A photobook that came out in April is currently the most viewed post for the past month and has held that position for a few weeks now. It easily may end up being the most viewed post for 2024 but in a way think viewers will enjoy this book more and though there is four months to go in the year none will top this as being my #1 photobook for 2024!!!! On a side note what has happened to Hina(?) and sure many have noticed how few posts they've had this year. They do have a single coming out soon but they've kind of disappeared and their once huge amount of positives are no longer. Stability was one huge plus as seldom did a member leave but a month ago four announced their graduation in the same day, that will make it seven leaving in less than a year. Plus they used to be so active as a group doing dramas, having their own fashion line, a few variety shows, etc. and these days do so little as a group. My knock isn't on any member as my faves I like more than ever but as a group don't follow them as closely and neither have many others as their popularity has really slipped the past year. It's not the members to blame as management is, they pushed those fourth generations gals too quickly and kind of jammed them down our throats.... hmmmm, even though they have been there for a while all in all the 4G members haven't really become popular and it's the same cycle over and over for '46' groups....
So this is the first post for Konoka in ten weeks but she still will end up high on the faves list. Plus this will end up being my number one book of the year, always knew Konoka looked tremendous but not as alluring as she does in the book, WOWOWOWOW!!!! Most of the photo shoots took place in Vancouver and the reason Konoka chose that city is that she went there the Summer before she entered high school or the age of fifteen. Don't know how well she speaks English but always does well on knowledge or IQ challenges on Hina's variety show. This book sold well too and books don't sell nearly as well as they did years ago. It was in the top ten for sales six weeks and during that time sold 63,000+ copies, it was released on May 28th. You have to figure it's sold a bit more since falling out of the top ten for sales so would think it would be getting close to 70,000 copies sold which is impressive but deserved to he higher! It is large photobook as there's 154 pics below and no need to tell you how overly perfect Konoka looks, I do have one wish which is that for once would love to see a DVD released from one of these photo shoots!
I must confess having a totally different point of view, LOL...^__^;
ReplyDeletePersonally, I really love the 4th Gens and think their own variety is really good; on the other hand I also really love a select few of the remaining "senpai" (namely, my "kami oshi" Tomita, Kono-chan and a coupla more) but have honestly lost interest in basically every other member, sorry. I think the group as a whole (and "HinaAi") started becoming more and more boring after their much anticipated Tokyo Dome concert. Dunno who's to "blame" actually (the older members, the management, the show writers...? Or maybe all of them in different ways and proportions?), but no matter what, I do think they sorta lost their drive and motivation after that concert. They tried to lift things up with the new blood, but they didn't manage to mix them up nicely with the rest of the group (what they've instead accomplished with Sakurazaka and their 3rd Gens, imho). So "HinaNari" is really entertaining while "HinaAi" is mostly sub-par. All imho of course, everybody please feel free to disagree!
Really can't disagree with anything you said and as mentioned feel free to disagree! Losing their way was a good observation and of course all are to blame in a way but the vast majority of that blame belongs to management as I think the fans still like the original members. I have nothing personal against the 4G gals but think they got pushed too quickly into our faces instead of gradually and what I hate is when older members get shunned for if it wasn't for them there's no way Hina would have become so popular. The same thing happened with Nogi as their first two generations are what what made them superstars yet the majority were pushed aside when the 3G members came on board and you saw how quickly those older members jumped ship!
ReplyDeleteI partially agree, in that not only the 4th Gens get pushed (which, let's face it, is somehow normal after all and to a certain extent always happens when a new generation joins), but also some of the senpai get pushed, whereas most of the rest get ignored, true, but it's something that was going on long before the 4th Gens arrived, imho. Some members get pushed no matter what, regardless of whether they have a talent for variety and can thusly make for a more interesting show. I won't name names 'cause I don't wanna offend anybody, but there are members who have always received a preferential treatment from Audrey (probably so ordered from the management?): they would always, always get LOTS of screentime, while other members were little more than studio decorations. Member A wins something? Let's hear what she has to say! Next time member B wins? Let's hear what member A has to say about not winning! Member B makes a funny joke? The MCs curtly dismiss her and all she gets is two seconds on air. Member A makes a honestly bland comment? MCs reward her with points, laughs, attention and screentime. Etc. Etc. And if we consider also the blog, there's a member (not a 4th Gen!) who's getting EVERYDAY 30% of the blog's posts for herself now, and that has been going on for weeks/months. These things not happening in Sakura (or at least happening much, much less) is what made me switch from "Ohisama" to "Buddy". Hinatazaka is going down the same path that ruined Keyakizaka back then, imho. So sad, really.../.__.\
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