Movie / DVD [Movie] - DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 [No Flower Without Rain] 13/02/01

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

"Otona ni natta" can really mean both, they amount to the same thing essentially - "I've become more adult". I don't remember her exact line but I was kind of snickering at the translation too like "you're only 15, you're not an adult" XD Although I've always thought Jurina acts with a lot more maturity than many girls where it matters.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

^There is no doubt that Jurina is a very mature girl.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

^ I shall defend myself by declaring first I wasn't the one who worked on that segment.

Ok but its still joint liability. If you find any glaring errors or controversial phrasing, do PM one of us here or on our FB page for corrections.

Its for the sake of the fandom anyway.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

as much as I like Acchan, I hate the way Acchan being center had made a mentality that the center is the main character in a single. wherein they are a group not a one-man show. it's like the their mentality about center is that she's the supreme being, an unreachable status. I hate the fact they lost their mentality that they are a group. AKB48 doesn't revolve around the center, around one-girl only. if this is the way the member think then, they really think that AKB48 only center to one-girl only. and they even depict that the center stand alone in the stage when there are many girls behind her back and they do changed position also. it's not like Acchan only dance at the front. and as much I respect Acchan as the center. they say all the pressure are on her when all the senbatsu member dance and perform together with her. she's not the only one dancing and singing. so, I can't really blame all those Acchan-haters to hate her since yeah she's the immovable center. single after single. the PV is almost all about her. it really turn out to be Acchan and her background members. "sarcasm". and this documentary favors Jurina the most. they present Jurina as the next center. she memorize all Acchan's dance step, they groom her to substitute Acchan if she's unable to perform. and If I know better I would think that So Long's real center is Jurina. Aki-P's is trolling the fans again. even in Sayanara Crawl's formation wherein Jurina stand actually on the center. and the way they depict Paruru on the documentary is that she is like Acchan from the start. so, what it is a battle between Jurina who has been groom to replace Acchan or Paruru who is like Acchan from the beginning. well, they should really start having rotating center than go back to the basic of having a one-man show again.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

but if later mayu won the election and treated exactly like acchan, will you hate mayu too???

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Well, if you don't like Acchan, of course you won't like this documentary. It's an ode to her presence in the group.

Takamina saying that Acchan was thinking of leaving back in 2011 made me think of the previous documentary and the Seibu Dome segment. I can only imagine how forced she might have felt to perform even when she didn't want to. And no wonder she was tired of it all.

As for Jurina being groomed as the next center... well, it is indeed weird that they made her Acchan's sub for big concerts, but I guess that's how biased Aki-P is when it comes to her since Oogoe Diamond. It still amazes me that she's only freaking 16 years old and they've treated her with "care"... when she turns 18 I guess they'll exploit her even more. To think she might be at the middle of it all for other... 7 years? 8? Her graduation speech saying "Ive been in SKE/AKB for 15 years now... more than half my life".

About the subs.
There were some moments where I thought there was... coherence? with some verbal times. But I'm not a native english speaker, so I'm not the one to say. Maybe I'm wrong, so
But still, THANKS for the effort. I though it would take months and we had them in just a few weeks!

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

The subs are great! Just some lines could be interpreted differently, but that is up to the translator and doesn't necesarrily mean a mistake in translation.

The excistence of a center position is important to both the girls and the group. I believe that is what the documentary is tryong to tell us. For the former it creates a form of competition and (friendly) rivalry, it's a goal where the prize is the most attention, work offers, etc. Being the number 1 idol. For the latter having a center gives the group a face and due to the competition and rivalry between girls it ups the level of the group and creates compelling storylines (Yuuko vs Acchan anyone?).

Although AKB is a group, thinking that the girls are equal is a foolish notion. Just as 'normal' humans are not equal (we have the same human rights, but that is not the same as being equal!) these girls are selected for certain qualities and some will have more preference than others, maybe because they can sing better, look cuter, have an adorable quirk, whatever, this is very arbitrary.

