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.

Small newsflash people!

NMB48 Team N members Yoshida Akari and Matsuda Shiori have requested a suspension from the management and are going to be away from all activities for an undefined amount of time. They claim that they are exhausted and need to take a break before resuming their idol activities, but there’s a rumor out there saying that these girls along with Kondo Rina and Watanabe Miyuki invited some guys over to their hotel rooms (!) I’m imagining a wild Play Station night Nacchi style, huh girls? Just kidding, since most of them are under 15. Anyway, it is weird that they were suspended instead of put on “hiatus” or anything, so maybe they are nipping this rumor in the bud before it becomes a big problem like the Shimarena situation.

Also of note, Kondo and Watanabe are left unharmed, fans suspect that it’s because of their popularity. I’ve said enough about AKB’s scandals in the past month, and these ones fit the bill as well *sigh*

EDIT: More information has appeared, Kondo and Watanabe have been taken out of the senbatsu for NMB’s second single This is pretty shocking since Watanabe is pretty much the second most popular NMB girl and Kondo is a frontgirl as well. Apparently, there must be some truth to that rumor or something is compelling the management to yank the girls out of senbatsu even though they are top members :s I feel bad about this because I like Milky (Watanabe Miyuki) and I really liked her as co-center. Who knows if they will regain their status as main members or fall into obscurity.

The other bit of news is that Itano Tomomi of Team K is going to stop singing for 3 - 4 weeks because she’s been diagnosed with vocal cord nodules. The doctor has said that surgery isn’t necessary, but she needs to rest anyway. Here’s wishing for a speedy recovery for Tomochin and for the girl’s agencies to book them some goddamned singing lessons so they stop hurting themselves while they do their jobs (Yuko had the same problem and had to have surgery because of it in 2009 ;_;)

EDIT: In a bizarre turn of events, HoriPro, Tomochin’s agency, has announced that it isn’t true that she needs to rest, and she’s releasing a new single on october 12. This is really weird since Tomochin herself has blogged about her condition. Could it be that HoriPro is overworking her?

So, after all the ruckus in the scandals involving Team 4 members Mori Anna and captain Oba Mina, we’re finally seeing what decisions did the “girls” make (in quotation marks, because there are many who believe that it’s the management putting words in their mouths, but there’s no way to know)

Here’s the full translation of their statements, in AKB48 Journal but to sum it up:

Mori Anna, of Team 4, has resigned from AKB48 and withdrawn from the group. In her official statement she mentions that she’s been having back problems for a while and that has prevented her from performing in full form and also has made a lot of people worry about her, so she thought it was better to quit. She also mentions that Akimoto Yasushi told her that she can come back when she feels better and said that she will think about it.

Well, I was pretty much sure that Mori would leave the group sooner or later, because back problems and injuries in idols are an almost guaranteed cause of graduation, however, what’s weird about it is that she’s suddenly resigning, and not getting a proper graduation like most members do. She also cleverly avoided all mention of possible scandals in her statement, however I’m inclined to believe that it was pretty much the main reason she left, and the no graduation thing just confirms it IMO.

It’s saddening for me because she was one of my favorites in Team 4 :/ but maybe she will come back like she said? I’ll keep my eyes peeled for SDN48 6th generation haha.

Team 4 captain Oba Mina opted for a suspension and resigning to her captain position. She’s not going to participate in the Janken tournament or any other activities for a while until she “reflects upon her actions”, she apologizes for all the trouble she has caused to her fans, but asks for forgiveness.

It was pretty much a given that Minarun would resign her captaincy, and considering how what she did was way worse than what Mori did, it’s kind of strange that she just gets a suspension (and allegedly, a self imposed one) however, when we analyze the situation it’s understandable: Mina is the most popular member of the newly created Team 4, they can’t afford to lose their ace when they haven’t even debuted in the Theater and they don’t have any senbatsu members. I also think that the management may have decided to pose this choices as the girl’s in order to gain more sympathy from the fans, who will think that the girls are having a very hard time and reflecting upon their horrible actions and whatever.

Or maybe I’m just looking too much into it and they chose by themselves, we’ll never know, the important thing is that Mori is out and Oba is staying. It will be intriguing to see what will become of her captaincy. She might try to earn it back like Sayaka did last year or maybe she just won’t be captain at all and that title will be passed on to someone else (most likely candidate is probably Shimada Haruka).

If she goes the Sayaka route it could be a bit risky since it has already been done before but on the other hand, everyone loves a good redemption story and she might earn points for that.

The surprising turn of events comes from Shimada Rena, the problematic NMB kks. Apparently, she’ll be taking some time off as well and she won’t be participating in the Janken tournament either.

At this rate it seems weird that Shimarena is being punished in such a delayed way. Maybe they couldn’t find a proper replacement for her so close to the NMB 2nd generation debut which caused them to postpone the suspension, or maybe they weren’t going to punish her at all like what they said first and then after seeing all of the other scandals pop up like mushrooms they decided to nip the problem in the bud and stop raging wota from digging even further.

