Warning: This is about the first generation of Morning Musume. If you like the 1st gen and love it when people talk about it, enjoy youself. If you don't like the 1st gen, please cover your eyes and brace yourself because I'm gonna talk about them whether you like them or not.
Now that that's over, let's get to my post. You can't talk about the history of Morning Musume or Hello! Project in general with mentioning the legendary first gen. Real MM fans can easily name the first 5 members: Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Fukuda Ayaka, and...that other one (Just kidding. Nakazawa Yuko. Love you, Yuko!) This was IMO Momusu's purest generation. This was before all the boyfriends, substandard songs, and scandals that stained MM's image.
Let me take you to the world of 1997.
Sharan Q's Tsunku decides to have an audition to find a female vocalist for his band. There were six finalists and Heike Michiyo won. But Tsunku wanted the other 5 girls to stick around. He told the girls that if the recorded "Ai no Tane" and sold 50,000 albums in a certain amount of time, then they would stay a group. So they recorded the song, released it on November 3 and promoted like crazy. They completed their mission and managed to stay a group.
After that, "Morning Coffee" was released on January 28,1998 , new members were added, and MM (And later H!P) started to make history. They did tours, starred in "Morning Cop" (One of the greatest movies ever IMO), and gained their own show.
I'm gonna talk about each 1st gen member one by one. It seems appropriate XD.
Fukuda Asuka - The baby of the first generation. She was one the original lead singers along with Nacchi. She was the first one to graduate and she was the member with the shortest tenure. While she said she left to focus on her studies (Back when "graduating to focus on studies" didn't mean "boyfriend"), it was also rumored that she was bullied by the older members and the staff. If that rumor is ever confirmed, then I'll lose a little respect from Nacchi, Kaori, and Yuko. Bullies are horrible people.
Ishiguro Aya - Good old Aya. She was the girl with her nose pierced in MM, one third of the original Tanpopo (The best gen of Tapopo IMO) and the second one to graduate.Then she married Shinya of Luna Sea and became the best former idol/mom ever. Unlike other ex-H!P members who graduate and then fall of the face of the earth. Aya is still active, releasing books and blogging. Motherhood hasn't affected her looks either because she still looks hot X)
Natsumi Abe - I love some Nacchi. Look at this picture. She hasn't even aged since 1997. She graduated from MM in 2004 and became one of H!P's biggest soloists from '04-earlier this year, Now she's just a soloist for UFA and still busting out ballads
Iida Kaori - This pic is from 2001 btw. Anyway, you gotta love Kaori. She held the record for the longest time as a MM member until Aichan and Gakisan broke it and she had 26 singles released during her tenure. Then she graduated and released some Mediterranean-influenced music and got married. Her and 7HOUSE member Kenji are currently living happily ever after.
Nakazawa Yuko - Last but certainly not least is the oldest of the first 5, Yuko. She was the first leader of MM and the first to start a solo career after graduating. Her failure at finding a husband made her well known among MM fans. At 36 years old, she's still the hottest "old lady" I've ever seen XD.
Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to respect the original 5. Without them, there be no Aichan, no Gakisan, no Jun or Lin, no H!P. They are living, breathing pieces of J-Pop history IMO.
Yesterday Koharu officially graduated from H!P on the last day of MM's NINE SMILE tour. Koha's graduation means the end of Morning Musume's most stable lineup (2 years, 8 months).
Over 2,000 fans were in attendence at Tokyo Kousei Nenkin Kaikan as Koha left. They wore red and brought red penlights. Koha's final song was "Furusato", the song she sang on Hello! Morning (Miss that show) when she first joined MM in 2005. Then the group sang "Love Machine" and "Songs" to close out the show.
I'm glad that Koha actually got a graduation ceremony. I was expecting her to get roses and that's it. But her ceremony was decent and well deserved for MM's most genki member.
I used to think that Koharu was really, really annoying and that her singing voice was horrible. I still sort agree to that 2nd one XD. But I've grown to like Koha. I'll miss you, my hyper friend!
I will now leave you with Koha's final quote.
"THANK YOU EVERYONE! I TRULY THANK YOU ALL!"
Since there has been so many post-worthy topics recently, I'll avoid making several posts and just squeeze my witty comments into one post.
