These are the winner videos  of  Morning Musume contest for their fan-made PV!  The winners are selected out of 25 final contenders also if you visit the Youtube link you will be able to get other information on the original video submissions plus you can also view 25 submissions in order.

Congratulations to all winners from Tsunku.com/.org !

Popularity: 52% [?]

The debut PV from this brand-new 4-member group is now available. Check it out!

S/mileage
aMa no Jaku
Release Date: 2009.07.19

CD: GFV-31601

S/mileage is a brand-new unit consisting of Hello!Pro eggs Ogawa Saki, Fukuda Kanon, Wada Ayaka and Maeda Yuuka. Their debut single, aMa no Jaku, is an indie single available only at live events, MALL CITY, and the official H!P shop. This release is on the TNX indie label “Good Factory”.

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The Morning Musume, today 22/07/09, were guests on NHK television during the show entitled:
‘Latest Hits Wednesday J-POP “@ NHK Square Furenai All’.

Popularity: 47% [?]

Morning Musume’s 40th single is just around the corner, and they’re celebrating with a special commemorative release. We got a glimpse of the PV on this weekend’s episode of Kizuna Restaurant, and now the full version is available. Click through to watch!

Nanchatte Renai

Morning Musume
Nanchatte Renai
Release Date: 2009.08.12

(click on any cover for a larger version)

Regular edition – CD
EPCE-5651

Limited A – CD+DVD
EPCE-5647~8

Limited B – CD+DVD
EPCE-5649~50

40th single commemorative edition – CD
EPCE-5659

Morning Musume’s upcoming single “Nanchatte Renai” is also the 40th single from the group. To celebrate, there will be a special commemorative edition that has a c/w track unique to that version. Aside from that, the Limited editions A & B both come with a DVD, and the first press of all versions comes with a serial numbered card with a chance to attend a live Morning Musume event.

Tracklist (Limited A, B, and Normal edition):
1. Nanchatte Renai
2. Aki Urara
3. Nanchatte Renai (Instrumental)

Tracklist (40th single commemorative edition only):
1. Nanchatte Renai
2. Subete wa Ai no Chikara
3. Nanchatte Renai (Instrumental)

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In the newest issue of Gravure Television magazine, the members of Morning Musume are interviewed for their latest single, Nanchatte Renai. Since it’s their 40th single, the questions center around the number 40.

We’ve translated all the questions and answers, and included the scans as well. Enjoy!

The Musume are getting sexier these days, and now they’re showing off a “Sexy Little Devils Shot” in knee-high socks. Their 40th single “Nanchatte Renai” goes on sale August 12 (Wed), so we had them answer “questions about 40″!

“If you had 40 days off, what would you want to do?”

Tanaka: Well, I’d go back to my hometown to hang out for about five days, then take a trip. There’s a farm for bears in Aso that I’ve been to before, and I want to go there again!

Mitsui: I’d go with my sister to Korea and Hawaii, then come back to Saga. I’d spend about 10 days in Korea, and I hear they have cheap cosmetics there, so I’d want to buy some.

Kusumi: I don’t need 40 days. Two weeks would be enough. I’d have too much free time, I’d probably die (lol) And it’s better to be working anyway!

Tanaka: Yeah, it makes you feel like you’re alive. Oh, in that case, I’d like to try a part-time job. I want to work in a fast-food place or a clothing shop.

Mitsui: Once someone working in a shop suggested that to me. She asked, “Are you interested in working in apparel?”

Tanaka: That’s right, when Aika said, “Doesn’t this one look good?”, the lady in the shop said that (lol). Working part-time, I want to see how much it takes to be self sufficient these days.

Kusumi: It’s just the normal wage, isn’t it?

Tanaka: Around 600 yen an hour?

Kusumi: That’s enough for Niigata, or somewhere in the country! It takes more than that in Tokyo!

Tanaka: But I wouldn’t be in Tokyo, if I had 40 days off.

Kusumi: Oh, right. Then instead of a part-time job, I’ll go and learn yoga.

Mitsui: Oh, I want to learn scuba diving and go underwater!

“If the world were ending in 40 days…”

Niigaki: I’d want to go on as usual, spending time with the other members and my family and continuing to work. If I didn’t do that, I think I’d be counting, “How many days left?” (lol)

Kamei: You’d definitely be counting. I’d make sure I spent all my money!

LinLin: Oh, that’s good!

