A Premature Debut: Where Chiima Ponders and feels Butthurt over Juice=Juice's Major Debut (Essentially, this is Part 2!)

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and basically, you can't tell me what to think, WOOHOO, YAY, NAMIDA let's drink tea, kay? :3

... Here we go again, aye?

Back in June, about the time that Juice=Juice's Major debut was announced, I wrote a post on Idolminded all about how I felt Juice=Juice were debuting too early, and now that it's closer to the date, I still can't help but feel the same way; it is still too early, despite the fact that I have been given a few months to mull over that on September 11th, they will have officially debuted as a Major group within Hello! Project.

... Essentially, this is Part 2 of my thoughts on this matter. I may just be repeating myself, though, but who cares. Onto the Post!

Now, I know that other people think differently; I have been told plenty of times that it is the right thing to do, that Juice=Juice not only have the talent to debut so quickly, but also have the strength and the fanbase to support them. They aren't S/mileage, who at the time they debuted were still trying to establish themselves way back when the Trainee system was terrible, and I understand that, but I do think that Juice=Juice should have been given more time to grow as a group, rather than have the Major Debut announcement thrown out there as quickly as possible.

I mean, look at it this way; Hello! Projects main acts have, in one way or another, gone through an indies phase that took a period of a year and four singles (C-ute, S/mileage), or they have gone through a challenge of some sort (Morning Musume, S/mileage + S/mileage newbs) to allow them to establish themselves of being worthy of their Major debut. The only group who have not done this are Berryz Kobou, though you can count two years as the H!P Kids and helping out in various sub-units (4Kids), being in PV's (Boogie Train '03, Ganbacchae! and ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL to name a few) and participating in songs as their own challenge of sorts that helped towards their major debut. With Juice=Juice... well, I feel that this all a bit premature, even if you do say that they have proven they are good enough or deserve it because certain girls have waited for so long, etc etc.

Ooooh, the buuuuurns and tears and huuuuurt! ARRRGH!!!! -eats orange-

To be honest, I do think that one of the main reasons for the announcement being as sudden as it was is because Aina had been pulled out of the group. I feel that, in order to keep the Wota happy, UFP decided to create a bit of a hype surrounding Juice=Juice and announced their major debut. Because the announcement of Juice=Juice's major debut was made, this pretty much softened the blow that Aina was leaving, which was of course announced after the debut announcement. It was pretty clear that only Aina knew she would never major debut with her group members when it was announced at that time, because she was the only one who looked miserable as the other girls squealed in excitement. When the announcement for J=J's major debut happened, and I wrote my original thoughts on it, I really did not find any sense in such a rushed announcement, especially when the group was so fresh, but once Aina left, I understood it more; they needed something to make up for the fact that one of their most popular members was leaving, and a major debut was just that.

Still, I don't like it. I don't think I ever will, because I like the idea of watching a group grow in a year as a group and see them blossom and shine. I have never experienced that as a fan; S/mileage's major debut happened a year after I become a fan of Morning Musume, but during the year they were indies, I didn't really care for H!P that much or Morning Musume, so for me, Juice=Juice was a chance to watch a group start from the bottom and work their way up. I wanted to see four singles out of this group, and I also wanted to see different styles from them to see what worked with them best... you know, like how S/mileage had these differing sounds to test the waters. Of course, we never got that. And yeah, I am quite butthurt by it.

I am especially butthurt that I will not be seeing Juice=Juice take on a challenge like MoMusu or S/mileage did when they were going to Major debut. It would have been nice to see that happen, because I find Tsunku's method of Major Debuting quite interesting, but I may have to wait for another group to take on that challenge if that happens again... maybe it will, maybe it won't. We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it, of course.

Of course, there is one more thing that I want to address, and that is the whole 'switching members' thing. Tsunku had originally intended that idea for Berryz Kobou and the kids who would become C-ute, and then went to play on that idea with S/mileage (never playing them out, mind you) and also suggested the idea for Juice=Juice, that there was the chance that he would take out members and put in other girls from the trainees to see who fit the best. Now, I like Juice=Juice as they are now, I won't deny that, but I would have liked for Tsunku to have at least tried that method with the members; I can understand that, with Berryz, S/mileage and Juice=Juice, he may feel that the groups are good as they are, but I would have liked to have seen him try to switch out a member, or even add one, to see what would happen with a different voice and personality. But nope. Nuh uh, no way!

I know that I am basically trying to move a log by screaming at it by complaining right now, but I wanted my thoughts out there, as I always do. I know that there are a lot of you out there who are ecstatic that Juice=Juice are debuting now (especially the Karin fans!) and that they will possibly surpass the other groups (if their songs stay cool, and their dances Dinosaur-centric) in terms of vocal talent and overall epicness, but for me, it is still far far too early for them to debut, no matter how good they are. Next time, if a new group comes in, I hope that they stick around for a year, or they are just major debut straight away. It would just be easier on my fickle nature.

So, what are your thoughts? Is this a Premature Debut in your eyes, or just about damn time? Leave your thoughts and let me know!

Chiima~