Years from now, we may be talking about how brilliant Hello!Project was to turn Erina Mano into a soloist. It could be the decision that turned things around for the company.

As for today, on March 2, 2008 - it doesn’t look like the right thing to do.

And I really like Erina Mano, and not just for her looks.

I don’t care about the quality of her voice. There has been far worse singers that have sold in this world.

I see her as a charismatic girl. However, I saw her charisma hidden behind the Ongaku Gatas group. It is easy to only see the positives when you have a group to hide behind. I’m afraid that without the likes of Hitomi, Mai, Rika and Nocchi around her, the flaws will be glaring. Truth be told, she hasn’t really demanded the stage like Maki Goto or Koharu Kusumi did. It was merely handed to her. In fact, out of all Ongaku Gatas, Yuri Sawada has demanded the attention that wasn’t given to her.

I have a H!P eggs concert in the TLS VAULT. I was saving it to get a better idea of the individual eggs. I think I am going to have to watch it just to see how Manoeri is in a concert. Also, the Ongaku Gatas Concert DVD should be released before she actually debuts, and that could possibly give us some insight as to why they made the decision.

She’s leaving Ongaku Gatas, another move I don’t understand. Most soloists in H!P have debuted while involved with a unit, one way or another. It is actually a smart business move. If the soloist’s popularity does take off, good for her. But it also can raise the profile of the group. You might as well try to sway consumers with acts similar to the ones they are buying.

Worst of all, I get the feeling that we won’t be seeing any Manoeri goodness for a while. I think she is going to need lots of training.

It isn’t all bad though. Obviously, this could turn out to be a great move for H!P. Even though she has been an Egg for a while and in Ongaku Gatas for half a year, Mano is a relatively unknown face. This works incredibly in her favor. Sometimes, being new is more important than being good. If she gets a buzz going about her beyond the hardcore H!P fans, she could really take off.

Furthermore, Hello!Project is taking a risk and doing something new, and I have to appreciate and applaud that. I can’t argue with the logic in business that has been taken lately. Seeing 3 photobooks for Risako Sugaya is relatively “safe” in terms of selling. Even if I’d rather a Kanna Arihara photobook, it’s not what is best for business. Ai Takahashi and Reina Tanaka irritate me to no ends, but their selling power has a track record right now and it doesn’t make sense to make LinLin the lead in their next single. However, what is good for business can also be boring, and boredom of fans is not good for Hello!Project. Once in a while, you need to take an action that will ruffle some feathers and create a buzz. Perhaps this move has done just that, assuming Mano can live up to the hype.

Finally, if any of us really question why they turned Erina Mano into a solo act - Here is your answer:

Tags: Erina Mano, H!P Eggs, Hello!Project, Koharu Kusumi, Maki Goto, Ongaku Gatas, Yuri Sawada

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Tags: Erina Mano, H!P Eggs, Hello!Project, Koharu Kusumi, Maki Goto, Ongaku Gatas, Yuri Sawada

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.