Interrupting my already delayed broadcast of this year’s AX xD to bring you this really sad news:

Hirajima Natsumi 1st generation member of AKB and Yonezawa Rumi 3rd generation member have resigned as of today and won’t be involved in any more AKB related activities.

The reason why they resigned was because they had private locked twitter accounts where they uploaded private pictures including some pics with guys. Rumi also wrote a post about how she was recently single for the first time in 4 years (great job covering it up FWIW) and something about wanting to find a new bf.

See, this is why the “no dating” rule is stupid. I understand (well, not really comprehend, but I try my best) that wotas need to support girls who are pure and virginal and don’t even talk to any other male member of the human species because if it’s any other way it kills their fantasy of their idol being a perfect doll waiting for them or whatever, but uhhh could they get a little in touch with reality?

That was harsh, yes, but I can’t word it any other way :s I don’t mean to be insulting, because all of us have a different reason why we are into idols, and that’s respectable, but I can’t believe that at this point in life, with all the evidence that many idols date while they are doing the job (Oshima Mai, Ono Erena, Fujimoto Miki, Kago Ai, Tsuji Nozomi, Yaguchi Mari, Matsuura Aya etc.) they still think that the girl they are fans of is a *special snowflake* who goes home every night to comb her hair and put on her cozy pjs and fall asleep with her mom stroking her hair.

If we go by statistics there must be girls who fit this bill, but the majority of them are probably in between, who knows? My point is, nobody should butt in their personal life and try to dig their past or their private affairs. It’s disgusting.

I assume that most idol fans are familiar with the concept that most of what we see is an elaborate illusion, and that the girls behind the idol mask can sometimes be different from the persona they assume on stage, hell, they aren’t even marketed as girls per se but as idols with their distinct stage name and whatever; some of them even have a different name in real life! I don’t think that all of them are ultra happy 100% of the time in their private lives or that they are super excited to meet some pervert at a handshake event who makes disgusting sexual comments at them like what happened with Chiyuu (nor do I think that in their private lives they would react with a polite smile to all the rude people who shake hands with them or hell, even be willing to shake hands with random strangers at all!) but all of these things come with the job description.

However, and I feel really strongly about this, I think that once they are out of the spotlight, they aren’t the “Idol Product” anymore. Once she leaves the theater Nacchi becomes Sato Natsuki, Acchan becomes Maeda Atsuko and so on, and we may never know how big the gap between the two is, because if they are good at their job they will charm us with their charisma and make us fall in love with an image, a fake perception.

I think that just like giggling stupidly whenever someone talks about love comes with the territory and they are supposed to save face in their job and pretend that they don’t care about boys at all and that they have never kissed anyone even though they are 25 what they do in their free time is nobody’s business and wotas should back the fuck off, seriously.

I understand that there’s a rule in their contract against dating, but do you people really think that out of 200+ teenager girls none of them is dating anyone or fooling around or whatever? You’d have to be very naive to think otherwise, especially because when you’re young hormones are running rampant and you won’t be able to make cold headed choices in the face of “temptation”.

I wish Nacchan and Yonechan the best, they were both greatly underappreciated which probably prompted their quick dismissal without much fuss. I hope that both of them can go on to have fantastic fulfilling jobs and lives and that they don’t regret what they did in the future.

Kudos to Akimoto for saying that AKB is not the be all end all of showbusiness and that they can still have a great career despite of this circumstances. I think he knows much more than he lets on, especially if you analyze some of the lyrics he has written before (particularly Renai Kinshi Jourei and Idol Nante Yobanaide)

I know that the rule will probably keep existing for as long as idols do, but I can’t with this anymore, especially because regardless of how you want to spin it I can’t help but see it as sexism (especially because of how differently male idols are treated…) and I can’t deal with any more of that shit right now after the (female) doctor who is in charge of picking people for the residency I want to apply to said that she hates women because they are catty and problematic and they can’t carry the chairs around (wtf even) so she tries to never select women from all the candidates that apply. I hate the world sometimes.

EDIT: And lol @ the people saying “You are just UNEDUCATED and don’t understand japanese culture and that’s why you think this rule is bad”

I mean, really? You think slut shaming is an educated position? Oh god.

And also, there’s a huge difference between understanding why something exists and agreeing with it existing. I know full well the implications of the rule, and I also know that it will never stop existing as long as wotas still exist, doesn’t mean that I will stop thinking that it’s useless and stupid and that it’s honestly problematic that people can’t function correctly in society and have to cling to this super high expectations of purity for girls they will never even really meet in real life, and if they do they don’t  stand a chance with them anyway (I’m talking about the extreme wota here, not the casual fans).

