Single NMB48 16th [Boku Igai no Dareka] (2016/12/28)

Durian Shonen was the counterexample that I had trouble arguing against. (On the other hand, having MiruFuu for Rashikunai didn't seem to do them any favors.)

The best I could say in response is that Sayaka gives the best chance to actually make NMB more mainstream. It's readily apparent that the AKB train is fading (and they're not doing them any favors by continuing to add more groups) and having her be in the center all the time would've been a real good way to keep their identity super consistent. And, the truth is, Sayaka is really well known but often seen as AKB, taking her out of center of NMB made it that much more confusing. The other thing is that while Ririka became more popular among 48G fans you can argue that it's just cannibalizing an already saturated market in itself.

Now, it's seen that Sayaka being the center is "boring". You would never hear that before Rashikunai, you just hoped for a good song with cool events. Now the center position isn't sacred, it's rather generic since you can put anyone in there, and even if that was the truth before, at least it had that illusion.

 

I personally don't like the vibe of sacred center post, makes me reminded why SKE got stuck in the illusion and ended up imploded in 2013. But that's just me.

However, I agree with the rest. With a note that by giving a girl developing room with her own songs, it's also means a chance to contest the center spot, without cheapening it. Isn't that what Teppoutai doing, with Yama e Yukou before Rashikunai, and Nietzsche Senpai before Durian Shounen, right?

 

It didnt work for SKE because they didnt do the thing where other girls got their own songs. Except for stage units, afaik there's no Kuumin song, or Churi song, or Airin song. Cmiiw but every single was the Matsui show, while NMB had Sayamilky or Sayanee, aka and shiro, and smaller unit

Edit: then again I don't follow SKE so what do I know

 

SKE has an emptiness to it tbh. Especially since Rena is gone too its honestly just Jurina really carrying the group's name (and I feel so bad saying that cause Akari is popular, but I feel like management never bothered with her). SKE could have been so much more, but they got too comfortable.

As for NMB, even tho Milky is gone, I don't feel the same emptiness I do with SKE. NMB has done a good job at spreading out with its members imo.

Maybe because I was never a huge fan of Miru or Fuu, I didn't see the big deal of Rashikunai? Like when Ami+Ryoha centered 12gatsu no Kangaroo it felt like such a shake up? Like how dare the W-Matsui's lose their center positions in a way? But in NMB it felt like...nothing? lol. I feel bad saying that too lol. I like how u mentioned the illusion of it. I really use to be so invested in the center position, but now it's like, "Oh cool so who else is in senbatsu?" instead. Center can go to anyone (Ririka was a good example of it working out tho)~ But still, it's nice having new centers once in awhile and Sayaka will leave so may as well groom someone to take the spot.

 

There's also the counterpoint that giving the center to Miru because she's "next" might be counterproductive because then it becomes a countdown of when she leaves so it can go to the next one. This happened with AKB with Acchan -> Yuko -> Mayu(?) -> Free-for-all

The thinking is that Mayu got it because it was her turn and that just exacerbated whatever problems AKB was already having.

I honestly don't know the answer since 48G itself is a shrinking pie. NMB tried to expand with MBN and all the fashion stuff Milky did but I can't honestly say if it moved the needle.

 

If she hasn't been able to make nmb mainstream in the last 5 years, it's not going to happen now. Especially with the rapid decline in sales. At this point all the sister groups basically exist for the wotas, akb is the only one that's mainstream.

 

I dunno if I liked using the terminology of "sacred center" but I do think that the center should sort of be considered the leader and that it carries its own responsibility. AKB was kind of weird in that Takamina was the leader but Acchan was the center, and then Yuuko was like the fan center. But just because there is a leader/center in the group, that shouldn't necessarily mean that all focus should go to that person, there should be plenty of opportunities for members to develop separately.

When you just give the center to whoever, just for kicks, it feels kind of aimless.

And the thing is, I wish that they would do more of that. Instead we mostly have pretty generic team songs, and even though we just got a shuffle it just feels meaningless without a switch in stages. And the stages have been performed for a long time; stage songs are yet another avenue to build up their performance and identity. Not to mention, songs like these ARE actually extremely popular. Yama e Yukou, Nietzsche, Niji no Tsukurikata, even Sayonara, kakato wo fumu hito by Iso-chan that finished at 8th in NMB RH 2016.

MiruFuu centering Rashikunai was dampened for many reasons. One being that all the groups singles had "non-standard" centers. The other being that it seemed to have very little identity or promotion with either of them. (Also let us all remember the hilarity that was Cameragate.)

And what I've been mentioning is that if you want to groom people for the spot, have them center their own songs on B-sides or stage songs, it doesn't have to be the main single, and you can do that now. And I mean, really give them that song, not just put them in the middle of a generic song.

