I think Tsunku’s really got it now.

Okay, I’m supposed to be on hiatus, but I’m going to make this real fast, so enjoy the unedited goodness! In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s “Kimi sae ireba nani mo irenai”, the other A-side to “Brainstorming” for Morning Musume’s 53rd single.

Some people hate the techno sound, some people like it. I kind of hate only the first minute of the song and start liking it once you get to the girls’ solos. I think it’s really only because I can understand “two thousand people on the dance floor”, but I think in this case making it in English was smart, because if it was in Japanese then the Japanese fans would have to hear it. It’s distracting.

Sometimes I think I like Japanese idols just because I really have no idea what is going on a lot of the times.

Anyway!

To my main point: I think Tsunku’s really got it. I think starting with “Maji Desu Ka Ska”, he was experimenting around with a look and sound for the new Morning Musume, and he’s finally found it. It works well with their front girls – the look and sound is cool, kind of funky, and confident. It’s also kind of classically Morning Musume because in some ways that was what the original image was, and I really do think Tsunku’s only arrived at this look after watching the girls grow and gel. I think it’s telling he never added Karin, because she just doesn’t fit in with this group of girls – who I’d say are pulling the cool/funky/fierce look off remarkably well.

(Oh gosh, Eripon looks so cool in this.)

Sometimes, I look at girls like Tashima Meru (10th gen finalist, apparent new ace of HKT48 and all-round cutie), and think of the song ‘The One That Got Away’ by Katy Perry. But then I think Tsunku really does pick girls based on how well they’d fit into the brand, and Morning Musume isn’t about the conventionally cute and sweet girls. Even the cute and sweet ones all have poison tongues. It’s all about…sharpness and coolness, which I feel has really been honed in these last few singles, and especially with the addition of Sakura, whose defining characteristics are probably her coolness and confidence.

Once Reina leaves I feel like this is a comfortable image for the current girls to be pulling off, because it feels like this is an image that fits them, the current girls, most especially. This isn’t a straight-up rehash of the old eras, this is individualistic and different but yet isn’t too far from the mainstream to be incomprehensible to current tastes. The personalities of tenth gen especially bring it out, which is kind of brilliant of Tsunku – that image of brightness, freedom, passion, quirkiness, and coolness which is Tsunku at his best.

And yeah, I don’t really like this song, but it’s OK. I like the image.

Okay, I admit, I’m really, honestly, truly a fan now.

When I first saw this video, my jaw just dropped. I think I might’ve squeed. I might’ve thought this like ‘holy crap’, ‘awesome’, ‘epic’, ‘oh my god I have to buy the next single, like I bought the last single, and I might have to buy every one after this, and not just on itunes but an actual physical release because daaaaaaamn Tsunku’.

I just…like this. I like this better than anything Reborn Musume has done, because I feel like it’s all come together now.

It’s like Tsunku finally got hang of the new music style he’s working, while keeping true to his own Tsunku fashion. I feel like the group has finally come together, and all of the girls look comfortable (even if Sakura only barely looks comfortable, with the dance).

Riho looks amazing in this. I actually want to see more Riho. I think she’s finally blossomed, came out of her shell, grew into her features, found the right hairstyle (so straight and shiny *0*), etc. I don’t like her singing very much – I don’t think I ever will. I’m not fond of the sound of her voice, nor Ayumi’s actually, but her dancing is like…whoa. And her stage presence is amazing. And she just looks really good in this, really owning her fierce and mature aura now that she’s grown up a little bit.

I actually think Reina sounds the best in this song, and I’ll kind of miss her. She added her own brand of disaffected girly yankee consistently to Morning Musume, and nobody could replace that. Yeah, she winked a bit too much over the years, and hasn’t changed the way she sang since…2003, but she started strong, and was always a consistently solid idol member, I feel.

I love Masaki’s voice in this. I love Sakura’s voice, but I’m not sure her epic diva voice actually fits in here. But it is an epic voice.

I must’ve watched the MV on loop at least ten times last night, and I feel completely blown away, and kind of feel like I can’t stop the verbal gushing. I’m not sure I like this, because I rather liked being a detached-fan-observer, and I haven’t felt like this since Ayaya had active single releases, but it’s not a bad thing, I think.

The only thing I don’t like about it is that during their dance, when they form the “m”/phoenix, their hand movements are seeeriously lame. Like, flapping hands? Is that supposed to represent feathers or something? I am not buying it.

