2012 replies to this topic

[Ares13]

I love this video ... even though its been up for 2 weeks ..

You can hear their singing voice ... but its a bad recording, so have that in mind .. 

[qwiksXnd]

I love Yuki's singing in that song Well, kind of kidding, but I've become an insanely huge fan of hers. During the most recent STREEEEEGU concert apparently she was sick (she's been rehearsing for a stage play the past two weeks in addition to her Street-sei and GEM duties) and I think it's been hard on her, considering she is constantly traveling from Sapporo to Tokyo. She blogged a few times joking about getting lost in the Tokyo train stations.  Anyway, during STREEEEEGU when they sang "Asu e Step" she was crying the whole time and just holding onto Nagi's arm. It was really sad to watch, and considering that concert was on Monday and her stage play began on Wednesday (yesterday), she basically had only one day to recover. 

 

This is the play she is doing if anyone is interested: http://alicein.info/ . They are doing performances from the 20th-24th, so I think that is the reason she isn't in GEMStar for the SUPER GiRLS tour that starts this weekend.

 

I'll be in Japan beginning tomorrow for the SUPER GiRLS tour (Tokyo and Osaka concerts). Just received my tickets a few days ago. GEMStar will be opening for them and I'm kind of interested in counting how many people scream "MAAAAAYYYAAA". It seems every time they perform hundreds, if not thousands, of people yell her name. I also have a mini-prediction that they'll either perform a new song or unveil a new costume. But my predictions are always wrong.

[Ares13]

^ lucky you ...
I haven't seen anyone from the whole idol street before...
I hope for my Tokyo trip this April I would get to see some of them .. hope hope hope ..

[qwiksXnd]

^ It seems everyone knows about this website, but in case you don't, this site is really helpful for finding jpop concerts to go to:

http://www.idolscheduler.jp/

 

SUPER GiRLS Celebration tour will continue in April, unfortunately all the concerts are outside Tokyo (except for the Saitama concert, but that's in May). I think the closest one to Tokyo would be the Nagoya concert on 4/7 (less than two hours by bullet train  ). Cheeky Parade has a concert on 4/21 in Tokyo with several other groups (Idoling, Up Up Girls, Sakura Gakuin).

[Ares13]

^ .. oh .. thanks for the site .. i didn't know about it ..
21 April is too close .. I will be flying off at night on that day ..
looking at it .. its totally depressing .. all wrong timing. place and even members .. oh well ...
Anyway .. I can't afford to get out of Tokyo ... so I guess its bad timing all the way for my trip ...LOL
guess what? .. when I am in Tokyo .. AKB48 is coming my country .. I guess I am getting to be a master of bad timing ..

[Haruna Ogata (Real)]

Pretty old news, but since no one has mentioned it:

Rana Murakami is part of a project called LANA, where she sings original songs that are supposed to be part of some story narrated by prolific seiyuu Miyuki Sawashiro. 

So far she's got two, Piece of Memories and Hitori no Uta. Both available for purchase on iTunes

 

 

qwiksXnd,

You must absolutely share how the experience was ! (Unless you already will on JPH!P, haha.) 

I've noticed Maaya is getting some nice Ruka status as well, but can't blame people for pinning all their hope on her. That voice coming out of that cute face is such a shocker.
 Hoping she won't feel too much pressure though, since she's been mega-pushed by management ever since she passed the 3ki auditions. 

[Ares13]

Another nice video from them ..I am pretty amaze that they seem so close even though they are trainee from different area in Japan ..

[qwiksXnd]

Did Chisami just get added to GEM? They are announcing the STREEEEEGU MVP and GEMVP. (in case you plan on watching later MVP was Yuki and GEMVP was Maya).

 

And Sararan also??? OMG... I've wanted Sararan in GEM since before GEM even existed . If she gets added to GEM I will promise to never make another horrible GEM pun like GEMocracy, GEMpire, and GEMme fatale ever again. Kako may have also been added. 

 

It appears they are also reshuffling the street-sei groups and announcing girls who passed the first round of the iDOL Street 2013 audition (at least for Fukuoka and Sapporo).

 

I should probably wait for proper translations of what just happened before I get too excited about Sararan possibly being in GEM. *If* she is in the group she's my new oshiGEM. 

[Haruna Ogata (Real)]

You are completely correct!  Chisami, Kako and Sara all got added to GEM, so please go on and celebrate! 

