TV / Radio Nogizaka ni, Kosaremashita. ~AKB48, Iroiro Atte Teretou Kara Dai Gyakushuu!~ (2021/07/07 - 09/29)

Because its true?

That doesn't mean that they're not fun or that they don't have better personalities, my main criticism of Nogizaka46 is that they have blander personalities than 48 group and they suck at variety.

But cuteness and looks is an important part of being an idol and Nogizaka has recruited for this and its obviously worked for them.

 

AKB has 100 members maybe , Nogi have less than half of that Even if we consider around 30 Nogizaka members are ' Cute and beautiful ', I can easily name that many members in AKB who can go head to head with them and leave the winners to be decided by biasness rather than straight up precise logic. But of course that is straight up not the case for AKB's downfall and Nogizaka's road to glory. AKB had more average looking girls in their glory days than they have now. After all AKB was all about having an X Factor rather than just being based on beauty standards.
The real reason that AKB fell is quite clear to its former fans but of course DH or Verminlotion will never accept it and will always try to put the blame on members rather than their greedy pockets.
Som of the reasons that I see are as follows-
- Yasushi's greed to make money which saw him create 46G as a cash cow for Sony to profit off his endeavours with 48G with their own group.
- Sony's determined efforts to place 46G at thr top by building on top of 48G and at their cost. Best example being AKB48 show which they entered and bought off AKS rather than having their own show at a different time or channel despite being SONY.
- Sasihara's scandal which brought in more fans who were more interested in Sashhi than the 48G culture and music. Her surpassing Yuko greatly broke down the 48G hierarchy and the public's perception of AKB and made Yuko's and AKB's status and value nosedive.
- The biggest problem was AKS's board of [unacceptable word] who were only in it for the money and didn't spend a single substantial amount to promote the upcoming members even though AKB had the most potential among any other celebrity establishments to entertain through a host of events. 3 Sports Competitions in 15 years even when you basically have enough members to hold a round of 16.
- Another big problem I believe is scandalous members and non - returning fans after their oshis graduated.This I also believe is connected to the board and management [unacceptable word] who with their big egoes and exploitation oriented tactics didn't do enough to make the members stay or care about promoting them when they were active. They always try to push the narrative that the girls need AKB and not necessarily the other way around, meaning they can always be replaced by someone else. Its a very common exploitative technique within the entertainment industry.
- Lastly Reluctance to release more music and shows despite making a ton of money and just looking to make that easy handshake money from drained otakus without any initiative to entertain and give back to them for their long support with zero feedback from the community being taken in to make AKB better.
I know Kpop cares about looks and now that Kpop is finally breaking into the Japanese mainstream of course looks matter much more than other attributes now, no wonder = Love and Hinatazaka46 is doing great now. But AKB also is more visually gifted now than it was say 8-9 years ago. But if you think AKB will do great just by picking 16 of the most Visually gifted members like 46G and =Love I highly doubt it will make that much of a difference since People never backed AKB in the past for having good looking members only

 

Ok, so as a Sakamichi fan who has very limited familiarity with post-2017 AKB(and who was far from an expert at that point to begin with)* my sole takeaway from episode 0 is that I hadn’t previously heard of Yamauchi Mizuki but see seems interesting and I could potentially see myself becoming a fan of hers. So I guess they’ve achieved… something with that episode.

* I do like Kanto Team 8 thanks to Bachikoi, but I honestly can’t say I follow the members too closely beyond that show.

 

Mayu, lol

just lazy narratives and half-scone effort here. so....nothing new from the management. move on.

 

Speaking of past remarks...


if the video does not show watch the video here

(00:00~)
"What are you thoughts on AKB, now? Much is being said about them..."
"Well... As a money-making system, they are all right, isn't it? So, as long as they file their taxes, after they have made a profit while giving a shameful show of themselves all over the world as they did... (studio laughs) I mean, you know, there's unintelligent people throwing money at them, so they would bamboozle these people out of their money, and then to put it into taxes, right? Well, I have nothing to lose out from this, personally, so I just wish them to keep up with their work at that."

