Berryz Koubou have gone on indefinite hiatus as of 3/3

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

^Right??? I was sure they are all like sisters. guess not...
I mean, obviously they will stay really close.
Momoko will go finish her educational training. I think if anyone will stay in H!P, it'll either be Miyabi as a fashion type thing, or it'd be Captain. idk why, they just have that "i love H!P too much" vibe. but who knows.

[Jessi]

I would say my first real graduation was Koharu. I saw all of the Platinum Era leave after her.

I remember Elder Club graduating, but I was sort of relieved because they were mostly inactive. I guess that came before Koharu, but it hardly counts.

I was around when Kanna and Erika left C-ute.

Mano's graduation...

Saki and Yuuka leaving S/mileage.

Yeah I think thats all the graduations I've been around for.

[AyuHikaru]

My first graduation was Kei Yasuda, but I had just come into the fandom during AS FOR ONE DAY and was soooo freaking confused as to what was going on. >.>

[JonCC]

The hiatus announcement of Berryz Kobo has given a huge shock to the whole idol industry. In fact there are surprisingly many active idols who used to adore Berryz Kobo. A music journalist who knows a lot about idols explains “The members of Berryz Kobo are now 20 to 22 years old. At the time of their debut, they all were only 9 to 12 years old elementary school students.

It was bit after Morning Musume and Mini Moni had become a phenomenon, and you could find many elementary schoolgirl fans at Hello! Project concerts. For those fangirls it was quite a wonder to see Berryz members of about the same age as themselves singing and dancing on stage as idols. And it would have been natural for them to dream of themselves becoming idols someday.

For those elementary school girls Berryz Kobo was the true THEIR idol, since there’re few idol groups other than H!P back then.” In this connection, the elder members of Berryz Kobo, Shimizu Saki and Tsugunaga Momoko are in the same school year as Maeda Atsuko, Itano Tomomi (the ex-AKB48 members) and Takahashi Minami (the current general director of AKB). In a way they followed Berryz Kobo’s path started from elementary school days and eventually they’ve become idols themselves.

“If we didn’t have Berryz Kobo’s debut 10 years ago, there couldn’t have been as many idol candidates as we have today. I mean, today’s ‘idol boom’ owes a lot to Berryz Kobo actually. That’s why I think it really regrettable that such a great group is going to go hiatus” the music jounalist says. Now the legendary idol group which laid the foundation for today’s idol boom has announced their hiatus, and an era seems to be ending.

http://www.zakzak.co.jp/entertainment/e ... 001-n2.htm
http://momuse.tumblr.com/post/936627210 ... as-given-a

[resop2]

^ The same way "Sayu graduating", in your words, "had to happen."

Sayumi's graduation announcement came before the start of H!PS.

[TotallyUncool]

In a way, I think, this is how we measure time in our lives -- by events that have a personal emotional impact on us, whether or not the people around is in the everyday world even understand what's going on. As you get older, many of these events become more like signposts marking the way along the trail of memory, but I think they always carry at least some of their original emotional impact.

Spoiler: show

For example, I don't know if I'll ever fully untangle ZONE's breakup in 2005 from the breakup of my marriage, particularly since I bought the Last Live at Budokan DVD (with its restrained-but-tearful sentimentalism and its heavy wedding-dress symbolism) a week or two before my wife finally left. My marriage is long gone, and I've definitely moved on from there, but I may never know how much of my attachment to ZONE is tied in to the complex emotional swirl of that moment.
For that matter, I have a distinctive and often strong ongoing emotional investment in the music and events of the 2003 through 2006 era of Asian pop music (largely in connection with things other than my marriage), but even that stands as another set of signposts in my memory; there have been others before and since, entangling personal/emotional and external/pop-culture events to the point where they cannot be untangled.

[Starra]

You know, I kinda feel a bit weird because my reaction to all of this is just "Oh". Like, I'm not that sad about it... but I'm not glad it's happening either. I'm satisfied with this decision and the way it's being handled, but considering Berryz are one of my fave idol groups, I'd've thought my reaction would be stronger.

I'm not even that upset about losing Maasa... Maybe it's because I've been mentally preparing myself for a Maasa grad for a while or something. Sure, it's gonna suck not having her around -- same with the other members -- but because the rest of H!P is so fucking great and I love them a lot, I'm not gonna feel like something's missing. Maybe if they don't add a new group there'd be a hole, but with Country Musume。happening (eventually) and 12th gen, new things are gonna happen that I'm excited for, so no Berryz doesn't really worry me too much.

It could be because they've been around for so long, but I dunno. I have no idea how to emotion.

[TotallyUncool]

I think that's probably because you've been around for quite a while and seen a lot in the idol world -- and for all of your strong opinions, loyalties, and biases, you've got a realistic understanding of how things work in the idol business.

More than anything, I find myself hoping that they all have good, positive, and realistic plans for their post Berryz lives.

[Starra]

Haha yeah, I think part of it also might be that I'm now somewhat numb to idol graduation announcements and similar things.

It still makes me feel kinda out of place in the idol fandom, though. I'm not saying I want to flip my shit every time somebody leaves, but some kind of reaction would be nice.

(Also, spoiler alert: a lot of my opinions and stuff are kinda exaggerated to make me sound more exciting. I still feel strongly about many things, but my reaction to pretty much everything is "Oh". I hardly even change expressions when I'm watching my oshis. It's like... the emotions are all there in my head but my body is completely disconnected. I don't really know how to explain it that well so it probably makes no sense.)

[Shoujo Q]

I think it sucks more if someone you love leaves and then does nothing again with their life, their obvious talent and just slips away into being an average person again. (I'm looking at you Kamei Eri!)
I hope none of that happens with the members of Berryz. I would, like any adult whose watched them grow from H!P Kids to H!P Adults, to find something they love to do and do it 100%. Actings, Singing, Modeling, TV Talent, Etc. That would make me happy.

I have a feeling all of this is going to hit me real hard when it actually happens because right now I'm totally acting cool about it all still. (This on top of the Ghibli news, it's been a really crap weekend!)