asan said:

Speaking of... afaik, they are pretty much absent from the major festivals this year :( apart from being an opening act (come on...) at Inazumarock, Animelo and minor stuff that is.
Looking back, Momoclo playing side by side with Hormone and sorts was just great imho.

Well they are on Banpaku again this year, aren't they?

^
They have 4 2 stadium concert (4 days) this year and release at least 4 dvd/bluray. Concerts are they main source of revenue, not cd. And Momoclo have the most expensive concert ticket price for female idol

Mattthecat said:

Lol. A little bit exaggerated, isn't it?
You want them to release a single every two months? Aside from which CD sales are probably the least important factor when it comes to revenue

Kawakami-san made it a point to not copy the 48s by releasing a new single every 2 months. Quality over quantity.

I will also add merchandise to concerts and Blu-rays as a source for their revenue. I think Cd sales aren't that important, it's just a way to put new music out... So they have more songs to perform at concerts :))

No wonder their concert tickets are the most expensive amongst idols, no other idol comes even close to the kind of show they put out.

Mattthecat said:

Lol. A little bit exaggerated, isn't it?

http://www.projecthello.com/berryz/
In 10 years Berryz Kōbō did 35 singles and 9 albums. Momoclo is at 6 years with 12 singles (technically 14 with Momoclo Tei Ichimon and Twinkle5) and 4 albums. They are pretty well on track for their group size.

Not to mention they just been picked up for a new show about learning the guitar. Theyve also been appearing on variety alot lately.
You cant base their success on singles since thats not their main selling point lol if it was theyd be putting out like 10 different editions and have handshake events, etc like other idols/ artist. Imo their singles still sell well without all the extra bonuses that usually goes into single releases.

They ranked top 5 in a poll asking who's concert would you like to attend with the likes of arashi, smap, one rock ok, and b'z. As well as they been doing this year idk how a slump even crossed ones mind. If its about not performing at big festivals, maybe they just dont have the time to do them. Or maybe its just not managements priority right now.

^ unrelated to what we are talking about but related to Momoka's hands:

I was watching the subtitled episodes of Momoclo-Chan and it killed me when she tried to hold the basket ball with one hand, her hands are so small and chubby it's really cute.

Also it was so funny when she said something like: "They told us to watch our heads but I can't even reach" =)) That's going to go on her tombstone.

I don't think that will happen as THAT would mean a loss in revenue I think.
They hardly couldn't compete with the likes of AKB on a standard idol level.
And the mononofu wouldn't accept it either I'm sure.
If the girls are one third of the success and Kawakami the second then the fans undoubtedly are the missing piece in the triple crown :)

just hope they don't loose their non-standard idol image in favor of $ at some point.

I fear they are already losing that left-field quirkiness in favor of mainstream success. They have achieved all their goals as a group and are now on a plateau. There is nothing left for them to do except continue growing their audience, and they can only do that by toning down their oddball image. I can see it happening, and I can see the girls attitudes and personalities changing now that they have reached the top of the idol world. They are big stars, and they are starting to act like big stars. That's sad to me.

Mattthecat said:

I don't think that will happen as THAT would mean a loss in revenue I think.

That's a little bit hard to say actually imo. On the one hand I'm with you on that, since they have a somhow different fanbase (more focused on concerts than idol-ism). On the other hand, the most money is (sadly) almost always made out of mainstream and everybody now knows their name, but not all know their image to a full extend so it would probably work I think.
Still knowing his background don't think Kawakami would want to go that route.

atmospherium said:

I fear they are already losing that left-field quirkiness in favor of mainstream success. They have achieved all their goals as a group and are now on a plateau. There is nothing left for them to do except continue growing their audience, and they can only do that by toning down their oddball image. I can see it happening, and I can see the girls attitudes and personalities changing now that they have reached the top of the idol world. They are big stars, and they are starting to act like big stars. That's sad to me.

Do I agree with you here? well yes, to some extend I do. Especially when seeing Babymetal for example just skyrocketing at the moment with their really odd and awesome thing they do and getting more and more support from the "Big ones" of the Festival-scene. (and yes I know they're not the same, but they do share a traget fanbase to a big extend somehow).
Like mentioned before, a part of me does fear the same, since they have become pretty big and achieved so much lately. Also I do think their really odd image has been turned down a bit over the last 2 years or so...not by a lot, but it has. One part is I think the music has become quite a bit more "normal", more endorsements and girls being promoted more as individuals occasionally, which is understandable somehow.
The other part, and that brings me to the 2nd half of your post, they have grown up by now with 2 of them being 20+ now, so of course their personalities change I think. And yes, they are big stars now. But do they act like it? No, I don't really think so, especially not for idols ;) (see GirlsFactory - Reni's "backside" - would like to see xxx48 do something like that, Momoclo-chan etc.). Yes they have grown older, but still are quite nuts a lot of times. Also they still do care a lot and get emotional at big shows, as seen live at this years Bakasawagi, which is important I think. Don't think they take everything as granted.

So, bottom line, at least for me, the music needs a bit of new wind in the WTF direction, other than that it's hard to say I think. We'll see :)
Still King of Live! King of WTF...well...not SO much anymore I think.
EDIT: Generally, for me, I think a little bit of "back to their roots" could not hurt. Trash-wrestling-superhero, smaller and more personal concerts (Chibi, Onna and even to some extend Momokuri are a good thing I think). Strengthening their oddball core-fanbase so to say, which is the most important thing in the long run I think.
But, thats just my opinion, others may think different, which is also OK of course!
As long as it's fun, and it still is - lots of it, and as long as they have fun doing their thing, all should be well :)