Goto Maki decides to go on indefinite hiatus after 2011

[Anderei]

I honestly have no idea where in the forum Maki belongs, but this seemed to be topic-worthy.



The entire message from her



Essentially Maki has decided to take a break from show business. She's going to release a ditial single in July, a full album in the fall, and a concert in December before going on an indefinite hiatus.



It's kind of sad, but considering all she's been through lately I can see why she'd want to take a break.

[BonkyuAsh]

I honestly haven't seen much good come out of her for years. Besides her first single with Avex.

[al kusanagi]

More like Avex just not bothering to do anything with her after that. They constantly will push an artist for like six months and then stick them on the back burner before trotting them out after another year or so.

[Haru]

This is kinda sad. :c

But yay for a full album...finally.

[rob]

if only she hadn't graduated from momusu so early, I honestly believe she would have been far more popular had she been momusu leader for a few years.



I could be wrong ofc.

[neshcom]

Tokyograph translated some of the message.

[indent]In her message to her fans, Goto explained her thinking behind the decision. She said she began thinking differently about her future after her mother passed away in January 2010.



“I feel very thankful for everyone’s presence. But there’s a large hole that has opened inside of me that can’t be buried. Until now, I’ve always lived for someone else other than me. I began thinking that I want to try living for myself now, instead of someone else. Not as Gomaki, but I wish to return to my normal self as Goto Maki.”



[/indent]Shame that she's taking a full break, but she's been walking that dreaded generic/not-very-interesting trail for a little while now.

[Madara]

Well, the full album will be welcome, certainly. Sad to hear this, but I hope she finds her path. I want her to be happy and I want the best for her. But she's also one of my favorite singers in the world and I hope she decides to return to singing eventually. I'll always be a fan.

[eri]

This girl has led such a hard life. She took a break when her brother went to jail too but came back. I hope we'll see her again.

[Cyrene]

I liked Maki Goto while she was a solo artist with H!P and was with MM. I thought she was pretty cool, her voice was nice, and she had that girl next door look that made me all <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />, but then...Maki went to Avex. I stopped caring about her musically after that.



I was surprised that she didn't take a hiatus sooner, to be honest. The death of her Mom must have been so hard for her, to have her continue singing showed how hard she worked, but her songs just weren't worthy of her voice. I hope she comes back with more interesting stuff - maybe she'll write her own stuff while she is on her hiatus?



Farewell, Maki. Come back soon, I'll miss your personality :(. (And dat chest. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ohyeah.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D/' /> )

[Pucchi-Mo]

Dammit, I was hoping it was a hoax, but the letter is also on her website. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



I hope by full album, they mean 11~12ish tracks.





[quote name='rob' timestamp='1308721507' post='102021']

if only she hadn't graduated from momusu so early, I honestly believe she would have been far more popular had she been momusu leader for a few years.



I could be wrong ofc.

[/quote]



What year do you think she would have become the leader? Also, until Takahashi, leaders were NEVER the front girls, and the title was pretty much just that, a title. You get respect/a look of terror? from the younger girls, but you won't be singing many solo lines. For Maki at least, I don't think the concern was about increasing popularity as much as it was about disagreeing with management and not being able to do anything about it. (until leaving)



MM would have been more popular longer if she stayed, I don't know what it would have done for her solo career though. Making a solo debut before age 20 was probably a good call since the older soloists didn't get as much attention. Early Maki singles sold really well, that was probably all they needed to see that she was ready. Maybe she should have released more solo material while still in MM, like Koharu did.

[Anderei]

For Maki to have been leader, she would've had to stick around until mid-2005, at which point she would've already been pushing 6 years in the group. Which in 2005, was a long time. I can't even imagine her staying in for that long.

[showraniy]

Maki as leader would've been like Miki as leader: detached and uninterested in the group. Not quite uncaring, but certainly not on the level of caring as Ai and Risa seem to have for the group.



I'm happy Maki's making this decision for her since she's always felt to me like someone just drifting along in life with no purpose or personal goals. She's never struck me as having a passion for anything in particular, while at the same time just doing anything in particular musically. I could be wrong since I've never been a Maki fan and only cared about her for her Sweet Black featuring Maki Goto releases, but that's how I've always perceived her.



