AKB48 Question & Answer

Hi and welcome!
I'll try to add into what Mimikkyu answered above:
1) There is also Eizo Soko service (basically AKB48 Netflix that has most past concerts, exclusive videos etc) at https://akb48group-eizo.jp/home/
As for TV performances, you will have to rely on people recording and posting them, usually on the General AKB48 thread here in this forum at :
http://stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/general-the-akb48-thread.180/ (go to the last pages for newest contents/discussions)

2) As for learning members and finding your Oshimen, I agree with Mimikkyu above, you need time looking at contents and one or two members will stand out among others in your eyes, and over time your interest in them might grow.
If you really want to pick one early just go to AKB members profile at https://www.akb48.co.jp/about/members,
and you can learn more about your choices at our community-built stage48 wiki http://stage48.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

3) AKB48 used to organize their members into team A,K,B,4 and 8, and do some activities based on those teams. Now it's organized into just regular/full members and trainees (also called kenkyuusei).
As for why it happened, management never said the reason yet so far. Lots of speculations and theories, but I feel like this is not the right thread to discuss about it

 

Hi and a welcome from me too. I just want to add to what others have said about picking an oshimen in that in my experience you don't really need to try and choose one - one day you'll simply look at a member and you'll say "She's the one". For example, when I got into fandom in early 2015 it was Sasshi (Sashihara Rino) and Paruru (Shimazaki Haruka) who initially interested me but one day I was watching Mayu perform a solo song and it 'just happened' that I knew she was my favourite.

However do try to learn as much as possible about all the members. Obviously the member section of the official AKB48 site is a good place and if there's anyone who seems interesting you could take a look at their threads on this forum where there's likely to be some recent photos and maybe videos. Also you could go to their pages on our Wiki and check out their social media via the links which appear there.

 

Hello and welcome from all of us! Always nice to meet new fans ^^

I also recommend looking for content on the video sharing website bilibili - https://www.bilibili.com/

There is a lot of content if you search for concert names and performances using the Japanese/Kanji titles. I personally refer to our very own Wiki page (http://stage48.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) to copy and paste titles.

In order to watch live content, such as members appearing on television, you can refer to this Google doc. The ATC (AKB48 Taiwan Club) is a dedicated fan group that live streams events, often also concerts and performances. That being said, we aren't allowed to share pirated paid content on the forum so I won't redirect you directly there

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...Vi7frza82lRo44ejQ/edit#heading=h.76dwfclp6d8c

For me, I often found my oshimen by watching variety shows. AKBINGO and AKB48 Sayonara Mouri-san were really good examples of that for me. My original oshimen was Akimoto Sayaka, but by the time I discovered AKB48 in 2015, Akimoto had also already graduated.

After that, it became Tano Yuka because she was very outgoing on TV, and also a great performer. She graduated in 2018.

I didn't have an oshimen for a while, but in 2021, Kobayashi Ran caught my eye because she uploaded a solo dance cover of AKB48's latest single at the time, Ne mo Ha mo Rumor, and she put a lot of effort into creating her own uniform to match the music video and generally proved to be a very talented dancer. I attended her virtual meet & greet shortly thereafter and she was really attentive, energetic and loving so that solidified my parasocial relationship with her

I currently don't have an oshimen but I do support many members, such as Honda Hitomi, Muto Orin, Kashiwagi Yuki, Murayama Yuiri... some of them just grow on you over time, others you discover suddenly and fall in love

Since you mentioned two NMB48 members that you like, I recommend checking out this website for NMB48 related subbed content. It ranges from TV shows to quick clips from performances to SHOWROOM (individual livestream) content: https://teppensubteam.tumblr.com/

Also check out the 48Directory, where some English speaking fans have tried to collate as much content as possible: https://48directory.com/

TLDR at the bottom of my long explanation lol

I'm not sure it's anything to do with the K-Pop boom necessarily, but just time changing overall. AKB48 was at its peak when the original members really rose to fame (see: Original Kami 7, including Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, Shinoda Mariko, Takahashi Minami, Kojima Haruna, Watanabe Mayu, Itano Tomomi). People really loved these members, people spent insane amounts of money on them; they also participated in many other activities outside of AKB, such as appearing in dramas (mainly Atsuko, Yuko and Mayu), modelling (Tomomi, Mariko and Haruna) and solo music (Atsuko, Mayu and Minami), which really pushed their popularity even outside of AKB fans.

