angelandz

[angelandz]

MaaSaku Board Game Challenge Corner from Morning Musume ‘19 DVD Magazine Volume 120

No prizes for guessing which current fellow group member they name the little blue penguin from the Penguin Trap Icebreaker puzzle game after (Clue: It’s not one of their kouhai)

[angelandz]

I feel like a broken record constantly having to repeat this to so-called fans like the OP who originally wrote this confession, but here goes:

Hello!Project is not by managed by one management team. As a fan you should know that by now, especially when UpFront have been known to advertise for new management staff just before debuting a new group. So yes it is perfectly plausible for Morning Musume to be held back by their management being too strict with them and enforce senpai kouhai rule as well as expecting them all to be polite young women (none of which was decided by Mizuki) and for members of other Hello!Project groups to thrive more because they all have different management teams and groups like Angerme have management teams who know how to properly promote them rather than just relying on the names of those groups to promote them

I know H!P management is known for being quite stupid sometimes but I seriously can’t believe people go full-blown negationist just to defend Mizuki and (most of) the other senpais. No, Mizuki isn’t the only cause of Momusu’s current stagnant state but can someone tell me why the fuck would management WANT more than half of their idols just to be polite little girls who are not popular and almost never stand out??? Is there any reason for other generational groups to be more welcoming???? If it’s all just because of management then why weren’t Rina, Kana and Akari THE spotlight black holes that most of Momusu’s current senpai are? Morning Musume is their fucking flagship group, why would any businessperson want idols that don’t bring in more fans which translates into more money? During current years management’s main mistake while handling Musume is that the majority of new members have been “girl-next-door-types” that cannot sing very well or dance very well so on top of being kouhai they cannot get any spotlight due to their talent either, Maria being one of the exceptions because of gravure and yadda yadda. Meanwhile they always ship off the most promising members to Angerme or Juice=Juice or more recently BEYOOOOONDS. Seriously, 15ki is one of Momusu’s best promises right now, if they help the girls develop themselves in a few years the three of them could do oh so much for the group.And I cannot hope more for the next leader to have a different mindset than the current senpai (yeah, not just Fukumura) have.

[angelandz]

OP, that’s not what Sakura meant when she said her injury hadn’t healed. It’s pretty normal to recover from cervical disc disease within 4 to 6 weeks but still have some of the symptoms last a bit longer.

Sakura has already stated that her injury only hurts a little bit so it’s most likely she’s just experiencing some leftover pain in her neck and shoulder which could easily just be because she spent most of July resting and is having to get used to moving those parts of her body as actively as she used to again.

Plus UFP did everything they could to make sure Sakura had enough time to heal before Rock in Japan Fes and even changed some of the choreography for some of Morning Musume’s songs slightly to accommodate for her injury not being fully healed.

People need to stop acting like Sakura was forced against her will to perform on the Grass Stage at Rock in Japan when the truth is that she wanted to perform but didn’t think that anyone cared about her enough to want her to be able to return on time to perform with the rest of 11-nin Morning Musume ‘19

Sakura told a wota during a handshake who asked about her injury she’s still not healed. What’s up with UFA and all these injuries???? Why can’t they just tone it down?            

[angelandz]

For starters the OP has their information entirely wrong. The announcement stated that Sakura felt severe pain in her left shoulder blade and went to the hospital to get it checked out after the pain continued, not that she continued on regardless before realising she was injured.

Injuries aren’t always recognisable right away, and what some people might think is an injury is probably just something minor like a stitch or a sore muscle. Sakura did the right thing waiting to see if the pain would go away before going to the hospital to get checked out by the doctor. Even then her injury wasn’t as bad as some people are making it out to be. If it was she would’ve been hospitalised and recommended for surgery not told to rest for a month at home.