Kamei: I’m 20 now, so I’ve been really concerned with conserving and being eco-friendly. But it would be nice not having to think about things like that.

Niigaki: It really wouldn’t be the time to say things like, “Saving the Earth is something we can do today!” (lol)

Kamei: That’s right. You could just live for yourself in those final days.

LinLin: I’d become somebody who can save the Earth, like Sailor Moon, then I’d save the Earth!

Niigaki: Oh, you’d save it?

LinLin: That’s right. Hero LinLin-man! (lol)

Kamei: That didn’t occur to me. (lol)

Niigaki: In that case, you’d have to be eco-friendly. And you couldn’t spend all your money.

Kamei: I guess so. (lol) But how would you become a hero?

LinLin: Somebody would see me suddenly and say, “You are a warrior who can save the Earth!” And in a flash, I’d transform.

Kamei: That’s just in comics (lol). That couldn’t happen, LinLin (lol)!

Niigaki: LinLin really does get comics and reality mixed up sometimes. (lol)

“Try to imagine yourself at age 40!”

Takahashi: [Choreographer] Natsu Mayumi-sensei said, “A woman’s life begins at 40.” She says your 40s are really fun. If that’s the case, then I want to reach my 40s quickly. I don’t know what I’ll be like then, but I hope I’ll be someone who can express herself.

Michishige: So cool! I don’t want to be like “I’ve gotten older, so I don’t want to be seen.” I always want to be someone who wants to be seen. I definitely don’t want to shut myself out from everyone around me!

JunJun: I can’t wait to see what kind of face I have at age 40. Lately, I’ve been looking at old photos and thinking I looked so cute. I think my face has changed now. So, I think it would be best if my face doesn’t change from how it is now, even when I’m in my 40s. That way I could still be in Morning.

Takahashi: You’d still be doing it? You’d have to do a lot of dancing (lol)

Michishige: I’d definitely collapse.

JunJun: Age doesn’t matter. I think if you’re always up on stage, you’ll look young. I think I’d be able to dance okay.

Takahashi: Yeah, I guess you’d be pretty healthy if you kept on dancing like that.

Michishige: Amazing. For me, it depends on strength. That is, training myself up from where I am now depends on how hard I’m willing to try. (lol)

JunJun: I think it would be fun!

Michishige: But I think I’d rather watch my own kids dancing than be dancing myself. (lol)

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Former °C-ute member Arihara Kanna left the group months ago for what was reported to be a foot problem — a bunion, to be more precise. Well, today it was announced that she won’t be returning.

But is there more to the story? It should be taken as rumor, but we have some insider info that might shed some light on the situation.

It was announced today on the official Hello!Project website that original °C-ute member Arihara Kanna would be leaving H!P. Here’s the official statement:

————————————–

We would like to announce that Arihara Kanna is leaving °C-ute and Hello!Project as of 09.07.2009. Arihara worked hard after she joined Hello!Project in the 2004 audition, joined °C-ute in 2006, and as their member, she had a major debut the year after.

As you know, she stopped appearing on the stage since February this year, due to the bunion, and now she has decided to leave °C-ute and Hello!Project and return back to the life of a normal girl.

We are very sorry to bring such unexpected news, but we hope you will keep supporting °C-ute in the future.

————————————–

It was announced back in February 2009 that Kanna would be taking leave from all group activities due to hallux valgus, or bunion deformity. °C-ute immediately carried on without her, and she was absent from concerts and all °C-ute singles and photoshoots. Fans grew suspicious as the reported recovery time for hallux valgus is usually six to eight weeks, yet she has been gone for well over four months.

This is not official, but an inside source tells Hello!Online that there was more at play here. Firstly, it had been long rumored that Kanna had a boyfriend, which is forbidden in her contract. But our source also indicates that there were new images including Kanna that put Up-Front Agency management in a tough position.

These photos apparently surfaced just recently (within the last week or so). To be clear: we’re NOT referring to the previously-published magazine photos, but brand-new private photos.

[[[PLEASE NOTE: OUR SOURCE IS NOT 2CH, OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE.]]]

It’s possible UFA knew more about Kanna’s situation before the “bunion” story came out and quickly removed Kanna from the public eye.

So was there actually a bunion problem? Perhaps we’ll never know. What is certain is that Arihara Kanna’s time in Hello!Project has come to an abrupt end.

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In this second special edition of Tsunku blog entries, The uber producer reports again from his trip to Los Angeles for Anime Expo 2009. He talks about Morning Musume’s concert, his Q&A panel, and lots more!

