Marina Kobayashi Announces Graduation From AKB48!

| 48 / 46 Group | Posted by Kai Okudara on Jul.14.2015

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AKB48 10th generation member Marina Kobayashi announced her graduation from the group during the encore of Team 4’s “Idol no Yoake” performance on July 11, 2015.

The announcement caused fans in the theater to shout in disbelief, causing Kobayashi’s voice to falter a little as she explained that in order to move towards her dream of becoming a television announcer there were still many things that she had to do. She had been thinking of graduation since the previous year but, because she had just joined Team 4 at the time and loves idols, she had been trying to balance school and work. Citing that even though she had been nervous about the move to a new team at first, she had grown to love her teammates and wanted to have her final performance with them.

Marin Kobayashi may be best known for her surprising 4th place ranking in the 2nd AKB48 Janken Tournament, which lead to her first and only appearance in an AKB48 A-side single, “Ue Kara Mariko” (release date: December 7, 2011). She was also one of the 20 winners in the Young Magazine AKB48 gravure model audition in 2015.

While there have been many graduation announcements in 2015, especially from members of AKB48 and their sister groups, this is a positive graduation for fans since becoming a TV announcer means that they will still be able to see Marin, even if it is in a different capacity. Former Morning Musume member Asami Konno became an announcer and is on television all the time now!

Related Link

AKB48 Official site: http://www.akb48.co.jp/