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)  Perfume Recently released a 30 second commercial promoting the new A-class model Mercedes Benz. It also features a new song titled “Next Stage with YOU”. The commercial is a 3D animation done by Legendary Animator Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Neon Genesis Evangelion series) and features a virtual Perfume dancing with choreography similar to driving a car. A Perfume version of the car with stickers on the side of it will be sold online, but only 30 will be made. There will also be a “Next Stage with YOU” available on the IPhone App Store where you can take “Virtual Perfume” and have them perform in various stages using the phone's built-in camera. Collab Site: http://www.aclass-next-stage-with-you.jp/#!/top App Site: http://app.aclass-next-stage-with-you.jp/
This year has been tough for Hello! Project fans with the departure of Berryz Kobo from Hello! Project earlier in the year, the sudden departure of Uta Shimamura, the upcoming graduation of Kanon Fukuda this year and the upcoming graduation of Riho Sayashi at the end of the year. The best way they have seen to make up for this was to bring in new talent with new groups and new members.
Now, we get another addition to the ranks, this time into ANGERME: Moe Kamikokuryo. Joining as the sole 4th generation member, she officially joined the group on the 11th of November during an announcement at a promotion for their newest single’s release event. She had originally auditioned for Morning Musume ’14 in 2014, but hadn’t made it. She lost interest in Hello! Project songs at that time and ‘Taiki Bansei’ inspired her to do her best. This effort paid off, of course. We know very little of her, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing what she can bring to ANGERME. Since they’ve been rebranded as ANGERME (from S/mileage), they’ve been releasing nothing but amazing content. Their most recent release, ‘Desugita Kui wa Utarenai / Dondengaeshi / Watashi’, had some more awesome music as well. This contains the graduation single for Kanon Fukuda (‘Watashi’) and a song composed by Yuki Uozumi of Lovendor (‘Desugita Kui wa Utarenai’). Expect my thoughts on that next week. Keep an eye on Moe, I have a feeling she’s going to have a bright future. Let’s support her and ANGERME as best we can. - Teepu ANGERME is: - Wada Ayaka (和田彩花; 1st Generation) Leader - Fukuda Kanon (福田花音; 1st Generation) - Nakanishi Kana (中西香菜; 2nd Generation) - Takeuchi Akari (竹内朱莉; 2nd Generation) - 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) The Official Announcement: http://www.helloproject.com/news/3799/ Aika Mitsui Reports On Moe: https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-angerme-report-by-aika/973661969359387?id=171836769541915  Since I’ve gotten into Japanese music, I’ve essentially been closely tied almost exclusively to Hello! Project. I’ve branched out on rare occasion, but they have ultimately been the essence of everything I listen to. When I discover another group that legitimately catches my attention, then it is definitely worthy of mention. callme is one of those groups. Having just formed this year, they released their first album on the 28th of October: Who is callme? The album opens up with a track that serves as an intro to callme in the form of a report. It then leads straight into the only song on the album to get a music video, ‘step by step’. This is a great and catchy song that is a great way to kick off their debut album. The song flows very smoothly and is the kind of song you could bob your head to as you feel at peace. Their vocals are mostly soft and help induce a mood of calm happiness. It’s a very pleasant song that retains just enough of a pop that it still feels really catchy. Having started off with something a little stimulating, ‘My affection’ helps to maintain this mood with a sense of stability. It doesn’t offer anything entirely enticing but is a very nice and calm follow up to the album’s starter. It feels a bit monotonous, which is great with the progression of the album. This leads into ‘Oh yeah!’ which hits the spirit a bit harder. The song itself starts off relatively calm and goes into a beat that more involved and exciting. The song ends in a fade out, thus ending what I like to consider the first act of the album. ‘Precious’ is a song that contains a lot of English. In fact the whole song is almost exclusively sung in English. It contains a very simple beat to follow, and is led by the rap-style instead. It helps to create a completely different setting that is more personal, telling a more intimate story than what was present in the first act. The next song, ‘Falling for you’, evolves with a more hip beat and tone. It’s not as exciting as the previous songs, but it helps evolve the mood that is developing. ‘game is mine’ is the kind of song I would expect to see as the intro for a super-stylish anime with a lot of fight scenes. It kicks off with a strong sound and follows through with it all the way to the end, attacking your ears with a steady stream of music. Having just had a tough journey, we conclude the second act with ‘For you’. It feels like an appropriate way to add a sense of closure to the first half of the album. Playing off the theme of the previous song, it feels like it’s representing a final fight before a much needed rest.  Appropriately enough, this leads into an interlude track, which makes one feel like they are going on a walk to progress forward on a trip. It then goes straight into the third act with a strong feeling. I especially enjoyed ‘I’m alone’, with its piano-centric sound. It has very smooth yet drastic transitions. Based on the story this album tells, this would be the climax of the album, where everything comes together before it leads into the final act. It’s very catchy and invigorating. ‘Like a breeze feels like a direct extension of ‘I’m alone’, continuing the same aural story into a sort of conclusion. Thus ends the third act and leads into another interlude. The final three songs, ‘Be myself’, ‘My Style’ and ‘just trust’, feel like a farewell. The first song is catchy and upbeat, sounding like a sort of celebration. The second song expresses a feeling of victory. Like we went on a really long journey and are finally on our way home. Nothing can keep us from getting home, now that we’ve accomplished whatever goals we set out for. The final song is almost like a goodbye. It’s very calming and reassuring. It holds your hand as you relax and calm down before the album ends, and thus ends the story.
