Who should be center of NGT48?

I'm going to be honest. I still have issues accepting Rika as center (and no, it's not because of my bias for Okappa. Hear me out).

I've been following NGT right since its first formation, and I've oshi-ed Okappa since then as well. When Katomina was first appointed center, I really thought it was a good choice. Bursting with confidence, Katomina has a pretty good presence on stage. She's a good center, I believe most fans accepted her as center pretty well too.

Then came the Okappa push. Actually I was against it. The girl has a natural charm that really resembles Acchan, but she's also very naturally awkward. Rather than becoming Acchan 2.0 I'd say she'll make a good Paruru 2.0 (replace the salt with awkward).

And then comes Rika boom. Disclaimer I never follow SR at all, so I have no idea what was so good about Rika's SR. I knew she's becoming Milky 2.0 (as per her wish), and that's fine by me. But the moment they put her for center of the group's long awaited debut song? It doesn't feel right. Maybe because so far afaik in 48G, no fisher has become a 'fixed' center (there's Milky but it's only for the debut and the grad song).

Center is almost always the image of the group. NGT's image is something along the lines of promoting Niigata and maybe purity if judging from the mass of whites. Katomina is your typical genki girl and is Niigata born. Okappa's entire being screams purity, and is also Niigata born. But Rika?

Therefore I'd like to hear your thoughts on who should be center, if you think Rika is a good choice, if you think she's not a good choice, if you think someone else (coughotakiyuriacoughlol) should be center or if NGT just should go with Nogizaka's style and not have a fixed center etc.

TL;dr: My answer is Katomina before Okappa, Okappa before Rika. wCenter RikaMina is fine.

 

Who cares!

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The answer is that they should use as many girls a possible for center position. Look at SKE and how dependent they are on their center. It would not be good for NGT if they became dependent on one girl. It's better for them to use several girls which it seems like that they do.

 

imho, it should be Hinatan. Pretty Niigata-girl, well dances, has a good vocal aand she is beautiful
And looks great on the center position (Remember "Junjo Yoroshiku")

 

NGT's image can actually be summed up in two words, the same words you can see repeated alternately in every article and report about them since the group's birth:
個性派揃い - Kosei-ha Zoroi: NGT is a collection of all kinds of characters. Every member has a distinct and well-developed personality already, which (as some of them also pointed out) miraculously don't overlap with each other (we'll see if it'll still hold true with the second generation auditions, however). The fact this was noted since the times of SasshiKita Gassen should make you think about how easily and quickly it was for members to assert themselves and find an ecological niche where to thrive. Note that using individuality as a main feature for the group actually works against giving focused pushes to some members only, or settling on a fixed center for too long.
地元密着 - Jimoto Micchaku: Strong attachment to their region, in the shape of job collaborations with local brands, businesses and institutions. This can prove sort of difficult at times outside of things related to the food and agriculture fields. Partly because Negicco already established themselves as local idols (they hardly ever met, but based on the words and actions of NGT's side at the time of their debut, it seems they've agreed on a policy of friendship for Niigata's good, as well as mutual non-interference). Partly because, as Rotti have joked about on Niigatta Friend, the shopping streets of Niigata are one closed shutter after another.
With that said, I think nobody should be a center for more than one or two songs and the decision of who to make center should depend on the mood of the song itself (Junjo Yoroshiku should stand as a lesson of what NOT to do, Jesus Christ, who thought of putting Tsugumin there?), not any handshake sales or other myopic factors. The only modifier, in my opinion, would be to give priority to Niigata-born members first, since they certainly know better and care much more for the group's mission.
If the management wants to put these two group features to good use, this is the only way to go.

Also, I think I've already asked it before, but someone please explain to me why people keep believing there was a push for Okappa. Judging by the general slowness of the board, I know many people here don't seem to hold much interest in NGT (enough to check news about them), but give me an explanation more convincing than "she was the center for one B-side song", because I certainly haven't seen her appear on other media all that often compared to many other members. Besides, people don't seem to understand how insular and irrelevant is to center a song, even from a fan's point of view, if this isn't followed up by an increased activity on every other field (in the case of Okappa, it feels her activity has actually decreased over time). I'm sorry for anyone who thought she was going to be someone akin to Techi or Acchan, the only thing similar is the haircut.

