Wota in Translation

71 comments on “Hello!Online General Election: favorite members of overseas fans announced!”

1. Someone should tell them that most likely Tsugunaga ranks high in negative votes is her Momochi persona hahaha. Wouldn’t shock me if people voted solely on that. I like her as a pretty girl and as contributing member but that character she has is so grating and annoying. It makes watching shows not as enjoyable as it could be for me.

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   • I’d understand it if it was her natural personality. But it’s so forced it’s hard to look at.

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   • I didn’t like Momochii, the character, myself at first. Until one day it dawned on me that Tsuganaga is the only member of Berryz Kobo with a consistently high level of animation. And most of them don’t have any. So now when I see those curvy pigtails I say…” you go girl ! “

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2. I am surprised about Oda’s popularity too.
   They should add that H!O regular users are a “special kind” of fans. I think most of foreign fans use H!O but don’t like it and wont participate in that.

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   • I’m pretty surprise by Oda’s popularity too. But I saw she rank high in other board too, not only in H!O. In Thailand, Oda received a lot of praised and respected, she is one of the reason that fanclub who’re fan from platinum era and stop to listen when 9-10 gen. cannot sing well like OG even from the first start, come back to MM. So I quite understand something.

     Oda got many appreciated by non-wota, I think. Even Idol-antis in Japan seem to like her as well and tell that her singing skill is interesting and finally there is someone in Idol group who has enough singing skill to show in the hall of honor like Budoukan.(Which I think Airi deserve this place too) Oda also improve her dancing skill like crazy, even Momoclo producers, some famous actresses, people in many variety shows love her so much.

     In japan, judging by entertainment industry, the majority of audience focus more on natural talent than look. Famous peoples in entertainment industry are not that good looking but they sell their talent. Even Hollywood, I think some actors are not that good-looking if compared to ordinary peoples, but they got popular mostly because of their acting skill.

     Oda case is not different. She seems to focus to sell her singing and try to add more other skill like dancing, variety show, make her look better. But still, her singing always her first goal. Non-wota may be like this fact, because for non-wota and Japanese people, talent always come first with manner and hard working, which Oda already has it. Especially when it come for single, ordinary people also care about vocal skill.

     I like Oda as well even though she’s not my oshi.(She lacked something) I like how she’s smart to read the atmosphere and situation. She know when she has to be genki and when to be calm. She know when she should talk and what kind of stories she should speak in different events. She isn’t beautiful like other Idol but I pretty appreciate her talents and her behavior.

     Ps. I’m surprise that Masaki beat Airi…

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     • I think it’s the Ai fans that moved over to Oda, feeling that she can become her replacement. Nothing is more annoying that listening to ppl talk about “she so much like Ai. Her mannerisms, singing, etc.”

       Really? Just let Ai go. Stop trying to find her within someone else and just like that person for who they are.

       Anyways, Maachan is my oshi

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       • I’m not an Ai fan and I still see her mannerisms in Oda.

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       • I moved from Ai-chan to Maachan. ^^

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       • I don’t see Oda as the new Ai-chan or as a replacement and I moved to Ayumin.
         Sakura does look like she’s trying to be like Ai, though.

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       • I realize this is a two year old thread but I wanted to comment:

         I was an Ai fan that moved over to Riho.

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3. Duu o/

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4. Dayum, my vote for Fukuhime didn’t help her much T_T

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5. man, they really don’t like Oda much, do they?

   ^Also, I concur with #349… Sayumi has really stepped up with everyone leaving and her taking over undisputed leadership over the group. She’ll never have Gomaki’s or Ai-chan’s vocal chops, but there’s so much more to being an idol than that and she’s been able to make her abilities work in her favor.

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   • Wota focus on Idol-look the most… then their character(See AKB48 as example). They just surprise about other perspectives, I think. Even when Sashihara Rino win the election, there’re some wota complain that the Idol of Japan (Sasshi)has an ugly face.(// so cruel)

     But Wota is just a small group of the audience. Recommend you to see the comment of non-fan that are majority of audience when they saw Idol-performance especially 48group…(Especially FNS) even Riho got blame as well from Japanese people. After I saw their comment, kyaa they’re so scary ;-;

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6. I purposely sought out this 2ch thread when the results came out. I didn’t know Maa-chan was not as popular with the wota.

