12ki member "Mirai Shoujo" Audition - FINISHED.

[Chibs]

6th gen wasn't well received either for awhile, Eri didn't even start to get attention of any kind till 2007.

Eri was quite popular, I dont know where your getting your information. Yes I maybe biased, but I do know one thing Eri has been one of the more popular musumes at least within the fandom.

[AyuHikaru]

My info was being in the fandom at the time. She was barely talked about and even in Joshi-whatever it made fun of her for not picking a personality. Her first solo line in MM wasn't until Ai Araba (I don't count otome and sakura gumi). She got somewhat popular for Eric Kamezou and Elizabeth whoever, but she was pretty niche for awhile there. Like hipster fans liked Eri. She really didn't get "OMG popular" till Platinum Era.

This is from the HaroPro Wiki: "Initially, Kamei struggled the most out of the sixth generation to create a presence for herself." in the timeline of 2005

Which is absolutely true.

[Pavlova]

^ ^Yeah, and Ai was from rather early on.

And I'm pretty sure Makoto got shafted for her lack of popularity. If she had been hugely popular she would have remained longer, I'm rather sure. Also I don't think Risa is ever a "name up there with the likes of Natsumi Abe and Goto Maki". Gaki-san was only more popular than most 9th-10th gen girl because of her longevity, but was never any sort of wota favorite.

^And what you are saying is she wasn't pushed by management. Which has nothing to do with popularity per say. I remember 2ch being all over Eri really early after 6th gen joined. And she was known for having some of the most dedicated wota for a long time. Sayu was the unpopular one, and Reina got popularity early enough as well (thanks to her numerous photobooks, no doubt).

it's not like you're the only one who was in the fandom at the time, we remember things too, and we remember differently apparently.

[AyuHikaru]

No need to be condescending, I'm just saying what I saw.

Like I said, Eri had a FEW dedicated wota. She was a niche idol, H!P hipsters liked her. I said that above if you noticed.

Aichan was not popular till Konno graduated. We've had this conversation before on the forums. Aichan was not pushed or liked till after 2006. Her turn in Mini Moni didn't help, as a lot of wota blamed her for it's decline. Konno was HUGELY popular and overshadowed the rest of her Gen.

[Chibs]

Its not like she needed a push, she had her own segment on TV for like 2-3 years. It got to the point where all they had to do was dump Eri with one or two musumes and have a ride the rollercoaster segment. Not the best idea mind you.

edit: how much is a few? Are you saying she was like Miyamoto is now, with some Mr. Moneybanks rolling her?
edit2: I think the lack of push as far as lines was more to her condition rather than her lack of popularity.

[Pavlova]

If she had juts had a "few dedicated wota" she wouldn't have gotten the quantity of PB she was getting. She was getting them because people were buying them, because she had fans. She and Reina were getting them at the same rate, while Sayu had to wait 3 years ish between her two PB. It wasn't until later (Platinum Era) that Sayumi joined Eri in terms of popularity. Aichan was pushed early on, there were just a lot more older members with more seniority. I don't know where you guys get that she "wasn't pushed". She got a lot more lines than any other 5th gen member as soon as they "settled in" (after their first few singles). She also got a whole bunch of photobooks which would have never happened if they hadn't sold. She got 2-3 photobooks before Konno even got one. How is that her being "totally overshadowed and not pushed before Konno graduated" exactly?

We can remember what rate less popular members were getting PBs during the same era, just look at Kei, Kaori and such. Or how long Risa and Makoto had to wait for their first photobooks. Same with lines. After "Mister Moonlight" and a few evenly distributed songs, Aichan got all the lines for her gen. She's all over The Manpower and Iroppoi Jirettai which predates Konno's graduation. She also was featured prominently dancing in the Do it! Now PV, and such. Eri on the contrary was never pushed by management until much later outside of PBs, but she had a strong fanbase nonetheless, and in that sense is very similar to Kudou (who isn't pushed at all, but also has a bigger fanbase then her genmates).

