Tashima Meru (Meru) / 2nd Generation

Hi everyone! I've just come back from a long trip to Fukuoka where I tried to see as many HKT shows as possible. Just a note, I am HKT hako-oshi.

By request of @gocchisama, I'd like to tell my impressions of watching Meru in the theater and talking about her with other local Japanese fans.

Firstly, let's put her recent prelim voting results into perspective:
Meru earned 4,021 votes, 933 more than last year's prelims (3,077), or an increase of 31%.

Let's compare that to Sakura, Haruppi and Mio:
Haruppi - 9,879 votes (up 4,788 from last year), increase of 94%
Sakura - 7,963 votes, (up 5,482 from last year), increase of 221%
Mio - 7,114 votes, (up 4,376 from last year), increase of 160%

She made the least amount of increase among the 4 ranked members of last year's sosenkyo. Why is that?

From my observations in Fukuoka, it's because she hasn't really gained new fans in the last year. Among fans who support 2nd gen members, I notice more and more are switching to the Imomuchu squad or Akiyoshi chan. There just wasn't too many people wearing Meru T-shirts going into the theater.

When I traded photos with local fans in the monthly photo sale, I find that Meru's photos are between 5th and 8th popular among HKT members!! Who comes before her? That would be (in order of popularity): Sakura, Mio, Madoka, Tanaka Miku, Natsu and sometimes Haruppi.

The truth of the matter is that right now, all over Japan, Tomonaga Mio beats Tashima Meru in popularity. The final results of this year's sosenkyo will most likely show Mio over Meru by a significant amount. I don't think Meru's wotas saved a lot of firepower for the last week.

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I saw Meru live in theater 4 times, all during the Nounai Paradise show. I also saw her plenty of times in other shows from the HKT theater lobby.

Meru may be hyper on the radio shows and on TV, but during performances, she's actually quite serious.
During the opening song, "Tomo yo" in Nounai Paradise, Meru plays the bass guitar, and a lot of the times during that song, she either looks down at her fingers, or look up into space (?), but all in all not making much eye contact with the audience.

And then you have "Nakinagara Hohoende," one of the most lonely songs in the 48 group discography... Meru looks great in this one, as her jawline is more pronounced than Oshima Yuko's, and her legs are longer than Yuko's. But this is another song where if she injects too much emotion, she will have almost no chance to look at the listeners. A connection with the audence is missing in this song as well.

And of course, since Meru is not part of "Kurukuru Pa", she doesn't participate in the MC session either... Sometimes it feels like she isn't in the show at all.

In the K2nd medley song after the encore, Meru regains some of her energy, and she looks very nice during "Korogaru Ishi ni nare". But right after her energetic moments, her smile fades, and she just looks majime.

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Meru gives me the feeling that she has a lot going on in her mind. Her short bursts of "wohohoo" chuckles are time-fillers. Sometimes she looks a bit distracted. Maybe it's because of her school work? She's not supposed to be the Okada Nana of HKT, but after 2 years of being with the group, she's turning into one, I feel.

I fear that Meru might be the 4th most "bocchi" girl in HKT after Kojina Yui, Fukagawa Maiko and Anai Chihiro... she's not super active during MC these days, especially during the Pajama Drive Jeanne D'arc MC session. And she seems isolated from other members. There's no immediate "best friend" that pops into mind when you think about Meru (compare to Komada Hiroka and Goto Izumi). Mio seems to only hang out with Meru due to work.

@Time007 asked why she is missing from a lot of their TV shows... it's mainly because of all the promotional campaigns they needed to do for Sakutabe, and I'm guessing school is another factor.

I watched Meru's birthday show from the theater lobby, and the birthday committee each had a special hoodie on, and they passed out clear plastic bookmarks ("Happy 14th Birthday Meru Tashima") to everybody at the lobby. They spent a significant amount more in decorations than most other members, which was very nice of them.

Overall, Meru still has a lot going on for her and her legs are still a wonder to behold, but if she doesn't explore her personality a bit more, audiences will fail to notice her.

 

^ That was an absolutely fascinating read. IMO Meru has more potential than Mio... if she ever realizes her potential is entirely up to her though. I have this theory... it is harder to find your true self standing from the center spot and Meru was given the center position long before she had found her own path as an idol... or probably even as a young girl for that matter. Sakura, Haruppi & Mio on the other hand could get stronger without any of the pressure of being center.

