6 comments on “Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Kudo Haruka

  1. What a great interview, and a wonderful translation. Thanks so much, Henkka!

    Duu confirms my perception of the group at the time. I never really got into the Sayashi era, even after seeing them in 2014 in NYC. But when I saw them in Houston in 2016, there was a new energy to them, a new hunger, which drew me back in. Shortly afterwards, NPR aired a segment where a psychologist explained the phenomenon where students with a small achievement gap would compete hard and raise the water line together, but students with a large achievement gap would rarely close the gap, because the lower students would get disheartened.

    The sudden lack of an obvious ace made every member up their game because it was suddenly possible for them to get the opportunity. MM’s group unity since then is the highest its ever been in their entire history, the whole always greater than the sum of their parts.

    Of course, that means that the current newer gens do risk getting disheartened again, as the 9th-11th gens are the new entrenched juggernauts.

  2. Tsunku always so perspicacious. He really comprehends his disciples well to notice if they are natural airheads or if they have been thinking about graduation. Haruka was -always- a good entertainer (not having any bias for her). Reading those parts she couldn’t see herself as being a member of Morning Musume for so long but her hunger to perform differently and become a better singer/dancer is admirable. I got goose bumps from Riho’s hotel room moment and one more cool Riho stuff was “go ahead and try!” it gets even me pumped reading that!

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