Hello! Project 2009 Winter Wonderful Hearts Koen - Kakumei Gannen - / Elder Club Koen - Thank you for your LOVE! -

This 2-disc box set contains the first two Hello! Project winter concerts from January 2009: "Wonderful Hearts," featuring Morning Musume, Berryz, C-ute and the other younger acts, and Elder Club, featuring the older solo stars and former MM members, from Yuko, Nacchi and Yuki to Aya, Miki and Rika. Both concerts are filled with great stuff and are highly recommended. The girls all look and sound great and the many costume changes are quite dazzling. The Wonderful Hearts concert is full of high energy and fast-paced numbers with the younger girls singing and dancing up a storm. In contrast, the Elder Club is a little softer, more emotional and somewhat low-key, but filled with heartfelt singing by some of H!P's greatest performers. Wonderful Hearts (112 min.) suffers from some sugary anime-themed acts in its first 30 min., but it picks up steam and hits its groove at the 52-min. mark with MM's "Naichau Kamo." Highlights: A new take on "Mr. Moonlight" with Ai Takahashi taking the male role and singing to a group of girls selected from Berryz, C-ute and the H!P Eggs. MM's first live performance of "Naichau Kamo," which debuted as a single the next month. A truly great dance piece. "Mikan," with MM joined by Risako from Berryz and Maimi from C-ute, who sing the leads and do a fine job. A recreation of ZYX's "Shiroi Tokyo," with Risa taking on Mari's role, joined by five members of Berryz and C-ute who weren't in the original ZYX. Maimi's solo. Wow! The Elder Club concert (126 min.) is one of the last times these women will all be performing together and it colors the choice of material and the performing style. The show opens with "I Wish" and closes with "Never Forget," which tells you what the emotional tone is like. Highlights: Ten former members of MM do several songs together. They include Asami Konno and Makoto Ogawa, as well as Miki Fujimoto and Kaori Iida. The other six are Yuko, Nacchi, Kei, Mari, Yossi and Rika. The medley includes "Love Machine," on which five of those present originally performed. Reunions of Tanpopo, Pucchimoni & Biyuden and a recreation of Aoiro 7. Yuki and Atsuko belt out "Magic of Love." Melon Kinenbi performs a few songs including "Give Me Up," which was sung by W on their first album. There is no backstage footage on either disc in the set. The full Elder Club graduation special is on another DVD set and I'll review that when I get it.