[GENERAL] The Nogizaka46 thread!

No, but I will just to end my participation on this subject

You don't need to know anything about "the inner workings of Nogizaka" to grasp the concept that when it comes to the Japanese music market, every idol group in the business revolves around selling extras attached to their CD releases, handshake event lotteries spread across dozens of available members being the strongest selling factor, to encourage people to buy multiple copies in order to create a magnified hype around their product that doesn't reflect on the general public as much as it looks going by statistics alone - that's why when you said the fact that they are releasing a traditional single in January just shows that they can release them without resorting to handshakes, which isn't the case, I replied the way I did, because you are very adamant in arguing about something that you show having very little knowledge about
Arguing against digital releases because they should still be able to sell physical ones without handshake lotteries doesn't make sense because that's precisely the point of a digital single, releasing music without any extras
When you say you don't understand why they only released 2 singles last year, and you prefer traditional singles because they come with multiple songs, to me that doesn't make sense either because they also released an album last year which contained as many new songs as a traditional 3rd single would have
When you say Route 246 wasn't well received (even though today you can still find it on many digital rankings including the iTunes/Apple Music top 500 nearly 4 months after release, unlike most other idol groups out there - for as little as that may be worth considering they all have their fair share of fans who make a point of replaying the newest released song multiple times on a daily basis) because it's half-full of "cringy" English, to me that does make some sense, but not as much as, for example, debating on the need to get Komuro Tetsuya involved, as the song does set out to recreate his arguably outdated Komuro-sound, down to his overuse of English converging with AkiP's penchant for "poppifying" a mainstream-centric song through Wow's and Oh's and Hey's and other such particles aimed at giving the fans something to shout at concerts, even though they've always had their own wota chants
When people bring out the old soapbox to vent about Nogizaka's discography being weak but then only ever talk about the 25+2 single title tracks they've released to date, to me that doesn't make much sense either because personally I have a very hard time going back to their earlier releases with all the playtime their newer ones take up in my playlist of 200+ songs

Spoiler: But if you're looking for a lecture, I'll oblige

They released one traditional single, became unable to hold the handshake events associated with it and couldn't release another traditional single for a while, so they released one charity song (which was only supposed to be an MV project recorded from their homes during confinement at first until they used it to explore the smaller digital market) followed by an "electronic boogaloo" (as they often do in the form of coupling songs for their physical singles and albums) probably just so they'd have something new to perform on music programs that stood out and keep them in the spotlight for a bit while they sort out their future (plus it's something to build a different type of performance out of when they get to hold their traditional Summer Tour concerts again), then once the fortunemusic virtual handshake app was developed they moved to allow 25th single handshake ticket holders (allow but not force, so there's still probably many tickets backed up since a virtual handshake doesn't recreate the same experience as a traditional handshake event, of not just meeting the member in person but attending a mini-live for example) to transfer them to a virtual session instead (because issuing refunds would have been not just an insurmountable cut in profits, it would undermine future sales as fans wouldn't be willing to buy into more lotteries until after the pandemic is over at some unknown point in the future), which combined with being able to go through with Maiyan's postponed graduation concert (albeit in a smaller scale than desired) they are finally at a point when they can release a traditional 26th single along with its usual lottery extras
Imagine this scenario: instead of releasing Route 246 digitally, they release the 26th single; they finally understand all their past mistakes and know they need a strong release to keep the fans excited, so they try to make it as appealing as possible, reaching deep into their bag of songs and pulling out A Good One, put every popular member in the senbatsu, maybe one or two 2nd gens finally making their debut; maybe finally give Ikuta another center, maybe use Kaki instead and cash in on the hype they've been building up - now let me tell you what happens: it flops, because the 25th single still has pending HS events and the bulk of the fans that buy traditional singles along with it's 4 different editions hundreds if not thousands of times over suddenly become cautious about their spending, and as much as the general public becomes interested in your song the idol bubble is long over and they're not going to buy your expensive products, and instead settle for free streaming with some cheap digital downloads in the mix; congratulations, your good song becomes a hit and gets all sorts of airplay through the end of the year, but your product gets burned because it sold far, FAR less than Shiraishi Mai's last single, which will become associated with the fanbase losing interest in the group after she left; oh, did you put a 4th gen as the center? Well, looks like she did a terrible job and now her popularity's damaged; the best you can do is save your image by releasing An Even Better song next time, and get things steadily back on track with your newly found spurt of creativity, but some of your roster probably won't recover for a while, and it may even affect their work performance and make them disillusioned, and with them, their fans; worst case scenario? You perpetually try to recreate the success of that trademark song quality you used for your 26th single that everyone wants to hear everytime you're mentioned, get stuck in the same pattern for a year, three, five, the inevitable graduations ensue, and eventually your product ends because you just couldn't quite live up to everyone's expections after that one release that put you on the map
So yes, it is important to them, AkiP, Sony, that their traditional releases are big sellers and mantain or be close to certain numerical thresholds as much as possible, to continue the public image storyline they've been building so that it doesn't end prematurely (because as much as some might want Nogizaka to succeed only as long as the 1st gen members they fell in love with over the years are around, it's still very much a long-term project going into its 10th year of operations and still very much in the public eye), and if it was easy to produce the national hit everyone craves I'm sure they'd find a way to release at least one every year for every group including Nogizaka, without fearing the risk of burning out the members for projecting them in an image they're unable to live up to
If sales milestones weren't important then they wouldn't have to sell multiple editions of the same single each containing different coupling songs and accompanying video features, or would only employ half the members they do, at least then nobody would complain that the same members are constantly on their TV programs once they start having the same 20 people in the studio at a time every week
That's why when the 26th single was announced all the buzz became about what the senbatsu would be, rather than how good the song should be to "make up" for their recent efforts - not to mention people's anticipation for something being much higher when it's released at slower intervals rather than one after the other, and you can easily see this beyond their traditional singles with photobooks or standalone blu-rays
Lastly, Route 246 was a song; they released it, and now they're releasing another one
Didn't like it? Maybe next time's the charm; Worried that it probably won't be, given their track record as of late with the past few releases also being subpar? Well, what can I say, there's a limited lifespan to everything, I'd imagine we'll all stop being fans of Nogizaka at some point in our lives, even if it takes them straying off the course so much there's not enough of us left so they finally end their activities; hopefully people can find it in their heart to take a break and come back when they are excited about the product again, if ever, rather than bash it at every chance they get

