HNPH, Lost Months - Prologue and H!P Incidents Flashback

Here's to catch up on old(er) news while I was on a break, I do feel that I need to comment on some of the happenings. Not all of them of course, life goes on, and I'm sure there are more incidents to come.



Commenter anna provided a list for me to look into. Some I know, some I didn't. These I do not know ...

- forming of duet Kira☆Pika, Kusumi Koharu and Hagiwara Mai
(^_^)b~~ Yay! Maimai!!

- Aibon's MOM going nude
(o_o;) Good Lord... please have mercy on me eyes...

- Athena & Robikerottsu, formed with Gaki-san, Mittsi, Sato and Saki
(^o^)/~~~ YAY!! Gaki-san!

- Formation of group 'Buono!', formed with Momoko, Miyabi and Airi
(^_^)/ That's great! Though it seemed like 2nd 'Aa!' with Momoko replacing Reina...

-Berryz and C-ute's recent success
(^_^)? Nice!!... but what is it? Sales? Concert attendance record?

- Melon Kinenbi's infamous PV
(o_o)? What happened...? Did they strip off their clothes?

- Tsunku Jr./NG Project
(O_O;)! WHAT?! So it was true?!

- THE Possible graduated from H!P Eggs
(^_^) Aww.... I was gettin' ready to warm up to them. Wait... they'll still be around, right?



On the negative note, the word "scandal" takes on a wider scope by now, so it will called 'Incidents' from now on. Look at what incidents we have so far ->

- Yoshizawa Hitomi's brother died in vehicular accident.
- Kago Ai discovered working intern, caught smoking again, spent the night in onsen trip with old guy... and subsequently fired.
- Hello Morning has transformed to HaroMoni, changes in concept and style.
- 2 Chinese girls accepted to Morning Musume as "exchange students"
- Tsuji Nozomi got sick and dropped out from theater, later discovered that she was actually pregnant, got married with the father of the baby. Currently on a break till baby is born. It was said that the two were introduced to each other through Yaguchi Mari, though they denied of this.
- Shortly after being appointed as Momusu leader, Fujimoto Miki discovered to be in a relationship with a comedian, and subsequently fir-... err I mean, resigned from Morning Musume. Later, rumours surfaced that Fujimoto and her guy were introduced to each other by Konno Asami in her birthday party.
- Konno Asami returns to Hello! Project to join Gatas futsal and musical group

The above stuff that ones I covered, here are some things what happened during my break.

- Iida Kaori got pregnant and married the baby's father - an acquaintance of Tsunku.
- Abe Natsumi got driver license, promoted traffic safety. but soon after ran down a motorcycle in an accident.

And of course the latest news about Goto Maki ->
- Goto Maki got sick and dropped off from concert tour and afterwards rumoured to be pregnant (after Tsuji's case, 'acute-gastroenteritis' is another word for pregnancy ^_^ ). Then her brother got caught committing crime stealing cables, then Gomaki subsequently announced her resignation. [Edited 12:11 p.m.]


Then, found more stuff from the ever-resourceful WHG. Things like:

- Ex-member of Momusu, Ishiguro Aya divorced, husband Shinya wanted to reform LUNA SEA.
- Low attendance in H!P summer concert in Saitama Super Arena
- The A-Team (Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Team), was jeered in live promos. In Oricon chart, A-Team's 2nd single lost to AKB48 by double sales.
- Gatas music group lost to PERFUME in Oricon chart.

I have no way of confirming these sightings and stats, though. Sales figures prolly retrieved from Oricon which is, of course, not really accurate.

Welp... *stretching arms and cracking knuckles*
... time to go to work!

*Commencing search-and-blog mode* (^_^)v


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It's Showtime! Konno Asami Back to Fuel Hello! Project!!

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."

She will be participating in a single, performed by a combination of Gatas Brilhantes Futsal Club and some members from Hello! Project Eggs.

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.

