Hello! Project Station #101

Hello! Pro Station Episode #101 Contents
MC: Ishida Ayumi & Kumai Yurina
◆ ANGERME - Otome no Gyakushuu PV
◆ ANGERME - Taikibansei (Dance Shot) PV
◆ 4-Kanji Phrase : 一蓮托生
◆ Hamaura Ayano Interview
◆ Berryz Selection
◆ Q&A Corner
◆ Juice=Juice "School For Girls" Information

    The 101st episode of Hello! Project Station begins with the Promotion Edit of ANGERME's new PV "Otome no Gyakushuu". I have a separate post about this song so I won't say too much about it here. I will say that this song is probably my early pick for idol song of the year and that I am extremely excited to hear new material from ANGERME. While I am a little torn over the fact that Tsunku isn't writing for them anymore, I am glad to say that this change in sound and style is a welcome one!

    This week's hosts are Morning Musume 15's Ishida Ayumi and Berryz Koubou's Kumai Yurina. They do a great job together and there is a surprising amount of fun banter here. Kumai Yurina is about as random as you expect her to be and Ayumi is sporting a new shorter hairstyle. Some discussions about Ayumi turning 18 recently. This means that she'll finally be able to perform in the later segments of the Hello! Countdown concerts! Also, gotta love Kumai Yurina's description of the new ANGERME PV.

    Next we see the dance shot version of ANGERME's "Taikibansei". I mentioned this before, but this song really made me take back all the negative things I was saying about S/mileage's re-branding as ANGERME. The song is catchy, amazing and the dance/outfits are a perfect fit. This dance shot version is a little more stylized than we are probably used to seeing, but it's a fun version nonetheless and a good excuse to listen to the song again!

    Next up, we have the 4-kanji phrase segment! Everyone knows how I feel about this segment so I'll just jump into the specifics. This week's phrase is "一蓮托生" which means something along the lines of "being in the same boat". A weird segment that is hosted by Morning Musume 15's Iikubo Haruna with the guest being Country Girls' Inaba Manaka. Back with our hosts, we get some karaoke talk. Let's hope we see a segment of these two doing karaoke together soon!

    Next we have an interview with Hamaura Ayano who is a member of the yet-to-be-named new Hello! Project group! She talks a lot about her time being in the the Kenkyuusei/Hello! Pro Eggs and some talk about not being chosen to be in Juice=Juice. It ends in tears and there is some interesting information here if you plan to follow the new unit from the get-go.

    We follow this up with a Berryz Selection segment. These are all the more sad now that we now that our time with Berryz Koubou is so short. The clip is from the 2013 concert and features Berryz members Saki Shimizu (Captain), Sugaya Risako and Morning Musume 15 leader, Fukumura Mizuki. Saki Shimizu has to gently prod Mizuki for fogetting to point out that she is now Morning Musume's leader which is interesting as I too realize that it's a little hard to accept even at this point. The song is not one of my favorites, but it is very nostalgic and there are some nice stories shared by the trio and a promise for next week's Berryz Selection being from the Berryz Koubou x Juice=Juice concert tour.

    The Q&A corner is interesting as they usually are. Ayumi sees Riho as a rival which is not really too surprising. There is some height talk since we must remember that Kumai Yurina is extremely tall, especially amongst the other Hello! Project members. Kumai Yurina's struggles with her height are real! We close the episode with some announcements regarding the new Berryz Koubou greatest hits album and the start date for the new Morning Musume 15 Spring Tour.

    That might have been the official end, but we actually close with some information regarding Juice=Juice's "School For Girls" event. I could talk a bit about what is said, but it's short and not too interesting. What is interesting here is Tomoko's "FRORIDA" shirt! Everyone should get one! Watch and enjoy!