Hirata Rina's G+ Post

Hirata Rina wrote a long post after learning Minegishi Minami's demotion.  It was a very mature, sensible take on the situation and fans have applauded her for it.  I would like more people to see it so I translated it on twitter.  But there is only so much you can do with 140 characters, even with multiple tweets, so here is the unabridged version...

This is Hilary.

I was eating with Yukarun and Miyupon when I found out about what happened to Minegishi-san through Togasaki-san's blog.

We haven't heard anything so we were confused, we were not sure if posting on g+ was a good idea, but now I will write down what's on my mind.

I have always admired Minegishi-san.

At this point, KKS are not featured in performances of regular teams, so I have only been able to talk to her during concert rehearsals.  

But every time I see her, she is always very nice, and gives her everything during performances and MCs.

I have always wanted to be like her, someone who is able to do just about everything.

So I was very shocked to find out about this and really had no idea what to do.

To be honest I still have no idea what will happen.

But I do know that even if she broke the rules, her hard work up to this point has taught us many things.  And her strength has been part of AKB's support for the past 7 years.

I respect her as a person.

For someone so close to the goal, it must be difficult and takes a lot of courage to start again from beginning.  

So when she becomes a KKS, I will greet her with smile and respect.

What happened this time has made people angry, sad and hurt, but I would like to gather up all the negative feelings and share it with everyone - that way we can go through this together and share the happiness that comes after.

I still cannot believe she is going to be a KKS, but if it is true, we will do our best to learn everything we can from her and become better at what we do, no matter how little the growth may be.

We would also be very delighted if Minegishi-san is able to discover new things when she is with us.

We will do our best to make sure everyone enjoys AKB - we want you to think that your days are enjoyable because of us.

This is how we want to move forward.

I want to make everyone happy - this sentiment has not changed since I joined AKB.

I am going to work harder than ever, please look forward to it!

Hilary

Sato Natsuki Graduates from AKB48

From the official AKB48 blog - Sato Natsuki announced her graduation.
http://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-11416598442.html

We are letting you know that on November 30th, Sato Natsuki graduated from AKB48.

We are sorry about the sudden announcement.

However she reached this conclusion after thinking about this thoroughly, so we have accepted it.

We have reproduced her message to fans below:

Sorry about the sudden news.

I, Sato Natsuki, will graduate from AKB48.

As a second generation member, I have really accumulated a lot of experiences during my time in AKB.  I have met and said goodbye to a lot of people during my exciting times here.

After 6.5 years here, the Tokyo Dome concert this summer was an eye-opening experience for me.

Being able to perform on the stage of Tokyo Dome, even though I was definitely not the focus of the concert, was definitely proof that I have accomplished my dream.  I will treasure this experience for the rest of my life.

I joined AKB I was 15, and when I realized it, I am 22...and because I am already 22...

I've been thinking about that, but realized I have been looking at the world as if I have seen a lot, and thought "wait, I am just 22."

Maybe there are things I have overlooked.

I realized there are still a lot of challenges, and a lot of things that need to be done diligently.

That's why now I want to go to an University, study hard, and graduate.

I want to be recognized as an able individual and I have to work hard for that.

I am going to focus on my studies and put the entertainment industry behind me.

I am sorry that I have come to this conclusion selfishly and caused trouble.

To fans that have supported me...

Thank you for all the smiles and all the love.

All my fans have great smiles that cheered me up and gave me courage all the time, but I've always been on the receiving end.

I have shown you my weaknesses as well, but you guys have become my support, which made me stronger.

Thank you for supporting someone like me.

I am grateful.

To my family...

Thank you for always being on my side.

I am sorry about all the trouble and tears I caused.

I will return the love you gave me many times more.

Thank you so much.

To staff and members - 

To all the staff, who have always been serious to me when I asked for advice.

To all the members that have laughed, cried and went through everything with me.

Because you were here all along with me

I was able to enjoy everything from the bottom of my heart.

The ability to laugh from the bottom of my heart until I start crying, I think that doesn't happen all the time.

The times I was able to spend with everyone during our extremely busy days, when we have to give everything every single day, is my life-long treasure, and it will serve me well for the rest of my life.

Thank you for the extremely happy times.

Sato Natsuki

Follow-Up Entry from Masuda Yuka

Masuda Yuka posted a follow-up entry today, found here
http://ameblo.jp/massuuu-yuttan/entry-11415891071.html

After reading the article and all the related reports, as well as messages from everyone, I feel that my blog post yesterday was written poorly and did not say everything I wanted to say, which made more people worry about me.

The article used words like "passionate love" and "adultery", which really shocked me because these are really not true.

I was able to build many relationships with other performers, which includes ISSA-san.
We talked about our dreams, futures, acting and singing.
Every day we talked about various things.  ISSA-san, as one of the performers, is like a brother to me and there are no romantic feelings whatsoever.

However, it was true that I acted inconsiderately, so it is not surprising this incident was written up that way. I am very very sorry.

Stage performance will start soon.
I am going to do my best.

Masuda Yuka

Masuda Yuka Resigns from AKB48

Masuda Yuka announced her resignation from AKB48 earlier this evening.

