasn't caught on. This song also hasn't caught on me either and it's just as bland as Eien Pressure. Actually... I think it's blander than Eien Pressure! At least that song had a catchy hook! I can't remember anything about this song other than lemons. Stupid lemons.
Mousou Girlfriend: NMB48 - You know... it probably didn't help that I watched this song alongside the most disturbingly awkward feline PV I've laid eyes on. It was like the cute version of transmitting rabies. But I digress; even without the PV, I'm not terribly fond of this song. I wouldn't say it's bland (even though it's pretty generic) but the best word I can think for it is... annoying. Really annoying.
Yurushite Nyan!: Momoko's Evil Twin Momochi - I really don't think I can describe my hatred for this song in words. There is only a small amount of songs that can cause me to truly go berserk. But I would honestly rather listen to any of those songs over this one. I don't like annoying things. I also don't enjoy forced cuteness being shoved down my throat. Yurushite Nyan has both. And for that I hate it so much.

Blandest Songs:

All of Nogizaka46's discography - Well... Seifuku no Mannequin is an exception. I originally had all three of their current singles in this category until I realized Nogizaka46 is such a giant vortex of blandness that I can't remember any of their vanilla discography. Guruguru Curtain was a lackluster debut, Oide Shampoo was a lackluster follow up, and I've already forgotten Hashire Bicycle. What group am I talking about again anyways???
Gingham Check: AKB48 - The Ue Kara Mariko of 2012 for me, only I can't decide which one's blander. The thing is, they both essentially have the same style. Bland, forgettable verses, equally bland chorus that is somehow really catchy and both sound like they could be album filler. The only thing that gives this song any color is the PV and I've never listened to the song again other than when I'm watching it with the PV. Still, at least the PV did keep me entertained unlike the song itself...
Soredemo Suki da yo: Sashihara Rino - Oh yay, another "IDOL DESU~" song. I don't know why but I tend to really hate songs in the vein of Sasshi's debut song and I can't put my finger on why. It is the overall kawaii-ness of it? Or perhaps the coldly calculated gestures and gimmick-y dance moves centered around a blandly catchy song with even blander lyrics. I don't know or care; I just really can't stand this song.
The Matenrou Show: Morning Musume - The most under promoted A-side I've laid eyes on, The Matenrou Show is the same usual disco-style song but without the fun of Morning Musume's other disco-style songs. It lacks energy, inspiration, creativity, a decent PV, and most importantly good vocals. Everyone sounds bored out of their mind and listening to it makes me bored out of my mind.
Tsuioku: Tokyo Girls' Style - This song just goes to show that ballads can either be the most beautiful thing you've ever heard or the most boring thing you've ever heard. Unfortunately for TGS, Tsuioku pales in comparison to songs like Bad Flower and Limited Addiction. Although the vocals are top-notch as always, the song is forgettable along with the PV.

Catchiest Songs:

Candy Candy: Kyarypamyupamyu - I think I could put every Kyarypamyupamyu song in this list but of the song she released this year, Candy Candy is definitely the catchiest. The sheer category of music she sings in is known for its incredible catchiness. This song probably sticks in my head because it has incredibly simple and nonsensical English lyrics that are repeated in the chorus. That simple, but repetitive tune is what makes this song catchy for better or worse.
Cha Cha Sing: Berryz Koubou - You know, if this song were stuck in my head all day, I think I would be completely okay with that. Actually, this song was stuck in my head the week I heard it and I loved it the whole way. I really can't emphasize how much I love this cover and part of that is because it's catchy in such a positive way. The parts that are really catchy build up a lot of energy to the song and even typing about this makes me hum "Chacharararachararacharachacha~!"
Communication: Perfume - The bad thing about this song is I don't know all the words to it so whenever it comes on my iPod I sing it like "Communication da-da-da-da-da kokoro wa da-da-da-da" You get what I mean. The cutesy tune of Communication is what makes it so catchy. This song is on the level of cute you'd see in a Kyarypamyupamyu song and while I do think that this super cute sound doesn't work as well for Perfume over other styles, I still can't get this song out of my head.
Hurly Burly: Perfume - Oh my god, I love this song so much. When I first heard the CM for it, the only part I knew was the chorus but I hummed that incredibly catchy chorus like crazy. Do you know how long I had to hum just the chorus since the whole song wasn't out yet? Four months. Four months of humming "HURLY BURLY BURLY!!! Fushigi no TASTY!!! HURLY BURLY BURLY!!! Hajikeru FEELING!!!" But for the record that chorus was totally amazing and the rest of the song was equally catchy!
One Two Three: Morning Musume - One of the biggest appeals that the A-side of Momusu's 50th single had was just how catchy it is. It's one of the reasons why I like listening to the song! There are so very many parts of this song that get stuck in my head depending on the time of day such as the chorus or the opening instrumental and sometimes even Riho's transformation into RiDOS just after the bridge (much to my anguish). One Two Three's catchiness is one of the reasons it's such a memorable song!
Sugar Rush: AKB48 - Man, first Polyrhythm was used for Cars 2 and now an AKB48 song gets made for a movie from Disney I actually enjoyed! One of the many great things about Wreck-It Ralph is the soundtrack and the fact that I got to hear in the movie theater on extremely loud speakers "S-U-G-A-R Jumping into your racing car! Say Sugar Rush! Sugar Rush!!!" How cool is that!? Needless to say the Engrish chorus has been stuck in my head for ages along with the rest of this sugar rush of a song!

Cutest Songs:

Candy Candy: Kyarypamyupamyu - Okay, selecting which Kyarypamyupamyu song is the cutest is like selecting which shade of gray is the grayest. I could put pretty much all of Kyary's songs in this list but I chose Candy Candy because I feel like it's one step above her normal cuteness and for the fact that the English lyrics are incredibly sweet. As an English-speaking person, the word choices and Engrish only add to the cuteness of this song, along with Kyary's sugary-sweet techno-edited voice.
Communication: Perfume - I was shocked at how adorable this sounded when I first heard it. I'd been a expecting a more... techno-y song based off the title but Nakata tricked me again. I need to get "Never judge a song by its title" into my head already... Anyways, this is probably the most adorable sounding song Perfume's released in 2012 and I think that's mainly because of the vocals and the arrangement of the song. The chorus has a very cute and catchy bouncing tune to it and the girls' voices are edited to sound cuter than usual!
Kanojo ni Naritai!!!: Hello! Project Kenshuusei - You know what this song reminds me of? Uchouten Love on crack. Now in 2011, Uchouten Love was my favorite A-side of the year so another song just like it is right up my alley. This one's ten times cuter and ten times more bouncy with a little more electropop in this song than Uchouten Love. It's not to Morning Musume levels of electropop but it's definitely there. Still, the voices of the Eggs are what make this song adorable and I love it!
Magical Lip Kiss: Naaboudoufu@nana - This song is probably the least cutest on the list of cute songs but I feel like it still earned a spot in this category! A major component in the cuteness factor of the song is Nana's voice and the electro editing done to it. There's also an array of different sounds in the instrumentals that just add to the cuteness I feel is in this song. Magical Lip Kiss runs in the same direction of music as cute electropop and it works really well in that category.
Otona Jelly Beans: Watanabe Mayu - Is this really a surprise? The idol who fronts Warota 7, a unit best-known for its insanely high levels of cuteness, is naturally going to have a cute song! All three solo singles she released this year were incredibly cute but this one's definitely the cutest and highly befitting for such a Fantastic Creeper as herself! Otona Jelly Beans is the cutest of the cute with high-pitched vocals, a sweet tune and just overall cuteness!
Shounen yo Tsuke da yo: Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 - Quite honestly, I could put everything Warota 7 has released this year (which isn't much compared to last year). So it's just this song but it definitely fits the huge category of cute songs done by Watarirouka Hashiritai 7! I swear, they get cuter and more sugary sweet every time I turn around... It's probably because the squeaky vocals reak of cuteness but a cute composition also helps!

