H!P Profiles: Melon Kinenbi

L to R: Masae Ohtani, Ayumi Shibata, Hitomi Saito, and Megumi Murata

Melon Kinenbi was created right before the first shuffle groups were created (but they weren’t involved in them because I would expect they were TOO new to really do much).  They have the award of having the most stable line-up in H!P from when they debut til they disbanded in 2010.  Not bad for 4 dynamic ladies (and yes they admitted that they all were totally different from each other).  I’m sure if they weren’t kind of forced to graduate (the Elder Club grads) I’m sure they’d still be going TBQH.

However it happened and they went indies and on a rather interesting set of releases.  Five singles and all of them were collaborations with well rather underground indie rock groups in Japan.  Sadly they released their final album and called it quits.  All isn’t totally lost though because soon after Masae and Ayumi went on to have solo careers.

Style of Music: Like Morning Musume, Melon Kinenbi never really had  a solid theme to them and it shows with how various their music has always been.  From cutesy stuff in the beginning, they grew into doing rock, pop, dance, R&B, and lots of others so they weren’t going to suffer blandness.  Plus they sang great with whatever they were given so it’s not like they really had many problems.

When they went indies after graduating from H!P, they had kind of solidified into a genre and that was mostly rock music.  Even their final album was just that hahaha.

Discography

Singles

• Amai Anata no Aji
• Kokuhaku Kinenbi
• Denwa Matteimasu
• This is Unmei
• Saa! Koibito ni Narou
• Natsu no Yoru wa Danger!
• Kousui
• Akai Freesia
• Chance of LOVE
• MI DA RA Matenrou
• Kawaii Kare
• Namida no Taiyou
• Champagne no Koi
• Nikutai wa Shoujiki na EROS
• Onegai Miwaku no Target / Crazy Happy! (indies release)
• Unforgettable
• Onegai Miwaku no Target ~Mango-pudding Mix~
• Charisma, Kirei
• DON’T SAY GOOD-BYE (indies releases from here on out)
• Pinch wa Chance Baka ni Narouze!
• sweet suicide summer story
• Seishun-on-the-Road
• Melon Tea

Albums

• 1st Anniversary
• THE Nimaime
• FRUITY KILLER TUNE (best-of album)
• Melon Juice (mini-album)
• MEGA MELON (best-of album)
• MELON’S NOT DEAD
• URA MELON (B-side best-of album)

I really didn’t enjoy there first few singles (well I enjoyed “Denwa Matteimasu”) but they really sparked my interest with their 4th single, This is Unmei which is definitely a song to energize the crowds when performed BY ANYONE…it’s such a kickass song and it’s lyrically quite epic as well…questioning love…Yeah, it’s definitely Melon’s best!

I really do consider Nikutai wa Shoujiki na EROS to be one of H!P’s most daring and sexiest PVs they’ve ever had.  I mean the song is quite sensual and the girl’s smooth vocals fit the song quite awesomely.  Plus Megumi was always sexy to me once she started donning the glasses.  Besides Masae’s ever-changing hairstyles, Megumi attracted me the most!

Finally, we have Melon Tea which was the quartet’s final single together. Notice the PV is quite low-cost because they performed it in a studio and such.  Also it was rock music so it’s like typical for me. Plus it was a collaboration (notice there’s a guy singing too at points).

Top 10 Favorite Songs (they do deserve a top 10 here since they have quite a bit to their name)

• This is Unmei
• Kawaii Kare
• MI DA RA Matenrou
• Onegai Miwaku no Target Original new ver. (B-side of Onegai Miwaku no Target ~Mango-pudding Mix)
• Unforgettable
• Ai Meramera Koi Yurayura (B-side of Natsu no Yoru wa Danger!)
• Kousui
• Romantic wo Tsukinero ~Break it now!~ (album song from MELON’S NOT DEAD)
• Nikutai wa Shoujiki na EROS
• Last Scene (album song from THE Nimaime)

Other Things to Mention

As I said above, Melon Kinenbi is known for being so stable for so long with no graduations or new members to come between them.  You can also they were the longest-lasting group (meaning with no changes as well).  It’s a nice thing to be known as that…they’d know quite a bit!

Yes, they are also one group (notice GROUP) to have went from major label to an indies label and get music out there too.  I found that interesting to note.

Overall: Ahhh Melon Kinenbi were always the underdog group of H!P.  I mean they released music quite as frequently as the other group were at the time, but they didn’t sell very well…but they still released and a lot of it was pretty good stuff!  I mean they were an all-around group and with 4 different and polarizing personalities, even I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did…even pulling off an indies line of releases.  I do wish they’d return together because they are such a fascinating group.