JKT48 Profile : Shania Junianatha
I received a request for this one, so next up is Team J’s Shania Junianatha. Nickname = Shanju!
Birthday: June 27, 1998 Catchphrase: “Cute and always disciplined, my name is Shania!”
The professional with her infamous smiling eyes.
Shanju is an immovable presence in JKT—and that’s not just because of her height! At 166 cm, she’s quite tall amongst the JKT members, so it’s usually easy to pick her out in the crowd.
She’s often praised for having high skill in basically every trait an idol can have. She has nice singing skills, her dancing is graceful, her performance is top-notch, and she is confident in front of the audience. Her voice is quite recognizable, because she has one of the deeper voices in the group (in this video [an acoustic cover of Gingham Check—all by JKT members], she’s the one wearing glasses). Amongst the members, Shanju is the confidant—many members feel that she is trustworthy and confide in her, and she considers herself close with basically everyone.
One thing you’ll notice in Shanju’s performances is that she has an incredible amount of stamina. She’s very expressive when she’s on stage, and you’ll never see her expressions falling flat. “No matter how tired we are, we have to keep performing merrily [to not disappoint fans who come to see our show.”
Before joining JKT48, Shanju was a member of a vocal pop trio group called Three Sano (picture here, performance video), and she gained experience in the acting industry. She’s been considered one of the more mature members, even since joining JKT48 at age 13. She’s remarked that since joining JKT, she’s been able to get stronger, more patient, and more confident, and she has the determination to keep improving herself. I’m sure that a lot of her maturity and professionalism has come from her experience in the industry, but even so, Shanju really has a reputation as the real deal. She’s dependable, consistent on stage, incredible expressive, and a friendly figure amongst the members.
Miscellany: Admits that she often fangirls AKB48 with fellow Team J member Beby, spends time “hunting for snacks” with Team J member Ayana, considers herself to be noisy and stubborn, would like to continue on with JKT48 in the future and then become a psychologist in the future, has confidence in her body (with good reason— she has legs for daaaaaays, guys!), is addicted to Twitter, placed #4 in the 2014 Senbatsu Elections (JKT’s first senbatsu elections), and got to be center for JKT’s version of Kokoro no Placard.
My personal opinion: Shanju just oozes confidence and charisma. I respect her performance skill a lot, and the fact that she’s so focused on bringing a good experience to her fans makes me appreciate her attitude, too. You can’t mistake those eyes at all… you’ll always be able to find the gorgeous Shanju in a crowd!
As always, thank you for reading! Photos are not my own and have been sourced from ridwanyudhaa, Imajineshon, AganSam, and Twitter. Please check them out to see more great JKT48 photos!
