Is Tsunku Ready to Graduate Ai?
Takahashi Ai. The 24 year old leader of Morning Musume, Hello!Project’s HBIC, best vocalist, most beautiful member, etc etc. Whatever you may label her, EVERYONE knows who she is(well, anyone that matters anyway).
She(and her slightly retarded, not as pretty fellow gen-mate Niigaki Risa) recently celebrated nine years as members of Morning Musume. Impressive, yes?
But even Iida Kaori thinks nine years is a tad bit too much. Leaving Risa aside, is Tsunku ready to graduate Ai, a member with almost a decade of experience? Is it fair to leave her in and kick out JunLin, two members who will be legendary for years to come?
Well, no, in both cases.
Ai’s Reach
Ai-chan is in so many ways such an important element in H!P that Tsunku wouldn’t dare get rid of her unless he were sure that Momusu would be “successful”(whatever that word means these days in the J-Pop market) without her.
She is the most popular member. If you were to go up to a random person in Japan and ask who they knew from MM, the majority would point out Ai-chan first(claiming they don’t know any other members comes second). Ai is also the most promoted member of Momusu, thus why she has this popularity. In J-Pop, it’s a matter of promotion, promotion, promotion. No matter how much you suck(i.e. Sayumi and AKB48′s Beginner[which will obviously sell amazingly], as long as you get your name out there, people will eventually succumb to you.
Plus, Ai is just not hate-able.
Role As A Leader
Let’s face it, Ai has taken quite some criticism as MM’s leader ever since Miki decided to GTFO. I won’t lie, I initially thought she was no good as a leader. Her personality(Virgo, after all~) just isn’t suited for a leader role. Sure, she’s always been a stand out talent but her personality wasn’t ever her strong point(she’s adorable, but that’s it). Former leaders like Yossie, Yuko, Mari and Miki all fitted the role perfectly(Iida not so much) but Ai’s quiet and soft-spoken personality just didn’t work out.
I still think she’s MM’s weakest leader but I won’t deny that she has stepped up to the responsibility especially well and has lead MM through a lot these past 3 years. Of course, members like Sayu, Reina, Gaki and even Linlin would look better in the leader position.
The Power of Ai-Chan
She’s the groups strongest vocalist and the best H!P has ever had once you think about it. Again, it’s a matter of taste(Miki or Ayaya could easily take that place) but her range and vibrato do it for me. Even so, I prefer Eri’s voice, knowing that Ai’s is “better”.
She’s flawlessly beautiful and her dancing is superb. She gets the most solos in all the singles, thus singing the most. But here’s something you probably didn’t know. In songs like Kimagure Princess and Nanchatte Renai, Ai sings every single line.
It’s true. Similar to how Inaba Atsuko did for Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~ MANY years ago, Tsunku uses Ai’s precious voice as the background vocals in each line of the song.
The best way to hear this is to listen to the song through headphones and then slightly unplug the headphones from the jack. Enough so you still hear the music but it’s noticeably different than the original. Here you’ll hear the “second layer” of the song and really get to see how much Ai there really is~
What’s your opinion on Ai-chan? Do you love or hate her? Is she really that important for H!P?
Ai-chan…….ugh. She was only good in mini moni in my eyes. She sings good, yes. But she severely lacks personality, especially for someone in a leadership position. I want her gone so badly, but I know Tsunku wont get rid of her for a while. I love Risa the most, but I fear she’s on the chopping block for next year T_T
I love Ai-chan–she really is the best singer H!P has ever had, she’s an incredible VOCAL leader (not necessarily in the other areas), and yadda yadda. But she really needs to graduate.
And get rid of Risa GAAAAAWD.
Oh yeah, and I totally support Sayu as the next leader…I know you totally hate her guts but I think she’d do a great job–and she’s logically the next in line unless 6th gen gtfos soon.
Lol yea, I hate her. xD But I do agree she’d make a great leader and really give a new image to MM. I support Sayu for leader. :3
And since Eri is leaving, chances of that aren’t slim. Eri wouldn’t have been a good leader either imo. >_<
I don’t like Ai. I’ve actually started to hate Ai. You can kind of tell that she thinks that she is the shit. I don’t like that so I’ve started to hate her. Plus, I know at one point she has been mean to my favorite (Sayumi). I have video proof.
