H!P Remembrance Thread ~15 Years of Nostalgia~

[Melon]

This thread is for all of us to remember the good old days of Hello!Project. Whether you've been around since day 1 or day 1943845, talk about it! Anything and everything! It's been FIFTEEN YEARS GUYS, that's like, FOREVER in pop music. Lineups, members, performances, shows, scandals, photobooks, music sucking, music not sucking, let's get our NOSTALGIA ON!

[Melon]

I'm going to ramble a lot in here, so be prepared~

• Favorite lineups -
  
  1. The long standing lineup. Aside from the Koharu stint, it was the perfect lineup.
  
  2. After Nacchi left, we had a great mix of characters in the group. Thus my second favorite lineup is 2004, right up to Ai Kago and Tsuji Nozomi leaving.
  
  2.5 The current lineup is the bees knees. It renewed my love for the group.
  
  3. I loved Kei, I wish she could participate in my second favorite lineup. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

• Hello Morning is the longstanding show of forever, but for the post-H!M shows, Hello Pro Hour filled my heart with happiness. We got some great performances out of it. One of the ones that I still play today is Maki and Aya's duet of Memory Seishun no Hikari.
• H!P lucked out on getting Aya. She was a straight out of the box idol, much like Maki was. They don't make them like this anymore. Yeah! Meccha Holiday is a classic summer song. Scramble is one of my favorite Maki songs, even though they never seemed to know what to do with her career. In fact, no one seems to know what to do with her career. It's sad.
• Nochira Natsumi was news that was met with a resounding HELL YEAH, and then we got.. what we got. At least we got a good tour out of it.
• Shall We Love? remains the most awesome collaboration of collaborations.
• And for more soloist collab songs, remember when DEF DIVA got number 1 on Oricon? And got the record for a number 1 with the least amount of cds sold?
• Subgroups, subgroups, is there anything they were bad at? Because I'm not thinking of any!

• Suzuki Airi did an amazing rendition of Single Bed on Berikyu.

• One of my favorite concerts was 2004's Best of Japan Haru, We got a great mix of classic musume goodness in that concert.

• Country Musume was the group that was good but unloved. Melon Kinenbi was also unloved, but they got a burst of ERH MAH GAWD awesome at the end of their career. No idol group has yet to top their exit.

• Coconuts Musume were for piss breaks during concerts, as were the kids until they grew up into super idols.

• Otome Gumi had the worse singers, but overall better lineup.\

• Kago's smoking scandal was the stupidest thing I have ever heard until Nacchi had her turtle scandal.
• Mopremes anyone?
• As far as years of H!P go, I give the award of BEST YEAR EVER to 2004. That year had everything someone could ever ask for.

[star]

The early music of Berryz Kobo was amazing was it not? In my opinion the time period of Special Generation through Munasawagi Scarlet was their best. After that I think their music kind of slumped. Also, Maiha left in that time. Think about it makes me wonder how she would fiot with the group now.

Also, I think their progression over the years has been interesting, as they're taking on a more mature appearance recently.

[Miss Moonlight]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1348538310' post='134556']

One of the ones that I still play today is Maki and Aya's duet of Memory Seishun no Hikari

[/quote]

YES <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ebleed.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':nosebleed:' /> Similarly, in the first Elder Club concert in '06, they finished with I WISH and Aya took the Kago high note at the end and Maki took her usual part after it, and I remember it being chill-inducing. I can't find a video of it (though admittedly didn't search very hard). The Hello!Pro Hour Kei/Yaguchi Summer Night Town duet was pretty great too.



My introduction to H!P was in 2002, when I was going on 16, had recently discovered anime soundtracks, and was listening pretty much exclusively to Sailormoon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Rayearth, and Slayers music on loop (so sad). HEY!HEY!HEY aired every Monday on my cable's international channel and I saw MM perform Souda! We're Alive. The energy of the song, the seemingly huge number of girls, and the neon outfits hooked me within like 2 seconds. I think the songs and overall attitude around then were really great for attracting new young fans, especially ones like me who were branching out from their more childish interests. Of course I can't look at MM objectively anymore after all these years, but I wonder if the current lineup has a little of that going on.

[freezingkiss]

I got into them initially in 2004 and my favourite lineup was 2002-era. Before Maki left and before the rokkies. That in my opinion, was the perfect lineup (and I never even really experienced that lineup).



