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IZ*ONE fans thankful as Le Sserafim's Sakura allowed to mention her past

Ex-IZ*ONE member Miyawaki Sakura is a Japanese-born K-pop idol who is now set to debut with HYBE's first girl group called Le Sserafim

It seems that Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chaewon truly are in good hands. They had previously competed in the survival show ‘Produce 48’ and debuted with the popular third-gen group IZ*ONE. Unfortunately, since it was only a project group, they ended up disbanding after the usual three-year contract. Their impact was evident as fans collected more than $2.6 million in hopes that IZ*ONE could reunite. But while that fell through, the members are now busy with their individual careers as a soloist or as part of another group. 

Both Sakura and Chaewon have signed with HYBE, the parent company of BTS, and are set to debut with its first girl group Le Sserafim. And with their debut date inching closer, the girls have already started their promotions. They are set to appear on hit variety shows like ‘Weekly Idol’ and ‘Knowing Bros’. But before those appearances, we had Sakura on the wholesome YouTube series ‘ODG’ where idols meet children or young teenagers to talk about their careers and experiences as an idol.

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Sakura talks about IZ*ONE

‘ODG’ has been responsible for some of the most heart-warming content between idols and children. SHINee fans were touched when Minho wistfully explained to a child who the late K-pop idol Jonghyun was and why he was not present with them anymore. On the other hand, one of the kids assured TWICE’s Jeongyeon that she was still amazing after she showed concerns about the change in her appearance due to weight gain. And when Sakura appeared on the show, she spoke about her experiences and the difficulty of being a Japanese member of a K-pop group like IZ*ONE, as well as her time in the J-pop group HKT48.

Sakura spoke fondly about her time in IZ*ONE and how there were some members who knew Japanese and helped her learn Korean and communicate well. Sakura said, “That helped me a lot. I still appreciate that. If I didn't have those friends, I might be in Japan now. It might not be a big deal for those who do that, but for the one who gets that help, it is forever. I can’t forget them.”

Watch the video below:

'Makes me feel relieved'

With most K-pop agencies barring idols from talking about their past in another group or agency, fans were happy that Sakura could talk about IZ*ONE even though she is now part of Le Sserafim. One fan tweeted, “I love this, Hybe isn't erasing Sakura's past, showing photos of her as a Japanese idol. It felt that even mentioning akb48/hkt48 was banned with OTR.”

Another was hopeful, “Hybe letting sakura (and probably chaewon in pixid) to say izone and even reminisce it tells you alot how they respect izone's foundation and the fans i just know they would allow special stages soon with the other members or even a reunion in the future.” One fan said, “Sakura really showed up on a korean utube show after missing for a whole damn year and said f knetz and their xenophobic traits. who's doing it like her.” Another shared, “It makes me feel relieved, sakura mentioned izone😭😭😭😭 actually i'm afraid that she can't mention izone again.”