The Official H!P Question Thread

[Gerald]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1346450712' post='132663']

Nice to have you back. The latest Dream MM concert has a lot of good stuff, check out my latest blog entry for coverage of it.



Yes, Buono! remains awesome. I just received their latest album and latest concert. I haven't listened/watched yet. And I'm way behind when it comes to Ayu. The last album of hers I have is "Love Songs" from December 2010, which I liked a lot. Anything since then that you'd recommend? Thanks.

[/quote]

I've mostly been buying up the concert DVDs as I love her live performances, she's so full of energy and she really knows how to work an audience which, considering the size of the venues she plays is quite a gift. Oh and the fact that she's seriously attractive helps a little as well <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... stling.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whistling:' />.



I'll have to start getting her albums, I've only got the Complete - All Singles and Next Level so far. By the time I've bought all the albums and the concert DVDs I will probably be bankrupt <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />.

[Madara]

I'm in the process of reviewing the winter 2012 concerts for my blog and I had a question:



What do you call the special units formed specifically for the concert? They're not shuffle units, a term used for something a little more official. I tend to call them "mix-and-match" units, in which random members of different groups are put together for a specific number, e.g. Risako, Kanon S., Haruka and Kanon F. doing an old Melon Kinenbi song in the "Rock-chan" concert. Is there a more official name for them?



Thanks.

[Anderei]

Mix and match is as good as any. As far as I know there is no official name.

[al kusanagi]

They're still called shuffle units. The latest Girls News has rehearsal footage from the latest HP tour where the girls are mixed up to perform different songs and they use the term.

[Madara]

H!P Winter Concert 2012 "Funky-chan":



This comedian, aka, I think, "DJ Funky," comes out for an MC segment:





The credits list him as Goro Sawayaka.



Who is he and why is he there?



Thanks.

[rob]

Just a comedian, but he did record a song with Karin called "Usagi tocome"

[star]

So in Reina's blog, she refers to "Cheif" a lot.

I was wonder who exactly that was because she said soon he won't be her cheif anymore.

[aine]

[quote name='Star' timestamp='1348833752' post='134771']

So in Reina's blog, she refers to "Cheif" a lot.

I was wonder who exactly that was because she said soon he won't be her cheif anymore.

[/quote]

She writes チーフ. Maybe she just doesn't know how to spell "chef" (シェフ), lol. Japanese wiki mentions "チーフ" in the Chef article, so it could be that. But that's just my own little theory.

[Madara]

I was on CDJapan looking for Berryz Kobo concerts/PV collections I never acquired.



I came across this DVD title;

Gekidan Gekihalo Dai 5 Kai Koen Berryz Kobo vs Berryz Kobo



with this description:

Live DVD release from Berryz Kobo featuring footage of performance "Berryz Kobo VS Berryz Kobo" at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space on November 19, 2008.



There's only one item listed on the tracklist, so I assume it's not a concert.

What is it?





Here's the link:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PKBP-5108



Anyone?



Thanks.

[aine]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1348941767' post='134837']

Gekidan Gekihalo Dai 5 Kai Koen Berryz Kobo vs Berryz Kobo



There's only one item listed on the tracklist, so I assume it's not a concert.

What is it?

[/quote]

Berryz Kobo VS Berryz Kobo is a stage play starring Berryz Kobo and written and directed by Kusumoto Shusei.



Tracklist in the link.

[Madara]

Thanks, Aine.



Next question:



In You Kikkawa's page on Generasia, it says that she:

Is one of the eight Hello! Project members to lose a Morning Musume audition and be added to Hello! Project at a later date

What Gen did Kikkawa audtion for?



And what's the preferred spelling of her first name? "You" or "Yuu"? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />



Thanks.

[zlilzlilzlil]

Thanks, Aine.



Next question:



In You Kikkawa's page on Generasia, it says that she:

Is one of the eight Hello! Project members to lose a Morning Musume audition and be added to Hello! Project at a later date

What Gen did Kikkawa audtion for?



And what's the preferred spelling of her first name? "You" or "Yuu"? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />



Thanks.

She auditioned for the 8 generation - which means she lost to Aika



I think her name can be both because it's only translating...

[Anderei]

Yuu is her actual name. You is the stage name version.

[yuzuriha]

She lost to Aika hence why everyone is so bitter about Aika joining.

[rob]

Just imagine in 5 years we will be saying the same thing again

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1349073940' post='134912']

Just imagine in 5 years we will be saying the same thing again

[/quote]



No. Don't start trouble because you're still bitter about Karin.

[rob]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1349120274' post='134944']

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1349073940' post='134912']

Just imagine in 5 years we will be saying the same thing again

[/quote]



No. Don't start trouble because you're still bitter about Karin.

[/quote]



Do I have to explain I'm kidding EVERY DAMN TIME

[Melon]

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1349139159' post='134965']

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1349120274' post='134944']

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1349073940' post='134912']

Just imagine in 5 years we will be saying the same thing again

[/quote]



No. Don't start trouble because you're still bitter about Karin.

