a guide to morning musume

ok SO

morning musume is an idol group thats been active since 1997 BUT they're generational so its not the same girls. it's like akb48 where the members graduate whenever they want btw, 9ki-10ki have been in the group for 8 years while 15ki's been in it for a year.

theres 15 gens total and the current gens in the group are 9-15ki. heres the girls in the group labeled by gens + age (and colored in their member colors)

9ki: fukumura mizuki (23), ikuta erina (22)
10ki: ishida ayumi (23), sato masaki (21)
11ki: oda sakura (21)
12ki: nonaka miki (20), makino maria (19), haga akane (18)
13ki: kaga kaede (20), yokoyama reina (19)
14ki: morito chisaki (20)
15ki: kitagawa rio (16), okamura homare (15), yamazaki mei (15)

they have 68 singles, with the most recent being "kokoro&karada / lovepedia / ningen kankei no way way" from january 2020.

also things are split into eras since mm's been around so long-
golden era: 1999-2003, when mm blew up with love machine and became household names, then those members graduated and their popularity faded
eclipse era: 2004-2007, after their popularity faded and they started selling a lot less
platinum era: 2008-2011, known for their lowest sales of all time but also for having some of their best songs and most talented lineup
colorful era: 2012-2015, when mm had their revival with the song one two three, switching to formation dancing and an updated edm sound (tho kinda dated now)
mizu-ki: kind of a joke name since nobody knows what it will be called yet (comes from fukumura mizuki, the current leader since 2015, and "ki" which means era or generation). notable for steady sales, long running members, and an inconsistent sound

heres some recommended singles, tho all before the most recent don't feature 15ki and anything before may not have other current members and/or feature graduated members, or none of the current lineup-
kokoro&karada: experimental edm song w/ classical elements. 2020
lovepedia: 15ki's focus song on the single, very bright and happy. 2020
ningen kankei no way way: same melody/composition as lovepedia but diff arrangement, this one's more funky. 2020
love machine: the song that made momusu blow up, it's a fun party song. 1999
shabondama: angry growling break up song. 2003
mikan: one of their lowest selling singles, but a happy uplifting akb-esque song. 2007
kimagure princess: the platinum era in a song; sexy, mature, catchy af, and a whole bop. 2009
one two three: the song that revived mm in 2012, catchy edm with colorful outfits and everything. 2012
wagamama ki no mama ai no joke: my fave mm song lol. 2013
oh my wish: where they gave spotlight to the back girls by having the popular girls dance without singing, absolute bop. 2015
utakata saturday night: kinda like akb, funky upbeat dance track. 2016
mukidashi de mukiatte: catchy kinda dark dance track, one of their best in the last few years. also kinda sounds like uza. 2016