(Group) Ebisu Muscats

[TeriyakiBoi]

Man, the Muscats went back in time for this episode or maybe just decided to dress up randomly.  In any case, it made for a fun episode nonetheless.  I loved how Zako kept getting (the black) slapped; first by Ogi-san and then by Minori.  I also liked Airi's multiplication part.  Finally, they brought back a classic skit for those of us who remember it.

[Tuffty]

Some fantastic news for you all, Rin Sakuragi is ok!! She updated her blog today, the only time she's done it since Feb. In it, she thanks her fans for their support and has reassured that she is fine physically and mentally. I don't even care if she goes back to AV, but hopefully we'll see a happy and healthy Rin-chan back in Ebisu Muscats soon. That'll make a 4 member Purukawa unit, with Rin, Rina, Saemi and Shou. Oh my But then, that's assuming she makes a comeback at all, she could be ok but working with Muscats may prove to be against the doctors orders. Who can say right now, but I'm just happy she's alright. And maybe one day we can see similar scenes like this again.



Here's a translated interview for Cyzo's website, with Aino, Minori and Rina after the success of Oya Fukou Baby selling 10,000 CD copies

now here is a translated interview with Kishi-chan, Rina-chan and Minori-chan from Cyzo's website regarding Oya Fukou Baby reaching 10,000 copies sold

To celebrate Oya Fukou Baby surpassing 10,000 copies sold in the first week of its release, Muscats hold a party with 300 lucky randomly chosen fans on August 18 in Ebisu. We had the chance to talk to the central figure for the song, Rina Rukawa, the member that came in second during the center selection, Minori Hatsune, and the leader of the group, Aino Kishi before the party about their thoughts on Oya Fukou Baby reaching its goal.

Since Kishi-san is still at the concert that preceded the party (two concerts were held at the same location before the party with about half of the members at each concert. Both Rina-chan and Minori-chan were at the first concert while leader Kishi-chan were at both concert), we will talk to the other two members first. We will start off by congratulating you guys for reaching 10,000 copies

Minori: thank you very much, I am so grateful that Oya Fukou Baby reached 10,000 copies, it is a milestone that we have never achieved before especially at a time where CD's just don't sell anymore. I was so interested in the sales ranking after the CD was released, I actually recorded "CDTV" (count down TV from TBS that count down the sales rankings of CD's every week).

Rina: I am also very happy, considering that the best selling Muscats CD in the past sold 9,000 copies, I thought it was a long shot for Oya Fukou Baby to surpass 10,000 copies. So I thank our fans from the bottom of my heart for helping us reach our goal.

This time, the centre position was decided by who gave the best reaction to "atsu atsu oden" (SP episode 32, atsui is hot, oden is a Japanese dish that cook different food (for example egg, daikon radish) in a hot broth). As a result, Rukawa-san became centre for giving the best reaction and Hatsune-san became second to the centre for coming in second right?

Rina: that's right, it was the first time we had a central figure for our songs, so I am happy and honored, but at the same time it put extra pressure on me for trying to reach the 10,000 mark.

Minori: since I get to stand behind Rukarina (Rina-chan's nickname in Japanese) I didn't feel any pressure and was able to treat it like any other song. To be honest with you, I thought to myself before the selection that I don't think I can serve as the central figure, so I was really relieved when Rukarina was chosen instead.

Rina: second position is the best (laugh), it is nice to have someone in front of you so you can follow their lead. When you are the centre, there is no one in front of you, so it applies extra pressure because you know you can't fail since you are standing right at the front. I still get really nervous now when performing Oya Fukou Baby.

Do you put any extra attention to being the central figure when performing Oya Fukou Baby?

Rina: I try to keep the advice Yuma-chan gave me in mind when I perform. She told me to just go forward when performing.

