On a Hello! Project thread, a post comparing “6-Member Tsubaki” (later Tsubaki Factory) — formed from trainees who didn’t make the cut for Kobushi Factory — with the current “7-Member Rosy,” also formed from rejected trainees, went viral. While acknowledging that the industry has changed (fans can now attend handshake events with just one CD purchase), commenters pointed out that members like Yamagishi, Niinuma, and Kishimoto were already highly regarded back in their trainee days. Many argued that even though both were “leftover groups,” there was a clear difference in the members’ raw potential. Others noted that Kobushi itself later struggled too, with tour tickets eventually selling below face value, so it’s not simply a case of one group being better than the other.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:48
Yamagishi: Praised for her figure since her trainee days
Niinuma: Early favorite, pushed as a top candidate from the start
Kishimoto: The skilled singer of the group
2AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:48
Sure, times have changed — you can get a handshake with just one CD now — but the members' potential was on a completely different level.
3AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:50
Isn't this exactly why Rosy is struggling?
4AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:52
Kobushi itself was already stacked with Hamaura and other sympathy-vote picks to begin with.
10AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:57
Re: #4
Kobushi only looked decent because Nomura leveled up and they had a secret weapon in Reirei — Kobushi itself was the real leftovers group. Hello! Project fans openly called it the "bargain sale group" and figured the next group would be the real deal.
5AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:53
6-Tsuba's draw at shows was even worse than Rosy's.
12AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:58
Re: #5
Right, 6-Member Tsubaki wasn't popular either, but the point is the members' potential was totally different.
6AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:54
At the 7-member stage they were still just trainees — Rosy didn't even have a name yet. Totally different from Tsubaki, which had already made its indie debut as official Hello! Project members.
14AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:59
Re: #6
Their indie songs were quietly pretty good too.
7AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:54
With or without Uemura, it barely tips in Rosy's favor.
16AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:59
Re: #7
Overall — center-appeal and all — Asakura Juju is on another level.
9AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:57
Kobushi has the skills, Tsubaki has the visuals.
11AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:58
If Kobushi counts as "leftovers," then Rosy would have to be industrial waste.
19AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:03
Re: #11
By year two, Kobushi's regional tour tickets were selling below face value too, so it's hard to say either way.
13AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:58
Their member colors were just "light-such-and-such" — leftover shades from Kobushi's palette.
15AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:59
I got hooked on them when they opened for Country Girls' first tour.
17AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:59
Huh, so 6-Tsuba really wasn't popular.
22AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:07
Re: #17
People said it reeked of "newbie," but it's still better than a trainee unit that never even got an indie debut.
https://youtu.be/kBuNr17gKIU?si=YmIOOMzYZgyoKR2X
23AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:10
Niinuma being popular back in her trainee days is no joke — she was even more popular than Danbara.
28AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:16
Re: #23
Well, I mean, Danbara though…
24AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:11
Tsubaki was Kobushi's leftovers, Ocha Norma was Beyooooonds' leftovers, and Rosy is Ocha Norma's leftovers.
25AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:13
The whole "indie debut first" tradition just stopped happening after Beyooooonds.
27AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:15
Though honestly, Juice=Juice — which has one Kobushi survivor in it — is the strongest of them all.
30AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:17
Let's not confuse "leftovers" with "held in reserve," okay?
31AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:18
Re: #10
Really? I thought early on, Taguchi and Renashi seemed like they were expected to do well.
32AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:19
The main reason 6-Member Tsubaki never took off was that, for some reason, they were formed right in the middle of Kobushi's big promotional push.
33AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:23
The moment you factor in Juju-chan, Tsubaki is simply in a higher league.
34AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:24
Well, it was basically Kobushi as the main act and Tsubaki as the side act. Kobushi then self-destructed, and here we are.
35AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:27
Like, why release such a gloomy song for your indie debut? Their opening-act slot for ℃-ute was so painful I couldn't even watch.
36AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:28
Rosy just formed, so this is about what you'd expect. Tsubaki would be ranked below Rosy too if it weren't for "Ritokyame" (a member's nickname) joining.
37AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:28
Up until "Hatsukoi Sunrise," they were pretty hopeless — kind of like Rosy is now.
38AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:30
"Seishun Manmanka" and "Kedakaku" (song titles) were what got me into Tsubaki.
39AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:30
Tsubaki had real momentum back in the "Teion Yakedo" (Low-Temperature Burn) era. Even Gurasan (a well-known fan/blogger) was raving about them.
47AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:46
53AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:59
You can tell how much effort the agency put in just by how they were treated post-debut — Tsubaki got nothing but great songs, while Rosy is drowning in duds.
56AnonymousSep 28, 2026 22:04
Re: #53
Though honestly, it was already bad news when their planned 2024 debut got quietly scrapped without explanation.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Hello! Project has repeatedly used the same method when forming new groups: gathering trainees who didn’t make the cut for an existing group’s lineup. Tsubaki Factory’s origins trace back to six trainees who missed out on Kobushi Factory, and the newly formed “7-Member Rosy” is said to have come about the same way. What split opinion on the thread was whether “missed the cut” can simply be equated with “lacking talent” — several posters pointed to cases where members’ reputations shot up years later, arguing that people who were simply held in reserve shouldn’t be lumped in with genuine leftovers. It’s not unusual for a group’s early reputation to diverge from how its members are judged years down the line — one former Kobushi member went on to become a core member of Juice=Juice — which shows just how hard it is to judge “potential” right after a group forms.
Leave a Reply