Single Sakurazaka 2nd [BAN] (2021/04/14)

Sorry for responding to this so late, but I was just watching a showroom the Borderless cast did, and it was pretty clear that Risa and Yui have a very good relationship with Kyonko. Also, in a recent Sakamichi tv thing that I happened to watch, there was an interview with the captains of the 3 groups, and you could tell that Yuuka and Kumi are on good terms. They were occasionally complimenting each other, and I felt the Nogisaka captain felt a little uncomfortable because the other two seemed to be friends. There was also some backstage footage from Kouhaku, and Miichan was chatting with some Hinata girls. I'm not saying you're wrong, because we obviously don't know what happened (I mean there are rumors that in 2017 there was a senbatsu for the 5th single where some Hiragana girls were chosen, but instead what happened was an audition for a 2nd Hiragana generation), but the few times I have seen 1st generation members of the 2 groups interacting I haven't seen any animosity whatsoever. Quite the opposite actually. My impression is that they get along well, at least the members that I've seen interacting.

 

This claim, that they never accepted their kouhais, has been used against the group and I am surprised that, even though there've been so many facts that say different, some of us are still going by that rumor. This clearly hurt the girls and I remember how Risa said one time that she wonders if it's ok for people to say things about them that aren't true at all. The only gap created here was a chance for them to work together. The fact that kanji were the ones to ask mgmt to add hiragana to their lives has totally been forgotten. The only wrong the girls did was to be shy around their kouhais which led to this unnecessary rumors.

Renaaa said she cried when Yuuka had to come to them and tell them that everyone is nice and are only shy around new members. The fact that Yuuka had to say this, defend the girls, infront of their kouhais, shld say how much that rumor hurt them. They keep repeating, every chance the get, how relieved and happy they were when they chose to join the group. They are telling us it isn't so. Why can't we believe that for even a second? We can't go around saying these things when there's clearly nothing pointing to that cos they may be innocent of this after all.

 

Very cool list, thank you! Not surprised at all that Onuma wrote "Eccentric" on her card And I'm glad that Karin likes Guuzen no Kotae the best ... it's nice to hear that someone is enjoying her own center song so much!
There is also a lot of NiziU among the 1st gens, I didn't expect this o.o

This. Sorry, please don't take this as an offense in any way, but it describes very well, what I've thought while reading the prior posts. ^^° Since I stopped following Keyaki, I don't know how things went in this forum, but I stumbled across posts on twitter and there were some Keyaki fans and mainly Hirate fans whose talking about her superiority was partly unbearable to read and an offense to other groups and their members. I can imagine that this backfires now, even though Hirate is gone.
Of course, this kind of fan hate is always two-sided and there are, for sure, fans of other groups, who were jealous about Keyaki's success despite or because of their music style and because of Hirate's charisma, which nobody could deny, even if they wanted to. Despite that, some fans did their best to create more hate even among people who had nothing against Keyaki at first. But yeah, since this was mainly an issue revolving around Hirate, I hope that people will soon have forgotten about that and give Sakurazaka a new chance. I enjoy them so much lately and they really deserve that chance, after everything what happened and how much work they put into building something new

 

Regarding what I wrote about the Hiragana - Kanji relations, it all sums up to "I have a strange feeling..." that the former were not fully accepted by the latter. I know about the rumors but this has nothing to do with the way I, personally, interpret body language, sayings, expressions the way I see from the various interviews, Keyakitte shows, documentaries etc. Of course the girls are on good terms between the two groups and one-on-one, there may be even bonds between a hinata and a keyaki girl even stronger between two keyakis, they were one group after all...

However the combined (or group) feeling is strange. We've seen some Hinata girls (1st and 2nd gen as well) even break into tears when they reminisce the days of Hiragana. These tears could be tears of bitterness or tears of nostalgia,or both, I really, really can't tell. Maybe they remember of those empty handshake lines and the comments or resentment in social media and NOT the relation with Keyakis. I admit I may be wrong, but my feeling (and not rumors) tell me otherwise. What if, for example, some - not necessarily all - Keyakis were ok with their kouhais as long as there was no overpassing of that red line: penetrating the 21 (something that, I personally, wouldn't like either)?

In any case all these have no meaning now... Hinatazaka is doing fine, the girls earned this with their effort and value (I get the shivers when I watch the Seishun No Uma rehearsal video, so similar to the Keyaki synchronised army of girl-fighters) and I do hope that they continue to grow. And my favoured group, Sakurazaka, releaved of any past burden and keeping everything good from their Keyaki legacy, are on their new path towards their own success.

P.S. Uemura should be (because she really is) one of the greatest camera magnets, especially when she dances. There may be a lot of blind people around these girls, who happen to manage their destinies as idols, I'm afraid...

 

So any way, Sakurazaka46 is who they are now. If we can talk about them and not bring up painful keyaki times, rumor or not, it will be so good. A positive outcome to look forward to. I love how the Naze koi directer said along the line that with such a past and how some fans can't move on to the rebrand, the girls are already looking up to the future. They went through all the troubles but are so patiently looking up to the future. It wld be so good if the fans cheering them can look at them too with confidence and hope. Let keyaki rest. They did their best. Now it's Sakurazaka time. I, as always, am with them come what may. I hope I am not alone

 

