Enter Another New Face, and a Blessed Holiday

Today, on this December 25, a new person enters the ranks of the blessed clergy of the Church of Maasa.

My name is Haru, I've been a fan of Maasa for but a short time -- reformed from the Cathedral of Miyabi, and still somewhat a believer. but fully I am devoted to our Heavenly Mother Maasa.

By now, our Heavenly Mother has probably finished her celebrations of Christmas (as it is almost 16:00, 4:00 PM for the Americans, in Japan as I write this blog) and is enjoying a cozy afternoon and evening with her family. Perhaps her group mates have surprised her with gifts as well. Being a teenage girl, I'm sure she received things like lotions and soaps and clothing, and of course something cute. And living in the technological world, she may have even gotten a new cell phone, or laptop. And of course, being the otaku she is, I'm sure she received some manga as well.

My friends, I hope you enjoy the Christmas season with warmth in your heart, and remember that wherever you may be this holiday season, Maasa will be with you.

Amen.

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On this day...

Nineteen years ago today the Great Mother experienced her first moments in the world. And we reached the official start date for the lesser-known Maaist dating system, which today becomes AMV (or AM for short) 20.

And so the Church wishes a happy Birthday to the Holy Mother, Maasa, and a happy Awesome Day to the people. 

Just how are you all celebrating? I shall celebrate today with the consumption of good food and alcohol. A feast for the coming year, as it were. Perhaps you are the same. Perhaps you have grander ideas. Do share.

I know that one honourable Maaist is providing the service of a brief timeline of the history of Maasa in Hello! Project. It is no small undertaking, but he has catalogued much information and many pictures as diligently as one could possibly hope to ask. You can find this fine reliquary here.

May Maasa continue to watch over you in the coming year, and may you continue to watch over her.

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Happy birthday, Maasa!

Brothers, Sisters, Comrades, the day has come! The greatest day of the year where kindness is given unto your fellow man, and you are rewarded with beauty given unto you by the Great Sudou Herself!

This day, July the third is the anniversary of the corporeal incarnation of the Maasa.

On this exact day, July the third, in the year of our Mama, two thousand ten, Maasa celebrates the 18th anniversary of Her birth.

At this time, I would like to lead a prayer with quote from the Maasaist Scripture, Genesis 1:1-1:6:

In the beginning Tsunku created the Hello! Project and the Kids.

And the Kids were without form, and a great mass. And the Spirit of Maa moved upon the face of the Workshop.

And Maasa said, "Let there be dvds!" and lo there were dvds.

And Maasa was in the dvds, and the dvds were good: And Tsunku divided the Workshop from the Kids.

And Tsunku called the Workshop Berryz, and the Kids C-ute. And the third of March was Berryz day.

And so it was so.

Happy birthday, Maasa!

May you continue to shine brilliantly, whether from the sidelines, from the back, or in the front.

I will end with a link to one of the greatest videos ever made: The Maasa version of Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance (uploaded to youtube by our own Dran).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggSBoWtwNlU

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Maasa Matsuri fast approaching

Despite what AKB radicals may have you believe, we Maaists are actually a civilized and cultured people. And so today, I'd like us to celebrate that.

If you remember, March marks not only the beginning of Spring, but also the first anniversary of Maasa's photobook. We celebrated it last year with Maasa Matsuri, and I'd like to continue the now-tradition into the new decade. But rather than having it restricted to a single day (that is the 11th), I suggest that Maasa Matsuri become a long holiday. March 3 was the day that the photobook was announced, if I recall. So lets have the fortnight before the 11th mark the beginning of our culture festival.

"Culture festival", I hear you wonder? Well, we'll use this fortnight to expand and share our culture. We can prove to the non-believers that we aren't simply insane cultists, and we can enjoy the wonderful content that every one of us is capable of producing. So I urge you to spread the word throughout the world and create new and exciting content for the Church.

"What kind of content?" Anything you want. If you are good at writing stories, perhaps you could share with us any Maasa related stories you have written or are writing. Maybe you are a performer, and can perform a song in her honor. If you are an artist, don't feel left out, we'd love to see your art too. Anything goes. Draw on your talent and skills. That is the basis for all art and culture.

So lets show our support for Maasa and fill the internet with wonderful things. And if you do have something to share, be sure to post in the comments or something. I'd love to see what everyone can do.

Naturally I will also have fun with this. In the spirit of the Church, I've written a little anthem which celebrates our mother and the Church. It's sung to the tune of God Save the Queen.

    Long live our Holy Mother
    Long may her words inspire
    Long live Maasa
    May you be prosperous
    Mighty and glorious
    Long to watch over us
    O, Divine Maasa

    O, Children of Maasa rise
    For our threatened faith
    We'll answer the call
    We'll fight them in the streets
    Or where e'er they challenge us
    On thee our freedom rests
    Long live Maasa

    Thy choicest gifts in store
    On her be pleased to pour
    Long may she reign
    May she defend our rights
    May we serve with all our might
    And sing with heart and voice
    O, Divine Maasa

Got your own idea for a Church anthem? A song you think would work better or is more fitting? Better lyricist? Drop me a message too, I would love to see. The Church is, of course, a community. And we should work together to create a religion that we can be proud of.

