[GENERAL] The AKB48 Thread

Next AKB48 Saikini, Kiita? will have an announcement regarding AKB48's 59th Single.

https://tv.yahoo.co.jp/program/?sid=701320

 

Well well after what they've done on last time with 58th single senbatsu announcement Idk whether should I expect anything =)))))))))))))))))

 

I'd be quite happy for now with either a senbatsu announcement or a release date. It usually comes in batches anyway, and not all at once, so I'm happy to simply have a start.

 

AKB48 new center is cute

https://twitter.com/kato_641/status/1496459234787328000

 

Absolutly not
https://www.soompi.com/article/1513...er-and-hyolyn-confirmed-to-star-in-queendom-2

Beside that, let's be realistic before throwing / relaying rumors.

 

A report of the investigation into the breach has been published:
https://www.metaps-payment.com/company/20220228.html

It's quite a long and very detailed report explaining what happened and the countermeasures taken. AIUI there was a total of 593 information leaks, 434 of them involving credit cards. However there are some 2.4 million credit card details held on the database so hopefully it looks like only a few people were affected.

 

Is there a reason why did the stop doing senbatsu sounsenkyo? I though it was an event that brought lot of money to the group so it's surprising they stopped doing it, unless there's a reason that doesn't come to my mind.

 

No official reasoning ever given so, it's all speculation. Following are some hypothetical factors
- The vote system. CD purchase was not the only way to get vote code. They were some other ways such as, fan club membership. It was said that a whale fan of Yukirin bought membership accounts of retiring fans that he gained roughly 10,000 accounts. The membership fee was much cheaper than theater CD price. Different vote methods costed differently so, the election points might not accurately reflect the profitability of a member.
- Broadcast difficulty. As the popularity of the group had been declining, the company might fail to find a terrestrial broadcaster to live broadcast and sponsor the event.
- Group divergence. Sister groups grew distant further that it turned more difficult to unite them for the event. The election was followed by various inter-group activities.
- Mental drainage. The event heavily mentally exhausted members. Also, as the election campaign took quite a long period, it could distract members from numerous simultaneous activities.
- Toxic fan culture. This individual ranking event drove fans to support individual members more than the group and would leave together with their favorite members, no loyalty to the group. This also provoked animosity among fans of different members. AKB48 had been in the situation to strengthen its teamwork to fight with other groups.

 

Another factor that many fans assume (myself included) was that the NGT scandal played a part in the cancelling of SSK. During that time there that scandal was a HUGE optics issue for 48G and if they held an election, in which it was likely that NGT members would dominate (as they had in previous years), it would look really bad for 48G. The public perception would have been even more of a nightmare than it already was.

Another thing was also the graduation and non-participation of members with big name recognition. Without existing rivalries between the top members, it would be hard to create a “narrative” around the SSK and therefore it would be hard to gain public interest and sponsorship.

again, nobody knows for sure. But all of @welp ’s reasons seem very plausible too.

 

Yukirin's results in soudenkyo have never been questioned.
And the fanclub trick was brought up only in the last 2 editions (and RH).
Must be mixing up with someone else.

 

Basically.

Not to say the reasons given by @welp are not valid, but it was still a big event were fans made it rain on AKS. They could have gone back to Budokan and stream the results on YouTube if they wanted more profits. It was the NGT scandal that "broke the wheel". AKB couldn't distance itself from NGT without distancing from the other SG as well (because apparently disbandment was out of the question), so all those inter-group events had to end.

 

#JusticeForMaho

 

And probably the 2 catastrophic last editions balanced a good part of the decision.
They lost of mountain of money in the canceled Okinawa edition, and the one in Nagoya showed much less public interest (due to lack of antagonists), and less interest from TV. If I remember right.

 

However, the agency already announced it would halt the election event as the group would head toward the "new era" months before the NGT debacle. I remember fans wildly discussed if the "halt" would be temporary or permanent.

Sorry, the public would never give a shit about "rivalries between the top members" nor any "narrative" as they must have never been aware if those existed in the first place. Ask a random Japanese if he knows Sakura said she wanted to take first place.

How many fans will want to "rain on AKS" knowing the event would be downsized to Budokan and only be limited to online broadcast?

 

And why do you think it was live boradcasted on a main tv station in the 1st place if the public didn't give a damn ?

You should go back in history and see where it 1st took place.
Budokan isn't a football stadium but it is a prestigious venue and still profitable.

 

There's not even a real 48 Group anymore. What's the point?

The only thing I miss is how the Sousenkyo usually ruined AKasses stupid plans and questionable pushes.

 

Do you have a source for that? Because the earliest that I can find of management announcing they're not holding the 2019 election is 13 March 2019 which is a few months into the Maho controversy.
As for heading toward the "new era" stuff, maybe you mean when AKB48 was saying it was gonna change to focusing more on "talent" things (like singing competitions etc) but I didn't actually see any article or anything mentioning the election, certainly none saying the election was halted. So would you mind posting where you read/saw/heard that?

You know NMB is putting up with most of these hypothetical things as we speak yet it isn't stopping them from doing their election right now. Their election will be held in a small venue and isn't going to be broadcasted on TV but that isn't stopping them from doing it. So if these things aren't stopping NMB's election then I doubt they were the reasons that stopped AKB's election.