Hello!Spam :: 2023 ~Dancing, Singing, Exciting!~

[JPope]

AKB48 member Yuki Kashiwagi is apparently a massive harowota. Check this recent YT vid of her singing snippets of her favorite H!P songs from the beginning through 2007. And not just singles (although mostly those), but some album tracks, B-sides and one-off group songs, too. She's one of us, lol.

[Ap2000]

I hope it's ok to post random thoughts here... if not, feel free to move it to the appropriate place (if you want to) and sorry. .-.
Shoujo Q's vote threads made me watch older stuff I hadn't seen in a very long and then I realized I had just been 11 years old when Summer night town released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpk-ZqQpq7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yHDWYYAfJQ

Same goes for Daite hold on me.
I was born in 1987, so when these classics released I was 11 years old. But now it's been WAY over twice that long ago.
Love Machine is 24 fucking years old.
Renai Revolution 21, more like Renai Revolution 23 years old.

It's just kinda insane.

[JPope]

This got lost during the BBS Lost Year, but the official Tsubaki Factory Twitter account reminded us today that Manakan's solo cover of "Hatsukoi Cider" is not the first. Tofu did one soon after debuting with TF.

[JPope]

This low-key makes me feel old, although I was old when they debuted, lol. These two and Kitario are already two months into their 5th year with MM. This ridiculously cute.



Homatan is woefully underutilized in MM.

[JPope]

Here's a Twitter thread breaking down the Morning Musume 25th Anniversary Special, which included the results of several fan polls. Also, the performances linked above are from this special.



For those who don't want to scroll through the entire thread for the results, here you go!

BEST DANCER
1. Riho Sayashi
2. Ayumi Ishida
3. Kaede Kaga

Some of the other polls show the Top 10, but this one doesn't. Feels like someone got Chii-ted


BEST SINGER
1. Sakura Oda
2. Ai Takahashi
3. Reina Tanaka
4. Miki Fujimoto
5. Masaki Sato
6. Kei Yasuda
7. Riho Sayashi
8. Maki Goto
9. Mizuki Fukumura
10. Asuka Fukuda

I have problems with this ranking, lol. Honestly, I'm fine with 1-6 even though it's not how I'd rank them, but you can at least make an argument for it, and all of them belong on the list. 7 through 9 though, OOF! Yuko, Risa and Kago should be pissed.


STRONGEST MM LEADER
1. Sayumi Michishige
2. Yuko Nakazawa
3. Mizuki Fukumura

Another one that only shows top 3, although Takahashi would rank a strong 4th for me.


BEST MORNING MUSUME SONGS
We get a full top 25 list, but only the top 10 were translated, meaning I had to work through the hiragana and katakana to figure out as much of the title as I could, then search that on the wiki, lol. I'm happy that I remembered as much as I did. Anyway, here's the list working backwards from 25. Prepare for some surprises.

25. Ai Araba IT'S ALRIGHT
24. Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~
23. KoiING
21. Only You
21. Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou?
19. Nanchatte Ren'ai
19. KOKORO&KARADA
16. Resonant Blue
16. Do it! Now
15. Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe
14. Renai Revolution 21
13. Kimagura Princess
12. Be Alive
11. Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa
10. What Is Love?
9. Wagamama Ki no Mama...
8. LOVE Machine
7. Shabondama
6. Koko ni Iru zee
5. One • Two • Three
4. The Peace!
3. Utakata Saturday Night!
2. I WISH

And the greatest Morning Musume song of all time is...

1. Mikan



To quote Joe Biden, Come on, man! To quote Trump, I demand a recount! "What Is Love?" at 10 is also ridic IMO, but I'm happy to see the love for "Toki wo Koe Sora wo Koe" and "Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa" even if I probably wouldn't have them on my personal list. "Utakata Saturday Night!" at 3rd feels right to me, and also feels a little like Zukki's revenge. Finally, "I WISH" at 2 is perfect, because I can pretend that this is a Top 24 list that starts there, and the world makes sense again.

