Event / Concert AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Is it even possible for an international fan to get a ticket without being in Japan a month ahead of time? Are there services that one can use to try for a ticket and get it held at will-call or something if won? My understanding was that for these big concerts one needs a Japanese credit card, a way to pick up the ticket at a conbi, or a connection in Japan.

I would love to try for this concert since I'll be in Japan for several weeks in April (and can make sure I'm there on concert day if I have a ticket), but if there is no way to have it purchased and held from my end, I guess I'm out of luck.

 

am baffled with this.

not so much they upping the lists to 200 songs, just the rest.
200-101 in januari and then months later the rest?
100 songs in a day? sure they have the (wo)man power no problem, however, thats a loooooong event.
even longer than Nissan+Sousenkyou was. just hope they will keep up with the broadcasting things online. already took the days in Jan off from work!

 

Well, if you consider that RH attempts to preserve the arrangement of the original singers of the songs instead of shuffling members and that subunit and solo songs would be featuring only the original performers of those songs... if a lot of them rank, that's a too-heavy workload for certain members and the rest of the members who don't have solo projects or work for a subunit get totally shafted on performance-time during RH. If half the top 100 is songs by Sasshi, Not Yet, no3b and DiVA... we're only seeing 10 or 12 different members for half the time

 

I'm scared I'm gonna fall asleep if there's a stream for the final day... lol

About people voting for members and not songs... I kinda think it's true. I mean you always see Yukirin, Yuko, and Rena doing their solos... And there's group or unit songs that people will vote because their oshi is center. (Kiseki wa ma ni awanai for example... lol)

I feel like it'd be a little unfair to the fans who vote for such a song, only to see their oshi is not singing it. But maybe for older singles it's good to mix it up -- Like... Not songs that have an iconic center (Hebirote for example) but... I dunno maybe all those old Acchan center songs. XD Have a bunch of new gen girls or even some less pushed girls or whoever (just not the main senbatsu) doing those.

I think it'd be weird to have, say, new team 4 doing Hashire Penguin instead of the original team 4. (or anyone else for that matter.) Because we know people vote that song for the original team 4 girls... And definitely solos should be sung by the original person who did them. (Remember how Rena was sick last year and sat out a bunch of songs she's usually in because they're senbatsu songs, but still did her own solo?)

I figure management probably knows which songs are iconic for a certain member to be in and they won't mess with that, but... As for less iconic songs, I think it'd be awesome to see different lineups doing those. There's plenty of talented members who aren't in the original senbatsu who could pull off a good performance.

...Speaking of iconic songs for certain members though, who's gonna center Ue kara Mariko? =P

 

^
Probably another VTR in concert like last year. But now we also have like 4 graduation songs already (Sore wo Seishun to Yobu Hi, Saigo no Door, Yume no kawa, Namida no sei ja nai), I wonder if they are going to play a VTR for all those? Imagine if they all are to be performed in same day, so awkward.... And they already played a VTR for Sore wo Seishun to Yobu Hi in SKE48 Request Hour, what are they gonna do if this song ranked in AKB48 Request Hour as well? Man, it must be really complicated for the staffs. I guess it'll be better if those songs aren't ranked in best 200 at all, It will get rid of all these troubles.

 

That's not my point, Nissan Stadium follows by a 4 hour election and Aki Matsuri had karaoke event in the afternoon so both time they were basically whole day events that goes from like noon to 9-10pm and you don't see fans complaining about being in those. Not to mention AKB wotas are trained enough in HS event as is, for most of them, HS events are non-stop whole day event that goes from 10-9.

Bottomline is that sure the fan might get fatigued by the end of day, but I doubt anyone would think that would be an issue. Not to mention it's not like 8+hr concerts have never been done before, there are plenty of music concerts and festivals around the world that that goes 8+ hours EVERY YEAR. BTW, A-Nation Concerts are also 7-8 hour concerts in every performances and again, you don't see fans or people complaining it's too long.

Seriously though, if you are not planning on going, what does that concern you? And if you are planning on going but deciding against it because of the length of the event, then that's good news for rest of us because that is one less lottery entry for the ticket...

My only question would be when they releases this on set, will it be two separate sets o one single set with delayed release...

 

Remember when we thought they'd release the KKS Budokan concert with the rest? Well, they didn't. And they won't with these.

@Silenka, I thought of that too. And that's why I think the final 100 will be divided, cause some girls are going to sing more songs than others and if the ranking says that, say, Yuko has to go out for 20 songs in a row... [think]

I don't see anything wrong with the VTR for the graduate members (really, it's 10 members singing and one on the screen, oooh big deal lol).
Although with some girls coming back for some songs during the Dome Tour, they might come back for their songs or something (which could be dangerous cause the next year fans could vote like crazy for graduation songs just to see the girls lol).
I guess we won't know until it really happens, so... 6 month wait!

