Juice=Juice week: Otsuka Aina

Otsuka Aina

We are starting this week of with the only member Juice=Juice has ever lost.

Name: Otsuka Aina

Nickname: Tsukapon

Color: Orange

Birthday: April 3, 1998 (19)

Left: July 5

Otsuka Aina was first seen during the 9th generation auditions for Morning Musume.

She was one of the 6 finalists, yet was sadly not choosen to be a 9th generation member.

In 2011, however, Aina joined Hello!Pro Eggs togheter with the other finalist of the 9th gen auditions Mogi Minami and with Ogawa Rena. She debutted in September of that year.

In 2012, Aina was choosen to be a part of Hello!Pro Kenshuusei's first single Kanojo ni Naritai!, togheter with Miyamoto Karin, Tanabe Nanami, Hamaura Ayano and Taguchi Natsumi.

During the Hello!Pro winter concert of Febuary 3th, it was announced that Otsuka Aina would be part of a new Hello!Pro Unit alongside Miyamoto Karin, Kanazawa Tomoko, Takagi Sayuki, Uemura Akari and Miyazaki Yuka. The unit was later called Juice=Juice and Aina recieved the image color/fruit Orange. She participated in the upcoming indies singles: Watashi ga Iu mae ni Dakishimenakya ne, Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru and Ten made Nobore!

Aina got an injury around June and couldn't preform during some events. She was present at the June 13th event at Ikebukuro Sunshine City as Tsunku announced Juice=Juice's debut. This would be her last event as a Juice=Juice member.

On July 5th it was announced that Aina left Juice=Juice, due to problems with her family and her contract. She left a short message on Juice=Juice's blog saying she was sorry and thanked her fans for their support. She didn't recieve a graduation ceremony as she had left instead of graduating.

All Juice=Juice goods with Aina on them were removed from the shops and Juice=Juice had to record their debut single again, as Aina had already been part of it. 

The real reason why Aina left was revealed years later by Aina herself. She returned to the spotlight in 2014 and has been preforming as a solo act ever since. She also participated in a few plays.

Aina told her fans that she didn't think she had a high enough level to be part of Juice=Juice and was struggeling with getting to a higher level. Her family really wanted her to stay, as they thought it would be a waste to give up, yet Aina wanted to stop.

Fans also said Aina always wanted to be a solo artist and only joined Hello!Pro to meet Okai Chisato. I, however, doubt she would go to all that trouble just to meet Okai.

If you want to follow Aina please do so here:

Blog: https://ameblo.jp/ainaotsuka/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aina_otsuka43

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aina_otsuka43/?hl=ja

Aina was one of my favorite Hello!Pro Kenshuusei at the time of her debut in Juice=Juice. She was my second favorite after Kanazawa and stayed their until the day she left. Even now I am really sad she left the group, as I think she would have made a great double center with Miyamoto Karin. I still support her on her social media and hope she will stay smiling and singing!