#kitagawa rio

[sa-yummy]

[sawaguchi-asuka]

[jet20]

[crystalblog98]

北川莉央

[hellopropicture]

[jearousybytwo]

[haropro-confessions]

UFA used to be smart with their marketing. If something didn't work they would switch things up fast. Back in spring 2001, Yossy blew up in popularity after BabyKoi, but UFA had already been planning to center Peace! around Rika, who had gotten popular just a few months earlier than BabyKoi with Country Musume. So to keep the momentum of Yossy's popularity they made her the face of Pucchimoni's morning exercise segment and pushed her everywhere they could until they could use her in the main group. Then in the fall, they dropped a Yossy photobook that did great in sales, and made her the center of Mr. Moonlight. But that single flopped by Musume standards and Yossy's popularity took a hit. Her male fans didn't enjoy the boyish image which was a huge shift from her girly BabyKoi look that made her popular in the first place. And she started falling off with kids too, who were becoming the group’s biggest casual fanbase thanks to Minimoni. After Mr. Moonlight, her rankings in popularity rankings in magazines aimed towards schoolkids dropped and she was outranked by the unstoppable NachiGoma combo, Rika and all the Musume Minimoni members. So what did UFA do? It sucked, but they pivoted hard. Rika and Aibon were only getting bigger so UFA put them front and center in the Ikimasshoi! promotional materials and Yossy was sent to the back. They adjusted when things shifted. Nowadays if someone's popularity doesn't line up with their set-in-stone plans, they ignore it. Homare had a crazy strong debut when 15th gen joined. Her tour goods sold out fast, and resale prices were just behind Maa-chan's. That's HUGE for a newbie. But UFA didn't do anything. They pushed Rio instead because she fits the type they always go for. Then Mei got trashed by wota who attended LOVEpedia single events and fans rallied around her. That inadvertently made wota more protective of her and lead to a boost in popularity, even overtaking Homare who didn't have the push of the agency or the push of the wota. And now in 2024, Riley, Homare, and Getta are way more popular than Rio and Mei. But who gets the spotlight in their only single last year? Rio and Mei. No highlight or reward for the ones who became popular on their own merit. How's that supposed to motivate members to push to become popular if UFA just doesn't do anything with it?

[aammnnyy]