Minegishi Minami (Miichan) / 1st Generation

To be honest ... there are several other things they could do, like some kind of history for the team captains and the general managers
(like small portraits and a small history by the team member photo's (the size of a member portrait))

It has been mentioned

I'll throw in another tidbit both Minami's have in common, allegedly both were ultimately selected based on random things
Takamina, because she was 1.48 and her birthdate 4/8/1991 which both have 48 in it
Miichan, because she shares her birthday with Togasaki-san

(for Miichan, rumour has it she was about to be rejected until TGSK noticed that)

 

I think you're refering to this?
https://nihongogo.com/2013/11/akb48-manager-togasaki-tomonobu-hit-with-allegations-of-drug-use/
and
https://www.tokyoreporter.com/japan...-drugs-accompanying-college-girl-love-hotels/

(the first article talks about 'affairs with minors' the bunshun article tallks about a 19 year old girl, as I'm assuming the first article is based on the second and the 'minors' claim is kinda bogus)

To be completley frank, I don't think TGSK sexually harassed any AKB members, I got the sense he really cared about the members, there's a scene where a member has to announce graduation because of a scandal and TGSK is crying backstage
Furthermore Mendol Ikemen is from 2008 while this is from 2013 and yeah, TGSK got demoted after this, but that seemed to have been explicitly over the illegal substance use and only he only really left in 2018

the whole 'casting couch' bit in Mendol Ikemen has IMHO more to do with AKB in that time tending to tackle more of these issues, like self harm, homosexuality, teen pregnancy and compensated dating

and in light of Miichan's latest column... I kinda suspect she would be talking out about that happening, and for sure Sasshii would
(Miichan did talk about being 'stalked' around that time, but that was not by TGSK)

but I might of course be completely wrong ... he did get a lot of flak by appearing in a pic with the NGT manager around that whole disaster

 

ok ... my bad

but, seeing how Miichan reacted in that AKBingo episode where they had to win over 5 guys and someone (probably Sata) said "you should have shown some more (skin)" when she failed to win over the guy from the burlesque bar(?)
and Miichan's reaction was "You know I'm only 15? right?" ... and the way she said that ... I don't really think so

(it wasn't AKBingo, it was AKB 0ji 59fun, all the way back in 2008)


well, it took awhile, but my Miicchan Graduation items have arrived at FromJapan
I doubt I'll have them here before next sunday, but you never know ... if they do I can swing my light stick like a true wota

still happy though

 

Second colaboration video with Gachapin and Mukku is up, it's a dance video


if the video does not show watch the video here

you have to feel for the people in the costumes jumping around in a like that, luckily it's no too warm yet

update:
they danced to Flying get on the Gachapin channel

if the video does not show watch the video here

ok, I'm going to say it ... but this costume shows that Miichan is in a really good shape ... as they said in that celery sketch with Kawaei "naisu bodii"


Asahi Kasei will be distributing cherry coloured light sticks (well, not exactly light sticks, light ballons? )
https://twitter.com/asahikasei_ad/status/1393393309947596802
=================
弊社は5/25に開催される「17LIVE presents AKB48 15th Anniversary LIVE 峯岸みなみ卒業コンサート」を応援しています！ 当日は桜色のスティックバルーンを配布しますので、会場を彩り峯岸さんの卒業をお祝いしましょう！ コンサートの模様は17LIVEでも配信！お楽しみに！
-------------------------------
We support "17 LIVE presents AKB48 15th Anniversary LIVE Minegishi Minami Graduation Concert" to be held on May 25th! We will distribute cherry-colored stick balloons on the day, so let's decorate the venue and celebrate Minegishi's graduation! The concert will be delivered on 17 LIVE! looking forward to!
-------------------------------

Miichan responded
https://twitter.com/chan__31/status/1393555667739287553
=================
声援がないコンサートを少し寂しく思っていたのですが、旭化成さんのおかげで耳も目も寂しくならずに済みそうですにありがとうございますさん、いっぱい鳴らしてね！
------------------------------
I was a little lonely at the concert without cheering, but thanks to Asahi Kasei, it seems that my ears and eyes will not be lonely. you very much Fortunately, everyone, please ring a lot!
------------------------------

which confirms there will be no mix or other chants .... but the balloons have a bell?

 

Sometimes Deepl does weird stuff
It translates１３年６月 as june 2001, but that should obviously be june 2013

and I noticed Deepl has a habit of repeating phrases as well as in

(edit: I broke up the lines, but the article really repeats itself like that, but the translation changed to:
"When I asked her if she was happy being an idol, she replied, "I've reached the point where I'm happy being an idol.
When I was about to graduate, I thought, 'I'm so lucky to have joined AKB48.
After 15 years in AKB48, I think I'm finally on the plus side. I feel very healthy," she smiled.")

