The LoVendoЯ Thread - Group Activity Suspension & Miyazawa Marin Contract to End in July 2019

[Sohee]

Yaguchi was set up as being the one that came up with Minimoni back in... 2001? Was it? We'll never know if she actually did or not. And it was during MM's golden years and H!P.

Naming someone sub-captain is definitely not the same thing. Reina naming Fukuchan and Haruna sub-leaders isn't even the same thing. If Captain would suddenly say "Berryz will only do RnB from now on!" that would be about the same level.

Reina said there on the show that she's been yelled at before for being stubborn and wanting to get things her way so she doesn't do it anymore. The new three girls have no seniority at all so they wouldn't dare to. So they do what they're told to.
Reina has no idea of how band-business works, which doesn't give much either. Yuki seems to, a bit, but she's still a newcomer so the seniority problem is still there. Reina is the only one of "authority" and she has been raised within the company in a way that she's not supposed to go against those "who know best." Typical Japanese mindset, really.
It's just really damn sad.

[Yattaruchan]

Lets not get into Minimoni conspiracy theories here.

I think we're getting our wires crossed a little. Reina forcing her opinion as a yankee kid is one thing back then and getting scolded. That doesn't mean she can't have opinions and suggests now a days.

Also, even if she did come up with the idea for the band, she'd never be the one actually producing it. That would always be Tsunku, or some other producer to take over. I'm sure Reina has at least a bit more freedom of opinion now then being in MM. Tsunku's image of MM and it's girls will always be stricter, then after the girls graduate MM.

All I'm say is that things probably aren't as strict as you think they seem to be. This is not an argument. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. I'm not saying you are right or wrong. Just opinion.

[Sohee]

Well, I'm just going by what Reina said on that Niconama show. She didn't say what/when she got scolded for, but she did say that she's not saying what she wants to do because she does what she's told to do by the higher-ups because when she used to be stubborn she got told to just suck it up. That's not me making it up, that's just me saying what SHE said. She obviously has things she wants to do (music-wise she said she wanted to do music like T.M Revolution), but when Nishikawa went on saying "Well say it!!" she'd go back to the "Well, the higher-ups..." We're all allowed to think what we want of that, but that speaks for itself to me.

Tsunku has nothing to do with Lovendor as it is right now, except for letting them cover Joukyou monogatari. "J-Revolution" produced their mini-album, who-/whatever that is.

Having that said, I do think they're strict as hell. Japanese society is strict as it is and showbiz even more so. UF seems to be a really proud company which probably is why it took them forever to admit defeat and have to "lower" themselves to lowbudget shows and such -- took them quite a few years but they eventually got there and finally it's paying off. I have no idea if they got new people or whatever, and honestly I don't care, I just hope that whatever people that are working with H!P, will have something to do with Lovendor too and accept help from an outsider so they get some experienced people working with the band or they will end up being the nobodies doing nothing. And that would be one hell of a waste of talent and potential.

[Yattaruchan]

Okay, now I get where you are coming from more directly. I haven't watch the show yet. Not that it would make a difference, as I don't understand Japanese apart from a few words or phrases here and there. And I can kinda feel my through reading kana characters.

As for me, I was mainly going off Reina's April episodes of Idol Hour Hello! Project, the ENG/JPN radio show.

I was going to ask what exactly Tsunku does with LoVendoR. Did he have anything to do with the auditions?

[randompasserby]

I haven't watched the clip you guys are talking about so a lot of this goes way over my head but... I really don't see how Lovendor's current state and activities as being "directionless", it looks more like the obligatory early phase of a typipcal H!P group no?

It'll save myself a lot of headache and agonizing by just thinking of it as a new Kenshuusei group in their indies phase. Not a terribly farfetched comparison imo (most of them being very new to the showbiz) only with covers and independent live house tours instead of indie songs and piggybacking on their senior concerts.

Seeing as it's not even half a year yet since Reina graduated from MM and devoted herself full time to her new group, I hardly think they (both management and the girls) are just sitting on their ass being lazy. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now since they're probably still working out some kinks until well, let's say the end of the year.

Sure it could definitely be done/managed better, the entirety of H!P and UF-related acts could do the same as well, but I don't see the need to gnash your teeth from frustration just yet

[rikkikow]

So far it's been really good in my opinion. Please don't screw it up now.

The girls are cute for sure and talented but the music has to continue to be good for me to stick around, or I won’t marry one of them either.

The girls were fun to watch in those videos regardless of what was being said. MC guy seems to be a trouble
maker. I don’t see him being any benefit to the group at all. From what has been said, he’s just a user type, being entertaining at the expense of the girls, a know it all that don't know shit. Who is he anyway to be criticizing and making changes to them? He seems to have poured a cold bucket of water over their heads. They were hot now they're not. burrrrr If LoVendor fails I will have to blame him.

[JonCC]

Who is he anyway to be criticizing and making changes to them?

Oh you know, just one of the most succesful artists in today's j-pop industry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takanori_Nishikawa

[rikkikow]

^ Oh. You can have him.
But, I do applaud the guy for giving them the time.

I'll take LoVendor the way they are even if they just do covers since the covers will be new for me anyway, and probably be done better than the originals too.

[Sohee]

Nishikawa knows what he's talking about. He's not telling them do this or do that, but DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. Which, honestly is what I feel too. Marin and Yuki made is painfully obvious that they're not satisfied just doing the covers they're doing now. Reina wants to do more music like what he (Nishikawa) does, too. That doesn't mean that they aren't okay with what they're doing now, they obviously are. At least Reina and Marina is getting experience so surely has to be okay. But it's not what they want to 100%. If they will get there eventually, that's fine.
But, aside from H!P, UF still kinda fails in promoting people and a band? They've never had to deal with that since Sharan Q is pretty self-going. So I'm really worried. Listening to someone (Nishikawa) who KNOWS what and how to go on about it would be the best thing to do, really.

If they don't, and Lovendor are stuck doing folksongs from the 80s, sure I'd still listen to it and I'd love it cause I love that kind of music. But Lovendor wouldn't be successful in Japan, which would be a shame since they definitely have the potential to be.

[rikkikow]

I don't care what they do as long as it doesn't suck. My fear is that what they may want to do is going to suck. The Melon rock music sucked IMHO.