Ai no Morning Musume's 54th Single Thread!

[Zoe]

Kaori is the original KY.
 
(many fans don't know it because they came in late, but she also had a ton of haters the first few years)

[arcobaleno]

Wow really? I never thought Kaori would be the type to have haters.

[eri]

I don't think Kaori had haters for being spacey.  She had haters because she seemed self absorbed on tv shows

[Anderei]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... ">Sakura's promotion video thing.</a>

[Farrah]

Riho is easily the worst main vocal Morning Musume has ever had - yes, even counting Nacchi. While Nacchi was prone to voice cracks and wavery-goat vibrato due to a severe lack of strength in her voice, I will take wavery, weak voices over offkey shouting any day.  Riho clearly has charisma, but you can be a front girl without being a front vocal and I don't know when front girl = front vocal regardless of talent became a thing. Rika, Mari, Sayumi, W and Koharu are all recognizable faces to the general public and were generally quite popular members during their tenure in the group but were rarely pushed to the front vocally (even in the case of Mari, who wasn't a particularly bad singer). This never posed a threat to their popularity - they got tons of screen time on tv performances and in videos, they just didn't usually have the big, strong vocal parts that didn't suit their voices. Rika and Sayumi in particular tended to get speaking parts, Mari got to do lots of quirky vocals and voices, TsujiKago got the sweet, cutesy parts or the sassy parts LOL.
 
I just don't understand who in UFP thinks they have to make this girl THE lead vocal of Morning Musume just because she's popular with the wota, especially since Haruka for example is also hugely popular and a much stronger vocalist. Masaki, too. It just makes zero sense to me - it makes the group look EMBARRASSING in live performances, even for idols, who are generally not expected to be very talented. I'm used to Hello!Project wasting potentially strong vocalists, but I'm not used to them handing over 90% of every song to a girl with no natural vocal talent. She's a great dancer, but she is someone who was definitely not put on this earth to be a singer, and especially not a utahime type.
 
I really feel like whoever is managing talent and placement in current Morning Musume has no clue how to showcase the individual talents and strong sets of the members. I am amazed by the lack of musical knowledge exhibited by whoever is training these girls, for one. They are going to MASSACRE Riho's instrument (her vocal cords) if they continue to encourage this horrific vocal technique. I don't want to be pretentions, but as someone who has received formal training, it literally hurts to listen to.  It's a shame because she carries herself pretty well when given certain types of songs - for example, she sounded 110% better in the Stacy musical.
 
ETA: apologies for any mistakes in my giant wall of text, the sun is peeking over the hills and I've yet to go to sleep!

[Shoujo Q]

Seems there's a lot of positive responses to the Music Station performance and even Zukki some Zukki love.  <a href="http://majide2ch.blogspot.com.es/2013/0 ... >Source</a>

[al kusanagi]

I'll still listen to Riho over Reina any day. Her voice is fine, it's the way they're forcing her to use it that's the problem.

[andrewmarlin]

haha they made a question mark in their dance in wagamama. I wonder if thats symbolic in anyway

[Zoe]

[quote="MysticForceRed"]
haha they made a question mark in their dance in wagamama. I wonder if thats symbolic in anyway
[/quote]
That line in the song is a question.

[Elpis]

The Zukki love was awesome. There was none of that stuff dissing her weight or anything, apparently she's actually considered skinny again, but I'm glad the Japanese are taking notice of Rihos wrecked voice. Maybe UFP casn actually get a hint now.

[yuzuriha]

[quote="Farrah"]
I really feel like whoever is managing talent and placement in current Morning Musume has no clue how to showcase the individual talents and strong sets of the members. I am amazed by the lack of musical knowledge exhibited by whoever is training these girls, for one. They are going to MASSACRE Riho's instrument (her vocal cords) if they continue to encourage this horrific vocal technique. I don't want to be pretentions, but as someone who has received formal training, it literally hurts to listen to.   It's a shame because she carries herself pretty well when given certain types of songs - for example, she sounded 110% better in the Stacy musical.
 
