[2018.05.02] Hello! Project 2018 WINTER ~PERFECT SCORE~ / ~FULL SCORE~

[Madara]

They work the girls too hard. I mean, starting the winter tour right after they do the Countdown Party...give the girls a break, dammit! And not just a day.
 

 
See? Up-Front can learn a thing or two from MGM.

[aisasami]

[quote="Meikochi"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Anderei" data-cid="212047" data-time="1514993428">
I work a job that requires me to interact with lots of people and like, touch the gross stuff they've been eating and drinking off of. And I almost never get sick. These girls need to eat some damn apples or something.
</blockquote>

. I wonder if apples are as expensive as every other fruit over there.
 
[/quote]
 
 
They can be. But, Akane is from Nagano which is famous for apples. And farmers from Nagano like to give away produce to neighbors family, and friends. Also, buying from JA (the co-op here) or directly from the farmer will have you save money. I bought 20 (they were "damaged" and couldn't be sellable but they were alright and tasted good) apples from a farmer last year for 2,000 yen. My point is the expensive fruit is for show but there is some cheaper fruit. 
 
I am not surprised at the flu count. It came early this year, like the end of November. 

[momoirosaya]

There’s been a bug going around where I am now (that I caught too) and everyone has been losing their voices. I wonder if that’s happening to the girls too...

[aisasami]

Is a severe version of the cold? That was going around in November here in Nagoya. Like everyone had that.

[momoirosaya]

^Nonaka Miki or Ikuta Erina? It says Nonaka Erina haha

[Shoujo Q]

It’s Nonaka Miki. Ikuta has the immune system of a rock. That girl never gets sick. (Hopefully I don’t jinx her.)


I can see them pulling girls out and keeping them out till they are 100% instead of say, 75%. Especially the vocally heavy hitters. Considering Karin’s problem from last year I’m most worried about her.


I’m going to go with Hikaru being sick too. I found it very odd the leader of the KSS wasn’t in the H!P concert roster.


We have another full week left in Tokyo. I personally think they keep them so long in one place purposely for this reason. If they were bouncing from city to city I think a lot more girls would be out with the flu. I’m sure all the girls out now will be perfectly fine by the 14th. They always film the Concert on the last day in Tokyo.


Part of me hopes they also film the Perfect Score + Concert too because I’m really wondering what they would take from Full Score? If that’s their plan anyway.

[Madara]

Y'know, just sayin', but Up-Front could start the winter concert tour a couple of weeks later, don't ya think? Give the girls a chance to rest and/or get sick and get it out of their system. Plunging them into so much concert work at such a time takes its toll. I mean, it's winter until March 20, right? More than enough time for a winter tour.
 
If I had tickets to one of these concerts and all these performers were absent at one time, I'd be very disappointed and want some kind of a refund.

[TheParuProject]

I don't feel like it's asking too much of them. None of the groups have their own tours running concurrently to this one except for Juice=Juice, but let's face it, constant touring is practically their whole gig at this point. They're more than used to it. And besides the travel and things that go into it being relatively the same, an H!P tour would be a fraction of the work since no one is performing a full setlist.

[Purin-chama]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Madara" data-cid="212118" data-time="1515251221">
Y'know, just sayin', but Up-Front could start the winter concert tour a couple of weeks later, don't ya think? Give the girls a chance to rest and/or get sick and get it out of their system. Plunging them into so much concert work at such a time takes its toll. I mean, it's winter until March 20, right? More than enough time for a winter tour.


If I had tickets to one of these concerts and all these performers were absent at one time, I'd be very disappointed and want some kind of a refund.</blockquote>
Last year it started later I believe, and it didn't matter much.

[kitaoji]

Well, things have changed, but subtly.
 
They've always started Hello-Con on the 2nd, and back when I attended in 2009, it was 6 concerts in two days: the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  I think one of those days even had 3 concerts in a row. 
The difference is that nowadays the girls are travelling farther - they've added Fukuoka, Sapporo and Hiroshima (and/or Sendai) to the standard Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka run so these tours now run an extra two weeks to mid February (the MM concert starts in mid March). 
 
Plus, the girls do tour, but they're going to small live houses with (I'd imagine) really bad ventilation and in really far flung out places, so it's not as if they're hopping on a one-train Shinkansen journey and that's it.  There's plenty of places in the J=J and Anju tours that aren't the least bit accessible (by big city standards). So they're on the road a lot more than usual with less time to recover.
 
Also, the winter tours are ending later and later in the year. Sayu's graduation was on 11/26.  Fukuda Kanon's was around the same time.  This year, the touring groups finished late: Anju on 12/10, MM on 12/11, and J=J a full week later (for their south american tour).  We're also seeing more Christmas events and adding Countdown, now that more and more girls qualify to stay past midnight.  And the hatsumode - shrine visit - on 1/1 (which not everybody does) means that they're in close quarters in a prolonged, semi-stressed environment.
 
