Momoko's 4th PB was released on 8/21/09. I haven't been following PBs for a few years now because, simply, there are too many of them! However, this one caught my eye and I found a few pics on H!O's board. She is 16-17 in the PB I bet.
Here are my initial reactions alongside the appropriate pictures.
Cute little angel...on a bed...jumping around. Hm. Her top reminds me of Ayaya's outfit in (can't remember the title).
Aww little angel...slut. These pictures really confuse me because the girls are so sweet looking and angelic, but the camera makes you stare right at their crotch <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /ph34r.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
I love this. School uniforms are pretty standard but at least they can throw us a witty picture or two.
Cute.
Cheers for a small break between summer outfits, bikinis, and school girl/school sports uniforms.
And then it gets scary. I've become quite desensitized to the hyper sexualization of these teens at this point, but part of me still freaks out. Probably because I've seen these girls since they were really little kids and now they're squishing their boobs in my face.
These pictures really confuse me because the girls are so sweet looking and angelic, but the camera makes you stare right at their crotch <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /ph34r.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />
I never would have thought "ew crotch shot" had you not said anything. I think it's just the fact that she's in short-shorts that makes it more noticable, because the pose she's in is a fairly standard cutesy-kid pose. Not that I'm denying that H!P sexes up the yougin's, I just think this particular picture is one of the more cute and innocent ones.
And then it gets scary. I've become quite desensitized to the hyper sexualization of these teens at this point, but part of me still freaks out. Probably because I've seen these girls since they were really little kids and now they're squishing their boobs in my face.
(boobie squishing)
What's so scary about this second one? I mean yeah, her butt is hanging out some. I see little kid butts hanging out every time I go to the beach or pool - I don't think there is a girls/womens swimsuit in the world that is designed in such a way that some buttcheek doesn't hang out unless it's incredibly frumpy. Even the boy shorts ride up.
Young girls probably shouldn't be put into swimsuits at all in their photobooks. But then again, crazy wota will wank over a PV or a trading card, so it's not like it saves them from being viewed in an inappropriate sexual manor. Momoko is 17 anyway, so I kind of think she's beyond the "gross, sexploitation of minors" stage. The one year between 17 and 18 really doesn't make that much of a difference.
I'll give H!P due credit - their PBs are some of the most respectful I see come out of Japan - even when they go gravure they generally keep it really clean, with more OMG YAY faces than come hither poses. When the girls are in swimsuits, they always go for the more modest bikinis. It'll always be creepy seeing Momoko like this, though, since she looks and sounds about 9 years old, and one would have to be pretty naive to think H!P doesn't take advantage of that.
Last edited by Farrah on Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Feh, considering 16 is the legal age of marriage for females in Japan, seeing a 16 or 17 year old in a bikini shouldn't be a big deal.
And Momoko got bewbz like 4 years ago. I remember a time when all of the sudden she figured out she had them and tried sticking them in the camera every chance she got, that adorable little spotlight stealing scamp!
[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='68017' date='Aug 28 2009, 10:11 AM']Feh, considering 16 is the legal age of marriage for females in Japan, seeing a 16 or 17 year old in a bikini shouldn't be a big deal.[/quote]
It isn't a big deal and I already noted that she's pretty much an adult. It is just weird coming from Momoko when I can still picture her in Koinu Dan. My mind just hasn't adjusted to the idea of Momoko squishing her boobs together.
[quote name='TnB' post='68014' date='Aug 28 2009, 09:15 AM']What's so scary about this second one? I mean yeah, her butt is hanging out some. I see little kid butts hanging out every time I go to the beach or pool - I don't think there is a girls/womens swimsuit in the world that is designed in such a way that some buttcheek doesn't hang out unless it's incredibly frumpy.[/quote]
Because the way Momoko is posed and the angle of the camera is strategic. You're meant to look at her round ass cheek -- that butt shot is not coincidental or secondary to the overall composition of the photo. Or in short, the delivery matters just as much as the content.
