Matsui Jurina, let me count the ways in which I love thee...

This article is something I've been meaning to write for a while now, but I only just now got time to complete it. Prepare yourselves, I'm gonna take the moment to obsess about my oshi for a minute here. Excuse me if I start to fangirl, or if it sounds weird/creepy at some points. I just appreciate my oshi that much. ^__^

Matsui Jurina, let me count the ways in which I love thee... 

My favourite Jurina photo for all of eternity.
It somehow captures her ethereal beauty & pureness, and childlike energy yet soft maturity. 

If I had to describe my kami-oshi in 1 word, I would have to say, Inspirational. 100% Inspirational.

I was first truly introduced to the 48 family via SKE48. I say 'truly', as I have known about AKB48 since their beginnings, but never really took the time to follow the 48 family seriously until recently.

As I spent the following weeks getting acquainted with the many mysterious wonders of the 48 world, and SKE48 itself…I quickly came to realize, that Matsui Jurina was becoming my favourite.

At first, I was a little surprised. I noticed that she was pretty much one of the front-girls of the group and this would be the first time in my idol-supporting history (since 2001), that I gravitated towards a "front-girl". I usually tend to naturally fall for the much, much less popular girls -- definitely not just because they are in the back, but because their personalities are usually the ones that stand out to me and make me laugh the most. Supporting such under girls is filled with lots of fun, but can always be little disappointing not getting to see them featured as much as others (even though, all that really matters is that you keep on supporting them nonetheless and that they feel your support *nods*).

After getting over that initial, "this is different for me" feeling, I started trying to figure out exactly why I found Jurina so intriguing -- while learning more about the group through interviews, tv programming clips, song listens, stage watches and browsing pictures.

As time went on, I even doubted myself a bit -- wondering if Jurina rising to the top of my list was just an initial phase of……"fangirling" or something. I've seen a lot of fans saying that they were initially fans of one girl, but switched after some time. For relevant example, a lot of people said they use to like Jurina more and then moved over to Matsui Rena after some time.

I considered this. I actually considered if this was true for me as well. I thought, "Yeah, maybe I like this member more…." or "Maybe it's just top level 'I think she's really cute' love". But with every passing day, I kept coming to the same conclusion: This girl is something special. Something refreshing….uplifting.

As with most others, I was surprised how young she was! Even at age 11 she looked and acted so much more mature. "Kid CAN'T be that young!" I (as many others) kept saying. But after watching many clips and such, I realized that the childlike innocence and straightforwardness is still very much present in her.

That's part of how she inspires me.

Never before had I seen a young girl, in the idol world, as determined to reaching her dreams as Jurina. She is 100% (and beyond) dedicated to her job as an idol and is super aware of the goals she wants to achieve. Jurina goes about everything she does with such strength, passion, and professionalism -- she conquers everything that's thrown her way with such grace and poise.





I'm 24 now, but looking back on my younger years in school, I only wish I were as headstrong and self-motivated as Jurina is. Growing up with two older brothers, who always excelled in school and whom I was constantly compared with by teachers, put such a huge burden of expectation on my shoulders that I took the easy route out and decided not to stand up to the challenge. I made it through school just fine. I wasn't the lowest scoring student in my classes by a long shot, but I never truly allowed myself be better than I was -- and looking back now, I could have done SO much better than I did. I probably could have actually done better than my brothers ever did! Now, I'm a much different person though. I actually aim quite high and hold myself on a much higher level than I did before.

Browsing videos one day, I found an English subbed video titled "History of Matsui Jurina" from the Pareo wa Emerald Type A DVD.

In part 2 of the video Jurina completely floored me once again. At around 3:36 into the video, they bring up the constant comparison of WMatsui -- Matsui Rena and Matsui Jurina. It compares the 2nd Senbatsu election rankings:

Early results: Jurina 18th | Rena 8th
Mid-results: Jurina 15th | Rena 10th

Jurina then goes on to explain how she thought that Rena would rank higher and even though she prepared for such result, she initially still hoped to be called out first.

Final results: Jurina 10th | Rena 11th

Her secret hopes came true, however, she later came to realize that in truth…..to her, the key to success is not just in the ranking results. She understands that the rank numbers themselves are important, but they're not the holy grail. The more important thing to her is whether or not people recognize Matsui Jurina as a individual -- whether the rank drops or rises.

That part completely took me off guard.

Juritan is Naruto-ppoi?

This is why I personally nickname Jurina, 人柱力 (Jinchuuriki), literally meaning "Power of Human Sacrifice" -- a term I first heard used in the manga series Naruto.

