#mahiro erika

[redsamuraiii]

Later...

Ohitorisama (Ep 5)

She's an aggressive one. 😏🤣

[elen-000]

Let Me Eat Your Pancreas

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (Japanese: 君の膵臓をたべたい, Kimi no Suizō o Tabetai), also known as Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, is a moving Japanese novel by Yoru Sumino. It began as a web novel on Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2014 and was later published in print by Futabasha in 2015. The story’s poignant narrative led to several adaptations, including a manga, a live-action film, and an anime film.

Story & Characters

The novel tells the story of an unnamed high school student ("Me" or Haruki Shiga in the English version) who discovers that his classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, is suffering from a terminal pancreatic disease. Despite their contrasting personalities and the harsh realities of Sakura's condition, their relationship deepens into a touching and unforgettable bond.

Key Characters:

Haruki Shiga ("Me") Voiced by: Mahiro Takasugi (Japanese); Robbie Daymond (English) Haruki is the protagonist who navigates his complex feelings and the reality of Sakura's illness.

Sakura Yamauchi Voiced by: Lynn (Japanese); Erika Harlacher (English) Sakura is the vibrant classmate with a terminal condition, who forms an unexpected and profound connection with Haruki.

Issei Miyata ("Gum Boy") Voiced by: Jun Fukushima (Japanese); Khoi Dao (English) A friend of Haruki and Sakura who plays a secondary role in their story.

Kyoko Takimoto Voiced by: Yukiyo Fujii (Japanese); Kira Buckland (English) Another supporting character who interacts with the main duo.

Takahiro Voiced by: Yuma Uchida (Japanese); Kyle McCarley (English) A minor character who adds depth to the narrative.

Sakura’s Mother Voiced by: Emi Wakui (Japanese); Dorah Fine (English) Plays a role in Sakura's life, highlighting the personal and family struggles within the story.

Media Adaptations

Novel Originally a web novel, Yoru Sumino's I Want to Eat Your Pancreas was published in print by Futabasha in June 2015. The English version, licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, was released on November 20, 2018.

Manga The manga adaptation by Izumi Kirihara ran from August 2016 to May 2017 in Monthly Action. The chapters were compiled into two volumes, with the English edition also released by Seven Seas.

Live-Action Film The Japanese live-action film Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, starring Takumi Kitamura and Minami Hamabe, premiered on July 28, 2017. It was showcased at various international film festivals and received wide distribution.

Anime Film The anime adaptation of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas was announced in August 2017. Directed by Shinichiro Ushijima and produced by Studio VOLN, the film premiered on September 1, 2018. The anime features music by the band Sumika, including the theme song "Fanfare" and the ending "Shunkashūtō" (The Four Seasons).

[beibiipinku]

October 1st: Happy birthday Erika!

[myu-resource]

Petite Etrangere Cards - Black Moon Clan

Original pictures

[seramyuconfessions]

The musicals made me love Prince Demande - I love his story and personality in Black Lady, but the 2014 musical’s Demande was amazing - Erika had the perfect voice for him and she really played him well!

[ainomessage]

sayaka69himeka: Thank you for coming to our two shows yesterday. 😊💓 Getting to hear your thoughts during the Outer Guardians sendoff gave me strength!! Today we only have an evening show. I’m sorry for saying this so late, but thank you so much for your letters and presents, they really show me how you feel🎁 mikamikamika417:  Yesterday a lot of Sera Myu members came to see the afternoon show! Seeing everyone after the show was so warm and lively, like I’ve never experienced before💜 Moyo, Karin, Kanami, Yumi! I’m so glad I got to see you…💜 riona_tatemichi:   Thank you for coming today! The photos are with Mahiro-Prince and Momoyo-Mercury, who came to the show☺︎ The Black Moon Family... it’s been 3 years...! mahiro_erika:  I went to see the Sailor Moon musical❤︎ Riona is so cute!! You were wonderful!! You were so cool!! Everyone was fantastic!! I realized again how grateful I am to be a part of the Sailor Moon world. I was so happy to meet everyone that I haven’t seen in ages!! We took lots of pictures❤︎ I’ll post more later❤︎ IdaAyaka_0730: Last night I went to see Sera Myu!🌙  Sailor Moon is the best〜💘 It was wonderful~!🌟 ChibiChibi was so cute, I gasped so many times…🤦🏻♡ yui_hasegawa: I went to see the musical “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” -Le Mouvement Final-! It was a play that was full of cuteness and coolness and beauty. It was so wonderful that without realizing it I was crying and clasping my hands together……🙏  When I looked around the audience I was surprised to see everyone else there! lol sadamomodayo: The musical “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” -Le Mouvement Final- was soooo good😭 💓🙏 I’m really glad I was able to go.💖  When Saaton-Cosmos came out I was crying like crazy 😢 Aah, Sailor Moon is so radiant and cool, the idol of every girl, it’s really the best universe 🐰🌙 

[marx48]

[gimmeahumandrama]

[akb48girldaisuki]

excuse me i need this on my dash!!

credit : https://twitter.com/sabinosuke

[naruseii]

I think this was kinda expected of me to make. But!! I gotta show my love and appreciation for Hikari somehow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (long post ahead!) . .