I wanna see that!
All of them have been mean to Sayumi once very clearly. When Sayumi said she liked AKB48 all of the members looked at her like she was insane and told her she shouldn’t be saying such things. When Sayumi tried to justify herself they just changed the subject.
As someone who neither dislikes not bows down to Ai, I have to say a part of me would like to see her move on… but not now. Sure it has been 9 long years as a member and she probably should move on soon, there is just NO ONE who can take her place unless the group moves to the world of vocaloid. Hopefully these new auditions will bring in a strong trained singer who is good enough to take her place because honestly, no one can do what Ai does. Even without the best leading qualities, vocally and through image, she is a very strong leader at this time. JunLin both never managed to get a strong fanbase or cause a stir in the jpop world for anything in 2 years so without sounding rude, it’s kind of like getting rid of a dead weight where Ai still offers so much and there is no substitute.
*rant over*
Not gonna lie, that Junlin comment hurt. You are right in the sense that they never developed a strong fan-base, but I would never consider them dead weight. Ignoring that they didn’t increase the group’s popularity, both Linlin and Junjun’s personalities were a breath of fresh air and certainly one of the most quirkiest and unforgettable members in MM’s reign. Plus, Linlin(vocally) and Junjun(appearance-wise) both brought something mentionable.
You are right about MM NEEDING a strong vocalist right now. It’s all up to Tsunku. OTL
Oh, that was an interesting post………..I know she is the best singer and so on but she isn´t too high in my top (like you, i prefer other voices knowing she is the best (i guess))
I think it´s late for graduate her without bad results, Momusu depends on her too much (just because she has been Momusu 9 years and she has been the most promoted member as you said)…in the past with graduations and auditions it was diferent i think (you didn´t have time for love a girl during a lot of years xD)
Now they need someone before they graduate her…..and without auditions during too much time i just can think in Reina, Sayumi and Risa
maybe the 9th generation…..but until a 9th generation girl gets popularity (being promoted ejem….) they need Ai lol
I don’t think Ai is ready to graduate just yet.
Like you said, she is one of just a couple strong vocalists MM will have once the graduation happens, and for ai to go SOMEONE needs to take that place. She’s too established, and I honestly think that without her AT THE MOMENT, MM would fall apart.
But of course, if 9th Gen brings some AWESOME singer(s) and once the group settles with the new members, I think it’s time to say bye-bye to Ai and Risa. They’ve simply been in too long and I’m afraid they depend too much on MM. I think Sayu could take the leadership position and Reina as sub-leader. (I also think that there should be a graduation next year when Ai and Risa will PROBABLY graduate).
For the moment, MM can’t afford to lose Ai. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what 9th Gen brings to the table, and perhaps then she and Gaki can be let go.
i agree. Ai needs to move on. personally, i think she should become a soloist within H!P because the current one isn’t strong enough.
Only problem with grauating both Ai and Gaki is that leaves Reina to take the lead and if that ever happens, even if there is some amazing singers/my favourite eggs are added into the group, i wouldn’t be able to handle listen to songs where majority of the lines go to Reina. I just don’t like her voice (apperance, attitude, a minority of her fans…..). But i guess since Eri is leaving, there isn’t much to really think about.
Hopefully, if Ai and GAki ever graduate, the line distrubutions with the group should change. If not, than there really is no point in even keeping the group. I think one of the main reasons (aside from the crappy songs and shite costumes) the groups failing right now is because of the line distrubtions. it’s getting boring listening to the same 2/4 voices in every single. even Sayu’s ‘ah’ lines are getting boring now.
Line distribution is something Im kinda anxious to see once my top three leave. I remember watching a Resonant Blue live w/o Koharu and no one replaced her lines. It really ticked me off since I was expecting Aika to replace Kohas lines.
Itll be interesting to see, well I dunno, who will take Eri`s lines once she leaves in Kimagure Princess(the most likely thing to happen is that Tsunku will just give them to the other three that sing. :l).
It would be nice if her and Risa go to be honest. And I love Risa. :(
But then, who would take over because I don’t want to see Sayumi and Reina as leader and sub-leader. That would be terrible.
