[2018.06.13] Morning Musume - Are you Happy? / A gonna

[DonJuan]

Here's the Haro Sute rip of A Gonna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaSU5KNB4k
 
Yeah, uh. They really don't want to make this release any special, do they?

[Anderei]

I didn’t expect much from a ‘just in case’ single. I bet one or both would have just been digital concert songs if she hadn’t failed her exams.

[Zoe]

These songs scream "album track" to me, though I think Are You Happy is more capable of standing alone. Also, both of these songs have a tricky melody, so I'm surprised that they're able to perform them so much.

[momoirosaya]

What a boring MV for a great concert song.

[Zange]

The video for Are you happy? had better be impressive because this is quickly becoming my least favorite H!P release of the year...

[Elpis]

I actually don’t hate either song on first listen like I usually do but I can see why people don’t like it. I’m still not really paying too much attention to this release though

[honey]

well i asked myself, honey, Are You Happy? is this singleA Gonna be a bop? and i was like ya i mean it’s aight so far but i’m sure it will grow on me like they all eventually do


sunglasses gif

[JPope]

First things first: No one thought to go with the "Ogata's A gonna!" joke? Was it just too obvious? I mean, shit, if I gotta be the guy to bring the Dad jokes, I'll be that guy. I have zero shame. 
 
The outfits for "A gonna" look better in the video than they do in the promo shots, so they got that going for them. The song is just Tsunku cutting and pasting the same shit from the last six years, though. I'm not gonna say he needs to hang it up, because just when you think that, he drops a "Summer Wind" on you, but he's been cruising on these same motifs and chord changes for going on a decade now. You can hit your third wind anytime now, bro.
 
"Are you happy?" starts out really promising then safely retreats back into the comfort of 3rd-wave Tsunku cliche. Seriously, if he never uses the descending-suspended-fourth-to-major-chord device to end a phrase ever again, no one will miss it. This was a great sound for MM -- five years ago. It's time to move on.

[Shoujo Q]

This whole single is a hot mess of a release. I have low hopes for this doing well on the charts simply for the fact this single is being released in the middle of their musical run. They have 4 days in between their two musical dates to do some heavy promoting. 
 
Of the two songs Are you happy is my favorite but not like, omg this jam is going to be at the top of my playlist and I'm going to play it to death. More like, if it shows up on my playlist I wont automatically skip it.
 
A gonna I have a love hate relationship with.The song itself is a grower, but not in a good way. I unfortunately found myself humming it after listening to it a few times. I didn't mean for it to happen. I first watched it during the HinaFest and it didn't catch my interest at all. But back then it was just a concert song and I put it aside and ignored it. But then the MV preview came out so the first time was just to watch and I didn't find it interesting so I dropped it again. I also questioned the fashion team's choice in putting Ayumi in that long skirt. That must have been awkward to dance it. The 2nd time someone was mentioning the lyrics so I went back to read them and then I watched a 3rd time to see how awful the dance was (again, Ayumi and the skirt coupled with those "hiphop" moves) and then the ear worm infected me. God damn Tsunku does it to me every time. Sometimes I want to hate him for the stuff he shoves at me, and then it gets stuck in there. I felt the same way about a lot of the early Platinum era stuff. I was so bitter about the shift away from the previous era that I didn't stop really listen to what was being released. It hasn't really been till now that I've gone back to really appreciate that time in Musume history. 
 
It's obvious we're in a current shift again. With the addition of new talent producing the group. My interest in the group is almost back to the level it was nearly 10 years ago. I'm there, but not fully invested. It didn't realize how much 6th gen really tied me to the group. I also really dislike a few members of the group and when I dislike girls that are center, I really can't focus on anything else.
To give you an example. Basically, It's like Sakura has a few giant zits on her face and I can't look at anything but those zits. This is the same problem I have with Angerme. 

[DonJuan]

[quote="Shoujo Q"]
The 2nd time someone was mentioning the lyrics so I went back to read them [...].
[/quote]
 
Same. But to be honest it's typical Tsunku lyrics, and while they're not bad they're not special.

[Zange]

Covers are out:
 
 
Lim. A

 
Lim. B

 
Lim. Special

 
Reg. A

 
Reg. B

 
At least none of them are terrible...
Regular A is probably my favorite just because of whatever the heck is in the background that's lit up rainbow. (also holy crap i never actually realized how tall Maria is compared to everyone else until now)

[arcobaleno]

  
 

[JPope]

I like both of the B versions, and Regular B most. The others are so safe and unobjectionable in their presentation as to become actually objectionable in reality to me. I'd prefer a train-wreck born of ambition to blandness born of a desire to not offend.

