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The story
In the 5ch Hello! Project forum, the September 2026 Instagram follower gain/loss rankings became a hot topic. Juice=Juice’s Ebata Kisaki topped the list with a monthly gain of +10,595 followers, prompting comments like “This really is the Ebamifu era, in name and reality.” Meanwhile, members like Ishikawa Rika and Karin-chan who are struggling to grow also became a topic, and the thread split over whether follower growth reflects real popularity or just differences in when accounts were opened.
What people said
09/01/26 09/30/26 Change Posts
*,105,772 *,116,367 +10,595 *6 Ebata Kisaki (Juice=Juice)
That's just because their accounts are still new.
Her otaku fans are so annoying, I bet that's making people dislike her, honestly.
She's not growing enough anymore for the "Ishikawa just started Instagram recently" excuse to hold up.
She's just not liked, huh.
Roughly speaking, anyway.
The future of Hello! Project rests on you two.
that just means the gap with members of other groups keeps widening.
and even that was about a month after "Morei Mi" was released.
It really shows just how sharply her growth has kept accelerating.
Because she's cute, posts often, and has a good eye for photos.
Because she's photogenic.
Unfortunately, there's just no defending Shimoitani on this one.
Even among those, some members grow and some don't, so in the end it comes down to whether you catch people's eye.
Her recent growth numbers are right up there with the ace of a major idol group.
But flip it around — the AKB48 camp can generate this much buzz for Ito even though her real popularity has only grown that much.
Compared to that, Up-Front is just terrible at marketing.
Not even a year — it's only been 4 months!
If she's not growing now, when would she?
https://www.instagram.com/runo_yofu.official/p/Dd34DFLmqEi/
https://www.instagram.com/runo_yofu.official/p/Dd6FQZ3GjNX/
This is gonna grow.
The story too (disappears in 1 hour)
https://www.instagram.com/stories/runo_yofu.official/3997648131495734875/
https://instagram.fitm1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t51.82787-15/828305592_18116648350918843_5887584322337689898_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_ohc=UfyqBwm9RXYQ7kNvwFjXSUq&_nc_oc=AdrHyGkfpBLLZauDS7jyMsgnfaWnEyWBjlhFUzgpYhAqBjXVuWsyvFf_T34xuDXaJ4Njnuz0VyfgL5vM7EQLBN9B&_nc_ht=scontent-nrt6-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_gid=ifMHPTo307XlDC-whPI49g&_nc_ss=7b6a8&oh=00_AQN0U09KkuQJaU1EJZiawMQaBb9aXWjelrhOm3wwYIhsGw&oe=6AC43682#.jpg
It's obvious that Yofu >>>> Ebata at this point.
Juice=Juice fans ("汁" = slang for Juice=Juice) in tears lmaooo
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Instagram follower changes across Hello! Project’s various groups are tracked closely enough that fans start a dedicated tally thread every month. This time, Ebata Kisaki stood alone at the top with a monthly gain of +10,595. The debate that split the thread was over whether this number truly reflects popularity — posters pointed out that newer accounts (like Ishiyama, and Yofu Goto/Runo) tend to show higher growth rates, and cited factors like TV exposure, posting frequency, and photo quality, while others compared the numbers to AKB48’s center to argue that Up-Front’s promotional strategy is weak. What’s easy for readers to misread is that follower gains don’t directly equal a ranking of popularity — differences in when an account was opened and in overall follower base make simple comparisons misleading.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “September 2026 Instagram Follower Change Ranking.”
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