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Is Tsubaki Factory becoming the most “classic”* idol group in Hello!Project? An analysis of their newest songs
Posted by keaine,
26 February 2018
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1137 views
translation Tsubaki Factory Teion Yakedo Shuurenka
Article translated from https://realsound.jp...t-162937_2.html. Please note the translation isn't literal (lol) but since it's not my job at all, I'm doing it purely for fun (of discovering what the writer meant) and my level of Japanese isn't really high (I had to search a ton lot of words), so if you find things badly translated from Japanese or if there could be a better word in English, please feel free to tell me.
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An idol group belonging to Hello!Project, Tsubaki Factory released their triple single “Teion Yakedo/Shuurenka/I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” on February 21st. The group was formed approximately 2 years and 10 months ago, and released their major debut single “Hatsukoi Sunrise/Just Try!/Uruwashi no Camellia” exactly one year ago. Tsubaki Factory is currently the youngest** group of Hello!Project. In April 2015, following Kobushi Factory, this second group from Hello Pro Kenshuusei was formed with Ogata Risa, Yamagishi Riko, Niinuma Kisora, Tanimoto Ami, Kishimoto Yumeno and Asakura Kiki. But after that, in contrast with Kobushi Factory who had their major debut 8 months after their formation, Tsubaki Factory remained in indies for 2 years. In August 2016, three new members from Hello Pro Kenshuusei entered the group: Ono Mizuho, Onoda Saori and Akiyama Mao, giving its current formation to the group.
After a long time at the bottom, at last, they made their major debut on February 22nd 2017. After they released their second single “Shuukatsu Sensation/Waratte/Hana Moyou” on July 26th of the same year, they received the newcomer award at the “50th Japanese Television Awards”***. Moreover, they also got the best rookie award at the “59th Japan Records Awards”. All of these are the great results of one year. Beginning with their new structure, Hello!Project has seen big changes, but the**** lineup hasn’t changed, so they’ve been able to work with stability, and Tsubaki Factory has stepped up steadily. Both in name and reality, Tsubaki Factory is said to be the group with the most momentum among Hello!Project.
The first reason why their support has risen so suddenly is because they haven’t been in a position of rushing for fame, in a good way, and they’ve come up as fresh and innocent. At the beginning, it led to a feeling of insufficiency and a lack of presence, and it was thought that was the reason why their major debut took that much time. But, going through the addition of new members and improvements during their indies era, as their image of pureness hasn’t been affected, their overall skills and the solidarity between members has improved. With a unique group and personalities within the already crowded Hello!Project, by accident, these girls became the classic type of idol group.
Each of the three songs in this new single “Teion Yakedo/Shuurenka/I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” presents Tsubaki Factory’s “classic idol” charm. “Teion Yakedo” is a winter song comparing that moment when you fall in love while hugging a friend with a low-temperature burn, heartrending low-key melody and lyrics while finishing on a danceable track, and each girl’s position during lives is important. “Shuurenka”, as its name suggests, is a fresh spring song. Lightly jumping rhythm on a cheerful song, it’s the perfect song for the next season. Pastel colour outfits and the soft expressions in the set of the music video are a must-see. The third song “I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” is a middle-temp love song, in which the introductory lines are to note. With the theme of a date on the “Minato Mirai” Ferris wheel of Yokohama, this song is made on a painful but warm life-sized love. While the three melodies are very different from one another, each one of them expresses with their heart’s content Tsubaki Factory’s type of idol.
As singles have been released leading to Hello!Project’s 20th anniversary, Tsubaki Factory comes up as a young group. Recently, while they performed their first one-man live on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of their major debut, it was announced that they’ll have this spring their first live tour in 9 different locations all over the country. We’re looking forward to see their future improvements.
The writer is Aoyama Koudai, born in 1983 in Tsu from Mie prefecture, and he is a freelance music journalist. He's written for the magazines "The Sign Magazine.com", "Qetic" and "CROSSBEAT" among others.