Meru has an undeniable center aura IMO... but then so does Sakura, Haruppi and even Mio. IMO the problem is Sakura, Haruppi and Mio can shine pretty much anywhere on the stage... IMO if you remove Meru from the center spot she will pretty much vanish.

Oh... and I had to google the term "bocchi" ...does that mean loner girl? Isn't that a plus? Like a charm point or something? Rena Matsui is the complicated loner girl type too. LOL.

 

I think it takes a while for most girls to find their path as an idol, regardless of their position within the group. The process is just a lot more visible with girls like Meru and Jo. Meru got so much hype after her debut, she might find it hard to meet those expectations.

Not sure what centre aura is or if it even exists but never really seen anything about Meru that would make her more suited to be centre than a lot of other girls in HKT. She's fine as centre though.

lot's of things @Tarooooo talked about were things I recognized from watch lods. I always get the feeling she tries a little bit too hard to inject emotions into the song, which makes it look a bit unnatural at time. I'm sure she'll get it right though, she needs some time.

 

Thanks guys. I do wish with my heart that Meru can be more successful.

@aratafuru makes a good point that she may have been pushed too hard as "center" from a young age, but the difference between Meru and Matsui Jurina in 2008 is that Matsui Jurina became center in an AKB48 single, and gained much wider exposure.

Meru wasn't pushed enough to make it to the big-leagues.

In the last year, while girls like Tomonaga Mio made big strides from her appearances on Aru aru YY and Odekake! Meru never found a consistent character for herself. Although she is many things: Active, energetic, studious, emotional, naughty, she must focus on only a couple of those traits as an idol for audiences to truly remember her.

Personally, I wished that Meru could have found a partner/teammate who she would regularly hang out and take photos with.
It is much better to gain recognition and longevity in a big idol group to have a "teammate"
Kizaki Yuria + Ogiso Shiori comes to mind...
Kashiwagi Yuki + Miyazawa Sae comes to mind...
Akiyoshi Yuka + Sakaguchi Riko comes to mind...

Note that all of the above were not initially pairings who were promoted by the management.
But they gained recognition from fans. Everytime you talk about one girl, you mention the other. And a lot of times during hand-shaking events, the fans of either girl visit the other girl.

For Meru to maintain her popularity, she needs to find a consistent character that she is comfortable with, and appear more in public with other girls.

 

but isn't MioMeru supposed to be this pairing to help her being remembered?

Or is it too weak, or more like a "business" friendship (i know it's not, but from casual fans?)

PS : Oh i also noticed Mio by Aru Aru YY terebi, i'm glad you mentionned it as Mio's best appearance!

 

They are definitely on good terms because they are together so much, but I don't remember the last time Mio talked about an anecdote with Meru during MC (other than Meru seitansai)
She talked about I-chan and Chiyori a lot in the times that I've seen her.

When the management promote girls from a new team/generation, they tend to do it in pairs. It is not only to help her be remembered, it's so that fans who get a good impression from either girl will form fandom rivalries, which is good for sales.

AKB Team K - Akimoto Sayaka + Miyazawa Sae
AKB Team B - Watanabe Mayu + Kashiwagi Yuki
SKE Team S - Matsui Jurina + Matsui Rena
NMB Team N - Yamamoto Sayaka + Watanabe Miyuki
HKT 1st Gen - Miyawaki Sakura + Kodama Haruka
HKT 2nd Gen - Tashima Meru + Tomonaga Mio

But management-made pairings do not always turn into great personal relationships. I've heard fans say that Yamamoto Sayaka and Watanabe Miyuki are not on good terms. Matsui Jurina and Matsui Rena recently haven't been working together as much.

This is why I consider self-fostered pairings much more durable.
Motomura Aoi's recent closeness with Moriyasu Madoka
Sakura + Murashige
Umemoto Izumi and Hokazono Hazuki (Is turning into a thing now!)


Meru needs to let fans know exactly who she is best friends with.

 

you mean, business pairing and true pairing, right?

like lovetan+mayuyu, Atsumina, furuyanagi, mariharu

I wonder if nakomiku is a business pairing or a true pairing

 

I believe MeruMio is a business pairing after management saw that Mio is getting buzz among fans.
There is no such thing as "true pairing" If the girls can build a long-lasting relationship by their own will, we cheer it on. That's all, just like in real life.

