So now we have Konkon of Gokkies (5th gen member) coming back, I am sure most of us are looking forward to seeing her in a long time since the beginning of the year. Speaking of Gokkies... A while ago, we saw a picture of Ogawa Makoto having dinner with friends in a pub somewhere.
A moment ago, we got these pictures floating in the uploaders.
I think it's recent, looks like she's in a class or something. Makocchin in long hair, now THAT's hotness...! Still lookin' genki there girl~~~~ (^_^)/
I'm so hoping she has a blog or something and.... wait, she's studying English right? Gosh..... I wonder if she searches the blogosphere to look at ENGLISH H!P blogs...... i.e. OUR blogs..... (-_-;)
Yes... I'm bloggin' from office again, but come on~~~~ it's the return of the Gokkies!
Konkon and Makocchin
EDIT 2007-06-21: Some good people at WHG found the same pictures but the gamma/brightness is increased so that you can CLEARLY see Makocchin's face. Have a look! >> Read the rest of this article
This news is too good to not be documented real time. Incidentally, my boss is not around yet anyways... ^_^ (Special thanks to Anna for the headsup!)
And yes, ladies and gentlemen! Konno Asami who has graduated from Morning Musume last year in July, is back with Hello! Project. After so many speculations of whether Konkon is coming back to showbiz, it's finally official. (^_^)/
UFA has released a comment saying that it was Konkon's wish to rejoin and play in Gatas after she is able to enter the university of Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. Her first stage for a comeback will be held at Nagoya Century Hall with Hello! Project tour concert in July.
Konkon on the other hand, have commented that "Although I am worried if I am able to balance (Gatas) with my studies, but I am determined to try my best to make it happen. To all the people who have given their support through my entry to the university, I am most eager to meet them again. However, if there is a conflict between Gatas and studies, I wish to give priority to my studies first."
The single will be titled "Nari hajimeta koi no Bell ~ 鳴り始めた恋のBell" (Meaning: The bells of love have begun to ring) and produced by none other than Tsunku. This single will also be the image song for Dralion Cirque Du Soleil circus troupe. This will be the second "supporter song" written for Dralion, the first being "Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia" by the Morning Musume A-Team. I expect the song style would be similar, depending who is doing the song arrangement. It will be released on the 22nd of August.
Funny though, Konkon is still listed in the Skylark site as one of the graduated members. Are they not going to update that page yet? Players of Gatas (senior) that are not involved are -> Fujimoto Miki, Tsuji Nozomi and Shibata Ayumi. I can understand why Fujimoto and Tsuji are not involved, but Shibata? Actually, I have my speculations, but that is another story.
On topic, I'm ecstatic! My favourite extracurricular-all-rounder, slow-eater, "My Pace" idol Pon-chan is back!! I was so devastated last year when she graduated, and the feeling of never going to ever see her again is one that I cannot describe. This exciting news is truly an upside event, giving us a break from all those scandals and stuff. What's more, we get to see more of the Hello! Project Eggs in action (Which I hope won't be just doing backup dancing). Looking forward to it!
Another thing.... For those who haven't heard, apparently Konkon has dyed her hair blonde since entering the university. In other words, had become a real Gyaru. We don't have pictures of that yet, but I have been hearing stories from eyewitnesses seeing her in blonde. Let's see how blonde it got, or if she is going to dye it with another colour again. I wonder if she has put on some weight as well....... BUT anyways, I think she should keep the blonde hair, so that she can be inducted into Gyaruru. Now THAT is cool! (*Bites green apple*)
Lastly, some videos for your enjoyment.
Alo-Hello Konno Asami. Yup, she can play basketball too. I'm sure fellow ballers will recognise that is one good lookin' shoot and follow-through~~~! (^o^)/
Gatas Brilhantes FC Highlights - Konno Asami's last game and graduation. This small girl can HUSTLE! (^_^)b
Here are two reasons for Konno Asami's comeback. Personally I think there are a MILLION reasons why she should come back ^_^. But I will highlight two, both concerning Gatas Brilhantes FC :
1) Tsuji Nozomi is out with pregnancy, Gatas needs a goalkeeper. 2) Gatas will be shorthanded again, because there may be another scandal.
