Bikkuri Project

Why do fans always seem to hate the favorites? By that I mean that it seems really common for someone to rank a girl at the bottom of their list, or even claim to hate a girl, solely because she is popular. You see it all the time with Ai-chan, and to a lesser extent with Risako and Airi. It even seems to come into play with the “2nd favorites” like Momoko, Reina, and Miyabi. Maybe it’s just not cool to like the most promoted girl. Maybe people just like to root for the underdog. Regardless of the reason, there seems to be a general opinion among many vocal fans that these girls don’t deserve to be in the prominent position that they’re in. They just got that spot because someone up top arbitrarily picked them and decided that they shall be promoted at the expense of the others. Suddenly that girl has become “too” popular. She’s “hogging” the spot light and “stealing” all the lines from the other girls, and every time a new PV comes out I intend to complain loudly about that. She’s clearly full of herself and thinks she’s better than anyone else in the group, because she refuses to share her lines. She’s not even pretty or talented and she has a fake/boring/annoying personality, and I wish she would just leave the group because I hate her soooo much and “insert favorite member here” could finally get her chance if SHE were gone and RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!

Hold on a second!

There is so much wrong with the above line of reasoning. Girls aren’t put in the spotlight just to spite you and your favorite member. They are put there because the company thinks that that girl can be “sold” to the public more easily than your favorite member. To do otherwise is just bad business. The idea that they’re only promoted because they’re popular and that they’re only popular because they’re promoted is bad(circular) logic. There had to be some reason, initially, that that girl became more popular or was promoted more. She had to have something that set her above the rest. Ai-chan is a highly talented singer and dancer. Airi is also a strong singer, and very cute. Risako is a decent singer, and she’s also very very pretty. They are where they are because they stood out above the rest of their group. Also, it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: a girl doesn’t get to decide how many lines she gets or how often the camera is going to focus on her in a PV.

Risa Niigaki is my favorite member of h!p, so I understand what it’s like to be cheering for the girl in the back corner and to wish that they’d get more promotion. BUT… I don’t hate Ai Takahashi because she gets so much more attention than Risa. Of course, you are entitled to dislike a particular girl, and maybe she happens to be one of the popular ones, but I don’t think it’s fair to hate her just because she happens to be promoted a lot. Try to look past that, and give the girl an honest chance. You might still dislike her, but at least you’ll have a real reason for it.