[/quote]



Do I have to explain I'm kidding EVERY DAMN TIME

[/quote]



This is srs brd. This is srs thrd. Hello Project always srs bns.

[Mukuro]

Is there a PV for the C-ute indie single Wakkyanai(Z)? If so I haven't been able to find one.

[momoirosaya]

[quote name='Mukuro' timestamp='1349141381' post='134967']

Is there a PV for the C-ute indie single Wakkyanai(Z)? If so I haven't been able to find one.

[/quote]

No there isn't.

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='Mukuro' timestamp='1349141381' post='134967']

Is there a PV for the C-ute indie single Wakkyanai(Z)? If so I haven't been able to find one.

[/quote]



No PV, but a live version was released on their first Music V collection. Music V Tokushuu 1 ~Cutie Visual~

[Madara]

Last minute homework:



Two 40-ish female executives from Hokkaido are about to visit me in my office. I've been looking up MM members to remind myself who's from Hokkaido (Nacchi, Kaori, Konno, Miki, some members of Country Musume). Who else is from Hokkaido? Any famous singers that they might have heard in the '70s and '80s?



Thanks.

[tsukinobyouin]

Wikipedia has a list.

[Madara]

[quote name='TnB' timestamp='1349197676' post='135003']

Wikipedia has a list.

[/quote]



Thanks, but they came before I got this. They were impressed by the poster of Nacchi on my cubicle wall. And I showed them the cover of the Love Machine video (on a shelf next to my desk) and pointed out another Hokkaido native daughter, Kaori Iida. And then I showed them the pic I took with Morning Musume three years ago. So it went well. (And to think that my daughter said to me beforehand, "Don't get weird, Daddy.") The only problem is when my co-workers did their spiels for them, they went on too long and too technical, making it hard for the poor interpreter. I had to keep saying, "Sound bites!"



Interesting Hokkaido list, though. Besides the MM names, the other ones I recognize are Masaki Kobayashi (one of Japan's greatest directors), Satoshi Kon (of TOKYO GODFATHERS anime fame), and Monkey Punch, author of Lupin III.

[Madara]

Questions about the relation of Morning Musume members (current and former) to their management staff:



Which of their handlers do the girls have most interaction with? I'm assuming they each have a manager and that would be the person they deal with the most. If not, then who?



Is the manager with Up Front Agency or some other entity?



Now, when an American star (actor or singer) gets an award, they always thank their manager, their agent, their publicist, their lawyer, their stylist, their personal trainer, and, in some cases, God.

When Morning Musume members graduate, do they thank anyone besides the other girls? I never hear them do that, but then I don't speak enough Japanese to know for certain. Do they even thank Tsunku? I never hear him cited. Has there ever been a case where a graduating H!P member thanked a manager or any of their handlers or anyone in the front office? If not, is there a special reason why?



And, finally, have any of them ever thanked God?



Thanks.

[rob]

God isn't a single thing in Japan, for most Japanese people there is a god of everything and god is everything. God is the trees, the dogs, the cars, the roads, pencils, clothes etc etc. So they wouldn't thank god because god is everything.



I'm 95% sure that each girl has her own "manager" aka helper, carrier person, advice giver, proxy mother.



When they graduate they thank the fans, the members, sometimes tsunku but in general, these concerts are for the fans, and it's a chance to say thank you to the fans.



Thank yous to staff members can be done in person in private afterwards.

[Madara]

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1350349590' post='135892']

God isn't a single thing in Japan, for most Japanese people there is a god of everything and god is everything. God is the trees, the dogs, the cars, the roads, pencils, clothes etc etc. So they wouldn't thank god because god is everything.



I'm 95% sure that each girl has her own "manager" aka helper, carrier person, advice giver, proxy mother.



When they graduate they thank the fans, the members, sometimes tsunku but in general, these concerts are for the fans, and it's a chance to say thank you to the fans.



Thank yous to staff members can be done in person in private afterwards.

[/quote]



Thanks, Rob. This helps.



BTW, my review of the Morning Musume concert with Risa's and Aika's graduation is up on my blog.

[Madara]

I watched the supplemental DVD that came with MM's 13 Colorful Character album and in it, Riho talks about her love of dancing and Ayumi does some ballet turns while playing for the cameras. And it got me to compose the following question:



Does anyone know offhand which H!P performers have had formal dance training?



I know Ai Takahashi has, but is there anyone else?



Thanks.

[masa]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1350989474' post='136205']

I watched the supplemental DVD that came with MM's 13 Colorful Character album and in it, Riho talks about her love of dancing and Ayumi does some ballet turns while playing for the cameras. And it got me to compose the following question:



Does anyone know offhand which H!P performers have had formal dance training?



I know Ai Takahashi has, but is there anyone else?



Thanks.

[/quote]

Besides H!P Kids and H!P Egg, Ogawa Makoto and Ikuta Erina have.

[Shoujo Q]

Masaki also mentioned doing ballet as part of the 100 other things she did daily. I wonder if she still does half of what she said she did?