Umemoto Izumi (Chiizu) / 2nd Generation

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Ugh so many graduations all the time! This sucks! I love Chiizu, why is she leaving!? </3

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Person i was watching with said for school stuff.

 

Nooooo.... why

 

She's leaving because of her big dream to become a singer-songwriter, to study music. Over time it's only grown and she's become a lot more vocal about how much she wants to be one.



In the last months she improved a lot: being more open, cheery, assertive, it felt to me like she really gained a lot of confidence. She also appeared on more shows, like Goboten, being more visible on Odekake, even that date episode with Meru, to just yesterday where she played the lead guitar for Maeshika at Kouhaku.
So yesterday I still thought that she was in for a good chance to move up in the group, standing-wise.
But now I see that her dream isn't being in senbatsu but being a singer-songwriter. I think that she's now ready to go for that, with the newfound confidence and openness in front of a crowd, ect. And lets be honest, becoming and focussing on being a singer-songwriter would probably not be at 100% while still being in the group.
As such I think this is the best move for her, at the right time. If her dream is really that big, she should try now, or regret it forever.

As for the other members, I think at least some have been in the know for quite a while. Meru didn't cry, she just supported Ume's back with her hand and seemed more proud & supportive than sad. A good amount of other members also weren't in shock, talked about it, Haruppi and Chiichan took her to the front platform to talk. This made me think that it's been well thought-through and that the decision grew over a long period of time, no sudden stuff. Probably also while talking with others I guess.

Her final performance will be next week, on Sunday 27th.

So all in all I think that it's the best decision for her, given her personal growth, age and her dream.

And a bright side, at least you can look forward to her first song now, one day, and the HKT members promoting it on their 755.

Some photos of her from Kouhaku:

 

Not another Izumi...

No more Izumi in HKT48!

 

Ok. What a bad way to start my day. This is a very sad new, I didn't expect this at all

 

Absolutely not expecting that, for the same reasons mentioned above; i was really feeling a growth in Chiizu for a while, from shaping a noticeable character among members and getting good reactions on show and stage performance. Sadness is striking fiercely as we were hoping for concrete results in sousenkyo, whispering "just a little bit longer" and get the efforts be rewarded. It was so close.

That being said, i don't think it's because of management lack of initiative or being cast aside that pushed Chiizu toward her decision to graduate. As she said in her post, she said a lot of good things happened to her and it was a well thought/hard decision to come up with. My point is, she has inherited the resolve/Willpower that all good idol build in their career, and choose to fully commit to her new goal, being a songwriter. She chose a path where she doesn't have to split her energy in two. Nothing less. For example, Haruppi chose to focus on her idol career after high school.

For those who have been following her, those years in HKT really feels like a split of second, but for Chiizu it was already the time to move on. Three years in an idol group is okay, even though i think she could have stayed a little bit longer. I will miss her smile. Who will be teased in Team H MC from now on?????

Good luck in your new path Chiizu.

 

Are you kidding?Noooo!It send a sting in my heart!But @DeJure makes me feel better so I really hope she won't drop the map!I'm definitly gonna support her in her new path!I'm happy for her!

 

NOO not Ume too! Just when I thought she was picking up steam. But I guess if she wants to follow her dream of a song writer, its the right thing to do.

This has been one hell of a night with 3 graduations announced... (Nishiyama Rena & Sae)

 

It's kinda sucks for me because I decided to make her oshimen now but she's graduating!I've been a fan of her since september but she already left a huge mark on me!

 

It kind of sucks finding out that someone's graduating in another thread. I haven't followed Chiizu's thread really, but she did capture my attention during episodes of Odekake. She's very talented on guitar, and she's athletic.

I'm sad that she's graduating, and doing it so quickly, but I'm happy that she has her future planned out for herself. Good luck with everything, Izumi!

 

Translated her G+ post:

It's kinda short, Ume is still Ume, girl of few words.
A girl close to her however, isn't one of few words, so I'll post her mail & G+ here as well. It has more insight into how things happenend.

Ume oshi will have a strong competitor ^^

 

Bless her heart for this way of thinking

 

Some brief tranlsation from Sasshi's latest mobame:

 

Ume still learned/gonna perform Tadaima Renaichuu: on the 21st, Emiri's seitansai

 

really hope she become top singer-songwriter in the future


some videos ume guitar covers

if the video does not show watch the video here

if the video does not show watch the video here

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

I feel sad for Meru. Can Ume write some songs for AKB, so she won't need to graduate? AkiP could use some help. JK JK. But that would be awesome if it happened. It could bring some indie-band songs into AKB. (I just imagine Ume is going to be in some punk rock band... )

I'm going to miss Ume, and although I will miss seeing her all the time on AKB stuff, I will be looking forward to seeing another side of her in her own music.

 

She posted a picture of her (well I think it's her) kissing Maria on the cheek on her G+! https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/photo/109108277996964299292/6229636911739953490 Why is she starting to get wild now?lol