[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

A few months ago, the assassination of Shinzo Abe (Japan's former PM) has been connected to a korean cult.
Tomu was praised by the public for freely voicing her opinion in this political issue, as an AKB's member:

Spoiler

https://twitter.com/CRAAE16/status/1565535470854975489
I think that might have something to do with it. They don't care if there are Japanese members or any other justification.

 

Just to clarify, are you trying to say this is the reason people are complaining about Korean groups being in Kouhaku? While that might have contributed a little, I doubt the reaction would be any different without Abe's assassination and the resulting (re-)exposure of his party's connection to the Moon cult. There's plenty of other reasons to be upset about the inclusion of five KPOP groups (several without Japanese releases) in one of Japan's crown music programs.

For example, they could have invited Taylor Swift instead.

 

It's part of the reason, but reality could be more complicated for sure.
Maybe future PM Tomu knows a thing or two about that
I think most international artists -unlike korea- just want to have a concert in the country & nothing else
They probably had a blast with Bruno Mars recently.

 

I prefer boring enka singers

I'm against spreading misinformation though. The only one without Japanese release is LE SSERAFIM. TWICE is already well established in the Japanese music industry and have been invited numerous times already, while IVE also released a Japanese single quite recently (though I don't agree with them being invited). The other groups people have been complaining are NiziU and JO1, both of them are based in Japan, sing in Japanese with 100% Japanese members.

 

They just need to hold out for like another 4 years (20th aniv) and then they’ll start getting invited back to kouhaku for the nostalgia factor.

 

@sdn48oshi this is actually a great factor, but I'm not sure if it works for idol groups to be honest... Momusu is out since 2008 and they reached a lot of milestones in the 10+ years period, but have not been invited anymore. Although skeptical, I believe this can, indeed, work for AKB, but DH needs to promote them right when reaching these milestones. They couldn't do a good work for the 15 year anniversary, though I'll not judge them for that due to it happening during pandemic period.

 

Many arguments in this thread fall victim to the false dichotomy. Few things can be true at once:
1. This year's kouhaku invite list may be disappointing for many people. Not because it fails to invite akb, but because it invites kpop groups-some of which has yet to even make their japan debut.

Kouhaku might be on its way towards irrelevance. Similar arguments can be made for the japan record awards. Both NHK and japan record awards no longer have good public standings, especially after japan record awards' bribing scandals

2. But even so, and perhaps more importantly, the members do care abt these shows. They are blaming themselves, they feel shitty about it. This means more than any arguments made in this thread because it clearly upsets the girls. Only god knows whether it would eventually motivate or demotivate the girls..

3. And it should not be denied that
Akb has not done anything this year that makes them a must invite for kouhaku. ESPECIALLY in the rising waves of soloists (ado, kenshi, etc) and johnny groups which have gained wider and greater support and recognition.

Releasing good singles and Mv is not enough, they should not guarantee any awards or invites. In fact., releasing good singles, mv, and promotion should be a bare minimum. Yet it is something that the management fails to be CONSISTENT at in the recent years.

They did a lot of shortcut (e.g. increasing no of hs slots and/or including sistergroup members). They feel that as long as they sell well, they are entitled to be invited. The latter applies for the girls too. But it is no longer enough because the market is getting more saturated each day

(Akb also fails to fill up smaller arenas, yet their competitor can fill up domes so clearly we should not make Kouhaku or japan record award as the scape goat)

This is a VERY flimsy deduction. Yes, the rise of marumo no okite and kaseifu no mitazono can be attributed to the japanese earthquake. Many has shown that these two shows have certain elements that symbolizes the wills and the hope to recover from tragedies, which make them so heartwarming and appealing during earthquake.

But the rise of koichun cannot be attributed to that. Japan has always loved catchy and simple dance. Regardless of the earthquake. Koichun might be the first to make big wave outside Japan, but it wasnt the first in Japan.

Suzuki Papaya builds his reputation on creating such hits. His portfolio alone is an evidence that Japan was such a sucker to danceable, simple yet catchy dance.

Koi's popularity was also helped by japan's love to such dance. Remember that Koi and even Koichun happened ways after the earthquake

 

A TV show with 30+% rating is irrelevant niche? Sour grape at its finest.

Does the present AKB still hold the power to hold its own kouhaku and got a fair rating? Did you truly believe AKB and MomoClo were on the same level?