Blergh this topic makes me rage.

Hi everyone! happy new year! Sorry about the lack of posts but uhh my waning interest in AKB and my hectic real life have been a bad combination this holiday. However, one of those things has changed now with this event!

AKB is funny. When I actively try to find reasons to like them again they go and release Ue Kara Mariko, which is their worst single ever (obviously IMO, this is a blog everything is IMO etc.) and I try and order their Seibu Dome concert and the people in my building lose my parcel and all of that just makes me rage.

But when I’m already over them, they go and do something amazing, like this concert and I’m baffled and don’t know what to feel anymore xD I think I’ll just stop trying to analyze things and go with the flow… So here’s the set list and some comments from this year’s Request Hour concert, which in case you don’t know, it’s an event held every year in which fans vote for 100 songs out of AKB’s discography and they get performed during 4 days.

There are several things that made this AX different, the main one being that subunits (Watarirouka, no3b, Not yet etc) weren’t available to be voted for this year, and the other one is that none of the graduated members would be coming back this year Between this and the anniversary show which didn’t have graduated members either I’m pretty sure they won’t be coming back for any AKB stuff anymore, which makes me sad beyond belief. But anyway.

Here’s the set list and pictures thanks to HoneyRoastedPeanuts @Stage48

Day 1

00. Guruguru Curtain (Nogizaka46): lol “rival” group coming through. Honestly, I love this song, it sounds retro and the Nogizaka girls are still unpopular so girls who sing decently are allowed in senbatsu. We’re finally understanding that instead of being “rivals to destroy” it’s like rivals in the sense that they help you improve or whatever, it sounds more aspirational than anything else so it makes a bit more sense

100. Theater no Megami (B5) (AX11 51): This one took quite a dive. The main theme of B5, a very cutesy song. Kinda meh tbh

99. Pajama Drive (B3 Watanabe, Hirajima, Nakagawa): This song didn’t rank last year so I’m incredibly surprised and happy that it managed to climb up again. I guess that with Mayu fans not having Warota solos to vote for they went for her stage units. I really like this song and B3 in general so I’m glad they made it.

98. Dakishimeraretara (K5 Kasai, Kuramochi, Sato): Another one that didn’t rank last year! I love this unit, it sounds so good! And the lyrics of the song are super beautiful as well. Original Team K is the best thing that ever happened to AKB, so I’m incredibly happy to see it well represented in this concert. Chiyuu <3

97. Dear my Teacher (A1) (AX11 86): One of the most iconic AKB songs yet it keeps falling and falling I’m glad that it made it this time anyway, even if just for nostalgia’s sake. Sad that there weren’t graduated members there to perform it but you can’t win ‘em all I guess.

96. Anata ga Ite Kureta Kara (Setlist Greatest Songs Kanzenban album song) (AX11 19): This is a very touching song and the PV with shots of the girls when they were just starting out in AKB was also really nice. To fall from top 20 to 96 is pretty tough but every year there’s so much more competition that just making it in is amazing in itself

95. AKB Sanjou! (A5) (AX11 97): This song managed to go up from last year! It’s one of my favorites, and the theme song of Team A and AKB as a whole for a while during 2009.

94. Higurashi no Koi (H1 Takahashi, Masuda) (AX11 79): I’m glad that this wasn’t performed by Team 4. Listen, I like Team 4 a lot, I think they are amazing, but honestly, this is the only chance we get to watch the original line up do it, while Team 4 do it all the time in the theater. Great song, it’s funny that it’s always hovering in the last spots even though it’s a fan favorite. I hope it keeps ranking.

93. Wasshoi E! (E1): Since people could vote separately for this or the original Wasshoi B! I’m glad that the SKE girls of Team E (who are great) managed to snatch this position! Great reward for their hard work.

92. High School Days (Team 4 and KKs from Koko ni ita koto album): I don’t like this song much, but any Team 4 presence in here is welcome, especially if they’re singing their own songs haha

91. Kataomoi no Taikakusen (B4 Nito, Komori, Yonezawa) (AX11 47): I love Moeno, so I’m glad she managed to earn this position for her unit song.

90. Seifuku Resistance (K5 Itano, Nakatsuka, Yokoyama) (AX11 37): Another huge drop for Tomochin’s unit, but my baby Yui manages to rank here with her unit!!! So proud of her!!!

