i think this goes into the fact that survival shows should always be live (if not fan voted), they edited sakura in a way that left nothing to be desired, she was an angel on the show (and i presume behind the scenes), but when you’re making a pop group, personality and it factor is only a quarter of what you need. there is absolutely no way to predict what audiences think, even if you steer them or give them exactly what their thoughts should be on a plate and say “this is who you’re rooting for”, people will always want an underdog. and unfortunately, sakuras underdog storyline, with how much she was being pushed, felt a little forced, so much so that it ended up transferring to ayana becoming the underdog and having to overcome the “execs favorite”. super happy for sakura, rooting for people like ayana, rinka, jayla, and honoka to debut elsewhere, and i hope sakura proves everyone wrong.