Sugai Yuuka (Yukka) / 1st Generation

Yeah, hope for her it's only the beginning with musicals and will be for her a new path to follow.

 

NOOOOO!!!!!

https://sakurazaka46.com/s/s46/news/detail/O00033?ima=0000
https://sakurazaka46.com/s/s46/diary/detail/45198?ima=0000

 

Already expecting this news to come out few months back.
Still hurts when it actually does

 

NOO! My Keyaki/Sakurazaka oshi!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!

 

I wish her the best!

 

People are already nostalgizing. Take a look, it's a good trip through the years.

And a bonus to make y'all cry.

 

Love the bonus. Can't help a namida or two...

 

Omg just found out about this. Not surprised at all but instead grateful she stayed longer than most. The last Aozora to MARRY member. She has given us a lot of amazing moments the past 7 years so I'm not dissatisfied but I guess I just wanted to see her in the center more but that's the captain role for you. I predicted that the next time I'd see her as the center would be her graduation song, if she gets one at all

Thankfully, unlike most other groups, Sakura still has me interested with the newer members even if my old faves graduate.

 

Yuuka will release a graduation photobook:
It will be released on november 8th, it was shot in Kagoshima's Yoronjima "Phantom Island" and Hokkaido

 

Yuuka on the cover of the December issue of B.L.T. (on sale 10/24):
https://bltweb.jp/2022/10/17/blt12-s46_yuuka_store/

 

Sugai was a guest this week on Nogizaka46’s All Night Nippon radio show hosted by Kubo Shiori. I wrote this summary in the Nogi ANN forum thread, but I figured I should cross-post it here where Sakurazaka/Sugai fans are more likely to see it:

if the video does not show watch the video here
-The last time Kubo and Sugai were together was in the Zambi stage play 4 years ago. Kubo starts the ANN episode addressing Sugai as “Sugai-san,” but eventually follows her wishes and calls her “Yukkaa” at the end of the episode.
-Kubo asks if Sugai has any Nogi acquaintances. Sugai had a hot pot party with Shinuchi Mai, Umezawa Minami, and Habu Mizuho at Shinuchi’s home 4 or 5 years ago. Sugai also recently guested on Yamazaki Rena’s radio show and they ate together.
-Sugai started considering graduation 2 years ago when Keyakizaka became Sakurazaka. A year ago, she decided to graduate.
-Sugai auditioned for Keyaki in her 2nd year of college because she was job hunting and admired idols.
-Sugai was surprised when she was announced as group captain. She was glad to receive the role, but says she’s not that type of person. At 34:55, she says the hardest part of being captain was when she was unable to convey the group’s thoughts or when news came out and she had to speak during live broadcasts or concerts. She was always nervous about selecting the right words to explain things or to make everyone happier, and felt the responsibility that what she said would become the collective voice of the group. There were occasions where she had to say things that didn’t reflect her true feelings or that she wasn’t confident in, and she has strong memories of just telling lies and whitewashing things.
-Kubo says Sugai is kind and asks if she’s shown anger to other members before. Sugai says she hasn’t exposed those emotions, but it's because she can't say such things that she purposely creates opportunities for the group to talk when something needs to be said. Everyone’s steady and doing their best now, but at first it was lonely and difficult. Instead of expressing anger, Sugai looks members in the eye and talks directly to them, but she doesn’t know if that’s necessarily the right way. There were girls who didn’t want to smile if it meant lying about their own feelings; Sugai valued everyone’s individuality and actually felt supported by the group not all being aligned the same, so she didn’t want to force members to do things.
-Sugai started riding horses weekly in Tokyo’s Sangubashi neighborhood after a classmate invited her in elementary school. She later joined a horse riding club near her family’s vacation home in Karuizawa and participated in equestrian competitions.
-Sugai started addressing her parents with the honorific -sama in order to pass a test to get into a kindergarten, and then it became a habit.
-Sugai plays the lead single of Sakurazaka46’s 1st album, Masatsukeisu.
-Sakurazaka members have been buying matching pairs of fluffy slippers to wear together when relaxing during arduous concert tours.
-Kubo says the Nogi 3ki have been playing the party game Word Wolf whenever they have free time together, for 6 years.
-Sugai says Koike Minami spills drinks, asks for help to open things, and asks others to eat her tomatoes. Kubo says Satou Kaede spills not only drinks, but full meals too.
-Kubo plays a song she listened to every day when going to stage rehearsals, Keyakizaka46’s Futari Saison.
-Right before entering Keyaki, Sugai sold beer at baseball games for 2 months in Tokyo Dome, which is also where she’ll hold her graduation concert next week. She hadn’t watched baseball before then, but she liked the baseball anime MAJOR. Drink vendors competed to get faster sales times, and vendors who did well would graduate from selling soft drinks to selling alcohol. The job built her leg muscles and she had to pay attention to who was more receptive to buying drinks. She was previously also a waitress at a family restaurant and an Italian restaurant.
-Sugai plays a Sakurazaka46 song popular with its members, Jouken Hansha de Naketekuru.
-Sugai sometimes eats snacks in bed, though not full meals like Kubo. In middle school, Sugai ate food in her older sister’s bed to avoid dirtying her own bed, but she left evidence and was discovered.
-Sugai plays a song that made her admire Nogizaka46 when she saw the music video, Seifuku no Mannequin.

 

I'm a little sad her gradcon didn't have a final Aozora ga Chigau performance

 

Same here, Aozora ga Chigau is one of Keyakizaka's cutest and most underrated song (and one of my all-time favorites from their repertoire, always putting a smile on my face). It is played at concerts though, and the crowd really gets into it. I guess it wasn't included since Sugai was the last MARRY member.

 

I can't help but feel like her graduation schedule was too rushed, can't help if that's what she wanted, but I felt like she'd have gotten a whole grad single. The gradcon setlist didn't even feel personalized for her and hardly did her Keyaki legacy any justice, except for Fukyouwaon and Sajin. Even if the rest of MARRY didn't show up, I thought she could have performed the song solo or with other members

 

I think Sugai wanted to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with her family, away from all the hassle of year-end presentations and Kouhaku (even if this last one didn't happen, but she didn't know that back then).

She could have performed Aozora ga Chigau either solo or with Rena, Hono, Karin, Morita and Masumoto/Onuma/Rei... Oh, well!

 

What do you think she will be doing now that she has graduated ? And anyone knows what she studied in college ?

 

Given she has a herself+staff Twitter account, she is going to continue talent/tarento activities for now, it seems.

I don’t think it is known what she studied.

 

Since she is from a really rich family, she can always work at her family business/firm if they have one, as a backup plan. .