Japanese Groups to Watch [September 2016]

Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick not really informative but more music recommending post. I've been toying with this thought for a while about Japanese groups that I feel don't have nearly enough exposure in the Western J-Pop fanbase. As someone who really could care less about group dynamics and knowing the members or the history behind the groups, this is really going to be mainly music based, as I just don't know much about the groups themselves to give any details. Think of this as an introduction to the music, not the group.

Group #1: Osaka Shunkashuto

I've written about these girls before but I feel compelled to do it again. They're an idol/performance group that really is just bursting with talent. The lead singer, Maina, is one of the most talented Japanese idol vocalists I've ever heard. They don't have a huge discography, but they have released a few singles and one mini album. The mini album, Early Season, has some of their earlier singles on the tracklist. My introduction to Shunkashuto was through their MV "C'mon!". I was very impressed by the vocalist and looked for more of their music. I'm glad I did because they are quite good.

Group #2: FuwaFuwa

All I really know about these girls is that they are a subgroup of Ekimae Harajuku Parties and they're managed by Avex. Beyond that, I know nothing but the center's name. This is another group I came across on YouTube. Usually this type of group wouldn't appeal to me at all. They sing the typical fluffy idol songs, but they're so super catchy and not bland. I discovered them through their second single Koi no Lesson and became addicted to the track. They have two singles so far.

Group #3: LinkStar's

Well, the video I'm gonna link is from when they were called just Links. I haven't heard any of their music after the name change but it's something I have to do. On this list so far, their pretty much the most indie from what I understand. Well, they sound it at least. Objectively, I understand that their Love Soldiers song is nothing special and is actually pretty bad vocally and the vocals don't fit well with the music and all that; but I absolutely ADORE this song. I don't know why. I'll never know why. The music itself has an epic adventure feel to it and I love it so much.

Group #3: Mirai Skirt

As this list goes on, I know less and less about the groups. But I discovered Mirai Skirt through a CDJapan sale. I have an addiction to buying CDs and CDJapan feeds that addiction with their quarterly sales. I always try to pick up discounted idol pop CDs that I wouldn't buy usually to try out new music. They had their CosmosSplash CD on sale and I grabbed it. The song is super catchy and is a nice blend of idol pop and electro.

Group #4: Orange Port

It upsets me that there's no full MV of this group's song on the internet as of right now. But yet their single is on iTunes and Spotify. Go figure. I had heard of Orange Port about a year ago but didn't really care about them until I saw the short MV for "Trigger". Holy crap is the song ever good. If you love darker electro spiked music, this is certainly something you'd love.

Group #5: Galette

Yes I realize I've said many things about them many times. I also realize that they have a couple dedicated vocal fans that spam their stuff a lot. I still don't care. Love them. They are good.

The end! Enjoy!

Melon Kinenbi - 1st Anniversary

Well, it hasn't been TOO long since my last post lol. I had been going through my albums on iTunes and came across Melon Kinenbi's first album and realized I had ripped it, but never listened to it. I figured this would be a great album to do a "first impression" post on. Of course I have heard some of the songs on the album before, but I haven't heard all of them. I'm looking forward to doing this because I don't quite care for Melon's singles so I'm interested in hearing the full album.

I'd say Melon Kinenbi is probably pretty well known among Hello! Project fans who have been part of the fandom for a bit, but since they're an older group I'll just give a little background on them. Melon Kinenbi officially debuted in Hello Project in 2000 with four members: Hitomi Saito, Megumi Murata, Masae Ohtani, & Ayumi Shibata. They were one of the early groups of H!P, and they are also one of the longest lasting groups in H!P. I believe they're also the longest lasting H!P group with no member changes. Towards the end of their run, they weren't really idols in the sense that Berryz Kobo were when they ended. They had been kind of off doing their own thing under UFP before their disbandment in 2010.