Anyway, this has been an interesting turn of events, although a little heartbreaking, since after all it just proves that the rules of the idol world are set in stone, and sometimes the girls pay for it even if they aren’t breaking any current rule, but their past might come to haunt them. The saddest part is that it was their fans who brought this upon them holding them to impossible standards and pretending that they live by them from the day they were born without taking into consideration the fact that, like Togasaki so wisely said, they were completely normal girls before they signed up for this.

I hope that the other girls are deleting their private blogs after this because I don’t want to see any more of this crap. They should really take note of that H!P asks of their idols when they join: Delete all the blogs and leave no traces of their former selfs, even if they are 12 years old!

Like they say in my country “El diablo sabe más por viejo que por diablo” which translates to something like “The devil knows more because he’s old than because he’s the devil” which means that the experience H!P has in handling scandals is probably unparalleled in the idol world, so maybe they need to start implementing such strategies in the 48 family to avoid these situations.

lol I know that this is so 3 months ago, but I really wanted to give it a shot I’m going with the edited version Serenyty made for her blog because I don’t care about 90% of what happens with Hello!Project these days, sorry!

Also, I just turned 24 *gasp* I’m still hoping that Mariko never graduates so that there is always an idol around who is older than me lol

Ok, so let’s get started!

1. Your favorite idol

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following this blog xD I absolutely adore Yuko for many many reasons. It all started in 2007, I was just getting into AKB48 because I found their “Skirt Hirari” song quite catchy, reminiscent of old school idols, and the tongue in cheek skirt fluttering piqued my interest. At that time, I dubbed Takamina as my favorite because she was the one with the distinctive hairstyle and the serious face, and she also seemed like the most vocally capable.

I started researching more about them, and watching their other PVs. I was kind of unimpressed with Aitakatta and didn’t even pay much attention to it at first xD but then I read reviews about Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru so I decided to watch it and it fulfilled all my expectations and then some. The heavy beat, the sexy lyrics, the daring topic the PV was about, the darkness and helplessness of the atmosphere in said PV… And among all of the girls, the one who stood out the most was Yuko. Granted, at first I didn’t know it was her, but seeing that incredibly beautiful and seemingly fragile girl look so heartbroken I thought “Wow, there’s something about her” and I went off to find out more about her, eventually falling in love with Team K by extent.

Then Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou came along and it sealed the deal. Yuko was pretty much the main character of the video, and her distraught crying definitely put her in my radar again. I decided that she was going to be my favorite, and that has never changed and never will.

I love Yuko because she’s capable of doing anything thrown her way, she faces challenges (even those involving balloons, her biggest phobia) always giving it her all and trying her best to smile while she’s at it.

I love her because she’s the kind of girl I’d like to be: Even though she gets nostalgic at times and overthinks some things, she tries to put all that behind her and just move forward. Despite of all the challenges in her life, she has never stopped doing her best and trying really hard to make her dreams come true.

Yuko is a great partner, she is very kind to the other members and supports them when they need it, she’s also never afraid of being herself, and even though her over the top personality might seem annoying to some people, for me it’s so refreshing to see that she’s not afraid to stretch the boundaries of what “being an idol” means. I love how she cheers up everyone by making funny faces or telling jokes, I love how she’s always performing at her maximum capacity regardless of how tired she might be from all the jobs she has.

I’ve never seen Yuko whining about anything (maybe jokingly, but even so, I can’t ever recall her doing that). Even though when she joined AKB she was told by Akimoto that she would be the center of Team K because she already had experience in the entertainment world (she started acting when she was 7) but he didn’t think she would get any further than that and it was supposed to be just a temporary position for her, she took it upon her to become even better everyday so that she would keep her position.

I also love how kind Yuko is to her fans, she doesn’t forget about what’s important and is always thankful and nice.

I decided to take on this challenge so I could talk a bit more about idols, even if it were in a random way. I don’t see myself ever stopping loving Yuko no matter what (just like I still love Goto Maki, Kago Ai, Oshima Mai even though they aren’t idols anymore). She’s truly an inspiration to me and seeing her face all of the hardships in life with a smile on her lips and the firm belief that if you work hard you’ll step closer to your dream gives me hope that I can have that positive outlook in life as well in the future.

And I’ll take this opportunity to congratulate Yuko because she’s landed a big role in a Getsu9 drama this year! Those dramas are the most important ones (I hear, since I don’t watch dramas at all) and this time she didn’t get a background character, but one of the main ones! The drama is called “Watashi wa Renai Dekinai Riyuu” (The reasons why I can’t be in love) and it’s about 3 girls who have issues with love (duh) anyway, I’m really exited about it and I’m very very happy because I’d been bitter all year about how pretty much everyone got a drama role except for her, even though she’s the one who’s wanted to be an actress since she was a kid and works so hard for it ;_;

I hope that this is her big break, and that she can achieve her dreams and become a wonderful actress who will represent Japan, just like she wishes. Even if that means quitting AKB, it wouldn’t matter to me. I will never stop supporting her.

Don’t forget to watch her prime time drama debut! I’ll post more info whenever I find it