In a way, I appreciate the (apparent) honesty. There's nothing dishonorable on either side about failing to reach an agreement on a contract. It may represent a break with idol-industry traditions, but it doesn't sound to me as if H!P was being disrespectful towards Aina or her parents in their announcement.
It's sad that they weren't able to reach an agreement, and that it turned out this way, and it's entirely possible that there were a lot of not-so-nice things going on beheind the scene, but I think it does clear the air a bit for the parties in a contract dispute to openly discuss it as exactly that.
Whatever happens, I hope that Aina really is OK with this, and that she has a good life.
If you want to see what genuine junkyard-dog viciousness on the part of an idol-management company looks like, this is from Runtime's announcement in February of this year of its decision to fire Nagase Miyu and drive the final stake through ZONE's heart:
Runtime, in their infinite(ly dysfunctional) wisdom and compassion, referring to their decision to fire the person who, more than anyone else, had made their fortune, wrote:Nagase Miyu's conspicuous immoral conduct and frequent non-fulfillment of duties caused the fans and the parties concerned great trouble in addition to extensive damage to our company. Although we tried for guidance and persuasion to her in a repetitive manner and unfortunately there was no improvement in sight. Thus, we figured that it was difficult to continue to keep the exclusive contract with Nagase Miyu, and we have concluded to dissolve the exclusive contract with her as of today.
in the original, this is what Runtime wrote:2013年02月13日
皆さま方におかれましては,ZONEを応援して頂き誠にありがとうございます。
デビュー以来ZONEを応援して頂いたファンの皆様、そして関係各位の皆様には大変残念なお知らせになります。
ZONEのメンバーMIYUこと長瀬実夕には,著しい不品行及び度々の業務不履行などの行為があり、これによりファンの皆様,関係各位に大変なご迷惑をお掛けし,弊社にも多大な損害を生じさせました。弊社は,長瀬実夕に対し,指導・説得を繰り返して参りましたが,残念ながら改善は見られませんでした。
そのため、弊社は,長瀬実夕との専属契約を続けていくことが困難であると判断し,長瀬実夕との専属契約を本日付けにて解除することとなりました。
今後、長瀬実夕個人の言動行動に関しては一切弊社には関わり合いございませんので、ご理解を頂きますようお願い申し上げます。
(The kanji that's translated as "immoral" = 不品行.)
As far as I can tell, Miyu probably got fed up with Runtime and decided to break her contract by refusing to cooperate. (Not the best way to do it, but given some of the things that seem to have happened with other former ZONE members, maybe it was the least bad alternative.) An in retaliation, they not only fired her, but released an announcement which appears to be designed to trash her reputation and her career.
Compared to that bit of nastiness, I think that H!P was taking a relatively high road with Aina and her parents.
If madness made us strong, we would all be invincible.