Funny / Sakura Gakuin

As a group of elementary- to junior-high-aged girls who are explicitly encouraged to be themselves – or better yet an exaggerated version of themselves – it's only natural that Sakura Gakuin would have more than its fair share of hilarious moments over the years.

This page will be organized by Nendo (Japanese school year), and will of course be expanded as the group continues and archival footage is dredged up.

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2010 Nendo

• Sakura Gakuin's debut at the first Tokyo Idol Festival. In addition to Ayaka barking like a dog (her Old Shame) and the 6th-graders - NHMR - pulling their scripts out of their shirts (making the audience laugh), Nene broke the flow of the girls' introductions when she responded to someone calling her name, then was unable to get through her speech without laughing.
  • Suzuka's discussion of her "charm point" is, perhaps unbeknownst to her, the height of Understatement.
    "My charm point is my ears that stick out a little."
  • Yui's introduction is also unintentionally funny due to her being an absurdly late-bloomer and looking far younger than her age
    "My name is Yui Mizuno! I'm 11!"
• The behind-the-scenes of one classroom skit contains this.
  Mori: "Are you all nervous?"
  Moa: "No."
  Mori: "Of course not. The one who's most nervous is—"
  Moa: "—Sensei."
  Mori: "Sensei. Right."
• During the very first Nendo Test, right after Mori-sensei hands out the papers and leaves the room, one girl, probably Hinata, makes this outburst upon seeing the questions:
  "What the hell is this?!"
  • Also during this test, before the girls start working in earnest, the camera folks are roaming around the room. They come upon Moa (who else?), who had just seen the "Name this person" question with the famous photo of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, so of course she tried to copy his expression for the camera.
  • Speaking of that Einstein question, Ayami got it wrong; she wrote 「エジプト人」^*  ("Egyptian").
  • For one answer Moa didn't know, she just wrote something she felt was important…
    Mori-sen: "Kikuchi, you wrote, 'July 4th is Moa-chan's birthday'. [Beat] Who cares??"

2011 Nendo

• Rinon proved her… unusual nature in her first introduction to the original ten girls in February 2011, and it would only get weirder from there.
  "I'm Rinon Isono. Fourth grade. Ten years old. I'm first place in my class at jump-rope."
  • A few months later during one of the Open Classes, the girls have a jump-rope competition and Rinon fails to even get past 1.
  • At one point someone was crazy enough to give her a camera and she took the opportunity to get up in Suzuka's face to interrupt her with an Incredibly Lame Pun – she said 「スゥなんだ」 (Suu na’nda, or "It's Su") instead of the normal 「そうなんだ」 (Sou na’nda - "I see"). Suzuka herself reacted with a big smile and it sounds like she kissed the camera.
• The entire behind-the-scenes of the second Twinklestars music video "Please! Please! Please!". A lot of its humor comes from Moa – either messing with the other girls, admitting she only practiced for five minutes a day yet calling herself one of the best twirlers, then at the very end realizing her height versus her goal and praying to the gods to grow taller.^*  She was 134cm (4’4¾”) at the time and grew around 20cm (8”) over the next few years. 154.5cm (5’0.83”) is far below her goal of 167cm (5’5¾”), but Moa is still taller than a few other graduates: Ayami (of course), Saki Ōga, Aiko, Marin, Mirena.
• The second Nendo Test features Ayami breaking into happy-tears because she didn't come in last again. However, Mori-sensei was quick to needle her, and Ayami's perfect comic timing just makes it better.
  Ayami: "Oh, it's so great…!"
  Mori: "It's rather pathetic, actually."
  Ayami: "Eh?"
  Mori: "Last year you were last, and the only reason you weren't last again this time is because the transfer students are here. Wai— are you crying?"
  Ayami: "It's because I'm happy!"
  • This test also had one of the rare questions NO ONE got right. While the extant English translation for this test (no official translations exist for any Sakura Gakuin material) is middling at best, the question seemed to ask, "What are the two methods of breathing?" and the answers were "Lungs" and "Skin". Most likely the question would have made more sense in English with the answers being "Respiration" and "Perspiration". Regardless, Ayami answered "Gills" and tried to justify it using a bit of whacked-out evolutionary biology.^*  Ironically, she isn't totally wrong; a fetus in a very early stage of development will sometimes have vestigial gills. Mori-sensei told Ayami she had the brain of a fish, then informed the class that Moa had written the same wrong answer. Cue Moa running across the room to hug Ayami.
  • Suzuka had a couple of ditz moments during this test too.
    • She answered the question "What is Power-Udon" by taking 'power' literally and basically describing a martial artist cook. When Mori-sensei asked Su to explain, she went off on a Motor Mouth rant lasting at least thirty seconds (accompanied in the video by helpful onscreen text) that managed to make even less sense than her original answer. At the end, all Mori-sen could say was, "You sure can talk a lot."
    • Another question was how many of the 12 members had the "grass" radical (艹) somewhere in their name. The answer was 8, but Su wrote 2. What got Mori-sen about this one was that Su had written down the other members' names (although she misspelled Ayaka's: 乳花 instead of 彩花). He counted the radicals off but only found 7. Hinata can then be heard pointing out that Moa's name was missing. Mori-sen then proceeded to have a field day with it, gleefully ripping Su to shreds that she'd forgotten her own club partner. Then Moa shut him down.
    Moa: "It's okay, Su-chan! I still love you!" (runs across the room to hug her)
    Su: (glares at Mori-sen) "Hora! HORA!" {tr: "See this? SEE THIS??"}
• You would expect a Graduation Concert where members age out of the group and are given a formal farewell by fans, teachers, and fellow members, to be a sad occasion, and it is — really, if this group had a Tear Jerker subpage, RTG's would take up 99% of it. But that doesn't mean funny things can't happen, especially with Ayami and Moa actively trying to keep the mood from getting too somber. From the very first show on 2012/03/25…
  • Suzuka gave the traditional souji speech to the 3AMs. When it was time for Ayami to come up (flanked by Airi and Ayaka) to give the touji speech, she approached the microphone, realized it was at eye-level for her and then, with a resigned smirk on her face, adjusted the mic stand downward a few inches; it audibly creaked when she did. Her perfect timing caused everyone, including Ayaka and Airi, to chuckle.
  • Rinon spoke after Yui, Moa, and Hana. As the other girls are all crying over the departures of Ayami, Ayaka, and Airi (except Su and Marina, who are Trying Not to Cry), Rinon sends the seniors off with an oddly cheerful, "I know we only had one year together, but it was fun. Thank you." The entire theatre bursts into laughter at Rinon's Mood Whiplash moment.
    Nene: (bawling) "Rinon, why aren't you crying?"
    Ayami: "Rinon! Genius!"
    Ayaka: "Well, that's Rinon for ya."
    Nene: "Nene will give you half her tears!"
    Rinon: (Beat) "Anyway, I'm going to continue."
    [everyone laughs]
  • As for Nene, she couldn't bring herself to call Ayaka by her first name.
    Ayaka: "Really? You're just gonna keep calling me 'Miyoshi' to the end, aren't you."
  • For her farewell message, Hinata was reduced to a sobbing wreck possibly worse than Nene, but the tone of her message – "We'll be okay. Don't worry about us." – caused Ayaka to retort (and Ayami to agree) that Hinata sounded like a grandma.
    Ayaka: "You know, instead of making us cry, you're making us laugh."
  • Raura told the 3AMs and the audience that she wouldn't cry during her speech, prompting "Ooh!"s from everyone. Literally three seconds later (count it), she bursts into tears.
    Ayami: "Hey."
    Ayaka: "That was quick."
    Ayami: (points at Rau) "Liar!"
  • During these funny bits, the camera often cuts back to the 3AMs, and Suzuka can be seen behind Airi doing her trademark open-mouthed laugh.
• On her way out, along with telling the audience to have faith in and support the junior members, Ayami also delivered one last parting shot at Mori-sensei, saying he was fragile and to go easy on him.

