Countdown to graduation: Matsui Rena and the people she wants to apologise to

Graduating SKE48 member Matsui Rena(23) revealed an episode when she asked Group Producer Akimoto Yasushi to rewrite his lyrics for single “12gatsu no Kangaroo”, released in December last year.

On a TV show “Gyoretsuno dekiru horitsu sodanjo” aired on 19th July,there was a theme “Person i want to Dogeza to” and Matsui Rena nominated Akimoto Yasushi.

She said that whilst looking over the lyrics to “12gatsu no Kangaroo” for the first time, something felt wrong so she directly sought out Akimoto san and asked him to revise the lyrics. When she received version 2 and compared both of them, she came to realise that the original version was the better one,so she’d like to apologise for her immature attitude.

“What is ‘December’s Kangaroo’?” was what Rena thought at that time. “I asked for another version since Akimoto san should have a better phrase to express the close relationship between a guy and girl.”

In the TV show, Akimoto san also left a comment. “Matsui’s stubbornness is also due to her being young. In a way it’s a great thing. Having worked in this industry for years, even though i know that the first lyrics were better, i didn’t want to force it. So i wrote other lyrics and hoped for Matsui to accept it.”

In the past, fans asked Akimoto san what was brilliant about Matsui Rena. He replied, “Beautiful stubbornness”.

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The other person Rena wants to apologise to is AKB48’s Kizaki Yuria. Yuria was originally from SKE48 and during her early days as a member, she witnessed Rena banging her head against a clothes rack. She was traumatised by scary Rena, couldn’t talk to anyone and continued her activities in fear for a long time.

Rena explained, “At that time i had alot of pain around my waist, but i was doing a live show with 3 songs left. When i was thinking about how to disperse the pain, i saw the clothes rack infront of me. When i finished banging, i was feeling dizzy. But usually before going on stage, i’d slap my cheeks to get in shape. My juniors are pretty scared after seeing it.”

She demonstrates slapping her cheeks causing guests around her to be scared too.

Full episode with Rena’s segment starting 27:50~

Check out my posts from the “Countdown to graduation” series:
Matsui Rena holds thanksgiving festival for fans
Matsui Rena and member talk

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There’s Miura Haruma in this episode too if anyone’s interested. Basically he wants to apologise to a senior actor for not recognizing him when he called, and also drinking his beer. Fortunately, the senior actor is a jolly man and forgave Miura because of his bright smile =)

AKB48 Kizaki Yuria to challenge stripping and kissing scenes for GTO drama

Fuji TV’s high school drama Great Teach Onizuka, which airs every Tuesday at 10pm, will feature AKB48’s Kizaki Yuria challenging stripping and kissing scenes next.

Acting as Satsuki, a high school student who uses guys like tools, her character will get into trouble in the 3rd episode. “There are lots of tough scenes, like getting locked in a cage, getting stripped and getting kissed.I became emotionless,” Yuria said after filming.

In the 3rd episode, the guy who gets dumped by Yuria is accused of being a stalker. AKIRA from EXILE, who is the class assistant teacher, tries to protect him but the storyline develops into a thrilling murder case.

Yuria’s character is “devilish high school girl” who dates guys for their money. She said “Satsuki is someone who can’t live without guys. I’m personally the direct opposite as I would like to live independently without relying on anyone.”

In a group like AKB48 where relationships are forbidden, she was asked how she handles roles like these. “I like shoujo mangas, so i acted with all the knowledge i got from shoujo mangas. Aside from that, i really have no experience, so the scenes were tough as it was my first time,” she said.

Will her character experience some growth in future? “In the 3rd episode, you might think that Satsuki is an irritable character. But after that, her heart and mentality will change. She will become more straightforward and the distance between her and Onizuka sensei will narrow,” she said.

GTO, short for “Great Teacher Onizuka”, is story about  22-year-old ex-Motorcycle gang member Eikichi Onizuka, who becomes a tough-as-nails high school teacher. The drama, based on the Manga series which ran from 1997 – 2002, will begin airing in July. The series celebrates its surprise return to the airwaves as the first season of the drama which first aired in 2012 was a remake of a series which saw its initial run in 1998.

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No eligible candidates to succeed WMatsui in SKE48?

This article touches on the difficulties of finding a face to represent SKE48 in future. I do find it a pressing issue as WMatsui have been helming the group for years. With Rena getting older and probably also thinking about graduating soon, who can stand alongside Jurina to bring the group to its next era?

In a publication this month, Matsui Rena said “I’ve been thinking alot about how important it is to discover the group’s next center.”.

On SKE48’s official site, the member who is No.3 after WMatsui is Kizaki Yuria(17), known for her dance skills. “She can dance and has high popularity, but lacks charisma. If we talk about glamour, then it’s Kitagawa Ryoha,” said a media representative. Kitagawa Ryoha is a research student but has been selected as senbatsu for the group’s single recently.

Matsui Jurina said at the ending of their recent dome concert “We won’t be satisfied just because we’ve managed to do a dome concert. We’ll aim to be the best in Japan and in the world”. If that’s the case, finding the next center is a pressing issue. Afterall, sales of NMB48 and NGK46 are catching up, so evolution is necessary.

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