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HEAVENSENT REVIEW - 10/10
CHARM’s newest album focuses on hope in spite of isolation and the bonds of intimacy
Since their debut, CHARM has continuously set records only to immediately outpace them. Their new album, Heavensent, remains at the top of the Billboard Japan Top 100 for the third week in a row with no signs of slowing down. Already broaching 10 million in sales, it’s quickly become one of the most sold J-Pop albums in history. Detractors waiting for CHARM to fail to live up to the hype will have to keep waiting - Sayaka Maizono seemed intent on proving why Hope's Peak Academy scouted her as the Ultimate Idol.
Although the entire group shines, it's Sayaka Maizono who's been trending on social media along with the album itself. Meet-and-greet tickets for Sayaka Maizono specifically sold out in seconds after the announcement of their last tour, infamously crashing ticket websites.
"I know what it's like to feel alone," stated Sayaka in our exclusive interview. "I grew up looking to other idols as my only source of inspiration. They were like angels to me - I hope I can be remembered like that, too."
Date: March 15
... I was happy with how Heavensent turned out in the end, although the others don't see it the same way. Ayaka in particular is just jealous of how much attention the media has given me. I think they're still jealous that I was chosen as 'Ultimate Idol'. But I worked for it, didn't I? All those tireless nights studying melodies and music theory, all those days practicing and monitoring my image as closely as possible. I haven't eaten sugar in years, but I saw Satomi sneaking a candy the other day when she thought nobody was looking. That's the difference between us. I’m ‘Sayaka Maizono’ all the time.
Still, I know they have my back. If they're jealous, I'll just have to work even harder to prove I earned this. The media might praise me today, but they're already moving on to other groups. I'm only writing this so I can get the words out of my head so I can focus on our next album. This one will be even better- it has to be. I won't let the fans forget us that easily. Death would be better for an idol than being forgotten.
Transcript of Future Foundation Audio Log #G7-3136
[...]
SATOMI: This isn't going to work! You don't know Sayaka like we do!
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: We have ways of making you cooperate.
[SOUND: A gun is loaded]
AYAKA: You won’t shoot us, right? You need us alive -
ICHIKA: Ayaka, shut up!
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: Get on the stage already! Faster!
ANZU: Okay, okay!
[SOUND: Crying]
SATOMI: Ayaka is right, Ichika. Even if we make this, Sayaka would never-
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: She would. Our leader knows all about the "bad things" you girls did to become idols.
ICHIKA: You- you know?
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: Of course we know. Do you even really know Sayaka like you think you do? Can you really say what Sayaka would ‘never’ do?
ICHIKA: I… don’t know…
ANZU: How can you say that, Ichika?!
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: Do you really think she would never stab you in the back like she did so many others? Didn’t she already leave you behind once when she became the ‘Ultimate Idol’?
SATOMI: Murder is different from what we had to do to become idols! Sayaka's the type of person to try and inspire hope, not-
ULTIMATE DESPAIR MEMBER: Stop saying that word!
[SOUND: Gunfire]
[SOUND: Screaming]
[End of transcript]
Date: ???
It isn’t real it isn’t real it isn’t real it isn’t real it isn’t real it isn’t real it isn’t real
But what if it is? What if there’s even a 1% chance it’s real? Am I willing to take that risk? If I don’t do anything, won’t someone else take advantage of that? And what if that’s my only chance? What if only they get to escape and the rest of us have to rot? What if someone comes for me first? What if my groupmates are in trouble? What if I’m forgotten? What if? What if? What if
(No it isn’t real it can’t be real it isn’t real Ayaka would have gotten away Anzu would have fought this can’t be real it isn’t real)
I can’t. I couldn’t. I won’t do it. It’s wrong. I’ve hurt people before, sure. The only path to success built on the bones of other idols. But killing someone? Could I? No, I can’t. I can’t.
But what if I don’t? I didn’t get this far in my career by being passive. It would just be one person and then I would be free. Nobody would have to know. And what’s one more awful thing on my record? I’ve come so far already. I made this future with my own stained hands. I can’t let it go.
