16 posts tagged “momusu”
(If you're reading this in 2010, happy new year!) Well it has certainly been an interesting year for the girls of Hello! Project. There have been graduations, new singles, and more. Let's review the wonderful year of 2009, shall we?
Graduations
- Arihara Kanna (She left without a ceremony but she will still be missed)
- Umeda Erika (I still miss her...)
- Nakayama Nana (Your hotness will be missed XD )
- Kusumi Koharu (Koha, your genkiness will definitely be missed)
- The entire Elder Club (H!P lost some cool people that day)
Singles and albums
- Morning Musume (4 singles, 1 album, and one "best-of" album)
- Berryz Koubou (3 singles, 1 "best-of" album)
- C-ute (3 singles, 1 album, 1 "best-of" album)
- Buono! (4 singles, 1 album)
- S/mileage (3 indy singles)
Scandals
There were no confirmed boyfriends or smoking or drinking scandals (At least I didn't hear about any scandals) So that means that this was a good, scandal-free year for H!P. Good job, ladies. Hopefully 2010 will be the same way.
That's my quick 2009 wrap-up. Have a happy and prosperous 2010!!
Warning: This is about the first generation of Morning Musume. If you like the 1st gen and love it when people talk about it, enjoy youself. If you don't like the 1st gen, please cover your eyes and brace yourself because I'm gonna talk about them whether you like them or not.
Now that that's over, let's get to my post. You can't talk about the history of Morning Musume or Hello! Project in general with mentioning the legendary first gen. Real MM fans can easily name the first 5 members: Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Fukuda Ayaka, and...that other one (Just kidding. Nakazawa Yuko. Love you, Yuko!) This was IMO Momusu's purest generation. This was before all the boyfriends, substandard songs, and scandals that stained MM's image.
Let me take you to the world of 1997.
Sharan Q's Tsunku decides to have an audition to find a female vocalist for his band. There were six finalists and Heike Michiyo won. But Tsunku wanted the other 5 girls to stick around. He told the girls that if the recorded "Ai no Tane" and sold 50,000 albums in a certain amount of time, then they would stay a group. So they recorded the song, released it on November 3 and promoted like crazy. They completed their mission and managed to stay a group.
After that, "Morning Coffee" was released on January 28,1998 , new members were added, and MM (And later H!P) started to make history. They did tours, starred in "Morning Cop" (One of the greatest movies ever IMO), and gained their own show.
I'm gonna talk about each 1st gen member one by one. It seems appropriate XD.
Fukuda Asuka - The baby of the first generation. She was one the original lead singers along with Nacchi. She was the first one to graduate and she was the member with the shortest tenure. While she said she left to focus on her studies (Back when "graduating to focus on studies" didn't mean "boyfriend"), it was also rumored that she was bullied by the older members and the staff. If that rumor is ever confirmed, then I'll lose a little respect from Nacchi, Kaori, and Yuko. Bullies are horrible people.
Ishiguro Aya - Good old Aya. She was the girl with her nose pierced in MM, one third of the original Tanpopo (The best gen of Tapopo IMO) and the second one to graduate.Then she married Shinya of Luna Sea and became the best former idol/mom ever. Unlike other ex-H!P members who graduate and then fall of the face of the earth. Aya is still active, releasing books and blogging. Motherhood hasn't affected her looks either because she still looks hot X)
Natsumi Abe - I love some Nacchi. Look at this picture. She hasn't even aged since 1997. She graduated from MM in 2004 and became one of H!P's biggest soloists from '04-earlier this year, Now she's just a soloist for UFA and still busting out ballads
Iida Kaori - This pic is from 2001 btw. Anyway, you gotta love Kaori. She held the record for the longest time as a MM member until Aichan and Gakisan broke it and she had 26 singles released during her tenure. Then she graduated and released some Mediterranean-influenced music and got married. Her and 7HOUSE member Kenji are currently living happily ever after.
Nakazawa Yuko - Last but certainly not least is the oldest of the first 5, Yuko. She was the first leader of MM and the first to start a solo career after graduating. Her failure at finding a husband made her well known among MM fans. At 36 years old, she's still the hottest "old lady" I've ever seen XD.
Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to respect the original 5. Without them, there be no Aichan, no Gakisan, no Jun or Lin, no H!P. They are living, breathing pieces of J-Pop history IMO.
