“Was I not any good?”: LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura talks about navigating negative comments through songwriting

Miyawaki Sakura, who is currently a member of HYBE-SOURCE MUSIC's LE SSERAFIM, has been in the idol industry for over a decade and similarly, has been a victim of years of malicious targeting online.

In a recent Weverse Magazine interview on Monday, October 24, the Japanese K-pop idol opened up about her thoughts regarding negative comments. She even channeled that energy into writing a song for their recently released album, ANTIFRAGILE.

When asked about her lyrics in Good Parts (when the quality is bad but I am), a b-side from ANTIFRAGILE, Sakura shared that she wrote the lines keeping self-love in mind. The lines she wrote were:

“I just wanna love myself when I’m / Feeling good or feeling bad.”

The self-love idea stemmed from the continuous scrutiny she was experiencing. Talking about it, Sakura said:

“Sometimes I see comments on the Internet where people judge an idol entirely based on one thing they do, and I always feel bad when I see how they get stressed out from that. When I see comments like that about me, I end up thinking, Did I always used to be that bad? Was I not any good back then? But, in reality, all those moments make up who I am.”

She added:

“When I wrote the lyrics, I thought about how it would be nice if even just one person understood how I feel. It was something I wanted to say to the people who have a hard time loving themselves.”

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From debut documentary to Weverse comeback interview: LE SSERAFIM’s Sakura has often talked about her past struggles

The 24-year-old K-pop idol began her music career by debuting in Japan’s most popular group, HKT48, in 2011. It was the sister group of another equally famous J-pop group, AKB48. She then participated in Produce 48 in 2018 and promoted as IZ*ONE in South Korea. After their disbandment, she joined LE SSERAFIM.

With an illustrious career spanning over a decade, Sakura enjoys an incredible fan following in both Japan and South Korea. In The World is My Oyster documentary, Sakura bared her real self.

In the most recent Weverse Magazine interview, she expanded on the same, saying:

“I think I was immature, self-centered and only thinking of myself when I first debuted. But I learned there’s certain things you should say and do to be considerate of others and build a good relationship the longer I’ve been an idol.”

Being a part of LE SSERAFIM now, Sakura believes she has matured. She shared that she has realized that people working with idols are as crucial in making a group successful as the members themselves.

“I think a celebrity’s abilities and talents are important, but even more important is what kind of person they are. If you’re going to work together for a long time and make it enjoyable, the people you’re working with have to want to work with you, too. That’s the kind of person I want to be, and that’s the kind of group I want LE SSERAFIM to be, too.”

The now-LE SSERAFIM member also spoke about how fans box idols into one personality. She mentioned that she notices the toxicity and effects of the fan culture, which heavily relies on judging idols by only analyzing the things they showcase.

“Sometimes I see comments on the Internet where people judge an idol entirely based on one thing they do, and I always feel bad when I see how they get stressed out from that.”

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In other news, LE SSERAFIM has resumed activities after halting for a few days after Kim Chaewon and Huh Yunjin suffered injuries from a minor car accident.