Seeing as Ongaku Gatas’s resident “it” girl, Mano Erina, has been graduated out of the group to become a soloist, they’re short one member. Mano herself was plucked from the reserves list, along with Noto Arisa, Sengoku Minami, and Sawada Yuri. So I took to this very list to try and discover who they might or might not add to Ongatas to replace their “it” girl.

Starting with #33…

This is Sugawara Kanae (菅原佳奈枝). She was born March 6th, 1990, which means today happens to be her eighteenth birthday! Happy birthday, Sugawara!

Personally, I believe her expression and demeanor in that picture up there (which is, somewhat unfairly, the only one I could find, but hey) remind me too much of Mucchi, and we already have Mucchi and one Mucchi is enough. So… Moving on?

Nagai Saki (永井沙紀) is #32, her birthday being February 15th, 1989. I feel that it would be fantastic if she joined Ongatas. She doesn’t have a lot of charisma, like Sugawara, and I think since Mano was such a charismatic figurehead of Ongatas, that’s more the type of person they need to pluck from the reserves to replace her with, but she has nice features (just need to fix those eyebrows a little, they look whack).

#31 happens to be Fujisaki Hiromi (藤咲裕美), born July 11th, 1985. Fujisaki doesn’t have a lot of moxie, like any of the other girls I’ve been seeing on this list so far. I think I would be pretty much apathetic to her joining Ongatas to replace Mano, unless they pushed her on me like they did Mano, which, knowing UFA, is unlikely.

Lastly, we have…

The beauty queen! Fukaya Ai (深谷愛), #30, has been in quite a few television shows and movies, she’s done work as an actress (obviously), and a gravure idol (obviously). But she’s also a super kakkoii martial arts fighter! Her birthday is February 9th, 1985. …I have to wonder what the fuck she’s doing on H!P’s futsal team, but meh.

Personally, I’m in full support of her being added in Mano’s place, but it’s not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. She’s beautiful and all, will probably become the new person they push to the forefront rather than Minacchin or Yuri like I would prefer, but it’s precisely the fact that she is pretty that I’d like her in the group. I think back to the sorta behind-the-scenes mutual dislike between Fujimoto Miki and Ishikawa Rika and I know it’s because Rika’s got a little more of that narcisissim and bitchiness in her real personality than most of us believe, and Miki plays it oldschool. I wonder if a rivalry could be built up between Rika and this Fukaya Ai chick to make things more interesting for me in Ongatas?

It might eclipse the rest of the fledging members of Ongatas and that’s definitely not something I’d like to happen. But the thought of an interesting member dynamic makes me all antsy inside to see it happen. How long has it been since we’ve had a point of interest with a group that lies solely with its members? That’s right, rarely. I want to see catfights on Utaban or Music Fighter or wherever. I want Fukaya to bring out a live chicken just to scare the shit out of Rika on national television, whether it’s all staged or not. That, for me, is entertainment, which probably says more about what kind of person I am than anything else (mainly, that I’m a person living in a reality TV show-dominated America, though I seldom watch reality TV shows anyway). I mean, they would be two pretty-looking girls terrorizing each other out of dislike for one another. There’s probably something more entertaining than that, but…what’s more entertaining than that?

Do it, UFA, before Fukaya decides to get her ass out of H!P. Which I have a sneaking suspicion could happen.