Since there has been so many post-worthy topics recently, I'll avoid making several posts and just squeeze my witty comments into one post.
Nakajima Saki to release her first PB, "NACKY"
Finally, a PB from Nakki! I thought she would be like Ume and go her whole career without a PB. I wonder what it would look like. If it's anything like the recent C-ute Alo Hello PB, I expect pictures of Nakki having fun and looking good (I hope there are plenty of bikini shots)
Tanaka Reina wishes for growth in that special area
During a recent appearance in her hometown, Fukuoka, Reina was talking about what she wanted for her 20th birthday. She said that she wanted to grow. She didn't say where but it's assumed she was talking about..that place. Good luck with that, Reina.
Kago Ai's in NYC
Aibon, welcome to America. She's here as a spokesperson for the cummunications company KDDI but she's also visiting fans and doing a press conference. Man, this is one of those times I wish I lived in New York. But I'm happy where I am XD.
That's all the news I can round up this time. I'm planning on writing something on the 1st gen Momusu...or maybe 5th gen. I love them both.
While I was thinking of something to write about, I got to thinking about all the comings and goings of 2009 (More going out of H!P than coming into H!P) and how these events might affect H!P.
I decided to look take a look into the future (I'm a part-time psychic) I will now report my findings to you. So here they are, my predictions.
Morning Musume
- Koha graduates and MM leaves the spot empty for about 2-5 months
- MM holds an audition for the first time in years adding 2-4 new members (at least 2 of them from the Kanto region)
- The chances of Ai or Risa graduating rise, Reina is tapped to fill the sub leader position if either of them graduate
- There will be at least 3 tabloid stories claiming things from public drunkeness to boyfriends; those claims are never confirmed
C-ute
- Record sales will go up slightly
- C-ute will head to Hawaii again to do a Alo-Hello! PB and DVD; sales of the PB will be high
- Saki or Mai will have more presence in songs
- Devoted fans will follow Erika's modelling career
Berryz Koubou
- Captain will finally release a photobook, making her the last Berryz member to release a PB
- Risako will release 1 or 2 PBs; stores will quickly sell out
- There will be a tabloid story about Miyabi, Maasa, or Risako; blurry pics will be published
- No one will graduate
There you go! All that predicting made me a bit tired...
Wow that was a big absence, huh? I haven't posted since last month. Sorry everybody. Laziness and writer's block got the best of me. But I'm back and ready to tell you about the new MM PV for Kimagure Princess which means "Moody Princess".
Thanks to H!O for the cover!
I like the song. It's an obvious change from the recent MM singles. I can tell that H!P has been influenced by music from India. Also I think that MM must've recorded in a room full of helium. Their voices are squeaker than an early Berryz single.
Anyway about the video (which you can watch here btw) The outfits in this video are white robe/pants, black boots, and some members have cowboy hats (random but cool). The video itself takes place in a castle (Well it looks like the inside of a castle)
This is the best PV outfit that I've seen in a while. It looks like an alternate costume from Tekken (They always make the crazy outfits alternatives)
"Tell me your wish!" That's a SNSD reference btw (I don't listen to just H!P you know :D )
Most of the video involve MM dancing while in this pose. They actually managed to look good dancing like that IMO, good job.
Stun Spore! (Pokemon reference :D ) When I first saw this scene, I couldn't stop laughing. Don't know why...
Every member gets their "Stun Spore" moment. I really liked Jun's part because she has her sexy face on.
Kamei is definitely the MVP of this PV. She's on screen for about 80% of this video. Also, that cowboy hat looks good on her. I think she's getting sexier.
Sexy ending pose time!
And that's the end. About the dancing, it's what I've come to expect from MM. I don't want to see fancy new moves. I like the old, classic dance moves and MM delivers.
I give this PV a well deserved A+.
Well AX has pretty much ended and Momusu are on a plane to Japan. It was a good couple of days and a wonderful debut for one of Japan's biggest girl groups.
On this last day of events, the people who weren't shooting off fireworks were asking Tsunku questions. But before that, there were Momusu autograph sessions. The first to get one was the people who recieved a autograph ticket from the MM Q&A session two days before, which means that they're twice as lucky. The second to get one was the people who gained tickets from buying CDs from Japanfiles' and JPopHouse's booth, which was kinda unexpected (I didn't know Japanfiles had that much power).
