[GENERAL] The Sakurazaka46 / Keyakizaka46 Thread

We've been translating some more interviews!

Yuuka's BLT interview. Like the other BLT(2020 October edition) interview posted recently, a rather in-depth interview about the renaming and her thoughts about it and Keyaki's future as a group

Karin x Ten interview from the recently released Bubka interview. They talk about various topic like renaming and last live. I wish we have more interviews with 2kises

Aoi x Ten interview from the documentary movie brochure. Really cute pair!

 

Ten-chan sure is getting lots of exposure as of late. Let's see if they really start goripushing her during Sakurazaka era.

 

As TenTen should, but I am in favor of a more measured approach to her. Her aura is pretty amazing and the intensity can still develop, but at age 15, there's plenty of time. And yes, I'm talking performance and center-wise.

We all know what happened last time they burned out a young girl with potential like her. No means am I saying that Ten is the same level as Techi, but you never know.

Personally I'd like to see a RunRun push before they even think about Ten.

 

I'm for a tenchan push. Not an excessive one since many fans seems to see her as the replacement of hirate. For that same reason I'd like to see her center only when sakurazaka's style is fully established. In the meantime they should let her center keyaki's old songs just to get her used to it and leave things to Runchan

 

Ten-chan is definitely gaining more attention from both fans and mmg. I personally think she’s the most center-material out of 2ki but I don’t think they’ll make her center before Runrun. Probably they’ll make her center 2nd row or a unit song center

Some members we can expect to be front: Pon, Risa, Runrun, Hono (not sure if we’ll have anyone from 2.5ki, Hikari centered 2.5ki part in Darekane but Rei seems to be the most popular for now).

 

^ As much as I love her, Ozono on first row from the beginning is the last thing I want to see (because that will get her more hates than support). Her popularity growth is steady and if she keeps it out she'll eventually end up there. Maybe some of the new 2ki will be drafted for 1st single but definitely not on front row

 

Feel bad for karin it seems she fell from grace. at the beginning she seemed to be the ace but now overtaken by hikaru.
I'm up for hikaru center but if she come first row, who will be her pair? no offense to her but she needs member around her height to match the formation. all popular members are tall : risa, sugai, akane, hono, pon, habu. maybe pon but if pon is the center then they need someone else to pair hikaru with so the formation not looks odd. we have mon before but now she's gone we need another chibi popular member. hope mmg will push kosaka but it seems she is not ready yet.

saimajo is my alltime favorite first row. it is very well balanced first row composed by a passionate center, flanked by a pair of excellent main singer and main dancer around same height, and at the outer flank are a radiant visual and an all-rounder to complete them. Ambivalent comes 2nd if risa was swapped with pon.

 

Maybe Karin (I do think Karin-Ten is a more possible pair though)? In 10pool there's a portion where Karin and Run dance together, I didn't really notice any unbalance. Pon and Zuumin also have a similar height difference to Karin-Run while Mon was paired with Yuuka in Sekai Ai. If that still doesn't work then she'll either center or be pushed back to (center) 2nd row

 

Does it have to be a 2nd gen? We can try a 1st gen like Koike. Or Matsuda.

 

If we are talking height wise in 1ki, Uemu would be the choice to pair with RunRun, but as much as Uemu is lovely she's only okay when it comes to dancing. RunRun is a little dynamo that it would be good to pair her with someone who can keep up with her.

I thought RunRun and Karin paired pretty well in 10gatsu too. That duo can be good.

Can I just say is fun to speculate and discuss about centers and formations again we were spoiled for so long

 

I considered the shorter ones like Uemura and Ozeki, but they lack popularity (and are not generally considered to be great dancers). Saitou and Satou are taller but again lack popularity. Harada is an interesting option. For the 2nd gens, Takemoto is another <160cm, but not as prominent. I don't know enough of the 2.5s to comment.

