Melon Kinenbi to break up

[kitaoji]

okay, okay: it's not the end of the world, and in all honesty, I don't follow MKB, but this board does have a special love for them.



It was announced on their anniversary concert yesterday (they've been around for 3654 days, according to the concert title) that Melon Kinenbi will be breaking up this year. There's a short theatrical run ("The Story of Melon Kinenbi"), and then a final concert tour around April/May.



While I'm not devastated, it's still the end of a milestone for UFA/H!P. Melon Kinenbi is older than 4th gen, and from what I've heard from their blog, they've had some fantastic concerts. They're also just about the only other group that gives music performances (H&A is the other one) out of UFA.



So, here's to a great ride to the finish!

[EmEl]

But, but, but, but... MELON'S NOT DEAD! That's what I was told!



(This is the denial part of sadness)



:(



My knowledge of their older stuff is still so hit-or-miss, but I did really like almost everything they did. The last album, though, is very awesome; and I suppose it's a good way to remember them by. For an act associated with Hello! Project, it's damn amazing that they went so long as such a cohesive group.

[AEUGNewtype]

I've been a huge fan of most of their material, they're one of the main reasons I got into H!P back in 2001, but the last few years it really has come to the point where it seems they should move on. They don't do much besides have concerts and sing the same songs they've been singing for a decade, and they're all getting into their late 20s, so it seems appropriate for them to move on. Its not like their old music or performances will go away, we'll always still have that, but not having them around for the future won't seem like much of a change from the way things have been the last few years. Its been a nice time having them around, but all good things must end sometime!

[al kusanagi]

Well fuck...



That's it. The last part of HP that was around since I became a fan, and my favorite girl group in history is going away. I'm honestly in shock. With their track record they could have easily gone another five years.



Now I have to sell my car so I can fly back to Japan and go to their final concert, then take them all out for a well-deserved drink.

[Madara]

I love them, but this would hurt a lot more if they'd actually been doing something these last few years.



Maybe they should move over to Avex and be the new Max. (Can they do that?)

[Haru]

God dammit. I just started listening to and getting into Melon Kinenbi.

:[



I must curse things.



R.I.P. Melon Kinenbi none the less.

Thanks for lying to us.

[al kusanagi]

[quote name='Madara' post='75929' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:15 PM']This would hurt a lot more if they'd actually been doing something these last few years.[/quote]



Huh? The last year and a half has had more song output from them than the previous eight.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I'm like the only person here who doesn't have a huge raging boner for them, but I don't hate them. I'll miss Ayumi being adorable as fuck and Saitou being awesome. ;_;

[Madara]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='75931' date='Feb 20 2010, 02:19 AM'][quote name='Madara' post='75929' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:15 PM']This would hurt a lot more if they'd actually been doing something these last few years.[/quote]



Huh? The last year and a half has had more song output from them than the previous eight.

[/quote]



I haven't caught up to the last year-and-a-half yet. In fact, I was referring to the previous eight, right? Yeah, that's right. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nfused.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' />



The last MK release I got was a CD called "Fruity Killer Tunes." I forget how long ago that was.



I only have one MK concert DVD. I need to go back to CDJapan and start acquiring the others.

[Ap2000]

I wasn't going to post in this thread since I don't know them well, but...



[quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='75932' date='Feb 19 2010, 06:23 PM']I'm like the only person here who doesn't have a huge raging boner for them[/quote]



No, you're not, Onegai Miwaku no Target is a cool song though and the music video of course is wonderful.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='75935' date='Feb 19 2010, 01:19 PM'][quote name='Special Needs Tricycle' post='75932' date='Feb 19 2010, 06:23 PM']I'm like the only person here who doesn't have a huge raging boner for them[/quote]



No, you're not, Onegai Miwaku no Target is a cool song though and the music video of course is wonderful.

[/quote]



Yeah I'm not that into them either. They've got some great songs, but I've never had nearly the love a lot of people at this board have for them. I'm really surprised to hear this though, considering how active they've been lately.

[al kusanagi]

Breaking out the bigass oldschool sig to pay my respects. At least the news made the front pages of some major Japanese news sites.



And for the folks who say they don't get MBK, you REALLY need to check out their concerts to truly appreciate them. Also, Cyborg Shibata, the greatest comedy series ever.

[Gerald]

Fuck <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/nono.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' />. I just received their album this morning, what sadistic bastard though up that title then.



I love those girls, their concerts are fantastic, I think I would have been less upset if they announced MM were stopping. I know they are reaching their late twenties but so what, they are just kids damn it.



I am going away now to find a passing cat to kick <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... yangry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' />.

[neshcom]

I'm sad to see them leave because they've got such a history of good singing and good songs and just being wacky overall. I'm also on the not-having-a-huge-raging-boner ship as well, but they will definitely be missed.

