On: Sayashi Riho: Confessions of a Fan

Sayashi Riho, ace and center of Morning Musume

When I do Jpop reviews, I largely tend to pick some of my favorite groups. I've posted two different reviews about the jpop group Morning Musume. This group has a rotational system whereby girls join in "generations" and leave when they see fit to move on. Being in the group helps them grow as entertainers and helps them determine in which sector of the entertainment world they want to work in or if they even want to stay in entertainment at all. To date, Morning Musume has had 12 generations. Today, the members of Morning Musume feature the entire 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th generation(s). All members from earlier generations have graduated from the group.

Riho, at the concert that
announced her addition to
Morning Musume.

I've been a fan of Morning Musume since about 2009. I didn't seriously start following them until 2011, which is the year that Sayashi Riho auditioned for and was added to the 9th generation. I've been a fan of Riho since watching the audition footage. She was an amazing dancer and she just exuded confidence and shone throughout the audition. Her singing was not the best, but I was confident that the agency would help her polish her voice. In addition, it was well known that she had studied dance at the Hiroshima Actor's School, and videos began to appear online of her dancing when she was younger, here, here and here. It was obvious from the auditions that despite her young age, she was a professional who was used to receiving harsh criticism and using it to fuel improvement. When she was officially announced a new member, I was ecstatic and knew she would become my favorite from the group instantly.

Sayashi in the Maji Desu
Ka Ska! outfit

Sayashi's debut in the group, along with the rest of the 9th generation was in Maji Desu Ka Ska! While her feature was equal to the other members, in the second release featuring the 9th generation, Only You, Riho was notably featured and it became clear from that moment on that she was the ace and face of the new generation of the group. From there, Riho's skills continued to develop, in particular her singing. When 10th generation was added to the group, Ayumi Ishida grew as a competitor to Riho, largely due to her focus on dancing. The two would grow to be the definitive dancers in the group, often partaking in dance battles during concerts or tv shows (here they had like a minute to come up with a routine!) and bringing the dance level of the group as a whole up another level. With the release of the song, One Two Three, Morning Musume became known as the group that used formation dances in their songs.

Jpop Mix: Morning Musume '14, 14 Shou ~The Message~

I didn't think I would actually review this album because I bought it on iTunes way back in September. But then I realized that technically, I could still write a review because I promised that no releases would be more than a year old. Since that year is still a ways away, I decided to go ahead and review this album. 

Morning Musume is an all-female idol group formed in Japan in 1997. The group has a graduation system, where girls leave the group or "graduate" when they see fit to leave or when their producer decides a girl is ready to go. The average time a girl will spend in the group is about 4 years, although Morning Musume does boast a total of 4 girls that have stayed for over a decade. Each new addition is referred to as a "generation", the largest being the 1st generation - the 5 girls that founded the group. The smallest generations are the 3rd, the 7th, and the 11th, each consisting of only one girl. As of 2015, Morning Musume has had 12 generations and currently has 13 members. During the time of the release of the album 14 Shou ~The Message~, the group had 11 generations and 10 members.