Introduction to C-ute

In 2005, a group called C-ute (°C-ute) formed out of the remaining 7 H!P Kids.  This younger sister group to Berryz Kobou often complements Berryz with the choice of songs and performances.  Having worked together for years, all the H!P Kids seem to still be friends even though they are in two competing groups (although I am not sure if they feel they compete as such). The joke of the wota community is that what C-ute lack in singing talent (lack is a very loose term here since most of them are actually very good singers), they make up in other attributes, consistantly beating Berryz at various contests.

The lineup of C-ute was changed in 2006 with the graduation of Murakami Megumi and addition of Arihara Kanna.  Kanna was not part of the H!P Kids audition and is not considered a "kid".  She entered H!P as part of the Hello! Pro Egg group of trainees.  The current lineup involves girls aged 13-17 as follows:

• Umeda Erika - oldest, tallest, reserved, mature
• Yajima Maimi (leader) - scatterbrain, mature yet playful
• Nakajima Saki - cute
• Suzuki Airi - very pretty, amazing voice, usually lead singer
• Okai Chisato - short, dog!, smiling, joker
• Hagiwara Mai - youngest, the kid
• Arihara Kanna - nice smile

C-ute has released 4 indie singles, 7 singles, and 4 albums.  They have also appeared in many H!P concerts as well as their own concerts.  Here is a group picture:

Top from left: Erika, Mai, Chisato, Kanna

Bottom from left: Airi, Maimi, Saki

Introduction to Berryz Kobou

The next short introduction post is about the H!P group Berryz Kobou (Berryz工房) meaning "Berryz Workshop" (don't know who Berry is, but somebody should congratulate the guy :P).  The members of Berryz and its sister group C-ute are often lovingly refered to as "the kids".  This name is not indicative of their age (especially considering that the girls are growing into beautiful ladies in front of our eyes) but of their origin.  The "kids" were winners of the Hello! Project Kids audition that took place in 2002 to recruit trainees and helpers for concerts, etc.  Out of close to 28 thousand applicants, only 15 girls were chosen.

Berryz Kobou was the first official group that was formed from the H!P Kids in 2004 consisting of 8 members.  One of the members (Ishimura Maiha) graduated in 2005, leaving the current lineup of 7 girls, ranging in age from 17 to 14.  They are:

• Shimizu Saki (captain) - oldest, shortest, mature yet playful
  
• Tsugunaga Momoko - insane!, overly-cute, high pitched idol voice
• Tokunaga Chinami - happy, smiling eyes, joking
• Sodou Maasa - very feminine yet with a strong build, funny
• Natsuyaki Miyabi - quiet, reserved, mature
• Kumai Yurina - tallest (by far!), kind-hearted
• Sugaya Risako - youngest yet very pretty, often lead singer

Some of the girls have very evident personalities (or maybe idol personas :P) but more on that at some later time.

Berryz Kobou has released 18 singles and 5 albums and have appeared in several concerts per year.  I leave you with a group picture from the latest (18th) single MADAYADE:

Top from left: Maasa, Miyabi, Chinami, Saki

Bottom from left: Yurina, Risako, Momoko

Introduction to Morning Musume

Morning Musume (モーニング娘。), or Momusu, is the flagship Hello! Project group formed in 1997, currently running in its 12th year.  The meaning of musume in this context is "girl".  The group does not have a stable lineup of members.  Every year or so, some members leave the group (officially called a graduation) and to compensate new members are also added, typically through auditions.  Each such addition (which usually involves multiple new members) is called a generation.  Currently, Momusu is in it's 8th generation.

None of the original (generation 1) members are still in the group.  The most senior members are from 5th generation.  All in all, 25 girls have been members of Momusu.  The current lineup consists of 9 girls, ranging in age from 22 to 16.  They are:

• 5th gen:
  Takahashi Ai (leader) - quiet, short, oldest
  Niigaki Risa (sub-leader) - always happy, smiling, genki
• 6th gen:
  Kamei Eri - very quiet, extremely funny (or not), joker
  Michishige Sayumi - the pretty one, doll
  Tanaka Reina - kitty, yanki
• 7th gen:
  Kusumi Koharu - genki, borderline insane!, also soloist
• 8th gen:
  Mitsui Aika - youngest, brat, smiling
  Junjun - older panda, bananas!, still learning japanese
  Linlin - younger panda, very funny

Junjun and Linlin are chinese, lovingly called "pandas", and have been added to the 8th generation as "exchange students".

In terms of songs, Momusu is now on its 38th single and 9th album.  Overall, the group has sold over 11 million singles making it the best single selling female group in Japan.  The popularity of the group has decreased over the last few years showing a decrease in sales.  With a changing member lineup and changing times as well, it is difficult to compare the group it is now with what it once was at its peak time.  I will not try to do that in this blog - I will take the group as it is now and comment on it in terms of shorter spans of time.  

Additionally to their released music, Momusu is involved in several concerts a year which are always packed with excited fans.  The japanese idol fandom is a bit different from what we experience in north america.  Hard core fans of female idols (such as the girls in Momusu) are called wota.  Some wotas are very much obsessed with their favourite idols.  Concerts are usually filled with screaming wotas (large majority male).  The group also has a large following outside of japan (as can be seen with this blog :P).  While the international wotas might not be as occupied with the lives of their favourite idols, we definitely are interested in them.

That is it for an introduction to Morning Musume.  I leave you with a recent picture from the newest (38th) single entitled Naichau Kamo:

Top row: Linlin, Eri, Koharu, Risa, Junjun

Bottom row: Aika, Reina, Ai, Sayumi

Introduction to Hello! Project

A little introduction to begin for those that are not yet skilled in the ways of the Hello! Project (H!P). Hello! Project is a conglomeration of Japanese idol groups managed by the Up-Front Agency and produced by Tsunku♂.

The short official history of the H!P is that it formed out of the result of auditions held to find a soloist for Tsunku's band Sharan Q. The auditions identified a winner but most importantly 5 of the runner-ups (Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Asuka Fukuda, and Aya Ishiguro) have been given the chance to form a group. Hence, in the fall of 1997, one of the most famous all-girl groups of Japan - Morning Musume - was born.

Morning Musume was the first group to fall under Hello! Project. Other groups and solo artists later followed. I'll try to introduce each of the main groups in their own separate posts. Currently, over 11 years after the formation of Morning Musume and the H!P, the project is composed of three main groups: Morning Musume, Berryz Kobou, and C-ute. It also hosts several smaller groups, young trainees, sports teams, and various shuffle groups. In March of 2009, the Elder Club (mostly composed of older H!P soloists and former Morning Musume members) is graduating from H!P leaving the project to concentrate on the groups and its younger soloists.

The Hello! Project main group members and soloists as of January 2009:

Hello and Welcome to DaBear's H!P Cave

Hello and welcome to DaBear's H!P Cave - your glimpse into the world of Japanese Idols.  From time to time, DaBear will try to bring you interesting news from the Hello! Project idol groups.

Come! Enter the cave!  Sit by the fire!  Watch the drawings on the walls move!