Are the ‘Mōre-mi’ Newcomers Indifferent to Morning Musume? 5ch: ‘Who Needs Respect Anyway’

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The story

On a Hello! Project discussion board, a debate ignited over a post suggesting that so-called “Mōre-mi newcomers” — new fans said to have flowed in from Juice=Juice (“mōre” being slang for looking extra glam or photogenic, often via makeup/editing) — lack respect for Morning Musume, the group that has long served as Hello! Project’s flagship act. The thread saw a sharp clash between the counterargument that “they’re a separate group, so there’s no reason to show respect” and the criticism that “this dismisses the history Morning Musume has built up over the years.” The discussion also touched on generational gaps, including the uproar over Morning Musume’s suspension following a member scandal, and the fact that younger fans never experienced the group’s golden age in the first place.

What people said

1AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:31
Being Hello! Project's flagship act isn't going to change, and the history they've built up is different from Juice's.
2AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:31
Offshore: "I'm a Mōre-mi newcomer, but…"
4AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:33
Maybe it's just that they don't respect Morning Musume '26 — Morning Musume as a whole is still respected, isn't it?
6AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:36
"I like Toyota, but I don't really care about Daihatsu."
Kind of like that.
7AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:37
The second they get a TV appearance they start acting superior about it.
8AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:38
Why would they have to respect a different group?
They're fans of Juice=Juice, you know?
Has Morning Musume ever done anything for Juice=Juice?
9AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:38
Forget Morning Musume —
these people don't even respect Juice=Juice's own graduated members.
17AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:41
Re: #9
You don't need to respect the original lineup either, do you?
10AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:39
They're just not interested in Hello! Project's history to begin with.
11AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:39
I'd get it if they were boasting after actually surpassing Musume's golden age.
46AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:53
Re: #11
It's Juice=Juice that's funding the "pension" for people who lived through Morning Musume's golden age and are still with Up-Front, you know? (slang for veterans coasting on past fame)
Yuko Nakazawa gets that, which is why she's solidly behind Juice=Juice.
12AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:39
These are the glammed-up types who showed up to smash Hello! Project's old-fashioned traditions and old-guard otaku culture.
13AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:40
Re: #1
Why would you need to respect a separate group?
Saying stuff like that is exactly why people outside "the village" call this a religion.
16AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:41
These are people who don't have a millimeter of respect even for Karin Miyamoto, Yukana Miyazaki, or Aarii Uemura.
They genuinely couldn't care less about Morning Musume, Angerme, or Tsubaki Factory.
25AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:44
Re: #16
That's basically a checklist of reasons existing fans hate them.
18AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:42
For kids in their teens and twenties, the golden age happened before they were even born —
forget respect, some of them probably didn't even know it existed.
19AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:42
These are people who fell in love at first sight with the "Danbara Eleven" (a nickname for a particular Juice=Juice lineup).
21AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:43
Because there's no photo-op appeal with Morning Musume.
23AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:43
Bottom line, they're a bunch who worship the Danbara Eleven and nothing else.
28AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:44
Right now is a rebuilding phase for Morning Musume.
Let's look forward to the growth of Homame-Irairī-Getaharu, the 18th gen.
And also the new member coming in from the next audition, and the current trainees.
29AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:45
Those "Mōre-mi newcomers" are trying to destroy Hello! Project.
30AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:45
Morning Musume and Juice=Juice are completely separate groups anyway.
No need to respect each other.
31AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:45
I honestly don't know what there is to watch in Morning Musume or how you're even supposed to enjoy it.
33AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:46
Hello! Project is starting to collapse from within.
34AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:46
If Juice=Juice just went independent from Hello! Project, that'd solve everything.
36AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:48
Wasn't it right around when the Mōre-mi newcomers showed up that Morning Musume's Kitagawa got suspended over that scandal?

If you've got time to force other fandoms to respect the history you've built up,

maybe make sure Morning Musume's own members actually feel the weight of that history first.
48AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:54
Re: #36
You went and said something reasonable, so now

it's turned into people just spamming the same chant over and over.
37AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:48
You don't need it.
Who needs respect anyway.
39AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:50
Let's protect the good old Hello! Project ourselves.
40AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:50
I'd say they show about as much respect as they do OCHA NORMA.
41AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:51
https://imgur.com/VenGvuo.jpg





Respect?





Oh, totally lol
51AnonymousOct 1, 2026 12:57
Re: #41
That's embarrassing.
59AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:02
I just wish they'd at least stay off "Wolf" (the nickname of 5ch's main Hello!Project board).
This isn't a board where newbies who only discovered Hello! Project through the Mōre-mi wave should be posting.
60AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:04
Re: #59
But honestly, if we actually recruited all these new fans onto Wolf — and there are clearly tons of them — the board wouldn't have to complain about being dead anymore.
61AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:05
Even I, who isn't even a Musume fan, respect Hello! Project's history — Morning Musume's golden age, Aya Matsuura, all of it.
These newcomers don't even have that much.
63AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:06
Re: #61
Is there really enough "and all that" to even say "and all that"?
64AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:06
Morning Musume got torn down once, and now the rebuilding is about to begin.
That's exactly what makes it interesting to follow from here.
65AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:07
Re: #64
Judging by how much this thread's grown, it doesn't seem like anyone actually believes that.

For Morning Musume's 18th gen, people wanted ready-to-perform talent, not just kids…
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1790817013/
66AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:07
You don't have to respect the '26 lineup, but
I definitely respect the Golden, Platinum, and Colorful eras.
Hello! Project exists today because of 29 years of history.
68AnonymousOct 1, 2026 13:08
Re: #66
It's actually the other way around — the old guard gets to act big precisely because the current members are selling well.
If the group had flopped and disbanded, the OGs would have nowhere left to appear.
Yuko Nakazawa understands that much, at least.

Background and Key Points of This Debate

Hello! Project is the umbrella talent-agency framework encompassing multiple idol groups, and Morning Musume has long held the position of its most storied, flagship act. Juice=Juice, meanwhile, has seen a surge in media exposure in recent years, and the new fans who’ve joined through that exposure are being dubbed “Mōre-mi newcomers.” The thread split over a single question: is there an obligation to respect a different group within the same agency? Those who say no emphasized each group’s independence — “they’re a separate group, so it’s none of their business” — while those who say yes took issue with what they saw as a dismissal of 29 years of history and achievement. Citing comments from Yuko Nakazawa, some pointed out that the current generation’s popularity is what sustains the OG generation’s activities, hinting at the complicated feelings surrounding this generational handover. That said, no concrete incident backing up the premise that these newcomers actually “lack respect” was offered within the thread itself — much of this appears to rest on individual impressions and gut feelings, which is worth keeping in mind.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Don’t you think the Mōre-mi newcomers show way too little respect for Morning Musume??“

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