Rather than focusing on the specific musical quality of this album, I chose to focus on what it does best: take you on a journey. It’s the kind of album you want to listen to in one sitting the first time, to fully absorb the emotions it expresses and the way it progresses from beginning to end. The music itself tells a very compelling story that is very unique to most of the music I have listened to, and is a very welcome and fresh thing in this world of instant gratification. It keeps a very prominent theme of serenity throughout, while still being able change with each song. It’s quite beautiful how it all falls together. Having just graduated from Dorothy Little Happy earlier this year, they’ve worked hard to build this self-produced album. It took them a four months of hard work to create ‘Who is callme?’ The meaning behind the title is more than just an introduction, but also a questioning of who they are as a new group, says Ruuna. “Our members and staff put in a lot of effort to bring this piece together. We want people to simply listen to our music without any prejudice and ask this same question.” I agree with Ruuna’s statement completely, and an appreciation can come through absorbing the album as it is. There aren’t many groups that completely produce their own music, and this is especially unheard of in the Japanese idol scene. That’s truly special. Mimori composes the music; Koumi does the dance choreography and is also good at English; Ruuna is the leader; they all write the lyrics together. As a result of this approach, it has a much more personal touch since each of the girls is directly invested in each song, rather than having an overseeing figure who does most the hard work like most J-pop acts. This is one group I’ll be keeping my eyes on for the foreseeable future and I recommend you do the same. If they keep up with this type of quality, they will be a very fresh and welcome addition to the J-pop scene. Their first single (To Shine) and their first album (Who is callme?) are both available in iTunes. If you prefer physical copies, you can also buy them on cdjapan. Check them out! - Teepu (Bowser05) callme is: - Akimoto Ruuna (秋元瑠海) - Tominaga Mimori (富永美杜) - Hayasaka Koumi (早坂香美) For More Information: callme’s Official Site: http://avex.jp/callme/ callme’s Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/callme_official callme’s Official Instagram: https://instagram.com/callme_official/ callme on mumo Shop: http://shop.mu-mo.net/avx/sv/list1?jsiteid=MSW&artist_id=CALLM callme on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/callme/id968272102 callme on cdjapan: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/person/700706365 All photos courtesy of avex.  Recently A-To-J Connections was lucky enough to stop by Japan Expo LA and interview Cheeky Parade who performed both days of the Expo and at the pre-party in Hollywood. Cheeky Parade is an idol group formed in 2012 under the iDOL Street label on avex. They were the second group to debut on this label (Following SUPER GIRLS) and recently made headlines as the first Japanese group ever to perform at the CBGB Music & Film Festival in New York. Their style of up-beat idol music matched with unparalleled energy has earned them fans all over the world and they have become one of the most rapidly rising idol groups in Japan. A-To-J: Please introduce yourself! Cheeky Parade: We are Cheeky Parade! Yuna: My name is Yuna Sekine, nice to meet you! Mariya: My name is Suzuki Mariya, nice to meet you! Marin: My name is Marin Yamamoto, nice to meet you! Yuriya: My name is Yuriya Suzuki, nice to meet you! Asami: My name is Asami Watanabe, nice to meet you! Hina: My name is Hina Nagai, nice to meet you! Seran: My name is Seran Mizorogi, nice to meet you! Rino: My name is Rino Shimazaki, nice to meet you! Momoka: My name is Momoka Kodakari, nice to meet you! A-To-J: Thank you for your time! How are you enjoying your time in the US? Yuna: Sekine Yuna, the leader here! Its our 3rd day in Los Angeles today and we’ve been doing lives yesterday and the day before, but we were able to go to places like Hollywood before the lives and were able to enjoy sightseeing. We got to go to tourist attractions that are recommended so we’ve been spending every day to the fullest.
