While she was never a favourite member of mine, she was definitely an interesting character and Morning Musume will have a different feel to it as it always does after a member graduates. So, I thought in order to commemorate the enjoyment she brought to me during her tenure with Morning Musume, I’d just post these two videos from Music Fighter appearances in the past year or so. Koharu was definitely a member that could get me laughing.

Also, for those of you who wanted to read a translation of the messages from each of the members during the graduation concert, turbos86 from Hello! Online translated them here.

Congratulations Koharu!! Good luck in all your future endeavours!!

Now, I’m sure we’re all waiting with baited breath to learn when the next set of auditions will begin.

To lead into this snippet, you must first watch this clip from the Okajo Dumbest Member test to refresh your memory on our loveable subleader’s wonderful geography skills:

With that, here’s a bit of background on this episode of Hello! Morning. The theme is “Morning Musume vs. Hello! Morning”. For this part of the episode, Tanaka Reina was chosen as Momusu’s team captain. The girls are trying to get points in order to qualify for prizes. Each round, a category is given and the number of people that Reina has to choose for that category. She can choose any of the girls from the group, but each girls has to answer the question/complete the challenge for that category in order to receive points.

For this clip, the category is Geography: 4 people… Who does Reina choose?

This clip is just full of so much win. First, the look of shock on the other members sitting around Risa when her name is called… Then Kei’s look of utter dread when the camera angle switches to her and Reina… Then Risa’s panic at knowing she’ll never get the right answer. Then her relief at not being the one to screw it up for the team… And then Mari’s interpretation of Gaki’s feeling through it all. You can’t really blame Reina, as she wasn’t part of Momusu during the Bakajo test. I guess she didn’t catch the special on tv… XD This clip is just pure awesome. Who wouldn’t enjoy this clip? XD

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I went out and got some cake for Cake Day! ^_^ And seeing as I’ve been getting loads of Aichan and Risa merchandise recently, Leader and Sub-leader came to join in on the celebration!

As I mentioned a few months ago with my 100th post for fields, my blogging updates have slowed down recently. Work has been ridiculously hectic for me recently, in addition to Japanese classes, choir practices and the usual social events that I must partake in to stop myself from becoming a hermit. XD It makes for either not having much time to blog, or being so burnt out that even when I could be blogging, I don’t really want to be thinking… Blogging while not thinking would not be a good idea.

However, a lot has happened during this second year of the fields being in existence, the biggest thing having been seeing Morning Musume live at Anime Expo.

Up next was the graduation of Elder Club from Hello! Project, but luckily the graduated girls did not disappear. Ishikawa Rika and Yoshizawa Hitomi continue to go strong with HANGRY & ANGRY, having gone 2.5 anime conventions since their graduation. Abe Natsumi and Matsuura Aya have done concert tours and Melon Kinenbi have been releasing some singles. Now, I’m only mentioning those who have continued to release music, as that’s what I follow. I know Yaguchi Mari is on tv, but I don’t follow that, and lots of the other girls have blogs (which I can’t read).

On the blogging side of things, I’ve been bad with my worship blogs. I have been very negligent to Aya and Miyabi, and what’s worse is that while those two blogs have been pretty dead recently, I’ve been wanting to start a third worship blog dedicated to Leader and Sub-leader. XD However, I’m going to try and get back to updating those two blogs. We’ll see how successful I am in the coming weeks.

Specifically for fields, I’m going to do my best to get some reviews out soon, on Morning Musume’s latest (maybe 2 latest) and the Hello! Project 2009 Summer Concert. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that these don’t take too long to write up.

Thanks to everyone who has read fields of maiZe and berryZ over the past two years! It’s been loads of fun writing and I’m looking forward to see what year three has in store. One major thing coming up in the first month of year three is Kusumi Koharu’s graduation… I’m quite interested to read up on fan reports from the graduation concert. It’s already proving to be an interesting ride.

