Kago Ai forming a girl group?

[Shoujo Q]

I should note, they have another single coming out 9/10 called Mada, Yareru.  

[eri]

I didn't get to watch and the youtube link is down.  I'm not a huge Kago fan so I haven't been following this very well but, the song is super duper cute!!! I haven't loved an idol song this much in recent memory!! 
 
As for the crappiness, I bet its a makeshift last minute company they threw together and I bet they had a hard time finding any girls.  It seemed like the threw in the only other 2 girls in the "company"!  Oh well. I still like the song. 

[Anderei]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="eri" data-cid="178170" data-time="1406910742">
I didn't get to watch and the youtube link is down. I'm not a huge Kago fan so I haven't been following this very well but, the song is super duper cute!!! I haven't loved an idol song this much in recent memory!!


As for the crappiness, I bet its a makeshift last minute company they threw together and I bet they had a hard time finding any girls. It seemed like the threw in the only other 2 girls in the "company"! Oh well. I still like the song.</blockquote>


The other two auditioned but the company was basically created for Kago.

[Anderei]

2nd single coming out 9/10. "Mada, Yareru" c/w "Todoke! Todoke!"
 

 
Their upcoming single is said to be a punk rock tune with the catch phrase "What is the important thing? The road will still continue. Listen to the girls scream!"

[eri]

I wonder how many singles they will last.  I'm betting 3 maximum.  
 

[Ap2000]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Anderei" data-cid="178956" data-time="1409535771">2nd single coming out 9/10. "Mada, Yareru" c/w "Todoke! Todoke!"
 
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/erilaz/Jpop/news_xlarge_GirlsBeat_madayareru_jk_zps9db96b65.jpg
 
Their upcoming single is said to be a punk rock tune with the catch phrase "What is the important thing? The road will still continue. Listen to the girls scream!"</blockquote>
I wonder who told them to be in such a weird and uncomfortable looking position for the cover.

[arcobaleno]

In one promo picture, they're standing in front of a wall plastered with pretty NSFW pictures of women, that plus the title makes me...... really wonder what type of lyrics this song is gonna have.

[Meikochi]

[quote="eri"]
I wonder how many singles they will last.  I'm betting 3 maximum.  
[/quote]
 
Did you say that because of their amateurish show ?
 
[quote="Ap2000"]
I wonder who told them to be in such a weird and uncomfortable looking position for the cover.
[/quote]
 
Same here ^^'.
 
And they have an online shop now.

[eri]

[quote="Meikochi"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="eri" data-cid="178964" data-time="1409542275">
<div>
I wonder how many singles they will last.  I'm betting 3 maximum.  
[/quote]
 
Did you say that because of their amateurish show ?
 
[quote="Ap2000"]
I wonder who told them to be in such a weird and uncomfortable looking position for the cover.
[/quote]
 
Same here ^^'.
 
And they have an online shop now.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
I didn't see the show! I say that because even normal idol groups usually fizz out after a few hits.  This group is so random and not very mainstream so I can't see them lasting for that long.  I'm happy they have a 2nd single though.  
 
Thanks for linking the shop.  Wow, Kago still has her double buns in these pics...

[JPope]

[quote="eri"]
I didn't see the show! 
 
[/quote]
 
I wish I hadn't. 

[Anderei]

They had another live that you can see here.
 
They were guests at a show, so this video is only 13 minutes long.
 
They were also at Uta Musume.
 
And they've got some semi-regular thing going on with Promotion TV.
 
Also, on the slight chance any of you wanted their stuff, you can get the singles from CD Japan.

[TicTacAnyone]

Was that supposed to be beat boxing.....? And Aibon definitely had trouble keeping up when she was pretty much singing "Make The Happiness" solo. Even the backing vocals couldn't cover that up. And why did it feel like their gags were never-ending..... Uhhh yeah I don't know if I can support this group, lol. 

[Anderei]

The way they're run is very indies. It's not for everybody.

[ShiroiChanUK]

I support Aibon but I'm not all for this group. It's just so unorganised. My biggest issues are mostly directed towards the music and the outfits.
 
Music: They don't have a set style which is a problem that comes with asking different people to write your music each time. Aibon has shown that she's capable of writing pretty good lyrics at least and I really liked No Hesitation and Children of the Night so it would've been nice to see more self written songs from her. The same goes for composition. If they get 1 or 2 people to help out each time they probably wouldn't be this all over the place.
 
Outfits: I can't even... If they're going to stick with this whole method of getting fans to design their outfits then I'd love for the BBS members who submitted designs to J-MELO for outfits for MoMusu to submit some ideas for this group because their ideas for MoMusu were great whereas these are just bad.
 
Are there any MV's for their releases?

[Meikochi]

I like "Mada, Yareru" ; it reminds me another song but I can't remember which one x).

[TicTacAnyone]

Mada, Yareru PV Short Version

[JPope]

I think the music is the least of their problems at this point. This is another good A side -- which was posted here over a month ago as "Make Up The Happiness, which explains why it's so different from the song on the demo site   -- and the style isn't so different from their first as to be a problem.
 
The main concerns as I see it are the "special talents," (stop doing them) really bad videos (you can make passable videos on the cheap) and crappy outfits (same), in that order.  After their first concert debacle I said that their management needed to tap into Kago's knowledge and experience from being in MM for so long to gain insight on how to run an idol group in a professional manner. Here's my fear: Kago is essentially running this deal already.
 
She's a wacky chick, which is one of her endearing traits, but she also strikes me as being unfocused and probably not very disciplined. In other words, everything that's bad about Girl's Beat. The only part of this group that we can be sure of having adult supervision are the recording sessions, and the products of those have been very good. Everything else is a mess of a clusterfuck.
 