A-To-J: That sounds like fun! How was it like performing in front of your US fans? Yuriya: I’m Suzuki Yuriya! Since we cannot communicate by words with the fans, we needed to use expressions or performances as communication so we concentrated more and thought of some English phrases to hype up the crowd as well. A-To-J: I'm sure that the US fans can feel what your communicating easily enough judging by their reactions at your performances. Have you had time to visit anywhere interesting while you've been here? Rino: Shimazaki Rino here! Today we went to Hollywood, the Chinese Theater, and the Hollywood Sign. We got to all stand in front of the Hollywood Sign and take a photo. We’re going to cherish the photo! Yuna: We want to be successful in Hollywood too! Yuriya: Where all the famous people’s hand prints were, there was an open spot so we all put our hands there and said we want our hand prints to be there someday! A-To-J: Hopefully one day we can see Cheeky Parade's hand prints amongst the greats of Hollywood! Can you tell us something about how did you prepare for this live? Mariya: Suzuki Mariya here! Since this live wasn’t in Japan, we wanted to be able to speak English. The leader and everyone practiced a lot of English to be able to hype up the crowd. Yuriya: These outfits are actually not what we have been promoting with recently since we’ve been wearing our outfits from our latest single. However, we wanted to promote Japanese culture so we came with Japanese Kimono-like outfits instead. Each person has things like embroidery and famous Japanese art on the back so I hope they pay attention to that too. A-To-J: Moving to your recent live, where there any songs last night that you especially enjoyed performing live? Cheeky Parade: Hmm.. I wonder which song… Hina: From yesterday’s live, there was a song called “Colorful Starlight” at the end where the audience danced with us during the chorus. (Everyone in Cheeky Parade starts doing hand gestures of the dance) Hina: It’s a upbeat song so it got really hype!
A-To-J: What kind of challenges do you experience performing overseas? Asami: Watanabe Asami here! The language barrier was the biggest challenge so we wondered how we can communicate. We thought facial expressions were best so when the lyrics were cheeky, we made very cheeky faces and when the lyrics were cute, we showed cute smiles. We wanted to express the image of the songs as much as possible so we cared about our expressions the most. A-To-J: That's a lot to think about while performing, but I'm sure your fans take note of all those little touches. Well, you've been to the US, where would you like your next overseas live to be? Cheeky Parade: Oh~!! (everyone starts whispering to each other) Seran: *raises hand* Australia!! Cheeky Parade: Yeah!! We’ll dance with the kangaroos! Seran: Australia is right below Japan right?? Its also similar since Australia is also an island! I’ve gone to Austraila before and it’s a great place so I would love to go with the members as well. A-To-J: I'm sure those in Australia would love to have you! As a group, what are some of your musical inspirations? Mariya: There's someone I really respect and that’s Michael Jackson! We, Cheeky Parade, are aiming for number one in the universe and in my mind, Michael Jackson is the current number one of the universe so I want to try our best to go past Michael Jackson! A-To-J: Along that same line up thought, is there any music artist you want to collaborate with? Rino: As Cheeky Parade I want to collaborate with Aerosmith! I think Aerosmith’s performance is aggressive and cool so if we can collaborate that kind of performance and our “cheeky” performance together, that would be great. A-To-J: That would be a really interesting combination that I'm sure everyone would want to hear! Also, I noticed that Solidemo was cheering you on at the live yesterday, are you friends? Yuriya: Since we’re in the same company, we are friendly with each other. We even saw them today a couple of times while we were sightseeing.
