Paul Thomas is a TLS HERO! I’ve been holding off rankings for a while. But I have no reason not to now.

Also, I know that Paul is going to do rankings based on everyone voting in his poll. However, I am interested in my rankings compared to other International Wota bloggers. Therefore, I’ve figured out which bloggers have the closest rankings to me.

Morning Musume

1. Aika Mitsui - My dislike for Aika did not last long. Well, it was more indifference. I try not to pass too much judgment on rookie members. Aika’s “breaking out” part in Egao Yes Nude was possibly the coolest thing Momusu has done in a video in years. From that point on, I’ve been hooked.

2. Koharu Kusumi - The Aika/Koharu combination is absolutely perfect. They are perfect foils to each other. I remember in one episode of Haromoni, the two of them go and eat some frog legs or something. When they find out what they are eating, Koharu freaks out while Aika just sits there and continues to eat. It’s perfect. Koharu is slightly below Aika. This is only because I wonder if Koharu without Aika would be akin to Rika without Hitomi/Yuko.

3. Sayumi Michishige - Her gimmick works. Some people hate her for her gimmick. This makes the gimmick even stronger.

4. Li Chun - She is quiet. She is reserved. She’s in her own world sometimes (the banana episode of Haromoni). Yet, she has a crazy side. She is capable of breaking out and being insane and wacky at any point.

I can see a little bit of myself in Junjun.

Yes.

5. Risa Niigaki - I have nothing but good things to say about the Top 4. Here’s where I draw the line. I dislike Risa for the longest time. I am becoming impartial to Risa lately though. Ever since Athena & Robikerottsu, I see something in the girl. She probably should be the leader of Morning Musume. For some reason, this whole leader business works best when the leader isn’t the lead vocalist of the group. Maimi for C-ute, Saki for Berryz, Iida Kaori for Momusu. If you are looking for an explanation why, I can’t give it right now.

6. Eri Kamei - Eri entertains the hell out of me. However, Eri and Risa do not. Perhaps Eri’s story is over. We all know about the story of her wanting to change herself and gain confidence. Watching that unfold was great. As she broke out of her shell (pun intended), she was very engaging. She hasn’t taken the next step though. I’m not sure what the next step is. If she was a mentor to a similar persona as her rookie self, I could see a good story. Beyond that, what more is there to Eri?

7. Qian Lin - Linlin is entertaining as hell. In fact, I’ve never seen a person be so entertaining and BLAND at the same time. I think that my reason for her low ranking is lack of a body of work. I think that if she stays in the group, she will surpass Eri and Risa.

8. Reina Tanaka - I don’t like Reina. At least she was unique with her first gimmick. Ever since she has dropped the Yankee act, I’ve dropped interest. I don’t like how she has to do a facial gesture every time she is on camera. I mean every single time. It lost appeal fast. She interacts with the fans well so that puts her above…

9. Ai Takahashi - There is nothing wrong with Takahashi when she is hidden behind others. But when she isn’t, she is boring. Plain ole boring. Whenever she does try to do something entertaining, she is embarrassed about it. The last two weeks of Haromoni have shown this to me. She is embarrassed whenever she has to be a part of the whole idol process. I’ll gladly see her go if she doesn’t want to be there.

Berryz Koubou

1. Miyabi Natsuyaki - Buono has sent Miyabi up in my rankings. She may not be the focus of the group but I feel she is the star of it. Airi may sing better and Momoko has an easier time capturing people’s imagination, but Miyabi can combine both with something special that makes her stand out.

2. Chinami Tokunaga - Chinami reminds me of a lot of different stars. She sounds like this actress in the jdrama Life. She (sometimes) looks like one of the girls from Zone. She can remind me of Makoto Ogawa. Actually, it is reverse. They all remind me of Chinami. I guess I can always count on Chinami to make something boring into something interesting.

3. Yurina Kumai - At one point, Yurina was my favorite Berryz. I’ve been waiting a while for her to justify that. I’ve been waiting for her to grow into that “beauty” persona. She hasn’t changed for a long, long time and I am slowly losing patience.

4. Momoko Tsugunaga - Momoko is not my cup of tea. Like Linlin, she is almost TOO made for show business. The nice thing about Momoko is that she can remain subdued if need be. While Reina never stops mugging for the camera, Momoko will act normal once in a while.

5. Maasa Sudou - I see the beauty in Maasa. I wonder about the attributes of Maasa though. She seems content with her position and role in the group. That is a nice quality, but I think she could do more.

6. Saki Shimizu - She can dance but so can’t a lot of people. I do appreciate how everyone looks up (haha) to Saki. However, she is kind of… boring. Berryz would not be the same without Saki though, so I’d never want her to leave the group.

7. Risako Sugaya - Risako bugs me more than anyone else listed here. She does have talent and a look, there is no denying that. However, I feel that she is too aware of it; and not in the good “mature for her age” way. Most H!P idols, and entertainers in general, at least give off the appearance that they appreciate their fans. That’s not always true, but they will at least act like it on stage and camera. I’m not talking about gimmicks either. Despite their gimmicks of being vain, Sayumi and Rika give off this vibe of appreciating their fans. I don’t get this feeling at all from Risako. If anything, the vibe that I get is that she expects people to admire her. I can understand why she’d have this attitude. She’s been put into the spotlight since, well, ever. There is no story for me to enjoy her. She is, as others have put it, a brat.

