ºC-ute Appreciation Week! ☆ Day Five: The Former Members
Honestly though, I can see why Abe Natsumi made the mistake of calling her "Ai-chan." I don't see how you can get Megumi from that character. It's really not that common, huh? /whacked; Anyways, so who was Murakami Megumi? If you were a fan of ˚C-ute from way back in the early 2000's, she was quite a prominent figure in the group back then and within the H!P kids as well. She was featured in sub-units such as ZYX and Sexy Otonajan. She was Airi's "rival" when it came to the position of being main vocalist back then, from my observation.
I could see why she's such a big contender for the position of main vocalist and center. She's a very good vocalist, and at times- I prefer her voice over Maimi's. She has a bit of a nasally voice but I'm sure that if she continued singing, her vocal ability would improve greatly. She rocked all of ˚C-ute's indies song, it was as if they were practically made forher. Her parts were always my favorite when it came to Massara Blue Jeans. Alas, she did leave right before their major debut and was the first member to leave. It's been said that she left due to school, others was because there were photos of her spotted with a boyfriend.
Honestly, if she had remained in ºC-ute up until now, I feel like the group would be entirely different than how it is now. With Megumi as a prominent main vocalist, I can see a majority of singles mainly focusing on her and Airi- perhaps she'll even have a handful of solo songs under her belt. Perhaps a lot of their songs would be of a different style in order to suit her voice, who knows? In the end, despite her tenure in the group being a short one, it was nice to see that she's still remembered and occasionally mentioned (her name in Gamusha LIFE and Mugen Climax).
The last of the former members- in which I mean, the last of the three girls to actually leave ˚C-ute- and the only member who really had any proper graduation concert/ceremony. Erika was never a member that was quite that popular and often in the front. She was always in the background from what I noticed. As the oldest of the group, she would have been leader- however she passed the role onto Maimi as she felt she wasn't responsible enough.
Honestly, it was really nice knowing that she had a sort of proper farewell from the group. Megumi left midway through the preparations for the first major single and Kanna also dropped out as well. So seeing that Erika having a graduation ceremony (though it's not one that is super extravagant) was something really nice. I also wanted to add that she actually did try to resume her career as a singer when she released her debut mini album three years ago. Though it wasn't the best mini-album, the songs were quite cute and I did like them. Although, since it never really charted on Oricon, her post-ºC-ute singing career didn't last long.
I really do know what the group would be like had Erika remained in the group all the way up until now. Most likely if she did still stayed, she'll still be in the background. She never had the strongest vocals when she was in the group. Although, she may be like Chisato where with proper coaching- she could rise up in the group. Who knows? Nonetheless, she was able to be in the group since their indies and major debut. And I loved her in Yorosen! in which she showed off her cheerful, slightly random and quirky side of herself.
By the time that I had come to know ºC-ute, Kanna had long since left the group by then. From what I observed, she wasn't really that well-liked initially when the group first started out. She wasn't a part of the original Hello! Project Kids line-up and fans thought it was unfair to put her in there. For me, the way I saw it- it was just to even out the groups since Berryz Koubou had eight members so ˚C-ute should be the same as well. And to be honest, I don't see anything wrong with adding Kanna since she was new, she was a fresh face for everyone and could add her own individual charms to the group.
However, similar to Erika's case, she was never up front in the group- rather she was also in the background as well. Kanna is very pretty and I have a good feeling that she had a lot of potential back then to become a great idol if she was given a chance to be up front. Due to a foot condition (foot bunion I believe), she was unable to perform with the group and eventually resigned. Although, another reason for her leaving was that it was reported that she was caught on a date with then Johnny's Jr, Hashimoto Ryosuke (for anyone curious, he's like the center of A.B.C-Z and the group's doing pretty well).
If she had stayed in the group longer up until now, I feel like she would have more opportunities to shine like how Chisato, Mai, and Saki were able to shine more later on as years progressed. And I feel like she would be able to show what was she really capable of. For me, Kanna wasn't as memorable compared to Megumi - who was a main vocalist - and Erika - who later on released a mini album. She kinda faded away. However, by staying longer, she could have done more to leave a bigger impact on people's memories.
So that's all for day five~ By the time that I first became a fan, all three girls have long been gone for years by then. It's quite sad. However, in their own tiny ways, they did help shape the group that is ºC-ute. It's nice knowing that after all these years, they're still quite remembered fondly by the group with them being mentioned in their goodbye songs. Hopefully, it would be nice if all the girls reunited on the last concert and performed one last song together. It would be pretty great~
Comments
Post a Comment