Movie / DVD Documentary of HKT48: Ozaki Shihainin ga Naita Yoru (16/01/29)

I don't believe in giving anyone that is too close to the members the power to decide senbatsu. A new single is not simply a gift for the fans; the image is important for agencies, stakeholders and other companies looking for celebrities for their CM / Show etc.
Since a documentary is more or less for the fans, they make Sasshi the director, which is a really nice thing. Likewise for concerts, where Sasshi decides lots of things.

It's also a known fact that Sasshi plays a huge role in whether she is able to drag other HKT members along for various media appearance deals. So the bigger she gets, the better.

 

Spent this morning watching it, and I think Sasshi did a great job of revealing more about the inner workings of AKB48 Group than any of the other documentaries! Also got me more interested in HKT too random thoughts:
- I actually like Tomonaga Mio a bit more now helps that her voice isn't warbling, didn't know if that was nerves or how she naturally sounded x)
-Tomiyoshi reminds me of Nagahama Neru without makeup! absolutely a plus point in my books
-I can understand why they showed that side of Murashige. It shows the wider audience a different side compared to her usual "genki" self, allowing them to see there's more to her than just the crazy, which is what they usually use in shows because that's what she's great at.
- The tag line could very much be "Ueno's Story" and I'm perfectly happy with that I think I've found a new Team H oshi...though she has to battle it out with Kojina x)
- Kimoto Kanon was in there?! Didn't see her but her name appeared in credits

Great job by BlueMentaiko and Aidol!!
EDIT: Now posted on the correct side x)

 

She has little say in senbatsu but that was already known, she is still a manager, has a lot of say in lives and considerable say in influence when it comes to TV and media, promoting the members through connections in the industry.

 

I remember on a show a while ago they said Mirun was completely boss backstage with the 3rd gen. She's apparently completely different on camera than she is off, which makes me think it's more anxiety/phobia than just shyness. Hopefully once her own team gets going she can gain some more confidence.

 

where can i watch part 2 of the documentary because that link isn't working anymore

 

Well I've managed to watch the first half - will watch the second hour when it reappears - and I am really impressed with what Sasshi did here.
It has improved my view of Moriyasu and Murashige, which is great, changed my opinion of Haruppi and opened my eyes further to the HKT members and the process behind it all.
Became sad when Mio and Nako were upset, if only because they are my favs, and also with the opinions of the 3rd gen, which has made me want to support them even harder

 

So like a lot of people I managed to watch only the first part of the documentary on Dailymotion. Could not get to the second part before it was removed. But the first hour that I saw was great. I think that Sasshi did a great job in highlighting the different trials and tribulation of each of the generation. The 1/2 that I saw was intriguing enough that it prompted me to buy the Blu-ray of the show, I did not want to shell out for the documentary until such time that I knew that it would be translated and/or if the translation was done.

The reaction of the girls when they are dropped from being the center is quite interesting. Of couse being a Haruppi Oshi, it was tough to see her cry when Suki Suki Skip came out, but the redemption later was all the more sweet. But seeing the pain from both Meru and Mio when Haruppi won back her center position was eye opening.

Seeing the Murashige section was interesting as well, and her family response to her being dropped from the senbatsu was also a good indication of the mindset of the family who support all these girls.

Looking forward to getting my copy of the documentary so that I can see it in it's entirety.

 

Well I enjoyed the first half. I hope the second half get reuploaded soon.

It was very innovative and a little bizarre that the way Sasshi addressed those 1st gen member dismissals was to film herself contemplating how to address them.

I forgot to mention my favorite part, when Sasshi is interviewing Sakura about how she was happy when Sasshi transferred to HKT and I remembered in the No Flower Without Rain documentary when Sasshi is first introducing herself to the HKT members. Everyone is obviously ill at ease, trying to cope with this sudden situation except for Sakura who just stares at Sasshi with a big grin.

 

That's the one scene I felt something was off about it.

Before I delve into why, the documentary actually touched on two of three taboo HKT topics because Sasshi knew fans wanted to know.

1. Demotion of ex theater manager Sato - interview was quite gracious and seems he admits his shortcomings

2. 1st gen dismissals - Sasshi acknowledged it, but was too much to ask the ex-members who some are in other agencies now

3. Murashige scandal - not discussed

Going back to the Murashige scene, I felt the father did the right thing by saying she was too complacent, but it was strange to say that was the sole reason she got dropped from senbatsu. The other huge reason why she was dropped from senbatsu was because of her scandal. That was the only scene where Sasshi actually went to a members house and meets the family. I thought it would be an important scene and the scandal would be discussed, but it wasn't touched. I guess they really wanted to sweep that part of history under the rug.

 

For those missing the second part you can always download the raw + softsubs.
I cant link to the site here but its available on the usual place.

 

Sasshi only went to Murashige's house because only her family agreed to be in the documentary when asked. I don't think it got nothing to do with the scandal? Though imo the scandal was just discussed implicitly. I'm taking her dropped from senbatsu in a positive way. We might will not have the Murashige now if not for that.

