Best of 2017: Hello!Project

This year a lot happened in Hello!Project. From °C-ute disbanding to Kudo Haruka's graduation, Tsubaki Factories major debut and some other graduation and promotions. There have been a lot of single and album releases, concerts and events, even I could attend some of these.
So let's talk about all the groups individually, starting with the one group that doesn't exist anymore:

°C-ute

With this group having their last activities together it has been a quite nostalgic and sad beginning of the year. They released one last Best-Of album and their last single. Especially Final Squall has been a really bittersweet goodbye song. I managed to go to two concerts, including their last concert, which ahs been awesome and sad at the same time. But I am really really happy I got the chance to see them live. I also went to Suzuki Airi's birthday event together with a friend who is Airi fan as well. I have some beautiful memories of this group and I'm so happy to see them all going their own way!
Forever °C-ute!!

Morning Musume '17

Momusu had an awesome year. With 13th gen finally participating in promotions and Chisaki (14th gen) being added in summer there have been a few new faces.They released two singles and an album with soem awesome music! I especially liked BRAND NEW MORNING, Jealousy Jealousy, Wakaindashi and some tracks from the album like CHO DAI. One downside was Maachan being sick in the beginning of this year and not participating in single and concert promotions until march. Still, she came back as energetic as ever and the whole groups performance level was pretty high! The biggest shock was Kudo Haruka's graduation announcement and her actual graduation this month. That was really hard for me at first but now I just want her to be happy on her own. I'm just so glad I got to meet her in person and also see this group's concerts. Since I met almost every member at handshake events I feel really happy to be a fan of this group and despite my favourite member leaving, I'm looking forward to what they will be doing soon.

Angerme

Angerme released only two singles this year, both have been pretty solid with my favourite song being Ai sae areba nan ni mo iranai. They had succesfull live tours and two members, Kawamura Aano and Funaki Musubu, were added to the group in summer. I also got to see them live in concert and they have been really amazing! After °C-ute disbanding, Angerme's leader Wada Ayaka has also been promoted to H!P leader. I think she is an awesome leader and I wish her all of luck for that and hope she won't be graduating soon. The only downside this year was not hearing about Aikawa Maho. She was one of my favourite members and I would be happy to see her back but of course her health is more important and I just hope she will be healthy and happy again.
Update: Maho now left the project and while I'm really sad about that I wish her all the best for her future!

Juice=Juice

This group made quite a big impact this year. Releasing their 9th single, some digital songs and their first digital single Fiesta Fiesta, which is my absolute favourite of them, they have been doing quite weel. Danbara Ruru and Yanagawa Nanami were both added to this group and even though I didn't expect that at all, they make a great addition. Starting from September they also went on a World Tour and I got to see them live in Germany. That was a really nice experience and they are a really strong performance group. I got to like Danbara Ruru a lot this year, starting from her still being in Kenshuusei so I am looking forward to her growth in this group.

Country Girls

So Country Girls has been kinda confusing this year. Until Momochi's graduation in June they released only one single and I especially liked Peanut Butter Jelly Love from it. The graduation was sad and togetehr with °C-ute she has been the last member of the Hello Project kids. From summer on, Country Girls have kind of been on anhiatus though, with Morito, Yanagawa and Funaki being added to other groups as well and Yamaki and Ozeki concentrating more on their school life. They still appeared on some concerts and released digital songs but haven't been active that much since summer.

Kobushi Factory

Unfortunately this group released only one single this year and had three members leaving, making it not a really good year for them. Fuji, Ogawa and Taguchi all kind of had scandals and the whole thing only happaned in the span of a few months so I feel like it's really strange. The remaining 5 members are giving their best though and it can only go up from now on and I'm looking forward to their next activities.

