The “M-line Special Live” is a special show featuring only Hello! Project OGs (graduated members), launched in 2021 as a COVID-19 countermeasure. Sayumi Michishige and Airi Suzuki, who both graduated that same year, have never appeared in it since. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, a thread asking why some OGs get called up to perform while others never do sparked a lively debate, with theories ranging from personal choice, to packed schedules, to internal power dynamics at the talent agency.
What people said
1AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:46
What about Makino?
6AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:49
Do you actually want to perform at M-line, or not?
9AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:49
Re: #6
It's not something you get just by asking for it.
29AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:57
Re: #6
This. Ishida, Sasaki, and Uemura are in the "declined" camp — members who aren't confident singers tend to turn it down. Morito, though… that's another story.
11AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:50
Some M-line members flat-out refuse to perform.
Not saying who.
12AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:50
Makino could perform if she wanted, she's just buried in media work.
14AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:51
There are M-line members even the M-line staff can't order around — because those members hold more clout than the Up-Front staff themselves.
15AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:52
If you've got free time, you perform.
If you're busy, you don't.
That's literally all there is to it.
16AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:52
Some OGs can just say no to orders from M-line staff.
17AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:52
They don't invite anyone with no intention of performing in the first place.
And if there's no demand for you, they won't invite you even if you do want to.
18AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:52
Apparently Katsuta wants to perform but never gets the call.
22AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:55
Re: #18
Wait, she wants to? I assumed she had zero interest.
19AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:53
These days it's basically two camps: the Sato faction and the Inaba faction.
20AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:54
There are OGs only Chairman Yamazaki can give orders to — a handful of former Morning Musume members. They outrank even M-line's top manager, so they get veto power.
23AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:55
Then there are members like "Rikoriko" (nickname) who decided to focus on stage acting and ended up moving to the agency's Up-Front Create division instead.
24AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:55
M-line members really run the gamut.
They split into OGs with no veto power over staff performance orders, and OGs who do have veto power. This part's actually true.
27AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:56
Re: #24
Like, specifically?
25AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:55
I'm pretty sure Ishida and Sasaki do get asked, for what it's worth.
26AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:56
Apparently Iikubo got asked, "Isn't Ma-chan performing?" and just said, "Nope."
28AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:56
Is there even any value left in a show where Mai Koseki went from first-timer to perfect-attendance regular?
30AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:57
Bottom line: M-line management's authority isn't actually that strong within Up-Front as a whole.
Remember that, people.
31AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:57
Pay's probably around ¥30,000 per stage?
Do two stages in a day and that's ¥60,000.
33AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:58
At the end of the day it's an organization headed by big sister Yuko Nakazawa.
Nothing more, nothing less.
34AnonymousNov 2, 2026 07:58
Re: #29
Ishida and Sasaki should just come on as dancers.
38AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:00
The president of JP is the former chief manager of Morning Musume, right?
Feels like they just took the setup from when Michishige came back and started doing live shows, and expanded it into the OG-wide events division as-is.
39AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:01
Apparently Ma-chan's manager used to manage KAN (the singer-songwriter).
40AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:02
If you're going to desperately try to make it big via M-line at this late stage, I feel like you should've just tried harder to make it big while you were an active Hello! Pro member.
41AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:02
The M-line Special Live started in 2021 as a COVID-19 measure.
Sayumi Michishige and Airi Suzuki haven't appeared since graduating that same year.
44AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:05
Honestly, the core idea is the same as Hello! Project itself — mix popular and unpopular members together to spread the work around. Pretty decent agency, if you ask me.
We're about to see years of graduation rushes from the less-popular tier anyway.
45AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:07
M-line is basically a pension plan until you get married.
You just show up to an event now and then and earn some pocket change.
Of course, the ace-level members who actually want to raise their profile are putting in real effort.
46AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:09
Isn't it really just about whether the person actually wants to sing?
47AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:10
Then you've got people like Morito who just travel abroad for fun constantly and still collect a paycheck.
51AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:15
Outside gigs are for people who can't earn enough from in-house work.
54AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:19
Re: #51
Isn't it the other way around? "Village" (in-house) work is for people who don't have outside gigs — or can't land any.
57AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:29
Did Tanaka and Sato ever even do a commercial?
59AnonymousNov 2, 2026 08:30
Re: #57
Tanaka did an ST Corp (household goods maker) commercial with Takahashi, didn't she? Sato did a commercial that only aired in Hokkaido. Also, Tanaka and Sato appeared together in a Sony Bank web commercial on Abema.
Background and key points of this discussion
The M-line Special Live began in 2021 as a COVID-19 countermeasure, a show exclusive to Hello! Project OGs, and the agency has never officially explained its criteria for who gets to perform. As a result, the thread’s discussion never got past speculation: theories that some members simply decline on their own, that those without audience demand aren’t invited in the first place, and that certain OGs hold enough clout to refuse staff instructions, all circulated side by side with no resolution in sight. One post claimed the pay runs around ¥30,000 per stage, but no source was given and it remains unverified. A post also tried to tie this to a specific religious organization, but since that amounts to an unsubstantiated claim about a real individual, this article does not adopt it.
Leave a Reply