Sayashi Riho's Endless Sky

I am having one of those moments again. I am missing Sayashi Riho.

Graduations are so sad and with Riho I felt like everything was so rushed, I still can't accept that she graduated and is not a member of Morning Musume anymore. 

I had times I loved Riho and I had times I disliked how much management was pushing her. I never disliked Riho-chan as a person, as she seems such a lovely and cute girl. Management just took her Ace role way to serious and made her get such a big group of haters. It was actually really sad to see.

Riho, leading Morning Musume as their Ace, wanting to be dance center and having so many haters. 

Riho is a talented singer. If you believe otherwise, you have never seen her sing in a musical. She might not be the best singer Morning Musume ever had, yet she is really talented.

I wish fans wouldn't have been so hard on her, actually I wish fans weren't so hard on any idol. Riho gave up a lot to become an idol. She had to endure a lot of things, Hate, Love and even people who wished she would die. Why would you ever hate a hard working girl? It's not like Riho herself decided to become an Ace or to get as many lines as she had. Yet she always got all the hate.

Looking back, Riho did form the center of Morning Musume during the colorful era (are we in a new era already??). Even the members talk about how they always followed Riho and how it was really scary to have to do without her. 

As for me. I miss Riho. I am super happy a lot of other girls now get more chances to shine, although Mizuki and Maria are currently being pushed into the center spot. Riho for me was always a presence in Morning Musume that was reassuring. Pretty, cute, bit cheeky and extremely quirky. I really loved her voice in musical (more than in Momusu). Stacy's and Lilium showed me that there was a reason behind Riho being the Ace. She might not always hit her notes right, but she is vocally more reliable than Mizuki or Masaki. Especially during a musical. And the emotion in her voice. Urgh, for me Riho is a better musical singer than Tamura Meimi.

We all know Morning Musume changes. Yet Riho's graduation might have been one of the hardest. She is the first girl to graduate Morning Musume who I followed since auditioning. Her graduation was rushed and she was pulled out of Morning Musume like a band-aid. Ofcourse we had her graduation single, with two songs dedicated to her. Yet her leaving was so unbelievable, it still hasn't really reached my brain. With Kanon-chan we had the time to proces things and well she got the full graduation treatment, but with Riho. 

I am really looking forwards to hearing again from our colorful ace. I think with her the sky is the limit. If she stays in Hello!Pro she could do something with dancing, singing or with musicals. She has so many sides to her, I think she can really keep contributing to Hello!Project. 

For now I am hoping she is taking all the rest she needs and uses her time to learn more about the things she loves. She has deserved it and she has deserved all the love she can get. 

To Riho and her Endless Sky!