So, let’s pretend you (the reader) have never been to the fields before… Who knows, maybe you haven’t and this really is your first time visiting. There a very difficult pop quiz-like question at the end of this gets post, so study the gets very hard now….. I’m telling you, this question is going to be super difficult. XD

And now, it’s time for the really difficult question…..

Who are maiZe’s favourite members in Morning Musume? I know it’s really hard to figure it out from these photos, but try your hardest.. XD If you guess (HA!) correctly… uuh… you get the maiZe and berryZ seal of approval! XD (Yes, I’m a geek.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RISA!!! <3

So, similarly to Ai-chan’s birthday post, I’ve got Risa’s 100% Interview, from just shortly after she joined up with Morning Musume. She was such a cutie back then!! (Although, if you went back in time and talked to my 17/18-year old self, I definitely wouldn’t have been squeeing about Mame-chan yet. XD)

Risa’s such a cutie – in 20 years, she’ll still be in Morning Musume. She’d be 33! XD She’s gearing to surpass Momusu’s original leader, who graduated at age 28. Gotta love Risa’s one track mind when it comes to her love for the group.

I find it funny that just like Ai-chan, I have a follow up video for Risa which also covers her favourite food mentioned in the 100% interview, though Risa’s second video clip is nowhere near as recent as Ai-chan’s was. This second clip is Risa’s futarigoto from 2004(? or was it late 2003?) where she makes her favourite food which she mentioned in the first video clip.

I just love watching and listening to Risa. She’s such an interesting character making random noises all the time and having such cute moments of excitement. ^_^ I can never get bored watching Risa. The video cuts off pretty abruptly, and I’m not sure why that is exactly, but I just love how she ends it. LOL Mako-chan. XD

Risa’s grown up from the little 12-year-old who joined Morning Musume. I was listening to one of Aichan’s recent Ichigo Ichie radio shows on the weekend, and she played Popcorn Love, the b-side on Mr. Moonlight. The gokkies all had one line each in their debut b-side, and it made me think how much she’s moved forward since then, what with her duet with Sayumi on Naichau Kamo’s b-side, Yowamushi… Yes, it took 25 singles for her to get truly spotlighted on a b-side, but it’s better than nothing. How do you guys like the improvement?

*Just a warning… The audio files are a lot louder than the video files, so if you don’t want to be startled, I’d suggest lowering the volume if you’re gonna listen to the songs. ^_^*

Risa’s line is at around 0:54. I seriously love Popcorn Love. It’s one of my favourite b-sides in Momusu’s repertoire.

If I need to tell you when Risa’s singing in this one….. JUST STEP AWAY FROM ME, YOU TERRIBLE PERSON!!! … Kidding. XD

Now we need some massive Risa spotlighting in a Morning Musume a-side and I’ll be super happy.

And finally, to help me celebrate Risa’s birthday, Ai-chan and Risa dropped by my house today… Meaning that my first Hello Store USA order arrived in the mail today! ^_^

As you can see, it was filled with only Ai-chan and Risa merchandise, and funnily enough, my second order is once again Ai-chan and Risa filled. To further celebrate Risa’s day, I made the tough decision on which phone strap to stick onto my phone:

I had the Platinum 9 Disco wallpaper on my phone way before ordering these phone straps, so I think it’s totally fitting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RISA!!! Here’s to many many more happy birthdays to come!! <3

I didn’t really have an “appropriate” photo for this post, but I guess any 10-nin Momusu photo should work, right? ^_^

If you don’t know the premise, and didn’t feel like clicking on that link above, here’s the general gist of it:

[These are] old [clips], I’m not even quite sure what year. Morning Musume had this segment called “Musix Fight!” where two members would go up against each other trying to create a sound on a musical instrument. I’m also not exactly sure where this aired, but this little series of clips was gold.

Basically, these are all the clips of these Musix Fights that I have, so I’ll get right into it and share them with you guys! Hope you enjoy.

Yasuda Kei vs. Natsumi Abe – Ushibue
[See post to watch Flash video]Though this isn’t one of the more interesting battles, I love how the sound just cuts off for Kei. Props to Nacchi for figuring it out, though.

