We finally have a preview for the second A-side from Morning Musume's upcoming double A-side 47th single, Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo/Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai. However, the preview for Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai is about half of the song or less.
The song sounds nothing like I was expecting at all! The beginning of the song has some random train noises thrown in. Which immediately reminded me of the opening from Harajuku 6:00 Shuugou, just without the speaking parts, or Inspiration. And then the actual music starts and it sounds like a toned down version of Guru Guru Jump. And then theres also these beach party music randomly throughout the song. Which is a tad reminiscent to Berryz Koubou's Madayade. Which is awesome because I wanted an upbeat song with a big instrumental, something along the lines of Lemon Iro to Milk Tea. However, this song isn't that big. It's far too toned down. The song is almost there, they just needed to go all out and push it a little further. But I have to admit, I do like it more than Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo. I don't know, the sound is just better. But overall, this is a really incredible single. It sounds like the songs Morning Musume used to release. Hopefully, this is a sneak peek of things to come. This song is lead by Sayumi, and surprisingly I don't really care or mind. Sayumi hardly has one of my favorite voices in Morning Musume. But every once in a blue moon she's handed a song that's perfect for her voice and she actually enhances the song. She did it in Fantasy ga Hajimaru, It's You, and to some degree in Appare Kaiten Zushi. And I think Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai is one of those times. That mixed with being sick of hearing nothing but Ai and Reina, anyone else is a nice change. This song does still feature the usual suspects a lot. Ai, Reina, Risa, and Riho get lines. But just adding Sayumi's voice and having her take away some of the lines they woud get, throws off the normal balance and adds a different element to the song. And since this is only half the song we can hope that this means in the second half the other members will get lines. And even if they don't at least have a different 9th gen member sing where Riho's line would go in the second verse. I really want Aika to have a line. You can hear her voice in one of the group parts and she actually sounds good in the song.
It was recently announced that Morning Musume will be releasing a 12th album. The title is still unknown and it will be released on October 12th. Which is almost a month after Ai officially graduates. That seems like an odd date to me. Fantasy Juuichi was released 2 weeks before LinLin, JunJun, and Eri graduated. I don't get why this is getting released after the fact.
It makes sense to release one final album with Ai-chan. She's the strongest vocalist in the current lineup and she's a cash cow. It only makes sense to squeeze every last drop from heartbroken wota. Just like they did with their 11th album. But I really hope that this isn't a new thing Morning Musume is going to do. Release one final album before members graduate. Because you can say all the remaining girls (Minus Aika. :/ ) are popular enough to have their own last album. But I don't really want that to happen. When you rush an album like this, the music suffers. Fantasy Juuichi did have it's gems, but it was still, in my opinion, one of their weakest albums. And that's because the album had to be rushed. Perhaps, this album will be a little better since Ai-chan's graduation was announced months ago, maybe Tsunku has been writing songs for it ever since. But that seems like a long shot really.
Morning Musume has just announced they will be releasing their 47th single, which will be the last single to feature Takahashi Ai. It will be a double A-side entitled Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun da yo! / Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai and will be released on September 14th. Takahashi Ai's graduation version of the single also features a solo song by Ai-chan.
Everyone knew this day would come eventually, Takahashi Ai's final single. But even though her graduation was announced months ago it didn't really seem real to me until this moment. The moment when you say, "This is it. This is her last single." And you know, I actually feel a lot sadder than I was expecting to feel. Ai-chan is hardly my favorite member but it feels really sad to see her go. For some strange reason I am actually choked up. It feels surreal for thre to be a Morning Musume without her.
But back on topic, I am actually extremely excited for his single to be a double A-side. Momusu hasn't had a double A-side in a long time. The first song, which translates to, I’m really hoping for peace on Earth, seems like it is going to be a very powerful and meaningful song. The title immediately makes me think it's going to be a mix of Aozora ga Itsumademo Tsuzuki You na Mirai de Are and Ame no Furanai Hoshi de wa Aisenai Darou. While the second song Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai, which translates to I want to shop with him, seems more like a fun upbeat song. I'm thinking lyrics wise it sounds like it's going to be along the lines of Lemon Iro to Milk Tear, Nebou desu. Date na no ni, or Koi ING. Or at least that's what I'm hoping for. XD
It really seems like H!P and UFA are really having Morning Musume's longest leader go out with a bang. Double A-side graduation single, solo song, and concerts at the legendary Budokan. I really wish this single will get number 1 on the charts. Just because I think Ai-chan really deserves to go out on top.