Track #1: Melon Kinenbi no Theme (OP)

Track #2: Akai Freesia

Although I don't know a whole lot about Melon Kinenbi, I believe that this is their most well known song. It seems like everyone in H!P sings this song at some point. I personally have never really cared too much about the track. It's a pretty generic J-pop track really and doesn't have the "Tsunku feel" like other H!P songs. It's also a not very upbeat, upbeat song. If that makes any sense. Like there's not a whole lot of life in it. 3/5.

Track #3: Kousui

This is such an early 2000s midtempo H!P track. It's got that faux "hip hop" feel that Minimoni & early Berryz were trying to do. It's not a bad song, and they certainly pull it off better than Minimoni, but it's not really my cup of tea. 3/5.

Track #4: Anniversary

Ah the first song that sounds somewhat lively so far. I believe this is an album track as I haven't heard it before. It still has that "yo yo yo" in the background with the fake hip hop sound. But where Kousui fails, I think this song prevails. It's uptempo and doesn't rely on the fake hip hop sound to carry it. 3.5/5.

Track #5: This Is Unmei

I think this is another track that people think of when they think of Kinenbi. I personally don't like it. I do really enjoy the verses and the use of classical music, but the chorus is awful and ruins everything. I just picture those terrible pop rock groups when it starts. 3.5/5.

Track #6: Kokuhaku Kinenbi

I swear I just want to write Kenobi when I try to write Kinenbi. I remember watching the music video for this when I was first trying to dig deeper into H!P's past and wondering why it was so bright and why they were wearing blond wigs. As with most early H!P songs, I don't like this or hate this, but I'd rather not listen to it a lot. The very early 2000s (like 2000-2002) songs in H!P, outside of a few songs, are incredibly dated. More dated than Britney Spears' Baby One More Time & THAT song is dated. What I do like about it is that like other songs from that period, it's not trying to take itself too seriously. It's fun, it's catchy, and it's not trying to be mature fake hip hop. 3.5/5.

Track #7: Nemuranai Yoru

Now this song really sounds like Minimoni's Crazy About You. It's not as good as it though. I enjoy the slower, more dramatic verses; but the chorus is just too upbeat and screechy sounding. It's also weirdly sandwiched inbetween two completely different sounding songs. 3.5/5.

Track #8: Saa! Koibito ni Narou

Wow is this ever a mix between Koi no Dance Site & Hyoutanjima. With a splash of rock thrown in. It's so weird. It's not one of Tsunku's better weird tracks, but it's interesting enough to hold your attention. 3.5/5.

Track #9: Denwa Matteimasu

I had to look up what date this song was released again because I was surprised that it's a 2001 track. H!P music tends to have very distinct sounds for different years and this reminds me a lot of 2005-ish with Berryz & Osaka Koi no Uta. However, I guess that it's also like Maki Goto's albums during this time. I'd have to say that this is probably my favorite song on the album. It's more the style that I like. A dance track that's more of a mature sound. 4/5.

Track #10: Natsu no Yoru wa Danger!

The opening is another H!P song. I know it is but what is it I can't think of it. I can't bring myself to think of anything to say about this song. It's essentially a completely forgettable song with nothing memorable about it. 3/5.

Track #11: Amai Anata no Aji

Their first single. It's also the best song on the album. Sure it's incredible outdated, but it's one of the few tracks that doesn't sound like a Morning Musume/Minimoni reject. It has a character that is the group itself and not someone else. 4.5/5.

Track #12: Endless Youth

I like the traditional sounding opening and feeling through the verses. One of the biggest downfalls of Kinenbi's music are how the choruses are mainly let downs. Everything starts out so promising and then falls flat in the generic "peppy" verses. Disappointing. 3/5.

Track #13: Melon Kinenbi no Theme (ED)

Includes all songs except for Nemuranai Yoru

This album really represents to me the problem of companies not releasing albums every year or two for their acts. To me, this isn't an album, it's a compilation. The songs styles are all over the place and you can tell very distinctly in most of the tracks what year they were released in. Because of how all over the place this is, it's really difficult to listen to it as one package. It also doesn't help that the songs sound like Kinenbi just got all of the throwaway tracks from each era that weren't good enough for Musume. It's just not a very interesting album to me. It's nice to own for collection purposes, but it's not something I'd actually listen to. 3/5.

