[07/04] Morning Musume 50th Single "One•Two•Three/The Matenrou Show"

[Slack]

I feel like maybe the fact that it only seems to be overseas fans complaining about line distribution has to do with some expectation of "equality" and "fairness" in English-speaking countries.
It's such a hang-up for people because they think of 100% equal line distribution as how it "should" be.

Well, this ain't kindergarten where everyone gets a turn.
This is how the idol group genre works, and has worked for decades now.
Unless a group only has about 3 members of roughly equal skill and popularity, there will ALWAYS be inequalities in the lines they get.
Any more than that, and you get situations like Shiba-chan and the Melon-ettes.

After listening to The Matenrou SHOW, it seems very clear to me that Riho is one of the top two singers in the group now.
With some of the things the melody does, going into falsetto range, this seems like a VERY vocally demanding song.
Despite this, Riho pulls it off so well in the recording that I don't even think any of the other members could sing it as well as she and Reina do.

Not even my beloved Fuku-chan seems like she's at the level where she'd do as great a job on this song.
It seems to me that even though she seems the closest in terms of control and consistency, Riho has clear advantages in power and expressieveness.

Even with the two Rs dominating the singing, that usually means that they won't be dancing like the other girls.
To me, that's a pretty clear indication that Daaishi's dancing will continue to be featured at the center.
Fuku-chan, Masaki, and maybe Haruka round out the second-tier vocalists, who will probably take turns when a song suits having a third lead.
It's just that this is not one of those songs.

Trying to look at the whole thing objectively, I'd say that if there IS a way it "should" be, this is it, at least on an A-side (double or not) with the members' skills being where they are right now.
There's definitely going to be much more even distribution for the gen-specific B-sides.

More than any other time in recent memory, this arrangement seems closest to an actual meritocracy.
In my opinion, that's actually a BETTER situation than trying to enforce blind equality.
People who get so hung up on inequalities forget that there's sometimes good reasons for them.

[Chibs]

forgive me slack but im gonna quote you on h!o

[MaxMcKay]

Hey, MoMusu's situation is better than SPEED already, they had 2 members who do ZERO singing!

Besides, if people wanna hear equal line distributions theres always Berryz & S/mileage's pre-Ogawa-grad songs

I'm at least grateful the line singers were & still are what is believed to be the unit's 2 best vocalists, can you imagine a MoMusume song being Sayu-Koha led?!

And I also believe that in future performances TMS may see more evenly spread distributions; like Furusato between Koharu & the 8th gen-ers in 2007, & Daite Yo Please Go On between the High-King members

[Estrea]

@tsunkuboy: モーニング娘。Ｏｎｅ・Ｔｗｏ・Ｔｈｒｅｅ　ＭＶ本編、確認中。

Tsunkutroll is checking the final version of the official video. That troll. We know it's not going to be released that early. :<

[shirenuファクトリー]

Haha and I just got done commenting about trolling in general.

Quoting Slack:
"Not even my beloved Fuku-chan seems like she's at the level where she'd do as great a job on this song.
It seems to me that even though she seems the closest in terms of control and consistency, Riho has clear advantages in power and expressieveness."

Yup I sort of wanted to expand on this. I think many fans also have misconceptions about the true vocal qualities of the members. I mean I've seen people talk highly of Zukki's vocal abilities, but this is a girl whose voice I've witnessed crack in a live performance on several occasions, even if she doesn't have that many lines. A cracking voice should be a big hint that someone's singing technique is flawed, particularly if it happens more than once (it can happen *sometimes* to even the best singers, but it's hardly the same. To them it's maybe a one out of million chance to crack, whereas Zukki's stats are a lot less favourable). Maybe because of her funny personality people are confusing her with Makoto Ogawa who DID have stable vocal abilities, but Zukki still has a long way to go to reach that level. And I may have chosen Zukki as an example, but really all the new members still have a lot to prove. For Japanese idols, their level is good! But that doesn't mean that any one of them can carry a single, YET. An album song or a c/w maybe, but a single is different.

We do know that Momusu can have a 3-top with two stronger vocalists and one weaker one (Aichan-Miki-Rika comes to mind; or Reina-Aichan-Koharu), but I don't think the management has decided who that 3rd is supposed to be yet. Maybe we'll even have a 3-top with all capable vocalists, or a shuffling 3rd member, who knows... But right now the safest bet is to rely on the two stable deliverers, Reina and Riho. Of course I want the other girls to have more lines, too. I want to hear their voices and get to learn them better. But there's a time and place for everything. Maybe my personality is just too patient

I'm kind of rooting for Ayumi to step up next, it'd be only natural since she's already dancing in the centre. But if she's not already getting lines, there must be a reason for it. She's clearly someone they want to pimp and I believe they'd give her lines if she was ready.

