Chances for Kago Ai's Return to Showbiz

Another news that I have missed out... It's about Kago Ai. It's been a long time since I wrote something about her.

If you haven't noticed. I have prevented myself from calling Kago with the showbiz name "Aibon" or "Kago-chan" because essentially, that is her showbiz brand, and she is not in it at the moment. Figured that it will be more appropriate for me to address her as a person, as Kago Ai. But that's just me, you do not have to agree with me, you may call her whatever way you're comfortable with.

Here I found a news clip that showed some newscasters analysing the development of Kago Ai and her exile from the entertainment scene due to her reckless behavior.



The news corner starts of by stating that Kago has been terminated from her agency UFA for 7 months already, and further mentioned that reportedly Kago had stayed in Nara for some time after her termination, and afterwards have lived in Hawaii with some relatives, before finally settling down in New York with you-know-who. As much as I love the idea that the "important announcement" on next week's Haromoni would be about her return to showbiz, but after the past frustrations I decided to remain realistic this time. The panel and analysers however decided to shed some positive views on Kago's case this time.

Then the analyser began to explain the possibilities and reasoning of Kago's comeback.
1) Kago provides her family consisting of her divorced mother, 3 siblings (7 yrs old brother, 6 yrs old sister, 2 yrs old brother). She has to work to support her family, and it would be truly difficult for her to work as an OL (office lady) at this time (after being in showbiz for so long), therefore she has no choice but to return to showbiz.

2) Kago deserves another chance. Although she has to pay the price of smoking underage, there are others who have done even worse things but still able to return to showbiz. Furthermore, her smoking did not really cause harm or hurt anyone. One panel mentions that it was not right of her to smoke because of her status as an idol.
The lady panel presents that Kago. like Goto Maki, although still an adolescent she had to work as an "adult" in showbiz for a long time ever since she was 12 years old. And because she is forced to be like an adult (even though she was not) with no one to depend on and be herself, probably she has been looking for a way to release her (suppressed) true self, and found that opportunity with a 35 year old man. The lady panel hopes that Kago is able to make choices for herself in the future, because people will depend on her, and she may break down under pressure again.
The 3rd panel supports the idea of Kago's comeback, though he is concerned about the media and paparazzi who have been working too hard to haunt and expose Kago.

3) Kago turns 20 years old February next year, the legal age in Japan, and it would be a good timing for her comeback. And there are many ways she can do so, even if it meant that she has start from scratch by going into a Kansai-limited circuit (because her hometown Nara is in the Kansai region of Japan), and she can do this while she decides how she wants to shape her career path.


I am contented with this news broadcast, because at least it's not about bashing Kago left and right about what she had done. What I think, is that if Kago does come back, chances are that it will not be with Hello! Project/UFA. The top guns at UFA are known to be ruthlessly strict about maintaining their rules. But I do wish Kago a good "afterlife" from showbiz, and that she live well and healthy...

Peace ^_^
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The Aftermath of Kago Ai's Scandal

Yeah, I know I shouldn't have posted this. But I cannot get it out of my system just yet.

Seems like Kago Ai's scandal have a significant amount of impact to everyone around her.

First, her now-former agency Up Front Agency. Sports Hochi reports that UFA is reinforcing/reevaluating their system of educating their talents, to avoid similar cases from occurring again. The details are not revealed, but tagged as "industrial secret". Apparently fans were protesting over UFA's decision of terminating Aibon, saying that the punishment is too much. But the agency are not swayed.

Then NikkanSports notes that lots of Aibon related sites have begun shut down, notably a popular Aibon fan site AI am, which will close down by the end of this month. The webmaster came to this conclusion - "you reap what you sow". Also, the man who was in the tabloid with Aibon, Ishimoto, has not appeared in his restaurant in the city and is not available for response/comments, according to the workers there.

As for the fans... not much different from us fans across the oceans. Absolute chaos. There were:
- The calm ones ("Smoking is illegal, she got what she deserves", "Things wouldn't turn out this way if she didn't start it again"),
- The frustrated ones ("Termination is too harsh!", "Give her a second chance")
- The die hard ones ("Aibon, we believe in you!", "It's not her in the photos")
..... etc etc. Like I said - not any different from us. Overall, I think the otakus in Japan has evolved, is more modern-minded and ready to accept the change with the times, not all wotas are necessarily blind followers of their idols. But who knows... we cannot judge the majority based on reactions of the minorities. Myself included.
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Koi No Vacance - W (DoubleU) on guitar

Happy 19th Birthday Kago Ai!

