[2/19] Berryz 34th single : Otona na no yo! / 1 Oku 3 Senman Sou Diet Oukoku

[Celedam]

You keep looking for practical solutions to an existential problem…

[Menno]

Morning Musume was also practically dead.... but was fixed with practical solutions. Okay, a complete overhaul of members is more then just something practical, but still.


If the girls, Up Front and Tsunku really want to keep Berryz going it should be possible to bring back their original sparkle.

Maybe they should be pushed a whole lot more. Tell them that there next single will be their last, unless.....

Then we as H!P fans will also have something dramatic to look foreward to, even if it means the end.

[JonCC]

Maybe they should be pushed a whole lot more. Tell them that there next single will be their last, unless.....

If one needs to threaten them to such a degree for that, then whatever problems there might be are beyond solving.
Threats also don't actually work. S/mileage's management has proven that.

I wouldn't personally want to see idols perform after such a threat.
Sucks all the fun out of everything.

[BerryzCelebration]

Who doesn't want to be there though? I think all of them are pretty dedicated to their work.

[Zunu]

It's funny how you guys were all rooting for this single to have good sales, talking about how great the songs are. But the moment their first week didn't end up the way you guys wanted it to, "Nope, someone has to go.".

There's no contradiction here. For years various people have been pointing out how mismatched they are as a group. Despite that a lot of people wish things were working well for them. But they're not. The fact that their sales suck only serves to indicate that they are not working out.

Also, we're not all the same people, so we don't all have exactly the same opinion. Some of us think this single's a train wreck. I think it's awesome. Some of us think Maasa needs to move on and find something that makes her happy, for the good of the group. Others, Starra in particular, think she's essential. Etc.

And this is total speculation, but I sometimes wonder if Maasa is hanging on for no other reason than that she's a primary breadwinner in her household. Maybe she's really tired of doing this job after half of her life on stage with no privacy, no boyfriends, people nagging her about her weight and so on. Maybe every time she gets on stage, it's something she just has to endure, like getting her gums cleaned. But her family won't let her quit, so she gamely tries to make the best of it. If that's the case, would a true fan really even want her to soldier on?

Who doesn't want to be there though? I think all of them are pretty dedicated to their work.

Seriously? Look at Maasa's facial expressions and body language when she's performing. To me anyway, she appears to be totally disengaged, like she's passive-aggressively resisting being there.

[otaku_blue]

I wouldnt be surprised if these girls were being forced to be there.

A lot of these girls are starting university and moving onto other things, while at the same time are supposedly having their "second break out" coming soon. But if they were ready to graduate just a year before or something, the girls were definitely kept busy with other things like collaboration singles and other sentimental anniversary things.

[Zunu]

One more thing. Although in my head I'm putting the blame on Maasa, Chinami, Yurina and "Momochi", I recognize the truth, that just like everyone else; I really don't know why they're not doing so well. The vast majority of all musical releases completely bomb. It's only through some combination of skill, luck, timing and promotion that they succeed. Even well-established groups will sometimes just fall off for no discernible reason. Sometimes the public just gets tired of their sound, and moves on, even if their latest work is by far their most inventive and musically proficient. There's not necessarily any solution to that; you can't restore the public's interest in a group just by jiggering things around a bit. On the other hand a group can have poor to middling success for a while, like ***48, or Platinum MM, and then suddenly change a few elements and take off like a rocket. Or like Daft Punk, not really change much of anything, it just becomes their time in the sun. "Chemical X" is unknown. If there were a fixed formula for success, then after a while everybody'd be doing the same thing, and then we'd be back to square one. You see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

[Celedam]

Bonus points for the Powerpuff Girls reference.

[wotakubrandon]

Who doesn't want to be there though? I think all of them are pretty dedicated to their work.

Seriously? Look at Maasa's facial expressions and body language when she's performing. To me anyway, she appears to be totally disengaged, like she's passive-aggressively resisting being there.

Actually I was going to say the same thing as BerryzCelebration. Something similar was said about Zukki because her personality wasn't quite as annoying energetic as it had been in the past and so many people here were saying about how CLEARLY something was wrong. I just didn't see it and truthfully I don't really see it with Maasa either. I think she's just heavier and now tired faster during songs and performances I just think if she didn't want to be there that badly then she'd leave OR would be asked to leave.

[Celedam]

I think you underestimate the power of duty/obligation/teamwork/nakama in Japanese culture. A member of team may hate what they're doing but still continue to do it without complaint, just because of that sense of duty.