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Kakizaki Memi (Memitan) / 1st Generation

Discussion in 'Hinatazaka46 Graduated Members' started by ForrestFuller, May 11, 2016.

  1. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    The promo text for next Thursday's episode of the NHK education program "Society and Information" does not include Memi's name, just Konoka's, the MC's and the teacher's. Let's hope this is just because the recording was done while Memi was ill and that she will be back soon.

    Memi's 5channel support thread continues to roar along. Despite Memi being invisible the whole time, thread #29 just filled its thousand posts in nine days, one day less than the previous thread, a few days less than had become the (already speedy) norm. Antis are helping the thread to grow, lol. Memi continues to attract the most posts of any Hinatazaka 5ch support thread. Suzuka is next, in her 14th thread. Kyoko 13th, Miho and Mao 12th, Kumi, Manafi and Nao-chan 11th. Memi's is the only thread whose speed is measured in posts per hour, not posts per day, by my reader software. This doesn't necessarily mean she is the most popular member, but it does mean that her followers on 5channel are not satisfied with the amount of Memi they get in the main Hinatazaka thread. Thread #30.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2019
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  2. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Before Memi actually returns and we find out (maybe), I thought I'd list some of the reasons fans (and antis) have put forward for her absence: exhaustion/burnout, chickenpox, lung infection, not getting along with and/or being bullied by other members, "mental" problems, stalker. Also one suggestion that Memi knows the real reason Neru is leaving, and it has turned her against management. None of these reasons has any solid evidence behind it, they are just possibilities that have been suggested. The antis are consistent in saying (also without evidence) that she is going to graduate. Personally, I think she loves being on stage too much to do that, unless it is to do more acting, and she has said she enjoys lives even more than acting (which she clearly totally adores). I'm still hoping (rather desperately) for her absence being for outside work or training that can't be announced yet. There was a really unsupported rumour (a LINE mention repeated on 5ch, lol) that she had been seen shooting a photobook.

    The stalker theory got a slight bit of support today with the posting of a notice (on all three Sakamichi groups' official news pages, so it could be problem common to them all) saying that there have been problems with a few fans bothering members and their families, and saying that security has been increased and police will be called on anyone following members on foot or by vehicle. Even without the legal system being involved, offenders will be banned from all future events. Memi was not apparently bothered by the flare-thrower when she was with Techi in a lane in the past, so I'm not sure she would be that sensitive, unless it was a really bad experience.... And mention of families reminds me that Memi's father is well-known and his address (as well as the family flower-shop's address) can be found.

    In any case, Memi has been announced as not participating in this Sunday's handshake event in Nagoya. For previous recent events, she was first announced and then de-announced close to the event, but this time her absence was announced with the lane-list. Here are some older photos fans have posted recently in her 5ch thread or on Twitter (ages 15-15-14-16):

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2019
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  3. gish0046

    gish0046 Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2019
    The suddenness of her absence and, in particular, her absence from Music Station makes me doubt that its graduation plans or some friction between her and management, or between her and other members of the group. Bullying seems unlikely. They've all been together for 2-3 years, why would they all of a sudden start bullying her now? Not to mention that she seems less estranged with the group now than she has been in the past.

    The stalker theory is possible but l can't see her missing Music Station for that either unless it was unusually egregious (i.e. something similar to what Maho experienced).
     
  4. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    @gish0046 -- I like the way you think. It does appear she is closer to the 2gens now: Miho and Suzuka, in particular. My actual concern (not related to her absence) is that her "sabasaba" forthrightness has offended even the 1gens over the years. I sense some coolness from Katoshi, who was close to her in the first year, but has more recently talked about her having become "a little sister you tease."

    I forgot one thing people suggest that I actually do think somewhat possible: some medical procedure to reduce the amount of gum that shows when she smiles broadly (this can be done with braces, by cutting out some gum tissue, or with injections in the lip). The antis criticize her for that smile, and she did get orthodontia to correct her pointed teeth, and still seems to cover her mouth a lot. And she might not want to be seen in public until the treatment was complete. Just a slight possibility, no indication it's true.