To me, Jurina has a sort of Naruto-effect personality. When she explained her thoughts in that video…I was immediately reminded of the character.

In the story of Naruto, Jinchuuriki are (quoting from a wikia here):

Humans that have tailed beasts sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers, and in some cases are more powerful than their tailed beasts, because they have the intelligence to use the beasts' powers effectively.

The jinchuuriki are typically lonely people, viewed by those around them as the tailed beasts that had been sealed within them, leading to prejudice and being hated and feared.

…However, some jinchuuriki refuse to waver, even though they have been shunned, and they eventually earned respect (of the people in their villages, etc).

Now, I'm not saying that Jurina has some wild demon beast within her, but she definitely possesses such a powerful will and inner-energy that enables her to draw the attention of others like a moth to a flame -- and I can see some finding that a little intimidating. I'm sure there are plenty of people going, "why does this kid keep appearing in just about every AKB production, and at the front of every SKE production? She's just a kid!" etc, etc. It's true, that can seem imposing and many people have actually been turned off by her ever wavering presence.

Even as seen in the 3rd Senbatsu election results, people's preferences seem to be moving direction:

Final results: Rena 10th | Jurina 14th

But like Jurina mentioned before, to her, the rank numbers aren't the most important. It's letting people see you for who you really are, not in comparison to others. It's working hard everyday to be better than the person you were yesterday -- it's easy to beat someone else, but if you can beat yourself, than you have truly grown. The Naruto-effect.

Naruto was constantly shunned and neglected due to the beast he had sealed within him, and no matter how hard he tried to gain the attention of the people around him -- they always gave him the cold shoulder. In the first volume of the manga, he nearly gives up all hope until he realizes that amongst all the despise, one person (his teacher) had faith in him. After realizing that at least one person believed in him, from then on, the one thing he never gave up on was trying to better himself.

No matter how rankings rise or fall -- Jurina always tries her hardest to better herself…even though there are many tough times, her willpower is strong.

Inspiration. 100% Inspiration.
Matsui Jurina embodies everything I wish I was back when I was younger. She inspires me to be everything I want to be now and in the future.

There will always be other 48 girls that I absolutely love and adore -- Matsui Rena, Kuwabara Mizuki, Deguchi Aki, Oshima Yuko, Akimoto Sayaka, Watanabe Mayu (AKB oshi :P)…to name a small few. But in no way can I deny that Matsui Jurina is my SKE and overall 48 oshimen.

My Kami-oshi.

And neither would I want to deny it or question it ever again.

My favourite idol of all time, Ogawa Makoto, I love. Like, no joke just straight up 100% attraction to everything both, physically and personality-wise about her (sexy sexy sexy! smart, funny, awesome...gah!). She my dream girlfriend. *sigh* <3

But Jurina is something different completely.

Like mentioned before, I grew up as the youngest sibling with two older brothers. Never before has any idol made me want a younger sister or brother as much as Matsui Jurina (I was actually against having a younger sibling). Never before has another idol made me want to support them and see them grow into magnificence like Matsui Jurina.

Never before has any idol had such an inspirational affect on me like Matsui Jurina. She's absolutely stunningly gorgeous, cute and pretty in every way. Whenever I'm watching videos, if I haven't seen her in any of them for about 10 videos, even just in the background of AKBINGO! or something….I start to feel like I'm missing something. I actually start to feel kind of sad or lonely. I have to pause just to go watch another video with Jurina in it to feel better again. Bizarre eh?

I honestly can't explain why that affects me so much. It surprises me just as surprising as it sounds. Don't worry, I'm not a stalker/crazy person or anything. I would never disrespect her space or privacy as such. >__>

Inspiration. 100% Inspiration. My adoration for her extends above and beyond simple words like, "she's really cute" -- and I am 100% proud to give her my full support and to call her my oshi.

The day I get to meet Jurina in person for the first time, I want to tell her…

To me, you're an inspiration. 100% inspiration.
For that, I thank you.

つづく

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*sigh* Well, that's it. The reasons why I adore Matsui Jurina as much as I do. If you stuck around to read this whole babble, I applaud you and give you a gold star and a cookie. Writing out these thoughts is something that I've been working on for a few weeks now and it's been a joy to contemplate and dissect these thoughts that had been floating in my head (the octopi did a good job helping me organize and voice them).

I hope you can all enjoy loving and supporting your 48 oshimen as much as I do mine. The 48 family is full of so many awesome girls! What a wonderful thing. ^__^