UFP/OG Spam Thread :: All things non-Hello!Project Related!

[Zoe]

Reina said to email Up Front to ask them to release the song lol

Meanwhile Sayu just released her 7th album...

[kira]

It still shocks me that out of all of 6th gen Sayu is the one with multiple albums.

[JPope]

So Sayubee released a song back in February, and apparently none of us knew about it, lol! It's straight ahead mid-tempo J-pop, and while it's not a heater, I kinda dig it.

"Lonely Night"

[JPope]

Kishimon out here grindin'.

[DonJuan]

Kinda funny that fashion goes back to what I wore as a teenager in the 2000s lol.
Sayuki's new song is pretty nice.

[Solarblade]

https://open.spotify.com/album/4IkX9cj8 ... RMNC87Zn5Q - An interesting thing, team445 (a dance-unit fronted by YOSHIKO has released a digital single that features Taiyou to Ciscomoon members (Shinoda, Kominato, and Inaba) titled "Disco Cleopatra")

Here's the PV for Disco Cleopatra



Also Yumeno released a digital single a few days ago, "You Are I" -

Sayubee also released a digital single, "Sayonara Yesterday" -

[JPope]

The return of Taiyou to Ciscomoon in 2024 was not on my bingo card, but goddammit this is a fucking jam. The track is pretty heavily produced, but the members' individual timbres shine through, and it's awesome because they all sound great. Also, seeing Inaba finally answers the question of who Rairii reminds me of, lol.

I also wouldn't have put money on Kishimon getting an aiko / Ai Otsuka light pop track like this, but I really love it. It would've been really easy (and tempting) to push a young, stylish singer like Yumeno into a more hard-edged contemporary path, but YU-M is smart enough to know that that's a tough road to hoe for former idols. I don't know how it will work out for Kishimon, but I dig both songs she's released so far. On a side note, it's odd that this was not released through her official YT channel, but provided to YT by YU-M for her "Topic" channel. I suppose it's considered more of a "B-side" to them.

And finally, LOL at Sayubee dropping a new song one day after I posted the song she released in February. This sounds like something she'd have done had she stayed with Up Front, which is kind of ironic, but I dig it. Sucks that it's only been viewed 2,224 times in the week it's been out. The bridges she burned must've been mighty.

[MejraThea]

Meimi covered Into the Unknown on TV a few years back! I just found it, not sure who else needed to see this.

https://youtu.be/93F9I4tLMu8?si=hjhL5O7Xu1I3m4FJ

[Shoujo Q]

Meimi is still one of my favorite girls to ever walk through the H!P halls and probably one of the best voices too. I’m happy every day that she’s still active in singing because it would be a crime not to hear her voice.

[JPope]

A couple of Meimi's singles were really good, but she definitely made the right choice focusing on musical theater.

[DonJuan]

To be fair I think that's also the safest bet for a former idol. Solo idols don't make it out there anymore, but the theater industry is as strong as ever. Nearly every somewhat popular manga gets a theater adaption*, and they're always in need of actors. Now if those actors already bring in a hand of fans, great! That being said, Meimi is ofc one of the better if not best actresses that came out of H!P.

*Made me do a double take when I saw Blue Lock getting one. That's a shonen soccer manga. The chapters are them passing the ball at high speed while having internal monologues. Perfect theater material! /sarc

[Shoujo Q]

I’m just imaging a ball on a string being passed around the stage as they pretend to be playing a game. Heh…

[DonJuan]

To be honest I haven't watched it, but this is the only way I can imagine it.

[JPope]

Kishimon's "You Are I" PV just dropped.



It's interesting that both of Kishimon's solo videos have been shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, which is usually something you do when going for a retro vibe, but nothing else about either of these clips are retro. (Maybe the vinyl record in "You Are I," but even that's being played on a modern turntable.) Coincidentally, Tsubaki Factory's "Ishiki Takai Otome no Dilemma" PV was also shot in 4:3, but I'm convinced that was to accentuate the circle motif that dominates that visuals throughout. I'd love to know the reason behind Kishomon's being shot like this, though. This shit fascinates me.

[Zoe]

So this happened a couple of weeks ago, not sure it was ever mentioned here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6V46bvhmFB/

Tsuji only mentions the ones in the first picture, but in Reina's latest TV appearance she said that Mizuki was there as well. Guess she's in that awkward period where she can't be photographed.

[DonJuan]

I just remember people talking about Masaki's feet but not here lol

[DonJuan]

Chiichan is joinging m-line. Kind of thought she already did, but now it's official lol

[JPope]

I was just talking about this in the Daaishi grad thread, lol. We're definitely getting an M-line dance team if Ayu joins now.

[DonJuan]

Absolutely. Put Manakan and Riko in there and we have a team.

[JPope]

Manakan, Chii-chan, Karin, Take-chan and Riko is a really good crew. If Ayu and Rikako go M-line, you could have an HPDC All Star team.

[JPope]

This is interesting:



The Google translation of the UF recruitment page suggests that they're looking specifically for M-line, but Justin says it's for H!P and M-line. I've asked him for clarity on that.

I converted the salary numbers to USD, and this looks to be very much an entry-level position: $1,700 - 3,200 monthly. They're probably looking for a younger musically-inclined/business-minded person whom they can mold to fit the H!P/M-line way.

[Shoujo Q]

Considering how they expanding M-Line they need more talent behind the scenes to alleviate those working on the H!P stuff. The last two years has shown a major shift away from H!P and more on M-Line to give the graduating girls a place to grow outside of H!P. So far it seems to be working for a few of them so I hope it all works out for up front and they can come back and start focusing again on H!P releases.

[JPope]

Score one for Google translate!



I love that M-line is being taken this seriously now.

[DonJuan]

It really is like a second coming of Elder Club with the previous top tier H!P girls staying in entertainment business with a plan. I wonder if careers like Gaki's or Ai's would have been different if m-line was like that 10 years ago.

[JPope]

I was thinking about how the Platinum Era girls kinda fell through the cracks: too young to parlay the Golden Era into an ongoing career, and to old to really take advantage of M-line.

[DonJuan]

Absolutely, and with girls like Ai we had definitely top quality. And even if we thought they wouldn't want to continue after so many years in H!P - look at Mizuki or Takechan, who have been around for just as long or longer. Ah, well.

[JPope]

MV for SIOOM's "C\C (Cinderella\Complex) '24" is out. It's basically dolled-up live footage, but it's kinda cool. As for the recording, I dig that the vocals aren't overworked like on the recent MM remakes.



I'm curious if this will be a one-off or a semi-regular group, because I wouldn't hate it if it was semi-regular.

[Shoujo Q]

Replace Ogata with anyone else and I'm down for it being a regular group.

[DonJuan]

Man, what wouldn't I give for a "real" MV, it would have had potential. But then again I take anything.

^Would be lowkey funny if Kiki replaced her On the other hand Mizuki will come back from her hiatus one day, and Ayumi will graduate this year, so...

[JPope]

Kishimon has a new digital single, "Kokoro ni SUNNY" [Edit: it's not new, it's three weeks old, lol!]



Here's a live performance.