With the advent of the “Resonant Blue” radio rip from Tanaka Reina’s shared radio show FIVE STARS, I’ve been pretty geared up for a controversial new single, from the song to the cover to, most especially, the promotional video.

In truth, it’s actually a step up from the PV I was envisioning in my brain. A whole lot less annoying and pretentious, which is exactly my thoughts on the song when I heard it for the first time (still are, actually). Unfortunately, the production value is hideously nonexistent, so that’s a step down as well. I never knew a group could fail this much. And I was around when the news came out that Perfume took the big idol leap and made their blog subscriber-only.

To put it plain and simple, all you biased fucks out there who love Takahashi Ai, Reina Winehouse, and Kusumi are gonna lap this PV up like you do each of their new photobook releases and not think twice about it. All of you people who like Gaki-Kame, Sayumi, and the eighth generation are likely to weep into your hats. But the reality of this is that those out there who are butthurt over this PV need to get over it, right now, and start enjoying what little snippets of your favorite girls are already out there. I have wasted too much of my time moping about how Maa never gets any prominent singing roles in Berryz, when the truth is she will always take a back seat to (That Fucking Whore) Sugaya Risako, Tsugunaga Momoko, Natsuyaki Miyabi, and Kumai Yurina. That is, unless a couple thousand Maasa wota burn the Up-Front Agency or Hello! Project’s main building down in protest anytime soon, she’s not going to receive a photobook, and she’s going to continue to get maybe one or two solo lines in every song they come out with. I accept this now. When somebody uploads a few new official photos of Maa to Hello! Online’s imageboard, I’m going to save them because that’s all I’ve got and all I’ll ever get.

UFA can’t hear or see me. They can’t hear or see anybody else in the Japanese pop music blogging scene, either (they especially can’t see or hear you if you’re writing in English, nor can they understand your retarded Babelfish Japanese). I wish people would stop toting this idea like it has the slightest remote possibility of being true and blogging while thinking their opinion means something to the corporate jackasses controlling H!P and everyone’s beloved idols.

Does this mean a change in my blogging style (which a bunch of [read: too many] people seem to believe is pessimistic and angry)? Probably. If it’s a change in my attitude towards idols and H!P, then it means a change in how I blog about these particular subjects. I’m still going to perceive the people I think are idiots to be idiots, and I’m still going to enjoy the blogs from our cute lil’ corner of the “blogosphere” that I do already enjoy (lol, are there any? I don’t think so!). I’m so tired of being bitter about something that is an absolutely asinine thing to be bitter towards.

My point is: So what if your SOULMATE IDOL GIRL OMFGZ!! isn’t the lead girl in the group she’s in? So what if she averages, like… Zero solo lines in every single? So what if her only chances to shine in songs are on albums people like me never listen to? So fucking what if she’s the least-popular girl in Japan right now? You like her. You think she’s cute, pretty, talented, entertaining, whatever. There may not be a lot of excess paraphenalia to soothe your need to “support” her as an idol/for you to squee over, but you don’t need that. Just some official photos, maybe a lame cellphone strap. A T-shirt with her name on it. And yeah, I’m going to stop worrying about Maasa not being liked by others, but I’ll still hate the ever-loving fuck out of Sugaya. I’m going to stop whining about Region being shoved (literally) aside in favor of Ai, Reina, and Kusumi. With Reina, I don’t understand the spotlight put on her and probably never will (she has a whiny voice, pencil legs, and her “tiny ghetto-fabulous bitch” persona is getting oooooold), but at least with Ai I know she’s a much superior dancer and singer to Jun.

As for Kusumi…

…yeah, UFA is smoking some major weed these days. Whatever, I don’t care!

BACK ON THE ACTUAL TOPIC AT HAND: …what? “Resonant Blue” sucks. People are holding out for the other version of the PV, which is going to have closeup shots, maybe a plot (probably not), and more varied locations than some dark whorehouse, but guess what? That’s going to have Ai, Reina, and Koharu smeared all over it also. Think about it — those three have the most vocal reign over the song, which means that the directors have to give them closeups of them lipsyncing their respective lines in the PV. You can’t give Junjun one of Ai’s solo lines if it’s not Junjun singing it. We’ll see other girls in the PV in general shots while there is no singing, probably — I’m betting two or three individual closeup shots for each member of the eighth generation. It’s an improvement from the current version of “Resonant Blue”.

