6 posts tagged “morning musume”

While talking to semified and Andra in my last post's comment section, I figured there must be a lot of people out there that don't have as much patience and/or time to waste as me, and have given up on Haromoni@ long ago... Missing some interesting stuff in the process. To me, at least. While last week's episode was the first to be completely members-only, member segments have been appearing on MouTube for quite some time, and I always thought there were some interesting ones. I've gathered and uploaded every one of them since HM@ 2008-02-03, which was about the time they started appearing... I don't have the episodes before that with me, so I can't be sure. I know there was one GakiKame segment before that, I'll upload it when I have the chance. So, now you can watch your favorite member's appearance, without having to go through the dog that rides a bicycle, the bartender penguin (that one was interesting, actually), the guy who stops a remote controlled car perfectly in a very tight parking slot... OK, enough of that.

But still, it's not like these segments are all of the same quality. Anyway, let me organize them in a quick Top 8 (because there's not enough for 10) ^_^

01 - GakiKame

Obvious choice, just look at the things they do in these videos. And they're so cute <3 It must take a lot of time to plan and film one of these, I guess that's why it's not so regular as some others...  But it's worth waiting <3 I'll miss these if MouTube ends.

02 - Air XX (JunJun & LinLin)

These videos helped me make my mind about the Pandas - JunJun is the cute one (just look at how she usually finishes the videos with a smile and a peace sign) while LinLin is the crazy one. And it makes me think they could be the best thing to happen since TsujiKago... But then the videos end and I get back to reality.

03 - Memory

Look! It's a game segment!

Now, if they just put some food or penalty in this, I could put it on first place.

04 - Aichan

Aichan has some strange segments and some of them are boring, but I like them anyway. Maybe I have a crazy enough sense of humor to match hers? And I just knew that baby was going to cry... Never try to play with babies, I know that very well, those little ungrateful... Err... Next!

05 - Reina

I don't know what to make of her segments... First it featured a Kamei drawing (Pikachu), and that can't get too bad, right? Then, the next episode she had a segment, it changed style completely, to some torture like investigation techniques... I can't understand some of them...  She did another one in that style, and then changed it again to a boring commercial of curry. And then (although it's not uploaded here) the girls were shown eating it on the program when the video ended.  In other words, in HM@, seems like there's no need to fight over food. Where's the fun on that?

This is the turning point - the ones below are the not so good ones.

06 - Gaki

Gaki does comedian impersonations while talking in Korean. There was some deja vu in seeing her Antonio Inoki monomane, even if it was usually Ogawa who did those back on Hello! Morning... At least back then, even if I had no idea who it was they were impersonating, the costumes would make me laugh. Now these are just boring.

07 - Koharu

Seeing how she's promoted on H!P, you'd think she has a strong presence on HM@, but she doesn't. She only had this one segment. Or maybe she had another one before 2008-02-03 and I don't remember that. Good costume, met my expectations of something absurdly crazy that I wouldn't be able to forget for quite some time (like most things Koha releases), but when it ended, I was just disappointed. All she does is talk very fast. Whatever. Next!

08 - Sayumi

Those who gave up on Haromoni@ to avoid the boring streetwalking from the first episodes and the silly animal tricks from MouTube, this might be a good time to try it again. At least that's the feeling I get from this episode and the small preview of the next one. Why the optimism? Every segment on this one features a Morning Musume member. No random people and no animals. That makes me very happy. So much that I thought I'd upload some of the segments. Maybe I'll start reviewing Haromoni@ if it keeps up like this.

First up is the memory segment (video), this time with a competition between Aika and JunJun. The video starts with Junjun complaining about the unfairness of this game: although she knows some Japanese and can generally memorize some words, she's not very good at it, so she's at a disadvantage. Aika doesn't like that very much, and says that JunJun always did well at this game. She looks pissed and ready to fight...
...while JunJun shows her own fighting spirit by saying three times that she's not going to lose...
...but Aika doesn't really care as she's full of confidence today.
Have I said I love Aika?
The girls had to memorize 40 names and photos of people in 20 minutes. They take turns saying the name of whoever appears on the screen, and if one of them can't answer, she loses if the other gets it right. And so the competition begins...
And ends. Poor Junjun.
Aika could go all the way and get them all right. Impressive.

Up until now I've only seen the first Hello! Morning Theater skits available online with subtitles: the "Until the Bus Comes" series translated by HPS. Unfortunately, as good as they were, that series was before the introduction of 2 of my favorite characters: the Yossie one you see in the screenshot up here and one from Ogawa that maybe I'll do something about in the future... Truth is, I don't know, there might be a video online somewhere with one of Yossie's appearances as the devil subtitled, but I can't find them. So, I supposed these videos don't exist, and I decided to make one.

Watch or download Hello! Morning Theater 2004-04-18, which I believe is the first appearance of this character, here. I'm not embedding it here because when I do so, the video gets a little smaller and the subtitles look ugly.

There were some sentences I didn't understand - one by Kamei, one by Yuuko and a quick talk between Yuuko and Yaguchi. I left them unsubbed. Actually, I've been hesitating to upload this video for a while because I didn't know those... But now I thought it was time to give up and post the way it is. If anyone gives me a translation of those sentences in the comments, I could finish it. So please help me =)

While I was reading some H!P blogs today, I came across two posts on semified's blog with results from two distinct "Which Morning Musume member are you?" quizzes she took. I decided to do it too, and I thought my results on the first one were pretty strange...

