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[GENERAL] The Sakamichi Series group thread

Discussion in 'General Nogizaka46 Discussion' started by kanjo, Apr 11, 2017.

  1. Halyup

    Halyup Future Girls

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    Not really ; Kaki auditioned for 2nd Gen Hiragana Keyaki . Same Gen as Kosaka Nao so the alternate timeline would be Kaki in Hinatazaka
     
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  2. theobserver

    theobserver Next Girls

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    Oshimen:
    Takahashi Juri-Miyawaki Sakura
    A very interesting world it will be. She'll stand out nonetheless

    Looking back (or hearing back)

    if the video does not show watch the video here

    if the video does not show watch the video here
     
  3. Rev4

    Rev4 Member

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    Mar 22, 2019
    Kakki in Kanji Keyaki would have become another victim of "Hirate and friends". I don't need Bunshun to tell me there have been problems between the group and mngmt. Konno wanted a system immediately after 4th single and he has long-running experience from Nogi. It's not a opinion he was concerned about the future if nothing changes soon. Their energetic choreo was in need of individuality, diversity and a system.

    1ki put this to themselves. Their brain was molded with "no system allowed" and "no new members allowed". Mon admitted to Karin in a Keyakake episode she was anxious about new members at first. Hirate said at 9th single announcement episode of Keyakake she was concerned about what fans will think now with a system.

    Mon graduates and said she had lost passion. Not just all sudden she lose interest but because Keyaki is changing to Seed & Flower's liking. They want a system and few 1ki members decline.

    With that out of the way mngmt can finally work now with the group. Mon was not a supporter of this new Keyakizaka (system based group) Yukka talked about in front of the camera. Even if Hirate loves Keyaki she was not fond of this system either. But in my opinion it's what Keyaki needed a long time ago for things like in 2019 never would happen. Konno was right.
     
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  4. theobserver

    theobserver Next Girls

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    Oshimen:
    Takahashi Juri-Miyawaki Sakura
    I never had any love for Kanji Keyaki (except their songs)
    What I meant is more for Kakki being in Hinatazaka nee Hiragana Keyaki (as those YT videos show)
     
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  5. DelicateEmpress

    DelicateEmpress Upcoming Girls

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    @Rev4 I mean every Keyaki member would be anxious about 2ki right? I’d be worried about a group of new girls coming too, like what are their personalities, how will they emerge into the group etc. I think it’s understandable to have those thoughts and doesn’t really say much about whether she likes/approves the new system or not. And Techi said she was excited for senbatsu system so I’m not sure why you think she’s not fond of it?
     
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  6. Iamyoung

    Iamyoung Future Girls

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    Oct 16, 2018
    There is nothing new yet from Keyaki so at this point ppl are saying whatever they seem fit to say from the ongoing crises in the group.

    I don't know what to think abt it but so far it seems all that has been said are just individual's thoughts. It isn't like this is the first time something like this is happening in the entertainment industry. For Sakamichi maybe but this happens a lot. Sometimes you have to take a step back to see what must be going wrong and I think that is what is happening to this group. Atm, I feel really sorry for them, how ppl are generating all sorts of story around them when nothing has been officially said. Just thinking it can be so because of some clues here & there isn't right because clues can even be misread.
    I can't wait for the time they will have a documentary and share some light on what really happened.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
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  7. NyanNyan's Pet

    NyanNyan's Pet Next Girls

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    It's a new beginning for them. I don't know who's in the wrong, from management or members. And I don't even think the day will come for any of them to come out and tell the whole truth of what went wrong. Would it even matter? It's done and fans know the situation they are in. People will have an opinion no matter what. If any statement comes out, it's not gonna answer most of the questions bothering their fans. They will keep it safe and convinient for everyone's assurance. Something went wrong, that's what everyone knows. But for sure things can only get better from here. Not gonna pretend that I suddenly care but if only for their 2nd gen (and one other member), I want to see this 'idol group' get their footing back on the right track. Goodluck.