2012 Nendo

• All of the "Introduce A Member" segments are funny, but some highlights include.
  • Saki Ooga saying that Nene bit her on the head (and Nene's guilty reaction).
  • Suzuka and Mariri playing a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who'd go first but forgetting to decide that before the game. Also, Suzuka's introduction is edited several times, suggesting she went on one of her Motor Mouth digressions. She apologized for talking too much.
  • Rinon insisting on her own cleverness, with an assist (in English) from Hinata, after Raura complimented Rinon's doing things her own way.
  • Yui's retort to Hinata's comment on her height (keep in mind this was before Yui finally hit her growth spurt).
    Yui: "So, Hii-chan. What did you think when you first met Yui?"
    Hinata: "I thought you were so short and cute."
    Yui: (Beat) "I'm not short but thank you."
• The Yui + Moa Saku-Saku segments. One showed them doing Moa's "Fried Bread" dance (cue shouts of "Kawaii!" from the folks behind the camera). Another featured Yui angsting about her height – this was during the year-plus period where Moa was taller than Yui and lorded it over her.
  • It is a bit karmic knowing in hindsight that Yui turned out to be a (very) late-bloomer and would, by the end of their time in Sakura Gakuin and especially in post-SG Babymetal, be noticeably taller than Moa.
• This was the year the Science Club Logica? debuted (you can tell because Rinon still has a bowtie), and the KKKL? single came with a video segment of the girls attempting to answer science questions from Jiro the Robot Inquisitor. Given that the club's members consisted of a Genki Girl (Hinata), a Cloud Cuckoolander (Marina), and a Genius (Rinon), it does not go well.
  • Rinon keeps making up shorthand nicknames for things instead of writing them out because she thinks the truncation is "cuter". Though in her defense, most people at first glance - especially a 6th-grader - wouldn't know what Deoxyribonucleic Acid is to suss out its more famous acronym (DNA).
  • Marina's explanation of the heliocentric theory devolves into her proposing the existence of a senary star system because she felt that would make our Sun happier – "A Miracle Sun Situation".
  • Marina also decides to answer a couple questions she doesn't know the answer to with answers she pulled out of her brain that are complete gibberish, reducing the "robot" Jiro to laughter.
    Marina: "Jiro-san, are you okay?"
    Jiro: (stifling laughter) "I have no idea what you're talking about."
• This year's Nendo Test had several Genius moments…
  • Most notably, this is when Suzuka coined the term "DeLorean" for optical discs. Also "Harry-san".
    • "DeLorean" is something Su admitted to pulling out of thin air; "Harry-san" requires a bit more explanation – the correct answer was hataki (a Japanese feather-duster), but when Mori-sensei asked Suzuka to explain her answer, she went on a minute-long rant that managed to fuse Harry Potter with Sally the Witch. How Suzuka would even know about a cartoon that aired 30 years before she was born is one of those mysteries for the ages.
  • It also featured Rinon accidentally writing her real class instead of just her grade.
    Mori: "Sixth Grade, Class 4?? Since when do we have four classes for Grade 6? Where are the other three classes?"
  • After Suzuka gives her explanation of "Harry-san", Marina suddenly chimes in and backs Su up, insisting that Harry-san is real and visits her house. Mori-sensei then reminds everyone that she was the third girl – Su and Yui were the others – to get the hataki question wrong. ^note  Yui knew what the hataki is for but couldn't remember its name so she called it "Puff-Puff"; Suzuka mistook it for a broom and, well, see above; Marina thought the picture was to scale and assumed it was for cleaning a recorder (the kind played in elementary school).
• The other eleven girls decided that part of Suzuka's Appreciation Party would involve a parody of her favorite song "Marshmallow Iro no Kimi tó". Most of the altered lines are essentially the girls pointing out just how much of a dork Suzuka is. Su, unsurprisingly, loved it.
  • On the day of the party, Mori-sensei calls her in to his office (or an office), chides her to her face, then gives her a very abstract map to follow - without telling her about the party of course. Given that Su is well known to have No Sense of Direction, and indeed looked supremely confused while out on the streets, it's likely she'd still be wandering Tokyo to this day had there not been a cameraman following her.
  • Once Su finally reaches the party, Yui and Moa (who'd been assigned lookout duty) decided to give her a nice Jump Scare, which worked a little too well – Su ran off and they had to chase after their bandmate and physically drag her back to the room.
  • This unintentionally funny moment courtesy of a very emotional Moa:
    Moa: "Su-chan's main trait is laughter…" {cry!}
    Suzuka: {laughs}

