Tsugunaga Momoko’s introduction

Here is Tsugunaga Momoko’s English language introduction to the Doga-Doga Seven site. This is very kawaii. This site could be very interesting. As I mentioned in my earlier post the link to the Youtube page is this.

I think of all the members MM have had over the years none have been as attractively unique as Iida Kaori. From her ‘communicating’ eyes to her slender and very feminine figure she always stood out (in a good way). By the time the 4th generation had joined and MM was starting to really consistently hit the heights Kaori had come to the forefront. To me she was more mature than her years suggested. She seemed to have real poise. She was her own person with no doubts as to who that person was (well none outwardly anyway). Watching her Futarigoto episode one of the things that really hit me (other than how beautiful she looks in jeans) is that this is someone I’d want to spend time with. No I mean properly. Okay many members are very cute and you’d love to be in their company but in terms of actually talking to someone rather than just being swept up in their kawaiiness? Kaori seems like someone you could really enjoy being with for reasons other than being amused by the personality or adoring the cuteness. She seems someone who you could be deeper with. Someone you could connect with. Some people maybe don’t like that kind of personality though. I think the people who are the most popular are often the ones who have noticeable character flaws or more immediately approachable outgoing personalities. People who can be daft like Tsuji, Sayumi, Rika or Kago. People with more outward vibrancy like Yaguchi, Niigaki, Yossie and Kusumi (or not, depending on your opinion of her). People who have that youthful cuteness mixed with insecurity like Konno, Takahashi and Eri had. Or maybe the more forceful Yankii type like Yuko or Reina. Kaori seemed a very different plate of sushi indeed. Kaori seemed more of a lady. Confident, mature beyond her years, sexy and more contained than the others. I can’t think of any drawbacks to that kind of personality and I think those qualities made her a good leader.

Ogawa recently spoke of how much nicer MM is now that all the members are of a similar age (from her Haromoni@ press conference upon returning to Japan from New Zealand). I like to contrast this with Utaban presenter Ishibashi Takaaki’s comment that the current Musume doesn’t have a distinguishable personality (from the the 29 November 2007 Utaban appearance). Yes they are all similar ages and may get on better now but does that make them any better to watch? Does it make their music any better? I’d say, on the whole, no. More variety in the personalities would make for more interesting television. A wider age range would benefit them in terms of giving them a wider view on life, music, the universe and everything (oops I keep falling into Douglas Adams territory). A wider group of personalities would broaden their horizons. This current line-up is missing some big personalities. I’d list Yuko, Kaori, Yaguchi, Yossie and possibly Fujimoto Miki as the type of people they are missing. It’s not just an age thing, as Yossie is not much older than Takahashi, but it’s also about presence (or possibly mental age). In a lot of ways Yossie and Miki had strong personalities. They had a strong presence in the group. The current line-up more resembles a noisy bunch of kids whose teacher has been delayed. The group was much more interesting when there was more variety within the line-up. It gave them more gravitas and created better entertainment.

Kaori was great because she never totally looked like she belonged. This made her seem a strong leader and made the group all the more richer. I remember when I was just discovering MM that I watched the Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari pv and spent the whole time wondering who the tall one was. She stood out. Rather than dismissing them as just a cute bunch of kids doing catchy pop music I actually had my interest raised in the personalities. This of course leads to seeking out Hello! Morning and Utaban episodes and that’s never a bad thing. Watching the Utabans Kaori comes in for a lot of Ishibashi’s cruel humour and sometimes you can see she is annoyed and she doesn’t always just laugh along. Again though this gives a sense of her individual personality. It’s easy at times to forget too how young she was. During the 2000 shuffles episode there’s one point where she looks like she wanted to kill Coconuts Musume’s Danielle. While she was trying to come to a peaceful resolution during musical chairs Danielle just pushed her off. In that instant we see that here is someone with common sense trying to ensure everyone gets along and at the same time here is someone with a fire inside when riled. Sounds like a good leader to me. Of course it also showed that here is someone still young. I mean it was musical chairs. Don’t get so stressed.

Away from good looks and a strong personality there is one other thing Kaori has going for her…a great voice. I am deeply in love with her debut solo album Osavurio ~Ai wa Mattekurenai~. Her other albums are good too but the fact I already had a familiarity with many of the songs meant Osavurio quickly became a favourite. Okay so Yossie liked to take the mickey out of her singing and her choice of music may not be to everyone’s taste but again you get a strong sense of personality and beauty. Her songs are beautifully sung. It’s perfect music for a sunny day or a lazy Sunday afternoon or for when you need to escape from the world around you. The beauty in the songs can be breathtaking.