89. To be Continued (K5): This one didn’t make it last year, but managed to appear this year. The lyrics to this song are so pretty and meaningful, I’m glad people appreciate it even though it comes from a stage. K5 was so underrated because it didn’t sound like typical idol music

88. 16nin Shimai no Uta (K4 Sato, Matsubara, Kobayashi) (AX11 85): Yiiiiihaw! xD I love this song with all my heart. It’s so campy and ridiculous! Introducing all of the Team K members with one of their main personality traits. Priceless! I hope it never stops ranking! Shame that the graduated members couldn’t be there for it

87. Seventeen (Greatest Sogs Kanzenban album) (AX11 66): Cute song! Also the last remainder of their amazing Defstar era.

86. Nakeru Basho (Beginner C/W) (AX11 56): DIVA the B-side sub unit shows up with this beautiful ballad. One of the prettiest songs of recent AKB and definitely one with fantastic vocals.

85. Ice no Kuchizuke (Flying Get C/W Itano, Oshima, Sasaki, Maeda At, Takahashi, Watanabe, Shinoda): This is one of 5 AKB songs I absolutely adored last year so I’m super glad it made it!

84. Hikkoshimashita (K6): More Team K!!! Always a great thing <3 This song is really meaningful to the girls because it’s about someone who moves from their old house and yet promises they’ll never forget their old friends. The girls relate to it because of the shuffle.

83. FIRST LOVE (Namida Surprise C/W Kato Rena) (AX11 16): Wow. I’m shocked that people voted for this even though Togasaki already said beforehand that Ono Erena wouldn’t be coming back to perform it. This is her signature song, so to speak, so it’s shocking that people still went and voted. Maybe they were hoping TGSK was wrong? Maybe they just like the song and it doesn’t matter who sings it? (I’m mainly on that camp, this is one of my favorite AKB songs ever). On the other hand, Kato Rena singing it! She’s a kks who has been heavily pushed lately, performing Nagisa no Cherry in their recent AKB Kouhaku concert and stuff. The thing is, she is the least energetic performer I’ve ever seen so she’s not going to be in my personal top 100 anytime soon I guess she’s being groomed to be the next Team 4 ace, since Minarun failed spectacularly.

82. Iikagen no Susume (Koko ni Ita Koto Akimoto, Katayama, Matsui Rena, Miyazawa, Shinoda): I guess people did like the album after all

81. Kimi ni Tsuite (Beginner C/W Maeda At, Kasai, Katayama, Nito, Matsui Sakiko) (AX11 28): MINT! <3 Their best song and all! Ohhh AKB fans are starting to develop good taste I see (j/k)

80. Blue Rose (K2 Akimoto, Masuda, Yamauchi, Miyazawa) (AX11 90): Blue Rose manages to climb 10 positions! ;_; So happy! This is a fantastic song, so legendary! Kinda sad that Meetan wasn’t there with her gold bikini, but Ranran is super hot and I’m sure she did great!

79. Sougen no Kiseki (K3) (AX11 75): This song is so meaningful and beautiful ;_; I cried like a baby when they sang it in Erena’s graduation ceremony. OMG so so so so happy with all the Ori K love!

78. Nagisa no Cherry (A2 Maeda At, Aigasa, Hasegawa, Murayama) (AX11 52): Surprised that Maeda fans allowed this to drop so much, but I guess they had too many songs to vote for and they spread too thin. The backup dancers are from HKT48 I think.

77. Overtake (Koko ni Ita Koto): I think this song has atrocious lyrics (like work harder unpopular girls, because that’s why you’re unpopular, you’re lazy lol) but it’s the Team A song of the album so I guess people wanted it in…

76. Koi wo Kataru Shijin ni Narenakute (S3) (AX11 96): With all the great group songs in S3 this is the one that ranks? I’m baffled. Especially because it actually went up from where it ranked last year

Encore:

DIVA - Lost the Way: World premier of their new single, including new members (that hopefully will remain backdancers or I’ll have to kick Akimoto).

Iwasa Misaki - Mujin Eki: Enka princess of AKB sings her beautiful and incredibly sad debut song.

AKB48 - Flying Get: I don’t get this one lol They should’ve done BINGO or something that wouldn’t rank IMO, but this is the song the new fans know so I guess it makes sense. Poor Wasamin having to dance to this in a kimono xD

Expect the rest of the list later this evening or tomorrow because I have to study now xD See you then!

I just read the single most upsetting piece of news I’ve read since 2008 and I don’t know how to process it or word it, but it’s still a really big deal so I figured I’d blog about it. I’m probably going to swear like a sailor, so you’ve been warned.

SDN48 or Saturday Night 48 was an idol group created by Akimoto Yasushi 2 years ago, his intentions were to create a group for girls over 18 years old and initially intended for their audience to be over 18 years old as well.

