Trainees’ “Senpai I Admire” Tally Leaves Tsubaki Factory with Zero — 5ch: “Tsubaki got zero, huh”

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The story

In an interview in the fall 2026 issue of CDJ magazine, Hello! Project trainees named the “senpai they admire,” and when thread posters tallied up the answers, Juice=Juice came out on top with 8 mentions — while Tsubaki Factory got zero votes from any trainee. The 5ch thread opened with a reminder that “the senpai you admire” and “the senpai you actually like” aren’t the same thing, then moved on to why Hattori Runa named Sato Masaki, and speculation over why Tsubaki Factory got shut out entirely. Talk also branched into predictions about the group’s future pecking order, factoring in members expected to graduate.

What people said

1AnonymousSep 18, 2026 15:53
Source: CDJ Fall 2026 issue
Yoshida Hikari = Miyazaki Yuka
Hattori Runa = Sato Masaki
2AnonymousSep 18, 2026 15:57
The Hello! Project member you admire and the one you actually like are two different things
3AnonymousSep 18, 2026 15:58
Re: #2
Get that straight before anything else
7AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:00
Wait, did Hattori stop being a Tsubaki fan?
22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:07
Re: #7
I think she's still a Tsubaki fan as far as the group goes — Sato's just special to her since she's the only one who joined Sato's tour two years running
8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:00
Trainees who look up to Goto never really make it big
74AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:22
Re: #8
Probably stopped saying it out loud because of people like you saying stuff like this
14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:04
Momusu: 4
Angerme: 4
Juice=Juice: 8
Tsubaki: 0
Beyoo: 3
Ocha Norma: 2
Rosy Chronicle: 0
25AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:09
Re: #14
Tsubaki got zero, huh
Makes sense — even Hattori and Nemoto, the resident Tsubaki otaku, don't name Tsubaki members when asked individually
57AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:18
Re: #14
Well, Tsubaki's leader is… kind of a lot…
If Kawanishi became leader, it'd actually be a group trainees looked up to
23AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:08
They probably figured Tsubaki won't have open spots for a while and gave up on sucking up
59AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:18
Re: #23
Tanimoto, Ono, and Onoda are all graduating within two years, and Kawanishi and Fukuda won't be around much longer either — so that's already 4 spots opening up, no?
30AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:11
Feel like Goto Rara's name came up a lot more back in spring — did it drop off?
58AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:18
Re: #30
Suzuki Kotomi and Tamura mentioned her in their intro videos too
35AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:12
Why did Ishida disappear from Nemokari's list of admired senpai, leaving only Oda?
53AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:17
Re: #35
Maybe she wants to join as the new resident diva to replace Oda
38AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:13
Well, saying "Juice" is the safe answer right now
No way they're showing their real feelings when some dumb survey like this could end up being used as a reference for group placements
48AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:15
Re: #38
Kind of embarrassing watching Goto fans flex over a trainee survey, lol
63AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:19
Goto antis look pretty happy about this
67AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:20
Re: #63
There's no antis in this thread, we're just stating facts
75AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:22
Re: #63
Guess it stung, huh
65AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:20
Just put Aoki, Ono, and Tamura in Angerme already
76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:22
Re: #65
Honestly I think it'll be those three plus one from the general course, or maybe four including Yoshida
72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:21
The whole survey's meaningless when even Nemokari didn't name a single Tsubaki member
78AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:23
Re: #72
"There are lots of senpai I admire, but among active members it's definitely Oda Sakura"

She also talked about liking Tsubaki songs for nostalgic reasons, so I'm guessing she actually wants Morning Musume
79AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:24
Re: #72
That sounds more like an oshi (personal favorite) than someone she admires
89AnonymousSep 18, 2026 16:27
No doubt Beyooooonds is on a roll right now, but going by the "28-and-done" theory, Hirai graduates next year and Kobayashi/Satoyoshi the year after

With Yamazaki, Shimakura, and Takase already gone, who knows what happens once Seasonings (the group's subunit) loses more members

Background and Talking Points

The source material is an interview in the fall 2026 issue of CDJ magazine, where each Hello! Project trainee named the “senpai they admire” — thread posters then apparently re-tallied those individual answers themselves. Worth noting: the “Juice=Juice: 8” and “Tsubaki Factory: 0” figures aren’t from an official poll — they’re an unofficial fan count of which names came up in the magazine. Early in the thread, someone pointed out that “the senpai you admire” and “the senpai you actually like” are two different things, and some argued it’s premature to judge groups purely by raw vote counts. As for Tsubaki Factory, the group has seen a string of member graduations that’s thinned its roster, and some posters are simply waiting to see how the lineup shifts going forward. Meanwhile, posts about specific members’ popularity or a leader’s qualifications are hard to verify and often amount to little more than speculation.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Latest] Master List: Hello! Project Trainees’ “Senpai I Admire”.”

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