Hello!Spam :: 2023 ~Dancing, Singing, Exciting!~

[JPope]

It's all we've got, and it's pretty good stuff. I'm kinda surprised how most of these idols have crappier mics than most internet karaoke queens.

[DonJuan]

Today is Tsubaki Factory's 5th anniversary.
 
Damn. 5 years ago I really thought they were the worst group to ever come out of Hello! Project. They're still not great performers, but they work as a group.

[WonderBuono]

I honestly didn’t even think they’d get a major debut much less outlive Kobushi but here we are!

[Solarblade]

Not to be selfish or anything, but man I wush I had some new music to listen to...its too quiet though I respect the safety precautions

[Shoujo Q]

I’d take this time to look back on some classics and revisit songs I looked over. H!P releases so much in a year it sometimes happens that songs are looked over or forgotten.


Me, I’ve been revisiting Matsuura Aya. More specifically her later albums. After her 3rd one I kind of checked out.


I’m really digging Double Rainbow.

[momoirosaya]

I was about to suggest the same thing! I rediscovered some AKB stage songs from 10 years ago and it’s crazy I know all the lyrics but I haven’t heard the songs in years.


If you want H!P I recommend MM’s early albums. They did a lot of stuff back then, even solo songs for all the members.

[JPope]

I've been listening to a lot of stuff from my first few years of discovering Jpop -- like 2000 - 2003. hitomi is an under-appreciated artist. Her three album run of thermo plastic, Love Life, and huma-rhythm is really goddamned strong, and each of them stands up well today. She was fairly successful in her day, but was always in Ayumi Hamasaki's shadow -- both Avex artists with similar voices, although I always preferred hitomi's -- and I never see her name mentioned by people reminiscing about that period of J-music. 
 
I've also been jamming to Judy And Mary, which was brought about by Takuya hitting his YouTube channel hard recently, including videos of him playing JAM songs on guitar, filmed in a way that makes it easy to follow the fingerings. He even did one in English, which was pretty cool.
 
And finally, I came across Harenchi☆Punch/80★PAN!/80_pan while scrolling through my old school iPod. That first Harenchi☆Punch album is killer start to finish. 

[Purin-chama]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="220362" data-time="1588293198">
I've been listening to a lot of stuff from my first few years of discovering Jpop -- like 2000 - 2003. hitomi is an under-appreciated artist. Her three album run of thermo plastic, Love Life, and huma-rhythm is really goddamned strong, and each of them stands up well today. She was fairly successful in her day, but was always in Ayumi Hamasaki's shadow -- both Avex artists with similar voices, although I always preferred hitomi's -- and I never see her name mentioned by people reminiscing about that period of J-music.</blockquote>
I could not stand listening to Hamasaki's voice, but I really enjoyed hitomi. Love Life was a great album.

[JPope]

[quote="DonJuan"]
Today is Tsubaki Factory's 5th anniversary.
 
Damn. 5 years ago I really thought they were the worst group to ever come out of Hello! Project. They're still not great performers, but they work as a group.
[/quote]
 
They've improved a lot, and more importantly, they've been handled perfectly. As much as we drag UpFront for poor decisions, they've done an exceptional job with Tsubaki Factory. Never asked them to do more than they're really capable of, while still pushing them just enough. 
[quote="Myst"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="220362" data-time="1588293198">
I've been listening to a lot of stuff from my first few years of discovering Jpop -- like 2000 - 2003. hitomi is an under-appreciated artist. Her three album run of thermo plastic, Love Life, and huma-rhythm is really goddamned strong, and each of them stands up well today. She was fairly successful in her day, but was always in Ayumi Hamasaki's shadow -- both Avex artists with similar voices, although I always preferred hitomi's -- and I never see her name mentioned by people reminiscing about that period of J-music.
</blockquote>
I could not stand listening to Hamasaki's voice, but I really enjoyed hitomi. Love Life was a great album.
 
[/quote]
 
Yeah, Ayu starts to grate quickly! I always felt like Ayu was affecting a voice, whereas hitomi was just singing naturally, but their timbres are fairly similar.

[al kusanagi]

Oh man, Harenchi Punch... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I went to pretty much every event they did early on because they were local to where I was in Japan.

[JPope]

[quote="Al Kusanagi"]
Oh man, Harenchi Punch... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I went to pretty much every event they did early on because they were local to where I was in Japan.
[/quote]
 
Did they sounds as good live as they did on their recordings?

[al kusanagi]

They were good enough live. To be fair, I never heard them in a "real" venue beyond a small live house. All their stuff was pretty much things like in store events with minimal sound setups.

