The person is right about Ponytail
to ShuShu and Everyday but I disagree about their discography not being varied (and of course, not being good as naturally, I don't consider anything I listen to be bad
). They've explored just as many (probably even more) genres and styles in their stages and sub units as their peers and predecessors.
But yeah, obviously their massive success is due to their model and the marketing genius of Akimoto, good catchy songs like Heavy Rotation and Beginner help as well.
It's very interesting how the writer calls the 48 concept: Japan's "next" cultural export... I always thought of their global branching like as an expanding franchise but never truly thought of the connotations so this is intriguing. Thanks for posting.