But other than that, I’m just amazed. I’m also amazed that MM’s been able to build up this momentum in the last four singles, and keep it going–I still remember the long stretch of years when it felt like H!P could never get anything right again, ever. It’s good to see that they can get away from that.

I think the girls are going to be all right when Reina leaves–the reduced presence of Reina in this single gives us a bit of a taste of the future, and it’s going to be OK. I’m actually going to miss Reina’s presence a lot, despite the fact that I’ve never paid her much attention over the years. She kind of grew on me as a solid presence in the group though, and it’ll be odd without her for a while. But I’m sure the other girls will hold up fine.

On an ending note, I’m going on a month-long hiatus from idoldom to focus on work and school. Hopefully, in-between, Reina would announce her solo/group single release, in/not in conjunction with this one; a final cut of this MV will come out; previews of C-ute’s new single will come out and be amazing; and HTK48 will shoot to the top of the charts with Tashima Meru and Sashihara Rino at the helm. Juicy Juicy Juice=Juice will show off how talented they are, Kanazawa Tomoko will wow everyone with her talent and photogenic-ness, and Miyazaki Yuka will show everyone that her sweet demeanour and personableness makes her the underrated star of the new group. And Berryz and S/mileage will do…release their singles and maybe do well.

…phew. Those were some long sentences. Anyway, thank you dear readers for having stuck around, and see you guys in a month!

“Juice juice”? I don’t even — … !!!

I can’t stop laughing when the girls say “juice juice”. I can’t explain it.

I like how the girls are repeating “juice juice” like it’d reveal the secrets of the universe to them. It’s…hehehehehehe. Sorry. Ahem.

I’m sure it sounds a lot cooler in Japanese – actually I’ve half mind to beg all of you just to call them “juusu-juusu”, but I just…I can’t. I don’t know. It’s just so ridiculous. Can we just call them J=J for short? “Jay equals jay”. It almost sounds kind of cool, maybe even R&Bish.

I know idol band names usually aren’t all that amazing (I mean, seriously, AKB48? SCANDAL? Hime Kyun Fruit Can?) but this one just breaks my brain. Juice juice. It brings me back to being three, or talking to three-year old kids, trying to coax them into drinking. “Juice juice time!” “Here is juice juice!” “Here juice juice juice juice…!”

I think I’m going to settle on J=J. If I hear one more ‘juice’ I think I’m going to burst out laughing again. *cry*

I do like the member fruits idea, and I’m kind of hoping they throw in a blue before debut, but otherwise I think I’m looking forward to this group’s debut. And it’s funny, but I find that the girls always seem to jump up in the looks department right before a debut.

Back on topic, does anyone else have a good idea for a nickname for this group?

The end is near!

Lately, I feel like I’ve been on some sort of strangely synchronized wavelength with Idolminded’s Ray’s posts.

A while ago, Ray made an excellent post wondering if we’re nearing the end of an idol boom. Then just yesterday, Ray was thinking of an OG-less AKB senbatsu!

So anyway, I’m not sure if I’m writing this in response, as a defensive thing so I get to releasing the latest scare-post first, or what, but I’ve been looking for the signs of the end-times, and the numbers ain’t pretty.

So here I present to you last year’s senbatsu results, with the current ages of the girls as well (the Under-19 idols bolded, and lines are for those who are graduating soon):

Name: Age (Year of Birth), group if not AKB48, Votes

The Senbatsu:
1. Oshima Yuko: 24 years old (1988), 108837
2. Watanabe Mayu: 18 years old (1994), 75574
3. Kashiwagi Yuki: 21 years old (1991), 71076
4. Sashihara Rino: 20 years old (1992), now HKT48, 67339
5. Shinoda Mariko: 26 years old (1986), 67017
6. Takahashi Minami:  21 years old (1991), 65480
7. Kojima Haruna: 24 years old (1988), 54483
8. Itano Tomomi: 21 years old (1991), 50483
9. Matsui Jurina: 15 years old (1997), SKE48/AKB48, 45747
10. Matsui Rena: 21 years old (1991), SKE48, 42030
11. Miyazawa Sae: 22 years old (1990), now SNH48, 40261
12. Kasai Tomomi: 21 years old (1991), 27005
13. Kitahara Rie: 21 years old (1991), 26531
14. Minegishi Minami: 20 years old (1992), 26038
15. Yokoyama Yui: 20 years old (1992), (also NMB48), 25541
16. Umeda Ayaka: 24 years old (1989), 24522

Hey, would you look at that. There are only two girls under 19 in the AKB48 senbatsu right now. I don’t want to get into a debate about the merits/longevity of over-20 idols, but I think it’s pretty obvious why Akimoto is pushing out his ‘Next Generation’ now, and why Mayuyu and Jurina are the centres for ‘So Long’ (as in, ‘so long, elder girls!’).

