Bikkuri Project

Today’s costume hall of shame can be summed up in one word, a word which I personally feel should never be associated with Hello Project in any way. “Yeeeehaw!!!”

To start us off, Berryz, dressed as proper cowboys. At first glance, it’s not so bad. I’m not a fan of cowboy costumes being worn by anyone other than actual cowboys or 4-year-olds on Halloween, but I guess these are sort of cute. What really bugs meare the tiny hats. They’re supposed to be cute, but they remind me of clown hats. You know how clowns always have accessories that are the wrong size, right? Oversized shoes and bowties, cars and hats that are too small, etc. Worse, the clown with the tiny cowboy hatis notthe happy fun clown. He’s the sad kind of clown. He’s the clown that’s always getting pied in the face, or,at therodeo, chased by the raging bull. While I worry that the Ghengis Khan song is some kind of cruel joke on the Berryz, let’s not demote them to “sad clown” just yet.

Excuse me. Miss Running Deer? I hate to break this to you, but you’re not actually an indian priestess. You’re really a Japanese girl named Maki Goto. You see, there is no real tribe of Native Americans who make their traditional clothing out of sparkly brown camouflage fabric. Try to take it easy on the peyote next time, okay?

Ayaya is hereby crowned Queen of the Rodeo! She’s not just wearing a costume inspired by rodeo queens: I’m worried that she might have assaulted an actual rodeo queen and stolen her dress before this photo was taken. Or maybe she only stole half of a dress and made the other half herself, because I’m pretty sure this is actually the right and left half of two similar, but slightly different dresses sewn together. The hem is way shorter on one side, and there’s a seam down the middle. Good thing this outfit couldn’t get any worse.

Hoo! This little black number would be hot, if she hadn’t retained the heavily fringed arm warmers. At least all of the fringe sort of blended in with the equally fringe-happy rodeo queen dress. With all of the fringing concentrated on her arms, at best it looks like she’s wearing a silly minicape, and at worst it looks like she has a very serious arm-hair problem.

Well, that there’s perti’near it for the costume hall of shame rodeo. I’m gonna go ride off into one’a them sunsets now. Yeeeeehaw!

Wow. People are talking about Kouhaku like it’s the worst thing to happen to Hello Project since Aibon discovered nicotine. There were a lot of things that I think could have been better, but it certainly wasn’t the horrible disaster that people are making it out to be. I’ve actually heard it called a travesty, and that is just ridiculous. Let’s review

The Song Choice- This part seems to be the point drawing the most criticism,so I’ll tackle it first.Yes, Love Machine gets performed a lot lately, but I think that since the 10^th anniversary is now over, we won’t be seeing it nearly as much anymore. It was the “10^th anniversary party” after all. How could they not sing Love Machine? Don’t forget, we are h!p fans, but the average Japanese citizen is not seeking out every live broadcast featuring Morning Musume. This performance may well be the first time they’ve seen Morning Musume do Love Machine since Kouhaku a couple of years ago, if even then. This isn’t a phenomenon that only applies to Morning Musume. To draw an example from this year’s Kouhaku, you can bet that no matter how much new music SMAP produces, people are still going to be wanting them to sing Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana, because it was their biggest hit, and that’s what they’re known for. If people see the Rolling Stones, they expect to hear “Satisfaction”, if people see Journey they want to hear “Don’t Stop Believing”, and if you go to the Spice Girls reunion show, you’ll be disappointed if they don’t sing “Wannabe”. Random examples, I know, but they’re the first ones that came to mind. If you have seen the latest Morning Musume Concert, or the set list for the latest h!p Wonderful Hearts Concert, you will notice that Love Machinedoes not appear.For the devoted fans who come to their concerts and watch their every performance, they will sing other songs. For average Japanese people who maybe see them once a year, it’s Love Machine. Personally, I would have prefered another song, but given the circumstances, the choice makes sense.

I do strongly agree that Berryz should not have sung Tsukatta ni Kataomoi. Special Generation would have been a much better choice.

The Length-

Yeah, it should have been longer. Agreed 100%. By the time you started to get into one song, they were on to the next one. Though to those who are saying “C-ute won new artist of the year! They should get more attention”, they won that award the night before. It was just a wee bit late to change the entire format of the performance, even if they wanted to.

The Costumes-

Were they too much? Absolutely not. Have you seen Kouhaku? Everyone wears ridiculous and flamboyant costumes. It’s tradition! Besides, anything is better than that giant fuzzy red tophat Sayumi wore a few years ago. I personally thought that the costume change was executed very smoothly, thanks tothe Eggs help.

The Audience Reaction-

Here’s the thing. This was not an audience of crazy h!p wota like we’re used to seeing, and you can’t expect them to react as such. From what I could tell, the audience was primarily middle-aged Japanese men and women, many of whom were wearing suits. Polite clapping is probably considered a huge outburst for them. I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that they were not jumping up and down and screaming.

