Showing posts with label Hello Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hello Project. Show all posts

Ok, so I'm not really a huge fan of SNSD, in fact their new track Gee is probably only the 2nd song of theirs I actually enjoy. Despite this, UFA management could learn a lot from how their latest release has been handled.

While I'm relatively happy with Naichau Kamo, Gee has that mainstream, new sound, that Morning Musume needs to constantly be sticking with. I'm not suggesting MM sing something like Gee - I personally don't think it would suit them at all - but just something a little less idol-fied than they've been doing. Still, I'm not worrying too much on this, since the latest tracks have been great, even if slightly idolish, but (bless Tsunku's soul) it would be nice to get some different song writers in to provide something more updated or at least a different approach. Tsunku seems to be trapped in this mesh of what he thinks is cool and hip and it obviously is not appealing to teens/early 20s who are the main buying public. That being said, Tsunku seems to be the only one involved in H!P who actually cares anymore.

Promotion wise, this single has been great. Commercial teasers, little tastes of what to expect, promo shots etc - it makes the unveiling of the single and the PV an event that everyone looks forward to. Naichau Kamo just happened to be played on Reina's radio show with no previous announcement and nothing else supporting it. We have the song, great, what else? UFA sucks at promotion.

Most importantly is the PV, something I think UFA fails at MAJORLY time and time again. Just look at the video for Gee (and keep in mind SNSD has 9 members, just like Morning Musume).



So, how great was that, yeah?!

The PV doesn't seem to have an extravagant budget but most importantly, it doesn't look cheap. Every recent H!P PV has looked cheap as chips and I'm so sick of it. UFA isn't exactly in debt, the H!P groups sell a decent amount and concert sales are great. On top of that, they're not really spending big on promotion, PV directors or song writers - it seems they're content on taking our money whilst spending as little as possible.

So what makes SNSD's PV so great?

~ It has a cute little storyline (UFA never does storylines of any sort)
~ Each girl gets a decent amount of screentime (UFA always has some girls getting little to no screentime - see Junjun, Kanna, Captain etc)
~ Everyone is in a number of cool, unique outfits (UFA has a habit of sticking the girls in COSTUMES, not outfits, and they're usually carbon copies of each other. They sometimes get it right - C-ute has had some good outfits like in TJ, NnI etc)
~ The dance is great and creative (Some H!P PVs have cool dances but on a whole they're pretty ordinary. Just seeing something like this can show you how uncreative waving your hands around and pointing up is)
~ The girls are having fun (Something I question when it comes to H!P. Reina for instance seems pretty unhappy with some of the crap she has to put up with and has been vocal about it - If the girls want to be in dramas then bloody hell let them audition. Urgh! - I'm sure she isn't the only one.)

I swear I'm gonna go berserk if the Naichau Kamo PV sucks and unfortunately it probably will.
I'm increasingly becoming more annoyed at how cheap and crap UFA is. So much so that I don't even want to be a H!P fan anymore. Of course, that won't happen since I absolutely adore a lot of the girls and you know, I'm in it for them. They always give 110% and it isn't their fault that UFA doesn't seem to care.

Anyway lol. This turned into a major rant and it wasn't meant to be. I was just gonna show everyone the awesome SNSD MV ^^; lol. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I promised Amy I would do this a few days ago but I suck at keeping promises and, you know, whatever. But I'm doing it now ^_^ so here we go, my H!P BEST OF 2008 Poll RESULTS! Remember people, this is all personal opinion ;)

BEST

Best Group Single:
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Resonant Blue Morning Musume

I've already blabbed ad nauseum about how much I adore this single so there's no real point in continuing - suffice to say, it rocked my socks.

Best Soloist Single:
Okitegami Fujimoto Miki

Ok, so I've heard people go on and on about disliking this song or that it doesn't suit Mikitty but didn't she want to do Enka? I thought she asked to do it. Either way this is an awesome track and it's not really Enka at all to be honest. Like, it might be in theory but Mikitty doesn't sing with all the Enka flair and it ends up sounding like a normal jpop ballad. It's a moving, nice song and amongst a horrible year for the soloists, it is the best.

