Hello! Project Newbie’s Guide to: ℃-ute
Since my first H!P newbie’s guide to Buono! was such a hit(2k views), I decided to go ahead and continue the series. This time with no doubt Hello!Project’s most “interesting” and floptastic group…
℃-ute
Alright, so who the hell is degree sign kuy-t? Originally part of the H!P Kids, they were the “leftovers” when compared to the other group Berryz Kobo. Originally the idea was to switch around the members in Berryz, but Tsunku dumped the idea and made them separate groups. Thus, C-ute was born.
Belive it or not, C-ute was originally an 8-nin group! They’ve lost three members so far, with the recent two causing lots of commotion with the C-ute stans(and myself).
Current Members:
- Yajima Maimi (Leader)
- Nakajima Saki
- Suzuki Airi
- Okai Chisato
- Hagiwara Mai
Ex-Members:
- Murakami Megumi
- Arihara Kanna
- Umeda Erika
Yajima Maimi
HBIC. Maimi is like Eri to me. I’ve never met anyone who truly, honestly, hates her. She’s like almost perfect, for real. Anyway, along with Airi she(used to be) is half of C-ute’s front girls. Her vocals are the lowest in the group and are definitely solid, although not anything outstanding. She’s a fierce dancer and has an entertaining personality. My current favorite member.
~Trivia~
- Made wotas go nuts when she cut her hair short for the first time ever. She looks great, but I prefer it longer
- EXTREMLY competitive. Homegurl hates losing.
- Very athletic and has amazing legs.
Nakajima Saki
Second in command is Saki! Well, not officially but w/e. You can consider her C-ute’s Momoko(in terms of priority). You know, Maimi and Airi are Risako and Miyabi, while Saki is that “third” girl. Anyway, you’ll almost always see her taking center stage in choreography and for a reason; gurl can dance! Her singing is average at best but dancing is what she excels at.
~Trivia~
- Considered to be very lolita-licious
- HAS A BIG MOUTH *BITE*
- There’s just something about her that makes you want to love her.
Suzuki Airi
AKA C-ute. The group’s most popular member and always the lead in songs. Ever since the controversial release of SHOCK!, numerous wotas have gone insane, most of them against the idea of giving her ALL the lines in the song. It was ridiculous. Anyway, the group’s best singer, strong dancer, goofy personality and the beautiful looks of a model.
~Trivia~
- Has messed up teeth.
- At first sight, she doesn’t seem the type to want to have all the lines. It’s just Tsunku’s decision.
- Possible future soloist.
Okai Chisato
The ~guy~ of the group. lol j/k. Chisato is the tomboy of the group and a surprisingly strong vocalist! Not many people know it, but she has a nice vibrato and can hold a note pretty well. She’s spunky and the most exciting member of the group.
~Trivia~
- Always has the weirdest outfits
- Is Maimai’s lesbian lover <3
Hagiwara Mai
Ew, this bitch. I honestly really dislike her but I’ll try to be neutral here. Shes the youngest in the group and ultimately the cutest looking. Consider her like a younger Sayumi; cute but a bitch and can’t sing to save her life. She’s a different case in that she doesn’t try to be cute, it’s just her appearance. In reality, she has the personality of the Dark Queen Miki herself.
~Trivia~
- Okai’s lover
- Is currently undergoing an awkward puberty stage. Cute or sexy?
- In some song’s, she got the center spot along with Maimi+Airi
- Would probably make a good leader
- Big head
Ex-Members
Murakami Megumi
Now I don’t know very much about this girl. She left a long time before I even got into H!P. I will say one thing however. You know like when in S/mileage you already had your favorites even though you knew very little about the girl’s personalities? Well, this is my case. Based just on looks, she would have been my #2 C-utie. After Kanna of course.
~Trivia~
- Was a center with Maimi+Airi before she left. Once gone, no one really took her “center” spot
Arihara Kanna
Oh my bb Kanna! *tear drop* My personal favorite C-ute member. She wasn’t a great vocalist, nor that good of a dancer, but there was just something about her that made me immediately love her. She left the group because of her “bunion” problem but there’s lots of speculation regarding if that was the real reason(she had been involved in a scandal shortly before that).
