Elders got kicked out of H!P

[Zunu]

I suspect that Atsuck will keep doing what she's doing now, just not as a member of H!P. She probably has as solid a future as any of those girls -- dance instructor, background singer, emcee, planner, organizer.

I don't think Makochan was ever popular enough to take off as a talent, but who knows, I'd have said exactly the same about Satoda. And I still can't believe Miuna vanished down a dark hole never to be seen again. Okada. Where the hell is her Idol Video already??

[Starra]

You, sir, have obviously never seen a single T&C performance. They pnwed.

Atsukool is far more talented than you bb. And you know I love you.


Since she's done music before H!P (OPD), I reckon she could become either a hip hop artist or an enka singer. She and Maeda Yuki should form a unit. The talent would be A M A Z I N G.

[Zunu]

^ Eh? What did I say that contradicted any of that? I ran off a list of her talents, even.

[Starra]

You called her Atsuck.

[Zunu]

Well that's coz I can barely stand to look at her and I find her annoying to boot. But she's among the greatest in H!P history in terms of sheer talent, I'll admit that. She was sorta cute waaaay back in the day, dunno why she skeeves me out now.

[OmgItsMe]

Lol I forgot about the Evil Squirrel!
I guess it hasnt sunk in yet. It's been 2 years I've been a fan and it feels like forever cant believe its happening. I hope their careers are better. I got to admit I'm hating the direction H!P is going.

[hebitsukaiza]

My thoughts on this are...

losing the show was a MAJOR revenue loss. Although the show may have been meant to promote CDs, the CDs weren't selling while the show was producing a real revenue stream from the commercial advertising that went along with it.

The majority of the women on this list have been, realisticly, irrelevant to the company for a good while now. As far as most would be concerned a lot of them weren't even in show business any longer. You might get some endorsement deals for a couple of them now and again, but it had little to nothing to do with the "Hello! Project" brand. But for the majority of the list, they were not churning out selling CDs, they were not making appearances outside of their concerts which were only breaking even.

Elder's Club was an attempt to rejuvenate these talents by hoping that people would go to see the old, classic Morning Musume and such-- it just didn't work out well (perhaps partially to do with that name choice!)

Since they already threw out their blurlesque-style Hello! Project group (but kept the members?), the only people on this list who had any reason to continue to exist as part of Hello! Project were Ongaku Gatas-- and their original point was to be a soccer team to promote Hello! Project, it was kind of bizarre that they were singing to begin with!

Of course, perhaps I have a bitter view on this as the only names on this list that I ever felt terribly attached to were Yaguchi and Konno and I made peace with them being laid off quite a while ago. Anyone else I really liked left the company ENTIRELY and was never part of this "elder club" thing or is still part of Morning Musume (and maybe 1 outside).

In effect, this is cutting down the roster and refocusing the Hello! Project brand back to the THINGS that made money for them in the past rather than the PEOPLE that were involved. The Ishikawa Rika and Yoshizawa Hitomi who were nationally recognized were very different people than those they have now become. Melon Kinebi was never important, Nakazawa and Yasuda spent more time in Morning Musume/Hello! Project being bashed about how they didn't belong there than they did being promoted as a key part (and I am sure their fans know different, but does the majority of the TV audience?)

Matsuura Aya imploded quite a while ago for reason that elude me, Maki and Miki already left the brand and while Nacchi might net some sales, it is not clear if association with the H!P brand is good for either. The same is true of Ishikawa Rika and Yoshizawa Hitomi-- while their names will always be associated with Morning Musume from a long time ago, a negative stigma became attached to the group while they were part of it (and in Rika's case, perhaps in a way BECAUSE of her presence).

Iida and Tsuji already have lives outside of this and don't need to be traveling the country on a pop star's schedule right now anyway.

All in all, outside of Gatas, this is effectively a 0-sum loss for the company and helps shrink the roster and brand down to a more managable size so they can focus on the areas they excelled in before-- otaku and children with their live action version of a goofball anime show.

So really, the death of having a television show is a much, much greater blow to the brand and the company than this is. This is making what was already technically true, officially so. There really isn't any difference between not giving someone any meaningful work for 2-5 years and transferring them out of the company.

[Starra]

Yuko and Nacchi (and Mari and Kei) are important because without them, we wouldn't be here.

[hebitsukaiza]

Okay, so in this case one should still remain enrolled in their schools and especially their school clubs and circles, particularly the founding members.

Yes, they are important as part of the PAST. However, when one runs a company you should never enshrine the past to the detriment of your future potential and growth.

In their present state, it doesn't help either the brand nor them to remain part of it. They can't grow and the brand's focus gets too wide and split making it overall weaker.
I am sure a lot of them CAN'T do some of the things they want to and should be doing BECAUSE they feel tied to doing this out of loyalty.

And those who still want to be idols will just be working out of UFA-- so its not like they are going far.

[Starra]

Yes, but as a company, one should also look at their past falures and successes and see what has worked and what hasn't. And UF* doesn't do that.