Higashimura Mei of Hiragana Keyaki -- a gentle little fairy...with athletic ability and a rifle

Higashimura Mei 東村芽依 of Hiragana Keyaki is quiet and gentle. She comes from the ancient capital of Nara, and does seem to have a sweet, old-world charm:

Other members of Hiragana Keyaki seem to love her. Here she feeds Takamoto Ayaka, with Takase Mana looking on:

When Neru read her moving letter to the Hiraganas, it was Meimei who wept most.

In the clip of Hiragana performing at a mini-live, it was Meimei who kept her smile almost all the time, and whose smile was most infectious. Here she is with Saitou Kyouko:

Meimei is 18, but at 153cm (5') she is the shortest member of Hiragana Keyaki, and only a centimeter taller than Imaizumi Yui.

But she made herself very obvious on last Sunday's Keyakitte, Kakenai? TV show with a brief performance of her colour-guard rifle-twirling skills:

 Meimei  has done some modeling, for a new-model agency in Osaka:

The outfit she wore to her first handshake event was a fairy fantasy. She forgot to have a photo taken inside. This one was snapped on the way out of the venue:

And she is one of the Hiraganas who have been photographed most with members of Kanji Keyaki (here, it's Akanen):

A conversation about her on 2channel shows that she is entering people's minds:

-- Meichan has a gentle kind of cuteness.
-- But does she have any defining characteristics?
-- Rifle-twirling, tiny.
-- She seems timid. On Showroom, even with the volume turned up I could hardly hear her.
-- Well, that seals it: I'll support her to the max!
-- Mei-chan is the Hiragana who has caught Akanen's eye
-- Coming from a modelling background, we should talk about her in the same breath with Shida-san.
-- Her size makes her seem cuter
-- Her rifle exercises here were awesome, totally different from the little demonstration she gave on Showroom
-- Seeing her movements doing the rifle exercises makes it seem she has athletic ability
-- She looks like Matsushita Nao [note: a model/actress/pianist/songwriter/singer who was also born in the Nara area]
-- She looks good on TV. She'll never be a centre, but she's a good type to be number two or three.
-- She has the face of a model, her rifle-twirling shows good athletic ability, and she has a gentle nature...hits my sweet spot right on!
-- Cute forehead. I love her.

A photo she took a while ago made me think she has artistic taste:

To get a sense of what she's like, here's her Showroom broadcast from the end of July. I think the "weak voice" is partly poor sound equipment. Her August 18 broadcast is even worse in that way: