Random Platinum Musings

So it’s been over a year since my last blog post (a review of Kudo Yume’s first pb. Her second is out now. I must get it). I just felt the urge to post again. Not sure why but I have some random thoughts and wanted to just let them out into the ether.

I mostly just want to say that I really love platinum-era Momusu. I appreciate the talent of the latest H!P idols but platinum era was my entry point and has a very special place in my heart. With that I have recently been rewatching Haromoni@ with AI subs (thanks to the work of this place). During the first series Momusu used to have these competitions against kids who were very talented at a specific thing. It could be doing a Rubiks cube in a few seconds or ballroom dancing. One week (14/10/2007 to be precise) they met Hirano Miyu.

Watching Miyu beat all nine of Momusu at table tennis while using a slipper for a bat, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to Google her. She was only seven during Haromoni@. At sixteen she became the world’s youngest winner of the table tennis world cup and is currently ranked 16th in the world. A very random fact but cool.

Anyway I spend a lot of my idle/idol time going back to platinum Momusu. Watching old concerts, watching the DVD Magazines (again with AI subs) and generally adoring Ai-chan, Junjun and Sayu while remembering how awesome Eri and Reina were (with love for Gaki too). It’s been a long time since I got into idols. Sixteen years now. It has given me so much positive entertainment. I am a lot older now (sixteen years older in fact. What a coincidence). There are things I regret from those years and things I treasure. I have become quite reclusive in the idol fandom I think. Social media has become quite poisonous and so many people became annoying to me. I lost count of how many times people I followed posted anti white people posts, anti men posts and so on. It started to make me quite bitter and hateful. I am not a right-wing knee-jerk type (I’m quite left of centre) but I started to resent too many people. When you believe in equality and see people posting in a hateful way just to feel above others it is quite depressing. So I stepped away a lot. Now I have a small Twi/X account. I follow just a few people but in some ways I miss those I used to know. In life we all change. For instance the person who got me into H!P was someone I really loved talking to but I lost touch with her due to some financial disagreement many years ago. Even so I hope she is well. Life brings on many changes. You never know where you will go. I feel life is too short and people don’t treat each other well enough and I have been guilty of that. Nevertheless I love that I found idols and had so many good times due to them. I have platinum-era Momusu to thank for so many positive experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Even now after sixteen years I can still watch music videos, concert clips, tv shows and other assorted entertainment from that time and get so much enjoyment. I think that is pretty special.

Meanwhile current Momusu have had some nice moments. I loved Beat no Wakusei last year and their version of I wish was a tear-jerker. Even now I well up if I see it. Meanwhile away from Momusu I really respect Juice=Juice. They have had some great singles recently and as a group feel like sisters in a way no group has since C-ute. They are my favourite current group. Kudo Yume is my H!P oshi right now and Arisawa Ichika is so funny and unique. Beyooooonds have their moments too and between Kobayashi Honoka, Arisawa Ichika and Nonaka Miki there is some musical talent away from just singing and dancing in H!P which is a direction I’d love to see H!P diving further into in future. So my interest hasn’t died. I think there will always be some interest in H!P. It’s so feelgood and between checking out the OG members latest activities and keeping an eye on at least some of the current groups there is always going to be something to enjoy.

Well that was my random post. I’m not sure why it exists but then I’m not sure why I exist so that’s okay.