A New Captainist Era of Hello! Project?

It was announced a while ago that Niigaki Risa would be graduating from Hello! Project. Naturally this announcement was met by all the usual reactions from her fans. Though, and don't hold me too accountable for this, as I didn't give it too much attention, I don't think anyone found the news as shocking as other recent graduations.

In fact, the shocking part was that it took so long for her to graduate.

She is currently the longest-serving member in Morning Musume history, having shared that title with fellow 5th Gen member Takahashi Ai up until Ai's graduation last year.

The gokkies have always been close. Especially Ai-chan and Gaki. During the last few years, the fact that they had become the two oldest, longest-serving members together gave them both a personality that was hard to ignore. The most prominent personalities in Morning Musume since Koharu left.

So the real shock came when Ai-chan announced her own graduation and Gaki didn't follow suit. Most of us had been betting on the fact that the two would graduate together. I feel that most of use wanted that to happen. The idea of the two joining together and graduating together just seemed so right. But it didn't happen.

Gaki has revealed that she had considered it herself, however. But felt that, with two generations of new members just joining, she would be better waiting and then graduating once those new girls had gotten their feet.

But Gaki's graduation suddenly brings about an interesting new dilemna. The succession, if you will.

First off, who will be the new leader of Morning Musume? 

That's Michishige Sayumi. Which is an unusual thought, to be sure. She has built her idol career on a very particular kind of character. A character which made her popular as a member, but one which doesn't fit the "leader" image at all. So it's all too easy to imagine her not being ready to be leader.

I'm sure she'll make a good leader, though. Will she maintain her character through it? It's hard to know. But when Ai-chan became leader, I doubt anyone really thought she was ready for the responsibility either. Perhaps due to the fact that the Miki scandal changed her status in the group from being a regular member, to sub-leader and then on to being leader in only the space of a couple weeks. There are political coups less dramatic than that.

But she took to it well. And I've a feeling that Sayu will do so too.

But the thing that is a whole lot less certain is that unofficial title of "Queen of H!P". One invented by the fans, it is true, but one which UFA gave credence to during the Elder Club graduation when Nakazawa Yuko symbolically handed over the H!P leadership to Takahashi Ai.

That title has previously been based on rank of seniority, however.

According to Tanaka Reina's own interpretation, however, the Hello!Project Kids outrank 6th Gen Morning Musume in seniority. The Musume are older, but the former Kids were added to H!P several months before the rokkies.

Until now, that interpretation has only represented an interesting little quirk of Reina's personality, and her attitude towards her "senpai" in Berryz and C-ute.

But now it's reason enough that Shimizu Saki could become the leader of Hello! Project. She may be younger than several of the members of Momusu (and, indeed, Mano Erina), but as the oldest and most senior of the H!P Kids, that makes her primed to be the new leader.

And if that does happen, that make it the first time since the Elder Club graduation that the leadership of Morning Musume and Hello!Project will be seperate. And the first time ever that a non-Morning Musume member has held the title.

And then what does that mean for the issue of the "flagship" group. In the past it has always been Morning Musume. They were around longest (since before even H!P was), and had the largest fanbase. But if Berryz and C-ute are now the most senior units in H!P, then it wouldn't be completely unwarranted to ask whether or not Berryz Koubou is now the new flagship unit.

An idea compelling to many of us Beriwota. Though I doubt the Morning Musume fans reading this are quite so eager to concede that. And their arguements are valid. It has been a long time since I even paid attention to numbers like sales figures, but, unless I'm not mistaken, Morning Musume still maintains the lead on that, and as the traditional flagship group, it would be strange to transfer that accolade onto another.

But the point is that, with us now entering into a new decade, it might be interesting to see how the commonly held conceptions of the past decade hold up, and what changes we can expect to see in the coming years.

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Idol Collections

It's a strange topic. Kurisu from Mexican idol blog Hello!Wota once said that "Americans are not wota. Americans are collectors." Is that true? I'm not here to debate the distinction or the true nature of being a wota. At least not now. I've done that in the past, and I'm sure it'll crop up time and time again, but today I'm focusing on the "collector".

After all, short of seeing them in concert, nothing makes you feel closer to your Idol than when that knock at the door comes and the courier delivers your H!P goods, right? 

And why shouldn't it? That drive we have to buy our Idol's merchandise is, after all, the thing that enables them to continue releasing more of it.

But that's not really the end of the story, is it? I've noticed that different people can take very different attitudes towards their collections. Starting with the moment it arrives.

I'm sure many of us have that new goods ritual. The first thing we do when that package is in our hands. My friend and co-subber in KIDS, Wolfy, informed me that he planned to record an unpacking video when his first photobook arrived. It's not really something I had ever considered doing myself - but, sure enough, if you look hard enough, you'll find plenty of people who do this for every new item they get.

