Kirarin Revolution, episodes 55 & 56

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).



Episode 55:

Infamous for her phantom mushrooms appearing in any homemade thing she tries, when a fashion magazine asks Kirari to do a monthly manga series, that's all she can draw. She can't possibly pull seasoned skill out of her butt in less than 2 days, so when she hears a famous mangaka lives not too far from her home, she decides to go there for help. The poor woman, however, is not as glamourous as she appears on TV. Overworked and ruffled in appearance, she mistakes Naa-san's work for Kirari's and hires her as an assistant. Big mistake. It seems Kirari can't do anything right! But the mangaka has a deadline, and it can't be missed.



Episode 56:

Kirari isn't new anymore, and sooner or later somebody will be following in her footsteps. Perhaps sooner than they think - a stubborn, pink-haired girl named Izumi Amakawa has been phoning agencies demanding to debut as an idol. Eventually she stumbles into the Higashiyama president's office, and the president admires her goal to one-up Kirari. But, as there was an agreement that the fight will be fairly played from now on, Big H won't let her in. However, if Izumi can indeed prove that she is better, they will seriously hire her. She doesn't waste time in literally bumping into Kirari at a job, AND instantly developing a crush on Hiroto when Kirari introduces them. Why do Izumi's plans involve winning over Kirari's almost-kinda crush with rumors and lies? What will Kirari do, now that she thinks Hiroto has a secret girlfriend?

Heh, episode 55 reminds me of Daa! Daa! Daa!, where there is also a mangaka running around - she was also tired, overworked, and a tad crazy. She appeared frequently though, not just a "one trick pony." They even gave her a brother. Funny, I don't think I've ever seen a MALE mangaka in an anime before. Wonder why that is?

Oooh, things are getting juicy now! But I have to say, the "We started showering together" line really threw me. Is this really something you say in a kids show?! Izumi is very... uh... unshy about romance compared to Kirari. I think she's much worse than Erina could ever be - Erina is an amateur in comparison. I was confused at first about how the heck this was supposed to prove that she's a better idol than Kirari, but then they said she's doing it to get her name in the papers, thus making it easier to debut. At least we got some really cute Kirari/Hiroto moments.

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 53 & 54

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).



Episode 53:

Kirari's dad has quit his company job and opened up a cafe, here called Kirarin Cafe. It's been his dream since he was young to have such a endeaver, and Kirari offers to pitch in when she can, with SHIPS occasionally helping when their schedule allows. Eventually a woman named Rokoko Mareda, a famous "food tester," comes to check the place out. With a voice and laugh that could melt steel, she accuses Kirari's papa of making food that is too ordinary (something you could easily find in the store or at home), while riding on his daughter's fame by naming the cafe after her. Can this snobby foodie be proven wrong? Will a dream be ruined before it really had a chance to start?



Episode 54:

Naa-san has an admirer! After bravely saving a pink girl cat being bullied, he finds that he just can't shake her off. Nyuutan follows Naa-san, Kirari, and Seiji to a special animal idols show, where she ruins his performance by tripping the camera people. Eventually they let her come with them on more jobs, but after awhile Nyuutan becomes jealous of Naa-san's relationship with Kirari and gives her a declaration of battle. Winner takes Naa-san!

Now I understand why Kirari was working in a cafe in that issue of Ciao I bought. It's her dad's and not some kind of promotional gimmick, like I earlier assumed.

I guess Naa-san had to have a would-be love interest eventually :)

Heidi of the Alps, episode 3

(アルプスの少女ハイジ) 1974

Awaking to her first real day in her new home, Heidi is offered the chance to go with Peter and the goats for the day. She's focused on picking flowers for her bed, but Peter (on a schedule of sorts) promises once they reach the peak, there will be cute things and even a "horned lord" (which turns out to be a mountain goat) to discover to hurry her along.

When they get there, Peter is tired from waking up extra early, and settles down for a nap. But little Heidi is anxious to see these creatures he was talking about, and wanders off on her own. She almost falls off a cliff while trying to spot a hawk, but Peter hears her desperate cries and a life is saved. They also enjoy a meal of cheese, meat, and milk (which Peter milks straight from the goats - and even sat under one to take a drink without a cup!), and Heidi begs him not to be too harsh with the animals when they do something bad (one of the young goats knows no fear, and almost fell off a cliff himself).



Our little orphan learned a great deal about nature that day, and found the colors of the change into night quite fascinating. By the time she gets home, the flowers she stored away in her apron have wilted, and her grandfather explains that flowers need light to live. This saddens her, and she promises not to pick them ever again.

