Katou Shiho and Kakizaki Memi (Hiragana Keyaki)

Shiho was the first member of Hiragana Keyaki that Memi became close with. Shiho talked about having a case of "Kakizaka loss" when they were apart.

The timing might be pure coincidence, but since Shiho's breakdown on Showroom, when she wept for having accidentally shown us the chaos of her messy room, there haven't been many photos of the two together. Until now.

On Thursday, Katou wrote about how much she likes Memi. And on Friday, Memi returned the favour. In Katou's post "MemiMemi," she says:

Aki-P talks about Keyakizaka46

This is from the October issue of Nikkei Entertainment magazine. A couple of points from the article have been mentioned in English, but I don't think the whole thing has been translated. There are more ideas here that I find interesting, and that give us a glimpse of the big boss's thinking.

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Special Interview -- Akimoto Yasushi

Akimoto Yasushi is the general producer of both the AKB48 groups and the Sakamichi Series groups. He differentiates between them with the keywords "energetic, powerful, tough" for AKB, and "lycéennes" [French for "high school girls"] for Nogizaka46. As for Keyakizaka46, which debuted in April and has had a rocket start, what sort of vision does he have for them?

In over 40 years doing this kind of work, if I start with the idea in my mind "let's go with this kind of theme," things have never gone well. With Nogizaka46, it was only after writing various kinds of music for them that I realized: "Oh, I've been writing as if they were French schoolgirls."

With Keyakizaka46, whether it was while speaking with the girls who had been selected in the auditions or when I was choosing songs for them, I gradually came to realize what I wanted to do. I didn't write Silent Majority thinking of making idols who don't smile.

Neru, Imaizumi and other Keyakizaka members as little kids

After a few months of "my history" features narrated by members on their birthdays, the Keyakitte Kakenai TV show has built up a collection of baby/toddler pictures. Here they are so far:

This week, it was Neru and Zuumin's turn:

Neru lived on an island from age 3 until first grade. She says she was a short-haired tomboy.

Doesn't seem as if Zuumin was a tomboy.

Inside Story: The making of the MV for Sekai ni wa Ai Shika nai

Translation of a major article from the September issue of Brody magazine. It describes the ideas of the director and choreographer about how to convey the song visually; reports events during the shooting; and conveys some comments from members of Keykizaka46, as well as the choreographer's impressions of members of the group.
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Keyakizaka46 -- Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai

Documenting the making of the MV

Our little magazine previously told the inside story of the making of the Silent Majority MV. When we found out that their second single, Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai, was going to be made on Hokkaido by the same staff, we flew right there. Based mainly on what we saw of the members and what we heard from the staff, we are now once again documenting the Keyaki revolution. We record the footprints of girls and staff as they conquer the pressure and soar over high hurdles.

With total coverage on the scene and interviews with staff, here is the reality of "the second wave of attack"

From Shibuya to Hokkaido
Wide grasslands and a high-speed drone

Despite being newcomers, Keyakizaka46 had a big hit with their first single, Silent Majority, which sold over 300,000 copies. The music video (MV) has gone over 22 million hits on YouTube (as of August 6th). Following the great success of the first, their second single, Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai, was released on August 10th.

The various new aspects of the first MV garnered a strong reaction from the idol world. Expectations for the second single rose irresistibly. There were worries that it might fall below expectations.

Kageyama Yuuka (Hiragana Keyaki) on crutches

Kageyama Yuuka went to the handshake event on Thursday on crutches, and greeted handshake guests sitting down. She says she pulled a muscle in her leg at school last week:

She says the leg is healing, and she feels fine, and apologizes to fans and other members for causing them worry. She delayed telling us about it, but finally felt she had to. She is eager to get back to "lessons and practice" with Hiragana Keyaki.

She was paired up with Ushio Sarina and Higashimura Mei for the handshake event:

A few pics of Hirate in close contact with other members

This fantastic pic of Techi with Mona (from Techi's blog) reminded me of some other fairly intimate pics of her with other members.

From Akanen's Wednesday blog post, Techi "the hamster":

Kyoto Handshake Event: Naako in tug-of-war with staff to keep handshake guests

Nagasawa Nanako loves her fans.

At handshake events, guests usually get only a few seconds with a member of Keyakizaka46. There are staff members known in Japanese as hagashi ("peelers") there to physically make sure that the guest leaves as soon as their allotted time is up.

Reports from Naako's lane at Thursday's Kyoto handshake event say that the peelers there (apparently "pusher" is a more common term in English) were pretty strict, using almost judo moves to hustle guests on.

And Naako was just as assiduous in keeping hold as long as possible.

This apparently led to some amusing tug-of-war scenes between peelers on one side and Naako and her guest on the other.

Naako Naako shiyo!

Naako stops at almost nothing to give her fans what they want. On her blog, she is even happy to provide such subtly provocative photos as the one above, or this one below: