At this point, I feel like I've been sulked enough ever since her graduation announcement. It's still sad to see her officially graduated now, especially now that her Twitter, Vtuber wiki page, etc are all labeled as such now, but she's on to a new chapter in her life, and there's a good chance we'll see her again. And at least, the memories will always be there to go back and experience. There's really no reason for me to sad-post about it anymore.
Now, I really want to gush about how amazing her send-off was. While she absolutely had plenty of room to grow, she graduated at such a high point in her career at Hololive, which is not something most people in anything can do. We've seen so many examples of people having to graduate, retire, etc as they've taken a downturn in whatever they're doing for a myriad of reasons. And that's not even counting those who get terminated, fired, laid-off, etc. Aqua got to graduate on her own terms, while she was still shining and with her head held high. Hell, for the months leading up to this, she really pushed herself and accomplished so much before the end. One may argue she may have pushed herself too hard at times, but she really gave us a great few remaining months with her.
This was a woman who, at one point, talked about liking being alone. And one known for being very shy. And yet today, over half a million people across the world watched this shy woman's final show live. A show that showcased her singing songs with all of her fellow HoloJP members, who all love and care for her. She really meant a lot to a lot of people, and she will continue to do so. Instead of people looking back and finding it a shame how it ended for her, people will remember how great it ended, and how much of an idol she was until the very end. And for someone who isn't really into idol culture or anything, I'm honestly pretty awestruck by it all. I still find it strange that I've come to care about these streamers that I don't know, nor really know much about outside of their characters, but here I am.
I'm sure this whole thing will be on my mind for at least a few days, but I also won't forget about our favorite onion maid even after it all properly sets in. We've still got an entire library of vods and tons of clips to watch whenever we want, and I plan to go back and do just that. And no matter what, Minato Aqua may be graduated, but the woman who gave Minato Aqua life is not gone. She's still out there, following the path she thinks is best for her, and I wish her all the best in that.