AKB's becoming more and more famous... do you like it?

I decided to start this thread to tell my opinion by seeing how the amazing is the sales of RIVER and the recent Oricon First Weekly #1

We all can see that AKB is becoming more and more famous every day, they had several TV shows, appearing in some others as guests, and do lots of events and other stuff, but do you really like it?

Maybe as a foreigner fan this makes more sense cause I feel great that i listen to a music (japanese music) that no others listen never in my country. I bet that almost all of you have that feeling too, to have these strange hobbies in your place

When i see a new AKB fan, I am the 1st one who like it and the 1st who want the n00bs to discover all the stuff related to AKB, but when the number of fans increase a lot, like thousands of them, there are some ones who like the band cause of see a kawaii face or only some songs. I respect all of this people, everybody do what they want.

Saying all these I want to mean (personal opinion) that I always have a special feeling when I am a fan of a band who has few but true fans. Obviously I'm the happiest seeing AKB is doing better very day and release new singles and albums, but sometomes i feel strange when all one is fan of something, i have a feeling that i am like the others, not special.

For me the perfect is to be a group of fans, true fans that be intertested in more that 1 song, 1 photo, 1 perfomance. And help all the newies to realize how amazing AKB48 is

What do you think??

 

I totally understand everything you say here. I just don't really know how to approach this. I mean, it's great that AKB is getting great sales and is going through a really productive time as a group. As fans, we benefit from this as there's more media available of the girls to enjoy. Also, as fans we should contribute and help celebrate successes like RIVER's ranking.

The point of conflict lies in the fact that I enjoy listening to and understanding the concept of a group relatively unknown outside of Japan. I'm aware that sales numbers are very much inflated due to handshake events, voting tickets, and the like, but they still have a huge presence in Japan. I prefer my group to be more exclusive and underground, almost. I suppose this is all linked to the western mentality of rooting for the underdog as I seem to have this same thought process in mind even when supporting my favorite member, as I like my favorites to have smaller fan bases.

I don't know, I think that too much of something just leads to its downfall. A few examples of this theory in the United States could include Beanie Babys, anime and manga, and Boy Bands. Over-saturation of anything often brings its own downfall, and diversity is a good thing.

 

I don't really have a problem with them being more popular or less popular. That kind of thing doesn't really affect me.
But like,
I followed AKB for a couple years-ish casually but only now am I actually really into the fandom, so I can't really hate on new fans or anything...
however, I don't really like when people half-ass learn about stuff and then act like they know all about it. Now that AKB's getting more well-known, more people are getting into the fandom, and that means more people who do that. I dunno. That's my beef with it.
Personally I try to stay relatively quiet in fandoms until I know a decent amount of knowledge, anyways. :/

 

I like RSL made an almost identical point to what I wanted to say hehe. But also brought up something I just realized.

AKB was the answer to a rather stagnant 1 trick pony idol business. before AKB, there wasn't anyone really there to challenge MM.

Also, lets not forget, Akimoto has done this in the past and he usually gets bored of them quickly. Onyanko lasted a little more than 3 years? so AKB getting their biggest breaks AFTER 3 years is really interesting to me. I hope it continues for a long time and Akimoto doesn't get bored ;_;

 

As Wendychi said, that kind of fans who know some songs, some names, and the go everywhere like the #1 fan... that's the point i don't like. That why I prefer a fan who show some kind of interest in know about AKB, more or less, but show interest.

for example i still can't remember most of the song's names, and i took me a couple of months to remember all the member's names and nicknames, but i show interest in what the girl do, how the girl dance, learn some choreography, anything.

but I don't like the idea of that kind of "false" fans who say loving AKB but really not. Maybe i don't know lots of things about AKB, or don't know all the lyrics and the girls' life, but I'm proud of be an AKB fan.

 

I don't really mind how famous they become. I'll still like them regardless of their popularity. I just don't want them to get so popular that we see them everywhere and become sick of them. ^^;

 

^ Oh for sure.
*COUGHMANOERINACOUGH* [notme]

 

I don't know how to reply to this since different issues have been thrown.
but I became a fan about five months ago, although its more like 5 months ago i got interested, my favorite was Atsuko, i thought that i just randomly spotted her but i was a legit fan "not quite" as time went by what made me glad that she had a lot of fans was me never realizing she was always getting the spotlight. Then after trying to research AKB48 in a two week period my favorite member switched over 17 times, me never realizing that i was just still switching from front girls, till i finally got to Asuka and it never changed from there. I still don't think i was a full fan then, but back then i did though. It wasn't until i finally started to realize that the non front members were pretty awesome as well, just not given as much recognition, I think that was when i was starting to become a true fan of AKB. What becomes more enjoyable about AKB is that i still haven't memorized everyones name and that the more you get into the more you care about the back story of other members, like just this morning i've become more and more interested about Nakata Chisato and I'm still learning more about AKB/SKE/SDN. To me i think I'll like it even if they become the top in the world( although not likely to happen soon)

What matters the most is that if you can find other fans that are willing to appreciate the 48 as much as you did you'll always feel special about being a fan of AKB48.

I seriously hope this made sense since i do not what check what i just wrote, but yeah

 

First of all, I dont see them as a band, they are just a mere group, performing arts.
A band continuously gather people to become true fans, since there are not too many personnel changes in its lifetime. Fans grew up with them. This may happen instantly or gradually(wtf is this--better than nothing--not bad--i'd turn gay for them) for some to be fans.

