Yamaguchi Maho (Mahohon) / 1st Generation

Spoiler: Technicalities, technicalities

Postimages, the image hosting site where these images are uploaded, ran across some domain issues a couple weeks back, after years of stable service. Basically, the old .org domain stopped working without advance notice, and they were forced to (temporarily?) migrate to a new .cc domain. If you want to see any of the images, now you've got to replace the domain name at the end, from postimg.org to postimg.cc.
Personally, I was hoping that the S48 admins would notice the issue and take action by automatically replacing all the links in the forum posts with the new domain name (now I know there's some admin tools that would allow this and it would take no time flat). But, seeing how apparently the task falls on the individual S48 users, I'll try to tentatively fix the most recent links here for the time being.
Hold still and be patient until then. (｀・ω・´)

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Since I'm back in the thread again, I'll take the opportunity to inform that Maho and the other members of the Thailand team have already arrived in Bangkok for TIF.

And it also seems like fans in Thailand are coming fully prepared so as to give NGT a warm greeting during their performance. There're already some photos of uchiwas and other goods specially created for the occasion, with a design that features all the NGT members (please note the white-on-red drawings, which are more or less inspired by the members' respective Twitter icons).
On the other hand, Thailand's Mahores went out of their way to make these more specific uchiwas exclusively for Maho, which they intend to distribute to everyone attending the event. And yes, there's a picture of Maho's very own shimauma (!) colored like the Thai flag on it. Now that's what I call dedication. (*´∀｀)


Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/MahohonNGT48Thaifans/photos/1807563705932190
https://www.facebook.com/MahohonNGT48Thaifans/photos/1809237132431514
https://www.facebook.com/MahohonNGT48Thaifans/posts/1810187432336484

 

2018.04.29 Showroom, one more weekend, one more pre-handshake event SR stream with, as a background, the all-too familiar walls of the hotel. For the record, this time the roommate was supposedly Mofu, although Maho streamed before she would return back to the room. Oh well...
Also, a special acknowledgement for the fans who were at the Bangkok concert inside. ( ´∀｀)

Spoiler: Highlights

As per usual on these days, it was another round of random free talk, although mostly revolving around the event that was to come on the next day. As non-exhaustive list, the topics included her personal experience sharing the same handshake lane as Ainya at the handshake event before, with Ainya reportedly praising Maho's fans for being such kind people during a talk at the venue. Maho expressed amazement at Ainya's infectious vitality and her ability to switch to all kinds of moods (and facial expressions, to the point of Maho calling her a youkai for it) at will depending on the kind of talk with the fans. Also, of course, a big portion near the end was dedicated to coming up with poses to do with fans during the next 2-shot session. In the middle of such classics like the Cinnamon pose, I admit I got a chuckle at what Maho described as the "5 kg weight gain pose", supposedly so called because of how it makes your cheeks look fatter... (*´∀｀)


On a slightly more serious note. While Maho herself assured to the viewers that she was feeling well and energetic anyway, it still seems like she wasn't in her best health condition today, saying that she is still struggling with cough -- one that isn't showing any signs of stopping -- and even mentioned how she had to pay a visit to the doctor at the clinic, at some point after returning from Guam and before departing for Bangkok, in order to have some special cough medicine prescribed for her. She told how she had coughing fits happen at the end of physical activites, like especially live performances, and was even kind enough to apologize in advance to all fans if it would happen also at the next day's event, but also told not to worry too much since it's not a cold.
Nothing alarming so far, but when I heard the bit about the doctor suggesting her to take a medicine meant for asthma treatment, in case the coughing wouldn't stop, I hope it won't develop into anything serious...
Take care of yourself, Maho... (｀・ω・´)

Also of note: today's stream happens to be the first after two whole weeks spent traveling from one foreign country to another for group-related events. Maho even joked a bit about it, saying she had been overseas for so long she feared that she would've forgotten how to speak in Japanese by the time she'd be back, and would only be able to communicate in English. But, after all, it turns out her worries were all groundless... Laughs ensued. (*´∀｀)
Anyway, it looks like she found the experience pleasant, with Maho ending by describing herself again (half-jokingly, but maybe also with a bit of satisfaction) with the title of "global idol", as she did in a past Instagram post.
As a little aside, she went on to talk a bit about how was the weather there and how, well, despite her best attempts at applying suncreen spray to avoid sunburning, she ended up getting a tan on the parts where it was less effective. To better point it out, she showed off the difference in skin tone between the (tanned) back of her hand and her face. Oh, well... (*´∀｀)

I'm leaving this one for last, but tying it back to my previous post, the most important news of all was knowing that the efforts of the Thai fans were publicly acknowledged by Maho, as said before. Not only did she notice those shimauma uchiwas they had prepared to welcome her, she was also impressed at the creativity behind this idea.
I'll give the exact point of the video where she talks about it for anyone to check, starting from around 03:08: "So, I had a live concert in Thailand, and it turns out there were many people who knew about me in Thailand, giving lots of chants and shouting out loud 'Mahoho~n'. That made me really happy. And what's more, they created for me those uchiwas with the shimauma from 'Maho wo oshite shimauma' (I support Maho), and there were several people holding them up in their hands. By the way, that shimauma was actually colored like the flag of Thailand: they turned it red, blue, and red. That was so cute. Thank you, people from Thailand, kapunka!"
So, well done, everyone!
And skipping to 15:30, I can say I'm pleased to hear there's some people who even became new fans of Maho after watching the Bangkok performances, and even came to her SR to let Maho know about it directly, too.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

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Bonus #1: As a little extra, I'd like to share also this little interview/one-on-one dialogue between Gatanee and Maho from a past issue of BLT. It's ootona talk all around.
Coming right at the end of the interview and in an almost unexpected (or maybe not?) way, Maho also took a chance to reveal a previously untold part of her backstory, regarding what hurdles she faced in order to become an idol. Originally, I intended to get only that part translated because it was what got my attention in the first place, but you know what, since we can't have enough translated content around these parts, I though I might as well translate it all. Enjoy!
As a side note, the common theme of the interview seems to be the word "zeitaku" (intended as a luxury, a privilege, or even indulging oneself...), which occurs various times throughout the text, but, just so you know, in translating the text to English it sort of got lost through the various nuances of it.

Spoiler

Is there anything that makes you feel as if you have been privileged with a precious gift?
Nishigata: The environment I'm currently in, by which I mean NGT48. The NGT48 theater is extremely beautiful. I have realized it firsthand on the time when we performed at the AKB48 theater for our away theater performances.
Yamaguchi: Isn't it?! Couldn't stop sweating from how hot it was.
Nishigata: Right, right. That's when I understood that the NGT48 theater has inherited the good features of the AKB48 theater and the other venues, while at the same time they have also incorporated and built in brand new elements of its own.
Yamaguchi: Getting to perform in our activities for as long as three years as only the 1st generation is also a luxury in itself, isn't it.
Nishigata: Besides that, for the 3rd single "Haru ha Kodo Kuru no ka?", it was decided that all the 1st generation members would get to perform as Senbatsu members, before the 2nd generation would join in. It appears it was Kitahara (Rie)-san herself that came up with it, as she wanted to make it an all-member Senbatsu on the occasion of our last single as just 1st generation members. I feel really thankful for it.
Yamaguchi: I agree. And the fact that all the members were made into Senbatsu means that they have also prepared enough costumes for all of us, never mind the fact that all of it must have been very laborious, since it would require much expenses and efforts in all sorts of aspects... There's no doubt that this 3rd single will go on to become a very precious song.

Furthermore, for the center position Homma Hinata-san was chosen.
Nishigata: When it comes to Homma, on top of being an orthodox kind of idol, she is also a girl who knows how to charm the public even on the performance side, so I think she is perfect for a center role.
Yamaguchi: I'm with you. In a positive sense, inside of herself she holds both self-confidence and a "take-it-easy" disposition, she's a girl who carries herself responsibly, therefore when with her as the center there's no need to feel worried about anything...

With Kitahara-san's graduation approaching, how do you also feel about that?
Nishigata: What can I say... I have yet to come to grips with reality.
Yamaguchi: Right? By the way, she would often bring us out to dine together. Every time, she would offer to pay the dinner for us all at some luxury restaurant. (laugh)
Nishigata: Indeed! She also treated us to expensive sushi, in the past.
Yamaguchi: We also went to cafes and such places, just for the purpose of having some girltalk together.
Nishigata: Even when sitting around at the lunch table, she is capable of looking at our problems from our same perspective and ponder over it together with us. But next, it'll be us 1st generation who'll need to be capable of doing the same with the 3rd Draft members and the 2nd generation members.
Yamaguchi: Besides, when the announcement came in about Rie-san's graduation concert, which is going to be held at Toki Messe (the largest arena in the prefecture), I felt so glad that Rie-san could have it in Niigata. And even on our part, holding a concert at Toki Messe was something we have long dreamed for, although we never got to perform a concert at a venue of a scale as big as this. And what's more, the fact we are allowed to hold both Rie-san's graduation concert and NGT48's Tandoku Concert at Toki Messe, performing there for two days consecutively, makes me extremely happy.
Nishigata: Therefore, we also need to make our fans feel privileged while at it!

If you were to indulge yourself with extravagant spending, what do you usually do?
Yamaguchi: I'd go buy some merchandise of my beloved Sanrio character, Cinnamon. When it's a portable mirror or the likes, it's still something I might use in my everyday life, but when it comes plushies and such, I'm purchasing them simply because I yearn for something to give me a comfortable feeling, so on those times I somewhat end up feeling I have been spoiling myself immoderately.
Nishigata: As for me, I go out to eat the delicacies of Niigata. Sushi in particular! When compared to Tokyo, here in Niigata you are also free to eat at a truly affordable price.
Yamaguchi: I adore sushi, too! Also, while I don't do it when I go along with underage members, when I'm together with members aged 20 or older, we tend to order alcoholic drinks as well.
Nishigata: As far as alcohol is concerned, I'm fine with beer, myself. Even one single mug of it is sufficient, considering I soon feel inebriated and my head starts spinning, but I also recover from it pretty quickly.
Yamaguchi: In my case, recently I have taken a liking for wine. I'm able to drink down several glasses of alcohol, and I still won't get that much inebriated at all. But I guess it's because I'm a girl from a snowy region, that I can handle alcohol quite well. ♪

Out of the things you have purchased so far, which one was the most expensive item?
Yamaguchi: A washing machine, perhaps. At the time when I passed the audition for NGT48's 1st generation and had to move out from Aomori, where my family's home is, to Niigata, the home appliances, the furniture and everything else necessary for my new life there were paid for by me out of my own pocket, using the money that I had accumulated working part-time during the three years of high school. Among them, I presume that the washing machine was the most expensive of all.
Nishigata: Amazing! This is really commendable! Consider that my own apartment came already equipped with all furniture and appliances, instead.
Yamaguchi: My parents used to be against me getting into the entertainment industry at first, and so the understanding was like "If you must really do it, please do it by yourself at your own expenses", as such it was me who phoned the moving company in the first place, it was me who paid for the costs of the moving service, and that's how I finally made it to Niigata. (laugh)
Nishigata: My own mother gave me a great deal of support, instead.
Yamaguchi: She often pays a visit in Niigata too, doesn't she. Did my mother ever come? (laugh) But anyway, I can say they are supporting me in my activities, nowadays.
Nishigata: They do definitely support us. But back on topic, among the things I bought, the highest-priced would be a down coat that I purchased for my mother around these days. I had never given her any present of my own before, not even on Mother's Day. Up until now, even when I tried to buy her something, in the end my mom would hand me the money for it, saying "Oh, don't mind about that! Here, here". However, you know, I am a 22-year old adult already, and considering how she has been doing so much for me to this day, this time I went on and bought my own mother a present using my own money for the first time ever.
Yamaguchi: This is wonderful. Even me, after I have started living by myself away from my own family, I have made it a habit to send them presents on birthdays and such. When they receive it, they would send me back a mail message to say "Thank you" with a photo attached. And then, oh right, a while ago, when I returned at my family's home I saw their hair dryed was broken, so I decided to forward them a new one!

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Bonus #2: A compilation of Instagram stories in four acts, taken at the last handshake event, because it's too cute to pass up. I guess that the arrival of young kouhais has awakened Maho's big sister instincts like never before. This time it's her doting on MiyuMiyu and Nanamin, until the pure and soothing scene is soon spoiled by the intrusion of a "hag" (relatively speaking) like MauMau, who then turns into the butt of the jokes... (´∀｀；)


Maho coddling MiyuMiyu way too much! Well, while both of the D3 members are supposed to be "iyashi-kei" idols, I see MiyuMiyu is a "small pet-like type" of idol in Maho's eyes, or a bunny rabbit to be more exact. (*´∀｀)


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Bonus #3: And here's for our semi-mandatory gallery of photos from the 2-shot event. As usual, being careful to select only the ones where Maho is the only subject in the frame.

Spoiler: Pic spam ahead

 

2018.05.04 Showroom, not much but I'm leaving it here mostly for the sake of record.

Spoiler

Actually, like many other NGT members around these days, I see there's been a considerable lot of curiosity surrounding the "new" manager, Suwa-san, that is going to be transferred from SKE to NGT in the coming days, and what kind of person he might be. I recall Ogiyuka even published a video of him on her own Twitter profile to give him a welcome to the new group. Apparently he seems to be a pretty famous figure, even among fans.
Also, as she commented about him seemingly being a funny guy with the typical loud and rowdy personality you'd expect from a Kansai-born person, Maho couldn't help but note how "If we were to do a radio show together, I would end up playing the boke role over and over", quickly explaining how she and the other members were talking about him at some point and she heard about him being capable of delivering some clever tsukkomi in his speech.
In a way, I'm almost reminded of poor "Moja-san", the radio host of NGT's Minna Kami-Taiou, who's on the contrary the (somewhat voluntary) butt of the jokes of all NGT members appearing there. Especially Maho, who even built a fictional character around him as a joke, about him being a foreign star coming to Japan for whatever reason... But that'll be for another time, I guess... (´∀｀；)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

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Bonus: Two recent posts taken from Photolog. One is a heartfelt shout-out to Rittan in anticipation of her debut on the Gekidan Renacchi play. While the other is Maho(pyon) finally meeting Maho ...again, after becoming an idol. (´∀｀*)

Spoiler: Translation

"#Rittan

It seems like that I won't be able to go watch little sis's theater play due to work reasons, and I want to cry for that.

Riko is truly someone who gives her all in what she does.
A real hard-working person.

To date, there's seldom ever been any other girl who had been working to her utmost like this.

Even looking at it objectively, I believe she is possibly the most hard-working person within NGT.

Ever since before she received the script for today's stage play, she constantly worked on her speech practice explaining that "This is supposed to be a male role", to the point that by the next day her voice became all hoarse.

And once she finally received the script, she constantly kept looking through the booklet as she put all her efforts into memorizing the lines. Keeping herself from actually falling asleep, but while almost nodding in and out of sleep, she would stay up to watch the video recordings to check back and review her own movements in there...

This is truly someone I can respect, seeing Riko while she worked so hard on it really moved me to tears.

She's not someone who goes around to tell anyone about how hard she works, or that parades this fact out in public.
In anything she does, she always gives her all when dealing with it -- but in a quiet manner.

Even when it comes to the DMM recordings of theater performances, she would watch them back again until she eventually falls asleep.

