Wota in Translation

(TL note: Tsunku in the above picture: “My intention is not to write idol songs“)

1：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:49:10.22 ID:0
Source: the radio show “Shabette shabette 120fun” on NIKKEI. He was saying that for the older guys who appreciate and are well-versed in all kinds of music, H!P are the idols they get hooked on for the most part.

5：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:51:45.74 ID:0
Agreed.

7：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:51:59.62 ID:0
I thought he was just an embarrassing lolicon idol wota, but he’s basically spot-on.

9：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:52:21.26 ID:0
Ah, I get what he’s saying. 15 years ago I’d never listened to idols.

12：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:52:40.50 ID:0
Strangely it feels like there’s a lot of metalheads who are fans of H!P.

35：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:56:50.49 ID:O
>>12
That’s me! I went from liking metal (I thought everything aside from metal is shit), to liking H!P, to starting to like and listen to all kinds of music.

13：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:52:48.06 ID:0
What a bunch of shit.
You can’t possibly take H!P music seriously.

16：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:53:14.68 ID:0
This president is the typical idiot H!P fan.

19：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:54:03.57 ID:0
There are people here who seem to be troubled if someone says H!P aren’t shit.

25：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:55:30.72 ID:0
AKB and Momoclo are like music for children.

33：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:56:38.07 ID:0
I get being a fan of H!P, but I can’t understand someone being a fan of H!P music.

36：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:56:50.48 ID:0
I don’t listen to the lyrics, but the melodies are always interesting.

37：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:57:31.72 ID:0
It feels to me like people who move on from H!P to AKB are really only in it for the idols themselves.

38：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:57:42.42 ID:O
For me it’s the opposite. It was once I got into H!P that I started to like both Western and Japanese music, fusion, classical, brass, jazz, anything really.

39：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:58:03.51 ID:0
Well, it is the president of one of the biggest music distributors saying it…

48：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:59:59.24 ID:0
This guy gets it.

49：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 17:59:59.34 ID:0
Up until now I hated most Japanese music but since I started listening to H!P, I’m now listening to all kinds of Japanese music, even stuff from 30 years old.

55：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:01:15.77 ID:0
Couldn’t care less about H!P members’ vocals. I like Terada’s melody lines.

57：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:01:26.55 ID:0
Getting hooked on H!P is the same as saying you got hooked on The Beatles.

58：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:02:13.62 ID:0
Before I’d realized it, Terada had become my oshi. H!P does that to you.

59：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:02:15.24 ID:0
I bet the older guys can’t get enough of the sax in J=J’s debut song.

60：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:02:23.36 ID:0
Though I previously hated it, I started to like funk music thanks to H!P.

64：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:02:54.96 ID:O
So H!P is the Shangri-La of music listeners.

66：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:03:01.11 ID:0
For me, I went from Western rock and techno etc., to world music, to H!P, to kayou kyoku, to pre-war chanson music. I now realize that there is no end goal.

68：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:03:26.40 ID:0
Thanks to H!P, I’ve now become an old man with no particular dislikes.

72：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:05:15.80 ID:0
It’s an older guy making the music, so it has a taste of Showa to it by nature. I do get bored of music like Yasutaka’s stuff in no time.

75：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:05:21.88 ID:0
What H!P is doing is trying to make something cool out of something uncool.
Calling it uncool without listening to it properly means you don’t really get it.

83：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:07:03.93 ID:O
>>75
That methodology of turning “uncool” into something “cool” is something I feel is present in a a lot of metal, too.

76：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:05:43.50 ID:0
Thanks to that show H!P was doing back in the days called “Garage”, I became completely absorbed in group sounds. Through stuff like The Tigers, The Wild Ones and Outcast I arrived at The Candies and got really hooked on them. Then I once again came to like Morning Musume as well as the current H!P units.

80：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:06:35.51 ID:0
Tsunku = The Beatles

82：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:06:52.48 ID:O
Man, “cool music” is really uncool.