Yoshizawa Hitomi vs. Iida Kaori – Bass Clarinet
[See post to watch Flash video]Hitomi’s shifty eyes after her failure are so amusing, but I have to give props to Kaori for getting sound out of the clarient. The air obviously wasn’t concentrated enough when she started, but I’m impressed she figured it out in one breath.

Iida Kaori vs. Ishikawa Rika – Didgeridoo
[See post to watch Flash video]Totally random instrument name. I like it! Kaori definitely seems to be on a roll with getting these instruments to make a sound.

Iida Kaori vs. Nakazawa Yuko – Flute
[See post to watch Flash video]The flute is a very finicky instrument when it comes to getting a sound out of it, and Yuko getting that light sound out of the flute on her first try was pretty impressive. Kaori seems to do better with the “blow hard and you’ll eventually get some sound out of it” (… don’t be preverted people! XD) instruments, and the flute definitely isn’t one of those.

Goto Maki vs. Natsumi Abe – Bawu
[See post to watch Flash video]Nacchi’s look of total confusion was absolutely adorable and she was able to get a tiny sound out of the instrument. However, the sound the Maki got from it was completely not what I was expecting. XD

Tsuji Nozomi vs. Goto Maki – Tuba
[See post to watch Flash video]I love how Maki struggles with the instrument. She looks like she’s having the hardest time just holding the tuba up.

Yoshizawai Hitomi vs. Goto Maki – (French) Horn
[See post to watch Flash video]I love watching Maki trying to figure out how to hold the horn. While not quite as amusing as the tuba, it’s cute that she’s trying to figure out the “proper” way to hold the instrument. Yossy was so close to getting a sound out of the horn… You could feel the sound soooo ready to come out. Did everyone notice the referee? Seriously, how did he get so confused on who won? That always makes me laugh.

And of course, there’s Memorable Snippets: Part 4, which has Rika vs. Kago Ai, if you haven’t watched it yet. That one’s adorable because of then 12-year-old Aibon’s little giggle. I don’t have one with Mari for some reason, which means I don’t have all the Musix! Fights because I’ve seen a clip (not full) of Mari vs. Nacchi on the sousaphone (click here).

Watching through these, can you pick a favourite battle? Or at least a favourite moment out of these battles? For me, I’d probably lean toward Kago’s giggle, or the old guy getting confused on naming the winner. XD Hope you enjoyed these clips!

I hadn’t really been thinking about who would graduate from Morning Musume next. I obviously saw all the talk about who would be graduating next, but personally, I didn’t bother thinking about who would or should graduate next. Through my years as a Morning Musume fan, I never liked thinking about who would graduate next as I found that even when it was announced to be a member I wasn’t hugely a fan of, there was always this hole it group left after their departure.

So, imagine my surprise (along with the surprise of each H!P fan as they found out) when I woke up yesterday morning, restored my #wotachat window, and scrolled up (as I usually do to see what I missed while I was sleeping) and saw talk of the lone 7th generation member, Kusumi Koharu, graduating.

I think my main shock over this announcement is that when a graduation is announced, you have a bit more time to… come to terms with the graduation. By that, I mean a graduation is usually announced at the end of a concert tour (ex. Umeda Erika’s graduation was announced at the end of the summer H!P tour) for the end of the next concert tour (ex. C-ute’s fall concert tour). However, in this case, Koharu’s graduation was announced on the first day of Morning Musume’s fall concert tour, and is set for the final date of this concert tour. As all the other reactions are pointing out, this seems very sudden.

However, I’m not understanding why so many people are getting upset that someone from the 7th generation is leaving before those from 5th or 6th generations. I’m going to have to point out Shirow’s post from Wotaku Now! where he asks “Why get rid [of] one of the most profitable girls?” …. Just take a gander at some of Morning Musume’s previous graduations. They don’t wait to graduate members when they’re at they’re lowest… Some have been due to their age/maturity (ex. Nakazawa Yuko, Yasuda Kei, Iida Kaori), but you can’t tell me that when the likes of Goto Maki, Ishikawa Rika or Tsuji/Kago were graduated that they were past their prime in Morning Musume.

