I’ve always been a firm believer in the idea of ‘If you don’t like it, don’t _____ it”.  Meaning if you don’t like the music, don’t listen to it, if you don’t like the movie, don’t watch it, etc.  Sometimes with artists, we have a difficult time like a group as a whole and start to nitpick at the members themselves.  It happens with every idol group, whether they be male or female.  It also tends to happen among fans of other people.  Most Koda Kumi fans will comment in Ayumi Hamasaki forums saying that Ayumi sucks. Vice versa.  What I find interesting is when people do such things when the other person isn’t even related to the topic.  Awhile back I was visit a Koda Kumi community on Livejournal and a person made a swipe at Utada Hikaru.  Just because it’s a Koda Kumi fan community, doesn’t mean that all the members only listen to Koda Kumi.  Most people I’ve found like more than one artist.  While I am a big Utada Hikaru fan, I do enjoy music from other people almost as much.  So I was irked by the comment but saw someone posted saying that it was inappropriate considering that there were Utada Hikaru fans there.  Then a large thread of the two arguing their points happened and eventually the person who made the comment took it back.  Why even bring Utada Hikaru into the post if she has nothing to do with it at all?  I would have said the same thing if it were a Koda Kumi swipe made in an Utada Hikaru community.

What I find more irritating than vexing is this idea that people honestly think we want to hear how much you hate an artist.  It’s a free world, you have a right to your opinion.  But why would I want to focus so much anger and hatred onto one particular person when there is so much else I could be doing?  Don’t you have better things to do with your time? Or is that you have no such life and you hate the artist so much (even though you’ve never met them or spoken to them, and probably never will) that you feel a need to shout it out.  Someone needs to get their priorities straight.  I mean, if I really had nothing better to do with my time and let my dislike for certain H!P members grow to a point of ridiculous heights, I could write essays upon essays as to why I don’t like them.  But I don’t. Why? Because it’s stupid. And it’s pointless.  And you’re not making a point to the people who do like them.  Instead, those people who do like them will roll their eyes at another ‘anti-fan’.  Being an anti-fan isn’t cool, and while you and your friends who sit there griping and moaning about those artists do that, the rest of world has moved on.  It makes you look like less of a person.

I always find it annoying when people write full out posts complaining about a musical artist’s personality.  Go ahead, complain about their voice all you want, that’s your personal opinion, whatever.  But to sit and bash a person they’ve never even met before? That irritates me. It seems that it’s becoming a trend nowadays for people to write snarky remarks, and that it makes you look cooler. When presented in a silly manner, sure.  But when it starts to take over and dominant your weblog instead of posting about things you like.  It’s all in good fun, but after awhile, it gets annoying. You start to just look like a punk and while some people may do comments like “LOL!” or “Heck yeah!”, it wears down.  Not to mention the focus on that will effect you more than you think.  More than you realize.

With groups, it’s hard to not feel particularly angry with one or two members. Everyone has favorites and they want their favorite to get the spotlight.  And for the people that do get the spotlight, they get blame.  They blame that should be directed at the record company.  I don’t know how many times it’s been necessary to point that out but people just don’t get it.  They still sit there and repeat the same whining statements over and over again, thinking something will change. Guess what, it won’t. Buck up, deal with it, move on.  So if you don’t like it, don’t listen to it, if you don’t like them, ignore them.  Don’t be bitter for the artist you may like, because they obviously don’t give a crap about it.  If they do, well, that’s not really any of your business.  Lots of times as fans we forget that if the artist really did have any personal beef, they can handle it themselves. They don’t need us to be angry for them.  If they aren’t upset, it’s obvious that we shouldn’t be upset either. Yes, there is injustice in the music industry.  This is nothing new and this is something that will never change.  While the minority may scream at the top of their lungs, the majority in the end will make their final decision known.

You’re free to state your opinion on the internet, however when someone is rationally trying to express their thoughts and feelings and you speak in terms less than friendly (without even knowing the person) than you’re just making yourself look like an idiot.

