What's the secret to Sakura's decade long popularity?

Quote from whorerwin

She received an A because the judges changed up the "criteria".

IIRC from watching Produce 48, they realised that the Japanese trainees did not receive the same training as the Korean ones, hence why the Korean trainees were performing better and receiving higher grades - so they changed it up a bit and made it a bit easier for Japanese trainees to receive an A.

I don't think they ever explicitly stated this but it was implied because of above ^ (in the middle of evaluating all the trainees, the judges themselves acknowledged that the training was different blah blah).

i agree but still don't think she should have gotten an A (regardless of the changed evaluation) but that's history...

She's one of my least faves in Izone but even i can see that she is very popular. I've read that it's her Chinese fanbase that is carrying her these days, not her Japanese one. Some have even implied that she doesnt have a big Japanese fanbase anymore now that she's left HKT.

The one thing she is good at is making people laugh.

it's because she's beautiful, with star power, and have this serious passionate charm in her

simple - she has star power

You could sing and dance well but still doesnt catch the eye of audience, there are many examples in the produce series.

Sakura is gifted that whenever she performs, u will immediately caught by her, despite she has no lines or not in the centre. Thats why many said she is the more suitable centre than wonyoung (not going to argue on this old story), it is only natural that the one that can catch audience eyes will be successful

Helped by the fact that she joined 48 very young as first gen of HKT48, pushed as ace from the start, and a favourite of Sashihara Rino who took her under her wing when she was transfered to HKT to lead the group , which both gave her oppurtunity to learn from the master and also opened up alot of doors when it came to tv shows etc.

She was basically groomed to become succesful idol since the start, and not the typical kpop idol who might train 5-6 years before debut, but a japanese idol who is thrown out on a stage day 1, where singing/dancing is the least important factor.

Quote from www1717

she's smart and knows what the fans wants

This is very true . And shes kinda relatable too and that's kinda popular with people nowadays .

She talk about games , checking fans Twitter hashtag and talk about it sometimes , fangirling to a drama and other GG .

Even remember some of her fans name that frequently come to handshake event etc.

Quote from www1717

Yes her fandoms carried her since Nogi48 is more relevant than akb48 in JP nowadays.

I think she's good at keeping the images that her fans wants

Humble/down to earth (not really show wearing expensive brands), gamer (relatable to fans), hardworking (no dating scandal/focus on her work), good at fanservice (she knows what ship that her fans ships her with) and the most important trait,monitoring her fans on SNS so she knows what her fans are talking about and when there's something wrong she directly clarify it.

Combination of these.

You mean 46 ??

It’s incredible how much Korea worships Japanese idols not talented or visuals compared to say a Thai idol.

I checked every clip. She isn’t that pretty nor talented. I will assume it’s her nationality and maybe personality.

extremely commanding presence

how? only she knows

one thing she has big eyes and a cold stare and stares straight into the camera/eyes of a person and this is a HUGE factor in terms of why she captures attention

She have crazy fan girls......like me

Quote from kurapika-BTS

It’s incredible how much Korea worships Japanese idols not talented or visuals compared to say a Thai idol.

I checked every clip. She isn’t that pretty nor talented. I will assume it’s her nationality and maybe personality.

It's quite ugly to be resentful of somebody success just because your personal favorite is flopping among koreans

In regards to the topic, I think the most interesting thing is how she managed to overcome the lies and slander in places like Pann Nate against her

Quote from kurapika-BTS

It’s incredible how much Korea worships Japanese idols not talented or visuals compared to say a Thai idol.

I checked every clip. She isn’t that pretty nor talented. I will assume it’s her nationality and maybe personality.

I'd say her personality is playing a big role .

Now into the nitty gritty.

It's not like she ever marketed herself as talented even her fans will almost always say "she's improving" etc you can even see it instead of "she's the best in this,etc"

I feel like in those situations fans play a role that potray what kind of image an idol have to a non-fans .

So instead of worship I feel like when people discover her they don't make that unrealistic expectations and not get disappointed or get turn off by it .

Honestly I hate it when people set that unrealistic expectations to some idols . Coz it can directly affected them.

JP artists normally have that?

Quote from kurapika-BTS

It’s incredible how much Korea worships Japanese idols not talented or visuals compared to say a Thai idol.

I checked every clip. She isn’t that pretty nor talented. I will assume it’s her nationality and maybe personality.

Sakura is way prettier than Lisa, what are you talking about? She's beautiful.

tbh i don't even know. I checked he any she doesn't have any real talent.

Quote from Tenken101

I always thought that Sakura gives off that "Main Protagonist" vibe. Like she's the pretty and hard working Next-Door-Neighbor type that you see in dramas where you can't help but root for her success.

(AND to beat that evil skanky rich side-bish who be tryin' to steal away the main man)

Wow... this sounds so accurate. LOL!