115 comments on “It’s completely unprecedented for Hello! Project how someone like Sato Masaki has become the most popular member

  1. She’s so talented that nowadays I feel like an irrelevant piece of the world we are in.

    Oh shoot depression just kicked in after that.

  2. The last line is the truest, she can blog about some random thing and the next thing you know that item is sold out everywhere. Even the makeup from Hello Station, people are posting that it is sold out.

  3. Yeah, while idolling is fundamentally about working hard, the X-factor that comes from talent often can’t be denied. (Especially because that’s not mutually exclusive from working hard, so the aces are those that have talent, X-factor, and work ethic)

    Traditionally, talent is in singing or dancing or being funny, but what Maachan has that is unique is that she has an instinct for being entertaining. She will gravitate towards doing the most entertainingly disruptive thing without even realizing that it will do/be that. It’s like a Holy Grail.
    The comparison to early Kago is right.

    If someone is brilliantly entertaining through hard work and cognitive calculation, that’s talent. But if they can do it off of just instinct (and not even intuition, because Maachan usually isn’t even trying to be particularly funny), that’s tensai.

    But then Maachan also works hard and has improved at singing and dancing and stage presence, and so her popularity gains.

    • Arguably, 48G has never had an ace like Maachan, either. An argument could be made for Angerme having quite a few Sato-like girls, in how they are drawn to being entertaining without necessarily thinking about it. The difference, however, is that the Angerme girls nonetheless know to keep those parts on stage/camera only, whereas Sato didn’t really know how to turn it off, which is why she’ll end up trampling over boundaries and social norms backstage and annoy managers. Which then get turned into memorable anecdotes, which further reinforce her legend.

      As was noted Tanaka modeled off of Goto and Abe, but Tanaka was charmed by completely different things in Maachan, and that says something.

  4. She’s an alright performer, but I’m really tired of the “genius” thing. The whole climate of Morning Musume now isn’t my type of idol.

    It’s been how many years now that I’ve been hearing this nonsensical genius line? It’s become insufferable.

    • Her perfect pitch and natural understanding of musical composition are why she’s regarded as a “genius”, and rightly so.

      What IS insufferable are “fans” that fail to see just how amazing she is, or – worse still – just hate on her because they refuse to take the time to appreciate each members’ unique traits.

      • “fans,” huh? You don’t know what I’m a fan of. I’ll give you a hint, I’m not a fan of Morning Musume ’18.

        “Genius” usually should include a form of creation or industry-shaking epiphany, something which changes the way many people think about life and the human condition, not acting like a brat and singing songs somebody else wrote. She’s a good performance artist, and unless she’s releasing any of her own work then she can stay just a performance artist.

        • To be fair her genius elements are the sense of rhyhtm she has. I’m not a big Maa-chan fan, but, if you watch how she keeps rhythm with her feet it’s on a different level. The closest person I’ve ever seen to it is Captain from Berryz.

    • I get you not liking the current state of helloproject idols, thats fine. I’m a tsunku wota and quickly warming up to hoshibe sho. There are still reasons to stay if the idols are not as appealing…

      Sato, besides her musical talents (composition and rhythm), could also be regarded as a genius for her mental process. In my opinion, her actual outlook on life (philosophically) could be regarded as genuine genius level. Like she will be asked a question, quickly blurt a crazy answer, go back and explain it and then you understand she is thinking on an entirely different wave length. Which is a trait of brilliant people.

      I also do not think she is a musical genius in the literal sense, like joey alexander, or ryuichi sakamoto, or miles davis or something, but relatively speaking in the idol world I do think she has a musical adeptness, more so than other idols in h!p atm…

      • Yeah, I think “genius” has been a bit of a translation gap thing. From my perspective as a non-native, “tensai” has definitely been used in contexts that don’t mean the traditional “super high intelligence” definition that genius means in English. There’s still shuusai/prodigy for the conventional forms of being ahead of the curve. That’s what you have for Riho, Sakura, Ayumi, etc.

        But tensai seems to have a connotation of going off the path, as well as the thing that makes them exceptional being innate, rather than learned. I’ve seen “tensai” used hand in hand with “baka” to describe how one idol was so clueless that it wrapped right back around to incredibly entertaining, for example.

