Nagasawa Nanako (Naako) / Keyakizaka46 1st Generation

Happy Birthday!

 

After the last couple of episodes of Keyakitte, and reading her blog, I am really liking her now. She's humble and insecure, but with a sneaky smile and some steel inside. In a piece on last week's show where they were trying to get quieter-spoken members to scream over 80dB by having a burly masseur massage their feet, others screamed immediately but she hardly reacted, and eventually had to be told to scream, and did.

Her recounting of her personal history on last week's show was moving. She said she was a lonely child. Cute pic of her at 3 wearing huge glasses.



Once when her mother was picking her up from kindergarten, she scratched the teacher's face and broke her glasses. Her classmates called her weird. Played violin (badly, she said) from age 5 into middle school. We saw her playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at 5 -- everyone else on the show was saying how cute she was and how well she played, while she covered her ears and grimaced.

She represented her middle school in cross-country running. But she was plain and unfashionable until her life took a turn at age 14: she discovered AKB48. She wanted to try out for SKE48, but her father shouted: "Get out!" She did audition for Team 8 (Yamagata) and was only dropped at the last stage. When she auditioned for Keyakizaka46 in Tokyo, she didn't tell her father she was going. "What does he think now?" she was asked. "He's buying the CD."

In Kyoto, at the individual handshake event on Saturday, where everyone wore their own clothes rather than the uniform, she told a guy up to shake her hand that the dress she was wearing was from Wada Maaya of Nogizak46. Earlier this week, she showed herself in a T-shirt that had been made for Maaya's 17th birthday last April. She says that "Maaya-san" is "such a nice senpai" and is always speaking to her with a smile. The shirt says "Maa Family" (or maybe "Maaya Tribe," depending on how you read the kanji):



It's cool how age doesn't really matter: Maaya is just about exactly a year younger than Nanako, but Nanako still calls her "senpai," for obvious reasons.

 

Nanako is really coming out of her shell. Here are a couple of photos from her blog last week, with her comments:

"Come to the handshake event, eh. (♡˙︶˙♡)"



"I hate unfaithfulness." (I think she may be referring to fans starting to support Hiragana Keyaki candidates over some of the main Keyaki-chans.)



The plushie she's lying on is "Rirakkuma," a relaxed bear who is on TV, etc., etc. The story goes that she had him with her for one of the handshake events, and when a guest said "Rirakkuma is getting pretty popular," she replied: "Don't look at him, you should be looking at me!"

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the plaster/compress on her forehead is a cold or fever remedy.

EDIT: And now we get the photo below, the caption to which is "Good night." Commenters are respectful of the way the former part-time miko has become so wholehearted about angling for fans.

 

So much for coming out of shell. Good for her, I guess I can't pick a second oshi now lol

 

She was great on Sunday's KeyaKake TV show. In the contest where they held their breath under water, she got over a minute and ten seconds. Her stolid endurance reminds me of when they gave her a deep foot massage that others were screaming from after a few seconds, and she didn't shout out until they told her to.

And there are couple of screencaps from that show going around that make her look like a rapper or a hidden boss:



She also has published some photos from an evening jaunt with her mother:



And Japanese comments have called this one "surreal," and have said it makes you feel as if you are on a date with her. More fishing, lol.

 

Nanako continues to do a great job at handshake events. At this weekend's event, she started with heart-shaped braids, moved on to a pony tail, then ended with twintails and cat-ears:



I think she was disappointed when the senbatsu was announced on TV (a few hours ago on air, a few weeks ago in reality) and she was still in the back row. But she seems to have recovered, and is continuing to fish for guests. In sales for August handshake events, she is in the middle of the pack, with Uemura Rina and Moriya Akane.

 

Damn... i almost had a nosebleed...

Yeah, Nanako was like "again third row?", but she seems to be really resilient.

 

I don't mind it. There's basically 9-10 girls on 3rd row wishing to get basically 10-11 spot on 1st/2nd row. Competition is fierce but subtle.

But all the current front row basically sold HS better than her. So it is a sector she can improve over time to build her fanbase before her turn comes.

 

Don't worry guys, Nanako seems to like her 3rd row position! You can read her answer in (my translation) of her Nikkei Entertainment interview: Nagasawa Nanako: the character with a unique set of values who, free of desire, is relieved to be in third row.

http://keyakizakamatome.tumblr.com/post/147066812350/nagasawa-nanako-the-character-with-a-unique-set

 

Oh sweet girl!!!
You can be in better position, but when you feels that you cant do it!!

 

In her blog, Nanako writes about Akimoto Mantasu speaking with her! She turns back into an "ordinary otaku" rather than being an idol.

 

A picture of my 46 oshis... together. Win Nanako as an ordinary fangirl

... that explain why i was almost send to the hospital.

 

^
Hang in there, bro!

 

Actually, that comment was half kidding, my right eye "is not working well" but nothing severe... i guess...

... still that picture is still killing me (not textually)

 

Nanako is thrilled to have sold out all slots for the upcoming series of handshake events. The delight she expressed in her blog was so moving that I have translated the blog post.

You can see from some of the pictures posted previously that she has been working hard to fish for people to come to her lane -- and she has succeeded. But it's not just a matter of trickery. She is one of the most enjoyable personalities among the many enjoyable personalities in K46. Cute but with a sneaky smile and a huge appetite. She seems very down to earth and at the same time rather unpredictable. She has maximized her advantages, and I think she will continue to do so. Such as in this photo posted today, where she looks so happy, all dressed up for a festival photo-shoot:

 

i want her to shine fufufu . she has potential !

 

Nanako is now the second K46 member to have a two-shot posted on a Hiragana member's blog. Yesterday it was Mii-chan and Kageyama Yuuka. Today it's Nanako and Takase Mana. Mana-chan says she was so nervous that her mind went blank. What a difference a year makes.



I love the shot below. In her blog today, Nanako says she is getting ready for the weekend handshake event with anticipation for meeting fans, but nervousness over the mini-live, where they will apparently reveal a coupling song. (Kataru Nara? I hope so.)



Photo by Oda Nana.

 

What are you doing down there, Nanako?

 

^Nanako being Nanako

 

She said she would, and she did: for two of her sessions at Sunday's handshake event in Nagoya, she wore a police uniform and made arrests. Here's a blog post with the details.