Melon Kinenbi disbands after 10 years

Neko★munication · #1 19th February 2010, 08:48 PM

These girls are probably more famous with the H!P crowd, but they're still a pretty important J-pop group imo. They were the least "H!P-ish" of the H!P groups, being a group that didn't change its members at all, sang mostly rock-pop songs, and had amazing live tours with, occasionally, live bands.

They've been around since 2000. In 2009, they, along with the rest of H!P's "Elder Club", graduated from Hello! Project. They assured their fans that they'd stick together anyway, and started releasing collaboration singles and really taking off with their rock image and rock songs (that probably would NOT have happened had they stayed in H!P).

Then, in a final act of irony, they released their album MELON'S NOT DEAD and announced a tour of the same name. But unfortunately, they will be disbanding at the end of it, after 10 years of making awesome music. This is a huge blow, as most of Elder Club groups have been axed anyway (v-u-den, GAM, Coconuts Musume, Country Musume, etc.) but Melon Kinenbi was the one H!P group that had never wavered.

If you haven't, I'd suggest checking out their music, as they have some real gems (This is Unmei, Kawaii Kare, Saa! Koibito ni Narou, Akai Freesia, Girls Power Aisuru Power, Onegai Miwaku no Target etc.)

R.I.P. Melon Kinenbi

Source: Here

~Inori~ · #2 19th February 2010, 08:58 PM

Sad and ironic. Sad because they are suppose to be celebrating their tenth year anniversary. And ironic because they just released an album titled MELON'S NOT DEAD.

EDIT; Oh, I didn't even see where the writer said it was it was ironic. lol I read this earlier on Arama.

visionfactory · #3 19th February 2010, 09:18 PM

And I feel so relieved when they left H!P and released their single Don't Say Goodbye

SunshineSlayer · #4 19th February 2010, 10:44 PM

I'm not that surprised actually. I imagine this decision was made when their first album independant of HP sold even worse than their HP albums. Melon's been trying for 10 years to really make it and if they haven't yet, its probably not going to happen and their minor popularity will just continue to dwindle and dwindle.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like their songs and they were always entertaining to watch in concert. But I understand this.

Mr. Goto · #5 19th February 2010, 11:04 PM

^ I don't really think sales has anything to do with this, cause if so then melon would of disbanded like 3 years ago lol. Their stuff post H!P grad wasn't exactly mainstream so I don't think they were expecting high sales with their recent projects. What wouldn't surprise me is if we hear a marriage/pregnancy announcement from one of them soon

edit*

but speaking of sales their current album is actually doing quite well (for their standards lol)

-- -- -- -- -- --初39　メロン記念日「MELON'S NOT DEAD」 and their second day they rose all the way to number 29. This announcement of their disbandment might help sales too...if they are able to stay within the top 50 then they will easily outsell their last couple H!P releases.

~Inori~ · #6 19th February 2010, 11:22 PM

Does anyone think this will happen to that group Hitomi is captain of? That group is releasing a new single and it is their first in like 2 years and its independent from H!P. I know all of this yet I can't remember their name.

Mr. Goto · #7 19th February 2010, 11:34 PM

^ Ongaku Gatas!

and maybe...I wouldn't mind seeing them disband even though I like some members in the group

visionfactory · #8 19th February 2010, 11:41 PM

I wouldn't mind either

I followed Ongaku Gatas just because ManoEri was there

Neko★munication · #9 19th February 2010, 11:57 PM

Well, we were all under the impression that Ongaku Gatas was disbanded this entire time anyway, so if they were to fade away after this release I don't think it'd be too much of a blow XD

But MK were like, a ray of hope that somewhere the old H!P still lived on in a complete form. Sure all the old H!P members are "still around", doing TV stuff and the occasional release but none of them are in their original roots. MK has been the same since H!P's golden days, and through everything changing and groups reforming and all the graduations, they're the one untouched relic from the golden era that we had left

I think that alone makes this a lot harder to deal with!

SunshineSlayer · #10 20th February 2010, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Goto

^ I don't really think sales has anything to do with this, cause if so then melon would of disbanded like 3 years ago lol. Their stuff post H!P grad wasn't exactly mainstream so I don't think they were expecting high sales with their recent projects. What wouldn't surprise me is if we hear a marriage/pregnancy announcement from one of them soon

The difference is though, that now they don't have a major label supporting their releases. If they don't sell, then it is financially even less feasible than before for them to continue. That's what I meant.

Mirai Noah · #11 20th February 2010, 06:12 AM

I'm so sad about this.

y_nathz · #12 20th February 2010, 06:19 AM

I don't know them but this is really sad..

Biscuit · #13 20th February 2010, 04:14 PM

Sad, but not surprising.

Mr. Goto · #14 20th February 2010, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer

The difference is though, that now they don't have a major label supporting their releases. If they don't sell, then it is financially even less feasible than before for them to continue. That's what I meant.

Ohhh I see

Quite silly of the record label if they thought Melon would actually break through with this album

DOLCE · #15 20th February 2010, 10:45 PM

"Before we reached the 10-year point, the four of us talked thoroughly about the future. The result was, “10 years is a good turning point, where we should get new challenges in our real life”, so we firmly decided to disband the group."

It was Melon themselves who decided to disband.

RyRyMini · #16 20th February 2010, 10:47 PM

Hmm. Well I guess at least they all agree? =(

tokyoxjapanxfan · #17 21st February 2010, 05:22 AM

i had no idea they were around so long...nor that they were even making new music...i stopped following h!p awhile ago...

but still, i'm sure their fans are sad.

they have good reasoning to disband though. 10 years is a long time, and i'm sure they want to try new things.

Damita · #18 22nd February 2010, 06:27 PM

This is depressing

I love them!! I was hoping they'd last for another couple more years

#19 25th February 2010, 03:16 AM

As much as I like MKB, I'm not really bothered that they are disbanding. Ten years is a very long run in the idol scene, especially considering they haven't had much of a presence in the latter half of their career.

For me, their earlier works will always stand as some of the best stuff H!P ever put out. Amai Anata no Aji, Kokuhaku Kinenbi, Denwa Matteimasu, et al. = classic.