(the) Road to the Deep East

Girl Next Door Debuts... It's not the talk about my neighborhood who gonna debut as a singer, but 'Girl Next Door' is the new group from avex trax, which consists of one 22 year-old vocal girl from Osaka, Chisa, and two other 29 year-old guitarist and keyboardist.

Some news shows and news papers are introducing the 'miracle' this group showed even before their official debut in September. The preview of their debut song, 'Guzen no kakuritsu(偶然の確率)' has already been available at some music related Websites such as Yahoo music, and this preview made a record of 2 million views in 2 months. And at a mobile phone Website, 'Mobage-town', this song got #1 on daily charts.

(article and picture from Sanspo)
http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/080717/gnj0807170435016-n1.htm
(official site)(volume warning)
http://girlnextdoor.jp/index.html

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... Although these news claim that 'all generations from teenagers to 40s are talking about this group fanatically!!', honestly speaking, I hadn't heard of 'Girl Next Door' until this morning. But this is the Japanese mass media's style. and the way avex loves very much. So I won't have to think about my aging too much.

In fact, it looks avex is really desperate to promote this group. This Girl Next Door is positioned as a part of the 20th memorial project of the company, and its president 'Max' Matsuura Masto produces this group by himself. According to Matsuura, it is after 5 years that he joins to the project himself from the selection and arrange of the songs. (his blog)

But will this group becomes the next big star?

I don't think so. When I listened to the preview first, the first thing occurred to my mind was: 'The ghost from 90s.' As Max Matsuura admits, its the origin(ganso, 元祖) of avex sounds, Euro beat. And It's sure the vocal girl is not attractive sexually and objectively, just like Koda Kumi. I can't imagine the person who love this sound and this group in 2008 although there are such a lot of new and attractive J-POPs like Greeeen or Perfume or Maximum Hormone.

The title of their debut single 'Guzen no Kakuritsu' can be translated as 'probability of happening' literary, or 'probability of miracle' freely from the context.

As Max Matsuura says, this song may be new to high school students who were still babies or not hadn't been born during the first Euro beat boom in 90s. And just like some European coutries are crazy about v-kei sounds in Japanese 90s, the sound of this group may become popular in these countries with some anime tie-ups.

But my conclusion is that the probability that they can sell as many as its preview's download counts is less than 0.0005%.

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I'm not sure why avex who has a lot of young of talented singers and musicians dare to promote this new group of boring old-fashioned music in 2008. But when we look at thi sgroup as the 20th anniversary memorial band, this group becomes highly suggestive.

Not only Euro-beat sound which reminded me of Every Little Thing 10 years ago, as you can see from the clip, there is the influence from eroticism of Hamasaki or Koda, or indirect quotation from Britteny or Aguilera. So, musically and visually, this group is the combination of the 90s and 00s.

And the career the vocal girl, Chisa, is very interesting. Just like Mochida Kaori from ELT or Hamsaki Ayumi used to be, she was a minor, or underground idol who belonged to a group named MA-KISS.

http://wc2007.info/dance/index.html
http://ameblo.jp/ma-kiss/entry-10032895037.html
Find a hopeful girls from a minor idols, and makes her a star... this is also the avex's traditional strategy.

So, Max Matsuura may be just trying to look back his glorious 20 year history with this group. The old human beings become, the more foundy they think of the past. This group may be just his reminisce, then we shouldn't put a word in.