The 48 Group (including AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48, NGT48 and STU48) also worked together very closely and 2-3 members from each sister group usually appeared in AKB48's singles. The most popular ones included Matsui Jurina (SKE48's ace), Yamamoto Sayaka (NMB48's ace) and Miyawaki Sakura (HKT48's ace, although HKT's center position wasn't as solid as some other groups, so they had a few really popular front line members), so this really pushed AKB's sales. If your oshimen was Matsui Jurina, for example, you could also support her by buying AKB singles and attend physical meet & greet sessions with her by buying those singles. For this reason, AKB was really popular.

Many of the really famous members have now graduated, simply because they joined a very long time ago and are moving on with their lives. Here are some of the biggest names and when they graduated:

AKB48

• Maeda Atsuko (AKB 1st gen) - 2012 (7 years in the group)
• Itano Tomomi (AKB 1st gen) - 2013 (8 years in the group)
• Oshima Yuko (AKB 2nd gen) - 2013 (7 years in the group)
• Shinoda Mariko (AKB 1.5 gen) - 2013 (7 years in the group)
• Takahashi Minami (AKB 1st gen) - 2016 (11 years in the group)
• Kojima Haruna (AKB 1st gen) - 2017 (12 years in the group)
• Watanabe Mayu (AKB 3rd gen) - 2018 (12 years in the group)

SKE48

• Matsui Rena (SKE 1st gen) - 2015 (7 years in the group)
• Matsui Jurina (SKE 1st gen) - 2021 (13 years in the group)

NMB48

• Watanabe Miyuki (NMB 1st gen) - 2016 (6 years in the group)
• Yamamoto Sayaka (NMB 1st gen) - 2018 (8 years in the group)
• Shiroma Miru (NMB 1st gen) - 2021 (11 years in the group)

HKT48

• Sashihara Rino (AKB 5th gen, transferred to HKT in 2012) - 2019 (12 years across AKB + HKT)
• Kodama Haruka (HKT 1st gen) - 2019 (8 years in the group)
• Miyawaki Sakura (HKT 1st gen) - 2021 (10 years in the group)
• Yabuki Nako (HKT 3rd gen) - 2023 (10 years in the group)
• Tanaka Miku (HKT 3rd gen) - 2024 (11 years in the group)

You can see a lot of popular members have graduated already. Some groups (especially SKE and AKB up until Maeda Atsuko's graduation) only used 1 member to center in their singles, so it became difficult for other members to gain a proper fanbase. NMB and especially HKT were less rigid, NGT was forced to change its center for different reasons and STU went back to 1 center member, who is now also graduating.

Enter the COVID-19 pandemic... it became impossible for members from other sister groups to travel to Tokyo to participate in AKB singles. It was dangerous and for some time even illegal to travel for non-emergency purposes. Between 2020 and 2021, the management overseeing all 48 Groups (called AKS) split into different subsidiaries and now each 48 Group is managed by its own management (DH for AKB48, Zest for SKE48, Showtitle for NMB48, Mercury for HKT48, Flora for NGT48 and STU for STU48). Now each group is working on its own, without sister group involvement. Of course this would affect AKB sales because sister group fans no longer really felt the need to support AKB, and instead focus on their favourite group.

Maybe the timing of K-Pop becoming huge played a role, but I don't think it was that significant. BTS, Blackpink, TWICE etc. were popular at the same time as AKB and it didn't really matter for many years. Additionally, Nogizaka46 and =LOVE are popular Japanese idol groups now and they aren't anything at all like K-Pop style. NiziU is popular, of course, but that's just one group as well surviving alongside more traditional J-idol groups

The group now has less sales, which means they have less money. More and more members are graduating. Teams are supposed to consist of 16 members but AKB currently only has 40 members, which is not enough to have 4x16 members (Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4). Therefore, they disbanded the teams and all members will now work together to put on performances with 16 members on stage.

