[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

AKB48 on the way to 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify

 

Even before the Maho/NGT48 scandal, 48G have had different managements and I think the split of AKS et al happened a little before the scandal as well (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Technically, therefore, the AKB48 thread is not necessarily the right place to point out similarities between Nogizaka46 and NGT48. You can see there are quite a few differences among each individual 48G, just like how there are differences in how Sakamichi groups are managed.

For example, some 48G have teams (AKB, SKE, HKT, NMB) and some sort by generation (NGT, STU) and even AKB will soon dissolve their teams.

A difference I've noticed with 46G is how senbatsu are formed, while Nogizaka46 has a senbatsu system similar to 48G, Sakurazaka and Hinatazaka tend to include all members in senbatsu, sans some exceptions or the newest generation.

Additionally, most 48G have theatres, but the quality and equipment are vastly different. AKB's theatre hasn't had (m)any upgrades since it was built in 2005, compared to HKT's theatre that has a lot of extras. I'm not even sure STU currently has a theatre; and then there's SKE who's the only team to have new original stage setlists for the first time in years, while the others are still waiting (Sasshi, for example, wrote a whole setlist for HKT, which was never accepted). Who performs is sometimes dependent on teams, sometimes on generations, sometimes it's a random mix.

Also, from my knowledge, some AKB members have their own managers with their separate talent agency, and some AKB members have managers assigned to smaller groups, e.g. AKB's 17th Generation has their own manager (who used to work with Miyawaki Sakura during her IZ*ONE days).

TLDR: It's hard to compare the management of Nogizaka46 to that of "48 Group" because not all 48 Groups are managed the same either.

 

If i remember correctly the way akb operates is most similar to ngt and stu. But they are and will totally be different to NMB since they are under different companies from the start. HKT and SKE are a mix between these two "divides".

The theatre thingy is ... despite akb being the mother group, the local "franchises" do get a boost of local sponsors. And it is probably harder to find spots as strategic in akihabara given akihabara is the home of many chika tetsu idol

Yeah as @bonjourmarlene said, we can see signs of the "divorce" earlier but the true divorce (for lack of a better word) comes after covid 19. After that u dont even see groups collaborating. Even in the world48 concerts after that, they dont look like family anymore. They look like franchises.

It is also this divorce which forces akb to only rely on its members for single. Yeah i dont think the management ever realizes the importance of akb only single. Rather they were forced to. Since they are now no longer even in the same parent company or affiliated with it, the sister groups have became a true rival

What NGT did to Maho and friends is so Japanese though, playing bureaucracy and making use of the thick divide between honne and tatemae.


@Garapagosu what happened to hayakawa seira?

 

Power harassment, Retirement, bunshun hit piece,...
Her case with Nogi feels worse than NGT imo She isn't even gonna stay in showbiz anymore, unlike Maho.

For context - I posted the earlier reply was because of reading a Japanese tweet about their management:



"Nogizaka management and AKB (NGT) management have identical problematic people, who are also very powerful.
Even if it's just on the surface, there are people like Kubota and Kitagawa.
I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes."

 

I normally post in the Nogi forums, but I happened to catch this on the Recent Activities page, so here's what happened with Seira:

Spoiler

Hayakawa Seira went on a radio show and said that a concert director named Seigo berated Nogi members during a rehearsal, yelling stuff like “Die!” and (unjustly) blaming them for a past accident where Nogi member Kakehashi Sayaka fell off a stage and was seriously injured. Seigo has worked on most Nogi Lives, as well as some with 48 groups and Sasshi’s idol groups.
More context on Seira’s accusations here, and Sayaka’s fall here.

Management released a statement saying Seigo went too far in his behavior and he decided to resign, however it’s not true that he blamed members for Sayaka’s accident.

There are other details, but the main sticking points are (1) management allowed an asshole to direct members for years, (2) management basically said Seira is untrustworthy.

Seira announced her graduation from the entertainment industry less than a month after. Based on blog posts and overall circumstances, most fans think she'd already been planning to graduate (and that's why she blew the whistle), but there's no official confirmation on that as far as I know.

Without dredging up the details of both cases, I think Maho's case is a degree worse. There's more uncertainty with Seigo's history (if only because there wasn't an entire legal investigation like with Maho). Both are terrible though, and indicate rot stretching to high levels in the organization. (I actually think Sayaka's accident is a clearer comparison to Maho's cover-up, because management initially said Sayaka had light injuries, then revealed months later that she broke part of her face.)

Idol management is deliberately very opaque, so if you believe Nogi would cover up an assault like NGT48, then fair play to you. Not all 46/48 groups have had the allegations of weird fan-idol relations like NGT48 before Maho's assault, at least. I don't know what @Garapogusu's baseline is for corruption, cuz the 46/48 model inherently tends toward exploitation. (Young girls in high-stakes popularity contests, idealized parasocial role-play, inflating sales with handshakes, etc., do I really need to explain?)

If you're talking about "how the group operates" though, a lot of wota criticisms of day-to-day management can be chalked up to incompetence more than corruption. Although, if management is a bunch of grifters, then they're more likely to be incompetent or base decisions on private self-interest..

 

Nice insight.
Baseline for corruption... Corrupt is corrupt for me.
The main reason that made me feel for Seira more than Maho though, is Aki-P.
Maho was able to switch agency thanks to the old man, meanwhile what did Seira get? Not even a word of support.

I mean that's the thing: Is it really about incompetence? Private self-interest seems more of a priority to management.

 

Hey now, Seigo directed concerts for AKB48 and HKT48 with the explicit approval of Aki-P and Sasshi, and multiple people have said for years that he was angry at rehearsals. Just saying, there’s enough corruption for everyone to go around. I'm out.

 

I agree with @Gofindnova.

i think they are still related to akb.making the discussion more segmented might make sense if the forum is alive and crowded. It also makes sense if the discussion is about kpop or other idol groups (which has been ongoing even in singles). This is still related since we are comparing management's responses. It is still related since seigo used to (or still does?) work with akb. the forum is—as I emphasized again and again—already dead.

 

People here complaining about AKB's management this, DH that over stuff like: Graduations, Senbatsu, Teams, etc but there are things bigger than them all combined - at least to me.
Well then... I'm not gonna go further.

 

That is such a strange argument to make.

First of all, the discussion of Hayakawa Seira is completely related to the previous discussions in the forum: managements' incompetencies. We cannot help to compare in-between groups because historically, they used to be associated with one another. Even if the discussion came to the conclusion "the way ngt48 operates is different to akb", the discussion is still warranted.


The comment is also ahistoric. Till recently, "akb" used to both mean "akb groups (including its sister groups)" and "akb48". The management (even 46 groups) did not exist in vacuum, they exist with another.

(Even management alludes to this part. Remember nogizaka ni kozaremashita?)

In fact, as one pointed out, seigo did (or even still?) works with akb. There is no better place to discuss it than here. And it is even a good starter for further discussion abt management's competencies (or lackthereof)

(It is also naive to think what happens to one 48/46 groups wont affect akb48 as a group. Dont u all remember the NGT incident? Also, if this happens in nogizaka, might as well ponder whether similar things happened to akb)



"please discuss it in the member's thread" disrupts the discussion flows. Okay as i pointed out, it is necessary to create that distinction when the group is alive and crowded. But when the people discussing are always the same people... doing that will turn off the discussion. I bet if u do that, only 1 or 2 people will check out the thread. That is just human, not everyone wants to fish the info themselves.

Some of you might say, "But isnt it their responsibility to get their info themselves?"

Yeah. But at the time where interest of the group is arguably at its lowest, shouldnt stage48 aims to promote awareness and increase one's interest /depth of knowledge towards the group? Especially when they are not interested, should a fanpage/forum aim to make them interested? Very weird that the forum intends to do otherwise.

Turning off the discussion (which I argue is nothing out of topic) will do the opposite.

Rules are important, but being flexible to adapt at its own audience and its needs is also important. This forum seems to be replication of akb management at its peak. It treats forum the same way it was treated when the forum was at its peak. If you read the very old threads (2006-2010), u can see that the forum might not be as tidy but discussions are flowing and noone issues warning for this kind of reason. And trust me the forum today is even more dead than when it was in 2008

It also paints a streak of double standard. How can discussions of kpop whi ch happens at every single continue until 3-4 pages without warning? But why this relevant discussion get stopped after 3-4 posts?

 

Stage48 & Double Standard? Colour me surprised.
I got suppressed by a mod here for defending an ex 48G member from 1 kpop user last year (won't expand on this).
It feels difficult to post anything ever since.

 

But who is hayakawa seira? and what is her relation to akb48?

 

Naturally the most interesting conversation in ages gets shut down

 

Many of the moderators here have been reduced to "people who respond to reports" and nothing else. Naturally this place seems perfectly clean—too clean in fact. Almost in a robotic way. So much that it devoids of souls and "human touch" that it once has. But then most moderators at that time is already inactive so not surprising.

This place is the total opposite of nante / arama japan where the admins didnt bother to clean lol.

Balance is the key.

 

Choreographer Natsu Mayumi passed away due to cancer.

 

Article from Oricon News:
https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2286007/full/

This and other news reports today are mentioning her connection with AKB48. I've done a little searching and I found a biography of her here:
https://www.speakers.jp/speaker/natsu-mayumi/

I've run part of it through Google Translate:

EDIT: Takamina has paid tribute to her:
https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2286012/full/