Mayu Shimada (島田真夢?) is one of the main characters of Wake Up, Girls and is a former member/center of the first generation I-1 Club. She joined WUG without auditioning in the latter half of 2013. Her image colour is red.
Appearance
Mayu is very much the all-rounder in terms of appearance of the group. She has mediu, length black hair, similar to Yoshino Nanase's before she cut hers. She has blue eyes and is fairly average in terms of height compared to other girls in WUG like Miyu or Kaya.
During training, Mayu wears a white top with a purple-red hoodie. She also wears green cargo pants and black trainers with lime green/yellow laces too.
Typically, Mayu is most commonly seen on her own in her school uniform, which consists of a long-sleeved pale blue shirt, a midnight blue skirt and a thin midnight blue ribbon too. She carries a Cambridge blue bag with her which has a duck charm on the end of it. (For more stage outfits, see art gallery.)
Personality
Mayu is a very kind-hearted person, most notably shown in her distaste for anything she doesn't feel is justified, like the possible firing of Airi Hayashida from Wake Up, Girls! She also dislikes conflict, not only between friends in WUG, but this stretches out to her family too. Mayu's conflict with her mother as a result of her dismissal from the I-1 Club as well as the subsequent divorce clearly affects her and she shows great delight when her mother eventually comes around and supports her new journey with Wake Up, Girls.
Mayu's friendship is shown to be very strong, especially with Airi. Airi still stays with Mayu after leaving I-1 and being questioned by other members of her class. She even decides to support her in going to the auditions for WUG. And, she shows extreme distress at the dismissal of Airi from WUG, as well as Serika from I-1, whom she used to be extremely good friends with.
Mayu's time in the idol industry deeply affected her in the beginning of the series. When confronted many times by Kohei about joining WUG, she repeatedly declined, citing how she had felt after leaving the I-1 Club and experiencing what had gone on within there. However, her deepest desire still seems to be within the idol industry, as previous recordings of her performances with I-1 cause great distress to her and push her to then finally join Wake Up, Girls.
Plot
Mayu's first appearance in the anime is in a park, noticed by Matsuda. She sings a song that shocks Matsuda and leaves him in awe. She also swifly apologises for injuring Matsuda, but she also abruptly apologises and denies becoming an idol. She is also greeted by Airi and agrees to accompany her to the audition for WUG. However, she is immediately recognised by President Tange and her backstory is revealed, albeit slightly distorted as the whole truth is not fully known yet. After reluctantly agreeing to meet with Matsuda, at the persistence of Airi, she again denies but her emotions afterwards are shown clearer, and more of her actual I-1 backstory is revealed. After checking on Airi in rehearsals and subconciously dancing to herself, she finds an old video of the first generation I-1 Club, her included performing 'Little Challenger', in which breaks down and sprints towards the Green Leaves office and joins WUG to then perform 'Tachiagare' in their debut concert as a group of 7.
Mayu opens the TV anime series with a brief monologue recapping the later parts of the movie. A large online buzz has been created following the revelation of her joining WUG, with many of the comments throwing offence at her. She spends New Year with Airi and they discuss the standing of WUG and whether it would keep going, to which they both do want to continue. When it is revealed that a new producer has been found, she remains fairly neutral, and this reaction carries through to the I-1 announcement of a Sendai theatre. During their swimsuit concert, Mayu unexpectedly agrees with manager Sudo about wearing skimpy swim-suits, shocking the other members, especially Yoppi. She then also goes to persuade Miyu Okamoto to come back to WUG after leaving, and she sees her career as a popular maid in a small maid cafe. After joining a news program with the rest of the WUG girls, Mayu is confronted by her mother, who is evidently annoyed by the fact Mayu has taken up idols again. During a reporter's interview with Wake Up, Girls!, whilst the event is supposed to focus on each member, they show an interest Mayu, asking her very direct questions about her past with the I-1 Club. The reporter is quickly hushed away and president Tange keeps her back to talk to her to try and raise her spirits. She sees Shiho as she is performing with the I-1 Club in the newly builty Sendai theater, which turns negative as Shiho intends to crush WUG in their opening concert. She unintentionally causes conflict with Yoshino too after trying to help Airi in fixing her dancing errors. After Tange brings the girls to attend an I-1 concert, Mayu reunites with Megumi, who is happy that she is there. However, her exchange with Shiho is stiff and frosty, however Mayu admits what brought her back into the business. That she now knows why she loved idols, which shocks Shiho, but eventually she realises this later on. When Airi is confronted by Tasuku about being dismissed from WUG, Mayu stays behind for her and is clearly worried by her absence and then dismayed at her possibility of being cut from the group. She then goes with Yoshino to convince Airi to return to Wake Up, Girls! Later, when the team go to Kaya's home town, she recalls her actual past, where she was forcibly removed from the I-1 Club after fighting for a friend to stay in. After revealing this in a heart to heart with Kaya, she continues on with WUG and competes with '7 Girls War' at the 2014 Idol Festival but ultimately lose. She ends the series off more like she started, with a monologue but now presenting a different feel to it. Her speech now shows meaning to the entire series as a whole and brings a new meaning now.
