SKE48 and graduations

Lately there have been many graduation announcements from SKE members again. Over the last few years SKE48 has lost quite a lot of members and this sadly doesn't seem to stop.
Actually, I planned to write this back in January, but then the graduation announcements just continued and I waited to see if there will be more. Now seems to be a break of them since Yuasa said there won't be any more announcements soon. Adding to that they are starting to promote their new single now.
But back to the topic. Let's talk about the graduations/ soon to graduate:

Honoka Mizuho

It's starting with one of the most shocking graduations: Yamada Mizuho announced hers on the 7th January and graduated just a few weeks after that (30 January).
Her story is actually really interesting. She was oe of the last to be promoted from her graduation (5th gen). But shortly after that she was placed as center of the song ''Zakuro no Jitsuwa Yuutsu ga Nantsuba Tsumatte Iru'', which was a coupling song of SKE48's single ''Sansei Kawaii''. A month later she was then placed as the center of Escape, coupling of AKB48's single ''Suzukake Nanchara''. All the sister groups had Kenkyuusei's as centers, only SKE had the newly promoted Mizuho. So of course everyone was talking about her and she had a pretty big push. This didn't stop as she was then included in AKB48's coupling song ''Himitsu no Diary'' (Mae shika Mukanee) and then finally in SKE48's single ''Mirai to wa?''. But then she suddenly wasn't included in the senbatsu of ''Bukiyou Taiyou'' anymore, even though there were more spots. This surprised me a lot. Despite that though, Mizuho had build a fanbase that voted her into 54th place in AKB48's 6th sousenkyo, which is pretty high if you ask me. Still, she wasn't included in ''12 gatsu no Kangaroo'' and it seemed like Management had forgotten about her completely. She then graduated at the beginning of 2015 and shocked a lot of fans. Well, she would have probably been included in the new single, but I can totally see the reason for her graduation.
To be honest, I don't really get the management in this case. First, they pushed her and she even had a pretty big fanbase and then they completely forgot about her. Really? What's the point of that? Mizuho was loved by a lot of poeple (myself included) and had a lot of potential. She is still only 17 years old and I wanted to see her growing as an Idol and as a person.
Mizuho will always be the cutest bunny and it's so sad to see her go so early. But I hope she is happy with whatever she does.

Sasaki Yuka

Next up is the 6th generation Kenkyuusei Sasaki Yuka, who announced her graduation on February 4th and will graduate on February 28.
This will be really short, since I don't know this girl (I don't know a few of the 6th generation girls). But it's sad to see a girl from the newest generation graduating from the group. But looking at the song (!) she participated in, I can understand it (though most 6th gen Kenkyuusei still only participated in one song). I wish her the best for her future.

Iwanaga Tsugumi

Here we have another 5th gen: Iwanaga Tsugumi, who announced her graduation on January 9 and will leave the group at the end of February.
Tsugupon was one of the girls, who were promoted at the 2013 SKE shuffle and has been pushed quite a bit. She was even included in the last two singles and ranked at 46th in the 6th sousenkyo (which is really good). Despite being pushed and a fan favourite, she decided to leave the group. It's her decision, but just like with Mizuho she had a lot of potential and a bright future. Well, we can't change her decisions, so I wish her the best for her future.

Nakanishi Yuka and Sato Mieko

Here I will talk about two members. 1st generation members Nakanishi Yuka and Sato Mieko announced their graduations together on December 24 and will graduate on March.
Waaah *cries in a corner*. The time finally came for the two oldest SKE48 members to announce their graduations. Nishi is 26 years old and Mieko is 28 years old, so this doesn't come as such a big surprise. Still, it's sad to see two of the first gens go (only 3 are left after this).
Yuka was originally an AKB48 member and was transferred to SKE48 when that group was formed and was a member of Team S since then. She has been a leader-figure for a very long time and was respected by everyone. Thanks to that she even ranked twice in the elections and she has been included in 4 SKE48's single senbatsu's.
Mieko on the other side was one of the pillars of Team KII, so she wasn't promoted immediately like most of her 1st gen mates. She never participated in an SKE48 single and she has been the oldest member of SKE48.
These two are often seen as the father and mother of SKE48, so it's really sad to see them go. But I can understand them and I want them to be happy in their future life.

Ogino Risa

Next up is the 5th generation Kenkyuusei member Ogino Risa who announced her graduation on February 4 together with Sasaki Yuka. Risa will graduate on March 31.
Being the last one of her generation to be a Kenkyuusei I can understand her decision to graduate. I always thought she was very interesting though, since she is the tallest 48group girl with 176 cm. She also took a hiatus from the group a few years ago because her sister was in hospital. Her sister was also the one who wanted her to shine as an Idol, so it makes me really sad that she was never promoted to a team. ._.
Adding to that she's the 3rd 5th generation member in such a short time to graduate.
I hope she will be happy at least.