[Zoe]

BEST SINGER
1. Sakura Oda
2. Ai Takahashi
3. Reina Tanaka
4. Miki Fujimoto
5. Masaki Sato
6. Kei Yasuda
7. Riho Sayashi
8. Maki Goto
9. Mizuki Fukumura
10. Asuka Fukuda

I have problems with this ranking, lol. Honestly, I'm fine with 1-6 even though it's not how I'd rank them, but you can at least make an argument for it, and all of them belong on the list. 7 through 9 though, OOF! Yuko, Risa and Kago should be pissed.

Woah, I became a Maa fan, but no. Riho also has no business being anywhere near that list. And where's Kaori, Mari, or Nacchi?

[Solarblade]

Wasn't Mikan the worst selling single until Seishun Collection came around? That just doesn't seem quite right XD

[Shoujo Q]

Mikan was like a, what??

It must be a great concert song or something. Like a sleeper hit? Did well at home, but flopped in the box office.

I personally liked Mikan, that was my type of Musume music I liked. So I wasn't pressed about it. I'm glad Koko ni Iruzee ranked as high as it did.

Or MAYBE, just MAYBE fans are hinting to management what type of songs they want to come out of Morning Musume. Stop with the EDM and give the group their roots back.

That singing ranking blows. No Kago in sight! BOO! I say. BOO!

[DonJuan]

Wasn't Mikan the worst selling single until Seishun Collection came around? That just doesn't seem quite right XD

Iirc, until Pyoko Pyoko Ultra came out, even! It's a bit ridiculous, but nowadays it IS quite a popular live song.

The singer ranking is of course big bullshit. Even though I think Sakura is definitely top 3, she's not top 1. And with all the greatness Masaki had in some of her performances, she was just bad in others. Top 10, yes, but not right behind Mikitty. I agree that at least Yuko and Kago should be there, and Mari was at least a lot more stable than others on that list. No offense, but Riho ranking is like a big fuck you to those mentioned that are not there lol

[JPope]

I got a bit of pushback on Twitter for my Mikan take, so that song has clearly seen a renaissance via live performances. It's a song that I like more live, but, it's still odd to see it SO popular now. Same for "What Is Love?" at 10.

[MejraThea]

BEST DANCER
1. Riho Sayashi

I'm glad we can all agree. Unbiased, truly, there is no other argument.

BEST SINGER
1. Sakura Oda
2. Ai Takahashi
3. Reina Tanaka
4. Miki Fujimoto
5. Masaki Sato
6. Kei Yasuda
7. Riho Sayashi
8. Maki Goto
9. Mizuki Fukumura
10. Asuka Fukuda

I'm with you all, I love Riho but she didn't have business being in the top 10 here. But Yuuko, Nacchi, etc...

And the greatest Morning Musume song of all time is...
1. Mikan

agreed! The hell?

[Farrah]

BEST SINGER
1. Sakura Oda
2. Ai Takahashi
3. Reina Tanaka
4. Miki Fujimoto
5. Masaki Sato
6. Kei Yasuda
7. Riho Sayashi
8. Maki Goto
9. Mizuki Fukumura
10. Asuka Fukuda

Can I just say I am continually amazed to see Kamei Eri left out of these lists lol I mean I don't even have words for Riho ranking so highly, truly delusional, but Eririn had one of the most recognizable voices in the group yet never ends up anywhere in these lists. She was so consistent live too despite being one of the most energetic performers. During lockdown I watched some old Platinum era concerts and her stamina/consistency was borderline unmatched, incredibly rare for that girl to hit an ugly note vs Aichan and Risa being pretty prone to bouts of pitchiness.

Don't even get me started on Fukuda Asuka at 10 despite being arguably one of the group's best singers ever... I guess it's not surprising since she was in the group for such a short time, but that girl was a born singer so ranking under Riho is pretty absurd lol.

[DonJuan]

Damn, I can't believe I forgot about Eri. Eri's voice was wonderful. I would definitely put her above Mizuki, too.

[JPope]

DJ Miimi taking over Bangkok.

