Takahashi Minami's graduation announcement

First of all: Happy birthday to AKB48, they now exist for 9 years! Because of this today is of course a very special day. 9 years is of course a long time and it is again amazing how far the group has come.

Sadly, the original members are leaving one after another and there are just a few of them left. And today was a BIG announcement concerning one of those members:

Takahashi Minami, General Manager (soukantoku) of the group, a first generation member and someone who always stayed in Team A, announced her graduation. She will graduate from AKB48 on December 8, 2015 which marks AKB48's 10 year anniversary.

Cries in a corner

Takamina is a very important member to AKB48. I would describe her as the Heart and Soul of the group, since she has been a leader for a long time and always takes care of the member, while loving her group more than anyone else. She has a very interesting personality and I personally really love her in shows (the latest Mechaike Dokkiri was so cool!). 

So, of course this announcement shocked every AKB48 fan and made me so sad. The timing makes the whole thing even worse, since today is such an important day for the group, and next year marks their 10year milestone. But at the same time it's such a nice symbolism for her to graduate on that day. I do think they will promote her last single a lot + there will be a lot of 10year promotion, so it will be a big thing and a nice graduation single. Would be even better if she got to center it or have an important role in that single. :D Another thing, it would be freaking amazing, if she could get the first place in the Sousenkyo next year! This would be such a great goodbye present for her and will make her very happy. 

But the big question is: How will Takamina's graduation change AKB48?

Of course after Takamina's graduation there will once again be the start of a new Era. It will be hard without a doubt. But Takamina already appointed Yokoyama Yui as the new General Manager after her graduation. Under Yuihans lead, AKB48 will still stay strong and I think the new generations also have so much to offer. But it's good that Takamina announced her graduation this early. Because of that we and the members now have plenty of time to prepare (though the end will still be hard).

In the meantime I really hope Takamina still has lots of fun with the group and I will definetely enjoy the last year with her. I will always love and support Takamina!

PS: I also want to gratulate Yokoyama Yui and Yamauchi Suzuran to their birthdays! :)