Mitsui Aika is the new member of Momusu
There is only one new member of Morning Musume: 13-year-old Mitsui Aika. For reviewing purposes, here is the final audition footage of the 6 finalists:
I have one thing to say [before the cut]: WHAT ABOUT AYAMI?
I should've known it was stupid to root for someone.
[NOTE: My feelings as I began this entry were basically disappointment, but turn much brighter and more excited by the end, after some real thought on the matter. The stuff before the cut, other than this note, is simply my initial reaction; as I thought about it while writing this, I became less disappointed with the decision, and have found myself able to accept it contently. I just thought I should include this at the beginning so as to let you know that this won't be one huge rant.]
Why on earth did he only pick one new member? Are we supposed to believe that this girl is going to be another Miracle Ace? Surely we'll find few faults in her a few months from now, but...come on. Another one-member generation right after Koharu? Is he going to get her an anime job, too? Solo singles? A photobook? That'd just be lame; I'm sorry, but it feels to me like he's trying to create a Koharu clone - like he was looking for another little Koharu, a girl with obvious flaws through the auditions to mold into some big selling anime seiyuu Oha Star performance machine - and that doesn't please me. I like Koharu, but that doesn't mean I want two of her in Morning Musume.
And seriously, why only one new member? Just one was interesting for 7th gen, but I was seriously looking forward to the group acquiring more fresh meat than that. The idea of three or four girls being added excited me, but even two would've been really cool. But just one, again? 9-nin Momusu again, huh. We last had that at what, The Peace? This is very different from that 9-nin. They had Aibon and Nono, Nacchi, Mari, Rika...well, we've still got Yossi. And I love the girls now, but...oh, I don't know. Why am I even making these comparisons? My first Momusu song, the song that hooked me, was Sexy Boy. That's the Koharu-era 10-nin, and I completely adore that song. Twice I've sung that song at the karaoke place with my friends, and I hope to sing it more! But anyway, I'm getting kind of distracted.
The girl herself...well, looking at her audition again, she's not as flawed as I'd remembered her to be. Her manner while singing was distorted to look a lot worse in my mind, but it's actually not so bad. And though you can't hear her voice through Tsunku's talking, she doesn't sound so bad. But again, with the Koharu comparisons, she's singing Furusato! Just like Koharu did. Maybe Tsunku has a thing for the girls who sing that song.
Also, Aika bares a bit of a resemblance to Momoko. There are some definite facial similarities that had me drawing that comparison pretty quickly. Aika, however, looks like a child, while Momoko has a real maturity to her face, sometimes looking mysterious, knowing, or just plain womanly. Aika has time to grow up, though. I wonder what she'll look like at 16 or 17. Hopefully some scandal hasn't thrown her out of H!P by then. I also have to say that her speaking voice is very unique. I'll be interested in hearing her speak in different tones - fear on Hello Morning, excitement nearly everywhere else, and hopefully some sheer terror on Utaban if we're lucky!
Watching the auditions initially, I became most excited about Ayami and Minami. Looking at the footage some more, I really like Yuu, as well. Her little Love Machine dance thing that you only see like two seconds of looked pretty cool, and her effort and voice while singing Furusato were appealing. She talked about Koharu, even calling her Koharu-chan, which was heartening. I find myself getting excited about her, but why on earth? She's not in the group, the end! It's Aika. No Ayami, no Minami, no Yuu - just Aika.
I liked Ayami a lot. I read somewhere someone expressing that they felt she was being too much of a camera whore during her rendition of Furusato, but I found that to be a good thing. You know who else really worked the camera during an audition? Suzuki Airi. And look how much she kicks ass.
I also quite liked Minami. Then that whole "scandal" broke out about her personal website displaying half-naked pixel dolls and weed leaves, and stating that she drinks heavily. While all of this could've been added by someone who hacked her site, wanting to sabotage her chance at getting into Momusu, there was also a picture of her in a bikini or some such thing, nuzzling up against a shirtless guy. Thus, she's definitely not the most innocent thing in the world, and was definitely not going to wind up in Momusu.