For AKB to become success as they are today, I dont have any problem with that. They deserve it. But still the soul of a song bounds tightly to its original performers. So I think its natural for the group for not having any true fans in the end .
I think 20-30 years from now, when the girls are less attractive physically , AKB48 shall be remembered for their hits.

You get sick by seeing cute girls everywhere?

 

i sorta like it.. well sort of.. because the problem of winning the theatre lottery magnifies tenfold if more fans come in and attempt to watch them in don quijote and G-Rosso.

i want to meet them in that good ol' theater.

.... and since i haven't even seen them live, it becomes a heavier burden each day they gain more fans on my part.

 

Well for me it is really something to be happy about because they are famous and even score the 1# ranking in Oricon and i personally think they are really growing too fast recently. I begin to know about their existent last year and within the recent few months it seems they suddenly bloom very fast. I assume it start after the 10 nen sakura which is around march and things been pop out fast until they are able to make 3 concert overseas in just a short period of time. It is really a good news for fans overseas and i felt grateful for them.

I personally hope that they are able to produce quality things instead of too much of showing them self until it lost the 'worth or preciousness' for them. Also hope that Aki-p doesn't ran out of idea and they go downwards if not maintained.

 

for me it's a yes and no kind of situation. i'm delighted that the group/girls are getting more attention and more recognition, but back when i first started liking AKB in 07 there weren't that many people who liked them save the members of stage48 of course. i just liked the feeling of that small and cozy fandom i suppose. like most people here i'll still like them no matter what

 

Its okay for me. Because more fans will make the girls happier and we can meet and make friends with new fans.
But I still have the feeling to prefer my group to be exclusive and underground lol But I dont care if AKB48 is popular or not. I'll support them and keep loving them no matter what happens [cool]

 

sorry my english is very poor~
for me , i am really happy that those AKB48 girl' efforts can get return
they have worked really hard to dig their road for future
However.. also being a morning musume fan
AKB becomes more and more famous is not a good thing
i fear that morning musume will be replaced soon><
anyways
i wish AKB48 have a bright future=]

 

I think it's silly not to like a group based on their popularity. I have a firm belief in who "gives a crap what other people think." I'll like AKB if everyone else hates them, I'll like them if everyone loves them. What does it matter to me? To like something only because it's ~exclusive~ is silly. Are you really that much better than someone else cause you know of a collection of assorted Japanese girls who sing and dance, and they don't? XD

With people actually liking them however, that means we do get more material & performances/appearances, so I kinda do like the new attention.

 

I was under the impression that the less fans per idol, the more personal the idol can be with his/her fans. That's why AKB was built on the phrase 'Idols you can meet.'

I mean, as a common fan, who are you going to get more attention from: Nakata Chisato or Shinoda Mariko?

 

Popular or not, it doesn't matter on iota to me. I liked them when they weren't all that popular, and I like them just the same now that they are gaining tremendous popularity. Their still a great group. But really, I hope they gain more popularity. If more people can join this fandom and like the music and everything we have been enjoying, than that's great. The more the merrier. I always like it when others can enjoy something I do.

 

@RSL: I have to say that you have a point in that the girls who are more popular are probably less personable with their fans, but I think that they're still going to be nice with you and stuff anyway. Also, I have to say that after I met Yuko, who is one of the most popular girls in the whole group, I think that she's still very thoughtful and nice. She remembered where I was sitting, and stuff like that...

I love the fact that AKB is becoming more popular, purely because it means that they'll probably be around for a long time. I have no issues with new fans of any kind, personally, I just like to know that more and more people are supporting the girls...

 

It would be stupid to say that you didn't like seeing them get more popular really. Of course it does take away the whole thing of "idols you can meet" more and more every day which is what a lot of the long term fans started to like them for; it's a certainty that they're becoming less unique in that way. Still, I'd much rather have them where they are now than having them in the kind of state Morning Musume are in right now.

I preferred a lot of the earlier singles releases and so musically in that respect I preferred AKB when they weren't so famous, but what can I say, good marketing by the label has led to them releasing the right kind of music and having the right kind fo promotion even if it isn't necessarily what I'd like to see myself.

I haven't liked that many of the singles since they switched to King Records but there's no doubt that the label is serving them well. Most fans know that the group is all about the Stages anyway and so it isn't too big of a blow, and the singles do help bring in the extra fans.

So yeah, of course i'm happy with them being more famous even if it does mean you have to make the odd sacrifice here and there. If they hadn't been getting as popular as they have recently then I never would have had the chance to see them in person. There's going to be good sides and bad sides to it but thankfully there won't be any arguments of "selling out" when talking about a pop band like this.

 

If you look at it that way, then yeah, I kinda agree, but I'm not that hardcore of a fan that I'm going to spend the money trying to get these 2-shots, or buying 1349079734 copies of the singles to be able to talk to them.

As a casual fan, they are still idols that I can meet. Being in Japan, you buy one copy of their single, and you get to shake hands with 4 of them. Couldn't do that with Morning Musume (or even Mano Erina... sold out of the ~regular edition~ my ass xD)

If it wasn't for their popularity, they would only be limited to Tokyo, and not do those nationwide tours/handshake events, and certainly not come to America.

If I can't talk to Takamina for more than 3 seconds (oh see what I did there? XD) I'll get over it, because I know she's busy, and to her I'm probably just another fan to her.