Where the hurt comes in is when a girl with obviously better qualities is being passed over for someone with lesser qualities. Especially if this is the girl you are rooting for. Which includes a huge matter of personal perspective too, because the fans are going to see more or appreciate certain qualities of their oshi more than they do for other girls. If management then pushes a certain girl fans will always rage "why not my oshi, she is much better because...!"

In the end it's all up to what management thinks are the qualities the group needs as a whole to be stronger. And a powerful center to aspire to is probably one of the most important factors.

I like to think they have learned from Acchans situation of almost buckling under the stress (having all attention, hate, girls chasing you, etc) and are looking for a girl who can handle it to some extend. That's why I believe we're going to be seeing multiple possible center candidates being pushed over the next year. Paruru and Ricchan are just the beginning. Having Mayuyu, crownprince Jurina and Sayanee already in center positions for a while gives management some leeway for the future, but I'm not sure that either of those three will become the new immovable center of the entire group. Those three girls are very important to their respective groups, but do they have what it takes to be the focus of all the girls and subsequently the outside world?

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

If Mayu won the election. it is because many people think she deserves it and not hand-held to her on a silver platter by Aki-P and AKS. and about the equality of the members. isn't this the reason why everyone hated how Aki-P's choose the member he pushes. because there's no equality and it's unfair to other girls. but you can't say you can't blame the management for not giving everyone an opportunity because there were so many girls. i know it's hard to balance a 300+ girl but how many girls should Aki-P put into AKB48 just to choose few of them and then the rest is just like a reserved. who will just pick up the scraps. isn't there enough members who complain that yeah they are a AKB48 member but they don't feel like one.
I don't mind Mayuyu having double center and I would certainly like it much better if the members will have a rotating center than one center only. i would really like if AKB48 will have a revolution with it's Senbatsu system on it's AKB48 2nd Chapter.
and I don't hate Acchan, i just hated the mentality about the center she left behind. I know she's a big part of the success of AKB48. but the way she was presented was totally killing it. even NyanNyan thought AKB48 was done for,when Acchan leave the group. and this documentary only shows how the management treat the girls differently. starting from the beginning of the first three generation.

from Kikuchi Ayaka to Hirajima Natsumi to Masuda Yuka, to Sasshihara Rino and lastly to Acchan. you can clearly see the way the members are indifferent to each other. and for the last time, they are a group not a group centering one girl only. and good thing now when Acchan left. they started acting like one.

if anyone wants to disagree then tell me if any fan didn't complain how their oshimen is treated by Aki-P and AKS, unless they are Acchan-oshi, Jurina-oshi and Paruru-oshi.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Are there? Cause if so they should just quit. For a couple of years, AKB was nothing but a group of girls performing in a theatre. For them, performing at that theatre should be enough, the domes, stadiums and rest should be a plus. Another thing is that they feel they're not as good because they're not chosen to be even in the UG's line up, but that's life. If they want to be included in a group with less members they might as well audition for Morning Musume.

Anyway, Maeda won the election twice. And came 2nd in the one she didn't win. If that is not enough to be treated as a legend in AKB, dunno what is. If she had stayed and Yuko had overthrown her again and again, that would be different, that would be management's bias (which is not uncommon), but I think Maeda proved she was perfect for the position.

The way they treated her leaving... well, it wasn't any other girl who left the group. It wasn't Maeda, Kojiharu, Miichan, Sae or Sayaka. It was Acchan. The girl at the front. Isn't that a kick in the ***** for the group? Maybe if the whole center thing didn't exist, she would still be there, cause I think many of the reasons she had for leaving were about that same thing that made her so happy when the fans handed it to her (the center), so... yeah.

