Honestly, I have no clue if anyone even reads these. That's fine though, because I've decided that I won't be posting reviews on this blog anymore. I can't do reviews with any kind of frequency because I just don't have any type of motivation to do it. I also don't have any interest in posting recommendations anymore on here. If there is someone out there who liked to read my reviews/top 10 lists or whatever, I will be (eventually) starting to do reviews on the Rate Your Music site and doing top music of the year lists at the end of the year. So why am I posting this instead of just deleting the blog? Well, that's because I'd like to keep this up as a place to post romanized lyrics of fairly unknown Japanese groups like Galette, Coco Decoru, and others I have CDs from. I'll also still post my top members/thoughts of the year for Hello Project & 48G because I have no other place to do that. The posts will be few and far between, but they'll be up for people on the internet to find whenever. I'll be deleting this post + all of my old reviews/top lists except the G lyrics and member top lists probably in another month or so. If anyone did ever read these, thank you! I do and always will appreciate that, but my interests (+time constraints, money issues, etc.) have changed too much to want to continue this blog. I hope that anyone who comes across this will enjoy finding lyrics and such in the future!
I haven't really been following 48G this year. Me following 48G was always contingent on me buying their singles and albums for my collection, but because I just haven't had the money recently to do so, I've been paying less and less attention to the groups. It also doesn't help that releases have been few and far between for all of the groups.
AKB48
Neither of their singles this year have done anything for me. The B-sides have been meh (minus that SakamichiAKB song). The group has been kind of meh in graduation announcements. I'm semi-excited for Sousenkyou, but if Sasshi wins again I'm going to be disappointed. From my list in December, I lost Kira Takahashi. She should've been promoted and maybe she would've stuck around. AKB has a lot of KKS that really need to be promoted already. Surprised that Miichan hasn't announced yet. She really should (as should Mayuyu and Yukirin). It's time for the original members to leave.
#1: Minami Minegishi (-)
#2: Mayu Watanabe (+1)
#3: Mion Mukaichi (+1)
#4: Nana Okada (-2)
#5: Hijiri Tanikawa (-)
#6: Yuki Kashiwagi (-)
#7: Riona Hamamatsu (NEW)
#8: Nao Nomura (NEW)
#9: Saho Iwatate (NEW)
#10: Hinana Shimoguchi (NEW)
SKE48
SKE has been a non event this year. Sure they released an album, but that was way back in February and still no single yet this year. They were also a non event last year (though I loved Chicken Line). I actually completely forgot that SKE recruited an 8th generation. That's how little I've been paying attention recently. I'm actually surprised I haven't lost anyone from my list last year. I thought for certain I'd lose at least one or two. I guess the graduation torrent from SKE has slowed this year and they're starting to stabilize with the younger gens.
#1: Rara Goto (-)
#2: Oka Suenaga (+3)
#3: Jurina Matsui (-1)
#4: Ryoha Kitagawa (NEW)
#5: Akari Suda (+1)
#6: Marika Tani (+3)
#7: Haruka Futamura (NEW)
#8: Ayaka Ota (NEW)
#9: Natsuki Takatsuka (-2)
#10: Sarina Souda (NEW)
NMB48
Still thinking Sayaka will graduate this year or at least announce. Especially because she didn't participate in Sousenkyou. Has NMB released any singles this year? I can't remember if Boku ga Igai was this year or last year. Shows how much I've been paying attention haha.
#1: Sayaka Yamamoto (-)
#2: Rina Yamao (+2)
#3: Ririka Suto (-1)
#4: Narumi Koga (+6)
#5: Kanae Iso (+4)
#6: Fuuko Yagura (-3)
#7: Rurina Nishizawa (+1)
#8: Mizuki Uno (NEW)
#9: Azusa Uemura (NEW)
#10: Ayaka Yamamoto (NEW)
HKT48
Sasshi can leave now. I'd be good with that. Especially because they're making her be part of HKT, STU, AND AKB songs. Just leave already and leave spaces for girls who need it gosh. HKT released a single this year right? It was that bug song I believe. I don't think I've listened to it yet. Oh well. I'm slightly surprised I lost Haruka from December. Wasn't expecting that. I think Meru's going to be gone by year end. Don't know why, just a feeling. Anna will certainly be gone too. I can't imagine she'll hold out much longer with all the drama surrounding her.
#1: Meru Tashima (-)
#2: Nako Yabuki (-)
#3: Nao Ueki (+4)
#4: Mio Tomonaga (NEW)
#5: Miku Tanaka (NEW)
#6: Haruka Kodama (-1)
#7: Emiri Yamashita (-1)
#8: Maria Imamura (NEW)
#9: Anna Murashige (NEW)
#10: Sakura Miyawaki (-7)
NGT48
I still haven't listened to their debut song. From what I've heard about it, it seems like it will just be meh anyway. We'll probably see one more grad this year, after Sousenkyou. Still surprised that Mizusawa left so soon.
#1: Yuka Ogino (-)
#2: Tsugumi Oguma (NEW)
#3: Rena Hasegawa (NEW)
#4: Reina Seiji (-1)
#5: Mau Takahashi (NEW)
#6: Minami Kato (-)
#7: Miharu Nara (+2)
#8: Ayaka Tano (NEW)
#9: Riko Sugahara (NEW)
#10: Anju Sato (-5)
STU48
Cuca joined a group! I'm so happy for her! Too bad she wasn't included in their debut song, although the song was incredibly boring so meh. Hopefully they do a dance number soon and she gets to shine! I'm predicting one grad this year before a team is formed. They're all new so no positions.
#1: Miyu Sakaki
#2: Akari Fukuda
#3: Miyuna Kadowaki
#4: Yuri Torobu
#5: Aoi Hyodo
#6: Saki Sugahara
#7: Yumiko Takino
#8: Chiho Ishida
#9: Ayumi Ichioka
#10: Nonoka Shintani
Nogizaka46
If not the end of this year, next year there's going to be a mass grad of a lot of first gen. They've been in the group for, what, six years now? A lot are probably thinking about the future at this point. Influencer was ok as a single, haven't heard the B-sides. Then they released an album, which I also haven't heard anything from. Hopefully once things settle down for me I'll be able to catch back up.
#1: Rina Ikoma (-)
#2: Minami Hoshino (-)
#3: Maaya Wada (-)
#4: Miria Watanabe (NEW)
#5: Manatsu Akimoto (+1)
#6: Erika Ikuta (+2)
#7: Sayuri Matsumura (NEW)
#8: Asuka Saito (-1)
#9: Sayuri Inoue (NEW)
#10: Reina Sakurai (-1)
Keyakizaka46
It's the only group that I semi-payed attention to the music of this year! Fukyouwaon was AMAZING. More like that for 48G please. I do predict more Keyaki grads by the end of the year. Maybe from the weird Hiragana system. I wasn't a huge fan of Techi when the group first started but gosh she's a perfect center.
#1: Yurina Hirate (+1)
#2: Yui Imaizumi (-1)
#3: Mizuho Habu (NEW)
#4: Mana Takase (NEW)
#5: Memi Kakizaki (NEW)
#6: Kyoko Saito (NEW)
#7: Nanako Nagasawa (-4)
#8: Rina Uemura (+1)
#9: Yuuka Kageyama (NEW)
#10: Nijika Ishimori (-4)
SNH48
I'm still not sure what to think on all the China48 groups. I haven't heard any of their new music this year. I'll get around to it eventually. I'm actually surprised that more of my positions didn't change from December.