If you don't like a song that's fine, if you'd maybe prefer they released a digital album with multiple songs instead of that one digital single with just one song that for some reason needed to be the best yet to make up for the last one and the one before, and the other one, that's great, if you want to hold them to the same standard as any other pop band and sell only "good music" instead of handshakes and stop using their song packages as storylines, or hope that their way of doing things that's put them on a priviledged, stable position in the entertainment industry is going to change drastically and be just as effective if not more without alienating long time fans, then that's your choice, and no, you absolutely do not have to praise everything they do or love every member equally, or be grateful that they're even releasing anything in these crappy times when the traditional idol business model came closest to collapse than probably any other form of entertainment
What I won't stand for is seeing the same set of people engage in a persistent negativity campaign without pushback, as I read them in every thread I enter, making the same points over and over across multiple threads for weeks and months, often doing nothing but echoing whatever subset of some international fanbase they've been most in contact with, composed of who knows what kinds of people coming from who knows what kinds of musical backgrounds, not conceding a rebuttal based on the same type of personal yet conflicting opinion they hold, effectively "poisoning the well" in a sense or at the very least creating a depressing environment, where it doesn't even reach the people who actually make these management decisions but rather the fans that consume their product in some form, and then get called a "sheep" over being "content" with a "low quality" product just because I don't share their sometimes limited or skewed perception of something's value or purpose

 

Great answer, You really went in-depth to answer his question. I would suggest people check out the documentary Tokyo Idols as it goes into a lot of the details you outlined in your post. I'm surprised how little people know how the idol industry functions considering AKB has been doing this exact thing for over 15 years.

P.S - This is usually how management gauges who to enter the senbatsu based on their handshake numbers. I was surprised to here that a lot of the 1st Gen members don't do them anymore so I guess they make the company through commercial and TV deals which also increases group visibility.

 

How can you even post a reply that long? But I have to say it was a good read. Excellent
If that doesn't stop the discussion, I don't know anymore.
Senbatsu announcement today to officially start 26th single. Let's get excited. We're finally getting a new single

 

Sorry, just posting one last input...

Glad to be enlightened. See, this is a far more respectable response compared to the earlier short replies that were laced with condescension.

Will just chime in as a final input to conclude this conversation, and my apologies if I don't respond to every single one of the points so as to not drag this further than necessary.