[Shoujo Q]

Apple Music has added SO much Japanese music lately. Unfortunately they don’t have a dedicated section so it’s basically a treasure hunt when I find stuff.

[momoirosaya]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="220379" data-time="1588367080">
Apple Music has added SO much Japanese music lately. Unfortunately they don’t have a dedicated section so it’s basically a treasure hunt when I find stuff.</blockquote>
They have some Jpop playists!

[momoirosaya]

For those of you that don’t know the new members in H!P


https://youtu.be/fzjKGjOODFc

[DonJuan]

Great video, love the performance compilation.
For those that can't read kanji:
 
Morning Musume
Kitagawa Rio (shoulder-length hair, deeper voice, mature)
Okamura Homare (long hair, childish voice, lanky/long limbs)
Yamazaki Mei (special eyes, already with the H!P-style of singing, in the MM performances the one with pigtails)
 
ANGERME
Hashisako Rin
 
Juice=Juice
Kudo Yume (wears pink first, sings "SONGS", Kobushi's "Chotto", "Rock Erotic")
Matsunaga Riai (wears red first, sings "Gatamekira", some people have compared her voice to Ruru's)

[DonJuan]

Copying from H!O:
 
1. Michishige Sayumi: 11 Years, 10 Months, 7 Days
2. Niigaki Risa: 10 Years, 8 Months, 23 Days
3. Tanaka Reina: 10 Years, 4 Months, 2 Days
4. Takahashi Ai: 10 Years, 1 Month, 4 Days
<b>5. Fukumura Mizuki and Ikuta Erina: 9 Years, 4 Months, 18 Days</b>
<b>7. Ishida Ayumi and Sato Masaki: 8 Years, 7 Months, 21 Days</b>
9. Kamei Eri: 7 Years, 10 Months, 27 Days
<b>10. Oda Sakura: 7 Years, 8 Months, 6 Days</b>
11. Iida Kaori: 7 Years, 4 Months, 24 Days
12. Iikubo Haruna: 7 Years, 2 Months, 17 Days
13. Yoshizawa Hitomi: 7 Years, 20 Days
14. Yaguchi Mari: 6 Years, 11 Months, 12 Days
15. Abe Natsumi: 6 Years, 4 Months, 18 Days
16. Kudo Haruka: 6 Years, 2 Months, 12 Days
<b>17. Nonaka Miki, Makino Maria and Haga Akane: 5 Years, 7 Months, 20 Days</b>
20. Mitsui Aika: 5 Years, 5 Months, 8 Days
21. Suzuki Kanon: 5 Years, 4 Months, 29 Days
22. Ishikawa Rika: 5 Years, 21 Days
23. Yasuda Kei: 5 Years, 2 Days
24. Ogawa Makoto: 5 Years, 1 Day
25. Sayashi Riho: 4 Years, 11 Months, 29 Days
26. Konno Asami: 4 Years, 10 Months, 27 Days
27. Kusumi Koharu: 4 Years, 7 Months, 5 Days
28. Fujimoto Miki: 4 Years, 4 Months, 13 Days
29. Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai: 4 Years, 3 Months, 16 Days
31. Junjun and Linlin: 3 Years, 9 Months
33. Ogata Haruna: 3 Years, 8 Months, 21 Days
34. Nakazawa Yuko: 3 Years, 7 Months, 8 Days
<b>35. Kaga Kaede and Yokoyama Reina: 3 Years, 5 Months, 8 Days</b>
37. Goto Maki: 3 Years, 1 Month, 1 Day
<b>38. Morito Chisaki: 2 Years, 10 Months, 24 Days</b>
39. Ishiguro Aya: 2 Years, 4 Months
40. Ichii Sayaka: 2 Years, 18 Days
41. Fukuda Asuka: 1 Year, 7 Months, 11 Days
<b>42. Kitagawa Rio, Okamura Homare and Yamazaki Mei: 0 Years, 10 Months, 28 Days</b>

[Anderei]

Holy cow, time flows.


All of these girls need to get out lmao.

[momoirosaya]

And somehow gens 12-14’s time in the group had left little impression on me. I feel like one MM year is 3 regular years.


How are Nonaka and Haga still bad at expressions when performing after 6 years...


I haven’t liked MM for the last 6 years... there are too many serious and shy personalities which makes watching them not fun.

[DonJuan]

I have no doubts that all the girls in the group work hard to try to become better. But damn, stamina and dancing in line isn't everything.
 
Despite Maria getting a bit of attention and Akane being my fave I have to say that 12th gen must be MM's worst generation ever. Koharu was annoying, sure, but she was probably the last successful member (no offense Sayu, but doing a few magic shows doesn't do the trick for me). 4th gen was scandalous (the whole Kago thing, the whole Yossy thing, and well Nono got pregnant while still in H!P lol), but they were entertaining (before their scandals).
 
