Re-imagining ⑮ Thank you, too. 2017 marked the begining of the MMMAGA movement -- Make Morning Musume Albums Great Again -- which kicked off with ⑮ Thank you, too. Four years later we were treated to 16th - That's J-Pop, which I lauded as the best MM long-player since No. 5 in my review here. … Continue reading Thank you, JPope
Morning Musume
H!P Tweet Beat 07/25/2021
It's been a few weeks, but I'm back on the beat. https://twitter.com/JPN_ENG_Kanda/status/1417603749808263168 I feel like I should be more surprised by this than I am, but it almost feels like Morning Musume has remained unchanged for even longer to me. Maybe it has something to do with all of the changes that have happened elsewhere … Continue reading H!P Tweet Beat 07/25/2021
H!P Tweet Beat 7/5/2021
H!P Twitter is about to explode in about an hour, so let's see if I can clear some tabs before the New Unit bomb drops. AKB vs MM'21 on The Music Day show was the big story for the last days of the week, so let's get to it. https://twitter.com/poutybarrett/status/1411557973940314116 Social media posts like those … Continue reading H!P Tweet Beat 7/5/2021
H!P Tweet Beat – 6/27/2021
Let's wrap up the week in H!P Twitter, or at least my H!P Twitter feed. Lots of talk about future graduation. https://twitter.com/ainogundan/status/1406953032911405059 Impending Morning Musume graduations isn't something that any MM/H!P fan hasn't thought about for a while now. In fact, it gets brought up every time a different group graduates a member, but Anna … Continue reading H!P Tweet Beat – 6/27/2021
H!P Tweet Beat – 6/19/2021
I'm gonna try out a new format where I comment on tweets I see from H!P Twitter that interest me beyond a single tweet response. Long Twitter threads tend to be a drag, as pithiness is the coin of Twitter's realm, so I'll do my long-form babbling here. https://twitter.com/lnabaccho/status/1404699239301537795 I'm of two minds on this: … Continue reading H!P Tweet Beat – 6/19/2021
Sweet 16
MORNING MUSUME '21 - 16th ~That's J-POP~ The Fukumura Era of Morning Musume (2014-present) has been mostly frustrating for me personally for several reasons. From a production standpoint, their recordings have relied heavily on sounds and techniques established during the Michishige Era (2012-2014), even to this day. I've found the catalog during Fuku's leadership to … Continue reading Sweet 16
H!P Revolution 2021
State of the Hello! Project Address With 2020 finally in our rearview mirror, we can look forward to a fresh start for all of the Hello! Project groups and idols going forward. 2020 was a strange and turbulent year that saw H!P wave goodbye to a slew of talented idols, many of whom seemed to … Continue reading H!P Revolution 2021
Top 20 Morning Musume Singles Cover Art
As we near the 22nd anniversary of Morning Musume's debut single, "Morning Coffee" (1/28/1998), I went through all of their single covers and ranked my top 20(+1). Only covers for audio editions that were available for purchase to the general public through normal channels are considered, so no Single V's, and no event, promo or … Continue reading Top 20 Morning Musume Singles Cover Art
Generation XV
Morning Musume - "KOKORO&KARADA / LOVEpedia / Ningen Kankei No way way" The most anticipated Morning Musume singles for me these days are those that debut a new generation. I've been less interested in the H!P flagship than all other H!P groups since Sayumi graduated, and that saddens me a bit. MM is the group … Continue reading Generation XV
Did “One•Two•Three” Save H!P?
I saw this pop up in my Twitter feed a few days ago: https://twitter.com/ainogundan/status/1208394441142292481 This is an interesting theory. There's no question that "One•Two•Three" (OTT) returned Morning Musume to relevance in the J-idol world, but it's effect on the Hello! Project itself is something I'd never considered. I did some research using data from the … Continue reading Did “One•Two•Three” Save H!P?