Nakajima Saki to release her first PB, "NACKY"
Finally, a PB from Nakki! I thought she would be like Ume and go her whole career without a PB. I wonder what it would look like. If it's anything like the recent C-ute Alo Hello PB, I expect pictures of Nakki having fun and looking good (I hope there are plenty of bikini shots)
Tanaka Reina wishes for growth in that special area
During a recent appearance in her hometown, Fukuoka, Reina was talking about what she wanted for her 20th birthday. She said that she wanted to grow. She didn't say where but it's assumed she was talking about..that place. Good luck with that, Reina.
Kago Ai's in NYC
Aibon, welcome to America. She's here as a spokesperson for the cummunications company KDDI but she's also visiting fans and doing a press conference. Man, this is one of those times I wish I lived in New York. But I'm happy where I am XD.
That's all the news I can round up this time. I'm planning on writing something on the 1st gen Momusu...or maybe 5th gen. I love them both.
While I was thinking of something to write about, I got to thinking about all the comings and goings of 2009 (More going out of H!P than coming into H!P) and how these events might affect H!P.
I decided to look take a look into the future (I'm a part-time psychic) I will now report my findings to you. So here they are, my predictions.
Morning Musume
- Koha graduates and MM leaves the spot empty for about 2-5 months
- MM holds an audition for the first time in years adding 2-4 new members (at least 2 of them from the Kanto region)
- The chances of Ai or Risa graduating rise, Reina is tapped to fill the sub leader position if either of them graduate
- There will be at least 3 tabloid stories claiming things from public drunkeness to boyfriends; those claims are never confirmed
C-ute
- Record sales will go up slightly
- C-ute will head to Hawaii again to do a Alo-Hello! PB and DVD; sales of the PB will be high
- Saki or Mai will have more presence in songs
- Devoted fans will follow Erika's modelling career
Berryz Koubou
- Captain will finally release a photobook, making her the last Berryz member to release a PB
- Risako will release 1 or 2 PBs; stores will quickly sell out
- There will be a tabloid story about Miyabi, Maasa, or Risako; blurry pics will be published
- No one will graduate
There you go! All that predicting made me a bit tired...
Yes the last day of C-ute's fall tour has come and passed and Ume has finally graduated. My all time favorite member is leaving with a nice ceremony but I'll talk about that in a bit.
You're probably saying "Slasha, why didn't you post the day of her graduation?" Well, I wanted to get all the information before I made a post so I could tell you guys what happened.
Now let me tell you what happened. C-ute did their show as normal. When it came time for Erika to graduate, the other members said nice things about her. That was it. No expensive special effects. No bouquet of flowers. No singing to the guest of honor. Nothing.
I'm a little displeased with the graduation and apparently so are the fans who were there. Maybe UFA didn't want to spend a lot of money. Maybe Ume did want a ceremony. Whatever the reason, I'm glad she actually graduated and didn't just leave. Good luck with modelling, Ume!
Now for family pictures.
And so ends an era...
Wow that was a big absence, huh? I haven't posted since last month. Sorry everybody. Laziness and writer's block got the best of me. But I'm back and ready to tell you about the new MM PV for Kimagure Princess which means "Moody Princess".
Thanks to H!O for the cover!
I like the song. It's an obvious change from the recent MM singles. I can tell that H!P has been influenced by music from India. Also I think that MM must've recorded in a room full of helium. Their voices are squeaker than an early Berryz single.
Anyway about the video (which you can watch here btw) The outfits in this video are white robe/pants, black boots, and some members have cowboy hats (random but cool). The video itself takes place in a castle (Well it looks like the inside of a castle)
This is the best PV outfit that I've seen in a while. It looks like an alternate costume from Tekken (They always make the crazy outfits alternatives)
"Tell me your wish!" That's a SNSD reference btw (I don't listen to just H!P you know :D )
Most of the video involve MM dancing while in this pose. They actually managed to look good dancing like that IMO, good job.
Stun Spore! (Pokemon reference :D ) When I first saw this scene, I couldn't stop laughing. Don't know why...
Every member gets their "Stun Spore" moment. I really liked Jun's part because she has her sexy face on.
Kamei is definitely the MVP of this PV. She's on screen for about 80% of this video. Also, that cowboy hat looks good on her. I think she's getting sexier.
Sexy ending pose time!
And that's the end. About the dancing, it's what I've come to expect from MM. I don't want to see fancy new moves. I like the old, classic dance moves and MM delivers.
I give this PV a well deserved A+.