Even tough it's kinda late, it's decent of them to apologize for having Miichan pose like Kato-chan, I must at it might well have been after the Mechaike BAKA48 episode where they dressed her up like that as well.
But it did give us a funny pick of Miichan berating the reporter

it's funny to see that 'everybody' seems to be really interested in/obsessed with Miichan's future partner ... it's a topic that came up in several recent TV shows where she participated

Only other story I know is the well known fact of fans telling AkiP and TGSK to add a certain girl working in the café to the group


Nikkan Sports also had a short article
https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/news/202105160000878.html

I'm guessing there has been a set of promotional interviews

from 48G Kingdom twitter
===============================
During Team4 stage just now Okada Nana told fans that she & Murayama Yuiri planning to do something tomorrow for their mama , Minegishi Minami.
--------------------------------------------------------

Mama&Son tweeted this
================================
＼お知らせ／ ■「峯岸みなみ卒業コンサート〜桜の咲かない春はない～」グッズの販売について コンサート当日の混雑回避のため、会場販売はございません。ECサイトのみの販売となります。※5月31日23:59まで お早めにチェックください。 【Mama&Son officialshop】
----------------------------------------------------------
\Notice/ ■ "Minegishi Minami Graduation Concert-There is no spring without cherry blossoms-" About the sale of goods There will be no sales at the venue to avoid congestion on the day of the concert. Only the EC site will be sold.※ Please check as soon as possible until 23:59 on May 31st. [Mama & Son official shop]
----------------------------------------------------------
so it seems you might want to get your order in before the end of the month, not selling stuff at the venue for sure is a missed opportunity for them, but a very sensible one to be honest


to follow up on the Nikkan Sports thing I mentioned, it seems they'll have an article everyday up till the graduation concert, looking back at Miichan's career
https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/news/202105130000909.html
this article has so many great pics

Miichan and Sasshii, the ultimate variety queens, variety rivals and still bffs of AKB

Miichan and her second big sister, Takamina who had a place in her heart for all AKB group members, but a special place for Miichan

The 80's idol Matsumoto Iyo in the center is a regular on Utage and way back stated that she didn't want Miichan to talk to her son like in the dating segment Miichan just did in the 80 idols vs. AKB48 show, as it was just too dangerous ....
(at 2:34)

if the video does not show watch the video here


we're on the home stretch now, with less then a week to go and I admit I'm kinda sad, but Miichan seems happy, so that's good

I read comments on her latest YouTube video by people who said she looks younger ... and I think they are right
if you compare the thumbnail of above video with this

as if time has stood still (or regressed)

Sankei Sports is also running an article/interview


Miichan also noticed the amount of articles
https://twitter.com/chan__31/status/1394344121515405314
====================
沢山のスポーツ紙に私のインタビュー掲載してもらってます！！！！すごい！！！！ありがたい！！！！いよいよ！！！！！ 今日もお酒を飲みませんでした（526日目）
-------------------------------------
I have my interview published in many sports newspapers! !! !! !! Amazing! !! !! !! Thank you! !! !! !! Finally! !! !! !! !! I didn't drink alcohol today (Day 526)
-----------------------------------

the 'Finally' does it for me, deep down inside she still is Shaku

 

todays interview/article in Nikkan Sports
https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/news/202105170001261.html

Yunamogion had a campfire discussion about Miichan or her graduation
(it seems have been made a long time ago but they couldn't upload it till the actual concert it seems)

if the video does not show watch the video here

btw the title is '【予告】卒業直前のみぃちゃんとコラボ動画を撮りたい！【ロケハン】'

'"Announcement" We want to make a collaboration video with Miichan just before graduation! "Location Hunting"'

I read this comment:
The episode where Minegishi-chan told Kojiharu she didn't want to go to the lesson because she was scared of Mogi...

yeah, I think I can see that

Miichan tweeted about the Yunamogion video
https://twitter.com/chan__31/status/1394701802579259395
=============================
寝られなくてこれ観てた。 みんな可愛い。寂しい。 コラボの動画ちょっと攻めてます... お楽しみに！ 【予告】卒業直前のみぃちゃんとコラボ動画を撮りたい！【ロケハン】
@YouTube
より
----------------------------------------------------
I couldn't sleep so I watched this.
Everyone is so cute. I miss them.

The collaboration video is a bit aggressive...
I hope you enjoy it!

