In Defense of Rinon

...I got nothin'...

Just kidding! I was only joking, Rinon...don't cry!!

Seriously, though, Rinon has always been one of my favorite undervalued members of Sakura Gakuin - a category I'd also assign to Shirai Saki, Notsu/Honjo Yunano, Kurashima Sara, Yamaide Aiko & Matsui Airi.

She gets lots of static for her lack of emotion at graduations (including the famous scene at Su's graduation where she is seen laughing over Moa's shoulder while Moa is coming apart onstage), her poor test scores and her understated (bordering at times on robotic) behavior.

But I think hers has been a calming and steady influence on the girls of SG, especially so during the dramatic transition from 2014 to 2015 nendo. I was lobbying for her to be the next president since January 2015.  I figured she was both the steady hand on the rudder and the link to the past that SG needed going forward. Which is why it was so particularly disheartening for me when she fell to pieces at the 2015 orientation - first open class of the year.

If you aren't familiar with it, towards the end of the session (there were 2 sessions, 6 girls in each session), Rinon's team (consisting of Rinon and Mirena) lost a challenge and to drink a concoction of fruits and vegetables and junk mixed up by the other girls. It was apparently gross; right Mirena?

I mean, this was Rinon's first public appearance since being named president. Seeing her cry for the first time ever, over such a trivial thing...it seemed so undignified, so opposite of the traits you seek in a leader - I almost felt betrayed. I expected a strong leader. It was heartwarming to see how naturally the other girls stepped up to help her, to make her feel at ease. But I felt disillusioned to the core. I guess I forgot she was still a young girl.

 

I was unable to shake these ill feelings towards Rinon for quite a while. I wondered if things had been irreversibly torn asunder. I began to worry about the future of SG. I began to question everything I had learned as a fukei. Then this happened:

One of the greatest haircuts of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!

This haircut changed everything. This haircut is the elixir. This haircut turned my heart.

Oh what a fool I have been! Of course Rinon is a great president! As Moa said in a past LoGiRL, Rinon (as well as Hana) was the perfect transfer student at the perfect time; Sakura Gakuin may have fallen apart if not for Rinon! Rinon is wise and strong and perfect for us.

I mean...that haircut, tho-

I Got Worry - Leeds and Reading Festivals

I Got Worry

Hey guys. The Babymetal shows at Reading and Leeds are coming up this weekend. These festival shows always get my stomach in knots.

Why? you ask...

Because bottling, that's why. It seriously keeps me up nights as the weekend grows closer.

Reading Festival 2006

 

I know there will be no problems at their solo shows, but especially given the polarization they have caused in the metal community, I don't think I'm being overly paranoid here. 

I take some solace in the fact that if someone were to throw something at the stage, they would be descended upon like starving jackals and pounded into submission by all the fukei and Babymetalheads there to support them, but the damage may have already been done by that point.

I can't remember exactly where I read this (because drinking/age/internet/etc. have ruined my memory), but during their performance at the Golden Gods, some woman threw an empty beer cup at Yui. Luckily, it was empty and so impossible to aim or control, and it missed her by a wide margin. One of the fans turned on the woman and gave her a GTFO or else ultimatum, and the woman left with no further incident. 

So I guess I'll be holding my breath until Monday. LITERALLY.

May Kitsune-sama being watching over and protecting our girls throughout their tour!

Shy Gives ASMR a Shot

Autographs!!!

Sakura Gakuin Secret Service

So there's a segment in LoGiRL that I always find a little worrying...

...the part where they read the tweets. As a fukei, I naturally tend think of all these girls as my imoutos, leading to a stupid and ultimately impotent impulse to protect and shield them from undue harassment. I worry about this segment a lot; it's basically Russian Roulette. The stakes are that high for me. I don't even watch it, to be honest. This segment is when I usually tweet an update or post some screencaps or run to the toilet because of all the coffee I've been drinking because I have to get up before 5AM to watch LoGiRL for Christ sake.

