Morning Musume。11th Gen "Suppin Utahime" WINNER ANNOUNCED!

[Sohee]

Those I met in Japan that I talked about MM with all knew up until 6th gen. Eri was the one they had most issues with actually. Reina and Sayu are known enough - Sayu a bit more since she's on more TV shows. "Chinese girls too right?" was a common question as well. But, Koharu and Aika? Nothing.

[Parhelion69]

Problem with Aika is that she didn't stand out in anything at all.
You can have a cute girl, even if she has zero talent (like Koharu), or a talented one even if she isn't that cute (like Kei) or a girl with great personality (yossie, but she was also cute). Sadly, Aika had none of those and was picked over better (cuter, more talented,etc) girls, so the hate towards her was gigantic... Fans wanted a "better" Musume to picked.

Later, she developed well (got some nice boobage), and I believe that's what should've been used to promote her, release more bikini, gravure PBs and the like. That could've boosted her popularity.

However, her real use for the group was her serious behavior, strictness and perseverance, so it was more of an internal thing: It was fine for the group, not so much for the fans. She helped in that way though, so it was fine I guess.

[AyuHikaru]

I have a story about Koharu! A girl living in Japan and married to a Japanese guy on a forum I used to post on saw my signature (A picture of Koharu) and said "That's the Kirari girl, right? My daughter loves her."... she did not know she was in Morning Musume however
"

[resop2]

Problem with Aika is that she didn't stand out in anything at all.

...

Later, she developed well (got some nice boobage)

...

Even circa Kamashimi Twilight Aika had a pretty noticeable rack.

And, the real problem with Aika (IMO) was that she had a lot of senpai's ahead of her who had not developed in any way. "Creative" at H!P was spending all their energy trying to get over the jabrones in generation six so they didn't really have time to do anything for Aika.

[kyuu]

Aika is so beautiful everyone who hates on her is dumb.
they are just Kikka stans... >.<

I don't care about Kikka and I still [stroke]hated[/stroke] strongly disliked Aika. She was boring, her "cute" voice got in my nerves, she never impressed me as a performer nor catched my eyes in any way. She may be a sweet girl but she wasnt a good idol.

However since it's obvious she really wants it I hope she manages to do good in the bussiness

[AyuHikaru]

I didn't become a Kikka fan till she debut and I was livid when Aika got picked (I was routing for Minami)

Honestly, looking back, I think it was because she was the ONLY one that got picked. I pegged her for getting chosen because Tsunku loves his works in progress, but I didn't expect her to be the only one (I think my list was Sumire Sato, Kikka, Minami, and Aika). And I still think that having just ONE other girl there would have actually made Aika more popular, thanks to the other girl being there and Aika could have flown under the radar for awhile.

Like, if the 10th gen auditions happened, and Masaki just got picked, there would suddenly be a ton of Masaki anti's, no doubt, because Ayumi (Or Sara) DIDN'T. So people who liked Ayumi would start hating on Masaki on principle. That's what happened to Aika. It was nothing she did, it was nothing about her, she was screwed the minute she was the only one picked.

EDIT: Changed the example to Masaki, who I think works better since she wasn't a popular choice during the auditions.

[Starra]

I'm still pissed I never got a Koharu x Sumire duet.

[iceymoon]

i've mentioned it before, but it's relevant so i'll mention it again. i was rooting for Minami as well but by the end of Happy 8ki Audition (which was my first audition to go through live) i only had one wish: anyone but Aika. that's where my hate started.

she grew on me VERY SLOWLY since i still didn't see her appeal until like 3 years after she joined. i was finally able to accept that i didn't hate her, but what kept me from ever just going "you know, i like Aika" was because she would remind me every concert how much i her lack of interest/liveliness during concerts annoys me. i remember one performance of Lullaby Game in particular i was getting really into it (because i know the dance and it was Eri's last single so i was all emotional) and it was like this..

Aichan workin' it.
Gaki enjoying her lines.
Reina being Reina.
Sayu surprisingly intense.
Eri into it.
Aika vaguely present.

and would ruin my groove every single time she came on camera. >< and it happened a lot, not just for this performance. so as much as i recognized how far she came along, i could still never push her out of the "just okay" zone into "like".

[DARC1993]

^
what about JunJun LinLin?
i thought you liked Aika hah

[iceymoon]

^ i left them out because they weren't on camera very much. poor pandas. but usually it was..

JunJun cute and cool.
LinLin having fun.