Kakizaki Memi (Memitan) / 1st Generation

This reminds me I wanted follow some Japanese groups but I have no idea where to start from (my playlist is full of idols and BabyMetal RN lol I need some variety) Perhaps Memi and Keyaki members follow some good one... is there some sort of chart about it somewhere?

 

Kakizaki Memi blog: Twintails and more twintails. Lots of photos of her hairstyles, outfits and flowers from the weekend handshake event. Also the largest number of emojis I've seen in anyone's post so far.

 

Just for research purpose... we don't have Memi's reaction to the last MV, right?
I can't even imagine... lol

 

@Dill -- If you mean the latest one, I can easily imagine her loving it (and especially Techi) and even being able to get into doing it herself. I think. I mean, she is a rock fan, and can actually move pretty well. She just needs headbanging training, lol.

Today's Message was a little video of her offering us homemade chocolates for Valentine's Day, like a girlfriend. Here's a still from it -- as an advert for Message, let's say. I think her "charm point" is her huge hands.



In her photos over the past couple of weeks, I sense sadness. I hope I'm totally mistaken, which is possible.

 

I wasn't mistaken. Memi's results in the first 6th-single handshake sales period were awful. No sell-outs, while others: Kyonko 24, Katou 20, Kage 13, Takamoto/Ushio/Meimei 5. And the 2gens? Nao and Miho 12 (all sold), Hina/Nibu 11, Paripi 7, Miku 6, Manamo 2. The only 0 was Hiyo-tan, so I guess perceived youth is a factor. More or less what I expected, although I hoped for a lot more. I'm thinking bad thoughts about Japanese idol otas. How stupid and blind are they? Oh well, to each their own.

As for Garasu wo Ware, in Message today Memi says: "So cool! I'm watching it over and over again!"

 

I bet she is!
I expected a low result for Memi, at least on the first day. It's like, because of Budokan, people discovered Hiragana AND 2ng gen at once so they are going for the ones that stand out most. Hopefully this result will change in the next rounds. Memi deserves way more recognition.
On the other hand I'm believe in her skills and I'm pretty sure she'll get where she wants arrive. She already demostrated she know how to step up her game.
I'm more worried for the usual ones, Mao and Manafi

As for her pictures... an idol is an idol but first and foremost is a person, it can't be always all sun and happyness. Hopefully is nothing serious.

 

It was only Memi's message that made me realize what you meant about her and the new single: Memi will not be one of those complaining about Techi getting too much screen-time, lol.

I hope it will work out, but I think she is devastated and confused by how she has fallen from being the main hope to seeming an also-ran, at least as far as fans are concerned. I'm trusting my instincts here because she confirmed some things in Idol & Read that I had felt but not quite believed -- like how she felt inferior to the others, and how much the rearrangement in Bokutachi wa Tsukiatteiru hurt her. I can only hope she is as stubborn as she claims, because it's going to take stubbornness to rise again. I just worry this will put the fear in her eyes that most idols seem to me to have, and that I appreciated not seeing in her. It may already be doing that.

One Japanese comment simply said it's time for her to do her best even more. A very Japanese approach, lol. Being more intent on publicizing handshake sales, etc., would help some, but I think there's a disconnect between her calm, quiet manner and relative honesty, and the genkiness, forced but natural-seeming smiles, and manic attentiveness to fans that seem to me to help make some idols popular. Of course, becoming a really good singer or dancer, good enough to be featured, would also help, but there are a lot of those among the 2gens. And management has not found a way to feature her in situations that give her a quieter space to show herself in. When she was selected, her father said he hoped management knew just how "young" she was. Perhaps we're seeing that even now, not so much as a function of age as a matter of her natural personality, and her origin in a country town.

As it turns out, perhaps management put too much pressure on her, putting her at co-centre when she would have been happy just to be anywhere. This way, I have no doubt, some other members have resented her position, which she did not earn by her actual efforts. I would have, if I had been them.

 

Memi blog post: Her own homemade Valentine chocolates, plus some good photos of her (and of the chocolates).

 

Memi blog post: Two-shot with Berika, handshake event flowers.



In the Berika two-shot, it is as usual only Memi who looks directly into the camera, making eye-contact with viewers.

 

The first picture in the blog is a killer (my monday suddenly got better though)
Nice shot with Pechan, hopefully Memi will also improve the number of her photos with Kanji. The amount of times Shida/Kyoko pics traveled in my socials timelines is unexpectedly high. And while I doubt Memi and Techi will ever grace use again with their "dates" I won't mind Memi pics be shared more everywhere.

I'm not against how mngmnt is handling hiragana; I feel like the project is, paradossally, still in an embryoic phase. Like only recently they decided what they want to do about the group and now they are making their tries and bets.
Memi and the other members will have to go through this again and again probably, but Memi has the skills to stay up there. Hopefully she also got the personality for it.

 

New official profile pic:



Click for largest available size, with great detail.

I've updated my K46 Members Chart with the new pics. Each Hiragana member has a different flower. Memi's is silver.

New Memi blog post: Lounging around reading manga...with dyed hair!
EDIT: False alarm! On Showroom 22 Feb you could see her hair was still black. It must have been a trick of the lighting or the exposure that made her hair look lighter.

 

"I sulked so much about not going with her
That she brought me a gift."

