Hikki Reviews!

Yo yo yo, 'sup minna-saaaaan? I think I've been watching too many concert videos! Anywhooo, today I am reviewing Project Koubou's latest release- Dakishimete Dakishimete! Like many other releases I've reviewed, I'm totally new to their project. They seem to be a half live and half-dubbing group, as they have some close-up singing vids of some of their members. Very interesting! But lets cut to the cheese!



Saki: Kate
Miyabi: Axana
Yurina: Linneke
Chinami: Moni
Maasa: Meche
Momoko: Ash
Risako: Rieke

Dakishimete Dakishimete by PKoubou / So, I was dreading that it'd be hard to follow considering I haven't hear any of the member's voices, but thankfully, they stuck to the original color coding! So let's get started! The first line by Ri/Ax got me hooked! The blending is fantastic, and their voices sound incredible together! But let's listen more for their individual solos!

Rieke has a very interesting voice, but there is very audible static in the background, which takes away from her pretty voice! So hopefully she can get a new mic soon. Axana has a good and strong voice, however there were a few mispronunciations, which will probably get better with practice.

Now bring on all the tiny solos by everyone else! At 0:45 is Linneke and she has a really nice voice, the solo is too short for me to analyze more, but she seems to have a good grasp on the pitch. She's followed by Moni, who has an adorable voice, but lacks a bit of energy. Her mic quality also takes away from her energy too, which is unfortunate. Meche has a very strong sounding voice, but it seems like she needs to have a bit more confidence in her singing. And finally is Kate, whose line is a bit off timing, but she has a very captain-tone!

And now is the chorus, which needs to be cleaner personally. Volumes were okay, it wasn't super loud or anything, but the mixing and timing for some people were off which made the chorus seem messy. Now, I'm a terrible mixer, so I know that mixing is incredibly tough, so I feel for the mixer. But I'm sure in time their mixing will get better and better! So don't give up! Some of the lines WERE in sync, and they sounded really blendy, which is awesome! And ending the chorus at 1:29 is Ash who has such an adorable voice!

Now after listening to more of the dub, I can tell that the group mainly suffers from their lack of energy, because everyone has a really great voice. COME ON GUYS! THIS SONG IS HOT AND STEAAAMY. IT'S ABOUT....HOLDING...STUFF. And when you hold stuff you want to HOOOOOLD it, not just.... hold it. D:

Anyway, there's another long line of solos, and everyone sounds really good, but they are all off-timing, which irks me a bit. However, like I said before, I'm sure that with time, their mixing with improve! Okay at 2:12-2:17 is the beginning of the second chorus, which sounds MUCH better than the first. Most of the lines are in time, except a few slow lines here and there. At 2:25, I really like the elongated "Shinaideeeee." It sounds really great!

Huuu~ at 3:01 is Rieke's long Risako solo! She has a very interesting voice as I said before. It's really adorable, and she has this cute nasally tone (in the best way possible.) All she needs is a boost of energy and more UUMPH, and she'd be amazing! However with that said, she does a good job with Risako's solo! Anyway, I believe this group has a lot of potential, because they have good voices! I'll keep an eye out for them!




Kokuhaku Funsui no Hiroba by Mero of Taiyou (HoshiDubs) / Whee! I finally picked a dub from a project I've actually heard from before! So this song is Mero's (xXLuvleeMerodiiXx) solo debut song in Hoshi's concert! And although I found it a bit strange that they'd use this performance in their concert, it's really sweet of the leader to allow their new members to sing what they want (I'm trying to say this in the least sarcastic way, but for some reason my sentence structure just makes it seem mean. SERIOUSLY. IT'S NICE!)

Well, anyway! I've never heard Mero's voice before, but she sounds REALLY GREAT! I love the energy and emotion she put into this solo. She sounds so much like Risako, except not bad. Ahaa~ That's right, I burned Risako's voice.

At 0:50 ("Guuzen keisan...") she switches from back and forth from this strong mature voice to this aklfnsfnasf ADORABLEEEE voice. And although you'd think it may sound strange, it sounds really CUUUTEE. Well, it's more like she sang the ending syllables of the phrase in a cuter voice, so I guess it wasn't that noticeable, but I liked it!

At 1:07 is probably my favourite part. If you guys have been reading my reviews, you know I get eargasms from vibratos. And Mero's vibrato at "anata ga suki" was....FANTASTICCC! I loved it. Well, actually her vibrato continues on throughout the chorus, and they all sound great, but for some reason, I like the first one the best.

And at this point, all I'm doing is staring at Risako's BALLOON SHORTS. What were you thinking, Risako? DDD: BALLOON SHORTS?.....REALLY? Well, this was a short short solo of only 1:27 seconds, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it! Another great release by Hoshidubs!

TADA

Happiness ~Koufuku Kangei!~ by Ice Cream Koubou (LuckyChansuProject) / Review by Hikki / GUESS WHO?! Anyway, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. These last few days have been BUSY BUSY. Schoolwork, dubbing lines, and GLEEEEE! But I'm back and committed to writing more reviews. Anyway, it's another one of those days where my computer and internet just seem to be out to make my life a living poop-sack. *eyetwitch* Anyway! Hopefully I can get through this video without my internet cutting off, and without my firefox freezing up.

Personally, I have not heard anything by Lucky Chansu Project, and honestly I didn't know they existed till now. And so that's why I'm so happy to hear what they sound like! Let's get this review heezy fosheezy starteeeed!

Solos in order of hearance:
Nao-chi / Eunmi (cover)
Kate (cover) / Kate

(Ah, I've been reading Aya's past entries, and although I'm guilty of writing 'solos in order of hearance', I really hope their voices are easy to distinguish, because I'm not familiar with ANY of their voices.)

So the song starts off with the chorus, and blending wise it sounds pretty good. I just think the group lines need to be de-amped because I hear a lot of static. First solo is by Nao, and she sounds so cute. She has good pitching and great energy! Then is Eunmi-chan. She sounds adorable as well, but energy-wise, she falls a bit short, however it's still pretty darn good.

