Graduation announcements thread

I'm not surprised that the bloated 48 franchise is trimming down from what was once such a wild growth. I still think we will get new members but on a smaller scale. (Is it even an idol group without middle schoolers?

Team chuugakusei spring 2021:

AKB48 remi, hiyuka
SKE48 mirei, anan
NMB48 zion, yuria
HKT48 ibuki
NGT48
STU48 himeka, Sara


My concern is that the strength of 48-grp had always been the numbers on stage. NMB48 new smaller teams works for their sets yet when I watch stages meant for 16 members in akihabara it can feel a little thin even in AKB48's cramped theater.

The irony is that 4-5 years ago there were members of this forum that felt sister group inclusion was somehow hurting AKB48 and today it feels like the mothership needs to levy those sister groups more than ever. of course covid restrictions prevent that. AKS dissolved and the sister groups managed by their own companies already releasing singles in 2021

 

Maybe because NMB got rid of their teams system, more members announce graduation, because there's less responsibility to keep the teams with a "minimum" amount of members? I don't know but this is possible. well I've been thinking about it and I feel like it might be better if every group doesn't have teams anymore, I feel like it might be a good change for 48G, besides with the pandemic (and we don't know when it will end) they can't perform with many members as often. I think if each group (AKB included) has between 30-50 members, it's enough... especially in a time where most people (many fans too) don't know a lot of members, maybe it's better to decrease the amount of members...

 

I think the dissolution of teams and shrinking the total number of members is something that's in the realm of even if it works for one group it won't work for them all.

 

I was always a fan of the separate team personalities. Team A for example were the girls next door, Team K were the cool/athletic girls, Team B were the cute/traditional girls. I agree with the notion that what one group does would only really be a solution for that particular group. NMB is suffering from a mass exodus so it would make sense that they would dissolve teams. NGT because they wanted a fresh start did the same. I don't think the same would be needed for AKB/SKE/HKT/STU because for now they seem more stable.

 

Wait...4 NMB48 members are graduating. That's not exactly a mass exit. They also have one of the largest draft pools from 3rd gen and and 7th gen KKs.

SKE48 also has a 9th and 10th gen that debuted within a year of each other.

AKB48 is the troubled team here and she can't even levy the sister grps because travel restrictions.

I agree with you that team concepts are a good thing but it has eroded a lot since the glory days. I always admire how members like Komiharu and Odaeri are so loyal to strong team K concept.

Team A is the flagship team now imo. 2 soukantokus, captain Rin, ace Yui, plus transcontinental idols erii and Myao ww, nemousu mc manaka

 

I meant covid-19 restrictions that are preventing any big gatherings (they just had to shut down the in person audiences for the next 2 weeks and stu48 had to cancel the ehime stop.) and the end of the concurrency system in general. The system that so many stage48 members hated. I personally liked seeing members appear in different cities and it gave some members a chance to travel and experience performing in other parts of Japan.

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In the case of AKB the only real issues with the team structure are that the teams they currently have are mostly made up of girls who have been on their current teams for so long that the teams feel stable, but also stale. The lack of original stages to work with compounds this issue. And of course they can only get so many performances at the theater in in general thanks to covid which also doesn't help matters. I know from some comments shared by others that the capacity for their theater has fluctuated in accordance with covid safety guidelines and what not since the pandemic began in earnest last year, but I can't help feel like a team shuffle or new stages to perform when they do get to perform at the theater would help a lot with making things more interesting and entertaining. The girls have gotten very comfortable and complacent and non-ambitious being in their current teams for so long. A shuffle/new stages would light a fire under their butts real quick.

Also NMB's situation is an odd one in that they essentially put themselves in a position where they've failed to establish most of their remaining seniors as stars so their newer members are gonna have a huge burden on their shoulders as their seniors continue to make their mass exit. It's what one could label a mass exit because they don't have a lot of seniors left. AKB would be in likewise shoes if the remnants from gens 3-12 all left within the next year had girls from gen 13 and onwards plus several Team 8 girls not been gaining some ground in terms of recognition since 2016. In the case of NMB whether they have a team structure or not is rather irrelevant as their core issue is a much larger one: Relevancy and Recognizability of most of their few remaining seniors and their near entirely unestablished next gens.

