Juice=Juice’s Bitansan MV is part of their 11th triple A-side single (Bitansan / Potsurito / Good bye & Good luck!) releasing on February 13, 2019 in Japan. It will also be Yanagawa Nanami’s last single before graduating from the group in March 2019 after joining the group since June 2017. It is also the first single to include Inaba Manaka, who joined the group in June 2018. Juice=Juice currently consists of Miyazaki Yuka, Kanazawa Tomoko, Takagi Sayuki, Miyamoto Karin, Uemura Akari, Yanagawa Nanami, Dambara Ruru, and Inaba Manaka.
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Juice=Juice during their stop in Taipei, Taiwan during their ongoing world tour. Their concert, held at The Red House, would be attended by many fans, both local and abroad, and came following a very successful series of shows around the world. Having recently added new members, and having embarked on what is the biggest overseas tour that Hello! Project has put on to date, we were excited to sit down and talk to them about their experiences on the tour as well as the dynamics of the group following the new additions. Check it out and be sure to follow them for more updates as this tour is not finished!
Juice=Juice was formed in 2013 by famed producer, Tsunku♂, with members taken from the Hello! Pro Kenshuusei (the trainee members). Six members were originally chosen for their indie debut and had their major debut later that year with "Romance no Tochuu". Following the release of their first album, "First Squeeze!", they embarked on their first overseas tour "Juice=Juice LIVE MISSION 220 ~Code 1-Begin to Run~" with performances in Taipei, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They would perform in Hong Kong again in 2016 and in 2017 they announced a world tour titled "Juice=Juice LIVE AROUND 2017 ~World Tour~" which took them to Mexico, Europe, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. In June, 2017 it was announced that Dambara Ruru (Hello! Pro Kenshuusei) and Yanagawa Nanami (Country Girls) would be joining the group and they would release their first digital single titled "Fiesta! Fiesta!" that summer. Following their performance in Taiwan shows in South America have were announced to be added to their world tour. 2017 is shaping up to be a very iconic year for Hello! Project, for better and worse. Among the many announcements and events that have happened already, the ones that stand out the most are: the recent disbandment of °C-ute, the announcement of Country Girls’ new shuffle style and slowdown, the announcement of Haruka Kudo’s graduation, Momoko Tsugunaga’s upcoming graduation. Now we have another huge set of announcements that were made in today’s Hello! Station (being mentioned in the same order they were made in the video).
Juice=Juice finally released their album a while ago, and I’m here to tell you all about it! Since the first disc is a collection of most of their singles that they’ve released since they started up, I’m not going to talk too much about that. I really want to try and spend most my time covering all the new stuff instead. That being said, listening to the first disc, called “The Best Juice”, gives you a nice little history of the progress they have had since they started. Interestingly, the disc doesn’t actually start with their first song. It starts with their final indie single, which was really them providing their version of a Hello Pro Kenshuusei song: ‘Ten Made Nobore!’ In their defense, it’s the only indie single of theirs that never saw a major release. It’s a slower song that is pleasant to listen to, but is a weak way to begin the disc, in my opinion. Moving forward, the rest of the songs on the first disc are from their major debut single (‘Romance no Tochuu’) all the way to the release right before the most recent single (‘Senobi’ / ‘Date ja nai yo Uchi no Jinsei wa’). They had actually started with a very strong jazz-like presence, which evolved into a much more pop style as time went on. They still retained the slight jazz feel in order to push forward their ‘cool’ theme, but the style isn’t as strong as it was when it started. This can, of course, be heard as you listen through the first disc on “First Squeeze!” The second disc, “The Brand-new Juice”, is where the fun really begins. It kicks off with one of the songs from their newest single releases: ‘Wonderful World’. It’s not particularly mind-blowing, but it is a very pleasant song to listen to. It doesn’t show off any exceptional singing talents, but it does manage to pull you in with a pleasant melody that is simple to follow. The next song is ‘CHOICE & CHANCE’, which