2016-06-18

Hiragana Keyaki members: whom each admires in Nogizaka46 and Keyakizaka46

Yesterday, on a day when all eyes and ears were on the first broadcast of the new Keyakizaka46 single, the newly-admitted Hiragana Keyakizaka members were in the news again, after a long absence.



It was just a throwaway feature in AKB News, asking each of them which member of Nogizaka46 and of Keyakizaka46 they most admired or respected, but maybe it means they are about to re-emerge. In any case, here is what they said:

Suzumoto Miyu: big watermelon, big help, big pictures

Suzumoto Miyu's grandmother gave her an enormous watermelon. She shared it with her fellow Keyaki-chans...and with us.


"My grandma sent me a watermelon. Does this show how big it is?"

2016-06-14

Neru's big sister

When she went back to Nagasaki for the music festival performance, Neru was unexpectedly given a day off to be with her family. She gave her big sister an earring:



Neru says in her blog: "I can definitely say that I've never met anyone nicer than my big sister. I love her. And my big brother, too."

2channel appears to be smitten with her as well, just from a view of her ear and the side of her neck:

Asking Keyakizaka members: "What kind of man might you marry?"

A new magazine article (in Bomb magazine) featuring four members of Keyakizaka46 asks them the question: "What kind of man might you marry?"


Yuipon: "A man whose face was cute when he was embarrassed."
Akanen: "A man who was a good cook. I want him to make me delicious meals♡"
Mona: "A man whom I didn't know what he was thinking. When you don't know what he's thinking, he must be thinking about a lot of things."
Risa: "A man who doesn't get angry. You wouldn't get into arguments with someone who was nice and had a generous heart." (This makes me wonder again about her relationship with her father. There were vague hints in ep33 of the TV show that it might be a bit rocky.)

Koike Minami's fear of flying

In her Sunday blog post, Imaizumi Yui tells the story of sitting beside Koike Minami on the flight back to Tokyo from Nagasaki on Saturday evening.



Even before the plane started moving, Mii-chan told her she was scared of planes. When it did start to move, tears sprang to her eyes. And when it actually started racing down the runway, Mii-chan grabbed Zuumin's arm, buried her head against her and was weeping and crying out loud.

2016-06-13

Keyakizaka46 Nagasaki festival report

Keyakizaka46 played the Huis ten Bosch outdoor music festival on Saturday in Nagasaki.

They did a 25-minute set including Yamanote Sen, Silent Majority, a new overture film, and Te wo Tsunaide Kaerou ka. Comments on 2channel said the group did well in this "away" appearance.

Then a group of them came back on stage for a talk session with former AKB48 star Takahashi Minami, who acted as MC.

In this photo of the finale of Te wo Tsunaide, you can see in the back row the blue Hiragana Keyaki uniform worn by Nagahama Neru. She was subbing for Nagasawa Nanako, who had to stay home because of school.


In her comments for wake-up television, Kobayashi Yui said that this is the first time they've performed outdoors, and it was really exciting. I had a video from the TV show, but it has been taken down from YouTube.

2016-06-12

Akimoto Manatsu weeps at staff's praise

Akimoto Manatsu broke down in tears when staff praised her for being quick-thinking, for filling out surveys well, and for being such a hard worker. It was after that last one that she broke down. She entered Nogizaka46 later than other first-generation members and people think this has meant she had to work hard to catch up.



Tears may seem an excessive reaction, but it must have been pretty rewarding for a serious person to hear that the staff which are such an important part of her life -- and among them her bosses -- thinks that she is doing things so well. And broadcasting this may mean to her and to others that the big boss himself (Aki-P) thinks so, too.

The event was part of  the just-ended Nogizaka46-hour TV extravaganza. I didn't watch it all, but what a luxury it was over a couple of days to be able to open up Showroom at any time and find Nogizaka46 live: variety, performances, outings, etc., etc.