Reaching the Dream: C-ute to Disband on 2017

The scariest day of a C-ute fan has come.

C-UTE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WILL DISBAND ON JUNE 2017 AT THE SAITAMA SUPER ARENA. 

Earlier this year, C-ute's youngest member, Hagiwara Mai, has turned 20 years old. So they have started a discussion considering of what they will do in the future.

C-ute will no longer participate on H!P activities/concerts starting January 2017, which means H!P summer tour 2016 will be their last one.

Accordingly, there were 3 options, and they chose to end C-ute and reach their own dreams after.
Yajima Maimi will become an actress, Nakajima Saki will be a travel reporter, Suzuki Airi will be a newscaster or a versatile actress, Okai Chisato to continue on doing variety shows and Hagiwara Mai to enter the fashion (apparel) industry.

Though they have been in the idol world for quite a long time, hearing this news saddened and broke C-ute fans heart.

As a C-ute fan myself, it really broke my heart after knowing their decision on disbanding. They are the first group to introduce me to Hello!Project and I've been following the group (as well as H!P) for 7 years.

But since this is C-ute greatest dream, to perform on the stage of Saitama Super Arena, then let us support them from the bottom of heart.

 There will still be like 10 months before they break up, so let us do our best to give our support and express our love for C-ute.

We will announce our graduation tribute plan soon! Keep in touch everyone!

READ UP-FRONT LINK ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING C-UTE'S BREAK-UP

Tamura Meimi & Suzuki Kanon has Officially Graduated from Hello!Project!

Tamura Meimi from ANGERME and Suzuki Kanon from Morning Musume'16 has officially graduated from Hello!Project!

It must have been tough seeing 2 consecutive days of graduations (T___T)
But seeing these two girls from the very start is wonderful.

We've been witnessing their idol life from the very start; how they auditioned, how they developed their skills, and become a beautiful flower of the idol world.

For the past few years since they joined the H!P family, it's been fun to see them perform, and smile for all the fans in the world. Now that they've set to reach another dream, they have to leave and graduate from their group.

Yet, part of their dream is to make the people in this world smile and be happy.

CONGRATULATIONS MEIMI AND ZUKKI!

We will always support both of you as you step on the next path you will take!

We love you and gambatte! \(^o^)/

To end this post, we would like to present the graduation tribute made by fans all over the world for Meimi and Zukki! Enjoy watching!

SAYASHI RIHO GRADUATION TRIBUTE RELEASED!

Hey everyone! How you doing?
We deeply apologize for the super duper delay in releasing our Sayashi Riho Graduation tribute :(
There has been some difficulties, but fortunately, we finished it! YAAY~!

Sayashi Riho, one of the 9th generation members, graduated from Morning Musume'16 to pursue her love in dancing and also learn the language of English. Good thing is she's still considered as a Hello!Project member. This tribute video shows the love, gratitude and support for our beloved Riho-chan as she pursue her dreams.

We hope you like it, and thank you very much for everyone who joined :)

LET US KEEP ON SUPPORTING RIHO!

[SINGLE REVIEW] Kobushi Factory - Sakura Night Fever / Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsu Moushin / Osu! Kobushi Tamashii

Hello, everyone! Calli here!

As you all know, Kobushi Factory is my favorite group (and musical artist) in the world, but I'm going to leave all my subjectivity (or most of it) at the door right about...now.

Well then, let's get straight into this review.

Also, since all the MVs have been released, I'll be linking those instead of pasting the single covers. And remember, these are song reviews, not MV reviews. That's just my style. I'm not very good at reviewing visuals.

1. Sakura Night Fever

Oh, what a wonderful time. Springtime has come.

This is the time where almost worldwide, cherry blossoms, known as "桜” in Japan (phonetic: さくら), bloom gracefully.

Hello! Project has experimented with the cherry blossom theme a bit already.

In fact, a Morning Musume unit named Morning Musume Sakuragumi was created with inspiration of cherry blossoms back in 2003.

While Sakuragumi had more mellow, traditional Japanese-inspired music, Hello! Project have given Kobushi Factory a more lighthearted pop tune about spring, and it is somewhat of a springtime carol.

The lyrics to the song are nothing short of adorable, talking about holidays, springtime festivities, getting drunken, and encountering new friendships and love.

My favorite lyric of this song has to be Hamaura Ayano's spoken "桜もこぶしも咲き誇れ！” (Cherry blossoms and Kobushi [Factory] are both in full bloom!) It adds much enthusiasm.

Another favorite part is Inoue Rei's "なぜになぜ？！” (Why? Why?). There's obviously not much to the lyrics there, but alas it's the way the line is sung that I adore. It's sung operatically, ridiculously, and most likely meaning to mimic some sort of traditional Japanese singing style.

The song maintains a steady groove pattern with just a hint of that Kobushi Factory guitar. The song transitions incredibly well from one point to the next, with surprises and fun around every corner. 

Near the end of the song, the composition is begging for every wota to jump in their homes. The words "FEVER! FEVER!" are repeated and soon enough, you can hear "Oi! Oi!"s of wota that were added in, begging the crowd to wotagei along. This was a smart move, as that will make this song very marketable in concerts.