It's been 7 years that Aibon's been in the entertainment world, hasn't it? Well, 6 actually, minus 1 year from the suspension... Well, let's leave that one to the past, shall we?

As Nono mentioned before, being 19 years of age means that this will be the final year where you get to declare your age in teens.

It doesn't matter if Aibon is back with us..... err.... well, not true really. Cos at this moment, I'm clicking on the "refresh" button on Hello! Project official site, anticipating some sort of miracle news to appear............ ANYWAY, it's her birthday and I wish her best of health and luck. I pray that the wish she makes on this birthday will come true~~~ ^_^

I made this video to celebrate Aibon's birthday.


...... been a long time, gotten rusty.... AND I totally forgot to clean the lens before recording! ^_^
I had this one transposed ages ago, just no time to record it down. I guess now is a good time .... or I'll never get to do it.


Once again, Happy Birthday Aibon!
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Bold but Hopeless Prediction of Kago Ai's return

10th February 2007

That's exactly one year from the date of the suspension of W(DoubleU) and Kago Ai. The only logical, rounded period that I can conclude. It's baseless though, but when I think of the date which is 3 days before Valentine's Day and 3 days after Kago Ai's birthday, it sounded like a nice time.


Here's something I have noticed lately, which triggered the writing of this post:

We all know Tsuji Nozomi's personal craze over ribbons, and she had wearing her famous "Mickey Mouse"-like double high pigtails so she can tie ribbons on it. A while after Kago Ai's and W's suspension, she had only 1 pigtail, as seen on her current appearances and her internet-only programme "Curious Nono".
Possibly signifying the absence of Nono's partner? Nono's way of personal protest on the suspension?

However, since the 1st of December this month, Nono had reverted back to double pigtails again on her show.
A sign of things to come? The return of Aibon? Does Nono know something we don't...?

I looked this as a premonition of sorts. Yeah, it's a little weak. But at this point, I accept signs of any sort. (Forget about the single pigtail that Nono wore on this week's Hello! Morning show. The timeline may not be true, and the recording may have taken place many weeks before.)

In other news,...rumours have been flying around about UFA preparing the re-release of W's third album, with the possible return of Kago Ai next year. Sounds like the Nara dinner show rumour, but at least something is better than nothing.

Another thing. That link in Hello! Project official site is bugging the hell outta me. It's still lingering there, and I still do not believe it's a housekeeping error made by the webmaster.

---

I know this may seem funny to some of you guys reading this. Sounds hopeless, but it's the way I can keep my hopes up. The time may come, where my prediction is off-target, and I'm staring at this post in dismay. But at least, I've done something. I have put up a countdown timer on the sidebar, to see if I'm right.... or if I'm wrong. (Yup, I've definitely lost my mind! ^_^)

In the meantime, will continue to regularly traverse the Japanese sites, patrol the net, and checking the Japanese news press sites for any sort of info. Have assigned a ... err... "informant" in Japan (my sis) to keep things in check as well. So we'll see what happens...

If any of you guys hear or found anything, please do not hesitate to leave a comment here on your findings.

Now, all we have to do is keep praying...

Peace ^_^
jin
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Matsu wa 待つわ - Internet Duet 2

Just when you think he's done, he came up with another one. This time it's way better than before. watercolour edited this vid PV style. Methinks he's got plans to go pro!

Song: Matsu wa 待つわ by W(DoubleU)

Performed by:
watercolour (Romania) - Guitar
Luna (USA) - Vocals

Editing by watercolour



Luna (the girl in the video) has a nice voice. Saw another video of hers, where she sings "I Wish" in acapella style. Wish she could do more...

