Risa Niigaki to Graduate after spring tour

[mode107]

^ I know what you mean. The news being thrown at us so early of this new year is a little...

[JFC]

Risa was the first real "fangirl" member in MM. No one has ever had reason to doubt her love for the group as well as for the members that we've continued to know and love.  Pretty much everything I would have said has already been said. However, just to reinforce a couple of things.

Niigaki Risa’s Statement:

~
    I had been thinking about graduation myself, for about a year, I had thought about graduating with Takahashi Aichan・・・

Now really, there were a LOT of us who were totally expecting this to happen, admit it. 

Niigaki Risa’s Statement:

~
but with the new members joining and everything, I postponed it just a little bit.

Totally understandable, and just another example of how reliable Risa is. While it's obvious that Sayu, Reina, and Aika have been in the group long enough that they probably would have been okay with the new members had Risa not been there, she knew that she could wait a little bit longer to graduate to give them (the new members) that extra bit of help.

Is that admirable? Yep.

Is it "leader-esque"? Fuckin' hell yeah. 

Is that Risa? You're gawddayum right that's Risa.
 

[kuro808]

Well it would be sad for her to leave but to hear that she won't leave in scandal is also better too despite the short leadership (patterns from the past leaders)  well passing the torch again

[kawaii beam]

pertty much everyone knew she'd be next, they just didnt like the timing of it all ^^;

im still pretty sad, but she's not dissapearing, and the fact that she wanted to go with ai-chan but stayed to help with 9th and 10th gen is just so great. it just makes so much sense now when ai said she was sorry for leaving before risa in her grad letter. i had been noticing that risa wasnt really all that happy, like i just thought she was toning down her hyperness now that she was leader, but seeing how she was by herself and way more quiet than usual in last weeks h!p time it makes sense?

i'm happy for risa though and i hope she goes everyday with that same old genki-ness and with no regrets.

[Serafis_CZ]

Yep... I expected her to graduate. Morning Musume has been experiencing massive change through last year and half and this is just another step I guess.

[Rei-chan]

I'm quite surprised about these news, but only because it's so soon after Aichan's grad, and because with so many new children in Momusu it feels weird to remove the only remaining member that I still saw as an adult (6th gen still feel like kids to me for some reason )...

[Saburo]

Too soon, too soon...

I can't believe Reina isn't going to take the reins.

[elgie]

Wow, this was SO predictable.

Too soon, too soon...

I can't believe Reina isn't going to take the reins.

And I'm relieved she isn't, hopefully she'll graduate before she has the chance.
Though I would've never imagined that Sayu would be suited to act as a leader, but it seems she's matured a lot these years. My only fear is that the next leader is a Miki-molester in the makings, and with 8 new young members... 

[riOtkittin]

Risa is my favorite in all of H!P, I can understand that she wants to move on, but still, this is kind of breaking my heart. =/

I've been looking through the picture-threads and she is the only one in MM that has a light in her eyes on every single picture.  Reinas eyes are always somewhat empty and lifeless, based on that I thought Reina was gonna graduate first. Ai had light and the other members shine in some pictures, but not all. Maybe Reina don't like being photograped as much. I don't know. ^_^

I'm mostly saddened by the fact that she's gonna graduate from H!P also. No soloist Risa.

[Heika88]

I'm also sad about this news but I think it's the perfect logic now for the mornnig musume.
All the old generation members will graduate, it's just a question of time.
Maybe the best for the group is to graduate Sayu, Reina and Aika and let the new generation give a new start to the Momusu.
It's sad and I wanted to keep the old generation for ever but every good things come to a end

[Chibs]

Sayu/Reina have a few more years under their belts, let the kyuukies and juukies grow a bit under them.

[Rei-chan]

It just feels so weird to see this as Momusu, when only Reina and Sayu remain from the gens that I knew. It's probably just me, but even Aika still feels like a new member to me   So now it'll be Reina and Sayu, which to me still feel like the young ones, plus a bunch of new kids. It's not Momusu to me, it's like a new H!P unit they made with lots of random kids. lol

And yes, Momusu has always been about graduations and additions, but I don't remember a time when fans were only familiar with ~1/5 of the members. It used to be more like, we're familiar with most members and then a few new are added, which either we love immediately or get used to eventually. This year has been too big a transition for MM in my very personal opinion, and I don't think it'll do any good to their already decaying popularity.

For me, having become a fan in the very early 2000's, once Risa graduates, this is not the real Momusu anymore. Dream Momusu is 

[Rei-chan]

Btw, I do think it was about time for Risa to graduate and do something new with her life, something that can really be her career as an adult woman from now on, rather than an eternal idol that barely gets any lines on her group's songs.

Hopefully now she'll FINALLY get to shine as much as we know she deserves!!! 

[kawaii beam]

i just noticed something, have any of the h!p members other than sayu said anything about risa's graduation? and or any news clips about it?

[Chibs]

reina hinted at it in her blog on the 29th, she was very upset about it.

[Tian_Yuan]

I just saw this news this morning, and I feel like I have been hit in the gut.  I have been a fan of Morning Musume since around Mr. Moonlight~ so I feel like I had been on a journey with the 5th gen since then.  I naturally grabbed a hold of Risa since Ai left and now that she is going, I feel really sad...

I am excited about Sayu being leader! but I hope that doesn't mean she will be leaving at the end of year or something crazy (I honestly don't know what to expect anymore.. nothing feels stable, which is fine, but difficult).. I wish we could have had Risa for this whole year... 

[winner]

I feel the same about the mass newcomers actually, not knowing nearly half the names of the flagship group is really weird.
Course there's a lot of potential (i see a few future-aces already), but it just feels different. I'll get used to it in time.

Maimi blogged about it (leader-to-leader love ):
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/01/%E2%84%83-utes-yajima-maimi-blogs-about-niigaki-risas-graduation/