        Like, Sato arguably isn’t even as good a pianist as Chel (which led to some hilarious insecurity on her part), but Sato can sit down at the piano and bang out improvised lyrics about the members to the tune of Brainstorming, or walk down the hall and spontaneously break into singing about the members set to RR21, or come up with new portmanteau words on the spot.

        Like, the likes of Sasshi and Mayuyu have grown up surrounded by very clever and intelligent calculating idols in AKB. They’re pretty clever and calculating themselves. So is Tanaka Reina. But what they’re fascinated by in Sato is that she seems to pull this stuff out of thin air on the fly.

  5. I think what also plays into this is that Masaki is refreshing. As has been said, there’s never been a girl like her that has become the most popular member. She definitely sticks out, and she kind of breaks rules every now and then, which makes it fun to follow her.

    In a time where H!P goes the traditional idol route with the well behaving girl next door someone like Masaki is just a nice fresh wind.

    I just wished her fans wouldn’t praise everything she does as super genius and magical. It does get a bit annoying.

  6. No one mentioned KameEri. KameEri had potential to become bery popular, her look, her personality, her view of the world, the freshness that H!P often lacking and the akwardness.

    Maachan has everything Eri had plus skills and extreme passion in music. If Eri had that, she could had been popular ace too. It was, to me, almost like a god’s plot when Mishichige Tanaka had chance to deal and keep both of them company. Lol

    • To be frank I think Eri was better at singing and dancing than Masaki. Also they’re pretty different from each other, Eri was more of a light hearted airhead while Masaki has three moods: Hyper on sugar, deep/philosophical and very depressed.

        • But Eri WAS popular. I’d argue what definitely adds to Masaki’s boom is other artists, especially Sasshi, making such a big fuss about her. Something similar happened with Sayumi to be honest. However, back then in Platinum Era Up Front and lots of H!P fans did not want any link to the 48 groups so that was kind of impossible.

  7. Because they think she is a genius. People love to follow geniuses. This is the easist way Sato Masaki justify why they like every bullshit she says and her arrogant borring face.

    • So much salt in this post. Are you jealous of her getting more facetime than your oshi?

      That question was rhetorical. We don’t care about your opinion nor your shit post.

      • I don’t even follow this stagnant group anymore. I don’t care who is the most popular member right now and you would not be so brave in real life, just grow up kid.

  8. Because most of the other girls do not give a shit and do not try at all. She actually cares.

  9. I thought Sakura is the closest thing thing being an ace since Riho. Funny thing is Riho(the real ace) is still probably the most popular after Sayumi even thought they are OG.

    In terms of talent. Riho > Kamei(dance)=Sakura(singing) > Mizuki = Nonaka > Sato = Ayumi

    • Sakura is cool but, “Riho the real ace” LMFAO

      The only reason Riho was so popular is because of all the half-wits who went along with the office cramming her down our fucking throats. Seriously for quite a while it felt like Riho featuring Morning Musume.

      Rihos Dancing is nothing special. Ayumi is better in my opinion.

      To even compare Riho’s singing to Sakura’s is a insult to Sakura. I’ve seen more occasions than I can count when Riho’s Voice was cracking, she was waay off pitch, or just generally sounded like a cat being raped. It made me feel embaressed for the other girls.

      On top of that Riho has NO personality.

      Despite all of this I don’t actually hate Riho. She seems like a nice girl, she’s sorta cute, and when I met her a a HS event she was quite friendly.

      When I see threads like this bashing MaaChan and her fans and saying how overrated and whatnot she is, followed by Riho talk I just cant help but SMFH

      • Riho was a generational talent that the office burnt out through pushing her too hard to rapidly succeed Takahashi Ai.

        Your comments regarding her voice and dancing are so delusionally off the mark that it’s beyond laughable.

        If Riho was “nothing special” like you claim, then why do even the newest KSS continue to name Sayashi as their role model? I’ll answer this one for you: because she excelled in all areas and was a clear-cut ace even before her debut, when she was still training at Actors School Hiroshima.

        TL;DR: I’m a western fan and your opinion is clearly biased and delusional, without any basis in actual fact. I’d encourage you to take the time to learn each members’ true strengths and weaknesses (Riho’s main weakness was her tendency for solitude), but my words will likely fall on deaf ears since you seem more at home when you’re shitposting.

      • > or just generally sounded like a cat being raped

        I was gonna thumbs down this post because I don’t agree with much of it but this line made me laugh so much I wanted to give it a like. So I guess the outcome is neutral and I won’t rate the post at all.

