hey doc, have you seen the news about jurina apologizing to sakura? apparently she said something to her during the pre-ssk concert
I’m sorry I took quite a bit of time before answering this question, Anon, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I had as much information to work with as possible before I waded into this pretty thorny debate. Already, fans are going at each others’ throats over the issue, with many leaping to tear Jurina apart for allegations of unprofessional behaviour in the hours leading up to and after Sousenkyo, and just as many rushing to defend her by denying that any of it is true. I’m not here to do either of that. All I want to do is to try and get the facts straight.
So, first things first, here is what we DO know:
Jurina DID tell Sakura off with words along the lines of “Please dance properly, or else AKB48 is finished”. This occurred during the concert when “10-nen Sakura” was being performed. Jurina later admitted to this during the press conference, with her justification being that she wanted Sakura to improve, and that “48G needs her to keep the group alive and interesting”. She also apologized for her remarks after realizing that it had inadvertently led to Sakura not appearing from the press conference. (Source: https://twitter.com/shndnshtk/status/1008637791796776960)
Which then leads me to the next bit: Why is it causing such an uproar?
On one hand, some people probably felt it went overboard; Sakura was facing arguably as much pressure as Jurina was, with a much less realistic chance of achieving her goals. Lashing out at Sakura like that was uncalled for, especially considering both of them are, outside of Sousenkyo, essentially comrades-in-arms working together for the benefit of the organization.
At the same time, her behaviour in the moments after her victory has added fuel to the fire. Her tone during her victory speech (as well as during her words to Sakura and during the above press conference) was certainly one of pride, with an almost drunken quality to it as she reveled in her win, as compared to Sashihara’s more humble, down-to-earth speech patterns and Watanabe’s more mature, elegant tone of voice during previous years. Critics latched on to this, and claimed that she was being arrogant, smug, and disrespectful towards her rivals.
What do I think? I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I don’t deny that I think Jurina is partly at fault. Yes, it’s a stressful time for her. People say and do stupid things when they’re under pressure. But it’s just as stressful for everyone else who’s participating, and especially so for Sakura. To lash out like that against a valuable colleague who has worked so closely with you for so long is just immature and unprofessional. To that effect, I’m glad she has at least taken steps to apologize, make amends and move forward.
That said, I think there’s an additional element to it that no one’s seeing - sleep deprivation. Allegedly, Jurina was unable to eat well or sleep for at least 3 nights leading up to Sousenkyo due to the pressure she was facing (Source: http://ske48matome.net/archives/52127834.html). Emotional lability (breaking down and being unable to continue performing during “Chance no Junban”), increased irritability, and maybe a bit of mania as well - falls right into the classic symptomatology of short-term sleep deprivation.
I’m not trying to make excuses for her behaviour, though - unprofessionalism is unprofessionalism, and she needs to take responsibility for that.
