Okay, in case you missed it, yesterday Akaru and I had different opinions about the distribution of JUMP members on the covers of the Regular and Limited Editions of the Dreams come true CDs. He thought the more popular members were on the LE and the less popular ones on the RE. I had my doubts about that, so I suggested a popularity poll to determine who’s really popular and who’s not quite as popular. Also we weren’t sure if voting only for your five favourite members or voting for as many of your favourites as you like would affect the results in any way, so we ended up having two polls.
The following is based on the votes of 332 people. By the time you read this more people will have voted, but the current results have been quite steady for the last couple of hours, so I don’t think the overall results will change all that much. You can check the results yourself here.
In the “Vote for your top five favourite members” poll the results are as follows:
- Yamada Ryosuke
- Nakajima Yuto
- Yaotome Hikaru
- Chinen Yuri
- Arioka Daiki
. - Yabu Kota
- Inoo Kei
- Takaki Yuya
- Morimoto Ryutaro
- Okamoto Keito
The results in the “Vote for any of your favourite members” poll differ only very slightly, and no member made it from the Bottom5 to the Top5 or vice versa.
- Yamada Ryosuke
- Nakajima Yuto
- Chinen Yuri
- Yaotome Hikaru
- Arioka Daiki
. - Yabu Kota
- Inoo Kei
- Morimoto Ryutaro
- Takaki Yuya
- Okamoto Keito
So where does that leave us? I find those results interesting, to say the least. Takaki is so totally not popular, despite all the pushing (male lead in Gokusen 3, his Music Station appearance was labeled “Takaki Yuya & Friends“, Oretachi no Seishun in practically a Takaki solo song and it’s on the CD) he is not very popular at all. That may change by the time Gokusen 3 has aired completely, but right now he isn’t. He’s very popular with Johnny because he’s so gay, but with fans he just isn’t. And the same goes, surprisingly, for Yabu. His appearances in Dreamboys and on Hi!Hey!Say! were not enough to get him into the Top5. So obviously being pushed does not automatically result in being popular. And no matter how you look at it, with Hikaru and Daiki occupying places three and five (four and five respectively), and Yabu and Takaki ending up on places six and eight (six and nine) the theory that the more popular members are on the LE cover and the less popular ones are on the RE cover just doesn’t hold up. And that’s the point I was trying to prove. I rest my case.
And btw, if you think I’m sad that Keito ended up last in both polls, I am not. Nor am I surprised. My taste has never been mainstream, and it hopefully never will be. Actually I’m quite happy that I don’t have to share Keito with all that many other people.
Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.
Learn Japanese in the Fastest, Easiest, and Most Fun Way
