[2024.05.15] Juice=Juice - Tokyo Blur / Naimono Love / Oaiko

[Solarblade]

Announced today, Juice=Juice's next single Tokyo Blur / Naimono Love / Oaiko (トウキョウ・ブラー / ナイモノラブ / おあいこ)

http://www.helloproject.com/news/17147/

There'll be a SP Edition that includes their live performance at ROCK IN JAPAN back in August

Also Mifu Kawashima is not taking part of the single (she's still on hiatus, a couple days ago was announced she'll be missing the SATO events and Hina Fes,) as her condition is still fluctuating.

[JPope]

So H!P does still release singles. Who knew?

Seriously though, I don't know what's going on with UF, because it will be a full six months between this and "RED LINE." Half a year between singles feels a bit like slow-motion seppuku for a company with six full-time groups. We're going on a full year since Biyo's last release, and I don't want to hear about musicals, because that didn't stop MM from releasing 3+ singles and an album in a year back in the day.

That said, hurray for J=J! Sucks for Mifu, though. I hope her idol career doesn't end before it really starts.

[Shoujo Q]

I feel like Reina’s illness setback a Beyooooonds release. Kind of like how Tsubaki had a delay when she was sick.

[DonJuan]

It wouldn't be as bad if those 6-12 months breaks were for specific groups, but a 6 month break for the whole agency is incredibly long. Of course they've been doing concerts and are starting their spring concert rounds, but eh. Not much content for fans. From what I've seen even the Japanese fans are a bit fed up with that. Winter is a slow season to begin with compared to the now starting festivals and collabs, but oof. Best time for a single release actually.

Juice also has to release their single now (or rather, in May) because of Aarii's graduation. I expect Anju and Tsubaki to come next because of Rikako and Kisora. They might be able to squeeze in Biyo but honestly that would feel bad again, like an afterthought or something not important enough. And then we're waiting for the new OCHA single for half a year again. And THEN they want to debut the new kenshuusei unit.

Oof, Up Front took on a bit too much now. Better should have used the first 5 months of the year for more than a gummy collab.

That being said, to go on topic, the new Juice single looks interesting. Looking forward to it.

[Shoujo Q]

Let’s be real here. They took half the H!P music budget and shoved into M-Line and didn’t think we would notice.

[JPope]

Let’s be real here. They took half the H!P music budget and shoved into M-Line and didn’t think we would notice.

That's an interesting theory that I hadn't considered, but as I consider it I don't think the M-line release schedule makes up for the lost H!P releases in terms of per-year numbers, nor do their releases sell close to the amount that H!P's do. Would be interesting to see what M-line lives bring in compared to H!P, but I can't imagine it's anywhere close either. What's weird is that UF is not acting like a company that's looking to pare H!P down at all except for the lack of single releases. Everything else -- tours, radio shows, musicals, corporate collaborations, KSS auditions and promotions, etc -- is running as usual. Hell, even album releases are still following the every-three-years timetable. It's literally just singles.

[kira]

I'd guess the move to double/triple A side made it a lot more effort, since they have to record MVs for all of them which also means they need to learn choreo for them all in order to shoot the videos. But still, the long gap between single releases is rather sad.

Concerts and merch are where they likely make most of their money from though.

[DonJuan]

I think most fans would gladly go back to double- or even single a-sides at this point if it gave us more releases because otherwise we have literal radio silence for several groups for months
I do like the m-line theory though. They do have the big sellers there nowadays, especially with Karin and Masaki, maybe Mizuki one day too. Basically the modern day H!P icons. Not that they promote their releases that much, but it would feel wrong to give them the most basic MVs when the other groups have better concepts nowadays too.

[JPope]

I'd guess the move to double/triple A side made it a lot more effort, since they have to record MVs for all of them which also means they need to learn choreo for them all in order to shoot the videos. But still, the long gap between single releases is rather sad.

Concerts and merch are where they likely make most of their money from though.

I've come to the point where I find triple A-sides to be ridiculous. Even in the best case scenario you get two heaters -- like Ai Mashou and Aisubeki Beki -- and one at best decent song. Actually, now that I think of it, C-ute pulled the 3-for-3 with the Naze Hito wa Arasoun Darou? / Summer Wind / Jinsei wa STEP! single, but it's such a rare feat that it diminishes the meaning of "A-side" in my mind.

I think most fans would gladly go back to double- or even single a-sides at this point if it gave us more releases because otherwise we have literal radio silence for several groups for months

For sure. I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but there's no reason H!P couldn't have monthly releases. Maybe skip a month to get the harowota jonesing for a fix, but six months between singles is dangerous, because that jones starts to fade into recovery, lol.