This probably should've been done already lol. H!P has been crazy this year. Between graduation announcements, crazy shake ups with Country Girls, random KSS being promoted to nothingness. It's actually awesome. I love shake ups. I'm still disappointed that there still hasn't been any new album announcements (no, I don't count Momoko's compilation Country Girls tacked on thing). All of the groups minus Kobushi need a new one. Very happy C-ute got their best collection with B-sides though. That was a plus.
Morning Musume
-"Morning Musume won't have any graduations this year!" People said. People were wrong and I knew they would be. You seriously didn't think that after 6 years in the group 9th/10th wouldn't have at least one girl leave per year til they're gone? That's denial. I was also right about 10th not leaving all as a group. Haruka being the next to go, however, was surprising. I figured she'd be one of the last of the 9th/10th to go. I still think there will be a 14th gen/13.5 gen this year. With the KSS being up in the air and CG members as well, there will definitely be a new member or new added. Please be Musubu. Please be Musubu. I'll take Reina too.
#1: Masaki Sato (-)
#2: Akane Haga (+1)
#3: Miki Nonaka (-1)
#4: Sakura Oda (-)
#5: Reina Yokoyama (+6)
#6: Ayumi Ishida (+1)
#7: Maria Makino (-1)
#8: Haruna Ogata (+1)
#9: Erina Ikuta (-1)
#10: Haruna Iikubo (-1)
#11: Kaede Kaga (+1)
#12: Mizuki Fukumura (-1)
Angerme
Ayaka was made H!P leader! Yes! I'm so so glad that they didn't pass her up just to favor Musume. She really deserves the position. I've also changed my mind about her announcing this year. I do think she will leave next year, but I don't think the announcement will be until next year because of all of the changes in H!P at the moment. I also don't think Maho is coming back. I love her and I wish she would, but she's been gone so long and their newest single really feels like an indication that she's not coming back. She needs to do what's best for her mental health and if that's not coming back, I hope she chooses it instead of hurting herself. Still think a second gen will be leaving this year. I'm going with Rina. I'd like to see Nanami get put here. She doesn't really have the "Angerme look", but I'd think it'd be a challenge for her. Ruru would also be nice in this group.
#1: Ayaka Wada (-)
#2: Mizuki Murota (-)
#3: Maho Aikawa (-)
#4: Rikako Sasaki (-)
#5: Moe Kamikokuryou (-)
#6: Kana Nakanishi (+1)
#7: Rina Katsuta (+1)
#8: Akari Takeuchi (-2)
#9: Momona Kasahara (-)
Juice=Juice
If they add a new girl to Juice, we're definitely seeing a graduation this year and I don't think it'd be either Tomoko or Yuka. I really hope they don't add new members to Juice. They need at least one group to stay static to be like C-ute. The only member out of those up in the air I'd be slightly ok with joining JJ would be Reina. She's close enough in age to the others, but I still wouldn't prefer it. If management adds Ayano because "Haha Karin and Ayano twinsies!" I'm giving up on H!P.
#1: Karin Miyamoto (-)
#2: Sayuki Takagi (-)
#3: Yuka Miyazaki (+1)
#4: Akari Uemura (-1)
#5: Tomoko Kanazawa (-)
Country Girls
I'm slightly disappointed that they're being made a sub group after Momoko leaves. However, I don't think it's because Momoko's leaving. I think that both Risa and Mai started discussing their own graduations with management and that is why they're going part time. Management didn't want to lose two more members (i.e. lose even more money), so they talked them into the part time thing. Once the graduation wave this year slows down, I can see Risa graduating and Mai soon after that. Effectively ending Country Girls. Management also knew that losing three members at once would destroy Country Girls, leaving the other three left no hopes of gaining traction even if they added more, so they decided to just place them in other groups so they wouldn't lose even MORE money. I'd like to see Chisaki in Tsubaki or a new group, Musubu in Musume or Tsubaki, and Nanami in any group but Musume.
#1: Musubu Funaki (-)
#2: Risa Yamaki (-)
#3: Chisaki Morito (-)
#4: Mai Ozeki (+1)
#5: Nanami Yanagawa (-1)
Kobushi Factory
I was wrong about them sticking together for a year or so. I'm not shocked that Rio's leaving, but I'm slightly disappointed they didn't stick it out whole for another year. I think we'll see a second graduation next year and then they'll be static after that like JJ and C-ute. I'd really rather they didn't add anyone new to Kobushi. Can we have more than one static group please? I don't particularly care for Kobushi, but they work well together as a unit and I don't want a new member wrecking that. If they absolutely have to add someone new, Ayano would work well. I'd be so pissed if they added Musubu to Kobushi though. She has an excellent voice but I don't think she fits the group AT ALL. Please don't H!P. Please.
#1: Rei Inoue (-)
#2: Sakurako Wada (+1)
#3: Minami Nomura (-1)
#4: Ayano Hamaura (+1)
#5: Natsumi Taguchi (+1)
#6: Rena Ogawa (+1)
#7: Ayaka Hirose (-3)
Tsubaki Factory
I still think there will be a graduation this year. Either Risa or Ami. I'm glad they did very good with their first single release. I was a little worried for them. I wouldn't mind some of the girls going into Tsubaki. Musubu would be cool, so would Ruru or Reina. I don't think Ayano would fit, Chisaki would be ok but I'd rather see a group built around her, and I just don't really like Nanami so I don't want her here either but wouldn't be upset if she was. Actually, I think it'd be cool to get some other KSS to be a new gen with some of the transfer girls. That'd be exciting.
#1: Kisora Niinuma (-)
#2: Yumeno Kishimoto (+1)
#3: Mao Akiyama (-1)
#4: Mizuho Ono (-)
#5: Risa Ogata (+1)
#6: Saori Onoda (+1)
#7: Kiki Asakura (-2)
#8: Ami Tanimoto (-)
#9: Riko Yamagishi (-)
??????
This section is for the "yeah you're totally going to debut, we just don't know what to do with you yet!" girls. They're not quite KSS, not quite full members. I'm going to include Momohime & Kurumi in this just because who knows what they heck they're about.
#1: Reina Ichioka
#2: Ruru Danbara
#3: Momohime Kiyono
#4: Kurumi Takase
#5: Ayano Kawamura
Kenshuusei
I'm glad that we got a fairly large generation this year so far, but I hope there's more to come. They need to build up good girls in the KSS again since the program has been pretty gutted in recent years. I was wrong about KSS going to UUG and only slightly disappointed that didn't happen. I don't really follow UUG so meh. Also surprised that no one's really dropped out since MM's auditions. I guess the overwhelming about of debuts recently is keeping girls around.
#1: Hikaru Inoue
#2: Kokoro Maeda
#3: Kizuki Horie
#4: Shiori Nishida
#5: Sakiko Kodama
#6: Reina Doi
#7: Rin Hashisako
#8: Mizuki Kanatsu
#9: Yuhane Yamazaki
#10: Natsume Nakayama
#11: Kotomi Ono
#12: Saya Eguchi
#13: Risa Shimakura
#14: Ichigo Yamada
#15: Kurumi Noguchi
#16: Minami Okamura
#17: Kirara Yonemura
#18: Riai Matsunaga
#19: Marina Hibi
Hokkaido Kenshuusei
Still don't really care about them. Hated Real Little Girl. Can H!P add one to a group so I can form a real opinion on the girls?
I figure while I'm already on here, what the heck lol. I also mainly want to feature one song in particular which is why I end up posting these in the first place.
