Natsumi Abe - Ameagari no Niji no Youni

[strawberryjam]

So there's been a preview of Natsumi's new single!



Ameagari no Niji no Youni - It's still pretty boring ballad unfortunately. But I'm glad she's doing... something. I still love her voice. I liked Screen a lot so this is kind of unfortunate. Anyways, I feel she is singing to herd me in circles until I get tired and fall asleep. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />



Yume wo Akiramenaide (c/w) - I actually like this song more. Even though it's very mellow. Somehow, I feel there is a purpose in the end that doesn't involve putting me to sleep. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' /> I think the old idol-ish feeling suits her voice too so I think it sounds nice. Though I don't imagine myself listening to this much more in the future.



Source: SayuNii and nacccccc

[Gerald]

I'm with you on this Berry, the single is really boring <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... eeping.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> . I don't think even a PV with Nacchi looking gorgeous can save it.



The c/w is much better, it's got some life and suits her voice nicely. Should have been the A side.



Whatever, I'll still buy it to support her.

[Ap2000]

They both sound bland, but I disliked all H!P ballads I've heard anyway...

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I actually kind of LIKE boring wispy ballad Nacchi and I don't like either of these songs. :< Give me more Screen and Amasugita Kajitsu, you bitch.

[JPope]

What's the deal with UFA where any singer approaching 30 is seen to be unfit for anything other than crappy, boring ballads? I just don't understand the point of releasing stuff like this. If you're going to go through the trouble and expense of recording and releasing product -- especially for possibly the only artist in your stable with any sort of cross-over appeal -- why not do it correctly and put some resources into making it a good release?



These people are fucking crazy people. They have mismanaged Nacchi's solo career almost as badly as they did Maki Goto's solo career. There is no reason that Nacchi, Goto, Aya Matsuura and Miki Fujimoto shouldn't all be at least moderately relevant in the JPop scene for UFA. All of them had success separate from the wota-bait lolita creep-fest that H!P is now associated with, and with the exception of Nacchi, all are still in their mid-20s. And Nacchi was Japan's fucking sweetheart for several years. Their careers were all killed with crappy, uninspired, boring music like this shit. Singles like this are just reminders of how lucky they were from 1999 through 2003. Lucky to have Tsunku during his creative peak, and lucky to have picked the right girls for not only MM, but all of H!P. It had to be luck, because damn near everything from the MM's 5th generation on has just been a string of one disastrous decision followed by an even bigger disastrous decision. Now they are contemplating adding a girl as young as 10 to their flagship group while the woman upon whose back that flagship was launched is asked to record two utterly forgettable pieces of musical excrement, and they call it a comeback. It's a fucking shame. She doesn't deserve this. None of them do.

[strawberryjam]

^ Agreed 100%...



Seriously, if Nacchi has no hope of success, none of the other graduates too. And it's too bad MM has been on train wreck for so long. It's past being saved. I love a lot of the girls, so I want to keep supporting them. But I feel bad for them because it's really the management's fault. It's too bad the girls can't simply change agencies to save their butts. Upfront is not doing their job at all....

[Pucchi-Mo]

They can totally change agencies.

It's called sucking cock and getting caught.



[quote name='JPope' post='83041' date='Aug 16 2010, 04:51 PM']These people are fucking crazy people.[/quote]

All other points were valid, but this pretty much sums it up, people.



I don't mind Nacchi's new single though,

the intro threatens to become a rock ballad but NO SUCH LUCK. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /noway.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />



Well, she can release whatever, just as long as I get my live versions of Ai Hitohira and of course Nariyamanai Tambourine.



Honestly, even with good songs, nothing awesome has lasted very long.

It's a curse more sure than the Love Machine lineup.

[eri]

At least it isn't enka? I don't know how to put a happy spin on this. UFA is a disaster. It made me think that 25 was ancient but then I turn around and see Koda Kumi (27), Ayumi Hamasaki (31), Amuro (32) still major players in the Jpop world. I know those three are really exceptional but still...

[strawberryjam]

[quote name='TightWetPucchi' post='83047' date='Aug 16 2010, 02:50 PM']Honestly, even with good songs, nothing awesome has lasted very long.[/quote]

That's the problem!





[quote name='eri' post='83068' date='Aug 16 2010, 11:45 PM']At least it isn't enka? I don't know how to put a happy spin on this. UFA is a disaster. It made me think that 25 was ancient but then I turn around and see Koda Kumi (27), Ayumi Hamasaki (31), Amuro (32) still major players in the Jpop world. I know those three are really exceptional but still...[/quote]

I knoowww~ I feel old compared to H!P girls now. Can't they have 1 semi successful older star?!



