28 is probably how big the entire H!P was at some point.
28 was exactly how many girls were in Mobekimasu :3
Fuck the haters, this song is relevant to the topic!
I'm not sure if I'm as overwhelmed as some other folks since I've had a bit of an eye out on rookie debut developments all year and thus it all felt a bit more gradual for me, but yeah, it's still pretty impressive how crowded H!P has become this year, especially in retrospect! If anything, Tsubaki Factory might be my remaining blind spot: name/face association hasn't quite stuck for me yet, nor have I found anything to really spark my interest in them so far, but we'll see how things go in 2016.
I've had a heavy bias for Miki since day one because of her English skills and American connection, as well as her dance skills and hypnotic smile. Rikako I feel obligated to support as we share Pinoy diaspora roots.
Admittedly I'm drawn to idols whom I can relate to on some level, and they both provide that little bit of nice international flair not seen since Li Chun and Qian Lin were around.
Regarding S/mileangerme, as much as I prefer the old name, and as much as I liked the 6-member dynamic, those changes don't bother me as much as the member color change. I loved how my favorite member, Meimi, had my favorite color, green, just like Zukki in Momusu and Yurina in Berryz, and thus it was disappointing to see that syngery go away; likewise I preferred the idea of leader Dawa having blue instead of red (which I find a bit cliché for Japanese groups honestly).
I love the idea of Kobushi Factory being a spiritual successor to Berryz, especially with the 8-member lineup to start things off--although hopefully I didn't just jinx things for one member to leave early.
Plus I don't think any of them will fill the tall girl void left by Berryz. I don't have a solid favorite yet so I'm jumping on the MC Hama bandwagon for now.
Speaking of former Berryz, Momo's presence has really helped me for paying attention to Country Girls. Admittedly for the longest time I had trouble telling apart Manaka Inaba from Chisaki Morito, but as soon as I could identify them properly Manaka shot up my rankings immediately.
She does have a really cute face and some nice dance moves, after all.
But who is this Uta person everyone keeps talking about, I don't remember anyone by that name... >_> But seriously, it was interesting to see H!P have an actual second-generation idol within their ranks, even if just for a brief period (
Uta's mom was member of idol group Spa Girl in the '90s). Also 1/8 Italian, should that also count for international flair?
The recent additions this month definitely caught me by surprise, though. I don't think anyone saw CG getting new members, and while the Angerme audition was announced earlier this year we all seem to have forgotten about it until the winner was announced. It's like, hey look at all these new girls this year, and now Musubu and another Trainee are getting promoted...
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MOE! (see what I did there
)
So we've gone from MoBeKiMaSu to...KiMoAnJiKaKoTsu? (wait, isn't that the name of the new Angerme girl?
) This new post-Tsunku era of Hello Project is pretty damn, how you say, ah yes....
crazy.