[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

The stage they promised after the last SSK is finally coming in May, specifically on May 12
https://7gogo.jp/kayano-shinobu/13128

It's going to be titled "Thumbnail", and it seems like it might feature songs from the Thumbnail album (and maybe other albums)?

 

Lots of good news coming in

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Former 9th gen Mori Anna becomes Youtuber as well


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Good grief, we're actually getting a stage? I am astonished That does sound like it'll be album songs.

 

Which is a new level of management half-assing things lol

Sure, we get a new stage... or recycled songs!

 

Also seems like it to me. Groups disappearing right and left. There are some still active but many have left the fandom after their oshimen graduated. Honestly, AKB is not what it used to be for a lot of people and there's nothing we can do about that. Fans do quit. If the project leads and translators are the ones leaving and there are only encoders and timers left (which happens to scanlation groups a lot as well but I've also seen it happen to AKB sub groups), those people are very hard to replace.

Subbing really is a labor of love and is almost like a full-time job for one person. It's much easier if there's at least two people to share the work. Unfortunately there are a lot of subbers who do try their hand at it solo and get burnt out very quick. Half-assed subs comes to mind. There are other pitfalls as well. Consider this: once someone becomes known as a subber, even if they do a one-shot job, the community's appetite is whetted and they start demanding more. "Hey X, where is the next episode? Come on, you did the last one!" Some people don't want to be tied to these expectations. There are people who feel like they're letting others down and feel they have no choice but to keep slaving over work they don't really want to do.

Because I know enough Japanese to understand almost all of what is said at any given time, I never have a problem following this fandom. But then I try to follow JKT or SNH where I don't know the language at all and I suddenly understand what it must be like for fans of the AKB group who don't know much/any Japanese. It makes me want to translate more for everyone. But subbing really is hard work and my love tends to be for the songs so that's what I stick to, even though it's been made clear to me by some people that it'd be much more helpful to sub something with more substance/info about the members.

The fact is, you gotta have a lot of passion for it to do subbing as it sucks up all your time and energy. The fandom decreasing really has contributed to the lack of subs, but more than that it's just the monumental effort it requires to put subs out. Ultimately, I think it has much less to do with the stigma of whiny people demanding subs and much more to do with the fact that the people who used to sub have "left the building", so to speak.

Though what others here have said is not wrong: if you do love AKB and you spend a lot of hours on it already, learning Japanese really is worth it. Take classes if you can, do self-study and use all the translated AKB material you can get your hands on to learn vocabulary. And songs are a pretty good way of learning vocabulary since you got short lines with the translation right next to them and you can see the kanji too once you learn vocab and some sentence structure things start falling into place when you watch idol media, which actually has a lot of the same phrases said over and over.

 

http://akb48taimuzu.livedoor.biz/archives/50897602.html
oooops...

 

^ yeah...with the way they handled with the Nogi scandal earlier, I think it's becoming more and more clear that they don't give a sheaa anymore as long as people are still buying their sheaaa XD

 

I'm still desperate for my love night subs TT

Oh I hope you are right! The album songs don't get performed much so it should be exciting!

 

Hmmmm...probably not a good thing to advertise. Is that girl an auditioning member or something?

 

Newest tentative KKS member who just passed the STU final audition

 

I think she is right though based on what management has shown us. It always a controversial topic. Management won't ban dating internally but if you get caught, its all on that particular person. If a member is popular, nothing will happen. But many members have been kicked out for scandals before, most recently Miki and Naanya.

 

And your source for saying they got kicked out?

 

Well, it can't be a coincident that a few weeks after the scandal got out, both of them announced graduation.

 

Hey there's other compelling reasons they could have chosen to leave. But we've been over this before and it's not a topic we should waste space on again.

Anyway I say it's bad to advertise "no love ban rule" because it's simply not popular with the fans of the group to be thinking about their favorite idol having a boyfriend and going on dates with another guy. It automatically gets some people thinking "well maybe I shouldn't be supporting this idol if she's that worried about boys/dating..." which is bad for business. Although it's straight from the horse's mouth, Aki-P himself, that there is actually no love ban rule in the contracts, it's strongly implied to the members by way of the public, management and fans that members are not supposed to be dating. Even if they are technically allowed to date, when a member is caught dating, the tabloids eat her up and spit her out. It's bad press for the AKB group (although honestly sometimes it can drum up interest in the group which isn't necessarily a completely bad thing).

And the tabloids are like fluffy puppies compared to the things the fans say. They feel betrayed. "I spent my money on this idol, I thought she was a pure girl who was focused on her idol career, but she's been shacking up with some dude. What a [insert derogatory word here]" So for a KKS - a member who is supposed to be putting her budding career first and foremost and trying to gain fans - to crow about there not being a love ban rule and say that she's glad about it is really short-sighted and a serious blunder. It implies that she wants to have a relationship while actively working as an idol (or already has one that she isn't willing to let go of). Yes, the "punishments", self-inflicted or no, have been lightening up lately when it comes to member indiscretions, but that doesn't mean that members should put the cart before the horse and get ahead of themselves with the whole "dating while being an idol" thing. It's not even about freedom or feminism or whatever. It's just bad business and causes bad press.

 

I personally think that fans who think like that aren't fans at all. They don't think of them as girls. They think of them as surrogate girlfriends. Is girlfriends even the right word? They think of the girls as some kind of possession. Surely people in general don't treat their girlfriends like that anymore? So yes it is bad press and bad business but it also has everything to do with feminism.

 

Probably there is a really thin line between obsession and wota / being possessive and massive fan...
I actually think lots of wotas prefer to have their idols with the angel virgin, purity, never dating, she is there for me - image... And these are the ones the (also) probably spend heaps of money to vote for the girl...
(Sasshi doesn't get into this category heheheeh)

 

Great, it's been sooooooooo long since the last "Dating ban" discussion!

 

Yes, idols don't fart too, even if they do it's rainbows

 

I'm pretty sure they don't!

I know right... Gotta love the loop conversation =]]]
But dont you get too excited!! We might go back to Yuria on senbatsu topic, or Sister groups all over the place topic, or someone should not join SSK topic or AKB is doomed topic...
Wait and see