Morning Musume。'19 LOVE Auditon 127 replies to this topic Started by Saya , Jan 02 2019 02:52 PM ·

[Saya]

I’m not rooting for this, but I predict Matsubara Yuriya will be put in MM.

[Zoe]

Putting Yuriya in right now would be so off-putting. Sure the group has had 11yo's in it before, but she's too far off from the current group image. They would have to shove her into the back until she matures.

I'm hoping someone comes through from the general audition. Angerme really lucked out with Layla.

[Mugi]

If they put in Yuriya I wouldn't be mad but I hope they would change their image to be younger. More fun pop songs.

[Zange]

If they put in Yuriya I wouldn't be mad but I hope they would change their image to be younger. More fun pop songs.

 

It's gonna be 2011 all over again isn't it

 

Actually now that I think about it that's probably going to be the case no matter who they add from KSS. The oldest are 6 months or so younger than Haga and the youngest are freaking 11.

[Mugi]

I don't think they will ever let it get that bad again.  But I think that change in 2011 was good for the group.

[DonJuan]

Considering they're holding auditions now they're working on not letting it get that bad again. I do believe we will finally get someone younger than Akane, the oldest KSS are 16 (Saito Madoka and Ono Kotomi, I doubt they'll debut in MM though). The average KSS age is 13-14 though. I'm sure it won't be as bad as 2011 when we suddenly had 4 12yos running around, but 14 is an age they should be going for. They put Yume (14) and Riai (13) in Juice=Juice, for heaven's sake.

 

The problem with 2011 was that Ai was already half way out, as was Gaki (and Aika) and suddenly the only other older members were Reina and Sayumi. Even if we have a similar situation like in 2011/12 (one graduation in fall 2019, two in spring 2020) there will still be 8 senpai.

 

Following the talk in the Juice=Juice thread, I absolutely agree with your sentiment(s) about the current line-up. Their dances aren't as impressive anymore*, their singing is mostly sub-par and even though some members are entertaining (for me Akane and Yokoyan) the group as a whole is boring. I felt the same about Platinum Era but at least nowadays I can appreciate their concerts and albums (the singles still don't really do it for me).

 

*Sorry, I have to cut into this whole dance topic. To be honest I don't know much about dancing, even less about formation dance, since I've only taken the dance class at our school. I get that it's hard to run from one point to another and stand in the right position, but aside from that, their dances are not hard at all. Everybody who is not as stiff as the Harunas could easily do them. Of course, doing several in a row requires a lot of stamina, but that's it. Also, they just look boring and to a point, cringey. The Jinsei Blues one? Hell. In general there's way too much unnecessary hand movement in MM's dances.

 

Thing is: Of course they could make this work if they went back to the "so uncool it's cool again" theme. The current sentiment is "too cool for school" though.

 

At this point I wouldn't be against Yuriya joining at all. But only if they changed their style. Do a Maji desu ka SKA. A PPU.

 

This is a problem with H!P in general. They dress the KSS like office ladies. It's one thing to sexualise young girls (looking at you, Kassa), it's another to make them look like their mothers.

 

I get that girls like Masaki are popular with average Japanese girls too, but looking at her private clothing style Masaki is far from what they make the groups wear for their official photographs.

[Anderei]

Yeah, but would improving the dances really make them interesting again? JJ’s singing doesn’t keep the group from being super boring to me. The last thing when I listened to Jinsei Blues was that it would be super amazing if they just had better vocals. Maybe like six or seven years ago that was how I felt but definitely not now. Especially as an international fan who doesn’t live in Japan and therefore gravitates more to Japanese idols. The kpop idols are more talented than them, the Chinese idols are prettier and have funnier personalities and other Japanese idols are putting out better music. All H!P has going for it is stability because you know it’s not going anywhere and a large fanbase to share it with because we’re all too far in to quit now. If it was some idol corporation that sprung up like four or five years ago I think it would have failed.


If they want to liven the group up they’d have to add a bunch of young members. If you put just one in they either do and say nothing because they have nothing to say amidst a bunch of older members with seniority or just end up in the generic young brat or someone who just gets called cute a lot because they’re young.

Also yeah their fashion sucks but to be honest (and I think we talked about this somewhere before) but I don’t think Japanese fashion in general right now is in a very flattering phase. A lot of what I see these girls wearing in their blogs is baggy, weird color and pattern mixes or both. H!P’s fashion can be hilariously bad but also at times doesn’t seem that far off the mark.