Seiko Matsuda - Citron

This is the post I've been wanting to do! I've been attempting to get into 80s J-Pop over the past year (which would work out so much more if I had more time), so I wanted to showcase one of the CDs I bought here for other people to discover some older J-Pop too! I'm sure most people who have been into J-Pop for a little while know who Seiko Matsuda is. Which is one of the reasons why I chose her to showcase first on older J-Pop since she's one of the biggest names of that time period. For those who may not of heard of Seiko Matsuda, or may have just heard bits and pieces, she's called "the eternal idol" and for good reasons. She was huge in the 1980s and has continued her singing career to this day. She even tried to break into the US market in the early 1990s. This album probably isn't one of her more well loved albums, but I bought it because the word Citron is awesome xD Probably a bad idea to buy stuff just by the name, but because of her absolutely huge discography, I decided just to jump right in with something that sounded interesting to me. This album was released in 1988 and was entirely produced by the American producer David Foster. He has produced for many American artists like Celine Dion & Michael Jackson. Looking through his writing credits on Wikipedia, I think a song the he produced that most people would recognize would be Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart" which was a hit in the 1990s. Due to the album being written and produced by an American producer, it does sound exactly like American pop music of the late 1980s and early 1990s. This isn't really a bad thing though. Because of this, the album could be very accessible to those who are unfamiliar with Seiko, but knows American 80s music. Granted, I haven't heard much from her beyond this album so this could be very much her style as it is, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's production allows it to be easy to get into for people not interested in J-Pop. For example, I played some of the songs for my mother (who was in her 20s in the 1980s), and she couldn't get over how much the music sounded like she remembered from that era.

Track #1: Blue

The album begins with your pretty conventional 1980s pop album opener. It sounds a lot like something you'd listen to on Whitney Houston's Whitney album. It's a very relaxing midtempo track that sets the flow of the rest of the album. Although I personally like it, if you're not a huge fan of 80s music, then it likely won't make much of an impression as the song tends to stay fairly steady through its entirety without becoming very lively. 4/5.

Track #2: Marrakech

If you're more of an uptempo person, this is the song on the album you should start with. It serves as one of the singles from the album. What I enjoy about this song is that it has a slight Middle Eastern undertone to the music which is pretty cool because Marrakech is a city in Morocco which although not in the Middle East itself, was influenced greatly by it's culture due to the Arabic people controlling the area for many years much like Spain had been. 4/5.

Track #3: Every Little Hurt

I'm never sure what I think when there's a ballad song only 3 songs into an album. What is interesting about this song though is that it features David Foster singing a duet with Seiko. And it's in English. David Foster has a pretty indistinguishable voice from other 80s singers like Phil Collins or the Wham! guy (dang it can't remember the name xD). But then again, most male singers sound very similar to me. The song really does sound like something you would've heard on American radio at the time and shows why it was possible for Seiko to attempt to break into the American market. 3/5.

Track #4: You Can't Find Me

This track is reminiscent of something you'd find on Michael Jackson's Thriller album. In fact, the beat in the beginning reminds me quite a lot of the beat in Thriller the song. This is one of my more favorite upbeat tracks on the album. While I like Marrakech, this just seems to have much more energy and is more dancey. 5/5.

Track #5: Daite...

There's a piece of me that almost wishes she wasn't singing this. Not because I don't like her voice, but the instrumental of this song seems to drown out her voice because it seems more structured for a female singer with a strong & loud voice. More like Pat Benetar or Heart, especially with the power ballad sounds of the song. However, even though her voice isn't necessarily strong enough to make the song as powerful as it could be, it's still a wonderful 80s power ballad. These are the kind of ballads we're missing nowadays. 4/5.

