vimoral said:

I do not understand the incorporation of a new member as a replacement, i understand it as a reinforcement to a unit that has been seriously damaged.
If they incorporated someone, I would not see her as a Momoka 2. I would see her as someone who brings fresh air to the group and who can do it grow up

Over the course of their career they enjoyed plentiful external support, contributions, collaborations, without the need of reshuffling their membership.
If they cannot do the same today, there is no purpose in prolonging the group activity.

This kind of relentless urgency for new faces, these repeated shallow remarks made up of phrases like "new life", "fresh air", "growing up", "moving on" are surprising, in view of the past events, and outline a very tired routine of the idol experience.
There should have been a deeper rethinking from management (given how unfortunate is the timing of all this, as clearly shown within the "graduation" itself ) to fandom (at least the international one, if this forum is proof). In any case something way too deep to be resolved bringing in a new kid.

Official announcements from EvilLine, as pointed out by Momomofu-san, and the hastened date (the playful "not in spring or summer" ended up in this sad way) for the 10th Anniversary Live, indicate the continuing activity, seemingly without "intrusions".
Nonetheless, something extremely disruptive must have happened to result in this. Matt-san offers some convincing remarks in the other thread.
Here it is enough to say that we have every reason to be very sceptical, about mid and long-term developments.

I will of course remain completely supportive of them, "no matter what".
If necessary, I am ready to seek refuge in the silly "credo quia absurdum".

A couple of screen shots from momoclo.net after the graduation concert today...

Ariyasu san May Be Trying to Protect Her Family, Friends, Co-Workers, and Herself from Physical Harm

Like every one else here, I was in a state of shock on January 15th when Ariyasu san announced her graduation from Momoclo.

The tale of her having thought about it “for a long time”, followed by a “flying out the door” last minute show has left me certain that there is so much more to this story than meets the eye. I think many people have similar feelings and suspicions.

But there is just not enough information to accurately point a finger, or to assign blame or disappointment on anyone near ground zero. We should all take care to reserve our judgement until we know more, which arguably, we never will.

But I can not help pondering. In spite of whatever caused events to unfold as they did, and at the velocity that they did, we do know that, whether or not they may have been available to Ariyasu san, she had a range of choices as to how to act / react.

The scale goes from, “Forget What Happened and Stay with the Band”, to “Scorched Earth”. Plus a bunch of other options in between. The burning question: Why would Ariyasu san choose Scorched Earth, the most extreme and irreversible option?

Let's look at an overview of her possible options:





We all know which option was selected. But was Momoka at the controls? Did she actually pull the trigger on this? Did she actually make the decision she wanted to make?

Even if you've been in show biz since you were a toddler, it is not easy to find a good job, not to mention a GREAT job. Unless you really, really hate what you're doing, you figure out how to take a break, have a vacation, get over it and go back in.

If part of your professional life becomes untenable, then logic says to cut that part out. Thus leaving the band, the company or your agent, are all reasonable actions, given a particular set of circumstances.

But dumping your band, your record company, your agent, and declaring immediate retirement from entertainment, literally over night? Sorry, but that has to be filed in the WTF folder.

If I may be indiscreet for a moment, there are certain points in the lunar cycle where one's estrogen can become weaponized, lethal, and highly volatile. Bad decisions can be made. But surrounded by friends and family, there is a network to help you mitigate or reverse decisions you would not have made under less scrambled mental conditions.

@Flowercreek pointed out ”the girls' contracts were set to expire this month. The others renewed them last year, but Momoka didn't.” An excellent possibility to consider as the catalyst for the events that we watched in horror between the 15th of and 21st of January, 2018.

Whether or not Momoka was contemplating her contract for a “long time”, burning down the house at the last minute would be a tactic to beat the other side to the punch. But she didn't bail out of just one contract, she bailed out of everything, leaving behind scorched earth. Why such a devastating, very final set of actions?

Maybe the kool-aide they've been trying to make us drink is true. Ariyasu san is ready to start a new life for all the reasons we've been told to believe. My woman's intuition says, bull shit.

There are dark and sinister possibilities. It is well known that the Yakuza controls the Japanese entertainment industry. Nobody gets in without their approval. Measures to keep entertainers (and entertainment companies) in line can be draconian.