At 0:36 is Kate-chan's turn, and she seems to have good pitching too, but she has some sort of monotonous tone going on. I think if she relaxed a bit more, she would sound great! After her is....her again! But she sounds a lot different this time. And even her mic is different. Okay, I'm going with my gut feeling and saying it's a different singer. But if that's true then the order of solos is incorrect.....unless they meant order of solos starting from the first verse....? Okay well, whoever did Momoko's solo and Saki's later solo has a really beautiful voice. I really liked how she elongated the lyrics without it sounding overdone or stretched out.

The duet lines at 1:04 was done really well. Timing wise, it was good, and the pairs blended very well together! Truthfully, I half-expected the mixing to be iffy, but besides the volumes, the mixing was done quite well. Actually, the more you listen, the less obvious the volume is.

I won't individually talk about all the solos, because I really have a big tendency to that, and if I did, this review would be really long. These girls all have wonderful voices, but they seem to be shy and lacking in energy at some parts, so with just a boost of confidence, I'm sure they'll sound fantastic.

A small timing or pronunciation problem at 2:23, but nothing that terrible. Just make sure when you receive lines like that, ask for a redo, so it won't throw off the mixing! Advice aside, I love the voice at 3:30! There seems to be a tinge of attitude at the end, which makes me think: "DAYUUM, BABY BERRYZ GOT ATTITUDE." So yeah, props to whoever sang that line to ghetto-fy baby Berryz. Okay, so it wasn't that gangsta, but seriously, in my head, it is.

Overall, this was a really cute release by Lucky Chansu Project! And they really surprised me! I'll definitely listen out for more of their singles and watch their growth! Everyone let's support this new and growing group

"Brand New Sound"

Oh! by Jagiya (SakuranboDubs) / Review by Hikki /Alrighty! This is going to be a relatively short review today. Okay, I know I said that about the Shouganai review and it was like....the longest review I've ever written, but this time, it's for real. WHY? BECAUSE I HAVE A LASAGNA IN THE OVEN. Oh man, I love lasagna...

So, this is Sakuranbo's korean unit- Jagiya, and what's their debut single? Why, it's none other than OH! By Girl's Generation (SNSD). I'm so happy to be reviewing a korean dub! I love SNSD, and I've never heard any of Sakuranbo's releases, so I'm really excited to hear how it turns out. (I'm glad I did this! I'm expanding my dubbing horizon, hahaa)

Unfortunately, this dub just has a cast list, and I don't know if it's the order of solos, and there's no color coded lyrics, not to mention, I'm not familiar with ANY of the dubbers. So this is going to be really confusing/vague to read, and I apologize in advance.

Cast:
Rii (AzNxRawRx)
Chisako (JapanGirlHellopro)
Mashiro (iwearatshirttoday)
Sun-Hi (No Account)
Eva (covered by Mashiro)

Okay, the dub opens in a very 'in your face' manner, the chorus is REALLY loud and staticky. But there is very nice blending of the voices. First solo is originally sung by Seohyun and whoever did her solo had such a cute voice, although she sounded a bit shy. Have more confidence because you do have such a sweet sounding voice! Whoever did Tiffany's short solo has a really great tone, and attitude, she pulled off that solo perfectly!

Then it's whoever did Yuri's solo next! She has a nice, strong voice, but her mic quality is really obvious and there's a bit of static in there too. A few mispronunciations, but I'm not Korean, so I really shouldn't be talking. Then the next solo (after Jessica) is sung by Taeyeon and the dubber has a really relaxing tone, and I loved the small vibrato at the end. And after that is Sooyoung, and whoever had her solo had some pitching errors, but her line "Malhago shippeo" was sooo cute!

OKAY WAIT WAIT. Now I'm really confused, did the same person sing Seohyun and Tiffany's line? Ahhh! Okay, okay, if my guessing is correct Miss Cute did Seohyun and Tiffany's line. Miss Strong did Yuri and Jessica's lines. Miss Cool sang Taeyeon's lines and Miss Perky sang Sooyoung's lines?? Oh man, I don't even know if I'll be able to tell their voices apart, so I see no point in nicknaming their voices.

The chorus once again comes along, and I think the mixer should've really de-amped the lines to make it flow better (I suck with volumes, so again, I really shouldn't be talking). It especially sounds abrupt during the "dance dance dance" lines. But there were parts where the voices really fit each other!

I'm not gonna comment about the verse after the chorus too much. But I think everyone sounded better here! The pitching was right on (at most parts). The only thing I would critique on is that the energy was lacking a bit. But still, it was really pretty! I really liked the solo at 1:31, a bit loud, but it sounded really good! Random side note, I really love Tiffany's hair in every Girl's Generation single.

Then it's the second chorus, whoever did the "Ah ah ah ah" at 1:47 sounded so SUPER ADORABLE!! The person who had Yoona's solo at 1:54 has such a pretty voice, although it sounded a bit weak near the end, but it still sounded awesome! AND OMIGOSH! I love whoever had Sunny's solo at 1:57. Although the mic quality was pretty bad, the voice was really fantastic! Skip to 2:43, the "ah ah ah ah" blended like JOANFKANFAF! It sounded really awesome!

Overall, this was a really nice single to listen to, a bit iffy at parts, but nonetheless it was cute!

Aya here! Lol, I just forgot that I made this little image out of a printscreen when I was watching this dub the other day. Felt like sharing~

KHRKL

Shouganai Yume Oibito by Tokyo Musume (KonichibaProject) / Hey y'all, it's Hikki here again! Well, today I am reviewing Konichiba Project's Shouganai Yume Oibito! So hopefully I can get through this without pulling my hair out. Don't get me wrong, I love this song. But it's my internet, it keeps cutting off every 5 minutes. Actually, I wish it were every 5 minutes, it's cutting off every 30 seconds. If I have to reload this video more than 5 times....I'm gonna ram a parking cone up someone's - - (Aya: LOL, er, I mean. . .oh my. Lame internetz *kicks*) So! This is my first time listening to a Konichiba Project release, and I'm exciteeed! Here's the cast:

Ai Takahashi - Lily [ the realallisons ]
Risa Niigaki - Miyazu [ MiyazuChan ]
Eri Kamei - Stella [ StellaUta ]
Reina Tanaka - Eva [ airisuzuki24 ]
Sayumi Michishige - Valen [cutiesnsd ]
Koharu Kusumi - Amaya [ xsweetgurl ]
Aika Mitsui - Elena [ XxHanaAsunaxX ]
JunJun - Lucy [ CherryxJuice ]
LinLin - Mari [ SailorSednaPGSM ]



So, this isn't going to be a long entry, and I'll probably just talk about the 5 main singers, because I don't feel particularly talkative today. Kinda icky actually, I just spent 5 hours cleaning tile grout and watching 'Glee'. YAY. Okay, enough about me, let's get started!

