a pomeg

Here is a mess I write And you are late

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Our kind of Champion ❤️

[rvsirene]

Miss Matsui Jurina? She snapped

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[nichijounogi46]

Crimson 🌹

[thequotejournals]

I drank coffee and read old books and waited for the year to end.

Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing In America (via wordsnquotes)

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FUJIFILM X-H1 + XF56mm F1.2

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SECRET Q&A // from “MILKY”

Former NMB48 member Watanabe Miyuki answers 100 questions for her first style book.

1. Birthdate? 9/19/1993

2. Blood type? B

3. Birthplace? Nara Prefecture

4. Meaning of your name? Beauty (美) and kindness (優) heading into the 21st century (紀) ♡

5. How did you get the nickname “Milky”? People around me suddenly started calling me “Milky" at my high school entrance ceremony

Keep reading

[mzhyde497]

Pocky Game

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For CHANEL

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🌿🌵🌺

[naajuri]

♥♥♥

[quantanp]

Asuka Saito 齋藤飛鳥

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Four ways Produce48 could have changed Matsui Jurina’s career, and one reason why it couldn’t  - (4)

(or What should I make of Jurina’s little journey to Korea)

Four, an alternate universe. 

Have you ever wondered what would it be like if Oogoe Diamond had never happened, that instead of shoving the 11-year-old Matsui Jurina into the spotlight, Akimoto Yasushi had chosen to let her talent and star-power blossom quietly until the right time came while continuing focusing on his then muse Maeda Atsuko? What difference would such decision make to Matsui Jurina the idol, and also her fans?

Because such AU was being played out in Produce48. For the first five episodes, Mnet’s treatment toward Jurina can, intriguing enough, be described as a reverse of what the 48Group has been doing to one of their most prominent members. Where the latter puts Jurina on the front but constantly (at least since 2013) ignores the option of giving her the right songs or displaying her outstanding aura, the former showcases to the fullest Jurina’s power as a performer but staying away from granting her their focus.

In this universe, Matsui Jurina’s appearance was half familiar half foreign (apparently enough to surprise even some of her 48 fellows): she was still ambitious, intimidating, confident, ever-mannerly; yet she did not jump at the No. 1 seat nor the Center position, she was subdued most of the time, and she let shown, albeit very subtly, her apprehension. And she kept delivering star-level stages and people, from right and left, were starting to notice, but they too, behaved a little different compared to those that discovered Jurina in the 48 pool: the anti-repellent protective instinct kicked in slower as her 48G history wasn’t brought into the game. Instead, they were busy appreciating the talent and, most dumbfoundingly, demanding justification (!) for Jurina (!).

Before Produce48, a scenario in which people were asking for more Jurina’s screentime and focus would sound like a nut-case even in the wildest dreams.

‘Produce48 to me is a new beginning’, this statement had the potential to be more than just beautiful appropriative words for someone of Jurina’s stature in that situation. During the part when she said it, the tune playing in the background turned very gentle. A gentle sound with a touch of melancholy and hopefulness, for one moment, it almost felt like we were seeing her off, like saying goodbye. The sentiment grew stronger as one took in all the 48Group movements concerning Jurina during that time, from her returning to SKE Center with a song that ‘nobody but Jurina can stand center’ to her momentous heavy-culminated SSK win, there existed a strong sense of something very similar to the last hurrah.

What if the management was ready to wrap up Jurina’s 48 journey with this ten-year mark, for her to be propelled into a next adventure, in which the Matsui Jurina history would be rewritten in a different way. This time, there would be no expectation from ‘the talent that appears every ten years’; no responsibility from the Center position until she was ready to fight for it; no Center, or Nobunaga, or any suppositional character but only and purely Matsui Jurina – overbearing, polarizing and contradictory, and more – all for you to figure out on your own and for her to display at her own pace.

What if, this time, when the Center is handed to her, it’s a confirmation that the public wants her to be there, instead of by management’s golden hands? Would it mean that in the next ten years, Jurina would no longer carry the need of constantly proving her worth to a position that so obviously can belong to noone but her, but simply shine?

The unfolding of such story was holding so much potential, yet in the end, Oogoe Diamond is the only reality that we have. If Akimoto Yasushi is to be trusted in this situation, fate has other plans for Matsui Jurina.

