Nakajima Saki's 1st PB "NACKY"

[tsukinobyouin]

It's out, and it has given us a new Miki-and-the-Puddle:



[quote name='mEri' post='72822' date='Dec 9 2009, 12:09 AM']



LOL

Very witty, H!P photogs.[/quote]





More pictures:





The one of her in the white dress is actually very pretty, I just wish they'd taken it with her in front of a fountain or even just the empty field, rather than in front of running sprinklers. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':pouty:' />

[Cyrene]

First off, I thought her PB was called TACKY.



Second, these pictures are bland. I don't know what it is, maybe there is a reason she never had a PB before. She just doesn't scream IDOL to me and doesn't stand out. Though she kind of looks like Nacchi in that last close up picture!

[AEUGNewtype]

Holy GOD these look awesome, I love her to death. I downloaded the making of DVD but haven't watched it yet, I can't wait. It's funny just the other day in the Risako thread I was talking about how Saki needed a book, my wish came true!

[Purin-chama]

Normally she looks awkward in pictures even in the group PBs C-ute has had, but these are looking better for her. I was actually surprised by it.

[Joel]

She actually looks great in some of them... She kinda reminds me of Toda Erika in the last pic. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[Tallgeese]

[quote name='Joel' post='72924' date='Dec 10 2009, 04:00 PM']She actually looks great in some of them... She kinda reminds me of Toda Erika in the last pic. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />[/quote]



Yeah, her face is really similar to Toda Erika's. Anyway, from the HPK audition, I never would have guessed she would grow up to be this pretty.

[Noa]

She looks so awkward to me. I don't really like any of the shots other than the sprinkler one.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Myst' post='72923' date='Dec 10 2009, 10:00 PM']Normally she looks awkward in pictures even in the group PBs C-ute has had, but these are looking better for her. I was actually surprised by it.[/quote]



She looks far more adorable when she doesn't try to push the smiling.

[eri]

CUTE.



My view of horsey-child has changed completely.



Even if the PB is same old, same old, I'm just amazed at how cute she is. Was she always like this? I agree with everyone else who has expressed pleased and confused surprise.



And just to reiterate...

Very witty photograph <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



[quote name='neshcom' post='72876' date='Dec 9 2009, 05:07 PM'][quote name='EmEl' post='72874' date='Dec 9 2009, 08:06 PM'][quote name='mEri' post='72822' date='Dec 8 2009, 11:09 PM'][crotch shadow pic]



LOL

Very witty, H!P photogs.[/quote]

Oh, god, I have to imagine the angle of the shadow was an unintended consequence, but that looks so unprofessional that the shadow is even in the shot.

[/quote]

Wait, that's what was funny about that? I thought it was the "do fish breathe" link... <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /pouty.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[/quote]



It is funny because in the shadows, the photographer looks like he's taking a photo directly of her crotch. They *must* have left that in on purpose! This probably not an intended allusion, but the first thing that popped into my head was Fragonard's The Swing painting. It shows this idyllic image of a girl swinging in a tree with her legs kicking up and her boyfriend lying beneath her in the grass. Of course, if you really think about it, the boyfriend is pointing right at her crotch as it is exposed by her swinging haha.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='mEri' post='72932' date='Dec 10 2009, 06:45 PM']Was she always like this?[/quote]

Pretty much, yeah. She's just grown into the size of her mouth in the last year or so. It still looks big, but it used to be much more unproportional. And other parts of her have obviously grown as well *cough* but she has always been that cute, and her personality is just as much so.

[thamychan]

Saki can look so beautiful when they want her to... Though, that is not the case for the whole photobook but I'm happy she finally got one. I love the cover <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> , it reminds me a little of Koharu's last one. Now where is Captain's?

[EmEl]

She definitely looks a lot better than she used to. Tokaikko Junjou was the first PV I saw when I decided to try to figure out the C-ute girls, and the first time I saw it I definitely decided I didn't like her face or voice. I kind of knew at the time, however, if I knew her in real life she would be one of those people that I dislike at first but later grow to love. I'm still undecided, but she has a nice little smile in some of these pictures which is amazing considering what it used to look like.

[Shoujo Q]

Here are some more photos from Saki N's photobook.