I looooooove this. Love it so much I actually listened to the entire album. I never do that. Usually albums just go onto my "I'll get to this eventually" list and it takes me a year or so to get to it. The album is equally as good as the song.
CLC - Meow Meow & Liar (2017) (K-Pop)
Their comeback was a cheap rip off of 4Minute. There. I said it. Hobgoblin is a fun song yes, but Hyuna ruined CLC by trying to make them EXACTLY into 4Minute. And does she love the sound of her voice so much to make the one rapper girl sound exactly like her? Gosh that was the most offputting thing I've ever experienced in K-pop. Hyuna needs to stay away from CLC unless she has some fresh ideas for them. These two album tracks on the other hand are great. They're tropical house/K-pop sounding would have worked much better for a retooled CLC. Make them more of a cool "bad girl" group, but with something fresher and less sounding of desperation.
Seohyun - Don't Say No (2017) (K-Pop)
I love this new K-pop trend. Bright colors and house fusions. It's so hilarious to me how obvious the trends show up in K-pop. No. K-pop is nothing like Western music at all *rolls eyes*.
Predianna - Cry Like This (2017) (J-Pop)
Tsubaki Factory - Hatsukoi Sunrise (2017) (J-Pop)
My babies! Mark my words. They are H!P's next big thing.
And we're finally back with another review post! China48 is so interesting to me. They keep expanding so rapidly to the point where it seems excessive, however with the population in China I don't think they'll reach that saturation point as fast as Japan48 did. It's also interesting how few graduations they seem to be having in the past year or two. When SNH first started, I remember hearing about members leaving all the time but it seems to have stabilized. I wonder if them getting more work/original stuff curbed the graduations or if there were changes in management. I'm really glad that they're getting original music now. I hate cover groups lol. Like, I'd love to know more about JKT48, but all they do is cover Japan48 songs and that's so dull. I don't care about personalities or TV shows or stages or magazines so there's nothing for me to latch onto without original music. I do wish that China48 would slow down on the releases though. Not a big fan on how all three release their EPs at generally the same time...can't afford to pick them all up at once that way.
Princess's Cloak is SNH48's 3rd original EP and their release after their Senbatsu Sousenkyou. It was released in two editions (a Princess's Cloak version and a Romantic Melody version) with different tracks on both versions. When I first saw that there would be separate tracks on the versions I was upset because I really don't like how Japan48 does it because it makes it impossible to get all of the songs for me. Japanese CDs are so ridiculously expensive, even when I get them off of ebay the prices seem to be going up. However, SNH's prices aren't super bad for a full EP. At least, the guy that sells them on ebay doesn't price them crazily. I can't find them elsewhere to buy in US, so I'm glad that it's not very expensive for the EPs. Although if anyone wants to buy from ebay and haven't before, I do have to warn people that all 48G sellers on ebay can sell for so cheap because they remove the photos/event tickets to sell or use themselves. I personally don't care because I can't use event tickets anyway and I already have a bunch of useless photos around my house from CDs I couldn't get on ebay so I don't want them either. I think I'm blathering again lol. On to the review!
Track #1: Princess's Cloak [Both Versions]
SNH's original music had very little appeal for me up until this EP. There was only one song (Hand of Justice off their first original EP) that I really cared about. I feel like their music had a lower quality of production and it was pretty offputting. They seem to have corrected that now because I was really surprised at how good this EP sounded in quality. I also don't really feel like the Chinese language itself fits poppy music like 48G and it really showed on their earlier EPs where on this one it flows much more smoothly. The Chinese language thing might just be me though because I'm not used to it like Japanese or Korean. I probably thought the same thing with both of those languages when I first listened to them, although I can't remember that was almost 7(!) years ago. Anyway, song itself. I do like this song quite a bit. It's catchy and it has a dancey background to it, but it's not EDM. It reminds me a lot of early 2000s teen pop in the States. That's not a bad thing at all though because it works for SNH. Kind of a blend between Japanese idol music and more Westernized Korean music. 4.5/5.
Track #2: Romantic Melody [Both Versions]
Now this song I really love. It hasn't quite surpassed Hand of Justice yet, but it's up there in my top two of China48's music. On the surface, this isn't the type of song I'd generally attach to because it's a rather laid back pop track with guitar pieces, but it is so catchy. It doesn't even really have a noticeable hook (think like the Ra Ra Ra Ma Ma Ma in Gaga's Bad Romance for a super hooky song) like a lot of pop songs do, but the singing style in the song really hooked me into it. 5/5.
Track #3: A Yo Ai Yo [Both Versions]
This is where the EP starts to falter a bit. This song is a really Chinese pop track. That sentence probably sounds super weird, but outside of Jolin Tsai, every Chinese pop girl group/singer I've tried to check out seems to have this weird rock-pop-dance attempt type of song that just sounds dated and odd. It also sounds like something Hilary Duff would have done as an album track in her Disney days. Again, not bad by itself, but it's just so odd for a song on a release in 2016. The production even sounds like it could've been done in 2003. It's ok, but really not my kind of song. 3/5.
Track #4: 48 Secrets [Type A]
I have mixed feelings about this song. It's catchy, but it reminds me of 2008-2009 K-pop music mixed with AKB stage songs. The production doesn't sound as dated, but it doesn't stand out enough because of it and it gets drowned out in the sea of much better songs from both parties. 3.5/5
Track #4: Dreams Flag [Type B]
I really don't like that translation (I prefer to translate for Chinese/Korean songs while I keep Japanese just romanized. Weird preference, I know). Is that really the closest translation? It feels clunky. That's another issue I have with China48 songs. Most of the translations I see online just sound so off. I'm guessing that they're more of a literal translation and that's why. I don't know enough Chinese to even attempt something smoother with Google Translate so I've just dealt with it. This song is pretty average. It's a typical pop song with guitars in it. Actually, I keep thinking of old Hannah Montana songs when I'm listening to it. The sound is very dated, but like most of the EP as a whole, at least the production sounds current unlike their earlier EPs. 3/5
Track #5: Do It [Type A]
I expected this song to be an awesome EDM track based on it's title. Imagine my disappointment when it ended up sounding like a bland idol pop track. I do give it credit for sounding more like a Chinese pop idol track than a Japanese one. Again, not sure if anyone gets what I'm trying to say here. From what I've seen of Chinese girl groups they have a very distinct "idol pop" style that is reminiscent of Japanese idol pop yet has it's own identity in my opinion. I might just be making it more confusing. I don't know. It makes sense in my head but I feel like I'm explaining it very poorly. 3/5
Track #5: It Has To Be You [Type B]
Although I don't care too much for this song, I think the style really fits SNH. SNH to me seems like a girly group (think Nogizaka) that would do well with pop tracks flavored with light dance music. I do like their heavier EDM stuff, but I don't know. The group's image doesn't seem to suit that. In fact, I feel like this would make a good Nogizaka song and I'd love to see them do something like this. They have kind of done it with Inochi wa Utsukushii, but that was darker than this. 3/5.
Track #6: Brand New Love [Type A]
Ah. Here's the AKB style idol pop track. It actually sounds a lot like the old AKB summer singles. It's not my style and I wish they'd stay away from sounding like AKB. 3/5.
