Kawakami Chihiro (Chihhii)

I keep forgetting to comment how much I find her charming since way back when. She was good in Geinin as well. Apparently she's shy around strangers, but you can't tell once she hits the ice with her blades. If she didn't go the idol route and focused on her skating, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be in competitions and such instead.

It's funny how her personality sharply contrasts with Tani's.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g---QnYsEk[/yt]

 

Let's be honest here, she perhaps had the worst appearance of anyone in Geinin 2 (worse than Fuuchan bombing in front of Sanma, worse than Murokana and Yukitsun's apron thing). She just stood there in the maid episode and then in the next episode previews, couldn't even fake reading the script properly. Her theater MCs are some of the worst as well. She seems like she's really painfull shy and that will be hard for her going forward.

I am, however, not really faulting her much since she's so new. What is clear though is that she has alot of work on AND management is expecting quite a lot from her. She will be a regular soon so I hope she brings her game up and works on her performances and MCs.

 

I don't know why she was handed such a meager role in Geinin but for such a minor part I think she did okay. I do hope that in the future management would give her roles that would be more challenging and bring her out of her shell. One of the things I enjoy seeing about girls in 48G is their transformation from shy to self-confident characters. Hopefully she's given a chance to work outside her comfort zone and develop herself fully, like others have.

 

She was the only 4th gen to be given a role in Geinin. Not even Nagisa or Aika got to appear in it. That's incredibly huge unless you were expecting her to be a regular or something. Even Rinacchi and Yuuri only had 2 appearances.

I expect them to push her hard (like for example the next YNN series) so she'll have plenty of opportunities to grow.

 

I think she got a Geinin appearance because Keicchi appealed on her behalf. Riichan got an appearance because the producer was a fan of hers. I think Yuuri appeared because of lobbying by Milky.

So no, they didn't select her because of her outrageous talent or that she was that much better than other 4th gen KKS, but just favoritism, which is fine considering the kind of show it was.

 

You can explain the casting in Genin as completely random by just looking at how big Anchu's role was and how they even gave Yamamoto Hitomi a big role despite knowing she was graduating.

 

Hitomin didn't announce her graduation until after Geinin finished.

You can also argue that Anchu and Hitomin were chosen because they aspire to be in comedy acting, though Hitomin was more for one shot gags.

I just don't think it was really fair to judge Chihhi on Geinin given how raw she was at the time and that they didn't pick her to necessarily push her. And I think a lot of people think her shyness is endearing

 

I think she's a decent performer, I think she'll get over her shyness once she settles into her BII role.
Her Geinin role was worth it purely for the wakame gag, even though the gag was terrible she make Keicchi crack up and I think that made some people take note of her. Also she looks permanently half asleep in her suppin photo's which is quite cute in itself.

 

I think it's only a matter of time before her ice skating skill transfers into her performance. Athletes in general tend to transition well into dancing, with the non-related example being Dancing with the Stars, and the related example being Yamauchi Suzuran.

EDIT: Although not really a true measure of athletic skill, Yuuko soundly beat the crap out of everyone on Mechaike and is up there for being one of the best dancers in the 48g.

 

Of the top 3 4th gens, the ranking for talk skill probably goes: Nagisa > Aika > Chihhi. Being below Aika in sucking at talking is probably a feat unto itself. While Aika is an accident waiting to happen, she at least tries to say something. I get the feeling that Chihhi just gives up in the middle of MCs and retreats into her shell. You can see this in the MC after Ame no Doubutsu en. It almost always ends up as just Momorin and Yuumin talking to each other while Chihhi looks on.

I'm sure Chihhi will get better eventually. The B2 members will help her along. Its a shame Anchu is gone to M so there won't be any super strong personality during MCs but I think Antan, Konomin or Emichi can help her out.

You guys are right though. Her shyness is part of her charm, I guess.

 

Chihhii's shyness maybe is part of her charm, but really? - Well, I can not argue more about her cuteness because she is really that cute but, I see this factor not as "charm" but somekind of "trouble", I mean, yes indeed she is cute when she is shy when it comes to MC, but if she find a way to surpass that "problem" that would be very very spectacular (Frankly, I'm also like her shyness).

I saw her scating video(s) several time, that was awesome, she do have the talent but still hard to show it out and I do understand why they often put Chihhii in have-to-speak condition as the way to pull all the talent out of her.

About geinin.. well.. that was some kind of dream come true for me, I was not even thinking that she would actually appeared on the show (when that time I was babling and ranting that she will appears on the show with some kind of miracle).

I hope, I really really hope that she will work even harder to find how to advertise her talent in the future, she have a big dream, I heard that she want to be someone like Maeda Atsuko on her Sousenkyou appeal video, and I've 100% commited to watch this girl development (though rarely talk about it).

Sorry if this all sounds pretty obvious lol

 

All the shyness and bad MCs were all just setting up for this massive gap effect when she gets on the ice and becomes a pro:

 

Just watched this episode. She had a huge grin on her face right from the get go. The other 3 even mentioned it was the most excited they'd ever seen her.

 

Finally got a chance to see this. I like how she was shy at first but as they got to the rink and she got on the skates she just let go of all inhibitions. You can tell she really enjoys skating, and it seems she still hasn't yet reached her full potential. Frankly, I for one wouldn't mind if she decides to quit and pursue skating full-time. She seems to be happiest gliding across the ice.

 

That she can skate so well is really impressive since I'm assuming she hasn't had much time to train ever since entering NMB. Although not to burst anyone's bubble but skating in Japan is insanely competitive and at her age even if she started training crazily now, a double lutz and a bunch of spins probably relegates her to third-tier at best. Continuing to be an idol is probably in her best interests. She's said that she can do a double axel though, which would be impressive if she can do it consistently.

 

Chihhii's NMB main page photo.

 

Where'd everybody go?
Heads up! she's challenging one of the most difficult jump in figure skate. The double axel.

if the video does not show watch the video here

Chihi in a figure skating costume is the cutest thing ever especially when performing that song
And holy s!!# in her younger days she took 2nd place in national competition
no wonder her coach are the same person who instructed the Japanese athlete Machida Tatsuki for Sochi olympics.

 

I enjoyed that segment from the Genkai Toppa. In one of the YNN episodes she also demonstrated her skating skills, only that she did a double salchow, a less difficult jump than the double axel. I somehow sensed that she had in it her but didn't know she took 2nd place at the Japanese nationals. What an amazing girl.

 

Woah national level? That's quite something. I guess she was just shy to show her skills during YNN

 

Chiihii on her quest to take over the world.