4 posts tagged “blogging”

Well, I've been out of town for a little more than a week. I meant to mention something about it left, but... well I failed that. Anyway, with the recent airline problems I wasn't sure I was going to make the trip, but that isn't any excuse. I was intending to post something along the lines of, "I'll be away from the internet for over a week, so if there is a huge scandal and an H!P sex tape surfaces; please, for the love of God, save me a copy! Yes, even if it features Yasuda Kei, or Tsunku.♂ " But I didn't post anything, I just disappeared. HA! Take that, whoever might give a damn! Leaving what I didn't do aside, I'll talk about what I did do: I went to Hawaii and wrote blog posts with pen and paper. How sad is that? Well, that wasn't all I did, but it is a way to kill time on long plane flights that is potentially slightly less embarrassing than masturbating in an airplane lavatory. Well, all this is sort of ancillary to the TWIO posts. So, on with the grades!

It was going to be higher, but I went away for a week without telling anyone. That is bad form. I still pass though.

Intended for: Right Here

On Berikyuu! beginnings.

There are two weeks worth of Berikyuu! in the bank now, and I thought I would share my thoughts on the first 10 episodes. In general, I like the show, but it is certainly not perfect.

Shot0008

Every episode starts with Mano Erina reading some poignant passage from a book of great renown, or something. I don't know near enough Japanese to understand what she is saying, but I do have eyes and a judgmental personality so I have some comments anyway. She is always wearing a school girl outfit of some kind and with herstraight hair and bangs cut below her eyebrows and I have to say I don't really like this look. In my opinion she

Mano Erina

looks too plain, too ordinary, she looks like any other Japanese schoolgirl. Granted, she is much cuter than youraverage Japanese school girl, but she doesn't seem to be that much cuter. She doesn't have an aspect that makesher seem exceptional, some kind of idol sparkle to command my attention and make me want to see more. If you compare this to her image in her Egg and Gatas days I think she has taken a step backwards.Back then with her crazy twin ponytails she stood out somewhat, and if you combined that with a shiny costume she was clearly identifiable as an "idol", but they have taken all of that away from her. If this is to be her image as a soloist I can already say I don't really care. With an look that just screams "ordinary" in every way I can practically hear the yawn-fest ballads already. NO THANKS, I'LL PASS. Mano Erina is only a small part of Berikyuu! though, the bulk of it is Berryz Koubou and C-ute.

I like the main part of Berikyuu!, when I first heard that this show would replace Uta Doki I was concerned that the short time slot would make the show feel constrained like Uta Doki but that doesn't seem to be the case. The difference could be because the Berikyuu! intro is a lot shorter than the drawn out Uta Doki MC part, or maybe it is because I don't usually understand the questions so Berikyuu! can be a bit boring at times and as a result it feels like it takes longer. Whatever the case may be, I think the show is generally good, but a few tweaks could make it much better. A simple change would be to add rewards and/or punishment games tied to the result of the contests. Doing so would make the contestants actually care whether they win or not. Currently, it doesn't really seem to matter to them one way or the other. This could partly be because of the nature of the questions being asked. There is no reasonable expectation that middle school girls would know things about gravure idols, so there is no shame in failing to answer the question properly. If instead of being asked to identify some medieval torture device/corn deflesher, they are asked more general knowledge questions, like "what is the highest mountain in Japan?", then there is a greater opportunity for comedy when they fail to get it right. In the current format, when somebody says a wrong answer the disembodied host voice says so and that is the end of it. He has the first crack at all jokes about the answer and the girls are left with whatever scraps he leaves behind. However, if they switched from whispering into a vase to flip cards where everyone's answer was visible at the same time the members could more easily mock each other's bonehead answers. If one of them fails an "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" type question and has to show everybody their mistake, that is just begging for the name calling and derisive laughter that we've come to expect in idol entertainment. If they don't want to do flip cards they could switch to buzzers instead. With really excitable people like Chinami around you could really get the energy up quickly with people beating on the buttons. Plus, the nature of buzzers encourages people to try to ring in quickly, even if they don't know the answer to the question yet, which is always a good source of humor. I think the quiz segment could be improved by things like that, but maybe there are other challenges that we might enjoy watching.

