Why Did Juice=Juice Break Out? Debate Rages Over Whether ‘Moré Mi’ Was Just the Spark

Spark = "the event that led to something happening or becoming the case"
Reason = "the underlying grounds or circumstances for why something happens or is the case"

Isn't it just the skill they'd already built up? Juice was already known as one of the best singing groups in Hello! Project to begin with.

Momoko Tsuganai: "Show business is all luck. But whether you can deliver results when your luck comes around depends on the effort you've put in up to that point."

Re: #4
Tsuganai was talking about this on the radio even before her TV work picked up — like what her counter-strategy would be if she ever got called onto a variety show.

Talent met effort, met practice, met a stroke of luck, and it all clicked.

Goebbels: "Tell a lie a hundred times and it becomes the truth."

It's almost like an antithesis to the whole "look how cute I am" idol scene — I think it was the powerful vocals, led by Danbara, that really landed.

Given that cute, wholesome songs and idols are what's trending right now, maybe that's exactly why a totally different lane like Juice's was able to muscle in.

People started thinking, "This isn't idol-tier — this is the real deal."

What happens to Morning Musume fans once Juice locks down a Kohaku spot (NHK's big New Year's Eve music special)?
https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm38400982

There just wasn't another notable full-on dance-vocal group around this year, so they ended up filling that slot. This used to be Avex's specialty too, you know.

The good song genuinely landed right when the group was at its absolute peak. In the past, even when a promising song came along, it'd get undercut by "the ace is about to graduate" or "half the lineup is still little kids" — but Juice had 11 members who could stand anywhere without embarrassment.

Unlike a group like HANA that leans into a "we're not really idols" image, Juice stuck to being idols while still pushing a skilled-performer angle — maybe that's the differentiation that worked.

It's having Rei and Ruru. Both of them bring a compelling personal story and performances persuasive enough to back it up.

There aren't many idols you can actually enjoy sung live. Might stir things up to say it, but even within Hello! Project there are a few groups that are shaky live.

They slotted into a position nobody else was occupying.

Probably because people got sick of the AKB-descended idol formula where it's fine to be a bad singer as long as you're cute. TV always wants impact and novelty, and the timing lined up perfectly for Juice. Look at the reactions from outside the fandom — it's mostly the vocal skill and the live performances that left a strong impression.

Re: #24
But if you actually listen closely, Furuppa and Kyusuto (other idol groups) can all sing solidly too — it's not like Juice is THAT far ahead of everyone else.

The single biggest reason Juice=Juice took off is that their fans are down-to-earth — even the so-called "wolves" (a nickname for a certain breed of overzealous fan) don't stoop to spamming copypasta to derail the thread.

Summer 2024 — by this point they were in a state where it was fine for the wider world to discover them. Basically, they were ready to be handed off to new fans as a finished "product," so to speak. I think they'd already reached a level where they could hold their own against anyone else — the only thing left was how to actually get people to notice them.
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1845779363280957440/pu/vid/avc1/1920×1080/284AXb2QU2PpAeGe.mp4?tag=14

Every group has a window like that, and it lasts around two years, but then the cycle of graduations tends to start up again. So it really comes down to how much luck is on your side during those two years — whether you get blessed with good material and the agency actually puts its weight behind pushing you. If that all lines up, any group has a shot.

Personally, I think Angerme also had a window to break out when Kamiko, Sasaki, and Take were all in the lineup together, and for Morning Musume, there was a window while Sato was still around. Luck, timing, how things line up — it really is tricky to pin down.

Re: #49
Angerme actually dropped big swing songs like "Ai no Kedamono" and "Bibitaru Ichigeki" right around that time, but they never took off.

Re: #49
Speaking of recent eras, I think Angerme around this period was ready, even though it was during COVID. Timing-wise, it really was an "it's happening!" moment.
https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20220617/22/angerme-ss-shin/fc/cc/j/o1080081015134406554.jpg

With clip videos from that time, you'd often see people who had no idea who the group was asking things like, "who's this, that three-way vocal break with Rika, Miko, and Take is so cool" — you don't really see that kind of reaction anymore…

Every group has that "it's happening right now!" moment, and all you can do is hope a great song comes along during that fleeting window.

Isn't Moré Mi both the spark AND the reason?

Re: #68
The song landing was also the moment people got to see the group's actual skill — it made the CDTV staff want more people to know about this group.

At the end of the day, even with an opportunity, if people don't walk away thinking "that was good, I'm curious now," it doesn't lead anywhere and the fanbase doesn't grow. Moré Mi was the spark, but Juice's real win was having already built up the substance to carry that momentum forward.

Re: #71
Hear buzz about Moré Mi
↓
Watch the MV ("huh, so it's like this")
↓
Watch the Budokan live too since it's right there ("wait, isn't this actually amazing?")
↓
Watch the Fiesta Budokan live ("this group is insaneee")
↓
Fully hooked

That's the pipeline for me, a Moré Mi newcomer.

Visuals approved by a top-tier beauty magazine

They weren't trending upward at all before Moré Mi. Back during "Bourei" people were saying they were done for.

Re: #76
But if you actually watched their lives, the group was doing perfectly fine.

That final "Babyboon" was fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSsRK088f3E

Basically, if they'd been blessed with the right song and the promotion and timing had lined up, the group itself was already in good shape. So I think a lot of people were kind of let down by the agency's approach around that time — betting everything on a cover song.

I think the biggest factor is that Moré Mi got people's "interest" pointed their way. What the group does hasn't really changed, but how it comes across flips 180 degrees depending on how favorably viewers are already disposed. Honestly, I'm not even sure why Moré Mi struck a chord — musically it's pretty average, run-of-the-mill stuff. Maybe viewers who'd grown tired of the whole "cute, cute" thing with bleepy-bloopy melodies and arrangements got drawn in by a slightly more kayokyoku-style melody paired with the Latin arrangement that Japanese audiences love so much.

Re: #81
In the end I guess a Latin-style song just happened to suit the current Juice lineup well. The city pop direction they'd been milking for so long was a miss.

Re: #82
As for the live performances, like people keep saying, Juice hasn't really changed from the old days — if anything, they sang better back when the original members were still around.

Re: #92
That's true, but it also matters that the cycle of losing a member every year finally stopped. Without a stable stretch of two or three years without departures, it's hard to really push the group — you can't properly hand out your "business card," because then people go, "wait, that's not who was on the card." From Yanamin's graduation in 2019 all the way up through Uemura, Juice lost someone almost every single year.

A graduation isn't just losing one member — it means losing someone with nine or ten years of accumulated skill and experience. If the group's lineup and new additions aren't properly balanced, the group's overall strength takes a real hit.

For Angerme, there was a stretch when Take, Rikako, Kamiko, Kawamura, Funaki, and Kasahara were all in the lineup together. That's genuinely strong — they really had enough momentum to close in on Morning Musume.

Re: #100
Well, Angerme from that era probably had better vocals and performances than JJ (Juice=Juice) does now.