Here is the full translation of the related blog post, found here
http://ameblo.jp/massuuu-yuttan/entry-11415396132.html

"To Everyone"
Sorry about not updating this for a while.

This is quite sudden, but there will be an article about me tomorrow in one of the weekly magazines.

The article is about me staying over at the house of ISSA-san, who is from DA PUMP.

There are many untruths in the article, but the part about me staying over was true.

This inconsiderate action of mine has led to a lot of misunderstandings, as well as shocked many fans, team members, staff and family members that have supported me.

I have been thinking a lot about "Where to go from here?" In order to really draw a line, I have decided to withdraw from AKB48, as sudden as it is.

I am truly sorry to my fans, who have supported me since the beginning, that my withdrawal ended up like this.

To the people that are worrying about me because of the article, I wrote this blog post because I wanted to apologize to them first with my own words.

Masuda Yuka

Mitsumune Kaoru Graduates from AKB48

The official blog announced today that Mitsumune Kaoru has submitted her resignation from AKB:

With regards to Mitsumune Kaoru, who has been resting since August due to poor health - we are writing to let the fans know that she has submitted her resignation.

Here are her comments.

I know this is quite sudden, but I would like to quit from AKB48.
I joined last year as a 13th-generation Kenkyuusei, and was promoted to the new Team K during this summer's cabinet shuffle, I think there are surprised people asking why I am quitting. 

I have always been a bit weak, and that made it difficult for me to stand in front of you in perfect health.  I feel that if I just leave it like this, it will definitely cause trouble to those around me, and will put more pressure on myself, so I have asked to be let go.
All the staff member cheered me up and told me that it's ok to "slowly nurse myself back to full health", but I feel that maybe it's better if I quit AKB activities altogether.
As of now, all I've been doing is causing trouble to members and the staff because of my poor health, and it makes me really dislike myself.
I came to this conclusion after long discussions with staff members, and in the end they respect my decision to leave.
Now that I have announced this, I would like to apologize to everyone - not limited to fans and those who have supported me, because I have caused trouble equally to other members and staff. Even though I am no longer an AKB member, I would still like to appear before you in one way or another after resting and returning to my best condition.  I would be happy if you would wait patiently. 

I've only been here for 10 months, which is not a very long time, but I've experienced many things that can't be taught.
It was very enjoyable to spend time in the company of so many people.
Thank you so much for having me.  We will definitely meet somewhere sometime later. 

Mitsumune Kaoru

Just like all the fans, we hope we can meet her again soon.

AkiP's G+ Post About Sashihara

https://plus.google.com/113474433041552257864/posts/MMk84e6DgUW

Let's talk about Sashihara Rino's move to HKT48.

We talked to her about the magazine article.
Her response was "Not everything in there is true, but there's nothing I can do about it if people want to believe everything."
This happened 3-4 years ago, when she was still a kenkyuusei.  As an AKB48 member, she is ashamed and deeply regrets these irresponsible actions.
She has been given a "yellow card" and disciplined accordingly.

Her mental strength and "never give up" attitude are exemplary among AKB members.
I would like for her to pass this strength to junior members, so she is moved to the recently formed HKT48.
Those who say that she was "demoted" is insulting HKT48 members, as well as the fans and staff who support them.
We reached the conclusions after a long meeting that we want to present Sashihara with a new challenge, as well as motivate the young HKT48 members.

How clumsy can she be, despite having reached 4th place as voted by fans?
This is an important time...
But this is Sashihara.
Maybe she will come back as the leader HKT48, the strongest group among this franchise.
Or she will blend in as part of HKT48, the strongest group among this franchise.

Please keep supporting the AKB member that is "most likely to not perform according to expectations".

Quick Thoughts on 27th Senbatsu Election

Sorry about the lack of updates.  I spent all of May preparing for my wedding, which took place on June 2nd.

Anyway here are some thoughts on the election...


- Quite surprised that Muto Tomu ranked, super low-key KKS is now the center of Future Girls.  Looking forward to more of her.


- 23rd is a great place for Paruru to start.  It is low enough that if she does climb in the rankings, the progress will be very visible, and decently high for a popular member of a new team that is trying to prove itself.

- Akicha is much better as center of Undergirls than a back-row dancer in Senbatsu.  See also: "Kimi No Koto Ga Suki Dakara".

- 10 out of 16 Undergirls are NOT from AKB48, this will make the Tokyo girls work harder.

- Umechan finally in senbatsu!

- Kasai at 12th was quite surprising, considering we did not see a lot of her in the past year.  I almost thought she was not going to be called altogether.

- Jurina beats Rena.  I do acknowledge and admire her for being one of the hardest working members, but I feel that the hype surrounding her move to Team K and news about her physical condition gave her more votes than her work ethics / personality.

- Tomochin at 8th.  Both surprising and unsurprising.

- Mariko's speech was the most interesting of all.

- Sasshi jumped to 4th.  I still don't understand what her appeal is, but her visible hard work really paid off.

- Slightly surprised Yukirin did not move up to 2nd.  Queen of handshake events defeated by an Android :O

- I feel that Acchan stole Yuko's moment by coming out so early during her speech.