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7. They should stop looking towards H!O for these things. They’re a minority among foreign fans. These are mostly young girls who think Masaki is “sooooo random XD”.

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   • Just as foreign fans should stop looking to 2ch as they, too, are the minority.

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8. Geee Henkka…you’re an absolute genius (or maybe just a hardcore alcoholic!)…fancy coming up with every little excuse to get your hands on booze…LOL!

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9. Thank you very much!

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10. is clear that the popularity of Maa-chan went up by many realized that she’s who have long awaited an idol out of this, only a girl with your personality and highlight and shine by its own light, and also she’s beautiful …
    and tonigth i drink for maa-chan too xDDD

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11. I still can’t see how people think Oda is ugly. True, she may not be as cute as others but to be honest, I don’t think this batch of Musume’s are anything to sneeze at in the looks department anyway. I think Zukki’s face is probably the prettiest and she’s become a stunning beauty as she ages. Riho and Masaki are having a reverse effect on me. When Riho joined I thought she was super cute but I feel as she gets older she’ll lose it as she already seems to be. Masaki is just getting cuter and cuter though I can only handle her in very small doses. Oda, prettier and prettier. Oda’s attractivebess, it seems, is completely determined by her hairstyle. Ayumi is another one who I would probably give a second look at if I saw on the street with her eyes. Everyone else is pretty much average or below it.

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    • Calm down, I think every members have different kind of beauty. No one is ugly, they have there own charm ok?

      For me

      Sayumi- Beautiful like a doll, and can pull cute and sexy look at the same time.
      Haruna- Beautiful like an anime character.
      Fukuchan- Beautiful like the Japanese princess, sexy too.
      Ayumin- Look attractive, small but cute. She looks fierce. Love her eyes the most
      Eripon-Beautiful like a sport women, look sharp and active.
      Riho- Girl next doll beauty, cool and cute, strong but humble. Sometime she’s like a little japanese doll.
      Kanon-She’s not slim but she is cute and beautiful like a doll, especially when she’s smile.
      Oda- Not beautiful but looks elegant and fragile.
      Maa-chan-Cute like a little girl, look fresh and genki.
      Duu- Can be cute and handsome at the same time. Kyaaa I want Sayu to dress Duu in Lolita style!!!

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      • I am calm so your telling me to calm down makes no sense. Mmmkay

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    • Anyone who says Zukki is the best looking, isn’t someone I can take seriously.

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      • that’s extremely rude and uncalled for. i don’t think riho is cute at all but i don’t go around insulting people who do. it’s a matter of opinion.

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        • When exactly did I insult him?

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    • Let me get this straight. There really is a substantial number of wotas who think that Oda is not beautiful?

      This is puzzling on a level way beyond my imagination.

      I get what you’re saying about the hairstyle but even then it’s obvious (to me anyway) that what we’ve got here is a beautiful girl with a poorly chosen doo.
      I’m quite confident of my ability to recognize female beauty when I see it
      So now I have to consider what I did not want to consider.

      That’s it’s wotas of Riho’s or one of the others who are afraid the lime-light is going to get stolen away.

      Ya see such twisted attitudes in movies, TV, and novels but it’s new to me to encounter it in real life.

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12. That H!O vote was rigged with mysterious ‘e-mail’ votes. In any case H!O is not the be all end all.

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13. This showcases really clearly the anti-mainstream, support-the-underdog mentality that most foreign fans seem to have. Just look at HO or tumblr and there’s countless users supporting zukki and eripon while hating on riho.

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    • What? But if that were the case Eripon and Zukki would have ranked higher than Riho.

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      • It’s true, I use Tumblr and Zukki has some seriously crazy and numerous fans, not so much with Ikuta though and there is A LOT of Ri-hate there.

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        • One of the many reasons why tumblr should be avoided, too many unfavorable people on there. I’ll never understand why non-Japanese fans tend to root for the underdog.

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    • I feel oda has so much potenial she gets prettier and prettier and her talent keeps growing not only that her dancing has improved drastically she really reminds me of goto maki both of them werent cute when they first joined morning musume but got cuter and they were the only ones in their generation and they had immense potential i can see sakura doing solo work on the side like goto and becoming popular i feel like that would probably be better for her not only that goto makis personality in early videos too is very similar to oda sakura I just have this feeling that sakura will become really big later on when i think about she has the talent that she could join like avex or sony records and be a real artist like for example nishino kana or juju i feel theirs a diffrence between idols and artists , artists i feel people focus on them to sing well and for their talent ,like i feel like it talking about artists people are usually like her song was so good it stirred emotion in me when i heard that song it makes me want to hear it again or i want to sing that song too while in the case of idols are just kind of their to be cute mostly idol fans are more like i like her looks and i want to look like her or shes so cute that type of thing sorry i kind of got sidetracked but dont you think theirs a diffrence between idols and artists ?

