0
Morning Musume pet peeves
Posted by Kitsuiko,
14 January 2013
·
1718 views
oda sakura suzuki kanon fat graduations line distribution
What are some of your Morning Musume pet peeves?
I think my biggest one is that Kanon is fat. Seriously compare her thighs to Fukumura's in the shots where she's wearing enough or compare their arms. They're actually the same size; the only difference I can see is a stomach being drawn back for better posture and showing off her body. Kanon's modesty adds about 10 pounds.
I also dislike the "But why isn't Morning Musume fair!" complaint or the "No one else gets..." argument. Did everyone just forget that Ayumi was also in the front in One Two Three and Fukumura moved fully up to center in Help Me!! from being... well, frankly in the middle - Fukuhime was featured pretty prominently. Masaki usually is pretty prominent, too - she and Ayumi have had back up harmonies on everything since Renai Hunter above and beyond the other girls. Iikubo got to be on shows solo to model and show off hair and beauty just like Kudou and Masaki got to do the same for radio and interview. There's 11 girls; some of which are frankly stronger at some things than others. It's "fair" to let Iikubo lead a dance break instead of Ayumi. It's "fair" to let Erina sing a solo version of Furusato. It's "fair" to put Riho solo on a variety show... But... shouldn't the people who are the best be more at the front? I mean, already we have our "secondary voices" girls having a great deal more lines than the Takahashi era. Are we that bitter from the only-Takahashi period that unless it's a huge chorus we can't notice that more girls are getting more parts? Seriously the distribution is slowly spreading out. We're cool.
Also, seriously, did anyone else notice how LITTLE Reina was featured in the video for Help Me!!
Graduation hate. Okay, I get it for Aika - she graduated JUST as she was coming into her own and starting to develop the personality she never was encouraged under the sad!Musume period. But, Gaki? Reina? Count the girl's age up; when she gets around 23 or so every year is a potential year for graduation. And, that's fair because most of the girls have been doing this for 8 to 10 years by then. Imagine 8 years of not having any control of your image, how you sing, what promotions you do, what the songs are about, who is here with you, etc. If that isn't working, imagine that you had 10 years of your parents still choosing your outfits and your friends and what you ate like you were in elementary school. Sure you're not going to care when you're a kid and frankly some of the choices are fun and you like them... but, if you're an older performer you're going to want to be your own performer. Sayumi is probably not going to graduate until Fukumura's 18 and can be leader or co-leader with Iikubo somewhere in 2015. Three years later Iikubo is likely to graduate. 2019-2020 is likely for Fukumura to graduate - I have no idea who's leader next between Kudou and Ikuta but given their relative ages it seems likely for Kudou who will be 20, has senority from the Eggs and will be in MoMusu longer than Ikuta (who reaches likely graduation age the next year or Ayumi who reaches it the year after). 2022 for Suzuki and Riho. And if we're very lucky we'll all be irritatedly listening to a batch of young fans complaining about how everyone's graduating all at once and sighing that they didn't do the math to realize girls all around the same age will tend to do that.
Tsunku hate. I know people need some Machiavelli figure to blame for all of this but why on earth would you pick Tsunku? Unless you hate all of the girls, he's the guy behind picking whoever your favorite is, too. Whether you like the new style of music or not, he's certainly found something popular to boost Morning Musume up again... but he doesn't have 100% control anymore. UFA, for example, was the group with the huge Takahashi fetish and was (and still is) the main source behind the line distributions. He made his own idol group so he could have 100% control; why would you presume he has that with the Hello!Project -- people tend to not leave and create their own thing that they already have.
Sakura isn't that good of a singer -or- the Sakura hype is unfounded. Compare her to Takahashi or Niigaki.
Yes, we've confirmed that after ten years of training and working at a job you will generally be better with someone who hasn't had ten years of training and working at a job. But that's not what we should be looking at:
This is 12 year old Takahashi
Of course here as Lurkette showed back awhile ago you have 13/14 year old Takahashi at 1:00 and 12 year old Niigaki at 1:21
That is similarly aged Sakura.
