MNL48 News and Discussion Thread

Well I'm not here to convince anyone, I just wanna share my views. Also, I doubt that he can buy the rights cause it needs a lot of money.

I wonder if mnl48 can survive the piracy and illegal download in ph.

 

They're more likely aware of it, and thus factor that during planning. Since most people are packing smartphones but a hardcore few will own physical discs, more likely solutions are to reduce the price per disc, distribute through digital downloads, and use streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer.

Of course, there are other ways to recoup the costs, such as operating a cafe/shop for which to sell merchandise.

 

^that's nice idea.

Another one, where can we watch the girls perform on t.v. when we don't have any music shows. We have one but it is not free.

 

First of all, there's no main topic for this thread as it serves as the general discussion thread for anything related to MNL48 so getting off topic is unlikely.

Second, the principal reason I pursue this dialogue is to extinguish the adverse reaction to the appropriation of public funds as a stimulus to an idol group, single-handedly ingrained to the fans by a dubious article sourced from the Internet. Whether the Cool Japan Fund pursue this scheme or not does not really matter. My foremost concern is that the idea is not beyond or against the objective of Cool Japan, which is the exporting of Japanese culture abroad. The arrangement will have opposition but if a direct approach in necessary why not pursue this path.

Third, you seem adamant to the idea of a safe investment in a mall rather than taking risk with an idol group. I can't do anything about that.

 

OK. If you feel this discussion isn't off-topic, then I'll oblige. But to spare those who do not want to see long walls of text....

Spoiler: blah, blah, blah.....

I know where you're coming from and believe me, if this is a perfect world, then an idol group being funded by an entity that has public funds in it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that people are having averse reactions to an article with dubious sources not because of the group itself, but because Cool Japan Fund has public funds in it and idol groups aren't exactly the typical Japanese's idea of "promoting culture".

Not that the Japanese government currently cares about what the average person on the internet thinks, but that's another story.

Also, I do not recall JKT and SNH being set up with public funds (unless you people know more about it than I do), so I would assume that MNL, BNK and TPE wouldn't also.

If you've sat in meetings about corporate finances, or just regularly read through the Business sections of magazines, you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about (that may seem condescending, but I didn't mean it that way). I'm sorry if I come across as some narrow-minded person who is enamored of safe investments. I'm merely stating the obvious regarding corporate funding. The shareholders of CJF are businessmen with vested interests, and they're not funding projects out of charity despite what their mission statement might say. Corporate funding has a lot of variables and I'm sorry to say that things aren't always as high-minded as we would like to think they are.

Besides, funding the mall - which has the theater - in it is actually a good thing: MNL will have their OWN theater, built for THEM and not some re-purposed hall. The negotiations for MNL48 started way longer than people think it did. Did you think AKB gave in because of Cool Japan? Nope, they caved in because someone from the Philippines with enough financial muscle decided to back the idea up. If CJF decides to help then that's gravy and I'll probably even treat the FilWota admins to a lunch to celebrate.

In short, I'd love to dispel any misconceptions caused by that article. But I prefer my assumptions to be based on facts and/or my experience on the matter and not ideals. No offense to you.

 

I know I can't judge people hastily on a surface, but I need to read more about Yachang. The question here is not how JPop is hot here but how it can be adapted here.

About CDs, obviously no. Most record bars have closed shop, most Filipino CD pressings are so hastily and badly done that it's just not worth collecting, and really, where can you play these things? (I'm a CD collector, 600+ JPop, 70+ OPM, 3 portable CD players, I'm just being pragmatic here.) Best bet you can implement the Senbatsu Sousenkyou is by text vote or via vote cards. 5 pesos per vote. Easy moolah off the wotah.

Which also brings me to another fact; they need to get a powerful network to back them up but give them the freedom to be tied up to whatever agency they can be under. ABS-CBN for me comes to mind because they have many successful adaptations of foreign shows (PBB comes to mind among others) and even if these are Western adaptations, if they're given some powers to manage MNL48, the group can have some degree of success. Viva, I think, after learning the lessons of XLR8, Pointen, Pop Girls, and other "failed to launch" adapted pop groups, may have learned some things now and could be poised to license the group here.