Personally, I could get behind single elimination tournaments. With 14 people the brackets would be uneven, but I don't think that is a big deal. I'd love to see an arm wrestling tournament, which we all know Maasa would win, but I think it would be fun to watch the process and see who faced her in the final. Heck, I think even a janken tournament could be fun if they did interviews beforehand and we got to hear strategy tidbits like, "she always throws rock first so I'm going paper all the way" and so on. Alternatively, if they want to maintain the Berryz v. C-ute dynamic they could make a game where each group has to select someone to represent them in a one on one match with a player from the other side. The matches could be in seven different general categories like "physical challenge", "social studies" or "pop culture knowledge" with the exact details hidden until after the competitors had been selected. There would be seven head to head matches, and each member would compete exactly once. That way, the Berryz team might consider selecting Maasa for the physical challenge in case it was a test of strength, Chinami since it might involve sprinting or hula-hoops, or Saki because it could be a limbo contest or something, but they wouldn't know what it was so there would be some measure of gambling involved and the producers could always throw them a curve ball. Having to face another person head on in a matter of winning and losing would get the competitive spirit flowing and would add more drama to the program. Usually, I feel that competition is good and all, but I think the show could be made greater with less conflict.

What I would like most of all is the return of certain things we have seen before. I'd love to see the revival of the short format skits that we saw in Berryz Koubou DVD Mag. 6 or C-ute DVD Mag. 4, where they had to do embarrassing things like confess their undying love for each other or act out weird personas to impress Okai-kun. Those skits require nearly nothing in terms of costumes, sets or props, and aren't really dependent on lots of rehearsal time so I think they could fit with Berikyuu! very well. I'd also like to see the return of the human sized board game from the Berryz Koubou bus tour. They could make a website with the content of all the squares and people could cheer at home for certain rolls. If they did two or three moves a day it might take a while to complete one game, but depending on how often someone landed on a "show us your sexy pose" square I might not care. In my opinion, having things like this would make a fun show without punishments or losers, which would be nice if possible.

On top of the list of things I know I'll never see, but the odds of them happening are greater than zero so I continue to hold out hope, is a Twister(TM) tournament. I know they'll never do it, but it has the potential to be awesome, and a fellow can dream. I think exhausting all possible combinations of players would be Haromoni@ levels of tedious, so I think that if you start with 15 people (7 Berryz + 7 C-ute + 1 Mano Erina) you could randomly divide them into three groups of five for the first round eliminations. The top three from each heat could go onto the second round with the heat winner that lasted to most moves facing the second and third place finishers that lasted the fewest moves in a three way battle. The heat winner that had to go the fewest steps would face the second and third place players that lasted the longest in one match, and the the remaining three qualifiers would face each other. The six first round losers would face off in a last chance Twister melee, where the winner would get moved up to the final with the three winners of the second round matches. The winner would be decided in only eight matches that way, and I think that, depending on how they edited it, the tournament could be high quality television entertainment.

Similarly, I think the Nintendo Wii super product placement happy fun time marketing segment could be fun too if only they switch to a game that they can play together, hopefully one that involves more jumping around, like a sports title. I've never played with a Wii, but as I understand it they can be quite fun, but that quiz game didn't seem to be the most exciting one available.

Also, I think they should try more regular outfits, it is going to look exceedingly stupid when C-ute switches to "normal" clothes with their Namida no Iro costumes and Berryz Koubou are still wearing their absurd Dschingis Khan costumes. The disparity will painfully jarring.

In total, I'm interested in where Berikyuu! is going in the future, even if they stay in that tiny room I think a lot of entertaining things can be done, and I hope that they give the girls a chance to shine more individually in the future.

Status: Never posted.

I don't like this. I wrote it three Sundays ago, and as I was editing it that Monday and I couldn't seem to make anything worthwhile out of it. I think part of it is that the third paragraph is too heavily influenced by my initial impressions of the first episode, and colors the description of the whole first week around that. When I was rewatching the episodes I found that my appreciation for them was muh higher than what I wrote would suggest. Then on Tuesday I considered cutting it down and making it just a post on the things I want to see in Berikyuu! and maybe a second post on Mano Erina's solo image. I didn't find a way to make the second half on its own seem worth reading. I wasn't interested by it and I wrote it about my own desires. Ultimately, it failed the "who cares?" test. The Mano Eri part I actually kinda liked and I've thought about expanding it with my thoughts on how her look has evolved over time. In particular, when she started tucking her hair behind her ears in week three. I think it better shows off more of her most obvious talent: her cute face. Having this holding everything up became stressful to me, until Wednesday when I realized I could just abandon it, and make it go away. I don't have any plans to revisit this topic, so this quarter finished piece will likely be all that remains.

