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sonofgodzillaWhat can I say about Tanaka Reina that has not been said before? During this particular era of Morning Musume history—the Platinum Era, as we call it, running from 2007-2010—it is only really Takitty who might contest the claim that Reinya was the group's most important member. One of my favourite things about Reinya is that she actually passed the fifth generation auditions in 2001, two years before actually joining the group because she lied about her age. Once the deceit was uncovered, she was disqualified, of course, but I think it says everything you need to know about her right there; a world where Reinya joined at the same time as Takahashi Ai might have been very different, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the two year lead Takitty had on her would have made a big difference, but once she passed the sixth audition for the group, she pretty much took over on Shabondama, taking on the role of main vocalist for her first release as a member of Morning Musume.
It must have been difficult to keep up with Reinya. Whilst we've always had tomboy idols, she cultivated an image as something of a delinquent. There's no doubt that she was absolutely a sheep in wolf's clothing rather than the opposite, but she carved out her niche as the tough girl of the group, whilst also not at all ashamed of taking on traditional idol roles. Within moments of her debut, she had already been announced as the leader of a new H!P subunit, Aa!, alongside future ℃-ute member, Suzuki Airi, and future Berryz Koubou member, Natsuyaki Miyabi—she basically was put alongside two of the future cornerstones of Hello! Project's expansion, and still held everyone's attention as the centre of the trio.
By the time that Cinderella the Musical debuted, Reinya was poised to become the biggest name in the group, patiently waiting her chance for elder members, Takitty and Gaki, to depart. I don't think she ever actively pushed for a leadership role, but she also never backed down, and it's clear that producer, Tsunku, and H!P management as a whole had a ton of faith in her. It is testament to both her staying power and her selling power that when she was made leader, the group were kind of in a bad place in terms of recognition, and yet with the new direction of One・Two・Three and Reinya at the centre, they mounted the group's most successful comeback ever. I remember watching the video for that first single in my living room on a crappy HP laptop—no pun intended—and just being so, so excited about it. It really felt like Reinya had given us back Morning Musume, and it was the force of her personality that really got shit done in the next few years, especially when it was announced that she was also forming her own band, LoVendoЯ.
As an aside, you should go and watch the musical right now. I'm not being paid to say this, butnightless_castle has done a peerless job providing subs for it, and I'm totally going to bring this up in each of these entries.
It is an indisputable fact that Morning Musume would not have survived if not for Reinya. I keep coming back to this, but Reinya really is the most important person in the modern history of the group. Mikitty was always known for her solo career, and I think Takitty was the last of the big guns of the previous era, but Reinya really, really represented what the group could be and what it could become. LoVendoЯ aren't really active nowadays, but you should definitely watch out for her presence, be it on stage, on TV, or on record, as she really is a force to be reckoned with.
It must have been difficult to keep up with Reinya. Whilst we've always had tomboy idols, she cultivated an image as something of a delinquent. There's no doubt that she was absolutely a sheep in wolf's clothing rather than the opposite, but she carved out her niche as the tough girl of the group, whilst also not at all ashamed of taking on traditional idol roles. Within moments of her debut, she had already been announced as the leader of a new H!P subunit, Aa!, alongside future ℃-ute member, Suzuki Airi, and future Berryz Koubou member, Natsuyaki Miyabi—she basically was put alongside two of the future cornerstones of Hello! Project's expansion, and still held everyone's attention as the centre of the trio.
By the time that Cinderella the Musical debuted, Reinya was poised to become the biggest name in the group, patiently waiting her chance for elder members, Takitty and Gaki, to depart. I don't think she ever actively pushed for a leadership role, but she also never backed down, and it's clear that producer, Tsunku, and H!P management as a whole had a ton of faith in her. It is testament to both her staying power and her selling power that when she was made leader, the group were kind of in a bad place in terms of recognition, and yet with the new direction of One・Two・Three and Reinya at the centre, they mounted the group's most successful comeback ever. I remember watching the video for that first single in my living room on a crappy HP laptop—no pun intended—and just being so, so excited about it. It really felt like Reinya had given us back Morning Musume, and it was the force of her personality that really got shit done in the next few years, especially when it was announced that she was also forming her own band, LoVendoЯ.
As an aside, you should go and watch the musical right now. I'm not being paid to say this, but
nightless_castle has done a peerless job providing subs for it, and I'm totally going to bring this up in each of these entries.It is an indisputable fact that Morning Musume would not have survived if not for Reinya. I keep coming back to this, but Reinya really is the most important person in the modern history of the group. Mikitty was always known for her solo career, and I think Takitty was the last of the big guns of the previous era, but Reinya really, really represented what the group could be and what it could become. LoVendoЯ aren't really active nowadays, but you should definitely watch out for her presence, be it on stage, on TV, or on record, as she really is a force to be reckoned with.
