[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

People love new toys, men love new girls. AKB ain't gonna re-garner their lost fans. They need to gain new ones.

Starting with NiziU, I'm afraid the Japanese idol industry will change a little bit and people will actually look for quality in dances and singing instead of boobie size.

And that leads to..

SAK NAK HII!

Izone has fans in Japan right? They're gonna disband next year right?? AKB has to utilize these 3 gems to the MAX!

Start with AKB kennin'ing Sakura and Nako. Hii to team A kennin and a new ace.

Not only will they get new Japanese young fans but international fans as well!!

Korean fans! They seem also young! They will try to see what Saknakhii does in Japan, they'll switch from private mail to AKB mail, they'll have stream parties for a new AKB single!

And with that AKB needs to put out songs like teacher teacher and also content that'd cater to the new fans.

In no time they'll be in next year's kotaku or whatever the heck that is!!

 

yep... spoken like a “true” fan of the Kreyz

 

Let me explain to you:

1. Since its dissolution last 2017, seems like AKB management (and wota) don't want to revive SG kennin anymore -especially since there's eito girls and the pandemic haven't shown sign to slowdown
2. Hii already becomes Team B kennin before IZ*ONE thingy. Also, having former Kpop idol in same AKB team with right-wing wota's favorite (read: Yuiyui) is a very bad idea

 

On the topic of centers and group faces, I actually think AKB may benefit from bringing back the W centers. AKB had Acchan and Yuko, SKE had Jurina and Rena, NMB had Sayanee and Milky, HKT had Sakura and Haruppi. Each group had an obvious main center, but they also had a friendly rivalry and for the sister groups, would often be paired together when being pushed. I actually found it interesting how in SSK, Jurina and Rena were almost always back to back in rank. They were promoted differently, and catered to different types of wota, but ultimately they were two strong idols who caused a storm when together. NMB was the same with Sayanee and Milky, while they focused on pushing sayanee a little more in nmb, they allowed milky to blossom in team b, and the girls found themselves ranking back to back as well. HKT was the anomaly here though. The accelerated push for Sakura but not Haruppi caused a very obvious gap that just kept increasing each year, and frustratingly so. The system that worked so well with SKE and NMB was pretty much scrapped with HKT. Luckily since Sasshi was also in the group, this didn't negatively impact them (until well... you know lol)

So I'm a big advocate of having 1-2 members be pushed together. It could also help eliminate the bad blood other members feel when they just see one girl getting all the spotlight. It feels a little more fair if that spotlight is shared between two strong girls. Nogi also did this well with Maiyan and Nanase until their graduations, and Sakura seems to be doing the same with their '3' centers. If AKB can follow what their sister and cousin groups have implemented, I think it would work well. YuiYui already has experience in the center, and Zukki, while new, can pair with her quite well...they actually remind me of Nagisa (Zukki) and Cheri (Yuiyui) from AKB0048 lmao. They also have Naachan and Yuiri flanking them, it's a strong front row that can do really well if mgmt just focus on giving multiple, but the same group, of girls the push they need to be recognized by the general public.


Another thing I think they could do is bring back sub groups. I know most of you guys may not like to hear it, but the kpop scene has been a thing in japan for YEARS, and AKB up until produce48 had all but ignored it (and instead go to a bunch of different countries with a way smaller idol scene?? but anyway). Now that Izone is a thing, we all expected them to also be like a sub-unit for 48g, but every time they release something in japan, it's clear there isn't enough effort being put into them compared to their time in korea. Meanwhile, the likes of JYP capitalized on that kpop wave, first with twice but then by making an actual jpop group with that kpop flair. And it worked, they're not even a year old but are already seeing Kouhaku lol.. I think AKB having different types of sub groups could be an interesting thing. A cutesy group like tentoumu chu that focuses on new cute "future" girls, and a group of established girls for a kpop/niziU type of group, to bring in both types of wota. Seeing how well ttchu worked out for those members, I don't see why bringing sub groups back wouldn't work out. That being said, none of the Izone members should be a part of that kpoppy sub group, maybe hitomi but.... thats it lol. Sister group kennins can stay dead.

And tbh they seem to already be doing this. NMB have the cute trio Lapis Arch, the dance kpop wannabe group Danceable!, and the popular hags in Queentet. AKB already have a good thing going with ixr, so I hope they continue to push them more.

 

I second this. I already mentioned them earlier, but No Sleeves, Watarirouka Hashiritai 7, French Kiss, DiVA, Not yet, etc. released some of my favourite songs. I also know NO NAME's "Kibou ni Tsuite" by heart, even though I never really listened to it actively – I just watched AKB0048. I still listen to No Sleeves' album, Watarirouka Hashiritai's "Hettapi Wink" and Not yet's "Pera Pera Perao" (even though "Shuumatsu Not yet" was probably more famous).

I had to look at the wiki to see what the most recent AKB48 units beside IxR were... what happened to all the other units that were announced at the unit festival this year? Honey Harmony and Melisma ring a bell but I don't remember any of their activities.

Another thing that I missed from the other more "recent" (very generous term) units, such as Tentoumu Chu! and Dendenmu Chu!, is that they weren't able to release individual singles. They only released songs as part of AKB48 singles. I understand why this is, but I wish we could have another unit that promotes individually – like MNL48's Baby Blue and BNK48's LYRA. I've been listening to their songs so much over the past couple of months even though I don't even listen to MNL48 at all, just because I was excited about new units with original songs.