Minori: yeah, that's right, Rukarina tend to back down when performing the song, we are suppose to form a triangle with Rukarina in front and Acky and I behind her. So when Rukarina backs down, it would break the triangle and we will end up in a straight line, so Acky and I would forced to back down to reform the triangle, but then Rukarina would back down again. I felt like screaming to her "watch it centre!" (laugh)

Rina: sorry (laugh), but in the past, most of our songs have straight line formations, so I am so used to it that I would just do it subconsciously.

The central figure keeps backing down is definately not something you would see everyday. Now let's talk about your new CD "gyakusou Idol" that will be released on Oct 31. What is your goal for the new CD?

Rina: this time, we reached a new high for CD sales, but it came in #8 on the Oricon chart, which tied the mark set by Banana Mango High School, so my goal this time would be to surpass #8 on the Oricon chart.

Minori: #7, no, actually it would be nice to reach #5

Rina: that would be nice, also, a personal goal of mine is that Muscats can appear at one of those festivals where many idol groups get together and perform. Even though we might not really fit in well.

Minori: I don't think we will fit in at all (laugh), our average age in the group is so much older than the regular idol groups and some of the things our members say are definately not appropriate for young people (they will have to keep Kaho-chi and Kishi-chan's mouth shut). But at the same time, it is good to stand out from the rest, if we are ever going to go to an idol festival, we should go with the goal of winning those idol fans over in mind.

Rina: yeah, we would like to get more fans to support us, the existing fans are great, but we would like to make Muscats even more popular.

Minori: then I would like to mention a personal goal of mine, I would love to see giant Muscats billboard in Shibuya and Muscats flags all over the sidewalk, it would be nice if Muscats can takeover Shibuya.

Hopefully your goals will come true, but shouldn't you takeover Ebisu instead of Shibuya? oh, here comes Kishi-san. Now let's have the leader give us a perfect ending to the interview.

Kishi: wow, now that is pretty sudden, let me see, hmmm.... for us to reach 10,000 copies sold, it was like a dream come true. I was able to gain so much confidence from the fact that if we work hard, even a group like us can achieve great things. What's more is that we are once again able to feel the support that our great fans have for us, we are just so grateful to them. I would also like to thank all magazine publishers and the media for their support as well. On a personal note, I am also very grateful toward Cyzo magazine for picking me as the cover girl for your July issue. I ran into a man that was holding an issue of the magazine at a bookstore the other day, it was an interesting experience (laugh). I don't know what conditions they will put on us for the next song? but we will do our best so that more people will want to listen to our music.

After the interview, 25 members of Muscats had a party with the fans. During the party, each member had to give a toast to the fans and show their appreciation.
Kishi "I love you all"
Minori "please continue to support Muscats"
Rina "I love all of you oya fukou people that support Muscats" (a joke on the song title)

Afterwards, Muscats gave presents away to the fans and ended the party by performing Oya Fukou Baby and Banana Mango High School. The party ended on a high note by Kishi-chan saying "please go home all wet and aroused" (even though she is more toned down in the show after she became leader, she is still the same old Kishi-chan during live event). With such great fan service, maybe the day that Ebisu Muscats would takeover Shibuya is not far off.

Oh Aino, such lewdness coming from such an unsuspecting looking person

[initial]

a four member Purukawa would be so magnificent!  It's great to hear news on Rin.  she always had a cute smile on her face.  oh, one more thing, Minori is lookin' on in that picture.   

[TeriyakiBoi]

Oh Aino, such lewdness coming from such an unsuspecting looking person

I can remember some of the earlier clips and episodes where she was censored quite a bit (I think they used various censors like the gunshots and erotic moans).  She may look fairly young but what comes out of her mouth is pretty mature.  Being an AV idol, I guess it's pretty natural for her to have quite the mouth at times.

[Tuffty]

More Aino goodness here, this time talking honestly about her expectations on joining the Muscats

let me see, at the beginning, I was kind of scared, I was afraid to join a group full of girls. I was worried that I might not be able to get along with other girls and that there might be a lot of bullying and fighting behind the scenes. Now, I have found my position in the group and have gotten to know other members well, I really get along with everyone very well. To my surprise, a lot of the girls are very boyish and straight forward, which really fits my personality, so we all get along very well. Recently, I am able to present myself on the show and not be nervous anymore. Muscats have become something that is very important to me now.