- Man I miss the elder club. Yuko has always been my fave H!P and she always will be. I loved the 2005 'Selection Collection' concert and the old H!M dvds.



- Roman ~ My Dear Boy will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart as the first MM single I was around for. Gorgeous song and just a really exciting foray into the world of idol pop. I might write a little blog post on it soon. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />



- I am hoping Maki comes back to music soon. I LOVE HER.



- Favourite concert DVD = Maki's Grad 2002. First dvd I bought and still the most exciting. Close second would be the first 'Best of Japan 2004' before Kago/Tsuji left.

[al kusanagi]

I remember being a transfer student in '98 and '99 and seeing Tanpopo performing on some music show and liking them, and seeing the insanity of Morning Cop, but then pretty much forgetting them. Then when I moved there in 2001, it was right when the Peace came out, and I instantly fell in love with Maki after seeing her on the yearly 24 hour charity show.



I remember being so excited when the 5th gen came in, because the audition special was the day after my birthday live on TV, and remember yelling "Her! That's the one!" when Ai popped up on the screen.



I remember the worst day in HP history back in August of '02, which pretty much started the downfall of their popularity, the day that announced Maki's graduation and the insane changing of Tanpopo and Petit Moni's line-ups.



I remember hating the 6th Gen (except Miki), but now their my favorite gen of all time.



Then there are all the concert memories, like having a front row center ticket to Maki's Makking Gold tour, running into the entire Hello Project on the shinkansen in Aichi, getting sweated on by Mai Satoda, and all those fucking incredible Melon Kinen-Bi lives.



I remember Koharu coming along and fucking up everything, but then I remember her graduating and being so happy I fell back in love with the group.



I remember the EriJunLin graduation concert and the big sad it gave me.



I remember Kuduu and Masaki joining and making me forget all the sad because they are awesome and I'd buy Masaki anything she wanted and would hug her every day and teach Duu how to fight so she could kick all the boys asses!

[Madara]

[quote name='Petit Hulk' timestamp='1348538310' post='134556']

As far as years of H!P go, I give the award of BEST YEAR EVER to 2004. That year had everything someone could ever ask for.[/list]

[/quote]



Yeah, the first concert I ever saw and the one that got me hooked was the H!P Winter 2004 "C'mon Let's Dance" concert, Nacchi's graduation. Still my favorite concert from H!P. Also, that was the year of "My Dear Boy" (the dance shot version of the PV is one of the best PVs MM's ever done), "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari," the already-cited Spring 2004 Best of Japan concert, Aibon and Nono's heart-wrenching graduation in the summer concert, and the greatest thing W did, "Aa Ii Na" (the song itself and the PV).



Oh, and Al, you might want to correct your timeline a little. I think you meant '98 and '99.

[star]

I was introduced to H!P about three years ago, so when I was ten. (You have to remember, I"m only thirteen, so there wasn't really much room for exposure to foreign music when I was little. Also, my childhood has issues, so that probably played into my late discovery as well.)



The story goes like this:

• I went on YouTube to watch anime openings/endings.
• Clicked on a suggested video that said, "Berryz Numa".
• Listened to "Numa Numa" set to the "Special Generation" PV.
• Searched "Berryz Kobo".
• Then I listened to all their singles by the end of that day.

Then from there, I quickly discovered the rest of H!P.

I started listening to MoMusu right around the time that Takahashi Ai graduated, so around the time "Kono Chikyu no Heiwa o Honki de Negatterun Da yo! / Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai!" came out.

[Madara]

[quote name='Star' timestamp='1348575118' post='134576']

I was introduced to H!P about three years ago, so when I was ten. (You have to remember, I"m only thirteen, so there wasn't really much room for exposure to foreign music when I was little. Also, my childhood has issues, so that probably played into my late discovery as well.)



[/quote]



Late discovery?! I was 52 when I discovered H!P!!!! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... R#>/8o.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='8o' />





From the oldest MM-BBS'er to--possibly--the youngest: Welcome to the board, Star!

[Miss Moonlight]

More because I was sleepy last night <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



- From '02-'04 I just listened to whatever odd songs I could find because I had slow internet and one shared family computer. I didn't really know about the individual girls till I got to college in '04. I had a friend there who was really into Jpop and hated Morning Musume. She showed me the Mr. Moonlight PV with the intention of proving how terrible it was, and instead it became my favorite and I was instantly gay for Yossi. Quickly reliving H!P's history up to that point was a lot of fun, and it only took a couple of Utabans and Mechaike specials for my friend to wind up addicted too.