In my history of being a Morning Musume fan, Rika’s graduation was the hardest for me to come to terms with, seeing as she was my absolute favourite Morning Musume member. Leading up to her graduation, all I could think about was how “The Peace!” would never be the same, or “Shabondama” or the “Hoi!” in “Renai Revolution 21″… And while those songs have never been the same for me when I watch them live, I’ve been able to move on with it, hold those Rika moments in my heart (while giving a slight sigh each time someone else does a classic Rika moment TOTALLY WRONG) and continue to support Morning Musume as they move forward with the next line up.

I was never a huge Koharu fan (understatement of the year XD), and I’ve even joked that Koharu’s joining of Morning Musume was the reason I took a 2 year hiatus from really following Hello! Project. However, seeing as there has been no change to this stable line up of Morning Musume since Fujimoto Miki’s resignation in June of 2007, this will definitely be something to get used to. But in the end, I think think that’s all this will be… Something to get used to.

There is one special moment within my Morning Musume fandom that will forever be associated with the Miracle of Morning Musume, and that would be my complete facepalm moment at Anime Expo where I saw Koharu (and the rest of Morning Musume) walking towards me and my first thought was “Hey! That’s a pretty good Koha cosplay!” XD Koharu is the first Morning Musume member I ever saw live in my 8 year fandom, and that is something that I will never forget.

I can relate to those fans out there who are freaking out because their favourite member is graduating, but it’s not the end of Morning Musume… And really, if it is the end of your Morning Musume fandom – JUST because Koharu is graduating – then why in the world would you call yourself a Morning Musume fan? Morning Musume is a group of girl idols who change members… If the departure of one girl makes or breaks your fandom… Well, it seems like you weren’t a Momusu fan so much as a [insert member's name here] fan. And it’s not like Koharu’s leaving on bad terms. She’s going off to do what she wants, and I say good on her.

Now, what I’m quite interested to see is this graduation concert. This will be the first graduation since Ai-chan and Risa became leader and subleader, respectively. It is well known that those two (along with Reina) are the most heartfelt criers during graduation ceremonies… Thus, I am wondering how they will handle this graduation. On the other hand, this will be the first time someone who was not their sempai (or fellow generation member) will be graduating.

Now back to the issue at hand, it’s surprising that Koharu will be graduating from Hello! Project completely, but I think a move into modelling is a good one for her. I’ve said it in the past, but I enjoy Koharu so much more when (at least singing wise), she’s muted. I mean, her vocal performance in Nanchatte Renai was actually surprisingly good to me, but during her time in Morning Musume, her voice has been the painful low of the group to my ears. But, as she’s grown from the little 12 year old girl who joined the group in 2005, she has steadily matured into the beautiful young woman she is now, and I think that she’ll do just fine in this next step in her career.

To round this all out, I thought I’d add the Koharu clip from DVD Magazine Vol. 23. It looks like the other members see Koharu as a bright, happy point in the group. Well, I don’t think any of us ever had any doubts about Koharu being an energetic person behind the scenes. XD

[See post to watch Flash video] ]]> http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/20/graduation-time-is-upon-morning-musume-again/feed/ 9 http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader-part-2/ http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader-part-2/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:08:21 +0000 maiZe http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/?p=817 I’m making this second birthday post because:

a. It’s still September 14th in my time zone, so it’s still Aichan’s birthday for me.

b. I was able to get that clip I wanted to share in my original birthday post!

Do I really need to explain why there’s more Aichan on this blog? XD Also, hawt hat is hawt.

So, without further ado, here’s a clip of Aichan from the Fukui television show I~za Ee Day, where she was the special guest for it’s 200th episode. This episode aired on July 6th, 2009 and was subbed by Hyakupa. Like I mentioned in the main birthday post this is a follow up to Ai’s first answer in the 100% interview – What is her favourite Japanese food?

