Single AKB48 56th [Sustainable] (2019/09/18)

Ikemen enough for Rin, Kyon, and Chiho to remember? Yassssh
Now have to make it sustainable.

 

seems like they took the note and finally realizes their attempt of making their target market more broader with "current style" song like no way man and teacher teacher was failed , and now they finally becoming who they are all along.

it might sounds cheesy but this also applies for AKB48 "being somebody else to please others wont do any good".

cuz honestly akb was fine the way it is. sure 48 groups is about the member, but songs like these. man...it just pulled the strings of my heart back to the 2011 when i first fell in love with this group.

watching the current akbingo episode also made me feels like they want us to remember why they are so good in the first place.

 

Is it? I always feel that AKB is the one who dare to try any style. Also, I can't say NMW and Teacher Teacher failed. Since both exceed expectation in sales. Teacher2 with gigantic sales even for SSK without Sasshi-Mayu, and NWM sales actually increased.

 

You sound like a newbie so let me educate you about how many times AKB's current style have actually happened over the years!

2015:

if the video does not show watch the video here

2012:

if the video does not show watch the video here

2010:

if the video does not show watch the video here

Should I include bsides?
Cause there are plenty like the Slave song, How Come? and so on.

Please, do tell me if you want me to recommend also some stage songs in current style.

 

What do you mean by fail? I say this one and Jiwaru days got lazy and bland on music composing. And on the other hand Teacher Teacher and No way man is much more replayable and fun in my opinion. Hell even fricking Jabaja is amazing in comparison. I rather they come up with some wacky fun stuff nowadays because I mean they are at least creative attempts (CGI mountain and CGI Jurina anyone?), not like these boring generic songs I'd forget and skip like most B-side songs.

Hmm 2011 songs...which one are you talking about?

"Sakura no Ki ni Narō"
"Everyday, Katyusha"
"Flying Get"
"Kaze wa Fuiteiru"
"Ue kara Mariko"

None of these sounds Sustainable to me lol

But I mean in the bottom of my heart if they really want to bring back the good ole AKB then I say they should be sitting down and composing real songs like Iwake Maybe, Oogoe Diamond and Manatsu no Sounds good.....but who am I kidding I know I'm asking too much. Those good ole days days are long gone Time to invest in Hinatazaka46 woot.

 

Don't forget the international SSK + PD48 effects.
Where these songs fail IMO is on the re performability like a lot of their dance heavy songs.
Mainly eito dare. (Hachinosu dance performed thousand of time)

 

That moment you realise Beginner is nearly 10 years old.

And yes, all those songs are great. Among their best. The trouble is, Teacher Teacher - their worst single in my opinion - and No Way Man are just missing something vital. Partly because they were clearly made to appeal to the K-Pop crowd, and that was prioritised over writing a song that's still going to sound good 10 years from now. The biggest difference? Neither song has any heart or feeling to them. Irrespective of the diverse style of AKB's classic songs they had yards of both, and that's what's MISSING from a lot of more recent AKB singles - emotion, heart, sincerity. Both Teacher Teacher and No Way Man were in the bottom 20 of the Request Hour Setlist 2019 - far below coupling tracks from their respective singles. I'd put money on neither being in the top 100 next year, but some of the coupling tracks still being in there.

Beginner is a masterpiece, Teacher Teacher is just a song nobody's going to remember in 5, let alone 10 years. That said, when you've released 55 singles and only a couple of them are duds, it's not really a big deal.

 

I disagree entirely about NWM lacking emotions or whatever (the song made me wrote all of this after all - and I still like the song not any less). I understand completely Japanese idol fans might not like it, but I don't think it's objectively lacking anything. (Also let's not forget the song runs over 5 minutes - that's not what your typical trashy party song for one use looks like.)

maybe, indeed, different songs cause different feelings in people. Personally I find Seishun Dokei to be one of the most emotions-filled songs I ever heard in my life, but people usually called it an awkward countryside carnival song or something so idk. I'd like to say they just aren't attentive enough, but if it really isn't there for them then maybe it's just that... And I never understood why Negaigoto was so disliked. It has all of the originality, emotions and is definitely not (thought to be) catering to kpop crowd yet people just think it's boring and weird. It's so irrelevant no one even mentions it anymore lol.

 

I love NWM, Seishun Dokei and Negaigoto. They have beautiful rhythm and lyrics. AKB48 Group songs need you to listen more than 2 times and after that, you will never forget it.

 

Maybe in the same way that AKB's A-sides are so diverse, the tastes of fans too are very different from each other.

Heck, if you let people who do not know AKB listen to Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai, Tsubasa wa Iranai, NegaMochi, Teacher Teacher, and Sustainable, many of them might not think all these songs are by the same group.


Personally, Sustainable originally reminded me of Nogi's earlier singles. Then people commented it reminded them of the likes of EbiKachu. I noticed the part in the choreo where they all lined up just like in EbiKachu. So now, maybe not directly because of the music, this one makes me think of Ebikachu as well.

 

Is it possible that those are being bought by antis who either don't show up or just go and talk down on her?

I want the Funny reaction back.

 

Negaigoto and Tsubasa wa Iranai - two songs I love to bits - are maybe divisive as Teacher Teacher, but they're a lot more accessible and they're two songs that highlight how good the girls singing can be. Which is good, since after all - you can't listen to choreography. There's also some precedence for their style in earlier AKB songs. I mean the same people who don't like those would probably HATE Sakura no Shiori. Which just makes them bad people.

I STILL have massive respect for whoever decided to release that song as a single. After River. Also the single has Choose Me on it, which is one of AKB's best songs. Ever. There are no words for how good that bloody song is.

