I have seriously tried and tried to like Manoeri. And, yes, she’s as adorable as it is humanly possible to be, and she looks half of her age, if that. So, sell her to me as a gravure girl, or a model, or even an actress… but quit trying to sell her as a musical artist.
I am so sick of seeing a new release announced… and it’s ANOTHER boring Manoeri track… often with more talented girls as her backup dancers (granted, yes, Berryz used to back up W, but there’s really no excusing that, either)… and the girl just underperforms for me.
From what I’ve heard, there are a lot of people who are very charmed with her singing and piano-playing. To me, the piano bit is something quite a few girls in H!P can do, so she’s really no different there, and the girl sounds like a Vocaloid. Granted, with how popular Vocaloid is? I can’t deny that’s probably helped Manoeri’s sales. Also helping? How about the multiple versions of each and every single? If there was different content among editions, I could almost rationalize it. But, there’s a slightly different cover and not much else. The hardcore fans will go wild and have to buy their multiple copies of each version. So, really, it’s no wonder she sold pretty well on her first few singles.
Her new single to come? It was pretty much announced before the previous one had in a week’s worth of sales. However, those sales on the new single are looking kind of iffy. Only 11k or so thus far?
I have to wonder if H!P is intentionally flooding the market with Manoeri, realizing that she is the type of commodity that can sour for the public somewhat quickly. I did not like any of her indies singles, and while I’ve liked the songs she’s put out since debuting for the most part, I don’t find any bit that she’s particularly done to be the reason I like it. I like the background music, but it isn’t like she wrote it. I like the tune, but see the note on the BG music. I like the colors and outfits in the PVs, but she likely had no part there.
If H!P wanted an Egg to get behind and put out there as a soloist, there were others who were better. Heck, with the kind of promotion that Manoeri has gotten, you could put one of the newest Eggs, Miyamoto Karin out there as a soloist and make money. People will eat what is given to them if it is presented enough times as being “worthy”. Have them make the decision solely based on sampling, and their “choices” are often completely different.
So, yeah. Quit inundating me with the Manoeri. She is an idol with a shelf life, and for me? She’s way past expiration.