Here's Mei singing "Wonderful World" in Engrish (DailyMotion, sorry) This is from a year ago, and she's not bad. Raw power and sings mostly in tune. Zero control, but she's pretty young, and control can be learned. She's already several levels ahead of where each of the 12th gens were when they joined. I'm cautiously optimistic.
#61
Posted 23 June 2019 - 01:58 AM
#62
Posted 23 June 2019 - 02:18 AM
#63
Posted 23 June 2019 - 02:33 AM
All I can do at this point is hope, lol. I struggle being optimistic but I am glad we got two total newbies. I've always felt KSS additions to groups were kind of the most boring thing ever haha just because it feels like most of those girls (with a few exceptions) have already been "indoctrinated" with the whole honor student H!P image that is so boring. I want some girls with rough edges again.
#64
Posted 23 June 2019 - 03:37 AM
#65
Posted 23 June 2019 - 05:17 AM
I feel like there’s a limit to how rough your edges are if you’re auditioning for one of the most mainstream and well established idol groups there is. I think the most H!P gets is girls who are just a bit spoiled.
Oh definitely haha I guess I mean rough edges more in terms of... not having all that idol coaching on how to play the part, you know? Most KSS just have so much stage experience. It's exciting to get some girls who are totally green. I do miss the days when H!P signed girls from more diverse backgrounds, I think that's a huge part of what got them so many big personalities, but I've accepted that they basically only cast rich girls now, haha.
#66
Posted 23 June 2019 - 05:20 AM
Okay, I'm glad they added some new faces, it feels much more interesting than just always adding KSS. I am also happy they did not add someone super young, like 11 or 12.
#67
Posted 24 June 2019 - 12:25 AM
Homura is a cutie, I hope this freshens up MM.
#68
Posted 25 July 2019 - 01:29 PM
#69
Posted 25 July 2019 - 07:04 PM
#70
Posted 25 July 2019 - 07:19 PM
What definitely shined through is that neither Homare but especially Rio have been trained by H!P before. Rio still has this light feel to her voice, not the pressing H!P voice teachers seem to enforce.
That being said, I like them. They're not tonedeaf and actually have voices that can be worked with.
#71
Posted 25 July 2019 - 07:20 PM
#72
Posted 25 July 2019 - 07:59 PM
What definitely shined through is that neither Homare but especially Rio have been trained by H!P before. Rio still has this light feel to her voice, not the pressing H!P voice teachers seem to enforce.
That being said, I like them. They're not tonedeaf and actually have voices that can be worked with.
That’s true. There’s a refreshing lack of that pressed, squeaky sound H!P loves so much lol they sound like normal kids that would be in a school choir or something.
#73
Posted 25 July 2019 - 11:27 PM
#74
Posted 26 July 2019 - 11:44 AM
#75
Posted 26 July 2019 - 12:48 PM
I can see all of them getting somewhat close to the front, at least Yokoyan-level, maybe even Ayumi-level (as in, the furthest-away-from-frontgirl-status). The only real weakness that I see right now is Rio's nerves. If she gets tougher then she's definitely front girl material.
We haven't seen that much of Mei yet but she seems like a decent allrounder as well.
What I'm trying to say is: If management makes the mistake of shoving any of them into the background they're idiots.
#76
Posted 26 July 2019 - 01:25 PM
What I'm trying to say is: If management makes the mistake of shoving any of them into the background they're idiots.
I was thinking the same thing: It's sad that they'll get shoved in the back anyway.
#77
Posted 26 July 2019 - 01:52 PM
#78
Posted 27 July 2019 - 01:52 AM
Kitagawa’s voice is bland/flat in that way a lot of people’s voices are at that age, but her pitch is really, really good so I’m looking forward to her growth and think she’s a strong addition to the group.
I thought she actually had a bit of personality to her singing, and I hope they don't beat it out of her. Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about these two after watching this, and MM should be better in the long run for adding both of them. I think Rio will be the better singer, and Homare the better dancer, but they both look pretty good for raw off-the-street amateurs.
#79
Posted 27 July 2019 - 02:34 AM
Kitagawa’s voice is bland/flat in that way a lot of people’s voices are at that age, but her pitch is really, really good so I’m looking forward to her growth and think she’s a strong addition to the group.
