9th May 2008, 05:58 PM
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SAKURA Initiate
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 30,030
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from JPM
report of kuu's tour:
Quote:
Back from her show. I gotta say it wasn't bad at all. Some of you might remember my scathing review of her "Second Session" tour last year - either she got better this time around, or I've come to expect less from her, lol. Anyway, the concert was divided into four segments:
(1) Arabian Outfit / Dark Castle: Upbeat, ero-kakkoi dance numbers
(2) Blond Har & White Dress / Light Castle: Ballads
(3) Tacky Rainbow Outfit / Rainbow Castle: Cutesy, ero-kawaii songs
(4) Wannabe Urban / Regular Castle: Encore medley, "Moon," "Walk," etc.
(1) was surprisingly good 'cause Kuu actually tried dancing this time, and she had a Namie moment with the stripper poles. I dunno why she wore the Arabian get-up, though, 'cause she didn't do any of her "Arabian" songs ("Shake It," "Candy," "Get it On," "Amai Wana"). (2) was pretty good (if not also overly melodramatic) and featured the "get-a-girl-from-the-audience" section. The girl picked "Rain" and just sat there as Kuu sang to her. She didn't react nearly as much as the girl they picked last year. (3) was the segment I dreaded the most, and Kuu didn't fail to be tacky as hell. She sang "Wonderland" while floating in the air running against a cheesy LCD backdrop, and "It's a Small World" was a complete "WTF?" moment. (4) was interesting when she was doing her medley of four or five songs. Then she started talking. And talking. And talking. "Moon" was boring as expected, and she cried during "Walk" as expected.
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- The castle set was really detailed and well-done, and the "Kingdom" theme was pretty consistent throughout.
- Special effects galore. Lots of Kuu flying around and lots of sparks in (1).
- The catwalk-like substage extending into and surrounding the floor seats was well-utilized, and Kuu spent a significant amount of time during (2) singing to the back half of the audience.
- Kuu actually tried dancing. It was mainly in (1), but it wasn't as half-assed as usual.
- Her vocals were great as usual, and she cut down on the god-awful ad-libs.
- "Hands" was my favorite performance of the night. She was singing to the "shadow" of one of her dancers (actually a projection on mist) who kept disappearing whenever she looked back at it or tried to embrace it. It was a bit over-the-top cheesy, but the effect was achieved.
- The videos before the encore were a "Where's Waldo?"-like game to find Kuu hidden amongst a bunch of other people in random places (train station, street, Shibuya crossing, etc.). The final round showed the arena, and cameras panned the audience until Kuu popped out of nowhere to start her encore. It was pretty creative, IMO.
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- Kuu's cheesy smiling ruined a lot of the sexy moments in (1). Who smiles like a clown while riding a stripper pole?
- (3) was disgusting. It was expected, though, so what can I say?
- Kuu wouldn't stop with the FAKE crying. Like I said last time, she always pretends to cry and does that crying voice thing, but no tears ever come out and she quickly goes back into her regular voice. It's really fake and tacky, and she did this at least three or four times throughout the show.
- She wouldn't shut the **** up. At least she kept it shorter than last time, when she almost talked for a full hour.
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