And they probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. They’re probably already planning on it. So it’s not that bad. I can do it. Maybe just a quick stab and it will be over. In truth, I know I made up my mind a long time ago.
I’m sorry.
Sayaker NATION!
Your #1 Blog for CHARM News!
Post #1137
Did any other Sayakers see the broadcast today??? Sayaka SNAPPED after seeing that motive video! It can't be real... can it? Stay strong, Sayaka... (´；д；`) I hope she can escape that horrible place...
MOOD: Scared
LISTENING TO: Heavensent
83 Comments
Anonymous (1): If we all cheer her on, she'll hear us! I know she will!
CHARMed010: We love you, Sayaka! Makoto, the hopes of all us Sayakers depend on you keeping her safe! ヽ(`д´；)/
Anonymous (2): Switching rooms...? What is she planning?
RockULikeAyakasu: Sayaka wouldn't go along with what Monokuma wants... would she? ʕ ´•̥̥̥ ᴥ•̥̥̥`ʔ
Anonymous (3): look at the snake turn. it was only a matter of time.
SayakerNATION [MOD]: No… she wouldn’t. Sayaka would never.
[...]
ONLINE AUCTION #112510
ITEM: SIGNED AUTOGRAPH BY SAYAKA MAIZONO
PRICE: ¥150,000,000 [BUY NOW] [ADD TO CART]
To: My Biggest Fan!
From: Sayaka Maizono ✩
It was great to meet you today! Whenever you feel alone, just look at this autographed poster and remember I’m cheering you on! So long as you have hope, you can make any dream come true!
ITEM SPECIFICS: used
SELLER NOTES: she got what she deserved.
THE IDOL ZONE
Your source for the hottest idol gossip
SAYAKA MAIZONO DEAD
by Editor
Former CHARM lead singer Sayaka Maizono was murdered in the ‘killing game’ being held in Hope’s Peak Academy. [READ MORE: Boyfriend reveal?! Sayaka relationship scandal?! 😱] Sayaka was ultimately stabbed to death with her own knife in a dorm shower after attempting to kill a former classmate.
Sayaka was suspected to have hatched a murder plot in order to escape her imprisonment in Hope’s Peak Academy, making her the first to attempt murder in the ‘killing school semester’. It seems everyone’s favorite ‘spotless’ idol wasn’t so pure after all. [READ MORE: Sexiest Sayaka outfits Sayakers will love 👀]
Former CHARM fans have written in: “I loved her work on Heavensent. I’m comforting myself by listening to Star Requiem’s new single-”
[...]
Sayaker NATION!
Your #1 Blog for CHARM News!
Post #1137
83 Comments (continued)
Anonymous (21): i haven't been able to stop crying...
CHARMed010: I refuse to believe it. I won't believe it. This all has to be a trick.
Anonymous (22): all of u stans had it coming u didnt know she was just using u the entire time. she only cared about 1 thing and thats herself.
SayakerNATION [MOD]: But what about the 11037 note? Why would she leave that if she only cared about herself?
Anonymous (23): maybe she just wanted leon to get busted so she could get revenge
Streamheavensent: It could be. They would think it was Makoto since it was his dorm.
SayakerNATION [MOD]: She didn’t know about class trials yet. She just thought she had to kill someone in order to escape. She left the note to protect Makoto, not out of revenge.
Anonymous (24): ^ this. people, she didn’t know everyone else would die.
Anonymous (25): i just burned all my CHARM merch
Anonymous (26): (´∀｀) wwwwwwwwwww
SayakerNATION [MOD] has locked this thread.
Date: January 3rd
… what I had to do made me sick. I haven’t been able to sleep just thinking about it.
But all the other girls had to, also. Ayaka was there for me. I still remember her holding me when I cried. I know she was crying, too, but trying not to make a sound. Just sitting there alone, trying to comfort each other but not knowing how to. Knowing it wouldn’t get better.
When we smile and cheer up on stage, is that the ‘real’ us? Or was it in that moment, my hands stained, at our lowest? I’m only writing in this stupid book so I can get it out. If I don’t, I think it may kill me.
