![matenrou-no-kyori:
lolikokoro:
You can judge all you like, but sometimes you can’t help it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — it takes effort to stay fully immersed in a fandom. A lot of effort. When your favorites, the people who motivated you to make that effort, are gone, it’s hard to stay immersed.
I don’t consider myself any less of a fan of Morning Musume and Hello! Project than I was when Junjun, Linlin, and Kame were in the group. I still love them as much as I did, I still invest when I can in going to concerts and buying goods. But I just can’t find the motivation to stay on top of every single thing they do, like I did when my favorites were around. And the H!P fandom is so heavily based on who is a “better fan” or not. Those who’ve been fans longer feel better than those who’ve just joined. Those who buy every single and all the concert goods feel better than those who just enjoy the music. So while I feel like I’m the same level of fan, I don’t feel like I have a place in the fandom, simply because I can’t keep up.
Look, if a person decides to leave because their favorite is gone, and does so kicking and screaming, yes, that’s obnoxious. But if a person genuinely loses motivation, what’s wrong with that? We can’t all be fans forever. Tastes change, obsessions change, and if you struggle to stay invested in a group that just doesn’t appeal to you as much anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that. People shouldn’t be insulted because of it.
I wish people in this fandom preached kindness to each other as often as they preach kindness to members. We’re not allowed to say we dislike a member, but we’re allowed to insult fellow fans? It makes me sad to see fans insult other fans based on some silly set of standards.
This this and more this.
Risa’s always been my favorite in Morning Musume, and I honestly don’t know how I am going to be able to follow Momusu to the extent I did when she leaves.
The thing with Morning Musume too that makes it hard to be a fan - not that I am bashing Morning Musume right now, I’m just saying this with having close to 8 years of experience being a fan - is that their sound is constantly changing. I’m not just talking about going from sugary overly J-pop songs to “emo” mature ones, but the actual sound they produce overall. For the love of god, the group now has six 12 year olds whose voices haven’t properly developed yet. (Don’t get me wrong, I adore and have high expectations for the Kyukkies). But if you compare 2007 Sexy 8 Beat era Morning Musume to the current Morning Musume, especially in concerts, you’ll hear a substantial difference. And when there’s a drastic change in sound, like what has occured over the past year, some fans decide they don’t like Morning Musume as much as they used to. I think that’s a completely fair decision.
While I’m still a fan, that has definitely been the case with me in the past couple of years. I can definitely say that the me of today doesn’t like Morning Musume as much as I used to. Why? I started listening to Morning Musume casually the summer when I was turning 15, and the majority of my fandom years were spent idolizing the solid, stable line-up that lasted from 2007 - 2009: Takahashi, Ai, Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Mitsui Aika, Junjun, and Linlin. Yes, you can argue that fans of that generation got a bit spoiled because that was the longest tenure Morning Musume had without any changes, and we got used to it, but when you’re a fan of such a solid line-up like that for an extended period of time, it breaks your heart when a girl, especially one of your favorites, leaves.
Koharu was my second favorite member, so her graduation came rough to me. So did Eri’s, Junjun’s, and Linlin’s - Junjun and Linlin I knew were going to leave at some point (because they were “exchange students”), but having felt Eri was always a quintessential member of Morning Musume, again it was hard. And even though I love Ai, I understood her graduation the most - she’d been in the group for 10 years, I didn’t blame her.
I’ve had mixed feelings about Risa’s graduation this entire time - initially I was frustrated because I would have prefer she graduated with Ai if she was only going to stay in the group for a few more months, but on the other hand I understood why she wanted to leave - all the girls she was close to (Ai, Eri, Koharu) had left and Pyoko Pyoko Ultra just came out. If YOU just became leader of Morning Musume and the first single you released after obtaining the position was a song where you had to dress up in a retarded chicken costume, would you want to stay? I think not.
For me personally what it boils down to is this: Morning Musume is no longer going to have Gaki’s smooth, powerful, deep voice that I love, and because of that it is going to be extremely hard to listen to them. I’m not saying “Oh Risa’s not there anymore, Morning Musume’s not worth listening to.” NO. It’s that what pulled me in, what enchanted me about Morning Musume in the first place, is no longer going to be there. (The same happened to be when Koizumi Rumi left Idolling!!!, I haven’t been into them the same since.)
