#morning musume'22

[mharingo]

[lovelybaka]

I wish for her graduation that all the Leaders come and sing WE ARE LEADERS! with Mizuki, and that she gives the role to Erina at the end

[hellopropicture]

[koinodancesite]

“Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai”

Coupled with “Jinsei Never Been Better!”

Release date: June 8, 2022

Oricon Weekly placement: 2nd

Members: Akane Haga, Ayumi Ishida, Chisaki Morito, Erina Ikuta, Homare Okamura,  Kaede Kaga, Maria Makino, Mei Yamazaki, Miki Nonaka, Mizuki   Fukumura, Reina Yokoyama, Rio Kitagawa, Sakura Oda

The shakuhatchi flutes of "Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai" were initially a hard sell, though maybe Kaoru Ookubo wasn't all to blame. A different kind of flute, I presume, but they rang close enough in memory for me to the one squeaking in the deranged production behind NCT 127's "Sticker," released about a year prior, for the Morning Musume song to echo some secondhand dissonance. Listening back, Ookubo's arrangement is nowhere as screwball, but on the other hand, it could use some loosening of screws: it remains steely to a fault, sucking away any potential dynamism, and a general stiffness dulls "Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai" as a whole.

Behind an already-steely production, the idols' unaffected cool begins to sound monotonous than it does stoic. Their performance of cool in itself fits in tune to the narrative that deals with self-confidence and emotional clarity: "It's up to me," they sing in the opening refrain before they think openly about writing their own future. But other than few accents of extra bombast to prep for the chorus, the song hardly offers peaks and valleys, with moments of epiphany framed in the same serious tone as moments of questioning.

And there are genuine moments in "Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai" that would add some humanity to a perfectionist idol group if only the song highlighted them as such. "We can't look into / 100 years into the future," the idols sing in the chorus. "We build the present / but who should we live for?" This humbling self-reflection arrives, too, after speaking as a role model: "You're going to grow up soon / a border made by someone else / you're already magnificent," they assure after describing a society mired by pressure. The song elevate neither parts, with one bleeding into the other.

To be fair, the ability to sing of both victories and tragedies as one juxtaposed stream of thought has been the magic behind the best Morning Musume songs. "Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai" also mashes together two seemingly separate conversations with the idols aspiring to rise above society in the first verse and then indulging in vanity in the second, talking about wanting to be a billionaire and pursue on their own infatuation. But the randomness sounds too streamlined for it to stand out as a quirk, their stony cool delivering them all in the same tone. Morning Musume have impressed in the past with their stoic demeanor, but "Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai" shows stoicness can also be a crutch.

[5]

[momusus23]

makino maria (牧野真莉愛) ; cancam (2020).

[momusu-jpop]

Maria is so cute!

[hotarutranslations]

To All Of The Staff - Kaga Kaede Graduation Messages

(Something a bit different, I’m going to be translating these last blog posts of Kaga Kaede, as they are her graduation messages. I hope you enjoy, thank you for reading.) I wrote this on my blog yesterday, For the next 3 days on my blog, I'll be writing my graduation messages.

These are going to be long but, I'd be happy if you could take the time to read it!

First off, to all of the staff, who I've worked with so far.

Those who have helped since I was in Hello Pro Kenshuusei, Manager-san, dance teachers, singing teachers,

You would tell me to smile in various situations, since I don't smile much.

I'm sorry for always making unfriendly faces. lol

I think, because I was in a strict environment, and I was so filled with feelings of wanting to debut, that I didn't know what smiling was.

I can see now that, as strict as you were, you were conscientious of us.

I think I've been able to grow, because you treated me as a human, so it felt natural to respond to your criticism.

I cherish these 4 years and I'm grateful to have been raised here.

Really, thank you very much.

Also, to the Manager-san, who has helped me since joining Morning Musume.

You've taught me a lot of things I take for granted now, Important things in Morning Musume, like how to communicate with seniors, and things about lives.

If I asked you to do something, you would be glad to do it. Even if you could not do it, you would always do something instead in its place, and I always feel sorry for that. lol

Although it isn't something visible, It is because of your support that we can smile, and are able to stand in front of our fans.

Thank you very much.

To the staff who help during lives, the dance teachers, and directors.

You have been open to all questions, and thoughts, about what the members want to do.

You have carefully and meticulously built the foundations, for our live performances, which is the cornerstone of our activities Really, thank you very much.

Honestly, I think you are moving dozens of times longer than we are. Thats why we've been able to work these 6 years with the feelings of wanting to make a good live.

Thanks to the lots of staff that are involved, Morning Musume's Kaga Kaede was able to exist.

Really, thank you very much, for all of your help!!!

From now I hope you will watch over, Morning Musume, and Hello! Project warmly.

https://ameblo.jp/morningm-13ki/entry-12778234477.html

[loverintranslations]

『Fukumura Mizuki-san ♡』 Makino Maria (22.12.27)

💖Fukumura Mizuki-san 💖

Fukumura Mizuki-san、at the end of our 2023 autumn concert tour、will graduate from Morning Musume｡ and Hello！Project。

「Please don't leave (graduate) before Maria」

Ever since I joined Morning Musume｡、I've been saying this to Fukumura Mizuki-san。

As for what I'm thinking now･･･

I'll do my duty!!

The “Morning Musume ｡” with Fukumura Mizuki-san

Is fired up ❤️‍🔥

To be continued

From Morning Musume ｡'22 Makino Maria

My newest 2-shot with Fukumura Mizuki-san💖💖

※I mostly have photos that Fukumura-san took🐰

Check out MariaSta Makino Maria's Instagram okay

https://www.instagram.com/maria_makino.official/

Makino Maria

[mrmoonlightcovers]

This is my version of "Dai・Jinsei Never Been Better!" by Morning Musume '22. モーニング娘。'22 『大・人生 Never Been Better!』 This video has not any commercial purpose and it's only for entertainment. All rights are for UP-FRONT PROMOTION.