Also, I'm not sure if this Hallo Hallo Mall is a very very good idea because the online shopping portal that it's under has nearly a tiny presence in this country. I have a feeling this company might be the one who was given the license for this country. Lazada is giving it a run for its money. Best if the girls can be contracted to perform or do mall shows in, let's say, SM or the Ayala Mall to give them a ready venue in case they want to promote themselves out of Manila and into the provinces.

Somehow, I'm thinking that if given the chance and with the right method of fitting everything in to our culture, MNL48 could work somehow. Heck who knows they could be in the notebook covers of kids. Mwahahaha.

(After reading a wall of text in this thread, who in upper management in AKB will ever read this.)

 

Based on what I learnt from the articles (shared by some people above), the backlash is not really because "Cool Japan Fund is used to fund IDOL group" (regardless this claim is true or not, which is hard to judge without more details, tbh) .
The main reasons why there is public backlash are instead:
a) There are allegations that AkiP are inside the Cool Japan organization and thus the use of Cool Japan fund to fund idol group he himself produced sounds suspicious to some. While following fact is not neccessarily true, it can be a sign of corruption or misuse of position.

(Though some people said above that he is no longer in cool japan, basically this is mainly what netizens' rage abt, according to the articles)

b) AKB Group is thought to be a disgrace, not really the 'best' idol group to 'export'/'replicate'
overseas.

c)(Minor) Cool Japan has been viewed negatively by most netizens in the beginning.

d) (Minor) Indeed that using the fund to create (b) (empashize) foreign (/emphasize) (/b) idol group based in foreign land sounds crazy

It is not really the IDOL group, but maybe .. again maybe if the idol group funded was not produced by AkiP, or was not viewed badly in general and so on.. the backlash will be smaller.

Why would anyone be worse than culprit of sexual harrasment thou? though?

 

Abs-cbn really? They have so MANY talents in that station. If you let mnl48 partner with abs-cbn I doubt if they'll have an exposure. Timeslot of that network is fully packed. IMO Tv5 would be nice, not so many talents and with plenty of timeslot. Though they don't have much viewers , but the fact that they started all this with amachan it will be nice to give them a shot.

 

Idk anything about Philippines' music scene or political scene but by reading the posts here i could see that it'll be very hard for MNL48.......

Heck JKT48 is only successful because everything foreign here in Indonesia is a popularity given (one band got famous just because they used "Aishiteru" in their song, also the other one because they trained in Korea, also lots of them became popular by plagiarizing KPop groups, and the only reason Harugon's popular in the first place is because she's Japanese. And we're so used to cute girlband songs, JKT releasing RIVER became such a big deal in Indonesia)

And SNH48 came from the place most of Sasshi's bulk votes came from so it's logical for Aki-p to open one there

So for MNL & BNK i think they'll have bigger challenge than JKT & SNH

 

Spoiler: Some points I consider before arriving to my conclusion.

Why would I advocate risk taking abroad over safer havens for corporate Japan?

I’ll skip over discussing about the bubble economy and the lost decade and its lingering effect to the Japanese economy since it’s too long. Let’s talk of its present condition. The current Japanese economy is like a sick man in a hospital. Alive but grasping for breath. The BOJs negative interest rate measure and increase consumption tax failed to stoke inflation. And some economist are in talks of helicopter money to spur the economy. The government touted Abenomics are missing its goal but the government seems firm on its stand in reviving the failing economy. It’s also interesting to note that the largest trading house in Japan, Mitsubishi Corp., is expecting a net loss of ‎¥150 billion due to declining metal and energy price, a first since its founding in 1954. The same is happening with Mitsui with a ¥70 billion group net loss.

Maybe you might have also heard of the Sharp Inc. dilemma whom choose to be rescued by Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry Inc. over the government backed INCJ. A lot pride got flush in this deal as Sharp is regarded as one of the leaders of the industry that brought prosperity to Japan during its golden years and its being gobbled up by a foreign company. The other corporate problem that is rocking Japan is the Takata airbag recall and Toshiba lying about its profit.