Let's go a step further to Suzuki Airi. It's not something I talk about but I catagorize Airi in a sad, lonely group of singers that could have been amazing but had too many leads and not enough training. Takahashi may have lead a lot but at her start she was actually only used a bit and she had a great group to help teach her. Same with Niigaki. Reina only juuuust pushed past that plateau. This is really a huge sin of the BerryKyu family: I love Miyabi but I know her voice is basically serviceable not amazing. Same really goes for everyone though on occasion when singing down in a register that's more comfortable for them Momoko and Risako have both surprised me. Airi is who I'm focusing on because Airi was supposed to be a great singer when she first got here. Airi is now a pretty okay singer. A sound that comes utterly from her throat that is still pleasant but no where as good as her youth would have suggested she could be.
Sakura is not Airi.
Both of them are pretty incredible at their age but in the end, Airi is like someone who was a fast runner but didn't have a whit about her running form whereas Sakura clearly had someone put rubber bands on her elbows to her hand to keep her arms in proper form, who stands up but forward, who knows her stride.
When I say Sakura is an incredible singer I'm only half referring to the pleasant sound she makes. What I'm speaking towards is her beautiful form when she sings. I can hear where her air comes from when she sings, I can see how she changes her breathing to do what she needs to do. Because of this I know the chances of her doing well in the long run are greater than someone without as good form - they may be quick as all get out but eventually skill will surpass talent.
I think my biggest one is that Kanon is fat. Seriously compare her thighs to Fukumura's in the shots where she's wearing enough or compare their arms. They're actually the same size; the only difference I can see is a stomach being drawn back for better posture and showing off her body. Kanon's modesty adds about 10 pounds.
I also dislike the "But why isn't Morning Musume fair!" complaint or the "No one else gets..." argument. Did everyone just forget that Ayumi was also in the front in One Two Three and Fukumura moved fully up to center in Help Me!! from being... well, frankly in the middle - Fukuhime was featured pretty prominently. Masaki usually is pretty prominent, too - she and Ayumi have had back up harmonies on everything since Renai Hunter above and beyond the other girls. Iikubo got to be on shows solo to model and show off hair and beauty just like Kudou and Masaki got to do the same for radio and interview. There's 11 girls; some of which are frankly stronger at some things than others. It's "fair" to let Iikubo lead a dance break instead of Ayumi. It's "fair" to let Erina sing a solo version of Furusato. It's "fair" to put Riho solo on a variety show... But... shouldn't the people who are the best be more at the front? I mean, already we have our "secondary voices" girls having a great deal more lines than the Takahashi era. Are we that bitter from the only-Takahashi period that unless it's a huge chorus we can't notice that more girls are getting more parts? Seriously the distribution is slowly spreading out. We're cool.
Also, seriously, did anyone else notice how LITTLE Reina was featured in the video for Help Me!!
Graduation hate. Okay, I get it for Aika - she graduated JUST as she was coming into her own and starting to develop the personality she never was encouraged under the sad!Musume period. But, Gaki? Reina? Count the girl's age up; when she gets around 23 or so every year is a potential year for graduation. And, that's fair because most of the girls have been doing this for 8 to 10 years by then. Imagine 8 years of not having any control of your image, how you sing, what promotions you do, what the songs are about, who is here with you, etc. If that isn't working, imagine that you had 10 years of your parents still choosing your outfits and your friends and what you ate like you were in elementary school. Sure you're not going to care when you're a kid and frankly some of the choices are fun and you like them... but, if you're an older performer you're going to want to be your own performer. Sayumi is probably not going to graduate until Fukumura's 18 and can be leader or co-leader with Iikubo somewhere in 2015. Three years later Iikubo is likely to graduate. 2019-2020 is likely for Fukumura to graduate - I have no idea who's leader next between Kudou and Ikuta but given their relative ages it seems likely for Kudou who will be 20, has senority from the Eggs and will be in MoMusu longer than Ikuta (who reaches likely graduation age the next year or Ayumi who reaches it the year after). 2022 for Suzuki and Riho. And if we're very lucky we'll all be irritatedly listening to a batch of young fans complaining about how everyone's graduating all at once and sighing that they didn't do the math to realize girls all around the same age will tend to do that.