Anyways!! This girl…where can I even begin?? She was my introduction to Old Myu. At the time, I was watching Sailor Moon R and I only had knowledge of New Myu. I liked Prince Demand’s character even before I knew about his actresses but then, I wanted know more about him so I looked up his musical counterparts out of curiosity. Of course the first few results were of Erika Mahiro (New Myu’s Demand) and I was immediately 👀. Then I saw Hikari’s photo and I was like “wow…what a nice looking guy!” “I wish he was a girl :( ” . And sometime later on I was led to the Kekki! Hangyaku no Ichizoku video and I was so amazed at how the performance was done! And a bit shocked to find out that Hikari is a girl!!

Then more and more Hikari-Demand videos were being recommended to me and later on were other videos like Chasin’ After You and such. This led me to finding out the big world of Old Myu. From then I found out about all the other actresses, terms I didn’t know about like “omake” “fankan” & “kaiteiban”, all the other musicals and all the amazing songs that came from the era! I was so amazed by how much Old Myu was so out there and how not a lot of people pay attention to it!! At some point, around April this year, I experienced a lot of unhealthy/bad feelings. What I’d do at night is pull up my phone and watch a bunch of Myu videos, and Hikari ones weren’t an exception. I would just watch her perform and all my bad feelings would go away. Although she’s far away she just felt so close. She and Myu were there for me in my dark times. And to think this all came from a simple curious Google search.

I honestly cannot think about how much of an impact Hikari has put in my life. Her talent is incredible and the way she interacts with people just makes you feel like she’s your friend/you’ve known her for a while. And that really helped me out a lot. Without her, I wouldn’t have discovered more about Myu and I wouldn’t have met all the wonderful friends I made through Myu! And with that I want to say (again), happy birthday Hikari and thank you so much for being a part of my life! I’m forever grateful ��.

[landofanimes]

Sailor Moon Le Mouvement Final

Visitors from the past: Petite Etrangere Edition!

Kanon Nanaki (Mars) and Momoyo Koyama (Mercury)  got to see LMF! 

And so did Yui Ito (Black Lady), Mitsumi Hiromura (Esmeraude) and Erika Mahiro (Prince Demande)! Together with Riona (Rubeus, Star Maker), it’s a Black Moon Clan reunion!

[redsamuraiii]

Ohitorisama (Ep 4)

When you're broke and single, but still need to give wedding money. 😂

[macorion]

Setahun lalu, akibat hal yang cukup disayangkan, aku gagal merilis artikel ini. Sebelumnya aku menulis tentang pendapatku tentang Halloween, yang juga menyangkut hal kontroversial tahun lalu. Sure setiap orang boleh punya pendapat berbeda tentang festival tahunan ini, dan kali ini konsepnya beda.

Bagaimana jika member Sakamichi dikelompokkan ke dalam houses dari hantu-hantu terkenal sepanjang Halloween? 9 hantu paling terkenal dalam sejarah Halloween.

House of Zombies

Manusia yang telah mati dan dihidupkan kembali, tak memiliki kesadaran atau pikiran, dan hanya tertarik pada satu hal; daging segar manusia. Native dari Haiti, dimana mereka adalah korban dari voodoo. Lebih tepatnya, mereka diguna-guna agar mati suri dan hidup kembali untuk diperjualbelikan sebagai budak.

Kisah tentang perbudakan zombie ini masih ada sampai abad 20, dan tidak sedikit dari para zombie ini yang kembali sadar dari voodoo karena sihir yang mengikat mereka terlepas. Contoh paling terkenal adalah Clairvius Narcisse, yang menjadi perdebatan hingga saat ini.

Member di house ini adalah member yang cenderung tidak menonjol, karena sifat alami sebagai pengikut. Tapi jelas tidak selalu, yang lebih terlihat adalah mereka menonjol karena keadaan yang membuat begitu. Untungnya karena sifat dasar ini pula, mereka bisa mengontrol keadaan itu.

Kawago Hina, Saito Asuka, Hori Miona, Terada Ranze, Sakaguchi Tamami, Koike Minami, Nagasawa Nanako, Ushio Sarina, Hamagishi Hiyori

House of Vampires

Lebih umum dikenal sebagai Count Dracula, atau Vlad the Impaler. Makhluk yang hidup dengan menghisap darah manusia bahkan hewan sekalipun. Bisa merubah wujud dari kelelawar atau kabut, memiliki kemampuan untuk memanipulasi pikiran korbannya. Kelemahan vampir antara lain cermin, bawang putih, salib, dan cahaya matahari.

Asal-usul vampire tidaklah jelas, meski kemungkinan besar digunakan sebagai simbologi dari kematian. Di abad pertengahan, pemburuan vampir banyak dilakukan di Eropa, setelah terjadi banyak kematian misterius yang sebenarnya diakibatkan oleh wabah penyakit.

Mereka di house ini adalah mereka yang memiliki kebiasaan aneh, nocturnal, but never argued with their strength. Sama seperti vampire, mereka cenderung aktif secara individu, tapi bukan berarti mereka tidak memiliki solidaritas.

Ikuta Erika,  Takayama Kazumi, Ito Junna, Iwamoto Renka, Umezawa Minami, Imaizumi Yui, Shida Manaka, Kakizaki Memi, Tomita Suzuka

House of Werewolves

Jelas bukan spesies yang suka ngilerin member, tapi makhluk mitologi asli. Manusia yang dikutuk menjadi serigala tiap saat bulan purnama, sejarah werewolves ada sejak abad pertengahan. Dan sampai kini, 80% petani Rusia percaya akan werewolves. Saat bulan purnama, mereka bertransformasi dari manusia menjadi werewolves.

