My Mari story: I may have discovered Ai Kago first years before via that TV police drama she was on, but when it comes to associating someone with her respective music group, Mari Yaguchi was the first Morning Musume member I knew by name. Learning of Minimoni on Wikipedia back in '06 and watching Mari's interviews with American celebrities meant that when I finally started exploring Momusu for real last year she would be the most recognizable girl amongst the large crowd...of course that's also helped by her trademark tiny size, loud/distinguishable voice, and unforgettable roles in so many things from subgroups to hosting TV shows. And watching her "meet all MM members" challenge last year really helped me out in learning who's who in the group. In a way, she
is Morning Musume for me. One of these days I'm gonna have to explore her photobooks, especially the Vietnam one (BETONAM YAGUCH!
).
Favorite thing(s) about Mari: Her talent, work ethic, and energy. She's one of the better singers to come out of H!P with her harmonizing skills and flexible voice. She split time between the serious Tanpopo and the hyperactive Minimoni, and later repeated the feat to a lesser extent with Romans and ZYX. When the Shun Oguri scandal forced her to quit not only Momusu but also recording new songs in general, she shifted her focus towards TV work and fully established herself as a "variety idol". There's also the memorable interactions with Ishibashi on Utaban and Okamura on Mechaike. All that, and she loves video games--not just an RPG chick but a true gamer.
Favorite H!P group with Mari: I guess it would have to be the flagship group, Morning Musume.
A memorable performance: Acoustic Summer Night Town with Yasuda...
A picture that I like: Perfectly sums up her wacky nature...
A video that I like: The Okamura slap and Kago punch have already been posted, so here's this instead...
Other comments: Her last name, Yaguchi (矢口), literally means "
arrow mouth", which I find oddly appropriate.
And just for good measure:
DAKIWAKARE!