a semi memorial
This is a very hard entry for me to write. But don't worry, nothing's wrong with me, I'm not leaving LJ. This entry has an emotional impact on me. Half of you may not have anything to say about this and I'll be suprised if a few (if any of you) have even heard of the band, and person that I'm talking about.
This is a former idol. For those who don't know, an idol is a japanese term that refers to a nationally known personality, most often a singer, but can also be an actress or model, or any combination of the above. Her name is Maiha Ishimura, she belonged to the J-pop group Berryz Koubou, part of Hello!Project. This photo was taken when she was 11, maybe 12 or 10. Look at those eyes, that smile. I don't what you guys think, but I personally think she's adorable. The picture of whimsy, right? I wish I could say that she is still active in the industry, but she's not. Why?
Before I go farther, you guys who don't know need to know this about Maihacchi - she was a second-row girl. From what I know of American groups, this isn't as apparent as it can be in some of the Japanese girl groups. Basically, it's a girl who always is in the back, doesn't get very many, if any solo lines to sing and can fade into the background. Let me show you a picture example:
see the 4 girls at the center of this picture? If you count 2 in from either side, there they are. At this period of the band, these are the frontgirls. They have the most solo lines, and are basically at the front whenever the group releases a new PV (music video) for a single. They stand out, and sometimes it seems like the management favors these girls over the others. Now, can you see Maiha? For those who can't, she's the girl farthest up and to the right. In this picture, we can see her face, her arm and a bit of her upper torso. Now, I'm not saying that Maiha was always pushed off to the side, but if the girls were lined up, it wasn't unusual for her to be in the second row. During the making of the pv segments, the frontgirls got a bunch of time in front of the camera to smile, talk and giggle and it wasn't odd for some of the back girls to get half or less the time the frontgirls got. Now Maiha is a special case, since she was always pretty quiet and didn't always seem entirely comfortable in front of the camera, which was unlike most of her fellow bandmates.
Now, you say, well maybe she couldn't sing? Maybe you won't get this answer from all Berryz Koubou fans (the ones who know her), but fans of Maiha agree that while she didn't have a distinct or powerful voice, it wasn't a horrible voice, she could her her notes and stay in key, and most Maiha fans will describe it as soothing and calm. I like to think of it as calm and focused, yet she's not wooden, she can change her voice for the song. Now Berryz Koubou first started releasing singles in March of 2004 and Maiha graduated in October of 2005, they had released 8 singles and 1 album, with a 2nd album that was released right after she graduated. Out of those 8 singles, all of which are at least 3:30, Maiha had 10 lines total, throughout those 8 a-sides. For those who don't know, usually artist in Japan will release an a-side, which is thought to be more polished and a b-side, which are polished but aren't meant to be taken seriously. And that picture I had before, of the cover? I can guarantee for those 8 singles, those 4 front girls had at least 2, if not 3 solo lines per single. Oh sure, Maiha often shared lines with 2 or 3 other girls at a time, but unless you know where she comes in, you'd be hard-pressed to hear her.
Now, we were told she 'graduated', to go off to an elite school (which supposedly didn't allow after-school activites because they wanted them to focus entirely on school), or the rumor that her dad was very over-bearing and pressured her into leaving.
Now, I can't say I blame her entirely. She had to audition her way into Hello!Project and out of a large number of kids, at least 10,000 (probably more), they only chose 15 and Maiha was one of the ones they chose. Well, they must have seen something special in her, otherwise we might not have ever known about Maiha. She had a last concert where she remarkably appeared collected the whole time. While some of her bandmmates (who all 8 were very close and pratically best friends, if not sisters) were crying by the last number and openly wiping tears, Maiha plugged on with a smile on her face. I read this on a board and it makes sense (I'm paraphrasing the quote)...
'She might have been smiling for once because the spotlight was on her for once. throughout the whole concert, even when she wasn't singing, the camera was looking at her and the fans were chanting her name the loudest. It was her moment, and all she had ever wanted was to be noticed and appreciated. It's a darn shame it didn't happen until she was graduating and going to be probably not coming back.'
I whole-heartedly agree with this. The spotlight can be very fickle, and it usually goes to who the management likes, or who is always in the camera, goofing off. And like I've said, I think Maiha was shy by nature. Even though she smiled and talked when the camera saw her, she wasn't like some of the other girls, who would seek out the camera by themselves and talk into it without being figurativly being called away.
To sort of wrap this up, my problem with this whole situation is not that Maiha left. I mean, I miss her incredibly and there is a group of people who wish everyday that she would come back again, a thought that even though most of us hate to admit it, will probably never happen. My problem was 'what if she had gotten a little more attention and what if she had stayed?' Most of these girls went through puberty when they were are in the group (except for Maiha, the group is still together and making music). What would she look like and would she still be in the back row, being thrown a line whenever someone remembered, 'hey, she's not a horrible singer? Would she have had her chance to shine?'
Maiha is a legend among berryz fans, some miss her terribly, some are ambivalant about the whole thing, and some are glad that she's gone. It's just the age old question, 'what if? What if she was still here?'
One last thing. I mentioned that Berryz was due to release an album and I don't know how far in advance they knew of Maiha's departure, but it was released a little over a month after she left. Here's the cover:
Count 'em, 7 girls on that cover. This quote, directly from Wikipedia says it best:
"The last Berryz Koubou release in which founding member Maiha Ishimura (who quit the group to concentrate on her education) participated, by way of the aforementioned single A-sides and possibly some of the other album tracks, although she is not credited or depicted anywhere in the album's liner notes."
the short of that is that at least 5 tracks out of 12 we are sure she's on, since those a-sides singles were released with her on the cover. She could also be on the other 7 tracks, but because she left, they didn't want to put her there. It pisses me off to no end, so on my Ipod, instead of looking at a picture on a track where I know Maiha sang, and not seeing her, I switched in the album covers. Still, she's uncredited even though she gave them her all.
Last note, it seems as if Berryz Koubou, if they're ever asked, avoid mentioning Maiha, or skirt their way around the question. If someone asks about her outrightly, they will respond, but other than that, I wonder if their management or someone specifically tells them not to mention her. It's a little hard to do, she was a founding member of the group. While she was not the most popular member, she was still there and deserves some respect. Once, during a 5th anniversery celebration, she was brought up by a member of the group and tears were shed. I told you these girls were close.
I guess the point I'm trying to make here is don't ignore people because they don't get a lot of screentime. They just may end up capturing your heart.
A pic of Maiha to close the night:
Good night everyone!
--Lauren
This is a former idol. For those who don't know, an idol is a japanese term that refers to a nationally known personality, most often a singer, but can also be an actress or model, or any combination of the above. Her name is Maiha Ishimura, she belonged to the J-pop group Berryz Koubou, part of Hello!Project. This photo was taken when she was 11, maybe 12 or 10. Look at those eyes, that smile. I don't what you guys think, but I personally think she's adorable. The picture of whimsy, right? I wish I could say that she is still active in the industry, but she's not. Why?
Before I go farther, you guys who don't know need to know this about Maihacchi - she was a second-row girl. From what I know of American groups, this isn't as apparent as it can be in some of the Japanese girl groups. Basically, it's a girl who always is in the back, doesn't get very many, if any solo lines to sing and can fade into the background. Let me show you a picture example:
see the 4 girls at the center of this picture? If you count 2 in from either side, there they are. At this period of the band, these are the frontgirls. They have the most solo lines, and are basically at the front whenever the group releases a new PV (music video) for a single. They stand out, and sometimes it seems like the management favors these girls over the others. Now, can you see Maiha? For those who can't, she's the girl farthest up and to the right. In this picture, we can see her face, her arm and a bit of her upper torso. Now, I'm not saying that Maiha was always pushed off to the side, but if the girls were lined up, it wasn't unusual for her to be in the second row. During the making of the pv segments, the frontgirls got a bunch of time in front of the camera to smile, talk and giggle and it wasn't odd for some of the back girls to get half or less the time the frontgirls got. Now Maiha is a special case, since she was always pretty quiet and didn't always seem entirely comfortable in front of the camera, which was unlike most of her fellow bandmates.