Untuk menjadi werewolves, syaratnya antara lain lahir sebagai anak ketujuh dengan ayah yang juga anak ketujuh, atau di tanggal 24 Desember. Dengan kekuatan diatas manusia, dan target makanan mereka, manusia bisa mengalahkan makhluk berbulu ini dengan panah perak atau peluru perak, satu-satunya kelemahan werewolf.

Sebagai werewolves, maka member yang ada di house ini memiliki kekuatan besar. Kekuatan sebagai persona idol maupun kekuatan di fandom. Cenderung diam dan tidak menarik sebelum berada di panggung, dan siap menggebrak saat kesempatan datang. Panah perak untuk mereka? Biasanya mengarah ke resitensi.

Kawamura Mahiro, Nishino Nanase, Ito Karin, Oozono Momoko, Suzumoto Miyu, Hirate Yurina, Sasaki Mirei, Kosaka Nao

House of Mummies

Pharaoh yang dipercaya akan menjadi Osiris kini dikenang sebagai mayat diawetkan yang dibalut linen, salah satu tokoh utama dalam kisah horor abad 20. The original zombies, karena mumifikasi sudah ada jauh sebelum zombie menjadi terkenal di Haiti. Konsepnya sama, mumi akan bangkit setelah kematian karena itu tubuh mereka harus diawetkan agar bisa bereinkarnasi.

Selama ribuan tahun mumifikasi ada sebagai bagian tak terpisahkan dari kebudayaan Mesir. Namun di berbagai belahan dunia, sebenarnya juga ada mumifikasi meski prosesnya tidak semengerikan bangsa Mesir. Di dunia modern, masih ada mumifikasi meski dengan proses berbeda, paling jelas adalah embalment seperti Vladimir Lenin.

Sebagai orang penting saat mati, dan setelah kematian menjadi lebih penting, member yang ada di house ini cenderung memiliki kedudukan istimewa sebagai member yang mendapat push cukup berlebih. Meski hasil akhirnya tidak selalu baik, posisi mereka cenderung masih under the radar bagi mayoritas fans.

Shiraishi Mai, Matsumura Sayuri, Yamashita Mizuki, Sugai Yuuka, Watanabe Rika, Nagahama Neru, Kato Shiho, Matsuda Konoka, Watanabe Miho

House of Witches

Termasuk di dalamnya Circe yang ditemui Ulysses dalam petualangannya dan Druid yang umum disalahpahami sebagai kaum yang mengetahui fungsi asli dari Stonehenge. Asal-usul kata witches adalah Wicca, yang dipercaya berasal dari Jerman. Sepanjang sejarah, perburuan penyihir tertulis dengan tinta merah.

Banyak teori konspirasi soal ini, termasuk pop culture yang banyak menggunakannya. Tapi yang jelas, keberadaan penyihir tidak bisa diabaikan begitu saja. Baru di akhir abad 20, image penyihir menjadi lebih modern lewat pop culture seperti Harry Potter dan Lord of The Rings.

Setelah penyihir menjadi lebih modern, stereotype akan nenek sihir juga hilang. Banyak karakter penyihir modern yang lebih flirty & bitchy. Mungkin karena asosiasi dengan setan, makanya penyihir lebih menggoda iman. Nah, dari sini saja sudah jelas kan siapa saja yang ada di house of witches?

Akimoto Manatsu, Eto Misa, Nakada Kana Higuchi Hina, Sagara Iori, Shinuchi Mai, Yoda Yuki, Yonetani Nanami, Watanabe Risa, Saito Kyoko, Miyata Manamo

House of Ghosts

Sejarah tentang hantu sudah ada selama manusia memahami bahwa ada jiwa di dalam raga, dan kemana jiwa itu akan pergi setelah kematian. Beberapa mengatakan hantu adalah jejak jiwa yang tertinggal di bumi, atau tidak bisa pergi ke alam baka karena ada urusan yang belum terselesaikan, atau sekedar jalan-jalan ke bumi dari alam lain.

Beberapa hantu sanggup merasuki pikiran manusia, bahkan membimbing mereka ke kematian. Pop culture pun mengipasi kisah tentang hantu, meski sampai saat ini kita masih terbagi ke kelompok yang percaya dan skeptik akan keberadaan hantu di sekitar kita.

Sama seperti hantu, member di house ini cenderung tidak terlihat. Dalam artian keberadaan mereka seperti antara ada dan tiada. Yah, member-member yang masih hanya menjadi “penggembira” saja, karena secara performance ataupun variety masih kesulitan untuk “menampakkan” diri.

Saito Chiharu, Saito Yuri, Yamazaki Rena, Sato Kaede, Yoshida Ayano Christie, Uemura Rina, Sato Shiori, Takamoto Ayaka, Higashimura Mei, Kawata Hina

House of Pumpkins

Jack-o-Lantern, simbol dari Halloween, si kepala labu dengan senyum mengerikan. Menurut cerita rakyat Irlandia mengatakan Jack adalah ‘jiwa yang ditolak masuk surga ataupun neraka’ akibat sebuah perjanjian agar tak masuk neraka yang dimenangkan dari iblis dan tak bisa masuk surga setelah mati setelah melalui hidup penuh dosa dan minuman.

Sejak saat itu Jack berkelana mencari tempat peristirahatan terakhirnya. Karena itulah, orang-orang mengukir Jack-o-Lantern untuk mengusir Jack dan jiwa-jiwa yang tersesat. Awalnya bukan labu yang digunakan untuk mengukir Jack-o-Lantern melainkan lobak, labu baru digunakan setelah Halloween populer di Amerika.