84：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:07:17.70 ID:0
So then how come other music lovers don’t acknowledge H!P?

88：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:08:04.84 ID:0
>>84
You probably mean the type of people that are stuck reading magazines directed at young “music lovers”. You know, the kind that read ROCKIN’ON JAPAN and Ongaku to Hito.

95：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:09:38.67 ID:0
>>84
Rather than “music lovers“, to me it feels more like they’re “people who love being thought of as music lovers“.

87：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:08:00.89 ID:0
When I was younger I didn’t listen to anything else except Western music and indies Japanese bands either. Back then the music scene was filled with nothing but club music and visual kei to the point where I completely lost interest in music itself, but then for some reason I got into Morning Musume and Taiyou to Ciscomoon. (laughs)

92：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:08:57.79 ID:0
Ordinary idol songs just don’t cut it, right?
It’s good to have something a bit weird in the mix.

101：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:11:09.17 ID:0
They’ve been saying that for more than ten years now. I wonder if he’s a longtime reader of this board.

108：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:12:50.74 ID:0
These kinds of threads about music appear on both the AKB and H!P boards, but they’re on completely different levels. They’re deeper and cover a lot more ground on the H!P board.

109：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:13:12.31 ID:0
All the music enthusiasts who listen to all sorts of genres were praising Pyoko Pyoko Ultra, right?
I guess the sound of that song was just too high-level for music beginners to get.

111：風呂敷丸 ◆xMAIymKvEs ：2013/03/20(水) 18:13:52.59 ID:0
Listening to stuff like Kokuhaku Funsui no Hiroba makes me want to ride my bicycle through riverside embankments at evening twilight.

118：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:14:45.24 ID:0
Sure, there’s some truth as to what he’s saying. But I hope the H!P fundamentalists understand that Minewaki also listens to lots of other idols aside from H!P and is able to find songs that are worthwhile from those groups as well.

139：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:17:44.33 ID:0
I’m pretty into rock and I still go to all these old guys’ shows, but sometimes that gets boring too so I wanted to listen to some cute music instead. That’s where Momochi entered the picture, and here I am. The 48 stuff didn’t cut it for me.

140：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:17:44.57 ID:0
There are several young track makers who I like but when it comes to live concerts, you can’t beat Terada.

142：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:18:01.96 ID:0
Once I gave up any preconceptions I had about music, I became able to like idol music — and within that genre, H!P is my favorite.

158：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:20:32.02 ID:0
I started off with melodic hardcore and got into all kinds of music before becoming an old man and ending up at H!P.

169：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:22:00.14 ID:0
I was hooked on Kamei Eri but I found myself unable to leave behind H!P even after her graduation. And now I’ve gotten hooked on Juice. I still like all the other music I used to like before but at the end of the day, H!P music is just the most fun.

178：空耳 ◆BVp4okO8zo ：2013/03/20(水) 18:23:29.31 ID:0
Terada’s music is the absolute highest quality music in Japan.

187：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:24:26.67 ID:0
Making and listening to playlists made up of only instrumentals is something I only do with H!P.

190：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:25:05.37 ID:0
If the songs were good, they’d sell without handshake events.

197：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:26:05.11 ID:0
>>190
Just because something is good doesn’t mean it’ll sell well.

275：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:38:08.93 ID:0
>>190
People like you are just embarrassing.

196：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:25:45.60 ID:0
Sure, some years ago H!P’s level musically was high. There was a feeling of it being something special that made you amazed that there were idols who could take it to that level. But now H!P has deteriorated and there are other idol groups that are musically interesting, too.

216：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:28:58.17 ID:0
>>196
Yep, but that’s definitely not any of the 48 groups. If you mean local idol groups that have made a name for themselves, then I agree. Except H!P hasn’t deteriorated.

208：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:28:17.91 ID:0
H!P has so many songs that are just so stupid, it’s embarrassing to sing or listen to them.