A-To-J: What are you plans after this overseas performance? Yuna: In Japan, from November we are having periodic lives. For each one of these lives, we’re basing the theme on movie titles so we want to successfully perform those lives. As for plans after that for Cheeky Parade, as we gained more fans around the world, we want to now perform in more places overseas. Of course we want to be successful in Japan but we also want to become a group that would be successful overseas as well. Therefore we want to grow as a group and become a bigger, more popular group! A-To-J: We at A-To-J Connections hope so too! Thank you for your time! Cheeky Parade: Thank you! The above interview was conducted by Manuel Figueroa and Eunice Wang with post translation by Tiffany Fujii.
Cheeky Parade Are: ★Watanabe Asami (渡辺亜紗美) ★Sekine Yuna (関根優那) ★Shimazaki Rino (島崎莉乃) ★Suzuki Yuriya (鈴木友梨耶) ★Mizorogi Seran (溝呂木世蘭) ★Yamamoto Marin (山本真凜) ★Nagai Hina (永井日菜) ★Kodakari Momoka (小鷹狩百花) ★Suzuki Mariya (鈴木真梨耶) For More Information: ★Official Website ⇒ www.cheekyparade.jp ★Blog ⇒ ameblo.jp/cheekyparade ★Facebook ⇒ facebook.com/cheekyparade ★Twitter ⇒ @CP_official_CP ★Itunes ⇒ itunes.apple.com/us/artist/cheeky-parade/id533336733 ★Instagram ⇒ instagram.com/cheekyparade_official M.O.N.ST@R PV -DOWN THE ROAD Ver- 「カラフルスターライト」 Colorful Starlight Hiiragi Rio put on three amazing shows at Japan Expo LA and got the crowds that came to see her very hyped up! We were able to catch up to her after her final performance and she was able to pull herself away from her legions of fans to grant us an interview. We hope to see more of her here in the US and hope that this isn't our last chance to sit down and talk with her! Hiiragi Rio is a Japanese idol and J-Pop singer known by her nickname "Riorio" and her catchphrase "Takama Riorio!". She debuted solo in 2011 and was also a member of the group, Heart&Cupid. She released her first solo single in 2013 and it was followed by four more over the next two years. She has performed abroad in Taiwan, France and in the UK with Japan Expo LA marking her first performance in the US. A-To-J: Please introduce yourself. Rio: Yes! Everyone, raise your hands up! Ready… shimmer, shimmer, shimmer, super big smile! I’m Hiiragi Rio, also known as Riorio! Everyone together… “Takama… Riorio!” (Translator’s Note: “Takamaru” is the word she’s using to combine with her name, it means to get hype) Nice to meet you! A-To-J: How do you like L.A.? Have you gone sightseeing? Rio: L.A. is very friendly! If I wave “hi”, they say “hi” back! The food is also great! I love eating a lot so I’m happy that the portions are big here. Yay! A-to-J: What food do you like the most here? Rio: Hmm… Hamburgers! A-to-J: From where? Rio: There was a place near the convention center that is supposed to be fourth most popular in America. It was tasty, “juicy!” (English) A-To-J: What is the difference of Japanese fans and American fans? Rio: There’s a lot of people that haven’t seen me before so they don’t really know what to do seeing my lives but as the live went on, everyone cheered along and it was heated up and very fun! A-To-J: What is your inspiration? Rio: I really love anime and I get influenced by anime singers. There’s no one person but I’ve been inspired by many “anisong” singers. A-To-J: What is your favorite “anisong”? Rio: I really like Code Geass so I really love the song “Mosaic Kakera”. A-To-J: Please tell us your goals for next year. Rio: I want to come back to LA! Also since the US is big, I want to go to other places like NY or Seattle. In Japan, I want to become big and a star! A-To-J: Is it hard to always perform with such energy? Rio: I’ve never thought of it as hard. I get a lot of energy from the fans so we exchange a lot of heat and make it a great time which is why I’ve never felt like it was tough. A-To-J: Have you had any funny happenings during lives? Rio: For my 19th birthday, I had a one-man live. I tripped during the first song… During the first part of the song, I told the fans “Let’s get hype!” and then I tripped. It was embarrassing but I do trip during my lives sometimes A-To-J: Can you tell us something about your fashion style? Rio: Harajuku style! I really like this style and I know overseas people enjoy it so I wear this style to overseas. When I’m in Japan, I wear Japanese style or more mature or cute styles… I wear many different things! A-To-J: Can you give us the detail on what you’re wearing right