(Group) Ebisu Muscats

[initial]

Kasumi Risa, I prefer the cheeks, it made her lips look more full. 

as for the EbiMasu fight...I would say the last two standing would be Minori Hatsune vs Kawamura Rika (BMS).
Kishi seems like she would be able to use her slender body to sneak past a few foes but her skinny physique would get her eliminated.  Acky, Rio, Yamanak, Nanako, YUI...I don't think of confrontation when I see these girls.  Yamaguchi could surprise me.  Yuria, not so sure.  She seems to me like the type that wouldn't take it serious.  A punch, a slap, a kick won't do much to her, but her easy going attitude would be her downfall in the battle. 
Ogura, I wish her a good fight, but midway I think she would lose steam and that will get her pummeled by someone like Minori or Ogawa.  remember the episode where they played jan kyen pon?  that look in her eyes when she beat... I think it was Ogawa. 
Rukawa, I'm sure she's a tough cookie that won't crumble under pressure.  Especially if she's armed with her slipper.  And her dangerous attack.

so Minori vs Kawamura.  Would cheer for Minori and her vicious right hand but Kawamura looks dangerous. 
 

[Tuffty]

Muscat era Risa Kasumi was Jessica Rabbit-esque goodness. You can absolutely imagine her in a red cocktail dress in a smoky bar serenading the guests to a slow jazz number.

Happy Birthday Yuma! Hope your recovery continues to go well and you continue to live a happy life.

[initial]

wishing you many more happy Birthdays.   

[Tetsujin 28]

Yuma has retired from AV, hasn't she? I hope she has. As much as I will miss her AV stuff...

I don't know what she wants to do next. Anybody heard anything, about her future plans?

Not many ex-AV actresses make the cross-over to mainstream Japanese TV.

Ai Iijima was one of the few who became a TV "talent" (late '90s).

If that's what she wants to do, I really hope she makes it.

Maybe she could try to become the mainstream actress she wanted to be at the beginning of her career.

 

[Tuffty]

Yuma's retired from AV wasn't planned and unfortunately came about due to unexpected and tragic circumstances. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year and underwent several courses of chemotherapy and surgery for treatment. The good news is that she's gone through it successfully and the cancer appears to be in remission, so she's on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, due to the surgery, she cannot have any children. As you would expect, she lost her hair because of chemo as well and has been wearing a wig for most public appearances as it's slowly starting to grow back. Yuma's a naturally bubbly and positive person so I've no doubt that attitude along with the support of family and friends is what saw her through treatment. She was on a show talking about it, with the support of Sola Aoi which shows photos and video during the treatment and afterwards. I haven't seen it all but it seemed pretty tough to watch, even if there are no English subtitles.



There was a video online which I can't find now which might have been harder still to watch as she was in a room with her mother and she was talking about how she can't have any grandchildren, which kind of made it sound like it was Yuma's fault. At least she seemed to take it that way as Yuma teared up about it while her mum was rather stoic.

She did a calendar for this year, not long after chemo stopped. She posed for the calendar wearing the wig but they took a few photos without one. They turned out pretty suprised at how good it looked so they included one in there without a wig because they were proud of it. Which, for a girl who works on such an image reliant industry and to show off how confident she in in herself at that point in her life, is kind of a big deal.



But yes, she's recovering well. I read she's given some consideration to a potential move back to AV but there were complications about the surgery. Supposedly she has a scar from it as well which doesn't sound like AV producers are too keen on. She has been writing a book on her experiences in the meantime. I don't think it will be anytime soon before she's back in AV let's put it that way, despite how optimistic she sounds about it. For now, she's looking healthy and as positive as ever.

[initial]

courtesy of http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2940579865
never too late to celebrate Yuma's shining smile

[PhantomJin]

Thanks for the info, Tuffty. And I wish a happy birthday to Yuma and I hope she gets well. I have to say, I never checked her work as AV Idol, aside a couple of photoshoots but I really liked her in the show and the two "Hime Hime Ryokou"  DVDs. I also admire her for being able to appear in the final concert despite her illness.

[remy_R]

I really liked her in the show and the two "Hime Hime Ryokou"  DVDs.

Yeah, that show is my favorite too (I mean the Hime Hime Ryokou  ), unfortunately, no english subtitle available anywhere 
I love the Hime Hime Ryokou, with Rin and Minori 

[Tuffty]

Saw this pic on Rio's twitter and gotta say, if you look at it, that pic right there shows the overall Top 5 Muscats



Everyone has their favourites of course, so I'm not hating on any Muscats you may prefer over these 5. But if you stand back and objectively think about it, could anyone from the group come close to taking over Rio, Sola, Acky, Yuma or Mihiro? They were surely the most popular, had most of the screen time, group leaders, great personalities and as an added bonus, physically beautiful.

