Meimi Tamura, 2nd generation member of ANGERME, has just announced that she will be graduating this coming spring of 2016. She said that she wants to pursue a career as a musical actress. Meimi has oftentimes been referred to as the strongest singer in ANGERME, so this goal suits her perfectly. No official date or information for the graduation has been released yet.
Meimi joined S/mileage (later rebranded as ANGERME) on August 14, 2011 alongside Kana Nakanishi, Akari Takeuchi and Rina Katsuta. Since then, she has grown as an entertainer and especially as a singer. She’s oftentimes been the heart of the musicals she’s performed in, with her (arguably) best performance in the musical ‘Lilium’. With the recent departure of beloved member Kanon Fukuda, this most certainly comes as tough news to stomach for ANGERME fans. That being said, she will likely have a very promising future. We should all do our best to support her and also continue to support ANGERME as they hopefully continue their stride of success. Here’s to Meimi! -Teepu ANGERME is: - Wada Ayaka (和田彩花; 1st Generation) Leader - Nakanishi Kana (中西香菜; 2nd Generation) Sub-Leader - Takeuchi Akari (竹内朱莉; 2nd Generation) Sub-Leader - Katsuta Rina (勝田里奈; 2nd Generation) - Tamura Meimi (田村芽実; 2nd Generation) - Murota Mizuki (室田瑞希; 3rd Generation) - Aikawa Maho (相川茉穂; 3rd Generation) - Sasaki Rikako (佐々木莉佳子; 3rd Generation) - Kamikokuryo Moe (上國料萌衣; 4th Generation) Official Announcement: http://www.helloproject.com/news/4010/ Translation of Announcement by Up-Front Link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-announcement-concerning-meimi-tamura/991425097583074 ANGERME recently released a triple A-side single consisting of Nana Korobi Ya Oki, Gashin Shoutan and Mahou Tsukai Sally. There are three words I can use to describe this release in a nutshell: exciting, fun and silly. Nana Korobi Ya Oki is exciting, Gashin Shoutan is fun and Mahou Tsukai Sally is silly. ANGERME had a reboot of a sort with the release of their previous single, re-branding themselves from S/mileage to ANGERME. This reboot was more than a name change and member addition, but also a clear shift in style, focus and presentation, as can be seen with their first single release as ANGERME and now this. First up is Nana Korobi Ya Oki. From the moment the singing begins in this song you hear a very strong presence and form. Especially of note is how powerful Meimi sounds for her lines. This song is an example of how I tend to describe a lot of Hello! Project music. The beat is more for establishing the rhythm while the lyrics are the real sound of the music. You hear many songs in Pop where the instruments (whether it be synthetic or organic) tend to carry the song rather than the singing, but this song is carried by the lyrics. As a result, it really helps show off all of the girls’ strengths (and likewise, their weaknesses). They really have a unique synergy that helps them all feel like a very cohesive unit (something that isn’t always the case in other H!P groups, past and present). The reason I call this song exciting isn’t just because of the strong vocal presence, though. It’s also because of the fact that the song often times makes me feel anxious, in a good way. There are parts of it where as I’m hearing the song I start to get anxious and excited for how the next line will carry or how the beat may shift in order to force the singing to shift as well. It’s quite a fun adventure of aural pleasures and while it’s not my favorite song on the release, I certainly feel like it’s the best in regards to technicality. Next up is Gashin Shoutan. While Nana Korobi Ya Oki has more of an emphasis on the vocals, I feel like this song has a bit more of a balance between the music and the vocals. There is more vocal talent that is shown off in this song, but they use the music to really help complement each other. It works out quite nicely. I call this one fun because it harkens back to the older style of very fun, jumpy and carefree songs that you can hear from older H!P music. To top it off it feels like it incorporates a Juice=Juice style of ‘cool’ music into what is starting to become a new ANGERME style. It’s a quite interesting mesh of various styles and features that ends up turning into the kind of song that immediately grabs your attention and makes you want to get up and dance. Last, and most definitely not least, is Mahou Tsukai Sally. This one is actually my favorite of the trio, because I just find it so darn charming. It’s definitely not the most complex or the best example of advanced skills in the trio. It makes up for this by being extremely silly. The chorus consists of an ‘incantation’ and the lyrics are extremely repetitive and really only talk about Sally and her being a witch. Not the most deep or most inspiring, as you can tell. That being said, the song is exceedingly catchy and addictive. As a result of the simplicity, it is also very easy to follow along to. I won’t commend them on amazing talent or amazing musical composition (though the music is very silly and fun as well), but I will commend them on being able to do a song that is easy to pick up and very addictive. It’s the kind of song you’ll likely hear me singing extremely loud as I drive down the freeway not caring about all the weird looks I’m getting. While not directly related to song in regard to the music, I want to point out that the cute witch costumes they have for this particular song are the most adorable things ever! If ANGERME continues with this kind of exceptional quality, then they are bound for a very big future. I’ve been thoroughly impressed by them since they rebooted, in music, performance and personality. Let’s hope that with the 4th generation auditions they bring in more talent to better expand on their positive qualities and to hopefully fill in for the gaping hole that will be in place when Kanon Fukuda graduates later this year. Nana Korobi Ya