You're becoming a great leader too Aino!!

[L4verra]

I dunno about y'all but I am pretty stoked to see Rin back, but instead of making Purukawa 4 members why don't they put in another member? It is not that hard to imagine girls like Jessica, Rio or Aino as the 5th member of Purukawa. Didn't they perform it before when Rin was inactive? I dunno...

And about that surprise concert for fans, I kinda...feel extremely jealous. truth is, it is hard to represent the Muscats (or find things about them) here in Los Angeles. Outside of the AVs of some of the women in the group, it is very rare to find anything. Not even the Kinokuniya Bookstores carry their things...and then once you find that a couple hundred fans get their wish sucks incredibly. I mean, if you end up on Niconico.com during the JPOP SUMMIT FESTIVAL, just to tell all of Japan how bat shit crazy you are as a Muscats fan, and you end up empty handed and unlikely embarrassed at the end of all of it, something is wrong. What made matters worse is that interview Tuffty posted had Rina in it, and you all know how I feel about her right about now

If you are willing to purchase one of their T-shirts for arguably $55, if you are willing to show the world that you know the dance routines to "Banana Mango High School" and "Purukawa YES", and if you are courageous enough to say hat the Muscats are a better J-Pop group than AKB48, you are more willing than any of those chosen fans to see them live. And guess what, despite my troubles with Rina, I would say I should have been chosen...but alas, I live a ten hour flight away 

Alright serious post is over; I made this list earlier today, and it is basically a personal list on my Top 50 Ebisu Muscats. Yeah it is not speaking the general consensus from the fans but ah well

http://l4verra.tumblr.com/post/30568711850/top-50-ebisu-muscats

 

[Tuffty]

A 5 member Purukawa? It's definately possible, and when they get members to fill in at random for concerts like Jessica, they don't look out of place. Now, personally? If there's a 5th member, I want to see Nanako take it. That would be, the cutest group ever. Not that Purukawa already isn't, but that lineup would just confirm it.

I would say I should have been chosen...but alas, I live a ten hour flight away 

And therein lies the problem. No-one has any doubt you're a huge Muscats fan, but the fact you live 10 hrs away makes it impossible for them to cater to you when they aren't all that popular in their home country. And besides that, you're not the only international fan, of any idol group, who has felt the same way as you. Keep the faith, if you want to see Muscats in person, that badly, then things will work out. Whether you save up enough to fly over there and attend a concert or they come over to America for an expo or something. You just never know. But in the meantime, keep on supporting them.

Making a Top 50 list sounds cool, I might try it one day. It's just I'm horribly indecisive on who my #1 favourite is. It'd have to be a daily Top 50 list

The cool thing about Shou Nishino is that because of her "other" career and her affinity to star in a particular genre of videos, it means she isn't shy about dishing out some physical ladylove. She's the Miki Fujimoto of Ebisu Muscats, essentially, as these pics will show

[TeriyakiBoi]

The cool thing about Shou Nishino is that because of her "other" career and her affinity to star in a particular genre of videos, it means she isn't shy about dishing out some physical ladylove. She's the Miki Fujimoto of Ebisu Muscats, essentially, as these pics will show

The "Miki Fujimoto" of EbiMasu?  That's a bit of a stretch to compare her with Mikitty (Morning Musume was basically the first idol group that I got into before EbiMasu).  Personally, I would compare Minori to Mikitty since they have somewhat strong personalities.  In that pic on the right, looks like somebody is not impressed with Shou's "assertive" style.

[Tuffty]

I meant the resemblance purely in terms of Miki's well documented fondness of touching/groping other members of MM. So too does Shou with members of Ebisu Muscats. That's all. And Aino's only pissed cause she wishes she was behind Kaho

[L4verra]

Hey Tuffty I guess you're right...maybe one day the Cats might show up here and I am gonna be the first person who gets their attention Ima be like, "ZOMG SAEMI I LOVE YOUUUUUU  "

Har har har.



