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Happy 7 |
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Sexy 8 |
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Odoru 11 |
2002 is another one of my favorite Hello! Project Summer Shuffles years. Alright, I do have a lot of favorites. I remember how much I was obsessed with these songs in that summer of ‘02…
The 3 units this year were Happy 7, Sexy 8, and Odoru 11. The groups/songs were themed around shiawase, happiness; each song had to do with this shiawase component. The songs varied quite a bit. While Happy 7’s song was cutesy, upbeat, and cheerful, Sexy 8’s song was, well, sexy. Odoru 11’s song really doesn’t fit into any category other than the “odd-different-traditional-japanese-weird” category.
Happy 7 is made of Ai Kago, Ai Takahashi, Risa Niigaki, and Makoto Ogawa from Morning Musume, Hitomi Saito from Melon Kinenbi, Asami from Country Musume, and Mika for Coconuts Musume. Their song, Shiawase Beam! Suki Suki Beam!, is a happy, upbeat, arcade style song. In fact, the background sounds in the song are very classic arcade video game styled. As with many H!P songs, lots of other components get added very nicely to the whole song. Its chorus is amazingly catchy, and extremely fun to dance to as well. The girls sound awesome, the music is awesome, I just really love everything about this song and group.
Sexy 8 consists of Maki Goto, Mari Yaguchi, Rika Ishikawa, and Hitomi Yoshizawa of MM, Mai Satoda of Country Musume, Masae Otani of Melon Kinenbi, Ayaka of Coconuts Musume, and soloist Michiyo Heike. Their image is “sexy” (as shown in their group name), and their outfits and song fit that perfectly. Their single, titled Shiawase Desu Ka? is a very mature R&B song. Maki commences the song with a great spoken monologue. The song has got a slow beat, but does get faster at different points. Unlike some H!P tries at these kinds of songs, this one is pulled off quite well. The girls sing this very, very well, and in the middle of the song there is a short slow-rapping section that’s well done. This is really another well done song, and adds even more great variety to this shuffle season.
Odoru 11 has Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Kei Yasuda, Nozomi Tsuji, and Asami Konno of MM, Ayumi Shibata and Megumi Murata of Melon Kinenbi, Rinne of Country Musume, and soloists Aya Matsuura, Miki Fujimoto, and Rika Ishii. The group and song were, for a time, were advertising some dinosaur thing (my bad, I don’t remember the name) and therefore there’s lots of dino action. The song is quite different, different than any other H!P song. It’s mostly a lot of traditional Japanese instruments and song structure, but it’s not like 10 Nin Matsuri either. It’s a fairly medium beat, not very slow but yet not upbeat. The singing is…different, to say the least. I’m not sure of my position on this song. It’s extremely easy to get it stuck in your head, however it’s not like I hate the song. It’s just alright, I suppose. Their look is another thing: they’re wearing wigs of long, straight hair. 3 of them have brown hair, the others have the very light blonde hair.
Happy 7
01. Shiawase Beam! Suki suki beam!
02. Yoku Aru Oyako no Serenade (Happy 7 Version)
03. Shiwase Beam! Suki suki beam! (Instrumental)
Sexy 8
01. Shiawase desu ka?
02. Yoku Aru Oyako no Serenade (Sexy 8 Version)
03. Shiawase desu ka? (Instrumental)
Odoru 11
01. Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondou
02. Yoku Aru Oyako no Serenade (Odoru 11 Version)
03. Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondou (Instrumental)
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Keep up the great reveiws!
This is a really good description of all the shuffles. :)
I do agree that Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondo is something different
But in a good way :p
Hello yet again Lainey!
I think I said in one of your other articles, I like your work with these H!P pages. I am going through a phase with Kimura Ayaka and Niigaki Risa now!! :) I don’t mind. At least I can find mp3s here.
Arigato Gozaimashita!!
I just thought I should tell you that odoru 11 song is a very traditional Ondo (japanese folk song characterized by the rythm) with a touch of H!P. Ondo songs are found in many animés, theres even a Pokémon ondo (every animé has an ondo it’s said). Try searching for ondo on youtube, they are quite the same as this one in many ways. Ondo was originally used for a japanese festival.
I’d also like to thank you for keep updating this blog, it’s wonderful. ;)
I love “Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondou” This song gets stuck in my head all the time. This and “Happy Summer Wedding” are two of my favorite Musume/HP songs. I’ve got to get the PuchiBest that has the Shiawase shuffle songs and the other singles of ‘02! I don’t want to just download everything…that would hardly be fair!
Thanks for the copy of Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondou,” though. I’m going to put this on a mix CD to take to work to pep myself up in the afternoons. If there’s one thing J-pop is, it’s genki!
H!P must have the largest number of shuffle groups to date. At least to my knowledge. The oduru 11 song, very kawaii! These girls are so cute. The video too is playful. Everytime i watch it I can’t help but be happy! Awesome stuff!
This was really interesting. I’m not too knowledgable about H!P Shuffle Units, so this maybe made me a little smarter haha~ Thanks ;)
Odoru 11’s song was really interesting I thought. The video was kind of neat. I’ve never really heard a song quite like that before :D From the world of H!P, All I know is a couple MM songs, Mini Moni, and W :D So this was new. I liked it though.
Ahaha the H!P Girls are (for the most part) so cute :D
Very detailed and interesting article that bring readers into the world of H!P Shuffle, great job Lainay! :)
It seems like the shuffle group are getting larger and larger year by year. I quite enjoy the shuffle this year, each group shows a totally different side of H!P music and pull them out really well.
One of my indian friend actually sing along with Odoru 11’s song when I show him the PV. XD I’m glad you put the youtube video this time because it really gives a different feeling after watching the cute and creative PV. Personally I quite enjoyed Odoru 11’s song too, even though it’s very weird and very traditional.
Happy 7’s song is very fun and cheerful as you put it and Sexy 8 song is more serious and mature. Overall, this year shuffles are very interesting indeed!