Well I'm coming back from this absence to tell you that Koha is graduating...from H!P, not just MM. She'll be graduating in December after the final concert of MM's Fall tour (December 6th). I haven't been able to get a clear reason why but it's either because: 1. She wants to be a model (Apparently she's been talking to Ume), 2. She wants to go solo (She already had a semi-solo career during the "Kirari" days.), or 3. Both. Well, I'm sure our buddy Tsunku can help us find the reason.
Regarding 7th Generation Morning Musume Member "Kusumi Koharu"
At the final performance of of the "Morning Musume Concert Tour 2009 Autumn ~ Nine Smile ~" (Dec 6), 7th generation Morning Musume member Kusumi Koharu will be graduating from Morning Musume, and from Hello!Project. During the 4 years and 4 months she was in Morning Musume, she has learnt the basics as a singer and a talent. And next year, she will turn 18. She's come to learn the base of what it takes to work in a group. And at the same time, she's been working as "Tsukishima Kirari". Based on seeing all of her work so far, as a producer, I felt I wanted to let her have a solo career, so decided to have her graduate. Having said that, she won't be making a singing debut or any other kind of debut right away, and some of the plans are still a bit rough, but Kusumi will continue to work hard for now, while privately taking various lessons. Her own hope is to be a model, so I think she'll be aiming towards a new direction, and taking new steps. So everybody who has supported her so far, please continue to give your support to Kusumi Koharu, and to Morning Musume. Thank you very much!
2009-9-19
Morning Musume Producer
Tsunku ♂
Hat tip to Hello! Online for the translation
2009 is not a good year for H!P. How many people have graduated/are graduating this year? Why do I have the strange feeling that H!P will have only 10 members by next summer? I really hope that feeling doesn't come true.
I just happening to be doing some web surfing this morning and stumbled upon this news over at Tokyograph:
On Friday, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of singer Miki Fujimoto (24) and her older brother, who had filed a defamation lawsuit against Shukan Shincho publisher Shinchosha.
Let explain this story. Apparently back in November of 2007, Shukan Shincho magazine ran a headline about Miki extorting money from her ex-boyfriend (Wait! She has an ex-boyfriend? I thought husband Shouji was the first boyfriend.) The article also said something about her brother forcing the boyfriend to pay "20 to 30 million yen" (Which I must say is a lot of money.)
Well Miki's lawyer stated that there was no evidence to support that article and that this article was a complete lie. Luckily, for all you Miki-sama fans out there, the judge ruled in favor of the Fujimoto family. Now Shukan Shincho has to pay 4 million yen in damages and I think they have publish an apology.
Now that that's over, here's a epic picture of Miki singing at some event.
Wow! I haven't posted in about 3 weeks! I got a good reason: I couldn't think of anything to write about. Also, school's started here and that cuts down on my internet surfing (Although I have a journalism class with Internet-enabled computers. I should update from there one day.
Anyway, back to Sayaka. For those of you not up on your Momusu history, here's Sayaka's story.
She joined MM back in 1998 as a 2nd generation member with Mari and Kei and was a part of Petitmoni. She graduated MM in 2000 and went solo, soon forming Cubic-Cross with Taisei of Sharam-Q and Yoshizawa Naoki. Then she married Yoshizawa and retired from show business the following year. She had her first child in 2004.
This past February, she joined a new agency and began working on her comeback and on August 24th publicly announced her return. Now she plans to work toward being an actress.
Looking at her new profile, she seems to have done a lot in that 5 year period. She's gotten a driver's license, learned Hawaiian lomilomi massage, and has become a aromatherapy advisor.
She's also opened a blog here. Also check out some of her new pics, she's still pretty hot.
I wish her luck in her return and I hope she becomes an award-winning actress...and maybe comes back to singing.
What? You've never heard of SI☆NA? That's probably because you're more used to the name, Hello! Project Kansai. They were 4 girls from the Kansai region who promoted H!P in the Osaka/Kyoto/Nara area. Well now it's 3 girls. My personal favorite, Nakayama Nana graduated from the group on July 25th to "concentrate on school" So now SI☆NA looks like this.
I don't sense any scandal with this graduation. Apparently she announced this graduation weeks in advance and due to lack of coverage, I didn't know until a few days before the graduation (Also I know I'm late posting this but Ume graduating and other issues kind of messed up my plans for this article) But I'll miss you, Nana. Despite not having the fanbase of your brother (Nakayama Yuma), you were always one of my personal favorites. I wish you luck at school and hope you come back to show business someday.
Links from my Friends and Family
This blog is oh so epic. It also inspires me from time to...
Intl Wota tells me which blogs to read.
A Hello!Project cover group =]