now? Rio: There’s a lot of badges attached [to my skirt]. There’s also a pocket with a doll in it. A-To-J: What brand is it from? Rio: This one is Nile Perch! There’s also a wallet attached. A-To-J: Was it sold separately from the dress? Rio: Yes, I attached all these things myself! And these are… (Lifts up yellow paw shaped gloves) pockets! Then my backpack, Darko-chan! I also have these shiny headphones. A-To-J: Did you decorate the headphones yourself? Rio: This is a brand, yes! (Laughs) A-To-J: Where do you go shopping? Rio: This is all Harajuku! Except for the yellow paws, these are from Shinjuku. A-To-J: What is a store that you recommend? Rio: Nile Perch! They sell a lot of pastel colored goods. A-To-J: Have you performed at any other overseas countries? Rio: Other than America, I’ve performed at Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France and the UK. A-To-J: Where in Taiwan? Rio: I went to Taipei and Takao! A-To-J: What food did you like in Taiwan? Rio: Tapioca! It was chewy. A-To-J: Did you go to the night market while in Taiwan? Rio: Yes I did! Everything was delicious! A-To-J: Where can we get updates and information about you? Rio: You can find it on Twitter, Facebook, Ameba Blog, as well as everyday broadcasts such as Nico Nico Broadcast, Twitcasting, SHOWROOM, AfreecaTV and Youtube. I also do LINE as well (@hiiragirio1220). My twitter id is @hiiragirio. A-To-J: Please send a message to your US fans. Rio: I was happy to be able to come to America for the first time! If you’ve seen me for the first time and you became my fan, I will come back to see you again. I will go to LA and other parts of America in the future! With the broadcasts, you can see me every day! Please come see me! “I love you!” (blows kiss) Bye! The above interview was conducted by Darice Chang with assistance by Stephanie and Ellen, all of whom provided on-site translation. It was directed by Manuel Figueroa with filming by Eunice Wang and post translation by Tiffany Fujii   During the first anniversary event in Shinjuku for Country Girls, fans were given some pleasant news: two new members would officially be joining the group. The two new members are Nanami Yanagawa and Musubu Funaki, thus making them a 7 member group.
Nanami joined Hello Pro Kenshuusei this year on the 1st of April. She had originally auditioned for Morning Musume, but didn’t make the cut. Luckily, her talent was recognized and she was brought in as a Kenshuusei in hopes of developing her into something truly special. She quickly showed her qualities and improved herself, which eventually helped her get into Country Girls.
Musubu joined Hello Pro Kenshuusei on September 22, 2013. She had also attempted to join Morning Musume, as a 12th Generation member, but didn’t make it either. Over time, she has worked extremely hard and has finally been rewarded for her hard work by being able to join Country Girls. The girls who trained in Hello Pro Kenshuusei tend to adapt and evolve quickly, so we can expect some great things out of these two. Let’s cheer for them and hope for a wonderfully successful future. ~Teepu (Bowser05) Country Girls Are: - Tsugunaga Momoko (嗣永桃子) - Yamaki Risa (山木梨沙) - Inaba Manaka (稲場愛香) - Morito Chisaki (森戸知沙希) - Ozeki Mai (小関舞) - Yanagawa Nanami (梁川奈々美) - Funaki Musubu (船木結) Check out the official announcement here: http://www.helloproject.com/news/3770/ Check out some extra information at Up-Front Link here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-country-girls-new-members-announced/970475676344683  Remember that official AKB48 rival group, named Nogizaka46? Yes, well, a few months ago the first sister group to Nogizaka46 was announced. This is Keyakizaka46. They seem like a good up and coming idol group, similar to what NGT48 is going through right now. However, Keyakizaka46 is running into a few problems, and the members have only been around for about three months now. What are those problems? For starters, some involve immediate resignations, a name change without warning, and illegal activity. I’ll do the best I can to explain these three problems in detail. Let’s begin.  