In the context of idols, I get the feeling that the less a certain girl is associated to a pre-conceived image, the more of a hard-worker she turns out to be.

After getting to see her putting her all into this in so many ways, I really wanted to go watch her perform, but yeah...

Everyone, please let me know what your impressions are about that!"

Source: https://twitter.com/NGT48photolog2/status/993860694322827264

Spoiler: Translation

"#Oomori Maho

Here's Oomori Maho-chan, from when I previously met her at the venue of the last handshake event. ☺️

Before she became an idol, she was a girl who used to visit me at the handshake events, even pointing out how "We share the same name!". On that same day, she also told me "Oh! I also brought with me a 2-shot ticket for today's session!" and, hearing that, we also ended up doing a 2-shot session together. ☺️ (laugh)

While I know this may be difficult, since what's ideal and what's instead the reality are two separate things, I believe she is an idol who is to the same degree as capable of putting herself in the shoes of fans and considering things from their standpoint.
For this reason, I'll always be here to give her my support."

Source: https://twitter.com/NGT48photolog2/status/994089626905333760

 

2018.05.08 Showroom

Spoiler: Abridged summary

Actually, I wanted to keep the summary brief, but right at the beginning of the stream it contained a short but sweet part in which Maho recounted of a pleasant encounter she had while walking around the Niigata.
This apparently happened as soon as she returned back in the city on that same day, Maho told how was getting off an elevator at the station, when a lady in her middle-age suddenly approached her to ask if she happened to be one of the members from NGT. When told yes, she expressed to Maho all her appreciation for them and told how she had watched her on TV the day before. Although she didn't explicitly say the name of the program in question, Maho guessed she meant Niigatta Friend, with Maho commenting how happy she was and realizing firsthand that even people outside of core fans are following the group's activities closely. As Maho was reminded within the stream, there is a reason the program is enjoying also quite high viewers ratings in the region, after all.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.05.11 Showroom, random free talk, Maho being addicted to Yobisute Fantasy, one more positive comment about BNK... but above all, drumming up support for the Sanrio Character Ranking that is currently underway.

Spoiler: Summary

• Starting off, today happened to be the first time in a long while appearing at the NGT Kenkyuusei stage, in the role of one of the customary "helper" members. And by the looks of it, Maho was still basking in the enjoyment she had there.
  Apparently there was also a little issue with the costumes, but nothing serious: it's just that the staff in charge had decided to loosen them a bit around the waist, so much so that it left Maho wondering at first if she had lost too much weight when she put them on. Maho even kept smiling as she talked about how, as a result, the skirt kept spinning around and around by inertia along with the dance moves. (´∀｀；)
  Anyway, throughout the stream lots of personal considerations were shared about "Yobisute Fantasy", one of the songs she performed while there, which Maho got absolutely in love with. Later on she even commented how she realized it's a song really geared toward a female high schooler/middle schooler audience and wished that more people would get to know about it. And right before the end of the stream, she concluded by saying it's a song that perfectly captures the romantic feelings that a schoolgirl would have, "Isn't it something designed for girl audience? ...Don't you find it a rarity?".
• The Senbatsu Sousenkyo might be getting close, but like last year Maho's thoughts went, first and foremost, toward the Sanrio Character Ranking which had just started on the day before, prompted by the passing comment of one of the viewers who announced their vote.
  For the first time in a long while, the Talking Cinnamon and other plushies familiar to long-time viewers made a comeback in the stream (I found it particularly funny how she called the Talking Cinnamon into action by deliberately clapping her hands this time, when in the past streams it would always turn on accidentally at inappropriate times due to being too sensitive to some noises. Heh...).
  
  
  And of course, while at it Maho made sure to remind everyone to cast their daily vote for Cinnamon. Truth be told, Mahores didn't need to be asked twice about it, as they were already hard at work casting their votes on the site right from the opening day, judging from the recent activity on Twitter.
  By the way, a particularly cute scene happened in the middle of this when Maho pressed the "goodnight" button on the Talking Cinnamon, causing it once again to play a somewhat tearjerking lullaby song. With this as a background, Maho took the opportunity to put up a small act that fit the mood, pouring her heart out about both of their situation for viewers to enjoy, which went as follows:
  "I'm happy that you are always looking at me as I keep on striving, Cinnamon. Always, not matter what. Even when there are hardships, I try to say with a smiling face 'I did my best', but I can't bring myself to say anything. But Cinnamon is seeing everything, right? Thank you! I love you, Cinnamon. On this year's Character Ranking we are definitely going to get the first place. Even Cinnamon, you know, among Sanrio characters he has always been quite neglected, it must have been so frustrating. Even me... It's said that oshimen resemble their fans. Although this is not the reason I am supporting Cinnamon, there are lots of things we resemble each other, isn't it, I think... This year, let's get the first place then! (pats head)"
  
  In all fairness, this short scene was a bit in between the playful and the half-serious, but Maho's feelings lying within the message were carried across perfectly.
• Also on topic of the Sanrio Character Ranking, it turns out that SKE is having a PR collaboration with the event itself this year. Even here, it didn't take long before Maho's bemused reaction to the news came in.
  "But what about someone such as Mahohon who had been so supportive this year as well as last year? Huh? (perplexed face) ...San-rio-saaan! (happy face) Never mind the fact that NGT and Kitty-chan even had a collaboration campaign together a while ago... Huh? (perplexed face) ...San-rio-saaan! (happy face)"
  
  Not much later, Maho went on to recall in vivid details all the emotional investment she had for this competition, all of which was still freshly impressed in her memory as it was still the day it happened: how she hurried to check the results as soon as there was a break in between the theater rehearsals and broke out crying when she opened her eyes only to see on her phone that Cinnamon ranked in second, how apparently Cinnamon looked dejected during the announcement ceremony where Pom Pom Purin was crowned the winner, the jumprope challenge he did in the hope to gain support to his side, and so on and so forth... until how, finally, the year after she rejoiced to the point of tears to see that Cinnamon came in first.
  Eventually, she couldn't help but compare everything to her situation and derive a moral lesson out of it, after noting how her experience as a fan with the Sanrio competition was in fact so similar to that of her fans with Sousenkyo, and it helped her look at it from the same perspective: "And then there were many things I realized about it. I cheered so much for Cinnamon at the Character Rankings, and I ended up crying so much even when he got the first place. I imagined that even in the Sousenkyo where I'm running, if I get to a nice position my fans too will feel this happy. I though how they would rejoice as if it were themselves there. If it's so, then I must do my best. By looking at Cinnamon, I was motivated to work hard as well. By supporting Cinnamon, I also came to understand the feelings of my fans very well. Thank you so much for all of this, Cinnamon..."
  
• About the so-called Rakuten Sousenkyo, on the other hand, Maho didn't seem as much involved in the competition as she seemed to be last year. Perhaps it's for the better, if you ask me, considering how it doesn't seem there was much in terms of benefits for the winner (and maybe it's also because of one bitter episode involving Etsuro from last time). As told, rather than putting any great efforts into it, she'd prefer to work out with everyone a strategy to get to the top of the rankings in a hassle-free way if ever possible. After that, she'd rather concentrate on trying to secure a high ranking at the actual Sousenkyo.
• And lastly, Maho also went back to talk again about her experience at TIF in Bangkok. This time the emphasis was placed more on the reaction of the audience to BNK that she noticed at the event, and how fervent the support was from locals when there.
  When describing how much of a social phenomenon they are in their own country, Maho even went as far as to parallel it to how AKB felt in its heydays back at the time of the original Kami 7, also expressing admiration at how they are a national idol group in the true sense of the word, in that they are a group that has the country's population going wild with excitement for. Apparently Maho had already a well-informed idea of how popular they were, coming from watching news on it back in Japan, and (as viewer first pointed out) the amount of view counts that their videos are getting on YouTube. However, it is only once she arrived that she could see firsthand how the "amount of enthusiasm at the place was outstading", and their popularity was far beyond her expectations, stressing on how it "goes far above what everyone might be thinking".
  Also leaving a great impact on Maho was that, as she discovered, the members knew how to sing the songs even in the original Japanese lyrics, and indeed some turned to to be also conversant/fluent in Japanese language. All things combined, seeing all of this actually gave impulse and motivation to the NGT members, or to Maho at least, in a good sense even spurring a sense of competitivity, as she felt determined not to be be outdone by BNK while on the same stage.
  Besides that, Maho also seemed surprised to see how, during NGT's segment of the event, the crowd was being so animated -- especially how this wasn't only limited to the performances of hit songs such as Iiwake Maybe but also when they sang MAX Toki and the likes. Maho concluded by telling she'd really loved to perform much more AKB songs at the event, after finding out there's many people even overseas who geniunely appreciate them.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

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Bonus #1: More Cinnamon (and a small petition to vote for him)


As told also in the previous Showroom stream (and the Instagram story whose screenshot I have reported above) May 10 marked the start Sanrio Character Ranking competition. Even though I want to keep it strictly a Maho thread, when you consider how Maho's attachment for this little guy is so strong and so well documented (not to mention the fact all Maho's fans on Twitter are already joining in with their support), I think it has been made clear enough this year (as well as last) how meaningful this event is for Maho.
Taking a moment aside to explain... The voting period has already begun and it will be open until June 11. Voting is free and, additionally, you are able to cast a new vote (for each IP) every day. So if you happen to read this you are all invited to make Maho happier by casting a vote for him here on this site, going to the following link and then clicking the 投票する button:
https://sanriocharacterranking.com/characters/cinnamon/

Speaking of Cinnamon, at the 2-shot event held last Sunday, Maho was fully intent on getting into the mood, and decided for a change to bring over one of the Cinnamon items from her collections to decorate the table. Too bad that it proved to be in vain, though. The following is a drama in three parts taken from that day's Instagram stories:

I brought it all the way from Niigata for the purpose of the 2-shot event.

I'm sorry, but the Cinnamon that I had prepared for it wasn't allowed.
Let's begin it without Cinnamon, then.

A two-shot session with Cinnamon, even if it's between him and myself.
If only I could do a tie-up campaign with Cinnamon.
I want to be Cinnamon PR ambassador, mon.
I'm so envious of SKE48-san for having a collaboration campaign with the Sanrio Character Ranking ✨

Don't worry however, this is a story with a happy ending. Actually, after looking at it on Instagram, some fans were kind enough to bring a minature plushie of their own to the place and proceeded to have a photo with it instead. Well done! (*´∀｀)

Source: https://twitter.com/patapata_ojisan/status/995538741405011968

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Bonus #2: From the Instagram profile of the Guam Tourism Board, promotional posters are out at last and of course Maho is there!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BiwmNJ5Bo1t/

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Bonus #3: So, remember how Yunako said Maho was working with her to come up with a catchphrase for herself? On this week's AKB48SHOW, during the backstage coverage of the Tandoku Concert, we got a chance to hear it in her self introduction.

"Sadogashima? Bandaijima? Where does everyone want to go~? Tsushima!"

Of course, it was really thoughtful of Yunako to give Maho credit for inventing it, right after that. (*´ω｀*)

 

Maho's SSK poster:

Spoiler

 

Mahohon no mahou

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Very interesting choice for an election poster this time. And a pretty elaborate composition, too. I can see a lot of attention and efforts went into the details. Ah, all of this only makes me wish Maho had uploaded a bigger version of it on her Instagram already, it really deserves to be looked at more up close... (｀・ω・´)
Anway, the setup is of course a tribute to the Japanese poster for the Disney movie Enchanted (titled "Mahou ni Kakerarete" in the local version) -- so the slogan in Maho's poster, where the movie title is supposed to be, would translate basically to "Enchanted by Maho's Magic".
That tagline on the side is also a spoof of the original Japanese tagline (different from the tagline found in the English edition). "A girl from Aomori has wandered off into ... the World Senbatsu Sousenkyo!?", while in the original it reads "A princess from the cartoons world has wandered off into ... modern day New York!?".
Also, one more possible particular that might or might not be a hidden reference in itself: the apple standing in the place of the cartoon squirrel, which may be there to represent Aomori. As said various time before, the prefecture is famous all over Japan for its apple production, and many idols coming from there love emphasizing this fact some way or another (Yunako too, to bring up another example within NGT).

And, well, personally I also love the trilingual greeting that Maho gave at the beginning of the appeal video above ("Ni hao", "Sawatdi" and "Selamat siang"). Pretty mindful of her since it's a world Sousenkyo after all. (*´ω｀*)

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Bonus: Taking some time aside to post a quick translation of Maho's appeal from today's issue of Nikkan Sports. I know it might be ambitious -- but this time it's aiming high!

Spoiler

NGT Yamaguchi Maho / Mahohon Mahoho~n, I can cast magic



Slender arms and legs, and a very pale skin. Those are my personal pride. I also have a good memory as well. And among all the members, I'm the one who has appeared the most times on our radio shows. In addition to that, I had also been selected for the Guam Senbatsu of the 48 Group, even getting to perform at the concert there. I have had the opportunity to do work together with the senior members from the other groups, and with it I feel that my horizons have also widened.

During this one year period, I was able to take part in group activities not only in my native region of Aomori, but also in Sendai, and thus I could help break new ground into the Tohoku area. If I must liken myself to something, it's magic. The reason being that I can cast it. Mahohon Mahoho~n... Believe it!

For this Sousenkyo, I want to engage into it in my own manner, while proceeding at my own leisurely pace. My goal is rather high, the 17th place. Last year I was 53rd, but I'd like to go as high as I can possibly get. I would love to rank into the teens range in one go!

Source: https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/akb48/news/201805110000583.html

 

Starting this update right off the bat with the matter of pledges, seeing as they have been already finalized, submitted and published. There is also a post from Maho from a few hours ago further explaining the motivation:

From the Sousenkyo website:
https://www.akb48.co.jp/sousenkyo53rd/candidate_detail?id=367
Yamaguchi Maho
Ranking goal: #17
Pledge: Moving out of my current home. The packages will exceptionally be showcased through Showroom broadcasts.

From Maho's Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjNOmcanL7o/


The pleges for the Sousenkyo have been announced!
My pledge is going to be "Moving out"!
This means I am seriously going to move out of the house I'm living in right now.

If you are wondering why I chose "moving out" of all things, the reason is that at my current house the walls are too much thin, to the point you can even hear all the noises coming from the neighbor in the nearby apartment. (laugh)

Due to this, even having a Showroom broadcast is pretty much impossible for me, therefore I've made it my goal to move out and make sure to hold plenty of Showroom broadcasts after that!! This is not a commitment to be realized in one go, but rather one that'll span a long period of time.

This process will be broadcast to you on stream. Also, using the Cinnamon that my house is overflowing with, I'll be decorating a whole wall with Cinnamon and have my broadcasts there from then on.
Let's reach the 17th place, the position I'm aiming for, together -- to make moving out possible!

#The "I helped Mahohon move out" Crew
#Enchanted by Maho's Magic
#Mahore
#NGT48
#World Senbatsu Sousenkyo
#Pledge
#Moving Out

---

And so there it is: the Sousenkyo is in full swing and all the preparations have been laid down at last.
If you ask me, it feels curious how the proposal to submit "Moving out" as the official commitment -- which was originally floated on Showroom some time ago almost as a joke -- was seriously taken into account, expanded on with what seems to be more ideas that were partially mentioned on SR, and finally ended up becoming THE official commitment. It looks like that the concept had really gained traction with Maho, after all.
But then again it's fully understandable, this is an issue that every fan seems to be aware of already: she had been going on about this for more than a year (for anyone who cares to dig a little back in this thread, they'll find enough proofs), and which had been actually bothering her for as long as she has moved there, going by the recent Showroom. I can only guess that the savings earned during just three years of high school couldn't have afforded a more suitable place at the time, which is something she has come to regret as time went by. In a way, there's a meaning behind all of this decision that goes back years, and has been running a little deeper into her personal life than any other member's.

