[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

Actually, music cards actually are a thing in Japan. 48G doesn't use them but a lot of other idol groups do like LDH groups and Idol Street.
But oricon doesn't count Music Card sales so JPN48 would NEVER use them

 

Then, who should be senbatsu? I don't see any younger member as powerful as them.

If only AKS would push Chiba Erii or Yamauchi Mizuki. They're better than Kubo Satone.

 

16gen or D2... may be someone from Team8 (because many girls from team8 didn't have any chance but may be someone... Hayasaki for example) or someone from SG, like Sakura, bot no one from 10-15gen and D1 (but I like Moekyun)! if you mean just put someone in sembatsu from AKB, so AKB don't have any strong members... but AKB have Annin, Renachi, Mako, Nana, Juri and Mion enough other spots for SG members

 

Regarding Tomu & Sayaya:

1. I a bit agree to argument that Tomu should grad to pursue career as weather forecaster. But if she grads, her fans will make a revenge via her sister, Orin, maybe Orin would rank much higher next year. Actually I wanted to see Tomu as the captain of Team K after Miichan grads. I'm still expecting her to return to senbatsu on 51st single.
2. Sayaya can be transferred anywhere which she can be like Rie, my favorite would be future team of NGT48, Team G, she can also become the captain because she has potential to be a captain. Another possibility is to be transferred to JKT48, she's very popular here in Indonesia and she befriend some JKT48 members such as Michelle. But JKT48 would be too easy for her. I disagree with your opinion that any D2 should be ahead her. Satone & Hiwatan are bland like NGT48's Moeka & HKT48's Hana, heavily pushing them could make another Hana, meanwhile Erii & Ayu aren't powerful enough, the one who had potential, Kirara, has gone. I don't see any other AKB48 draftee both from 1st gen & 2nd gen who is as powerful as her so I think she should be kept as senbatsu. I hope she'll return to senbatsu in 51st single.

 

I love how people decided how "powerful" a girl is based on their own opinion.
D2: Kirara wasn't seeling HS, did not rank, etc. Neither did Rei, Ayu, or Erii. Satone and Hiwatashi did rank, after a single back-row senbatsu.

16ki: Orin rank. Probably the best choice to push. Management put their money of Manaka and Mizuki, possibly Asai. No one of them is Senbatsu level yet.

D1: Saya and Moe both ranked, and Saya was able to achieve a good result. Saying Kirara was more "powerful" is as good as saying she's prettier. You literally can't get more subjective.

Management will either push who they like, or who showed results. Not your favorite girl or someone who isn't "blend" (Moeka, for example, your example for a blend girl, ranked 25th, in her second sousenkyo. Better than Haruppi/Sakura/Meru did back at their time, when it was considerably easier to rank.

 

No it wasn't, that is a fallacy. Not only was it only the first 64 that ranked but they were competing against an AKB that had Yuko, Mariko, Tomochin and a host of girls from senbatsu or with agencies. Then SKE and NMB were in their prime as well. There are MORE girls now but that doesn't mean getting into a rank is harder, if you have even a half decent following (or no following at all like Orin) you can get in nowadays.

 

The biggest problem that AKB is facing right now is that most of their famous/talent members come from their sister groups, not AKB themselves...

 

Nope, I disagree. While now they don't have Yuko, Mariko or Tomochin to compete with, they do have Sakura, Jurina, Nana, Suda, and so on. The number of popular girls does not decrease or increase, while the number of members you compete with in order to build a following is harder.
As for Orin, some speculate her rank is almost 100% due to Tomu not running this year. She is not a meaningful data points.

 

Why would management push Orin? She is not popular at all, her sister's fans voted for her in senbatsu. Everyone knows that. It would be a huge deal if any other 16 gen ranked in, but it's not with Orin because she's just getting votes from her sister...

Maybe after some time in the group she'll gain popularity of her own, but I don't think that her rank justifies anything. People like Yamauchi Mizuki and Yamane Suzuha are the most popular of all of the 16 gens.

 

The number of votes required to rank in increase each year, but the number of votes required to rank high decrease. So technically, a high rank (UG) back then counted as more than a high rank nowadays, but a simple rank-in at the low levels means more nowadays than before.