    I loved the fact that she went off to Kamakura alone and then reported about it in Message and on HINAROOM. But that is something you might do if you were feeling confused and/or dissatisfied. As an aside, Memi's pride over her trip -- and her reaction to Kumi's teasing about the giant axolotl (Kumi pretended she didn't believe her and Memi rose to the bait) -- were really wonderful in that HINAROOM. Another recent moment I loved was her complex facial reaction as Koyasu said what he was going to ask her to do (her comic impression) in ep2.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2019
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  5. gish0046

    gish0046 Upcoming Girls

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    Surgery is a possibility but it seems unlikely to me. I keep going back to her missing Music Station which would point to the issue being one which was sudden and unexpected. Oral surgery can be easily rescheduled and I doubt she would miss Music Station for oral surgery. I think the most likely reasons are illness or some kind of sudden personal/family issue. Though of course there is the possibility that the reason she missed Music Station and the reason why she's continuing to be missing things now are unrelated, i.e. she missed Music Station for illness and then she had oral surgery which was scheduled some time after Music Station (like now for example).
     
  6. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    Posted in her blog by Takamoto six hours ago:

    [​IMG]

    Take-chan seems to be wearing the pyjamas she wore in HINAROOM ep03, so the photo is likely from then. She says Memi came up close to her. The post is about the 1gens 3rd anniversary, and talks about the meal they had together (last weekend). She says she loves them all.

    @gish0046 -- Not so easily rescheduled where I am, but possibly in Japan. And it could be that the procedure went ahead before MSte was confirmed, and Memi was in recovery at the time of the show. But in any case, I think you're right, and the most likely thing is still illness. What illness is hard to say. Mumps is the new favored suggestion on 5ch, lol (but fully superseded by stalker there now). Probably exhaustion of some kind is the most likely, except that Memi has always seemed one of the members with the most stamina (just barely equal to the hill-climb, but still strong).
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2019
  7. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    For the first time in a month, Memi has posted in Keyaki Message. A few hours ago, she posted a photo of the sun in a blue sky, with a line of treetops at the bottom. There's a dark thing that is possibly a bird in the sky, and a single blob of bright lens-flare in the treetops.

    Seems positive toward Hinata and its fans (sky blue and Ohisama). No words and no real info, just an intriguing bit of art with a generally positive feeling. Reaction mainly relief that she's back in contact. Some people jump to the conclusion that everything is fine. Others complain it isn't much info. A couple mutter darkly about it being too much like Hirate (an occasional enigmatic post).
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2019
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  8. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    More news, not that great. Memi will not be taking part in a special event this weekend. It's a comparatively small-scale event where people apply and are selected by lottery, usually to bring something they own to be signed by the member.

    In addition, it appears that someone has hijacked her father's Twitter to retweet every tweet that contains Memi's name. The retweets go back a few days, though, and you would think he would have dealt with it, if it were a hijack. Rather a mystery. Japanese posters are suggesting this makes the stalker theory more likely, although I don't think there's a necessary connection there -- just that, as some pro-Memi posts put it, the "cultural level" of some people is pretty low. But actually, even I am beginning to really worry about Memi....

    I was, however, pleased that on the NHK education show Memi and Konoka are on, even though Memi was not there this week, the host and Kono-chan both did her cat hand-pose and the host used "nyan" a lot. Still unknown if Memi will be back for the next ep, May 30, but one Japanese poster claims he saw a page indicating she would be. I haven't seen such a page.

    And there is another little feature on the bis magazine website, with Memi-Hiyori-Hina-Miku, about after-bath "roomwear." Just a little pic on the net, but the headline talked about the "woman-power of Kakikaki Memi, Hamagishi Hiyori, et al."

    [​IMG]

    More photos posted recently by fans:

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I believe the photos are from early 2018 (2), this year or late last, and late 2016.

    EDIT: Kakizaki Junichi's Twitter account is now temporarily gone. Here is his announcement:

    [​IMG]

    The image is one of Kakizaki Junichi's art pieces. I'm not sure, but it may be part of an installation he did in Sweden a couple of years ago.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2019
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  9. gish0046

    gish0046 Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2019
    That actually is worrisome, and does make the stalker theory seem more likely imo. If it is true then I hope management and the police deal with it properly and don't bungle it like AKS did with the Maho fiasco. At least the notice they put on the homepage(s) a few weeks ago makes it seem like management is taking this kind of thing seriously, regardless of whether that notice actually had anything to do with Memi's situation.
     
  10. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    I'm feeling a lot better now.

