Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Celebrating great milestones in Hello!Project.

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Shoujo Q
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Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by Shoujo Q »

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[Share your favorite memories and dig up some old dirt from the past about Morning Musume or your favorite members.]


How you became a fan?
You first single?
Favorite concert?
Juiciest piece of gossip you remember?
Favorite moments from the past.
Let it all out!

(Use the other threads for favorite single/album/members etc. This is for everything else.)
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DonJuan
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by DonJuan »

It was in the early 2000s when a German manga magazine called Daisuki introduced the magic of Hello! Project to German readers.
The magic of the ever changing cast, the sheer number of members and the numerous sub-groups were quite exotic to little Juan. It was around the time when Morning Musume's 5th generation had just joined.
Unfortunately, little Juan knew only a handful of English words and was not a regular on the internet and therefore had to be satisfied with the (rather long) article.

Fast forward to 2004, some time around the release of Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari. I'm not sure how I found the MV, probably via download. I was really into manga and anime back then and tried to dive into Jpop as well. When I read the name Morning Musume I remembered the article I had read years ago and decided to give it a try.

And that's how I got hooked :clap:

I didn't follow the group that closely though since a friend of mine tried to get me into Visual Kei, but I came back every now and then. Not on forums though since I didn't feel comfortable enough to discuss things in English. When Yossy graduated and Miki called quits I did a rage quit for some time, dipped back into the group when Kimagure Princess was released, ignored them again and re-joined with 9th gen. Ever since I've been rather active, joined H!O, met fellow fans IRL and check the group basically on a daily basis. I have been quite frustrated lately since nothing happens and the group has gotten stagnant, with rather lame releases and no creativity at all, but everything about the girls and the history is still so dear to me that I can't let go.


That being said, my favourite gossip: The Gaki-Koharu fist fight that resulted in Koharu's shotgun graduation. I'd like to believe it really happened.
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Noa
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by Noa »

The way I found Hello Project was so random. I used to binge watch Ninja Warrior on TV at my dads and randomly there was a jpop idol and it made me curious so I looked her up and it turns out she’s Nacchi’s little sister. She took over for Tsuji in Meccha Macho when she got pregnant. And that of course led to me to W which led me to their joint concert with Berryz Kobou and the rest was history.
I pretty much stopped paying attention when Berryz broke up, Kanon left MM and then CG broke up.

Favorite bit of gossip? Probably Miki and Yossie(?) saying backstage that Miyabi doesn’t look like a virgin.
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kira
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by kira »

Preteen me was really into magical girl anime and I ended up watching Shugo Chara > Buono! > C-ute/Berryz > Momusu but Momusu was a passing interest at the time because I only knew Koharu's solo music and I hated everything after Balalaika lmao. Then Shouganai Yume Oibito hooked me and at the time they were doing those fan PVs for Anime Expo which I really enjoyed following.

As for favorite concerts - I recall really liking Platinum 9 Disco and I think Gradation or Colorful Character? And of course their performance in New York because that was the one I got to see live :wub:

I really liked 9ki auditions, and I was so happy for Mizuki when she was announced.
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MejraThea
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by MejraThea »

I was into anime hardcore when I was 12-16.... I watched anything and everything, one of those things was Shugo Chara and Kirarin Revolution. I was unknowingly watching what would later be my passion. I then dipped into Full Moon wo Sagashite, which led me to a Jpop artist called Changin' My Life. I bought her CD that had FMwS relative songs, liked it. Thought I should get more CDs. Searched around on YouTube, not sure how, found C-ute's Sakura Chirari and Ookina Ai de Motenashite. Subsequently bought C-ute's 3rd ~LOVE Escalation~ album on eBay. I didn't know what I had bought myself into at the time. From there I learned more and more about them, and their company. Then I found MM.... this was a couple years before the time of Gaki's graduation from H!P. But I didn't look at the current MM. I was obsessed with older MM. From 1st Gen up to around Shabondama. Yaguchi was my favorite, Yossie second.