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Four ways Produce48 could have changed Matsui Jurina’s career, and one reason why it couldn’t  - (3)

(or What should I make of Jurina’s little journey to Korea)

Three, an attack on K-pop.  

For Jurina, who for many years had been commented, by both fans and non-fans, that she would fit much better in K-pop scene rather than J-pop, it’s quite an ice bucket that when she did come to the neighbouring country, it is repeatedly mentioned that Matsui Jurina, actually did not fit Koreans’ taste. This is quite an understatement, considering how Jurina’s big old face, sharp bone structure and go-extra-or-go-home personality clash beautifully with Korean’s expectation from their idols, reportedly including small faces, soft features and staying-in-line behaviors. 

In a way, this reality check with Korea is just another chapter of the Matsui Jurina paradox, the irony that this girl’s outer appearance has the power to cancel out her inner character. Even when she’s the embodiment of idol existence, a human being of purity, sensitivity and honourable values who deserves both protectiveness and admiration, it’s a challenge to sell those characters when her appearance always a perfect picture of an overconfidence-leaning-toward-intimidating provocateur. 

The problem has been here since forever, and the clumsiness that the 48G management dealing with it has presented the most trying obstacle in Jurina’s idol career, but Produce48 was bringing the struggle to a more dangerous height, fueled by Korean’s infamous fixation with visuals. Such stubborn fascination is one jarring side of this mammoth pop culture, since it lowkey suggests a shallow conception that as living in society goes, one’s values can be defined by one’s look. On the other hand, it also translates into a strength of K-pop: its’ production values that can rival those of top global artists. 

Still, as far as performing art goes, it will always be less about props and more about the performer. In this sense, the entertainment industry, specifically Korean in this case but also the global one in general, is missing the most important part: a presence whose charisma can connect the music to the audience and whose talent can shine above and elevate extravagant setting instead of it being the other way around. 

The reliance on production, nevertheless, is less of a fault than a fix. Compared to the search for a mesmerizing stage entertainer which is much rarer to come by than a vocalist or dancer, to satisfy an audience that is getting more and more ravenous, investing on production values simply is easier, quicker and more practical option. 

Jurina has in her hands that key to state-of-art performances that any showbiz, let alone K-pop, would die to get the hold of, yet that same Jurina possesses features that go against several norms in a Korean idol rulebook. To follow that Jurina, as she sashays her way through a Korean survival show voted by Koreans, hold the thrill of following a potential revolution, a dethrone. Will her charisma and talent be enough for Korean to choose her over their own standards, or will the K-pop’s idol culture too forceful to recognize the spark that might belong to one of the biggest pop idol act in history?

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Four ways Produce48 could have changed Matsui Jurina’s career, and one reason why it couldn’t (2)

(or What should I make of Jurina’s little journey to Korea)

With Jurina’s Produce journey cut short after five episodes, official answers are likely never come. Nevertheless, if only for entertainment value, here are four possibilities of how this Korean reality competition could have changed Jurina’s career: 

One, a whole new world. 

Watching Jurina being left dumbfounded by the Korean side's performances erupted an endearing sensation not quite unfamiliar to seeing a kid’s first-time interaction with new environment. While K-pop has its downsides, it has one undeniable advantage over J-pop of being more connected to the global music scene. J-pop is a niche, and the 48Group is a niche within a niche. For Jurina, who stepped into the 48 kingdom at the age of eleven and since then has devoted all her youth as the front member of not one but two groups, it’s not a far-fetching deduction that her musical lexicon goes no further beyond the realm of the 48 brand at worst and J-pop at best. 

‘Jurina fits much better to pop music of US-UK styles’ is an assumption based on her facial appearance that obviously has a Western feel to it and her performing flair that is a frightening hybrid between pop royalty Michael Jackson and Britney Spears; but it is also a wish, for Jurina to rise and rise, beyond her own country’s distinctive entertainment industry and achieve success in an international platform. 

Produce48 has the potential to be the door to such ambition’s realization, with K-pop functions at pretty much the same wavelength with the dominating Western pop culture and the theme of this Produce girl group being ‘global’. The 1.5-2-year term contract could be a valuable time frame, in which Jurina would be exposed to pop materials at a wider scale, become more interested and invested in the prospect of a music career. 