Tsubaki Factory

Tsubaki had the best year of all the groups in my opinion. they have been a rising group from the beginning of this year. With the major debut and awesome first single with all three songs being simply prefect to their second, also strong single and a lot of live performances and events. They even got to win two Best Newcomer awards with rounds up such a successfull year for this group. I couldn't be more happy and proud of them and I just hope they will continue like this!


Hello!Project Kenshuusei

With some promotions and the annoucement of a new group it has also been a good year for the Kenshuusei's. They got featured more in Hello Project Station, in concerts etc. The highlight of this year was definitely Inaba Manaka returning to the Kenshuusei's, being leader of The Hello Project Kenshuusei Hokkaido group. I'm really happy she's back! :D

As you can see this has been a roller-coaster year for the project with so many things going on. With a new year starting soon I'm excited for what's going to happen in the future.


Top 10 songs

10. Gobaku ~We can't go back~

Performed by Ichioka Reina, Danbara Ruru, Kawamura Ayano, Takase Kurumi and Kiyono Momohima. This song was first performed at H!P's Sumemr concert Tour and later released digitally. I really like this song and it's all about sending messages to the wrong person which is hilarious! I would love to see this line-up again even though it's unlikely since they are added to different groups.


9. Seishun Say A-HA

Another concert song which was then released on Morning Musume's 15th album. This song is literally pumping up the audience and I'm really happy I could listen to it live three times and now it's released. It's also special as it has no solo lines but that makes it sounds really different and I love the dance.


8. Peanuts Butter Jelly Love

My favourite Country Girls song because it's just so lovely and it's kind of like Momochi's goodbye song. I love the cutesy Idol sound of this group so much.


7. Uruwashi no Camellia

Part of Tsubaki Factory's first single, this song has a really nostalgic sound and I'm simply in love with it. The members are so charming and I also love the style of the video.


6. BRAND NEW MORNING

This is such a badass song and I'm just so happy about this epic debut song for Kaedy and Yokoyan. Everyone sounds and looks so cool, definitely a song to remember!


5. Final Squall

My favourite song of °C-ute's last single. This sond is really good and I love how they used different dances of their old songs for Final Squall. I also tried to dance it and even though it's quite hard it's still so much fun.


4. Hatsukoi Sunrise

Tsubaki's debut also had this amazing song that just makes every concert reall exciting!


3. Jealousy Jealousy

Most fun song of Momusu, a nice mix of a beautiful song with nice vocals and a fun rap part. Also my favourite Karaoke song!


2. Fiesta Fiesta

Best Juice=Juice song of the year! I'm so happy to see this live too, because this song is full of energy and amazing performance skills, topped by the best vocals of everyone.


1. Wakaindashi

Duu's graduation sing is also my favourite song of 2017. It's just such a happy and upbeat song and I simply love Duu's solo parts and the members all just having fun and loving each other. It warms my heart to listen to this song



Top 8 members

8. Makino Maria

Maria has really impressed me the last two years. She is getting better and better in singing, dancing and her energy in performances is top quality. It is just so nice to see her having fun and I also think has a great personality and great humour! Adding to that she is really tall and beautiful.

7. Danbara Ruru

Ever since the beginning of this year Ruru has caught my eye. When she was still a Kenshuusei she had awesome performance skills and seeing her with Juice=Juice just exceeded my expectations. She is so talented and fun to watch and on top of that she is an absolute cutie!

6. Kaga Kaede

Kaedy has been in Momusu only one year but I was already following her when she was still a Kenshuusei, and she was my favourite. She has a great voice, really fierce dancing and acting skills and I like my tall&short haired girls!!

5. Kishimoto Yumeno

Another short haired-beauty! Kishimon has also improved so much over this year. With Tsubaki's major debut and her getting more confidence it already feels like she is a real star!!

4. Oda Sakura

Queen of singing and performance. When she's on stage she is shining like a star and is an absolute diva. Off stage she is the sweetest and nicest human being possible and needs to be protected at all costs!