Track #6: We Never Get To It

Another song fully sung in English. In my opinion, this is the most "late 80s" sounding song on the album. It sounds so much like early Mariah Carey upbeat stuff as well as Whitney Houston's 90's material. However, it is much more difficult to understand what she's saying in this song than in Every Little Hurt because of how the music and background singers tend to drown her out. It's catchy, but not one of the better upbeat songs on the album. 3.5/5.

Track #7: Zoku Akai Sweet Pea

No, Hello Project is not the original company to do this track lol. Actually, this is a new version of her incredibly popular single. I personally have never listened to the original and don't even have this version of the song in my library because of it being a remake so I won't really talk about it as I can't really give it a fair write up.

Track #8: No. 1

This is another early 90s feeling track. It's pretty minimalist in terms of actual instruments and instead has a lot of background acapella singing. The background singers remind me so much of this Christian acapella group that my mom used to play on cassette tape back in the early 90s. Although the song is very nostalgic sounding for me, it might not be all that interesting for others because the background singers have a much larger part in the song than Seiko herself. And really, after I listen to this, I remember very little of Seiko, but everything from the acapella hook. 4/5.

Track #9: Shigatsu wa Kaze no Tabibito

This is probably my least favorite non-ballad on the album. It just seems very flat to me and her voice is very unpleasant in this song. By this point in the album, everything that this song offers has been heard before in other (and better) tracks. 3/5.

Track #10: Ringoshu no Hibi

I have to say I really dislike when albums end in a ballad. It'd rather leave an album feeling happy than bored as there are very few ballads that can serve as competent openers or closers. However, this is one of those rare ballads where I feel it works to an extent. The reason I feel it works isn't because of the lyrics or singing, but the stunning piano pieces and the way it is structured like a symphony. It's uniqueness is it's strength. 4/5.

Seiko Matsuda - Citron [Album Playlist] (Doesn't include You Can't Find Me, Zoku Akai Sweet Pea, No. 1, Shigatsu or Ringoshu because they weren't on YouTube.)

As someone who really loves 80s music, I can say I really enjoy this album, even if it does sound like a very dated 80s album. If you aren't very interested in a walk through the stereotypical sounds of the 80s, this probably isn't the album that you should attempt to dive into 80s J-pop with. Especially if you're more of a dance pop lover like I am. Even though there are a lot of uptempo & midtempos on the album, none of the songs are particularly high energy which could leave you a little bored by the end. But if you do love the 80s, this is certainly an easy album to get into. 4/5.

Top 48G Members [First Half 2016 Edition]

December's Ranking: Click Here

It really pains me to say this, but in contrast to H!P this year, 48G's music has been utterly fantastic. Not so much AKB, but the sister/"rival" groups. They've had a lot of impressive songs come out this year so far. They've also seemed actually interesting this year. I find myself checking up on news about them more often than usual. I think it's because the big older members are finally starting to leave (like how Takamina FINALLY got the heck out of the group. That was the single most pointless graduation drag out I've ever seen) and new members are beginning to fill the ranks. It's a fun transition time.

AKB48

-It's actually kind of sad how AKB manages to be so mediocre compared to their sister groups. Kimi wa Melody was an ok song, and had some fantastic B-sides, but the B-sides weren't even by AKB except for La La La (which was boring as crap). And Tsubasa wa Iranai & it's B-sides is AKB's management really phoning it in. I applaud them for resisting going back to bikini singles, but gosh can we at least have something with some energy? And if that preview for that new song is actually the Sousenkyou single then I'm giving up on any A-side being good this year from AKB.

#1: Minami Minegishi

#2: Mayu Watanabe

#3: Nana Okada

#4: Hijiri Tanikawa

#5: Mion Mukaichi

#6: Nana Owada

#7: Kira Takahashi

#8: Yuki Kashiwagi

#9: Moe Aigasa

#10: Kiara Sato

SKE48

-I honestly expected SKE to not catch my attention as much after Rena graduated, but really they've been more interesting than most groups. Rara is totally adorable and I'm glad that she's getting the push she's getting. Musically, SKE has released one of their best songs ever this year with Chicken Line. While most of the B-sides to the single were pretty standard pop fare, Is That Your Secret was really great too. I hope they get an album/original stage this year. It's been too long since both.