- Miki is my all-time favorite idol. When my friend and I would watch concerts in college we'd often sing along or have conversations over them, but whenever Miki would get a line we'd stop mid-sentence, swoon, and then continue. I'm sure there's nothing she'd rather be doing than just having a family life, but it's such a waste that she's spent so little time since 2007 singing.



- Of course I adore the music and performances, but so much of my fandom came from all the hilarious TV appearances. If you're a newbie (I'm looking at you, Star!) spend some time exploring the DJ Waffles site. It's so worth it. I zoned out for a while after Miki got kicked out, partly because my 2 all-time favorite members left within like a month of each other, because suddenly everyone in the group was younger than me, because I thought adding JunJun and LinLin was weird before I even gave them a chance, and because Onna ni Sachi Are, Mikan, and Pepper Keibu totally did not impress me. But I think a HUGE part of it was that the Onna ni Sachi Are appearance on Utaban was terrible, and then they had a long Utaban drought. It seemed like Taka and Nakai had lost interest, so I lost interest.



- Sometime in 09 I had a 7-hour train ride to deal with and I brought the Single Daizenshuu concert, figuring I could at least enjoy the old discography. It was awesome. I specifically remember Sayu (who I despised and now love) sang like a quarter of Furusato and hit all her notes, and that alone impressed me into giving the whole lineup a second chance. I fell back in love with them, especially after they ditched Koharu. That lineup was so much better than I initially thought. It's almost too bad they had the history of MM to live up to, because I think maybe their popularity suffered in part because they were so different... except it wasn't in a bad way.

[yuzuriha]

I could go on forever...



I got interested in H!P during the 2001 summer shuffles. I thought Summer Reggae! Rainbow was like the greatest song ever made. My perfect lineup is from "Happy Summer Wedding". It has always been Kaori for me, and of course Maki, but down the line Tsuji, and even Konno gained my love. Konno is the only member I have disliked that I ended up loving.



I won't go too into it, but I remember practing Do It! Now, because I was planning on auditioning for 6th gen...never got access to a video camera though and didn't do it. I did send in an audition for Country Musume though! Anyway, 6th gen auditions were the first one I watched footage for as it was going on. I remember when they posted all the pictures from the earlier rounds I saw Sayu and was like wow...I hope that girl doesn't get it, she's weird looking. So when she went to training camp I had ALREADY disliked her, and then when she started singing I was like ugh. Reina wasn't a TERRIBLE singer, but I didn't like her voice, and her attitude pissed me off. I <3ed Eri from the get go, so when he added all three I was PISSED, and I have continued to dislike Sayu and Reina til this day, although Sayu has STARTED to grow on me. She'll never even break my top 15 though. I was happy as shit when he added miki though.



I kind of stopped paying attention after Koharu because most of my favorites were gone, and she annoyed the crap out of me, but it was really after Yossi left (aka the last of the girls from when I started liking them) I stopped paying attention for the most part, randomly noticing songs here and there, until this summer when I decided to give them a chance again, and realizing there were some singles I LOVE, particularly Kimagure Princess and Renai Hunter.



I am notorious for loving singles everyone else hates though, like THE MANPOWER! and Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago.



I have always loved Berryz. They are probably my second favorite group. Lately I am gay for Risako in case you guys haven't noticed.



And I REALLY REALLY miss Tanpopo and W.











Oh...and summer shuffles in general. I loved Elegies, but that whole year was a huge disappointment for me.



I also loved Maeda Yuki...I even won a karaoke contest in my town when I was on JET singing "Tokyo Kirigirisu".





Wa...this is making me super nostalgic for some old school H!P concerts...

[Madara]

I found the very first post I wrote after discovering MM. I posted it on something called Jpop.com on August 30, 2005.