Adding to it: Kako and Sara are taking the two non-singer positions in GEMSTAR for the next few Spaga Celebration tour opening performances ! 

Filling in on some of the other news: 

Girls transfering teams are Yuuki, Jurin, Yuu, Risa and W-street OSAKA's Rei Ichigami.   
They're all transfering to TOKYO so it's most likely work related.  

 

One new girl was added to TOKYO
SAPPORO and FUKUOKA got three new girls each.  Auditions are still ongoing so any team might receive new girls at any time up until the deadline.  

Oh, and very relevant: Maaya Takeda is to receive a solo song.  <- Related to qwiksXnd's spoiler  

[qwiksXnd]

^ I didn't catch the Maya news, that's awesome.

 

I didn't recognize her at first, but the girl that joined the Tokyo team is Narumi Kinjo. She is a former member of Station♪

http://station-info.jp/?aid=123

 

I had to watch the stream again because it was so exciting  ​  When Chisami got third (although she pretty much tied for 2nd with Maya) I thought it was a little weird/awkward that she wasn't in GEM - not that GEM should just be a popularity contest. But I think it's smart of the producers to still be flexible about the roster (and not just because Sararan is a candidate now  ). STREEEEEGU was a great way for fans to get to know the members of street-sei, and for the producers to continue to evaluate them. Once I started to get to know the group, I thought there was one starting member in particular who might not make it, but if there hadn't been any changes in the group, she would probably slide by. But now that they've changed things up a little, I'm not so sure anymore.  

 

GEM mini-recap (mini-cap™) from the Celebration tour

I went to the SUPER☆GiRLS concerts in Tokyo and Osaka last weekend (3-23 and 3-24). I'll just recap the GEM(Star) performance - I recapped the entire concert if anyone is interested (just click on my sig). They sang Speed Up and Do It Do It... and that was pretty much it  . Well they were also backup dancers during EXIT (Ruka, Rika, and Hikaru's unit song) and PuriPuri Summer Kiss. My predictions were totally off - I thought they might debut a new song or costume, and that Yuki might make a cameo because she was in Tokyo doing her stage play, and I thought they would sell GEM merchandise and have a high-touch after the concert. I also thought they would sing either Onegai Moonlight or Kitto for You. Despite my ridiculous expectations it was still really fun seeing them. Every single member is awesome, and I was lucky to have great seats at each concert. It was kind of weird though, for all three concerts they just randomly came on stage before the concert was scheduled to begin. At the Tokyo concert, the scheduled start time was 2PM (this was the day concert, the night concert was at 6), and GEM came on stage at 1:49, when all the lights were still on and people were still getting to their seats. It didn't seem like they were going to perform without any intro, but the music started and literally ten minutes later they were done and left the stage. It was really fast. I happened to see all of the GEM(Star) members last summer (with the exception of Maho) when they opened for S☆G's summer concerts and at TIF, but now I actually knew their names and had become a huge fan of theirs, so it was a totally different experience.

 

I did notice that there wasn't a lot of visible excitement from the audience for them. There were two fans in the front row wearing fan-made GEM t-shirts, a few fans of Natchi, and some fans yelling for certain members (usually Maya, Nagi, Yuuchanman, or Ranachin), but the audience reaction was pretty quiet overall. Performing with the lights on and before everyone got to their seat probably didn't help. One thing that was kind of cute (and weird) was Maho messed up her line at every concert. They sang Speed Up and then they lined up to do their GEM catchphrase, but at each concert Maho skipped over that, announcing "Do It Do It". She'd then realize her mistake and would get back in line. Maho is still cool though. 

 

GEM dancing during EXIT (the best performance during the concert imo, Ruka is amazing):

 

http://news.nicovide.../watch/nw558713

[Ares13]

Er .. so how many members does GEM have now ?

I am getting lost .. anyway .. I don't see everyone making it in the end if it has so many members in it ..

[qwiksXnd]

There are 14 members now. The 11 original starting members and the 3 girls added on 4/1. We'll have to wait until the SUPER GiRLS Budokan concert in June for the official lineup. It's possible all 14 will make it, or they will keep the member count at 11 and choose from the 14, or completely surprise us. My *official* prediction is the final lineup will have 12 members. 

