Morning Musume – Kimagure Princess

This is the review for Morning Musume’s 41st single titled Kimagure Princess (English: Whimsical Princess). This is one of the few times I have ordered all of the versions of a single for any group (and probably the last time also), and I mainly did it to support Koharu since this will be the first time a member has graduated while I am a fan.

The singles came in one box from YesAsia, and I decided to choose YesAsia mainly because they offer free shipping on orders that are total over $39, and already having decided on buying all 4 versions I wanted to save as much as possible. CDJapan has excellent shipping, the only problem is that it is over $12 (around that range) just for shipping, which is around the same price range as a regular version of any H!P single.

The negative is that it is free shipping, which means that it is probably the cheapest form of shipping available which will result in in many weeks of waiting for some people. For me it took about 2 or 3 weeks for the package to arrive, but when it arrived I was glad to see that it was well protected (a lot of duct tape around the box and plenty of bubble wrap inside) so despite sacrificing speed to save some money the package arrived in a perfect condition.

Like most reviews I like to start with the version that everyone most likely has and continue to the last version (in most cases B or C), so with that said I’ll start from the regular version and go down to A, B, and C in that order.

After unboxing the 4 singles I noticed they all came in the same bubble wrap bag, which is an advantage since it prevents any single from getting lost, but it is also a disadvantage since they are all in the same bag and the thinnest CD (regular version) will break more easily. Fortunately the CD’s came in perfect condition, most likely because of the whole roll of duct tape YesAsia used on the box and the bubble wrap bag which filled the entire box.

After removing them out of the bag I layed them out according to type: Regular version on the top left, Limited A on the top right, Limited B on the bottom left, and Limited C on the bottom right.

This is the regular version and like most regular versions it has a different orientation. The cover for the most part is great since the theme for the single is “butt” (according to Tsunku) and clearly we can see that they focused on them more than usual.

One thing I was disappointed to see is that they put the sticker with the “Gyakuryu Researchers” on top of Lin Lin’s…. “oshiri” (at least for my version, it may differ), since it is one of the few times that Lin Lin is clearly seen on the cover.

Sayumi has a great space for herself in the middle of the cover (a space between Reina and Kamei’s head which is noticeable on first glance) which is great since the extra promotion she has been getting on the variety shows would have probably helped with sales. Kusumi got to be in the front next to Ai-chan and even though she didn’t get many lines it is great to see that she got to be in the front of the cover for her last single.

A clearer picture of the cover with the spine label on the side, and in it we can clearly see Lin Lin (who is still covered more than anyone in bright yellow fire). Niigaki, Jun Jun, and Lin Lin are the only members that are turning completely with their backs to the camera, which is great considering the theme of the single. For the most part the cover was amazing, the fire isn’t that noticeable and they are all clearly visible.

Here is a picture of the inside of the single (CD turned the other way to get a clearer picture of how it looks). It contains the usual stuff for a single: booklet with lyrics to both songs, application card, and CD, so I wasn’t that surprised.

The lyrics are printed upon a black background with fire on it, and even though they seem to have outdone the “fire” theme the lyrics are understandable.

The cover includes the cane they used (I thought it was a lamp, or a cattle brand they used but if you put attention later on at the Limited C alternate covers you can notice that it is a cane) with a small fire on top of “Kimagure Princess”. For the most part it is a great CD cover since it is bright and easily noticeable, and it contains the font art for “Morning Musume” in western style letters.

A close-up where you can clearly see how well the “Morning Musume” and the cane came out.

This is basically the same shot of everything in the CD but with the booklet spread out where we can get a good view of what group picture they chose.

Kamei and Takahashi got to be in the center (not surprising since they are the main vocals) with Tanaka and Kusumi on their sides. The 8th generation is on the sides (no surprise their either) and Niigaki and Sayu are in between Jun Jun and Tanaka.

Here is a picture of how the CD looks from the back when you actually buy it, and I have to admit that I would take another look if I was a curious passerby since the cane and the word art are eye catching.

The Regular version for the most part looked great, it included a great looking CD and a cover with all of the members clearly noticeable, which is one of the best things I could hope for in a CD (apart from the song itself).

