Morning Musume's 10th Generation - too soon? Are they even necessary?

Note: This is an old post, but I had to re-publish it per Blogger's requests. All of the comments from this post are gone, so feel free to re-post them if you wish.

Just going to warn you right now: giant walls 'o text incoming.

So unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you should already know that UFA has started holding auditions for Morning Musume's 10th Generation. If you are female, between age 10-17, and have a genki spirit, then you meet the qualifications to audition.

Eight months ago the 9th gen auditions were announced and it was seen as a necessary step. After all, Kamei, Junjun, and Linlin would graduate by year's end. Morning Musume really needed a boost. Looking at a 5nin picture only reaffirmed that.

But now it's May 2011. Eight months have passed. Mizuki, Riho, Kanon, and Erina are full fledged Morning Musume members. Fans are just now finding out who they are and what they can do. Morning Musume is back up to 9 members. Is another audition too soon at this point? And is it even needed?

Short answer for the first question: no.

I think us fans were spoiled by the previous 9nin Musume line-up (with Koharu, Eri, Junjun, and Linlin). That line-up lasted for over two years, which is the most stable Morning Musume had ever been. And even when Koharu graduated, new members weren't added until earlier this year. To put things simply: Morning Musume did not have any additions for nearly four years. Now, in a period of a year, two different auditions were announced.

However, I would consider that 9nin line-up to be the exception and not the rule. The anomaly, if you will. To put things in perspective, before Koharu's shocking departure, every single year at least one Morning Musume member graduated and/or left since 1999. And nearly every single year, auditions were held to find new members.

So, the 10th generation auditions are not out of the norm; a huge precedent was set many years ago.

Then, that brings me to the question of: are they needed?

First, here is another fun fact: Morning Musume has been around longer than any other current female idol group and are the longest running Idol group in history. Morning Musume's case is a bit tricky because of the revolving line-up, but most other current groups either have had line-up changes as well (Momoiro Clover, AKB, Idoling) or haven't been around nearly as long (Tokyo Girls Style, Passpo).

It's a sad fact of the business, but Idols don't have a long shelf life. Idols, by nature, are supposed to be a perfect reflection of a fan's ideal person. Because their archetypical girl appears right before their eyes and begins to do all of that cute stuff, they begin to idolize them (hence the name, "Idol"). That is also why dating is forbidden. Why would your perfect girl be dating someone else?

Doing something - anything - for over a decade is hard. Doing something that is borderline inhuman (such as not dating or really having any contact with the opposite sex, not to mention being on your best behavior whenever you in public) for that long is almost impossible. So, Idols move on. Some continue in the entertainment business. Some get married and start a family.

In order to keep the Morning Musume name alive, auditions are necessary. All of the senpai members are adults (age 20 or older, as defined by Japan) and are at the tail end of their Morning Musume career. Even if all of the other senpai members stay as long as Aichan has (10 years by the time her graduation date comes up), Sayu and Reina only have a year and a half, Aika has four years, and Gakisan will already break that record come December.

It should be noted that even though auditions are being held now, 10th gen won't be added until after Aichan's graduation (let's just say January 2012 for simplicities sake), which would be exactly one year after 9th gen - perfectly fitting the trend of Morning Musume's past.

I don't like all of these graduations and changes as much as the next fan, but what this news tells me is that Morning Musume is here to stay for the long run. There may never be another Aichan, but as long as there are girls like Kanon and Erena being added, I will be perfectly happy with Morning Musume's future going forward.

tl;dr: its not too soon since yearly auditions are normal for momusu. they are needed to keep the group going. remember, your favorite momusu member auditioned once, so just give them a chance before you hate them