I'm not even worried that someone will tweet them some obscene images - I don't think you can be reasonably shielded from things like that in Japan ...

My eyes...ze goggles do nothing!!!

...but even just trolling idiots calling them stupid, fat, ugly, untalented cancer to SG, or whatever.

And yes, I guess I'm worried about the pervy stuff too.

I just really, really hope someone is screening these tweets before the girls see them. Someone willing to take a cruel insult for them or jump in front and shield them from a stray diseased dick pic. There is enough that is wrong in this world - I want our girls to feel safe, happy and well-adjusted. I'm not ready to let their innocence slip away just yet.

So please, please let someone be watching out for them, screening those tweets.

Someone dependable, that is.

 

Trouble with Transfer-Ins

Rankingu

I think it would be fair to call myself a feminist. Like, in terms of the actual definition of the word (not the made-up definition bandied about in comment threads and on talk radio):

[fem-uh-nist]

adjective

1. advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

noun

2. an advocate of such rights.

And this sometimes leads to an odd disconcert with my feelings towards Sakura Gakuin. This is one of those times. Women have historically been pitted against one another in competition for recognition and approval of a frankly male-dominated society at large - rather than encouraged to develop a sense of cooperation and teamwork.  I of course appreciate all of the girls each on their own unique merit, and I could never say that one is truly "better" than another.

But there is no denying the fact that fans find their oshimen. That's just the reality of the situation. And so inevitably we all engage in some form of ranking. It somehow seems kind of wrong to me to compose a list of the SG girls ranking them, but let's do it anyway. Here's my list, compiled about one month ago:

This list is still pretty representative of my feelings, though I think that if I were to take it again there would be some shuffling and rearrangement in the middle of the list.

While on this topic, I might as well bring up a discussion I had online a while ago with a very angry lady who did not like the fact that songs like 'Gimme Chokko' by Babymetal and 'Gokigen Mr. Toropikalory' by SG focus on girls worrying about their weight. She also had a problem with that one Meghan Trainer song about the bass or whatever, saying basically that songs should focus on appearance at all, but on the personality, intelligence, and other such qualities of females. And yeah, it would be great for society in general if people paid more attention to the inner workings and accomplishments of women and less to their superficial appearance.

But here's the thing: just because we wish for a world where girls are not unduly obsessed with their weight doesn't mean it is wrong to acknowledge that these thoughts/pressures are very real things they have to take into account in their lives, and that others can relate to. Just acknowledging - rather than sticking our heads in the sand and ignoring - the everyday experiences that women and girls feel is not necessarily an endorsement of the view that females should worry about their weight so much. It's wrong to downplay or devalue the feelings of others - what a cruel thing to do to another person - and it does nothing constructive to solve the problem they are so concerned about it the first place.

I used to be quite cynical about the world, seeing the wrong and the bad in every situation - not so different from that angry lady in the comments section. But Sakura Gakuin have really opened up a  long ago closed door to optimism and positivity and genuine happiness and the ability to see all the good in the world. I try not to let people put that heavy shroud of cynicism back on me. I can still see and recognize all the problems with the world we live in, but I'm no longer a slave to the idea that that is the only thing worth focusing on.

Shy's Sub-unit Speculation

There's something that's been on my mind for the past few months. It's the kind of thing that I can't talk about with my neighbors or my family or my workplace acquaintances because they generally just sit there and nod politely until you're done talking and they can go alert the authorities about you. But it is actually a very important thing: how will the sub-unit situation work out in the new Sakura Gakuin?

One of the greatest aspects of Sakura Gakuin is the sub-units. Clubs such as Sleepiece, Mini Pati and Babymetal add an extra dimension to the group, allowing them to showcase their individual talents in a way that doesn't get so easily lost within the swirling choreography of the full cast of girls. And also they get cute new outfits like every year, so win/win.

Last year was a weird year, though. With Yui and Moa having one foot in SG and another half way across the world with Babymetal for a good deal of the time, there didn't seem to be as much time to devote to the sub-units. They felt sort of tacked on - most notably the effort from the reboot of Twinklestars.