[TicTacAnyone]

[quote="arcobaleno"]
  
 

[/quote]
 
 
Don't forget our friend Jealousy Jealousy   
 
 
PS: Here's a full A Gonna

[honey]

That weird break was... jarring? I wasn’t expecting it in the middle of the song lol.

[DonJuan]

What the everloving hell did they do with the Lim. covers. Someone should finally stop them from photoshopping all the members into the picture, it always looks horrible. Looking at Maria's pants they didn't even cut out the renders properly. Wtf, I would've done a better job with fucking MS Paint. The SP cover is pretty and the Regulars okay (yet not very creative), but this one is totally a single they have to dump so that Oharu gets her last single. Sad thing it's going to be released in June so we only have one more single this year to hope for them to deliver quality. 
 
This whole single is a lazy clusterfuck. The A Gonna outfits look like something they scrapped from their "casual" summer concert outfits (if we get less outfits than usual for the summer concert, here might be the reason), the ones for Are You Happy? are either scrapped designs for Sou Janai / Jealousy Jealousy / Hatsukoi Sunrise / Dream Road or got sewed out of remaining fabric from these. The video for A Gonna isn't that bad imo, but the same concept can be found in probably 50 MVs of the last 8 years. Also, a sport car? Did fit much better into Boogie Woogie Love. However the shadows and general lighting really suck. 
 
And don't get me started on the songs that lead to nowhere. Or the stupid dance for A Gonna which is basically shaking your arms over your head and some weird "suck my dick" pelvic thrust. 

[AquaChan]

In the A Gonna PV, Maa-chan doesn't look well... I don't if her hernia is back, but she looks like she barely dance. Am I wrong?

[Anderei]

They haven’t said anything but that doesn’t mean she’s not having issues.

[DonJuan]

I rewatched it and focused solely on Masaki and yeah, there's a lot of movements that she simply doesn't do. She also looks pretty miserable most of the time. And there's nearly no focus on her in the dance shot - she's always in the back, hidden behind other members, and if the dance shot would have her on screen it cuts to another scene. The only part where she's pretty central and dancing is towards the end and the look on her face says a lot. 

[Zoe]

You would think that with sneakers and all that this dance would be easier on their bodies.

Masaki's current style isn't really helping though. She covers most of her face with her hair, and her eyebrow makeup makes her look sad

[aine]

mm agony.jpg

 
If you squint it looks kinda ok.

[JPope]

[quote="aine"]
mm agony.jpg
 
If you squint it looks kinda ok.
[/quote]
 
Ha ha!
 
I started to write a serious response about why that one was my favorite concept when I noticed it. 

[DonJuan]

H!S preview of the Are you happy? MV:

https://youtu.be/nLtZu2VvbGA


It's so lame I'm sure the Japanese fans are loving it.

[JPope]

"Are you happy?" reminds me of "Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Iranai" in the way a slamming intro is kind of squandered on a lower energy verse. I eventually grew to love Kimi Sae, but that's because the rest of the song was a fresh sound for that group. The rest of "Are you happy?" is pretty stale by now.

[momoirosaya]

wtf mm

[Zoe]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="AquaChan" data-cid="213905" data-time="1527523842">In the A Gonna PV, Maa-chan doesn't look well... I don't if her hernia is back, but she looks like she barely dance. Am I wrong?</blockquote> 
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Anderei" data-cid="213907" data-time="1527530965">They haven’t said anything but that doesn’t mean she’s not having issues.</blockquote>
To throw some fuel on the speculation, she switches between flats and heels in the Are You Happy video.

[honey]

Is it true Morito didn’t go to college to focus on this flop? She never looks happy to be any of these MM videos. Why does this release seem SO bad??? Like legitimately does anyone have some insight?

[Anderei]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="honey" data-cid="213929" data-time="1527725488">
Is it true Morito didn’t go to college to focus on this flop? She never looks happy to be any of these MM videos. Why does this release seem SO bad??? Like legitimately does anyone have some insight?</blockquote>


I don’t think she’s going to college, but the average 18+ idol doesn’t.

[DonJuan]

[quote="honey"]
Like legitimately does anyone have some insight?
[/quote]
 
Nope lol. But I do agree with you, Morito rarely looks like she's enjoying herself in MM. Part of me tells me it's because she's super shy, another part says it's because MM is "cool" while CG was "cute", but yeah there's also the feeling that she doesn't really want to be there. I'm sure her pay is much better in MM than it was in CG though. They're doing much more work and I wouldn't be surprised if there is actual differences in payment between the groups.

[Elpis]

Are you happy is a mess. The dance is lame and the song is boring. A gonna is bad too but the song Is at least tolerable to listen to. I’m not even that surprised anymore