A beautiful voice, beautiful looks, strong yet feminine personality and a clothes style that complemented her physical beauty while also suiting her personality. To me Iida Kaori is one of the biggest personalities H!P ever had. Now she’s a mummy and may never release another record. She was due to take part in Cool Earth Ambassador 2008 on July 7th however which suggests she may not be ready yet to call it a day on her career. I really hope to see her release more solo albums. Whether she does or not however, with over 7 years in MM incorporating 26 singles, 4 solo albums and a wealth of live performances under her belt, there will always be some Kaori to watch or listen to. Doesn’t stop me hoping for more though.

Tsuji Nozomi. She was never anything other than pure entertainment. When appearing on tv shows she had an infectious liveliness and always seemed to be laughing along even when she was the butt of the jokes. Her Utaban appearances, whether with MM or Mini Moni, were always hysterical. Watching her on Ayaka’s Surprise English Lessons was always worth the time too. Her turn-the-table surprise dance lessons were great as well. And, to be fair, despite not being the prettiest by any means she was cute. By the time the scandals hit Kago she was also starting to grow up and it seems a shame that we never got to see her full potential as a singer after that. Some of her songs with Kago in W were a million miles away from what I’d have expected. Who’d have thought during their Morning Musume days that when given a unit together they would also be given a song like Shiroi Iro wa Koibito no Iro to sing? It’s a beautiful song and they do it justice. Even when given songs that were more in keeping with their earlier lively somewhat bonkers image - such as Robokiss - they were actually perfect bubblegum pop songs. Fun, lively, catchy as hell and still sounding great all these years later. Oh and the happy version of the Robokiss pv never fails to make me…well…happy. Fitting that. Her energy during the Musume days was also a ‘charm point’ to use that old term that doesn’t seem to get mentioned anymore (a cynic would say something disparaging about the current line-up here). Tsuji - such a force alongside Kago - always had such gleeful vibrancy. Okay so if you watch The Peace pv you can see that neither can dance but that makes their dancing just so much cuter. Oh and in the Renai Revolution 21 pv the two of them are ultra kawaii. So sweet. Yes their singing left a lot to be desired but even so somehow their sheer force of personalities compensated. Their humour, their irreverence, their lack of fear (they never held back their thoughts) all just made them worth having involved. It enriched Morning Musume and by extension Hello! Project.
Then of course came the scandals. Little Kago was a bit of a naughty girl. This left Tsuji suddenly high and dry as far as singing went. At least she still had Hello! Morning appearances on tv to partly compensate. But musically there was very little save for one single. I guess when you are so closely linked with another then when that person stumbles you are tripped up too. However Tsuji at least could keep working. With Hello! Morning, Haromoni@ and Gatas Brilhantes H.P. (sharing goalkeeper duties with Konkon and thus getting the cool black kit to wear) Tsuji was still very much active. Just not musically. Then came the happiness that has (so far) eluded Kago. A pregnancy, marriage and a healthy baby boy and Tsuji has moved on to a new life. She is on indefinate leave from H!P as you’d expect. Whether she ever comes back who knows. I hope so though. Even if her singing days are behind her I think with her personality she is made for the chat show or tv gameshow circuit. Tsuji. She never failed to entertain. What more could you ask for from a celebrity?

Kago Ai. She was never anything other than pure entertainment. When appearing on tv shows she had an infectious liveliness and always seemed to be laughing along even when she was the butt of the jokes. Her Utaban appearances, whether with MM or Mini Moni, were always hysterical. Watching her on Ayaka’s Surprise English Lessons was always worth the time too. And, to be fair, despite not being the prettiest by any means she was cute. By the time the scandals hit she was also starting to grow up and it seems a shame that we never got to see her full potential in H!P. Some of her songs with Tsuji in W were a million miles away from what I’d have expected. Who’d have thought during their Morning Musume days that when given a unit together they would also be given a song like Shiroi Iro wa Koibito no Iro to sing? It’s a beautiful song and they do it justice. Even when given songs that were more in keeping with their earlier lively somewhat bonkers image - such as Robokiss - they were actually perfect bubblegum pop songs. Fun, lively, catchy as hell and still sounding great all these years later. Oh and the happy version of the Robokiss pv never fails to make me…well…happy. Fitting that. Her energy during the Musume days was also a ‘charm point’ to use that old term that doesn’t seem to get mentioned anymore (a cynic would say something disparaging about the current line-up here). Kago - such a force alongside Tsuji - always had such gleeful vibrancy. Okay so if you watch The Peace pv you can see that neither can dance but that makes their dancing just so much cuter. Oh and in the Renai Revolution 21 pv the two of them are ultra kawaii. So sweet. Yes their singing left a lot to be desired but even so somehow their sheer force of personalities compensated. Their humour, their irreverence, their lack of fear (they never held back their thoughts) all just made them worth having involved. It enriched Morning Musume and by extension Hello! Project.

