A Sparkly Idol - Airi Momoi Character Analysis
Hello fellow people, long time no see! Sorry this one took so long, I recently moved away and had to adjust myself to my new life. Haven't arrived properly there yet, but that wont stop me from releasing MORE AND MORE ANALYSIS! Speaking of MORE, today I bought a new character with me! You know her, you love her, iiiit's: AIRI MOMOI FROM MORE MORE JUMP! So yeah, this will be an Airi analysis and like the usual format, will talk about every event, until her first focus, that being 'Time to restart' aka Airi1. The following stories will be discussed:
- MORE MORE JUMP Main story
- Time To Restart (Airi1)
(Technically this is the first essay where the character appeared in an event story, other than their focus, because she appears during the Miyamasuzaka sports festival but since she literally has only a single sentence AND EVEN THAT IS NOT EVEN IN PERSON BECAUSE IT'S JUST A MESSAGE TO HARUKA, her (miniscule) role in that story will just thrown somewhere between the two stories where she IS present here)
This will be the broad table of contents: - introducing Airi Momoi - Airi in MORE MORE JUMP Main Story (summary, followed by an analysis) - Airi in Time to Restart (Airi1) (additions to her character and personal growth analysed) - Interactions with other characters (for now only features the other MMJ members, but once she has shown enough material/interactions with another character to discuss, they will be added) - personal opinion (self explanatory) - final words
Introducing Airi Momoi: In the past Airi was an idol of the group QT. She was casted for a lot of variety shows and after some time, she left the idol industry to live a normal student life. But after being confronted with Minori's determination to become an idol, she starts coaching her, which reignites her own idol dreams. This leads to her forming an idol group called 'MORE MORE JUMP' alongside the other Miyamasuzaka students Minori Hanasato, Haruka Kiritani and Shizuku Hinomori.
Airi in MORE MORE JUMP Main Story: Airi doesn't appear straightaway in the main story, but her first appereance IS pretty early. While Minori and Haruka are talking, she is storming on to the rooftop, along with Shizuku, seemingly in an argument. Haruka and Minori hide from them. Haruka recognises both of them and gives her insight to Minori. Airi confronts Shizuku about some rumors she heard, regarding 'Cheerful*days', Shizuku's idol industry. Shizuku is talking pretty vague which upsets Airi. After Haruka decides she and Minori should leave, Airi spots the two of them, upset that they were eavesdropping on their private conversation but Haruka talks back, which gets them into a small argument. After Haruka tells them that she and Minori were here first, Airi asks what Minori was doing on the rooftop in the first place, to which Minori reveals her dream of becoming an idol. Airi asks about the details and after Minori reveals her success rate, Airi tells her to give up on her dream because she isn't made for the idol industry. But this upsets Shizuku because as former idols, they are meant to give peopel hope and not discourage them. Airi may not be convinced, but is caught off guard when Minori tells her about what she believes in. Once she reveals her resolve, Miku suddendly pops out of Minori's phone. She talks about their shared SEKAI, a world made out of their feelings and invites them to visit there sometime in the future. Airi and Shizuku are baffled by this, assuming it to be a new form of ad. Minori collects herself first and then tells the others, she wishes for their help at idol practice. Airi gets upset at her for demanding such a thing but Minori tells her about needing help with so many things that she knows nothing about. Shizuku accepts and after this confuses Airi, the former reminds her of her own words of never looking away from a future idol as an idol yourself. To this Airi reluctantly argees to also support Minori under the condition that she succeeds in her next audition.
The next day, Shizuku and Airi meet with with Minori (and Haruka but she isn't involved in the practice) on the rooftop. Airi first wants to hear Minori's self-introduction because that's the first part of an audition. Airi is not satisfied at all with Minori's introduction because it's vague and gives her some critique so she can overwork it. Airi suggests, she uses her hardworking nature as her main selling point, to which Shizuku agrees. Airi decides to skip Minori's dance practice for today so she can focus working on her self-intro. Once their training is over, Airi and Shizuku walk back home together. Airi wants to bring up a previous topic but lets it go after considering the time. After Shizuku leaves, Airi gets recognised by two passerbys but leaves before they can go up to her.
Minori continues her practice and Airi is happy with how her introduction improved. They go over her resume photo to which Airi tells Minori that her actual self also needs to look polished and presentable. During their next practice, Minori hurts her ankle but it's nothing serious. Miku then appears again, inviting them to SEKAI once again. Minori finds an unknown song called untitled in her playlist and after clicking on it, the four of them get transported to SEKAI, which consists of multiple big show stages. Miku appears in front of them and reveals that this place came to be, due to their connected feelings of being idol singers. Rin encourages them to 'find their true feelings so they can turn into a song' and then invites them to see thier show. Airi pinches Minori's cheeks to assure if this is a dream (it isn't btw believe it or not). While their performance, Airi comments on how confusing this situation is. After the first song is over, Airi longs to also be on srage like this again. Haruka, Airi and Shizuku leave after the show after Miku told them how to leave, all of them in a melancholic mood.
