Notes on the 2016 Kohaku Uta Gassen

It’s funny to think that once upon a time, the Kohaku was simply teeming with artists I loved, performing songs I was dying to hear them sing live, but as I get older, the less I know about the “current” music scene out there and I really just watch these to ‘catch up” on the latests groups and songs….but happily there were still LOTS of familiar faces and tunes from my golden age to keep the show interesting! Some highlights I noted….

This year’s show was hosted by Arashi’s Aiba Masaki and adorable actress Kasumi Arimura, whom i first saw as a cute policegirl in Keizoku SPCEC and then as Matsumoto Jun’s sister in “Shitsuren Chocolatier” and then Aiba’s sister in “Yokoso Wagaya E”….my how she’s grown! Such a Doll!

They started things off in a zany fashion, with Johnny’s clown princes Kanajni 8 opening the show with the song “Zukkoke Otokomichi”….

And for the red team’s side was none other than PUFFY! Just saw these gals here in Hawaii earlier this year and they’re still as great as ever! Did the classic Asia No Junshin and Nagisa, Matsubara, etc, big faves of mine!

Next up was AAA, whom I still find a real thrill to see appearing on the Kohaku. I have to admit taht “Hurricane Lily, Boston Mari” wasn't one of my favorite AAA songs, but hearing a song I knew so well after expecting to hear a new song was pretty exciting and got me in the mood!

From there we got the sexy n stylish “EGirls” Conglomerate…

and then the AKB Conglomerate with Keyakizaka46…

Back in the day, I always looked forward to Mitsuko Nakamura’s  fun and “matsuri" style songs, nowadays it seems Enka singer Yoshimi Tendo has taken over that slot!

As usual, I really liked Ayaka’s performance, this is one gal whose voice I absolutely love…

Balancing out Ayaka’s perf was Go Hiromi with a VERY pretty young girl doing some sultry interpretive dance around him….had a hard time catching her name...who IS this gorgeous thing?

V6 returned to to show Morita Go continuing his attempt at out-scuzzing TOKIO’s Nagase Tomoya  with his forever scrubby facial hair… (frankly, he looks like he's turning into a kind of Japanese David Spade)

 ...and then the boys giving me a treat by bring out one of my all-time fave karaoke tracks, "Honey Beat" to sing! They only did this a part of a medley, man, would been great to hear it whole!

Huh. When even my co-workers that didn’t listen to any j-pop came up to me to show me “this funny video”, PPAP by Piko-Taro, I should have expected to see this silly song performed here. Save by the cuteness of Kasumi’s reactions, giggling throughout.

I should say that for what its’ worth, the Kohaku really does  encapsulate the “Year in Japan entertainment” pretty well, and the appearance of group Radwimps coming on to perform Zenzenzense made note of the movie “Your Name”’s impact on this year on movies! Can't wait to see this movie.

Hmm, didn’t realize there were going to me more than one of these AKB association acts here, we had Keyakizaka46 and now we have Nogizaka46. Better pay attention to these girls, some of them are guaranteed to become the stars in movies and dramas we watch in the future!

And here's yet another phoned in performance from Masaharu Fukuyama….will this guy ever set foot on Kohaku soil again?

...and then a big shock from me when I found out that actor Kenta Kiritani was a singer! Man, that guy giving hell to Mayu Matsuoka in Suizokukan Girl was a musician? Huh!

And continuing on with the AKB train we finally come to the originals, AKB48, I liked that they sang “River”, a song I’ve always liked from them, but as a guy who doesn’t really know them, I wonder how many members onstage singing are part of the original song? With their graduation system I wonder if it’s like watching an all-new gen Momusu singing Morning Coffee.

Holy COW, am I FINALLY witnessing the actual DEBUT of KinKi Kids on the Kohaku??? Unbelievable! Ya know, considering Tsuyoshi and Koichi were among the first Johnny’s guys I ever saw on the Kohaku (in 1995, dancing for Masahiko Kondo), I never dreamed I’d have to wait two DECADES before they “officially” entered the Kohaku arena! About Time!

Didn’t expect to see Perfume still around! But then again, their appeal is so broad that I actually have K-pop friends who, though they only buy K-stuff, also purchase Perfume CDs, so they must be more famous than I thought. Funny to read that the guy who wrote Kyary Paymu Pyamu’s “Pon Pon Pon” is the writer for all of Perfume’s stuff. This guy knows how to write a catchy tune!

Ikimonogakari is back and Kiyoe still has the sweetest and most happily infectious smile ever! Awww, look at that smile!  

Wheeee! And now we come to the highlight of this year’s Kohaku for me!!! You know, when I began watching the show, it never occurred to me that I might get to see Gen Hoshino singing the theme song "Koi" from “We Married As A Job”, but when I saw Yui Aragaki as one of the judges, I did have hope! And then when Gen came out earlier in the show, I thought to myself- HEY! Gen Hoshino is there! the’ve GOT to have him sing the song, right? 

And indeed they DID! What a fun, happy song, and as expected, they had a slew of background dancers behind him to do all the dance moves that made the show’s ending credits so beloved.

And beloved it was! It was pretty amazing to watch the audience and see that every there was doing the moves right along with the song, and of course, when it cut to Gakky, she was shyly dancing along as well! SO AWESOME!