Also absolutely no one pressured her to come back, especially not against her will. Sakura explained several times while she was still on hiatus (and even now) that she was looking forward to performing on the Grass Stage at Rock in Japan Fes and that she was worried she was going to miss it because of her injury.

https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/entame/helloproject/1512459/

Some of you guys are acting like Morning Musume ‘19 performing on the Grass Stage at Rock in Japan Fes was like every other time they’ve performed on stage when it clearly wasn’t. They were performing in front of the biggest crowd (over 70,000 people) they’ve ever had the chance to perform in front of in the entire history of Morning Musume. Not even the OG members had that opportunity.

That was something that Sakura was looking forward to both as a performer and someone who loves singing. Claiming that she was forced and pressured to come back against her will when that clearly wasn’t the case is highly ignorant and shows that some of you don’t understand her at all and are just using her to bring up unnecessary drama :/

If MM had more than 2-3 capable singers people wouldn’t be pressuring Sakura to come back in time for RIJ. I know she said she’s recovering but the fact that UFA’s injury announcement said she felt intense pain and continued anyway before realizing an injury made me realize how much pressure they put on this poor woman.            

[angelandz]

I take it the OP is referring to the group huddle just before Morning Musume ‘19’s performance at Rock in Japan because 15ki certainly weren’t left in the dust in the preconcert huddle just before the first concert on this year’s Hello!Project Summer Tour which was also shown on the group’s official Instagram account.

Neither were they left in the dust from the group huddle just before the Morning Musume ‘19’s RiJ performance set. For starters only 9-14ki were performing at RiJ. Secondly if the OP had actually checked their information before sharing their confession they’d know that the reason 15ki weren’t part of the group huddle was because their bus got stuck in traffic while travelling to the venue, so they weren’t even there yet when the group huddle took place.

The members who were performing at Rock in Japan Fes were scheduled to perform at a certain time, so they couldn’t exactly wait around for 15ki to get to the venue to take part in a group huddle just before a performance set that they weren’t even taking part in.

Even if the OP was referring to the preconcert huddle just before the first Hello!Project 2019 Summer Tour concert they can’t really judge how 9-14ki interact with 15ki based soley on a video clip that’s only 15 seconds long.

The group video of MM in their preconcert huddle posted to IG was a disappointment. Yes 15ki isn’t performing fully with the group but they’re still nerves like Homare and Rio blogged about being SUPER nervous and worried so it would’ve been nice if the rest of the group wasn’t leaving them in the dust. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you remember there’s an 8-9 year difference between 9ki and the younger 15ki girls.            

[angelandz]

I agree with everything you just said, but my main point is that they probably only included Sakura recording the chorus vocals on Upcoming this week because she’s currently on hiatus for a month due to an injury (she has cervical disc disease AKA a slipped disc in her upper spine) and this is one of the only ways UpFront can promote her until she’s fully recovered and can return to activities with the rest of Morning Musume ‘19. It’s most likely that the decision to include her recording session on Upcoming this week was a last minute one, especially since they didn’t show Takechan or Rinapuu reacting to it like they usually have the MCs do when they show a recording session, and because they showed the bass guitar recording session for BEYOOOOONDS song “Atsui” on Upcoming the previous week.

They usually show all the behind the scenes stuff for a group single in one block over several weeks, so showing the “Atsui” bass recording the week after showing Mizuki and Maa-chan recording the melodies for “Jinsei Blues” and “Seishun Night” means that they probably weren’t originally planning to show any of the recording sessions for the chorus vocals for Morning Musume’s 67th Single along with showing the behind the scenes footage of the girls filming the music videos for Seishun Night and Jinsei Blues and Mizuki and Maa-chan recording the melodies for both songs

OH YES

but also let Maa’s harmony vocals on the discs UF you cowards

(yo where’s Fukuchan’s session doing backing vocals)

[angelandz]

They already showed Mizuki recording the melody for Jinsei Blues on Upcoming two weeks ago.

Plus that and Maa-chan was possibly attending classes at University when the chorus vocals for Seishun Night were being recorded since only Mizuki and Sakura sing them. According to Sakura (who wrote about it in her recent blog post) the melody and chorus vocals are recorded on separate days with the melody taking an hour to record and the chorus vocals taking between an hour and half to 2 hours to record, so not all of the members are going to have time in their schedules to record both alongside dance and concert rehearsals and singing practice.