[EmEl]

I feel as though their being in their late 20s doesn't really matter as they aren't exactly idols or anything. The only way their ages might matter is that if some or all of them want to do something new after 10 years of being together. I secretly hope their latest songs are at least a sort of audition to be the singers for some new rock bands.



[quote name='The Turtle Moves' post='75939' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:49 PM']I am going away now to find a passing cat to kick <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... yangry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' />.[/quote]

Whoa now, leave the poor kitties alone. It might be fun to destroy some melons though.

[Gerald]

[quote name='Em-El' post='75942' date='Feb 19 2010, 07:09 PM'][quote name='The Turtle Moves' post='75939' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:49 PM']I am going away now to find a passing cat to kick <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... yangry.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' />.[/quote]

Whoa now, leave the poor kitties alone. It might be fun to destroy some melons though.

[/quote]

OK then I am going to find a passing melon to kick <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' />.

[mrsross]

Oh shit, Melon's dead after all. I hate the fact they're disbanding. I hope we will be looking forward reunion concerts in the future.



EDIT: I shoud've said this earier. Even though it's sad they're disbanding, I'd rather have them break up and leave own terms and on top then being broken up and kicked out due to the industry in the bottom.

[JPope]

Sucks. I was hoping that their recent activity was a sign of things to come, not just the death throes of a decade-old idol group.

[Shoujo Q]

As sad as it is to see that they will be no more, I'll be happy to see what they do separately. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' />

[Cyrene]

Deadperson will cry tonight.



And I'm a bit sad. They're fun in concerts and super good singers. Alas, au revoir.

[Melon]

I have a raging boner for MKB and I still can't believe the news. They were never used to their potential, I hoped their new singles would be a sign of them finally getting the respect they deserved, GOD DAMMIT it's so fucking sad. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' /> It feels like a hard punch in the gut everytime a music group I love says goodbye, MKB moreso because they were the one group in H!P I can say I loved from my first listen and never stopped loving as their career went on, despite all the shit they were handed. At least they went out with a bang, I suppose I can be thankful for that.

[Pucchi-Mo]

At least they had a proper final album instead of mega-bested like Country Musume. (who never got much attention on their real albums even)



They also got to work with a lot of bands and it seemed like they had fun with the projects. This recent time span is the most consistent melon activity since, ever. They got like what, 2 or 3 singles max per year (except the glorious 2003 <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':bounce:' /> )



So it was really like a MAKE A WISH foundation effort. "Before melons are dead, we want to collaborate with 5 artists who just happen to be doing covers for The Blue Hearts tribute album. Oh, Can we be on that album too, in addition to our own full album?"



Thanks (x_x)



Oh well, they'll live on inside my Tomodachi Collection cart.



I better not see a year from now:

Risako, Maimi, Saki(N), & Yuuka in [メロン √ 記念日≠]

[wramos14]

I am in morning right now <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':dance:' />







I have been drinking these all night to ease the pain. WHY! WHY! WHY! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... ryalot.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



I'm really depressed right now! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... crying.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':crying:' />



<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /drunk.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':drunk:' />

[Kaworu]

I am so sad... This probably is the drop that breaks the cup for me and my relationship with H!P.



And in that tone, I have an open question. I really don't understand how there is so many people in this board that everytime someone mentions an old H!P act like Puccimoni, Minimoni, Tanpopo even, MKB and maaany others (shuffle units, past concerts, etc) are completely clueless about it and still are into H!P. I don't mean in in a bad way, and maybe this should be a thread alone, but my question is: what exactly attracts people to H!P nowadays?



There's no fun songs, there's no girls running around in the stage with gigantic and honest smiles anymore, there's no silly dances, there's no TV shows that showcase the girls' personality, there's no huuuuge concert in amazing arenas with millions of people dancing and cheering the girls...

I don't know, but for me H!P has become... boring. And it really makes me wonder what makes some people become fans of the current H!P. I personally got into them in 2004, a month before Tsuji/Kago graduated from MM, but what REALLY got me into H!P were all the fantastic acts that existed even before that. Of course we still had haro moni then, and a lot of footage from TV shows, and the concerts and specially the songs were SO awesomely FUN, but now... I just don't see the appeal anymore. In all honesty all the recent singles are pop songs sang by a bunch of girls with not so great voices, back in the day it was all about dancing and smiling and running in the stage and making funny faces and entertaining a complete country that KNEW that they weren't singers in the first place. Now not even C-ute or Berryz or any of the smaller acts are about that (maybe Buono but that's debatable). Their songs are "mature" and their choreographies are so defined that they fail at being technically awesome because let's be honest: they have never been, and they fail at being purely entertaining because the girls don't seem to have fun anymore...