My 'ritual' came about mostly by chance. Those of you who have added me on facebook might know what it is. When I get a new package, I open it, and then arrange all the new items so that they are resting on my happi and take a photo of them. Simple, I know. But it originally came about because I didn't have anywhere to put them to take a photo.

The carpet was far from clean, and I was too lazy to go correct this just to take a photo, so I put down something on top of it, which I could safely rest my new CDs on. That just happened to be my happi. 

I'd repeat this same process every time I got new stuff, until eventually it just kind of became a tradition for me to do this. It's a bit like putting a signature in a photo. As much as I've become so inseparably associated with my avatar (oft called "the Church of Maasa symbol thingy"), my Idol merch pics have become associated with that happi and it wouldn't feel right now if I was to stop using it.

But what of the ever-prevailing question of keeping them unopened? A collector's penchant for that all-important "mint condition" is well known. But does it apply to Hello!Project?

I don't think it does. They're not necessarily wrong, of course. They're entitled to do whatever they wish with their stuff. What I mean to say is that I don't subscribe to their belief that items must remain sealed and in mint condition. I don't even mind if they're not like that when I buy them (though if I pay for a brand new copy, I do expect to get one that's in good condition - I'm looking at you, YesAsia.)

I buy H!P merch firstly to support my Idol, and secondly because I want to. I've bought plenty of items second-hand from Yahoo JP auctions or from Hello! Online trading threads. The first argument doesn't apply to that, because I'm not actually giving any money to UFA when I buy those second-hand goods. But I do buy them because I want them. 

On a similar note, there are also some incredible eccentrics out there. Himalia once told me of his most prized collection pieces. A signed copy of Morning Musume's demo single Ai no Tane... with a number indicating that it was the very first one sold. That's the kind of item that most collectors drool over. But then there's the other piece. An airtight jar, which was sealed at the Elder Club graduation concert the moment when his Idol, Nakazawa Yuko, graduated from Hello!Project. That's a pretty curious collection piece. Worthless to most, but priceless to him. 

We all knew that Himalia was a crazy collector of assorted H!P goods. But that shows just how crazy - but I'll be damned if it doesn't make a good anecdote. 

So, have you guys got any curiosities yourself?

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Berryz to attend AnimeNEXT

Seriously? I can't believe it. Mere hours after I wrote "I'm still holding out for Berryz to get invited to Japan Expo" in my previous entry about Buono's concert in Paris this February, news broke that they have been invited to a tiny convention on the US' east coast by the name of AnimeNEXT.

My dreams for this year are shattered.

But maybe I can still put them back together.

While I wasn't too keen on the idea initially (and didn't even consider going to their Sakuracon performance for the same reason), I may find a way to attend. America has generally been in the realm of the darkest, most cob-webbed corners - and filed with a do not want sticker - of the "countries to visit" list that I'm sure everyone compiles at some point whether physically or mentally.

And yet, this time something appeals to me.

When I went to Japan Expo for Morning Musume, I had the time of my life, that is true. And much of what made it so was the people I was with. Team Awesome, as Lolli named us. But I still knew that I was a Berryz fan in a sea of Momusu freaks. I still feel guilty that JunJun thought I was wearing one of her concert shirts when it was a Maasa one. So what would happen if it had been a Berryz event?

I seemed to get recognised a great deal when I was at PJX. "You're Dran, right? I read your blog!" and so on. I also feel guilty that many of the people who said this to me, I didn't recognise either. Some of them I did know after they told me their name. But they put me at a disadvantage by recognising me by my awesome good looks. Well... you know.

Would I be more recognised in a crowd of Berryz fans? Would I recognise more people? Who knows. It's an experiment that sounds fun to try though.

And then there's the crowning moment. That which I would see Sudou Maasa for the first time in person. No thought has ever been so compelling to me. For 3 years now I've been referred to as Pope Dran of the Church of Maasa (a title I'm not all that fond of. Sounds too.... pope-y.) And yet, I've never so much as laid eyes on her. Does that make me qualified to be Church leader?

Oh well. The US is still very far indeed. A lot of money, which could be better spent saving for Japan. I have no idea yet if I can afford to go there, at any rate. But we'll see. If I can, it'll be just as tight-cut as it would be to go see Buono. More expensive, perhaps. But also further away. A bit like the sun and moon. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but also 400 times further away. So from our perspective, they appear to be the same size in the sky.

The convention will run in Somerset, New Jersey from the 8th of June to the 10th, I believe.

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Buono! Concert in Europe... again!

It has been 2 years now since Buono! announced their ill-fated trip to Stockholm to perform at the Japan Expo. Now, in early 2012, they're planning to make a second attempt at performing in Europe.

