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The story
When a new Juice=Juice fan posted that they were sad because the member they’d come to love had “left the group” (脱退, dattai), veteran fans piled on with corrections insisting it should be called “graduating” (卒業, sotsugyō) instead — prompting the poster to apologize. The exchange sparked a wider discussion on 5ch’s Hello! Project board about the distinction between the two terms. Many pointed out that early Morning Musume departures were actually described as “leaving the group” (脱退) at the time, and reminisced about just when “graduating” became the standard term.
What people said
In Juice=Juice's case, new fans just flow in while completely ignoring the annoying old-timers anyway.
Back in Morning Musume's early days, Fukuda Asuka and Ishiguro Aya were both treated as having "left the group." It was only after that when "graduating" took on its special meaning.
It was called "leaving the group" back then too.
Did they find out by digging through old videos?
I don't really get it.
25: graduated
26 and up: held back a year
Reiruru's a grad-school graduate.
*,*71,458 *,*72,034 +*576 *4 Miyazaki Yuka
*,*53,307 *,*53,648 +*341 *1 Sato Masaki
*,103,278 *,103,524 +*246 *4 Uemura Akari
*,137,450 *,137,625 +*175 *8 Ishida Ayumi
*,*45,290 *,*45,380 +**90 *8 Asakura Kiki
*,136,308 *,136,357 +**49 *9 Inaba Manaka
*,*32,178 *,*32,212 +**34 *5 Ozeki Mai
*,108,270 *,108,293 +**23 *1 Sasaki Rikako
*,114,262 *,114,172 -**90 *1 Miyamoto Karin
*,*81,484 *,*81,370 -*114 *2 Takeuchi Akari
*,121,121 *,120,982 -*139 18 Morito Chisaki
*,141,769 *,141,542 -*227 11 Fukumura Mizuki
Yukanya's on fire right now.
They held an event and it really was a proper "graduation" though 🤭
It was an "end of activities," though.
This right here is exactly the kind of annoying fan we're talking about.
She was the original leader!
You don't have the right to call yourself a Juice=Juice fan.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
In idol culture, including Hello! Project, the term “dattai” (脱退, “leaving the group”) was long the standard way to describe a member’s departure, but since the 2000s the term “sotsugyō” (卒業, “graduating”) has become the norm. As pointed out in the thread, the departures of early Morning Musume members like Fukuda Asuka and Ishiguro Aya were in fact reported as “leaving the group” at the time, and the now-common practice of calling it “graduating” is a relatively recent convention. The gap in how new and veteran fans perceive these terms largely comes down to how much they know about this shift in terminology. At the same time, it’s a common misconception that there’s a strict official rule distinguishing “leaving” from “graduating” — in truth, which term applies isn’t rigidly defined.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “New Juice=Juice Fan: ‘Sad That the Member I Came to Love Left the Group’ → Veteran Fans Pile On: ‘Say Graduated!’ → Apology“.
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