Morning Coffee - モーニングコーヒ - Day 1

So, I've already announced to my mom and friends of my "challenge". Hopefully they won't mind me constantly talking or worrying about it.

I already started to observe the 1st single dance via their first live concert. Luckily, it has multiple view angles so I can look at all of that sidestepping action - phew! Freakin' amazing stuff. I started to understand it, but the problem is is that it's a lot of shuffling around - not that interesting of a dance, I'm afraid. But why weren't they not so worried about boogeying their butts?

Probably because they were more interested in singing. Listen to those harmonies, baby! They're so soft and sweet that I feel the steam of the coffee against my cheeks (even though I hate the taste of coffee, blech).

I mean, Morning Musume did start because another band, SharanQ, was looking for a vocalist. Morning Musume's original 5 members consists of the semi-finalists - meaning, those who didn't win the competition. Well, whatever, Heike Michiyo (winner) is forgotten it seems (kind of like Taylor Cook) and all I can think about with her is The Tales of the Heike (you can't make me stop thinking of my Japanese lit assignments!).

Hm...well, we'll see how it goes.

About

So what exactly is this all about? Maggie Musume - what the...?

My name is Maggie (マギー). I am a 2nd-year college student (Major: Japanese and Journalism) in Seattle. I have done many hobbies like dance, Taekwondo, and music. Ever since I entered college, though, the amount of studying has taken a toll on my exercise time. (I'm not fat, but I want to keep happy in the gloom-and-doom rain of Seattle). So...

Ever since I was in the 10th grade, I've loved this Japanese girl group called Morning Musume (モーニング娘。）. I'm not the type to enjoy pop music, but I immensely enjoy Japanese music. I'm proud to find obscure bands like Sakanaction and Base Ball Bear, while I do enjoy pop music like Morning Musume and Perfume.

When I first went to Japan in the summer of 2007 (age 16) as an exchange student, I did a gigantic project called "The Ultimate Haruhi Dance All Over Japan". Maybe you've heard of it? It was a big hit on youtube for otaku communities like Kotaku and Japan Probe. It was basically like a "Where the hell is Matt" inspired video only with the Haruhi Suzumiya dance "Hare Hare Yukai". Unfortunately, there are many different versions of the dance and mine was pretty darn early in the popularity - it's not the mainstream "version" of the dance, even though I watched the video over and over trying to pinpoint details. In addition, there were mistakes in creating it (it's kind of "GAAAH" feeling when you are dancing by yourself in some weird street with no music).

Anyways, while increasing my love for Morning Musume and how fascinated I was with the whole concept of it (it reminded me of my dance days), I observed the vast amount of changes in the group. After recent singles like Kimagure Princess, the dances have gotten more and more complex, especially when compared with the group's first official single: "Morning Coffee". If you watch the original videos when it was first released or their first concert, they are stepping side to side with maybe a few bits of choreography (like this weird kicking movie). In addition, they are kind of awkward (in an endearing way, though). Nowadays, if the current group does a rendition of "Morning Coffee" it's more jumpy, hyper, and has a rhythm. Unfortunately, for this challenge, I'm more interested in the evolution of the dancing of Morning Musume - not what a modern-day interpretation would be.

So, please support me from now on! :) よろしくお願いします！