Earlier this week Morning Musume’s current leader Michishige Sayumi
\nannounced her graduation from the group. This news isn’t terribly
\nsurprising; Sayumi joined Momusu in 2003, has spent nearly 11 years in
\nthe group, and she has the longest tenure of any Morning Musume
\nmember. If Michishige Sayumi would graduate was never the question; it
\nwas always a matter of when.<\/p>\n
At this point, this feels like a really logical time for her to
\ngraduate. The 9th generation members now have already been in the
\ngroup for three years, with Fukumura Mizuki having more Egg
\nexperience. She has seen the group through grow and improve and reach
\nthe heights they are currently, doing the best they have done since
\nbefore Sayumi was a member. If she stayed much longer, she might even
\noutstay her welcome. Morning Musume, for all it is, is not about being
\nstagnant. It is a constantly growing and changing group. Ai no Tane
\nera Musume is vastly different from Platinum 9 Disc era Morning Musume
\nwhich is vastly different from Colorful Character Morning Musume.<\/p>\n
This graduation probably won’t affect the sales, at least not that
\nmuch. I have already seen alarmist fans worry about this, but this is
\njust not true. Kamei Eri was arguably the most popular member while
\nshe was in the group, and while sales dipped when she left it wasn’t
\nthe end of the group. Same with Takahashi Ai, Niigaki Risa and Tanaka
\nReina leaving. Tanaka Reina left after Brainstorming, and sales soared
\nwith Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke. This isn’t against Reina; she was
\na really popular member. But I do think it suggests that sales are not
\nas dependent on the front girls as one might think, and that Morning
\nMusume tends to be greater than the sum of its members. Sayumi fans
\nmay leave, or they might decide to still follow the group, and fans
\nmight find whoever is in the 12th generation really appealing. ‘<\/p>\n
Sayumi leaving has me thinking of idol leadership. With her gone, 9th
\ngeneration MM is now the senior generation. Which is weird! But now
\nFukumura Mizuki and Iikubo Haruna are taking on leadership within the
\ngroup, which has me thinking: how much does a leader do, really?
\nThey obviosuly don’t make business decisions; Sayumi being the leader
\ncan’t be the cause of their recent au CM tie-in, for example. But a
\nleader does have a purpose within the group, and I would argue that
\nit’s almost completely symbolic and related to the members of the
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
My basic thoughts about the job of a leader are as follows.
\nEssentially, an idol’s job is to draw attention to herself. This is
\nreductive, but it’s not inaccurate; an idol’s job is to draw sales
\nbased on her own personality, performing skills, etc. A leader’s job
\nis to tie that group together. An idol’s job is to promote herself,
\nwhereas a leader’s job is to put the group first. Now I’m not
\nnecessarily certain that this is how all idol group dynamics work, but
\nit’s the impression I get from a lot of the great leaders of idol
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
One anecdote I always think of is a long interview with Berryz Koubou
\nand C-ute when they did their joint concert together. The girls were
\ntalking about their early times in the H!P Kids and Arihara Kanna, a
\nformer Egg, seemed to be left out of the reminiscing. Yajima Maimi
\nfocused on Kanna, and asked her questions about joining C-ute after
\nH!P Kids were a thing. It’s a small moment, but it is one I think of
\nwhen I think of idol leadership.<\/p>\n
Takahashi Minami is always the person who I first think of when I
\nthink of a compelling idol leader. Whenever you hear Takamina talk,
\nyou get the sense that she loves AKB; not just being an idol, but
\nAKB48 on its own. That’s an important distinction of what makes a
\ncompelling leader. Takamina also has strong leadership skills, which
\ncertainly helps, but I think AKB members really rally around a leader
\nwho clearly puts the group first.<\/p>\n
I think the most compelling evidence that being a leader is tough is
\nthat idols have left being leader; Takagi Reni was the original leader
\nof Momoiro Clover, but chose to step down and Momota Kanako was the
\nleader. While they might not be making any decisions, it’s pretty
\nclear that there’s an additional element of stress associated with
\nbeing a leader as opposed to the existing stress of being an idol.<\/p>\n
Of course, this isn’t to say that being a leader in an idol group is
\nonly relegated to the members who have that title due to seniority or
\nage; there are plenty fo idols I would consider leaders without that
\ntitle. Washio Miki is no longer the leader of Rev.from DVL, but I’d
\nconsider her still a major leadership force within the group. Mitsui
\nAika was considered a big influence on the 9th generation of Morning
\nMusume, and took opportunities to help her juniors. A lot of the H!P
\nKids looked up to Ishikawa Rika, who from day one acted in a
\nsupport\/leadership role in the 4th generation of Morning Musume. I’m
\nsure there are many more examples, but these are the first that come
\nto mind.<\/p>\n
Michishige Sayumi, for insisting on her cuteness and whatnot, seemed
\nto slip into a leadership role in her later years in Morning Musume. I
\ndo think the younger members admired her, and will have to work to be
\nable to move past this shock of her leaving. That said, I’m pretty
\nexcited to see this new Morning Musume past her graduation, and I
\nthink that they are ultimately ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier this week Morning Musume’s current leader Michishige Sayumi announced her graduation from the group. This news isn’t terribly surprising; Sayumi joined Momusu in 2003, has spent nearly 11 years in the group, and she has the longest tenure of … Continue reading