Quote:
Originally Posted by Maemi
1) What do you think, why MM gained so big popularity back then? Was it because they were kawaii magnets for perverts or people really enjoyed their cute appealing/music? I meet many people saying that Hello!Project was made exactly for that - to gain fanservice of old perverts and youngers...
|
I don't think Hello!Project was
made for that... I think it slowly
became that. I definitely think that somewhere along the line Momusu/H!P became less about the music and more about cute girls skipping around in fruity outfits
I think it's obvious that in H!P's later years they started catering to the wota audience and kinda closing themselves off to the general public because the Wota were their primary source of income.
I think Momusu definitely did get popularity 'cause of their music, but I think the real thing that attracted fans was just the charm and uniqueness of what they had to offer; they were a music group with
character, you got to know the girls as if they had been long time friends of yours. They weren't just a group churning out music, they were truly unique with their personalities, which I think attracted a lot of people. Good music + girls you can identify yourself with = popularity.
The line-up keeps changing, which is also really unique - look at The Spice Girls or something, they have the same 5 members after years, whereas with Momusu there isn't a single original member left. It's an interesting concept that (if done properly) keeps things fresh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maemi
2) What do you think, why is MM loosing it's popularity NOW? Because fav members graduated, their music has become boring?
|
To tie in with what I said before, I think it's the lack of personality. I remember reading that someone went around during a trip to Japan and asked about Morning Musume, and the average person didn't know who any of the current members were :S I think if they returned to doing tons of TV appearances, got back Hello!Morning, really put themselves out there again, they could gain more popularity.
Like I said, they kind of closed themselves off to the rest of Japan and started focusing on Wota. I think that's sort of distorted their image; Whether or not its true, I think people have kind of come to associate Momusu with being a group that pedo's and perverts like
.
It may have had to do with favourite members graduating, but I don't think it's exactly that, I think it's just that they find it kind of hard to connect as much with the newer generations because of the lack of exposure they're getting (compared to the earlier generations I mean).
Then there's the fact that they're just not
that unique anymore. I mean, Berryz and C-ute came along and got a
lot of popularity over the past couple of years, then there are groups like AKB48 and whatever that kind of play off what made Momusu popular. Momusu really needs to get themselves out there again, Tsunku needs to put them on every TV show he can manage to get ahold of, promote their CDs more, etc. I think 2009 will be a turning point for their popularity since with EC gone, a bit more of the budget can go towards them. Already Shouganai Yume Oibito was their first #1 single in 2 years, and they're giving their very first concert in America, so that has to be a good sign, right? They'll most likely never reach the popularity they had during their golden era, but I think things will start to pick up for them within this year and the next.
All the best Momusu!