I found Sumire to be quite adorable, though her vocals didn't impress me much. The energy was good, as many have said, though. I'd like to see her do some acting - she really looks like someone else, to me, and it makes me want to see more of her. As for Natsumi, I didn't much care for her either way. And Aika, I initially thought would not be a good selection. With the talent that some of the other girls had, she seemed to me to be the weakest of the finalists. I know we'll all probably love her to death in a couple of months, and I'm really not disliking her so much now, but still. There was some real potential for great talent in Ayami and Yuu. They could've been a great pair, the awesome eighth gen duo. I can see it now...but alas, it's another single-member generation.
That said, I like Ayami and Yuu so much that a thought is coming to me that surprises me. Back when I discussed C-ute's status post-Megumi, I stated that while I found the idea of Tsunku trying to recruit a new member - maybe even through the Happy 8 auditions - possible, I wouldn't want to see any new members added. But now, I can't help but think that I wouldn't mind so much if Yuu popped up beside Erika and Chisato one day soon. I just find it such a shame to see her go! The idea of a new member in C-ute is appealing to me more, now. Though I am curious to see how they'll operate as a 7-nin unit, and to see if it's as appealing with them as it's been with Berryz Koubou. And lord knows I don't want a new Berryz member anytime soon. Berryz are perfect the way they are, and should be left in this formation permanently.
In any case, I must wish everyone involved the best of luck. I hope that the other five finalists can recover from the loss okay, and maybe at least knowing that they have a few fans out there, even in North America, now. And I wish the best of luck to little Aika-chan, who has quite the adventure aheard of her, now. She'll have much hard work to do once the initial celebration phase has ended, but with Hello! Project behind her, she's sure to succeed. And if Tsunku picked her, she must have something special within her, ready to burst out with a little coaxing.
Heh, it's funny how I started out this entry feeling fairly disappointed, but am feeling far more optimistic and bright about the whole thing after some consideration, and re-watching of the audition footage. Now I can say that I'm really looking forward to watching this girl's transformation from normal girl to Morning Musume member. It should be rather fun to watch. I've never had this experience before, still being a fairly new H!P fan, so it's exciting for me.
Picture credit due to pengie of Unchained.
Let's just hope she doesn't want a boyfriend anytime soon, since that's not going to happen. Sorry kiddo, UFA owns you now. But never let them take your soul! ^_^ がんばって！
I have one thing to say [before the cut]: WHAT ABOUT AYAMI?
I should've known it was stupid to root for someone.
[NOTE: My feelings as I began this entry were basically disappointment, but turn much brighter and more excited by the end, after some real thought on the matter. The stuff before the cut, other than this note, is simply my initial reaction; as I thought about it while writing this, I became less disappointed with the decision, and have found myself able to accept it contently. I just thought I should include this at the beginning so as to let you know that this won't be one huge rant.]
Why on earth did he only pick one new member? Are we supposed to believe that this girl is going to be another Miracle Ace? Surely we'll find few faults in her a few months from now, but...come on. Another one-member generation right after Koharu? Is he going to get her an anime job, too? Solo singles? A photobook? That'd just be lame; I'm sorry, but it feels to me like he's trying to create a Koharu clone - like he was looking for another little Koharu, a girl with obvious flaws through the auditions to mold into some big selling anime seiyuu Oha Star performance machine - and that doesn't please me. I like Koharu, but that doesn't mean I want two of her in Morning Musume.
And seriously, why only one new member? Just one was interesting for 7th gen, but I was seriously looking forward to the group acquiring more fresh meat than that. The idea of three or four girls being added excited me, but even two would've been really cool. But just one, again? 9-nin Momusu again, huh. We last had that at what, The Peace? This is very different from that 9-nin. They had Aibon and Nono, Nacchi, Mari, Rika...well, we've still got Yossi. And I love the girls now, but...oh, I don't know. Why am I even making these comparisons? My first Momusu song, the song that hooked me, was Sexy Boy. That's the Koharu-era 10-nin, and I completely adore that song. Twice I've sung that song at the karaoke place with my friends, and I hope to sing it more! But anyway, I'm getting kind of distracted.
The girl herself...well, looking at her audition again, she's not as flawed as I'd remembered her to be. Her manner while singing was distorted to look a lot worse in my mind, but it's actually not so bad. And though you can't hear her voice through Tsunku's talking, she doesn't sound so bad. But again, with the Koharu comparisons, she's singing Furusato! Just like Koharu did. Maybe Tsunku has a thing for the girls who sing that song.
