While thus far Nantonaku in its entire lifetime has been about subbing things mostly with Morning Musume\u3002 members in it, that doesn’t mean they’re the only group we like in H!P. I, InvisNantoka, would like to take this time, as we are approaching the end of the C-ute era to talk about my experience with them, and what they are to me. This is gonna have stories and stuff from my experiences so…it might be fun? (This will be multiple pages)<\/p>\n
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So of course this is gonna be a long one, so I guess I’m gonna break it up into parts so you can skip all the things that might be boring, cause I really just want to talk about them in whole. I don’t really have a community that I call “HOME” that I’ll talk about this stuff with, so since Nantonaku is currently my home, it’s where I feel most comfortable expressing this. If you’re gonna read this then thank you for not letting me just be an echo in a cave somewhere. That said, let’s start at the beginning.<\/p>\n
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The Young-un’s<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I first started watching Hello!Project I was enamoured with people my age I guess. I found myself gravitating to the Gorokkies or Morning Musume\u3002 more than anyone else, perhaps just because they were close to my age in that sense.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My first time really exposed to C-ute in a way that lodged itself into my memory is from commercial promotions really. It was pretty much watching Hello!Morning and seeing the advertisements for 2008’s Namida no Iro. The little promos for the single were in every episode pretty much around its release, and even though I had been exposed to them before then probably, that was the first time they really hit my mind in a way that wasn’t just “Oh it’s another group.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even then at the time they were young, so much so I use to call C-ute and Berryz the young’uns basically and just kind of accept that they were a bit young for me to follow with the same kind of devotion I was giving Momusu. I mean it had nothing to do with attractiveness at the time, it was more about just when you’re dealing with young people you never know how they’re going to turn out as adults, right? I had been so uncertain of how they would grow up, especially given that I was still getting my wota legs at the time that I didn’t want to invest in something that could disappear just as easily. Even so my eyes on the group had started because of that. Though in actuality my draw started a little before that because of one member.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Powerful Draw: Yajima Maimi<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking into the actual dates apparently my first actual draw to a member of C-ute came a couple of months before Namida no Iro, and from none other than current Leader of C-ute, Yajima Maimi. It was actually 16sai no Koi Nante, the duet between Yajima Maimi at age 16 and Abe Natsumi at age 26. There was certain charm to the song that’s probably hard to explain or understand. For the song itself there was something adorable about a 16 year old and a 26 year old talking about love and how things are different at their ages but in the end want the same kind of long lasting love. The PV for it with Maimi and Nacchi standing in a line together singing like a weird skit or a one off scene to a musical was great, and the songs catchiness made it really stick in my head. I remembered the song to this day and rewatching the PV as I was writing was nostalgic pleasure in itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maimi was an unknown to me at that point really but her performance in the music video, and the live showing on things like Hello!Morning really got my attention. In a weird way looking back at it now, Maimi at age 16 reminds me in look of how I felt Mano Erina was in her first PV appear, there’s a charm and optimism to her smile that just hit me well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In any case 2008 was also the year High-King was formed and with it was another opportunity and reason to notice a young’un while still holding onto my dedication to Momusu members, it was another time that Maimi got to be in the spotlight of my own personal watching. And Cinderella\/Complex, much like 16sai no Koi Nante had a repetitive nature to that had me listening to it (and watching the PV on Dohhh UP!) over and over again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With the exposure to Maimi in a singing\/dancing capacity so present in my Wota life, it was natural that when asked and when looking into C-ute now and again my favorite would be Maimi, and even though they were still young’uns to me and hard for me to follow over Momusu, especially in the budding age of the internet Idol power as we were. <\/p>\n It was in 2009 that I began to invest a little more in C-ute. Honestly it was for no other reason at the time than because of the Hawaii FC tours. By that point Momusu had come to Hawaii 3 times, and I had tried to be near their outdoor lives twice. It’s always a special thing that I’m sure people will argue about forever, but the FC gets to do so much while they’re here in Hawaii and being around those lives are kind of the only impression a local person can have of them. So of course given the chance I really wanted to go see it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At this point in time the FC had already begun using a very convenient area for me as well. That said it was natural that I was going to go, and with the time coming up to then I also started listening to more of their songs, because I wanted to not just go because but because I wanted to like their music too. I’m pretty sure at this point I knew the whole Massara Blue Jeans thing, but I believe it was around when EVERYDAY Zekkouchou was coming out, so I had something to listen to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I believe it was from that concert that something happened that stuck in my head (though I’ll be hoenst this story and the one from the next Alo-hello story could be interchangable in time). The thing that stuck to me during that event was the problems that happened. They weren’t bad problems, and it wasn’t the girl’s fault but rather a sound system error. I remember part of it because it was cute and definitely showed some confidence from the girls. I believe it was during a performance of Amai Wana that the sound system started freaking out and eventually cut out. It’s not something you’d see in the FC DVD unfortunately, because they edit that kind of stuff out now, but the sound stopped and while there was a bit of a trip up, they kept performing anyway. They eventually restarted the song and stuff, but the weird instant kind of got me for the way they took to it, and it was certainly something I like to think fondly of as a special Hawaii memory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was also that year that the Alo-hello C-ute DVD was them running around a very close by shopping center and theater doing a scavenger hunt and while I wasn’t looking for them at the time, it was nice to see them at places I know and frequent.