I thought she actually had a bit of personality to her singing, and I hope they don't beat it out of her. Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about these two after watching this, and MM should be better in the long run for adding both of them. I think Rio will be the better singer, and Homare the better dancer, but they both look pretty good for raw off-the-street amateurs.
I think there's a lack of emotion and style but that usually comes with age so I'm not worried about it. It's rare to find girls with really expressive voices that young (in H!P history, Fukuda Asuka, Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina are the only ones that come to mind as far as sounding super distinct from day one).
I'm so glad we got some fresh kids this time instead of all eggs... I think it's really paying off. These girls feel like something new. Now I can only hope they are actually put to correct use!
#80
Posted 27 July 2019 - 03:27 PM
This is the first time since the 2nd gen that we've seen a multiple-member generation that doesn't include at least one bad singer, and the first ever where we've gotten a straight swap of decent voices (15th gen) for bad voices (the Haruna's).
#82
Posted 10 August 2019 - 01:06 PM
I think Rio has a lot of potential. Homare sounds very typical idol that H!P likes and Mei sounds better than I remember from her kenshuusei tests. It will be interesting to watch them grow as idol singers.
#83
Posted 10 August 2019 - 10:42 PM
I'm actually very surprised that there isn't a bad singer. They're all a bit rough of course and Homare needs work on high notes but I honestly think they can all hold their own within the group. In fact, I actually like their voices. Rio's voice and aura are refreshingly non-idol like and I pray they remain that way. I think she can actually be something if they don't shove her to the back. I mean, really, how many squeaky-voiced moe teens do we need? You can definitely tell that Mei has had a bit of H!P training compared to the others but so far she doesn't seem to have been ruined by it. I hope that keep showing us videos like this.
#84
Posted 11 August 2019 - 01:20 AM
Homare has a very limited range right now, but when she's in that range, she's not bad.
#85
Posted 11 August 2019 - 01:22 AM
Homare's voice definitely seems like the one that goes into the mic best, so it probably makes it my favorite of the 3 (just as of right now, might change)
#86
Posted 27 August 2019 - 09:08 AM
It's fanclub event time, and the girls got some more goods https://twitter.com/...228675509018624 (to be fair I want to post something so the "hype" doesn't die).
Generally speaking it's sad that they don't really have much to introduce the new girls anymore. As far as I know they've started performing with the group (could Up Front at least post a video of a live performance on one of their channels maybe? ), but other than that all we know about them is from blog posts, short instagram posts by other members and their radio appearance. I bet we'll get something like a DVD magazine but honestly I haven't watched any of these in forever (mostly because they simply aren't entertaining).
I wish Up Front would work more with comedians again. Then again the general Japanese TV development seems to change from comedy variety to talk shows so...
That being said, judging from buzz and some of their FSK and goods sales it seems like Mei is quite a bit behind the other two girls in popularity. Maybe this changes once she can use her experience to her advantage.
#87
Posted 27 August 2019 - 01:01 PM
Oh. Don. Watch Upcoming. They've been showing their progress for awhile.
They've been putting up progress training in their episodes.
Someones been subtitling them so I'll post those below, so you don't have to weed through those Upcoming segments. (Though they are fun for the recording sessions.)
Part 1 (Singing) Part 2 (Dancing) [Have the CC turned on so you can read the subtitles.]
And even though it was posted above, here's the sub version from the audition. Part 0 (Exciting!)
I'm really liking Rio. She's like a non-spazy version of Masaki. But I have a feeling she'll be really fun once they let her freak flag fly. Homare is going to give Maria a run for her gravure money. And Mei, well, I'm not sure what Mei's good for yet. Maybe she'll be the talker/funny one of the group? I'd like a Zukki 2.0 please.
#88
Posted 27 August 2019 - 02:17 PM
Oh right, I forgot about the Upcoming stuff. I'm just not that much into watching training footage. I guess I just want to finally see them interact with the group. Thanks for the links, though.
#89
Posted 27 August 2019 - 07:05 PM
#90
Posted 27 August 2019 - 07:55 PM
It's the first time they've shown other members teaching a lower generation like that. I hope they keep doing stuff like that. It's pretty interesting to watch.