[/quote]
 
This is exactly what I say all the time. 

[Anderei]

We all talk about how they ruined her voice, but to be fair, it's not as if she was very good to begin with. Part of the problem is how they use her and the other is that she never really had the chops to be the kind of lead Tsunku wants anyway. I agree that she'd be far better off as a front girl who doesn't really sing much.

[Elpis]

All the 2ch wota (and H!O people) would freak out if Riho was anything less of being lead in everything. But Riho needs a serious break or better vocal lessons, and less singing in general. None of which is going to happen…

[andrewmarlin]

[quote="Zoe"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="MysticForceRed" data-cid="161286" data-time="1377357611">
<div>
haha they made a question mark in their dance in wagamama. I wonder if thats symbolic in anyway
[/quote]
That line in the song is a question.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
Well that would make perfectly good sense.

[Shoujo Q]

<a href="http://youtu.be/UPo4K2Gs_mQ">Radio rip</a> of Funwari Koibito Ichinensei (Song with Riho, Sakura, Zukki, Eripon and Ayumi)
 
From the sounds of it Riho gets main vocals, Sakura and Zukki get the supporting  vocals and Eripon and Ayumi get the rap, which seems about right.
 
Almost forgot, <a href="http://youtu.be/Ou4kmvhvkpM">Zukki's</a> video is up!

[yuzuriha]

Q beat me to it! Zukki's is so cute. Also, how great that she clearly says her name right after we had that huge discussion about its pronunciation.

[Elpis]

It seems like Zukki's genki personality is back.

[Melon]

I love her so much. :) I hope she goes back to her playful moodmaker persona. It'd be a nice contrast to Masaki's lulzsorandum! persona. I'm glad her video was about smiling, seems fitting and a sort of self affirmation that her confidence is back. :)


I know she doesn't get many lines, but when she does a group line it's obvious it's her because the sound becomes much fuller imo.

[Anderei]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
<a href="http://youtu.be/UPo4K2Gs_mQ">Radio rip</a> of Funwari Koibito Ichinensei (Song with Riho, Sakura, Zukki, Eripon and Ayumi)
 
From the sounds of it Riho gets main vocals, Sakura and Zukki get the supporting  vocals and Eripon and Ayumi get the rap, which seems about right.
 
Almost forgot, <a href="http://youtu.be/Ou4kmvhvkpM">Zukki's</a> video is up!
[/quote]
 
Funwari is odd. It's super old school but I can't decide if in a good way or not.

[JPope]

[quote="Anderei"]Funwari is odd. It's super old school but I can't decide if in a good way or not.[/quote]
 

It feels like an unrecorded EE Jump! song. I loved EE Jump! so I like this.

[MejraThea]

I'm probably way too excited over this (I'm ecstatic) but CDJapan has just notified me that my order shipped today!
 
I always have to get the expedited shipping for new releases...

[Shoujo Q]

I went with airmail, it'll be funny if my morning musume singles arrive before my AKB singles, since with those I did SAL.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote="Farrah"]
Riho is easily the worst main vocal Morning Musume has ever had - yes, even counting Nacchi. While Nacchi was prone to voice cracks and wavery-goat vibrato due to a severe lack of strength in her voice, I will take wavery, weak voices over offkey shouting any day.  Riho clearly has charisma, but you can be a front girl without being a front vocal and I don't know when front girl = front vocal regardless of talent became a thing. Rika, Mari, Sayumi, W and Koharu are all recognizable faces to the general public and were generally quite popular members during their tenure in the group but were rarely pushed to the front vocally (even in the case of Mari, who wasn't a particularly bad singer). This never posed a threat to their popularity - they got tons of screen time on tv performances and in videos, they just didn't usually have the big, strong vocal parts that didn't suit their voices. Rika and Sayumi in particular tended to get speaking parts, Mari got to do lots of quirky vocals and voices, TsujiKago got the sweet, cutesy parts or the sassy parts LOL.
 