    Btw, I'm really glad Kaki is with team purple. And I read on her S48 profile Sato Rika also auditioned for Hiragana. They're doing great but I'm bias with one color. So that makes it two for me :shifty:
     
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  8. Seditious46

    Seditious46 Next Girls

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    But what of nothing went wrong, but some members and the group grew apart? Like you see with some couples, love can fade without having a single fight, and in that case breaking up is the best thing to do.
     
  9. Rev4

    Rev4 Member

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    Mar 22, 2019
    What Real Sound's impression is about the new members.
    https://twitter.com/realsoundjp/status/1231005812509663232?s=19

    This is their own impressions from trainee tour and shouldn't take too serious. Things can change in couple of months and we see the full potential of each member in each group. They based their impressions on the trainee tour which is limited of locked choreos for 15 songs from three different groups with different concepts.

    We are aware that street and hip-hop are intense dance styles who use the whole body for large choreos. Real Sound will change opinion on Endo Hikari once she enter the stage and we will see her true power in Keyaki. She centered a Nogi song at trainee tour which doesn't mean much when she can create her own choreos. She has been dancing for 13 years and has won competitions.

    This is what I read from fans as well, they had similar impressions to Real Sound about trainee tour. I unfortunately listen to it and ruled out Endo Hikari as a good dancer because I didn't know facts about her until she officially joined a group. But Real Sound did say though her dance is sharp.

    Onuma is a tennis player like Inori and Akanen. So it seems like they collect every tennis player in Keyaki since the entrance of Inori (maybe start Keyaki's tennis club? lol). Not because she is a tennis player but her expressions for the choreos left strong impressions on Real Sound which is very Keyaki-like when they convey the message in the dance according to them.

    Sato Rika is said to become a very popular member in Nogi. Yumiki Nao has been doing a lot dramas before Nogi and she will be a good addition to the group.

    Yamaguchi Haruyo is very good at baseball and they can see why they assigned her to Hinata because they have a baseball club in HinaAi. She will do good in HinaAi.

    They were very surprised to see Masumoto Kira get assigned to Keyaki because she is a variety character. Keyaki has this habit of quiet image, unless the mngmt intend to change Keyaki from now and was the reason they picked her.

    It's interesting to see opinions from Real Sound on these new members for Sakamichi groups.
     
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  10. ryandtw

    ryandtw Next Girls

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    Should the Sakamichi documentary films that are coming out to Japanese cinemas (Hinatazaka46 on 27 March, Keyakizaka46 on 4 April) be delayed or skipped to direct-to-video (Blu-ray/DVD) because of the coronavirus concerns?

    We saw/heard yesterday that the new James Bond film (No Time to Die) has been called off until November.
     
  11. Rev4

    Rev4 Member

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    Mar 22, 2019
    So basically what Real Sound said caught my interest. Takahashi Mikuni has similar performance style to Hirate by using her whole body. AkiP and Konno-san assigned members to each group from Sakamichi Joint Audition.

    Not assigning Mikuni to Keyaki was a good move. Never give mngmt any ideas to get another Hirate-like member they will ruin. Hinata mngmt will tone her down but Keyaki mngmt will make her the next immovable center. She centered Ambivalent.

    Also the decision to let 4 out of 7 Keyaki members to center Nogi songs.

    Endo Hikari= Girls' Rule
    Ozono Rei= Influencer
    Onuma Akiho= Inochi wa Utsukochi
    Moriya Rena= Hadashi de summer

    Even from Keyaki side it wasn't their dark songs.

    Kousaka Marino= Kaze ni fukarete mo
    Masumoto Kira= Sekai
    Matsuoka Manami (withdrew)= Futari Saison

    Yukka talks recently about action style in live performances. They want to keep their cool image but not on the dark side and try to be more versatile moving forward.

