If people ask me why I listen to Hello! Project when everybody in my country listens to K-pop, I say "Simple. Because I knew about Morning Musume and Berryz Kobo longer than I knew any of the current existing K-pop acts." If something is in your heart, it stays there.
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No, I didn't grow up listening to Japanese Enka (I grew up listening to American Pop specifically Michael Jackson) but the songs are still music to my ears. Granted, none of these tunes will ever reach the status of my main idol, but there is something different when a music sung in a language foreign to my own makes me feel better.
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Yes, you read that right: Hello! Project songs makes me feel better even if the lyrics themselves sometimes talk of heart-ache, loss, yearning and goodbyes. Incidentally, my favorite H!P song is "Bye Bye Mata Ne" by Berryz Kobo is about good-byes and the hope of seeing each other again. It has been my favorite even before my Idol Ishimura Maiha left Berryz Kobo after singing this song in the encore of the Aki Switch On! Tour in 2005. The song has since been identified with that graduation and with Maiha. Try looking up fan-made videos of Maiha in You Tube and in a lot of them you'll hear this song played on the background.
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The song was never released as a single, but it remains today one of Berryz Kobo's most powerful songs.
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Speaking of Maiha, there is little or no news at all about her but she did appear in Shinagawa Etoile's school uniform pamphlets for the last 2 years. In fact, the 2010 - 2011 pamphlet is one big factor why I returned to following Hello! Project. She also appears in her school's website.
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OK, so I thought she was going back. But even if she isn't, seeing her 2010 face (and the fact that she seems to be doing very well) was enough for me.
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I don't know if anyone else have noticed, but Maiha's face on the cover 2010-2011 is different from the pictures inside of it. The pictures inside (along with several images in the school's website) shows her having crooked teeth but her face in front clearly shows that it has been fixed. So I'm guessing that the cover photo was taken on a later date presumable after having some dental work done. She badly needed it too. Now she can flash her trademark dimpled smile and show her teeth.
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Sometimes I wonder what a typical day might be for Tsugunaga Momoko. The helium-powered, vessel of pure energy is an Idol, a member of a main group (Berryz Kobo) and a sub-group (Buono!), has her own radio show (Tsugunaga Momoko Puri-Puri Princess), and is a student in a University (studying to become a teacher). On top of that, she has to go to rehearsals, events (solo or otherwise), tapings for DVD Magazines, vocal lessons, dance lessons, and on top of that, would have to tour.
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On some photos posted by the other members in their Serend blog, Momo looks as if she was extremely tired. While photographs generally don't do much justice when it comes to the personal feelings of the individual idols, I think I can safely say that the load is causing her stress and fatigue. But considering that she still performs in her usual level and shows no sign of slowing down, I guess I should feel assured that Momo can pull it off like she normally does.
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When I returned to following H!P, one of the first things that went into my mind is "Who the heck is that giant?" It took me exactly one minute to realize that the super-sized girl is Kumai Yurina.
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When I stopped following H!P in 2005, Yurina (or Kumai-chan as she is fondly called) was just starting to hit her growth spurt. While I've noticed that a lot of Japanese kids suddenly shoot up in height at around 14 to 18 years of age, Kumai-chan's different because she grew taller every few months and there was a time that I think she grew several inches in a span of 6 months at least based on their pictures from 2005 to 2009 (sorry, I have no statistical records for the last 5 years to confirm this). It seems to me that her growth hormone hit over-drive and now we have basically the tallest active Hello! Project member and (quite possibly) the tallest of all time.
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Nowadays, she's currently head and shoulders above everybody else. As in literally above every body else. She's easy to spot and for someone who's the second youngest in a group, her body is pretty mature.
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Hold on to your horses gentlemen. She might look like a 20 year old but Kumai-chan is actually the second youngest in the group.
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One of the things that sets this group apart is the stability of its line-up. Berryz Kobo has the most stable line-up in Hello! Project to date with only one member leaving for very legitimate reasons and no new additions.
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For a man who formed the legendary Morning Musume, a group known for both their impact on the Japanese Idol industry and their notoriously unstable line-up, Tsunku held himself back and did not tamper with Berryz Kobo's roster. Another proof that Tsunku is still sane and knows what he is doing.
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Honestly, I expected Tsunku to replace my Maiha after her graduation. The thought of her spot being given to someone else was pretty hard for me to bear but I didn't really turn my back on Hello! Project either. Maiha's graduation came at a time when it was getting hard for me to get updated on Hello! Project. I graduated college in 2005 and did not find work until 2007. That and the fact that I felt I was getting too emotional about something like an Idol's graduation made me want to take a break from following Hello! Project. In other words, I needed a reality check and to set my priorities in order.
