12ki member "Mirai Shoujo" Audition - FINISHED.

[otaku_blue]

I'm just going off her early days.

Like I can't remember the word to describe it. She's level-headed(?).
I'm talking about her determination to make MM famous again, and her serious approach to work.

[Starra]

Yeah, I get where you're coming from. I still don't think she's that more mature than anyone else.

[fujii hina]

I'm not gonna blame the addition of younger members for this impression some may have of MM today. Younger people have always been added into MM. The average age of people joining that group, is 14. That number is definitely closer to the youngest to have ever joined than to the oldest.

I think the reason for this weird age disproportion we are in now is that the generations in between didn't stick around. Had the transition of generations more ordinal, we wouldn't feel this "vacuum" of maturity.

Leader turnovers: 1st gen(Yuko), 1st(Kaori), 4th(Hitomi), 5th(Ai), 6th(Sayu)... next in line is 9th!

Two Top were doing far more childish things than the bunch today are. It was just that they were surrounded by more adults/older people while they were running amok.

[Starra]

IIRC Yuuko's reason for graduating was because she felt too old (essentially) and felt that she was holding the group back. We might've had something a little bit similar to the current situation if Yuuko had hung around, but she didn't.

It's kinda interesting that Sayu's sorta in the same position as Yuuko, but she really doesn't seem like she's that much older than the rest. Not that she's immature -- it's just her image.

Plus I guess H!P didn't have a fountain of youth back in Yuuko's days.

[fujii hina]

I think in comparing Yuko with Sayu, the difference is that Yuko was 24 when she entered the group and left when she was about 28, I think. But Sayu entered the group at 13 and she's now 24.

[otaku_blue]

I agree about the crap transition.

The extent of the impact of 7th and 8th gen is quite arguable. To save myself any arguments, I personally think that during the Platinum Era was almost like another eclipse moment for MM. Management was all over the place and so was the group.

It did leave a big gap presently, but I think Sayu and management have worked hard to fixed these problems. Like originally I wouldv'e cringed and worried at the idea of 2 subleaders. But 9th and 10th gen are so ready to get their game on.

[fujii hina]

Some people might contest that Sayu has done much to the group as a leader and that whatever she's done contributes to anything significant *cough* sales *cough*

I think no one in the fandom is qualified to say whether it is the case or not. But I think her leadership has boosted morale in the group.

I think she was in a weird transition generation. She was definitely not riding on the coattails of MMs previous successes. By the time she got in the group, they weren't part of CMs for Pocky, for example. But I think she is the most self aware of her position to carry on this tradition or at least, she is the most outspoken about carrying it forward.

I hated her character before. Back when I didn't really understand what it meant to be an idol. It matters to them that people pay to shake hands with them. And I think her gratitude shows. I admire her for that.

Here's to hoping that the next generation will be part of a better MM.

[Starra]

I think most people used to hate Sayu's character. Up until recently (like, Idk, 2010?), she really wasn't that popular. For a long time, Eri, Reina and Miki were all more popular than her amongst the JPM members from the little I can remember. Sure, there were Sayu fans around, but I'm almost certain that she's more popular now than she was before. I think she's grown up quite a bit with the leadership responsibilities. Maybe having more members who need taking care of (rather than before, where most of them were independent and old enough to not need much guidance) helped too.

I think in comparing Yuko with Sayu, the difference is that Yuko was 24 when she entered the group and left when she was about 28, I think. But Sayu entered the group at 13 and she's now 24.

Oh, indeed. It was more a comparison about their positions -- although I agree that it's kinda different .

[danzarely]

The group did essentially dissolve and become an entirely new group within like a year and a half. I don't think I bothered really learning 9th and 10th gen names until 11th auditions rolled around haha

That being said, not even talking on a mature-adult-personality level, vocally- the group is void of maturity in that aspect. We always had the Kaoris, Ais, etc to add that OOMPH! of power to the songs - now we have 90% autotuned doubled/tripled up lines where the girls are mildly indistinguishable from one another. So another dash of 3 elementary school girls is just going to add to the random background pairings to sing "Oo~" "Ah~" "suki!" "bokutachi wa~" - honestly Ayumi isn't going to be able to step up as lead vocally for a while, Mizuki's voice lacks anything personal or interesting despite being stable, Masaki is almost there but still - no oomph! And lord knows Kanon and Haruka aren't going to be properly utilized.

So- that's why an onslaught of 12 year olds irks me. Just more autotuned "Wow~ Wow~ Wow~" lines to spread around. We'll never get another Memory Seishun no Hikari at this rate - it's all going to be Pyoko Pyoko Ultra.

[wotakubrandon]

So another dash of 3 elementary school girls is just going to add to the random background pairings to sing "Oo~" "Ah~" "suki!" "bokutachi wa~"

I kind of don't like that either. If they're going to be adding more girls I hope it's girls they intend to use.