hello! i'm starting to write this at [checks watch] 7:58pm in romanian time (no idea what timezone it actually is. romanian time sounds stupid but we move), and it has been a little over an hour since the 43rd single senbatsu dropped. i have mostly positive feelings about it, but there are a few things bugging me so just. let's talk. maybe. idk. i'll try.

as i'm writing this, i have the photo of the senbatsu in front of me, and mixed feelings are welling up, mainly in one regard. that aside, i'm generally pleased with this senbatsu. i think i'll go from front row to third row, and then with some further under implications along the way. in my head, i'm framing this as a research article. in real life, i am not. let's continue.

i gotta say, that arguably, to me the most surprising part of this senbatsu is mitsuki being front row (+ wing, implicitly) yet again. it seems like mgmt is committing to pushing her as the #1 6ki, much like nyagi has cemented herself to be the top ranker in an already STACKED gen. more on that later. i am a firm believer of senbatsu/formations in general not having to be all about metrics, so i don't mind her being front row, it's just. i suppose part of me was expecting the mitsuki summer -> yada-chan winter wing theory to come to fruition. heck, if it were up to me, i'd have had okoshi-tan up there, but i AM biased so like, what do i know. i'll say that getting wing for two singles in a row, especially with how competitive senbatsu placements have gotten lately, is bold. i just hope it'll pay off, and on the other hand, i hope they won't make it a situation where they settle on a top 1 and give nobody else a center along the way (barring the initial airdrop). much like i saw on the TL, there is only about a year left until 7ki after all. i was already fully expecting mitsuki to be the summer center for 2027, i suppose this just furthers my expectations. i guess we'll have to wait and see at the end of the day.

now, onto the center herself - nyagi. well deserved and long awaited. if you know me, you KNOW i'm not one for repeated centers usually, but i feel like, at the very least, this time around, nyagi was the most fitting, natural and deserving choice. it's been a while since her last center, and especially after audition, i did hope that she'd be this time's center (out of the Likely candidates, at least). however, that being said, if aki-P and a&r don't give her a good song this time i WILL egg LLC. i'll be honest, for how talented nyagi is, i feel like her centers (besides zetsubyou and, ironically enough, audition) have all been rather underwhelming. in terms of personal preference, for me it'd probs be navel orange = cheat day >>>> ohiten. i just feel like neither of them (besides nebuore, maybe) is the image that'd first come to mind when thinking about the idol AND the individual inoue nagi. that being said, i really hope that this time we'll get a song that'll fully match her idol persona and character, as well as her real self, at least to some extent. she's a wonderful center, and all in all, an amazing girl AND a showstopper idol. i really hope the song she'll be given this time will do her justice. it's about high time it did that.

now, sakutan! i'm happy we're getting her in the front row again. it's been a while, but i'm really curious to see what side of herself she'll showcase for a winter single, and hopefully a really solid/cool/not underwhelming or subverting expectations (cough cough 41st and 42nd a-sides) song. i realize i might be an anomaly in this regard (based on some of the reactions on the TL), but i do think that she really does fit cooler/more エモい songs, arguably more than summer ones even (at least sometimes) (especially given sakutansyntaxgate), i can't wait to see what she'll bring to the table this time around.

i hope this is the single where LLC finally locks in after meddling past efforts, and this front certainly is an interesting one. i believe there's meaning in each of the members being selected this time, and their respective placements, so i just. really, REALLY hope the song will live up to expectations too.

now, fukujin-wise. to preface, i'll say that i REALLY thought we'd get hayashi/okoshi-fukujin this time, so this did take me aback a little bit, but well. aya getting a good position was to be expected given.... recent LLC tendencies (*which, to be clear, i do not agree with TO BE HONEST), so i think she'll be able to make the most out of her time as under zachou and showcase a more elevated performance (which is saying a lot, since she was ALREADY a great performer). i can't help but feel like she's the 最年少 that mgmt has the highest expectations for since what, asuka and maybe arguably renka herself, so it'll be really interesting to keep on following her trajectory in the coming years. (plus, oshi tunnelvision but i am PARTICULARLY happy about her being next to kyunkyun and synme with aru. the return of gummies, at long last. big day for me.)

mikyunkyun is also one i'm kinda surprised about - if anything, i thought she'd snag up one of the wings this time around, but i'm happy to see her synme w/ terepan regardless! plus her being next to kakki makes a LOT of sense (despite the concept of her being next to saku and (cough) winning the saku's favourite kouhai championship yet AGAIN also being a thrilling one).

