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The story
Tsubaki Factory’s Yofu Runo asked fans to attach the “Ribbon Charm” merch — handed out at her birthday event late last year — to their penlights, and the request became a hot topic on 5ch. Her stated reason: to make it easier to tell her apart from new member Nishimura Otsuki, whose member color is close to her own. One fan who actually attached it and brought it to a show reported that the fabric’s glued-on part came loose partway through the roughly two-and-a-half-hour concert. That report kicked off a wider discussion on the thread about how often Yofu’s member color, “mustard,” overlaps with other members’ colors like “yellow” and “orange.”
What people said
@
The "Ribbon Charm" merch from Runo-chan's birthday event at the end of last year —
I hadn't had the chance to use it at a Tsubaki show yet, so I figured "it's dark, should be fine" and tried out the thing Runo-chan asked us to do — attaching it to a penlight — at Biyo Yoko-Ari (a Hello! Project concert at Yokohama Arena)…
Over the roughly 2.5-hour show, the fabric's glued part came loose.
Before this, there was also a case where the glue on a Stone Bijou charm (rhinestone decoration) came loose and the charm got lost.
They're more fragile than you'd expect, so be careful.
#YofuRuno #TsubakiFactory #Tsubaki_Factory
#RibbonCharm
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HLGO8_UbwAAk4HI.jpg
Looks like Rosie's outfit.
That's the whole point.
Just have Yofu Runo inherit Yagi Shiori's orange already.
Color overlap is just par for the course when there's this many members.
Aichi: "I'm light pink." Osaka: "Mustard, obviously lol" Nagasaki: "I'm royal blue."
Wait, did something weird just slip in there for a second?
The question is why they didn't just give her the open orange slot.
The King we've got now wouldn't embarrass herself even wearing Akiyama's red.
King apparently asked Chiori for her blessing because she wants to do the "Itsu-King" bit (a pun pairing her with yellow member Itsuki), so orange's fine as is…
Might be better than making an enemy of the Chiori old-guard fans.
Ogata — Light Orange (retired color)
Niinuma — Light Blue
Tanimoto — Light Purple
Kishimoto — Yellow → Nishimura
Asakura — Light Pink → Murata
Ono — Emerald Green
Onoda — Peach
Akiyama — Light Red
Kawanishi — Purple
Yagi — Orange
Fukuda — Royal Blue
Yofu — Mustard
Ishii — White
Doi — Bright Green
Why weren't light green or light blue used?
Yeah, King does kinda give off ladybug vibes.
Background and Points of Debate
In Hello! Project, each member is assigned her own dedicated “member color,” letting fans show at a glance who they’re supporting through the color of their penlight or merch. But as the lineup grows, the pool of available colors inevitably runs short, and situations like this one — where “mustard” ends up close to both “yellow” and “orange” on multiple members — are a recurring issue across idol fandoms generally, not just Hello! Project. This time, that underlying color-overlap problem collided with a practical workaround: fans repurposing the limited-edition “Ribbon Charm” merch as a permanent penlight attachment, which exposed a separate issue — the fabric simply isn’t durable enough for that kind of use. The thread split into two camps: those who see the color overlap as a lack of consideration toward the newly added member, and those who see it as an inevitable side effect of a growing roster. Worth noting: comments about members being “unpopular” are unsubstantiated fan impressions, not verified facts, and shouldn’t be taken at face value.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Good News] Yofu Runo: “I put out ribbon merch at my birthday event, so please attach it to your penlights — a member with a similar color (Nishimura Otsuki) joined, so it’s to help tell us apart”.”
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