The song finishes off quite adorably with Taguchi Natsumi's lulled "夜は眠りたい〜” (We want to sleep at night) as the music slowly fades out.

Song Rating: 9/10

2. Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsu Moushin

If you are looking for tongue rolling, growling, high notes, and power, this song is the way to go. 

This song has a catchy hook, with the word "ちょっと！” repeated several times. Each girl also has her own little "ちょっと！”, which I enjoy hearing because each girl sounds quite different doing it.

This song is much more dialed up funk than "Sakura Night Fever," with a more harsh-sounding funk rather than a jolly, poppy funk.

Think of Morning Musume '15's "Sukatto My Heart" instrumental design, but more complex and intense.

As for the vocals, even though I believe Inoue Rei has the most rich and complex vocals in Kobushi Factory, Hirose Ayaka definitely has the most stability and range, and it shows.

In addition, although she didn't have the most difficult parts in the song, Nomura Minami's voice sounded very pleasing, with a tinge of vibrato added to her parts. Although Nomura is not much of a belter, she does have a very impressive voice indeed.

Fujii Rio and Wada Sakurako both have deeper husky voices, while Ogawa Rena and Taguchi Natsumi both have cuter husky voices. However, all the different voice types work very harmoniously in this song.

As much as I do adore Inoue's voice, I think it would have been a better choice to switch her part division with Hirose's, as Hirose can handle longer notes and belting much easier.

As for the lyrics of the song, they hold the common Kobushi Factory song theme of going through life honestly and confidently, and always remembering your resolutions.

If there is one thing that Kobushi does best in their songs, it would be energy and power.

Song Rating: 7/10

3. Osu! Kobushi Tamashii

This is another song with the Kobushi Life Message, as I may call it from now on.

This song is actually quite simple, and I most likely won't have much to say about it.

However, this song is very pleasing to the ears.

I do feel this song is much more vocal-friendly than "Chotto!". In fact, this song is pretty easy to sing. 

In this composition, there is still a bit of tongue-rolling and high notes, but nowhere near as much as in "Chotto!" This song was obviously geared more toward showcasing the individual members.

My preferred vocals in this song have to go to Fujii Rio, and no, not because she is my favorite idol and celebrity in the world. It's because she sounds really crisp, and her personality (apparent even with her vocals) really fits well with the song.

I have to say, Kobushi Factory's personalities shine through a lot in their singing. It's amazing, because I can't think of many other groups who can do that at all.

This song is definitely the most Kobushi-driven out of the three, as in it was a song clearly geared for just them.

Although the weakest in the single (in my opinion), it definitely has its charms.

Song Rating: 6/10

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SINGLE RATING (determined mathematically by average of song ratings, not by opinion): 7.3/10

Do I agree with this rating?: Yes. Although it wasn't as strong as their major debut in my opinion, it was still a strong single and I love Kobushi to death. Rather than this single having many faults, it was just some sort of a lack in the latter two songs of the single. However, I still thoroughly enjoy this single very much.

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Well, I hope you all enjoyed this review very much. Until next time.

Calli, out!

[GRADUATION TRIBUTE PLAN] MM'16 Suzuki Kanon & ANGERME Tamura Meimi

Zukki and Meimi will be graduating from their group and H!P at the end of May this year.

So it's time to announce our tribute plan!

[Concert Review] Morning Musume PRISM 7th of December

Good Day everyone.
Time for the last concert review of this trip.

Morning Musume PRISM concert.

December 7th, my last day of the trip, and I really looked forward to it.
I came there around noon, and it was really warm there, (well, for northen people like me anyway), so while the japanese fans wore jackets and such, I wore only "spring clothes". After standing in queue for around 2½ hour I could finally start to see the goods tent, and I was stupid and hurt my foot while just standing up (haha), it took my 3 hours, from getting there to getting my goods.
Then I met up with one of my friends that I met the day before at the ANGERME handshake event, and hung out with him and his friends until the doors opened, then we decided to meet up afterwards too.

The concert, OMG, it was so lovely and so sad.
It was the first Budokan concert with Morning Musume for me, and like ANGERME budokan, I had arena seat, not as great as ANGERME but still.

The setlist was wonderful, and yet so sad, since it was the final days of Sayashi Riho MM days.
It was the first time for me hearing certain songs live, so I was really happy,
I also managed to catch a few of the things that got thrown out from the roof (a great reason to get a arena seat xD)
The one song I really hoped to hear, was Dokkan Capriccio, so even if it was just a part of the medley, I was really happy.

Only thing I had against was the fire, god it was so warm, that if I hadnt been drinking something before, I would probably have fainted (I sure hope no-one did)

I still have hard to believe I was there, and everything.
But, it is worth it, and you should try to travel to Japan, and attend concerts, checkis and whatever more is possible.
It will be a lifetime memory.

10/10

Next concert review, will be - I don't know, haha, I will travel to Japan in end of May, and I know for a fact I'll attend Tamura Meimi graduation concert, and that one might be the first one or the last or the only one for that trip, we'll see.

Love~
Risa