2013 Nendo

• The Saku-Saku segments with Marina and Nene.
  • One had them make a dish with bananas. Nene made banana bread. Marina wrapped hers in crêpes and made up a story about the banana family …which she then ate.
  • The other had Nene correctly answering a history question too early, at which point a guy dressed in Heian Period costume comes out to berate her. Marina then decides to ad-lib the rest of the segment and Nene explodes in laughter to the point she has trouble breathing.
• This year had the infamous episode of Mujack where the girls prove how "Idol" they aren't.
  • At one point, Moa molests Minami Takahashi (then the General Manager of AKB48) by sniffing her hair, rubbing her head against Minami's shoulder, then groping Minami's butt as Minami tries to run away.
  • Hana smacks a grown man in the gut and knocks him over to prove her pro-wrestling fan cred.
  • Hinata shows her ability to differentiate members' items by smell.
  • Saki Ooga admits to liking Fudanjuku, a crossdressing Idol group, and they post a photo of her dressed as a boy.
• The badminton battle with Idoling!!! where everything ends up going completely off the rails:
  • Marina saying how Hinata is warm like the sun (which is an Incredibly Lame Pun; the first syllable of Hinata's given name uses the character for Sun). Meanwhile, Hinata is in the background coughing up a lung because she'd just eaten aojiru powder.
    Host: "You're kind of a strange girl."
    Fukeis: "Dude doesn't even KNOW.''
  • Saki Ooga taking revenge on the host because he refuses to let her do the impression she wants. Egged on by Marina and Hinata, she starts pushing him around the stage.
    "I have no idea what's going on here. She's strong! Baby-chan is strong!"
• The 2013 Nendo Test starts with the girls believing they're taking part in an international dance competition and are learning moves from great international choreographer Eddie Murphyngton. As they get into dancing to "La Bamba", Mori-sensei suddenly bursts out of a locker screaming his catchphrase and informs them that "Eddie" was actually Wataru from the ramen shop down the street – his (fake) afro, sunglasses, and decent English were enough to fool them. Poor Moa, who was closest to the locker when Mori-sen jumped out, was scared to tears and just about had a heart attack.
  • When Wataru switches from speaking English to speaking perfect Japanese (what little of it he'd spoken up to that point was American-accented), little Aiko stares at him in awe.
  • During the test itself, Mori-sen landed a hit on Aiko by saying she must surely know who's on the ¥10,000 bill^*  (it's Yukichi Fukuzawa) because "[she has] the most of them." ^note  While it's never been part of her shtick or character and was rarely referenced during her tenure – in fact this is one of the few times it is – Aiko is believed to come from a wealthy family in real life. What is acknowledged by Aiko often is how her parents are very supportive of her dreams.
• During the Seniors' Presentation, Nene gave some advice that definitely wasn't funny at the time, but became Hilarious in Hindsight – she told Aiko that, once NHMR were gone, Aiko would no longer be The Baby of the Bunch and would have to become a good sempai. As it turned out, the senseis chose Megumi and Sara to replace NHMR. Both are older and taller than Aiko (though Megu is in the same grade).

2014 Nendo

• During the 2014 Nendo Test, when Mori-sensei announces that the girl who came in third – after Megumi and Saki Shirai – was a senior, Moa sits up with a smug smile on her face in anticipation …and it turns out Yui got the bronze. Moa looks around in utter shock while Yui can be heard saying, "Eh? No way!". After Moa learns that even Hana and Yunano outdid her, she smacks her head on the desk in utter defeat. She still scored better than Saki Ooga and Rinon, granted that's not a high bar.
• Episode 2 of LoGiRL begins with the girls (Moa, Yunano, Rinon, Saki O, Sara) after their individual introductions discussing that they likely had foreigners watching and trying to figure out a way to acknowledge them. Cue Moa calling out "We are…!" in the exact same way she does with Babymetal. As the other girls respond "Sakura Gakuin!!", Moa gives the camera a kitsune-sign and a knowing smirk.
• Episode 3 of LoGiRL had Mori-sensei encouraging Rinon and some other juniors to dish out gossip about the seniors. Toward the end of the show, he showed the girls a just-uploaded photo of Moa, Yui, Hana, and Yunano all looking pissed off.
  • The very next episode, Yui returned to the show and Mori-sensei told her that no one had anything negative at all to say about her.^*  Mori-sen wasn't entirely right on this. Rinon said Yui would sometimes talk during movies and wouldn't shut up about Ariana Grande. That's still pretty mild compared to how the juniors ripped Yunano to shreds. He then insinuated Yui must have bullied them or paid them off.
• LoGiRL Episode 9, the last to feature that year's seniors, begins with them coming in and giving their introductions in ultra-cutesy burikko voices. That's only a little funny. What's much funnier is Hana breaking character immediately after because it's just too gross for her.
  • What's even funnier is Mori-sensei coming in and saying his catchphrase (a riff on Moa's), "I treat my wife the best!" in the same tone of voice, and Yui then looking up at him and replying, "Ew."
    Mori-sen: "What? I'm just going with the flow, Mizuno!"
  • Hana relayed talking to Rinon a couple days before – note that Rinon had been on every episode up to that point – "So I hear you're not going to be on next week's episode." "Shut up." – but of course it turned out Rinon and all the juniors came on to crash the episode and send off the seniors (a tradition that continues to this day).
    Rinon: "A LoGiRL episode with only the seniors?"
    Juniors: "Nai! Nai! Nai!"
    Rinon: "A LoGiRL episode without Rinon?!" (gestures to herself)
    Juniors: "Nai! Nai! Nai!"
    Rinon: "A successful LoGiRL episode without Rinon??"
    Juniors: "Nai! Nai! Nai!"
• The final LoGiRL episode before the "official" start of the 2015 nendo (Ep.13) where Saki Ooga attempted to draw a flamingo. The result haunts everyone's nightmares to this day.
  • Amongst many many other artistic sins, she forgot its beak.