The Under Girls

17. Takajo Aki: 21 years old (1991), now JKT48, 23083
18. Yamamoto Sayaka: 19 years old (1993), NMB48, 23020
19. Watanabe Miyuki: 19 years old (1993), NMB48/AKB48, 19159 Votes
20. Akimoto Sayaka: 24 years old (1988), 19121
21. Sato Amina: 22 years old (1990), 17009
22. Kuramochi Asuka: 23 years old (1989), 14852
23. Shimazaki Haruka: 18 years old (1994), 14633
24. Takayanagi Akane: 21 years old (1991), 14111
25. Hata Sawako: 24 years old (1988), SKE48, 13920
26. Masuda Yuka: 21 years old (1991), 13166
27. Oya Masana: 22 years old (1990), SKE48, 12142
28. Yagami Kumi: 18 years old (1994), SKE48, 11712
29. Suda Akari: 21 years old (1991), SKE48, 11323
30. Furukawa Airi: 23 years old (1989), SKE48, 11179
31. Kizaki Yuria: 16 years old (1996), SKE48, 10554
32. Ogiso Shiori: 20 years old (1992), SKE48, 9596 Votes

I’m not surprised that the most popular U19 girls (minus the centre), after Wantanabe Mayu are on loan to AKB48 right now. Because AKB48 is…aging. This also explains the push of Shimazaki Haruka, since she’s the only U19 idol in AKB48 who ranks above 32, after Mayuyu, right now. I think this group’s going to see a lot of changes in the next year or two, because I doubt the older girls are going to get pushes, and I’m almost positive that both Sayaka and Miyuki will move into Senbatsu next year. Personally, think that if I were an AKB48 fan I’d be mildly alarmed because there aren’t that many U19 girls in this group either (and of the 5 there are, 4 aren’t even in the mother-group). I don’t see more loans happening. I think more grads are coming up next year, and I think this would be the really interesting ranking to watch in the next senbatsu elections because there are going to be at least 4 new spaces, and it’ll be a good place to see where the rising stars of the future are.

The Next Girls

33. Iwasa Misaki: 18 years old (1995), 9297 Votes
34. Matsumura Kaori: 23 (1990), SKE48, 9030
35. Mukaida Manatsu: 16 years old (1996), SKE48, 8552
36. Nakaya Sayaka: 21 years old (1991), 8505
37. Nakata Chisato: 22 years old (1990), 8315 Votes
38. Miyazaki Miho: 19 years old (1993), 8173 Votes
39. Nagao Mariya: 18 years old (1994), 7809
40. Fujie Reina: 19 years old (1994),  7782
41. Kobayashi Kana: 21 years old (1991), 7195
42. Maeda Ami: 17 years old (1995), 7168
43. Fukumoto Aina: 19 years old (1993), NMB48, 6912
44. Nakagawa Haruka: 21 years old (1992), now JKT48, 6890
45. Tano Yuka: 15 years old (1997), 6694
46. Yamada Nana: 20 years old, NMB48, 6683 <3
47. Miyawaki Sakura: 14 years old (1998), HKT48, 6635
48. Katayama Haruka: 22 years old (1990), 6602

In The Next Girls category, you’ve got younger kids, some girls in AKB who are U19 who used to be part of Team 4 (no wonder they had that shuffle), and a bunch of the other 48s. Looking at the ages though, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did a calculation for the top 32 girls in AKB48 and it turned out that their average age was like, 20.

The Future Girls:

49. Muto Tomu: 18 years old (1994), AKB48 Research Student, 6428
50. Ishida Haruka: 19 years old (1993), 6333
51. Kikuchi Ayaka: 19 years old (1993), 6185
52. Ota Aika: 18 years old (1994), now HKT48, 6140
53. Matsui Sakiko: 22 years old (1990). 6058
54. Yamauchi Suzuran: 18 years old (1994), 6027
55. Nito Moeno: 20 years old (1990), 6025
56. Kimoto Kanon: 15 years old, SKE48, 5982
57. Oba Mina: 20 years old (1992), 5969
58. Ichikawa Miori: 19 years old (1993), 5963
59. Oya Shizuka: 21 years old (1991), 5933
60. Ogasawara Mayu: 18 years old (1994), NMB48, 5919
61. Sato Sumire: 19 years old (1993), 5706 
62. Yakata Miki: 20 years old (1992), SKE48, 5606
63. Nakanishi Yuka: 24 years old (1989), SKE48, 5592
64. Komori Mika: 18 years old (1994), 5398

I see Ichikawa Miori ranking higher next year. Didn’t she get a huge push last year or something? (And coincidentally, she’s also U19!) Also, surely they’ll debut Muto Tomu soon?

