Watanabe Miho blogs about Kakizaki Memi

Watanabe, whom the Snow Princess's magic turned into a cat

2019.04.10  01:19
Watanabe Miho


Hello everyone ( ･ᴗ･ )
It's Watanabe Miho of Hinatazaka46

April 6 was the day Keyakizaka46 debuted.
Congratulations on their third anniversary.

It's nostalgic to remember buying all the types of Silent Majority...
The seniors whom I have always loved and admired,
And the promising 2nd generation members....

For me who three years ago was in a different world, as a fan,
It makes me so happy to have been able to see the constantly changing Keyakizaka46 up close.
I think that from now on, they will continue to show us many new scenes...
And at the same time, they will stimulate us to do better.
Once again, congratulations on your third year!
Let's continue to get along well from now on.

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You may have seen it on Hiragana Oshi:
The "Praying for a Hit Road Relay" that was shown over three weeks was deeply moving.
I was joined as a pair with Memi-san, and we ran the 9th stage

On that day, there was so much pollen in the air that you could see it flying around...
We drank some medicine and ran (lol).

Just before we started,
Memi sighed: "It's good that I put my hair in twintails."
"No, no. Any hairstyle is cute on you."
On that day, her twintails were tremendously cute.
If you saw it, I think you'll know what I mean.

The course we ran was a precipitous mountain road.
Honestly, it was tougher than I expected.
After we'd gone a certain distance,
We were shocked. "This is really nasty," we both said.
The mountain road, where you could not see what was ahead of you, just about did us in.

Each of us wrote something on the blue sash.
I wrote: "Run smiling to the end."
So I made a firm decision to smile to the very end.

I only started talking much with Memi-san
At the stage play Magia Record - Madoka ☆ Magica side story.
After that, we were often in symmetrical positions in the formation
And happily, we became connected more and more.
She is a senior whom I totally love.
But please stop sticking your finger in my nose and ear, okay?

Running with Memi-san, various feelings rose in me.
As she ran, breathing so hard her shoulders rose and fell
And called my name "Miho," I looked at Memi-san
And felt from the bottom of my heart: "I want to protect her."
Even though I completely realized that I was the junior.

In the video extras on our debut single, I watched everyone's PVs, of course including Memi-san's.
Seeing Memi-san there weeping as she spoke,
"Ah! When she was out of our sight, she was thinking like this."
"She tried not to show us these things she was thinking."
At the same time as I felt she was a great senior,
I felt again that she was also an individual human being.

Despite being my senior, she is still just 17 years old.

Memi-san is so smart,
But I went ahead and thought that
She must have such worries on her mind as she does her work.
She was strong enough not to let us see the things worrying her.
She's a very intense person.
So I ended up pushing her from behind,
Taking her hand and leading her on.

When the run was over,
She said to me: "It's good that Miho was the one running with me."
When she said that, I felt so happy.
It was such a joy for me, too, to complete the run with Memi-san.
Thank you so much!

I think I myself might have grown a bit by this road relay --
Even though it isn't up to me to say that, I guess.

It was touched on a bit in the show,
But I did road relays in all three years of junior high.
In the first two years, I was a selected as a team member, but in the third year I wasn't.
Thinking of it now, even though it might have been my not being strong enough,
I think another reason might have been a that I gave up.
It really hurt.
I never wanted to have that feeling of having given up ever again,
So I ran the 2000m road-relay trial with all my strength.

I was happy to think that by means of this race,
I might have become someone who could be counted on a bit.
I want to be someone who can lead people around me forward
And I also want to be someone who gives a sense of security.
I will do my best to become someone
About whom people say: "We can't do without her."

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After about a year since HiraganaOshi began,
The show has been updated!!
From now on it will be
Hinatazaka de Aimashou!
With Audrey-san, whom I love,
We'll do our very best to make it a more outstanding show.
It is something to be thankful for that our broadcast area has expanded,
It would be great if the show could reach many more people.
Please watch the former HiraganaOshi,
Now renamed Hinatazaka de Aimashou!

See ya.

Watanabe Miho

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Miho the former basketball captain is physically and mentally strong. It really seems that she takes great delight in helping others to achieve -- an extremely valuable person to have in an idol group. 

Miho makes a point of mentioning that she had promised herself to be smiling right to the end of the race. That helps explain this picture from near the end of their run, in which Miho's smile feels a bit odd in contrast with Memi's pain. The smile is encouragement, and follows the promise Miho made to herself. And Memi is someone who herself is determined to press on to her goal, even as her emotions burst forth in tears.

 In her PV on the new single, Memi wept as she talked about being put as co-centre with Neru at first, then being shifted into what seemed to her the third row (it was actually shadow centre, I think) and not told what she should be doing. She knew that she was not as good a dancer or singer as others and felt very down. 

Then when she broke her wrist, she kept a brave face until the hospital, when she says she cried and cried. Then when she came back to the practice, she again kept as much of a brave face as she could, thinking that if she seemed out of control, it would affect the performance of the others who were left.

Memi's weeping face in the PV was heartbreaking.

Normally, Memi is very cool and collected, but Miho learned from the PV that she actually has worries and problems, but keeps them hidden. This made Miho want to protect her, and many Memi fans say they feel the same way.

"Memiho" is now a combination that Memi fans say they are very happy to see.

The "Snow Princess" (or SunoPuri, as it is abbreviated) is from a childhood nickname of Memi's: "Snow Princess Angel." I think the idea that she turned Miho into a cat is a comment on the second-last picture, showing Memi and Miho with pursed lips, and Miho with a cat-like stare.

It may surprise people to hear Miho say Memi is smart, but other members have said the same thing, and Kyouko is quite impressed that Memi likes Math and Science...although Memi says she's not that smart, just normal.