Just received the new Ishikawa Rika Book TWENTY-FOUR in the mail today, and upon perusing it thoroughly for the first time, I have to state just for the record that it is very, very, very, very, very, VERY, VERY, GOOD!
Just how good is it? Man, this book instantly ranks high among the sexiest shashinshuus I own, and that’s including my Anzai Hiroko and Fujisaki Nanako books, the Lina one AND the Nagasaku Hiromi UK ASAGAN book! Heck, It even goes up against my Harumi Inoue photobook FOXY(and THAT was the very FIRST sexy shashinshuu I EVER bought!)
Rika looks great on just about every picture in this book, but MAN, the shots of her draped in that uber-sexy nightie (some of which I’ve uploaded here) in the premeire suite are just hands down absolutely ASTONISHINGLY GORGEOUS!!!! Every page I turned just FLOORED ME, Rika looks so DAMN GOOD!!!!!
You know, it’s kind of funny, because when Gen4 was first introduced on ASAYAN, I didn’t think too much of Rika, in fact, I didn’t think she was attractive AT ALL! “Why are they letting that dour faced girl join the ranks of MM!” is what I said at the time! Just to show how much I SUCK as a judge of character, besides my bad Rika prediction, I even pegged Yossie as a Shy INTROVERTED teacher-type!!! WTF!!!! Geez, at least I liked Nono!
So imagine my surprise when a few months later, I’m talking to my friend Gergchan about how sexy Maki Goto was, and he said “Ehh, She’s alright, but MAN, I like Ishikawa Rika!” WHAA!! Was my thought. Since when was that dour-faced girl considered a hot item? Gerg wasn’t really into j-pop per se, just a casual fan who listened to whatever his friend Miles turned him onto, so I thought, “Maybe Gerg is confused!”
It wasn’t until the end of that year when Morning Musume made their annual appearance on the Kohaku, and when they came out to perform two kick-ass renditions of Mr. Moonlight and The Peace, I was FORCED TO EAT MY OWN WORDS as I witnessed two things: One, Hitomi Yoshizawa had turned into the most FLAMBOYANT, OUTRAGEOUS Momusu Member I’d ever seen, and Two: HOLY CRAP, Rika had turned into the prettiest, most ADORABLE princess up there!!! I remember just being taken aback, she was SO endearing and she just kind of sparkled!!! O yeah, Gerg was right!!
Now, I’ve only ever bought TWO Morning Musume Shashinshuus ever, and that would be the first two books they released. I didn’t feel like getting any of the ones that followed until Chain! Chain! Chain! (because of its prolific coverage of the Gen 4+ Goto girls), but when a friend gave me a digital copy of the book, I ended up not buying it...
You would have thought I’d have been buying all of Rika’s books since she first started releasing them, but for some reason, I’d always been content to just have the online scans of ‘em. Oh Sure, there’ve been some terrific Rika Ishikawa books that have come out since (is she the only MM member who releases a new shashinshuu like clockwork?) but it wasn’t until I saw the shots of this new book that I just KNEW I HAD to have it!
My first thought was “DAMN!” …And then, “Holy CRAPOLA, how in the WORLD did that dour little mopey girl who auditioned for Gen 4 turn into this totally HOT, SULTRY, SMOKING WOMAN!?!?!? I HUMBLY ask Penance!!!
While TWENTY-FOUR may never attain the status of my number one all-time favorite sexy shashinshuu ATASHI by the lovely Miura Rieko, it is CERTAINLY in the ballpark, and has raised a very, very, very high bar for future Japanese photobooks to aspire to!