A photographer takes thousands of photos and has all the photo-editing tools at his/her fingertips. The model is going to look cute in many of them. So, you have to consider why he/she decided to go a particular shot and all the embedded visual codes in that shot. Also, the company is headed by professionals who know their audience, the other options in the idol visual world (including soft porn), and the various codes of visual culture. Just as there is a lexicon for idol PBs (bikini, bed, school girl, dress etc), there are standards for erotic messages. If you think about it that way or if you've studied how to analyze images (like in a media studies or art history class), then these weird things stand out a lot. I mean, ever wonder why there are so many images of bikini girls holding or drinking out of a garden hose? I've seen a really creepy U-15 idol photo where the girl is spread legged directly into the camera and, even more uncomfortably, wearing frilly short shorts (panties?) reminiscent of labia folds.
H!P operates on a subtle sexualization of its models. Luckily, their PBs still try to make the girl seem like a real person -- lots of personality, etc . But with like, Alo Hello, there is that "stock idol sexy" element too.
Last edited by eri on Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
[quote name='mEri' post='68020' date='Aug 28 2009, 03:18 PM'][quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='68017' date='Aug 28 2009, 10:11 AM']Feh, considering 16 is the legal age of marriage for females in Japan, seeing a 16 or 17 year old in a bikini shouldn't be a big deal.[/quote]
It isn't a big deal and I already noted that she's pretty much an adult. It is just weird coming from Momoko when I can still picture her in Koinu Dan. My mind just hasn't adjusted to the idea of Momoko squishing her boobs together.
[quote name='TnB' post='68014' date='Aug 28 2009, 09:15 AM']What's so scary about this second one? I mean yeah, her butt is hanging out some. I see little kid butts hanging out every time I go to the beach or pool - I don't think there is a girls/womens swimsuit in the world that is designed in such a way that some buttcheek doesn't hang out unless it's incredibly frumpy.[/quote]
Because the way Momoko is posed and the angle of the camera is strategic. You're meant to look at her round ass cheek -- that butt shot is not coincidental or secondary to the overall composition of the photo. Or in short, the delivery matters just as much as the content.
A photographer takes thousands of photos and has all the photo-editing tools at his/her fingertips. The model is going to look cute in many of them. So, you have to consider why he/she decided to go a particular shot and all the embedded visual codes in that shot. Also, the company is headed by professionals who know their audience, the other options in the idol visual world (including soft porn), and the various codes of visual culture. Just as there is a lexicon for idol PBs (bikini, bed, school girl, dress etc), there are standards for erotic messages. If you think about it that way or if you've studied how to analyze images (like in a media studies or art history class), then these weird things stand out a lot. I mean, ever wonder why there are so many images of bikini girls holding or drinking out of a garden hose? I've seen a really creepy U-15 idol photo where the girl is spread legged directly into the camera and, even more uncomfortably, wearing frilly short shorts (panties?) reminiscent of labia folds.
[/quote]
I think all of these points have pretty much been over a hundred times every time H!P puts out a photobook, so I'm not going to go too much into this. I certainly recognize that H!P photobooks have varying degrees of subtle sexuality to them, that this is done on purpose, and that they use the same types of imagery you mention. I just think the drinking out of a garden hose / sucking on a popsicle / spread eagle in panties shots are in a different league entirely from this particular picture. Yes, Momoko's butt is facing the camera and we're probably meant to look at it. So what, she's 17. She's allowed to have a nice ass by now. But it's also at the same time a very cute shot of her looking over her shoulder, which is a pretty classic pose meant to make it seem like the model is looking back at the reader. Like you're having a fun day on the beach with her (in a non- creepy stalker way).
I really liked the pics in this PB. Nothing was too over the top. Even the most questionable pics, (the ones with the microphone), don't come off as overtly sexy, imho, because she still has her same cutesy smile. In fact, throughout the book she's never really "trying" to be sexy. Rather, she seems to be in-character throughout the whole thing.
Cute little angel...on a bed...jumping around. Hm. Her top reminds me of Ayaya's outfit in (can't remember the title).
Aww little angel...slut. These pictures really confuse me because the girls are so sweet looking and angelic, but the camera makes you stare right at their crotch <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /ph34r.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> 
I love this. School uniforms are pretty standard but at least they can throw us a witty picture or two.
Cute.
Cheers for a small break between summer outfits, bikinis, and school girl/school sports uniforms.
