Excerpts from 29th Feb episode of Momm!

In this week’s Momm!, the new generation of AKB48 makes a guest appearance to promote “Kimi wa Melody”. Below are interesting excepts from the show.

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Paruru and her surprisingly warm attitude towards Nakai

Translated this segment as Paruru used to shy away from her interviews with Nakai. I remember in last year’s UTAGE, she actually told Nakai to refrain from talking to her.

Paruru: Nakai san, how are you?
Nakai: Yes, how are you? Did you lose weight?
Paruru: Yes! You noticed!
Nakai: What did you do?
Paruru: It was stress. *very bright smile*
Nakai falls over and says: But everyone has stress!
Nakai then notices Mayu/Sasshi/Minegishi serving drinks.
Nakai: What..so the seniors are doing work while the juniors sit?
He points at Mayu and says: Just now you put on a scary face!
Mayu:No! It was just a good face.
Nakai to Paruru: This is stressful too? The stress from the higher ups being enthusiastic.
Paruru: No….but today i came because i was curious if Nakai is fine.
Nakai: You came because of that? Isn’t it because of the new single?

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Payuyu relationship during New Generation Introduction corner

*Skip Yuria,Kojimako,Juri*
Nakai to Sakura: I haven’t met you?
Sakura: Yes, i came here before. With HKT48…
Nakai: Oh i have a deep impression from that time.
Sakura: What do you remember?
Nakai: Um…i don’t know…(*everyone laughs) Sashihara, who are you closest with?
Sasshi: Sakura
Nakai to Mayu: What about you?
Mayu: Eh…..everyone! (*laughs sheepishly)
Sasshi: She’s really bad at this! (*referring to interacting with members)
Mayu: But we’re all friendly!
Nakai: Tell us the charm of the members.
Mayu: Eh……(*tries hard to say something)
Nakai: Do you know who is who? Have you girls talked to her before?
Minegishi: Do you have someone whom you promised to have a meal with?
Nakai: Ah…Shimazaki and you definitely don’t have a relationship?
Mayu: Not really. Our hometowns are the same, Saitama. We’re also the same age.
Nakai: But don’t you go out for meals?
Paruru: She’s my senior, so no.
Sasshi: Paruru entered AKB because she looked up to Mayuyu.
Paruru: Yes. I can’t call her ‘Mayuyu’. It’s ‘Mayuyu san’.
Nakai: But you’re the same age. You’re scary, Watanabe!
Mayu: It’s not because i’m scary.
Nakai to Paruru: Ah, you fell sick because of Watanabe!
Mayu: That’s not true right? Please let me off!
Nakai to Mayu: If you don’t get closer to them, you won’t have any friends!
Mayu: I do have friends!

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Members and their cleanliness habits

Minegishi: I placed a bottle of vegetable juice on the side table. It expired after a short while and it was difficult to find a timing to throw it out. I thought i’d do it later, but one day when i was in the bedroom, there was a sound of something exploding. I was so scared thinking there was someone in the house that i creeped out only to see my sofa turning green. It was troublesome to clean it so i just draped a cloth over it.

Minegishi: There was a time when i wanted to cook nabe,so i took the pot out but it dropped. Then the leftovers from a previous nabe spilled out.

Nakai: No wonder, i always thought that you smell!
Minegishi: But i do clean myself properly.
Nakai: What about Sashihara’s house?
Minegishi: She has a room which she told me not to enter. When i opened the door to it, it was so dirty inside!
Sasshi: I put everything inside.
Nakai: Do you live alone? What about the rest?
Paruru: It’s a secret. (*Nakai is shocked.)
Nakai: Please ask me the same question! (*He mimics Paruru’s expression when she answered his question.)

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Watanabe Mayu and her love for cosplay

Minegishi: Mayuyu just said that she doesn’t play with the members, but i got attracted to danso cafes previously. It’s a place often seen in Akihabara where girls will dress as guys and serve customers.When i told her, for the first time Mayuyu said she wanted to come along.

Mayu: I love things about the neutral gender.
Minegishi: She also does it herself. I think she loves cosplay.
Nakai looks at a photo of Mayu cosplaying as Anna from movie “Frozen”
Mayu: During this Halloween event in Disneyland, customers can cosplay to enter, so that’s what i did in my private time. I stayed in a hotel close to Disneyland the night before, woke up early to do my makeup. That’s all my personal clothes.
Nakai: If your boyfriend knows about it, he’d be so shocked.

