Archive for April, 2007
Apr
30
Posted under
Hello Project,
Morning Musume,
Uncategorized by Aece McCloud
This is strange if you consider fact that Yoshizawa Hitomi is graduating in year 2007 when she joined only 10 months after Goto Maki in Morning Musume. Also Goto Maki joined the group at the age of 13 even after Yaguchi Mari who still lasted in Morning Musume for a very long time.
Why Goto Maki had to leave the group and what difficulties she received by doing so?
It has been very difficult for Goto Maki to progress because the management decisions made for her were not very good. Goto Maki during her audition had shown great learning potential and was considered at that time most talented girl compared to any other Morning Musume members. But there was something missing from Goto Maki then which was present in almost all other Morning Musume members and that is level of fun which was ignored by the people managing Goto Maki. She was indulged in too many learning activities giving her almost no time to have fun with other Morning Musume members. That is important because the very essence of Morning Musume exists on singing, dancing, fun and excitement.
Goto Maki and in-fact all other Morning Musume members in early years should have been assessed to find the level of excitement present in the members. This strategy is being followed now & rated to know how much time members require before they can be treated as seniors. Most exciting members that used to exist in old Morning Musume are Nakazawa Yuuko and Yaguchi Mari who carried the very essence of fun within Morning Musume for a very long time. Yossie (Yoshizawa Hitomi) and Fujimoto Mikitty clearly carried it after but the damage was done in the years of Goto Maki.
Because of her singing talent she was made to graduate early as she surpassed all other Morning Musume members at very early stage and it was time for the Production Company and Tsunku to try the very first member as a solo artist. It was still the first effort by the management to nurture a member as a solo artist therefore they were bound to make a few mistakes. After her graduation she continued to work with Morning Musume but she was never able to mature her level of fun with other members, which is very obvious from many concert-backstage clippings of her. For some reason she was still treated as a senior who didn’t require too much fun ascending activities and in many TV programs you will only find Goto Maki as an inclusion and not participating very much. She was never able to find her identity as a celebrity for many years even when included with Aya Matsuura and Fujimoto in Gomattou. This girl during these years was having too difficulty in having fun and in various cases it seemed the management was trying hard to get her emotionally involved in many of the TV programs but it simply wasn’t working for her.
Fujimoto on the other hand had been with Aya Matsuura for a very long time and both helped in nurturing each other with fun and excitement. Fujimoto hasn’t been very successful as a solo artist because she is not vocally strong compared to Goto Maki and you won’t find her singing solo in many concerts. Two reasons come to my mind either she is vocally weak or the management don’t want her to progress as solo artist and also to keep her in Morning Musume much longer. Hmm.. seems like nothing much she can do to help herself except to stick with Morning Musume. But what is going to happen to her after she is graduated? We know many of the Morning Musume members couldn’t have progressed further and they became matured and independent. As I mentioned before Mari Yaguchi will be the only person beside Fujimoto, who will carry herself to much higher heights without needing Morning Musume. Fujimoto will be however in a weird situation as she would either be participating like Makoto and Konno or probably then continue to support her non-existent singing career as a solo artist.
Just a little secret on Goto Maki and Aya Matsuura that both of them will be the oldest running successful singers to be in Hello Project within the next few years.
The war of survival for Goto Maki and Fujimoto is heating up. Both of them are opposite in talent and unaware of their future. They are not very successful as a solo artist and being ‘independent’ is the only thin line present between them which is a very big risk they are taking. They should focus being more competent and shouldn’t allow themselves getting out of business as they have a lot more to offer then to be treated like a puppet.
Apr
21
Posted under
Hello Project,
Uncategorized by Aece McCloud
Koharu wil have a positive life changing career that even her parents don’t know about. She would be the third girl to be pushed by producers after Aya Matsuura and Goto Maki. A new single was released yesterday named ‘Happy’ which is also posted on the Youtube and can be seen below subject to its continued availability.
HelloProject producers spend a lot of time deciding the fate of Morning Musume members and in fact the graduation of the members is usually decided many years before the actual graduation. Usually the production company wait for the most suitable moment for the graduation announcement and possibly if a request is being made by the Morning Musume member. My guess for year 2007 is the parents of Yoshizawa Hitomi had to make request to the production company for her graduation. My guess is after the unfortunate loss of Yossie’s brother parents want to keep their remaining children close despite her huge success.