Worst Uses of Autotune:

Cat's Eye: Cat's Eye 7 - I'm still scratching my head at why in the hell there is so much gratuitous Autotune in this song. I think the song might have even sounded better without all the Autotune heaped up on it! This song fails because you can clearly hear where the Autotune is and instead of blending with the song it stands out like an ugly stain on an otherwise decent song. The girls in this stage sub-unit have great voices and this song feels like an attempt to cash in on the electropop trend.
One Two Three: Morning Musume - I've been somewhat okay with the electropop direction Momusu has latched onto along with the Autotune that comes with it. But One Two Three's Autotune was all over the place. Then again, it was also the first song of its era to experiment with Autotune but that doesn't mean it gets a a free pass from me. The worst part is when Riho's screechy ad-libbing so Autotuned in the final chorus that she sounds like GLaDOS. For that, One Two Three makes the list of the worst uses of Autotune this year.
UZA: AKB48 - You know, I can't think of any other reason that Aki-P wanted to use Autotune other than him sitting at his desk and having this sudden epiphany that Autotune made everything sound cool. So he decided to then layer it on in Uza! This song didn't really need Autotune and I think they wanted to use it for stylistic reason but it just didn't work. Not even a little bit. I almost wish I could have a comparison between this Uza and an Autotune-less Uza.
Koko Kara Hajimarunda!: Kikkawa Yuu - I think this was one of the few Autotuned songs in which I had a really big problem with its use of Autotune. Or maybe I'm just miffed that of all the idols that could be Autotuned to hell why did they pick the one that doesn't need it at all? I love Kikkawa Yuu for her great voice and to hear it laced with Autotune is a style I don't think works well for her. I'm hoping maybe in 2013, her producers will let up on it but I doubt they will.

Best PVs: 

Bloom: Ga In - Oh hi, random K-pop artist! I feel like I always have one K-pop PV every year that I actually like a lot and I found out about Bloom via all the controversy surrounding it. Out of curiosity I looked up the PV and I actually really like the song and I think the PV is beautiful. It's been criticized for having direct visuals and allusions to sex but I think this PV took the concept of sex and didn't try to glorify it but simply presented it as something beautiful and joyful!
Gingham Check: AKB48 - I was more than ready to slam this PV the same way I did the bland song but then Joseph Kahn discovered my weakness: cheesy B-movies. This PV is filled with shout-outs and homages to B-movies from the Japanese horror movies to Godzilla-esque monsters to cheesy cop-romance stories to cheesy captions sprinkled all throughout the PV. With a great budget and a fun concept, this PV saves Gingham Check from being a Gingham Disaster.
Hikaru Monotachi: Watanabe Mayu - What a better way to showcase Mayuyu's CG Girl persona than to make a PV based around the concept of a fake idol? I felt so sorry for Mayuyu in this PV but I think this PV really shows the double standards in idol music such as how fans will accept certain things and not others (i.e. being too artificial or plastic). Through the clever use of screen-shots from video networking websites, this PV draws a lot of well-done parallels to the real idol world.
Kataomoi Finally: SKE48 - I really appreciate that the director of this PV took the concept of schoolgirl lesbians and didn't turn it into an oversexualized PV that appealed to fetishes. Instead, homosexuality is very seriously portrayed and the relationships in the PV feel rough and complicated despite only being shown through a music video. I could watch a movie based around the idea in this PV because the idea is pulled off so well and so seriously.
Manatsu no Sounds good!: AKB48 - The theme of an old generation dying out and the replacement of a new generation leading to the end of a legacy couldn't fit AKB48 better at the time this was released. Maeda Atsuko's last PV as center showed her dying out and ascending to heaven with a bunch of other old generation girls and the new girls coming in. I've always liked to think this PV symbolizes the inevitable death of AKB48 and their ascension with other legacy idols into "idol heaven."
PPCC: BiS - Finally a PV I actually like from BiS! As much as I love this unconventional idol group's music, their PVs haven't ever really jazzed me until PPCC. I probably love PPCC because it features physical violence but it's also an awesome PV because of its clever way of skewing the typical idol summer PV! It's well shot and even though the concept is a little odd (but it's BiS, what did you expect?) PPCC is immensely entertaining to watch!
Song for the Date: Mano Erina - I've always thought that the release of this PV was a very eerie foreshadowing to the H!P soloist's graduation announcement that came shortly after the release of this single. This PV shows the contrast between the idol-like and innocent White Mano Erina and the more mature Dark Mano Erina and also what happens when there's a struggle between these two personas. In the end, Dark Mano vanquishes Light Mano, much like the real Mano will upon graduating.
Spring of Life: Perfume - Light. Up. Dresses. Need I say anything else!? Yes, with a stellar dance shot with luminously amazing costumes, Spring of Life is another great PV from Perfume with a nice dash of symbolism to it! It's fun watching the girls play androids that slowly become human and develop human characteristics only to have all that be shut down by the simple act of pulling a plug. It's a sad PV but also very beautiful and joyous at times.

Best B-side PVs:

HA!: NMB48 - Wow, NMB48 is sure fond of their crime PVs! This one involves the mafia- I mean, the Yakuza! Oh well, one way or another this was a fun PV to look both visually and from a storyline point. The dance shot is awesome with really great costumes and a cool backdrop! The story itself is simple but entertaining and it's fun to watch the girls get tangled up in the crime scene, such as Milky smart-mouthing her captors. It's a fun PV with a better concept than Eien Pressure!
Koe ga Kasureru Kurai: SKE48 - Who would have ever thought you could feel sorry for a group of canned drinks? With the clever use of personification, the girls of SKE48 were literally turned into "flavors of the month" as drinks in a vending machine, with poor Matsui Rena being the lone discarded soft drink. It's incredibly sad to see Rena standing all alone in the rain because no one wants to drink her... that sounded less weird in my head.
Renai Higai Todoke: NMB48 - There's nothing like a good old whodunit type of PV to keep me entertained and this is why NMB48's PV is so much fun for me! All the girls have been accused of a crime but which one did it? Was it Nana with the lead pipe in the conservatory? Milky with the revolver in the library? It's up to you as Nancy Drew to place the clues together and solve the crime! The mystery is what makes this such a fun and entertaining PV and I love watching it!
Show Fight!: AKB48 - There's just something about girls beating the crap out of each other that must seem really awesome to me... That's pretty much the only concept of Show fight! You might even call it AKB48 Fight Club! But we can't talk about that. There isn't much to this PV other than the copious loads of physical violence but in that way it's strangely entertaining to see the normally sweet and adorable idols of the 48 family kick and punch each other!
Kodoku na Hoshizora: AKB48 - Oh my god, I am such a sucker for visually appealing PVs and Kodoku na Hoshizora is beautiful. The sets are so beautifully elaborate and I love the styling done for all the girls in the PV. The kimonos look absolutely stunning on them and I really love the pacing of the PV. It matches with the slow and wistful tone of the song and watching the PV feels like going back in time to a period in history... or like some surreal alternate history timeline!

