Taisei: “Original Members Nailed the Studio Sound Live, Current Members Sing Freely” — Fans Split

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The story

Juice=Juice member Taisei’s comment that “the original members excelled at faithfully reproducing the polished studio recordings live, but the current members sing freely” became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. The thread split between those praising the polish of the original-member era, including Karin Miyamoto and Sayuki Takagi, and those backing the current members’ freer vocal style. The debate spread beyond Juice=Juice itself into skill comparisons with Angerme and Tsubaki Factory and arguments over group rankings, with some crediting the current lineup’s rise and others pointing to the history of the group’s longtime members.

What people said

1AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:46
From Nikkei Entertainment
2AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:46
Days in the group as of 2026/09/08 (per Wikipedia)

4,127 days — Akari Uemura
3,361 days — Ruru Danbara (2017/06/26–)
3,194 days — Tomoko Kanazawa
2,909 days — Sayuki Takagi
2,845 days — Karin Miyamoto
2,643 days — Yume Kudo / Ria Matsunaga (2019/06/14–)
2,351 days — Reon Inoue (2020/04/01–)
2,303 days — Yuka Miyazaki
1,889 days — Ichika Arisawa / Risa Irie / Kisaki Ebata (2021/07/07–)
1,532 days — Sakura Ishiyama / Sakari Endo (2022/06/29–)
1,447 days — Manaka Inaba
1,207 days — Mifuu Kawashima (2023/05/23–)
*,623 days — Nanami Yanagawa
*,442 days — Nia Hayashi (2025/06/23–)
*,130 days — Aina Otsuka
3AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:47
Music Station: "One of the best voices even in all of Hello Pro! Juice=Juice!!"

Kudo: "Hyoremiamore!!" (a nonsense vocal ad-lib/scat)
https://i.imgur.com/mYYajKb.mp4

Music Station's nice introduction got totally ruined by that

(tearing up)
tps://pbs.twimg.com/media/HNBlIDYaYAAPyiC.jpg:orig
4AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:56
Is it fun for "Oyaki" to bash Juice every single day? The thread isn't even getting traction.
5AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:58
If it's going to be the same every time, you could just listen to the CD (studio recording) — that's basically lip-syncing, right?
6AnonymousSep 8, 2026 15:58
Is Taisei anti-original-members or something?
8AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:00
Guess it's just a difference in evaluation criteria
Both are good
Singing is art, after all
42AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:19
Freedom from Tsunku('s strict direction), probably
43AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:21
That growly ad-lib ("ganari") at the end sure is 'free'
44AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:23
Angerme does their own free thing too, but they don't seem to get much credit for it…
45AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:24
Re: #44
Not sure about that — I think they get more credit than Tsubaki at least
46AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:25
Re: #1
✕ "Singing freely"
○ Desperately doing something different to escape the ghost of the original members
47AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:27
The original members actually sounded better live than on the studio recording
48AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:27
Pro opinion ranks it Morning Musume = Angerme > everyone else, though
65AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:52
Re: #48
Self-proclaimed "pro"? (lol)
50AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:30
Sounds like a throwaway interview answer
51AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:31
So the current approach was the right one after all
52AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:32
Not much point comparing across different eras, though
53AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:39
Takagi did her own free vocal fakes/riffs too, didn't she?
56AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:43
They're just the leftovers who couldn't make it into Angerme, after all
58AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:44
Tsubaki Factory is the leftover group of people who couldn't make it into Angerme
And Juice=Juice is the leftover group of people who couldn't even make it into Tsubaki Factory
61AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:46
Re: #60
So Angerme is one of the rare groups actually above them, huh
62AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:48
During the slump after core members Miyamoto, Takagi, Kanazawa, and Inaba left,
the remaining members kept working hard and trained up the new members,
steadily building their skills — that's how today's big breakthrough happened
Even after all the original members left and their fans dropped off,
the group's skill had already surpassed the originals, so they delivered results within a year and a half
Juice's success comes down to the current members' effort and skill

Angerme, on the other hand, relied on Rika and Miko's popularity, slacked off, and never built up real skill
Even after getting an instant-impact talent like Nagano, they're still stuck in a slump
with no sign of a comeback — if anything, they're falling apart
63AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:49
Juice=Juice > every other group
64AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:50
Morning Musume > Angerme > Juice=Juice > every other group
66AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:52
Re: #45
To Taisei, that is
68AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:54
Re: #66
Is Taisei's opinion really that important as a benchmark?
69AnonymousSep 8, 2026 16:56
Current-lineup Juice=Juice just can't be beat
72AnonymousSep 8, 2026 17:03
Uemura was the one who started doing free vocal arrangements,
and now everyone does their own thing with it
When one person tries it, the others follow and start changing things up too
I think that's a really good thing
74AnonymousSep 8, 2026 17:21
Yeah, this settles it —
Angerme's performance is overwhelmingly better after all
77AnonymousSep 8, 2026 17:36
Re: #74-75
Which one of you is the liar, I wonder?

[Sad news] Angerme's "Tsugi Tsugi Zokuzoku" live footage gets blown away by Juice=Juice's "Fiesta! Fiesta!" and "Bitansan" live footage lolololololol
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1788856021/
75AnonymousSep 8, 2026 17:23
Angerme >>> Juice=Juice >>> Tsubaki Factory
Guess that settles it

Background and Key Points of This Topic

The phrase “singing freely” appears to refer to personalized vocal arrangements — like vocal fakes and ad-libs — that go beyond singing exactly as recorded. Some posters in the thread pointed out that Akari Uemura was the pioneer of this singing style, framing it not simply as a matter of skill level but as a difference in artistic approach. At the same time, the divide is clear: one camp values faithful reproduction of the studio recording, the other champions individual free expression, and the two views have run in parallel without any resolution. A point readers can easily misread is that Taisei’s comment itself doesn’t declare one group of members superior to the other — it simply describes a difference in singing style. Still, starting from this remark, the thread expanded into skill comparisons between Juice=Juice, Angerme, and Tsubaki Factory, and into arguments over group rankings, with parts of the discussion drifting well away from what the original comment was actually about.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Taisei: “Juice=Juice’s original members excelled at faithfully reproducing the polished studio recordings live, but the current Juice=Juice sings freely”.”

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