#asayan

Back in the day, the comedy duo Ninety Nine played a major role in boosting Morning Musume’s early success, and they’re still big names, hosting primetime TV and radio. But let’s be real they couldn’t care less about the current group. They’d rather spotlight the latest trending actresses or idols than give Morning Musume any time of day. The only ones who gave MM’21 some meaningful screen time were Nakai and Ishibashi. But one just got exiled for being a predator, and the other’s stepping away from the industry because of cancer. So that’s it for the old-meets-new Morning Musume nostalgia specials. And Tsunku? He’s pretty much a non-factor now lol. Living in Hawaii and out of the industry loop, he doesn’t have the influence he used to and not like during the Platinum Era when he could still get them on TV even when they were flopping. He tried to bridge the gap by getting Goto to meet with Fukumura in 2023, but Fukumura was allegedly completely uninterested in anything Goto had to say. Goto criticized the current direction, and rather than taking that as helpful advice, Fukumura just brushed it off. Goto didn’t even show up for the 25th anniversary shows, but hey look, she made time for AKB’s 20th. That pretty much says where her interest stands now. Sanma used to go out of his way to highlight the Platinum Era, he literally got the whole lineup a featured segment on his hit show just because he thought JunJun, LinLin, and Sayu were comedy gold. These days? You’re lucky if one member gets a brief spot on his show and even then, they’re usually overshadowed by bigger-name guests who know how to command attention. Matsuko Deluxe went to bat for them in 2013 and got them a Music Station appearance, but when he met the 2016 lineup, he flat-out told them they were boring and lost their spark. Not exactly subtle…Kaori and Yuko still support the group, but their reach is super limited, they’re doing tiny local shows that barely get attention. It’s sweet, but it’s not helping the group break into mainstream TV.Honestly, this might be the first time in Morning Musume’s history where the group ACTUALLY has to grind harder than any previous generation. There’s no ASAYAN, no Utaban, no Tsunku calling the shots, and no high-profile celebrity fans fighting for them. If they want visibility, they have to work hard for it and right now, it doesn’t feel like they’re really fighting for that spotlight or even care. Which is disappointing.

Similar confession (to those who talked about H!P in general or Momusu struggling to find attention):