What could Momoka possibly have done to piss off the tattooed wise guys? Maybe a sticking point in the new contract(s)? She wanted too much, or they weren't offering enough?

Japanese business is all about seniority. Momoka has the least tenure of all the MCZ members. Recently Momoka has emerged as a powerful solo talent. Maybe she wanted equal pay. Maybe more. All speculation, but certainly logical that something along these lines could cause a dispute. So?

Maybe none of her band mates, manager, agent, record execs, supported her contract conditions. Maybe there was solidarity against her rather than for her. Disappointed, she quit completely, and she did it suddenly so the powers-that-be could not try to wrangle her in the 11th hour.

Or, strong arm tactics were used to threaten her or her family in an attempt to force unreasonable conditions on her. Rather than give in, she quit. Wouldn't be the first time that something like this happened.

If you are not already aware of it, please take a rare look behind the scenes of the terrifying business-as-usual in Japanese entertainment. In 2012, Ikumi Yoshimatsu became the first Japanese beauty queen in history to be crowned Miss International.





Yoshimatsu san was riding a wave of success. She was new to Japanese show business, naïve, and apparently unaware who held the ropes. She was shocked when the Yakuza stepped into the light to tell her who was in charge.

In spite of canceled contracts and death threats, Yoshimatsu san refused to do as instructed . The final straw for her came when the Yakuza blocked her from participating in the ceremony of passing on her Miss International crown.

Not only did she break the sacred Japanese code of silence, she filed lawsuits against the major players and the Yakuza. One week before the passing of the crown ceremony she called a press conference attended by all of the major Japanese television news networks, national newspapers, and magazines. At the press conference Yoshimatsu san named names and revealed sordid details about what had happened.

Not a single Japanese news source published the story. Only a small paper printed locally in Yoshimatsu's home town ran a short article. The Yakuza also controls the press in Japan.

Undaunted, one day before the passing of the crown ceremony, Yoshimatsu san called a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan where she told her story to the outside world. The story of her ordeal and law suits were widely reported in the international press. Speaking out in Japan in general, and Japanese entertainment specifically, is very very rare, and it is dealt with harshly.

Here you can see Yoshimatsu's courageous and heartbreaking uncut statement to the foreign press: http://bit.do/IkumiForeignPressConf

Yoshimatsu was physically blocked from entering the ceremony where she was to hand over her crown to the next Miss International.



In the aftermath, the disgraced beauty queen's career was ruined. Completely ostracized from Japanese entertainment, and fearing for her well being, Yoshimatsu Ikumi was forced to leave Japan and now lives in California.

I shared Yoshimatsu's story because, for reasons we do not yet know, Ariyasu san may have been forced to make decisions she would never have made under other circumstances. She certainly didn't agree to any contracts. She certainly is respecting the code of silence, as are all the other visible players.

I just hope things go well for her and six months or a year from now we do not get news of a tragic “suicide” or “accident”.

In any case, until there is much more information there is no way to know what really happened, or who to blame.

If there is anything to be disappointed about, in my opinion it would be the mob's strangle hold on the Japanese entertainment industry, and how things are run.




RR

When Mako left Tokimeki Sendenbu I remember that they tried to continue with four members but finally they had to incorporate two new girls.
I hope the same doesn't happen with Momoclo.

"Momoiro Fork Village"
Hashire!

momotaka said:

"Momoiro Fork Village"
Hashire!

First performance without Momoka?
:(

Crayon Shin chan Movie theme song "Xiao Yi Xiao(Shaoii Shao)"
http://evilline.com/momoclo/xiao_yi_xiao/
http://www.shinchan-movie.com/

The MTV Unplugged has appeared on jpopsuki

https://jpopsuki.eu/torrents.php?id=247321

A h264, an mpeg2 and as promised the 4K !

kwkm LoGiRL #127 20180122

https://aidoru-online.org/torrents-details.php?id=122710

The latest edition of kwkm's webshow
「川上アキラの人のふんどしでひとりふんどし」
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/douga/kawakami_logirl

All four Momoclos

Momoclo members put on high performance yoga pants and compete with each other for 300 Euros worth of grilled meat!





At A!O: https://aidoru-online.org/torrents-details.php?id=122695

Please enjoy!
RR