One: The Name Change When Keyakizaka46 was announced, they were not called Keyakizaka46. This group was originally named Toriizaka46, which references one of the steepest hills in Roppongi Hills. This is similar to how Nogizaka46 is a reference to the Sony Music Entertainment building (aptly named SME Nogizaka Building) as well as a reference to a subway station in Tokyo. While Keyakizaka46 is a reference to a street in Roppongi Hills, the name change was way too sudden to just happen like that. Yes, by now I, as well as plenty of other fans, are used to the new name, but Toriizaka46, in my opinion, had a bit of a better ring to it. I still think of Keyakizaka46 as “Kentucky46”. I’m guessing their first single will be called “Oide Fried Chicken”, huh?  Two: The Resignation of Suzuki Mizuho When Keyakizaka46 was announced, there were 22 members who would take the stage as the 1st generation. A few days later, that number dropped to 21. For some unknown reason, according to AKB48 Daily, Suzuki Mizuho mysteriously graduated from Keyakizaka46. Why? There is so much mystery behind Suzuki Mizuho’s case that I may just reach for ridiculous reasons. Maybe the training to become an idol was too much to overcome. Maybe she had academic obligations. Maybe her family never wanted her to become an idol. Who knows? All I know is that, as a fan of Nogizaka46 and as someone trying to become a Keyakizaka46 fan, I wish her the best on her future endeavors, whatever they may be.  Three: Harada Mayu The first two reasons that Keyakizaka46 is going through a rocky start are not exactly that major. It is easy to get used to the new name and it is easy to find a potential successor for Suzuki Mizuho. This last one, however, is not acceptable. According to Arama! Japan, Harada Mayu was revealed to be dating her middle school teacher. Not only does this violate the infamous “no dating” clause held strictly by management, there is a problem with the age difference. Specifically, Harada Mayu is a 17 year old girl, dating a 20-or-30-something grown man. What makes all of this worse is that there is one photo of the middle school teacher groping Harada Mayu in a purikura-like photo. If you feel like you will get nauseous after that sentence alone, look away now.  Yes, that reads “boobs-“on the bottom if you aren’t familiar with hiragana. Of course, this makes me think of the same issues that got Yamato Rina kicked out of Nogizaka46: breaking the “no dating” clause, underage drinking, etc. Not only will Harada Mayu likely experience the same fate as Yamato Rina, her middle school teacher boyfriend is likely going to prison, especially for the groping photo. I don’t by any means hate on Harada Mayu nor do I wish any ill will on her. But her boyfriend deserves all the negative consequences he will likely experience. Isn’t it illegal to grope a minor? Even if Mayu was okay with it, she still wasn’t and isn’t of the legal age to consent without parent approval. Hell, what parent would be okay to see their 17-year-old daughter get groped by a grown adult male? Damn, we’re reaching Jared Fogle-level stuff here and this instance involved an underage idol. Let’s hope that Harada Mayu, and her boyfriend, don’t cause the Keyakizaka46 idol group to break down and disband. At least that’s what I hope.  Keyakizaka46, as of now, is crumbling before anything is built. All these things have happened and this squad hasn’t even released a single yet.
While things are not looking good so far, that does not mean I am giving up on this lineup. Even if we forget about Harada Mayu and the dating scandal, there is still untapped potential in this group. I still have faith in this group like I did with Nogizaka46, and I believe the remaining 20 members are going to do great things. They may possibly give Nogizaka46 a run for their money! Anything can happen, and while Keyakizaka46 may be stumbling out of the gate, there is still plenty, and I mean plenty of time for this group to recover. They get knocked down, but they’ll get back up again. Yes, Keyakizaka46 is making me think of Chumbawamba. They’ll be singing when they’re winning. -Nathan (L4verra)  We recently caught up with rock-idol group “564” (Also known as “Goho Lolita Syndrome”) at Japan Expo LA and talked to them about their shows in the US! 564 is made up of Hiro and Halu and are actually second generation members of the group. They have a very unique sound that is both rocking and cute! Their fans get more than a little wild at their shows too and this was witnessed first-hand by the A-To-J members who were present! A-To-J: Please introduce yourself. Hiro: Hi I’m Hiro. Halu: Hi I’m Halu. A-To-J: How are you enjoying your time in America? Hiro: Am I enjoying it here? Yes! Halu: How should I say this? Hiro: Well first the