2 posts tagged “saki ogawa”
I'll try not to do a member-by-member babble this time, partly because I might be doing one about all Eggs later today, and partly because if I do separate analysis I might miss the fact that this is an actual unit.
Anyway, above picture from left to right: Saki Ogawa, Yuuka Maeda, Ayaka Wada, Kanon Fukuda.
I love my Eggs so when I heard about a major unit debut in the future, I was really happy. What I wasn't so happy about was that the line-up was exactly the same as Shugo Chara Egg, minus Akari and plus Sakichy. It felt a bit like "neener neener Akari, you're not good enough, sry kthxbai", which felt harsh because Akari is so lovely. Saki Ogawa is also someone that I have very mixed feelings about; when it comes to line hogging she's like the Airi or Aichan of H!P Eggs, except without the voice. Yes, Sakichy is quite impressive vocally for her age, but when she sings it doesn't make you listen quietly in awe like the first time when Airi sang in Aa! or Aichan sang in Morning Musume's 5th gen audition. Especially live, her voice is more of the whiny kind (strangely it sounds good in S/mileage songs, but I generally don't like her versions of other H!P songs). When it comes to Eggs I want to hear as much of everyone as possible, so when one girl is hogging most of the lines in group songs and doesn't have a magical voice to make up for it, it does get on my nerves a little bit. Of course, none of this is her fault, but the management's...
Nevertheless, now that some time has passed, the whole Shugo Chara Egg thing seems less important, but it's a shame that such good news at first left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth because I couldn't help but feel sorry for Akari.
These kids have been training together for ages and it's cute to see friends work together towards a common goal. They must already have a common bond and hopefully they'll be ambitious together once they debut officially and realize that they might actually be able to battle the older units.
Personality-wise though, a lot rests on Ayaka 'DAWA' Wada's shoulders. That girl is just hilariously strange, to the point where she's become my favourite Egg (and when S/mileage graduates H!P Eggs, she might be my favourite H!P member, assuming that they stay in H!P). Besides Dawa, Yuukarin seems to have a surprisingly anti-idol mentality despite her 100% idol looks, and it's lovely how genuine she always seems to be. However, she is a quiet girl and if I hadn't read some translations of things that she has said, I wouldn't have any idea that she actually has a personality. Sakichy and Kanon also both seem like 'regular kids'; Kanon has a wota thing going for her since she's been a huge H!P fangirl and been vocal about it, and she's also skilled with using a computer and a 'charisma blogger'. But when you see her being interviewed, nothing that interesting seems to be happening, and she seems to stick to a few basic lines (how many times has she said that her favourite food is strawberries?!). Maybe I'm being too harsh on them because their ages are 15 and below, but as far as cuteness can take you in the idol world, it can take you that much further if you have a memorable personality to go with it. Right now I think Dawa is the only one who would stand out instantly for her quirky ways. Luckily she is the leader of the group; maybe that means that she will get some extra chances to talk.
As time goes by, I expect and hope to see their on screen personalities develop more!
Of course, nobody can tell whether S/mileage will keep having songs like Asu wa in the the future. But I think this type of image really fits them and their voices, so I hope it does stick! (Though I wouldn't mind some Jiriri Kiteru type teen angst, either... But H!P units don't typically stick to one style, anyway.)
As performers all of the girls are quite top notch and only seem to become better. They have bright smiles on stage and lots of energy.
Well, in the middle of typing this I had to go for a long shopping trip, so I've actually forgotten what else I was supposed to say. But I guess in the end, I think S/mileage has a lot of potential to become a top group among Morning Musume, C-ute and Berryz Kobo, if only their management doesn't screw it up. They're a pretty solid group where skill-wise nobody is obviously better or worse than the others; Dawa might be the weakest vocally, but on the other hand she has the strongest character. They're all cute and charming in their own way. So I'm hoping for a bright future for them!
Firstly, I need to give props to the younger members of H!P, especially Eggs and especially little Saki Ogawa. Why?
Well, last week I watched some old Tenavatähti videos on Youtube. Tenavatähti was a Finnish singing competition for kids in the early 90's. And oh boy... When I saw how awkward those children on stage were (and most of their singing was nothing special, either), I realized how talented our little H!P darlings are. People like Mai Hagiwara (not an Egg, but very very young and talented), Saki Ogawa, Kanon Fukuda and many others, are pretty damn awesome for their age.
Of course a whole other story are extraordinarily talented children, like the 11-year-old girl who participated in America's Got Talent and blew people away with her vocals. H!P members aren't this kind of people so it's unfair to compare them to them. However, compared to "normal" singing kids who have maybe sung a few solos in a choir and taken part in some local singing competition, the young H!P members to me show much more natural talent in stage charisma and things like that. Heck, I remember the girls who sang solos in my choir when I was a kid, and their singing wasn't that much better than the H!P kids, yet they were considered "good singers" by our teachers and other people. So it just seems like I've forgotten what is considered "good singing" for children after watching too many western idol singing competitions.
And Saki Ogawa hasn't even turned 11, but is doing a pretty convincing job on stage. Of course you can tell that she's still young and there's a lot of room for improvement, but man. Earlier I didn't understand why Saki was getting the push that she is, because I guess in my mind I was comparing her to people it was unfair to compare her to (such as previous and current Momusu aces). But watching those old Tenavatähti videos really put things into perspective for me. I see her in a completely different light now, and look forward to everything she'll do in the future!
Then for the second part of this post:
H!P fans have always said how Hello! Project is going downhill, blah blah yadiyada. But has anyone actually noticed that 2007 has been a pretty fucking awesome year so far? (Sorry for the swear word, but I felt it was appropriate here)
Some reasons why this year has rocked:
- Junjun and Linlin joined Morning Musume. Don't know about you guys, but I love them
- Ongaku Gatas was formed. This unit is like a dream come true, not just to me as a H!P Egg and Rika fan, but also to anyone who wanted to see Konno back, and Yossi have a singing career after graduating from MM
- Morning Musume has released three good singles in a row this year: Egao YES! Nude, Kanashimi Twilight and Onna ni sachi are. I also like the preview of Mikan I've heard, so for me it will be 4 good singles in a row. (But I understand that because Mikan is a joyful song, not everyone might like it as much as the "cool" and mature previous songs)
- Buono! was formed. I haven't paid a lot of attention to this unit, but after watching their PV I realize how awesome it is. It's basically the three aces of the younger generation. And hey, I love Miyabi and Momoko
- C-ute has been selling pretty darn well, and released (to me) their best major single so far, which is Tokaikko Junjou
- Koharu has continued to sell well
- To me personally, the fact that H!P Eggs have been able to do much more and have their own concerts has been very important, very rewarding, and an endless source of joy