Sebagai simbol Halloween, maka mereka yang masuk di house ini adalah golongan member yang paling mudah dikenali fans, baik internal maupun eksternal. Wandering soul Jack juga menjadi karakter penting, dimana mereka seperti terlihat akan kesulitan begitu lepas dari Nogi, which is all members face.

Ito Marika, Inoue Sayuri, Wakatsuki Yumi, Watanabe Miria, Kubo Shiori, Habu Mizuho, Moriya Akane, Sasaki Kumi, Kanemura Miku

House of Frankensteins

Monster ciptaan Victor Frankenstein, karya Mary Shelley lewat novel best seller pada abad 19 ini langsung menjadi teror mimpi buruk bagi dunia sejak saat itu. Literatur sci-fi pertama dalam sejarah karena mengisahkan lebih dari sekedar fantasi menjadi “pekerjaan di laboratorium”

Memberi kehidupan pada benda mati lewat eksperimen dan electricity, apa yang akan kau katakan jika kubilang eskperimen untuk membuat Frankenstein masih berjalan hingga saat ini? Ya, para ilmuwan berusaha menjadikan Frankenstein nyata untuk menyingkap sedikit rahasia kehidupan.

Karakteristik utama dari member di house ini adalah loner. Sama seperti Frankenstein yang kesepian, member yang terpilih disini cenderung lebih suka sendiri ketimbang beramai-ramai. Atau mereka yang struggle dengan eksistensi mereka di grup. Bisa dibilang mereka masih belum menemukan jati dirinya.

Nakamoto Himeka, Hoshino Minami, Suzuki Ayane, Sasaki Kotoko, Nakamura Reno, Ishimori Nijika, Kobayashi Yui, Kageyama Yuuka, Takase Mana, Nibu Akari

House of Goblins

Mischievous, little Goblin menjadi karakter populer untuk Halloween terutama untuk trick or treat. Digambarkan sebagai makhluk dengan sihir sejenis fairy & demon, dengan karakteristik diantara keduanya. Goblin secara umum dilihat sebagai biang kekacauan.

Mereka juga bisa dikatakan sangat tertarik pada harta, dan karena ini sering digambarkan sebagai tokoh antagonis dalam literatur. Berada di house ini berarti member yang terpilih adalah mereka yang menjadi badut di grup, atau lebih mudahnya, variety member.

Sifat kekanak-kanakan juga menjadi karakteristik utama, terkadang “semau gue” dan lepas, karena itu cukup sering juga memancing anti. Mereka juga cenderung pesimis, dalam artian jika tindakan mereka backfired, mereka akan memikirkannya sebagai refleksi.

Ikoma Rina, Sakurai Reika, Noujo Ami, Wada Maaya, Kitano Hinako, Ito Riria, Mukai Hazuki, Ozeki Rika, Oda Nana, Saito Fuyuka, Harada Aoi, Iguchi Mao

Take Our Poll

Bagaimana, punya pendapat sendiri tentang pengelompokan member berdasarkan monster-monster paling terkenal di Halloween? Share your thoughts.

All images used is credited to it’s respective owners

Halloween eve Setahun lalu, akibat hal yang cukup disayangkan, aku gagal merilis artikel ini. Sebelumnya aku menulis tentang pendapatku tentang…

[beibiipinku]

SeraMyu x Takarazuka💓✨

hiiii

I’ve been really into Takarazuka lately, and you know how much I love Sera Myu, so I decided to make this post with the girls from Takarazuka that then appeared on Sera Myu🥺

And it makes me REALLY HAPPY that many of them were together in Takarazuka😭💗

I’m gonna write their real names, their Takarazuka names, their actual names, their troupe/s, their roles and the character/s they played on Sera Myu (I’ll write the year they entered the revue too, ONLY IF I KNOW IT, cause I don’t know about many of them so hehe)💗

I’m so sorry for some of the pictures’ quality😭

Please let me know if I missed anyone💕

note: The girls that play male parts are called Otokoyaku and the ones who play female parts are called Musumeyaku.

✨Kaoru Tanioka/Yuga Yamato

Yuga played Mamo from 2013 to 2017.

She entered Takarazuka in 1995, and in 2007 became the Top Star.

She was an Otokoyaku

2003 - 2009 Cosmos Troupe

1995 - 2003 Moon Troupe

✨Kyouko Nakagaichi/Midori Hatsukaze

Midori played Queen Beryl in La Reconquista

She was an Otokoyaku.

2000 - 2005 Senka

1997 - 2000 Moon Troupe

1988 - 1997 Flower Troupe

✨Sayaka Satou/Ryou Saika

Ryou appeared in La Reconquista, as well as Midori, she played Zoisite😔💕

She was an Otokoyaku.

2002 - 2010 Snow Troupe

✨ Eriko Sugihara/Shun Mahiro/Erika Mahiro

Ahhh my beloved Erika played Prince Demande in Petite Étrangère😭💖

She was an Otokoyaku.

2002 - 2009 Star Troupe

✨ Mayuko Oomori/Sora Manami

Sora appeared as Saphir in Petite Étrangère💕

She was an Otokoyaku.

2000 - 2010 Snow Troupe

Guess we’ll have to continue this in another post😤

[myu-resource]

Petite Etrangere Program - Black Moon Clan

Original pictures

[yasukuansoni]

Spring 2017 survey results analysis!