[See post to watch Flash video]

This entire special, and an additional one that Hyakupa subbed as well was so much fun to watch. Lots of people say Aichan’s boring and has no personality, but I just can’t get enough of her. She never fails to bring a smile to my face. Anyway, there’s 2 hours left of her birthday for me, so once more: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AICHAN!! ^_^

]]> http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader-part-2/feed/ 0 http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader/ http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:00:14 +0000 maiZe http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/?p=812 Today is the leader of Morning Musume, Takahashi Ai’s, 23rd birthday! I actually have to hurry downtown to see a movie at the Toronto Film Festival, but I wanted to get a post up for her birthday.

To celebrate, I thought I’d put up an interview done soon after she joined with Morning Musume. I checked my H!P DVDs and found that I had all the members interviews EXCEPT Ai-chan’s… Go figure. So, I’m linking to this youtube video instead.

I had wanted to post an accompanying video with this 100% interview… A clip from an appearance Ai-chan made earlier this year on a Fukui TV show, where she goes to a katsudon place and talks about her love for katsudon (to go along with one of her answers at the start of the BS 100% interview). Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a program that will chop out the bit I want to post and I’m short on time. If I can get that cut out at some point, I’ll definitely post it here.

I think my gushing over Ai-chan was fulfilled in my previous post (her and Risa’s 8 year Momusu anniversary), so I’ll just sign off with this:

HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY AI-CHAN!~ Here’s to many more birthdays to come! ^_^

]]> http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/09/14/happy-birthday-leader/feed/ 1 http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/08/26/8-years-of-gokki-goodness/ http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/08/26/8-years-of-gokki-goodness/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:00:18 +0000 maiZe http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/?p=801 On this day back in the year 2001, Morning Musume`s 5th generation was selected from the Love Audition 21. The group of Takahashi Ai, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto and Niigaki Risa joined the power house of Morning Musume, who had just released their hit, The Peace! Let’s take a look back at the momentous occasion which brought the current leader of Hello! Project and Morning Musume and the current sub-leader of Morning Musume into the fold.

[See post to watch Flash video]

It’s amazing to see how much Ai and Risa have changed over their 8 years in Morning Musume. When they were chosen, they were awkward, insecure little girls. Aichan was a few weeks shy of turning 15, and Risa was around 2 months from turning 13. They were
BABIES back then!! I love how from the 4 of them, Risa is the only one who smiles (before she breaks down into tears) when her name is called. The others look absolutely shell-shocked. As I watch these old audition results, I’m always so amused at how different the reactions are from the reactions you see when someone wins something like American Idol.

When they first joined, I was very against 5th generation. I was a new Morning Musume fan, but I got started on Morning musume stuff pre-5th gen (obviously). I filled myself with TV appearances of 4th generation Morning Musume, watched Yuko’s graduation concert and Green Live… And seeing these 4 newbs (even though I was a H!P newbie myself) irked me ’cause I felt like it would take time away from my favourites.

It took me a while to warm up to 5th gen, though as I mentioned in my Anime Expo posts, I fell in love with Ai with the release of Souda! We’re Alive, just 6 months after 5th generation. Makoto caught my attention through her roles in Hello! Morning skits, and I enjoyed Risa and Asami’s personalities after watching the Okajo Dumbest Member test (LOL at Risa naming China’s capital “Chan pon chan”).

[See post to watch Flash video]

Ai’s been in my top 5 of Morning Musume since 2002, Risa made her way up there by 2004, and I can confidently say that these two have been top two Morning Musume members since my previous #1 Musume graduated on May 7, 2005, the one and only Ishikawa Rika. That’s a good 4+ years with these two girls at #1 and 1 (I really can’t pick between the two…) for me.

I think today, the anniversary of the start of their official journey as Morning Musume and Hello! Project members is a great day to celebrate the awesomeness that they have brought to the Hello! Project collective, and the awesomeness that is their friendship.