_2009-07-04 Italian I’ve said it before, but whenever I go overseas, I end up having three big meals a day. I wonder why. I’m going to come back fat. I’ve been at my current weight ever since I came back from Beijing two years ago. Well, maybe it can’t be helped, now that I’m over 40… Yesterday, I visited a musician friend who lives in LA, and we went out for Italian. It was just casual Italian, but the pasta was great. “Italian” “Thin tomato pasta” Even though it was this casual, it was reasonable, and I had a fun time. It reconfirmed my idea that everything in Japan is overly fancy. It was a great meal! _2009-07-04 Time difference. Man, because of the time difference, I’m totally exhausted during the day. It’s a 16 hour difference from Japan. My rhythm is off. And there’s not a cloud in the sky. Looking up at the sun makes me dizzy. It’s the same sky, but it feels completely different from the skies of Japan. I understand the difference between the music in LA and the music in New York, and the even bigger difference from damp England, so there’s no way it’ll become the same as the music of the Far East and Japan. And for breakfast today, I had a breakfast set with natto that probably came a long way to get here. The taste was… It was a good meal. Today is Morning Musume’s concert. _2009-07-05 In the dressing room before the concert. I came to LA with Morning Musume. The mid-summer fine weather continues here. I wonder if you can see that it says Hollywood! behind me. But because the humidity is basically pretty low, the weather doesn’t feel as hot. Because of that, in the evenings it feels like it’s in the 20s, and it’s easy to cope. But the dry air is scary. It makes my skin and my throat dry. Okay, here’s the dressing room just before Morning Musume’s concert. In the dressing room! For shows in Tokyo and in Japan, they’d have separate dressing rooms, so you don’t normally see them all together like this before the show. But this time, we got a group photo to celebrate. Before the show, a commemorative photo in LA. Okay, it’s time! I’m counting on you! _2009-07-05 Morning Musume’s American Concert. Morning Musume held a concert in LA. The concert has begun! It was a 90 minute battle, but all the Americans there received them perfectly. The roughly 7500 guests already knew the songs. An audience of 7500 in LA, USA So they were in perfect unison with the “Fu fu” and “Wow wow” parts of Love Machine. Kachoii! Amazing. There were a lot of cosplayers, men and women, young and old, so many different people who came to enjoy the divas who came from Japan. I’m kind of touched. _2009-07-05 Breakin’ Out 3, 2, 1! Okay, there was one other special event today. The contest for the general public to create a promotion video for Morning Musume. I went to the award ceremony for that contest. There were entries from 27 countries around the world, and I was able to see so many different people’s styles. And the three winners amongst them were really well done. Thanks to everyone who participated! I took part in the award ceremony. I’ll announce the grand prize! Hangry showed up to help announce the winners! _2009-07-05 Michael Jackson. The recently deceased Michael Jackson has been brought back to life. Huh? That’s impossible! You may think so, but nothing’s impossible in Hollywood. It’s that powerful. That’s right, there was a Michael Jackson impersonator working as a street entertainer in Hollywood. Michael J The umbrella was kind of shabby, but this really gentle Michael was speaking so kindly to the little kids. And he was interviewed for a TV show on the street. During a street corner interview Amazing! Michael. There were also some KISS members who seemed to have some spare time to chat. I wonder where the other members were. Members of KISS chatting _2009-07-06 My soy sauce. So, just like last night, I went to a Japanese restaurant. I guess eating Japanese food puts me at ease somehow. We went to an izakaya-style Japanese restaurant that’s rumoured to be really good! I could hear Kansai and Kyushu accents coming from the kitchen, and with all the different speech styles in the air, it gave the place a bustling atmosphere. We were next, so we had to hurry unexpectedly to make our order. But we ordered and ate a lot. The one I really liked was this pork belly ramen. Beef tongue Pork belly ramen! And I know that a lot of Kansai natives find Kanto style tamagoyaki to be too sweet, like, “Huh?” But the tamagoyaki