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Now that I am back, I am happy to see that the girls are still there sans Maiha. It took me a while to get used to their 2010 selves though, as part of me expected to see the little kids I used to watch. I guess part of the reason why Tsunku kept the line intact was because the group was better that way. Maiha's spot remained hers and hers alone. That is good enough for me, although I wouldn't mind it much if he eventually adds someone. I am way past throwing tantrums about it.
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Speaking of Tsunku and Maiha, I read in scattered blogs and forums that Tsunku said in his blog that Maiha can return if she wants to after her studies are done. While I am happy about that bit of information, I was not able to see Tsunku's actual blog entry so I'm actually pretty reserved about it. Idols rarely return to a group they left from and since she left because she entered an elite school, there's a probability that she is aiming for a big University.
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Besides, Maiha was a terrible dancer and a mediocre singer. Being off the stage for 5 years won't really improve her ability unless she joined a dance club and took voice lessons.
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But hey, Michishige Sayumi is also a terrible dancer and a bad singer and she's in Morning Musume so there may be hope for Maiha after all. Heck, Sugaya Risako sings off-key during most of her live performances but she's given majority of the lines in a lot of songs.
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And before Risako fans kill me, I wanna go on record to say I love that girl, but she still sings off-key during live performances. She's OK on the records though and her personality compensates for whatever difficulties she may have singing live. She remains as one of the most popular H!P members....
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...but she still sings off-key. :P But Berryz Kobo will never be the same without her (besides, it's her we usually hear singing).
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Going back to Maiha, I read somewhere that 'Tomodachi wa, Tomodachi Nanda!' was made for her.
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Like the other Maiha related news I mentioned earlier, I haven't seen any official statement confirming this one. The song helped give them a number 3 ranking in Oricon: their highest yet. Moreover, the song feels like a message to Maiha.
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Somewhere along the lines of "We're friends. Nothing can change that."
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I want Sudo Maasa's movie real bad. However, since I am financially incapable of buying anything for the next 5 months (or until after I've paid for the PS3 I bought last November), the chances of me being able to buy the limited edition are slim.
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Come to think of it, what I bought was a PS3 Slim. Damn.
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But I am not losing hope that Dran and KIDS will immediately make a subbed version. OK, that's a lot pressure being put on wotas who make subtitles for these kinds of movies for us, but more than owning an original version, I'd like to be able to actually understand the story.
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For me, understanding the story is the best way of complimenting Su-chan's efforts. The movie received generally positive reviews during it's short run in the theaters and it would be nice to watch a feel-good, well done Japanese teen-movie for a change.
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Watch a good movie, support your idol, everybody is happy.
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They call Maasa "the strongest Idol". While she was the strongest when they were younger (that Chisa video was really epic but I don't know if Maasa threw her down or playfully pushed her a little too hard) I don't know if it's still the case now.
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That said, I saw a DVD video of them (not sure if it is a fan-club event...but yeah I think it IS a fan-club event) doing arm-wrestling. She destroyed Kumai Yurina in a matter of seconds. Quite a feat considering the uber-athletic Yajima Maimi took some time before dispatching Okai Chisato. Granted, even Momoko can hold her own against Kumai-chan, but given that the girls all try to avoid arm wrestling matches with Maasa proves that at least her reputation as the strongest is still intact.
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I downloaded Yorosen!'s episode featuring Junjun "teaching" the Berryz regarding Train Station lunches. Now I understand why they call Junjun "panda".
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While Yorosen! was unfairly labeled as a "failure" due in part because of C-ute's history segment (and the infamous 'Hitler Ojii-san'), I find the series generally appealing. There are a lot of fun moments and thankfully, a lot of them included the Berryz. "Games Master" Miya and Junjun's Train station bento ranks as one of the best (although I only saw Miya's games episode and not the whole week's segment).
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Besides, the Japanese aren't really famous for being sensitive on matters relating to world history seeing as they still teach their own version to their school children. The only negative thing that I saw coming from this episode was the C-ute girls coming off as stupid or dumb on their own show. But the only people I'd call stupid AND dumb are the segment writers and the director for making the script and approving it respectively.
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Thankfully, the Berryz episodes where OK. I did find Yurina's week a little boring but the first episode was epic (she came into the classroom wearing something 'fashionable' and the girls ended up too dumb-struck to speak. They can't even greet her straight).
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Payday today! Not that it matters seeing as I'm gonna pay the bills anyway. But at least I can say that I had money for at least 24 hours.
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