Worst PVs:

Ikuji Nashi Masquerade: Sashihara Rino and some other people - Good lord, I really like this song but this has got to be on of the most sloppily done PVs I've seen from an idol franchise with so much money! Not only did Sasshi get shafted out of AKB48 this year, she got shafted in her own solo PV! That's not my only complaint; the real kicker is the girls that are blocking her can't even dance!
Lolita Strawberry in Summer: Tokyo Girls' Style - Look, animation has always been an amazing and compelling art to me. And with animation, it can either be really good, really bad, or somewhere in between. The animation for this song is what makes it such a terrible PV for me. It's bad CGI that's animated very sloppily (and for some reason the girls have panty shots? The hell?) and the animated girls have their feet firmly planted in the Uncanny Valley. Why couldn't you have just used the real girls instead, Avex?
Oide Shampoo: Nogizaka46 - I will say, of all the horrid NogiaFail PVs that have been released this year, this is the only one where upon seeing it, I put my head in my hands and screamed "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, AKI-P!?" This PV was criticized for an inappropriate dance and it is a really childish and stupid dance; maybe wotas do have standards. To me, this was Nogizaka46 at the lowest of the group's already low standing. Rival group my ass. Team Rocket is more of a rival than they are!
PyokoPyoko Ultra: Morning Musume - I have a low tolerance for cute things. I have a low tolerance for whimsical things. And I have an even lower tolerance for whimsically cute things. Oh yeah, you guys totally knew this PV was going to be on this list, right? Like many other bloggers, I am not a fan of my Momusu girls being turned into singing dancing Big Bird clones. The PV was cute in the most childishly annoying way possible and I simply cannot stand it. But that's not the worst PV from H!P this year...
Yurushite Nyan!: Tsugunaga Momoko - Oh no, the title of worst PV from Hello! Project this year and probably my least favorite PV of 2012 goes to Yurushite fucking Nyan. I fucking hate this song and I fucking hate this PV so much that I have to use the f bomb three times whilst writing its description. The PV is cheap even for H!P, so cheap some Youtube idol was able to remake the PV! Combined with my hatred for this song and the Momochi character... I just wanna throw this PV in a lake.

Blandest PVs:

Aitai Aitai Aitai na: C-ute - Okay the dance in this: awesome. Everything else: eh... I can't remember. Besides the very well-done dance in this song, the rest of the PV mainly consists of C-ute staring at things in various places then leaving for no apparent reason, much like the girls of Berryz Koubou did in their Heroine ni Narou ka! PV. Not that those shots aren't pretty but they're not very interesting to look at and I much prefer the dance shot over these individual shots!
Cabbage Hakusho: Peaberry - Well, Peaberry is a unit consisting of Wada Ayaka and Sayashi Riho aka Bland and Blander... what else did I expect? As you can see, I had low expectations for anything memorable coming from this little duo and the Cabbage Hakusho PV definitely wasn't anything unexpected... I will say this is one of those PVs that's pretty but in a very bland and forgettable way much like a fancy cupcake that has a taste you can't even remember!
Guruguru Curtain: Nogizaka46 - Of all the Nogizaka46 PVs released this year the only one that was awful in a way that I couldn't even make fun of it was the "rival" group's debut PV, Guruguru Curtain. Unlike Oide Shampoo with its weird dance or Hashire! Bicycle with its god-awful costuming, this PV had nothing interesting about it and matched the blandness of the song. The costumes were bland, the set was bland, the concept was bland, watching this PV is like eating cardboard.
Tsuioku: Tokyo Girls' Style - I admit, this was a pretty PV but god, it was dull. I think that's probably because the tone of the song is a ballad and a very slow one at that. It feels like everything that's happening in the PV is happening in slow motion and I get bored with watching the PV very quickly. Again, it's a pretty PV but much like Cabbage Hakusho it's a very bland and dull PV. There wasn't even a cool dance to distract me! Thank god Bad Flower came out after this...

Weirdest PVs:

Candy Candy: Kyarypamyupamyu - First of all, I think the onion was my favorite character in this whole PV. And I don't even like onions! It's pretty expected that Kyary's PVs are going to be weird but knowing that doesn't make them any less weird! I admit, this toned it down compared to Tsukema Tsukeru but Candy Candy was still pretty eclectic! You had a male Kyary clone in a mask, numbered backup dancers, a singing onion and Kyary being... well, Kyary!
Everything by Momoiro Clover Z - For a group like MomoClo, I mean weird in the most affection way possible. One of the things that I respect about MomoClo is how much they try to set themselves apart from other idol groups and one of the ways they do so is through their weird but entertaining PVs. Each of their PVs this year had a weird but awesome concepts (like the space pirates for Mugen no Ai) and as strange as those PVs were, they're also memorable and a lot of fun to watch!
Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku: C-ute - Okay, this might seem weird at first but let me elaborate! The one reason I find Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku's PV to be weird is because of the lighting in the close-up and dance shot and also the weirdness of the dance itself. Compared to the realistic looking drama scenes with Airi the close-up and dance shot look very surreal, like something out a dream and also very out of place in the PV.
Oide Shampoo: Nogizaka46 - Okay, did a group of kids direct this PV? That's the only reason I can think to have the members of Nogizaka46 partake in some weird butt-humping dance. And then came the bridge where they all lifted their skirts up and danced around in their underwear for god-knows-why. I just... what the hell were these directors/choreographers thinking? I mean, I really wanna know who in their right mind thought this could possibly be a good idea!
Tsukema Tsukeru: Kyarypamyupamyu - Well... it's Kyary, what do you expect? Compared to PonPonPon, this PV is actually pretty tame but that doesn't mean it still isn't out there. Most of the weirdness comes from the costuming and the scenery, particularly the two backup dancers dressed as lions. Kyary herself is all dolled up to look as eccentrically weird as possible and the background of the PV looks like some Lewis Carroll version of Candyland.