 

Milky would have stayed double center with Sayanee if she and others didn't get themselves into a scandal early on into their idol careers.
Both Katomina and Moeka were pushed into the center by management, like Jurina, MeruMio, or Acchan. Rika is more along the lines of Sakura, where she was in a decent position, but not the center, but the fans loved her so much that management responded to that love and pushed her into the center position. So imo her position at the center is completely justified and should her popularity remain or increase, i expect her to stay center.

Likewise with Katomina and Moeka, if they grow in popularity enough to justify a huge push into the center, then I'm 100% okay with it. The girls in the center should be the one that attracts fans to the group the most. Rika did a great job at that before getting center. I do think that there are other girls aside from these three who could probably do very well in the center position, they just need the popularity to go with it.

 

The moment I saw thread starter explanation, I knew he/she aren't neutral.

Regardless, there's two right thing there. There will be another boom. And center will always be hardly accepted by everyone. Not even Katomina.

 

Having a biased opinion is inevitable. That's why I started this thread, to hear the other side of the story.

I think the fact that they gave her a center spot, even if it's for B-sides, already shows an attempt at a push. There's also the Hikari to Kage thing. Also I believe Okappa has the highest number of appearance in the latest single.
I'm guessing the reason why it's seen as a push is because she gets all these opportunities when she doesn't seem to earn it. She's not set to be the group's image like Katomina seemingly was, and her HS is not strong either. And speaking of earning it,

For the sake of the group vs for the sake of the members. I'm in team for the sake of the group, though with more conditions:

I agree with this. That's why when Rika was chosen for center I was really befuddled, since I thought promoting Niigata is first and foremost, and to have a non-Niigata born being center (she earns it, and it's a good PR move) seems to negate the whole mission of the group.

 

AKB B-sides, which is I assume where this stigma stemmed. The AKB fandom.
Well, if you want to hear regarding other side of the story, Sister Group B-sides are rarely given that much attention. Sometimes it's centered by the top member who don't need the B-sides center whatsoever. Sometimes it's by unexpected member which previously is just a theater girl. (SKE and HKT has plenty of example)
Did she recognized and appreciated by the group management at that time? Yes.
Did it means a push? Maybe. But mostly, No.
Few that actually managed to get a senbatsu spot by the next chance, let alone center spot again. They just go back as theater girl(plus the title of failed push). Just because it's only 1 attempt. For the trivia, if the "attempt of push" repeated, it will be called gori-push. See the pattern here?

While it's, "Ok, it's necessary evil." for the first year, by the third year of this group, this modifier will be seen as a disrespectful toward members effort to learning more about the group(and their chance to center). Could be worse.

Of course I'm just giving insight.

 

But the purpose of singles has never been to introduce fans to new members (how much can you learn about them from a 4 minutes PV, anyway?). This is what interviews, variety shows and tools like Showroom are for.
In that regard, NGT is a quite interesting case in that they have always been making an effort to give equal media spotlight to everyone in the group. regardless of their standing. It's a pretty common sight to see regular members and kenkyuusei appear together on the same show or in the same advertisement campaign as if there's no difference between them. Just compare them to every other sister group until now, consider how they have always been kind of segregationist not only between full members and kenkyuusei, but also between senbatsu and non-senbatsu. Maybe it's because of their unique history and how long it took them to get their own proper single, but NGT doesn't seem to have such a strict hierarchy yet like all other groups.
I don't think the management is going to change their old promotion strategy, even now that they are starting to think more in terms of single lineups, so I don't think that giving center position to Niigata-born members first is going to deny media spotlight to all other members.

 

All of them. IF the management rotates the center for each song they put out it will be legit too.

 

@EinhanderX But it's not only a one time thing? Okappa's center for Max Toki, the Midori thing, wCenter Kurayami, and has a pretty prominent role in Shutsujin PV, and senbatsu for Hikari to Kage. Granted they're all B-sides (and she had near zero role in Hikari to Kage), which I know most people dgaf about, but most girls in the group can't even boast about centering one b-sides, let alone 3. To me it seems that she has decent push, she's not being shoved to everyone's faces everywhere, but she definitely has more management's support than say, Gatanee.

I was really surprised they let the kks perform their song on AKBshow!

This I'm not so sure.

It'll be nice for management to rotate the lineups. But like in keyaki, their center is strong so they dare to experiment with the front line. If the center is not strong enough then the only option is either to a) try another center or b) push that center until she's strong enough, while the rest would stay more or less the same.