I just don't understand who in UFP thinks they have to make this girl THE lead vocal of Morning Musume just because she's popular with the wota, especially since Haruka for example is also hugely popular and a much stronger vocalist. Masaki, too. It just makes zero sense to me - it makes the group look EMBARRASSING in live performances, even for idols, who are generally not expected to be very talented. I'm used to Hello!Project wasting potentially strong vocalists, but I'm not used to them handing over 90% of every song to a girl with no natural vocal talent. She's a great dancer, but she is someone who was definitely not put on this earth to be a singer, and especially not a utahime type.
 
I really feel like whoever is managing talent and placement in current Morning Musume has no clue how to showcase the individual talents and strong sets of the members. I am amazed by the lack of musical knowledge exhibited by whoever is training these girls, for one. They are going to MASSACRE Riho's instrument (her vocal cords) if they continue to encourage this horrific vocal technique. I don't want to be pretentions, but as someone who has received formal training, it literally hurts to listen to.  It's a shame because she carries herself pretty well when given certain types of songs - for example, she sounded 110% better in the Stacy musical.
 
[/quote]
I 100% agree with the sentiment of your first paragraph - I was thinking of posting something similar at one point. 


The problem is Morning Musume just isn't that group anymore. They aren't doing the kind of songs that have a variety of parts to give out (speaking parts, cutesy parts, sassy parts, etc). They would either have to bump her down to their 2nd tier level of Masaki/Ayumi/Mizuki/Sayu and cut her amount of screen time or autotune all of her lines Sayu-style. The current style Morning Musume is going for just doesn't have the same flexibility to showcase everyone - and they've been aiming in that direction since the platinum era. She also seems to be one of their more reliable performers - she doesn't sound good, but she's a fast learner and is one of the more expressive, charismatic performers in the group. That's why when someone is sick and misses a concert you always see Riho or Sayu take over, even though practically anyone else would sound better.


The biggest mystery though is what the hell is going on with UFA's vocal training. As you mentioned, Riho sounded great in Stacys. She and Wada both sound much better than usual in Niji no Saseragi, the choral b-side to the Peaberry single. And it's not just her, there are lots of other examples all over H!P of people either forcing a cutesy voice, oversinging, or straining to handle lines and then suddenly sounding leagues better post-H!P or in different style songs. It's really a waste of what talent they do have =/


Edit: I forgot to add - all that said, I don't think the MM performance on music station was nearly as horrendous as people are making it sound. Riho was Riho, but she wasn't at her worst. Overall it was a pretty decent performance, HSW was cute, and I think they made a great return.

[arcobaleno]

[quote="TnB"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Farrah" data-cid="161269" data-time="1377346997">
<div>
Riho is easily the worst main vocal Morning Musume has ever had - yes, even counting Nacchi. While Nacchi was prone to voice cracks and wavery-goat vibrato due to a severe lack of strength in her voice, I will take wavery, weak voices over offkey shouting any day.  Riho clearly has charisma, but you can be a front girl without being a front vocal and I don't know when front girl = front vocal regardless of talent became a thing. Rika, Mari, Sayumi, W and Koharu are all recognizable faces to the general public and were generally quite popular members during their tenure in the group but were rarely pushed to the front vocally (even in the case of Mari, who wasn't a particularly bad singer). This never posed a threat to their popularity - they got tons of screen time on tv performances and in videos, they just didn't usually have the big, strong vocal parts that didn't suit their voices. Rika and Sayumi in particular tended to get speaking parts, Mari got to do lots of quirky vocals and voices, TsujiKago got the sweet, cutesy parts or the sassy parts LOL.
 
I just don't understand who in UFP thinks they have to make this girl THE lead vocal of Morning Musume just because she's popular with the wota, especially since Haruka for example is also hugely popular and a much stronger vocalist. Masaki, too. It just makes zero sense to me - it makes the group look EMBARRASSING in live performances, even for idols, who are generally not expected to be very talented. I'm used to Hello!Project wasting potentially strong vocalists, but I'm not used to them handing over 90% of every song to a girl with no natural vocal talent. She's a great dancer, but she is someone who was definitely not put on this earth to be a singer, and especially not a utahime type.
 
