Mano Erina - LOVE & PEACE = Paradise [Preview]

[Shoujo Q]

YouTube Radio Preview



Mano's next single is being released on November 25th. It'll be the ending theme to a new Hello Kitty show. She's also going to be on the show. But I can't remember what she'll be doing or where I saw that info. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />



Total lack of Piano so that's a bummer. Uhm... I can find nothing good about this song. Either leave Mano behind the Piano or not, stop flip flopping management! D:

[Joel]

I actually kind of like this song. YOU HEAR THAT EM-EL?! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nceman.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> I think her voice is much better in this song, and sounds like she really is having fun with this song.

[EmEl]

I'm sure they just did whatever they could to get the song as a tie-in. "Oh, don't want piano, Miss Hello Kitty? Okay, ma'am, we'll take it right out."



As for the TV show, there's already an episode out with her in it. She just runs around in glasses and a lab coat, and then they start advertising Sanrio products. Or something. http://www.sanrio.co.jp/tv/peace/laboratory/index.html



On the other hand, I guess there's a chance the cover of this single will feature Hello Kitty partly or wholly instead of another close-up shot. I'm not sure which is worse.

[eri]

I saw the promotional pictures of Mano with Hello Kitty and I have to admit, she's growing on me.







How cute is she?!

[jochin]

Oh my god she sounds alive.

[Tallgeese]

[quote name='jochin' post='69907' date='Oct 8 2009, 12:31 AM']Oh my god she sounds alive.[/quote]



Agreed. It's in the vein of early Ayaya and Miki, one of those songs that make the wota go absolutely nuts. (I can literally place every single "woo woo" and "Erina" chant in this song. There's a lot of em!) I always thought she should have done one of these early on. I hope the promote this one a lot. It's a really fun song.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I think I like this. She sounds cute, and yeah, a lot less dead than she usually does.

[Melon]

I like this. It's so cute and fun! Reminds me of the old fun songs we used to get from the soloists. She's not as good of a singer as them though...but I still like it. It's part of its charm. How could I not like a song called "Love & Peace = Paradise"?

[BeForJess]

Her voice is kinda weak for this, but HOLY CRAP. She doesn't sound like she's lifeless! Haven't heard that since Ai wa Katsu....



I don't know that it's something I would ever really listen to, but it is certainly more appealing to me than her other material.

[Noa]

I really like this song. It's easily my favorite song by her so far.

It's cute without being overly obnoxious.



And all the pa pa paradise parts are beyond adorable.

[thamychan]

I think Mano Erina's songs are good ideas, she's been doing such a great work, having the good girl style, a little bit like ayaya in the beginning just a lot more retro. but... not only the promotion is bad but I, at least, used to like ManoEri better in Gatas. It's like, something is lacking.

anyway, this song sounds like a kirarin reject xD But her voice is better here!

[Mierna]

CD and Single V covers are out. All the white snowiness! It's "Shiroi TOKYO" all over again!

[EmEl]

Oh my god.



It's not just 4 extreme close-ups with slightly different angles. There are poses! There are uses of hands!



I even had my traditional complaint all prepared with examples from previous idols of what could have been done with the covers, but I don't need to write it! I am amazed. I am also amazed at how easily placated I am. The policy must clearly be: "Beat you down with terrible single art, and the slightest bit of creativity will seem like genius even though it's actually pedestrian."



EDIT: In addition to the covers being released, the PV is now on dohhhup. There are pink clouds made out of pixel things. (And dancing S/mileage if that's all you're in it for.)



The stuff that's going on during the video is cute enough. And I do like the idea of the design of the background; however, the big problem is that the colors of the video are so monotonous that it becomes too cloying to be watchable. I can't take so much pink and white without variation.

[Pucchi-Mo]

EmEl pointed out that the PSP is running an NES emulator.

[eri]

Damnit Em-el. I might be turning into a Mano fan. Her sugary sweetness girly girl attack is too much. Too much!!

[BonkyuAsh]

Here's the PV on Dohhhup

It's pink and cute and fuzzy, just like Hello Kitty, and I'm actually starting to like Mano because she's starting to sound less dead. The papaparadise parts are stuck in my head.

[Tallgeese]

The digital pink cloud kind of reminds me of digital pixel camouflage pattern they use in military uniforms. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> I would have liked it better if they put her in different outfits and used different colors, but at least it looks like she's having fun in this one.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I love it. I love the pixel clouds, I love the simple set, I love the fake piano playing even though there's nothing that even remotely sounds like a piano in the song, and most of all, I love those HUGE FUCKING EARMUFFS. Dear god she is cute.

[koolmon]

[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='71089' date='Nov 2 2009, 10:10 PM']I love those HUGE FUCKING EARMUFFS.[/quote]

This.



I'm just glad she finally showed energy and looked like she was enjoying herself. My dislike for her is going down, but I feel like they just need to give her that's not kiddy and innocent-idol. I want to see some skin or something for once! Ever since the PV, this song has been on repeat though, so I guess she's doing SOMETHING right.