Is it really already 9 years that Ai has been in Morning Musume? Time sure flies (when you’re having fun). I remember last years DVD Magazine Vol. 23 when Reina talked about Ai and Risa being the longest in the group. And this was also that certain DVD Magazine where pretty much every girl showed how awesome they are considering their respective personalities, whereas Ai… well she tried her best, but she had a pretty hard time while she was alone in front of the camera. Even Sayumi noticed that to a certain extent.
Anyway, she obviously tried her best being the leader of Japan’s former top idol group in the last three years although Risa almost always seemed to be more suitable for this position. BUT the groups current popularity (if you could even call it like that at the moment) does depend a lot on Ai’s popularity. (That’s why I even knew her name way before I got into Morning Musume. Thanks, you crazy Oricon polls.) And once Ai leaves, will there be still be enough people around to care and to keep the group alive? Somehow, imaging Reina or Sayumi in the position of the groups’ leader feels weird. But this will happen sooner or later… hopefully next year or so, because every day Ai and Risa (yes, I do think they will graduate at the same time (or at least within a short time frame) are still around, the groups existence becomes more and more just a farce. I love them all very much, I really they’re part of my favorite Morning Musume line-up, but since Koharu’s graduation announcement I realized that all the group’s line-ups, past and present, are restricted to a particular time frame. If you’re lucky, your favorite members stay together for over two years, if not, one of them graduates within a month.
Putting Ai’s excellent singing and dancing skills aside, if she’s kept around for sales figures (which is the only thing that counts for record labels in the end), then just drop this whole Morning Musume thing. If you didn’t get the people all hyped up in the last years, then you you probably also won’t get it with new members, their personalities having yet to be revealed.
All in all, everything’s just speculation, but here’s my short summary:
- 1. I do like Ai Takahashi very much.
- 2. She IS important for not only the Hello!Project and even more for Morning Musume, BUT…
- 3. … it’s time for her to graduate.
- 4. At the moment, there’s no remedy against AKB48. Neither with Ai as leader nor with the group’s current songs. So… why not let the group have a (more or less) brand new start?
Well said. It seem that A LOT is riding on these new members. Let’s just hope they make more of an impact than 8thgen(which even though is possibly my favorite, didn’t do much for MM).
>The best way to hear this is to listen to the song through headphones and then slightly unplug the headphones from the jack. Enough so you still hear the music but it’s noticeably different than the original. Here you’ll hear the “second layer” of the song and really get to see how much Ai there really is~
Could you elaborate more on how to hear this “second layer”?
I dunno if it’s an iPod exclusive thing(or if it depends on the headphones) but what I do is just listen to Kimagure Princess and then slowly begin to pull out the headphones from the jack. At one point the music will change and become kind of distorted. Here most of the instrumental will cut off but you’ll hear the “backing vocals” a lot easier, which is all Ai-chan.
I don’t have an iPod so I’ll try this the next time I can use one.
Thank you.
Personally, I feel that Takahashi is only in the group as a base. Personality-wise, she doesn’t bring much entertainment, she’s a little too professional for TV shows and other promotional events (she always plays the straightman in MCs and fanclub events, when she could potentially act goofier because it’s people who already like her). She’s simply a familiar face with a strong voice. It’s a delicate balance; she’s not exactly someone they need, but graduating her would surely mean the death of the group /at the moment/. I just hope that Tsunku realizes this and is taking the 9th generation auditions very seriously, because unless he finds someone strong enough to keep MM standing, Takahashi won’t be able to graduate even if she wanted to. (I feel like the pandas could have stepped in and taken over, but their visas got in the way.)
In terms of popularity, she’s certainly popular amongst fans, because she’s been in the group. I call it the nostalgia factor. I know that when I think of Takahashi Ai, I don’t think of anything earlier than 2007. But when it comes to more recent fans or people who only know the group in passing, Tanaka Reina is almost always the name that comes up. They may know Takahashi from other TV shows, but Tanaka Reina is the Abe Natsumi of this generation; she gets the lines, she gets the attention. (Not to mention that pretty much every female fan I’ve encountered since I’ve moved to Japan has worshiped the ground Tanaka walks on. Girls are naturally attracted to her face, I’ve found. But I digress).