I'm so envious~~~! I could never find the time to do vids like watercolour did. Already my current otaku activities have dominated most of my time/life... ^_^
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How I got into Hello! Project.... better late than never

Lately, have read other blogger's post about how they got into Jpop or Hello! Project. These are two of them:

Pengie (Unchained)
http://unchained.vox.com/library/post/my-descent-into-jpop-madness-part-1-of-3.html
http://unchained.vox.com/library/post/my-descent-into-jpop-madness-part-2-of-3.html

Paul Thomas (HelloBlog.co.uk)
http://www.helloblog.co.uk/comment.php?commentID=30&month=

Then I realised I haven't exlained mine. I think I have told some of it in forums and such, but never on my blogs. I'll start now, as a pre-cursor to next year's 10th year aniversary of Hello! Project, and to close the circle of starting a webblog.

--------------

I got into Jpop first before I got into Hello! Project. But I'll just talk about the Hello! Project part here (since this is a H!P blog), the Jpop part will be in my personal blog.

I was into J-Drama during the late 90's (Damn, I feel so old!). And J-Drama was in massive boom in Asia at that time, it was so big that people even searched for older J-Dramas ever produced. I'm into music, and always looked forward to listening to all the J-Drama soundtracks. So I went to the store and found some compilations discs that compiled recent and new soundtracks together, and also picked up a J-Pop compilation double disc set consisting of singles that topped the Oricon charts during that time. Everyone was there - Glay, SMAP, L'Arc En Ciel, Kinki Kids, Okamoto Mayo, B'z... etc. And there it was - the first Hello! Project produced song I have ever heard --> "Love Machine" by Morning Musume.

My first impression was, "Oh they're okay.. The song is catchy and nice." I have heard of Morning Musume before, but never gave them any real attention thinking that "Ah, just another girl-group". Plus I was into MAX at that time, so I made comparisons between them. Some of the voices in Momusu (I didn't find out their names that time) were too young, raw, and unpolished, and I'm real particular about those things.

But there was something there that made me play song no.4 of Disc 1, over and over again for the entire day. I was just starting out on my first job, and I played it on the PC the whole day and really annoyed my colleagues. The intro, Kaori's "DEAAARRR~~!", the orchestra-attack effect, the solid running bass, the chorus, the "Fuu Fuu~~" and "Wow wow wow wow~~"... everything just blended so nicely. It's a perfect pop song, the type that appeals audiences from age 8 to 80.

This is proof that Morning Musume is not a marketing tool, I was intrigued by the carefully written and arranged composition, with the right hooks and samplings. I haven't even see them perform yet.

My internet access at that time was limited. Real limited. The cyber cafe's were always full of gamers, and my primitive office was running on Windows 3.1 and only had a manual dialer modem (mainly for email). I depended on local entertainment magazines to know about Morning Musume. They certainly don't have the greatest look, and looked like regular girls-next-door compared to MAX. Nakazawa Yuko, being the eldest in the group really made me wonder "What the heck is she still doing there?" (But now, I hoped that she's still there...)

Later, nearing the end of the year, I flicked around the TV channels and saw the Kouhaku TV programme, Japan's New Year celebration TV show special. There they were again, Morning Musume in cute dresses and funny antics. Well, actually it was only Yaguchi Mari being the funny and restless one, while the others are well composed. They were playing some Japanese tongue-twister game of some sort. That was the first time I saw Morning Musume on TV.

I didn't look further about Morning Musume, but I didn't know that it was the mark of the beginning of Morning Musume's "Golden Age". It was so crazy, every issue of all magazines had at least one article about them. Even the Comic Weekly magazine that I subscribe to (Our equivalent of Japan's Shonen Jump! magazine), have them on the first few full-coloured feature column every week. It was there I got to read about their bio in full.

The ones that caught my eye visually were 3 girls -> Mari Yaguchi, Kago Ai and Tsuji Nozomi. Yep, all members of the Mini Moni in Momusu. Small-size girls always appeal to me. There were others that interested me, like the boyish Yoshizawa Hitomi (believe or not, I knew she was the perfect boyish character when I first saw her pics during her debut year ^_^) But of course, it is only until years later that I found out that the columnist didn't do his homework well, and had mistakes on his articles, such as pointing out Matsuura Aya being one of the Momusu members. Ishiguro Aya and Ichii Sayaka had left the group already, but I didn't really notice nor miss them at that time. It is only until last year that I get to see them in action on Youtube, that I wished that they stuck around. Fukuda Asuka? Nah... She should leave, really. She lacks the professionalism of an pop idol, but that's another story.