        • “or just generally sounded like a cat being raped”

          It’s hard to say that this portion of the post wasn’t true. Riho has an amazing voice, but the company was pushing her too hard and her voice eventually gave out. They really should have thought out their line distributions in singles and in concerts before it got that bad, but they simply didn’t.

    • Oda and Mizuki both suck at performing, facial expressiins, dont have original and cool signature moves, and have dull personalities. Their only difference is Mizuki is pretty and popular. Oda is not. just because one can sing, doesnt mean shes an ace. An ace should be an all rounder, got looks and enormous poplurity.

      And what, Nonaka is greater than Sato? LMAO!! Miki is the worst performer right now. Doesnt have facial expression other than looking constipated. Shes super awkward and cringey, same for her personality. And shes one of the least popular girls. Shes nowhere near to Sato’s level who has the most reputation in performing and popularity and character. Thats what an ace should be.

        • Telling the truth is not a talkshit. Ok, which part i said that is not true? Does anyone in idol or entertainment industry recognize her talent or performing skills? None. No one in H!P looks up to her either.

          • I don’t know if Sato Masaki looks up to Miki, but she does consider her a rival and is jealous of Miki’s many talents. Sato also had Miki as a guest at her birthday fanclub event so she must think that Miki at least has something.

            • Ive never heard that Sato said that, you completely said things other way around because Miki is the one invited Maachan to her bday event and praised Maachan many times, said shes a genius, poetic, and Miki wanted to be a dancer and senpai like Maachan. If Masaki said Mikis her rival, it would have been discussed on forums and Twiter, which never happened. The only things Masaki said regarding Miki is they have many similarities like beingleft handed, playing piano, same singing voice sound, same boobs and feet size.

              • Ah i just recalled that Machan said that 11 to 13 gen are all her rivals. She even said shes losing now to all of them. You know, Maa tend to keep herself low key when it comes to this rival stuff.

      • I wouldn’t call her a bad performer since she still can sing decently well. When it comes to expressions and a general feeling for the stage then MM is lacking as a whole. I’d say the only ones who are excelling at it are Masaki and Ayumi.

        • You can be a bad performer despite sounding decent. Performing is not just about sound. Its more on dynamics and visuals, which is Miki is worst at. Shes too tensed and just focuses on her voice which degrades her overall performance.

  10. She may be the most popular member, but she doesn’t give a fuck about her fans, this is a fact.

    • I think she is grateful for her fans, but not to the point that she bases everything on them. Sayumi for example did a lot with her fans, mocking the bald old men but also having lots of fan events. Masaki seems to rather go the Matsuura Aya route: It’s cool that you’re here, but don’t make me the center of your life.

    • Honestly, this is part of what I find so fascinating about her, and what I think draws in many of her fans as well.
      Tanaka has mentioned that, yeah, Maachan doesn’t act with ambitions about personal popularity at all, even now. If Maa does things for a calculated reason, at best it’s because she wants to support MM/H!P as a group, not to float her own boat.
      Which means that when she is super entertaining, it’s either because she wants to be for her own pleasure, or she is unintentionally entertaining due to her natural instincts to find the entertaining thing to do.

      And in such a manufactured world as idolling, to see such talent be so genuine/sincere is a miracle, and so to be studied.

      One of the repeated refrains about how crazy bad her handshakes are, her incomprehensible blogs, and even the members themselves about her social norm-breaking behavior is a desire to figure it out. Which means wanting to see more, which is then to be a fan of hers.

      • I think that’s one of the main reasons she’s popular is that what you see on stage, in videos, etc is probably what you see when it’s off stage, off video, or even at home. That there’s not a difference between her idol self and her at home self. People probably feel more connected to her because of that.

        She’s my oshi not for that reason. I just like the “haven’t a clue what she’ll do” type character. I also like the quiet types too, why Oda is my second.

    • Without the scandal i hope. lol! In terms of singing Ai is really good but they are equal in dancing i think. tbh I think in singing… sakura > nonaka > fukumura >sato = yokoyama = makino.

  11. I’m not really into the “ace” thing. I think MM works best as a team effort where some girls may get an extra line or two but everyone contributes.

