Hello! Project Photobooks

[JonCC]

Yamagishi Riko 2nd photobook "R-21" bonus elineupmall DVD digest. This is a longer video than the one they posted all the way back in March (yes, March).

Good lord .
Riko is another one of those girls where when they picked her to join H!P whoever signed off on it had a crystal ball as to how stunning she would look once she grew up. UF really has a knack for that.

[Zunu]

There were a couple of moments in that clip, like for instance when she was brushing her teeth, that it looked like her face had briefly morphed into Airi’s.

[Moh]

Another day, another photobook announcement.

Okamura Homare (Morning Musume.'20) releasing her first photobook, Homare, on July 10th.

http://helloproject.com/news/12020/

[Amped]

Morning Musume. '20 15th gen Okamura Homare's 1st visual photobook "Homare"



The first visual photobook was shot mainly in Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture. She is dressed in sailor uniforms, roomwear, yukata, dresses and other outfits.
Comes with a DVD containing 30 minutes of making footage.

released on July 10th
112 pages
3,100 yen
Photography by Tomoki Murai
Publishing by Odyssey and sold by Wanibooks

bonus photos from elineupmall

https://www.elineupmall.com/c671/c181/c ... /20homare/

Rakuten books


7net



Tower



HMV & BOOKS



Wani Special Edition



There will also be an Amazon Limited Edition cover
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4847083059

http://www.helloproject.com/news/12020/
http://www.helloproject.com/release/book/UPBK-0524/

off-shot

https://www.instagram.com/p/CANSvZvHhNE/

[Doraleous]

I wonder how Kitagawa feels about this when she said her goal was to have the fastest photobook release of all time.

[JonCC]

My money is on her getting a 'real' one.

[Amped]

Well if she wants to make a high quality one, it will take more time and can't be rushed. Sometimes members photobooks will require shooting in all 4 seasons. If she started in the Fall, it would be released in Summer.

[Celedam]

I think the point isn't the quality of the book or how long it takes to produce. I think the point is that Rio is more physically and emotionally mature than Homare and Mei. Quite a bit more, in fact. <cough> So if she's game, she could sell a lot of photobooks. Let's be real here.

[yumepin]

I'm actually really happy about these visual photobooks. I can't imagine that every single girl is comfortable posing in bikinis and skimpy pajamas, so I'm glad they have the option to release something like this instead. That said I do find the settings and outfits way too boring, so I don't feel the urge to buy them. If you're gonna make a "visual" photobook at least personalize it more/make it more interesting. The camera work is dull to me as well. Makes me wish photobooks like Sayuminglandoll, 50W, and ANGERMOOK were more common...

[JonCC]

It is announced that on the release day of Morning Musume. '20 Oda Sakura's new photobook "SAKURA COLOR", Wani Books is also releasing all 3 of her previous published photobooks (Sakura Moyou, Sakura Breeze, Sakura no Kisetsu) in digital e-books form on April 30th. They are only slightly cheaper at 2,000 yen.

Also beginning in May, Wani Books is planning to release digital e-book versions of "Hello! Project" photobooks one after another. The lineup will be announced.

*Digital photobooks can be purchased at e-book bookstores such as Amazon, Rakuten kobo, Sevennet, and DMM.com.
http://www.helloproject.com/news/11989/

I'm assuming there's some kind of region locking still going on here.
I have a Kindle & use the Kindle App on iPad. I buy books from to the US store.
You can normally easily transfer your Kindle store preference to any of the other national Amazon sites you also have an account from.
It is for all intents and purposes the same account you can log in to with your same credentials.
But Amazon Japan, like any Japanese version of popular sites and services, has always been its own thing.

As much as I can figure out I'd need to change my address to a Japanese one or make a second account just for Amazon Japan Kindle purchases
According to some people's experiences that I found online I might even have to use a VPN.

That's a lot of trouble to go through for me possibly just wanting a digital back-up of my physical photobooks.
Of course overseas fans aren't the target market here, so this is still a good thing for anyone in Japan.

In addition, despite what you'd think, de-DRMed copies haven't popped up online (since I paid for the physical originals I'd consider myself ethically in the clear).
Either that or I'm looking in the wrong places.

I might try one of the other sites when I have the time.