This magazine, BreakMax, caught my eye because I saw the name Tsuji Nozomi printed on the front of the August issue, but after looking closer, I saw another familiar name: Melon Kinenbi member Shibata Ayumi.
It says there that Shibata was seen going out late at night, right after the day Tsuji was caught with her scandal. That's all I have for now. I hope nothing serious there. It's a one page article, and there is only that much they can write about.
Just moved into my new studio apartment, and transfered most of my stuff there. But there's a problem...... the net connection at my new crib is not ready. In fact there's no freakin' dial-tone on the phone.
Will be right back when I get my connection back, in a couple days max.
It seems like the H!P world is excited about a lot of things, and most of it involved the Chinese Musume. I'm still in touch, but just no time to blog it at the moment. I'll be sure to catch up, cos' I'm excited too (I dig girls who can play an instrument ^_^).
Matsuura Aya, Tokito aMi and Kakei Toshio appeared in Tokyo for a press conference promoting their theater show Sukedachi ~ す★け★だ★ち (Seems like a trend for people to put stars in the titles), which will open on 5th to 14th August at Koma Stadium in Shinkuku, Tokyo. It's a wild story of a national idol(Ayaya) and a historical character(Kakei) offering a helping hand to an alien, who is suffering under a dictator ruler. No, aMi is not the alien, but she plays the role of the villain. (^o^)/
For those who don't remember, Kakei Toshio also took part in a recent theater "Itsu no hika kimi kaeru" which Ishikawa Rika and Tsuji Nozomi took part in a double cast... before Tsuji got "ill" and replaced by Yoshizawa Hitomi.
I have known about Kakei Toshio since way back in the late 90's of the hit franchise Odoru Daisousasen, he is an excellent actor with gripping performances. However, it is also noted that in Kakei's past theater participations, something will happen to his co-stars i.e. getting pregnant (Hirosue Ryoko in 2003 and Tsuji Nozomi in 2007). Therefore, in reference to Ayaya's agency UFA and its continuing scandals, Kakei funnily remarked "Somehow, my costars will eventually get pregnant in my theaters. I will play the role of a 'father' and make sure that my idol costars here (Ayaya) will NOT get pregnant!". Kakei is 44 years old, the same age as Ayaya's father. Co-actor Kitamura Yukiya jokingly added to the light-hearted atmosphere by saying that people have been losing their cell-phones in theater, and HE will make sure no one else loses theirs. ^_^
EDIT: Tsunku will be in charge of the music for this theater. Apparently Kakei only agreed to star on this theater on the condition that he is allowed to perform a duet with Ayaya.
Also involved in this theater are comedian Miyagawa Daisuke and (surprise, surprise) competitive eater and Gyaruru leader - Gyaru Sone. Lastly, the theater casts announced that they are determined to give the audiences a good performance and something to remember from summer.
And so Takahashi Ai had her first job as Morning Musume leader .... AND as "2nd Gen EcoMoni" with Kusumi Koharu starting a few days ago in a Nippon TV Eco Week campaign on Friday, where she announces her will to take up the task as leader with a spirited "I will do my best!". And that she did, while she gave some useful eco-friendly tips and practices along with her partner, in support of the campaign.
Yesterday on Young Town Doyoubi we saw the appearance of Michishige Sayumi who took over Fujimoto Miki's place as a regular in the radio show. Ai-chan did not steal the spotlight and remained passive in her responses (well, most of the time she is like that), as she knows the initiation of the new regular is important. Time and again, she pointed out some good qualities in Sayu, and noted that Sayu is probably more mature than herself, more like an older sister. Though she wished that Mikitty would come back to the show soon.