[Tetsujin 28]

Well, Tuffty, I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but... I wonder if the live shows were just as important a way to judge how popular different girls were.

At the live shows girls like Sayama Ai and Kasumi Kaho got cheers from the crowd just as big as the main 5 (Sayama, in particular, was a big favourite with the crowd).

I wonder if Sora had some kind of special contract that said that in any segment she must be featured first (e.g. Scatnews or the mock press conference thing they did). I'm not dumping on Sora, I'm just saying 'face-time' on the program wasn't necessarily based on popularity. Perhaps, there were other 'forces' at work. Like how much pressure the boys from Hokuto put on old Macaroni  to feature certain girls more than certain other girls.

I'm not saying the main 5 aren't very popular, their DVD sales prove how popular they are.

As a few people have written, some girls joined the muscats, stayed a few months, then disappeared, and you barely knew who they were. Why?
We'll probably never know.

Some girls got lots of 'face-time', some got a lot less...Hey, that's show biz!

I hope I haven't stepped on any toes.

[TeriyakiBoi]

I think Mihiro set the tone with her "Ero-parody" songs and other random quotes which were subject to censoring.  The ero-talk kinda went down a notch when she left (it didn't quite feel the same to me when Kaho and Kishi chimed in).  Speaking of Mihiro, can you believe she's in the magical 30-year-old range?  Here's an article I found about how she still manages to "age gracefully"

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/03/24/japanese-tv-and-movie-star-mihiro-reveals-her-secrets-to-younger-looking-skin/

Another member that really caught my eye was Airi Kijima.  If I could choose an oshimen from this group, it would be her.  When they introduced her to the show, it was like an angel had walked through the door and graced the studio with her presence.

[remy_R]

Speaking of Mihiro, can you believe she's in the magical 30-year-old range?

I'd like to believe and pretend that she's 25 instead of 31 
Really, she doesn't look like 31 y/o girl. 

Found this from someone's and Rio's twitter account

Yuma and Rio some years ago


Yuma and Rio now

[PhantomJin]

And I found this app, for android OS user

Ah, the Pure Voice app. I downloaded it for my IPad (since I have a crappy, Android-less cell phone). It is nice to hear the girls trying to wake you up   

Another member that really caught my eye was Airi Kijima.  If I could choose an oshimen from this group, it would be her.  When they introduced her to the show, it was like an angel had walked through the door and graced the studio with her presence.

The girl with big eyes (she stated her eyes as her charming point in an interview). Sure, she is very beautiful. I have bought one of her DVDs, "Esperanza" (loved the title in spanish!). I haven't watched her AV stuff though...

[Tuffty]

Oldies but goodies:

Rio's little shrug of the shoulders at the end, plus that smile = 



A good example of Yuma's positivity



Acky can mess up the promo and still look good doing it:

[initial]

this is the most I've seen Hana speak...


hana haruna and nagasaku airi

[TeriyakiBoi]

Found this from someone's and Rio's twitter account

Yuma and Rio some years ago


Yuma and Rio now

Even without make-up, both still look great.  I wonder if Yuma is going to consider making some more solo music since taking a leave from AV.  Also, 5 more days until we reach the 1-year anniversary of when this wonderful group disbanded.  Let's continue reminiscing about all the memorable moments in the past as well as keeping up with any updates about our favorite members.  Let's all toast to the 5 wonderful years this unimaginable group of idols were together.

[L4verra]

As a few people have written, some girls joined the muscats, stayed a few months, then disappeared, and you barely knew who they were. Why?
We'll probably never know.

I'm still pissed about Mizuki Uruha, even to this day, but oh well...

Let's all toast to the 5 wonderful years this unimaginable group of idols were together.

Let's also toast to the one group that opened the door to the J-pop world, at least for me!

[initial]

so freakin' CUTE!!!!!!
http://www.yyniuren.com/article/32625.html
 
Rukawa performs solo

[initial]

I'm in love!!!!
 
Ogura playing some videogame.  Dragon Quest 18?  note sure
if you ever check out Ogura'a twitter feed, she's playing as the character she created.  at times she posts some of her game activity. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfyltUuFQKE&feature=youtu.be
only thing I have to say about this is...Ogura SPEAK!!!!!

only saw it up to the 7 min, gotta see the rest later
hope this is a regular spot for her on this show

[Tuffty]

The Japanese Anne Hathaway shows off her cooking skills, featuring a guest appearance from a familiar face at 7:16