Keyakizaka46 has made amazing progress, working hard day by day

Translation of an essay on BLT magazine's website. By Hirata Makoto 平田真人. Published August 10, 2016

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In their second year, Keyakizaka46's dynamism is advancing and becoming deeper every day.

A summer-evening breeze shook off the day's humidity as I walked toward Zepp Diver-City Tokyo. As I entered the building and descended the stairs toward the hall, my heart filled with emotion. On November 14th of last year, when I saw the same group in this same hall, I could not have imagined how different my expectations would become nine months later. 

The image of those girls rigid with nervousness, rehearsing for their first event in front of fans, rose to my mind. When they came out on stage from the wings, the staff had evidently told them to "smile and wave happily," and their faces were frozen in those smiles.

This is now a nostalgic memory. At that time, when they couldn't hold back tears doing their self-introductions, voices breaking with nervousness, it was impossible to imagine the sort of group they would become. Considering what they are now, one can only laugh.

Oda Nana weeps all the way through her self-introduction at first event last November,
her voice breaking, but never pauses

August 8, 2016. In the gathering twilight of Odaiba, crowds of fans were jumping with excitement at the Tokyo Idol Festival (TIF). One of the venues, Zepp Diver-City, was packed with people waiting for a live performance by Keyakizaka46. In the choking heat of the crowd, the guitar sounds of Overture (Version 3) began to flow. The floor grew even hotter, and innumerable penlights waved. 

On the pitch-dark stage, human shadows were moving into formation. When the music stopped, there was a brief silence, then piano, acoustic guitar and strings began to weave the intro to Silent Majority, and light illuminated the stage. On the same stage where they had once stood uncertainly, the same 20 people, with gallant expressions matching the song, rolled out their formations. 

When the highlight of the dance began -- the second hook, with its "Moses' Ten Commandments" -- every movement was just right, and there was a clear dynamism and a strong feeling of unity.

But the highlight of the evening was the second hook of their second single, Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai. The front, second line and third line kept changing places, cycling through complex position changes until they formed the triangle of the group's logo. 

Seeing this happening right in front of me, the inner corners of my eyes unexpectedly grew hot. Their performances have gotten better every time I've seen them. But in the few months leading up to the release of their second single, their progress had been greater than I could ever have imagined.

Starting here with TIF, Keyakizaka46 has done live performances on many stages this summer. But the performance that demonstrated how much this experience has become part of them came on September 24 at @JAMxNatalie - EXPO 2016. 

The folk duo of Imaizumi Yui and Kobayashi Yui -- the Yui-chans -- was the opening act entrusted with creating the atmosphere in the hall. As the beautiful harmonies of their Shibuyagawa began to echo through the hall, the audience's attention was drawn toward the stage.  

Overture fanned the uplifting feeling and then, with the voltage at a peak, the group did Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai. Not just the pacing of the choreography, but also the girls' subtle changes of expression gave the feeling of their having "deepened," to the point that they seemed a completely solid group. 

Since TIF's ZEPP live, they had added Kimi ga Inai, a coupling song for Silent Majority which has words resembling Sakana Cushion's Shinshiro period, where someone feels loneliness at night. People who like music that grows in the ear give this song high praise. This brought the hall to a boil. And then the violent dance, with its difficult choreography, of Katara nara Mirai wo... brought even more heat to both stage and audience. 

The 3rd line in front during Kataru nara Mirai wo... at @JAMxNatalie - EXPO 2016

Since covering the making of the MV of this song for blt graph volume 10, I felt that the quality of their performance had increased by several levels, and I can say that it was the result of all the members humbly working hard to polish their skills.

With the coupling song Aozora ga Chigau, performed by a unit made up of five tall members -- Sugai Yuuka, Shida Manaka, Moriya Akane, Watanabe Rika, and Watanabe Risa -- the live approached its climax. 

