If You Were Running the 48-Groups, What Would You Do Differently?

This applies to all groups, not just AKB48. If you were in management, how would you change things?

AKB48

• Probably the only thing I would do differently is spice up the events. HS are so old school and everyone does them. Actually do more things like the KwM "special lives" and such, but it seems like they're on track to start doing that.

SKE48

• The big kahuna of royal mismanagement.
• Probably do a daily YT series, much like the Nogizaka one PVs attached to each single - in fact SKE started this with their first album. It doesn't even need to be a MV, just one that showcases a different girl each day, which is all the more critical now that they don't even have a TV show
• It's clear that people react well to them on YT especially given how 7th gen auditions were run, so it would be super popular.

NMB/HKT

• Management is AMAZING. The new gens are so well pushed and sales are showing it.

 

Well, for the upcoming MNL48 based here on my country...

I would like to do: (if there are members already)
Btw...I would like to pick 36 girls for the 1st gen...

* I will first look for the best agency there is.
* the first single won't be released until two teams are created.
* the A-Sides would probably be B-Sides from the other groups (e.g. NEW SHIP, Kimi Suki, 365)
* like SNH, adter a dew years of success, I will also release an original single for MNL

 

i would hire another music producer to help write songs for new stage....dont need to wait 5+ years for new stage

 

I would give SKE, HKT, & NGT to another agency a la NMB and have AKS to focus on AKB :

SKE to Avex
HKT to Universal
NGT to Pony Canyon (so they can release anisongs on a regular basis lololol)

Shed some of those baby fat and make all teams 16-nin and add a bunch of KKS

Transfer new gens to a third party agency

Each AKB team could only have maximum 2 kennins, and each sister group one kennin from AKB

No Team 8 to Team AKB4 kennins, instead Team 8 to sister groups

Get Mariyannu involved in goddamn SNH already

Revive SDN and put the rotting old gens there

Make all of AKB's captains new gen members

Make a new theater and turn the old one into a museum but still hold annicons there

Start an AKB asia tour (if they can't do it, then just make a Team 8 asia tour coz Team 8 seems to be more flexible about these stuffs)

Make new sub-units (like, real sub units. Not a bunch of Chus that don't have their own single)

Make AKBINGO AKB new gens only

Make another SashiKita and make NGT vs Keyaki

Make an AKB vs Nogi & SKE vs NMB show with only new gens participating

Give SKE, NGT, & JKT their own variety show (and SNH if they don't have one)

Make a new show about international sister groups on Japanese television like the SNH thing

Give JKT & SNH original singles every time they release one

Debut NGT's 1st single already

Appoint groups captains like SKE & JKT

And probably do pushes differently:

Keep pushing NyaaMako hard
Push Miki
Drop Ryoka's push if she keep stagnating (lol the can drop Tano & Naanya who's leagues above her but they're still persistent on pushing this ballsack)
Put Juri, Mako, Tomu, & Katomina into reguler senbatsu
Drop Rie & Miichan from senbatsu and never put them back in for the rest of their career (even bigass ones)
NEVER put Haruppi into a 16-nin Senbatsu
Push Miku ahead of Nako
Push Kano & Airi
Drop Saepii from NMB senbatsu
Push Uuka & Azusa to the front
Keep Boss in HKT senbatsu
Put Mirun into HKT reguler senbatsu
Put Hinatan, Ayakani, & Noepii ahead of Gatanee

 

I guess, I'd get some co-writers for new stages too. For AKB, I'd give each team also a single/album in which everyone performs in (8 gets a triple-a-side with each 16/16/15-members.) In those albums, Kennins won't appear just because
In the case of NMB, I'd put Sayanee in the back of the senbatsu for a while and give others the chance, same for SKE with Jurina. In HKT, I'd rotate the center completly meaning the middle of the senbatsu is the field which exchanged the members and the back is the place of the other center-canidates.
(Would be likely something like
1. Meru
2. Mio
3. Sakura
4. Haruppi
5. NakoMiku)
For NGT, I'd give them their 1st single~ xD

 

I think I would make AKB more of a competitor than a mothership. Let the blood shed between groups for the absolute top, not just AKB. I would treat Kennins as temporary exchange programs instead of trampolines to give aces double of everything. I would also like to try more thematic Senbatsus, much like NMB did with Must Be Now, with talented singers picked for difficult A-sides or Dance Goddesses chosen to be the advance guard for dance-heavy singles, or young and loli-like members for cutesy songs.