212：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:28:48.78 ID:0
>>208
You have no taste.

209：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:28:18.58 ID:0
I’ve noticed that experts are always speaking highly of H!P. This is probably the sort of thing that earns them points overseas.

210：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:28:29.78 ID:0
H!P songs aren’t good, but I do think they’re interesting and that only Tsunku could write them. But lately they’re all arranged by Ookubo whose style I don’t like at all.

226：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:30:43.83 ID:0
I started off with hardcore followed by indie pop and neo-acoustic music before ending up at H!P.
Their only problem is that lately the singles all sound too similar.

255：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:35:33.01 ID:0
There are some fans who praise songs that I think are shitty, as well as vice versa. There’s so many different types of H!P wota. Sometimes you have to bear with it and other times you can really enjoy it.

256：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:35:35.33 ID:0
Metal → Madchester → alternative → post-rock → H!P

279：qq：2013/03/20(水) 18:38:30.78 ID:0
Variety is the spice of life.

280：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:38:33.59 ID:0
I only listen to music from the 70’s to 90’s plus H!P.

284：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:39:15.11 ID:0
It’s definitely true that there’s a lot of wota in the H!P fandom that are well-versed in music.

294：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:40:42.65 ID:0
As long as I have the singing voices of Satchmo, Buddy Holly and Ayacho, that’s all I need.

295：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:40:59.00 ID:0
Glam rock → glam metal → glam kayou → H!P

386：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:56:44.55 ID:0
I agree completely. I’m a classical wota and Momusu are the only pop music I’m into. I can’t appreciate any other J-pop.

398：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 18:59:52.11 ID:0
Ever since middle school I’ve been completely into Western music and to this day think that J-pop = shit. But H!P alone I do find interesting. I wonder why that is?

422：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:06:29.25 ID:0
>>398
Maybe it’s because you place importance on originality? If you were listening solely to Western music, you probably can’t appreciate J-pop as they’re just copying that music. Tsunku mixes in kayou and makes the music his own.

406：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:01:53.97 ID:0
I only listen to jazz and bossa nova, but H!P is the sole exception to that rule.

407：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:02:20.56 ID:0
Let’s say that he writes 100 songs a year. If I look at those 100 songs, I couldn’t call all 100 of them good, but at least 30 of them are amazing. But what’s more is that he’s been able to repeat that pattern for the last 15 years. There’s never been a musician like that in Japan before.

412：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:03:48.73 ID:T
His songs are full cutting corners and musical phrases that you feel like you’ve heard somewhere before.

418：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:05:52.34 ID:0
>>412
I think that trying to understand and pinpoint where those familiar-sounding phrases came from is something those older guys who know their music enjoy doing.

420：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:06:10.88 ID:0
“Phrases that you feel like you’ve heard somewhere before“… (laughs)
If that’s a problem for you, you can’t really listen to anything except classical.
Well, even classical has pieces that similar though. (laughs)

415：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:05:09.65 ID:0
Tsunku was a genius in his heyday but now he’s just run dry.

421：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:06:26.77 ID:0
>>415
I don’t think he’s really changed. Even way back then he always had shitty songs as well as songs that are amazing.

436：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:09:52.79 ID:0
>>421
On the contrary, I think the ratio of good vs. bad songs has improved a lot. The quality of early H!P was really unstable.

455：空耳 ◆BVp4okO8zo ：2013/03/20(水) 19:14:36.26 ID:0
>>415
Tsunku hasn’t changed. What has changed is the quality of arrangements. Back in the days they were for the most part at least average, but now that’s completely changed and the overall quality has lowered a lot — though of course they occasionally still have arrangements that are top-class. It’s a bit tricky. Since the arrangements back then were better, that might also lead people to feel that they had more good songs back then. That, plus feelings of nostalgia.

423：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:07:08.71 ID:0
Every now and then they have songs that are so weird that you think “is this prog rock?”