2015 Nendo

• The introduction of Kano Fujihira, then a fifth-grader and one of the tiniest debutees in the group's history. As mentioned on her entry, she lifted Rinon, who was at that point over a foot (30cm) taller.
• Aiko was chosen to bring out Maaya and Momoko, who even then were taller than her despite being younger (though Momoko only by three months). When Mori-sensei pointed this out, they immediately started comparing their heights with Aiko.
  • At the time, neither were that much taller than Aiko, but as of 2019 (after all three had graduated) Maaya was 157.5cm/5’2” and Momoko was minimum 159cm/5’2¼”, while Aiko was stuck at 151.1cm/4’11½”.
• The Transfers' Orientation included an arm-wrestling competition. Soyoka had the misfortune of being pitted against Rinon. Soyo failed so hard she literally lost her balance and fell to the floor. Rinon and Sara immediately moved to help the (then-)tiny girl up and Mori-sensei chided Rinon.
  • Megumi lost to Momoko about as quickly as Soyo had lost to Rinon. Aiko however gave Momoko a much harder time; Momoko still won, but both girls were rubbing their arms after.
• During the episode of LoGiRL in which Raura appeared, this exchange happened…
  (Raura is petting Kano's head)
  Mori-sen: "So, what do you think?"
  Kano: "She seems nice."
  Raura: "Ah! Kawaii~!" (hugs Kano)
  Mori-sen: "Oh, now that's a lie."
  Raura: "Huh? HUH??"
  Mori-sen: "She is the least nice one!"
  Kano: "No, that's Mori-sensei."
  Raura: (busts a gut)
• During the Nendo Midterm Test, Soyoka sported an upset expression, which Mori-sensei poked fun at.
  Mori: "What's wrong with your face? What's with that sour face of yours?"
  Soyo: (through gritted teeth) "I just feel a little mad."
  Mori: (mimicking Soyo's tone) "You can't say that!"
  (the kanji for "anger" appears onscreen)
  Mori: "So is this the first time you've felt like this?"
  Soyo: "Aãp."
  (kanji changes to "anger MAX")
  Mori: "What's wrong with you today?"
  Soyo: (snarl)
  Mori: "Is this the angriest moment of your life?"
  Soyo: (shakes head 'no')
  Mori: "Oh, it's not? So you're not that mad actually."
  • Worth noting the likely reason for Soyo's crabbiness was, just a minute earlier, Rinon insisted she would be fine because she figured Soyo and Kano were dumber than her, to which Mori-sensei immediately retorted, "Don't make those kids your rivals!" …As it turned out, Rinon did outscore them, but she still placed the lowest of the returnees – 7th out of 12 (newcomer Mirena, who is in the same grade as and older than Sara, placed 3rd).
  • More from the Midterm Test. New transfer Marin scored right smack in the middle (just below Rinon), and this exchanged happened as she went to collect her paper…
    Mori: "So you scored in between the returnees and the transfers."
    Marin: (in English) "I DID IT!!" (jumps around happily)
    Mori: "What did you say?"
    Marin: (in Japanese) "Dekita." ^note "I did it."
    Mori: "Dekita?" (in 'English') "Ai duee– I deed it. I did it! You did it!"
  • Also during the midterm test, Momoko scored second from the bottom and vowed that in the next test she'd place fifth. Mori-sensei was not pleased with her lack of ambition.
• During the regular year-end test…
  • Momoko scored 9th, the highest she'd ever place. She reacted to the score with an ear-splittingly high "Yossha!!" (that's what she said, but the onscreen subtitles are gibberish). Although Mori-sen tried to chastise her because she was still the worst-ranked of the junior high girls, she defiantly applauded herself.
• In the final LoGiRL broadcast with the then-Seniors, and by extension the final episode of what fans jokingly called The Rinon Show (she appeared in 42 of the 51 episodes produced to that point including this one), the Seniors all challenged one of their juniors to a game – Saki Ooga challenged Maaya to kendama (Maaya won); Saki Shirai challenged Aiko to popsicle-eating (Saki won); Rinon challenged Momoko to Jan-ken-pon, and viewers quickly learned that Momoko does in fact out-Genius Rinon.
  • Momoko's strategy: Always go for the hammer. ALWAYS. Go. For. The. Hammer. On at least two turns, Momoko meant to reach for the helmet (to avoid a bonk on the head), but instead grabbed the plastic hammer and bonked herself on the head. At one point, Rinon accidentally smacked Momoko with the side of her hammer, breaking Momoko's hair decoration and the hammer.

2016 Nendo

• Very shortly after this nendo began, Aiko spoke with Saki Ooga, who'd graduated just a few weeks earlier, and discovered she (Aiko) had officially become one millimeter taller than Saki. She celebrated her "achievement" in one of her diaries, as well as humble-bragging that she waited until after RTG to grow so Saki could save face. ^note  The height difference was 149.9 (Aiko) to 149.8 (Saki). What makes this even funnier is that neither of them grew much more after that. Aiko ended up about a centimeter taller than Saki, BOTH of them just barely having reached the 150cm/4’11” mark.
• This nendo had the "Bicycle Helmet Safety" special where, as one might expect, the younger girls came up with some downright insane stuff.
  • New transfer Yuzumi gave her justification for not wearing a helmet as "I'm in the springtime of my youth." When asked to explain herself, she said,
    "I live in the country, so whenever I wear a helmet I feel like I'm on my way to school."
  • New transfer Tsugumi used her PSA time to act out being on her way to a concert and then getting hit by a bus with her last words being, "Now I won't get to see the show…! {ded} …And that's what can happen to you if you don't wear a helmet."
  • Momoko has a two-way conversation with herself where the non-helmet wearer is The Unintelligible until the very end. Her acting makes it funnier than it has any right to be.
  • Maaya acts her PSA out as if she's talking to a very young child. At the end Mori-sensei says,
    "Okay then. Well. Children, be sure not to follow along or go anywhere with this girl."
  • Sara used her PSA time to address Mori-sensei as her subject. After she finished, Mori-sen immediately turned the tables on her by noting she'd worn a helmet to the class (i.e. her kokeshi hair).
• In one episode of LoGiRL, Ayaka unexpectedly (to the girls) comes on to promote her first photobook. Mori-sen uses the opportunity to tease as many members as he can. Including Ayaka. Especially Ayaka.
  "Well. Yoshida doesn't look very pleased to see you. She'd rather Matsui had shown up instead."
• The show Hot Wave interviews Sakura Gakuin girls at least once per year. This time it was seniors Sara and Mirena plus transfer-ins Tsugumi, Momoe, and Yuzumi. This exchange happened:
  Host: "So, I hear that right at the outset [of TIF '16], some kind of incident occurred."
  Mirena: "Oh right, that."
  Sara: "Aritomo-san?"
  Mirena: "Aritomo-san?"
  Sara: "Aritomo-san?"
  Mirena & Sara: "Aritomo-san??"
  Tsugumi: “It was me! ♥” ^note  That's one of Sara's lines from a commercial she did for Waseda Academy.
  Girls: (laughter)
  Host: "You're claiming this? This is like a scene from a musical."
  • For the record, the incident was that Tsugumi spilled shave-ice on her uniform right before their performance and Sara & Mirena had to scramble to find something to clean her off before the stain set in.
• Regrettably, Sakura Gakuin Festival 2016 was never officially released beyond the cinema rebroadcast a few days after, but a few choice snippets still made it on to LoGiRL, for example the very first onstage instance of Hai!! YuzuminTsugumin.
  • It is kind of amusing to see how tiny Tsugumi was compared to Yuzu during those early days – in fact she was a tad shorter than Momoe in May 2016 – since Tsugu ended up taller than Yuzu by 2019.
• SGF'16's Sakurademy Awards was the last where the girls had to act toward the audience, and the prompt was "Sempai got roughed up. Ad-lib something to make him fall in love with you."
  • Tsugumi decided to do a parody of the "PPAP" song. Translated:
    "I have a 'don't'. I have a 'hate you'. Unh. 'I don't hate you'."
  • Marin and Yuzumi both got to show off their acting chops, giving delicate sweet performances. Marin's caused Mori-sen to begin yelling to the audience. In the LoGiRL broadcast the week after, Marin was obviously embarrassed.
    "MOTHER!! MARIN IS GROWN UP!! SHE'S BECOME THE SPECIAL SOMEONE!!!"
  • Mirena openly expressed admiration at Marin and Yuzumi's performances and Mori-sensei prompted her to try to do it herself. Turned out that, despite being "Pro-sawa", subtle & sweet is not Mirena's forte.

