Sunday, February 24, 2013

Fanart Corner - Clique Momo

Finally I have the last of the "cartoony" series that mutated over time. I've never posted the original Morning Musume drawings, the one's I think are the best, but they'll be coming soon.

Momoko Tsugunaga and Risako Sugaya Cartoons

Momo and Risako of Berryz. Probably my favorite of the post-Momusu drawings of this series. Exaggerated, but still somewhat cute (ribbons tied into bows on Risako's sneakers!)

Erina Mano Caricature

Caricature of Erina Mano, H!P's (soon to be, or now?) former soloist. Like a mask, her face has one main expression. This was especially true in her early photocards. And that was kind of creepy. So the concept here is that she's got her face pressed on the glass in that expression, draining your soul.





Sunday, February 17, 2013

Fanart Corner - Imperfection and Perfection

Okay, for now, a piece I find both embarrassing and cool...

Maasa Sudou, Saki Shimizu (Captain), and Yurina Kumai Cartoons

This was where I completely forgot the style I had started with this mini-series. It actually became the opposite of the big-head, small-body style I started with. This is (supposed) to be Maasa, Captain, and Yurina of Berryz. The tallest Berryz guarding their tiny Captain. Next time I draw a series in a certain style, I I better draw them quickly, because having months in between a style is hard to jump back into, unless I drew with that style in great volume. Which I obviously didn't here.

Airi Suzuki Caricature

Airi Suzuki of Buono!/C-ute caricature. H!P's genius all-star. I drew little kappa heads in the background, but I forgot what the design on her trophy is. That is, if it is anything. I wish I had drawn her cuter.





2013 Hopes and Predictions! And Agenda!

The Savior has come!

Almost two months late with this... kind of blows the whole point of such a post, huh? I even missed the Chinese New Year! I'm really really stubborn, though, so I'm still posting these thoughts that have been incubating for the past couple months! Even though current events decided to beat me to it, in one particular case.

Last year, two of my hopes/predictions came true (Morning Musume sold over 100,000 units with their 50th single and they held 11th generation auditions), three sort of came true (there was a ton of overseas activity, but no American versions of CDs released; Hello!Satoyama Life was a new show, but it replaced Hello!Pro Time; and I still found a lot of H!P songs fun and catchy, but the only really strange one besides the chicken suit song was Momo's exercise video), and two have already come true this year instead of last year (new indies group of trainees - with the Savior!! -  and a new webshow.)

I interpret this as not only H!P becoming more predictable - in a good way (predicting stuff and having it come true is somehow more satisfying than predicting nothing is going to happen and nothing happens) - but H!P being nice, too. No matter the ulterior motives (i.e. money) behind their agency's increased efforts at pleasing the fans, to me, it's still impressive and much appreciated.

So what about this year? Well, first of all...

I think we should be singing a dirge for Berryz Koubou, C-ute, and Buono! I think we'll at least get an announcement this year, possibly during the festival the first weekend of March. They will want an early announcement so Up-Front can milk as much as they can from the groups before they begin to de-materialize or disband completely. This is something I've been on Code Yellow for for over a year, and now with a large chunk in their twenties and all but one an adult, the possibility of at least one (but most likely, many more) wishing to move on from the idol phase of their career grows ever greater.

The announcement of new units all but says they are going to be replaced in the coming year or two, and even the name of Berryz' Spring tour makes me wonder if it's a big hint (looking for recruits? Maybe they just mean it as a friendly title for fans. But maybe one of the new trainee units, a tween-aged unit, will be called Berryz Koubou?)

And then there is college. I don't know about Chisa or Risako, but I'd be more surprised if Airi didn't go to university than if she quit the entertainment industry (at least temporarily) to continue her education. I don't think her absent-minded genius character is completely fake, nor do I think her love of school and pride in her academic skill disingenuous. No announcement has been made yet regarding her entering university  but she does graduate high school in a little over a month. What if... she will be studying abroad or going to a university that begins in the Fall? Like a Konkon/Makochan situation, where they graduated in the summer of 2006 to continue their post-secondary studies? And if Airi did study abroad, there would be no way for her to keep up her Hello!Project activities like Momo. Would C-ute and Buono! be able to survive without Airi? Especially with it unlikely that those groups would add new members (except as one-off revival units years later?)

