Elder Club members to graduate from Hello! Project

From Hello! Online:

It was announced on the Hello Project website today that as of March 31st, 2009, all of the members of Elder Club will be leaving Hello! Project.

Mass graduation or mass firings? You make the call.

The exact members graduating are as follows:

Morning Musume OG:
Nakazawa Yuuko
Iida Kaori
Abe Natsumi
Yasuda Kei
Yaguchi Mari
Ishikawa Rika
Yoshizawa Hitomi
Tsuji Nozomi
Konno Asami
Ogawa Makoto
Fujimoto Miki

Inaba Atsuko
Satoda Mai (Country Musume)
Saito Hitomi (Melon Kinenbi)
Murata Megumi (Melon Kinenbi)
Ohtani Masae (Melon Kinenbi)
Shibata Ayumi (Melon Kinenbi)
Maeda Yuki
Matsuura Aya
Miyoshi Erika
Okada Yui
Ongaku Gatas (presumably, Korenaga Miki, Noto Arisa, Sengoku Minami, Sawada Yuri)

For statements from Tsunku and Yuuko Nakazawa, visit the above link.

All I can say is that this shocked and saddened me, and I'll sincerely miss quite a few of them. H!P won't be the same ever again. Hopefully I'll still be able to keep track of their projects - if they even get any, for those that were hardly utilized in the first place.

Beauty Pop, volume 9

-Narumi and Kiri crash into each other during the two legged race portion of the stylist competition, accidentally kissing. They still earned their place and right to get to the next portion/elimination challenge, but the drama caused all around them by this little act starts a wave of jealousy, confusion and anger. And the tournament still isn't over yet!
-Kiri's mom has been admitted to the hospital, and in a fit of worry her dad rushes out of the country to be with her. Narumi, who has unfortunate timing, is asked to watch after Kiri until his return. At first freaked out and unwilling, he becomes concerned after a city-wide blackout occurs and finds her hiding under a table. What else can he do but stay? She doesn't even think to lock doors!
-The other members of the S.P. find out about Narumi's babysitting duties and come over to make sure nothing happens. Then something so big and dramatic between Kiri and Ochiai happens (at least Narumi thinks so), it's enough to send a life-long friendship over the dark edge. Who will earn Kiri's heart?

Scooby Doo and the Goblin King review

It's Halloween, and Scooby and the gang visit the Coolsville Halloween carnival where they go to see a magician called "The Amazing Krudsky." But when the second-rate snob forbids Scooby from coming inside, Shaggy and the Great Dane hatch up a scheme to show the audience how much of a fake he is. This makes Krudsky so angry and frustrated with his nowhere career that he hatches up a magical scheme after catching Princess fairy Willow in his dressing room. With her under his total control he can gain the scepter of the Goblin King to become more powerful than he ever could've dreamed. Now it's up to Scooby and Shaggy to go to the hidden world of werewolves, witches, vampires and fairies and stop him before he can make the fatal trade.

I gotta say, I expected more from this. When I saw the trailer I honestly thought Velma, Fred and Daphne were turned into Halloween creatures, and Scooby and Shaggy had to go somewhere to find the "cure." It turned out to not really be like that at all.



The first problem is that there's absolutely no mystery anywhere. At least in their earlier direct-to-video movies, like Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost, which also featured "real" monsters, there was something to figure out, something to solve. It felt so empty without that structure to it. In Goblin King, the huge threat of what could happen when Krudsky gets his prize is unclear, and there's no sense of real danger from anything Scooby and Shaggy do.

Another problem is that, unless you're a huge fan of our "cowardly duo," you're out of luck. The other three are barely in this movie at all, and they prove to be pretty useless at that. Not to mention I sense they were trying to push some kind of "courage" moral in the story using the boy and his dog. When has Scooby Doo ever spun a moral from their usual exploits?



Overall, it feels like a huge disappointment, full of bad jokes (especially on the part of the talking Jack O' Lantern - you read right) and over-the-top goofyness. Apparently they spent so much money on the stars for the voices (Jay Leno, Tim Curry, and Wayne Knight, to name a few) they forgot to focus some on the WRITING. Small children will probably like it but I'd advise Scooby fans to avoid this if possible. They need to stick to solving mysteries! It's what they do!

Did I forget to mention there's also singing?

BUY IT HERE

Creepy video clips

Was there ever a movie or TV special you watched as a kid, that creeped you out so much you lost sleep or couldn't look at your favorite toy the same way again? Do they still have that affect on you today? Here are a few that still instill that feeling in me:

While only rather bizarre now, I definitely lost sleep over these elephant-like creatures:



Do you even have to ask?



It made me afraid to go out at night, this one:

Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa are HANGRY & ANGRY!

From Hello! Online:

Former Morning Musume members Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika have been paired up together for the new unit "Hangry & Angry".

They'll release their debut mini-album "Kill Me Kiss Me" on November 19, 2008. "Kill Me Kiss Me" is also the title of their first single.

Hangry & Angry is a collaboration with a Harajuku fashion store which goes by the same name.

Also check out the following link:

Official MySpace Page

Ai Kago's "Kung Fu Chefs" movie trailers

Gong Fu Chu Shen, or Kung Fu Chefs, is Kago's first movie deal since returning from her two year long hiatus. Though it is a Chinese film, there are plans to release the film in Japanese theaters by the end of the year.

WATCH TRAILERS

Pucca: Spooky Sooga Village DVD

While some people like to dig out the horror movies this time of year, something like this should not be ignored, no matter how "grown up" you think you are. Released in September, this newest Pucca DVD consists of a Halloween episode (Them Bones), along with a few "creepy" episodes to go with the theme.

Episodes:

1 Them Bones
2 Ghost Of A Kiss
3 The Usual Ching
4 A Force Of Won
5 The Cursed Tie
6 Invisible Trouble
7 High Voltage Ninjas
8 Ninjasaurus
9 Unfortunate Cookies
10 Itsy Bitsy Enemy Within
11 Funny Love Eruption

Never before and probably never again will you see things such as a skeleton jumping right out of the skin portrayed in such an adorable manner. I enjoyed every minute of it and will try to make it a tradition from now on.

I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a cute, safe escape from the usual Halloween fare. It was made for children, but adults can enjoy it as well, especially if forced through babysitting and the like. It will make you laugh - and if you don't, you have no soul! And if you're unfamiliar with sweet but sassy Pucca, this is a great place to start learning.

BUY IT HERE