2018 is nearly behind us, and thus it’s time to look back and see what the year had to offer. (While you’re at it, feel free to check out the best of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017!)
Please note that this list is not in order of best to worst. It’s simply a list of what I thought were 15 of the best 2ch threads posted on Wota in Translation this year, in the order they were published.
Did I miss anything? What were your favorites from 2018?
Sayashi Riho
May 28, 1998 — Hiroshima
2011/01/02 ~ 2015/12/31
Sayashi: Back when I was still a kindergartener and I had no vision for my future whatsoever, I got to dance at the center of the stage at our arts festival to “Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~.” I had a lot of people complimenting me and I had so much fun doing it. It made me feel like I was glowing. That was the moment I decided: “I want to be in Morning Musume!“
— That Morning Musume song is what started it all for you.
Sayashi: I told my parents that I wanted to start dancing, and I’m from a very music-loving family so they immediately agreed and I enrolled in an “actors school” in Hiroshima.
— From the very beginning you were dancing in the center at your arts festival, and you were very active at your actors school as well. It does sound like you had a natural talent for dancing to begin with…
Sayashi: Not at all. But I did get to often be in the center at my actors school as well, so that was a big source of confidence for my young self. I’m someone who’s always quick to get bored of things, but dancing was different — I just couldn’t stop. I became convinced that dancing was my most treasured thing in life.
1: おちんくん 2018/10/08(月) 15:41:20.88 0.net
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Sayashi Riho pretty much made the current H!P.
6: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/10/08(月) 16:56:41.06 0.net
I only learned who Sayashi was and became a fan in 2018. Sayashi is the only idol I like, so I don’t quite even get the whole “oshi-hen” thing of idol culture.
13: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/10/08(月) 17:26:05.46 0.net
>>6
I, too, discovered and became a fan of Sayashi in the fall of 2017. Up until then, the only H!P artist I’d properly listened to was Matsuura Aya. Sayashi’s appeal to me is how she just puts her everything into her performances — both in her singing as well as her dancing.
In the current Morning Musume, the person who feels the closest to that for me is Ishida Ayumi-chan, so I think I’ll remain a dedicated fan of hers until her graduation… because I don’t think Sayashi is ever going to make her return to the stage.
8: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/10/08(月) 17:12:09.18 0.net
The king of idols. The ultimate form of the modern idol.
5: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/16(日) 14:38:23.29 0.net
I had an image of her being popular because she was like this moe anime character.
67: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/16(日) 15:35:30.65 0.net
Big eyes.
68: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/16(日) 15:37:19.13 0.net
Pretty legs.
6: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/16(日) 14:38:56.18 0.net
It feels like she was actually surprisingly athletic. Though now that I think about it, everyone in the 5th gen was athetlic. But Konno was smart, too.
14: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/16(日) 14:44:02.89 0.net
At the time, everyone in the group was all about pushing their way to the front 24/7. Konno was the only gentle, quiet type, so she got all the fans who were longing for that type of girl. In the beginning she used to be written off as just another member who was no good at singing or dancing or anything else, and yet it turned out that she was actually smart and fit… She was like the honor student of the group.
1: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/20(木) 23:42:27.92 0.net
http://www.helloproject.com/release/detail/EPCE-7462/
Best! Morning Musume 20th AnniversaryHello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2019 WINTER ~YOU & I~
Hello! Project 20th Anniversary!! Hello! Project 2019 WINTER ~NEW AGE~
4: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/20(木) 23:43:51.42 0.net
Still?
2: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/20(木) 23:42:52.22 0.net
Until when are you going to celebrate it?! (laughs)
3: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/20(木) 23:43:23.03 0.net
If you’re just rounding it up or down, you can call it the 20th anniversary until their 24th year!
And then the next year you can start calling it the 30th anniversary!
1: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/01(土) 21:16:56.42 0.net
It’s not like they were bad singers either, so why was the office so stubborn about not giving them lines?
5: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/01(土) 21:35:55.19 0.net
They sure were cute.
6: 名無しさん募集中。。。 2018/12/01(土) 22:37:06.78 0.net
I wish I could see a Junjun vs. Koharu MC again.
9: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/01(土) 23:05:20.68 0.net
Junjun eating dog food and saying it had no taste was cute.
14: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/12/01(土) 23:21:09.07 0.net
The group had terrible speaking skills around the time, but it feels like those two made it a little bit better.
1: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/11/21(水) 19:16:37.44 0.net
Tell me all about it.
2: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/11/21(水) 19:17:05.19 0.net
They got FRIDAY’d together.
4: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/11/21(水) 19:17:47.06 0.net
Pictures are welcome, too!
13: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/11/21(水) 19:27:55.30 0.net
Momochi was supposed to be someone untouchable, yet Chinami was a natural enemy of hers.
8: 名無し募集中。。。 2018/11/21(水) 19:21:55.74 0.net
The cute Chinami became sulky and got into a fight with Momochi when she got into Country because she felt like her juniors were “stealing” Momochi away from her.
Iida Kaori
August 8, 1981 — Hokkaido
1997/09/14 ~ 2005/01/30
Iida: You know, the “nee, waratte” in “Daite HOLD ON ME!“… That expression on my face was just me doing my best. I’m someone who is usually making no progress despite really trying my best…
— But you doing was something that became another hot topic for followers of the group.
Iida: Wada, our manager at the time, was coming up with all sorts of strategies to boost Morning Musume’s popularity. He would always tell us to talk more so they would show us on TV for longer. So when we were appearing on music programs, that’s what I would always be focused on — talking more. But it wasn’t working… the cameras weren’t pointed at me, so I felt like I was danger. “Oh no! They’re not going to give me any airtime all!” And that’s why I went too far. That’s why I was established as being the “weird one.”
— This time around, though, you giving it your all did produce results.
Iida: It came as a total surprise to me, too. That’s why I decided to throw away my “orthodox idol” image and choose the screen time instead. (laughs) Tsunku♂ apparently felt that I didn’t have to play the role of the comedian if I didn’t want to, but it wasn’t something I was really doing consciously.