Probably the absolutely most exciting news to have been released when I was away was the Morning Musume 10th generation auditions. The auditions announced by Tsunku during Morning Musume's spring concert tour. The criteria is the same as the 9th gen auditions. Girls ages 10-17. The application deadline is June 13th and the girls will be added after Ai-chan's graduation this fall. You can click here for the audition website.
I cannot contain my absolute joy and excitement for this announcement. A lot of fan are whining complaining that it's too soon to have auditions, that the 9th gen just joined. But I don't think it's too soon at all. I think I'm like one of the only fans who wants yearly auditions and Momusu to have 15 members again. Which will never happen because Tsunku doesn't want them to be more than 10. But a girl can dream, right?
This is obviously an incredibly smart move to have them audition for new members so soon. Not only because Ai-chan, the real ace of Morning Musume, is leaving, but because the rest of the 5th and 6th gen are getting old and are going to have to leave soon too.
Here's how I see Morning Musume's future. December Ai-chan graduates. Then at that concert the 10th gen are announced. I was thinking there's no way they would take off any focus from Ai-chan because it's her graduation concert, her last hurrah. So, the 10th gen might be announced a concert to two before Ai-chan's graduation. Or they might juts wait until the start of the H!P winter concert like they did with the 9th gen. Then Risa and Sayumi receive their leader and sub-leader positions. Early winter January or February Risa announces her graduation. Let's be realistic it has to happen, and it has to happen soon. Risa has been a member as long as Ai-chan and has to leave soon. They release one single or album with Risa as a leader. Then in May at the end of the spring concert tour she graduates. Sayumi and Reina take over their leader and sub-leader positions. Early summer probably June the 11th gen auditions are announced. Shortly after Sayumi, Reina, or both graduate. Mostly likely early winter There might even be another gen thrown in there. And then the line up will be 8-11 or 12. Or the one remaining 6th gen with gens 8-11 or 12.
Please note that this is just my speculation for what I think Morning Musume's future in a year and half times will look like, and I have absolutely no way of knowing if all of this will really happen. However, it will most likely happen somewhere along these lines. Because it's just obvious that the 5th and 6th gen have to leave within a year or 2. The 6th gen might actually be able to squeeze another 3 year. Which I personally think it pushing it a bit, but Reina and Sayumi are only 21 and Ai-chan is 24. I do realize that Risa is only 22 but she's been a member for 10 years, it's too long.
Anyway, going back to the auditions themselves, I'm really excited for them. I really love all the fresh blood that's going to be in Morning Musume. I can't wait to see the auditions and pick which girls I want to join. I can't wait to see if my favorite gets added. I can't wait to see what the new members are going to be like. I can't wait to hear them sing. I just can't wait fot all of it!
After releasing the first PV preview just yesterday, Morning Musume has released the full PV for Only You. Which seems just a bit too early. But it seems like they are trying to ensure this single sells well.
When I saw the PV preview yesterday I knew exactly was this PV was going to offer. A video that look like all of their other vidoes. In more sense then one. It looks like all of their other PVs because it's set up the same way: dance shot, close-ups, and that's it. But it's also like all the other PVs because we see them focusing on only the popular members. Mostly Ai-chan and Reina. With Risa and Sayumi being secondary. But in this PV we also get to see a lot of the newest predetermined most popular member/newly pushed girl, Sayashi Riho. I liked Riho from the beginning because she was amazing at singing and dancing. But she is a little arrogant. And having her being pushed so quickly is just going to feed her arrogance until she's either Reina 2.0 or Miki 2.0. Which is starting to make me dislike her bit by bit. But that's neither here nor there. When I saw the PV preview I wasn't really expecting anything more than just a pretty PV, filled with a lot of beauty shots. While the PV is mostly just that, they do try to add more elements to the PV. And they are trying to make it a little more interesting. And I definitely think they succeeded. In this PV there are 3 different close-up singing shot, 2 different places they are sitting down, and a dance shot that flashes 3 different colors. And throughout the PV they really play with the gem/diamond theme. In their close up they are surrounded by diamonds, the lights in the dance shot are diamonds, and throughtout the PV little floating gems surround the members. The PV isn't 100% amazing or perfect. But it is heading in the right direction. These past 2 Morning Musume PVs in my opinion have been really great. It seems that they are really trying to build Momusu up again. They are taking these new members as a great opportunity to transform Morning Musume once again. Will they ever reach AKB48's popularity? Absolutely not. Even at their peak they weren't at that level. I would honestly settle for 100-200k. Then they would be at most Johnny's levels, and we see all the pimping Johnny's boys get.
