[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

 

it was definitely one of the highlight but it won't change that their lines was cringe

no wonder she looks terrified most of the time. glad it;s over

Yasai Sisters and Ame no Doubutsuen should be on the list of retired song!

 

I would like to she the results for all songs voted.
it was revealed during mc that kiss wa dame yo (A1) received 1 vote, and hatsukoi dorobou (K4) was the only song to receive zero votes.

Unofficial Results
[HIDE]

Spoiler: Results

XX Overture
30 Suteki na sankaku kankei (A8)
29 Namida no shounan (A2)
28 Kanojo ni naremasu ka (K6)
27 Team B Oshi (B5)
26 Chime wa LOVE SONG (4-02)
25 Zutto Zutto (A6)
24 Juuryoku Sympathy (A8)
23 Sobakasu no KISS (B3)
22 Fan Letter (K5)
21 Kimi ga oshiete kureta (A4)

Spoiler: kimi ga oshiete 4 teams on Ytube

if the video does not show watch the video here

20 Only Today (A4)
19 Suki Suki Suki (B5)
18 uhhou uhhoho (K6) shoutout to Akigori (it pains me to write it but that exactly what happened)
17 Boku no Taiyou (H1)
16 Kaiyuugyo no capacity (K4)
15 Junai no Crescendo (A4)
14 Tsuki to mizukagami (A7)
13 Glory Days (4-02)
12 Futari nori no jitensha (B3)
11 Lavender Field (A7)
10 Theater no Megami (B5)
09 Matenrou no Kyori (A6) kami song, should have picked this
08 Coin Toss (4-05)
07 Kimi ni aitabi koi wo suru (A5)
06 temodemo namida (B3)
05 O te age lullaby (A8)
04 Shonichi (B3)
03 She’s Gone (A7)
02 Tanjoubi no yoru (A3)
01 Yokaze no shiwaza (B5) cry

[/HIDE]

hatsukoi dorobou

[HIDE]

Spoiler: hatsukoi dorobou 2 versions

Mion Center

if the video does not show watch the video here

Serika Center

if the video does not show watch the video here

[/HIDE]

 

We all would love to see Yukirin graduating in grand style, in a big venue like Tokyo Dome, SSA, some Stadium...but we have to accept that AKB isn't what it once was. This isn't 2012 when AKB was at the public eye and were The Idols, this also isn't 2015 when they still were relevant and not even 2018 when we knew their popularity was falling but still had some public and better sales. This is 2023, DH is cutting costs and AKB had trouble selling a Budokan concert. I don't blame them for playing it safe despite thinking that they should milk Yukirin grad as much as possible since she is the last golden era girl, i mean, management spent years milking on golden era AKB.

Yukirin really deserved a Saito Asuka Graduation Concert level with an amazing setlist and structure(both are the last OGs of their groups) but unfortunally it won't be like that.

 

Maybe it’s Hii’s fan voting for that song, she’s the original in A8 (but I agree Serika performed way more often and she killed it) so her fan may want to give her a solo stage. I don’t believe Serika fan can be this strong

 

the lack of subunit songs indicates that not many member have signature song.

15 Junai no Crescendo (A4)
Sora owning this song! just like she always did in her every stage appearances.

13 Glory Days (4-02)
makes you wonder what song did yuiyui fans votes that lead her randomly performed this song

12 Futari nori no jitensha (B3)
good song. but I like this song in my language more.

11 Lavender Field (A7)
this song remind me of Sakura, Annin, and the rest

10 Theater no Megami (B5)
one of my favorite costume

09 Matenrou no Kyori (A6)
this song also ranked high in my list

06 temodemo namida (B3)
as expected from D3 last survivor. she didn't look overshadowed at all

05 O te age lullaby (A8)
the votes may come from Honda fans but this song is Serika's and she killed it. Serika is such an underrated dancer.

04 Shonichi (B3)
Legendary song but you can feel the soul was not there anymore

03 She’s Gone (A7)
Yukarun and Megu fans did their best. glad they both got decent screentime
Honda really stood out with her blond hair

02 Tanjoubi no yoru (A3)
someone sold his house to celebrate his birthday tonight??

01 Yokaze no shiwaza (B5)
she just announced her graduation yesterday and she already got her graduation show the next day. that was quick.
yes, I'm talking about her beautiful grad-like dress.