I don’t particularly like to use that picture above since people tend to be very sensitive about such a thing, but unfortunately, such is the case.  What’s the point of arguing with someone who won’t listen or won’t even bother to look at your side of the issue?  But I guess that’s what blogs are for.  So that even people who don’t have the maturity to behave like an adult in a civilized discussion can also make themselves known.  With or without a point, it doesn’t matter, but if you’re going to act like a jerk in response to a perfectly calm reaction, then don’t bother replying at all.

It’s amazing how much watching a PV over and over again can change one’s opinion on a video and song.  This time, it’s the video that’s making me re-think my opinion of it.  In a previous entry I expressed my dislike for the PV and my initial reaction was irritation.  I figured that I was let down once more by H!P.  But then, I watched it more and then started to read more in forums and H!P blogs.  What I found incredibly fascinating was the people at HNPH posted in a recent entry.  About how fans in Japan actually loved the video and the concentration on just three of the girls.  It made me realize how drastically different that we outside of Japan and Asia think of things.  For many people, the song angered them due to the fact that not only were a majority of the girls denied solo lines, but also that the video seemed to only focus on Kusumi Koharu, Tanaka Reina, and Takahashi Ai.  When I heard that Japanese fans actually liked the video that way, I couldn’t put my finger on why. Until I read the article as a whole and the point was made that groups like EXILE only had on main singer.  It really made me start to realize how the undistributed lines might actually help Morning Musume in the long run.  How focusing on just three girls makes it feel less like the typical idol group, and more like an actual music group.  It was that epiphany that made me realize how little I really did understand.  Apparently the Japanese fans are getting it, and we are not.  At least, that was until it was pointed out to me.  EXILE is a group that is wildly successful and more over in recent years.  Tsunku must have seen this and realized that if he wanted to continue  to put Morning Musume as a flagship group, he was going to have to update himself.

Reading through the forums also told me various things.  That the PV we have seen on Dohhhup is actually the dance version (though it is the official release) and there is an ‘image’ version.  Just read through the thread at Hello-Online and you’ll get tons more information.  Tsunku apparently has been struggling for awhile to get the sound right, and to be honest, I’m in awe of him.  So many times before I’ve wanted to shake him around to hopefully knock sense into him, and now I’m left floored.  The man knows exactly what he’s doing.  The one obvious thing I did like straight from the beginning was the style of song and the fact that it is a song I could hear non-Momusu fans listening to and never once assuming it was a song by the group.  This truly is a new Morning Musume and the fact that they are maturing, and allowing the group to mature without selling out to be pushing sexy to the point of annoying, is fantastic.

I also want to note that have a group where there is a focus on just one to three members has worked outside of Japan as well.  There’s a British boy (now man) band called Take That.  They were extremely famous in the UK from 1991 to 1996, and there was a huge focus on one or two of the guys in the group.  They all got some screen time, but a majority of the time the guys did the backing vocals.  They were likened until the Beatles because young and old liked them.  After their break up, they reunited in 2005 and have once again met with major success, keeping the same formula.  I feel pretty ashamed for bashing groups now that focus too much on certain girls.  While I do believe certain girls get the focus or lines when they shouldn’t, I am no longer going to argue that there should be more even line distribution.  If anything, mad props for keeping it simple.

I have very few words to say on the subject other than I’m somewhat disappointed.  I already knew that the other girls were going to get shafted for screen time, but a great deal of things left me confused.

• The dancing in the PV is okay, but I can’t help but feel parts of it are out of place.  The style doesn’t work with it and why do you need all the dancing in the first place?
• It’s obvious it’s cheap.  Tsunku, if you really wanted to make this a “new” Morning Musume, you’re only making them look less like a real group.  Whoever suggested the idea for the PV to be what it is, and just that needs to be shot multiple times. Then they need to be revived and shot again.
• I don’t expect this to do any good in a promotional sense for Morning Musume.  If anything most people judge the song by the PV.  I’m sure there are already people second guessing themselves liking the song.  Resonant Blue is a great song that is the victim of a cheap PV.
• If people were looking for any more reason to hate Kusumi, her presence as one of the three main girls is it.  I don’t mind, but it worries me since I know people are going to be having kittens and cursing her to a foul death.  Too bad she isn’t the one that decides things.  But I’m sure people will, as usual, conveniently forget this and say she’s a diva and spoiled brat, etc. etc.
• Most people who hate the video with a passion hate it because their girl got shafted for screen time. And in other news, the sky is blue.
• I’m still buying the single because I love the song way too much not to.  However I doubt I’ll watch the PV on the DVD that comes with it.

