She's so cute it made Honopi cry lmao! Her audition footage isn't wildly amazing, but she definitely has a solid base to grow from, especially as a dancer. I'm just glad we finally have the full class announced.

I've been so out of the loop that I didn't even know Miyabi had left UF and M-line, lol! I figured she'd have a lesser role in it post-marriage, but this actually makes more sense to me, as she can just move at her own pace without the stress of a company hanging over her.

Mano Otsubo is the new Beyooooonds member!

In case you're wondering what Kishimon has been up to

This single has made it to 31 weeks on the Oricon singles chart, tying fucking Love Machine for the longest run ever for a H!P release.

Today's addition to MM is Moa Suzuki from KSS! She's the one who froze during her introduction before giving a really good performance at this year's ShindanTest.

So Ayaya's career is now emerging every five years or so do an advert, eh?

I'm gonna necro-bump this quote, because there's an update :lol:


I wonder if this is a case of UF doing Risa a solid and letting her "leave" as opposed to suffering the professional embarrassment of not having her contract renewed. I actually liked a couple of her more recent songs, but she has ...

So each group will be adding two more n00bs over the next two weeks:

MM announces tomorrow and next Thursday.
Biyo announces this Thursday and next Tuesday.

So MM 18th gen will be four total, and Biyo's new gen will be three. They're really stretching this out, lol!

After the news that Karin played a large role in Hana Kojima auditioning for Biyo, it's also revealed that she seems to have created a role for herself in UF as an artist relations specialist.

https://twitter.com/ronjaaa3/status/2060360988558311573

Fan speculation about former H!P idols taking ...

I'm watching this final AMEFURASSHI concert, and they were pretty good -- total pros. A lot of their stuff was very K-pop inspired, so it's almost like Hana is taking the reverse path that Kassa took, lol.

Has this ever happened before, where a long time, successful Japanese idol jumps from one ...

She looks like Miyo's twin sister, lmao! Or maybe they just share a stylist ... And as I watch a bit further, Miyo is kinda her favorite, huh?

She's obviously a high-end, fully formed idol, which is pretty cool since her only learning curve will be the actual songs and dances -- she already knows ...

If it was only one member debuting and she was 12 then I’d be running off to UF and filing a complaint but in a package of members it isn’t so bad.


Yeah, having gen-mates to help pull you through is probably especially important to the younger n00bs. Also, you forgot Maa in your list, who was ...

I was a little leery of selecting a 12 y/o, tbh, but Ishikawa is so clearly ready to go that I'm pretty stoked for this. Looks like MM is getting a pretty strong class here.

So MM will announce their new member (members?) at 8 PM JP time today, or about five hours from now, and Biyo will do the same on Friday. There seems to be confusion about the language used in the announcement -- whether there will be multiple members announced together, or if there will be multiple ...

Holy nostalgia! HALCALI was on The First Take doing "Otsukare Summer," which has apparently found a recent spike in popularity 23 years later, lol. Man, I really loved them back in the day. Honestly, the early 2000s was such a great era for J-pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YShE6reM_w

Do we think any KSS are candidates for Biyo, or nah? Otsubo? Rua?

Wow. I don't know how I feel about this wrt Biyo. I mean, they're basically gonna have to restock 2/3 of the group, lmao! But fresh blood is always exciting.

The stars really aligned for Ruru, huh. She gets to capitalize on the success of Amore! and start setting herself up for the next stage of her career.

Interesting. I thought she'd make for solid back-line filler at minimum, but I guess they felt otherwise.

Speaking of the next MM generation, we're still waiting on the the rest of the 18th, and I'll be honest, none of the performances from the 2024 KSS class screamed "DEBUT ME!" I know the Shindan test isn't the be all, end all determinant of who debuts, but I suspect it plays some part. If one of them ...

My notes taken in real time while watching the peformances.

Sakamoto Aoi (13) – Rock no Tegi: She strikes a solid “cool idol” look, but her vocals are pretty rough, and she appears to be new-ish to dancing. On the positive side, she stayed composed this time, and has improved a lot from last year’s ...

I remember this from Hina Fes. I approve of H!P tapping P-Funk as an inspiration moving forward.

We used to be on the three-year album cycle, which has become the four-year album cycle, and now H!P's hottest group is getting an EP in what should be their album year. Add to that the 8-12 months between singles, and I think I have an explanation for my extended absences from H!P. But hey, at ...

Mappira Datte ba! PV has dropped!



I really like this.

Not sure where to put this, but this is awesome and I want the full version asap.

Mei, Ako and Haruka are all better than Miki, and Homa is better than people think. I don't need a singer on the level of Sakura if the overall group is strong, and once Maria leaves, Rio will be their weakest singer, which ain't bad. I'd prefer they have a real utahime, but a strong and versatile ...

I've secretly wished for Shiina Ringo to compose a song for an H!P group for forever now.

Maria had a stage presence that most of her contemporaries other than Maa couldn't match consistently. There was a point around 202-ish where I though she was going to become a solid singer, but that passed along with covid, lol! In terms of personality, I found her to be mostly annoying, but I'm ...

Sweet. Summer gonna be packed with releases.