Sakaki Miyu: The Relentless Idol of STU48

Do you remember that cute, young Japanese girl on YouTube that would upload covers of Hello!Project songs? Remember how she wanted to be an idol under H!P? Well, if you remember or this is your first time hearing of her, she is now living her dream of being an idol in, ironically, an AKB48 sister group! Despite the weird turnover from H!P to 48G, she is someone to look out for in the upcoming sister group taking over the waters of the Setouchi region and your life.

Meet Sakaki Miyu (榊美優), nicknamed CUCA (くーか). She is a trainee member under STU48, a new AKB sister group based in the Setouchi region in Japan.

Before joining STU48, Miyu was known for regularly uploaded dance covers of popular Hello!Project group and solo songs on her Youtube channel 3u10. This led to a high following by Japanese and foreign H!P fans. She began expanding her tastes in 2011, with a bigger rise in 2015, and began covering other groups like AKB48, Girls Generation (SNSD), BABYMETAL, Kara, and even boy groups like Arashi. She has also performed two solo sidewalk lives and has had actual wota attend those lives to cheer her on.

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If you recognize her by the nickname, yes, this is the same CUCA who has been uploading covers on YouTube since 2008. The adorable 15 year old who began singing and dancing to Koharu Kusumi solo songs, with matching inspired outfits handmade by her mom, has finally achieved her idol dreams as of March 2017.

Sadly, after joining STU48, she took down all 250+ videos, deactivated her twitter, and shut down her online blog. Her channel and side channel can still be accessed, subscribed to, and comments can be posted in the discussion section. Also, some of her covers, mostly the BABYMETAL covers, can be found reuploaded by other channels on YouTube. They are now sacred relics of her YouTube channel’s past.

Miyu didn’t go completely silent after becoming a member. She now does Showroom lives and talks with her new and old fans. We learned through Showroom that she loves to intimidate her teachers, admires Sashihara Rino (STU48 manager), make miniatures, can somewhat cook pancakes, and speak English to English speaking fans. Even though she doesn’t upload covers anymore, Miyu makes an effort every livestream to perform a few 48G songs, requested by fans or planned by her, to show her progress in singing and dancing. She has gained another nickname, WaruCUCA (わるくーか), after covering Warukii a few times during the Showroom live phase of the STU48 auditions. Miyu seems to be very successful with 3,000 views every stream!

Currently, Miyu is getting ready to participate in the AKB48 49th Single Senbatsu Sousenkyo. This will be her first major event with 48G. While the best way to support her during this competitive event is voting for her by buying the latest AKB single, supporting her livestreams on Showroom can help her get more exposure! After Sousenkyo, she will be prepping with STU48 to make their Tokyo Idol Festival debut. Foreign fans can get discounted or free tickets with proof of passport so if you are in the Tokyo area in August, this will be your chance to see Miyu perform live with other members of STU48!

So now everyone is asking, why did she turn to the dark side and audition for AKB? We all wanted her to be in Morning Musume and H!P. The H!P community had a strong feeling she would get into H!P one way or another, but the sudden audition and passing into the 1st generation of STU48 left fans in shock. Some even said they can’t be fans of her anymore if she in a 48 group now. Wasn’t H!P her idol goal? Does she still love H!P and Morning Musume?

Well, during her YouTube career, she actually auditioned for Morning Musume on three separate occasions.

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In June 2012, she submitted her first H!P audition for Morning Musume’s 11th generation audition. However, her audition was rejected due to age restriction. The rules for this audition asked all potential auditionees to be age 10 by April 1st. She was age 9 at the time of auditions and her birthday wasn’t until April 28th which resulted in the audition rejection.

Miyu auditioned for a second time, technically her first official audition, in April 2013 for Morning Musume’s 12th generation auditions. She managed to pass to the second round but, a few weeks later, she received a letter from UpFront Productions claiming she did not advance to the third round and that UFP felt “pity” for her . She wrote a blog post later on describing how she cried for a long time then felt “lost” and “didn’t know what to do now” toward the end. For a short while, she began uploading covers and updating her blog less frequently. Fans speculated Miyu was very depressed and wanted to take a step back to evaluate what she really wants to do.

Her final H!P related audition took place in March 2014 for Morning Musume ‘14’s (Golden) Audition. She did not make it pass the first round, which sparked another short period of sporadic YouTube uploads and blog updates. Many were wondering when will it be her time to shine or if she will begin to lose hope in becoming an idol. She got back into uploading covers again in 2015 but there was a enormous increase in non-H!P groups covers, which caused more speculations that she was losing interest in H!P.

Miyu recovered and continued uploading covers until early 2017 when she began another period of intermittent uploads and blog posts. Fans worried that she was losing interest in covering songs. It wasn't until February 2017 when STU48 announced the finalist for Kanagawa and #36 looked awfully familiar.

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At first, the H!P community and fans were confused if it was really Miyu or not and had to base everything off this single profile picture of her. Many began comparing this picture to her latest covers but nothing was confirmed until her first Showroom live. This initiated mix feelings from her fans and the community. Some fans were excited to see her getting so far into the audition and wanted to see her dreams come true, while others were concerned for her safety being in a group like AKB48 “known” for scandals, love bans, and (false) accusations of prostitution.

Luckily, the majority of her fans were in support of her auditioning for STU48 and hoped she can become a 1st generation member. The good news came in March 2017 that Miyu made the final cut and became a member of STU48!

Personally, I am happy to see Miyu’s dream come true in the most unexpected group. I also was surprised to see her auditioning for a 48 group since she always talked about only wanting to be in Hello!Project and/or Morning Musume. She is a relentless idol who has had her fair share of self-doubt but didn’t let it stop her from achieving a goal. H!P auditions tend to be harsh but I’m grateful she went through them so she can get feedback and the experience and not let it affect her. It set her up for physical and mental success in the STU48 auditions.

I also don't think Miyu lost interest in Hello!Project either. If you don’t follow 48G, Sashihara Rino was a big fan of H!P and other idol groups before joining AKB48 and still actively supports and follows those groups to this day. She may have given up on becoming an idol under H!P, but she didn’t give up on becoming an idol in general. I believe she will still be a fan and support H!P during her time in STU48.

While Miyu may not have been a top member during the auditions and didn’t make senbatsu lineup for STU48’s coupling song, she is successful for living the idol dream she has dreamt about since childhood, even if the dream was tweaked. Reading her history, I feel proud for watching her grow to where she is now and I look forward to her future in 48G.

Please support Sakaki Miyu on her journey with STU48 and the other 48 Family groups!

STU48 Profile: http://www.stu48.com/feature/sakaki_miyu
Showroom Live Room: https://www.showroom-live.com/48_SAKAKI_MIYU
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/3u10
 
-Alana (Milky Kitty)