First solo is by Lily, I haven't really heard her sing before, maybe once or twice, but she has a really nice tone to her voice. She adds a little 'umph' to her lines, but I wish she would have elongated the "itsu na nooooooo", but that's 'cause I'm a cow that likes listening to stretched out notes. Hah. Then we have Miyazu singing as Risa. And I have never heard her voice before, but she sounds really great! There's so much strength and power! I think she pulled off Risa's solo really well.

Then Stella with Eri's short solo, I've said this before about others, but I remember hearing Stella a while ago, and she has really improved too! Or maybe I was thinking about someone else? I'm not sure, but she sounds great. And then we have Valen as Sayumi, and she sounds so so cute! She really has that Sayumi tone down. (This is a compliment, just to clarify.) Oh, and Mari and Lucy's voices blend so well; their voices really match JunJun and LinLin's tone.

Then it's the chorus! Blending wise I think it sounds pretty good. But there's something in there that makes it a tad bit sloppy. I can't put my finger on it, but the chorus could be a bit tighter and sharper. But the mixing is still pretty good! I'm in no position to judge because I can't mix anything to save my life. Everyone blends really well together though. Anyway, now we have Lily's second solo, I can really hear that her added style to her lines. It's not bad or anything, it gives her solos more personality.

Then it's Eva! I've heard her voice before and I still find it incredible. I think Eva's voice is easily distinguishable with her microphone. It's not BAD, but it has that effect on her voice, that makes it stand out. Like, I could hear her quite well during some of the duet lines and even the chorus. Nonetheless, she still has a great tone, and her pitching is spot on. The timing for this solo was a bit off at one part, but that's just me picking again.

Okay, side note. PV, IF RISA HAS A SOLO. DON'T SHOW ERI'S FACE DURING HER LINES, IT CONFUSES ME. Back on topic, back on topic! Now, we have more strength from Miyazu! A voice that I definitely need to listen more too! Stella and Mari's voice blend EPICALLY in the next duet line at 2:25, just letting y'all know. Then there's more awesome solos. I'm not gonna talk more about it, because it's gonna be a repetition of what I have said above.

Whoo, another chorus with epic voice blendage. Miyazu's solo at 3:15 was amazing! I LOVED LOVED LOOOOVED that vibrato she had in there (at "futari shite"). And then more awesome singing! (Ahaa, vague). Lily's long solo was sung really well, no pitching problems I could hear. And I love the last part at 4:41 ("Sore nano ni anata ga suki"), the blending and mixing was great, and Lily's harmony was wonderful as well!

Overall, great job to everyone! I know I only focused on the 5 solo singers, but everyone else did a good job in the duet lines, and no one stood out, so you guys did awesome too! Which is something more dubbers should care about, because I know there are people who are like: "Oh, I have no solos in this, so I can just send in crap lines." which is totally not the attitude a dubber should have, but I admit, I've done this before, hee hee ^ ^;;; Anyway, a great release by Konichiba! I'll definitely look out for more of your singles!



HUGE thanks to Hikki ;w; Iloveher~ Cause I was (er, am) in a crappy mood and getting this review from her made me happy. It sucks that her internet was so mean, but super sweet of her to keep on trying so that she could review this dub!

*What put me in a crappy mood* KHRKL JM;LMY;LHKLD KLHERKLHMRTK !! Why does this happen to me? ;w; I had typed up a review on Kakyokuu Project's C/C and I decided not to put finishing touches on it tonight, since it's already pretty late. And I just put it in a wordpad, titled it when I went to save it, but I hit some key in the process too quickly, and closed it. Then I got the dreading feeling that I'd screwed something up.

So I opened it again real quick, and I freaking somehow deleted more than HALF OF IT. Now I'm pissed. And sadly, when I do something like this I lose the inspiration to go back and finish it later. Cause it bothers me that I can't remember what I wrote before. So, sorrry Kakyokuu. If I try, it'll just be lame. I'll see if one of the other girls will review it for y'all. I can tack on the paragraph that I do have to the end of it. [/rant]

I'm going to bed on this sucky note. But ILY'ALL~

The last of BTW. . . for now~

So, I didn't accomplish all that much today. I talked with Aly and Rae, and also Izumi and Risa. And did some singing / recording for kicks and giggles. And they all sang for me too. It was fun! I'm glad to say that this is the last of the BTW for now. It'll be back to regular misc tomorrow. I've got a few things I need to catch up on, including a request. Then some lists to update, before I blog blog blog~

For this entry I didn't get reviews from two people, but it's due to the time difference, so it can't be helped. On top of that, with all the singing and talking tonight I was too distracted to do any real writing myself; sorry y'all. I will try extra hard tomorrow! Anyways, Kappa was super sweet and did some reviews for me the other day! And also, for the solo version of Back Track I accidentally mixed in a duet, lol. So Hikki reviewed it for me, and I had to wait until now to post it~ *note; these are unedited for the most part.*




Suzuki Airi : Breecuppycake
Tsugunaga Momoko : Miyazuchan
Natsuyaki Miyabi : Nytefaerie

OUR SONGS by iDiSCO! (from HoshiDubs) / Review by Kappa / Yaaay, I love this song, and I'm glad to see that HoshiDubs releases their stuff so often. I just watched Onna ni Sachi Are a few days ago and now there's two more for me to keep up with. Right on!

All three of these girls have such nice, strong voices! Like last times, we're having some mic issues that are making it hard to listen, but it's not as severe as in Onna ni, so already we're off to a good start.

