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The story
Idol Kitagawa Rio posted a photo on social media that she said was taken during a “girls trip with fellow batchmates” (同期, dōki — people who joined/debuted the same year) over Golden Week. Since she gave no explanation of which batchmates were actually in the shot, posters on the 5ch forum threw out three names — Suzuki Serino, Homare, and Mei — and launched into a not-quite-detective hunt for the mystery companions, poring over details like the angle of an arm and a shadowy figure in the background. Opinions split between those backing her groupmates Homare and Mei, and those backing a batchmate from an entirely different field, and the thread rolled on without ever reaching a clear conclusion.
What people said
Given the angle, isn't it pretty clearly Homare?
Only open the thread if you're curious about her or think she's cute lol
When people want folks like that to click in, that's when they say "just trust me and take a look"
It's rare to see her leave the crease from her double-eyelid surgery this exposed
There's a girl taking the photo
So it's the three from the 15th class?
With Homare and Mei it's probably just a group LINE chat popping up on birthdays or something, if that
How many TV Tokyo batchmates does she even have?
Her only announcer-track batchmate is Suzuki Serino, right?
It's for her jealous boyfriend's benefit
Guess they made up — so sweet of Kita-chan
if Homare and Mei had a packed work schedule over Golden Week, then it's probably her TV Asahi batchmate
It says batchmate "GIRLS"
If it were the 15th-gen group, there'd be no need to add "girls"
Ah, I see
This might be the smoking gun
I figured Serino-chan was her only batchmate
but there must be hundreds of non-announcer TV Asahi employee batchmates, men and women both
it's probably not limited to the announce department
Reading through here, the evidence just keeps piling up
Weren't there something like 30 batchmates total, men and women?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HP9IALyacAAxI6Q.jpg
Huh
I figured TV show directors were seasoned pros with years of proven results, but I guess a newbie can just get handed the job straight away
You often see YouTube channels billed as "a channel launched by a former [Network] TV director" to sound impressive
but I guess that's not such a big deal after all lol
looking back on it now, it's stopped being funny
Still safe and sound, our Rio-rio
"5:00 PM was supposed to be my interview slot, but somehow Homare went first lol — I'm the busiest one here, so let me speed things up"
A female announcer having a boyfriend doesn't get her dragged like that
Maybe she's just not popular enough for anyone to care
Well, idols and announcers are just different, obviously
She's not anyone's yet
was there something toward the end nobody wanted brought up?
Skip the weird innuendo and just say it straight
I've never actually worked as a proper company employee myself, so I'm just guessing based on stuff my customers, friends, and family with real corporate jobs have said lol
Are you the guy who's always starting threads about Aoi and Getter?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
In the idol world, the exact line-up of “batchmates” — members who debuted or joined the same year — tends to become a hot topic every time someone posts on social media. Because batchmates often appear together, fans piecing together who’s in a photo from details like poses and half-remembered past interactions is a familiar ritual on Hello! Project-related forums. This time opinions split because posters didn’t agree on what “batchmate” even meant in this context: some backed her in-group batchmates Homare and Mei, while others backed a batchmate from an entirely different field, like Suzuki Serino. Since Kitagawa herself hasn’t clarified anything, neither side has moved past speculation. The thread also touched on friendship troubles and celebrity dating rumors, but those comments were based on individual posters’ memories or hearsay, not confirmed fact. Readers should keep in mind that the identity of the person in the photo remains unconfirmed, and the surrounding anecdotes are unverified.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Unbearably cute Kitagawa Rio-chan: “A photo taken during a girls trip with batchmates over Golden Week 📷” — which batchmate is this? Serino-chan? Homare? Mei?“.
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