2014 SERA00 Winter Concert Highlights: Graduations, Promotions, new sub-unit SKYTown

Hey everyone!

So today I will write about the highlights of our SERA00 2014 Winter Concert "Snowflake Symphony"! I'll start off on both ends of the Wota freaking-out spectrum; graduations and promotions. 

As predicted, there were quite a few of both, and it was even this time. Members who announced their graduation last Saturday during the concert include A ranks Elyse Schreiner and Katerina Landon (Feather), B rank Terra Appling, and C ranks Whitley Sunnings and Tricia Henrie. The reasons they spoke about were very similar, either for school, pursuing another career, etc. 

I once read an article online that summed up the reasons SERA00 girls graduated for each rank, and I think it was written quite well. It basically said, C ranks graduate because they feel stuck with nowhere to go, B ranks graduate because they want to give themselves a chance to go somewhere, and A ranks graduate because they want to go further. So we as members must have faith in ourselves that we are always going to improve and respect that those members feel that their best choice right now is to graduate. 

Okay, before Elyse/Feather/Terra/Whitley/Tricia fans start crying, let's get onto the good news. Which 00 ranks got promoted? As predicted, the favourite for promotion was Macey, and she was promoted to Team Night along with Mikayla. Echo was promoted to Team Angel. Briar Rose, the other favourite contender for promotion, was promoted to Team Aurora. 

But wait - some of you are thinking, five doesn't equal four, shouldn't one more 00 rank have been promoted? Yes! Kaya was also promoted to Team Aurora, but only yesterday when she had her birthday stage! It was management's smartly timed birthday present to her.

Now, probably most of you are scratching your heads with this question - why weren't the most popular 00 ranks promoted? That is to say, not the favourite contenders but rather the day-to-day popular members, specifically Sammi, Yumichan, Tomiko, etc. 

There are actually pros and cons of being promoted. Because there are so many official members, C ranks are often swamped by the popularity of senior members, whereas the 00 ranks are a little group of their own, a place where they can really shine and stand out. I think some of you underestimate the 00 ranks as a team, but in reality many Wotas realize that they are SERA00's future so 00s actually do get quite some attention from fans. 

I hope this can explain some of the girls who weren't promoted. Admittedly because of her position as 00 rank centre, Sammi is probably the most popular 00 rank at this point and keeping her in 00 rank is essential to keeping the 00 ranks together. She will have more chances to shine as 00 rank's centre as opposed to being a newbie entering a team as an official member. As for Yumichan and Tomiko, they have considerable popularity and I suspect management is just keeping them in 00 so that the 00 ranks can feed off their popularity. It's no doubt that eventually they will get promoted but they are currently getting enough exposure what with being in the sub-unit SKYTown with Sassan and Kotoka. 

Out of the previous 00 ranks, it was pretty obvious to those who attended SERA00 Stages that Macey Fent was very capable, and that's probably why she was promoted; management thinks she can make it in Team Night. Both Macey and Mikayla are very good dancers, which explains their promotion to Night. Kaya and Briar Rose were promoted to Team Aurora. These are the promotions I'm not sure I understand fully. Kaya has more of a mature appeal, and I would put her in Night if I had the choice. Maybe she was put in Aurora just to even out the teams, and her girly vibe matches Aurora slightly better than Angel. Briar Rose's promotion to Aurora will raise many eyebrows. Yes, Aurora is the team that matches her best, but is she ready for her suspected big push from management? It was already tried as soon as she debuted (she centred the 00 rank performances for a couple of weeks) but Sammi replaced her. Many fans are wondering whether this is the next level, or it's simply the end of management's help and the beginning of walking her own road?

Let's talk about Echo. In fact, I believe she contributed to the reason why the 00 rank ace and members of Skytown weren't promoted. Echo is the member that pulls together the 00s and rallies them for a performance. Essentially, she naturally took over as the leader of 00 ranks. As of now, there isn't really anyone who could take over Angel's super important position as leader of the entire group (except other senior members, but they have their own roles in SERA00), so if she graduates we're in trouble. Echo is an obvious candidate and by putting her in Team Angel management is grooming her to be SERA00's next Angel.

It's quite obvious that they're really going to shape her perfectly for leadership of the entire group, because if they wanted her to just quickly become a leader they could have stuck her in one of the other groups and promote her to captain in a couple of months. However, I suspect she will be one member in Angel who will not be moving anywhere in the team shuffles to come. She will stay in SERA00's core team and build her leadership skills.  

Phew, that was a long rambly post XD ! Sorry guys, but I hope I gave you some insight into the promotions. 

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