The Captain of Dance

Airi’s hypnotic air humps can put you in a trance; Maimi’s unorthodox neck-breaking style of dance makes the majority of the kids’ dances look weak and feeble...but there’s one girl who is as smooth as a baby’s bottom…

Even as mesmerising as Airi’s hips are and even though Massara isn’t a Berryz song, but within those few seconds of watching Captain dance to Massara Blue Jeans was enough to get me convinced that she is my favourite dancer out of all the girls in Hello! Project. Her smooth and sleek approach to such an aggressive song is unique, compared to her counterpart, the “other” Saki in C-ute who dances to Massara Blue Jeans with the flair of a girl who is trying to break her hip. Captain’s elongated hands stretching from her tip of her hand to her chest is all done in a relaxed and fluid motion compared to some other girls who do it half-assed or just put too much energy into such a simple and calm dance move which is supposed to build into the psychedelic and aggressive air-humps which fans enjoy so much.

Mind you, I love Nakasaki because her work ethic and effort surpasses most of the Hello! Project kids even though she does work “too hard” at times and does at times, go beyond the required amount of energy needed.

Natsu DOKI Lipstick is by far my favourite performance of the whole Berryz v C-ute Concert Battle. Words cannot describe how brilliant that performance was. Yes, Maimi was the vocals and she did a mighty fine job in hitting those notes as well as her usual approach to dancing. But what I more interested in was the back-up dancers, Captain and Nakasaki.

Nakasaki has to me, inherited Maimi’s dance style. Hard, fast and bold. Maimi and Nakasaki aren’t known for their laziness for their dances, and this performance proves my point. Both Maimi and Nakasaki are giving it their all, the pure passion of dancing is embedded in that performance.

Nakasaki’s dancing parts are more aggressive and bold compared to Captain’s. Captain has a difference approach to dancing compared to Maimi or Nakasaki. As aggressive as a song may be, she subtly takes the song apart and makes the song, oh very, very smooth.



Both Saki’s are in the same position. Both do not get enough lines, both aren’t as popular as Airi or Miyabi, both can’t sing as well as the names I’ve mentioned, but fuck me, can they dance.

What do I mean? She’s basically the shampoo the smoothes out a bogan’s hair, the smooth sandpaper rubbing over a piece of coarse wood or the varnish which smoothes out the wooden floor. Her transition is very smooth, her balance is impeccable, her choreography is spot-on, her work-ethic and effort is unmistakable and there are always glimpses of…well I don’t know how to say this, but it’s almost like sex appeal whenever she’s dancing. I know it sounds weird, but she looks…well, very sexy when she’s dancing. With sweat dripping, eyes filled with passion and with each dance move executed to perfection and that little hint of Captain sexiness…I wouldn’t say it drives me wild, but it’s extremely captivating, almost attractive to a point. And she always has this distinctive “Captain Smile” whenever she’s on stage. The stage is where she honestly belongs, whether she is ripping out her repertoire of dance moves or leading her group in dances, she is always enjoying herself because this is what she loves to do, to perform.

If my explanation is still vague…take Cinderella Complex by High-King for example. Captain v. Maimi. Maimi is herself, aggressive and bold with a lot of “Umph” basically contrasted with Captain’s smooth and sleek approach. Half the time during this dance shot, it seems like Maimi actually wants to break her neck in multiple pieces while Captain was having trouble with her vest...anyways...Captain's transitions are a lot more profound and yes, smoother than Maimi’s. Both Maimi and Captain are excellent dancers, leaders of their own group, and are the towers of dancing for the kids or Hello! Project even.

Be it Massara Blue Jeans, Cinderella Complex, Special Generation or whatever, once she starts to dance, she makes it her own. She may not be the best vocalist, the most pixie-like or the most popular, but damn, this girl can dance her way to the top and she has plenty of attitude to compliment it. If her dancing skills are that good on stage then she must be just as smooth in bed…