Wednesday 5 October 2011

Hello! Project : A (Semi-) Outsider's View

 This might sound a bit weird but every time I see a comment on a Hello! Project related YouTube video written by someone who has simply stumbled across the video and has no prior knowledge of H!P I feel slightly excited. "That person might be a new fan" is what I think to myself. (Only when it is a positive comment obviously.) Because of this I decided to find out what an outsider's view on Hello! Project would be. Naturally I went to someone I can trust (kind of), my younger sister. I should say that my sister is not a complete outsider to idol music. She has some knowledge of H!P and could name quite a few songs by Morning Musume and maybe a couple by other groups. However, she is still vague enough on the subject to give a realistic, honest viewpoint. So, wrote down on a sheet of paper the names of the main current H!P acts and asked her to write down a few words about each. Here are the results of this experiment!

Morning Musume
"Morning Musume’s music is usually quite up-beat and cheerful, and sometimes a wee bit strange."

This gives me the impression that it is the upbeat tunes like The Peace, Sexy Boy and Maji Desu ka Ska that people think of when they think of Momusu. I know for a face that my sister could hum along to most of the singles 2007 onwards but I suppose without knowing the lyrics even Naichau Kamo sounds fairly upbeat.



Berryz Koubou
"Berryz Koubou are usually more romantic. Their songs are more similar than Morning Musume’s."

When she says "romantic" I reckon my sister in refrencing more recent material but who knows maybe it's just the Risako pout that leads her to this conclusion.






C-ute
"C-ute is very up-beat, fast-pacing and dance-like."

I can agree here C-ute are famous for their dancing and that wouldn't be if it wasn't for upbeat songs like Kiss me Aishiteru. About a two years ago when my H!P fandom was still in it's early stages I had Tokkaiko Junjou on repeat quite a lot. My sister and I were (and still are!) very impressed with C-ute's dancing.





Buono!
"Buono’s songs are usually romantic and soft, or up-beat and cheerful."

I definately see where she is coming from here. Unfortunately I can't think of much to say on the matter.







S/mileage
"S/mileage are quite new to the world but so far their songs have been fast, happy and catchy."

I had "Ganbaranakutemo Eenende!!" stuck in my head the other day. She is right, most of S/mileage's songs are amazingly catchy. Sadly Tachiagaru has not really struck a note with me yet let alone a chord!





Mano Erina
Mano Erina sings very smiley, cheerful music usually. It is not always fast-paced but it is usually cheerful.

This makes me think. I like Manoeri's releases but I wish they'd give her a single with a bit more depth. I'm sure she could handle it.
Also, I like the use of the adjective smiley as a way to describe music. Nice.




I think this just goes to show, if you open your mind you can find something in everything.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! I love this! It makes me want to take on this experiment in a way, but with one of my nephews (because my younger sister and my niece are both into Hello! Project just like I am) instead, because as far as I know, he has never listened to Morning Musume or any of the other H!P groups#

    I liked this, it was really interesting to read what your little sister thought about the groups overall and their songs :D

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  2. Thanks for the comment! You should ask your nephew. A male perspective might be interesting! ^__^

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