The longtime B2 captain and the rock of the 3rd gen has finally announced her graduation. I can't honestly say I'm surprised but I'm sad nonetheless. Emichi was the original captain of B2 and 3rd gen, even though majority of her teammates were children, she tried her best to lead them and to let them be noticed. The original Almond Croissant Project wouldn't have been half as successful without Emichi guiding all the members. Here are her own words in English:
No doubt the glue of 3rd gen. And with every captain perk, being the teased older sister of the pack. I still remember the time when she only got runner-up in Janken. It was truly a missed opportunity. And yet on certain NMB concert soon after(forget the date but it's not too long), there was a part where she got her moment on the top. It touched me somehow, because: - Based on her popularity, being a sidekick is sometimes the only the spotlight she can get in her entire idol career. More so in 48G realm. - There's still some semblance that, despite a competitive nature of 48G, you don't have to literally winning #1 to be hailed as winner. Lols, why the nostalgia though...
I feel quite gutted... especially since she captained what arguably was my favorite team ever within the entire 48G realm. I do wish her lots of future fun, especially since now is a good time for her to really broaden her horizons that much more
3rd anniversary, they had the huge stairs as part of the set. They did a AKB song medley and when the previous song finished, you could see one girl going up the stairs and the audience was surprised when "Ue kara Mariko" started playing except it was "Ue kara Emika"
I feel like in most cases, becoming an idol is admitting defeat in what you really want to do and for better or worse, Emichi is who I think of when I think of that. I hate to think that, but for someone who wants to be a global actress, she's not gotten any work in that regard with NMB. I admire her commitment to NMB despite having nothing come her way, but I'm surprised she stayed for as long as she did if that is her goal. So in a sense, I'm relieved that she's finally going to go for it, and I'd love nothing more than for her dream to come true. That said, I'm still really sad about it. Not only 3rd gen, but with both BII's she led, it's becoming more and more lonely as my favorite things about NMB continue to fade. But I guess that's what's supposed to happen over time.
I expected Emichi to leave even during the hiatus she took so I view the extra year we got with her after the came back as a bonus. That said though, even if I expected it, it makes me especially sad. The B2 that I used to know is almost no more. There's only going to be 6 3rd gens left after Emichi leaves. As Yuuri said, its becoming harder and harder to perform Almond Croissant over the years since so few people are left. At some point, Almond Croissant in the RH is going to be like Shonichi in RH for AKB. Some mutant form of the thing we all used to love.