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14. @guy – It’s odd that you say that, considering that all of the highest ranking MM members in the poll are the one who get pushed the most in the group.

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15. Another interesting translation. Thanks Henkka!

    I just wanna share my thoughts on Oda since her ranking surprised the 2ch users. When she got in MM, i felt disappointed and thought she was the second coming of Aika Mitsui (mainly because of her looks). I just ignored her theads in various forums where i was lurking. A few weeks ago, after voting in the Hello!Online elections, i came across a fan club event video on youtube where Oda was singing solo. I watched it out of curiosity and it blew my mind. I watched the song on repeat more than a dozen times. One can argue that her singing is not the best but i think she has that X factor that can hook you with her sweet voice. I totally regret not having voted for Oda in the H!O elections. Hopefully, next year, Oda will rank higher.

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16. Where the hell is Tsunku♂ on this list?

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    • He’s probably on a different list slugging it out with Aki-P. :D

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17. Sayumi, the world’s idol.

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18. I saw a few of the 2ch’ers mentioning about how most of the votes went to Morning Musume members. I’ve been visiting the H!O forums since 2006. The trend I’ve noticed there is that people get involved with H!P through Morning Musume, and from there they explore the other groups.

    It’s true, to some extent, that MM is more visual in media, but the translators are also working more on MM stuff than Berryz, C-ute, S/m, and J=J. Not to mention they have loads of old Golden Era stuff translated all over the place that are incredibly entertaining. If a foreign fan doesn’t know a lick of Japanese, but knows English, it is far easier to get into MM.

    Sayu has been my oshi since Platinum Era began, and instead of spewing my love for paragraphs and paragraphs, I will say this for why her popularity continues to grow: Imagine Morning Musume as a sakura tree. At first glimpse, you see so many colorful blossoms and your eye catches on the larger ones closer to where you are on the ground. But, as they reach maturity, they fall from the tree and drift off into the wind. Then you see one near the top in half-bloom, but full of color and standing sturdy against the wind. As you stand observing it, the wind picks up and you admire how steadfast the little blossom is while others fall away. Sayu is that little blossom, who has endured a lot of trials and tribulation, but continues to slowly blossom while doing her best. We foreign fans have come to respect her, more than anything, ranking her up there with the greatness of Nakazawa.

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    • I agree. My love for Sayu is more of an admiration than a love. I remember when she first joined (through videos, not real time) and saw her grow from the quiet “i’m cute” member to the poison-tounged “i’m cute” member to becoming a real asset to the group. I was one who didn’t think she should be leader because I didn’t think she would be good at it because of that character but she shut me up real quick. Sayumi is doing a superb job and will definately go down as one of Momosu’s great leaders. That’s her appeal to me, not her looks.

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    • I think Sayumi will go down as one of the three great leaders in MM history (for now! who knows what the future holds):

      Nakazawa (Golden Era) -> Takahashi (Platinum Era) -> Michishige (Colorful/Reborn Era)

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19. 639：名無し募集中。。。：2013/12/28(土) 20:50:50.95 ID:0
    Foreigners seem to love girls like Sato, Okai and Tamura who have naturally strong characters. The type who get told off a lot in Japan for expressing their emotions that strongly.

    Right on, i love the members who dont act like perfect proper idols(Eripon, Oda, Maa-chan, RihoRiho)… They get frowned upon for acting like the energetic/wild child that they are and i truly dont understand why, thats part of their appeal to me

    As for the looks, i cant understand how so many japanese wota consider Oda to be ugly, i think shes adorable and one of the better looking members in H!P… The whole Momusu group is pretty damn attractive, not Platinum Era attractive yet, but tons of potential when some of the younger members grow up

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    • You say Oda is one of the better looking members in all of H!P and you get more thumbs up than thumbs down. What’s your secret?

      Oh well, perhaps I’ve now alerted the wotas of other members that you actually had the audacity to say something good about the ultra-threat known as Sakura. So the ratio might reverse. Sorry.