Besides all that the biggest possible reason why they only showed Sakura recording the chorus vocals for Seishun Night is because aside from still posting to the official Morning Musume 10/11ki blog she’s currently taking a break from activities for a month due to an injury (she was diagnosed with cervical disc disease on Tuesday last week) so UFP focusing on her session recording the chorus vocals for Seishun Night on Upcoming this week is one of the only ways they can promote her until she’s fully recovered and is able to return to activities with the rest of Morning Musume ‘19

OH YES

but also let Maa’s harmony vocals on the discs UF you cowards

(yo where’s Fukuchan’s session doing backing vocals)

[angelandz]

If the OP actually paid attention to the comment they’re quoting they’d realise that “they just don’t get enough promotion” is referring to Morning Musume itself not FukuMaaSaku themselves or least not Mizuki and Maa-chan since Sakura doesn’t really get as much promotion as they do outside of group activities with the group. So like I said before FukuMaaSaku graduating isn’t going to suddenly make Morning Musume interesting again. That’ll only happen when their management starts promoting the group better and stops limiting what the fans and the general public gets to see of the members’ individual personalities and characters

“FukuMaaSaku graduating wouldn’t change anything about MM, they just don’t get enough promotion :’(” THE MAIN THREE HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 7-8 YEARS AND LEADS FOR 4-5 OF THEM. WHAT MORE PROMOTION COULD THEY NEED???????

[angelandz]

I’m sorry but have to disagree with what the OP is saying here. The people saying that the current lineup of Morning Musume only seems boring because their management is controlling what the general public gets to see of them are simply stating a fact. Dismissing this because other Hello!Project groups are fun and the members all get to show their individual personalities is ignorant because they’re not all under the same management like the OP states. Each group in Hello!Project has their own individual management so if some of them are fun and carefree and display lots of personality it’s because their management isn’t controlling every single thing that the general public gets to see of them. Even Maa-chan herself has stated that the management in charge of Morning Musume makes her re-write her blog posts so many times she doesn’t feel like it’s her writing them anymore.

So I’m going to repeat what everyone else has been saying in response to people claiming that the current lineup of Morning Musume are boring: They are not boring. Their management just isn’t letting you see their interesting side. If you actually watch their DVD Magazines or check out their Instagram stories you’ll find that they’re just as interesting and funny and entertaining as the other Hello!Project groups you’re comparing them to

why do people always make excuses for MM? 🤨 during ‘14-16 people would say their lack of personality was them being “newbies” (9-11ki weren’t) and now people say it’s because “MANAGEMENT.” kobushi and j=j are very colorful groups and they’re under the same “management.” fuku-chan explained that’s what they want MM to be like when they’re on TV. even harunan explained what she wanted MM to be like but she said she’s not leader so she had to respect that.

[angelandz]

I’m sorry, but I totally disagree with what the OP is saying here. You’re judging Sakura based on something she said almost 2 years ago. If it wasn’t already obvious she does actually have the ability to realise when her point of view hasn’t always been the best and changes it for the better.

Also it’s not Mizuki or Sakura who are making Morning Musume seem boring. That’s just your perception of the group thanks to most of the media proving otherwise only being available on DVD Magazines and fan club DVDs.

Last but not least being entertaining isn’t really a requirement for someone to be leader. There’s plenty of other attributes about Sakura that would make her a good leader, wanting to help push the other members to be their best and purposely going in to work when it’s meant to be her day off just to help her kouhai with their training

Sakura’s 20th anniversary book makes me hope she never becomes leader. 🤐 She seems to have a similar mentality as Fuku-chan about what they want MM to act like, and that’s why people call them boring compared to other groups. Hopefully that mentality goes when they graduate. 🤐

[angelandz]

I’ve never really said this openly before but I never intentionally mean to overexplain stuff when I respond to people online. It’s just that I worry about coming across as being rude and blunt when I’m not trying to be and end up overthinking what I’m trying to say resulting in me either saying too much and often not properly noticing when something is just a joke and ending up being annoying anyway or just stressing myself out and not saying anything at all to avoid unintentionally annoying people.

It’s the one part of being autistic that I wish had better control over

[angelandz]

To be fair Ayumi and Maa-chan weren’t part of the original Only You lineup either. If the performances had only included the members who originally performed the song then Only You would’ve only been performed by Mizuki, Eripon, and Riho.

Besides I think you missed the point I was trying to make. The Hina!Fes performance of Only You wasn’t meant to be just the members who were part of the original lineup for those songs since the line distribution is very obviously based on who inherited lines from the members who originally performed it which is why Riho was singing Ai-chan’s lines since she’s the member who inherited them before they got passed on to Mizuki.

As for the One Two Three performance the title clearly said “One Two Three (Updated)” which Sakura was originally part of on “The Best! ~Updated Morning Musume~” album so it still made sense for her to be part of that performance:

https://projecthello.com/momusu/onetwothreeupdated.html

Mind you I’m not sure if UFP staff got the updated version mixed up with original version or if they purposely based the line distribution on both of the recorded versions as well the version the current members perform just so that they could have two 9ki members be the lead singers:

https://projecthello.com/momusu/onetwothree.html

UFP can be a little unpredictable sometimes when it comes to line distribution for concert performances, especially ones that feature former members

lol Sakura wasn’t even in the group when either Only You or 123 were released

[angelandz]

Sakura has been singing those lines since Reina and Sayumi graduated:

https://youtu.be/qCFiBUrFzDY

https://youtu.be/DxWXGdY1M8U

The only time when she doesn’t sing them is if the OG member who originally sang those lines or any OG member who inherited those lines previous to her is performing with them. It’s the same with all the current and past Morning Musume members who perform with OG members that they may or may not have inherited lines from :)

lol Sakura wasn’t even in the group when either Only You or 123 were released

[angelandz]

Morning Musume ‘19 - Seishun Night

It’s been mentioned a few times that this is going to be part of Morning Musume’s next single, but nothing official has been announced yet

[angelandz]

Everyday Everywhere - SK TWO (Oda Sakura & Takagi Sayuki)

[angelandz]

Slight correction: They weren’t dancing to “Touch Me”, they were performing the dance from “3 nen A Gumi” which is currently a viral trend on TikTok and Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BugewxzHvpZ/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1ahvkrnhgg0u0

https://youtu.be/UJvLUrUFHdY

The fan who shared this video on Twitter just happened to sync it with Tsunku’s “Touch Me” since the original video on Morning Musume’s Instagram page didn’t have any sound and probably because the girls’ dancing also matched his song. Also that’s not YOSHIKO dancing with them, that’s Sakura *lol*

MM’s Dance club members (Daishi, Maria, Dii, Chii) and their choreographer dance to Tsunku’s Touch Me!!!!

[angelandz]

I’m sorry but I have to disagree with the OP about the possibility of Sakura graduating after 15th gen settles in. A future Morning Musume generation settling in to the group isn’t suddenly going to make it suitable for Sakura (or any member for that matter) to graduate. She still has a lot of improving she needs to do before she can graduate and go solo. Also as much as I hate admitting this as one of her fans she’s not popular enough yet to go solo and be successful.

I think she’s better off staying in Morning Musume for as long as she’s able to and continuing to gradually improve her performance skills and building up her following before attempting to go solo, and even when she does go solo I think it would be better for her to do that while she’s still a member of Morning Musume and maybe release solo singles digitally in between Morning Musume single and album releases as that way she’d have extra support while she builds up her popularity releasing her own solo songs :)

I think Sakura will graduate to do solo work after 15th gen settles in. And if she does I’ll support her 100% because I always think it’s a waste of Ai’s talent that she never got to go solo.