 

idk if I agree that the teams have been unchanged for too long- imo part of the reason the team concepts started going down the drain was because there were shuffles way too often and it was hard for the teams to have a strong concept when the members kept being moved around (seemingly at random). Idk about recently since I haven't been into the groups that much in recent years, but it was around 2015-16 that I started to feel like the team concepts were falling apart. 100% agree that not having stages is a problem, tho. Stages are how I found new members to like and felt connected to teams, and without them (both bc no new ones & bc of the hp torrent site shutting down) its really hard to connect with members and teams now

as far as NMB goes, it just feels like the members come and go so quickly now, by the time I actually find some I like they graduate. Maybe that wouldn't be a problem if I was more active in the fandom, but idk, to me the turnover seems faster than usual

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AKB48's younger member are still has a good roster though. Honda Hitomi will return soon, I think IxR plus Kato Rena can still pack a punch.
If I am the leader of DH, I will:
- Prepare a new single, try to keep a pace of 2-3 single/year.
- Try to make as much mainstream media appearance as possible.
- Create new stages for teams.
- Team Shuffle
- Reform the group or a part of it to gain to appeal to younger audience.

 

I don't think it's so much legal restrictions as they don't want to risk a repeat of what happened in December. Also regardless of what restrictions are actually in place they have a perceived duty to the public to hold to not just what the government requires but what it recommends.

I strongly disagree that the girls have been on their teams for too long, and I really don't see what that has to do with any alleged complacency or lack of ambition, nor how a shuffle would help. Shuffles have always been a net negative.

But yes, they need new stages, whether more special named stages or actual, honest to God new stages, even if the members have to write them themselves. I'm not sure if that's harder or easier right now with the theater limited to 8 members performing at a time (not to mention right now it's closed completely).

They also need other things, things that they're so close to providing on their own, e.g. variety programs on YouTube or a similar site.

 

@wlerin - Team shuffles being a net negative is an incredibly odd way to think on them. Those shuffles ultimately force the girls to learn to get along for the sake of the whole if they find themselves lumped with anyone they don't get on with making them grow as people.

The fundamental makeup of the teams as we knew them can change significantly too with certain girls stepping up to the plate and emerging from the shadows of the girls who (often predictably as they're almost always Senbatsu regulars or staples) stand front and center of the teams. Shuffles also simultaneously put the pressure on in reverse, making anyone not willing to pull their weight or embrace the changes ultimately start thinking of their next chapter in life and graduate.

There are of course going to be girls who have such personal beef between them behind the scenes that putting them on a team together just won't work, but that in itself doesn't make the teams being shuffled a net negative. And when factoring in previous shuffles the current teams have been the same outside of changes due to promotions when girls graduated long enough that saying they've been together for too long is hardly a stretch.

@Mimikkyu - Are you sure you're replying to the right person? I know that AKB's next gens are in pretty good shape in terms of keeping the group going strong (relatively speaking) after the remaining seniors have graduated. I rather specifically pointed that out in the second half of the post you quoted.

@junjou19 - Although the teams might feel like they've been shuffled too quickly in recent years things haven't actually changed. In the case of the Japan based sister groups they've had few shuffles within their lifetime, and in the case of AKB itself the teams have always been shuffled after being together for roughly 2 or 2 and a quarter years worth of time since the first major shuffle in 2009. Their last major one being in 2018 means that were we not in the midst of a pandemic there would've likely been a shuffle either this summer or by the time of their yearly anniversary show in December.

 

As reported by @nvmea in her thread, Matsumura Miku, the Mie representative from Team 8 has today announced her graduation following a long hiatus due to poor health:
https://www.akb48.co.jp/news/detailpage/49799729

 

Who will replace her as Mie representative?
Anyone know the process of choosing new members in Team 8?

 

Team E, Ishikawa Kanon will leave in may
(See in her thread)

 

SKE's Souda Sarina has announced her graduation today to continue playing in musicals and stage plays. More details will be posted later

Edit: As announced on the official website her activities will end on June 30th, her graduation stage will be on June 20th

 

There goes another favorite of mine

She has had a super strong career for a draft member though. Best of luck to her in the future.