Kobushi Factory's Taguchi Natsumi has been dismissed from Kobushi Factory & H!P (12/6/17)

[skawt]

It’s a jpop girl group not a group of juvenile delinquents calm down.

[resop2]

http://wotaintranslation.com/2017/09/17 ... 1-at-night

Warning: many of the posts from that site are NSFW

[Menno]

Damn, damn, the little rascal is gone.

[boinsie]

I'm sad she's gone. It really looked like they were going to just ignore the boyfriend photos, but evidently there's more going on...
I'm conflicted as to what to feel about this whole thing. Obviously the Kobushi girls that have been dismissed aren't without blame (and maybe even wanted out, who knows--it's hard when they sign such long contracts as children), but management has also handled this very poorly. And as Chatin pointed out, the aggressive tone of the official announcements was really uncalled for. Even if Taguchi was being an irresponsible git, the management company shouldn't be throwing her under the bus this way. If this is the tone they're taking with their official announcement, what are they saying to the girls behind closed doors?

[Amped]

Taguchi Natsumi。


Good evening
I’m Hirose Ayaka。


Thank you very much for all your support towards Kobushi Factory。


This was announced at 10 p.m. today、

But our member Taguchi Natsumi has departed from Kobushi Factory and Hello！ Project。

We apologise for the sudden announcement。

I’m sure that it must have come as a surprise to all of you as well。

The prank-loving Natsumi was, honestly, just like Kobushi Factory’s little sister。

Even though she’d occasionally get scolded by the members or the staff members、
With her lovable personality、 she was loved by everyone。

It’s really sad and frustrating to think that、
We won’t be able to have activities with Natsumi any more。

For me、 I’m reflecting on it、
Like whether I could have done more、
Or whether there were words that I could have told her。

And、 3 members have departed in this span of roughly five months。

As the leader、 I’m feeling the responsibility of being unable to bring the group together as one。
I apologise。

However、 I believe that Kobushi Factory will still keep on going。
In order to do that、 the 5 of us will turn over a new leaf、

To make up for the disappointment we’ve caused to all of you over this half year、
Little by little、 Kobushi Factory would like to be united in our activities
And respond with smiles。

Natsumi always gave us her smile。

From the very depths of my heart、 I almost think that Kobushi Factory wouldn’t have come into existence without Natsumi、 and I wish that we could have had activities together forever。 She was an important, irreplaceable companion。

There were many more sights I wanted to see with Natsumi、 plenty more stages I wanted to stand on with her。

It’s sad and frustrating to think that we’ll no longer be performing with Natsumi。

In her final blog post
Natsumi wrote
「Ayapan will protect me！」、、
I too wish that I could have protected the idol Natsumi。

Kobushi Factory will no longer look back。

I love Natsumi、 and I love the others、
That atmosphere of Kobushi Factory and all of you who support us, I think that 「That is what I want to protect。」

I’ll hold the precious memories with Natsumi in my heart、
And move ahead。


To all of you who love Natsumi、
You must have been looking forward to the bus tour and the Christmas event。
I’m sorry。

However、 we hope that
Someday、 we’ll grow into a group
That will make you think ‘I really do like Kobushi Factory’。
That will make you think ‘I’d like to support them’！！

I love Kobushi Factory、 regardless of the period which it’s in。
I’m confident that I’ll also love the 5-member Kobushi Factory that’ll be making our start from now on。
And because of that、 I hope that all of you will love the Kobushi Factory that I love。
I hope that we’ll become a new group that will always be smiling with all we’ve got、
And will keep on tearing through with all our power。

And、 to all of you、
Who were planning to come for our bus tour in three days time
I can’t forcefully tell you to come。
But I’d be glad if you were to tell me that you’ll still definitely come for it。
The ５ of us will definitely show you a place that’s filled with smiles！

Natsumi！ Thank you so much for everything up until now。
As a 「Tagucchi oshi」 from even before joining Hello！ Project、
These roughly ３ years were like a dream。

Kobushi Factory will never stop。
There still more to go from now on。 We’ll keep on running！

We’re inexperienced、 half-baked、 and we make a lot of mistakes、
But our passion is the real thing！

From today、 we’ll face forward and walk anew、
In order to someday become acknowledged by everyone as the world’s number one idol group。

Everyone、 we ask that you keep on supporting Kobushi Factory。

Apologies for the late update in the middle of the night。
Thank you very much for reading until the very end。

2017.12.6 Hirose Ayaka

http://blog-project.net/hirose-ayaka/261736
https://ameblo.jp/kobushi-factory/entry ... 36901.html

[aerosuffly]

Hmm, I don't think they are aggressive toward her, but rather have a normal Japanese, "Sorry everyone. We have to dismiss her because she broke the rule, and we will do our best from now on" attitude. In the USA, they would be suing each other. Here, they just let her leaves.

[Menno]

It probably also sounds a bit more harsh in English then in Japanese. The alternative is that they don't say anything. I'm sad she's gone, but she always had something rebelious in her character, so leaving like this doesn't surprise me too much.

I can't really get to grips that I saw 8nin Kobushi back in June. And now they are down to just 5. Love Aya's message. Do your best 5nin Kobushi!

[Jessi]

Holy hell

I was not expecting this.

I didn’t know about the Boyfriend pic leaks nor the fact that she’s been fighting with her parents and posting it on her blog. She almost seems to be going a bit of a Kago route (or maybe a more mild Koharu) which is disappointing because I never saw her as rebellious. Ayaka has said that she was scolded on occasion but overall was seen as a little sister and that’s how I saw her, as the tiny cute one. But I guess we only see one side of the girls personalities.

I loved this group. So many strong voices. I wonder if they will add more girls or continue as five?

Also I also think the response is just very Japanese. I imagine she was given several warnings as decisions aren’t made suddenly like that. However, they are very strict and if they say that another action will lead to your contract being cancelled then that’s it!

[Denki]

Disappointed, but not surprised. Good luck to her with whatever she does next.

I don't think they'll last long as 5 members.

[Moh]

They sure are having an interesting year.