Manafi makes a point of saying Memi has spoken to her often, over a long period of time, about other things she wants to do, and about graduating in order to do them. She says that Memi will not have any regrets.
Fans are making the implication that Memi has not suffered from any of the wilder things speculated, such as a serious illness, or being attacked by a stalker.
We still don't know for sure why she is quitting now, as opposed to earlier or later. The change of the name and atmosphere of the group must be part of the immediate push. But the idea of graduating is not something new, and has a positive feeling behind it.
Here is the part of Manafi's 27 June blog that deals with Memi:
...
And the number of handshake lanes I've sold out has risen to 13!
It's still not enough
But I am truly filled with feelings of gratitude!!
In recent handshake events,
Even though there have been sad things, I have been optimistic, thinking a sad face would not do, and have faced you all with many smiles and had handshake events that were truly enjoyable, from the bottom of my heart.
A lot of things have happened in a short time
That have shaken you fans.
People have been coming to my lane crying.
It surprised Kono-chan, who was in my lane for the national handshake event. You never know how long we will be able to continue meeting, so it came strongly to me again what happiness, what a miracle it is that I can meet and talk with you all directly.
Through tears, you all told me your feelings, about me and about the group, and I came close to crying myself.
There was talk about Memi, but there were a lot of people who said how much they loved us as a combo. I thought about a lot of things, such as that if I had become more popular sooner, we could have done more together.
But I've been hearing from Memi for a long time about ways she would like to live in the future, and things she would like to try doing, and that she wanted to graduate to do them, so this is not something she will regret.
...
___________________________________________________
Emphasis added.
The blog post is called TV Tokyo Music Festival and I'm Happy! Posted 2019.06.27 at 21:25h. Sorry not to translate it all, including the parts that have nothing to do with Memi, but I have too long a list of posts to translate already, lol.
Japanese comments point out that having Manafi communicate news about Memi is a good way for her to gather up Memi oshis to her handshake. I hope she and Memi worked this out together.
Translations of a very positive post from Neru and of an important post from Kumi yet to come.
via Anakamirikarutenani