Takahashi definitely is ready to graduate, and she needs to graduate. What I always liked about MM is that everyone had their moment to shine. But as long as Takahashi (and Tanaka) are in the group, the other moments will get swallowed up. The pandas were here for THREE YEARS and never got a noticeable solo in a single. That never would have happened five years ago. You could argue that that’s just poor line distribution, but Morning Musume is hanging on by a thin thread. They’re pretty much just relying on past popularity to stay afloat. It’s all name recognition. When Takahashi joined, pretty much everyone who listened to Japanese pop music knew the members and had a favorite. Now they’re just that group that you liked five years ago. You still have that fondness, but you have no idea who the new members are. The only reason Takahashi and Gaki are still in the group is because they’ve been around so long. People who listened nine years ago still have something in common.
I kind of ended up rambling there, so let me sum it up: Takahashi SHOULD graduate, it’s the best for her and the other members and the ideals of the group. However, MM isn’t the sensation it once was, and until we can all be sure it’ll be able to withstand a seriously blow, she won’t graduate.
“What I always liked about MM is that everyone had their moment to shine. But as long as Takahashi (and Tanaka) are in the group, the other moments will get swallowed up. The pandas were here for THREE YEARS and never got a noticeable solo in a single.”
That so much and none of it isn’t true.
And is what you said about the pandas visas really true? I’ve heard about it before on Twitter, but wasn’t so sure if it was really the case.
If it was, that would be even sadder.
I love Ai-chan. She is one of the sweetest creatures ever put on the planet and has turned into quite a good leader. Tsunku just handed all of HP over to her last year so I don’t think she’s going to be gone anytime soon (thank goodness). She has a good strong voice, although personally, I think Miki has the best voice to come out of HP but it’s close enough that it doesn’t really matter. I do not want Ai to graduate…EVER. I’m one person that hates any and all graduations. I don’t think they’re necessary for true fans. I’ve been a fan of Morning Musume since the 2nd gen joined and wish they were all still members. If someone’s a true fan I don’t see how they can lose interest in any of the girls. I never have. I hope Ai-chan and ALL the remaining members are around for a VERY long time.
Ive never heard someone say that would never want anyone to graduate. But hey, to each their own. :3
I personally want to see members like Gaki and Reina graduate. The former cause she’s kind of lost her flair and the latter because I just can’t stand her.
But now that my top 3 are gone, I don’t think I want anyone leaving, for now…
It’s getting to be the time for Ai-chan to move on. Not now but soon. I give Ai a year-a year and a half tops. Ai has to stay and train the new members. This will be her first, and most likely only, Morning Musume audition as the leader. But beyond that I honestly see Ai pulling a Yossie. Be in a couple singles with the new member(s), maybe an album, and then amscray. And I’m betting Ai and Risa would most likely graduate together. But it really depends on the new members. If they are so-so they could graduate Risa, hold onto Ai, and then hold auditions for 10th gen the following year. I mean Morning Musume used to have auditions almost every year until the 7th auditions. And for Morning Musume to regain popularity and overall members they have to start doing auditions once a year. Morning Musume couldn’t handle another 4 year audition gap.
As for who would take over Ai’s lines, Tsunku made a huge mistake. LinLin could have easily taken over Ai’s lines. Or Eri’s, or Reina’s. She has the strongest voice of all the 8th gen, and to let her go was a mistake. He should have let JunJun go, she was getting old and wasn’t really popular anyway. Not to say LinLin was, but her personality and voice were reason enough to keep her. I mean LinLin was an Egg so she obviously wanted to be a singer in Japan. JunJun auditioned for a singing show in China, she probably only settled for Japan cause she wanted to be a singer. Well, that’s always the impression I got. XD
When Ai leaves she’ll most likely become a solo artist. H!P would probably collapse without her. Ok, that’s a little dramatic. But a good chunk of H!P fans would be upset if she graduated Morning Musume and H!P. But all the recent H!P graduations have been doing that. :/ We’ll just have to wait and see. XD
I wrote so much. O_O
The more the merrier. ;D
I agree that if Ai does graduate, she almost MUST become a soloist. I just can’t see Tsunku booting her out of H!P entirely.
