Debut Concert "Prolog -Otome no Inori-"

Hello! Project solo star/idol singer Erina Mano, formerly with Ongaku Gatas, is seen here in her debut solo concert, entitled "Debut Concert 'Prologue ~Otome no Inori~.'" She's got two gimmicks--she's impossibly cute and she plays the piano and keyboard. She sings the first two songs while accompanying herself on the piano. She later switches to a Yamaha keyboard, but only sits at the keyboard for the entirety of two numbers, including the finale, "Manopano." For the others, she just plays a few notes and then gets up to sing and dance, accompanied for most of them by a group of exceedingly cute and bouncy members of the Hello! Pro Eggs (four of whom went on to form the group, S/Mileage). There are only nine songs performed in this 67-minute concert. (One of the nine, "Sekai wa Summer Party," is repeated by a showing of the song's music video, which struck me as a bit of unnecessary padding.) Some of these songs are as impossibly catchy as Mano is cute. I'm a big fan of "Hajimete no Keiken" and "Lucky Aura," both of which are well presented here. "Manopiano" is a fun listen as well, and "Summer Party" is cute. The fourth song performed in the show, "Mizuiro Omoi," is nice also. Five memorable songs out of nine. Not bad. One of the songs she sings with the Eggs is an old Maki Goto song, "Scramble." The rest of the time is taken up with MC segments, most of which involve Noriko Kato, who I remember from a gig as MC at the Hello! Project 2003 winter concert. She's pretty but is stuck wearing a drab olive-green dress. Mano wears cute solo concert-style party dresses. They make her look younger than she is. Since I did this review, Mano has also done a solo CD album, "Friends," and another concert DVD, "Erina Mano First Concert Tour: 'Introduction Hajimete no Kandou,'" both of which I've also reviewed on this site. (I still don't understand why her first concert is called "Debut Concert" and her second is called "First Concert Tour: Introduction." What's the third going to be called? "Premiere Concert?") Of the nine songs performed in the Debut Concert, seven are also performed in the later concert. In any event, Mano just keeps getting better. And so do her dresses.