Coolest PVs:

Bad Flower: Tokyo Girls' Style - Oh TGS, it's nice to know that after all this time you still haven't lost your coolness! The young but mature Avex idol group went with a darker look than their last PV and the result was Bad Flower! While much visually simpler than a PV like Limited Addiction, the scenes that are in Bad Flower are dark and neat to look at such as the cool dance shot to the cards of the TGS girls. Overall another cool PV from the cool Avex idol group!
Fashion Monster: Kyarypamyupamyu - As someone who loves Halloween, a PV that goes all the way with a Halloween theme is highly in my favor. Although this PV definitely isn't "weird" in the usual Kyary style, visually it is a blast to look at. The characters the singer dances around with are done up to look like Halloween monsters and I can always get lost in looking at the intricate set! It's a spookily elegant PV that was one of the many awesome Halloween PVs this year!
Next Flight: PASSPO - Who would have thought a group of girls in pink stewardess uniforms could ever be cool? PASSPO does the impossible and combines the adorable and the awesome with kickass dance moves, a hard-rock band, and a simple but grungy backdrop of airplanes. It probably also helps that the producers got some hardcore looking guys who are actually in bands to be the background players.
PPCC: BiS - Naturally another BiS single is nominated, this one being their debut single. Taking the average idol summer PV, the Brand-new Idol Society rejected the fanservice-y bikinis and innocent beach scenes in favor of school swimsuits, a dark, cloudy atmosphere, and a showdown between idols and thugs. With the blood and violence, BiS has once again created a standout PV that reeks of coolness.
Rock you!: Tokyo Girls' Style - What time is it? Adventure Time with Tokyo Girls' Style! I have no idea where the girls were supposed to be traveling to in this PV but the journey was cool to look at! I love looking at the outdoor gritty scenery to this PV and the variety of different places the girls head to! The dance shot is also pretty cool! But the best part of this PV is most definitely when the girls blow up a giant rock, showing that friendship can destroy ANYTHING!!! MWAHAHA!!!
UZA: AKB48 - Of course, this is going to be a cool PV considering AKB48's fall single is always their dark/cool single but oh my god this PV is awesome. First of all, it's a Halloween PV which already gives it coolness points. Second, that Halloween concept is explored in its entirety and much like Gingham Check, we get a variety of different images like Yukirin as a Jack in the Box, Jurina as a sexy magician, Yuko and Milky as dainty dancers, and so many other cool ideas on screen!

Most Seizure-Inducing PVs

ASH: BiS - What else do you expect from the unconventional idol group on the block? As much as I adore this song, I have a hard time watching the PV simply because of the number of special effects used in it. You have a lot of bright flashing strobes of light constantly being shown in the PV and after awhile it's very difficult to look at, especially if you watch this PV in the dark! Of course, the high-paced nature of the PV does fit with the song even if the high-pacing is seizure-inducing...
Idol is Dead: BiS - No, not the amazing album, I'm talking about the PV of the title song that I have said I dislike. This PV reminds me a lot of Idol in the sense that both the songs are metal and both feature heavily punk/gothic vibes although at least Idol didn't have a bajillion bad effects flying around at every other shot! There are bad color changes, shaky cam shots, brief shots of stuff that I think was meant to be just shock value, this PV has variety in the worst way possible!
Kunekune Bravo!: Naaboudoufu@nana - Bright colors and me do not match up very well. Kunekune Bravo has copious amounts of bright colors via green-screen. I actually think I payed more attention to the background than Nana herself in this PV only because of the ridiculously bright colors and images hurting my eyes so much! And the background was constantly changing to different colors and images; it's like a rainbow exploded and the aftermath fell into this PV!
Mugen no Ai: Momoiro Clover Z - Well, something I can always say about MomoClo's PVs is that they always match the seizure-inducing level that their songs set for them! I've paid my respects to MomoClo on numerous occasions but oh my god, does this PV hurt my eyes. Much like the other PVs on this list it features a multitude of things jumping out all at the same time for you attention. For me, the PV reaches its craziest point whenever it shows the space pirates biking through rainbow space. Yeah.
One Two Three: Morning Musume - Oh, UFP, how in the hell could you possibly think that piling a bunch of gaudy sparkles and other special effects on top of an already cheap set could possibly make this PV look like there was effort put into it? This PV hurt my eyes by combining not only bright and shiny effects constantly but also switching back to different shots and close-ups at an alarmingly fast pace. I didn't title my PV review of this "One Two Three Give Me a Seizure!" for nothing!
Wakuteka Take a chance: Morning Musume - And the trend of layering sparkly special effects on top of a cheap PV continued in Momusu's follow-up to their big 50th single! I will say Wakuteka Take a chance toned it down a little bit but not much. There are still a bunch of unnecessary effects and this time you have bright and ugly costumes matched up with them! The shot switches are also a little bit slower but overall this PV was just as special effect-heavy as One Two Three.

Cheapest PVs:

Chotto Matte Kudasai!: S/mileage - You know, I almost thought about putting all of S/mileage's PVs from 2012 on here but I'm a better person than that. So I just put half of them under this category! Yeah, Chotto Matte's PV is not only painfully simple and cheap but also a rip-off of the set from Milky Way's Anataboshi. That probably miffs more people than others but this PV pulls all the signature UFP special effects that sing "We're not using our budget on youuuuu!!!~"
Dot Bikini: S/mileage - The cheapness of Dot Bikini is one of the many reasons why I dislike S/mileage's shitty summer PV. I can tell the directors tried to put some creative effort into it but MS Paint effects are not the way to go if you're trying not to look like you have the budget of a middle school science fair project. They couldn't even muster enough money to film this summer PV at a beach opting for a depressingly indoor location with a flimsy attempt to make it look summer-y.
Eien Pressure: AKB48 - I'm not sure if this PV was meant to be cheap in an intentionally endearing way or if the producers used so much money on Gingham Check and Uza's PVs that they ran out for the last single of the year. Either way, this PV has some really low-budget effects that wouldn't be out of place in an old eighties movie and not to mention the dance shot itself is unimpressive. I think if the concept had been explored with a bigger budget it would have been better but the end result is a cheap mess.
Get You: BiS Dorothy Little Happy - I admit, even though this PV is pretty cheap, it also works with what it has. The group collaboration only features one barren set but the directors had the girls inflicting physical violence on each other on that simple set! The interactions between two extremely different idol groups is what makes this PV interesting even though it's pretty obvious that Avex wasn't putting much budget into the unusual collaboration.
Give Me Five!: AKB48 - Okay, the storyline is sweet (albeit cliche) in the long version of this PV but said long version is over thirty minutes long. I don't have that kind of time to review such a long PV! So the short, condensed version was what I looked at and it definitely felt like one of the cheaper PVs from the richest idol group in Japan right now. I think it was because the main set reminds me of my high school gym and my high school has as much money as the directors for Hello! Project's PVs do.
Koko Kara Hajimarunda!: Kikkawa Yuu - Is it ironic that I think the MMD version of this PV is more elaborate than the one with the real Kikka in it? Kikkawa Yuu's PVs were already pretty low-budget (save Hapirapi ~Sunrise~ but that song sucked) but KKH's PV was really low budget. The special effects were scarce and looked a little cheesy at times and the plain white background was boring to look at. There was a lack of variety and I think that stems from the cheapness of the PV.
One Two Three: Morning Musume - I think I'm still seeing spots from all the blinding sparkles and effects piled on to this PV. I know UFP isn't exactly known for their extravagant budgets but would it have killed you to give just a little bit more money to create a memorable PV for Momusu's 50th single? Honestly, I think Wakuteka Take a Chance had more budget than this did! The set was cheap, the close-ups were cheap, and the sparkles really didn't help.
Renai Hunter: Morning Musume - I admit despite the minimalistic white set and simple close-up the cheapness of Renai Hunter isn't quite as glaring as One Two Three's PV. The only shots that stand out as looking really cheap are the magazine shots with the cheesy fonts. I think if they'd been done differently (aka with more budget and effort) then they would have looked better but they didn't. Even so, the PV is centered around the glorious Niigaki Risa! I can forgive it for cheapness!

Best Summer PVs:

Manatsu no Sounds good!: AKB48 - Who would have ever thought that summer PV by AKB48, the most idol-y of all the idol groups on the market right now, would be filled with death and hardcore violence? Admittedly, this PV would have been better without the gratuitous bikini dance shot but the darker and grittier scenes are where the PV shines. It was a great way to show the transition from an old AKB48 with Acchan to a new one without her and I enjoyed it very much.
Nagiichi: NMB48 - Although I admit I don't find the first part terribly interesting what with all the gratuitous fanservice, the second half of this PV is a lot of fun to watch! You get a really nice variety of fun activities the girls of NMB48 do over their summer and I found it more enjoyable to watch the girls just messing around and having fun. Idols are supposed to be relatable and having fun over the summer is something I can definitely relate to!
PPCC: BiS - Well, I suppose to the naked eye this could be seen as a very loose interpretation of the standard summer PV for idols but what else do you expect from the most unconventional idol group on the market right now? The plain school swimsuits and the dark setting on a dock made for a very cool and clever subversion of the typical summer idol PV. Is the PV going to appeal to everything? Hell no, but when have BiS' PVs ever done so in the first place?

Worst Summer PVs: 

Aishiterabu!: SKE48 - Okay, I will say the fact that the dance shot was filmed in the middle of the freaking ocean is pretty awesome but other than that... I can't really think of anything else I like about this PV. The rest of it feels less like a summer PV and more like a... something else that has nothing to do with summer. Like a spring PV! I'm not saying you have to have the girls prance around in bikinis but I just think this PV would have been more interesting with more summer-y stuff in it!
Dot Bikini: S/mileage - I didn't even have the heart to do a review of Dot Bikini. It hurts to watch this PV and not just because it's a really shitty excuse for a summer PV; it's the lowest point that S/mileage has had in an already low year. Due to UFP's fantastic lack of distributing a budget, this PV doesn't even take place on the beach or the pool or anything. The directors tried to compensate by making summer props but in the end the cheapness shows. Please never do another summer song, Hello! Project.

Best Dances:

Aitai Aitai Aitai na: C-ute - Well, considering the group we're dealing with is C-ute, having a good dance is pretty much a given for them... with the exception of Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku. But we'll talk about that dance in a minute. Anyways, Aitai Aitai Aitai na is a pretty cool dance with a lot of variety, even a part where the girls literally go on the floor! Not to mention you have Nakky boob-grabbing Maimi! There's really quite a lot of cool moves to see in this dance!
Everything by Fairies - Look, I don't really follow Fairies but even I can acknowledge that they have some pretty damn awesome dancing. From what I know of, the girls in the group have been training for a long time with Avex so it's only natural that they'd have some pretty good skills. The group itself is centered around dancing so the one thing I can really appreciate about Fairies are there very intense dances. They're very high-level and the girls in the group are very talented!
Fore Fore ~Forest for Rest~: DIY - One word: legs. Five pairs of glorious, glorious legs. I honestly think this unit was formed for the sole purpose to showcase the glorious legs of four leggiest girls in Hello! Project and Chinami. But seriously, this is a great dance and not just because of the copious amount of legs in the dance! It's a very pretty dance and it has this sort of... perky bounce to it! The girls do a great job of doing the dance to, even Haruna who's dancing is... meh. But here, it's good!
Next Flight: Passpo - The dance in this PV is one of the many things that attracted me to Passpo. The kickass pink stewardess costumes also helped and those outfits look really cool when they were dancing! There was a lot of moving in the dancing, mainly jumping! Lots of jumping! But who doesn't love jumping? I love jumping and the girls of Passpo are jumping with style! This dance is a perfect blend of hardcore and graceful, matching the cool tone of the song and PV!
One Two Three: Morning Musume - I actually think I like the dance shot of One Two Three over the shitty sparklefest that is the actual PV. This dance is a huge step-up from Renai Hunter with fast-paced choreography and a bunch of different moves and formations throughout! It looks like a very challenging dance but the girls of Morning Musume executed it very well!
Spending all my time: Perfume - Ugh, Mikiko, why did you have to choreograph such an awesome dance to such a lackluster song!? Perfume had some pretty cool dances this year and Spending all my time definitely had the prettiest and most intricate dance. The dance is very beautiful to look at with a variety of different hand motions that make the dance much more complex than you'd think. Each girl has separate motions and when put together this dance is beautiful.
Spring of Life: Perfume - Part of this dance's appeal is the use of the light-up dresses in the lives; I mean come on, how can you beat light-up dresses!? Even without them, this dance is still another amazing dance from Perfume. But honestly, I don't think Perfume's ever really had a "bad" dance per say save for their old idol-y stuff and a little bit of their indies material. But Spring to Life is bursting with the same joy and happiness that the song has and I love the energy in this dance!
UZA: AKB48 - Now this was a pretty badass dance for AKB48! Normally the group's dances aren't really that intense but Uza really had the girls in the PV step it up. The main standouts were definitely Yuko and Jurina as a fantastic W center (hoping to see more of that in the future). This entire dance was just awesome to look at thanks the sheer effort put in by the girls to make it look as hardcore as possible. This dance must have been exhausting to do but it looks great!
Wakuteka Take a chance: Morning Musume - It's nice to know that despite having PVs with way too many special effects, Momusu is starting to get good dances again! Wakuteka Take a chance follows in the same route of awesomeness that One Two Three has with a bunch of different formations and variety in the dance. It's a cool dance to watch and everyone does a great job dancing in it! Help me!! also has a pretty awesome dance but we'll talk about that in 2013!

Worst Dances:

Dot Bikini: S/mileage - Poor S/mileage. Dancing has not been their strongest feature this year and the worst of it can be seen in Dot Bikini. The biggest problem with this dance is that it's really, really awkward. Everything looks very stiff and awkward from the leg flapping to the robot arms to the jerky hip shaking in the main chorus. Part of me thinks that S/mileage was replaced with malfunctioning robots for the dance in this PV!
Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku - Yeah, I'm not really sure why UFP thought it was a good idea to include a dance to a slow-tempo ballad. C-ute always excels when it comes to dancing but making them slow down their cool and fast moves for a slow song like this just doesn't work. This PV just has a bunch of really weird dance moves like Nakky miming picking stuff up off the floor, checking imaginary watches, it feels like an interpretative dance!
Ikuji Nashi Masquerade: Sashihara Rino and some other people - Wow, I didn't know management hated Sasshi so much now that they can't even give her good backup dancers (or up-front dancers in this case). Their dancing is so lifeless and devoid any emotion. No energy, no life... it makes me depressed just thinking about it. That and the entire dance looks like it's done in slow motion; hell, I dance like an penguin on LSD and I could do this dance.
Oide Shampoo: Nogizaka46 - Okay, I know idols are all about making sexy and/or innocent dance moves but what the hell does this category fall into? Are the girls hugging each other in a really awkward and suggestive way or is something about to go down I probably don't want to watch? From the butt-sex poses to the immature lifting of their skirts to reveal equally immature pantaloons, I'm not sure what this dance was attempting to convey.
Renai Hunter: Morning Musume - I love this song but what in the hell was going on with the dance? It's like the choreographers wanted to do a robot concept but then halfway through they wanted to do something else and the end result is just... weird. In fact, I think the parts of the dance are a little too robotic and it feels like I'm watching some weird sci-fi futuristic exercise tape. There are some parts that flow smoother but overall, this is not one of the strongest dances from Momusu.