The ultimate goal, of course, would be for Jurina to have enough confidence and comfort in a solo career, for the name Matsui Jurina to become a brand that heralds a characteristic sound and style. 

Two, a healthier environment. 

When was the last time that we saw as stunning a Jurina stage as ‘Nekkoya’, in the sense that her energy and spirits break down the fourth wall and blatantly demand attention. The most recent to be recalled arguably was ‘Coquetish Juutaichuu’’s debut stage on Music Station, back when Jurina was still surrounded by a bunch of her first-gen comrades instead of being suffocated under the responsibility of being the senior that hard-carry her group.   

As her sempais and same generation members started to leave one by one, the 48Group has stopped being a healthy environment for Jurina’s mental wellbeing, mainly due to her toxic way of dealing with pressure and responsibilities. Compared to an Acchan who knows to rely on others and a Paruru who can say ‘No’ to things she’s uncomfortable doing, Jurina is the type who doesn’t know her limit and would keep shouldering tasks as long as she thinks it’s the right thing to do, until being crushed down by all that weigh. 

Things were different in Produce48. In a way, she was still a 48G’s presentative, but one among 39 others, and none of her peers was looking up, waiting for her to pull them forward. Chiyori and Saho were totally able to fight for their own chance at Center, and Kato Yuuka declared that she wanted to win over Jurina in a head-to-head battle. Produce48 is breaking down 48Group’s hierarchy, and down with was all seniority responsibilities that have been dragging Jurina for quite a while. 

In this new playground, Jurina had delivered two of her best performances in the last few years (even to Jurina’s standard), which had become the main driven force behind her ranks, considering the girl had no storyline and little focus after her grand entrance in the first two episode. From a certain perspective, it’s almost as if someone wanted Jurina to claw her way to the top with stage prowess as her only weapon. 

It is a pity the journey had to end early, because that would have been a challenge worth taking.

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Four ways Produce48 could have changed Matsui Jurina’s career, and one reason why it couldn’t -- (1)

(or What should I make of Jurina’s little journey to Korea) 

Management by now should have gotten used to seeing their maneuvers getting soiled one by one when it concerns one certain Matsui Jurina. For a whole decade of their rendezvous, they had wanted to make her the Yuko to Mayu’s Acchan story, the ace of an intertwined 48 kingdom, and for the latest, a 48Group’s pioneer into the global scene through the gateway of K-pop. It’s quite remarkable how they kept raising the bar for this little girl, taking into account that the only way Jurina has ever responded to those push, whenever it gets serious, is to fall ill, literally. 

In a way, Akimoto Yasushi acknowledged this peculiarity. “Fate,” he said when, back in 2015, a fan asked him on 755 (the social platform that had become the cherry on top of management’s push for Shimazaki Haruka) to describe Matsui Jurina in one word. Some less obvious clues lie scattered in several songs that the lyricist has written relating to Jurina, all echoing a curiosity about what the future might hold, climaxing in one single sentence of ‘Dear J’ (Yes, it is a song about Matsui Jurina). 

“Deaeta imi oshiete kure!” 

“Tell me the meaning of our encounter!” 

Such exclamation would not be inappropriate in Jurina’s Produce48 situation, when her abrupt departure leaves behind frustrating loose ends, unanswered questions and unconfirmable speculations about, unarguably, the most intriguing presence of this season. Let’s take a look: 

For one of the most hyped upon trainees, viewers were given absolutely no comment about her skills, talents, potential or personality. She is just that famous 48Group member who has stunning charisma and aura who is just kind of – there. 

They drama-baited her at every chance possible but at the same time allowed her to prove them wrong each and every time. 

She wasn’t chosen as the initial Center but ‘Nekkoya’ and its choreography fit her better than any of her Center songs for the last three years (‘Nekkoya’ is the ‘Suzukake Nanchara’ that I had been waiting for but never came). It’s also too convenient of a coincidence that Jurina’s position was right behind Kaeun and Sakura in the trainee fancam, considering Hidden Center basically has been a Jurina thing since 2012. 

Also niggling on the outer of brain is the fact that they had kept her in the Produce48 Garden right up until the eve of the filming for second mission. 

Seriously, tell me the meaning of this all!