E-girls Pyramid

The **E-girls Pyramid** was a system used by LDH to manage the E-girls line-up. It was introduced on January 27, 2015. The system was discontinued in June 2017 due to the new project E.G.family.

## Background

Before the E-girls Pyramid, LDH used a similar system to manage the group's lineup due to the large amount of members back in 2012 with the addition of bunny and EGD. The increase in number led to the previous system for the release of their next singles in which the girls were required to undergo a period of training and afterwards, the girls who excelled and fit the image of the single would be chosen to participate. In other words, E-girls changed its member composition and selected members who could give the best performance in accordance with the concept and world view of each song, including the coupling songs. This system started with the single "Follow Me" in 2012 and is still being used to define the line-up of their singles.

On January 27, 2015, LDH officially announced the *E-girls Pyramid*, which follows the same system used for the singles but with the group's official line-up. The girls undergo a series of reviews configured annually. The current members who need more training get demoted and classified as Rabbits (high school age or older) or Bunnies (junior high school age or younger).

On June 4, 2017, it was announced that E-girls, as a collective project, became E.G.family, with the units that were part of it becoming independent; and E-girls would also become a regular girl group with a fixed lineup. With this, the E-girls Pyramid was discontinued and replaced by a new system called *EXPG Lab*, for which the most promising EXPG students are selected and sometimes put into dance teams and vocal units, with occasional lineup changes. It is a collective that aims to become artists while challenging various possibilities and opportunities. This project includes both female and male students.

### First pyramid line-up

The first pyramid, announced on the same day, consisted of:

First tier (E-girls members)
* **Dream**: Shizuka, Aya (leader), Ami, Erie
* **Happiness**: SAYAKA, Kaede, Fujii Karen, MIYUU, YURINO, Suda Anna, Kawamoto Ruri
* **Flower**: Fujii Shuuka, Shigetome Manami, Nakajima Mio, Washio Reina, Ichiki Kyoka, Bando Nozomi, Sato Harumi
* Ishii Anna, Yamaguchi Nonoka

Second tier (trainees)
* **Rabbits**: Takebe Yuzuna, Hagio Misato, Inagaki Rio, Ikuta Risa, Watanabe Marina, Hanayama Mizuki, Nishizumi Rio, Ono Nanako, Hagiwara Yuuki

* **Bunnies**: Nakajima Momoka, Ishii Chino, Gushiken Sae, Naka Kokoa, Ogawa Miyu

Third tier
* EXPG

## The Pyramid

As of 2015, the system of the E-girls Pyramid was:

### First tier: Top Category

* The E-girls line-up. Members who succeeded in the training period at EXPG and successfully showcased their skills, self-awareness, responsibility and personality get qualified as E-girls members, with the possibility of joining the units Dream, Happiness and Flower.

### Second tier: 2nd Category

* Rabbits and Bunnies. The members who need more training or those who are starting to showcase their skills get qualified as E-girls trainees as part of Rabbits (high school age or older) or Bunnies (junior high school age or younger).

### Third tier: 3rd Category

* EXPG trainees. The girls who are working towards their dream to become E-girls members.

### Fourth tier: 4th Category

* EXPG students. This tier is the first step for girls who are aiming to join E-girls. In this tier the girls learn about entertainment, show business and dancing.

### Last tier

* The girls who are aiming to follow their dreams.

## Last Pyramid

As of January 2017, the pyramid line-up was composed of:

First tier (E-girls members)
* **Dream**: Shizuka, Aya (leader), Ami
* **Happiness**: SAYAKA, Kaede, Fujii Karen, MIYUU, YURINO, Suda Anna, Kawamoto Ruri
* **Flower**: Fujii Shuuka, Shigetome Manami, Nakajima Mio, Washio Reina, Bando Nozomi, Sato Harumi
* Ishii Anna, Yamaguchi Nonoka, Takebe Yuzuna

Second tier
* **Rabbits** & **Bunnies** members

## Admissions and Downgradings

* On January 27, 2015, Takebe Yuzuna, Hagio Misato, Inagaki Rio, Ikuta Risa, and Watanabe Marina were demoted to Rabbits, and Nakajima Momoka to Bunnies.
* On December 15, 2015, Takebe Yuzuna was announced to be re-joining the E-girls' line-up.

## Trivia

* EXILE has the same "pyramid system" for the group, also called *EXILE Pyramid*.

## References

1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20150215011235/https://www.ldh.co.jp/eng/topics/news\_egirls.php
2. ↑ https://e-girls-ldh.jp/news/detail.php?id=1018309
3. ↑ https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2017588/full/
4. ↑ http://expg.jp/pyramid/