Best Showcases of a Group in a PV

Aitai Aitai Aitai na: C-ute - Now I find it hard to believe that there was ever a time where C-ute had the worst line distribution in all of Hello! Project. It probably helps that their group size went from eight to five but still! Aitai Aitai Aitai na shows C-ute doing what C-ute does best: dancing. Despite the rest of the PV's blandness, the dance is where the girls shine and you can really tell they're in their element.
cha cha Sing: Berryz Koubou - I always love seeing the Berryz girls interact with each other because they have great chemistry and that shows a lot in cha cha Sing! This PV plays to the best strengths of Berryz: their personalities and the interactions they have with each other! You can tell that all the girls are having a lot of fun in this PV and they all do a great job of playing off the actions of each other!
Chou Happy Song: Berrikyuu - How come it took Tsunku seven years to realize that putting the H!P Kids all in one giant PV was a brilliant idea? Okay, the idea was poorly executed with Amazuppai Haru ni Sakura Saku but in this PV, it's perfect! I love Chou Happy Song and I love the PV with it because you get to see the H!P Kids, all grown up now, interacting with each other under one set and one song!
Gingham Check: AKB48 - It's funny because usually the latter half of the Senbatsu gets shafted in the Senbatsu PV. I will say, although Yuko, Mayuyu, and Yukirin got more screen time, everyone stood out because they were all distinct characters. Jurina, Tomochin, Mariko and Sae were the robber gang, Takamina and Umechan were fairies, Rena and Kitarie were ghosts, part of what makes this PV so much fun is seeing everyone in these weird and fun roles!

Worst Showcases of a Group in a PV

Eien Pressure: AKB48 - Well, since Aki-P appears to be highly enthusiastic about pushing Paruru as the next Acchan, this PV is pretty much centered around Paruru, Mariko and Kimoto Kanon with everyone else in the Senbatsu being... somewhere in the PV. I mean seriously, everyone else got like five seconds of screen time compared to these three! They probably got more moments in the full-length PV but I don't care enough about Eien Pressure to bother watching that version.
Renai Hunter: Morning Musume - Well, considering this is a PV that is pretty much centered around Gaki, I wasn't terribly surprised to see that everyone else got shafted in the Renai Hunter PV. But hey, on the upside this would be the Best Showcase of Gaki in a PV! Still, the only people that really got focus in this PV were the girls who had solos and since there were like eight girls who didn't get solos... you do the math and figure out how many girls got shafted.

Best Costumes

Bad Flower: Tokyo Girls' Style - These costumes really look the best when they're in motion. The skirts are made of this fabric and it flows just everywhere when the girls dance, giving off this very eerily beautiful look to their costumes! 318 x 480
cha cha Sing: Berryz Koubou - I honestly have no idea if this is an accurate representation of your average Thai outfit but I still find these costumes to be gorgeous! The girls look like exotic princesses!
One Two Three: Morning Musume - What's that? Costumes that actually look good on every single member in Morning Musume? I love these costumes; I love the use of the lace, the colors, the accessories, everything looks so stylish and eye-catching!
Spring of Life: Perfume - Light-up outfits. It sounds ridiculous but leave it to Perfume to make it look like the coolest thing ever. I love the technology put into these outfits and they really light up the members of the group!
UZA: AKB48 - I know these costumes are pretty much Resonant Blue -2012 Edition- but I don't care because they still look great! I've always thought the gritty uniform look was badass and I love the unkempt coolness radiating off these outfits!

Worst Costumes

Eien Yori Tsuzuku You ni: AKB48 - Lemongrab! How can you not think of Lemongrab when you see these costumes!? Nonetheless the condition of these costumes is... UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Kitagawa Kenji: NMB48 - Leave it to NMB48 to show you that yes, too much a cute thing does exist. The cuteness overload on all the costumes was enough to make my teeth rot at the sight of them.
Koi no Tenki Yohou: Weather Girls - Despite my love for the song, I have nothing but bewilderment as to who decided that it would be a good idea to dress up these girls as strippers from Candy Land.
Mousou Girlfriend: NMB48 - And to think I almost forgot these! Maybe because I've blocked them out of my head. Yeah, the oversexualized fluffy cat costumes did not appeal to me. Not that they were supposed to...
PyokoPyoko Ultra: Morning Musume - It's no surprise that one of the many things I hate about this song is the god-awful chick costumes the girls wear. UFP, the members were 12-25 years old not 2-5 years old.
Samui ne: S/mileage - If I was cold, then why the hell would I wear these skimpy Sailor Moon rip-off costumes? I don't know what I hate most about these costumes but I think it's probably those gaudy tails attached to the skirts.
Wakuteka Take a Chance: Morning Musume - And I thought the PyokoPyoko costumes were bad! At least they had a clear concept! These costumes look like decorated grocery bags from Party City!

Best Overall Improvement as an Artist: Mano Erina

I really think 2012 was the most successful year for Mano Erina as a soloist... 2011 showed promise of Mano growing as an artist but this year it felt like she really grew! When I look at Mano's PVs from when she first started out as a soloist and the ones from this year, I can tell how much she's grown and changed over time. Her voice got better, her songs had more emotion, even the PVs were some of the best this year. Song for the Date is my favorite PV from Hello! Project this year and one of my favorite PVs of 2012 and the song is also really, really great. Doki Doki Baby and Tasogare Kousaten were both vibrant and amazing A-sides that nicely contrasted with each other and each song got a fun and pretty PV! And even though I dislike Next My Self it's not a terrible song and the PV is a pretty sweet and heartwarming sendoff for H!P's soloist. She's really grown up and matured into more of an adult and less of an idol. Maybe that's why she wants to graduate; so she can move on with her life and become an adult finally. I just wish she wasn't leaving when her music was getting so good! Oh well, as much as I don't want Mano to graduate, I guess it's kind of nice that she gets to go out with a bang rather than a fizzle. So long, Mano. We'll miss you and your magical piano.

Best Debut: BiS

All right, so technically speaking Brand-new Idol Society has been around for about 2 years now but that was when they were still independent. Not to mention that member lineup is vastly different than it is today! The group has lost two girls and gained three over time and they had just picked up Mitchel and Wacky before signing on with a major label. And not just any major label: Avex, the label with a bajillion other idol groups! Yes, signing on with a label whose darkest idol group was Tokyo Girls' Style seemed like a bit of a risky move for such an audacious idol group that tries so hard to be different and I was skeptical as to how the major label would effect the group's image and music. The group's debut single was PPCC and that did a great job of showing that the BiS we all know and love isn't going anywhere. PPCC has all the weirdness and anti-idol vibes that the group's indie songs and PVs had and it's a hell of a fun time watching the PV! The release of an album titled Idol is Dead solidified the group's willingness to stay in the dark direction they'd had in their indies days and the Idol is Dead album was a brilliant collection of different songs and styles that truly showed that BiS debuting was the best decision ever.

