4488 replies to this topic

[sukibeam]

I'm a little late to the discussion regarding a revived Elder Club, but I wanted to leave my $0.02

 

I actually think an Elder Club would be viable and not terribly costly to UFP. The original Elder Club was mostly active with touring and was a way for H!P to get bigger venues for their artists who couldn't fill a hall on their own. In any case, it was a way to retain a girl's fanbase within the H!P sphere without having to necessarily give them new material all the time like the main acts. Yaguchi and Satoda did variety very successfully while still participating in summer and winter tours. A lot of the members did stage plays during the off season. They definitely earned their own keep and retained the benefit of exposure through H!P events.

 

Contract renegotiation would definitely need to happen, since UFP has always been a fiscally conservative company, but it would prevent fans peacing out altogether when so-and-so graduates. It would also give these new idols some veteran members to help teach them the business and what not to do. For members who want to stay in the business, like Tanaka/Airi/Harunan, I can see it working out really well. Management has proven they aren't averse to keeping a member under the H!P banner - even if only in name (like Aika and Riho), but it would need more than a few members to do activities like the Elder Club did.

[midnightbottle]

I do think an Elder Club revival would do help to bring in money for the agency too. Since they are already on the group affiliates's rosters, why not just let them have a tour once a year or sorts. Surely, they can arrange/coordinate something. I suppose the concert goods/merchandise that come with it should be quite profitable. The wotas will sure lap them up.

[minaeshi]

I'm a little late to the discussion regarding a revived Elder Club, but I wanted to leave my $0.02

....

It would also give these new idols some veteran members to help teach them the business and what not to do.

 

Definitely agree. I always thought the reason why Morning Musume rarely has 'scandal' like issues (2010 onwards) is because they're always being mentored by other members who already have 5+ years experience under their belts. They have that direct elder mentor to guide them how the business runs, what works and what they absolutely should avoid. How to be better at not getting caught or saying the wrong thing to the wrong person etc. I think the girls in other groups who just debut together without a senior mentor will struggle more.. I look back at how country girls were with momochi compared to kobushi who basically started out on their own. Bringing the elder club back as mentors would be so good for new members. 

 

Haachan is an odd case tho i guess lol 

[ItsudemoAibon]

Not so much of an 'unpopular opinion' as much as my personal complaint.

I've been listening to a lot of live concert video and think that Miki needs far more lines. She's one of the best singers and isn't used enough.

At the Rock In Japan fest I had a hard time even spotting her. At the Yoyogi concert she had a couple lines in Wagamama but I didn't notice much more than that.

[rurupedia]

i'm biased cuz she's one of my faves but yes!!!! she's def not an utahime but she's in the same league as at least mizuki when it comes to singing, and shes a good dancer too. it makes me sad that she's stuck in the back :'(

[DiegoKashiwagi]

she looked so pretty at yoyogi stadium, i wished she had more moments to show off...

and yes! completely agree, she is really good and i love her tone, her lines in jealousy jealousy and jamashinaide are some of my favorites.

[megumibex]

^Agreed! I hope she doesn't graduate before she gets the spotlight she deserves. After 9-11ki leave I could see her becoming a lead vocalist (along with Kaedii, who also deserves more love)

[ulises]

I think Chel is the only post-11ki member who is almost on the same level (singing & dance) as the top three of the group. She deserves more love. 

[DD7]

I’m biased but I believe Kaede is on the same level as well. The dancing is definitely there and hearing her sing lately has solidified it for me.

[RihoZukki]

I find it creepy how in "Sukatto my heart" (1:42) and a  lil part in "Oh my Wish"(1:31), they do this questionable move.

I slowed down that part of the chorus and looked really closely. Why would they make them dance that way?

 

 

[Gabby]

The thing with Miki is she was starting to get a push in '17 but because she gained weight wota got shitty and she stopped getting a push.
I do think they are stating to push her again though. Miki is getting to her peak visuals and honestly she was shining during Hina fest this year. She looked So sosososos good and the camera was really all over her imo.
And in terms of vocals she's at least as good as masaki cuz honestly sometimes when I listen to lives and I'm not watching I have to rewind cuz like "wait was that Miki or masaki"

[megumibex]

It's probably not gonna happen, but I don't want MM to add new members until 2022 at the earliest. Even if the much prophesised graduation wave hits in 2021, and all the 9-11kis leave in quick succession (which I find unlikely, tbh), I'd much rather stick with the members we already have, with them all gone, we'd have a line-up like this:

 

Miki (leader)
Maria (sub-leader)
Akane
Kaede
Reina
Chisaki
Rio
Homare
Mei

 

I think that's more than enough to carry MM for a while, especially since many of these members have yet to have their time in the spotlight anyway. Adding more members just for the sake of it would make the group too crowded in my eyes, at least until we could settle into this new line-up (and like i said, I imagine we'll still have one or two 9-11kis hanging around by 2022 anyway) 

[ulises]

Cool!, i wanna see our Alabama redneck lead MM. 

[DiegoKashiwagi]

i would love to see it! but like you said...very unlikely lol, for sure some of the older members will still be there + who knows, maybe someone else could leave earlier, pretty much everyone but 15ki is in graduation zone already T-T

[ItsudemoAibon]

I had no idea my comment would spur so much convo......or that almost everyone was in agreement. I noticed she's gotten a little bit more screen time in Junjou Evidence and she really looks good!

[Blackmallow]

I wanna see Ishida lead for a couple of years. Or Maa-chan, THAT would be something to behold. I kinda think they would make Oda leader in place of Maa-chan, if both were active.

[megumibex]

I think they probably would too^ Sakura has more of a leader aura, but that's what makes the idea of leader Maa-chan so exciting. 

[Juandalyn]

For the longest time I've thought that Masaki herself might not want to become leader and instead give it to another person, like °C-ute (Umeda Erika giving the leader position to Yajima Maimi).

However, lately I've come to think that Masaki would actually make a good leader. She apparently talks to people who have problems troubling them without them coming to her (Oharu, Miki as well I think) and is well respected among new members. On top of that, she is a bit crazier than the 4 members that are older than her, but maybe that's what the group needs - shaking it up a bit.

[RenaiDestiny。]

I'm excited about Rio's push, but I'm also very pessimistic about how it'll end up. Until the Big 3 leave (FukuMaaSaku), I really can't imagine anyone else being pushed into prominence. It's the same hype we had with Maria, Yokoyan and Chii-chan, just
for them to barely get lines and screentime nowadays. Maria is on the better side of
the spectrum, because even if she doesn't get lines, she does get good screentime and is continously booked and busy whether it's gravure or baseball, but even then I wouldn't consider her one of the biggest members outside of the fandom (The only one that can come to mind is Maa-chan). It really sucks because every time we get a new member who seems like they'll really be pushed and utilized, UFP almost always sells short on promoting them because they'd rather milk FukuMaaSaku, which is fair, but realistically they probably only have 1-3 years left in the group so it's time for UFP to step up and make the other girls more memorable.

[Juandalyn]

^I think what a lot of people have criticized by now is that UF tries something new and if it doesn't work immediately, they'll never do it again. They tried pushing Miki and Yokoyan, but both did not become as popular with the wota as they had hoped. Chisaki got bad vocal problems for some time and Maria... well, I guess wota just aren't the biggest fans of the Maria-EDM-combo.

Our best bet is that Rio "works" and they keep pushing her (at an acceptable level).

 

Makes me wonder why they didn't give Kaede a better spot in this single so far, though