If Miyabi’s time has come, so be it

Shed no tears should Miyabi of Berryz Kobo and Buono! go down because of the current boyfriend “scandal.” This kid has had an astonishing career and will never have to look back. Only we fans will have to endure the consequences.

 

This looks like a done deal, and it looks like she wants it to be a done deal. She’s found the love of her life, and forget everything else. As modest and responsible as Miyabi appears to be, it’s apparent she has recently made no attempt to further conceal her relationship with this boyfriend. The only question appears to be if Miyabi will get the formal graduation, or the abrupt boot. That will be up to Tsunku and his associates.

 

For those who take a dim view of the “rules” that Hello! Project and UFA have set for their young performers in Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute, the Eggs and other groups, I’m one of the few who support these guidelines. The two big violations: Smoking and dating. Both can bring down a performing unit very quickly. Smoking wrecks vocal chords, destroys skin and drains the physicality needed to sustain H!P's unrelenting dance routines.

 

Dating? Imagine if Berryz Kobo members, for example, were allowed to fraternize seriously with members of the opposite sex while they were under contract with H!P and UFA. Can you picture the jealousies, distractions and outright disruptions of the breakneck rehearsal, concert and TV appearance schedule that would result? It is a good rule. No doubt members have likely violated it and gotten away with it in the past – but any such activity has to be kept breathlessly secret.

 

This differs considerably from two other high-profile boyfriend “scandals:” Megumi in 2006 when she was ousted from °C-ute because of photos that caught her with a male friend, and Miki Fujimoto, when she left Morning Musume in 2007 to devote more time to her personal life. And don't forget Mari Yaguchi, who left Morning Musume in 2005 because of a boyfriend episode. But Yaguchi doesn't really count, since she has become an ace MC at the Hello! Project concerts and, indeed, even continues singing with the Elder Club (and does a great job of it to boot).

 

Megumi was a rising star, but her tenure was still quite short (she had three years in and had just started with °C-ute the year before). Miyabi, in contrast, is a walking encyclopedia of accomplishments with Hello Project, the anchor voice for Berryz Kobo and front girl, for the most part, for Buono! She’s been with Berryz since 2004, and four years is enough for any singer in the volatile Japanese idol-music sweatbox.

 

Miki was likely dating her guy for quite some time and probably wanted out of Morning Musume anyway. She was popular, but had a full career behind her, and never had the charisma that either Megumi had or Miyabi still possesses.

 

Maiha, an original Berryz member until graduating in 2005, never had the nerve to stay with it. Her parents were a pain, and she appeared very glad to get out from under the idol spotlight. Then there’s Aibon, whose smoking and dating was a double-barreled ticket out of the Hello Project limelight.

 

Miyabi, though, is very different. She is infinitely more elegant than anyone else in Hello Project. She has to be because her trademark Jay Leno-like chin has been somewhat of a liability in the glamour department (personally, I love that chin and the long nose propped atop it). She is not built to dance, but does a fantastic job anyway. When she is on stage, she is technically superb but you sense she would be just as content to go shopping in Akihabara or take a stroll in Yoyogi Park. This is a kid with a deeper sense of reality and she will be quite happy after her singing days.

 

And what a catch for the boyfriend. Miyabi just has about anything a guy could want – a “foundation” (i.e. career aspirations), classic beauty, a calm demeanor and pleasant, polite personality. It’s the entire package.

 

If it’s time to say goodbye to Miyabi, then she will go out knowing she did it all. Instead of grieving this loss, fans should celebrate this fine young lady and what she has contributed to Japanese popular music and culture.

 

This is Radicalipton signing off – for now.