Hello again!
What I mean by the title, is that when Berryz and C-ute's concert was announced, it was described as a battle concert. Immediately, I thought the theme would be Berryz Koubou VS. C-ute in an all out battle. I was wrong. It was Berryz and C-ute together fighting against a common, power-rangers monster-of-the-day type of enemy, though that isn't to say I didn't enjoy this concert. In fact, I loved it to death! It was one of the few H!P concerts that actually had a recurring theme throughout, and it was a fun, exciting theme. The VTRs were actually good, and they were a lot of fun. I had fun watching the girls see the monster, than summon their friends in a way reminiscent of Sailor Moon, and do a dramatic pose/meet-up scene.
Stage Set-up: 5/5
Concept: 5 (Bonus)
(Costume reviews and song reviews will be done as they come)
On to the music!
Introduction/Darling I Love You
The intro was so over dramatic for such a hyper song, but fit the general mode of the concert.
Darling I Love You was a generally good performance, though some of the girls were off at times, or their voices just didn't blend great with the others (Volume or otherwise) and it made parts of the song sound rather bad. The dance was cute and pretty together. I'd never heard this song before this concert, and I don't know if I'd buy it, but this is still a very good, high energy version of it.
Costumes: 3.5/5 The fluffy dresses are cute, but they're badly accesorized, and only fit the first song in the set.
Performance: 4/5 The dancing and energy was great, but the singing was sketchy at points.
Special Generation
I don't know if anyone who's reviewed the concert has mentioned this, but those powder-puffy skirts go terrible with this song. The combo of the dress colors (Berryz wearing blue, C-ute in pink) made me remember the winter version of this. The voices in this still don't blend the best, but the singing is much better overall. I love how the two groups do parts of the choreography back to back, so you couldn't see the other group, and the X shape at the end was really cool. The formations in the song looked amazing from above with the different dress colors.
Performance: 4.5/5
Ooki na Ai de Motanashite
The beginning formation with the alternating blue and pink is again a good choice, and it looked great. The hand movements were really together, and the over all performance shows how much these two groups have improved since they did this at the 2007 winter concert. The eggs and their low costume budget come in here, and that becomes rather distracting on the C-ute side of things where the costumes don't match. The ending is really cute, and the singing in this song was the most confident and nice sounding yet!
Warning: This post may contain content that may insult Risako and madden her fans. This isn't meant to do so, but there's a high chance it will.
Performance: 5/5
VTR
This was the single most awesome VTR ever featured in any H!P concert. That's all there is to say. (The Erika/Chisato part was total win)
Overall: 6/5
Namida no Iro
I liked these costumes much better than the PV ones, though they're very similar. This live made me have a whole new respect for the dance, which I didn't like when I saw the PV. Maybe it's the lighting. All the dancing is simply amazing, and the singing is great, but most of it is lipsynced from what I can see.
Costumes: 5/5
Performance: 3.5/5 (Partially lip-synced)
Munasawagi Scarlet
This was the first Berryz single I listened to. I like it, and this performance is no exception. The singing is much more mature than when the song first came out, and the dancing is good and confident. The costumes are just how I like them: rather normal and non-idolish. They fit the song much better than the original ones did. The only problem I have with the costumes is song specific. Where they picked up part of their gouches in the original dance, they now have no fabric to hold onto, leading to a really awkward-looking dance move.
From here on out is where I agree with maiZe, that Miyabi just keeps singing well, and Risako, well, just sucks at singing. Risako sounds terrible from now on out, and, frankly, I would like to see someone besides her get lines, someone who can sing consistantly great live. (Again, not to insult Risako and/or her fans)Pr
Performance: 4.9/5
Costumes: 5/5
LALALA Shiawase no Uta
This song has never really been one of my favorites, but it's still a good performance, no matter how terrible the costumes are for it. I love the costumes, but they portray the opposite of the song. Overall, the singing is very good, and this is live, compared to Namida no Iro. That doesn't mean it's bad though, in fact, this song sounds more full of energy when it's live. The dance was the main point-docker, as it was off at some points.
Performance: 4.5/5
Dschinghis Khan
This perfomance was all Berryz in my eyes. For some reason, they just seemed to be having a lot of fun singing this, compared to C-ute's almost forced-looking beginning dance. Risako really sounds off during some of the group parts, but during her solo parts, she gets slightly better.
Performance: 4/5
Tokkaiko Junjou
How can I hate any performance of this song? I can't. Even the fluffly fairy version of it. Everything is perfect again with this song, and Maimai looks and sounds so grown up. Airi's vocals are amazing during this, and I think she sounds better and better as it goes on. The dance is awesome as always, and the amazing sound of their voices blending is something that they have as an advantage over Berryz. In Berryz, someone is always louder than everyone else, as if it's their solo, but in C-ute, they all sound the same volume, and their voices work really well together, as if all seven girls are really just one.
Performance: 5/5
Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi
I want to deny this song ever existed, so I skipped it.
Very Beauty
Very Beauty is by far my favorit Berryz song, and after reading maiZe's review, I wasn't looking forward to this, though, even if Risako butchers her parts of this great song, I couldn't wait for Airi's lines. It went just as maiZe said, Risako looking slightly drunk when she walked to the center stage and generally sounding more nassaly and annoying than ever. On the otherhand, Airi sounded like she was born to sing this. If this is ever sung by Airi and Miyabi, or all of Buono!, I think I'd die of happiness.