    When Keyaki started as a group they were not bright girls according to AkiP. So he gave them songs featured society problems. But when mngmt started to get out of control with Hirate centric direction that changed to their fantasy about Hirate meets hell. She was the protagonist, everything should be dark now.

    Before it was gloomy (Otona wa Shinjikurete, Kimi wo mou sagasanai) at best. But since Jibun no Hitsugi it has been more about mngmt's dark fantasy about Hirate. Just look at Kado wo magaru. Even if she didn't wanted more, mngmt insisted to make her center for 9th single. She looked dead inside when her name was called out from mngmt's senbatsu.

    Konno-san is definitely not in favor of the darkness Keyaki mngmt has pushed on this group. He tried to split it up by introducing senbatsu system but mngmt was still stuck on Hirate. Only way to teach the mngmt a lesson was for Hirate to quit the group for good.

    Real Sound said they hope current form of Keyaki will change to get the good side of Ozono Rei. Keyaki has never had a crybaby presented in the group before and they find it very interesting. She is studying psychology at the university and can read human hearts.

    Endo Hikari did also participate HTK48's 5th gen audition simultaneous with Sakamichi Joint Audition. She being assigned to a Sakamichi group is still a wish come true for her.

    On March 23 the 6 new Keyaki members will be featured in a magazine.
     
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  12. Conjyak

    Conjyak Member

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    The rumor I read (from Bunshun) was that AkiP made Hirate perma-center despite Keyaki management wanting to change things up. Konno is the head of Keyaki management, so there's no separation between Konno and management. The rumor is that I think for the 5th single, management announced that they were going to make it a sembatsu & under system and add Hiragana (8 gen 1s would go to under and 5 Hiragana would go to sembatsu). Hirate objected, saying that she preferred the status quo in order to keep the gen 1 members all together, i.e. to keep them all in sembatsu and have none of them go to under. Some members of gen 1 (basically the ones who are in the "Hirate faction") agreed with her. Hirate in the end said she'd take it up with AkiP. AkiP gave the decision to go with the status quo, overruling management's decision.

    My guess is that by the 9th single, Konno/management finally convinced AkiP that they need to change up Keyaki. That, or AkiP on his own decided that this was the time for Keyaki to change up. When Hirate was told this, she decided to withdraw.

    As far as I can tell, Konno is the CEO of both Nogi LLC and Seed & Flower. But the difference is that the ownership above Nogi LLC is divided between North River (which is somehow tied to AKS) and Sony Music, while the ownership of Seed & Flower is Y&N Brothers. Around 2016, AkiP sold his shares in AKS, so on paper, AkiP currently has no ownership of Nogi. But Y&N Brothers (which likely stands for Yasushi and Nobuhiko Brothers, where Akimoto Nobuhiko is AkiP's brother), I think definitely has some official ownership by Akimoto Nobuhiko. So at the very least, AkiP has power in Y&N through his brother (if not official ownership as well). This would mean that in Keyaki, AkiP's authority is officially above Konno/management. This fits the rumor of AkiP siding with Hirate against Konno/management and overruling Konno/management because that's made possible by AkiP being officially above Konno/management in Keyaki. It feels like this may be impossible with Nogi since it seems that AkiP has no ownership on paper of North River/AKS or Sony, thus AkiP can't simply overrule Konno in Nogi. My feeling is that in Nogi, AkiP is hired as a producer for his brand and experience, and while generally AkiP's final judgment has more weight than Konno's in the eyes of North River/AKS/Sony, if AkiP and Konno really disagree on something, it's up to the shareholders of North River/AKS and Sony on how to go forward with that.

    As far as we know, AkiP chooses the songs and writes the lyrics for all Sakamichi songs. So that includes everything that would decide Keyaki's artistic image as edgy. If AkiP has some ownership of Y&N Brothers and thus of Keyaki, has the power to overrule Keyaki management, and chooses the songs and writes the lyrics for Keyaki, then surely it was his decision to keep Hirate as perma center and to give Keyaki this rebellious, edgy image. If management is bringing in new non-edgy members into the group and presenting them as non-edgy, I think that signals that management wants to bring some non-edginess to Keyaki, and AkiP is letting it happen.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2020
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  13. gish0046

    gish0046 Upcoming Girls

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2019
    Konno is a Sony executive who oversees the Sakamichi series.