Mayu's role in the sequel movies 'Seishun no Kage' and 'Beyond the Bottom' are more subdued than in the TV series yet they still remain prominent. After finding out about the signing with the music label bvex, Mayu and Airi chat, with Mayu making sure that everyone can work through the journey and not let their mindsets get in the way of doing their best. She performs in a dance 'audition' where the members of WUG are split into different dance classes based purely on their ability. Mayu is placed in the top class, SS, mainly due to her past idol experience with I-1 and being used to not only their dancing but harsh rehearsals too. With the growing workload of WUG, Mayu and Yoppi recognise this and speak to Kohei, trying to work out their work in Sendai as they still feel loyalty towards the town as a whole. After the reveal of their new song, Mayu watches TV and sees Shiho becoming tense with Moka during a live TV appearance about the recently announced center battle. After seemingly hitting rock bottom after the flop of 'Sugao de Kiss Me', Mayu and the other girls recoup before meeting Tasuku, where he gives the group a new song to compete at the Idol Festival 2015 with, 'Shoujo Koukyoukyoku'.
Later, when Miyu reveals that Shiho has been displaced as the I-1 Center by Moka in the recent center battle, Mayu defends Shiho and says that she is strong and can get through it, whilst also using it as a motivational speech to WUG in order to carry on. She subsequently goes with all the other girls on a nation-wide tour in order to promote themselves for the Idol Festival. However, when in Hakata, she goes to see Shiho at the request of Megumin after she and Mai begin to worry about the state of her, after not replying to text messages anymore. After talking to Shiho, they begin to warm to each other after she feels that she has the same feelings that Mayu stated she felt after leaving I-1 and going to a faraway town instead. WUG then pass a hard fought battle in the district qualifiers and find out also that the I-1 and Shiho's 'Next Storm' had also passed too. Mayu also offers a different perspective to the revealing that Tasuku will not write Wake Up, Girls! another song for the Idol Festival final. However, when Nanami shockingly reveals that she intends to leave WUG immediately, Mayu brings reason to the argument and understands Nanami's intentions as to why she may want to leave. However, she is then the first one to notice too that she returns when the team travel to Tokyo in order to compete. During the Idol Festival, Mayu fully makes up with Shiho and they both come to a mutual agreement, and they, along with Mai, Megumi and the rest of the I-1 Club and Next Storm all come together before the competition. Mayu and WUG perform 'Beyond the Bottom' and ultimately in the end they are crowned the victors and the top idols of the nation having also beat the I-1 Club in the process too.
Animeography
- Wake Up, Girls! Shichi-nin no Idol
- Wake Up, Girls! (TV Anime)
- Wake Up, Girl Zoo!
- Wake Up, Girls! Seishun no Kage
- Wake Up, Girls! Beyond the Bottom
- Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou
Discography
- Little Challenger
- Tachiagare
- 7 Girls War
- Kotonoha Aoba
- 16-Sai no Agape
- Gokujou Smile
- Wug Zoo Zoo
- Sugao de KISS ME
- Platinum Sunrise
- Seventeen Crisis
- Chikatetsu Labyrinth
- Shoujo Koukyoukyoku
- Hajimaru
- Beyond the Bottom
- Hashiridashi ta Encore
- Higawari Princess
- Tegami*
- Bokura no Frontier
- Tight Rope Ranawei
- Outlander Rhapsody
- Koi? de Ai? de Boukun desu!
*Tegami is technically advertised under Mayu Yoshioka however, as this does slightly appear to follow the previous solo event format which did include the WUG Characters, this will be included for the time being. This could be removed later on, however.
Gallery
See: Mayu/Image Gallery