Niigaki Risa graduated at Nippon Budokan [5/18]

[koregaboku]

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.

I think at most you're gonna get 6/7 months. Longer if you're lucky. Sayu indicated she doesn't seem to have more than 10 years in mind. So they're either gonna announce her grad in exactly a year from now (next years H!P Winter concert) or next years Spring concert.

[iceymoon]

I KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
i found a good way to describe it. "established" to me is when you can say things like "Well it's ______" without further explanation. like Reina makes an abrasive-sounding comment on her blog, and someone can just say "Well, it's Reina." and people will know what they mean.

so far we can say that about.... Zukki. Haruka. Eripon debatable, a maybe. even Aika is on the fence, and she's been around for years.
so yes, i want more of than in kyuukies and jukies. it looks like Mizuki will be the heard one to break, and Riho is heading in the direction of Aichan where her personality is not so easy to get glimpses of, and she puts more focus on her performances (she does seem to be a little less shy than Aichan and more confident in general though, considering her age and how she's already started being more talkative, so we'll see). Haruka i have no worries about, she's going to be who she is and either be Mikitty, Yaguchi, or Reina-like. Haruna is trying, but she's too nervous/unsure still so i have no idea where she's going to go from here.. Masaki is not trying/not good at it really, but her natural awkwardness is coming through so that may be where she's headed. Ayumi is definitely not jittery or shy like Haruna or Masaki, but i fear that she'll find the complacency of the normal-girl image that doesn't stand out for being other than girl-next-door-y... like Nacchi.

like i said, i see more potential in jukies in this area... but i need more time to see.

^ possibly/probably.. maybe if nobody else in H!P graduates (i forgot to mention all the eggs that left us this year in my surliness over another announcement), it'll be easier. i'll still hope for a reprieve.

^
^ i'm probably not going to France for Buono!, so that helps, but it still seems really really unlikely that we'll be able to go too.

[Sohee]

Listening to the concert rip, at least we find out that the group will have no problems with vocals even when Gaki is gone. Riho is insanely good, Kanon is underrated to the max, Mizuki is really good, even Erina sounds good on her parts every here and there. Ayumi will be great by spring and Haruka is stable. Masaki will grow to be great too. Haruna is still bad, but she can grow, too. Out of the 8 new girls, at least 4 can sing really well, and 3 are okay and will grow while one is bad. Vocally this group is 100% stable.

As for knowing them, I'm with icey on that. And that's probably why I haven't felt that strong of an attachment to the girls as I used to. But, it's also probably because we have seen less. By this time (early 2008) we had seen a lot more of Junjun and Linlin in the group as they had a MM-focused tv-show (which I want so much by April) and several DVD magazines. We haven't really had anything new with 9th gen for a while (as far as DVD magazines go at least) and 10th gen just had their first with this H!P tour.
They need more exposure as a group and I think the moment we get that, we'll easily see which roles they fill in the group. Aichan's graduation stole the focus of 9th gen for the fall tour, too.

And seeing how MM have all had separate jobs ever since the fall tour, the group hadn't really gotten together until they did the shooting of PyocoPyoco and we have yet to see it. So... we just need more exposure of MM as a group and not just 9th gen by themselves or possibly with 10th gen. We need to see them with the senpai. I think we'll see a lot more of that from now on though, so just gotta wait a bit longer.


On a different note, I'm kind of amused at how Sayu and Reina are about this. Sayu wrote on her blog and she seems genuinely sad about it. While Reina... barely mentioned it. Read some at 2ch and they seem to think that MM or at least Reina found out the 29th and going back to read Reina's blog then... she did seem quite pissed. And seeing how she just mentioned that Gaki is graduating and nothing more, she really just... I don't think she's taking it that well. By May she'll probably be okay with it, but right now I don't think she's very happy. ^^'

[danzarely]

I've been following MM since Mr. Moonlight - and Risa and I were born exactly 1 month apart in 1988 - so I've always had this fanboy relationship with her. When I met her at AX she even mentioned me later in an interview, so that was

But, honestly, after this Pyoko fiasco- I'm kind of glad to see her go. SHE WILL HAVE BEEN IN MORNING MUSUMER, LONG THAN NOT IN HER ENTIRE LIFETIME. She has been in 36 singles, Yuko was in 11..Maki was in..what..5?