But putting the past aside for now, after weeks of speculation, we finally have some answers with the re-booted Mini Pati (Aiko, Momo, Marin),  Sleepiece (Mirena, Saki O. & Maaya) & Purchasing Club (C-tan & Soyoka). I'm totally psyched about Purchasing Club, and after a moment of incredulity, Sleepiece 2.0 convinced me it was a great idea. But that still leaves Rinon, Sara, Kano and Megu with no clubs.

The easy solution would be a Logica? reboot with Rinon, Sara, and Megumi, plus continue the Pro Wrestling club with Rinon and Kano (as alluded to by Rinon at the Transfer-In ceremony). But does continuing the Wrestling Club in Hana's absence even make sense? And what about Scoopers? A school newspaper club just totally makes sense in SG world. And my god, did you see C-tan last year?

I mean seriously...

My Scoopers dream team would have been Saki S. & Soyoka, but they are already working together as the Purchasing Club. There's probably no rules against them teaming up in another sub-unit, but it's never been done before. I worry Shirai and Soyo might start to become isolated and weird...

But all my sub-unit angst boiled down to basically one obsession: Logica? (yes, the question mark is pretty goddamned important!). I am desperate for them to regenerate. Logica? is my second favorite sub-unit after Babymetal (duh), so I almost had a heart attack when I first stumbled across pics this Monday morning from the latest open class:

AMUSE YOU CAN'T JUST TOY WITH ME LIKE THIS!!

Soyoka just looks like a natural for Logica? - but the choreography is pretty complicated (according to the girls), so she might not be ready for such a challenge. But then check out C-tan channeling the Hiichan hair here:

 

Also, Rinon looks like she aged about 15 years overnight

Gaaaah, this is killing me. KILLING. ME. Put Shirai Saki in all the groups! At any rate, a next gen Logica? needs to happen is all I'm saying.


And now on to the unpleasantness: the 3rd gen Mini Pati.

 Acha! Tea! Meh...

So...a lot of people are disappoint. I'm not overwhelmed myself. I haven't actually seen or heard their performance yet (just these Bigfoot-quality potato pics), so maybe that will change my opinion. I'm not even sure why I have such strong misgivings about this.

*cough*

Aiko

*cough, cough*

It might be something as simple and silly as there not being a handing down of the neckties ceremony. But I think it might be that the previous version was SO next-level that I just can't see these three girls measuring up. The fact that I can't find any footage makes me worry it was such a bad performance that Amuse confiscated it all and burned it. Some people think I over-estimate the scope and range of Amuse's powers. Maybe, maybe not. (probably not)

Regardless, I can at least find some solace in the fact that Aiko didn't get yellow.

YELLOW NECKTIE MASTER RACE OUT

Confession Time

Confession #1:

It was a source of shame for far too long, but now I am so proud: I can FINALLY identify all the new members of Sakura Gakuin. For the longest time I had trouble with Momoko, Maaya and Marin (the last two especially). All that waking up at 5AM to watch LoGiRL has finally paid off!

No longer necessary for reference

Confession #2:

The new SG song: I'm not that geeked up about it. It's not a bad song - I really like the bridge - but overall it's just not that exciting. Granted it isn't the entire song, but I'd guess it's a pretty good condensation of it. The outfit change in the video is a yuuuge plus.



I've never been all that into the "learning" songs, such as Wonderful Journey and especially Animal Rhythm, to be honest. And sometimes it takes a while for the songs to grow on me. I was one of those people who found SG through Babymetal, and I actually watched all the Nendo tests and related SUN episodes and stuff before I really even gave their songs a listen. Having that emotional attachment to the SG girls probably made the music more palatable to me; if I hadn't had that, I might not have dismissed the music as not being my style, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST TRAGEDY OF OUR TIMES!!

P.S. I listened to the song like 8 or 9 times as I was writing this and I already like it more than I did an hour or two ago. So, like...nevermind, I guess.