2017 Nendo

• The Transfer Ceremony for this year – which was livestreamed (and thus ripped to survive in its entirety) has some gems.
  • During the intro to "Verishuvi", the camera caught Momoe duck-facing Yuzumi. Yuzu cracked up.
  • As this was Momoe's second year, and the first one in which she'd be a sempai, she discussed with the audience the type of senior she wanted to be. In so doing, she stole Megumi's burikko shtick, causing Megu to verbally retaliate.
  • In trying to guess the number and identities of the transfer students – IRL the returnees had already met them and been working with them for about four weeks, but this is onstage in-character stuff – Yuzumi and Tsugumi pulled one of their double acts, saying that in order to perform at the Nippon Budokan (something Babymetal had done three years earlier), they needed to fill all the seats, therefore 2017 would have ten thousand transfer-ins! Hai!! YuzuminTsugumin. That's funny enough, but Tsugumi decided to add follow-through to the joke and glared at Mori-sen with her trademark Cheshire Cat Grin.
    Mori-sen: "Hey. What's with that look? 'Was it good? Did we do good?'. You're dragging the joke out too long. Sit down."
  • Marin attempted to use her psychic powers to probe Mori-sen's head to guess the Transfers. However, Soyoka somehow managed to utilize her glasses as a conduit to channel some of Marin's powers for herself. End result? They both guessed wrong.
  • Mori-sensei introduced Miku Tanaka first, and almost immediately thereafter came Kano's infamous "Gimme Your Dog!" bit.
    • When Kano started it, she accidentally called Miku "Miki-chan". Keep in mind Miki had not been revealed yet, so Kano and Mori-sen were able to wave it off as a slip of the tongue. However, Maaya can be seen right behind her sporting an Oh, Crap! face.
  • When Mori-sensei did introduce Miki, he prefaced by saying she's from Osaka, immediately leading to an exchange with Soyoka in which she speaks her native Osakan dialect (specifically a rude, almost Yakuza, variant) after Mori-sensei poked fun at her in comparison to Miki. Soyo later admitted the exchange made her uncomfortable since being threatening isn't in her nature. Doesn't stop it from being funny.
    Mori: "Right, so she's called Miki Yagi, in the fifth grade, and she's from Osaka."
    Soyo: "Sensei, you said Osaka. So she's from the same place as me, right?"
    Mori: "Ah, yeah, yeah. Maybe we'll see Yagi talk in her real Osaka accent. A real accent, not like Yoshida's 'Business Kansai' dialect. It's totally different."
    Soyo: "Hah??!" (dead-eyes the camera and replies in a HEAVY Osaka accent) "Whad'ya mean by 'Business Kansai' dialect? D'ya wanna get yerself beat'n up?"
    (she glares at Mori-sen and starts limbering up her wrist as if to fight)
  • Upon hearing Miki had been studying English, Marin decided to take advantage…
    Marin: (in English) "Hey Miki. mm, What would you do if attacked by an Alien when you're sleeping?"
    [sparse audience laughter; some girls onstage smirk; Miki smiles]
    Miki: (in English) "I will hide under the desk."
    Mori: "Amazing! So cool! Hidaka, what did you ask her?"
    Marin: (in Japanese) "I asked her what she would do if attacked by an alien while sleeping."
    Mori: "What kind of question is that?!"
    [audience laughter]
• The Annual Seniors' FRIENDS skit for Sakura Gakuin Festival featured Aiko and Megumi at each others' throats (shocker) and, before the juniors get involved, Momoko trying to mediate. They shout at her, in perfect unison, "Silence, Pumpkin!!" ^note  Momoko had done the "Pumpkin Song" less than three months earlier.
  • After Aiko & Megu leave the stage, Mori-sensei asks Momoko, "Are you okay, Pumpkin?" She replies,
    "I'm fine… pumpkin."
• Also from SG Fest: This was the first year the "Sakurademy Awards" had the girls act opposite fellow members rather than the audience reading the text. It undeniably made the 「小芝居」 (koshibai or "mini-plays") better.
  • That year's juniors – Maaya, Marin, Yuzumi – had absolutely zero qualms about getting up close and personal with their foil. While Yuzumi proved unable to keep a straight face on the first night when she portrayed "Yuzuo" as other girls did it to her, she made up for it by winning the next night.
  • Kano, acting opposite Maasuke, literally tossed her sketch (the basketball) away, grabbed Maasuke's hand, and ran offstage with her.
  • Marin had to restart her koshibai after Momotaro tossed her the basketball and it bonked her microphone when she caught it.
  • After Yuzumi won Night 2, she earned the chance to perform her skit again, but this time Marin interrupted to give the impression of a Love Triangle. Mori-sensei can be heard asking "What's going on?" clearly at a loss for what to do. Momotaro tried to play peacemaker, to which Yuzu replied, "Silence, Pumpkin!"
• The Monday before this year's Road To Graduation Final, the girls were too busy rehearsing to appear on their weekly livestream show FRESH!, leaving Mori-sensei to host the show by himself. He ended up receiving 99 postcards …but a disproportionate number of them were from the girls themselves wishing him luck. He had to go through at least half a dozen before reaching one written by a real fan.
  • Also Mirena crashed the broadcast halfway through (partly to promote her play Metal Opera Millennium Momotaro) and was at Peak-Mirena the whole time – mugging for the camera, challenging it to a fight, etc.

Aiko and Megumi

Even though it stretches across 4+ years, let's use this space to detail Aiko and Megumi's Odd Friendship, brought on mostly by Aiko's tsundere tendencies, because watching those two interact and snipe at each other was one of the funniest things in modern Sakura Gakuin.

