H!P Maruwakari Winter 2016: Senpai

Q3: Who is the Hello! Project senpai you have as your goal, the senpai you respect?

℃-ute
Yajima Maimi	Tsugunaga Momoko
Nakajima Saki	Mitsui Aika
Suzuki Airi	Tsugunaga Momoko
Okai Chisato	Yajima Maimi
Hagiwara Mai	℃-ute
Morning Musume。´16
Fukumura Mizuki	Tsugunaga Momoko
Ikuta Erina	Kanazawa Tomoko
Suzuki Kanon	Iikubo Haruna
Iikubo Haruna	Okai Chisato
Ishida Ayumi	Suzuki Airi
Sato Masaki	℃-ute
Kudo Haruka	℃-ute
Oda Sakura	Suzuki Airi
Ogata Haruna	Okai Chisato, Sayashi Riho
Nonaka Miki	Sayashi Riho
Makino Maria	Hagiwara Mai
Haga Akane	Oda Sakura, Takagi Sayuki, Kudo Haruka
ANGERME
Wada Ayaka	Platinum era MM
Nakanishi Kana	All
Takeuchi Akari	Yajima Maimi
Katsuta Rina	Suzuki Airi
Tamura Meimi	℃-ute
Murota Mizuki	Suzuki Airi
Aikawa Maho	Wada Ayaka
Sasaki Rikako	Okai-chan and Kudo
Kamikokuryo Moe	Sato Masaki
Juice=Juice
Miyazaki Yuka	Yajima Maimi
Kanazawa Tomoko	Suzuki Airi
Takagi Sayuki	Yajima Maimi
Miyamoto Karin	Okai Chisato
Uemura Akari	Sayashi Riho
Country Girls
Tsugunaga Momoko	Tsugunaga Momoko
Yamaki Risa	Tsugunaga Momoko
Inaba Manaka	Suzuki Airi, Sayashi Riho
Morito Chisaki	Suzuki Airi, Sayashi Riho
Ozeki Mai	Yajima Maimi
Yanagawa Nanami	Miyamoto Karin
Funaki Musubu	Miyamoto Karin
Kobushi Factory
Fujii Rio	Yajima Maimi
Hirose Ayaka	Fukuda Kano...Ikuta Erina
Nomura Minami	Wada Ayaka
Ogawa Rena	Kudo Haruka
Hamaura Ayano	Tsugunaga Momoko
Taguchi Natsumi	Suzuki Airi
Wada Sakurako	Okai Chisato
Inoue Rei	Hagiwara Mai
Tsubaki Factory
Yamagishi Riko	Suzuki Airi and Fukumura Mizuki
Ogata Risa	Okai Chisato and Miyamoto Karin
Niinuma Kisora	Ishida Ayumi
Tanimoto Ami	Suzuki Airi
Kishimoto Yumeno	Tsugunaga Momoko
Asakura Kiki	Sayashi Riho

Q3: Who is the Hello! Project senpai you have as your goal, the senpai you respect?

Vote tally
#1: Suzuki Airi (14 votes)
#2: Yajima Maimi & Okai Chisato (10 votes)
#4: Tsugunaga Momoko (7 votes) - includes her own self-vote
#5: Sayashi Riho & Hagiwara Mai (6 votes - counting MaiMai's self vote)
#7: Nakajima Saki (4 votes)
#8: Kudo Haruka & Miyamoto Karin (3 votes)

With over 13 years in the biz, it's no surprise that the remaining members of the Kids make up nearly all the top vote-getters. One Morning Musume。 OG managed to sneak in, but given the short timing between her graduation announcement and execution, it's possible that some of them didn't know that she would be an OG when they answered.

Note that some of the members mention ℃-ute as a whole rather than a specific member. I count those as a vote for all five members individually, but if they're removed, we still have Airi at the top spot, Momo at second, and third being shared by Maimi, Chisato, and RihoRiho.

So where do we go post-℃-ute? After the awesomeness that is Momochi-senpai, Duu and Karin-chan look to be the frontrunners for whom the next generation will look up to. Hopefully they've settled whatever history they had between them.

Translations of selected answers

Yajima Maimi: Tsugunaga Momoko!! It's cool how strong she is inside! In Country Girls, it's no surprise that she's a good oneesan. 

Suzuki Airi: The member I respect is Tsugunaga Momoko-chan, Momochi! Momo's, I guess you would call it professionalism or professional temperament, it always surprises me (T^T) ♥

Fukumura Mizuki: Tsugunaga Momoko-san. I think that leading a group is really tough, yet Tsugunaga-san energetically entertains everyone with a constant smile on her face. She truly is amazing, she truly is strong. For me, I admire her, and she's also like my hero ♥

Sato Masaki: All of ℃-ute. As Morning Musume。´16, I'd like to do my best in order to overtake ℃-ute! 

Oda Sakura: Suzuki Airi-san! She's perfect at everything, I admire her!

Wada Ayaka: I respect all the senpai. Love them. But my greatest goal would be the age when Morning Musume。were called the Platinum era.

Nakanishi Kana: All the senpai. Singing, dancing, talking, everything.

Takeuchi Akari: Yajima Maimi-san. The person who led me to join Hello! Project was Yajima-san!

Murota Mizuki: Suzuki Airi-san! Since she's amazing at singing and dancing, she's really cute, she's perfect!

Kamikokuryo Moe: Suzuki Airi-san. She's really good at singing and dancing, and I hope that I'll be able to sing all sorts of songs like Suzuki-san.

Kanazawa Tomoko: Suzuki Airi-san. While of course I love her singing, I admire how she thinks and deals with songs. Her seductiveness on-stage is attractive as well!

Uemura Akari: Sayashi Riho-san. I really respect her!!

Tsugunaga Momoko: Since I'm the eldest sister, I've become a person to be admired ♥ I'm so popular that it's problematic ♥♥

Yamaki Risa: Momochi-senpai. While I do respect her singing, she’s serious when it comes to talking, and then there's the way she thinks while incorporating whatever she can see nearby. She always amazes me, and I hope to catch up to her soon. You’d expect no less from her ability to hook people in and close the distance.

Inaba Manaka: Suzuki Airi-san. Everything about her is perfect, I want to be Suzuki-san!!! Sayashi Riho-san. Her dancing, singing, and expressions are wonderful. She's so cute and cool, I admire her both as a person and as an idol.

Morito Chisaki: Suzuki Airi-san. I admire her since whatever song she sings, she does it so stylishly and cutely! I really like Suzuki-san's dancing as well! Sayashi Riho-san. I respect her because she's good at singing and dancing.

Yanagawa Nanami: Miyamoto Karin-san. She's good at singing and dancing, and each and every one of her gestures is extremely cute... For me, she's the 'perfect idol'. I respect her, she's my goal ♪

Funaki Musubu: Miyamoto Karin-san!! I love her clear singing and cool facial expressions.

Hirose Ayaka: Fukuda Kanon-sa... Ikuta Erina-san. Her expressions are cool, she's really gentle, she's cute, and she's got a good figure... ♥ I really admire her ♥

Hamaura Ayano: Tsugunaga Momoko-san. The way she produces herself is perfect, so I'd like to learn from her example. I also respect her since her singing is strong and cool.

Kishimoto Yumeno: Tsugunaga Momoko-san. She's good at telling stories and making them funny. Her singing can be cool or cute or gentle depending on the song, and I've seen her earnestly teaching people. I respect everything about her.

More translations from this book