Hello!Spam :: 15 years of Chou Happy Spam!

[yuzuriha]

No you can dye your hair in some high schools but middle schools it seems to be pretty much mandatory not to dye your hair.

[rob]

One of my high school students actually has to dye her hair black... it's natural brown!



<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... lleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' />

[Anderei]

I'm almost certain Eripon has said she's going to high school. She was just in a mook about idols going to high school.

[rob]

If that's true then my friends have a message for Eripon's hair color

[Anderei]

Ayumi and Mizuki have the same color and are in school too. Their schools must not care as long as it isn't crazy.

[Miss Moonlight]

[quote name='yuzuriha' timestamp='1363822703' post='147631']

No you can dye your hair in some high schools but middle schools it seems to be pretty much mandatory not to dye your hair.

[/quote]

This is what I thought, but it always confused the hell out of me that Maki's hair was orange at 13 and Risako's was orange at like 10 or however old she was.

[Anderei]

Miyabi too. I think Kago had dyed hair for a short time in the very beginning when she joined too.

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='Anderei' timestamp='1363830560' post='147656']

Miyabi too. I think Kago had dyed hair for a short time in the very beginning when she joined too.

[/quote]



Chisato also, but she eventually dyed it black and now she's on a roller coaster again with the bottle.

[yuzuriha]

In a lot of elementary schools in Japan you are allowed to dye your hair and wear whatever you want because of how strict it gets in middle school. I had an elementary school student whose hair was a different color every week...I am pretty sure he was a first grader too.



Rob, I definitely know some kids who had to dye their hair black because their natural color was brown. I never taught high school but my understanding is it gets more lax, depending on the school I suppose. Middle school is more universal with how strict the dress code is.



Miss moonlight, I cannot explain Maki. It has always baffled me too.

[Miss Moonlight]

I think it's so weird to me because forgetting school, my MOM would never have let me dye my hair that young <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I remember one of my best friends got one blonde streak when we were in 6th grade and I begged for the same. No dice.

[Noa]

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr.com/post/456576381 ... y-the-best

[sayu1991]

[quote name='Anderei' timestamp='1363823154' post='147635']

I'm almost certain Eripon has said she's going to high school. She was just in a mook about idols going to high school.

[/quote]



Are you sure? I'm a bit worried because in one of her recent blog entries she said that "there is only a tiny bit of [her] school life left". Not her middle school life but her school life. I got worried after reading that.

[NekoKaiSai]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1363840888' post='147686']

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr.com/post/456576381 ... y-the-best

[/quote]



Holy crap, I knew she could sing but... <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... prised.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':omg:' />

[yuzuriha]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1363840888' post='147686']

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr.com/post/456576381 ... y-the-best

[/quote]



Yep.

[Mugi]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1363840888' post='147686']

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr.com/post/456576381 ... y-the-best

[/quote]



It won't play for me. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /frown.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':frown:' />

[neshcom]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1363840888' post='147686']

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr...obably-the-best

[/quote]

Whoa. Of course, 4 seconds is a little bit of cherry-picking, right? I don't know any of these new girls, so I've got no clue if that's consistent to her. But damn.

[Farrah]

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1363756959' post='147510']

[quote name='Farrah' timestamp='1363748465' post='147488']

Guys, it kind of just dawned on me that when I first got into H!P (around the time Koharu joined, unfortunately), I didn't give a shit about any of the H!P kids. I found their music and their image to be incredibly boring - especially Berryz. Now, the only H!P groups I really pay significant attention to are Berryz and C-ute - in that order. It's really cool how those two groups went from a group of annoying screechy kids with next to no idea what they were doing, to a bunch of divas that can totally rock the stage; Maimai included! As much as we may malign Tsunku and his choices, the only really bad decision as far as the H!P kids was not promoting them enough. C-ute and Berryz both have the talent and the songs to be at least as popular as PASS-PO or Fairies. It's a shame H!P seems to funnel most of it's resources and advertising into Momusu, a group the general public got tired of a looong time ago. Most Japanese people don't even know Momusu is still a group, they figure they broke up a long time ago, and when told that the group IS still around, it mostly conjures of imagery of rats on a burning ship. C-ute and Berryz have a way bigger chance of crossover appeal, they don't have the stigma of the Momusu name.

[/quote]



According to sales Berryz and C-ute are already more popular than both of those groups, but I kinda see your point.



Music isn't the same as in the outside world in Japan, kids kinda like the new thing and then once in a while something will explode. The vast majority of AKB fans in Japan have no clue other idol groups exist never mind what the group names are or what their songs sound like.



That and most Japanese people buy whatever music station tells them to.

[/quote]



Sales aren't really a good indication, because wota will buy entire boxes of the single, LOL. PASS-PO and Fairies are both actually known by the overall public, their sales aren't entirely made up of 40 year old hikikomoris.



PS Kanon is really quite wonderful. I see so much potential in her voice but H!P will be damned before it puts a low voice at the forefront of Morning Musume (sad day for Haruka, too). Some may site Takahashi and Nacchi as examples, but I don't think their voices were low... just comparatively less chipmunky LOL.



Annnd on the hair front, I assume Japanese idols do what Korean idols do, and attend schools with lax policies - this allows them to dye their hair for the group, or miss school days for performances and recordings. I could be wrong, but I'd always just assumed.

[star]

[quote name='Molly' timestamp='1363840888' post='147686']

No seriously, Kanon is perfect. http://duukki.tumblr.com/post/456576381 ... y-the-best

[/quote]

I noticed that while I was watching the concert and was going to mention it after I finished the concert, but you beat me to it.