[Melon]

The PV is very nice and a great change from the usual schmuck we get. She still needs to work on her presence and stage persona. Right now it still seems forced. Not as bad as she used to be, but she still doesn't have the natural charisma most soloists have. That aside, she looks adorable in those outfits. Kudos to her stylist, she wears them wonderfully!

[IncolourXx]

Well she sounds alive which is a good thing, the PV is really cute.I like the pixel clouds. <3

The outfits and really good on her I especially love the hat she wears.The PV is really plain and simple its great.

[EmEl]

I had previously mentioned in some thread that every Mano PV had an animal in it, but that streak ended up being broken. "Kono Mune" had no animal, and this new one only has drawn angel/butterfly wings or something. But the Hello Kitty show has proven me wrong.



First "Kono Mune" was used as the ending and led to an amusing sudden Kitty appearance!







BAM! All of a sudden there's a kitty to comfort a sad Mano! It's mostly the same as the original PV except it's got Hello Kitty in the beginning and end.



And now they've done it for the new ending with "Love & Peace". The usage of the creepy cat costume here is much better as Hello Kitty plays with Mano much more, like hiding behind the pink pixel background set.







Who needs S/mileage when your backup dancer is Hello Kitty?

[Gypchan]

Is Hello Kitty singing with her in that version of Love & Peace or is that just background vocals?

I can't tell on my laptop speakers.

If it is Hello Kitty singing too, does that mean that it is Hayashibara Megumi? The last I checked, she was the the voice of Hello Kitty.

[EmEl]

I thought I heard another voice too, but since the CD version of the song isn't out yet, I just let myself assume that it was something I had missed in the streaming video version. But it does really sound like something else is there, and the screenshot I posted said "feat. Hello Kitty". So I paid attention to the scrolling credits, and around :28 of the video, the singers are credited as "Mano Erina feat. Hello Kitty". (And a Japanese commenter agrees that Hayashibara is singing.)



These credits! I finally am able to see the composer and arranger of the song since that info seemed to elude me until now. I can't read the thick scrolling kanji for the composer, but it looks like the arranger is Okubo Kaoru (Naichau Kamo, Nanchatte Renai, Kimagure Princess, Aisu Cream to My Purin, etc.)

[kitaoji]

It took some squinting and wiki'ing, but (1) the lyrics are by Miura Yoshiko, who wrote Lucky Aura, La La La So So So, and Otome no Inori, and Taisei did the composing. (He's using his birth name, Kyouzuka Taisei.) And I think he's doing the music on the show as well. I never liked those scrolling credits.



But onto Kitty Paradise (surely I can de-rail this, right?): wow, I'm recognizing so many of the seiyuu names - Hayashibara voices Kitty, as far as I can tell, and I also see Ohtani Ikue (Pikachu) and Nishihara Kumiko and Takimoto Fujiko. Okay, so those last two are a bit more obscure. But I loved Sakura Taisen and Utena to bits, and Nishihara plays important characters in those two anime.



And Love&Peace is cute. Really! I'm still thinking Summer Party was so much cuter, but this is a close second.

[EmEl]

Wow, thanks, kitaoji! I've been curious about the composer for a while. So Taisei is back with Mano, huh? He arranged all of her songs through Hajimete no Keiken, but he did those songs as たいせい. This is the first he's actually composed for her though. Hatake composed the last single and b-side, and he also used his full name in the credits for that single.



Oh, and I'm sorry, I should have said that I already knew who the lyricist was, and I might have saved you some eyestrain. Because Miura has continued to write the lyrics to every single Mano song except ManoPiano. (Miura also wrote most of the lyrics to the best album that came out in 1978--Ishikawa Hitomi's debut album <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> But I digress, I won't talk about how she also wrote for Iwasaki Hiromi.)

[EmEl]

The official tracklist was updated which is interesting because it comes out next week.



It seems the "feat. Hello Kitty" version will also be included in the single. I expect all you Hayashibara fans to buy it.

[Shoujo Q]

Oh god I have a reason to buy a Mano Erina single? That's kick-ass! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /dance.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sideways:' />



Can I have just a hello kitty version please now? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[thamychan]

[quote name='EmEl' post='71853' date='Nov 19 2009, 05:01 AM']I expect all you Hayashibara fans to buy it.[/quote]

Of course we will! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sideways:' />

[EmEl]

[quote name='PQ' post='71880' date='Nov 19 2009, 05:10 AM']Can I have just a hello kitty version please now? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sideways:' />[/quote]

It actually just may be possible. I, of course, refuse to do it for anyone; however, if the song is merely the single just with Hello Kitty's voice tacked on, then you can modify the same process that produces those "vocal-only" Morning Musume songs.



Theoretically it would go: "Hello Kitty version" minus "Normal version" which should allow only Hello Kitty's voice to remain and nothing else. Then you could add that result to the Instrumental track, and voilà... a sad Mano-less version.