The events are unfortunate not allowing Yossie to continue further. HelloProject is not ending here and becoming a big market for artists. In fact it could get big enough for other non-relevant artists to join the production company and releasing their singles, but that is something for the future. Koharu has a long road ahead and will easily be able to develop her own professional appearance compared to Goto Maki and won’t require too much effort. However her singing is not as good as Goto Maki and will only be able to develop mostly between the lines of Pop-Rock-Love songs. She has great learning potential and will be the next big thing in the future after Aya Matsuura and Goto Maki. The road for Fujimoto as the solo artist is dying and she won’t be able to continue singing as a solo-artist for a very long time. Primary reason she is rapidly maturing as a woman and developing a more humble and gentle personality less appealing to Morning Musume audience; which also means her graduation might be closer than other sexy Morning Musume members.
A lot of effort is put in music production and coming up with a creative music video. I would be amazed to know if the producers are the same for Koharu as for Aya Matsuura. Koharu is possibly kept as a replacement of W or Mini Moni more entertaining for Children. The music company is trying to keep their market by entertaining all ages and in fact keeping all audiences intact by shuffling the groups which is a very calculated & effective strategy.
This is for now a short post and to keep you updated on the possible happenings of Musume members. Eri Kamei should watch out as the pair of Eri and Risa Niigaki is keeping her alive!
Apr
18
Posted under
Hello Project,
Uncategorized by Aece McCloud
The legend of Tsunku continues not knowing where it is leading all Morning Musume members. More than 30 MM singles have been released till today and it is continuing to grow. After the success of bokura ga ikiru MY ASIA it seems the MM future path will lead to slow or sexy numbers in the leadership of Fujimoto Miki. Many of the successful fast numbers emerged between 2003 and 2005 and many of the new numbers are there just to keep fans mildly entertained until another good number is released.
But why is many of the singles are successful for the female artists and Tsunku is not working much for his own singles. Any guesses if he would be more popular if he worked for his own album?
Lets have a quick theory… Tsunku always wanted to produce music for female artists and started to relive (having a new life) through music production for Aya Matsuura and Morning Musume. Being the boss he controls the whole environment of the music and the music performances. He is immensely successful and the strategies involved around the girls seems to be paying off for him. But what is he getting out of producing music for the girls beside money? Could it be that he is better in producing music for female artists then producing for male artists? Or could it be he wanted to produce music for female artists but didn’t get a chance since he is not a female?
Hmm… that sounds reasonable but kind of long shot for someone like Tsunku. Also it does feel true producing music for such ridiculously long time for the girls. There is some affinity between Tsunku and the female artists serving under Tsunku and their success. I so wanted to blurt it out for you all, but instead I would like you to figure out on your own. I have already given enough evidence for a four year old to deduce the answer.
Goto Maki and Lida Kaori
Something is up for Lida Kaori as she has been appearing in singles for far too long. In my opinion a great success would have been achieved keeping Rika Ishikawa in the play. There are two reasons she is ignored: either she is having problems singing, or there is a hidden reason behind it that nobody knows about. Lets go with bad singing.. she starred in Lets go Rakuten for the baseball theme and apparently can easily fill in for other members. Then how come she is now having problems fitting in with other members in their latest singles such as Kanishimi Twilight? We need her back! She has potential to grow just like Goto Maki who is having severe problem in developing a personality of her own. She is a great singer no doubt but requires constant pushing from producers in having a successful single. She has been in the industry for so long but still dangling by a thin rope.
Lida Kaori on the other hand is a complete mess. She can’t sing as of now and also needs a push to re-act like other members in the singles. An example you asked? Think of her performing like other girls in the song video Aruiteru. Hmm…. not a pretty picture to me. Because she is getting old fast and is now only good in faking her virtual personality. Goto Maki on the other hand will be able to develop her personality but would require more time as I don’t see anything happening very soon.
Tsunku, becareful! You are not able to use some of the members completely as yet and you need to decide what is to be done in case you can’t come up with any more good numbers. You can’t fire everyone and you need to save everyone including yourself!
