Year-end Wrapup - looking back on 2008's predictions

Back in early January, I made a series of predictions for what we'd be seeing from Puffy in the new year. Much as I'd probably like to forget some of them, I thought it'd be fun for you guys, at least, to look back and see how accurate I was. It's mid-December, so I strongly doubt you'll be hearing any major new announcements from Puffy until next year. (Of course, I have been wrong before, as you'll soon see!)

I labeled these "safe bets", "flip a coin" and "long odds" - obviously in order of most to least likely.

Let's break it down:

Safe Bets

• Honeycreeper gets a US release. Nope! I call shenanigans on this one, though - it's not my fault. They announced it. Ami told us herself at the US shows. Epic Records sent out an email. Their publicity agency sent out a PR blast. It was all over the place. It was official.
  
  What the hell happened? Your guess is as good as mine. I blame the economy. Or George Bush.
  
  
• A new PUFFY CD single release in Japan - and a song not from honeycreeper. Yup. Two of them - "All Because of You" and "My Story", with another - "Hiyori Hime" - announced for early next year.
  
  
• New commercial endorsements. Yup. New endorsements and ads featuring their music from Kagome and MOW. Also, technically "new" but really more "back to the future", Yamaha re-signed with Puffy for a new promo for their Vox and Vino, an endorsement deal Puffy had in their early years.

Category prediction batting average: .666 (oOOoOOOoo!), but with an asterisk. It should have been 1.000.

Flip a Coin

• Honeycreeper scores a US hit. I kinda lose by default on that one, eh?
  
  
• Some sort of major DVD release. Well, I was half right on this. I think when all is said and done, you'll be able to call the Honeysweeper tour DVD being given as a limited edition single bonus a "major release", given that I think we'll see the whole show come out eventually. Not all this year at this point, though, obviously.
  
  
• PUFFY will do a return US tour, this time covering the East, or even the entire country. Well, this is why I called it "flip a coin", you know. Kinda depended on getting honeycreeper out here, as so many of these predictions did.
  
  
• One or more members of their current, "temporary" touring band will become permanent, replacing long-standing band members. I said in the original post that this would be a tough call to make, and it is - especially since Puffy hasn't had a major tour or album since I wrote that post. However, their "TV" band, at least, has been pretty stable, and their touring band has often featured Kawanishi from Jetki on drums, replacing the increasingly busy Takashi Furuta. Impossible to know if this is really permanent, though, or if they even really have a "permanent" band anymore - especially as their touring band and TV band is often different.
  
  I did say I'd like to see Enapou (née Enazou) full time, and she has appeared on pretty much all of Puffy's "live" TV appearances, but did not play in the actual live band during 2008.
  

Category prediction batting average: I'm gonna give myself .250 on this category (half right each on two of four). Which is significantly worse than flipping a coin :)

Long Odds

• Ami and Yumi join Facebook. Ha! No, at least not officially. But they are updating their MySpace page again, which had been left to rot for some time. So that's something, at least.
  
  
• A new album in 2008. Oh, so close! Puffy themselves have talked about a new album and have released a steady stream of singles, but it looks at this point as if we'll have to wait until 2009.
  
  
• PUFFY will begin producing their own albums. Incomplete on this one - no way to know yet. As doubtful as ever, though, especially as they have not self-produced any of the recent singles (which will likely appear on the album when it does come).
  
  
• A PUFFY breakup. Thankfully no. But their financial situation is obviously not what it once was, so there will always be a chance that either they or their record label will decide it's all no longer worth it. Even then, though, they may still exist as Puffy, just not as a band. They're still fashion icons for thirtysomething women in Japan, and they're friends, so why not?
  
  
• Yumi gets hitched. Nope. There were rumors, but they don't seem to have materialized. All you single guys still have a chance!
  
  
• PUFFY gets another TV show. Nope. Though Yumi has hosted various shows by herself, including Girl Pop Factory 08.

Category prediction batting average: .000. Now them are some long odds!

I'll do this again at the end of this month - I've already got some more predictions I'm mulling in my head. Maybe I'll do a little better next year!