"Imai ni kitto... in my life" was the last single before Maki became all slutty. And watching this live of it is so painful. Maki was soooo underutilized...

[JPope]

[quote name='strawberryjam' post='83081' date='Aug 17 2010, 05:36 AM']"Imai ni kitto... in my life" was the last single before Maki became all slutty. And watching this live of it is so painful. Maki was soooo underutilized...[/quote]

The way UFA mismanaged Maki Goto is damn near a crime. They probably launched her solo career at what would have been the right time for any other person, but I don't think they considered whether or not this particular person was ready for it. That being said, her first single was great all the way around: the song was mature enough without being too mature for a teen girl, and it was a really good pop song. Why they followed that up with "Afurechau...Be in Love" is beyond me. Maki looked completely mortified in the video and all subsequent promotional performances for this single. Seeing that they clearly pushed her into "sexy" too soon, UFA overreacts wildly and gives her a children's song complete with a bunch of kids singing the chorus with her. Really? She looked just as mortified in that video as she did in ""Afurechau...Be in Love", probably thinking, "why is my management trying to kill my career?" Management then throws her another curve ball, giving her that outstanding "Yaruki! It's Easy", a perfect song for a young, exciting pop star, and a single that still ranks among her very best.



Alas, it was just another tease, for Maki and her fans, as UFA thought making their biggest star record a cover of a 30 year old Italian ballad would be a great career move for a hip, 17 year old pop star. Fucking morons. Maki got to record a few more solid singles -- "Scramble" (my all time favorite), "Daite yo! Please Go On", "Glass no Pumps" -- but mostly more of the same UFA roller coaster. I don't think UFA ever really considered Maki's personality, nor did they ever have any plan or direction for her solo career at any point during her tenure with them. Look at what Avex has accomplished with her -- whether you like it or not, there's no denying the fact that she has a well defined image and sound. UFA never figured that out, and because of that, they lost the single brightest star they ever had.



Idiots. I could have managed her better. I'd venture to say that a full 25% of this bbs could've managed her career better than UFA did. Looking back at how incompetent they were guiding a potential superstar teen idol, it's no wonder that they settled into catering to the lowest common pedo-wota denominator. It's easy and requires no thought. Seriously, was there some sort of power shift in UFA around the time of the 5th gen, because that's when it all started to head south.

[thamychan]

[quote name='JPope' post='83101' date='Aug 17 2010, 01:07 PM']Idiots. I could have managed her better. I'd venture to say that a full 25% of this bbs could've managed her career better than UFA did. Looking back at how incompetent they were guiding a potential superstar teen idol, it's no wonder that they settled into catering to the lowest common pedo-wota denominator. It's easy and requires no thought. Seriously, was there some sort of power shift in UFA around the time of the 5th gen, because that's when it all started to head south.[/quote]

I don't even think they do it right for those pedo-wotas. I mean, just observe AKB48... And I agree with you, it started around 5th generation because until the forth, everything was going right. Maybe the massive graduations but still associating the grads with Morning Musume, without letting them go? Then, the thing got too big and everything too big is hard to administer. Additionally, Japanese market wasn't the same anymore and they started blaming it on the market and not on themselves.



I don't know if there was a power-shift... But it could also be it.



And back on topic, will Natsumi only release these bland songs? Won't she ever give her all, risk it, get a good producer, a good song. Don't just satisfy your fan base once every two years with this kind of song. She used to be so popular, that boring image killed it for me... Does she really like it this way? Then do it right, there are also very good slow songs around!

[eri]

If Ayaya gets good music again, then I will similarly have hope for Abe.



Does anyone know if she's otherwise active in other media? Like, is she on tv ever?

[Pucchi-Mo]

[quote name='eri' post='83192' date='Aug 18 2010, 04:36 PM']If Ayaya gets good music again, then I will similarly have hope for Abe.



Does anyone know if she's otherwise active in other media? Like, is she on tv ever?[/quote]

Here is Nacchi's media schedule



Well, Aya's career was filled with great music for a long time.

Nacchi has had a few good singles, it's hard to tell.



Isn't Aya taking a break for a few years? At least, touring.

I don't think we'll see "good music" from her anytime soon.

[JPope]

[quote name='TightWetPucchi' post='83193' date='Aug 18 2010, 04:57 PM']Well, Aya's career was filled with great music for a long time.