So I think the H!P Kids time in H!P is coming to a close. I'm sure most of them will stay in Up-Front and still  occasionally work with H!P and be part of little groups like Yossie and Charmy's post-H!P groups. It won't be the end of everything (and if Airi does leave, I would not be surprised if she returned to the entertainment industry after getting her degree(s).)

There will be graduation announcements. Besides my reasoning behind the H!P Kids readying for departure (especially Airi), Sayu and S/mileage are the next girls to wait for. Maybe even a surprise 9th or 10th gen departure, but not likely (and it would make me really sad if any of the new girls left.) Sayu probably has until the end of the year at least. S/mileage is just a hunch. S/mileage is the group that makes no sense, so anymore could leave next. Common sense would say Kanyon (does she consume enough calories to take on the challenge of both H!P and university??), but I don't know. Honestly, I'd rather none of them graduate, but a graduation and an audition could get them more attention and maybe win back some old fans that left with Sakichy and Yuukarin.

S/mileage will probably have a third generation audition. Meimi mentioned in her blog that the current line-up may not last long (specifically mentioning third gen), but that could be her owns hopes and speculations rather than inside knowledge. Still, I think auditions would be a good idea. Too bad Fuu-chan won't ever be coming back (unless she was taken out of trainees last year for a surprise debut this year?) Even if S/mileage doesn't hold another audition, setting aside some trainees for S/mileage while other trainees debut in new units wouldn't be a bad idea either.

As for Morning Musume having auditions, it would be nice if they kept up yearly auditions, but the greater the number of new additions, the greater chance of a 9th or 10th gen leaving. Up-Front does not seem to like keeping the group over ten members for any length of time (and there's that oft-quoted Tsunku statement from years ago about the 10-member limit ideal.) And single member generations are best taken in moderation (I remember a lot of fan disappointment at Aika's audition due to her being the only member passing.) I would love more members, but not many graduations at the moment, and the current environment is not conducive for that at this time.

Now that Karin has a spot in Hello!Project, I hope Natsumi Taguchi finds a place soon, too. Much like how I thought "this girl would make a great H!P member" and "this girl looks interesting" when the first Egg pictures of Haruka Kudo were revealed, I saw something interesting in Taguchi's first pictures as a trainee. Both her name and her stature (even her expressions a little bit) remind me of Mari Yaguchi. Not that I expect her to be a Mari-clone (like I didn't expect Kanyon to be an Aibon-clone), but she's cute and has my interest, and now I really want to see where she ends up in Hello!Project history.

As for other trainees, I'm disappointed that Mogi left, but Mizuki Murota looks energetic and interesting, so it would be cool to see her debut in one of the new units. I also think Rie Kaneko should debut soon, too. Not just because she's the most senior trainee, but because I saw a screenshot of her glaring at the new Morning Musume and I think she needs a healthier way to manifest that rivalry. And she has a pretty cool looking nose.

I hope Hello!Project Station will not suck as bad as its first episode. The best things about that episode were Airi's face and Chii's "homerun" answer. Golf is boring enough as it is, but it makes for a terrible first theme! (And there's more than one part for the Golf episode??? Arrrrgh, I don't think I'm going to watch this...) Add some sketches to this variety show!

I'm still going to hope for a comic or series of animation shorts based on the H!P girls.

And finally, I hope Morning Musume is able to keep up their streak of Gold-certified singles. More fame (and money) should open up more opportunities for them, as it did for their predecessors.

So, those were my hopes and predictions!

As for what to look forward to from this blog, I still intend to finish the H!P 101 articles and reviews from last year (thanks to a friend, I've been getting the physical releases of albums I've been dreaming for for a long while!) There are articles planned and plenty of fanart to post. Occasionally I'll still post about non-H!P idols that catchy my eye (I just don't have as much time to experiment anymore, and, fearing burnout, I scaled back on what I follow/watch.)

I like having a blog since I don't really have anyone close to to talk about H!P with (except when I barf out a rambling one-sided conversation about it to friends and family then feel bad about it afterwards, feeling like I wasted their time...) But then I think about what I want to write and end up not writing it down! (I only use the computer once a week.) This day dreaming aspect of myself is something I need to discipline.

So despite this late start, please look forward to many more posts from me this year!