I really love Bree's tone, and she makes a good Airi. Fae has a really unique cuteness to her voice that made me happy to hear. Miyazu doesn't really fit Momoko, but find that I really lov eher lines in this a lot! She's got a slightly deeper voice that's actually much easier on the ears than Momo's, in my opinion. All of the girls did a great job here on their solos, even though there were a lot of them and they all go by pretty quick. There were some pitchy moments here and there, but overall it was handled super well.

On the mixing side, this is already an improvement from Onna ni, although there are a couple things I'd like to hear different. First off, if you're using a vocal rip to get your harmonies, you have to be doubly diligent with making sure everything is in time. The group parts sounded kind of messy in places, and that harmony rip behind them wasn't helping them out at all. The volumes between voices are okay (except Fae seems to be a bit quieter in places), but the voices as a whole are too loud, as well as the harmonies. I'd also add reverb, because it stops those vocals from sticking out from the instrumental so much, which might have helped in this case.

Good luck on your next singles, and keep releasing efficently, guys! Your group is off to a great start.


*Yaruki! It's Easy by Creme! Project Winter 2010 ~Aisukuriimu to Keeki~ Concert (from cremeproject) // I've never heard this song, so I'm really unfamiliar with it, but it's got such an upbeat melody! Memoiree sounded great as Reina and really did a good job of sounding energetic despite being sick. The group parts in this really sound full and nice, and I adore the 'yay!'s and 'fu fu!'s. A lot of the times in concert dubs, singers don't make those as energetic as they should be, but these were believable! I would have liked to hear a mix that wasn't just a center-channel-extracted audio rip from the concert, as the quality came out kind of iffy, but I enjoyed this anyway.

*Edo no Temari Uta II by S-uta (from HoshiDubs) // I super enjoyed this dub! Without getting to intensely into it, I was totally in love with all of the solos and I think this is one of the best dubs I've seen of this song. It's very difficult to get it right, but this one came together super nicely. The only changes I would have made to it are not reverbing each of the tracks so heavily so the group parts don't sound so far away, improving the mic qualities inbetween singers, and deleting the melody echos in the vocal rip that I hear behind some of the solos. But overall, this is really nice and one to check out!

*Kotatsu no Uta ~jyuken story~ by AlyMandAngeru (from KisetsuProject) // Yay! This song is one of my favorites and I'm glad to see people are dubbing it, because it's waaay too ignored out there in the dubbing world. I love Aly's voice, she's got such a sexy tone that works super well for this song! I would have liked more word precision out of Manda as Eri, but she sounds adorable here nonetheless. Finally, Angeru makes a nice Yossie, although with a little more emotion I think she would have really killed it! This was a good listen, and the girls pulled off a difficult song well. Definitely worth a listen!




Magnet by Amaechau [Juwibean & Hinamoriforever] / Review by Hikki / Yippee! More vocaloid, baby! This is the well known forbidden love duet sung by Miku and Luka, covered by Juri (Juwibean) and Yoru (Hinamoriforever), respectively. The picture on the video was done by Yoru. It's soo sexyyyyy. Mmm, I love me some forbidden rabu.

Anyway! Juri starts off the songs, and boy, does she sound great! I've only heard Juri via Skype, and I've only heard her sing a bit through our fail skype karaokes and through Hana Project, but her voice never fails to amaze me. I love love LOVE her vibrato to death. Then it's Yoru's turn, and I can't really tell but I think she has a really strong and mature tone, but her pitching sounded a bit iffy to me, but that may just be me. Then it's the chorus, and the harmonies are 50/50 for me. Some parts sound AMAZING, and some parts were a bit off, but nonetheless, it still sounded great. And it's the same with the high notes too, some were hit wonderfully, and some others were strained. But those notes are hard to hit, so congrats you two for pulling them off!

Then Yoru starts off the second verse, and she sounds really fantastic in the beginning, but her pitching wavered a bit near the end, but it was still pretty. The duet part at 2:00 is my favourite part. The high note was hit wonderfully and the harmonies sounded great! I love the long note at 2:24 as well. Then it's Juri's solo before the chorus starts again, and she sounds so elegant and beautiful. Overall, I found this dub really enjoyable. The mixing was done really well too, the harmonies did not overpower the melody, which is a big plus because most of the Magnet dubs I watch, I hear the harmonies A LOT.

A I K O

Now known as ReinaLoverai because of account suspension, Aiko has been a busy little bee. So much that I was constantly seeing her username pop up among the others on my subs list. I was and still am way behind on things, and I was thinking; I could bang out an entry about all of her latest releases and kill two birds with one stone! Well, I mean A) I'd catch up on Aiko & B) my subs list would be a little clearer, lol.

As y'all have noticed, there have been some other dubbers writing some reviews here and there. Things are still in the works, and Kappa has been nice enough to steadily help me while they are. For this entry I have asked some of the team to review a recent dub of Aiko's, so it's not only me blabbing on, but also so y'all get a variety of points of view & comments. So without further rambling, here we go;

These just ended up being all duets~




SONGS by A2 [Reinaloverai / LovelyBeige] / Review by Hikki / Let's get this review thang starteeed~! Well, I have SONGS covered by A2 on my platter. So without beating around the bush, I'll just get started on my review! Anyway, A2 is a duet group by ReinaLoverAi and LovelyBeige, and their name comes from the fact that their stage names are both Ai.

So, the first person to sing is LovelyBeige! First thing that came to my mind, which people are probably going to hate me for saying is that I think that the instrumental was a tad bit too loud. Or maybe it's just my lame headphones, I'm not sure. But besides their volume level, I need to say that I heard LovelyBeige's voice a bit back and I'm absolutely amazed at how much she has improved! Her voice is so mature and strong, and do I detect a small vibrato there? I really love it. It's not going overboard, and it sounds really great!

So well, after Beige's solo, I had already gotten lost and had to open up their handy-dandy color-coded lyrics. Then I found out they color coded the names "Ai" and "Ai". WHICH WAS CONFUSING! Well, I believe that Beige has the blue lines and Aiko has the red lines, so I'm just going to base everything on that.

Well, back to the dub. Aiko's solo (0:55) is absolutely amazing! I really adore her voice! She has so much energy and attitude! And her voice sounds similar to Reina's. I don't know if she was imitating or not, but nonetheless, it still sounded great! Another thing I noticed is the amount of static in the lines, so that caught my attention, however I don't believe that it's enough to diminish the quality of the dub (well, not alot at least.) Their voices blend fabulously though.