But what kind of leader is Ai-chan? She still seems to be same as usual, still lacking an outstanding personality (well, actually by having no personality IS her outstanding personality. I think lots of people remember her that way ^_^) and wanting things to be the same as it has always been.
Ai-chan, although already 21 years of age this year, have remained a timid 17 year old in my mind. Mostly because of her small stature, and because she was not the most outspoken amongst the Momusu girls. She doesn't speak unless spoken to, and is always in a passive mode. I cannot imagine her leading the "Dancing! Singing! Exciting!" and "Gambatte Ikima-SHOI!!" cheer before concerts and performances later on. ^_^
However, that's where things get more interesting.
In my personal opinion, unlike her predecessors Ai-chan not the type that will lead by taking charge, but is the type that will lead by quietly watching over her fellow members, while they freely do their stuff. It is this trait that lead me to draw comparisons with Arashi leader, Satoshi Ohno. Both Ai-chan and Ohno are talented singers, easily one of the best in their respective counterparts. Both are also good dancers. And both of them are well respected by their peers and juniors. I remember in the past Morning Musume auditions where many participants cite Takahashi Ai as their favourite member and is the one whom they idolize - including current member Michishige Sayumi.
BUT, after all my blabbering here, there's a chance that Ai-chan will come back and throw all my assumptions out the window. As always, she is very unassuming, and performs above her best effort under pressure. Let's see how she will change with this new responsibility as leader and how Morning Musume will turn out this time under her leadership..... unless the paparazzi comes up with another scandalous scoop again.
Here's a little something in commemoration of new Morning Musume leader Takahashi Ai.
An instrumental guitar rendition of Takahashi Ai's solo single - Yume Kara Samete.
Surprise #1 When Tsuji Nozomi has to exit from her role of voice acting Atena, a character in anime Robby and Kerobby due to her marriage plans, the anime producers had to find a replacement. And they found that person in Morning Musume sub-leader -> Niigaki Risa. Source here.
Gaki-san will be voicing Atena from episode 16 onwards, which will broadcast on the 8th of July. A bit strange that she is still wearing the Kanashimi Twilight costume for the picture. Has this been decided way earlier on? Or maybe it was to enhance the recognizability of Gaki-san, due to the recent release of the Morning Musume single. Her hairdo wasn't the same pompadour as we saw in the PV anyway. I am unable to listen to the audio comment by Gaki-san on the site, cos' I'm on Linux right now (it needs a Windows Media Player). Will try again later on a Windows machine later on.
Surprise #2 The theme song for the period of July till September for the anime has been decided as well. It is entitled "Meguru Koi no Kisetsu ~~ めぐる恋の季節" and will be performed by ℃-ute. Source here
A message updated on the message board of Young Town Doyoubi radio show, announcing that Fujimoto Miki's regular spot will be replaced by Michishige Sayumi. Sayumi will be given a new segment in the show too, in order to educate her and for getting used to being on the show.
The last I visited the official site, I remember seeing Mikitty's picture on the home page but now only Takahashi Ai is on it. Mikitty's profile is still there, though the link is hidden from plain sight.
Slowly, Mikitty is mirroring Yaguchi Mari's after-scandal schedule -> getting less work. I sincerely hope this is not permanent. Hopefully, she gets to come back after the fire has cooled down a bit...
Tsunku though not available for a audio/video comments on Fujimoto Miki's case of relationship scandal, have expressed his thoughts in his official website.
In his message on the 4th of June 2007:
I went to the GAM and Biyuuden's concert in Tokyo. As everyone know from the news, Fujimoto Miki has decided to resign from Morning Musume. As the leader, though it seems that she may have many deep feelings and emotions, it is her whole-hearted decision. I hope that everyone give their biggest and warmest support. Furthermore, for causing worry and trouble to everyone, we humbly beg your pardon.
Tsunku then proceeds to share the progress and detail of the rehearsal and concert, before finally attributing the lively atmosphere and success of the performance to the support from the fans.
