[GENERAL] The Nogizaka46 thread!

Maybe 3 to 4 years. I can't remember, because it just flow.
And for how long I keep doing it...well, as long as the TV in my country broadcasts those crappy TV shows, I think I'll keep sticking to Idol and Owarai show.

 

I don't really follow the idol industry, just Nogizaka (and I check the new songs from Keyakizaka, there is the occasional gem). I'm not a fan of Nogizaka because they are idols, they just happen to be so. And as long as they keep creating beautiful music, I will stay a devoted fan.

 

Wow, thanks for the insights everyone
Seems we all do have something in common, especially the fact that we get to know Nogi a bit late, and I think most of us are quite MD as well .

I get that Age issue also I myself becoming 27 this year, and people around me is kinda "Ehh" when they know that I follow Nogi. Frankly speaking I don't care though... The idea of idol industry as the theme for research is good, especially for Economics major I believe. I think someone had shared such thesis before, although that one was made in Japan.

High five then! I do hope Nogi can become such a group also. Granted that maybe going for 20 is maybe unlikely, but who knows? The important thing is that each generation did not shatter the fanbase. I think that's the kind of issue 48group is facing now I guess?

LOL yeah! It's kind of sad though... everyone here is watching free TV shows and we are burning down our data usage for foreign shows...

 

Try being a 33 yo in The Netherlands... The whole idol thing is not very well known here, and Dutch people in general can be very intolerable when it is about things they don't know about. When bringing up the topic of idols, many people assume they solely exists for people with pervert thoughts. A year ago a female friend told me about a documentary she had seen about idol fans, but that documentary focused on a couple of extreme fans that spend all their life and money just on idols. These kind of documentaries paint a very skewed image, but my friend was still disgusted by it. Her story made me realize I have to be careful. People can jump to wrong conclusions, and it might impact me negatively. I even started a second twitter account to tweet about nogi, just to prevent people googling me, find my private account and end up thinking I am a maniac.

 

seriously, most of you are quite new to nogi?? where are the oldies like me (eventhough im still 27,lol). but i have following nogi since they were created but wasnt fond of ikoma. the trio nanamin maiyan sayurin were the ones that keep me hanging there but eventually, i started to love more girls when hoshi no kara was made. till now, that song is really no1 song of nogi in my heart, and i started to listen to more nogi song then drop 48g slowly.

 

@Seditious85 That can't be help though... Even though we may like them for what they are, we cannot ignore the fact that idol do selling sex appeal and imagination. That's where most extremist came around. Knowing a 33 year old can still get into this, I had more confident to go on

@mayuri91 I'm not fond about idol at all during my teenage days, and I kind of regret it now... I found Nogi during my lonely career life

 

@mayuri91 I think @innoaloe original question complements your own question -- how long can you be a Nogi fan? Most people will lose interest that is human nature. Their oshimen graduates. Perhaps life intervenes. Their taste change. Or Nogi music becomes boring and repetitive. People drop out. It's not a knock on the group or the fandom -- change is constant. Like what you like.

Personally, I cherish these moments with the group. They continually surprise me so I am happy to support them. I hope they keep at it because they are one of the most fun things in my life at the moment.

I like @Bertowski21 description of supporting Nogizaka like you would a sports team. Cheer for the colors. Support the current members. New ones will come along, support them. Some leave, support them still. Nogizaka46 is dead! Long live Nogizaka46!

To the older fans, I may be a short timer, but I feel like I've been in it forever. To the younger fans, what took you so long?!

 

Yes, I know, it cannot be helped... I am not going to be a hypocrite, because although I am here for the music first and foremost, I will be first to admit the beauty of some of the members adds to the experience. I just think the bias from 'outsiders' is unfortunate. Especially when we have to think "are we too old for this?", especially when it is not because of self doubt but for fear of social judgement. But we cannot change the way thinks like selling sex appeal is perceived in different cultures. It could be worse though. I'm wearing Nogi-shirts at the office, and I haven't lost my job yet.