Most Lackluster Debut: Nogizaka46

You know what's always interesting? Conflict! Conflict provides friction between two opposing forces and when done right, it can be the most addictive and compelling thing to watch! A great source of conflict is rivals. From the get-go, rivals are in conflict so the idea of AKB48, the biggest idol group in the J-pop industry right now, having a rival group is the coolest idea ever! How awesome would it be to have another group just like them but yet at the same time so different rise up to challenge their position as the top idol group? In came Nogizaka46 and I was interested to see what direction this "rival group" would take up against AKB48? Would they be darker and edgier? Hotter and sexier? More energetic and audacious? When the Guruguru Curtain PV came out, Nogizaka46 proved to be none of those things. Instead of being a cool and badass rival, Nogizaka46 has become my least favorite group with bland songs, shitty costuming and even shittier PVs. Some rivals these girls turned out to be... I wouldn't be so mad if it hadn't been so strongly emphasized that this group was meant to be the ultimate rivals of AKB48. You were the chosen one, Nogizaka46! The chosen one! The failure of this group as rivals ultimately proves that you cannot create your own rivals and expect them to provide conflict.

Saddest Graduation: Maeda Atsuko

...I miss Acchan. When her graduation was first announced, I wasn't hit that hard. I was shocked but personally I didn't take it that hard. She wasn't my favorite member of AKB48 even though I did like her as front and I think she was a good center for the group. I liked Acchan because the fame she had never seemed to go to her head; she always seemed like a very humble, shy and sweet girl who just happened to be the face of the biggest girl group in Japan. As her graduation got closer and closer, the weight of her graduation began to dawn on me and then Yume no Kawa came out and I just... that was when realized I was going to miss her. I was going to miss her apathetic face she had when she was performing, her main role in PVs, her friendly rivalry with Oshima Yuko, her position as center... Yeah, she wasn't my favorite member of AKB48 but I liked her and I feel like over time I've come to like her even more. She was a good center and I always relish the centers of idol groups that I actually like. It never felt like Acchan was soaking up the spotlight leaving everyone else little to nothing; she was just in it and everyone else was surrounding her. AKB48 will never be the same without her and I miss that sameness even though I knew she'd have to graduate eventually. I just didn't want it to be so soon.

Best Concert: Perfume JPN Tour Bukodan

Well, it's Perfume, what else did you expect? One of the many things I adore about Perfume is their concerts; if I could pick one artist I wanted to see live, I'd pick Perfume in a heartbeat. Watching Perfume live looks like the most engaging, mind-bending, amazing concert and I'm saying that as someone who's only seen them through a computer screen. But when I do watch their concerts on my computer screens... it's like being sucked into a different world. The girls of Perfume know how to draw in someone with their intricate choreography, visually stunning special effects, amazing song and their sweet personalities during MCs. Watching a Perfume concert is an experience and the JPN Tour has just as much spice as all their other concerts. The Budokan concert was broadcast and it showed the new album songs from their JPN album being performed along with the rest of the concert. It had everything I love about Perfume concerts from great choreography to really cool special effects (the JPN Special was so cool) and you even got to hear the girls sing live with songs like My Color and Kokoro no Sports! I also liked that this concert just felt more relaxed than their Tokyo Dome concert. With Tokyo Dome, everything felt very tense and for good reason; the Tokyo Dome was a place the girls dreamed of performing and naturally they didn't want to mess up at their dream concert! At the JPN concert, the girls looked confident and relaxed and they delivered another smashing live!

Best Chemistry in a Group: Berrikyuu

I'm so happy this group got an awesome song compared to the detestable Amazuppai Haru ni Sakura Saku from 2011. The Chou Happy Song PV was a good PV not because of the set or the effects or the concept but because of the interaction between the Hello! Project Kids. The idea of getting Berryz Koubou and C-ute back together after years of performing apart as separate groups seemed like an idea that should have happened already! Gone are the days of them being the newbs of Hello! Project; you can tell how comfortable these girls are performing in songs and PVs and how much they've all grown over time. These girls have been together for over 10 years now and obviously they've developed some pretty complex relationships with each other. I'm sure it hasn't always been easy for Berryz and C-ute but seeing them together in a group is so refreshing to watch. There's never a moment where they all look awkward together thanks to all the time they've spent around each other! Chou Happy Song showed how the H!P Kids are no longer kids but H!P Women. Of course, that isn't quite as marketable, so they still get tagged with the H!P Kids label. Still, it's great seeing them all together in one PV and I hope to see more from Berrikyuu in 2013!

Most Surprisingly Awesome Single: One Two Three/The Matenrou Show - Morning Musume

I wasn't really knowing what to expect from Morning Musume with their 50th single. Gaki had just graduated and taken with her the last shred of vocal talent within the group. I secretly feared that we were going to get another mess along the lines of PyokoPyoko Ultra only with ostriches or something. Least of all was I expecting electropop... so when One Two Three turned out to be right in the vein of electropop I was very pleasantly surprised! The song is catchy and very upbeat and fun to listen to with my only gripe being the poor use of Autotune! And that isn't the only song on here that was fun to listen to! The 9th Gen song showed off the great vocals of Mizuki and Kanon and the 10th Gen. song was peppy in the most crack-tastic and fun way possible! I love the energy of that song and it showed me that Masaki was capable of actually sounding decent and that Haruka's a great singer too! And then there's the 6th Gen. duet which is also pretty cool to listen to as well! The only song I didn't like on this single was The Matenrou Show but everything else? It was a nice variety of different songs and I think it was a great idea to have each generation get their own respective song! One Two Three started the electropop era for Morning Musume and personally I'm pretty happy with Robo Musume!

Most Disappointing Single: Spending all my time - Perfume

I... I don't even know how to describe my reaction when I first heard Spending all my time. It was kind of like when you get ready to go swimming at the beach and you put on your cutest bikini and some sunscreen and find some cool shades. You grab all your beach stuff and you head down towards the beach, ready to get a tan and go swimming. And then when you get their, that beach has been drained of all water and been closed off due to being contaminated by radiation. I hold Perfume to such a high level when it comes to their music quality and I've just come over time to expect their music to be amazing so when it isn't amazing... it's a shock to me. This little pit of disappointment burrows into my stomach and it just grows over time. I was so excited to hear Spending all my time and to have my expectations fall so short in such a bad way... it felt awful. It's always inevitable that I can't like everything released by Perfume but man, when I do dislike something it's just such a sucker punch. The other B-sides are immensely enjoyable but to think that SAMT was chosen over Hurly Burly and Point as the A-side is extremely disappointing to me. Then again, the irony is those two were more promoted than SAMT... still. I'm not fond of Spending all my time as a song and I think it'll be a long time before it can grow on me.

Best Album: Idol Is Dead - BiS

Oh my god, Brand-new Idol Society is awesome. I hadn't realized it until I'd heard this album. I wouldn't even categorize Idol is Dead as an album by an idol group, just five women in disguise pretending to be an idol group so they could pick up a label and release really-freaking-awesome music. I was really blown away by the musical diversity in this album and just how far it was from typical idol music. There were only hints of pop music in general on this album and you had such a wide variety of song styles. You had metal songs like Idol is Dead and Idol, the beautiful hitoribochi ballad, the synth-crazy Ash, the wildly energetic Chelsea and so many other tracks that each stood out on its own. It was experimental and loud and audacious and dared to set itself apart from other idol albums in the most epic and perfect way possible. I really don't know how BiS is going to top themselves in 2013 because Idol is Dead is right up there with Perfume's GAME and I get the feeling that I'm going to be listening to this album for a very long time. BiS, I don't know if idol is dead but if so, you guys totally killed them with this amazing album.

