[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

Of course I wish the announcement could be a single but it doesn't seem like it's that, I'm also satisfied if it's concerts because Miichan has been waiting for a long time. Jurina and Churi who announced their graduations long ago too, are having their graduation concerts next month, so I expect that a decision is made for Miichan too... Hope that the old gens can attend!

I was on oricon's Youtube channel and I saw this video about the new Majimuri stage play. The thumbnail of the video looks cool! and the stage itself looks interesting too. I actually still never watched Majimuri Gakuen but I have the drama and I'm planning to see it (along with a few other AKB dramas that I didn't see >.<). it's nice that they do a stage play, I remember seeing the Majisuka Gakuen stage play that had Matsui Rena as lead role (it was subbed by fans after the release) and I really loved it. I actually really enjoy AKB's stage play/musicals, I watched AKB49 stage play too (both versions of Kojimako and Naanya) and Kagekidan Infinity (really loved this one), these were also subbed by fans, I recommend it to everyone ^^

Anyway, Team 8's acting seems pretty good and this stage play looks good!


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Minegishi sostsugyo concert: 05/22
Team 8 zenkoku tour final: 05/23 (day)
AKB48 tandoku concert: 05/23 (night)



https://twitter.com/AKB48_staff/status/1376368649074696195

 

Pia Arena MM is the venue.

 

That’s rather appropriate for Miichan’s gradcon lol. According to the link below it’s a new indoor concert venue in Yokohama with a seating capacity of 10,000:

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1392809/pia-arena-mm-yokohama-japan

Hopefully all 3 concerts will be live streamed and it’ll be possible for international fans to get online viewing tickets.

 

What happened to Yuihan?

 

What are the chances of Hiichan / Honda Hitomi appearing at this concert or maybe even the other Tandoku Concert and Miichan's gradcon too? IZ*ONE is over by the time the concerts are happening and technically, she could be practising by herself from abroad for now. Assuming she'll leave Korea on the day when IZ*ONE officially breaks up (29th of April) and her COVID test is negative, she'd be out of self-isolation on the 2nd of May.

I know she isn't listed but I would say that's because she's still officially on hiatus for now, and I don't think it'd sit well with WIZ*ONE (who are funding to prevent disbandment even now still) if they announced her presence at the concert. I also very much expect graduated members at the Miichan concert, who won't appear on the list to keep up the anticipation.

So yeah, I was just wondering, do other people think Hitomi will be at the concert? There's enough time, I'd say, and unless WIZ*ONE are successful, then IZ*ONE will disband in 31 days.

On another note, with Team 8's sponsorship ending, I think I'm not the only one who's worried they might dissolve Team 8 and move the members into the other teams? How likely do people think this is? And if you consider it a possibility, do you think they might announce this at the concerts that are coming up?

A lot of my comment is just hypothesising, really.

 

I think it’s pretty likely. Especially if they stop doing new member auditions from now on due to the impacts of the pandemic.

 

I'll quote the posts here cause it makes more sense here than in the Graduation Announcements thread, I think.

I understand that, but like I said, that is the issue with AKB48 right now. People want to join the group because it's the AKB48, and naturally, the first few generations didn't think that when they auditioned back in the mid/late 2000's. But I think those things go hand in hand; Acchan wasn't the only popular member of AKB48, even though she was essentially the only center of the group. We got a few Takamina center singles, then a bit of Yuko, Mayu, Sasshi, Paruru, but Acchan was undeniably the center of the group. Despite that, also the members who were not receiving center positions became really well known and popular (Tomochin, Mariko, Sae, etc.). I would bet that, right now, a big majority of Japan's general public won't recognise many Senbatsu members besides Naachan, Yukirin and Yuiyui.

If they continue like this, lose out on opportunities like Kouhaku because of lessening popularity, and if they refuse to work as a team, then none of them will get a chance to be seen.

It may not be the reason why Momoka was fired, but someone did release the picture of Momoka with the alcoholic drink to the public. It wasn't in a public space, it was in someone's living room, it was taken on someone's phone... whether it was the reason for her dismissal or not, the fact is still that someone released that picture and it caused harm to Momoka's reputation.

 

CDTV 3/29 (credit to uploader):
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ni4y1P74r

Setlist:
1. 10nen Sakura
2. Sakura no Shiori
3. Sakura no Ki ni Narou
4. GIVE ME FIVE!

Spoiler: YouTube version

(may get deleted)

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Yesterday was the final episode of AKB's radio show AKB2029. Miion's tweet:

"#AKB2029Radio Thank you very much！！！ See you again in 10 years...✿"



Miion and Kazureza were regulars for this radio, Shiichan was the last guest.

For anyone who wants to listen to the final episode, I'll put it in spoiler.
At the end (21:35), Miion said a message to herself in 10 years from now
Apparently Shiichan appeared the most as guest both for AKB ANN & 2029!
Good job and thank you for these 2 years Miion

Spoiler

if the video does not show watch the video here

 

All of these radio shows coming to an end

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

Oricon uploaded a video for the announcement of AKB, it's mostly about Miichan, they talk about her graduation concert and apparently it's 531 days after her announcement? o_o I think they also talked about how she didn't drink alcohol during all this time (it's a promise she made not to drink until graduation or something like this) and who she would want to drink with first once it's over, the other girls asked her to pick one person and she said that it's difficult because she has many friends, she said "no" when they said Kojiharu or Takamina LOL, in the end she picked Miion.

Nice to finally have a date for Miichan's graduation concert, and this will also probably be the last time that 1st gens can reunite in a concert of AKB, so hopefully the 1st gens and maybe more other old gens can appear! it would be awesome. Looking forward to Team 8 and AKB concert too ^^

 

If you look at Miichan's twitter, you will see she adds "今日もお酒を飲みませんでした（###日目）" to all her tweets. I replaced the day counter with the # symbols.

Not sure if you've seen them, but Miichan has been writing columns every now and then for the past few months and she said that when she had a lot of free time, she started drinking. It made her gain weight and made her feel more exhausted a lot faster. She wanted to be her healthiest and happiest self at her graduation concert, which is why she pledged not to drink until the concert.

I personally think she looks great, but it's possibly also to do with the fact that Miichan has had a very busy year, ironically enough, and she seems to thrive on that.

 

Yes I noticed that line in her tweets, but I wasn't sure until when she planned to do it, so thanks for confirming that it's until the concert. and I remember reading about how she gained weight and started drinking, she wrote a long text about it in english in the description of one of her Youtube videos, I think I remember sharing that text in her thread back then, it was touching to read it. it's nice that she managed to keep her promise even when her concert was postponed for so long. She looks happier and younger nowadays