Nostalgia vs. New Ideas vs. No Ideas.

By: The Incredible He-Hulk


Today, in a bit of shocking news, pandering teen network The-N revealed that the cast of Degrassi would play the roles of Saved By The Bell’s iconic characters in a remake of the hit series Beverly Hills 90210...
In other less shocking (but slightly realer) news, H!P has recently announced the release of Chanpuru 1~Happy Marriage Song Cover Shuu~, a new album that features their current idol groups pantomiming the roles of slightly older and more iconic H!P groups while they sing cover versions of even older non-H!P J-pop songs.

Now, I’m all for nostalgia. Who doesn’t love Mini Moni, Pucchimoni, Decamoni, Insta-moni, and Vodka Moni On The Rocks? Nobody, that’s who. H!P has a fantastic past that is worth exploring and remembering. But, I have to wonder just who this album is supposed to be for...
Is this album to acquaint newer fans with H!P's past that weren’t around during these older groups’s heyday? If so, why have them sing covers of song’s that these groups never sang in the first place? Or, is the album for current fans who have been fans long enough that they fondly remember H!P’s glory days? If that’s the case, why not just have the girls sing songs from the groups that they are actually reforming?

If this was simply a one-time deal, then I don’t think anyone would mind a cover album. Cover albums can be fun. But what we’ve seen over the last year is H!P releasing cover after cover after cover. It’s as if H!P has their own "Hits from the 70's, 80's and 90's!" radio station now.
Cover You, Pepper Keibu, Dschinghis Khan, Edo no Temari Uta II, Shochū Omimai Mōshiagemasu; the list of covers done in the last calendar year is long and not so distinguished, Ice Man. Couple those tracks with this newest release and H!P artists doing covers has become a habitual trend.

Now, having old ideas that worked before shoved in our faces in place of new ideas is nothing new. That’s Transformers the movie; that’s Rocky VI. But, what H!P is doing with Chanpuru 1~Happy is twice as garish and twice as lazy. They’re taking their old ideas that worked once and then merging them with old ideas somebody else had that worked once. And, what’s worse, through this process they’re telling us they don’t have any new ideas of their own. They’re telling us they don’t want to pay anyone else enough money to come up with new ideas, either. And, most importantly, they’re telling us that they know we’re too dedicated to these girls to even care. They know we're caught in the catch-22 of the idol fan. Do you buy a crappy, boring CD to support the idols you enjoy so much? Or, do you refuse to buy terrible products and in doing so hurt the idols you want so badly to see succeed?

Like Pavlov’s dogs, the bell rings and we are fed. It matters not the food. We will always be hungry again when the bell tolls anew...

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Ichigo ichie 6/18 pt 2 - Kusumi guest appearance

By: Zabel


I often get asked where one can go to listen to Ichigo ichie. The show is up for 24 hours every thursday-friday on the official fan club site, but you need to be a member in order to access the page. For the rest of us, a kind person, usually H!O member lovemusic, uploads the show in mp3 format weekly. You can get it by regularly checking the Takahashi thread at H!O, or the H!P's TV appearances, radio shows, magazine thread at Jpopmusic might be easier.

Ichigo ichie 6/18 continued

With the year half over, Aichan lists her "Best 3":

#3. Ojigi de shape up!
#2. The Platinum 9 disk spring tour
#1. Anime Expo

They talk about the upcoming 11.5 hour flight to Los Angeles, about eating, sleeping, talking, and watching movies on planes.

And here's Koharu's "Best 3":

#3. She learned how to make sweets.
#2. She grew in height.
#1. She grew inside.

According to Koharu, she noticed that she had grown in height today lol. Not because she measured herself or anything, but when she looked in the mirror that day her clothes seemed smaller. This could be because her clothes shrunk, thinks Aichan. Koharu blames that on her mom who washes her clothes. XD She calls her mom 'baka' (idiot) over this, but Aichan chides her that if she did her own laundry she would realize how easy it is to get items mixed up.

Aichan gives Koha an even harder time about that claim about growing inside.

Aichan: "You lie! That's your #1 lie."
Koharu: "What? You can see for yourself."
Aichan: "I can't tell at all."
Koharu: "Really? Haven't I become more like an adult?"
Aichan: "Wait until after you've had a few more birthdays to say that."
Koharu: "I'm already 17."
Aichan: (pronouncing '17' in english) "17. You think that's okay?"
Koharu: "Totally! Inside I feel like I'm 20."
Aichan: "You lie!"

But Aichan admits that Koharu acts like an adult when they go out to eat together. Koha insists that she is always an adult but Aichan isn't buying it. Koharu wants to be 18 so she can drive. She wants to drive with passengers.

It's time for the Tettekete advice corner. "Oh, is that what 'tettekete' means?", asks Koharu. A listener with a friend going to study abroad in Australia wants to give a gift to help him remember Japan. Aichan suggests soy sauce (in English). Koharu spaces out here, asking to have the question repeated to her, and more than once muttering New Zealand instead of Australia as she brainstorms. She tries to think of what she would like to have if she were going overseas, and among the ideas she comes up with are hamburgers, dried plums, seaweed, cuttlefish, clothing, her big sister, a blanket, a futon. She could go on forever. Aichan does her best to wrap up the segment.

Ichigo ichie has a new sticker that Aichan will be signing and giving away to each person whose mail she reads on the show, as well as to one person randomly selected. Just when I was about to give up trying to get my message read. And, next week she will announce Morning Musume's new single.

Lastly, Aichan always signs off saying, "This has been Takahashi Ai who wants to ___." and has her guests do likewise. How does Koharu sign off? "This has been Kusumi Koharu who wants to run a marathon!"

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