now, kakki. please don't leave just yet. please don't let the leak come true just yet. please tell me we won't get anymore sotsus, besides riria's, until 7ki arrives. PLEASE. she's truly one of the pillars supporting everyone the most, be it kouhais, senpais or doukis, and it really is sentimental to think about her now having a position similar to maiyan, back from the 24th single. same could be said about saku. how time flies. doesn't it?

saku. i will NEVER get the saku oshis that kick up a fuss about her "not getting a good enough position" when she's been fukujin, front row or center for what, 95% of her career (only exception being hogoshoku, as far as i can recall), especially given the Things I've Seen for the latest few singles. she's an incredible performer, but at the same time, each and every single being only kakkisaku wings would've Gotten To A Point, for better or worse. that being said, she always shines tremendously no matter the position, so i'm sure she'll glitter as brightly as ever this time around too - there's no doubt about it.

terepan being next to aruno and being kyunkyun's synme feels so right, and it seems like, at long last, mgmt has finally settled on a 5ki top three, haven't they? w/ nyagi, miku and tere. took them long enough, but it really does seem like they're the ones that mgmt is placing the highest expectations on lowkey, so i really hope we'll get to see more of this trio in the future. would be nice to see them front (for mikyunkyun's second center single COUGH SPRING 2027 WE WILL BE THERE /hj) for an a-side, haha.

now, aruno! well aware this is a controversial opinion but what i will say is that i missed her in fukujin, and after her impact during zehibazu, it's well deserved, i feel like (in another world we would've gotten 2shi (HUH? nakanishi + hayashi. hashtag yeah.) fukujin synme but WE WILL HANG IN THERE UNTIL THEN).

now, third row. only a bit left to go. at some point i was scared they'd drop yumiki, but with how proactive she is on variety, she truly does deserve this spot, no matter what some naysayers might have to say. i'm still holding out hope that both her and runa will be fukujin, at least once, someday. please.

kikki this far in 3rd row isn't necessarily too far off from my own senbatsu prediction, but i didn't think, you know, they'd actually do it. i do think, though, that much like aya, her trajectory will be one to follow. i think she might have become one of 5ki's dark horses when all is said and done.

yanchan's return makes me SO happy! living proof that hard work pays off and that it's worth trying your best even after years, no matter what. as a naonao oshi, obvs she's grown even more in my eyes after seeing the development of the naoyan dynamic, but when you factor in her performance skills, her variety prowess and everything in between, it's a no-brainer. here's to many more senbatsus from now on (PLEASE).

okoshi-tan 3rd row saddens me, on the one hand, but ironically enough, on the other, it gives me hope. between her subbing in for moeka during that one performance of biriyani, to now being her synme on a senbatsu song, i REALLY do think that she might be THE dark horse of 6ki. i feel like mgmt remains pretty consistent with their initial trio pushes, but i reckon that okoshi-tan's gonna make a name for herself (in a positive way, fuck the haters) in a way that even management wouldn't have predicted. am i partially biased (due to her being my #2 in nogi atp, besides naonao)? yeah, but i really do believe in her. much like sakutan said back then, after the rain comes the rainbow. i think that okoshi-tan's gonna show us a really beautiful rainbow one day. we both just have to hang in there until then.

about satsu. my fellow oomfies will know that i was rooting for satsu to be front this time. all i have to say is, this is the 3rd single in a ROW where satsu's the third row center.

there are three constants in life: death, taxes, and sugawara satsuki senbatsu 3rd row center. (we WILL get that front someday. mark my words.)

yada-chan's, much like mitsuki's, is one of the more surprising outcomes of this senbatsu. especially for a winter single, i really did think she'd be one of the wings. i do wonder if mgmt have already decided and wanna go all-in with mitsu as the 6ki #1, or if they're testing out the waters and seeing how these three (+ urumin's) fans will move in the coming months. i, for one, will be keenly keeping an eye on this.

hayashi 3rd row saddens my soul, but her in senbatsu IS what she deserves, especially with how much buzz (/positive) she generated with zehi ni oyobazu. (we will get that fukujin for her, too, someday. please.)