I felt completely underwhelmed after watching that PV.  What a let down.

Last we heard of Ayaya’s single was that it was shoved to April possibly for a release.  Ayaya even spoke on her show that it was delayed and not canceled, as most fans initially thought.  We haven’t heard anything new and I was beginning to lose hope.  But it appears that recently Matsuura appeared at the Special Olympics Japan National Game and performed her new single entitled “Kizuna” which has a release date of May 21st, 2008.  J!ENT confirms this and adds that she will then start her tour on May 24th, three days after the single’s release.  No news on what sort of song Kizuna is yet, however I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it’s not yet another ballad, and hopefully something upbeat.  I’ll try to keep you guys updated and throw in a rip if I can find one, but until then, it appears that Aya’s solo career is still pushing forward and she’s already somewhat promoted the song by performing it there.  I don’t know how much more promotion it will get though, especially since she will start touring only three days after the single releases.  I have my reservations about how much they will though, considering Ayaya, who was once the most prominent solo singer on the H!P label, is now being pushed aside slowly but surely.

I saw a couple people posted their own lists of improvements or how they would run H!P on the blogosphere (I hate that word), and I couldn’t help but wonder myself as to how I would do it. It’s a natural thought and thinking pretty hard on the subject, I found myself in agreement with some points and completely disagreeing with others. However I’m not going to sit here and pick apart someone else’s post in such a manner, and I intend to cover H!P as a whole. Namely, not just limit myself to talking just about the Wonderful Hearts groups, but also branching into the Elders Club. Because they don’t get enough love and with the death of Hello!Morning, they’ve fallen into obscurity. But more about that later. We’ll start with Morning Musume, because that seems the most appropriate.

Morning Musume

• First and foremost, I am in agreement that there should be no graduations for at least a year. And if someone is going to graduate, they better be a) Pregnant, b) Going to school full time, or c) Going into another group or a solo career that will do something beyond concerts or MCing.

• Put Koharu is more than one anime as voice actress. Allow her to do an anime that is older and gears more toward a teenage audience as well. If you want the coveted fangirls that seem to rule the teen group, you’ll need to make Momusu a recognizable face with that area. And don’t let Koha graduate yet.
• If you’re going to put Koha as a lead, give her voice lessons, otherwise, allow her to play a small role in the actual singing. Yes, she is my favorite Momusu, but again I can admit, she’s not a good singer. Also note that the girls who do have the vocal capability should be given a larger role.
• Bring back the sub groups, but let them have a theme. Go back to old school Tanpopo, as in first generation style. Mature songs, mature lyrics, and the mature members. Reina is not included because she has the little turned up nose and I can’t think of her as “mature” as long as she has it. Sorry to say. However girls like Niigaki, Takahashi and Junjun would be a good fix. And don’t call them Tanpopo, call them something new and different. If you want to break away from the old Momusu, don’t go bringing back the old group names as well. I won’t vie for a Mini Moni esque group because that Athena group with Niigaki seems to fit the bill already. A Pucchi Moni like group would nice, but I’m more wanting that mature group.
• Stop doing kiddie songs and start making music geared toward the teenage and young adult market. Try not to play on the “I’m cute!” wota aspect, but since most of the girls are 15-21 in Momusu, let them sing songs that would fit more of the taste of that group. Oh, and include some rapping in there, like you did with “Do It! Now” because that was just mad hot and we all know it.
• Photobooks for Junjun (please?), Linlin, Aika, and another one for Koha please. Junjun is gorgeous and photogenic. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that she shouldn’t have a photobook already.
• Aika should never be allowed to keep her hair long because she looks SO much better with shorter hair.
• Put the girls in commercials and dramas. Get their faces scene, get them out there and known to the public. The least they could do is use a Momusu song for a drama. Especially a drama based on an extremely popular shoujo manga. A drama people will watch. Then people will associate that song with the drama, etc. “Flavor of Life”, anyone? My main suggestion though would be to cast the girls in a drama, because it allows them to be more than just an idol group. They can do more than just sing and dance on stage or for singles/albums. Half the reason JE’s does so well is because they whore their boys out to dramas left and right.
• One of the girls, preferably more than one, is going to have to accept that they will be made fun of. Hosts, especially comedians (i.e. Utaban, HEYx3) love to tease the artists or girls that are witty. Not robotic dolls. Your girls have personality, how about you yell at them less about staying in line on shows, and let them make asses out of themselves. How much did the hosts Utaban really favor girls like Yasuda, Kaori, or even Nacchi? They could tease them and the girls took it, but the hosts just showed their favoritism to them that way.
• Two concerts a year. At most. And even then, one concert should be a Momusu concert, and then another concert tour with the rest of H!P as a whole. Having more than 3 concerts a year is tiresome, and you could be doing more with them in that free time. Like…dramas…or commercials…