is a new song that is addictively catchy. It doesn’t do anything brave, but keeps with Juice=Juice’s theme they’ve been keeping. ‘Ai Ai Gasa’ follows which sounds like the sort of song you would expect to hear on the beach as you relax on a pleasant summer day. ‘Umaretate no Baby Love’ is the first song that really starts to show a little bit more skill out of the girls. While there isn’t much vocal range presented in this song, they manage to hit their notes quite effectively and also keep in sync with each other very well. ‘Erabareshi Watashitachi’ is next and it features a much more instrumental and rock style to it. The guitar sections, while not particularly complex, add a lot of personality to the song as a whole, which really helps give a slight contrast yet accentuate the lovely vocals. It’s definitely a pleasant change of pace from the more jazz/pop style of most of the other songs so far. ‘Ça va? Ça va?’ follows, which is the other song from their newest single. A bit different in style from Wonderful World, this one focuses on a more catchy yet cute feeling while throwing in a little bit of French here and there to try and make it sound a little exotic. The next song is by far my favorite song on the album: ‘GIRLS BE AMBITIOUS’. This one has a more rock feel to it, like ‘Umaretate no Baby Love’. The beat is extremely catchy and is the type of song you can’t help but bob your head to. It fluctuates back and forth a bit from a focus on vocals then a focus on instrumental then a focus on combining both of those. To top it off, it is by far the best use of vocal skill that has been presented on the album so far. I also found out after I decided it was my favorite that it was actually written and composed by Takui Nakajima, who has been grabbing my attention a lot lately with his exceptional work (see: Taiki Bansei, Lady Mermaid, Ikujinashi, etc.). Up next is ‘Ai no Diving’. This one has a pretty repetitive set of lyrics, which may or may not appeal to you. That being said, the instrumental is actually pretty fun to listen to, which helps give this song some quality that it wouldn’t have otherwise. For some reason, this song makes me think of the type of song I’d expect to hear while playing Mario Kart. ‘Tick-Tock Watashi no Shun’ is more like ‘Wonderful World’, with a much more soothing and calm melody. Considering the more daring songs that have been on the disc, it helps add some much needed variety and rest to the listener. Next is ‘Mirai e, Saa Hashiridase!’ This song has just the right amount of relaxation and enticing sounds to make it appealing to the ears. That being said, there isn’t really much to make this stand out. It’s a fairly generic song overall, especially considering the top quality of the rest of the album. The final song on the second disc, ‘Tsudzuiteiku STORY’, is the expected ballad-like song that Hello! Project albums tend to close with. That’s not to say that the song isn’t good, it just follows the same mold. From the standpoint of the listener, it’s actually a pretty good way to present things. You start off the album a little slow to ease in the listener then attack their senses through the middle then slow back down to allow the listener time to absorb everything they heard. They keep using this formula because, frankly speaking, it’s effective. The final disc, “The Cover Juice”, is a small collection of covers of other Hello! Project songs. The first track is ‘Magic of Love’, originally sung by Taiyou to Ciscomoon. It retains the classic dance style of the original, while infusing that Juice=Juice personality. Quite effectively, I might add. ‘Kosui’ is up next, which was originally sung by Melon Kinenbi. I feel like Juice=Juice did a really good job of capturing that really pleasant feel of the original in this cover and that the lines were distributed quite nicely in order to make each singer’s strengths shine a little. I always loved ‘Narihajimeta Koi no Bell’, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear Juice=Juice’s cover of this song by Ongaku Gatas. The more jazz-like style of this song suits Juice=Juice really well, and helps compliment them as a group. ‘Scramble’, originally sung by Maki Goto, is an oddball. While the cover is actually done pretty well, part of the charm of it being a solo song is taken away with having five singers contributing to the song. This is a personal gripe, and most will likely enjoy the song, but this fact kind of turns me off to the song. The next song, which happens to be one of my favorite Petitmoni songs, is ‘BABY! Koi ni KNOCK OUT!’ (Sung by Yuka Miyazaki, Tomoko Kanazawa and Akari Uemura in this cover). My opinion on this is meaningless, because I love this song so much that no matter how good or bad a cover is, I’ll still love it. I really like that Yuka and Akari, who aren’t the most talented singers exactly, are able to shine next to the much better Tomoko. This song really does play to them together as a trio. The final disc closes out with the Tanpopo song ‘Last Kiss’, sung by (arguably) the two best singers in Juice=Juice: Sayuki Takagi and Karin Miyamoto. Listening to both versions back to back really helps show how much skill Tanpopo had in this song, and how Karin and Sayuki have a little bit to go to catch up. The thing is, though, that they are very skilled, but have a slightly different style. In the end the cover is well done though, and they do a beautiful job of doing the song justice. After having waited over two years for their first album to release, Juice=Juice did not disappoint in even the slightest. There is a good variety of content on here, and even a little fan service to sate the more nostalgic fans on the final disc. They play to their strengths and paint a portrait that helps give a sense of finality to the style they’ve been developing since they started. Hello! Project has managed to push out some really nice things this year, and this album seals the deal. The best part is that there is still plenty more to come. Juice=Juice’s first album (released on July 15, 2015), “First Squeeze!”, is available in three editions. Limited Edition A comes with a Blu-ray disc that contains all of their music videos and variations (Dance Shots, Close-ups, etc.). Limited Edition B comes with a DVD that contains their full concert performance on 4/25 at Sapporo from their first live tour. The regular edition contains the third music CD which is where the covers are. Yes that’s right, only the regular edition has all three discs of music. The others only have the first two discs. “First Squeeze!” is available on iTunes (though lacking the covers) or can be purchased from cdjapan.co.jp. Juice=Juice is: - Yuka Miyazaki - Tomoko Kanazawa - Sayuki Takagi - Karin Miyamoto - Akari Uemura Music videos of album exclusive songs can be viewed below: Hello! Pro Station Episode #101 Contents MC: Ishida Ayumi & Kumai Yurina ◆ ANGERME - Otome no Gyakushuu PV ◆ ANGERME - Taikibansei (Dance Shot) PV ◆ 4-Kanji Phrase : 一蓮托生 ◆ Hamaura Ayano Interview ◆ Berryz Selection ◆ Q&A Corner ◆ Juice=Juice "School For Girls" Information The 101st episode of Hello! Project Station begins with the Promotion Edit of ANGERME's new PV "Otome no Gyakushuu". I have a separate post about this song so I won't say too much about it here. I will say that this song is probably my early pick for idol song of the year and that I am extremely excited to hear new material from ANGERME. While I am a little torn over the fact that Tsunku isn't writing for them anymore, I am glad to say that this change in sound and style is a welcome one! This week's hosts are Morning Musume 15's Ishida Ayumi and Berryz Koubou's Kumai Yurina. They do a great job together and there is a surprising amount of fun banter here. Kumai Yurina is about as random as you expect her to be and Ayumi is sporting a new shorter hairstyle. Some discussions about Ayumi turning 18 recently. This means that she'll finally be able to perform in the later segments of the Hello! Countdown concerts! Also, gotta love Kumai Yurina's description of the new ANGERME PV. Next we see the dance shot version of ANGERME's "Taikibansei". I mentioned this before, but this song really made me take back all the negative things I was saying about S/mileage's re-branding as ANGERME. The song is catchy, amazing and the dance/outfits are a perfect fit. This dance shot version is a little more stylized than we are probably used to seeing, but it's a fun version nonetheless and a good excuse to listen to the song again! Next up, we have the 4-kanji phrase segment! Everyone knows how I feel about this segment so I'll just jump into the specifics. This week's phrase is "一蓮托生" which means something along the lines of "being in the same boat". A weird segment that is hosted by Morning Musume 15's Iikubo Haruna with the guest being Country Girls' Inaba Manaka. Back with our hosts, we get some karaoke talk. Let's hope we see a segment of these two doing karaoke together soon! Next we have an interview with Hamaura Ayano who is a member of the yet-to-be-named new Hello! Project group! She talks a lot about her time being in the the Kenkyuusei/Hello! Pro Eggs and some talk about not being chosen to be in Juice=Juice. It ends in tears and there