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mistress-of-the-obvious · 5 years

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Thoughts On Hikaru Quitting Spacecraft and Idle Speculation

Hikaru quitting Spacecraft was surprising and also not. Her message months back stating there was “more behind the scenes” could have meant anything.

It could have meant that she was happy, working on a single, and to please wait. It could have meant she was unhappy and planning to leave Spacecraft when her contract was expiring…that could also have meant she was working on a single since we didn’t know when that is. I just sort of shrugged.

Since that message I have been very unhappy when I’ve seen Hikaru and Wakana. Hikaru’s message was deliberately vague and the idea the she was miserable counting down the days to the end of her contract was heartbreaking. The fact that she was clearly getting email, snail mail, and messages sent to her directly asking what was going on because Spacecraft, her own representative company, refused to explain even a tiny bit and thus refuse to do their job upset me. She was clearly upset enough to write a message about and yet Spacecraft never addressed it. I don’t doubt Wakana is getting similar mail.

In more strangeness, Yuuka Nanri is still listed on Spacecraft’s official site. There is going to be a big anniversary event for Flying Dog with FictionJunction Yuuka. This is pretty big news as she’s been inactive since 2016. Nowhere on the site. She has her own little site that while it has its own domain name has the same design as some of the other sites hosted by Spacecraft. Last news: 2016. Her blog has an update from September saying she’ll be at the Flying Dog event. I suspect her to disappear from Spacecraft’s roster either before the event or sometime after.

In the case of Yuuka, I didn’t think much of it before the event as she went inactive when she became married and had a lot of health problems going back to 2013 slowing her career. It’s pretty typical for Japanese society to expect women after they get married to have children and thus be full time mothers. That is changing though, especially as not all married Japanese women want to or do become mothers.

So when I first saw Yuuka some months back, it was “Wait a minute…oh she’s retired and they’re keeping her on there because she’s still technically under contract. If Spacecraft were to terminate her contract before it was up, they would owe her money.” Now, there’s this event…and they aren’t promoting her.

Going back to Keiko’s trademark claim, I have some new information where the results are rather curious.

I found this great youtube channel called TheJapanChannelDcom. It’s by an Australian man with a Japanese wife, children, and has been living in the Nagano region for over a decade at least. While enjoying the channel, I found a video that indirectly dealt with Keiko’s trademark claim.

There was a video dealing the then potential breakup of the huge group SMAP (you can see the video here: https://youtu.be/gPBgFZYu9iw). SMAP was a boy band. The now former members are in their 40s and in everything. Movies, tv shows, and at the time still active in their music group. Their talent agency was Johnny and Associates sometimes referred to as Johnny’s. The group broke up in December of 2016 and it was all over Japanese news.

The big rumor at the time was that four of the five members wanted to quit Johnny’s, but still continue in some fashion together. Fans were worried for three reasons: 1) the trademark was owned by Johnny’s. 2) Johnny’s could make their lives very difficult, as they are a very powerful talent agency. 3) There is a stigma of shame surrounding leaving a talent agency, mostly if you have been with one for a long time. This is the perception that the agency built the talent up and that the talent owes it to the company to stay.

What happened was one member stayed with the agency, one went on to something else, and three went to another agency called CULEN. It seems it’s theirs as right now CULEN is just listed as them. They also have a website called atarashiichizu. At this time they are promoting their individual works and have not released anything together, but it’s only been almost two years.

So what does this have to do with Keiko? Typically a talent agency will decide they want a music group or singer and hire them. They trademark the name and choose the songwriters the singer/group will work with. They also work to have a contract signed with a record company. I might be wrong on a few details, but that’s the general picture. The only thing different with Spacecraft was Yuki Kajiura and whether she owned any of that trademark. The fact that after Yuki left, the name Kalafina continued suggested it was owned by Spacecraft.

Would Keiko not know any of this? Highly doubtful. Not only was speculation regarding SMAP all over the news in late 2016, there were also negotiations with Yuki Kajiura and Spacecraft prior to her leaving that affected the group. Knowing how active Keiko was in her advocating for both herself and Wakana and Hikaru (we see this in the 10th anniversary film), she would have kept tabs on it. This on top of the fact that she was signed with Spacecraft with Ayaka Ito for Itokubo. She seems like she has a good idea how the Japanese entertainment industry works.

Even if she didn’t know, the company she hired to represent her would be able to find out if anyone registered that trademark. As someone who has dealt with civil court paper work here in the US regarding my mom and my uncle, I can tell you lawyers and law firms don’t make much money filing these paper work claims. Most of the fee goes to dealing with the bureaucracy. I doubt Japan is much different. In fact, Japan’s bureaucracy seems worse. They would tell her not to waste her time and theirs…unless there was some other point.

