Erina Mizuno leaves FLOWER and E-Girls to pursue an acting career.
Yesterday it was announced by a message from her in LDH's official website, as well as on E-Girls' site and FLOWER's.
Just when the next singe for E-Girls has been announced for November 20th, the 7th for the mega-unit with the song KuruKuru as their title track; Erina Mizuno has announced she's withrawing from both groups because lately her acting career has taken her attention. She declares she's discussed this matter seriously with the group (FLOWER) and the staff, until deciding it would be better for her to end her performer career and concentrate on acting. Her roles on both, TV and movies have been increasing this last two years, however, it was hard to predict one of the best LDH performers, often promoted as Hiro's female version, would leave her career as a performer for a goal that could just be ballanced with her current career, the same as Akira from EXILE had been doing for years.
Erina Mizuno started dancing when she was on the 5th grade of elementary school (around 10 years old in Japan), and soon would enter EXPG under her mother's suggestion to join one of their workshops. On 2009 she would be teamed up with Shuuka Fuji, Manami Shigetome and Mio Nakajima to form the dance unit FLOWER. During the first summer tour of E-Girls on 2011, previous to their label debut, she danced with the original FLOWER unit as part of E-Girls. At that time, the training for the debut with the new additions that completed the line-up to 9 with two vocalists (Reina Washio, Chiiharu Muto), one performer and sub-vocalist (Kyouka Ichiki) and two performers (Nozomi Bando and Harumi Satou), had already begun and in October the group would debut with the song Still.
Later, on December that year, she would also debut with E-Girls, the mega-unit that united all the female groups from EXILE's family: Dream, Happiness and FLOWER. At the beginning it was supposed to be a special unit that would eventually release music, but at the end, the interest they generated, made their management decide to push the unit further so they started releasing singles more often, becoming a unit that would coexist with the main units, as another tool to push them further and get them better promotion as a pack.
Just a couple of weeks ago, we got notice of a new addition coming from EGD, the division of girls coming from EXPG that haven't been assigned a group, a dancer born in 1992 called Marina Watanabe. Even then it was hard to tell it would be Erina the one to leave, but we'd experienced that whenever an EGD comes into E-Girls is because someone is not participating on the next release, is going on hiatus or is simply leaving. It seems we know now why Watanabe joined the group, especially since her age doesn't match the rest of performers that seem to be melting in with BUNNY's members that are left after these 2 years. BUNNY was also created on the same audition that helped complete FLOWER for their debut, but ever since, the group has shrinked from 10 members to 6. Then we all have seen how 2 of the EGD girls inside E-Girls became Happiness members, after the group had lost MIMU and MAYU had resumed her hiatus caused for a disease.
We should expect anything from now on, but my guess is Marina's here to train and see if she fits for FLOWER.
Here there's Erina's message to the fans:
*Note: LDH always romanizes her name as Elina, however, most of the international fans prefer the version; Erina, that was given earlier by them, because it seems more accurate as Japanese don't pronounce the 'L'*
Thanks for supporting E-girls and Flower all the time!
This is Elina Mizuno. This time I am going to make an announcement here.
I have engaged in show business since I was a kid. I made my first stage appearance when I was only 10 years old
and started acting as an actress when I was 15.
Moreover, in 2010, I made my debut as an artist of Flower,
and from 2011, I started my activities as a member of E-girls.
As a member of both Flower and E-girls, I have been supported and encouraged by many fans,
thus I have accumulated a precious experience. I am very grateful for that!
What's more, during that period, I have also engaged in movie, drama and stage play as an actress.
After meeting a great many people and getting plenty of encouragement, I seriously thought about what I really want to do and what my real goal is.
And, I also have realized the meaning and wonderfulness of my performance as a performer of Flower and E-girls,
and made up my mind to go on living and being active as an individual actress.
I will challenge the limit of my acting skill and broaden the acting field based on constant learning.
This time, I have talked with every member of Flower and thought about it carefully and seriously.
I have decided that I will put an end to my career as a performer of Flower and E-girls.
I will start challenging my new dream as an actress again.
I decide to withdraw from Flower and E-girls because of this dream in my heart.
But I am still grateful to members of Flower and E-girls
and friends who have been supporting me.
When thinking about those soft words of encouragement and those days I spent with my outstanding fellow members......
My heart is overflowing with gratitude.
From now on, I will hone my skills and get prepared for the possible opportunities in the future.
I will always be grateful to all of you and make use of the experience that I have got as a member of Flower and E-girls.
I will keep working hard for the new dream as an LDH performer!
Please support me!