Nacchi has had a few good singles, it's hard to tell.[/quote]



I think it's too late for both of them to ever be relevant again musically, especially for Nacchi. There's just too big of a time gap from their last meaningful releases. And Ayaya has the added weight of having been turned into a boring adult contemporary torch singer by the time she was 18. She was sort of the anti-Morning Musume in that UFA took a cute, vibrant young woman with a strong, upbeat (but not forced or annoying) personality and made her sing and dress older than she was. I'm not saying that she should have been remaking "Doki Doki Love Mail" the whole time, but for fucks sake, they could have done better than the string of ballads and down-tempo pop dirges that she recorded from essentially "The Last Night" onward.

[eri]

[quote name='JPope' post='83199' date='Aug 18 2010, 03:18 PM']And Ayaya has the added weight of having been turned into a boring adult contemporary torch singer by the time she was 18. She was sort of the anti-Morning Musume in that UFA took a cute, vibrant young woman with a strong, upbeat (but not forced or annoying) personality and made her sing and dress older than she was.[/quote]

Hm is that your interpretation of what happened? Interesting -- I thought Aya was deliberately distancing herself from pop music. I also think her other media jobs point to this move towards "adult" mainstream stuff and away from idol or child-oriented entertainment.



Plus, c'mon, we all know Aya is really 5 years older than she claims to be <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[JPope]

[quote name='eri' post='83201' date='Aug 18 2010, 06:39 PM'][quote name='JPope' post='83199' date='Aug 18 2010, 03:18 PM']And Ayaya has the added weight of having been turned into a boring adult contemporary torch singer by the time she was 18. She was sort of the anti-Morning Musume in that UFA took a cute, vibrant young woman with a strong, upbeat (but not forced or annoying) personality and made her sing and dress older than she was.[/quote]

Hm is that your interpretation of what happened? Interesting -- I thought Aya was deliberately distancing herself from pop music. I also think her other media jobs point to this move towards "adult" mainstream stuff and away from idol or child-oriented entertainment.



Plus, c'mon, we all know Aya is really 5 years older than she claims to be <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

[/quote]

If they're letting their idols determine their own sound and image, they're stupider than even I thought. I mean, on the one hand, it seems cool that she would have input on such things, but only to a point. When the rubber hits the road, she's a face, a voice, and a personality. She's not a music producer or talent manager. I don't know why Ayaya went all A/C on us at such an early age, but it was a poor decision, IMO.

[Gerald]

[quote name='eri' post='83201' date='Aug 18 2010, 11:39 PM']Plus, c'mon, we all know Aya is really 5 years older than she claims to be <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote]

I like the Hello! Morning episode where they put Ayaya on trial for being a bad ass and at one stage Mikitty asks her how old she is and when Ayaya says she's 20 Mikitty says "You're about 26".

[momoirosaya]

CM PV Preview



Why does Nacchi always look the same?

[Gerald]

[quote name='Saya' post='83900' date='Aug 27 2010, 05:41 AM']CM PV Preview



Why does Nacchi always look the same?[/quote]

Because she's beautiful obviously <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':danceman:' />.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='The Turtle Moves' post='83906' date='Aug 27 2010, 11:37 AM'][quote name='Saya' post='83900' date='Aug 27 2010, 05:41 AM']CM PV Preview



Why does Nacchi always look the same?[/quote]

Because she's beautiful obviously <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':danceman:' />.

[/quote]



Agreed.

She has been going for to "natural beauty" type of styling for quite a while now.

[Shoujo Q]

The Natural beauties PV is up on YouTube! Go watch the full beauty of it.

[eri]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='83907' date='Aug 27 2010, 03:32 AM'][quote name='The Turtle Moves' post='83906' date='Aug 27 2010, 11:37 AM'][quote name='Saya' post='83900' date='Aug 27 2010, 05:41 AM']CM PV Preview



Why does Nacchi always look the same?[/quote]

Because she's beautiful obviously <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />.

[/quote]



Agreed.

She has been going for to "natural beauty" type of styling for quite a while now.

[/quote]

Wow, you're right. She still looks 18!



I love this PV....

[eri]

Actually, I love this song. I've played it on repeat all morning....

[DarkRidley]

H!P has done worse in terms of AC ballads, but it's still fairly sleepy. On the other hand, Nacchi looks so fantastic in that PV that it almost made me want to like the song. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but it's very well-shot by UFA's standards. Nacchi looks gorgeous. I honestly can't believe she's almost thirty.



But yeah. UFA's been doing this shit for way too long. The best thing I can say about the song itself is that I find it marginally less boring than most of Aya's dirges.



I also wonder how UFA manage to make great PVs for both Nacchi and Erina Mano, but then seriously fail when it comes to their flagship group. I mean, if you showed me Seishun Collection and then Genkimonode de Ikou or this, I'd never guess that it was the same agency.