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The story
On a Hello! Project fan thread, anticipation over a possible new member for Juice=Juice ahead of Reiruru’s graduation became a hot topic. Posters repeatedly called for a recruit at least 160cm tall with strong vocal skills, floating trainee names like Yoshida Hikari, Nemoto Karin, and Ohno Airi — though others pushed back with a harsher take: ‘there’s no real talent among the current trainees.’ A CanCam interview was also brought up, in which current member Ishiyama Sakura talked about ‘the sheer impact of all 11 members lined up shoulder to shoulder,’ underscoring the group’s now-established trend toward taller members. Some also revisited the past decade of BP award winners and which groups they were later assigned to, noting that many current members — including Danbara, Matsunaga, Kawashima, and Hayashi — rose up through the trainee ranks.
What people said
Nemoto Karin-chan
Ohno Airi-chan
Would be great if the new auditions turn up someone Ebata-tier though
https://cancam.jp/archives/1759787
Q. If you come to a Juice=Juice live, what would you want people to focus on — for the group as a whole, for yourself, and for each other?
Sakura: For the group as a whole, honestly, just the whole performance. It's not just that the singing is good — we've got so many seniors who are almost too skilled, so I just want people to simply enjoy the music. And because everyone's tall with such great style, there's a real impact when all 11 of us line up shoulder to shoulder — it's something else. I really want people to pay attention to that.
They're succeeding by going tall, so there's no room for short members anymore
At least there's no one like that among the current trainees
With TV appearances on the rise, throwing in a junior-high schooler would just be dead weight
Bringing in someone like Nagano or Tsutsui after their group's disbandment would be a better, more immediate contributor
2017 Danbara ⇒ Juice=Juice
2018 Shimakura ⇒ BEYOOOOONDS
2019 Matsunaga ⇒ Juice=Juice
2020 Ishiguri ⇒ OCHA NORMA
2021 Yokaze ⇒ Tsubaki Factory
2022 Matsubara / Onoda ⇒ ROSY CHRONICLE
2023 Kawashima ⇒ Juice=Juice
2024 Hayashi ⇒ Juice=Juice
2025 Nishimura ⇒ Tsubaki Factory
2026 Ishikawa ⇒ Morning Musume.
Next BP award winner, it's ANGERME's turn
2027 Kishida or Nemoto ⇒ to ANGERME
Now that you mention it, unlike Musume. or ANGERME, they've never actually run a Juice=Juice-only audition, have they
Well, that was Danbara's second time though
Anyone added now would just get buried and fade out
Fine if they get buried
The whole point is to bring in real talent and raise them while Reiruru's still around
JJ's had two members get worn down mentally and come back, after all
Compared to Mippuru and Risachi, who broke down once and came back, the recovery was actually pretty quick
Isn't that Kawashima and Hayashi you're describing?
The hole Reiruru leaves is way too big
You can never have too many standout talents
Sounds like she'll be around a long time
I've been watching her so long already, I'm satisfied
That's incredibly lucky, if you ask me
Morning Musume. used to be exactly like that too
With school/college concerns in the mix, a group as busy as Juice was never really in the running to begin with
I see
She's a Hello! Project treasure, let's take good care of her
Background and key points of this discussion
In Hello! Project, promoting trainees into full groups has become routine, and the list of BP award winners from 2017–2026 raised in the thread shows just how many of them ended up assigned to Juice=Juice. Many of the group’s current core members, including Reiruru, also joined through this same trainee pipeline, which is why filling a vacancy left by a graduation always draws intense fan interest. The thread saw a clash between those wanting ‘someone tall with strong vocals’ and a more cautious view that ‘adding someone right now would just leave them buried’ — a reminder that this isn’t simply about filling a headcount, but also about training time and balance with existing members, a point that’s easy to overlook. It’s worth noting that no actual new member or fresh audition has been officially announced, so everything in the thread remains fan speculation and wishful thinking.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Hello Pro trainees rushing to join Juice=Juice ahead of Reiruru’s graduation”.
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