Why I Love Ayami

I had actually started to write this post long before Muto Ayami announced her decision to take a break from the entertainment world, but I kept putting it off - keeping it on the back burner as I worked on other more pressing things (or just goofed off instead of working). I guess this can be seen as another example of the classic "you don't really appreciate what you have until it's gone" syndrome.

There has been a lot of speculation about the meaning of Ayami's hiatus, or even if it is a hiatus at all...the worst fear is that Amuse has decided to cut ties with her, and this is Ayami's way of saving face. I know that often in Japanese business relationships, you cannot take everything said at face value, but I don't think this is the case this time. Ayami has been working almost continually since 2008 (not to mention attending school), so I find it perfectly natural if she wants to take a break and think about her future for a while. But anyway, here's why I love Ayami.

My admiration of Ayami is based on two things: First, her wonderful voice and personality, and second - and probably a bigger factor - is her strength of character and sense of dignity. I'll explain what I mean...

When Sakura Gakuin first began - in fact, even before it first began - it seems obvious to me that it was an Ayami vehicle. Well, that's probably too strong a way to put it, but it's clear Ayami was going to be the face and the voice that lead this plucky new upstart idol group. Twinklestars songs seemed crafted to highlight her vocal talents, and her outgoing personality and sense of humor made her a natural leader for SG. And then a funny thing happened.

Babymetal, started as a subunit of Sakura Gakuin, became more and more popular, to the point of eclipsing SG in terms of both devoted fans and media attention. It must have come as a bit of a shock to Ayami, finding goofy little Suzuka suddenly somewhat usurping her place in the hierarchy. The fact that they were friends, having previously worked together in Karen Girl's, must have made it especially confusing and frustrating. But maybe that's where she also found her strength of character.

It would have been easy for Ayami to become bitter and feel slighted (and for all I know there may have been some problems, but if so, they were kept in private), but instead she carried herself with a maturity far beyond her years. For someone so talented to have so much self-aware graciousness and dignity, as well as appreciation for what she has been able to accomplish, seems almost super-human given the level of maturity often displayed by stars even twice her age.

And that is also why I love Sakura Gakuin so much. In other idol groups, there seems to be a lot of jockeying (that's a little joke for the TA's) for position, and sometimes backbiting, whereas the SG girls seem to genuinely care about and support each other. SG has a unique atmosphere that I really appreciate.

I still think of Ayami as the best voice in Sakura Gakuin history. I expect she will take some time and get her head together, then craft an amazing re-entry into the music world. Or take up horse racing full time because why not. Or perhaps pursue her life-long dream to become the world's cutest burikko idol. Or join the competitive Pop-Up Pirate circuit. Her choices are limitless!

Funny girl

Good luck, Ayami, and come back as soon as you are ready!!!

Ibaraki Highschooler

I used to know this girl who has since seemed to drop out of facebook who was huge into [Ibaraki Highschooler]. I usually don't friend underage girls or boys because it's kind of really weird and creepy, but I will make an occasional exception if they are someone who seems mature, intelligent and also they never, ever message me or bother me in any way. This girl on facebook was 16 or 17, I think, but she was more articulate and witty than most college graduates I know, so I made an exception and accepted her friend request.

Anyway, this girl who has since dropped off the face of the earth (not unlike her oshimen) would always tell me that deep in her heart, what she really, truly believed is that [Ibaraki Highschooler] is life, [Ibaraki Highschooler] is love. I wish I could write it so that you might see it conveyed in its original, beautifully poetic form, but jackals at Amuse are so relentless.

Until she opened my eyes to the glory of [Ibaraki Highschooler], she held a place in my heart somewhere near Rau, basically right in the middle of the of the pack of the (at that time) 19 members.  I've discussed this before, but for a quick review:

• Oshimen: Marina, Yui, Megumi, Soyo, Mirena

• My queen: Suzuka

• The reason for my smile: Moa

• 2nd tier: Hinata, Rinon, Hana, Ooga Saki, Maaya, Ayaka, Kano, Sara, Ibaraki Highschooler

• Middle girls: Raura, Shirai Saki, Marin, Ayami, Airi, Momoko

• Not so crazy about (still love & support them, but whatever): Aiko, Yunano, Mariri

And before you ask, yes it's possible to have more than one oshimen. I totally looked it up online and everything. Don't worry if they don't seem to make sense: all of these categorizations are legit and ISO-9000 certified for your assurance.

Now for me, Mariri falls into the bottom category simply by the virtue of the brevity of her tenure. The 2012 nendo was before my time in this fandom, and there just isn't very much available recorded material to get to know her very well. Plus, she is the only member in SG history to quit - it seems almost like a rejection or betrayal on her part!