Apr
08
Posted under
Morning Musume,
Uncategorized by Aece McCloud
Yesterday the last video for Yossie was posted all over internet and it seems to be pretty cool although the video lacked originality and had some lack of imagination. I mean come on I got tired of looking at the same Pinkish background in the whole video! The new 33rd Morning Musume single is called Kanashimi Twilight and a preview of the video can be seen on YouTube subject to its continued availability.
I am surprised from the video that the producers use all means of preparing fans for what is coming next. Much of the emphasis was put on Takahashi and Fujimoto probably because they would be taking Yossie’s place, whereas Yossie was mostly dancing in the background. It is also good to see the first video of Mitsui and she seems to be doing just fine, although its a long way for her in getting her own video. I am sure she is within the best group of girls on earth who respect each other and give enough credits in keeping each other motivated.
I have concerns for Fujimoto as of now since she would be the leader of the group within a few months. She has been growing very well and mostly because a lot of personality development when she was with Aya Matsuura performing childish solo clips on TV. She has been a great entertainer and there is something about her which is not present in other Morning Musume members and that she is very mature. I have watched a lot of Aya Matsuura and Fujimoto Miki clips where they are performing together or solo. I have observed that Fujimoto is having great fun when she is with Ayaya and show a side of her which is not present when she is in Morning Musume.
Buw what does it mean? If Fujimoto is not decided to graduate for the next couple of years then surprisingly she will develop a *motherly* a very humble personality with other Morning Musume members where the members will really start respecting Fujimoto not as a great artist but also as a great person. Fujimoto will also lose interest with Aya Matsuura and will get tired of the music business as it already seems she has to push herself to be with other Morning Musume members and act like how they do.
There is a long way for Fujimoto as compared to Aya Matsuura her progress is slow but it is not going to end here. Not for another seven to ten years before she completely gets out of news but will definitely will remain a friend with Ayaya. As of now UFA must not think about making Fujimoto leave and allow her to progress further as there is something a lot more on they way then they can imagine, which is discussed below.
– > I promised that I will also go through the mistakes Tsunku made when he allowed Rika and Natsumi to graduate. According to my perception the timing for Abe Natsumi graduation was right on time and UFA or Tsunku whoever came up with the idea was accurate and couldn’t have been better. However, the more I think about Rika’s graduation the more I think it was completely out of time. If I remember correctly then Rika joined Morning Musume after Yossie and had to take a lot of time building her personality. However, much of her effort ended up being cute and not able to do any better than that. When Makoto, Eri, Takahashi and Reina joined someone made a mistake and someone thought that UFA or Tsunku will always be able to come up with members like Eri Kamei, Tanaka Reina, Takahashi Ai and Ogawa Makoto. Those guys were completely wrong and should be punished! There cannot be another version of these four girls for another 10 years and also it would have been better if Yaguchi Mari received a former graduation. This is VERY disheartening because she will continue to do very well in the future because of her personality and it will continuously remind fans, members and Tsunku that she had done a lot deal of good work in past years either within or outside Morning Musume. She will continue to be very active and provocative doing things out of her boldness. One thing is for sure, even with or without her mistake she is a very strong woman who continues to work very hard in her own exceptional way.
Rika on the other hand was a distress call for her personality even when she stayed with the members after graduation. But still she was a former member who had a great deal of stuff to offer the new members and probably thats the reason she is still kept in various activities with Morning Musume. But the mistake has been done and we lost a very good filler, at least she would have been much better than Lida Kaori in My Asia. Does anyone disagree?
People make mistakes and those should be forgiven and some former members should be given credit for what they have done for Tsunku and UFA. However my deep concerns are for things which are happening as of now. Those personnel strategising and making decisions for the Morning Musume do not know where they are heading from here and can’t decide for sure of the results that can be achieved. Possibly they are at the verge of planning where they are more following the strategy books then the real practice.
The group of Morning Musume is expanding on the basics of cuteness (kawaii) and fun (tanashku) which is the right essence of Japan. Once the members grow out of that phase then they start losing focus and develop their individuality also losing interest in working as a group but as an individual. Most probably the first signs of deciding on who is going to graduate. That means no one has been able to develop a strategy that signifies the individuality of the members, except for Yaguchi who is not actively present in Morning Musume, and put a better use of it.
A BIG MISTAKE which will be repeated in the future!
In order to make the best of the talent all progressing members should continues to progress just like Aya Matsuura when she reactively dominated in music coming from Ne¬e cute background to GAM - Thanks pure hotness! This worked for both Ayaya and Mikitty and will also work for other Morning Musume members.
