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A rather late reaction to the whole S/mileage thing.
Posted by Haruna Ogata (Real),
17 August 2011
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1652 views
As the topic states - this is a rather late reaction to all the current fuss about S/mileage, such as the new members of stuff. This doesn't of course mean that I just noticed them, I followed the audition closely and stayed up late to catch the results. It's just that I've been too freaking lazy to write my comments on them, and... well... I was kind of lacking in writing space too! (Creating this blog fixed that though!)
Actually, to be honest, I had completely forgotten about this post that I was supposed to write today, but then I saw Machi-chan log in on Facebook, and earlier asked me to try and keep this blog alive. So I will.
Shout out to Machi-chan, yo!
So... Where to start?
I guess I'll begin with my relation with S/mileage up until this point. (Yes, I write about what I'm going to write.)
Aaaanyway - My relationship with S/mileage up until this point was... None! I did not follow S/mileage. Out of all their singles, only one had interested me, namely "Ganbaranakute mo Eenende!" Quite a charming, cute song if you ask me, with a nice rhythm, it felt fresh. The releases surrounding it didn't interest me much though, sadly.
This was the story up until Uchouten LOVE. Wow, isn't that golden single? I have, for the longest of time, been an amazingly big fan of para para dancing and the eurodisco~ish music that unifies the style. That Tsunku -God of music together with a certain Yasutaka Nakata- had produced a track like this made me overjoyed.
Before Uchouten LOVE I always had a reason to ignore S/mileage. I like the girls, they're funny, rather cute, Ayaka is a little goddess. However, not only were some of the songs out of my style, but I also have a few issues with enjoying Yuuka's voice. After the 12/10 points A-side track Uchouten LOVE with the 9,5/10 points B-side Jitensha Chiririn, I've managed to overcome this! Well... not really; I'm still not the biggest fan of Yuuka's voice, but in the few songs I like I am able to enjoy her vocals.
Backtracking a bit to the audition announcement (as Uchouten LOVE was released afterwards)... For an old fan, who's followed them since their major debut, indies, or perhaps even since the Eggs period, this might not have been news that could be likened to sunshine and rainbows. For me? I became totally interested, as someone who's only really followed Ayaka Wada, I was quite hooked on adding more girls which may boost my interest.
...Well... Uchouten LOVE did handle the interest boost in all the original four already, but you get the idea.
So in the end I followed the auditions. Or more like, I was totally hooked on it. It's a customary thing for me since the Aika audition to not pick a favorite, because I was left aghast from the reactions of people who saw their favorites slip by... Oh, and yes, that means I rooted for Aika at that time. Well.. anyway, I easily held on to this throughout the Morning Musume 9th Gen auditions, I could totally do with any of those girls in MM, and I'm glad to see they all joined H!P in the end.
...
However! With the S/mileage auditions my gaze quickly landed at a few of the auditioneers. First of all, Rio Fujii, some raving little girl who wore MM swag during the audition camp. Sadly, she didn't pass, but it didn't kill my day. Three of the other girls that had catched my eye did pass - Fuyuka Kosuga; Meimi Tamura and Akari Takeuchi from the Eggs (in random order). This doesn't of course mean I'm not happy with the other two members: Kana Nakanishi and Rina Katsuta from the Eggs. I'm totally happy for those too, and I'm sure that both of them will be able to charm me sooner or later.
From now on this post will look pretty generic. As in, I'm kind of going to write my impressions on the new girls one by one:
We'll start with the youngest - Meimi Tamura
(In case you wonder... or even read this far... I did screencap it myself, I'm hardcore like that.)
Now this girl is a total cutie. I remember her from the Shugo Chara musical, and I usually don't remember people and stuff, so it was no question she catched my eyes.... or ears? Gosh, her voice is... special! To be blunt, she sounds somewhat like Chip&Dale, but I don't mean that negative way; it's quite endearing actually. That said, I wouldn't buy her solo album.
During the audition process, she made a tremendous impact on me during the time when the vocal coach told her to leave the room because she couldn't get Uchouten's rhythm down. She stood her ground, yet without really fighting, and when she later went to the back of the room she didn't shed a single tear (from what we saw anyhow). Such mental strength and guts at that age - it's commendable!