The Singing Quality-

I’m sorry, other than Yurina’s mic apparently malfunctioning, what exactly was wrong with the singing? I may be deaf, but I do not think it was a bad vocal performance. I would go as far as to call it a good vocal performance. Even Koharu’s line sounded pretty good. If you want to hear bad, check out Ayu’s number, or, God forbid, Leah Dizon. Both of those girls were so out of tune it was kind of painful, even if they looked great. H!P is not known for producing the best singers in the world, but they were faaar from the worst singers at Kouhaku, that’s for sure.

Soo.. it could have been a lot better, but it also could have been a lot worse. Please stop freaking out people. I garuntee you that we’ll be seeing a lot less of Love Machine in 2008 now that the 10^th anniversary year is over, k?

As we look to 2008, the question of whether or not Berryz and/or Cute can surpass Morning Musume, or even if that has already happened, is being asked more often than ever. I’ll be the first to admit that I favor Morning Musume over the other two groups, though I enjoy them all. Even so, I do believe that, at least for now, Morning Musume has the clear upper hand, both talent-wise and popularity-wise.

There are some who are proudly touting that C-ute, or even Berryz have now surpassed Morning Musume in terms of popularity. This is primarily based on the fact that C-ute’s latest single sold more than Morning Musume’s latest (though if you look at the final sales figures, the difference is very small, like 500 copies). Also factoring in is that Berryz and C-ute both performed with Morning Musume at Kohaku this year for the first, and hopefully not the last time. As for the single sales, I’m sorry, but Cute’s one single barely outselling one of Morning Musume’s singles does not count as surpassing them. Every single other song by Morning Musume has outsold every single other song by either kids group. I honestly think that it comes down to Tokaikko Junjou being a much better song than Mikan, or at least one that would appeal to the general public more. I know there are some hardcore Mikan fans, but if you asked someone on the street who knew nothing about either group to listen to both singles andthenasked them to name their favorite, I would bet money that 9 times out of 10 they would pick Tokaikko. I’m not ruling out the possibility that Cute or Berryz could surpass Morning Musume in terms of popularity as measured by sales figures at some point in the future, but until I see a few more singles repeating the results of the Tokaikko vs Mikan matchup or Cute and Berryz start getting invited to Kohaku without Morning Musume, I’m not ready to declare Momusu beaten in terms of popularity.

Even if C-ute and/or Berryz do start to consistently outsell Morning Musume, and that’s a big if, I still think thatneither Berryz nor C-ute is a better group than Morning Musume. I’ve watched all three of these groups perform many many times, and Morning Musume outshines both of the kids groups in terms of pure stage presence. They’re just a more polished, charismatic, and confident unit. They’ve got Ai-chan, Reina, and Risa who (controversial time) are better singers than any given member of the kids groups. They’ve got Sayumi, who is prettier than any given member of the kids groups. They’ve got Koharu who, due to her anime, is more popular with little girls than any given member of the kids groups (FACT). Eri, and potentially Aika, JunJun, and LinLin are all better singers than most of the kids, maybe excluding a couple of the best singers among them. There’s no lack of dancing talent among the Momusu either.

The kids sometimes look like they’re trying to act like idols. Despite their years of experience, they still sometimes have a certain “wait, am I doing this right?” look about them when they’re performing. I’d attribute this to them all joining at a young age, at the same time, and therefore not having as much of a chance to work with more experienced idols. Most of the Momusu seem to genuinely be idols, because they got to spend every day observing and learning from girls who had been doing it for years before they became leads in the group, and it shows. Watch all 3 groups perform on-stage during Kohaku. None of them look bad or anything, but it’s Morning Musume who grabs your attention with their energy. The kids tend to not take any risks onstage. For example, in Love Machine at Kohaku, there are certain parts where the girls get a bit of freedom with their dance moves. The kids all seem to play it safe, choosing moves that work, but don’t stand out. Then you’ve got Ai-chan doing some kind of crazy backbend during the beginning. I just don’t see any of the kids trying that one. I’m not only talking about Kohaku either. Watching the group’s individual concerts and you’ll find that Morning Musume really does put on a better show.

You’ve also got to consider the manner of their selection. The Morning Musume members were mostly selected as young teens, or at least pre-teens. Most of the kids were in the single digits, age-wise, when they were selected. The harsh truth is thatjust because they were cute kids doesn’t make them great idols today. Honestly ask yourself, if the h!p Kids had first auditioned for an idol group today, how many of them would have been picked? I do think that some of them do have special talent, and probably would be scooped up if they auditioned today. Others, I won’t name any names, just wouldn’t stand out in a crowd of idol hopefuls.When they were Berryz/Cute’s age, ALL of the current Morning Musume members stood out enough, in one way or another, to be picked for the group. I don’t say this to bash any members of Berryz or Cute. I do like all of the girls, and I’m glad they are where they are today. I only mean to be realistic about things.