Best Group Album:
3rd ~Love Escalation~ C-ute

3rd ~Love Escalation~ was an album that wasn't really appreciated by many, I think because they didn't expect the type of music that was on it. A lot of people only liked Erika's solo song, where for me it is one of the tracks I barely listen to, not because I don't like it but because I love the rest of the album even more. I read a review once that said it could be a soundtrack to a dorama and I agree, It has a very school day drama feel to it. A great album.

Best Soloist Album:
Best selection 15 Iro no Nigaoetachi Natsumi Abe

There was little to choose from but it's a best of Nacchi so you can't really go wrong there. The new track is really fun too and it's nice to look back through Nacchi's solo career and pin point the exact moment when all the soloists began to go downhill XD

Best PV:
Resonant Blue (another ver.) Morning Musume

While I've given this award to MM, my fav PV of the year is probably Edo no Temari Uta II by C-ute because it perfected the dance shot PV - that being said, I am forever chirping on about story lines in PVs and Resonant Blue's PV came as close as H!P ever has. It looked great, each girl had their own little scenes - the main issue with it was that it made no sense. People were going places, doing stuff, but we didn't know why. That's the next step ;)

Group with Best Overall Releases:
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C-ute

Since C-ute debuted they've been the epitome of great, unique releases. Their singles have a lot of variety, from the Happy LALALA Shiawase no Uta to the Latin flavoured Namida no Iro not to mention the unique Edo no Temari Uta II and the pumped up FOREVER Love. Throw in their '07 singles and none of their stuff sounds like a carbon copy of their other singles (see Berryz in 08). Variety is what is needed and C-ute delivered with some great tracks.

Best New Group:
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MilkyWay

MilkyWay didn't excite me TOO much to begin with. Though I like Koha, her solo singles are enough for me and I'm one of the few people who wasn't head over heels in love with Kikkawa from the 8th gen auditions. Their debut, Anataboshi, won me over and they are completely awesome. They have charisma when performing and are a great addition to H!P. I decided against awarding this to High-King purely since they aren't really a group rather than a one time unit, it seems.

Best New Soloist:
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Ogawa Mana

Yes, Ogamana is part of the NICE Girl Project and not H!P but Amy listed TNX stuff in the nominee section so at the risk of offending all the ManoEri fans out there, Ogawa is the best new soloist. Ogawa is a terrific vocalist and performer, she is yards above most of H!P and it's truely a shame that more people haven't discovered her.

Best Established Group:
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Morning Musume

I was originally going to award this to C-ute but when I thought back on 08, Morning Musume had a pretty good year. Sure it wasn't filled to the brim with releases but the tours of Asia, the Cinderella musical not to mention the different activities for the individual girls - it was a nice year for the girls.

Best Established Soloist:
NONE

Let's face it, the soloists sucked this year. I'm tempted to give this to Mikitty for the ability of milking Okitegami for the entire year - but no, one release doesn't cut it.

Best Photobook:
Happy girl Niigaki Risa

Truth be told, I'm not somebody who downloads entire PBs and checks them out. I tend to just see the preview pics and whatever anyone sends me. Happy girl was a great PB but, Risa is always adorable and those snow shots were so great! ^_^

Hottest Idol of 2008:
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Takahashi Ai

08 was Ai's first full year as the leader of Morning Musume and she has done a terrific job. She leads in almost every performance, she has to mentor the younger girls, not to mention all the other duties she has been given as leader. On top of this she had the biggest role in the Cinderella musical and has been filming the new drama Q.E.D the past month or so. She has been working so hard and to me that justifies being the Hottest Idol of 2008!