I want to make a collaboration video with Mii just before graduation! [Location] [
@YouTube
------------------------------------------------------

 

today another article in the Nikkan Sport series leading up to Saturday
https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/photonews/photonews_nsInc_202105180000637-3.html

DeepL missed the whole Ariyoshi quote, as it was a quote inside a quote
But talking aout that, I think one of the charms of the young Miichan was that she basically just said everything, if you read old posts about Miichan they call her brutal or savage, but imho it's just that she was so young she still tended to be (brutally) honest.
AKB let her do some interview segments on AKB Show(?), in one she has as guest a comedian who isn't as famous anymore as he used to be, and as (as a joke) presents a new gag.
after having Miichan do the gag as well he ask her if this will revive his popularity ... and Miichan honestly (and laughing) says no, she doesn't think so

yeah, that was kinda brutal, but it was mostly just being honest and going with the flow of the whole segment.

but there is of course the whole respect versus honesty thing, you are not always supposed to say what you think
(not just in Asia, foreigners moving to the Netherlands are known to be in for a bit of a shock as mostly Dutch people tend to value 'honesty' over 'respect', so ask someone if they think what you are wearing looks good, don't be surprised if they tell you it looks horrible )

in the end Miichan seems to have been getting along with Ariyoshi just fine btw


ow, come on!
source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPDvChZMq9X/

卒業コンサートまで、あと3日
three days till the graduation concert

isn't that the best teaser ever? ... Miichan in a, for her, pretty iconic costume and Beaver-san!

I so hope she'll be performing Gyakuten Oujisama with Komiharu ... and I need to think who the other member should be in that case (in the 2016 (61) and 2020 (32) Request Hour Miichan performed it with Komiharu and Yuirii)
Yuirii would be ok ... both Naachan and Mogi are too cool for this song imho ... so maybe Miion or Sahhoo ... or any of the other still active Minegishi Team 4 members

(O, I'm still thinking of a stage with a huge beaver-san, like the teddybear at Yuko's 'failed' gradcon, but don't expect it)

btw, Sae responded to Miichan's instagram post, must be memories for her as well, as she handed over to Miichan in K-6 from Kiseki wa Ma ni Awanai

I just read the lyrics ..
My upside down prince
He doesn't look good
But inside he's so sincere
And lovely
well, that matches pretty neat with what Miichan said about her partner to be in one of the recent interviews

 

Third Nikkan Sports article

Miichan: "I can't say it was good, but maybe it wasn't bad." ....
I would say, the scandal was bad, but the end result was great, I'm pretty sure Miichan would have graduated years ago without her new start as a kenkyusei and Minegishi Team 4



in other news .... Graduation Concert items appeared!!!

please ignore the clutter on my desk :/




to my everlasting surprise I'm able to get my oversized torso into the t-shirt (but I still better go on a diet)
The concert vest was a nice surprise, and Beaver-chan seems to be the chosen logo for the whole concert as he/she's on almost every thing


The lightstick is multi coloured

 

Even shorter

https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/news/202105180000637.html

You don't need to show that you found the page from twitter.

utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nikkansports_ogp is not needed.

 

I forget to edit/shorten the url's most of the time .... but to be honest, no need to give twitter more money
I tend to check my posts, but yesterday's post was rather long ... :/ so, my bad, sorry
and I only now noticed I didn't add the link to the third article

btw, there will be a talk session on 17live after the concert, not sure how Miichan is going to do that without falling asleep, for sure she'll just want to go home, maybe take a bath and go to sleep
this must be a really busy week with rehearsals but also her radio show etc.
not sure how yunamogion think they'll be able to fit a YT collab video in that schedule

the thing with Miichan and being 'rude', back then she did that .... and then gave everybody that big mischievous smile/grin of her ... and it seems the people present just would/could not get mad at her

I yesterday rewatched the first Snack Kissa Eden episode, she inadvertantly throws some shade at Komuro Tetsuya and totally gets away with it ... the gay boyscout leader kissing Komuro eventually happens because Miichan says that Lilly Franky can tell if he's compatible with someone by kissing him/her
Snack Kissa Eden was a weird show, as much of it seems to have been ad-libbed, which is a rather risky idea when you have three inexperienced main characters like Takamina, NyanNyan and Miichan


Someone did a writeup of the first episodes, which is lucky, as as far as I know there are no English subtitles
http://akb48wup.com/2012/10/tv-recap-cafe-snack-eden-feat-no-sleeves-episode-1/

Lilly Franky called Miichan 'Wombat' ... and that was the start of a good friendship

btw, Komuro Tetsuya's character was a bunch of shade in itself, making his character a failed writer with just one hit novel, he had, in real life, been arrested for fraud in 2008, selling the copyright to his songs to two different persons ...


btw, I think I might try to order more of the 'desktop' Miichan's .... I stupidly assumed it would be a set ... but I should have know it was just one figure (good thing I ordered 2 )
never mind that idea ... all sold out



And we have the date of Miichan's final theatre performance
Friday 28 May ... so next week
https://twitter.com/chan__31/status/1395391876476280835
https://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-12675664924.html
Miichan said she had an announcement to make on her radio show, and this was it.