Japan is failing slowly with its aging population and the emergence of other country munching its share of the world economy. Even automaker Ford exited Japan last January. Decreasing profit margins at home are driving companies to look for opportunities abroad. And even abroad they also fail, they lost the US$5.3 billion contract to build Indonesia a high speed rail to China last September.

With all these problem saddling the already stalled Japanese economy being conservative in investing is deleterious to Japan’s macroeconomic prospect. They need to spend more and spend aggressively.


The Importance of Cool Japan to the Japanese Government

The eroding world market share of the once dominant auto and electronics industry of Japan signaled the need for other ventures to anchor the Japanese economy. For years, small and midsized companies have been exporting Japan’s soft power or its anime, manga, and other stuff (there’s no definite list to these) abroad with minimal success. The government, through METI, is now heading a concerted effort of promote this products abroad to generate profits for companies at home. It’s a PR stunt to improve the image of Japan and its soft power products. And, also to increase tourism and drum up the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Political factors are also considered in these promotions as Japan vie against Korea and China for the world’s favorable attention especially on the issue of Japan’s colonization of Korea pre-WWII and The Rape of Nanking that still haunts Japan. It’s similar to how Hollywood made America for the world to gasp. They made America the land of dreams and elevated it stature.

Cultural preeminence generate value and increase cognizance of that countries products. Do we not love the German made cars, French cuisine and Italian designed bags? Japan is known for anime and manga but fails in monetizing its popularity, Cool Japan is their effort to profit on it.


AKB48 and Cool Japan

Even before AKB conquered Japan with its army of cute and bubbly girls, other idol group have been trying to access foreign market and merchandise the idol popularity, mostly notably is the aspiration of Morning Musume in China and South Korea.

When METI reignited Cool Japan in 2012 the idol industry is firmly dominated by AKB48 and its sister group. So, it was only proper that they include the famed producer Akimoto Yasushi in advocating idol promotion abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also employed the group for diplomatic and promotional purposes abroad and has done concerts in two other continents.

So, is there actually a more appropriate idol group with enough presence outside Japan that could stoke interest for idols?

I personally do not gamble but as I see it for Japan’s case they have no choice but to try. Economics has their hands tied and Cool Japan is their chance for a turn around. As I reiterated, I do not intend to advocate supporting an idol group through the Cool Japan Fund but only if the necessity arises. The idea is not farfetched. Developing an idol industry in a foreign country requires the popularity of the idols itself. That equates to constant promotion and it cost a lot. It’s an industry that monetize on the popularity of the idol they manage and the idols serves as the machine that generate interest into the merchandise they sell. It’s similar to Nike paying Lebron to represent their line of shoes named after him but in this case they have to pay up first to develop the artist that will serve as the focal point of interest to the product.

There’s nothing wrong with funding a company that would run a mall that aims to sell Japanese products but where is the selling point to that? The Philippines has quite a number of successful mall developers, why do we need another one? If they intend to differentiate themselves through the popularity of an in-house idol theater then it makes sense to make the idols popular first or the mall is doomed. That’s the simple guise of my vision on this. So, in the end by helping develop an idol group that would banner a mall that sells Japanese products the Cool Japan Fund is able to achieve its mandate of fostering an environment where Japanese products can thrive. Prioritizing the mall doesn’t really makes sense to me and the private shareholders of CJFI stands to benefit because it’s their industry that is thriving, their main source of revenue will have a better prospect. They wouldn’t invest in this initiative if they are not involved in the industry that CJFI is trying to invigorate.

Employing public fund for promotion is a practice in Japan. Almost all the prefecture of Japan has a Yurukyara character promoting their respective prefecture to generate tourism and revenue for the local government. How is this different to employing the national funds to generate interest to Japanese products abroad? The only difference is that an idol group will banner it. Doraemon was the character that represents Cool Japan in its campaign in the past but failed because the popular character in Japan wasn’t well known outside of it. The same fate hangs with MNL48 if Cool Japan doesn’t flex its muscle in its promotion.