Next up - Fuyuka Kosuga
This girl... For some reason, she seems to be the least well-recieved girl from what I've read in other people's comments or blogs. I'm quite okay when someone reason that they would've preferred someone with more vocal skill, because it's kind of fair to say she doesn't really shine in that department. However, reasons like that happen to be the minority, the majority of reasons being something along the lines of "She doesn't deserve to be in S/mileage because she's ugly." Opinions and all that jazz, I don't really care, and if you who read this happen to have stated something along these lines. Sorry to say this, but in MY opinion, YOU are a total asshat, and I really dislike you.
Nothing ticks me off more than superficial creeps who hide under their anonymosity on the Internet and say demeaning stuff about people who are most likely younger than them and are doing something as harmless as trying to fulfill their dreams.
Back to the girl in question - I liked Fuyuka from the moment I saw her. She's not the cutest girl I've seen, she's a pretty damn bad singer and I doubt her dancing is above par. Sounds like a completely -normal- girl. As someone who's favorite idol is Sayumi Michishige, and also views a certain Asami Konno as one of his favorite Morning Musume members... This -normal- trait is something I really like, and is in general the charm I see in idols. Girls who seem like they practically could be your next door neighbour. Gotta love Tsunku/UFA whoever takes the decision to add these girls.
Moving on... Kana Nakanishi
This girl... Osakan, that's pretty cool! For some reason I had a premonition that she would be added, if it's because Tsunku is Osakan himself or not I don't know, but I just felt it. It's cool though, she seems like a sweet girl! What stood out the most about her for me during the auditions was her incredibly deep speaking voice; she sounds darn cool when speaking. Oh, and her below-par dancing, but I believe that's something that could be trained up. I believe in her!
Sadly I don't have too much more to say about her, but I wish her the best of luck in S/mileage.
Next! Rina Katsuta
(Already had this photo saved on my computer. Saved me the trouble of screencapping)
Rinapuu has, since joining H!P, always been a part of the top middle in my Eggs ranking. She's cute I'd say, she reminds me of someone but I can't figure out who. Out of all the winners, she's the one who's voice reminds me the most of the original four, which I would say makes her a good choice in terms of balance. Her singing skill is definitely more adequate, and I could see this girl climbing my S/mileage rankings quickly once I get to know her personality better.
Until then, all I can do is just wish her the best of luck in S/mileage as well.
Last but not least - Akari Takeuchi
Out of the eggs that were currently active at the time of these auditions - Take-chan was my second-most favorite (Haruru being the ultimate top). It was only natural for me to root for her to go all the way, which I'm glad she did. Gosh, this girl never ceases to drag my attention, during the eggs concerts my gaze is usually tracking her, and during the audition it was the same there, especially during the dance segments. Her dancing was totally ace, and I kind of see why they pulled all those graduates and made a dance unit out of them - the girls in eggs seem to be trained into really good dancers!
Not only the dancing though, her singing... I don't know what she does, but she adds a certain twist to her singing technique, which frankly, is quite adorable. She's exaggerating the vowels or something like that, in any case I love it, and I hope she keeps doing it even in S/mileage. I'm quite interested to see how her voice will contrast with the other girls as well, and I'm eagerly excited to hear a preview of their new single already!
-----------------------------------------
.... Since I've already done these five... Why not go for the original four as well! (I'm writing this completely freestyle, mind you, only typing down whatever gets on my mind.)
First off is - Saki Ogawa
My seven year old brother loves this girl. Although Yurina is his favorite H!P member, Saki isn't far off, much thanks to me pretty much downloading an episode of Oha Star/Suta whenever there's one available! I guess I'm not supposed to write about my brother's opinions here though, so I'm moving on to mine - This girl is freaking hilarious, both as an Oha Girl and as a member of S/mileage. Normally I skip anything non-Morning Musume or Berryz when it appears on Hello! Pro Time, but when Saki is there I can't help but watch it anyway because I'm sure she'll do something that will make me laugh.