Memetic Video of the Year: Gangnam Style

You know -puts on hipster glasses- I saw this video when it only had 15 million views. It's, like, so mainstream now it's not even funny. I mean, who the hell gets a billion views on Youtube any way? That's just totally selling out, so uncool. I don't review or even listen to K-pop but Gangnam Style was hard to escape this year considering it was playing on American radio stations. I know that there are a multitude of K-pop artists trying to break it into the American market right now and personally I find it kind of hilarious that the breakout video is from a guy named PSY who wasn't even trying to pander to America. But we loved it; I enjoy this song a lot and I have a lot friends who enjoy it too. Hell, we even did the dance during rehearsal one day! Do you have any idea how weird it is to have friends dancing to a genre of music you'd always thought would remain obscure save for niche fans? I know K-pop does have more of an American following than J-pop but either way, having a K-pop song become the song of 2012 is completely and totally surreal to me. How am I supposed to explain this to my kids when I'm an adult? "Oh yeah, the song we jammed to in 2012 was a social commentary that featured a horse dance! Kind of like the Macarena only Korean!"

Most Underused/Under-promoted Member of a Group: Suzuki Kanon

Oh, Zukki. 2011 was not a good year for Suzuki Kanon but 2012 was even worse. Not only did Zukki get shoved to the back even more for singles up on the Internet, she started receiving a lot of hate for being "chubby." It didn't help that the costumers started putting her in increasingly unflattering outfits and hairstyles such as the god-awful ponytail in One Two Three and the hideous dress from Wakuteka Take a chance. The sad thing is, Zukki has a really good voice; it's a little rough around the edges but she has a lot of potential to hone and develop her singing ability. She needs practice but at her core she has a deep and powerful voice and if trained right, that voice can sound really, really amazing. You know something? I honestly think that if she was a little bit skinnier, management might give her a better push. It's superficial but I really think UFP would but they barely invest in her, giving her a far less amount of opportunities over her fellow members. It makes me sad to think that she has so many people who hated her solely based off the way she looks too. I hope that in the next few years, Zukki will pull an A-chan and drop the weight and become really super hot like Ogawa Makoto did after leaving MM. Okay, I don't want Zukki to leave Momusu but you get what I'm talking about, right?

Fastest Ascension to the Front: Sashihara Rino

2012 was going to be Sashihara Rino's year. The idol's come a long way since her humble beginnings in AKB48. Back when the first Senbatsu election was held, Sasshi was placed in Undergirls and stayed there for a few more singles after that. She bounced back into Senbatsu for Heavy Rotation and held a constant spot in the regular Senbatsu after that but never having anywhere near as much spotlight as front girls like Oshima Yuko, Watanabe Mayu, Shinoda Mariko and Takahashi Minami. But she did have a fanbase and I kind of liked her for her wota personality and that really funny wota dance she did too! As 2012 went by, we began seeing more and more of Sasshi in singles; she even made the Selection 6 for the Give Me Five! B-side. She also placed higher in the Senbatsu Election for Flying Get and 2012's Senbatsu had her jump from #9 to #4. And then it was announced that Sasshi was going to have a debut as a soloist and even though I dislike her debut song, Soredemo Suki da yo sold very well on the Oricon, showing just how popular Sasshi had gotten. I think that there was a strong possibility that Sashihara Rino was going to become the next center of AKB48. Notice the use of was and not is. Because in 2012 something else happened to Sashihara Rino...

Most Interesting Scandal: Sashihara Rino's transfer to HKT48

...and all that potential for being the next ace of AKB48 was pulled out from underneath Sasshi's feet like a rug. Around the time after the 4th Senbatsu election an alleged boyfriend of Sasshi ratted her out to the press, submitting leaked pictures of her in a less than desirable position for an idol. Seeing as the number 1 rule in the idol world is absolutely no dating, Sasshi was punished for it. I admit, at the time I was mildly shocked by the scandal but I dismissed as something from the rumor mill that the AKB48 agency would ignore. Sasshi was becoming a popular front girl, it would be easy to sweep this under the rug and dismiss the dating accusations as false. So when it was announced that Sasshi would be transferring to HKT48 as punishment, I was completely and totally shocked. I really didn't think that they would punish Sasshi so harshly on the base grounds of rumors that may or may not have been true. Nevertheless, the transfer wrecked any chances for Sasshi to be the new center of AKB48 after Maeda Atsuko's graduation and she hasn't had the same attention or pushing ever since. She's still in AKB48 singles but nowhere near as promoted as she used to be and for her solo single she got saddled with three other girls whose names I don't even know. Sashihara Rino's fall from grace was hard and ugly and it makes me sad that the situation ended up like this for her. Maybe 2013 will be a better year for Sasshi.

Idol of the Year: Watanabe Mayu

This was totally Watanabe Mayu's year. I swear, everything just went right for the Fantastic Creeper herself and she's been shaping up to becoming possibly the new center of AKB48. The first hint we had of her becoming next center of AKB48 was her role in the Manatsu no Sounds good! PV where she took Acchan's place as the dance center and played a pivotal role in rescuing Acchan. Ever since then, I've been seeing more and more of Mayuyu's odd but adorable personality and I've been loving every minute of it! Personally, 2012 was the year that Mayuyu really grew on me, maybe because I wrote about her so much... that and her Creeper Smile. I swear, it's like that smile has a mind of its own and it wants to control me and make me one of Mayuyu's fans! Yeah, it was probably that Creeper Smile that endeared Mayuyu to me. Lucky for me, this was also the year that the already-popular Mayuyu started becoming even more popular! She placed #2 in the 4th Senbatsu elections and she released three very successful solo singles! Synchro Tokimeki did well on the charts along with Otona Jelly Beans and Hikaru Monotachi! Thanks to her high spot in the Senbatsu, she got a lot of attention in the Gingham Check PV along with Uza! I hope that in 2013, her push continues and we see even more of that Creeper Smile on screen!

Group of the Year: Morning Musume

I had a hard time deciding which group was the most successful in 2012. Would it be SKE48, with their increase in sales? Passpo for getting my attention? BiS for a successful major debut? Perfume for... well, I don't know because it's Perfume? In the end, I decided to be cliched and go with Morning Musume because I really do think 2012 was a much better year for them than 2011 simply because they changed. Momusu finally found a style this year and whether you like it or not, I think that style's worked well for them. Electropop has worked well for them so far and I've enjoyed One Two Three, Wakuteka Take a chance, and Help me!! This year was also the year that UFP decided to step up promotion on the group, releasing more songs and more editions of CDs. The group reached numbers that they hadn't reached in years for their singles sales and even though the means of getting those numbers may feel a little shady, numbers are numbers. 2012 also saw the addition of Oda Sakura, the sole 11th Generation member, and I'm hoping that with her being added and Reina graduating, we might get a better, less dominated vocal lineup. Whatever happens, I'm happy that Morning Musume finally managed to break out of their rut and I wish all the best for them in 2013.

THERE. I really hope you guys enjoyed my not-so-little megapost because it took me months to compile all this together. I'm not even exaggerating, I have literally been working my ass off to finish this for months... but it was totally worth it. I don't know if I'll do this again next year because of the sheer time and effort it took to finish this but... it was fun! I loved making the categories and picking out songs and PVs to fit each one! It was hard work elaborating on all those categories but also really fun! So what would you guys have picked? Feel free to comment while I go collapse onto the couch from the exhaustion of writing this!