[sadude]

I like Triple A sides-- I think they give people different things to enjoy in case they don't care for a particular song.

The songs coming out at the same time all with PVs provide great contrast with each other, and I find that I appreciate songs more because of it. I noticed it in going through old singles that I didn't pay attention to (even single A sides)-- ones that on their own were kind of throwaway (maybe meh ballads or choral songs) were able to shine in contrast to the fast-paced more EDM-y songs that came a few singles later because I was going through them all at once.

Also, having more frequent releases makes it easier for people to forget about songs as soon as the next one comes out.

[kira]

On the other hand, I think the issue with the less frequent releases is the fact people will forget - because they're not releasing as often, thus not doing public promotions to the general populace.

[DonJuan]

I'm glad they're doing festivals nowadays, or else they'd be completely invisible to the general public without single releases.

[JPope]

Here's J=J's "Naimono Love" performance at the HinaFes Angerme Premium. Somehow YT found no copyright issues, lmao!



Aari gets a nice feature before heading to M-line. During the stream, Chuzz said this reminded her of "Shut Up and Drive," and that's not too far off. Definite 2000s girl-boss energy.

[DonJuan]

That's really girl boss vibes.

[JPope]

"Naimono Love" PV is live:



It's a nice looking and well-shot clip, but it feels like every other J=J and Anju vid look like this.

[Shoujo Q]

Honestly didn’t listen to the concert rip so that dance break felt like such a record scratch.

It’s okay but it’s missing a pop. Like it’s not going to its full potential. The vocals just aren’t hitting me right. I feel like Karin could have added a lot to the vocals if she were still in the group. Kind of like I needed her tone to really drive it home. It’s like, scratching an itch but just missing the mark.

The MV is very generic Pop Idol.

Since this isn’t the main song on the single, I’m curious what Tokyo Blur will bring to the Juice table.

I just assume Oaiko will be an Akari centric song.

[Solarblade]

http://www.helloproject.com/release/detail/HKCN-50793/

Covers are out

B-side is called "Brilliance of memories" which is a Uemuu solo!

[Shoujo Q]

Oaiko seems to be a Tsunku song. Well color me surprised!

[JPope]

Those covers are very H!P . Nothing wrong with any of them, and a couple are very nice, but pretty formulaic for the company by this point. It seems like OCHA and Biyo are the only groups who get to color outside the lines in terms of cover art.

[DonJuan]

It’s okay but it’s missing a pop. Like it’s not going to its full potential. The vocals just aren’t hitting me right. I feel like Karin could have added a lot to the vocals if she were still in the group. Kind of like I needed her tone to really drive it home. It’s like, scratching an itch but just missing the mark.

The MV is very generic Pop Idol.

On the spot. It feels like it go off to sth better every second but it doesn't.
Juice had a got run with songs lately, but this one does nothing for me. Not bad! In fact I can see what they were going for. But it's missing something.

[JPope]

Honestly didn’t listen to the concert rip so that dance break felt like such a record scratch.

It’s okay but it’s missing a pop. Like it’s not going to its full potential. The vocals just aren’t hitting me right. I feel like Karin could have added a lot to the vocals if she were still in the group. Kind of like I needed her tone to really drive it home. It’s like, scratching an itch but just missing the mark.

This song is missing something for me, too, and it took me a while to figure out what it was: it's pretty boring in a Western pop sort of way. None of the musical surprises that you'd expect from an H!P track of this genre are present aside from the dance break/bridge. The groove is basic-bitch af, ditto for the chord progression, and the arrangement is fairly static throughout. The girls are singing their asses off, but I'm checked out by the 2nd chorus.

[JPope]

So two things happened to the HInaFes "Naimono Love" clip 12 days after I posted it: Up Front finally claimed copyright, which is no big deal because they're really good about not blocking content like this from other channels. The other thing is that YT started recommending it, and the Japanese fanbase watched to the tune of about 18K views in four days, which is otherworldly for my tiny channel, lol.

[DonJuan]

Damn! Congrats and sorry both I guess? :D

[DonJuan]

Set up reminds me a lot of MM, not creative, but at least it's better looking for some reason lol?
Song doesn't do anything for me though. But the girls do well, especially with their facial expressions. Ruru and Ichika, but also Kisaki and Akaringo.

[JPope]

Ah, so Riai is still in J=J! Good to see her getting some real burn finally, even if it is on an off-the-rack neo City Pop track like this. Seems like she's been forgotten in the push to promote the girls from the last two gens. This single isn't really hitting it for me so far, though.

[Shoujo Q]

This feels like such a let down after Pride Bright. But it is what it is. Hopefully the next single will feature Mifu and be a banger.

[kira]

I like this one a lot more than Naimono Love. Also Ruru's bridge is great.