Takagi Reni
高城 れに
たかぎ れに
「Electric girl」, most commonly referred to as Reni(-chan)
Momoclo’s eldest member, and also arguably the very first person to join Momoclo, being part of the roster when Momoclo was still just a project on paper with not even a proper group name yet. Because of her seniority, she was also the first leader of the group, later handing the position over to Kanako in November of 2008. Although she’s the eldest member, by all means she seems more like the clueless, protecting big-sis type.
When you think of Reni, probably the first thing that stands out is her smile. Unlike Kanako’s contagious laugh, Reni’s smile is more of the healing type, giving a calm and relaxing feeling, and just generally cheerful.
Reni nearly always has a smile on her face
Reni with a more mature look still looks great!
But for me, I love “natural” Reni the best
She is the “clown character” of Momoclo, in no small part because of her erratic way of thinking and acting, to the point that even other members call her “weird.” If there’s ever a person on Momoclo most likely to go off the walls crazy on shows or programs, it would have to be Reni.
Another thing of note is her seemingly endless energy. Indeed, she is probably what we can describe as a “genki girl,” always yelling or jumping around. This is really noticeable in Momoclo’s 24 hour programs, where in contrast to other members who look exhausted by the next day, she is still cheerful and fooling around like usual.
I really wonder if her randomness and weirdness is her actual personality, or maybe just a persona?
Whatever the case, it seems that Reni is enjoying this role thrust upon her.
Besides this, it also seems that Reni is the chief provider of comfort among the members, being the one to reach out to the others in private life. Pretty fitting that she show signs of older sister affection considering she is the eldest. (lol)
In any case, one really cannot help but to love this always smiling girl.
Crazy Reni is just the norm
However, Reni was not always this “happy-girl” type. According to early members (0th generation), she was actually very solemn and serious at first, not very fun at all, and did not stand out. Instead, the others described her as a reliable leader. Momoclo’s manager kwkm has said that one of the reasons for changing leadership roles was to free up Reni, for he thought that Reni put too much weight on herself with responsibilities. He wanted Reni to project her own personality more. Combined with the fact that Reni was more of the shy type of girl, they ultimately changed leaders to Kanako, whom they felt had more potential in the role.
As for Reni herself, she actually did not take this change lightly, wallowing in a period of self-doubt at first, to the point of wanting to leave Momoclo. Fortunately, she eventually got over it, and gradually changed into this happy-go-lucky girl we know today.
Perhaps it is part of her “weird” personality, but Reni is actually a pretty hard person to figure out. Akarin has said that Reni “constantly suppresses and hides her real self,” and “seems very carefree and funny, but at heart is actually really fragile.”
At first glance this seems to be similar to Kanako, the type that tries to act strong and refuses to cry. In reality, she is much closer to Momoka, very emotional and quick to tears even over little things.
Speaking of which, the two are really similar- they are both introverted
According to Reni’s mom, it was specifically to help with Reni’s shyness that she enrolled Reni into many different classes like Jazz dancing, cheerleading, and acting. At the same time, since Reni’s mom was very fashionable, she took great care of Reni’s style and appearance since a very young age, always preparing Reni’s outfits for the next day and making sure they were chic. (mini-skirts, thigh boots, etc). She also started Reni on modeling for photoshoots. It was at this time that Reni gradually became comfortable with the idea of going into the entertainment industry. When she was in junior high, she was scouted out by a talent agent, and eventually entered Stardust.
Can you believe this is Reni during elementary school?
Really though, after reading through the interview between Reni and her mom, I really get the sense of where Reni got her personality from. Rather than mother and daughter, the two of them seem more like sisters, constantly trading jabs at each other but still being very close to each other. Or in a related note, entirely like how Reni acts among Momoclo’s other members.
Reni’s eccentricity also applies to her dancing. In contrast to someone like Arin, Reni goes for the big flailing movements. It’s gotten to the point that this is a defining characteristic of hers, but sometimes one really wishes she would calm down a bit (if only to protect herself). Although she took lessons when she was a child, her athleticism is on the weak side, which one can see from the fact that she doesn’t have a solo routine during 「Ikuze! Kaito Shoujo」. It’s probably because of this that they later gave her a performance section during 「Santa-san」, which showcases her……other talents.
As for singing, Reni is middle of the pack. Not particularly strong technique-wise, but she does have a very nice natural voice. It’s too bad really that to fit in with her “eccentric” theme she is regulated to yelling/wacky parts (e.g. 「Moretsu」, 「Momoiro Taiko Dodonga Bushi」 )
There are a few songs where she does shine though (e.g. 「Hai to Diamond」, 「Shiroi Kaze」), and her performance in her two solo songs are also pretty good. In fact, I’d argue that ballads are where her strength lies (which you can really see during 「Hello, again」) . Coinciding with this is that with Momoclo’s maturity, they have been getting more and more chances to sing ballad songs. So essentially, more time for Reni to shine. One thing to note though is that Reni is also the person most likely to stray offbeat during live performances, so it’d be nice if she can fix that.
At the very last, although Momoclo is a pretty wacky and weird group all things considered, there is probably no better person to represent their 「strangeness」than Reni!
This April Fool’s joke of Reni graduating from Momoclo scared quite a few people among fans an media alike……but this was also the reason that we got a 「Momoclo for life」declaration from Reni!
Momoclo Plaza 