3. Wada Ayaka 

Leader of H!P, leader of Angerme. Queen of Arts! Wada Ayaka herself is a piece of art and looking at her having fun on stage it just really makes me happy. She is also such a sweet person, being nice and welcoming to every member ad having simply a great personality.

2. Sato Masaki

Maachan is crazy.. but at the same time she is just normal, she has her own kind of system and she is really clever. I really like how she changed over the years, she not only improved her singing and performance skills.. she also created her own kind of style and it's so amazing to watch!

1. Kudo Haruka

Last time I will be able to include her in something like this. But I wanted to tell you again that Kudo Haruka is/ was my favourite Idol of H!P! She may have graduated now but she brought me so much joy over last few years and loved her as a performer, a singer and definitely as an actress. I really only wish the best for her!!


Special Mention:

Suzuki Airi

Maybe I told you how it was always hard for me to pick a favourite in °C-ute.. it always felt like the all belong together. But Suzuki Airi is just simply amazing and to me she was something like the perfect Idol.. maybe even more than that, because she really has everything: the voice, the performance skilly, the looks and the personality. She's so funny yet so fierce on stage and I really need to honour her for that.


So that's it for my Hello Pro rewind post! All the groups have been doing pretty good and even though there have been some sad events too, I'm really looking forward to 2018!!
Bye bye for now :)

Tsugunaga Momoko's graduation - Arigatou Otomomochi

As of June 30th, Tsugunaga Momoko has graduated from Country Girls, Hello!Project and from being an Idol. Adding to that, with her the last member of Hello!Project Kids has graduated. June 30th is also the 15th anniversary of Momochi passing the audition - together with 14 other kids in 2002.

This is really sad and now it really feels like an era has ended. With no Hello pro Kids members left, the Hello!Project I got to love is changing more and more. Fans from now on won't be able to experience anyone of Berryz Koubo and °C-ute being active in H!P and that does sound quite unbelievable for me.

Tsugunaga Momoko a.k.a Momochi has been active for 15 years and she loved being an Idol. That's why I think it's perfect for her to be the last one of the Kids. I was a bit worried her graduation would be overshadowed by °C-ute and all the things happening in Hello!Project right now, but that wasn't the case. Her graduation was perfect! (I sadly didn't go in person though.)

I still remember when I got into H!P and Berryz and I at first thought Momochi was funny but weird. Her Momochi character can be a bit annoying to a lot of people but I got to love it over time. I'm still using Yurushite Nyan from time to time and that makes most Japanese people laugh. Even though not everyone loves her, a lot of people respect Momochi and I am definitely one of them. Having such a character, being hard working as an Idol and seeing her promoting Country Girls over the last two years made me love her even more!!

I have been listening to Berryz songs lately and it made me realize how important that group and all the members are to me. And Momochi plays a big part of that even though she wasn't my favourite member of the group! Comparing it to two years ago, I respect her even more and I feel it was a really good decision of her to be in Country Girls for two years. Of course I feel sad about her graduating but rather than that I feel happy for everything she did as an Idol, everything she gave us.
With her graduating from Country Girls there will be other changes to the groups of Hello!Project so I'm also excited for that!!
And I also hope she will be happy in the future, being a teacher or everthing else she wants to do!!




Thank you for everything Momochi!!
You are the cutest Idolof them all!

Yurushite Nyan!!

Changes in Hello!Project

On Monday, June 26ths Hello!Station special it was announced that some members in Hello!Project would be moving to other groups. Since Country Girls is basically stopping their activities (they are going to resume activities in holidays because Risa and Mai are busy with school), three of the not-so-busy members were announced to be moved to other groups. they are Morito Chisaki, Funaki Musubu and Yanagawa Nanami. Adding to that, three Kenshuusei were announced to be promoted to different Hello!Project Groups. They are Ichioka Reina, Danbara Ruru and Kawamura Ayano.

So let's see where the members are placed:

Lets start with Morito Chisaki:

She has been placed into Morning Musume '17.

Actually, this is what I've been thinking so it doesn't surprise me at all. I really like Chiichan and I love Morning Musume the best. But there are some things that I'm not thaaat happy about. In general, I really don't mind this though! So, Morning Musume just had an addition with 13th gen and they are starting to fit in so well! Adding to that, 12th is shining more and more but they still need some time to establish themsekves more. Having a 14th gen member now seems really rushed and even for Morning Musume's fast member changes it is a bit strange. Another thing is, Chiichan looked a bit worried and so did Morning Musume. I think it's just because everyone is surprised by these sudden announcement and they definitely didn't expect that. But you could still feel some tension going on there. I don't want to blame anyone and I do think everything will be ok in the future. Even some fans who don't like this decision will be ok in the future, so I don't worry to much. But I think in general, everyone would have been happier if she was just added after Duu's graduation in the beginning of next ear. Oh yeah, it does feel even more rushed since she is debuting with them in less then a month.
Bt those are my thoughts and I do love change so congrats Chiichan and I qish her the best!



Next up are Funaki Musubu and Kawamura Ayano.

Yes, it's two members now. They were both added to Angerme.

And I think these two fit in perfectly. Did you see how Angerme reacted to them? THis group just seems to have the funniest and warmest people of the whole Project! That was really nice to watch and both these girls were also really, really happy.
Funakki is one of my favourite members and I really love her singing voice and her character. She fits into Angerme so well and I love how Ayacho was so happy to see her.
I don't know that much about Ayano yet, but she has been starring in Morning Musume's lates Musical and I think she will be a nice addition to Angerme!
Both of these girls are really cute and talented and I'm just really happy to see them with Angerme.



Next up are Yanagawa Nanami and Danbara Ruru.

Again, these two are added to the same group and it's Juice=Juice!!

Wow, I didn't think they would add members to J=J. To me and to a lot of other fans, J=J was seen as untouchable member wise, just like °C-ute after they became 5nin.
I'm really happy about Ruru joing this group and I think she will fit perfectly. She's so talented and I like her a lot.. She was actually my favourite Kenshuusei after Kaedy debuted in Momusu!
About Nanami, I wasn't really that sure at first. Of course she will fit in and Juice=Juice will be ok with her, but I didn't think this group would fit her that much.. But as I said, I think she will be fine especially when she grows up a bit more.
After the first shock I'm actually quite excited for 7nin Juice=Juice!!



And last but not least Ichioka Reina!

Reina is going to be leader of a new Hello!Project unit group.
This also surprised be a lot and my first thought was: Why weren't all the members put into this group then? But afterwards I did feel better about all the changes and I think it's good to have a new group and splitting them up. Actually, Reina wanted to be in a new group, so I hope she will be happy and they will find other memebrs for this group soon so that it can be active!
Still, if they create a new group, it feels kind of salty that they are splitting up Country Girls.
But okay, I'm really happy for Reina as she is the last one of her Kenshuusei generation!!



All in all I feel quite normal about all of this.. I'm quite more relaxed than I though but maybe I can't be shocked anymore after °C-ute disbanding and Duu graduating in December.. 2017 is such a weird year, Momochi is also graduation tomorrow..
I think I would have put some members differently (maybe Ruru in Momusu) but all in all I'm quite ok with these placements. Thinking about this for a few days also helped and talking with other people about it. I do have the feeling that Japanese fans are more concerned about this though.
I do really understand but for me the Idol world is always changing, so it doesn't really feel that weird to me. Well, it is quite a lot though!


Actually, I think I'm quite positive, hahaha!!

Good night!

Hopes and Predictions for 2017

Here I am with my new hopes and predictions. This time it s also mostly about Idols ne.

Let's take a look at last years predictions first and see if I was right.


