Saturday 12 December 2015

The upheaval by new leader Fukumura Mizuki, evolving MoMusu。



- You're releasing another triple A side single this time。 Which is your favourite song?

Hmmー、 that's a difficult one… The song that's very Morning Musume。-ish is 『Sukatto My Heart』。 It's got the Morning Musume。-ness that I enjoy, the outfits remind me of 『The Peace!』, there's a huge mirrorball that gets lowered as we dance in the MV, reminiscent of 『LOVE Machine』, and the sound is a full-throttle Tsunku♂-san sound, it's full of things I love! It also excites the fans at concerts as well when we perform it、 I love it。

- The members got that so-called 「Tsunku♂ sound」?

We did! We were like 'Here it comessssss'! Taisei-san made『Ima sugu Tobikomu Yuuki』 for us、but there are a lot of of places where it repeats at places similar to Tsunku♂-san's songs、 like how 『Ima Sugu Tobikomu Yuuki』 has an A melody、 B melody、 and chorus, then it has an interlude… I think that this song had us working at our facial expressions the most。 There are a lot of lyrics that suit our current selves、 and as the title suggests、 'We want to do this and that、 we want to rush out right now!' That's the sort of song it is、 it's fun to sing。 I want you to be moved listening to it。

-And 『Oh my wish!』。

For the first time in Morning Musume。's history、 we tried splitting the dancing and the vocals for 『Oh my wish!』… I enjoy singing the most, so I was honestly in the dumps when I was told I'd be dancing… But、 I've never had a song so far where I had to work hard on just dancing、 so I did my best thinking that I should strengthen my dancing。 Dancing without holding microphones、 we could therefore do it intensely, like「To this extent, huh」… The singing is cool and charming、 but I definitely definitely want you to keep an eye on our dancing!


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- How are the new members?

Haga Akane-chan has turned out well。 She does as she likes with the 12ki、despite not talking with us at all、 which makes me go 'Eh?'  [...] Recently, it's been amazing how she's like the 「youngest child」 with everyone、 and she's cute as she chomps away while she eats. She'll suddenly link arms and then separate them, which is really cute! It's great、 that youngest child-ness! Up to now, the youngest child was Kudo Haruka-chan, so it's refreshing to have a type that's like 「I'm the youngest!」

- A new youngest child feels great, doesn't she!

Nonaka Miki-chan is really good at singing。 From the start、 she had this lovely vocal quality、 but when we sing together in unison, it fits just right。 She does things properly since she's methodical、 and she's got a really good sense of rhythm。 It's amazing for a new member to sing at this level。

- Particularly as the recent Morning Musume。 songs have all been difficult。

At Hello! Project concerts, members from other groups say that Morning Musume。 songs are 「Fast!」 when it comes to the singing。 The tempo's so fast that your mouth can't catch up、 so Miki-chan must have gone through amazingly intense training。

-How about Makino-san?

Makino Maria-chan is a real hard worker。 If there's something that she can't do, you can see her getting really in the dumps, it reminds me of myself when I'd just joined…。 Recently, she's said that she wants to be the character that gets the brunt of the teasing, and I look forward to that。Also、  she's armed herself with idol-ish phrases like 「Maria is really happy!」、 or 「GomenchaiMaria」 , that idol image she's come up with has got my hopes up! Also、 recently she's been studying up on mature facial expressions… She's got a model's figure, and she's doing her best in order to look good for things like CD cover photo shoots。 But、 her head's tilted too much、 and her hips are bent too much though… She's still learning。

- Finally, Ogata-san。

Ogata-chan is the one I have the least idea about、 at least、 not yet…。 She really loves Osaka、 and you can't get rid of the impression of 'This is an Osakan!'、 and I think that she wants everyone to think of her as THE Osakan。 Sticking to Osaka-ben、 and taking the initiative to do something funny、 she's said that her goal is to move forward in the variety circuit。 She's just joined、 but I think that it's amazing how she wants to head for variety rather than singing or dancing。 When she talks、 even as a senpai, I look forward to what direction she'll barge towards。

-Talking about variety brings Michishige-san to mind, doesn't it。

I want her to become like Michishige-san! Because I'm bad at talking (laughs)。 Nonaka-chan and Maria-chan are aiming for variety too though…。

-Isn't that almost all of the new members!