Spreadsheet (I'm not sure if it's easier to read but I think it's getting prettier! In certain places, anyway) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz1ZO5A480-5eW4wTlRMaE1DTU0 Perhaps easier to read here: http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/seasonal-sakamichi-polls-spring-poll-closed-results-coming-soon.14672/page-7#post-1326979 Charts and photos of senbatsu: http://imgur.com/a/8M2zC Introduction

Survey series background. This survey was the 6th in a series of polls investigating the popularity of Sakamichi Series members among the international (specifically English speaking) fan community. In addition to measuring member popularity, this series also features some interesting questions about management styles and other aspects about the groups, many of which were requested by the community. The survey now spans over 1.5 years, including the entirety of Keyakizaka’s career.

Timing of the survey. This survey (Spring 2017) was conducted a little later than planned from late April through to early May, running for a total of two weeks. Since the last survey, Nogizaka have released their 17th single and Keyakizaka their 4th. Nogizaka’s 3rd generation have made their debut on Nogizaka Under Construction and their own show, Nogibingo 8 has begun. Hiragana have started making regular appearances on Keyaki tte, Kakenai? as well. Finally, we saw Watanabe Risa become Keyakizaka’s first exclusive model, a “scandal” featuring low tier popularity Nogizaka46 members Kawamura Mahiro and Wada Maaya, and far too many Nogizaka member photobooks to list.

Questions. The survey asked for your favourite members, who you want to see in centre, who you want to see in senbatsu, which two members you “ship”, which members you dislike, which group you prefer and which your oshimen is from, your predictions on future sales, and your opinions on a hypothetical 3rd Sakamichi group, Hirate Yurina’s centreship, Nogizaka choosing centres, and finally Nogizaka’s 3rd gen and Hiragana Keyaki in their respective senbatsu. Responses. This survey received 322 responses, making it the largest so far in the series. I was particularly interested in recruiting a large sample (rather than just my friends) so I could get a genuine feel for the international community and so that my own biases wouldn’t play too large a role. I’m happy many different people were willing to help spread the survey and find a diverse group of fans. Questions and Terminology All Favourites (AF). Choose all favourite members. Participants can select as many members as they like. Oshimen (OM). Choose number one favourite member (oshimen). Participants can only select one member. Centre Hopefuls(CH). Choose all members you would like to see take the centre position in the next few (I always suggest 3) singles. Overall (OA). A combination of the scores for AF and OM. Dislikes (DL). Choose all the members you “don’t really like”. Participants can choose as many as they like. This is the first time I asked for this.

Nogizaka popularity 

Goddesses As with every survey so far, Ikuta Erika and Nishino Nanase remain in 1st and 2nd overall. Both have relatively fallen in terms of their percentage scores particularly Nishino, who is currently the closest she has been to being overtaken by 3rd since last Spring, with only 7 points between her and Saito Asuka. It’s Asuka’s first time in the top 3 and in fact for the first few days she was leading the poll and it seemed like she might end in 1st. She is mainly held back by her OM score, falling from 3rd to 6th in OM with a significant points loss this round. With a small points loss in AF, Shiraishi Mai fell one place to 3rd despite what appears to be booming popularity in Japan. Finally, ending the Goddess tier is Hori Miona. Hori had been engaging in what seemed like it would be an eternal struggle for 3rd place with Shiraishi but has remained at 5th and appears to have been replaced by Saito Asuka for this role. However, all is far from last. The points difference between Hori and Shiraishi is minimal, and Hori is still far ahead of the other members outside the tier. Demigoddesses and The Third Wind There is a large gap between Goddesses and Demigoddesses this round, partially responsible for this is the absence of Hashimoto Nanami (former 6th). The ranks were retroactively adjusted to account for Hashimoto’s absence (by reranking the group without her). Takayama Kazumi and Wakatsuki Yumi “remained” at 6th and 7th, with Takayama topping the Demi tier by a large margin. Despite a minor point drop Eto Misa managed to rise two places to 8th over taking former 8th and 9th Sakurai Reika and Ikoma Rina. 9th and 10th this round are new entries to the Demi tier. The “monster rookies” Yamashita Mizuki and Yoda Yuki. Yamashita almost doubled her score and jumped from 21st to 9th and Yoda came close to tripling hers, rising from 27th to 10th. Most of the 3rd gen have performed amazing this round, including Ozono Momoko (29th to 18th), Kubo Shiori (32rd to 19th), Iwamoto Renka (38th to 21st) and Ito Riria (37th to 23rd). While some 1st and 2nd gens made significant point gains, few could gain ranks, unable to push back against the third wind. Ito Marika (jumping from 20th to 17th, with her highest score yet) was the major exception, with Terada Ranze being the only member to gain a rank (up one to 15th). Nogizaka Senbatsu and Centre hopefuls This time the senbatsu selection was done a little different. Rather than choosing which senbatsu members to keep and which unders to promote it asked respondents to choose senbatsu members from each generation. Then two versions are made: (1) the top (average number of selected members) from the group regardless of what gen they’re from and (2) the top (average number of selected members from each generation’s question). The 2nd version is used if we want to take into consideration how many members fans want from each generation. This round you selected on average 18 members. Divided by gen that’s 11 first gens, 4 second gens and 3 third gens. Notable entries: Terada Ranze returns for her second senbatsu already, Watanabe makes her senbatsu debut and, even in version 1, Yamashita Mizuki enters senbatsu. In version 2, the additional entries are Ozono Momoko and Yoda Yuki, but Kubo Shiori is really close. Centre Hopefuls sees Ikuta Erika rank 1st for the 5th time in a row (I’ve only asked this question five times). As usual the gap between her and 2nd is very large, and widening. She is the only member to score above 35%, and is somewhere around 50% each round. Shiraishi Mai fell from 2nd for the first time ever, perhaps thanks to her return to (double) centre. She now sits at 4th behind Saito Asuka and Hori Miona. Hori has hovered between 3rd and 4th since the beginning but this was a big jump for Saito, who ranked 7th in Winter. She made a similar jump last Spring to 3rd, she then made her centre debut, are fans hoping for a return? The 3rd gens did surprisingly well in this question, too, with “ace” Yamashita Mizuki ranking 9th with 13% of respondents selecting her. Nogizaka Dislikes This time I added dislikes, risking a bit of controversy. I wasn’t sure myself if it would be worth the potential fallout, but looking at the results I wish I started doing it sooner. Not that I’m happy to see dislikes, but they made me curious. I wish I had asked this question before so I could see the dislikes as a trend, and know if x (scandal, etc.) increased the number of dislikes. To see these trends, I’m going to continue asking this question. It will always be optional, though (as all questions are) and I’ll make sure it stands out (like it does now) in the results. Matsumura Sayuri got the most dislikes in Nogizaka with 44, but only ranked 4th for likes as a percentage of overall (all favourites + oshimen votes). She was followed by Ikoma Rina (40 votes, 7th by percentage) and Akimoto Manatsu (38, 8th in %). Ranks 4~6 were the top 3 for percentage: Wada Maaya, 1st for percentage with dislikes equalling 135% of her overall points; Kawamura Mahiro, 3rd for percentage with 83%; and Kawago Hina, 2nd for percentage with 95%. Both Wada and Kawamura were involved in a scandal recently, though Kawago was not. Yoda Yuki was the least disliked Nogizaka member both by votes (tie with Terada Ranze) and percentage. For percentage Terada and Ikuta Erika were close behind in 2nd and 3rd. One of the charts shows overall scores with dislikes taken into consideration. There were a lot of major differences, including one plummet down 14 ranks.

Keyakizaka popularity 

Goddesses Hirate Yurina keeps the #1 position in overall, this is the 4th survey she topped out of 6. This puts her in 1st every survey since the group’s debut excluding Autumn where she lost to Nagahama Neru by less than one point. Hirate lost points in both AF and OM yet she remains on top of each by a decent margin. Nagahama returned to 2nd after a brief drop to 4th in the last survey, with 2nd place in OM and 3rd in AF. Sugai Yuuka beat Nagahama for 2nd in AF but her low OM (fell to 6th from 2nd in winter) kept her behind overall. The Power Six Rather than separate these between Goddess and Demis I wanted to highlight the amazing competition between the members who ranked. In order of final rank these are: Shida Manaka, Imaizumi Yui, Watanabe Risa, Moriya Akane, Kobayashi Yui and Watanabe Rika. I first noticed about halfway through the polling period that these 6 members were within only one or two votes of each other even though they had so many (around 75 each, at the time). This near-tie continued for a very long time before they eventually began separating near the end. Watanabe Rika and Moriya’s high OM scores compensated for their low AF scores, and Imaizumi and Kobayashi’s decent AF scores did the same for their low OM scores. In terms of changes over the winter poll, the only standout result was Kobayashi, who made a huge point gain and went up a whole league of popularity, reaching a new record score, more than twice her score last spring. Other notable changes and Hiragana members Kanji Keyaki didn’t see many big changes with the major exception of Habu Mizuho who jumped back from 21st to 16th a large rise in score, her largest since last Spring, and also Harada Aoi who managed to reduce some of her huge drop last round (24th), now returning to 21st. Hiragana members had a few more major changes. Saito Kyoko replaced Kakizaki Memi as New-Hiragana’s highest ranking member at 18th. They actually swapped ranks with Kakizaki (now 23rd overall) taking Saito’s previous position as 4th in New-Hiragana. Kato Shiho and Sasaki Mirei were tied for 2nd last round but now Kato has gained the advantage pushing Sasaki back to 3rd. Keyakizaka Senbatsu Copied from Nogizaka – This time the senbatsu selection was done a little different. Rather than choosing which senbatsu members to keep and which unders to promote it asked respondents to choose senbatsu members from each team. Then two versions are made: (1) the top (average number of selected members) from the group regardless of what team they’re from and (2) the top (average number of selected members from each team’s question). The 2nd version is used if we want to take into consideration how many members fans want from each team. The respondents really showed how much they want all Kanjis to be in the next single. All Kanji-only members ranked before all Hiragana members (including Hiragana-Kanji kennin member Nagahama Neru). Next was Nagahama who ranked ahead of all Hiragana-only members. To be honest, this is probably because a number of fans forgot Nagahama is a Hiragana member and chose “none” without checking. But, in my defence, she is officially a Hiragana member first, with her kennin in Kanji. In any case, it would be unethical to change the results based on what I call mistakes so I must stick with the answers I have. As for the different versions of the results, using method 1 result with 18 members, all from Kanji Keyaki. Compared with the usual senbatsu, Ishimori Nijika, Ozeki Rika and Nagahama Neru are out. Using method 2, users chose 16 Kanji Keyaki members and 3 Hiragana Keyaki members, totalling in 19 (though both were only a few votes away from rounding down to 15 and 2). Method 2 sees Oda Nana and Saito Fuyuka removed from senbatsu, replaced with Nagahama Neru, Kato Shiho and Saito Kyoko. Centre Hopefuls Hirate Yurina ranked 1st in CH for the 2nd time. I wasn’t sure if she would rise or fall as the number of songs she centres rises but indeed her score rose slightly. Imaizumi Yui managed to stay in 2nd though her score continues to drop, with increasing speed. I expected this as she is being moved further from the centre and has recently entered hiatus to take care of her health. Nagahama Neru fell slightly no longer tying for 2nd but only a few points behind in 3rd. The most impressive rise was the new model, Watanabe Risa moving from 8th to 5th, swapping with Shida Manaka who went from 5th to 8th. Ironically, rank-wise, Hiragana members performed much better in CH than the senbatsu question. Kato Shiho jumped from 28th to 11th, becoming the highest ranking new Hiragana member, with Kakizaki Memi moving up one to 12th and Sasaki Mirei making her own big jump, from 30th to 16th. Keyakizaka Dislikes Copied from Nogizaka – This time I added dislikes, risking a bit of controversy. I wasn’t sure myself if it would be worth the potential fallout, but looking at the results I wish I started doing it sooner. Not that I’m happy to see dislikes, but they made me curious. I wish I had asked this question before so I could see the dislikes as a trend, and know if x (scandal, etc.) increased the number of dislikes. To see these trends, I’m going to continue asking this question. It will always be optional, though (as all questions are) and I’ll make sure it stands out (like it does now) in the results. Ishimori Nijika received the most dislikes in Keyakizaka, and also ranked 2nd for most dislikes as a percentage of overall votes (AF+OM), with 51%. I’m not sure what exactly brought this about, one reason why I wish I did dislikes before to see if this happened suddenly/recently or if it was always a trend. Ozeki Rika came next for votes and 3rd for percentage an Iguchi Mao 3rd for votes and 1st for percentage (by a lot: her dislikes were 83% the size of her overall score). These are a little more predictable, as I often see people complaining about their personalities. Nagahama Neru came 4th, the highest ranking popular member. I was expecting more for Saito Fuyuka, to be honest, after some controversy about her comments about not filling Imaizumi Yui’s absence from a music TV performance which were perceived by some online as being insensitive toward Hiragana members, but she only ranked 8th (5th by percentage). The least disliked member by both votes and percentage was Sugai Yuuka. For percentage, she was followed by Kobayashi Yui, who also tied for 2nd least votes with 4 Hiragana members. One of the charts shows overall scores with dislikes taken into consideration. There were a few big differences, including Nagahama Neru falling from 2nd to 4th, and Kobayashi Yui rising from 8th to 6th.

Miscellaneous

Next single sales

I asked what respondents thought the weekly sales figures would be for the next release of each groups. Based on 276 answers, the average fan thought Nogizaka’s 18th single would sell 923k copies in its first week, up 48k over Influencer. The most common answer was 900k with 53 votes. With 272 responses, Keyaki’s 5th single averaged at 728k, up 95k over Fukyouwaon. The most common answer for Keyakizaka was 700k with 71 votes. If the predictions turned out to be accurate and the predicted growth continued, Nogizaka would reach 1 million in one week for their 20th single (Keyaki’s 7th), Keyakizaka would reach it on their 8th (Nogi’s 21st) and Keyakizaka would eventually overtake Nogizaka on their 10th/23rd singles (respective). Nogizaka Centre and New Gens I asked how Nogizaka’s management should choose centres. This probably reflects Keyakizaka-only fans’ opinions on how Keyaki should choose their centre if they do ever change it as Keyakizaka-only fans didn’t answer this one less than Keyaki questions. The idea of choosing based on concept or to match a song was the most popular by far, and was the only option accepted by more than 50% of responses. Rotating to make many members popular, and giving it to young members were the next most popular and shared a common thread in that they were both strategies for making members popular as a way of investing in the group’s future. The unpopular options were giving the centre to whoever is most popular, giving it to the most talented member, or having a way for fans to directly select the centre. It could be said these are similar in that they seem to be about rewarding members rather than building the future and perhaps that idea isn’t popular. I also asked if the respondents felt members from Nogizaka’s 3rd gen should enter senbatsu or not. I assigned values to the “yes” options (1), “soon” options (2) and “no” options (3), and used these to calculate an average response of 1.9, indicating “soon” (i.e. not yet) but leaning slightly toward “yes”. The most common answer was indeed “soon”, with the most common “yes” answer/reasoning being that some are ready and the most common “no” response/reasoning was that the 2nd gens need to all make their senbatsu debuts first. Hiragana Keyaki in Senbatsu Because I predicted they might be a bit more controversial (in a good way – a good source of discussion) the Hiragana in senbatsu and Hirate’s centre position questions had more complex questions. Respondents were asked whether they agree or not with 7 statements regarding new Hiragana members being included in Keyakizaka’s senbatsu. The content was based on discussions I often see in the international community. To summarise the results briefly: More than any other question respondents were against the idea of Hiragana members never being included in senbatsu. However, despite the results swinging toward “disagree”, many still agreed with the idea of all Kanji members always being included, and it is difficult to imagine the number of senbatsu members being increased to more than 21. The most agreed with statement (while still close to even) was that Hiragana need to wait until all the Kanji members have experienced being positioned in the first row (even though including new Hiragana members and featuring the remaining three Kanji members in the front row aren’t mutually exclusive, there appears to be a symbolic issue here). Indeed, in accordance with this result and the results seen in the 5th single senbatsu selection earlier, respondents on average chose to not include Hiragana in the 5th single. Also, despite a majority feeling Kanji reaching the first row is important enough to have Hiragana members wait for, respondents generally disagreed that Hiragana members should have the same chance if they eventually enter senbatsu. A slight majority feel that they have been waiting long enough for the chance as one year has passed since their entry and only a small number of responses felt no one in Hiragana is ready for senbatsu. Hirate Yurina’s centre position This question was divided into three parts. The first part asked when respondents thought Keyakizaka should change centre for the first time. Results were almost split between changing for the 5th (40.8%) and 6th (40.1%) singles. Keeping Hirate for both but changing sometime next year was far less popular (12.5%) and keeping Hirate until she graduates was even less popular (6.6%). The next two parts were more enlightening. I asked why people think Keyaki should change centre and the same for why not. It was the first time I included a question like that in a survey, usually I look around for opinions and then add those opinions as options. This method took a lot longer to analyse and some might disagree with the categories I broke the responses down to but I tried to represent the results as accurately as I could. There were many more responders for why Keyakizaka should change centre. Out of a total of 156 responders, 60 said they felt Hirate should take a break/is under too much pressure. 