^ Awww I was translating the whole thing.
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Excellence in dance and singingCurrently, Morning Musume is in its 15th year since its formation, and the current person in the centre is Sayashi Riho, a 14 year old girl in her second year of middle school. She has truly stood out during last summer's release of the group's 50th single "One Two Three". Ever since then, the group's producer Tsunku has praised her on her excellence in dance as well as her impressive singing, and she is the main driving force in this group where the average age is now 16.3.
From the age of 6, she was part of Actor's School Hiroshima, the same place that birthed Perfume, and for 6 years she has polished her dance skills, leading to her confidence in the fact that her dancing is on a higher level than most. However, only half a year into joining Morning Musume, she was struck down by injury and had to be confined to rest at home for over a month in order for her leg to recover.
Even so, she did not allow this to bring her down. "I must change myself here as well", and with that determination in mind, she began to focus on her singing, which had been her weakness before then, in order to improve on her overall performance.
Right after recovering from her injury, the then-leader of Morning Musume, Takahashi Ai (26 years old) was due for graduation, which led to a reaffirmation of her belief that she had to work harder in order to lead the group on stage. Even the staff members comment that "Even though there are many kids in the group now, she stands out as one of the really reliable ones. Even if she has one-on-one interviews, we aren't too worried about her messing up.", which demonstrates their trust in her. Even the girl herself admits that "Other people often say that my mental age has to be around 43 years old."
After Tanaka Reina (23 years old) graduates in May of this year, the group will be left with only 10 members, and only one senpai -- the current leader, Michishige Sayumi (23 years old). "Of course, we have a lot of worries", she says, "But Morning Musume has always been an ever-changing group. Right now, everyone is fighting for the lines that will be left open after Tanaka-san leaves, and we're all having voice training to fill in the gap." Already, we can see the dignity of the group as a whole, even in this.
For this year, her goal is to appear on NHK's Kouhaku Uta Gassen. In an idol world dominated by AKB48, Morning Musume was finally able to attain a weekly first in the Oricon charts after an absence of 3 years and 8 months. They have started to shine again as they showed off their highly accomplished singing and dancing.
"I think our fans also have their pride in being a fan of Morning Musume, and I want them to be able to take pride in being a fan again when they see us achieving greater things. Also, I want to achieve even greater things with the group, so much so that even history textbooks will mention us. I want to create a group that, even when I am old and have my own grandchildren, I would be able to be proud of my time in the group and show it off to them in the future."
From such a girl who is looking so seriously forward, history is in the making here.
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I love her pride here. Pride in being part of something greater than herself, pride in making it great again, and just that huge sense of responsibility and despite all the pressure she can hold her head up high. I love it.
Topic: The Sayashi Riho Thread (鞘師里保) (Read 178911 times)