WORST

Worst Group Single:
Come Together Ongaku Gatas

Ongaku Gata's much anticipated 3rd single turned out to be a dud (for me). I know some people LOVE it but when compared to their GREAT singles last year, this one was horrible. Throw in the fact that Manoeri and Mucchi were gone and thus the eggs became backup dancers - and this ends up being a hell of a disappointment.

Worst Soloist Single:
Kizuna Matsuura Aya

*yawn* This song bores me so much that I cannot even feign the enthusiasm to write how bad it actually was. Kitchen & Chicken walks ALL OVER Aya's crappy ballads.

Worst PV:
Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance Berryz Koubou

Ok, so maybe Charisma Kirei (or whatever that Melon song was called) was worse but Monkey Dance wins the award for so many reasons. Firstly this song actually got a PV, meaning somebody actually took the time to think up this atrocity and build the backdrop etc etc etc Secondly Berryz were coming off their best selling single EVER! so you'd think UFA would throw them a bone, instead their budget consisted of monkey suits (which are cheap as chips) and one giant, fugly banana. It was just such a disappointment. Yes, tons of deluded Berryz fans loved it because of the *cute* monkey poses, but we're talking about the actual PV, not the fact Berryz manage to save all their shitty PVs with their personalities. It was a white backdrop with a giant crepe paper banana and some monkey outfits - it sucked. This PV disappointed me immensely and totally brings up the whole UFA being cheap bastards subject again, which I'm not going to get into in this post ^_^

Worst Vocalist of 2008:

Mano Erina


This girl is meant to be H!P's saviour - soon she will be the only soloist, along with Koharu - the thought alone makes me shudder. Remember the days when we had Ayaya, Nacchi and Maki - now we have Manoeri and Koha ... *urgh* Get the girl a singing coach, pronto!

Least Attractive Girl of 2008:
NONE

Looks are all subjective and, truth be told, nobody in H!P looks bad. They're all pretty cute!

So there we have it, hope it lived up to your satisfaction Amy and everyone else who bothered to read ^^; Peace out!

ORICON ROUNDUP

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CHARTS:

Singles:
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01 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 152,260
02 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 81,907
03 White Xmas KAT-TUN 19,962
04 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 17,550
05 Heart of Winter Yamazaki Masayoshi 14,206
06 Eien no Ashita DEEN 13,898
07 Tobira GReeeeN 13,235
08 CROSS GAME alice nine. 12,703
09 Minna no Tamago Shugo Chara Egg! 12,587
10 PAPERMOON Tommy heavenly6 11,838

Albums:
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01 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 707,763
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 257,760
03 VOICE Nakashima Mika 33,920
04 Enka Meikyoku Collection 9 - Aishu no Mizuumi - Hikawa Kiyoshi 28,765
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 28,125

40 Abe Natsumi Best Selection 15 Shoku no Nigaoe Tachi Abe Natsumi 5,206
66 Pucchi Best 9 Various Artists 3,354
122 MEGA MELON Melon Kinenbi 1,477
132 Hello! Project Special Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,349
148 Taiyo to Ciscomoon (T&C BOMBER) MEGA Best T&C Bomber 1,172
164 Hello! Project Shuffle Unit MEGA Best Various Artists 1,102
168 Tanpopo / Pucchimoni MEGA Best Tanpopo / Pucchimoni 1,084
171 Country Musume MEGA Best Country Musume 1,073
182 Legend Nakazawa Yuko 1,020

NEWS: Shocking news this afternoon as the official Hello!Project website announced the mass graduation of every Elder Club member on the 31st of March, 2009.

Graduating Members

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Nakazawa Yuko, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari


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Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Tsuji Nozomi, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto


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Fujimoto Miki, Satoda Mai,
Inaba Atsuko, Maeda Yuki

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Melon Kinenbi

Saito Hitomi, Murata Megumi, Ohtani Masae, Shibata Ayumi

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Miyoshi Erika,
Matsuura Aya, Okada Yui

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Ongaku Gatas' Eggs
Korenaga Miki, Noto Arisa, Sengoku Minami, Sawada Yuri

While the girls are graduating from Hello!Project, they will apparently still remain part of UFA and continue as artists without being idols. Whether this refers to all members is unclear at this point. The Eggs will likely remain within the Hello! Pro Eggs, other than Korenaga who graduated as an Egg since joining Ongaku Gatas.