I love Ai, she’s easily my favorite member in all of H!P. I’m definately not ready for her to graduate but i doubt i ever will be. Whats messed up now though is the the only person who I think could have tried to fill Ai’s shoes is graduating. I’ve always though Eri might be the best over all talent in H!P. She’s not as good as a singer as Ai is, but she’s is very good, She’s a slightly better dancer then Ai. But she’s also just so hilarious and i think would shine in the spot light of more attention. Actually Linlin and Junjun had the potiential to do it too, but again they’re also gruaduating.
With what is basically supposed to be the future of the group leaving, I doubt there will be any new gruaduations for a few years.
“She(and her slightly retarded, not as pretty fellow gen-mate Niigaki Risa)”
Stopped reading there. If you are actually trying to promote discussion, why not keep such comments to yourself?
My blog, my opinion, meaning I can say whatever I want~ When one doesn’t like it, 6 other pop up that do.
No offense you didn’t have to diss beginner from AKB48 or Morning Musume’s own member of 7yrs+ Michishige Sayumi to get your point across that Ai-chan won’t be graduating anytime soon.
I’ll bet anything Tsunku will do what he did with Kaorin with Ai-chan. He’ll keep her for a whole year after adding a new generation so that Japan can get a feel for a truly changed Morning Musume and then let her graduate. I’d bet money she wants to leave to some extent. I mean you can’t be 24 and not want to date or try new things before guys stop looking at you the right way or you’re too physically out of shape to do those other things.
Give it till September 2011. If Ai-chan hasn’t graduated by then it will definitely happen before her 26th birthday at least. Unless he plans to keep her till she’s 40 or something like that and she’ll just up and leave due to inability to keep up with the younger members like Yuko-sama did.
Whoa, that reminds me that Ai-chan will be 25 next year. ._. She’s getting so ooooold. It’s weird since she still looks like 18.
Yep. The woman is defiantly getting too old for this. If the girls from 9th gen are under 14 MM will face a serious problem. Ai-chan will probably have to leave from lack of ability to keep up with them then. I’m hoping for all 15yr olds and at least 5. 10nin has been very good to MM in the past. 12nin was great too, but I think it would be too much to adjust to. 10 just seems and feels like the golden number. And with 10nin Tsunku could really do
Ai, Reina, Risa – main vocal
Sayumi, Aika – minor vocal
New girls – little solos to build fan base.
That method would regenerate interest in the group (because Sayumi and Aika both have fan-bases to impress even if its just by going back to the basics and singing one liners and small verses). Ai, Reina, and Risa are the means to keep the group afloat for another year or two, and thew new girls are hopefully the potential for a decent future for the group.
Heh. Of course he’s not ready to let her go. He’s never been ready to let a leader go.
Nakazawa’s reason for finally graduating – Inability to keep up with younger members.
Iida’s reason for finally graduating – Tsunku and her agreed to hold her back from a solo career and the chance to date for one year giving everyone time to adjust to the idea of Morning Musume without its final founding member and longest serving member at the time. Also Tsunku feared losing 1st generation only fans and we can all clearly tell he did lose them (not only were Morning Musume’s concert audiences lesser until Koharu came but single sales started to take forever to actually add up to their former numbers), but luckily Koharu solved that problem.
Yoshizawa’s reasons for leaving are unclear but with all the hype Tsunku made over her graduation it was clear he was milking Yossie for all she was worth before Morning Musume took another blow like when Kaorin graduated. 8th gen did nothing to remedy this and that’s why Morning Musume is in the black hole they’re in right now.
what mm needs is a strong leader like nakazawa ( prolly Reina)
i doubt Ai will graduate anytime soon, maybe soonest 2 years after 9th gen addition
all eri’s lines will prolly go to ai, if ai had been graduating, they would need to graduate risa with her, cause ai by herself is a major fail.
they would never and i mean ever have let linlin take ai’s vocals, it wouldve gone to eri if she wasnt graduating.
they are way too scared or maybe just had no intention of keeping junlin, hence the lack of promotion, pbs, or solo lines.
I think that junlin is just going to vanish postgraduation. It makes me sad really.
Ai-Chan is graduating D:
Seriously. They announced it today. She will graduate in August.
i tried that second layer thing and all i heard was Ai and Tsunku! hahaha