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The story
A topic has been spreading on 5ch’s Hello! Project board after a member reportedly announced their retirement on the first day of a Hello! Project concert held on the 11th. Who made the announcement wasn’t revealed, and the thread quickly filled with guesses pointing to members in their late 20s (around 27–28) who’ve been in the group a long time. Speculation centered on Morning Musume。’s Nonaka Miki, Tsubaki Factory’s Tanimoto Ami, and several BEYOOOOONDS members, reflecting the ongoing situation where members are effectively “queued up” waiting to graduate. Posters also noted that the word used was “retirement” rather than “graduation,” which stood out.
What people said
Candidates everywhere you look
Not enough — everyone except Nagano should just quit
Then it's the 8 trainees getting promoted next, got it
25 was the oldest anyone ever got
Things were better back then
The backlog still hasn't cleared, so it wouldn't be the least bit strange if an announcement dropped right at the start of the new year
It's only ever a question of sooner or later
Isn't she past the age where "focusing on studies" makes sense?
Oda Sakura (27)
Nonaka Miki (27) — Morning Musume。
Tanimoto Ami (27) — Tsubaki Factory
Hirai Miyo (27) — BEYOOOOONDS
Kobayashi Moeka (26) — BEYOOOOONDS
Satoyoshi Utano (26) — BEYOOOOONDS
Ono Mizuho (26) — Tsubaki Factory
Add more if you want, just promote everybody
The agency can't keep carrying them all anyway
Oda Sakura (27)
Nonaka Miki (27) — Morning Musume。
Tanimoto Ami (27) — Tsubaki Factory
Hirai Miyo (27) — BEYOOOOONDS
Kobayashi Moeka (26) — BEYOOOOONDS
Satoyoshi Utano (26) — BEYOOOOONDS
Ono Mizuho (26) — Tsubaki Factory
Next year:
Nonaka Miki (28) — Morning Musume。
Tanimoto Ami (28) — Tsubaki Factory
Hirai Miyo (28) — BEYOOOOONDS
Kobayashi Moeka (27) — BEYOOOOONDS
Satoyoshi Utano (27) — BEYOOOOONDS
Ono Mizuho (27) — Tsubaki Factory
Dambara Ruru (26) — Juice=Juice
Inoue Rein (26) — Juice=Juice
Onoda Saori (26) — Tsubaki Factory
They could straight-up form a veteran unit with that lineup
They've got the visual member, the vocal member, and the dance member all covered
Nonaka's doing an event with Nakazawa and is already locked in as leader for the 30th anniversary, so she'll be around until spring two years from now
She's about to break the record for oldest member
She wasn't on the spring tour, and she's not in everything even now either
Tsubaki and Morning Musume。 have been doing it too in recent years
Both of them were so unpopular they had no choice but to bundle them together, so of course people are going to see it negatively
If the "Seasonings" disappear, a huge chunk of the fanbase goes with them
At this point they're basically the core of BEYOOOOONDS
Watching that lately makes Hello! Project members staying in their 20s seem not so bad after all (Furupper = a separate idol group used here for comparison)
True, if the relationships inside the group are good, staying until 30 is fine
If leaving means the group's strength takes a nosedive and she just ends up as a solo idol who doesn't sell, then maybe sticking around is the better call
Background and key points of this topic
In recent years, Hello! Project has had a growing number of members across multiple groups approaching the 10-year mark, and the “queue” for graduation is said to have become a near-permanent fixture. Members around 27 years old — like Morning Musume。’s Nonaka Miki, Tsubaki Factory’s Tanimoto Ami, and BEYOOOOONDS’s Hirai Miyo, Kobayashi Moeka, and Satoyoshi Utano — remain active, a sharp contrast with the earlier era when graduating in your early 20s was the norm; tenures have simply gotten longer. It’s worth noting that who actually announced the retirement was never revealed in the thread — the names floated were purely speculation based on member ages. Also worth flagging: “graduation” (卒業) refers to leaving the group while continuing other entertainment activities, whereas “retirement” (引退) means stepping away from entertainment work entirely — the distinction between the two words was itself a focal point of discussion in the thread.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “A Member Announces Retirement on Day One of the Hello Con.”
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