Hello! Pro Station Episode #95

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!