425：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:07:52.79 ID:0
As long as I have Western music, H!P and classical, I’m set.

433：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:09:09.80 ID:0
For me, the 90’s were my youth and I was listening to both Western and Japanese music evenly.
That’s why it was easy for me to just randomly get hooked on H!P.

438：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:10:13.24 ID:0
Those people who immediately call it a K-pop ripoff the second they hear any electronic sounds are tone-deaf and would be better off not listening to H!P at all.

447：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:13:07.63 ID:0
You Tsunku fanboys are gross. You sound just like him.
What they need to emphasize is feelings of happiness and sex appeal.
As long as you’re fixated over “musicianship”, H!P is never going to sell.

457：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:14:48.44 ID:0
>>447
Sorry guy, but for us, if H!P ever stops being “fixated over musicianship” we’ll abandon this fandom no matter if H!P starts to sell or not.

458：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:14:51.33 ID:0
For years and years Tsunku hasn’t budged from his stance. I’m sure there’s lots of pressure from all kinds of directions but he’s the type of person that just won’t give up on his principles no matter what.

472：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:18:03.05 ID:0
It’s not like I go “banzai!” at anything and everything H!P puts out.
If it’s good, I praise it. If it’s bad, I call it bad. Simple as that.

489：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:20:48.46 ID:0
Sometimes I feel like I’d just like to hear a straight-up, ordinary idol song, but I guess he doesn’t do those anymore.

520：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:25:55.69 ID:0
>>489
Don’t you listen to the B-sides?

492：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:21:28.97 ID:0
“The Beatles? Lame.” Kids who think that way aren’t suited for H!P either. It’s the kids without preconceptions who can also find the good in older stuff that can get into H!P.

531：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:28:07.06 ID:0
It’s not like music is everything to H!P wota, but every so often you see guys talking about it both at this board and at H!P threads elsewhere. That in itself proves what Minewaki is saying. I went to have a look at the Miyazawa Marin thread and people were only talking about rock. (laughs)

535：空耳 ◆BVp4okO8zo ：2013/03/20(水) 19:30:02.20 ID:0
It’s not about being “educated in music”, it’s just that H!P is extremely good at creating songs that to the average person are genuinely enjoyable — notwithstanding some fans who don’t get them or just think they’re crap. Also, the ratio of fans who don’t follow fads or give much weight to what the media says seems to be relatively high.

541：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:31:19.73 ID:0
>>535
The “average person” does not think of current H!P songs as enjoyable.

557：空耳 ◆BVp4okO8zo ：2013/03/20(水) 19:33:57.65 ID:0
>>541
They don’t know them in the first place. You can’t sell on just the quality of the music.

552：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:33:17.88 ID:0
>>535
Does the average person honestly find even 1/10 of AKB’s songs enjoyable???

648：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:51:40.84 ID:0
>>535
It’s the difference between the person who can’t tell if an abstract painting is any good or not because he needs it to be picture-like, versus the person who can look at that abstract painting alone to assess its quality.

561：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:34:28.08 ID:0
The average person enjoys singing AKB or Momoclo. (laughs)
H!P doesn’t stand a chance. (laughs)

588：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:39:43.53 ID:0
I’ve been an avid music listener since the 70’s and H!P is where I ended up, so I completely agree with Minewaki. Akekasu don’t get any say in this.

589：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:39:52.30 ID:0
The moment I heard the intro to JJ’s song I just thought to myself “yep, H!P is where it’s at.“

600：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:41:16.10 ID:0
I do think that those with shallow taste in music can’t get what’s good about H!P.

602：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:42:03.64 ID:0
Akekasu can’t talk about anything except sales figures.

619：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:44:37.33 ID:0
It’s not that I’m especially a music lover though I do to some extent listen to old rock, old kayou kyoku, jazz, bossa nova and classical. I just think Terada’s songs have this sort of fun novelty about them.

646：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:50:33.16 ID:0
How sad do you have to be to listen to all kinds of different music and yet end up at idol music?