[Saya]

I actually was listening to Jinsei Blues and wishing it had better vocals.
MM kind of has nothing they’re really good at right now - but it’s also managements fault for not creating any space that they can be interesting in.

[Anderei]

I actually was listening to Jinsei Blues and wishing it had better vocals.
MM kind of has nothing they’re really good at right now - but it’s also managements fault for not creating any space that they can be interesting in.

I used what I mean is that at this point good vocals would just be a nice extra rather than what actually makes them worth following these days. I wouldn’t like their recent stuff if it was sung by the greatest singers in the world.

[JPope]

This is the beginning a huge rant that I wrote, and might post up at my mostly dead blog. Who knows, if I'm feeling frisky, I might even vlog it on YT. 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

At the moment, MM doesn't do any one thing better than the rest of H!P, and that's fucking sad considering they're the flagship group. 

 

Imagine an alternate reality where, instead of the timeline we lived through starting with the 9th gen, we instead got the girls who became S/mileage as the 9th gen, all of their future members moving forward, and normal post-9th gen attrition: the current Angerme would be the current Morning Musume, and we'd all be basking in the glow of the 2nd Golden Age. 

 

That would be awesome, because as it stands now, I'd be totally cool with a 2011-style reboot. Maa and Sakura were the two Musumes that kept my interest after Zuki and Duu left, but the rest of the group has been so lackluster that they've beaten even that small bit of interest out of me, too. 

 

Here's the thing that really turns me off about MM: I haven't felt that the company has worked to make them stand out in any way since Sayumi left. Even the worst of the Platinum Era featured what was, despite a couple of tin-ears, a legitimate powerhouse vocal line-up for an idol group. The current music, with a few exceptions, is underwhelming and has been recycling motifs and sounds since 2014. The new members from the 12th gen on up are all mediocre-to-bad. And yeah, the dancing has regressed a lot as, from what I can see, they've moved away from pure formation dance to more of a hybrid-formation style. Whatever you want to call it, there are more cringe moments than cool moments in most routines now. And all of it appears, from the outside at least, to be done without a hint of passion or desire to make something special or timeless. It feels like every step of production -- from the songwriting to the arrangements, from the dance choreo to the performances -- is being performed by people just looking to get their 40 hours in, 'cos that paycheck ain't gonna earn itself! They all seem to be going on like salarymen.

[Farrah]

I know everyone hates Platinum era and says it's boring but it was the last time I felt genuinely invested in and entertained by MM.  The dances and outfits were still mostly garbage (no one in H!P history has had good choreography even once, lol and they couldn't execute it if they had it) but overall every concert was super entertaining and the group had several genuine friendships / close bonds in there that kept things like Haromoni at least a little entertaining.  I could watch Kamei Eri talk to a stump (and that sounds like something she'd do, tbh) and everyone knows Sayumi was a comic genius despite having little to no musical talent.

 

Seishun Collection is the most boring song ever, but I still loved watching the girls goof off together when performing it live because you could see so much genuine enjoyment and almost every girl (sorry, Aika) had her own performance style that brought a unique character and color.  This is a lot of words to say... spicy take, but I think Platinum era was pretty bomb even at it's most boring.  At the very least, when compared against the current line up, it is clear to me which one I'd rather watch (on stage or otherwise).

 

Every member of the group right now is middle of the road - no one has a particularly great voice, no one has a great character/persona, no one has a great anything.  It's just a collection of boring, well-behaved honor student types who mostly can't sing LOL.  I can tolerate a boring song once in awhile, but I struggle to tolerate consistently boring songs when they're being performed by girls who are already boring on their own.  The current group needs a total reboot, imo, and I want them to drop the "we're not wild and crazy like other j-idols, we're good girls!" schtick because it's like watching paint dry.  Say what you want about the 48 groups and I'll mostly agree, but at least they let them have personalities I guess!

 

I'll die mad that they never let Masaki's freak flag fly, lol.  A girl like her is completely wasted on what MM has become.  

[Saya]

The only people I think are good performers are Sakura and Masaki...

Mizuki is fine, but I’ve never seen her perform and be like “woah that’s girls amazing”. Yokoyama and Maria are trying on the personality front...
But I feel like Chisaki, Kaede, Akane, Miki, and Erina (even though I like her) add nothing special to the group.