 

You'd think they'd go for Katomina or Ayakani instead then, rather than the OG NGT best seller. Some of these others might be empty sales but I doubt Gatanee's are.

 

From what I remember, the reactions to Negaigoto here were quite positive. A lot of people found the choreography interesting (it was different and nice) and liked the song too. Maybe it's less discussed with time because it wasn't a hit and it didn't have too much impact, but I don't think the song was badly received though.

About the other songs discussed here, I also really love Seishun Dokei and Sakura no Shiori, they're really great. I didn't like Tsubasa wa Iranai at the time of the release but when I listened to it again now after years, it's actually quite a nice song LOL. Another song like this was So Long, back when it was released, the reactions were bad, probably because it was during the time where AKB was still in their popularity peak and So Long felt too slow or boring (tbh the Mv didn't help, but the So Long dramas were great, I loved them). Well now, after so long (pun intended LOL) I listened to So Long again and it's a really nice song actually, it didn't age badly.

I'm one of the people who don't like No Way Man but I find Teacher Teacher fine LOL mostly because it was catchy and the dance was good too. My main issue with NWM is that it had way too much vocal effects and to me the girls looked a bit crazy and all over the place when doing the choreo (I didn't like the choreo either). It just felt kinda loud and aggressive to me, but not in a good or cool way like Uza. and NWM did feel very Kpop to me unlike Teacher Teacher where it still felt like Jpop. But I guess both were kinda Kpop influenced and even had Kpop choreographers involved.

Anyway I agree that Sustainable feels more AKB than last year's singles. I agree Jiwaru Days is a bit generic, I find Sustainable less generic overall especially the verses and also the ending (tbh I thought it would end in a generic way but just adding the "zutto" made a big difference LOL). Now of course AKB is known for doing different sounds but to me NWM wasn't in the same category as Uza, Beginner etc. But AKB could still do this type of cool songs like their b-side Position in the Jabaja single is a cool song that feels totally "AKB" and Jpop.

 

This issue used to be discuss in Iz*One thread but since it is being brought up, I said it again:

Spoiler

SDN48 is established to appeal to the K-Pop crowd

Anyway, back to the subject. I don’t think No Way Man is made to appeal to KPop crowd. Teacher Teacher maybe but even that I don’t think it focus too much to the KPop crowd. As the group with negative stereotype within KPop crowd as the group where old guy become a fan of young girl, I don’t think you can attract KPop crowd with the song about having romantic relationship with your teacher and having the old guy dancing during the beginning of the MV.

Honestly, I think the main reason why most of the new AKB48 song is quite forgettable is due to the bad execution. The song will be better if they have better dance that tailor to big senbatsu, better costume, better MV (not necessarily high budget) and better CD/DVD cover. Idol is generally manufactured but AKB48 right now is more manufacture than before with the single is like cut and paste there and there and the single is done. There is no coherence in every aspect of the single.

I know that the one choreograph Teacher Teacher is GFriend choreographer and the one that choreograph No Way Man is Ruu of Fabulous Sisters which also choreograph Iz*One Buenos Aires. But is Ruu choreograph KPop groups besides Iz*One?

For the No Way Man is being more KPop or KPop influenced, I used to compare No Way Man, Yoshimotozaka46 Unit Red, Kimi no kuchibiru o hanasanai and Fabulous Sister dance. For me, they are quite similar in style. Hence if one is KPop influenced, the others are KPop influenced too.

 

^How can you possibly say NWM wasn't AKB's attempt to appeal to new kpop fans when they released the single at the height of Produce48, a show that mostly kpop fans watch, and around the same time that izone made their debut? NWM had the 3 japanese members of izone in the top 3 positions, multiple members who didn't make the final cut in senbatsu, and a whole other b-side dedicated just to the other participants of P48. The song literally oozed kpop in an attempt to keep some fans interested in the 48g members even after the show had ended. And I would say it worked, wouldn't you? I mean, you're clearly an izone fan that is still interested in the 48g, and there are many other users who came onto s48 after produce48 was created.

On the topic of HS, I'm pleased to see Moeka's sales doing well despite the scandal. She's still a fresh member and with no gimmick hs slots, her number seems pretty good to me. If i saw NMB members who have been there a year selling out 9 of their slots i'd be over the moon lol. The rest of the front row are doing amazingly well in their sales so I'm sure she'll catch up to them in no time.

 

And SDN had some of the best songs

 

I mean... GaGaGa still makes me a how and Kodoku na Runner is a Kami-Level song

 

No, her lane is packed with her own fans, as usual. August will be the first HS after Katomina incident, so I don't know how much it will affect her. Ayakani, still doing decently.
On the other hand, with heightened security in NGT lane (in the last HS), I doubt you can talk down to any of them. Even remotely talking about that incident without being cut off and wrestled out of the lane by the securities.

Thanks for the reminder, have to watch sdn theater stage tomorrow

 

More like a gift for keeping up with Korea's bootcamp hellish training system while still promoting back and forth between Japan and Korea. They never really attempted to win Kpop fans with that one. Sure, the top 3 were Izone members, but if they really wanted to, they would've put the entire PD48 finalists in first and second row. Also, Myao went back to oblivion after NWM promotion ended, no senbatsu, no c/w, nada, despite being one of the more popular PD contestant. Then, they switched right back to idol style during Jiwaru Days single with no song close to KPop sound in any capacity. I'm convinced that the reason why they kept Miu during Jiwaru was because of the 100 beautiful face hype and not PD hype anymore.