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The story
On 5ch, Irie Risa’s name came up as the one member of Hello! Project’s Juice=Juice whose lack of media exposure stands out. Threads speculated that after returning from a long hiatus, her workload may be deliberately being kept light. The group is now considered one of Hello! Project’s best-selling units, yet posters noted, “She’s in her sixth year and we still barely know anything about her” and “Compared to Ebata and Arisawa, she just doesn’t leave much of an impression.” The consensus was that while her talents — taiko drumming, calligraphy, and the Soran Bushi dance — are well known, surprisingly little is known about her personality or personal tastes.
What people said
She's cute, too
That's probably also why she's never been invited onto Oha Suta (a kids' morning show) except for full-group appearances
Yeah, they're probably having her ease up on work so it doesn't come back
Yeah, beyond "kind, always smiling, good at calligraphy and Soran Bushi," you don't really get a sense of her as a person
Like what she likes, what she's bad at, stuff like that
"Piki" needs a rival (fan-coined duo nicknames)
Wish they'd bring swimsuit shoots back
Wish they'd give her as much TV time as Yaguchi (Mari Yaguchi) used to get
Maybe it's because her character's hard to grasp
Arisawa's known for her violin
Irie's still kind of a mystery
Using her well for content aimed at older guy fans ("oji") isn't a bad idea though
That's funny
Her personality's totally different from Kanatomo
That part's basically hers now
Say that and the loud old-school fans will come out of the woodwork
That's exactly the kind of "narrative" old-school Hello! Project fans love
Not just the spoken-line part
but her smile during the slap choreography in the "a little unfair" bit
and her expression making "takoyaki cheeks" on the final four-beat clap
You can see why Riai calls her a genius at being cute
Times have changed since Inaba was in the group, and the fanbase has shifted a lot too
The two of them going to Kyushu together says a lot
She came back before they started selling
She recovered enough to do idol work again, but she's still not 100% healed even now
Don't want piercings either
If it's piercings, she's already got a bunch
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Irie Risa is a member of Juice=Juice, and the thread discussed her past long-term hiatus — though it’s worth noting the specific reason for that hiatus has never been officially explained by Irie herself or her agency, and remains information passed around among fans. Juice=Juice, having gone through member graduations, is now considered one of Hello! Project’s central groups; while Ebata Hisaki and Arisawa Real are each known for clear, easy-to-grasp personas, posters agreed that Irie, despite being highly regarded for skills like taiko drumming and the Soran Bushi dance, comes across as hard to get a read on as a person. Some called for more gravure work, though that’s likely tied to the fact that Hello! Project itself has scaled back that kind of content in recent years.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Shouldn’t they be pushing Irie Risa in the media more??.”
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