I love the diamond lights. They are completely simple, but add such a pretty effect.
I love love love the floating gems, it makes the entire PV interesting to watch.
This whole setting is really beautiful. With the think red curtains, and gothic style candelabra and glasses. It gives it this very old fashioned almost 1800s' feel. However, this whole scene makes me think of
this.
Or this. Either way really. XD
The dance is actually kind of nice. The individual moves look a little stupid, but when they are put together they work.
Reina looks beyond pretty here. The fabulous lighting and the glimmer of the gems just really bring out her face. She look gorgeous.
This is the first time that I thought Ai-chan looked good with her blonde hair. I used to think it didn't suit her, but I think it actually might.
Can I just say how mind boggling it is that by just chaning the lighting the dance shot place looks like a completely different setting. Look:
Natural light.
Red light.
Pink light. That is just crazy! XD
Nice boots. XD
This is a pretty bad shot of Sayumi. She actually look kind of ugly.
Zukki looks really pretty even if she has to look sad.
Am I the only one who thinks Riho looks weird here? In the Maji Desu ka Ska PV she looked bright and cute. It looks like the lighting in this PV is weighing her down.
This hairstyle does nothing for Fuku-chan.
Poor Eripon still looks awkward and unnatural.
This close-ups are pretty, but I can't get over the fact that those candles make it look like some kind of ritual. Lol.
With it getting closer and closer to the release date of Morning Musume's new single, Only You, we finally have a PV preview. However, don;t get your hopes up because the preview is only 15 seconds long.
Even though the PV preview is insanely short it is long enough to get a tiny taste of what the PV is going to look like. The PV itself looks extremely bright. The contrasting shades of whites and silvers give this PV an extremely fresh, bright, and shiny look to it. And for that aspect the PV draws your eyes in. I do love the overall look of the PV because it just looks so bright and beautiful. However, there isn't much going on in the PV so far. As of now all we get to see is Momusu dancing in a plain white room, which really hasn't been done since the Sexy Boy PV. And of course we also get to see the close-ups. The close-up scenes are actually really nice. It's just them singing around some shiny gems, but the effect is very beautiful. And it is a big step up from their usual close-up backgrounds.
So far, the PV seems to be relying more on the beauty aspect then an actual storyline. I'm actually kind of ok with that because everyone look gorgeous. I'm really looking forward to the PV. It looks like they might have actually spent some money on it.
Morning Musume announced their 46th single Only You, months ago. But it was pushed back because of the earthquake. And now with less than a month until the release date we finally have a radio rip of the song. Actually the rip came out a week ago, but I was obviously away then. XD
When I first heard this song I was automatically disappointed. The song sounds exactly like the songs Momusu was releasing over the past 2 years. The song seriously sounds like it could be the B-side to Nanchatte Renai or Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game. Or it sounds like this could have been one of the album songs from Fantasy Juuichi. And it sounds like only Ai, Reina, and Risa have solo lines. I think Aika might also have a solo but it's very hard to tell with the electronic thing they've done to their voices. I just can't begin to understand what they were thinking with this single. How could they release a single as upbeat, energetic, amazing, and evenly distributed as Maji Desu ka Ska, and then release a carbon copy of the songs they've been releasing practically the last 2 years? I won't say 4 because 4 or 5 years ago Momusu was releasing these really sad/emo songs. Then after that they moved on to these electronic sounding songs or songs with heavy instrumentals. It seems like they are relapsing back to what they used to be like. Mediocre songs no one really cared about, with heavy instrumentals.
However, after listening to the song on a loop about 7-10 times I am actually starting to like the song. But that's because I've always loved Momusu's songs. No matter what style they moved on to. I even loved all their electronic sounding songs like Moonlight Night ~Tsukiyo no Ban da yo~, Fantasy ga Hajimaru, and Kimagure Princess. Those are actually some of my favorite Morning Musume songs in their recent years. I might like their songs like that but they are in no way, shape, or form, my favorite kind of songs Morning Musume has ever done. I love my Momusu happy, upbeat, energetic, and silly. I am starting to like Only You, but only as a B-side or some obscure album song. I don't want it to be used as an A-side. Because frankly it's not strong enough to be one. The lyrics are kind of nice too. But it's pretty much standard H!P fare. Loving someone and always being there for the person. It's not even strong enough lyric wise to be an A-side.