Who would have thought that two of those little girls in the first video of this post would eventually become the leader and sub-leader of Morning Musume, and that Ai-chan would become the leader of Hello! Project? When Elder Club graduated earlier this year, there was a lot of talk about how Ai-chan would handle all the responsibility that would be passed on to her with the graduation of Nakazawa Yuko. I think it will be interesting to watch the summer Hello! Project concert, for this will be the first one under Ai-chan’s leadership. I do have to say that the graduation of Elder Club hasn’t decreased my interesting Hello! Project in the slightest… If anything, Morning Musume’s recent visit to LA at Anime Expo has skyrocketed my love for Morning Musume, which had previously been fading. And this renewal of affection for the group is mainly attributed to the two girls I’ve been going on about in this post.

These two really seem to be leading the group well, as evidenced by one of Morning Musume’s latest DVD magazines (Vol 23). Each of the girls sat down and described each other in “one” (lol, yeah right. XD) word… Let’s see what was said about subleader:

[See post to watch Flash video]

I have to say that I aboslutely love JunJun’s answer. “Papa.” With her and Ai-chan saying that she is very dependable (and Reina saying she’s a clock), you can see she’s a very stable support for Ai-chan as her subleader. She looks out for the others and you can feel the warmth the other girls feel for her (as shown by LinLin and Eri’s answers). Sayumi is the only odd one out… She’s not very considerate towards her subleader. XD

[See post to watch Flash video]

In the Hello! Project blogosphere, Ai-chan has been scrutinized by fans from the moment she became leader. When she took over the position, many bloggers expressed their lack of faith in her ability to lead. However, as you can see from the answers of the girls, Aichan is highly respected and she truly leads by example. They all obviously admire her and aspire to reach the level she reaches when she performs… Except Reina who just talks about Ai-chan’s choice in clothing, which I found quite amusing… And JunJun. “Mama”. XD I love how Leader and Subleader are “Mama” and “Papa” to JunJun. It’s so cute.

As for Ai-chan and Risa’s answers for each other, it gives you a glimpse into their close relationship. They’ve been together for 8 years now… They’re obviously close friends. Risa is Ai’s pillar of support in the group, which makes a lot of sense as the main responsibility of Morning Musume falls to Ai, and I’m sure she needs someone to fall back on when it gets to be too much.

Risa’s answer regarding Ai makes me think of their Futarigoto – A close friend (actually, Ai’s response makes me think of that Futarigoto as well). She calls her stubborn, but she says it in such a lighthearted way, that you know it’s something that likely annoys her to no end at times, but is also one of Ai’s most endearing traits.

These two have grown up together, have made each other better and have worked hard to make Morning Musume into a unifed group ever since they began their tenure as leader and subleader over 2 years ago. I say they have made Momusu into the unified group they are today, for they’re the ones who really dealt with incorporating JunJun and LinLin into the group, and I’m sure that was a new challenge for them as the two girls are from a completely different culture.

Watching these two grow up and growing up with them has been a joy and I look forward to watching, hopefully, at least a few more years of them with Morning Musume. When these two eventually graduate, it will be the saddest graduation concert in my history of being a Hello! Project fan. Elder Club’s graduation was sad, but I think the mass departure made the concert less emotional for me. The more intimate 1 or 2 member graduations have always hit closer to home, and having the one on one messages from each member (BAAAWWWW Mako-chan & KonKon graduation). If I thought the first half of 5th gen graduating was sad, I haven’t seen anything yet… And I have to say, these two girls just HAVE to graduate together, ’cause I can’t see see them being in Morning Musume without each other.

I guess to end this off, I just have to say HAPPY 8th ANNIVERSARY AS MORNING MUSUME MEMBERS AI AND RISA!!!! <3 All of your hard work has definitely brought a smile to this fan for 8 years and I look forward to supporting the two as they continue forward! ... And just because, here's a final moment of Ai and Risa awesomeness from a recent appearance on Music Fighter (for Naichau Kamo).

[See post to watch Flash video]

]]> http://www.intlwota.com/fieldsofmaizeandberryz/2009/08/26/8-years-of-gokki-goodness/feed/ 7