Movie / DVD DOCUMENTARY of NMB48: Dotonbori yo, Nakasetekure (2016/01/29)

I think they meant the DVD/BluRay has been out for a while so if anyone was going to sub it they would've done so already. I checked the NMB Subtitles thread, but people there are still requesting them so I think it's safe to say it hasn't been subbed yet. And as far as I know no one has come forward to say they're working on it either so I wouldn't hold your breath unfortunately...

Here's the link to that thread if you want to watch it for sub updates: http://www.stage48.net/forum/index.php?threads/subbed-nmb48-videos-thread.7801/

Spoiler: Somehow this turned into a rant...

I watched the documentary last night. I thought it was pretty well done and there was an obvious theme throughout, but I agree that it's catered towards the casual fan rather than the hardcore wota, which is fine for me because I'm definitely the former lol

It's not about interviewing current and/or graduated prominent/upcoming members and it's not about the group's history or milestone events either. It's really about the dark side of idol life--and focuses quite a bit on the girls who struggle for the spotlight vs the girls who have the spotlight. I thought the girls they chose to focus on were a nice diverse group in terms of where they are in their popularity and the speed at which they rose to prominence or lack thereof.

On one end of the spectrum there's, of course, Sayanee--NMB's ace. Then there's Mirurun, very likely the next ace. And then Riripon who centered her first single a year after becoming a fully fledged member.

Somewhere in the middle is Fuuchan who is/was Miru's "pair" similar to Sayanee/Milky or Nagisa/Shu and struggles to maintain and gain popularity all the while being constantly compared to Miru's success.

Towards the other end of the spectrum is Aapon, a 1st generation member who had been largely unsuccessful when this documentary was filmed. She wasn't promoted to the original team N, she had never been chosen for NMB senbatsu, and she had never ranked in SSK. And last, but not least is Kono Saki, a virtually unknown 3rd generation member who graduated in basic obscurity to pursue a career in radio.

I didn't feel bad for Saki at all. Not one bit. And I don't think the filmmakers wanted us to either. All her interviews were very upbeat and positive. She didn't seem to regret her time spent with NMB in the least. Being an idol was just one small facet of her life outside of going to college and working towards a degree with some career in mind for the future. Finally, she chose to graduate when she had a concrete career goal in mind and we last see her working hard in her new life at the broadcasting station. She might not have been a "successful" idol, but I would call her a success in life for sure.

Fuuchan and Aapon broke my heart though. I had to pause the documentary during the sushi scene and go post a frustrated rant on Fuuchan's thread lol She has always been one of my faves and I'm very happy for the popularity she's gotten, but I hate that she is constantly compared to Miru. I know it can't be helped and that it's good for the girls to have rivals, but Miru has totally surpassed her--especially with the most recent SSK. Fuuchan joked about not entering because the Okinawan sun was bad for her skin and she didn't want to get burned, but I think she ran away because she was afraid of what her rank would be. I cried along with her when she was talking about feeling insecure on stage despite the times when she is center because she feels like no one is watching her I read between the lines and think she means no one is watching her because they're watching Miru instead *sobs* I won't be able to die happy until Fuuchan has ranked in senbatsu in a SSK along with Miru before she graduates. I wan't that for her so badly.

Aapon's case is even more frustrating because from what I can tell she's a really solid dancer/performer and her skills alone aren't enough for management to give her opportunities. What a waste. I realize things have been looking up for her a little since this documentary was filmed, but she still isn't an NMB senbatsu lock. Even though she fell 23 places in SSK this year, the fact that she even ranks as high as she does should more than qualify her for senbatsu imo. There were only 6 girls from NMB who ranked higher than her this year, but she isn't in those leaked group swimsuit pics from NMB's next album while girls who ranked lower than her like Airi, Nagisa, and Miorin are (to say nothing of the girls who didn't rank at all). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see new faces in senbatsu and I have nothing against Shion, Aayan, Reechan, Jo, Kokochan, Rinacchi etc. who were chosen over Aapon, but... It's just frustrating. I do understand, though, that those pics are pre-SSK so it's not like management knew Aapon would rank again, but just going by how well she ranked last year versus the opportunities she got after... Sure she was in senbatsu for both post-2016 SSK singles, but then dropped for this next one after being chosen 3 times in a row. What must that have felt like for her...? I just feel like her hard working fans bless their tireless souls are not being rewarded for their voting efforts.

Anyway, I enjoyed the documentary, but I feel like some people completely missed the theme of what it was about. My only real criticism is that the theme song could've been better. It's so forgettable.

 

Not really sure you needed to spoiler everything but I appreciate the long thought out post. We need more of those here.

The thing that fans need to remember is that the SSK is not the be all and end all of everything, especially within NMB. NMB management cares about the SSK in so much as its a way to market their girls. The combination of SSK and the movie brought an unusually bright spotlight onto Aapon and management decided to cash in on it and brought her into senbatsu. Now, and this is admittedly speculation on my part, her fans put the cart before the horse and decided that she is doing well BECAUSE of SSK and put all their efforts in trying to get her back in for the next one, which caused her sales for NMB related stuff to suffer. NMB management doesn't care if you're in UG in the SSK if they can't make money off of you so since they weren't particularly in love with Aapon (from 1st gen days) anyway, she was an easy cut for them from senbatsu.

I think Fuuchan is more relaxed now more than ever. She's separated from Miru and while she's provisionally B2 center, its only a matter of time before the relinquishes that too but unlike the time with Miru, it doesn't seem she cares as much. She has a good position in NMB and carved out her own niche and she never liked competition anyways so I have to think she's pretty content.

 

It's kind of a funny argument for Aapon. Being cut not because her sales faltering but because the average of her sales is shifted to Tokyo pocket?
Better declare independence then so no more legal theft happened.

 

If you go to events you will see what I mean, Aapon almost never has any lines in her lane. The story has always been that her fans were saving up money for the senkyo.

 

lol I only used the spoilers because I was worried a novel-length post might annoy some people... You could be right about Aapon. It's totally reasonable to suppose management didn't select her because her merchandise doesn't move the way the other girls' does, but I'd have to see some numbers to validate it before assuming anything. It does make sense, though, that her fans might be focusing all their efforts on SSK and letting her merch sales fall by the wayside as a result.

I really hope Fuuchan is content with her place in NMB. I kind of want her to want more because I feel like she could accomplish more with the right timing/push/etc. But I'd settle for her being happy. I've heard some people speculate that she probably doesn't even see Miru as a rival anymore after completely removing herself from direct competition with Miru in this past SSK and I guess that could be true. I hope she'll at least challenge SSK one last time before she decides to graduate though.

 

We never get concrete sales numbers but a good indicator is that in the new album, Aapon got demoted to 4 handshake slots a day after getting promoted to the max 5 last time. This shows that management was disappointed enough in her sales that they didn't even want to keep up the illusion of her being a 5 slot girl when they did crazy stuff like promote Riripon to 5, Aayan to 4 and Rei to 3.

I think Fuuchan won't even come back to SSK. Even in the movie, you can see she hates all the comparisons. She's in a good place now and I just hope she doesn't leave us any time soon.

 

For those of us who will be in Paris in November.
the documentary will be shown during the contemporary japanese movies festival.
It will be on screen with english subtitles on 11/18.
https://kinotayo.fr/film/raise-your-arms-and-twist