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The story
Music writer Tatsunori Tokushige watched OCHA NORMA perform at the “@JAM” festival and posted on social media wondering, “They’re cute and their performance is great, so why aren’t they selling?” — sparking a debate on 5channel’s Hello! Project board. The thread ranged widely, from the observation that “now that Juice=Juice has become a hit, we can’t use ‘well, it’s Hello! Project’ as an excuse for not selling anymore,” to an analysis citing regional tour attendance figures suggesting “fans outside the big cities are noticing the group’s appeal faster,” to comments pointing at individual members’ performance and the agency’s lack of promotion.
What people said
@JAM interviews mostly wrapped up, and since it had been a while, I watched OCHA NORMA live — and I really felt Hello! Project is the bedrock of Japanese idols.
Or maybe the home they should return to. And I think the fact that Hello! Project is that bedrock is a happy thing for Japanese idols.
it stings that we can't use 'well, it's Hello! Project, of course it won't sell' as an excuse anymore
It's come to this because more and more idiots can't recognize genuinely good stuff and instead praise knockoffs
Like Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (veteran Japanese singer-songwriter) said, 'Music is dying in Japan'
That's the same old loser line people have used since ancient times
It's the crappy agency's fault for not giving them good songs
No matter which way the idiots all point, I go my own way
I keep chasing what I actually like. I don't get carried along by the crowd
Same here, I decide what's good for myself
And she's still so young
I only caught the free stream up to the start, but
Tsuttsun was fine, though Nishizaki seemed a little off to me
Maybe she was nervous?
Nishizaki's still got some rough edges — lacks stability, I'd say
Though what she's doing is honestly pretty impressive at times
Nishizaki often seems off at festivals
But she nails it flawlessly at solo shows
OCHA feels like it's all bench players
Dambara isn't the ace, and honestly she's not even the center
Sounds like you're struggling with words
What OCHA is truly worse than Juice at is having a leader — that's the real gap
Nothing to be done about that now, so they'll just have to take a different approach than Juice
Pull Yonemura out of center and put the contrasting duo of Kitahara and Kubota in the center instead
Keep the skill supported by Nishizaki and Tsutsui, and use Yonemura and Saito sparingly at key moments
Overall performance level isn't really behind Juice's, but OCHA's real problem is what to do about their weak fan service
Vocally it's hard to push Kubota
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HQ8fbUQbEAAVgPM.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HQ93repawAAH-_t.jpg:orig#.jpg
makes you wonder — does everyone actually want them to succeed?
That's on the crappy agency for booking a tour full of small venues
Wanting them to sell more is really about wanting them to become more appealing — and if they get more appealing, they'll sell more as a natural result
That more-appealing = more-selling thing
If the audience just doubled as things stand now, that'd be nothing but a downside, we don't need that
We just want to see them looking great — through good songs, cute outfits, media exposure, and smart online strategy
The fall tour's regional dates don't even need a second round of ticket sales
Fans outside the big cities are noticing the group's appeal before people in Kanto, Kansai, and Nagoya are
Probably because regional fans don't get many live shows, so they end up seeing everything that comes through
In the regions people tend to go 'DD' (idol-fan slang for someone who follows many groups/members instead of just one) and watch a bit of everything
That's how they notice the group's appeal
Kanto, Kansai, and Nagoya fans get so many shows they specialize in one group
So they only watch the group they support, and they're slower to notice OCHA's appeal
There's not much other entertainment out in the regions
500 Sapporo Penny Lane 24
367 Sendai darwin
367 Sendai darwin
500 Kanazawa EIGHT HALL
365 Fukuoka BEAT STATION
365 Fukuoka BEAT STATION
350 LIVE HOUSE GEILS (Saga)
350 LIVE HOUSE GEILS
450 Hiroshima LIVE VANQUISH
450 Hiroshima LIVE VANQUISH
650 Okayama CRAZYMAMA KINGDOM
650 Okayama CRAZYMAMA KINGDOM
12 regional shows total, 5,364 attendees — average of 447 per show
'We just want to see them looking great — through good songs, cute outfits, media exposure, and smart online strategy'
Then just go watch Kawara Lab
Why demand that from Hello! Project?
Because I'm a fan of a specific member
Do people tell them apart by color?
Color and height, yeah
The wolf fanboys are always astroturfing though
OCHA gets handed a ton of songs that would normally go to Juice, but their lack of singing skill turns them into duds
Which songs do you think they're blessed with? Seriously
That's actually gotten better
It gives off this vibe of a bunch of old guys just coasting along
Like, on X someone posted something like:
'Now that the Tsunku♂ drama got so much attention, why isn't the agency doing anything? Unbelievable for this day and age'
Like, why not put out the Tokisora video as the last scratch-vocal track Tsunku♂ ever recorded, or something
Do literally anything, they said
And yeah, that's exactly right
Exactly this
Normally you'd put up Morning Musume live footage
Juice should've put up 'Romance no Tochuu' too
Same with 'Chacha Shin' and 'Uchuu Kibo' and 'Koi Kura'
Anyone calling the songs crap is just an old geezer lol
They're all crap though
I get that the members are working hard singing and hyping it up, but still
Even as a joke that's harsh lol
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
OCHA NORMA joined Hello! Project in 2021. While their labelmate Juice=Juice has grown so popular this year that tickets have become a scramble, OCHA NORMA’s shows at multi-act festivals like @JAM have continued to have plenty of empty seats. The thread was split on the cause: some pointed to performance-side issues like members’ singing ability and the lack of a leader, while others pointed to promotion-side issues like the agency’s weak use of social media and its failure to share archival footage. One post laid out concrete attendance figures for the fall tour’s 12 regional shows (averaging 447 people), and offered the analysis that fans outside the big cities — where tickets are easier to get — end up seeing a wider variety of groups and so notice OCHA NORMA’s appeal more easily. It’s worth noting that “selling well” can mean several different things — sold-out tickets, attendance numbers, music sales, or social media buzz — and the thread wasn’t always consistent about which one it meant.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Hello! Project board) thread “Famous writer: ‘I watched OCHA NORMA’s stage at @JAM — they’re cute and their performance is great, so why aren’t they selling? Makes me question Hello! Project’.”
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