How would you solve the center/ace problem?

A lot of the groups have had difficulties transitioning after a center/ace graduates. IMO AKB kind of wandered around lost after Acchan graduated and is still having trouble finding stable ground and SKE and NMB are predicted to be doomed after Jurina and Sayanee graduate with lots of new potential that aren't being pushed appropriately. HKT and NGT are still too young to say and experiment with switching around centers, but a lot of people are considering Keyakizaka's method of only pushing Techi as center (again these are only my evaluations of the situations, not fact). So how would you guys go about solving these issues? Do you think they're non-issues and don't need to be solved? Do you like the method of pushing one permanent center and how would you handle the group after that permanent center graduates? Would you rotate centers or switch them up so different girls center each single? What do you think is the appropriate balance between using staple senbatsu members and pushing newer members? The mass graduations we've been seeing lately kind of fall into this question to. How do you think those members should have been handled, or are you happy about the graduations? I want to hear your thoughts! (really hoping this doesn't turn into a shitfight but I know it's a touchy topic)

 

Solve it? Haven't cared about it that much to see there was a "problem".


I guess how I "solve" this (for myself), I care only for my favs and meh the rest of them. Worked since 2007.

 

assign a number for the members and use RNG to pick the winner center.
or just pick the youngest members (AKI-P loves 14 years old center)

 

In general I think management already resolved "the problem" the rotating center way is the current answer, and since the group still sell more the most of idols, the management was right.
From my point of view this is good too, I like a lot of members and I would like everybody can center something.
Anyway before the Acchan glorious reign the situation was also similar.

edit with a more point:
I would also say one absolute center in 48 family is actually impossible in my opinion. We see (stupid) people bashing members just for being pushed for a single or even for members that do work outside the family, I honestly can't imagine a member who is good enough for all the fanbases without create a little revolution.
And also I have the strong feeling that Management play with the fanbase saying thing like this girl is the next acchan or this other is the family messiah, or this other is the future ace, but in fact all this girls are pushed a bit but never at the "acchan level"

 

If I was the management and I were to be given a new group, I would have a "permanent" center for like a few singles and then basically experiment by putting different members for center. After a decent amount of singles, we get to see who works well with fans and who will not so I'll take the ones that work well to be Senbatsu staples. Once more new gens join, a few spots will be up for grab. As Senbatsu staples graduate, these "new gens" that is good with fans will move up, that way the public gets to know both new and old members instead of the group being doomed when the old members graduate. It's like passing the baton. If I were to compare my method to a member, it would be Sasshi. She was steadily climbing up and soon became center at one point.
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Like the others are saying, management is basically solving their current problem by switching centers, though all of them are not surprising LOL. Although it's better than old days where only Acchan, Yuko, and whoever are centering, the new chapter isn't any better imo. It's still the popular members like Paru, Kojiharu, Jurina, and Sakura. There's no "fresh blood".

 

I'm guessing you created this thread with the intention of having lengthy discussions with actual content, so here you go lol.

I think the problem management have is that when they make a girl center, they do it with the intention of creating a "face" of the group. The member everyone mentions when you say the groups name. For AKB it was Acchan, SKE - Jurina, NMB - Sayanee, Nogi - Ikoma, and now Keyaki - Techi. Out of all of these, I think the only one that went "right" was Nogizaka's system, because they successfully managed to create a face for the group in their early days. Even now, many people in Japan will mention Ikoma if you say Nogizaka. However, they also knew when it was time to change the center and try out pushing other members, so then we got girls like Maiyan, Nanase, Asuka, and Fukujin members who are more than capable of centering a single if they need to (eg Nanamin). The only downside to Nogi's center problem was that Ikoma wasn't a fan favorite. Keyaki's future seems unclear right now, but with so many girls that have a ton of potential, i can't imagine Sony only having Techi at the front. I can see huge shuffles within keyaki after the 5th single, because the groups face (techi) and identity have already been established.

