Single Sakurazaka46 7th Single [Shounin Yokkuu] (2023/10/18)

I was wondering when they're going to release the 7th single but here it is. While I'm not going to speculate who will be the center. I think I can expect this:

- 3rd gen members not being a separated unit, It is time. I don't see any reason to having them apart form the rest.

- Sakura Eight coming back formally, as I said before, I think Start Over did keep the Sakura system but as a Sakura Ten without formally being labeled as that. With the number of active members it's possible to have eight members for 1st and 2 row and rotating the remaining members for 3rd row.

 

I think most of us took the chance to forget about Saku8

Whatever mngmnt choose, the hype around the group is definitely growing, which is always a great thing.
Can't wait to see M&G results

 

Front Row: Taniguchi Airi. Morita Hikaru (C), Yamashita Shizuki
2nd Row: Yamasaki Ten, Tamura Hono, Kobayashi Yui, Fujiyoshi Karin, Moriya Rena, Ozono Rei
3rd Row: Matsuda Rina, Masumoto Kira, Nakashima Yuzuki, Koike Minami, Murai Yu, Habu Mizuho

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very happy to see airi and shizuki in the front. Hikaru center again I am quite satisified.

 

I'm happy my oshi is center again, idk the Sakurazuki choreo with the clock formation felt like a bit of foreshadowing to me. Happy for the four 3ki who made it in, its the 3 girls who centered songs plus Yu, so I think it will do well imo

 

Chibiko
Nice formation all girls from 3d gen that I want to see in sembatsu are here! Also I missed Hikaru as center and now she is chosen as center And Shizuku in front.
Perfect!

 

the good:

• 3ki finally! i just wish they could've snuck in one more at least.
• hikaru center! it was about time that she got another solo a-side center. this should also be her first solo CD cover.

the bad:

• sad that inori was dropped. i feel like management might start swapping her and chuke around from now on, so the days of having them both in senbatsu are probably over.
• kinda sucks that habu-chan didn't get the ceremonial shadow center position for her grad single.
• very worried about the "backs members" phrasing lol. i hope that's simply how they'll be referring to their under members and these girls won't just be stuck in the 3rd row of b-sides without proper songs (and MVs) of their own.

 

Ohhhh, this looks good.
With 3kis on senbatsu I find Hikaru choice as center very conservative, and it's not a bad thing.
She helped to pull Sakura forward steadily and she'll be a very good model for 3kis to follow.

I'm very surprised they chose to put Habu at the end of last row. Since it's her last single I would have put her at least in the center of the row, if not as the center of second row.

Other than this, Yu is my future center choice so I'm happy. She's not ready for it yet, but she will be soon and I'm waiting for it.

And even though she's my favorite 3ki-kid, it keeps surprising me the push mngmnt is giving Yuzu. I'm not complaining, just surprised.
When I finally chose her as 3ki oshi I though I would have to wait a lot before seeing her shine somewhere other than in variety... and instead, look at her


Edit: just saw the episode and TakeYui is in senbatsu too. 3rd row but still in

 

Dawn of a new era. Is this the quickest that new members have entered the senbatsu? Shii-chan and Airi are both excellent combinations of attractiveness, dance skill, singing ability, and reliability. Shii-chan was quoted yesterday as saying she had recently started to become dissatisfied with her performance. Commenters suggested that this meant she was at centre. Not quite, but close. She looks across at Runrun and thinks she herself must do better.

I had been thinking of these two excellent short members -- to me the top candidates among the 3gens -- and wondering how to combine them in a front line with taller members without it looking weird. Good solution: "average height 151cm mini-front" (to quote a Japanese comment). A front with an average height under 5 feet (4' 11-3/4").

Runrun at centre makes perfect sense for other reasons, as well: for her own ability and presence, and to stabilize the new girls and lift them to new heights.

I'm disappointed not to see Miu in the senbatsu, but she subbed in at today's "Osaka Gigantic Music Festival" in BAN, to great praise: "tall and kakkoii". I understand why management thinks Miu-chan needs more time: she is a great dancer but lacks confidence. Becoming too prominent too soon could knock her for a loop. Pardon me if I think of Techi. I look forward to possibly seeing Miu centre a song on the album. And like a Japanese commenter, I look forward to a Backs Live.

We get Yuzu instead, and it's easy to see why: she did a great job centring Anthem Time in the July mini-live, and she is serious, reliable, beautiful, a good dancer...and funny.

Here's an illustration of the senbatsu combining images from SokoSaku:



I saw predictions over the past couple of days that there would be 3-5 3gens in the senbatsu. The number is four.
Which 1-2 gens are left out? Uemura, Saitou, Endou Hikari, Oonuma, Inoue, Kousaka.
Which 3gens? Ishimori, Odakura, Murayama, Kojima, Endou Riko, Mukai, Matono.

Hard on Fuu-chan, in particular. But her role as dance leader had become less necessary, with the influx of great dancers and the growing experience of the good dancers among the 2gens. Especially Takemoto? She has become a variety star as well.

Lots of comments regretting Inori's absence and hoping it isn't permanent.

 

Disappointed they returned to the Sakura 8 system. Or rather the whole three members front row thing which I find dull. I don't mind the formation, although I think I would have picked Miu over Yuu. Really happy Hikaru is center again, hopefully she gets a solo cover and hopefully Osrin is back bc the covers for the last two singles were quite bad.

It really sucks for Hikari that she was on hiatus during Start Over bc I think that was her only chance of getting into senbatsu bc it seems like having the entire group in was a one time thing.

 

As I expected, the Sakura system never disappeared, it's still not labeled as that, but the signs were always there ( CD Covers, and Coupling Songs).

I guess the reason why they don't keep mentioning the Sakura 8 is because is not 8 anymore and the number will be changing, and they don't want to change name to Sakura 10 or Sakura 9.