So, I'm Kamei... I don't know what to think of that. I was expecting Yossie or maybe Mikitty. Well, but Kamei on first place is still OK, the weird part is that Tanaka is after that. And then there's Koharu, what is she doing tied with Yossie? I don't like this quiz.

Still, there's no point in thinking too much about this because there were some questions I couldn't really answer. Like "You are a tomboy". Well, I'd have to be a girl to agree or disagree with this... In doubt, I answered in the middle. That's probably what made my Yossie rating end up lower than Kamei. Yeah, let's blame the quiz.

Oh, and loved how there's a "You have a tendency to grope your friends." in the quiz XD I miss Mikitty.

Then I tried the second one. It's more complete, I think everyone up to 6th gen is here. Results seem a lot better in this one, probably because it didn't have questions like "You like to eat meat" (that was probably what gave Reina a high score in the other one)

#1    Hitomi Yoshizawa
#2    Asami Konno
#3    Eri Kamei
#4    Kei Yasuda
#5    Aya Ishiguro
#6    Kaori Iida
#7    Makoto Ogawa
#8    Yuko Nakazawa
#9    Ai Takahashi
#10    Risa Niigaki
#11    Asuka Fukuda
#12    Nozomi Tsuji
#13    Sayumi Michishige
#14    Ai Kago
#15    Maki Goto
#16    Natsumi Abe
#17    Reina Tanaka
#18    Sayaka Ichii
#19    Mari Yaguchi
#20    Rika Ishikawa
#21    Miki Fujimoto

If anyone finds a Johnnys quiz like this, post it somewhere covered by intlwota so I'll see it ;)

Like I did a long time ago, here's the setlist for the Morning Musume Spring Concert 2008, rearranged according to how much I want to see each of the performances and some comments.

01. Resonant Blue
02. Mr Moonlight ~Ai no Big Band~
This is one I'm afraid of. It all depends on who is going to get Yossie's part... Actually, I think none of the current members can do it, but that just makes me more interested to see what's coming.
03. Namida Tomaranai ga Houkago (Kamei)
I love Konkon's solo of this one in some past concert, and Kamei is the best I can think of to do it now <3 I guess Aika would be interesting too, but I prefer Kamei.
04. Morning Coffee (Takahashi, Niigaki, Kamei, Michishige & Tanaka)
Main vocals should go to Taka, anything else to GakiKame. Sayu and Tanaka should do nothing. That, and Tsunku would have my eternal loyalty. As if he didn't have it already. Oh well, he'll get my grattitude.
05. Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyotan-Jima (Kusumi, Mitsui, JunJun & LinLin)
I'll be happy if this doesn't turn into "Kusumi & those others from the 8th gen". I'll be extra happy if they wear pirate outfits and false mustaches.
06. Manatsu no Kousen (Niigaki with Takahashi, Kamei, Michishige & Tanaka)

*Notice that there's two singles for 5th&6th gen, but only one for 7th&8th. And then 7th&8th doesn't get solos like 6th. It makes me sad.
**Thinking better, no solos from 7th actually make me happy. But 8th should have their moment.

07. Koko ni Iruzee
08. Summer Night Town
09. THE MANPOWER!! (Risa got Yossie’s lines.)
10. Iroppoi Jirettai
11. Osaka Koi no Uta (Mitsui does Yossie’s monologue.)
12. Kanashimi Twilight
13. Roman ~My Dear Boy~ (Niigaki got Miki’s lines.)
14. Medley
- I WISH - this one worries me. Who's going to get Aibon's lines?
- Happy Summer Wedding
- Koi no Dance Site (Kamei does the Sexy Beam) - Kamei?? O_O
- Souda! We’re Alive
- The Peace
- Renai Revolution 21
15. Medley
- Daite! Hold on Me
- Chokkan 2 ~Nogashita Sakana wa Ookiizo!~
- SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~
- Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari (features one member only and its changes everyday. Chorus is made by everyone) - I wonder who will be the member featured on the DVD?
- Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
16. Shabondama
17. Onna ni Sachi Are
18. Egao YES Nude (Eri has Yossie’s lines and Reina has Miki’s.)
19. Encore
- Ai Araba IT’S ALL RIGHT
- Love Machine
20. Mikan
21. Aruiteru
22. AS FOR ONE DAY (Michishige does Kago’s monologue)
Why isn't it "Gaki does Kago's monologue" or "Kamei does Kago's monologue"? I don't like to see Aibon's lines redistributed in any way, but giving them to Sayu is too much for me T_T Well, it's still better than giving them to Koharu I guess...
23. Do It Now (Takahashi and then everyone else)
If I were a Takitty hater, I'd love to say this "Takahashi and then everyone else" applies to most of their recent discography, but I'm not, so... Let me just say I'm not looking forward to this because I'm tired of the song, and not because it says "Takitty first".
24. Memory Seishun no Hikari (Tanaka)
This should be changed with a Panda-tachi song. Not necessarily Memory, another one by them.
25. Furusato (Michishige)
And this should be changed with an Aika solo. Or Takitty.
26. Ambitious! Yashinteki de Ii Jan