[quote="TicTacAnyone"] Honestly she improved quite a lot under J=J, and seemed to be a stable rock to her members. Between constant touring, higher-talent demands, "managing" teen->adult young women... I give my hats off to her. Not that the leader does THAT that much in a group,...

Saya did. Thank you, Saya.

I was at the New York and L.A. concerts and I didn't meet you guys!

With her, Haruna and Ayaka graduating, no more 1994 babies left in H!P. At least Airi as a soloist is still affiliated with Up-Front.
 
The oldest is now Tomoko Kanazawa, although it seems pretty obvious that the second oldest, Mizuki, will be H!P leader now.

It should get its own thread.

I just heard in an FB comment that Yuka Miyazaki is graduating. Is this true? Can someone find an official source of info and start a thread about it?

[quote="Madara"] As I was watching the videos for “Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi,” and “Endless Sky” at the gym today, it occurred to me that the 13-member lineup of Morning Musume that year, 2015—after 12 th Gen joined and before Riho left--was unprecedented in MM’s history. For the first and...

As I was watching the videos for “Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi,” and “Endless Sky” at the gym today, it occurred to me that the 13-member lineup of Morning Musume that year, 2015—after 12 th Gen joined and before Riho left--was unprecedented in MM’s history. For the first and so far only time, there w...

Thanks for your kind words, Meikochi and WonderBuono.

I offer some highlights of Haruna's graduation on my blog:
 
https://madarasjpopblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/18/harunas-graduation/
 

 
 

[quote="Shoujo Q"] H!P is the least active in the beginning of the year. You just have the winter concerts and little to no promo going on. It's a perfect time to slip out and do something productive with your time.  They figure, half the girls get sick during the Winter Concerts anyway. I...

[quote="Solarblade"]   <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Meikochi" data-cid="216183" data-time="1543851684"> <div> Winners were announced ! Three girls passed : - Hirai Miyo (19), Tokyo, she likes taking pictures, stage appreciation (?),...

[quote="Solarblade"]
Not quite sure why they waited a week to announce this, but the auditions are over - http://www.helloproject.com/news/9633/
 
(4 winners; Ise, Hirai, Kobayashi, Satoyoshi)
[/quote]
 
What do they win?

Am I missing anybody in December?     12/01/1998 - Miyamoto Karin (J=J) 12/06/1980 - Yasuda Kei (MM) 12/17/1984 - Fukuda Asuka (MM) 12/17/2001 - Onoda Saori (TF) 12/23/1988 - Kamei Eri (MM) 12/24/1997 - Tanaka Karen (?) 12/26/1988 - Noto Arisa (Egg) 12/27/1997 - Inaba Manaka (former CG/current...?) ...

I wonder about how these videos spread. I remember in my early years of fandom, the video that people most cited was "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari," which had a subbed version playing on YT. And when I was talking to my daughter and her boyfriend about MM back then, my daughter was startled...

I just watched Angerme's latest concert DVD. Believe me, this group doesn't need new members. It's enough to keep track of the ten who are there. There are so many talented members now that some of them, like Mizuki and Musubu, wind up getting short shrift in the concert formations, while Rikako get...

The biggest age gap between oldest and youngest member of MM occurred in 2000-2001, when the age gap between Yuko and Aibon was 15 years.   What's the second biggest age gap. I'm thinking it's between Ai Takahashi and the two youngest members of  9th Gen, Riho and Kanon in 2011. That was a 12-year g...

[quote="Saya"]   <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Madara" data-cid="215928" data-time="1542645808"> In case you didn't hear about it, on Sunday, the last day of Anime NYC, some of the girls stopped by a booth in the dealers room that wa...

In case you didn't hear about it, on Sunday, the last day of Anime NYC, some of the girls stopped by a booth in the dealers room that was playing Morning Musume songs and they danced to the songs, totally off the cuff. I was there with Kitaoji and other friends and it was the greatest thing ever. Fi...

Anybody from here, besides me, Kitaoji and Shoujo, going to Morning Musume's events in New York this Friday and Saturday?

I wrote up my review of Tsubaki's first concert. It may be the best first concert by a Hello! Project group I've ever seen. It's short--89 minutes, with only 57 minutes of singing--but that enables them to keep up their enthusiasm and energy level without flagging for a second.   https://madarasjpop...

In the concert DVD, “ Tsubaki Factory One-Man LIVE - First Blossom ” held at Differ Ariake on February 22, 2018, Kiki Asakura disappears from the act at various points. She’s there for the key songs, “Teion Yakedo” and “Hatsukoi Sunrise” and the group MC segments, but in certain numbers only eight ...

So I watched the concert DVD of “ Tsubaki Factory One-Man LIVE - First Blossom ” held at Differ Ariake on February 22, 2018.   The last MC segment has all the girls doing their little speeches and when it came to Ami, she suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence, put her mike down and ...

Two questions:   1) Haruna Iikubo turns 24 in a few hours. By my count, she's only the fourth member of MM to turn 24 before graduating, the others being Yuko Nakazawa, Ai Takahashi and Sayumi Michishige. Is that accurate?   2) Both Risa Ogata and Riko Yamagishi turn 20 this month, the two oldest me...

[quote="TicTacAnyone"] Here's a video of them live, posted today. [/quote]     Hmmmm. The song style, the lip-sync'ing, the sheer number of performers...I'm getting a distinct AKB vibe from this. I'd like it better if Risa wasn't in it. I don't like the idea of her going from group leader ...

[quote="yuzu"] I've only seen them live at the NYC in 14 and at that point I was literally taken by everyone except Masaki.  I know a lot of people say Sakura is lacking in stage presence and charisma but personally I see the opposite.  I'd say I'm biased but it's one of the things that ma...

I wish they'd get a native English speaker to translate the lyrics into subtitles.

We're evidently seeing very different performers. I wonder how many of you have seen current MM live. They're all fantastic live, esp. Mizuki, Erina, Ayumi, Sakura, and Chisaki. And they're just as great in the concert DVDs. Masaki's probably better on the DVDs because we get to see her antics up cl...

I'm not sure where else to put this, but since today would have been the 90th birthday of manga/anime pioneer, Osamu Tezuka, I did a tribute to him on my film blog:   https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2018/11/03/osamu-tezuka-at-90-god-of-manga/   It covers a recent manga biography of Tezuka and a ...

[quote="TheParuProject"]   <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Madara" data-cid="215788" data-time="1541161401">   <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Saya" data-cid="215787" data-time="1541134...