Airi seemed really fond of yesterdays show and talks to Shizuku about their experiece. Shizuku asks Airi if she is still interested in the idol industry, considering how much she loved Miku's and Rin's performance, Airi then talks about her past and why she quit being an idol: back then Airi was invited to a variety show for the first time, exited to recieve such an offer. But after all her efford it took away from her actual idol passion, leading to her becoming more of an variety show star than an actual idol. Wjen she tried to protest against it, she was turned down because her as a variety entertainer was the most successful way. And wven after changing agencies things didn't change, leading to her quitting alltogether. When Shizuku tries to encourage her, she gets angry, telling her that while Airi had to work hard for her place, Shizuku didn't need to put in any efford. Airi realises how hard she is being but what she said was enough for Shizuku, leading to her running off. Shizuku remembers a past moment between them, where Airi encouraged Shizuku to put in all of her energy into giving her fans hope.
Airi tries to reach Shizuku multiple times but without result. She feels guilty for what she did, blaming herself. Rin suddenly emerges, with the intention of cheering Airi up. Airi first is conflicted if she should even continue to teach Minori but Rin encourages her, leading to Airi going over to Minori. She compliments her hardworking nature and wants to tell her about the negative side of the idol industry. Minori is still sure of her desicion to become an idol, which ultimatly gives Airi the hope she needed. Airi finally realises her desire to become an idol and wants to start over with Minori, this time as equals. Both of them immediatly start practicing together, to chase their now shared dream. After next days practice Airi asks Minori if she's seen Shizuku lately, because she said some awful things to her and wanting to apologise. Airi tells Minori about their shared background. Minori tells Airi hey can go apologise to her but is surprised by a phone notifications she is getting.
Airi runs through the halls, passing Haruka. Minori tells her the news that Shizuku has left her idol group and agency alltogether. Airi stops Shizuku at the school courtyard, confronting her on what happened. After Airi tells her how valuable her idol qualities are, Shizuku recalls what Airi said in the past about the heart of an idol mattering the most. Airi realised what she said to Shizuku and how it affected her negatively. Airi apologises for what she did, telling Shizuku that she is more of an idol than herself and storms of to Cheerful*Days. She gets there and confronts their members on what happened between them. They belittly Airi, because she just walked away when she couldn't get what she wanted. Airi admits to what happened in the past, but is still upset becuase Shizuku put in all her effort into being an idol. The other idol members appear uninterested, more invested in how Shizuku's actions affect them and how she can get a new position anytime because of her looks. Airi lashes out at them but is stopped by Minori, telling her that an idol shouldn't act like this. Airi and Shizuku are glad that Minori did that. Shizuku was made very happy by Airi's words.
Once they leave, Airi apologises to Minori and Haruka for dragging them into this situation and to Shizuku for acting so selfish. Shizuku tells Airi how much she wants her to be an idol singer because of how much hope she gave her. Airi accepts but only if Shizuku does the same for her, because she can't just go back into the idol industry alone. Shizuku and Airi reveal their resolve and share a heartfelt moment (OMG THEY ARE SO CUTE AHHHHH). They plan to practice on the rooftop again tomorrow and Airi asks Haruka if she wants to join, which she sternly declines. After Shizuku also asks for her support, Haruka states she doesn't have the right to be an idol, which confuses the others. After Haruka leaves, the others get concerned for her, getting the feeling that there's something behind her statement.
The next day, the three of them practice together. Airi is giving advice as always but Shizuku recommends a break, due to Minori not being focused. They talk about what Haruka said yesterday, still concerned on what could've happened. After practice Shizuku asks Minori about her application form, but they suddenly meet a horl, who Minori identifies as Mai, a former member of ASRUN alongside of Haruka. After not being able to find Haruka, they go to a family restaurant together to talk about what Mai wanted from her. Airi asks if she has Haruka's contact info but Mai says she has to talk about something like this in person with her, which appears to be serious. Mai opens up to the others, stating that she is the reason Hariuka quit being an idol and tells them about her past experience at ASRUN. Haruka encouraged Mai into trying harder and harder, which led to her chronically damaging her throat. The others encourage her to confront Haruka on it because it can help her to move forward.
