Niigaki Risa graduated at Nippon Budokan [5/18]

[Celedam]

I wonder who will be the next H!P leader. Probably the next MM leader (Sayu) but if we speak about the longest time in H!P it would be Shimizu. I dream of the day when a H!P kids member will become the H!P leader.

The Kids weren't considered full members until they debuted in their current groups. So Sayu and Reina still have seniority for the time being.

[iceymoon]

^ exactly what I was going to say, H!P Kids were the equivalent of eggs back then. and clearly the egg thing doesn't count a lot for seniority once they're debuted, considering the order we've seen them use for Jukies and ShinS/mileage.

but i think Saki will have her time as leader if she hangs on for another 2-4 years. possibly even sooner, but i'm hoping Sayu and/or Reina will remain at least that long. after all, they are really needed while Kyuu/Jukies carve out their places and establish what this new Morning Musume is about exactly.

then again, that's what i thought about Gaki too (though i only gave her 2 years max).

[Sohee]

Tsunku has plans for MM until 2014 so far, probably even more than that. Disbanding won't happen any time soon.

And seriously. Gaki has been there for a long time and stuff, yes. I'm sad to see her go too. But 9th and 10th have already improved a lot, especially 9th gen, and if Sayu leaves in a year then 9th gen have been there for 2 years, and if Reina is a year after that's 3 years for 9th gen and so on and on. People seem to think that 9th gen and 10th gen will stay newbies for ages. By the fall tour 9th gen will have gone through six concert tours, and by next year even more. Our favorites/the ones we're used graduates and that's weird and all but 9th and 10th are growing too, we can't really forget that. 11th will probably be added at the end of the year/early 2013, too and by then 9th and possibly 10th will be just fine.

[Parhelion69]

After Reina and Sayu leave, no one will be left as identifiable "Morning Musume". Sure the Wota will still exist but after Eri-JunJun-LinLin-Ai-Gaki and then Sayu and Reina leave who's left? Aika and a bunch of children??? I understand that the show keeps going on and that graduation of members is inevitable, regardless of popularity, but sooner or later something's gotta give.

You're in the same conflict that many people had several years ago, first gen members, then Nacci, Yossie and yet momosu continues. They're not going anywhere.

[SweetBene]

[
The Kids weren't considered full members until they debuted in their current groups. So Sayu and Reina still have seniority for the time being.

^ exactly what I was going to say, H!P Kids were the equivalent of eggs back then. and clearly the egg thing doesn't count a lot for seniority once they're debuted, considering the order we've seen them use for Jukies and ShinS/mileage.

Oh yep, I already forgot that

And seriously. Gaki has been there for a long time and stuff, yes. I'm sad to see her go too. But 9th and 10th have already improved a lot, especially 9th gen, and if Sayu leaves in a year then 9th gen have been there for 2 years, and if Reina is a year after that's 3 years for 9th gen and so on and on. People seem to think that 9th gen and 10th gen will stay newbies for ages. By the fall tour 9th gen will have gone through six concert tours, and by next year even more. Our favorites/the ones we're used graduates and that's weird and all but 9th and 10th are growing too, we can't really forget that. 11th will probably be added at the end of the year/early 2013, too and by then 9th and possibly 10th will be just fine.

100% agree

[koregaboku]

You're in the same conflict that many people had several years ago, first gen members, then Nacci, Yossie and yet momosu continues. They're not going anywhere.

I wasn't a fan years ago so it's a new conflict for me
And has anyone else noticed that this all seems to be according to Sayu's plans?
She said after Ai/Gaki she plans to be leader for about a year graduating during her 10th year as MM.

Gaki graduates May 2012.
Sayu takes the reigns until May/June 2013.
Bam, a year of "leader" and her 10th year.

Maybe Sayu knows things we dont...

[Celedam]

Yes, she probably does.

She described exactly that scenario during one of her talent appearances. (May have been an episode of ZakiKami, I'm not sure.) She might have been joking, but I personally don't think so — she just blurted it out as an it's-already-been-decided answer to a question.

[koregaboku]

I was thinking about the exact same episode!
It was definitely a Zakikami episode and then Zakiyama got mad at her for giving such a "real" answer to the question. They said they expected/wanted her to give the standard idol answer of "I'll always be Morning Musume!"


It's nice to see that Sayu isn't nowhere near as dumb as she's perceived though and has thought about the future (probably extremely similar to Mari's as a tarento/variety artist even though Sayu said she'd like to go solo...)

[iceymoon]

i think they'll be fine by then but it's hard to see it now. kyuukies have been in for a full year now.. i'm not as attached to them as i was to JunLin by this time. i mean, i think they're great, but i feel like i know them as Momusu way less. by this time JunJun had risen to my 2nd favorite and LinLin had become my image of MM's comedic side. even Aika i had established as the girl i totally hate with a passion, so she had a firm place in my head. for kyuukies, it's like i know their individual quirks and personalities, yet they're not that strongly cemented as members in the group yet. so i feel like they still need time to take a large slice of the personality pie (not in terms of having a personality, in terms of owning it and being able to identify "oh, this is MM"), and then there's jukies who are barely getting started on all this.

it's hard to explain it, it's like an identifying and resonating rather than just being able to list some traits each member has. i know they'll get there, but with graduations coming and more looming in the not-so-distant-future, i can't help but want that to either happen quicker or for the rokkies to hang around longer. also, i want to postpone an Aika-lead MM for as long as possible. >>;;;;; but that's only part of it, i really do need someone whose personality is as strong and established as rokkies (which granted are large shoes to fill) before they leave. so far the only one who is seeming to step up to the plate is Haruka, but in general jukies are showing more promise in that department than kyuukies so i'm hopeful. also, Kanon has a really strong personality, but it's kind of everywhere. it's like if LinLin had been the dominating personality of the group, they're really funny but not what we need in the center all the time.

i just hope the graduations are spaced at least a year apart from now on, not like the 8-9 month gaps we've been seeing for Aichan and Gaki. and i could use a break from the announcements for a little bit, so PLEASE GOD OF IDOLS if you're listening, please give Sayu at least 1 full year after May before announcing her grad.

also, something i was talking about with Bryan last night.. this period, from EriJunLin's grad/announcement to Gaki's graduation, will have been Platinum Era's verion of the Golden Era's mass graduations from 2003-2005. in a span of two years they lost Kago, Tsuji, Nacchi, Kaori, Rika & Yaguchi.. in our span we lost Eri, Jun, Lin, Aichan and Gaki. the difference being, of course, that the remaining members called for different responses to this: in 2003 the group was its largest, and Tsunku didn't want to grow it anymore. so in that span of time he only added 1 more member; in 2010 the group was shrunk to the smallest it's ever been, so Tsunku immediately added four members, and no doubt had it planned all along that he would add several more, already knowing that Aichan and Gaki would be leaving as well.

</rambleyicey>

[erilaz]

This is going to be a big one for me. Risa's the last remaining member of those who were in Morning Musume。when I first discovered them.

Unfortunately I won't be able to afford another trip to Japan soon enough to go to her grad concert.