What that point was, I don’t know. What we do know is that after she formally told Spacecraft she was leaving, a few days later she filed that claim. Unlike Kaori’s long blog post when she left or Hikaru’s handwritten letter, Spacecraft posted Keiko’s mere one paragraph statement for her. Then there was the letter released for Harmony 4 where people thought it sounded like they were blaming Keiko. While I wouldn’t quite go that far, it was cold in the English translation.

Japan is interesting in that there’s this spectator sport regarding apologies. When a celebrity screws up, like in the case of a member of SMAP a few years back, whom was caught being drunk in public at night, said celebrity will publically apologize on television. People will watch and discuss this apology: how good it was or wasn’t, whether the person bowed deeply enough, whether they meant it or not, etc. Celebrities will be sent on apology tours on various shows.

With this in mind Spacecraft was at best completely tone death at worst they’re arrogant. Since new management took over they have lost 12 people. Most this year. It’s not just people associated with Yuki Kajiura but also long established voice actors.

Based on the little bit I know, what happened with Yuki Kajiura and Spacecraft is that the new management wanted to add restrictions to her. The previous administration let her do what she wanted for the most part.

With Keiko I suspect something similar. Again complete speculation on my part. What we know is the official line is that Keiko didn’t see a Kalafina without Yuki Kajiura as the songwriter. We know this isn’t quite the case as there was that interview where Yuki revealed she was taking a step back allowing them to use other songwriters, she would likely contribute a few songs, and be more of a manager and mentor.

One thing I found surprising was with the tabloid news articles, which were highly accurate, was the statement that if Keiko had stayed they would have headed to the recording studio early this year. Of course, the three of them were touring all last year, so where would they have the time to vet songwriters and find out how well the interaction is…unless Spacecraft wanted to manage them as a standard pop group where they were the sole deciders. If they were being controlling with Yuki Kajiura, why wouldn’t they do that with Keiko, Hikaru, and Wakana?

I suspect this in part with how Hikaru opened her letter, “I, Hikaru, left Spacecraft on good terms (paraphrasing)…” Why would she say that unless someone left not on good terms recently? Again that’s speculation, but we do have some albeit small bit of evidence Yuki and/or Keiko didn’t exactly leave on the greatest terms. She certainly wanted to squash any rumors before they started.

Interestingly, I also suspect that Wakana has more freedom with Spacecraft being solo since there is less money and expectations.

As far as more idle speculation on my part:

Yuki stated recently she has 18 new songs done for a project and is still at the studio recording more. I suspect Keiko to pop up in some of those songs. It might even be a Keiko centric project.

The reason why Hikaru has a Twitter and was interested in having an Instagram, is in part because she’s floating going solo. She maybe in some FictionJunction concerts here and there, but she’s more interested in going solo. Yuki stated she was considering going solo for some time. Also based on her massive support, about 6,000 followers within around 24 hours, not only fans but Yuki, FMB members, Atsuko from Angela, and a director from Animelo concert series, tells me she’s in good position. It also tells me that industry professionals have an idea what was going on with Spacecraft and didn’t like it.

I find it interesting that while there has been an announcement for Wakana’s new single, there has been nothing about an album. Based on her tour setlist she already has enough original songs for an EP. I’m curious what record company she’s on. Is this a new contract or is she piggybacking on Kalafina’s? That might be the reason why Spacecraft refused to fold the group. They are still listed on Spacecraft’s site as though they’re active. It will be interesting to see if the next Harmony magazine contains the name Kalafina on it or if it turns into Wakana’s fanclub. Simply put, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wakana’s contract ends sometime next year and she chooses not to renew.

If Wakana leaves, I do not see a full reformation of Kalafina. While this can be done under a different name, the three of them do not have the finances to form a special group like the three former members of SMAP (which even they have not yet released something together yet). Instead, I anticipate things like the three of them performing an old Kalafina song or two during a FictionJunction concert or a song released by Yuki Kajiura here and there that is essentially a Kalafina song (Wakana, Keiko, Hikaru and Yuriko and/or Remi as assist).

Be on the look out if Keiko tries to go after that trademark claim after Spacecraft drops using Kalafina. I’m not sure if she will or how long a trademark needs to be inactive in Japan to file a claim, but it will give us a good idea if she filed this last one for mysterious unknown purposes or not.

I suppose that’s enough silly idle speculation on my part. Much of this stuff we will never know and frankly don’t have a right to know since all of this is very personal.

