WARNING: TL;DR-ness aheadAw man, comparing MM and SNSD is so...strawberries and blueberries.
It's not quite as different as apples and oranges ever since Takahashi-Leader-era MM has been on the up-and-up on the performance level(I could see this MM doing Kara-level choreo), but the whole hierarchy that the MM girls have to go through within MM and H!P is much, much more impacting than SNSD with SMTown because there's no pre-debut trainee dynamics. This is why I think AS's development should prove highly interesting since they've even had a Goto/Nacchi in Uee/Gahee as well as Raina/Jungah. Not to mention the difference in tone between J-Variety and K-Variety also plays a role in how idol personalities develop.
But I do see similarities case-by-case.
Taeyeon <--> Takahashi: Shorty adorkable lead singer baby-faced leaders.
And I do feel like Takahashi's shyness may come from her being 5th gen, having to live up to all of her seniors who had dominating personalities. It's been kind of a mental exercise for me to imagine an MM where they started with the Gorokkies, and wowee do things turn out different. Both Taeyeon and Takahashi share that low-key sarcastic humor, and while Taeyeon's turned out to be a silvertongue every time Takahashi tried out her jokes on H!M nobody got them.(I don't know why either, I've always found them funny.) So Takahashi went introverted and Taeyeon became a solo DJ.
Jessica <--> Miki: She even has her own Romantic Ukare Mode in Naemyung. Where most idols get their fans by inspiring protective feelings, these two get even MORE hardcore fans by having an icy exterior. Yes, they have their dorky sides but their HBIC looks and their tendency to glare even on camera is their main point of appeal instead. And her wota-power shows, as she raked in more moolah in the Chocolate Love dress auction than
the bottom four members put together.
I disagree with Sunny<-->Sayu. Yes, both are the aegyo silvertongues of their respective groups, but Sunny is also the Shadow Power in SNSD where Sayu fails at everything not related to kawaii or sarcasm.
Sunny is good at
everything, and it's been showing in IY as well as on the wrestling floor. She's not the Godfather because she's passive about her power,
letting the others boss her around, but if she wanted to she could flip them all over her leg.
I can kind of see this in Rika as she's got to be one of the more able H!P members yet fails for the sake of the lulz, but Sunny doesn't lose on purpose, she just doesn't flaunt her abilities unless she wants to. And she's more subtle than Yaguchi as she's anything but a loudmouth. So basically zoolander is right: Sunny is too awesome to be compared to anyone in H!P.
Pre-Gee Tiffany is utterly Linlin minus the shikshin part. They're always 8D~~~!!!<3<3~~8DD over stuff and being adorable for it. Post-Gee Tiffany is more like Niigaki, being all motherly with the other members, often playing the tsukkomi to their silliness but still willing to fool around with them. Both are always being all "you can't do that we're idols!" She's also like older!Kaori as well for speaking cautiously and being a quieter presence.
Hyo <--> Eric Kamezou.
Although, the way she's utterly confident yet bashfully awkward at the same time reminds me of Akimoto Sayaka. Poor girls are also both underdogs in their fandoms for not having your standard idol looks.
Yuri kind of like Yossi. Both had very tomboy personalities and grew into much more feminine images, except Yuri's prankster tomboy side seems to have disappeared completely(
) and her femininity is super-hawt where Yossi's is much more elegant-woman and Hangry is totally a male.
I also have a lovely piechart on snsd_metacrack proving that Yuri is SNSD's pimp, as she has the most posts in her pairing threads combined on SSF.
Maneater!Yuri reminds me of sultry!Takahashi though.
Sooyoung is kind of like Oshima Yuko, but even more awesome? Like Sunny, she's mostly too amazing to be compared to anyone in Jpop, but I guess if you put together some of the more badass characters in AKB48 you might get something close? Ooh, there's definitely some Nakazawa Yuko there too though.
Yoona <--> Matsumoto Jun
, even though I don't know that much about Arashi. She's the breakout face known for her drama acting as well as one of the youngest members. In terms of personality though I have no clue what Jun is like. Yoona's personality also doesn't jive with your standard Jpop girl idol, as she's a silvertongue, choding tomboy, faux narcissist, and modest face of her group so I'd say maybe Perfume? They're humble about their success, pick up snakes for fun, do super precise dancing, and Nocci has man-tendencies such as praising SNSD's legs
so that sounds about right.
Seohyun is Seohyun. She MIGHT have been a Mayu/Angela Aki hybrid for her soul-sucking stare, acting skillz, piano, and privateness, but since I've watched WGM Seohyun has become this epic bag of quirks that even I find weird.
She has her own plane of existence even in Kpop so how am I supposed to find a Jpop equivalent?
Seo adjusts to us, not us to her.
Amber <--> Miyazawa Sae
Also:
Singing: Taeyeon Jessica Sunny Tiffany Seohyun, and Yuri has the potential but has been too busy to develop it
Dancing: Hyoyeon Yuri Yoona Sooyoung, with Seohyun and Jessica having the ability but not showing it as much
EVERYONE in SNSD has amazing looks and personality.
What I said about Sooyoung holds for everyone: you take those comparisons and then add a heaping bowl of AWESOME.