Minus singles like "Manatsu no Kousen", "Memory Seishun no Hikari", "Summer Night Town" and "Ai no Tane". I managed to get listened to all singles up till "The Peace". I found out about the subgroups "Pucchi Moni", "Tanpopo" and "Mini Moni", and really loved the songs, especially "Chokotto Love". It was a great experience. All feel-good songs that I can play all day.

Then I took a break from them. For whatever reason, I don't remember. Maybe it's because all I get to do is listen to their songs and looking at their still photos in posters and CD covers. Not being able to see them on TV or video has decreased my interest in them. I didn't use Kazaa or any p2p softwares, because the tragedy stories that I hear from my friends after using it freaked me out. But then again, that was the beginning of my era of J-Idols and Gravure Idols craze. Read more here.

During the break, I would regularly hear and read news about them - the graduation of Yuko Nakazawa, Yasuda Kei and Goto Maki, the incoming 5th and 6th gen members, the songs reviews...etc but never catching up. (Which reminds me, I should go back to my hometown and see if I still keep those mags)

Then I came back from the break, because finally, I got my own broadband net access, and now able to download and view Morning Musume in action. And the first song I heard was "Joshi Kashimashi Monogatari", which was perfect for me to get introduced to the members that joined the group "during my absence".^_^ I remember myself squealing in delight when I saw a google video of Kago Ai responding so cutely when sneaked up from behind by Ayaka in her English show (link here). I was going "Aww, that's just so CUTE~~! Is that really her voice or what?" :D

Sadly, after searching around, I realised that I have missed A LOT over the years. SO,.... armed with my super 1Mbps broadband connection and with all my technical skills and internet contacts that I have attained to date, I sworn in to the MM otaku military and embarked on a frenzy mission, commencing a wide-scale "search, scavenge, buy and download" of all Morning Musume related information and items.

Morning Musume only? Not really. I'm a big fan of Melon Kinenbi too, don't have much of their material, they don't release a lot of merchandise anyway. I like Saito "Boss" Hitomi for her sexiness and daringness (Is this a legit word? The spell checker seems to be ok with it...). I listen to them when I need some mature stuff. "Akai Freesia" was my fav.

Beginning of this year, I got into the Kids section, mainly because of I started to notice them when they were doing backup for W(DoubleU). Berryz Koubou was my focus. Not really into C-ute. They still need lots of polishing, more practice and lessons, Though Mai Hagiwara, Suzuki Airi, and Murakami Megumi stood out character-wise. I don't know about the H!P Eggs, UFA doesn't seem to find anything for them to work on.

I really couldn't pick a favourite among the Berryz, I like them all, but Tsugunaga Momoko, Shimizu Saki, and Chinami Tokunaga always had my attention. Momoko reminds me a lot of Ishikawa Rika, while Saki and Chinami are plainly my type - small, cute and have short hair (I love girls with short hair). Lots of people do not understand my liking of the U-15 category, and have outright branded me a pedophile and a hentai. These pilgrims still have a lot to learn. ^_^

As for the solo acts... I'll start another topic on this one.

So here I am today, with a simple blog about Hello! Project, my hard disk occupied with lots of MM stuff... etc. They say "absence makes the heart grow fonder", I find that this saying is true. How about you?
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Matsu wa 待つわ - Internet Duet

This is what it means, to say that technology brings the people together.

Song: Matsu wa 待つわ by W(DoubleU)

Performed by:
watercolour (Romania) - Guitar
Paws (Finland) - Vocals

Recorded separately in their respective countries and then edited together by watercolour.


>> Read the rest of this article

Sabishii Nettaigyo by Wink, W(DoubleU) .... or The Nolans?

Lots of link for youtube.com today. I really hope they don't take down the videos for this post...

Okay now, the question is... who covered WHO?

We all know the tune "Sabishii Nettaigyo" 淋しい熱帯魚, one of 80's/90's pop duo Wink's greatest hits, was covered excellently by our favourite W (DoubleU).


Now Wink is known to cover lots of English songs but this was a surprise to me -> this song may also be a cover of an English song "Tidal Wave" sung by The Nolans. This auction item seems to approve of the fact.