On Episode 14 of Berikyuu!:

I think this shit is funny. I always say the "Nooooo" parts out loud when I read it, and it makes me laugh without fail. I don't know if I actually succeeded in being funny or not, as I have no clue if anyone else ever laughed because of it, but it is still my favorite post by me, ever. The "*close*" part at the bottom was to represent my closing the video at that point and not watching the rest. I don't know if that was clear or not. Originally it was *Quit*, but I thought that might be taken to mean I had quit Berikyuu! altogether which isn't the case. In spite of everything, I still have some hope.

On Medical Conditions.:

The thing about this that I think is so evil is not the thinking that she might be pregnant. I view that as a fairly normal reaction at this point. Rather, it is that I thought about that and then my personal desires before I considered her health and well being. Appendicitis is a potentially life threatening ailment, and I thought about her boobs before that... that's pretty evil in my estimation. I'll admit to feeling genuinely bad about that. Also, originally, instead of "if her boobs are out there" it was "if her boobs are hanging out", but I thought that might be interpreted to mean that I expected her breasts to be totally exposed, which is not a requirement for me. So I changed it, but on further reflection I feel that old way was better.

On lessons for grown-ups.:

I can't believe I did that post without working in a couple "cream on face" screenshots. Oh well.

I'm sort of distressed that I wrote something for here and didn't post it. This is supposed to be where I put all my stupid stuff, and if I don't use it for that purpose what is point? It could just be that I have standards of some kind, but in my life I haven't found being selective to be a huge benefit. Well, whatever...

The long hiatus doesn't really bother me though. I never intended this to be one of those blogs that comments on every piece of news that goes by, but instead to be place to put things when I have something to say. There is no schedule, and I feel no obligation to post anything regularly. Even these TWIO posts were never intended to actually be weekly, but instead were meant to be made whenever I felt the need for one. So I don't mind not posting when I don't have anything to say, however I left with posts I still wanted make and I feel kinda bad for not doing them first.

Eh, status quo still isn't bad, though I feel a desire to lower my standards (I can't believe that's possible!) and post more frequently to that things aren't left unsaid.

I'm sort of excited though, because I have practically two whole weeks of Berikyuu! and other releases to catch up on, and I'm sure there must be some jems.

"A stitched up bear's anus saves nine day's shoveling."

"People who pass stones in glass houses should see a urologist."

Thank you for your time.

Woo, I pass!

I don't really have anything to say this week, I suppose that is both good and bad in a way. I don't know if ignorance is bliss or not, but it is at least some sort of related pleasure.
   

   
"If a bear craps lemonade, you'd better drink a glass when offered."

Thank you for your time.

So the events of the past few days have given rise to a new, theoretically regular, segment here entitled: "This Week in Otingocni". It is set to be my anything but objective analysis of my recent actions. Let's begin:

Greetings and welcome to my blog. I think I'll start with some basic introduction type material. I am 26 years old, male, my drugs of choice are alcohol and sleep deprivation. Currently I am going by "Otingocni", but I have no real attachment to this name. I picked it as a throwaway identity to be used once and tossed aside, as it is simply "Incognito" backwards I think that should be pretty clear. When I first used this name I entered it into a search engine it was less common than I thought it would be (but by no means unique) and I've used it a couple times since then. I eventually decided that even though I haven't really got any reason to I might as well make this the name I shall be known by. However if you see an Otingocni anywhere non-JPop related it probably isn't me. I never used to post much on the internet, but in recent months I've started venturing out into this online community more, and well... what I posted was invariably stupid.

