Posts filed under ‘Morning Musume’
Morning Musume – Nine Smile 2009
A friend of mine is living in Japan for the year right now in order to study, something I should actually be doing right now but as it turns out, I’m not. They got to go to their first ever Morning Musume concert a couple of days ago and this was a pretty big deal for them. We went watching AKB48 together in France and we both agreed that it was epic beyond belief and it sent them above Momusu in terms of favourites. Although I haven’t asked my friend since I get the impression that she’s very much back on the Momusu bandwagon again now, which gives me some hope that there are still some crazy fans out there.
I was actually surprised when speaking to a Japanese native earlier this week when he said that AKB48 isn’t considered a band strictly for wota anymore. I mean I know they’ve had some success recently but an idol band breaking into the mainstream is still pretty impressive. What surprised me more was the fact that even the Japanese seem to think the decline of Momusu is out of control and that their days could be numbered; something that only western fans seemed to be doing until now.
Back on topic though; my friend lives in Fukuoka at the moment and the concert she went to was in Reina’s hometown which meant she got quite a reception. Both she and Koharu came back at the end of the encore and spoke to fans which I thought was pretty awesome, maybe a bit too awesome. Reina has been my favourite Musume for a number of years now and as happy as I was to hear that my friend had a great time I couldn’t help but be slightly devastated about not being there. Without going in to details I have no one to blame but myself about being stuck at home in the UK but I would give an arm and a leg and whatever else it takes to see Momusu in Japan.
Apparently the loot included:
Niigaki Risa T-shirt, uchiwa, wrist band, towel, 3 sets of Gaki-only photos,
Kamei Eri T-shirt, uchiwa, wrist band, one set of Kamei only photos,
9 Smile concert tour t-shirt, wristband and set of photos of girls in tour tees,
DVD Magazine volumes 26 and 27,
photobook,
tour bag,
Photo sets A, B, C and D
Metallic photo sets A and B
Morning Musume Gummies + Jun Jun picture that came with it.
I always knew she’d been a Gaki fan, but I didn’t know it was quite to this extent. Well just as long as she brings me a Reina goodie back next time then I’ll be happy. Hey it was me who persuaded her to part with a month’s rent in order to go again so she wouldn’t be there without me, that’s what friends are for, right?
Setlist:
3,2,1 BREAKIN’OUT
How Do You Like Japan? ~Nippon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?~
Kimagure Princess
Nanchatte Renai
Genki+
Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou?
Sukiyaki
Haru Beautiful Everyday
Kioku no Miero
Aruiteru
Aki Urara
Shouganai Yume Oibito
Sakura Mankai
Yuujou ~Kokoro no Busu ni Naranee!~
Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru
Bonkyu Bonkyu BOMB Girl
Please! Jiyuu no Tobira
Handmade CITY
Odore! Morning Curry
Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari
Naichau Kamo
Roman ~MY DEAR BOY~
Resonant Blue
(Encore)
SONGS
Love Machine
Morning Musume Album Discography
After numerous attempts at uploading them I’m sort of happy to say that I can bring you all eight Morning Musume studio albums available for download, as well as “Cover You”. Why they were acting up I’m not quite sure since I ripped them from CD myself, but for whatever reason neither Megaupload nor Mediafire liked them.
I’ve also decided to add passwords to the files as a few of the things I’ve uploaded have gotten stolen in the past, a minor problem for you at best I’m sure so we’ll both learn to live with it.
The password is: akbproject
Inventive eh?
Let me know if you end up having problems with any of the files.
AKB Project Forum
Now this isn’t a post I was expecting to be writing anytime soon; or at all for that matter; but I suppose that’s what boredom and too much free time on your hands does to you.
- AKB Project Forum
That’s right AKB Project already has its own brand new forum. Can you say “rushing into things?”
It can be slightly justified though; a forum built by its members would be great to see (even if it is a disaster) and worth a go, that’s why at the moment if you do pay a visit you’ll notice there isn’t a massive amount going on. If you want to try something try though then I suggest you give it a go. I have as much idea about whether or not this will work as you do but I’m here for the long-term so if people decide to give it a go and then abandon me for a while then I’ll still be around most likely talking to myself.
Hey come on, you’ve got the time to read this blog so don’t make out as if you’ve got too much of a life to join the forum, right?