    I think the difference is that AkiP oversees the creative side but Konno oversees the business side.
     
  14. Conjyak

    Conjyak Member

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    Aug 6, 2017
    Konno definitely oversees the creative side as well. The general impression that has been shown to us regarding Nogi is that Konno is in charge of day-to-day operations and creative decisions while AkiP gives the final stamp of approval (and thus is higher in authority than Konno, as one would expect). There's a documentary footage of AkiP going on a power trip and shitting on Konno in a meeting after Konno shows him the Haru No Melody MV. In more recent stuff, I feel Konno implied that the Zambi project was pretty much AkiP's thing, and for the Daitai Zembu Ten, Konno had to pitch the idea to AkiP a couple times before AkiP gave him final approval. But IMHO, the Konno-san Hottoiteyo world tourism thing, by literally putting Konno's name in the show, may be a sign that Konno's authority in Nogi continues to grow while AkiP's may be lessening (which is only possible if Sony/North River/AKS is calling the final shots for Nogi, not AkiP). Which is why I find the Keyaki issues interesting because if the rumor is true and my ownership theorizing makes sense (AkiP having some ownership/authority in Y&N), that means AkiP's authority in Seed & Flower on the other hand is much stronger than Konno's, to the point of single-handedly turning Hirate into a diva and taking Keyaki in that edgy direction to the point of near collapse. If this near collapse is considered by management/ownership to not have been good for business, and management is moving to bring in more non-edginess, AkiP might be taking a step back for the near future, having lost political capital due to all of this. But that obviously doesn't mean he still doesn't have official, legal power through Y&N, so who knows in the long term.
     
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  15. gish0046

    gish0046 Upcoming Girls

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    Well music videos would fall under "the creative side" so AkiP power tripping about a music video doesn't necessarily mean he has overarching authority over Konno, just that he has final authority about the creative direction. At my company I've seen my Program Manager power trip on the Director of Engineering for making a dumb decision, but the PM isn't above the DoE. They're roughly equal in authority they just oversee different aspects of the company.

    Ultimately the "owner" of Sakamichi is whoever writes the checks, i.e. whoever signs the girls' paychecks and whoever puts up the money to pay for music videos, etc. And that's Sony AFAIK. AkiP may have authority to an extent but he doesn't write the checks.
     
  16. Conjyak

    Conjyak Member

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    In that footage, Konno is presenting the MV to AkiP for final approval. So the implication is that all the decisions regarding the MV up to that point were made by Konno. Zambi and Daitai Zembuten are also creative projects. I haven't seen any evidence showing that Konno isn't working on the creative side. These aren't cases of one department head criticizing another department head of equal authority. It's definitely a subordinate going to the boss for final approval of the creative process. IIRC, Konno explicitly said in an interview that he had to pitch Daitai Zembuten to AkiP a couple times before AkiP approved it, which is another example of Konno explicitly being in the creative process.

    My theory from googling is that for Nogi, Sony/North River/AKS are the ones writing the checks, and AKiP isn't part of that (hasn't been part of AKS since 2016?). For Seed & Flower, Y&N is writing the checks, and AkiP is part of that (through his brother). That's why the rumor "works" to me, because it fits the picture that AkiP practically has all the final say with Keyaki regarding its creative stuff, because I feel like it had to be someone with a lot of authority to steer Keyaki in such a peculiar way to its fate.
     
