A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board asked which members had wanted to join Morning Musume. but ended up assigned to a different group instead. The thread kicked off with names like Goto Hana, Kawashima Mifu, Onoda Saaya, and Tanimoto Ami already on the table, and replies brought up the reverse case of Okamura Homare, who scored a “huge promotion” from wanting Angerme to landing in Morning Musume., as well as the oft-repeated story that Tanaka Reina and Michishige Sayumi once said they “wanted to be in Morning Musume., not just a celebrity.” At the same time, some posters questioned how much of this “who wanted what” talk is actually based on the members’ own words versus just fan speculation, so the discussion didn’t stay a simple list of names.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:07
Feels like there'd be more of them.
6AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:08
Kawashima still seems full of regret and bored even now.
15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:12
Re: #6
She honestly looks like she's having fun though
7AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:09
Okamura Homare wanted to join Angerme but scored a huge promotion into Morning Musume. instead
9AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:10
An 18-year-old schoolgirl (JK) who looks like she could be in Hello! Project is sightseeing in Asakusa
https://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv351331077
12AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:10
Not Morning Musume, but there's Rikoriko, who wanted to be a backup dancer for ℃-ute, and King, who wanted to be Berryz Koubou's manager
Conversely, weren't the younger members pretty scattered too, mostly between Angerme and Juice=Juice?
16AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:13
Kawashima sang partway through "Y-jiro" (a fork in the road) at last year's birthday event
There's no more hesitation left now
18AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:13
I love the story about Arisawa Ichika — she said she was fine ending up anywhere, so at the second round of auditions she mentioned "I'm interested in behind-the-scenes work too," and the judges visibly tensed up
19AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:14
Eba was a mastermind who hid that she actually wanted Juice=Juice
22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:16
Re: #19
It's Angerme.
♛︎ Sasaki-san — Ebata Hisaki
When I was debating whether to join the Hello! Project trainees, it was my mom who told me about Sasaki-san.
I was blown away by how cute Sasaki-san was, and that's why I joined Hello! Project.
Both when I joined as a trainee and when I debuted, I've named Sasaki-san as the senior member I admire — and going forward, Sasaki-san will still be who I admire!
20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:15
They say Yofuu (nickname) wanted Juice=Juice, but I think what she wanted most was Morning Musume.
21AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:15
If it weren't for this forced personnel call, Juice=Juice wouldn't even exist, and Morning Musume. would still be the only game in town
23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:16
Oda Sakura, the ace of Morning Musume. — the member she admired was in ℃-ute, the group she wanted to join was Berryz Koubou, and the audition she actually took was for S/mileage
24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:17
Tanaka Reina, who wanted to be in Morning Musume. rather than just a celebrity
28AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:19
Re: #24
Some junior member said the same thing too, I think
29AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:19
Re: #24
Wakatsuki Chinatsu, who thought that once she got into showbiz she'd automatically become a Morning Musume. member
25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:18
Doesn't it feel like all anyone talks about with Morning Musume. is the past?
26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:18
None of the current trainees want Morning Musume., right?
27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:18
Where's this info that Ebata's fans keep bringing up — that she wanted Juice=Juice — even coming from?
31AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:19
Re: #28
Tanaka's famous line gets referenced a lot
32AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:20
There are times I really think Kawana secretly prefers Morning Musume., lol
38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:21
Re: #32
She's not exactly hiding that though?
33AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:20
Funny how Nishida — aka "Tsunku's daughter" — gets forgotten in threads like this
34AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:20
It was Michishige, not Tanaka, who said she wanted to be in Morning Musume. rather than a celebrity
39AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:21
Re: #34
Michishige copies people a lot
35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:20
The member you admire and the group you want to join being different things is a classic pattern
36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:21
Wasn't Kero (nickname) a Berryz fan?
40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:22
I heard Pei wanted to join as a solo add-on and ended up in Angerme
41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:23
Oda, Homare, and Haru — the current core of Morning Musume. — wanted Angerme/Smileage
42AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:23
It was Akachi who said that — "I wanted to be in Morning Musume., not a celebrity" — before she left, ya know
46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:25
Re: #42
Big respect for the great Tanaka Reina, that's very on-brand, ya know~
44AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:23
Aside from Nishida — or rather, the three members added later — weren't all the Berryz members hoping for Morning Musume.?
Back then you could really feel the agency's mindset of "let's build a second Morning Musume." with Berryz
45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:25
It was Kitagawa who said she wanted to be a TV announcer rather than stay in Morning Musume. before she left
48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:26
Deep down, most Hello! Project members probably only ever wanted Morning Musume.
50AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:26
Re: #48
That was true a while back
Not so much these days
55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:28
If the "glam-up" look hadn't worked out for Kawashima either, she probably would've ended up like Goto
58AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:28
Re: #55
We only got the timeline where it worked out, so now Yumigeta's the one buttering up Hayashi instead
57AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:28
Is there actually a Hello! Project member who's clearly said "I wanted to join such-and-such group"?
Isn't this all just otaku fantasy?
60AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:29
Re: #57
Yuriya said recently that she wanted to join Tsubaki Factory
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
It’s not unusual in Hello! Project for the group someone hoped for at audition time to not match where they actually get assigned. Successful applicants go through a trainee period, and it’s ultimately up to the agency whether they end up in Morning Musume., Angerme, Juice=Juice, or elsewhere — there’s no guarantee your first choice goes through. The case of Okamura Homare (wanted Angerme → ended up in Morning Musume.) raised in the thread is a classic example of this, and the story that Tanaka Reina and Michishige Sayumi once said they “wanted to be in Morning Musume., not just a celebrity” is an anecdote that keeps getting repeated within Hello! Project fandom. That said, as post #57 points out, it’s worth noting that many of these “who wanted what” stories circulate without it being clear whether they’re the members’ own official statements or just fan hearsay and speculation — and as post #35 also notes, “the member you admire” and “the group you wanted to join” are separate things that shouldn’t be conflated.
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