 

19th Generation.

So I guess that from DH's point of view the problem with AKB was its members and they're going to be replaced with new ones, all fresh, all popular.

 

Audition applications are open until 11/19:
https://www.akb48.co.jp/lp/audition19th/

Final screening and interviews will be on 2024/1/27.

 

let's blame it to 17ki. their quality are too high it makes some seniors look like a potato

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

https://twitter.com/AKB48_staff/status/1716035853880029332
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1716035724359983104/vid/avc1/1280x720/Y-qH5JPGgIBYGyrc.mp4

So... what's the new system again?

 

KKS members are permanent centres. Other members, on performance days, come in for a lottery to determine whether they are performing that night.

 

Putting this here, beacuase it's more appropriate than in the graduations anouncement thread

Well, it has become tough to be in positive spirit after all that has happened lately.
We had this mass graduation anouncements partly due to various management decisions. The end of teams being the main ones. Girls not afraid to hint they are pushed out, or they won't have anymore opportunities because they are sidelined.
There were management decisions which don't go in the right direction, and are questionable. And they don't even try to hide that all this is driven by financial difficulties.
And todays concert is just one more stone to this accumulation of disapoining moments. It was promoted as the big reveal of the new AKB48 structure, to basically anounce nothing.
How can you keep fans interest after that ? It's like they keep pouring water on a dying fire.

So basically, the new system is no system at all, they will rotate members in the new stage with KKS subbing from time to time, if any because the roster is large enough to (theorically) do the stage without need of subs.

Speaking aboutf the new stage, it's anouncement is a sour taste to me.
There were times, around 10 years ago, where money was still flowing and they anounced new shows for all the 48groups teams, just to end with 1 real stage (I'm excluding SKE48's ones because they obviously aren't part of this original plan).
Sure it's great to move forward with something, just it could have been done way earlier for at least Teams K, B, 4, maybe 8.
It seems they pulled this stage because they feel the pressure from SKE48's ones. Their stages are good and they managed to recover the expense in no time.

So, what DH can do now ?
A7 studio recording album is still nowhere to be seens, and I have some doubts it's going to be released anytime soon, there might be some rights issues with most of the original performers.
Team Surprise 3 ?? same availability. Ironically the album has been released, just distributed on a very restricted scale.
So about a "whatever it is" stage album release ? I have low hopes, even on streaming.

All in all, I wish AKB48 can continue and accelerate on this ascending slope they have slowly taken. Just, with this management, (and today concert conclusion is another proof), they are still sailing in a heavy fog and they don't really show signs of will to come out of this low visibility zone as quickly as possible.

 

We'll get summary 8 teams: 4 season teams (Haru, Natsu, Aki and Fuyu) and 4 school club themed (Undo, Geijutsu Kateika, Otaku and Benkyo) . Each girl belongs to 2 teams. Team Season is based on date of birth and school club is based on what they are interested about.

8 teams give fans more variety in the theater, so we'll have 9 options to apply for (with 19ki kks in the future).

Some examples:
Yuiyui is Team Fuyu and Team Geijutsu Kateika
Sorara is Team Haru and Team Undo
Hiichan is Team Aki and Team Undo
Yukirin is Team Natsu and Team Benkyo

But let's wait for official info from AKB website.

 

Kashiwagi Yuki: "Yuiyui, from now I entrust AKB to you."
「ゆいゆい、これからのAKBを任せたよ」


I'm sure that 9 years ago, that shy, small 12 years old child could never expect that one day AKB48 would be on her shoulder.

 

This Modelpress article has what appears to be a confirmation of the new system :
https://mdpr.jp/music/detail/4013517

It also has a setlist of today's concert and it lists the members of the seasonal teams.

 

I thought the "Teams" combo's were just for the concert like a fresh member shuffle, never thought this would be the new system of the group for theater performances

 

I-


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

Seems almost identical in terms of audition process and timing to 18th gen audition, so we will probably see the 19ki in April 2024 then.
The only difference I see is that now they are limiting the maximum age to 19 years old instead of 20 y.o. previously.

 

I'm extremely confused about this simply because Team Natsu only has 10 members (right?). If they are supposed to go back to 16nin stages, how can the seasonal teams be the new system? So I too assumed the "teams" were just for the concert and that the new system is just kinda dividing the girls at random (hence the huge amount of new "teams" during the concert).