 

It's kinda funny how 2 seconds in the Maama in Japan show caught people's attention, it's blink and you miss her



Article number 4 has been published

Miichan telling her kouhai to be confident, while she constantly questions her own abilities
I think she has a point about the shift focus of the individual members, more towards their personal gains in stead the groups goals, but it's hard to have a group goal when you have achieved everything, so that must have been the time when the goals of members started to change.

btw, I have no doubt there are still members who just want the group to be succesfull

note: I'm going to have a better look at the
" but rather than saying, 'Let's work together,' some of us are saying, 'Let's work together.　Rather than saying, "Let's work together," I felt that some of us want to be the centre of the group, and some of us want to make ourselves more famous."
passage, it might be that Deepl did his thing again, or she used two different expression with a slightly different meaning that in translating come out the same

edit: google yields this:
"For example, what I felt after being selected for the first time in three years with the single" Lost Love, Thank You "last year is that we are now gathering from sister groups, but let's all do our best together!
Rather, some people want to aim for the center,
Do some people want to raise their personal name, or are they aiming for different places? I felt that. Of course, that is the original concept of AKB48, but it is also true that I felt lonely. "
which does make more sense (but remove a newline and the meaning changes :/ )

ow, the AKB staff twitter has been counting down to the concert with short clips by members
Today it was (of course) Miichan's turn
https://twitter.com/AKB48_staff/status/1395537319675924482
Happy Miichan

Miichan tweeted this
https://twitter.com/chan__31/status/1395629424536522756
=====================================
#峯岸みなみ卒コン
#祝みぃちゃん卒業
なんか可愛い絵文字がついてて可愛い（語彙力） 会場に来れない皆さんは、17LIVEで生配信を観ながらこのタグをつけてバンバン呟いてください！！それをエゴサするのを終演後の楽しみとしますね
======================================
#峯岸みなみ卒コン
#祝みぃちゃん卒業
It's cute with some cute emoji (vocabulary) If you can't come to the venue, please attach this tag and mutter while watching the live stream on 17LIVE! !! I'm looking forward to egosurfing it after the performance
Nice to meet you
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

egosurfing it's true, Miichan wants to be praised today, tomorrow ... always


ow. the Yunamogion video with Miichan is up

if the video does not show watch the video here
They have been saving this for a year it seems
====================================
I'm Naa.
At last... at last... tomorrow!
Miichan's graduation concert will be
will be held ✨❤️.
This video is also
I'm so excited!
It's been over a year since I've seen it.
I'm so excited to see you guys!
This is the time to burn it all with fire.
I hope you all have
You have one or two things in your past that you want to get rid of.
I'm sure you have one or two.
In that case
Let's burn them in a bonfire.
Burn it all away.
and live as a new person
Let's live from now on!
Well, no matter what kind of black history you have
I love you
I love you very much
I love you too!
your black history too!
We'll take your black history in our hands
If you can write
Please leave a comment!
----------------------------------------------------------------

Things they burned
Yuirii: 音痴キャラ事件 - Tone deaf character incident
Naachan: カラコンつけま時代 - Color contact lens era
Miichan: 自分の世界 - One's own world
Mogi: 後輩つきとばし事件 - Incident involving a junior colleague
Miion: アメーバピグでイキってた - I was alive with Ameba Pigg

Miichan talks about the period when she withdrew from the group as she didn't know what to talk about with them (Nacchan: was that before you got demoted )
btw, Naachan has a point as that Miichan was kina famous for being in her own little world in the dressing room as Sae told in the Ranking High and Low episode, always reading a manga or her phone or listening to music (probably Back number )

Miichan's second plank: 港区が庭 - Minato ward is a garden
ow, the answer to the question how long has she stopped drinking gives us a date for the video, 94 days after 8 december, so March/April 2020?

Miion's second plank: 自分のこと「ぼく」って呼んでた - I called myself 'Boku' (male form of 'I' )

Mogi's second plank: 自分のこと「俺」って言ってた - I was saying "Ore" about myself (also for males, but even less informal)

Hilarity ensues

ow the last plank ... when Miichan returns, I had trouble finding a translation as I thought it was 3 kanji ... it wasn't, it was just two, it said
坊主
monk
(no explanation needed)

There must be some symbolism in that being a much sturdier plank as the others
(ow, and it's not sad ... Miichan looks content )