Suto Ririka (Riripon) / Draft 1st Generation

Some of you guys are happy that she gave it to bunshun... Because it's interesting, and she's showing character.

On the other hand.

What Ririka did, is practically spitting in the face of all her predecessors, from Acchan to Yuko, from Mariko to Mayuyu, and shoving mud in what they build up with years of their youth and hard work.

The OG's are mad, and they should be
If I am not an AKB48G fan, I'd be entertained by the drama.

but because I care about the AKB48G doing well.
Ririka either needs to graduate, or she have to in turn create value so great it covers the damage she's done with interest on top, like Sashi did.
This is business.


Sayanee is the biggest loser in all of this... HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO GRADUATE NOW?!

 

I thought it was funny confess that not only at SSK but also right next to Minami! What an atmosphere to create for her when her speech followed

 

On the contrary, the number of idols who graduate to get married is actually pretty low. Obviously, a 18yo idol who graduates will eventually get married, but very few graduate to get married. I can only think of Ayarin, Komorin and now Riripon. Sure, Acchan graduated because she wanted to date a guy who rejected her immediately, but that doesn't mean she graduated to get married.

I already mentioned this somewhere, she was never a real idol. She was a philosopher-wannabe who wanted to experience the idol life. Now that she exhausted everything she could experience as a member of 48G (stages, TV, radio, tours, center, elections, even the thrill of dating someone unbeknownst to everyone else), she's prepared to move on, maybe experience the life as a married woman.

Yes, many idols do date, have sex and maybe even have relations between themselves. But they aren't supposed to, that's why if they are discovered it becomes a scandal. Riripon could have just graduated, and let the scandal break up as "she graduated because she dated someone a few times". But she decided to go with, "I'm graduating because I've met someone I love and want to marry him" (recently a member of another--smaller-- idol group did exactly the same). Why? She says she has never lied as a person. Bunshun is a professional place, even though it doesn't look like it, they probably told AKS, Yoshimoto, etc what they had a long time ago, and the agencies agreed as to when it would be made public, giving the opportunity to Riripon to mention it herself. Compare this with Nacchan and Yonechan's scandal, which started when they were travelling abroad without possibilities of defending themselves. I personally think she went too far with it, she could have just said she was graduating, and then fans would just think she graduated because she dated someone a couple of times and was caught. Mentioning marriage means they have been dating for months behind the back of fans who trusted her to be not pure, but "idolish".

The past is the past. I don't like people asking Takamina, Yuko and every past member what they think about this (or any other scandal). They are no longer affiliated, they have already outgrew the group, and the fact that they can't separate themselves from their idol identity is a failure on their individual careers. They can fume all they want, but as you say, they are history, not present. Times were different when they performed, they didn't use panties protection so they pretty much showed their asses at 13 or 14

I quite agree with this statement, though. They were training Riripon to become the next captain of NMB48. In a way, it would have been as if Yuihan announced she was getting married a year before Takamina graduated.

 

And Ririka hurt the group in present, and stunt the growth of 48G's future.

Her intentions aside, that's a very ugly move on 48G's image.

 

haha, got a feeling she might have to cancel it eventually

 

No i's not, maybe this move will make 48G even bigger who knows. same comments were with Sasshi's scandal at her time and look where she's now.

 

Literally all the time except for Sashihara's, scandals actually do far more damage than good.

Name me one instance outside of the anomaly known as Sashihara Rino, where scandal may have done more good than bad?
I don't think anyone can. Fact of the matter is, there isn't one.

 

Hurt the group in the present, very likely, just like having to cancel the concert and hold the elections in such a place without fans. Stunt the growth, I'm not quite sure. Somehow for idol groups just throwing away the rotten apple is enough to save everyone else, no matter how bad it was. HKT48 expelled 4 or 5 members including Yuukosu for meeting with fans privately whereas NMB48 just punished Miruki by not letting her appear in a single.

I doubt this will have any effect in the long view. They won't lift the love ban rule explicitly, dating guys and announcing marriages won't become viral.

It's not "when a scandal can become an opportunity", but "whether the scandal leaves the group scarred". Let's see, So many members had boyfriends and were expelled for it. The group? No problem. Sayuringo was found kissing a guy, Nogizaka is still going and she's still a member. Underage smoking or drinking usually means expulsion, I can name Mori Anna, but I just cannot mention anyone else because that doesn't leave the group "scarred".