 

I wonder what there is to say about the scandal. We know what happened and there's no point in trying to justify it or supporting it imo, as that's subjective.
I'm grateful for what we got to see. We'd never have had the chance to hear any of that from Murashige, given how uncomfortable it made her.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

I just want to give an opinion or two regarding the documentary.

Firstly, the center issue. To be honest, when I first saw that Meru got the center for their very first single, I went "WTF!" If I was any of the 1st Gen, I would've been pissed, more so if I was Haruppi who has been centering the group since the start. By her own admission, she knew she was lacking and, to her credit, has worked on improving herself. Haruppi I see today is, by far, the better center than Meru could ever be. In the AKB48 SSK, Haruppi has gone from strength to strength, whereas the Meru and Mio have stalled in the climb up the rankings. As far as I am concerned, they didn't earn the HKT center position and now, like Haru, they have to work hard to get to where they want to go. God knows I love them both but Mio in particular has to stop being a spoiled child and move on.

The other was about where the group and manager were crying about something. My Japanese isnt good enough to translate but I am guessing that they were talk/crying about being dropped for the Kouhaku December 2015. Again, I dont know what they have done wrong but I am sure that HKT will be back soon (Note: Apparently, they arent in this years Kouhaku either, =sadface=)

Overall, the documentary was great. Well weighted all around. I dont have much to say against it really.

 

You do have a lot to learn about what a spoiled child acts like, though. As does the VAST majority of this international fandom. Judging by who that title has been thrown at in the last few months.

 

Murashige... complacent? Seriously?...

At the time the only outlet to do well... anything... HKT48 had?...
Tonkatsu! Maho Gakuen... she made herself the main focus of nearly every single episode.
HKT Odekake... literally every single one she was on at the time, she stole the show.
Google+... she put out more lengthy posts with more pictures than anyone else in the whole group.

She was taking on an active role in two separate groups no less! She went from being in 2 senbatsu to being in 0 and "complacency" had nothing to do with it. Others who surpassed her, who even got a higher rank in the sousenkyo where she got the highest, had and more or less continue to have been coasting since day 1 with really rare instances where they put in half the effort Anna puts in when you call her "complacent".

What exactly did Anai Chihiro truly ever do above and beyond the bare minimum? Matsuoka Natsumi? And Meru-- what exactly has Meru ever done to this day to earn her rank?
I'll even put a controversial one on the table... what exactly did Tomonaga Mio ever do beside just stand around and constantly smile? It seems like, as of that time, anything you could say she 'did' was more what other people did to her and she didn't complain much about. Even when pressed it was rare more than 3 words would leave her mouth at a given time. She has done a little more since (well, taken her clothes off for photoshoots a lot) but up until that point?
The only ones I can think of that you could point to something and say they were more active at the time were Haruka and Madoka... and, certainly following that time, Sakura.

Maybe Anna stopped being quite as loud and crazy after Nakanishi and Tani left. But she was still putting in way more effort than literally half the people who got higher ranks in the sousenkyo that year-- and the fact that she did almost nothing for the 6 months after the sousenkyo was hardly her being "complacent", she was literally given no opportunities between June to December of that year. And has rarely had any since...

Nako and Miku... well, they just ran with the opportunities they were handed and they were handed a LOT. Permanent senbatsu position before they were even members, prominently featured in all advertising, their own duet song which got way more push than nearly any B-side ever... it still took 2 years of sustained unearned promotion for them to really get over.

But its hardly like Anna is alone in this. There are people holding position in the senbatsu and scoring high in the sousenkyo and even after watching nearly everything HKT48 puts out, I cannot find any particular occurrences where they are doing much of anything to indicate that any of this is coming from what could remotely be called "effort". Others I have seen throwing themselves into absolutely everything, making themselves noticeable and have grabbed the opportunity to shine plenty often enough and yet... completely ignored for it.


If not being "complacent" was the path to success in AKB48, then Nakanishi and Ogasawara would be the top 2 AKB48 members and Tano Yuka would be in every senbatsu.


Yeah, obviously they are ignoring the scandal... they have never talked about it at all. It is only fans who bring it up, otherwise one would think that nothing ever happened.


Overall, it is probably the most misguided criticism ever. Other than those 6 months between June to December of 2014 when she started wearing dark clothes all the time, was almost never smiling in pictures and didn't appear on any TV shows or the like... its been difficult, more often than not, to see how she could have much put in any more effort short of physically shoving Sashihara to the side and quite literally taking over the entire show... and on Goboten, especially near its end, it often felt like she did precisely that (well, not Sashi, but the hosts).

You may as well be telling Kodama Haruka that she is too articulate or tell Motomura Aoi that she has been too stoic.

 

^ so basically a "my oshi is better than your oshi" rant. That's ALWAYS a great way of winning people over to your oshi...

 

^Really? I dont see it that way at all.