In these moments, I have to remember why I’m doing all this. It doesn’t matter if there is no ‘Sayaka Maizono’. So long as people believe there is, so long as people find hope in the music I make, that’s all that matters.
#1 Trending - #IAmSayakaMaizono
Marisa Okashiro ✓ @officialokashiro
I’m joining the thousands of other idols in the #IAmSayakaMaizono hashtag. During my time working in the idol industry, I was subject to abuse. Urgent change is needed in the idol industry.
Star Requiem ✩ (READ PINNED) ✓ @starrequiem
When our lead singer was outed as having broken the ‘love ban’, she was blacklisted in the industry and received numerous death threats. #IAmSayakaMaizono
afhd292 @wwwwwsayaka #IAmSayakaMaizono MOVE ON already it’s been months she was a snake smh
[This Tweet has been deleted.]
SayakerNATION | HEAVENSENT OUT NOW @sayakernation
Any of us could have been Sayaka in the ‘killing game’. #IAmSayakaMaizono
Yuan117 @yuuuaaannnnn
#IAmSayakaMaizono still trending after a week??? silence from the management companies is deafening
Kotoha-chan ✓ @itskotoha
There’s no better time to speak up than now. If we’re going to build a world free of despair, it needs to be one Sayaka would have been proud of. #IAmSayakaMaizono
The Japan Times
Millions Mourn CHARM Lead Singer Sayaka Maizono
Following the 'killing school semester' broadcasted by Ultimate Despair, funerals are being planned across Japan for the Ultimate students whose lives were lost. Concerns have arisen around planned memorial for Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Idol, due to the high expected attendance.
“So many people want to come because of how many lives Sayaka Maizono touched,” stated a fan, the owner of a popular idol fan blog, who wished to remain anonymous.
Others claim the high attendance is in response to the #IAmSayakaMaizono movement. No agreement has been reached yet with Ms. Maizono’s former management company. However, the Future Foundation has been the latest organization to voice their support.
In response to outcry against Ms. Maizono after her murder attempt and subsequent death was broadcasted by Ultimate Despair, the fan had this to say: “Sayaka wasn’t the only one to break down in that situation. It wasn’t because of dirty secrets or the promise of money. It was out of concern for her fellow idols. It was because of her career and the people her music helped.”
Following the broadcasting of Ms. Maizono’s death, the album ‘Heavensent’ broke one final record to became the most simultaneously-listened to album of all time. Fans reflect on how music became a source of hope in spite of Ultimate Despair [...]
Transcript of Future Foundation Audio Log #C6-1047
[...]
INTERVIEWER: Then it sounds like you harbor no ill will towards the late Ms. Sayaka Maizono for what transpired during the killing game.
MAKOTO: No, I don’t. We were placed under extreme circumstances. People have said that the killing game showed the ‘real’ Sayaka, but I think that’s wrong.
INTERVIEWER: What do you believe was the ‘real’ Sayaka?
MAKOTO: Truthfully, I don’t know. But I do know that the ‘real’ Sayaka was not how she acted in a life-or-death situation. Some people, like Ultimate Despair, say that a person’s worst self is their most ‘real’ self, but by what metric? Sayaka would have never did what she did otherwise. How is that ‘real’? If anything, I think the ‘real’ Sayaka Maizono is in the music that continues to inspire people and the reforms being made to the idol industry.
INTERVIEWER: Well-said. Before our time with the Future Foundation ends, do you have anything else you’d like to say on this topic?
MAKOTO: [Pause.] In Sayaka’s last moments, she… wrote a note for us. A last final act of selflessness. That was when I realized the meaning of ‘hope’. Sayaka never lived to see us find her killer, but she still wrote that note to help us anyway. I thought about this when I held back evidence in order to have Monokuma render a false verdict against me. I would die, but my friends would live on in my stead.
MAKOTO: It was because of Sayaka that any of us escaped the killing game at all. Sayaka might not be with us now, but I’ll never forget her for that. Any time I hear her music, I still feel like she’s here… inspiring me to keep moving forward. To build a better future.
[End Transcript]