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Paruru talks about getting recognized in the streets

Nakai: Shimazaki don’t you get recognised when you go shopping?
Paruru: At this time, i’d pretend not to hear anything. When they touch me and ask if I’m Paruru, i’d say no.
Nakai: But they’d insist you’re Paruru?
Paruru: When i say no, they’d just clear off.

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Performance below

AKB48 Minegishi Minami and Kashiwagi Yuki unveil their English skills in Yamapi’s TV show

“YamaP no Kiss Eigo” -a TV show which aims to improve Japanese people’s English in a fun manner, pranked AKB48 Minegishi Minami and Kashiwagi Yuki in last week’s episode, bringing their English skills to light. In the show, a foreigner speaking English would call up the girls, pretending to have found their manager’s/friend’s phone. See how each of them reacted below.

Minegishi and her love for the word “slave”

Minegishi Minami appears to be quite flustered at first but quickly understood that her manager had lost his/her phone. When the foreigner was asking about the owner of the phone however, Minegishi shocked everyone by saying it belongs to her “slave”. She triple confirmed this statement, drawing laughter from everyone. The conversation reached a roadblock when they were discussing to meet. Minegishi could not understand the question “What are you wearing?” and had to request for “Kids’ English”. When describing her job as an AKB48 member, Minegishi also described it as a “slave”.

Minegishi later confessed that she thought “slave” was a word meant for someone respectable, and that she had learnt it from Akimoto Yasushi’s lyrics.

Kashiwagi and her gross misinterpretation of the word “this”

Minegishi Minami was asked to nominate another member to prank. The MC requested specifically for Kashiwagi Yuki(due to her scandal), noting that it is a special moment since both Johnny’s and AKB48 members are in the same room when they are making the call to her.

Kashiwagi did not get the foreigner’s words initially and thought “this” was “busu”(japanese word for someone ugly).  Their conversation was so focused on the word “this” that Yukirin thought she had found 1 ugly person. She forgot about this word later and miraculously understood that Minegishi had lost her phone. Their conversation progressed well with Yukirin replying mostly in Japanese, prompting the MC to describe her as a obaasan(probably cos only youngsters would reply in English).

When the prank was explained to Kashiwagi, the MC asked her if she was feeling irritated since she kept mentioning “busu”. Perhaps this was a subtle hint at her scandal but Yukirin deflected it by saying she’ll continue shopping.

AKB48 Team 4 gets revived, Minegishi Minami to become captain

A big announcement was made on August 24th during ‘AKB48 2013 Manatsu no Dome Tour ~Mada Mada, Yaranakyaikenai Koto ga Aru~‘ at Tokyo Dome. The old Team 4, which was disbanded back in October 2012, will be revived to house 16 research members who have all been promoted to become regular members.

It was also announced that Minegishi Minami, who was demoted to research student status after her scandal in February this year, will become the new captain of Team 4. After hearing these announcements, Iwatate Saho expressed, “I didn’t think that we would all get promoted at once. I have work even harder than before.” Nishino Miki added, “I didn’t think I would get promoted. The Kenkyuusei all worked hard together, so we all wished to get promoted together. I am very happy that our dream came true.”

New Team 4 Members:

Aigasa Moe / Iwatate Saho / Uchiyama Natsuki / Umeta Ayano / Okada Ayaka / Okada Nana / Kitazawa Saki / Kojima Mako / Shinozaki Ayana / Takashima Yurina / Nishino Miki / Hashimoto Hikari / Maeda Mitsuki / Mirayama Yuiri / Mogi Shinobu / Minegishi Minami (team captain)

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Minegishi Minami makes her way back into mainstream media

AKB48’s Minegishi Minami will be on the cover of women’s magazine Fujinkoron, selling April 22nd.  This is her first appearance in a magazine since her sleepover scandal at GENERATIONS member Alan Shirahama’s house back in January. An interview titled “The truth to why I shaved my head” was included in the magazine.

In the interview, she expressed her ardent love and the passion for AKB and talked about how she felt at the time of hair-shaving.

“It was not because I was mentally out of control, but it was a result of thinking what I should do to convey my feeling of apology. And I thought I wanted to convey it in a visible form, then, what went through my mind was “Shaving my head””

Her act has been reported sensationally not only in Japanese media but worldwide, with most reactions being negative.