Again, I was more than satisfied with the clash of the sister group's reboot and development of the virtual handshake app as justifications for the lack of at least one more single before the end of this year. The release of an album last year doesn't fully replace a traditional single (at least in my opinion) as it did not introduce a new senbatsu lineup and center that everyone looks forward to. This debate appears to have escalated and sidetracked when the topic of digital releases like Route 246 was brought up as supposed answers to fulfil my expectation of 3 singles in a calendar year, to which I felt compelled to keep responding as I once again had to explain that these did not introduce a new center + senbatsu as a traditional single would.

Regarding the topic handshake events, the explanation of the pending ones from the 25th single would have been more than enough to answer the delay of the next single. I get that handshake events are the core of the idol business model but the pandemic has pretty much damaged that so there's a definite need for innovation and it seems that the online handshake system is a partial answer for the time being. From a business perspective, sure, it's understandable that there's reluctance to release a traditional single for fear of failing to meet the magical numbers of the past. From a fan's perspective (at least mine), I would prefer that they don't hold back on releasing singles because this would slow down the development of the group.

With regard to the negativity in this forum, sure it exists but I personally don't sense that it's rampant enough to have created a toxic atmosphere and which would otherwise be a critique of the moderators. I don't believe my initial criticism in the recent lack of the singles and desire for more singles next year are completely baseless and simply inviting negativity as there are probably others who share a similar sentiment. I'm sure many of us in this forum range from casual fans to more dedicated otaku so our knowledge on the idol business and workings within Nogizaka will vary greatly. This does not mean that criticism and debates should be limited to only those with far more knowledge. Hate the negativity? Well, there's always the option of taking a positive approach and respectfully educating a possibly misguided opinion or criticism posted here.

Whatever the case, I'm happy to step back and look forward to how the group handles the the start of the post-Maiyan era and the challenges resulting from the pandemic, whilst continuing to hope for a return of 3 traditional singles next year (that started this very conversation) and push the group forward.

 

It's been announced Nogizaka will be perform on 71st Kouhaku. Now i'm excited about which song they will performing. Shiawase (without it's center?) or new song with new center? I just hope it's not R246

 

Plot Twist: Route 246
XD

 

Sekaijuu for the win! It really fits the whole situation right now.

 

They should perform Sing Out, they didn't perform that last year

 

NHK announces the lineup for its annual New Year's Eve show - the 71st Kohaku Uta Gassen today:

Red Team lineup:

• Sakurazaka46 (First time)
• Nogizaka46
• Hinatazaka46
• NiziU (First time)
• BABYMETAL (First time)
• milet (First time)
• JUJU (First time)
• Incidents Tokyo (First time)
• LiSA
• Perfume
• Aimyon
• Ishikawa Sayuri
• Sakamoto Fuyumi
• Superfly
• Tendo Yoshimi
• Foorin
• Matsuda Seiko
• MISIA
• Mizumori Kaori
• Little Glee Monster

White Team lineup:

• SixTONES (First time)
• Snow Man (First time)
• Eito (First time)
• Arashi
• Itsuki Hiroshi
• Official HIGE DANdism/li>
• Kanjani8
• Kis-My-Ft2
• King & Prince
• Go Hiromi
• GENERATIONS
• Junretsu
• Suzuki Masayuki
• Hikawa Kiyoshi
• Fukuyama Masaharu
• Hay!Say!JUMP
• Hoshino Gen
• Mr. Children
• Miyama Hiroshi
• Yamauchi Keisuke
• Yuzu

Original source:

https://www.nhk.or.jp/kouhaku/artist/index.html

 

sekaijyuunorinjinnyo with every one back LOL.......
i know it will never happen, but I would love to see it

 

Oooh, Milet! Nice to see her in there.

 

I'd like to see that too if they aren't performing their new song.

 

I have a feeling that Nogi will perform r246. It is their latest song. Moreover, this song's composer is Komuro Tetsuya, a big name in Japan ent industry. And, cmiiw, r246 is also the first song he composed after returning from hiatus. With all of these factors, this song can attract many attention. After all, Kouhaku is all about ratings, right?

 

He should have stayed on hiatus wow wow wow wow wow. With his shitty 90s dance pop wow wow wow wow wow.

 

Nikkan Sports predicts Route 246.

https://twitter.com/1naimonodarling/status/1328408843659792385?s=19

 

Let's celebrate the start of 2021 with a WOW WOW WOW WOW, such a great idea!

 

Hang in there. Don’t you give up!

 

Oh boy, that's going to make people of discerning taste switch channels faster than Usain Bolt.

Of course, you know what they SHOULD do? A medley of AKB48 songs.

Now THAT would be funny.

 

wowowow

 

Don't forget, it's only a prediction at this moment.