Next is the Limited A which also features a sticker with the announcement that the song is the theme song for the “Gyakuryu Researchers”, and in a somewhat more convenient place. On first glance the members are in their usual positions but Kusumi got moved to the center, which is probably in honor of her graduation or simply because Kamei is one of the leads of the single.

I tried moving the application card but this is as far as I could go (there is a clearer image later on without the card), but this gives us a good idea of the formation that they had for the back photo – a line formation with the 8th generation at the sides and going up to Ai-chan and Kamei who are the main vocalists.

Here is a clearer image of the cover and we can see here that Ai-chan is the only member who has a cane. Kusumi is the only member who seems to be semi-smiling while the others are trying their best at looking mature, which is great for fans of Koha since we get a chance to see her stand out among the rest.

For the most part everyone else looks great, Niigaki and Sayu stand out a lot thanks to their poses although Tanaka seems to be a bit to far from the others for some reason.

For the most part the CD is exactly alike to the normal version, except for the DVD and the orientation of the booklet lyrics. The CD is the same one that is found on all of the versions so there is no surprise there.

The lyrics are placed on a normal orientation (facing the viewer and easily readable…if you read Japanese), and for the most part the background is the same fire on black picture as the regular version.

Here is the CD and like I already noted it is the same one that is included on all of the versions.

Here is the main difference between the regular and the Limited versions: a DVD. In this case the DVD which is included has the same theme as the CD but with a different colored background (like most of Momusu’s singles). The black makes the red stand out a bit more which makes it easier to see the red flame and the red tint that the letters have.

Everything except for Morning Musume’s Kanji and the cane is red, although the Romaji for “Morning Musume” which is in Western style font has a slight red tint in the middle with white sides.

A close-up of the DVD where you can see that the “Kimagure Princess” Kanji actually came out better than expected since the red fits in with the black better. The tracklist for the most part is simple since it only features “Kimagure Princess (Dance Shot Ver)”.

A spread out of the contents of the single where we can see that the group photo is a bit different than the regular version.

All of the members are facing the viewer and Mitsui and Kusumi face the camera more when compared to the regular version photo. Not that much difference but it’s great to see that they added a bit of variety to each version of the single.

Here is a clearer image of the back where we can see that they took a photo of the location they shoot the PV in and then added Morning Musume in, and on top of that added some fire at the bottom. For the most part the group photo is like all of the other line formation group photos since they are in the same position, but they are in different poses.

Jun Jun, Sayu and Niigaki look a bit bored (Sayu looks angry for some reason) while Kusumi is the only one that looks directly at the camera. The shadow of Mitsui’s hat darkened her face a bit, and for the most part the cover came out great (except for the over done flames they added).

Here is the tracklist for this version of the single, which isn’t that surprising since it includes the basic CD and the DVD for the Dance Shot Ver of the PV. In this shoot we get a clear look at Sayu and Niigaki’s faces which look a bit annoyed (Gaki looks annoyed, Sayu looks like she is about to hit someone, which is probably why Jun Jun backed up a bit).

Limited B, which for the most part was, in my opinion, one of the worst covers since it looks like they just added a picture of Momusu and pasted it on a picture of some fireworks. I get the idea that the single is focused on fire and “oshiri” but the fireworks look a bit overdone and slightly out of theme.

The back features the same lineup formation shot, but with a slightly different background, I will comment further on the back cover later on a clearer picture.

Here is a clearer shot of the cover where we can see that two members (Tanaka and Kusumi) are holding cattle brands while the rest of the members are posing. This cover got a lot of discussion because of the badly placed fire on the right near Kamei which makes it look like they left out a part of her arm.

I can see in first glance why everyone would think that but if you take some time to look at it you can see that the arm is there, but because of the black glove she has it looks like it disappeared. Kamei is the only one who gets flames near her which is somewhat strange since they seem to have added flames randomly without thinking too well about where they fit in (I guess fireworks in the background weren’t enough).

Kusumi looks like she is scratching Sayu’s back with the cattle brand and Jun Jun, Lin Lin, and Gaki-san look like they were about to fall of to one side. For the most part I would say they didn’t take that much time to make this cover because of the many mistakes they made, and I appreciate the effort of the guy who made this, but it would have been better to try and add less flames when you already have an exploding firework volcano in the background.

