Berryz Return to the USA

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:14 am

I put up the one quick picture I managed to snap off as they walked in on my twitter account AlKusanagi. It's a nice slightly blurry shot of Chi and Maasa.

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:14 am

Maasa has a mask on. :D Maasked~

Miss Moonlight · Post by **Miss Moonlight** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:45 am

So awesome you got to talk to them again! Did anyone else in their vicinity in the airport recognize them?

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:56 am

No one but me. The place wasn't busy at all and the only Japanese people around were their staff.

Miss Moonlight · Post by **Miss Moonlight** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:59 am

Aaaaaaaah I'm so jealous. Though if I were there I'd have been on my special airplane drugs, and if I'd even noticed Berryz I'd have come off... well, drugged <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:11 am

I was definitely ecstatic but I behaved myself and hopefully made their last interaction with a fan in the US a good one.

Madara · Post by **Madara** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:52 am

That's fantastic, Al. What a great way to close the trip.

I wonder how their visit to New York was.

Anyone post a track list of their concert yet?

I've been home since yesterday afternoon, transcribing the interview with BK and my notes from the various events and loading up all my photos into different categories on my Flickr account.

I'll be doing a complete series on my blog, with as many pictures and observations that I don't have to save for my pieces for Otaku USA.

It was quite a trip and pretty exhausting. I didn't even make it to the Hello Party on Saturday night. I went up to my room to nap first and slept right through it.

I did get a picture of some of BK in the restaurant on Thursday night and will post it on my blog in Part 1. I did in fact speak to three of them as they were leaving. I'll tell you all about it.

There were lots of organizational glitches on the convention's part, but Berryz themselves were pretty amazing. These girls are real stars, very poised and polished and unflappable. Much more so than MM in LA in July 2009. They are in fact, on average, older than MM was in 2009. And with much more experience. Miyabi comes off as the natural leader, or at least the public face. She spoke up the most and volunteered info and tended to be the first to answer when general questions were asked. She comes off as someone with real stature in the group.

The concert was great, although the sound system was terrible. I thought Miyabi and Risako rocked the house, although when I surveyed other fans, the consensus as to who stole the show tended to favor Chinami and Momoko. I and some other journalists got photo access up close during the concert for the first two songs.

The BK fans were, on average, older than the anime fans attending the rest of the convention. It was like two different worlds mingling at one event.

It was great seeing the gifts fans made for them, esp. Usako's and Shoujo Q's.

Here are some teaser pix:

At the opening ceremony:

Entering the Q&A:

At the concert:

Fan rally after the concert:

MM-BBS in the house:

L-R: AEUGNewtype, Al Kusanagi, Shoujo Q, Miss Moonlight, ShinUkyo, Madara.

Usako with the doll she gave Chinami:

Nagibon:

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:43 pm

Yay! Finally back home!

Here's the set list, Madara:

Rival

Yuujou Junjou oh Seishun

Special Generation

Dakishimete Dakishimete

Koi no Jubaku

Because Happinese

Ai no Suki Suki Shisuu Joushouchuu

Very Beauty

Otakebi Boy WAO!

Maji Bomber!!

Yononaka Barairo

Icchoume Rock!

Jiriri Kiteru

GIRLS TIMES

And here's the quick picture I snapped off as they entered the security line behind me. I actually got all seven in there if you look hard enough. Risako's bun is on the left, Yurina is ahead of her with the peach colored thing in her hair, Momo is next with Captains head peeking out to the right of hers, then Chi and Maasa, and finally Miya's ponytail peeking out from behind the staff dude's head.

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:12 pm

Note the empty space in that group photo of us? That's where you photoshop Usako into.

Also, I look SO damn happy to be there. This is what standing in line for hours does to a person who doesn't get her visual books. T_T

Edit: Forgot I had these photos. Shin is awesome and he needs to post here more.

(I also got Billy Bob in the photo. Shin'll get the joke.)

The concert line. The only thing that this convention managed to do right was the advance tickets with numbers on the back. If everything was like this, life would be so much better. (I'm looking at you autograph session!)

(I can see Nagibon WAY up there in the pink!)

Madara · Post by **Madara** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:47 pm

Part one of my account of the whole event is up on my blog...including the restaurant picture.

Miss Moonlight · Post by **Miss Moonlight** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:42 pm

[quote name='Madara' timestamp='1339458453' post='127096']

Part one of my account of the whole event is up on my blog...including the restaurant picture.