Then of course came the scandals. Little Kago was a bit of a naughty girl. Underage smoking and an older boyfriend prematurely ended her singing career (for the time being at least). To look at her now - slowly trying to rebuild her life and career as an actress - I think she does look like she’s been through a lot. She was just starting to blossom in W and it almost seems like instead she’s wilted. But she’s back in the sunshine now and I hope she does rebuild her career. It’s never nice to think of someone self-harming. That level of unhappiness is heartbreaking. To live with that kind of self doubt or hate day in day out is a horrible thing. And to think that she was like that even in her Musume days it seems surprising and just goes to show that the public image can mask a lot. Kago seems to have suffered out of proportion to the things she did wrong. At the same time I do understand the reason that certain rules are in place and I totally endorse them. Well at least with the younger members. When it comes to someone like Yaguchi Mari I’d have rather she’d stuck around for several more years. Bugger the no boyfriend rule we missed out on so much Yaguchi. But back to Kago and I think she suffered more than she deserved. But smoking, despite being widely popular, is actually a pretty horrible thing to be doing and can cause just as much damage as cutting your wrists. In fact it can cause more. If not too deep a cut will heal. The damage smoking can cause is far harder to heal. As for the older boyfriend, well she was young and when you are young you can fall in love so easily. It’s understandable but it’s also not something an idol should be doing. Even so I can’t say I think any worse of her for it. She seems like the sensitive type who may actually have gotten some confidence from such a relationship if she’d not been famous and thus exposed. Her troubles were also not helped by certain things that were going on in her family if what she’s said about her money being spent without her knowledge is true.

Anyway I’m hoping she becomes successful again. If not through singing then through acting or maybe tv work. I think with her personality she is made for the chat show or tv gameshow circuit. I also hope she finds happiness and love. Even if it’s just within herself. Kago. She never failed to entertain. What more could you ask for from a celebrity?

Da da da da da da daaaaah. Yes it’s time for another Haromoni. This weeks look…

First up hey hey it’s the Monkeyz. Although at least they aren’t wearing the awful monkey suits. Not that what they are wearing is much better mind…

Why do H!P always make people wear awful costumes? Why do they have to match? Morning Musume never used to be like that back in the good old days. Awful song too. Still at least Tsugunaga Momoko is still cute…

And so onto the first item. Eri & Sigh Yummy are given video cameras and wonder around a shopping district…

Back in the studio I notice that Takahashi Lovely now has lovely hair and looks…well…lovely. Kawaii…

But back to the turtle and friend. I’d like to know what the sashes they are wearing say. Also why are the faces of some passes by blurred out but not others? Either way without speaking Japanese there’s no way of even guessing what this item was about. It had a mixed reaction back in the studio. It got stars from most except Lovely and the Chinese duo. Witness Junjun’s pained expression…

The next clip is Niigaki throwing basketballs over her shoulder into a basket of balls. Throwing them over her shoulder through the hoop would have been better. To be fair though she had to throw three and get them all in and from quite a distance. Could she do it in less than 100 takes?

Yes. Of the ones who guessed wrong Sayumi will be the one whose punishment comes at the end of the show.

The good point about the next clip is that Reina gets to take centre stage for a few minutes. The bad point about the next clip is it’s another memory test. About food. The theme seems to be sweets and afterwards they all get to try some…

After which we get a clip on V-U-Den disbanding. Good to see they got a mention. There’s a few clips from their final show and then a quick message from Charmy herself…

Finally it’s time for Sayumi’s punsihment. No balloon this time. Instead…umm…she stands in front of the others and moves her body in a weird way. This goes down well with the others so obviously there’s something I’m missing through not speaking Japanese…

And with that we’re done. Well apart from the preview of next weeks show in which they all look kawaii…or should that be Hawaii?

