My Issue(s) With Line Distribution

My opinions are my own and no one else's, and whilst you may not like my opinion, get over it! As long as you respect my opinion, I will respect yours unless it is very biased with no reasoning behind it. Thank you!

Okay, so it's 2:30 am in the morning here - I was asleep, but after 2 hours of it, my body decided Fuck it - she needs to be awake! So, tomorrow I'm going to be fucking tired during the journey to the county where I am going for a mini-break. So, what better way to waste my time awake than to blog?

I have said a few times on this blog that I go on Tumblr Confession sites, where people confess their little hearts out about their favourite groups, such as Morning Musume in this case, and I found one that kind of struck a nerve with me today...

Now, before I really get really get into this post, I think that I can safely say a majority of Morning Musume fans, heck, every fan of every other group, is kind of annoyed by the poor line distribution that is set in groups. Some people get upset by it (myself included, admittedly) and some people get very angry - and it is understandable, but then there are people like the ones above, who believe that these girls aren't given lines for this reason - that they are not ready yet, and in a way, it does irk me. In fact, it irks me a lot.


Line distribution in groups is a big thing - generally, the most lines go to the popular members, regardless of vocal talent. Example A of this is, unsurprisingly, Michishige Sayumi. The girl herself knows that she can't sing well, however because of her popularity, she gets a good portion of lines in singles now (I say now), though that wasn't the case early on in her career. The same can be said for Ishikawa Rika, who's voice I don't really like, and yet she got a lot of lines during her time in Morning Musume because of how popular she was.

But there are also girls who could sing in Morning Musume that were also popular - namely Abe Natsume, Kago Ai, Takahashi Ai, Fujimoto Miki and Tanaka Reina. All of these girls are really good singers, that is a fact, and they were or are all popular in Morning Musume because of their vocal talent, and I honestly don't have an issue with this - I mean, they are the best singers, why not let them represent the group and show off their skills?

Then there are the girls who are popular, but don't get solo's, and the girls who are good singers, but also don't get lines - This is where Sayu will pop up again. Whilst Sayu is popular, she didn't necessarily get the lines she 'deserved' as a member who was popular - the same goes for Koharu Kusumi. Despite her popularity with the wota, she was kind of given the short leg with lines later on in her career as a Musume, though she was shown a lot - much like Sayumi was. It's the same with Fukumura Mizuki right now - the girl can sing, and has a good amount of popularity, however she doesn't get as many lines as fellow Jyuukie member, Sayashi Riho, who can't sing as great as Fukumura (in my opinion, think how you wish) or hold notes as well. And yet, Fukumura isn't really given much in terms of solo's. The same would go for girls like Yossie, LinLin and JunJun, who could all sing, but weren't given lines because of their popularity. The same could go for Kamei, who later got lines because she just seemed to shoot up like a daisy in the spring in terms of wota love.

And then there are the 'unpopular' members who aren't really pushed, but, improve over time. Kamei Eri, as an example, and other members like Niigaki Risa, Ogawa Makoto, Tsuji Nozomi and others. These girls don't really stand out at first, but in time become better and, if everything goes well, become even more popular and are put to the front because they are what the wota want, and can also sing really well, like Kamei Eri and right now, Niigaki Risa. This is what most people hope for with new members, like Zukki  or Masaki Satou, who are both improving greatly with their singing already.

With what this person said, and how I see it, I feel that they are wrong - they say that these new girls aren't ready yet, and yet they fail to mention that in the beginning, Riho was not a great singer, and she still has some difficulty sometimes - and yet, whilst Fukumura could sing nicely, Riho was pushed to the front because of her popularity. Singing doesn't help these girls get a lot of lines - their popularity does. Why do you think LinLin and JunJun were pushed to the back? They weren't popular, despite both being damned good singers, and were ignored for most of their careers in Morning Musume. Sad, but bloody true.

But my big issue here is that line distribution goes beyond solo's - it's all lines, not just the parts where the girls get that one line to shine. It's the rest of the lines, the shared ones outside of the 'all group' lines. It is those kinds of lines that I have a big issue with right now, because these lines can be really unfair, such as in, oh let's say... Renai Hunter?