• Let's start by pointing out that Aiko and Megumi (almost) NEVER refer to each other with any honorific – something very uncommon in Japanese even amongst friends.^*  One major exception is Yui, Moa, Hana, and Rinon after the latter joined SG – Rinon said she wasn't really a fan of honorifics and felt that, as Sakura Gakuin's only elementary schoolers at the time, not using them would help them become closer. She was right: One of several times the self-declared "Genius" demonstrated uncharacteristically remarkable insight.
• The 2014 Test, in which newcomer Megumi outscored Saki Shirai by half a point to take first place, features one of the first instances of Aiko trash-talking Megu, insisting that no one likes a smarty-pants.
  Aiko: {points at Megu} "People like her are really disliked!"
  Megu: "Megu is just smart, that's all."
  Aiko: "You're disliked!"
  Mori-sen: "Don't you think people might dislike your attitude more?"
  Aiko: "No! People like her are way, way more disliked!"
  Mori-sen: "Your jealousy and frustration are showing."
  Aiko: "Aaargh." {lays her head back on her desk}
  • Keep in mind Aiko and Megumi were filmed entering the classroom set Holding Hands.
• In the final LoGiRL episode with the 2014 Seniors, while other members were competing in one-on-one games, Megumi stealthily took hold of Aiko's hand. Aiko turns to look at Megu in surprise and minor annoyance …but doesn't immediately pull her hand away.
• During the 2015 Year-End Test, Aiko was in utter shock to have scored 5th, high for her. Megumi, who had once again come in first, held out her hands to give Aiko five in congratulations. Aiko began to return the gesture but then pulled her hands back at the last second – a rising slide whistle sound effect was added in post to punctuate this. Megu immediately cried out, “何で？” ("Why??").
• In the very first episode of FRESH Monday from June 2017, Aiko and Megumi both appeared and couldn't help talking smack at each other, even though they were at opposite ends of the room (Momoe and Yuzumi were caught in the crossfire and largely ignored it).
• In some later interviews and diaries, Aiko would gladly gush about Momoko but never even acknowledge Megumi. However, fans have come to believe at least one of Aiko's compositions, "Taisetsu na Kimi e" – a song about a strong but troubled friendship – is not-so-secretly about Megu.
  • For the record, Megumi thinks so too. She even asked Aiko to her face about it during an early FRESH episode. Aiko refused to give a straight answer.
• Despite all this, Aiko has said she was incredibly happy when Megumi joined the group and was surprised upon learning that fans took their feud a lot more seriously than they themselves did.
  • Aiko has been seen comforting Megumi when Megu is upset. She also snuggled Megumi during the infamous episode of LoGiRL where she, Megu, Sara, and Mirena wore kitty ears, twice telling Megu "Daisuki" ("I like you"). Megu, for her part, had no idea how to react except for a quiet, confused "Cute…?"
  • She's also been caught smiling when Megu hugs her during certain bits of choreography, notably in "FRIENDS".
• In April 2018, Aiko was one of the first to wish Megumi a happy 16th birthday and declared that they needed to go to Tokyo Disneyland together.
  • Early on in her social media rampage, Aiko would start a tweet made on a Monday morning with "O-ha~!!", the catchphrase for Oha Suta, where Megumi served as Monday's co-host at the time.
  • In April 2019, she visited a history museum and apparently bought Megumi some souvenirs. It would not be the first or last time Aiko confirmed she'd bought some sort of gift for Megu.
• After they both graduated and then met up again a couple months later, they both openly asked why they'd fought so much the previous four years.
• As the icing on the cake – or perhaps the syrup on the ice cream – in September 2018, Aiko evidently badgered Megumi into setting up a Twitter account, became her very first follower (which she bragged about), then broadcast Megu's social media presence to the world, catching Megu off-guard.
• November 22nd is an unofficial Japanese holiday (and a number pun) to celebrate good couples.^*  It happens to be the day before the offical holiday of Labor Thanksgiving Day. In 2019, Aiko, as she does, gave her parents a Shout-Out. Meanwhile, at least a few of her fans posted photos of Megumi.

2018 Nendo

• Yuzumi and Tsugumi clowning around backstage during the Transfer Ceremony, trolling the audience, followed by Tsugu using a banana for scale against Yume.
  Mori-sen: "Don't use a banana like that! We can see she's tiny."
  • Also as the cameraman played along with their antics (something Mori-sen also noted), the viewing audience saw that, despite her best efforts, Yuzumi can't wink. Silly otter.
• During Yume's very first appearance on FRESH!, she accidentally introduced herself as a fifth-year junior high student (so, 11th grade instead of 5th). Upon everyone else cracking up at this, she blushed deeply.
• Tsugumi's antics behind Kokona during the latter's first FRESH! appearance. This included but is not limited to giving Maaya a "Us? Seriously?!" look when Kokona said her first impression of the group was one of elegance, and mugging for the camera when Mori-sensei asked Kokona which senior she hung out with the most.
• This was the first year Mori-sensei really singled out Miku as a target of his teasing, once he realized that Miku would attempt to fight back. Even though she's outmatched, it's funny to see the girl infamous the previous year for her shyness try to banter.
• Sana's first FRESH! appearance seemed to be going normally …until Mori-sensei told her to shout out her feelings at that very moment. Turns out Sana can be LOUD. Her screams were, in order:
  "AWESOME!!!" (saikou)
  "EMBARRASSED!!!"
  "MORI-SENSEI!!!" (even she had no idea why on this one; Mori-sen, for his part, replied, "WIFE!!")
• During the FRESH Summer Special, while the girls are on the minibus to go to wherever. Yuzumi passes out pieces of watermelon (which Marin repeats in English, natch). As the plate makes it to the front, Yume ends up repeating whatever Miki had just said – "Tasty! Sweet!". Cue Miku having a rare comedic moment.
  Miku: "Tasty? Tasty? Tasty? Tasty? TASTY? TASTY??
  (Kokona smacks her)
• The 2018 Sakurademy Awards, unsurprisingly, have their fair share of great moments.
  • Yume, being so young, was given a mulligan by Mori-sensei and got to restart her koshibai twice – she stuttered on her first try and overshot the towel-throw to Baseball Captain Nasuo on her second. The extra chances turned out to be a good thing because her skit involved having a rapid shift of opinion about her sempai, flipping from "I love you" to "I hate you!" in the span of ten seconds, followed by her running off.
  • In an aside so good it was used in the official trailer, Mori-sensei asks Nasuo "his" opinion about Yuzumi's skit, to which Nasuo replied, "Home-run!!"
  • After Marin won (in a squeaker against Yuzumi), she recreated her sketch with Maasuke …and Yuzumi barged in to interrupt, just like Marin had done to her the year before. Mori-sensei can be heard uttering something that could translate colloquially as "Not this again". The skit ends in a three-way hug between the Seniors.
  • The Documentary included with the DeLorean shows the rehearsal versions of skits, including those of the girls who didn't make the cut. Any time a competitor turned up the heat with Yuzuo or Maasuke, the other girls – especially Miki and Kokona – can be seen off to the side writhing in shock trying not to crack.
    • Yuzumi's rehearsal caused Maaya to fall to the floor and be ded for awhile as soon as Mori-sen stopped it. The camera holds on Maaya's prone body until she finally starts to move again.
    • Maaya played her audition 100% straight and not at all funny. Everyone, members and fans, know how hilarious Maaya can be, so one must assume she intentionally blew it to guarantee reprising Maasuke.
• At the beginning of one April FRESH episode – during the five-week interregunum between Graduation and the Transfer Ceremony – Miku was the Day-Leader who coincidentally had just got what she felt was an Important Haircut for starting junior high (it wasn't a bob, which is why she's not listed under that trope's entry on the main page). But when she tried to introduce the show, her voice cracked. It's unclear whether it was due to hoarseness or her voice changing, but the other three girls busted out laughing complete with exclamations of "Kawaii!" as Miku, now blushing (especially her ears), tried to introduce the show again.
  SUBTITLES - Miku: "Squeek!"
• The 2018 Nendo Test features a lot of back and forth sniping between Mori-sen and Kano. Kano also insists to him that she had gotten second place the previous year (put a "1" in front of that; she came in last) and would get second place "again" this year. She ended up in a four-way tie for next-to-last.