Track #6: BEJ48 - Love Of The Spacious Items [Type B]
They certainly went AKB single with this one by including the sister groups. I don't mind too much, but I'd hate to see SNH start releasing as many types as AKB does. This title translation I truly hate. It has to be a direct translation because that sounds bad in English. Actually, by putting it in Google Translate, it says the same thing. Not sure if that means that Google has it right or if someone literally just copy/pasted from Google Translate and used it as the translation. Tried Googling it, can't find anything else about it. I don't even know what it's trying to say. Is it a pun/saying in Chinese that doesn't translate properly? Is it trying to describe something metaphorically? It's driving me crazy because what even are 'spacious items'? Wait....this is about the song. Ignore rambling. The song is good, but forgettable. It's really girly K-pop sounding. Imagine A-Pink for early SNSD. Not really my thing, but A for effort I guess. 3/5.
Track #7: GNZ48 - Flashing Dream [Type B]
Now this song I really like. The dance line in a midtempo track just catches the ear immediately. This style would be amazing for GNZ to stick with. I think the China48 groups don't have an "identity" at this point. I think that it's good that they have musical diversity, however, to be noticed in the general public, they should have one particular style where people are like "Yeah! That's SNH!". Like how AKB is known for easy dance/catchy KFC type tracks or SKE is the dance heavy group or HKT is the cuter younger sister group. All the groups do plently of different song styles, but they have that niche that they explore. 4.5/5.
On YouTube:
Type A is also on Spotify so I'll also link that (their newest EP is on Spotify as well!):
Overall, I think this is the strongest EP SNH has put out so far. Their new EP sounds like it is really meh and their EPs before this are also mainly meh. SNH needs to take whoever produced this, came up with concepts, made the music, etc. and run with it. This EP is SNH. It's the most clearly SNH release they've ever had and shows that they are capable of being their own thing outside of the constraints of the 48G label. 4/5.
I noticed that there aren't really any Galette lyrics online (at least, that I can find. I don't know if Japanese sites have them or not), so I decided to try my hand at a little romanization. Just as a disclaimer: I DO NOT speak Japanese. I don't read Japanese very well. Coming up with the romanization for this was very hard and I have mad respect for those who do it on a regular basis and can actually understand the language. As I don't understand Japanese, I apologize if there are any errors in this romanization. If there are, please let me know so I can correct them!
This is just the romanization. I don't have the kanji lyrics (did this all with the CD insert + Google translate + my ears) & no translation (as I don't speak Japanese to be able to do that). Do I need a copyright disclaimer? No clue but here: I don't own this song or any of the lyrics. Copyright is owned by the company who managed the group/the record label/the actual songwriters. This is not done for any monetary gain & is just for non-Japanese speaking/reading fans to sing along. Enjoy!
GALETTe - G [Lyrics Romanization]
G! Te wo nobashite todoku sekai yori tooku e
G! Kakugo waii? Guzuguzu shite cha game is over.
Ima kara yo speed up. Okamai nashi ni iku wa
Noumakunaraba no thank you tsuite kite yo ne
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh oh girly! Hajimete no sensation
Kono mune no takanari wa…otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh oh give me! Gyutto kuru brand new days
Girls’ talk yori jikan wo wasureru youna mainichi wo kanjitai
G! Mitsumete ne? Harahara suru seventh sign
G! Hanarenai yo? Me ni yakitsuketara saigo atoda wa
Ari na no? Konna situation doki doki no renzokutte
Kiss yori mo takaburu passion matte iru yo ne
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh oh girly!
Kagayaki no timing Gloss mo kasanete miru….otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh Oh Give me!
Matenai yo Brand new style
Hoshii mo no bakari wagamama ni mo narukedo
Tsukamitai Shiny Dreams
Taikutsuna kinou ni Good bye
Hoshii no yo Special na trick
Saikou no mirai kara kitto
Mou soko ni aru
(Check it out!)
G! G! Oh Oh Girly!
Hajimete no sensation
Kono mune no takanari wa…otome da wa
(Yes! We are)
G! G! Oh oh give me!
Gyutto kuru brand new days
Girls' talk yori jikan wo wasureru youna
Mainichi wo kanjitai
Guess who totally fell off the face of the planet & didn't post a day #25 for the countdown? I'm always super busy on Christmas Eve and with Christmas itself being on Sunday this year I was busier than usual that day. I kept thinking about it, but the further away it got from day 25 the less I wanted to post anything lol. Whatever, the post was just supposed to be a Merry Christmas message anyway. Woo hoo? But anyway, it's now 2017! Thanks to anyone who read any of my posts last year! I think starting the year off with a music recommendation post is a great idea (especially cause I found a super duper awesome song today & I just had to share it with the world lol)
Broods - Free
This song is SO GOOD. Oh my gosh. Where has this song been in my life in the 10 months it's been on YouTube and my not knowing about it? I love this type of music and I really need to check out their album....after I get through the other pile of albums from 2016 I still haven't listened to yet.
Speaking of 2016 albums....this is just an aside it has nothing to do with anything tbh....was anyone else super disappointed with Britney Spears' Glory album? All I see is praise for the thing but I thought it was her worst album since In The Zone (which also seems to be super praised but again I don't really care for it). Really there wasn't a single song on the album I really cared for, usually there's at least one or two songs I like off of pop albums but Glory was just bad.
Neptunica - Alive (ft. Matt Defreitas)
Woooo EDM awesomeness! It's not often I like a song from Trap Nation (I'm more into MrRevillz type music), but this is amazing.
Rev. from DVL - Vampire
You'd think with Kanna Hashimoto centering them that they'd be more of a cutesy type group but I love that they've got that more H!P-ish style to them. The English bits are a little weird in the song but it's still super catchy. Another totally random side thought, the day before their company posted this I became a vampire in Skyrim. I thought it was amusing.
Gang Parade - Plastic 2 Mercy
This song shocked me. I do not like BiS or it's 20,000 clones/sister groups. I don't like the "alternative idol music" because it's usually just bland rock/alt with the terrible nasally idol singer voice over top and it's so off putting. At least with pop/dance numbers the music can mask the terrible singing but it does not suit rock music in the slightest. It's why I was so surprised that this is a dance track and not a rock song. I wouldn't call this song a favorite or something I'd play a lot, but it's cool to hear a song like this from one of those BiS clone group things. However they're related.
Honey Spice - Don't Let Me Go
This is a pretty typical idol pop dance track, but these girls have a lot of potential in my opinion so I'd love to see more people listen to them/know about them. Their voices also aren't completely terrible for a super indie group.
Warning! Lots of embedded videos in this post so sorry for slow loading computers out there!
Combining these two from last year so I can catch up to the correct day lol. Essentially these are new groups that either released their first single this year, or were formed this year. They could also be more unknown groups that just came on my radar this year. Since I combined the two posts, I chose four groups from each of the two genres for a total of eight new groups to watch. They're in no particular order, just alternating between K & J.
Group #1: Dear Kiss (J-Pop)
Full disclosure: I'm not super impressed with the music they've put out so far. I only care about them cause Nonoko. Really hoping their first release with her will be super awesome to entice me to buy it! Dear Kiss is a new group that formed early this year around former Galette member Saki Shishima. They currently have 6 members and have released one single and one mini-album. Nonoko recently joined not long after the end of Galette. I wonder if the other three former Galette girls will migrate to this group. I'd really love to see Yui Komori join as I liked her as much as Nonoko. I feel like this is nothing about Dear Kiss and everything about Galette. Cause it is. I miss them D:
Group #2: Blackpink (K-Pop)
The new YG girl group that everyone had been begging for for year finally arrived and they were much better than expected. I was nervous that YG would attempt to make them the new 2NE1. I'd say that their styling is very much that way, but their music is very different. Boombayah was a bit of an attempt to stay 2NE1, but Whistle & Playing With Fire really stick out as good framework to build the group's sound around in a way that they won't get labeled "2NE1-lite". I realized a little after PWF was released that I had been screwing up Jisoo & Rose lol. I thought it was Rose I liked, but it was actually Jisoo. Jennie is my overall favorite though. She is such a standout of the group.
