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Mariko-sama gets mad at press for being labeled “Former AKB”

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In a recent promotional event for Shinoda Mariko’s latest movie role, a news report recounts his interactions with Mariko-sama as he was interview her about the movie’s details.

The movie in question is Real Oni Gokko, which had a promotional event last week.  A sports newspaper writer reports that Shinoda specifically ordered media outlets to not put “former AKB48” after Shinoda’s name.

The writer suspects this may be because she is trying to change her activities as a celebrity; another writer also notes that other former members like Maeda Atsuko and and Oshima Yuko are more-or-less no longer labeled “former AKB48” as much as they used to.

What does Mariko-sama want written next to her name?  “Actress”.

It seems as if this kind of “order” was see as rude by many workers in the mass media, who believe that the title of “actress” is not 100% accurate for Shinoda.

One writer notes that, while Shinoda has a regular appearance on the TV show “PON!” (and a troubled fashion brand), she’s never been the main star in any TV drama series or movies (unlike Maeda Atsuko and Oshima Yuko).  She’s had many one-time acting roles, but even with Onigokko, she shares the main role with two others.

Reactions to the news from a recent 2ch thread seem to concur, though mention her terrible voice acting work:

  •  “Oh, okay”
  • “Maeda and Oshima are perfectly fine being called ‘former AKB’, aren’t they?”
  • “She’s a voice actress”
  • “I love Mariko-sama, but her voice acting was absolutely terrible…”
  • “Her voice-over of Koyuki was really bad, so…. she has some prospect as an actress!”
  • “They’ll probably just start using it (former AKB48) a lot now”
  • “Actress? Haven’t heard the before, haha.  Not the designer with one failed brand?”

Don’t worry, Mariko-sama, Jurina still loves you!

shinoda mariko matsui jurina

Author: reika

I’m writing about useless and stupid things a lot, and I like to laugh. My policy is 一期一会。It means treasure your meeting with everyone!

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  • WenTing (‘A`) うえんちゃん

    Hi there, I came across the post when googling about this news bc a reader on my tumblog notify me about it. I created an account just to post this reply LOL

    I’d like to clarify that ALL the press wrote Former AKB as her label when talking about OniGokko. If the PR/Agency was to pushed for the label to not be used, the news shouldn’t have carry the label. If it’s a request formerly sent down, the press will know what to do, than to go against it. Especially when ALL the news outlets just named her as former AKB. If I’m not wrong, even PON which she co-hosted, also mentioned that label.

    And this article doesn’t give a credible source from who they heard it from, only saying its “sports newspaper reporter”. I could also say Marichan says it’s fine, and I heard it from a reporter insider. It’s just bullshit that ONE source said about this and you guys take it at face value. The article is so degrading to Marichan.

    And if you didn’t know it, cyzo woman reported it. They are a tabloid blog, and had only mean words for AKB.

    • reika

      Thanks for taking the time to comment.

      Yes, it was to all press; it says so in article. And on PON, they used to label her as model, actress, designer, etc. But after her fashion brand failed, they changed her name to “Mariko-sama”.

      Yes, you’re correct, they are quoting a “sports news reporter”. They perhaps didn’t mention name to protect identity because the statements might be controversial. I dunno. And you’re right that it could not be credible.

      As for the one source, well… you’re right too. It is bullshit. I saw it in some 2ch threads, and I also saw the article on Yahoo News, Livedoor, etc; so I just assumed. I thought it was interesting, so I summarized it. However, very little of my own opinion is here. That being said, I didn’t think it was degrading. Sorry if it came across that way.

      • WenTing (‘A`) うえんちゃん

        Hey~ Thank you for your input.

        The point is “the article” says it’s addressed to all press, but when you check out the press articles that came out for OniGokko right down to the original press site, all if not most of the articles (I checked about 20 of them on and off the whole OniGokko media screenings) mentioned her former AKB status. It’s what the article or rather, the sports news reporter said that it’s for all press, but none other press said it, or even do anything about it. I don’t see why press, all press outlets, will go against the request. I’ve been to Japanese press events and the media always, well, most of the media, follows the guidelines because otherwise, they will get in trouble.

        It’s the same cyzo woman article going onto Yahoo News, LiveDoor and 2ch. Especially for Yahoo News, they probably filter it with rss so w/e that’s posted gets to go on Y!News. It’s not by them. Livedoor, maybe it works the same way, I’m not too sure. 2ch has so much trolls on it that maybe like what you find, it’s interesting, and so they shared it.

        I only find it degrading because of all the sarcasm on it. For someone like Mariko, and especially on a AKB-related site, I don’t see why such a sarcastic news is translated, and it’s not even credible. I’ve came to realise this site is a platform that some of the AKB fans I know would use for translated news (Mad props to you and your team for it!) and stuffs like these will only distort what people think of Marichan.

        Sorry if it sounded intruding for my comments. Thank you for taking time to read it as well. ^^

        • reika

          No problem! I didn’t think your comment is intruding at all. I realize maybe I did something wrong or incorrect, and I don’t mind if someone tells me that. I appreciate reading/responding comments, and you obviously took much more care to validate sources on this article than me, lol!

          Yeah, I think you’re right that LiveDoor, Yahoo News ,etc, probably just syndicated the cyzo woman article. I shall try to be more careful next time. I don’t intend to spread misinformation, but perhaps I got tricked because I was careless.

          Wow, I didn’t think so many people read on this site (^-^). I’m not sure its proper news most of time, since I just summarize some things thats maybe interesting.

          Of course feel free to comment any time. If somethings wrong, it’s better that I should know, and maybe I can present the better quality articles for future post (^-^)/

    • Hey Wen, I just wanted to echo some of Reika’s sentiments here. I try to read over everything before it gets posted, and I let this one pass. Now I could certainly see how it might appear rude or degrading.

      Sorry about that, really. As huge fans ourselves, that’s the last thing we’d want!

      We’ll keep an eye out for “cyzo woman” going forward Thanks for the information and the comment! I think we still have a lot to learn 😀

      • WenTing (‘A`) うえんちゃん

        Hey there. Thank you for replying to the comment as well.
        I usually ignore most of the stuffs that I don’t really see eye to eye with but only stepped in because it’s Marichan, who’s my 2Oshi and a reaaally nice person. ^^; My initial comment will seem relatively agressive but I’m glad you guys could see where I’m coming from.
        I believe a lot of intl fans will be thankful for the translations on this site. Keep rocking^^