Kasahara Momona Becomes Candidate on Produce 101 Japan

[WonderBuono]

All right I’m here because I can’t convince my IRL fan to actually watch the show so I need someone to talk to about it.
I’m halfway through episode 2 and can I just say I LOVE how sweet Momona is to Kokoro?? She’s so supportive and kind and was more relieved about her partner’s ranking than her own.

Other than some pieces being seemingly scripted I am really loving the show. I just love Jpop idols man, and you blend it with a dose of Kpop and it’s just my speed lol. Unfortunately I am always wanting everyone to be able to live their dreams so watching 89 people be eliminated is going to hurt

[DonJuan]

I finally finished episode 2, just in time for them to release episode 3
So far Kassa hasn't been featured much. I guess she doesn't really leave much chance for sad backstory, bad at performing or anxiety in general. Let's see how things develop in the future and if they find another niche for her.

[Shoujo Q]

They are going to save her for the, you came from a top performance company why aren’t you better, trope, once the dead weight girls are gone.

[AquaChan]

They are going to save her for the, you came from a top performance company why aren’t you better, trope, once the dead weight girls are gone.

I hope not. Even Kokoro hasn't been feature that much.
It's as bad as Mnet evil edition

[WonderBuono]

The more I watch the more I realize that even if it is fan-voted the show producers are going to have a huge influence just based on who they choose to feature in the behind the scenes. With that in mind I’m glad they’re not focusing much on Momona or Kokoro - they clearly already have enough of an established fan base to keep them near the top, I’d rather see them showcase the underdogs to keep an eye on.
I watched all of episode 3 and a handful of fancams for the ones I liked previously and so far this would be my top 11 (sort of in order but not really):

1. Kasahara Momona (duh I am biased)
2. Ishii Ran (how she ever got B class I’ll never understand - she’s experienced and a fantastic dancer)
3. Nakano Kokona (stood out to me since she sat at the top of the pyramid, I really like her expressions)
4. Ebihara Tsuzumi (everyone knows her vocals)
5. Takami Ayane (again stand out vocals maybe even better than Tsuzumi idk)
6. Sasaki Tsukushi (I’m sure she was disappointed by the mic mishap but it actually made me like her more for just continuing on and giving her best - a true professional)
7. Matsushita Miyu (I love her face honestly I just think she’s so pretty)*
8. Uchiyama Rin (underdog!! I loved her vocals and expressions in love dive she really gave that performance everything she had, if she doesn’t move up I’ll be so sad)
9. Aita Rin (again it’s the perseverance that got me, even though they were down to just two for a while she kept a smile on her face)
10. Yamamoto Suzu (idk no comments really she’s just solid and is probably gonna make the group anyway)
11. Sakurai Miu (I feel like I should like her more because I remember her from Nizi Project but even though she’s grown in skill I’m just not attached to her for anything other than her experience)

Again Kokoro already has an established fan base so she will most likely end up in the final line up but I just personally haven’t seen anything that feels standout to me.

*edited because my dumbass conflated Matsushita Miyu and Kanno Miyu

[JPope]

I know it's early, but it feels like the final group is gonna basically be a Kpop group with Japanese girls, which bums me out so I hope I'm wrong.

[MejraThea]

Y'all, Kassa cut her hair Mistake.

She's trying to look like Ebihara

[JPope]

Finally watched episode 5. It's a pain trying to stay in the bubble avoiding spoilers, lol. I'd say we're about halfway to the point where I'll start remembering some names , but just based on who stood out to me to this point, the top 11 isn't surprising. Our girl sitting in the big chair so early kind of worries me a little, just because there's nowhere to go but down, and there's still a long way to go.

Hearing the song demos for the next challenge was depressing, because it just confirms that the final group will be a Japanese K-Pop group. I suppose it was inevitable, but I had hoped it might be at least a fusion of the two genres.

[Shoujo Q]

This is a Korean show so a Kpop theme was pretty much guaranteed.

[JPope]

I know, but I was hoping for a bit more Jpop for a Japanese group. This is just another sign for me that the push to take Jpop "global" means stripping it of everything that makes it unique, of which I'm not in favor.

[JPope]

BTW, Kassa refusing to dance to RR21 is one of two things: it's a scripted bit that will show her rebelling against her time in H!P, only to proudly and tearfully re-embrace it as a piece of her history that can't -- and shouldn't -- be denied; or she saw it as a no-win trap where anything but absolute perfection will be seen as an L. I think she's gonna be forced into that trap at some point no matter how hard she tries to avoid it, though.

[DonJuan]

Yeah, she just couldn't win here.

[MejraThea]

Which video did that happen in? I couldn't find it

[DonJuan]

It was in the dance battle shortly before the very first elimination. They also played Dancing Hero -Eat You Up-, Heavy Rotation, Wannabe (Itzy's)...

[Shoujo Q]

The H!P community threw her on a pedestal that honestly I don’t think the producers of Produce 101 realized to the extent how big it was. It’s clear in the first few episodes they had a predetermined narrative and then the public got wind of the former idols and the narrative shifted. H!P may be popular to us and it’s community but for the average person, outside of Morning Musume they don’t really know the groups. And she’s been out since 2021. So there’s also that. I’m curious on how this will all play out for her and by default, H!P because the closer she gets to the final the more her training as a former idol will come into play and people will take notice and might be curious about H!P or Angerme. It happened when Riho joined Babymetal and I’m sure it will happen with Momona at some point.

I know we’ve talked about the vocal abilities of a lot of H!P girls. Momona wasn’t that great but she wasn’t tone deaf. She obviously gotten better. But it remains to be seen how much till they really start showing her off.