~Trivia~
- Believe it or not, she was the reason C-ute lost it’s fierce-ness (more about that below)
- It is unknown what she’s currently up to. Mostly meeting up with Erika
Umeda Erika
Another member who left only around 6 or so months after Kanna did. She was the oldest member in the group and was going to be leader, but she denied and handed the spot to Maimi instead. She was a very weak vocalist and a pretty bad dancer, but she was pretty funny. Although I would have preferred she never left, her removal from C-ute wasn’t too much of a big deal.
~Trivia~
- Has become very beautiful ever since leavign H!P. She was one of the uglier members early on
- Is now in a modeling agency~
Image and Sales
Despite their name, C-ute isn’t always a “cute” group. Yes, most of their single and album covers posses a cute image, they have also been through their “fierce” phases. FOREVER LOVE and Namida no Iro, specifically.
Prior to Kanna’s leave, C-ute singles averaged around 30k in sales. Only a few thousand less than their “rival” group Berryz Kobo, although there were instances when they outsold the other group by various thousands. When Erika left, sales plunged even lower, with the Suzuki Airi solo single SHOCK! managing only 18k sales it’s first week, 10k less than the usual.
I personally blame Tsunku giving so much priority to Airi and the graduations for the lower sales. Their covers are usually great and the PV’s aren’t ever very good but the music is probably the biggest element to blame.
The SHOCK! Release and Kanna’s Coincidental Influence
SHOCK!, the song that left wotas worldwide shocked indeed. I myself couldn’t believe Tsunku had took the decision to neglect the other girls so much. Although the song is pretty good, I now knew that Tsunku indeed had gone crazy since Kanna left.
You may notice a strange pattern upon Kanna’s departure. Her final single, FOREVER LOVE was the most fierce we had ever seen C-ute. But after that, we were treated to singles like BBB!, Shochuu, EVERYDAY and the horrible Shocking 5 album, all sub-par releases and not drifting far from the ever safe “cute” concept.
Recommended Listening
C-ute is a group that releases something constantly, thus they have an extensive release list within very little time. As of today, they have 12 major singles, 5 indies singles, 5 studio albums and 1 best album.
Recommended songs, in order of awesomeness:
- FOREVER LOVE (7th major single) – fiercness in buisness suits <3
- Namida no Iro (5th major single) – hot latin flavored synthpop
- Edo no Temari Uta II (6th major single) – wtf all around+ solos for everyone!
- Tokaikko Junjou (3rd major single) – early fierce C-ute!
- Massara Blue Jeans (1st major single) – total ownage @15 seconds also, 8-nin C-ute, Maimai’s huge glasses and Kanna center-ness(sorta)
A mini history of awesome C-ute moments:
- Saki’s wtf-coded solo lines in Bye Bye Bye!
- Koda Kumi blocking the camera during their opening bit at the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen performance
- Alo Hello! C-ute DVD
- Cutie Ranger VTR
Picspam
Well i don’t care what you think anymore about mai, but the little bitch has a awesome voice u cant DISS HER FOR THAT, on your blog where ppl read from thats not nice! i may not LIKE SOMEONE but IF THEY CAN SING IM NOT GOING TO BE A JELLOUS PERSON AND SAY THEY CANT!
lol @ this comment
You think Jin is jealous of this tonedeaf bitch because YOU think she can sing? Are you mad because he stated the facts?
Now the question is, do you think their new single Campus Life ~ I can’t remember the rest of the title ~ is a step up from Shock?
I would say in terms of line distribution yes but music wise no…
For some reason, I’ve always wanted C-ute to go after what SweetS did. I think it would work really well for them (Especially since they now have the same number of members as SweetS did.)
Lex she wouldn’t be singing in h!p if she could not so dont even go there!
I think that Erika and Kanna have EXTREMELY strong voices… If you look on some of the solo DVD’S on youtube you can tell that they have very strong voices especially kanna. Tsunku picks girls for lead parts mostly because they have more fans, solo parts = fans = money.
also to point out that “EVERYDAY Zekkouchou!!” was a very popular song, it was really high on the charts on japan, the highest of every c-ute song.
