AKB 48 thread

[Undertaker]

No she not, it's Jaiko that is scheduled to be 28. Maeda herself is 20, she was 14 when she debuted as one of the original AKB48 back in 05. (BTW there are only 6 members [out of original 20]currently left from the original group, the other 5 are Minami Takahashi(20), Tomomi Itano(20), Minami Minegishi(19), Haruna Kojima(23), and Natsumi Hirajima(19).)

As much as I like her, I have to say this is a terrible role for her. Of all the manga characters, Jaiko?

[sa547]

Still, with Reno and other big names on board, that has to be one of the funniest CM series I've seen so far.

[Undertaker]

Oh wait a minute, that's is just a CM for car. WTF, I thought if was a CM to promote a real live film of something.

I probably should watch the video first and read the article first....

In this case I agree, the CM is pretty funny.

[sa547]

http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-6854.html

Ok, what's going on in this quiz show, with the girls inside?

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by seiyazuki

She does not look like real Jaiko and she is 28 yrs old????

Definitely not 28, but she does look petty good in the Jaiko costume

So, Yonezawa and Hirashima of AKB left the group this morning due to pictures of them on dates with guysm and tweets about how many times they had sex etc.

sucks because Yonezawa just landed in Singapore for their performance there.
now Sato Natsuki is being flown over as a pinch hitter.

[sa547]

^
I'm reading some of that here too. Too bad, one of them is the original vets of the group, short of finishing their stipulated staying term, and yeah, Akimoto will have to take in a replacement or two.

Wish you luck, ladies.

[Undertaker]

What a stupid, and I mean stupid way of shooting themselves in the legs. Really, keep quite and Akimoto might be able to cover it up or something. Why posting stuff on social media, even if they thought the accounts are private?

The only thing is that even though Hirashima is from the original 20, she is the only one that have yet to make it to the the top 20 and only made to single 3 times, and Hirashima despite being a 3rd-gen member, haven't appear in singles and even fell out the top 40 in the last year's overall poll. (wiki got incredible detail on the member movements and rankings)

That is just not smart when you are still fighting to survive.


Speaking of former members, taking counting the one that got dropped like these two, the "graduated members" didn't fare too well either. Other than the ones who subsequently got moved to SDN48, only Mai Oshima seems to be doing pretty well for herself after leaving the group (BTW, she is pretty awesome in variety scene and an ok pop singer). The rest them either disappears or struggling to stay on TV or was famous for the wrong reasons (Rina Nakanishi).

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by sa547

^
I'm reading some of that here too. Too bad, one of them is the original vets of the group, short of finishing their stipulated staying term, and yeah, Akimoto will have to take in a replacement or two.

Wish you luck, ladies.

The fans (and probably the trainee members) are probably excited to hear tat there will be two openings now.
Also Ooba is currently taking time off performances, and its rumored that she is involved in the scandal, and the admins are trying to check up whether there are any photo evidence etc to prove her involvement.

Originally Posted by Undertaker

What a stupid, and I mean stupid way of shooting themselves in the legs. Really, keep quite and Akimoto might be able to cover it up or something. Why posting stuff on social media, even if they thought the accounts are private?

The only thing is that even though Hirashima is from the original 20, she is the only one that have yet to make it to the the top 20 and only made to single 3 times, and Hirashima despite being a 3rd-gen member, haven't appear in singles and even fell out the top 40 in the last year's overall poll. (wiki got incredible detail on the member movements and rankings)

That is just not smart when you are still fighting to survive.


Speaking of former members, taking counting the one that got dropped like these two, the "graduated members" didn't fare too well either. Other than the ones who subsequently got moved to SDN48, only Mai Oshima seems to be doing pretty well for herself after leaving the group (BTW, she is pretty awesome in variety scene and an ok pop singer). The rest them either disappears or struggling to stay on TV or was famous for the wrong reasons (Rina Nakanishi).

Yes, its such a pity to leave the group when no real examples have been set for an ex member to survive.

its also so dumb of them to let twitter and other social media spoil their career just several days after Akimoto told SKE and NMB agents to allow all members to post freely on Google plus with no censorship.
Way to go...

Interesting story that came up among the japanese fans...
All members that are currently in contracts for advertisement, drama series and movies are not only popular but probably have no scandals that the agents need to worry about.

On the other hand, if a member is popular but seems not to be chosen to song selections, no chance in tv dramas and especially ads, its because the agents already have heard rumours of that member having boyfriends and are too much of a liability to them to sign up contracts.
If the scandal surfaces and she has to leave the group, the amount of compensation that must be paid to the advertiser are too big, and thats why there are some members that are so cute and popular but never get a shot at anything. Ono Erena being one very good example.

[sa547]

Not surprisingly, despite losses, the ladies still made a full sweep:
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/01/win...d-disc-awards/

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by sa547

Not surprisingly, despite losses, the ladies still made a full sweep:
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/01/win...d-disc-awards/

Well, In terms of pure CD sales, they are selling the most CDs in japan, so when it comes to Golden Disk awards and Record Awards, its hard to dispute...

Regarding Oba though, apparently her father passed and tat was the reason why se was not appearing in recent performances, not because she was associated to the scandal in any way

[sa547]

Ooookay, we got some news on the 0048 casting:
http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-7021.html#more
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/02/akb...anime-akb0048/

General director Kawamori Shoji (also co-creator, SDF Macross & Macross Frontier -ed.) commented, “Before the casting auditions, I had an idea of which member would suit which role to a certain extent. However, after having them try out different roles and putting them into groups of four to practice dialogues, I began to see new possibilities. The staff as a whole had lots of heated debates, and finally decided on this cast.”

