Kubo Shiori (Kubochan) / 3rd Gen

Kuboshi

 

Happy Birthday Kubo-chan!

 

Wishing a wonderful birthday to my lovely 3rd gen oshimen - Kubo-chan All the best!

 

Happy birthday Shiori-chan. Wish you all the best this year

 

Happy Birthday Kubo-chan!

 

Hbd shio-chan!

 

Kubo as Ikuchan's substitute,

if the video does not show watch the video here
It must be really nervous for her to replace Ikuchan at the last minute, but she did it very well. So proud of you, Kubo-chan

 

Senpai would be very proud . . .

 

as expected from Dear White Rice members, Management should make this Unit Official.

 

First and foremost,
Happy belated 19th birthday, dear Kubo Shiori-san
May the upcoming year be nice to you. May light shine upon your path of finding your true self.

I feel like I was summoned from a deep slumber after what happened yesterday, July 18th. This needs to be recorded.
Ongaku no Hi, it was scheduled for Ikuta Erika to perform Under the Sea and Part of Your World with Matsuda Rina (Keyakizaka) and Sasaki Mirei (Hinatazaka) during Top 10 Fans Selected Disney Songs Medley. At a moment notice, Ikuchan was announced to cancel her performance due to bad physical condition and her position was to be replaced by Kubochan (while we don't know the exact reason, it's largely believed that it's related to the news of the death of her co-starring actor Miura Haruma. RIP)

Performances which looks like it was designed to be centered around Ikuchan, was for Kubochan to take. A huge responsibility and a huge burden, with so little time to prepare. Both Ikuchan's and Nogizaka's reputation is in her hands. Kubochan braved it out.




And once again, she generated buzz. Along with Ikuchan, she trended on Twitter.


Her performance as Ikuchan's pinch hitter caught the attention of not just idol fans, but general public as well. And since GP don't really know Kubochan yet, they gave her the nickname 赤い服の子 (akai fuku no ko/the girl in red), or 赤い子 (akai ko/the red girl), which also trended. Just a few excerpts,

Not gonna translate everything, but every comments are basically saying 'The girl in red sings so good! And she's cute! Who is she?'

I backtracked a bit and I found out that Ikuchan still posted on her instagram around 14.00-15.00 JST, asking fans to wait for her Ongaku no Hi live performance at 18.00 JST. During that time frame, the announcement of Kubochan as substitute was released. So the time for her to actually practice Ikuchan's singing parts was about three hours at most. Can we let this sink in for a moment?

Call me biased, but in my opinion, this is peak responsibility. She didn't have to, she could refuse, she could just throw this burden to someone else. But she did it. She's staying true to her own words—here's a bit of her birthday blog she posted on July 15th:
今年の目標は
『責任感を持ちたい』
My target this year, is to have a sense of responsibility.

昔から、
どこか責任を逃れる人間でした。　
中学時代、
部長としてその点を顧問の先生に
何度も怒られたことを
今になって思い出します。
Long time ago, I was a person who ran away from her responsibility. During my junior high school period, when I was a club captain I got scolded a lot by counselor regarding this. I still remember until now.

でも今は、グループの愛に触れ、
このグループの一員として
恥じないように、
責任感を持って活動をしていきたいと
思いました。
But now, I feel the love for the group. As a member of this group, without feeling ashamed, I want to do my activities with a sense of responsibility.

Thank you, Kubochan. Keep on doing your best.

 

Good for Shiori to execute explicitly with the opportunity that she have yesterday but sadly She and her 3ki peers still get put on 3rd row in Hadashi De summer .

 

Agreed, Kubo chan did so well and not to mention she looks so stunning with slightly different hairdo. Among the 3 girls that sing Part of your world, she sang the best. She definitely looks like she owns that performance, doesn't look like she's substituting a senpai.

 

Not really. 2/5 of 3rd gen girls is on first row.