With its choreography telling a story, and lyrics about innocent love, the intro to Keyakizaka46's best pop tune, Te wo Tsunaide kaerou ka, began to flow. The stage on this day had a runway sticking out into the audience, and this was a special version featuring Sugai and Moriya at the tip of the runway. The other members were arranged in a way that allowed them to make maximum use of the runway, and their bright dancing made full use of that space. The lively movements of their performance burned themselves into my eyes. I felt I would be happy if this moment continued forever.

In their TV programs Keyakitte, Kakenai? and KeyaBINGO, and the drama Tokuyama Daigoro wo Dare ka Koroshita ka?, the girls have been able to demonstrate their charm to its full extent. But they showed their true worth in this live performance at the beginning of their second year.

There is no doubt that (at this stage) the heart of the group is its symbol, its centre Hirate Yurina, who has been praised for her overwhelming presence. But if you ask if the group could have become this established with other members around her, the answer is "no."

Their performance links the songs' world views with the deep meaning of the lyrics. Without their understanding, they would just be sketching a light outline. Moreover, without the members' complete understanding of Hirate's personality, she could not show her full potential. 

And we can't talk about the group without mentioning one more person: choreographer TAKAHIRO. His choreography doesn't have them sticking to fixed positions, but changes the formation in dramatic evolutions, following the song. In that chain of movements, the front, second, and third lines do not stay in that order, but shift as the song progresses, in a way that seems revolutionary. 

In both Silent Majority and Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai, all the members are sometimes in the front line. It may be reading too much into it, but perhaps this is his answer to the row-rank system that has become the norm in idol groups in recent years.

Suzumoto Miyu (2nd line), Satou Shiori (3rd), Watanabe Risa (1st), Koike Minami (3rd)
as the faces of the group doing Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai @JAMxNatalie - EXPO 2016

 In any case, one can say that the perfection of Keyakizaka46's performance is built on a foundation of the shared purpose of the whole group and the relationships among all the members. They themselves often say "Without even one of us, it wouldn't be Keyakizaka46." 

Finally, as a conclusion, I will belatedly introduce the words of Koike Minami from a recent interview in blt graph 11:  

"I and other members often say that we want to 'smash the idol wall.' Even while continuing as idols, we want to be different from the image of idols as they have been so far. We want to give a cool feeling so that people will say 'Keyaki's live performances are so fine!' That's what we all think. 

TAKAHIRO-sensei tries to bring out the appeal of all 21 of us -- ah, that's Kanji Keyaki -- and the biggest way he does that is by figuring out formations for us: third row and first row switch places, the second row stands in front, members take turns standing at centre. 

It seems to me that each of us thinks of the meaning of being in the group and thinks 'what can I do for Keyaki.'  Because of how the choreography allows all members to shine, fans don't just think of their oshimen, but of other members in the group as well. This is what fan-letters and people at handshake events have told me. 

When we form our logo in Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai, Akanen is at centre, and I myself feel a new attraction from her when she's there. After that, when (Uemura) Rina, Niji-chan (Ishimori Nijika), Fuu-chan (Saitou Fuyuka) and Oda Nana -- all third-row members -- come into formation in the front row, everyone.... I don't know how to say this properly, but we become 'the face of the group.' When I see that in videos I think that maybe I have felt too tied by 'what row am I in.' Within me now I have the feeling that, along with everyone in Keyakizaka46, I am making something new."

For their first two singles, Keyakizaka46 followed the philosophy of the "all-member senbatsu." Whether they will continue this for their third single, I honestly don't know.  But I can say one thing for sure: from the point of view of all the members, they are on new ground and looking at a new landscape, spreading out as they climb the hill. I want to see clearly for myself how they will take the first step of their second year.

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The author restrains himself from saying directly what he really feels: that management should retain the 21-member senbatsu and not harm the unity of the group by removing any of the members who have helped make Keyakizaka46 what it is. He thinks that doing something like that could take from Keyakizaka46 the intangible ties that have allowed it to grow as quickly and surely as it has.

I'm not certain of the pronunciation of the author's name: the kanji 平田真人 could be pronounced in various ways. "Hirata Makoto" seems to me the most likely.