This is the second time they have been on the enka-focused pop music show, and the weird, exaggerated, overemotional traditional sound is beginning to work its magic on me.
Last week, they appeared on the show with Ichikawa Yukino, a well-known enka singer with a tragic history that is perfect for the genre. With her tall, graceful figure, the 40-year-old singer came close to tears both before and during her performance.
And afterwards, she took this photo with Keyakizaka46, apologizing for being so tall she blocked sight of some members:
She said in her blog that the group was both well-mannered and cute. She said she had enjoyed their first hit, Silent Majority, and would now be listening to Futari Saison, which they performed on the show. She pointed out that they would also be on the Kouhaku New Year's show, as she would.
I was a bit worried about that. Ishikawa-san's story is that she grew up in difficult circumstances, with her parents having divorced when she was in middle school, and having an elder brother with cerebral palsy. She became a professional enka singer in her teens, but then had to quit in her mid-twenties because of a physical and mental breakdown.
She went to work in a tempura restaurant in Shinjuku. But after four years there, the proprietress told her to go back to singing, and she did. Now she has been a successful singer again for ten years.
Here comes what worried me: they showed a video of Ishikawa-san being told she would be on this year's Kouhaku, and we saw her break down in tears of joy. This had been her ambition throughout her career. Beside her on the Utacon stage, watching this video, sat Hirate Yurina, who has only been an entertainer for a year, and who is strolling in to Kouhaku right away.
But Ishikawa-san saw the gentle politeness of the girls and heard Hirate's expression of surprise that they had been chosen for Kouhaku, and her politely-stated determination to work hard for it. Ishikawa-san did not, at least on the surface, blame them for their good fortune. She said that being with them made her happy.
I could see Yurina looking at her intently from time to time. This emotional person, scarred by life, singing painful love songs with deep emotion, must have made an impression on her. Especially since Yurina portrays so much emotion in her own performances. Every one of these many recent appearances is a learning experience for the Keyaki-chans.
I'm sure K46 will keep appearing on this and other shows with a mature general audience. This is part of Aki-P's campaign to establish his own respectability. His domination of the charts with frothy idol pop has made him widely hated in the music industry and beyond. These sweet, serious, courteous girls may be his ticket to the respect of his peers.
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