Iwasa Misaki (Wasamin) / 7th Generation

Of course she did. Keep in mid she had a hall of over 1000 people to entertain so it wasn't like she was waving to me every five minutes or anything. BTW...

One of my favorite parts of the concert was when Wasamin performed a bunch of songs for the first time. (Songs 9-14) The first of those songs, Anko Tsubaki wa Koi no Hana absolutely blew me away. I mean Wasamin simply nailed it. I could hear multiple fans exclaiming just how incredible her performance of this song was. Here is a YouTube version of the song by Moriyama Aiko. I get chills just thinking about it...


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Concert Picspam Part 2

No problem. I have more pics here. Although these aren't mine. They are other fans' photos and official press photos.

1) Newspaper clippings from this morning


2) Flowers (Actually there were a lot more than this. The flower stands went all the way up the staircase and down the hall.)


3) Press shots


4) More fan shots


I think everyone gets that everything about last night was a celebration, including the graduation. This moment is something that we as fans have all been anticipating and fearing at the same time. I would say she has been ready to move forward and away from AKB for some time now. It was just about picking the right moment. This was probably the perfect time. As @Blu-Cherri said this was surely discussed with her management as well as her family and not something decided on a whim. Cutting the tether to AKB is kinda scary, both for her AND for her fans. But we have confidence in her, and she in us too.

It isn't often in AKB that someone announces graduation, and the fans say "Yes, this is a good decision!"

 

More concert pics, this time courtesy of Matsui Sakiko...



And a couple of footnotes...

***Added song to the setlist:
0. Toki no Nagare ni Miwo Makase (Song performed exclusively to the winners of the "backstage tour" before the concert)

***Noted AKB Members (and former members) reportedly in the audience. Some of them confirmed it on their twitter accounts:

Ishida Haruka
Tanabe Miku
Suzuki Mariya
Miyazaki Miho
Oya Shizuka
Fukuoka Seina
Uchida Mayumi
Nakaya Sayaka
Sato Amina
Suzuki Shihori

***I never noticed the subtitle to the concert before it was pointed out to me last night...
～無人駅から 新たなる出発の刻～
~Mujineki Kara Aratanaru Shuppatsu no Koku~

Which I believe translates to something like...
~From Mujineki, Time for a New Departure~

I guess we should have taken the hint.

 

I don't see any reason for her weekly radio show to stop, unless TBS decides to drop her. I am pretty sure that show is something arranged by NagaraPro, not AKS.

Some of these concerns that are being brought up are precisely why her graduation is actually GOOD news. Wasamin even mentioned this during her announcement. Leaving AKB is going to free her up to do things that she wasn't doing before. More solo events, more television appearances, more promotion. Wasamin fully focusing as a soloist means she gets to do more things on her own where she is the star as opposed to being relegated to random theater girl which to me has been an insult to her talent AND accomplishment.

Case in point, aside from the concert this weekend she hasn't really done any single promotion since her appearance in Hamamatsucho on January 11th. Over the next two months pretty much every weekend is filled with AKB48 2-shot and handshake events. Granted, she is sqeezing in an appearance at the NHK Kayou Concert tomorrow (which I am attending), as well as the 3-night Nagara Pro Enka Matsuri mid-month. (Which I am also attending) But no mini-lives, no record shop events. Hopefully she they will be scheduling a few soon.

I'm not sure exactly how the immediate (and not so immediate) future will look, but I am hopeful that ultimately we are going to have even more fun as Wasamin fans than ever before. So many 48-group fans are so envious of the access and activity Wasamin already offers for her fans. Now it is going to be even better.

EDIT: As far as sousenkyo, I am 99% positive she won't enter. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she is gone by then. Keep in mind she contemplated not entering last year. Anyway, it's just another thing Wasamin fans no longer have to invest their energy and money in. Buying AKB CDs for handshakes, votes, 2-shots, all these things that at best only peripherally benefit her will be a thing of the past...

And I cannot wait for this concert DVD to come out!

 

Here are a few things to try to cure @Wasawota of his melancholy. First, a special post-concert message from Wasamin.


if the video does not show watch the video here

Wasamin's performed Gomen ne Tokyo on last night's NHK Kayou Concert. (If you watched the show you can hear us screaming for Wasamin, I was in the 9th row with a bunch of other Wasafans)



In addition to her new single Wasamin also did a duet of Aoi Sangosho with Natsukawa Rimi as part of the show's opening "Happy Songs" medley. Her show interview was brief. Takayama Tetsuya asked her about graduating from AKB and she reiterated that it is to focus on her Enka career.

Also in the cast were Akimoto Junko, Ichikawa Sayuri, Fuse Akira, Kitayama Takeshi, Chris Hart, Nishida Ai and Shimazu Aya


Wasamin with Natsukawa Rimi and Kitayama Takeshi

Oh, and I did a proper experience post about the solo concert over in the discussion thread.
http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/your-akb48-experiences.113/page-308#post-1147000