The end. Its midnight. I’m sleepy, you should be too.

 

I like to ask this question for tomorrow mind.
How popular is Japanese product brand in Philippines society overall? Doesn't have to be statistics, raw guess should do fine.

Midnight here too. Good night.

 

Look at all these highly intellectual midnight conversations o.o
I just want to say goodluck for Mnl, SEA48 > JPN48 :x

 

I was at work. Otherwise I would have engaged you as quickly as possible.

All fair - no, fine - points. The problem is that it is too ideal, too missionary to be true. As stated on their website, they have a criteria that they use to evaluate potential investments. The real pain is how MNL48 will meet that criteria. You are correct that there are a lot of malls sprouting all over the metro and Cool Japan Mall will just be another of those (albeit with dedicated to Japanese products), but it still begs the question as to how the shareholders will be convinced that an idol group is a better investment than a mall that they can call their own.

The difference between using government funds for promotion in Japan and using those same funds for overseas ventures is that the citizens would appreciate it more if the funds are used for them. Tourism can be considered international promotion, and funding culture festivals abroad are actually the norm. But running an idol group?

How many of the shareholders are actually connected to AKB48? I only know of DENTSU. Fuji Media Holdings, maybe. The others might have used them for promotion at any point. But how can they stand to benefit from an overseas group?

From the wealth of knowledge you have posted, I'm sure you're more than aware of idea quantification. For any corporate entity to agree to an investment, studies are made and presented. Risks and rewards are enumerated. The end-game would be the estimated ROI. Your ideas regarding promoting the group to become popular enough to promote Japanese culture and products isn't exactly quantifiable, but are instead, optimistic outlooks. What if they didn't become that popular? Should the Fund continue to back them until they do? That's pretty scary because it can potentially drag the Fund - along with its shareholders - into a financial disaster.

You make a very important point regarding the need to market MNL48. If auditions and formations that are planned for this year push through, they have at least a year before the mall finishes construction and is opened. That's not a lot of time to get popular, and whoever's running them would really need to "flex its muscle" whether backed by CJF or not.

I guess it all boils down as to why I am so convinced that CJF will be funding the mall instead of promoting the group. You see, the entity behind the mall is Hallohallo Inc, the guys who organized the Cool Japan Festival last year. They are also the ones who announced that the mall will have a theater for MNL48, a group that didn't exist at that time. Curiously, the mall's name is Cool Japan Mall, and Hallohallo Inc has a Cool Japan Project. And guess who helped them with the event?



All of those corporations have vested interests in the event. Everyone except Cool Japan Fund. MNL48 has just been officially announced. Could it be that CJF is there because they're backing something else?

Mixed. Food? Very popular. Anime? Yep. But not as popular as the 90s and early 2000. Cosplay? Now we're talking. Toys? Yep. Video games? Very. Movies? Outside of Rurouni Kenshin and the Ring, not much either. Idols? Nope.

Right, I'll just check AKBINGO before I hit the sack. But this is really fun @kimunlimited . I just hope I don't annoy the others in this thread.

 

Well the closest we got to Jpop idols who regularly holds a concert in the Philippines is Starmarie and they had wowed us with their intensive dancing and singing.

Plus their costume designs were pleasing to look at and honestly better looking than most AKB costumes.


I asked a fan group who are mutual fans of AKB, on what can MNL48 and their management can copy off from Starmarie's notebook if they want to thrive in the Philippines.

 

I hope that they will do some more English Covers, it was nice to see JKT48 do some, but I think this being Manila they are more comfortable with the English Language then JKT48

 

I think part of what I liked about Starmarie is that they really think we're worth coming back to. I don't know about the others but that had a positive effect on me. I still don't exactly follow Starmarie regularly, but everyone I know who has seen them can't stop raving about them.