Nonetheless, this is a good fix for her lackluster music/presence she's had as of late, and I'm hoping if she ever does come back, she'll have found something to make her worth caring about again.

[Prettycatchy]

Wasn't it a few months ago that she was announced as a main artist for A-nation this year? I thought it was the push to get her to do singles again. >.<



Other than that, I totally support Maki no matter what she does. I hope she takes it easy during her well-deserved break. Whenever she decides to come back into the music industry again, I'll definitely be supporting her. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Farrah]

I'm happy Maki's making this decision for her since she's always felt to me like someone just drifting along in life with no purpose or personal goals. She's never struck me as having a passion for anything in particular, while at the same time just doing anything in particular musically. I could be wrong since I've never been a Maki fan and only cared about her for her Sweet Black featuring Maki Goto releases, but that's how I've always perceived her.

It's neither accurate nor entirely inaccurate. I really recommend watching this tour. This is a Maki Goto who has a serious passion for performing. Sadly, this is basically the only time period which you get to see this Maki. I was a huge fan of Maki from 2005-2007 but shortly before she left H!P you could kind of see the light leaving her eyes and I don't think I ever got to saw it come back, even under Avex.



There's this major misconception that some people have about Avex, that they're the top dogs, that they pour copious amounts of cash into their acts to allow them to put out the best product possible. Well, that's not really true. Avex have a shit ton of artists that you have likely never even heard of. This because unless you manage to quickly make yourself a headliner, they pretty much permanently put you on the back burner. They have artists that only release something every two years. Maki is one of those artists who I think they really half assed on. There was a lot of potential there for a pretty decent solo career and they fudged it up, big time.



I hope she returns to show biz, she probably will - she danced the line between singer and idol enough that I think she'll probably feel somewhat lost if she goes too long without doing something creative, regardless of how small. I don't doubt she needs this break (she's been working basically non-stop since she was 13), so I wish her the best.

[neshcom]

[quote name='Farrah' timestamp='1308793557' post='102087']

There's this major misconception that some people have about Avex, that they're the top dogs, that they pour copious amounts of cash into their acts to allow them to put out the best product possible. Well, that's not really true. Avex have a shit ton of artists that you have likely never even heard of. This because unless you manage to quickly make yourself a headliner, they pretty much permanently put you on the back burner. They have artists that only release something every two years. Maki is one of those artists who I think they really half assed on. There was a lot of potential there for a pretty decent solo career and they fudged it up, big time.

[/quote]

Yes, avex does maintain a long-tail, much like the other big 4, but avex DOES throw copious amounts of cash into their biggest artists, some of the biggest in the country. For a good while, avex was putting an above average amount of time and money into Maki; they were clearly trying to throw her into their upper echelon of their pop stars because of the popularity of the SWEET BLACK GIRLS show and the SWEET BLACK project, but, whether it was the flailing online sales that avex was really trying to break into or the string of bad news Maki had experienced, avex played it safe, dialed down the Maki juices, and are probably running out the clock on her contract.



Maki/SB was really a litmus test to see how the internets could work into the music machine, but avex really overestimated Maki's attracting powers and it's not unfounded to think avex was really pushing her a little extra strongly and a little longer than other newcomers.

[Farrah]

Avex definitely put money on her in the start, they often do, but when Sweet Black had such limited success, it seems like they pretty much stopped trying. Sweet Black in general was kind of a disaster, as far as promotion and execution goes (though I love that album, as well as the videos that came along with it) Maki's solo sales with H!P were relatively low, so I don't see why the powers that be at Avex thought she had much attracting power :P I think the album would have been a big hit had it been handled differently.

[rob]

She should come back to H!P, would make H!P concerts even better.

[al kusanagi]

If only it was a clever ploy to get out of her Avex contract so we could have a TRUE Dream Morning Musume.

[Haru]

I was thinking about this actually.

It would be amazing if Maki came back to H!P; but unfortunately I think Avex is doing more for her promotion than H!P ever thought of.

[strawberryjam]

This is really sad. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' /> Maki was the only H!P related entity I could still get excited about, granted if the releases were SWEET BLACK quality..



She definitely deserves the break, I just hope she comes back!



edit:

I decided to check youtube if there was any lives of her Avex stuff. I only saw A-Nation stuff, but omg it's amazing. It makes me so sad her potential is being wasted.



2008: MINE - Live performance in the rain. I seriously feel this is amazing. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I would have killed for a live concert of SWEET BLACK like this.



2009: Candy - Still amazing, not as good, but definitely way better than any H!P performance.



2010: Houseki & EYES - This is when it starts getting lack luster...

[al kusanagi]

Wait a second... Just the other day, Mari was talking about how the other DMM members just talk about boring girly shit in the dressing room and there were no hardcore gamer members for her to talk to. Maki is a hardcore gamer.



Coincidence?

[Sabaku Ika]

I'm a little sad to find that I'm not very sad about this. Maki was the reason I liked H!P to begin with and therefore the reason I'm here. Recently though, she hasn't done much that interested me and if it didn't interest her either, this hiatus is probably a good move. I wish her good luck in her new life of whatever it is her new life will be. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... unsure.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />

[Pucchi-Mo]

[quote name='strawberryjam' timestamp='1308817117' post='102105']I decided to check youtube if there was any lives of her Avex stuff. I only saw A-Nation stuff, but omg it's amazing. It makes me so sad her potential is being wasted.



2008: MINE - Live performance in the rain. I seriously feel this is amazing. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I would have killed for a live concert of SWEET BLACK like this.



2009: Candy - Still amazing, not as good, but definitely way better than any H!P performance.



2010: Houseki & EYES - This is when it starts getting lack luster...

[/quote]

Wait a second, the songs may have been less exciting, but the transition from Houseki to EYES was pretty damn cool, and I liked how she walked onto the different stages in front of the random backup dancers. It shows that they did put some effort into the concert experience. I'm getting all of these before the big "A" shuts down the videos.



Seeing stuff like that just makes me furious that they never gave her a full concert DVD at Avex. Hopefully they'll release one because of the hiatus. Was that implied by saying December concert along with the digital single & album? I hope so.





[quote name='Ojinguh' timestamp='1308842046' post='102127']

I'm a little sad to find that I'm not very sad about this.

[/quote]

Is it more sad for you that you aren't very sad, or more sad that she's leaving? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[JPope]

[quote name='showraniy' timestamp='1308784718' post='102072']

She's never struck me as having a passion for anything in particular, while at the same time just doing anything in particular musically.

[/quote]

I agree with this. In hindsight, it's clear that she was in serious need of guidance and strict career management, and it doesn't appear as if she got it at any point. I think delaying her solo career for another year or so might have been wise, but you just never know when you're in the moment. She had massive appeal at the time, and I don't blame them for wanting to cash in on it. Unfortunately no one ever stepped in and said, "this is what we want Goto Maki to be. This is what her image should be. These are the types of songs she should record. This is the style of fashion she should wear." This level of micro-management can be crushing for some, but I think it's what Goto would have thrived under it.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='JPope' timestamp='1308863726' post='102177']

[quote name='showraniy' timestamp='1308784718' post='102072']

She's never struck me as having a passion for anything in particular, while at the same time just doing anything in particular musically.

[/quote]

I agree with this. In hindsight, it's clear that she was in serious need of guidance and strict career management, and it doesn't appear as if she got it at any point. I think delaying her solo career for another year or so might have been wise, but you just never know when you're in the moment. She had massive appeal at the time, and I don't blame them for wanting to cash in on it. Unfortunately no one ever stepped in and said, "this is what we want Goto Maki to be. This is what her image should be. These are the types of songs she should record. This is the style of fashion she should wear." This level of micro-management can be crushing for some, but I think it's what Goto would have thrived under it.

[/quote]



Agreed. I think her family situation was a big factor as well. She has said she was always doing things for her mom, and it seemed like she really relied on her mom cheering her on and supporting her to keep going in her career. With so many devastating things happening in her personal life, it's only natural for her to have a hard time being self-driven to be a superstar.



I'm actually amazed she didn't take time off sooner, but I think again she was trying to push through because of the idea of "this is what mom would have wanted." Hopefully the break gives her time to be with what's left of her family and to recover emotionally.