[quote name='showraniy' timestamp='1362104541' post='145629']
What? Guys, this "discussion about relevant stuff derails the thread" nonsense is, well, nonsense. This is the second time I've seen valid discussion of valid topic frowned on because it'll spawn extended posts. Yeah, I can get down with AEUG being a broken record, but the music breakdown discussion is directly related to the single.
But I also admit I'm the queen of long tangents on sort-of related topics, so maybe I'm wrong. But I still feel like it's a little ridiculous to say discussing the arrangement of the thread's topic is derailing it. Two cents.
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I was going to comment on this too. I'm glad you beat me to it! Adding to this, isn't having an opinion and commenting on various aspects of the group and song part of the reason we open threads to each release? This would just be a news board if it wasn't. <img src='
http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />
[quote name='Pucchi mo' timestamp='1362102185' post='145624']
I haven't noticed many individual characters in the group, but in the older days, I followed them super closely and had so many more chances/ways to actually see their personalities. I'm not in any way saying that the older generations were really just as plain, but I do think that it's possible that someone outside of the fandom could have made such a conclusion. Really, there was plenty of insignificant trivia association with that era too.
Also I feel that the language barrier is a significant factor in missing the personalities of the group since there are only so many appearances these days. Before it was like we could see a boring interview appearance, which was no big deal because moments later we could watch another show where the girls did something hilarious and the lack of understanding was less noticeable.
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See, I brought up the individuality thing because, while it may be a language barrier, the girls in the group are pointed more towards being liked by the wota than by the general public. For all I know, it could have been because I was so young, but I always felt that between 4th gen. and 8th gen., they really pushed each girl to have a set character. No one really had the same one, and in their singles, their outfits tended to reflect a bit of the girls' character more than they do now (Different colors are good, but Rika always dressed super girly, Yossi always was boyish, Tsuji and her giant bows, etc). Granted, they did have one costume type for the entire group at times, but they often ranged from pants to skirts to dresses to suit each member better. The current members of the group (aside from Sayumi and Reina) have no way of showing the general public who they are because the group isn't invited onto many shows anymore, and when they are, they don't often get more than 5-10 minutes of interviews. The few I've tried to look at had Sayumi doing a lot of the talking while everyone else was fairly quiet. I know when 9th gen. joined, the girls seemed like they were going to shine through (Kanon's bug imitations), but after Maji desu, it kind of disappeared. There's no Haromoni or regular program displaying the girls personalities. H!P Station is a plus if they utilize it, but it's online only, right? (I really don't know. I thought I remember seeing it was...) I just feel like H!P is there to please the wota and the general public may matter to Sayumi, but management isn't able to (or won't?) go the same route as her hopes. Granted, their sales are higher, but I feel that has more to do with the various editions than the general public. I could be wrong though.
How this relates to Brainstorming?
Despite their lack of individuality shown in singles, the group is way more unified than I feel it's been in a while, but during the dance, they just all blended into one for me. I had a hard to keeping focus on the girls in blue because they faded into the background. Several other board members also mentioned not being able to find such-and-such a girl during the dance. I do like that they gave Haruka a hat, but all the girls look fairly similar in hair color/length, outfits, and even height. I had a hard time telling all of them apart without some distinguished feature (even if it is their member color).
The group just has a hard time keeping my attention for very long. Ultimately, I just would really like to have a Haromoni-like program for the girls to extend their skills past singing and dancing because for them as idols, they do a pretty decent job of that now as shown with these last few singles.