Hello! Café Tea Break

Welcome back to Hello! Café! Have you come for a tea break?

A Covert Operation - Mission 5: Folked Up

By the end of 2001 Nakazawa Yuko had served her tenure in Morning Musume and established a solo career. In November of that year she teamed up with former second-gen musume Ichii Sayaka to release a folk music cover album, FOLK SONGS. The album turned into a five-part series with two concerts.

Mission 5: Folked Up

A Covert Operation - Mission 4: Singled Out

For five years Tsunku wrote nearly every single released by Hello! Project, but in late 2002 Goto Maki released the double A-side Sans Toi Ma Mie / Kimi to Itsumademo. "Sans Toi Ma Mie" was a cover of a Salvatore Adamo song that Tsunku had translated into Japanese. Two months later Morning Musume released a cover of "Hyokkori Hyoutanjima," the theme song of an old children's show of the same name. It was the first true Hello! Project cover single, and seven H!P acts have gone on to release cover singles as well.

Edit: A new discovery! Heike Michiyo's second single, "Sotsugyou ~TOP OF THE WORLD~" (卒業 〜TOP OF THE WORLD〜), is a cover of The Carpenters' 1973 hit single "Top of the World." Former Sharam Q member Makoto wrote the Japanese lyrics for Michiyo's version.

Mission 4: Singled Out

A Covert Operation - Mission 3: Encovers

In 1997 at the age of 24 Nakazawa Yuko's life changed forever. Thanks to "losing" a competition she went from lowly OL (office lady) to the "leader" of a new singing group: Norning Musume. After the group had released two popular major singles Yuko became the first member to embark on a solo career.

Mission 3: Encovers

Yuko's first singles were in the enka style, and, subsequently, so was her first album. Nakazawa Yuko Dai Isshou (中澤ゆうこ第一章) featured the A- and B-sides of her first two singles, two original tracks, and six enka covers of popular songs of the past.

Hello! Café Morning Coffee tasting

Welcome to Hello! Café! You've come just in time for our special Morning Coffee tasting event. We have seven delicious blends and you're welcome to as many tastes as you can handle!

A Covert Operation - Mission 2: Double You

Tsuji Nozomi and Kago Ai graduated from Morning Musume on August 1, 2004, but during their last three months in the group they began activity as a cover unit: W!

Mission 2: Double You

W's first release was a cover of The Peanuts' "Koi no Vacance." The single included two couplings, which were also Peanuts covers. The Peanuts were identical twins, thus making them the perfect duo for the twinned Kago and Tsuji to emulate. W went on to release a cover album, another cover single, and a second album containing some cover tracks.

A Shuffle Date at Hello! Café

Welcome to Hello! Café, where shuffle units go to relax after concerts.



Shin Minimoni ( 新ミニモニ。)

These tiny ladies are snacking on parfaits, the perfect treat for Minimoni! It brings to mind "Mini. Strawberry~ Pie," "Okashi Tsukutte Okasui~," the "Lucky Cha Cha Cha!" PV, Minimoni the Movie Okashi na Daibouken!, and, at least for me, W's "Aa Ii na!"

Shin Minimoni is my favorite of the revival units. I mean, first off, any group with Linlin and Fukuda Kanon is going to rock. All four girls are super cute (almost as cute as original Minimoni!) and have good voices. I know some folks think "Pen Pen Kyoudai" is irritating, but I think it's perfect. It is sort of a mix of "Minimoni. Telephone! Rin Rin Rin" and "Minimoni. no Dekkai Tabi."



High-King

These ladies take their coffee black, with maybe a little sugar. After all, it takes a lot of energy to be the best dancers in Hello! Project.

High-King is right up there with Shin Minimoni for best revival unit. Ai-chan, Captain, and Maimi are my top girls after all. All five have the moves and the voices to make the perfect concert unit.



Tanpopo# (タンポポ#)

Black tea from tiny pink pots will do well for elegant Tanpopo#. It's the perfect complement to a Friday lunch of soup and pasta for "Otome Pasta ni Kandou."

I love the new Tanpopo. They have a very pretty look, like 1st-gen, but a sweet sound, like 2nd-gen. "Umbrella" is a great update of the Tanpopo sound, but I sort of disappointed they don't use real umbrellas in the dance. They did the PV for "Otome Pasta ni Kandou" after all.



Aa! (あぁ!)

Three colas for this trio! Aa!, like their sodas, is simultaneously cold and dark and saccharine and bubbly.

The original Aa! had two songs that no 9-, 11-, or 14-year-old should really have been singing, but now the whole group has grown up a bit, though they've traded out their leader for another possibly inappropriately young member. "Yume to Genjitsu" is possibly the best new song and definitely the best new dance.



Petitmoni V (プッチモニV)

It's orange juice on the rocks for Petitmoni V: not really tart, not really sweet, and a little childish.

Well, I personally find Petitmoni V disappointing. Nakajima Saki by far my least-favorite Hello! Project member, and I'm not a huge fan of Manoeri or Maimai either. I think "Pira! Otome no Negai" is sort of boring and repetitive and not at all in the Petitmoni style.



ZYX-α

It's giant mugs of coffee for ZYX-α, but I'm guessing it's decaf.

I love the original ZYX. Both of their singles were strong, and they had the wonderful Yaguchi! But this incarnation hasn't given us much to love. No new song and their cover song had no solos! Hopefully Tsunku drops in a shot of espresso to get this unit back in its groove.



Zoku v-u-den (続・美勇伝)

Three iced teas for beautiful, brave, and legendary Zoku v-u-den.

Why oh why did they try to resurrect v-u-den? The group used to be about elegance and sexiness, and now I guess it's about blandness. I'll admit that "ONLY YOU" is one of my favorite tracks from Champloo 1 ~Happy Marriage Song Cover Shuu~, but the girls failed to deliver in the summer concert. And honestly, Sayumi can't sing, Risako is a dead weight live, and Junjun just can't pick up the slack.

Thanks for stopping by Hello! Café. Come back next time for a Morning Coffee tasting party!