[/quote]

Nice write-up so far! Saki is so cute, even in a dark blurry corner of a crappy NJ Ruby Tuesday <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

Tsujiji · Post by **Tsujiji** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:56 pm

Al~! That is friggin' awesome!! The flight home musta been a lot more pleasant after that.

I will write a for real land post later tonight or tomorrow... but holy bawls that was awesome. I had a lot of fun, and despite some staffing hiccups, I got what I wanted out of the weekend so I am happy with the event over all. Plus it was awesome to get to meet and have playtime with you ballers. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /heart.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='

' />

In the meantime, someone please provide Shin Ukyo with a plate of punches until he starts becoming active over here again.

rob · Post by **rob** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:55 pm

Awesome write ups and photos guys, love reading them!

one thing.... merchandise selling out, sometimes I despair at the organization of UFA...

If there is one thing I have learned from organizing summer, halloween and christmas parties for 100+ kids it's this...

If you don't take enough, you're fucked and there is nothing you can do.

If you take too much, everyone leaves happy and while you may have left over you haven't lost anything.

And yet they don't take enough stuff... so there are people who WANT to give them money for stuff..... seriously <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/meh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' />

ShinUkyo · Post by **ShinUkyo** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:11 am

[quote name='Usako' timestamp='1339473380' post='127112']Al~! That is friggin' awesome!! The flight home musta been a lot more pleasant after that. I will write a for real land post later tonight or tomorrow... but holy bawls that was awesome. I had a lot of fun, and despite some staffing hiccups, I got what I wanted out of the weekend so I am happy with the event over all. Plus it was awesome to get to meet and have playtime with you ballers. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /heart.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='

' /> In the meantime, someone please provide Shin Ukyo with a plate of punches until he starts becoming active over here again.[/quote]

BRO. BAWLS. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /suika.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':suika:' /> I was actually thinking we'd make a thread in the members' section, and have it be the central place for photos, videos, and stories from the trip. There's a ton of pics/videos on Facebook already, and more to come, so we'll likely have to re-post those here since (for some insane reason) there are still folks without Facebook. In case anyone didn't want pics of themselves to be fully-public, however, a new thread in the members' section would make sense. I don't care myself, so putting stuff up here is fine as well.

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:14 am

Facebook's for deviants and sodomites.

al kusanagi · Post by **al kusanagi** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:30 am

Captain posted about it in her blog.

ShinUkyo · Post by **ShinUkyo** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:19 am

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1339517692' post='127140']Facebook's for deviants and sodomites.[/quote]

In that case, I'm shocked you're not an employee there. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ohyeah.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D/' />

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:13 am

[quote name='ShinUkyo' timestamp='1339517467' post='127139']

[quote name='Usako' timestamp='1339473380' post='127112']Al~! That is friggin' awesome!! The flight home musta been a lot more pleasant after that. I will write a for real land post later tonight or tomorrow... but holy bawls that was awesome. I had a lot of fun, and despite some staffing hiccups, I got what I wanted out of the weekend so I am happy with the event over all. Plus it was awesome to get to meet and have playtime with you ballers. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /heart.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='

' /> In the meantime, someone please provide Shin Ukyo with a plate of punches until he starts becoming active over here again.[/quote]

BRO. BAWLS. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /suika.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':suika:' /> I was actually thinking we'd make a thread in the members' section, and have it be the central place for photos, videos, and stories from the trip. There's a ton of pics/videos on Facebook already, and more to come, so we'll likely have to re-post those here since (for some insane reason) there are still folks without Facebook. In case anyone didn't want pics of themselves to be fully-public, however, a new thread in the members' section would make sense. I don't care myself, so putting stuff up here is fine as well.

[/quote]

Just post it all here. Seems silly to move it. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' />

I want some video of that the H!P dance at the Hello!Party. That was insane.

Madara · Post by **Madara** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:10 pm

I'm working on the introduction to the interview and I want to indicate Berryz' ranking in popularity among the H!P groups. Are they the most popular at this point or not? If not, who's more popular among the rest of H!P groups?

Thanks.

Anderei · Post by **Anderei** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:18 pm

I'd put them above C-ute but below S/mileage and Morning Musume.

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:31 pm

As of right now, Morning Musume and S/mileage are top dogs in H!P when it comes to selling singles and popularity. (Despite S/milages total breakdown they still sell more singles then Berryz)

As far as Berryz and C-ute are concerned, Berryz started out as the more popular group, they were given the better songs and promotion. It hasn't been till recently that C-ute has started to come out on top due in part to sheer will and talent as well as Tsunku finally giving them songs that aren't complete crap. (In other words C-ute is starting to out-sell Berryz. *They were pretty even, but C-ute last two singles outsold Berryz.).