    Furthermore, the beauty of an idol group is that everyone can be “in charge” of something:

    Mizuki – strict senpai that everyone wants to be corrected by
    Eripon – golf
    Haruna – fashion
    Ayumi – memes
    Haruka – acting
    Masaki – having a cult-like following
    Sakura – being a cyborg
    Oharuna – Osaka-ben
    Miki – International outreach
    Maria – photobooks
    Akane – cuteness
    Kaede – being a little bit rock and roll
    Reina – being a miracle girl
    Chisaki – being a little bit country

    • Now that you have mentioned that, Nonaka Miki doesn’t really cares about international fandom lol, she is only into America.

    • Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that Mizuki was the member in charge of “Not Being Like That”

  12. My favorite thing about idols is all of their unique qualities and quirks. Say what you want about Maa-chan, but she IS unique.

  13. Has an opinion on a member been so divided ever?

    The votes in this thread make me laugh, lmao.

    I’m a Maa oshi, and I get the overrated part. I like her most though because as watching the most recent concert tour, when you compare the two Budokan dates, everything feels…stale. Girls are doing the same poses, same expressions, same “OMG We’re having fun let’s hug!” (Mizuki was doing it a lot).

    I get they’re idols, they have choreo to follow, but Masaki was doing things DIFFERENT. Not all her movements weren’t the same.

    Obviously people are gonna have different opinions, on whether that’s good or bad, but eh.

    Things for sure about Masaki: She’s one of the most, if not the most popular member in Momusu right now. She’s unpredictable, which can be good or bad. And girl has mood changes at the drop of a hat.

    • Yeah, one of the side-effects of having early concerts performances put on Hello!Station is that most of the frontgirls figure out their optimized performance early on and stick to it. Oda is basically the exact same in the final concert as she is in the first. Which isn’t necessarily bad. It’s what you want out of a actress, certainly.

      But Maachan changes it up all of the time, and she pokes the other members into doing things more freely, as well. I feel like the rest of 10th gen would have done a lot less improvising if Maachan hadn’t provided a counter-example.

      Most notable has been in Tokyo Iu Katasumi, where Sakura had figured out her ideal chorus movements, but Maachan has consistently been changing it up and thus prodding Sakura to go along with further developing their interactions during those parts.

  14. Sato’s genius is very unique… just comparing her to someone like Sayumi, who was so good at self-producing herself and her character: What Sayumi did was very self consciously produce herself and did so very successfully; on the other hand, I don’t think Masaki knows or cares to consciously self-produce herself, and yet still does without intending to. I think she’s someone that could only thrive in the smaller pond that is H!P; I don’t think she would do very well in the 48 groups where self-production and the handshakes is a must if you want to be featured and get ahead.

    Also, on the topic of Sayashi… One thing that is very rarely mentioned is how much she influenced H!P… just looking at the number of fans she brought in and the numbers of H!P girls who say they were inspired by Sayashi… Her influence in MM and H!P is undeniable and important… It is sad the way she left, since she really deserved a grand send-off (and I’m not even a huge fan of hers but won’t deny her importance in the post Platinum Era MM)

    • Honestly, Sato was kind of underwhelming on stage before Riho left. She definitely wasn’t frontgirl material at the time. There’s an argument to be made that Riho’s graduation inspired Sato to step up and start being more mature on stage (just as Reina’s graduation pushed Sato to improve her vocals). Houston was possibly the first time we saw that frontgirl-like Sato in full force.

      • beforehand she stay in background since she relied and get pampered by tanasa-tan, shige-san and riho2… now days she rely on no one and no one pamper her, so she matured and take responsibility for MM by providing the best performance that she can (thanks to that three role model, tanasa-tan teach her professionalism in singing, shige-san teach love and loyalty for MM, and riho2 teach her responsibility of being ace)…

  15. I’m a fan of her since 10ki audition and I’m so proud of her. I really don’t get all the hate. It’s not like she wanted to be the most popular member and she tries hard to live up to the expectations because Maa haters want to see her fail and graduate. This is really sad… I’d rather want her to be unpopular again so she is left alone by all those idiots.

    Fans who hate any members for no reason aren’t real fans… They’re only hurting people who want to have some joy and happiness in their life. And I’m not only talking about Masaki but all of them. Just leave us alone…

  16. TBH I think she even be more popular if my fellow fans will stop talking as if maachan can do nothing wrong. Yup she’s great but let’s not make her a saint or something.