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  17. ryandtw

    ryandtw Next Girls

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    https://www.ntv.co.jp/zip/spring2020/

    Nippon TV's ZIP! Spring Fes 2020, which was scheduled for 24-26 March 2020 and feature Hinatazaka46 (25 March) and Nogizaka46 (26 March), has been cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 (coronavirus, which is now a pandemic by the World Health Organization) concerns.


    https://www.hmv.co.jp/news/article/2003121005/
    https://www.hmv.co.jp/news/article/2003121006/

    Also for the same reasons, Hinatazaka46's and Keyakizaka46's documentary films, which were scheduled to release in Japanese cinemas on 27 March and 4 April, respectively, have been postponed.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2020
  18. Rev4

    Rev4 Member

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    Mar 22, 2019
    Rich information you gave about ownership of Seed & Flower. I really appreciated it.

    It makes a lot of sense regards to what Konno told Nikkan Sports last year about AkiP had final say of which members should be assigned to Kanji Keyaki from Sakamichi Joint Audition in 2018. They picked 9 members that knew Keyaki's current color (obviously Hirate's edgy image he referred to). AkiP put other 10 rumored members in kenshusei prison due to Hirate was the star and others didn't suit current form of Keyaki because all the members are fans of early Keyaki with favorite songs from 1st to 4th single and likes Nogi heavily with full respect.

    Lose Zuumin in the group was the biggest mistake AkiP did. But I think she didn't shared this edgy image of the group with AkiP as she never said anything bad about mngmt which was strange. What she said about mngmt was that they spoiled her much. It sounds to me Zuumin was Konno's/ mngmt's favorite and there was a clash between Konno/mngmt and AkiP how to manage Keyaki like you said which explains the whole near collapse situation.
     
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  19. Conjyak

    Conjyak Member

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    Aug 6, 2017
    Do you have a link to this? I didn't follow the Joint Auditions (I just assumed it'd be a total mess how they try to balance the girls' preferences and management's preference of who goes to which group, lol) and so I'm surprised that Konno revealed some details on how AkiP is involved in it.

    The Bunshun story about Imaizumi that I know of is that she was the main "anti-Hirate, anti-perma center" force. This made her the enemy of the "pro-Hirate, pro-status quo" faction, and so supposedly they bullied her, and Imaizumi left (notably, IIRC, the story said that Hirate herself didn't bully Imaizumi. It was just her faction that did). But it was after Imaizumi graduated and went to Avex that all these rumors came out, and these rumors obviously made Keyaki look bad (both the Hirate faction members and management - as far as people knew at that point, management was in control of and in favor of how things were going since there was no story about any disagreement between management and AkiP at this point). Some reporter went up to Imaizumi who was walking alone in the street or something and asked her if these rumors were true, and she just said, "Excuse me," and walked away.

    Conspiracy time: So IMO, Imaizumi leaked this rumor, or at least did nothing to stop or deny these rumors. I think the official story is that her brother leaked these details to Bunshun or whomever, but how does her brother do this without her permission? My guess is Imaizumi and Avex worked out how to deliver this hit piece against Keyaki, and used her brother as a sort of "plausible deniability" pawn, as long as he would agree to it. In the middle of this fracas, how is Imaizumi walking alone in a street and a tabloid reporter just happens to find her there to ask her this question? I think that was basically staged by Avex, Imaizumi, and Bunshun as well, just to make the point that Imaizumi doesn't deny these rumors. (I don't know of any evidence anywhere showing that Imaizumi denied the rumors, whether in an oral interview, magazine interview, Twitter, etc. That in itself is a message, a deliberate action by her.) Imaizumi graduating and this rumor coming out soon after was definitely a sign for things to come, but I personally wouldn't say that she never said anything bad about management. But of course that's because I believe she's the source of all those rumors that came out at the time.
     
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  20. miwa

    miwa Upcoming Girls

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    Feb 9, 2019
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    Sasaki Mirei
    Supposedly there was an interview with her brother in the section of Bunshun that can only be accessed if you pay. Ultimately we don't know what's the truth. I don't see what Zuumin has to gain with by leaking this, especially since she's distancing herself from Keyaki and hasn't spoken about it since she graduated.
     

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