[GENERAL] The NGT48 Thread

^ That makes sense -- TISSTA is the gov't oversight office for attracting both JDM and foreign tourism income for the region, SBC is the local business coalition which liasons freely with TISSTA and guides both new and existing businesses there to sell the Setouchi brand. It's canny and pretty organized from what I read. Not surprised at all that NGT would be involved in a similar plan with Niigata (and if successful, neighboring Toyama, Fukui, and other nearby prefectures and cities with something tourists want access to.

Spoiler

Setouchi seems at a glance to be potentially more successful, since all the players and the board are self-contained around the Sea itself, and businesses there are already used to working closely with one another.

Niigata's goals are more ambitious tbh, as these relationships have to made from scratch and weather the trial-error process with gov't funding, if it's to make anyone money (and pay back the investment). Plus, more expensive infrastructure changes would be demanded for the Niigata plan than Setouchi's.

I predict the Setouchi players will make money sooner than Niigata's... but what that means for the groups, prolly way too early to tell.

 

Setouchi DMO might already meeting its objectives. STU48 is just another of their instrument to bring in more income to the region.

There is still no train service between Toyama and Niigata.

 

To what I understand their role in the DMO is more of a support in promotion and marketing. So it's basically about the same as Niigata's goverment except they dun have the same kind of commitee connection over there.

Not unitl they really dish out the boat lol.

 

Setouchi DMO was not set up just for STU48

 

I believe it. The TISSTA plans happen also to be in the Tokaido Corridor, which is flush with money, well-used shinkansen routes, and three major cities at both ends and smack in the middle -- Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and Kobe/Osaka. Almost have to deliberate sabotage it, to fail...

The Sea of Japan? Just look at it on a nighttime map... nothing even close to the pop of Tokaido.

That's the infrastructure investment I was talking about -- and if they want to phase in a Toyama-Niigata partnership first on a trial basis... that's going to be the upfront cost most likely to make beancounters balk -- it's anything but trivial, and outside the purview of regional gov't, tbh...

There's still no direct service between the two cities... and once you look at the lay of the land, it's easy to see why.

Spoiler

• in order to directly connect Toyama-shi (Hokuriku SKS Line) and the closest high-speed rail on the northbound side (Joetsu SKS Line), the only way to do it using existing infrastructure, is to do it at Iiyama, 30km SSE of Joetsu-Myoko, and develop the Iiyama Line (non-HS), through the Joetsu Line (non-HS) all the way to the Shin'etsu Main Line for only 4km, to join the Joetsu SKS Line and Niigata. All these non-HS lines are either across mountain ridges, deep valleys, or close to river plains -- all of which either heavily raise cost or prohibit SKS construction -- even if they could afford the ¥30 billion/km cost of a flatland SKS.
• Okay, fine -- then join the Hokuriku SKS line at Joetsumyoko Station with a bespoke city rail (like the Toyama one in the Toyama NF! EP) with conventional non-HS rail at Naoetsu (current terminus of the Shin'etsu Main Line), then make tourists take that to Niigata-shi. Better -- it's in Niigata so their prefects could oversee the lower cost of a monorail or light rail through Joetsu. Now you have to ride non-HS rail from Joetsu to Nagaoka to catch the Joetsu SKS up -- zero time savings. Could they just develop the Shin'etsu for SKS service? Nope -- too close to the water, would have to share the line with freight, and would have to cross mountains with a brand-new HS rail route, as the existing path is too crooked. Nope.

So I think any coalition would probably start with the light rail leg across Joetsu to join the Hokuriku SKS and Shin'etsu terminus, sharing the cost between Toyama and Niigata. Anything else would be kiboshed on geography and cost-to-upgrade IMO.

Also... the existing SKS routes were developed so Kanto money could flow into Ura-Nippon cities, and their people could commute into the Kanto area, not so much tourism. Inter-UrNp travel for tourism wasn't prioritized or even pipe-dreamed, esp in the 1980s. But lots of sprawl has grown into land that the SKS system could've inhabited now... and not much you can do about that.

In the end I hope some small improvements might be made (esp if NGT happens to benefit from it -- exposure, being on tourist runs, gaijin spending at the theatre, etc. etc.). Changing rail around is Diet- and national-level-cash concern, not prefectural union biz IMO...

Ah, to be young and a dreamer...

What most likely happened... is the DMO was allowed oversight in the creation of STU, and allowed AKS to participate in its plans -- not the other way around.

 

^Was STU48 set up after seeing the benefits NGT48 had brought to Niigata?

NGT48 was AKS' idea and sold it to the NGT Prefecture Government.

Spoiler: Ramblings

I have a much more respect for the group (just entering their 3rd year) when left to their own devices and worked their hardest for the Territory whom their group's name represented.

The group thrived on proving the naysayers wrong or things that should have been a negative. NUGGET 48? No worries, you got to buy 48 nuggets from McDonald's in Niigata because of that.

