Petit Best (Pucchi Best) 11

There are no great songs in this collection, but no bad ones either and the videos are, at least, all pretty much fun to watch. The highlights, of course, are the Berryz Kobo and C-ute videos, esp. BK's "Maji Bomber!!" and C-ute's "Dance de Bakon!" These girls are all at the peak of their powers and anything they do with lots of dancing is a winner. The Morning Musume girls are at their most glamorous in "Onna ga Medatte Naze Ikenai" and the PV is full of gorgeous closeups (esp. Risa!). MM's "Seishun Collection" is the catchiest song of the bunch and the video is pleasant even if the choreography is unimaginative. Erina Mano sings a nice song, "Onegai Dakara..." but the video is filled with awfully distracting backstage footage of her clowning around in different costumes. Her other video, "Genkimono de Ikou!" looks like a commercial for some kind of energy drink and features a boatload of actors playing ad agency types. I didn't get it. The four girls of S/mileage prove to be delightful performers in their two videos. They each do some Charlie Chaplin schtick in "Yumemiru Fifteen" and in the second one, "Bijin Mama," they have some attractive costume changes. The guest star in "Bijin Mama" is none other than former MM member Nozomi "Nono" Tsuji. What a thrill to see her again in one of these collections. (As I write this, she's in a hospital in Japan nursing her brand-new baby who was born December 26.) There are three anime-themed videos and two of them feature clips from their shows. The Guardians 4 (Aika, Yurina, Saki N., and Risako) sing "Going On!" from "Shugo Chara! Party!" And, as Lilpri, three of the four girls from S/mileage, Yuuka, Kanon, and Ayaka, sing the theme song from "Lilpri" (short for "Little Princess"), with anime clips included. Anime clips are necessary so we can know the sources of these videos and compare the girls with their anime counterparts. Lilpri has a second video, "Idolulu," with no anime clips, but the three are so awesomely cute and perky in their anime costumes that I was pleased anyway. The DVD closes with a solo song from BK's Risako Sugaya, "Elegant Girl." I want more solos from this girl. In fact, I want a whole album. Other than the silent cameo from Nono, there are no Elder Club members on this DVD. There are 15 tracks, but only nine of them are on the CD version, which has another four tracks that are not on this DVD.