Be Forever Haromoni@

And so, my first Sunday without Haromoni@ is almost over. I feel strangely empty. Originally, I had planned to do a weekly review of the show with screencaps, but I was never much good at doing screencaps, so I quickly gave up on that idea. Besides, Morningtime did a much better job of that anyway, and while I disagreed occasionally, there was enough of my opinion in his that I didn’t really feel the need to post my opinion myself.

Now though, True Life Seek has posted a typical “nothing of value was lost”-style look back at the show. I say typical not because of TLS’s previous comments on the show, but because of how mostly everyone seems to view the show. Which is fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I don’t have a problem with most people hating it or celebrating its demise. For what it’s worth though, and for anyone who might be interested, here’s my take on it…

Haromoni@ didn’t suck. It wasn’t great, by any means, and it tended to get a bit boring and repetitive, but overall, it was better than no show at all. It gave us a regular weekly dose of the MM girls, and let us glimpse a little of their personalities which would otherwise continue to be hidden behind the veil of concert performances and PVs.

I look at HM@ and I see my Hello!Morning. What I mean is – I haven’t been a fan that long, almost two years now, but I never really felt like H!M was my show. It’s superior in every way to HM@, usually with better segments, and the Theater Skits, the HaroPro News segments, etc, as well as the all-important (to myself and many other English-speaking fans) HaroPro Academy English Lesson episode. The thing is – that show, as much as I love many of the past members, was never about my Morning Musume, the Morning Musume I am currently a fan of.

They often say you never forget your first love, your first episode of your favorite show, or your first album by your favorite band. It may not be the best ever made, but it was your first, and there’s an emotional resonance to be found there that is quite strong. For example, Sexy 8 Beat was my first MM album, and I have a feeling it’s always going to be my favorite. In a similar fashion to those long-term fans who speak of First Gen and the “Golden Era” of Morning Musume with great reverence, I can say that I was there in the beginning for Haromoni@. I’ve seen every episode. I’ve seen the ups and downs, and all with the current lineup. Yeah, Yossy, Miki, and Tsuji may have been there in the beginning, but I love modern MoMusu, and I am proud they had a show to call their own. It may not have been the greatest, but it was theirs. And mine. And it gave us such gems as…

• “Doi Takako desu.” – Insanely catchy, even if I still don’t quite know who Doi Takako is.
• Game Show Host Aichan (with Foot-Head Hat)
• “It’s Art-o!” – Much better without the outtakes, but even those were amusing on occasion.
• Detective Reina – The epitome of grace under pressure.
• Wai Wai the Illusionist – and her biggest fan, Sayumi. It’s too bad those two never did a segment together…
• Banana Princess Junjun – The moment Junjun grew a personality and I became a fan of hers.
• Memory Queen Aika – She laughs at your pitiful attempts to best her!
• Aika’s Picture Foods – Fun for all the kids!
• The Return of Ogawa Makoto – “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SO sorry!”
• Super Kusumi – I’m a comics fan, I had to mention MM’s “Supergirl”, though it’s a shame she didn’t dress more like the current comics version…
• Dog-eared Linlin – Most adorable thing ever, especially when she would pose the ears.
• Junjun’s LEGS!!! – If you haven’t seen her as a newscaster, YOU NEED TO, NOW.
• The Cabbage Minister – for sheer WTF-ery goodness.
• Junjun gives every last yen of her lottery winnings to charity – That girl is an ANGEL!
• Morning Miisume – The girls play WiiFit and I actually got to download them as virtual friends. In all likelihood, this is the closest I will ever be to them, but it’s worth it.
• The early episodes where they got to just walk around town and go sightseeing. Almost like I’m taking the girls, as well as our brat of a kid (don’t ask me which one the mother is, I can’t choose!), out on a trip to the big city for the day.
• My rediscovered love for Rubik’s Cubes. I need to buy one, I can’t find my old one.
• The girls in a variety of outfits that would keep a uniform fetishist having pleasant dreams every night of the week.
• Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel – I had never heard it before (I’d only heard the Ace of Base song about the Simon and Garfunkel song), but now I love it, and when and if I ever hear it again, I’ll always think of Morning Musume.

So yeah, lots of goodness to be had, if one is willing to look for it, and to look past the boring repetitive bits. Oh, and as an added bonus because it amused me, I found this in one of the supermarket sales advertisements in my Sunday paper a few weeks ago and I finally got around to scanning it for inclusion here…

I’d buy that for a dollar! Or two!

Btw, what is up with the Linlin baby-eating thing?  I never understood that one, and this isn’t the first time I’ve heard it…