--------- Kanon Fukuda
I'm going to be honest and say that up until recently I've never paid any real attention to this girl. I just didn't know how, since I didn't follow S/mileage and it's not as if she appearson Oha like Saki does. Due to the influence of that dynamic duo Chounyon and Sayurinon I must say I've begun to take more notice of her recently though. To sum it up... She's pretty dang cool, isn't she?
I don't know how or why I think so... But she seems pretty boss. And the Miorin reference was awesome.
Just two more! Yuuka Maeda
Even more so than Kanyon, Yuuka has had one heck of a hard time to catch my attention. She's cute and all, but it kind of stops there for me. It may be because I haven't followed them, but I feel she's not as... free-spirited as the rest of the original line-up, and this makes her less interesting for me to even bother to investigate her more. In terms of S/mileage's music, her voice is also one of the factors that often turns me off about them. This is of course not her fault, she was born with that voice and I don't blame her for it, and I know tons of people love it, so don't get me wrong!
From what I've heard though, I tend to enjoy her in ballads, or in that one ballad from Warugaki 1 anyhow. Since I'm a new S/mileage fan I bet there's loads of me to discover about her, and I'm looking forward to it!
Saving the best for last now - Ayaka Wada
I -love- DAWA. Her funny and adorable personality; her cute face; her charming teeth, as well as her gorgeous long legs. She's my S/mileage #1, has been forever, chances are she will be forever. Oh, and she's also my mother's favorite H!P member in the case of anyone giving a damn. I don't even know where to begin describing this one really, she's just one of those girls that never fails to make me smile, no matter what she does. To make it easier to understand what I'm trying to say: DAWA is one of those girls whom I'd love to know in real life (although I won't surrender to a far-fetched dream like that).
As I mentioned earlier - I'm quite weak to these girls who has the aura of a -normal- girl, so it might have something to do with this powerful charm this girl has cast upon me! It's quite possible that I'll start collecting S/mileage swag from now on, and I'm proud to say this is the face that will don it.
---------
Wow, that was a long post. If someone even managed to read through all this, then wow - Respect!
It became a bit longer than I previously imagined it would be, but when I started typing there was no stop to it, ahaha.
Thanks for reading! I think I'll do a review next time. Of what I haven't decided yet, presumably MM DX Tour, or if anyone else has another suggestion, then you can gladly leave it in the comment box below!
Actually, to be honest, I had completely forgotten about this post that I was supposed to write today, but then I saw Machi-chan log in on Facebook, and earlier asked me to try and keep this blog alive. So I will.
Shout out to Machi-chan, yo!
So... Where to start?
I guess I'll begin with my relation with S/mileage up until this point. (Yes, I write about what I'm going to write.)
Aaaanyway - My relationship with S/mileage up until this point was... None! I did not follow S/mileage. Out of all their singles, only one had interested me, namely "Ganbaranakute mo Eenende!" Quite a charming, cute song if you ask me, with a nice rhythm, it felt fresh. The releases surrounding it didn't interest me much though, sadly.
This was the story up until Uchouten LOVE. Wow, isn't that golden single? I have, for the longest of time, been an amazingly big fan of para para dancing and the eurodisco~ish music that unifies the style. That Tsunku -God of music together with a certain Yasutaka Nakata- had produced a track like this made me overjoyed.
Before Uchouten LOVE I always had a reason to ignore S/mileage. I like the girls, they're funny, rather cute, Ayaka is a little goddess. However, not only were some of the songs out of my style, but I also have a few issues with enjoying Yuuka's voice. After the 12/10 points A-side track Uchouten LOVE with the 9,5/10 points B-side Jitensha Chiririn, I've managed to overcome this! Well... not really; I'm still not the biggest fan of Yuuka's voice, but in the few songs I like I am able to enjoy her vocals.
Backtracking a bit to the audition announcement (as Uchouten LOVE was released afterwards)... For an old fan, who's followed them since their major debut, indies, or perhaps even since the Eggs period, this might not have been news that could be likened to sunshine and rainbows. For me? I became totally interested, as someone who's only really followed Ayaka Wada, I was quite hooked on adding more girls which may boost my interest.
...Well... Uchouten LOVE did handle the interest boost in all the original four already, but you get the idea.