 

@minaeshi Didn't Katomina rank in the SSK? She ranked decently for a newcomer at 76. And she has good handshakes too. I feel like that's justifiable for putting her into center. She has two factors for popularity, and Rika has her great handshakes. Going by popularity, I would say Katomina. Going by the group's mission, I would also say Katomina. I don't dislike Rika and I won't say she's a bad center because anyone can center that song and it wouldn't make a difference.

 

Long term, I think not having a fixed center is a better idea. I like how things have been going so far, AKB B-sides included, and I hope they'll keep changing the center for their future A-sides too. I'm not for just rotating everyone but picking double centers from a small group of girls would be ideal: Katomina, Okappa and Rikachan, but I'd say Ogiyuka and Hinatan too! And keep giving Kitarie a B-side to center. This way they can create an image for the group, give visibility to more girls, and maybe avert a crisis when the center graduates. It wouldn't work with just any group but it'd be perferct for NGT imo

 

Even though Rika never asked to be center (and I personally dislike management's choice for Rika's center song and concept), I love that at least Rika got to center, because it also shows that you can still be a representative of NGT48 even if you're not Niigata-born. It gives an incentive for non-Niigata girls in NGT48 to work toward something. Otherwise, why would someone not born in there bother applying for NGT48's next gens.

With that being said, I agree with the general consensus that the group shouldn't have a set center. There are many girls worthy of that title in the group and I want management to utilize them all. Specially with a 2nd gen announcement possibly happening any time now. Evidently, I think this upcoming election will help determine the next single center.

2nd this!

 

Mahohon or... Mahohon

 

Kobayashi Sachiko

Spoiler

She's Niigata-born after all, so some fans would stop bitchin' about it.

Etsuro

Spoiler

He would be if he could. Too much show-off.

That said, Hinatan or Reinya.

 

As i said, Katomina was pushed as a potential center alongside Moeka. Rika, although in a higher position that the rest of the ngt girls, was not. Despite that, she made a name for herself with her fishing skills in HS events and skyrocketed in showroom before management gave her a push, and although she didn't rank last year, she continues to rise in popularity. Had management given her a push before the election last year, she 100% would have ranked around the same level as Katomina.

As I said, bias aside, i think the center should be someone who attracts onlookers to the group the most, and at the moment it's Rika.
If it was any other member who was very popular among the fans without a push from management beforehand, i would say they should center too.

 

The notion that someone should deserve a full-on push since they are good at handshakes is exactly the kind of short sighted reasoning I was referring to. It greatly annoys me when antis still keeps comparing AKB to sleazy hostess clubs where the only way to get ahead is by making customers buy bottles of champagne to stay with you, then I see people here who argue using the same mindset of a host club and I realize what our "fans" think of our idols.

I'd be half happy if the push happened in some way that it's coherent to these "fishing skills" (or should I say crocodile tears when the void reservations come around). Maybe by hosting a radio program or a net show if she really is so good at talking — although I didn't see much input from her even in the handful of episodes of All Night Nippon she appeared in.
But the way it has been done until now? It was only a mistake after another.

A song promoting Niigata that is centered by someone who isn't from Niigata? Someone said that giving the center to some who is Niigata-born will discourage non-natives. I propose to look at the matter from the other side.
Niigata, to my understanding, is a place that doesn't see much action in terms of entertainment agencies. Many members were able to join an idol group for the first time only because the NGT auditions gave them this opportunity, when in any other situation it would have required them to sacrifice everything and go search for success all the way to Tokyo (something impossible for some, given their age and the traveling distance).
Imagine how mortifying it has to be to see the spotlight given to an outsider, for someone born and raised in the region who sees NGT as their only chance to get a foothold into the showbiz and is betting their everything on it.
Being center of a song is more of a matter of pride than a trampoline to fame, anyway, but in light of this I'd rather give this honor to someone else.
Also, casting Rika in Tofu Prowrestling? If you want a glaring example of how misdirected the push has been, look no further. I'd be just laughing at it, if I didn't know that, due to the limited size of the cast, she took a spot that someone much more competent and motivated would've handled much better.
Looking back at the Road to WIP documentary, you can actually see the mood of the training staff gradually shift from baseless expectations, to disappointment, and finally "it's a lost cause". How much do you want to bet that they let Katomina and Noepii step in only as an afterthought, to fix the disaster of casting someone clearly unfit for the job?
Would you argue this other push was also justified because of "good handshakes"?

The bottom line is, pushes should always be given according to one's skills and the NGT management so far has proven they couldn't do that yet. Even worse, they have no clear idea of the potential of each member or how to utilize it. One more reason for me to wish they won't stick to a fixed center for the time being.