The inside is the same as the Limited A: lyrics booklet on the left, and CD on the right.

They used the same flame as the other background pictures for the lyrics booklet, which is somewhat disappointing but understandable since the lyrics are somewhat easy to read.

The CD is exactly like the others with the same word art and font.

The DVD and the art for the right side is the same as the Limited A, which is great since this means that fans won’t be missing out on much if they buy only one Limited version.

Here we can see that the only difference of the DVD’s in both Limited editions is the tracklist where we can see the “Kimagure Princess (Close-Up Ver).

The booklet is the only difference between most of the singles since they basically have the same contents.

The group photo looks more lively than the others since the members are more spread out and doing more complex poses. Niigaki is lightly touching her hat while Tanaka is holding her belt, Kusumi’s pose clearly emphasizes the “Oshiri” theme while Mitsui is on the side with her hands on her hips (Kusumi and Mitsui’s poses look a bit weird together for some reason).

The back cover is simply a black background with some fire added both at the back and the front of Momusu. The members seem to be either holding their belts, their hats or their shoulders, although Lin Lin looks like she put her hands behind her back (Sayu still looks pissed off for some reason).

Here is a clearer image of the tracklist on the back of the CD and for the most part the only thing that changes is the “Close-Up” they added instead of “Dance Shot”.

Limited C, which is easily one of the most popular versions for this single because of the 10 additional covers included in the single. This cover is also the only one to feature a purple colored background apart from the fire ring they added to most of the covers.

In all of the covers Kusumi appears in the front or in the center which is somewhat comforting since she didn’t have that many lines in “Kimagure Princess”. Kamei looks like she just saw something interesting on the other side of the camera and Tanaka is doing her usual sexy pose.

This is easily one of my favorite covers mostly because everyone came out looking great and the background isn’t that distracting from the girls.

The CD is exactly like the Regular version of the single, although the case they used for this CD is the same thickness as a Limited version of the single.

The lyrics sheet is the same as all of the versions and the picture is the same one they used as a background for the others.

The CD is also the same, it has the same cane and the same silver fire on top of “Kimagure Princess”.

The application card wasn’t on the other pictures because they inserted it into the booklet with the 10 covers, which is great since it doesn’t fall out and get lost when you open up the CD. The 10 covers came neatly packed in the booklet in a pile which made the booklet seem a bit more hefty but not that much.

The lineup formation doesn’t change that much for most of the members although Kusumi and Lin Lin do change their poses a bit more.

For the most part Ai-chan stands out more because of Tanaka and Kamei’s almost-alike poses, which is great since she is the leader after all. I have no idea what kind of pose Kusumi is making, she might be doing a cutesy pose or Mitsui just dropped an ice cube down her back but I’m not sure.

I was surprised because of the 10 covers since they came out better than I expected. They are printed on the same material the booklet is printed on and they came printed on both of the two sides so there are only 5 slips of paper. The group picture is one of the best I have seen since all of the members are looking directly at the camera (although some of them look a bit creepy, like Mitsui and Lin Lin).

Kusumi looks like she is trying her best to look professional, and Mitsui looks somewhat mysterious with her hat tilted to the side.

There are 10 covers – one group photo and 9 solo covers, Takahashi is on the back of the group photo and each of the members is printed in order of generation after that (Niigaki and Kamei, Sayu and Tanaka, Koha and Mitsui, Jun Jun and Lin Lin).

Ai-chan looks amazing as always, and even though her hat somewhat covers her face she still manages to impress me.

This shot of Niigaki looks a bit empty because of the space between her and the cane she is holding, but the look on her face makes up for it.

Kamei’s picture came out as one of the best, simply because seems to be looking directly at the viewer (and also because of how great she looks).

Sayu has one of the best covers among the others (somewhat biased) mostly because of the cute but seductive look she seems to have while holding a burning cane at the viewer.

Tanaka’s cover keeps her Yankee personality intact while still looking cute.