So in the end I followed the auditions. Or more like, I was totally hooked on it. It's a customary thing for me since the Aika audition to not pick a favorite, because I was left aghast from the reactions of people who saw their favorites slip by... Oh, and yes, that means I rooted for Aika at that time. Well.. anyway, I easily held on to this throughout the Morning Musume 9th Gen auditions, I could totally do with any of those girls in MM, and I'm glad to see they all joined H!P in the end.
...
However! With the S/mileage auditions my gaze quickly landed at a few of the auditioneers. First of all, Rio Fujii, some raving little girl who wore MM swag during the audition camp. Sadly, she didn't pass, but it didn't kill my day. Three of the other girls that had catched my eye did pass - Fuyuka Kosuga; Meimi Tamura and Akari Takeuchi from the Eggs (in random order). This doesn't of course mean I'm not happy with the other two members: Kana Nakanishi and Rina Katsuta from the Eggs. I'm totally happy for those too, and I'm sure that both of them will be able to charm me sooner or later.
From now on this post will look pretty generic. As in, I'm kind of going to write my impressions on the new girls one by one:
We'll start with the youngest - Meimi Tamura
(In case you wonder... or even read this far... I did screencap it myself, I'm hardcore like that.)
Now this girl is a total cutie. I remember her from the Shugo Chara musical, and I usually don't remember people and stuff, so it was no question she catched my eyes.... or ears? Gosh, her voice is... special! To be blunt, she sounds somewhat like Chip&Dale, but I don't mean that negative way; it's quite endearing actually. That said, I wouldn't buy her solo album.
During the audition process, she made a tremendous impact on me during the time when the vocal coach told her to leave the room because she couldn't get Uchouten's rhythm down. She stood her ground, yet without really fighting, and when she later went to the back of the room she didn't shed a single tear (from what we saw anyhow). Such mental strength and guts at that age - it's commendable!
Next up - Fuyuka Kosuga
This girl... For some reason, she seems to be the least well-recieved girl from what I've read in other people's comments or blogs. I'm quite okay when someone reason that they would've preferred someone with more vocal skill, because it's kind of fair to say she doesn't really shine in that department. However, reasons like that happen to be the minority, the majority of reasons being something along the lines of "She doesn't deserve to be in S/mileage because she's ugly." Opinions and all that jazz, I don't really care, and if you who read this happen to have stated something along these lines. Sorry to say this, but in MY opinion, YOU are a total asshat, and I really dislike you.
Nothing ticks me off more than superficial creeps who hide under their anonymosity on the Internet and say demeaning stuff about people who are most likely younger than them and are doing something as harmless as trying to fulfill their dreams.
Back to the girl in question - I liked Fuyuka from the moment I saw her. She's not the cutest girl I've seen, she's a pretty damn bad singer and I doubt her dancing is above par. Sounds like a completely -normal- girl. As someone who's favorite idol is Sayumi Michishige, and also views a certain Asami Konno as one of his favorite Morning Musume members... This -normal- trait is something I really like, and is in general the charm I see in idols. Girls who seem like they practically could be your next door neighbour. Gotta love Tsunku/UFA whoever takes the decision to add these girls.
Moving on... Kana Nakanishi
This girl... Osakan, that's pretty cool! For some reason I had a premonition that she would be added, if it's because Tsunku is Osakan himself or not I don't know, but I just felt it. It's cool though, she seems like a sweet girl! What stood out the most about her for me during the auditions was her incredibly deep speaking voice; she sounds darn cool when speaking. Oh, and her below-par dancing, but I believe that's something that could be trained up. I believe in her!
Sadly I don't have too much more to say about her, but I wish her the best of luck in S/mileage.
Next! Rina Katsuta
(Already had this photo saved on my computer. Saved me the trouble of screencapping)
Rinapuu has, since joining H!P, always been a part of the top middle in my Eggs ranking. She's cute I'd say, she reminds me of someone but I can't figure out who. Out of all the winners, she's the one who's voice reminds me the most of the original four, which I would say makes her a good choice in terms of balance. Her singing skill is definitely more adequate, and I could see this girl climbing my S/mileage rankings quickly once I get to know her personality better.