Then he proceeded to transfer some of AKB’s older members to it. Noro Kayo, Ohori Megumi, Sato Yukari and Urano Kazumi were moved to it and graduated from AKB48 with the team shuffle.

SDN48 isn’t a porn show like some people think. The girls that are part of the group are on average really talented girls, and their songs have a more mature feel to them (some of them are sexy songs, but not all) with the girls pulling off spectacular performances.

Despite all this, what I found the best feature about them was the fact that they completely threw out of the window the ridiculous premise the whole idol business is based upon: Youth is your most valuable asset. These girls were amazing young ladies of a varied group of ages, and they weren’t bound by the stupid rules of no boyfriends, no drinking blah blah blah, this made their MCs really entertaining and enhanced their connection to their fans, because they felt a whole lot more real than a bunch of teens in a school uniform bouncing around and squeaking in high pitched voices while pretending that they’ve never been in love.

After SDN started releasing singles, I was super excited, because I really love them and I wish I could get into them, but with the lack of SDN LODs it’s definitely complicated for me :s Without counting that they haven’t released their stage on DVD either. Their singles were sexy and sassy while a little underwhelming based on their predictable choice to make popular girls center even though they weren’t the most talented, which made them sound different from the fuller and deeper sound of their stage songs, but hey, being this far along in the fandom, I already am aware that stage songs will always be better yet remain underappreciated.

After this ridiculously long intro, here comes the bomb.

SDN48’s captain, Noro Kayo announced in a recent show that all of the members of SDN48 have decided “together” to graduate next year. They will have a graduation concert on 12/03/31.

Here’s a link to the announcement in Ebi48

Whoa. I haven’t been this upset ever since the Elder Club massacre in H!P, or the mass Team A graduation from which I haven’t recovered yet (I’ll probably never be able to like Team A again after that).

What is the fucking point of creating a group that’s going to be shafted like hell (they only have one stage) in order to give it the axe in 2 years?

What is the fucking point in having auditions and forming a 3rd gen if they were planning on pulling the plug on this? And don’t give me that “we all decided together” shit. How can the 3rd gen girls decide to graduate? They’ve barely been in the group as is ffs!

I understand that SDN’s singles don’t sell as well as the other xxx48 singles, but come on. Akimoto is a smart guy, he must’ve known that japanese people are obsessed with youth and cuteness so SDN wouldn’t ever sell millions. They didn’t do that badly either, they outsold every non48 idol group with every release.

It just makes no fucking sense. I know that idols are a business not a happy fluffy family full of feelings and emotions, but this is just being a dick.

It’s still not clear whether this means disbandment or not, the girls haven’t blogged about it and there aren’t any official words either; however, from the wording of the whole thing it looks like it’s bye bye for the best 48 group. They were the ones who were talented, sassy, unafraid to show themselves just like they are, we will never have that in any of the other 48 groups and it pisses me off.

I’m getting old for idols, the reason why I stick with AKB it’s because there are still girls who are older than me in there xD That’s also the reason why I can’t get into SKE, I just don’t care about high school stuff anymore (funnily enough, I did care when I was in college because medshool is like high school here, no kidding) and I was hoping that with the addition of one of my all time favorite AKB members in Tojima Hana I would finally find the chance to get on board with SDN, I was really rooting for her to do well and become a front girl and now that’s just all gone.

I’m very very pissed at Akimoto or whoever decided this (it wasn’t “everyone” come on, it’s never “everyone”) because from the moment SDN was formed I was so excited that there was at least one human being thinking forward in the idol industry. Now I see that that’s all bullshit.

Don’t get me wrong, I still really care about AKB, and there are times when I’m just feeling silly and want to have fun so I’ll listen and dance along to Yasai Sisters, but I can’t help becoming a little jaded after so many years in the fandom. I understand what being an idol is about, but it gets a little tiresome to listen to 23 year olds saying that the last time they liked a boy was in kindergarden and pretending to blush whenever someone makes a comment related to sex. I’m equally tired of fanboys raging that their girls aren’t virgins anymore because of a stupid purikura (Get real. Most of them are definitely not virgins, why should they be?)

I guess I have Dream Morning Musume to console me. If I’m lucky enough, Koharu will graduate and I’ll finally have another idol group I can really follow without rolling my eyes every time I hear a stupid fucking bouncy under girls song with 19 year old girls pretending to be 5 and winking spastically /bitter.

EDIT: Newsflash. It’s all in Ebi48, so check the link I posted earlier, but it looks like the group is actually disbanding, the girls have blogged about it. And there’s a statement from a staff member now too: Basically, he’s saying that since the girls got SO MUCH promotion (pfffft yeah right) they became lazy and took everything for granted, so he decided to graduate all of them so that they would work harder for their dreams.