Kusumi has a somewhat different look than her usual “genki” personality, which is different but not surprising since this is her last single. In spite of that Kusumi looks cute, even though she seems to be holding a burning cane to her head.

Mitsui also looks great, especially the butterfly necklace she has one and the hat which make her look more mature than usual.

Jun Jun is among the members I don’t notice that much, but I have to admit that this picture looks amazing. Someone should have told all of the members that are holding the cane to their faces (Kusumi, Mitsui, and Jun Jun) that they were going to add fire in so that they could have moved it a bit further from their faces, but in the end it still looks great.

Lin Lin is always one of the most underrated members of Momusu mainly because of her incredible voice and her personality, which is why I wasn’t that surprised when her picture came out as one of the best.

The group shot has all of the members looking at the camera once again, and even though two of the members have hats that create shadows on their faces (Ai-chan and Mitsui) the photo came out great.

The tracklist is the same as the regular version since it doesn’t include a DVD or any other special stuff.

Since the alternate covers are double sided I took a picture of the covers in order (basically how they came when I opened up the CD)

The 10 alternate covers were a great addition and hopefully they do it again sometime. For the most part all of the singles were great, some had great covers (Limited C) and others weren’t that great (Limited B), if I had to choose which one is the best I would have to choose Limited C, not only because of the 10 covers but also because of the unique color of the background.

This single contains only one A-side and one B-side, so I will start with the songs and review the tracklist (excluding the instrumental track), then I will review the Close-Up and the Dance Shot Ver of the PV’s that were included in the Limited editions.

Like all reviews I write them while I listen to the song two times so that I can give you an impression as the song progresses instead of relying on memory, so there might be some parts which seem to not follow the train of thought, so I apologize beforehand of that happens.

CD

1. Kimagure Princess

The intro sounds great mostly because of the upbeat feeling it has, which seemed to be missing from their songs. The chipmunk voices give the song a unique sound, and even though this was most likely what made many people not buy the single, I think that if given the chance this song could become a favorite.

This is the first time that Kamei is a lead for a song and she does a great job, her voice is well suited for lead. Ai-chan has many lines that seem to be given to her because of her vocal skills, including some “chipmunk” voice lines and some lines where she has to deepen her tone of voice, and like always she sings them perfectly. Tanaka, like Ai-chan, has been getting many lines lately and for the most part I wasn’t that surprised to hear her voice many times throughout the entire song.

Niigaki has a decent amount of lines with some solo lines as both the chipmunk and normal vocal, but I would have liked to hear more from her. Michishige, Jun Jun, Lin Lin, Mitsui and Koha don’t have that many lines (for the most part I only recall hearing them a few times as chorus) which is somewhat disappointing. It would have been great to have them sing a few lines, but most likely Tsunku didn’t give them lines because of some other reasons (vocal skills, the pitch of their singing voices, etc).

Overall the song has a decent sound, the feeling of the song is fast and despite having a happy, upbeat sound to it the lyrics are somewhat more mature than we are used to.

Like I stated before the “chipmunk” voices seem to have thrown of many fans and even though the song was great overall some people didn’t like the sudden change from mature to upbeat (everyone has a different taste in music). In spite of that I really liked the song because of its unique sound and fast paced “get the fans jumping” feeling.

2. Aishite Aishite Ato Ippun

The intro of the song is techno (something which isn’t that surprising since it doesn’t require that much instruments during recording), and for the most part it has a catchy tune with a steady beat. The first to sing is Lin Lin, who does an incredible job singing her lines, and even though she didn’t get that many lines on the A-side she got many chances to sing in this song.

Mitsui follows Lin Lin and she also does an incredible job, I didn’t remember hearing a recent solo line from her and I have to admit that I really like hearing her. Jun Jun follows after Mitsui and even though her voice is somewhat weak she sings perfectly. Koha follows Jun Jun and she is easy to identify because of her unique voice, which is an advantage (easily identifiable) and a disadvantage (slightly different pitch than the others).

Sayu was one of the few members who got many lines since she gets to sing about 4 lines after the Koha, Mitsui, Lin Lin and Jun Jun’s turn, and for the most part I am proud of her because she has really improved her vocal skills (when compared to Nanchatte Renai) and she sings her lines perfectly.