If I didn't have the color coded lyrics, I wouldn't have known when they were singing together or not. I think Beige's voice was overpowering Aiko's a bit though, because I hear her voice the most during the duet lines. Back to Beige's solo at 1:21, I could hear her strain her voice at "Sing a song", but once again, it didn't stand out to me like: "OMG. THAT KILLS THE DUB".

Okay, I think I just realized, if I comment on every single solo, this entry is going to be insanely long. On a side note, Aiko's first "Yes", is like....the sexiest thing on the planet. The solos after the instrumental break are great, high energy, good pitching (or at least I didn't hear any big mess ups) and sassy attitude! By this point, it's clear to me that these girls are really strong singers (I'm quite slow, ahaaa). And finally, the song ends with another sexy "Yes" by Beige, and Aiko closing with a powerful 'Let's sing a song'.




Takahashi Ai - Ai [lovelybeige]
Tanaka Reina - Ai [reinaloverai]

Kioku no Meiro by [A2] / Review by Aya / Double Ai! How's that commercial go? Double your pleasure, double your fun! I would say that applies now, except these two are way better than some minty gum. But for this I shall be refering to them as Aiko and Ai. I really like this song, it's super catchy!! I am a little disappointed that the crowd sounds and stuff weren't added, but the amazing vocals make it worth listening to.

Ai starts the dub off fabulously! I adore the melody of the beginning (which reoccurs again too). Her first solo is a soft start to the song with quick lyrics that she does a good really good job on. I loved her "nioi" !! Right after her is Aiko, on the same melody. lol, I actually liked the same exact parts by both girls - the end of their first line; though the lyrics for Aiko are "koto yo."

There are times when Aiko really suits Reina; it's not that she sounds like her, but a few times when I'm listening / watching, I'm like; 'wow she really sounded Reina-like there.' If that makes any sense, lol. Like at 1:10 on her "Dakishimeta yoru." Ai nailed her Ai lines (LOL AiAi)

And I like the 'Ah's a lot (1:27), they turned out really well. The chorus of this song is so freaking catchy!! & Ai and Aiko totally rocked it! Both of the girls sound fantastic, and have many awesome solos throughout the song. Aiko's "sugita wa" at 2:29 was EPIC! I adore her emotion! Ai's solo at 2:42 is probably my favorite of hers overall, she sounds fabulous. I really like her mature voice. Even though this review is kind of lame, I really did enjoy this dub!




DESTINY LOVE by ReinaLoverai ft. airuchu / Review by Kappa / I absolutely. loathe. this. song. I think it is like the most half-baked idea of Tsunku's ever and it frustrates me to no end. Nonetheless, I chose this one to talk about because I felt I would... actually HAVE something to talk about, so. Here we go! I'll try to be unbiased about this dub despite my bias about the song itself.

I thought both of these girls did a really good job handling the tricky tempo of this song without sounding too energetic or completely dead. Songs like this can be really hard to figure out how to sing, but they both did a great job here. I have to admit that I can't tell who is who in this, because of a lack of information in the description box, and because both of them sound really similar to my ear, so forgive me from not picking out girls individually to talk about. Even though I can't tell who is who, they both sound really good. I am especially a fan of whoever did the rapping solos in the first half of the rap.

One thing that I didn't really like/understand was what was done to the Reina solo at 3:39. I can see where she was going with that, but the extra notes on that solo made it a bit overkill since Ai does something similar in the next line. The microphone maxing out also was kind of harsh and that probably bothered me more than anything, I think.

The mixing on this is pretty good. I liked the echos a lot and they were actually in time, which is a plus. I would have liked to see an actual live mix out of this, but I'm also biased there because I think... everything should be a live mix if there's a live video to go with it. Overall, a good job though, and it's worth listening to!




SEXY BOY by Aiko [ReinaLoverAi & japangaruuz] / Review by Ayu / This is totally catchy, right from the very first verse. Energy is 100% and excellent pithing overall. BLENDING is the word to describe this duet. From 0:28 to 0:37 amazes me a lot. The "shizen nara" at 0:45 is so good, my favorite solo in the first part. Followed by the "nao waru yo ne." It sounds like more than 2 people- Very energetic and blended. "yasashisa wo tsurete kita" at 0:57 until 1:00 is very good Reina voice. Cute, nostalgic and powerful at the same time.

The "IPPAI Kitai" parts are WIN!!! Sound so real. From 1:47 to 1:52 "Sugoi no ne akirechau wa" is my VERY favorite part of the dub, loved the energy in the "chau waaaa" part. "Watakushi" at 2:00 is be-a-u-ti-ful! Since 3:11 it becomes more powerful, solos are very good, and the final "soyokaze ni yorisotte" part at 3:42 is awesome, great finale for a great duet.
LOVED IT, definitely favorite SEXY BOY duet.

Back Track; Solo Version [Part 2]

Writers~

Izumi [faraBANG] / Hikki [DisturbedStrawberry]
Belly [Rasubelly] / Kappa [xmikipinkux]
Ayu [ChiiAyu] / Aya [MiriuOniaya]

[Reviewed by Izumi] Aaah, here I am again! / Aruiteru by Kassia [industrialxstrength] / Before listening, I was really excited. I've worked with industrialxstrength quite a bit as of late since she's one of the members of IKPs newest generation, and I really love her voice. I also really love this song. Not many people like it because of the repetitiveness, but I think its a very uplifting song, and I feel happy when I listen to it! So lets get started! :3

I had a feeling that this would be a very strong dub because of my previous experience with Kassia, and she certainly did not disappoint! I love hearing dubbers with deeper, more mature voices. Its a great contrast to the higher-voiced original singers! In particular, I really love her vibrato here, it makes her sound incredibly mature. I especially loved her "negatte at 2:40. I could be a little biased because I love Kassia's voice, but I'm happy to hear her singing this song!

As far as specific lines go, I love all of her "na na na" bits at 1:29, 2:50 and 4:24. My favorite part of this dub HAD to be the bit right after the musical interlude, the "sha la la" bits at 3:28. The whole dub has a great amount of emotion that you can easily hear when you listen to it, but I think it REALLY showed right there.