#Hikaru Masai #Spacecraft #Kalafina #Yuuka Nanri #FictionJunction #FictionJunction Yuuka #SMAP #Keiko Kubota #Wakana Ootaki

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yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog · 6 years

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2018 NFL Preview: 49ers are grateful the Patriots gifted them Jimmy Garoppolo

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Yahoo Sports is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2018 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on Aug. 1, the day before the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason.

(Yahoo Sports graphics by Amber Matsumoto)

Imagine if New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick hadn’t texted San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan last October with a gift out of the blue.

We’d be talking about a 49ers team that started 0-9 and probably would have finished with three or so wins. We’d be wondering about some of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s personnel moves. We might focus more on star linebacker Reuben Foster and his off-field issues. We’d look closer at the roster and see the warts and the work that needs to be done.

Good thing Shanahan checks his messages. The 49ers are this year’s fun sleeper, all because of a text from the Patriots about Jimmy Garoppolo and a five-game winning streak to end last season.

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The conversation between Belichick and Shanahan came down to one shocking offer: Garoppolo was suddenly available, for the unbelievable price of a second-round pick. Presumably, had the Patriots shopped Garoppolo around they would have gotten a first-round pick and then some. Maybe they’d have landed two first-round picks. There’s no question he’s worth at least that now.

Instead, Shanahan got a random text from a fellow coach, and it turned the direction of the franchise. It was that easy.

“I called [Belichick] back and he told me [Garoppolo] was available,” Shanahan said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “… So now he was available when he wasn’t earlier in the year. There really wasn’t much talk. It was just that: He wasn’t available and now he is. And that was intriguing.”

Intriguing? You think?

If Garoppolo wasn’t so cheap, or if Belichick didn’t hand-pick Garoppolo’s landing spot, the 49ers probably wouldn’t have pursued it. Shanahan loved Kirk Cousins. Nobody has denied that after the fact. It seems clear the 49ers were going to blow him away with an offer in free agency. But Belichick gave the 49ers the deal of the century, for whatever reason.

It’s not hyperbole to say that conversation might end up changing NFL history. Whether the Patriots’ generosity was because Belichick liked and respected Shanahan’s father Mike, the former Broncos coach, or that Lynch spent a bit of time at the end of his career in New England, or whatever conspiracy theory you have about why Belichick sold Garoppolo for a couple quarters on the dollar – we’ll presumably never hear Belichick discuss it at any length – the 49ers turned around their franchise’s future with one move.

Still the hype seems a little too much and too soon, for Garoppolo and the 49ers as a whole. The five-game winning streak was great but you can pour some cold water on it if you look closely:

Win 1, 15-14 at Chicago Bears: The 49ers beat the Bears, who finished 5-11, on a field goal with four seconds left. San Francisco didn’t score a touchdown. Any win in the NFL is an accomplishment but let’s not put this in the “quality wins” bin.

Win 2, 26-16 at Houston Texans: The Texans went 1-9 without Deshaun Watson. T.J. Yates, who doesn’t have a job in the NFL right now, was Houston’s starter. The Texans still led in the second half before fading.

Win 3, 25-23 vs. Tennessee Titans: The Titans were technically a playoff team but also one that needed overtime to beat the Browns and got its final six regular-season wins against the Colts (twice), Browns, Bengals, Texans without Watson and a Jaguars team with nothing to play for in Week 17. And the 49ers, at home, needed a field goal as time expired to win. The 49ers didn’t score a second-half touchdown. It was fine, but …

Win 4, 44-33 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: This was a good win. The Jaguars led 19-16 in the second half and then the 49ers got hot. Quality win.

Win 5, 34-13 at Los Angeles Rams: Hopefully we all remember that the Rams seemed determined to lose in Week 17 and get a more favorable playoff draw, and sat basically anyone who could help them win. This was the easiest win an NFL team had all year; it was the rare instance of one side literally trying to lose.

Winning five games in a row in the NFL is hard, no matter the opponents or circumstances. But if we’re jumping fully on board with the Garoppolo 49ers after those five games – in which he had six touchdowns and five interceptions – it’s fair to look at it through a realistic lens.

Here’s where the eye test matters. If you watched those games, Garoppolo really did look like a future star. He handled himself as you’d hope a franchise quarterback would. He made everyone around him better. Four of the wins might have been against the awful Bears, even worse Texans, paper tiger Titans and the Rams’ junior-varsity team, but he definitely looked the part. Shanahan gave up his man-crush on Cousins, and the 49ers paid Garoppolo like he had already won an MVP. There’s risk in the five-year, $137.5 million deal. But what were the 49ers going to do, not pay him?