She said: “Looking back, I think what I did might be an immature and ignorant act.”

She also revealed the reaction of her fellow members, staffs and her family members at the time of incident.

“What broke my heart the most was the fact that I made my parents cry.”

Her parents, especially her mother was shocked as a woman and cried so hard. That was the hardest moment in the whole chain of events.

“I made my parents feel devastated. It’s my duty to practice filial piety and make them feel happy.”

On the reason why she dared to go as far as shaving head to stay in the showbiz, she explained: “There’re countless people who are trying to make a living in Showbiz. But only a handful will be recognized by many people. The reason why I could become one of those handful is because I’m a part of AKB48. The reason why I can join variety kinds of work is also because I’m here in AKB48.”

Regarding her future, she said: “I’ll keep participating in activities as a research student. I will try my best on the stage so that people sense something has changed in me. Also, I want people to see me without a wig. Someday I want to graduate AKB48, celebrated by lots of people…. that is my current goal. “

Credits to akbwrapup for the translations

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In addition, she also made an appearance as part of AKB48 in a special episode of “Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!”, a variety show where members have to take academic tests to determine the most stupid member. Although Miichan had been allowed to continue hosting AKB48’s own regular show “Kousagi Dojo” after her scandal, she had been left out of the member lineup for other TV shows ever since. Her appearance this time, plus that magazine coverage, is perhaps a sign that she has been forgiven by the management, and ready to make a comeback.

However, it comes at a price. The media only seems interested in the news value of her post-scandal, judging by the content they are publishing/airing about her. In “Mecha-Mecha Iketeru”, she appeared in a bald-head wig. On the walls of the classroom, a big signage says “Love Ban Law”, as if referencing her scandal. When she asked for permission to remove her bald-head wig, the MC said no, because her wig-less head is only fit for show on YouTube. Throughout the show, he also kept making a dig at her scandal by asking if she’s repenting.

Now, before the Miichan fans misunderstand, please realise that this is a variety show and it was probably filmed this way to make people laugh. Although it was probably very humiliating for Miichan, this is something she’ll need to get over if she wants to continue working in the industry.

No3b members(including Minegishi Minami) make final appearance on Snack Kissa Eden

No3b members Takahashi Minami, Kojima Haruna and Minegishi Minami have apparently been filming this late night program for 5 episodes before Minegishi Minami’s scandal broke out. The original intent was to end the program at episode 6, and since there was only 1 episode left, Miichan was allowed to return and wrap up the show. Just like Kousagi Dojo, she appeared wearing a wig and a hat.

The last episode features each of the members singing a solo song.

Takamina chose a rock style song “Yume Miru Shoujo Jya Irarenai”  originally sung by Aikawa Nanase, which is rather similar to her “Jane Doe”.

Kojiharu sang Namie Amuro’s “Can You Celebrate?”. I love Kojiharu’s voice but i think her high pitch is too scratchy on the ears.

Miichan sang Hitoto Yo’s “Morai Naki”. Amongst the three, i thought her voice is the weakest but she did quite a decent job especially for such a difficult song.

This episode is a rare find since AKB48 members always perform as a group. I’m glad Kojiharu got a chance to sing solo because i want to see her debut as a solo singer!

Minegishi Minami appears on TV for the first time since shaving her head

Full Show

In the latest episode of AKB48’s midnight show Kousagi Dojo, Minegishi Minami showed up with a new wig on her head, looking somewhat sheepish as she opened the show with her co-host. The new wig, i must say, is 99% similar to her old hairstyle, much better than the one she wore during her first stage as a research student.

Miichan then revealed that she has been allowed to return to the show, and even though she feels apologetic to fellow research students, she hopes to be as useful to the show as possible.

[Updated]Comments from netizens:

“Pls forgive her already. She’s also one reason why AKB48 has gotten popular so far. It’s true that she has done wrong and deserves some blame. But she has supported us in the past and it’s our turn to support her now.”

“She looks cheerful so that’s good.”

“I’m no longer her fan but i hope she works hard for the existing fans.”

“Pls quit the group if you can’t stick to the rules! You’re only sticking to AKB because you’ll be jobless without them right?”

“If you appear on TV with a wig, then there’s no meaning in shaving your head.”

