With the sudden withdrawal of Nagasawa Marina coming up this December 31st, I thought that Houkago Princesses announcements were over for the rest of the year.
Well, that isn't the case, because they had a few more up their sleeve, with one that has [yet] to be announced, but I managed to snoop my way towards the information via my usual HouPri Stalking techniques! WOOHOO!
Let's get into some news, shall we?
Firstly, a brand new member has emerged! Meet Morishita Rina, the latest Candidate to grace the HouPri Halls. Like Horii Nina, she will participate in activities with the Regular members, but will only be included in the chorus and as a backing dancer. She will also perform at her designated Team lives, and help to promote the group.
Hello, all! I apologise for my lack of updates and posts thus far, however University and life have taken priority, as well as some much needed mind-rest. I have also not neglected my contest, and have recently been able to look through all the entries. Hopefully a winner shall be announced soon, however I must look through my 3 finalists once again before making a solid decision!
For now, however, I shall be updating you all on the world of Houkago Princess! I wonder what they will have announced this joyous January?
On January 17th 2016, it was revealed during the Miss iD 2016 Grand Prix that contestant #87, Horii Nina, had been added Houkago Princesses little sister unit, Houpriyusu!
Both Nagasawa Marina, Houpriyusu's Gravure Queen and first member of the unit since its creation, and Horii Nina had participated in the annual Modelling competition where Idols, aspiring actresses, models, gravure models and singers all compete for the grand prize. Both girls made it to the semi-finals of the competitions, with Nagasawa Marina being crowned #1 during the CHEERZ voting portion of the contest back in November, though she did not win the overall crown at the Grand Prix.
Horii Nina, who had joined the competition in order to make her dream of becoming a singer and an idol come true, is 16 years old and from the Fukui Prefecture. A high schooler, Nina loves to sing and dance, and is a fan of both Uverworld and Momoiro Clover Z. For her, the ultimate idol is MomoClo Z's Tamai Shiori. Being 16 years old, Nina is now the youngest member of Houpriyusu, as all other members are the age of 20 years or over.
Regarding my own thoughts on Horii Nina, honestly, I find her charming. From some of her images, as well as her introduction video on the Miss iD youtube, she has this rather sweet awkwardness about her that is quite adorable, as well as endearing to see. Sure, her posture could use some work, and I feel that her confidence could be risen a tad, however everything else about her? I like it. I like her, because there is this quality of innocence about her that I think all the other members of Houkago Princess and Houpriyusu lack a little.
Naive innocence. That's what Nina seems to have when I look at her, and I rather like that about her.
I also enjoy the persistence this girl seems to have; despite not being an Idol previously or even an entertainer (from what my own research has told me at least), she went ahead from Fukui to Tokyo in order to audition for the Miss iD competition, which is known for being a contest between the indie and unknown Idols of the Japanese entertainment world, with a dream of becoming a singer and an Idol after being a part of the contest. Despite any odds or the fact she might have had little to no experience prior to this, Nina had the get-up and go to follow her dream through a contest as opposed to an audition, and basically put her name and face out there for Japan to see, and heck, she made it to the semi-finals of Miss iD 2016!
This girl has gumption, and she goes for what she wants. Despite her meek looks, she is hardly a wallflower, but indeed a fighter, it seems.
Honestly, this girl is adorable, and she is inspiring to boot. She chased a dream, and through that dream, she became a Princess and an Idol, conquering one of her aspirations by joining a contest that she hoped would give her a leg up in the career she wanted to pursue.
And, in the words of my friend Danielle, 'she gives me princess vibes', which is completely true. She has that HouPri vibe, and reminds me a little of Odagiri Nana when the group first debuted (though admittedly, a better singer by far)., what with her awkward stance and her cute look. She's adorable, but she dreams big and worked to get where she is now, and honestly, I am happy to see her in Houpriyusu, because even though they are small, I think that Nina will still be able to achieve a lot with them, as well as gain experience in singing, dancing and being an Idol in the long run.
Horii Nina is a cutie, and I can't wait to see her growth as a member of Houpriyusu, and maybe one day, Houkago Princess. A diamond in the rough, I do hope that this girl will become a polished gem whose dreams only continue to grow.
Congratulations, Horii Nina, and welcome to the Kingdom of Houkago Princess and Houpriyusu! I hope to see more of you in the future, and I anticipate your progress!
Until next time everyone, please stay happy, healthy and, of course, keep loving your Idols!
So Hello! Project is full of news this month already it seems, which also means that I'm back to a regular blogging streak... at least, for now. And with all this news about, blogging about it just so happens to be a great way to procrastinate from my essay that is totally not due in this Friday... yeah... >o>
Please don't be like me, guys XD Finish your essays and homework in a timely manner!
Anyways...
As Hello! Project prepares for the departure of Fukuda Kanon, it seemed that now was just the right time to finally introduce the latest member in the groups ever-changing roster, the winner of the recent ANGERME auditions that took place this summer. So, let's see just who she is, shall we?
Introducing Kamikokuryo Moe, 16 years old and hailing from the Kumamoto Prefecture! Previously a participant in Morning Musume '14's Golden Audition, Kamikokuryo failed the audition, however found motivation through the song Taiki Bansei to go on and audition instead for ANGERME, which happened to result in her coming out as the sole 'Shin Member' out of 1,800 applicants.
Kamikokuryo was revealed as the newest member addition on November 11th at Club Citta in Kanagawa during ANGERME's release event for their latest single. She is 150cm in height, enjoys karaoke as a hobby, and has talent in jump rope, pen twirling and drums. Her purity and powerful gaze are her qualities according to Sharm Q's Taisei, who participated as a judge for the audition process.
In regards to this news, I'm actually surprisingly positive with the addition of Kamikokuryo. I mean, I was expecting about three to four members being added, so I was initially dreading the new member announcement, so when it was revealed that it was just one girl out of so many applicants who had been chosen, I felt happy.
ANGERME as 9nin works so freaking well, so to see them keep that number in their lineup just makes me feel positive for them. Plus, KamiMoe seems like she'll be a great addition to the group, what with her intriguing features, her pretty damn good voice, and how she already seems to fit in with the group despite only being a part of it for about a day or so. Really, it's actually quite nice to see someone new in there right now, especially one who looks as interesting as KamiMoe.
I'm genuinely excited to see what ANGERME will do after Nyon's graduation, because it'll definitely be a bit of a game changer for the group, what with one of their more prominent lead vocalists out now, as well as a new voice in. It'll be interesting to see how they do, to watch the growth of both the 3rd generation and KamiMoe herself, as well as to see how the group itself evolves in the process.
So yeah, at first I wasn't too happy with the idea of new members coming into ANGERME, but now that KamiMoe is there and the sole survivor of the audition process, I feel a lot more positive on her addition. She's cute, she fits, and she seems like she'll be a nice asset to the team once Nyon takes her leave. As a casual follow of H!P now, I can only hope that ANGERME will continue to have a positive, fruitful future in their career.