They try meet up with Haruka on the rooftop. She is late but Shizuku assures them that she may just was caught up in something. Haruka arrives and Mai immediatly apologises to her, feeling bad for what happened. Haruka tries to assure her that everything's alright but Mai knows her well enough to see through that. Haruka stall assures her that she just wanted to live a normal student life. Once Mai left, the others apologise for this sudden situation but Haruka understands that they were simply worried for her. Haruka says she doesn't have anything left to give as ans idol but Minori thinks the opposite, stating that it was Haruka who gave her hope in the first place. Haruka reveals to them what happened to her after Mai left and states that after mayn tries, she decided to give up. Airi then tries to encourage her to keep trying but Haruka leaves. The others consult on if there's anything they could do for her, finding no answer.
Airi is still worried about Haruka. She tells Shizuku about her acknowledgement of her. Airi and Shizuku are still hopeful that something can save her and they try to come up with something, but without success. Minori then barges in, exhausted from running 10KM before practice. She tells the two of them that she wants to do a concert for Haruka to help her. Airi doesn't understand how Haruka will be able to see the blue scenery but after hearing about her resolve to give Haruka hope for a better tomorrow, both of them ask to join her. The trio goes to SEKAI where Minori tells the good news that Airi and Shizuku will join her. Airi wants to view the proportions of the stage but Rin suggests they just practice in SEKAI. Airi and Shizuku support Minori with all their energy. After some training, they manage to perform a presentable show for Haruka. They congratulate eachother and call it a day.
Minori, Airi and Shizuku invite Haruka to the rooftop again where they invite her to go to their SEKAI. Once ther, they hastily prepare the last bits for their show, determined to perform together. After a quick prep, they go on stage, where Minori gives a monolouge, directed at Haruka and then starts the show with the others. Airi and Shizuku appreciate how much Minori has improved. Haruka is thrilled by the show and their hard work. Minori invites Haruka to come up on the stage to see the ocean of blue light sticks and when she regects because she can't stand on stage. Minori offers her hand. Haruka starts crying, wanting to see that view again. The others support her, so she doesn't fall. It's then that their untitled song takes shape, which Miku explains to them as having found their true feelings. Haruka is grateful towards all of them for making her able to see that view again. They get ready to perform their song together on the giant stage. After their shared moment, the song transforms from untitled into Newly Edgy Idols, which was formed by the feelings of everyone. The group thanks Miku and Rin and leaves together.
They meet on the rooftop again to view Minori's result: she was regected again, which Airi complains about, blaming the judges for it. She comments on Minori's depressed attitude, stating how much hope she has given the others, which lightens Minori up. Haruka arrives and makes the suggestion that the four of them can start as an idol group together, due to their shared passion. Airi agrees to that, continuing to give her support. Minori also gets invited, to which Airi affirms that she has given everyone else hope to continue being an idol. After Minori accepts, they try to come up with a group name. Haruka suggests something with more, due to Minori always repeating that phrase and they ultimatly decide on 'MORE MORE JUMP' and immediatly start their first group practice.
They go to SEKAI together, so they can thank Miku and Rin properly. All of them felt a lot of enjoyment on stage. Haruka tells them on how they have started an idol group together as MORE MORE JUMP, which makes both of them happy. Rin sees this as a reason to perform with everyone and gets everyone hyped. Rin exitedly grabs Airi's hand and pulls her towards the stage.
(Airi makes a brief appereance in 'Run! Sports Fastival! Committee Rush, where she tells Airi to enjoy such moments as joining the sports committee, as long as they aren't in the idol industry yet)
Conclusion: I am not sure (probably not) but this felt like my longest main story summary (edit: it is ._.). Nontheless, we have a lot to explore about Airi and her character. Airi is a very expressive person, who often says the first thing which comes to her mind. Unfortunatly this isn't always a good thing and among other things, led to her unintentionally making Shizuku cry. This definitly improved throughout the main story, buy can still be seen on her (not a critique on her though, I like it when characters have flaws, makes them feel more real) But of course the same goes for her positive expressions, with her visibly showing how happy she is at some points. She also displays her encouraging nature and support for others, especially clear during her confrontation with Cheerful*Days, Shizuku's old idol group. She does a great job as a teacher, leading Minori, and also Shizuku and Haruka at the end, to improve their idol abilities. Also while it may not be shown on screen, she is very diligent when it's important, learning comedy and going through all sorts of informative books, just so she can improve her performance in variety shows. Her direct nature is an important part about her character and shows that she really means what she says.
