2 posts tagged “maki goto”
I wrote earlier about reasons why I'm not as big a fan of Maki as I used to be, so I guess there's no reason to discuss that, anymore.
When I initially got into H!P, I wasn't really a perv. I didn't care about girls in bikinis or the like. But then I saw Maki Goto's photobook "Prism" and I haven't been the same since. So I guess Maki's hotness is what made me interested in her at the beginning. Thanks to her I ended up watching my first Japanese drama series, Yanpapa, and perhaps more notably her movie RPG. I was really surprised at the role she had in the movie, since it was quite the opposite of being an innocent, happy joy-joy girl. Her acting was pretty good, too, since the ending was painful to watch (I don't want to spoil the movie so I won't go into details). Pretty quickly I learned to know the hot, talented, and cute sides of Maki Goto.
For a long time Gocchin was my second favourite member, but the weird thing is, her singing voice was still never too special to me (I think I actually liked her talking more, it could even make me feel all fuzzy and warm inside). I recognize her talent, not to mention I respect her tons for improving from the somewhat weak-voiced girl into the great performer she is today (well, compared to most of H!P)... But the tone of her voice was never one of my favourites, and sadly, it's one of those things you can't help. Also, I always found it somewhat weird that many of my favourite Gocchin songs were c/ws. I suppose that's because c/ws may be more 'experimental' than the actual single tracks.
Anyway, let's talk about Gocchin. I already mentioned that she's pretty strong vocally. I think she also has quite a fascinating character. She has always seemed mature, yet she can also seem so child-like whenever she's goofing around backstage, etc. At least in the past to me she has been a combination of innocence and maturity. Also, she may seem like a dull personality at first sight, but when you look deeper (or find subbed vids...) you realize she can say quite funny and/or weird things, or be funny 'by accident' - I guess a memorable example of this is the Futarigoto episode where she watches a horror movie and falls off her seat screaming. In addition, she might seem like a diva at first sight, but when you find out the reality about how she treats her fans, how much she gets attached to others, how much she cries when she has to say goodbye... It becomes obvious this girl isn't really self-centered at all.
Now, I wrote this way because I think Maki Goto is one of the H!P members who is very easy to misinterpret unless you bother to find out what this girl is all about. Because of her look and often mature behaviour it's easy to think she's a diva who has little sense of humour, but that really isn't the case.
I haven't been paying close attention to her career recently, but from what I've heard her latest single(s) sold better than some previous ones, which makes me happy. It's so rare for H!P acts to actually increase their sales that good news make a fan extra glad.
Well, I wasted a nice amount of time there, and greatly managed to avoid writing about negative things. Hooray!
I recently realized that my favourite members in Hello!Project have changed quite a bit during the last few months, so I thought I'd write a sum up of the changes and my reasonings for them. Everything in this post will be biased because all favourite opinions are.
First of all, my #1 favourite has stayed the same, of course. That's Natsumi Abe. To be honest, I haven't been paying attention to her as much as I used to and I think plenty of other H!P fans have heard Amasugita kajitsu (Nacchi's latest single) more times than me. That doesn't mean she's still not my favourite, though. I'm definitely a loyal fan, it's just that sometimes I can't keep focusing on one thing too much or I'll get terribly bored. I'm not talking about just fandoms here, but my attitude towards pretty much anything in life. Anyway, Nacchi is still love, even if I've been taking a bit of a break.
There are two other girls who were in my top 3 favourites for a long time, but now they've been slipping a bit. Maki Goto and Miki Fujimoto. Miki's actually "more safe" than Maki, as I still actually see her sometimes and remember why I like her. Her voice is still awesome, too. What Miki has been suffering from a bit for me is GAM - hey I like lesbian undertones, too, but somehow I haven't had as much interest in this unit as the majority of fans seems to, and I must admit I was never the biggest Ayaya fan. (I don't really have anything against her. I listen to her old, upbeat songs all the time... I just don't connect with her at all, so I find it hard to be interested in her.) Still, Miki has a good chance of staying in the top 5.
Maki, even if her latest two PVs were sexy and all... Ok, to be brutally honest, I think the bigger her breasts got, the more I lost interest in her. I don't really care how or why her breasts got boosted, but I don't like the results or the image that came with it. Well, I can't really say I don't like the sexy image, I think it suits Maki. But it's just that I wish she had done it with her old boobs. It's such a shame because I really used to find Maki a humble, hard-working, lovely girl, but it's hard to look through the sexy image and breast-groping and see that the girl is still in there somewhere. I'm sure her fans can do that, but I don't really have the time or the patience. I'm sorry. I still like her and wish her all the best, but I just don't think she'll rise back to my top 5 again.
(Damn, I didn't like writing that and I guess it comes as a surprise to some of my friends, but I couldn't keep hiding it forever.)
Let's talk about my favourites in units, then. The good thing about my favourites changing in units is that 99% of the time the changes are because I start liking someone else more, not because I start disliking someone. Basically, yay, I don't need to bash anyone!
Let's see.
My old favourites in C-ute: Megumi, Kanna, Maimi
My current favourites in C-ute: Chisato, Saki, Erika
A complete shift! Well, Megumi left, so no surprise there. I also think my favourites in C-ute will change more frequently than my favourites in any other unit, simply because they're quite equal.
Chisato Okai's singing is what has been impressing me lately. It's not that she's the best singer ever or anything, but she's just much better than I would've ever expected. (Afterall, she was one of those H!P Kids who never got lines in any songs.) She gets cuter each day. Most importantly, she just seems so genuine, like a "what you see is what you get" type of girl. That might have something to do with her young age, but it's a charming quality to have regardless. She's somewhat tomboy-ish and very unpolished ("raw"), yet adorable. Her smile looks so genuinely happy I can't help but feel good when I see it, too.
