Sayuki left Juice=Juice and H!P and it's Bullshit 37 replies to this topic Started by DonJuan , Feb 11 2021 10:23 AM ·

[DonJuan]

Had to take a double take here and check if it's not April 1st, but talking about Sayuki:

"Bunshun is reporting Takagi Sayuki seems to be living half-time with Yuri, who recently signed with Sony after getting attention from his street lives. (Fans are seemingly unhappy about the report and hope it doesn’t lead to a graduation.)"
https://twitter.com/...2822056962?s=20

Fuck.

If anything it's not too late to announce that Juice is not a typical idol band, Up Front! They don't need to be part of the no dating rule!

[Shoujo Q]

The fact fans are more worried about a graduation and not the person she’s dating speaks volumes on how important they feel Sayuki is to Juice and H!P.

[DonJuan]

Absolutely! (That being said, nice catch Sayuki. He seems to be quite the guy.)

Also, I hope Up Front knows that too and plays around it, as in ignoring it or saying it's not her. Lately I think girls rather decide to graduate because they fear they get bad reactions from their fans, but I don't believe people will actually go against Sayuki. So maybe this will become an anecdote like Nacchi's playstation night or Ayaya's toilet paper pics.

[JPope]

If ever there was an opportunity to either do nothing or actively push-back against the "no dating" rule, this is it. I'd love to see UF release a statement to the effect of "Takagi Sayuki is a soon to be 24 year old woman and a proven consummate show business professional. How she chooses to live her private life is her business. We look forward to Takagi-san's future contributions to Juice=Juice and the Hello! Project. #DAZZOL!"

[Anderei]

Had to take a double take here and check if it's not April 1st, but talking about Sayuki:

"Bunshun is reporting Takagi Sayuki seems to be living half-time with Yuri, who recently signed with Sony after getting attention from his street lives. (Fans are seemingly unhappy about the report and hope it doesn’t lead to a graduation.)"
https://twitter.com/...2822056962?s=20

Fuck.

If anything it's not too late to announce that Juice is not a typical idol band, Up Front! They don't need to be part of the no dating rule!

They’ll never do that as long as everyone else in H!P is subject to it. Just opens up a can of worms and bad blood behind the scenes. JJ doesn’t deserve some special level of protection, they either have to let all the adult members date or pretend these scandals don’t exist.

She’s also 100% gone in the next two years regardless, so if she decides to leave to pursue this on a more serious level I honestly don’t think it matters.

[Shoujo Q]

I saw Sayuki leaving soon once Karin packed her bags. Juice has a good second string in place so she can leave to pursue a solo career if she wanted. She’ll do quite well on her own but heck, if she and Sakura want to revive a GAM style group within UF, I’d be 100% on board with that too.

[DonJuan]

 

They’ll never do that as long as everyone else in H!P is subject to it. Just opens up a can of worms and bad blood behind the scenes. JJ doesn’t deserve some special level of protection, they either have to let all the adult members date or pretend these scandals don’t exist.

She’s also 100% gone in the next two years regardless, so if she decides to leave to pursue this on a more serious level I honestly don’t think it matters.

 

Fair. But I wouldn't mind a "it's okay once your over 20"-rework. That'd mean half of H!P right now, with Maria being the youngest, but let it be!

Of course they wouldn't do that, especially not for MM who already lost two (rather important!) members to dating scandals.

 

^I wondered about that, too, especially since Sayuki and Sakura have been invited to TV shows to sing duets. Just try it, Up Front! We're pretty low on groups right now to begin with (lowest number of groups since 2012, lowest number of total acts since 1998!).

The only thing that surprises me is that they never tried to push Sayuki towards solo work. Karin started super early with Kopink and later on had a solo tour, Tomoko had a solo tour. Sakura at least had her singing events. Sayuki had nothing.

[yuzu]

I wish they would just can the no dating rule but I've been saying this two decades now.

[Mukuro]

She's left JJ and H!P.

http://www.helloproj...com/news/12828/

I'm really upset with this. She put in so much effort into this company and because her personal life was invaded she isn't even getting a graduation concert. She's let go and her boyfriend is going on Music Station, you can just hear the gender inequality.

[Molly]

That makes me furious. She put so many years of her life into her work to just be tossed aside the second she’s not pure wota bait anymore.

[DonJuan]

I am incredibly disappointed. Fuck Bunshun, honestly. Nobody cared about it, but now she felt so guilty she decided to quit?

I don't care if she had thought about graduation this year to begin with (which is just a thought of mine, no rumour/source) - then she would have gotten an amazing graduation concert at least, and maybe even a solo song.

