For those of you who are not familiar with the NHK annual Kouhaku, it is a concert that is meant to celebrate the New Year in Japan. This concert has some of the best musical acts in all of Japan, and this concert is meant to be a reward for a year’s worth of hard work. Some of the J-Pop groups that made it this year include AKB48, Nogizaka46, Perfume, and NMB48. But you might be asking yourself, who did not make it this year? Well, I am going to list a few J-Pop acts that may have been snubbed by NHK. Some of which for good reason, and some of which made absolutely no sense. Acts such as Momoiro Clover Z, Rev. from DVL, and Cheeky Parade, did not make the lineup, but I will focus on four acts in particular. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Harajuku’s finest did not make it into the NHK Kouhaku lineup this year. To be 100% honest, I can see why. Even though I am a huge fan of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, I, as well as thousands of her fans, have to agree that she did not go as hard as previous years, especially 2013 and 2014. She had two big releases the entire year in “Mondai Girl” and “Crazy Party Night”, and the general consensus is that “Crazy Party Night” is one of her weaker singles. This year there was no album release and Pamyu did not make it to the United States to perform (she was close to going to J-Pop Summit in San Francisco this year but management backed her out at the last minute). Basically, compared to what we have seen of her, this was not the best year for Pamyu, and thus she got snubbed off of this year’s NHK Kouhaku. But what I did like about this year was that this year was kind of a means to relax, especially given all she has done in previous years. She has gone hard as a mother since the debut of “PONPONPON” back in 2011. I will still be here to support her no matter what. If she wants in on NHK Kouhaku next year however, she may need to release more than two singles. HKT48 If you did not know this interesting tidbit of trivia, HKT48 was not supposed to be in the NHK Kouhaku last year. That spot was reserved for Nogizaka46, but after Yamato Rina had a scandal that involved breaking the law, Nogizaka46 was booted off of the lineup and subbed in with HKT48. Given that Nogizaka46 has done nothing wrong to get kicked off of the lineup this year, they have finally earned that long overdue NHK Kouhaku spot. Unfortunately for HKT48, that means they get the short end of the stick. While HKT48 had a few solid releases this year, such as “12 Byou” and “Shekarashika!”, those two singles alone were not enough to secure a spot. HKT48’s snub will not exactly affect members who have been on an AKB48 senbatsu, such as Miyawaki Sakura and Sashihara Rino. However, for the HKT48-centric members, such as Moriyasu Madoka, Murashige Anna, and Matsuoka Natsumi, this affects them a whole lot more. SKE48 This is probably the biggest snub on the 48G side of things. Yes, SKE48 is not in the NHK Kouhaku lineup this year, but the bigger question would be, why did they get snubbed? I would say the biggest reason had to be all of the members who graduated this year alone. Two members in particular had the most stopping power in the entire lineup, and both of those members (Matsui Rena and Furukawa Airi) have now graduated. Things are a little shaky in Sakae right now, to the point where Matsui Jurina had to cut her AKB48 kennin off. This is an idol unit that is somehow going through a “rebuilding phase”, and releasing only two singles this year did not help their cause (no, we are not counting the Love Crescendo single or any of the sub-unit singles). I am by no means insulting the lineup or any of the members; I do like Shibata Aya, Tani Marika, Kumazaki Haruka, and Takayanagi Akane. Unfortunately for all of them, SKE48 will have to regroup and wait until next year to secure a Kouhaku spot. Like most rebuilding teams in sports, just get through the present in order to focus on future goals. It may suck now, but it will be worth it in the future. I hope Matsui Jurina knows that… Ebisu Muscats lol In all honesty, there was no chance that the Ebisu Muscats, even during their revival, could make NHK Kouhaku. Speaking as a fan of the Muscats since 2010, even when they were in their prime (2012-2013), they had no chance. I cannot speak for NHK management, but if an idol group with av stars makes NHK Kouhaku, would that raise a few problems? The funny thing is, on the Ebisu Muscats’ variety show, they would throw a Kouhaku-style performance set, complete with costumes and parodies. This was the only time I saw my Ebisu Muscats oshimen, Rukawa Rina, perform “Aitakatta” by AKB48. That was one of the greatest moments I had seen of her on that entire show, ever. Basically, the Ebisu Muscats may never get into an NHK Kouhaku lineup for family-friendly reasons, and that is a-ok. Those are the entries that missed their spot on NHK Kouhaku. Did I miss anyone? Were there even bigger snubs? Let me know in the comments below. -Nathan (L4verra) A while ago I wrote an article detailing the Franchise Four of the 48 Groups. Since we are still in baseball season, I am still thinking about “Franchise Fours” like crazy. It got me thinking… Who is on my Franchise Four? What I mean by this is the four artists or idols that really got you into J-Pop, or have done something special that kept you as a fan almost forever. The possibilities are endless if you’ve been a fan of J-Pop for years now, but if you had to narrow it down to just four individuals, who would it be and why? Let me tell you which four individuals I selected. I would have never enjoyed J-Pop if it weren’t for these four… Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Minegishi Minami, Wada Maaya, Rukawa Rina