[JPope]

One•Two•Three got me invested in a big way, and it's really only after Kudo left that I started to give up hope for them to turn things around with this core. I was all-in on the EDMusume sound pretty much up until TIKI BUN, which is when the sound stopped evolving for the most part. The songs I like the most after that tend to be the ones that stray from the EDM playbook, like Utakata Saturday Night, imasugu Tobikomu Yuuki and even Furari Ginza.

[Farrah]

Yeah, it's just too much of the same.  One Two Three was exciting because it was new.  Then they decided to pretty much never deviate from that sound ever again, lol.  It really has been different versions of the same thing since 2012.  It's one thing to have a signature sound but another thing to barely evolve even within the parameters of that sound itself.  I think it'd be a little more tolerable if we still got b-sides but... 

 

In recent years, they've still managed to put out a handful of songs I enjoy, but they're easily the most boring group in H!P right now.  I'm basically only continuing to follow them because goddammit, I've been a fan since I was 11 years old and habits die hard.

[AquaChan]

In recent years, they've still managed to put out a handful of songs I enjoy, but they're easily the most boring group in H!P right now.  I'm basically only continuing to follow them because goddammit, I've been a fan since I was 11 years old and habits die hard.

This (since 2007 for me, so a little passed 12 years). God, I almost don't listen to their concert anymore because it's always the same thing.
20th anniversary had some old songs reappeared, but still. I'm not even excited for the new single.

[Saya]

The stream is late.

My prediction before they start is Matsubara Yuriya, Tamenaga Shion, and Kubota Nanami.

Not girls I’m rooting for, just my prediction.

[DonJuan]

I bet it's only KSS andone girl fainted due to excitement.

[Saya]

The stream is late.

My prediction before they start is Matsubara Yuriya, Tamenaga Shion, and Kubota Nanami.

Not girls I’m rooting for, just my prediction.

While it’s paused I’m changing it to Yuriya, Kirara, and new girl.

[Saya]

So the winners are...

Okamura Homare (14)
Kitagawa Rio (15)
Yamazaki Mei (13)
http://www.helloproj...com/news/10573/

Mei is from the Hokkaido KSS. The other 2 are new. You know, I’m actually excited for these 3! Homare is super cute!

[DonJuan]

They're cute. I hope Rio is a really good singer - or maybe even Homare. Rio looks like she has attitude, I'm not against that.
In general I'm pretty happy with the new gen so far.

[Shoujo Q]

I got up way too early for the reveal. Then promptly fell asleep after. They need to do more live events. They are fun! You get to interact with all the fans. It’s a good time.

Anyway, I wanted a three member gen for such a long time and I finally got it! I love fresh meat too! That excited me the most. I hope they aren’t train wrecks vocally. That was the only drawback. I wanted some footage. I hope Hello!Station will pick that up after the Wada Ayaka graduation stuff.

Mei wasn’t my on my radar at all when it came to kenshuusei. But considering the girls I wanted, ended up in Juice=Juice I can’t complain. She seems like she’ll end up in the middle of the pack. If she sticks around long enough she might make it to the front. But time will tell. She’s not a horrible singer but she isn’t amazing yet either. She needs work. She’s got a very distinctive look so she’ll always stand out compared to other girls. The fact she can speak some English and can have Nonaka as a mentor means we might get more of an international voice in the group besides just Nonaka. That’s my hope anyway.

Homura is adorable and she has a look that reminds me of Cuca. I have a feeling with her dance experience she’ll do well in that aspect. I hope so anyway. With her unique name she’s sure to be memorable. She seems like a middle tier or back girl. First impression shyness. But she might surprise us.

Rio has a look and seems like a spitfire right out of the gate so I hope that part of her doesn’t get squashed within the group dynamics. Which usually happens with such large groups. She’s got the aura of a front girl. I hope I’m right. She’d do well up front with Maria and Mizuki. But that all hinges on how she sings so time will tell. I’m crossing my fingers she’s not a foghorn.

[Madara]

Can someone give me a L-R identification of the picture above with the complete names of the new girls?

With all the new girls in H!P lately, I need an illustrated score card. The learning curve keeps getting steeper.

 

And when was the last time there were 14 members?

[DonJuan]

^Yamazaki Mei, Okamura Homare, Kitagawa Rio.

[Mugi]

And when was the last time there were 14 members?

 

The last time was before Tsuji and Kago graduated 15 years ago!!