Also, Aika bares a bit of a resemblance to Momoko. There are some definite facial similarities that had me drawing that comparison pretty quickly. Aika, however, looks like a child, while Momoko has a real maturity to her face, sometimes looking mysterious, knowing, or just plain womanly. Aika has time to grow up, though. I wonder what she'll look like at 16 or 17. Hopefully some scandal hasn't thrown her out of H!P by then. I also have to say that her speaking voice is very unique. I'll be interested in hearing her speak in different tones - fear on Hello Morning, excitement nearly everywhere else, and hopefully some sheer terror on Utaban if we're lucky!
Watching the auditions initially, I became most excited about Ayami and Minami. Looking at the footage some more, I really like Yuu, as well. Her little Love Machine dance thing that you only see like two seconds of looked pretty cool, and her effort and voice while singing Furusato were appealing. She talked about Koharu, even calling her Koharu-chan, which was heartening. I find myself getting excited about her, but why on earth? She's not in the group, the end! It's Aika. No Ayami, no Minami, no Yuu - just Aika.
I liked Ayami a lot. I read somewhere someone expressing that they felt she was being too much of a camera whore during her rendition of Furusato, but I found that to be a good thing. You know who else really worked the camera during an audition? Suzuki Airi. And look how much she kicks ass.
I also quite liked Minami. Then that whole "scandal" broke out about her personal website displaying half-naked pixel dolls and weed leaves, and stating that she drinks heavily. While all of this could've been added by someone who hacked her site, wanting to sabotage her chance at getting into Momusu, there was also a picture of her in a bikini or some such thing, nuzzling up against a shirtless guy. Thus, she's definitely not the most innocent thing in the world, and was definitely not going to wind up in Momusu.
I found Sumire to be quite adorable, though her vocals didn't impress me much. The energy was good, as many have said, though. I'd like to see her do some acting - she really looks like someone else, to me, and it makes me want to see more of her. As for Natsumi, I didn't much care for her either way. And Aika, I initially thought would not be a good selection. With the talent that some of the other girls had, she seemed to me to be the weakest of the finalists. I know we'll all probably love her to death in a couple of months, and I'm really not disliking her so much now, but still. There was some real potential for great talent in Ayami and Yuu. They could've been a great pair, the awesome eighth gen duo. I can see it now...but alas, it's another single-member generation.
That said, I like Ayami and Yuu so much that a thought is coming to me that surprises me. Back when I discussed C-ute's status post-Megumi, I stated that while I found the idea of Tsunku trying to recruit a new member - maybe even through the Happy 8 auditions - possible, I wouldn't want to see any new members added. But now, I can't help but think that I wouldn't mind so much if Yuu popped up beside Erika and Chisato one day soon. I just find it such a shame to see her go! The idea of a new member in C-ute is appealing to me more, now. Though I am curious to see how they'll operate as a 7-nin unit, and to see if it's as appealing with them as it's been with Berryz Koubou. And lord knows I don't want a new Berryz member anytime soon. Berryz are perfect the way they are, and should be left in this formation permanently.
In any case, I must wish everyone involved the best of luck. I hope that the other five finalists can recover from the loss okay, and maybe at least knowing that they have a few fans out there, even in North America, now. And I wish the best of luck to little Aika-chan, who has quite the adventure aheard of her, now. She'll have much hard work to do once the initial celebration phase has ended, but with Hello! Project behind her, she's sure to succeed. And if Tsunku picked her, she must have something special within her, ready to burst out with a little coaxing.
Heh, it's funny how I started out this entry feeling fairly disappointed, but am feeling far more optimistic and bright about the whole thing after some consideration, and re-watching of the audition footage. Now I can say that I'm really looking forward to watching this girl's transformation from normal girl to Morning Musume member. It should be rather fun to watch. I've never had this experience before, still being a fairly new H!P fan, so it's exciting for me.
Picture credit due to pengie of Unchained.
Let's just hope she doesn't want a boyfriend anytime soon, since that's not going to happen. Sorry kiddo, UFA owns you now. But never let them take your soul! ^_^ がんばって！