Right. That makes a lot of sense. Because SDN was the most pampered group of the 48 family, obviously. And they were so from day one, getting a million promotion deals and Tv shows from their debut. Oh no, wait, I was talking about NMB! Sorry, my bad, I can’t even remember SDN BECAUSE THEY WERE GIVEN FUCKING SQUAT.

And besides, that “work harder” excuse is even worse than “she must continue her studies” Work harder at what exactly if you’re leaving them out of jobs?

FUCK YOU. Just… I can’t even.

I’m just going to ask everyone who cares about SDN or the girls that were part of it (I’m guilty of knowing only the ex-AKB girls, but I adore them) to please buy the Kaze wa Fuiteiru single of AKB48 and vote in the next Request Hour for the song Kodoku na Runner from SDN. It’s all I can do, and I don’t even have money to buy more than 2 copies, but I don’t want the girls to leave feeling unwanted and shafted like they were just an afterthought in Akimoto’s mind that didn’t go as well as he planned. I know that casual fans or new fans probably don’t care and they’re going to vote for all of AKB’s King Records singles A-sides and B-sides, so we’ll need as much help as we can get, that’s why I’m posting this here.

Hi everyone! First things first: Wordpress is being a bitch to me lol I’m totally computer challenged and it’s asking me to do some really weird stuff that I just can’t get working at all, so I apologize for the blog looking so bad m(u_u)m

Sadly, it’s probably going to look like that for a long time, until I can get my tech savvy cousin to help me figure out how to freaking install the Mysql thing because I’ve tried following every tutorial in google with no luck whatsoever ugh.

The white background and black font was something I wanted to do for a while anyway, especially since the layout had been the same for 3 years now xD I know that this design is very basic, but please bear with me for at least 3 more months. On the other hand, if any of you tech geniuses would like to help me, be sure to email me at garnetjester@gmail.com! I can’t pay you in anything but huge gratitude and idol scans hahaha

Anyway, with all those apologies out of the way (I’m really sad about losing my blog stats too ;_; Thanks for the 150K hits I got while it lasted! You guys rock <3) let’s focus in some real AKB news! I don’t know what happened but my blog came back to the way it looked like before O_O Oh well, maybe in another 3 years I’ll really change the layout :awesome:

The Janken tournament was held today, you know, rock paper scissors tournament to decide who should be senbatsu for the next single, and it was super exciting! So much that I woke up at freaking 5:00 am to catch it live and now I’m really drowsy lol. They also did the playoffs to figure out the rest of the senbatsu order so here they are:

16. Kitahara Rie (Team B)

While my love for Kitarie has gone down a bit in the last few months, I still adore her so I’m very happy about this <3 Especially because she’s so negative, this might really help her self esteem! Also, Not yet represent! HELL YEAH!

15. Yamauchi Suzuran (Team 4)

Yay! Ranran is my favorite Team 4 member, so I’m obviously super excited that she’s their senbatsu quota this time <3 She’s a fantastic performer too, and even though she used to be quite pushed she (and Team 4 in general) still needs every kind of chance she can get, especially now that Minarun is out of the game.

14. Yamaguchi Yuki (NMB Team N)

Huh? I have no idea of who this girl is because I don’t follow NMB xD Congratulations to her anyway (and frankly, if I’m going to have non AKB people in the single, I’d rather they were from NMB, since they are newer and need it more)

13. Kojima Haruna (Team A)

Well, good for her, she gets to keep her record of being the only AKB member who has been in every single senbatsu! Also, I’m sure Yuko will be very happy that she made it <3

12. Kuwabara Mizuki (SKE48 Team S)

The SKE representative in this single is Kuwabara Mizuki, who is a very energetic girl who dances like she’s going to dislocate a joint, no, really. That’s pretty much all I know about her, but I’ve heard that she’s pretty loud and has a very distinctive character so I hope she can show it off.

11. Kasai Tomomi (Team B)

My baby! ;_; Ori K FTW, they are the generation with the most girls in this senbatsu!! Best generation ever or what. The only one of my oshis who made it to senbatsu, and also kept her spot from last year! Wooo! I’m super happy for her, especially with everything she’s been through last year, being completely left behind by scumbag HoriPro and dropping hard in the elections because of it, not to mention the idiotic bunch of assholes at the handshake events ugh. But don’t lose hope baby, and rock this single like you always do <3

10. Umeda Ayaka (Team K)

Yay! More Ori K! In Umechan’s case, it’s just another highlight in a wonderful year: She got chosen to be part of DiVA, was voted center of the Undergirls in the election and now this! Amazing job, and also a great performer who I’m sure will contribute a lot to the single regardless of its style or whatever.