The mixing here is pretty good to me! I REALLY love her echoes here! That was one of the first things I noticed when I heard this was that she took the time to echo all of those lines (especially the "aruiteru"s at the ends of the choruses)! The echoes give the dub depth. On the same vein, I'm not sure if she hand-recorded the harmonies or if she ripped them from the original, but they sound really good with her voice!

With some dubs I've seen, you can tell that the harmonies were ripped from the original, but I had to listen a little bit. And I'm STILL not sure if these are ripped or not! You blend really well with them either way! So good job for keeping me guessing, Kassia! The only thing I could say about the mixing here is that it seems like the vocals could be turned up a little bit. It seems like the instrumental overpowers her voice at times, but it doesn't distract me because I can still hear her strong vocals!

I really had a great time listening to this! She has such a strong voice that I truly enjoyed listening to. I'm really honored that her and I get to work together, and I hope we can do more together in the future! I'm happy that I chose this dub, and (if you read this) I hope my insight means something to you! Thank you for letting me hear!




World is Mine by Chii [Chiidoki] / Review by Hikki / Whoo! World is Mine, the first vocaloid song I ever listened to. So I'm excited to review this! Anyway, I have heard Chii's voice before and it's probably the cutest thing you'll ever hear on a planet. Right below a puppy's whimper. Ahaaa, I'll stop making lame jokes like this, and get right on to the review.

First thing anyone will notice is the amount of static, which is really unfortunate, because Chii has such an adorable voice, and the static tends to take away from her vocal ability. Anyway, you can hear her strain her voice at the long notes ("Kokoro ete.."), but I've personally attempted to sing this song, so I give her props for not cracking her voice.

Oh my gosh! This dub is oozing with kawaii-ness. And you know when I say 'cute' in japanese, it's cute! At 1:16 there seems to be a bit of a timing or pronunciation fumble, but it wasn't that obvious. Speaking of timing, there seems to be little timing and pronunciation problems throughout the dub, but that's only if you're really picky. The scream at 1:40 is adorable though. I really need to find different words for 'cute'. Let me get my thesaurus.

The video for this song, by the way, is so....delicious...? (What the hell, my thesaurus stinks.) [Aya: lol, I use the dictionary-tool thing from my word processor for it's thesaurus] I just want to know what happens after the kiss. DARNIT. SHOW ME MORE. Okay, let's get back to the dub, the "Ah, Hey Baby" at 3:48 is super sexy. And then one last cho cho kawaii scream!




*NOTE: This dub has been removed by the user, enjoy the
review anyways, lol* (Thanks to Buggy letting me know)

Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~ by Emily Lemons4Evryone / Review by Belly / This solo really made me regret that I've never listened to this song. Its so funky and peppy! And exactly that was her voice (Aya: exactly what Emily sounded like too). I really have no clue how the original sounds, but this one was totally fine with me. Her deep and mature voice suits this song just perfect. The only thing I would criticize is that she becomes silenter on some parts. So she could've controlled her volume a little bit more.

Aya: I agree with what Belly says *nodnod* Emily did a good job on putting the funky attitude into her singing, that's half of the fun of singing the song right there; getting to sing like Natsumi, Gomaki and Yossi sing it, lol. Funky. Her voice suits this song perfectly! She had a little strain on the opening higher solo, but the rest of the dub is really fun.




Weeeek by miyuki002 / Review by Kappa /YES YES YES I LOVE THIS SONG. I had to grab it up right away when I saw this was one of the solos Aya wanted us to review.

I love Miyuki's voice and she's got awesome emotion and personality in this dub, just like the song demands. It sounds like she had some trouble with the lowest notes and went pitchy on a couple before she raised the pitch on the second half of the lowest lines--I think she would have been better raising her pitch on the whole solo. But props for trying, and I do LOVE how she sounds when she brings the pitch up like at 2:02. My favorite part from here is 1:41-1:45--sooo cute, and that's such a hard solo to pull off because it's kind of half-spoken.

I would have loved to hear this with a real instrumental and without her voice being overlayed on the group parts, but nonetheless I super enjoyed this. Her harmonies were preeeettty. Right on. I am laskd;fjalsdf that someone did this song, you don't even know.




SHIROI KOKORO by Miya [Tokyostarx] / Reviewed by Ayu /This song gives me a sense of peace, and that’s why I think it needs a cute voice, with the ability of doing really high and long notes without sounding strained or forced. Miya’s voice is really sweet, she can go really high and sound peaceful at the same time; I am loving the way she mixes chest and head voice in some parts. She has good pitching overall, and I LOVE the audio-mix.

First "Yume ga" at 0:28 gives me chills. First high note at 0:39 is very powerful, but cute at the same time. 1:04-1:06 is very kawaii!! I love the way she sings that phrase, it is really high and it sounds very natural to me. The "dare ka no" parts (first one at 1:11) sound very catchy. Love the treatment of the voice mixing, sounds angel-heaven-like. My favorite part of the dub.

Again, from 2:26 to 2:28 she does that thing when she goes high, sounds so beautiful. And the final part, starting at 2:59, is very tranquil and precise with good pitching and a cute sound. I LOVED this a lot, it gives to me the desire to dub it myself XD *I would put it twice in my I-pod*




Suna no oshiro by MoA [moamelody] / Review by Aya / This is GORGEOUS! As I have mentioned before, I have a weakness for string instruments, including the cello. I've listened to Kanon Wakeshima before and that was one thing about her that I instantly loved. MoA sounds BRILLIANT on this song. First off, I have to admit that the cello parts in the beginning got me thinking positively right away. But even before that, I loaded the video already knowing that this was going to define spectacular. Because it's MoA.

I only stumbled across MoA's stuff a little bit ago, but she is CRAZY AMAZING. I love love love her covers to beautiful little bits. Her voice is stunning and she sings magnificently. Gosh, I can't even think up enough of the right words to describe everything. I've been listening to this dub repeatedly while working on this entry and I am so in love with it. The song is beyond beautiful, and MoA did such a fantastic job on it. I can't pick out what I liked the most, because I adore it all. And I certainly can't think of even one tiny thing I don't like about it. This is hauntingly beautiful.