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n C-ute’s Musical Crescendo<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After that point the Internet was way more stable in terms of seeing Idol things. C-ute started their Gree Blog around that time, and being one of the few ways to get first hand exposure to them when you’er overseas I began casually reading it (My Japanese is not as good as it should be for what I do for everyone ^^; ). And with my increased interest in C-ute, I did keep an eye on their music releases.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dance de Bakoon! got my attention and when Christmas time came around I remember that Aitai Lonely Christmas was one of those songs that just caught in my head (16sai, C\/C, Aitai Lonely Christmas… I think part of me just like repetitious lines in Japanese lol). In fact continuing from that, I fell in love with Kiss me Aishiteru after hearing it from a live. I remember hearing it from a performance before the PV because the outfits for the PV were surprising to me (lol). Even though “Knock me” is probably one of the lines that makes me laugh hearing it, the fact that it leads to the lyric about knocking on her window was kind of a weird point of knowing at least the words weren’t just arbitrary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kimichari, that is Kimi wa Jitensha Watashi wa Densha de Kitaku was another favorite of mine, perhaps just because as I’m always learning more Japanese there was just something fun to me about having so many practical words in a song too. Train, bike, vending machine, can coffee lol. I loved the motif of the Kimichari shirts too, the whole “it’s a train map and each stop is a single release” was amazing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2012 was the year of GakiGrad, and my first trip to Japan. It was about a week of time, though less than if you including coming in and leaving, but it was my first time going. GakiGrad was the primary objective of course, but thanks to my friend who helped me get my GakiGrad tickets, I was also able to go to C-ute’s Utsukushitte Gomen ne~ concert in Zama. Seeing them live in concert was amazing, the energy was electric, and it cemented my enjoyment of C-ute as a group forever. Going to Zama walking from the station to the concert hall almost felt like I was back in Hawaii to be honest, perhaps that what made the concert feel special to me too; it wasn’t a huge giant concert like GakiGrad had been, but it felt more home, more normal, and in a way it was what I needed during that emotional time. I didn’t have much money left for idol goods and bought very little goods. I believe it was mostly pictures and a microfiber towel. Thinking about it I’m not sure if I even bought a shirt!! (lol) But the goods weren’t the thing, it was the experience, it was like no other at the time and I treasured it immensely from the train ride there to the post-concert dinner with my friend and his friends at a yakiniku place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I continued to enjoy the songs while following here and there. They were still young’uns to me because they are that much younger than I am but at the same time they had become more adults (at least closer to the age I started following Momusu that I liked) so I had come to accept them as another group I could follow. It’s true I never gave them as much attention as Momusu, but in a way C-ute enjoyment became a thing I could have just for myself. I didn’t feel the need to stake a place in the fandom, or gather up every single piece of media I could. I just enjoyed what I saw when I saw it. <\/p>\n Two more Alo-hello happened with C-ute and in those years was more chance for me to hear them outside. During one year I remember Airi almost kicking over a speaker she was going to lean her foot against (This story might be the one exchangeable with the broken sound system story from last time but I’m not certain anymore). The slight fumbles make for fun anecdotes I think. It was already around this time that I was directing people to the bathrooms and so I felt like I was at least giving back a little during my stay outside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was their last Alo-hello that special things happened. For one I wasn’t alone in this adventure. In the past with Momusu I had comrades during the mini lives, and for a Berryz one I did as well. This C-ute Hawaii moment became a shining star to me and I believe to my comrades as well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You see it was during this FC that we did more. I watch in silence, I guide people during bathroom time, and when the idols leave I yell thank you, that was pretty much my process since I started doing this whole Hawaii thing. But that year, with the boldness and the resourcefulness of others we did more. Sidewalk chalk at hand, and knowing the path they needed to walk to go from the concert area to the car, we began putting down thank you\u2019s and C-ute symbols and things on the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My memory of what happened are not as clear as they use to be the important bits did happen, in some order. We stepped back, because of course we had to, I’ve never been one who wants to jump them or anything, I think we all just wanted to give back to them, let them know even though we’re not from Japan and were not on the tour that we still appreciate them and are thankful they came to Hawaii. I only really have one piece of portable merch from C-ute with my limited budget, the Maimi fiber towel from Utsukkushikutte Gomen ne that I bought in Japan. They came out and we did what we do, we said thank you for coming, gave them otsukare saying for the good job they did, and watched. They waved and were surprised we were there, it wasn’t like we were decked out like the FC wota, but we were there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They noticed the chalk drawings. They did things I didn’t think would happen. They stopped and they took pictures with it. We later saw they blogged about it. It was amazing. Maimi blogged she was happy to meet us, that she wanted to come back to Hawaii. Airi blogged about how the University students wrote them messages (At least 3 of us were students there by chance :P). It felt like we really helped make their time at least a little better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I’ve jumped ahead a bit there too, because back after they were there taking pictures, they had walked up to us, to talk to us. At the time I didn’t want to talk about it too much, it felt special, it felt like it would never happen again, and telling other people would be asking for trouble or promoting something that probably would never happen. But they talked to us, they shook our hands, they thanked us for being there. Now we didn’t have very good Japanese understanding as a group. 2 major students of at least, and 1 person who was good (and that wasn’t me lol). But we got by, and it was wonderful. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It wasn’t just that we got attention that made it wonderful. It was C-ute themselves. It would’ve been easy to just walk away after seeing the things. They didn’t have to take pictures with it. And yet they did, and they thanked us for it. That great experience, feeling firsthand the warmth and consideration for team C-ute from C-ute, that was priceless.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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\nComing Closer: The First Aloha Advantage<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nMore Aloha More Greatness<\/strong><\/p>\n