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. 

Takahiro says Keyakizaka46 was inspiring and he'd love to work with them again

In an interview in modelpress magazine, Takahiro (Ueno Takahiro 上野隆博) talks about his work choreographing Keyakizaka46's performance of Silent Majority.

Takahiro is a world-famous dancer who has worked with Madonna and some years ago was chosen one of the hundred most internationally respected Japanese by Newsweek Japan. (click images to enlarge)

The enormous success of Silent Majority is due to a number of factors, from the words and music to Hirate's dancing and singing. But I think Takahiro's choreography was a key factor in getting 15 million people to view the music video on YouTube.