I agree with you Saya, Miki and Akane are still so awkward on stage. Then there's the point that Akane still can't sing properly and her dancing is also, eh, sub-par. Not a fan of Miki's performing, either. Maria is also pretty bad at singing but she kinda knows how to use her face.
And then everybody who has been in there longer than them is just over her prime. I wouldn't miss anyone except for 15th gen and maybe Yoko/Kaede.

[Pi Mako]

Funny how for me, on average, the longer a girl has been in MM,the less of an impression they made.

[Shoujo Q]

I’m really curious to know what the idol scene will be like post Covid. The meat of an idols job is to be around people and that’s being taken away. I can see a lot of smaller idol groups disappearing. What happens to H!P and groups like AKB48 is also interesting.

[al kusanagi]

And here is the latest of Chisaki's Youtube series where she tries to get good at Smash Bros. Take-chan is her opponent this time.
 
Take's hair has gotten so long. I miss her short look...

[DonJuan]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
I’m really curious to know what the idol scene will be like post Covid. The meat of an idols job is to be around people and that’s being taken away. I can see a lot of smaller idol groups disappearing. What happens to H!P and groups like AKB48 is also interesting.
[/quote]

It really will be interesting, especially since nobody knows when Covid "ends". They won't be able to go back full on idol activities. Maybe they can start with talking events, masks mandatory, no touch (no high-touch or handshake events). Selling only every second seat in a venue is highly unprofitable so concerts will be interesting, too. Maybe they will be looking for smaller venues, depending on whether Japan puts a participant cap on events or not.
 
The H!P groups usually sell decently enough to survive, even Juice=Juice's last single didn't do as badly as Kobushi's. I just hope they'll release something this year.

[Shoujo Q]

Once they start letting people go back to work I’m sure we’ll get more online content and maybe even a few digital releases.


Juice=Juice did the online autograph session so they could try and release a physical release. They do also offer those posters At the H!P store so once that reopens, another place to get a few extra bucks. But the reality is, without cheki and handshake events their numbers will never match previous releases.



I hope whomever is in charge of these things has been having some serious zoom meetings on what they are going to do.


I for one have really enjoyed all the online content that’s been pouring out. So in a way I’m not upset about some of these turns in events. It’s given the international fans a really good treasure trove of stuff. Beyooooond being the group that’s really stepped up their game.

[Anderei]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="DonJuan" data-cid="220479" data-time="1590320535"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="220467" data-time="1590276035">
I’m really curious to know what the idol scene will be like post Covid. The meat of an idols job is to be around people and that’s being taken away. I can see a lot of smaller idol groups disappearing. What happens to H!P and groups like AKB48 is also interesting.</blockquote>It really will be interesting, especially since nobody knows when Covid "ends". They won't be able to go back full on idol activities. Maybe they can start with talking events, masks mandatory, no touch (no high-touch or handshake events). Selling only every second seat in a venue is highly unprofitable so concerts will be interesting, too. Maybe they will be looking for smaller venues, depending on whether Japan puts a participant cap on events or not.


The H!P groups usually sell decently enough to survive, even Juice=Juice's last single didn't do as badly as Kobushi's. I just hope they'll release something this year.</blockquote>
I feel like anyone who has already gotten a single in this year is probably gonna get shafted until next year if we get anything at all. JJ’s release history is absolutely abysmal and even MM only put out one single in 2019. We’ll probably just get one from Angerme and Beyonds and call it a year.

[MejraThea]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Al Kusanagi" data-cid="220468" data-time="1590283760"><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlCJAYfDZM' class="bbc_url" title="External link">And here is the latest of Chisaki's Youtube series where she tries to get good at Smash Bros. Take-chan is her opponent this time.</a>


Take's hair has gotten so long. I miss her short look...</blockquote>


I agree, she suited short hair much better. With the long hair she kind of reminds me of a Korean pop star, though, haha.

[Farrah]

She's only tangentially related to H!P so feel free to move this (I wasn't rly sure where to put it), but Cuca plans to leave STU48 and recently opened up about being forced to diet down from 92 lbs to 80 lbs via bulimia and anorexia while she was working under 48G :( it just made me sad because I feel like H!P is a lot less strict about making the girls look a certain way (although of course we have still had some girls go on worrying diets and rumors of disordered eating).  It's a shame she never passed an H!P audition.

[Anderei]

I’ve read the translation is wrong and she has not actually announced that she’s leaving.

[Farrah]

That's even more worrisome tbh, because it's pretty obvious this isn't a healthy work environment for her :( man, idol life is rough.