The Nolans came out in the 70's, one of their most well-known songs is probably "I'm in the Mood of Dancing". So I thought that the Sabishii Nettaigyo to be a cover song should be true. However, I couldn't find "Tidal Wave" song in video or audio anywhere. So can anybody from the UK or Ireland please confirm this?

Comparisons:

Sabishii Nettaigyo by W


Sabishii Nettaigyo by Wink


Tidal Wave by The Nolans (song mixed with misc W videos)


What do you think?
^_^


EDIT 2 (13-11-2006): Received an email from Fiona, the webmaster of nolansfanzine.com/. Has confirmed that the song "Tidal Wave" IS a cover of "Sabishii Nettaigyo", their album also entitled "Tidal Wave" was released in 1991. She further mentions that The Nolans song "Sexy Music" was covered by a certain Japanese artiste in the early 1980s. There may be other covered songs. (Thanks Fiona! ^_^)


=======

More on The Nolans

I love 70s and 80s music, but due to our limited access to Western music from where I come from, I've only heard of "I'm in the mood for dancing".

The Nolans in action:
"I'm in the mood for dancing" by The Nolans



I also found out that The Nolans were huge in the Japan music charts, outselling The Beatles at one point.

This is probably why:
"I'm in the mood for dancing" by The Nolans (sung in Japanese!)



Sources:
http://80ssongoftheday.blogspot.com
http://www.nolansfanzine.com/
http://www.idollica.com/wink/Wink.html
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Koi No Dance Site on Guitar... Having bit of fun

The workload during the past week has been killing me. I know I am not in good shape if I cannot play a full song without making mistakes. Had a hard time recording "Koi no Dance Site", couldn't get it right after so many tries. (I didn't write down any of my transpositions in music sheets, so I have to play from memory) So I said "oh what the heck" and played the song differently. Here's what I got in the end:



You don't wanna know how it sounded in reggae. :)

"Koi" was supposed to be a fun song anyway, so I guess it's still okay. I'll get the proper one up another time.

Also, I managed to transpose "Koi no Vacance" by W too. Short song, lotta fun. That will come after this...
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The Duo Unit Project

In the past, Hello!Project are notorious for their ever changing Morning Musume lineup, with their frequent graduations and newly added members combined. There was also the shuffle groups and subgroups, most shocking of all is the splitting of the Momusu lineup to Sakura and Otome gumi. What are they doing? Probably experimenting with group handling and finding out how/which kind of variation can help with sales and self-appeal. I can name two that have been immensely successful: Minimoni and Tanpopo. Currently UFA is moving on to the formula of duos.


W(DoubleU) was the first - a combination of the troublemaker and moodmaker duo of Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai. The concept of W was a twin duo group but not biologically twins. Stemming from their Minimoni image of cute and playful girls, W was formed almost immediately after the hiatus of Minimoni. Later, UFA felt it was safe to move them a level to the mature audience and gave them a kawaii and sexy image outlook, starting with their hit single "Miss Love Tantei". I am most sure that UFA have plans to go all the way with these two, seeing that their singles have been at most 4 months apart and have two albums to their credit within a year.

Until that fateful day, when Aibon was caught smoking by Friday. W is put on hiatus and Aibon was suspended indefinitely.

So UFA is shelving the duo concept away? Hell no! It's a marketable concept and W's track record have proven it. So in comes GAM.


GAM (Great Aya and Miki) combination of two long time best friends Matsuura Aya and Fujimoto Miki and that became their concept. Maybe my interest in W was too strong, but I can't help but see traces of similarities between GAM and W.


1) Same costume - It's common in Japan for duos to wear similar costume/uniform, but they don't have to do the same for GAM, they are different enough and can each carry their own weight. Still the bonding and association between the two have to start somewhere, hence the costume.
2) Shoujou-Ai - Long time fans of Nono and Aibon knows that both of them have less interest in boys, and both of them have been intimate enough to kiss. They have developed a chemistry that even by looking at each other's eyes, they know what the other is thinking. Ayaya and Mikitty can do the same.
3) Self-appeal - W's appeal strategy is to let them talk their hearts out on-air. Their closeness, talkativeness, bickerings, how well they know each other, how well they get along etc... are enough to promote themselves to the market. GAM is about the same. Although, yes, Hello!Project is known to use "let the product market themselves" strategy most times. But after GAM's appearance on Hello!Morning and Music Fighter, I feel they are stressing this point too much and too obviously.
4) Music style - I cannot help but think that their style is a continuation of what W's path could have been. The bits and pieces of unreleased W songs sung by Nono reflect on GAM's singles. (Just a little bit, in my personal opinion).

So what's next? Create another duo of course! This concept works, so why not spawn another one. Maybe not immediately, but I think another one is on the way. So who is the next two best friends within the Hello!Project or Morning Musume?

I can think of two:
A) Michishige Sayumi + Kamei Eri
B) Takahashi Ai + Niigaki Risa

The two sets above are well-known to all fans as best friends off-stage. But I don't think they will work. Combination (A) have two slow-pokes together, and they are easily rivals as they are best of friends - that's bad energy. Combination (B) cannot work either, since obviously Takahashi Ai is booked for a solo career in the future, adding the less popular Niigaki in will only lower Ai-chan's popularity. So, I'm guessing it's neither of the two combination, but one half of each: Eririn (Kamei Eri) + Gaki-san (Niigaki Risa).

Why? After watching Morning Musume related programmes and performances lately, I noticed that Eririn and Gaki-san have been paired up quite frequently.

Hello Pro Hour


Hakkan Commercial


Zekkyu Commercial


The latest Morning Musume Single "Aruiteru" Jacket shoot


And during previous performances, notably "Wonder Hearts Land Concert 2006" (past concerts too) and also the "Music Fair 21", they are paired up together again.

Unlike GAM and W, the Niigaki-Kamei combo is quite different, they may have not have the rapport and chemistry, but they are a perfect boke-tsukomi pair, for sure.

Right now, I'm just speculating, it may or may not come true. In any case, they are probably reserves for now, like a backup duo-group, in case GAM have any problems. (I see that UFA have learned from its past mistakes). Right now, I feel that Gaki-san and Eririn still lacks the chemistry but it's up to UFA to work on it.

There must be a reason why they don't pair the real-life best friends together. Maybe to UFA, their company goals and missions trumps all personal interests and situations. Kinda sad, but that's showbiz for you.


End note: Actually, it's hard to compare GAM with W. GAM is already unique on its own already, and I like them that way. But somehow, I cannot help but see W in them. I see GAM as how W could have been if they were not suspended.
Additionally, I hear GAM's next single is already in the making and will be released before the end of this year, and I'm looking forward to it.

Peace ^_^
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Shiroi Iro Wa Koibito no Iro by W (DoubleU) on Classical Guitar

I definitely have too much time on my hands these days, due to public holidays. However, instead of blogging I have been gaming. I should be finishing that draft post and post it up, but I find that everytime I have something new to add. Oh well... might as well post it up soon lest the news gets old.

Anyways, I also recorded another transposition.

Shiroi Iro Wa Koibito no Iro - W (DoubleU)

Video Link

Trying to keep the feel as close as the original as possible. Have underestimated the difficulty of this song, that's why you see me fumble a bit on the second half of the song, when it goes up a key.

Other songs in queue:
- Mushoku Tomei na Mama de (from Momusu Ai no 6dan album)
- Summer Night Town (another song where the key goes up, may abort this one)
- Last Kiss (Tanpopo)
- Sukiyaki (from Momusu Ai no 6dan album. Experimental stage, may be too hard to maintain the original feel, but it sounded great on Momusu's last concert)
>> Read the rest of this article

Aibon is Finally Out of the Picture?

Found out some info about Kago Ai. Not directly about her, but something related, which leads me to think Aibon's entertainment career may be over. I'm shuddering while typing the previous sentence...

I had the strangest dream a few days back. In that dream, I saw Kago Ai back in action, and appeared in a television show. There's some food involved, and she looks much more mature. Kinda like how she looks like at the IQ Supli show. Either my desire to witness her return is too strong, or it could be because I fell asleep while watching a Hello! Morning show and still having my headphones on and that it manifested in my dream.

However,.... I'm thinking it could be an omen, and it could mean something quite the opposite, like a goodbye dream. And guess what? My fears have came true...