[Shoujo Q]

I love a good reactive idol. Sakurai is ace at it too. The more expressive the better. Yumigeta went from zero to sixty REAL quick!

[kira]

Kishimon cover of Say! Hello!

[JPope]

Odd song choice for a solo, but I suppose it's an homage to her KSS start. I hope we get more from her.

In other Tsubaki happenings, here's a pretty cool translated interview with Ami.

I've grown to really like Ami over the past couple of years, and this interview does nothing to change that.

[JPope]

This sucks.

[JPope]

Kishimon gets a better song to showcase her chops, Ayaya's "Kizuna"



I think it's pretty clear that they're grooming her for a proper solo career within UF, which is comforting because at minimum she'll get professional and competent music, but it will be fairly conventional. On one hand, there's no chance she'll get anything like Riho's first EP; OTOH UF has upped their game wrt their former idols -- Karin and Masaki are getting really good music that suits their voice and personality, so I'm not as concerned as I might have been several years ago.

This recording highlights how good Ayaya was, because as awesome as Kishimon is she doesn't quite carry the emotion that Ayaya coveys in it.

[DonJuan]

I'm so-so about a career within Up-Front. On the one hand, it's true. You will never make it far. Airi has gotten surprisingly far, but I'm sure that's at least 50% her own (or her father's) connections, and not UF's work. But Kishimon doesn't have these connections.

On the other hand you have careers like Murotan's which are a harsh reminder how cruel entertainment business can be. And now remember that Kishimon is actually one of the least popular members in Tsubaki.

[JPope]

Yeah, the popularity thing is important, and these girls know how popular they are (or aren't). M-line offers Kishimon a stable career doing what she loves and the opportunity to continue to add to that sweet, sweet Up Front retirement package, whereas leaving the nest is almost guaranteed failure.

There's also this: I don't care how good of a singer any member of an idol group is, being a soloist is so much harder than being the lead singer in a group. There are no breaks to catch your breath and no choreo to hide within -- you have to carry every recording and performance, and engage every audience by yourself. Every flaw that could be worked around in a group will be exposed and magnified. Airi might have had better connections than others, but she also had almost no flaws as a performer and personality, which is rare for a group idol.

I think Kishimon's voice will earn her a fairly strong M-line debut -- somewhere between the level of Maa-chan and Risamaru (and closer to Maa than Risa) -- and how successful it is will determine how hard they push her beyond that.

[JPope]

Sakura's vocal take on Wake Up Call is pretty spectacular. Hearing the isolated vocals highlights how difficult this song is to sing, with lots of wide intervals, head voice and modulations, not to mention the shifting rhythms and raps. Sakura just chews it up with ease.

[JPope]

I saw Morning Musume trending on my Twitter feed and I didn't understand why. But they popped up in mention
on a billboard article.

Another little nod to Morning Musume in the Kickback Song.

"KICKBACK" has been certified Gold by the RIAA, which is pretty cool.



The last paragraph translated: "Kenshi Yonezu's "KICK BACK" has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This is the first time in history that a song with Japanese lyrics has been certified gold."

[Shoujo Q]

Nice. I’m glad Tsunku got that nod.

[JPope]

Having a bad day? Here's Wakana performing Pride Bright to cheer you up.

[DonJuan]

Seeing Wakana always brightens (hah!) my mood, and her performing my probably favourite H!P song this year makes me feel good.

[JPope]

Tsubaki Factory unreleased song "Atashi Rhythm" preview:



Pretty cool mix of TF and classic H!P.


EDIT: This is pretty cool.

[Zoe]

I guess that means we won't get Yumeno versions of those last songs even though she had lines in the final performances :(

[JPope]

RIP KAN



[Breaking News JUST IN] Singer KAN dies at age 61, hit songs such as “Love Will Win”

[Shoujo Q]

I came to post this earlier but the BBS was down. I didn’t know KAN was sick. Cancer sucks!

I hope UF/H!P put together some sort of tribute concert/album for him.

Also to note since I just saw it, Miura Yoshiko passed away too. She did a lot of lyrics for H!P, mostly for Mano Erina.