Group #3: FuwaFuwa (J-Pop)
Ok so I still hardly know anything about this group except that they're a subunit of Harajuku Ekimae Parties. Do you know how hard it is to Google the term "Fuwafuwa"? Yeah. Not easy. All you get is a bunch of other result that have nothing to do with the group. Then searching HEP gets you nowhere either. Guessing there's not a lot of info in English out there? So I had to resort to the Japanese J-idol wiki database thing I found a year or so back and my poor Japanese skills to find out some basics about them....and then I STILL couldn't find them in the lists. I'm guessing I'm blind cause they must be there lol. So here's my poor description of them: They have lots of members and sing cutesy idol songs that actually are pretty catchy and sung rather well for cutesy idol songs. Check 'em out lol.
Group #4: Cosmic Girls (WJSN) (K-Pop)
They are currently an 11 member new group from Sistar's company. I didn't care for them one bit when they debuted. Both of their debut singles were awful honestly. Mo Mo Mo is the better of the two. I don't know what the heck they were trying to do with Catch Me because that song is absolutely tragic. Then Secret came out. The music video is the most stunning ones I think I've ever seen. The song was such a 180 from their first release. Really excited to see their comeback in January to see what they can do.
Group #5: Questy (J-Pop)
I debated adding them as I am not a huge fan of their first release as everyone else seems to be. However, they remind me of a new Fairies-type group more than a new Flower or E-Girls so I'm interested in what they will release in the future. They are a seven member group trained by LDH and debuted under Avex. Like with Fairies & other LDH groups, three of the girls are vocalists and the rest are performers (pretty much just back dancers to put it bluntly.)
Group #6: Sol-T (K-Pop)
These girls are from a super unknown company and they're also super unknown but their Bad Girls song is awesome. They have four members and have released two singles. They sound pretty great considering how unknown they are. I'm really hoping that they keep going down the Bad Girls path because that style suits them so well.
Group #7: Cherrsee (J-Pop)
I want to like these girls because their premise is interesting. A J-Pop group produced by a major K-Pop producer isn't probably a good idea for business, but it is super interesting for music in my opinion. I didn't care too much for their two A-sides this year, but their one B-side Surisuri Masuri sounds very promising. I hope they release something amazing in the new year.
Group #8: Matilda (K-Pop)
Surprisingly, this super unknown group has released THREE singles this year. For an "indie" K-pop group, they've actually done quite a lot. They've also gotten better with each single release. Their current one is their best in my opinion, although I don't think it quite fits their vocals (and the chorus is produced kinda badly. It's way too loud for the rest of the song.)
I am doing my best to keep up with these lol. I really don't know if I'll be able to make it tomorrow but I'm going to try. I'll still make all 25 posts, but life is busy lol. Like yesterday, just jumping straight to the countdown since everything's already been talked about.
#10
Angerme - Itoshima Distance
#9
Morning Musume - Sexy Cat no Ensetsu
#8
Country Girls - Boogie Woogie Love
#7
Kobushi Factory - Sakura Night Fever
#6
Morning Musume - Tokyo to Iu Katatsumi
#5
Juice=Juice - Karada Dake ga Otona ni Nattan ja nai
#4
C-ute - Mugen Climax
#3
Morning Musume - Mukidashi de Mukiatte
#2
Country Girls - Koi wa Magnet
#1
Juice=Juice - Dream Road ~Kokoro ga Odoridashiteru~
Yeah yeah I know I missed a day. This is the busiest week of the year for me and this isn't a top priority so I'm unconcerned. I also missed a day last year so it matches lol. Last year this one was known as "Top Western" but I don't like that because there's way more music out there than just stuff from Western countries (and I really really wanted to include that G.E.M. song in this so I made it work lol). I actually haven't listened to that many albums this year from any country or genre. I just haven't really had the time. I want to, and I have a HUGE list of things to get to, but I just haven't yet. That's why most of my list is just main singles and such because I haven't had the chance to delve into albums where usually there's better songs than the singles. This is also going to be an unranked list. It's going to go over 10 songs on purpose & I don't want those restrictions on this list. I'll do it alphabetically by last name/stage name/group name/whatever you get the picture.
Sabrina Carpenter - On Purpose
Sofia Carson - Love Is The Name
Daya - Sit Still, Look Pretty
Fifth Harmony - The Life
G.E.M. - 死了都要 ‧ 愛
Ariana Grande - Touch It
Olivia Holt - Phoenix
JoJo - FAB (ft. Remy Ma)
KOLAJ - Into You (ft. Eric Nam)
Krewella - Broken Record
Zara Larsson - Ain't My Fault
Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex
Neon Hitch - Please
Pentatonix - Hallelujah
Peter Possession - Have You Here (ft. Matt Pardus)
So I thought of another song for yesterday's post. Perfume's Flash. I was thinking it was 2015, but nope! Released this year. Oh well. This year I feel like I really expanded my horizons with J-idol music. However, I wouldn't say I necessarily expanded my interest in other groups. I've listened to a lot of stuff and for me, most of it is very meh. There's a lot of 48G music clones and then there's also a lot of the "anti-idol" scene out there recently which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I don't like rock or alternative music like I used to. Some stuff I can tolerate, but other than that I just don't care for it. I kind of want some H!P music clones. I like H!P's J-popxEDM style where it's not EDM like K-Pop's or like Western music but it's a very specific style to them that kind of blends idol pop & EDM. It's cool, I like it.
#10
Dianna Sweet - Super Hero
#9
Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome - Otome Gokoro
#8
Predia - Setsuna no Yoru no Naka de
#7
Galette - Sonic Fighter
#6
P.IDL - Hello! Halloween
#5
FuwaFuwa - Koi no Lesson
#4
Tokyo Performance Doll - GyakkoxRaisan
No good YT videos, but you can listen to it on my newest 8tracks playlist! Click me!
#3
Orange Port - Trigger
#2
Rev. from DVL - Ungaisouten Samurai Tamashii!
Like TPD, this isn't on YT, but it is on the 8tracks playlist. Clicky Clicky.
I feel like I did a slightly better job at listening to actual J-Pop stuff outside of idol pop.....except it was mainly older stuff. I admit when I typed in the title for this one I totally blanked on any non-idol J-Pop songs from this year that I liked. So I'm not even going to attempt a ranking but will instead just list stuff. Maybe next year I'll finally be able to do a real ranking.
FEMM - Neon Twilight
Egoist - Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
One Ok Rock - Taking Off
Babymetal - Karate
This is a little sad because this is all I can think of lol. I'm certain that there was more, but even searching for an hour I couldn't find anything. Next year. Maybe next year. I get that Babymetal could *technically* be called an idol group, but I personally disagree so I included them here. I make my own rules lol.
