About the New Girl In Town And the Future of Morning Musume...

Hello! Project has issued an announcement echoing what we all being buzzing about - Sugiura Taiyou & Nozomi's newborn baby girl Sugiura Noa. Many bloggers are absolutely pleased to know about it and here are their reactions.

Now in previous interviews, Sugiura revealed that their daughter's name will be a combination of the parents name. Funny, the name "Noa" (希空) only have half of Nono's name, Nozomi (希美) and none of the father's name Taiyou (太陽). So I thought further, and with reference to Sugiura's fame due to his role as Ultraman Cosmos, a quick search produced this -->

ULTRAMAN NOA

Image taken from this site and information in English can be found here.

So now I understand~~~~~~~!
Well.... at least I think it's like that. (^_^)v

And here's a clip of the Ultraman Noa, the last mode of Ultraman Nexus, in action.


I called Noa-chan Hello!Project's first Morning Magomusume モーニング孫娘 (Morning Granddaughter) in my previous post. Some comments from my previous post questioned that, because NOno is not the only and not the first ex-Morning Musume to have a child. As noted by Sponichi, there was 1st gen member Ishiguro Aya, 2nd gen member Ichii Sayaka, and finally 1st gen member Iida Kaori (who got married the same day as me! ^_^) who is expecting her child in January 2008. To be clear, I said that this is the first Magomusume because Nono is the first person (soon to be followed by Kaorin) to remain under the Hello!Project stable even after the birth of the child. To me, this is certainly something significant, because they are supposed to be idols. Unless they are not considered as idols after leaving Morning Musume of course...

In any case, Tsunku seems to agree, and revealed his feelings in his blog.

In his blog, he mentioned that he was very happy for Tsuji, felt as if his own granddaughter was born, and expressed his joy to see a small-sized Tsuji being a mother. (I think he still find that hard to believe, as many of us do~~ ^_^)
He said that the newborn girl is a reserve candidate for Morning Musume!

Finally, he remarked that Tsuji is a "producer" now, and hopes that she will be a reliable, perfect, kakoii and kawaii mother for the kid.

Oh... he also said he wanted to meet the baby and give it a hug. ^_^



There has been concerns and talks about the future of Morning Musume, due to the disappointing sales of their latest single "Mikan" and that Momusu's time is running out.... because Buono,C-ute and Kirari have outsold Momusu.

Current sales report

Hello! Project Artist	Single	Total Sales to Date
℃-ute	Tokaikko Junjou	38,085
Buono!	Honto no Jibun	35,281
Tsukishima Kirari	Chance	31,766
Morning Musume	Mikan	28,082

I don't know about you guys, but I felt that from Tsunku's statement in his blog that the baby is a upcoming candidate for Momusu, deep inside he wants Morning Musume to continue on. (at least until the kid is old enough to audition, of course). I think Momusu's time is NOT over.

But this should not be the only reason. Please stay tuned for an upcoming post.




>> Read the rest of this article

Tsunku, Yaguchi Mari and Iida Kaori in Politics..... ?!

This is just absurd.

I was wondering what this was all about...


Later I found out that Tsunku, Yaguchi Mari and Iida Kaori are part of the supporting team for the mayor election in Kyushuu. Source from WHG.


Now I hold nothing against what they are doing... but just where the heck is the connection?! Tsunku is from Osaka, Marippe is from Kanagawa and Kaorin is from Hokkaidou.

Something tells me that these are old pictures, cos' Marippe's hairdo wasn't like this in the recent "Yaguchi Hitori" show. If that's so, this means this ain't the first time they are doing this. (Or maybe Yaguchi has used extensions in her show)

Is Tsunku's appetite for exposure that strong, so as to be affiliated with politics as well? It's fine that Hello! Project participates in various promotions of other merchandise and public campaigns. But does Tsunku intend to allow Hello! Project to be available for bookings in political activities as well?

.... I don't know what else to say.
>> Read the rest of this article

Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia, Juunen Ai - Lyrics, Romaji and Translation

By popular demand, here are the lyrics, romaji and translation for Morning Musume A-Team's Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia and Juunen Ai. Nihongo lyrics taken from actual CD leaflet.

Nihongo lyrics typed out using NJStar Communicator. Also used my old dictionary to help me with the translations too. (well, I'm not that perfect yet, ya know~~ ^_^ )

UPDATE 31-01-2007:
Updated the translation for Juunen Ai from some inputs by anon commenter, but not without some modification. Further corrections and proof read by the lovely chu3nii for Bokura ga Ikiru My ASIA and Juunen Ai translations. (Thanks so much!)


