Umeda Erika Officially Graduates From C-ute And Hello! Project (Hello!SayuNii)

Well, the day has finally arrived, and C-ute is down to 5 members. The eldest Hello! Project Kid, Umeda Erika, graduated yesterday, October 25th during C-ute’s final concert of their fall tour.

According to fan reports, there was no big ceremony for her, no individual messages from the members and no flowers. I was wondering how this graduation would go down, seeing as the last Hello! Project Kid graduation was back in 2005 with Berryz Koubou’s Ishimura Maiha. Maiha did not get individual messages from the other members of Berryz Koubou, but she did get a bouquet of flowers. I find it a little strange that Erika didn’t get at least that. I feel bad for the fans who shelled out a lot of money expecting a touching graduation concert and instead got a simple thank you from Erika while her groupmates cried behind her.

In addition to the update on Erika’s graduation, Ado has the special photoset from the tour with messages about Erika’s graduation from each of the girls. It looks like Ado is putting up the translations for each message as they become available. I just have to say that Maimi wrote a crapload for her message. I hope someone translates her message eventually.