Risako Performance: 1/5
Airi Performance: 5/5
Bokura no Kagayaki
I've never really liked this song, and while this was a good, solid performance, I still don't like the song. I don't have much to add to that.
Performance: 3/5
Sayonara Hageshiki Koi
This started off very hyper, but the vocals sounded rather young. Overall, though, I really liked this performance. All the girls sounded great, and the dance was cool. I think that this performance, again, wasn't among the best in this concert energy-wise, but the vocals and the overall dancing was great.
Performance: 4/5
That's the Power
The costumes are something that I've never seen in any H!P concert since Coconuts Musume in 2000: schoolgirls. They're cute over all, and fit the theme of transforming superheroes. (Magical girls anyone?) The song is very B-sideish, and the english lines are really awkward sounding. I didn't really like this, but maybe I just didn't hear enough of it.
Performance: 4/5
Costumes: 4.5/5
Do Don Ga Don Ondou
Not only does the title remind me of Odoru11, the opening notes and the general gist of the song do too. I don't like this song, or the dance, it's too traditional japanese (in the musical sense) for me, but I still like the fact that Erika gets a big solo for herself even though she's often pushed to the back of everything. She should get more oppourtunities to do stuff in H!P singing-wise, she's more talented than some of the girls who get more lines than her. (Please, Tsunku, I know you don't read this, but let Erika sing more!!!)
I like how she thanked the audience in her singing at the end.^^
Performance: 3.75/5
Honto no Jibun/Renai Rider
I'm pretty sure everyone knows Buono is awesome, and by far my favorite H!P kids group. I didn't like this Honto no Jibun at first, but now I love it. These outfits are really cute, and I like how they work for both Buono songs in the set. The singing is great, and the only fault I have with this entire set is that it's really short by my standards of Buono awareness. Buono needs two things: to be made a permenant group (After Biyuuden, H!P doesn't have any trio groups besides them, and to boot, they sell as well, if not better sometimes than the other H!P kids groups.) and to get a tour.
Performance: 5/5
Costumes: 5/5
Natsu Doki Lipstick
I've never really been a huge fan of Maimi, but she really owns this song. After seeing this, I don't want want anyone else to sing this song. Even though her voice is hard on my ears, it still fits this high-energy dance piece. Also, even though I'm a girl and straight, I'd admit that if I was a guy, and saw that dance danced that well, I'd be totally turned on.
Performance: 4.5/5
Massara Blue Jeans
This song is one I always, habitually skip over during concerts. That's my only reason for skipping it. I'll just put something about the costumes here:
Shiny x1000
Costumes: 4.9/5
Jiriri Kiteru
I can't say how much I love this song. It was the 3rd Berryz song I really love. The color contrast in the costumes is again amazing, and the overall dancing and Miyabi's singing makes up for Risako. The blend in this song again is really painful to the ears for some reason. It sounds a lot like they just reverted their singing ability back to 3 years ago. Hmm... This is probably one of the works performances vocally in the entire concert for no appearent reason. They all just sound really off. One thing I do like though is the awesome choreography and formations used throughout this. The rotating X was really cool, and looked great.
Performance: 3/5
Jump
JUMP! A song that's a rare case where it's better live than the recorded version. Maybe because they let loose live, but are bored singing the same thing over and over in the recording studio. Whatever the case, It's a really fun song. You can tell who does the dance more from who jumps higher. They all sound exhasuted when they're singing, but overall, it's pretty good, and Erika's solo line is AMAZING!!! You can feel the energy during this.
Performance: 4.5/5
Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun
I've only heard this live. It's a song where I love the general singing parts, but I don't like the instrumental only parts. They're just not the best ever. This performance is even more energetic that JUMP and it really made me wonder how these girls keep going. Overall, this is great, and a lot of fun, overall, the main complaint I have is Momoko. I love her Buono voice to death, but here, she's pure helium.
Performance: 4.9/5
MC
This is the only MC I'll review, because it's the most fun. It gets back to the plot of fighting the monster, and is basically a skit, not to say it's bad though. It may be cheesy, and it leads to a song, the same one that was just in the VTR, but it's still fun.
Warera! Berryz Kamen
A song that really fits the super hero theme. It's a lot like the Sailor Moon theme song, but it's much, much better. This takes place during the battle, I guess, and they sing to eventually defeat the generic monster, but it's still fun, and even though we heard this playing during the VTR, this version of the song was better and involved some acting here and there. It's a lot of fun to watch the girls sing something that mactches their costumes, and of course, the badly animated monster blow up.
Performance: 6/5
Sakura Chirari
I have no idea who put this song to these outfits, but it's really awkward. This song never grew on me, and I'm still not a fan of it. The repetitive dance is a little boring, and I don't like it too much. The song is predictable, and the wotas jumping in the front row seem much more energetic than the girls on stage. (The wotas really stole the show energy wise) It seems as if they're lipsyncing through the whole thing to me, but threre aren't many good shots that would help me tell.
Performance: 3/5
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That was a long review. After I get back, be sure to look for a review of the Morning Musume concert too!
-Midori
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