9. Hikawa Ayame (NMB Kenkyuusei)

This girl is really cute! And I’m shallow like that lol. I’d be lying if I said that I know something about her besides the fact that she’s a first generation NMB member who didn’t get picked for Team N, but that already sucks in itself, so I’m glad she can be part of this single, and hopefully prove the management wrong and get picked for Team M.

8. Sato Sumire (Team B)

Our little baby Sumire has certainly come a long way ever since we first saw her in the MM auditions! She looked absolutely adorable in her lolita costume BTW, so watch out for pictures of that. She also won last year, so this year is a repeat! Shining luck for her! I’m really happy she ranked, she’s one of the girls I like the most although she’s a completely different style of idol from what I usually like

7. Maeda Ami (Team A)

I’ll be honest with you guys, I really don’t understand Ami. I have no idea of what type of idol she is because to me she’s just incredibly normal and kinda unimpressive in her lack of quirks or whatever, but I’m kinda glad she ranked because she’s just recently beginning to catch up in popularity with her huge pushing in the past, so hopefully this will mean more good things ahead for her?

6. Oya Shizuka (Team A)

Another good thing in an already good year for Shiichan. She managed to rank in the elections for the first time (after being much hyped about for nothing in the second elections) and now lands a nice first position in senbatsu. Things are finally looking up for the girl who was stuck as a kks for like 4 years or something like that.

5. Akimoto Sayaka (Team K)

Oh Captain! I’m so thrilled to have her here, against all odds! Sayaka is a wonderful person, and she always works very hard, even though she’s the only AKB Team captain who is consistently left out of senbatsu ever since they became popular. She had a really bad 2010 with her scandal and her giving up her captaincy, until she worked really hard to earn it back, in the process getting a debut with DiVA and keeping her 17th position in the senbatsu elections. This is just another highlight, and even though janken is decided by luck, I’m happy for her because she deserves to be where she is, one way or another.

4. Kobayashi Marina (AKB 10th generation KKS)

Good grief, this girl’s ears freak me out. Anyway, I don’t know much about her, I just know she murdered Arashi no Yoru ni wa, so I’m really praying that she gets no solo lines (I don’t think she will though, since she’s not center).

3. Minegishi Minami (Team K)

Yay! The Miichan virus is at full work! I’m really glad she’s getting a break too, she is very interesting to watch and also a great performer <3 And she’s also part of the negative club alongside Kitarie so I’m glad they can cheer up with this.

2. Fujie Reina (Team K)

OMG! I couldn’t believe that a girl in my top 10 made it so far up I really really wanted her to win though, bummer. I’m still really really happy for her <3 She used to be the most pushed kks and one of the most pushed girls back a million years ago, and I went from really disliking her from all the hype and  poor Honehone waltz performance to absolutely loving her because really, how can you not? She’s incredibly cute and pretty, and then she sings in this sultry low voice… Whoa, she’s just awesome, I tell you! She’s also looked the happiest of her life after she was transferred to K, which makes me happy, because it’s my favorite team <3 Go Reinyan!!!

1. Shinoda Mariko (Team A)

Ok. First of all, what the fuck are you wearing Mariko? Seriously. She’s supposed to be fashionable but that just looks like she grabbed all the leftovers of every AKB school uniform ever and sewed them together in a haphazard way and threw the result on herself without caring much. Second, that perm is hideous. Ok now with that out of the way, congratulations to her for winning. I don’t even know where I stand about this tbh, Shinoda just keeps dropping and dropping in my rankings because I seriously never see her, but I know that she really loves AKB and takes her work very seriously, which is why she always does her best to make room for it even though she’s super busy.

A huge percentage of the AKB foreign fanbase really dislikes her because she seems to work in everything but AKB, but I’m of the opinion that all of her other jobs are important to her and they also make her famous and noticeable and might earn AKB a bunch of fans that way. However, it’s not a personal thing against Mariko, it’s just that I didn’t want a top senbatsu member to win, because honestly, they have it easy being automatically senbatsu every time BUT I do realize that being center is different, and out of all the possible outcomes (Kojima, Minegishi, Kitahara, Kasai) this is the only one that will probably result in a cool or sexy song, which I’m ALL for!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy AKB’s cute stuff, but I much prefer their darker songs that seem to have disappeared in their discography ever since they became popular, hopefully, Mariko’s stylishness and sexyness will bring with them an amazing sexy and stylish song as well.

