Ootsuka Aina Has Left Juice=Juice & H!P as of 7/5

[otaku_blue]

Has that happened before? The immediate removal of ALL goods relating to a member has left?

It's starting to come off as a money issue now....

[randompasserby]

Well if they can't agree on the contract and parted ways in a bad enough fashion the family could probably revoke their permission to let the agency continue selling any goods/promotional material with the girl's image in it and force them to retroactively omit/edit out her parts in any footage that is yet to be released.

Kinda seems needlessly cruel to unperson her like that but I think I can sort of understand the reasoning if they're legally bound by it.

[resop2]

I was thinking that Aina had asked for a rider on her contract so that she wouldn't have to share a dressing room with Mizuki and H!P wouldn't give it to her, but now it seems money issues are more likely.

[wotakubrandon]

i'ms susper drunk and readint the blog posts is just making me sad.

[TotallyUncool]

In a way, I appreciate the (apparent) honesty. There's nothing dishonorable on either side about failing to reach an agreement on a contract. It may represent a break with idol-industry traditions, but it doesn't sound to me as if H!P was being disrespectful towards Aina or her parents in their announcement.
It's sad that they weren't able to reach an agreement, and that it turned out this way, and it's entirely possible that there were a lot of not-so-nice things going on beheind the scene, but I think it does clear the air a bit for the parties in a contract dispute to openly discuss it as exactly that.
Whatever happens, I hope that Aina really is OK with this, and that she has a good life.

Spoiler: show

If you want to see what genuine junkyard-dog viciousness on the part of an idol-management company looks like, this is from Runtime's announcement in February of this year of its decision to fire Nagase Miyu and drive the final stake through ZONE's heart:

Nagase Miyu's conspicuous immoral conduct and frequent non-fulfillment of duties caused the fans and the parties concerned great trouble in addition to extensive damage to our company. Although we tried for guidance and persuasion to her in a repetitive manner and unfortunately there was no improvement in sight. Thus, we figured that it was difficult to continue to keep the exclusive contract with Nagase Miyu, and we have concluded to dissolve the exclusive contract with her as of today.

2013年02月13日
皆さま方におかれましては，ZONEを応援して頂き誠にありがとうございます。
デビュー以来ZONEを応援して頂いたファンの皆様、そして関係各位の皆様には大変残念なお知らせになります。
ZONEのメンバーMIYUこと長瀬実夕には，著しい不品行及び度々の業務不履行などの行為があり、これによりファンの皆様，関係各位に大変なご迷惑をお掛けし，弊社にも多大な損害を生じさせました。弊社は，長瀬実夕に対し，指導・説得を繰り返して参りましたが，残念ながら改善は見られませんでした。
そのため、弊社は，長瀬実夕との専属契約を続けていくことが困難であると判断し，長瀬実夕との専属契約を本日付けにて解除することとなりました。
今後、長瀬実夕個人の言動行動に関しては一切弊社には関わり合いございませんので、ご理解を頂きますようお願い申し上げます。

(The kanji that's translated as "immoral" = 不品行.)

As far as I can tell, Miyu probably got fed up with Runtime and decided to break her contract by refusing to cooperate. (Not the best way to do it, but given some of the things that seem to have happened with other former ZONE members, maybe it was the least bad alternative.) An in retaliation, they not only fired her, but released an announcement which appears to be designed to trash her reputation and her career.

Compared to that bit of nastiness, I think that H!P was taking a relatively high road with Aina and her parents.

[Amped]

Tsunku's comments about Otsuka Aina. he also said he will not make any changes to the group.
http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/entry-11567538080.html

Takagi's comments
http://ameblo.jp/juicejuice-official/en ... 39712.html

[Shoujo Q]

Tsunku's comments about Otsuka Aina. he also said he will not make any changes to the group.
http://ameblo.jp/tsunku-blog/entry-11567538080.html

My broken chrome Japlish saw that he wouldn't make any changes, but it also saw, that there may be tiny changes in the future. As in, they are going to release this next single, see how things go for the release and the H!P concert, if they have an obvious Aina sized hole left in the group, they will plug it up down the line with a new member or two, or four. But, if it's like Berryz and the loss of one member doesn't hinder them performance wise, then he wont touch the group. Is basically how I see it.

[Amped]

Tomoko's comment
http://ameblo.jp/juicejuice-official/en ... 40676.html

[rikkikow]

Damn, we are missing a juice now.
I needed that juice. Six juices is better than five juices. We want more.

[Sohee]

なので、これに伴っての増員等はこのタイミングでは行いません。
（更なる未来に関してはいつマイナーチェンジするかとかはわからないけどね）

"So along with this, there won't be any addition in member.
(However, in I don't know if I'll make any minor changes in the future or not though.)"