#1: Rara Goto

#2: Aya Shibata

#3: Nao Furuhata

#4: Jurina Matsui

#5: Kaori Matsumura

#6: Ruka Kitano

#7: Akari Suda

#8: Natsuki Takatsuka

#9: Oka Suenaga

#10: Marika Tani

NMB48

-NMB had some great title tracks last year, but this year's Amagami Hime wasn't really up to par with songs like Must Be Now & Don't Look Back. It's good, but not that good. The B-sides were also rather disappointing. I'm hoping that their next singles this year are better. With NMB, I feel like they're really beginning that major transition phase that SKE seems to be starting to come out of. The phase where older members & popular members are wanting to move on & pass the baton to younger girls. With Miyuki leaving (and in my opinion I believe Sayaka will be gone by the end of next year too), they will have to make the transition to new gen sooner rather than later. They are doing better on that front than SKE did when they began the transition though.

#1: Sayaka Yamamoto

#2: Rina Yamao

#3: Ririka Suto

#4: Shu Yabushita

#5: Fuuko Yagura

#6: Miru Shiroma

#7: Konomi Kusaka

#8: Kanae Iso

#9: Rurina Nishizawa

#10: Ayaka Morita

HKT48

-I've all but given up hope that HKT will ever release good A-sides ever again. Or B-sides for that matter really. However, their B-side on Kimi wa Melody was incredible. Make Noise is the best thing they've ever done. They should totally do that style on an A-side just to shake stuff up because of how boring they usually are.

#1: Meru Tashima

#2: Nako Yabuki

#3: Chihiro Anai

#4: Sakura Miyawaki

#5: Emiri Yamashita

#6: Haruka Ueno

#7: Yui Kojina

#8: Nao Ueki

#9: Haruka Kodama

#10: Aoi Motomura

NGT48

-Well, they haven't really done anything yet so I don't have a whole lot of thoughts on them. Their B-side releases for AKB are pretty boring though. And I really really don't like Moeka. She feels like such a poor choice for center over the amount of girls they have who could pull it off much better. I still can't really rank them with any certainty because they haven't released a single yet.

#1: Yuka Ogino

#2: Minami Kato

#3: Rika Nakai

#4: Reina Seiji

#5: Nanako Nishimura

#6: Yuria Otaki

#7: Mau Takahashi

#8: Marina Nishigata

#9: Rie Kitahara

#10: Hinata Honma

Nogizaka46

-Honestly, Nogi releases music more boring than HKT. They really do. However, as a group they seem to have much more personality. Although Nogi's music borders from bland to blander, they have managed to release one of the best Japanese songs of all time this year. No I'm not kidding when I say that. Harukanaru Bhutan is probably my favorite song to ever come out of the 48Gs, and at this point it's very very close to becoming my favorite Japanese song of all time. The composition and production of that song is just absolutely gorgeous. The alternating between the guitar & the traditional instruments before that last chorus is just a beautiful piece of music. So powerful. When they have songs as good as that in their arsenal, why the heck are they constantly releasing snoozefests? I can't remember how any of their A-sides go as far back as Natsu no Free & Easy because they're all the same flavor of boring.

#1: Rina Ikoma

#2: Minami Hoshino

#3: Maaya Wada

#4: Mai Shiraishi

#5: Manatsu Akimoto

#6: Karin Ito

#7: Marika Ito

#8: Nanase Nishino

#9: Erika Ikuta

#10: Himeka Nakamoto

Keyakizaka46

-I was so incredibly surprised by their debut single. It was so different for the usual 48G stuff! This is what they need desperately. Curveballs. It seems like the Japanese public loved the Silent Majority concept too so that should provide incentive for them to comeback with another great song. I'm still not 100% on my ranking, but my top girls are more or less decided.

