Momus is over. Please welcome ºC-ute, a packaged girlband whose members are all between ten and fifteen years old, and whose "degrees centigrade" name was devised by their management company, Hello Projects, to denote their "passionate nature".
By "Momus", of course, I don't mean the prim, dark electronic vaudevillian of Scotland. Like Miss Jean Brody, that Momus is "in his prime". No, I mean teen girl band Morning Musume, known familiarly in the land of the rising sun as "Momus" or "Momusu". How can they be over, I hear you ask, when their management company, Hello Projects, treats the group like a Takarazuka troupe or a college, "graduating" members when they advance too far into adulthood? Surely a group like that -- which essentially emulates nature itself, replenishing the generations by phasing out old individuals and bringing in new ones in their stead -- could last forever? And surely (I hear the mythologically-minded amongst you adding) there are implications in the name "Morning Daughter" that these girls are related to Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu herself, and are therefore destined to be as immortal as the Japanese imperial family?
Dear friends, Nature and Amaterasu do indeed have something in common with Hello Projects, who manage both ºC-ute and Momusu (Tsunku produces them both). What these entities share is a disdain for individuals. Nature uses us to choose a partner and reproduce, but kills the individuals off -- our DNA is the important bit. Amaterasu invests her divinity in various emperors and empresses, but their particularities as people are irrelevant. What matters is that they can perpetuate themselves, pass on the power. Hello Projects does the same. There's a poignant moment in the video for ºC-ute's second single Soku Dakishimete ("Hold Me Immediately") when the girls, playing together as a basketball team, overtake an unseen enemy team listed on the scoreboard only as "ENEMY". The score stands at ºC-ute 8, Enemy 9, but then ºC-ute score, equalize, pull ahead, and win. It's hard not to think of "Enemy" as Morning Musume; seeing that scoreboard change is like watching the girlband version of the Shōwa period ticking over into the Heisei. But of course it's the same imperial family, so don't sweat it.
One of the compulsive pleasures of girl- or boy-bands is the tension between the individual and the group. They all wear the same costumes and do the same dance routines, but they aren't identical, and you're invited to choose your favourite member. Just as the uniformity of the group can somehow enhance the differences between members, so the manipulative injunction to love them all can be subverted by the viewer who decides, secretly, to love just one of them. Who's your favourite member of the ºC-ute team? Mine is taggle-toothed Airi Suzuki, who sings the lead vocal on their third, current and best single, Ooki na Ai de Motenashite ("Please Welcome Me With A Big Love").
I welcome this video with a big love. It just bursts with positivity. Here, morning is breaking in the world, everything is pink and social and girlish, full of squeaky clean optimism, collectivity and friendliness. The girls are human sakura, blossom budding on the tree of life. They're also, in a way, like a commercial, hyper-capitalist version of Balinese legong dancers, who retire at puberty. In a very Asian way, these girls represent good fortune, happiness, and social wealth. They're the ultimate pick-me-up; it's hard not to dance along, copying their moves. (And if you want to learn how to dance while hanging out your washing on the line, check out ºC-ute's debut single, Massara Blue Jeans.)
It's also fascinating to watch the various conventions and shopping centre appearances ºC-ute have made. In one they play recorders like a junior school band.
Another looks like a riot in a shopping centre, captured on a security camera. Here we see the bizarre sight of the tiny girls spinning like multi-coloured tops through their dance routine, as an audience of middle-aged otakus roar like frenzied gorillas from the stalls. It's easy to get the chilly vibes of a Perfect Blue scenario from this scene. But Hisae tells me that this is all fairly routine: these men are known as shineitai, the core group of otaku fans who follow idols, befriending other fans and forming a sort of guardian group. Their fierceness, like that of the red-painted statues you see outside Japanese temples (also inhabited by idols), is a friendly, protective fierceness, and has some of the character of a matsuri. I imagine them as the strong-man attendants carrying the Hoko floats at the Gion Matsuri.
Cutie Queen Volume 1, ºC-ute's first album, is released on October 25th. In the land of the rising daughter, morning has broken.
I'd like to start a girl-band called The Titillating Creepies. They'd open every set with "Grim Grinning Ghosts", and end every set with a rousing "Kanonensong." And they'd be thirteen years old!
My interest in Momusu was severely strained around the time they were divided into the two Gumi's, and I haven't listened to their music very often since. But I always did prefer Aya Matsuura's solo stuff on X3.
I think the spirit of Hello! will always be in my heart.
Interestingly Hello Projects, like most companies does seem to pay certain individuals more than others. The rules may be different than in the west, but it always seems the same types of people are in charge and packing their wallets.
And I think their certainly is a creepy sexuality imposed on these girls. If not from Hello Projects directly, than definitely from the middle-aged men fan base. The sexuality isn't as explicit as say Britney Spears, but it there and those men that follow it aren't entirely "friendly and protective".
But male sexuality in Japan is such a strange thing, there are so many assexuls.
Like one of the previous posters said, this stuff is truly mainly targeted at young girls. Everyone wants to jump to the most salacious conclusion these days.
isn't that what happens with Johnny's Jr. too? the boys graduate/retire and are replaced with fresher, younger talents. although i guess the difference is Johnny's Jr has several boy bands hence tension wouldn't be as unambiguous.
Wow, that's really good dancing for a Hello Project creation. I'm not totally versed in the subject, but I was always struck by how horribly uncoordinated Morning Musume was.
