Manatsu Akimoto

Akimoto was born in Tokyo on August 20, 1993.^[2] Her family moved to Urawa (now part of Saitama City), Saitama Prefecture, when she was 7 months old, and she was subsequently raised there.^[3] When her parents were deciding on her name, her mother suggested naming her "Miruku" or "Hikari," but after much thought, her father decided to name her "Manatsu" as she was born in the summer.^[4] She has a younger brother three years her junior.^[5]

She was the vice-president of the student council in middle school and was active in the home economics and cooking clubs. In high school, she was the student council president.^[6] In her third year of high school, she was informed about the Nogizaka46 first generation member auditions and recruitment. However, Akimoto's career goals at the time were closer towards being a television presenter or actress and she was not actively interested in becoming an idol.^[6] She ended up signing up for the auditions on the final deadline date when she stumbled upon the news on her phone.^[7]

Akimoto passed the auditions on August 21, 2011, becoming one of the first generation members and a temporary main selection member.^[8][9] However, due to her studies and obligations, she was not active with the rest of the members until she graduated from high school in April 2012.^[10][11] Akimoto enrolled in university, but against her parents' wishes she returned to Nogizaka46, training to prepare for her debut.^[12] She was present at almost all Nogizakatte, Doko? studio recordings and Nogizaka46 live concerts as a trainee.^[13][14]

In October 2012, Akimoto was selected as a main selection member for the fourth Nogizaka46 single, "Seifuku no Mannequin", during the recording of a Nogizakatte, Doko? episode, marking her unexpected debut as an official member of Nogizaka46.^[15][14] She debuted as an actress in the television drama Bad Boys J in April 2013.^[16] As of 2019^[update], Akimoto is active as a regular main selection member of Nogizaka46. She is also active as a television personality, with numerous appearances on variety shows as a panelist, guest and assistant MC.^[17]

Akimoto in 2014 and 2019

On August 14, 2019, Akimoto was named the next captain of Nogizaka46, succeeding Reika Sakurai.^[18]

Akimoto announced her graduation from Nogizaka46 on January 7, 2023. Her graduation concert was held on February 26, 2023. She is the last first generation member to leave the group.^[19] Her position was succeeded by third generation member Minami Umezawa as the new captain for Nogizaka46.

On March 1, 2023, Akimoto announced her affiliation with Japan Music Entertainment.^[20]

While Akimoto was part of Nogizaka46, she was adored by her members and was known for her tenacious and patient personality.^[21] She was also known as a "people person" because of her exceptional communication skills, as she also hangs out and goes out to eat with many of the Nogizaka members.^[22][23]

Within Nogizaka46, she is close [and still remains] friends with Ikuta Erika,^[24] Shiraishi Mai,^[25] Asuka Saitō,^[26] Nishino Nanase, Reika Sakurai, Sayuri Matsumura, and Rena Matsui.^{[citation needed]}

Despite being in a musical ensemble, she has admitted that she can hardly sing or dance, and her singing voice has been criticized by their group manager, with Akimoto saying, "I'm about the worst in the group in both dancing and singing".^[27]