My favorite part. This is SO Memi that I openly laughed while at work
As usual, thank you for the translation. Not a fan of dyed hair in general, but she didn't went too far at least (Paradossally I like more extreme color changes.. but not on Memi lol)

 

Kakizaki Memi - Takase Mana SHOWROOM Thursday 6:30pm Japan time (LA 1:30am, NY 4:30am, London 09:30, Jakarta 16:30) https://www.showroom-live.com/46_MEMI_KAKIZAKI Nagasawa Nanako at 5 pm (1.5h earlier)



@Dill -- She was so dead-set against dying her hair that I thought she wouldn't do it this soon. She did say on their previous Showroom that she wanted to dye it pure white sometime "at least once." I would like to see her do that and cosplay Shirayuki-hime.

 

Memi blog post: Music and memory, K-On, and Showroom tonight. Lovely post, full of gentle memory and emotion.

 

20. (30.) 21/24 (+21) Kakizaki Memi

I'd say her strategy worked. A little push to sell all the slots won't hurt though.
I'm quite happy though
Nice blog post

 

Yatta! Last night's Showroom should do the trick. And if it doesn't, Memi says in today's blog post (posting for the third day in a row) that there will be another Memifii Showroom. At this rate, Memi will be sold out next week, and the entire group will be sold out in 2-3 weeks.　They may even increase the number of lanes for those who aren't yet at 24 (except for the 2gens, for whom these will be their first individual handshake event). Ka-ching for CD sales.

Another great show last night, from my point of view. A bit boring at first, as they decided on what name to use for their combo. The audience finally voted and chose Memi's choice of Memifi, of course. But as soon as they went off-script and started just reacting to comments, it was highly enjoyable, a direct conversation with the viewers, drawing them in to be part of the show.

Memi would occasionally explode in laughter at some comment (which she usually but not always then quoted). Natural laughter and natural silence. It appeared that they finally had the screens set up so they could see the comments and look straight into the camera at the same time. Manafi seemed to have learned Memi's ability to look straight into the camera and make a sort of eye contact with the audience. Not as easily as Memi, but good.

The top fan I sometimes mention, Shuuta, the apparently well-to-do university student idol ota from Hokkaido who goes to just about every Memi event anywhere in Japan, and says he is surprised to find himself actually in love with Memi and that she is the best, was #1 in the avatar sea below the video for a while, and people commented on that. But Memi didn't, although no doubt she noticed. At one point there was a comment: "Now I see. Shuuta was right."

They (or really Memi, since it was officially her show) got 4 Tokyo Tower gifts, each of which costs the sender about US$90 (¥10,000). One was probably from Shuuta, to give him his top place. And the final total of viewers, at the end of the hour, was over 27,000.

Memi's good mood may have partly been due to her already having seen those 21 sold-out lanes. But she says in today's blog (coming up) that the hour went by so quickly, and being with Manafi makes her so relaxed.

She even joked -- with a slightly evil smile -- about her tendency to glom on to people forcefully and stick there. She illustrated by cuddling up against Manafi. Manafi said that she even does it in movie theatres and it's embarrassing. Memi really did look like a girlfriend cuddling up against her boyfriend in the theatre. I don't think they're really romantic in that sense, but they're close friends, and Memi appears to be quite the physical person.

I have to give credit to Manafi for helping Memi to relax. Not that Manafi is relaxed, but anyway. One thingi should mention is hat Memi did very little of the winking and posing she somewhat overdid (in my opinion) last time. Maybe she saw herself and pulled back. Maybe her elder sister told her to settle down, lol.


if the video does not show watch the video here

No longer on YouTube, or DailyMotion, so here's a link to a Chinese site.

 

I'm watching it now and enjoying it. Manafi may not be very relaxed herself, but she seems one of those people who let others be relaxed...
saying Memi is taking advantage of that sounds bad, but she looks like she constantly needs to make sure there's a contact between them. I think is a dynamic quite usual between girls, being that physical with each other... especially at Memi's age
Manafi had to endure it

On the other hand I think Manafi is learning a bit from Memi. The difference of the outcome is more because of their respective personalities than lack of trying. But they both can still improve; I'd be quite happy if they do it together.

On the other hand, is too much ask for a Memi_Techi SR sometime in the next billions of years?

 

fanart of Techi and Memi


source

 

Memi blog post: Showroom broadcast on National Cat Day.

1. The way I see it, Memi definitely is taking advantage of Manafi, and Manafi loves it, despite the downsides. Memi seems to me to actually be somewhat selfish, but that's part of her charm, and it doesn't go too far. Manafi is 19 but perhaps spent enough time overseas to have continued to be rather out of it in Japan. So it may be easier for her to get along with someone younger, as Memi finds it easier to get along with someone older. Perhaps they are "using" each other, in the way friends do.

2. A Techi-Memi Showroom? Don't think I haven't hoped for it, but I'm not sure Techi has the time or inclination for Showroom, and Techi may make Memi more nervous rather than less, lol. But time is powerful, and perhaps both Techi and Memi will change as the months/years go by. The lyrics of Techi's new solo song talk about rejecting others' kindness and being alone...and that made me think of Memi. But I think they are still classmates. Last time, when Manafi asked Memi if she was close to Hina-tan, Memi answered: "Her, too." I think all three may be in the same class together, when they're there. It seems Techi wants to keep work and personal life totally separate. Memi-Hina seems to me more of a possibility in the nearish future.

 

Takase Manafi blog post: Sad post about poor handshake sales and how nice Memi is. Plus Memi's moving reply.