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    • I’m beginning to wonder whether I’m posting alongside a bunch of 12 and 13 year old girls here. Let me just say to those with the futile and un-adult attempts to undermine the popularity of the “threat to their oshi” idol that I actually ADORE each and every one in H!P. My oshi, which is Sayumin by the way, just a bit more.

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20. Everyone has their own tatses and I love Maachan!!!
    END.

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    • I hear ya. I love Maa-chan too though she’s not my oshi. But if your love for Maa-chan caused you to dislike or even hate other popular members, as some around here seem to do, that would be silly…too put it mildly.

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21. Let’s all drink for Sayu and Maachan! And fuck those Oda haters!

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22. It’s just a matter of time before Maachan take over everyone

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23. Wow so the Japanese fans always think that we, foreigner fans didn’t know anything more about H!P and its girls? Somehow it makes me pissed off a little bit haha

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24. In my opinion, it’s difficult to put into words why I like a certain idol. It’s never just “because she’s pretty” or “because I like her singing”. It’s not that simple. I love Sayu because she is Sayu, and Airi because she is Airi, and so on. They make me smile and put me in a good mood just by being their funny and amazing selves. Of course, there are things that I don’t understand because I’m not Japanese, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the things that I do understand. Even with my extremely limited Japanese skills, there is so much to enjoy, besides the pretty faces and the beautiful voices. :)

    As for Riho being hated by H!Onliners (I personally love Riho, but then again, I don’t go to H!O :P) I reckon it’s just peer pressure… a lot of people seem to spend more time discussing idols than actually watching them. I’ve heard of people giving up idols because they didn’t like H!O… as if that’s all there is. Perhaps a mass poster didn’t like Riho, and that’s how it started. Especially younger fans might think too much “who am I supposed to like so I look cool” rather than “who do I like”. But I don’t know, really. I’m not sure if I made any sense. xD

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    • Just to clarify… I don’t mean that people can’t have real reasons to dislike Riho. To each their own. But the amount of people who voted against Riho does seem odd to me as well.

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    • I more had the feeling that what you are saying about those Riho peer haters, applies to Momochi haters?
      And when it comes to Riho it’s more the fact that ppl think members like Ikuta or Zukki which Riho isn’t superior to generation wise, would deserve at least some of her lines?
      At least that was my reason to dislike her until Maachan started to interact so much with her that I somehow started to accept her. And I always felt ppl around me would feel the same way when they said they dislike Riho.
      (I’m not trying to contradict what you are saying. I just find this topic interesting and want to share opinions. ^^)

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      • Ah, interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I mostly communicate with idol fans on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. I’ve personally encountered very little if any Riho hate, everyone seems to like her more or less. Except for when H!O is mentioned. So in my mind, it’s an H!O specific thing. Could be a coincidence? Or maybe my Riho-loving mind just blocks out the negative comments. xD Disliking someone because she’s popular is something I find very difficult to understand. As for Momochi, I can understand people disliking her because her idol personality is so over the top. I don’t mind her, but I can only take her in small portions… :)

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    • H!O and their hate of Riho cracks me up haha. I never post on there but I used to lurk all the time, especially when there was a thread about something interesting happen. Like, for example, the 9th gen auditions. Remember how many people posted about how Riho HAD to get through the auditions, and how Tsunku would be CRAZY if he didn’t pick her?

      And now that she’s the front girl, people hate her. Lol. It’s ridiculous. I think people on H!O think that Riho storms into management and demands to be center in all the singles or something. I don’t think they realize that there are always front girls in every idol group, and it’s not the girls that decide that, but the fans and management…

      Some of the people that post on H!O about Riho would have a hernia if they tried to get into groups like SPEED.

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25. Wow at the comments about Sakura…

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26. It’s kind of irritating that Japanese wota seem to believe that foreign fans don’t have access to any videos that aren’t on YouTube. lol
    They were implying that we know nothing of their personalities and know nothing of the speaking skills of Sayu.
    But whatever, their reactions are very interesting.

