Hello! Project -Official Site-
Elder Club members to graduate from Hello! Project (Hello!Online)
Hello! Project’s Elder Club members to graduate (Tokyograph)

Wow.

As of March 31, 2009, all the members of the Hello! Project Elder Club–including popular soloists Matsuura Aya, Abe Natsumi, and Fujimoto Miki, as well as full groups like Melon Kinenbi and Ongaku Gatas–will graduate from the H!P umbrella. So if your favorite soloist isn’t in Morning Musume, Berryz Koubou, or C-ute, or an H!P Egg, they’re probably leaving. H!O has a full translation of the list, Tokyograph brings the essentials to the table, and you can of course read the original announcement on the H!P website.

There’s no word yet on whether or not any of the graduating members will be moving to a new record label, TNX or otherwise, or even continuing their careers as idols. The lack of information is actually somewhat disheartening, and you have to wonder if this giant graduation is actually a giant firing. I’m certain that nearly everyone reading this has a favorite idol on this list, and you have to wonder what’s going to happen to them now that their future within H!P has gone from uncertain to … nonexistent. And even if you aren’t a fan of these idols… it is a sad day for them, not just their fans, and you have to wonder how they are taking it.

Take this whole thing as you will, but this is a startling announcement that leaves the future of many, many young women, as well as the entire body of Hello! Project, unclear. Obviously not all of these idols were getting a lot of attention, instead being constantly passed over in favor of the bigger flagship groups, but I don’t think many people really expected a mass departure like this to happen.

All I can say is wow. It’s a sad day for a lot of fans, and an even sadder day for a lot of idols.

Random stuff and Nonsense

Morningtime has a fun, light hearted post covering all sorts of things relating to Hello! Project. It seems morningtime has had a lot of time on their hands, and you can see it with the opening question “which MM member is most likely to hit someone?” What really got me was that the question had multiple answers, depending on the situation. That set the stage for quite an amusing read.

I just have to comment on that one photo of Satoda Mai. Is it just me, or does she look really old there?

Yo-Yo Girl Cop released on dvd in UK 22 September 2008

Morningtime has news for UK Hello! Project fans. Matsuura Aya’s (and Biyuuden’s) movie Sukeban Deka is going to be released in the UK this September. It’s been out in North America for a little while already, but I didn’t realize that until fairly recently… I have my North American copy, which I got for $10 from the local bookstore. Pretty awesome deal if you ask me.

Member #15  (Yoshizawa)

Member #16  (Matsuura)

Member #17  (Takahashi)

Member #18  (Konno)

Member #19  (Ogawa)

Member #20  (Okada Yui)

Member #21  (Jun Jun)

And when I say big guns, I am not just talking about Yui!

Maple GreanTea’s new Okesuna Blog has gotten off to a fast start with quite a few profiles of some of H!P’s top talent in this long-running series.  I was a little surprised to find out who Okesuna likes and dislikes.  But that’s all part of the fun!  There is a wonderful write-up of Takahashi Ai, who OB obviously likes.  And I’m glad there is love for the goddess Ayaya.  But then again, I’m yet to meet the person who doesn’t like her!  They are all nice profiles with some great eyecandy.  Recommended.

Yo-Yo Girl Cop (Sukeban Deka) Movie Review

Recommended reading. Pex has a nicely detailed summary and analysis of Matsuura Aya’s movie, Sukeban Deka. Charmy recommended this movie, to Pex, and after an initial reluctance to watch it, Rika in fishnet stocking eventually tipped the scales.

I know that not everyone enjoyed this movie, but I have to agree with Pex’s overall breakdown. Aya and the Biyuuden girls were all pretty impressive to me in this movie, and I highly enjoyed it.

H!P Girls part 12 - Okada Yui

Morningtime continues profiling the members of Hello!Project lately. This one focuses on Okada Yui. Morningtime tries to find that one word that best describes Yui. I think the right word was found…

Biyudensetsu (hajimete no ROCK CONCERT)
Biyuden : Disbands (Hello!Musume)
Goodbye v-u-den (HNPH)
The End of v-u-den (I WISH;;)
V-u-den Disband (Let’s Laugh! Hello Project)
A sandwiched farewell to Biyuuden (OH NOES! Magi-Kat’s rambling again!) (Magi-Kat presents “Morning Meteora”)
Why I’m Missing Biyuuden (Midori’s J-pop Overanalyzations)
Biyuuden- Nannimo iwazu ni I LOVE YOU pv (Morningtime)
Bye Bye V-U-DEN♥ (Nekocafe’s World!)
Never Forget (Shanimuni Paradise)

v-u-den disbanded over the weekend. There were lots of reactions and I apologize that they are so late on reaching IW. Some bloggers took it as an opportunity to revisit what they loved about the group; while others expressed frustration over the breakup. Most people showed concern about what the future holds for Miyoshi Erika and Okada Yui. Meanwhile, nearly everyone - some begrudgingly - are of the belief that Rika’s career will not be affected too dramatically by v-u-den breaking up.

Morning Musume, Berryz and V-u-den Visual Screens

Tom (I just realized I’ve been calling him Paul, when his nickname is Tom XD… Sorry about that Tom!) shares info about more H!P visual screens which are available for purchase. Looks like Berryz, C-ute and Morning Musume aren’t the only H!P groups to get the screens, for Biyuuden gets their turn in their final single outfits. It seems that there are also group visual screens out.