I really wish we had Mixi ratings and members sales rankings from back then to prove my point but all we have is photobooks sales and number of lines.

[Sohee]

Some members get pushed for different reasons, it's not much more complicated than that. And then some doesn't get pushed at all. They fell into doing that a lot during Platinum era (8th gen especially), but I think they're trying to get back to pushing girls differently what with SATOYAMA/UMI and radios and all. Would just be nice to see them push Kanon a bit too as I'd say she's the only one of 9th and 10th that isn't getting very pushed at all right now. Maybe Haruna a bit, too.

[Chibs]

April 2005

1 Asami Konno
2 Eri Kamei
3 Ai Takahashi
4 Sayumi Michiseige
5 Reina Tanaka
6 Hitomi Yoshizawa
7 Miki Fujimoto
8 Mari Yaguchi
9 Rika Ishikawa
10 Risa Nigaki
11 Makoto Ogawa

May 2005

1 Ai Takahasi
2 Asami Konno
3 Eri Kamei
4 Kohura Kasumi
5 Rika Ishikawa
6 Sayumi Michisiege
7 Reina Tanaka
8 Hitomi Yoshizawa
9 Miki Fujimoto
10 Makoto Ogawa
11 Risa Nigaki

June 2005

1 Asami Konno
2 Eri Kamei
3 Sayumi Michiseige
4 Ai Takahashi
5 Reina Tanaka
6 Hitomi Yoshizawa
7 Kohura Kasumi
8 Risa Nigaki
9 Miki Fujimoto
10 Makoto Ogawa
this is sales ranking from tokyo store

[Pavlova]

Yeah 8th gen got shafted hard. I think Tsunku was willing but management wasn't. That's the impression I got anyway.

Then again, I think I'd put Kanon in the same boat as Kei or Aika. The type of girl who isn't appealing to most wota. In Kei and Kanon's case, despite their talent. Kei got to shine on TV, but only because Momusu had such a spotlight back then, and she was very quick at grasping opportunities that were thrown her way. I think in Aika and Kanon's cases, management just sort of went "Tsunku didn't pick the right girl so let's just ignore her". Whereas with girls like Eri and such they see potential so push these girls some other way, I think. And as far as line distribution goes, Tsunku likes his aces, no doubt about that.

I'd say Haruna is getting a push in so far as she's been on some talk shows, hasn't she? Or did I hallucinate that? I can't seem to remember. I think they are pushing her as some type of counterbalance to Mizuki as "Sayu's replacement". To me it feels as if they want to have both girls together stand in for her. I wouldn't be surprised to see her lines go that way, whenever she goes. Strangely enough Duu is the one who seems to be getting the least push out of 10th gen, despite being the most popular girl (due to her pre-existing fanbase, no doubt).

Chibs, thanks for the numbers! Sort of weird to see Miki THAT low.

[Starra]

I don't remember Eri being popular until... I dunno. I can't remember when, but she wasn't that popular initially. I think she came out of her shell (heh) around the time of Platinum, and that's when she started being popular. By the time she graduated, she had a large fanbase, but that wasn't the case initially.

I don't think PBs are an accurate way of determining how popular a member is, personally. Like, otherwise Miyabi and Risako would have more PBs. Konkon's PBs sold like crazy, but lol, Konkon wasn't that popular (at least not when she was in MM。). Not that there weren't any Konkon fans (I've been one since 2003ish), but, y'know. I just think it's an invalid argument to make.

I feel sorry for 8th gen . They never really did anything. I love them, but honestly, it was a mess of a generation and everything related to those members was handled poorly. Not saying Junjun and Linlin were a bad decision, but I just think the management didn't know what to do with them. As for Aika, she just wasn't popular (hardly anyone liked her initially, IIRC). Idk, but I think that maybe if Junjun and Linlin didn't happen, Aika would've been pushed a bit more. Just given Egao YES Nude and Kanashimi Twilight. But, well, we'll never know.

I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. This is probably incorrect. Idk. I just felt the need to post something .