cityscape… Halu: The cityscape is like what you would see in a movie. We look at the buildings and think: “Ah, we’ve come to America, we’ve come to Los Angeles!” Hiro: Next would be… Halu: The food! There are a lot of kinds of food that is different from Japan. Things we haven’t even seen before… Hiro: The convenience store sells very different things as well so it’s fun! A-To-J: Have you eaten something very different from back home? Hiro: Oh! There were strawberries in the salad! Halu: Yea! You don’t see that in Japan. It was surprising to see strawberries in a salad… Also I bought a sandwich that has cranberry and chicken in it from 7 Eleven, which I’ve never seen before either. I haven’t eaten it yet but that was a surprising combination to see! Hiro: Putting… “fruits in….” (In English) Halu: You don’t have to try to say it in English (Laughs) Hiro: I want to say, why would you put fruits in there?? Halu: In Japan they don’t put much fruits so it was quite surprising… A-To-J: What was some of the differences performing in front of the US fans? Halu: The main thing was the language… Since we don’t do MCs, we usually tell the audience “be louder” or things like that during the instrumental parts of the songs but we had a difficult time trying to think of ways to communicate that to the people here. We had to brace ourselves to use English… Hiro: But if say “wai wai!” the audience will do it with us! Halu: I think even if it was a little bit, they understood us. A-To-J: If you had to describe the genre of music you do to someone that has never heard of you before, how would you describe it to them? Halu: We’re cool and intense, but we would tell them that we’re still Japanese idols! Hiro: We’re idols that mix the “emotional” style and “moe” or cute Japanese style. A-To-J: What are your favorite musical artists? Halu: Since I like bands… I don’t listen to many bands overseas but for Japanese bands, I like a lot of intense bands. I go to lives and watch their live videos as well. A-To-J: Out of the songs you performed, which one was your favorite song? Hiro: “Kaika Sensen” JAWEYE-san, the person that was with us, made this song for us. It goes from intense to cute tones so it’s fun. A-To-J: Where in the world would you like to perform the most? 564: Anywhere?? I wonder where we would want to go… Hiro: This is actually my second time overseas… Halu: Maybe a place that we’ve never seen before… Then we can have the people of that place listen to our music so we can see their reactions to it. A developing country maybe… Hiro: With tribal people or something? Halu: Yeah! I would like to go to those kinds of places with a completely different culture and perform in front of them. I want to see if they still think we are enjoyable or if they would be surprised. A-To-J: Do you have any funny stories from any of your performances? Hiro: Like the time someone broke their bone? Halu: The audience is intense as well so they like to mosh so sometimes they end up with nosebleeds or broken teeth and glasses as well… But it happens often with audiences of artists in our genre. Hiro: Yes, quite often. For us it would be… Halu: We almost fell off the stage one time… actually we did fell… twice. (Laughs) Hiro: We get too excited! Halu: And when we get too excited we don’t see clearly and we fell off because of it. A-To-J: What are your next immediate plans for your music? Halu: Since we’ve gotten an opportunity to perform overseas so we want more overseas fans to know us. Hiro: We want to do lives in many different places. A-To-J: Please send a final message to your fans. Halu: We’re very happy that we were able to come to LA for the first time as 564! Since we met a lot of people that heard us for the first time, we hope we can use this chance for them to know us. We’re looking forward to the next time we can meet again! Thank you very much! For more information on 564/Goho Lolita Syndrome: Official Website: lolisyn564.com Twitter: @lolisyn The above interview was conducted by Manuel Figueroa with assistance by Molly Ring, filming by Eunice Wang, and translation by Tiffany Fujii.   On September 19th Hello! Project group, °C-ute, performed for the first time in North America to packed house in Mexico City, Mexico. A full report on this once-in-a-lifetime experience can be found here. A-To-J Connections was lucky enough to not only attend this concert, but also to be granted an interview during their already busy schedule.