 

Discovered the group in 2015
I'll be 49 this year
I love everything about nogi. I don't see that changing anytime soon
They are a group of beautiful and talented individuals
I think what they sell is a glamorous and high class sex appeal
And Im ok with that

 

i like japanesse culture since my childhood , bump into idol world around akb48 1st ssk era . Knowing nogi even from their first days , but cant say i’m their fan at that time , just occasional fans , just playing a little bit of their songs like seifuku no mannequin and kimi no nawa kibou , but doesnt follow any member yet , probably only ikoma and maiyan that i’ve noticed everytime watching their performance on YT .

Paying more attention since rena’s kennin , but i cant say i was already being their fan at that time too .

In 2015 i begin my new journey in japan , i followed tons of any japanese related things , idol&anime-manga things help me a lot to learning japanese in my early days . Starting in mid 2015 i begin my concert + hs experience , and do it for routinity .

How long i can keep going into this group ? Well idk , tbh i’m a little bit more into my preferred members rather than a whole group itself . But yes until today their 3rd gen was still very attract me so much , so i think i’ll not leave this group for a long time.

My no.1 in nogi was nanase , even tho the first girl i’ve bumped into her hs lane was ikoma. She’s just give me a nostalgic vibe for me since first time i following her , kinda remembering me back in my younger days how i like acchan in her days . Both was top 2 popular in respective groups , both was not the most beautifull girl in the group , both was not top performers/singer on the group , both was not the funniest in reality show , but the differences was i never met acchan and i’ve met nanase .

I like her in the same level with how much i like sakura , but tbh with p48 and 48g things . I was a slowly dropping 48g things even i’m still following them

Even tho later if nanase’s graduating , i still had plenty of my favorites girl in the group , its too hard to how i rank them since they was very fun at hs event .

Spoiler: If anyone cares

My fave lane from gen 1 was kazumin , kanarin and misa senpai , maichun and ranze from 2nd gen and zukki from 3rd gen

And yet i still have plenty names which i want to met and havent met yet ,

So my conclusion once again , i’m pretty sure i’ll not leave the group at least for 2-3 years maybe ? Lol .. btw i’m 26 right now ,

 

This is a nice topic to talk about and I'm moved by the answers of everyone. So, let me share mine.

I was already into anime and JSongs when I was a kid. You could say that a major link between the Japanese culture and me was their music.

Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I stumbled upon them. I was still a university student back then and now, I have already reached senior level in my profession (I'm still 25 btw). They were and will always be a part of me. I became an AKB fan (through youtube recommendations LOL) first during early 2013, then met Nogizaka late of the same year. Then became a Keya fan during "Sekai ni wa ai shika nai" (The song and MV were simply a masterpiece). I was already a lurker here in stage48 before, reading explanations and finding subs.

Although AKB was the first and my intro to the idol world, I stumbled upon Nogizaka first when I watched Magi. You know it, it's "Yubi boenkyo", but that didn't get to me because it sounds like a children's song. What made me notice them was their name, "Nogizaka46" which has the same pattern as "AKB48" and I even thought they were a rip-off. What really pulled me in was during that time when I was watching an AKB MV (in vid48), there was a recommendation of "Barrette" MV. It seemed so dark and intriguing which made me click it and I was not wrong. Miona's aura back then really fits the MV, she really looked like a Korean girl before. Since then, I began following them. By following, I meant listening to their songs and watching NogiDoko/Nogichuu, slowly dropping 48G.

I realized that Nogi's image was more fiting for me as compared to 48G. Their elegance, beauty, and mature look, it's simply perfect. Another thing that I like about them is how they talk about their lives, which makes me look at them as humans more than idols. You could say that I discovered Nogi "coincidentally", and I did not regret it.

I still can't see myself unfollowing them though. Maybe it's because of the 1st gen's existence which really made me like them at first. But as of the moment, I will enjoy every bit of it until it will become a memory that I will cherish.