Usually, the scandals that mark the group are the ones that reach the foreign media (Miichan cutting her hair, AKB48 and Keyakizaka wearing Nazi costumes, etc). This scandal might reach the foreign media because "why a girl should leave the group for marrying someone?". But in Japan it'll eventually be ignored. It won't have an everlasting effect on the group itself. Suppose Aki-P is found fingering members while they sleep, in that case it would actually hurt the group because girls wouldn't want to join anymore.

 

So it seems to be true, is it the two of them together on this photo?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DCjAGipVYAAxq4-?format=jpg

He looks young and handsome LOL and works in medical field... she got the right man XD If this is true, I can understand if she quits tbh. also I feel like she met him while taking care of her mom's illness which is a sad thing and maybe this is why she decides to get married (if it's true), and her family probably supports it.

Just my thoughts btw nothing confirmed.

 

Why do you think that? I don't see how her announcement had something to do with lack of respect to others or anything like that.

You are probably right but my point is still valid: Idols do date someone at some point of their idol lives. Some get caught, some don't.

And why it can't be changed? I think a girl can be an idol and have a relationship at the same time.

What I don't get is why (some) people prefer to live a lie.

Better than use an excuse, I think.

I really don't think so. I don't see that kind of newspaper acting like this.

So you think people prefer someone lying to them?

Hmm, how exactly?

 

Sayuringo made Nogi lose their Kouhaku, stunt the growth
Miichan scarred irreversible damage to AKB48's image, her picture is still circulating and she's still the poster child of Japanese Idol industry

HKT's 5 scandal undoubted stunt the growth of HKT, and as for Miruki, just look what state NMB is in now. Sayanee had to compete alone in the top-10 without help, because Miruki's scandal turn her into a distance 2nd, piling more pressure onto their ace.


Again, it's about damage, and growth being stunt.
The girls are being irresponsible, and the group took all the hits.
Ririka shove mud into the group's image by literally taking away from the biggest event of it all.

You think Ririka's scandal will overshadow Mayu's graduation and Sashi's 240 if the story is release by Bunshun the next day? Hell no. People are more or less prepared to be hit.
But her announcing it at SSK? Now that is some next level shocker.

 

Honestly if that is the guy, oooooh, I support it. I'm still shocked by her announcement but it's not like I'm mad about it especially since I didn't personally spend money to vote for her and it made the elections more interesting for me.

 

There is so much overreactions LOL Riripon didn't hurt 48G more than Miichan did with shaving her head (something the western medias and any other country keep taking as an example to call the japanese crazy and act like AKB is a group where girls get mistreated). Riripon announcement is harmless to the group. Like come on. what's with the overreactions LOL the only thing she did is take the attention from everyone, I can see why some fans would be mad at this, but she is not hurting the group and I'm sure that if she DOES get married then she will graduate. it's idols we're talking about here.

Anyway I read somewhere that when Riripon said last year that her mom is sick (apparently she has cancer?), she also said that she doesn't plan to stay in the group for long (like she mentioned 1 year) can anyone confirm it? if it's true then she might keep her words... anyway this whole thing with her mom makes me think that her mom's illness made Riripon decide to stop being idol and probably encouraged her to get married early ("if" she does get married, we don't have a confirmation yet). and I can understand her feeling. also from an outsider's point of view, she seems to have found a nice person to get married with, so I can't blame her. if all of this is true then I think it probably all started when her mom became sick... and somehow I find this sad and I understand her decisions if she decides to get married and graduate, I support her. although it will make me sad because she's really good as idol.

 

Why don't she just graduate without telling the fans why then get married like other members??? Or atleast just let the scandal roll on but don't tell the fans you're getting married??? I mean, Bunshun only reported you DATING. It's like digging her own grave.

EDIT: i guess the only problem i have with this is that she did it right after she ripped her fans' wallets off. I would be cool with it if she had announced it any other time. Preferrably before the voting period.

 

@honeyNUT my guess is that she didn't want Bunshun to be successful in their plan, so she decided to make an even bigger and more shocking announcement than what Bunshun had on her. and maybe she really plans to get married soon so she wanted to be honest about it so that no one will get shocked. well that's what I think, but there will probably be an official announcement soon and we might get a better idea of why she did this.

 

Incredible post!

Harm? Hurting the group? How, where? We will all buy cd's, attend lives, handshakes, etc. Even in this supposed post superstar era, only Arashi is at or above them where it counts the most..along with the 46G's. LOL

Another obvious fact.... how many hundred members are there? Within this age group and public profile, it's actually amazing how little controversy, bad publicity, etc there is.

Now back to my Churi celebration drink.