So it’s hit.  And about freaking time.  The radio rip for the new single by Morning Musume which was pushed to April (which now seems too far away) has hit the internet with a force and from what I’ve seen, most of the thoughts are positive.  And with good reason.  This is by far the single I think we are looking for to really draw in a new era for Morning Musume.  Tsunku, for once, you’ve really done me proud.  I’ve been a fan for quite a few years now, seen the ups and downs, the good songs, the okay songs, the ones that are oh so forgettable (Aruiteru anyone? Well, I didn’t like it because it was booooring).  Within this most recent year we’ve had some really great singles.  And even this year with Mikan, I loved it, I thought it was fabulous.  So with this new single, we heard it was going to be something along the lines of Egao YES Nude (a good single) and Tsunku himself said it was going to draw in a new era for Morning Musume.  Boy, he was right!

The new single is an infectious song that is for once, surprisingly radio friendly.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a lot of Momusu fans will cry out that the songs are radio friendly for them.  By radio friendly in this case, I mean it’s not a song that I can see associated with just another idol group.  Or people accusing it of being such.  It stands as an actual good song on its own.  It’s in such a style that would actually attract people to it.  Idol groups tend to be an acquired taste for many.  At first we are apprehensive about them, I know I was. However we learn to love them more and loving their music comes along with it.  But if I were going to try to introduce one of my friends who doesn’t listen to Japanese pop to Morning Musume, Resonant Blue is a song that I would use.  It’s got so many hooks and catches that if it doesn’t get you the first time, after a listen or two more, it will. It’s not like other Morning Musume songs and thank goodness for that.  It’s different, it’s fresh, it’s new.  It’s GOOD.  And it’s a song I could see go in competition with the JE’s groups because it’s a similar style to theirs.

I know a lot of people are crying bloody murder for their favorite girls getting shafted for lines, but in all honesty…who cares?  I’ve gotten tired of screaming and throwing a fit every time a new single comes out and my favorite vocalists don’t get a lot of lines.  I guess the whole expecting and wanting thing jaded me severely.  I can’t tell you how when I was initially into Momusu I demanded more of Makoto, Mari and Kaori.  Great vocalists, totally underused.  But in the end, you just learn to deal, because with a song like this, I’m not caring anymore.  I’m just glad they are putting out a single I think will be very popular.

And with that, I leave. Because unfortunately, I have a 8-5 job that requires me up at 6. I bid you adieu.

I will start off with the following which is an excerpt from this week’s Pocket Morning. Thanks to the people at Hello!Online who posted it originally. The question was:

Of all the Hello! Project members, who would you say is “awesome”?

Most of the time the questions are pretty stupid things. So this question presented us with the girls naming people within the label whom they admire. Who they could classify as “awesome”. I expected to see a few OG members to be honest, and they named a few. Junjun surprised me by naming Nakazawa Yuko (more love to the girl for that), while others named Reina or Rika, and Ayaya was named twice (by Ai and Reina). Then I read the answers for Niigaki Risa and Mitsui Aika. And go figure, two fan favorites actually think Koharu is awesome. Go figure.

