I am sorely disappointed in the lack of Maachan this single.  It's not so much the number of lines she had, it's more of the strategic selection.  Maachan does much better when she doesn't "open" a song - she sustains any swagger that was needed in Mukidashite or any chorus end-bits where ...

Beginning of the year is always a good time to hold consecutive-day performances: it's holiday season!  That, and (purely conjecture, mind you) it may have been cheaper to minimize the stage setup/takedown time at Nakano Sun Plaza.  This was common back in the days of the Wonderful Hearts/Elder Club...

<div>Here's who I'm seeing</div> <div> </div> <div>Anju: Ayacho*, Takechan, Murotan*, Rikako</div> <div>MM: Eripon*, Ayumi, Duu, Maria</div> <div>JJ: Karin*</div> <div>CG: Chisaki, Funaki*</div> <div>KF: Hamachan, Fujii</div> <div>TF: Yamagishi, Akiyama*</div> <div> </div> <div>* members are the new...

this just in on her blog: Konno Asami has married Sugiura Toshihiro, pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

I spent some time last year playing a Train Drive ATS, train simulator .  iPad only and the free version doesn't explain anything to you, but after two weeks or so of puzzlement, it started to make sense.   It basically mimics the Tobu and Keio railway lines, from the train cabin and the engine to t...

I don't think it's as strict like being written in stone, but it's to provide more time to let the dedicated fans of the member-with-the-previous-color to settle down and get over their loss before giving it to the new member.  Let's be honest, I wonder how devastated Thea would be if we got a new m...

Eh, I'm not too anxious about the member colors.  Makino and Hagane (not a typo here, it's a Maachan nickname) like paying homage to their beloved idols and really like their special shades. If/when they grow out of their phases they'll stop talking about it, but it's still a cute - or dumb, if you'...

Getting this in early, JPLOP-style:   Lady Kaga Kaede's member color will be Italian Red , while Yoko-chan Reina's is Golden Yellow .   (I'm also getting in early in an attempt to popularize these unofficial and most likely idiosyncratic member nicknames.)   And... by age and seniority, Wada Ayaka w...

[quote="WonderBuono"] ^ Wait, are there videos for these? I've only ever seen Mizuki's and Sakura's, and now Miki on H!S (which I couldn't totally understand :/) [/quote]   I've seen Duu's and Ayumi's on YT, and Maachan's is recorded on the Hellocon DVD.  I don't think we'll get too many o...

From the stats-keepers on Twitter , here's the record of Utakata Saturday Night DJs since July.   Orange = Summer Hello cons Yellow = release events blue = August Naruchikas green = MY VISION tour white = TV and overseas performances   SaturdayNightDJ_12.28.2016 ver.PNG   The results are pretty pred...

Watched this yesterday at the Hong Kong viewing.   Watching the broadcast on a large screen is NICE in so many ways, possibly rivalling being at Budokan itself, if you’re hiding in the top, barely visible seats.  Theater was about 1/3 to ½ full, mostly college age, I think.  I sat next to an older d...

I'm not 100% sure about the photo sleeves, but if you're looking into brick & mortar stores, then I would try sports collectible stores, then the art stores to see if they have anything for archive purposes.  (But you really don't need to drop the full arm & leg for archive supplies, at leas...

Whoops, should have entered this.   L-size: 12.7 x 8.9 cm Postcard or KG size: 15.2 x 10.2 cm 2L size: 13.0 x 19.0 cm A5 size: 14.8 x 21.0 cm A4 size: 21.0 x 29.7 cm   Long spiel: Only the physical Hello!Project shops release photos individually.  The webstore <i>used</i> to, but now they tend to bu...

Well, that's one wonderful way to neutralize MM as the H!P flagship group (and a great way to cement the KSS as an intern pool).    Apologies for being in a bad mood, but I will get upset if Momohime gets in.  We have the precocious Maria starting as visual center, I don't need another starlet in th...

Changing management, practices, contract agreements, etc.  My guess is that no one really knew what to do with the eggs in H!P concerts until 2012.  Eggs primarily did just back dancing & stage plays.  Maybe Tsunku wasn't ready to write music for them yet and Up Front wasn't expanding their song...

Smile Fantasy is a "Jukebox Musical" where a fictional ( as the omniscient stage narrator reminds us every so often) S/mileage hold a pajama party at Ayaka's house and each girl imagines what kind of romance/teenage love story they'd have.  There was a version subbed in French - I think I ...

I think Chel's going for the Hannah Montana look:
   
 

Anybody looking for Utakata in 4K?  Here.
 
Context: MM went to Seoul, performed Utakata, and a medley of One Two Three, Love Machine, RR21, and What is Love.  They didn't do One and Only, but this performance of Utakata got an English DJ.

Taken from the all mighty Japanese wikipedia   Risa/Aika's grad was streamed to 13 theaters in Japan Reinagrad was streamed to 20 theaters in Japan Sayugrad was streamed to 33 theaters domestically, 3 overseas, and a TV simulcast PRISM was streamed to 25 theaters and 3 overseas Kanongrad was streame...

<div>Okay. Lots of defense-mode internet speak coming up.</div> <div> </div> <div>If you're debating whether or not Maria is a "Next Ace" , I offer the following magazine photo.</div> <div> </div> <div> qxcsIx7.jpg </div> <div> </div> <div>If you're doubting a lack of "silver platter ...

Damn, Usotsuki Anta?  The last time this was performed at a MM concert was... their first one  .  A good nine months before Sakura was even born.

[quote="yuzu"] Wasurete Ageru gives me Itoshima Distance vibes for some reason.   [/quote]   Opening lines resemble Memory Seishun no Hikari, then the chorus ("Aitakute, Aitakute...", around 1:05 in the video above) and overall song structure is pretty much identical to Itoshima ...

The Q&A on the documentary was severely edited.  Here's a video of the whole thing. 

PV on youtube, the promotion edit and swipe edit.
 
Congrats, UF.  You finally made a closeup version more interesting at last!
 
The PV is a complete shadow of Mr. Moonlight in every single way.  
 
 

Radio rip of Long-Ass Song Title.
 
Beats aren't as fierce as their title songs to date, This sounds like a sassy version of TTZZ.

just be grateful we're not in the mid 2000s, when every single idol (male and female) had light brown hair.  There have been worse tragedies.  

[quote="yuzu"] I thought the point of having so many groups was to spread out releases....why do I feel like all these singles are coming out all around the same time. [/quote]   It's not just you. I'm feeling it as well. This year we only just got Kobushi & Tsubaki to put out new musi...

The girls are prioritizing their (meaning C-ute's) activities over H!P as a whole.     I'm taking this to mean they want to do a good job of the fan club tours, bus tours, more handshake events, and solo lives concerts.  Birthday events are nice but they're not as high level as concerts. (Nah, BD ev...

Outside of the Top 10:   Shimizu Saki at #11 Maimi at #14 Ai-chan at #16 (keep in mind that she's been gone for nearly five years now) Takeuchi Akari at #21 Miyamoto Karin at #25 Fukumura Mizuki at #28 (quite a bit of tie there) Maachan at #34, tied with Meimi, Saho Akari and one heck of a tie. Maim...

1) Yes, and I'm not sure where you can identify the root cause behind the camaraderie (is it management, the members, the fact that they do concerts and/or handshake events almost every weekend, cultural or internal expectations of being an idol, all or some or none of the above?).  You can definite...