 

But like this? I agree with Mukuro, she gave it her all for the group. She was always an ambitious member, trying to push forward. And now because one newspaper has decided to say "oh, she's living with this up and coming star btw" she has to leave this all behind?

 

Oof.

At least she's still under Up Front (and I think she hasn't left H!P either?) and maaaaayyyybe they can make room for her in other places. Like they did with Miki.

On days like this I hate being an idol fan.

 

(And I can't even say that I'm angry at Up Front, because this does sound like a decision by herself. Up Front usually takes much longer to decide on next steps. I just feel sad that she apparently feels guilty - in a time when other idol groups consist of married members!)

[Shoujo Q]

I split this into it's own topic. I hate this. Sayuki deserved a better exit. All idols after a certain age should be free to date and make it not a big deal. To make it a reason to leave and so suddenly. Complete and utter bull-shit. 

 

I haven't been this upset about someone leaving since Kago. But with Kago I was sad and I understood, she screwed up. With this, I'm sad, but also angry because it's the stupidest most backwards reason to leave a group. I hated it when Miki left and I hate it now. I wasn't so upset with Yaguchi got caught, mainly because I was in that akward, H!P fan stage where I had one foot out and one foot in. 

 

But as a hard core H!P fan, it all just makes me angry. 

 

I'm glad she's staying in UF, but at the same time, I wish she had a better exit then just an unceremonious dump. 

[Mukuro]

(And I can't even say that I'm angry at Up Front, because this does sound like a decision by herself. Up Front usually takes much longer to decide on next steps. I just feel sad that she apparently feels guilty - in a time when other idol groups consist of married members!)

Married AND pregnant idols.

[Revangelis]

I'm really pissed off, she deserved so much better than this crap. Thanks a lot, Bunshun

[DonJuan]

I haven't been this upset about someone leaving since Kago. But with Kago I was sad and I understood, she screwed up. With this, I'm sad, but also angry because it's the stupidest most backwards reason to leave a group. I hated it when Miki left and I hate it now. I wasn't so upset with Yaguchi got caught, mainly because I was in that akward, H!P fan stage where I had one foot out and one foot in.

 

For me this is the biggest scandal since Miki. Back then I threw a ragequit and forgot about H!P for some years, but to be fair nowadays there's more than a few members that keep me here. But I do feel that I'm getting as upset as I was back then.

 

 

(And I can't even say that I'm angry at Up Front, because this does sound like a decision by herself. Up Front usually takes much longer to decide on next steps. I just feel sad that she apparently feels guilty - in a time when other idol groups consist of married members!)

Married AND pregnant idols.

 

Yeah! Some fans do understand that an idol is human, and that as an adult you don't have to choose between love and work. Apparently Sayuki and Yuuri have been dating since 2019? Has it ever influenced her working behavior? Apparently not. So why should she quit now? Just for the wet dreams of some fans.

[WonderBuono]

I have no words except FUCK YOU UP-FRONT

[yuzu]

FUCK THIS FUCKING GODDAMN FUCKING BULLSHIT RULE FUCK PANDERING TO GROSS MEN FUCK THIS

[AquaChan]

I'm upset. I thought this was an opportunity for UFP to do something good, but yep, still garbage like it's 2007.

No graduation, nothing for a girl who has been in H!P for 10+years.

[Mizura]

I’m pissed. She was my favorite member in J=J and one of the top members in H!P for me. I’d been hoping the dating rules would’ve been loosened especially since other groups (Negicco and Dempagumi inc) have openly married and pregnant idols in the groups and it’s not causing anyone any issues.

[Zange]

I found out before I left for work this morning and I was FUMING about it by the time I got home. I'm especially upset because she put out a blog post apologizing for her actions, and she should NOT have to feel guilty for living her life!!!! She's 23, she should be able to make her own decisions about love, but I guess UFP really just said "lmao nah fuck that"...

[honey]

h!p really still be living in the dark ages with this stuff still huh

[JPope]

This episode has me questioning just how much I want to support the Hello! Project moving forward. There are so many better ways they could've handled this, and they just whiffed on it. Even if they decided that Sayubee had to leave J=J because of this, let her graduate properly. She's a damn-near 24 year old woman who gave her entire teenaged life to the company. Even if it's making J=J's next concert her grad concert, do it. If not for her, for her fans. And if it really was HER decision to quit, fine, let her go on the condition that she follow through with one final concert for her fans. She's earned it, and she's done nothing to warrant having that taken away from her or her fans. I've been disappointed, surprised or elated at members leaving H!P, but this is the first time that I can remember being straight-up pissed off about one. Now they're pushing back the release date of the new single so they can erase her from it? 

