For... sounds cute!

Guys, does someone know what was Kuu's first ever TV performance after debuting? People were talking about ayu's first performance on another thread and it came to me that I never got into looking for old performances of Kuu... Probably the oldest TV live of hers I watched was a Butterfly one lol

I know it's not what you were asking for but I just saw this video again today... And now she's approaching her 20th anniversary! :heart She's come a long way.

01:05 & 03:05

Around 1994/1995 she performed Gekka from Nakamori Akina when she was around 12 years old. I don't remember the name of the show tho.



The first performance after her debut that had some sort of report was Emotional Beat Live in TOKYO (2001.06.28) at SHIBUYA-AX.

Looking gorgeous with dark hair:

https://i.imgur.com/7HxzZxJ.jpg

Her first "official" performance was Music Station Super Live 2001 (2001.12.28), singing meaning of peace with BoA.

^12? Why the fuck did she sing such a sexy song and who allowed it?

edit: The winner of that audition, Yu hasebe is a member of dream right?

Yeah... haha The red lipstick scenes are very Aishou, it's funny how she didn't change that much.

As for the audition, that was avex dream 2000, singing competition to be part of avex's next popular idol group, so all of them were members of dream (Matsumuro Mai, Tachibana Kana and Hasebe Yu). Kumi was second place and won a soloist singing contract.

I forgot to mention about her first concert, just like Ayu she also had a "secret" concert.

It as at ON AIR OSAKA, in 2002.09.28.

The setlist was:

01 COLOR OF SOUL
02 Go Together
03 So Into You
04 feel me
05 Your Song
06 come back
07 Trust Your Love
08 the meaning of peace
09 love across the ocean

ENCORE
10 I'ts too late
11 TAKE BACK
12 walk

The concert also had another date (2002.10.05) at Velfarre.

--

Seeing the performances from Ayu right after her debut gives me some weird feelings on how Kumi was treated during her time. We all know how they were treating her because of her appearance, which it crazy because I don't think she was "ugly" or "fat" at all. dream's debut was 2000.01.01 and during their second week they were already performing at Music Station. I guess she was really second place for avex/rhythm zone, waiting a whole year after her debut to give any sort of push on TV.

When she's thanking the second place in the audition her voice sounds so much like it still does to date lol

Thanks for the information, Kaled! I love that performance of Gekka so much, it's one of Akina's best songs imo, it shows how her taste in music was already amazing back then hahahaha

Now that you talked about the meaning of peace, I recalled I've seen a couple of tv lives of those performances but my mind completely shut it off lol

I still not understand the way she was treated by Avex at the beginning.
Even if she might not be the most confident girl at her debut, the fact she did not start promoting her singles release until hands in 2005 is not understandable.
Ah least the success of real Emotion should have give her access to TV show as a regular singer from then.

I can understand why avex was hesitant, even with the success of real Emotion/1000 no Kotaba and grow into one. There was still an element of uncertainty about whether or not it was legitimate career momentum, or just a fluke.

I think the stability she showed with feel my mind going top ten and easily shipping gold gave them confidence that Kumi was a solid and potentially profitable investment for the company.

There's an obvious reason why avex started throwing money at her after the release of Love & Honey.

I guess they were trying to target her at a kind of "live event" singer, focusing on clubs and festivals, and probably didn't feel the need to book tv shows for her. The uncertainty is also a factor but it's odd she got there through a contest and didn't bother promoting her debut single... If after that doing that and having a flop debut, it'd make sense to get rid of tv performances, but there wasn't even a shot lol Thankfully Kuu is really hardworking and kept on doing her music nonetheless :)

I honestly think avex didn't quite know what to do with Kumi in those early days.

Ayumi dominated the conversation at avex and amongst the newer female soloists, both BoA and Shimatani Hitomi were much safer bets.

I'd argue Kumi had good timing when she broke big with Love & Honey and then secret. I'm going to make a controversial statement, but I feel that in order for Kumi to soar in 2005, avex had to "kill" Shimatani and pull some resources from BoA.

^nah, BoA got a big hit BEST of SOUL and OUTGROWs singles were pretty much successful, even MIT 20 singles still were but she also went back to KpOp around that time.

Kumi just got big because of ero-kakkoii, let's just face it. not a shame tho and she still had a good chunk of ballads to balance it out. It was just the right moment.

Avex pulled some resources from BoA after BEST OF SOUL. Absolutely no question.

OUTGROW was a number one and multi-platinum success, but it was no where near the yearly top 20 in overall sales. By contrast in 2006, avex was throwing money at Kumi and Ayumi because both were the strongest bets. Not to mention Namie saw her fortunes reverse and avex started investing in her heavily again. BoA never had another album in the yearly top 30 after 2005.

So I stand by what I said. Let me be clear. BoA was still definitely a star, but there was a definite shift in focus by avex after 2005 in regards to their female soloists.

By the way, who said Ero-Kakkoii didn't have an impact on Kumi and her overall momentum after 2003?

Her vocals here are incredible, especially for a 12-year old. She was meant to be a legend.

I think so too. Even a US debut she got out of nowhere.

There is no shame in talking about ero-kakkoi, it was what made her stand out for sure, but even when she started with the ero-kakkoi movement it wasn't bringing any sales. COME WITH ME and Crazy 4 U sold poorly as well.

The Cutie Honey PV and the OVA were doing all the work basically, because she didn't promote the song until a-nation, and she wasn't there for the final performance anyway.
She would only perform the song later in november, when she was already called to go to Best Hits Kayousai 2004. And then she went to Music Station and things started to change.

Cutie Honey was basically a real Emotion vol. 2, because Chase and Kiseki sold poorly again, but I guess rhythm zone decided to give her a shot. After the Music Station Super Live 2004 that she got the attention basically, and then became "someone".

We also really don't know how the sub-labels interact with Avex. Rhythm Zone was formed in 1999, and while it had success with m-flo and EXILE, it was still new and we don't know what their team, their budgets, etc. looked like.

Also, I think (or at least in my personal memory), Day After Tomorrow was much more instantly successful - even though it was short-lived. But it was probably hard for the label to not compare Misono and Kuu and be frustrated that Kuu wasn't taking off immediately.

On a completely different note, these days I've been going through Janet Jackson's discography and videography, and I can see a lot of influences that Kuu had from her (eg INTRODUCTION from Black Cherry being heavily inspired on the introduction of Janet's Rhythm Nation). And I know she attended Unbreakable Tour in Japan some years ago. But has Kuu stated anything on Janet at all? I would love to read what she thinks of her.

I don't remember if she said something, but back in her club days she performed at a tribute live for Janet, around the time she was doing her All for you Tour in Japan. It was called ジャネットジャクソン来日記念 前夜祭イベント トリビューライブ.

But it's clear that Janet inspired her.

I don't think Kumi would interact with her fans on stage like she does if wasn't for Janet. I mean, her Would You Mind performance is a LOT more sexual, but still the concept is the same. haha



Also, Hot Stuff has kinda the same vibe as Janet's All nite, not the same concept but the abandoned place with people dancing and using flashlights is basically there.

Kuu will perform WIND from home during tomorrow's morning live broadcast of Sukkiri!!

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...67820534124545

https://twitter.com/ntv_sukkiri/stat...70295420923904

let me rephrase it: I think "pulling resources" is the wrong term. This is how things work. Let me explain it with the bookmarket. there are writers who have successful albums which bring in money. This money can be spend on smaller writers to cater to different groups of readers even though they don't bring in money. Ayumi basically did this for avex from 2000 to 2004.