So yeah, rather than a one-off, pretty lackadaisical pledge that can be executed in a matter of hours or a day at most, here Maho has decided to undertake a long-term project that, should the goal be ever reached, will probably be costing her money and efforts on her part over a considerable span of time, one that will have permanent effects to boot. Granted, the objective she's aiming is high, but even Maho has acknowledged this fact many times already.

I could as well add that this is a pledge that, in the off chance it will ever be realized, has the potential to become an interesting project that could also bring some publicity for Maho on the side. Maybe, with the help of the management being not as lethargic and uncooperative as it is now, arranging for a little TV coverage here on some in-group AKB program or a regular featurette there on the official NGT Twitter to provide regular updates on the progress would be just nice.
I have no hope to see the NGT management change their ways anytime soon, or anytime at all, but as they say, a man can dream. (´･ω･｀)

But anyway, like I said this was also discussed in the most recent Showroom, so without any further ado...

---

2018.05.24 Showroom

Spoiler: Summary

• Today's stream happened right on the heels of the official announcement of the Sousenkyo pledges on the event's website, which means Maho couldn't help but begin immediately with this topic. For starters, Maho laid out again all the basic details of her commitment for everyone: if the goal is met, she'll finally be moving from her old home to the new one, and of course a live broadcast will be provided to show all the preparations for it as they will be underway.
  
  At the same time, for those who don't know yet, Maho went on to give a reminder of what serious issues she's been having with her current home, specifically the paper-thin walls that are anything but sound-proof and the neighbour living right on the other side with their tendecy of being too noisy and often inviting their friends to party to make things "worse", all of which has forced her quite a few times to delay, when not dowright giving up on broadcasting on certain days.
  It should be said that the noise and sound-proofing problem isn't just affecting her ability to have a SR broadcast: like she explained a while later in today's broadcast, it also makes it difficult to invite other members at her place. She recounted of one time when she invited Moeka over, right at the time of the group's inception, and since it's basically her habit to react by letting out these little screams of exclamation, Maho had to keep reminding her to be a little more quiet or else the neighbour would hear because "this house has really thin walls". Another time, Maho says, she was visited by Noepii and, even this time around, she demanded her to be careful not to be too raise the voice too much herself, lest she could get found out. So, to be fair, it actually goes both way in terms of nuisance.
  Once all these setbacks will be gone for good, Maho has hopes that she'll then be able to have more freedom for herself and, in the near future, increase the frequency of her SR streams, from the once-a-week basis she can afford right now, along with it.
  
  Adding to the list of commitments she'll work to fulfill, Maho also re-confirmed her intention to turn a corner of her new apartment into a "Cinnamon room", which she'd like to use when holding her broadcasts. In her plans, Maho says she is going to set up the wall in the background to be completely decorated with all the 48 and more Cinnamon plushies that are currently there on her bed (which, by the way are taking up 1/3 of the space, in Maho's words, with all the resulting trouble you might expect about finding some room for herself where to sleep, as she points out). Of course even in this case she intends to let viewers also take a look at the room as the arrangement is taking place. As viewers reminded, the end result should be an entire wall covered only with Cinnamon, in the same fashion as the wall of Cinnamon that used to greet visitors at the Cinnamon Exhibit, held for the character's anniversary not so long ago (feel free to search "シナモン展" on Google Images for photos, so as to get a clear idea of what they meant).
  
  All laughs and jokes aside, ultimately Maho also tried to drive it home the point that even her own privacy may be at risk by remaining in this current, vulnerable situation. As a hypotetical scenario, she explained how, if any ill-intentioned individual were really around, he could simply go around deliberately making noises and possibly deduce from the sounds heard in the SR stream where she could be living (Does it ring a bell? Let's try again) -- after which, as Maho puts it, "the next day I wouldn't even have a house to return to anymore", at least safely...
• Moving along, while still on the subject of "nearly getting found out", the talk switched to some fortuitous encounters Maho had with the people of Niigata, telling of an episode that took place when she and Kani went out to eat together, as both an example of a what a "small world" Niigata is ...and how easy it is to be liable to be spotted.
  Anyway, Maho and Kani happened to be seated at a certain restaurant where their table was separated from the next one by a foldable panel. The two of them were too intent on eating their food and just ended having a talk with each other when, well, to their surprise that the group of people sitting on the other side of the wall started having a discussion about NGT of all things, and it only added to their surprise when they started hearing the names of Maho and Katomina being brought up in the talk. Cue Maho doing an astounded face to replicate their reaction at the time.
  All in all it was a nice surprise for Maho to hear the people right next to her table speak of her with enthusiasm. But, as a consequence, Maho and Kani had to try toning down their voices as low as they could for the following 30 minutes that the other people were at their table, so as to avoid any danger of getting detected. What's interesting is that, going by Maho's own guesswork, they sounded to be just a casual group of young people, both male and female, as opposed to actual hardcore fans.
  
  In addition to that, Maho went back to talk again about the other sudden meeting she described on another recent SR, about a lady that looked to be a housewife stopping Maho as soon as she dropped off the Niigata station's escalator. It turns out Maho had her face covered to the point of being almost unnoticeable, but in spite of this the lady still came up to greet her and ask if she were indeed Maho, followed by telling how she saw her on TV the day before and expressing her encouragement. Again, it dawned on Maho only later that her episode of Niigatta Friend aired that week.
  
  To the viewers who were wondering if fans tend to behave any differently, Maho eventually concluded that, in the light of all of this, it's actually the most dedicated fans the ones who try to maintain a distance with the idols during their private time out of respect, and if anything pretend not to notice them and just pass along when they chance upon them on the street -- in a way keeping it "moderate" in their interaction acting in a true "gentlemanly" manner, as she puts it.
• In today's talk a little thought also went toward Ayanyan, of course, which included also a word of recommendation from Maho to all the fans who are going to meet her at the handshake event, to be held on the day after tomorrow. Here, Maho urged them to refrain from being too tragic and expressing to Aya any sentiment of sadness or sorriness, regardless of the fact this is (even by Maho's admission) what everyone might be thinking at the moment. Instead (while playing a bit on the fact that many of Ayanyan's fans are known to be gachikoi wota) she suggested them to offer her a message as positive and cheerful as a marrige proposal would be, echoing what she wrote more in detail in one of her recent Photolog entries.
  The bottom line, as Maho explained, was that it'd be better to avoid talking too much about things concerning her graduation which would only have a depressing effect on her, saying she wants to make sure Aya will stay strong and smiling until the last day in the group, even considering how she isn't at the best of her health.
  "I know that every one of you are nice people, so I'm sure you'll understand"
• A short span of time was dedicated to Maho looking back at how working as an idol has helped her coming out of her shell and turning much more talkative and confident through communication with fans, as she recalled her first promotional videos where she gave her self-introduction. As a matter of fact, she notes how, based on appearance alone and without any pre-conception about her, some might be lead to assume she's the cheerful and communicative type, when in reality Maho admits she wasn't even good at speaking with the staff at the beauty salon staff outside of nodding and a few "yes" or "no".
  And to the viewers speaking of how their first impression of Maho was the most startling as they had "suspicions of her being party-goer", just like in the Whatcha Gonna Do MV, Maho actually confessed that these sort of gatherings don't suit her at all and, in fact, even merely getting to act in such a club-themed setting gave her an uncomfortable feeling -- to such a degree she eventually couldn't have endured it anymore, if only they had to shoot any more additional takes than they did. Thank goodness for the dance choreographer being there to give her moral encouragement like an older sister and telling she did perform nicely.
  Truth be told, it turns out this was an impression that even the staff had about Maho before getting to know about her true personality. Anyway, there's also this as a final punchline to this discussion...
  Viewer: "What is somewhere you want to go then?"
  Maho: "I want to stay at home. At home, isn't it obvious. And a quiet home at that, which is why I would like to move out... (laugh) ... On the other hand, the person next to me seems to be quite the party-goer person. (laugh)" (´∀｀；)
• Oh, yeah...! By the way, today was also the day the midterm results for the Sanrio Character Ranking were also released, and the glad tidings are... that Cinnamon is leading the race with 10,000 votes ahead of the second place, much to Maho's happiness of course.
  This called for a little celebration on Showroom, with Maho even giving one rare "screenshot time" moment for viewers while posing with some of the items of her collection, though not before ending this stream by wishing to rival Cinnamon at this year's Sousenkyo along with her fans and help lead NGT on as a happy, optimistic figure. Hooray! (*´∀｀)
  

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

 

"83rd place

Mahohon (Yamaguchi Maho)

Providing support to NGT48, even in a psychological sense, as a big sister from behind the scenes; a gorgeous, bewitching magician."


Source: https://twitter.com/official_NGT48/status/1001837817759068165

A slow start this year at the preliminaries, but let's hope that Maho will eventually catch up in the end. (｀・ω・´)

Spoiler

Like many streams today, today's Showroom started off a bit on a melancholic note, but I think it also highlighted Maho's professionalism and sense of humbleness at the same time. She expressed genuine happiness for seeing the other members ranking in as well, hoping they'll all make it to the election finals, and of course seemed grateful for all the efforts made by her fans so far.
Once again, she reflected on the fact that right now she has only her own fans to help her stand up, and how important they are for her in many ways. While explaining her condition, she reminded again how as soon as she joined the entertainment business she had decided it was best to cut off any contacts with her former friends, as a precautionary measure for fear that someone might go on to betray her confidence someday (intended as putting her in a compromising situation). What's more, she told how she has always refrained from asking other members for counseling about her own private worries, because of her older age making her the "older sister" of the group. Not to mention the fact that, as it turns out, her parents aren't offering her anywhere near the same degree of support in her activities as she sees other members receive from their respective family. With all these things considered, Maho tried to lighten up as she reiterated that the only ones she can count on right now are, as such, her fans.
As far as her personal ranking is concerned, she actually was conflicted and even a bit apologetic to her fans for having chosen a ranking goal so high this time, even being somewhat critical of herself for having been too much "greedy" with her aspirations.
Anyway, I'll withhold any further comment until I find a full recording of it and not some bits and pieces like the following, since there was actually more than it during the stream, but here's hoping for things to work out for the best. (｀・ω・´)

Spoiler

if the video does not show watch the video here

if the video does not show watch the video here

Moreover, a clip of the preliminary announcement including the moment Maho's name is called can be found here, for those who want to take a look.

---

Changing topic, I'll leave the Showroom videos for another day until I find better sources, for those who care, but in the meantime it's nice to remind that Maho made it in the ModelPress Senbatsu this year around. Also nice to see that the writeup in her section is actually one of the most fleshed-out of all.
https://mdpr.jp/news/detail/1769346#anchor-19

So, for this reason, here's a quick translation of it (also including the opening part outlining the Senbatsu's purpose)

Spoiler

What is the ModelPress Senbatsu?

Launched last year, the "ModelPress Senbatsu" aims to provide a selection of the members to keep an eye on, done individually from ModelPress's own female perspective. Taking as a sample all the members who submitted their candidacy, a selection was conducted on the criteria of "Whether they are bringing forward many stories and informations that we'd want to be shared on ModelPress". "Potential as a fashion icon", "Expectations that they'll go on to become a supporting element of each respective group, or the 48G family, in the future", "More simply, popularity within the editorial staff", and so on...

At the same time, a readers vote was also carried out, with number of votes and comments content also taken into consideration, based on the criteria of "Members enjoying support as fashionista", "Members regarded as having communication power and influence, who are taken as fashion reference on social media for hairstyling, makeup, etc...", and "(In the case of female fans) Members who are admired as a fellow girl".

Furthermore, the members were not just selected in a ranking order, based simply on the number of reader votes they received, but the enthusiasm and the persuasive power of the reader comments were also factored in. Like last time, members were grouped around two classes -- members who are are already into full activity who should be essential in a ModelPress Senbatsu; and next generation members that people are placing their expectations onto -- without establishing any formal ranking.

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NGT48 / Team NIII - Yamaguchi Maho



Yamaguchi Maho / 22 years old / 1995/09/17 / from Aomori Prefecture / 1st generation / 53rd (at the last Senbatsu Sousenkyo)

Leaving an outstanding impression for her clean and lovely face, even within the ModelPress editorial department the staff has spoken of her many times even outside of idol reporters, pointing out how "This girl is so cute!". Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the "visual members".



Although she had been already garnering attention from our reporters ever since the first debut performance back in the beginnings, going through the recommendation comments we could also collect, one after another, a growing number of personal episodes that confirmed her high sense of aesthetics, describing how "Even NGT members put a lot of trust in her knowledge of cosmetics", all of which led to today's selection.

[Reader Comments]
- In terms of looks, I think she is in the top class, not only within NGT but also the 48G family as a whole. She is personally aspiring to become a model; she loves fashion and cosmetics and is an expert in that regard. Even when it comes to NGT members, they put a great deal of confidence in her, asking her for advices and buying what they are recommended by her. Being a bit of a spacey character, the gap between this and her outward appearance also makes her extremely endearing. (Male/Aged 20s)
- She is highly discerning about beauty care. I'm a girl wota who tends to go to handshake events, and we would often have a talk together about clothes, nail styling, cosmetics, and accessories. The must-buy items that I purchased after asking her for advice were of such great quality, that I even ended up recommending them to my friends. (Female/Aged 20s)
- She boasts a high sense of beauty, to the point that she would also refer to herself by the title of "Beauty Care Boss". Even the other members tell that, if you need to know something about make-up, hairstyling or fashion, you can't go wrong by asking Mahohon. (Male/Aged 40s)

 

As told in the previous post, time to catch up on the Showroom backlog... (｀・ω・´)

2018.05.29 Showroom, meditating a little on what intrinsic value an idol's job holds for her fans, and how it motivates Maho to be committed to her job.

Spoiler: Summary

A short stream today, featuring Maho as she looked back on how stressful the day has been for her (starting, of all things, by damning her clumsiness, since she took the phone she uses for SR streaming and brough it to the theater to make sure that it would be fully charged and ready for use by the time she would have taken it back home, only to actually forget everything there and be forced to go find a spare charger for her other phone to boot). But also one providing a little look into her sense of duty when dealing with fans.

