Akb48

[Undertaker]

He also picked the right target crowd to begin with. I mean building AKB theater in Akiba, the heart of everything moe and ACG related with all the maid costume. He also doesn't prevent member showing off their personalities.

To tell the truth, I didn't like Minami Takahashi before, even after I kind of get into the groups because of other girls that caught my eyes. Her face is too long and too big compare to her body and made her look bigger then she really is and I had hard time figuring out why she is a central member and one of the most popular, always in top 5.

But in past year or so, I saw a lot of her in variety shows and yer personality just shines and she's not afraid to say she's a One Piece junkie and love to read manga and playing games. That's when I really accept that this group really is targeting the ACG crowd to begin with and didn't back away from it even when they got as big as they did.

Speaking of Johnny's I am impressed by SMAP though, not really about their music consider I'm not boy band fan, but every member other than leader is a good actor, while the leader himself is a pretty damn good variety host and comedian. There is just so many facet in that group that allow to remain on top for 20 years and I hope AKB and do that as well.

[Katapan]

Has anyone paid attention to the senbatsu for the next single Give Me Five? Having Sashihara Rino in the 'Selection 6' song makes so little sense. Such a shame my oshimen Akimoto Sayaka has yet to be featured in the title song too. She's actually getting lots of exposure on programs and whatnot, yet Akimoto-P still won't give her a push on the singles? Ah well, at least she was somehow picked into the 9-girl AKB0048 selection for the legendary members, which gives me something Sayaka-related to look forward to anyway.

To answer some of OP's original questions: I didn't think very highly of the group at first: usually made fun of the group pre-Kouhaku boom (well, mostly due to King Records' laughable marketing schemes, I didn't know the girls at all), viewed the boom itself in a pretty bad light, thought Majisuka Gakuen was terrible... butttt I warmed up to the group little by little thanks to their growing exposure to the public, and like them quite a bit now. By no means am I a hardcore fan (I probably don't know more than ~20 names), but I follow the single releases, and stan a few members such as Akimoto Sayaka as I've mentioned, but also Takamina and Mayuyu - obviously I favor the strong personalities and the otaku. :P

I was just looking at this vid of Mayuyu - it's not that recent, but she goes for shopping at the Ikebukuro Animate at the beginning, first looks for Durarara!! goods, then ends up going for stuff like Senjougahara or Sister Princess ww

[Undertaker]

They push they got is purely based on the yearly popularity poll ranking. Top 12 is the media group that gets the most exposure and guarantees in the singles. Rank 13 to 21 are poll group that got selective pushes.

Since top 7 (make that 8) rarely changes and everyone one of them all have been given their push and got their individual successes, as #9, Sashihara Rino is the logical choice here.

Akimoto Sayaka has been #17 for past two years so unless she got into top 12 this summer or won one of those random tournament that they always holds, it's unlikely she'll get featured.

BTW, Majisuka Gakuen is horrible as a drama, but it was weirdly enjoyable for me.

But yeah I wasn't very warm to the group in the beginning, looke them as Morning Musume Rip-off. Even after I heard that the group was based in otaku territory and market toward otaku, I didn't really case. But like I said, one thing after another and now I'm a fan. Maybe not a hardcore, but enough that I'll keep up with major news of the member and Single debuts.

[Shinji01]

Originally Posted by Undertaker

He also picked the right target crowd to begin with. I mean building AKB theater in Akiba, the heart of everything moe and ACG related with all the maid costume. He also doesn't prevent member showing off their personalities.

To tell the truth, I didn't like Minami Takahashi before, even after I kind of get into the groups because of other girls that caught my eyes. Her face is too long and too big compare to her body and made her look bigger then she really is and I had hard time figuring out why she is a central member and one of the most popular, always in top 5.

But in past year or so, I saw a lot of her in variety shows and yer personality just shines and she's not afraid to say she's a One Piece junkie and love to read manga and playing games. That's when I really accept that this group really is targeting the ACG crowd to begin with and didn't back away from it even when they got as big as they did.

Speaking of Johnny's I am impressed by SMAP though, not really about their music consider I'm not boy band fan, but every member other than leader is a good actor, while the leader himself is a pretty damn good variety host and comedian. There is just so many facet in that group that allow to remain on top for 20 years and I hope AKB and do that as well.

I agree with you.
I also thought Minami Takahashi was too ...ahem, not good looking, but after watching her interact with other members on various documentaries and shows, I understand that she really has a great personality.

But at the same time, I hope she gets the exposure that she deserves going forward, and not just end her career when AKB ends.

