~Swan song♪

For eleven years it was a pleasure having been lucky to witness Gakisan’s growth as both a person and as an idol~♥. In the early years there was something cute in her slight naivety which often shown through especially during quiz games and talk show times in between performances and who could forget those far away days of her always present then dual ponytails tightly styled…till at last her hair was let down with her looks really blossoming literally during the Sakuragumi era. That one night on Music Fighter where her venturous mind shared with all of us the makings of a wonderfully odd theme~park vacation, just so many fond memories of Gakisan back then till now.

~Spank Me Love Me???~

=O

The rest of “Ascension” is in the last part of this post but I just couldn’t wait to show you Gakisan’s funny bracelet here ↓↓↓….yup I guess a good spanking once in a  while means true love~♥ =P! Who knew??….

…spank me love me…I think that’s for another entirely different kind of post and such a naughty bracelet I wonder where I could get one too…(^q^)!

~Niigaki Risa “Egao ni namida~THANK YOU! DEAR MY FRIENDS~~

It’s not too often that a graduating idol receives a ‘sotsugyou’ song for her exit from a group, a means for a melodic final farewell to fans….something symbolic and memorable. When “Renai Hunter” was released a couple of months ago I was overjoyed to see that Gakisan not only received her very own solo cover version but that she also received a solo performance on the single as well with an Ayaya song chosen. While I still regard Yuko~san’s sotsugyou song “Koi no kioku” to be the most memorable graduation song for an idol ever, “Egao ni namida…” really suits Gakisan so perfectly here and that means a lot as Ayaya stands as arguably the most talented vocalist Hello! Project has had to date~.

Remember when Momusu concert DVDs still came in regularly sized jewel cases?…nostalgic taking this concert off the shelf today, one I haven’t watched in years.

~Nakazawa Yuko “Koi no kioku” (Morning Musume Live Revolution21 Spring~ sotsugyou performance)~

Can you imagine how difficult it is to sing while tearing up with so much emotion….here Yuko~san fights to keep herself poised but emotions run even higher when each of the girls are addressed by Yuko~san just after the song….I cry every time no matter what whenever watching any of these graduation speeches (´⌒｀。)。For me the most memorable of all of the graduation speeches was the night that Gomaki graduated and during the backstage which was a DVD extra the sight of Aichan not being able to utter a single audible word is something I’ll never forget…she had said earlier that Gomaki was such a inspiration~* to her while she aspired to join the group and just how devastating it was when she was leaving.

~Niigaki Risa “Koe” (Odore! Morning Curry concert tour 2006 Autumn)~

Here an everlasting memory of Gakisan performing “Koe” along with Aichan…Momusu will just never be the same without them.

~Morning Musume “Never Forget” (Memory seishun no hikari 1999.4.18 sotsugyou performance)~

“Never Forget”, I think this is the best written graduation song ever for an idol and going way back to 1999 here’s Fukuda Asuka’s swan song….check out Morning Musume’s harmonies during this performance. The original basis of Momusu back then was vocal talent 1st before anything and the reason why their very earliest albums feature their most intricate ensemble and layered harmony arrangements with many of those songs proving most likely too difficult to perform live for the latter generations which I imagine is why so many early songs were never performed live after too many of the original lineup had graduated.

Now getting back to the single which got me a bit nostalgic with graduations, “Renai Hunter.”

~Morning Musume “Renai Hunter” (pv)~

This pv is so so so well produced!! The choreography amazing!…love the wardrobe!…and the editing all so dynamic with such vibrant light versus shadow contrast throughout plus every member here so cute and playful with their expressions! Love how Gakisan is the defining center too, a most addictive song♪～。

Morning Musume’s “Renai Hunter” can be ordered @ Cdjapan

Morning Musume’s “Renai Hunter” can be ordered @ HMV Japan

And lastly earlier today I scanned Gakisan’s final shashinshuu as a member of Morning Musume titled “Ascension”, and although it’s been a little over a month since she’s graduated it still feels odd just typing that =/.

I think “Ascension” is one of the most beautifully photographed H!P photo books with Gakisan being her gorgeous self throughout shot in Okinawa….mm my only gripe would be their idea of the wig…like Gakisan’s got such lovely hair so I only question the wig although I guess it was part of the fashion ideas the photographer designed. Still not liking the wigs…yep two but everything else…adorably~yummy♥!

Niigaki Risa’s “Ascension” photo book can be ordered @ Cdjapan

Niigaki Risa’s “Ascension” can be ordered @ HMV Japan

~Thank you♥ for 11 years…Gakisan♥….