Until then, all I can do is just wish her the best of luck in S/mileage as well.
Last but not least - Akari Takeuchi
Out of the eggs that were currently active at the time of these auditions - Take-chan was my second-most favorite (Haruru being the ultimate top). It was only natural for me to root for her to go all the way, which I'm glad she did. Gosh, this girl never ceases to drag my attention, during the eggs concerts my gaze is usually tracking her, and during the audition it was the same there, especially during the dance segments. Her dancing was totally ace, and I kind of see why they pulled all those graduates and made a dance unit out of them - the girls in eggs seem to be trained into really good dancers!
Not only the dancing though, her singing... I don't know what she does, but she adds a certain twist to her singing technique, which frankly, is quite adorable. She's exaggerating the vowels or something like that, in any case I love it, and I hope she keeps doing it even in S/mileage. I'm quite interested to see how her voice will contrast with the other girls as well, and I'm eagerly excited to hear a preview of their new single already!
-----------------------------------------
.... Since I've already done these five... Why not go for the original four as well! (I'm writing this completely freestyle, mind you, only typing down whatever gets on my mind.)
First off is - Saki Ogawa
My seven year old brother loves this girl. Although Yurina is his favorite H!P member, Saki isn't far off, much thanks to me pretty much downloading an episode of Oha Star/Suta whenever there's one available! I guess I'm not supposed to write about my brother's opinions here though, so I'm moving on to mine - This girl is freaking hilarious, both as an Oha Girl and as a member of S/mileage. Normally I skip anything non-Morning Musume or Berryz when it appears on Hello! Pro Time, but when Saki is there I can't help but watch it anyway because I'm sure she'll do something that will make me laugh.
--------- Kanon Fukuda
I'm going to be honest and say that up until recently I've never paid any real attention to this girl. I just didn't know how, since I didn't follow S/mileage and it's not as if she appearson Oha like Saki does. Due to the influence of that dynamic duo Chounyon and Sayurinon I must say I've begun to take more notice of her recently though. To sum it up... She's pretty dang cool, isn't she?
I don't know how or why I think so... But she seems pretty boss. And the Miorin reference was awesome.
Just two more! Yuuka Maeda
Even more so than Kanyon, Yuuka has had one heck of a hard time to catch my attention. She's cute and all, but it kind of stops there for me. It may be because I haven't followed them, but I feel she's not as... free-spirited as the rest of the original line-up, and this makes her less interesting for me to even bother to investigate her more. In terms of S/mileage's music, her voice is also one of the factors that often turns me off about them. This is of course not her fault, she was born with that voice and I don't blame her for it, and I know tons of people love it, so don't get me wrong!
From what I've heard though, I tend to enjoy her in ballads, or in that one ballad from Warugaki 1 anyhow. Since I'm a new S/mileage fan I bet there's loads of me to discover about her, and I'm looking forward to it!
Saving the best for last now - Ayaka Wada
I -love- DAWA. Her funny and adorable personality; her cute face; her charming teeth, as well as her gorgeous long legs. She's my S/mileage #1, has been forever, chances are she will be forever. Oh, and she's also my mother's favorite H!P member in the case of anyone giving a damn. I don't even know where to begin describing this one really, she's just one of those girls that never fails to make me smile, no matter what she does. To make it easier to understand what I'm trying to say: DAWA is one of those girls whom I'd love to know in real life (although I won't surrender to a far-fetched dream like that).
As I mentioned earlier - I'm quite weak to these girls who has the aura of a -normal- girl, so it might have something to do with this powerful charm this girl has cast upon me! It's quite possible that I'll start collecting S/mileage swag from now on, and I'm proud to say this is the face that will don it.
---------
Wow, that was a long post. If someone even managed to read through all this, then wow - Respect!
It became a bit longer than I previously imagined it would be, but when I started typing there was no stop to it, ahaha.
Thanks for reading! I think I'll do a review next time. Of what I haven't decided yet, presumably MM DX Tour, or if anyone else has another suggestion, then you can gladly leave it in the comment box below!
I enjoy reading your blog. :3 POST MOAR FOOL.
(do the DX tour next. dooooo it