For me, Ikuchan absence is a blessing in disguisse for Kubo. With yesterday performance, more people would pay more attention to her. Hopefully she will get more exposure after this.

 

Staying true to her word after turning 19. Since she's taking over for a senpai she has so much respect and already worked with a lot, imo that sense of responsibility immediately kicked in even with the small amount of time for her to prepare. She knows first hand the kind of hard work Ikuchan puts in all the time, nothing but her best will do. She did very well honestly while she's singing I am imagining Ikuchan herself singing at that moment.

I do agree it did open an opportunity for Kubo to showcase what she's got and could lead the way for something big in the future. I'm already looking forward to what's next because honestly, I keep track of these performances and watch them again from time to time. I even search for the original song if I'm not familiar with it.

Spoiler

So far she has performed with several senpai, kouhai and now got this chance with other Sakamichi members. They've worked together many time but outside Nogi I want to see her and Ikuchan sing together one more time. And please, give me that unit . . .

180424 Utacon - Saraba Siberia Tetsudo

190525 MUSIC FAIR - Romantic Ageru yo

191204 FNS - Gerende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai x Hirose Kohmi

200321 Utacon - Hohoemi Gaeshi

200718 Ongaku - Makenaide (ZARD)

200718 Ongaku - Part of your World

Spoiler: Past Disney Performance

Oh, there's also this Jamboree Micky

 

Thank you for pointing this out.
In the scope of that performance itself I am not bothered, they can do whatever formation. But if I try to see the bigger picture, this makes me think about a theory I want to test.

I am seeing a pattern that currently management kinda has increased their level of trust towards Kubochan in terms of job. During 46hours TV in June Kubochan didn't get to 'officially' MC the show, but her presence as MC in segments she appeared was big, for example when she MCed 2nd night werewolf game. She even had her own crown program—Kubo Channel—and this is what I'm going to talk about. While most of the Kubo Channel are prerecorded, there was one that was live, the one broadcast on the second day with Ikuchan and Mizuki as guests. Kubochan said this herself in her Nogiobi SR on July 10th, that live broadcast was scheduled for the third day, but because of technical difficulties that happened her program was suddenly moved to earlier broadcast time at a moment's notice. Needless to say, she came almost unprepared. But if you already watched it, you may see that there's almost no flaw in this segment. Ikuchan even complimented her, saying it was perfect and gave her a standing ovation.

And then this pinch hitter situation. What I see is management trusts her ability enough to carry on in an emergency.

Yet whether this is a good thing or not, is what I want to know. Hadashi de Summer formation is definitely planned before, unlike Kubochan's substitute appearance. Which means, in a perfect world where Ikuchan went on with her performance, Kubochan will just be there, positioned as a third rower, not having any impact whatsoever. And that's planned.

My point is, it appears to me, that Kubochan is used only when she's urgently needed, but in normal situation it's okay to keep her on the backburner. This is the theory I said I want to test. How I wish I am wrong here.

No matter how we see it, the current situation is unexpected. Unprecedented, even, in Nogi's history (please correct me if I'm wrong). How management acts after this will prove or disprove my theory above. If they continue to treat Kubochan just like always, then I'm gonna assume my theory is true. That she's just being milked without proportional reward.

Please prove me wrong, management.

 

Asuka. GuruGuruCurtain senabtsu then Unders. Seifuku no Mannequin senbatsu then under center. Barette then back to Unders. Finally Inochi and permanent senbatsu member. An example of a member who seemed to have been yanked back and forth by management. Look at where she is now.

Now Kubo's situation isn't exactly the same. She's one of the 4 charmed 3rd Gen so there's no mistaking that she's going to be well taken care of. In fact, having the exposure and responsibility she'd been given is more than can said of the other 3. As long as she rises to the occasion (which she has most admirably) then I would not worry about her status currently. She's well positioned in the post Shiraishi Nogizaka.

Personally, I really like the way she's growing as a member. I was hoping that she would've been an Under center, so that she could become one of the very few to have been center for both senabatsu and Unders. I hope she keeps it up.

