Irresponsible Speculation

Well, it's raining and I've had about a pot and a half of coffee. I'm all cooped up and bouncing off the walls, so what say we engage in a bit of prognostication? After all, I totally nailed Logica 1.2...

*Babymetal will release a new album in March 2016. It will have been two years since the release of their debut, so they've had plenty of time to come up with new material. And world awareness of them has grown enough that an exciting new release is sure to gain them lots of attention, just in time for the big Wembley show.

*The name of the next Babymetal album will be Kawaii Metal. Or something like that.

*2016 Nendo president will be Kurashima Sara. She will also read the farewell address for 2015 graduation. Over/under on Sara shedding tears is 90.5 seconds. I say over.

*Rinon will cry during her graduation speech.

*I will cry more than Rinon & Sara combined.

*Rinon will win the 2015 nendo test because she is a genius and has been gaming the system this whole time.

*The next surprise appearance on LoGiRL will be Horiuchi Marina and I will scream so loud I wake up my wife.

Please let me know how wrong you think I am in the comments!

Shy On Camera - Dress Code

In Defense of Rinon - Straight to Video

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-