[cheltranslations]

#CDJ Special Broadcast！@Nonaka Miki (23.02.09)

Chel here 🗽

Thank you very much

For coming to look at my blog！

Your likes and comments

Make me super happy

Yesterday's 2 choices

Do you do weight training

Yes？No？

No

Was the majority���

Exercise is really important

So please try giving it a go

It improves your mood tooー！

On the official 「JFes」 app

COUNTDOWN JAPAN 22/23

Special Broadcast has been announced

Morning Musume。'22' s performance

Is due to be broadcast on 2/19 (Sun)19:00！

The stream will also be archived

After the original broadcast

Such a fun end to the year…

Please watch it！

Details are here！

(T/N News and information has not been translated)

Today's 2 choices

Curry with

Rice？Naan？

For reading until the very end

Thank you very much！

Please come by again tomorrow

Returning to my original topic

Miyagawa Maya-san

Has been advising me about my weight training

Maya-san is like a big sister to me

I LOVE her！

See ya

[mharingo]

[lovelybaka]

This antisocial turns 29 today and will be playing Happy Birthday to Me by Morning Musume'22 all day ❤️

[hellopropicture]

[koinodancesite]

"Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!"

Coupled with “Chu Chu Chu Bokura No Mirai”

Release date: June 8, 2022

Oricon Weekly placement: 2nd

Members: Akane Haga, Ayumi Ishida, Chisaki Morito, Erina Ikuta, Homare Okamura, Kaede Kaga, Maria Makino, Mei Yamazaki, Miki Nonaka, Mizuki Fukumura, Reina Yokoyama, Rio Kitagawa, Sakura Oda

Morning Musume rarely sound pompous on record. So when they do allow themselves to indulge in selfishness as they claim what's sure is theirs in "Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!," they don't hold back in the slightest. The idols open the single with arrogance as much as elegance. "Because isn't all this mine for the taking," they sing a rhetorical question of a lyric to the tune of their own harmonizing vocals backing them as a kind of divine choir. But as lavish as they act, they can't but stay true to their altruistic personality as they wield their self-importance only to qualify the most wholesome truth: life has so much to offer, and Morning Musume are staking out the whole reserve.

"Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!" displays this optimistic outlook of the world that's beautifully sincere as it is intimately familiar. The breezy funk music here gives off a classic feel, and Tsunku seems to agree. On the single's liner notes, the producer likens the song's arrangements to Motown R&B, which inspires him to reminisce about the music of Earth, Wind & Fire he loved growing up. That particular sound also taps into somewhere more personal as hinted by how the producer describes the arrangement, done by Shunsuke Suzuki, as "Tsunku funk." As a longtime fan, the brassy music also recalls in me the anthems of the Golden era, singles like "Soda! We're Alive" where lively funk music similarly led a celebration on life and prosperity.

Backed by timeless music that echoes the group's own legacy, the message in "Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!" sounds right at home on a Morning Musume record. Their display of humor as always sees them grab for the quotidian in equal measure as their deeper pieces of philosophy: "Wear the clothes I want to wear / choose whatever I want to eat," the idols sing charming details of what constitutes an unrestricted lifestyle through their eyes. And the group's life perspective remain unchanged more than two decades later with the idols coming in terms with the lows before they allow themselves to relish in the highs in this key lyric: "The waves are proof that life is fair."

The group's understanding of this order of the world has been deeply felt across nearly their entire discography. But what separates "Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!" from the anthems of past generations is how the idols sing about this reality with such a stronger sense of clarity. Riding the bright highs of the funk music, the sunny voices of Morning Musume let appreciation be felt even in the harsher ends of their truths. "If it has a shape, it will break," they note like an obvious fact before moving on to the reward that awaits them: "but we can imagine without limits."

Maybe their confidence is built on some exaggeration. After all, Morning Musume choose to express their feelings in absolutes: "never never never never been better!" And sure enough, their turn to the extreme scrubs away their own admission to vulnerability despite them legibly spelling it out: "I'm feeling a bit down / I wish you'd notice," they sigh at the end of the chorus before the funk arrangement immediately lets the light back in. The idols hardly linger on the thought, more eager to get back into the vacation mood. It appears too brief to conflict with the joyous tenor of the song, though it still hangs at the back of my mind as the celebration continues to unfold.

When I listen to "Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!" I'm reminded of the group's "I WISH," perhaps from them releasing a self-cover of it earlier that year. I think about the latter song's extended intro that sets the scene for what follows. Our protagonist spends one late night sad and lonely, feeling like the only person on Earth suffering from deep misery. When all hope seems lost, they receive a dumb text from a friend that gets them crying from laughter, and the tears won't stop. Then they snap back into reality, uttering a reminder to themselves that has become one of my all-time favorite Morning Musume lyrics: "I know myself better than anyone else / so I got to believe in myself more than anyone else."

Life is what one makes it, so why not make the best of every little bit of it? Or so "I WISH" seems to say. Its grand chorus resonates as a reminder for all the beauty out there that's within reach but, for me, like that protagonist who must learn how to have faith in themselves, it's also something to repeat to myself until I also believe it to be true. "Dai Jinsei Never Been Better!" holds a similar power of instilling faith: I want to embody that certainty expressed by Morning Musume to not only believe in life's potential but to claim as mine to fulfill. While maybe they, too, are trying to convince themselves of this as the idols let slip their insecurities in the process, Morning Musume sound the most equipped to rightfully claim what's been theirs for the taking.

[9]

[momusus23]

Morning Musume and Hello! Project leader Fukumura Mizuki has officially announced her graduation, set for fall 2023.