Indeed, it looks like that these days Maho had been feeling unwell, and some viewers were in fact quick to point out that on the same day she ended up showing up later than other members at the performance's sendoff.
Maho confirmed how on that moment she was struggling with a headache. But nonetheless, she also added that as part of her role as an idol she needs to be able to make up for any sudden bout of sickness with tenacity and a good dose of smiling. Even though she says she was about to fall down from exhaustion by the theater's encore, she told how she kept encouraging herself to carry on till the end, saying that bringing out some tenacity would have made anything possible. And by putting on a smile on her face and laughing along throughout it, she explains, it would avoid giving the impression she's actually feeling unwell to the fans who are watching her.
Some viewers at this point expressed admiration at the unexpected amount of this grit and resilience she hides inside, which brought Maho to begin a little reflection. Even though she might give the impression of being the type who would take the most breaks from theater performances, she confesses how she actually always refrained from taking days off for trivial things, even on those days she was actually down with cold. And the reason behind this is that, partly related to her low self-confidence, she doesn't have the courage to make her fans come all the way to the theater only to find out she is missing or on sick leave on that day.
Maho pointed out how the price to attend a theater show or a handshake event goes beyond a simple ticket purchase: it's also a matter of transportation expenses, with some people even taking a day off from work for this specific purpose only.
Before concluding this consideration, Maho ultimately wonders if she is worth this cost in terms of time and money that fan are sacrificing to see her, enough to allow all of this to be wasted for nothing and disappoint them, to which she answers no. This is why even though she may feel sick or weak at times, to the point of thinking she needs to take a rest, she would always struggle to stay on stage or bring supplement drinks along at handshake events to better endure these long stretches of time.
To conclude, Maho couldn't hide her being sometimes sorry and angry at herself for her health, but at the same time "No matter how poor my health condition gets or something, I still think I must show up. I am not worth that much, nor do I have the nerve for it (being absent on the last minute). Therefore, I believe that thing will work out well if only I strive on with a smile."

On other news, it seems Maho was also happily surprised to find out that she had been selected for the ModelPress Senbatsu. Despite the fact she has never brought up the contest, let alone made any sort of requests, many fans still took it upon themselves to send in their suggestions, which made Maho feel really moved as she realized there're people working to support her even in places she wasn't even aware of.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.05.30 Showroom, in a negative sense, one tearful post-SSK Preliminaries stream

Spoiler: Spoiler

What can I say that I haven't done already? I'll stick to what was written in the previous post, for a start, even though the stream had actually some much more light-hearted moments in between and especially in the second half, and it didn't turn out to be as tragic as it was made out to be at a first glance. It doesn't change the fact that Maho looked seriously in discomfort after having the results announced to her, and that it contained lots of tears. As Maho also commented on mobame, while last year it was tears of happiness at the good results, this year around it was for the most part tears of frustration at what she sees instead as a regression.

But anyway, adding to the information I have already posted, there's more that was brought up during today's talk.

Maho told that witnessing the other NGT members rank in made her genuinely happy as if they were herself and was naturally glad to congratulate them, mentioning how she was the most worried about Ogiyuka because of the pressure she must have felt on herself this year. But at the same time she was secretely dismayed that her own name got called so early into the preliminaries. I think it is very typical of Maho at this point to avoid exposing her weakness to the public, but she confessed how she strived hard to keep up a strong facade while in front of everyone in order to encourage and console the other members, not allowing herself to cry until she was alone back at her own home, where she would then be free to process the sad experience.
I think she also made it clear how deep down these two conflicting feelings were too much for her to stand. While she was aware that the fans (including the other members') meant well when they offered their congratulations during the sendoff at the end of the event, and Maho replied back by thanking them and smiling, it felt painful and she couldn't bear to accept the compliments because in her mind it wasn't the moment to rejoice.
Paraphrasing what she said, I guess that in this stream all the negativity that she normally kept repressed inside of herself during the other times of the year burst forth at once. Perhaps for the purpose of making the situation less unpleasant, throughout the stream she even went on to call the state of mind she was in with the appellation of "Yuba Mentality" -- yuba being a byproduct of tofu that can only get more mushy and deflated as you keep poking at it, as she explained on another occasion the day after.

Once again, Maho was apologetic at fans for having attempted to aim for a ranking position that she now considers was high for herself. It surfaced during the talk that she even had a discussion with Imamura, and even he told her that #17 was way too high a goal. With a bitter laugh, Maho saw no choice but to acknowledge he was right after all...
In any case, it was also revealed that Maho had also in mind other plans for a pledge, mentioning a "Maho no Mahou Tournament" that would be held in the form of a fan meeting. However, this would have been an event that, while enjoyable in her plans, would have been over in just one shot. What Maho hoped for was something for fans to enjoy through steady and constant developments, and that would go on to span a long period of time instead, hence her decision to go for this pledge.

And I think it was inevitable in the spiral of negativity that some of the past unpleasant memories would creep back to hurt Maho's mind one more time. At 19:38 I think there's perhaps the part that I find more irking to me: "And then last year... Painful things just won't disappear easily. No matter how hard and diligently I work, only the bad things... bad things that I didn't even do, keep turning up on top... Even my parents had told me this, even though we don't talk so much on a normal basis.... Even though I didn't say anything of it to them, but the did a lot of checking nonetheless... 'Why did it have to happen to our daughter?... Regardless of how much work Maho does, why the first word to come up has always to be that one? I feel so sorry...', when I heard that I broke out crying a flow of tears". Maho stopped herself short of finishing the retelling, but those who'll know will understand. There's no point in hiding the fact that those had been trying times and still not a joking matter for Maho, and she surely handled the crisis better than anyone else would have if they found themselves framed in the same situation. Which is all the more reason for me to wish her to succeed.

Anyway, thankfully much more lighter talk followed after that, so I'm sorry if I made this summary feel a lot gloomier than in reality. There's still time until the end of the elections, the real event is yet to come, so I hope Maho's fans will help patch up her broken heart with the band-aids she needs, so to speak, and get closer to her dream.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.05.31 Showroom, jumping back on her feet again, Maho's "gachikoi wota" spirit gets put to test by an untimely news, and well... the dreams of moving out of her uncomfortable house are not yet lost.

Spoiler: Spoiler

• If there's one thing I appreciate about Maho above anything else is this natural ability to cheer herself up and snap back to her carefree self with relative ease.
  Today's Showroom actually started off with Maho as she excused herself for the full-on pessimistic attitude and "Yuba Mentality" she had displayed the day before, adding that she took time to meditate on her behavior (and, as revealed near the end of the stream, just lying down and listening to the Spirited Away theme in peace has an uplifting effect for those times when she feeling depressed and hopeless, for what it's worth). As such, the rest of the SR stream went on the same lighter note, although first Maho couldn't help but note how she really received, so to speak, an emotional double-whammy on that day: between the happiness of seeing the members rank in, the vexation of her own ranking and then the happiness of realizing there were many fans who voted nonetheless, it was essentially a whirlwind of alternating happiness and frustration.
• Which unexpectedly leads to the next topic... As if all of the above wasn't enough, to further add to the emotional confusion that Maho experienced, it turns out that yesterday one of Maho's oshis was reported as being in a love relationship. To Maho's relief, anyway, it didn't end up being anything scandalous, which brought her to reaffirm again what a perfect upstanding individual said oshi is.
  It should be noted Maho didn't dare to mention by name who this oshi is, which I guess is due in equal parts to self-control and management policies, but you can easily figure it out by looking around on the Internet yourself. Or better yet, for the impatient readers, by looking at whose pillow she was briefly hugging as she talked about it.
  
• Of course, right after that Maho hastened to add that she's the kind of wota who's hoping for her oshi to find happiness for herself, it's just that... "However, I'm still quite the gachikoi wota, so... my oshi's happiness... is something that I wish for, but the moment it actually happens I'm stuck saying 'Oh, wait a minute...', and I suffer a whiplash. It's my first time having such a feeling".
  A comment from a viewer came in, pointing out how it's inevitable to be in a romance since she is after all a human being, to which Maho argued back "My oshi may have graduated, but I could not graduate away from my oshi, that's one thing I learned this time".
  Funnily enough, talk with fans carried on along the lines of viewers wishing "I want Maho to achieve happiness too" (which is basically an euphemism for falling in love and eventually getting married), with Maho promptly responding "Hey, I haven't graduated yet! Oh, you mean after I graduated, right?" and then warning she'd be one bothersome type to deal with, until eventually someone jokingly raised the suspicion that this might be the reason for Maho to want to move out.
• Which brings us to the next topic for today.
  I guess it's pleasant to see that Maho hasn't given up on her prospects to move out of her home, and in reiterating her plans she proceeded to list off all the good things she hopes to be free to do once she'll have a little more room space: by storing away and finding a better place where to organize her clothes, it would make it possible for her to provide viewers with a better look at her fashion sense, and then she'd treat fans by greeting to a new item of her Cinnamon collection every day.
  Of course, being able to invite members over to her house is one of the important aspects and the one she cares the most of all about, especially considering how there isn't even much space to let them stay over for the night (cue Maho pointing out that even her own bed space is taken up mostly by her Cinnamon plushies). Truth be told, she actually used to do it at the beginning, but gradually abandoned the habit because, on top of the house being cramped, there was barely any furnitures and tableware to greet them as guests.
  
  It didn't take long for a viewer to propose that "If you'll get to move out, you really have to call Kitahara over". Maho agreed, though not without recalling of one time in the past when Kitarie actually came to visit her without advance notice "just like in Tostugeki! Tonari no Bangohan", she said comparing it to a classic old show where a TV personality used to go around visting random houses unannounced at around dinnertime. Anyway, the story goes that Maho didn't have any tea cup set or anything else to accommodate potential guests, which means that in the end she found herself forced to decline Kitarie's visit, unceremonously sending her back home before she could even walk past the entrance, although not without first apologizing.
  Still, to prevent such a mishap from reoccurring, Maho promises that once she'll move out she's going to quickly buy a tea set and make sure to get some classy Rooibos tea to go along with it.
  
  And then, no sooner than that, in her description of how she'd like to furnish her future apartment, Maho talked at length about wanting a water dispenser too, like those found in public buildings such as the gym where AKB takes dance lessons. For some reason owning one at home has been a little dream of hers for a while. She explained it's because she likes drinking water for there, and above all the bubbling sound made by the water inside the tank is so soothing to be almost usable as a sleep-inducing melody ...which means it's just too bad that, as Maho points out, keeping one of these machines in her current house would probably result in her neighbor going to complain to her for the noise ("If I can hear the LINE notification sounds coming from them, they would hear the sounds as well"). Heh...
  
  Oddities and personal quirks aside, of course, the wish list continued with more reasonable expectations: Maho hoping to have a cooking stream (again) once in her new apartment, awkwardly pointing out how there's no room even for a cutting board in the current kitchen; holding a birthday party for herself or other members (cue Maho joking that the current walls are so thin they would probably fall down by the smallest wind gust caused by blowing out candles); and possibly calling Riko over for a sleep over were also contemplated.
  And I'm looking forward to them all, myself.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

 

Woah, I guess it's time for me to bring over some more updates. Hope to have done justice to their content this time... （・ω・｀；)

2018.06.04 Showroom, on Sousenkyo voting and a certain unforgivable typo, or "Someone is Missing"

Spoiler: Summary + Additional Instagram stories for further context

• Starting off with the most obvious news, Maho is back from the beauty salon and she got back to a slightly darker hair color for the time being. On mobame, I think she said it's to get prepared for her appearance at the Sousenkyo ceremony, if memory serves well.
  And I think there's no need to point out how sleek and silky Maho's hair feel like now after the treatment, she already put lots of playful emphasis on it during the better half of the stream already, hoping the viewers would be able to tell... They did and some viewers even complimented it looked so good enough that she could appear on a shampoo commerical like this, also. (´∀｀*)
• On the other hand, some other viewers felt Maho is looking too much slimmer than usual and would like to see Maho's face go back being plumper again, to which Maho answered with a hint of irony that it must have been a result of the shock she had experienced looking at the preliminary ranking.
  She explained that she's the type whose emotional state has immediate repercussions on her physical condition, joking again about this being the "Prelimiaries Diet" method, before reassuring everyone she'll make up for it by going on a "Happiness Weight Gain" regimen and get healthy again by the time she'll make it past the election finals. (´∀｀*)
• Speaking of Sousenkyo, following up was a little talk about her parents. The story goes that they were trying to find a way to vote for Maho on their old-fashioned flip phones, but they were struggling to figure out how exactly and sent Maho a LINE message for help. Thankfully, the small visual guide to voting that Maho's fans had put together and were distributing around for their SSK campaign (a copy of which can also be found here on Instagram) proved useful. After Maho sent them the pictures, they replied her back that finally managed to cast all their votes by following the instructions inside. Maho couldn't help but thank fans for their contribution, since none of it would have been possible without that.
• To conclude today's short Showroom, Maho tells of a fun episode that happened when she walked into the Yodobashi Camera store in Niigata. Finding out that they had on display a big panel inside listing all of the NGT members who ranked in at this year's preliminaries was something Maho was very grateful for. It would have been all perfect, if it weren't for a "minor" oversight in the reporting...
  Well, I'll attach these two Instagram stories posted on the same day to provide the full contet and let them finish the explanation on my behalf. Anyway, the situation was so unexpectedly surreal that it inspired Maho to come up with a wordplay with the title of the song Nanikagairu, as she remarked that if she were to have her own theme song, it would definitely start off like "Da-re-ka-ga-i-na-i" ("Someone is missing") instead.
  This is not to say she resented the mistake -- in a slight self-blaming tone, Maho instead supposed it's all due to her not having that much of a noticeable presence, a flaw which she hoped to fix soon, and actually went on to excuse the store and praise them for always doing promotion for NGT at their place, something which she echoes more clearly in the Stories. (　＾ω＾)
  
  
  "Someone-is-missing
  
  This hurts...
  Let's get working to make it into Senbatsu then!!
  
  Hey, staff of store in front of the Niigata station..."
  
  
  "Sorry for not having that much of a noticeable presence. lol
  I posted it just for a light joke, it actually made me laugh!
  
  It makes me very happy that they showcased the NGT48 members like this, though!
  
  The Yodobashi Camera store in front of the Niigata station always has NGT48 songs playing inside! It's also cooled inside, so it's highly recommended even for shopping around this time of the year!
  
  Thank you for always supporting NGT48!"
  
  But wait, there's actually a happy ending!
  I don't know if the store noticed the mistake independently or some viewers actually followed through on their proposal and actually called the store to inform them of the omission error, but some fan accounts on Twitter later reported that the mistaken panel had since been corrected. "Welcome back Maho", indeed.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.06.06 Showroom, Maho presents a special lesson to raise Cinnamon awareness

Spoiler: Summary

• Just for the record, it seems like today was one more of these troubling days. Maho was forced to put up with the noisy neighbor on the other side again and wait until the last minute for him to stop and leave her in peace, so that it would allow Maho a window of time to let her have a SR stream for fans. For anyone wondering what is the "construction work" that viewers and Maho alike were referring to at the beginning, a message on mobame that she sent before the stream told that the neighbor was going at it with his electric drill the whole time.
  Just one more reminder of the fact the neighbor issue at Maho's house is so severe it's making things almost unlivable.
• Going forward, this looks like it is going be the new Team G hand sign that members will adopt, if only Maho's suggestion gets through. Expect to see it being used very often in the next future.
  
• Maho wearing a pair of glasses, admittedly as a typical way to make it less evident that she just took off her makeup and foundation, actually got the viewers smitten, commenting on how she looked like a young teacher, or a secretary to some others. The part about the secratary job actually became a small discussion-starter, with Maho observing how it's a profession that evokes a sexy image in her mind even though she was careful to preface by saying this is just her personal bias.
  One thing led to another, until the talk eventually culminated with Maho asking what job her viewers work in. Answers picked up by Maho included such things as: IT jobs, services-related job, banking job, greenshouse keeper, pub employee, husband -- but also less serious answers, mostly upon Maho's request to come up with something surprising just for the fun of it, such as "an unmentionable job", "the job of watching over Mahohon", "spy", "astronaut", or "yokozuna".
  Anyway, as far as I'm concerned the best award goes to the viewer who replied "the guy inside the Cinnamon suit", which immediately got Maho laughing, before she urged him to cut it out and rectified that there's no guy inside Cinnamon in reality.
  Asked to give a personal opinion, even Cinnamon agrees with Maho on this last statement. ( ´∀｀)
  
  And I guess this also gave Maho a golden opportunity to parade in front of the camera all the brand new (or at least never-seen-before) plushies that she had there to decorate her bed top today. Well, we can never have enough of this anyway, so it's all pretty nice. (´∀｀；)
  
• Carrying on with the topic of Cinnamon, a request from a viewer, asking what differences there are between a Cinnamon plushie from the Sanrio Shop and one available at amusement parks, kicked off an improv lecture on how to tell them apart. To make a long story short, to Maho's experience, the latter usually turn out to be counterfeits and the difference mainly lies in the different shape of the face and the placement of the eyes (also "the glimmer in the eyes", as a viewer jokingly added). Apparently Maho has developed a keen eye for this, recounting that when she's attending a handshake event and notices one of her fans bringing along a Cinnamon ticket holder, she's used to calling attention to it, pointing out aloud whether it's something they probably got from the game center or not. So much so that, at one point, Maho even commented in jest that she might as well turn "telling apart Sanrio Shop Cinnamon and amusement park ones with a 100% accuracy" into her new special skill (presumably on the official NGT profile).
  Hearing this, viewers admired Maho's spontaneous ability to discern originals from counterfeits, noting at the same time it's something to be expected as Maho is constantly surrounded by Cinnamon goods.
  
  Anyway, the best part to me is when, to make things even clearer, Maho eventually brought out even a specimen of each for a practical comparison. Let me just say that even Maho couldn't resist laughing at what "surreal" situation she got herself into in order to explain it, seeing how pretty much the whole screen got cluttered with Cinnamon of all sizes. (´∀｀；)
  
• And of course, on a less facetious note, Maho didn't forget to remind viewers about NGT's appearance at Rock in Japan Festival, either! (´・ω・｀)ﾉ
  Someone were hopeful to see NGT again at the Tokyo Idol Festival that is going to be held in actual Tokyo, but alas no such luck, although Maho still showed she had fond memories of her trip to Bangkok.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.06.07 Showroom, the much-anticipated Poster Hoisting Ceremony... so to speak.

Spoiler: Summary

• First off, however, a little mention about a certain "appearance" of Maho during an episode of Himitsu no Kenmin Show, which aired on the national airwaves around the same day.
  For those who don't know, a little explanation followed: the concept of the TV show in question is to provide a glimpse of a specific prefecture and its unique customs and spots with each episode, and this time they were going to cover Niigata. Maho, who seemed curious to see how the program was going to handle the coverage after seeing the preview at the end of the previous installment, had proceeded to record the episode already when someone informed her that she appeared on the show somehow.
  When Maho went to check, sure enough, it turns out there was a fan of hers in clear view, queuing up at the Bus Center Curry restaurant as he was waiting his turn while wearing a hooded shirt with a huge print of Maho on its back, which happened to face right in the camera's direction.
  Anyway, Maho was pretty happily surprised to find it out. As she put it during the talk, lunch is along with sleeping one of those moments of rest where you pause everything and turn your mind away from any thoughts, yet she was glad to see how someone in a way was busy flying her colors proudly even then, showing their support by literally "carrying their oshimen on their back", with Maho describing him as the definition of committment. Still, in response to a viewer who wondered if this might have got the people watching it on TV to wonder "Who's the cute girl on that shirt?" and thus heighten their interest, Maho laughing told she isn't putting much expectations into it, but it doesn't seem to matter to her since she was nonetheless thankful for the promotion he did with his actions.
  For a reference of what the scene was like, you can head here:
  http://ngt48.xn--efvn9s.jp/archives/1071525845.html
• And as previously mentioned in the past streams, today the Sousenkyo posters that Maho was waiting for were finally finished printing and got delivered to the members at last. Today's stream saw, more prominently, Maho affixing the poster onto the wall in the background, and letting viewers witness it live during what she called the "Replacement Ceremony" on the on-screen caption.
  Even though, in the end it wasn't so much of a replacement because she hung the poster next to the old one and she concluded that something more like "Presentation Ceremony" would have been more appropriate for the situation. (´∀｀；)
  
  To preface it, Maho went on to describe all the details and features of the poster itself. Among other things that weren't brought up before, it seems like that the part about the water reflection was the one that required the most effort and the most takes to get right. Not only did the position of the hands and arms had to be perfectly matching with the reverse, the direction of the stare also needed to be perfectly aligned with the other Maho, all of which while still facing at an angle that would give the impression of being a reflection on the water surface, through a perspective illusion. All in all, a pretty laborious task.
  Props to the viewers who also pointed out it was somewhat reminiscent of Sashihara's poster from last year, in that both of them combine the members' own message with a tribute to a specific movie poster.
• And with the presentation out of the way, here comes the main part of the stream.
  
  Apparently she couldn't find any double-sided tape, only masking tape, but that would do the trick.
  
  A little incident happened midway through, when in a moment of distraction... well, I'll have you guess what happened by yourself. Before someone brings up the other incident with the Cinnamon portable fan that was caused last year also by Maho's long hair -- Maho herself was the first to point out the strange feeling of deja-vu that the situation gave her.
  
  ...But don't worry, in the end everything worked out fine and, all the while humming the tune of an improv fanfare, the poster attaching operation ended in a success. The end! And again, best of luck for the election! (´∀｀*)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

 

Updating with a batch of Showroom recordings from last weekend's handshake event, a bit delayed but here they are...

2018.06.09 Showroom, JikoRiko stories, also feat. Katomina

Spoiler: Summary

• Like always around weekends, this was a stream from the hoter room. This time Maho's room mate happens to be Katomina, but she won't actually return the room or appear on screen until much later.
  To begin with, Maho couldn't help but ironically point out how it seem like it's just her destinity to find herself next to a noisy neighbour, after all. This time it was actually a foreign couple lodging on a nearby room, who seemingly started having a violent argument with each other sometime before. (・ω・｀；)
  Which is really so bad and unfortunate, considering how Maho, on her part, tries to be extremely careful herself not to cause nuisances when together with others in public places, going as far as to avoid streaming when others are in the same room. Even for her usual streams at home, she says she makes a point to put her device close to her and speak in a low voice so as not to disturb the neighbour, since she feels it might be a hell of a annoyance otherwise...
• By the sound of it, one thing Maho seems to be have trouble coping with right now is how to deal with disparaging remarks that she finds about herself, and that make her lose heart.
  I have trouble trying to contextualize what Maho could be referring to here and judge the seriousness of it, though... But anyway...
• On the brighter note, this eventually inspired Maho to share a little MahoRiko episode she experienced before, pertaining to the same topic.
  
  While having a talk together, Maho had in fact asked how Riko personally handles it when she hears or looks at bad things about her, wondering if it causes her to feel "shonboriko" (Maho really couldn't help bring up a little wordplay even in such a talk, all right) from the dejection. Riko's response was that it's not something she can forget about easily.
  However, Maho pointed out that Riko, by her own admission, is prone to forgetting anything she is told her by the time she wakes up the day after, which is when the conversation started taking a turn for the strange. Maho hoped that Riko would at least remember all the good things happened to her, but it turns out that, in Riko's own words, she "forgets the majority of the good thing as well. Whether it's good or bad things, Riko just tends to forget the majority of it". (´∀｀；)
  Recalling it, Maho commented about it being such a pity, because Riko is such a positive-thinking child who doesn't feel bothered at all by negative things. Anyway, hearing that alarmed Maho at the time of the discussion, who hoped that Riko would at least remember some of the good things. And Riko, replying to her inquiry, "Ah, there's just one thing in particular."
  Deep down Maho was expecting, maybe hoping, that Riko would reveal it to be Maho's Seitansai letter or somehing ...but instead it was a memory of one day when she went to visit the museum as a child. Cue Maho repeating Riko's story pretty much verbatim, all the while doing an impression of Riko's voice at the time.
  
  Getting into details, there was a huge dinosaur model on display there and Riko asked her mother to shoot a photo of it and her together, but just when Riko was preparing to make a peace pose ...she tried riding on the hand railing and got stuck in the gap between the railing and the dinosaur model!
  Maho: "I was thinking «Eeeh, what sort of story is this? Are you kidding me?»... I was asking Riko if she remembered something she was told so far that made her feel happy, and then I was told this story instead... What's the deal, really?" (´∀｀；)
  Trying to keep these feelings suppressed, Maho tried to guess that it must have been a happy episode because Riko maybe wound up getting praised by her mother for her endurance and bravery while at it, but it turns out it was not the case. "Oh, it's not that... even when I got stuck my mother and everyone else were like «This is awkward, this is awkward», Riko felt like it hurt a lot, and my mother went around shouting aloud «Send in help! Send in help!»"
  Needless to say, the story's development left Maho so speechless and baffled she wondered to herself if Riko could be living in some different dimension from hers, a rift in space-time, or something. Even though Maho couldn't make sense of it, still left wondering what kind of story it ever was, out of respect she decided to nod at Riko to give a semblance of understanding and tried asking one last time.
  Maho: "So, were you told something nice at that point?", Riko: "No, that was just a story of how very embarrassing it all was."
  
  Thanks you for making our days brighter, Riko... (´∀｀；)
• Did I already mention that the roommate for today was Katomina? Here comes the part where she finally walks into the room.
  Nothing particularly of note right after that, in reality, but the initial part actually consisted of Maho retelling Katomina about this Riko's anecdote.
  Upon viewer's request, Maho then proceeded to also ask Katomina what was one positive thing she was said that left a lasting impression on her. After some thinking, the stream followed up with the two of them reminiscing about the Smile Stadium special episode where they both paid a visit to Katomina's old school, with Maho laughing as she remaked how Katomina was acting so self-proud in there, so much so that it was fun to see the other students getting taken aback by it. Maho, on the other hand, says she could hardly follow up on her statements when in a situation like this, even though it was amusing nonetheless.
  
  Soon enough, viewers started commenting about Katomina being the "school's madonna", when, thanks to some weird coincidence, it turns out that the t-shirt Katomina was wearing for the event on that day had exactly a picture Madonna on it. Cue Maho looking amazed and rushing to give a display of it. "Tee-deeh!" (´∀｀；)
  
  Before anyone starts wondering, yes, Katomina is aware that it's the name of the musical artist pictured below. Maho quizzed her about it just to be 100% sure, and Katomina herself said as much, although not withouth some more or less funny misunderstandings.
  I'm gathering this one from fragments of dialogue, since some parts are just barely audible, but indeed, before realizing she was a singer, Katomina though that, in pretty much the same vein, the writing on the shirt was intended to mean something like "The playboys' madonna" (Maho's reaction after realizing she meant it as symbol for playboys to go after: "Isn't it a bit rude, to assume she's for a playboys audience only?"). And then, commenting about this being just a stage persona, as Katomina put it: "By the way, she's a (actual) person...", followed by Maho bursting out laughing "What else should it be?" and Katomina explaining "I mean, she actually existed (sic) but in reality that part about womanizers is not the reality". Oh, well...
  In the end, both Katomina and (especially) Maho would't stop laughing at the fact the latter actually managed to make heads or tails of Katomina's convoluted reasonings at all. (´∀｀；)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.06.10 Showroom, NyanMaho stream, "just" the two of them spending time together during the pause in between handshake event sessions.

Spoiler

May include: Maho and Ayanyan going crazy with doing Hikakin(?)'s impressions. Ayanyan and Mao playing word association game, aka the so-called Yamanote Line Game. And a "claw game" involving Ayanyan.
Also, Maho evidently missing MiyuMiyu, since none of the D3 members got to attend the handshake event on that day, going on about how her face is so soothing to look at and how she makes Maho want to pat her head like a bunny because of her cuteness. Not to mention, confessing how it made her alarmed when she saw Miyu cry on Renapon's Instagram stories some time before, even prompting her to ask around for what the reason was.
Also, some make-up talk near the end.

Besides that, it's hard to accept that the bijin twin top of NGT is going to be reduced to a half within a month... (´･ω･｀)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)
(PART 2 here)

 

Only a day until the Sousenkyo finals, time to rush off the latest updates before it's too late... (・ω・｀；)

2018.06.13 Showroom, NGT has finally touched down in Nagoya. A stream from the hotel room that Maho and Ainya were sharing.
There was some light talk, there was some light banter. For ease of viewing, Maho crashes in at Ainya's hotel room at around 25:00 (all the while doing a Hikakin impression even today, in case you are wondering!).

Spoiler: Summary

What we have learned today:

• Ainya can't wait to become an adult, which is much understandable since the discussion itself was sparked off as she complained about the curfew restrictions on Showroom that make it impossible for her to continue past 22:00.
  "Or so you think you want to...!", she soon gets interjected by Maho -- Maho says she thought the same until her high school days but, on the other hand, nowadays she just wishes she could go back being young again, if only there was a way to find a distortion in the space-time continuum and make it possible, as she puts it. Ainya, on the other hand, argues how at least adult can have access to any place they'd like to go, naming bars as the one places she would like to visit. This is a sentiment Maho can at least understand.
  The talk goes on along these lines for a while until Maho asks Ainya if she know what's the name for this obsessive desire to want to become adult as fast as possible. As Maho personally dubs it, the answer is "Riko Complex", and the two of them find themselves nodding to each other in understanding, agreeing on the fact that Riko is really showing signs of wanting to look like an adult at all costs these days.
  Both of them seem to be already aware of the situation, but indeed Maho explicitly points out how Riko used to be wearing ticker and ticker makeup than usual until a while ago. Ainya, who wishes Riko would stay a kid while she can, even laughed as she recalled how right before the shooting for the monthly photocards, Riko even had her eye-shadow taken off by the make-up staff because it was "too thick" for the situation.
  Anyway, only recently did Riko start realizing she had been going overboard and luckily had been reverting back to lighter one, and when Maho confronted Riko about what did she think of wearing thick makeup in hindsight, she concluded that "I thought it was a really stupid move".
  Also, another thing about Riko's take on a more adult-like look, which got both of them laughing, was apparently the hairstyle Riko sported from around the shooting 3rd single's MV, with Maho remarking how she had absolutely no idea what direction Riko was even trying to go by exposing her forehead ("Maybe a dancer-like look").
  Maho: "No matter how much everyone told that she looks wrong with her forehead exposed, she wouldn't absolutely listen. I even asked her, what do you think of it? «Fans tell me that this looks good on me», since they're very kind and always make sure to call her cute", however there were also user feedbacks among them saying she looked scary like this and only then did Riko had to listen to reason.
  Ainya: "She became an adult in a true sense of the word", in reference to her paying due consideration to other's advices.
  And as final comment, Maho: "Therefore from that point on she started wearing twintails properly every day", Ainya: "I want her to show up at Sousenkyo sporting twintails", Maho: "I know, right! As a way to return the favor (to the fans).".
• Hinatan and Maho do have the same kind of weird sense of humor, according to Ainya. Since sometimes both of them are the only ones laughing with each other at the lessons place Ainya argues they are pretty much on the same wavelength, although Maho staunchly denies that (while still conceding that Hinatan is bit of a weirdo in private, turning her own "boring" side into a laughing material). Anyway, fact is that they love to overdo it in private, that it has become almost a nuisance to Aina. Heh. (´∀｀；)
• Maho thinks that the design on Ainya's Seitansai t-shirt looked just lame, something that Ainya has been slightly bitter about, ever since the day they both found themselves in the same lame at the handshake event and Maho teased her by literally pointing it out to Ainya, whenever she saw the drawing up close on a fan's shirt. Going further into detail some time later, what Maho actually found lazy was how there's a drawing of the same horse being printed 7 times, explaining that maybe it would have been more preferable to draw a different drawing for each.
  Ainya, on her defense, said she spend a considerable amount of time coming up with the design of it: "(to the viewers) What do you think of this line of thought? After one person had put much effort into it..."
  Maho: "It's not putting much effort."
  Ainya: "I put lots of effort into one of them."
  Maho: "JUST ONE! ... How long did it take?"
  Ainya: "It took me 3 hours for the design [Maho going "Are you kidding me" in the background], and 2 or 3 hours for drawing"
  Maho: "(laughing) A whole day? Are you kidding? Are you sure you didn't want to say 2 or 3 minutes? Or seconds?"
  And finally Ainya in a seemingly serious tone "No, really, I just cannot draw it in such a pretty way if it's in a matter of a few seconds. [Maho going: "No way~" at this point] I can't draw it up that finely every time." (´∀｀；)
• In the middle of debating about it, at one point Maho also was reminded of one more funny episode that happened during the national handshake event involving yet another one of the Ainya t-shirts.
  This one had a monochrome photo of it and a great variety of them were printed for each member as an official merchandise for the release Haru wa~, with many fans wearing one around the time of the commemorative handshake event for HaruDoko. Maho could recognize only which one was hers, but as for the rest they were impossible to tell apart from afar, and the fact the members were portrayed posing at an angle didn't help either. It appears that the girls weren't even aware such shirts were officially on sale, so they wanted to look at what the photos looked like up close.
  Long story short, Maho, along with Ainya, eventually ended up playing an unintentional game of "Where's Aina?", where both of them tried to call over any fan waiting in line who Maho believed was wearing a t-shirt of her, only to find out for the most part that it was actually a completely different member. As Maho recalls, everyone looked like Ainya from a distance to her -- for instance, one time she was fired up with anticipation when a fan came over, and what Maho was absolutely sure was a photo of Ainya turned out to be a photo of Hinatan instead, much to Ainya's irritation.
  "Every time, we went from being overjoyed at it, to finding out that we thorougly got things wrong", by Maho. (´∀｀；)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)
(PART 2 here)

2018.06.14 Showroom, winding down at the hotel room in Nagoya again, this time together with Kani (before anyone ask, it appears that the pairing of roommates gets decided at random by the manager and not even the members know it until shortly before coming -- although so far they all made sense, as far as I see).

Spoiler: Summary

As also explained in the mobame, there is not yet a moment for resting right now, seeing as how the members are busy learning the dance moves for some kind of new song or performance to be shown at the event, which is going to involve all the members (and as Gatanee told in her own Showroom on the same day, the choregraphy was changed at the last minute and needs to be rehearsed again, much to everyone's frustration).
In spite of this, at the same time, Maho also went on to praise the NMB dance instructor who is in charge of teaching it, thanking her for being so understanding, in contrast with the scary impression she gave off at a first glance, and for staying along with the individual members to guide them and make sure that no one would lag behind in the training.

It is at least good to hear that, as the Sousenkyo finals are getting close, Maho is on the contrary feeling less and less nervous about it. In truth, Maho says she felt uneasy until a couple of days before, but getting to meet her fans and having a talk with them earlier had put her into a different mood, and after realizing that everyone was making an effort, she concluded that "No matter what the outcome may be, there are people who have cast their vote for me, and that's truth, I'm happy for it and now I'm looking forward to how things will turn out".
With a hint of optimism, some viewer even tried to lift the spirts by saying Maho should better start looking at listings of apartments on sale, to check for one to move to, although Maho quickly replied that she'd save the effort for when the election is over, confessing that ever since the Sousenkyo started she has actually stopped looking at house rental listings like she used to do every day until then.

In any case, with the voting deadline also being a few hours away at the time of the stream, there's no more left for Maho to do now but to thank everyone who voted and just wait for the outcome. (｀・ω・´)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

---

Bonus: A message of thanks from Maho on today's Photolog, which I think deserves being reported in full...

"#AKB48 World Senbatsu Sousenkyo

.
Finally, the voting period will be over by tomorrow, June 15, at 3PM.

Thank you to everyone who has cast their vote for me.

And thank you also to all those who have yet to cast their vote.

Hearing about people asking their close acquintances for help in voting through the mobile apps, I feel like wanting to bow down in gratitude, really.

I want to bow down to all those acquintances...

And I also have to kowtow to everyone who asked for their collaboration in the first place.

I'm sorry, but it's that the fact there are people who are working this hard for me makes me indescribably happy.

I imagine that everyone has gone through great efforts to vote for me, more so than I would be aware of.

My apologies for that.

However, I want to express in return all my gratitude for it, to an even greater degree.

I'm feeling so blessed, thanks.

The ending day for voting hasn't come yet, and since I think there are people who are working on it until the last moment, I wanted to make these feelings clear in advance.

Let's work hard till the end!

Thanks!

At tomorrow's Sousenkyo, let's rejoice together!"

Source: https://twitter.com/NGT48photolog2/status/1007268761441693696

 

Well, I really wish there was more for me to add this time in the way of Senbatsu Sousenkyo reports, but here we go...




70th place, 20,654 votes, Yamaguchi Maho (NGT48 Team NIII)
"I am NGT48 Team NIII's Mahohon, Yamaguchi Maho. To all those who have voted and are always supporting NGT48, thank you so much. I have ranked lower than I did last year, and honestly this feels very frustrating to me, but more than that, there are people who have chosen me and cast their vote for me. There are people who have worked hard for me. And I am truly happy for this. Thank you for having chosen me"
Source: https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2113754/full/
Clip here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av25114149

---

2018.06.16 Showroom, reflections following the Sousenkyo ceremony

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

Well, what about it? After watching Maho's after-Sousenkyo SR, I have to say this was certainly among the most heartbreaking she had recently. Definitely not a pleasant spectacle to see.

As usual, Maho has a type of personality where she tends to bottle up her emotions when in public trying to keep up a collected, or at least cheerful, image, and wouldn't let everything out of her chest until she's alone in private, which surely is no good for her psychical wellbeing. This is, as I told on previous times already, in equal parts because of a self-consciousness related to her being the oldest member in the group, which compels her to behave responsibly when with others, and because she doesn't wish to involuntarily make a scene.

More concretely, during today's SR Maho seemed to be blaming herself too much for the election outcome. She repeatedly apologized to her fans for having shocked everyone with how she lacked in actual power, despite the fact they did their best effort to support her in the event. And at the same time, she was visibly afraid of how these relative poor results would go on to reflect badly on her throughout the year to come, considering in particular how, among the members who had their slots at handshake events raised to the maximum, she's the one who ranked the lowest this time. At one point she went as far to say she has lost motivation to run for Sousenkyo anymore, just to give a clear idea of her discomfort.

I can't tell how grounded all these concerns are, but this made me check back the 2017 results, and I see that the number of votes has at least remained stable (in fact, for better or for worse, they are pretty much unchanged), while it's just the overall ranking that has gone down relatively to the other members.
But then again, that wasn't the only factor at play there, sadly. I think that more so than a personal matter of rankings, she's feeling it's her obligation as NGT's now-oldest member, and as an adult first and foremost, to live up to the expectations that come with this status, making herself useful for the group and setting the good example by yielding good results.
Like it has been hinted at in the past on the official NGT Twitter account, during this SR Maho also talked about how, when Ogiyuka is away from Niigata due to Senbatsu-related work, it falls to Maho (probably along with other adult members) to play a role in coordinating the group and calling it to attention. As such, with the 2nd generation coming and all, this means she doesn't wish to make herself look like a failure in the eyes of the younger members as well as the newly-arrived ones, even in terms of Sousenkyo results.

I guess this is a dilemma that Maho will be saddled with for some time longer, but any rate, taking inspiration from what she said, with the establishment of Team G, I hope she'll find new avenues for her to reassert herself.
In the meantime, as told in the stream, tomorrow will be the next handshake event, and I hope for Maho that having a talk with fans will allow her to better sort out her emotions by then.

 

I think it's about time to bring in another update to this thread. This time however it's going to be an exceptional one, in that it is a bit different from what I have contributed so far.
I've been thinking of sharing this translation of Maho's mobame from June 30 with all the thread readers.

To be honest, I was a bit conflicted as to whether to post it here, since with the recent developments in these last days, such as the Team G shonichi and the announcement of Maho as a vice-captain within it, I feel as if the message written inside no longer reflects the current situation (or hopefully, it signals this is a phase coming to a close).
Standing as demonstration of it is the fact that the mail that came right after this, one day later, showed Maho already in a better mood, being noticeably cheerful and positive in anticipation of the opening day of the new stage, and with the usual animated "decomail" stamps back in full force to convey it.

But at the same time, I guess I can't back down on a (private) request once I have promised to commit myself to it. (・ω・｀)

First off, a bit of a context is needed: as some may have noticed, as soon as the Sousenkyo was over, Maho fell into what I can describe as a SNS silence, as her social media activities became even more sparse than they normally are, with barely any mention of the recently-ended event.
The same thing happened with her mobame, where she would usually update at a rate of 3 to 5 mails on a normal day. Suffice it to say that for the longest time, the last mobame update was a short message wishing for the safety of everyone who was just hit by the earthquake in Osaka.
This of course caused many fans to be concerned about her.
Then on June 30 a new mail from Maho arrived.

It's a long (even by mobame standards), very introspective mail written in a stream-of-consciouness style, in which Maho speaks her mind, all in one go, about every single one of the inner conflicts, regrets, worries and fears that must have been anguishing her during these two weeks, something she has always admitted she couldn't dare to speak about in public. Another topic, after freeing herself of this burden, was also what her next step will be after this.

About this last bit, tying the talk back to what I have said back in the beginning, maybe I can say that, in the end, there's a silver lining in this message that nobody could have detected at the time.
I have to wonder if what Hinatan said about her appointment as captain (that she originally had no aspiration for it, but instead she was personally approached by Etsuro with the proposal and they have been in talks about it ever since) also stands true for Maho.
Even in the case it doesn't, one thing for sure is that they both knew long in advance of this decision, since the designations for both captain and vice-capitain reportedly happened about one month and a half ago. With this in mind, the mail subject and the closing paragraph gain a further new meaning in retrospect.

---

Spoiler: Mobame translation

2018-06-30

Title: Restarting

My apologies for having made you all worried.


It's just that I could barely keep myself from crying whenever I tried to set out to write my new Mahome. [note: Maho's name for her mobame]


To me, Mahome is a tool where I can alway be free to express my thoughts straightforwardly and frankly, without the need to dissimulate myself. For this reason, even the mere act of trying to write down something is enough to make the cheerful facade as an idol that I had on until that moment come off completely, and for the weak side of myself to flow out all at once.


As such, I became afraid of coming face-to-face with my own self, as well as with my own fans.


I presume it's because I was reluctant to accept the Sousenkyo outcome.


I had no idea anymore where to start discussing things from,
right now I am filled with a sense of negativity, of defeat,
no matter what I would try to talk about, I couldn't come up with any positive words,
no matter what others would tell to me, it would fail to make me feel positive,
I couldn't help feeling fearful even about having someone speak anything back to me.


Let's speak out in all honesty, then.


In the end, I truly came to understand it. (;_;)


That for me, Senbatsu is still a dream within a dream.


As well as the fact that the driving force of last year was already gone by this year.


Following the preliminary announcement, too, I have heard it frequently from everyone how "Mahohon's fans like to take things leisurely" and so "this is just a slow-starter, after all".
I know this was also a way to keep me feeling at ease, but few people, if any, seemed to feel a true sense of incoming crisis and urgency.


"This is not boding well", I thought to myself.
As such, I tried to encourage everyone to make a little more effort,
but ultimately I got this sensation that "Everyone is doing alright already!",
and so, even I, on my part, concluded that saying anything more than that would have just been painful for everyone...


But in Sousenkyo there is no such thing as feeling secure.


Moreover, with everyone already doing their best effort, which was the most important thing, even to demand anything more than that would have felt painful as well.
I guessed that if I had said anything more than that, it would have sapped away the enjoyment from everyone.


For this reason, when things were already underway I though to myself that I would only have to wait and believe in everyone, and decided not to say anything more ever since.


However, that was perhaps just a display of avoidance on my part.


Maybe it's that I was avoiding confronting with everyone face-to-face.



I received also many encouragements, to reassure me how there'll always be another chance next year anyway, sure,
but even so I have necessarily to accept the reality, that until next year this ranking position is always going to stick on me anywhere I am.
Even if there may be any indication you have excelled above this in any regards, you will still be judged based on your ranking in Sousenkyo by people around you.


A 70th place may be an impressive ranking,
but there's still room to go further up,
and even among NGT members, I just ended up falling lower than before.


Since the beginning, I have been someone who has never benefited from any favorable push.
Thus, with the ranking at last year's Sousenkyo, you actually helped me carve up a position for myself at last.


But even so, this year even this lost all its effectiveness,
and even at the AKB handshake events, among the members with a full set of slots, I am the one who's performing the worst,
"See how her Sousenkyo ranking isn't proportionate to the number of people coming to her lane", this is how they would come to interpret all of this,
and frankly, it pains my heart that such a thing would be spoken not only against me, but also against my fans.


It makes me want to be more committed about the Sousenkyo, along with everyone.


To this end, I cannot exempt myself from working harder.


More talk about Sousenkyo will probably keep on coming even in the future.


But this time, what is heartwrenching to me is the thought that nothing is going to change until next year.


It's also because, in my case, the number votes had decreased along with ranking down.


But even then, this is no reason to be demoralized.
If anything, I'm resolved to keep on fighting, turning this all into a motivation.


It's because, while the outcome might have been frustrating, it's also true that everyone had lent me their support.


And among them, there's you, my reader!



With this arrow piercing me for the whole course of next year, I'm going to climb my way up in the face of odds.


During the period I stopped sending any new Mahome, I had been concentrating on training for the new theater stage the whole time.


Team G has many girls whose strong point is dance, and everyone is able to learn in what seems a matter of seconds.
For someone like me who is bad at learning such things, this means I would need to make maybe 50 times the effort than everyone else to accomplish this, and accordingly I have been practicing frantically at it.


Being a person who is harboring a sense of self-repudiation deep at heart,
every day I am brought to contemplate how I am actually not suited to be an idol,
wondering if there's actually nobody else who feels any fun even when I myself am laughing.


As if it isn't enough that normally my outward appearance gives off a seemingly cool and emotionally detached image, I am sometimes told I look like as if I am listless, that I look to actually be emotionally cold.
For this reason, even when there is nothing especially amusing going on, I have come to be sensitive about it, always reminding myself how I must show myself smiling.


Someone such as you, my reader, who must have been introduced to me through handshake events or Showroom, will say that this image of me is not true at all,
but in truth, people who get to see me for their first time often say this about me,
and when it comes to people who have no familiarity with me, I think the near totality of them think as much.



Despite being something with actually no basis in reality,
it is a result of my carelessness, thus I am the one at fault.
Also because of the fact I am the one who has given rise to misunderstandings with this,
it's a very sad situation,
but being aware that the world around me doesn't hold a good image of me will always feel painful nonetheless.