And people, stop it with the Mariko graduation crap, I’ve been listening to it since 2008 and it’s getting boring (now watch her announce her graduation and making me look like an ass lol)

All in all, I’m super glad about the janken results, Mariko winning means there is a slight possibility of a cool single, which would make it 2 in a year and that’s just more than I could ever ask for ;_; (and yes, Kaze ga Fuiteiru is a cool song and I love it to death already). To be honest, all I really wanted was that Matsui Jurina and Maeda Atsuko didn’t win. Now before you flame me (which is inevitable lol) I like both of them, I think they are great idols, but for crying out loud, they are center in every single EVERY ONE OF THEM (in AKB and SKE respectively obviously) so please, let us just have a different center for once in the year.

Here’s the breakdown of the results by team:

Team A: 4

Team K: 4

Team B: 3

Team 4: 1

Team KKs: 1

SKE48: 1

NMB48: 2

Pretty even, I’d say! Luck is always a great thing! I’m personally really looking forward to this (if it’s a cutesy generic song like CnJ I will rage though. Be prepared.). And the single will be released on December 7, in 5 versions (lololol) Team A version, Team K version, Team B version, Team 4 version and Theater version. Totally looking forward to the Team themed B-sides, which were definitely the highlight of last year for me (ALIVE is still totally my jam).

And for those of you who are still mad, don’t worry, luck comes and goes around, maybe next time your oshi will rank!

I leave you with a priceless Yuko face before I sign off. Because you know, there’s never too much Yuko! My poor baby is really unlucky (as is Yui ;_;) but I’m still proud of her for taking it like a champ haha.

I should continue with the 30 day idol challenge, but there was something that happened at the Flying Get handshake events that bothers me very much, and I really want to talk about it, so I’ll get around to the challenge later or maybe tomorrow if I don’t have the time to do it today.

Several incidents occurred in this event, in case you guys don’t know about the mechanics of the event itself I’ll explain it briefly:

Handshakes are events where the fans can participate and shake hands and exchange a few words with the AKB girl of their preference, they’ve been around for pretty much as long as AKB has existed, but now that they’re famous they have become huge and usually thousands of people go to have a chance to meet them in real life. You can get handshake tickets by buying their CDs.

Anyway, the girls have to stand all day long shaking people’s hands and smiling and being polite, trying their best to remember each of their fan’s faces and usually succeeding at it! They are incredibly dedicated to their fanbase because they remember where they came from, and this is why this incidents upset me even more.

Three major things happened, here’s the full translation of the events in AKB Journal, but to sum it up, Fujie Reina of Team K blogged about how people had said mean things to her like “Uzareinyan” (annoying Reinyan) even though she had specifically posted in her blog before that she didn’t want to be called that, or that they came looking for pimples (!). Reinyan is a very young girl, but she’s been an idol for a long while already, so the fact that she’s made this public means that it’s becoming very mortifying for her.

She tries to complain about things playfully in an idol-y way “Banzai for harassment (/ω＼*)” and tried to imply that it was affecting her enough to change her behavior toward fans “Tomorrow if you say it again I might ignore you” while lacing her words with a bunch of smilies to make it look less serious, but just the fact that she’s pointing this out means that it’s getting to her, and it’s completely understandable. I remember when I was growing up and people would give me a nickname I hated, it’s pretty annoying to be called that, let alone by the people who are supposed to be her fans and that she’s supposed to be looking forward to meeting.

And the pimple thing is just being a fucking asshole. Considering how much girls worry about the way they look at her age (she’s 17) and especially because they are idols and are under the spotlight all the time, being compared to their peers and being pressured into looking cute all the time. I can’t even express how upset this makes me.

The next victim was Team B’s Kasai Tomomi. Recently, she has been wearing a bit more revealing stuff, and she has a sexy aura that’s been pointed out even by Akimoto Yasushi himself.

So, apparently, some “fans” thought it was appropriate to call her out on her “erotic” behavior and say it to her repeatedly during the latest handshake event. Sure! Make her feel bad about her outrageous actions! Who said a girl can wear whatever she wants and express her sexuality however she pleases? NO! She must be a slut!!!!!

Ugh.

They made her feel really bad, so she decided to tweet about it, saying that it hurt her to be called “ero” that much, and asking them if they would say that to a friend, a family member or a girl they liked? Obviously it was a big deal, she also asked to please think carefully before saying such things as a joke because they might be hurtful, and they obviously were to her, considering how many times she tweeted about the things she was told. You can kind of see how she was trying to hold back at first, just making a small reference, but afterwards she couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked for people to be considerate.

Apparently, those weren’t the only bad things people told her at the handshake event, since she says “many words that were said to me made me sad today” and even wonders if she has done something wrong to deserve being treated like that.