Le Sserafim especially was lashed for being unknown to broader public. However, once the press conference was held and Sakura was present as a rep of the group, the mainstream tone changed from "Who is this group?" to "OK. It's Sakura's group.". The sentiment has much appeased. Besides Sakura, I suppose the invitation has a lot to do with Universal Music Japan.

Rather than the market being saturated, it's the market being changed. The saturation cannot explain 6 first time appearances in this year kouhaku. As someone has pointed out, the music market now is more fragmented. It is so uncommon for a new artist to become a household name thus, it is so normal that they are some acts that many frowned at unable to recognize.

AKB48's members to guest Japan Expo Thailand 2023 are
https://twitter.com/JAPANEXPO_THAI/status/1593816624960004096
Sato Airi
Oda Erina
Mukaichi Mion
Shitao Miu
Yamauchi Mizuki
Kuranoo Narumi
Mogi Shinobu
Murayama Yuiri
Highly likely, these same members will perform in Circle Jam (replacement of Asia Fest) in the next day too.

 

Do you think having an active, married idol as perma-center would be enough to make the news again?

 

Kep1er has been widely domestically and internationally rated as flopped/unpopular but, its debut showcase in Japan of 3 dates and 27k tickets in total sold out in 5 minutes.
Perhaps, 48 franchise should partner with Mnet to produce a survival show. However unethical and scandalous the show may be, it will sell in Japan.

Yes. But, that will not translate to popularity nor marketability.

By the way, a member of MomoClo is getting married.

 

In this case, it's about selling concert tickets.

 

Well duh, it won't be as big an event as Momoclo's. It's basically another budokan concert for a day with probably a few more B+ guests besides DAPUMP as judges.

 

What happened with Naachan might goes deeper than I thought...
There's speculation that someone inside AKB sold bunshun the info to launch a coup against YuuNaaMogiOn, who are consider as the current leaders of the group.

 

dating scandals are 100% the result of inside snitching lol. blurry photos of two masked celebrities walking together aren't really scoop material on their own, which is why these articles always have mini-interviews with staff or acquaintances of the people involved confirming that they are indeed dating, they met each other that one time, they started going out that other time, etc.

i fail to see why someone working for akb would even want to do this though... YNMO are basically keeping the group afloat right now. if the current ace and most popular member gets kicked out or just loses a bunch of fans willing to pay money for handshakes over this scandal, then akb inevitably becomes less profitable as a result. and if push comes to shove, they might need to lay off some staff members, and whoever sold this to bunshun could very well be among those... i really don't see what anyone has to gain from this (unless bunshun checks are that good lmao), except maybe incel-adjacent wotas who usually don't even care about akb but are now sticking their noses in the group's business to give their 2 cents on what women in the entertainment industry are and aren't allowed to do lol

 

We all know that those who prevented Yuiyui from being at the center were disappearing. It was only a matter of time before she dealt with Okada! Hitomi next.

 

totally agree. they had decent singles, and an AKB old timer was a lead of an asadora yet they have been cold shouldered again and from best hit too. Feels like a morning musume type obscelesence week.

maybe a next appearance would be a nostalgia themed one, or if they can finally figure out what to do with the group cos it sure ain't mainstream anymore. it can survive and thrive as an idol group but would shrink and shouldn't have kouhaku pretentions. A Hiichan Miu led k-j pop hybrid of 6-10 members maybe with sprinkling from 46 (whomever they can sort out) may be more mainstream viable and exciting.

Sent from my SM-S9060 using Tapatalk

 

AKB48: Game of (Senbatsu) Throne. I like where this is going :V

 

Someone from 48 or 46 group is reported dating all the time. Is there always some hidden agenda/conspiracy theory?

Of course. The journalist must know something before investing his time stalking celebs around all day long.

The idol works with so many persons and many of them are outsource/freelance, hairdresser, photographer, choreographer, concert promoter blah blah blah. The list goes on endlessly. And, not everyone of them knows to keep things to themselves. Usually, entertainment journalist befriends hairdresser and make up artist knowing they are great sources of gossip. The guy also is a celeb and the dating news might leak from his side.

You had not idea how far human being can go due to jealousy/resentment.

 

Most of that is just wild fantasy, but the bunshun article does include quotes from a staff member and "an acquaintance (知人) of Okada". (The staff member appears to be after the fact.)

 

Trailer for PICO AKB48 VR PREMIUM LIVE on 12/3:


if the video does not show watch the video here