"I love the gothic darkness of it and cello is probably my favorite instrument. It was super mega hard to sing the chorus, some very high notes, but I love to sing epic operaesque songs." I agree so much with her, and I give her kajillions of props for mastering the chorus. LOVE.

Back Track; Solo Version [Part 1]

HELLA YEAH! We've all been quite excited about this- 'we' being the Blabodu team! I've got some awesome people helping me out, and it's been going so well!! I was a little disorganized in the beginning, lol. But I've got a lot of things figured out and now I'm like, 24/7 excited about writing here on this blog, that has been made amazing by you readers!

Solos are the main feature today; I know it says weekend, but this is more Back Track Saturday; Solo Version. I'm going to start things off with a few entries that are a mix of reviews by different people. After that I might try and find more solos to feature today, idk. I was going off my subs list when planning this out, so keep in mind that we haven't worked on any super recent solos and with all that's been going on, not everyone will get covered. Please don't take it personally. And if you'd like us to check out your solo, please! - Send the info to me!

Writers~

Kappa [xmikipinkux] / Hikki [DisturbedStrawberry]
Belly [Rasubelly] / Ayu [ChiiAyu]
Aya [MiriuOniaya] / Izumi [faraBANG]

Yume Kara Samete by supahwicked / Review by Kappa / Aw, Lina sounds super pretty singing this! I maaay be biased, but it's really nice to hear people with deeper voices in the dubbing world. This song fits her voice very well and I like the softness of her high notes here. She might be a bit too soft here, especially in places like the bridge section, but she also sounds like she might be holding back because of her mic, which isn't exactly the best.

One thing that did bother me a bit about this is her rhythm fumbles. There were a lot of them... she didn't get the words wrong, but the way she sang them in the song was off. It might be okay in a solo, but in a groupdub taking liberties with the rhythm would be a big deal, because it gives mixers a hard time lining you up with other people. That's just something to think about for non-solo lines.

Besides that, there were some pitchy spots, but I still liked listening to this. On a second listen I caught some very pretty vibrato I had missed before and that made it even better. Nice job on this!




Otakebi Boy Wao! & Tomodachi... by Chii [LuvSasuke] / Review by Hikki / OKAY. I know I shouldn't deviate from the video that I'm supposed to review (Aya: pwsh, I don't mind), but Chii sang Just Be Friends for her 100 subs video, and it's just...amazing. You guys should check it out after watching this video.

First up is Otakebi Boy, and Chii starts off with ATTITUDE. YOU DO YOUR THANG GIRL. I really love the tone of her voice, it just has that 'UMPH'. Only one noticeable pronunciation stumble, but no big deal. Well, this is for "audition purposes only", so sadly, she did not sing the whole song. What a cliff hanger. I want to hear the rest.

Now, Tomodachi, she starts off with the same sassy attitude she had in Otakebi (which is not a bad thing), but her pitching just a biiiit off at the next stanza, because she started to speak-sing the lines, which is understandable because the tempo is a bit fast. Overall, she sounded really cute and although she wasn't spastically obviously energetic in the songs, there is an underlying energy (I'm so deep) within the song, and it's really calming and it brings a smile to my face!

Ah! Short review for the two short previews.




Hello everyone! I'm Belly (Rasubelly on YT). I'm very happy and thankful to be able to write at Ayas blog here ^_^ For my debut she let me choose two solo songs to write about. Now I'll start with the first one~

Destiny Love by Mueggie / I never really listened to this song because of this lullaby-like sounding melody, but I'm really glad that I listened to Mueggie's version. Her voice is very cute and her pronounciation is beyond exception; perfect. The only thing I would've liked to hear was some more power. I know it is hard to put much energy in a slow song but more power would've made this dub really perfect for me.

To mention something else, I really loved her mixing. I already loved the audio mixing at the beginning part, but when I heard her rap solo I was really positively surprised. It was stunning - her voice and mixing. I also loved the sweet sounding, quiet "Destiny Love"s at the end. To bring it back to the pronounciation, I loved that she spoke this lovely Disney Love of Reina. (Aya: At 0:40, Mueggie put 'Disney Love' as an annotation, Reina was center of the video at the time, lol)




Angelus by Ruby [LLawlitaxDD] / Review by Ayu / Certainly this is a mature song, with a Spanish feeling in the music and the dance, so it requires a voice with a strong sound and good presence in low and high notes. Phrasing is also very important, cause this kind of ‘’latin feel’’ songs have a lot of rhythmic stuff. Ruby DID a wonderful job, she shows us her mature voice, great pitching overall, she really gave the song a right latin feeling.

First verse is wonderful, reminded me of Shimatani in the very first phrase. First chorus is very good, in my personal opinion it could be a little more aggressive or energetic, but I enjoyed it the way it is. First "Angerasu" at 1:44 sounds lovely. Nice vibrato at the end of the phrase of 2:21-2:22. She uses this vibrato often, it sounds good. Since at 3:16 she puts more energy into it, the last chorus is much more attractive. I'm LOVING 3:34 TO 3:39.

For me 3:55 to 4:00 is the best moment of the dub, I can really feel it in the very last verse!
I LOVED it a lot because I think it’s not an easy song to do and she made it very interesting. *I would put it in my i-pod*




Maze by Mary (MaryG2091) / Review by Aya / Before I even loaded the video, I clicked the download link she provided because I just knew that this was going to be awesome. Mary is an extremely talented singer; I love her voice and her dubs are always crazy ear-pleasing. I totally agree with her that this "song is totally made for my voice." *stashes MP3 with other Mary & MoA downloads*

Ohmygosh, I don't even know where to begin. My mind is trying to babble like a fangirl, lol. I love every word out of Mary's mouth; she has such a strong, mature voice and she sings with great confindence, which always makes us listeners want to listen. Her energy and emotion levels are through the roof, and she delivers every line fantastically. I love a lot of her longer / higher notes in this. Like 3:09, she sounds spectacular! Mary rocked the chorus and pwned the verses; everything about this dub just screams EPIC.