Having got my mind blown by the Macross Frontier saga... Can't wait.

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by sa547

Ooookay, we got some news on the 0048 casting:
http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-7021.html#more
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/02/akb...anime-akb0048/


Having got my mind blown by the Macross Frontier saga... Can't wait.

Yes, I like the casting...
Great opportunity for girls who wanted to be voice actors or love anime.

here is a pic of mayuyu today.

[sa547]

^
As always, she's really game for this.

Given that she's often in pigtails, no surprises for me if Mayuyu decides to cosplay as Yuriko Omega.

------------------
http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/02/akb...to-their-fans/

Again, I can only shake my head at the commenters (pro- and anti-AKB heatedly debating again), but if I have to say something about this, well... I'll never know if the so-called "no dating rule" exists but I think Akimoto should set in some proper guidelines whenever the girls peruse social networking sites (oh, wait, maybe there might be some rules like this right now): one slip of the tongue or a mistaken picture upload, and then kiss your career goodbye.

But I bid good luck to those two girls, wherever they'll try to do something after their team stint.

[MakubeX2]

So Takahashi's mother was apparently arrested for having a illicit relationship with a 15-year old boy according to this report.

But how true do you think this ? The group is currently about the hottest thing in Japan and there will be people scheming to cash in on their popularity by any means possible.

Now, on a positive note here :-



The Nakanishi siblings annouched their retirement from their deviant choice of career on their latest release. Let us hope for the best endeavour in whatever they choose to do next.

Rina Nakanishi had mentioned something about "vocal training" in the blog under her alias, so it will appear she was looking for a come back. It remains to see how successful she will be after her strange choice of detour this past year or so.

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

So Takahashi's mother was apparently arrested for having a illicit relationship with a 15-year old boy according to this report.

But how true do you think this ? The group is currently about the hottest thing in Japan and there will be people scheming to cash in on their popularity by any means possible.

Now, on a positive note here :-



The Nakanishi siblings annouched their retirement from their deviant choice of career on their latest release. Let us hope for the best endeavour in whatever they choose to do next.

Rina Nakanishi had mentioned something about "vocal training" in the blog under her alias, so it will appear she was looking for a come back. It remains to see how successful she will be after her strange choice of detour this past year or so.

It seems that the 15 year old was going around boasting about his relationship with the mom, so I do think the mom is a victim of her daughter's fame.
But still, I just wished she had enough common sense to not sleep witha 15 year old.


Yamaguchi Riko posted a message for Takahashi on her blog, and I thought that was sweet of her.
I do hope Yamaguchi, her sister and Takamina have good things ahead.

[Magin]

So... I'm trying to give this huge group a chance (I actually found out about these gals thought Tokyopop and the newsletter they put out), and was wondering if any of you guys could give me some recommendations of stuff to take a look at? I've tried a couple, but with 16 girls on stage, it can be a little tricky to stay focused...

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by Magin

So... I'm trying to give this huge group a chance (I actually found out about these gals thought Tokyopop and the newsletter they put out), and was wondering if any of you guys could give me some recommendations of stuff to take a look at? I've tried a couple, but with 16 girls on stage, it can be a little tricky to stay focused...

The thing that got me hooked to AKB was their documentary film.
Before that I couldn't tell apart one from the other.
here is a preview

i dont know where you can get a English version though...
Watching Nemousu TV has helped too.

Nemousu in Australia

Basically, its best to watch them do something in groups of up to six, and start from there.

You can also follow them on Google Plus too.
They have english translations there...

[Undertaker]

Or try variety shows or dramas, that's how I get into them first.

Maeda Asuko and Oshima Yuko are both active in drama scene. Maeda 's Q10 and is pretty good and Oshima is great in Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso and Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu.

Majisuka Gakuen, while a terrible drama in itself, is weirdly enjoyable, kind of like those B-rated movies. It was also the drama that I get to learn most of the individual.

Spoiler for Long Quote:

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

So Takahashi's mother was apparently arrested for having a illicit relationship with a 15-year old boy according to this report.

But how true do you think this ? The group is currently about the hottest thing in Japan and there will be people scheming to cash in on their popularity by any means possible.

Now, on a positive note here :-



The Nakanishi siblings annouched their retirement from their deviant choice of career on their latest release. Let us hope for the best endeavour in whatever they choose to do next.

Rina Nakanishi had mentioned something about "vocal training" in the blog under her alias, so it will appear she was looking for a come back. It remains to see how successful she will be after her strange choice of detour this past year or so.

That kind of sucks, I hope it doesn't effect Takamina too much. Hate to say this, these things might happen all the time, but you just have to pay extra attention when your daughter is a public figure and one of the faces of the most popular idol group right now. I'm all for large age gap relationships, but is it really that hard for her (the mom) to find a 18 year old to sleep with?

As for Nakanishi siblings, the jury still out on that. AV retirement is like pro sport retirement, they come back all the time. A lot of time is when they start to loose their popularity and they use retirement as get the focus back on them.

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

saving space...

Well, it seems that Takamina is safe.
Apparently the newspapers and TV shows did not cover the news too much because a) it is not Takamina but her mother and a 15 year old who are both not public figures. b) Akanishi Jin and Kuroki Meisa got pregnant and married so everyone rushed to cover that story.

[Undertaker]

What? Kuroki Meisa got pregnant?!! Lucky Akanishi...