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A year of Graduations.. (Blogmas Day 7)

Good Evening guys! 

(Morning Musume - New Single 'Imasugu')

Let me quickly tell you about my day.. I woke up one hour late, and I thought it was my phones fault, but I actually slept an extra two hours overtime lmao. Trust me to do something like that ey? I got to class 57 minutes late.. yep. 57 MINUTES. Mind you, the lesson was an hour long! I really need to figure out what to do with my horrendous sleeping pattern lol. After college, I met up with Molly and Tofa and we went to Westfield to get some stuff and chat. It was only for a few hours but I enjoyed it, I gave myself time to wind down and de-stress over trivial things haha, I also went to LUSH and picked up a few goodies //hint hint next blogmas post!// which I'm really excited about trying out! 

My day hasn't been all that good though.. during the day I found out that Nagao Mariya (Mariyagi) from AKB48 was graduating from the group. She announced it during a Team K show which just so happened to be my oshimen Sayanee's seitansei so I couldn't help but be even more upset. Mariyagi is a 9th gen member of AKB, one of my fave AKB generations after 1st gen, and she's in my top 10 list of favorite AKB girls. 

You see, graduations have been a key part of the idol world for a while now. The term "Graduation" is similar to the way a student would graduate from college or uni. When idols graduate from the group, it means that they're leaving the group to go onto better things, because they've either done all they could in that group, or feel as if the group is holding them back. For Mariyagi, the latter was the case. 

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(EXILE TRIBE - New single "Ki mi ni mu chu")

But, she isn't the only AKB member who I adore who has announced her graduation this year. My ABSOLUTE BABY Kawaei Rina (Ricchan) announced her graduation earlier on in the year and I was completely devastated by her departure. Granted, it was a completely reasonable thing to understand consider what she went through prior to announcing her leave. With Mariyagi's announcement, I remembered that many other loved members from various groups will be graduating soon. Takahashi Minami, also from AKB48 announced that she would be graduating on AKB's 10th anniversary, which just so happens to be tomorrow! EXILE's Matsumoto, USA, and Makidai announced their graduation during spring, and they will be graduating on the last day of this year, 12/31. I was really upset to hear this, especially as Makidai is my favorite 1st generation EXILE member, and I'm still listening to Ki mi ni mu chu~ to hide the pain of him leaving in less than a months time. 

  
Nagao Mariya (AKB48) | Makidai (EXILE) | Sayashi Riho (Morning Musume)

The biggest blow for me in terms of graduations has to be Sayashi Riho (Riho-sshi) from Morning Musume. Now, Everyone and their mother knows how much I adore this girl and the group itself. After Tanaka Reina graduated from Morning Musume, I had to stop following the group for a while because the loss was too much for me to bear (honestly, when someone graduates, it really feels like they have died). Riho was the member who I gravitated to after Reina left, and she went from being my 5th favorite, to 2nd, to 1st in a matter of weeks. She announced her graduation two days after my birthday on the 30th October, and I can't say that I wasn't surprised. I was shocked, hurt, upset, and pretty much felt like she had threw a rock in my face and laughed as I cried on the floor. The fact that she only gave us 2 months notice.. it still stings lol. She also graduates on the 12/31, the last day of the year. I will drown my sorrows while listening to her graduation single. She wins the award for the most shocking graduation of this year. 

(Michishige Sayumi (Ex Morning Musume leader) Graduation Concert in 2014 - Sayashi Riho on big screen - Video

The thing about graduations is that, you spend months and years investing in a member of a group that you adore.. you go through the hard times and good times with them, and when they announce their graduation, it feels horrible. Think of how Directioners reacted with Zayn when he left 1D. Idol fans like myself (call us what you will, Wota, weirdos, whatever) get attached to members who we like a lot, but we always have to make sure we're not too comfortable, because we know that nothing lasts forever and that our favorite member could be leaving at any moment. What keeps us strong, I think, is the fact that we know that them graduating is a good thing. Jpop idol groups thrive of rotation, and without a systematic rotation, things become uninteresting and bland. When a member graduates, we get to see the group change its dynamics and improve themselves, and the members within the group take on new roles and improve within the group. For the ones that graduate, we get to see them cover more ground and go onto do better things. Take Mariyagi for example, when she graduates she plans to advance more into the fashion/modelling industry. Makidai is going to produce more mix-tapes and perform in concerts as a DJ, and Riho-sshi wants to study abroad and learn English while improving her dance skills. Members who graduate get to do things that the group would have possibly held them back from doing, but with their background in the industry, having prominent group names like AKB48, EXILE, and Morning Musume on their CV's, they get access to more contacts who can help them reach success. Knowing this, it's easier to let them go from the group with a smile on your face. 

(AKB48 with graduated member Kawaei Rina (Ricchan) - New Single - 唇にBe My Baby )

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Ahh, It looks like I rambled on a little too much there lmao! I'm sorry! I get a little too emotional when it comes to talking about idols.. I really hope you enjoyed this little post and understood a little more about the idol industry and why I'm so invested in such a thing haha. It's a little weird I guess, but it's fun! The Jpop Idol industry is different to the KPOP one, so I felt like I should explain a little about the graduation system since it was relevant to Mariyagi's announcement. 

*Seitansei - Birthday Event
*Oshimen - Your favorite member, the equivalent to "Bias" in KPOP

This wasn't really christmassy was it lmao.. Nevertheless, I hope you like it! Stop by tomorrow for another post! 


Missed a post? Check out these post's here! 

LUNCH! (Blogmas Day 4)
11 questions about Christmas! ♥


See you next time!

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