The 3 of them are amazing、 and I really look forward to their future since they're amazing。 I'd be glad if they'd flourish like Michishige-san。

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-Presently、 how do you feel about the fact that your name changes every year?

At first, I had no idea about the attaching of  '14… I had misgivings, like why?… But exactly a year has passed。 Within that time、I think that we were firmly aware of ourselves。 It's just that、 it'll gradually get harder to say…「One Four」 is really easy to say、 「One Five」 is easy to say too…「One Six」 is hard to say (laughs)。 How will it feel like once we become 「Two Zero」?

- Talking about the end of the year、 there's the Kouhaku Uta Gassen。

We'd like to aim for it。 We're constantly aiming for it。

-In the midst of '14's amazing momentum, you weren't selected… How did you feel?

When that had just happened、 we had no idea what we had to do to in order to appear on Kouhaku, so the 13 of us could do nothing but our best… But this year、 there were several times when the 13 of us were unable to perform、 as Suzuki Kanon-chan was injured、 there were scarce times when all of us were together。

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-In the midst of [leading the members]、 did you make any new discoveries?

That's right… I made lots of discoveries about them, like where each girl shines、 but since we became  '15, Oda Sakura-chan's been lively、 she's really gotten confident with singing、 and as the teasable member, she really gets a good teasing。 At first、 she hated revealing her forehead、 but she gradually made improvements, applying make-up to take advantage of it。

-When there are differences in opinions or arguments, is it Fukumura-san who plays the role of mediator?

I do step in to mediate。 That was a change that occurred when we entered this year。 Before this, I had no idea about it, as I hadn't been in that position、 but I feel like I gradually came to understand it。 I think that it was really good that I communicated with the members。

-Did you learn that from Michishige-san?

Michishige-san didn't do that、 and we didn't have discussions either。 I get the impression that she'd talk to each generation。 It felt like we followed Michishige-san、 so if we were in two minds over anything, we'd rely on Michishige-san。 Ever since I became the leader、 there are people from my own generation、 and career-wise there isn't much difference between us and the 10ki either、 so I guess it became easier to talk。 On that point、 I think that it's because it was us that we could do it well、 and in that way we became one。

-And with that、 it's pretty different from the Michishige era。

I think it's completely different。 We've changed greatly。 We're individually levelling up with the challenges we're facing right now、 and each of us is working hard on what we have to work hard on the most。

-And what is Fukumua-san levelling up at?

For me、 my weakness is that I get completely demotivated if there's something that I don't like、 so I think I'd like to work hard on fixing that…。

-Correcting your personality?

I think that I should fix my negative personality… But、what I'd actually like to work hardest on is that I want to be cute!

- That's a rough idea。

Because for Michishige-san、 everyone thought that she was 「Cute!」, right? The position of leader  is the person who's seen as the number one representative、 so I'd like to become cute enough that when people see me, they'd think 「Oh! Morning Musume。 That's great!」。 I strongly think so。

- Do you not have a goal for cuteness? Like a person you've got as a landmark。

For that、 rather than saying who、 I often look at other idols。 For me、 up to now, I've only been looking at the H!P members that I've been working together with、 but when I look at idol-sans of the same generation, I'm like 「They're all so cute!」。

- H!P is abundant with cuteness as well though。

No no、 they're really cute… Okay、 it would be rude to the other members for me to talk about H!P as a whole (laughs)。 It's about me。 I feel that I'm below everyone! It's embarrassing!…。

- You've become curious about other idols。

I have! Like、 they get television appearances、 and they talk about such amusing things…。

-Indeed、 there are a lot of other H!P members who don't really pay heed to other idols。

I wasn't interested in them at all before、 but it happened suddenly!

- On that note, have you interacted with idols that aren't from H!P?

Not at all! I haven't talked with them, I've only watched them…。

- You view them as rivals?

U~m、 probably not to that extent。 We've also got confidence in our ability to perform、 and we don't want to be beat either。

-The Fukumura set-up is considerably different。

It is considerably different、 and I think we've gotten stronger。 We've experienced the graduations of many a senpai、 and we've also experienced huge stages、 and I'd be glad if our skills would follow along even further。

-Fukumura-san too、 get even cuter!

Right! I'd like to become cute!


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