This must be the n-th time we hear members and personnel of the Hello! Project family apologise to the fans for the past many months. I feel sorry for them sometimes. However, no matter how regretful they feel, and how much they have shown to the media of their support to fellow comrades, no one is safe. And as any rational person would, even Tsunku himself have to censor whatever comments he make... including the images that are displayed on his website.
For example.... Tsunku's entry on the 3rd of June about the 21st anniversary of Up Front Groups and its photoshoot event, additionally reflected on some thoughts during his 15 years in association with UFG and his band "Sharan Q" that will come to its 20th anniversary next year. He shared some pictures taken from the photoshoot. However, the ones that have Mikitty in it are not displayed. Here are some of them -->
I'll leave it to you on how you can find the other hidden pictures yourself. I'm sure you can figure it out... ^_^
>> Read the rest of this article
I was really looking forward on how Morning Musume will turn out under the leadership of Fujimoto Miki. Seriously. I was also looking forward on Mikitty slipping past her relationship scandal. Just for once, just one time, if anyone in Momusu gets caught outright in a relationship and then get away with it, Hello! Project will be forced to change.
Back in the day, when feisty Nakazawa Yuuko, the first generation member and leader of Morning Musume was still around, the atmosphere in the group is all about rivalry, all about competition, all about pride and hardwork. She sacrificed her own image and turn into a bossy senior to put things into orderly manner in the group, forcing each member to better improve themselves for a chance at the spotlight. Sure she's a workaholic, but she was the only one in the group who has ever had a real job before joining showbiz at 24 years of age, only she understood the meaning of professionalism and dedication to their work.
Guess who else had a real job before joining showbiz... it's Fujimoto Miki. Remember back when Mikitty dropped out of the 4th generation audition for Momusu, she was summoned by UFA to come back and undertake internship and training for a year before her official solo debut. Coupled with her tough-as-nails character and a take-no-prisoner vocabulary, she would have been the one leader to rise and bring back the good ol' Golden Era of Morning Musume. I have my doubts on Mikitty's leadership qualities, but I'm sure she will adjust herself when she is being forced to the situation. She is extremely stern, especially to the much younger members like Kusumi Koharu. It is with my hope, and many others perhaps, that Mikitty would bring back the days of rivalry and sense of competitiveness amongst the Momusu members. Momusu cannot survive by friendship alone, a little bit of healthy competition and fear of elimination is good to put them in a position to buck up and give above their best effort every time. But alas, it was not meant to be.
The second revolution that I have hoped for is a change of the "no boyfriend" policy in Morning Musume.
"Idols"... It is the year 2007 already, is it still important for Japan to keep the "idol" tradition of the 80's? I was told that when Mikitty's scandal surfaced, most fans in Japan have the same thinking ->
"At current times, it is really impossible to deprive idols from romance. "
As you can see, even the Japanese fans agree. (Forget the negative crowd, they're nothing but people who like to cheer at other's misery)
If it was for the intention of not letting emotion getting in the way of Momusu girls' work, then I understand. But how can we expect a bunch of healthy teenagers to suppress their notion for a romance and at the same time asking them to sing songs of love and relationship? While the "idol" formula worked 25 years ago, that doesn't mean that the idols in that era wholly accepted the idea.
I had hoped that starting with Mikitty, the rule of 'no romance' in Morning Musume would be finally be written out, and we will truly have a idol group that is truly modern and living up to the times.
Whether it was due to the conservative thinking of the Chairman, or the Japanese fan culture of idol worshiping, I can only describe this whole event with one thing - unfortunate.
It will be continuous battle from now on, where UFA (or the Johnny's for that matter) will continue to preserve the "idol" brand and prove that the concept still lives... and the paparazzi and journalists will continue to counter and disprove it.
>> Read the rest of this article
Managed to salvage my PC in one piece. Not without some casualties of corrupted files and configurations. Nevertheless, we're back in business.