I gotta say... This is just horrible news. To me many of these artists are who I think of when I think of H!P. How can you have H!P without Yuko or Nacchi? Mari or Kei? Crazy Johnson? The incredible 4th gen? All the soloists? Ahh, it's gonna take a bit to get my head around this. Just the other day I was ranking my fav members in H!P with a friend and they were surprised I had so many of these Elder Club members so high. I really do respect and adore these girls. They will be missed.

NEWS: Tonight's debut kicked off the Summer tour of Wonderful Heart's ~Hishochi de Date Itashima SHOW~ Concert Tour. The event's performers were Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou, C-ute, Mano Erina, Buono!, Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu), Milky Way, High-King & the Hello! Pro Eggs.

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Fans at the concert have indicated that the setlist for the concert tour is as follows:

Morning Musume
Berryz Koubou
C-ute
Hello! Pro Eggs
Mano Erina

1. Natsu LOVE Romance / all
2. Manatsu no Kousen / all
MC
3. Edo no Temari Uta II / C-ute
4. Namida no Iro / C-ute
5. Papancake / Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu
MC / Milky Way (Kusumi Koharu, Kitahara Sayaka, Kikkawa Yuu
)
6. Anataboshi / Milky Way (Kusumi Koharu, Kitahara Sayaka, Kikkawa Yuu
)
7. Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance / Berryz Koubou
8. Jingisukan / Berryz Koubou (with H!P Eggs
)
MC / Berryz Koubou
9. Resonant Blue / Morning Musume
10. Mikan / Morning Musume
MC / Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi
11. KoiING / Takahashi Ai, Kitahara Sayaka, Mori Saki, Fukuda Kanon, Noto Arisa, Kikkawa Yuu, Maeda Yuuka, Sawada Yuri, Sengoku Minami
12. Hajimete Kuchibiru wo Kasaneta Yoru / Suzuki Airi, Linlin, Ogawa Saki
13. Chu! Natsu Party / Michishige Sayumi, Sugaya Risako
MC / Umeda Erika, Hagiwara Mai
14. C\C (Cinderella\Complex) / High-King (Takahashi Ai
, Tanaka Reina, Yajima Maimi, Shimizu Saki, Meada Yuuka)
15. Kioku no Meiro / High-King
(Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina, Yajima Maimi, Shimizu Saki, Meada Yuuka)
MC / High-King
(Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina, Yajima Maimi, Shimizu Saki, Meada Yuuka)
MC / Mano Erina
16. Mano Piano / Mano Erina
17. Tokunatsu Musume / Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Mitsui Aika
18. Tropica~l Koishiteru / Junjun, Okai Chisato, Arihara Kanna, Hagiwara Mai, Kumai Yurina, Sudou Maasa, Mori Saki, Kikkawa Yuu, Sengoku Minami, Sawada Yuri, Noto Arisa, Kitahara Sayaka
19. Kousui / Tanaka Reina, Umeda Erika, Shimizu Saki, Tokunaga Chinami, Nakajima Saki
20. Gachinko de Ikou! / Buono! (Natsuyaki Miyabi, Tsugunaga Momoko, Suzuki Airi
)
21. KISS KISS KISS / Buono! (Natsuyaki Miyabi, Tsugunaga Momoko, Suzuki Airi
)
MC / Buono! (Natsuyaki Miyabi, Tsugunaga Momoko, Suzuki Airi
)
22. Egao YES Nude / Morning Musume
23. Massara Blue Jeans / C-ute, Berryz Koubou
24. Special Generation / Berryz Koubou, C-ute
25. Love & Peace! HERO ga Yattekita. / All
MC / All
26.
Ame no furanai hoshi de wa aisenai darou / All