Yamazaki Yuhane to Graduate from BEYOOOOONDS and H!P on June 27th @ Toyosu PIT (Tokyo)

[Amped]

Thank you for your continued support of Hello! Project and BEYOOOOONDS.

Yamazaki Yuhane will be graduating from BEYOOOOONDS and Hello! Project.

She has been talking about her graduation since last year, and we have come to this decision based on her desire to expand her possibilities by learning more about music and challenging herself with various genres of songs in a new environment, and to make a start towards her new goals at the age of 21.

Her activities will continue until the final concert of this Spring's tour on June 27th at Toyosu PIT.
More details about the graduation concert will be announced later.

The Spring tour will start this weekend, April 7th, and they will release a new single "Hai to Diamond / Go City Go / Fuuku no Housoku Law" on May 29th.

Yamazaki Yuhane statement
It has been about eight years since I joined the Hello Pro Kenshuusei.

I joined BEYOOOOONDS from a trainee and have had many experiences surrounded by my favorite members.

Above all, your warm support has energized me everyday, and the presence of our members has given me the desire to improve.

As I work on my activities, I want to learn more and more about music and sing various genres of songs!
I still want to challenge myself!
This is a luxury, but...such a thought has been growing in my mind.

I have grown a lot because I was allowed to work as BEYOOOOONDS, without a doubt.
I was able to create a new dream because my activities as BEYOOOOONDS gave me the confidence to do so.

To further improve what I have learned so far so that I can be independent and expand my possibilities,
I decided to study in a different environment and decided to graduate.

Words cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who has always supported me.
Your warm cheers supported me and remained by my side at all times.
I was able to do my best without shedding tears because of all of you who were happy to see me grow.

I have been working hard every day to give the best performance I can and to bring smiles to everyone's faces, thinking that this is the best way I can give back.

That is the same feeling I have and will continue to have.

I would like to grow more and more without forgetting to face music and challenge myself to achieve my dreams.

I hope you will send me off with a smile on my future path.

BEYOOOOONDS is the strongest group that will continue to surprise and delight us with their ever-changing style.

Please continue your support.

http://www.helloproject.com/news/17190/
https://ameblo.jp/beyooooonds-rfro/entr ... 25986.html

Kind of an odd choice of venue to have her last concert and graduate at Toyosu PIT. BEYOOOOONDS members confirmed it. Media confirms it.
https://natalie.mu/music/news/568047
https://www.sanspo.com/article/20240404 ... UHTVR3C7Q/

Also she won't be around for H!P Survivor anymore

[Shabranikuduu]

Noooooooo! Beyooooonds! You can't do this to me right after Icchan! I can't wait to see what she does in the future though!

[Zunu]

Lately I've been thinking about how much she's matured since her Yuhaemon days; her energy is just totally different from that playful kid and from the casual news of H!P. So although she'll be missed, I can't even say I'm sad to see her move on, hopefully to bigger things. She definitely has the potential to have a career in the public eye, if that's what she wants.

[Amped]

I can see her changing agencies to further her horizons, but it has to be a quality one.

Idols these days want to go on those survival audition shows even in their 20's.

[Moh]

I'm at my limit!!!

[Denki]

Everyone is graduating.

[Tobo_Junny135]

Oof Graduation fever is on high. We’re now down 5 girls this year and from each group except Momusu… anticipating someone might announce grad from there and then it comes full circle

[KakureW]

First Icchan, now Yuha. It's so sad to see members leaving so quickly one after the other. It's also a big blow to Beyooooonds. They were my favorite group in H!P, and it seems like they are just falling apart.

I saw news of the grad announcement on Twitter/X because both Yuha and Toyosu Pit were trending in Japan. I read some of the tweets from Japanese Beyo wota, and I think it's safe to say they are not very happy with UFP. Quite a few wota were expressing anger and frustration at UFP for Beyo having only 5 singles in 5 years. Although there were extenuating circumstances (the Corona pandemic), 5 singles in 5 years is truly atrocious, especially for a group of Beyo's potential. A few were also mad that the tour final was at Toyosu Pit, and not some bigger venue. As UFP's statement says, the discussion about Yuha graduating started last year, so they should have had more time to get a bigger venue for the tour finale. The graduation concert will be after the tour finale from what I understand, and that will probably be Budokan or some other venue like that, but the tour finale should also have been held at a bigger venue when it was known that Yuha might graduate.

I think a lot of Beyo wota (myself included) imagined Beyo to be like Cute or Berryz, where the whole group would disband one day instead of individual members graduating. But if they were to disband this year, they would have only 5 singles, 2 albums, and 2-3 stage plays. UFP really needs to plan better long-term for their groups. I wonder what Beyo would look like with 10 members. It's kinda hard to imagine. And I imagine the member's morale would also be quite low after this double whammy.

I can see her changing agencies to further her horizons, but it has to be a quality one.

Idols these days want to go on those survival audition shows even in their 20's.

I would bet on this as well. Momona's example is still very recent, and it might have given Yuha a push to challenge herself more. From what I understand Yuha already had an image (reputation?) among Japanese Beyo wota of being ambitious and wanting to be famous, and seeing Momona plus UFP not promoting her as much might have persuaded her to try some other approach. And UFP's statement explicitly says that she has decided to graduate "based on her desire to expand her possibilities by learning more about music and challenging herself with various genres of songs in a new environment, and to make a start towards her new goals at the age of 21.". The only sad part about this is that like Momona, she might not appear in the public eye or for a year or two. I dunno if this is a contractual thing, but it would be a shame if it is.

Incidentally, I was a bit struck with the wording of UFP's statement. It seems like they admit they were not the place for Yuha to expand her possibilities and learn more about music. Momona also gave her grad reason as wanting to learn dance and performance from zero again and polish it.

[Zunu]

I was a bit struck with the wording of UFP's statement. It seems like they admit they were not the place for Yuha to expand her possibilities and learn more about music.

My impression is that they're only saying definitively she's leaving H!P, not necessarily that she's leaving Up Front, as of yet...?

[KakureW]

My impression is that they're only saying definitively she's leaving H!P, not necessarily that she's leaving Up Front, as of yet...?

You are right. But somehow I don't think Yuha is leaving Beyo to go down the M-Line route (and would be really surprised if she did). I think she plans to leave UFP too, but maybe not right away. Maybe following in the footsteps of Airi is also a possibility.