51 said changing centre would make things more interesting, or that the perma-centre is boring, or worried about it becoming boring. 48 said other members should also get promotion which I distinguished from 30 who said there’s too much focus on Hirate and the group needs more popular members (similarly 8 said Keyakizaka needs back up centres, someone who can take over Hirate is unable to perform). Other responses included worries about Hirate gaining antis or straining relations with the other members. Of the 96 responses, most of the arguments listed were about why Hirate is suited for the position. The most popular of these was a rather broad category I titled “Techi fanaticism” (35 votes). These included general comments such as “Techi is the undisputed CENTRE”, “it feels like Techi was born to be centre”, and so on. I distinguished them from people who mentioned her “aura” (15 votes), her skill (10) and her popularity (7). Other than comments on Hirate herself, 11 didn’t believe there was any member capable of taking over at this point, 10 argued that by keeping Hirate in centre they can establish a stronger presence with the general public. Other responses were waiting for things like the front row rotation (7), or were satisfied with the way things are and took a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” approach (7 specifically about Hirate, 6 who like stability in general). "Shipping" Another new question was asking respondents to submit their favourite pairs, the members they “ship”. This question was skipped a lot and I got some negative feedback, so I probably won’t be doing it again, but it was an interesting experience. For Nogizaka, the most popular pair was Sakurai Reika x Wakatsuki Yumi (49 points) followed by Shiraishi Mai x Matsumura Sayuri (21) with points dropping quite low after that. For Keyakizaka there was a bit more variation. Shida Manaka x Watanabe Risa (49) came first followed by the captain pair Sugai Yuuka x Moriya Akane (30 points), Hirate Yurina x Nagahama Neru (27) and the more recently featured Nagasawa Nanako x Watanabe Rika (21). For Nogizaka the most shipped member was Shiraishi Mai (55) followed by Wakatsuki Yumi (53) and Sakurai Reika (50), though the members shipped with the most members were Ikuta Erika (12) and Nishino Nanase (11). For Keyakizaka the most shipped members were Watanabe Risa (73) and Shida Manaka (66), with Watanabe Risa and Hirate Yurina tied for being shipped with most members (9 each). Fan alignment Almost every survey I ask respondents which group they are a fan of on a scale of 1-to-7 where 1 is Nogizaka purist and 7 is Keyakizaka purists. This one was almost exactly even. On average the 316 respondents to this question chose 3.99. So basically, even (4), with the smallest Nogizaka leanings. Meanwhile for their overall (well, Sakamichi) oshimen, 42.5% of respondents chose their Nogizaka oshimen, 30.6% chose their Keyakizaka oshimen and 26.9% couldn’t decide between the two. I broke down the results to the miscellaneous questions by fan alignment (the 1-to-7 rating) to see if there are any significant differences between primarily Nogizaka fans and primarily Keyakizaka fans. Of course, the Sakamichi oshimen was very clear cut. Almost everyone chose the group they were closest aligned to. Sales predictions also showed bias. On average people predicted higher sales for the group they are aligned with than the overall average. One peculiar exception was the ‘3’ group (leaning Nogi) made some of the highest Keyakizaka predictions and one of the lowest Nogizaka predictions. Nogizaka-leaning fans were inclined to choose earlier responses for when Keyakizaka should change centre than Keyakizaka- leaning fans, though among Nogizaka fans the closer they were to Keyakizaka the earlier they chose (‘3’ was the earliest at 1.5, exactly between the 5th and 6th singles). Nogizaka fans were also much more likely to want to see Hiragana in senbatsu soon, supporting Hiragana’s debuts across the whole section. The reverse was also true, though to a smaller extent, Keyakizaka leaning fans were also more interested in seeing Nogizaka’s 3rd gen in Nogizaka’s senbatsu now or soon, compared to Nogizaka fans, particularly Nogizaka purists. In choosing centres, Keyakizaka fans stood out in overwhelmingly voting for choosing centres based on concept/to match a song, an option which was also popular with Nogizaka fans, but the other popular options, rotation and investing in younger members, were more competitive.