 

Sararan and Kakochin already completed their first performances as members of GEM on 4/3, so I think they've been rehearsing with the group prior to the 4/1 announcement. Otherwise they would just have had two days to learns the choreography for the two GEM songs (and EXIT and PuriPuri Summer Kiss). I think Chisami learned about her promotion that day though.

[qwiksXnd]

Nagi withdrew from iDOL Street.

 

Her final blog entry:

http://ameblo.jp/e-s...1506839133.html

 

I read her blog this morning, and it was on my mind the entire day at school. I immediately read Yuki's blog afterword since they are best friends. I naively hope she will reconsider because she is irreplaceable, but it seems like her decision was based on feelings and struggles that have developed over a period of time. 

[qwiksXnd]

The final GEM lineup was revealed yesterday at the SUPER☆GiRLS Nippon Budokan concert.

 

http://idolstreet.jp/member/gem.html

[Ares13]

oh .. its been a long wait .. but i was waiting for the news ..
So happy Morioka Yu Yuuchanman made it ...
Its important to me .. because of all iDOL Street, SUPER GiRLS and Cheeky Parade included .. I like her the most ..
If she is not selected .. my fandom with GEM would have ended before it start ... and a blow to my whole iDOL Street fandom ..
So really happy .. and I would be waiting for releases from GEM ..

btw .. who didn't make it ? .. what happen to them ?
their profile seem to disappear ?
sorry ..been busy ..can't really so many idols and groups ..

[qwiksXnd]

^ I feel the same. I love GEM, but if Sararan didn't make the lineup that would have killed a huge part of my fandom. I would have still been a fan, but it's hard to push a group if your favorite was rejected. I feel bad for the three who didn't make it. The whole six month process was pretty weird with Nagi suddenly graduating and three new members added after STREEEEEGU. I wish Nagi didn't leave, she definitely would have made the cut. I also really like Naapon, but I have a feeling they thought she wouldn't be able to commit 100% to the group.

 

The three members who didn't make the final lineup were original starting members Asakawa Nana (Naapon), Uchimura Risa, and Sakamoto Hazuki (Haachin).

 

Individual blog entries about not getting selected:

http://ameblo.jp/ido...1550481768.html

http://ameblo.jp/ido...1550819406.html

http://ameblo.jp/w-s...1550229456.html

[Ares13]

^ .. oh thanks ..

ok . .really noob of me .. i didn't realise the 2 w-street fukuoka members was transfer to e-street tokyo ...

I couldn't find their blog especially Yuuchanman blog for months ... oh well .. LOL

[Cecilie]

I'm kind of bumped about Naapon not getting selected... She was my favourite member together with Rana But I will still support this group though. Looking forward to their debut!!

[Haruna Ogata (Real)]

Haachin and Risa were the two weakest links, so not very surprising. I love Haachin, but I was convinced that if they dropped someone in the end, she'd definitely be the first one.

Naapon has her acting to fall back on I guess. She's popular and iStreet has her back, so I can see them doing something with her and, perhaps Rihona eventually.

 

Overall I'm cool with the final line-up though. My top two, Chanman & Minamiguchi made it (unsurprisingly, may I add), so I'll have no issues trying to decide on a new fave. 

And it has Maaya.  We all know the true reason this group was created was for Higuchi-P to flaunt her around as the truest of true idol aces.

[qwiksXnd]

I love how Maaya refers to herself as the ace of the group in her blog. And "defending the center."  

 

I agree about Risa and Haachin. I felt guilty for feeling that way though. Back in February when I was becoming obsessed with GEM I did a prediction about who would ultimately make the group. I did pretty crappy since I thought Naapon and Nagi were 99.6% likely. I'm still surprised how it turned out for both of them. BUT I did predict Risa and Haachin would be replaced. And that Sara would be one of the new members. I thought Sayan would be the other. I just felt there were better options, but again it's kind of a mean thing to think about. Kakochin is the biggest surprise (I don't think anyone could have made that prediction). Of course Sara was borderline also. I'm still super happy and relieved she made it. If they had decided there would be ten members, and Nagi was still around, Sara probably wouldn't have made it. Kind of weird to think about.

 

I do think they should have fixed the color coding though. I guess it's too late now. It's a little weird that two girls are red and two are green. And now no one is pink, the #1 idol color. Maybe there is a secret idol rule where colors can't be changed.