One thing that will impress me about Airi forever, regardless of what happens with her debut, is how she behaved in the aftermath of
SHOCK!, C-ute's single from 8 years ago. For those who don't remember, Airi was given "center" in this song, to an overwhelming extent. Although there had previously been other album solo cuts featuring Airi or other members, as a single, this song was basically her solo debut, with the rest of C-ute merely as backup.
Even back then, UF realized what they had on their hands with Airi. One can speculate that had this song been a smash, Airi might've been spun off as a soloist way back then. But that's not what happened, quite the opposite. The fans rebelled with their wallets; it was their lowest-selling major single up to that point, and led to a period of repeated low sales, the nadir of C-ute's career, until it was revived by "Jitensha." Anyway, UF apparently realized that the fans weren't ready for Airi to go solo or to become the main featured singer -- that wasn't what C-ute was about. Singles released after that were strongly ensemble-oriented.
And what did Airi do? She just slid right back into being one of the regular members, no pouting, no drama. She simply continued to give her all to C-ute as a group for seven more years until they disbanded. We've all seen how she eagerly and joyfully shared the spotlight, and continued to be kind to her bandmates and humble and self-effacing in public. From SHOCK!, she just patiently waited 8 years to debut, never once acting entitled or above the rest.