And Shou...oh my. I dunno bout yall but Shou and Kaho seem the most meretricious 

[Tuffty]

^ Mate if they came round and you were there, I'd think Saemi would be flattered and taken aback by your fandomness

And Shou...oh my. I dunno bout yall but Shou and Kaho seem the most meretricious 

Don't forget Yuria!!

Here are the Close Up versions of Honey Trap and Oya Fukou Baby

[L4verra]

Tuffty you got that right  I gotta admit that I'm pretty crazy for Saemi right about now. And I am taken aback by her smile. My my...



And wait a minute...let us discuss the close up bid for Oyafukou Baby. I don't know about y'all but there was someone missing. One girl in the group showed up at the same time as Hana and Anna. She was the youngest member of the Cats at the time behind Saemi, and she didn't even get a second of exposure. I mean, she only lasted two months with the cats before resigning. In short, whatever happened to Uruha Mizuki?

I wonder why she left so quickly. Maybe she must have not been fond of the other Cats? I dunno.

I wonder about her every now an then...

[Tuffty]

Those old clips do make me miss Mihiro from the group. Though she still hangs around with members too. There was a sexy idol contest held recently where Mihiro and Aino, Jessica, Kaho and Sho competed. It's been done before, where the girls get into teams and the winners get to film a DVD overseas (much like the Sola & Yuma vids earlier. Also, Aino & Minori were the winners last year and they went to Hawaii. The DVD for that is out next month!!) and the losers get to go through a punishment game. The teams were Aino Etude (Aino Kishi, Shou Nishino and Aika Ando), Kasumi Radio (Kaho Kasumi and Jessica Kizaki) and Mihhiland (Mihiro, Nana Nanaumi, Mei Itoya).

The winners were decided after determining DVD sales, a skit and an arm wrestling match. In the end Mihhiland won. When asked where they would like to film, Mihiro said Egypt, Nana said Italy and Mei said Paris.



Kasumi Radio came last, and their punishment was to wear a white swan thing.



My favourite pic is perhaps this one, which is..ahem..."suggestive" to say the least. And judging by the look and stances of Jessica and especially Kaho, it looks like that is exactly what they were aiming for

Here's a video showing highlights from that event. Some things to note:

- Mihiro singing and dancing to Banana Mango High School
- Shou kicking ass at arm wrestling

[TeriyakiBoi]

Yeah, those older Muscats were something to watch for back in the day.  I think Mihiro was pretty much the original "potty mouth" of the group until Kaho and Aino took that role over.  I can remember Mihiro's "ero-parodies" of some songs that she sang either to the other Muscats and hosts and/or to some random person they brought on.

[Tuffty]

[TeriyakiBoi]

Ok, ever since watching the most recent Kawaii Koushien episode (I think it was #41 or something), I can't get Ogi-san's reaction after Ai Sayama's kiss face.  The reason I bring this up is because after looking at this picture, I feel like having that same reaction.

[TeriyakiBoi]

This week's episode:

惠比寿麝香葡萄 おねだりマスカットsp49 (09月06日)—在线播放—优酷网，视频高清在线观看

It seems they're doing some sports...

[initial]

I thought Yuria was gonna burn everyone but maybe she has to lay off the cigarettes.

Ogura, that was upsetting, close but 

Hatsune, didn't know she has two left-feet.   

[TeriyakiBoi]

Yeah, I thought Saemi was the clumsiest of the bunch (since she stumbled a bit at the finish) until I saw Minori fall not once, but twice.  I can understand the first time she fell but that second fall was totally random.

[initial]

Yeah, I thought Saemi was the clumsiest of the bunch (since she stumbled a bit at the finish) until I saw Minori fall not once, but twice.  I can understand the first time she fell but that second fall was totally random.

i think the first race Minori was bumped from behind by Aoi.  I gotta go check again.  Another reason to watch the episode