[JPope]

What's ironic is that Kassa's voice probably would've improved more with two years of heavy H!P touring as a member of Angerme than as a student at K-pop U. She improved steadily during her tenure, and had a bit of a breakout her last year.

[DonJuan]

I think it would have, especially with Anju. However, her dancing wouldn't, with all due respect, since H!P does dancing very different from what Produce 101 seems to want.



That being said, Kassa is probably ready to debut again. I would be shocked at this point if she didn't make it.

[JPope]

I think Kassa would have to do something tragic to not make the final group.

I'm gonna comment on something from the latest episode (#6), so if you haven't watched it yet, you've been warned! lol

While I hate seeing groups fail in front of an audience, seeing the Shine A Light group do just that is good for the show because it proves that only so much can be scripted. That shit was real.

[TheParuProject]

My heart sank for them. It was a good showing for Hina, and sort of Miu. But they flopped those sour notes so hard. But honestly, even ignoring those, the performance is serviceable but easily blown out of the water by the other vocal song groups.

I was never a big fan of Momona, her vocals aren't amazing and I agree that her hair chop was a bad choice. But the small bit of her we see on the program really shows off all of her best qualities professionally. Her idol experience really puts her in a different tier than everyone, even the trainees, dancers, and survival show circuit girls.

[JPope]

Episode 7 is up.



I've never heard of the special guest rap coach, and I suspect I wouldn't like her music much, but she was really great as a coach.

On to the spoilerifics.

Spoiler: [+]

It wouldn't surprise me if Kassa loses her top spot after her cold and clearly pissed off reaction to losing the rap position battle to Shimizu. I get being disappointed, but I think there's an expectation of at least minimal graciousness in defeat from the audience, and Kassa barely looked at Keiko while offering only the tightest, most forced smile. Honestly, I don't think she even deserved to win first in her group -- Kokona was way better, IMO. Kassa might have just launched her villain arc.

The "First Love" group was awesome -- my favorite of the vocal groups -- but it was pretty cool to see Momoka win that position battle after being squeezed out of the rap groups. She's got a awesome voice.

[TheParuProject]

Has Momona always had RBF? She looks so stone cold when she disagrees with her group, haha. Congrats to her for her win, but Kokona blew her out of the water.

First Love was amazing, but I was so shocked that Ayane only ranked 3rd?? I love Nagomi and she surpassed expectations, but Ayane was SO good.

[JPope]

Has Momona always had RBF?

A little bit, yeah. She's always overcome it by simply not being bitchy (or at least not appearing so), and while I didn't get that from her the group discussions, she definitely came off a little bit that way after losing the position battle.

After seeing her perform a few times, I don't know that she's improved all that much since leaving H!P, but that could just be a product of her having limited time to learn these songs. I think she's still be behind Kamiko and Rikako, though. That said, she's a lock to make the final group.

[MejraThea]

From the most recent I only watched the performances, not the entire episode, but by god they all fall flat. Concept, was the point here. So, some of them had nice outfits. But only two of the performances had any spark, mainly the cutesy one. The one Kassa was in, with over half of the top 11, was a yawn fest. As compared to last week, when Kassa did that Blackpink song, she stood out wonderfully. What I'm getting for that is compared to the lower ranks Kassa is great. But all of the top 11 together are just.... bland. They only stand out next to the weaker girls, but when together they lead a boring performance.

[JPope]

I didn't get that feeling, but it might be because I only saw the episode-edited performances. I wasn't blown away by any of the songs, either. They all feel very off-the-rack Kpop to me, and that's not the fault of any of the girls.

There are a couple of girls who are definitely gonna get cut that I think are way better than a lot of the current top eleven, but I'm shit with remembering names. I also think Kassa is coasting a bit, almost like she knows she's gonna make the group so long as she doesn't fuck up, and is playing it safe with that in mind.

[JPope]

There are a couple of girls who are definitely gonna get cut that I think are way better than a lot of the current top eleven, but I'm shit with remembering names.

Well, not so fast! Some crazy movement in the latest rankings, and the one girl who I was sure was gonna get cut is now in a decent position to win the whole damn thing. Spoilers below the video.



I was happier that Rinon jumped from 6 spots out of the top 11 all the way to 3rd overall than I was that Kassa reclaimed the top spot, because she emerged as one of my favorites early on. I wonder how big of an effect the change in voting rules had in the wild movement overall this week. Next week's final is a live event, so if anyone knows of anyone streaming it, make sure to report them to the proper authorities, and definitely don't let me know how to access it!

[DonJuan]

Glad to see Keiko still in there. I think she was a bit obnoxious in the beginning but I've come to like her a lot.

[JPope]

Ha ha!

[TheParuProject]

It's crazy to see how the voting rules shot some girls in the foot. Suzu dropped down SO far. I'm particularly gutted by Nagomi and Hina dropping out of top 20, they were so close to debut for so long.

[JPope]

The final 11 have been selected. Meet ME:I

Spoiler: [+]

I didn't realize the live show started so early, and by the time I started looking for a stream, they were already well into the ranking. I couldn't find a stream in any of the usual places, so I just went to twitter to see who won, because I knew it'd be impossible to stay in the bubble all weekend, lol.

EDIT: Just saw the vote totals. It wasn't even close, lol.

Spoiler: [+]

Kassa destroyed everyone.

[TheParuProject]

Nothing particularly shocking in the top 11. Shizuku really snuck her way in there at the last minute haha. Suzu pingpong-ing the last few rankings is wild.

I don't really listen to K-pop so I don't know that I will follow the group when they debut, but I'd probably try em out at least.