AKB is just a disaster. They've played the future center angle since 4 years ago when Acchan left on Manatsu no Sounds Good. Since then, you can't really tell who the center is, and then you have commoner peasants thinking Sasshi is the center and she's not even technically AKB. It's really confusing and no one really knows who the lead is, which is why I'm wondering why people want NMB to do that same thing.

365nichi was one of the hottest songs last year and is still often played this year. It was headlined by Sayaka and would've been an excellent way to turn heads to NMB but it was an AKB song and as such caused real confusion over what group Sayaka is in. Those are situations that her and management need to grasp to pull NMB closer to mainstream (and boy did they try, being the only other AKS group besides AKB to be in Kouhaku) and they arguably screwed it up. With Sayaka you can create more of these opportunities especially since it's show business and opportunities could appear out of nowhere. The opportunity to even create 365nichi was because the director of the NHK Asa drama liked Sayaka, right?

 

About the center position.

I think back in the day of Acchan it was assumed that only a girl could hold it and that was it.
Acchan in AKB, Jurina in SKE, Sayanee in NMB and so on.

But then Acchan left and they started giving it to other girls and now it doesn't look as unattainable and everybody wants to give it a go (to nobody's surprise).

I think it works in giving the girls something to work for, but at the same time... if you are in SKE or NMB you know it's gonna be hard because Jurina and Sayanee are almost unreachable at this point. Heck, Nao made a whole speech about it during her seitansai.

But at the same time, Sayanee is just so... over it? That I'd like her to take a step back.
As someone said, if Sasshi can help HKT without hogging the spotlight, I don't see why Sayanee can't.

Management screwed that one up in giving the song to AKB, IMO.
It would have sounded exactly the same with NMB (let's not kid ourselves) and it would have done wonders to their overall popularity.

 

NMB isnt in a position to have gotten that huge tie in anyways, so to say the management screwed up is abit off since they cant just give the tie in to NMB. They only mistake is basically not making the song a double A-side

 

Didn't the show's producer ask for Sayanee specifically?
I'm sure management could have suggested NMB to sing it.

 

I think they wanted Sayanee but also AKB since NMB's brand isnt that good

 

True, but NMB's brand will never be that good if they don't push this kind of stuff. :/

 

The thing is as we can see with 365nichi, AKB will be prioritized more in the tie-in song project unless the client stated otherwise.

 

I don't want to speculate to hard on what happened, and we don't know the details. The whole thing just seemed weird because of how NMB was trying to "take" the song with the solo version on the single as well as performing it at all the concerts I've been to this year.

How is HKT doing? I'm assuming they're eroding like the rest of the 48 groups. With that said, my image of HKT has been Haruppi and Sakura and Sasshi was the strange afterthought who I still associate more with AKB than HKT.

With Sayaka at live events, she's been very humble and classy. She never speaks over people and tries her best to support other members in MCs. I remember her calming her fans down when they started screaming her name when bigger things were being announced not related to her (was it Aika grad? Or Niji no Tsukurikata annoucement? I forget)
But something seems missing, something seems detached, where she doesn't seem to be elevating her group along with herself. I think that's what going to matter the most at this critical junction where we're all forecasting doom and gloom once Sayaka leaves.

I don't think taking her out of the spotlight is the right idea, but I think there has to be better linkage between her and the rest of the girls, and that's gotta be maximized while in the spotlight.
I guess RTing articles about Aayan is a start though, lol.

 

man, this thread is depressing i was just looking for new info on the single.


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Eh, you can tell Sayaka is full-on next-gen mode now. She can't stop talking about how NMB's future is bright, there is a center battle going on etc. During her seitansai she even talked about this specifically and she wanted Yuuri to become popular to repay her (kinda hard to translate but its 出世払い)

Even during the past few concerts, Sayaka has very obviously taken a step back. When was the last non-RH concert where she did a solo or had the spotlight? I mean, I can't even remember at this point. She is still considered the heart, soul and leader of NMB and it is really hard to disassociate her from that but NMB very clearly has more of a plan to ease her out than what AKB attempted with Aachan a few years ago.

 

Hey on the plus side, Aayan is selling out quite a bit! (Get it? Plus side? FYI I'm a moderator.)

While I may not like Aayan based on my personal handshakes, I do think she'll be really cool and fun to watch move up.

 

where can I see the results?

 

I have no idea, just something I encountered when I was buying my own tickets.

Sayaka definitely sold out second round and Miru's sold out quite a bit as well. Keicchi sold a bunch as well as Fuuchan. Other than that I just remember seeing Aayan selling out her one slot in a couple places.

 

2nd round result:
Sayanee 35/35
Miru 35/35
Fuuchan 8/35
Keiichi 15/28
Aayan 2/4.7