I've been hearing some rumblings that fans aren't that happy with the direction Mameshiba no Taigun is going in as well as being unhappy that Kuro-chan is gone, so I decided to dive into 2ch to see what I can find out. Before I get into the comments, here's a brief history of the group.
Mameshiba no Taigun (Horde Of Little Shibas) is a new Idol group under the WACK company. It was formed during the audition project "MONSTER IDOL". It ran from early October until the end of December in 2019 as a featured segment on the popular variety show Downtown. The project was produced in cooperation with Watanabe Junnosuke (the founder of WACK) who produces and manages groups like BiSH, BiS, GANG PARADE, and others. The competition portion was carried out at a Training Camp in Okinawa similar to the annual WACK Training Camp auditions held in March.
In the end, 4 members were selected from a total of 16. The overall producer is Kuro-chan, a talento and Idol fan.
Mameshiba's debut single "Restart" did well, selling 64k copies in it's first week and reaching #1 on Oricon. This is thanks in part to the gimmick used. There are 3 versions. Kuro-chan's fate would be decided on which version sold the most copies:
Version 1 - Kuro-chan continues as their Producer.
Version 2 - Kuro-chan is fired.
Version 3 - Kuro-chan is fired and punished.
Unsurprisingly, version 3 sold the most. Kuro-chan's punishment was to be hung upside down and periodically dunked in fish tanks full of ice water. Mameshiba performed their debut song while the punishment was administered. With Kuro-chan out of the picture, Mameshiba will be operating completely within WACK.
(This is the best source I could find to make a gif of the punishment)
Shortly afterwards, a fifth members was added, although she didn't participate in the recording of the debut single or shooting of the MV. She had failed on the last day of the Training Camp and was given another chance.
With that out of the way, here are some comments I translated from the most recent Mameshiba thread I could find on 2ch. These threads get pretty massive, so I just scanned through the first 100 or so posts (They cap out at 1k posts and then a new one is opened). It still gives us a good idea of what fans are talking about. This is the 11th Mameshiba thread:
Mameshiba 2ch Thread 11
*Note: Nao and Miyuki seem to be favorites among fans.
13 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/21(火) 21:08:00.93 ID:JSY83ucla.net[1/2]
Because there aren't many singing programs, Idols can be difficult to sell.
I wonder if Utaban or heyhey will be revived.
(*Utaban was a music show that ran from 1996 - 2010. It was hosted by the comedy due Tunnels which consisted of Ishibashi Takaaki, a comedian, actor and singer, and Nakai Masahiro, the leader of SMAP. Morning Musume were frequent guests. heyhey must be "Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ". It was another music related show hosted by Downtown that ran from 1994 - 2012)
Since Mameshiba became a WACK style group, their popularity has dropped,
so I haven't read Nao or Kaede's (twitter posts).
I'll start paying attention again when they're more active/when it gets exciting.
53 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 06:18:00.89 ID:MlX8RxTpa.net[3/4]
Nao is popular with adults and women in the general public,
Currently, WACK sylte (groups) are at a disadvantage because they only appeal to Kimo-ota.
(*Kimo-ota is short for Kimoi Otaku, which is worse than a regular Otaku. It means you hold them in contempt and consider them to have a disgusting character, appearance, and preferences/tastes)
54 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 06:19:20.98 ID:MlX8RxTpa.net[4/4]
If Nao and Kaede became models for a Fashion Magazine, they could develope female fans separately and opporutunities as a Talento could open up.
57 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 07:54:28.93 ID:LP2AK6pK0.net
Why did they change their costumes?
I wish they had kept the ones they had on the last episode of the tv show.
Now they're dressed like Yankees and normal fans have disappeared.
What do they do?
61 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 08:16:25.48 ID:L9xdRIjZ0.net[1/7]
I'm grateful that I can easily buy a ticket.
If their popularity really explodes like BiSH, you'll have to line up at 5:00 or you won't be able to get in to the privilege party.
(*I used privilege party because it the closest translation I could get. It refers to several things: mini lives, release events, autograph sessions, etc. You usually buy a CD at the venue to get a ticket)
62 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 08:19:20.46 ID:kHv7kYAr0.net
Before the costume change, there was a sense that they could aim for the Kohaku.
(*Kohaku Uta Gassen, NHK's annual New Year's special where Red and White teams compete in a singing competition)
65 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 08:58:22.13 ID:ZrzpSid/a.net[3/13]
>>57
I don't think it's because of the costume change.
They've just been forgotten by television viewers.
67 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 09:06:10.27 ID:CglFjqfa0.net[1/2]
Kuro-chan likes cute Idols, but Watanabe isn't interested in them.
Their polar opposites in what type of Idols they prefer.
68 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 09:11:01.88 ID:ftPcKd/ma.net
>>65
Really, I don't even see Mameshiba's name anywhere.
The people watching TV aren't really out in society.
(*I went with a literal translation for the second sentence, but I think they just mean that fewer people are watching TV)
>>65
These are my feelings now.
Songs are the most important.