I was the biggest Risa fan, FOREVER, and when she got her first lead in Egao YES Nude I was ecstatic but everyone groaned "ug don't ruin it.." - Risa haters were everyone, but now seeing all the love everyone has for her it makes me really happy

Risa IS Morning Musume. She started out a HOT MESS, and blossomed into an amazingly talented and beautiful individual.

I honestly really wont have any interest in Morning Musume after she has gone, so I suppose it's appropriate I graduate with her. It's time - these new little...children...they just don't have the Musume feeling - they feel like S/mileage, and I've never liked S/mileage. Reina-Sayu, keep it tight, but don't stay with these kids too long, for your own good. Sayu needs to hurry and snatch Mari's job. That bitch is making bank.

Congrats Risa- it's been a LONG RIDE, but you made it amazing
Have fun starting your real life girl

[danzarely]

Oh, by the way, I totally called this shit a month ago. Whenever one girl gets an obviously different costume than the rest- it means she's leaving. Called it. What what.

[marippeTakacrotchi]

This is disappointing. The only members I have any attachment to are Sayu and Reina. I've been a fan for 10+ years so I've been through the grads before. But really, three girls with more than a year's experience remaining in the group is just bizarre. Sayu and Reina basically have to carry the group until the new girls get some fanbase. It kind of looks like they're carrying the Pyoko Pyoko PV, too.

The 9th and 10th gen girls have potential but is anyone other than wota going to care? Probably not.

I will miss Risa. She's been one of favorites.

[Chatin]

Sayu and Reina rock. Riho, Kanon, and Erina are really starting to shine. It's unfortunate about those other six members, but MM will be fine. Risa hit her prime four years ago. It's too bad she didn't leave with Aichan.

[Mixi]

lol, but people have been saying there's no recognizable member left since... forever. I remember people saying MM was DOOMED after Maki, Nacchi, W, Kaori, Mari, Rika, Yossi graduated because the general public doesn't care. Even when I was reading old forum posts from the late 90s, death was called upon Morning Musume when Asuka Fukuda graduated.

I'd be happy if Morning Musume changed its name to truly hand down the group to the young members. The 9th and 10th generations are really good and I wish people would give them a chance.

[Bryan]

I'd be happy if Morning Musume changed its name to truly hand down the group to the young members. The 9th and 10th generations are really good and I wish people would give them a chance.

Ah, how refreshing that would be, but it would be more of a bane than a boon. Instant name recognition loss. Also, those girls wanted to be in Morning Musume, it'd be unfair to strip that pride away.

Anyway... <deep breath>

Given that Momusu is still one of the only groups that have this generational model, it's extremely hard to accept, because it just doesn't exist. There's no precedent. Momusu IS the precedent. Even when you do accept it, you don't really accept it. You see the girls that you watched in PVs, met at AX or in Paris or in Japan as YOUR Momusu. You want YOUR Momusu to last forever. But every few years this'll happen as long as Momusu continues to exist. I knew that from the minute T-pain announced the 9th generation auditions. It's generally hard for fans to look at the big picture, but such is human nature.

So, your interest might wane, as did the countless other fans and wota that have left over the years, but the void will be replaced by people who fall in love with these "children." I loved Gaki for a long time (until she was some Chinese girl...) and I will miss her, but she was 13 when she joined, a child in her own right. In ten years time, again if Momusu is still around, people will say the same about Riho or Haruka or Mizuki and call 13th or 14th gen "kids."

I'm obviously speaking to the choir here, but the last two years I've learned a lot about being a fan of this group and fandoms in general by observing icey and all of you. Actually, icey was my "fandom sensei" and the one who got me into all of this, so I'm sure I'm exuding a bit of her right now. xD

This is an exciting yet equally terrifying time. Unprecedented even. I'm always excited for the future, even if I'm not ready for it.

</bryanrant>

PS: Yay, my first long post on JPLOP.

[erilaz]

Risa IS Morning Musume. She started out a HOT MESS, and blossomed into an amazingly talented and beautiful individual.

My first taste of Morning Musume。was when they were on HEY! HEY! HEY! in 2002, performing "Souda! We're ALIVE". The one member who stood out during this initial encounter was the weird-looking girl who delivered a rather cringeworthy "We're alive" as her solo line. What a long way she's come since then!