 

This will be a biased post - after all, I'm talking about my 3-ki oshi in her own subforum, haha.

"...seeing a pattern that currently management kinda has increased their level of trust towards Kubochan in terms of job." I'm agreeing with @eternalord here. She also did well whenever she's onscreen in koujichuu - things like song quiz show, acting in valentine mousou, the aforementioned MC'ing in 46hTV...hence, I guess, the 'pinch hitter' designation.

From 3-ki, I also feel that the mgmt kind of pushing Mizuki as well. At least, from the 3rd gen, I think that these 2 (Mizuki & Kubo-chan) seems to be more prominent recently. While I thought Mizuki could be a future Visual ace (my personal view only) I think Kubo-chan seems to be more versatile. She's all that and more.

I am hoping that the management, indeed, have plans for her. Like it or not, a lot of 1st gens already graduated - so showcasing other members is really vital for the long term. My selfish view is that: I want Nogizaka to have several focal points/"aces" rather than building-up just one member as the "face of the group". Others may not agree and that's fine.

I think that Kubo-chan is very talented, super cute (duh, what am I saying, of course she is!) and would like to see her on the uprise even more. Good luck to her.

Personal sidenote on 3rd gen: yeah, UmeMayo also have been prominent (who could've ignore the tall Venus in the room? I wouldn't), Momoko despite still kinda shy is doing fine I think, Yoda to a certain extent, Hazuki is probably more on the variety/funny member side of things, Riria been kind of lost in the shuffle though I think she's a very capable idol, Nakamura I haven't notice recently; and Tamami...as much as I like her, I don't know where she stands or whether they have plans for her.

"Face of the group" clarification: as a wrestling fan, I'm comparing between having The Rock, Stone Cold, Mankind, Undertaker, HHH etc as main event players in the Attitude Era VS John Cena as the solitary Ace. And as a card magician, I always think about the 4 Aces (spades, diamond, clubs & hearts). It's better to have more than 1 ace, in my humble opinion.

 

What I meant by unprecedented was the situation where Ikuchan needs to be substituted, and even more, the substitute is acclaimed. In my opinion, this situation is extraordinary for Nogi.

I agree that it's different with Asuka, but at that time Asuka's situation was pretty much proportional with her popularity and contribution for the group, don't you agree? Granted she keeps on rising until finally management started to support her in 2015. Back then management even trusted Asuka enough to directly give her Hadashi center position after a second row one in Harujion. Boy, how they strike gold with that.

I am not worried with Kubochan's growth as a member. She's growing fine. My underlining problem is how management will treat her. The way I see it she is not (yet) well taken care of. Not gonna mince words here, regardless of her popularity (which is not bad), with this kind of service she's giving the group, for me a second row is the least acceptable position.

I'm not pointing finger to any name like who should be dropped to make space for Kubochan or anything, everyone is also doing their best. It's management's judgement that I'm questioning. Although maybe it won't take any effect yet in Route 246.

I am sorry if this rant is very Kubochan-oriented. I may have overlooked things too. My flickering hope isn't extinguished yet, that"s why I could say this much.

 

As the only 3ki part of the core5 that hasnt taste the 1st row , It's about time Shiori experience it.

Tho the representative system might be the biggest hurdle for this to happen.
Hot take : nogi should put priority in giving fukujin to the youngsters 3ki and 4ki as soon as possible

 

I think management also considered is this member ready or not. They don't want to put a burden on member shoulders. Each of Kubo, Yamashita, and Momoko has took hiatus for whatever reason they had. Though i don't know their real reason, i'm afraid it's because they feel a heavy burden on their shoulders. Or at least it's one of their reason. It's also a protection from management. That's why i'm not surprised if they'll pick Asuka for the next single (not Route 246), it's a big responsability to show a Nogizaka post Maiyan era.

This is just my selfish wishes, but i think Kubo will be the first 3rd gen to get a solo center.