Up Up Girls(仮) / UUG(2) / UUG(Pro Wres)

[JonCC]

Hoo-chan mentioned on her social media that she has a gravure spread in the June 26 Young Magazine, as well as being on the cover. A tiny lower-right-corner pic but a cover pic nonetheless:8

Making-of

[Zunu]

I thought her flip-flops flew off at 1:31, which would've been a tragedy of epic proportions, but no, fortunately she was just playfully kicking her shorts away

[JonCC]

She also posted some offshots.

tweet

[Zunu]

Oh, I saw those bottom photos on her insta before I knew about the gravure shoot, thought she was just being tastefully modest

[Nayoko-Kihara]

Of all the catching up I did and still need to do, the UUG groups have fallen by the wayside. I only realized Niina graduated relatively close to the date it happened because I luckily happened to see something during a quick browse on twitter, but I just now realized Chihiro went along with her. The audition makes a ton of sense now.

[Zunu]

Yeah when that info came out I initially misthought it as Chinatsu graduating (which would imo make more sense) and it really threw me off that it was Chihiro instead.

[Zunu]

I haven't been posting these lately but Mayu's still releasing her "Yoshikara" (Yoshikawa karaoke) videos regularly. The latest one is nostalgic for me because she covers Higedan's "115man kilo no film." Her harmonic cover of that with Chinatsu was literally the first time I heard the song and was, um, instrumental in me both paying attention to Mayu's voice for the first time and also getting into Official HIGE DANdism.

Anyway, aside from that she also attempts Ari no mama de, the Japanese version of "Let It Go." I'll just say Matsu Takako has nothing to fear in terms of competition.

Also Mayu looks really cute here, more than usual even.

[Zunu]

吉川茉優 "Yoshikara" #14


(~2:00) Mayu opens this one with a really sweet-voiced rendition of last year's breezy yet wistful summer ballad "Natsu Arashi" by Genie High.

(~10:09) She follows up with Kouda Kumi's "Megumi no Hito." It's well done despite the song being a little bit too low-pitched for her. She sounds so cute singing the "(naninani) yo me!" parts.

(~19:20) Next up is AKB48's classic "Everyday, Kachuusha. Another pretty solid performance, slightly pitchy but not unpleasantly so.

(~31:00) Next, Ieiri Leo's Kimi Ga Kureta Natsu. This song suits her well -- she nails that soaring C# sharp over and over, and even the D# that pops up a couple of times.

(~41:10) Lastly she sings her own brand new just-released song "Natsu Usagi (Summer Rabbit)<Spotify link>," which she also wrote herself, including the rap lyrics. She hopes to do more as a singer/songwriter/lyricist etc. She wants everybody at home to swing their bath towels in the air while listening, but if they happen to be on the train or something that could be a problem.

[wotakubrandon]

Wow reading this is like a fever dream. Almost everyone is gone and more are leaving.

Also how long have they been on Spotify?

[Zunu]

I think regarding Spotify a couple of years now for UUG/2. To be honest it's not really taking off; each group has less than two thousand monthly listeners. And Maa-chan, who's only been solo for a little while, currently has just NINE monthly listeners on Spotify. I think though that people tend to follow idol groups, and particularly small fringe groups like UUG for the sense of personal connection more than for enjoying the actual music. In contrast with someone like Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), whom people might listen to specifically because of his bangers, but not really care at all about his personal life, daily struggles, or fawning over his bootleg desk calendar.