Then up to Platinum era. Takahashi Ai became the one. They were all I watched, all I listened to. I used to sleep with their music on shuffle. I then heard that one of them was leaving in real time, lol, Gaki. She graduated the same month I graduated High School. I randomly decided to check out the current Musume.... and saw the new girls. It was a few days after the One Two Three Dance shot came out, June 4, 2012. I watched it. I immediately, inevitably latched onto Riho as being the opus. Magnum, even. The reason the screen was on, that electricity existed. I remember the very day the MV came out, June 21, 2012. Three days before my birthday. It felt like it meant something.

The rest is history: unhealthy dependence and attachment on a figmental figure, that figure graduating and breaking my little depressed heart, waiting for her for 3 years and 3 months to see her again, but having grown during that time, less dependent on her. But still overjoyed that she's returned. I finally watched her concert the other day and by the end I was soaked in tears lol. This seems like my history with Riho but my history with MM is my history with Riho 😂

My first single that I bought was One Two Three. My favorite concert is a tie between Michishige 11 Soul and Gradation. Both are so good. But also Rival Survival. Juiciest piece of gossip I remember, when Duu was backstage and complaining about her fans being old, gross men. 🤔

DonJuan wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:01 pm Unfortunately, little Juan knew only a handful of English words and was not a regular on the internet and therefore had to be satisfied with the (rather long) article.
That's so precious!
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Vikitty
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by Vikitty »

God, this was back when P2P was it's own client. I downloaded the PV for Mr Moonlight and was immediately gay for Yossi lmao.

Tapped out of MoMusum during the Takahashi era as she didn't do it for me at all, to an annoying degree. Started easing back in when 9th gen joined because I loved Zukki so much, but the focus on Riho basically turned me off the group again and I didn't follow closely again until she was gone, though I did latch on to Miki and Duu while they were in the group.

Maa-chan and Miki were my biases so now that Maa's gone it's just Miki. If she decides to graduate to go study more or something I'll probably give up once and for all lol.
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arcobaleno
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikar

Post by arcobaleno »

My story follows a similar origin as Thea’s - I was into anime, and then, by proxy, J-pop, and then, eventually, H!P.

Back in… 2009 or so, I really got into the Mahou Sensei Negima! anime and manga. They had 32 voice actresses for the 32 “main” characters and treated them like a massive idol group when it came to their music. I loved watching their lives, listening to their songs, trying to learn who was singing what part in songs, etc. It was definitely my “idol preschool” now that I think about it :rofl:

Around 2011, I decided I wanted to get into “normal” J-pop. So being the thrifty 13 year old I was, I searched something like “best J-pop songs” on Google and read through all the Yahoo! Answers threads I could find. I was introduced to Ayumi Hamasaki, Hikaru Utada, Kumi Koda, etc, but they weren’t really my “style.” Then someone mentioned loving “Sakura Mankai” by “Morning Musume.”

Curious, I went to YouTube, watched the MV, and loved it. But in particular, one of them most caught my eye - Eri. I decided she was my “temporary” favorite and wanted to learn more about the group because of her. So then I watched a tooooooooooooon of HaroMoni content to see Eri, and then GakiKame theater, and that 100% sold it to me. Eri was my favorite!

And so, for half of 2011 and half of 2012, I was happy in my little golden-to-platinum era bubble. I had just missed Eri’s graduation, so I was bummed about that. I decided eventually that I should “move on” and look at the new members and releases. So even though it wasn’t new at the time (I think Renai Hunter was lol), I watched Maji Desu ka Ska! and thought it was cute. I thought Mizuki was pretty. And then I read she loved Eri so she was my new favorite instantly :angel:

I didn’t like Sayu all that much back then - I could appreciate the fact she and Eri were close, but she wasn’t my “style.” It wouldn’t be until 2013-2014 that I really grew to respect and like her. I can’t say “love” as… in all honesty, to this day, Eri is still my most cherished favorite. But I enjoy the Sayu content she chooses to bless us with, lol.

ANYWAY, getting back to the main story. I piddled around with some of the “newer” releases, but then, indeed, I saw the dance shot for One Two Three. Unlike Thea, I am unable to truly appreciate dancing like it should be, but dude, that song was so boss to my 14 year old self. I was hooked and asked my mom to buy me the 10ki edition because I really loved Seishun Domannaka.

