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The story
Saito Madoka, leader of Hello! Project idol group OCHA NORMA, declared at her birthday event on October 27, 2026 that she will not be graduating, saying, “There are dreams I want to fulfill with OCHA NORMA.” Some fans had worried about a possible graduation given the group’s performance schedule, and on 5ch’s Hello! Project board the news brought relief — though others noted that several members have announced graduation shortly after denying any such plans in the past, making it hard to feel fully at ease.
What people said
【BREAKING / GOOD NEWS】Saito Madoka is NOT graduating! She's got dreams she wants to fulfill with OCHA NORMA!
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With this girl as leader, OCHA is only going to keep growing
All it does is spook the fans, there's nothing good about it
It's because some guy called Madocchi speculated from her blog that she might be graduating, since this tour has two Saitama dates
'I still have so much I want to do, so I've never even considered graduating.
My goal this year is the Kohaku Song Contest.'
Graduation announced the following month
So this is about as convincing as saying 'oh, is that so' in a totally flat, deadpan voice
Like, 'if you work hard enough, maybe you'll actually make it big'
Madopi would be 24, Hiromoto would be 23 (referring to the members' ages)
//www.youtube.com/shorts/vi_sxFaNYZs
Is this a hint that it's about time for a second one?
If anyone's graduating, it'd be Hiromoto or Nakayama from 'Manjaro' — they've been the bottom-ranked members, a year apart in age, since debut ("Manjaro" is a joke nickname riffing on the weight-loss drug Mounjaro)
They don't even have enough songs to run a 'preservation society' act (a 'preservation society' is how some retired Hello! Project groups keep doing reunion shows)
People said the same thing about BEYOOOOONDS ('Biyo'), so who knows
BEYOOOOONDS is still going even after Yume left right at her 5-year contract mark, so maybe that rule's still in play
Though with COVID delaying their debut, the cutoff age is probably pushed up to 27
Not relevant at all
Yamazaki's graduation was sudden and didn't look timed to her contract ending, and Tamura, Ogata, Yanagawa, and Yagi all quit at the 4-year mark
I love both Juice=Juice and OCHA, so I want her to make her big dream come true
OCHA NORMA's leader has to be Madopi
That's literally just Michishige and Makino
That's a last resort though
That means disbanding the group
She's only a year apart in age from Reirei though (nickname for another member)
I want them to keep going long enough to join the M-line Club as OCHA NORMA (M-line Club is a unit for Hello! Project members who keep performing past 25)
Background and key points of this discussion
In Hello! Project, it’s often said that many members graduate around the five-year mark when their contracts come up for renewal, and the thread took note of the fact that OCHA NORMA is entering its fifth year since debut. Commenters brought up past cases — such as Makino Maria announcing her graduation the month after saying she “hadn’t considered graduating,” and former members like Yamazaki, Tamura, Ogata, Yanagawa, and Yagi all leaving before their contracts were up — as reasons why a member’s own words aren’t necessarily a reliable guide to what happens next. Saito Madoka, OCHA NORMA’s leader and reportedly one of its most popular members, prompted a mixed reaction to her “I’m not graduating” announcement: some took it as reassuring news, while others, citing past precedent, weren’t ready to relax completely.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “OCHA NORMA’s Saito Madoka Makes an Announcement About Graduation at Her Birthday Event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.”
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