Renai Hunter is a glaring example of this - and so is Only You. These two songs may have some strong solo's in them from the leading ladies, however, it also has poor line distribution where the rest of the girls, barring Ayumi I think, are pushed to the back and get about one or two shared lines with the other members, whilst girls like Sayumi, Riho, Reina and others get a great amount of solo's as well as shared lines. And yes, that pisses me off!


It's also the same in Kono Chikyuu and Kare to Issho, with horrible line distribution - however most of the time this crappy line distribution is made up for by good screen time, though even then not all the girls get good amounts of screen time either, and if you are a fan of these girls, the line distribution and screen time can be a little bit of a piss-take if they aren't shown or even heard much.

And it isn't just Morning Musume - as you all know, S/mileage recently took this route, considering that they now have more members.

Now, admittedly, I am on the edge with S/mileage right now - I don't like nearly all of their members, barring Kana and Akari, and a sudden liking for Dawa as well (I know, that's weird...) but lately, their line distribution, mostly solo's, funnily enough, annoys me - especially considering a certain Vampire can't sing as well as another member. And my dislike for the line distribution is not because my favourite member isn't getting lines - I mean, I love Kana and all, but she is not my favourite S/mileage member - She kind of graduated in August. What I'm saying is that S/mileage was a group that had good singers before, and now they have two girls who can't sing, and one of those girls is at the front - my main issue with S/mileage is, yes, their singing capabilities. And I do wish that Rina was put at the front and not Meimei. I mean, Ogawa Saki wasn't as popular as the other members of S/mileage as far as I know, and yet she was pretty much their front girl next to Yuuka, and she could sing. Meimei and Kana can't. But, in the end, it does boil down to popularity now, and not talent.

But I think it is kind of understandable why I have such an issue with S/mileage, considering they were based more so on their talent as eggs rather than how popular they were... Unless they were Yuuka, but she's a freakin' QUEEN

But, for some reason, I don't currently have an issue with the line distribution between C-ute or Berryz, unless you count Shock, which is... disgusting because most of the time, they have pretty decent line distribution - C-ute is onyl a 5 member unit, and the lines are shared out well right now, though I doubt that that was the case earlier on in their career - I mean, their indies singles were pretty badly distributed, especially with members who weren't as popular like Chisato or Nakky, but were made in favour of Maimi and Airi, and also Mai. Two of which could not sing, but have improved over time. Luckily they can all sing really well now, right?

I can't say much in terms of Berryz, considering I ignore them for the most part - but my main issue with Berryz is that there is a tad too much focus on certain members, including the lovely Miyabi. However, their recent singles do give a bit more focus on the other members, and they have relatively good line distribution with each girl shining during a solo except for Aa, yo ga Akeru so I don't mind their songs as much... But that's due to the fact that I don't care about the group itself, so I barely listen to them.

So, as you have probably guessed, my issue with line distribution lies mainly in the groups that I really like, or even liked in the case of S/mileage - and it isn't the solo's that irk me now, though that can come into play sometimes, but the line distribution where a certain number of girls sing. It honestly pisses me off, especially when these girls aren't given good screen time either.

I do find it annoying that people think that all the talented or 'ready' members get lines when that is not the case - but I can't really oppose their opinion, however I can debate it if I feel that they are, in a way, wrong. And here, I do think that some people are wrong. In the idol world, it isn't the good singers who get the lines, it's the popular members. This goes for groups outside of H!P, like TGS, Sexy Zone, H!S!J and other popular groups, so I am not just directing this at Hello! Project - they are just the group that I target because I know more about them.

So the issue is that, no matter what, line distribution will suck, and popularity won't always guarantee solo's in the group (though it can give them more screen time). However, your best bet is to buy a lot of merchandise of your favourite member of any given group, and hope for the best, otherwise, they might just stay in the back for a while. That, or you can hope that the wota lose interest in a certain front member, and that they get pushed to the back.

But that's doubtful, though it does happen... Why did it happen to Koharu!?

... And this is a majority of you as you read this post, or me, as people hate on me for giving my say on line distribution. I needed an excuse to get Gary Oak in on the act, sorry!

My opinion has been given!

Chiima~


PING!!! Idol Minded Recommended Reading: April 1st 2012