On the contrary, you don't think UF keeps up with what fans write online? Don't think they ever read 2ch?
AKB does for sure. Why wouldn't UF? Pretty sure I heard the producer of Momoclo say he reads stuff fans write as well.
And they clearly have someone who speaks English AND they keep pushing H!P internationally. And supposedly the C-ute to Paris was a lot thanks to some namelisting that was going on.
Obviously not everything is coming true. But to think they DON'T read stuff online?
This is the company that has several weekly ONLINE SHOWS that really doesn't bring in any $$$ at all. They are very much online, trust me.
They'd be stupid and stuck in the past century if they weren't.
And honestly, if no one from UF is browsing/checking this forum every now and then, they really should start doing it. Cause they could be getting quite a lot of inspiration.
I send Tsoonk tweets with stuff all the time. I know he won't reply to that kind but I also know that he reads most of the things he gets - or he wouldn't be able to chose which to reply to, but I'll know if something pops up and is similar to what I've said, that... hey, maybe, just maybe I helped a bit with that. And if not, then I can just pat myself on the shoulder and say that great minds think alike.
I bitched quite a lot to him (in a polite way) about how awful the subtitles were when they were new. Not soon after we get a disclaimer that they're literal and might not be perfect. Great minds think alike.. I guess.