The Road To Graduation Is Paved With Them Feels

You guys, it's just now hit me - the gravity of this upcoming SG graduation. Shirai Saki will be leaving Sakura Gakuin.

C-tan entered SG along with Yamaide Aiko in May of 2013, in what a lot of fukei regard as the least impressive transfer-in student class in Sakura Gakuin history. I'm not sure that's a fair assessment, but even if it were true, it was still a noteworthy class because of who Shirai was/is: the first fukei to ever enter Sakura Gakuin.

Shirai Saki attending Babymetal show circa 2012

She is one of us! And it's just now dawning on me how hard it will be to watch our surrogate fukei graduate.

C-tan has managed to fly somewhat under my radar until quite recently, probably around September of last year.

I antnicipate that, due in no small part to C-tan, the upcoming graduation has the potential to be the best (i.e. the most cryingest) one ever.  Looking back at their history, obviously 2012 was hard grad to get through, and more or less universally acknowledged as the best. The 2013 Nendo's Fab 4 were graduating just as I was having by perspective blown far and wide by Babymetal - which is maybe a good thing, because if I knew Marina then like I do now, it's fair to say I might have been completely devastated by her leaving SG, especially if I had any inkling how scarce she would become post graduation; she almost as elusive as Nene!

Last year's graduation of Moi, Hana & Yunano was my first as a fully fledged fukei. I remember thinking it was weird how not quite emotional it was at the time. This was probably because of the extended time between the lead up to RTG (including a farewell episode of sorts on LoGiRL), the event itself (with accompanying sound-bites and bits of news trickling out during and immediately following the event), and finally my ordering and receiving the Blu-ray of the concert/ceremony. Maybe it was oddly less emotional than I had anticipated due to the long time period I had to process the reality of it? I'm not sure, but it was still plenty emotional.

But the RTG coming up in March will be the first one since all of the original members have gone. Yes, if you want to get nit-picky about it, Yui and Moa were considered transfer-ins, but for all intents and purposes, they were originals. And I fully anticipate it being a rival to the 2012 Nendo graduation, it terms of The Feels.

Now I'm coming to terms with the fact that I've become more of an SG fan than a Babymetal fan. I had always assumed that SG would be more of a supplemental enjoyment - given the often long stretches of time between particularly noteworthy Babymetal happenings...I mean other than shaky, warbly concert footage, the accompanying flash-in-a-pan merch dumps on Asmart, and the occasional interview, it can be months between significant events.

And just in case any Amuse marketing types are reading this (doubtful), I would totally buy SG funko pop rocks dolls. Make SG funko pop rocks dolls.

Shy On Cmaera - The Road To Graduation is Paved in Feels

To Be A True Fukei...

Okay, I'm not about to try to come up a one thing that makes someone a "true" fukei, or even try to concoct some certain magic combination of things that will imbue you with Super Fukei powers. The fanbase of Babymetal/Sakura Gakuin is far too diverse, with people coming from all kinds of different means and backgrounds and corners of the world. We all do what we can. And of course some of us are just starting out and simply haven't had the opportunity to devote the time to do many of the things on an exhaustive list.

Okay, wait...I lied; there is probably one thing that everyone must conform to in order to be considered a true fukei, and that is to support our girls. That's why we are all here, after all.

That said, I've come up with a list of items that either I have done or know other people who have done them. If you have done at least some of them, you know the struggle and you can certainly be counted as a true fukei. Here goes:

1. You have devoted hours to learning all of the girl's names and can recognize them by face, or in some cases, just an ear or an arm

2. You've been confronted by worried family or friends about your interests

3. You've taken a job (or an extra job) to support your merch habit

4. You've sent merch or fan art to a friend you met through Babymetal/SG, but have never met IRL

5. You've met an online friend IRL specifically because of Babymetal/SG (concerts, conventions, etc.)

6. You still call Ooga Saki "Baby-chan"

7. You've started to learn Japanese

8. You've started a Facebook page, website, blog, or some other type of fansite


9. You've rearranged your work, school, or sleep schedule to watch LoGiRL

10. You've maxed out a drive or online storage account with Babymetal/SG videos & pictures

11. You've traveled to another country for a concert

12. You openly discuss your crying jags after watching RTGs

13. You've literally had to stay in bed the day after a Sakura Gakuin graduation

14. You've named a pet or child after one of the girls, or at least had a very loud argument about it

15. You know how many of the girls have never participated in Mezase Super Lady, and you can name all of them

16. You've turned off your Babymetal news alerts on Google because they only report stuff that you found out like a week ago

17. You have bootlegs of Chigau and Awadama Fever

18. You can talk to a stranger about the significance of the number 4 in Japan for at least 60 seconds non-stop

19. You've redecorated your room in a Babymetal/SG theme

20. You've had stickers, posters, or shirts custom printed

21. You've ever told someone "Tenso is so easy, I don't know what I was so worried about"

22. You refer to Shirai Saki as "one of us"

23. You can pick yourself or friends out of concert footage

24. You used to desperately want English subs and now you don't even care

25. You're already thinking about whether Sara or Mirena will be the next president (it will be Sara)

26. You read articles about Babymetal online and compose a mental list of glaring factual errors as you go along

27. You experienced the emotional rollercoaster of Honjo Day

28. You have Babymetal money

29. You've contracted carpal tunnel syndrome from non-stop kitsune-ing

30. You held serious discussions where you were seriously concerned about Moa's fitness for performing in a high altitude venue

31. You have ever offered a burnt sacrifice to Kitsune-sama or the Amuse Board of Directors

32. Your life has immeasurably improved since our girls danced into it

I'm sure I left out a ton of things. Let me know if you can think of any others...