BATTLE ARENA

I was talking to some NMB fans in their general thread, and it seems like many a NMB fan does not feel to comfortable with buying AKB products. Be it because of the different managements or because NMB has a pretty regional character, i dont know.

 

Akimoto-sensei created one of the most successful idol groups in history, I think he knows a little more about doing his job right than just "choosing the girls who say the right things at the audition". The management will always favour those girls that they think have something special that will captivate people and make the group look better and interesting. I never get this continuous complaining about unfairness. By that logic it's also unfair to all those thousands of girls who never passed the audition, since the management never gave them a chance and favoured some other girls instead. I don't know what people are expecting from the management. To say screw Takamina and Mayu, screw sales, let's put Tanabe Miku and Oya Shizuka in front for a while, those poor girls never got a chance? It sucks when a girl you like never gets any screen time or opportunity to perform even though you see something in her that others don't and you believe she deserves better (I know all about it), but I wish fans were a bit more realistic and respectful towards the management instead of screaming about how evil and unfair they are all the time. It doesn't even make sense at all, cause in the end it's all about catering to the fans and making the group popular with members who can appeal to a large audience.

 

Really, it's only the girls who are ultra outfitted who are able to succeed. I mean, a more fair system would be a rotating cast but like this, some girls never stand a chance. Name one Senbatsu member who wasn't ultra pushed. No one. And I'm pretty sure aura is a matter of opinion. Don't say I haven't paid attention because I disagree that someone does or does not have aura. Really, it's ridiculous how affected people are by something that they sometimes make up themselves. Not pointing fingers but some people definitely do just jump on the aura bandwagon.

 

@WingsofAngels48 : While it's true that all of the girls who were able to succeed were the one who were "ultra outfitted". However, have you considered that, maybe it's not that they were able to succeed because of the heavy pushes, but the other way around, they got heavily pushed because they had the potential to succeed? It's not like every girls who were ultra pushed were able to succeed, you know. In fact, there was a long time (until Yui came) that most of the big pushes failed because the girls didn't have what it takes. Rotating and checking every girls would be fairer, but not realistic in a group with the size of AKB. Even go back to the day of 16 girls per team and 3 team A + K + B (not counting KKS yet), it would still be 48 girls. Pushes take time, usually months or even a year, and AKS sure wasn't / isn't strong enough to push a lot of girls at the same time. In other words, it would take few years to judge only 48 girls (now how many do they have? Hundreds) assuming that none of them quit. Impractical.

Funny that you say aura is a matter of opinion and make-up when you were praising Acchan for her center aura before. But ok... just understand that aura is a concept. It isn't the kind of light that come out from a girl in mange (obviously), but it's there. You can describe a girl aura by her charisma, her looks, her attitude, voice, the way she carries herself, etc. I'd rather believe that someone who have been gaining success in the entertainment world for years would have enough experience to have a good eyes for those, at least better than most of the fans who kept screaming the management is an organization of evil who are totally biased.

 

always puzzling when people said acchan got this aura that nobody has.. facepalm people. she was in front of us, for the whole years she was in akb48. if she was replaced by any other member, acchan would be just the other member that management ignored. but, she a.k.a acchan was so lucky to get chosen as the face. i would say, even if suddenly aks want to put tanabe miku in front, and as the face for the next 5 6 years, then after that, we will always believe that she 'get this aura that nobody has'

 

Definitely. You have cases like Ishida Anna (SKE) - she was given a kennin with AKB's Team B, she was placed into most SKE single A-sides... she has been given every opportunity, but she has NEVER ranked in the election. She is the definition of failed push. There are quite a few others who were pushed heavily and just never 'made it' - Myao was pushed for a long time, now look where she is. Paruru was pushed for a long time, and only broke into her popularity much later than probably was intended. Same with Kato Rena. Hell, Jo Eriko was pushed so hard she quit - pushes can absolutely backfire. There are umpteen examples, and even the girls who are being pushed hard right now like Mako, Uha (SKE's Kitagawa Ryoha) and Owada Nana might end up never going anywhere. They can't all succeed.

It's only logical that pushed members make it into senbatsu more often, however. Push = more exposure. And more exposure = more fans. More fans = more incentive for management to give that girl face time. It's simple logic.
Though there are girls who go against that logic, every once in a while - the outliers. See: Shibata Aya. No push in SKE (B-sides only up until last year's ranking), yet she made UG center last year and senbatsu this year.

If you want it to be more fair and have a revolving senbatsu, check out Nogizaka46. Ikoma had the center for the first few singles, but that changed after the group was properly established and now it's a surprise every time. The other ranks are all surprises too. Girls come in and out of senbatsu all the time in NGZK. It's essentially the 48group that exists for people who wish that AKB did things slightly differently.

 

...Huh? Every girl in AKB48 (and sister groups) have an aura, I'd say. They wouldn't be an idol if they didn't have one. There is no true center aura because even Acchan was just one of the girls. She was forced into a center position and she felt awful about it! Anyone in the group can be a good center if they work hard enough.

