Title: Long Long Ago, 20th Century
Universe: Kamen Rider Black RX, Kamen Rider Ryuki
Character(s): Morita Yousuke, Kanzaki Shiro, Kishida Tomoko
Series: The Unspeakable Oath | Between To-day and To-morrorow | Pagliacci | The Ghost of a Flea | Dangerous Days | dérive | In Accordance to Natural Law | Shadow Moon | Wake Up the Hero! | Rêve | Channelling the Power of Souls | Evanescent Quietude | Pearls Before Swine | One Day Closer to the End of the World | The Nobodies | Breath, Held | Collectors | International | Vice-Versa | Lonely, Lonely Heart | Life Eternal
Rating: U
Warnings:
Summary: “I read your paper on Crisis technology,” the younger man continued. “I was especially interested in your personal experience with the Crossover Mirror Technique.”
Length: 974 words
Author's Notes: I have so many things I haven't posted yet and I'm desperately trying to force myself into sharing them. also: external link.



( Long Long Ago, 20th Century )

I first really became conscious of Shimada Haruka whilst Oba Mina was in disgrace. A member of the ninth generation alongside her former classmate, Nakamura Mariko, Mori Anna, Yamauchi Suzuran, Yokoyama Yui, and, of course, Oba herself, Haruu was brought in as temporary captain of Team 4 during 2nd September 2011 through to 4th January 2012 when Oba finally made her triumphant return. This wasn't her only brush with leadership either, as in 2015, she was appointed as co-captain alongside Kitahara Rie as she was moved to Team K, a position she held for several years until it was done away with in 2017 and she announced her graduation. Haruu was always a smart girl, having no catchphrase, just a simple "I'm Team K's Shimada Haruka," and having some prior experience of shepherding wayward members in her school's tennis club. It's no surprise then that she went on to become the CEO of clerical and IT related company DCT.inc, based in Shibuya-ku... wait, looking at this, maybe I should try and get a job here?

Haruu joined AKB in 2009 as a kenkyuusei member and several months later debuted in the theatre during a revival of Team B's fourth stage, Idol no Yoake, during which she performed Itoshiki Natasha, a song that also featured on Sashihara Rino's debut single, Soredemo Suki da yo. As with Kato Rena, the only A side she appeared on was Manatsu no Sounds good!, yet that didn't stop Haruu from fast becoming popular with fans even if she wasn't able to rank in the successive general elections that followed. In 2010, however, she was moved to Team Unknown, and from that moment, the irrepressible Team 4 was born.

In 2012, having returned captaincy of her team back to Oba, she was moved to Yokoyama Team K during the fateful Tokyo Dome Team Shuffle, and from here she built her career as a Team K stalwart, appearing frequently on B sides during the years before she announced her graduation during a 2017 SHOWROOM stream. Having taken a break from the entertainment industry, Haruu has gone from strength to strength, with the establishment of DCT.inc, her marriage in 2023, and the birth of her first child in May 2024.

Since last year, I thought briefly of maybe staying in Atami for a longer period of time than just a daytrip. When I discovered that Haruu was the owner of a guesthouse in Atami, I thought very briefly about what it would be like to stay there, but I really don't have the courage for guesthouses, let alone guesthouses run by former Team 4 captains, I'd absolutely make a fool of myself.

Yet still, maybe one day...

Title: Care in the Community
Universe: AKB48, SKE48
Character(s): Matsumura Kaori, Sashihara Rino, Watanabe Mayu
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Had those years really been the best years of her life? Surely the happiness she had now, the feel of her daughter’s hand in hers, was more important to her than standing on that stage? And yet part of her ached for it, part of her felt lonely without it. All of a sudden, she begun to understand why Sasshi had brought Mayuyu with her.
Length: 875 words
Author's Notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATSUMURA KAORI!! 🎉💖🍰🎊🎂 AKC Courtneyyyyyy Culture Festival #118: Matsumura Kaori | Written for prompt "quite literally hamstrung by constantly wearing heels" for bleak idol bingo. also: external link.



( Care in the Community )

Kato Rena, alongside Abe Maria, Iriyama Anna, Izuta Rina, Nakamata Shiori, Fujita Nana, and several others, were announced as AKB48's tenth generation in March 2010. Together they passed the selection exam several months later, and although they made their debut, this new generation of kenkyuusei flew mostly under the radar until the 2012 Saitama Super Arena concert in 2012 and Rena joined Maria, Shiori, Anna, and our fresh lemon, Ichikawa Miori, all of whom had been promoted a year earlier to the ranks of Oba Mina's Team 4.



Manatsu no Sounds good! came out in May 2012. The original MV is still unavailable on youtube as it was kind of bleak, something that surprised me for a summer single. At the time, I was really enthusiastic as we'd just got the very heartfelt GIVE ME FIVE! in the same year, but I was a little embarrassed by this single being a summer bikini single. The video doesn't shy away from its focus, and I find it uncomfortable seeing the members on the beach in white bikinis before the dancing starts. At the same time, this discomfort is what I really like about AKB. It's easy to dismiss AKB as the mainstream, certainly they were absolutely the mainstream in 2012, but this sense of antagonism and subversion runs through the images for these releases, and Manatsu no Sounds good! is no exception in either of its forms. Although Renacchi was one of the last of her generation to be promoted into Team 4, someone in management clearly had an eye on her as she was immediately drafted for the media senbatsu amongst the big names and alongside Iriyama Anna, whilst other members of Team 4 were left to make up the numbers. It feels wild to talk about being in the senbatsu in such a way but that's where we were in 2012.

During her eleven years, almost twelve years in AKB, Renacchi had a good run in the senbatsu, appearing on fourteen singles, some of which—Labrador Retriever, Kibouteki Refrain—were really big songs for the group, some of which—Tsubasa wa Iranai, 11gatsu no Anklet—she was also in the media senbatsu for. On the B sides of these singles, Renacchi also appeared frequently, and whilst she never had a solo centre position, she did appear on Kaisoku to Doutai Shiryoku with Suda Akari as part of a Wcentre and had no less than three joint centres with Kizaki Yuria.

In late 2012, she was moved to Team B, but returned to Team 4 in 2014, now brought back under the captainship of Minegishi Minami, and then between 2017 and her graduation in 2022, went back to Team B, then to Team A, then to Team B again. Last year, several years after leaving, she announced her marriage.

Renacchi was always one of the hardest workers in AKB during her years in the group, continually going back and forth between the senbatsu and the Undergirls, she was one of those girls who was popular enough to be recognisable in the lineup of each single, but was also someone you could meet properly as the Kami 7 became ever more distant and then eventually began to graduate. Coming off the 20th anniversary celebrations, it is easy to be blinded by nostalgia for what we remember AKB to have been, but it was members like Renacchi who got us through to where we are now, we helped us reach a place where we can comfortably celebrate that anniversary.

Kato Rena made her mark in AKB48. The ninth and tenth generations gave us Team 4, and though we did not appreciate it at the time, they very much bridged the Homeric golden age of AKB antiquity with the modern day. Renacchi might not be the first name you think of when you recall AKB48 in 2012, but I have no doubt that it is her you will remember when you think back on those PVs and see past the Kami 7, and for this, for working so hard for the group, we owe her a debt of thanks.

( 2026 scrapbook )