On 5ch’s “Morning Coffee” thread, posters discussing Yasumi Tanimoto, leader of Tsubaki Factory, called her “a rare type of member even by Hello! Project’s long history.” While she isn’t seen as particularly strong in singing or dancing, the thread praised her overwhelming stage presence, her looks, and the long-running affection fans have shown her over the years. At the same time, some posters were harsher, arguing that after 10 years in the group she should have improved her skills by now, and some even named her as one reason the group has struggled to break out. The thread lit up over the bigger question of whether an idol’s value should be measured by skill or by popularity.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:12
You can't sum her up with a singing score or a dancing score, and yet she's got real presence.
In the end, an idol's worth comes down a lot to stuff you just can't put a number on.
4AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:16
She knows full well that if she quits, she's got nothing left, right?
6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:17
She's in Hello! Project, but her singing's bad and her dancing's bad — and yet she's survived 10 years on pure weirdo energy and good looks alone.
The beloved leader.
She taught us that path exists too.
13AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:19
Re: #6
She's basically got zero haters, huh.
If anything, she's pretty well-loved.
7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:17
A woman born to be the leader of Tsubaki Factory.
9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:18
In the end it all comes down to looks and personality.
10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:18
Seen up close, she's shockingly beautiful.
11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:18
Turns out it's fine to be tone-deaf even in Hello! Project!
12AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:19
She's solid when it comes to greeting industry people and handling PR-type duties.
14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:20
Yeah, you can tell — even as a regular office worker, she'd be the competent type ("shigodeki").
15AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:20
But Leader Tanimoto being a lovable screwup is a very exceptional case,
so trainees and newcomers, please don't copy her.
You all need to properly practice your singing and dancing.
21AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:23
It's a crying shame there's no proper heir to "Oketsu-man" (nickname for a member famous for her backside).
31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:26
Re: #21
There's Yumii, though.
22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:24
Us fans watching from home ("zaitaku") reckon she's got a great figure.
23AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:24
Nah, if you've been in the group 10 years you should've leveled up your skills by now lol
24AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:25
She's basically just like us otaku on the inside, and yet we don't feel that usual in-group cringe toward her.
25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:25
She sits right on the line between "serious" and "bit," and that balance is just perfect.
26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:25
If she were actually a great singer with a ton of lines, she'd be getting bashed for it instead.
It's a delicate balance.
27AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:25
She's always about to mess up her stage position and gets bailed out by the younger members.
She's so loved. Isn't that nice.
28AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:25
Lately she's gotten more vocal parts and honestly grown into a solid singer.
29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:26
Realistically she's the one to blame for Tsubaki's slump, but since Tsubaki never even came close to breaking out, nobody calls her on it.
33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:27
Re: #29
Among the current original members, Tanimoto's the only one with a clean record, though…
30AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:26
But that overwhelming character and standing of hers came out of surviving brutal criticism. Her groupmates trashed her, and with no real skills, even the "dd" (fans who support multiple idols rather than having one favorite) didn't view her favorably for years. She endured all that to become the Yasumi Tanimoto she is today.
See, told you — a lot of guys on Ookami (a well-known Hello! Project fan forum) are gushing over her based on photos alone.
49AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:43
Maybe she's not all that impressive in person?
Though she does look pretty in videos too.
53AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:46
The all-time Hello! Project visual Four Heavenly Kings:
Yajima
Sugaya
Makino
Tanimoto
63AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:52
Re: #53
Nah, "Risako Deluxe" doesn't belong on that list.
55AnonymousSep 22, 2026 20:47
Background and Talking Points
Hello! Project groups tend to keep members for a long time, and it’s not unusual for founding members to stay active for years — but it’s rare for someone to hold the exact same unshaken position for around a decade. Yasumi Tanimoto is one such veteran, and the thread treated her as a textbook case of “skill evaluation” and “fan support” not necessarily lining up. The view that an idol’s worth can’t be measured by singing and dancing ability alone — that an approachable personality and a stable presence on stage are just as important — is a point often raised across idol culture generally, not just within Hello! Project. That said, some posters in the thread noted that her singing has actually improved recently now that she’s getting more vocal parts, so it’s worth keeping in mind that framing her purely as “a veteran whose skills never improved” may not quite match where things stand today.
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