So, this is where this blog comes in, in my mind it will achieve two things: 1) It will be a first foray into community, where I will have one constant known identity that is to represent me. 2) It will be spot for me to vent my arrogance. Part of the reason I started posting so much was that I starting thinking that I had something worthwhile to say, something that someone else might benefit from hearing or some kind original insight. What a horrible conceit that is. So this blog will give me a chance to shout into the void those things that my own unparalleled vanity feels I must say, whilst not cluttering other people's blogs and forums with the absurd drivel that results. It would also reduce the chance of me offending someone (as long as this blog goes unknown), and it would at the very least mean I wouldn't offend them on their home turf. Anyway I have a whole folder of replies and comments I've written that I was either too weak, or perhaps intelligent, to post and this would give me a chance to consider actually using them. Though, I don't really think that would be a step forward for me, I'm not sure, but whatever.

Regarding the path this blog is to take... I've discovered one thing: I can't write for crap. My writing ability is shamefully weak. I write something, then proofread it and discover that it doesn't make any sense. It is not just that my ideas aren't properly expressed, but more that it seems like it was produced by machine translation or something like that and not a native English speaker. So I proofread and edit, proofread and edit, proofread and edit until I get it to a point at which I think it says something comprehensible, but when I look back on it later I frequently find that it says something different than what I thought it did when I posted it. Honestly, I would like to develop an easy, conversational style as it would fit in well with my digressive way of thinking, but as I can't even handle basic grammar I think that is foolishly ambitious. Right now my aim is basic readability, though I find I fall well short of the mark...

I might as well take this opportunity to discuss how I got here, and some of my blogging influences. I suppose a lot of influence has to be attributed to the incomparable Mr. Ray Mescallado of American Wota fame. Back in the halcyon days prior to Koharu's first photobook the English language fan community was... more than a little divided as to how to view that upcoming release. Many posts could be read loudly decrying this new horridly pedo turn in H!P products. I was reading a thread along those lines on mm-bbs one day, when Ray posted something to the effect of "Man I hope this PB is pedolicious goodness", that is HORRIBLE paraphrasing but I think you get the point (I haven't been able to find the comment in question). This, not surprisingly, elicited a lot of "WTF?" and "I can't believe you just said that" type responses, to which Ray replied "I say much worse stuff on my blog". Now, I usually can't stand it when people shamelessly self-promote their own blogs, but in this case I decided to check it out. I was pretty well blown away, in particular the Freudian U-15 Analysis, and the review of "Fighting Pose wa Date Janai" changed my view of blogging. From there, reading the 'Feed of Pop' and the Sunday Blog Roundups I started following more and more J-Pop blogs.

One of the people I became aware of through this was Craig (who, surprisingly, currently has a blog I can link). I look up to Craig and his frequently unabashedly honest style. A lot of the time I look at his single image or video clip posts and say to myself, "I understand exactly what he is trying to say here" or "I can see what he sees as interesting or noteworthy in this piece", honestly I don't know whether I really get it or if I am simply deluding myself, the rest of the time I just throw up my hands and say "I don't know what in the 9 Hells Craig is on about now". Still, I think that is a powerful style as it forces the observer to try and see the post through the blogger's eyes and discern the meaning in that way, "Why this particular picture, and not some other one?", this shared vision leads to a greater sympathy between the poster and the reader. Well, that's my (likely unoriginal) theory anyway. Personally I see his review of Risako's first photobook as the high water mark of all entertainment writing. I have yet to see anything that can approach the pure _truth_ of that one article.

Overall my favorite blog would have to be MorningBerryz's. I love his ebullient style and am jealous of his positive outlook. His writing is so infectiously upbeat he can get me interested in NASCAR, something I'm generally not the least bit interested in. His reviews got me to watch Haromoni@ again even after the first two episodes left me so disgusted I thought I would never watch that program again. Even when he criticizes the current format of the show, he does so by pointing out the things about Hello! Morning that he loved and focuses on the wonderful things that show had to offer. My desire to be more like MorningBerryz is why I decided to join Vox and host my blog here, or it could just be that I envy his Kamei Italian parsley. (Sorry I failed at voting for you in the IntlWota awards.)

I don't know where this blog is headed in the future. Part of me wants to be on International Wota, with Ray or wu-san slapping a "Recommended Reading" tag on there, praising my insight, but the rest of me doesn't desire that kind of notoriety. For now... I've set my mind on nothing, and hope that I can achieve it, and that when I do it will bring me happiness without compare.