Chihara Minori 1st photobook Crescendo.. FFFFF–

Crescendo is Minorin’s first photograph collection, which holds selected shots of published Newtype articles and also new sets of photos. Each set is titled with an Italian word (just like the book title), and all titles begin with letter C because she loves her surname so much.

In my review below I included my favourite pic of each shot (thanks moy for sacrificing your book the scans).. go get the book for more!

This is probably my gayest post about Minorin to date. You have been warned. xD

Special shots for Crescendo.
God bless low-cut clothes.

Cantabile (lit. singable)

Costume: blue evening dress + flower ornament @shoulder + fancy jewelry.
Props: beach in the evening, white-bg studio, in front of a random door, a dying tree.
A few shots were featured in the latest Newtype (she also posted in her blog). I adore the elegant Minorin, so this set totally broke my gay-o-meter.

Calmando (lit. quiet)

Costume: white top with black lace + black glittery suit + metallic necklace
Props: antique wooden piano, chair, and clock.
BONDAGE FTW This is the uber kakkoii Minorin (as long as she doesn’t speak). The cover shot was from this set. I notice that when she tries to be cool, she opens her eyes really wide (well, she didn’t smile at all in this set) that we barely see the uneven eyes. Nice trick. Oh, and love the suit and her hairstyle.. GJ, Chica!

Consolante (lit. console)

Costume: white long dress with elbow-long sleeve + straw hat
Props: forest, bathroom, err outside the house
Hmm… looks natural and outdoor-ish, but the dress (and shots) didn’t do her justice. I fail to see the relation between the forest and bathroom too.. so what, she was looking for toilet and finally found one?

Coraggio! (lit. courage)

Costume: pink tank top + yellow/white stripes top + short jeans
Props: beeeeaaaacchhhh!
So where’s the biki–lol nonetheless this is prolly Minorin’s sexiest shots to date.. tho she looks hotter in the Calmando pics if you ask me–Coraggio! is more playful and fun. And cleavage FTW. The set also has 2 interview pages (which is a great challenge to read when Minorin and her sincere smile are distracting you on the other page).

VOICE Newtype Shots
I don’t normally buy Newtype so I appreciate the mash up. Some pics aren’t new, but there are unpublished shots too. List is in order of book release.

Review: vol 007, 009, 012 to 017 (crammed into 2 pages)

Montage of pics when her face was as round as my basketball.. good ol’ 2006. Look at that short fringe and thick chin lmao. Still much cuter compared to the horror tho.

And what the fuck happened between these months? Alien intervention that makes you lose 10 pounds?

No 018: Junpaku promo
Costume: white wool one-piece + white boots
Props: umbrella + park in autumn

No 020: Kimikure promo

Costume: blue/green chequered top + white skirt + straight hair

No 023: Contact promo
Costume: White shirt + black knee skirt + lace tights + straight hair

No 025
Costume: white one-piece with yellow polkadot

No 026

Costume: White one-piece with flower patterns and laces

No 027: Amesake promo
Costume: Really flowery top + white shorts + straight hair

No 028: Summer

Costume: yellow tee + short jeans + ponytail
Instant fav. Can’t help to smile too looking at her happy expression. So it’s true that Minorin looks the happiest when she’s eating?

No 029: Paralost promo
Costume: Purple one-piece || black turtle-neck in a yellow mini-dress
The only set where she smiles in all shots. Too bad no extra shots of the legs.

No 030
Costume: white long sleeves + fur hat + red/grey chequered skirt
Props: girly room with pink fur carpet

No 032: Parade DVD promo
Costume #1: Yellow-white long dress + bridal hat / gloves + smoky eyes
Prolly my least favorite shot. I don’t like her scary make-up, and the dress pattern is fugly.
Costume #2: white top + colourful skirt
Lovely change of outdoor/garden shots compared to the vampire ones.

Random shots

Trying to contact the world.. (da-da-da-da-dive ♪)

Quiz time! Which is rounder: the antique clock, or Minorin’s face?

…..

I was tilting my book and my head up and down before I realised the angle won’t change… damn.

Mementos
Things we might not know about Minorin..

Muku, a birthday present from her dad when she was young. Despite totally looking like a bear, Muku is actually a Chow Chow dog. I am surprised too.
Fact: It’s actually freaking HUGE:

But at least it IS a real stuffed animal. Quoting someone, it better wish it’s a doll.. or it’s gonna be a fucking dead doll.

That Ultramarine thing smells really strong. She clearly loves perfume cos she even released her own fragnance in Parade (that yellow bottle).
Fact: Minorin always smells good.

Birthday present from monkeymanager-san: a waterproof DVD player (so she can watch her own live DVDs on the bathtub).
Fact: Her manager gets paid well. It’s freaking expensive.
Fact: Minorin is a vainpot.

Diary. Minorin is quite honest in her blog, so I wonder if what that little book holds..
Fact: Diary is where Minorin practices her Tekton Pro font handwriting!
Fact: Polaroid collection proves that Minorin is REALLY a vainpot.

Fact: Minorin wears glasses.. SO DO WEAR IT WTF. The only thing lacking in this book is no megane-moe.

The Chihara family with mum, dad, nee-san, otouto, and niece.
Fact: Minorin is an auntie.

Poster

Another reason why you should get this because the book comes in with a decent B3 poster!

To answer moy’s question, it’s not random cos it’s written in the official page (B3変形ポスター付) that you get one poster in every copy. And it’s not weird to have the poster as a part of the book, Nana’s first photobook also have a poster folded inside.

Hair & Make-up

All new Crescendo shots were done by this awsm CHICA, while most Newtype shots were done by Satsuki (up until no 030), and you can easily tell the difference between the two girls’ style.

For some reasons Satsuki likes to straighten Minorin’s hair really really perfect straight, even on tied-hair. She applies rather thick foundation that made her face really porcelain white (not just “fair”).

I prefer CHICA‘s colour choices for make-up, tho sometimes she plays with Minorin’s eyes too much. Minorin’s hair becomes more daring and modern with messier look, even on straight hair. (lol can’t help not to say this: Chica makes Minorin less straight? xD)

Statistics
*I only count pics that has Minorin

# of pages: 96
# of pics: 123
# of new sets: 4 (66 pics)
# of Newtype sets: 11 (40 pics) + 8 Review (17 small pics)
# of outdoor pics: 51
# of full-body pics: 35
# of pics she was looking at the sky to find UFO: 8
# of pics she actually looks at the camera: 51
# of pics with the blinding smile: 34
# of pics with the *cough* cleavage: 25
# of pics with the infamous uneven eyes showing obviously: 23
# of pics I stared for 10 mins before vomiting blood: 19

From time to time, Minorin:
- clearly loses weight
- smiles WAY less
- shows more cleavage and legs
- looks away from the camera more often
- hides her uneven eyes better

Conclusion: I APPROVE. Now I need to budget for another copy..

..don’t forget to get yours too! 1,995 (tax in.) in HMV or Amazon.