Unpopular Opinions

I agree that it's semantics. A stricter definition of a prodigy is someone who goes to an elite music college or the equivalent at the age they're entering middle school or high school. A looser definition of a prodigy is any "very talented child." Same with the word genius. But in the case of prodigy, I think there is an age limit. When we think of prodigies, I think we think of high school or more likely younger. So I feel like if you want to measure whether Ikuchan was a "prodigy," you can only look as far as her first few years in Nogi. Once she's in college, I don't think the prodigy label works anymore. IMO, she was not a prodigy BUT looking at everything she's done including after age 18, I would call her a genius.

I think Ikuchan is a very talented pianist. Good enough to be pro but not good enough to be a pro soloist like who plays piano concertos for elite orchestras. If a pro soloist is 10/10, Ikuchan is a 9/10. Repeat that for almost everything there is. Singing, musicals, acting(?), dance(?), variety. She probably scores a 9/10 or so on all of them, which is ridiculously amazing. I think you have to be a 11/10 or 12/10 in one area to be considered a genius. But she is a 9/10 in literally everything she does. Her variety is pretty underrated. The top variety members of Mattsun, Manatsu, and Kazumin rightly get a lot of praise for their variety and talk show appearances, but Ikuchan is at the same level as them but just doesn't appear as much on those shows because of her other stuff. Anyway, I call her a genius because she has so many 9/10s that it's ridiculous. But... no, she is not a 10/10 (yet) in any of them, and certainly not a 11 or 12/10 as those I would reserve for literal industry leaders, like Downtown. Downtown is a 12/10, Bananaman I give 11/10. I would actually give Sashihara a 11/10 too since she's been at the top level of variety for years now and no one with an idol background has done that before afaik.

Yoda to me isn't a successor of Nanase. I think management wanted to push that angle, but I don't see it. I think Yoda is most similar to Hoshino. Kubo is a fine replacement for Ikuchan. Variety-wise no, but just for her "pure image" singing thing. Asuka fulfills the "S" chara of Nanamin, but Nanamin had a "maturity" and "intellectual" side (she did a Hokkaido literature docu/travel series) to her that I wonder if it has been filled yet. Renachi is the obvious answer to the intellectual side, but there's a difference in impact with front row Nanamin vs. under. I definitely would be concerned about the fact that their top variety members of Mattsun, Manatsu, and Kazumin are all at a similar age. But variety and talk ability does improve with age and experience, so the later gens will improve. Then again, those three were Nogi's top variety members from the real beginning so they definitely have a lot of natural ability at it. I also thought that Kitagawa was obviously gunning for a variety role, like kinda a Manatsu successor, even if their charas aren't alike. While it's been a while since Maimai graduated, I think Kubo is a successor to that "epitome of a good girl" chara. Hmm, so I still don't think there's a Nanase successor just yet unless there's someone in gen 4 like that (not really familiar with gen 4 yet). Btw, yes, in the end, successors don't truly matter because everyone has their unique individual chara and stuff, but it's still fun to analyze

 

for me as fooball fan even someone who have godly talented like messi and and ronaldo never being called as football prodigy....so not everyone so easily being called as prodigy just like that...

 

the japanese seems very often use the word like "tensai" in publicity and while i believe it could be equivalent both prodigy or genius its probably explain why the context could be so "distorted" in people mind. but i think for ikuta's more simply as the later, because yeah the first term is a bit more hardcore or heavy as label.
i think one of the best way to be certain is looking people that labeled as prodigy(in this case, piano) and looking at their skill achievement when they were at certain age. i dont know if im lost in detail of her cv but even --especially for amateur ears-- her skill impressive as it was, the highest of ikuta's at the time was to compete in national competition or something, while for true/legit prodigy if one's not win singlehandledly or they already appeared in top stage with legit professional or held solo concert thing like that(or to the extreme like mozart, i guess already made their own composition).

if the video does not show watch the video here

if she keep her pace in piano back then i do believe she definitely can become pro musician. which mean there already a lot of them. an elite pianist as you said, that mean a lot of focus and hardwork i believe. but yeah the adition of idol(sing, dance, model)-musical stage-variety made her an unique all rounder. i'll say she's whether on 8 to 9 in each of these attributes from my personal standard but we can see how great the average scores already and she still can improve that. because the mention of football above i'll say she remind me somehow with steven gerrard in attributes. a truly all rounder player

 

everyone is so far seems to think or has very good attitude towards ikuta. is there any unpopular opinion about her at all? even maiyan still has unpopular opinion like her beauty is average

 

ok, enough with that prodigy thing, its being too redundant to keep talking about it, because its already been answered (she's not a prodigy)

can we move on to the "average kind of idol" thing your saying ? you still haven't answer my question.

 

something is not right with your reply/answer for my statement above.




maiyan,sashi, ikuta, sayanee, these four obviously is not your typical idol. if you think these four girls are popular because of mega push, think again.
i dont know if my wording is not correct or you seems stupid to think something else with my statement. why you are not satisfy with that anyway?