 

Fuck these guys.

[DonJuan]

^I absolutely agree. At times like these I think they should revive the Elder Club: Idols who are older and allowed to date and marry.

Especially at this point it would make sense, considering that more than half of H!P consists of girls that are 20 and older.

 

That being said, they "updated" the profile group picture for Juice:

 

 

This is probably the most awkward edit I've ever seen on the H!P website. As in, awkward. Straight up bad? Many, if not most. But that really was just... thrown together.

[honey]

^I absolutely agree. At times like these I think they should revive the Elder Club: Idols who are older and allowed to date and marry.
Especially at this point it would make sense, considering that more than half of H!P consists of girls that are 20 and older.

I think the elder club idea is a great one. H!P really should be doing more to normalize their young women idols having a private dating life... even the kpop world seems to be taking on a more western approach to idols “caught” dating these past couple of years (eg Jennie and Jihyo immediately come to mind). I hate how H!P has the opportunity to be a leader in this area but chooses not to and I feel like as a woman myself I’m conflicted on whether I should be supporting a company that still does this. sad 😞

[JPope]

I don't even have a problem with the no-dating rule for the younger girls. It is a distraction, and I get why they'd want to remove that distraction from their teenaged idols to keep them as focused on their job as possible. Once they hit 18, though, and have proven their professionalism over how ever many years they've been active, that should be it: remove the leash and let them be humans. Hell, I'd even compromise and set it at 20. But a 24 year old woman is expected to remain publicly chaste just because she's in an idol group? That's fucking ridiculous. 

[Valerie]

Sakura and Sayuki did a live performance of that Misia song they had covered and it aired on J-MELO today. Just so unfair. She's such a powerhouse.

 

https://www.youtube....eature=youtu.be

[DonJuan]

And now Sakura has adressed this topic in a blog post and Nele on twitter translated it.

 

Translation credits, as mentioned, go to Nele; just posting it here for better browsing:

 

"There is something that makes me uncomfortable about the way idols are treated these days.

In the 1970's and 80's, idols had weapons such as their "singing", "outstanding looks", and "star power". I feel that nowadays the "girls" themselves have become weapons.

 

So, the reality that even someone like Takagi-san, who had the greatest weapon of all, her singing voice, was unable to fight... Felt as if music wasn't the most important thing here. It made me very sad.

 

So all the hard work we put into singing, dancing, dieting, etc. as idols is useless? Does "idol" even belong in the entertainment category of music?

I have one thought. I wish we could live in a world where idols are valued for their individuality and music.

 

[...]

 

I think the reason idols are in this position is to distinguish between "idols" and "singers". Then, what is an idol?

Because I am in Morning Musume, I want to belief that what I'm doing to stand on stage is not in vain.

 

It's just that I don't really like when people use the title "idol" for something other than "idol specific work". I don't know if this will change while I'm still an idol, but I hope that one day "idols" can be more independent.

 

Don't you think it would be so wonderful if the happiness of the idols themselves were proportional to the happiness of their fans?!

I would like to continue to face music so as not to be ashamed of this statement."

 

And from Nele: "I'm not too sure if I understood this well: She also said the song lyrics are usually directed towards men (something like that), so it's easier for fans to feel familiar (?) She also spoke about H!P using music as a weapon and that it's the part she loves the most about H!P."

[Shoujo Q]

YEAH! Sakura! You tell'm! I'm shocked she was able to be SO vocal. I was expecting Wada to go off, being the super feminist icon she is right now. But Sakura, coming up the back and having WORDS. It's like, one of those days where you're so happy that your oshi is your oshi for a reason. 

 

I just hope the incel fans don't give her shit for it. They can be such jerks.

[JPope]

I'm surprised they let her post that to the official blog. It casts a lot of doubt on the narrative that it was all Sayuki's decision to leave. 

[DonJuan]

I honestly don't know what to think anymore. I mean someone did pressure Sayuki, otherwise there's no reason for her to resign. Then again why would Up Front want to get rid of her like that, and why would they go through the trouble of re-recording the single, reprinting it, new photoshoots... At the same time they allow Sakura to post about this. Then again the only members outside of Juice=Juice who have talked about Sayuki at all were Sakura, Maria and Kishimon.

 

Apparently there was an article that said the bigger problem was Sayuki going against corona measures but that's silly considering she met with a single person (or two, if you include his manager).

 

This could have been a chance for Up Front to finally set food into a new era of idols.