#1: Yui Imaizumi

#2: Miyu Suzumoto

#3: Manaka Shida

#4: Aoi Harada

#5: Yurina Hirate

#6: Yui Kobayashi

#7: Nijika Ishimori

#8: Mizuho Haba

#9: Neru Nagahama

#10: Nanami Yonetani

So here's my thoughts, agree, disagree?

Top H!P Members [First Half 2016 Edition]

So I've done two of these in the past, with this being the latest one: December 2015 Ranking. I think that this time it's been the hardest for me to rank members. Because of being busy, I haven't really been paying attention to groups as much as I used to. Also, H!P in general is just so boring right now. Most of the group releases so far this year are very boring to me. The only real highlights in my opinion were Juice=Juice's single and Koi wa Magnet. Everything this else ranges from meh to bad. It also doesn't help that releases in general seem to be really spread out this year so it seems like nothing is going on. Although I think the biggest reason in my apathy towards groups is that I simply haven't been buying the CDs like usual because I haven't had the extra money to pay full price for them and it's getting harder to find them cheap on ebay. On that note, I really need to learn how to use YAJ and forwarding services. But, here's my current H!P members ranking. Remember that no member who has announced her graduation/has graduated is listed.

Morning Musume

-I love them to death, I really do, but gosh they have been so boring this year. One release and not even until May?! And then that release is pretty poor? For as high energy as Utakata seems, it feels like there's really no life to it (unless you watch the music video with it, where they're actually looking interested in an MV for once), I haven't even been able to make it through The Vision because it's so bland, and Tokyo, although a great song, just doesn't pack enough punch to save the single. I think they really need a couple new "ace" material girls in the 13th gen to shake things up a bit. They seem too stagnant right now to me. Also, please PLEASE stop the formation dances they have looked terrible for a long time and keep getting worse. I'd love to see them do an EDM track with an update contemporary hip hop dance kind of thing. It'd be so interesting & the kind of *POP* they need right now. An attention getter really. But anyway, onto the girls.

#1: Miki Nonaka

-This surprises me. It really does. I don't know why I like her I just do.

#2: Masaki Sato

-There is something about her this year that just annoys me. Like last year she was really impressing me to the point where I was seriously considering her my favorite member in MM, but this year everything kind of came crashing down for some reason. The only reason she hasn't fallen further is because no one else has grabbed my interest even a little.

#3: Sakura Oda

#4: Akane Haga

#5: Haruka Kudo

#6: Ayumi Ishida

#7: Maria Makino

#8: Mizuki Fukumura

#9: Erina Ikuta

#10: Haruna Iikubo

#11: Haruna Ogata

C-ute

-At this point with C-ute, I wish that H!P would move them under UpFront to become "mature artists" instead of idols if they still want to continue. I just feel like they've done all they can within the constraints of H!P. Honestly, I'm hoping for a disbandment/hiatus/moving to UpFront out of H!P announcement at the year end H!P thing. Not because I necessarily dislike them, but because I feel like they've hit a wall and can't go up any further. Also, I think they all need a break. Mai's voice is just deteriorating more every time I hear some live performance by them. Even Airi and Chisato don't sound as good as they usually do. Their only single this year was on par with the disappointments from last year. Naze Hito was terrible. Just a bad bad song. Their voices/image doesn't work with the "gospel choir" thing. Summer Wind was ok, and Jinsei wa Step, while the best of the three, is still just meh. I need something exciting from them.

#1: Airi Suzuki

#2: Chisato Okai

#3: Saki Nakajima

#4: Mai Hagiwara

#5: Maimi Yajima

Angerme

-A moment of silence for Meimi's graduation please. I miss her already and she hasn't even left yet. H!P did her SOOO wrong. She deserved solos. She deserved spotlight. She could've been marketed as an idol with real true singing talent. She should've been head of a group like Osaka Shunkashuto. Maybe someday I'll get my wish and she'll come back as a solo singer. As for Angerme themselves, again, meh. Moe seems like she'll be pretty talented, but she's too new to really tell. This "only one release in the first half of a year" thing is really bad for my interest because it seems like nothing is happening. I can't even really comment on the single either because I haven't even taken the time to listen to the other songs besides Tsugitsugi in full because the single came out around finals week and I haven't gotten to it since.