 

For SKRZK46 1st single (god, i still bitter with the renaming), If pon comes as the center and hikaru 1st row best choice for me personally airdrop 2,5 gens to pair with her as their popularity still build up. Moriya Rena seems to be a good choice to be paired with her (visually balanced, dunno about skill though). And it seems rena is well favored by management. If Sakurazaka wants to establish more faces to general public, Rena is a fine choice and it will be good to push her. (Or kosaka, and we have twins flanked the center. Impossible though lol). But keyaki was all about performance, they did ignore popularity in formations (Neru, girl i miss u). We still to look forward what sakurazaka will bring on the table, as hikaru is also a solid contender for centership.

For the 1st gens i dunno but it seems with the dynamic mmg built around new group, apart from pon, the others are there for support only as they are still carry the pride of keyakizaka. how long especially the older ones will stay in the group? Sugai, Rika is on the older side, Akane and Risa also i considered old enough (for sugai i think her time will be limited to 2 years max i suppose) then who will take the captainship? akane? matsuda?
for other 1st gens it seems they enjoy performing and i'm glad they are still there to support the new group.

 

Moriya Akane can be the "sergeant major" of the group (she's a 軍曹 after all) but not the captain; her personality is suited for the former but not the latter. The captain leads from the front and the sergeant cracks the whip from behind. Sugai's shoes are kind of hard to fill. The commonly forwarded name is Matsuda and appears to be the most likely choice for now. Another choice is probably Inoue Rina. Or maybe both Sugai and Moriya will step down at the same time and two 2nd gens take over.

 

Except for being the one to deliver mngmnt messages what exactly meant being Keyaki captain in last 5 years? I think there're no shoes to fill yet. Next one will have to find her own path and I believe Marina is already a fan favorite for the role, even if she may not be that malleable by mngmnt, so it's still not 100% sure it will be her.

@Gilrandy the ones you named from 1ki are also the most pushed before and after the announcement. So I'm not sure they are there only for support. Or, at least, I believe they are ready to take the lead. Risa said so repeatedly and Pon waited for the chance since 2nd year.
I'm also not sure why height should suddenly matter, but I'm curious enough to see how it will work in Sakura. As for the senbatsu... I don't really care. It's a loss for me and the group in my opinion, but I agree with @techizaka putting Rei on first row right now may make her a target. As much as I want to see her shine, I think that can wait.
Same as for my AkihoRex.... even though I can't wait for her to literally destroy the stage

I never agreed with the reasons behind some fans push for Karin as center from the first moment, but her performances so far showed she can bring something qualitatively high on stage. So I'm pretty curious to see her too.
Once again, there's tons of talent in the group... hopefully we are not going to waste it again

 

Shiichan!

 

Shiichan's graduation is expected. I've felt that she was graduating from the moment they announced her hiatus so I was just waiting for her to officially confirm it. It's nice that she'll graduate with Keyakizaka.

 

Agree.
I can't be sad right now about Shiichan, graduating at the same time as Keyaki feels like we are still walking at the same pace, and who knows, I may see her in Europe soon or later lol
At the same time, I wonder if it couldn't have been planned a little better and not 2 days before the concert and if it's a good sign or if other grads will come soon after rebranding.
We talked about centers and front members, but that means others will be pushed back and I don't know how much it will be worth for them to stay.

 

I'm ok with it, she doesn't fit well the refined supermodels image of Sakurazaka. The next that should leave before the new start is Ozeki.

 

^Shiori is easily one of the most elegant, refined, and graceful members of the group both personality and performance wise. If anyone would have fit that concept well it would have been her. Unfortunately for you it seems you didn't understand her appeal enough no notice any of this, not that you ever bother to watch the idols before you pass judgement on them anyway..

Also, someone point me to the official announcement of Sakurazaka being a refined supermodel group- oh wait there wasn't one. Funny that.

 

I can't say I'm shocked or surprised by this announcement. 1kis have been in this group since 2015 and is expected to see more graduate from this gen.

Next year will be 3 years since they held a new audition. If covid-19 is gone I expect a new audition to take place next year. And I hope they remove the kenshusei concept, it's not fair to the girls. They should accept more members immediately than holding them as trainee.