^ Luckily fans don't get to choose
Strictly speaking, I don't think the members of this group were determined by any one person's choice.
By that, I mean that if they COULD have put in Konkon, Tsuji, and Kago, I think they would have.
It's just that Konkon has a new job, Tsuji pulled herself out, and Kago just isn't with the company anymore.
Heck, I think if Kame weren't out for health reasons, she'd be in this unit too!
As for comments about how Koharu seems out of place, I don't think that's the case at all.
If you want to go strictly by age differences, sure she's the youngest by 5 years, but Yuko is the oldest by 7!
To tell you the truth, if it weren't for the youngest member being half the oldest member's age, it just wouldn't feel quite like Morning Musume to me.
Also, the thing about "who's your favorite" polls like the one on Tokyohive is that they don't factor in 2nd-favorite choices.
Hypothetically, what if Kaori was #2 on half the peoples' lists of favorite members?
That would make her one of the more popular members, but it wouldn't show in these results.
Therefore, I don't think that poll reflects overal popularity, but only who has the most #1 choices.
I like Kaori a lot, but she's maybe #3 or so for me in this group.
She's still one of my favorite members and I don't think anyone would be happy if she weren't included.