It should come as no surprise that Ai-chan got most of the lines, and even though we are used to hearing her a lot she has yet to disappoint me. She is also one of the 4 members who gets a chance to sing the “jealousy” line and I have to admit that her line is one of the best since she pronounces it with less of an accent that the others.

Tanaka, like always, follows Ai-chan and she also gets a “jealousy” line, and even though she probably tried I couldn’t understand her line at first (I thought she said “Jirashi”), but her singing is still one of the best of the group.

After another “LIn Lin -> Mitsui -> Jun Jun -> Koha -> Sayu” combo it’s Kamei’s turn to sing, and I have to admit that I am impressed with her vocal skills and somewhat confused as to why Tsunku didn’t add her as a lead before. Her lines sounded great, and she also was one of the 4 members who got a chance to sing a “jealousy” line, and if I had to rank her prononciation with the others I woudl place her at 2nd since she pronounced it pretty well.

Niigaki got the following lines and even though her singing is as perfect as always I have to admit that her pronunciation of “jealousy” was somewhat off.

After the solo lines all of the members get a chance to sing together and for the most part this is a great formula for any song: give solo lines to everyone then have all of them sing together at the end. B-sides are always known for being more fair (in a line distribution sense) than A-sides, and I am glad to not be dissapointed since this song is one of the best B-sides I have heard.

DVD

Limited A – Kimagure Princess (Dance Shot Ver.)

The location of the PV is in a church called “La Foresta di Magnifica”, and I couldn’t have thought of a better place since the semi-darkness gives somewhat of a mysterious mature feeling to the song. The dark green glowing light in the background and the light from the lamps added some color to the otherwise dark hall, but for the most part it is great that they chose such a great location for the PV.

The dance is really interesting because of the different variety of moves involved, especially the moves at 1:23 and 2:02. They seem to have combined a lot of different moves together and I have to admit that the result it is one of the most interesting dances I have seen in a while.

Ai-chan spends most of the time in the front of the formation since she sings most of the lines and even though her moves were somewhat less energetic than the newer members I’m surprised that she still has the ability to do complex dance moves. Niigaki seemed to be somewhat late in some moves and she didn’t seem as energetic in some parts, but overall she danced great.

Sayu spends most of the time dancing and not singing (she does some chorus but not enough), and as a result her dancing skills for this single are great since she doesn’t have to put much attention on the song, but hopefully she gets some more lines next single.

Kamei is one of the leads for the song and she turned out to be one of the members who showed more energy during her dance (most likely because she was excited to be in the front), so hopefully they can have her as a lead for next single as well since she has certainly showed that she is capable.

Tanaka seemed to be tired during the song since most of her moves seemed to lack energy, although there were moments were she was one of the most active members (somewhat 50/50, half of the time resting and half of the time jumping around).

Koha spends most of the time in the back, and even though she wasn’t as clearly seen she did do her best dancing and as a result she stood out a lot (2nd most energetic dancer).

Mitsui has somewhat been promoted for the last few singles as front line dancer since she gets to be in the front most of the time but she doesn’t sing that much, and as a result her dancing skills have certainly improved.

Jun Jun seemed to dance like Ai-chan, somewhat relaxed and more focused on performing her dance moves correctly (although she stands out a bit at 3:27 when she takes a series of small steps to the right of the screen).

Lin Lin was the member who stood out more than anyone when it came to dancing, and knowing her personality it wasn’t that much of a surprise. She was one of the few members who seemed to be happy to dance since she emphasizes every move with more energy than anyone. When everyone else is walking to their other position during the dance she seemed to skip, and even though I have said this many times before I feel it has to be said again: Lin Lin is one of the most underated members in Momusu, she definitely deserves more lines and more time on the front line.

There were a few errors during the PV (for example the screen seems to dissolve at 1:05 for some reason, some small errors in choreagraphy) but the end result is a great Dance shot version of the PV. The location helped the song a bit since it seemed to amplify the feeling of the beat, and even though the dance seemed like random movements it was one of the most interesting dances H!P has had.

Limited B – Kimagure Princess (Close-Up Ver.)

