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The story
With Juice=Juice widely seen as the group with the most momentum in Hello! Project right now, a debate broke out on 5ch’s “Morning Musume.” board over who deserves the “number two” spot. Contenders included OCHA NORMA (“Ocha”), BEYOOOOONDS (“Byo”), Morning Musume., and ANGERME. With criteria ranging from whether a group’s tour includes regional dates, to TV exposure, to fan enthusiasm, everyone was working from a different yardstick, and opinions never converged.
What people said
That's because there's a weird one mixed in there.
It's a debuff.
Tsubaki and Ocha are fighting over fifth.
Second place is Musume.
The pecking order's probably like that, but Musume. and ANGERME don't exactly have momentum either.
ANGERME's the one in real trouble.
The next festival lineup is Musume, Juice, and Ocha anyway.
Tsubaki needs to start figuring out where it's landing.
ANGERME's in bad shape.
Reason: their fall tour never needed a second round of regional ticket sales (a sign they sold out fast).
Tsubaki and Byo have never pulled that off.
Though Byo hasn't run a proper tour in years, so there's no comparing them anyway.
Both the members and the old-timer fans in the crowd look like they're having a blast.
The old guys especially probably love getting to watch from that close a distance.
They tour way too little.
So there's a hard ceiling on them.
That image doesn't wash off easily.
Though it probably won't shrink.
Though honestly, Kojima Hana might have done just as well joining Musume.
She'd have made headlines there too.
Even when they bring in new members, there's no real sense they're trying to push them.
From a general audience's perspective, yeah, it's Ocha.
Byo's got a shot too since they're drifting back toward their old style.
New Juice fans get curious about Byo,
and Byo's been quietly reaping the benefits.
The telltale sign: those fans never cross over to Morning Musume.
They've always had strong visuals to boot.
I saw someone practically begging people at a Juice event to go to an Ocha live or event.
If you don't tour, the fanbase never grows and it just fizzles out.
But Hello Project as a whole just isn't built to specialize in mainstream appeal,
so odds are there won't be a "second Juice" at all.
That's because so-called Hello Pro "fans" keep holding it back, lol
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Hello! Project runs several groups side by side, with no official “ranking” between them. That’s why the thread saw posters reaching for all kinds of different yardsticks to argue over the number-two spot — whether a group’s fall tour includes a second round of regional shows, which group TV would feature, fan enthusiasm, and more — and the fact that nobody was measuring by the same standard is largely why opinions never lined up. OCHA NORMA drew praise mainly for its shift in musical direction and its visuals, while BEYOOOOONDS kept getting flagged for the same weak point: too few tour dates. For Morning Musume. and ANGERME, commenters mostly pointed to over-reliance on flagship members and fading momentum — making the thread read less like a popularity poll and more like a status check on where each group actually stands.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello Pro board) thread “If Juice has the most momentum in Hello Pro right now, who’s number two?“
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