Ariyasu Momoka
有安 杏果
ありやす ももか
「Foolish little giant」, mostly refered to as Momoka
Nicknamed 「little frog」or「Dango」( a type of Japanese dumpling)
Reni’s pet name for her is 「Yassan」(short for Ariyasu-san)
Momoka was the latest member to the Momoclo lineup, joining on July 26th, 2009. With that said, in terms of years within the entertainment industry she is the most experienced out of all the members , starting since the super young age of 1. It is pretty easy to dig up old commercials and photo shoots with Momoka in them, and she has some super devoted fans(pre-Momoclo) that have stayed loyal throughout all these years. She is also the only one whom one can say has received proper training in the past, being a member of EXPG (affiliate institution of EXILE that specializes in dance and vocal training). Another interesting thing of note is that she is probably the only one within Momoclo that had her sights set on becoming a singer since the very start.
With hard work Momoka became a pretty forward ranked trainee of EXPG, and eventually she got a chance to tour as a backup dancer with EXILE, also making an appearance in one of their MV’s. Unfortunately, due to having a larger priority for school, she dropped out of EXPG and changed agencies to Stardust. There she was assigned to the idol group Power Age, which in a bad twist of fate, disbanded in less than 3 months after she joined (to further rain on the parade, the decision to disband was announced to Momoka on her birthday). This might have been a blessing in disguise though, as her next stop brought her into Momoclo.
With her extensive experience and professional training, Momoka’s addition made a huge impact on Momoclo. Or as Akarin put it, “it felt like we needed to step up our game.” From this point forward, Momoclo’s choreography increased in technical difficulty and intensity, gradually shaping into the Momoclo that we know today.
Momoka has the smallest figure out of all the members, which early on led her to be one of the two “little sister” types within Momoclo along with Shiorin. Nowadays though, Shiroin is much larger, so the only one who still looks like a little sister is Momoka. She does need to watch her figure a bit though….
Twin-tailed Momoka~
Besides this, Momoka is also famed for her selfies. To hide the fact that she has a rather large and round face, most of her selfies are taken from the same angle. This camera angle has since been coined as 「Momokakudo」(Momoka Angle)
In a way, it’s pretty impressive how she can hold the same pose in every picture…..
While we’re on the subject of “little sister,” this seems a pretty good point to talk about her personality.
Momoclo Plaza 