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The story
Results from the 4th round of individual meet-and-greet (kobetsu) and photo session (cheki-kai) sign-ups for Morning Musume。’26’s 77th single, “Lonely…But not Alone / Yes ka No ka Watashi ka,” were posted on 5channel’s Hello! Project board. The sellout rate edged up slightly, from 46% (81/174 slots) for the previous 76th single to 48% (86/179 slots) for the 77th, with Akoto Yumigeta, Airi Yamazaki, and Homare Okamura standing out for their gains, while Haruka Inoue continues to struggle. The thread also split over the “sales ended” label attached to Maria Makino, who is retiring from individual sessions with this release — with posters debating whether it genuinely means sold out, or is a misleading spin.
What people said
Cheki (photo) session
10/03 Shibuya, Part 1 → Oda, Nonaka, Okamura, Yamazaki, Sakurai, Yumigeta, Suzuki
65/80 A: Sakura Oda, Haruka Inoue, Miyu Yasuda
(14/16・13/16・15/16・11/16・12/16)
09/80 B: Miki Nonaka, Karen Ishikawa
(01/16・04/16・00/16・03/16・01/16)
20/80 C: Homare Okamura, Airi Yamazaki
(08/16・02/16・00/16・00/16・10/16)
14/80 D: Rio Sakurai, Moa Suzuki
(02/16・07/16・00/16・00/16・05/16)
03/80 E: Akoto Yumigeta, Asa Sugihara
(01/16・01/16・00/16・00/16・01/16)
04/16 Maria Makino [3rd round, sales ended]
(0/8 [sales ended]・4/8 [sales ended])
How was the talk session last time?
3 Anonymous 2025/11/18 (Tue) 14:11:05.22 0
Individual meet-and-greet (kobetsu)
47/72 A: Sakura Oda, Haruka Inoue
(04/12 [sales ended]・02/16 [sales ended]・15/16・15/16・11/12)
27/72 B: Miki Nonaka, Akoto Yumigeta
(09/12 [sales ended]・00/16 [sales ended]・02/16・04/16・12/12 [4th round sold out])
48/72 C: Maria Makino, Airi Yamazaki
(11/12 [sales ended]・03/16 [sales ended]・08/16・14/16・12/12 [3rd round sold out])
28/28 D: Akane Haga, Reina Yokoyama [2nd round sold out]
(12/12 [2nd round sold out]・16/16 [2nd round sold out])
21/72 E: Homare Okamura, Rio Sakurai
(00/12 [sales ended]・00/16 [sales ended]・04/16・06/16・11/12)
20/24 Individual meet-and-greet (Kitagawa only)
(6/8・7/8・7/8)
77th single, 4th round: 86 slots sold out
76th single 4th-round sellout rate: 46% ≈ 81 slots sold / 174 total slots
77th single 4th-round sellout rate: 48% ≈ 86 slots sold / 179 total slots
Post the sellout numbers for the cheki/autograph session from last time — this round looks like it's selling better
This single, talk session: 111/400
Yeah, talk sessions just aren't doing well
The talk session numbers aren't that bad
Cheki/autograph sales are up to compensate, so overall sales look solid
Maria's sold out though — what is this tally even counting?
Maria's already doing solo sessions ahead of her graduation
No, that's exactly what I mean —
Makino 06/14 [2nd round, sales ended]
What is this?
I lost the draw from round 1 on, threw everything I had at round 2, and still didn't win a single ticket
Ah sorry, I see what you mean now
It ended at round 2 with no round-3 sign-up, so those remaining 8 slots are just unaccounted for, I think
There was someone last week who said they dropped over 100 entries, probably them
For the other popular members, even 100 entries won't guarantee a win
First-week sales should hit 100k
Nobody was selling at all last time around
If anything, talk sessions were selling like crazy last time — that's exactly how it hit 100k and got certified Gold
There's no particular bad rep against her either, so it's kind of a "why though?" situation
Slow comebacks in the talk sessions
Same fixed expression every cheki photo
Bad facial expressions during live shows
That's probably it right there
Can we stop with the "leftover stock" style labeling
You're the only one who doesn't get it, so it's not a problem
So it's just to bait "didn't sell out" reactions
It's basically a metric made for antis
Ever since individual sessions started in 2014, anything fans can't see gets treated as unsold — it's not just about Makino
Telling us it sold out when we can't see it doesn't really convince anyone
You're the only one who actually thinks it didn't sell out
It should really just say 6/6 clearly — instead they're trolling by making it look like there's unsold stock
Exactly
Anti trolling, plain and simple
It's always been labeled this way
Then why not change it while we're at it?
Don't you think it's weird?
Sato 25/25, sold out in round 3
Kitagawa 25/25, sold out in round 4
Fuku 25/25, sold out in round 5
Ishida 25/25, sold out in round 7
Morito 24/25, sales ended in round 6
Makino 24/25
Yamazaki 21/25
Okamura 21/25
Oda 20/25
Ikuta 18/25
Kaga 10/25
Yokoyama 10/25
Nonaka 9/25
Haga 1/25
Wait, so they couldn't even fully sell out by round 5?
Is everyone assuming this is her last one?
There's a real chance it is her last one, people figure the next one will be it, and there's also the fact fans couldn't meet her at the concert
Yasuda's actually the only one of them with individual-session experience though
Yasusu and Sugihara are the same generation lol
If there were two or three of these a year, it wouldn't go like this
Ah, that's true too
So fans' wallets have a bit more breathing room, then
It's not selling well at all
At this rate it'll fall short of the previous single
It used to sell so much better, and now it's been overtaken by Tsubaki Factory and OCHA NORMA
It just keeps declining more and more
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Morning Musume。’s “individual meet-and-greet and cheki (photo) sessions” sell numbered tickets for each member across one or more rounds, and fans tally up which rounds and how many slots sold out as a rough gauge of popularity. The “4th-round sellout rate” discussed here measures what share of available slots sold out — it’s not a straightforward popularity ranking, since it’s also shaped by release schedules and how many slots are allocated per round, something that’s easy to miss from the numbers alone. Notably, Maria Makino has already been confirmed to end her participation in individual sessions with this single, and unlike other members, her sign-ups were cut off earlier than usual as a result. The “sales ended” label attached to her slots has been mistaken by some as meaning she failed to sell out, sparking a debate over whether the wording amounts to deliberate, misleading spin. While the raw numbers might seem to map directly onto popularity, this is a good example of how the full picture gets distorted if you don’t account for factors like a member’s graduation or early cutoff.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5channel (Hello! Project board) thread “Morning Musume。’26 77th Single “Lonely…But not Alone / Yes ka No ka Watashi ka” — 4th-Round Individual Results.”
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