Remind me to never eat or drink anything that kid cooks or any drinks he gets. Yuck! I actually gasped when he did that. Wow. But they really had some creative, child-like ideas in this episode - hawks "cry" because they are laughing at humans for their living too close together nature. If you don't wash your face the sun will laugh at you. And so on. I think the yodeling in the OP and ED theme is growing on me, though I hate to admit it :)

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 51 & 52

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).



Episode 51:

Aoi is ahead of Kirari in the polls, but that will soon change. After walking the streets of Osaka, Hokkaido, etc. armed with a TV crew and mic, she interacts with people on the street, gathering more and more love and support until it's overwhelming. So many people want to see her now, there aren't enough tickets for everyone - but she does her best and remembers the many faces she saw during her trip. Will this be enough to earn the crown?



Episode 52:

Kirari is going to participate in the Opening Ceremony for baseball season - but she hasn't even so much as held a baseball or put on a glove. To help her prepare, the BS Team (LOL!!) has arranged for a coach, but Matsuki (as he is called) is lazy and arrogant, unwilling to do any kind of teaching to some rookie little girl. With such poor help, can she get ready in time? Will Matsuki reach out and become the player he used to be?

In regards to episode 51... you know, Kirari, it's OK to cry a little bit. You are unnaturally cheerful sometimes. I wanted to smack my forehead when Hiroto ran onstage to yell at Kirari for smiling too much about her loss. You're on a stage in front of thousands of people, is that really the best place to have an argument?! Aoi's song was pretty, though. I think they need to release a CD full of the "extra idol" songs. Or at least put one on a future soundtrack.

Episode 52 definitely has a different feel to it somehow - I think this introduces a new "season" for KR. At least we're rid of that damn "Balalaika" song :P Now it's "Happy," which I like more. I'm not sure, but I think the BS (as in Blue Socks, but I didn't know that right away) coach is supposed to be American? He greeted her in English and told her he knew her because she was popular in America (I doubt that, very rarely does an Asian artist get that level of recognition in the states, but let's pretend it's possible for the sake of possible). So that's yet ANOTHER foreigner appearance in this show. Think I should be keep a checklist?

Slayers doujinshi in store!

Hello!

I have added some Slayers doujinshi to my store.

It includes:

-School PANIC
-Natta
-Slapstick Comedy 2 & 3
-Raguna Roku

Please check them out: http://aledanaiya.ecrater.com/

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 49 & 50

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).



Episode 49:

Kirari tries to reason with Akane, asking her (in private) why she's attempting to tarnish her name. But this dark-haired beauty can't be reached - their reasons for getting into the business are completely different (in fact, Kirari's would be considered completely shallow in comparison) - and so the deception goes on. In fact, they secretly omit already filmed scenes of Kirari in their series of commercials they're producing for Galaxy, and try to make her as unnoticable as possible for future ones. Understandably angry, it's a lose/lose for everyone close to Kirari - this scandal makes her look bad, but if she quits doing the commercials, she will still look bad. Will Akane come to understand this isn't the right way to achieve fame, or can things only get messier?



Episode 50:

Akane has politely bowed out of the Idol Queen competition per Kirari's inspiration. Now's it's just Kirari and Aoi with their eyes on the "throne." It's friendly competing, with the girls only wishing for the other to do their best. But the Higashiyama company is so furious with Akane's self-removal (which they then fired her for) they go and have Kirari's first concert in her country-wide tour cancelled. Will Kirari meet the same fate as Kumoi-san?

Nice job of "hiding" who is saying bad things about Kirari, guys XD (Hey, Erina, I see you!). Watching Kirari and everyone in the Cinderella commercial made me think of Morning Musume's upcoming Cinderella musical. This was made long before the announcement, but I couldn't help it.

Wow, deja vu, huh? Kirari almost got the same fate as poor Kumoi-san in the "cancelling the concert behind your back, because you ticked us off" department. But, of course, she came through and SHIPS helped her. What the chairman did was VERY sweet - he made up for what he couldn't do for Kumoi-san. But now the president of Big H can't do anymore underhanded tricks to Kirari, so I wonder what they'll try next?

Morning Musume - My Top 10 Videos

In no particular order.

1. Osaka Koi no Uta

I love the glitter mics, and I love their white dresses with the "wings"/bows in the back.



2. Aruiteru (Walk Version)



3. Sakura Mankai

It's so pretty! Watching this makes me feel peaceful.



4. Hyokkori Hyoutanjima

A lot of people didn't like this when it first came out, and that included the pirate costumes. Frankly, I did like it, and I still do xD



5. Go Girl ~ Koi no Victory ~



6. Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari



7. Hawaiian Single Melody

While this includes some members from Hello! Project, and not just Morning Musume, it's still mostly Morning Musume, so I think it counts.



8. The Peace

This was probably the first MM video I ever saw. Either that, or I Wish.



9. I Wish



10. Hey Mirai!

Doggies :D It's a very bright and playful video.