Nagahama Neru (Nikkei Entertainment 2017)

Cancellation of her 1-year-and-3-month-long kennin status and receiving full-time status of a Kanji Keyakizaka46 member made her want to be herself even more…
Nagahama Neru became a member of both Kanji Keyakizaka46 and Hiragana Keyakizaka46 from June 2016. For the Hiragana Keyakizaka46 Solo Concert at Zepp Tokyo that was held on March 21st and 22nd, 2017, she couldn’t get enough time for rehearsals due to the filming of Keyakizaka46 drama “Zankoku na Kankyakutachi”, and for her, that concert has topped her “most frustrating jobs” ranking.

At the Zepp Tokyo Concert, I joined the other Hiragana Keyakizaka46 members just before it had started. Somehow we managed to get the job done, however, I think I might have caused trouble to the other members who had already prepared properly.

At the Zepp Namba Concert that was held on May 31st, I could finally properly participate in rehearsals, and I felt a sense of unity among us. I was trying not to stand out during the Tokyo stage, but in Osaka, I thought I had to be more active during the MC session, I wanted to ease (Sasaki) Kumi-chan’s burden, so I was actively talking back then. After the concert ended, each of us spoke our thoughts during dinner, after which we were strongly determined to keep working harder in the future.

Basically, Kanji and Hiragana members rarely meet during concerts or handshake events, therefore, Hiragana members often view Kanji members as “cool seniors”. However, they spend a longer time together with me, so they can certainly see my weaknesses. But, there was a time when Kumi-chan told me “You aren’t our senior, you’re our comrade, you shouldn’t worry”, her words made me feel at ease.

In the “National Arena Tour 2017” that was held on August, Nagahama Neru sang more songs than any other member because of her kennin status. She sang her solo song “100-nen Matteba” while riding a hot-air balloon, waving her hands as she reached the rear audience seats.

Since they weren’t just my fans, I hesitated a bit at first, but I have performed so many songs on stage, this song made me feel closer to the members, and it also made me see the audiences’ faces and waved my hand out to them. I don’t know whether my singing had already improved, but Fuuchan (Saito Fuyuka) told me “I can no longer make fun of your singing.” (XD).

Nagahama was running through “National Arena Tour 2017” as a kennin member, however, on their regular program “Keyakitte, Kakenai?” that aired on the 24th of September, it was announced that she would be released from her 1-year-and-3-month-long kennin status, becoming a full-time member of Kanji Keyakizaka46. On her blog, she quoted words that represented her feelings “Bloom where you are planted”.

I had mixed feelings when I heard the cancellation of my kennin status at the studio. I couldn’t do both properly, and it made me really frustrated, however, I would’ve caused more trouble to everyone if I still couldn’t. I was relieved it was announced at the perfect timing when Hiragana Keyaki 2nd generation members had already joined them.

I managed to talk to the Hiragana Keyaki members a day before Zepp Sapporo (held on September, 26th), but they started crying as soon as we met. We talked about our memories together, and I was relieved to be able to apologize to them properly.

Receiving full-time status in Kanji Keyaki means that we have to be a group that shows our strengths altogether. I want to work harder to compensate the many troubles I had caused.

I have so many goals in the future. I want to do various jobs, and I want lots of people to know who Keyakizaka46 is. Because If I had met Keyakizaka46’s songs when I was in junior high school, I might have felt happier.

I also want to do activities that make contributions to my hometown Nagasaki. Appearing on “Kusunoki”, a television program which contains peace messages, was one of those activities. In Nagasaki, it’s normal to think about peace, but it’s different in Tokyo, and it surprised me. I think we have a responsibility to call out to those of our generation.

If I have spare time, I want to spend it with my hobbies. When I had lunch with Nogizaka46’s Ito Marika, she told me, “Devoting your off days to your hobbies can be the most relaxing things to do if you can connect it to your job”. It left me with a great impression when I heard that. Lately, I watch a lot of movies, I also create scrapbooks from fashion magazines. I want to grow up as both an idol and a human as well.

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Raw 坂坂的姐妹  & 不是西瓜 ​​​​@weibo
Translator hunter934, reposted with permission
QC Han & Seri