Back then I was pretty excited. It was to be the first time that any Hello! Project group was to perform outside of Asia. That was big news. Morning Musume were set to appear a few months later at Anime Expo, but the first would be Buono! And in Europe! I was determined to go.

Despite my parents insisting that I couldn't actually afford to go, I managed to convince them otherwise, and everything was booked. Flights, accomodation, Expo tickets. As time drew nearer, and our excitement grew exponentially with it, we were utterly distraught by the cancellation.

It didn't turn out too bad though. A group os us who had already paid for everything went anyway, and had a good time which became the first (and, unfortunately, only) Eurowota event. But even now that dejection in the wake of the cancellation announcement still haunts me.

And now that we have a second shot?

I... don't care.

It's not that I don't want to go. I do. But that sense of urgency that was there with the Stockholm visit just isn't there. I don't really feel like it's in any way imperative that I'm actually there.

So I'm not sure if I actually intend to go. With some pretty awesome book-keeping, I'm certain that I could pull it off. But I'm still holding out for Berryz to get invited to Japan Expo. It's a small hope, perhaps. But I know that if they do announce it after I've commited to going to see Buono, I won't have the money to see Berryz. And I'd be kicking myself from here to Calais if that happened.

Who knows. Maybe I'm holding out for something that will never happen. Maybe I'm a fool to do so.

It's still possible that I'll attend this concert. After all, I was initially very indifferent towards the idea of going to see Morning Musume at PJX. But when I did go I had a great time. Most fun I've ever had, if I'm honest. But at present, I'm very much sitting on the fence with this.

That said, for those of you who aren't sat on the fence, it's set to take place on the 12th of February, at Le Machine du Moulin Rouge, at the heart of Paris' entertainment districts.

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Expanding horizons?

This week the Daily Yomiuri featured an article about the potential for overseas expansion of Japanese pop culture, including a few comments from Takahashi Ai. 

I felt I wanted to weigh in with my own perspective.

The main focus of the article seemed to be an the apparent boom of popularity enjoyed by South Korean artists at the moment. While a decade ago it was cool to like Morning Musume, it certainly appears that schoolgirls all over Asia are managing to prop up this titan of an industry. It's suddenly trendy. We could could several Japanese public figures, including current and former Hello! Project members who have also bought into the Korean wave.

But why?

I'm not fooling anyone by claiming that I'm an expert on Korean Idols. I've quite famously made a point of hating them. Not really out of dislike for Korean people (though it's not above me to joke that I do), or even out of a superiority complex about Jpop. It's actually a whole lot more simple than that. It's musical taste.

Where the music that Tsunku writes for Hello! Project mirrors the rock music that influenced him and that he wrote in SharanQ, the very little Kpop I've heard tends to ignore the rock genre completely - instead focusing on a more R&B-influenced approach.

And that's my problem. I'm a rock kind of guy. I have never been a fan of R&B or Hip-Hop, or it's other various shoot-off genres. And, frankly, I hope I never feel the need to become a fan of those genres.

In the article, Takahashi claimed that the reason for the incredible momentum that various Korean Idol groups are seizing the world is that Japanese Idols just don't have the same drive for global success whereas Korean artists tend to be much more goal-orientated, pushing themselves onward in the hopes of achieving those dreams.

A lovely thought. And I have no idea as to the veracity of the statement on Korean people, but her analysis on the Japanese psyche seems to have hit the nail on the head.

In general, Japanese Idols aren't driven by desire for world domination (or at least, aren't seen to be), but rather a desire to please their fans.

It seems to be a very Japanese thing. Being content with one's lot. Instead of hoping for massive success around the world, they hope to maintain the fans they already have. It also reflects in the agency. Where rival agencies spend big money in the hopes of generating a big payoff of new fans, UFA has, instead, opted to cut costs in the knowledge that they can get buy with larger profits on the fans they already have.

In a way, it also sounds like the difference between the US and British approach to the recession. But that's another story entirely.

Does that make the respective fans seem more or less important? Do the Korean artists take their fans for granted while the fans of the Japanese Idols know that their oshi is working hard for them?

I honestly have no idea.

But the last line in the article proved to be a clincher.

When I ask young people in China why Hanryu idols are so popular in there, I always get the simple reply: "Because they come here."

This is a concept which, unfortunately, the Japanese still haven't fully grasped.

Whenever a western fan's interest in Hello!Project seems to decline, and I've seen this happen, all it often takes to restore that interest is a concert. This especially helps when that fan has been in isolation. Meeting other fans and seeing one's Idol in person often prove to be the jumpleads that one's fandom needed.

It's true that Hello!Project still haven't fully understood how to exploit this budding overseas popularity, but if they took it upon themselves to organise concerts and events, rather than waiting to be invited by Japan Expo or Anime Expo, who knows what would happen!

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