30/04/2007 Goto Maki vs Fujimoto Miki

Posted under Hello Project, Morning Musume, Uncategorized by Aece McCloud

 

This is strange if you consider fact that Yoshizawa Hitomi is graduating in year 2007 when she joined only 10 months after Goto Maki in Morning Musume. Also Goto Maki joined the group at the age of 13 even after Yaguchi Mari who still lasted in Morning Musume for a very long time.

 

Why Goto Maki had to leave the group and what difficulties she received by doing so?

 

It has been very difficult for Goto Maki to progress because the management decisions made for her were not very good. Goto Maki during her audition had shown great learning potential and was considered at that time most talented girl compared to any other Morning Musume members. But there was something missing from Goto Maki then which was present in almost all other Morning Musume members and that is level of fun which was ignored by the people managing Goto Maki. She was indulged in too many learning activities giving her almost no time to have fun with other Morning Musume members. That is important because the very essence of Morning Musume exists on singing, dancing, fun and excitement.

 

Goto Maki and in-fact all other Morning Musume members in early years should have been assessed to find the level of excitement present in the members. This strategy is being followed now & rated to know how much time members require before they can be treated as seniors. Most exciting members that used to exist in old Morning Musume are Nakazawa Yuuko and Yaguchi Mari who carried the very essence of fun within Morning Musume for a very long time. Yossie (Yoshizawa Hitomi) and Fujimoto Mikitty clearly carried it after but the damage was done in the years of Goto Maki.

 

Because of her singing talent she was made to graduate early as she surpassed all other Morning Musume members at very early stage and it was time for the Production Company and Tsunku to try the very first member as a solo artist. It was still the first effort by the management to nurture a member as a solo artist therefore they were bound to make a few mistakes. After her graduation she continued to work with Morning Musume but she was never able to mature her level of fun with other members, which is very obvious from many concert-backstage clippings of her. For some reason she was still treated as a senior who didn’t require too much fun ascending activities and in many TV programs you will only find Goto Maki as an inclusion and not participating very much. She was never able to find her identity as a celebrity for many years even when included with Aya Matsuura and Fujimoto in Gomattou. This girl during these years was having too difficulty in having fun and in various cases it seemed the management was trying hard to get her emotionally involved in many of the TV programs but it simply wasn’t working for her.

 

Fujimoto on the other hand had been with Aya Matsuura for a very long time and both helped in nurturing each other with fun and excitement. Fujimoto hasn’t been very successful as a solo artist because she is not vocally strong compared to Goto Maki and you won’t find her singing solo in many concerts. Two reasons come to my mind either she is vocally weak or the management don’t want her to progress as solo artist and also to keep her in Morning Musume much longer. Hmm.. seems like nothing much she can do to help herself except to stick with Morning Musume. But what is going to happen to her after she is graduated? We know many of the Morning Musume members couldn’t have progressed further and they became matured and independent. As I mentioned before Mari Yaguchi will be the only person beside Fujimoto, who will carry herself to much higher heights without needing Morning Musume. Fujimoto will be however in a weird situation as she would either be participating like Makoto and Konno or probably then continue to support her non-existent singing career as a solo artist.

 

Just a little secret on Goto Maki and Aya Matsuura that both of them will be the oldest running successful singers to be in Hello Project within the next few years.

 

The war of survival for Goto Maki and Fujimoto is heating up. Both of them are opposite in talent and unaware of their future. They are not very successful as a solo artist and being ‘independent’ is the only thin line present between them which is a very big risk they are taking. They should focus being more competent and shouldn’t allow themselves getting out of business as they have a lot more to offer then to be treated like a puppet.