#1: Ayaka Wada

#2: Mizuki Murota

#3: Rikako Sasaki

#4: Maho Aikawa

#5: Akari Takeuchi

#6: Rina Katsuta

#7: Kana Nakanishi

#8: Moe Kamikokuryou

-The only reason Moe is at the bottom is because of how new she is. She will likely surpass at least Rina & Kana.

Juice=Juice

-Ah, the ONLY group with a perfect single this year! Both Karada & Next Is You were so awesome. I'm glad that the release was great because I was pretty disappointed in the stuff they put out last year. I'm cautious about their next single though. I just hope that it comes out soon.

#1: Karin Miyamoto

#2: Akari Uemura

#3: Sayuki Takagi

#4: Yuka Miyazaki

#5: Tomoko Kanazawa

Country Girls

-Can you say 180 turn around? It's honestly shocking to me how good they became this year. I personally thought they would be mediocre forever following Tameranai, but then they release Koi wa Magnet?? What?? Boogie Woogie Love was so catchy too! I was honestly in shock when I heard them. I didn't care for Anata ni Muchuu cause it was way too cutesy for my taste, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. And Musubu! Her voice in Boogie & Koi! I'm so so thankful she got to debut and although I was really uncertain about it being with Country Girls, I'm glad she did because she added a vocal tone that was needed in the group. Something deeper and strong. I hope that good things are ahead of them

#1: Musubu Funaki

#2: Risa Yamaki

#3: Manaka Inaba

#4: Chisaki Morito

#5: Mai Ozeki

#6: Nanami Yanagawa

#7: Momoko Tsugunaga

-Can she leave this year? Please? I like the idea of a long time member leading a younger group but she looks so out of place with them.

Kobushi Factory

-They actually surprised this year too. I didn't like any of their new single at first, but after I bought it, I fell absolutely in love with Sakura Night Fever. The carefree pop/rock sound is just perfect for them. They need to stop with the growling though. Not only does it sound bad, but I'm worried they're going to hurt their vocal chords because of how young they are.

#1: Rei Inoue

-Her hair is so gorgeous! No, I don't only like her because of her hair, she's arguably the most talented vocally in KF, but HOW does she have such long straight hair like that?! What is your secret? I want to know! - Sincerely, a girl who can't have long hair because it turns into a poofy tangled mess no matter what she does to it. xD

#2: Minami Nomura

#3: Ayaka Hirose

#4: Sakurako Wada

#5: Ayano Hamaura

#6: Natsumi Taguchi

#7: Rio Fujii

#8: Rena Ogawa

Tsubaki Factory

-When are they gonna get a new original song D: I need more EDM awesomeness from them! And a major debut! Please H!P? Please?

#1: Kisora Niinuma

#2: Yumeno Kishimoto

#3: Risa Ogata

#4: Kiki Asakura

#5: Ami Tanimoto

#6: Riko Yamagishi

Kenshuusei

-I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the Kenshuusei test thingy this year. In past years I ended up pleasantly surprised with some girls, but this year almost all of them sounded bad. I don't know if it was poor choice in songs or what, but most did worse than what they're capable of. This time, I'm going to attempt to rank all of the girls, even though some ranks will be practically interchangeable.

#1: Mao Akiyama

-I'd LOVE to see her in 13 gen Musume.

#2: Ruru Danbara

#3: Kizuki Horie

#4: Momohime Kiyono

-So I was very skeptical about her when she came into the program. I tend to find myself disliking girls who get all the initial fawning over because the hype is usually blown so out of proportion it's ridiculous. But, I have to say that I was very surprised with her performance on the Kenshuusei test. This girl is what, 11? And she can sing like THAT?! Honestly, I don't believe she'll be added to Musume at all. I think she's the next Karin/Ayano. A girl who will be in the program for a while & everyone will complain about, but gets to be center in her very own group.