It's a little long. Here it is:

This is my first post. The occasion is my viewing of a tape last night called Hello! Project 2004 Winter C’Mon!…(followed by Japanese lettering that I couldn’t read). I should point out that I’ve never been big on idol culture, thinking it was kind of childish and unseemly for a man my age to follow. But, having heard a lot about Morning Musume, I was curious. And seeing this tape in a Japanese video store here in New York I thought it would be a good way to open a window on a part of Japanese pop culture that I knew little about. Well, this concert was just a total delight from start to finish, just pure show biz pleasure. Sure, other, more famous pop singers (at least in the U.S.) may be better singers or better dancers or have more voluptuous figures or anything else you might want to add. But these girls are, in my estimation, far better ENTERTAINERS than any American counterparts I’ve glimpsed over the last 15 years or so. They know how to sell a song and dance number. They give 110 percent or higher. There is something invigorating about it all, a quality of sheer joy in their performing. And that joy means all the difference to me.



That joy is something I just don’t feel in the songs and music videos of their American counterparts (Hilary, Lindsay, Ashlee, Christina, Britney, Avril, J-Lo, etc., etc., etc.). If you put a similar group together in America, I just don’t think it would work. No one aspires to be an entertainer here anymore; they just want to be celebrities and moneymakers. The stars here seem to have such contempt for their audience. I didn’t get that from the girls of Hello! Project. And I think that may be partly because they seemed to draw on each other’s energy and camaraderie. They seemed to be performing as much to please EACH OTHER as the audience. And when there are that many girls on stage, that’s a high amount of positive energy.



As for the audience, I was a bit surprised to note that in every audience shot I saw there was nothing but guys, all of whom seemed quite a bit older than the girls performing. In America, a pop group like this would target a pre-teen female audience. Older guys (and younger ones, for that matter) would feel awfully uneasy about attending a show like this en masse. Aren’t girls fans of this group in Japan? Do they go to the shows at all?



I’d like to single out my favorites among the performers, who stand out because they seemed to give 150 percent. (I looked them up on the web and was able to identify the ones I liked.) Aya Matsuura is the true diva of the group, certainly much more so than Maki Goto. Aya has that all-important self-involved sense of grandeur that, when backed by raw talent, relentless drive and uncommon beauty, is the mark of a real diva. I would single out Ai Takahashi as the one who most needs a solo career. I would pay good money to see her perform solo. She’s got all the right stuff as a singer/dancer/all-around entertainer. Risa Niigaki needs to be allowed to step out into the spotlight more. A duet with Ai Takahashi would be ideal, or, at the very least, a promotion to join her in Mini Moni or something. These three stand out, for me, above the rest of them.



A couple of additional questions:

Near the end of the show, the girls all appeared to be giving Natsumi Abe a tearful send-off. Was Natsumi leaving? If so, why? (For half-a-second, I wished for subtitles, but I quickly realized subtitles would be an unnecessary distraction. The purity of the emotions speaks for itself.)



Did the girls sing live or were they lip-synching?



I heard music, but I didn’t see a band. Was it all pre-recorded?



I’d love to see the Morning Musume TV show. Are tapes/discs available anywhere? (Are there any New Yorkers reading this who know where the right shops are?)



Anyway, I’m grateful to be able to share this with someone. My regular Asian cinema/pop culture web forums never go near J-pop and God knows I don’t have any friends who would understand this new obsession in any appreciable way. My daughter’s about the same age as the oldest members of Hello!Project. She’s as much into Japanese pop culture as I am, but I don’t think she’d quite get my interest in this group, either. (I’m going to have to figure out a way to break it to her gently.)



Any reactions?



Thanks.

And here's my inauspicious first post to MM-BBS, from 9/8/05:

Question about skit in Morning Musume concert DVD



Over the weekend, I watched a DVD of the Morning Musume concert: LIVE REVOLUTION 2001 SPRING – OSAKA.



At Chapter 20, about 55 min. in, there’s a skit featuring seven of the girls. It’s got Rika as a schoolgirl; Kaori, Mari and Maki as fast food clerks who don’t treat Rika terribly well; Ai Kago and Nozomi as angels who come down after being called by Rika; and Yuko in a smart white pants suit as an adult figure called “Sensei” by Rika. (I’m assuming she’s a teacher.)



What’s this skit about?



Anyone?



Thanks.

If I got an answer, I didn't save it.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1348601060' post='134604']



And here's my inauspicious first post to MM-BBS, from 9/8/05:



If I got an answer, I didn't save it.

[/quote]



Don't take this offensively (it's not !), bu it's kinda characteristic how your first post was such a specific question. hah

[Purin-chama]

I remember getting into Morning Musume just around the time 5th gen joined. My sister had Renai Revolution 21 and Inspiration! on her computer that I found and started looking for more music from them.



