Gottsan Sighting!

Weekly Shincho apparently has posted pictures (see right) of a Goto Maki sighting.  As most H!P fans know, Goto Maki surprised her fans at the final concert of her tour by announcing it would be her last H!P concert and she was graduating.  Goto Maki around the same time was inadvertently connected to a scandal because of her brother who was caught stealing cables.  While one magazine cited Goto’s leaving due to the scandal, it was later revealed that she already had intentions of leaving due to creative differences.  It seemed that Goto and H!P did not agree on the direction her career was going, so when time came to renew her contract, she chose not to stay with H!P.  While still signed as an UFA talent, Goto has been inactive (probably taking a very well deserved vacation) and it is rumored that she is going to let her UFA contract run its course.  After it expires, many hope she will move to another label (most are rooting for avex, I have mixed feelings about that) and restart her career there.

In the pictures shown, it’s obvious that Maki is a smoker, and apparently this fact is well known.  Being over 20, it’s not a big deal at all, neither is it a scandal.  I’m just happy to see that she’s freaking ALIVE.  Goto has been pretty MIA in everything, and I think it’s probably best that way.  Seeing that she got sick over the summer of 2007 due to be overworked, I’m glad she’s still resting and just taking it easy.  While I hope she will get signed again, I think as long as she is happy, I’ll be okay with that.  If I’m going to root for a label, I don’t know if I’d go with the obvious choice of avex.  While the label is one of the biggest in Japan, I can see Goto being suffocated there in competition and forced to do be an obedient lapdog as she might have been with H!P.   I would love to see a company like Sony or Toshiba pick her up, but again, as long as Goto is happy, I’ll be okay with where ever she goes.  I hope Goto sightings don’t continue to be so far and few in between, and that the next time we see her, it will be for a new single release.  Note that Goto’s scandal with her brother obviously had little effect on her marketing, since SanDisk still has her face posted on their website for advertisements.

Source: Hello-Online Forums

Randomness #0000001

For the life of me, I can’t make it through listening to the whole song of “Tell Me” by the Wonder Girls. I cannot stand that song. Yeah, it gets stuck in people’s head but considering the legacy of awesome girl bands that have come out of Korea before, I don’t get the attraction to that song. I can listen to Kusumi Koharu at her worst, yet I cannot make it through that one song by the Wonder Girls. Of all the new girl groups, SNSD is one of the better ones, but SeeYa probably is the one with the most vocal talent. Sadly they aren’t young enough to satisfy many.

I will never understand why people like “Tell Me”. Ever.  I tried so hard to give these kids a fair shot, I really really did, but I just don’t like their songs. =(

East Meets West & Both Win

I know I’m discussing older songs here, but it hasn’t been till recently that I’ve really sat down and listened to the original version of “Potential Breakup Song” by Aly & AJ in addition to the Ami Suzuki cover/collaboration of the same song. When it comes to mainstream American pop, I’m picky and do not enjoy a lot of what plays on the radio. When not listening to my cracktastic Asian pop (because I do not limit my taste to just Japan), I like British indie rock (Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, The Baby Shambles), heavy metal (Shadows Fall, In Flames, Kill Switch Engage), and good ol’ alternative. Heck, even some pop/punk like Paramore and All-American Rejects. I do have guilty pleasures in the American music scene. They include Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, and if you want to go old school, I’m an 80’s music fiend. But in general, much of what is offered to me on American radio gives me little interest, because it all starts to sound the same. This has a point, really. So when I see a name like Aly & AJ, my first thought is foremost yet another tween appealing group that I will ignore because I for some reason can’t seem to tolerate those very well. I have guilty pleasures by far, I mean, for heaven’s sake, my taste in Japanese pop music is obvious enough of that, but who was I to care about these two? Not to mention a friend of mine who is an avid fanatic of all things tween trying to shove it down my throat, I want nothing to do with it. When “Potential Breakup Song” came out, I had no idea, because I listen to American stations like DC101 which wouldn’t be caught dead playing something like that.

Then Ami Suzuki came out with her single where she “joined” (which basically means she does all the vocals and the other people are sorta there in their own way) Aly & AJ for the song. I shrugged my shoulders, since I was a fan of Ami Suzuki, downloaded it from iTunes Japan and never listened to it. I have over 100 gigs worth of music from all of Asia, so when I set it to go on “shuffle” I probably won’t hear the same song for…days. Possibly weeks. About two weeks ago, after finally putting Shiny Toy Guns’ “We Are Pilots” LP off repeat for a week or two straight, I set iTunes to shuffle and low and behold, the single came on, and I found myself baffled yet pleasantly surprised.

H!P Rankings, Rantings, & Musings

Rankings

First, we have the obligatory ranking that Hello!Blog has set up. He’s a genius and if I could figure out how to do that, dag, I don’t know what I’d do, but it still probably wouldn’t be as great as to what he’s done. :O So here we go. We’ll stick with Morning Musume because I’m sure my write-up for the bottom of Berryz and C-ute’s lists would upset a great deal of people.

Me Vs. You Vs. Who Cares?

It’s a common debate that people argue about rationally or very…irrationally. Who is the best idol group? Which group really does have all the qualities needed to be the best out there? Many argue it’s Morning Musume. Othes insist that within its own label, it is being trumped by groups like C-ute or Berryz Koubou. Outside you have Perfume, AKB48, Idolling!!, or even The Possible. People complaining back and forth over which group is the best, constantly bickering and even snarking each others’ comments. It’s a free world, you have every right to do that. My only issue? What’s the point? Really? I’m being perfect serious in asking why do we need to constantly compare these groups to another and love them each as individual groups? Yes, I have a preference to Morning Musume, but I’m not going to sit there and look at every other group and constantly compare them to each other. It’s pointless to be honest. Each group is its own entity an while they share a great deal of similarities, shouldn’t it just be about enjoying the music? It took me awhile to listen to AKB48. Why? Too many freaking girls. Sixteen Musume were enough to confuse me for a bit, but 30+ in one group? Even split into groups, it annoyed me. But their music? It’s good. Not all of it is good, but that’s only because a few of their songs just don’t fit my particular taste. The same way goes at times for Morning Musume. So here I am going to write a lovely entry talking about each of the groups, their strengths, their weaknesses, and in the end, why comparing them is preventing us from truly enjoying their music as a whole.

Something Like a Return

So I can’t stay away from the Japanese or Asian industry, at least not blogging about it. So what used to be positive-genki.com is moved here to WordPress under the name Outside Castle.  I hope to keep writing up articles/reviews/random thoughts/news about various elements of the Asian music industry and yeah, there you go!