    A tweet says Hinatazaka seen filming 2nd single in Yamanashi town (Masaho-chou). Memi and Aya frolicking in pool. Memi seeming happy and healthy. Report Friday, with site being cleaned up around 7pm. I hope this is true. Original Tweet.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2019
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  11. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2016
    A tweet from @erohiEX quotes Waka-chan as saying that the members who most leapt up over the past year were "Kakizaki and Miyata." "They know where the joke comes from, and their sharpness is good, too. They're cute, but funny as well, and a kind of comedy ("laugh") that I haven't seen before.... Anyway, if you put the two of them together, you can depend on something funny coming of it." I agree. It seemed to me that Memi started turning the bum-sumo competition into burikko comedy, and Manamo caught on immediately. Or maybe it was the other way around, lol. Memi prancing away in the second event, suddenly looking back with hooded eyes and a disgusted expression, was hilarious.
    [​IMG]

    This is part of the original tweet from @erohiEX
    若林が一年間で最も跳ねたと思ったメンバーは「柿崎と宮田」で、「ネタの出しどころを心得ているし、キレ味もいい。カワイイのに面白いという、あんまり見たことがなかったタイプの笑い」「とりあえず2人を組ましておけば何かしら面白くしてくれるので頼りにしてます」とのこと。芽実たん待ってるよ! I'm not sure of the original source being quoted; maybe Audrey's radio show. The quote is apparently from an interview in BLT magazine, according to the first tweet in the thread. That first tweet has a lot of praise for Kumi's ability in variety, contrasting her comical nature with her serious captain nature.]
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2019
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  12. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    I've translated a Chinese translation of the Kyouko x Memi interview in April EX Taishuu magazine. Topics include: the name-change, what they think of each other as idols/centres, are fixed or rotating centres best, MemixTechi, bringing some "mischievousness" to the Sakamichi Series. We've seen the photos before, but here are a couple:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  13. DIO

    DIO Kenkyuusei

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    Feb 14, 2019
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    Za Warudo
    Oshimen:
    wadamaaya
    Lol i though kyoko with rika but that actually kyoko with memi...
     
  14. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    I've long thought that Memi and Berika looked somewhat similar. In a way, Memi's like a younger and more communicative Berika, lol.

    Manafi has posted a new pic of Memi (with Manafi and Mirei) in her Message. There's some disagreement as to whether she looks "genki" or not. Not particularly, it seems to me. It's a fairly neutral expression. It's the Memi I prefer, really: not very idol-like, not trying to sell anything or push a smile when she doesn't feel one. To me, it's Memi neutral, Manafi neutral with a slight ironic twist in her hint of a smile, and Mirei the only one somewhat brighter, being the idol. I don't feel comfortable posting it directly, even though I didn't get it from Message. You might want to check Memi's 5ch support thread (post 646).

    Neru also mentions Memi in her Message. No photo, but she says she's liking Yuzawaya, a sort of home hobby store (sewing, crafts, etc.), apparently similar to the North American Michael's. She says Memi turned her on to it. And it's not certain, but posts here and there suggest Memi was also mentioned by Mirei and even Kage-chan. Reintegration after her rest? Kage and Memi both in a summer single?

    Kyouko has been announced to have a role (sharing it with Manatan!) in the stage play of Sazae-san (an extremely popular and long-running family anime). With others getting acting roles, can actress Memi be far behind?

    EDIT: Some fans are now hoping that Memi may show up unexpectedly on stage at the event today, the Music Wave festival at Laguna Beach park in Aichi. I don't think that's likely, but in any case Hinatazaka is scheduled to appear at 17:50 Saturday, around five hours from now (last edited time).

    EDIT2: She wasn't there.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2019
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  15. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    Memi's father, Kakizaki Junichi, has a one-man art show on now as part of a festival in Nagano prefecture. A Hinatazaka fan who attended loved the show, in which all the pieces are made from natural objects like trees and flowers.

    He posted that
    he had a chance to speak with Kakizaki-sensei, whom he said was very pleasant and sociable and who told him that his daughter was well ("元気にやってますよ"). A second tweet said that he was given permission to post on SNS. Photos from the tweet (the man in black is Kakizaki-sensei; the flowers cover the visiting fan, I believe):

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Other photos: The main piece is an 8m-diameter installation called "Queen of the High Mountains (Takayama no Joou)." It's like a mountaintop constructed of dead branches, with a large patch on top of a flowering plant called komakusa (scientific name Dicentra peregrina), which is also called "Queen of Alpine Plants," since it grows at high elevations on gravelly soil. "Alpine" in Japanese is "high mountains."