I think this new chapter should leave the whole center thing behind and use a double/triple one. It's better for the girls and specially if they're as young as Mayu/Juri/Paru.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Spoiler

well, yeah it's because Acchan was immovable center that's why she won on the first election. but didn't she lost to Yuko despite being always on the front on 2010. and after Yuko won on 2010 didn't Acchan already get back to her center position and this is where she started having this center myth thing. she was heavily promoted on Everyday Katyusha. the single tied to the 2011 election. Yuko never overtake Acchan because the management never did supported Yuko as center anyway. who would't won the election when your always on the front in every AKB48 do.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Of course management treats different girls differently - it's a business model that works. People complain, but it's actually an INCREDIBLE money-maker to have top girls and sub-members (for lack of a better word.) If your oshi isn't pushed, you spend money to go see theater shows and events with her in it, you spend money to get handshake tickets, you spend money to give her votes in sousenkyo. We even see it here: how many fans are voting for girls that are "more deserving" or "not likely to be voted for much"? More than one. That mentality, of rooting for the underdog, isn't unique to international fans.
In addition, having a center - or even a relatively stable senbatsu - allows for people to recognize AKB a hell of a lot more easily. Yes, Matsui Sakiko may not feel like a real member. Kikuchi waited years for her (relatively minor) push. But the goal is to make money, to make money you need to have an easily recognizable group, to have an easily recognizable group you have to have mostly the same members all the time.
Hell, it's the reason why MM isn't as popular anymore: the really recognizable members graduated, nobody knows the new kids, and no one wants to take the time to learn all new people that will be leaving eventually. If AKB has rotating centers, or senbatsu that changes all the time, they risk the same thing.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

yeah, I know AKB48 was made to produce money but these girls entrusted their future to these people.
so, what I just want to say that i know the fact that Acchan was the Immovable Center but do they really have to depict it as a legendary thing or she is some Goddess that descended from heaven.
the only time I think they depict AKB48 as a group was on their first documentary. i just hate the fact that depict that Acchan was like the main reason why AKB48 is so famous. when all of the first three generation had a big part on AKB48 success not just Acchan herself. it's like All Hail Acchan!! on the documentary. just because she's center doesn't mean AKB48 is all about her.
and if I offended anyone then I'm sorry. i'm just voicing out my opinion on the documentary.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

It's the AKB you're living. It'll look different for someone else a few years later. You're experiencing this part of their history, so this is what you're getting. Be happy with it.
The documentaries do their job in being well-produced propaganda. Acchan was an essential part of AKB. Her graduation and the center theme obviously are the things to center a year-in-review style documentary on. Those have quite simply been the most important things happening in 48 world in that time span. The next documentary will look different. The one after that even more so.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

I feel like they should show at least a little bit of what happens around the sister groups. I know it's a documentary of AKB48, but right now you can't conceive AKB48 without its sister groups. They did NO MENTION to the concurrency (neither Jurina's in early 2012 nor the ones from the Team Shuffle in Tokyo Dome). They did no mention either to their presence in sousenkyo. The only time you're reminded they even exist is when Jurina appears or during Sasshi's part where she transfers to HKT48.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Rather, I think there should be a separate, straight to DVD movie to cover the sister groups. There's too much material to go over a whole year's worth of happenings in all groups in one feature-length movie. I agree that the sister groups are badly underrepresented in the documentary - but it is after all an AKB movie, not an AKB + sister groups movie. And if we're talking about mainstream appeal, I'm sure AKB is better known to casual fans who might go see the movie during its theatrical release for whatever reason. Sister group news may be a bit more obscure to a large part of that crowd.

I do wonder why the other groups don't have a yearly documentary devoted to them though. They are irreversibly intertwined together at this point, it seems like an obvious thing to do, and yet...

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Acchan did accomplish a lot for the group, and that's why she's the focus of the documentary. I agree there should of been more credit given to the other members, but there are so many members to consider and because the future of AKB is uncertain, the film reflects on this point in it's history, instead of past accomplishments of the group. The movie wasn't a celebration, but more so a continuation. It's bringing us to what AKB's future is transitioning to after she graduated.