In conclusion, to answer the question in the opening paragraph, it depends on what you mean by “supass”. Could Berryz and/or Cute soon surpass Morning Musume in terms of sales? Ummm, maybe, I guess. Can they surpass them in terms of becoming the superior group? Not any time soon. Hey, aren’tthey all one big happy h!p family anyway? If one group gains popularity, that serves to draw attention to the rest of them. Group hug!

Morning Musume is made up of 9 unique girls, and lately I’ve been wondering, what was their motivation to join the group in the first place? At some point, they each had to make a decision and say, “all right, I’m going to do this”. I’m sure they all have a wide variety of reasons for joining MM and staying with it, but these are what I perceive as their primary motivations upon auditioning. I should warning that all of this is guesswork based on my own perception of things, and you may very well strongly disagree with me.

Ai-chan- This is an easy one. Ai-chan loves to sing and dance, and being an idol was a way for her to make a career out of that. It’s well known that she dreamed of joining Takarazuka since childhood, but she wasn’t tall enough. Since the idol industry prefers their girls pint-sized, it was a good alternative for her. Everything that comes with being an idol that isn’t song or dance related was more of an unfortunate side effect.

Risa- Loved Morning Musume, and decided she wanted to be a part of it. It’s kind of like a little boy deciding to play basketball because he dreams of joining his favorite team someday, but in Risa’s case, it actually happened. Also, I think Risa is one who thrives on compliments. She loves to have people cheering for her and telling her she is doing a good job, and being an idol could give her that.

Eri- I think Eri was one of those girls who liked to dance and sing, so she went to the audition on a whim and never thought she’d actually get in. It seems like something she’d do. As she made it through rounds of auditioning she probably got kind of caught up in the whole process and the excitement that she may actually be chosen, and before she knew it, she had passed.

Sayumi- Sayumi knows she is cute, and she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She probably realized that she could put her pretty face to good use. Being an idol especially appealed to her because of the glamour in it. Basically, Sayumi likes to dress up in pretty clothes and have her picture taken and have a big fuss made over her. When there’s behind the scenes footage, you can bet that Sayu is going to give us a detailed report on what she’s wearing today. I’m not trying to make her sound shallow, but I do think that’s how it was for her at first.

Reina- Reina is, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, an attention whore. Watch the “making of” videos and notice who always spends the most time mugging for the camera. Out of everyone in Morning Musume, I think that Reina thrives on attention the most. I mean, she’s been flashing cute idol poses since she was a toddler. Reina is also a very Type A girl who sets high goals for herself and then works her butt off until she accomplishes them. At some point she decided that she wanted to be an idol, and even being rejected her first time auditioning for Morning Musume didn’t deter her. Since she hates to lose, if anything, it probably just motivated her to try harder.

Koharu- Is also an attention whore. She’s an attention whore who happened to be a fan of Morning Musume, so the pieces all fit for her. Also, since she seems to be blessed with a huge supply of hyper energy, the active lifestyle of an idol probably appealed to her. It probably just sounded plain fun to little 12 year old Koharu.

JunJun- I think that JunJun is in a more Takahashi like situation, in that her primary motivation for being in Morning Musume is because she wants to sing. This was a goal she was pursuing in China, and when she saw her chance to finally break into the singing biz, she took it, even though that chance happened to be in Japan, causing her many hardships. Most likely, she sees this as a stepping stone to making it big as a singer back in China in a few years. There’s more to it than that though. Based on her photo blog, and the way she always manages to do something to get noticed, despite her lack of fluency in Japanese, I’d say there’s a bit of attention whore in JunJun as well.

LinLin- LinLin is kind of unique as a Morning Musume in that she has been in show business since she was a little girl. Since she grew up in that kind of environment, show business is pretty much all LinLin knows. From what I hear, it’s rough to be a teenage former child star. She’s too old to be a cute little girl anymore, but people still have that image of her, so no one will take her seriously. Coming to Japan, where she is unknown, offered her a fresh start and a way to get away from her previous image but still remain in show business.

Aika- Okay, you’ve got me. Aika is the only one that I just can’t figure out. Maybe she just hasn’t been around long enough for me to take a guess at it, but I just don’t have any idea why she joined Morning Musume. Sure, she’s good at it, but why does she want to do it? Anybody else want to take a stab at that one?

As a closing note, is it Sayumi’s goal to always be the silliest looking girl at Kohaku? A couple of years ago she appeared in a giant, fuzzy, red top hat. This year, she wore her hair in absolutely enormous poofy buns right on the side of her head. Oh Sayu.

Speaking of Kohaku, what would happen if there was a really popular mixed-gender group? Would they just not be on a team? Maybe they could be team pink?

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone!