Morning Musume has obviously had lots and lots of members graduate, since that's sort of the deal. Most of these members have had formal graduation concerts, where they are given an opportunity to address the audience with their gratitude, sing a solo, or perform a significant unit number.
Initially, the graduating members just wore their tour costumes for this final concert, nothing special.
Eventually, the graduating member was clothed in a modified, dressed-up version of the tour costume that matches in theme with everyone else's, but makes it apparent they're the focus.
The question is, which is your favorite? Because I have a lot of feelings. I put videos where I felt like it or where I could not find good images of the dresses.
KAMEI ERI
Kamei's dress really needs to be seen in all directions and in motion to fully appreciate. I love this, unapologetically, and always have. I feel like if you're not wearing a crown when you graduate, you're not even really graduating.
JUNJUN
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I cannot find high-quality images of the Chinese members' dresses. This dress is one of my least favorites, with clashing textures, too many accessories, and a bizarre skirt length. Red was also kind of a weird choice, since it wasn't her member color. I guess the poor treatment didn't really end with her tenure in the group, did it?
LINLIN
LinLin's dress is better than JunJun's, and I think we can agree on that. The textures are more cohesive here and the length of the skirt is better, but neither of their dresses feel particularly elegant or celebratory for what they contributed to the group. The costumes unfortunately are a lasting reminder of how H!P and the fans thought of JunLin, and I wish they had gotten something better or at least something that felt more special to them as individuals.
NIIGAKI RISA
Now, I'm biased here because I did see her graduation concert at a live viewing, but I like this one. I appreciate the kimono aesthetic they were going for, as they don't normally use that sort of imagery at all. Her dress is also unique in that it worked as a tearaway for the final number with all the members, so if it looks a bit clunky, that's why. I still like it, in any case, because it really screams "J-idol" to me, from the obligatory white boots to the high-low skirt to the kimono top. I'm into it.
MITSUI AIKA
Now, since Aika and Risa had a joint graduation, I was also present for this dress, but I'm not going to explain myself for loving this. Because I really, really do. The tiered skirt? The lavender accents? The plaid? The BOWLER HAT? Perfection. Aika also deserved much more from the group, but alas, the 8th generation truly was a cursed one.
TANAKA REINA
Now... I've always had a weak spot for Reina's particular brand of delinquent idol fashion, so I'm not going to pretend like liking this dress has anything to do with taste. It broke me, as it broke everyone who saw it. Regardless, it is 100% Reina and everything her style utilized over the years: cat ears, hair glitter, giant bows, studded belts, and complete visual kei chaos. Love it or hate it, it's who she is.
MICHISHIGE SAYUMI
Okay, let me explain: I understand what this was and what it was going for, but the top and the bottom do not match at all. The top is this awful stretch sequin fabric with the limp sleeves and it looks stretched out because it has to support the weight of that insane skirt bottom, which, while beautiful, could have been constructed a lot better to make the whole dress more cohesive. It's an iconic dress and I know it's a lot of people's favorite, but I feel frustrated looking at it.
SAYASHI RIHO
Trash, garbage. This one also bears some explanation for context: Riho was heralded virtually upon her debut as the ace and savior of Morning Musume. She was pushed to the center of every song, despite her lack of natural singing talent, and ultimately, the pressure proved to be too much and she graduated extremely abruptly, with only a few months notice. Her graduation concert seemed to reflect that it was abrupt for the company, too, as she graduated at a pre-scheduled Hello!Project concert, not a special show, without much focus on her, and this dress is slipshod and just bad, honestly. It's swallowing her whole and the design is just... like do people like this? It can't just be me, right? It's BAD. It does not get better with close-up shots. It's weird and ugly and it did nothing to convey how important she had been to the group for the previous 5 years. This will forever haunt many people, including myself.
SUZUKI KANON
I hate this one, too. I can only hope the remaining 9th gen members will not let me down so this generation won't be a total loss in this category. Anyway, Zukki struggled with her weight, a lot. Management, rather than trying to outfit her in clothes that would flatter her and suit her shape so that she didn't stand out, put her in potato sacks over and over. This, too, is a potato sack, just a brightly-colored one. At the very least, it suits her character better than Riho's did, so at least it was representative of her warm, funny personality. This is probably the best of the "deserved better" category, though.
KUDO HARUKA
I will NOT apologize for loving this the most and you can DIE mad if you disagree. Orange girls, for whatever reason, really turn it out at graduation.
OGATA HARUNA
So, I don't hate this, but I don't love this. It's fine. It's very pretty, but it doesn't really feel special, I guess. I also don't think the fascinator adds anything but we do know how idols love a fascinator. The fabric is beautiful, I actually don't hate the puffy sleeves, but I do wish the length was different. Just a little shorter or a lot longer. This isn't doing it for me.
IIKUBO HARUNA
Honestly? Queen. She was never a typical idol so she was never going to have a typical dress, but in terms of style and execution, this is just several steps above most of these dresses. It's clean, it's different, it's fashionable, I have no complaints. It does, however, set the bar very high for whoever graduates next, and I'm really not sure the costume designers are capable of meeting that hurdle. I guess we'll have to wait and see, since no one in the group has announced their graduation and probably won't until the pandemic has subsided, so at least they have time to work on their designs.
What about you? What are your favorites, your least favorites, your deserves-better?
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Iikubo haruna and whoever is drowning in that flower dress in the bottom left corner of the first photo in the post are my favorites
Iikubo haruna and whoever is drowning in that flower dress in the bottom left corner of the first photo in the post are my favorites
The flower dress is Sayumi, her photo wasn't loading so I changed it to a video. That helps get the full effect.
And Iikubo's is stunning. Like she never got anything while she was in the group but boy they made up for it with that outfit.
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Kamei Eri: if i think of a costume, this is probably what i would imagine the perfect one
Niigaki Risa: feels prideful, the kimono inspiration but with a twist and the shoes are like the bringing together of two worlds that sorta signify just how much she may care about her time within the group. Might be reading too much into this, but as someone who doesn't know, this is how I see it
Michishiga Sayumi: a mess, but i like the idea she was going for, it wasnt really till i looked closer that i realized some glaringly obvious issues with the gown, but the color palette is nice
Iikubo Haruna: I like the fit. and the black details are cute. and shes fcking gorgeous.
now since i didnt understand what i was supposed to be doing when i first started typing, i assumed u wanted us to pick out of the ones u posted nnn, so these are the ones i could find that i liked
Yoshizawa Hitomi: honestly whatever she has on her back makes me weak and i have a severe bias for the color red. i think its just overall cool looking
Takahashi Ai: I think its cute she decided to go with a tour shirt+jeans and a few accessories
Niigaki Risa: feels prideful, the kimono inspiration but with a twist and the shoes are like the bringing together of two worlds that sorta signify just how much she may care about her time within the group. Might be reading too much into this, but as someone who doesn't know, this is how I see it
Michishiga Sayumi: a mess, but i like the idea she was going for, it wasnt really till i looked closer that i realized some glaringly obvious issues with the gown, but the color palette is nice
Iikubo Haruna: I like the fit. and the black details are cute. and shes fcking gorgeous.
now since i didnt understand what i was supposed to be doing when i first started typing, i assumed u wanted us to pick out of the ones u posted nnn, so these are the ones i could find that i liked
Yoshizawa Hitomi: honestly whatever she has on her back makes me weak and i have a severe bias for the color red. i think its just overall cool looking
Takahashi Ai: I think its cute she decided to go with a tour shirt+jeans and a few accessories
You can respond however you like. I don't make the rules here; I just want to talk about pretty (and pretty ugly) dresses on idols.
Niigaki was actually the longest-serving member up to that point and was credited with helping blend the new generations with the older ones, so I think you're actually right on the money with her. She was never a front-and-center girl but she was definitely a huge part of the group while she was in it.
Iikubo's accents are actually brown, because when she first joined the group they had too many members to give everyone good colors, so she was given... brown. She called it "chocolate" to make it cute, but no one could figure out how to make a brown light stick, so eventually she changed it to yellow, or "honey," as she called it. Her final outfit made reference to both colors, which was really nice since she tried so hard to make chocolate work when she knew it was bad.
Yoshizawa and Ai both had variations of the tour outfits so everyone else had something similar but not quite. Yoshizawa's costume is actually in reference to the costumes worn in the Takarazuka Revue, which is an all-female theater troupe famous for its cross-dressing performers. Yoshizawa had a very masculine, "prince" character while in the group so they paid homage to that in her final outfit.
Ai's was actually even cuter because they did make her a custom dress to wear, but she decided she didn't want that to be her final outfit with the group so she wore it earlier in the tour. She wanted something comfy and fashionable instead and honestly, iconic, in its own way (everyone else wore the same t-shirt in their own member colors but with shorts). She's now one of the most successful graduates of the group, working as a model and fashion influencer. She also makes super cute videos with her husband. Super chill, super sweet.