665：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:55:20.13 ID:0
>>646
Well, it’s the type of guys who do worry about stuff like that who don’t end up liking idol music. The guys in this thread aren’t afraid to like the music they like. They have enough self-confidence to think that the only affirmation they need for their taste is their own.

650：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:52:01.57 ID:0
These threads are always popular so I guess that means there’s lots of fans like that.

658：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:53:37.48 ID:0
For me, I didn’t really know what was going on in the current music scene, but now I suddenly have a bit of an interest in dubstep. (laughs)

666：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:55:32.14 ID:0
H!P music has a lot of interesting stuff going on. Originality-wise, they’re the number one idols.

667：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:56:02.17 ID:i
What you can find in H!P is just a cheap ripoff of dubstep, EDM and whatever other Western music it’s copying. “H!P is the music lover’s choice” my ass.

670：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:57:09.03 ID:0
>>667
The local artists are a bunch of cheap ripoffs of Guetta, too, though.

683：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 19:59:14.02 ID:0
>>667
What you’re listening to is other people’s opinions, not music.

668：rk ◆fHL0wIQGC. ：2013/03/20(水) 19:56:58.63 ID:0
Are H!P haters that pissed when H!P’s music gets praise? Why?

753：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:12:01.23 ID:0
>>668
They’re annoyed to see something that they themselves left behind being highly thought of.

759：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:13:00.96 ID:0
>>753
This. If you had some self-confidence, you wouldn’t care about what people think of your past interests.

706：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:03:23.94 ID:0
In a thread with old guys going “I know, right?!” at Minewaki’s opinion, what’s with the guys going “no, that can’t be!” all pissed off? (laughs)

715：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:05:03.30 ID:0
>>706
Yeah. Especially the ones trying to negate the things themselves that those older guys like. I’ve no idea what they’re trying to pull.

761：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:13:52.18 ID:0
Of course you guys would like H!P songs, but when you start talking about your “musicianship” being this and that it just looks like you’re trying to prove something. Just say “I’m a H!P wota” and be done with it.

764：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:15:20.53 ID:0
>>761
No, I do think there’s quite a number of music fans here — both the type who love and who hate Terada.

762：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:14:19.03 ID:0
Electronica → Brazilian music → loud rock → prog rock → Risako → arrival at H!P

769：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:15:57.17 ID:O
I don’t like idol songs — I like H!P songs.

781：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:17:45.95 ID:0
This board has a lot of progheads it seems.

784：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:18:15.29 ID:0
I just listen to it because I think it’s fun. I don’t care if it’s good or bad or whatever.

856：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:33:49.28 ID:0
I’m basically just a huge fan of Western music. I started off listening to random Western music and stuff from the 60’s, then moving onto funk, reggae and electronica, before finally ending up at world music. It was then that I became a fan of AKB, but I came to like H!P since then — while losing my old friends and making new ones in the process. (laughs)

Tsunku gets a lot of flack for his lyrics, but us who are into Western music don’t really pay attention to them much. There’s a lot of people that are okay just as long they can get into the rhythm.

862：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 20:36:28.83 ID:0
I’m an old prog rock fan who’s now a Berryz wota.

965：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 21:01:10.10 ID:0
I, too, think AKB’s songs are shit. Every now and then they put out good songs like Heavy Rotation and SKE’s Hidarikiki, but for the most part it’s shit. Momoclo is completely out of the question.

966：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 21:01:34.59 ID:i
I spent 30 years of my life thinking that anyone listening to idols was just absurd… until I heard Berryz.

984：名無し募集中。。。：2013/03/20(水) 21:06:21.42 ID:0
It feels like Tsunku’s really making a comeback lately.

Henkka: These types of threads might be getting a little bit repetitive, but damned if I care. This stuff is nothing short of gold to me. Hear hear to >>57 and >>58.

Source: http://oha2.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-742.html (jp)