Oh my gosh this is so difficult. Last year K-pop was just starting to become interesting again so it was easier, but this year, K-pop was actually really great and I had a hard time coming up with this list. I'm glad that groups moved away from that awful "I'm sexy!" concept that kept going on. Very few K-pop groups can actually pull off the ultra sexy concept without seeming try-hard. This new synthpop/electro route this year was absolutely awesome. Especially the stuff coming from SM. SM used to be the super generic company with box MVs what the heck happened? I'm looking forward to next year's music scene, although I'm a little worried at the same time. I have a feeling that with Twice's success that other groups will try to emulate them like with the sexy concept overflow after Sistar's success. I adore Twice. I love them to bits, but their concept is another of those concepts like Sistar's that is difficult to replicate without looking try-hard or over the top. Even TT (which I loved) seemed over the top for Twice. I can't even imagine how awful it would've looked for a different group. Because it was so difficult, I did my top 10, but also included some "runners up" that were so close to making it.
So. I really don't like last year's day 16 category and I couldn't think of anything else to put. Sure I could've just bumped everything up a day but meh. So I'm gonna put so music recommendations instead! For those wondering, last year's category was H!P/48G songs that weren't from the main groups/from disbanded groups. I didn't like the idea of doing that category again because neither company has really released any new side music in a long time. Because of that, nothing in the countdown would have changed & there would've been nothing to talk about. That's boring. So, random music recommendations instead.
G.E.M. - 死了都要 ‧ 愛
Anyone know what the English title of this is?? I have no clue & I don't like using the actual script for non-Latin charactered songs. Obviously the last character means "Love" but I don't know the rest of it. Whatever. It's a GREAT song. I adore G.E.M. She's one of the very few Chinese acts I really like. Her music is extremely well produced.
Sixth Sense - Don't Go
I REALLY like them. It's been years since I liked a non-major label new K-pop group. Two songs in a row that have been really good.
Sol-T - Bad Girls
Surprisingly another new unknown K-girl group with a great song. A different tone than Sixth Sense's song. They remind me of an updated To Anyone era 2NE1.
That's really all I've got for this. Not a whole lot of stand out stuff since the last time I did this type of post. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal on the countdown.
You know what I really want in H!P next year? Albums. Albums for everyone! Well, not Kobushi since they just had one, but more albums please! Angerme is so overdue for a third, Country Girls is sitting on a bazillion unreleased tracks, Musume has a bunch of A-sides that need a home, & C-ute should get a farewell album along with a single (and best single/b-side collection hint hint). I don't believe we'll see any new groups formed this year. 2018 with a C-ute replacement group? Yeah, but this year I don't see it. I do see a bunch of Kenshuusei being added to current groups though. As with my other ones, no members (or full groups for that matter) who have announced their graduations are included.
This is the first year I can say with 100% certainty that I have an overall H!P favorite since Reina left. It's weird because I never thought I'd have that one girl that I liked above the rest after Reina's grad but now I do. Musubu! I'm hoping for great things from her. She's so incredibly talented. Maybe a solo song on CG's first album? Please?
Morning Musume
-I feel like there is going to be a lot of graduations next year. Well, a lot for Musume. I'm thinking 3. Six years is an incredibly long time to be in a group & I'm sure some members are thinking of their futures. We'll definitely see the first 10th gen go next year. Anyone who thinks 10th is going to go together is just plain delusional. Not only is there a large age difference/popularity gap between them, there's NO WAY that H!P would allow FOUR members to leave at the same time. It'd be group killing. I'd also be shocked if both Mizuki & Erina stick around. I'm also feeling like one of the newer girls will leave too. It's been awhile since someone left early on in their Musume career and I think that it's going to happen again. I do believe that we're also getting 14th gen next year, probably a surprise addition. Adding two high school aged girls was a little left field for 13th gen, so I'm thinking that they were added for talent/faces for the group & we'll see number boosters next year.
#1: Masaki Sato (+1)
-Look who's back at number one lol. She's so polarizing even for me personally. I dislike her sometimes and then love her others.
#2: Miki Nonaka (-1)
#3: Akane Haga (+1)
#4: Sakura Oda (-1)
#5: Haruka Kudo (-)
#6: Maria Makino (+1)
#7: Ayumi Ishida (-1)
#8: Erina Ikuta (+1)
#9: Haruna Ogata (+2)
#10: Haruna Iikubo (-)
#11: Reina Yokoyama (NEW)
-She's too new to place anywhere else, although I can see her passing a few of the current girls if she really stands out in their first single.
#12: Mizuki Fukumura (-4)
#13: Kaede Kaga (NEW)
Angerme
-Angerme is second in line in seniority now. Wow that's almost unbelievable. If Ayaka doesn't get the H!P leader position, there should be a riot. She objectively has the most seniority & she's also better than Mizuki. As for graduations next year, I think Ayaka will announce at the end of the year & graduate in 2018 with a second gen member leaving in 2017. Hard to believe they've been around as long as MM's 9th & 10th gens.
#1: Ayaka Wada (-)
#2: Mizuki Murota (-)
#3: Maho Aikawa (+1)
#4: Rikako Sasaki (-1)
#5: Moe Kamikokuryou (+3)
#6: Akari Takeuchi (-1)
#7: Kana Nakanishi (-)
#8: Rina Katsuta (-2)
#9: Momona Kasahara (NEW)
Juice=Juice
-I really don't know if Juice will see a graduation next year. I think they're definitely coming up to it, but I don't know if it'll be next year or not. I don't think they'll go all together though. Likely we'll see one girl leave, they'll carry on for a couple of years after that, and then disband as a group. I don't foresee new members at all.
#1: Karin Miyamoto (-)
#2: Sayuki Takagi (+1)
#3: Akari Uemura (-1)
#4: Yuka Miyazaki (-)
#5: Tomoko Kanazawa (-)
Country Girls
-Yay no more Momoko! I don't hate her, in fact I rather like her, but I did not like her in Country Girls. She should've left with the rest of Berryz or stayed in the background. She really didn't fit in with the kids. Manaka's sudden grad was surprising. I feel bad for her that she finally got to live her dream and then health problems got in the way. I guess it's good that she was put into CG instead of someone dance heavy like MM or Anju because her issues probably would've gotten to her sooner. I don't think we'll see any more grads next year (outside of Momoko), but I think we'll get new members. I'm actually wondering if we'll see their reveal at the New Year's Countdown because I imagine that they'll want the successors for Momo to be added while she's still there for guidance.
#1: Musubu Funaki (-)
#2: Risa Yamaki (-)
#3: Chisaki Morito (-)
#4: Nanami Yanagawa (+1)
#5: Mai Ozeki (-1)
Kobushi Factory
-I'm cautiously optimistic that they won't have any graduations and will carry on for a few years as a full group, but seeing as this is the real world, I wouldn't be shocked if someone left next year. I don't think they'll be adding any members to Kobushi either. I think they're the new non-generational group in H!P like Juice.
#1: Rei Inoue (-)
#2: Minami Nomura (-)
#3: Sakurako Wada (+1)
#4: Ayaka Hirose (-1)
#5: Ayano Hamaura (-)
#6: Natsumi Taguchi (-)
#7: Rena Ogawa (+1)
#8: Rio Fujii (-1)
Tsubaki Factory
-Although they've already received a second gen, I also think that Tsubaki will be non-generational. I think it's pretty clear that second gen was added to bolster the group for their debut because of their lukewarm reception. I think that H!P just made the mistake of making them too soon after Kobushi and if they had been introduced this year instead of last that they would have been better received. I do see someone leaving Tsubaki next year. Likely someone from first gen.