I don't necessarily blame management trying to get the bulk of the performances on the first few days of the year, since that's when you get the entire country to travel.   On the other hand, it's just not really sustainable.  I'd rather they start cutting down on ending the winter tours early, or fewer Christmas FC events, or shortening Countdown so there's less chance of getting sick.
 
(And while we're at it, I *did* get the flu in Japan during the HelloCon that year, too.)

[Meikochi]

It starts on 1/2 since 2009 (+ 1999 to 2001).

Also, it seems to be the same girls that tend to become sick (Maachan, Rina, (Murotan, Karin) on the top of my head) so it wouldn't matter much.


But I do agree they got their tours really long, with more events in between, so it would help to have more resting days, in December for example, to "prepare" for all events from the end of December to the end of February. I also think 3 performances a day (always on one of their Sunday in Tokyo) are too much.

[Shoujo Q]

Unlike the others with the Flu, Karin's case is worse. She injured her neck on Jan 3rd during rehearsals and was admitted to the hospital for a week. There's concern she may have Bell's Palsy. So she'll be missing this weeks concert as well. Hopefully she'll recover quickly with some rest. 

Karin's Blog Post.

[momoirosaya]

Oh my gosh I hope she gets better... I had to look of Bell’s Palsy, so for those like me who don’t know it’s facial paralysis, but it usually gets better and is not permanant.

[Zoe]

Damn, that is not good. She could be out for a long time.

[Purin-chama]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Shoujo Q" data-cid="212218" data-time="1515761969">
Unlike the others with the Flu, Karin's case is worse. She injured her neck on Jan 3rd during rehearsals and was admitted to the hospital for a week. There's concern she may have Bell's Palsy. So she'll be missing this weeks concert as well. Hopefully she'll recover quickly with some rest.

<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://ameblo.jp/juicejuice-official/e ... 82048.html' class="bbc_url" title="External link">Karin's Blog Post.</a></blockquote>
Hot damn... That is not something that usually clears up quickly. I've known several people to have gotten it in the last 5 years. Most were still suffering from the effects after a year had gone by. Poor Karin.

[Madara]

This is distressing news, especially coming on a day when we had such good news about Kudo. Why does joy have to go hand-in-hand with despair?

[Shoujo Q]

Kobushi Factory performed a new song during the concert. Kore Kara da (これからだ), There's rapping by Sakurako and beats by Rei. 
 
Kanazawa Tomoko was absent for the 2nd half of the first show but came back later for the 2nd. More than likely it had to do with her, "other" problem. 
 
Everyone but Karin is back from sick leave. 

[Madara]

I think you're missing a "p" in that first line, Shoujo.

[Zoe]

Unfortunate typo for sure

[Shoujo Q]

oooh. Yeah. Sakurako isn't raping people. Sorry about that. 


She DID however get a nice haircut. 

[Anderei]

Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan performance

[DonJuan]

Lesson of the day: How to make costumes that you've used for half a year now look new. Glue as much trash on them as possible.

[Anderei]

At least they tried. Berryz once wore the same outfits for the same amount of time and they didn't even try to make them look new.

[Mukuro]

I think I like them better as 5 than 8.

[Meikochi]

The members that left weren't my favorites at all but they had a special aura / great energy at 8 that I don't see again (yet, I hope) at 5 members. Maybe I need to see them performing their new song, made for 5 and not 8, to get used.

[AquaChan]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Meikochi" data-cid="212303" data-time="1516084375">The members that left weren't my favorites at all but they had a special aura / great energy at 8 that I don't see again (yet, I hope) at 5 members. Maybe I need to see them performing their new song, made for 5 and not 8, to get used.</blockquote>
Exactly. The popular members are left, but I feel like they don't have enought charismas (compared to 5nin °C-ute, which the transition wasn't that bad -that I remember).

[Madara]

Watching 6-nin KF in the summer 2017 concert, minus Rio and Rena, is kind of dispiriting. They seem somewhat demoralized, while Tsubaki, minus only an ill Kiki, knocks it out of the park just before them.

[Anderei]

I think anyone would be demoralized in their situation.
 
I thought the 5-nin performance was great, it's just that Sakurako is super out of place because she's the only back girl left.

[Purin-chama]

The Flu Chart Update
1/23: Ishida Ayumi (Morning Musume’18), Oda Sakura (Morning Musume’18)
1/24: Ishida Ayumi (Morning Musume’18), Oda Sakura (Morning Musume’18)


Pretty early to be calling it. I imagine there will be more to this list by the time the weekend rolls around.

[Anderei]

Outfits for Kobushi's new song:
 

 

 
I do not like the neck detail but I do like the sequins.