Furukawa Airi

2nd generation member Furukawa Airi announced her graduation on February 1 and will graduate on March 31. NOOO, Airin!!! :o
Since she is one of my favourite SKE48 members, this announcement really shocked me a lot. Airi has one of the best voices of the group and a really interesting personality, being one of the funniest members, especially together with her buddy Churi (Furuyanagi is the best). Airin has been in senbatsu from ''1!2!3!4 Yoroshiku'' except for ''Oki Doki'' and ranked pretty high in the last three elections (lower Undergirls/ Next Girls). Airin was also famous for her love for Animes and her own characters Chibi Airin and Gugutasu-chan that she featured in he google+ posts and in the elections (she drew it on her hand). She also drew all the SKE members for their birthdays, which was always cool to see. Airin is also pretty close with Matsui Rena, which is why they are often called RenAirin.
After the graduations of Yuka and Mieko, Airin would have been the oldest member with her 25 years. Even though I can understand that she wants to move on, I'm still, really, really sad. But of course I will continue to support her!!

Kobayashi Ami

4th generation member Kobayashi Ami announced her graduation on February 6 and will also graduate at the end of March. Here we have a fan favourite, who never really got the push she deserved. Ranking pretty high in 2013 (47th place) management didn't care about Koami at all. She still ranked in 2014, but only at place 77. 4th generation seems to be the forgotten generation even though there are some really awesome members. Koami is really beautiful and I always liked her, so it's sad to see her go. Aya also doesn't seem to be happy about this.. I just don't understand why she wasn't pushed after she ranked, because the fans obviously liked her. ._.
Koami, I hope you will be happy. :)

Abiru Riho

2nd generation member Abiru Riho announced her graduation on January 7 and will graduate on April 30. Another member who was never pushed. I learnt more about her when she was moved to Team S and I really liked her interactions with Jurina. Riho is a really hardworking girl and that paied off when she ranked at 74 in last years elections. Even though I don't know her that well, I always liked her (and her lisp xD). It's sad to see her go, since she was always so interesting, but I wish her all the best.. *sigh*

As you can see, there are 9 girls who announced their graduation in less than 2 months and one of them already left the group. That is quite a lot and the worst thing is that there have been already soooo many members who left the group in the last two years. When you're looking at some videos from 2012, you will see that almost half of the girls aren't in the group anymore. Seeing older members leaving the group is of course sad, but that is natural. What's worse is that so many young members are also graduating. Those are the future of the group, but the group won't have a future if all of them graduate. Just look at the 5th generation, 3 of those 9 girls were part of that generation. There have been/ and are a lot of girls with great potential in this gen and a lot of them are pushed or were in the case of Suga Nanako,Niidoi Sayaka and now Tsugupon (and to some extent Mizuho).
Of course it is their desicion, but it makes me really sad to see a lot of them go. And that's why I ask myself WHY they are all graduating.

Let's take about SKE48's management for a second. Compared to the other 48groups, their management is a lot stricter, so they aren't really allowed to have other jobs outside the group. This goes for all the girls, except for those who are under a bigger agency like Jurina, Rena and Churi. I don't really understand this though. I mean what's so bad if a girl plays in a movie or a play that doesn't have to do anything with the group? Chances are high that this will help the girls' popularity which also means it will help SKE. But without these opportunities I can understand that some girls are graduating. I mean, imagine being only included in ONE song in 3 years and always only being in the theater. And then you aren't even allowed to do something different? Wouldn't be that great, right?
Well, and that's why I want the management to change! I don't believe in the rumors that SKE48 will be disanded, but there's clearly something going wrong in the group now and I don't want them to struggle even more. Having Yuasa back is at least a step into the right direction, since SKE was the most succesful when he was still there.

I'm really interested in their documentary and I hope their 17th single will be awesome.
Of course I would want them to win against NMB48 in the singles battle, since I'm a much bigger fan of SKE. But with the current popularities of the different groups and their latest sales I would say that NMBwill win (and their song is great + it's a Nana tribute). Of course, SKE has these music cards, but I don't know if that will help them and many fans are pissed because of this, so perhaps they are deciding to buy less. So I don't really care if SKE loses, I just hope for a mindblowing single and perhaps for a bit better sales. Looking at the line-up, I'm already happy since my dream came true and Isohara Kyoka is FINALLY included in a senbatsu!!!! *-*

Wow, I wrote a lot more than I thought I would. But I'm happy that I could clear my mind and I hope you can understand my feelings about this topic.^^
I'm looking forward to todays Music Station and I really hope there won't be that many graduations anymore and that SKE will do better from now on.