(originally posted on April 14, 2010)
My two favourite idol groups are C-ute (Japan, Hello! Project) and So Nyuh Shi Dae (Korea, SME). I’ve been a bit interested in C-ute before they debuted, started to like them on August 2006 and became a fan in early 2007. I’ve liked SNSD since their debut days and became a fan in early-mid 2008. There have been good and bad times for both groups, but as a fan, I’ve supported them all the time.
Like many other Hello! Project groups, C-ute got a lot of support from the company in the beginning. 2006 and 2007 were good in terms of promotion, the rest of the years not so much. That aside, they’ve always been a changing unit. Even since their beginning. They were the Hello! Project Kids “rejects”, the ones not chosen to form Berryz Koubou. For almost two years they were simply known as “Hello! Project Kids”. When they debuted they got indies singles first, instead of going major. They were also sent to all major cities to promote those singles, and they performed in malls and other small places. When they held their first mini concert, they already had a fanbase.
In October 2006, they lost a member, Murakami Megumi. I have a theory regarding “scandals” (with boyfriends/love interest) in Hello! Project. 1st, 2nd and 4th (the oldest - 3rd gen member Goto Maki would be there too, but she’s in avex now) generations Morning Musume get priority, the others are more disposable. It sounds sad… and I’ve strangely gotten used to it (it doesn’t hurt any less though). It makes sense to me, considering the amount of money the oldest girls have made for UFA (and they’re still making profit of that). Megumi was photographed with a boy, linking hands, and a couple of days later she quit. The other members were sad, specially Maimi - she could barely talk in a concert they had a week later. Some weeks before Megumi left, she mentioned how she wanted to hold a live tour with C-ute.
Despite losing a front girl (and I’m quite positive that she was going to be THE front girl), they went ahead and had their major debut in 2007. Handshakes back then were a novelty in Hello! Project (unlike now, they gotta change that strategy sometime), and they accomplished lots of sales thanks to those. They worked hard, and had three singles in total that year. They also traveled through the whole country again. Their 3rd single, Tokaikko Junjou, managed to be quite popular. It was their first “mature” single, although not their first mature song (they already covered Endless Love in their first album and sang Bishoujo Shinri for a b-side - and the dances for both songs are nothing like Sakura Chirari). I say popular because this song was nominated for a radio award, and two other major award shows. They won one of those, the Best Newcomer Award.
I’m still a bit bitter the staffs didn’t chose a “right” follow-up song. It was good, yeah, but not the thing you’d hype after those nominations. In mid 2008, a member (Arihara Kanna) appeared in a tabloid (Bubka) with a Jhonnys member. It’s said that after that, in an event, many fans skipped her during the handshake, and she cried backstage. At the end of the year they were nominated for Best Artist, and didn’t won. The lyrics for the same song they were nominated for (Edo no Temari Uta II) did won another award though.
It’s speculated that it was that boyfriend scandal what made Kanna leave. There are too many rumours around the story. The official version (given by UFA) was that she had bunions and needed to go on a medical leave (announced in February 2009), then that she left Hello! Project to live a normal life (announced in July 2009). Other than that, nothing else was announced. No word about her health or words from the other members. She left without a graduation, just like Megumi.
Just a month late, member Umeda Erika (the girl up there) announced she would be graduating from Hello! Project to become a model. After a month or so, I thought that maybe those two events (Umeda’s graduation and Kanna’s departure) were linked. Although Ume had before said she had interest in modeling (something along the lines of being her dream, in 2008, and a feature in a fashion magazine in May 2009).
In the same year (2009), my other favourite idol group (So Nyuh Shi Dae) went through popular times. 2008 wasn’t the best year for them, they gained many anti-fans (which they already had since before), and received silence treatment (along with more worse things) in an important event (Dream Concert). They were always hardworking though, and it’s that hardwork what I like in my idols. Their popularity came mostly thanks to a fashionable image (no change of concept though - their So Nyuh concept is still there) and a very catchy song (not just catchy though). It was those nine girls’ passionate dancing in Into The New World what made me notice them, and after finding some interesting trivia about them, I decided to be their fan.
After Umeda left, there was no news of her for a while. Her graduation was pretty calm compared to most graduations, there were no long messages or flowers on stages. The girls did speak a bit, but nothing too long, and she did got flowers backstage. My guess is that she got this uncommon graduation ceremony because of the situation in C-ute (all the changes and stuff). Did they cry backstage? Yes. A recording of that surfaced and they were moaning. Part of that was shown in the DVD. In early April, news of her joining a model agency (ILLUME) were announced. ILLUME isn’t that popular of an agency, but her models are often featured in popular fashion magazines.
Now that Umeda says she likes So Nyuh Shi Dae… I find myself thinking about my support for both groups, and how much they’ve changed with the years. I’d like to think I’ve learned quite a few things from that. From the silence treatment So Nyuh Shi Dae, I definitely learned that no one deserves to get that, no matter if you like them or not. From Kanna’s departure I learned that theory I mentioned above - that girls who aren’t old in the company aren’t going to receive priority treatment.
Ume had also shown interest towards Korea in October last year. Apparently her first interest was dramas. She also knew a bit of hangul, as she wrote saranghae yo in two photo cards.
I wrote a fan letter to her before her graduation. Support is always needed, but it’s particularly needed in times like graduations - times where other fans leave, and where the girls are probably needing all the kind words they can get. In my letter I wrote that she didn’t need new charms for her new career, and that “C-ute’s Umeda Erika” would end soon, but “Umeda Erika (model)” would begin soon, and asked her to always stay as “Umeda Erika”.
Now I guess I really gotta write another letter to her soon…
To many So Nyuh Shi Dae fans Umeda is just another girl showing interest in a currently top K-pop girlgroup. To the Korean press it’s probably just that. To me it’s… quite different. Supporting C-ute, Umeda, Kanna (she seems to be doing fine, thankfully, Ume recently posted a photo with her on her blog) and So Nyuh Shi Dae… this is something that doesn’t happen everyday.