Tsunku hate. I know people need some Machiavelli figure to blame for all of this but why on earth would you pick Tsunku? Unless you hate all of the girls, he's the guy behind picking whoever your favorite is, too. Whether you like the new style of music or not, he's certainly found something popular to boost Morning Musume up again... but he doesn't have 100% control anymore. UFA, for example, was the group with the huge Takahashi fetish and was (and still is) the main source behind the line distributions. He made his own idol group so he could have 100% control; why would you presume he has that with the Hello!Project -- people tend to not leave and create their own thing that they already have.
Sakura isn't that good of a singer -or- the Sakura hype is unfounded. Compare her to Takahashi or Niigaki.
Yes, we've confirmed that after ten years of training and working at a job you will generally be better with someone who hasn't had ten years of training and working at a job. But that's not what we should be looking at:
This is 12 year old Takahashi
Of course here as Lurkette showed back awhile ago you have 13/14 year old Takahashi at 1:00 and 12 year old Niigaki at 1:21
That is similarly aged Sakura.
Let's go a step further to Suzuki Airi. It's not something I talk about but I catagorize Airi in a sad, lonely group of singers that could have been amazing but had too many leads and not enough training. Takahashi may have lead a lot but at her start she was actually only used a bit and she had a great group to help teach her. Same with Niigaki. Reina only juuuust pushed past that plateau. This is really a huge sin of the BerryKyu family: I love Miyabi but I know her voice is basically serviceable not amazing. Same really goes for everyone though on occasion when singing down in a register that's more comfortable for them Momoko and Risako have both surprised me. Airi is who I'm focusing on because Airi was supposed to be a great singer when she first got here. Airi is now a pretty okay singer. A sound that comes utterly from her throat that is still pleasant but no where as good as her youth would have suggested she could be.
Sakura is not Airi.
Both of them are pretty incredible at their age but in the end, Airi is like someone who was a fast runner but didn't have a whit about her running form whereas Sakura clearly had someone put rubber bands on her elbows to her hand to keep her arms in proper form, who stands up but forward, who knows her stride.
When I say Sakura is an incredible singer I'm only half referring to the pleasant sound she makes. What I'm speaking towards is her beautiful form when she sings. I can hear where her air comes from when she sings, I can see how she changes her breathing to do what she needs to do. Because of this I know the chances of her doing well in the long run are greater than someone without as good form - they may be quick as all get out but eventually skill will surpass talent.
My personal peeves:
"The PV/costumes/hairstyles/covers are awful, this single will fail." -- As if any of those things are serious predictors of sales, not to mention that no single has really "failed," in the true sense of the word.
"Riho is permanently center because she's the only reliable singer. Who else could possibly be as great as her?" --Anyone. Anyone at all. Riho cracks and squeaks and strains her voice about as much as any average 13 year old trying to sing like a 22 year old. Sayumi is more reliable. Heck, knock Haruna all you want for her lack of vocal skill, but the girl knows where her range is and she stays well within it, even adjusting to situations where she knows she won't be able to sing without cracks. All the girls have their vocal flaws because they're young and untrained, but Riho's constant strain is almost as annoying as the people heralding her as the second Nacchi/Goto/Ai/whatever and claiming that people who dislike anything about her are too biased and full of hate to see it.
"They haven't done anything good since [anything pre-2011]." --I don't believe you're a fan any longer and you should realize that, please take your leave.
"Kanon is fat" is an obvious one, though, for most all people who understand what fat looks like. Goodness, I even saw some people saying Riho looked chubby. Madness.