 

@Starshard
Of course, but there are a lot of girls who have great potential, but never make it anywhere because management doesn't push them and no one pays attention to. And I don't think it's fair to say, this girl definitely has an aura and this girl doesn't and you're wrong of you think otherwise. That's all I'm saying.

 

because the it factor it is hard to define... we can call it aura for example...
but I believe in the end the push it is sort of a gamble that can pay off...

 

Everyone's definition of aura is a bit diff. I see future center position aura in Naanya but scratch my head at why people like Kojimako. We all come with diff backgrounds, taste, and so on.

 

As a NMB fan, I tend to read a lot of matome sites to see what Japanese wota at 2ch tend to say. What stands out the most to me in terms of why NMB wota tend to have the least voting power, as far as I'm aware are three factors. First is that most of them are unwilling to buy the singles of AKB in general- Osakan people tend to be more selective about what they spend their money on, and they wouldn't spend money on anything which doesn't have value for money. This is a stereotype but it seems to ring true in this case as I tended to find so many comments on 2ch saying how fans 'wouldn't spend money on AKB', 'we are Yoshimoto, not AKS', 'I'd rather spend my money on Takane no Ringo and vote for a unit in NMB Request Hour where my oshi can shine on stage' etc. It's true that NMB members don't get the same sort of exposure compared to the other sister groups in terms of appearances on AKS managed shows and the like, so I think a lot of the NMB fans tend to consider themselves as somehow 'removed' from the rest of the 48g franchise.

Second is that reportedly NMB fans tend to be younger and have more female fans who are apparently less likely to have money. I also read this on 2ch so I can't say for sure it's true, but apparently this is the case. I've seen comments on 2ch stating that NMB's sections do have more female wota and what not, but I guess it's all heresay so I know for sure that my oshi has a boatload of female fans haha (I can't say for certain about the rest of the members, but this thing with NMB wota tending to be younger and more females is something I've come across a lot so maybe there's some grain of truth to it.

Lastly, I think sousenkyo hasn't really impacted on NMB's senbatsu line ups or the workload which the girls get. Even girls who have never ranked before have job specifically grounded towards their interests and they do get work. Heck, my oshi didn't participate this year and she's landed a drama role. I find that some ssk votes tend to be for girls who maybe aren't as recognised by management (Shibata Aya comes to mind) and gets management to take notice of those girls. Probably a lot of NMB fans don't feel the need to push and upvote girls because NMB management recognises what individual girls are interested in and give the girls work which is geared towards those interests.

So yeah this was lengthy, but I think this sums up most of it (feel free to go to the NMB discussion thread bc all the NMB fans are talking about it there haha)

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On the aura talk, I think every girl has an aura which attracts people to them. It's up to management to sort through that and see who should be pushed according to what their image promotes. I'd say that my oshi has aura in spades but there's no way that I'd think she's appropriate for a center position. It just depends on what kind of feeling management wants to exude with the image of their group and the feel for each particular single, I think.

 

The votes blow pink in the election tonight
Not a Yuko to be seen
A kingdom of Mayu oshis
And it looks like she's the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep her down, heaven knows I tried.

Don't let her win, don't let her be
The ace of this new company
It used to be the decent ones...
But now they're gone...

Let it go, let it go
It's not my group anymore
Let it go, let it go
My Kami8 is gone
I don't care
If Mayu's the ace
Let the single suck
What fans think never bothered me anyway

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the mess that once controlled me can't get to me at all
It's time to see what NG can do
To see if they make a good group
There are other girls
With real talent
They shine

Let it go, let it go
Who cares if the center sucks
Let it go, let it go
I'll find some real idols
They all ranked in lowers spots
But they promise hope...

There are so many girls I didn't see before
Nao, Nattsun, Moe, Tano, and Nagao
And they're all better than your pathetic new ace
I'm never going back
Who needs Senbatsu now

Let it go, let it go
These newer girls truly shine
Let it go, let it go
Let them lead a new path
Here they stand, in the light of the stage
Let the storm rage on
Your "ace" never bothered me anyway

_____________________________________________

This is what happens when I get bored.

 

^
Rude!

 

Wow, WingsofAngels, you are such a creative Anti! I mean, using a popular song to slam an AKB48 member? So talented! Did it take you long to make that? I have never seen anyone use that song in a parody before!

 

Thanks for the laugh, WingsofAngels!

 

I thought it was funny, assuming it's mostly meant as a joke. I remember there was a section on a Harry Potter fan site where people could submit song parodies, like Eminem's Lose yourself about killing Voldemort and stuff, it was hilarious to read. We should definitely do something like that with AKB. xD It reminds me of Half's fake subs:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=464144970383079

 

I loved it! And I sang it.

@WingsofAngels48

 

I'm sure you guys wouldn't be laughing about it if it was your oshimen...

 

That sure was a funny video HAHAHAHA Big thanks to the people who made the subs!

 

I wonder what in that was supposed to be funny. Well I guess I just don't have any sense of humour... Although the "This is what happens when I get bored" did make me grin. Totally matches with the image I have got of you from your posts.