The line-up are as follows:

Name	Group	Gatas Tag
Yoshizawa Hitomi	Former Morning Musume	Gatas☆Spirit
Ishikawa Rika	Viyuuden	Full Throttle☆Attacker
Satoda Mai	Country Musume	Ultima☆Register
Korenaga Miki	Hello! Project Eggs	Miss☆Dream Maker
Konno Asami	Former Morning Musume	Little☆Braver
Mano Erina	Hello! Project Eggs
Noto Arisa	Hello! Project Eggs
Sawada Yuri	Hello! Project Eggs
Sengoku Minami	Hello! Project Eggs
Mutoh Mika	Hello! Project Eggs

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


News from Sanspo

ハロプロに“久々”ハッピーニュース！元モー娘。紺野が電撃復帰

　大学受験のため昨年７月にモーニング娘。を卒業し、芸能界を引退した紺野あさ美（２０）が電撃復帰することが１８日、発表された。ハロー！プロジェクトのフットサルチーム「ガッタス　ブリリャンチスＨ．Ｐ．」が８月にＣＤデビューするのに合わせて、メンバーに復活。７月１５日のハロプロ名古屋公演で１年ぶりにステージに立つ。紺野は「学業との両立で頑張ります」と張り切っている。

◇

　昨年１２月に慶応大学環境情報学部に合格し、４月から神奈川・藤沢キャンパスに通う女子大生、紺野が芸能界に電撃復帰することになった。

　所属事務所によると、モー娘。を卒業する際、紺野から「大学に合格できたら、ガッタスでフットサルを続けさせてほしい」との強い申し入れがあったという。そこで、慶大に無事入学し、順調な学生生活を送る紺野と話し合いを重ね、復帰が決まった。

　活動の場は彼女の申し入れ通り、フットサルチーム、ガッタスになったが、奇しくもガッタスがハロプロの新ユニットとしてＣＤデビューすることから、紺野の歌手復帰も決まった。復活ステージは、名古屋センチュリーホールで行われるハロプロ夏ツアーの初日公演になる。

　紺野は「大学生活と両立できるか悩みましたが、両立して頑張っていこうと決意が固まりました。大学受験を応援してくれたみなさんにまた会えることを、とても楽しみにしています」とファンに発表した。ただ、しっかり学んで、卒業することを第一目標に掲げる紺野は「ガッタスと大学の予定が重なった時は、学業を優先させていただきたい」としている。

　紺野が参加する音楽ユニットとしてのガッタスは、音楽プロデューサー、つんく♂（３８）が２１人の選手から紺野をはじめ、吉澤ひとみ（２２）、石川梨華（２２）ら９人を選抜。つんく♂が作詞作曲したノリのいいポップナンバー「鳴り始めた恋のＢｅｌｌ」で８月２２日にデビューする。

　同曲は、シルク・ドュ・ソレイユが日本で上演中のスーパーサーカス「ドラリオン」のイメージソングに決定。７月２１日からフジテレビ系のテレビＣＭでオンエアされる。また、ガッタスも、「ドラリオン」のスペシャルサポーターに就任する。

Source from WHG 1 and 2
News from Nikkan Sports
News from Sports Hochi
News from Sponichi Annex
News from Tokyo Web
News from Japan-Zone
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Before There Was Morning Musume - Tokyo Performance Doll

Multi-membership. Graduations. Sub-units. Happy-poppy songs. Outrageous costumes. Dances with smiles. Energetic performances.

These are the things that are trademark to Morning Musume. But who started it all? In actuality, Morning Musume was not the original multi-member girl-group type of idols, and certainly the things that they do aren't new either.

During my researching for the article about the relationship between UFG Chairman Yamazaki Naoki and Tsunku, I came across this group that was supposedly Tsunku's initial motivation to become producer for Morning Musume. This group is called "Tokyo Performance Doll" ~ 東京パフォーマンスドール.



Tokyo Performance Doll or TPD for short was formed on April 1990, with Epic-Sony Records. It started out with 3 member unit called "Golbies" as core members, where the remaining future members of TPD will develop on. An interesting trivia is that the unit name "Golbies" was named after then Soviet Union's leader Mikhail Gorbachev nickname "Gorby", with intention of bringing about a "music revolution" within the entertainment industry. TPD's producer was Nakamura Ryouji.