Kojiharu and Miichan to at least announce ther graduation (half, Kojiharu did but Miichan still didn't. Long live the first gens)
Kashiwagi Yuki to announce her graduation. (hm, seems like she will sta for more)
A new special gimmick (yeah, I think we can count the things you can win with handshake tickets; signs and stuff)
Sasshi to win the election again (YES SHE DID)
Miyawaki to get into Top3 of the election (still not haha)
SKE to release their second album (they didn't release it last year but they will this year *-*)
HKT to release their first album (not yet)

Duu to become new center (no, but she is close)
MaaDuu centered single (I STILL WANT THIS)
Only 1-2 members for 13th gen (We got 2, which is great)
C-ute to disband (they announced it :'( )
Ayacho to announce her graduationn (she didn't, yesss. And she is the new H!P leader, so I think she won't graduate for at least this year!
MeiMei to get a solo graduation song (she didn't)
Tsubaki Factory to have their major debut (they will soon!!)

So, I was right with quite few things, but most of them were just announced and will happen this year, haha)

Here are my new predictions:


48group to have some major graduations in either Yuki, Sasshi or Mayu

Sayanee to center an AKB single

I really want Jurina to be first in the Sousenkyo, but I don't think she can make it this year.. so maybe Sayanee?

Megu to get chosen for a senbatsu

SKE to release a Jurina-Dasu or Dasu only centered single

HKT to finally have an only Sakura centered single

NGT to have a great debut

13th gen to have a nice debut song

Morning Musume to release an album

C-ute to release a final Best-of album

Angerme to have no member changes

Country Girls to have new members added after Momochi's graduation

Announcement of a new group after C-ute disbanded

All the members who are on hiatus to rest well and come back eventually


So, that have been my hopes and predictions for 2017. Let's see how many things will really happen.. :3

Tsugunaga Momoko to graduate from Country Girls and Hello Project

Well, we all knew this day would come sooner or later.. Tsugunaga Momoko announced she would graduate from Country Girls and Hello Project in June 2016.

Momochi is quitting being an Idol after 15 years which makes her the last of the Hello pro Kids to announce stopping their activities from Hello project. With C-ute disbanding and Momochi stopping her activities soon too, it really feels like the end of an Era.

Momoko has never been a favourite Idol if me. At first i didn't really like her character that much, but I learned to lover her and admire her abilities to be an awesome Idol. She is a really clever woman and I like her not only as an Idol. I really hope she will be hapy in her future. Be it teaching kids or doing something else.. It's her desicion though I hope she will not vanish from the entertainment world forever. though if she becomes a teacher, is she even allowed to work on TV from time to time?
But yeah she is really funny and I'm happy that I could expereience her in Berryz, buono and COuntry Girls.  We knew her being in the latter would only last for 2 or 3 years. And even though it was a lot of fun with her, I'm excited to see the group after her graduation, with all the other members shining on their own. Though I really hope they won't always change their line-up for every single.. x'D

I'm looking forward to seeing her activities until net year and maybe I will be able to see them live before that :D

Country Girls - Dou datte Ii no/ Namida no Request regular A ~unboxing~

Today I will do an unboxing of Country Girls' single Dou datte ii no/ Namida no Request regular Edition A. I bought it in Soka Station.

This is the cover. It's really retro and I like the style, even though it's very simple.

Backside. Looks kind of funny because of Funakki's head xD

Inside

And the CD. Looks kind of nice with the stars

The cover again. Everyone looks really nice

And I especially like this picture form the backside

Lyrics

And Obi

As an extra I got this beautiful postcard!! :D

And once again I got the Chii trading card!! It's fate, hahahaha. But seriously, she looks so cute here :3

Tracklist:

1. Dou datte ii no
2. Namida no Request
3. Dou datte ii no (instrumental)
4. Namida no Request (instrumental)

This single is pretty cool. Dou datte ii no is a great song with some awesome vocals, especially of Funakki. Namida no Request has a nostalgic feeling and like the old Idol style of it a lot.
All in all this is a great single, though I still miss Manakan :(((