Thank You, Kobushi Factory - The Graduation Appreciation Post

In which Chiima finally reflects on Kobushi, their disbandment and the feelings she has stowed away all this time...

Around the time Kobushi Factory announced their disbandment, a friend asked if I would write about. At the time I said yes with the intent to express my frustration over the groups sudden announcement because, like everyone around me, I wanted to air my grievances about how Kobushi had been neglected by H!P upon becoming a 5 member group, how this disbandment announcement itself seemed extremely sudden and far too short a time frame for a H!P group. I wanted to talk about how unfair it seemed and the sadness I felt regarding Kobushi Factory's short run.

That post never happened, and in the end I went into a period of denial regarding the groups imminent dissolve. I am also aware that I am not alone in this.

Welcome To Graduation Gate '17! The Flowers Are Wilting, Heads Are Banging (Against Walls)

This post was made for satirical purposes. Some of it is serious, though.

Today, on 'Haropromaggedon'...

Shitty MoMusu Costumes!

J=J Boycott Thailand and America!

And for our main feature, Ogawa Rena "Graduates"!

Everyone, please enjoy today's episode. There was so much thought put into its content!

Collectively, fans around the world are banging their heads against tables, walls, and so much more, and are probably wondering what the frick is going on behind closed doors. I mean... two members in exactly three months? WTF sort of poison are H!P spreading on their garden to make their Magnolia's wilt?

Who'll be next in Kobushi Factory? Well, whoever it is, if it happens on December 6th, you heard it here first! It all comes in three's, after all. Let's just pray it's not so... -prays to Lord Gaki-

Oh, and I've just found H!P's latest theme song! I wonder if we'll hear Rena singing it as she packs her bags for a life of solitude and wota-filled dreams? Why don't we all sing along, too?

A Factory Worker Resigns! Kobushi Factories Fujii Rio to Graduate Hello! Project and Kobushi Factory This Summer!

Not even a month has passed since the Graduation Announcement of Kudo Haruka from Morning Musume and Hello! Project, and already we have another announcement regarding the leave of an Hello! Pro Idol.

Good grief, H!P are gonna need a few new Factory workers to come play Idol if they keep letting the ones people actually care about get away :/

With the announcement made on May 12th concerning Fujii Rio's desire to graduate, the Kobushi Factory sub-leader has revealed that she will leave both her group and the company this Summer, at the end of the Hello! Project Summer 2017 concert tour. She has expressed her desire to continue her studies now that she has finished Highschool, and look towards becoming a teacher or a nurse.

Up-Front LINK has translated both the staff comment, and Fujii Rio's comment in regards to her Graduation announcement.

[PV Selection] November 2016

Winter is here, and so is the November PV Selection for 2016! The last of its kind, let's enjoy the music and the accompanying videos that have graced us from the month gone by before the year bows out. As per usual, all videos posted are what I have personally enjoyed; don't feel put out by the fact I did not enjoy everything you might have done, because opinions differ, or maybe I just didn't see them? Who knows!

Much like the Music Selection prior to this post, this will be my final PV Selection post for 2016, as I will not be creating the December version in January due to my End of Year Music Favourites post that I do annually. So, after doing this for near-on a year, I want to thank you all for reading, enjoying and supporting these Selection Posts from 2016! I hope you've liked them as much as I have!

Now, before the end of 2016 comes along, let's enjoy the final PV releases from the Year '16, and treasure the Idols who have created them! Are you ready to watch some Idol goodness?

Though my pickings are few, the ones I have here are what I would call the cream of the crop. Of course, they all appealed to me in more ways than one, but they also all stood out individually for various reasons, from great camera work to bright and colourful settings, or for how genuinely fun the video felt as a whole. Surprisingly, I've not found many Christmas themed videos this time around... or, at least the ones that I like, but no worries! There were many good videos this past month. Some just so happened to stand out more than others!

So, without any further rambling, let's get going and take a look at some of these videos! Will there be any that you enjoyed in this very list? Read and watch on to find out!

[Music Selection] February '16: Music & PV's

Music Selection is what I hope to be a monthly series I will deliver unto you all my personal Japanese pop picks for the month gone by, in both music and video. Included will be a little bout of spiel as to why I enjoy the songs and / or videos included in this list, as well as to give you an idea of what songs to look out for.
 Of course, just so you know, all songs and videos are subject to my personal opinion, and I do not expect you to enjoy what I like. I simply want to share here what I love, and to hopefully introduce you to something new and different to listen to if you have yet to hear it.

Also, just to note, there may be a point in some monthly posts where I may take a U-turn and look back at older songs released from other months or years, even eras, that I have revisited during a specific month. It's a bit like a nostalgia kick, and may potentially introduce you to a song that you may have never known existed! Woo!

Song Selections is the name, and suggesting is the game!... Kinda.