I hear that many Japanese CEOs mention her in blogs and write about her ability to lead a large team etc, and I am sure she will be able to find a place in the entertainment industry if she plays her cards thoughtfully.

I think girl groups are always at an disadvantage compared to boy groups, and am skeptical about AKB lasting as long as SMAP did, but they are very similar in that they allowed each member's personality to shine through, so who knows what could happen.

Originally Posted by Katapan

Has anyone paid attention to the senbatsu for the next single Give Me Five? Having Sashihara Rino in the 'Selection 6' song makes so little sense. Such a shame my oshimen Akimoto Sayaka has yet to be featured in the title song too. She's actually getting lots of exposure on programs and whatnot, yet Akimoto-P still won't give her a push on the singles? Ah well, at least she was somehow picked into the 9-girl AKB0048 selection for the legendary members, which gives me something Sayaka-related to look forward to anyway.

To answer some of OP's original questions: I didn't think very highly of the group at first: usually made fun of the group pre-Kouhaku boom (well, mostly due to King Records' laughable marketing schemes, I didn't know the girls at all), viewed the boom itself in a pretty bad light, thought Majisuka Gakuen was terrible... butttt I warmed up to the group little by little thanks to their growing exposure to the public, and like them quite a bit now. By no means am I a hardcore fan (I probably don't know more than ~20 names), but I follow the single releases, and stan a few members such as Akimoto Sayaka as I've mentioned, but also Takamina and Mayuyu - obviously I favor the strong personalities and the otaku. :P

I was just looking at this vid of Mayuyu - it's not that recent, but she goes for shopping at the Ikebukuro Animate at the beginning, first looks for Durarara!! goods, then ends up going for stuff like Senjougahara or Sister Princess ww

To be honest, Sasshi is one of the members I am less interested in and I am surprised at her solo debut and leading role in tv dramas this season.

But again, thats the fun part of AKB...

[xxanimefan4_ever]

ooh I watched most of the kin suma special on AKB48 that aired in this month about the 6 years that hvae passed and how they had it so hard. I don't know if it's subbed in english yet. But anyways it was really intersting like I didn't know they were called pantsu mise shudan.Takahashi minami was like oh yeah we all cried together over that. Or the part where they told us how shinoda mariko joined. It's so interesting. a lot of the things with akb48 has to do with fate.

it's up on parts on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IA_E...eature=related

but I watched youku cause the quality is higher.

at first when they kept going on japanese tv I was just annoyed and thinking what's the big deal. Then I grew to understand the concept about watching the idols as they grow. But as of late I've felt irritated at them because of the lack of growth like the live-singing which they like never do and they do do live singing it's usually bad unless it's no sleeves or DIVA (maybe it's because of the kidols that keep going to japan). But from watching the kin suma special about all the adversity they faced those thoughts are at bay for now lol. It's amazing how they stuck it out despite the tough beginning

AND I THINK the reason you guys don't get the appeal of sashihara is because you hvaen't seen her on talk/variety shows (I don't know if they get subbed). Like, for me personally I loved her show sashihara no kuseni... It was just funny and I found out more about her. It ended after like 30 eps or something, which is 2 seasons . I ALSO love her on SASHIHARA pride on akb kyouwakoku. I also loved her speech at the 3rd election...

Yeah I think I became a fan of her after seeing sashihara pride on the akb show. It's just so darn funny.

[sa547]

Recently they came out with a new album, and on the live stream, the girls managed to pull off a big-band K-On! style performance, with them actually playing the instruments!

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by xxanimefan4_ever

AND I THINK the reason you guys don't get the appeal of sashihara is because you hvaen't seen her on talk/variety shows (I don't know if they get subbed). Like, for me personally I loved her show sashihara no kuseni... It was just funny and I found out more about her. It ended after like 30 eps or something, which is 2 seasons . I ALSO love her on SASHIHARA pride on akb kyouwakoku. I also loved her speech at the 3rd election...

Yeah I think I became a fan of her after seeing sashihara pride on the akb show. It's just so darn funny.

I've seem my share of vareity show, in fact that how I got into Manzai couples and AKB as well as TakaMina.

My take is just that the top 10 members are simply too dominate on those variety shows that to me, Sashihara didn't really stand out for me enough to overtake them. She's just on the bubble where she's on the outside looking in.

With that being said, I do think she could break out with a few break here and there, but that is more luck driven then anything. (ie, if she can win center position on one of those weird AKB tournament)

[sa547]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...aiko-in-new-ad

Hot damn, now she's Jaiko.

[seiyazuki]

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

[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.