History YMMV / HelloProject

* FaceOfTheBand: EVERY group, but in the more extreme cases:
** Morning Musume: Takahashi Ai and Tanaka Reina, and before, Abe Natsumi.
*** During Colorful Era it was Sayashi Riho, Michishige Sayumi, and—after their graduations—attention seems to have shifted to Fukumura Mizuki, Sato Masaki, and Oda Sakura.
** Berryz Koubou: Risako Sugaya, Tsugunaga Momoko and Natsuyaki Miyabi.
** ℃-ute: Suzuki Airi and Yajima Maimi.
** S/mileage: Maeda Yuuka, then Fukuda Kanon and Tamura Meimi after her graduation.
** Mini Moni mostly focused on [[CrazyCulturalComparison Hawaiian-born]], half-Australian, [[ButNotTooForeign half-Japanese]] Mika Todd in interviews.

* TheScrappy: Michishige Sayumi was not well liked when she first joined Morning Musume, as her singing and dancing were decidedly sub-par and many found her narcissistic [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful "cutest MM member"]] gimmick obnoxious. History would repeat itself a few years later, with the arrival of Kusumi Koharu. However, as both have grown as performers and eventually endeared themselves to a large portion of the fanbase, they can be said to have been RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap; Sayumi won a lot of people over just by deliberately overplaying her {{Kawaiiko}} and ItsAllAboutMe tendencies to the point of comedy. That said, when discussing the single ''Resonant Blue'', Sayumi {{lampshade|Hanging}}d her role in the group: [[SelfDeprecation "I always get the 'Ah!' and 'Uh!' lines.]] I want to sing some actual Japanese words for a change!" Sure enough, come the single ''Onna ga Medatte Naze Ikenai'', [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments one of her (few) lines was an "Ah!".]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Any joke about Iida Kaori regarding motherhood or childbirth. Especially appearances when she was actually pregnant. Other references that aren't meant to be funny are HarsherInHindsight.

** Mini Moni mostly focused on [[CrazyCulturalComparison Hawaiian-born]], [[MixedAncestry half-Australian]], [[ButNotTooForeign half-Japanese]] Mika Todd in interviews.

** [[MondeGreen Help Help, Dangerous Ass, Help Help, The Ass Cries]] [[note]]From the song [[https://youtu.be/MOP6lkRlC0Y Help!! ~EcoMoni no Acchi Chikyuu wo Samasunda!~]]. The actual lyrics are supposed to be [[GratuitousEnglish "Dangerous Earth/The Earth Cries"]][[/note]]

* EarWorm: A LOT, but especially Koharu's stuff.
** Mini Moni had some really catchy songs.
** Sayumi Michishige's solo song "Lalala no Pipipi". [[https://youtu.be/p2rgBAej8do Backstage footage]] shows the rest of the Morning Musume girls dancing and singing along when it's performed.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Chisato Okai was a LesserStar in ℃-ute, but after uploading dance videos on Website/YouTube, her popularity skyrocketed to the point where she's promoted to a main singer behing Maimi and Airi.

** Koharu Kusumi is easily the most divisive member in the history of Morning Musume. She either lived up to the "miracle" hype that Tsunku placed on her or was not deserving of the opportunities given to her. She also had a concurrent solo career despite being the youngest and least experienced member at the time. In 2013, the base was split even more when she criticized the idol industry for catering to mostly men (also stating that she wanted to have more female fans) and admitted that her main goal in joining Morning Musume was to get a foot in the door to become a model for ''[=CanCam=]''. On one side, there were fans that interpreted this as Koharu having used Morning Musume as a stepping stone to make herself famous. These same fans also feel that Koharu showed a great deal of disrespect and ingratitude towards Up-Front and Hello! Project for all they had done for her and felt that her criticism of appealing to mostly men meant that she hates her male fans. It also didn't help her case that she said this in front of her MM senior and mentor Sayumi Michishige during the show. On another side, there are fans that contested that joining the idol industry to use as a launching pad for a bigger career in entertainment is a very normal practice. They also believe that it is normal for a teenage girl to feel uncomfortable with having a largely male fanbase [[note]](The ''Manga/KirarinRevolution'' anime she stared in from 2006-2009 was mainly aimed at young girls, and yet most of the people attending the live performances were grown men. It doesn't help that the Internet associated her second solo song, "Balalaika" with a [=NSFW=] meme when she was only 14 years old.)[[/note]]. And then there are other parts of the base that took a more middle ground stance on the matter. Some taking umbrage with not what was said but how it was said. Some seeing the whole thing as a non-issue that was not only blown out of proportion by the fandom but also instigated by the hosts. And then there are others that have stated that they have gained a new level of respect for Koharu for being honest and speaking out against Japan's idol industry.

* YokoOhNo: Often occurs whenever any of the girls are caught dating on tabloids. Of note, this was one of the reasons why Ai Kago was kicked out of Hello! Project. Fans also suspect this could have been the reason why Megumi Murakami and Kanna Arihara left ℃-ute, as both have been photographed with a boy before their departure from the group. Rumors say that when Arihara made tabloids dating Johnny's Jr. Ryosuke Hashimoto, many fans refused to shake her hand at ℃-ute's subsequent fan meet.
** Probably one of the ''stupidest'' fan reactions of this type happened when Sakura Oda and Kanon Suzuki spotted two boys -- both dancers popular on Niconico, and both big H!P fans -- in the crowd at Reina Tanaka's graduation concert and sounded excited about it. Immediately, fanboys cried foul and assumed that they were dating.
** In April 2016, Mai Hagiwara was photographed by a tabloid walking into an apartment with a man. Management simply ignored it until ''months'' later in June, Mai [[QuitYourWhining finally]] issued an apology after much outcry by male fans, explaining the man in the photos was only a friend.

** Maki Goto abruptly graduated after her brother, Yuki Goto, made headlines for his arrest.[[note]](Yuki Goto had already been infamous in 2001 and 2002 for well-publicized incidents that destroyed his IdolSinger career, which included physically assaulting his female manager and for being caught drinking underage at a hostess club.)[[/note]] Rumors circulated saying that her graduation had nothing to do with the arrest despite the timing, and that she had wanted to leave due to not being satisfied with the direction of her career, but in 2018, she admitted that Up-Front Agency had asked her to leave, hinting that her brother's arrest did impact her IdolSinger career somewhat.

** Koharu Kusumi is easily the most divisive member in the history of Morning Musume. She either lived up to the "miracle" hype that Tsunku placed on her or was not deserving of the opportunities given to her. She also had a concurrent solo career despite being the youngest and least experienced member at the time. In 2013, the base was split even more when she criticized the idol industry for catering to mostly men (also stating that she wanted to have more female fans) and admitted that her main goal in joining Morning Musume was to get a foot in the door to become a model for CanCam. On one side, there were fans that interpreted this as Koharu having used Morning Musume as a stepping stone to make herself famous. These same fans also feel that Koharu showed a great deal of disrespect and ingratitude towards UP-Front and Hello Project! for all they had done for her and felt that her criticism of appealing to mostly men meant that she hates her male fans. It also didn't help her case that she said this in front of her MM senior and mentor Sayumi Michishige during the show. On another side, there are fans that contested that joining the Idol industry to use as a launching pad for a bigger career in entertainment is a very normal practice in Japan. They also believe that it is normal for a teenage girl to feel uncomfortable with having a largely male fanbase [[note]](The ''Manga/KirarinRevolution'' anime she stared in from 2006-2009 was mainly aimed for younger girls and yet most of the people attending the live performances were grown men. It doesn't help that the Internet associated her second solo song, "Balalaika" with a [=NSFW=] meme when she was only 14 years old.)[[/note]]. And then there are other parts of the base that took a more middle ground stance on the matter. Some taking umbrage with not what was said but how it was said. Some seeing the whole thing as a non-issue that was not only blown out of proportion by the fandom but also instigated by the hosts. And then there are others that have stated that they have gained a new level of respect for Koharu for being honest and speaking out against Japan's idol industry [[note]] An industry that is notorious for its exploitation of young girls [[note]].

** Back when Morning Musume's "Resonant Blue" was released, the fandom was split on the music video, which was only a dance video. [[note]]Typically, Hello! Project music videos are shot with three different types of footage: dance, close-up, and story.[[/note]] Besides that, there was a clear focus put on Ai Takahashi, Reina Tanaka, and Koharu Kusumi, as all girls had some white in their clothing, while the rest of the girls wore all-black clothing, while they danced against a black backdrop. While some fans don't find this a big deal, other fans feel this was a lazy and biased move, as it was easy for the rest of the girls to be mistaken for backup dancers. In response to this, Hello! Project released an alternate music video for the song.

** The most infamous case was Ai Kago's scandal. In 2005, she was caught smoking underage and was put under house arrest for a year. Weeks before W was supposed to prepare for their comeback, Kago was not only photographed smoking underage again, but also going to a hot spring[[note]]These sorts of trips usually imply sexual intercourse, hence the outrage.[[/note]] with her boyfriend, who was [[MayDecemberRomance 18 years her senior]]. By then, the scandal had gotten so big that Up-Front Agency outright dismissed her from the company.

** Maki Goto abruptly graduated after her brother, Yuki Goto, made headlines for his arrest.[[note]](Yuki Goto had already been infamous in 2001 and 2002 for well-publicized incidents that eventually destroyed his IdolSinger career, which included physically assaulting his female manager and for being caught drinking underage at a hostess club.)[[/note]] Rumors circulated saying that her graduation had nothing to do with the arrest despite the timing, and that she had wanted to leave due to not being satisfied with the direction of her career, but in 2018, she admitted that Up-Front Agency had asked her to leave, hinting that her brother's arrest did impact her IdolSinger career somewhat.

* {{Shipping}}: Seems to revolve around 4th Generation member and resident {{Tomboy}} Yoshizawa Hitomi being paired up with more girly members like Ishikawa Rika and Ogawa Makoto. Though H!P {{Fandom}} does get passionate DieForOurShip is never invoked and even ShipToShipCombat is rare.
** Yoshizawa and Ogawa playing rather {{Les Yay}}-ish romantic roles in ''Mr. Moonlight ~Ai no BIG BAND~'' certainly didn't help... Though it should be noted that Yosshi is actually [[CrosscastRole playing a male]] in the style of the [[{{Takarazuka}} Takarazuka Revue]].
*** Nor did [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Yoshizawa and Ishikawa]] seeming to kiss one another full on the lips in the Ongaku Gatas video for Come Together.
*** Not to mention Hangry & Angry, a slightly DarkerAndEdgier duo built ''entirely'' on Yossey and Rika's TomboyAndGirlyGirl dynamic.
** GAM PV's are often a ShipTease for fans of Matsuura Aya and Fujimoto Miki.

** Maki Goto abruptly graduated after her brother, Yuki Goto, made headlines for his arrest.[[note]](Note that Yuki Goto had already been infamous in 2001 and 2002 for well-publicized incidents that eventually ended his IdolSinger career, which included physically assaulting his female manager and for being caught drinking underage at a hostess club.)[[/note]] Rumors circulated saying that her graduation had nothing to do with her arrest despite the timing, and that she had wanted to leave due to not being satisfied with the direction of her carer, but in 2018, she admitted that Up-Front Agency had asked her to leave despite already booking her for work, hinting that her brother's arrest did impact her IdolSinger career somewhat.