They all came up with good numbers, they all worked hard, they all had fun and in the end they all made money. But they all don’t know what to do next. Sometimes you can’t come up with answers and sometimes you have to observe mistakes from others on purpose to make your next move.
Consider the fact of Utada Hikaru when Tanaka-san declared her to be the number one female singer in Japan. Does it mean she will continue to stay that way or she is more talented then Aya Matsuura just because she can speak English? Or she is more talented than another girl who has been performing well in South-Korea since the last many years coming from the same era of Utada Hikaru and is now producing good numbers in Japanese? There is a time for everything and a group of Aya Matsuura and BOA isn’t too far. Both are great performers and do not have American support producing temporary good numbers using unrealistic computer graphics for Utada unlike BOA and Ayaya who never required such things and always carried their singles believing on their own talent.
There is a lot to discuss as there has always been good things happening around Morning Musume. One thing Tsunku should keep in mind that the audience may not be always looking for what he has to offer and should start seeing other ways in making things happen. If not other artists will popup taking places of his relics and soon he will be stranded in a deep sea boat with no rows and no compass.
Apr
06
Posted under
Hello Project,
Uncategorized by Aece McCloud
Lately few more members joined Morning Musume including two Chinese girls after Mitsui who is considered a great addition and greatly appreciated by media and fans. The core values generated when Ogawa Makoto, Risa Niigaki, Takahashi Ai and Eri Kamei joined Morning Musume because they believed in each other and especially Takahashi Ai pushed the whole group forward with her talent. After graduation of Yossie (Yoshizawa Hitomi) there is a Huge Gap as not many members are left from the old Morning Musume. What is the criteria of members graduation and is time a factor in getting rid of the old members?
Which member is considered successful in Morning Musume and deserve to stay longer?
Ans: Anyone who is able to mature on continuous basis and have a lot to offer keeping record companies busy producing more singles and attracting more fans. This is called popularity of each members and UP Front Works gauge monitoring DVDs and CDs sold per member and for the groups. Other methods include leaking any information about any of the members including smoking hot Aibon’s or Tsuji’s bad-side manners. Any news attracting too much attention only signifies fact that fans want to keep that member in Morning Musume. Considering an example for Hitomi when she received a very short-sighted press exposure compared to Aibon or Tsuji when she lost her brother in a very unfortunate incident may only meant her popularity is going way down and it is time for her to go.
Mitsui joined Morning Musume a few months ago and hopefully she will achieve rankings as high as Eri Kamei which is in the bottom of Ai-chan, Makoto and Reina, and in my opinion that is very unlikely. I have posted a video about Mitsui from YouTube subject to its continued availability.
Few questions need to be answered before we go further on Mitsui and later on JunJun and LinLin.
Q. What drew Tsunku to include just Koharu as a single person?
Q. Will Tsunku be able to produce a group of talent such as Takahashi, Reina, Eri and Makoto?
Q. Why Fujimoto will lead Takahashi when she joined Morning Musume after her?
Go back to the Answer I wrote above which is ‘Anyone who is able to mature on continuous basis and have a lot to offer keeping record companies busy producing more singles and attracting more fans. ‘
Does it mean Fujimoto is going to graduate next year?
This is a very important question because according to my analysis it would be a mistake to get rid of her at this early stage when LinLin and JunJun has a lot to learn from her. However, Takahashi will be subordinating Fuji possibly to take her place in case Fuji is decided to graduate next year. The reason might be Fuji is growing too fast and eventually Morning Musume is not her place anymore. (The reason Fuji should stay will be presented in future blog post.)
Does it mean someone who is not maturing or with least popularity will leave?
No. The reason is Tsunku still need someone to fill in some gaps such as Lida Kaori in ‘My Asia’.
Who is that person and how can we find it?
It will become obvious if you stick with this blog!
To clear things up Koharu joined Morning Musume for her beauty. Tsunku couldn’t find someone else to include with Koharu because she had tendency to grow and other competing candidates tried to perform being mature, which is not the criteria for Morning Musume. However the sad part is Koharu Kusumi hasn’t been able to develop a personality and after so many years still lack it for two reasons:
1. She hasn’t been included in any activities such as Bakajo school test when Tsuji was crowned and later for a single day sports festival when Aibon was rewarded her cape. Also she lacked other activities and fun with Ayaka’s English Lessons and missing the whole era of Morning Musume’s popularity.