In general you can potentially say she has the most theoretical idol knowledge in the group (maybe on par with Haruka but not sure about that) Gurl knows the industry, experieced their good and bad side, learned everything possible to fit her new role, spent most of her life in the idol industry and now she's able to share her accumilated knowledge to the other MORE MORE JUMP members, what an icon! I get the vibe in hindsight, that Airi wanted to train Minori immediatly after the latter stated that she wants to become an idol, but just needed that push from Shizuku to realise it. Also her socialising qualities, probably also honed a bit from her variety shows, helps IMMENSLY to bring the geoup closer together and lets them form a frindship bond outside of their idol passion.
Airi in Time to Restart: At the beginning of the event story, we get a flashback into Airi's childhood, where she is seen protecting her younger sister from bullies. She is shown as stubborn and direct. After getting hurt, she is treated by her mother, who is worried about her behaviour. Airi then hears a song she likes on the TV by an idol that just debuted. Once her mother tells her that Airi makes her smile, just as much as the idol makes Airi smile, she first realises her dream to become an idol. Flashforward to the present, Airi talks about how she tried to become an idol ever since then, glad to have reached that goal through the assistance of her group members. She and the others meet in front of a talent agency for an appointment. Once inside she, Haruka and Shizuku get recognised immediatly but Minori gets overlooked. Airi supports Minori, talking about the hardships of being an idol and their individual ideal image of being one. They get welcomed but the agency CEO realises that Minori is also a member he's reluctant to hire them. Airi gets defensive about it, displaying her deep appreciation and support for Minori. While this makes the CEO overthink things, the best thing possible for the four of them is to be recruited for different groups due to marketing issues with a group of multiple wellknown idols and a single unknown one. Bacause of that, they are forced to decline the offer.
Minori is dissapointed by the result and after Airi reminds her how previous setbacks looked for her in the past, she reveals how this time more people than Minori alone are affected. The others manage to convince Minori, which lightens Airi's mood. After a few days of unfortunate results, they consult together at a cafe. All of the agencies didn't had the result they desired together, discouraging everyone. Airi still is determined to find a place, stating that there are enough places they haven't checked out yet. After getting rejected once more, this time almost straightaway, they meet an producer who Haruka and Airi worked with before. He talks aboout how there were rumors about the four of them looking for an agency and gives them the conclusion, that having multiple big people in one idol group can lead to lots of problems for an agency and their idols, which could be the reason why they get regected faster than before. This obviously depressed Airi and the other members but Airi is determined to look further for a place that will take them, but everyone is scared of how that would affect the other idols. Shizuku calms the situation down though, telling them that they should call it a day and get some rest. After splitting up, Airi still isn't satisfied, so she calls her previous agengy for an appointment
In the office, the agency CEO says to be surprised about the call and that he already heard of their attemps to create an idol group as MORE MORE JUMP. Airi is determined for a spot, stating that she will do everything for it, including variety shows (this will be important) but the CEO can't take on multiple big names, forcing Airi to decline the offer of only her being hired. Airi doesn't want to give up, despite this being her last connection but can't help to feel a bit down. At home again, she overthinks MORE MORE JUMPS future and uses some music to cheer her up. It reminds her of the time where she first wanted to become an idol. She then remembers their SEKAI and goes for a sudden visit, in hopes of finding an aswer to her problems there.
Rin is already passionate about seeing her again but Airi offers explains the situation to her. Luckily that isn't needed to lighten her mood, because Rin manages to make her smile. Airi asks if Rin could sing a song for her, which gets her hyped up, hoping it can improve her mood. Luckily Rin's songs makes Airi happy in a melancholic way, causing Airi to reflect on an idols job once again. This gives her a slight sense of clarity. Rin asks again for what happened to Airi, to which she talks about her childhood experiences with idols and how they changed her as a person. Her family always supported her passion but the ossue was, that the idol industry isn't like she thought. Airi talks about her desperation of becoming the idol she really wants to be but is encouraged by Rin once again. Rin makes the suggestion of working without an agency but Airi shrugs it of, telling her that freelancing makes one unable to get many shows but remembers Minori and her hopeful nature, which helps her in finding the nessessary courage.
