Generation AKB48 20th Generation

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Application period begins: May 26th to July 7th
Website: https://www.akb48.co.jp/lp/audition20th/

 

I have to say, initially, I was really surprised about the announcement of 20th gen. I think I talked about it in the main thread back then... but yes, I totally agreed with having a 17th gen because they waited a long long time and the group needed it, then when 18th gen happened one year later, it was good because they were a little less members and had a very different feeling. then 19th gen happened one year later again and this time they're even less girls (just 5!) and again they give a different feeling, and I think they might even be my favorite one!

But unlike the previous gens where they waited some time before announcing auditions, this time, the auditions were announced like 2 months after 19th gen intro, and I thought it's way too soon... and it made me feel bad for 19th gen because it kinda feels like they need to "hurry" in getting popular, because they won't be the latest new gen for very long. Thankfully, the 19th gen girls are doing good, well, especially 3 of them, but I really wish all 5 of them do good...

Now after time passed, I'm more open to the idea of having a 20th gen, but I hope it's a small generation (I'm saying this at every new generation tbh). Because I wish for all 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th gens to stay in the group for a long time, and to all get pushed properly, and this can't happen if there are too many of them... So hopefully this gen is small, like 19th gen! and it also helps a lot for the fans to get to know the girls. I'm curious now to see what kind of girls they'll get for this gen! who knows, I might have new favorite members! ^^

I guess they are likely to be introduced at the end of the year!

If the rumor of their song being Kibouteki Refrain is true, that's good! it's one of my favorite a-sides! I saw someone say that if it's this song, it's possible that they'd have a double center. This made me wonder... then this generation would be at least 6 members (or else it won't look balanced).

 

Next week. The 20th Generation members will be revealed
https://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-12878495104.html

 

"We would like to inform you about the performers and application details for the performance of "Koko Kara Da" to be held at the AKB48 theater on Friday, December 20, 2024. On that day, the 20th generation members will be unveiled before the "Koko Kara Da" performance! As we enter our 20th anniversary year, be sure to tune in to the first stage at the new theater with the 20th generation members, who will be building the future history of AKB48 together with the 42 members!!"



5 days left! I'm looking forward to this! Btw, how many years has it been since the last time AKB had two new generations introduced in a same year? I went to wiki48 to check, in the earlier years, it happened quite often. But later it slowed down, and apparently, the last time we had two generations in a same year was 2013, where 15th gen debuted early in the year and Draft 1st joined later in the year. (if we don't count the draft, it would be 2011 with 12th gen and 13th gen) Side-note: for Team 8, I count 2014 as their debut year, after that they always replaced graduates with new girls little by little, but it doesn't count as "generations"... So yes! 2013... it's been 11 years since the last time AKB introduced two generations on a same year, that's kinda crazy!

Anyway as I said before, I still think that after this generation, AKB needs to take a longer break before there is another generation. Please give some time for these girls to get popular! Focus on pushing them and then add new girls in 2-3 years or so. and also as I always said, I hope this generation is small. it just works better. Speaking of which, I just remember that I had a dream related to the 20th gen intro in which they were only 2 members XD well ok, maybe not THIS small haha.

Let's see in 5 days

 

I actually wouldn't be against having new gens every year if it's like 2-3 new members by year, this would be fine! with AKB having around 40~ members now, I expect that they will have much less graduations by year, maybe 3-4 graduations by year at most. So adding around the same amount of members every year would be good lol. it would be fun!

However I disagree about girls graduating though, I don't know how things work in JKT but imo when I see situations like STU where a new gen got added and almost half of them quit at their first year, it just looks bad :/ I think in AKB's current situation where they seem to have high standards for who they select in every new gen and they push them a lot, I think ideally the girls should stay for minimum 5-7 years in the group. I really hope to see the 17th, 18th and 19th gens (and 20th gen too) stay for a long time!

AKB simply isn't popular enough anymore to justify having 80 members... when you have a huge fandom, then sure having that crazy amount of members might be fine because every member will have fans, jobs etc. but when AKB had 80-90 members around 2020-2022 when they were doing much less activities than in the peak years, it only led to unhappy girls and unhappy fans, because majority of them had 0 jobs. Now with around 40 members, it's very different. I don't think you can judge everything on HS sales, AKB will never have 10-20 girls being sold out, it's already good that they manage to have a few. and even the girls who aren't sold out still have very long lines (according to reports from the fans who attend). it's also important to note that their sales didn't even decrease that much considering they have half the members that they used to have and even lost their bigger names, it still didn't decrease that much. Just another evidence that if it's about success, they don't need to have that many members... (and I mean 40+ members is still a huge amount for an idol group)

The important thing is that with 40 members, everyone gets to be in one song and sometimes 2 or 3 songs by single, almost everyone gets to be in a MV. when there's a single, there are more chances for the girls to get in senbatsu because they don't compete with 80 other girls. when there's a drama, there are more chances to get a role. and same for the new stage. I'm not going to make a list of every member one by one but right now every girl in the group is getting jobs and it's much better than it used to be. The girls can be happier with their career, the fans happier (and they get more content), it's easier to learn about the group, easier to promote the girls, easier to learn names etc. I'm just not sure what good it would do for AKB if right now they added 40 girls to the group...

I know a lot of people loved the teams though and I can understand that so yes. Even though personally I'm fine without having the team system. Some other 48 groups still have it so if anything, it's still there in other groups, but really even in those cases, everytime I like a team, members end up graduating and then it's not the same anymore and idk I think I'm not so attached to the team system personally.



All that being said, less than a day before 20th gen reveal!

 

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