Hiroyuki-sensei is so dreamy. Really makes me wish he still was contractually free to say these things again aloud. :*

 

From my rant elsewhere

Ways to get back over Sakamichi:
Step 1: WHO CARES, THEY ARE THEY, AKB IS AKB. Making that narration is the problem in the first place, why you do need to compare yourself to others. If you want to beat a pro tennis player, ask them to play chess instead.

Step 2: Do care about members' skills growth by providing proper training. Not just showing old video of ori members performance and say "this is how it should be done" and let the members train by themselves. Many members are now YouTubers, from what they said on SR, I highly doubt they were given proper guidance to be a content creator.

Step 3: Invest in the right thing. Better ghost songwriter, better song producer, better MV director and creative team. And if they said that AKB's soul is theater show, MAKE SOME NEW STAGES for scone sake.

Step 4: SPEND THE MONEY ON MARKETING. Fans are not that stupid. You need huge amount of money to invest in ads, magazine spots, even dedicated space in music stores, we know those are not free nor purely based on popularity. Not that lazy scone of "we are not that popular anymore, hard to get spots". Freak....just focus on your fans huge purchasing power. And let a professional marketing strategist do their work to make a new image of "current AKB".

Step 5: MAKE EXCITING NEW CONTENTS, in digitized world there are basically unlimited ways to be seen. Don't be lazy to just rely on local TV spots. YouTube and other streaming platforms are there to be exploited. Want to release exclusive content? then exclusive show on Eizo soko it is. I did work with the 50 biggest Youtubers from all around Asia 2 years ago, hardly 15% of them are good looking. But all of them are interesting in their own terms, especially their video genre.

Do I even mention it is due to too-many-members fault, or they don't have certain strong point? Heck, their numbers is a strong point...many options means there are ways to relate to certain girl. "currently we do not have a strong point"? for scone sakes, what a lazy brainless argument.

TLDR: Management need to do its job in spending money and promoting the girls and contents. Not just lazily blame it on the market, members, and general audience's attitude toward current AKB. But rather tailor the general audience attitude instead, popularity will follow.

 

I’m glad to see that the majority of us agree that akb’s downfall is attributed more to management than the members. If they were given new variety shows, new stages, and new contests/events then I’m sure the current members would put in as much effort as the original members. But the problem seems to be that management doesn’t want to put in the effort themselves and instead blames everything on the girls.

I understand from a management standpoint that it seems wasteful to spend money on a sinking ship, but obviously they want akb to continue. I would love to know what management thinks will happen if they only do lackluster attempts.

 

Why do I have the strangest feeling that professional wrestling is still real to you?

 

I agree with everything, but this point especially. I hated the title of the show when I saw it. Do you really want to supposedly try to have an AKB show that promotes them with the backdrop of "current Nogizaka is more popular than us"?
Just focus on the girls and what they can do. Properly showcase their skills and personalities. I've been only casually following AKB for years not because of anything Nogizaka related or looks related, but because their most recent singles have seemingly lost their magic and there hasn't been a proper effort to promote the new members. It seems to me, while watching the MVs and performances, that the members kinda started all blending together, whereas before you could see their different personalities shining even through their performance. You didn't necessarily need to watch many variety shows with them to know the members, although that obviously helps. With proper marketing and time, these girls are just as capable to shine! Like I said, I haven't been properly following the group for years now, but I've started making an effort these past few months to get reacquainted with them and the members 100% have potential. I sincerely hope they start being given better songs and opportunities, that management puts actual effort into promoting them, because that's all they need to craft a new and strong AKB. I'm excited to see where they go from here.

 

Wait a minute...b-but H-How did you know ?
( Its not totally fake though, they do break a bone sometimes . Lol )

 

One can choose to neglect tennis championship and polish itself to be world chess champion instead. But, not even 100k of the world population know a single chess champion but 1b+ of them knows Roger Federer. AKB can choose to not compete with Nogizaka and find its own different ground but, that ground is small and insufficient.

What you have overlooked is they are different styles of tennis players. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, both are great player but they play tennis differently.

What AKB48 should do is not to shrug at Nogizaka but to find its own tune, its own style to fight with Nogizaka. It does not have to always win yet, it cannot always lose.

What they will go from here, I'm not excited at all. This rubbish TV show reflects AKB48's downfall. The executive has no idea what is AKB48's fortes and weaknesses nor the idea how the market landscape nowadays has been, neither it has the resolution nor audacity to shake up AKB48. Thus, it ends up sticking in comfort zone old tricks.

 

They don't have to mention Nogizaka or any other idol group's name in the title of their AKB48 show in order to compete with Nogi.

Also, I'm excited to see the journey of the girls, regardless of any management screw ups. It's about the girls, always has been, and I wanna support them.

 

I want to address a few things but my post is gonna be long so I'll section it.

We shouldn't compare AKB48 and Nogizaka46
You guys seem to have forgotten what Nogizaka was originally meant to be: a rival for AKB. Comparing the two is entirely justified. Jurina has said it years ago and although it's been made into a meme, she realised ages ago that Nogi is the top group now and no longer AKB. Nogi is the one that needs to be surpassed if you want to be at the top.

Nogizaka girls aren't prettier than AKB girls
I'm part of the group of people who will say that all AKB girls are quite pretty, but I will also admit that Nogi puts more effort into visuals than AKB does. Look at how some of the original members used to look when the group started out.... Tomochin is pretty, but she has wonky teeth and without extensions, her hair was a mess. Yuko's teeth are also wonky. Acchan looked like a boy. All of them had really bad eyebrows to start with. Takamina, Miichan, Akimoto Sayaka, Yuihan and so many more got told constantly that they dress awfully. I mean... if you look at these pictures below, I don't think you'll find it within yourself to call any of these girls "stunning" – and if you do, you're lying to yourself. They were all young girls with little to no experience how to do up their own hair and makeup, but that wasn't important anyway.



And now, if you look at the girls in AKB who are considered beautiful within the group... they're not really popular? They started out popular but they've all lost a lot of fans by now. I'm thinking Annin, Renacchi, Komiharu, Tano Yuka... I think Kojiharu is among the prettiest original members, but even she looked awkward for many years, and it almost seemed like she drew attention to her big ears on purpose.

Nogi's strong point in comparison with AKB has always been their looks, in my opinion. I find Nogi songs fairly boring, with the exception of a few songs. I think that goes for most Sakamichi songs, tbh. For the past few months, I've been really trying to get into Hinatazaka46 and I'm watching their variety shows, but I have to force myself sometimes to listen to their songs. There's also again only a handful of songs I really enjoy.

AKB48 is too ero and Nogizaka46 girls are pure
Saying that AKB is too erotic in comparison to Nogi is only true to some degree... Nogi fans still thirst after the girls and love to see them (half) naked. The difference is that Nogi doesn't do it as publicly as AKB. You can see AKB members in Weekly Playboy, or watch them perform in lingerie for songs like Heart Gata Virus or Yokaze no Shiwaza. Even their regular songs feature outfits with extremely short skirts (like mid thigh). As for Sakamichi, their skirts are usually beyond the knee and personally, I can't think of any 'erotic' songs (correct me if I'm wrong). But it's not like Nogi doesn't do gravure at all. I have Saito Kyoko (Hinatazaka46)'s photobook and it's by no means any less sexual than Okada Nana's or Renacchi's Sousenkyo photobook. In fact, the least sexual photobook I own is Akimoto Sayaka's. However, as a member of the general public you might be more inclined to support someone like Nogi, who is (outwardly) pure and innocent. Especially girls/women will prefer the less sexual performances. Which one would you feel more comfortable showing to a friend or even potential girlfriend/boyfriend?

These are AKB48's and Nogizaka46's two best selling singles, respectively.


And then you have Hebirote and Synchronicity, who I consider amongst their most known songs?


So yeah... Nogizaka46 is by no means innocent, but their sexuality is reserved for photobooks, for the most part. AKB48 doesn't hide it.

TL;DR:
The comparisons made in the show so far are fair. AKB48 and Nogizaka46 are rivals and they've been compared to each other from the start. AKB48 members aren't known for their stunning visuals. AKB48 is more openly erotic than Nogizaka46. It's not a bad thing that AKB48 isn't full of gorgeous girls or that they don't use sex as a double standard. However, they need to be reminded that they need to have an essence amongst idol groups that makes them stand out.

