Graduations are always a painful, awkward affair, especially when it's one of your favorites...but often it's a sad, bittersweet kind of pain.
Ai Takahashi's graduation and Berryz Kobo's breakup made me feel sad, but they had been in the company for 10 years each and led them strongly through tough times. Seeing Riho and Meimi leave their groups this year sucked and felt premature, but they're ace performers with bigger dreams in mind, so I was happy for them. Manakan's early departure is just sad all around, as there's nothing anyone could do about those kind of health issues.
Kanon Suzuki's graduation is probably the first one that left me feeling bitter and frustrated.
I know she wasn't the most popular in the group. She wasn't the best singer or dancer, and her personality mellowed out quickly after her first year. But damn, I still thought she deserved better treatment from management and general fans. Too many snide comments and criticisms about her weight (compare and contrast with the "poor Ayumin" jokes that were actually meant to be endearing to Ishida), getting essentially erased from the "Seishun Kozo" and "Yuugure" music videos instead of at least getting some non-dance close-up shots the way Karin did for "Ijiwaru", her weight rebound late last year that wasn't monitored...and now the
Emotion in Motion DVD cover not even featuring a photo of her!
WHAT IS THIS SHIT
Despite her shortcomings, she still had lots of unfulfilled potential and flashes of brilliance. She had a strong voice that, given a bit more control and appropriate notes, could have rivaled the best H!P singers at times...I especially loved how she essentially didn't even need solo lines on singles, because she could easily be heard singing over the others! And, as corroborated by other members, I can say from first hand experience that her smile really does have healing powers! I was pretty much struck stupid when I saw her coming out of arrivals at the JFK Airport in 2014 (and on that note, how awesome was it that she was the first one to come out that day). There's a reason why
I tagged her as the Medic when I compared Morning Musume '13 to Team Fortress 2 classes! (anyone who wanted to tag her as the Heavy needed to do a better job knowing her and her group, dammit)
And really, in an industry full of stick-thin waifs, her extra weight could've been flipped and leveraged as an alternative selling point (instead of the variety show "pocchari" joke target)! She was one of the more well-endowed members of Momusu, almost comparable to bombshell Fukuchan, and could've been the next Ai Shinozaki had she stuck around a bit longer. Of course, I did enjoy seeing her slim down last year, because she did look incredibly beautiful in a downsized form when "Oh My Wish!" came around...
Admittedly, it was mainly first impressions in 2011 that kept me loyal to her over the years. The telephone skit during the 9th gen auditions, the silly impressions and ponytail goofiness, getting assigned my favorite color as her member color, it seemed like a natural choice to follow her. Plus her early penchant for smallness gave me something to relate to: the bug impressions,
her Pocket Morning answer saying she'd enjoy being tiny, and the fairy photoshoot she had for Hello! Channel magazine:
Also admittedly, part of my frustration is with myself too, as I know I could've been more active with following her performances and radio show and stuff. I even whipped up a drawing in Houston (commemorating my two favorite moments of hers) with plans to give it to her directly, but awkwardness and sleep deprivation complicated things.
Hopefully she still got to see it in the last fanwork collection album submitted to UFA (or even if she's lurking online).
Whether she really did want to quit to pursue social work goals, or was simply frustrated with idol life and wanted out...whatever the truth is, I hope she's happy now and taking it easy at her own pace. She deserved better, but I'm glad to have seen her part of Morning Musume, and glad that I at least got to see and meet her in person twice. お疲れ様でした、香音ちゃん!
(and of course happy belated 18th birthday)