I'm still bummed at myself because even though I already have the capacity to go to Japan and meet them , I still opt not to because (1) it's goddamn troublesome to secure a japanese tourist visa here in my country (passport renewal can already kill me) and (2) it's too expensive to obtain these documents. I just wish I can meet them before they graduate.

@Seditious85 I feel you. People will always be like that. They tend to label those that has different likes and dislikes as "not part of the pact" although I don't really care. Here in my country, they don't know anything about idols (which makes MNL48 a laughing stock). They speak and judge before even trying to know them and I always avoid these kinds of people. Being slightly introverted, I learned to adapt to the society but there will always be a time that I want to be alone and do things that I like. Some of my friends asked me why I liked them and I'll answer them back with a question "You'll prefer me looking at naked muscular men?" and they kinda get the idea and laugh without being rude. I always remember this line from Keya's Eccentric: "What is being normal, anyway? I think I’m the normal one. It’s everyone else who’s strange!"

(I apologize for the long post....)

 

recently, i've watched Bomber-E and it was mentioned that Mizuki's story was interesting. Does anybody know about her story and share it with me? Appreciate that

 

Which of you first got to know of AKB before coming to know Nogi ? I coincidentally got to know of AKB48 in early 2012 when Youtube announced that their live performance would be streamed on Youtube. That was the beginning of the era for me in the 48/46 fandom. The show Majisuka Gakuen soon sealed the deal for me and there was no turning back. From then on, I got hooked on the 48 groups and also came to know Nogi. However, at that time AKB was far more established than Nogi, and I only knew of one Nogi member and that was Ikoma.

Although I listened to Nogi songs from time to time, the 48 groups were still the main attraction for me. It was only in early 2016 that I seriously got into Nogi, as they were like a cleaner, less frills image of the 48 groups. And their music was also becoming more interesting than AKB's. For instance, have you noticed that Nogis hardly wear scrunchies and hair accessories unlike AKB ? Anyway, I don't follow the 48 groups nowadays, unless its Majisuka Gakuen .

 

I'm much more of a recent fan of idols and of nogizaka46. The only idol group I had heard of was akb48 like 5-6 years back when my friend was going crazy over them.

I actually got interested in nogi through nogibingo, I think it was the episode where they had their makeup and hair done as other famous ladies. From there it was a quick spiral into the fandom through all the nogibingo episodes then koujichuu then back through the old nogidoko stuff. I prefer their more simple and elegant style compared to akb48 and other 48g sister groups.

Since I'm quite late to the party, I'll stick around for as long as I can. I'm even trying to hook other friends into the greatness of Nogizaka46

 

@innoaloe This is a nice topic to discuss. I enjoy reading everyone's response.
I don't really know what Japanese 'idol' is until maybe around 2013 and even then I don't understand why they are called idol. But I've been a fan of Japanese music for a long time now. I would never follow 'idols' if I didn't like their music. My first idol encounter is Momusu but before that of course anime with their awesome OP/ED. Yup, anime soundtrack is what I purchase at first then it branched out. Rather than follow idols, I say I follow Japanese music. I'm a late follower of all idol groups that I eventually liked, follower meaning listening to their music/watch their variety. With 48, first MV I saw is NMB's Kamonegix, don't remember if I liked it or not but it's catchy. When I got into AKB it was during Koisuru Fortune Cookie. Nogizaka in late 2015 and first Senbatsu announcement I watched was Harujion. I knew about this new group Nogizaka46 from the start but really don't care about them since I'm into AKB. I didn't even notice Ikoma was part of Kokoro no Placard until I watched the MV again, when I'm into Nogi already. With Keyakizaka, almost from the start but since SaiMajo didn't caught my interest I stopped. Anyway, I still have so many catching up to do with Nogizaka at that time, mainly Bingo & Dokko. Then I did another catching up with Keyakizaka right before 5th single announcement.
How long can I keep up? I can't tell. As long as I like their music (?) It's possible for me to lose interest with Nogizaka/idol group even before Ikuta graduates, assuming she's still here until late next year. It just happen. Kojima haven't graduate yet when I completely lost interest with AKB, though I still check if they have good songs that I might enjoy. I'll be fine since there are many Japanese acts I have yet to discover, old and new. I just love to listen to music I like, to relax, relieve stress watching their variety, enjoy the interaction in this forum, to have fun, to kill time during coffee break.
I can also relate with you, our local music industry nowadays (to me) are all crap all local daytime, noontime, nighttime TV show are all So thank you very much Japan