And please, do remember this; The Monthly Selection is a general series of posts that is meant to be created with a fun mindset, and to share songs I have personally enjoyed. I do not mean to offend by not listing a song you may have enjoyed throughout a certain month, nor do I intend to annoy anyon. I simply want to make a list, and share it with the world. It's how I roll, yo~

And finally, if you yourself have any songs you loved for February, then please, comment them below, and let us all know what you loved for the month gone by! Thank you~

The month of February was an abundance of good music. I enjoyed a good deal to be honest, though some stood out more than others, and were definitely played a good deal over the rest. So, for February 2016, I have gathered my favourites, handpicking those that were, to me, the cream of the crop. Wanna get rolling? Let's take a listen!

And so Kobushi Factory will Major Debut, said the Hello! Project Demon Overlord...

This post contains my thoughts. Don't like it, don't worry - I don't expect everyone to agree with me, or anyone at all, really! Reember, if you find me so offensive, you don't have to read!

*I feel like this is such a passive-aggressive post XD

Just two days shy of Shimamura Uta's withdrawal from Country Girls, it was suddenly announced, much to the surprise of the Hello! Project fandom, that one of the Factories would Major Debut!

Yeah, this ain't no coincidence, I'm sure.

On June 14th, the announcement that Kobushi Factory, the original 'successor' unit to the now defunct Berryz Kobou, would make their major debut this coming Fall with the release of their up-coming second single release, Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan / Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta / Nen ni wa Nen (Nen'iri Ver.), a rather intimidating Triple A-side. One of the songs, Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta, will be a cover of the Sharam Q song Ramen Daisuki Koike-san, and will also be the theme song of the up-coming TV Drama, Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san, which is set to air this June. So already the group is getting a pretty good gig for their major debut, and a rather gigantic release by debuting with a triple A-side.

So... what's the problem?

Okay, so I don't mean to be a negative ninny here, but because I am, I will be however with only two days that have passed on by since Uta's leave of Country Girls, I can't help but feel like Kobushi's sudden Major Debut announcement is just a tad too convenient. I have no doubt that, even before Uta's leave, their major debut was in the works, but with how things have gone recently, this new announcement of H!P's feels rather premature - it's like it's the cushion used to soften the all mighty blow, in a sense.

I don't doubt the fans are happy, because heck, the Kobushi fans are ecstatic about this news, and I am happy for them - but it feels like another Juice=Juice with me. With Juice=Juice, it was way too early to major debut them, having only given them time to grow within three months and nothing more, and it's the same with Kobushi. Instead of three singles though, Kobushi only had one single release.
 So yes, I feel like we haven't had time to watch the group grow even a little bit, moreso for us fans who don't follow the Kenshuusei as much as others do. For me as a viewer and listener, it feels like they're just being shoved into our faces rather quickly, and not given a proper demonstration of just what they can do.

I don't doubt the abilities of Kobushi Factory - I've listened to their debut indies single, and whilst it's not to my taste, it's very well done and one of the best set of songs we've had from H!P this year, however I can't help but feel iffy with this group and their rather quick major debut. To me, it's all too convenient, maybe a little rushed.
 Again, the major debut would have been in the works already, but I have a feeling the announcement was made so soon after Uta left to give the fandom something positive, and to give them little time to dwell on the bad news. I have a feeling this was supposed to be announced a month or so later, but nope. It was announced now, and I just think it feels like it was thrown in at the last minute.

Honestly though, when I heard this news, I didn't care, nor did I find it overly surprising. With recent events within H!P and the Idol world in general, this news actually fell really flat when I heard it. It wasn't exciting to me. Not to say it isn't to other fans, because again, this news has made a lot of fans happy, but for me, I just don't seem to care because right now, Kobushi Factory do not appeal to me in image or sound.
 Honestly, I am probably more of a Tsubaki fan, and they have yet to do anything.

I'm probably sounding super negative on these girls major debuting, and in a way, I am; it feels like Hello! Project are rushing to debut new talent and groups at the drop of the hate, and whilst that is good in some cases, it feels like they aren't giving the groups enough time to ripen in their indies phase, or that they're counting their chickens before they are about to hatch. Already we've had two groups announce their major debuts in under a few months of each other, and Tsubaki have yet to release their own indies single, or we've yet to hear of any other groups second single release of the year that isn't ANGERME. It's a tad overwhelming, actually.

Still, at least H!P are using their trainees this time around, and not kicking them out once they're tired of them like they did with UUG. This way, the fans are happy, I suppose.

Still, would it be too much to ask for H!P to, oh I dunno, slow the f*#% down? Seriously, calm your tits H!P, it won't hurt to wait - we fans should know, given how you like keeping us waiting for new single announcements.

Anyways, until next time. Peace!

Chiima~