Then after that was the Tsunku Q&A session. I haven't read the transcript yet but I expect it to be very interesting (That would be cool if he broke into song in the middle of the session).
So I guess that's the end of my "not there" AX '09 coverage. I'll leave you with a video of the H!P booth (Nice design, by the way).
Ok yesterday was the official start of AX, even though for the MM fans it started on the 1st. The Expo started off with the arrival of guests of honor and the opening ceremonies. The Guests of Honor were introduced and staff explained how the expo was gonna play out. From what I heard, there were also a lot of advertising for the various exhibitors.
Then there was the Q&A session, where (some) fans asked MM the questions that they were dying to ask. I heard Linlin answered her questions in English, which wins her points from me. I'm guessing everyone else answered in Japanese and broken English. I heard something about Yossie (I'm sorry...I mean Hangry) being there signing stuff and that's just awesome.
Paul from Hello! Blog met the UFA president. I wonder what's that like, standing in the presence of a person who controls your favorite singing group.
But with all the good things there have to be some bad things. I've heard stories about some Western fansites and blogs were denied an interview by UFA. Some (including my favorite fansite, Hello! Online) weren't given a reason why, which makes me wonder what those press passes were for...I'll leave you with a video of the opening ceremonies.
Well the time has come for Morning Musume's first trip into mainland America. On behalf of all the MM fans from Oklahoma (Me and about 20 other people), let me say welcome to the US, Momusu (Make sure you don't get lost downtown.I heard LA is tough to navigate). Now while I can't be there at AX in person, I will still try to comment on each day. Right now it's day 1, so I'm late writing this post, but today's events haven't actually started yet (I'm two hours ahead of LA) so I'm not doing too bad. I heard that the IW press team in LA doesn't have wi-fi in the Los Angeles Convention Center. (Well that sucks) That means posts from them will be limited to about 1 or 2 a day. I wonder why a convention center wouldn't have wi-fi...I smell a conspiracy! Anyway, I'll stop rambling and leave you with a video of MM arriving in LA.
Just this past weekend I attended my cousin's dance recital. It was held at my old elementary school which I attended up until 2003. As I started remembering my life back then, I thought, "What was H!P like in 2003?" So I did some researching and here's what I found.
-Momusu releases 4 singles (Koi No Victory, Hyokkori Hyotanjima, As For One Day, and Shabondama) and one album (No. 5)
-Momusu gains three members (Four if you wanna count Miki) Tanaka Reina (Yay Reina), Michishige Sayumi (Go Sayu), and Kamei Eri (All right Kame!)
-Mari, Kei, and Nacchi graduated Momusu.
-ZYX is formed and later disbanded (But not before releasing 2 great singles)
-Aa is formed and disbanded after one single
-Koinu Dan no Monogatari, was released, exposing the recently joined H!P Kids to the fans
-Country Musume welcomes guest vocalists Konno Asami and Fujimoto Miki and recruits Saito Miuna
-CM released 3 singles (Uwaki no Honey Pie, Senpai ~Love Again~, Shining Itoshiki Anata)
-The shuffle groups (Salt5, 7Air, 11Water) released their singles
-Melon Kinenbi releases 1 album (1st Anniversary) and 4 singles (Akai Freesia, Chance of Love, Mi Da Ra Matenrou, Kawaii Kare)
H!P was a lot different 6 years ago. Back then, H!P wasn't yet expanding around the world and not a lot of people outside of Japan knew about them yet. But that would soon change...
As you know Momusu will be performing at Anime Expo in LA. I know that hundreds of faithful wota will descend on the con to see MM live. I, sadly, will not be one of them. I have too many things to do here in Oklahoma and even if my schedule was free, I don't have enough money to afford a trip to California. But that doesn't stop me from imagining the experience.
Here's how I think things will unfold:
-There will be so many cars full of wota that every highway into LA will be clogged
-At least one wota will be arrested for indecent exposure after ripping his shirt off in the middle of the concert
-There will be at least 3 groups doing a dance routine
-Junjun will end up in a bar downtown downing her fifth shot of whiskey
-Aichan and Gaki will blamed for several pranks in and around their hotel
-Mittsi and Linlin will take a joyride around town in a rented sports car
-During the con, Sayu and Kamei will be offered modeling contracts
-Everyone will have a good time and go home happy
So that's how I see it. By the way, if any of my readers go to the con, could you bring something back for your buddy Slasha? That would be great.
