So when I took the poll over at Hello!Blog I didn’t really think about my answers until I was riding in the car on a particularly long ride from Haleiwa back to Honolulu. I always seem to think of my better entries (I swear, I had this very in-depth post written out in my head) when I have no way of writing it down. And sure enough, by the time I had gotten my shave ice and was happily eating it back in the car on the return trip to my grandmother’s house in Honolulu, I had pretty much forgotten about whatever point I was trying to make in my extremely well-thought-out (it took us like an hour to get there, considering the traffic and all the breaks we had to take for my brother’s particularly small bladder) post.

Until I opened my computer and was trying to close all my excess windows when I saw my little H!B ranking chart. And I remembered, “Hey, I was gonna write about who I like and why!”

This post is probably not as in-depth or as well-thought-out as the one in my head (GOD! DAMN IT!) but it gets the point across.

01. Koharu Kusumi
Truthfully, Koharu is really only number one because she repulses me the least out of the current lineup. Well, okay, I like Koha. I really like her. She’s truly a Miracle Girl. But if I ranked her with all of the members of Morning Musume (past and present), she wouldn’t come out as high as she does here. She might scrape herself into the top ten, maybe even the top five if Iida doesn’t put something out soon (Kaoriiiin, don’t let me forget youuuuu - Tsunkuuuu, don’t let us forget Kaoriiiiiin). Of all the H!P members past and present, Koharu definitely lands in my Top 20, but probably not in the Top 10. Then again, there are so many people in H!P that I just don’t give a damn about that Koha could probably make it…where was I? Oh, right. Well, if you’ve read my ramble about Happy, you’ll know why she’s at the top. Moving on…

02. Eri Kamei
Eeeeh?! How did Eririn get up there? I mean, I like her and everything, but she’s dropped down in my ranks lately. Now that I think about it, I should’ve put Sayu in number two because I like her more. (Interestingly enough, I can’t stand the Pinkugumi songs.) But, I still love Eri so I guess she’s okay up here. It’s not that I like her less, I’ve just been paying her less attention. I don’t know why. Lately she’s just been less interesting to me - it seems to me like she’s regressing back into her little turtley shell after her big breakthrough back in 2005. I haven’t watched much of the newer TV appearances, but from what I have seen, Eri’s getting kind of…boring. I mean, even her previous weirdness would be better than this…Takittiness she’s fallen into. (Yes, I just invoked Takahashi Ai’s good name as a synonym for talented but boring. If you’re going to throw fruit, at least make it fresh.)

03. Sayumi Michishige
Oh, Sayu. Sayu, Sayu, Sayu. I originally started out not liking this girl because I read on Wikipedia (when I was first trying to connect names to faces) that she says her cuteness overwhelms her bad singing voice. To which I rolled my eyes, and made up my mind that Sayumi sucked. First impression. That, of course, was before I actually started watching her on shows and realizing that it was just all an act. And even though she’s not one of the more talented members, I really enjoy watching Sayumi just because she really works hard. Not the best singer, and she hasn’t been given the oppurtunity to figure out how to work within her limits the way Ishikawa had, because everyone loved Ishikawa so she was allowed to expand more. But Sayu hasn’t had that chance, and so instead just has to work harder. And okay, so sometimes her ichiban kawaii act does kind of annoy me. I love her, but she can occasionally grate my nerves. Maybe that’s why I dropped her at number three…hmm. But wow. Sayu is very cute, I’ll give her that. So maybe she’s entitled to a bit (or a lot) of narcissim.

04. Ai Takahashi
Hmmm…Takitty. You know, I’m never quite sure what to do with her. I really like her voice, but I have a tendency to lean towards the girls that don’t get as much attention (hence my love of fifth gen and my dislike of fourth). So I sometimes wonder why I like Aichan - why she isn’t a competitor for my bottom spot. And I think that reason is because she’s still got that touch of shyness, of blandness - things that, if you think about it, actually make Aichan…well, Aichan. Her lack of personality is essentially her personality. It’s different, but it’s still a sharp drawback for her. And I probably wouldn’t like her as much as I do if she didn’t have that drawback.

05. Risa Niigaki
For a long while, actually, Gakisan was one of my favorite members. And it’s not that I don’t like her. I just…don’t pay as much attention to her as I used to. It’s not because she’s becoming a more solid lead - I was absolutely thrilled that she got so many lines in “Egao YES Nude.” But I don’t know, she’s just been losing some ground with me. At first I wondered if that was just because she was becoming more popular, and I generally favor the underdogs - but I was so glad when she started to become a major player that that couldn’t be it. Finally, it’s just that my love for Gaki-san has remained about the same. On the other hand, my love for Koharu and Aichan and Eri and Sayu has just grown and grown and grown…watching past stuff, I think, “Ah, yes, that’s why I love Gaki!” but then at the same time I’m thinking, “Damn, Koha’s actually kind of awesome…” My love for Gaki just hasn’t grown the way my love for the others have. It’s grown a little - especially after “Isshun” but if she doesn’t start being awesome again, my love for Reina (…of which I have very, very little) might just grow to surpass her.

06. Aika Mitsui
From what I’ve seen of Aika, I really like her. She’s sweet and cute and a little spacey. But she hasn’t been around long enough to make me love her the way I love the other girls. Give her a few more months and she’ll probably be higher. Unless she turns out to not amaze me. In which Aika, you may be stuck in the second-to-last place forever. (Linlin is already really high on my list, and Junjun is not far after her. So don’t try to use the Chinese girls as an escape!)

07. Reina Tanaka
If Miki was still here, Reina might not be in such a sad position. Oh, yes. I don’t like the most popular members. Reina just…bugs me. I don’t particularly like her high-pitched voice (though, she can hold a note, so that earns her a few points) and the fact that she gets so many solo lines means that every time I listen to a post-sixth gen MM song (which is most of the songs I like…screw you, Golden Era! I love me some gorokkies!), I have to listen to her. Which I wouldn’t mind so much if I liked Reina’s character as well. (After all, I can tolerate listening to Sayu and I could tolerate Konno, because I love them both.) But she just seems kind of…stuck up? How do I put this. She’s not like Takitty, who was all humble even though she got so many lines. (This is why I didn’t like Miki, as well.) Reina seems to believe that she deserves it. I mean, acting a bitchy character is one thing, but seeming to be a real bitch is another. She has this sort of rudeness and bitchiness that at some points is “yankii” and at most is just…rude. Of course, I don’t really know Reina and there are times when I actually don’t mind her, but overall, she earns the last place here.

So that’s the current lineup. But truthfully, I don’t care much for any of the girls here. So maybe we should move on to who I do and don’t like of the Musumes past and present. Keep watching for part II - I’m currently working on it because it’s coming out a little too not-nice. (Man, Rika really knows how to bring out my inner bitch…uh, not that it was ever really hiding, but anyway.)