AKB are in the position of trying to create a new ace out of whats left of their "new generation" members who have been strong enough to stick it out in the group in the hopes that they'll get pushed. Management have every opportunity to push these new girls directly by putting them in senbatsu and center (we've seen it be done with Paruru and Mion), but instead they focus on pushing popular sister group members and popular older members, both of which have every right to be in the positions they're placed in, but in the long term, it's not a smart solution for AKB because when all the popular AKB old gen members graduate, there will be no new gen akb members ready to replace those girls and keep the group relevant. I fear SKE and NMB will have the same fate as AKB...I don't know about SKE since i don't follow them much, but NMB actively pushes their newest generations and new aces/popular members from the get go so that when older members graduate, the girls are ready to take over. First starting with Jo, and then going to Fuuchan, Shuu, Nagisa, Miru, Ririka, Yuuri, and now the more recently Azusa, and the heavily pushed Ayaka. When Sayanee graduates, I can assure you that those 7 girls will be "NMB's Kami 7". Yoshimoto seems to know how to properly promote the girls in a timely pace.

For AKB, the only hope I could see for them would be picking say, 3 girls. 2 very popular "next gen" members (for example, Mako and Mion), and then 2 even newer next gen members (like Hiwatan and a 16th gen member), and push them HARD. Put Mako and Mion in front row of singles, get their faces out there. Push some more popular girls like Komiharu, Naachan, Juri, Yuiri, Yuiyui, Sayaya etc OUTSIDE of wota-land and the AKB groups. Let those girls actually make a name for themselves on variety shows (not their own) and in things they want to go into in the future (modelling, acting etc). Anything to get the members out there. At the same time, keeping members like Mayu and Yukirin, and sister group aces in 2nd or 3rd row of senbatsu will keep the group relevant, but still give the new gen members an opportunity to shine. It's the only way I can see the group not becoming irrelevant when the current kami 7 members leave.

 

^That was really well written but I do disagree with one thing. If girls are given too much opportunities outside AKB, they are bound to graduate sooner than those that get more AKB jobs and are popular. Not that getting jobs outside AKB is bad but these girls will soon realize that there is no reason or purpose for them to stay anymore and will just depart especially if they have outside offers for support. The ideal thing(?) for AKB members are to have an agency. I don't know why AKB now limit the girls so they can't be signed with an agency but having an agency will get the girls just enough outside jobs and be promoted within AKB. That way, the members won't feel overly confident that they can survive without AKB nor lose purpose in staying in the group.

 

^Of course, i don't want them to be given too many opportunities outside of AKB for that exact reason, but I was thinking more like how Keyaki are currently set up. Some examples;
Koike is good with radio shows, so she's got one of her own to host and gets praised for it a lot.
Sugai is good at horseriding and thus get's to run in competitions, most of which get recorded and shown on television.
Risa is gorgeous and tall, aspires to be a model, so she's gotten a job as an exclusive model for non-no.
Neru is great at quiz shows so she's been invited to those kind of tv shows a lot lately. She also has Hiragana activities.

All the members however, put their main focus on Keyaki activities, and also mention Keyaki whenever they can. It's things like this that get the members names out there more than being an idol, but at the same time, directs viewers back to Keyaki when the group is mentioned. AKB back in the day did this very well, for example Tomochin and her fashion style was very popular, so it got people (mostly young girls) who are interested in her to check out AKB. Nogi does this a lot as well, which is why the group has so many popular members who are relevant in the idol world and with the general public. I think that's the reason why when a popular Nogi member announces their graduation, the group never feels like it's lost it's identity when particular members graduate (which is what happened when Acchan left).

AKB has the opportunity to do this as well. There are tons of members who aspire to be actresses or go into modelling, and other who want to be a mc or comedian. AKS/Aki-P are well known in the industry, so they should be able to pull some strings and get these members out there. Even if they think companies wont want those girls because they're too unpopular, pair them up with a popular member and get them both on shows. Clearly show the power of the veteran members like Mayu and Sasshi, and the power of talented new generation members side by side. I honestly think little things like that will make a huge difference.

In all honestly, I think management realize the situation, but they're content with how it's looking because as of right now, they're still selling 1million copies, the theater is still cashing in money, and the remnants of older popular AKB members and sister group aces are relevant enough to keep the group running at this point in time. They probably do have a plan for when those members do eventually graduate, but they might be holding it off for whatever reason. I personally think sooner is better than later, and they should really try to put more of a focus on the new generation so that when the time comes for members like Mayu, Sasshi, Yukirin, Jurina, and Sayanee to graduate, AKB, SKE, and NMB will be prepared with a whole batch of girls ready to hold the pillars.

 

For each new single always give centre to the most potential and new rising member (popularity wise) with the vets surrounding her? Some kind of rotation would be fun.