    • Another hater whos larping as a fellow fan and making Maa fans as exaggerated as haters’ hatred. How cliche. Why dont you guys just go to japan and tell other MM members, celebrities, professionals and media to stop praising Maachan as well?

      • You know, you’re exactly the kind of person they’re talking about. It’s annoying and has never done anything good to act as if the person you idolize is flawless.

        • I adore my idol because of her flaws. Not because shes flawless, which the haters think how Maa fans think of her. Annoyance is relative. The truth is, they are annoyed because Maa fans are having fun all the time even out of Maa’s ruckus and small antics. I wont gratify their wish to stop expressing my fondness fir Maa just because you guys are annoyed.

            • Tell that to her haters and to yourself who were attacking Maa and her fans first to make their faves look more deserving of Maas spot just because y’all annoyed. Dont order us how to behave coz we dont owe you anything and we’re just fooling around or feel overwhelmed when we praise Maa. Its so stupid and self centered to get annoyed at people that are just having fun. If you dont like what you read on a thread about her, then why not just sod off, instead bossing of around her fans for the sake of your pampered ego.

              • Yada yada haters just try to be a decent person, dude. It’s okay to have fun but when you make other people feel bad (like saying “Oda and Mizuki both suck at performing” which is a super subjective thing and not even built on facts) then that’s not okay. It’s not that hard.

              • Yada yada practice what you preach, hypocrite dude. You said “her fans praise everything she does as super genius and magical…its annoying” is obviously a bash, a generalization, and not only subjective and exaggerated but a mere delusion. Wheres the decency there, huh, ‘that self rightious guy’? What a joke.

              • Did you even said that to the shitheads here who attacked Maa and fans here, no of course, but instead commented on mine. How selective can you get? Lol.Try not to be a hypocrite, its not that hard.

              • I’m replying to you because you were the most obnoxious one at the time I started replying. And boy, chill. You say you’re acting like an ass because there’s people who are assholes about Masaki? That’s pretty childish, honestly.

    • I think she’s got a lot of fans, because she does more wrong, than right. She’s an unconventional idol. Doesn’t follow tv rules, senpai/kouhai rules, etc.

  17. How do i summon Henkka-san? I have a little question for him….

    • I shudder to think how many replies a thread about Sato Masaki’s breasts would get.

        • Fact that she doesnt need to exploit her assets to become the most popular is enough proof how great she is. These in denials here are just jealous because their faves cant be popular like Maachan. Even their faves themselves already stated many times that theyre jealous or admire Maachans genius, but haters still in delusional thought that only Maa fans think shes great. Thumb down all you like, suckers. At least Im shoving these truths in your annoyed faces full of jealousy. Lol

          • Actually, while Sato certainly doesn’t need to do a photobook, she also doesn’t want to due to insecurities (Reina has talked about this).

            On the other hand, since everyone else in Gen 10 is a photobook queen, her lack of a photobook stands out more than for example Miki who is in a generation where only one girl has done photobooks.

  18. I know nothing about music, so I have to ask: is her voice really THAT good? I think it sounds weird. Isn’t Fukumura a better singer?

    • @ cupcake
      Everything is relative.

      Musically, in general, Maa-chan and most idols in the current scene are not great vocalists. Without Auto-tune, most idols would be insufferable. Maa-chan is a good, not great, vocalist for an idol. Fukuhime is a bit better, but not much better. I still love her and will continue to support her.

      Maa-chan lacks range, and as of late her voice has not been as solid, especially on the high notes. Her vocal tone is not pure, it can be thin at times. But she is god-teir as a performer tho. Through the pain, no one is more entertaining, lol.

      Compare these two videos and see if you can notice a difference in the vocal performances. Maa-chan struggles to hit pitches at times and sometimes her voice hits the pitches with a weak strength. She has to shout at times and seems to have very little control over her voice at times.

      Miho on the other hand has a very good control over her voice and goes to pitches when she wants and is not straining to hit notes. Her voice is tonally strong and clear. I know this was recorded in the studio, but they have a video of her in karaoke doing the same thing, but it had too much reverb for me to post.

      佐藤優樹 (young cute idol)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_CrfcLAHBQ

      朝花美穂 (young fat traditional singer, 19yrs old)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFRBbJiOBdI

      There are without a doubt great vocalists from Japan (check out most any opera, enka, or jazz singer making music now), idols rarely rank in that number. But in the contemporary music scene, aesthetics are more important than vocal skill by any measure, which is why j-pop sells more than any genre than those with “excellent vocalists.”

      For the record, Maa-chan is my Morning Musume Oshi (she was my first, and my only), with Oda Sakura trailing a hair’s width behind her… I would follow Maa-chan into the fiery pits of hell… but she is no utahime, lol.

      • Fukus the one who lacks range, she only has soft voice and not that good at power lines. She struggled with her lines in latest Hinafest esp. during Help me! While Maachan and Sakura did great esp. with theie power lines. Maachans unsteady voice was only back in mid 2015 to early 2017, i dont think you should base her skill on her condition back then because her recent performances from mid 2017 up to now have been great.

        • Correction: mid 2016 to 2017. 2015 was the year Masaki was rather on the roll and surprised the fandom with her new aura.

      • She’s cute in that Jealousy Jealousy video (she’s always cute), but her singing is really strange. Everytime her voice gets higher, it sounds like she’s in pain. It’s weird. Sakura is good. Maachan has looks and personality, but as you said, she’s no utahime. I wish Momusu had someone like Airi.

        • Sakura can have the utahime title all herself, because that’s her only role in momusu. She was chosen because she can sing. Thats all. If she could not, shes just a nobody. On the other hand, if Fukuchan and Maachan could not sing, they would still remain as vital members, given Fuku as a sexy pretty idol, and Sato as the best performer and the cute genius trouble maker.

          • If only if only… I can play dirty too.

            If maa doesn’t wear make-up she looks worst than korean celeb without plastic surgery.

          • Lol obviously anyone who’s butthurt over a harsh truth can come up with a shoddy lame insult just to retaliate. Try harder, candy. Lmao.

        • I think that’s what they meant with “the current scene”. Girls like Hamasaki Ayumi also started as idols but that was a different time.

    • Make no mistake…Fukumura is just a busty sex object…she’s not even one of the best singers in H!P

      • yup fukumura is not the best but atleast i don’t cringe when she sings….can’t say much when maa trying to be like sakura.

        • You cringe when you see Miki sings and always looks haggard? Of course! No wonder she’s still a nobody after many years in MM. I also cringe when I see a Tarsier singing along with MM members, found out later that the creature’s name was Oda Sakura.

    • Maachan is on track to shred her voice faster than Riho, so. I’ve winced at the last few concerts at her vocal quality.
      Fukumura’s expressive range isn’t as good. Arguably, even Duu had more expressive singing. But Fukumura’s vocals are steady, and they do the job well enough. She can push to Kamei vocal quality at times, and importantly, she isn’t shredding her voice, so she has more longevity. In the long run, she could get to like a Natsuyaki level, prioritizing melodic interpretation over power.

      But, currently, Maachan and Sakura are the only members who have been doing harmonizing backing vocals for MM. So there’s that aspect, too.

      • I guest you havent watched the recent premium hinafest concert, Masaki was steady and had wider range than Mizuki, who’s strugling with her lines esp. at Help me!
        Many people noticed that. Masaki’s strained voice was so 2016, dunno why you guys keep basing her skills on her past condition instead the current.

        • I don’t trust the vocals from the BR releases, they are edited as fuck. Only trust broadcast, H!S, or studio live audio.

          And while Maa might not sound quite as late-Riho as she did in Inspiration con, she still has issues pacing herself or taking care of her voice. I wonder sometimes how Risako or Miyabi might have sounded if they hadn’t worked so hard in the early years.

        • Fukuchan cracking at hina fes was just one performance though? she sounded fine every other time she’s sang it as well as any other concert. you say about maachan “dunno why you guys keep basing her skills on her past condition instead the current” yet youre basing fukuchan’s entire singing range off of one performance lol

          • You only seen Mizuki cracked once? lmao. guess you havent watched enough concert. Mizuki cracked and failed a lot even when Riho was still around. When they recorded Ima Sugu and Utakata, Mizuki was struggling with high notes, that shows up to now in Wagamama performances. Thus ever since, she lacks range and limited only at soft voice and mellow lines, thats still evident in recent performances.

    • Mostly, yes. Thing is neither really has a technique and their initial talent is both limited – as the first commenter on this said, idols usually aren’t amazing singers, especially nowadays. When it comes to expression through singing though I’d say Masaki is more enjoyable. Mizuki’s voice, however, is probably more fit to a general audience since Masaki tends to get squealy.