-Kamei Eri probably is hands down my favorite member. Her weirdness originally attracted me, and then she became super awesome.

-Once Upon a Time, I had a girl crush on Yossi (probably as a result of Mr. Moonlight)... then a few years later, I started disliking her.

-As for One Day probably continues to be one of my favorite single songs, while Wagamama is my favorite album song.

-I still can't decide if the 4th, 5th, or 6th album is my favorite.

-Otomegumi has always been better than Sakuragumi in everything but vocals.

-I remember dancing to all the songs previous to Shabondama (and actually going outside in the rain to specially dance to that one)

-Minimoni freaking rocked. Both generations for various reasons. Gyutto Dakishimete is very underused as a song.

-Melon Kinenbi was probably the best group in the entirety of H!P. Not far behind is Taiyo to Ciscomoon. Too bad they never did a joint concert.

-Miuna (and the girls of Country Musume in general) was/were underused

-I wish they did more concerts like Akagumi/Shirogumi.

-W and GAM were two very short lived groups

[tsukinobyouin]

I originally got into Morning Musume sometime in 2000~2001 when I was 14~15. I was downloading Jpop music videos from some site and stumbled upon Koi no Dance Site. I fell in love with Maki and the song and went hunting for other videos. Unfortunately right around the same time I discovered Kpop and got distracted by it for a long time. Then I had my jrock phase, and it wasn't until 2004 that I came back to Jpop full swing. So basically I missed the era of MM that most people love. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



I went on a downloading spree and crammed in tons of stuff I'd missed over the years. Asayan, Ayaka's Surprise English Lessons, Hello! Morning, everything. After watching a lot of old Asayan footage I started to dislike Maki a bit (I found her bratty and stand offish - now I like her again purely because of her talent) but totally fell for Kago. I also found Risa to be adorable and the underdog I wanted to get more lines. At the time I hated Sayumi.



My favorite lineups were Super Huge Musume (Shabondama~JKM), The Super Long Lineup (Onna~ Onna to Otoko, minus the awful of Koharu), and the current lineup.



I remember:

• W's entire glorious but short lived life. I remember buying their first album while on vacation in San Fran and playing it to death.
• V-u-den's entire glorious but short lived life. I loved them despite disliking Rika.
• Thinking "When the hell are we going to get a 7th gen?"
• Being so excited by my first chance to actually experience an audition in real time that I despite being disappointed with Koharu, I bought Iroppoi Jirettai's LE, Single V, and Koharu's debut tour.
• Loathing Koharu and celebrating her graduation.
• Finding Miki's voice annoying within MM and disliking how much she overlorded the group despite clearly not wanting to be in it. Now that I go back and listen to that era, she doesn't bother me at all xD
• Seeing MM in concert for the first time in 2006 for Rainbow 7. It was Konno's birthday and she and Mako announced their graduation.
• The days when H!P was so huge they split into Shirogumi and Akagumi, and I remember both tours being amazing.
• The original and way better Mobekimasu, H!P All Stars.
• When Atsuko was still around and when she got to be in the 2005 shuffles despite 80% of active H!P being excluded xD
• Being super sad at Kago's scandal and the end of W.
• That whole era where there seemed to be a scandal every 5 minutes.
• Finding the kiddy voices of Berryz and C-ute really grating, but thinking they got really catchy songs. I didn't start to really pay attention to these groups until the last few years.
• Loving GAM despite not caring for Miki or Aya (as people. I loved both of their solo careers).
• Rooting for Kikka and getting another ridiculous 1-member generation lacking in talent.
• Having to suffer through Koharu to hear more Kikka.
• Loving JunJun at first sight. The pandas renewed my love for H!P after the death of W and two disappointing MM gens.
• Hating Mano Erina until Em-El promoted her so much that I finally saw her charm xD
• Kikka getting a solo career! But sadly not in H!P :(
• Falling for S/mileage because Kanon reminded me so much of Kago. Now she doesn't at all xD
• Translating some of Sayu's blogs while rob was on vacation and totally falling for her and subsequently taking over her blog full time.
• The amazing and short lived return of sub-groups.
• Being super saddened by the triple graduation announcement, but managing to make it to one day of that tour to see JunLin for the first and last time.
• Getting both of the members I was rooting for in the 9th gen and having them save my MM fandom.
• Being really bummed by the S/mileage audition, but then having the new members win my heart and totally revive my love for the group.
• Seeing MM a third time during Takahashi's graduation tour. Hello 9th gen! Bye bye Takahashi! (And Risa. Aika wasn't there because of injury)

Members I've always loved: Sayaka, Maki, Kago, Risa, Maimi, Eri, JunJun, Kanon F., Kanon S., Kana

Members I went from disliking to loving: Sayumi, Risako, Maki (love->dislike->love again xD)

Members I went from loving to disliking: Reina, Momoko, Tsuji

Members who were okay, but I never got the hype about: Nacchi, Yossi, both Sakis, Yuka, Miki, Melon Kinenbi (Yeah, I said it).