Or maybe there could even be a 4-top (like early Berryz in particular), or 5-top (with a core and strong supporters, 3-2 or 2-3). I don't know. I'm just thinking aloud now, and I'm hungry.

[MaxMcKay]

Zukki didn't sound that bad here,
Hell, she even nailed the famous Kago's line in there!

[shirenuファクトリー]

Maybe our idea of sounding bad is different. o_o Her voice is so shaky...

I thought you were the one who thought nobody in current MM can sing. Have you changed your perspective, or does that just change whenever you feel like disagreeing with someone? lol

Oh and I can nail Aibon's line, that doesn't mean anything...

[Estrea]

^^ Zukki can sing, the problem is that in most concerts, her voice cracks while she dances. Her stamina is clearly the problem here, so once she has gotten the singing while dancing part down, she might have a fighting chance for more lines. Riho on the other hand, had the same problem with singing while dancing this time last year, but if the latest concert is any indication she has overcome the problem.

Eripon is still my biggest dark horse. When she first joined her singing was the worst in 9th gen, and I had a moment of horror when they revived rainbow pink with her and Sayu for that one performance in their debut concert. It was like Koharu but worse. No offense to Koharu lol. But she's really improved a lot in this past year, and I'm quite happy that I no longer cringe when she sings. That's a definite improvement and I'm proud of her haha.

Ayumin might be experiencing the same singing while dancing problem Riho had at first. She was trained as a backup dancer prior to Momusu, so her technical ability is unmistakable, but singing and taking the front spot might be new to her. Give her a it of time, she'll get there. Haha.

On a side note, I would like to observe that even Aichan wrote in to Riho Deli to tell Riho that her singing is improving rapidly, so I'm not surprised that she's up there with Reina right now. Reina also mentioned that Tsunku often takes Riho aside for special vocal lessons during rehearsals, so that might account foe the speed of her improvement. They are intent on marketing her as their next ace, so grooming her seems a natural step to take. It might not be strictly fair, but it does make the others work harder to try and catch her. The others all think Riho is their rival lol. Can't be fun to be eyed like that all the time...

[shirenuファクトリー]

I guess I'm harsher then, I still cringe when Eripon sings, BUT IN A TOTALLY LOVING WAY!!! Her endearingly bad vocals are a part of the package. And if she gets better, that's only good. Kind of like Sayu. When it comes to vocals I really see Eripon as the 2nd Sayu, only Eripon can't get the Sayu-type lines yet because Sayu is still in the group and they can only have one Sayu, truly. (Note that in 1, 2, 3 both Sayu and Eripon got the "ru" bit though >_<)

Working on stamina is definitely important, yeah. Doesn't matter how good you are if you are constantly out of breath...

But "improvement" is tricky anyway. Of course you can always improve, but not everyone has room to improve that much. And it's even trickier because most members don't seem to get much training since they get picked. I'm always reminded of that time when Reina mentioned they were receiving proper vocal training for the first time since her audition for a musical that they did in... 2006? That's four years! It's ridiculous. Everyone is talking about improvement, but it's going to be painfully slow this way. How long can you just cling on to potential "if only __ and __ she would be a great singer"? IDK IDK.

[Estrea]

Haha well I'm a wee bit more forgiving about bad singing, hell even Sayu's voice in all her autotune glory has grown on me I was actually greatly tickled by the Sayu/Eripon version of Rainbow Pink if only for the sheer rightness of the two worst singers doing this one song together.

I think it's telling that Riho is getting vocal lessons at all, and not only that, but from Tsunku personally. They must really be desperate to make sure she can hold the line by the time it's Reina's turn to graduate. I wonder if the stress isn't getting to the poor girl, but she seems to be quite mature about it and wanting to improve more so she can lead the rest. I sure hope the others get a chance to prove themselves too.