EDIT: Surprisingly enough it seems that badly made plans can go wrong more often than well thought out ones; the forum is closed, already. Yup it lasted less than 24 hours which may well be some kind of record for these things. Apologies to those few that did join in the time it was up but I notcied that Norton was warning me abouta ll sorts of phishing scams from the host and decided it was best not to run the risk for my own good as well as everybody elses.
Well what can I say? When I fail I fail in style and that’s got to be something to be proud of, hasn’t it?
More Misery For Morning Musume
So what’s the deal with Morning Musume recently? Are they really fading deeper into obscurity? Are those rumours of the end of H!P finally upon us after all these years of speculation? Or am I finally just being sucked into the bandwagon of fail that is the fact it’s the cool thing to do to say that Momusu are finished?
In all honest I just don’t know, though I can’t help but feel that there is considerably more gloom around Momusu recently, especially after Kimagure Princess and its terrible sales figures.
In case you’re not sure of what they were they ranked in at number 4 on Oricon for the first week with a total of 36,274 (or so says Wikipedia). Now for many fans this is another thing to add to the list of ever growing concerns, but for me it’s actually quite a bright spot. You see that figure isn’t that far off the recent sales figures that they’ve been achieving and of course, well know that the naysayers will insist that that is simply because they are getting weaker and weaker, in reality what needs to be faced up to is the fact that they’re never going to be in the position they were nine years ago or so.
After all the gloom that seemed to be surrounding Kimagure Princess I was sort of relieved that there wasn’t such a massive loss in sales figures after all. In fact I’d say that most people would have said the same things they’re saying now about the failings of the band if the last two singles hadn’t charted so well; their position on Oricon is all that saved them that time and that was just getting lucky from the competition that week (or lack of).
If you’ve been living in a cave, or maybe just don’t actually like Morning Musume then here is the PV of the song for you. Though if the latter is the case I have no idea why you read on this far, moron.
The video was uploaded by nwzrPV .
Now personally I like the song, it appeals to the side of me that loves the crazy side of H!P. Okay so it isn’t as cracktastic as some of the shit they made in the past (Hana wo puun springs to mind) but they’re going for something a bit different and that instantly scores points in my book. It was especially pleasing for me to see this pop up now as I hated the last two singles as they were dull as dishwater JPop.
Now we come to the problem: the Japanese don’t like different. A pretty broad statement and a bold one at that, I can admit, but recent evidence seems to show that that’s true. I find it very hard to distinguish between a lot of the “poprock” bands out there in Japan at the moment and idol groups seem to be suffering the same fate. It’s been obvious for some years that they’re just not the thing to do anymore and that is why AKB has managed to be successful by simply targeting the niche market that will buy their stuff; and because of that they’ve picked up some extra fans along the way. Just look at any of the singles since AKB have signed to King Records; they all sound identical in almost every way, don’t try anything new or different and suddenly they rise to super stardom. I for one wasn’t shocked that River did well. I admit that I was shocked by the sheer scale of it but the marketing was perfect for it and it was always going to be a winner destined for the number one spot.
Since switching over to the dark side (AKB) I don’t feel any joy from seeing Momusu fail; of course I love seeing AKB do so well and especially for an idol group and it’s just bad luck that it helps pile misery onto Morning Musume. I can’t say I was exactly upset with seeing how badly they fared with Kimagure but I was brightened up to see that there are still fans out there who hold out hope for them. Hey, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.
The TanaKame blog has recently uploaded a video stating their admiration for the girls and their ability to put in a massive amount of effort for their shows here and I for one was happy to see that the fandom still burns strongly for some of us. Now if only the UFA management would take note of the true fans and actually try catering to them rather than trying to do the impossible and be loved by everyone.
luv-angelz doesn’t quite share the same optimism but then once again we see that the source of this is these supposed poor sales of Kimagure Princess. If Morning Musume fans want any words of consolidation it’s this: no matter how you dress it up, whether it be number one spots or travelling to America, Morning Musume or only doing as badly now as they have done for the past four or five years. Granted there has even been a steady decrease since then but that’s true for the entire music industry.
So in conclusion? Maybe I was too hasty in spelling out the doom of the biggest selling female act in Japan’s history, but I still hold a reservation or two…or three or four…..
AKB Project 