14 comments on “Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Fukumura Mizuki

  1. Ngl it hurt a bit reading she would often go to Yossie for advise, I didn’t know they were that close.. wonder who she’ll go to now

  2. I’m not a Yossi wota, but I don’t think Fukumura will stop turning to her for advice. What Yossi understands about leading Morning Musume is still valuable information.

    • I have a feeling up front made her cut ties with her, this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done that

  3. Current MM have some really good characters, but they’re also kind of insular. Their MCs and DMs have some great moments, but that’s because they’re within their comfort with each other. Those characters basically collapse whenever they interact outside of the group, and not just in variety, but even with other H!P groups. The exceptions have been Sato, Makino, and Ishida.

    Someone mentioned in the recent Tsunku thread that MM was the least interesting group in the H!P concert they just watched, and I think there’s a similar mechanism as above: MM excels at the things they practice endlessly for. Their solo concerts are dynamite because they’ve drilled every little detail into their souls. But again, that means that they don’t do so well if pushed outside of the comfort zone. Their formation dancing can’t help them in a more improvisational setting.

    Honestly, I feel like Angerme is kind of going that way a bit, too, getting more focused on choreography, at the expense of spirit.

    Golden Age didn’t need intricate choreography to enchant the audience. They could build interest on charisma alone.

    In that sense, I think that MM continues to be strangled by their legacy. They’re so focused on studying the success of their predecessors that their actions all come off as too studied (see, for example, the difference between Sakura and Sayuki in Everyday Everywhere). That’s why current MM has been able to shine in their recent theater productions, as they’ve been able to do epic dramas in a way previous members haven’t. There’s no MM legacy looming over Lilium or Zoku 11nin iru or Snefuru.

    • Also the Golden Age had a venue to build charisma–Hello Morning. With AKBingo ending, this would be the perfect time for MM to get a variety show again. It won’t happen, but it’s the right time for it if it could.

      • I mean, ultimately, they might not have to, though. Right now, the best vector for getting the members’ personality is their instagram accounts. They have the means to build an entirely different group of fans than before, following the mechanisms that social media stars have. UF has shown with their Omake videos on YT that they have people who understand the vlog editing style.

        That’s generally been the trend I see with people complaining about MM being boring: that they cling to the old forms of media that MM is no longer focusing on. First, it was TV variety. Then, it was concert/PV making ofs. Then, it was DVD Magazines. Now, it’s social media and mobile app exclusives. International fans just can’t possibly see the full picture.

      • eh, morning musume got a variety show because they proved themselves on variety first. they proved themselves on utaban and hey!hey!hey!. those shows don’t exist now, but they have been on variety shows like hey hey NEO and didn’t use the opportunity to show themselves off well. they just talked about their dancing.

        it’s kind of like how perfume put on exaggerated, obviously fake characters and acted foolish on purpose on variety when they first became famous. a-chan who was an extremely smart and well spoken person acted like she didn’t know kanji and couldn’t understand japanese and became a hit. even sayumi said on her radio show around the time she wanted platinum era to study how perfume acts on TV. perfume were then given not 1 but 3 variety shows and a variety special with a popular comedian act because they were such a big hit on variety. once they were taken seriously as a musical act they all, especially a-chan, toned it down and they stopped doing variety as much. the point is, 9-11th gen morning musume were given chances but they decide to use it to push their dancing not their personality.

        • I mean, by your own Perfume standards, then MM are in their “tone it down” stage, with their Rock in Japan Fes success. So as you say, they’re pushing their performance skills, not their personality, but that also seems to be their deliberate strategy, and not necessarily a flaw that needs correcting.

          (Besides, in the H!M sense, they’d mostly be fine. They still do H!M-style DVD Magazines that are quite good, because it’s just MM vs. MM members, which they are quite good at milking for entertainment value.)

          • i agree that they’re pushing their performance skills (which is fine and what they’re best at), but like i said, the morning musume name brand shouldn’t give them a show when they haven’t proved themselves yet.

            ANGERME and BEYOOOOONDS have been pushing their personalities enough that they should be given that variety push as a group. they’d knock an H!M style show out of the park, especially ANGERME with the last DVD magazine where they acted like a school.

            • Eh, MM and Angerme are about neck and neck for the entertainment value in DVD Magazines where they compete against each other. MM’s DM109 was the last one most in that mold, but MM’s FC special concerts (MM anniversary, Xmas concerts) also have great variety stuff, too.

              Like I said, it’s when they have to interact with strangers that their personalities break down, and in that sense, Angerme doesn’t do much better. They basically only have Rikako and Funaki, which isn’t different from how MM has Sato, Maria, and Daishi.

              From what I’ve seen, BEYOOOOONDS has just milked Ichioka’s train obsession a bit, but otherwise, they’re not notably more interesting than any other idol group out there.

  4. tbh a lot of people saw 5th gen as incredibly boring but looking back they’re one of the most impactful generations of the group and members constantly reference takagaki as members they look up to. i think the current members will be the same regardless if they’re good at variety or not.

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