The initial concept for TPD was "girls-next-door idols", but as the concept switched to "pro dancers" it gave them a neo-Takarazuka outlook, TPD's popularity soared to greater heights and attracted many more fans. TPD had since disbanded in 1996 but it became one of the many idol and musical influences to future entertainment acts. I find that Morning Musume is similar to TPD's style and concept in various ways.



Group Building
TPD's method of choosing a few core members, then building the group around them by recruiting more members was a new technique at that time and was copied by other entertainer producers. Among them was Okinawa Actor's School from which many popular acts were born, such as Super Monkeys (Amuro Namie and MAX), SPEED, D&D, Folder5, Y'z Factory etc. And of course, Hello! Project's Morning Musume.

Morning Musume started of with but 5 members, but the leads were mostly given to Fukuda Asuka and Abe Natsumi, while the others (Nakazawa Yuuko, Ishiguro Aya and Iida Kaori) provide the seconds and harmonies. With Fukuda's graduation, the main vocal was mainly Abe Natsumi even though the 2nd generation members were recruited, as noted in "Summer Night Town" and "Furusato". When the heat ran out, another ace was required, so in comes Goto Maki for "Love Machine". The entire Momusu act was built around the "aces" and "leads" as core members.


Sub-Units and shuffle units
When you have a big group with many members to play with, you can't resist shuffling them up to create new musical products. TPD had 8 sub-units where the core members and the "backing members" were shuffled together. Among them - Golbies, UL-SAYS, ViVA... etc. Hello! Project have many of these sub-units like Tanpopo and Pucchi Moni. And also the now defunct summer shuffle units. One interesting info is that one of the TPD sub-units is called "TWO TOPS". Sound familiar? Yup, that's the nickname that Okamura Takashi of manzai duo Ninety-Nine, gave to "unofficial duo group" of Mechaike Okajo Girls School series -> Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai.


Trainees
One element that sets TPD apart from other entertainment groups is the use of "trainees". Additional members that would join TPD were scouted and trained. These young hopefuls were normally used as back-dancers for TPD on live shows during their internship and training. After a period of observation and evaluation, gradually they would be included into official groups. A "newcomer's performance" was held in Harajuku Ruido 1 to 2 times per year where the trainees performed songs from the TPD official groups.

Again, sound familiar? Why, it's the Hello! Project Eggs of course. These young talents were in the Hello! Project grooming stables for some time now, and were normally used as back-dancers for Hello! Project concerts. The H!P Eggs are now preparing for their first "Newcomer's Concert" in May, where they will perform song from Hello! Project official acts.
Joining them are Jyun Jyun and Rin Rin(an H!P Egg herself), two Chinese girls added into Morning Musume as "exchange students"... or should we say "trainees" of sorts.



Conclusion
Seems like Tokyo Performance Doll's "music revolution" movement had influenced Hello! Project in more ways than one. From the looks of it, Hello! Project is now returning to its roots and the original reason why Tsunku accepted the role of producer and main songwriter for Hello! Project works in the first place. It would be a matter of time till the Summer Shuffle Units are brought back.... I think. ^_^

Through the many marketing strategies employed by UFA, this girl-group concept was brought to a higher level, and appealed to the fans more than TPD could have done. From my personal view, if TPD was a "revolution", then Hello! Project has expanded the concept through "evolution".


Thanks for reading. (^_^)/




Additional Info: Other 'Performance Dolls'
Following with the success of Tokyo Performance Doll, there were other 'Performance Dolls' that try to imitate their path. For example, four Chinese girls formed Shanghai Performance Dolls (SPD) and Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. Ltd produced a sister group to TPD called Osaka Performance Dolls (OPD). It is with OPD that an indirect connection between TPD and Hello! Project was created. Because the one of the founding members of OPD later became a member of Hello! Project group 'Taiyo and Ciscomoon'(later renamed to T&C Bomber) -> Inaba Atsuko. Inaba is currently Hello! Project chorus singer, MC, and dance choreographer.


And now, here are some of the videos of Tokyo Performance Doll in action.



"Catch" (1992)



Pocky Girls? No... it's Pretz Girls. They're both Glico products though.