hinadani!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! does this count as a proper reaction LOL but much like in yanchan's case, the living, breathing proof that there's no end to the progress and growth one can have and that, at least most of the time, one can reap the results of their hard work. (on that note, i find myself missing the summer of the 39th single. naohina synme... we had it so good back then. now i'm sad. again. MAN)

mayutan! her being 3rd row edge is somewhat surprising to me, but at the same time, part of me did think she'd get the ioki/ogawa treatment where they got dropped from senbatsu and subsequently became under center (+ a mayutan under zachou would've been FUN) but i'm looking forward to her performance for this winter single! it'd be really refreshing if we could get a more cool/cold mayutan this time around :'))))

now, that's it for the actual senbatsu members. other sparknotes include:

man i hope riria is under center IDGAF if people on reddit want it to be a 6ki instead, sorry. it can wait one more single. i really hope we'll get to see the culmination of riria's hard work as one of the under pillars with her being zachou one more time. LLC, please make that happen.

i'm surprised rentan wasn't selected. this marks the first non-3ki-included-in-senbatsu single since what, itsudeki all the way back in 2017??????????? how time flies (2). at least she'll get to send riria off at the andara. (ps. i really hope we'll get to see hinadani sending riria off with a smile too, somehow, despite them being apart this single. it's sweet and bitter at the same time. ;-;;;;)

not too surprised about no new 6kis in senbatsu or urumin being dropped, surprisingly enough. i WILL say that if we get urumin as under center, LLC should eat rocks. nothing against her of course, i genuinely think she's an AMAZING performer and would make for a great zachou but the senbatsu -> under center -> good position in senbatsu AGAIN schtick is getting really boring honestly.

(plus future insights and lowkey i HOPE we get mikyunkyun senbatsu center and kaibe under center next single. i know it's too early to even THINK about it but that'd be the pipedream. fr.)

now, we reach the one gripe i have with management in relation to senbatsus. feel free to call this oshi tunnelvision, feel free to consider this the insane ramblings of an annoyed naonao fan (derogatory), feel free to say whatever at this point. it's fine.

i'm just, so tired. after naonao's heartbreaking blog from the 42nd single, i just, physically and mentally and all in all cannot picture what more she could do to get back in senbatsu. i'm so serious. i KNOW it's not all about metrics, but i find it baffling. she's one of the 5kis that has a 100% sell out rate in terms of meguri, from the 29th all the way to the 42nd single. she has had multiple outside gigs this year and in past years, off the top of my head - shupure, goodspress, yotsuba, futari escape, grotesqqque, horiken, the list goes ON. she's appeared on outside shows (and done well, might i add), she's entertaining, she gives her all in meguris and her way of performing is so charming and unique and to me, the person that embodies nogizaka's ephemerality the best since nishino nanase herself, and i just. i don't get it. i really, really don't. words are not enough. i worry about her, especially because, were i to be in her place and know that the metrics and demand and hard work and everything in-between IS there but i STILL don't get a chance, my heart would break, to be completely honest with you. 5ki's going on their 5th year now. naonao's one of the only 5kis that hasn't ever been fukujin, much less front. she's been in and out of the senbatsu, much like a ball would bounce around in ping pong, and just. my heart aches for her. especially knowing mgmt's slights against her over time (no individual cut in the ENTIRE 5ki PB, schedules going unposted, over sexualization with NOTHING being done about it), it's breaking my heart. it really is. in a generation so stacked, there are bound to be a few people left out and that don't get all the glitz and the glamour, and i get it, that's how the idol industry works and there's pretty much jackshit we can do about it, since money talks but it turns out that if it doesn't talk fast enough, even THAT equates to nothing and i'm just. so, so tired when it comes to this. you have no idea. even so, i'll be cheering for naonao no matter where she is, and she'll shine the brightest in my eyes even if she's, for fuck's sake, under 3rd row edge, but it just hurts. it gets to a point, and it feels like, no matter what she'll do, it'll never be enough for the naysayers but, even worse, for the mgmt. it's all so deeply unfair. darn it.

that being said, to end on a less bitter note - i really hope this single will click from the get-go, without it having to take MULTIPLE listens or trying to copium our way around it, really. if we get a classic, royal road winter idol song, that'd be a dream come true. fuck it, with our ace, inoue nagi, let's get the nogizaka equivalent of snow halation. let's aim high. let's LOCK THE FUCK IN, especially @ mgmt. if you're reading this, you have one job. and at risk of having sounded REALLY cringe, yeah, i am serious.

if there's anything you'd like me to expand on, or anything you're curious about, or something that stuck out to you - feel free to comment! the more, the merrier really. sorry for my insane ramblings, and thank you for bearing with me. love you guys.

until next time;