 

Yeah, it's funny how "prodigy" is more hardcore than "genius" in the way we use it, like how people didn't call Ronaldo or Messi prodigies when they were in their mid-teens. But in the end, still semantics I think because there probably still are some people who use "genius" only in the real strictest sense, applying to people like Einstein and stuff like that only.

One final thing I forgot to add is Ikuchan also has a PB that sold > 200k copies. Of course, you wouldn't really call visual looks a "genius" or "not genius" thing because it isn't about brains, but it still adds to her multitalented-ness as an entertainer and performer.

Since I can't think of anything negative for Ikuchan (lol), let me add some actual unpopular opinions:
-Renachi needs to soften her voice and her way of speaking. She can come across as an "I'm smart, listen to me being smart" type person. Instead of sounding like she's "speaking to people" she sounds like she's "telling people."
-I mentioned in a previous comment that I think the "S" (sadistic) chara is one of the hardest to pull off because you need a really good sense of variety banter to make it work. I feel like there are some who've failed at it. Miria and Reika come to mind. Maybe Junna, too. I used to lump Ayane into this group, too, but I think her variety and her version of the "S" chara have become better. I think Miria should chill out with her attempt at the S chara, I don't know. Especially since she's in sembatsu now. Just "being S" doesn't work. An "S" comment needs to be followed immediately by laughter or a tsukkomi. This is why I say that the S chara requires a good understanding of variety-style banter. You have to plan at least one step ahead and make sure that after you've said your S thing, either people will laugh or people will criticize or disagree with you in a funny way. Maybe it's like the difference between being sassy and being a bitch, and the difference between being cheeky and being rude. To be a bitch or be rude, you just need to be mean, which is relatively easy. To be sassy or cheeky, you need wit. Another example, take Manatsu. She's known as the number 1 "M" (masochistic) chara of Nogi. But when she wants to make an "S" comment or do something "S", she's miles better than the members I mentioned above simply because of her banter ability and wit. Her being an M chara doesn't matter at that point. Simply because she has the banter ability, she can make better "S" comment in that moment than other "wannabe S" members can. Chara helps a member to be memorable, but to really make a chara work in the long term, especially the S chara, the underlying talk and banter ability is what matters. So I think members whose talk/banter ability isn't quite there yet should resist trying to be S for the time being.
-Mentioning a lot of these gen 2 unders reminds me of how different Nogiten feels from Nogichu or Nogibingo, especially when there's no comedian MC. On one hand, it's cool that they do things on Nogiten that aren't possible on other shows. But there are times when I really realize, "Yeah, there really is a big difference between the talk/banter ability of these unders and the usual sembatsu." And the problem is that the less they get to be on Nogichu because they're under, the bigger the difference in growth of talk and banter there is between them and sembatsu because sembatsu get to interact with Bananaman so much and so consistently. Maybe they should bring in Soude Akihiro as MC more, I don't know. Some of them on Nogiten are good, but when say 2 are good and 2 aren't, the 2 that aren't tend to drag things down because there are usually only several members on camera in Nogiten. (You can't hide when you're on Nogiten with only like 4-8 members on screen, whereas on Nogichu or Nogibingo there are so many people that you might end up hiding or being hidden.)
-A lot of members would be much more popular if they were thinner. Higuchi, Renachi, Miria, Karin come to mind. If you compare their pictures when they were at their most thin (which is not model-thin at all, but like "fit" thin) and their non-thin versions, it's a big difference. Of course they're young and still growing, so I can understand the fluctuations (like Riria and Kubo ). But still, I think those members would see their popularity easily rise if they simply stayed thin, or should I say, fit. The only member I can recall being too thin is Kubo when gen 3 first entered Nogi. Other than that, members have been either good or could get thinner. I suppose this at least is better than the reverse situation where everyone one was too thin heh....

 

ok I apologize on that


but the question I want be answered is what makes someone an "average kind of idol"?

 

Btw rather than Unpopular Opinions, this thread might be better called Confessions or No Holds Barred Discussion?

Anyway it was fun learning about prodigy and geniuses. It reminds me I have the book "Genius: A Short Introduction" from Oxford University Press that I haven't got to finish reading. Probs I'll continue reading and maybe can add a literature reference for this discussion. Maybe.. someday..

Another of my opinion that I think is unpopular:

Nogizaka is starting to get boring. It was fun following them up till their peak points (for me it was influencer, and then it dies down, and resurface for Synchronicity). Or maybe it's just because I have marathon all their shows and know all their names, personalities, talents, and quirks.. that's like nothing much further is to explore.

Newer gens like how 3rd gen joined was supposed to reignites that interest for older fans, however I see that third gen are being babysit a bit too much. They looked up to their senpais, and their senpais are taking care of them. If anything, I see 2nd gen as more interesting because they know their existence is mostly as a support for the senbatsu (or 1st gen), but they are still trying to gain recognition (which isn't fruitful much yet but hey it's getting better). I am much warmer welcoming 4th gen rather than when 3rd gen came in. Maybe I am too salty that 2nd gen doesn't receive the attention they need. I am talking not because my oshi is there, but 2nd gen is full of talents too! If I should mention one, Junna!

 

I am pretty sure a lot of people regarded Messi as a prodigy around 2006. Not sure about Ronaldo though. And I know 100% that English pundits loved to call Rooney a prodigy when he was still at Everton (but they are English so they tend to overestimate their young talents).

 

Yeah you first need to overcome that before you can better see the good side of 3rd gen. I used to feel the same about 2nd gen. Yup it's improving for them but only because many seniors are graduating and they have already utilized 3rd gen to the max. I agree with you about babysitting 3rd gen too much to some degree. But it's for the better I think, that they didn't treat 3rd the way they did with 2nd. And they'll be needing 4th gen to step up their game in order to keep Nogizaka significant in years to come. They're still up there.

 

Please no. I am already worried for some of the members you mention because they diet too much.

 

No. Rooney at young age was simply a beast. But there's a player who grown into their best or just don't fullfil their talent.

 

yeah i remember messi was labeled as that but im personally not sure how thing could worked by definition in sport. for simple they just often refer as wonderkid. well okay enough about football i want to read the post xD

 

Yeah, it seems Japanese use the same word for Prodigy and Genius. The Chinese/Kanji word for Prodigy is "Shindou", which literally means "God-like child" but the Japanese don't seem to use this word as often. Instead they often use "Tensai", which means "God-given talent", for both. So this argument between whether Ikuchan is a prodigy or genius or whatever probably means nothing to them.

Which always bug me lol, probably because I've taken a Western perspective on this. You know, genius is hard-work stuff, and being a prodigy means little if you don't become a genius. But I do think Ronaldo and Messi were prodigies actually; anyone who became an important part of a top-tier team before 20 for me are all prodigies.​

Diligent people are hard to be bad-mouthed. I think even more so in a society like Japan.

 

And we all know HOW and WHY she sold number of copies (now the number is like +300k)... and she doesn't need to be a genius to do it

 

K, this is an unpopular old opinion (as in I don't think this anymore) but I used to dislike Rina Ikoma and didn't know why she was centre over Maiyan or Nanase. But now I love her XD.

K current unpopular opinions, uhh...
I don't think Manatsu is funny at all, she's my least favourite member.
Hinachima and Sayuringo would be an amazing unit. They're Cat's Eye duet proves it.
Asuka should centre less and Iku-chan should centre more. Or Sakurai at least once.
Zukkii and Momoko should have centred Nigemizu, rather than Yuki.
Sayuri Matsumura should have played Sailor Moon rather than Sayuri Inoue. However, I do like Inoue's Moon. (NogiMyu fans will understand this)

I think that's it XD.

 

TEAM STAR was mooooooooooooooore better than TEAM MOON
If I have to choose members from both team to make the ULTIMATE TEAM , I'll choose Umezawa, Miria, Inoue, Takayama and Hinachima
Yamashita doesnt fit the main role...

 

Sorry to say, I think Mizuki is chosen as Usagi solely because of her name (Mi-Tsuki/Beautiful Moon). Inoue was a better fit as Usagi. Team STAR is so underhyped.

Also, I am happy for Ranze becoming Mars but.. come on Junna will be a perfect Mars. And also Ayane for Mercury. Well probably those 2 had ongoing stage shows already that time so giving the spots to less experienced member was quite a wise choice.

 

Do you think they're actually dieting or just saying they're dieting? I find that in Japan, women always say they gotta go on a diet, they gotta go on a diet, mainly to express their humility. Like, "Oh yeah, if I don't diet, I'm gonna blow up and be fat, gotta diet," whether or not they're actually dieting. It's like a student saying, "I gotta study, I gotta study," whether or not they're actually studying a lot or not. To express humility and to kind of bond with other people, some people just say that. When another student suddenly comes in and says, "Oh whatev, I'm not studying," whether they're not studying because they aren't diligent or because they're so smart they don't need to, either case, the rest of the people who said they're studying will be like, "Oh... well, ok, you do you then, geez." Same thing with dieting. Whether a girl is fat or fit, if they suddenly barge in and say, "Oh, I'm not dieting, I know I look good, baby," the others will be like, "Oh.... well, ok, you do your thing, geez." I think there's no way to tell if a Nogi girl is actually dieting or not from their words. It's just courtesy talk. Some will say, "I can't help but eat all the nice snacks that sponsors gift us, they're so tasty!" in one episode and then in the next episode, "Argh, gotta diet!" I tried to judge only by looking at their faces and bodies, and those that I mentioned I think looked much better when they were at their thinnest on TV.

Oh, an unpopular opinion I forgot to mention: I don't like Kazumin's new laugh youtu.be/yrQ-273RrhY?t=130. Her old laugh was fine www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2JDMFGOn0. She's probably self-conscious about her old laugh because it doesn't sound girly, but I liked it. The new laugh, hmm... yeah :/