Fujii Rio to Graduate from Kobushi Factory and H!P this Summer

[nimrahwt]

https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front-link/en-concerning-rio-fujii-from-kobushi-factory-magnolia-factory/1401476323244614/
 
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<div style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:40px;margin:0px auto 12px;">[EN] Concerning Rio Fujii from Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory)</div>
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<div style="color:rgb(144,148,156);margin:4px 0px 0px 4px;font-family:inherit;"><a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/upfrontlink/">UP-FRONT LINK</a>·<a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/up-front ... 4/">FRIDAY, 12 MAY 2017</a>
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<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Thank you for your continued support towards Hello! Project and Kobushi Factory</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">The sub-leader of Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory), Rio Fujii will graduate Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) and Hello! Project this summer with the Hello! Project 2017 SUMMER concert tour.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Rio is going to high school since this spring but, with her test of last year, she thought again about her future and before becoming a Hello! Pro Kenshusei, she had another dream, becoming a teacher or nurse. She made herself the request of devoting herself into her studies. She thought about the balance between her activities with Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) but she was worried, and after many discussions, it came to the conclusion of a graduation.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Currently, her activities will continue with the "Live Tour 2017 Spring ～PROGRESSIVE～", the release of their new single "Sharara! Yareruhazusa / Eejanaika Ninjanaika", the release of the movie "JK Ninja Girls". Thank you for your continued support towards Rio Fuji as well as Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory).</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">UP-FRONT PROMOTION Representative Director Takeshi Nishiguchi</div>
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<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">I, Rio Fujii, will graduate Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) and Hello! Project with the Hello! Project Concert tour of this summer.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Originally I love Hello! Project and I took the audition I aspired to become a Hello! Pro Kenshusei and to enter Hello! Project. When I became a member of Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory), inside me, it was the moment when a huge dream became reality.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">From this moment, I recklessly ran into "I want Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) to be more known by many many people!" but, Last year, when I was a senior in high school and became a student preparing examinations, I could not give up on my old dream of becoming a teacher or nurse.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">I thought about the compatibility with Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) activities. I consulted the staff of the company, discussed with them, I thought I wanted to devote myself into my studies, And I decided to graduate at the end of the summer vacation when the new school semester will start.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">To all the members of Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory), to all the people who always support us, There are still many dreams that those 8 people have not achieved yet, So I would like to apologize to graduate at this moment.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">However, in order to graduate without regretting myself, In order to achieve, even a little, dreams and goals for the 8 people, I will use my whole energy for until the graduation, with great efforts.</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Please continue to support Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory)</div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">Kobushi Factory (Magnolia Factory) Rio Fujii</div>
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<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;"><a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/kobush ... factory</a> <a class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/magnol ... y</a></div>
<div style="margin:0px auto 28px;font-family:inherit;">PS: The translation may not be perfect/accurate, thank you for your understanding. </div>
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[Shoujo Q]

Edit: In the future, don't put graduation news in the spam news thread. 


Thanks~ :3


PS. I'm super shocked and saddened by this news. Rio was a favorite of mine. 

[DonJuan]

What. The. Hell.


I mean no, don't get me wrong. She's at that age where people start thinking about their future and therefore it's totally understandable. Yet I totally did not see this coming. I just watched the preview of her birthday event dvd...

[TicTacAnyone]

As horrible as it sounds, she was definitely who I was expecting to leave Kobushi first.... she actually stayed longer than I expected. It's sad to see Kobushi lose an original member, though. I was really curious if they'd be the first group to not lose a 1st gen member for years after debut since no one announced it till now.


Ps this should probably be its own thread! I'm on mobile so I can't properly make one

[Anderei]

Wow, was not expecting this.

[AquaChan]

Oh wow, wasn't expecting this so early, but now they'll be exactly like Berryz XD

[Meikochi]

I suspected she may be the first to leave since she refused leader position, like Erika in C-ute. I'm neutral about her so I'm neutral towards her graduation.


For the record, Maiha stayed 2 years in Kids and 1 year and a half in BK ; Rio stayed 2 years in Eggs and 2 years and a half in KF.

[DonJuan]

But did Rio refuse the leader position? I always thought she was a bit pissed that Ayaka became leader.

[WonderBuono]

I knew KF couldn't keep its original lineup that long. I hope she gets a good send-off.