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*it’s “classic” meant in a good way, but there should be a better word in English I think
**that is, freshest, or created the most recently
***that’s how I translated the “Nihon Yuusei Awards”, not that satisfying, but still…
****that is, Tsubaki's lineup
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An idol group belonging to Hello!Project, Tsubaki Factory released their triple single “Teion Yakedo/Shuurenka/I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” on February 21st. The group was formed approximately 2 years and 10 months ago, and released their major debut single “Hatsukoi Sunrise/Just Try!/Uruwashi no Camellia” exactly one year ago. Tsubaki Factory is currently the youngest** group of Hello!Project. In April 2015, following Kobushi Factory, this second group from Hello Pro Kenshuusei was formed with Ogata Risa, Yamagishi Riko, Niinuma Kisora, Tanimoto Ami, Kishimoto Yumeno and Asakura Kiki. But after that, in contrast with Kobushi Factory who had their major debut 8 months after their formation, Tsubaki Factory remained in indies for 2 years. In August 2016, three new members from Hello Pro Kenshuusei entered the group: Ono Mizuho, Onoda Saori and Akiyama Mao, giving its current formation to the group.
After a long time at the bottom, at last, they made their major debut on February 22nd 2017. After they released their second single “Shuukatsu Sensation/Waratte/Hana Moyou” on July 26th of the same year, they received the newcomer award at the “50th Japanese Television Awards”***. Moreover, they also got the best rookie award at the “59th Japan Records Awards”. All of these are the great results of one year. Beginning with their new structure, Hello!Project has seen big changes, but the**** lineup hasn’t changed, so they’ve been able to work with stability, and Tsubaki Factory has stepped up steadily. Both in name and reality, Tsubaki Factory is said to be the group with the most momentum among Hello!Project.
The first reason why their support has risen so suddenly is because they haven’t been in a position of rushing for fame, in a good way, and they’ve come up as fresh and innocent. At the beginning, it led to a feeling of insufficiency and a lack of presence, and it was thought that was the reason why their major debut took that much time. But, going through the addition of new members and improvements during their indies era, as their image of pureness hasn’t been affected, their overall skills and the solidarity between members has improved. With a unique group and personalities within the already crowded Hello!Project, by accident, these girls became the classic type of idol group.
Each of the three songs in this new single “Teion Yakedo/Shuurenka/I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” presents Tsubaki Factory’s “classic idol” charm. “Teion Yakedo” is a winter song comparing that moment when you fall in love while hugging a friend with a low-temperature burn, heartrending low-key melody and lyrics while finishing on a danceable track, and each girl’s position during lives is important. “Shuurenka”, as its name suggests, is a fresh spring song. Lightly jumping rhythm on a cheerful song, it’s the perfect song for the next season. Pastel colour outfits and the soft expressions in the set of the music video are a must-see. The third song “I Need You 〜Yozora no Kanransha〜” is a middle-temp love song, in which the introductory lines are to note. With the theme of a date on the “Minato Mirai” Ferris wheel of Yokohama, this song is made on a painful but warm life-sized love. While the three melodies are very different from one another, each one of them expresses with their heart’s content Tsubaki Factory’s type of idol.
As singles have been released leading to Hello!Project’s 20th anniversary, Tsubaki Factory comes up as a young group. Recently, while they performed their first one-man live on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of their major debut, it was announced that they’ll have this spring their first live tour in 9 different locations all over the country. We’re looking forward to see their future improvements.
The writer is Aoyama Koudai, born in 1983 in Tsu from Mie prefecture, and he is a freelance music journalist. He's written for the magazines "The Sign Magazine.com", "Qetic" and "CROSSBEAT" among others.
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*it’s “classic” meant in a good way, but there should be a better word in English I think
**that is, freshest, or created the most recently
***that’s how I translated the “Nihon Yuusei Awards”, not that satisfying, but still…
****that is, Tsubaki's lineup
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