Anyway. I’m not actually sure if AKB’s doom is near. Not the next year, or the year after, but the fact is that the majority of the girls who are popular are over 20, and they’ve been the same girls who have been popular for the past few years. Akimoto needs to push as many young girls as he can now, if he wants to continue a similar level of popularity through the upcoming wave of graduations/possible scandals, because it takes time for the public to familiarise themselves with new faces…and the current senbatsu members have all been around for years in the public eye. That kind of public love isn’t easily replaceable. It’s going to be tough, too, because this is not a new group, but a group continuing on a legacy, and the new girls have to carve out their own legacies.

Of course, I don’t think graduating all the older girls would be smart or wise–I think eventually the girls who love being idols and being in AKB48 would stick around, and a lot of other girls would move on.  I’m hoping Shinoda and Kojima stay around for at least 3 more years, each.

Personally, I think Akimoto is smart enough, and more mercenary (than Tsunku at least) to go with the necessary changes to keep AKB48 popular. So I don’t see a late-Golden Age Morning Musume kind of decline. I think Tsunku got attached to the girls, and attached to producing their solo careers, but I’m under the impression that Akimoto only produces the AKB48 stuff.

So yeah, just based on the fact that the most visible senbatsu members are mostly 20+, the end times are near. But also, I think next year a new face of AKB48 will be unveiled. And it’s going to look really fresh.

The No-Bikini Group

Warning: slightly explicit language ahead.

Lately, I’ve been noticing how popular Momoiro Clover Z has gotten. Like, really popular. Like, sell out mega-stadium (of 10,000 people capacity), sell over 100k in singles, become-the-voice-of-Sailor Moon-reboot popular. Their albums sell. Apparently, MomoClo has a lot of public goodwill, something that’s interesting as I’ve never heard of them holding a hundred handshake events or having their own TV programs/being on every variety show ever/etc. Someone tell me I’m wrong please.

Because the most interesting thing of all is that I have not seen a single member of Momoiro Clover wear a bikini. For a DVD. Or a photobook. Or a magazine. In fact, instead of the usual UTB or whatever idol magazine, MomoClo made it into Nylon, a legitimately trendy fashion magazine that young women around the world read. It’s – well, once upon a time, when I wanted to know what cutting edge fashions a young lady could wear, I’d read that magazine.

I think it’s interesting how Stardust has handled MomoClo. I feel like they’re the only Classic Idol Group around nowadays, winning fans over through the sheer force of their genkiness, million-watt smiles, manic energy, fascinating PVs and decently catchy pop tunes. I don’t think it’s surprising at all that they’ve managed to sell out 10,000 seats for the Saitama Super Arena, or that they were chosen to sing the new song for Sailormoon, because honestly which other idol group out there would parents want their young daughters emulate, in comparison?

My point is basically: MomoClo, as an idol group, hasn’t really been objectified for their bodies. They’re not out there trying to appeal to men as much as possible. And they’re still popular. I’m not sure if it’s because their super-clean image is giving wota extra hard purity boners, or if it’s because of the fact that they aren’t pandering exclusively to wota that they can attain mainstream appeal, but I think it says something. I think it says something that their singles nearly double their first week sales, which even AKB, despite their fairly large amount of mass appeal, doesn’t do.

I think a lot of current idol fans take it for granted that physical/sexual objectification is just part of being a female idol, but I think MomoClo shows that it doesn’t have to be that way. And that’s about it.

A new unit is being formed from the Hello!Project kenshuusei!

Apparently, Tsunku’s planning to debut more than one unit in the near future, so you could say that he isn’t putting all his Eggs in one basket! (I’m sorry! I just…had to use that line.)

The announcement here.