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Happy Maasa Day!

That time has finally come. July 3rd. Maasa Day - also referred to by Charmy_Renai as Awesome Day.

How did you folks celebrate our favourite religious holiday?

This is what I did.

Yesterday, when it turned midnight on the 3rd in Japan, I counted down the last 10 seconds to Maasa's birthday - everyone in IRC was pretty confused by it, except those who had seen me talking about how Maasa's birthday was only a few hours away all morning. Yeah. I'm a Maaist through and through, and people damn well know it.

10.
9.
...
2.
1.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAASA! And a HAPPY AWESOME DAY to everyone.

Brilhantes10 and I, as though we had read eachother's minds and been planning to do this for hours (I had, anyway!) suddenly hit our IRC "Now Playing" and we both were listening to Berryz Koubou's TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY from the first album 1st Chou Berryz. Wise men think alike, I always say.

My next goal was to bake a cake. I had deliberated for days on end about what kind of cake to make. Sponge cake with icing? Chocolate cake? In the end, after a suggestion from ginaRAWR, I went for what seemed like the most appropriate. Because Maasa is a Berryz member and her colour is blue, I went for a blueberry cheesecake. Genius, no?

So I had bought the necissary ingredients a couple days in advance. And I got to work! Well, okay. I suck at baking, so I had my mother to guide me - not to mention Maasa herself.

In the end I think it came out quite well. And the blueberries tasted great! It may not look all that good, but it tasted better than it looks, I assure you.







Cheesecake filled with blueberries and topped with even more blueberries. Lovely.

So tell me how you celebrated this awesome day! Post in the comments.

And I shall leave you with Maa's blessing, may we continue to support her over the coming year as we have in the past, and may Maa continue to guide and protect us as she has done til now.

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Happy....!

Well, this series of posts on Maasa's PB seems to be finally drawing to a near close. As I don't have the PB yet, I can't comment on it, and I'll post the last in the series (a review of the photobook) when I see it. But for now, I'll announce the name of the holiday we have all (hopefully) been celebrating today.

There were many great suggestions, and some not-so great, but I feel that I have made a good choice, and had I put a poll up asking you to pick from the final three or whatever, you may have picked it too. Actually, when I first put out the call for name suggestions, I had a poll in mind as the deciding factor, but alas we have found the one downside to UFA/Maasa's aggressive publicity campaign for the photobook... Time was in short supply. There wasn't enough time to get in suggestions, pick the top 3 and then poll you all on which you like best, as we only had about 9 days to work with between the announcement of the photobook and now.

And now, without further ado, the name of the holiday: Maasa Matsuri! As suggested by Kurisu.

This was my favourite, and although the others were good too, I found this was the easiest to remember and it just rolls off the tongue. Also, the word matsuri, in case anyone didn't know, is translated to "festival" in english. Festivals can have a wide range of ways to celebrate, right? And not to mention that festivals are fun! Besides... Everyone loves a bit of aliteration.

Another one that did interest me was the idea of naming March 2nd as Photobook Proclamation Day, as suggested by 20000. This has an interesting ring to it, and interestingly sounds like a complete contrast to Maasa Matsuri where it has a much more serious sound and much more religious/politicaly themed. So that name gets the honourable mention, and I have a good mind to make that one official too. What do the rest of you think?

Anyway, the photobook is out today, and Maasa Matsuri is upon us. How have you guys been celebrating? Or how do you plan on celebrating? Like any festival worth it's money, I'll probably eat lots of food, drink and, to add that Maasa touch to it, have a Berryz concert marathon. Expect me to be up at 5am watching Berryz Koubou 2005 Aki ~Switch On!~ or something. If you have a blog, how about writing over the next couple of days about the photobook and about how you spent Maasa Matsuri? Be sure to leave a link in the comments, as I'd love to read them. Or you could simply share with us about it in the comments section itself, should you feel so inclined.

Also, I hear that, not only has Maasa's photobook been on the top-sellers on amazon since it was announced, it has actually sold out. I expect a new photobook is already in the works, my friends!

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A new religious holiday!

With Maasa's first photobook bordering on release, and because it's such a monumental occasion for the Church and for Hello!Project alike, I have decided to declare it's release date, 11th March, a holiday! A day used to celebrate, not just the release of the photobook, but to celebrate Maasa and all the hard work she has done for us. Besides, any excuse for a drink is a good one, right?

Now, this is where this entry should hopefully get interesting. All good holidays deserve a good name, right? So this is your chance as readers and followers to participate in the way the Church works. I've decided to let you, the readers, decide on the name of the holiday. So, what I want you to do is come up with your best names for the day and ask your friends too! After all, the more choices we have the more likely we are to get a really great one, right? Right!

Of course, there is always a distinct possibility that noone will come up with an idea, in which case I'll have to think of a name myself. But that'd just about defeat the point of this entire post, so let's not have it come to that.

Anyway, on the topic of the photobook, it's not confirmed, but the rumour is spreading that this is a preview of the photobook:

EDIT: It appears to have surfaced that this is not Maasa, but apparently an idol called Risa Yoshiki. I'll leave the picture here due to the sheer resemblance to Maasa and as a "what Maasa's PB could look like".

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