Welcome back! It’s that time of year again where I talk about the Kenshuusei Test and this one may be the shortest/smallest turn out since its inception! There’s a couple reasons though (the KSS Unit ’23 did not partake in the test) which left us with 8 members to sing! Kind of a bummer, but it’s what it is…Like last year, they had to perform twice, once with a selection from the company and the other, their own. So I’m curious to where these 8 stands (since 5 of them are new to me)!
- Hinoha Yoshida (Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai) – Starting with the company’s selections, Hinoha kicks things off with this classic Berryz Kobo tune! I can tell she’s getting better bit by bit here, her vocals can now hit more of the high notes correctly, but maybe it’s me but that dance made her sound out of breath and it’s only the first performance of the evening :0. Like I said, there’s improvement, but there’s more that she can still do.
- Niina Hayashi (Adrenaline Dame) – One of the three newest Kenshuusei, I was surprised at how quick they were to jump into the test considering it’s not been a long time yet. Out of the 3 though, Hayashi has quite a good sound to her voice and was able to keep up with this wild Tsubaki Factory song. My only thing I noticed is that she feels low energy in both power in her vocals (despite sounding good at it) and her dancing is a little too careful. Of course training will fix that up, so hopefully next year, she’ll be more confident in performing!
- Toa Makino (Nakanai ze…Kyoukan Sagi) – Oh this was not the performance to have here. I’m not sure, but Toa just didn’t do well for me here. She felt lost almost the entire way and she was flat-lining the chorus for what this ANGERME song is, is pretty bad to say the least. She’s got a LOT of training ahead to get where she needs to be, but since she’s the 2nd of the newbies, I can’t put too much blame on her lack of skills at the moment.
- Yukiho Shimoitani (SHALL WE LOVE?) – I wonder why this song is so popular as a choice? Anyways, Yukiho’s performance of the song isn’t the worst luckily, but she does tend to sound honky at places which in turn makes her sound flat in her performance. Though I do like the potential she has from her booming voice, she’s got lots to bring and I can’t wait to see what more she can do!
- Soara Kawano (Swing Swing Paradise) – Interesting choice since it’s the most recent song from the selections. Last of the newbies, Kawano did OK in her performance of this song. She’s got the typical first timer voice where it’s passable, but there could be more training involved. I think she did OK here, but not the best.
- Mifu Kawashima (SHALL WE LOVE?) – Like the difference between Yukiho and Mifu’s take on the same song was like night and day for me. I definitely think Mifu killed it here in this song with power and skills together. There are some vocals twitches here and there, but I think she had the best performance out of the first 8 here. Also, she kind of looks like Manaka Inaba here…?
- Hana Goto (Anata Nashi de wa Ikite Yukenai) – Although, I would say Hana’s performance of Berryz’ debut was just on par with Mifu’s performance. She sounded really strong and her dancing was more on point than I felt with Hinoha’s take. It’s hard because I know Mifu has the technicals down, but Hana had the notes and power. Hard to say which one did better by far as both kind of gave great tests here!
- Rena Kamimura (Adrenaline Dame) – Huh, considering she’s been a KSS for a bit of a year, Rena got beaten out by Niina in her performance of Adrenaline Dame. For whatever reason, Rena sounds a bit more rough around the edges vocally, though she does better in the dance moves. Not bad, but also not the best either.
Moving onto the member-chosen part of the test
- Hinoha Yoshida (Massara Blue Jeans) – You know what, she’s kind of surprising me here. Just from listening to this, she does have that certain Maimi Yajima vibes here with her deeper voice, but somehow hits those high notes too, it’s just that she’s bellowing a lot in the song and that’s distracting. Like I said, I see the improvements happening and she looked like she had fun with this one!
- Soara Kawano (Koko ni Iruzee!) – I feel like Soara kind of tanked on this one. She felt a little too slow for the song and she kind of lacked the energy for it (especially dancing). Vocally she sounded faitgued and was lagging behind the actual pace of the song too…it was a difficult listen, but she tried to keep up.
- Mifu Kawashima (Kanashiki Heaven) – Powerful performance, same thoughts I had when she did her “SHALL WE LOVE?” very decent, albeit some spots of vocal pops, but Mifu pulled off the end of the chorus quite powerfully here. All in all, great one!
- Yukiho Shimoitani (Adam to Eve no Dilemma) – Same thing, Yukiho has a powerful voice going on, it’s just that she’s flat for a good portion of the performance. Still a decent performance, maybe a bit better than her “SHALL WE LOVE?”. More training could do her real well moving forward!
- Niina Hayashi (Beat no Wakusei) – With how new she is, I was surprised that Niina held her own for Beat no Wakusei. It wasn’t the best of the bunch, but she’s definitely someone to keep watch on as her voice is clear and loud. She’s pretty young too, so I’m expecting great things coming from her in the future!
- Hana Goto (Be Alive) – I was happily surprised with Hana’s Be Alive. She sounded stable and kept it smooth and overall was really nice. Vocally might be my favorite performance of the evening for sure!
- Toa Makino (Renai Revolution 21) – And then we slide to the otherside with the worst performance out of Toa. Her Renai Revolution 21 felt just as dead and messy like her “Nakanai ze…” She definitely had a few moments where she tried for other notes, but once again it was mostly flatlined. I don’t even think Rin Hashisako and Yulia Matsubara was this rough in the beginning…
- Rena Kamimura (Ame no Naka no Kuchibue) – I will say that Rena did a much better job doing this song than she did with her “Adrenaline Dame”. Her lighter flow was a lot more controlled and pretty to listen to, I’m more surprised at the song choice since it’s so recent and such. Rena upped her game here and it did very well!
========WINNERS=======
- Runner-up: Hana Goto
- Winner: Mifu Kawashima
Kind of bummed that the different awards were dropped entirely, it’s a little shocking how this Test felt altogether really. Only 8 members participating (the 5 in the KSS Unit ’23 were left off) which means they’ll be debuting sometime soon here so it felt quite short altogether. Honestly, I thought Goto did better than Kawashima, but the latter did do more difficult songs so I can understand why she won. Hayashi is someone to look out for in the future. Shimoitani, Kamimura, Yoshida are debut level, just need some more push and training and Kawano has still got the greenness going. The one member I’m not even considering for debut is Toa Makino because she straight up is the weakest member right now and she needs a LOT of vital training moving forward. Good year, but feels empty at the same time…
Iroppoi Twilight Game 
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