don't leave me this way

The number of views for my previous entries is very pleasing . . . more than expected! Thank you to everyone who has looked at them. I'd like to continue with this volume . . .

I'd like to start off by addressing one of my top five idol stars: Ayaka Nagate, formerly known as Ayaka Kimura. For those who aren't familiar with Ayaka, she joined Hello! Project as a member of Coconuts Musume. As the only Coconut who was fully bilingual, the responsibility fell to her to be the interpreter. When Coconuts Musume debuted, she seemed intimidated by Morning Musume. She had the body language of a painfully shy person. Well, Coconuts only met with limited success. They had just a small number of singles and no albums.

Anyway, at some point, someone (Tsunku?) had the idea of starting a series of short films of Ayaka trying to teach English to the other girls in Hello! Project, expectially the members of Morning Musume. This series was called "Ayaka's Surprise English Lessons," (ASEL). You should check these out on YouTube if you haven't seen them yet. When I first discovered them, I became addicted. I would watch a few episodes of ASEL, and think, "OK, just one more . . . " Well, then I would watch another 45 minutes worth! The episodes are quite short, like 5 minutes each. Typically, they entail Ayaka approaching one of the members of MM in a stealty way. Then, she'd say something like, "I thought we would learn English together!" They were usually quite funny, because the members of MM tended to be awful at English . . . anyway. . . you just have to see it. There was one memorable episode of ASEL where Ayaka was giving a quiz to Ai Kago. She (Aibon) got the sentence almost right, but just couldn't complete it. "What kind of desert . . . " and she couldn't think of "do you have?" Ayaka had to deny the prize, a nice desert, from Aibon, and Aibon was chasing her around with a spoon . . . hilarious!

The members of Coconuts Musume gradually drifted away, Lehua Sandbo (Nahina) in 2001 and Mika Todd in 2004. By 2005, when they made "All for One and One for All," Ayaka was the only Coconut left. She maintained a cheerful attitude and a happy demeanor, however. She seemed genuinely elated to be included. In their time in H!P, Ayaka became close friends with Mai Satoda. They are friends to this day. I saw a live video of Ayaka and Mai doing a duet. (I can't remember the song, but they were wearing skimpy, gold and white outfits. Maybe you have seen it.) They looked super sexy, and danced well, too.

I think that Ayaka should have been given more opportunities when she was in H!P. She is one idol star who noticeably and steadily improved in her singing over her H!P tenure. I have seen a couple of videos of her singing solo ("Monkey Magic" and "Love Squall"), and they were quite good. She always did a good job in shuffle groups, too. Anyway, she graduated from H!P in April, 2008, with no graduation concert. In July, 2008, she married a pro golfer. They have a son who is ~2 years old. I think it would be great if her husband was in a tournament in Southern California. If at all possible, I would go and try to find her and meet her . That would be like a dream come true!
In a previous post, I indicated that once an idol star starts to have kids, I lose interest. In the case of Ayaka, however, that didn't happen. She is the exception. She is so good looking, in every way. She seems so nice and friendly, too. (I have to keep reminding myself that idols play up to the camera, and we can't know how they really are, personality-wise.) I guess the fact that she speaks English makes her particularly attractive to me, too. I think I could make a connection with her, if she would let me, ha ha!

While I'm on the topic, one thing that bothers me is when the stars with kids publish photos of them, and they obscure the face of the kid. Ayaka does that. Aibon, Nono, and Yuko Nakazawa do it, too. (I understand why they do it, but I just don't think it is necessary, and it is irritating. The only one who I can think of who doesn't do it is Miki Fujimoto. This is another indicator of how bad-ass Miki is. She's like, "Well, this is my kid. I have nothing to hide. I'm not afraid of anything." I admire that in Miki.

One last thing, Asuka Hinoi's birthday was yesterday. She just turned 23. She is supposed to be on TV mini-series (mystery) this year in Japan. It is called "Nazo no tenkôsei." Let's keep supporting Asuka Hinoi ! For some reason, I worry about her . . .