I'm not a very big photobook "reader" but I do have a pretty good memory so when I was looking at all the images I was struck by how similiar they are to past H!P photobooks. Mainly Airi, Sayumi and Konno. Which makes me wonder if they were all shot by the same photographer or a new one that was using old H!P photobooks as a reference? I mean the one with Saki at the school desk makes me think of Konno, the one with Saki jumping in the air with the yellow bikini on makes me think of Sayumi and the one with her in the braided pigtails makes me think of Airi. The one with her in the polka dot bikini and the pink inner tube looks familiar too but I can't decide if it reminds me of Sayumi or Reina.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='PQ' post='72956' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:34 AM'][lots of pictures]



I'm not a very big photobook "reader" but I do have a pretty good memory so when I was looking at all the images I was struck by how similiar they are to past H!P photobooks. Mainly Airi, Sayumi and Konno. Which makes me wonder if they were all shot by the same photographer or a new one that was using old H!P photobooks as a reference? I mean the one with Saki at the school desk makes me think of Konno, the one with Saki jumping in the air with the yellow bikini on makes me think of Sayumi and the one with her in the braided pigtails makes me think of Airi. The one with her in the polka dot bikini and the pink inner tube looks familiar too but I can't decide if it reminds me of Sayumi or Reina.[/quote]



She looks really pretty in the one where she's sitting down on the sand and the braided pigtails one. She reminds me of Kaori in that last one (and a few of the ones I post too). As for it looking like past H!P photobooks....that's just how H!P photobooks go. They all use the same themes and poses over and over, which are probably the same themes and poses used in other idol PBs.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='TnB' post='72957' date='Dec 11 2009, 07:55 AM']As for it looking like past H!P photobooks....that's just how H!P photobooks go. They all use the same themes and poses over and over, which are probably the same themes and poses used in other idol PBs.[/quote]

I was gonna say the same thing but didn't want to type it.

[EmEl]

I'm sure the books having a H!P-style is mostly true, but it's most likely simplifying the matter when put that way. If any of us were connoisseurs of photobooks, I'm sure we might be able to discern their styles in the same way that we can often tell the arranger of a song due to his idiosyncrasies. I'm willing to bet it's the same way that we can tell the differences of H!P music as a subset of idol music as a subset of pop music through our experiences, but an "outsider" with a lack of experience of listening to the genre as much as we do would be hard-pressed to even understand enough to hear the difference between an H!P song and a Hamasaki Ayumi song or something. "It all sounds the same" is a complaint that is only used when one hasn't invested any time in a genre. I know I've had to reconsider a preconceived notion of "it's all the same" multiple times in my life for many different types of things (not just restricted to music).



The photographer of this book is Nemoto Yoshinobu, and perhaps a style could be found if I cared enough to study a photobook to compare to photographers of other books. But who knows, I barely touch the things. But I guess to actually address some of PQ's questions, this guy seems to have been doing H!P books for a while (amongst other things), an early example being Yoshizawa's 2001 book. He has photographed Reina a couple times though, including her polka-dot bikini in Very Reina.



Of course, I suppose I'm probably being ridiculous. I guess photos will always be about boobs and butts as much as music will always be about love.

[AEUGNewtype]

Does anyone else notice how in the closeup with the intertube, if you look really close and zoom in on her bikini top, the whole thing looks photoshopped for one reason or another. If you look at the little frilly things in the bust area, the shadows they're casting look completely unnatural and the whole thing just looks fake for some reason. Maybe they originally had a slightly more revealing top and wanted to cover it up? Or maybe there just turned out to be a few small imperfections that they thought they could touch up with a quick Photoshop, I dunno.

[eri]

[quote name='PQ' post='72956' date='Dec 11 2009, 02:34 AM']I'm not a very big photobook "reader" but I do have a pretty good memory so when I was looking at all the images I was struck by how similiar they are to past H!P photobooks.[/quote]



Despite all of my typical complaints, I LOVE PBs and will agree that there is a certain standard repeated continuously. Recently, I put a PB image comparison in some thread where you can actually see that the poses, settings, etc are nearly identical. It isn't just H!P but most idol books have the same categories: school, formal, bikini, and casual. As these are mainstream commercial works and not like, self-commenting ironic works of art, I don't think it is even a matter of discerning PBs by photographer's "style."