Thank you for giving us some time in your busy schedule. We’ll start this right off. How do you like Mexico? °C-ute: We like it here! Maimi: Since we’ve never come to Mexico before and it’s so far, we were wondering what kind of country it is, but when we arrived we realized there are some similarities to Japan; such as the sunset or, this is something minor but, the power outlets are the same. These things made me think that this is a comfortable place to live. Can you tell us something about your experience with the Mexican fans? Are they different than the ones back home? Saki: Since the reaction is big, it’s fun to perform! When we said “Viva Mexico!” everyone would scream. When the music started, they would also scream, but when everyone was trying to concentrate they would understand and become quiet. It was also easy to have eye contact with them. What did you do to prepare for this live in Mexico? Airi: We learned a bit of Spanish before coming here, such as Spanish we could use during the live, from a person from our company who is actually from Peru. We used some of those phrases during this live. Let’s talk about that live a little bit. Is there any specific song you enjoyed performing the most at yesterday's concert? Chisato: All the songs were fun because everyone reacted to them. I thought, “Wow, they get touched by each song!” But in particular, there is a song called “Gamusha LIFE” which has lyrics that portray °C-ute up until now. When I thought of all the fans in the audience we haven’t been able to meet before, my apologetic yet happy feelings flowed out and I was able to put in a lot of different feelings while performing this song. Speaking of the songs, did you come up with the set list? Chisato: There is an album that we sold here in Mexico and those songs were actually chosen by popularity votes, so we mostly put those into the live. Moving back to your time in Mexico, did you get any time to go sightseeing here in Mexico? Mai: We got to go to Cancun for a couple of days and the ocean was really beautiful. The ocean was layered with three different colors and I was surprised. Also, the city became lively at night and it was like Halloween, which also surprised me. What about food here? What exotic foods have you tried? Maimi: I was very surprised by the cactus! I didn’t think it was something that was edible. °C-ute: It was delicious! Maimi: Since we didn’t know how it would taste it required courage. It tasted sort of like okra, sort of like bell peppers…it had a slimy but interesting texture and I actually liked it! Are there any interesting souvenirs you're taking home? Chisato: We’re not even sure what we should buy for souvenirs. For food, we don’t know what we can and can’t bring home so we’re going to research and try to properly bring home something. Saki: Something Mexico-ish! What kinds of challenges do you run into when performing overseas? Saki: Because the audience is very different from usual, their reactions are very different. Such as singing with us or giving us hearts and blowing us kisses. I had to keep a cool head and perform without getting too carried away. If you can go overseas again, where would you like to go next? Airi: We would like to go wherever we get invited! If Mexico invites us again, we would love to come again. °C-ute: Definitely! Why do you think there has been a recent increase in popularity of Hello! Project both in Japan and abroad? Chisato: Nowadays, we’re able to do shows that people overseas can watch such as “Hello! Project Station” and “GREEN ROOM”. We even do live broadcasts of our lives occasionally. So the things that you weren’t able to see unless you came to Japan, you can now see through the internet. I think that it helps Hello! Project throughout the world. What is your next goal in Japan since you've had your Yokohama Arena concert recently? Mai: Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo Dome…. After 10 years of being a group and finally standing on the stage of Yokohama Arena, we realized that we want to keep on making our dreams come true, so we want to try our absolute best to be able to stand on more big stages. Is there any genre of music you would like to tackle next? Airi: Hmm…a genre of music…. Maimi: We’ve had the chance to sing many types of songs and now that we’re the oldest in Hello! Project…. Since we’ve been getting more following from overseas fans, I want to challenge singing in English as well. Lastly, do you have anything you'd like to say to all your foreign fans? Maimi: Through the internet, I think there are a lot of people that know °C-ute or Hello! Project, but I want them to see us live in person and I want them to realize there are a lot of things you can only feel when you see us live. I felt yesterday that no matter how far we are, through singing, our hearts can get closer. I hope that fans will come visit us in Japan and we will get more chances to go visit more places. You, the overseas fans, might think you won’t have a chance to see us in person, but if you keep on cheering for us, we hope to go visit as well someday! Thank you again for your time. The above interview was conducted and translated by Tiffany Fujii and assisted by Teepu Khan with photography and direction by Manuel Figueroa. °C-ute Are: ◆ Yajima Maimi (矢島舞美, Leader) ◆ Nakajima Saki (中島早貴) ◆ Suzuki Airi (鈴木愛理) ◆ Okai Chisato (岡井千聖) ◆ Hagiwara Mai (萩原舞) For more information on °C-ute, UP-FRONT and Hello! Project please follow Up-Front Link At: Twitter: @UpFrontLink Facebook: facebook.com/upfrontlink |
Search
Contributors◆ Angie
◆ Hinacchi ◆ Manuel ◆ Megan ◆ Molly ◆ Rose ◆ Rubi ◆ Sylvia ◆ Teepu ◆ Tiffany ◆ Winfield Support Us On Patreon!
Archives
August 2024
|
RSS Feed
© 2014-2024 A-to-J Connections. All Rights Reserved.