Graduation announcements thread

ahh Rei-chan....
Last year I just paid attention to her due to the interesting showroom cuts, but I guess graduating from HS is a crossroad for many members too.
Who else are the members in the same age bracket that is graduating from highschool?

 

I heard that Cocona wants to delete all her social media. Isn't it strange? Wanting to erease your idol past seems like there's something really really wrong. Also the fact that her and other prominent aces left the group is particular. I hope there's not a situation similar to NGT in NMB.

 

^ I believe deleting all SNS is normal for an idol reverting to normal citizen life. They're likely to still use social medias, just not publicly. I'm not aware if Cocona will delete them or just freeze them. I remember seeing some former 48 girls' past insta accounts that are still up, just no longer updated past their graduation.

However, your point about a bunch of aces/future aces/pushes graduated and keep announcing grad is definitely weird. But maybe it's nothing else but 48 groups no longer being the dream for many of them, instead much like a part time job during their youth.
I am not so surprised about Cocona thiugh. She always felt way too shy and awkward to be in the spotlight. Being thrown in the centre might not have helped. And now she has her future life ahead of her. It's a shame though, she's so incredibly beautiful.

 

Social media accounts are not the property of the members.

 

But many of them keep them after graduation.

 

You should apply to be a writer for Allkpop, they'd hire you in a heartbeat.

 

I don't think any situation can compare to NGT, but I do think some girls are dissatisfied with the scandals that have happened in 2021. We've seen many popular girls leave in the past year. Shibuya Nagisa voiced discomfort about the situation in NMB and hopes they can become a spotless group again that people are happy to support. Earlier in the year, Sumire's scandal happened and then towards the end of the year, Marin's scandal happened. And even though management won't give the official scandal details, it was pretty easy even for me (as a non Japan resident) to find this info... I'm sure most wota are aware of the scandals. I don't care about Sumire's scandal that much because I'm not against idols dating, but Marin's scandal made me angry. It didn't just make her look bad, but also the group, because if she's doing this, how many more are doing it too? Of course, as a member who works hard to treat fans kindly, Shibuya is upset that there is such a reputation now.

On another note, Rei has given more reasons for her future career choices. She wants to become a dietician because of how idol culture makes people develop eating disorders. She said she almost developed one herself, but managed to find out about proper diets and healthy life styles, but other members (Yamane Suzuha and Okada Nana) developed EDs because of the pressure.

It's not a surprise, but I'm still sad to hear that members have EDs. It makes also much more real if you also get told names of members with EDs. I know there's loads of people on this forum as well who have complained that some girls gained weight during the COVID-19 pandemic. These same people would probably say that Zunchan and Naachan look good and healthy, but in reality, they're struggling to treat themselves properly. I really hope people will stop being unkind on social media and take a hard look at themselves and their own (unhealthy) habits and what their own bodies may look like. I'm also tired of the narrative that Asian girls are "built different" and are "naturally skinnier", as if that meant that Asian girls can't be underweight and have EDs. I'm aware that Asian bodies often have different body fat %, but some people are using that as an excuse to call girls fat if their thighs are almost touching, or if you can't see the bones in their arms. Some people are really out of touch.

Anyway, I just needed a little rant. I hope Zunchan and Naachan are better now, that they're also improving their diets, that they'll be able to alleviate some of the pressure they feel.

 

There's nothing wrong if they choose to not have a public life anymore.

 

^I want to add Yahagi Moeka, who also cleaned her SNS from old content before she made her short comeback

I see no problem at all if a former idol wants to delete her SNS past. For some it surely helps to leave the past behind and start a "new" career.

 

That's just Paruru being Paruru.

 

Or accidentally delete your twitter like Yamada Nanami..but started the new one

 

And there are others whose account got hacked.

 

Tano Yuka also cleared her instagram when she graduated from AKB48 and joined a new agency. Takahashi Juri also deleted her socials when she moved to Korea. Watanabe Mayu also deleted everything when she retired. Quite sad, if you support the idol, but completely normal. It may mean retirement, it may also mean agency change.

 

Out of interest in Juris case, how do Korean companies handle their members' social media accounts? It looks to me like Woolim doesn't want their idols (or just some?) to have their own accounts. If that's the case, it's logical that Juri deleted them at the company's request.

 

It works similarly in Korea as it does in Japan regarding idol's on social media, it's at the discretion of the company and management. Most rookie groups will have just one account where the members post collectively, but this can also extend for many years. BTS for example only just created their own individual Instagram accounts late last year. Similarly, Hello!Project for a long time only let their idols post on the groups respective social media accounts, and it's only been the last couple years that they've allowed their older members to create their own accounts (but only for Instagram). It depends on the management.

 

Ah thank you for your explanation! I just started to follow RP a bit last December, well only Juriful Days, so I don't really have a clue how Korean companies handle this topic (maybe Juri explained it more detailed, but all I remember is that they post only on the official RP account/s)

 

NMB48 D3 member Sugiura Kotone has just announced her graduation:
https://twitter.com/s_egg/status/1479405894484238338

She took a hiatus last year for health reasons so her decision may be linked to that.