No matter how much efforts I make, no matter how much time passes,
things I haven't even done in the first place
will linger on and persist to hurt me for life.
This is a cross I'll be forever forced to bear.


Thus, I have no choice but to strive on times and times harder than anyone else does.



For the people who dislike me because of such an image, I want to make them turn around and come to like me,
and for the people who already like me right now, I want to make sure they'll come to like me even more.


Last year, many opinions have come to my attention, saying how they wished Mahohon wouldn't get too much worked up and instead approach things in a relaxed manner. I was careful about this, too.


I reflected on the fact that this do-or-die mood I was giving off about myself would have only ended up placing more strain on everyone. Accordingly, I worked to avoid showing this part of me, by trying to slightly change my way of going about things.


Due to this, people who liked that passion I used to sport at the beginnings probably ended up thinking how there was something that was feeling off.


All the same, while this might be an attitude that others aren't asking for me to have,
if you don't actually fight for dear life, you can forget about climbing up in this world.


And also about all of my shortcomings,
for as long as I had been working this job, this is something that has been repeatedly pointed out about me, sometimes up to an unbearable degree.


Even though those shortcomings I have may simply be due to me being physically unable at it, I am nonetheless motivated to do my utmost and deal with them whatever it may take.


Sousenkyo may not the be-all and end-all,
but then again, as long as you are a part of the 48 Group,
this is nonetheless such an event where you simply can't hope to make any headway if you keep shirking away from it.


It's true there's also the option of not running for it,
but the fact is that I myself haven't reached a high enough level to afford it.


Fighting in mutual competitions is also another thing I dislike,
I find myself wondering why I should be forced to fight against my own fellow companions.


When "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" was chosen as the Sousenkyo single, I was half hoping that Sousenkyo would be discontinued by the next year,
while at it, I eventually went on to become part of NGT48, but things turned out differently. (lol)


I wonder, will I even be able to make it to a level where I might as well avoid fighting?



I'm sorry, and it hurts me, to have put so much of a burden on all of you, including my readers.


Truth be told, this Sousenkyo period has been an extremely trying time for me.


I presume that it must have been as hard for all of you, too.


However, it is going to be many and many times harsher if even next year things will turn out the same and we'd have nothing to rejoice together about even after the Sousenkyo is over.


Next year, I don't want things to end up in the same manner,
I hope for you all to have a laugh together.


This year, as a result of my own efforts being insufficient, we didn't have the chance to celebrate together following the Sousenkyo,
I am truly sorry for it.


Even at the handshake event, I am sorry that I couldn't stop crying for it.


I am sorry that I couldn't show myself to everyone with a smile on my face.


I am sorry for having failed to make you happy.


I'll try harder from now on.


To make sure that you, my readers, will feel like supporting me for a long time again, I'll try hard.


Let's do my best.


I am thankful for having supported me all along.


Even from now on, by devoting even my own life to it,
I'll keep working on with all my energy
to be of benefit for the good of NGT,
so that people will feel glad for having supported me thus far.

 

Well, reading back on my last update, I feel kinda guilty for having ended the talk on what sounded like a sad note.
One more thing I feel the need to point out is that, as the mobame activity returned to normal after the Team G shonichi, among the batch of new mails she has sent in the meantime, Maho has also returned to talk about her vice-captain role just a few days ago, in yet another moderately long message.
I guess it would only be remiss of me to keep the story hanging without providing a proper conclusion to it, so I have undertaken to translate this other entry as well.
Once again, don't get too much used to it, everyone. (・ω・｀)

Also, now part of me wishes I had spent a few extra euros to subscribe to Hinamail, because I am getting the feeling I have missed out on the full picture, and I sure would have appreciated to have a look at it from both sides. It means that'll go in my next to-do list, then...

---

Spoiler: Mobame translation

2018-07-05

Title: Vice-Captain

It has already been announced at the opening day of the stage, but I have been appointed as Team G's vice-captain.


With this, this time I have also come to deeply accept the Sousenkyo outcome.


Being now in a position where I must carry the group on my shoulders,
I am feeling regretfully sorry.


My mistake.. What I meant to say is I'm going to give my utmost at it.





While on the subject of my role of vice-captain, I actually received talks for it at the end of last May.


When the creation of Team G was brought up at the Tandoku Concert, many fans came to tell me how they wished for me to serve as captain
"But that'd be ludicrous!", was my answer every single time.


For someone such as me it would have been far beyond my abilities,
I reasoned that it would be best for this role to be handled by a girl who already had a desire to do it, which would help her develop a sense of responsibility this way.




But regardless, when I was approached with today's talks, and I heard that the captain was going to be Hinatan, I felt like wanting to give my support to her, seeing as how Hinatan is such a respectable member.
As I look at the current state of NGT, I thought how I wanted to provide my help for it, if there'd anything I can personally contribute with, however little it is.



With Rie-san having already graduated,
there's no one left anymore in today's NGT to look after others, sometimes by advising them and sometimes by calling them to order.



Frankly speaking, this is something I find deeply unpleasant.



For this reason, in the past I would try to voice such thoughts and speak out,
but every time I found myself hesitating as I wondered if, in light of my standing, this was something that I myself should be saying.


As I was resolved to change this part of me, at least by a little bit, I then decided to answer back to the offer.


We find ourselves in a situation where, in many cases, the people who are loving NGT would only start to leave one after another if things keep on going as they currently do...
And that would be only sad.




When the captain and vice-captain for Team G were designated,
I talked about the matter with Hinatan, and it turns out that she too shared the same thoughts as mine.


As a result, once the Team G lessons began, everyone gathered to bring up what points they think must be improved, and we had frequent discussions about it ever since.


Thanks to everyone of us sharing this same sentiment,
we kept debating on it over and over again as we geared up for opening day of the stage,
with our opinion even coming to a clash sometimes.


But even so, because everyone had the same idea in mind, which was
"Let's help shape up this team and go on to change NGT!"
even if our opinions clashed with each other, it didn't cause the atmosphere to go sour,
instead, our cohesion only became stronger and stronger.

Even for the lessons, the atmosphere felt in there was completely different from that we had until now.



Each single one in Team G can carry themselves properly,
and everyone has their own opinions to express, together with others.


We have never experienced such a thing in our activities so far,
the way everyone, together, put their greatest efforts into working hard for it,
and that made me feel how truly lucky I was to have become a part of this team.


This is the reason why during the performance of "To Be Countinued" at the shonichi, I was on the verge of tears.




Still, if we don't work even harder than that, this Saka Agari stage cannot be said to be complete.


Considering how we are different from our senpais in terms of stage personas and actual abilities,
I feel like we must achieve a Saka Agari theater stage that only NGT would be capable of!





Even today, I had again a discussion with Hinatan...


And all I can say is that Hinatan is really a strong-willed one!!


I want to be a vice-captain capable of supporting a person such as Hinatan with all my strenght.
I would love to become someone who will help bring more and more people to become Team G supporters, by bringing awareness to the many charms of each individual member!



I had been considering what is something that I could bring to the table myself,
and when I was appointd as vice-captain, the other members told me one thing:
"Maho-chan knows how to pay careful attention to the people around herself, more so than anyone else usually would, and this is of great assistance for everyone"



Whenever there's someone who might be in distress,
I want to be that someone who'll extend to them a helping hand.



And to work toward this goal, I'm going to engage into my job with all my soul.



A team where everyone puts their heart and soul into what they do is a kind of team that I love!



And I'll strive on so that people will be cheering for Team G!



Thank you in advance for everything to come next.

 

2018.07.09 Showroom. Time for announcements, also about the inherent duties of a vice-captain.

Spoiler: Summary

Another typical last minute stream today. Since several announcements were made during today's theater show, more specifically the release 4th single and the release event at Nippon Bukodan before then, it goes without saying that Maho's talk mostly deal with these topics.
Apparently the announcement of the Nippon Budokan performance left even Maho in disbelief, and later she wondered -- not without a bit of worry -- about how large the seating capacity of the venue is, comparing it with that of Toki Messe (standing at 10,000) and all. But this worry soon mixed up with expectations as she encouraged every fans to come and see them.

Today's theater show was apparently also her first trial for Maho's responsability as vice-captain, since she felt it as her duty to wrap up the talk following the screening of the announcement video (I'll have to watch the LOD later to verify, but I hope I got the context right).
Maho told how this sudden announcement got everyone anxious and bewildered, and smilingly she recalled how Katomina tried to speak up something only to be unable to find the right word for it, with the result of making her sound inadvertently awkaward.
It was that at this point that Maho considered how Kitarie used to always have a firm hand on the rudder when it came to speaking before a crowd and could skillfully direct the discussion during MCs even on those times when an unforeseen notice such as this suddenly came out, something which Maho apparently had gread admiration for, and so she took it upon herself to attempt to do the same.
Long story short, not only did she succeed at it in the end, but Maho sounded so calm and self-possessed during her speech delivery that some members later asked her if she, by any chance, was the only one who knew about the announcement in advance, even!
In her usual modesty, Maho didn't think she actually did all that good, on the other hand, which is why she revealed that once her job is over she would often go back to reflect about what aspects of her MC would have needed improvement, how to make the audience feel more amused and whatnot, during those times. To give an example of what a high priority this takes, she even went on to tell that as soon as she goes home this is the first thing she does, before even allowing herself to get anything to drink for her thirst.
But if anything, as she eventually concluded, this only goes to strengthen Maho's determination to get as good as Kitarie used to be, when it comes to handling the flow of the MC talk.

As a short aside, with a new single announced, it was inevitable that some viewer's curiosity was piqued, as they wondered who could ever be the center this time. Some exclaimed "Maho-san is going to be the center", to which Maho jokingly responded "Maybe, yeah... Actually, I think not. (laugh)".
At any rate, one little insight that we have learned from this talk is that, at least in the case of NGT, not even the girls themselves are made aware of the actual formation until the very day of the MV shootings, which Maho couldn't help compare with Nogizaka's case who have the formation revealed to them on their program as soon as the single is announced.

To end today's Showroom, a little promotion about Maho's gravure on the latest BOMB issue. Maho looked a bit embarrassed and sorry that her expression in the pictures seemed to be a bit too melancholic, commenting with a hint of irony how this must have been because it was shot after the Sousenkyo, but anyway the fans seemed to appreciate how it looked on photo, which made Maho feel more relieved. (*´∀｀)

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

2018.7.12 Showroom. Candy challenges! After a very long time, a new MahoRiko stream live from the hotel room where NGT is staying over, which I assume is in preparation for their appearance on "The Music Day 2018".

Spoiler: Summary

As some might have learned by now, every MahoRiko stream is a guarantee of some light, silly fun. This time around the two of them decided to buy themselves a "Tanoshii O-Sushiya-san" ("The Fun Sushi Restaurant") making kit and decided to prepare the food right before the Showroom cameras. Also, cue Maho presenting today's item while making once again -- you guessed right -- a Hikakin imitation. Yeah... (´∀｀；)


What is "Tanoshii O-Sushiya-san", you may ask? Well, for starters you may want to check this and this for more informations. In short, it's actually a food-making kit marketed at children, with which they can have fun making candies in the shape of sushi servings, by adding some water and mixing it with the powder provided in the packets. In reality the rice is supposed to be a marshmallow-like starchy substance, while the slices to put on top are made out of instant jelly.
The stream continued with the pair getting the ingredients ready, with Maho occasionally keeping a watchful eye on Riko to check if she got all the instructions right or delivering soft, gently tsukkomi when she made a mistake (like when making "salmon eggs" with what is the yellow "egg roll" powder -- And Riko, looking for an excuse: "Well, it's actually a special kind of salmon eggs emitting light!"). (´∀｀；)
With that aside, everything turned out just as expected and the operation was successful, as Maho helped Riko wrapping things up by placing the various toppings over the "rice" and then showing the end result to fans.



Anyway, right at the end of the stream, they decide to have a change of plans and Maho challenges Riko to a couple of candy-related games with other products they bought.

One involves a candy brand called "Sono Manma", and is a "Russian roulette" type of game where one out of the three candy balls coming in each package happens to be unbearably sour. Maho and Riko take one each as a dare and well, it takes a while before the true taste comes out, but I'll let you find out by yourself who gets the sour-tasting candy out of the two... (´∀｀；)


Another one turns out to be speed eating competition to see who can eat a whole solid lump of cotton candy in the fastest time possible. But wait, there's actually a deeper reason behind it than you'd think.

Before getting on to the game proper, Maho explains that this is because in the new "self-introduction" on her official member profile, she has in fact listed "cotton candy speed-eating" as one of her new special skills, and now she is curious to do a practical test and check if she can live up to the claim, setting the time limit to two minutes, which is simply how much time they have left before they have to end today's stream.
Spoiler alert, but Maho didn't even need to take that long and finished eating down her portion in a matter of just a few seconds by chewing down entire mouthfuls of it at once. Suffice to say that Riko, impressed by the speed, even wanted to share with Maho one half of her own candy since she was still too far behind to be able to possibly eat it all.
Well, anyway, just wait for it (or skip directly to that part, whichever is more convenient for you). (´∀｀；)
(Also, to clear things up, you can try finding the deleted "bonus" scenes from the old HKT vs NGT SasshiKita Gassen, where members contended in what was a special skill they had in common, and see how a similar competition already took place between Maho and Murashige, except involving marshmallows)

On a side note: as promised during the stream, Riko then uploaded a video montage of themselves enjoying the finished "sushi" candies, since they didn't have enough time left to show them properly on Showroom. You can watch it here, and enjoy the nice editing job Rittan did. How cute. (　＾ω＾)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlIg_OsAiZF/

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)
Alternative angle from Riko's Showroom: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/k7BnGu6O4wmikbrl4Zk

 

2018.07.14 Showroom
Every talk has a time and a place, and since today Maho has found herself a little free time to be on her own in the hotel room, today's SR stream was for the most part dedicated to Maho discussing and giving her own opinion about other fellow members (and, by the looks of it, the performance at "Ongaku no Hi 2018" seems to have been pre-recorded in advance, which means she took things unhurriedly).
There'd be much more to report here, but for brevity I'll try giving a description of what has been said just in broad strokes.

Spoiler: Summary

• Starting off today's SR was a little talk about Maho's recent struggle to make her handshake event experience more cheerful and enjoyable for fans visiting, and how this has brough Maho to half-intentionally play the part of the "boke" in converstation with fans, thus letting them be the "tsukkomi", whenever there's a window of opportunity available.
  Considering also how it's Maho who usually is expected to be the one making quips as a "tsukkomi" instead, there's always "99%" guaranteed to be people who end up surprised at how different she is from her outward looks, explaining that they initially thought of her as "having an unattainable and hard-to-approach aura, making her come across as cool and nonchalant in personality" instead, simply judging from appearances.
• A passing comment from a viewer, who considered both Maho and Anju to be the two pinnacles of beauty within NGT, asked Maho for an opinion on Anju, which eventually led Maho to speak highly of Anju's personality. She talking in particular of how, despite all preconceptions one might have about young memebers, her mental age is arguablythe most mature and she is likely to be the most responsible-minded within the group, praising her for always showing avery tolerant and open-hearted attitude.
  Once again, the topic of appearances sometimes being deceiving popped up again, as Maho opened her response by explaining that the boisterous "kusogaki" character that she gets to play to the audience may be a source of misunderstanding for her, when in reality she is never seen losing her temper with others when in the private moments together.
  Then again, as far as playing her character goes, even Maho has to admit she found it hilarious how she first addressed the 2nd generation members by going "I am your senpai, remember! So everyone, if you have anything to ask, COME ON! [the last part spoken in English]", like a female gang boss would, but while still showing some good-natured kindness toward the other side.
  
