Saito Serina

## Saito Serina斉藤(さいとう) 芹菜(せりな)

Saito Serina promoting PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS

**Saito Serina** (斉藤芹菜) was a Japanese trainee who participated in PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS. She was eliminated in the third ranking announcement, placing 21st.

## Biography

### Early Life

Saito Serina was born on May 3, 2006 in Osaka, Japan.

Before joining PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS, she was enrolled in JOY DANCE JAPAN in Osaka, the Japanese branch of the JOY DANCE dance studio in South Korea.

### 2023

On September 3, Saito was revealed to be a contestant of PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS.

On December 7, Saito was eliminated from PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS.

## PRODUCE 101 JAPAN Participation

### Teams

* **Audition Team:** Team NANA
* **Group Battle Team:** Minx (leader/sub vocalist 1)
* **Position Battle Team:** W Fighters (sub dancer)
* **Concept Battle Team:** new F7avors (center/rapper 2)

### Rankings

Online votes
* **Week 2:** 17th place
* **Week 3:** 21st place (-4)
* **First Ranking Announcement:** 23rd place (-2)
* **Week 6:** 23rd place (=)
* **Second Ranking Announcement:** 26th place (-3)
* **Third Ranking Announcement:** 21st place (+5)

On-site votes
* **Group Battle:** 7th place in team, 72nd place overall (tied)
* **Position Battle:** 6th place in team, 44th place overall (tied)
* **Concept Battle:** 2nd place in team, 18th place overall

### First Voting Period

In episode 1, Saito was first evaluated by the other trainees as 48th place. When she performs "FLASH", the trainers evaluate her at level **C**. After the level reevaluations, she drops down to level **D**.

In episode 3, Saito is chosen to perform "Body & Soul". Unfortunately, she felt unwell during the first days of practice, but she learned the dance formations thanks to Aita Rin's notes. At the end of the group battle, she placed 72nd.

In the first ranking announcement, she places 23rd after receiving a total of 505,538 votes.

* **First Ranking Announcement (Hint):** "テーマ曲のエンディング妖精が話題になった練習生です。" (This trainee had their theme song ending fairy become a hot topic.)
* **First Ranking Announcement:** Quote needed.

### Second Voting Period

In episode 6, Saito decides to challenge herself by tackling the double mission "RUN RUN". Due to Aramaki Joa, who won 1st place in the "RUN RUN" team, not placing 1st place in the dance position, everyone in the team, including Saito, received no points in the position battle.

Saito is voted by the national producers to perform "Popcorn" in the concept battle. She is chosen as the center, to her delight. Later on in the second ranking announcement, she is revealed to be in 26th place, receiving 575,671 votes.

* **Second Ranking Announcement (Hint):** "カッコよくてカワイイ ギャップを見せてくれた練習生です。" (This trainee showed her coolness and cuteness.)
* **Second Ranking Announcement:** "キュートなイメージながらダブルミッション曲 「RUN RUN」 に挑む野心家な一面もあります。ソロパートではカッコよくてカワイイ一刀流で国民プロデューサーのハートを突き刺しました。" (While she has a cute image, she also has an ambitious side that takes on the challenge of performing the double mission song "RUN RUN". In her solo part, she pierced the hearts of national producers with her cool and cute style.)

### Third Voting Period

Saito stays as the center of "Popcorn", but she also becomes a rapper. In the end of the concept battle, she places 18th overall.

In the third ranking announcement, Saito is revealed as one of four contenders for 20th place. She places 21st instead, so she is eliminated from the show.

### Final Voting Period

Per tradition in the PRODUCE 101 series, Saito (the trainee who ranked one place away from the finalist range) explains to the audience and live viewers how to vote.

## Personal Life

* Friendships
* Nicknames

Saito Serina showed close relationship with Sasaki Kokona on the show. After the third Team NANA left due to sustaining injuries, Saito and Sasaki relied on each other and had to fill in.

The following list are nicknames that have been used to refer to Saito Serina:

* **Serinyan** (せりにゃん) : Most common nickname used by fellow trainees and fans.

## Trivia

* Her hobbies are to bake sweets and putting on makeup.
* Her special skills are doing magic tricks and remembering people's faces and names.
* She did not make it over a second in her eye contact PR, having blinked right after opening her eyes.

## References

1. ↑ "JOY DANCE JAPANの生徒たちが踊る「PICK ME(내꺼야)」(230731)" (in Japanese). YouTube. 2023-08-04.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS Profile" PRODUCE 101 JAPAN. 2023-09-04.

 Extended Plays