Now, you say, well maybe she couldn't sing? Maybe you won't get this answer from all Berryz Koubou fans (the ones who know her), but fans of Maiha agree that while she didn't have a distinct or powerful voice, it wasn't a horrible voice, she could her her notes and stay in key, and most Maiha fans will describe it as soothing and calm. I like to think of it as calm and focused, yet she's not wooden, she can change her voice for the song. Now Berryz Koubou first started releasing singles in March of 2004 and Maiha graduated in October of 2005, they had released 8 singles and 1 album, with a 2nd album that was released right after she graduated. Out of those 8 singles, all of which are at least 3:30, Maiha had 10 lines total, throughout those 8 a-sides. For those who don't know, usually artist in Japan will release an a-side, which is thought to be more polished and a b-side, which are polished but aren't meant to be taken seriously. And that picture I had before, of the cover? I can guarantee for those 8 singles, those 4 front girls had at least 2, if not 3 solo lines per single. Oh sure, Maiha often shared lines with 2 or 3 other girls at a time, but unless you know where she comes in, you'd be hard-pressed to hear her.
Now, we were told she 'graduated', to go off to an elite school (which supposedly didn't allow after-school activites because they wanted them to focus entirely on school), or the rumor that her dad was very over-bearing and pressured her into leaving.
Now, I can't say I blame her entirely. She had to audition her way into Hello!Project and out of a large number of kids, at least 10,000 (probably more), they only chose 15 and Maiha was one of the ones they chose. Well, they must have seen something special in her, otherwise we might not have ever known about Maiha. She had a last concert where she remarkably appeared collected the whole time. While some of her bandmmates (who all 8 were very close and pratically best friends, if not sisters) were crying by the last number and openly wiping tears, Maiha plugged on with a smile on her face. I read this on a board and it makes sense (I'm paraphrasing the quote)...
'She might have been smiling for once because the spotlight was on her for once. throughout the whole concert, even when she wasn't singing, the camera was looking at her and the fans were chanting her name the loudest. It was her moment, and all she had ever wanted was to be noticed and appreciated. It's a darn shame it didn't happen until she was graduating and going to be probably not coming back.'
I whole-heartedly agree with this. The spotlight can be very fickle, and it usually goes to who the management likes, or who is always in the camera, goofing off. And like I've said, I think Maiha was shy by nature. Even though she smiled and talked when the camera saw her, she wasn't like some of the other girls, who would seek out the camera by themselves and talk into it without being figurativly being called away.
To sort of wrap this up, my problem with this whole situation is not that Maiha left. I mean, I miss her incredibly and there is a group of people who wish everyday that she would come back again, a thought that even though most of us hate to admit it, will probably never happen. My problem was 'what if she had gotten a little more attention and what if she had stayed?' Most of these girls went through puberty when they were are in the group (except for Maiha, the group is still together and making music). What would she look like and would she still be in the back row, being thrown a line whenever someone remembered, 'hey, she's not a horrible singer? Would she have had her chance to shine?'
Maiha is a legend among berryz fans, some miss her terribly, some are ambivalant about the whole thing, and some are glad that she's gone. It's just the age old question, 'what if? What if she was still here?'
One last thing. I mentioned that Berryz was due to release an album and I don't know how far in advance they knew of Maiha's departure, but it was released a little over a month after she left. Here's the cover:
Count 'em, 7 girls on that cover. This quote, directly from Wikipedia says it best:
"The last Berryz Koubou release in which founding member Maiha Ishimura (who quit the group to concentrate on her education) participated, by way of the aforementioned single A-sides and possibly some of the other album tracks, although she is not credited or depicted anywhere in the album's liner notes."
the short of that is that at least 5 tracks out of 12 we are sure she's on, since those a-sides singles were released with her on the cover. She could also be on the other 7 tracks, but because she left, they didn't want to put her there. It pisses me off to no end, so on my Ipod, instead of looking at a picture on a track where I know Maiha sang, and not seeing her, I switched in the album covers. Still, she's uncredited even though she gave them her all.
Last note, it seems as if Berryz Koubou, if they're ever asked, avoid mentioning Maiha, or skirt their way around the question. If someone asks about her outrightly, they will respond, but other than that, I wonder if their management or someone specifically tells them not to mention her. It's a little hard to do, she was a founding member of the group. While she was not the most popular member, she was still there and deserves some respect. Once, during a 5th anniversery celebration, she was brought up by a member of the group and tears were shed. I told you these girls were close.
I guess the point I'm trying to make here is don't ignore people because they don't get a lot of screentime. They just may end up capturing your heart.
A pic of Maiha to close the night:
Good night everyone!
--Lauren