[TheParuProject]

And when was the last time there were 14 members?

The last time was before Tsuji and Kago graduated 15 years ago!!

There was a 14 member lineup for the Jamashinaide Here We Go! single. It was Chiichan's first and Duu's last, so it wasn't for a super long time or anything.

[Shoujo Q]

Everyone forgets Chisaki has been in the group for a while but it’s not her fault she never had a proper center stage new gen single (or that she’s as bland as white bread) because the last three singles she was in were all graduation singles. It wasn’t till Seishun Night that she finally got her chance. I knew she was in Duu’s graduation single and yet I had to double check twice because I didn’t remember her being in it. But she was.


Madara, use this to help you remember because eventually they will change their look. This is how I learn visually.
Mei; her eyes; also a former Hokkaido Kenshuusei
Homura; her ears; she’s got a small face
Rio; she has a rounder face; she’s also the oldest at 15.

[honey]

These girls are quite cute! Aesthetically I think they’re good picks for the group.

Kind of going back to why MM is so disappointing right now lol, what stood out to me about Riho and Masaki in reading their 20th Anniversary interviews is they were not really fans of or interested in Morning Musume when they joined. I think not having a preconceived notion of what MM is/should be allowed them to be more unabashedly themselves and better foster their own talents. Some of the other girls seem to be very stifled by joining only with a dream of being a MM member but not really any other talents they’d bring to the table once they got in (though Sayumi joined with this same idea in mind and graduated very successful, it took like 10+ years to finally come into her own lol). Though Masaki is very polarizing, I think strong and unique personalities like hers are what once made MM so fun (going back again to Platinum era, Tanaka was also quite stubborn in crafting her own image despite the pressure to conform and was similarly very popular as a result), and staff repressing members like her are extremely responsible in making MM feel as dead as it does right now. I think that is maybe also why the other groups seem so much better right now—they’re not repressed by some legacy and have likely feel they have more liberty to be experimental.

For the above reasons I think it’s great that two of these girls are fresh blood, and if staff doesn’t micromanage their development, hopefully they’ll bring some life back into MM. I’m cautiously hopeful lol

[Madara]

So Rio's the one who looks like Chisaki (in my eyes at least). Just from that pic, there's something calm and unflappable about her. (Reminds me of Kanon Fukuda and Erina Ikuta.) I'm smitten with her already.

[iDOL1641]

Everyone forgets Chisaki has been in the group for a while but it’s not her fault she never had a proper center stage new gen single (or that she’s as bland as white bread) because the last three singles she was in were all graduation singles. It wasn’t till eishun Night that she finally got her chance. I knew she was in Duu’s graduation single and yet I had to double check twice because I didn’t remember her being in it. But she was.

 

That and the fact they they just plopped her in and gave her own generation. With the other gens you had momentum and a bit of excitement building up to their announcements. Even with the dud auditions where they pretended they didn't find anyone only to add them a year later. It would've been better if they did a LinLin/JunJun and made her a 13th gen member. Anyway, I'm glad I got my three person gen and new blood instead it being all KKS. I'm excited to see what they have to offer.

[JPope]

Yay, fresh meat! I hope they don't suck.

 

These girls are quite cute! Aesthetically I think they’re good picks for the group.

Kind of going back to why MM is so disappointing right now lol, what stood out to me about Riho and Masaki in reading their 20th Anniversary interviews is they were not really fans of or interested in Morning Musume when they joined. I think not having a preconceived notion of what MM is/should be allowed them to be more unabashedly themselves and better foster their own talents. Some of the other girls seem to be very stifled by joining only with a dream of being a MM member but not really any other talents they’d bring to the table once they got in (though Sayumi joined with this same idea in mind and graduated very successful, it took like 10+ years to finally come into her own lol). Though Masaki is very polarizing, I think strong and unique personalities like hers are what once made MM so fun (going back again to Platinum era, Tanaka was also quite stubborn in crafting her own image despite the pressure to conform and was similarly very popular as a result), and staff repressing members like her are extremely responsible in making MM feel as dead as it does right now. I think that is maybe also why the other groups seem so much better right now—they’re not repressed by some legacy and have likely feel they have more liberty to be experimental.

For the above reasons I think it’s great that two of these girls are fresh blood, and if staff doesn’t micromanage their development, hopefully they’ll bring some life back into MM. I’m cautiously hopeful lol

 

That's an interesting take, and something I've never considered.