C-ute

1. Maimi Yajima - I’m not sure if Maimi is the best at any particular skill within H!P. She’s not the greatest singer, entertainer, dancer or personality. However, she is good at all these things. I don’t mind the screen time that she gets because I don’t feel that she is as stuck up as Risako. Maimi really is what I want in an idol. She is talented, but she isn’t perfect and has plenty of room to improve.

2. Kanna Arihara - However, I view Kanna as a different idol. The difference between #1 and #2 here is razor thin. Still, Kanna is merely a spice or condiment on the main course. She wouldn’t be able to hold a career by herself. Then again, I get the feeling that she is aware of it and making the most of the situation that she is now. Hey, who knows? Maybe she will improve to the point where she doesn’t need to hide behind 5 other girls. We all want to root for the underdog.

Oh, and TRUE LIFE SEEK.

3. Airi Suzuki - I like that Airi is the lead in C-ute but doesn’t get all the focus. I fear that she’d get boring. Her role now is ideal.

4. Chisato Okai - Eventually, Chisato will get enough fans to get the attention that her talent demands. Oh, and she made Saki cry by destroying her in ping-pong. Instead of going over to console Saki, she celebrated. Yes!

5. Mai Hagiwara - She doesn’t look like an alien now, so that’s good. Mai’s time to make an impact or fail will come, but not for a while. Until then, she’s kinda just there.

6. Saki Nakajima - I’m not sure about Saki. She usually has a strained look in her eyes when she sings. It is distracting. I get that people like her a little bit more because she is prettier than she was a year ago. I’m waiting to see more than just a pretty face though.

7. Erika Umeda - I recently said about Erika that she reminds me of the ugly duckling story, just without the beautiful swan part. I don’t get Erika. I see a pretty face (she’s not an ugly, none of these girls really are) in a pretty crowd and that’s it.

Now, I had a little fun in OpenOffice figuring out the exact formula for these comparisons. If I ranked Maimi Yajima 1st and someone ranked her 7th, then the difference would be -6. If I ranked Airi Suzuki 3rd and someone ranked her 1st, the difference would be -2. Then, I added up all the differences. The closer to 0, the closer to my rankings they are.

First up, Morning Musume - full rankings here.

-6 American Wota
-16 Raid My Minibar
-20 Hello!Blog
-20 Morning Kuri
-20 Pink Wota
-20 Usa-chan-peace
-22 IroIro Aru Sa! ver.2
-22 Very Beauty
-26 Lurking in the Shadows
-26 Morning Berryz
-28 Stawberrie Innocence
-30 Stuck in a Pagoda
-30 Just Another H!P Blog
-30 Kuroneko Doumei
-32 Bikkuri Project
-32 Egao YES Idols
-34 Chicella77 (*DEAD LINK*)
-34 Renai Project (*DEAD LINK*)
-34 Totally H!P
-36 fields of maiZe and berryZ

A lot of people do not agree with me on Morning Musume. I rank Aika, Koharu and Sayumi very high, and many people do not. My low ranking of Ai was not uncommon, but my low ranking of Reina was not shared by many people.

Berryz Koubou - full rankings here.

0 Very Beauty
-6 American Wota
-6 Pink Wota
-8 Just Another H!P
-8 Maize
-8 Strawberrie
-10 Kuri
-12 Egao
-12 Minibar
-14 Chicella77
-14 Totally H!P
-16 Bikkuri
-16 Morning Berryz
-18 HelloBlog
-18 IroIro

Very Beauty and I have the exact same rankings! That’s pretty cool. I know her to be a Perfume fan as well. Pink and American Wota are not far off. Risako is low on my list. It turns out that she is either very low or very high on the lists of people, and that is the difference in the comparisons here.

C-ute - full rankings here.

-8 Maize
-10 American Wota
-10 Pink Wota
-12 Chicella77
-14 Bikkuri
-14 MorningBerryz
-14 Totally H!P
-16 IroIro
-16 Minibar
-18 Strawberrie
-18 Very Beauty
-20 Egao
-20 Kuri
-22 Just Another H!P
-24 HelloBlog

My high opinion of Kanna is not held by many others! What a shame… Even though American Wota is the only other blog that has Kanna very high, Maize has the closest rankings to me. I noticed that Paul, great as he is for this poll, thinks very differently about Hello!Project than I do.

Tags: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Airi Suzuki, Berryz Koubou, blogging, C-ute, Chinami Tokunaga, Chisato Okai, Eri Kamei, Erika Umeda, Hello!Project, Junjun, Kanna Arihara, Koharu Kusumi, Linlin, Maasa Sudou, Mai Hagiwara, Maimi Yajima, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Momoko Tsugunaga, Morning Musume, Reina Tanaka, Risa Niigaki, Risako Sugaya, Saki Nakajima, Saki Shimizu, Sayumi Michishige, TLS Hero, Yurina Kumai

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Tags: Ai Takahashi, Aika Mitsui, Airi Suzuki, Berryz Koubou, blogging, C-ute, Chinami Tokunaga, Chisato Okai, Eri Kamei, Erika Umeda, Hello!Project, Junjun, Kanna Arihara, Koharu Kusumi, Linlin, Maasa Sudou, Mai Hagiwara, Maimi Yajima, Miyabi Natsuyaki, Momoko Tsugunaga, Morning Musume, Reina Tanaka, Risa Niigaki, Risako Sugaya, Saki Nakajima, Saki Shimizu, Sayumi Michishige, TLS Hero, Yurina Kumai

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