At this time, Mizuki was still my new “favorite”, but I thought Sayu was super cute in the MV and promotions, so that planted the seed, so to speak. I went through many phases trying to land on a new favorite before I stuck with Sayu - I enjoyed her interviews and the depth of her personality a lot and she inspired me to just put yourself out there.

So anyway… from One Two Three on, I followed MM! I started tapping out about 2017-2018, I’d say. Everything just sounded the same to me after a while. I’ll try and check out some of their new every now and again, but it’s still just too same-y for me. I really like 13ki and 15ki, but I don’t have a major favorite anymore. I like Miki, Kaede, Reina, Rio, Homare, and Mei the most. I think maybe when 9-11th graduates, and if their sound hopefully gets a little more variety, I will try them on for size again. Until then, I just check them out every now and again.
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DonJuan
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by DonJuan »

MejraThea wrote: Mon Mar 28, 2022 4:46 pm
DonJuan wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:01 pm Unfortunately, little Juan knew only a handful of English words and was not a regular on the internet and therefore had to be satisfied with the (rather long) article.
That's so precious!
I remembered I forgot to answer on this :ph34r:
Thank you! International fandom really was a door opener, though. I can appreciate good music, but idols are about so much more.
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by freezingkiss »

How you became a fan?
I was heavily into Sailor Moon in the early 2000s, when we first got the internet and I first started buying off Amazon and CDJ. This led me to SeraMyu (which I was obsesssssssed with) and then also led me to Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda and BoA. I first saw a desktop background of MM from around the I Wish era, and thought who are they? From there it's fuzzy, and I honestly can't remember exactly how I found them, but I am pretty sure I was going through a phase of 'buying random jpop stuff off ebay' and bought their 2002 LOVE IS ALIVE Concert (I remember being really shocked at all the male voices in the audience haha oh how young and naive we all were). From there I was hooked!

Your first single?
First single that was out when I became a proper MM fan was Roman My Dear Boy. I bought Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari so that was my first bought single! I still remember very, very easily picking Risa as my fave as I found more and more clips of them to watch, and bought bootlegged clip compilations on disc (anyone remember doing that? Haha).

Favourite concert?
2004 THE BEST OF JAPAN - I watched it so, so many times. Love is Alive is up there too.

Juiciest piece of gossip you remember?
When Nono was pregnant!!!!! Oh my god I remember being so sad about W breaking up. I was also really mad about Aika graduating at the same time as Risa, but now as an adult I look back at how much I hated Aika and Koharu and realise how immature it was. They're still not my favourites obviously but they got their chance and they took it, wouldn't I do the same thing even if I wasn't ~the best~? I sure would.

Favourite moments from the past.
Fangirling and nerding out with people who love H!P and jpop are some of the best moments. Meeting Rika and Yossi in London at a very weird and rushed signing session after a Hangry and Angry concert. Also, managing to see H!P live in 2012 (after Risa graduated tho :/) , see C-ute live three times in 2015/2016 and see MM live in 2015 were moments I'm so happy I got to do. Also all the old funny clips from Hello! Morning were the best. Also I remember having such a huge crush on Yuko hahaha!

Let it all out!
You don't realise how much you treasure those moments where the stuff you liked, you loved so intensely it would have such a huge impact on your life. My family still ask me "do you still like morning museum?" (they've been saying this to me for almost twenty years haha), Morning Musume and H!P will always have a place in my heart, even now as I only follow them casually.
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by Shoujo Q »

Freezingkiss and I both basically have the same origin story.