Back in the real world, Airi is passionate and starts researching on how they could manuver as an freelancing group. Airi gathers everyone to inform them about the ideas she has gathered. She suggests, creating an independant group because the chances of finding an acancy that would take all four of them is too unlikely currently. Haruka is unsure of this idea, telling her that they'd beed to fill multiple positions, which an agengy would normally take care of, but Airi is still sure of her idea, telling the others about the investigative work she has done and how they could benefit from it. Haruka is sceptical about their actual performances but Minori males the suggestion of doing live on streaming sites for exposure. All this togethee is enough to give all four of them hope that they can manage, lightening the mood and strengthening everyones resolve
Conclusion: OMIGOSH BABY AIRI IS SOO CUTEEEEE!!! Ummm... anyway, this story is great for Airi. It displays her determination which holds everyone together, even further and actively displays her diligent nature with her spending all night to find a solution to their problem. We also got the much needed glimpse into Airi's past and what made her become an idol in the first place. All this really fleshes out her character and gives the viewer a familiar but also new light of Airi as a character. She is not willing to give up, and strives for them to reach their ideal goal. Now to the most important quote in the story in my opinion:
'But you won't ever hear another complaint from me. Variety programs, talent work... I'll do anything your agency needs me to do' - Airi Momoi, Time To Re:Start, Chapter 4
Airi is willing to do variety programs. The main story made it really clear on how much Airi despises variety shows, due to how much they diverted her from her dream of becoming an idol. But now she's actively offering to continue doing them, but why? This is an amazing display on how she was affected by the other MORE MORE JUMP members. When Airi started out as an idol, she did it 'just' because it was her passion, not really being involved with any idols before. But now with her current group, they truly formed a bond going beyond just them being idols together: they're friends, and this is the important factor here. Airi is willing to sacrifice herself, just to be able to perform together with her friends. Their deep connection is stronger than her hatred for variety shows and is an incredibly strong display on her development as a person, compared to before the main story and I fell in love with this quote.
Interaction with other characters:
Minori: Airi and Minori have a strong teacher-student relationship in the start which gets more mutural over the course of the story. Airi brings a lot of sparks into their dynamic, which often helps to ignite Minori, getting both of them hyped up. It was Minori, who opened her eyes on why she wanted to become an idol in the first place which ultimatly caused Airi to see that it's 'time to re:start' (OMG I ACCIDENTALLY BROUGHT IN THE TITLE) They are a sparkly pair and actively create energy with their combined efforts.
Haruka: of Airi's member relationship, this one is imo the least developed. However, Airi and Haruka havw a lot of shared qualities, being the two most proficient members, knowing a lot about her idol industry and having worked together multiple times before. Airi was always supportive in the main story, when it came to helping Haruka, showing that they've know eachother enough to care for eachother. They definitly have a mutural bond with eachother and are both looking forward to watch Minori grow as an idol.
Shizuku: Airi and Shizuku have known eachother for some time now, through the idol industry. Airi gave a newcomer Shizuku the energy to become an idol with all her energy, despite internally being being jealous of her. Airi showed multiple times how jealous she was of Shizuku because of her looks and 'natural talents' but manages to realise Shizuku's own struggles, strengthening their bond further. Shizuku was grateful to Airi from the beginning since she always stood up for her, even going as far as sprinting straight to Cheerful*Days upon hearing the news.
Personal opinion: Honestly I LOVE AIRI! She's by favorite MMJ member (allthough Shizuku is slowly climbing up currently) by far and her character is really well done. She has the energy, that fits a past variety show star and displays it so well in her character. Her background integrates so well into her personality it's not even funny. She has the energy and so many good thkngs about her but also some bad traits which makes her so much appealing for me. Having her reasons for becoming an idol in the first place revealed was a great move for her first focus (though I'm not sure if it should've just been showed at the start instead of integrating it in the story) Still Airi is a joy to watch on screen and she is a nessessary member for MORE MORE JUMP
Final words: So this one took a while, BUT it also has a motivational message for you guys: While I may have taken a few weeks for this one, I properly started only yesterday, meaning it only took 2 days in the end. I know, starting something is the hardest step most of the time, but at the same time, it's also the most satisfying one to overcome. Yesterday I sat down at a computer in the liberary and just... worked on it. I sat there for four hours straight, going over the main story, writing, reversing moments and putting in everything objective. Then once I gathered the information, I then spent the bus ride home writing my thoughts on the story, analysing Airi and carefully making sure I sum her character up well enough. This is your sign to just start something. Maybe change location, go to a public place to work on whatever because that slight change of surroundings can be the final step into getting into it. If MORE MORE JUMP is supposed to give you hope, THEN SO AM I! I BELIEVE IN YOU AND I KNOW THAT THERE IS SOMETHING YOU DESPERATLY WANT TO START BUT 'CAN'T' SO GET YOUR ASS UP AND DO IT (and then show me the result because I love new experieces :3)
Like always, this was fun to write! I think I'll immediatly start with my An essay because I still got some leftover time but don't exept it coming this week since I DO want to pace myself. As it was the case for the previous essays, just tell me if you got any feedback and we'll see eachother when my next project is ready! (Also I just checked and I DIDN'T REALISE THAT THIS ONE IS MY LONGEST ONE OMIGAWD)