As for Saki Nakajima, I used to wonder why she's in H!P to begin with as she never really did anything and she wasn't even all that cute. However, I started liking her more after seeing her in HPH. Her duck voice is something very weird and cute, and she also handled being interviewed by a senpai pretty well. I was impressed. I just also keep finding her cuter and cuter, and I want to hug her and steal her away whenever I see her. To me she's adorable even if you can't see it instantly. I just want to look after her like a little sister.
Erika Umeda is a surprise even to myself. She used to be so close to the very bottom of my all H!P ranking... Recently Erika has suddenly grown very pretty so I keep paying more attention to her. I guess she has been overlooked by many because there was a period when she looked even kind of scary (not to be rude or anything, a part of it was simply because she was so tall). Her voice is very cute and her singing is alright, too. I feel like re-watching old C-ute videos and giving her more attention as I feel like I have been missing out on something here (well, the same thing goes for Chisato and Saki). Sometimes her eyes seem to have a lot of kindness in them and she does seem like a sweet girl.
In sum, my current C-ute favourites are girls I really feel for. They're underdogs, but I think in C-ute the members are still quite equal when it comes to popularity (except for Airi). Megumi was also popular, but she's gone. It will be interesting to see who will try to take her place.
My old favourites in Morning Musume: Miki, Risa??? (I can't even remember...)
My current favourites in Morning Musume: Eri, Miki, Aichan, Koharu
I think at some point I simply realized I really liked Eri Kamei's voice. (I can't remember when or why this happened, though.) From then on I started to enjoy her cuteness and personality, as well. Besides, she looks pretty damn good in a bikini. She needs to work on her tummy a bit more, but if she does that, she may be the 2nd bikini queen after Rika. She has a really nice figure and I need to give her props about it, since there aren't too many girls in H!P who look great in bikinis. I seem to be pickier than most guys about this... Anyway, she's a hyper, weird girl whom I'd love to see shine even more, but seems like she just doesn't have the lead quality about her. Still, she's a girl who's fun to watch.
I talked about Miki before, so I'll skip straight to Aichan. Ai Takahashi is someone who often is an invisible member to me - there are periods when I like her a bit more, but then I forget about her. Well, now is one of those periods when I like her a bit more again. I think out of all the current Momusu members Aichan is the most mysterious one. Her way of thinking just seems to be so different from others, it's somewhat fascinating. I can sympathize with her inability to sometimes get a word out of her mouth. At the same time she can be very charming. I think she's very honest, even if her job requires acting and faking to some extent... With honesty I mean the "what you see is what you get" quality. Also, the biggest reason for liking her to me seems to be her charisma on camera and on stage. I rewatched Osaka koi no uta PV a while ago and she does have lots of sex appeal (even if I don't personally have hots for her). You can often see that sex appeal in concerts, too. And these are the reasons why I like her.
Koharu Kusumi is simply adorably excited about everything and anything. She does everything with a goofy smile on her face and with lots of hyper energy. There's just this childish happiness aspect about her that makes her so likeable to me - she seems like someone who completely ignores the fact that the world is an evil place where there are wars and illnesses. Koharu looks genuinely happy to do what she does, and also pretty damn cute. Despite her lack of singing skills and such, I think she has really earned her place in Momusu.
There's still one unit left....
My old favourites in Berryz Kobo: Momoko, Yurina, Miyabi
My current favourites in Berryz Kobo: Momoko, Chinami, Yurina, Maasa
Momoko Tsugunaga's still number one. Two words: Pro sugar.
I like Chinami Tokunaga more now because I've realized how entertaining she is. She can be quite funny indeed. Also, a long time ago there was some rivalry to be sensed between her and Momoko, and recently Chinami has steadily got her one solo line in each Berryz single. I think Chinami might actually have a competitive characteristic about her that might save Berryz Kobo one day. Fans have speculated that one reason why Morning Musume is so boring now is that there is no rivalry, but everyone's just happy where they are and aren't trying to outshine each other. So if what I think about Chinami is right, she (with the help of Momoko and others) might be a secret reason for why Berryz Kobo at least to me has more interesting chemistry than MM at the moment.
Yurina Kumai was always likeable to me for somewhat unknown reasons. I like her voice, she's very pretty for her young age, but there must be some other reason why I like her, too. I guess she's just simply very sweet and "harmless", someone I'd love to spend a quiet day with just walking around and having ice cream or something. She has some kind of soothing quality about her, I guess. Really easy-going. She doesn't really stand out a lot personality-wise, but she's still the kind of character that's good to have around. Also, I've been impressed to notice she has developed a lot as a performer in 2006.
Maasa Sudo is also someone I like for her personality. She's the ultimate underdog in Berryz Kobo, since she doesn't do a whole lot in performances and songs (even Saki does more than her). But just like Chinami and Momoko she can be quite entertaining and funny. I also think that despite her boyish figure (tall, wide shoulders) she is quite pretty and might one day surprise us all by truly blooming - not that it will help her to become a lead member, but it would be fun to see, anyway.
Ok. I've spent a lot of time writing this and I think I can finally wrap it up. Favourites change, blah blah, blah blah. I hope I didn't upset anyone with anything I wrote, especially about Maki. If I did... Well, I also have a right to my opinion and a right to write it down here, so yeah. I love Hello!Project!!