[oaxiac]

Covers:

Regular
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited A
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Watashi no Jidai! (Performed by “Morning Musume Rokkies” – Tanaka and Michishige)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited B
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Watashi no Jidai! (Performed by “Morning Musume Rokkies” – Tanaka and Michishige)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited C
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Aisaretai no Ni… (Performed by “Morning Musume Q-ki” – Fukumura, Ikuta, Sayashi, Suzuki)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited D
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Aisaretai no Ni… (Performed by “Morning Musume Q-ki” – Fukumura, Ikuta, Sayashi, Suzuki)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited E
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Seishun do Mannaka (Performed by “Morning Musume Ten-ki” – Iikubo, Ishida, Satou, Kudou)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)


Limited F
        One・Two・Three
        The Matenrou Show
        Seishun do Mannaka (Performed by “Morning Musume Ten-ki” – Iikubo, Ishida, Satou, Kudou)
        One・Two・Three (Instrumental)
        The Matenrou Show (Instrumental)

[kjpop]

Most epic covers in a long time.

[Estrea]

Loving the Limited B, D and F. Rokkies look awesome in their two-shot, 9th gen and their tea party (quick, someone write an Alice in Wonderland story!), and 10th gen looking good in their outfits.

I just realized how sneaky this release is. Someone will have to buy at least 3 singles in order to get each of the c/ws, and maybe at least one more to get a group shot (I assume that most fans like us will automatically gravitate to the "generation" single covers by default). A real wota will buy all 7, or 6 at least (the regular covers are nice, but no c/w kind of kills it.)

You know what would be really evil? Bonus content like photocards. That is how you reel 'em in, UFA. Photocards. Do eet! Prove me right!

[shirenuファクトリー]

DAMN!! How did I instinctively pick limited D, so happy Well I picked it because it doesn't come with a DVD...

But limited F with 10ki is gorgeous, too... Damn look at Haruka sporting that hairstyle with a hat... So precious! I hope they have more photos coming out with these outfits because I really like them D:

Definitely a sneaky release like Estrea said

[TheBlackCatsLuck]

Really digging the covers that feature the different generations, the covers with all of them though I'm not liking too much. Very sneaky release as people had mentioned with the different members on different covers. Hoping these great covers will mean a good full PV.

[kyo-]

it's cute. just,, what the meaning of Reina&Sayumin cover?
is it only me who feels kind of gradutation single.. like when Ai-chan and Risa-chan got their own cover single, and special song 

[urhomos]

I don't like 1.2.3. It's just not my taste. I hope the other song will be better.

[J-Triumf]

I saw the entire Dance Shot version of "One Two Three" for the first time in New Jersey (the concert hall was showing off the latest single from all the H!P acts right before the concert), and hearing it a few more times throughout the weekend it's quickly becoming one of my favorite all-time Momusu songs! The computerized effect on the whole thing kinda seems like too much at times, but the general funky/hip-hop/dance-pop rhythms, epic sports-arena-type organs, and call/response chorus are easy ways to win me over.

Two things stood out for me with "The Matenrou Show":
1. Disco is always a nice reliable fallback for H!P, so it's good to see them try it out again, though it's not quite the same as past Dance Man tracks. Still, I'm definitely liking both A-side songs.
2. Did they just quote AKB's "Heavy Rotation" in the chorus??? Yeah, I know that's not the first time a song had lyrics like that, just a funny observation on my part.

I wonder if those Limited covers featuring single generations are indicative of what kind of song the B-sides will be...

By the way, still greatly disappointed that this release won't be making any references to that Indonesian movie.

[Estrea]

I confess that I didn't really like the Matenrou SHOW when I first heard it. But after listening to it a few times again today, it has definitely grown on me. I'm also trying to pay attention to who sings and the demands of the vocals. It struck me how far Riho has improved O_O 3 singles ago she was still flat and horrible on recorded versions (while improving with every new performance, it got so bad that I had to rip the live audio because it was sad to listen to the cd version).

I must also confess to being a diehard Riho fangirl, though there are signs that Eripon might end up being my kami-oshi, so always take my opinions about Riho with a pinch of salt. She still has a long way to go to hit Reina's level admittedly, but I'm confident she'll get there (maybe even surpass her? who knows?).

I certainly hope the Matenrou SHOW will have a worthy PV, but I'm not holding out too much hope, because hope in the H!Pverse is a foreign, fragile thing that is too easily shattered. I like the song, that will have to do. I can only keep my fingers crossed to hope for good choreography, to limit any expectations I might have.

Another hope to have: please be on as many variety shows to promote the new single as possible! It's the 50th! DO SOMETHING.

[elgie]

All covers are quite good, except for perhaps Limited C which is a little plain compared to the others, but wow Limited F is gorgeous. And how in hell did they make Masaki look so prim and mature?
I love the regular cover too.