AKB48 Team 8 (Idols who go meet you project x Toyota)

From Mr Waffle-

To tidy up the RH discussion thread, I've split out posts from the RH thread so everyone has a place to do Team 8 rants/speculation

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpbyibbO_74[/yt]

---------------------------------------------

Original post

---------------------------------------------

AUDITIONS FOR TEAM 8?!?!?!??!?!

The "sponsored by Toyota" part makes me cringe. Maybe it's just a temporary unit to promote something?

Why would they make everything different with this team instead of the usual KKS training and all that?

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Sponsered by Toyota apparently.
Still feels a little weird. There are currently KKS + if they really wanted to, 8 could be a temp team for draft members. It just feels weird that they're saying 8 rather than actual KKS.

To be honest I'm not excited. That might mean another edition for CDs and more stages that we'll never get, more girls that will never get the chance to be pushed etc etc. Its exciting sure, but management seems to be losing a lot of girls lately and can't keep up with songs for them, so I think they should try and address that first before adding a bucket load more members

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

I don't think it's going to be a "real" team 8. From what it sounds like, this is a huge promotional stunt for Toyota, so it could be a very temporary thing. If they're taking one from each prefecture, that's 47 girls...hardly a 'team'. They'll 'audition' girls, build Toyota47 aka "Team 8", drive them around Japan in Toyotas with the cameras on them, and then eventually the commercial campaign will be over.

Sounds as legit as Eguchi Aimi.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Yeah, I read in tumblr the theme for this team is Idol that will go to meet you.
In Toyotas, I guess.

Eeeeeeh, I don't know how I feel about this.
I kinda wished they'd rename the KKS to Team 8 and now this happens.

Oh, well. People who say that this is a ticket for Team 4 to the group of established teams... just wait.

Still, the troll master is Tsunku. But Aki-P is learning quickly.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

After they use the whole "Team 8" name for a big commercial tie-in I think we can safely assume that means we'll never get a legitimate Team 8, so yeah, it kind of makes me think it's more likely Team 4 will go through another death and rebirth.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

This is getting more ridiculous

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Psh, Tsunku's weak in comparison. Aki-P's got the skills and the money to do TRULY crazy stuff. What's Tsunku done lately? The whole MM'14 nonsense? Lol.

Anyways, I think some of you guys are taking this too seriously. I don't know what will happen to the girls after the marketing stunt, but I doubt they will actually join AKB.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Plus the whole "I'm announcing something very big that could make the fans angry" and it's just a CM.
I mean, it did get me anrgy because it wasn't worth the hype.

ANYWAY!

I'm giving this some thought, and I don't understand some stuff.

Why would they drop the ~48 when it's actually what people know? Non-fans have little idea of how AKB works, so the whole team thing is a bit useless. Wasn't TYT48 good enough?

The fact that they're creating a new team and using almost the same audition proccess of the Draft makes me wonder if this is that, a way to get new talent right into the group without the whole KKS paraphernalia (and using Toyoya to pay for the travel costs? lol).
Yes, they'll get a CM for Toyota, but maybe that's what the new girls need to get known. Where the hell are the draft winners?
So... MAYBE this is just a promotional stunt for Toyota, but at this point, it wouldn't surprise me if they just left them in and shuffled them with the rest of the groups later.

I wonder if the finalists of the Draft can apply to this and jump over to the last round?

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Oh, I'm sure they will.

They are not going to actually add 47 new members to one team in AKB and put them in the theater when their purpose is to be driving around in Toyotas with cameras on them to meet 'fans'. Don't you see how ridiculously silly this all sounds? It's an impressively large-scale gimmick and campaign, but it's just that, a gimmick. This is not going to affect KKS or Team 4. None of the real members have the time to be dragged across the country going to meet their fans when they have endless events to attend where fans come to them...so Toyota gets to reverse the idols you can meet concept with its own group of members and keep the camera fixed on their logo and their cars at all times. Great marketing campaign from a business standpoint, annoying, confusing attention-grabber from an AKB fan standpoint.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

The problem is, how long is this stunt going to last for? A month? Six? A year? And if they don't even join AKB in the end, its focus management is taking away from "true" members for no actual reason. (Yes money, but please, its not like management has ample ways to get money, or even new ways without resorting to such an elaborate idea).

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

Amachan effect? Maybe someone in management watched the drama and said, "Why haven't we done this already?"



I just wish they'd actually establish the Draft girls first. And then, clarify what's going to happen to the KKS. I'm not against implementing new ideas, but if you don't see any of them through to the end before launching a new one, people are just going to stop taking it seriously.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

When AKi-P does an interview naked I'll call him a troll lol

Video from Oricon with the VTR somewhere in there:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0NcL9p9L98[/yt]

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

I found this on tumblr, so if someone could find a source, I'd appreciate that. It seems sketchy (especially the last bit) to me so idk

Spoiler

Team 8 schedule

Jan 24th: Audition applications start

Feb 23rd: Applications deadline

Later half of March: Formation of Team 8

May: Unrevealing of members in Team 8

August: Theatre debut, Toyota car campaign starts

November: National tour starts

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

...National Tour? That's rather... special indeed. Being sponsored by Toyota sure makes a difference.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

this team 8, is there any requirement for the applicants?

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

12 - 20 years old

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

I translated a news article about the new Team 8. It should clear up some of the confusion. There won't actually be a 47-member team ^^. I'm guessing the girls who don't make it through will just get dropped, like the girls from the draft who weren't picked.


http://www.akblogs.net/article_translations/176-team-8

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

So it's basically a new generation with 16 members, each one from a different prefecture and, instead of being KKS, they are members from a new team. Doesn't seem that bad to me haha But it still seems like a publicity stunt. And, if it's not, I can definitely see that mass graduation on the last day of the Request Hour rumor being true

Edit: And lol. Tokyo will be warzone, while prefectures like Tottori...not so much

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

I'm gonna be honest. Although I don't like the idea of creating another group out of marketing, I kinda like their concept on this TOYOTA47. "Idols that will go to meet you."

Read more about it here.

 

Re: [CONCERT] AKB48 Request Hour Set List Best 200 2014

My first thought is that the whole Toyota Team 8 thing is ridiculous. What the article says about them choosing from the girls to make a 16-member team makes more sense. Still, this does feel like the draft again- making new girls into full members. This kind of bothers me since the other members have all (well, except gens 1-3) had to work their way up and earn their place on a team. Plus, as others have said, we have too many girls already. Unless they're expecting a whole bunch of graduations? Really, though, I feel like this is a gimmick that's going way too far. We'll have to wait and see if it sticks.

Also in the article, Yuko mentioned the pennant race- I thought they weren't doing that anymore? Didn't Aki-P say to forget about it or something?