Okay, let's talk about them scandals..... ahh... but that's old news by now. I've been deprived of my rantings over the whole scandal issue, but maybe that's a good thing, I've much to say and it ain't all positive.
First let's start with some news.... I need some warming up. ^_^
Nakazawa Yuuko's Marriage Life and Comments Morning Musume 1st gen member and leader Nakazawa Yuuko will be playing one half of a married couple in a theater production "Blue Blue Birthday". She's in Tokyo at a press conference to promote the show that will begin from 22nd June till 2nd July, in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space (東京芸術劇場小ホール). Playing her husband will be Ishida Issei, who is probably best known amongst J-Dorama lovers for his portrayal of Kashiwagi Kazuya in the 90's hit soap opera "Hitotsu Yane no Shita" or "Under One Roof" 1 & 2. Nakazawa received lots of advice from the experienced Ishida. Of course, it was a good opportunity to get some comments from Nakazawa about the current scandal news, specifically about Tsuji Nozomi marriage and Fujimoto Miki's resignation from Morning Musume, to which Nakazawa (who probably have seen it coming ^_^) responded with "Ah, the main topic has come!" when approached by the journalists.
Nakazawa made remarks about Tsuji first, "She turns 20 yrs old this month, I've known her since her graduation from junior school, so she's like a sister to me. I have congratulations for her, but I didn't think it would happen! We wish her well and hope she takes good care of her health."
About Fujimoto, Nakazawa responds with "She made the decision (to resign) herself, and takes up the responsibility for her actions. Isn't that good? It's very mature of her.". Furthermore, it was made clear that Nakazawa received a phone call from Fujimoto saying "Sorry for causing much trouble". To which Nakazawa added "As a graduate myself, I worry for my juniors and comrades, but I will give my support to them.".
As for herself, she laughs "For now, my only 'love' is my work. I don't have a partner, but I am not in a hurry either!". Ishida on the other hand is currently going out with actress Kawai Chiharu.
Mikitty Apologises to the Fans in Concert Matsuura Aya and Fujimoto Miki, held their first concert as duo unit GAM on the 1st and 2nd of June, in Welcity Osaka, in the wake of Fujimoto's relationship scandal with comedian Shouji Tomoharu. After only 15 minutes into the show with 3 numbers sung, Fujimoto addressed the fans right away, regarding her scandal and announced her resignation from Morning Musume. She apologised to the fans and added that she will continue as a solo act and with GAM. Before the concert started, some fans were wondering if there will be angry audiences in the hall, but after seeing Fujimoto's poise and her apology, fans responded with positive cheers of "Gambare~~!" and "We will support you no matter what~~!". After the show, Fujimoto comments that she was grateful to receive such support from so many people.
On the night of 2nd of June, right after the concert, Fujimoto participated as a regular in the radio show, "Young Town Doyoubi" hosted by veteran comedian Akashiya Sanma. There when probed by Sanma-san, she expressed her regret, held responsibile for her own actions and resigned, as predicted by Sanma-san, quoting past example of Yaguchi Mari. No futher comments by succeeding Morning Musume leader Takahashi Ai, though she showed her support in other form of words. Fujimoto later added that she will probably be getting some solo work from the agency.
Changes in Mikitty's Schedules Sanma-san made a jest about Mikitty will not be able to come back as a regular on his show, on the same broadcast mentioned above. Was it really a joke? Or a veteran's insight? Some scheduling adjustments have been made after Mikitty's unfortunate turn of events. For instance, she will not be participating in the upcoming concert in July - Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10th Anniversary Daikansya Matsuri HaroPuro Summer Festival | "Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10thアニバーサリー 大感謝祭 ～ハロ☆プロ夏祭り～". Strange, cos it's not a Morning Musume only concert, so was she excluded because of the scandal issue? Other changes include the change of referring her with Morning Musume, as noted by Some Boys!, that her name/logo of her radio show has omitted the "Morning Musume's" part, so now it's only "Fujimoto Miki no Dokimiki Night".