[quote name='The☆AEUGNewtype' post='72964' date='Dec 11 2009, 09:25 AM']the whole thing looks photoshopped. Maybe they originally had a slightly more revealing top and wanted to cover it up? Or maybe there just turned out to be a few small imperfections that they thought they could touch up with a quick Photoshop, I dunno.[/quote]



Yeah it looks like a flat wall of flesh! I saw that too. I'd wager 2 things:

1. They wanted to smooth her skin out and photoshopped out her breastbone! and

2. She is actually rather flat chested (it is the bikini with padding) so that when they smoothed out her skin, they exacerbated the visual sense of unnatural flatness inbetween the two boobs.

[eri]

I knew we had this conversation here before because this took me like an hour to compile <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



http://mm-bbs.org/index.php?showtopic=2792...amp;#entry69731



http://mm-bbs.org/index.php?showtopic=2792...amp;#entry69741

[EmEl]

[quote name='mEri' post='72966' date='Dec 11 2009, 12:46 PM']As these are mainstream commercial works and not like, self-commenting ironic works of art, I don't think it is even a matter of discerning PBs by photographer's "style."[/quote]

How is that fundamentally any different than a pop song, which I think we would all agree is both commercial and yet is completely able to possess a certain style? Perhaps my education has been far too much of one in the liberal arts because I think I've half-convinced myself (in the last few hours) that the photographers at least try to have some sort of attempt at artistry in their photo shoots and that I'm just too ignorant to see it.

[thamychan]

[quote name='mEri' post='72967' date='Dec 12 2009, 04:53 AM']I knew we had this conversation here before because this took me like an hour to compile <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



http://mm-bbs.org/index.php?showtopic=2792...amp;#entry69731



http://mm-bbs.org/index.php?showtopic=2792...amp;#entry69741[/quote]

Hahaha, it was nice rereading the conversation as I wasn't a part of it but I loved the second link's compilation! Well, at least they are imitating the good pictures there but they also copy the bad ones from time to time, unfortunately.



As for the PB being similar Airi's, Saki has been reminding me a little bit of Airi herself since she had her latest haircut or so, that also could be it.

[eri]

[quote name='EmEl' post='72968' date='Dec 11 2009, 10:57 AM'][quote name='mEri' post='72966' date='Dec 11 2009, 12:46 PM']As these are mainstream commercial works and not like, self-commenting ironic works of art, I don't think it is even a matter of discerning PBs by photographer's "style."[/quote]

How is that fundamentally any different than a pop song, which I think we would all agree is both commercial and yet is completely able to possess a certain style? Perhaps my education has been far too much of one in the liberal arts because I think I've half-convinced myself (in the last few hours) that the photographers at least try to have some sort of attempt at artistry in their photo shoots and that I'm just too ignorant to see it.

[/quote]



Artistry, sure. Personal style though? I am doubtful.



I think photography requires a sense of style, of course. Some H!P PB images are amazingly beautiful in compostion and we can usually attribute this to the skill of the photographer and his/her control of lighting, location, angles, processing etc. However, those personal choices are significantly limited by the industry. Idol photogs are hired to create "idol PBs" and there are certain standards and expectations both from consumers and the big-business people hiring the photographer.



My cousin is a designer for JCrew. Sure, she is a "designer" with her own artistic choices but everything is being geared and filtered through the corporate image of "J Crew." They want her to produce "J Crew" designs. You know?

[aine]

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='mEri' post='72966' date='Dec 11 2009, 01:46 PM']Yeah it looks like a flat wall of flesh! I saw that too. I'd wager 2 things:

1. They wanted to smooth her skin out and photoshopped out her breastbone! and

2. She is actually rather flat chested (it is the bikini with padding) so that when they smoothed out her skin, they exacerbated the visual sense of unnatural flatness inbetween the two boobs.[/quote]

I'm gonna say this is number 1, cause in the Alo-Hello! video that C-ute did a few months ago, its pretty apparent she's not flat-chested, but her breastbone does stick out a pretty decent amount. They've covered it up in most of these pictures, but it really didn't bother me in the first place, but you know they have to make these look as perfect as possible.