October, 2013
Elina Mizuno
Now I leave you with a bonus, since this news had me disapointed, although I can't be mad because I also like Erina as an actress. This is a translate I made from her appearence at one of Gekkan EXILE's issues last year. I appologize for any errors, it was one of my firsts and just to do some practice on my Japanese poor skills. This is a join interview with HIRO.
SUCCESSION
"Inheritance" as a subject we treat every issue with Hiro introducing an artist or an actor from LDH.
This time, the performer from FLOWER who's featured in the movie 'Evil Holy Scripture', Mizuno Erina appears.
HIRO:
With the same aspirations I have, I want to introduce you to the fourth companion who is a ray of hope, soon you'll see her in the movie 'Evil Holy Scripture', FLOWER's leader: Mizuno Erina.
Mizuno-chan is also a student from EXPG like Aran who I introduced last month. The atmosphere that she engenders it has a unique significance, that drags a high degree of attention from the staff. Even when I saw her I was impacted. And then, she gradually flourishes, I came to get it out at Gekidan EXILE's plays and such but, the amount of her potential catches your attention and makes you experience a tremendous thing.
In any way she's stoic and hard working. She's a girl but, when it comes to EXILE's connotations, her aimed objectives, she chews them one by one and accomplished to do her own thing. I think that she still has some challenges to face but, she has a serious degree of actitud towards her work, and she has a kind of realism that is outstanding. It feels like she looks at the World with a different view from people of her age. In a way that, it doesn't matter what type of work she does, it's never embarrassing (disapointing). She stamps on her hallmark, and gives you a feeling of being secure.
Her power of concentration, that because of this degree of seriousness it's able to investigate anything thoroughly, is high but therefore, sometimes it's very hard to think about that perhaps it would be good if she let go of a little bit of this power. She's 19 years old now, but she has the feeling of a professional that I didn't have at her age.She doesn't even have temptations to play around.Having the same stoic as EXILE is wonderful, but her compromise is paper thin and clear (meaning that she is honest) [LOL] . Is like this, she can keep her own ballance controled, furthermore, I think that her charms are increasing.
Extend your antenas to what I've just said, she's leading the way. Always looking on the people that even if they have the perfect enviroment can't achieve these things. I am never satisfied with what I've accomplished. Even with that, there are times when I want to stop [LOL]. Since she's been touched by talent until now, she wants her success to last long. That's what I think from the heart.
More disciplined than this, even her trainer says that Mizuno-chan looses her body fat and grows back her moustache! It's formidable.
ERINA:
I came to love dance because of my mother's influence, when I was at 5th grade of elementary school, because of a dancer that I admired and I met I started to change my consciousness into dancing, I started working like crazy, only a little but, it became my job. From this, my mother recommended me a workshop from EXPG, with the thought that 'there might be some chances' I got an audition that led me to become an EXPG student. The first time that Hiro-san met me, I was around 13 or 14 years old.One day that I recieved a lesson, I was called by Hiro-san, they introduced him to me 'he's the president'. But, to me, that I was instantly overwhelmed by the aura of a dancer he had, even if they told me he was the president I couldn't react, not remembering it I ended up just greeting him with 'nice to meet you' or something like that.Even now I regret that disrespectful attitude.
To me, that people got to know about the festival EX SHOW where the students of EXPG performed made me happier than anything. That day I could meet for the second time face to face with Hiro-san, but when I could speak to someone who had been succesful at dancing it felt like the dream of earnestly working as a dancer had changed into an affirmation. If you earnestly turn towards your dream and keep on running, there are people who can properly look at that appearence, and have a chance to form it around. It's a moment when you get so much encouraged.
I continued dancing and I hit against a wall so many times. Simply, I also get disorientated, whether you have the appropiate bone structure to dance, the quality of your muscles can also change. With that, there are times when I've nearly became frustrated. Althought, with effort people can make things change. Meeting with Hiro-san, that memory became really important.
In the future, as an actress, usually, the feelings that people cannot show, I want to become someone that can put on those complex expressions, that as you see it becomes fun, I also want to act happy. I don't want to pursue the reality only, so I'll work hard to be able to perform real things and unreal ones. If I keep expanding my expressions by challenging myself to different roles that would be great. Also with the performances of FLOWER. FLOWER, I want it to be my real objective. Right now I am really down on developing it, but to be able to feel everything possible, I think that I want to give it my best.
Sources: LDH site | E-Girls site | through Team LDH | generasia
I am not listing FLOWER's because, actually, that site hasn't worked for me ever since the Taiyou to Himawari changes and haven't been able to use it.
The scan is mine, it's tagged anyway.
I am late because I thought someone else would already report this. Sorry.