...then back to Sobretown with Fuyumi Sakamoto, singing the moody song I first fell in love with her…

And then TOKIO, the continuing scuzzy version. They performed Sorafune, which was a surprise, I thought they were going to do “Ai I Wanna Be With You”, from drummer Masahiro Matsuoka’s crossdressing detective drama Kaseifu No Mitazono!

Nice to see Kana Nishino still out here. Is she still as popular as she was back in her "Best Friend" days?

Then we had Seiko Matsuda performing with Yoshiki. An interesting combination, then it occurred to me that maybe X Japan was going to perform at the show this year as well…

…and sure enough, it wasn’t long til the original J-rock Boys hit the stage!

Mariko Takahashi singing "Gomen Ne". Whoo, man I love this song! A song that takes me back to the good old days! A pretty song from an elegant lady.

When I saw that the next performing artist was going to be Utada Hikaru in the little square at the bottom of the screen, my heart leapt in my throat- HOLY CRAP, Hikky was debuting this year? I was stoked! But then the song began, and though I really love "Hanataba o Kimi ni “, I was instantly brought down when I realized “Aw, she ain't there…it’s another phoned in performance!!" Aw, it really takes the glow off.

Then it was time to wrap up the show, and the red team called on their big gun, the great Enka-queen herself, Sayuri Ishikawa, belting out her classic “Amagi Goe” once again! I was just watching some old B&W performances Sayuri did of this song from Kohakus of many years ago, and it blows me away- she's one of the few stars here who have the "weight" to close a show.

And then, it was the white team’s side, and  paired up against Sayuri was….Arashi??? Seriously??? I mean, I love Arashi as much as the next guy, but are they really suggesting these guys are on par with Sayuri? Very Weird. Really missing Saburo Kitajima about now!

Arashi pulled out a medley of their hits and it was very nice and touching, but seriously, this should have been SMAP’s final stage tonight. Having Arashi close the show just didn’t have the impact it should have. And given that very unbalanced ending,  it was no surprise which team pulled the most votes in the end- the Red Team, though Kasumi was so spaced out she didn’t even know they won and seemed the least emotional about it out of everyone! LOLOL, too cute.

PS, as the camera panned over the performers as they sang the Anthem, them panned across Egirls, and DAMN, that Sayaka is looking more and more stunning every time I see her!

LOL, OK, that’s it for this year….

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Puffy Live In Hawaii!!!

Puffy Yumi and Ami Hit The Stage in  Honolulu Tonight!

Ahhhh, I got to see another one of my favorite j-pop artists from my golden age tonight, this time Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura, better known as the eccentric and electric duo PUFFY, who were in Hawaii as the “Official Supporter” for the Honolulu Festival this weekend! Seems they always invite a J-pop act to perform at this yearly event, and my friend Sabu, who was lamenting that he’d missed last year’s act ULFULS, asked if I wanted to go check out THIS year’s act, the wonderful Puffy & Co. and I said SURE! 

Honolulu Rainbow Ekiden Announcement

 Readers of this blog know of my love for Puffy with articles on both their debut single and their TV appearances, and though I admit I haven’t been keeping up with what they’ve done recently, back in their early years I bought every album and single they made! 

My PUFFY Collection

As most of you know, Puffy made a splash here in America with their songs from shows like Teen Titans and their own Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi so I expected that they’d foucs more on those songs, the ones that the kids and younger fans would know. As far as their older hits,  I didn’t think they’d sing my favorite single “Asia No Junshin”, but was sure they’d sing at LEAST “Kore ga Watashi no Ikiru Michi” as that seemed to be their “signature” song of sorts!

 After a few opening acts (rap duo Hilchryme and crowd-rousers Mongol500) who both did half hour sets, it was time to see my girls PUFFY in the flesh for the first time! And MAN, from the moment they came out, they were as sweet, fun and nutty as I’d expected them to be, and I have to say I spent quite awhile disbelieving I was actually seeing them right in front of me singing!! They sang with a rocking live band, and each and every song was jangly and catchy and bouncing, though, true to form, I didn’t recognize a lot of their newer songs. Gomen Ne, Ami and Yumi!!

 Puffy’s stage was dubbed a “Mini-Concert” in the promotions, and sure enough their set lasted exactly a half an hour with about eight or nine tunes fit into the timeframe. I was surprised when they sang “Nagisa, Matsubara, Etc” as I thought it was a lesser known song, but I LOVE this song and sang right along with the crowd (I remember yelling at the top of my lungs the line SUGOI LUCKY GIRLLL!!!”!!

And then when I didn’t think it could get better, the girls came to their final song, and as soon as I heard the synthesizer intro, I leapt up in my seat and yelled at my friend, “THEY’RE DOING ASIA NO JUNSHINNN!!!!” Aw MAN, what an awesome way to end the concert, rocking out to the song that introduced my to the girls all those years ago (20 years!) and singing with the crowd the lyrics I love so much!

Such a great little concert and my friend mused, “So who do you think they’ll bring here for NEXT year’s Festival? What about...Chisato Moritaka, perhaps…?” Oh MAN, I just couldn’t wrap my head around something like THAT! But one can cross fingers and hope, right?!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com