From our other sites
The story
A thread titled “Juice=Juice’s success really comes down to their vocal skill, doesn’t it” popped up on 5ch’s Hello! Project board and drew a wave of responses. Juice=Juice has long been praised as a “group with strong vocal talent,” but opinions split over their recent surge in popularity: some argued it’s simply the payoff of years of accumulated skill, while others credited luck and timing—like a viral song or social media buzz. Some defended the group, saying “even their weakest members sing better than other groups’ top members,” while others pushed back, noting “there was a stretch when their vocal skill was just as strong and they still didn’t sell.”
What people said
That's exactly the kind of reality-denial from ANGERME fans that's gotten ANGERME into this sorry state.
All that accumulated skill is what led to this big hit now.
Irie's skills have shot up like crazy too, and Ishiyama—who was notorious as the group's "Gian" (Doraemon's screechy, tone-deaf character, fan slang for an off-key singer) back in her trainee days—keeps getting handed major parts now.
Maybe Tsubaki Factory should get "Rosy" to prop them up too, then.
off-the-charts skill, no looks
skilled, cute
no skill, no looks
skilled, no looks
skilled, no looks
no skill, no looks
no skill, cute
no skill, no looks
no skill, no looks
skilled, cute
no skill, no looks
that's the kind of group this is
Yes: 3
No: 8
Absolutely none: 1
Skill
Off the charts: 1
Yes: 4
No: 6
Got the headcount wrong, but the members themselves are pretty average anyway.
Cuteness
Yes: 3
No: 7
Absolutely none: 1
Skill
Off the charts: 1
Yes: 4
No: 6
Because those aren't the kind of songs that go viral—honestly, right now it's the group itself (fan slang: "the box," meaning the unit/brand as a whole) that's going viral, not any one song.
And that was only a year ago.
Still, as a big, stable group with no graduations, they'd already been putting up solid, consistent results.
The ones sinking now are the ones who got too comfortable leaning on the "sacrificial member" sales tactic (pushing one member hard to drive individual sales).
Exactly that—you really feel it watching BEYOOOOONDS, whose hit "Haiiro to Ao" (referred to in the thread by its abbreviation) never led anywhere further for them.
The thing said most often is that people are stunned every single member who steps up can actually sing.
Put another way, if they trained up the members who fall apart whenever they get handed another group's vocal parts, other groups could have their moment in the sun too.
Don't act all high-and-mighty when you're just an armchair fan (someone who never actually goes to shows).
Kawashima was about the only one who wasn't a total dud.
Sorry, busy with a life outside the fandom lol
I go to way more shows in person than you do, though lol
Haters seriously don't know anything about the actual shows—
their info is always out of date.
You must've had plenty of free time back then lol
Nope, already busy back then, sorry to disappoint lol
Every other group always has that one jaded, burned-out type somewhere in its lineup, but Juice=Juice doesn't have a single one, even looking back through their whole history—it's practically a miracle.
That's Juice=Juice for you.
Talk about blind devotion.
Kudo: "HYOOREMI AMOOREEE!!" (garbled, off-key ad-lib)
https://i.imgur.com/mYYajKb.mp4
Music Station's nice introduction, ruined in an instant.
*teary-eyed*
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HNBlIDYaYAAPyiC.jpg:orig
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Since its formation, Juice=Juice has been praised as a “group with strong vocal talent,” and the thread’s opinions split between those crediting that accumulated skill and those attributing the group’s recent surge in popularity mainly to a viral song or social media buzz (referred to in the thread as “Moremi” and “shutter chance”). The former camp points to things like “even Juice=Juice’s lower-ranked members sing better than other groups’ top members” and “new fans are enjoying even their older songs,” while the latter counters that “there was a period when their vocal skill was just as strong and they still didn’t sell” and that “whether a song goes viral matters more.” Note that the thread never clearly specifies which songs or events “Moremi” and “shutter chance” actually refer to—they appear to be shorthand understood within the Hello! Project fan community, which may make them hard to follow for readers unfamiliar with the fandom. The question of whether talent or buzz drives popularity is also a recurring debate throughout idol culture more broadly.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Juice=Juice’s success really comes down to their vocal skill, doesn’t it.”
Leave a Reply