The Pressure Is Getting To Sasshi

Ever since Sasshi’s scandal broke out, she has been in poor health due to the stress and strain of the situation. In tonight’s A6 show she hyperventilated and withdrew after the 11th song before coming back to do an MC. I thought that with everything now sorted with her transfer to Fukuoka and with the fans having forgiven her for the scandal she would be back to her old self again but it doesn’t seem that way. The pressure is really starting to get to her now. Does this mean she’s worried that more damaging revelations could come out of the woodwork? Who knows but I’m really worried about her. I’m sure her friends in AKB48 are keeping a close eye on her right now and what she needs more than anything is their support. The fans really made sure to tell her how much she is loved in last weekend’s handshake event as Sasshi was worried beforehand what kind of reaction she would get but everybody apparently was extremely nice and supportive. I’m sure that would have cheered her up. As for the ex-boyfriend, one thing’s for sure. If the fans on 2ch find out who he is and where he lives he’d better pack his bags and head for the hills as there’s going to be hell to pay if they catch up with him.

Please get better Sasshi.

The video below is from a TV show today that talks about Sasshi.

Sasshi Conspiracy?

Trawling through various forums and news websites, I came across an interesting conspiracy regarding Sasshi’s transfer to HKT48. The Japanese AKB48 fans on 2ch reckon that her transfer has been planned months ago and it isn’t a punishment. They point out that there is a secret code which has been planted in the AKB48 diary as under the date 11th June is a little note in kanji saying SR decision. You can see it for yourself if you have the diary (it’s in the first couple of pages).  Could this mean Sashihara Rino decision? So maybe this transfer has been planned all along. Maybe Sasshi’s scandal around this date was a blessing for Aki-P as an unexpected announcement to the fans that a popular member was being transferred would have made the fans go ape shit. To have her leave as ‘punishment’ will make the fans understand his decision. What do you guys make of this?

Sasshi’s final performance as a member of Team A was supposed to be scheduled for June 20th but with Natsumi Mitsubara’s birthday show on the same date, they have now delayed Sasshi’s last show until sometime in July.

Sasshi Transferred To HKT48 With Immediate Effect

It’s been quite a dramatic week for Sasshi which ended tonight with an immediate transfer to HKT48. What a turnaround from last week in which she celebrated being no.4 in the senbatsu election. Now it’s come to this – being exiled from AKB48 for being part of a scandal.

Let’s go back to the beginning and how this sad turn of events began. The scum tabloid magazine Shukan Bunshun ran a story by an alleged ex-boyfriend of Sasshi from the past who said they were intimate and that she had sent emails and nude pictures of herself to him. The magazine was even given Sasshi’s mobile number by this guy which they tried and Sasshi answered. An investigation was launched by AKS and tonight Aki-P addressed the situation on a radio show with other members of AKB48 about what he was going to do. Sasshi has denied certain things in the story but she also said that she did know the guy and he was her friend and nothing else.

For breaking the cardinal rule of having relations however innocent with a member of the opposite sex whilst being a part of AKB48, Sasshi has been transferred to HKT48 immediately and exiled for good from AKB48. Whilst many fans will be livid about this (myself included) it is far better for this to happen than to be suspended or even fired but then again will there be further revelations that could see Sasshi being fired for good? Other fans think that HKT48 is being punished and that their fans might dislike the presence of such a high profile member in their ranks. I actually think that HKT48 will become popular because of Sasshi. Aki-P thinks that Sasshi will be a good mentor to the HKT48 kids on what not to do and even Mariko chipped in saying that this is a good move for Sasshi.

I’m not angry with Sasshi for breaking the rules even though she has been careless, I’m more angry with the ex-boyfriend who would stoop so low as to spill the beans on her.  The magazine have really timed this story so well just after the election.  Sasshi has worked so hard to get where she’s at and now she’s starting at the bottom once more. Will this affect her placing in Not yet or is it only AKB48 that she’s been taken out?

This is Sasshi’s tearful apology announcement:

Sasshi Strikes Back!

There’s still a long way to go for Sasshi to overtake Nogizaka46 and top the Oricon Charts come next week but her fans are giving a good account of themselves in not letting the idol group have it all their own way. In the 2nd day of sales, Sasshi managed to beat Nogizaka46 (Sasshi – 29,528 to N46 – 21,552). That’s nearly an 8k clawback over the big lead they had yesterday so it seems it’s game on in this battle.

Did anybody manage to catch the live AKBingo (Sashi Bingo) episode last night? What a riot it was and not even showing the sales figures for the first day put a dampener on Sasshi’s enthusiastic energy. It was probably one of the funniest AKBingo episodes for a while from Yuko being woken by Sasshi on the phone and realising when she turned the TV on that the episode was live to the messages by the idol groups taking part in Sasshi’s festival to Sata slipping and falling more than once on the studio floor during Sasshi’s punishment! Definitely an episode to check out.

Sasshi vs Nogizaka46 – The 1st Day Sales Are In

So today was the day when we’d find out who would come out on top in the much publicised and hyped-up battle between everyone’s favorite wota girl Sasshi and the new kids on the block and AKB48’s official rival Nogizaka46.  To be honest I’m kinda surprised how the sales results have come out. I expected the figures to be much closer than what they are but congratulations are in order to Nogizaka46 who triumphed with sales of 111,222 compared to Sasshi’s 56,879. One thing in Sasshi’s  favor is she did even better than Mayuyu’s debut and sold 6k more than her so congratulations are in order to her.

I would have thought that all AKB48 fans regardless of whether Sasshi is their oshi or not would have bought her single in order to beat their upstart rivals.  Perhaps there will be a counterattack by AKB48 fans tomorrow who will go out and buy Sasshi’s single? This battle isn’t over yet.

COME ON SASSHI, I’M PRAYING FOR YOU TO WIN THIS FIGHT!

 

Sasshi’s Solo Debut Single CD Covers & PV Preview Released

Even though there’s well over a month to go until her solo debut single ‘Soredemo Suki da yo’ is released, the covers for Sasshi’s CD and a preview of the PV to accompany the main track were released yesterday. There will be 4 versions of her CD coming out: Type A, B, C and a Theater version. 3 of the CD covers show the 3 different personalities she’ll play in the PV. Type A has her as an idol, Type B as a schoolgirl with a negative attitude and Type C as a freelance worker. The covers are as follows:

The PV preview looks like this:

I’m hoping that she’ll prevail over Nogizaka46 who also release their 2nd single on the same day (May 2nd).

Nogizaka46 vs Sasshi Is On!

The first head to head chart battle between a member of AKB48 and their official rivals Nogizaka46 has now been given the green light! On May 2nd Nogizaka46 release their 2nd single whilst Sasshi also releases her debut solo single. This is going to be an interesting fight as I’m sure AKB48 fans will try to not let their newest rivals win this contest. As for myself, I’ll be in Sasshi’s corner all the way. Let battle commence and may the best one win!!

Sasshi Becomes A Model!

Sasshi has joined fellow AKB48 member Tomomi Itano as becoming a model for the fashion brand Samantha Thavasa. On February 22nd, Sasshi appeared in a press conference where she stated that she was as surprised as anybody when the brand asked her to become their latest model.

As well as this Sasshi will also adorn the cover of the latest JJ magazine which comes out on February 28th. In addition, she’s teamed up with the magazine to promote a new brand called Honey Sassy which will sell 345 original purses that come in 3 different colours.

The last piece of news about Sasshi is about her debut solo single. It was previously stated that her song ‘Soredemo Sukidayo’ was coming out in March but not anymore. It’s been pushed back now to May 2nd which is Aki-P’s birthday.

Sasshi Performs Her Debut Solo Single on Music Japan

Sasshi got a chance to perform her debut solo single ‘Sore Demo Suki da yo’ tonight on Music Japan. For those that haven’t heard it before – it’s one of those sugary sweet idol tunes that bring a smile to your face after you’ve finished listening to it. It’s a tune that suits Sasshi well I reckon.

‘Sore Demo Suki da yo’ is released sometime next month. As always be quick – this video won’t be up for long!

Sasshi’s PB Outsells Yuko and Mayuyu!

Last week saw Sasshi release her first ever PB ‘Sashiko’ and to everybody’s surprise it has outsold both Yuko and Mayuyu’s PB by quite a substantial margin in it’s first week. Sasshi even mentioned during a handshake event 2 days ago to celebrate the release of the PB that hers would never outsell Yuko in overall sales (Yuko’s PB has sold 190k so far). Sales for the first week was 57,226. Compare that to Yuko’s 41k and Mayuyu’s 45k during their first week of release and she’s done extremely well. She’s even broken the Oricon weekly chart record for a female solo in the PB category. If sales carry on being this good she may well overtake Yuko’s total. 2012 is shaping up to be IMO a fantastic year for Sasshi. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she improves on her placing in this year’s senbatsu election, maybe not enough to crack the Top 5 but I certainly see her getting 6th position.

Well done Sasshi.