 

you don't see him bigging up Anna while slagging off Mio/Meru/Natsu/Chihiro/Nako/Miku? Saying she's more deserving of opportunities because of "subjective reasons.."?... And it's not the first time he's done that either. And rarely in less than 500 words either.

 

*Triggered*
Lol, not really.

Everyone do their own best to reach their spot as now. Just because you didn't follow the other members (as much as you follow your oshi), it doesn't mean you can say anything you want to them, or even seeing "She didn't do anything better/harder than (put-oshi-here)".
The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

OK, Shige work her ass off, as so that she become one most familiar member on HKT48 with her gui-gui chara. Then she slipped that time, which is make her need to do it once more time to reach where she was before. Which is what i like about her. She didn't give up!

But what about the other members? They do climb, slowly but sure. Some maybe being pushed at the start, but is it wrong with that?
> Anai Chihiro, Being a captain need big lots of guts to do. Engines, Greeting, and all short of stuff behind the stages.
> You know what, HKT48 1st biggest participating concert is on the 1830m no Yume. As you can see there, Matsuoka Natsumi was WCenter with Haruppi. Then what? She's being pushed back, cry her eyes out without being know the reason why on Goboten. Maintain her body portion, building up her chara, gravure work, and climb up more slowly but sure.
> Meru? Center is Double edge sword. As being the center itself, they need to work a lot with it.
> Madoka, she have that piano skill, work her ass off on the Teppen, and caught a lot of fans from that. But then, she didn't get a lot of support as before she do it first.
> Nako and Miku sure being given a ladder so that they can climb faster, as they are "the face of HKT 3rd gen". Which what being said on the documentary itself, that they want to show something not usual. But they work a lot and manage to keep it stable so that they can keep their spot.

Last but not least, their appearance. Face, body portion, chara. Even if it hurt so much, Japanese fans really picky about this.
Shige got gorgeous face, changed her chara to be little calmer which is great seeing she is a 'senior' now.
But her body portion is somehow become chubby these days which is not much Japanese like that (Sorry, but that's the truth). Even if loyal fans won't leave her, it'll be great if she did something with it so to catch new fans.

Just because one of your favorite isn't being pushed or got lower popularity than the other, doesn't mean that 'other' didn't work as best as you think. Or even hate that other member on the group, cz HKT48 won't be like this time without all of them.

 

Hardly-- my point is that if anything, Anna probably did more damage to her popularity level by NOT being complacent.

One would imagine on some level that she could have just kept her mouth shut, stood around and been cute and never made any sort of fuss or trouble. And she probably would have been more popular for it.

I note there are several who have worked harder-- Ogasawara, Nakanishi, Tano... others who any time they are around, they make an effort to go out of their way to do SOMETHING. Try to make people laugh or shout at someone or... you know, something other than sit in one place with their hands in their lap and wait until someone forces them to speak up.

But it is some of those who never seem to do well... anything one can point to and say "here is where they made a strong impression".. or, at least, those instances where one can say that (Matsuoka Natsumi doing the telephone game in Hyakkaten 3) came AFTER they were already getting their big push for quite or while or they had been already raised pretty high in the rankings by fans.

Effort and popularity don't seem very connected. In fact, while in most cases one would think that effort could only improve one's chances... I really don't know if that's the case with Anna. I can point to time and time over and over on the first two Hyakkaten shows where several people basically told her "shut up and just look stand there and look pretty" but she never did.

Even in basic introductions... how many members who became way more popular gave the most cookie-cutter standard introductions of just saying their name, their province and their favorite food (does anyone even really have a favorite food? I can't imagine at any point in my life selecting one and only one food and raising it above all others.) or such... Anna ways always trying to fit in her mentaiko thing or making a funny face or saying something in Russian that no one would understand. All trying constantly to stand out.

So "complacency" was never her issue.

I mean... this is a company that was putting Paruru as its ultimate #1 star for a long time. And she didn't even put in enough effort to smile or be consistently kind to her co-workers or supportive of the company in general until just this year! It would be really difficult for anyone to be more complacent than that...

But did it hurt her in any way? Nope. She got the popularity the company expected for her and had opportunity after opportunity and opportunity thrust upon her... which she never put much effort into until after she got sick and came back. I guess its possible she couldn't put in any more effort as the strain apparently nearly did her in-- BUT... nonetheless, her behavior in any given project or position she was handed came across as pretty complacent.

So this criticism doesn't make sense two-fold.

1) Anna has never been lazy, at least compared to 90% of those around her.
2) Lazy people seem to be able to climb the ranks just fine, if anything-- better than those who put in the most effort.

And since the constant message to Anna was "don't try so hard!"....

Saying that her problem was that she was complacent is like saying Aoi's problem is that she doesn't cry enough. Or that if only Tanaka Natsumi were taller, she would get the attention she deserves.


You can't turn around what you repeatedly shamed someone for being and then say "they weren't enough of that thing! they should have been it more!"