“People make mistakes. It’s just a matter of whether she’s reflecting on it. Ganbare Gachapin!”

Some fans who read my post have said that i’m biased against Miichan. Sorry guys, i’m not a fan of Miichan but not an anti either. If you’ve read my earlier post, you’d realise that i actually find her a talent and staying in AKB is a waste of her time. Anyways, the netizen comments i’ve translated may have made this post very dreary, but these were from the YouTube video, and i’ve not missed out any which attempted to put Miichan in a better light. Of cos, these comments do not reflect the general sentiments of everyone, so u gotta voice it out if you want to support your idol!

Minegishi Minami dons a wig for 1st stage as research student

Credits to akb48wrapup

Basically she apologised again during the MC portion for her scandal, so you can hear her fans shouting words of encouragement off the stage. I actually thought she wouldn’t wear a wig, since ya know, she went all the way to shave it, but perhaps she didn’t want to stand out too much.

I’ve been thinking about her decision to accept punishment instead of just graduating entirely. I admire her courage to start all over again with a generation 14 times later than her, but realistically she should have just resigned. At the age of 20 and having built up her variety skillls and popularity with AKB over the past 7 years, she’s probably ready to take on the outside world like Tomochin and Acchan. She might have to struggle abit at first, but at least she doesn’t have to continue living a restricted life for another..7 years?

Another day, another scandal strikes AKB48

 

Shunkan Bunshun has yet again gotten a scoop on the famous AKB girls, adding on to the chaos from the Minegishi Minami scandal last week.

This time round, the girl involved is Kashiwagi Yuki, the third most popular member who just declared her support for the love-ban law recently in return for realizing her dreams. According Yukirin’s agency, she was invited by Minegishi Minami to what she thought was a girls’ gathering at a bar on the midnight of 12th January. The gathering turned out to be what Shunkan Bunshun described as a dating party, attended by Ogiwara Takahiro(21) and Sugimoto Kenyu(20), both J-league soccer players, AV actress Kirara(24) and of cos Miichan(20).

The “party” lasted till the next morning.  However, Miichan left at around 3am looking quite drunk. The rest stayed on to sing karaoke until after the bar closed, with Kirara leaving at 7.30am, followed the boys and finally Yukirin at 7.45am.

With Yukirin’s innocent and goody-two-shoes image, it is indeed shocking to learn that she’d stay out to have fun with people she’d never met. But i don’t think this is as grave as what happened with Miichan, so the management will probably sweep it under the carpet.

Let’s stay tuned for the aftermath!

By the way, fans on google+ and japanese forums are demanding for Miichan to be fired for causing trouble again.

 

Itano Tomomi defends picture of Minegishi Minami on Twitter

On yesterday’s All Night Nippon radio show, Itano Tomomi defended a picture of Minegishi Minami that was uploaded to Twitter after her scandal erupted. In the picture,  a smiling Miichan is seen surrounded by the 1st generation members. Shinoda Mariko’s tweet later revealed that they have gathered around her for a hotpot session.Some netizens have expressed their doubt about Miichan’s sincerity in repenting, since she looks happy at a time when she should be repenting.

Tomochin explained that the 1st generation had wanted to do something for Miichan as she’s going through a tough time, so they had a meal and chatted. Later, as they knew that the fans were worried for Miichan, they decided to take a cheerful photo to show fans that Miichan was doing well.

A picture speaks a thousand words. Seeing the great aces of 1st generation AKB supporting her like this certainly makes her mistake seem so much smaller.

Minegishi Minami’s apology video removed from official channel

According to Yahoo Japan, AKB48’s General Manager Togasaki Tomonobu announced on his blog that Minegishi Minami’s video has been taken down. Miichan’s video has been viewed by over 7.5 million times and has spread like wildfire, generating mixed responses from media and fans all over the world. Instead of appeasing the fans, i believe that the act of shaving her head has resulted in a negative reaction especially from the international media.

According to Togasaki’s post, alot of fans who appeared at the handshake session in Chiba today said that they can see Miichan’s sincerity in apologizing  and therefore requested Togasaki to take down the video.

Miichan, who heard their request, is thankful but in order to regain the fans’ trust, she will not forget her apologetic feelings towards her fans.

The video has since been replaced by an official statement from Togasaki, although you’ll still be able to find duplicates elsewhere.

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