Niigata is too far? Fans considered the TDC Hall concert too short. Travel time on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Niigata.

I have to say the they were tastefully and elegantly done in keeping with the image of the group.

For the governor to have done his own research about the group and its sister group, and the come to the conclusion that NGT48 can and does represent the Prefecture, comparable to a sports team, is a great result and honour.

 

^ IMO it would have to be -- looking at the circumstances, STU's entire gestation is built on much less risk than NGT's was -- and the fact that NGT48 is as successful as it is, at this stage in its life despite that, is entirely to their credit.

Spoiler

I've said before on the board... NGT48 is one of the most cohesive yet diverse 48Gs of them all... and IMO the success of the reasons behind that not only influenced STU, but the older sister groups and mothership. No wonder Kitarie found its launch and stable orbit a goal worth putting her all into, as a swan song for her idol career. It seems the DMO might've had some different ideas about how to do the same thing... but in the end they're both quite anti-doctrine as far as 'how-to-raise-a-48G'. So I'm not praising STU at the expense of NGT -- quite the opposite -- consistently throughout my posts here.

RE: sports teams-like honor -- presently they're even preventing competition with an older sports rep of Niigata, Albirex Niigata, by co-repping and sharing time and effort in ad campaigns... which obviously will raise exposure of both groups and Niigata together.

 

@anriko I don't really understand your defense here...You make us sound like we are somehow attacking NGT but I'm just saying their local government support is just as about the same as Niigata's. Difference is just there are 7 of them (so 7 times the promotion and marketing obviously) and a bunch of private companies have already invested in them. So that's why I guess they gotta go to all these random music festivals, and do local pr events this early in their baby steps period. The matter of interests obviously have to go both ways of the parties to make the brand STU48 happen.

STU aren't getting many more special treatment and actually they in turn have to work a lot more and higher expectation to be meeted in comparison to NGT or probably other sister groups when they first debuted. This pressure often dilates the chemistry in the group as a whole in STU as the girls have to not just compete for the fewer senbatsu spots already (31 + 2 kennin) and they gotta deal with the underlying implemented tier system according to their origin of prefecture as well. And similar with NGT situation, they already kinda got split up into two active teams, senbatsu and the senbatsu backups...when they are still all technically equally KKSs. It's just inevitable.

Other than that, STU members are pushing themselves real hard as if they were already on their sophomore year because the top members somehow expect to sweep in next year's ssk senbatsu due to the NGT hype train pheonomena they witnessed first hand this year. Tbh their fan base aren't even close to consolidated. This was clear to me when I watched unranked concerts announcements for rankings 81~100.

Everything is just so rushed compared to NGT. Debut single and boat got delayed is already a fact that people are ridiculing them and on top of that they have to integrate the upcoming draft 3 members before the first two fundamental things is even happening?? I don't even know if it's good or not, and I have no intention to downplay NGTs success story. I just mean STU members has their own untold story of tough battles to fight through too. Not to mention we already have one girl drop out before promotion...

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Not really defending, just proud of my NUGGETS. Just ramblings in the NGT General forum. Even for the Governor to say great things about them, is a HUGE recognition.

My view point was from a government involvement in the setting up of NGT48 and STU48. In this case I would beg to differ when compared to NGT48. Even if there was, it is not as openly as STU48's case.

Nothing was on about how STU48 is doing.

 

Well the nugget48 and "much more respect" rambling talk kinda got me distracted then I guess...

Anyways it's no big secret that the DMO saw profits of a national idol group can bring in for one prefecture. And they had Fukuoka as reference for that too.




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if the video does not show watch the video here

When was this? The costume is so similar to the ones NGT48 used. Material and design.

 

Good catch! Indeed, it seems like this white and red outfit was one of "Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai" costumes worn by AKB Senbatsu at the time of that SSK Museum video - 2015. Thus, NGT may have worn these outfits to perform the same song at AKB Kouhaku in the same year and at the Thanksgiving Festival now.


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Theatre manager at work
https://twitter.com/NGT48photolog2/status/924216982123175936

And we have NGT58
https://twitter.com/ngt48_insta_bot/status/924189762117701632

So we have NGT58 x Hello Kitty?

 

My friends are visiting Japan, so I gave them my leftover yen from my trip beginning of this year with instructions to buy me some NGT48 discs and stuff from the AKB48 Cafe and Shop in Akihabara. The shop is out of stock of everything NGT48

 

Thats a good sign for ngt but... feels bad bro Can't you find them online? I still don't have any merch from NGT, but i'm saving money to buy some stuff!!

 

I'm sure the AKB C&S can have the merch sent over from the NGT theatre, if your friends are going to be in town a week or so... can't see the shop mgr leaving shelf space for NGT merch empty for long...

 

The problem is my friends are travelling in a group and want to visit as many places as possible so they won't be in one place for long.

 

Does anyone has a link/know a live where ngt performed Akigan Punk? Thanks!

 

There's this one performed at the theater: