New members added to Watarirouka Hashiritai for 7th single

UPDATE: Kikuchi and Hirajima have both blogged that the additional two members and the change of name to "Watarirouka Hashiritai 7" is only temporary for this next single.

2 more AKB48 girls, Iwasa Misaki and Komori Mika, have been added to the Watarirouka Hashiritai lineup, bringing the unit's member count to 7. Wasamin and Komorin are in the same agency as the current Watarirouka girls, Ogi Pro.

Watarirouka has also had its 7th single announced some time back, but there are no details as of now.

Watarirouka Hashiritai 7
7th Single [Title TBA]
2011/2/2 Release

CD Only | PCCA-03328
CD+DVD A | PCCA-03326
CD+DVD B | PCCA-03327



Well, this was certainly unexpected. Not the single. I mean the addition of the two girls. I don't know why this decision, but it's interesting to say the least.

I like Watarirouka as 5nin, and it's difficult to predict where it will go as 7nin. Already the line distribution is not great, wouldn't adding more members make it more complicated? (Or easier, as some fans say all solo lines will go to just Mayu now.)

I'm not so sure Komorin would be a good thing for the current Watarirouka, because she still dances with half the energy of every other girl in AKB48 which doesn't do much for Watarirouka's energetic image. Furthermore, she is very pushed by management and will likely "overtake" Nacchan and Ayarin in terms of prominence. (Not hating; I actually like Komorin a lot but I don't think her in WH is all that good.) For Wasamin, she has a really powerful voice and I can definitely see the sort of value she would add to Watarirouka, however I'm not sure she actually suits the genre of songs that Watarirouka sing.

The member choices are puzzling, but Ogi Pro probably based it off age. Having a unit would result in more promotion for a girl, so maybe that's why they felt they wanted more girls in units as possible. I probably wouldn't be surprised if they added the remaining Ogi girls without units(Matsubara Natsumi and Nonaka Misato) into no3b, because every girl needs a unit amirite? *insert trollface* No, really, I'm joking. I hope they don't touch no3b. I really like the different dynamics from the girls in no3b.

The new Watarirouka member lineup will take some time to sink in. For now I am unable to see these 7 girls together as Watarirouka.

Above comments are now irrelevant! Hooray!

Credits: aakun, tokaikko