Zac and Souki Discuss Mikitty's Voice

Each time a new person is introduced, I'm going to go ahead and do a quick profile so the readers will know who I'm talking to. First off is Souki. I've known him for a good while, but only really became close friends with him in the last couple years or so. He is most definitely NOT a Hello! Project fan. He likes some of the songs I've thrown at him (Souda! We're Alive and Mr. Moonlight, as examples), but for the most part, he thinks it's pretty lame (he likes progressive rock, if that says anything). He and I actually spend a pretty decent amount of time discussing H!P and related matters, so there should be a lot of him on here. And about his screen name...I let everyone on here pick their own SNs for confidentiality's sake, and he chose CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT. Whatever, I guess... XD

I'll also be dating any conversations I post, to keep the progression of my H!P fandom in perspective.

In keeping with the spirit of my last post, this is me trying to convince Souki that Mikitty's voice is something special.

January 18th, 2008
CatchFiveBats: Fujimoto Miki's voice is awesome.
CatchFiveBats: Or, rather...I love her voice.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I'm noticing a pattern with J pop singers...
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: With the exception of Utada and Ayu...they sound very same-ish.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: and Yasuko (lead singer of Japanese noisecore group Melt-Banana - why he said this, I don't know)
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: but she doesn't count.
CatchFiveBats: She's got a pretty original voice, in my opinion.
CatchFiveBats: Miki, that is.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I dunno, maybe I'm just not listening to female Jpop enough or something
CatchFiveBats: Well, of course you aren't.
CatchFiveBats: XD
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: but everything that isn't Ayu or Utada sounds very similar to me XD
CatchFiveBats: Miki's voice has a very different quality compared to Ayaya.
CatchFiveBats: For a fact.
CatchFiveBats: Ayaya's is much younger sounding.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: And nasally
CatchFiveBats: That's the only difference I can put into words.
CatchFiveBats: There are others.
CatchFiveBats: Either way, I'm in love with Mikitty right now.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Mikitty?
CatchFiveBats: Fujimoto Miki.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Ah.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: By Ayu, I referred to Ayumi Hamasaki, you know that right?
CatchFiveBats: Yes.
CatchFiveBats: But seriously, I'm infatuated with Mikitty's voice right now.
CatchFiveBats: You can thank Shabondama.
CatchFiveBats: But that songs just owns anyway.
CatchFiveBats: I've just noticed over the last couple days that she's really, really hot when she's singing.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Heh
CatchFiveBats: I think it's the first time I've been turned on by someone's musical ability.
CatchFiveBats: Or...whatever you want to call it.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Hahah
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Usually it turns me on only when it's the one girl in the group full of guys.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Like Maki from HandMC.
CatchFiveBats: Ah.
CatchFiveBats: Yeah.
CatchFiveBats: I dunno, Mikitty is pretty tough to beat right now, in my mind.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Mmmm I'll hear it better tomorrow
CatchFiveBats: Yeah.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: but yeah...it feels to me as though every Jpop singer has a very very similar voice
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: but
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: one thing's for sure...
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: when we go to Japan, we're going to a Maid cafe.
CatchFiveBats: We need to.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: totally.


A few days later...

January 21st, 2008
CatchFiveBats: ONE DEFINITE UNIQUE FEATURE OF FUJIMOTO MIKI'S VOICE:
CatchFiveBats: vibrato
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: One of the few with vibrato.
CatchFiveBats: Most of the notes she holds out are vibrato.
CatchFiveBats: Her voice is also a little lower than most others.
CatchFiveBats: And it's got a fairly unique timbre, but I doubt anyone would notice it unless they listened to J-Pop a lot.
CatchFiveBats: But the first two are definitely noticeable.
CatchFiveBats: All three of those traits combined = sex for my ears.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Then again...you don't really listen to a lot of Jpop....it's Momusu, Berryz, Matsuura Aya, and W or something or the other that is H!P.
CatchFiveBats: Well, yeah.
CatchFiveBats: I will say it doesn't vary too much musically.
CatchFiveBats: BUT
CatchFiveBats: There's a good variety of voices in all the members.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I'm not gonna pretend I'm a connoisseur or anything, but it just feels to me like her voice isn't that unique, if at all. Even by H!P standards.....
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I dunno
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: it's like
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I can't hear any given one individually for more than two seconds.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: so they all wind up sounding extremely similar.
CatchFiveBats: Well...I will say that generally, within groups, H!P tends to release fairly similar songs in close proximity to each other (time-wise).
CatchFiveBats: But, if you start to separate the singles by 5 or 6, there's definite differences musically.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: yeah, just like with anything
CatchFiveBats: And yeah, if you just listen to the single a-sides, you don't catch much.
CatchFiveBats: Voice-wise.
CatchFiveBats: But on b-sides and album-only tracks, you get a pretty good feel for how each member sounds.
CatchFiveBats: Also, watching the videos and paying attention to who sings what when helps you to identify voices too.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: But if it's gonna be that subtle of a difference, that the only way I can tell it's Miki is by listening to the whole group endlessly....then she's still not all that unique sounding to me...
CatchFiveBats: Well, regardless, I think her voice is fantastic.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: That's fine, I was just clarifying my view
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: XD
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: her voice IS good
CatchFiveBats: Maybe not super-unique, but there's something special about it that I really, really like.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Mmmm
CatchFiveBats: She does have a voice that stands out a little from the rest, though.
CatchFiveBats: If you're familiar with the rest, anyway.
CatchFiveBats: It's like people saying that all asians look the same.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Yeah
CatchFiveBats: You just have to gain a sense of familiarity with the group.
CatchFiveBats: Then you begin to be able to distinguish.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Yeah
CatchFiveBats: Whether it be members of Momusu, or members of the Japanese race.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I dunno, for me, for something to be honest-to-god unique, I have to know what it is from a mile away.
CatchFiveBats: You get my drift.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: at least musically
CatchFiveBats: Yeah.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: yeah
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: Like
CatchFiveBats: I get what you mean.
CatchFiveBats: And I'm not saying I disagree.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I know Akihito Okano ANYWHERE.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: I know Ayu ANYWHERE.
CatchFiveBats: But, for me, right now, her voice is incredibly unique and special.
CantSpellShotaWithoutHOT: But I just can't spot Fujimoto Miki half the time.

Bit of an abrupt end, I know, but from that point the conversation had nothing to do with Miki.
- cfb