here was Kansai-style and really good. Kansai-style tamagoyaki Oh yeah, I always carry around my own soy sauce for times like this, so I had it with Naaogen soy sauce. Damn good. No matter where in the world it’s from, any food can have its flavour enhanced with just a touch of soy sauce. It’s so good. _2009-07-06 Tomo-Colle. I’ve got a brief pause before heading to the next site. A little relief. I’m playing “Tomodachi Collection” on my Nintendo DS. A little relief Playing Tomodachi Collection! _2009-07-06 Anime Expo Okay, I’ve come to Los Angeles. My job here is to answer the questions from all the Morning Musume fans, Tsunku♂ fans, and anime fans who have come here from all over the world. It’s a Q&A panel discussion. A lot of people gathered in the hall so early in the morning. They gathered here from all over the world. They asked a lot of questions, but the questions were all so naïve. Even though I was answering the questions, I was having fun, too. Answering a question Let’s all meet again. _2009-07-06 To the next location. Okay, I have a little time before the next part, so it’s time for lunch. But the convention is packed with people, so I left. “I’ll eat at the food court that’s no more than 10 minutes away.” In Tokyo, it’d seem like that would be really close (if you’re unlucky [with traffic], it might even be quicker to walk), but here, you can go a long distance in 10 minutes. It was so far away, it would have probably taken four hours to walk there. So, time to eat. I wanted to slurp down some noodles, but they didn’t have any, so I had spaghetti instead. I pointed and said “pasta” at the restaurant, and they replied back, “Spaghetti, right?” Huh? I’d only said pasta, so I wonder where the spaghetti came from. I don’t really get it. What I ended up eating was spaghetti with tomato sauce and chicken! Chicken spaghetti with tomato sauce! _2009-07-06 Judge. In LA, there are a lot of people trying to make it as Hollywood stars and celebrities every day. And even at this Anime Expo, there was a voice actor contest and a anime song singing contest. And I got to be a judge. Everybody gave such powerful performances. It felt like, this is American style! A contest performance! It was a two-hour long event, but it seemed to be over quickly. One of these singers would be chosen as the winner! Congratulations to the winner! And good job to all the participants! Judging The winner was the crying girl in the middle! _2009-07-07 The last of LA. Okay, we travelled to LA. And along with the Morning Musume members, we enjoyed our last night here. I’m sure they were all worn out, but they did really great. But a lot of good came out of LA. Enjoying the last night! OtsukaReina! Time for dessert! LA! Thank you! Bye bye! The return flight took about 11 hours. It was pretty rough. I broke into a cold sweat over and over. I kept pushing my foot down like on a brake pedal. I know there’s nothing I can do about it, but honestly hundreds of people have died in plane crashes recently, and who knows if that’ll continue? You really can’t think of it as something that only happens to other people… It was really scary. But I watched three movies on the plane, and they showed an episode of “Himitsu no Kenmin Show” too. To avoid the mistakes I made last time, like not being able to see the end of the movie, I managed my schedule properly. And at the end, I watched a TV show, so it wouldn’t matter if I missed the end. Yeah, perfect. I’m glad I made it back safely! Thanks, LA! _2009-07-07 Memories of LA. There’s a place called Little Tokyo in LA, so I took a walk there. There was a boutique where a cute cat lived. A cat that lives in LA. What do you want? The rest of the staff bought some really sweet ice cream. The sweet-looking ice cream shop. It looks so sweet. Doesn’t it look sweet!? Chinatown and Koreatown are pretty big there too. In Japanese terms, Chinatown is about one or two train stations big, and Koreatown is about the same. But from one end of Little Tokyo to the other, there are only about two sets of lights, and it’s over… And for some reason, Ninomiya Kinjiro was there. Ninomiya Kinjiro It’s kind of sad. But it’s better that the Japanese who live in LA are gradually setting up shops all over the different shopping districts in LA, rather than just sticking to Little Tokyo. They’re not being forced to open shops just in one place. I get it now. They say there are 1000 sushi bars there. Amazing.