Members I've never liked: Koharu, Aika, Konno, Wada





When I look back on it, the number of offensive people isn't even close to the number of people total who have been in H!P. Even with all of our different opinions, I doubt many of us could name more duds than awesome girls, or at the very least pretty decent girls. For an idol industry that's been around 15 years and had a zillion graduations and auditions, that's pretty good!

[neshcom]

Oh my baud, H!P has been so influential in my life and it was my gateway to The World of the Uguu.



One of my first exposures was in high school 7 or 8 years ago. I had joined the resident Japanese club and we were asked what kind of music we were interested in. I put down pop and rock and a few weeks later, I got back a CD of some Judy and Mary, some Gackt, and three Morning Musume songs: Do It! Now, Dance Suru no Da, and Suki Da Yo (I think). Before this, Utada Hikaru's "Simple and Clean" and Koda Kumi/Jade's "Real Emotion" and "1000 Words" were the only j-pop I had, so the injection of new music was intriguing. From then, I followed Morning Musume pretty regularly. I would eventually run that Japanese club (for basically two years, I believe) and would make mix CDs like the one I first received. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



After getting into the group, I downloaded (what turned out to be from this very BBS) fan subs of H!M and Sadude's stepfiles. I guess it was from there that I came here and never left.



When I got into the group, Koharu had recently been announced and Iroppoi Jirettai came out not long after. Going through MM's history so quickly was a really connecting thing. I know that every time I watch a graduation concert, I get teary-eyed.



Moments:

• Seeing GAM go from glorious mini-skirted duo to hilarious lovers to releasing a nearly flawless album and then fading into the saddest obscurity. My two-headed friend died the day they stopped their activities.
• Kaori was out of Morning Musume by the time I got into the group, but I really got into her on Hello Morning and the old music. Her graduation has to be my favorite in H!P history. Has to be.Second is probably Yuko's graduation.
• Remember early when I joined the BBS and I got into mondo trouble because I never made the connection that we subbed a bunch of stuff and suggested that we sub something else and, like, everyone yelled at me?
• I almost dressed up in The Manpower outfit to a local convention one year. By 'almost,' I mean we bought the fabric. By 'we,' I mean me and by 'bought,' I mean I never got paid back for that fabric and the outfit was never made. I don't speak to her anymore. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /pouty.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':pouty:' />
• That now infamous Hello Morning English Lesson episode was the most memorable H!P video I've ever show to that Japanese club. Second would probably be Yaguchi on Run For Money and third is probably Satoda Mai's "Oyaji no Kokoro..." PV. Of course, the most was the notably not-H!P-related Waterboys.
• Wholeheartedly loving Aika from the first moment she was picked, loving her more when they peeled that layer of acne and braces off, and the years of sadness at her lack of growth. Aikaaaaaaaaaaaaa <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':puppyeyes:' />
• Oh my baud, those totally fake Morning Musume Christmas specials. All of them. Yes.
• Utaban. Always Utaban. Of course, the older ones were better <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /noway.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':noway:' />
• I'm saddened by how littler recognition WHY got for being a crazy creative recording.
• Oh man, remember when Aruiteru got #1 that week because literally nothing else came out and it was the biggest thing since spliced bread?

I love Morning Musume, H!P, and this BBS and they (and y'all) will always have a place in my heart. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /heart.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[yuzuriha]

A few more things:



-I spent most of freshman year of college watching ALL OF THE AYAKA English lessons. These were the days before youtube...my poor hardrive.

-I literally forgot about the 4KIDS in the Mini Moni movie until literally TODAY, which is making my girl crush on Risako even more creepy to me.

-I agree on Otomegumi. It was such a love hate for me because it had both my favorite and least favorite members, but definitely the better songs.

