Who is Chikano Rina?

kevinMario March 1, 2014

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AKB48 Daisokaku Matsuri (Grand Reformation Festival) had its highlights with the three aces from SKE48, NMB48 & HKT48 converging in one team, the full transfer of members between the sister groups, the inclusion of Nogizaka46’s Ikoma into the 48G and the reverse concurrency with Matsui Rena.

But it is exactly because of all those ‘local’ member assignments, this one member transfer announcement sounds even more ‘special’ because it (once again) traverses the borders of 2 countries.

Fun fact:
After the announcement of her transfer, “Chikano Rina” rocketed into the 4th worldwide trending topic on Twitter.

Yes, JKT48 fan / supporters –as you should already know by now–
Chikano Rina is coming to Jakarta to perform for you!

She posted on her Google+ after the Daisokaku regarding her thoughts of the result.

Chikano Rina Feb 25, 2014

Good evening.
The (results) of the Grand Reformation totally surpassed whatever I’ve imagined.

Since my name didn’t get called until the very last moment, members and fans surely had the “Eh! What about Chikachan!?” moment (lol)

I, Chikano Rina, will be a fully transferred to JKT48 as a member!!

This is me, trying to always look forward, as also a chance and I’m positive that this will be nothing but a fantastic life experience!!!

I’m very excited at the moment! I’ve already got in contact with Harugon, and she taught me a lot of things〜♡

Everyone, please don’t think of this as a sad, sorrowful thing.

If you would please continue to support me as you have been all these times, I would be very happy (　◜◡‾)(‾◡◝　)✩

Being a member that hasn’t gotten enough attention from management so far (2014 will be her 7th year as a member of the 48G), information about Chikarina might be scarce – so we at WrapUp decided to list her history & achievements so that this page will (hopefully) be all you need to know everything about our bubbly, down-to-earth, soon to be JKT48 member.

Chikano who? (近野莉菜って, 誰?)

Chikarina was born in Tokyo on the 23rd of April, 1993 which makes her a Taurus-girl ( zodiacs are used widely in Japan along with blood-types)

Joined AKB48 as a 5th Generation Kenkyuusei ( KKS / Research Student ) in 2007, later on she got promoted to Team K in 2009, and then transferred to Team B in the same year during the first ever AKB48 Team Shuffle / Sokaku Matsuri.

Fast forward to 2012, during the Tokyo Dome Shuffle, she was then again transferred back to Team K, and finally to JKT48 during the last Daisokaku Matsuri on Feb 2014.

During her days in AKB48, she was really close with members Matsubara Natsumi, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Satou Amina ( all three have now graduated from AKB48 ) and Fujie Reina ( who is currently with the same agency as Chikarina, Itoh Company ). Both of them have released a couple of photobooks, DVDs and calendars – but since Reinyan will be transferred to NMB48 (Team M) and Chikarina to JKT48, the possibilities of future works together might be hindered by distance and of course, their schedule.

Personal work

Together with Reinyan, Chikarina is currently the image girl for Mother Farm, a farm-themed theme park located near Tokyo.

Mother Farm promotional video with Reinyan ( search for more videos like this )

She also released a solo DVD in 2009, titled Tropical Mermaid, also under the same company.

Chikano Rina 1st DVD – Tropical Mermaid

( available in YesAsia and Amazon JP – Chikarina goods on CDJapan )

Popularity and recognition

Albeit having participated in 17 B-sides and 1 A-side ( Chance no Junban ) AKB48 singles, unfortunately Chikarina still hasn’t ranked in any of the AKB48 General Elections.

She recently voiced her concern about this fact on Ariyoshi AKB Kyowakoku ep183 where she unveiled the fact that her handshake line during AKB48’s handshake events are only as long as some of the AKB48 kenkyuuseis!

Chikarina:
Even I don’t understand why…
I gave my fans full on attention during the event, and I made sure that my attitude and replies will definitely be able to make the fans feel happy – I still don’t get why I can’t get into senbatsu!

Ariyoshi: How long have you been with AKB48?

Chikarina: 6 years. I’ve been around for quite some time.

Ariyoshi: Kojima-san, do you know this person?

Kojiharu:
*giggles* OF COURSE…! But recently I don’t really get to see Chikarina…
We used to perform together quite a lot, Chikarina is a very cheerful and positive girl!

Chikarina:
But somehow my time (during handshake events) are very short!!!
Please teach me methods to be popular!

My goal this year is first and foremost, to increase my popularity!

Ariyoshi: Hmm, that’s quite complicated… maybe it’s something to do with your face?
Kojiharu: ROFL

Chikarina:
EH!? My face?!
But, if my face is the problem, doesn’t that mean there is nothing else I can do!?

Ariyoshi:
Maybe you worked and tried too hard all this time?
Why don’t you try to relax a bit like Kojima-san?

Ariyoshi:
For example… maybe you can start with NOT wearing bras?

Ariyoshi:
(during handshake event) AH! I FORGOT MY BRA TODAY!

Chikarina: I don’t think that’s a good idea…

Other facts

You’ve probably came across our article about Amina & Chikarina’s scandal news as published by Shukan Bunshun – we will not comment further on this and we’ll let the facts talk, but we would strongly suggest that you delve further into the article and into the comments that the fans made.

JKT48's Chikano Rina

We hope this ( imperfect ) article can somewhat help you in figuring out what kind of person Chikano Rina is.

Haruka will definitely be a great help since she’s practically Indonesian now, and that should help a lot with the language / cultural barrier – and here’s hoping that the majority of JKT48 members are now somehow used to Japanese members getting transferred to their teams.

To be blunt though, compared to Akicha, Chikarina has nothing to lose.

JKT48 will be her proving ground, the place where she either make it or break it – and here’s hoping that she makes it.

Whether she enjoys her time in Jakarta though, will depend on the local fans’ acceptance and attitude towards her during theatre and events – JKT48 fans, from here on it’s up to you to make her feel like home!

The staffs here at WrapUp wishes the best for JKT48’s Chikano Rina!