is some interesting information here if you plan to follow the new unit from the get-go. We follow this up with a Berryz Selection segment. These are all the more sad now that we now that our time with Berryz Koubou is so short. The clip is from the 2013 concert and features Berryz members Saki Shimizu (Captain), Sugaya Risako and Morning Musume 15 leader, Fukumura Mizuki. Saki Shimizu has to gently prod Mizuki for fogetting to point out that she is now Morning Musume's leader which is interesting as I too realize that it's a little hard to accept even at this point. The song is not one of my favorites, but it is very nostalgic and there are some nice stories shared by the trio and a promise for next week's Berryz Selection being from the Berryz Koubou x Juice=Juice concert tour. The Q&A corner is interesting as they usually are. Ayumi sees Riho as a rival which is not really too surprising. There is some height talk since we must remember that Kumai Yurina is extremely tall, especially amongst the other Hello! Project members. Kumai Yurina's struggles with her height are real! We close the episode with some announcements regarding the new Berryz Koubou greatest hits album and the start date for the new Morning Musume 15 Spring Tour. That might have been the official end, but we actually close with some information regarding Juice=Juice's "School For Girls" event. I could talk a bit about what is said, but it's short and not too interesting. What is interesting here is Tomoko's "FRORIDA" shirt! Everyone should get one! Watch and enjoy! Hello! Pro Station Episode #100 Contents MC: Tamura Meimi & Miyamoto Karin ◆ ANGERME - Taikibansei PV ◆ ANGERME Name Choosing ◆ 4-Kanji Phrase : 水魚の交 ◆ New Hello! Project Unit Announcement Part 2 ◆ Q&A Corner ◆ Murota Mizuki Hair Arrangement The 100th episode of Hello! Pro Station went up last week and it was full of all the new Hello! Project groups that we're going to see lots of this year! The episode starts with a clip of the ANGERME's new PV "Taikibansei". The song and video are amazing. I had heard this song previously in previews/rips/etc, but hearing it in its proper form allows one to hear just what a great song this is! It's catchy with a nice beat and melody and the girls, new and old, shine here! This single is coming out soon and the full version of the PV (and it's other A-side) are actually already out at the time of this writing. Check them out whether you were a fan of S/mileage or not! We move to our hosts who for this episode are Tamura Meimi of ANGERME and Miyamoto Karin of Juice=Juice. Meimi just might become a favorite of mine since she mentions that she loves Takarazuka! This was something I never knew about her. Has she stated this before? If anyone can pinpoint clips that refer to her love of Takarazuka I'd love to see them. Drop me a comment or message if you can. Anyhow, we have some fun banter with our hosts and then move into a clip that shows how the name "ANGERME" was decided upon. There were some good name choices there. I can't remember what mine was, but I submitted one too and I was hoping that they'd mention it here. They didn't. Did anyone's submission get mentioned? Anyhow, they clearly decide on ANGERME and I still think it's a little unfair since it came from a member's idea and makes the whole contest thing moot. Moving on, after this clip we move into what I'm sure is everyone's favorite segment (sarcasm present) the 4-Kanji Phrase! Ikubo Haruna (Morning Musume '15 sub-leader) introduces this one to Inaba Manaka from Country Girls. This week's phrase is "水魚の交" which refers to close friendship. I am not sure as to the point of this segment or if anyone truly enjoys these, but they are here and I watch them! I guess it helps with some of the quirks of the Japanese language if one is a student. It's a bit too esoteric though for the casual student/learner though I think. Inaba Manaka surely didn't know this week's phrase... After this we move into the second half of the new Hello! Project Unit's announcement. Expect more tears from the former Kenshuusei as they are told about their new status in Hello! Project. After this little bit we get Maimi's assessment of the girls. She wishes them the best in the future career as do we all! This week's Q&A corner is dominated by Meimi's thumb! I can't get over what her thumb can do and I don't think Karin could either! Check it out. Our hosts do a good job keeping everyone interested which I was actually surprised by since neither of them are anywhere on my favorite member lists. I still can't get over Meimi's new hair by the way though I'm sure in a couple