Single AKB48 43rd [Kimi wa Melody] (2016/03/09)

http://recochoku.jp/ranking/video/daily/ (18.03.2016)
realy COOL!
1) Kimi wa Melody
2) 乃木坂AKB - 混ざり合うもの
3) HKT48 - Make Noise
4) AKB48 - LALALAメッセージ
5) SKE48 - Gonna Jump
6) NMB48 - しがみついた青春
7) NGT48 - Maxとき315号
8) AKB48 - 365日の紙飛行機

 

Billboard Japan 100
1. Kimi wa Melody (AKB48)
24. 365 Nichi no Kamihikouki (AKB48)
45. Harujion ga Sakukoro (Nogi46)

 

And that's the reason why they never see to the west. Very well explained in my opinion.

 

All of which makes it very difficult and very very frustrating to be a fan of AKB living in the U.S. And it really doesn't appear to be getting easier. If it wasn't for this website and Show48, it would be virtually impossible. And, god knows, Youtube isn't much help anymore.

 

In that situation, "overseas fans" would have to work harder for their fandom. If you like them, you should be willing go the extra mile. Risk = Reward.

 

Absolutely true, but frustrating nevertheless. For instance, I haven't been able to see the long version of the new MV for weeks. It just can't be seen (as far as I know) in the U.S. once Youtube took it down. At least, I haven't been able to find it. It's that kind of stuff that really eats at you.

 

Then, you would have to buy CDs to get full mv you want. Back before YouTube and Streaming, I would buy all versions of CDs for mv. #Oldschool

 

management won't cater to overseas fans by fulfilling what they want with the flagship 48G. instead. if management notice that they have enough fan support in a country. they would rather create an overseas group than strengthen their flagship group market in there. very different approach from western artist/group and kpop idols.

 

That is not true, the full mv is always uploaded to other sites by other foreign fans. Dailymotion seems to always get the full mv's a few hours/days after it is on youtube. In fact it is still there:



All I did was type in 君はメロディー daily motion, it was the 3rd link.

here's another:

http://serviceapi.nmv.naver.com/fla...5491a9a9343b1734c0a7d68a&width=720&height=438

here's another, from a different daily motion link at jpopasia:

http://www.jpopasia.com/group/akb48/videos/kimi-wa-melody::56692.html

and another, from jpopsuki:

http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/AKB48---Kimi-wa-Melody/e4f211f635a8f1e7b5b5ea6cac3f05af


So there are many ways to see 48g videos in america, not in youtube. You just actually have to look for it. I don't think 48g has done anything wrong with it's youtube stuff. This is all the fault of google and their stupid youtube red policy. So I don't think anyone should blame akb for this.

 

This is a really old topic that gets rehashed all the time. But I suppose it's of particular interest to this forum, seeing as most of us are Western fans without direct access to the group. And that's why it's worth reminding everyone that it's simply not feasible business-wise to build a branch of AKB in the West. Not only is there a lot of bad press abroad about the Japanese idol industry, which would likely incite people who know nothing about the business to protest or otherwise cause trouble for the group, but it just doesn't have enough fans outside of Asia to be able to support itself. A purely Western faction of AKB would do worse than SDN did and we saw how that ended up.

A hybrid Asia/West group isn't strictly out of the question, but we only have to look at the overall popularity of mixed race members in AKB to get an idea of how that would go over. Akimoto Sayaka may be seen as an exception, but she grew up with the group and proved her worth to enough fans during that timeframe, plus having some mega talent to win people over with. But even she was never able to touch the popularity levels of fully Japanese members.

Does it sound racist? Yeah, of course. Race can be as touchy a subject in Japan as everywhere else in the world, and we can't exactly turn a blind eye to it. A lot of the Japanese public still oohs and aahhs when they see a foreigner. With the advent of the internet and complete interconnectivity between all countries, race relations are changing for the better, but slowly...very slowly...too slowly to allow for a hybrid group that wouldn't fail miserably. Aki-P has spent some time in Western countries including America and Britain (I believe), and everything he does shows that he's a little more broad-minded than the average Japanese citizen when it comes to the West. Which is why it's not completely out of the question that he might eventually try something like this as an experiment.

But I'd also like to point out that while Aki-P is more broad-minded towards the West, the 48Group business is clearly not currently run that way, likely because in the long run it is not considered profitable to cater to non-Asian fans. We see a nod every now and then to the foreign fandom, such as the election livestream having an English track interpretation. But as the group has grown larger and more popular, those nods have come less and less frequently, to the point where it is now very obvious that 48Group management harbors no visible interest in growing or pandering to its non-Asian fans. Personally, I don't even see the couple of appearances they've made at American Japan festivals as a nod to Western fans. It's simply the largest Japanese idol group playing its expected part as ambassador between Japan and expats living in America.

tl;dr: Stop hoping for a Western 48 Group, it is not feasible. Probably shouldn't hope for a hybrid Asia/West group, it likely wouldn't do well. The 48 Group is currently not interested in making Western fans feel welcome among the slew of local Japanese fans.

 

Err..who's hoping for a western 48 Group here? Didn't saw any, yet.

I only saw people frustrated at how little 48G content are accessible for Western fans, which is understandable...
...or we didn't look deeper in the Internet.

 

And why should they make their western fans "feel welcome"? I don't know why people feel entitled to have AKB pay more attention to them just because they speak English. It's a Japanese group.

 

well said. People must be constantly reminded that they themselves decide to follow a Japanese group out of all groups. Why these Japanese company should bend all their rules, make exceptions and make additional, extra effort for the foreigners' comfort and conveniences?
I am not saying the group has to accomodate fans; In fact, they have to.

But it has reached the point where these foreign fans demands loudly for unneccessary privilleges; Just so that they can sit lazily on their couch while waiting the content to be spoonfed to them. Maybe this is partly why Japanese cant seem to get rid of their poor impression of rude Western guest. And now we are blaming management for not putting effort to promote akb overseas. They have done sufficiently at that. Imho, AKB system just don't work overseas like what @Silenka has written. AKB won't be as popular as kpop act or western act. Why should they waste money? they can use the money to develop the talent of 'poor' girls in AKB rite? just like what we have been wanting for (and discussing it repeatedly). Or do u want to use the funds to futile effort instead of promoting the girl?

 

All the times I been in Japan and going to events, I know I have to do "more work" than your average Japanese fan. I knew this ahead of time, so I'm not shocked. I dont expect them (management) to "been over" for me because where I'm from and I speak English.

But the rewarding part for all that "extra work" I do, is actually meet an idol and their fans. Makes it all worth going through the extra hoops.

 

Youtube has been doing a lot of shady stuff recently, bad business practices all around. It's got a lot of video bloggers and content creators very upset. If you look around a little, I'm sure you'll find their dozens upon dozens of angry rants about it (and this is coming from both small-time creators and ones who have millions of views on their videos). Pulling nearly all Japanese content from being able to be viewed internationally is just the icing on the cake to the crapfest that Youtube has become. I wouldn't be surprised about anything they do from now on; it's like watching the fall of eBay all over again.

 

I just dont understands with this "very little access to their content" lol

what you need are a bit more effort to search on google, and you will get what you wanted for

i was recently got myself into SNH, and know what ? here you can use the "very little access to their content" very perfectly

 

Following idols/jpop music without YT (or Google search). How would a "overseas" fan survive without these? Oh wait... I have since 1998.

"I'm a survivor (what?)
I'm not gon' give up (what?)
I'm not gon' stop (what?)
I'm gon' work harder (what?)
I'm a survivor (what?)
I'm gonna make it (what?)
I will survive (what?)
Keep on survivin'(what?)"
- Destiny's Child. #Oldschool.

 

+1 from me. In about 2 hours I'll be boarding a plane for Narita. I've some 48G events lined up (an HS, a 2-shot and 2 concerts). The planning has taken me 6 months but I'm not complaining. It's been fun doing that but now the REAL fun is about to start.