TL;DR: AKB relied on popular members across the entire 48 Group empire, putting members like Maeda Atsuko, Matsui Jurina and Yamamoto Sayaka together to maximize popularity and profit. Now many of these uber popular members have graduated after staying with the group for partially more than a decade. With the COVID-19 pandemic, 48 Group decided to operate each group independently, so they lost many popular members, which led to a strong decline in sales. With fewer members, the system of 16 members for 4 teams wasn't possible anymore, so they disbanded the teams.

 

Thank you, guys. I will check it out.

 

Does any one know where I can find subtitles for the drama versions of Heart Ereki and Mae Shika Mukanee?

I need just the subs.

 

Hi, this is a question for people based in Europe who own the Colorcon Wink Blu-ray! I currently don't own a BD player but I'm looking around. Looking at the disc itself and the CD case, it doesn't say a region code. Does this mean this disc is region-free or is it assumed to be region code A (including Japan) since it mentions "intended for the Japanese market" on there?

Mainly, have other European based people here played the BD and has it worked on European BD players? Thanks in advance!

 

Every Japanese BD I’ve ever bought has worked fine for me (and that includes Colorcon Wink) even though I have a fairly basic UK-bought player.

 

Same, I've got a bunch of 48-group blurays and not had a problem. I don't have a bluray player per se but a bluray drive in my pc.

 

Came across an hour long video that had the following members perform at the AKB Theater.:

Miyazaki Miho, Kitahara Rie, Ishida Haruka, Uchida Mayumi, Nito Moeno, Sashihara Rino, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Chikano Rina, Kohara Haruka, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui

This was the setlist:
Tadaima Renaichuu
Only Today

Intros + MC

Tenshi no Shippo (Ishida Haruka, Nakatsuka Tomomi, Kohara Haruka)
Junai no Crescendo (Miyazaki Miho, Kitahara Rie, Chikano Rina)

MC w/ Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui

Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta (5th gens, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui)
Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru (5th gens, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui)

MC

Sakura no Hanabiratachi (5th gens, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui)
Hikkoshimashita (Kitahara Rie, Sashihara Rino, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui)

Nante Suteki na Sekai ni Umareta no Darou (5th gens, Oya Shizuka, Yokoyama Yui)

At first I was thinking this might have been the 5th Gen 10th anniversary stage with every promoted 5th gen member on stage.

But Nante Suteki got me thinking it might be part of Rie's graduation activities as the members wore a knee length white dress with a floral pattern except for Rie who wore a white floor length strapless dress.

There was probably an MC portion just before Nante Suteki as the video jumps immediately from Hikkoshimashita.

Can anybody confirm either of my guesses as to what the video is?

 

The contents sound similar to this video I found. The title says 5th gen 10th anniversary stage, which also doubled as Kitahara Rie's final stage at the AKB48 theatre.

[purchasable content]

The full stage is about 1:50 long, and is a part of Kitahara Rie's grad concert DVD set

 

Thanks!

 

Managed to come across an online copy of the A5 Official DVD Stage Recording, MaiMai and Nozofisu were still active and Mariko had long hair.

My question is on the participating kenkyuusei. I think it is Koharun taking the KKS spot on Manatsu no Christmas Rose. And I was able to identify, Suuchan, Wasamin, Mariyannu, and Komorin as back dancers. Who are the other two?

 

If you can work out which day the recording was made, possibly by process of elimination from http://akiha176.web.fc2.com/teamA_5th.html, there is a list of back dancers at http://akiha176.web.fc2.com/teamA_5th_BD.html

That site is useful for member lists for performances up to the Covid closure

 

>Who are the other two?
2009/2/18
Oya Shiichan and Hayashi Ayano

 

Thanks!!