[Insert numerous insults at manegment for not giving her the spot light more.]

[rob]

Again I think it's MASSIVELY unfair to attribute momusu's sales to crazy wotas. With 1,2,3 they sold something like 70k+ more copies than the previous single.... there is literally NO WAY that is just crazy wota buying box sets.



Fairies and PassPo are not well known in Japan, if you ask the average Japanese person they will ALL know AKB, most will have heard of momoclo and then.... a big drop to the rest.



-------



Oh and I just noticed Zukki is coming to my prefecture, it's a 90min drive god I hope it starts in the morning otherwise I can't go!

[Farrah]

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1363908953' post='147738']

Again I think it's MASSIVELY unfair to attribute momusu's sales to crazy wotas. With 1,2,3 they sold something like 70k+ more copies than the previous single.... there is literally NO WAY that is just crazy wota buying box sets.



Fairies and PassPo are not well known in Japan, if you ask the average Japanese person they will ALL know AKB, most will have heard of momoclo and then.... a big drop to the rest.

[/quote]



Momusu's recent sales are MAJORLY different from their sales over the past three or four years. I'll admit they've managed to gain more mainstream appeal, but they definitely do not have a great image with the average public. If you ask the average Japanese person, they'll all know AKB and (more recently) Momoclo, but we both know not a damn one of them is going to name C-ute or Berryz unless you happen to magically stumble upon the one H!P fan roaming the streets.



Also, Fairies are alllll over TV right now. I'd say they're probably pretty well known among non-idol fans. The only H!P girl getting much media play is Sayu, and tbh it seems like she's doing a lot less outside H!P than she used to (understandable, considering how busy Momusu have been lately. I imagine her plate is pretty full.)

[al kusanagi]

Um... Momoko? She is freaking everywhere on TV now and Berryz news reports have all taken to just putting her name in the headline and only mentioning the group's name in the articles.

[rob]

That would depend upon what TV station it is you think they are on ;)



Not every TV show you see gets aired all over the country, in fact very few are. Which is why I said people usually buy what Music Station tells them to.



When I visit Tokyo for a vacation I'm always amazed by the amount and variety of TV shows they have, most of that stuff never reaches my prefecture.



I can't find any data on the sales for fairies at all, but I think it's unfair you think that only crazy wota buy berryz or c-ute stuff and that fairies have a legitimate fanbase, IMO the fans of both groups are probably the same people

[roddyreta]

I'm a fan of Fairies, but they don't appear on TV that much. They had a big debut -- appeared on Music Station a few times when they started -- but they only have about 20K in sales for their singles. They had a TV show of their own, but it only lasted a few months before getting cancelled. They're doing OK, but I don't think their fanbase is larger than C-ute or Berryz right now (probably smaller).



I agree that a lot of Momusu's single sales growth is due to multiple buying. When it comes to mainstream success, I tend to look at other criteria: album sales, concert venues, and on-line music rankings. I don't see that huge a change for Momusu by those standards, only just slight improvements. Compare this to MomoClo, which is playing huge arenas now, has great on-line sales, and 100K+ selling albums.

[momoirosaya]

Am I the only one that actually doesn't like Kanon's signing voice? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /ph34r.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

[Farrah]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1363909582' post='147745']

Um... Momoko? She is freaking everywhere on TV now and Berryz news reports have all taken to just putting her name in the headline and only mentioning the group's name in the articles.

[/quote]



True, but I don't think one person being known really equates to the group being known. I remember Sayumi saying once that when she would mention she was a member of Morning Musume on shows, people would be like "Wait, what, Morning Musume still EXISTS?"



Idk, I just wish H!P groups weren't stuck being so associated with neckbeards and wotagei. I feel like it totally prevents the groups from becoming mainstream, especially since UFP are totally comfortable with only having a small, freakishly dedicated fanbase - and hey, that model has been working for them financially, so why not? AKB's success was nearly a freak accident, and none of H!P's groups really have the craziness to pull off the insane gimmicks and what not of Momoclo, and any attempts at doing so would be quickly called out as cheap imitation.



TL;DR UFP continues to pander only to one small, albeit dedicated fanbase. Some groups remain practically unknown, yet still sell more than mainstream groups. World continues to turn.

[Anderei]

I like a good Morning Musume popularity discussion as much as the next person (seriously though momoclo >>>) but I'm going to share Eripon's photos from the mook I mentioned earlier now because I think they're nice. Hopefully they actually work.

Spoiler: [+]

I know Airi was in the high school version too. Oh so was Dawa. I'm just going to link to her's.

[rob]

I don't know how you guys are justifying the HUGE leap in sales, the previous releases had the same amount of versions etc but sold 60-70k less copies.



The new style/look of the group has made them more popular and I just can not agree that the sales spike is down to the same 20k wota who bought pyoko.



Momoiro Clover are the new thing, Japanese people love new things. Morning Musume will NEVER be that big again because they aren't new, same with Berryz and C-ute, Smileage I think were gaining in popularity before the Saki and Yuuka bombs went off and destroyed any momentum they had going.

[Anderei]

S/mileage had already lost their momentum, lbr. And Morning Musume HAS done far more events with the past few singles than the ones before. Look at all the release events Help Me had.

[al kusanagi]

Sayu went on a date with her Eri. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[al kusanagi]

Sayu handles a wardrobe malfunction Like A Boss!