*********************************************************

Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA - 僕らが生きる MY ASIA
Music/Lyrics: Tsunku
Arrangement, Programming and Guitar: Takahashi Yuichi
Chorus: CHINO

Nihongo:

同じ夜空の
星を見上げた
遥か遠くに思い寄せ
まだ知らぬ友に会えそうだ
シルクロード進もう

共に励まし 共に讃えて
共に心を通わせ
家族のように 生きいけるさ
絆もきっと出来るさ

万年行き交う この道に
すべての希望が詰まってる
万年誰かに伝えてく
不思議な魅惑 MY ASIA
僕らが生きる MY ASIA

恋に黄昏
海を見渡す
こんな近くに歴史もある
同じような顔に見えても
同じ人はいない

夢を数えて 涙に変わり
季節がまた流れてく
家族の言葉 大人になって
なんだか胸に轟く

万年行き交う この道が
すべての笑顔の始まりで
万年待ってた この時を
愛し合おうよ MY ASIA
僕らが生きる MY ASIA

万年行き交う この道が
すべての笑顔の始まりで
万年待ってた この時を
愛し合おうよ MY ASIA
僕らが生きる MY ASIA

Romaji:

onaji yozora no
hoshi wo miage ta
haruka tooku ni omoi yose
mada shiranu tomo ni ae sou da
shirukuroodo susumou

tomo ni hagemashi     tomo ni tatae te
tomo ni kokoro wo kayowa se
kazoku no you ni     iki te ikeru sa
kizuna mo kitto dekiru sa

man nen yukikau     kono michi ni
subete no kibou ga tsumatteru
man nen dareka ni tsutae te ku
fushigi na miwaku     MY ASIA
bokura ga ikiru     MY ASIA

koi ni tasogare
umi wo miwatasu
konna chikaku ni rekishi mo aru
onaji you na kao ni mie te mo
onaji hito wa i nai

yume o kazoe te     namida ni kawari
kisetsu ga mata nagare te ku
kazoku no kotoba     otona ni natte
nanda ka mune ni todoroku

man nen yukikau     kono michi ga
subete no egao no hajimari de
man nen matte ta     kono toki wo
ai shi aou yo     MY ASIA
bokura ga ikiru     MY ASIA

man nen yukikau     kono michi ga
subete no egao no hajimari de
man nen matte ta     kono toki wo
ai shi aou yo     MY ASIA
bokura ga ikiru     MY ASIA

Translation:

Looking up at the same starry night
Sending my thoughts to the far distance
possibly meeting friends that you never met
moving on along the silk road

Together encouraging and praising each other
Together linking our hearts
Living together like a family
Surely a bond will form

In this crossing roads of ten thousand years
Uniting our hopes together
Convey it to someone for ten thousand years
My Asia, a strange fascination
My Asia, where we live...

Love in dusk
Looking around the ocean
We do had a history nearby here
Even if there are people who look similar
there are no people who are the same

When counting dreams, change to tears
the seasons have switched again
Somehow, words from family roars in your heart
when you become an adult

This crossing roads of ten thousand years
is the beginning of all smiling faces
At this time after waiting for ten thousand years
My Asia, let's love
My Asia, where we live...

This crossing roads of ten thousand years
is the beginning of all smiling faces
At this time after waiting for ten thousand years
My Asia, let's love
My Asia, where we live...

*********************************************************

Note: I think Juunen Ai is not supposed to make much sense, because Tsunku is trying to fit references to all the titles of Morning Musume singles in the lyrics. (of course, he failed to do so in the end... heh!)Read this post if you don't know what I mean. So go ahead and try to spot them Morning Musume song references in this song. \(^o^)/


Juunen Ai - 十年愛
Music/Lyrics: Tsunku
Arrangement, Programming and Guitar: Takahashi Yuichi
Chorus: Takeuchi Hiroaki, Tsunku

Nihongo:

会いに来てよ
十年経っても同じように
会いに来てよ
つべこべ言わずに来てよ

雨が降っても会いたいし
お天気良い日は尚うれしい
たまの浮気は許すけど
純情見せてよね

いつも此処で 貴方
待つわ 貴方
いつも此処で 歌を
唄っていますから 鳴呼

愛の機械
十年経ってもステキだわ

朝のコーヒー
ずいぶん昔の話

平和になれと歩いてる
どこにも行かないここにいる
そうね うちらは生きている
愛を下さいな

大阪女 浪漫
Wow Wow Wow Yeah Yeah Yeah
愛があらば It's All Right
まるで シャボン玉 鳴呼

恋のダンスしましょ
直感 マンパワー
ハッピーサマーウェディング
全部は入らない
十年おめでとう

Romaji:

ai ni kite yo
juunen tatte mo onaji you ni
ai ni kite yo
tsubekobe iwa zu ni kite yo

ame ga futte mo aitai shi
otenki yoi hi ha nao ureshi
tama no uwaki wa yurusu kedo
junjou misete yo ne

itsumo koko de     anata
matsu wa     anata
itsumo koko de     uta wo
utatte imasu kara     Ahh

ai no kikai
juunen tatte mo suteki da wa

asa no koohii
zuibun mukashi no hanashi

heiwa ni nare to aruiteru
doko ni mo yuka nai koko ni iru
soune     uchira ha ikiteiru
ai wo kudasai na

osaka onna     roman
Wow Wow Wow Yeah Yeah Yeah
Ai ga araba It's all right
marude     shabondama     Ahh

koi no dansu shimashou
chokkan     Manpawaa
happii samaa uedingu
zenbu ha hairanai

juunen omedetou

Translation:

Come and see me
just like always even after 10 years
Come and see me
Stop complaining and just come see me

Even if it's raining, I still want to meet you
If the weather is good, it will be more delightful
Although I can forgive an occasional unfaithfulness
show me your naiveness/innocence

We will be right here
waiting for you
Because we will always
be singing here.... Ahh


love machine
still sounds cute even after ten years
morning coffee
now that's really an old story


Longing for peace, we are walking ahead
Always will be here, not going anywhere
that's right, we're alive
oh, please give me love

Osaka women are romantic
Wow Wow Wow Yeah Yeah Yeah
It's all right if you have love
just like a soap bubble ... Ahh

Let's do the dance of love
Instinct, Manpower
Happy Summer Wedding
Can't include them all

Happy 10th anniversary

Enjoy! Peace ^_^
>> Read the rest of this article

Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia - PV Review

So I managed to download the PV from Hello! Online. My god,... the number of times I played the video has got to be the same as the times I played the song itself, if not more.

All the girls are strikingly beautiful, all in my favourite colour blue. Bamboo shoots, paper sheet windows, galls of water, lotus flowers... everything East Asian. Credit the editors for doing a great job on the presentation. The focus are still the girls, themselves. Iida Kaori - High dress cut, gorgeously sexy. Abe Natsumi - Womanly, but still cute. Goto Maki - Voluptuous, superstar quality. Niigaki Risa - Adult-like, sweet and beautiful. Kusumi Koharu - Refreshing, absolutely cute.


I haven't gone to the store yet, because of my busy schedule. I hope it's not all sold out yet.

It's late over here. So I'll update this post with the rest of the review with the screenshots later.
>> Read the rest of this article

Momusu A-Team B-Side Single ~Juunen Ai~

Moving on!
Now, there many next most anticipated event and story within the Hello! Project family. Among them are graduations, new shows and new releases.... just like always.

Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Team (A-Team) single will be released next week on the 24th January. The news that the A-Team are "special supporters" for Dralion is true. I haven't watched their shows before, but I've heard good things about them. "Bokura ga Ikiru, My Asia", will also be the theme tune for Dralion.

However, I don't think the single "Bokura ga ikiru My Asia" is specifically written for Dralion. But the A-Team are supporters nonetheless, not surprising if they promote the song along with Dralion, to draw more attention to the single as part of their promotion strategies.


Anyway, I managed to get a hold of the B-side song of the single, 十年愛 or "Juunen Ai", which means "Love of 10 years".

Have a listen here. Found it from Musume.it.

It's different. Think "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari" but this time listing the Momusu singles.

At first listen, the song seemed like a regular pop song. Bit of farucca, tango, and swing... kind of like Kaorin's solo works. But it's OK for a B-side. Until it reaches the verse after the 1st chorus. Then things started sound a little funny...