How can anyone be a fan of H!P and not know about MKB? How can anyone be a fan of H!P and not seen MKB performing this is unmei or koibito ni narou? I mean, it's not bad that that happens, it's just that I don't understand what "modern" fans find interesting about H!P anymore.



Ok, I don't know if that made any sense and if anybody is willing to answer my question, but I am SO sad about this news and I really don't get how there's people here that are waaaay more into H!P than me and say like "I don't care I didn't really know them that much".



Whatever, thanks H!P for a few years of great memories.

[Haru]

I've heard of MKB, but I never bothered listening until "Melon Tea" came up on MM-BBS radio.



And wait. Berryz Koubou is serious?

What on earth do you call "Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance?!"

Also, I don't find "Kimagure Princess" to be that touching of a song. lol

But you do have a point. To me, the only current HelloPro group that stands out now is Buono!. They're fun, goofy, have cute songs, cute videos, cute dances. But they also have a serious tone ("Tabidachi no Uta" for one.)

I don't think it's right to have just goofy songs all the time, but a goofy song every now and then wouldn't hurt.

Maybe even a current version of Joshi Kashimashi for Momusu or maybe even at the next Mobekimasu concert.

[Kaworu]

[quote name='Haruhitastic Power' post='75979' date='Feb 20 2010, 02:48 PM']I've heard of MKB, but I never bothered listening until "Melon Tea" came up on MM-BBS radio.



And wait. Berryz Koubou is serious?

What on earth do you call "Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance?!"

Also, I don't find "Kimagure Princess" to be that touching of a song. lol[/quote]



Yuke yuke was fun, but it was an effort of fun in a land of boringness (?) lol.



And Kimagure Princess is an awful awful song. Don't get me started with momusu please. Even watching them perform the old cool songs is painful.



But I really am not saying that people liking H!P is bad, I just want to understand what is attractive of H!P nowadays, what makes people become H!P fans currently... that's all i want to know.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

H!P is the best it's been since like, 2003. I don't know what you're talking about. No smiling? No silly dances? Are you just looking at MM's recent singles and nothing else or something? Do you know what S/mileage is? Have you watched a Buono! concert? Berryz? Mano Erina's non-ballads? That's all "mature" to you?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvHP9Y-1gzs I find this performance to be more "fun" than most of the concert performances I've seen pre-2005.



And what exactly wrong is with newer fans not knowing about older H!P? Has it ever occurred to you that people, gasp, enjoy current H!P? That people think H!P is more than Love Machine? That there aren't people who sit around and jack off while looking at MM's sales from 1998 to 2002? Just because you got sick of H!P doesn't mean that people are delusional for enjoying current H!P without clinging to the past.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='Kaworu' post='75977' date='Feb 20 2010, 02:33 PM']I really don't get how there's people here that are waaaay more into H!P than me and say like "I don't care I didn't really know them that much".[/quote]



To clarify, I think more people were saying "I didn't really like MKB that much" rather than "I didn't really know who they were." In general, this board seems to worship the ground MKB walks on. Some of us just were saying that we don't quite hop on that bandwagon. I don't understand why it's that mind boggling. MKB isn't exactly the flagship of H!P, it's perfectly reasonable that some people might not like them as much as other groups.

[EmEl]

[quote name='Kaworu' post='75977' date='Feb 20 2010, 02:33 PM']How can anyone be a fan of H!P and not know about MKB?[/quote]

Because this H!P in 2010, and MKB has nothing to do with H!P in 2010.

[Haru]

Mano Erina's non-ballads?

Fucking hell, how could I forget Love & Peace?



And Em-El has a point as well. MKB graduated from H!P alongside the other members of the Elder Club in 2009.

I became a fan in late 2008.

I wasn't even aware MKB existed 'til I went trowlin' through ProjectHello.



I'm not going to say old H!P is, to a degree, better than new H!P. My favourite H!P song of all time is "Osaka Koi no Uta," and that's...gasp! Serious! (And Kansai-ben-licious.)

But the new H!P has promise. Just look at Buono!, S/mileage, Mano.

And Kimagure Princess is an awful awful song. Don't get me started with momusu please. Even watching them perform the old cool songs is painful.

But it wasn't "serious," and that's what you were talking about.

I personally find it difficult to take a song seriously when they're talking about charming breasts and alluring asses.



I love current Momusu. I'd swap the vocals around a little so Linlin gets more time and Sayu atleast gets more than an "AH~" but I am otherwise pleased with the girls. I think I'm one of the few here who actually likes Ai and Reina's voices.

So they're "serious." Big deal. Notice how old the girls are now compared to when they first joined?

Maybe they want to be a little more mature.