Liang Ai Ge Ming 21 Preview

From Stardust – A radio preview of Ice Creamusume’s Liang Ai Ge Ming 21 (恋爱革命21) has been released on Taiwanese radio! The song is from their upcoming debut mini-album and it’s a cover of the Morning Musume classic, Renai Revolution 21. I expected a new arrangement and was a little disappointed by the lack of one but then I suppose there’s nothing wrong with the original and DANCE*MAN did compose it.

I find it a little odd that they still say chou chou chou ii kanji but I think the song is lovely in Mandarin – such a beautiful language! I think their voices are somewhat…weak? I’m not sure if that’s the right word but they’re certainly not very strong – I’m sort of half hoping that the album is a complete cover album, I’d love to hear some other perhaps more recent songs covered in Mandarin. This is a double edged sword though, while it would be cool and perhaps sell decently in Taiwan it would most likely bomb in Japan.

Anyway, head over to Stardust to listen / download!

2008 Hello! Project Hopes / Predictions / Fears – The Results

Well I posted over a year ago now (!) a breakdown of my hopes, predictions and fears for 2008 – lets see how accurate I was in my predictions and hopes! Things that actually happened will be in green, things that didn’t in red and a sort of middle ground will be orange.

Hopes

• Fujimoto Miki active in Hello! Project, (4)
  • Well she got her solo comeback Okitegami and had a heck of a lot of events as well as television appearances – well done Mikitty!
• Morning Musume sales go up, even if just a little, (3)
  
  • Things couldn’t have gone much worse than Mikan to be fair, Resonant Blue sold reasonably but COVER YOU was a bit of a disappointment.
    
• Matsuura Aya gets a non-ballad single, (3)
  • Nope, am I shocked? Again, nope.
    
• Ayaka actually does something of note, (1)
  • Something of note more than anyone could have imagined – she left Hello! Project, got married and had a minor role in drama – well done Ayaka!
    
• Country Musume auditions, (1)
  • Gone forever it seems, Satoda Mai did well this year though, really well.
    
• Some more Hello! Pro Egg members graduate to full member status (2)
  • Mano Erina is a full-time soloist and actress now and although they’re still within Hello! Pro Egg, Shugo Chara Egg! have debuted.
    
• Ongaku Gatas continues to release material only if Satoda and Yoshizawa can find nothing better to do. (3)
  • They had another single and it was alright, Yoshizawa got involved in the fantastic HANGRY & ANGRY and Satoda has her solo releases as well as group releases – I’m satisfied.
    
• JunJun and LinLin remain members of Morning Musume. (3)
  • Yay! And they’ve improved so much!
    
• Tokito Ami resumes her solo career, (3)
  • No such luck though I hear she’s resumed gravure, that’s something right?
    
• Gyaruru releases a 2nd single, (2)
  • Aint gonna happen.
    
• THE Possible release a 2nd album, (4)
  • Well they had a best-of with two new tracks – next year we’ll see an original album I hope.
    
• Canary Club either release something I like or cease to exist, (2)
  • Well Hitomi ga Kirakirara wasn’t too bad and it’s around my 184th most played song on my ipod.
    
• Melon Kinenbi release a good single, or at least a single, (3)
  • Well they had a single, it wasn’t anything new though and I felt cheated!
    
• v-u-den drop the “Look at us! We’re sexy, buy our singles!” approach and become good again, (1)
  • …Or they disband.
    
• Kira☆Pika release nothing else. Don’t need any more Kusumi Koharu thank you, (2)
  • Thanks UFA and this time I’m not being sarcastic.
    
• Athena & Robikerottsu also release nothing else, Niigaki could do better than that, (0)
  • Well that little project is over now, yay!
    
• Abe Natsumi releases a single that makes everyone remember; she was the face of Morning Musume, (2)
  • Nope instead she sank deeper into obscurity.
    
• Kusumi Koharu continues to sell well, only for the sake of Hello! Project, (3)
  • Her sales decreased though weren’t too bad.
    
• Maeda Yuki graduates from Hello! Project, she’s fantastically brilliant and too much so for Hello! Project, (3)
  • March 2009.
    
• Nakazawa Yuko releases a new, not pathetic, uplifting single, (2)
  • Aww.
    
• Satoda Mai continues to get things to do, (3)
  • She’s like…a celebrity now.
    
• Takahashi Ai releases another solo song, not necessarily a single, (2)
  • 2009 please!
    
• Yaguchi Mari gets some music related work, (-1)
  • Can’t see this ever happening now.
    
• Yasuda Kei gets some music related work, (-2!)
  • See above.
    
• Iida Kaori remains in the public-eye, in a good way (2)
  • I’m sure you all remember the tragedy of her son’s untimely passing.
    
• Tsuji Nozomi resumes TV appearances, (1)
  • The other half of W however did.
    
• Ogawa Makoto returns! (2)
  • She did – I was more than a little shocked to be honest!
    
• Goto Maki gets a new record label and releases a new single, promptly please, (2)
  • Well she’s on Rhythm Zone and has a solo concert song as well as an upcoming b-side…that’s something…maybe.
    

Predicitions

• Morning Musume do not recover from their sales slump, (3)
  • Thankfully they did see some improved sales.
    
• Hello! Project is renamed “Kusumi Koharu! Project” (…)
  • Not yet, thankfully.
    
• Morning Musume graduation announced (3)
  • Thankfully not but can 2009 be graduation free too?
    
• Fujimoto Miki does not resume her solo career or GAM but does return, in a Yaguchi-esque manner, (2)
  • She’s a soloist again and her name hasn’t been forgotten, what more could I ask for?
    
• GAM is gone for good, (3)
  • Yup.
    
• Auditions of some sort, (3)
  • Hello! Project New Star.
    
• Between 1 – 5 Hello! Pro Egg graduations (5),
  • Mutou Mika for one.
    
• Noto Arisa implodes trying to be super cute (…),
  • She’s still in one piece.
    
• Ongaku Gatas have a hard time getting into the Oricon top 20, (4)
  • They pulled through and managed a week in the top 20.
    
• Likewise, v-u-den (4),
  • Well not being a group pretty much keeps them out of Oricon.

Fears

• Fujimoto Miki graduation from Hello! Project, (3)
  • March 2009.
    
• Morning Musume 9th Generation Auditions, it’s too soon, (3)
  • Thankfully not.
    
• JunJun, LinLin are sent packing, (2),
  • Again, thankfully not.
    
• Even more focus is given to the Hello! Project Kids, (4),
  • Ugh, yes.
    
• More anime tie-ins, please, please, no, just no, (4)
  • Shugo-Chara Egg!
    
• Country Musume has the same fate as Coconuts Musume, remembered by name only, and I suppose tacky unfortunate outfits in some cases, (4)
  • I guess they had their Bye Bye Saigo no Yoru in 2007 when Asami and Miuna graduated.
    
• Hello! Project collapses (3),
  • March 2009.

Intersting the way things turned out!