One of the most used techniques lately for the Close-Up versions is having the camera move freely while having it go in and out of focus, and even though it is somewhat distracting (and dizzying) it gives a bit of variety to the PV. Most of the time the camera is off-focus and off-center, although some members, such as Ai-chan, are in the center more than others. The off-focus helped a bit in some parts, but it sometimes ruined a great shot, so it worked only some times.

The background is one of the main points of the Close-Up since it has a distinctive pattern which is hard to ignore. 5 members got a blue background (Ai-chan, Sayu, Mitsui, Jun Jun and Lin Lin) and 4 got a red background (Kamei, Tanaka, Koha, and Niigaki).

Ai-chan was one of the members that appeared on the PV more than others, and I have to admit that she looked great, her expressions were impressive and she tried her best to act out some parts of the song.

Niigaki was one of the few members who had most of her best shots off-center and slightly off-focus, and even though we didn’t get to see Gaki-san completely during most of her shots she was one of the members who stood out because of how she acted out when she was singing.

Sayu was the best in this PV, and even though I say that with a somewhat biased opinion I can safely say that most of her shots were incredible. Sayu seemed to be flirting with the camera (not that well but still great) and trying her best to look cute and sexy, and even though she didn’t appear as much since she didn’t have as many lines she was one of the members who tried her best.

Kamei was also one of the members that stood out more than usual since she looked at the camera directly during her singing parts and tried her best to perform some parts of the choreagraphy.

Tanaka was great since she also did a few dance moves while she was waiting for her lines, and even though the off-focus effect dimmed down some of her best shots she stood out because of her facial expressions.

Koha spent most of the time looking at the camera and doing energetic dance moves (although some of the time she looked sleepily at the camera), and even though I would have liked to see her appear more on camera she still managed to grab my attention when she appeared.

Mitsui, being among the youngest in the group, didn’t try that hard to look sexy (thankfully) but she did cool poses during most of her appearances. Jun Jun didn’t appear as much but she did try her best to act out the song and pose when it was her turn.

Lin Lin also stood out since she looked incredible in the Kimagure Princess costume and she tried her best to look mature and cute during her shots, and since she didn’t have that many lines she spent most of the time looking at the camera from an angle trying to look sexy.

Close-Up shots are my favorite kind of shots since we get to see the girls trying to perform the song while doing facial expressions, and I have to admit that this was one of their best.

The background and the girls acting out parts of the song emphasized the song a lot more than usual, which made this version of the PV stand out more. The many movements from the camera seemed to ruin some of the shots since the camera had to constantly focus but overall it came out great.

Overall

Despite not having much success on the Oricon when compared to their previous singles, this song was a much needed upbeat break from their recent “mature” sounding singles release spree. Sure, many people didn’t like it at first but this was most likely due to the chipmunk-ed voices that were added to represent the princesses voice or the somewhat mature lyrics. Whatever is your position of the song you have to admit that the PV’s were among the best that H!P has released in recent years, simply because of the dark but fancy location they selected.

This being Koha’s last single was probably somewhat of a bad decision since it seemed to have been done at the last moment (with a single that didn’t have any solo lines on the A-side for her), but hopefully many people go to support her in her final performance on 12/6. And even though H!P doesn’t give lines according to graduation (to my knowledge none of the graduating members have gotten special lines because of their graduation) Koha shined on the cover and the PV.

Hopefully next time they get a more upbeat ballad that appeals to everyone since Morning Musume deserves another chance to get a #1 on the Oricon. Many people might be quick to point out that their sudden drop means that the group is losing reputation but I have to point out that this couldn’t be further from the truth (if only one single sells less than another that doesn’t mean that the group is doomed). They sang a song that some people didn’t like (either because of the sound, lyrics, etc) and they went against some of the most popular groups right now, just like every group does.

And even though this was their 3rd or 2nd worst selling single you have to admit that after 41 singles it is somewhat miraculous for a group to continue to achieve top ten positions, and despite many predictions of loss of popularity Morning Musume continues to go strong and will most likely do for many, many years. I, for one, look forward to their next single since it will probably be unique and have a mature sound and despite losing one of the main members of the group Momusu will most likely do well.