The Tangled Web of Confusion – The Revolving Door Policy

The following is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect those of the other Selective Hearing staff.

This is in relation to the two articles I wrote about the hypothetical question “Could Hello! Project survive without Morning Musume?” While there is no definitive answer, people brought up some very good points. One person commented that the problem may not necessarily be that Hello! Project would be doomed to failure without Morning Musume. Instead they would fold because they don’t apply the same revolving door formula to every other group in the organization.

The argument is that because groups like Berryz, C-ute and Buono! don’t have this rule in place they will go the way of Melon Kinenbi and Country Musume. Without a constant influx of new talent they will eventually be graduated and disbanded and their songs will only be a faded memory to be used as filler by future generations of Musume’s and Hello! Project members. While that may sound bleak and depressing there’s already precedent set with current Hello! Project members doing the exact same thing to Tanpopo, T&C Bomber and W songs and so on and so forth.

But let’s think about this for a bit. Is it really so bad that the policy is not set across the board? Do those of you who favor this idea have something against having a stable group with great chemistry? Is your lust for young(er) blood that great that you would rather have the dynamics of a fully functioning, well oiled group potentially fucked up and destroyed so you have someone new to drool over?

Would it not be better to let these groups run their natural course and bow out gracefully when their time comes instead of lingering past their welcome as shells of their former selves hanging on to a thread of past glory? Let us remember that most idol groups have an extremely limited shelf life. There are some exceptions to the rule who stick around. (Either through perseverance, artificial life support or a combination of both)

At this point in time it’s difficult to judge whether a revolving door policy for all of Hello! Project’s units would benefit or hinder them. On one hand you will always have a fresh crop of “talent” (I use the word loosely because it’s never about talent) to carry on the name and maybe legacy of whatever group they’re inserted into. On the other hand it could reek of desperation if auditions were held every 1 to 2 years just to “freshen things up” or boost sales through related marketing gimmicks.

Personally I would rather see groups like Berryz and C-ute go the way of Melon Kinenbi and either ceremoniously or unceremoniously cease to exist after a certain amount of time. I really don’t see any of the members of those groups (or any current H!P group) sticking around Hello! Project through their mid 20′s and beyond. Sure, some of them may be with UFA and eventually fade into obscurity (like so many “old” members do) as that has always been the way of those outside the H!P umbrella. Again, there are exceptions (Goto Maki, Kago Ai) but that’s rare and has involved leaving UFA for greener pastures as well.

Before you all get excited and start over reacting, remember this is just speculation (just like the last 2 articles in this series) and no one really knows if this will ever be implemented. It’s an interesting idea but as I have pointed out, I don’t think it will really work.