The next member of Morning Musume’s second generation is one I affectionately refer to as “Jodie”. She’s extremely well-known as a member of the subgroups Minimoni and Tanpopo, and as generally being a very family-friendly ex-Musume. Of course, I’m speaking of Yaguchi Mari.

Jodie’s pretty awesome all around, and chances are, you don’t need me to tell you or try to force you to believe that. It’s popular belief that she was the brain behind Minimoni, which gives her additional awesome points for having the creative drive to come up with a new group, and also for convicing whomever is responsible for ratifying new H!P units to do so for hers. I often am perturbed by how so many of these talented girls put their careers in the hands of others, instead of taking a more independant route and writing, composing, and perhaps even arranging their own music. But Jodie is the one semi-confirmed imaginative mind we’ve had in Hello! Project, so that’s kind of cool.

In her early days, she strikes me as being sort of shy. She definitely was not as “explosive” as she proved to be during Morning Musume’s Golden Age, and that suited the low-key group Momusu used to be, but her demeanor (perhaps it was her image?) gave me the sense of a quiet, kind girl with a great ability at backing harmonies. As if she was very humble. It was nice, and probably had the intended effect on how I perceived her presence in Momusu’s songs as well as part of the original Tanpopo lineup.

As a member of Momusu, she was great. I will always remember her more for her singing on “Sou da! We’re ALIVE” and “Hyokkori Hyoutanjima” than how pretty she sounded playing second to Abe Natsumi on “Manatsu no Kousen”, but that’s just because Jodie shined a lot during the Golden Age, comparative to how fellow second-gen member Kei never really fit in after the image overhaul.

On that note, I feel that Jodie metamorphosed. She actually had that idol spirit in her that allowed her to gracefully switch from being in a group that did mature, disco-flavored songs to one that churned out upbeat pop numbers sung by people with dubious vocal talent. I think that she is a real threat to Abe’s title as the most perfect Musume in the group’s history, simply because she embodied the concept of Momusu to a T, and was present for the big leap. She possessed that adaptability while others did not.

The downside to this, however, was that her personality was so fun and childish and interesting, that it probably became difficult for most people to take her seriously. In a trio like Tanpopo, where Aya clocked in at 5′3″ and Kaori at 5′6″, Mari was merely 4′9.1″ (they each might have been a bit shorter than this, use your imaginations). She stuck out in ways inconceivable, and yet, the style of music Tanpopo did just basically forced you to take her seriously. But all that was soon negated when the second generation of Tanpopo arrived with a increased childish root.

Perhaps Mari did it to herself? Who knows. But she is definitely going to go down in history as one of the most entertaining members of Morning Musume and possibly one of the most beloved.

I do feel as if she’s lost something. The scandal she was involved in regarding her dating an actor was a blow to both her career and Momusu’s popularity (coincidentally, this is the anniversary month of that scandal’s occurrence). In all the recent official photographs I’ve seen of her, she seems kind of as if she’s returned to her old ways. No longer the irreverant idol she once was, she’s back to having that kind, mature aura that followed her in Morning Musume’s early days of existence. Mari has admitted that she’s trying to distance herself from her former idol persona, which I find somewhat disappointing and rather sad. And yet, I respect her decision, and I support her in this. I’m glad she’s got the television shows to keep her name alive, too, instead of fading away as so many former Momusu members inexplicably have, and once again proves that she isn’t quite as dependant on Hello! Project as her coworkers are.

Good luck to you, Jodie.