 

We thought they'd release it together with the rest of what? The kenkyuusei concert was a standalone event. It hadn't even been announced by the time of "Rinji Soukai". That and the four days in April were two entirely different things. Why would they release those together as one?

 

Yeah, but I think some of us understood it as a continuation of the AKB Fair or whatever, since it was in Budokan too and all.

Also, the last RH was released on April 24th.
We got the DVDs from the AKB Fair... 3 weeks ago? I'm talking about dates here (since it will be something like that next year, with the last 100 being only a couple of weeks earlier than the AKB Fair).
I don't know, I see it more understandable that the 200-101 part is released before the rest so people can catch up or something.

EDIT: Cause I can't understand myself lol

So this year...

Request Hour - 24th-27th January - Release on 24th April
AKB Fair ------- 25th-28th April - Release 25th September (?)

Next year...

Request Hour 200-101 - 23rd-26th January - Release?
Request Hour 100-1 - 6th April - Release?

Hence my guess.

 

Voting by design is political. So of course fans will use it to get their favourite member as high on the ranking as possible. Or sometimes as with Hashire Penguin last year there's a different agenda. But there always is an agenda. Singles will also do well in general because of their exposure, but hey that's nothing new.

Trinu does make a fair point. If they do not livestream the SSA event, then we'll most likely be able to get the DVD/BluRays early September next year. That's quite a wait if you're unable to join the concert. And my guess would be that we won't be getting an event like Rinji Soukai next year because of the proximity of the SSA concert. I'm hoping this means we get some more tour dates for their all Japan tour though, I believe they still haven't finished that? Maybe another Aki Matsuri too. Those, however, are speculations for a different time and thread.

 

This is absolutely true to an extent. I think most would agree. The voting can definitely get "political", becoming either a straightforward method for supporting/promoting your oshimen, or a way to pay an homage to a certain member/team. SKE request hours are positively loaded with this type of voting.

 

Considering that the music is created to sell the girls and not the other way around, of course which members perform which songs is important to fans. It's a no-brainer that sentimentality exists with regards to certain members in certain songs. I wish the songs would be voted on by their own merits, we'd certainly see some different songs in the top 50 then, but that's just not how it works XD

 

I don't see the issue either, I mean RH has always being want the fans wanted to "hear" for that year, so of course that involves the members especially most stage songs are tailor made to the specific member.

Ii still don't get why people would have issue with Hashire Penguin or Kiseki last year. Sue both have sentimental value in it, but it is still what fan wanted to hear, that is more than I can say for some fans who systematically vote songs and yes that includes HR. I mean would it make it easier that Hashire Penguin should have being the Janken single instead of T4 song if not because of Mariko?

But seriously, expansion is simply to be expected, especially after last two years with what happened in RH2012 and last year. Not to mention when SKE expanded theirs from 30 to 50 when they barely have 90 songs, if that. I mean with the current schedule just the singles along from that main groups there are over 70 songs being released.

Granted, I didn't think it would b expanded to 200, but there were plenty of talk about expansion to 150 after last year, the question is how they are going to pull it off since January isn't exactly summer or holiday and they can hold event like concerts. I personally think it's a nice decision. Besides I really do believe with 200 spotm, it discourage fans from systematic votes outside of the deserved rare situation since fans don't need to fight to get certain signature songs of member to get in.

That said, with new stages slotted for next year, I can see the same problem popping up in RH2015, But that would probably also be the time where all stage songs are really going to fade into background and you only see them in Revival concerts and KKS stages...

 

I hope that many fans will vote for the "classic" songs that defined AKB48 in its early years. Many newer fans don't realize what they're missing as they're basically accustomed to (only) the newer singles instead of the all the songs including the older singles and stage songs.

I miss hearing the older songs and hope they will be voted in. [rock]

There's enough girls for management to rotate for the top 100 songs on the last day. If it wasn't for the sheer size of the entire AKB family, having only AKB48 perform the final 100 songs would be impossible.

If management can get the graduated girls to appear for one final guest appearance

 

I wouldn't worry about trying to figure out release dates - there is no standard pattern or release time. Especially since this event hasn't even happened yet

Stuff will be announced when it's announced - patience grasshoppers.