At the moment, their songs are being made by Idol loving amateurs like Kuro-chan.
I'm sure he got help from a professional.
Even if they continued with Kuro-chan, fans would get bored with it,
and they won't sell enough albums to participate in the Kohaku or the Japan Record Awards.
Even when the 2nd single comes out, I think interest will drop in seconds. (*I think he means this will happen if Kuro-chan continues as Producer)
When you think about it Mameshiba's options, they need to do a song like BiSH.
70 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ (ﾜｯﾁｮｲ 477b-mfm/)：2020/01/22(水) 09:39:22 ID:CglFjqfa0.net[2/2]
If they want to make a major debut, I think it's necessary to add members who are good at singing.
Compared to other groups, their singing level is low.
Dancing is unavoidable.
71 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ (ｱｳｱｳｳｰ Sa4b-OCo9)：2020/01/22(水) 09:58:17 ID:tcxEBSWVa.net[3/3]
Personally, I like the current lineup and hate the idea of adding more members.
Mameshiba has only just begun, so it's okay if they're not that good yet.
It's amazing how BiSH can scream while giving flashy performances,
but when they formed they weren't that great.
I want these 5 members of Mameshiba to reach that level of skill.
73 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ (ｻｻｸｯﾃﾛﾚ Sp7b-dry8)：2020/01/22(水) 11:09:26 ID:Bq5Q7dcqp.net
It's impossible to keep these members in WACK.
75 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 12:21:07.89 ID:NyP7ARFHa.net
They're TV Idols.
People on the Internet don't know them.
Only people who watch TV are aware of them.
82 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ (ﾜｯﾁｮｲ 7f25-u2lK)：2020/01/22(水) 14:03:28 ID:eYokWJPH0.net
Their names after the name change are too lazy.
They already did it with BiSH, like Aina The End.
Are all the Idols working under this Producer named like this?
90 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 15:25:06.79 ID:UYH/NVCo0.net
>>69
Even if they go the BiSH route, stay away from EMPiRE.
They were definitely better going the cute route.
99 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 16:15:08.14 ID:4G1HCpMpp.net
Even if the the general public knows about them, the Japan Record Awards only care about Major Offices.
104 ：ファンクラブ会員番号７７４ ：2020/01/22(水) 16:26:45.85 ID:g8QuvAob0.net[2/4]
I don't think it's necessary to put Mameshiba next to BiSH.
Watanabe has a narrow view as a Producer, so he can only makes similar groups.
The other groups are just rehashes of BiSH
The same thing will happen to Mameshiba.
http://nozomi.2ch.sc/test/read.cgi/idol/1579560857/0-
Even though this is just a small sampling of what fans are saying, it gives me enough to give an opinion. And I should point out that this is just fans that post on 2ch. Anyway, it's a bit too early to tell where Mameshiba will go, but fans bring up some good points.
As far as popularity, it's hard to gauge if it's really dropped or not. The first single has sold over 100k copies, but allot of that can be attributed to bulk buying. They were also on a popular show like Downtown. Had this been a separate show all on it's own, it might not have gotten the same amount of viewers, so their initial popularity might have been overestimated.
(Current costumes for the 5 member lineup of Mameshiba no Taigun)
About the costumes. It might not seem like a big deal, but I can see where the complaints are coming from. The WACK groups have gone with the Yankee/Sailor look allot. When I first saw the new uniforms, I thought "Oh, they're going with these again. They've just debuted, and Mameshiba are already dressing like the other groups have".
(Top - GANG PARADE / Bottom - BiS 1st and BiS 2nd)
Even the ones they wore on the TV show are similar to what groups like BiSH and BiS wore in the early days. The same person designs the clothing for all the WACK groups, so I guess he can't help himself. Looking at them from a different angle, it's typical for newer groups to go with a fairly generic look when they debut, no matter what company they're from. The second single will be a test to see if they change up their look for the better.
The other big issue is that fact that they're entirely under the direction of WACK now. Like one fan wrote, Watanabe has a tendency to repeat himself, and there's a real chance Mameshiba just end up as another group with no real identity. I think it would be better to distance them from the company and utilize outside producers. There's an opportunity to cross over and appeal to people that don't typically follow WACK groups. It would be a shame to waste it.
Moving forward, I would like to see them take advantage of giving each single some kind of stipulation to each version. As long as it doesn't get too crazy like voting out a member.
Which brings me to the last point. It's hard to say just how many members will stay in the group. WACK can get pretty crazy and allot of members have left during the companies existence. We'll have to wait and see if Watanabe takes the same hands off approach with Mameshiba that he does with BiSH.
All this being said, it will be interesting to see how things turn out. Will Mameshiba end up as just another WACK group or will they be able to create their own unique identity and break away from the pack? I'll continue looking through 2ch comments and post any more that I think offer good insights.
All this being said, it will be interesting to see how things turn out. Will Mameshiba end up as just another WACK group or will they be able to create their own unique identity and break away from the pack? I'll continue looking through 2ch comments and post any more that I think offer good insights.
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