Since we are talking about Moeka's 25th rank in her 2nd SSK and Sakura at 47th her 2nd SSK / Meru at 55th in her 2nd SSK, which is essentially a high rank now and a low rank back then, even counting in the lack luster voting immediately post-Acchan and new methods for voting, I can say that Moeka did fair better than the other two. She has about 25k votes whereas Sakura got 6k. Whether she can keep this up next year is still a debate, but at the moment NGT girls generally have a better start than many people.

 

I'd actually prefer to see older girls getting senbatsu/a push. They have a little bit more they can bring to the table, like late night appearances, gravure, a character that isn't simply "I'm 13!", and going by election results alone they seem to be more popular (Love Trip senbatsu were all over 18; #Sukinanda only had Hinatan under 18).

Add to that, it makes me uncomfortable to watch stuff like Hiiwatan in Seifuku Bikini or really anything with Moekyun around the time of her debut. With a young senbatsu, singles can either be inoffensive but boring like KokoPla or filling the niche already filled by Keyaki. I don't want to watch a team of thirteen-year-old girls singing about enjou kousai...

 

^ What they should really do is come up with the normal senbatsu and a U-18 senbatsu. So we can enjoy both groups of girls performing at their suitable age.

 

I mean "young" is newcomer, not young as under 16 =) Some young girls in AKB tooooo many years without any achievements and results

 

I second that. maybe they should make a U-18 Senbatsu Sousenkyo event, just a small event is enough (like showroom or renacchi senbatsu), maybe in spring time, so they can put a U-18 Senbatsu song as B-Sides in summer single.

 

Newcomers are boring. They have no bonds and no story, so they have to commit to a big character if they want to be interesting. Also, working up to senbatsu is what B-sides are for.

T8 is getting senbatsu spots (after a couple years of existence). D2 has gotten senbatsu spots (after a couple years of existence). 16ki is still way too new and inexperienced to get senbatsu spots.

And if I were mgmt I wouldn't want to abandon the girls who "failed" (undergirls lol) because one thing akb suffers from more now than in the past is facial recognition. Acchan is still the face of akb, and mgmt *could* take a big risk and put out a single of newcomers with the idea of building a completely new akb but they won't do that for so many reasons.

 

The "newcomer" becomes a senbatsu member and being treat like a big member is never gonna happen again lol. Its just relevant to Acchan and Jurina back then. Even Sakura had to wait at least 2 years to get pushed. AKB sells not only songs and talents, but also STORY! They couldnt be in the group like, 9 months and get into senbatsu eventho they tried the hardest they possibly could.

Like me, I didnt see a member because she's really cute or talented anymore, but about what they've been done so far for the group. Attract casual fans in Japan to make AKB bigger???? lol.. Dont get me wrong, they're important, but the fandom is more than them! Focusing to the new fans is better than try to attract casual one. And which member that the new fans look up for? The member that's already established and had STORY to take a look! Big member IN THE GROUP, senbatsu members! After that, maybe they would look after another oshis. That's how it works!

To change almost all formation in senbatsu will just crush all foundation thats already established! So yes, "newcomer" has to wait till they get noticed by fans because of what they did for the group. Be patient! Just like Jurina did for all 9 times SSK! Next year, I guarantee she'll be the ONE.

 

Well .............. I'm not sure this is the best exemple.
The girl was immediatly pushed to the front, never had to wait her turn for a senbatsu spot even in SSK, and is known for a relative lack of patience (which led her into some serious health troubles).

 

I already said it, right. she was pushed by mngmt since the beginning.
What I said at the last part of my post earlier was only for number 1 in SSK. Right after Acchan graduated, Mayu and Jurina were chosen by mngmt for being the ace of the group (mayu couldnt make it in UZA, sadly). And she had to wait at least 6 years for being number 1 in the group since then, assuming she would be 1st at SSK next year. I mean, after Keibetsu shiteita Aijou, the first member who crushed Acchan in senbatsu was her. 9 years ago. Thats why I said Jurina has tremendous patience for being number 1. But yeah, maybe it aint the best example. Well idk..

 

Now my expectations are beside on 51st single, those who should be senbatsu, would be senbatsu, I also hope AKB48 will get shuffled before 51st single, on Mayuyu's grad concert.

 

Yes I agree, A shuffle right now is completely necessary. Teams A, K and B are far too weak right now.