The mixing sounds fine to my ears, but then again we all know what a genius I am on that, eh? Honestly, there are a few lines and/or notes where she's a little iffy. Not pitchy, but some lines don't sound quite as good as the others. It's barely even noticable. Just once in a while I'd hear a note or something that would niggle at my ears the slighest bit. But Mary says that she "had a blast recording this" and that's what matter most!

To Be Continued in Part 2 ~

Hirari*YO [by Hikki]

Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou by Hirari*Yo / Whoo! At long last, another wonderful groupdub by Hirari*Yo! This time they sang the depressing, PSA about bullying song - KEIBETSU SHITEITA AIJOU! And unfortunately, Panchii didn't fancify the video so I thought I was going to be screwed over trying to find our who sang what, but THANK GOODNESS FOR THE LINK TO THE LYRICS! (AYA: CClyrics can save lives, ladies and gentlemen)

The singers in this dub are;
(NOT in order of solos)

Team H
★ Panchii
★ Yumestarlet
★ Armitage
★ Tokaikko_x
★ Kappa
★ Lilmenchi

Team R
★ Ashe
★ Tokidokihaato
★ TomokyoHamasaki
★ Writerserenyty

Ex Members: Haruna, Nana

I've got to say, thankfully I'm familiar with 6 of the voices, so hopefully, I can make better insightful comments. HOPEFULLY. So let's get started! The first solo is by Tokaikko, who I'm not familiar with, but she has a beautiful and strong voice. Next is Haruna, another voice I'm not familiar with, however she has a really cute tone, although a bit muffled. Then are a few duet/trio/group lines that blend BEAUTIFULLY together, big big props to the mixer (Panchii, I believe).

After is Nana, whose voice is quite similar to Haruna's. (Okay, maybe I don't know the majority of the singers.) OH WAIT. A SINGER WHOSE VOICE I'M FAMILIAR WITH! Writer's "mirai ga kimerareteru" is absolutely gorgeous! Her vocals have improved so much! After that come Panchii, Armitage and Kappa and their voices really complement each other, which really makes the blending sound fantastic.

Now we're at the chorus, and everyone sounds wonderful together. The long "dareka ni" gives me eargasms. But before that long note, is Kappa! She has her usual 'SCREW BULLYING. IMMA BEAT YO *beep beep* SO THAT YOU *beep beep* AT NIGHT.' tone. (AYA: LOL) After the chorus we have two blendtastic verses. The next solo is by Toki, who has an amazing vibrato, and after that, I get confused because apparently I am color blind.

Seriously, I've been staring at the color coded lyrics and I don't know if the next solo is by Ashe or Panchii. I'm going with my gut and saying it's Panchii. OR WAIT. IT'S DEFINITELY PANCHII. Anyway! She sounds REALLY AMAZING. Then it's Toki's solos again and another kick butt chorus. And the last solo of the song goes to Armitage, another voice I don't know, but she has such a unique voice and adorable tone! And the song closes with everyone singing, more eargasms here.

Overall, this was a really wonderful dub, and it's really a shame that not many people know of Hirari*Yo. If you're reading this right now, go to their channel, check them out, join in my eargasms. Whee!


"This little base, is a place non-members can find out everything about us, and members can find things like lyrics. In our discography, there are links to our songs on youtube as well as an embedded music player for you to listen as you read along with the lyrics,

which are all colour coded so you can see who is singing what! Our members also have their own pages here, full of information about them, so you can get know them on a personal level. SO just follow the links and enjoy what you find here!"

Aya here! Though I'd add on a little something to Hikki's entry, about Hirari*YO's website. The above explains it pretty well. Y'all should check it out, and also their YT channel. "Hirari*YO is a fandub/karaoke group composed of talented girls from various parts of the world with a common love for AKB48 & music through the STAGE48 forum."

Double Debut! [Hey! Project & Hikki P1]

Hello everyone, Aya here! Hikki contacted me the other day and said she was all for helping me out here on Bladodu and I was instantly excited! Since then she has been amazing! - Always on top of things, very active and she's taken to writing so well! I'm a very happy to have her as a part of the team~



Pepper Keibu by Hanshou [HeyProjectx] / Alrighty! HIKKI DEBUT DESU-YO! Okay, enough about me! Let's get this review thang starteeed~! Well, this is Hey! Project's debut single- Pepper Keibu! There are so many new projects nowadays, huh? Let's see how this group stands out!

And the cast is Reina featuring the rest of Morning Musume. Seriously, Reina (the Momusu member) was a total line whore in this. But it's okay because I like Reina. Well, I could get into a whole rant, but I won't. Anyway, the cast is:

Takahashi Ai / MomoxMochi
Tanaka Reina / ReinaLoverai
Niigaki Risa / Candyraver009
Kamei Eri / SweetieRainbow
Kusumi Koharu / HappyJunjou
Michishige Sayumi / BanryuSaint
Mitsui Aika / MiyazuChan
LinLin / xLittleMystery
JunJun / Rasubelly [cover]

Oh my god! I just remembered there was a "PEPPA KEIBU YO" in this. I must listen! Okay, the beginning kinda surprised me, because the vocals were just so BAM. It was a bit loud, but I blame it on my speakers too because I had them turned up from listening to a previous dub. The mixing is pretty good, everyone seems to be in time. But there was a lot of static in the lines, so I think de-amping more would help. Or applying some filters? I dunno, I'm not a mixing genius.

Anyway! We have Aiko's Reina solo which is superb (oh my gosh, a new adjective for me to over use.) Then there's more duet lines which sound pretty good, there are a few people whose energy level was clearly lower than everyone elses, but it still sound pretty good.

Now I'm just waiting for the "Pepper Keibu Yo." No offense to the group, I just find this song incredibly boring. And finally, we're nearing the line....D'AAAW. THAT WAS AN ADORABLE PEPPER KEIBU YO by BanryuSaint.

Well, this was a relatively short review because....I don't like this song (Way to not be biased, Hikki). Ahaa, no, but seriously, there wasn't much solo variation, so I couldn't really comment on all the group parts because I'm an idiot and it takes me too long to tack a name to a face, and I'm too lazy to pause every once in a while. But all in all, this was a strong debut by Hey!Project, I'm definitely looking forward to listening to their upcoming releases!