Uh, if you don’t get the reference, don’t worry… I’m just saying that Acchan’s lack of self-awareness would’ve been interesting to see her overcome in Helter Skelter, where self-awareness is arguably the main villain and antagonist of that movie. Watch it, and you’ll understand.
So yeah, Acchan moved on from AKB, or did she? Go to her instagram, and you’ll see two things dominate it: Pictures of cats (hers, I’m guessing?), and AKB members. She even has pictures of her with AKB paraphernalia. Good memories I suppose, but maybe she’s reminded of the lovely group of girls that helped her build the house of AKB everyday? Or maybe they are all friends still, and hang out frequently?
It was heart-warming to see Maeda appear onstage at the Sousenkyo this year to congratulate Takamina on her best ever ranking position. You have to wonder if she longs for a chance to be back with AKB, or if she truly transitioned and has moved on. I guess having all four of your solo singles reach the top five in Japan’s music charts could be an indication of where her focus is at these days. Or maybe she’s so busy with all the appearances in movies and variety shows that she isn’t really thinking about AKB anymore. What I find really fascinating about her is that she could’ve probably stayed on with AKB even up until now, and still held onto her Godlike status amongst both her peers and the AKB wota fandom. She gave up the coveted Center Spot to go act in films, which she’s slowly getting there in terms of being a household name. But she’s never going to be another Ko Shibasaki, or Ryoko Shinohara. That much is obvious. So my point is that she gave up being the most important member AKB ever has had to become just another actress trying to make it in Japan.