Koharu… Koharu is amazing somehow… I don’t think I’ve ever seen another kid with such a “Be Positive” attitude in my life. She’s always laughing like crazy, and never listens to what other people are telling her…Tohoho~ …Someone save me!! - Niigaki Risa

Kusumi-san ＾□＾ I think she’s really lively!! When I’m feeling down, talking to Kusumi-san makes me smile ＾□＾ - Mitsui Aika

They aren’t the only ones. Back in the days of Hello Pro Hour, Matsuura Aya was being interviewed by Goto Maki who asked her what H!P member she respects the most. Who did she answer? Kusumi! They went to discuss how Koharu never let things get to her and she is tough, she doesn’t cry, but nods her head and smiles, and listens. Here is a link to the clip: Hello Pro Hour - Episode 12 (Subtitled) (4/5)

I don’t get how people can accuse Koharu of being a “bitch” or that she’s fake when it’s already apparent that she’s actually a very sincerely positive person. I know the kid can’t sing, but her energy is infectious. To me at least. But I guess the haters will hate. I get your sick of seeing her everywhere, but apparently a lot of people do like her, otherwise you wouldn’t see her all over the place.

The Queen has returned. While she isn’t the “Queen” or “Empress” of pop, I will tell you that if I were any of the artists at avex, especially one that supposed to be one of the top divas, I’d be paying my respects to Amuro. Whoever was the genius in charge of having her make new songs mixing classics needs to get a huge paycheck. I’m actually extremely pleased that they have Namie doing this and not any of the other artists on avex to be honest. With Namie’s style in more recent years taking on hip hop/funk influences, and now with this turn into dance, she’s seriously proven herself once again to be a force to be reckoned with.

The PV itself incorporates a lot of 80’s styles yet the song itself is a perfect mix of 80’s and modern dance that it just works. While I don’t care for the broken English she speaks before the verses, the chorus is so amazingly catchy there is no denying that Namie has truly taken the songs and made them her own. For a woman who is a single mother, hitting thirty years old and nearly fell off the face of the planet after her mother was murdered, she has proven that she is such an amazing and admirable woman.While I’ve never been one for 80’s fashion per say, if you do look at her outfit in the beginning of the video, and her hair, it is purposely styled after Irene Cara, the woman who originally sang the song “Flashdance (What A Feeling)” which is the same song this particular song samples during the chorus. Oh, and the dancing? Fantastic. Bloody fantastic. It’s back to utilizing Namie has a great dancer again, which is part of what she is known for. The break dancing done by the back up dancers with the motorcycle helmets is also impressive.

I can foresee this single doing extremely well. If it doesn’t, then there something seriously wrong with people in Japan.

I am not fluent in Japanese, though try as I may, but news has hit on the Hello!Project Website that Morning Musume will be going to Taiwan again, this time, for a concert tour!

モーニング娘。 2008 Concert Tour in 台湾開催決定！！

コンサート タイトル	早安少女組。2008 Concert Tour in Taiwan
日付	2008年5月24日（土）
開場時間	17：30
開演時間	19：00
会場名	台北南港展覽館（住所：台北市南港区経貿二路1号） TEL:(886-2)2725-5200
値段	NT$3000、2500、2000、1600、1200
於台湾チケット 予約開始日時	台湾ファンクラブ　2/29-3/13 一般販売　3/15
於台湾チケット 受け渡し方法	台湾ファンクラブ/コンビニデクレジットカード決済 一般販売/クレジットカード、各地販売所で現金お支払い
チケット＆公演 問い合わせ先	台湾ファンクラブ メール：helloproject@forward.com.tw（日本語可予定） TEL: (886-2) 2366-8985）（日本語可予定）

日本のファンクラブ会員への特別販売を予定しておりますので、 詳細は、追って御案内申し上げます。

For anyone who can translate, please do. But it looks like the tour will begin in May, only a month after they release their single “Resonant Blue”. The guy who is teaching me Mandarin is going to be in Taiwan at the same. What I would give to be there in his place instead…one day…one day. What I can say right now is that I’m happy they are going to tour to their fans outside of Japan. Japanese fans get at least three concerts a year, it’s time to share a bit with the rest of the world. Who knows, maybe if Momusu does a song for an anime, they could end up coming to the States? If they did, despite my current disinterest in anime, I would go to that convention in a heart beat. But that’s my wishful thinking. But it’s not hard to wish now since it seems that Momusu is finally broadening its range to other countries.