But other then that and the lightly younger median age of this group, I'm not sure I understand the distinction between this group and other Hello Project outfits. "Optimism, collectivity and friendliness" seem to be their middle name. Oh, I guess they do also have ballads about heartbreak that are less peppy, but that doesn't change their overall shtick. In fact, I remember seeing on television performance of Morning Musume's were they were jumping around in basketball outfits much like the ones in the video. I think it was for "Go Girl! Koi no Victory!" And weren't groups like the now-defunct MiniMoni and Berryz Koubou already aimed at a younger set?
Again, I don't know all the ins and outs of H!P, but I just don't understand what makes this group in particular stand out to you. Except that they are new, maybe?
i'm not convinced about their 'friendly protective fierceness', i'm sure there must be some kind of sexual undercurrent that's anchoring their fanaticism.
just watching the video creeps me out. those girls with those plastic smiles grinning away at the camera, and some looking like lost unsure sheep. perfect fodder for paedophiles.
also, one thing i really cannot understand and fathom is this implicit idea in Asian culture that it's okay for women to be infantilised. for example, pop stars always have to have that dewy freshness of the innocent child, non-sexual on the surface (but yet sexual precisely because of that aura of childish innocence). c-ute would be this idea taken to the extreme, with the use of actual children in this enaction of female identity.
as an Asian woman living in an Asian city, I'm constantly confronted with the sight of grown up fellow Asian women acting in infantilic (sp?) ways, such as whining and pouting and sulking like a baby to their boyfriends. (there's a term for that here in Singapore and it's called being 'guniang', which translates to 'maiden' in Mandarin). and you rarely see a strong sexual depiction of an Asian woman on TV and in adverts, unless she is a harlot in some way and the aggressive female sexual element is therefore seen as dangerous.
all in all, it really frustrates me. and that's why i'm frustrated by this c-ute band and how you defend them for simply being 'children dancing and singing'. i don't believe their target audience is fellow tweens and teens, they've obviously been manufactured to feed an Asian male hunger for infantilic lust objects.
that rutland ethic of young perkiness, those darn rutles, fashioned after relvis, set the industry standard for a young perky look and sound that the labels still seek to sign, all around the world...leaving old guys like rroland in their past lives trying to find a new sound that is so old and primal it sounds new
This creeps me out. And not just the sexualization via the adults-only bikini shoot, but the simple aesthetic of it disturbs me. That being said, the aesthetic of almost all pop bands disturbs me, from 'n sync to shinhwa. But I think *C-ute has a few too many members and that augments the creepy aesthetic of it.
- There are as many as 8 members of this group as opposed to 4-5 in a typically western boy/girl band. This may reflect a superior intelligence in the japanese fan who can keep track of more members simultaneously.
- This girl group is playing against the "Enemy" listed on the score board.
- Momus's fascination with these phenomena may be Serge Gainsbourg-inspired, but we are not sure. As long as it stays on the cute side, but we never know with the tender pervert.
- The song is horrible but it has bright colors and does reflect positivity :)
- The girls' feet are not quite coordinated.
- The dunking postures are Michael Jordan-inspired.
- I must say that it was more fun watching Malcolm McLaren's "Double Dutch" than this lot. It would be fun to see how these girls would be choreographed by Momus.
Truly uplifting video. Never could figure out how young girls were able to do that, even when I saw it in my playground when I was a boy--but even then, I respected it. Girl power!
Ah, welcome to the crack that is Hello!Project. I've been an addict a fan for over a year now, and my love for all things Hello!Project related just keeps on growing.
I have to admit, my favourite group is still Morning Musume (closely followed by W) and I haven't given any of the H!P kids groups much thought (Berryz and ºC-ute), but yes. The Hello!Project universe has a tendency to grab people and keep them sticking around for more.
My own fandom has come to the point where I've joined several online karaoke/fan-cover groups (Ongaku!Project, I'm in Hanamoni and I'm currently the sub-leader of shufflemoni). We imitate the whole Hello!Project deal and release singles every month or so. We even have some faithful followers/fans on certain J-pop forums. It is fun and a chance for us to live out our dreams, I guess. Hello!Project for life XD;
This discussion is funny for me more for the "creeping" bit than the "pedophilia" bit, as if this were anything new or unique. This is innocence marketed -- and anything marketed can have more than one target audience -- and we here in America have beauty pageants for the kids where we tart them up and parade them around for the creepy dads and vampiric moms. (Fetishizing someone's innocence can be damaging even when it's entirely non-sexual!)
It's just part of the rich process of life in countries where we fear age and decay more than anything else.
I much prefer this take on the phenomenon. I find their childlike awkwardness far more endearing, and it would be difficult to make the case that they are being portrayed as sex objects. They remind me of my nieces when they would 'perform' in the living room to their bubblegum pop songs.
I agree with this. Though isn't their awkwardness deliberate? I mean, there's a comedy element to their act. In fact, they seem much more talented than C-ute (can't get the degree sign in there for some reason).
Wow, those shineitai remind me of the dads that would come to the girls soccer or basketball games. And those girls should be called on walking... You can't just walk with the ball like that. Tch.
And I have a friend who is obsessed with the boyband w-inds. your thought on having to choose a favorite rings very true, as she loves Ryuichi in that. I've also noticed it here in canada with the backstreet boys, N'Sync, and even the New Kids On the Block.
And for a brief moment, I thought the link of copying their moves would be a video of you copying their moves! it would have been quite the vision.
That's one of the loveliest and cutest things I've ever seen! But I scroll down and find that people are leaving comments saying how terrifying they find it! I find people who find things like this sinister... sinister.
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