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27. I think 639 got it totally right!! |D
    I can remember quite well how back then in the worldwide Sailor Moon rave I alsways wondered (I was a child back then myself) why in Japan everyone loved Sailor Mercury. She was super unpopular in Germany. On the other hand in Japan Sailor Mars was always among the most unpopular ones in official surveys, while she was even more popular than Sailor Moon over here.
    So it didn’t change at all it seems. Girls with strong characters are loved overseas, while they are not that much in Japan.
    At least it fully applies to me. (Maachan!! Sailor Mars!! <3 haha~)

    What I can't get is how much they look down on Oda and her fans. As if ppl that love Japan and Mosume can't distinguish between Aika/Daishi and Ai-chan/Oda. As if everything is about looks. At least when you vote your Top10 it's normal that you not only go about looks for all 10 places right?
    (Sorry I'm not trying to say Oda isn't beautiful or anything. She's just not you typical cute idol girl lookwise yet. But she's still only 14 and she is super cute in her own way! <3)

    And for another thing, wasn't everyone moved by Michishige somehow, ever since she took over leadership?? It's just normal to include her in your Top10 in some way at all means.

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28. Don’t know if it’s just me but maybe some of the Oda hate is residual from their disdain of Takahashi? I’ve always gotten this feeling they blame Ai for the Platinum Era’s poor sales numbers and that feeling has somehow transferred to Sakura since she seems to look like her and is also been designated to be the next center/future ace girl against their liking?

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29. 910 percent on Facebook posted the 2ch rankings: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=780569701957408

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30. Ikuta has dropped the most out of anyone? :( I wonder why that is.. I gave her 10 points, of course, she’s my oshi. Oh well..

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31. This comment section turned out almost as interesting as the translation blog post. Someone should translate this and post for our Japanese wota friends so they could understand the international fans way of thinking better. (im not hinting that Henkka should do it, im hoping someone else could because Henkka is right now a “Wota in intoxication”. Kampai!

    Happy new year everyone!

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32. Darn, I forgot to vote this year.

    Weren’t there some comments last year about how Western fans don’t rely on looks? I wonder how many wota really choose their oshi like that… For me, it’s personality. On stage and off stage.

    I noticed this year that I mostly paid attention to MM.
    I guess I mostly like MM because 9/10 members are growing with each release, and I was excited to see them succeed in 2013. S/mileage and Juice=Juice have plenty of potential too, but I think S/m is underappreciated. I feel like C-ute is at (or nearing) their peak when they perform, but Berryz doesn’t seem to have that same spark…

    All I know is that I’m looking forward to 2014 for H!P !!

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33. 7
    “I just don’t get it. Oda’s that popular?”

    Gimme a fuckin’ break!

    I expect her to be the MOST popular and not all that distant in the future too.

    Eventually even the most stubborn will recognize she’s the best singer.
    No one is significantly better at dancing.
    She’s as effervescent as an idol needs to be and that’s combined with a rare level of demureness.
    Oh, and one more thing…she’s breathtakingly gorgeous.

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    • Amen my brother. All haters bask in the glory and brilliance that is the one and only Utahime Goddess Sakura

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34. Wow, so little love for Berryz Koubou. I imagine it’s partly because not as many Berryz fans use H!O (including me, I wish I’d heard about the voting.)

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    • That and the fact that westerners became a little jerkish and petty regarding them

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35. haha, hilarious :D thank you for translating! It’s funny how Japanese people still think we don’t get much information overseas. Of course we wouldn’t know as much as they do, but I think we do know the girls pretty well.

    It’s weird how they care about looks so much. Oda is neither the most beautiful nor the cutest member in MM, but in my opinion her talent is worth so much more than good looks.

    I also just checked the Japanese results. It’s interesting to see how Japanese fans love Momoko while Western fans don’t seem to like her that much. I personally like her because she knows her stuff. Also, if you look at the Top 10, many of the “aces” are there, which just proves that there is a reason why they are pushed.

    And I’m really happy that Zukki made it into the Top 10! <3

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    • Where did Zukki make it into the top 10? There’s 2 Suzukis in Hello! Project ya’ know. The other one could be said to be more popular.

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36. Pingback: [H!O] What they think we think of the girls 2014! [Facebook] - Jicchan

37. I like ishida and chissa, they have a fun warmness to them. The others are cute and necessary for the blend.
    Masaki needs a slap in the face or she’s gonna end like kago or worse

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38. 104 spoke the truth:

    “Even though Momusu is supposed to have the worst performance ability in H!P, they beat everyone aside from °C and Kanatomo. (laughs) What was all that talk about foreigners being fussy about performance skill?”

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