#1: Kisora Niinuma (-)
#2: Mao Akiyama (NEW)
#3: Yumeno Kishimoto (-1)
#4: Mizuho Ono (NEW)
#5: Kiki Asakura (-1)
#6: Risa Ogata (-3)
#7: Saori Onoda (NEW)
#8: Ami Tanimoto (-3)
#9: Riko Yamagishi (-3)
Kenshuusei
-I think we'll see a couple girls leaving due to 13th gen being chosen. I also think that we'll see some of the older ones go into UUG gen 2/that little sister group thing. Or whatever the heck is going on with UUG. I hope we get a HUGE Kenshuusei generation next year. I feel like they need more numbers and girls to stick around for a couple years since they've all but gutted the Kenshuusei with all the group additions. I'm not going to bother posting the position change because the ranking of the Kenshuusei is too unpredictable.
#1: Ruru Danbara
#2: Momohime Kiyono
#3: Reina Ichioka
#4: Kizuki Horie
#5: Hikaru Inoue
#6: Kokoro Maede
#7: Ayano Kawamura
#8: Kurumi Takase
#9: Sakiko Kodama
#10: Shiori Nishida
#11: Mizuki Kanatsu
#12: Rin Hashisako
#13: Kurumi Noguchi
#14: Yuhane Yamazaki
#15: Marie Yoshida
#16: Kotomi Ono
#17: Kirara Yonemura
Kenshuusei Hokkaido
-I have no idea what to think about these girls. They've practically done a grand total of nothing.
Graduation announcements have gotten crazy the past couple of days! Shu, Naanya, AND Nishino?! What the heck 48G?! They're not even the semi-popular members that you'd be expecting to announce either. But I admit I do really like graduations. I love the unexpectedness of some of them like Nishino's today & I love seeing the changes in the groups after certain members leave. It's just a super fun system to me because I don't get attached to the girls.
Unlike my first half of the year edition, I'm going to *attempt* to do SNH, BEJ, & GNZ too but I'm pretty much just going to be ranking faces as I don't know the girls too well. Keyaki I have a slightly better idea of my ranking since they've released more material & NGT I'm still unsure about because they won't release their first single. Just like my past lists, no members who graduated in 2016 or who have announced their graduations are included in my lists. I also have taken up using the nicknames I know for certain girls when I'm just talking about them. It's just easier than writing their full names so I'm sorry if people have no clue who I'm talking about lol. I keep full names in the list itself though.
AKB48
-From my list just in May two of the girls [Naanya & Aigasa] have announced their grads. That's been very recent too so I had a bit of trouble coming up with two new girls because I haven't had a lot of time to think about it. It's also too bad that Paruru is graduating at the end of the year because she's really grown on me this year. As for the girls on my list, I think Miichan will definitely be announcing after Kojiharu's grad. I also think Mayuyu will announce next year as well. Yukirin is a maybe, but I don't think it'll be next year. I'm hoping Kira gets promoted early this year & I'm genuinely surprised that Kiara has stuck around as long as she has. I don't really have a clue if she'll stick around next year or graduate.
#1: Minami Minegishi (-)
#2: Nana Okada (+1)
#3: Mayu Watanabe (-1)
#4: Mion Mukaichi (+1)
#5: Hijiri Tanikawa (-1)
#6: Yuki Kashiwagi (+2)
#7: Kira Takahashi (-)
#8: Kiara Sato (+2)
#9: Juri Takahashi (NEW)
#10: Saya Kawamoto (NEW)
SKE48
-My SKE list fared better than AKB lol. I only lost Aya from May. Her graduation shocked me. I wasn't expecting it this soon & I also expected Suda to go before Shibata. There's a part of me that wants Jurina to announce next year just because of the shock factor, but I don't believe that will happen at all. She's way too eager to hit #1 on the Sousenkyo and if Sasshi, Mayuyu, & Yukirin choose to not enter, she's got an incredible chance at making it. I don't think my list will fare as well come next May. I fully expect Nao, Kaori, Akari, & Natsuki to annouce their graduations. With Natsuki.....does anyone else think she looks like Musubu Funaki? Looking at her profile pic with her haircut makes her look like they could be sisters it's so weird.
#1: Rara Goto (-)
#2: Jurina Matsui (+2)
#3: Kaori Matsumura (+2)
#4: Nao Furuhata (-1)
#5: Oka Suenaga (+4)
#6: Akari Suda (+1)
#7: Natsuki Takatsuka (+1)
#8: Ruka Kitano (-2)
#9: Marika Tani (+1)
#10: Airi Mizuno (NEW)
NMB48
-I'm still a little shocked about Shu's announcement. That was very unexpected. Out of my list, I don't really know who may announce next year. I do think that Sayaka will, but I don't think she'll leave until 2018. We might lose Ayaka, Rurina, & Narumi next year, but I can't even guess.
#1: Sayaka Yamamoto (-)
#2: Ririka Suto (+1)
#3: Fuuko Yagura (+2)
#4: Rina Yamao (-2)
#5: Konomi Kusaka (+2)
#6: Miru Shiroma (-)
#7: Ayaka Morita (+3)
#8: Rurina Nishizawa (+1)
#9: Kanae Iso (-1)
#10: Narumi Koga (NEW)
HKT48
-Chihiro's graduation was another surprising one. I hadn't expected any of the HKT captains to leave for a few more years. I don't really see anyone on my list who's at risk of leaving next year. Unless Meru gets tired of being shafted and quits but I really hope that doesn't happen.
#1: Meru Tashima (-)
#2: Nako Yabuki (-)
#3: Sakura Miyawaki (+1)
#4: Haruka Ueno (+2)
#5: Haruka Kodama (+4)
#6: Emiri Yamashita (-1)
#7: Nao Ueki (+1)
#8: Yui Kojina (-1)
#9: Aoi Motomura (+1)
#10: Haruka Wakatabe (NEW)
NGT48
-I still feel like I know nothing about the girls. They really need to release a first single so I can see how they fit into the group because I just have no clue outside of what they look like. It's not like I'm going to waste the time to watch stages with songs I've heard a bazillion times and my Japanese isn't anywhere near good enough to understand MCs. As for graduations next year, I doubt there will be any. The only way I see someone leaving NGT is if they get a second gen too soon or if a scandal happens. But hey, I've been surprised so far this month with crazy out there announcements so who knows.
#1: Yuka Ogino (-)
#2: Rika Nakai (+1)
#3: Reina Seiji (+1)
#4: Ayaka Mizusawa (NEW)
#5: Anju Sato (NEW)
#6: Minami Kato (-4)
#7: Marina Nishigata (+1)
#8: Yuria Otaki (-2)
#9: Miharu Nara (NEW)
#10: Hinata Honma (-)
Nogizaka46
-I feel like there's going to be a mass grad from Nogi this upcoming year. They haven't really lost too many in their existence and they're coming up on 6(!) years in the group. No one from my May list left this year and the lack of graduations for so many years has made my list pretty stable compared to the rest of the groups. I think from my list, Maaya is definite to graduate. Poor girl is so unpopular. We might be in for a surprise and Minami or Mai might leave. I think both Rina & Erika will be sticking around for a while.
#1: Rina Ikoma (-)
#2: Minami Hoshino (-)
#3: Maaya Wada (-)
#4: Mai Shiraishi (-)
#5: Karin Ito (+1)
#6: Manatsu Akimoto (-1)
#7: Asuka Saito (NEW)
#8: Erika Ikuta (+1)
#9: Reika Sakurai (NEW)
#10: Rena Yamakazi (NEW)
Keyakizaka46
-I think I've been able to establish that Imaizumi is definitely my favorite. Techi is super cool too though and does make a great center. I predict that there will be exactly one grad next year. I don't know from whom, but still. I imagine they'll be much like Nogi and have very sparse graduations for a few years.