There is company named Up-Front Group Co. Ltd. where under its wing are a group of companies, each to its specific purposes. E.g. Up-Front Agency (no official site) handles talent management and training, and Up-Front Works deals with music, merchandise and web-projects. The Hello!Project is the flagship project of both UFA and UFW. There's also Up-Front Hawaii deals with Hawaiians related projects. Other companies even include foods, textile and farms but they are all non-entertainment related.

But my focus is Up-Front Planning. This company deals with concerts, shows and dinner shows, event productions, public events and business management. Apparently it has recently launched its official site on 16th September 2006.

Whether this is a new company or not, it's not my main concern.
The problem is: Kago Ai is not in the talent list. See here .


One of my saving grace and hope that even if Aibon do not get to sing if she is reactivated, at least she can be booked at variety shows or the sorts, at least until she is allowed to sing again. But now, it seems that she won't even be able to see the light of day. I am not sure how recent is that talent roster, but it could be new, since only Tsuji Nozomi is in there, and it is not listed as W.

W is still listed in the other companies such as Up-Front Works, and also Hello!Project. Chances are that W contract there are not yet over. Therefore contract with Up Front Planning should be new, and only Nono is signed up. The only assumption I can make: they are probably waiting for W's contract to end, and they can finally remove her, and only keep Nono.

So,... i guess we should prepare for the worst now. I hope by now, some of you have gained some strength to withstand the probable (maybe inevitable) sad news, if it is going to be announced in the future. If not, just keep hoping, as it is all we have left...
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Unreleased W songs sung by Nono at a backstage or something...

Source from WHG

Conversation about the unreleased W(Double U) songs, with Tsuji Nozomi, Fujimoto Miki and a H!P staff, and Nono sang bits of it. The audio file is removed, but I have downloaded it. Will upload it somewhere and post the link.
EDIT: Here it is...

The unreleased songs seems to be quite good, hearing from the short bit sung by Nono there. I wish I was a H!P staff too so I can smuggle them out. It appears that Nono is still lamenting over the suspension of Aibon. She really wanted Aibon back, don't think she can accept a replacement for Aibon.

Translation below. Let me know if you find a mistake.

Tsuji: (It's a) single, a single
Fujimoto: Ah, it's a single eh?
Tsuji: (Singing)Hito suji na de wa chotto, te ni oemasen koto
Fujimoto: Sing that one more time?
Unknown Staff: Oh, that's *mystical. That's a *mystical song but surprisingly can be accepted/used.
Tsuji: Can it, really? I would really hate it if any other (girl) sing this.
Staff: Because it's THE infamous 'unreleased song".
Tsuji: Oh man, I really love this new song. (singing) Asa mo ha yo kara, sashi komu hikari
But then... (Fujimoto and staff saying something)yeah, yeah.... Furthermore, this song is sung together, not messy at all. It's no mixed up, sung there and then with one take.
Fujimoto: eeh~~, that's great
Tsuji: It's not like I'm here and she's there, and we recorded separately...
Fujimoto: uh huh...
Tsuji: Everything was recorded while looking at each other's face, matching (the rhythm of)our breath
Fujimoto: ...is it OK now? our turn?
Tsuji: Yeah...

Note: *mystical - literally means "mystical" or "illusion" but that's not what it meant there. The meaning is more like "elusive". Like something you heard of or have imagined, but never really come in contact with... Bah! I can't find the right word for it.

辻：シングル。シングル。
藤本：あ、シングルなの？
辻：一筋縄ではちょっと♪手に負えませんこと♪
藤本：もう一回歌って（不明
スタッフ：幻はね～。幻の曲だけだったら意外と使えるから。
辻：使えるかな～？他の子に歌われたらチョーやなんだけど、のん。
スタッフ：いわゆる未発表曲だから。
辻：あーねーホント、チョー好きだったあの新曲。朝もはよから♪差し込む光♪
　　でもね、でもね、そう。そう。しかも二人で同時に歌ってバラバラに録ってないの。
　　混ぜた、じゃなくていっぺんに歌ったの。一曲つるっと。それがもう、そのままの。
藤本：へえ、すごい。
辻：だからこっからここで、別取り、とかじゃなくて。
藤本：あーあー。
辻：全部お互いの顔見て、息とか合わせて、録ったの。
藤本：大丈夫？出番？
辻：うーん・・・

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