 

I can agree why they increased the set list from 100 to 200 songs. It is because AKB managed to grow from just a theater-based idol group in December 2005 to a J-Pop supergroup phenomenon that it is today, expanding their territory by creating sister groups based in other major cities in Japan (SKE in Nagoya, NMB in Osaka, HKT in Fukuoka) as well as a few other cities in east Asia (JKT in Jakarta and SNH in Shanghai), and that they altogether have so many songs now that it now might be the time to expand their set lists.

It's great that not only are they going to be performing in Tokyo Dome City Hall in January for songs #200-101, but they will be also be performing in Saitama Super Arena for songs #100-1. Personally, I like the idea that they will be performing 100 songs in one day (in which it's a bigger single day set list than other arena and stadium concerts as well as even out sizing the single day set lists for the Dome Concerts) but it slightly concerns me over how they will do it and if the girls will be alright to perform 100 songs in a single day, not counting encores. My most likely probability is that they would have limited MCs and announcements but only time will tell. I believe that songs #200-101 would likely be many theater songs as well as older songs that appeared when AKB was young and that songs #100-1 would be the popular ones. I wouldn't be too surprised if a song from a sister group got number 1 in the Request Hour because AKB and the other 48-girl groups are just so popular nowadays.

Again, only time will tell how the AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014 will work out but I wish good luck to this ambition and hopes it becomes a success.

 

Fans of popular girls don't really need to fight too much to see their girl's signature song in the top 200 but girls who are less pushed/popular? Well some of them have signature songs too and they're comparatively less likely to make it in. I feel like I don't need to worry about, say, Yokaze no Shiwaza not making it in (lol as if I'd ever have to actually worry) but there's a fair possibility that something like, I dunno, Chance no Junban, won't rank well. (Center is a member who isn't in my top 5 but I like her, and there's 3/5 of my top 5, plus other members I like, and I love the lyrics too.) So there's things like that to consider. It's just an example, maybe not the best because even though it's not so popular, CnJ does have the fact that it's a single. But just the concept of lesser known/pushed girls' signature songs having less chance to get in or rank well... I mean, there are really a lot of new songs that are pretty popular so fans still have to fight just as hard if their oshi isn't very popular. I'm kinda worried about Gugutasu no Sora, tbh. Sure some very popular members are in it, but not that many who also don't have a different signature song. But Harukyan doesn't have many other songs she's prominently featured in, for example. Plus, since AKB0048 is done, there's even less exposure for her. TBH if I have a chance to vote (which honestly depends on how much these damn root canals cost... FML) I would probably throw my vote toward Gugutasu no Sora just because it also has some of my top members (Akicha and Mocchi are there, plus others I like too) and the center is the least pushed of my top members. Well what I'm saying is that even if the setlist is expanded to 200 now, there's still a big fight to get the song you want to rank, or at least rank decently. I'm genuinely worried it might not do so good, you know? And I can't imagine what it's like for fans of girls who don't have a signature song with at least some other popular members. Gugutasu no Sora at least includes Rena and Sayanee. >___<

 

Of course most songs are voted in because they are either representative of a person (e.g. Warukii, Jungle Gym, Ookami to Pride) or a Team (Hashire Penguin, Omatase Set list).
The higher you get in the ranking the more obvious that fact becomes.

I don't even see how you can like a song without liking the performer/singer, especially with AKB songs.

If you vote for a song that for you is not representative of a particular girl or team, I really think you are missing out on what AKB is all about.

It's just unimaginable for me.

 

some ranked stage songs on RH now is actually sung and performed by other members and not the original members .these are the type of the stage song that fans voted because they like the song and not really because of the original performer. stage song like Temodemo no Namida, Blue Rose and Faint are performed by interchangeable members even AKB singles are performed sometimes by sister groups or KKS
cause it's neither mostly used on concerts or either the original member who performed it graduated already

songs that are voted because it represent a member or a team are mostly solo/signature song or a team song.solo song or a members signature song on RH is not replaceable like Sayaka's Mushi no Ballad and Yuko's Naki nagara hohoende are voted either it's their Oshimen signature song or the fans mainly like the song or both just like the Team Songs these are the one's of song category that you really voted for it not only because you like the song but also because you like the Team itself. like Team B's Shonichi and Hashire Penguin that ranked 1st on RH before since the members are not really interchangeable.

 

So if one is a fan of Maeda but doesn't like Nagisa no Cherry, or Kuroi Tenshi or... any other stage song she was heavily featured, said fan doesn't understand AKB?

I think the relationship fan-idol tighens when the fan likes both the song and the performer, but that's it. I like Yuko, but cannot stand her solo song.
And one of my favourite units is Enjou Rousen and Akicha nor Sasshi are among my favourites.