[Elpis]

This is really disappointing. She was one of my favorite members and I was happy to see her debut. But if she's graduating to pursue a career that she's interested in. And If it's something she wants, then, I can't fault her for that.


Still super sad though.

[Mukuro]

Wow poor Kobushi I'm sure the members are sad over this. I totally wasn't expecting someone to leave from their group.

[yuzuriha]

She wasn't at the top of my list, but I am definitely shocked.  I wish her the best though.

[MejraThea]

As Riorio is one of my favorites, I am not happy at all. Everything is falling apart as of late.

[kitaoji]

spittake what.
 
I don't follow Kobushi, but I liked Rio for being the seemingly goofy one - she was brash, loud, and she trolled the best at group cheki photos.  (Source courtesy my twitter feed).  
 
Personally, I'm happy for her. But two H!P grad announcements in a week is kind of hard.  (Plus, Maho...)
 
I'm also somewhat worried about UF's long term viability.  They have a lot of old timers (MM OG, Satoda Mai, and pretty much everybody before the H!P boom), but the NewGen just isn't interested in staying with UpFront in a phase two.  Is this the management they're comfortable with?  Are they just relying on more revenue from the shops and whatever they sell on Elineup?

[Purin-chama]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Meikochi" data-cid="207580" data-time="1494598231">
I suspected she may be the first to leave since she refused leader position, like Erika in C-ute. I'm neutral about her so I'm neutral towards her graduation.</blockquote>


Yeah, she didn't refuse the position. Ayaka had joined NGP before Rio joined H!P. Therefore, she was the more senior member. There's video of the announcement and Rio was shocked. It was presumed she would be the leader because of her being the oldest.

[momoirosaya]

I'm disappointed, but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone left.

[TicTacAnyone]

Samba! Kobushi Janeiro! Is gonna be sad af when everyone shouts "RIO!"
 
Tbh, she was not my fav. In fact, I really disliked her when the group was formed (for no reason), but as time went on I realized I had no reason.... And she had just started to grow on me.

[Anderei]

She was supposed to have her graduation September 2nd but her contract has been broken for breaking the rules:

http://www.helloproject.com/news/7320/


Been quite some time since we've seen someone in this situation.

[TheParuProject]

Whoooaaaaa. Rio girl, what did you do? I bet she just crapped out early and couldn't wait til September to stop caring.

[Anderei]

But I think in that case the would have just said that she decided to leave early. I think the news post explicitly says the company tried to resolve the issue and terminated her when they couldn't.

[DonJuan]

Woooaaah. This is weird, considering they already had a date and such. I remember back then when Takahashi got a boyfriend most people were like "yeah so what she's gonna leave in a few weeks so what", what has Rio done to get her contract terminated?


Wasn't Aibon the only one to actually get thrown out in H!P's history? Back then it was breaking rules for a second time. Geez, Rio, what happened? Did she get in a fist fight with Nishiguchi himself?

[Meikochi]

I'm actually surprised how clear is the message in Japanese, they literally say she broke the rules to a point it became a problem.


I have no clue what she could have done though, but I think as well they would have try to keep it soft if it wasn't bad.

[Madara]

I feel bad for Rio, of course, but I also feel bad for her fans...y'know, like me? I'm angry but...I can't know who to lash out at until I know what happened.

[momoirosaya]

If she broke the rules to have this kind of consequence she probably knew what she was doing. She's probably happy to be done.

[TicTacAnyone]

Was Rio a secret rebel? I'm so curious to know what she did... hopefully she'll make a twitter and spill the tea.


But I do feel really bad for her fans and the other Kobushi members.

[Solarblade]

^ i feel like shes always been a rebel even back in S/mileage 2nd gen auditions lmao

[TicTacAnyone]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Solarblade" data-cid="208674" data-time="1499355903">
^ i feel like shes always been a rebel even back in S/mileage 2nd gen auditions lmao</blockquote>
Hmmm... but to what extent ????


Most likely scenario is she was skipping rehearsals/training. More juicy scenario is she was smoking and dating the young male intern.

[Anderei]

That would have just gotten her fired, no mediation at all. Apparently they sat down with her parents too so it sounds more like an attitude problem.

[Purin-chama]

Maybe already looking at other companies or signing a different contract with someone?


This hasn't happened before right? Not like this at least. There has always been a scandal before the terminated contract.

[Madara]

It's all just propelled me into a horrible flashback to the Aibon expulsion. I'm not taking this well.