      They’re both far behind Sakura, though.

      • I like Fukumura’s voice, it’s soft and soothing, but Sato is a better performer. Still, Sakura is the utahime of this Momusu formation.

  19. My biggest problem with Masaki is that after Duu left I haven’t seen a lot of two shots with her and another H!P idol acting all rub-rub.

    • Maachan got clingy with Iikubo in the DVD Magazines since, but the blogs say she’s been hanging with 12th gen, mostly Ogata and Haga. Even rooming with them during tours. She’s pretty affectionate with Fukumura, as well.

      Her adorable girlcrush on Chel, on the other hand, is the sort where she gets awkward and not touchy-feely.

      • I never seen Maa act fondly or talked passionately about Miki. Miki is the least close 12 gen member to Maa. Maa only talked enthusiastically when its about MariaHaaHaga. Actually, Miki even said that it took a long while before Maa finally talked to her, and thats because Miki gave her a present. Miki on the other hand talked about Maachan admiringly many times, regarding how talented and a caring senpai Maa is, that Miki would buy a book written by Maa and her goal is to dance like Maa.

        • On radio, Ayumi mentioned how when 12ki first joined, Maa kept freaking out to her about how good Chel was. She did it in a couple of MCs, too. (Once to Haachin and once in an encore solo MC)
          In the recent Chel bday events, they say they talked for a long time over several calls to discuss what songs they should sing together, and they’ve been talking about performing together for a long time before that event.

          It’s precisely that Maa treats Chel awkwardly compared to how easily she’s affectionate with anyone else that seems to indicate that her feelings there are unique.

          • Its not news that Maa thinks Miki is a better piano player. There are snippets on DVD mags that she aid that. But is that already an indication to call it a girlcrush, also it was years ago already. Same goes for talking on the phone, because it would normally turn into a long convo when you discuss something, and thats due to Miki invited her as a guest since she stated many times in interviews that she wanted to form a unit with Maa. These instances actually show that Miki is the one who has an affection for Maa instead.

  20. I think her voice is overrated. She sounds ok in some parts but just cant help but cringe whenever she forces it.

    ranking their voices

    1.Sakura
    2.Nonaka
    3.Mizuki
    4=5. Masaki, Maria

    • Lol another fan overrating Miki as better than Sato. Miki doesn’t have powerful long lines and hasn’t performed hard lines in concerts then you assess she’s better? You can only determine how good she is if she had done or pulled of same hard lines as the three main vocals. Same for Maria whose lines are as almost few as Miki’s. Lol your rating is absurd and super biased, obviously just to nitpick Maachan. Well its not surprising coz we all know on H!O how you hate Maa.

    • Hm, I wouldn’t rank Maria that high. And probably Miki behind Mizuki, maybe even behind Masaki. Otherwise, Sakura, Mizuki, Miki and Masaki are probably the best singers in MM right now. But honestly, that says more about MM not having many good singers than about how good these girls are.

  21. So much salt!

    I completely agree with 177, although I’m obviously biased as having Masaki as one of my oshis (is it really possible for other people to choose just one?), as a young woman just 2 years older than Masaki, I know that she’d be one of the MM members I had looked up to when I was younger. I still think she’s really impressive and admirable.

    I also really agree that Riho’s graduation made her improve a lot. The situation with Riho feeling so lonely and burnt out is really sad to me, and obviously the members, but I think it provided a lot of crunch-time to the members. “The Lone Ace” is really bad imo, and the lack of it caused a lot of fast improvement in the members.

    I also agree that Masaki is “overrated” but you have to expect that from a world with so many people living in it. Of course there’s a ton of people saying they like X member and that she’s a genius… there’s a ton of people in the world to begin with.

  22. In terms of popularity there has been what the office has put forward and those have people prefer! like his to start with Abe, Goto, Takahashi, Kusumi, riho. it could have been pushed by the direction is the people. After your sato who is like sayumi who became popular 5 years after seeing 10 years for sayumi.

  23. Interesting thread and comments, despite a couple of insecure Maa-fan.
    I don’t like Maachan herself but i do think she is very much necessary to the group as it is. Well as much as she needs the group.

  24. Pingback: Shine On, You Radiant Emerald, One Day At A Time: MaaGrad – Magi-Kat presents "Magic Morning Meteora"

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