weeks I won't notice anymore. The episode closes with a hair arrange by Murota Mizuki of ANGERME. Another segment that I don't really care for though I can see its appeal to others. That said, I don't think I've seen her hair arranged like this in any clips/segments. All in all this was a really good episode of the usual format and if you haven't watched it yet, watch it now! Be sure to check out all of ANGERME's new PVs too! Hello! Pro Station Episode #95 Contents MC: Tokunaga Chinami, Oda Sakura ◆ S/mileage Live From Michishige Sayumi Graduation Concert. ◆ Michishige Sayumi Graduation Message ◆ Michishige Sayumi - "Akai Freesia" ◆ Morning Musume '14 - "Aruiteru" ◆ 4 Kanji Phrase: 天真爛漫 (Innocence) ◆ Berryz Selection: Tsugunaga Momoko & Sudo Maasa with Suzuki Airi ◆ Juice=Juice Harajuku Event ◆ Q & A Corner with Chinami & Oda This week's slightly late episode of Hello! Pro Station is hosted by Tokunaga Chinami (Berryz Kobo) and Oda Sakura (Moring Musume '14) Before I delve into the video proper let me say I love the girls' sweaters here. They are very random. Disco and comfortable sheep? Makes you wonder who makes these girls' wardrobe choices. Moving on... This episode is chock full of content and a lot of it centers around Sayumi Michishige's graduation concert. This is all well, good and proper since it is the most important Hello! Project event in recent memory and the first of many changes that are just around the corner. Speaking of the upcoming changes, this episode starts out with S/mileage, a group that will very soon cease to exist in its current form. In this clip we see the introduction of nine-member S/mileage perfoming "Eighteen Emotion". They opened the Morning Musume '14 concert at Yokohama Arena and I'm not sure if this was broadcast too as by the time I joined they were well past this point. Either way I guess I am seeing this for the first time and I'm not sure what to say about it. The new members seem to fit in well, but we don't get much out of them performance-wise as the song stays firmly with the original members. I'll reserve judgement on the direction of the group-formerly-known-as-S/mileage as their future unfolds. I will say that I hope they choose the name I suggested for them! I won't say what it is until the final decision is made, but I think I chose a good one. Did anyone else submit a possible name when the form was up? Oh, did I mention anything about Tamura Meimei's hair? Well, you'll be hard pressed to not realize that it's now quite short, though it is a good look on her if I do say so myself. Moving into the main segment of the episode, we get lots of footage from the actual graduation portion of the concert. We get Sayumi's graduation speech, her performance of "Akai Freesia" and the closing performance of "Aruiteru". I covered most of this is my previous post about the graduation concert's livestream so I won't go too much into it here. "Akai Freesia" may have shocked me initially (keeping in mind that I forgot that it was her audition song) but it has since grown on me again and I find myself listening to Melon Kinenbi for the first time in countless years. As for "Aruiteru" I must once again state that I am glad that we got the original version here and not the one that Sayumi recorded for the "BEST" album. Her graduation comments? They are as funny and touching as ever. If anyone is interested there are subs of all the graduation messages that can be found online without too much effort. Closing out that momentous occasion we move onto more mundane elements of the episode. Another 4-Kanji phrase that I can't begin to understand. This week's one is "天真爛漫" and is brought to us by Kanazawa Tomoko of Juice=Juice. Moving on we are treated to more Berryz Selections. This one features the Berryz Kobo x C-ute live so it features members of both groups, namely Momoko and Maasa (Berryz Kobo) and Suzuki Airi of C-ute. This one is a little more interesting than some of the previous ones as the members have good interactions, but I never really cared for this segment even prior to the announcement of Berryz's uncoming disbandment. Onwards, we go and we get footage of Juice=Juice's Harajuku event complete with backstage shots and interviews. We close with our hosts' Q & A segment and that wraps up another episode of Hello! Pro Station! Be sure to watch as this episode has lots to see, especially if you missed the graduation concert. As usual, if you wait a few days Up Front will put up Japanese captions which Youtube will translate for those that need rudimentary subs. Watch and enjoy! |
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