OG (Graduated Members) / M-line Club / M-line Music

[TotallyUncool]

I'd be inclined to accept her story out of respect for her (even knowing that there might be a lot more to it) rather than pick it apart too much. It sounds like she's saying that she wanted to be a singer (with some real singing ability and training) rather than just another idol who couldn't sing, but got by because she had support from her fans. And I do respect that.
If that's the case, it still must have been a very tough choice to make.

[AyuHikaru]

And just maybe there's more than just one reason.

It's this

[randompasserby]

If we take her word for it that she herself is dissatisfied with her prospects in H!P and her dropping out is not due to some financial/contract issue as previously assumed,
... can I just say that in hindsight, I'm glad that she didn't get into MM and wasted no time in quitting J=J?
I find it a far more favorable outcome for me as a fan of those groups and perhaps for the group themselves as well that she didn't drag it out painfully for every party involved if her heart's not in it.

Feel like an ass saying this and maybe I'm actually being an ass (for her fans at least lol) but there you have it

[Sohee]

Eh, I don't know.
If she would have made it into MM when she was 12, her way of thinking would most likely have changed and been very influenced by the new surrounding that MM would have been to her. It's very likely she wouldn't have ended up with the same way of thinking that she has now, if she would have passed into MM. Or any other group at that early stage.
It all depends on the circumstances. She was left "alone" for a while and got time to think and re-think and such. Had she been in a group from the age of 12, she most likely wouldn't have had that time and would have had different experiences and so on.

[randompasserby]

Hmm if she still doesn't feel comfortable/confident in her abilities to improve AFTER being in the Kenshuusei and going through an indies period with Juice=Juice, I very much doubt that passing the audition and joining MM would've made her situation better. Say what you will about the current talent pool in MM, they're still the foremost of H!P groups as far as the public is concerned. If anything the greater pressure, competition and associated expectations there are more likely to do an even worse number on her state of mind imo.

This is all just hypothetical anyway, I'd rather not get too caught up in it.
20/20 hindsight vision is just much more convenient

[Sohee]

The environment in KSS is very, very different from the environment in MM, and that would influence one to grow up differently in one way or another. It's very simple psychology. o_O

[randompasserby]

I don't disagree with that at all.
I just think all that differences would only make it worse for her while, if I understand you correctly, you're of the opinion that if Aina makes it into MM she won't have the exact same complexes and outlook. Besides, it's far from the only environment that would affect her anyhow. I'm more inclined to think her way of thinking at that age is more influenced by her family and/or school environment.

[Nayoko-Kihara]

^ It seems like some wires are getting crossed here. (Or I'm doing the crossing.)

Not if she makes it in (implying now). Sohee is saying that had she made it as a member of 9th generation, because the experiences and interactions making up her more constant environment (in place of KSS/J=J) would have been so different, it might have kept her from devloping the issues with her singing (which she says she didn't begin thinking about until after she had experienced being an Egg for a while).

Her family and school probably did influence her thought process some, but swapping the KSS environment for the Morning Musume one is a big enough change that it's likely things could have ended differently.

[randompasserby]

^ It seems like some wires are getting crossed here. (Or I'm doing the crossing.)

Maybe lol, I'll try to clear things up one last time

Not if she makes it in (implying now). Sohee is saying that had she made it as a member of 9th generation, because the experiences and interactions making up her more constant environment (in place of KSS/J=J) would have been so different, it might have kept her from devloping the issues with her singing (which she says she didn't begin thinking about until after she had experienced being an Egg for a while).

Her family and school probably did influence her thought process some, but swapping the KSS environment for the Morning Musume one is a big enough change that it's likely things could have ended differently.

Again, I agree with this. It could have ended very differently.
In my mind though, the difference would manifest most likely as a scenario in which Aina graduates MM and quits H!P after say 2-3 years max, to be generous.

My reasoning is thus,
-Family and school environment is more likely to be the major influencer to her thought process.
-This is the girl who have had time to prepare herself, mentally and technically, in an incubation group for a couple of years. She also participated in an indies group with the clear, express intent of the Management to debut soon.

If after all that she still wasn't able to come to terms with her own abilities and doesn't enjoy the prospect of her future career, then if we were to discuss an alternate reality where she was immediately accepted into Morning Musume's 9th gen my own conjecture on what would happen is this,
-She's still the same girl with the same family and school environment.
-The differences in Kenshuusei training and Morning Musume's as far as I know is limited to slight technical performance-related stuff and a different prioritization order of the ways to appeal to the audiences.
-On the other hand, the pressure from internal competition to stand out and expectations from the outside is magnified many times over from the actual scenario due to her being in the flagship group with the most exposure, in which case the same issues would still spring up eventually.

It would still be a different outcome of course, strictly speaking.
It's just that there's so little factor I could find that would result in a more favorable outcome and those that do rely on so many unknowns it's hardly worth considering.

[Sohee]

-The differences in Kenshuusei training and Morning Musume's as far as I know is limited to slight technical performance-related stuff and a different prioritization order of the ways to appeal to the audiences.

Do you seriously think that all of KSS are as busy as the girls in MM? Even as they are getting more busy these days, they're not even close to being at the same level of busy as MM is.
MM has frequent single recordings, music videos, constantly touring, events, magazine interviews, goods photoshoots, etc.