Berryz still wins for having overall more likeable songs and Berryz, as of right now is the only group that's doing steady work so far outside of Japan.

Berryz are the only group that have had a steady tie-in with an anime, Inazuma Eleven which lasted about a year and a half. They also had other anime tie-ins with Futari wa Precure Max Heart 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi and Patalliro Saiyuki!

So outside of Morning Musume I would think they would be the more well known to the general public (or at least anime fans). But they haven't done any anime work since 2010.

Anderei · Post by **Anderei** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:37 pm

S/mileage do go on tv and promote non-musical things more than everyone else, though.

rob · Post by **rob** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:13 pm

I would say

MM

C-ute

Berryz

S/mileage

but then this is based on nothing but my own opinion, the last Berryz single was a total stinker whereas the last C-ute single was freaking awesome, plus Maimi's bike ride just added so much to the whole time.

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:43 am

[quote name='Anderei' timestamp='1339555064' post='127193']

S/mileage do go on tv and promote non-musical things more than everyone else, though.

[/quote]

S/mileage may promote more, but when it comes to sales, Morning Musume still are the #1 group.

Anderei · Post by **Anderei** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:55 am

Definitely, but I was arguing for S/mileage over Berryz in terms of recognition.

Shoujo Q · Post by **Shoujo Q** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:33 am

[quote name='Anderei' timestamp='1339602955' post='127221']

Definitely, but I was arguing for S/mileage over Berryz in terms of recognition.

[/quote]

What you should be arguing about is either C-ute or Berryz more popular? We all know Morning Musume and S/mileage are the top groups right now as far as outward recognition is concerned. It's just a matter of where Berryz and C-ute fall in behind them.

Anderei · Post by **Anderei** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:38 am

It's hard to say. Berryz has Momoko and sometimes go on a music show to promote (usually Melodix), but C-ute have been dominating them in magazine appearances thanks to Airi and Maimi.

So, I guess it depends on whether Momoko's promotion is really helping the group as a whole, because that would easily make a much bigger difference than C-ute's magazine stuff.

roddyreta · Post by **roddyreta** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:12 am

[quote name='rob' timestamp='1339568019' post='127204']

I would say

MM

C-ute

Berryz

S/mileage

but then this is based on nothing but my own opinion, the last Berryz single was a total stinker whereas the last C-ute single was freaking awesome, plus Maimi's bike ride just added so much to the whole time.

[/quote]

I agree with this popularity ranking. With S/Mileage, we're talking about post-Yuuka S/Mileage, which is really struggling at the moment.

A shorthand way of measuring popularity is album sales, and I think C-ute's most recent album outsold Berryz.

ShinUkyo · Post by **ShinUkyo** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 12:09 pm

Hey now, we're getting off-topic. Albeit an interesting topic. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' /> Morning Musume will likely always sell the most singles and albums overall, purely due to name recognition. The other three groups weren't even around when MM and H!P had their mainstream success a decade ago. It's sad, too, but MM could put out a terrible song and have it sell better than Berryz' best song ever. MM is promoted as the front girls, quite heavily, not to mention they keep the diehards interested with constantly rotating members. Pretty soon, we're going to have a group that's nothing but 9th-Gen and onwards. Whereas in reality, as far as I'm concerned, the former H!P Kids have been the front girls for many years now. It's sad they don't get quite the recognition they deserve.

As for convention thoughts, I'm too tired/apathetic/whatever to type a proper report right now. I most certainly will, though, because this past week was one of the best times I've had in years. I can't put into words how much I miss you guys. I'm blessed that Steve/AEUG is one of my best IRL friends (and lives fifteen minutes away,) but at the same time I'd die to have you other guys live closer to us. For the time being, I'll remind us of Gramps and how he serenaded us with the convention's two theme songs. Well, sort of, because technically he's never actually sang his own theme songs. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' />

For those that were there, you'll remember the theme song from Anime Expo in 2009.

In the Gramps voice, "JUN-JUN TREE TWO ONE, CHECK HER OUT."

This time, Berryz was just so cool that they got two theme songs from Gramps:

"MAGIC BOM-BAH. WHOA-OH, WHOA-OH-OH."

"WA-O WA-O. WA-O WA-O. WA-O WA-O, OH YEAH OH YEAH. SPAAA-KEY BOY."

Madara · Post by **Madara** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:55 pm

Part 2, the concert coverage, is up on my blog.

Morning Musume BBS

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