2019 Nendo

• This is the year where comparing the recently graduated Yuzumi to an otter became fully memetic. First, Kokona used "Yuzumi" in place of "otter" (kawauso) in an obvious joking tone during a diary. Then, a couple weeks later, Yume wrote a diary in which she talked about going to the zoo with her family and seeing some "Yuzumins" (photo of otters).
  • For the record, Yuzu has long since become used to the otter comparisons. She took offense the previous year to Kokona comparing her to a caterpillar.
• During Neo's introductory FRESH episode, she was asked to name something cute about herself, and she answered that she has a tendency to be a Cuddle Bug. Then this happened…
  Momoe, Sana, Yume: "Kawaii~!!"
  Mori-sen: "So it's not your eyes or anything like that then. Okay, what's your cutest feature, Mori?"
  Momoe: "Everything~!"
  Mori-sen: "Oh, shut up."
• A later episode of FRESH featured Mori-sen and the girls discussing the Pseudo-Romantic Friendship trope and this happened…
  "Yume wants to marry Kano."
  Mori-sen: "Why are you bringing that up?
  Girls: "Because she's always saying it."
  Mori-sen: "Uh-huh. So, what about you, Shiratori?"
  Sana: "I want to marry everyone!"
  Mori-sen: "Really? Everyone? Even Nonaka?"
  Sana: "Okay, yeah, I'll have to pass on that one."
• At Tokyo Idol Festival 2019, watching a former Idol's brain basically melt upon seeing Sakia is simultaneously adorable and hilarious. Neither she nor the guy with her were able to comprehend the absurdly teeny girl in front of them.
  • Meanwhile, Yume – herself still small despite having grown 10cm/4” over the previous 12 months – stood next to Sakia. In addition to providing encouragement, Yume was visibly proud of her surrogate little sister's ability to cause chaos by existing.
• This year's Sakura Gakuin Festival was a two-day event like 2017's (and unlike 2018's, which was only one). On the first day, Aiko and Hana showed up to watch their juniors. Then, after the show, they went backstage to see everyone. The cameraman forgot to get a photo of them with the girls. Cue three photographs: One of all twelve active members, another with just the Seniors, and a third with just Aiko and Hana looking (jokingly) pissed off.
  • For the record, the graduates who showed up the second night were Yuzumi, Maaya, and Saki Ooga (all of whom had also made the 2019 Transfer Ceremony)
• Sakura Gakuin Festival 2019 was itself full of hilarity, much of it intentional on the girls' parts.
  • The "Who Killed Mori-sensei" skit has its moments.
    • Partway through, Yume and Sakia gain the ability to interact with Mori-sen's ghost, probably in-story because of their youth. But then after a long stare from him to the other girls and back, they tell him to his face they can't see him.
    • On Night 1, Tsugumi comes out dressed as Mori-sen. To try and convince the girls and audience she's him, she puckers her face until she actually looks a lot like him. It must be seen to be believed. Impressions are her stated specialty. Momoe cosplayed as him for Night 2 and didn't really try, but then again she's already Mori.
    • Sana comes out as a ghost and fails to scare anyone. Neo managed to be the world's cutest mummy.
    • Detective Coconan turned out to be absolutely useless in helping solve the mystery. So was Kanozaburo Fujihata on Night 2, who came in on a bicycle and simply stared into the camera making his character's trademark hand motion several times for at least thirty seconds – comic timing at its finest – before giving up and leaving the stage, ringing the bicycle bell at the very end for effect.
    • The murderer on Night 2 was Soyoka and the reason evidently had to do with ice cream.
  • This year's "Sakurademy Awards" may have lacked the panache of Yuzumi and Marin, but was still hilarious.
    • Yume told the audience flat-out that she couldn't decide between three masculine names so please help her choose. Everyone settled on "Yumechiki". Mori-sen got onto her, although she didn't care.
    • Night One had Kokona competing for the first time, something she worried about since she got to be Baseball Club Captain Nasuo her first year. She chose to act opposite Yumechiki. During the skit, instead of getting lovey-dovey with Yumechiki, she simply hands him a note and walks off. The note translates to, "Looking for Baseball Club Members! Interested?". Yumechiki tears the note into pieces as everyone laughs. Kokona then scrambles to pick up the pieces.
    • On Night Two, Kokona got to be Nasuo again. Her fast-friend Miko chose to act opposite her, which turned out to be a mistake because neither of them could get through the sketch without cracking each other up, no matter how many times Mori-sen let Miko restart.
    • Kano was the last girl to go on Night Two, chose Nasuo and – in a similar move to what she'd pulled on Maasuke (Maaya) in a previous koshibai – declared Screw This, I'm Outta Here, picked up Nasuo, and walked offstage carrying him.
• Around the time of the Festival, Kano got to go out with Saki Ooga again and convinced her to write a guest diary in which she explained she was at university and doing well. That's sweet but not funny. What is funny is Kano's mentioning earlier in the diary that Saki gets smaller every time they meet – by this point Kano had grown to become ~58mm/2¼” taller than Saki.
  • This is extra ironic because Kano's very first "date" with Saki happened in May 2016 – Kano at the time gushed about getting to go out with a high-school girl and let Saki co-author her diary of the event. Saki wrote then, "Wow, Kano-chan really is short."
• Continuing on the neverending tradition of the Sakura Gakuin Height Battle: sometime between February and August 2019, Miki passed Aiko. Standing back-to-back, Aiko is trying to smile, but the photo shows she's obviously feeling the pain of yet another defeat. As of SG Fest ‘19, she remained taller than Sana, Miko, Yume, and Sakia. How long that will stay true is anyone's guess.
  • Answer: As of Fall 2020, Miko has passed Aiko (by <1cm).
• After graduating, Yuzumi was given a fortnightly radio show. For her 9th episode, she'd found fanart of herself by Japanese fan-artist Canta and, while holding a printout of it, tried to imitate the expression. Cue Canta within hours creating another piece based on the photo.
  • Speaking of that show, when Tsugumi did a FRESH solo broadcast in December 2019, she decided to do the letter-reading segment as Yuzumi – complete with JFN Park jingle (which caused the staff behind the camera to laugh because they saw what was about to happen) and Yuzu's trademark whispering asides. Tsugu, being a perfectionist, felt she had failed at the impression of her former comedy partner. Yuzumi herself said on her next show she thought it was funny and gave Tsugu "100 points".
• Focusing on Tsugumi's solo broadcast, Hamidase! Night, she manged to be funny without intending to for once, mostly due to her extreme nervousness.
  • As Tsugu spoke about other members (including Maaya, who had hosted her second solo broadcast nine months earlier) cheering her on, she greeted them with "Bye-bye". She didn't realize it until about the third time, at which point her nervousness shot up even more.
  • She managed to down her entire bottle of water within the first third of the show and went on a rant about how Mori-sen and the staff got onto her for drinking too much. Staff gave her a second bottle.
    • When discussing the episode months later in relation to her "Stand Out!" position, she said a bit ruefully that her thirst stood out the most.
  • During the letter-reading interlude, one fan had sent her a Christmas tree with a lemon sticker on it – Lemon is the unofficial symbol of her @onefive persona GUMI – but it also had a button at the top that played "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". She ended up pressing that button to try and calm her nerves at least half a dozen times during the second half of the broadcast, making the staff behind the camera crack up.
• In December 2019, Kokona – after gushing about getting her retainer off – recounted a story about how she and Miko had been so deep in conversation one afternoon that they wandered into traffic because they're both total airheads (Nassu didn't say that, but it's true). They were saved by Miku.
• Sakia's early diaries are mostly about food, specifically her learning to cook simple dishes, which is of course adorable. The funny comes from fans' reaction to one diary where Sakia mentions her younger sister.
  Fans: "She has a little sister?! What is she, 90cm?
  "A quark?" ^note (Call-Back to Sakia being described by fans as the size of a single electron)
• The first FRESH broadcast after New Year's 2020 featured Yume and Sakia hosting the show by themselves. Yume, despite having just turned 12, handled it surprisingly well …except at one point her microphone malfunctioned and she very reluctantly left the set to have a producer fix it, leaving Sakia alone with nothing but the background music (which is audible on-set) to SG's newest song, #AoharuHakusho. As the music plays, Sakia gets out of her chair, finds which camera is on, and starts dancing the song's choreo at it until she cracks herself up.
• The 2019 Nendo Test happened immediately after the FRESH Valentine's Special was recorded. Mori-sen hands Kano a covered tray with a bow on it and asks her to lift it. There was chocclate on the tray, but it was just syrup used to write "2019 Nendo Gakunen Matsu Testo" next to a photo of Mori-sen. Kano looks at it for two seconds and replaces the cover as if she never saw the prank, but Mori-sen forces her to show the six girls who hadn't seen it.
  • This particular test was the hardest to date and was graded the most harshly — Tsugumi lost out to Momoe by one point on a technicality (Tsugu botched a kanji, while Momoe got the same question right by writing the offending kanji in hiragana). That's not funny; it's tragic. What IS funny is that Soyoka told the camera she was aiming for third, knowing she'd never best Momoe or Tsugu. She completely dismisses Kano. When Soyo ends up coming in sixth, she tries to be happy for the girls who scored in between her and Tsugu (and all of them go up to give her five), but she has such a difficult time containing her anger that Mori-sen needles her for it.
  • Throughout the proceeding, Mori-sen asks which girls feel confident. Inevitably, only Kano and Miko raise their hands. Kano, already busy with @onefive and Babymetal at the time, openly doesn't give a crap and makes sure Mori-sen knows it. The lowest scores turn out to be the three transfers (Neo, Miko, Sakia). Mori-sen again asks Miko if she feels confident. She says yes. He then asks who Miko thinks will come in last; she answers "me".
    • When Miko does end up coming in last place — one point, tying Kano for lowest score of all-time (Kano did it in 2015) — Mori-sen asks Miko if she still feels confident; Miko answers, "Not anymore."
    • After that, Kano decided to twist the proverbial knife she'd already stuck in Mori-sen's chest and officially declared Miko to be her successor for KYG.