... from the single "Hokago wa itsumo party" 放課後はいつもパーティ (1992)



Ex-member Miho Yonemitsu's solo single in 1998 - "Orenji" (Orange)



Wikipedia entry of Tokyo Performance Doll
"from IDOL POPS" entry of Tokyo Performance Doll
List of Youtube videos of Tokyo Performance Doll
Wikipedia entry of Osaka Performance Doll




Footnote:
In an upcoming post, I will discuss about yet another all-girl performing group that has been an influence to Hello! Project works, and is certainly one that I regard as the mother of all girl groups - the 52-member Onyanko Club. I had wanted to combine them with this post, but it felt like a little more research was deemed necessary before it gets published.
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Hello! Project Shinjin Kouen Concert..... Surprise, Surprise....

Moving on! Well, I have to... otherwise this blog may turn into a Kago Ai vent-site. Been busy these days, I have a lot to write, and made many drafts. Unfortunately, by now most of them drafts have outlive its spice, and is outdated news already. Oh well... ^_^

Last week's Hello! Morning gave us a surprise news. Tsunku announces that there will be a concert on May 13th, tentatively titled Hello! Project Newcomer's Performance or "Hello! Project Shinjin Kouen - ハロー！プロジェクト新人公演".

The Official Site - 第一回　ハロー！プロジェクト新人公演　さるの刻・とりの刻

The performers are:
Hello! Project Eggs
Mitsui Aika - 8th gen Morning Musume
Qian Li (Rin Rin) - 8th gen Morning Musume
Li Chun (Jyun Jyun) - 8th gen Morning Musume
The Possible
Arihara Kanna - C-ute

... Much to the surprise of Jyun Jyun, of course. Because she just got off the plane, and was told that she will be involved in a concert in a couple months time. Hehe!

It's split into two performance times named "Saru no Koku" and "Tori no Koku", literally "Monkey's Time" and "Chicken's Time" respectively. Don't ask me why. ^_^

Note that it says there "First Round", meaning that there will be more concerts like this coming up. I think it's a very good idea for a concert. At least the Eggs won't be stuck to being just backup-dancers for other H!P concerts all the time. Although I am only familiar with Fukuda Kanon(for her pedoliciousness) and Korenaga Miki(for her athletic ability in Gatas Brilhantes futsal team), it seems that I have overlooked the Hello! Project Eggs all this while, without knowing that there are good looking girls in there.

The set list for this concert of consists of many past Hello! Project songs, including Morning Musume, H!P Shuffles, Matsuura Aya, Pucchi Moni... etc. The Possible are the only ones with their own singles to perform. The performers list will be updated soon.

But guess what? Surprise number 2... guess who else is also in it?
Performers Profile List



That's right, ladies and gentlemen... Kikkawa Yuu is inducted into Hello! Project Eggs!

So after she failed to join Morning Musume in the Happy 8 Auditions, and after I speculated that she would be a Ayaya ver 2.0, it was decided that she join the Hello! Project Eggs instead.

Why, she even have a nickname - "Kikka". Check her profile.

I guess all Kikka fans now can rest easy, because we will finally be able to see her as a performer on stage. What a pleasant surprise, though I heard stories of her joining H!P before. I thought that she may be forming a new unit with some others, but I didn't expect she would be an Eggs member. *sigh* How I wish that Satou Sumire is involved in it as well.


On the side note: For those interested to know, Satou Sumire is currently involved in a musical Freddie the Leaf as noted in the musical's official blog and her personal blog - Sumire Melody.


The official site of Shinjin Kouen concert also have a rehearsal diary, where the performers tell their experience and show some photos.




Yup, that's Kikka there with the "Love" T-shirt. Seems like the girls have gotten along pretty well!

However... Mitsui Aika is in this concert as well. I wonder what Mittsi and Kikka is thinking and how are they feeling right now? One is a winner of the 8th gen audition and joined Momusu, while the other is a audition dropout to be inducted into H!P Eggs. Will there be a battle of pride between the two? Is there a feeling of uneasiness between them? Does Mittsi have sense of superiority over Kikka? Will Kikka repeat the history of Fujimoto Miki's career path and be included into Momusu later on?

Personally, I think the scales are quite even. Since they're both relatively new to showbiz and H!P, and they both suck at dancing. (^o^)/


Best of luck to all girls and I hope the concert is a great success!

Peace ^_^
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