Here are the girls:

In order of appearance:

Miyamoto Karin (14), Takagi Sayuki (15), Otsuka Aina (14), Uemura Akari (14), Kanazawa Tomoko (17), and Miyazaki Yuka (18)

Apparently, they’re going to be making indie singles until a major debut, and Tsunku might add more members. I actually hope he will add more members, because none of these girls strike me as very genki. That said, they’re all very pretty, and vocally competent, so we’ll see.

Random thoughts on the girls:

The older two girls, Tomoko and Yuka, both look like they pass for 14, so they fit in surprisingly fine, at least image-wise. I’m glad to see the new super-pretty kinda-Yuuka-like Egg kenshuusei Tomoko get a debut, because girl is seriously pretty. Apparently she won runner-up to some sort of talent competition by singing Kimi Wa JItensha, so I’m hopeful she has a nice voice.

It’s nice to see Aina debut too, since she’s stuck around for two years after getting so close and yet not debuting. It’s also nice to see Karin debut so her fans can finally calm down. Nothing against the girl of course; she deserves it, but her fans seriously put her on a pedestal.

I was surprised they debuted Sayuki, since she’s not the most photogenic girl around (though she is cute…enough?), but apparently she’s been in quite a few stage plays, does MCs decently well and sings very well. Akari is pretty and cute.

I also find it interesting how their age distribution is practically identical to S/mileage, and they’ve also got six members. Coincidence, or just another way to have more H!P vs. H!P band battles?

And… this debut couldn’t have come at a better time. I was just thinking about quitting idol blogging for a while, for various reasons, but now I have fresh girls to write about!

The Dangers of Putting Idols on Pedestals

Lately, there’s been a bit of a stir around a radio show which Koharu was a part of, the full transcript of which you can read here, translated by TnB on mm-bbs. I think if anyone wants to comment on the incident, they should really read the transcript. On my first read-through I thought that it was amazingly bad tact, what Koharu said, then on my second read through I…well, it didn’t seem to matter so much. Just another ex-idol expressing dissatisfaction with the idol life, albiet in a rude and interruptive manner.

That manner didn’t fascinate me – I’ve always got the sense that Koharu was like that. What was fascinating to me was that some fans seriously became disillusioned about Koharu because of this. I guess lately I’ve been seeing a lot of it, what with Kasai Tomomi’s bad career choices, and T-ara’s Soyeon’s Kakao Talk scandal. And because personally, I’ve had a similar experience of my own recently.

About three weeks ago, I watched an episode of HaroMoni where Matsuura Aya appeared with some MM girls and was put on trial for being not-idol-like or something, and…she just struck me as slightly dismissive and self-absorbed. I wasn’t devastated, but it was a bit of a blow to my fandom. I sometimes say that Ayaya is the only idol I’ve ever really idolized, because of her looks, singing talent and extreme charisma on stage. I admired her, I emulated her singing style, I wanted to be like her. I’ve seen her ads and dramas, all her performances, most of her photobooks/magazines, but I guess I just never got around to a variety performance. Then I got around to it.

…it wasn’t the end of the world. She wasn’t a terrible person, she didn’t really say anything rude, but her overall manner wasn’t nice either. I always imagined, that because she was so beautiful, and such a good performer that she’d be some sort of…truly wonderful, positive and loving person. That she was very real, and kind of sarcastic took me by surprise. I don’t know why it should’ve–I’ve been an Ayaya fan since 2006, but it did. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, her behaviour–but it was, for me.

There’s a difference when it’s someone else’s idol versus when it’s your own idol that’s been taken down a few notches. With someone else’s idol, it’s ‘oh well, of course they’ll have negative aspects to their personality, they’re just people’. But when it’s your  own idol, it’s like a loss of faith, and it probably hits in more than one place. Makes you realize why they’re called idols.

It’s almost silly. Because we know on some level these idols are just people, and no more likely to be perfect than anyone. Companies choose girls to be idols for their looks, and whatever talents they have, and how likeable/sellable they are, not because they’re about to win the citizen of the year award. Girls who audition want to be famous and adored, and sometimes have a blown up sense of their own self-importance. This shouldn’t be anything surprising, especially in the entertainment world. But we can’t help who we emotionally connect to, or idolize.

Even with numerous fan reports/other MM girls complaining about Koharu’s behaviour, some fans found this radio show surprising. I kind of want to say, “well, what did you expect?” But then I want to say, “I get it. I really do.”

…and lest we forget one of Koharu’s main contributions to idoldom, here are some pictures from some of her previous photobooks. Enjoy!

And we wonder why she’s got a bit of a princess complex…

Thank you for reading!