Oki / Gashin Shoutan / Mahou Tsukai Sally released on July 22, 2015. You can get the single from cdjapan.co.jp or whatever Japanese music retail you prefer to purchase from. This one isn’t on iTunes, unfortunately. ANGERME is: - Ayaka Wada (1st Generation) - Kanon Fukuda (1st Generation) - Kana Nakanishi (2nd Generation) - Akari Takeuchi (2nd Generation) - Rina Katsuta (2nd Generation) - Meimi Tamura (2nd Generation) - Mizuki Murota (3rd Generation) - Aikawa Maho (3rd Generation) - Rikako Sasaki (3rd Generation) You can view the music videos for all of the songs below: It's the first Friday of the month and that means it's time for Featured Idol Friday! This time around we will look at former Hello! Project soloist, Mano Erina. Mano Erina had a long career as an idol. She joined Hello! Project in 2006 at the age of 15. Initially she was a member of "Hello Pro Egg" (now called "Hello! Pro Kenshuusei") but quickly debuted as a member of the group "Ongaku Gatas". Ongaku Gatas was a group that contained members of the futsal group "Gatas Brilhantes H.P." and contained a wide range of members from Eggs to former Morning Musume members. Together they released several singles and one album. Mano Erina would only see two of those singles and the album before she graduated to a solo career. Here is the PV for Ongaku Gata's second single "Yattarouze!" It's this solo career that will be the focus on here. Her debut singles were penned by KAN and her early gimmick was that she was a piano-playing idol who would, and did, accompany herself both on record and live. This angle did not really last too long past her indie releases, but it is worth noting that all her concert tours featured a segment where she would play the piano with other her older songs or with more recent ballads. Her indie debut was "Mano Piano" released in the summer of 2008 and always stuck out to me for some odd pronunciations throughout the track that were not repeated in later lives nor in the song's re-recording on her first album. Here's a performance of "Lalala Sososo" from the 2009 Hello! Project Winter Concert Tour. Her popularity was slow to build and it wasn't until the following year that she saw her major debut with "Otome no Inori". This would come after two more indie singles "Lucky Aura" and my personal favorite "Lalala Sososo". Her initial PVs and lives were also unique in that she was often paired with them up-and-coming Hello! Project group, "S/mileage". Similar to the early days of "W" and "Berryz Koubou"'s joint lives and PV appearances, the effect of promoting both new artists worked well. Both her and the group (along with members of Morning Musume) would appeared in the drama "Hanbun Esper". Following S/mileage's indie, and eventual major, debut, Mano's concerts and PVs would still serve as a training ground for Eggs whose talent would eventually lead to a debut. These Eggs included future S/mileage member, Takeuchi Akari and future Up-Front soloist, Kikkawa You amongst others. Here is the PV for "Sekai wa Summer Party" which features S/mileage. In 2010 Erina took on dual starring roles in the horror movie "Kaidan" which saw a US debut at the "Club 2 The Max" event in Los Angeles that ran concurrent with that year's Anime Expo. She appeared at these premieres which also featured a short Q&A and a brief performance. Below is a picture from the event. While she would continue her career as an idol with much success (even winning the "Best New Artist Award" at the 2010 Japan Gold Disc Awards) she was just as prolific an actress. Besides the aforementioned "Hanbun Esper", she also appeared in the dramas "Tokyo Shoujou", "Minna! Esper Dayo!" and "Suugaku Joushi Gakuen". She also starred in many net dramas like "Koisuru Seiza", "Mano Spy" and "Death Game Park". She even took a lead role in the "Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO MOVIE Taisen MEGAMAX" movie which featured the rare addition of a female Kamen Rider. All these roles served to build her career, but also created some confusion as to what her main focus within the Hello! Project collective was. Something that would not be completely cleared up within her time there. Below is the PV for "Genkimono de Ikou!" which features many familiar faces of Hello! Project, some cameos and some direction from Erina herself! Movies and television aside, music was still a strong focus in her career and she would release thirteen major singles, and three albums, before she announced her graduation in 2013. The announcement did not come as a shock to many as her career had been slowly moving towards that of an actress for years. While the sales of her releases were somtimes sporadic, her career spanned many interesting singles from "Love & Peace = Paradise", the PV of which featured Hello Kitty, and "Genkimono de Ikou!", which featured Mano Erina directing segments of the video and would become a live favorite. This author's personal favorite single is the Takui Nakajima-composed "My Days for You" followed closely by "Tasogare Kousaten". Both songs are strong ballads that feature amazing music videos with production values one doesn't always see in Hello! Project. Following the aptly titled "NEXT MY SELF", Mano Erina's solo releases would come to an end. Below is the video for "My Days for You" Following the Hello! Project 2013 Winter Concert Tour, Mano Erina graduated and moved onto a career as an actress. Since this graduation, she's appeared in television dramas like "Kumokiri Nizaemon" and the "Minna! Esper Dayo!" revival. As for as film appearances, she has been just as prolific most notably appearing in the "THE NEXT GENERATION -PATLABOR-" movie where she also performed one of the insert songs. Her career is just as active as before and here's hoping it continues for many more years! I leave with the video for "Tasogare Kousaten". 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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