“I wouldn’t have signed with the team if I didn’t believe in Garoppolo,” new 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said in an interview with the NFL Network. “I watched how he moved down the stretch, I watched how poised he was. I had conversations with his teammates, I had conversations with the head coach about how they coach him, about how he approaches the game.

“And just seeing his demeanor and seeing how he interacts with his teammates, I think I made a fantastic decision [to join the 49ers].”

The hype train isn’t going to slow down. We want to believe a star was born in December of last season, even if the hype got out of control this offseason. Given the way he got to the 49ers, with the Patriots’ confusing charity, it will be a part of NFL lore if Garoppolo is as good as everyone wants him to be.

And maybe the 49ers will be as good as everyone hopes. Shanahan believes running back Jerick McKinnon, signed from the Vikings, can be great in his offense. Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor, second-round pick Dante Pettis and tight end George Kittle have promise as a skill-position group. The offensive line added tackle Mike McGlinchey, the ninth pick of the draft. The defense has intriguing pieces, especially if Sherman rebounds from an Achilles injury.

But the sunny outlook centers around Garoppolo. However the 49ers landed him, he’s there and will be for a while. Hope is a good thing, and the 49ers have plenty now.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo turned around the 49ers’ long-term outlook with a strong stretch of play last season. (AP)

The Jimmy Garoppolo heist has obscured that the 49ers have made some odd moves in the year-plus with John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan running the show. This offseason, the splashiest moves were to sign running back Jerick McKinnon, who Shanahan is convinced can be a star despite little NFL production to prove it, and 30-year-old cornerback Richard Sherman coming off Achilles surgery. The largest contract went to former Giants center Weston Richburg, who has concussion questions. The first-round pick was offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, who was a bit of a surprise pick at No. 9 overall with some really good prospects still on the board, and the second-round pick was receiver Dante Pettis, who was also a surprise ahead of some other receivers. The moves could work out, and there’s nothing wrong with going against the status quo, but the 49ers see greatness in their acquisitions that other teams might not.

GRADE: C-

Since we spent many words on the obvious answer above, let’s pick something other than Jimmy G. I like what the 49ers are building in the front seven, though that progress will hinge on Reuben Foster not getting in any more trouble. As we’ve seen, expecting unreliable players to change can be a fool’s errand. The defensive line has DeForest Buckner, a fantastic player, and former first-round picks Arik Armstead and Solomon Thomas. Armstead has shown promise, though some injuries have slowed him down. Thomas was a blue-chip prospect. On the field Foster was great as a rookie, when healthy, and I like the third-round pick of BYU linebacker Fred Warner. It’s not a finished product yet, but you can see what the 49ers are building.

The two-game suspension for Reuben Foster was probably a best-case scenario from a football standpoint for the 49ers. The NFL did its usual dance around consistency and decided to suspend Foster for a marijuana possession arrest and pleading no contest to a gun charge, while practically ignoring a very serious domestic violence accusation. Foster’s ex-girlfriend recanted her statement and said in court she was lying. The NFL has ignored similar changes of heart in other cases, but Foster got just two games. It’s still a blow for the 49ers on the field. The 49ers start the season at the Vikings and then host the Lions, and will do so without one of their best defensive players. Given how tough the NFC will be, you don’t want to get off to a slow start. Malcolm Smith will probably get a bigger role, and that’s not the best news after he missed all of last season due to injury. Rookie Fred Warner could become a starter in place of Foster. The 49ers defense will be affected for a couple games by Foster’s absence.

It’s fine if you don’t buy my argument above that we might be a little too early on the Jimmy Garoppolo love for 2018. But maybe you’d listen to Joe Montana?

“I think it’s still a little early for it myself,” Montana said on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” this offseason, via the San Francisco Chronicle.

“I still want to see a full season played, because it’s easy to come in at the end of a season when the team’s down and no one’s expecting things and be able to win. I won’t say it’s easy — that’s a bad word to choose — but I think it was set up for him to be successful that way.”

Jerick McKinnon wasn’t considered a star, at least not until some glowing words from Kyle Shanahan and a large contract from the 49ers. McKinnon, who split time with Latavius Murray on the Vikings last season after Dalvin Cook’s injury, got a four-year, $30 million contract with $15.7 million guaranteed. That’s star running back money for a player who has never had 1,000 yards from scrimmage in a single season and has 1,918 rushing yards in four seasons. Shanahan clearly believes McKinnon will do far more in his offense than he ever did with the Vikings. Shanahan talked about watching McKinnon’s tape and visualizing all the ways to use his versatility.

