Wasn't Rika in her first year of high school when she joined MM? I'm going to agree... she was probably just a regular pretty girl then. :3
I guess the downside of being an idol at a young age is to give up on academics. ;___; But I think Rika turned out fine. I remember watching the Utaban episode where Nakai and Taka asked them where t.A.T.u. came from and I just laughed at how some of the girls didn't even know their countries.
Yeah, Rika was in her first year of high school when she joined, and JUST barely. The Japanese school system starts in the April-ish area, so...
I don't know if she dropped out from high school, but she might have. I know that Yossy and Goto were on Utaban with Pucchimoni and they had both just decided on a high school, so maybe Rika was still doing high school? With her work ethic it wouldn't surprise me.
@Rika being scary:
This actually wasn't shocking to me; Rika works HARD. She gives everything 110%, from what I can tell being a fan. my guess is that if people don't take things as seriously as she does, she could get pissed at them.