A quick run down of Morning Musume’s top ten vocalists follows, one being best.

10. Miki Fujimoto
9. Sayaka Ichii
8. Maki Goto
7. Yuko Nakazawa
6. Iida Kaori
5. Mari Yaguchi
4. Aya Ishiguro
3. Kei Yasuda
2. Natsumi Abe
1. Asuka Fukuda

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If you haven’t noticed by now, I’ll point out that every person on that list (except Miki) is from early Morning Musume. There’s something about the early days of Momusu that just can’t be replaced, ever, no matter how cute your Reina and your Sayumi are. It’s the quality of the vocals. The first generation, without a doubt, was the strongest vocals Morning Musume ever had, and second is not far behind them. In 1997-98, it seemed that vocal quality was what was considered when members were chosen, not how cute they are, what kind of personality they had, or how many photobooks they could sell. And isn’t that what really matters? Argue all you want, but singing is what these girls’ initial purpose was, and still is. Sure. Now, they sell DVDs, photobooks, and whatever else is in the Hello Project official store on any given day, but back then it was all about the CDs. And you know, that’s still what their purpose is now, too.

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