I'm pretty positive that we can expect a visit from at least one AKB member to promote the auditions. I'd really want for at least a mini-concert to promote the group but I don't want to get my hopes up.

 

I share your reservation regarding this type of investment but the investors in MNL48 also understand the risk. However, the rewards is insanely beneficial it’s worth the gamble. The concept of AKB48 took years of promotion before it takes root in an already existing industry and they are now reaping the rewards of their patience. On the other end of the spectrum, we have SDN48 who failed after their sponsors back out on them. Investing in an artist is one of the riskiest of sort because of the difficulty of determining the probability of success in a very competitive industry. Risk, however, is part of doing business.

The Japanese are shrewd businessmen and they prefer to speculate on proven enterprises. And, it’s a fact that the Philippines is alien to idols. But why do they wager in this foreign country? I can only surmise that they’ve determine that the future of their company lies in uncharted territories. Their backs are now on the wall.

Now, why do I insist that utilizing the Cool Japan Fund be an option to them? It’s because this type of risky investment needs to be spread to keep these invested companies solvent. They stand to operate at a loss in the early quarters of their operation so spreading it cushions this fledgling industry from failing rapidly. Pioneering an industry has never been an easy task. The CJFI will serve a similar role to a development bank that invest in this type of industry. I can only guess that they made the Cool Japan Fund Inc. into law because the other financial investor shied away from this type of clients.

I understand that I sound more visionary than practical but the economic turmoil the world is experiencing is forcing governments to act more aggressively in the interest of their country and they are willing to forgo conventional tactics just to spur growth to their economies. It’s similar to Japan. The LDP has forcible been implementing programs that are continuously meting aggressive criticism but they spur on because they could not figure a better way of doing it. By the way, the security legislation took effect yesterday with the SEALDs showing as expected at the Diet Building.

Japan is changing. The prominent research division of the Keiretsu cannot keep up with Silicon Valley and its start up. The glaring difference between the success and spirit of entrepreneurship in both the US and Japan has been criticized and the displeasure is showing in the polls and the lack of confidence from investors at home.

So, I will not be surprise if CJFI will try to gamble on this.

Anyway, I seem to be keeping you away from a busy job. This is the last of these ramblings. It was nice to post something of these sort for a change.

 

Found this article from the facebook page of Otaku Asian Magazine.

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Hallohallo. Inc is honored to announce Hallo Hallo Entertainment Inc. as the official operator of MNL48.

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MNL48
MNL48 is the Filipino version of the famous Japanese female idol group, AKB48. MNL48 will be launched later this year to be a national idol group along with its two other sister groups: TPE48 in Taiwan and BNK48 in Thailand. MNL48 will be composed of young Filipina girls that will be selected from a nationwide audition search. The chosen girls will undergo the AKB48 system that includes intensive training and various performances in their very own MNL48 theater.

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Hallo Hallo Entertainment Inc.
As the official operator, Hallo Hallo Entertainment Inc. will be spear-heading the momentous launch of the newest and most anticipated idol group in the Philippines. HHE Inc. will bring the phenomenal culture of the AKB48 in the local scene as they manage the journey of MNL48 here in the Philippines and overseas. The HHE Inc. is also the management behind the great performances at Movie Stars Cafe located at Mall of Asia, Pasay City aside from producing several TV shows.

(source: Hallo Hallo Inc.)
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Sent from my SM-N9208 using Tapatalk

 

honestly, I feel that they should add in more groups for like Singapore (priority), Malaysia, China's Beijing

 

Now that HHE Inc. is MNL's operator, I kinda hope ABS-CBN will be MNL48's media partner. I know they're not absolutely the best in handling their artists but they know how to promote them in any way possible. Plus they could get regular weekly appearances in ASAP or It's Showtime!. GMA is a good company but their hands are already full promoting AlDub, and the other artists are kinda neglected so I don't want MNL to be one too. They can get a lot of media appearances on TV5 but sadly only to a minimal audience since TV5's viewers audience is only 10-15% of GMA's or ABS-CBN's. So I think ABS-CBN being the media partner for promotions is the best one for them overall.