2. Someone made a HUGE mistake and created a whole bunch of activities without Rika Ishikawa when she graduated. These kind of activities seized growth of Morning Musume and didn’t allow anyone to gain or learn from the senior members. For example Koharu hasn’t been able to mature or learn significantly apart from Just Having Fun, which was NOT the point of those activities. She will NOT be able to develop a personality as high as Gaki-chan simply because there is no Senior member left as her mentor.
Tsunku is losing his resources in developing the members and Needs Fujimoto the most talented girl in the top-hierarchy and to push LinLin & JunJun and Matsui to gather as much exposure from her. Will it work? If he is only *Hoping* for it then obviously NOT!
Fact: Time to clear another things up.. Tsunku won’t be able to compile a talented group comparatively better or competing with Takahashi Ai, Eri Kamei, Ogawa Makoto and Tanaka Reina. For sometime Koharu was pushed with the trio when Makoto left but Koharu refused to learn anything leaving no choice for Tsunku but to let her alone. She will continue to grow at a moderate level and won’t mature tremendously unless something special comes along.
Finally, the Strategy behind JunJun, LinLin and Mitsui
Can anyone answer a question ‘What would have happened if Fujimoto could only speak Chinese and whether she would still be decided as a leader after Hitomi?’ It is almost impossible that she would be a leader but that only declares the fact that poor LinLin and JunJun will always remain as a filler for Morning Musume because of the language barrier. They will probably get half as talented as Koharu in future and Tsunku is thinking right now scratching his head going through photographs deciding for future potential members. As of now he is unable to secure his resources and will soon run out a lot in the next year or two.
If you haven’t noticed but Mitsui looks like half Chinese even though she is Japanese. It is not a coincidence LinLin and JunJun coming after Mitsui and all looking very similar when standing in front of a mirror. Tsunku allowed Mitsui to grow a bit so JunJun and LinLin don’t outgrow the Japanese partner very quickly because both are smarter than Mitsui and Tsunku wanted Mitsui to lead. The dissection doesn’t end here as there are interesting secrets lying behind Morning Musume, continuation of Ayaya and Utada being the number #1 singer in Japan or is she?
Next Blog will include dissection on Tsunku Unable to Think Out of the Box for the future of members graduating from Morning Musume, so stay tuned for that! If you have any comments please do post or write directly to my email for private confirmed attention.
Apr
01
Posted under
Introduction by Aece McCloud
Hello there! My online name is “Ace McCloud” and I have known to Tsunku’s relics for just about a year now. I am a business analyst in UK living in a secret remote place not known to anyone for the past few years and will discuss the strategies played by Tsunku and UFA. It has been eight months since I have been listening to Hello Project and Morning Musume and now I completely managed to understand the nature of Japanese culture through their media within this time. One thing I learned from the events that have been taking place since the start of Morning Musume and Hello Project that it is structured to get as much money as possible by strategizing and bringing the best concepts. That includes producing music, have the best mix-up of artists for presentation and of course good choreography. What I like about Morning Musume that it is the first time in Japan where someone is forced to mature through self-development nurturing confidence and sharing experience with other members. However, in USA all artists mature learning through others and also sharing experiences. That gave members of Morning Musume a chance to develop their own personality which is virtually non-existent in almost all US artists and help them go through a fun loving process. The idea can only be produced by an eastern country who is willing to take risk in doing it, whereas the US music production companies take necessary steps to make sure that it is going to work.
There is a lot of give and take in the music industry. As much as artists enjoy the process of working and the fans enjoy the music, the record companies decide the future stake of the artists on their strategical needs of making money. This is a very ugly fact which is not much discussed by anyone in public. Please post your recommendations, comments on the blog posts and let me know which direction would you want me to go. I will go as far as past reactions of graduations, performances to what else is happening in the Japanese music industry and sometimes some relevance of what else is happening in the rest of the world. If you would like to email me anytime you can do that at Author@tsunku.org
If you don’t know what is Hello Project and who is present in Morning Musume then following are some links that will get you started.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Musume
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunku
http://www.tsunku.net http://www.HelloProject.com