So yeah, think about that. Don’t lump everyone who leaves the fandom after their favorite member graduates as “jumping ship.” It’s much more than that.
Ohhhhh my god, these two responses. THESE TWO. YES.
I agree whole-heartedly with everything that was written.
EriJunLin’s graduation hit me the hardest. I was and am still a huge fan of Eri. I fell in love with the stable line-up. But their graduation came at a hard time when I was getting accustomed to college life—balancing my fandom and school suddenly became a lot harder. I couldn’t stay on top of everything, nor did I really have the motivation to…
I still see news from the group. I listen to their songs when they come out. But I’m no longer on sites practically 24/7 like I was back then. But it’s not like I’m saying they’re not worth listening to. I’ve just..sorta lost my drive. Actually, it aches my heart a little when I watch some new concert performances and instead find myself missing Eri’s stage presence and her voice. ]: Makes it hard to watch/listen to anything, really. Later on, this became applicable to Aichan, too. And soon Risa. ;____; My top 3… </3
Who knows, though. If they release something new that’s amazing, maybe they’ll pull me back in a little more. But right now, I lack the drive.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzrspiJIwS1r2pkmwo1_500.png)
You can judge all you like, but sometimes you can’t help it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — it takes effort to stay fully immersed in a fandom. A lot of effort. When your favorites, the people who motivated you to make that effort, are gone, it’s hard to stay immersed.
I don’t consider myself any less of a fan of Morning Musume and Hello! Project than I was when Junjun, Linlin, and Kame were in the group. I still love them as much as I did, I still invest when I can in going to concerts and buying goods. But I just can’t find the motivation to stay on top of every single thing they do, like I did when my favorites were around. And the H!P fandom is so heavily based on who is a “better fan” or not. Those who’ve been fans longer feel better than those who’ve just joined. Those who buy every single and all the concert goods feel better than those who just enjoy the music. So while I feel like I’m the same level of fan, I don’t feel like I have a place in the fandom, simply because I can’t keep up.
Look, if a person decides to leave because their favorite is gone, and does so kicking and screaming, yes, that’s obnoxious. But if a person genuinely loses motivation, what’s wrong with that? We can’t all be fans forever. Tastes change, obsessions change, and if you struggle to stay invested in a group that just doesn’t appeal to you as much anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that. People shouldn’t be insulted because of it.
I wish people in this fandom preached kindness to each other as often as they preach kindness to members. We’re not allowed to say we dislike a member, but we’re allowed to insult fellow fans? It makes me sad to see fans insult other fans based on some silly set of standards.
This this and more this.
Risa’s always been my favorite in Morning Musume, and I honestly don’t know how I am going to be able to follow Momusu to the extent I did when she leaves.
The thing with Morning Musume too that makes it hard to be a fan - not that I am bashing Morning Musume right now, I’m just saying this with having close to 8 years of experience being a fan - is that their sound is constantly changing. I’m not just talking about going from sugary overly J-pop songs to “emo” mature ones, but the actual sound they produce overall. For the love of god, the group now has six 12 year olds whose voices haven’t properly developed yet. (Don’t get me wrong, I adore and have high expectations for the Kyukkies). But if you compare 2007 Sexy 8 Beat era Morning Musume to the current Morning Musume, especially in concerts, you’ll hear a substantial difference. And when there’s a drastic change in sound, like what has occured over the past year, some fans decide they don’t like Morning Musume as much as they used to. I think that’s a completely fair decision.
While I’m still a fan, that has definitely been the case with me in the past couple of years. I can definitely say that the me of today doesn’t like Morning Musume as much as I used to. Why? I started listening to Morning Musume casually the summer when I was turning 15, and the majority of my fandom years were spent idolizing the solid, stable line-up that lasted from 2007 - 2009: Takahashi, Ai, Niigaki Risa, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, Tanaka Reina, Mitsui Aika, Junjun, and Linlin. Yes, you can argue that fans of that generation got a bit spoiled because that was the longest tenure Morning Musume had without any changes, and we got used to it, but when you’re a fan of such a solid line-up like that for an extended period of time, it breaks your heart when a girl, especially one of your favorites, leaves.
