Female Idol MVP Debate: AKB48’s Ito Momoka or Morning Musume’s Kawashima Mifu?

Background and Key Points of the Debate

CD sales for AKB48-affiliated groups have long drawn criticism over bonus-item and multi-copy “bundle” sales tactics that push fans toward buying several copies of the same single at once, and this thread’s claim of a “No. 1 first-week sales” result is disputed on the same grounds — namely, how much of that total comes from bonus-driven bulk purchases rather than organic demand. The MV view count is similarly contested: posters disagree over how many of those views are “genuine” once paid advertising placements are excluded, and the 10-million and 14-million view figures cited in the thread are not official numbers from the artists themselves, just posters’ own back-of-envelope comparisons. It’s also worth flagging that Ito Momoka’s supposed spot in this year’s Kohaku Uta Gassen lineup (NHK’s flagship New Year’s Eve singing show) is unconfirmed chatter within the thread, not an official announcement — an easy point for readers to mistake as settled fact. Finally, this thread appeared on the “Hello! Project board,” which draws mostly Morning Musume and Juice=Juice fans, so opinions of AKB48 voiced here may carry that board’s particular slant rather than reflect a neutral consensus.