SKE48’s Jurina Matsui made a surprise visit to the MNL48 Senbatsu and Under Girls during their practice. Jurina, one of the the biggest names in 48 Group history, was in Manila to watch ONE Championship’s ONE: Dawn of Heroes at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday. She made time to drop by and meet her Philippine juniors despite the weather and heavy traffic that day.
In a video posted by the MNL48 You Tube channel, the girls were ecstatic when Jurina entered the practice hall. Interactions between MNL48 and their Japan groups had been few and far between. For many of the girls, this is their first time to meet a senior from any of the Japanese groups, let alone one as legendary as Jurina who was already active in both SKE48 and AKB48 during what fans call the “Golden Era”.
https://youtu.be/zgdvahuQ_Zg
The girls gave their sempai a little glimpse of their training for their 4th single songs in front of their senpai, with the 4th single Senbatsu performing “Ikaw ang Melody”, while the Under Girls performed “Gingham Check”. Jurina was part of the senbatsu for the original versions of both songs.
Afterwards, Jurina sat down for a short Q&A with her juniors with MNL48 Team L Captain Kay serving as the translator. It was a day to remember for the members whose feelings are all over their official social media accounts over the weekend.
Here are some of the photos taken from her visit.
With activities ramping up for the 4th single and the upcoming Asia Festival in Shanghai, we hope that Jurina’s will serve as motivation for the girls in their still young idol careers. Maybe they’ll share a stage someday, who knows?