Takahashi Ai and Mikitty was supposed to participate in Nippon TV Network's "NTV Eco Week 2007" event this Friday on the the 8th. Now, Mikitty is replaced by Kusumi Koharu. The girls will be taking part in the opening ceremony and the talk show segment.
Berryz Koubou 14th Single Jacket Photo Revealed From UFW official site, Berryz Koubou latest single " Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba" (Confession of Love at the Plaza Water Fountain) jacket photo was revealed. It is due to be released on 27th of June. Serving Berryz in a Maid Cafe. Nice! Looks like UFA isn't letting go of their fanbase in Akihabara. Pray hard that no scandals may occur upon them at this time. (Cos it seems to be a trend for it to happen nowadays.) SINGLE+DVD Normal Edition
My PC crashed last night, been getting the "blue screen of death" so frequently these days, and it pisses me off because I have to rewrite my stuff over and over again. It's a hardware problem. Finally, the last straw came, and crashed the whole thing....... and the Windows configurations got messed up.
Big "Thank You!" to those who sent me emails, and also to those who sent their congratulations for my wedding. I promise to reply to all emails in due time. (^_^)v
Other than that, the usual life stuff got in the way. Tried my best to circle around the schedules and problems, but I guess some things have to be attended no matter what.
I hope to salvage the damn PC, and resume blogging by tonight... or tomorrow night. I have much to write about. Again, many thanks for checking back. m(_ _)m
Expected? Almost. I was most sure that the agency UFA have tried their best to stop her from quitting, but end of the day, in deja vu of Yaguchi Mari's relationship scandal, the 3rd gen leader who also quit Morning Musume after being discovered by Friday, Mikitty has announced her resignation, in almost similar words "As leader of Morning Musume, and more distinctively as myself, wish to resign from Morning Musume."
This will be the shortest reign ever for any leader of Morning Musume, with the duration of only 4 weeks.
UPDATED: From the official announcement in Hello! Project website, after many repeated meetings with Mikitty and other, the scandalous news reported by the Friday tabloid has been confirmed and acknowledged. Mikitty herself submitted her wish to resign from Morning Musume, apparently for the sake of the younger underaged members of other groups. As for her activities, Mikitty have participated in her duo unit 'GAM' with Matsuura Aya, just as previously scheduled. However, UFA asked for the understanding of the fans that Mikitty will not be participating in the upcoming concert in July - Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10th Anniversary Daikansya Matsuri HaroPuro Summer Festival | "Hello! Project 2007 Summer 10thアニバーサリー 大感謝祭 ～ハロ☆プロ夏祭り～".
The new leader will be the current sub-leader Takahashi Ai, and filling in the sub-leader post will be Niigaki Risa.
Fujimoto Miki comments as displayed on the Hello! Project official site:
To all the fans who have been supporting us. While being in the position as a leader of Morning Musume and to lead the other members, I have broken the rules of being in Morning Musume, and feel deeply responsible. As the result of my actions, I have caused trouble to all of the other members, and it is truly inexcusable. Personally, I cannot continue as the leader of Morning Musume as it is. Distinctively as myself, I resigned from Morning Musume. Apologies to all the fans that have been supporting so far. I am really sorry. From now on, I will continue as "Fujimoto Miki", please give your best support.
I've just created that new site Momusu banner only recently, then THIS happens. Dammit, I'm leaving it up there for a while longer. (>_<) On topic, How much of these "comments" are fabricated and how close it is to the truth, I leave this to your discernment. I'm skeptical about it.
BUT, end of the day, one thing is clear to me - UFA planned to continue and uphold the "Idol" tradition in the Japanese music scene, and they are doing it with Hello! Project.
So what's next? Keep following Mikitty's future developments of course, the "Idol" part, I understand now. I'm interested in comparing how things will turn out for her, compared to Marippe's after-scandal career life. If Ayaya have a new single/album released in the next few months or so, then... yeah, pretty much we can guess what's happening already.