• Asked about whether she has found any favorite member within the 2nd gen already, Maho told how one who has caught her attention in particular is Watanabe Ayusa.
  Although she doesn't want to be misunderstood with this statement, she explained how the reason is that Maho feel some kind of affinity with her: when they first met each other face-to-face she reminded Maho of herself from the beginnings, when she used to be still fearful of anything unfamiliar and wary of other people ("hence that self-introduction video of mine, what a bad episode in my life it was"). Not to mention that they both happen to be natives of the Tohoku region and, as some viewer quickly pointed out, she has somewhat of an inscrutable personality as well (like Maho is often described as).
  
  Well, if you ask me, after checking out some of her SR (here's one for reference), I have to say that back then Maho used to be more talkative and outgoing than Ayusa is right now, but I can't deny there are also similarities. The way she waves her hands throughout that stream gives me a deja-vu of the way Maho did at the time of the 1st gen's first press appearance, something which even Maho tends to bring up as an indicator of how timid she was back in the day, so there's no denying here. Heh...
  
  Right now, Maho is mostly curious to see how her personality is going to develop while being in NGT, more specifically whether she is going to stay like this, or if she'll learn to be more cheerful and strong-willed since, as she argues, being in the group means you'll have no choice but to become so, willing or not.
• At another point, Maho described the Draft members as a peaceful bunch and the 2nd generation as boasting a great variety of characters, so much so that on the contrary she's worried if the Draft members would struggle to settle on one for themselves.
  She went on to talk about when she interacted with the "Middle School Group" at the last handshake event, and it seems that the one member out of them who left the deepest impression on her was Furutate Aoi, pointing out how it really showed that she was the youngest (and thus the most needy) member in the group, with all the characteristics associated to it.
  As Maho explains, unlike the other middle-school-aged members, who come from the Niigata prefecture, "Ao-tan" used to live outside of the prefecture before then and it seems like that back at the beginning she used to be accompanied by her mother all the way to Niigata. However, right now she has moved on to living on her own instead. Watching her cry as she talked about having to separate herself from her mother elicited Maho's big sister instincts -- no doubt about that judging from the way Maho's emotional retelling of the episode -- so much so that she proposed to act as her own (surrogate) mother while she's there with her instead.
• Overall, following a remark from one of the viewers, Maho ended up repeating what she wrote on Photolog previously: that she has, after all, a soft spot for those kind of girls who are unable to manage things while alone, and need someone else to help them to accomplish it.
  Other than than, Maho also named MiyuMiyu, Kurenyan (upon viewer's suggestion) or even Riko as yet one more example of the girls she is fond of because of this peculiarity. As she makes it clear immediately after, this is not to say that they are necessarily klutzy ("Then again, even Rena told me «Maho likes klutzy girls, doesn't she»", she recalls with a smile). On the contrary she states very clearly, for example, that MiyuMiyu is quite the smart type actually. It's just that, exactly like the others, she doesn't have that "gui gui" personality that would enable her to assert herself by her own means alone.
• Looking back at it, Maho considers how this was in fact also the main factor that brought Maho to become so close to Riko and to start caring for her.
  Back in the beginning, she recalls Riko already gave off those eccentric vibes -- albeit the fact she is also had a bit of a baka personality wasn't fully evident yet. Maho remembers how Riko had trouble blending in with the rest of the group and stood a bit isolated from others. At the time, Maho saw it and felt it was such a pity that a girl as awesome as her would stay in the shadows because of this natural lack of assertiveness, and that's when she resolved to help bring out Riko's charms for everyone to see, like by trying to always get Riko actively involved in the MC talk and thus making everyone aware of her personality.
  
  One little personal observation of mine: anyone who has watched at least one MC of them or on episode of Niigatta Friend together may have realized it immediately, but the way Maho acts as an "enabler" for Riko, trying to find an opportunity to give her spotlight, while at the same time guiding her as a protective big sister is pretty striking. This is much more evident in the Hokori no Oka stage where Riko's unit and Maho's unit end up sharing the same MC segment following their performance.
  
  "Riko can be awesome just by being there, she's entertaining in a genius way, so no wonder that one of the hobbies of (Lotti's) Nakaoka is to watch Riko on Showroom! Is there someone who can be so genuinely funny just by talk alone like that?", Maho concludes while calling her a "national treasure".
  As a brief aside, all this talk calls to Maho's mind another funny anecdote that happened between the two of them, that goes as follows (is it much more understandable to get the "joke" if you know a bit of Japanese language, but oh well, keep in mind that the kanji for country 国 can also be read as "koku" in compounds...):
  "I even told it to Riko, «Riko, do you know you are really a national treasure (kokuhou)?», to which she said «I'm so happy for this!», but judging from the face she was making it made me realize «Aaah, she didn't understand the meaning of it...», «Riko, do you know what kokuhou means?» «(looking upwards with a finger on the chin) Hmmm? Kuni no Houkoku (= National Announcement)...?», she told me! «No, no, no. Do you really think I was saying that Riko is a national announcement?» ... I told you before, but sometimes Riko doesn't get 80% of the discussion, so I have to make sure to avoid using words too difficult when I have a conversation with Riko.", she recalls laughing.
  
  
  Leaving all jokes aside, at the same time, this episode also helps highlight another lesser known aspect of the MahoRiko relationship: that despite Riko not shining at the top in terms of school knowledge, Maho holds a great deal of respect toward Riko for showing good manners in any social context, being always well-behaved with others and knowing what words are appropriate to use in any given situation so as not to give a poor or rude impression of herself. As Maho has said many times in the past, this is all thanks to the great effort that her family has done to raise her, and so Maho cares greatly that Riko will continue being educated properly.
  As she brings up soon afterward as a counterpoint: MahoRiko being MahoRiko, she aknowledges that someone may think it as being all fun and games between the two, with someone also regarding Maho as being too much indulgent with love toward Riko, but Maho makes it clear that Riko is the one she is most strict with, actually. In fact, something that has been a cause of concerns for Maho lately is the fact that Riko has taken to speaking bad words when in her presence. Whether she was influenced by someone at her school or someting else, Maho has no way to know, but she explains how she has been careful to point out to Riko every time that such words shouldn't be used at all, all the while, more in general, trying to gently discipline Riko whenever Maho sees she is stepping in the wrong direction. One thing Maho kept repeating is how Riko is a nice person at heart, and I guess she wants her to stay so, no doubt.
  
  All I can say to end today's summary is that being an older sister figure means that there also implicit obligations that need to be fulfilled, and it shows.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

---

Bonus #1: Also mentioned indirectly during the SR broadcast above, Maho met with the 2nd gen during the latest handshake event, and here's the related Photolog entry:
"#2nd Generation

The 2nd Gen's Middle School Group
Koparu, the mature and responsible one
Sara-chan, the soft and gentle one
Ao-tan, the crybaby always in need for affection
Cute, cute, they're all so cute.

Big sis loves the kind of girls who look as if they can't manage to do things by themselves. (laugh)
So I'll try taking good care of them. "

Source: https://twitter.com/NGT48photolog2/status/1018082245280555008

---

Bonus #2: Also as mentioned in the SR broadcast above, Maho wrote a column on Sankei Plus which was published a handful days ago. During the same SR broadcast, she talked about how the draft that she initially wrote was much longer, but got cut down to about a half or less by the editor by the time it got published. Pity. Maho sounded pretty proud of the finished manuscript at the time when she submitted it, calling it her magnum opus, and wanted fans to read it in full, but viewers commented about it being an interesting read, nonetheless.
Anyway, to read the article, first you need to download Sankei's special app whose link is at the bottom of the same page, and access it from there. I'll get around to doing it, myself, if only I can stop being a lazy bum... (・ω・｀；)

Do you believe in things that are invisible to the eye? Yamaguchi Maho

https://sankeiplus.com/a/1zE6iU7Puc1kwnVNsMpXRk

On a related note, members of the Nihonbashira club will be pleased to know that Maho is busy writing another column for this service. Or rather, re-writing maybe. Also as told during SR, she had pretty much finished what was the first draft and even looked confident that it would've been another interesting piece, but eventually she decided to refrain from sending it to the staff, under the assumption that it wouldn't have made it through the screening anyway because of the content. Too bad, because it looked like a massive effort, as she showed how long it would take to scroll through the whole text on her smartphone screen. For that matter, she even went as far as joking that she'd show it only after graduating, if ever. Eeeh~ ( ´∀｀)

 

2018.07.18 Showroom. Random thoughts on today's theater show, day-off plans, etc... all packed in a bit more than 13 minutes. May come off as a bit too much overdescriptive, to be honest. ┐(´ｰ｀)┌

Spoiler: Summary

As said, by viewer's request, on today's stream Maho first went back to talk about some quirky episodes related to the theater show they held on the same day, two of which being more noteworthy.

• The first one was about the closing speech at the end of the performance, throughout which Hinatan looked unusually (and hilariously) awkward with finding the right words to speak. Maho even pointed out how Hinatan isn't yet used to speaking in public like that and she finds her to be pretty adorable when she tries her best at it, in spite of all. Anyway, sensing things weren't going well, this prompted Maho to intervene in her own way to put things back on track, and the end result was an ad-libbed and half-involuntary "comedy skit" between the two. More about it later.
• The second one concerned none other than Riko, and was about a lengthy LINE message that was posted on the team's conversation group by her. One of today's late MC segment had Riko as the one in charge of directing the talk, and she thought of immediately popping up the question of what was everyone's favorite shoes color, out of the blue.
  In the message she sent afterward, Riko went as far as to give a deep apology for "causing inconvenience to everyone" by suddenly changing the topic of the MC partway through and thus, in her own mind, "spoiling the atmosphere" for everyone. Maho read the message aloud with a smile, folowed by her reply to Riko where she laughed it off reassuring it wasn't anything that needed apologizing for.
  But that aside, Maho couldn't resist counterbalancing with an open appreciation of Rittan's diligence (as Maho takes this episode as one proof of Riko being a good-natured girl), as well as her speech skills, speaking of how good she normally is at keeping the right dramatic pauses for effect.

Following that, Maho mused on a little about what plans she has for the day after, considering that she was going to have a day-off since there was no other theater shows or anything scheduled on that date. It turns out that original intention was for Maho to likely go on a tour around the city and take time enjoying some fine wine at some place.
Unfortunately, Maho finds herself in a quandary, as she adds she found nothing to her liking. And secondly, because, among the adult members she can go together with, there would be no one else that is as strong at handling alcohol, with the exception of Otaki. Consequently, now she's thinking of arranging something with her instead at some later point (also, it should be noted that in a previous SR, Maho mentioned Otaki as being the one who introduced her to this world in the first place, so it's likely she can mentor her while at it).
Inspired by the talk, some viewer decided to close this segment by commenting about how they wished to have a alcohol-theme talk together at the handshake event someday, "even though I can't stand drinking it myself, but I'll try to get used to".

Finally, as the more attentive viewers pointed out, the day before Maho was out looking for some melonpan to eat, and for those who have no access to her mobame, a couple final words were dedicated to retelling about a plight she experienced when ordering "strawberry-flavored" melonpans at a bakery shop in the city.
Long story short, as soon as she returned home and unwrapped the package, Maho noticed the color of the melonpan being melon yellow as opposed to the pink of the ones on display, and she already had a hunch from it that something was possibly wrong. She just decided to go with the assumption that the color simply came from the strawberry's cores or something and went on to eat them believing that the cream inside would be strawberry anyway. But to her surprise, however, she found out that the cream inside of the melonpans was actually cantaloupe-flavored all the way through instead, and that was the same for every one in the package. Regardless, one after another she sampled them to find if there was least a strawberry-flavored one in the bunch, and before long Maho had finished eating all of them already. The end.
It didn't sound like a regrettable experience after all, but anyway -- buyers beware!
Based on the rest of the story found on mobame, Maho also recalled that these same canteloupe-flavored melonpans were labeled as the "Shop's Recommendation" at the place, so with that in mind she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and decided to believe that shop owner just intended to give her a treat after all, like as a way to say "these taste much better". Always believing in the good intentions of people.

(click on the image to jump to the Dailymotion video)

And since the matter of wine and such was brough up by Maho on this SR...

Spoiler

It's actually interesting to note how often, and especially how nonchalantly, the topic of alcohol drinking shows up during these casual "otona talk", be it on Showroom broadcasts by NGT members or on dedicated radio shows, particularly in the context of discussing who can tolerate it better or who has the most unusual reactions when slightly tipsy (of course, this is only true among the members who are of legal age...).
About this latter part, the last time it was talked about was in fact only a month back, during the mail corner of an episode of Minna Kami-Taiou featuring Gatanee, Ogiyuka, and Noepii. After it was brought up in the listener's letter that Nanako is widely rumored to be a "lightweight drinker" (and of the sad drunk kind), the three of them contributed with their eyewitness accounts of other members' behavior. Pretty funny interaction, too. (Here you can check the radio recording, the part in question starts right at 11:00).
I do realize I'm digressing too much and even getting off-topic, but I've long been thinking of getting this factoid out, hoping that I can find another opportunity to elaborate more on this topic somewhere down the line, if ever (though probably the Halley Comet will come sooner at this rate)...

---

Bonus: And here's the short MC segment that Maho was referring to in the SR above, which I found by pure chance. Hinatan was definitely in a ponkotsu mood on that day, and a boke captain and a tsukkomi vice-captain is something you don't see every day either... ┐(´ｰ｀)┌
Actually, you know what's funny? That during all the MCs I have seen, it's always Maho the one who is more or less "forced" to tsukkomi and use her witticism to correct everyone else for being natural bokes, and this includes Hinatan too even before she was captain ...and the best thing is, it actually works pretty well, too.
Like Maho has remarked on SR just the other day, she noticed that it just comes more spontaneous for the other members to behave like bokes, so it can't be helped. It's just that it has come to a point where she wishes she could be the one to play in that role at least once, while letting someone else act as her tsukkomi instead, just for a change. Heh...


(click on the thumbnail to play the video)

Spoiler: Translation

Hinatan: "Everyone, a sincere thank you for having come to watch today's Saka Agari performance."
Members: "Thank you!"
Hinatan: "So, this is it. The Team G stage show ends here at this point."
Audience: "Eeeeh."
Hinatan: "I'm sorry about that, but please be careful while you are on your way home. (Audience laughs) ...But before that, all of us members are going to hold a send-off as a sign of gratitude."
...
Maho: "It's amazing how she made a send-off announcement sound like there was some hidden implication!"
Hinatan: "My bad!"
Maho: "Here we were all wondering «Is something going to come up next!?»"
Hinatan: "...! actually no, it is nothing like that..."
"At any rate, anyone who wants to participate in the send-off, please listen to the ushers for the follow-- (fumbling for words) for the instructions..."
Maho: *pretends to slap Hinatan on the head* "You are not alone, you also have companions to count on too!"
Member: "Aaah, she got ... by Maho-chan..."
Hinatan: (after a pause) "So please listen to the ushers for the instructions to follow!"

 

This is the kind of stuff I live for!! haha it's so interesting please don't hold back lol

And that Maho/Hinatan interaction was funny haha thanks for sharing!