The Nogizaka 5th generation controversy

For those not in the know.

context

Super mega group Nogizaka 46 has been introducing the world to the latest generation of new members.

One of the gimmicks they use when introducing a new generation is giving the center position for their next single to one or sometimes two members of the new generation

the controversy

Nogi used this tactic with the fifth generation, but some poor past choices have been revealed by the new girl they put in that spot.

here is an article reporting a temporary hiatus

One moment, please...

ive seen some fans describe the past posts as obscene, but i haven't read them.

my thoughts

first and least important. in this context i dont like the idea of a brand new member getting a center spot for the main song of a release.

Second, I am generally in favor of giving second even third or more chances. (there of course are circumstances when extra chances are not deserved) so i wish this girl the best and a long and successful career

Quote from bzzz

Following were accusation against Aruno, all happened within 1 year before joining the group.

1) Girlfriend to rent. Men could dine and hung out with her after paying her a certain amount.

2) Selling her used panty and posted a vulgar message to tempt middle-aged men to buy her 1) service.

3) Condescending the disabled. She tweeted something along the line of why could not the comatose patient helped themselves with photosynthesis.

4) Leaking some info to her "clients".

5) Bad mouthing senior Nogizaka's members (saying they were too mediocre for Nogizaka.)

1), 3) and 5) have been confirmed true. 4) has no evident and her clients have denied. 2) has been excused as a malicious prank on her, her account was hacked.

None of Aruno's accused actions was illegal yet, her confirmed actions, 1) especially, severely tarnishes Nogizaka's refined lady image.

Aruno is not the only problematic new member. Another new member whose name slipped out of my memory shared a yet-to-be-published photo of Nogizaka with her boyfriend who shared it to his friend who published it on SNS. I guess I don't have to address that Nogizaka has unwritten dating ban.

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1 and 2 would definitely hurt her with certain fans

3 is either in bad taste or incredibly mean and insensitive

5 seems like it might make for a stressful work environment.

i wonder what management knew during the audition process

Quote from bzzz

It is not about hurting her, it is all about hurting the marketing point (image) of the group. Fans pick Nogizaka over other countless groups in the market for its certain image.

The agency said it knew nothing, it was in rush to debut new members.

yeah, i meant what you said. I should have said hurt her image or marketing.

Quote from bzzz

A new scandal, kind of, of the same new member who shared insider photos with her boyfriend.

I've remembered her name now, Okamoto Hina.

An old tiktok video of her was found, she talked something along the line of she wanted to be a celeb so she could see Nissy (a male singer).

This is not that scandalous yet, it gave the image that Nogizaka was becoming a stepping stone to date male celeb, which is not very good marketing wise.

Since Okamoto has not been officially announced as a new member, she is in a bigger risk of elimination.

it's funny the most polished 46 generation is the most scandalous