I really feel like whoever is managing talent and placement in current Morning Musume has no clue how to showcase the individual talents and strong sets of the members. I am amazed by the lack of musical knowledge exhibited by whoever is training these girls, for one. They are going to MASSACRE Riho's instrument (her vocal cords) if they continue to encourage this horrific vocal technique. I don't want to be pretentions, but as someone who has received formal training, it literally hurts to listen to.  It's a shame because she carries herself pretty well when given certain types of songs - for example, she sounded 110% better in the Stacy musical.
 
[/quote]
I 100% agree with the sentiment of your first paragraph - I was thinking of posting something similar at one point. 


The problem is Morning Musume just isn't that group anymore. They aren't doing the kind of songs that have a variety of parts to give out (speaking parts, cutesy parts, sassy parts, etc). They would either have to bump her down to their 2nd tier level of Masaki/Ayumi/Mizuki/Sayu and cut her amount of screen time or autotune all of her lines Sayu-style. The current style Morning Musume is going for just doesn't have the same flexibility to showcase everyone - and they've been aiming in that direction since the platinum era. She also seems to be one of their more reliable performers - she doesn't sound good, but she's a fast learner and is one of the more expressive, charismatic performers in the group. That's why when someone is sick and misses a concert you always see Riho or Sayu take over, even though practically anyone else would sound better.


The biggest mystery though is what the hell is going on with UFA's vocal training. As you mentioned, Riho sounded great in Stacys. She and Wada both sound much better than usual in Niji no Saseragi, the choral b-side to the Peaberry single. And it's not just her, there are lots of other examples all over H!P of people either forcing a cutesy voice, oversinging, or straining to handle lines and then suddenly sounding leagues better post-H!P or in different style songs. It's really a waste of what talent they do have =/


Edit: I forgot to add - all that said, I don't think the MM performance on music station was nearly as horrendous as people are making it sound. Riho was Riho, but she wasn't at her worst. Overall it was a pretty decent performance, HSW was cute, and I think they made a great return.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Huh, I didn't know people didn't like the Music Station performance! I thought it was pretty great, especially random Ayumi jump lol
 
It's true, though, Riho and Ayaka both sounded extremely good in Cabbage Hakusho and Niji no Seseragi, so it's more the way that UFP makes them sing. It's like Koharu, she wasn't too bad in the beginning, but they made her start singing in that Kirari voice and basically ruined what talent she had.

[Anderei]

I thought it was bad, but Riho wasn't the only one in my opinion. Sakura didn't sound her best and I thought Mizuki sounded kind of awful.

[Elpis]

UFP should fire whatever vocal trainer they have. They evidently done know a thing about vocal training.

[MejraThea]

We foreigners in Japan (not that I'm there yet) need to infiltrate H!P, and start influencing Tsunku, by any means! Lol.  Vudu/Witchcraft, anyone? No? Ok.

[showraniy]

Tsunku is probably less a problem than whatever decision maker runs UFP. Tsunku's just the music producer.

[yuzuriha]

[quote="MejraThea"]
We foreigners in Japan (not that I'm there yet) need to infiltrate H!P, and start influencing Tsunku, by any means! Lol.  Vudu/Witchcraft, anyone? No? Ok.
[/quote]
 
Trust me, I tried. haha
 
As for the Music Station performance...I'm a horrible fan and haven't even watched it yet.  But I've seen pictures and they all look pretty cute happy.

 

[arcobaleno]

[quote="yuzuriha"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="MejraThea" data-cid="161418" data-time="1377539343">
<div>
We foreigners in Japan (not that I'm there yet) need to infiltrate H!P, and start influencing Tsunku, by any means! Lol.  Vudu/Witchcraft, anyone? No? Ok.
[/quote]
 
Trust me, I tried. haha
 
As for the Music Station performance...I'm a horrible fan and haven't even watched it yet.  But I've seen pictures and they all look pretty cute happy.

 
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
I don't think anyone's more horrible than me, I haven't even see the Michishige Eleven Soul concert yet lol
 
But it was a really cute performance.