@Philosophy Senpai @iroiroiro
Today I listened to some very interesting episodes of Yuugata paradise. One (2018.06.04) featured Nagasawa-kun and Katoshi, the other one with Sugai and Sasaki Kumi (2019.01.07). I kid you not, they were getting on real well (even unexpectedly so) with each other. Nagasawa and Katoshi were laughing and kidding around the whole time and described how the other day they went together to Disneyland or something. There were also some warm senpai-kouhai moments, but generally they seemed to be on the same wavelength. Katoshi also mentioned how she got along well with Koike. In the end Katoshi invited Nagasawa to see one of Hiragana lives. Nagasawa responded that she would visit the most 'embarassing' one (with Katoshi's solo song). Both captains were also very enthusiastic throughout the program. Even though at that time Hinatazaka was surely in the making, I sensed no distance between Yuuka and Kumi. They really seemed to enjoy being together in the entity known as Keyakizaka. During the other Yuugata episode (2018.06.04) between Koike and Habu, at one point they discussed the Hiragana 2ki. If I'm not mistaken, Habu said that her oshi was Kanemura Miku and Koike said she liked Nibu-chan. All in all, I'd say that Kanji and Hiragana were on better terms, than I thought earlier.
Hard evidence here

 

Yep, that was my impression too.

 

For being Saku 2nd single thread there's a lot of Hinata, Keyaki and Techi talk lol
I said this more times I can remember and still believe Sakura - and fans as well - need to stop looking around and find the only path that can take them out of this moment and towards the future.

Meanwhile, yes to giving more space to Uemura since she was one of our monster HS seller and now she is not
and I wanna see Ozeki come back since everytime one member said she's not feeling well disaster happens

 

I guess because Hinata was part of Keyaki, Techi was part of Keyaki, and Keyaki itself was part of what is now Sakura. Maybe when all 1st gens graduate these type of talks will die down? Or maybe not...

 

That's as likely as when the superiority preacher(not naming fans of any girl because it's applicable everywhere. Noone likes braggart unless it's your close friend on private chat) considered the repercussion of their post on SNS. Unfortunately that karma didn't fall on them. Maybe not yet...

With that said (if you put past and JYP success aside), this is acceptably fluid situation where the actual concern here, at least for me, is how 2ki gaining ground in overall and not just top seller, after debut single. Especially since iirc it's not Keyaki never accepting their kouhai. It's the fans having difficulty accepting their kouhai that making things awkward back then.

 

As we keep saying, there's no need to bring this up cos fans, the most of us, are happy with both generations. So if your statement is true, then those fans have probably left, which seems like a good thing, cos we are all peaceful with every member now. No need to bring up something which clearly isn't in any connection with anything now. The girls are happy. Fans are happy. Let both breath without bringing up mostly made up stuff from the past. It's tiring!

 

I wouldn't say it's made up stuff.. A lot of fans around here straight up did not want hiragana girls entering senbatsu in fear of kanji girls 'sacred 21 members' ending, which is when management stuck with the kanji senbatsu and created this dumb situation in the first place. Techi centering was just a catalyst to the eventual blow up of this flawed system. Some of those same fans are now bitter that hinatazaka are doing better than sakurazaka and latch onto the 'good old days' of keyaki's peak, posting theories on here and twitter about what they think happened between the girls, despite the girls all saying they're close to their senpai/kouhai in their respective documentaries..

It happened, the girls have moved passed it. Hinatas are doing so well, Sakuras are regaining lost ground. Just support them in any way we can right now, instead of thinking about what happened or could have been. If we're being honest, there are much more things to complain about with snf's current management of sakurazaka, focus on that instead loool. Just like before, the girls are waiting patiently for us to accept the whole group, not just a select member or generation. It would be great if when the 3rd single is released, we see less discussions about the past and more about the present.

 

True. When I said made up stuff, I was referring to all those theories raised in early discussions. Most of those fans already left when Techi left and the group was in limbo. Just like you said @minaeshi the fans looking forward and moving with the group, instead of bringing the past every time, is all I want. Sakurazaka is now and they are doing their best. Let's also do ours

 

This group has always been depended on live and dance performances from the first moment with Saimajo. That helped them gain ground in the first year in combo with hs.

I think things will change once this pandemic is over and the entertainment industry can go back to normal is when Sakura can start to show their true potential instead of locking them inside and hiding from public with online events. Fans get excited about live performances and shake hands with idols.

Those who now benefits from pandemic is groups that have been stable and on the rise for a long period. Sakura rebranded during these difficult circumstances which you can questioning the mngmt if it was a wise decision they took.

What they can only do now is to experiment with other members for next single and look at current popularity for individual. This three center system just make them lose ground and interest. They should go back to one center (not fixed center), units and solo. Runrun, Karin and Ten-chan have run its course. Hono is more popular.

 

Completely agree, Hopefully once japan gets their numbers down and the olympics are over, the girls will have multiple venues to hold concerts in and draw their fans from the general public back. The groups biggest strength is their performance lives and their annual open air outdoor concerts would be a easy way to hold 'safe' concerts for the time being. I just hope for overall more opportunities for the group and the members individually (more exclusive contracts and tv show appearances, movie/va roles and just general public interest!)
Although, I don't think the Runrun, Ten, Karin centers have 'run their course'. I do think we should start shuffling the centers though. I would love to see a Yuipon, Hono, Koike lead single!

Also PSA!

 

also: THAT!!!

 

I did it in the first days.
It has been SO hard!
But Marino has at least my votes lol

 

I don't think we'll be seeing any open air concerts all of this year. Maybe towards the end of the year.

 

Yay thanks Dill! My hope for this Ranking is that every Sakurazaka girl gets at least one vote! I haven't participated in previous years, but so I hope that the results for the Sakamichi girls are good this time!

 

you’re so annoying. hono is not more popular than Hikaru they’re pretty much equal. don’t know how many times you need it repeated.