 

So you are saying that the Japanese Public do look for conservative values in Idols now. Its an interesting and plausible point in my opinion .In the Momosu years and early 2010's, this didn't play a big role I believe, as Idols in japan doing Gravure was like Bread and butter. Infact Gravure magazines were one of the main platforms for up and coming Idols groups to connect with their audience ( otakus )and find new fans.I for one think that very few otakus actually cared about these values in choosing girls to support in the past . What this would imply is that Nogizaka was either able to attract another untapped section of the public who refrained from following idol culture owing to their Gravure- related works in the past or maybe the Japanese public's standards for acceptable Idol culture has changed over the years.(of course this doesn't include the people who have followed idols from before Nogizaka). Maybe AKB now needs to go for a purer image by cutting down on the Gravure jobs and Mini-skirts in performances.One thing that I can surely relate to were the costumes Hiyuka and Remi were made to wear in their T8 tour performance. I for one would surely find it uncomfortable watching that kinda stuff, let alone promote it.This mature image might also be why AKB is facing the Adpocalypse today and why big firms look to 46G for Ads owing to their more Family friendly image.

I couldn't have put it in better words .

 

Absolutely right things! The values and needs of the public have changed. I'm not sure about conservative, but perfect pure, mature, aristocratic personality is a top request. Loli, gyaru, valley girls, girls from countryside, being average, just sexy chicks today is moveton. And to some extent immoral. I think today people prefer Matsui Rena type of girls instead of Amuro Namie =)

王女, 貴族

 

I did mean to say that they might look for more conservative values, but I don't think AKB48 should try to copy that from Nogi. Being innocent and elegant and beautiful is Nogizaka's thing. They're like... on a pedestal. AKB48 are the girls you can meet. I think they should stay true to who they are and continue with their performances as they have, but also find something again that makes them unique.

I'm a woman myself and I find AKB48 more interesting than Nogizaka. I prefer AKB performances and their music. AKB48 Group and Sakamichi Group are rivals, not sister groups. If AKB48 tried to follow Nogi's example, it would seem like they're sister groups, with Nogi still being the leader.

I don't want them to give up their essence, but they need to find out what makes them an idol group worth investing, out of all the groups that exist. Is it just the name "AKB48"? Is it just the last remnants of stars like Maeda Atsuko, Oshima Yuko, Watanabe Mayu and Sashihara Rino? I sadly don't think they have anything, right now, that they can call their own legacy. Miichan and Naachan have both said it, but the girls should actually maybe stop performing Hebirote, KFC, Aitakatta, 365nichi etc., because it only interests people because of the past.

 

How come they can stop perform their biggest hits?? There is no singer on this world that deliberately doesnt sing their own biggest hits on BIG occasion. What is more interesting is that, akb actually has three 'certified' mega hits, hebirote, kfc and 365 which made akb48 a legend. What i mean is, usually after one mega hits, the follow up hit song isnt a hit but because the artist already got a gigantic amount of fans, the songs they released after that usually will automatically become a top song. But it is not the case with those 3 songs. They are totally a mega hits own their own. Therefore, it is not weird to perform it all time hecause public recognise it. Nogi basically is very far to be called a legend because it doesnt have a mega hit song attached to it. They just super popular because of image they brought up. However, maiyan is totally a legendary model idol.
Anyway, the problem with akb is not the over performing songs..but rather the subpar popularity for individual member. Yukirin is popular but she isnt that mainstream, as seems to focus on idol fans. None of them especially the front girls are that popular among public. I wonder if the management really had a hard time to get big jobs for these girls because of the 48g brand or because the girls themselves are not interesting in the eyes of customers.
Other way they can bounce back by getting a new mega hits under current senbatsu. Getting a mega hits for sure will spike interest in them.

 

Yeah AKB front members need to appear on some famous show but without stuck to any kind of drama. Since 46G have a lot of top members current being exclusive models for famous magazine like Non-No, ViVi,.. Every year they do catwalk on Tokyo Girls Collection which is a one of the largest fashion festivals. Normal people who don't know them could check on them and belike 'What a cute/beautiful model. I want to check her profile'. Not like sousenkyo every year which make members crying while speaking thank to amount of fake votes from those rich wotas give them rank or a few talent members never get push so they never have enough fan votes to give her rank. And then throw all of CDs on the mountain because all their need is a vote ticket. Make AKB less interest in the public eyes