 
I think Kago is mostly running this ship, because anyone with any experience managing pop idols would have addressed these glaring problems a long time ago. The group's agency was set up by her husband specifically for her, was it not? I think this makes more sense than my previous theory.

[Anderei]

Yeah, rumor is Kago's husband created the agency for her. So it's basically just a project for Kago to have fun and do what she wants, probably.

[Anderei]

They're doing auditions for a new member.


http://www.diamondblog.jp/girls_project/

[JPope]

That was quick.

[JPope]

Zaeleus has uploaded both singles to the Audio/Video forum.
 
This is the first time I've heard the complete versions of the songs, and the B-sides.
 
The ending to "Sekai Seifuku" is really bad, a cliche that has nothing to do with the rest of the arrangement just pasted onto the end.
 
"Make Up the Happiness" is an exact recreation of the demo, but a castrated version of it. The vocals are the only thing that's better. The demo mix is more aggressive and bold, and just overall better. The Girls Beat version has all the exact same sounds playing all the exact same parts, but the mix is bland with all the important parts sitting at the same level of the supporting parts except for the drums, which are too far up front. All of which is too bad, because Kago sounds great on this track.
 
They end "Mada, Yareru" by inexplicably returning to a soft version of the first half of the verse. It's kind of a boner killer.
 
"Todoke! Todoke!" gets it right from start to finish -- I wish they'd have followed the same formula for "Mada, Yareru."
 
I still like all of these songs, though. "Make Up The Happiness" is the only real disappointment for me, and that's probably just because I have the demo version to compare it to.

[Anderei]

http://www.jpopasia.com/news/girls-beat-suspends-activities-after-police-issue-arrest-warrant-for-group-members-husband::17382.html


Suspending activities in light of the news about her husband. I guess this sort of confirms he WAS paying for it. I feel really bad for her (and her daughter).

[JPope]

Was wondering when this shoe would drop.

[ShiroiChanUK]

For goodness sake is anyone even supporting this poor woman and her child?!

[showraniy]

I honestly wonder how Kago attracts so much tragedy. I know the circles one associates with can keep bad people all in one place, but I almost feel like she isn't trying to connect with a better group of people. Or there's some stigma on her so that the only people who will associate with her are crooked businessmen or something. I don't know, I want better for her, but I'm starting to wonder if she wants better for her.

[strawberryjam]

[quote="showraniy"]
I honestly wonder how Kago attracts so much tragedy. I know the circles one associates with can keep bad people all in one place, but I almost feel like she isn't trying to connect with a better group of people. Or there's some stigma on her so that the only people who will associate with her are crooked businessmen or something. I don't know, I want better for her, but I'm starting to wonder if she wants better for her.
[/quote]
<div> </div>
<div>According to that article, her ex-boyfriend was affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi and her current husband is a member of Yamaguchi-gumi.</div>
<div>I don't know. I feel sorry for her, but it looks like had it coming too.</div>

[JPope]

[quote="showraniy"]
I honestly wonder how Kago attracts so much tragedy. I know the circles one associates with can keep bad people all in one place, but I almost feel like she isn't trying to connect with a better group of people. Or there's some stigma on her so that the only people who will associate with her are crooked businessmen or something. I don't know, I want better for her, but I'm starting to wonder if she wants better for her.
[/quote]
 

It's the same thing as a woman who constantly finds herself in abusive relationships with different men. The common factor isn't the man, it's the woman choosing the man. Likewise, Kago might not consciously and actively search out slimy mob-types, but there is something about them that she is absolutely attracted to. Unless and until she she identifies what that is and decides to avoid it, she will always be with such men.
 
Alternatively, it's possible that she just unabashedly likes being with slimy mob-types.

[smtmissin]

I don't know if it was an "abusive" relationship she was in. The husband seems to love her and even sponsor her own band. It's just that the guy IS a bad guy.

[JPope]

I never said it was an abusive relationship.

[Anderei]

She probably only married the guy because she got pregnant and because of the social stigma involved. I know that doesn't mean much, but still.
 
Anyway, she released a statement on her blog:
 
<div>
<div>
I would like to offer my deepest apologies to everyone, especially our fans and staff, for the media exposure and trouble that the recent events in connection with my husband have caused.
 
I regret to inform you about the decision to cancel our public performance that was scheduled for 11/2, and the Utamusume 2014 Winter performance scheduled for 11/8.
 
Even though our fans probably were looking forward to the performances, and everyone worked so hard to make them happen, I have let you down.
 
With all my heart, I am sorry.
 
I learned about the news last week from the media.
I have no knowledge of any details, nor even a general insight into what had transpired; but, apparently, my husband has just now turned himself in, in order to make the truth clear.
 
In my life up until now, there has been no shortage of hurdles; and, always trying to make up for the past, smashing through the hurdles for the sake of the future, is what my life has been.
 
I am afraid that I probably have never managed to handle it in a 'smart' way.
 
Believing that God is giving me a chance to look at and reform myself, I am now thinking about my future, including my activities as part of the Girls Beat group.
 
My resolve is very strong not to cause any further trouble to the fans, the staff, and the members.
 
On the other hand, being an entertainer is the only thing I know. I cannot deny my hope to recover again and go on in the entertainment industry.
 
Still, even presuming that we continue our activties, there is no telling what the public's reaction may be; additionally, I have to think about the realities of my daily livelihood for the upcoming time.
 
I am in the process of considering several options, including complete retirement.
 
Please give me a little more time.
 
I am truly, truly sorry for everything that happened.
 
Kago Ai
</div>
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