And so, somewhat ironically, one of he things that has endeared Nene-don - is Nene-don okay? -

*receives cease & desist letter from Amuse, Inc.*

- okay, one of the things that has endeared [Ibaraki Highschooler] to me is the fact that she herself came very, very close to quitting Sakura Gakuin in her second year as a middle schooler. You can read about it here; it's fascinating stuff if you've never heard about it before. Reading about it brought out another dimension in [Ibaraki Highschooler], and made me appreciate all her hard work and sacrifice - done especially for fukei like you and me - all the more.

It does make me wonder, though...what if she had joined Mariri and quit? How would I (and the rest of the fandom, for that matter) have seen her - would it have had that same sense of rejection or betrayal? Would it seem worse due to her long tenure in SG, and even before that, in Mini-Pati? The more I think about it, the more I feel that probably would not be the case. I think I'd see her as a tragic figure, maybe like a victim of the unforgiving idol machine that pushes these girls to such extremes. Plus, she would have been undefeated in the nendo tests, so there's that.

In any case, I admire her moxie in sticking it out and overcoming the adversity. And I support her decision to leave the industry on her own terms and go into the field of nursing. Can you imagine getting hit by a car in Ibaraki and ending up in her hospital? What a rush.

So yeah, maybe [Ibaraki Highschooler] is one of my second tier girls, but of course...

...each of the girls, no matter which tier, have their special and endearing charm points. They all deserve our appreciation and support. They are all our precious members.

Even Mariri.

Can't stay mad at u gurl

And especially [Ibaraki Highschooler]

Ichiban! ICHIBAN!!!

How I Accepted Baby-chan Into My Life

My last post focused on the incredible amount of vitriol dedicated towards Notsu Yunano.  I mentioned that I was not innocent of some of this online ijime. I still do engage in some playful teasing every now and then, but my appreciation for her has deepened considerably as time has passed.

As I mentioned in my last video, Yunano is not the only SG girl to fall victim to the derision of the fukei; I've seen it also directed towards C-tan, Rinon, and Aiko. One person I mistakenly left of the list was the other Saki, Baby-chan. Which is an inexcuable omission on my part, because for a while there, she was my least favorite SG member.

I didn't really discover Sakura Gakuin until probably around May of 2014. I first learned of Babymetal on March 3 of that year, and my obsession with them inevitably led me to discovering their roots in SG. At that time, I was too awash in the abundant backlog of Sakura Gakuin videos (usually English-subbed) to pay much attention to the current 2014 nendo. At first, I focused only on material that contained Su, Yui & Moa. So Ooga Saki had long been a member by the time I was exposed to her - and I felt an immediate, visceral dislike towards her. I'm ashamed to admit that it was mostly prejudice based on her looks: she seemed too cloyingly saccharine, and I imagined her admittance into Sakura Gakuin was a cynical effort to find a replacement for Moi as they were growing older and maturing, AS IF THEY WERE REPLACEABLE!  There really wasn't any more to it than that.

Now, I didn't actually hate her or anything - I didn't even really spend any time at all considering why she was my least favorite member. It was just a feeling I always had in the back of my mind when she appeared on camera or in pictures. It certainly had nothing to do with either her talent or character, as she had done nothing I was aware of for me to disapprove of her on those grounds. She performed quite well, in fact. It's pretty embarrassing to look back on how I had such negative feelings for her - they were not strong feelings, but still - it seems pretty shallow of me.

Anyway, this whole thing was turned around in short order after I watched a couple of videos. The first one was Sakura Gakuin vs. Idoling (thanks for your work, Mr. Thomas Malone). The way she comes to the aid of her fellow members and beats up the mean announcer guy who was so mean to the other girls with his meanness pretty much forced me to do a 180. Seeing her leap to action, she melted my cold heart:

The other video, which I saw a little later, cemented my admiration for Baby-chan. In this MUJAK video, she tells of how she likes to do opposite-sex cosplay. It's adorable, and I love how she follows her passions wherever they lead her - that takes bravery!

And ever since then, she's been one of my favorites. I'm so glad I was able to come to my senses and see the true nature of Ooga Saki. I think her voice is one of the strongest in the current Sakura Gakuin lineup (which probably isn't really saying that much, but I'll get to that in another post). 

P.S.

As I spoke earlier of Yunano and my changing opinions of her, I would be remiss if I didn't advise everyone to watch her performance in this J-drama Hagane No Onna (Woman of Steel). She did a really, really good job...I'm so proud of her!!

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!

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.