What’s in a soloist? Pt 2 (8th gen)

Morning Musume’s ever changing lineup has produced many soloists, so let’s finish up the current lineup to see what the newbies can bring us.

Koharu’s been skipped, as she’s already a soloist, even if it’s for an anime.

Mitsui Aika

Mittsi’s relationship with the fans is love-hate right now, as far as i’m aware.  About half the wota population thinks she looks and acts like an old lady, and the other half thinks she’s adorable and would love to see her grow and hear her sing more.  I am part of the latter half of the wota, but to be honest I think pushing her as a soloist would be a risk right now.  It’s somewhat obvious that Tsunku and the bigwigs at UFA are pruning her into a soloist, what with a solo performance in her first fall concert and a solo performance in the recent fall concert as well.  I’m sure she will eventually grace H!P’s list of soloists, but for right now it’d be too much of a risk.

SOLOIST?: It’d be a risk, but it’s obvious that H!P and UFA are primping her to be one.

JunJun

JunJun, JunJun, JunJun. . . You’re too darn cute, y’know that?  Hello! Project’s recent expansion into mainland Asia and Taiwan has brought about the two most curious cases for H!P soloist material, especially after the debut of H!P’s Taiwan based Ice CreaMusume.   If JunJun, generally considered the more popular of the two pandas, were to debut as a soloist, would it be under Hello! Project’s new “Hello! Pro Taiwan”? or would she stick to what she’s already got and stay with Hello! Project’s main group.  She’s considered the worst singer of the two pandas, but she is a decent singer.  Her voice has a nice tone to it and because Japanese is her second language, when she sings in japanese it sounds Chinese, which is, to me, one of her charm points.  It’s really hard for me to foresee where she’ll be in H!P in 2 or 3 years, even though she’s been in H!P for 2 years already (wow, i can’t believe it’s been that fast!)  I guess that since Morning Musume was so slow in 2008, no one was really given a chance to see what kind of stuff JunJun can do, but if her minor corners on Haromoni@ and her cute impression of Ayaya in the 2008 summer concert were any implication of what kind of idol goodness she’s got stored away in her reserves somewhere, I think she’d be a good soloist.

SOLOIST?: I’m not 100% sure.  She has the personality, but she’s definitely not ready, and her voice isn’t quite there yet. . .

LinLin

LinLin’s got some of the same complications as JunJun:  She’s one of the two pandas, so if she were to become a soloist, where would she go–Hello! Pro Taiwan or regular Hello! Project?  Her voice is superior to her 8th generation peers and she’s been in the entertainment business since she was 8, but as an idol, her personality is still under construction.  She had a number of hilarious faces in the recent Alo Hello! DVD, but even then it seemed like she was just putting on a show–even if we know that all idols do that.

Ever since she debuted on Haromoni@ back in July 2007, she’s been kind of out there.  She doesn’t seem comfortable acting goofy or dancing around like a maniac, but she does it anyway.  I’m not sure if she’s told to or if it’s just what she thinks is right, but it’d be nice to see the real LinLin sometime.   Even Sayumi, who’s always seemed like such a bubbly character, admitted on Music Fighter in April 2008 that she was a reserved kid and her only friends in elementary school were pillbugs.  It’s silly stories like that that you completely believe that make an idol, not the making silly faces and acting cute.  Getting to know an idol is like getting to know a classmate, almost, but this time they don’t know who the hell you are, but you know absolutely every detail about them and chances are you’ll never get within 20 feet of them.  All I’m saying is that LinLin’s got the voice, but right now I can’t believe her personality so I think she needs more time before she does anything outside of Morning Musume.

SOLOIST?: not right now; her personality still needs work, even if she is a great singer.

There you have it:  Morning Musume.  A lot of these are just my opinions, so you have your right to give your two cents in the comments   Next time I’ll be writing about Berryz Koubou’s three oldest members, so wait for it!