In short, the song is nice but it should NOT be an A-side. As for One Day now, I am still waiting for my energetic Momusu to return. But that will most likely happen when Ai-chan graduates this fall, and obviously not a moment before.
After being part of Morning Musume for 3 months now, the 9th generation's official member colors are finally revealed. Obviously because the 9th gen's debut concert tour is starting up we finally get to see their shirts and see their colors. I had my suspicions and hopes of what each member's colors might be, but I was completely off.
The colors are as follows:
Mizuki is hot pink, Erina is dark purple, Riho is red, and Kanon is dark green. I'm a little dissapointed by the color choices. As it is now every member besides Ai, Reina, and Riho share a color. They should have seriously gave someone orange. I don't know why Eri's color was basically off limits, but they jumped to give Koharu's and LinLin's away. Also, because of this I guess Sayumi shifts to being just pale pink, Aika shifts to lavender, and Risa stays at her regular green. I know there are a limited amount of colors and obviously some member's colors are going to overlap. But they didn't have to overlap so much. If they made Kanon orange and changed Mizuki from hot pink to peach, only the two purples would overlap. But I actually don't expect these official colors to last for long. This fall when Ai-chan graduates her yellow will be up for grabs. And because of that I think the whole color scheme will change.
After what seems like never ending teasing in the form of around 8 PV previews, we finally have the full PV for Morning Musume's upcoming Maji Desu ka Ska single. I'm sure there are some fans who have seen this PV already, because a fan made PV mashing together all the previews clips made its way on youtube. However, I decided to wait until the official PV came out.
Since this song had A LOT of PV previews us fans have already seen a great deal, it not all, of the PV already. (I didn't watch them on ONRYU yet, so half the PV was still a mystery to me. :P) And I understand for that reason a few fans might be bored of the PV by now, or think that it's not fresh anymore. But I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I have been absolutely in love with this PV from the first PV preview. The PV is fun, it's upbeat, cute, vivid, and energetic. And it means Momusu is moving in the right direction, going back to it's energetic and slightly childish era. Sure, this PV might not be up to the over the top energy and cuteness of Koko ni Iruzee yet. But give the 9th gen a break. This is their first single. I'm sure they are leading up to it. Besides, Mr. Moonlight and Shabondama weren't over the top energy, and look how great the singles after them were. Despite, everything fans say about the PV, I actually really love it. It's exciting and fun from start to finish. I enjoyed every minute of the PV. My absolute favorite scenes were the ones with the Maji Desu ka Ska letters, and the walking close-ups.
I still love the set. The Maji Desu ka Ska set. It's simple, but still adds a fun aspect to the PV.
Reina looks the absolute best in this PV. This style has always suited her.
Riho's close-up looks effortless. She did a good job of looking naturally cute and energetic.
Erina on the other hand was less impressive. She looks cute enough but it seems like she didn't really know what to do with her hands. XD
Zukki probably did the best in the first round of close-ups.
Mizuki came off really charming.
I can't say this enough, I love these outfits!
Adorable!
Sayumi showing them how it's done. Seriously, Sayumi always has the most interesting close-ups.
Ai-chan looks gorgeous.
The rockette's style kicking is still my favorite part of the dance.
Zukki is so cute.
There's a smile! Eripon wants to bee seen as the most energetic member, but she is always too scared or shy to smile in pictures or on camera. It's nice to see one now.
No one can compete with Kanon's smile. *O*
I love Fuku-chan's outfit. And adorable cap is adorable.
Cute pose.
I still don't get what's up with Reina's hair brushing dance move. XD
I still hate Aika' outfit. :/
Of course Aika had to be Hanasaka Jiisan. All the Aika haters are gonna love this. :/ Btw, I'm like 80% sure it's Aika. 20% sure it's Reina. They have similar noses and mouth areas. So, XD.
Mecha kira kira hana sakasou! Lolz at it being sunflowers rather than actual cactus flowers.
This was probably my favorite part of the PV, when the giant leaders flashed really fast during the chorus to spell Maji Desu ka Ska.
