Sunday 13 October 2013

Moving Into a New Era

With Morning Musume awash with new members and finding new popularity, the Hello!Project "Kids" having past the ten year mark, the revamped S/mileage really finding their feet and new group Juice=Juice entering on to the scene, I would say that it is appropriate to consider this as a new era for Hello!Project.

Starting with the addition of the 9th generation, or arguably the graduation of Eri, Junjun and Linlin, Morning Musume has overgone a huge member overhaul. Add to this a new music style, a focus on dance and an advertising campaign which focuses on 'The Current Morning Musume' and you have, pretty much, a reborn group. The only member who was part of the 'Platinum Era' is Michishige Sayumi, an idol so versatile and charming that she fits just as well into the current line-up as she did into that of the Platinum Era and indeed the 'Whatever came before the Platinum Era' Era. Since the graduation of Tanaka Reina, the group has shifted away from the usual two leads to having several members (namely, Sayumi herself, Fukumura Mizuki, Sayashi Riho, Ishida Ayumi, Sato Masaki and Oda Sakura) forming a sort of 'front row'. This formula worked brilliantly for their latest single 'Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke / Ai no Gundan' and is something I hope will be kept up. One thing that seems to being pushed as a talking point at the moment is Morning Musume's 'formation dance'. The choreography for recent singles is most definitely hitting the mark and is fascinating to watch. To accompany this fresh dance style is more electronic sounding music. I have always had a bit of a soft spot for this type of sound as so was thrilled when the group took on this style. Also, when the group are trying to re-introduce themselves to the current market, some sort of musical consistency isn't a bad thing to have.



Now as far as Berryz Koubou and C-ute are concerned. . . .
If I am completely honest, I don't see them lasting longer than a couple of years tops. There disbanding would however be a huge loss, so maybe I am wrong. Both groups sales have been rising as of late; C-ute's significantly, Berryz' less so. Both groups have become polished units and are a real asset to Hello!Project. Where their journey goes from here? It's difficult to tell.



When it comes to S/mileage I often feel I am one of few who are more interested by the current six member line up than the original four. The current six members are, I would say, a very diverse group of idols and this is probably one of the reasons why I am really enjoying their live performances at the moment. I honestly believe that on stage is where their strength lies, which is a bit odd considering they are not exactly stellar singers of dancers. Their sheer energy, however, is enough to completely hold my attention. Couple this with their latest album being one of the best Hello!Project albums of recent years, and it can be said that musically, they are succeeding. However, the group have been rather stagnant on the commercial side of things. Now, I am not a PR man. I don't know how to fix this. But what I do know is that S/mileage is a group with huge potential that people outside of the fanbase are not seeing.


Lastly we have the newest addition to the machine that is Hello!Project: Juice=Juice
Looking at their indie singles and their major label debut 'Romance no Tochuu' it appears that the sound Juice=Juice are going for is more of a funky, brassy, retro sound than that of their fellow H!P groups. When I first heard 'Romance no Tochuu' I thought of it as a more Tsunku version of Tokyo Girls' Style's brilliant track 'Unmei'. At the moment, I am really pleased with the direction of Juice=Juice and if it continues this same way I will be more than pleased.



Overall, I would say that it is clear that a change is going on at Hello!Project. 'Generation' is a word widely used in the idol business to refer to new members. Whether we agree with it or not, we are moving into a new generation of Hello!Project and in this context the word 'generation' refers to more than just new members. It is undeniably an exciting time to be Hello!Project fan.