My thoughts this week are that I wish I spoke Japanese so I could understand what’s really being said and I wonder why Linlin & Mitsui were there as neither said or did anything. Mitsui is getting a clip next week though. I am really glad V-U-Den got a mention. I wish Haromoni would bring in one or two other H!P members. I’d love to see the V-U-Den girls involved like they used to be with Hello! Morning. Here’s hoping (for miracles)…

告知ｄｅドガドガ７ Doga-Doga Seven video site

There’s an interesting new video site on the web that delivers you “loose but deep” videos about Japanese Idols, Japanese animations and “Otaku” information. Check out the subtitled Rika Ishikawa introduction. She seems to be a spokesperson for the site. You can find more videos via the Youtube page here. Momoko Tsugunaga also seems to be involved. This could be interesting if marketed and managed well.

jphip are reporting that the 3rd OG single will be released in September. No title has been announced yet. Hopefully this will be a brand new song rather than something from their debut album. Given the gap between releases I would think it will be something new. Either way I can’t wait. I hope it’s as good as Yattarouze! Plus a new pv means more Konno, Rika and Yossie. No bad thing! I demand more KonKon in the H!P world. Especially more of her wearing her goalkeeper’s kit. It’s kawaii. Well rather she’s kawaii in it.

Biyuuden- Nannimo iwazu ni I LOVE YOU pv

As of today V-U-Den are no more. This was such a fitting song to end with. Splendid ladies all 3 of them to misquote nobody in particular. Good luck in your future Rika, Erika and Yui. I have no doubt we’ll hear more from Rika but the other two I’m not so sure about. For every Fujimoto there are several Ayaka’s. Anyway their last release will be a live dvd of “v-u-den Concert Tour 2008 Shoka Biyudensetsu V ~Saishuu Densetsu~” and will be released 17 September 2008. This dvd was filmed towards the end of the tour although I don’t think it was the final night strangely. Anyway I’ll be hoping to buy it when the time comes.

The dvd of the May 18 performance of their hits tour will be released July 30 2008. Link to YesAsia’s listing here.

Concert Setlist

1. Resonant Blue
2. Onna ni Sachi Are
3. MC1
4. Egao YES Nude
5. Iroppoi Jirettai
6. Osaka Koi no Uta
7. MC2
8. Kanashimi Twilight
9. Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan
10. Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~
11. Do it! Now - Takahashi Ai then everyone
12. Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~
13. Furusato - Michishige Sayumi
14. Namida ga Tomaranai Houkago - Kamei Eri
15. Memory Seishun no Hikari - Tanaka Reina
16. Manatsu no Kousen - Niigaki Risa with Takahashi Ai, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, and Tanaka Reina
17. AS FOR ONE DAY
18. Summer Night Town
19. MC3 - Kamei Eri and Tanaka Reina
20. Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima - Kusumi Koharu, Mitsui Aika, Junjun, and Linlin
21. Morning Coffee - Takahashi Ai, Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, and Tanaka Reina
22. Medley: Daite HOLD ON ME!, Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~, SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~, Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari, Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
23. MC4 - Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, and Junjun
24. THE Manpower!!!
25. Shabondama
26. Medley: I WISH, Happy Summer Wedding, Koi no Dance Site, Souda! We’re ALIVE, The Peace!, Renai Revolution 21
27. MC5
28. Koko ni Iruzee!
29. Mikan
30. Aruiteru

Encore

31. Ai Araba IT’S ALL RIGHT
32. LOVE Machine

First impressions for me are that I’m looking forward to seeing Reina doing Memory live and that I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get decent length versions of Renai Revolution 21, The Peace and Souda! They are 3 of my favourite MM songs and yet always seem to get ‘medleyised’.

The cast for Cinderella the Musical has been announced. It’s Morning Musume. But seriously…

Cinderella: Takahashi Ai
Prince: Niigaki Risa
Sister Portia: Kamei Eri
Fairy: Michishige Sayumi
Elder Sister Joy: Tanaka Reina
The Herald: Kusumi Koharu
Fairy: Mitsui Aika
Page: Junjun
Page: Linlin

Plus other characters played by Takarazuka. Two big starring roles there for Junjun & Linlin.  Can’t say it surprises me. I’m sure there will be a dvd release at some stage so hopefully eventually some kind soul will do a translation.