[11/26] Michishige Sayumi graduated from Morning Musume. '14 at Yokohama Arena

[stam4o]

Ok, I hadn't seen this one. What the....

[Shoujo Q]

Wow that's freaking me out.

[stam4o]

I love the ladies btw. Don't know who they are but their expressions win it all.

[Zunu]

The best part of that skit is that Shige -San played 100% straight the entire time. Maybe it helped that she couldn't see how ridiculous she actually looked, but even so, kudos to her.

[Chibs]

this was sometime 2010-11 i think. I remember it. Sayu was awesome.

[randompasserby]

She always is

[Amped]

Professional Musume.

[Amped]

in this month's issue of Entame magazine, Mami from SCANDAL, Oomori Seiko, Nishida Ai, Takayama Kazumi (Nogizaka46), Natsu Mayumi sensei discuss the love for Sayumi.

○私たちの大好きな道重さゆみ

モーニング娘。'14卒業へ。
夏まゆみ 高山一実(乃木坂46) MAMI(SCANDAL) 大森靖子 西田藍
道重さゆみを誰よりも愛する者たちが贈る「道重さゆみLOVE論」。

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00KB7JMU6

[randompasserby]

^an excerpt from Natsu Mayumi sensei

Natsu Sensei ： The girl who couldn't even answer properly during her first lessons, after a long time she became the Leader and pulling her group forward. It's truly a wonderful story. She could be a great role model for the younger girls.

ーーA role model for aspiring idols？

Natsu Sensei ：No, you're mistaken. Just as a person, she's a role model for everyone.

When i find a full scan if there's any other interesting parts, i'll see if i can try translating those too
-----

Sayu's part, cmiiw as always

――I was really surprised by your graduation announcement.

从*・ ｡.・）＜ It wasn't about anything specific, but since I became the Leader I've started to become aware of my own graduation. Now that I'm at the very top of the group, I've started to wonder that age-wise it's probably about time too. But the definite trigger was what I said on our last year's final fall concert.

――What you said at Budokan's MC huh.

从*・ ｡.・）＜Yes. I feel my kouhais have truly become dependable. I've said it a few times here and there before but as a token of my gratitude, I want to return the favor to Morning Musume by helping to make the group known again by the public at large. Before I noticed it my kouhais have become reliable, and together we've managed to achieve #1st place ranking in the weekly oricon charts. So now I'm starting to feel maybe little by little I'm getting closer to accomplish that goal.

――And thus, you decided on this timing.

从*・ ｡.・）＜I feel it's alright now. After I graduated, in the true meaning of the word it'll be the time to start a completely new "Reborn Morning Musume". As my kouhais are now, if it's them I believe they can do it.

――For example, （Sayashi）Riho-chan is amazing huh. You can almost say she's terribly intense/fierce. Even though she sings that much and keep dancing all the while... she makes me fear, "won't she collapse if she continues like that?"

从*・ ｡.・）＜She'll be alright! On the contrary in Sayashi's case, I think she needs those type of challenges.

――How intense... so she's the type that won't get fired up unless she's faced with a high hurdle or a big problem huh. How about the girls other than her?

从*・ ｡.・）＜ Overall they're all pretty much the same in this regard.

――What were you feeling on that day you made that announcement in the Yamaguchi concert?

从*・ ｡.・）＜ I was nervous of course. Things like "Ah so I'm going to say it now.." is on my mind but I'm glad I was be able to properly make the announcement from my own mouth, with my own words there on that day.
There are fans who were crying after hearing it.... that was heartrending for me too but there's still half a year left. Until then I want to make lots of memories with everyone.

――Did you do your customary net patrol? After making your graduation announcement (lol)

从*・ ｡.・）＜ I did I did! That very night actually. But at the rate the new responses keep coming I couldn't keep up in real time so after a while I stopped reading at midnight (lol)

――By the way, during your graduation announcement you mentioned there are still many things you'd like to convey to your kouhais. What are those?

从*・ ｡.・）＜ To put it simply, my love for Morning Musume. My hope is that there's always going to be members in the group who would continue to hold that love. A love so strong that could drive one to say "Morning Musume is my everything" and one that would never fade away.

――You also said that during the time you have left in the group, you want to show your kouhais and the fans an even bigger, even cooler Morning Musume. What do you have in mind, specifically?

从*・ ｡.・）＜ I want Morning Musume to be an inspiration, a presence that is admired and yearned for. I too, took the audition because I admired Morning Musume.
Recently our formation dances has been getting a lot of attention, during lives we noticed the increasing number of our female fans and we've been able to make our performances received as cool in many media coverages. But we still have to take this cool Morning Musume even further and follow it through, we are Idols but we also have to be something that people would admire/respect and worthy of their adoration. We have to be even bigger!

――Have you decided on what to do after graduation?

从*・ ｡.・）＜I'm thinking about many things but for now I'll take that slowly. Rather than that, for now what I feel is more important is to give my all for Morning Musume. I want to do every thing that I could do as the Leader. For Sayumi, instead of graduating because I've decided on a new path, I want to graduate from Morning Musume after I've done all that I could for the group. In the half a year left, I'll put all my effort into returning the favor to this group even more seriously.

――Maybe it's just our selfish imagination or hope..... but we'd like you act as a producer to your kouhais.

从*・ ｡.・）＜Producing Idols! That sounds fun♪ Well, for starters I'd leave the songs and choreography to someone else more qualified (lol) but discovering a girl right from the auditions, then producing her outfits and hairstyle! Sayumi understands the fans' perspective too!!

――Are there things you'd like to do before your graduation?

从*・ ｡.・）＜ I want to talk a lot with the members and make lots of memories. Everyday, one day at a time is a new memory. When I think about it like that, each single day became really precious to me. It's just something people say, a cliche even, but I really feel that way......

Finally someone broached the subject on an interview xD.... And reading her so receptive to the idea of producing her kouhai idols makes me go

Oh dear god yes please.

[sukibeam]

Sayu brought up conveying a love of Morning Musume to her kohai. I was actually thinking about this the other day - how after she's gone, there won't be anyone left in the group from whom you feel this overwhelming sense of dedication to the group.

Nakazawa gave her love of the group away by remaining as a dai-Senpai to later leaders to guide them. 5th gen you had Gaki (and later felt it from Aibutt), and with 6th you had Sayu being pretty vocal. JJ and LL were pretty vocal about how amazing they thought MM was and you could see how badly they didn't want to leave. Mittsui was totally fine with becoming the bad guy if it meant getting 9th gen into serious mode.

I know 9/10/11 gens love MM, work hard, and are dedicated to upholding the legacy they've been passed- of that I have no doubt. But I don't really get a vibe of absolute dedication and doing whatever it takes to better the group from any of them, save perhaps Riho. Maybe it's because most of them are so focused on improving/catching up to where PE were, that they don't really have the opportunity to then focus on what they can contribute.

It will be interesting in the future to see how clear-cut Senpai boundaries affect attitudes. I think with 12th-13th gens we'll really see the MM spirit that Sayu exudes rear it's head.

Thank you for the translation!