“What is a huge bonus on him is when you talk about the pass game,” Shanahan said, according to the 49ers’ transcripts. “When it comes to separating and beating linebackers and safeties in man-to-man coverage, I definitely think he’s an issue for teams.

“There’s lots of things you can do with them and when you have a guy like Jerick, when he’s on the field, he’s not on the field just to run passes. He’s not on the field just to run the ball. He can do both and when you can do both, it puts defenses a lot more in a bind and gives us a lot more options.

“He’s good enough to make it as a runner alone in this league. He’s good enough to make it in the pass game as just a third down threat alone, but when you can do both of those, it gives you a lot of freedom as a coach. Based off of what downs you put him in and that when you do put him in, the defense doesn’t know exactly what type of plays you’re trying to run because he can do it all.”

From Yahoo’s Dalton Del Don: “George Kittle fell to the fifth round despite off the charts workout metrics, thanks to playing in an Iowa system that didn’t utilize him much as a receiver. You can bet Kyle Shanahan has big plans for the sophomore tight end, who impressed as a rookie while playing through multiple injuries and often with poor quarterback play. Jimmy Garoppolo looks like a budding star in a productive (and fast-paced) system that’s short on threats in the red zone, where the 6-4, 250-pound Kittle should be targeted frequently. Kittle’s yards per route run (2.57) during Garoppolo’s five starts would’ve ranked first over the full season last year, so he’s primed for a breakout and should be treated as a top-10 fantasy tight end.”

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If you believe extreme records in close games is a good way to predict regression, that’s another reason to like the 49ers. The 49ers became the first team in NFL history to lose five straight games by three points or less. They went 0-5 while being outscored by 13 total points. That includes two overtime losses on the road. Considering that stretch was historically unprecedented, it’s safe to say such bad luck in close games won’t repeat in 2018.

ARE JIMMY GAROPPOLO’S RECEIVERS GOOD ENOUGH?

Everyone is excited about Garoppolo, but a lot of a quarterback’s success is based on how good his teammates are. The 49ers have some questions in their receiving corps, but there’s promise within the group.

Pierre Garcon is returning off a neck injury and is 31 years old, but if he’s healthy he has 1,000-yard potential. The 49ers rewarded Marquise Goodwin’s 962-yard season with a three-year deal worth a little more than $19 million. Tight end George Kittle, a fifth-round pick last year, looks like a steal. He was really good late last season. And the 49ers have doubled down at slot receiver, with 2017 rookie Trent Taylor and 2018 second-round pick Dante Pettis. Pettis should also help in the return game.

There’s uncertainty throughout the group, but on paper it looks good enough to help Garoppolo succeed.

Maybe the five-game winning streak was a sign of things to come. I think the Rams would need to take on injuries to open up a window for the 49ers to win the NFC West, but injuries happen. Jimmy Garoppolo has looked like a future star for a while, and it’s not crazy to dream a scenario in which he’s an MVP candidate this season. After all, the 49ers have the most expensive offense in the NFL according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And if Garoppolo is one of the league’s best quarterbacks the 49ers can be in competition for a playoff spot, even in the brutal NFC.

Welcome to life in 2018: It seems we intentionally overhype young players just to overreact when they have normal regression. That’s what happened with Dak Prescott. Jimmy Garoppolo is a really fun story, and I assume he’s going to be very good. It also wouldn’t be a huge shock if he struggles some in his first full year as a starter. Don’t forget, the 49ers were 0-9 just eight months ago; they still have issues to work on. If Garoppolo isn’t great right away, that would probably lead to a negative overreaction that would equal all the over-the-top gushing over him this offseason. That’s just how it works these days.

The 49ers might be the team people are most excited to watch this season. They are tied for the NFL lead with five prime-time games, a rarity for a 6-10 team. I think the expectations are just a little too high. While 8-8 would be a fine growth season, it wouldn’t meet the hype. I think Jimmy Garoppolo plays well, the 49ers finish about .500 and perhaps next year they’ll have a huge breakout.

32. Cleveland Browns 31. Indianapolis Colts 30. New York Jets 29. Arizona Cardinals 28. Buffalo Bills 27. Cincinnati Bengals 26. Chicago Bears 25. New York Giants 24. Miami Dolphins 23. Washington Redskins 22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21. Houston Texans 20. Seattle Seahawks 19. Oakland Raiders 18. Denver Broncos

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

#_author:Frank Schwab #_lmsid:a077000000CFoGyAAL #_uuid:4709113a-287b-3b98-bf5c-368826d82896 #_revsp:99add987-dcd1-48ae-b801-e4aa58e4ebd0

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