Nao Kanzaki: Sorry for pulling a Houdini(?) disappearing act lately.....

 

 ..... but it honestly was a case of life and death! However speaking of disappearing acts no one tops Queen Nanami and six years later I still do truly miss her. If you're a reader of most posts you may have seen that 3-4 times over the last three weeks have talked about how crappy I had been feeling and it was getting worse. It was no figment of my imagination as last Friday night I had to be rushed to the ER, had I waited just a few more days this Blog would be labeled... RIP! Won't go into many details but then spent 2 1/2 days in ICU and then a little over two days in the Cardiology Unit so close to five days in the hospital. Began writing this up on Thursday morning, was released yesterday afternoon. 

 I do/did have some severe heart problems which is something I thought usually happened to people in their sixties or older. I'm just in my thirties so you don't think of having problems like that however I did and am lucky enough to talk about it. So I'm much better now and don't know what it feels like to be shot but think heart pains could be even worse! That's enough of a story and do have a lot of appointments coming up but within the week will be back to work and the posting should be back to normal too. It did feel so refreshing taking a five day break from looking at a screen. So that wraps the mini five day tale of my (mis)fortunes but there is more to this post than just that.

 Hmmmm, above could be a reason for anyone having some heart problems! Hate to say it but taking five days off from Idols and such also felt kind of nice. So this may be the only regular post until the weekend, do have a few appointments and such to take care of but things will be back to normal very soon and then no one will ever recall this post.... save for me! It is a bit odd how this was such a quiet stretch for the women who I do posts for, was hoping there would be a ton of new things but there's so little to post about so really not much was missed. Last weekend was going to have a preliminary post for this year's fave's list but of course that had to be put on hold. So the second half of this post will be for that and making an early rough draft really helps me out.

 Talk about disappearing, where's Hinako been the last five months? She was third on last year's list but unless something changes very soon she won't even qualify for this year's list, hope it's not some sort of 'Nogi Curse'! Qualifying is simple as only six posts are needed, that's only one every other month for a year. This is the ninth year of doing this and over time think the lists have gotten into a nice groove, first two years it was almost an 'All time faves' list in a way. Rika has the record for appearing on the list six consecutive years but worried about 2023, she will be eligible but her posts aren't at the level they were a few years ago. The same can be said for Risa who has been in the top seven the last five years and it wouldn't seem like a true list without either one of them.

 For today will just list the current top eight, after that everyone is so bunched together between ninth and twentieth. To date 21 have qualified and five are within a post of two of the six that are needed. This first section will have four photos each of the women in the eighth to third positions, after this set will talk more about the top two. Have Miku at #8, last year she was ninth but who knows if she'll stay there are five others are breathing down her neck. The highest newbie of the year will be Yuzuha and her hotness is just off the charts. Sixth currently belongs to Nashiko and this will be the fourth straight year of her making he list. In the fifth spot is Akari and though such a long shot may have the only chance of giving the top two a run for the money. Last year Kyoko was fourth and at this point will remain there, she's the one woman who I would love to see capture the top spot one year. Last up for this batch is Nene who was second last year, guess you could say she does have a chance also at being this year's #1 but needs to make her move soon.

 The best thing about the last 3-4 years is that there hasn't been huge changes with who appears on the list. To wrap this post up have the current top two and at this point you could almost flip a coin between Miku from Hina and last year's #1 Yui from Keya. Miku did jump out to an early lead but has been kind of quiet the last three months, will look at the positives between the now 'bitter rivals'! Miku has appeared in so,so many more magazines this year than Yui so that helps her out immensely though Yui does have more modeling pics which have all been overly superb. Each appear at those huge fashion shows so events are a wash, the next one will be on September 2nd. Both also have about the same amount of group cards and promo pics for games so those too are a wash. Both had a photobook come out at the end of last year and while both were so tremendous they are a bit too old to have an impact on 2023.

 Yui does have an advantage of being in more dramas, have viewed her "Borderless" series and this weekend hope to have the next pair of recaps for the "Actress" drama. Everything else is kind of close too, Yui has better IG pics though Miku posts so many more of them. So it being so close the next four months will decide who number one for this year is. However most of the time when a position is so close tend to give the nod to the older woman for who knows how much longer they will be appearing on the list so with Yui being three years older it could propel her to being the #1 for the second year in a row, it'll be her fourth consecutive year on the list.