Sorry if I’m gonna be quite annoying but…
I think it’s mean calling Mai a bitch =/ do you mean it in a bad way? Just wanna know :D
it’s fine if you think mai is a bitch or can’t sing, but honestly i think this isn’t the right post for it. as you put it it’s a NEWBIE guide to c-ute, and by calling mai a bitch you’re going to leave unnecessary bad impressions on people who don’t know c-ute very well or at all. give the members a chance for potential fans to like them.
on the other hand, good post.
I like your Blog. I enjoy reading your honest opinions, but I really disagree with you on C-ute, which is in my opinion the strongest group all around in H!P right now.
As sweet and adorable as Kanna was and as quirky-funny and “Mom” like as Erika was, their leaving has left C-ute streamlined and perfect as an astoundingly strong 5 nin group.
Airi and Maimi are strong center, older sister figures, one in the fierce-leader role and the other as the goofy/pretty older sis.
Leaving the younger members, each with a very distinct role and personality. Dancing and growing beauty Nakki, strong vocals and crazy-moody hyper Chisato, who is also gowing into a beauty albeit a very very short one and bitchy-somewhat evil-extremely cute Maimai, who seems recently to visibly enjoy her blossoming as both a personality and as a young woman. (see PV “Dance de Bakoon” and concert, “Shocking Live”)
Sales aside (I do not pay attention and do not trust Joe Public’s taste), in my opinion their singles have been great. BBB and Shock were my least favorite since the epic Forever Love, but still pretty good and Everyday, Campus Life, Dance de Bakoon and now Atai Lonely Christmas are all fantastic with DDB being my favorite song of the year. PV was awesome too. Fiercer than forever Love even.
The album Shocking 5 was my favorite H!P album of the year and the album tracks “The Party” “Kimi no Senpou” and “Shigatsu Sengen” are among my favorite C-ute songs of all time and were rendered beautifully live.
The B-sides are mostly really good too. And I think they have Berryz beat, even if the run of singles from Berryz before “Shining Power” may have been slightly better, their album was weaker and they have a weak link or two in their, now, massive 7nin gruop (hi Maasa and Chinami!) I love those girls but I’m just sayin’…C-ute is rock solid now.
Viva C-ute!
You are correct about Buono! though…GODLIKE!
I was agreeing with you until you said that Shocking 5 was your favorite album of the year. That album was trash, ngl. xD And “The Party” one of your favorite C-ute songs evar? o-o I personally can’t even listen to that song anymore.
I don’t like Chisato now. At all. I only liked her in the first album. then her voice got a bit more mature and I hated it. -.- I always thought the cutest group in the world would be Chisato when she was little, Saki Nakajima, Airi, Erika, and berryz koubou members Saki Shimizu and Miyabi. (ERIKA IS AWSOME! SHE SINGS BETTER THAN MAI AND KANNA) (Saki HAS THE CUTEST VOICE EVER) Mai hagiwara. She really does sing terrble. So why always always she gets more liines than Nakky?? Nakky never evr gets any lines. I wish there was duet between Nakky and Airi. That would be awsome! Maimi nevr really appeald to me. shes ok. I love Shock and that Airi got all the lines but Nakky didn’t have any. Thats the only negative thing I thought. Why is Nakky always paired up with Mai? And why is Airi always paired up with Maimi?? Chisato always been a step up from Mai and Nakky. Mai has had her adorable times though<3 but now she's not that great. I think she sounds kinda like a variation of Maimi. but honestly Maimi has the lowest voice I've ever heard. ever. Well then Shimizu and Maasa have too. I honestlly really dislike Berryz Koubou,, There members are odd, Momoko sucks, Kumai: weird, hoarse raspy voice, Risako: sounds like a Japanese Miley Cyrus, Maasa: she sounds like she's moanig when she sings. Chinami: Sounds like a 4year old that no real sound comes out of her mouth, Maiha: sounds too much like Chinami. The only great awsome peopple in it are Myabi and Shimizu. Yeah!!!!
this is a rather nice newbie guide. but you should soften on the bashing because a newbies guide is supposed to show just an overview of everything.
calling maimai a bitch doesn’t really help :O but yeah i’d have to say that mai only has a couple decent performances. And another thing that I noticed is that maimai has been deproving? Watch her early videos. She seems like one of the better singers(kinda) and dancers of c-ute but it seems to have gone away recently. Maybe awkward stage? Well I guess we’ll have to wait a while to find out.
But besides that a pretty good guide :D