-MECHAIKE! Oh my god, those were always my favorites.

-I love how my sister hates the music but I exposed her to enough shit that she had a favorite (Takahashi), and a least favorite (Risa). Also, her best friend looked just like a white Kago (I am also freaked out by the Kanyon/Kago resemblance, btw), so I used to call them TsujiKago. When I visited her at school for her birthday last year we actually watched the Hello Morning English Lesson and she brought up the whole "refrijeeta" thing like a week ago.

[Mukuro]

In 2007/2008 I was absolutely obsessed with K-pop. On whatever day in 2008 I saw a H!P song in the sidebar and decided to listen to it. It was Berryz Piri To Yukou and all I remember thinking was that it was super cute. I eventually started looking back into Berryz at the start of 2009 and found Dakishimete x2 which became a favourite of mine. I remember seeing a C-ute version of Piri and getting mad cause I thought they were copying Berryz.. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' /> So I didn't look into C-ute for a long while because of that.



In February of 2009 I got into MM from listening to the Naichau Kamo instrumental. Yeah, what a crazy way to find them, lol. I'm pretty sure I found out what H!P was from projecthello, since I had no idea the groups were connected before that. I didn't really follow closely besides the music until 2010 right when the EriJunLin graduation was announced. But also at that time the 9th gen auditioned was brought up so I thought it was as good of a time as ever to go learn about them.



My favourite things from H!P I got to experience:

- The 9th gen auditions!!

- Graduations (even though most of them were really sad)

- Discovering WHY. I seriously love this song to death. Was it ever preformed live?

- Buono

- Seeing Gaki for the first time and knowing she would be my favourite until the end. <3

- Like everyone else, going through the Ayaka's English lessons like crazy.

- Zukki joining H!P. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[rob]

At some point in 1998 a friend of mine sent me an mp3 of a song called "Morning Coffee", he was BIG into Japanese culture, anime, pop music etc etc at the time and I really wasn't. But as soon as I heard it, it was something so very different than what I was used to with UK pop music. More like pop music created in the 70s or 80s in Europe.



For a long time my fandom of Morning Musume was limited to chatting with above friend ENDLESSLY and trying to download anything and everything we could find on irc or file sharing programs like Kazaa.



At some point I discovered an IRC channel that was a gold mine for H!P files, one of the people there had EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of Hello! Morning, and so with an old slow internet connection, I slowly but surely downloaded them ALL.

In fact I became one of those file sharers on that channel, trying my best to serve H!M videos with a terribly slow connection.



I discovered the website morningmusumeonline.com which is how I found this forum.... my memory is kinda fuzzy on how I ended up here.



Favorite line up, pre- JunLin, Eri gradution, hands down!, the current lineup is 2nd best and catching up fast.



Favorite Concert - Love is Alive, probably not their best but I watched it so many times, 2nd best JunLin, Eri's gradution concert, KICK ASS



Favorite Album - 4th Ikkimashoi, 2nd best 13 colorful character, worthy mention No.5



Favorite Song - oh damn.... hard....I love them all, some of the older ones I've listened to death though... Anything after Mikan I love to listen to



Favorite members - 1. Yaguchi Mari - 2. JunJun - 3. Miyamoto Karin ikuta Erina

[Nicky]

Somewhere in 2003/2004 I discovered an anime music video to say yeah! Motto miracle night. 4 Years later I decided to check out who sang the song and to see if I liked more of their songs. Then I discovered Morning Musume. I never had a real favorite member I got bored with MM when Koharu graduated and I stopped caring for the members. Then the ninth generation auditions started and I was psyched. I was watching when the candidates went to the recording part of the auditions. When I saw them putting on the headphones and I wondered why none of them pushed their hair back behind their ears before putting on the headphone (because that's what I would do) but then I saw Kanon and she did just that, thus I finally had a favorite. I was happy when she joined :) I liked Eripon a lot too. 9th gen rekindled my MM love.



Favorite lineup: the Reina, Sayu, 9th and 10th gen lineup

Favorite song: Say yeah motto miracle night

Favorite members: Suzuki Kanon with Ikuta Erina as a second



Best MM moment: Kanon joining MM

[emily]

[quote name='Miss Moonlight' timestamp='1348543507' post='134561']

YES <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ebleed.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':nosebleed:' /> Similarly, in the first Elder Club concert in '06, they finished with I WISH and Aya took the Kago high note at the end and Maki took her usual part after it, and I remember it being chill-inducing. I can't find a video of it (though admittedly didn't search very hard).

