Whoops, thought I posted this on Monday! My bad! Have a Merry Christmas everyone!
Yes, part 1. I recently sat down and thought of all the songs that I’d consider to be my favorites of the year. I wondered if I’d be able to get to 25. I hit 47.
As such, I’m doing a fairly lengthy honorable mentions section. These are all songs I think are good, but not quite the best of the year. These are songs that made an impression on me, perhaps due to their artist, but never reached the top 25 level. This section in particular is　songs that I wasn’t really considering but are good or memorable in one way or the other.
Kimi no Heart ni Tokihanatsu – Doll Elements
This song is pretty typical idol, and the verse isn’t particularly great. However this is one of those songs that gets stuck in my head all the time, and the chorus is catchy enough that it’s remained memorable. Even after covering all 111 Tokyo Idol Festival acts, this song remained memorable for me. While I try to cover each act as well as I can, there gets to be a point when all the groups start to bleed together. Kimi no Heart ni Tokihanatsu isn’t even particularly interesting, but it’s just catchy and fun, and made me remember an otherwise not that memorable act.
Toshishita no Otoko no Ko – Candy Macchiato
I would have actually put this on my top 25 list, but realized it’s a cover. Nevertheless it’s a cover of a fantastic song and a really well done cover, modernizing the song without trying too hard. It’s really great, and impressed me.
Ume – Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku
Ume came out at the beginning of the year. It seemed like it would be a given for me; Hyadain plus a Stardust group. And this is really a great song. However, there was just so many good songs this year, including great Ebichu songs, that I couldn’t even fully consider Ume among the top. Still, it’s energetic, fun, and fully Hyadain. So naturally I approve.
Ichigo Hakase – Tochiotome25
GYO-ZA Party – Tochiotome25
Tochiotome25 was one of the groups I discovered this year during my Tokyo Idol Festival coverage. And I’m pretty impressed by how fun these two songs are, and I’ve listened to them a fair amount. However, they aren’t quite good enough to hit that top 25. They aren’t really polished and they’re not interesting beyond being super high in energy and utterly fun. So while I adore Ichigo Hakase and GYO-ZA Party, they don’t quite make it into my top favorites.
Asian Celebration – Berryz Koubou
It seems like every year a Berryz Koubou song makes my honorable mentions list. Asian Celebration is just fun, energetic, and very danceable. Even though Berryz is the group I follow least in Hello!Project and I’ve lost most of my interest in the group, Asian Celebration was the one song that made me buy it (off itunes) and play it a lot. And since I have such a low interest in Berryz, that’s significant in itself.
Samurai Girls – Up Up Girls (Kakko Kari)
Up Up Girls is one of those groups I want to follow more. I mean, Sekine Azusa is in there. However, to be honest, most of the music I find to be underwhelming at best. I like some of it but I’m rarely wowed. Up Up Typhoon was the song that got a lot of people’s attention, but Samurai Girls was my favorite Up Up Girls song of the year. I like the mixture of the electronic sound and the heavier beat; this is a type of thing we don’t often hear from idol groups. I mean, the whole electronic/dance song has been popular, but this heavier beat/darker sound feels unusual. It’s much more of a dance track than a lot of the other electronic idol songs out there. I normally don’t gravitate to this sort of thing, but something about Samurai Girls appeals to me.
Birthday Wedding -Kashiwagi Yuki
I didn’t think I liked this song. I’m not sure if I even do now. But I’ve gotten “Tanjoubi ni kekkon shiyou” stuck in my head countless times since Birthday Wedding came out. It’s one of those songs that I have a weird affection for, even if I’m not sure if I think it’s any good.
Yoropiku Pikuyoro – Bakusute Sotokanda Icchoume
While Bakusute’s best song will always be, IMO, Produce, their second indie single Yoropiku Pikuyoro is also up there. It’s just so manic and frantic in its pace and energy level that I can’t help but love this.
Nogizaka46 – Girls’ Rule
I liked a lot of Nogizaka stuff this year, but there was nothing that really grabbed me like Hashire Bicycle (which was in my top 5 songs of last year!) However, Girls’ Rule came pretty close; it has a great chorus and the arrangement is quite good. I’m also very fond of the PV, but hey, separate lists. The way that the instrumental leads into the sung parts, though, is pretty great. It’s not quite enough of an earworm or interesting enough to