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    The piece is impossible to appreciate in small photographs, especially one in a newspaper that I've seen. Seeing it in person is really the only way. But the close-up photo here does reveal the sensual, tactile details. Hard, dead branches and lovely soft flowers -- about a thousand komakusa plants -- giving life. The theme of the festival is the greening of urban areas, and the flowers do green the rocky slopes. The last photo is a Wikipedia photo of komakusa.

    Here is the theme image from the show, "Monocular Chimpanzee," plus an image posted by the Alexander McQueen company of Kakizaki-sensei's decoration for the opening of their Tokyo store a number of years ago:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Click all photos to enlarge.

    Another fan who attended a talk by Kakizaki-sensei last week said that there was a woman with him whose voice sounded like Memi's, and whom he guessed might be her mother.

    I'm a fan of British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who also works with natural objects, and it's interesting to compare their approaches. Goldsworthy's work is cleaner, more graphic, more geometrical; Kakizaki pays more attention to the natural objects as natural objects, it seems to me.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2019
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  16. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    Tuesday's Nogizaka Showroom for the release of the Zambi disks (31 May) shows a few bits from the play featuring Hinata members -- Nao, Kyouko, Katoshi, Memi -- with very brief bits of singing from Katoshi and Memi. Katoshi is terrific as always. And Memi is a fantastic musical-comedy-style singer, it appears (and as MagiReco already proved). Twitter video of the Katoshi/Memi part. Full video from YouTube (the clip is from around 9:40; there is a bit of Memi acting around 9:30). The Nogi hosts are Kubo-Yoda-Umezawa.

    [​IMG]

    I have to admit to an optimistic fantasy. Memi was seen playing around in the pool during what may have been recording of the new single. Her father says she is well. Could part of her absence be rest because she is about to have a lot of work for the new single? Maybe a drama as well? Special lessons in acting and/or singing could be part of it. As could time to get ahead of her schoolwork (she probably takes a special correspondence-type course for performers that gives a lot of flexibility). I told you it was a fantasy. But I don't think it contradicts any of what has gone on: the absence may have started as illness and morphed into rest, all of which could be considered "physical condition." And for some reason I myself feel Memi might not have been as disappointed over Music Station as others might have.

    Eager fans have been reposting various Memi pics; for example:

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2019
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  17. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    In today's announcement of the new single, the fine print says there are only 19 different photos in the main photo set. This would imply Memi and Kage's absence. More detail in the General thread, where I talk about reasons Memi might still be involved. All we can do is wait for direct information.
     
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  18. Remylittlechef

    Remylittlechef Kenkyuusei

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2017
    I really miss her, glad actually she's going to appear in the next episode of HinaAi. But if she's not gonna participate in 2nd single they should make an official announcement for her right? (hiatus, etc.). I hope they are right about seeing Memi on MV shooting location.
     
  19. ukifune

    ukifune Under Girls

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    Mar 29, 2016
    She is not one of the eight faces just shown today as advertising for Mechakari. And on the official site opening page there are musical notes you scroll down and click and get a member singing "do-re-mi": there are only 19 notes. Either she:
    • is taking a hiatus;
    • is being like Techi and doing only performances (plus acting), and is actually in the MV, maybe in a back row, giving her more time for both school and a normal life;
    • is moving to Aki-P's drama troupe (or some other one);
    • is transferring to Keyaki (neither likely nor wise);
    • or is actually bidding farewell to the entertainment world, which would be a tremendous loss that not enough people would recognize. For me, she is an excellent actress; most of the best bits from variety shows involve her; she is now one of the best singers; she is one of the top dancers, especially for precision and grace; and she has very good comic timing and a wonderfully surreal comic inventiveness.
    From 5ch posts over the past few hours:

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2019
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  20. keyak

    keyak Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2019
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Noooooo, Memi please don’t leave... T_T It would be a tremendous loss for Hinata if she does. How did it even get to this? She was one of the most prominent members during debut era, a front runner for center, a shoo-in for first row to now being almost non-existent in group promotions. I don’t follow her too closely but we need some answers..


    v. Glad to hear that. If she participated in the MV, then it's likely she participated in the song as well. I honestly wouldn't mind if she didn't appear in typical idol work like handshake and ads, as long we can see her in the MV and live performances.

    And antis will be antis.. Their job after all is to add fuel to negative rumors and spew vitriol. Let them yack all they want.
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2019
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