[/quote]



http://www.veoh.com/...v322654G5rsZM7P ~14:30



Hopefully my posts will merge? Writing this post, I realized that I don't know much about the "kids" or even the soloists.



I discovered Mini Moni in early 2002 at a Saturday anime club that I attended in high school - the club screened a PV, but I can't remember which one. I listened to Mini Moni a lot after that and I think I ignored Morning Musume at first because they were too "adult" in comparison. I remember seeing a picture of Morning Musume after the 5th generation had joined and noticing Takahashi. Koko ni Iruzee is the single that turned me onto Morning Musume. I listened to it so often that the people in my dreams would sometimes spontaneously burst into this song. I also loved Do It! Now, especially the dance move where they put their arms behind their back, waggle a leg, and do that cool hip and shoulders thing. By the summer of 2003, when I had the opportunity to visit Japan, I was obsessed with Morning Musume. I was keen to visit the wota store and bought photos of Takahashi, Kago, Tsuji, and Yoshizawa, because I thought the latter was Mika. (I am a racist.) Iku ZYX! Fly High had just come out and I didn't like it.



Takahashi is my perennial favourite. I still like her for being awkward and just happy to be there - those qualities have an innocence. She is precious on Matthew's Best Hit TV in 2002, especially when he teases her and she gets flustered. As a performer… There was something about her voice, I can't put my finger on it, that she lost as time went on. Michishige went from being my least favourite to my favourite member.



The first audition that I followed was in 2005. It feels weird to say that Kusumi offended me so much that I followed the group less - she is only one member - but I still don't think she fit the group. I liked watching her interact with Fujimoto, though. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /devil.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':devil:' />



I didn't like any of the singles for a while until Onna ni Sachi Are, which came out while I was studying abroad. It was extra-nice because Morning Musume was something familiar in an unfamiliar place.



Ribon no Kishi was huge for me. I was so excited when the DVD came out. I imagine everyone benefitted from the extra voice training. I still like Cinderella Complex and how good everyone sounds. That was in 2006. I am having trouble thinking of memories from the last six years, although I have definitely listened to most of the singles, engaged with other fans on message boards, followed auditions, etc.



When I discovered Morning Musume, I was interested in the music moreso than the members. Now it's the other way around, even though I think the group is more polished as a performance unit and I find it harder to relate to the individual members.

[AEUGNewtype]

Dear lord, this is dangerous.



WAY too much to actually write in here as far as releases/eras, etc. but I'd rather focus here on how getting into idol music has introduced me to some of the coolest people I know (online and off) and has given me some of the most truly enjoyable things and occasions of my life.



I had heard MM in 2001 and liked what I heard, but didn't really start to get engrossed until 2002 period when I actually realized that H!P was far more than just MM and explored everything else, which was like opening a whole new chapter in life. I was pretty much by myself in liking idols until I finally decided to join this place back in 2003. The period of 2000-2003 I was more into Kpop than Jpop, but the online Kpop communities were (and still are) a joke, but when I got to this board and had people to fuel my fandom by sharing hard-to-find information and downloads (way before the days of torrents,) I realized how much better Jpop material there was out there since I finally had access to more of it. It doesn't help that not long after that (around 2004) is when the Kpop industry just turned into an extremely boring, trite series of rehashes and BS that it still hasn't really quite recovered from, and at that same time, the Jpop industry just seemed to be getting stronger in many ways.



I've ended up meeting probably close to 2 dozen of you guys from this board over the years at various events and occasions and its been a blast, and also met one of my current best IRL friends (Shin Ukyo) early in 2003, after I realized he lived pretty close to me, we decided to meet up.



Jpop and idols has become one of the biggest parts of my life with time and is one of the things that I feel like defines who I am to a large extent, and I couldn't be happier or more comfortable with that. The music and other media I've had exposure to in my 11 years of fandom has opened my eyes to how joyous pop music (or music in general) can really be and the various events I've been to that were centered around idols/Jpop (MM in '09, AKB and Berryz this year, etc.) have been some of the happiest times of my life.



I have plenty of nostalgia and positive/negative things to say about every single era and every single release in H!P history, but I'm not about to start listing them. Those conversations are so much better having in person and would take WAY too long to think about/write down :)