 

Seems like everyone forgets the whole of AKB new unit live festival thing
Well, pandemic happens, and then AKB management only know IxR and ignore rest of the units #justiceforTinTlip

Anyway, AKB and IZ*ONE are confirmed to appear in FNS 2020 https://www.fujitv.co.jp/FNS/index.html

 

Being dropped from Japans biggest show just doesnt happen like *that* after appearing for a decade in a row, most of the time very late into the show. I also imagine that all these people of power know each other quite well, and quite some phone calls were exchanged i guess. And i doubt that the Kouhaku guys annually re-evaluate if an act has lost its worthiness, after it has built up a certain reputation. I bet Arashi will be invited forever no matter if they actually have released something there or not.

AKB48 is no doubt in the most difficult situation of its existence, and the pandemic is basically destroying the underlying business model, they are lacking recent hits, popular members and general positive exposition. We all know this. We can also imagine that "accidently" revealing showroom gigs and extremely lewd gravure dont sit well with everybody. And yes, everybody is aware that their monstrous cd sales do not at all correlate with the quality of their music (well sometimes they did).

But they still are Japans most successful female act ever. They were everybody's darling for half a decade. They do have some culturally iconic songs. They did have some extremely good and memorable Kouhaku performances, and they still have members which are entertaining and worth a watch.

Apparently, this doesnt count. Industry is dropping AKB like hot potatoes. No solidarity at all.

 

I didn't forget, I just mentioned the only one I think had a chance at doing well as a legitimate sub unit sdksksds
And as you said, it seems like it's the only sub group from them all that management are willing to push as an official thing similar to what NMB has going on.

 

I did mention it But yeah, like @minaeshi said, they haven't done anything with the other units so they're not very memorable.

 

I agree that they should bring back the double centers, it worked each time in the past, but they need to find the right girls too. and if they find the right ones, not only they both need to center the a-side (or one of them centers it) but they can center units in the b-sides or even have duets/solo songs in b-sides, this is what management did back then with Sayanee/Milky and Jurina/Rena. However if management did this now, it might create problems with the fandom (I think the main issue is that AKB's releases are so rare now that if their rare release is filled with a push for 1-2 girls, fans will get angry). I thought about this last year when Moeka centered Sustainable, she wasn't in any of the b-side songs. Singles are so rare and they're trying to put as many girls in it so it's hard to give a proper push to a new ace or to a new group of girls (like Kami 7)... so the first problem to fix is having more releases.

That's my favorite Not Yet song too!!! They have other popular songs and I thought it's just me who loves Pera Pera Perao the most. I love that song so much

Oh, so the line-up was announced in different parts? I was wondering when I saw the line-up last time, and AKB wasn't on it... so I thought it was confirmed that they won't attend ;_; That's great news if they're in the line-up! So now we can look forward to Best Artist 2020 and FNS 2020. and I think they'll probably be on CDTV New Year as well!

This is sad, I don't know what can help AKB at this point but like I said earlier, maybe if AKB receive more popularity outside of Japan and online, then japanese people will have a better view of them and invite them to more shows/events. But for this to happen we first need management to provide with good content. if they release a new song and MV that are as good as Kimi wa Melody's MV for example, fans could do their best to make it reach 50 million views or more, this would give them a lot of free promo in Japan.

 

I think they are waiting till all the concerts are done (check the festival thread), before (re)starting any move.

A few days ago, TinTlip's concert was re broadcasted.

 

Huh, AKB got the call for FNS afterall ! Wasn't it Fuji tv that used to broadcast the SSK studio show. It really hurt when I saw somewhere that they had dropped AKB too this year. The ones starting this ominous rumour really need to be asphyxiated.


mod edit: death threats are hardly appropriate for this forum, even hypothetically, so please tone it down a bit

 

Lewd gravure? Most of that is done by graduates, AKB central has barely any gravure at all these days (actually it's another area AKS have dropped the ball, they have ceded that ground to the likes of Sawaguchi Aika)

AKB is no longer under the protection of Don Akimoto, he's firmly in the 46 court these days. I reckon part of the reason for getting shitcanned from Kouhaku is a delayed punishment for the Maho/NGT scandal, they couldn't do it last year because AKB still had 2 or 3 successful singles and it would have been too obvious if they'd been dropped last year. This year AKB only had one single so there was less reason to save them, they might have been able to skate by on the nostalgia ticket if AKS/Vernalossom's owner wasn't seen to be so toxic.

 

Well no Kouhaku, but there is still the JRAs as AKB48 got nominated once again as Hanareteitemo is the song that got nominated.

https://natalie.mu/music/news/405454

 

I guess it's not too bad. No Kouhaku but they have Best Artist, FNS, JRA, and probably CDTV New Year Special. Maybe if they get active next year, actually release singles and actually do things right, they might get invited again. I mean they actually trended in Twitter in Japan for hours after they didn't get in Kouhaku (IZ*ONE also trended, but this year was the last time they had a chance to be invited though). I guess people still care about AKB so we'll see how 2021 goes...

 

From 11/21 to 12/08, as part of AKB48's 15th birthday celebration, the past anniversary shows will be available again on DMM.
See the official blog for details.
https://ameblo.jp/akihabara48/entry-12638961581.html