Koharu was my second favorite member, so her graduation came rough to me. So did Eri’s, Junjun’s, and Linlin’s - Junjun and Linlin I knew were going to leave at some point (because they were “exchange students”), but having felt Eri was always a quintessential member of Morning Musume, again it was hard. And even though I love Ai, I understood her graduation the most - she’d been in the group for 10 years, I didn’t blame her.
I’ve had mixed feelings about Risa’s graduation this entire time - initially I was frustrated because I would have prefer she graduated with Ai if she was only going to stay in the group for a few more months, but on the other hand I understood why she wanted to leave - all the girls she was close to (Ai, Eri, Koharu) had left and Pyoko Pyoko Ultra just came out. If YOU just became leader of Morning Musume and the first single you released after obtaining the position was a song where you had to dress up in a retarded chicken costume, would you want to stay? I think not.
For me personally what it boils down to is this: Morning Musume is no longer going to have Gaki’s smooth, powerful, deep voice that I love, and because of that it is going to be extremely hard to listen to them. I’m not saying “Oh Risa’s not there anymore, Morning Musume’s not worth listening to.” NO. It’s that what pulled me in, what enchanted me about Morning Musume in the first place, is no longer going to be there. (The same happened to be when Koizumi Rumi left Idolling!!!, I haven’t been into them the same since.)
So yeah, think about that. Don’t lump everyone who leaves the fandom after their favorite member graduates as “jumping ship.” It’s much more than that.
Ohhhhh my god, these two responses. THESE TWO. YES.
I agree whole-heartedly with everything that was written.
EriJunLin’s graduation hit me the hardest. I was and am still a huge fan of Eri. I fell in love with the stable line-up. But their graduation came at a hard time when I was getting accustomed to college life—balancing my fandom and school suddenly became a lot harder. I couldn’t stay on top of everything, nor did I really have the motivation to…
I still see news from the group. I listen to their songs when they come out. But I’m no longer on sites practically 24/7 like I was back then. But it’s not like I’m saying they’re not worth listening to. I’ve just..sorta lost my drive. Actually, it aches my heart a little when I watch some new concert performances and instead find myself missing Eri’s stage presence and her voice. ]: Makes it hard to watch/listen to anything, really. Later on, this became applicable to Aichan, too. And soon Risa. ;____; My top 3… </3
Who knows, though. If they release something new that’s amazing, maybe they’ll pull me back in a little more. But right now, I lack the drive.
(Source: helloprojectconfessions)
Via Beyond the Skyscrapers
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hpomeranian reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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foxface-and-those-berries reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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kimagureprincessyennie reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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aiwillbelovingyouforever reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions and added:
As of my birthday (5/18), my favorite 3 members (Eri, Gaki-san, and Ai-chan) will have graduated. I Refuse to leave this...
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morningmusumexd reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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okotteiru liked this
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amqersand reblogged this from midnightxdreams and added:
I’m so glad that so many of my feelings have been expressed in the above. Bless you, confession repliers. Bless you.
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minipeace reblogged this from risallah
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berryzkamen reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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midnightxdreams reblogged this from matenrou-no-kyori and added:
Ohhhhh my god, these two responses. THESE TWO. YES. I agree whole-heartedly with everything that was written....
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miniskirt-postwoman reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions and added:
although it was nice to have you here while you lasted and thank you for supporting your idol! That’s what I’d add to...
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matenrou-no-kyori reblogged this from lolikokoro and added:
more this. Risa’s always been my favorite...Morning Musume, and I honestly don’t know how...
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mangosupasonic reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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madberryzbusiness reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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lolikokoro reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions and added:
You can judge all you like, but sometimes you can’t help it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — it takes...
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risallah reblogged this from helloprojectconfessions
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helloprojectconfessions posted this