Sailor Moon and SeraMyu were my gateway. It's where my love of a bunch of teenage girls singing and dancing came to be my jam! I had a friend who was big into the SeraMyu community that I met via somewhere on AOL back in the day. She had a mailing list I joined and then I joined other more jpop related ones and discovered music outside of the anime realm. One such mailing list was run by an older mm-bbs user named Mink (Founder of projecthello) and she introduced a bunch of H!P artists such as Matsuura Aya, Fujimoto Miki, Goto Maki, Morning Musume and others. I used all sorts of methods to procure more music. It was like a giant band-aid for my emo depressed high school self. Napster was one of the few places I remember using. I'm sure there were other P2P places I found too. But a lot of my memories are fuzzy from the early 2000's as I moved from High School to College. But I then I discovered mm-bbs, joined, and then promptly left because I was too newb for the cool kids. Hid out on a Spanish/English board for a year or so till I could kind of figure out who Morning Musume were and what exactly was a Hello!Project.

In that time I discovered anything and everything. And my views have changed over the years. Back in the day, I was a FAN but now, I'm a totally different sort of fan. The girls are NOT people I look up too, or aspire to be or emulate. I don't view them as objects or sex symbols. They are more what their name implies. Musume. Daughters. Girls who I want to see grow and blossom from ratty little street urchins into beautiful flowers, or some such fluff.

Now that I look back, I can clearly tell you, I was NOT a fan of Morning Musume till roughly around the time Kamei, LinLin and JunJun left and the 9th and 10th gen joined. Once Kago left, my love for the group turned into nothing more than a passing fancy. I followed Minimoni, W and anything she was involved with. When Kago got canned, my love kind of attached itself to whatever flavor of the month I felt like following. Berryz, C-ute, Buono, S/mileage, the occasional Morning single would catch my interest. But that's how it was for years.

When Morning went to California for AX I went because at the time I didn't think there'd ever be another time I'd see them live. The fans and people I met really made me appreciate the fandom enough for me to stick around. Meeting the girls really changes your perspective and I decided to stick around and bask in the post-idol meeting glow even if the music really wasn't my thing. Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game came out and I dug it, but then triple grad kinda was a bummer. Then the 9th joined and Maji Desu ka Ska! came out and I loved it. Riho and Kanon really were adorable and I started paying attention again and 10th gen joined and Masaki and Haruka caught my attention and I found a new love for the group with their arrival. Once Renai Hunter came out, I was back in full time without even realizing I was back. Then Oda joined and I heard her version of Be Alive, I just knew, she was my new Kago. The fact she's stuck around as long as she has, has really changed my perspective of the group. It wasn't like a lightbulb that just suddenly turned on, it was a slow burn.

Also another thing to mention, I appreciate H!P because they haven't forgotten where they came from. They continue to have the girls sing the old stuff, and not just focus on the new. The girls may change, but when they come out there on stage singing a classic that I happen to have a lot of attachment to, then it's like I young again and I have happy memories attached to one song or another.

Some Personal Facts

First Single I bought - Koko ni Iruzee
First Concert I bought - Concert Tour 2003 Spring "NON STOP!"Concert Tour 2003 Spring "NON STOP!"
First Album I bought - No.5
Number of times I've seen Morning Musume Live - 5 (2009, 2014, 2014, 2016, 2018)

Juicy Memories

Nacchi's Playstation Incident.
Miki's Confession via YoungTown which results in her quitting Morning.
Rika's Live Mic making fun of the old guys at the concerts.

The idea that The Peace was made in lieu of the bathroom photo scandal of someone taking pictures of the girls in the bathroom. But I just remember that in passing without any real knowledge if that was a case. I did remember seeing photos YEARS ago, but I think the photos have been pretty much scrubbed from the internet. (But I'm sure someone has them floating around in the Dark web)
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DonJuan
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Re: Morning Musume; Rewind (Memory Musume no Hikari)

Post by DonJuan »

Shoujo Q wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:28 am The idea that The Peace was made in lieu of the bathroom photo scandal of someone taking pictures of the girls in the bathroom. But I just remember that in passing without any real knowledge if that was a case. I did remember seeing photos YEARS ago, but I think the photos have been pretty much scrubbed from the internet. (But I'm sure someone has them floating around in the Dark web)
Just a day or two ago someone was talking about it on the H!P discord. The videos circled around in private chat groups. Nobody asked for them and they weren't offered on discord, but yeah, I'm also certain that they're somewhere out there.
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