2020 Nendo

With this being the stated final year of Sakura Gakuin, no new transfers, and everything still under lockdown even in Japan, one might not expect anything good to come out of this year, but the girls definitely tried, aided in part by graduates.

• In an unusual breach of protocol, Yume wrote publicly (in a diary) that she was genuinely upset about SG's impending demise, particuarly that she wouldn't have any classmates. However, in December 2020, a Youtube channel called Ponstarland started up, with the introductory video helmed by Yume and her younger sister Juna. Just to drive the point home, its mascot is a hamster – Yume's Animal Motif. Fans have taken to eagerly watching Yume/Juna videos in hopes they will start bickering. They nearly did during the cake decorating video.
  • Other kids have since debuted on the channel, all of whom are signed to Amuse's Kids' Division. One, Naomi Claire, is an American-Japanese who cameoed and sang a solo at SG's 2019 Christmas Eve live show.
  • Given how every talent introduced as of New Year's 2021 is 13 or younger, let's NOT talk about how easy it is to misread the channel's name.
• In November 2020, Tower Records' flagship store in Shibuya opened a temporary Sakura Gakuin Museum – no real shock, as the company's CEO Ikuo Minewaki has long been one of the group's most prominent supporters. The ribbon cutting ceremony was officiated by Minewaki, Principal Kuramoto, Sana & Kokona (SG's oldest active members), …and Airi. Airi is the graduate with easily the most complicated feelings about her tenure.
  • Kokona mentioned after the fact that she had a bit of a laugh during the actual ribbon cutting. She stood to Airi's left, so when they cut the ribbon they ended up holding on to the same piece because Airi is left-handed and Kokona isn't.
• For the Christmas Eve show, the senseis somehow convinced the 2015 graduates to record video messages for the fans and juniors. That's extremely nifty – it marked the first public appearance of Rinon in over three years – but not funny. The funny part came at the end when Saki Shirai finishes giving her pep-talk …and the camera cuts to her now wearing her Sakura Gakuin 2013 T-shirt and holding a flag to cheer the girls on. Fukei Queen indeed.
  • About a week later, Saki Ooga did a livestream on her Instagram and admitted it took her three hours to record her three-minute message, and she did it in the middle of the night.
    Fukei: "Maybe Nene bit her too hard on the head?"
  • Saki also said Rinon spent most of their text-chat needling Shirai about becoming one of Niigata's Tourism Ambassadors, asking if she was paid by the hour, etc. She said it was a "very Rinon" thing to do.
• In FRESH Episode 173, the first following the 2021 New Year's holiday, seniors Sana & Kokona – who are both really short for their age (with Sana in particular being just barely taller than ultra-tiny Ayami) – ranted about how Yume and Sakia had had growth spurts. They openly worried about the two youngest girls, especially Sakia, outgrowing them and finished it off with "Let's drink milk and get lots of sleep!"
  • As of June 2021, Yume has passed Sana in height (by 1cm), but not Kokona, and Sakia is still shorter than both of them.
• A FRESH episode with Miko, Neo, and Sakia playing Jan-ken-pon resulted in Neo losing because she picked scissors when the other two picked rock. Neo then explained that she always loses because she invariably throws scissors. They decided to do a rematch… and Neo threw scissors AGAIN while Miko & Sakia threw rock AGAIN. They asked Neo why in the world she did that when she'd just told them why she loses. Neo guiltily tried to say she thought everyone's strategies would be different. They all cracked up.

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