 

Is she inconsiderate to her fans? Was it bad timing? Is that somewhat disrespectful? I think so. But real or not, I feel that Riripon just had enough of the hypocrisy that comes with being an idol. That's a big F U throwing at 48G and the idol culture that is prominent in Japan. And somehow I can't hate her for this.

 

LOL I hope this guy at least receive an invitation to the wedding.

 

That's a falacy, you assume that any girl who graduates without a single scandal actually dated guys but wasn't discovered. Same logic for smoking, drinking alcohol? Maybe for being pregnant and aborting? I don't say they don't date, drink alcohol, smoke, have sex or abort, I just say they are probably not as many as we assume.

Because we are foreigners 10,000 km away from them, do you want to build a "Free idol" movement? Do you eat meat? Why, it's cruel, you should be vegetarian, why can't it be changed? You like vegetables? Why, it's cruel with the plants, you should be a vegan eating only fruit that fell from trees Their country, their rules. I know the rules. If it bothered me that much, I either would go there and start a movement to free women (and since you are going remember to drop by Africa and some countries in Middle East where women have less rights for just being women), or change hobby.

So you only watch documentaries and news reports on TV? Obviously you don't read fiction books, read comics, watch series in Netflix. Not even sports, since they are all rigged.

They have mentioned to have done so many times. And AKS got enough contacts to know when there's a scoop that could damage one of their top members. Really, people can't think Riripon saved her reputation because she beat Bunshun to the scoop. How did they learn they have gotten her? How did they know they were going to release it after the event and not before like with Kojimako's pics? Most of these articles, even yellow press, have a line at the end that reads something like "We contacted XXX regarding this article, but got no replies at the time of publishing". When do you think that happens, just minutes before the scandal breaks or weeks in advance?

She has done it til now, she could have kept it running for a little longer to protect herself and the group.

What-if scenario. Right now Nogizaka virtually every single member sells out their handshake tickets and they fill stadiums whenever they feel like it, they sell almost as many singles as AKB48, and easily twice what SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48 can sell. By your logic, without the Sayuringo scandal they would be touring domes once a year and filling stadiums in European tours. Yes, Kohaku is still the biggest music show in Japan. But it's watched by people in their 50s or 60s, that's why there's so much enka. They aren't going to buy CDs for Nogizaka. Alas, they didn't attend the 2014 version, but appeared in 2015 and 2016. By your logic, that extra year is making them sell 900k units instead of 1m or more.

What-if scenario. Have you heard about an official investigation regarding the scandal, whether she was forced to shave or she did it under presure? Obviously, K-POP fans, maybe even Johnny or other female idol wotas would use the image to pester 48G wotas, but I doubt you'd consider that "irreversible damage to AKB48". How often do you see that image in Japanese media associated with AKB48? You might find it associated to her and in a different context from the one we conceive (not as in, poor girl, but more like, she decided she had to do it to clean her reputation). Foreign media shows it? Considering well over 99% of their sales are local, I guess they don't really care about what foreigners think. Remember the Sakura no Shiori fiasco? No? Most have already forgotten it, even though there was an investigation regarding it. Do you remember the Beginner? Most have already forgotten it, and in fact people praised it for being something completely different for an idol group back then. Heavy Rotation? Only foreign feminists.

What-if scenario. NMB, SKE and HKT don't grow because they aren't appealing, not because they have had scandals. AKB48 got many more scandals yet they are the best selling group in Japan and one of the 4 best selling groups of all times there. By your logic, if they had been all pure they would have opened theaters in Germany, Canada and Brazil.

I know I'm being an idiot for keeping answering what-ifs scenarios (the thumb of rule is ignoring them) but 48G is used at these unexpected situations. If this had happened in the Nogizaka46 General Election, where all the girls are angels, yes, it would have been a terrible scandal. Happening in AKB48 as it happened, it'll eventually become just another anecdote. Contrary to your what-if scenarios, we can confirm whether this will become a footnote in AKB48 history in five or six years

Yes, she wasn't an idol at heart, she was just researching what being an idol meant. And yes, her mother was ill back last year, which is mentioned the reason why Riripon eventually fell in love, supposing that he worked in the place where her mother was being treated and supported Riripon during all this time. Last year she said she thought about graduating because her mother was ill (that was how we learned about it) but she decided to continue on instead of moving with her mother permanently. A pretty courageous decision for a Japanese female teen, I must say.

Or maybe she didn't plan on getting married but spurted it out without thinking to cover the scandal with a bigger scandal, who knows?