As for the theaters, I would do my best to ensure every team gets one new stage at least every year, to keep the theater always moving and the Team pride always at top levels... for that effect I would absolutely hire more songwriters XD I'd like to also hold special stages more frequently uvu

 

I agree so much with the agencies. So much deadweight loss as a result of only having one, wtf

 

No. More. Kennins.

Or perhaps they could keep them but do as @Ashitaba said. It should be more of a short exchange rather than blending the groups too much.
And also: keep the mothership singles AKB-only (except for summer single and SSK of course). Oh nevermind, just quote everything @Ashitaba wrote lol

 

Stop Kennins and sister group girls form entering AKB48 SENBATSU, instead have a whole different thing "48G Single" with mixed girls, that way in AKB48 Senbatsu they can push new Gen girls

 

I would have it more equal. All girls is important so all should be seen. Rotating members in singel senbatsu and not allways the same 10-15. No superpush and no kennins. And of course a possibility for fans to ask questions, and get answer.

 

I would have mandatory graduations when any member turns 20 years old.

 

Mostly this, just not sure of the new stage per team per year part. Maybe every two years.

Another thing I'd do is renovate the AKB theater, or get a new one. Yeah yeah I know they've been in the same room for 10 years, nostalgia this, legacy that. Get a new theater. One without pillars blocking half the stage, and that allows more stage production variety.

Teams have extra members so they can still perform when some members aren't able to attend. Granted kenkyuusei and support members can fill some positions too, but 16-nin teams have always been the exception rather than the rule.


Beyond that I'd probably want to do something to combat 1st gen syndrome, which I think is related to the senpai/kouhai system. Encourage newer gen to be more ambitious, take on more responsibility for the group (and give them more responsibility), etc. Not exactly sure on specifics though. AKB has given some new gens leadership positions but I don't think that goes far enough.

 

i will auditioned girls who has a real talent and quality.

oh, and its about time to make a reality show for those girls, so i will make that too. more variety will bring more fans.

 

each group will have their own election.

first single of the year: Management selection
Second single of the year: Each group election
Third single of the year: Janken
Fourth single of the year: JPAN48 election. ;DD

 

• SKE48 and HKT48 transferred to NHK Nagoya and Universal respectively.
• AKS joins Ultra HD Alliance and starts releasing Ultra HD Blu-Rays (with Atmos/Auro 3D/DTS X as bonus)
• Super Shuffle so that the members get to the most fitting teams/groups (such as Izuta Rina to SKE48 Team KII, Tanaka Yuka to NMB48 Team M, Kumazaki Haruka to AKB48 Team B, Kojima Natsuki to NMB48 Team BII, Kojina Yui to NMB48 Team N, Kato Yuka to AKB48 Team K, Kinoshita Momoka to SKE48 Team E, Sakaguchi Riko to AKB48 Team A, Tanigawa Airi to SKE48 Team S)
• Transfer kennin girls who are no use to their original group (Sakura), cancel kennins of girls who think they need to focus on their original group (Sayanee).
• New TV Show aimed at youth.
• More dynamic senbatsu.

 

• I would debut NGT48 already.
• I would create guest senbatsu where in sister group senbatsu for every single there will be guests from other sister groups.
• Election for every group.
• A documentary series starring a different member each week.
• A sing-off(sort of like the Janken tournament where 2 go against each other and the winner goes to the next round except here the better singer goes to the next round and the top 16 or 20 create the senbatsu)
• Revive SDN48 and add Kojima Haruna as a member.
• Create a AKB vs Nogi variety show.
• Each year a summer tour where the member go to each city and perform.(i think they have those already lol)

 

There's my list:

1. Remake the entire Kennin system (In a POV of getting a kennin = getting more expose and opportunities for the one who REALLY need it)
   1. Limit the members of kennins per team at 2.
   2. NO team captains are allowed for kennins (They are the core of the team, isn't?, the very essence, they need to sustain the identity of the team, not mixing the identity...)
   3. NO single centers are allowed. (They got enough promotion already)
   4. If a kennin member got some of the points 2 and 3, kennin canceled at the instant.
   5. Limiting "the age of getting a kennin" for only younger members and/or the newer generations of each group. (Because they really need promotion)
   6. Constant rotation in kennins, like cancelling the current kennins and making new each year or two.
   7. I probably get flamed by this. Making AKB members go to other groups it's fine, also making kennins between sister groups it's also fine, but need more investigation for sending them at the right team.
   8. And finally, taking a Bussines POV, choosing the "future pushes" for the kennins, like a way for testing the waters, if din't work, well, only will last one year; if it works, when the kennin ends, start the real push.
2. It's time for a new gimmick!!! the gimmicks like The theater daily presentations and the SSK are the things that make AKB great and put on the map on first place, we need a new and good one!!!
   • This is my idea: "Inner" Sousenkyo
   1. 1. Single senbatsu is made by voting, BUT the members are the ones to vote.
      2. Each member will get one vote, BUT of course, there's way in get more votes!
      3. The members who rank in the SSK will get more votes. The higher you rank, the more votes that you get. (that's where the fans got indirectly involved)
      4. Captains and Sub-captains will get extra votes for their team members, the soukantoku in charge will get also extra votes. If someone is in a situation like Sasshi in HKT (kennin theater manager), it will get extra votes also.
      5. Selling HS tickets will get you additional votes in proportion of how the good seller you are. (Another indirect interaction with fans)
      6. Show in TV also get you votes (any show counts, local ones, the related to the groups, the mayor ones, etc.)
      7. Yeah, many members will use all the votes for themselves, but, try to encourage to vote for friends is a thing to do
      8. And making this event passing at backstage of an already established event, like the request hour or the AKB kohaku utagassen, and showing the results at the end of the event.
      9. Edit: I almost forget it, members also get votes for theater performances.

 

• First, I will make sure that Kennin is way to get spotlight (I'm thinking of Riho or Anna that didn't really receive anything from their time in AKB...)
• The Kennin system could be decided by team captain with the help of the management for instance, the management wants Juri to go to Team N, Sayanee would have to say okay, it could even be an event where members can apply to a kennin position
  
• SSK won't change, I love the idea of fans being able to support their oshi BUT during the year all 16 Senbatsu members stay in the senbatsu during the years
  
• The SSK is also a place to rank senbatsu for sister groups
• One single is a Only AKB48 single, without kennin and without sister group's senbatsu member, the management chooses who will be in this senbatsu
• The senbatsu can include more than 16 girls and the management is free to choose who they want to put in
• Of course, new orignal stage won't take 5 years to arrive...
• A girl transferred to another group will be well use and not only to fill in a gap (RanRan if you read me...)
• Some of you spoke about change of agence for SKE & HKT, I don't know anything about that but it does look like a good idea !
• With the end of the Watarirouka, no3b, French Kiss and co. I would try to launch new unit !
  
• Each year there will be a concert without any senbatsu members like a "Theater Girls" concert or something like that !

 

I would have the members seriously tone down and dial it back with the ridiculous gravure. I know it is making tons of money, but it is hurting the company image-- and it means that when you let the fans vote to decide where members rank for the whole year, too much of the money/votes coming in are rating the girls via gravure-- basically making the image a reality. Its all fine to compete to get ahead, but is everyone really comfortable with the lows they have to stoop to in order to do that?

I would stop expanding the group to more and more members. Frankly there just isn't enough work to go around for it to make sense to have over 300 members in the company. It can't even be claimed that the number is needed to meet all fans demands for performances and handshake events-- because fans by in large flock to only a few of the members while not caring the least bit about half the company. This probably needs to take the form of both recruiting less girls and encouraging those who aren't getting anywhere to graduate. Get each group back down to 48 members and only 16 per a team. Get rid of Team 4 and let the other teams draft the members. Unless Team 8 is providing a valuable service that is not readily apparent, dissolve it and divide the most talented members between the various groups.

Each group can also have up to 16 kenkyusei. When it is all done, there should be no more than 320 members across the 5 groups and probably less because no one really wants to live in Niigata. Kenkyusei would only get promoted when others graduate and auditions would only be held to replace kenkyusei.

I would make sure that part of the job involved actually learning and gaining skills. It is one thing for girls to graduate because they want to do acting or voice acting or modeling... things that aren't core to the group (then again, there seems to be enough opportunity to help actresses act)-- but members graduating because they want to be announcers or write songs or become musicians or designers or something... well, that is a waste because their talents can and should be fostered while furthering the group.

I would make sure the theater set lists change-- at least every 4 to 6 months. In addition, there should always be part of the performance time set aside for really unique things. The same theater performance every single week gets stale and eventually everyone rotates through getting to perform each song. It was fine when it was super rare for anyone to ever see a theater performance, but now that every one of them is streamed through DMM every week, it gets a bit dull to see the same thing week in and week out with only the MC segments ever changing. Maybe throw in a live band performance, maybe someone singing a song she wrote herself, 'unofficial' units can take the stage to do a unit song, maybe a live sketch or fashion show or something else that the members themselves put together as display of their talents... Put aside maybe 30 minutes as this "member showcase" that will be surprise in each show. It'll not only help the stages be less identical, it will help make each individual seem a bit more unique and get to show off their strengths.

I would make sure that at least half the senbatsu members were rotated out each time in the group and that no one would ever be center in back-to-back singles. Even if the center position is only traded between 3 individuals, it is better than the state now where virtually every single SKE and NMB single since the beginning have had the same center with only a couple exceptions. You can't focus the entire group on a single individual to the exclusion of everyone else because they are going to be gone one day. It feels like NMB would totally collapse if Sayaka graduated at this point and SKE wouldn't be much better off if something happened with Jurina. In the rest of the senbatsu, no more than 4-5 should be considered "permanent" spots and if the group has 3 singles during the year, the other 11-12 are going to take at least one of them off. This would allow more talents to get focus without expanding the senbatsu beyond the point where no one can get any focus.

This seems way too needlessly complicated and only has a bad result. You defeat the stated purpose of your mission from the get go by having so many factors beyond popularity within the group going into this and every reason for everyone to just dump all of them on themselves. I don't imagine any of them want to play around with such big numbers and so most will just choose themselves because it is the only real thing to do.

But given how well letting Kato Rena choose a senbatsu worked out, it might be good to let members pick who they want to see promoted...

All you really need is two rules...
1) Every member can select seven members (their kami7). Not 7 votes to dump on one person, but choosing 7 distinctly different people they think deserve to be recognized.
2) No one can choose themselves, but of course they can politic to create pacts with others to vote for each other.
3) Kenkyusei aren't eligible, but they can vote. Any members who don't want to participate can also step aside but still vote.

The reason for letting someone choose seven members is because if it is just one, they will be too easy for them to just make pacts and vote for each other. By having them choose 7, it is far less likely to get rings of 8 members who will vote for each other while still retaining a concept that the choice is meaningful. If you give someone hundreds of votes, they will just dump them on themselves because-- well, that's the best thing for them to do. There would be no reason for them to select anyone else.

By making everyone choose 7 people other than themselves, there is no danger of that. Also, if it were any fewer than 7 it is likely not enough people would get selected often enough that the difference between who got chosen and who didn't would be too small.

And, of course, the kenkyusei will probably be a big factor in who wins, so it encourages members to treat them well.

 

I've got some suggestions that are perhaps more business based i.e. low budget and can be carried out right here right now, as well as some that I feel has to be done to stop AKB stagnating/retreating.

1. Back to 16-member teams with kks stepping up to perform in the theatre for absent members.

2. Maximum 3 teams per group i.e. 48 girls (I'm looking at you team 4).

3. Make Team 8 an official sister group i.e. JPN48.

4. No kennins for ace/centre or captains of teams or groups involved. (e.g. if a centre girl starts kennin, she can remain on the front row but not in the centre, like where Rena was put when she was in Nogi)

5. Kennins only last 2 years maximum. After that, either cancel or transfer.

6. Kennins are allowed full participation in all activities of both group with the exception of single clashes e.g. with the SKE vs NMB thing.

7. Always double/triple centre.

8. Release official standing formation like Nogi does for their senbatsu.

9. I don't know if Japan has this but girls could do a broadcast jockey stunt on a rotational basis like South Korea's Afreeca tv. (There's also a show called My Little TV where kpop idols have appeared on and just did whatever they wanted to) This allows member to display some talents that would not otherwise be shown to fans (as much), like cooking or playing an instrument. This is low budget and can earn extra cash.

10. Release dance practise videos - perhaps a dvd with several title tracks each, and different versions e.g. on the official set, in the dance studio etc. BLU-RAY QUAITY. Low budget, and I certainly would enjoy watching it.

11. Have at least one AKB48 only AKB48 title track per year.

12. More official THEMED subunits e.g. a vocal subunit that contains members capable of singing acapella, releasing songs that actually shows off vocal talent; a dance unit that focuses on performance, so more of UZA/Must Be Now/Make Noise type electronic songs etc.

Also, I personally disagree with having members decide who will become senbatsu. 48 group is competitive enough already, having the girls themselves votes would create much unneccesary tension amongst and potentially the fans (should the girls make it clear where friendship grouos stand via implications on SNS etc.) Having mgmt decide senbatsu is the most unfair yet fair way to do it imo.

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