Let me explain each one in detail. The reason why I chose Kyary Pamyu Pamyu as the first choice is because she remains the only person out of these three that I have seen perform live. I first heard of Pamyu through the Ebisu Muscats’ variety show way back in 2013. Some of the Muscats were covering her songs during one of the show’s segments, and the song “Tsukema Tsukeru” was covered. Curious, I did a little research on the song and found out that it was by an upcoming artist named Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. From then on, I became hooked. It took a while for me to get used to songs such as “PonPonPon” and “Candy Candy”, but eventually they grew on me and I could not stop playing them. Then I found out she was coming here. She was going to perform at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Of course, I could not let an opportunity like that slip by, so I bought a ticket, went to the concert 4 hours early, and met a lot of new friends there. I screamed my heart out when I saw her take the stage, and I thought to myself, “I have to do this again!” Lucky for me, she was performing in San Francisco the same year, so I traveled all the way up there to see her once again. While that concert was short (and not worth the 6 hour drives…), I was still rather thankful to watch her perform. The very next year, she came back to perform, and I once again did not let this opportunity slip by. I’ve seen her perform three times in my life, which is why I have her on my Franchise Four. If she ever comes back, I may get the VIP package to get myself a photo with her. I will admit this: Kyary has been my celebrity crush since 2013… I’ve already touched on Minegishi Minami and Wada Maaya before, but there’s no harm in reviewing! I found out about Minegishi Minami because of her scandal. I used to despise AKB48 (as was the case with most Ebisu Muscats fans), but when I found out she shaved her head due to a dating scandal, I got curious. I did a little research on who she was, what she’s done with AKB48, and so on. It did not take too long for me to drop the AKB48 hatred and call her my oshi. Yes, that scandal is what drove me to become a Minegishi Minami fan. She unlocked AKB48 and their sister groups for me, which is the main reason why she is on my Franchise Four. As for Wada Maaya, her story is a little bit different. When I found out the Ebisu Muscats disbanded in 2013, I had to find a new group to pay attention to. While AKB48 was an option, I saw a bunch of photos on Tumblr of this attractive lady named Shiraishi Mai. Turns out she was on an idol group called Nogizaka46. I grew curious of Nogizaka46 and their determination to be the first “rival group” of AKB48. I also became curious as to who the members were, who was cute, who was worth following, etc. Then this underrated girl at the bottom of the list showed up, and her name was Maaya. Like Minegishi Minami, I did a little research on Wada Maaya to see what kind of idol she was. I found…almost nothing. But to tell you the truth, the reason why I became a fan of Maaya was because she was vastly underrated. She has so much untapped potential as an idol, to the point where I believe she can be as popular as other idols her age, such as Murashige Anna, Komiyama Haruka, and dare I say, Miyawaki Sakura. Wada Maaya is funny, gives good handshakes, has a nice singing voice, and is cute with her short hair. While I know that a lot of idols are like that, in my opinion Maaya does these things better than most idols. This is why she is on my Franchise Four. The last spot goes to Rukawa Rina, who I’ve written about before. Since the Ebisu Muscats were the first J-Pop group I was ever interested in, I had to pick a favorite. It took a few tries (Asami Yuma, Rio, etc.), but eventually Rukawa Rina caught my eye. The things that I did like about her were that she was cute, she liked anime, and she was close to my age (the rest of the Muscats were 4+ years older than I was). Put all those factors in and thus she became my Ebisu Muscats oshi. She also was an adult video idol, but she was the first idol I called an oshi, so that explains why she is on my Franchise Four. That just about does it for my Franchise Four selections. These four individuals are the reason why I am a huge fan of J-Pop, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Who is on your Franchise Four? -Nathan (L4verra) Kyary Pamyu Pamyu just released the MV for her new song "Crazy Party Night〜Pumpkin no Gyakushuu〜". This is going to be her 11th single and is set to release on September 2nd! As with all her MV's, this one is colorful and filled with many zany characters. A pretty catchy tune with a cute dance that takes from Michael jackson's thriller is sure to be fun for all! Be sure to check it out! |
Search
Contributors◆ Angie
◆ Hinacchi ◆ Manuel ◆ Megan ◆ Molly ◆ Rose ◆ Rubi ◆ Sylvia ◆ Teepu ◆ Tiffany ◆ Winfield Support Us On Patreon!Archives
February 2024
|