 

Before my first trip to Japan in March 2015 I starting investigating Jpop to see what sort of music I might expect to hear while I was there. I quickly started to like anisong singers but the only girl group I really liked was E-Girls. However I found that Angerme was slowly starting to grow on me so I started to look at other idol groups. I soon discovered AKB48 via NMB48 and then I realised that there was another 'forty-something' group! They'd just released Inochi wa Utsukushii which I loved and even today that's still my favourite Nogi single.

However even though I much preferred the image and style of Nogi's members compared to those of AKB I still found myself being pulled more strongly into 48G fandom. I have to confess that I didn't really like Taiyou Knock or any of the next four singles and in any case Keyaki started to provide more for me in the way of 46G interest.

Things though started to change for the better with the release of Influencer which I liked a lot and I enjoyed also Nigemizu and Itsuka Dekirukara Kyou Dekiru. Now I'm loving Synchronicity! I'm now definitely once again a Nogi fan and more so than a Keyaki one. Having said that my main interest is still with 48G but if I could go to Nogi events in Japan maybe that would change, however sadly I don't seem to be able to time my visits to coincide with anything.

 

Agree, nice reading everyone's responses here.

To be honest, I haven't really been into idols and the J-pop industry at all until a few years back in 2015 when I started dipping my toes into Japanese dramas (for those interested I started with 'legal high' haha). It was through listening to some of the drama theme songs where I started to notice how uplifting and enjoyable J-pop music really was. The way I found nogizaka was rather accidental, however.

Whilst I was looking up several drama theme songs I stumbled across the kidzuitara mv under the 'suggested' bar on some music video website. It didn't take long before I was sold. I must admit I had a rather less-than-positive image of idols back then, finding their music to be too 'bubblegum-like' but kidzuitara really changed that perception for me. It took me by surprise how kidzuitara sounded, with its slow-paced romantic melody, which sounded nothing like what I had in mind about idol songs. Of course, it also helps to have nanase up as the center back then, with her mesmerising aura - she really was the perfect fit for that song. Ever since then I've been eagerly waiting for new single releases by them, and have been keeping up with their variety shows, though I can't say I'm a devoted fan since I generally follow them on a casual basis in my spare time. I've also branched out into the 48 groups aswell, occasionally finding songs I like (there are many in fact).

As for whether I will keep supporting nogizaka, I'll see how it goes but at least in the short-mid term I can't see myself dropping them from my radar - even if some of the big hitters graduate as there are many rising stars in both 2nd/3rd gen. Not to mention I've also extended my interest to Japanese music in general, following other more mainstream artists and groups aswell (like yuzu). I also love japanese tv shows and still love watching dramas of all genres, so I don't see my interest waning anytime soon.

 

How about graduation?
How do veteran wotas handle their oshis moving on i.e. graduation... getting a bf... marriage...

 

For me, if Maiyan graduates, I will fully support her. If it's something good for her future and it makes her happy, be it graduation or marriage, then I will give my full support. Surely it will be very sad to see her go but if it's for good reason, why not... At first I thought I would stop following Nogi after Maiyan grad, since no other members came close to Maiyan for me. But the past few months, 3rd gens have caught my interest more than ever, so I think I will continue watching them even after she grads.