YMMV / Hinatazaka46

• Broken Base:
  • Especially in the Japanese fandom, there's a vocal minority that dislikes Yuka Kageyama as she comes across to them as overbearing and a know-it-all.^* Kage herself claims in her Self-Documentary episode that she used to be a bit of a pushover, so maybe she's overcompensating. The fact that she took a hiatus for two years and was flooded with solo jobs outside the group relatively shortly after her return, which propelled both her popularity among fans and name recognition with the general public, definitely didn't help.
  • When the fourth generation members debuted in 2022, some fans found them underwhelming compared to Nogizaka46's fifth generation and Sakurazaka46's third generation members, who debuted around the same time period. This has mostly died down as they keep improving.
• Fandom Rivalry: Their fans have one with Kanji Keyakizaka/Sakurazaka fans because of both groups' opposing images. When Hinatazaka was formed, many Kanji fans complained that their logo omitted Keyakizaka's green triangle and has their blue triangle directly on top of Nogizaka's purple, despite them being spun off Keyakizaka (Yoshimotozaka46 has both the purple and green triangles under their orange one, since they're the third group).
  • When the W-Keyaki Festival joint concert between the two former Keyakizaka groups was announced in 2021, some Hinatazaka fans were less than excited, since the last time it happened (when it was named Keyaki Republic), Hiragana only got to perform about three songs. Some opted to only attend the second, Hinatazaka-only day, while others were looking forward to see how they would fare covering each other's songs. In 2022, many Sakurazaka members contracted COVID-19 and the festival became Hinatazaka-only, which again attracted some negative reactions. The event was finally discontinued in 2023.
• Fan Nickname: The four third gen members have an Edible Theme Naming in Indonesian/Malay: Nano Nano (multiflavored candy brand, i.e. curveball flavor), Marie Biscuit, Mikuning (egg noodles), and Paru (lights, or lungs).
• Fanon: Many fans noticed that Nao Kosaka only fully smiles in her official profile pictures when she's not the center (the pictures are renewed for every music release) and came up with various "theories" to explain this.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • In mid-2022, several STU48 members experienced a spike in their Showroom viewership from Ohisamas, who were automatically directed to them after the Hinatazaka members' sessions ended. Yumiko Takino in particular seized the chance to mention her good relationship with Hinatazaka46 members after collaborating in Sakamichi AKB and her shared hometown with Hina Kawata, which helped boost the sales of the STU single "Hana wa Dare no Mono?" and her own photobook, as well as her social media follower count (more on STU48's YMMV page).
    • Interestingly, both groups' early 2023 singles have songs that reference natural selection: "Coelacanth" and "Shizentouta Shugi".
  • In December 2023, Yoko Shogenji and Sumire Miyachi became the first 4th generation members to appear on a music show, namely Music Station Superlive on TV Asahi. As the substitute center for "One Choice" (Akari Nibu was on health leave), Yoko was interviewed before the performance, and her voice was trembling from nervousness. A male voice was repeatedly heard encouraging her from off-camera, which turned out to be Kazuya Ohashi of the boy group Naniwa Danshi. Ohisamas were very appreciative of his kind words and many watched that group's MV for "Ubu Love" to contribute to the "100 Million Views Challenge" their fans (Nanifams) were taking on. In return, the Naniwa Danshi fans also checked out the MV for "Coelacanth", centered by Yoko, and wished her well as she fell sick a few days after the performance. After Kyoko Saito announced her upcoming graduation from the group in January 2024, many Nanifams also watched the "Tsuki to Hoshi ga Odoru Midnight" MV that she centered to help it reach 10 million views.
• Genius Bonus: Kirari Takeuchi's solo TV show, Jimoto de Kiraru ("Kiraru in Hometown"), is titled after a combination of her name and the term "chiral" (kiraru in Japanese), referring to a mirror image different from the original, as she explores her hometown of Hiroshima to discover different sides of herself. The scientific reference was possibly inspired by Kirari's own catchphrase, in which she calls herself "Kirarin T Cell", a reference to the killer T cells.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Sarina Ushio's attachment to Indonesian culture is appreciated by fans from that country.
• He Really Can Act:
  • The production staff of their variety shows have mentioned in interviews that the group's members are very passionate about variety, and as a result it became more like a regular variety show with experienced talents and comedians, rather than an idol group's show where the members are only expected to look cute and follow the hosts' instructions. In return, the production team put extra effort into editing and post-production.
    • Even Yuuka Kageyama, who took a hiatus for two years, could feel the difference when she returned in May 2020, noting that the show wasn't a comedy show when she left.
      When I went into hiatus, there was still a distance between us and Audrey. Now everybody keeps jumping off their seats when they talk!
    • Audrey have noted that the girls are very determined to make an impact in each segment and get frustrated when they're not funny enough. It's also often lampshaded that the recording sessions frequently go into overtime since they enjoy themselves so much.
      Wakabayashi in Achi Kochi Audrey: There was that time when Miho Watanabe and Kasuga had to portray quarreling lovers, but Kasuga was too dominating even though it was Hinatazaka's show. The next thing I know, Miho was sobbing in her seat like a baseball player who just lost an important match!
    • In their appearance in NHK's Song of Tokyo Festival in late 2020, where selected overseas fans could talk to them via video chat, a German fan mentioned that they're funnier than actual comedians.
    • Documentaries and interviews of the fourth generation members revealed that comedy training was a major part of their boot camp.
  • They also performed decently in their TV dramas and stage plays.
  • Members like Mirei Sasaki, Nao Kosaka, and Miho Watanabe have landed several TV and movie roles between them.
• Ho Yay: Many fans consider this group one of the "straightest" among the major idol groups, with close relationships that come across more as sisterly or motherly than romantic. However, some pseudo-romantic shippings do exist, like Nao Kosaka-Miho Watanabe (NaoMiho), Nao Kosaka-Miku Kanemura (NaoMiku), Nao Kosaka-Mikuni Takahashi (NaoMikunin; yes, their first center is pretty popular among themselves too), Manamo Miyata-Nao Kosaka (MaNao), Kyoko Saito-Shiho Kato (Kiss Tomo, or Kissing Friends), and Kyoko Saito-Ayaka Takamoto (KyonAya).
  • Despite the pairing, shippers jokingly describe Kyoko Saito as homophobic. For example, when a fan told her that her dating-themed photobook is also enjoyable for women, she allegedly replied that she hoped it'd become something women show their boyfriends as inspiration for their dates.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The group had a relatively stable membership from 2017 to 2022 with only four graduations and three additions, and the usually 22-people member count allowed everybody to be included in performances. Some fans had a hard time accepting the addition of 12 fourth generation members in September 2022, as it will inevitably alter the group dynamics and cause less popular members to be excluded from main song lineups to keep the choreography manageable. Throughout 2023, the main song lineups (two singles and one album) still included all the senior members and the fourth generation members had only performed in the B-side songs, and it was only starting from 2024's 11th single that the senbatsu ("selection") system was implemented, with only 16 selected members performing the main song, including five from the 4th generation; thankfully, the selected lineup was accepted enthusiastically by most fans, although there were still of course some who couldn't accept a senbatsu system in the first place (technically, excluding the 4th generation was already a senbatsu system in itself).
  • Many fans who knew the group's history as Hiragana Keyakizaka46 were not too happy that the unselected members have been designated Hiragana Hinatazaka46, bringing back painful memories from that era. On the other hand, some fans of other Sakamichi groups felt it's more dignified than Nogizaka46's Unders and Sakurazaka46's Backs.
• Unconventional Learning Experience: The members' wide variety of interests and activities outside music offers quite a few opportunities to learn new things. Some examples:
  • Soccer and quizzes (Yuka Kageyama)
  • Literature (Manamo Miyata)
  • Dinosaurs (Nao Kosaka)
  • Voice acting industry (Koeharu!)
  • Biology (Honoka Kishi)

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