#1: Yui Imaizumi (-)
#2: Yurina Hirate (+3)
#3: Nanako Nagasawa (NEW)
#4: Risa Watanabe (NEW)
#5: Neru Nagahama (+4)
#6: Nijika Ishimori (+1)
#7: Manaka Shida (-4)
#8: Yui Kobayashi (-2)
#9: Rina Uemura (NEW)
#10: Yuuka Sugai (NEW)
SNH48
-And here's where the members don't matter and pictures tell a 1000 words lol. As I've just begun to have any interest in SNH & their sister groups, I have no clue really who each girl is. So my rankings are going to be changing drastically at least for the next year while I learn more about them.
#1: Jingyi Ju
#2: Guanhui Chen
#3: Yuge Zhang
#4: Rui Sun
#5: Qingyang Li
#6: Jiaying Chen
#7: Xiaoyin Kong
#8: Beiting Qian
#9: Yanwen Wu
#10: Han Mo
BEJ48
#1: Shiyan Li
#2: Yan Wen
#3: Bowen Hu
#4: Shan Sun
#5: Yifan Yang
#6: Xinyi Ren
#7: Zi Li
#8: Shanshan Su
#9: Mingjun Yan
#10: Lei Fang
GNZ48
#1: Jingyuan Zuo
#2: Hanyue Luo
#3: Qianqian Liu
#4: Lifei Liu
#5: Yuqi Chen
#6: Yanping Nong
#7: Leilei Xie
#8: Huijing Chen
#9: Qiongyu Zhang
#10: Nanxi Chen
All I want for Christmas is for 48G & China48 to stop making new groups lol. I can't keep up & I'm only really interested in the music. I can't imagine how difficult it is for people who actually try and follow the girls. It's insanity.
Now that I've had 24 hours to process the news of 13th gen, I'm just somewhat ambivalent towards them. They need to release something for me to have any interest in the new girls. I do think people are being a little unnecessarily harsh towards Kaede though. I don't particularly care for her because I don't think that her voice is good like people say it is. It's a deeper voice which draws people to it, but I don't find her a good singer. As for her supposed attitude problem, I don't follow the Kenshuusei close enough to even know what people are complaining about. With Reina, I'm really thinking she would make a good double center with Maria. MM needs faces to lead the group. Keep the Sakura/Mizuki/Masaki lead singer trio, but put Maria/Reina front and center to push them into the minds of the general public.
With MM this year, I feel like they just coasted through it. Two singles a year for the most popular group of H!P is not a good business plan Up-Front. They even have a bunch of new songwriters so they can't use the excuse that Tsunku has too many songs to write. They need to have an album next year and at least three singles. If they want the new members to gain traction, they need to start shoving them onto as many music, variety, internet, cooking, or alien theory shows as possible. Anything that they can get them on is the point really. Now is a great time to start with the buzz from new members.
Musically, MM was once again the group with the best releases (with maybe the exception of Juice=Juice this year). Their first single was a bit blah, but Utakata ended up being fun & Tokyo to Iu is still awesome. I like to pretend The Vision doesn't exist. The entire Sexy Cat single was pretty solid in my opinion. I like Sou Janai the least but it's still cool. Mukidashite (? I can't spell to save my life this month I swear) is freaking amazing. Sexy Cat is quirky and fun. Something different for the group in it's current incarnation. Hoping next year's single exceed this year.
This is supposed to be about C-ute, but just a quick aside: Congrats to the new Musume members! I had a feeling that Yokoyama would get in because of the random buzz around her that seemed to crop up overnight. She's very pretty and I hope that she has a good voice to accompany that. As for Kaede....well. I'm very happy that she's getting to realize her dream and got to join the group with the most opportunities. I truly hope that she melds in well and is a good asset for Musume. The members both are older which is a shock (and it feels like there will be new younger members added next year too because of it) and they both fit the current mature image of MM. Congrats again to them & I can't wait to see their debut!
As for C-ute. I sooooo knew it. I KNEW they would announce their disbandment this year. Honestly, it's time and I couldn't be happier that they're leaving. That sounds awful as I do like them, but H!P needs to complete it's transition to the new H!P and pass the torch to the new members and groups. Now there's just Ayaka Wada who is pre-2010 (if you don't count Aika who doesn't do anything anyway.). I fully predict that Ayaka will announce next year as well. Maybe not graduate, but definitely announce.
As for C-ute's music this year, outside of Mugen Climax (which was such a return to form for them), nothing was outstanding at all. Jinsei wa Step was fun & even though I've mainly ignored Summer Wind, I'm coming around to it. Naze Hito was just bad & I don't even remember what the other Mugen Climax single songs sound like so that's not a good sign. I guess I can say they outdid Angerme this year and maybe Kobushi, but I'm not sure on my feelings on that. Hopefully their final single will be an awesome goodbye for them. I'm also expecting a single/B-side collection like Berryz. I will be so incredibly upset if they don't do that. I want their singles/B-sides but I don't want to have to buy all of the singles I don't have to do so. I'm running out of room on my display shelf.
#10
Mugen Climax (2016) (NEW)
#9
Kiss Me Aishiteru (2011) (-2)
#8
Kanashiki Heaven (2012; Aitai Aitai na) (-3)
#7
Crazy Kanzen na Otona (2013) (+2)
#6
Midnight Temptation (2011; Chou Wonderful 6) (-)
#5
Please, Love Me More! (2013; Tokai no Hitorigurashi) (+3)
Ah Angerme. It seems like they're the current "golden child" of H!P fans. They are always praised to the heavens by just about everyone. I don't get it personally. I like Angerme. I do. I like the members, they're talented. But their music is no better or worse than the rest of the H!P groups. It's exactly the same. For me personally, I actually like Angerme's newest material less than everyone but Kobushi. Their EDM-ish tracks are so lame and one note. The girls sound bored singing them. Their rockier tracks are even worse. I've been indifferent to everything they've released this year. Itoshima Distance was probably the highlight and even then it's kind of meh. So disappointing for Meimi's final single. I really hope they get better music next year, or at least have some energy while singing the songs.
Member wise, Angerme has been somewhat surprising this year. Moe was pretty surprisingly added (although I don't remember if that was late last year or early this year. Whatever. She had her first single this year so it counts). Moe seems to be very talented, but I don't find myself drawn to her like everyone else seems to be. She also really looks like Zoe Barnes from House of Cards to me. I don't know why. I didn't like Zoe. She was annoying and I'm glad she was killed off super early into season two (I'm on episode 3 I think of season two so far, such a good show). Off-topic but ANYWAY, I'm indifferent to Moe. Momona though. Gosh I really dislike saying I don't like certain girls because I don't know them personally and they're all younger than I am and it's their dreams to do this job, but I really don't like Momona. They couldn't have picked a more horribly awkward girl for Angerme. She needed another year or two in the Kenshuusei in my opinion. I know that Maho was super awkward at first and she's amazing now, but Maho has a quality that drew me to her from the get go. Seeing Momona in official pictures makes me cringe because she is so out of place. I'm just somewhat disappointed in Angerme all around this year.
#10
Suki yo, Junjou Hankouki (2012) (-2)
#9
Aa Susukino (2014) (NEW)
#8
Ee ka?! (2013) (NEW)
#7
Mystery Night (2014) (-)
#6
Uchouten Love (2011) (-1)
#5
Smile Bijin (2010; from Ganbaranakutemo Eenende) (+1)
#4
Shin Nippon no Susume! (2013; from 2 Smile Sensation) (-)