It could be better, though. At this point, it probably never will. The controlling hands of Morning Musume need to discover how to balance between this being an “idol” group, and this being a “singing” group. Otherwise, well… I don’t think wota (nor, for the matter, casual or moderate fans [the latter of which I consider myself to be]) are hostile or motivated enough in droves to do something as sinister as burn down the operations buildings that are responsible for them having no lives, but if the loveable, full-of-hope Morning Musume of 2001 has devolved over the years into something as mediocre and lacking in credibility with the general public as the Morning Musume of 2008, anything is possible.

Now for some real thoughts on “Resonant Blue”…

The outfits (for Ai and Reina) are like skimpy Catholic schoolgirl uniforms in black and Koharu’s got a bit of white on her outfit to put her juuuust at that midway point between “highly important song leader” and “backup dancer”. Everyone else who isn’t worthy (read: the rest of Morning Musume) are wearing some funky uniform black clothes with pants or whatever. The dance is slightly unenergetic, sans from 01:38 to 02:13 which is the only part of “Resonant Blue” I actually dig a little bit (sans the whiny-as-fuck “HELP MEEEEEE”s).

There is someone super sexy to Reina’s left during certain midway shots and I thought it was Eri at first (”What the fuck, when have I ever thought Eri is sexy?”), but now I’m not sure because I saw the actual Eri far away from that spot. I think it’s Junjun I want to think it’s Junjun I’m kind of sure it’s Junjun. Either way, she’s got my eye a hell of a lot more than Reina Winehouse, Ai, and The Bitch Who Can’t Stop Smiling, What Is Fucking Wrong With You Koharu This Is A Kakkoii PV A KAKKOII PV.

I don’t really care if “Resonant Blue” skyrockets them to fame and everyone wants to act superior to me because they were right about it being the single to revitalize Morning Musume; no skin off my back. I don’t have to like or hate something because of the sales — “LOVE Machine” is a song I genuinely endorse and enjoy fully.

I have a feeling many wota who are fans of girls other than Reina, Ai, and Koharu are going to be pissed off and disappointed in this current version of the PV, but Tsunku retardedly decided to pull a “THE Manpower!!!” and have two versions. I reeeeeally want the alternate version to be the one that plays on TV (does Japan have a PV-syndicating channel equivalent to America’s MTV/VH1?), but that’s kind of unlikely.

Am entertained by the “Special Generation” “Tokaikko Junjou” swirly-esque choreography section (lol, I love it when they have a single choreographer for so long they start to overuse previous ideas).

Caught a brief glimpse of Mittsi. I’m positive it was her, the face shape and hairstyle matched. It wasn’t the Mittsi at the very beginning of the PV, though (goddamn, Mittsi, you look just like Ai), it was during my “LET’S PLAY ‘SPOT THE HIDDEN MUSUME!!!!’” game.

Saw some Sayu as well, but a little more obvious than Mittsi. It’s a shot with Eri, Sayu’s…kind of wiggling about trying(?) to do the choreography. She’s definitely in the furthest-back row, though, to my far right, if you’re looking for her in the former half of the PV.

I think Region’s wearing another choker a la “Mikan”. More sexy points to her, and general points to the wardrobe cronie who realized that chokers are sexy on Jun.

I want a stationary camera version of the dance shot. The way the camera lingered on three girls and jerked around often gave me a reeeal headache by the second viewing.

Sayu showed up literally out of nowhere. I knew she had a “Shabondama”-esque line in this song, but they had a very sudden manner of giving her a closeup when she was nowhere to be seen throughout the rest of the PV. I think she basically flashed in my line of sight for two seconds and was gone. I feel that it really disturbed the flow of the PV (and song) with her “help me!” line. They should have ended both after she had her moment there instead of driving on for thirty more seconds or so with the same beat and vocals. It just seems really awkward after her delivery, like Ai and Reina are like “…yeeeeah, rizo…rizonanto…whooaaao…”.

The girls who clutch their heads at some pivotal points of the PV aggravate my headache more. It’s kind of what I feel like doing when I hear this song.

I’m curious as to the logic behind putting four of the girls with the thinnest pencil-like gams in the ho stockings, and clothing Region from head-to-toe. Region may not have Ayaya or Mikitty legs, but she’s closer to that than Reina or Linlin. Then again, with a PV like this, I can’t be sure who is who besides Reina, Ai, and Koharu. For all I know, Junjun might be Linlin and Linlin might be Junjun.

Loved Junjun’s(?) seizure dance.

That is all.