#5: Hikaru Inoue

#6: Reina Ichioka

#7: Kurumi Takase

#8: Kokoro Maeda

#9: Momona Kasahara

#10: Sakiko Kodama

#11: Kaede Kaga

#12: Saori Onoda

#13: Mizuki Kanatsu

#14: Kurumi Noguchi

#15: Mizuho Ono

#16: Kotomi Ono

#17: Nagisa Hashimoto

#18: Momoko Shimano

#19: Rion Nakano

#20: Kirara Yonemura

#21: Yumei Yokogawa

-I really hate saying this because it's totally dream crushing to a young girl, but please don't debut her H!P. She's quite honestly the worst singer I've ever heard in H!P. I know that singing really doesn't matter in idol groups, but she's a whole other level of bad. She could totally be a model though because of how pretty she is.

So that's my bi-yearly ranking. Not many members changed spots. Not sure if that's because of apathy or because I actually have a solidified list.

Do you agree with my rankings/comments? Or do you have a different ranking?

Update

It's been SO LONG oh my gosh. I've just been way too busy to think about posting anything. I recently graduated from university and I'm also in the process of moving so it's just been a extremely busy couple of months. I want to post stuff again though! I do have one post I want to do (plus an update to the H!P/48G favorite members lists), but beyond that I'm not certain when I'll have time to post regularly again. Hopefully a few months from now after the move and everything gets settled down I can start posting again :D

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #24: J-pop Groups to Watch in 2016

Why is it so dang difficult to find a list of Japanese groups that debuted in 2015?! I KNOW that I know of groups that have actually debuted in 2015 but I just can't remember anything....so I just decided to go with groups that are newer that I discovered in 2015.

Group #1: Tsubaki Factory

I'm just going to keep posting about them dang it lol. Tsubaki Factory is Hello! Project's newest group. They were formed in April with six members from Hello Pro Kenshuusei. They made their debut in August with their first indies single, Seishun Manmannaka. This song is an electropop number reminiscent of songs from Morning Musume during the current colorful era.

In November, they unveiled their second indies track, Kedakaku Sakihokore. It is also an electropop track like Seishun, but this time features a rap section by the members.

With the group still in their infancy, it will be fun to watch them grow over the course of 2016 and hopefully we will see their major debut soon in the next year.

Group #2: Osaka Syunkasyuto

It irks me that they romanize it as Syunkasyuto instead of Shunkashuto. It just looks bad like Syachihoko instead of Shachihoko. I'll probably just keep it as Shunkashuto even though the official romanization is with the ys. Osaka Shunkashuto is a seven member group that debuted in 2014. Member Maina is the lead in their tracks and has an absolutely stellar voice. They've released a few tracks so far and have recently released their first mini album, Early Season. I haven't yet listened to all of the CD as I haven't received it yet, but one of the songs on the EP, C'Mon!, is an uptempo pop-rock track led by their powerhouse vocalist Maina.

Because of how they managed to impress me as they have and with Maina's vocals, they are a group to keep your eye on in the coming year.

Group #3: X21

X21 is currently a thirteen member group put together by Avex who debuted in 2013. I cam across them this year with the release of their first album, Shoujo X, and the title track that was released for promotion. Shoujo X is a strong pop song with a driving beat that you can't help but want to dance to.

Earlier this year, X21 was issued a challenged by their company. If they didn't sell 10k copies or reach the top 10 with their new single, You-Ki no Parade, the group would go on an "indefinite hiatus". The song, a happy idol pop track, managed to reach #5 on the charts, allowing the group to continue.

Their most recent release is Magical Kiss, another idol pop track with a beat that reminds me of some Christmas songs.

As they are a more established group than the other two, and were able to beat their challenge, they are a J-pop group to watch in 2016.