She realized afterwards that as an idol maybe saying these things out loud are a bad thing, and so she tweeted again to clarify that she was very happy to be able to meet her fans, and afterwards to apologize for complaining (!)

No, Tomo~mi-chan, you haven’t done anything wrong. People are just assholes some times, and it’s important to speak about those things because people need to have common courtesy and stop being so rude and horrible.

It makes me feel really sad that these girls are working so hard (and many times they are wearing what they are told to by their stylists, jsyk. And even if they are her own choices, she can wear whatever the hell she wants to goddammit. This is outrageous.) and some people are going to these extents to insult them and making them feel bad.

And it also bothers me that she felt like she needed to apologize afterwards, even though I understand that it could be seen as being ungrateful to the fans who went to see her and were polite and decent and kind, but idols are normal human beings, they also have feelings and they are devoting their whole life to their job, sacrificing many things in the process, it’s really fucked up to treat them like that in return.

Finally, there was yet another incident, this time involving Team K captain, Akimoto Sayaka.

Apparently a casual fan asked Sayaka to do something and she refused so he raised his middle finger at her. Sayaka got really mad and shouted that she wanted him to come back and apologize. Apparently, the guy had to go all the way back to where Sayaka was and she scolded him until he apologized, afterwards she shook his hand and smiled at him normally.

It’s appalling how people can be so downright rude! I’m proud of Sayaka for handling it like that. She didn’t just nod and smile at his rudeness but she called him out on that, and I love her for it. There’s no way “fans” should be able to get away with things like this, and the girls are completely entitled to tell people to behave properly, it’s the least they can do!

Hana of Nihongogo has translated Sayaka’s blog entry about the incident here, and I recommend you all to read it. Sayaka is an amazing idol and it’s all in there. I agree with her 100%, just because they are idols who are doing their jobs doesn’t mean that people can tell them whatever the hell it is and insult them and make them feel bad. Her post didn’t have any smilies, she wasn’t playing around and went straight to the point, addressing everything with the seriousness it required and still apologizing for any flawed behavior of idols as well, but without overlooking her main point which was simply telling people that they need to learn how to be decent human beings.

I’m not going to say that Tomo~mi or Reinyan’s approach to things wasn’t right, because they are younger than Sayaka and might’ve felt uncomfortable or confused about how to voice their opinions in a more stern way (or maybe they were a bit afraid of the backlash they might get for even mentioning it at all), and all in all it’s important that the girls don’t keep quiet about these things that upset them, because it also makes the real fans more supportive and gives food for thought to all the stupid trolls acing like douchebags.

This definitely proves that there’s a lot more to being an idol than wearing frilly dresses, bouncing around and winking. The fact that they have to pretend to be glad to see everyone when they are tired or in pain and withstand all this bullying definitely puts their career choice under a different light, and it’s especially strange for me to see the timing of these events: Have the haters grown in number that much recently? Maybe the girls have had experiences like these before but just now they are saying something about it because of how fed up they are?

I know that these aren’t the first cases of fans behaving stupidly, I remember that when Arihara Kanna of C-ute was dating a bunion erh, I mean boy, fans would skip her at handshakes which made her cry, and in the AKB side we have the asshole that took a 2 shot with Kikuchi Ayaka holding a sign that said “3 months together” and a water bottle in his mouth just like her ex boyfriend did in the infamous purikura that got her fired, however I hope that complaining about this unacceptable behavior makes people understand that there’s a minimum level of decency required for interacting with human beings in general, and idols are no different.

Things like this simply shouldn’t happen, because most of us care about our idols and appreciate what they do for us, but also because it could simply lead to handshake events being abolished completely altogether or more restrictive to protect the girls, and it would be another case of good things we can’t enjoy anymore because of a bunch of dumb idiots.

Surely you can dislike whatever idol you want to dislike (I have a bunch of girls who get on my nerves) but it’s one thing to write about it randomly in some english speaking message board or blog and a WHOLE new level to go and say it to her face. I would never ever want anything like that to happen to any of the girls who are working as idols in Japan, regardless of how annoying I think they are or whatever. And I really hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to reach Kpop anti levels of insanity because then I just don’t want to live in this planet anymore.

CODA: My heart goes to Kago Ai, one of my all time favorite idols. I’ve always been trying to support her regardless and I know that when someone gets to that point of hopelessness in their lives they need help and all the support they can get, hopefully she can find someone who will be there for her, because it looks like her boyfriend might not be the proper person for that and her family is pretty broken as well. Just like with every scandal she’s had before, I wish her all the best, she has my eternal support and I hope that it all works out for her in the end.