Tsunku♂, former general producer of Hello! Project, remarked that while Morning Musume enjoys high visibility thanks to its legendary run of hit songs, the current members’ singing and dancing skills leave something to be desired — and that the group should be brought up to the level of fellow Hello! Project act Juice=Juice. The comments drew attention on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. In the thread, some questioned how much say Tsunku actually still has over member selection and personnel decisions these days, while others pointed to inadequate training for the 18th-generation members. Still others pushed back, arguing that skill isn’t necessarily what idols need, leaving opinion divided.
What people said
3AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:14
They're not even factoring skill into the selection process — don't ask the impossible.
4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:14
Are your own hit-song-writing skills even up to snuff?
5AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:17
Wow, an old guy who really knows his Hello! Project.
61AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:35
Re: #5
But he doesn't even come to the live shows, does he?
6AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:17
So it's because their singing and dancing skills are low that he can't write good songs? Is that the logic?
8AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:19
Wait, you're still a producer?
11AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:19
Just leave the rest to Juice and let Momusu disband already.
12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:19
Tsunku, please write us another bop like "More Mia Amore" (a fan's half-joking, half-Italian song request).
78AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:39
Re: #12
Don't ask for the impossible! That's a total "Mo-can't-do" lol (pun blending Momusu with muri, "impossible")
13AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:20
Current Morning Musume really is the least skilled group in all of Hello! Project.
24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:26
Re: #13
Still better than Tsubaki Factory, which is nothing but tone-deaf singers, right?
14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:20
Wait, is Tsunku still the general producer? That's a pretty condescending tone for someone who isn't.
19AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:22
How long does this guy plan on still acting like the producer?
29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:27
Re: #19
Wasn't Tsunku just the sound director? Has he already stepped down from that too?
31AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:28
Tsunku hasn't held full authority since the group's formation.
40AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:30
Re: #31
Wait, there was a period when Tsunku actually was Hello! Project's general producer. Didn't he have authority over personnel decisions too?
33AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:28
You'd do better to look at successful idols from other agencies — otaku don't actually want skill. A lot of idol otaku are themselves socially disadvantaged, so they go for immature, fragile-looking girls — the submissive type who seems like she'll do whatever you say. (Juice=Juice getting attention is a pretty exceptional case.)
41AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:30
Re: #33
People say this a lot, but I don't really get the sense that only fragile-looking women make it big in entertainment.
48AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:31
I do think they could use a couple more members who can really sing. That said, the choreography overall is so intense that it looks tough to sing through. When other groups cover Morning Musume songs, unless you're at the level of Dambara, Nishida, or Kawanishi, people tend to struggle pretty badly.
Juice=Juice has Dambara, Inoue, Matsunaga, Kawashima, and Hayashi — that's just cheating-level talent. Morning Musume would get mercy-ruled (a baseball term for a lopsided loss); there's no comparison.
57AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:35
Re: #49
Tsunku has zero involvement in member selection. If you've got complaints about personnel decisions, take it up with the agency.
51AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:33
Just recruit girls who are cute, have great figures, and have skill from the start — and you go write a decent song for once.
53AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:34
Re: #51
As if a girl like that would even come audition for Hello! Project.
64AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:36
Re: #57
Wait, didn't they fully intend to put Dambara into Morning Musume? Why didn't that end up happening?
68AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:37
I've got high hopes for Ishikawa, who can handle both dance and vocals. Suzuki's dancing is weak though.
76AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:38
Re: #68
Whether Ishikawa can actually hold her own as a lead vocalist once she's a full member is still unknown — she just did well on the "second team," that's all.
82AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:40
Every Momusu fan was surely expecting the 18th generation to finally bring in that long-awaited ace who can actually sing.
87AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:41
Re: #82
Exactly this. Who'd have guessed they'd all turn out to be unproven junior-high schoolers — and there's no time to spare for training them up.
93AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:44
If Fukumura, Ikuta, and Ishida had graduated instead of sticking around, the generational handover would have gone smoothly and it wouldn't have come to this.
95AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:44
New member additions probably just get sprung on the manager out of nowhere too. At the very least, give Tsunku a proper heads-up in advance.
98AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:45
Re: #95
Tsunku: "At the time, I did hear from management that 'new members are scheduled to join Morning Musume next year (2026),' but I wasn't given any specifics."
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1787892902/
105AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:48
Back in the ASAYAN days, the golden-era members were basically hand-picked additions chosen directly by Tsunku, right? Like the Chinese members Junjun and Linlin. "Mitsui, come on down. Fukumura, come on down." I can't see it any other way — Tsunku was personally selecting members at least up through that era. Isn't it more that his authority over personnel dropped to zero once he stepped down as general producer?
108AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:50
Re: #105
These days he just provides the songs, right? Maybe he throws in a bit of input on the choreography for those songs, at most.
109AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:51
Re: #105
Apparently it was originally run as a selection committee, though of course his word could still override everyone else's. I'd guess it dropped to zero involvement once he was advised to take a break for his health.
111AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:52
Momusu has more skill than the Sakamichi groups or Kawa Lab. But the Sakamichi groups and Kawa Lab outsell Momusu anyway. The problem is the songs and how they're marketed. As for Juice=Juice, it's simply that Aoi Yamazaki's songs are good. Tsunku's more difficult songs just don't tend to go viral.
113AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:53
Re: #111
Isn't it just that Morning Musume's skill is so lacking that the songs look hard by comparison?
Background and key points of this discussion
Tsunku♂ held the position of Hello! Project’s general producer around 2004, but stepped back from that authority after his health declined, and is now said to be involved mainly in providing songs. This history is why the thread debated whether he still has any say over personnel matters. Juice=Juice gets held up as a vocally strong group partly because members like Yamato Dambara are highly regarded even within the industry. Meanwhile, Morning Musume’s 18th-generation intake marked an unusual generational shift in that every new member is in their early teens, and the underlying frustration is that the hoped-for “ace who can really sing” never materialized among them. There was also an argument that otaku want a sense of protectiveness more than technical skill — but that’s a generalization about the idol market, and it’s worth separating from any judgment of Tsunku’s remarks themselves.
Leave a Reply