BACKS is officially back (lol) so I guess the 12 remaining members will participate in the coupling songs like in previous singles.

Now, about the formation, I love center rotation but Hikaru deserves her solo Cover so totally fine with her as center.

It's kind of funny, in Start Over the front row was all the center members the group had, and now the front is the 3rd gen centers plus the 1st center of the group.

But what I don't like at all is Habu in 3rd row, how is that possible? I mean, she's graduating.

Could it be that she announced her graduation after the senbatsu announcement among the members.

I wish I could see another graduation center, but it seema it won't happen ever again.

 

Personal opinions(i was busy the whole day)

- I guess that's why Runrun didn't got any center in 5th and 6th single. Management probably didn't want to saturate her image. For me, this makes sense.

- I was surprised to see Murai Yu on senbatsu. I thought maybe Konnagi or Enriko(she was pushed in the 3rd gen documentary). But i'm happy for her. I'm wondering if Yu, Yuzuki, Habu and Chuke's spot will be rotative so every girl can have a chance.

- This might be unpopular opinion. But i don't like such a *short*(badumtss) front row. I would rather see the 16 girls like this 5-5-6.

- Why not Habu 2nd row center? Is she at least getting a grad song?

- Can we consider Airi and Shizuki perma senbatsu? I think so.

 

-- I think Yuu-chan is still considered a superior dancer. She was really the dance leader for the post training camp training, with Nagi communicating her ideas to the members. I feel as if Yuu and Yuzuki will continue to be in senbatsu, and Chuke dances well and is becoming more featured, so may stay as well. Not that I know who might be swapped out to let other members in. Maybe the group is so good almost all members can swap in and out without lowering the quality.

-- I'm thinking that Sakurazaka is now (still?) Takahiro's baby, and he and Aki-P and Konno-san want to make them recognized as a legendary dance ensemble, as the lyrics of Isshun no Uma say. So as good as Habu is, they are thinking of the future, and being rather cold. Those lyrics talk about the group being like a fast horse, racing along "faster than anyone" until they disappear. It does occur to me that Habu was indeed featured in Start Over. And maybe she will get a grad song. In any case, Takahiro can move people around so much that more than "front row" members get featured in the front row.

-- Failing injury or madness, I think Airi and Shii-chan are definitely stuck in: Airi is a very good dancer with charming expression and reactions and a decent voice; Shii-chan can also sing but primarily she is an absolutely top dancer, reportedly in Takahiro's opinion, and also in mine since her amazing performance in Seijaku no Bouryoku. I was never a fan of her personality or even looks, but her amazing performance there totally won me over. I think she can lead the dance from the front, as members imitate her seriousness and the sharpness and exactness of her movements.

I'm hoping for the MV either this Monday or this Wednesday. Start Over was on YouTube 29 days before release: that would be Tuesday of this week. Sakurazuki was 21 days before, which would be Wednesday of next week.

 

Interesting line-up, putting 2 3rd-gens on the front row (No surprises if Airi centers the 8th single). I would have swapped Kira with Inoue or even Miu. Maybe Inoue would be the center for the Backs group. I had hoped to see Habu as 2nd row center, but oh, well.

Is management asking the fans for Need for Approval of this line-up?

 

Considering how much some JP fans are complaining because Inori is out, i think she has chances of coming back.

However i feel bad for Fuyuka, Uemu, Marinosu, Onuma and Hikarin. It will get even harder for them to join senbatsu now since 3ki is strong and S&F wants(and needs) to push them.

 

I was going to wait until we had more info but now that Real Sound showed the CD jacket cover for 7th single I have thoughts.

I'm not surprised management and Aki-P went for Airi and Shii-chan as front members. They were pushed from the get go. Not only their singing ability but also expressions. Singing ability is going to have competition among 3rd gen.

Shii-chan and Airi were obvious, but we have to wait and see if there will be solo content in this single. Enriko, Murai, Ishimori and Kojima are going to fight for a position in the future.

What is good about this the upcoming albums will be filled with content unlike the first album.

 

Judging by the lineup, especially the front row, this will be an expressive or dance-heavy song. Or both. I would be fine with any of it, I'm really glad they put Morita in the center to lead the 3rd gen. The 2nd gen is really strong too! x)
With a 2nd row like that, I can kind of understand Matsuri and Koike in the 3rd row, although I wouldn't have been sad if they had a more prominent position. Maybe the dance formation will put Habu and Matsuri in the spotlight more than one might expect given their placement.
I'm really curious to see how this single will turn out, but I'm very happy with the lineup

 

I like Airi, so I am glad to see her in the front row of the senbatsu.

I am kind of surprised how Sakuzaka is quite conservative with their senbatsu members, it has been fluctuating between 15 to 17 in the past few singles. Honestly, even if they include all members of 3 gens in the senbatsu (like Hinazaka is currently doing), it won't be too crowded.

 

Oh no one posted the group artist photo yet:

 

Sakurazaka is taking a similar approach to Nogizaka, who also tends to be conservative with its senbatsu members and has at best 3 rotational spots to give some under girls a chance. Hinatazaka might take the same route in the future since when 4ki joins senbatsu(maybe even in this new album, if they wanna use it as a symbol to start a new era for the group).

My bet is that Habu, Chuke and Murai Yu spot might be rotational in Saku.

 

I guess they think more members on stage would mess up the choreography for a group that evidently will continue to emphasize dance. And because of their dance ability I'm not sure they'll want to rotate out Chuke and Yuu.

Trying to get anyone else in might be a struggle. But after Habu graduates, I expect Miu to replace her in Shounin Yokkyuu performances.

I was always a supporter of the "all 22" in Keyaki, and I'd probably even support "all 27" now. But I see the problem.