You get glimpses into members like Rino and Yuki who don't seem interested in being center, but just want to be at the front, to girls like Jo who left because it looked like too much to handle. Then you have Mayu who couldn't center UZA, showing how difficult it is to hold the position, to Paruru winning Janken and finding herself having to cope with the expectations that are demanded out of her. Then there is Jurina, who is the young center and member of team K that seems to have gone through all of Acchan's experiences and is yet still young and wants to move up further in her career.

As for the center of the group, it's more for the general public. Because the general public isn't necessarily going to want to get into the fandom and learn all the members, and that's why you need a center they can all like so that people can identify with someone without being overwhelmed by so many girls. If you have a group of girls in front without a definite center, it makes them look more anonymous to the public. Every idol group has a center. The best example of this is the group Perfume, because they don't technically have an appointed center, but eventually their member a-chan became the unofficial center because it gave them a sense of direction in their performances and so on. It's just natural and makes things easier for everyone to work together. Can there be more than one person at the front? Sure, but there still needs to be a center that is also the leader for everyone else and keeps everything together.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

mayumk come on dont too biased towards mayuyu and hate acchan so much.. imo honestly i feel like mayuyu is more unnecessarily shoved to my face than acchan was. it is not lije mayuyu is a very good center. she is lack of versality as shown in uza.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

If we are talking about our own preferance for center, then this argument won't come to an end No matter who the center is, she won't be able to satisfy everyone..

I think Acchan deserves all this exposure after her graduation, it's certain that she's an important part of AKB48, and her graduation was the biggest thing happening last year after Tokyo Dome Concert.. of course she will be the main focus in this documentary If you don't like her, at least she won't be in the next documentary that much

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

I have to admit it's so weird to see 27 year grown up woman to say that she's not allowed to have relationship.
Isn't it common knowledge that starting around that age woman biological clock is starting to tick down.

Then again I guess she's not first woman on this planet who have put her career above kids/family.
It is little bit ironic however to see that supposedly "fantasy girlfriend" product have reached best before mark so to speak and wotas themselves are mainly reason why it's so.

 

Re: [MOVIE] DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 No Flower Without Rain 13/0

Now that I think about it, the love ban was the other big subject of the documentary, especially with the scandals and public apologies. I agree it seems awkward (especially from Mariko), it's always been since I became an AKB fan. The director was very keen to include this narrative of the group into the film, and probably had his own commentary in making it such an important subject. I don't think I speak for myself here, but I enjoy the 48 groups as entertainers, not as 'fantasy girlfriends' or whatever others may assume of the group.

Love ban aside, as idols they are expected to be selfless as representatives of their own fans, which is why they are called idols, as they take on a group persona and in doing so become unified in everyone's ideals, making themselves leaders through their own dreams. Now the love ban rule causes this to take on another perspective since it involves so many different types of idealizations, some not so realistic at all. Most normal fans are not like this, especially if you get to know a lot of them (or at least from my experience). As for the rule itself, it really doesn't need to be there, as I feel many fans could still feel close with their favorite members just off of the fact that they are true entertainers, and bring such a fun and positive perspective to the world. As idols, they also have the power to change how people look at things.

The one aspect about the love ban that is interesting to me, is the amount of respect it creates from it's fans, because it's such a difficult challenge, an achievement that really requires a lot of discipline, which is the most positive aspect I can see in it. It's a demonstration of one's willingness to succeed in another way, but that's just looking at the other side of it.

As for the age of the idols, Mariko is still very popular, as are most of the senbatsu members that have been around for a long time. AKB is mainly about building idols than trying to keep a permanent group, so in a way the love ban does create a sort of stage where staying becomes more of a sacrifice for oneself as it does for others who want to take that person's spot. Or as everyone probably suspects already, there are likely members dating anyway.