Japanese lyrics

愛の機械
十年たっても素敵だわ
朝のコヒ-
ずいぶん昔の話

Romaji

Ai no kikai
juunen tatte mo suteki da wa
asa no kohii
zuibun mukashi no hanashi

... for those who know Japanese would probably have got the joke at this point. :)
If not, here's what it translates to:

Love Machine
still sounds cute even after ten years
Morning Coffee
now that's really an old story

Ai no kikai
- direct translation from Love Machine
(Ai = Love, Kikai = Machine)

Asa no kohii
- direct translation from Morning Coffee
(Asa = Morning, kohii = Coffee)

After that, the references become more and more obvious. Like "Aruiteru", "Koko ni Iruzee" etc. Especially this one...

osaka onna no roman
wow wow wow yeah yeah yeah
ai ga araba it's all right
marude shabondama

The last verse was pretty obvious :D

koi no dance shimashou
chokkan... manpower
happy summer wedding
... zenbu hairanai~~

And here's what it means...

Let's do the dance of love
Instinct, Manpower
Happy Summer Wedding
... Can't include them all~~

... Haha! that really cracked me up! :D

I spotted 12 of other song titles from this song, how about you?

It's funny how Tsunku tries to fit the single titles into the song but somehow trying to make it make sense lyrically. :) Now THIS is a proper 10th anniversary celebration song, and I enjoyed it very much. Long time fans or any fan who can recall past Momusu songs may find it amusing and entertaining.

This is such a cool single, A-side for the world, B-side for the existing fans. When the single comes out next week, I'll go get it off the shelf.

I wanted to post the full lyrics here but it's not finished yet. And I couldn't make out certain parts in the first verse and bridge.

EDIT: Ahhh~~!!! I give up!
Sorry I really can't make out some words on the first verse and bridge say/mean... and I don't want to mislead anyone who may take it for real. I guess I still need more studying to do.
SooooOOOOooo, I'll go for getting it off the shelf. Too much work. The rough draft is still hidden here. Will use it later for comparison purposes.
>> Read the rest of this article

Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Single - Preview

Sounds like a short radio rip. I wish I live in Japan.

Uploaded it to an uploader. Get it here.

I like this song. Reminiscence of "Sakura Mankai", lots of string instruments, befitting of "Asia" theme. The song structure and arrangement sounds like the mainstream Canto-pop/Mando-pop that I am so familiar with. Somehow, also reminds me of SMAP's "Lionheart". Much like an "Aruiteru" Asia-version.

However, the theme and concept sounded more like "Morning Musume celebrating Asia" rather than "celebrating 10 years of Morning Musume". Anyways, the PV looks promising, I'll be looking forward to it.

Sing along if you like.

Romaji:

Onaji yozora no hoshi o mi ageta
Haruka tooku ni omoi yose
Mada shiranu tomo ni ae souna
shiruku roodo susumou

tomo ni hake mashi, tomo ni nakaete
tomo ni kokoro o kayo se
kazoku no you ni ikite yukeru sa
kizuna mo kitto dekiru sa

man nen yuki kau kono michi ni
subete no kibou ga tsumatteru
man nen dareka ni tsutaete ku
fushigi na miwaku My Asia
bokura ga ikiru My Asia

Japanese:

同じ夜空の星を見上げた【久住】
遥か遠くに想い寄せ【安倍】
まだ知らぬ友に会えそうな【後藤】
シルクロード進もう【飯田・新垣】

共に励まし【安倍】　共に称えて【飯田】
共に心を通わせ【久住】
家族のように生きてゆけるさ【新垣】
絆もきっと出来るさ【新垣】

万年行き交うこの道に
全ての希望が詰まってる
万年誰かに伝えてく
不思議な魅惑　MY ASIA【全員】
僕らが生きるMY ASIA【久住】

Translation:

Looking up at the same starry night
Sending my thoughts to the far distance
Like meeting friends that you never met
Moving forward in the silk road

Together encouraging and praising each other
Together linking our hearts
Living together like a family
Surely a bond will form

In this crossing roads of ten thousand years
Uniting our hopes together
Convey it to someone for ten thousand years
My Asia, a strange fascination
My Asia, where we live...

Thanks to source from WHG
>> Read the rest of this article

Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Single - Title and Jacket

Note: This post has been long overdue, but due to the recent earthquake have damaged our network connections in East Asia, and I have been unable to go online without experiencing slowness or zero connectivity. So right now, I will be having difficulty updating my blogs until the connection has been fully restored. I hope the earthquake victims are doing OK...

The official title of Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Celebration Single is:

僕らが生きる　ＭＹ　ＡＳＩＡ
Bokura ga ikiru MY ASIA ( Literally meaning "We're Alive My Asia" or "My Asia, Where We Live" )

Here are the jacket images:



The positioning are as follows:
Niigaki Risa, Goto Maki, Abe Natsumi, Kusumi Koharu, Iida Kaori

I must say that the whole image of the group is fantastic. The blue theme, long flowing hair...etc. Delighted to see Niigaki Risa finally getting to share the spotlight in a shuffle with other big stars of Hello! Project.


Tsunku has mentioned before, after the selection of the new 8th member in Morning Musume Happy 8 Audition, and after the setup of his new company TNX, that he aims for Asia as next market. And with what I see in the single's jacket photo, I think it's pretty good so far. Heh, the motivation for world domination has always been in the hearts of any ambitious Japanese, eh?

There were many speculations on how this team was formed. As recently highlighted by commenter it is to represent the original 5 Momusu members, by matching the age.

Abe Natsumi / Iida Kaori ===> Nakazawa Yuko
Goto Maki ===> Ishiguro Aya
Kusumi Koharu ===> Fukuda Asuka
Niigaki Risa ===> Abe Natsumi / Iida Kaori

Back to basics? Reintroducing Morning Musume to the world?

[ Will update this portion later. ]



I am definitely looking forward for this single, and see how it turns out. If in fact, it is going back to the basics and following the style of the original members, I'm expecting some harmonizing bits. The jacket photo suggests that it may be an fast-tempo song, but then again, it may turn out to be another "Aruiteru", where the photos and the song doesn't have to relate.

So, we'll just wait and see...


Related Posts:
Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Team Lineup... Bleh~~
Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Celebration... but what about Aibon?

Sources:
Up Front Works
Witch Hunting Girlscouts
tvstation.jp
>> Read the rest of this article

Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Team Lineup.... Bleh~~

[ UPDATED 09-12-2006 3:27AM ]
The lineup for the Morning Musume 10th Anniversary Special Unit for 24th January 2007 has been announced a few days ago. And they are :

*drumroll*
Iida Kaori
Abe Natsumi
Goto Maki
Kusumi Koharu

..... and that's it.
*twang* *blappp* (cymbals cracks and snare drum breaks)

I was going "WHAT??" over the announcement. Only four of them? Why?

If it was the Ace Team, .... OK, so Nacchi was the first Momusu Ace, and then came second gen ace Gocchin, and third gen ace Koharu... then why Kaorin is in?

If it was Good Singers Team ... Kaorin rocks anytime, Nacchi goes without saying, Gocchin is OK.... then why Koharu is in?

Plus, 3 of them are graduated members. What? Ai-chan not good enough as an Ace? What about Mikitty? And Golden Age girl, and now-leader Yossie?

I seriously don't get why the lineup is such. Though I can understand why they didn't want to have the whole Momusu army (past and present) to form the unit. (Because they have already done that in last year's Kohaku show, and mentioned that it was supposed to be the once-in-a-lifetime event)

Apologies to all Koharu fans, but I really don't see why she should be in that group. It's reminds me of DEF DIVA, supposedly an elite songstress unit, comprising of nice singing divas. So we have Matsuura Aya, Goto Maki, Abe Natsumi... but Ishikawa Rika?
I just don't see how Koharu can cope with the other 3 legends, in terms of singing.

I'm sorry but I'm totally disappointed. The fact I don't get to see Ishiguro Aya or Ichii Sayaka come back. And the fact that lineup does not comprise of Momusu girls that have defined, supported and built the Momusu legacy that we know. It's the 10th anniversary, shouldn't the group be something commemorable? Why does UFA have to build another popularity crutch for Koharu again?

OK, if UFA won't do it, then I will pick my own ultimate 10th anniversary team for myself here:

One from every generation -
Abe Natsumi, Mari Yaguchi, Goto Maki, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Takahashi Ai, Fujimoto Miki. OK, Kusumi Koharu also.

NOW that's better, yes? Ayappe and Ka-san is not in it, but it's better than the 4.


*sigh*

Source Here
Source from Ikimasshoi

=======================

EDIT:

Just found out, that apparently Niigaki Risa is added to the 10th Anniversary Team Lineup. Source from Neowing and WHG. However... Oricon didn't say anything about that. I'm so confused... are they going to keep adding members to it every week, until all members are in? Double Bleh~~~! This is not going to end...
>> Read the rest of this article