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Interview clips!

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UFA staffs refused personnel from a number of western H!P fansites and blogs, include Hello!Online from interviewing Morning Musume at Anime Expo 2009 Press Junket.

UFA staffs refused personnel from a number of western H!P fansites and blogs, include Hello!Online from interviewing Morning Musume at Anime Expo 2009 Press Junket.

As many of you already know, Morning Musume appearing at Anime Expo 2009 is their premeire stage debut. Hello!Online being one of the major English Hello!Project fan community on the internet, would not miss this for the world.

Being a member of the press at AX (Anime Expo), we attended the Press Junket (A press only event which allow different media outlets to have one on one interviews with the AX Guests of Honors). We were overjoyed to have this once in a life time opportunity open up to us and we prepared a good number of question for Morning Musume that we think fans would be interesting in finding out the answers to. Seeing how important this meant, not only to us, but to all the western fans, we arrived early to ensure an interview with Morning Musume (We ended up being first in line).

After waiting three hours, the Press Junket organizers called our names but pulled us off to the side. To our surprise, they had bad news for us. We were then told that Morning Musume staff had looked over the interviewer sign up list and decided to refuse Hello!Online an interview with Morning Musume. This sudden revelation caught us completely off guard and dumbfounded. We pleaded with the Press Junket organizers to ask Morning Musume’s staff to reconsider their decision.

30 minute pass by and we were denied again. No explainations were ever given as to why Hello!Online was not allowed in. Needless to say, we left the Press Junket empty handed and disappointed.

———————————-

This unfortunate turn of event came as not only a shock, but an insult to Hello!Online and its members, and the western Hello!Project fandom we all embody.

The reason Morning Musume came all the way from Japan to LA is to break into the western world and improve their relationship with western fans. By preventing Hello!Online from the supposingly open opportunity for all press outlets, it is like slapping all western fans in the face and over-riding the efforts our nine beloved girls are giving.

We are not putting blame on anyone. The staff and organizers have been a great help and more than polite in this whole ordeal. And certainly, it was not up to Morning Musume to decide who gets to interview them.

I just can not comprehend why only we were denied without reason, while other western fansites and blogs were granted access.

I fully understand that UFA have all the rights to refuse anyone from interviewing their artist without giving any explaination. Personally, I have lost a great deal of (if not all) respect for UFA as a company.

———————————-

Updates

Paul from Hello!Blog, who also attended the Press Junket has reveiled that UFA refused interviewing opportunities for many fansites and blogs after rejecting Hello!Online.

Read more about it at: http://www.helloblog.co.uk/comment.php?commentID=476

turbos86
Hello!Online

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Hello! Project supremo and all-around enigma Tsunku♂ is in Los Angeles to take part in Anime Expo. To celebrate, we bring you a special look inside the inner workings of a madman’s mind in the form of his official blog entries covering his time in LA

Hello! Project supremo and all-around enigma Tsunku♂ is in Los Angeles to take part in Anime Expo. To celebrate, we bring you a special look inside the inner workings of a madman’s mind in the form of his official blog entries covering his time in LA. For now, he discusses his arrival, and his thoughts on day one of the con – more entries will be added as they’re posted. Enjoy!

2009-07-03
LA.

After 10 hours’ flying, I arrived safe in Los Angeles.

“The streets of LA”

I only got one meal on the plane. I was so tired, I slept through breakfast.

I thought I’d watch a bunch of movies, but I only saw one.

The seat and my ass didn’t get along, and now it’s hurting.

2009-07-03
Breakfast.

It was after 11 when I got to LA. By the time we drove to town, it was 12. Whew. I was starved. So we went straight to a Japanese restaurant. I wanted to eat a tonkatsu set, which I wouldn’t normally choose in Japan, so I ordered.

“The tonkatsu set I ate!”

“It was delicious pork!”

The rest of the staff had mixed udon an teriyaki chicken sets. Ginger fried pork sets.

“Mixed udon!”

“Teriyaki chicken!”

“Ginger fried pork set!”

Whew, the white rice was good. I wonder if they ship it in from Japan.

2009-07-03
Morning Musume.

Morning Musume are appearing at Anime Expo, so I’ve come to LA to supervise.

Today the members had a Q&A session, so they got to have a panel discussion with the American fans.

“The fans put their hands up to ask questions!”

It was just like with the Korean fans, everybody understood Japanese pretty well.

Amazing.

When the members were talking, the fans would react before the interpreter could speak.

2009-07-03
Cosplay.

So there were a lot of anime fans doing a lot of cosplay in the hall.

“A photo outside Anime Expo!”

“Anime Expo is full of cosplay!”

There was even a No Face.

“No Face”

“Naruto” is really popular. And Pokemon.

Also, Astro Boy and Gatchaman both really handsomely affected American animation.

“It sort of looks like Taisei in there…”

Morning Musume had a booth too, and it was really bustling!

“There was a Morning Musume sales corner too.”

“There were people everywhere!”

It’s still a weekday here, but the weekend starts tomorrow, so things are going to heat up. And it’s the American Independance Day, so the country is in a cheerful mood.

And I heard that there was a dance unit here that came from Japan. They like cosplay too, so they came all the way to LA just for this.

“They came all the way from Japan!”

That’s great.

More entries to come over the next few days. Stay tuned…

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