 

well if meru doesn't place well the only thing I can blame it on is the fact that she's sort of dropped out of sight for the last 3-4 months. as was mentioned earlier.

besides that, she's the center so I dunno why she's not doing well. but as you said, she may not be appealing to fans outside of hakata, and the new girls might be stealing votes from her. who knows. we will find out in 2 weeks heheh.

EDIT: Just heard Labrador retriever and WOW, Akimoto is really out of material. Man, their songs are lacking (in terms of catchiness as opposed to sales). I guess he saves his good stuff for later in the year after the number 1 gets picked?

 

Omg omg omgggg!!! Our Meru-hime has reached 100,000 on G+! Her grow on G+ has kicked up lately with 100+ following every hour or 30 minutes and the crazy part is she hasn't been posting as much but the growth was so fast.

I'm so proud of her because hitting that 100,000 solidifies her as a prominent member at least on G+. I'm so proud the proudest fan right now!

 

tentoumou chu episodes really helped her i think.

 

@Gocchi I think so too. I am happy to see this. It gives me hope that Mt MeruMio-himes will stay close in rank and always together.

*I'm a creeper for wanting them to be glued to the hip lmfaoo

 

Maybe people just like Meru in a more superficial way... like they go on her G+ just to look at her pics, but then they don't really vote for her for anything.

 

That's a very good point. I think HKT fans in general will just automatically add all the members in some instances. But at least the number is going up. I mean, I'd rather it be higher, in the 500s.

 

I think Meru lacks a certain character that draws fans to powervote her up. Haruppi for example is seen as the underdog, fans want to vote her up to show management she's still relevant. Mio is even poor at speaking but she always tries her hardest, she's a little vulnerable which makes people want to support her. I feel like Meru is a strong performer and has an idol-like aura in performances. Fans maybe feel less need to powervote Meru because they're already secure and content with her position or don't feel they need to prove anything or protect her.

@gocchisama Agreed, from the few episodes i've watched of that series I've really been impressed with Meru!

 

@Tarooooo Thanks for writing

That's true...
somehow when i see meru lately her eyes is seems tired
i don't know, maybe meru needs more promotion
when other member appealing themself, meru just disapear... i mean sakura and mio have a lot magazine shot lately...
or maybe meru is just too young? but look at nakomiku

 

Yeah I'm definitely worried about Meru. I hope she won't graduate or nothin if she doesn't get a good rank. I mean, there is a clear changing of the guard going on right now, but I don't think Meru is in a spot to capitalize on that (like Sayanee and Milky can, and Sakura for that matter too). There's lots of girls falling in rank (takamina, kitahara, takajo, minegishi, kojiharu, etc). I mean I think theres a lot of the older members who were 10-20 that got bumped out of there, so I think it will continue again this year.

But Meru isn't popular enough to get into that rank, so I'm afraid she will be stuck in the 40-60s for this year, and maybe in coming years she could be 20-40s. Too bad, she deserves to be higher as she has done a great job as center. And yes!!! I grabbed this sweet avatar pic of Meru off her Google+. Grats to me on using it first!!!!

Also here is a video of Meru performing and she is in beautiful form with Mayuyu.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjIyNTg1OTky.html

 

I'm sure she will be sad, considering that so much HKT member ranked, but to the point of graduating is a no-no.

Meru is a strong girl, she won't give up that easily!

 

people should watch sasemasu sengen show. she looks good there. but yeah, me, as a meru non-fan, , think that she somewhat slowly disappear to the back especially photoshoot. in other thread, their fans are posting their oshimen pictures like every hour, lol. plus, that sad story bout haruppi is still somewhat dominating/strong and make meru looks bad.

owh, not to forget, she didnt get kennin. and hkt isnt going to releas a single in nearby time i guess. so no promo for her.

 

I will be happy that she ranks. I look at it this way, Meru-hime is young when she is like 15 or 16 she will get the sexy boost most 48 girls get at that age. So for now cuteness will have to do.

I also want to say please let's look at this on a brighter note. Let's not think negatively. She will rank and will hopefully rank higher like next girls or under girls. We are the fans we control this. Let's vote vote vote. We can't think negatively not if she is already worried. It's scary to think about.