OFFICIAL MORNING MUSUME INFORMATION THREAD (and other stuff)

[Saburo]

Unfortunately, I don't believe that the girls, as solo acts, shine as brightly as they did when part of the mother ship.

One gal that CAN hold her own as a solo singer is Matsuura Aya, who you might have seen on the last few Kohaku programs.



She has gone from peppy idol singer to utter glamour star. I got a lotta her stuff too...
_________________
avatar: ribbon (女性アイドルグループ, 1989-94)
(左から) 佐藤愛子, 永作博美, 松野有里巳

[sokubo]

Okay, so here is where I really show my lack of MM knowledge. Aya was in MM? I didn't know that, though, now that you mention it, I vaguely recall a post somewhere that you made about a visit she made here to Hawaii and it seems to me that it was in the context of a discussion on MM.

If she was, then okay, that's TWO graduates whose songs I think are pretty good.

[Saburo]

[sokubo]

Will go check it out. I did pick up a few Aya songs along the way after you'd earlier introduced me to her. Well, not to HER, but to her music, I mean.

[Saburo]

[sokubo]

さすがサブローさん！

ええ、もう見たんだよ、サブローさんの亜矢ちゃんソングコレクションリスト。僕のパスコンは日本語文字が見せられる。多分、タイトルが読められたんだ。Ipodにも日本語文字見せられることはかっこいな！
またお疲れ様！
スティーブ。

[sokubo]

Lately, the OST tracks from two J-dramas have been getting a lot of play on my iPod...the songs from "Orange Days" and "Long Vacation"...in particular, Mr. Children's "Sign" and Kubota Toshinobu's "La La La Love Song".....

[Saburo]

色っぽい じれったい
モーニング娘。



It's that time of year again: a NEW Morning Musume single is in stores.

Single #27 is titled "Iroppoi Jirettai" and features the newest member of the group, KUSUMI Koharu, who made her stage debut a few months ago and just turned 13 years of age a couple weeks ago.



The limited-edition CD comes housed in the now familiar hard box and five (5) glossy picture cards. A standard-issue disc is also available and the music video will be released on DVD next week.

The theme of this new song is... Latino hotness! Ole!






OK, the video doesn't look too big-budget but believe me the dance moves are are tight and dead on. Poor Koharu-chan is highlighted on all the music programs as the "miracle" member but doesn't have a whole lot to do here except give an opening monologue (Goto Maki and Tanaka Reina were given much larger portions in their debuts). At least she has some semblance of poise and didn't collapse on national TV.

And the adventure continues...
_________________
avatar: ribbon (女性アイドルグループ, 1989-94)
(左から) 佐藤愛子, 永作博美, 松野有里巳

[sokubo]

Is Tanaka Reina the same person as the actress who was in Ninja Hattori-kun, as the blind artist, "Midori" and had the title role in "Drugstore Girl"?

[Saburo]

[sokubo]

Amazing what a difference "I" can make! LOL! Yup, you're very right. It was Tanaka Rena, not Tanaka Reina, that I was thinking of.

Mata, sasuga, Saburo-san!

Domo.

[Saburo]

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20051106-00000016-maip-peo&kz=peo


Some names never leave your mind, no matter the significance.

I first visited Japan in late 1993, before I really got back into J-pop and all its ilk. Walking around one particularly cavernvous shopping area, I saw a row of posters and calendars. One image stuck out: a utterly cute girl with the label "MINAKO HONDA" under her image.

I have listened to countless songs from Japan but have never heard a single single of hers or seen any of her acting roles. But that name never left my mind, even as my current universe is swirling with Exile and "Orange Days" and a steady stream of Musume.

Earlier this year, I read that she was diagnosed with leukemia, something I always thought happened to unlucky souls in dramas (Hito-Yane, anyone?). She put up the brave face as she embarked on a new journey of treatment and hospitalization.


And thus ends the tale, eleven months later.


1967-2005.
_________________
avatar: ribbon (女性アイドルグループ, 1989-94)
(左から) 佐藤愛子, 永作博美, 松野有里巳

[Saburo]

モーニング娘。
直感2~逃した魚は大きいぞ!~



November 9 saw the release of "Chokan 2~Nogoshita Sakana wa Ookizo!" by the ubiquitous Morning Musume, their 28th single.

The source material is "Chokan~Toki to Shite Koi wa~" which was released on their 6th album last December. This remake features new lyrics and vocals, including n00b member Kusumi Koharu.



The single was actually supposed to be a tune called "Koi wa Hassou Do The Hustle!" It was floated around online and actually performed in the late summer. For reasons that are speculative (e.g. poor test previews), the song was shelved as the "A-side" and relegated to second-song status.

The limited-pressing CD comes packaged in the usual deluxe box and has five (5) trading cards. It debuted at #4 on the Oricon weekly singles chart.
_________________
avatar: ribbon (女性アイドルグループ, 1989-94)
(左から) 佐藤愛子, 永作博美, 松野有里巳

[sokubo]

I must have missed the post before last, somehow, regarding Honda Minako. I know a couple of people who had leukemia. One in particular is my son's best friend. He was diagnosed sometime around 1999 or so when he was around six.

His story has a much happier ending, as the treatments were very successful and he has made pretty much a complete recovery. Someone above was certainly looking out for him. So, yes, unfortunately, it does happen to people outside of those unfortunates in J-Dramas.

I never heard of Honda Minako, but it's always sad to see someone's life come to an end at such an early age. Despite all the troubles we may have, there's really a lot we have to be thankful for. Makes you think about stuff like that when you hear stories like this.

[sokubo]

From the pix you posted from their new single, I gather MM is down in numbers to "only" 10 at the moment?